Sounds like Dan Gookin’s ready to toss in the towel re: Jim Brannon’s very long shot try to overturn the 2009 Coeur d’Alene City Council elections. Under the Coeur d’Alene Press online story about Tuesday’s rulings by Judge Charles Hosack in the case without end amen, Gookin writes: “… this thing is going to trial. Testimony will be heard, evidence given. The public will know what happened. I don’t think the judge will order a new election, but the people of Coeur d’Alene will harbor serious doubts as to the legitimacy of their city government. Rightfully so.” Or the public will finally realize the lack of legitimacy of this lawsuit. Judge Hosack already has commented that Brannon/Starr Kelso/Bill McCrory & Co. have failed to make their various points. Either Gookin is trying to lower expectations. Or one of the OpenCDA.com crowd finally has the sense to admit what many of us have realized all along. This dog don’t hunt. You can read Gookin’s full comment here (4:53 p.m. comment).

Surprised?

Chase Woolridge, from left, Whit Lombardo, Tyler Woolridge, and Jennifer Magner climb on sand bags along the southern beach in Nags Head, N.C., today. Hurricane Earl continues to make it’s way towards North Carolina’s Outer Banks. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Question: Was there ever a bad hurricane that bore your name?

If you read between the lines, it doesn’t appear that Jim Brannon will find the holy grail at the end of his long quest to overturn his 5-vote election loss to Councilman Mike Kennedy 10 months ago. Judge Charles Hosack all but said that he remains unpersuaded by the arguments introduced by Brannon attorney Starr Kelso and by Brannon’s starry-eyed followers. If the man who has heard everything to date is unconvinced, do you think Brannon-Kelso can persuade the judge in a court trial in a more compressed time? Then, it’ll be interesting to see how Hosack rules in Bill McCrory’s contempt-of-court case and in awarding legal fees. Now, for the today’s Wild Card …

Correction: I’ve been saying that this is going to be a jury trial. It’s not. It’s going to be a court trial w/Judge Charles Hosack presiding. It’s set for 4 days.

• 5:44 p.m. Ace Hardware/Hayden manager is blocking Nissan pickup belonging to a male who just swiped an ax from store.
• 5:37 p.m. A female golfer at Avondale Golf Course has gone to KMC for treatment after a small Labrador or setter bit her while she was playing the 14th green.
  
• 5:26 p.m. A rider on a Vespa motor scooter is creating a hazard on I-90 @ M/P 6 (near H41) intersection, by going only 35 mph.
  
• 5:08 p.m. 2 females are in a stalled vehicle in the median of I-90 @ M/P 2 (Pleasantview).
  
• 4:20 p.m. Caller reports that a landlord of H53 property has hit a female tenant.
  
• 4:16 p.m. Super 1/Kathleen reports that a suspected shoplifter may be armed.
• 3:59 p.m. A dog is contained in the west ticket booth at Silverwood Theme Park.
• 3:55 p.m. Caller reports that a vehicle w/a spider dangling from rear-view mirror is weaving all over road @ Hayden & Meyer/Rathdrum.
• More below
  

Continue reading Scanner Traffic/PM — 9.1.10 »

At ilovecda.com’s Facebook page, Blogmistress posts this shot of fans gathering near the stage for tonight’s concert on Greyhound Park, featuring Bob Dylan and John Mellencamp.

• Ex-Boise cop admits more child victim, gets 25 years/Idaho Statesman
• Family seeks answers in Spokane security guard’s killing/Meghann Cuniff, S&G
• Idaho providers struggle with Medicare reimbursement/Ty Brennan, KTVB
• NIC hires new vice president of student services/Tom Greene, Press Room
  
• Close calls lead up to boating fatalities/Keith Kinnaird, Bonner County Bee
• Mine’s grizzly study shows higher bear numbers/Brad Fuqua, Bonner County Bee
• Investigation continues in fairgrounds area bomb case/Tom Hasslinger, Bee
  

Yeah, I know, I published this photo as a stand-alone Monday. But it deserves more than that — like APhoto of the Day honors. Here, a  mink runs past dead animals on a road in Hiliodendro, Greece Monday. More than 50,000  minks were set loose in the area on Friday and Saturday, after raids by suspected animal rights activists on two fur farms. As you can see, other minks didn’t make it. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Nikolas Giakoumidis)

Top Cutlines:

• 1. Sadly, numerous mink go from treasured furs to just another Greece spot — JohnA.
• 2. You will laugh, cry, and probably throw up in your mouth when you see this summer’s blockbuster thriller “My Big, Fat, Greek Mink Massacre” — Hereford.
• 3. Question: Why did the mink cross the road? — Herb.
• HM: Gary D. Rhodes
  

“In this week’s Main Street column HERE,” posts Kerri Thoreson/More Main Street, “there’s mention of the annual Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve BOSS Lift. Cyndie Hammond, Regional Director of Lewis-Clark State College, was one of the civilians who took part in the event at Gowen Field’s Idaho Army National Guard Joint Command Base in Boise last week.”

