We're at the end of another productive week at HucksOnline. Where the political story line is getting curiouser and curiouser, with state Sen. Jim Hammond opting to seek the presidency of North Idaho College rather than re-election. And state Rep. Bob Nonini jumping at warp speed into the void by announcing that he wants Hammond's Senate seat. House Speaker Lawerence Denney has ap-hollow-gized for being heavy handed (and getting called on it) toward redistricters. And Stormin' Norm Semanko has pulled the plug on his bid for another term as Idaho GOP chair. We have much to anticipate as the new redistricting map takes hold. So I'll play this Wild Card and see how the day unfolds …

Mike Mathers, of Fairbanks, Alaska, poses with a cast of former NFL football player Irv Eatman's arm at the NFL Experience during Super Bowl festivities today in Indianapolis. The New England Patriots are scheduled to face the New York Giants in NFL football's Super Bowl XLVI on Feb. 5. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Question: Do you have a muscular bicep?

Inmates at Kootenai County Jail have been on their best behavior in order to keep their television privileges to watch the Super Bowl this Sunday. Last week, KREM 2 crews discovered the inmates at the jail were on their best behavior so they could watch the Super Bowl this year.  When KREM 2’s Cole Heath checked in with inmates Friday, they remained on their best behavior. It won’t be a typical football watch party, but the inmates say they are ready for the big game. Inmates say the televisions are turned off if anyone misbehaves, and they say that has happened in the past/KREM. More here.

Question: What are your Super Bowl plans?

• 5:18 p.m. Post Falls store wants to trespass woman in bathroom who stole from tip jar before. (Update: Officer asks for EMTs to evaluate woman who is in the bathroom vomiting.)
• 5:11 p.m. Hayden WalMart security catches girl shoplifting while her parents are in the store.
• 4:53 p.m. Sasha reports someone wrote on her vehicle while parked at Hayden WalMart.
• 4:47 p.m. PFPD officer has located possibly suicidal 16YO girl (4:10 item) and asked for back-up “in case she goes bonkers.”
• 4:30 p.m. Coeur d'Alene Police Department activities report for Feb. 2-3 here.
• 4:11 p.m. Chip trucker willing to sign complaint on young speeder on H41 @ Jackson/Spirit Lake.
• 4:10 p.m. 16YO Post Falls girl named in GMC Sierra, last seen @ 3 p.m., texted family that she was going to jump off a bridge and then texted she would never do that.
• 4:07 p.m. Escapee Michael Dean Henderson, 47, of Coeur d'Alene, who walked away from prison work release in Orofino today, may have been located. No further information.
• 4:01 p.m. 4 girls, about 15YOs, are arguing as they walk e/b on 12th & American//PF.
• 3:53 - 4:01 p.m. Deputy Jerame Lee spotted escapee Michael Dean Henderson, 47, of Coeur d'Alene, along Highway 12.  He detained Henderson and transported him to the Clearwater County Sheriff’s Office. He will be returning to prison this evening. Mia Carlson/KZBG report here.
• 12 more items below + AM Scanner Traffic link

Zoe Keliher, NTSB Air Safety Investigator, along with Boise Mayor Dave Bieter, right, and Boise Fire Chief Dennis Doan, left, addresses media about the plane crash that killed Micron CEO Steve Appleton, at Boise Airport today in Boise. Stories below. (AP/Statesman: Katherine Jones)

• Statesman Appleton 5-fer: Micron CEO dies in plane crash, and: Micron names No. 2 Durcan as interim leader, and: Micron impact: Appleton was company's czar, and: Bio: Competitive CEO, tennis player, daredevil, and: When the boss dies unexpectedly, an issue that now confronts Micron
• Shareholders file suit against Hecla/Spokesman-Review
• Kootenai County fire & rescue gets new chief/Coeur d'Alene Press
• 2 Benewah County inmates try to escape through hole in jail wall/KREM
• Poll shows most Idahoans favorable to liquor privatization/Betsy Russell, EOB
• Shoshone County risks losing 48% of roads budget/Kelsey Saintz, Shoshone N-P
• WSU sorority loses school recognition after hazing, under-age drinking claims/KREM

Wanna know why I stay away from downtown Coeur d'Alene after hours? Check out this battery report from 10:15 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 22: “Officers responded to the Eagles Club (209 E. Sherman) for a battery call involving two males and a female at a wedding party. According to the female victim (33 years), she was having a conversation with several people about religion, and the suspect male (31 years) did not like what she had to say. At one point, the female’s husband, a 33 year old male, stood behind her and said “hi” to the suspect who in return (for unknown reasons) punched him in the face three times causing him to fall to the ground and loose consciousness. When the suspect began walking away, the female followed him asking, “What in the hell did you do that for?” and when she was near the top of the stairs, the suspect male either grabbed or pushed her causing her to fall down 4-5 stairs causing lacerations on her legs, bruising, rug burns and a bump on the head.” A lot of battery & some serious injury in latest Bar Report here.

Idaho Statesman editorial for Saturday: Micron Technology Inc. was unquestionably Steve Appleton’s company. “It was ruled by one guy,” former Micron employees and Boise semiconductor analyst Mike Howard said. For the years that have coincided closely with Appleton’s time and corporate climb at Micron, this has also been Boise’s company. The Treasure Valley’s connection to the global and fiercely competitive computer chip sector, Micron has been one of the Valley’s largest private employers. On Friday, Appleton left a void at Micron, and in a Valley he supported with his generosity and philanthropy. He died suddenly and too soon while pursuing one of his off-hours passions: flying. Appleton died at age 51 — too young for someone who, as Gov. Butch Otter said Friday, “lived life to the fullest”/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. More here. (2005 AP file photo of Steve Appleton)

Reaction?

Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, walks toward the Idaho Capitol in Boise on Monday. After another Republican representative quit smoking last year, Nonini is the lone open smoker in the Idaho Legislature. (AP photo)

Standing outside the Capitol on a brisk January afternoon, Rep. Bob Nonini cups his hand deftly to shelter a cigarette — not from the wind, but from a camera. The Coeur d'Alene Republican and House Education Committee chairman has the distinction of being the lone Idaho lawmaker who still regularly, if bashfully, steps outside for a smoke. “This is private,” Nonini says, declining further comment this week. His solo status in Idaho's Statehouse underscores a decadeslong transformation in American culture. But despite a near absence of smokers in the Republican-dominated Legislature, don't hold your breath in anticipation of new anti-cigarette laws, even with about a quarter of lawmakers belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which forbids tobacco use/John Miller, AP. More here.

Question: Would you be more/less/same likely to vote for a candidate who smokes?

This Sunday, in the midst of the war of attrition that will be Super Bowl XLVI, Madonna will roll her ridiculously ornate stage onto the field at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and attempt to blow some minds for eight or nine minutes. Madonna can certainly do it; she has the requisite deep catalog of hits, a theatrical approach to performing, and enough bold-faced numbers in her iPhone to unleash some surprises. “Give Me All Your Luvin’” probably won’t get the job done on its own, though luckily she has “Vogue,” “Holiday,” “Ray of Light,” and “Like a Prayer” in her pocket. So who will she have to eclipse to get mentioned in the greatest Super Bowl halftime performances of all time?/Kyle Anderson, Entertainment Weekly. More here. (AP photo: Madonna speaks during a news conference for NFL football's Super Bowl XLVI's halftime show Thursday)

Question: Which halftime Super Bowl show was the best ever?

Here's the backstory behind the numerous calls at today's budget hearing for funding a state suicide prevention hotline: Idaho's previous hotline closed at the end of 2006 for lack of funding. Since then, various locally funded hotlines around the country have volunteered to temporarily take Idaho calls; currently, Idaho calls are being answered by a locally funded community hotline in Oregon. However, they have less access to local referrals in Idaho to help callers, and funding there is becoming a problem. Meanwhile, news stats, based on 2009 data - the most recent - came out this week showing that Idaho's suicide rate has jumped up to fourth in the nation/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here. (Wikipedia photo of suicide prevention photo of Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Calif.)

Question: Wouldn't Idaho have a high suicide rate even it if had a suicide prevention hotline?

Members of the Fischer family listen as Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, speaks at a campaign rally in Elko, Nev., Friday. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

The Dow Jones industrial average has closed at its highest level since before the 2008 financial crisis. The Dow jumped 157 points Friday to close at 12,862. That’s the highest since May 2008. The Nasdaq composite index closed at its highest level since December 2000. Before the market opened, the Labor Department said companies hired 243,000 employees in January. That’s the strongest job growth in nine months. The increase in hiring pushed the unemployment rate down to 8.3 percent/AP. More here.

Also: Hiring surges in January, jobless rate at 8.3%/AP

Question: Are you optimistic that we're finally turning the corner to happy times again?

A political blog in the other Washington, The Daily Caller,  suggests a certain congresswoman from this Washington could have a shot at the No. 2 spot on the GOP presidential ticket this fall. The blog quotes a Republican strategist, Kellyanne Conway, as saying Cathy McMorris Rodgers would fit the bill as a vice presidential selection that “needs to be a surprise, but not a shocker.” The blog goes on to recount the parts of McMorris Rodgers bio that would make her a good pick on paper: daughter of fruit farmers, first in her family to attend college, married to a retired naval pilot, only woman to have two kids while in Congress, founder of the Congressional Down Syndrome Caucus after her first child, Cole, was born with that condition, leadership post in the House Republican Caucus, from a Western state/Jim Camden, Spin Control. More here. (SR file photo of Cathy McMorris Rodgers celebrating re-election in November 2010)

Question: Would Cathy McMorris Rodgers be a better pick for a Republican vice presidential candidate than another woman with roots in the Inland Northwest, Sarah Palin?

Denney (left) and Semanko (right) got caught up in trying to out-conservative their own conservative party. We have seen this attitude play out too often right here in Kootenai County, and inevitably, it serves neither the citizens at large nor the Republican Party itself. This Constitutionalist/Libertarian wing of the party represents a political splinter group so contrary to the basics of good government that the county's Reagan Republicans have distanced themselves from their alleged party mates. … We're hopeful that the Republican Party will find leaders more in tune with this great state's ideals, and we offer a sincere suggestion for those who argue that the party isn't conservative enough: Declare yourself a Constitutionalist, a Libertarian or even an anarchist, but stop masquerading as something you're not/Mike Patrick, Coeur d'Alene Press Editorial Board. More here.

Question: What do you make of Mike's point that the Constitutionalists/Libertarians/militia, etc., embedded in the local Republican Party should be honest enough to quit masquerading as something they're not?

I have to wonder if some state lawmakers are serious about defending the state's sovereignty and the notion of limited government. Witness a bill that was before the House Health and Welfare Committee a few days ago: The measure in question would expand the role of state government in the upbringing of children. Under Idaho law, the government already has a program to swoop in and offer early childhood services for “at risk” infants and toddlers with disabilities. Under the changes being pondered by