Question: Do the women in your life know how to use a gun?

I’m the kind of person who will not say “under God” when saying the pledge of allegiance, out of respect for American atheists, or who will defend in court the person who burns the flag in protest. But I am also the kind of person who looks with pride at that same flag - my flag - as it waves in the wind over a baseball field, as the national anthem plays. I swell with pride, looking at that flag and knowing the ideals that it represents, knowing that I belong to a nation that represents those ideals. Maybe that’s why I fit right in here, in America. I am, at heart, an impatient, idealistic, enthusiastic soul/Beth Bollinger, Accidental Rabbit Trails. More here.

• Idaho Dad walking, days 5 & 6/A Family Runs Through It
• Rest in peace, Pastor Creach/Community Comment
• Moderate Muslim? and: 9/11 redux: paranoid or prudent?/Dogwalk Musings
• Outlaws/From A Simple Mind
• 3BT: Pinehurst days, seeing Dave, out-of-the-blue Worley Trip/Kellogg Bloggin’
• Be an example/Live, Love, Laugh, Hope
• Panic/Notes on a Napkin
• There is no spoon, also no four/Rants, Raves, & Random Thoughts
• Celebrate conservation Sunday/Slight Detour
• Grosgrain/Tumblewords

HBO numbers (for Tuesday, Aug. 31): 11,205/6551, (for Monday, Aug. 30): 8551/5307; (for month of August): 200,450/124,633; (for year-to-date): 1,566,713/925,587

Question: Do you question the patriotism of people who don’t agree with your politics or religion?

A Montgomery County police officer puts up police tape to keep people away from the scene of the  Discovery  Channel networks headquarters building in Silver Spring, Md., earlier today. Police shot and killed a man upset with the Discovery Channel network’s programming who took two employees and a security officer hostage at the company’s headquarters Wednesday, officials said. All three hostages escaped safely. Story here.  (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

On Tuesday night, as the setting sun shimmered meekly through a blanket of gray clouds that lay over the Missoula Valley, Stephen Hoffman of Coeur d’Alene stood halfway between second and third base at Ogren-Allegiance Park, tilting toward center field as he listened intently to John Mellencamp singing a solo acoustic version of “Save Some Time to Dream,” off his brand new album, “No Better Than This.” “Yeah,” breathed Hoffman at the song’s end. “That was awesome. Wow. Good song.” Such was the scene at Tuesday night’s double-bill Mellencamp/Dylan concert, the largest in Missoula since the Rolling Stones rocked Washington-Grizzly/Joe Nickell, Missoulian. More here. (AP 2006 file photo, of John Mellencamp)

• Tonight: Dylan & Mellencamp will be at the Greyhound Park in Post Falls.
  

Question: What do you say to someone who thinks Bob Dylan has a lousy singing voice?

Dunno which one of the keyboard commandos at OpenCDA.com is Ancient Templar. But he was chiding Stebbijo for reading Huckleberries Online today. Quote: “Why do you even bother wasting your limited time reading that daily fish wrap? That’s an example of what you’ll fine across the state line.” Stebbijo responded: “That fish wrap is credible news – it’s even cited in the defendant’s memorandum!” I appreciate Stebbijo’s kudos. But the answer is even simpler than that. Even Stebbijo gets tired of the echo chamber at OpenCDA.com, with its occasional posts and 3 or 4 commandos keeping it alive. She wants to go where the action is. Where interesting stories are discussed. Where there’s a chance of influencing someone by posting thoughts in the comment section. Where readers are calculated in the 1000s not the 10s. I’d guess she isn’t the only OpenSewer.com reader who blurks here. But she is the only one woman enough to admit it. Right, Dan?

Jerard Rabb, right, presents a model wearing the new Boise State Nike football uniform, Wednesday in New York. Nike unveiled the uniquely designed Nike Pro Combat System of Dress uniforms that ten of the top college football programs will wear in select games during the 2010 season at a special media event in New York City. Story here. More photos here. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

• Cartoon: Charles Rangel’s here to stay/Milt Priggee, Seattle P-I
  
• Deputy in deadly Spokane Valley pastor shooting on vacation/Thomas Clouse, SR
• University of Idaho student’s poem to run in New Yorker/Jenny Shank, New West
  
• 9th Circuit rejects ‘absurd’ Idaho hate crime appeal/AP via Eye On Boise
• AAA: Idaho’s high gas prices ‘difficult to comprehend’/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise
• Idaho Lottery puts out last call for $1M Powerball winner/Katy Moeller, Statesman
• Otter’s golf tourney raises record $837K for scholarships/Dan Popkey, Statesman
• More Oregon footballers throw punches, not just the guys/Seattle Sports Blog
• Orbusmax Special: Costco veal leads to protest by animal rights group here
  

Question: Do you like the new Boise State uniforms?

Many of you Berry Pickers know that Sam and Kat Taylor’s newborn son, Wesley, has had a life and death struggle since he was born last Thursday afternoon, three weeks early. Now, Sam had developed a Web page for friends and other Hucks Online commenters to follow the improving condition of his “little Ninja.” First, Sam provides background: “Upon birth, Wesley suffered from Respiratory Distress Syndrome, meaning he has weak lungs and he needed help to breathe on his own. After spending some time in a special care nursery at the hospital, he suffered a pneumothorax — by straining or crying hard, they’re unclear, he tore a hole in one of his weak little lungs. Air leaked into Wesley’s chest cavity, his lung collapsed and the pressure began pushing on his other organs, including his heart.” You can read more and folo Wesley’s page here.

The Western Athletic Conference and Brigham Young University have entered into a scheduling agreement as announced today by WAC Commissioner Karl Benson. With BYU declaring that it will be an independent in the sport of football effective with the 2011 season, five WAC teams —  Hawai‘i, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State and San Jose State — will provide the Cougars with five games in the 2011 season and four games in the 2012 season. For the 2011 season, WAC schools will host two games against BYU, while three teams will travel to Provo. In 2012, BYU will play two games in WAC stadiums and host two WAC teams in Provo. Specific opponents and dates will be announced in the future/Spokesman-Review. More here.

Question: Individuals I’m following via Twitter are hosed that BYU won’t play Idaho in the Kibbie Dome under this arrangement. Seems the 16,000-seat Kibbie Dome is too small to attract the newly minted independent BYU. Do you think Idaho got the shaft?

My earliest recollection of the old North Shore Hotel occurred while I was managing editor of the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Mont. All of the Hagadone Newspaper execs from the Inland Northwest got together for a confab in Coeur d’Alene, which included a scrumptuous dinner at the old Cloud 9 at the top of Bob Templin’s North Shore, the forerunner of what is now Beverly’s. It was elegant as can be when seen through the eyes of a newspaper man from northwest Montana. OrangeTV posted this shot among a handful of Templin’s old North Shore on his Get Out! North Idaho Facebook page.

Question: Do you have a fond memory of Bob Templin’s old North Shore Hotel and/or Cloud 9 to share?

Central Bark, Coeur d’Alene’s first off-leash dog park, will open at noon Monday, with a barbecue and other fun events for owners and their dogs. The Coeur d’Alene Parks & Recreation Commission selected the name Central Bark from a list solicited by supporters of the dog park. The project was completed in cooperation with the Kootenai County Dog Park Association and School District 271.

Question: What do you think of the name Central Bark for Coeur d’Alene’s new dog park?

The deputy who fatally shot a Spokane Valley pastor last week has been unavailable for interviews with detectives probing the tragic shooting death because he reportedly was allowed to leave town for a scheduled weeklong vacation instead. The new details began emerging late Tuesday, when family members of Pastor Wayne Scott Creach said they’d been told by detectives in charge of the investigation that Deputy Brian Hirzel was allowed by Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich to proceed with his vacation plans rather than meet with investigators as soon as possible. Knezovich nor the Spokane Police Department, which is in charge of the shooting probe, has responded to requests for interviews on this topic/Thomas Clouse, SR. More here.

Question: Did Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich do the right thing by delaying the investigation into the shooting of a prominent Spokane Valley pastor for a week while the deputy involved takes a scheduled vacation?

• Noon: A cooperative shoplifter has been caught at Shopko/CdA.
• 11:38 a.m. A female in the lower parking lot of the Kootenai County courthouse is threatening to commit suicide. Means unknown.
  
• 11:16 a.m. Male on cell phone is driving his green Land Rover recklessly @ H95 & Ohio Match Road/Rathdrum.
  
• 11 a.m. Caller reports that a male staying in a Traditional Trail/CdA home with a chain blocking entrance to property has put parachute-type material over vehicle to hide it.
• 10:43 a.m. Patrol officer reports that signals are out at H95 & Hayden, possibly as result of power outage in area (see 10:34 a.m. report)
  
• 10:34 a.m. Caller from 11787 Alaska Loop/Hayden reports hearing an explosion before power went off in his house.
  
• 10:29 a.m. Officer has arrested an “extremely intoxicated” male who he caught urinating in downtown Coeur d’Alene.
  
• 10:14 a.m. A dog is caught by its collar on a fence along East Sherman/CdA. The dog may have tried to jump the fence.
• 10:06 a.m. Driver of a 2007 Toyota Tundra is flashing his lights and flipping off other drivers on I-90 @ M/P 16 (near Sherman Avenue exit).
• 9:58 a.m. Owner of a bike stolen from a Ramsey Road yard is in CPD Blue HQ.
• 8:51 a.m. CPD Blue is stopping to check on a drunk male in 1800 block of NW Blvd.
• 8:48 a.m. Vehicles are parked so haphazardly along Rosenberry Driver, adjacent to North Idaho College, that they’re blocking the road.
• 8:42 a.m. Barbara is calling KCSD re: possible mail scam.
  

Jon Hanian (pictured), spokesman for Gov. Butch Otter, contacted Huckleberries Online this morning to challenge this statement by Democrat Keith Allred from our online interview Tuesday: ““On Highway 12, he talked only to Imperial Exxon and Port of Lewiston, which had vested interests, and didn’t talk to all the folks upstream who will bear most of the burden and see little of the benefits.” E-mails Hanian: “That claim simply does not comport with the facts. The fact is we consulted and had discussions with: ITD, Bureau of Home Land Security, Division of Environmental Quality, Idaho State Police.  Inside state government, and outside state government we consulted with: USDA Forest Service, US Geological Survey, Northwest Passage Scenic By-ways, Advisory Team, Nez Perce Tribal Executive Council, Nez Perce Tribal Employment Rights Office.  Additionally,  three public meetings were conducted in Moscow, Lewiston, and Kooskia about the proposal. The Governor also hosted a Capital for a Day in Pierce where this issue was discussed as well.  As the Governor would say Mr. Allred is entitled to his opinions, but he is not entitled to his own facts.”

Question: Are you satisfied that Gov. Butch Otter did his home work before supporting the ConocoPhillips permit request to move massive refinery equipment on Highway 12?

Dr. Jacquelyn Kotarac, an internist who was involved in an “on-again, off-again” relationship, apparently tried to force her way into her boyfriend’s home by sliding down the  chimney, police said Tuesday. Her decomposing body was found there three days later. (AP 2007 file photo/Bakersfield Californian: Felix Adamo)

Question: Can you think of a worse way for a medical doctor to go?

• Tuesday Poll: Readers in Hucks Nation overwhelmingly consider the blue football turf of Boise State and the new red turf of Eastern Washington to be “awful.” 102 of 158 respondents (64.6%) said that both fields were awful. Of the other options available, 31 of 158 (19.6%) picked BSU’s field as attractive. 14 of 158 (8.9%) think the new EWU field is attractive. Only 5 of 132 (3.2%) consider both fields attractive. 6 respondents were undecided.
• Lewiston Tribune Poll: 372 of 569 respondents (65%) supported Judge John Bradbury’s decision to send ConocoPhillips mega-load permits back to Idaho Transportation Department.
  
• Today’s Poll: Now that the combat phase in Iraq is over, do you support the growing U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan?
  

Twice last week, 2nd District Judge John Bradbury asked what a lot of people would like to know: Why would ConocoPhillips spend $9 million barging massive oil processing equipment to the Port of Lewiston before getting the permits required to truck those mega loads up U.S. Highway 12? To make that kind of commitment without assurances would be, Bradbury said, “odd.” The judge didn’t get much of an answer. One lawyer said the oil company “had a sense” the permits would be issued. Idaho Transportation Department Director Brian Ness said the department hadn’t prejudged the matter.Since Bradbury ultimately halted the truck shipments and his ruling won’t get to an expedited Idaho Supreme Court hearing for another month, it would appear ConocoPhillips made a bad bet/Marty Trillhaase, Lewiston Tribune. More here.

Question: Why do you think ConocoPhillips went ahead with massive project at Port of Lewiston without getting necessary permits to transport massive oil processing equipment?

The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) is receiving federal money – and free television commercials – to educate young male drivers about the dangers of not wearing seat belts when operating vehicles and the agency is doing it in an eye-opening fashion. ITD released a commercial on Aug. 26 on YouTube entitled “Faceplant” which shows several pedestrians crashing their heads into the windshield of a young male driver before he, while not wearing his safety restraint, is rear-ended by a large truck/Dustin Hurst, Idaho Reporter. More here (beware graphic).

Question: Too graphic?

Democrats are scrambling after a recent Gallup poll indicated that if midterm elections were held today, Republicans are favored to take control of the House in November, according to a report by the Washington Post. The poll, which simply asked the generic ballot question, ‘which party’s candidate would you vote for in Congress elections?’ showed Republicans hold a commanding lead over Democrats with 51 percent compared to 41 percent, the report said. The 10-point poll margin marks the largest lead Republicans have seen since 2002 and 1994, when the party held onto a five point advantage. In both years, Republicans took back numerous seats in the House/NJ.com. More here.

Question: Is this an indictment on incumbents? Or something more than that?

Hosack said the case has a lot to prove to identify and overturn five votes that were illegally cast for Kennedy. The judge weighed nearly two hours of testimony from both counsels in support and against the hundreds of pages worth of affidavits and reports now filling multiple files in courthouse records regarding the civil suit that’s in its 10th month. While some of those filings don’t amount yet to fact in the court’s view, the case has come too far now to cut it off, the judge ruled. “If it were a trial, I have not been convinced,” Hosack said. “But this isn’t a trial”/Tom Hasslinger, Coeur d’Alene Press. More here. (SR file photo of Judge Charles Hosack by Kathy Plonka)

Question: What do you make of the statement by Judge Charles Hosack: ‘If it were a trial, I have not been convinced’?

In case you never thought you’d see it, a Catholic family just invited a door-belling Mormon missionary into their home. Such is the influence of college athletics. Consider this just the first of the jokes, ironies and wonders that will attend the marriage of Brigham Young University and the West Coast Conference, confirmed by both parties on Tuesday as the latest – but certainly not the last – quake to rearrange the intercollegiate furniture. Also confirmed:

• Latter-Day U. is no longer just a latent Notre Dame wannabe, but an actualized one with its declaration of football independence.
• Any notion that the WCC remains the scared-of-its-shadow CYO league of yore is severely misplaced.
• More from SR sports columnist John Blanchette here

Question: Can anyone make up and ending to this joke: What do you get when you mix a Mormon college with a Catholic basketball league … ?

Brigham Young University will play football as an independent beginning in 2011 and will join Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference for basketball. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac)

• Idaho Records/Sherry Adkins, Spokesman-Review
• Tuesday Scanner Traffic/DFO, Huckleberries Online
  
• Warmer weather expected through Saturday/Mike Prager, Spokesman-Review
• Son offers insight into pastor’s fatal encounter/Thomas Clouse, Spokesman-Review
• Ex-Lakeland High student sues over weight room mishap/Brian Walker, CdA Press
• Dog attack in Hayden park brings focus on no-dog rule/Tom Hasslinger, CdA Press
  
• Co-workers, family remember helicopter crash victims/Eric Barker, Lewiston Trib
• Meth seller on Coeur d’Alene rez gets 5 years/Meghann Cuniff, Sirens & Gavels
  
• WSU grizzly dies in attack by older bears/Moscow-Pullman Daily News
  

Kamm: I didn’t even try to fund my daughter’s college years. I paid for K-12 in the parochial school system. She was told from the time she was a tweenager, college was on her. She took full advantage of her high school experience and received scholarships and grants from almost every source she applied for. Aside for a few big trips to the store, I only supplied pocket money and phone cards.

Question: How much did you … are you … will you … help in funding of your child’s college education?

Moscow Minidoka: I’ve seen Dylan five times in various places, and loved every show. I don’t mind Mellencamp on the radio, but I don’t own any of his music and am not a fan. If Nugent comes on the classic rock station, I change the channels — heard too much of him in high school, and now he just annoys me. I’d go to the concert in a heartbeat if it wasn’t midweek. I really wanted to take my kids to see Dylan, but it’s not worth the drive to Post Falls on a school/work night, especially since Dylan will probably be the last act. I should have followed my heart and driven to Boise for Dylan at the Idaho Botanical Gardens. There’s also that little thing about price

Question: How many of you are going to the Dylan/Mellencamp concert at the Greyhound Park tonight?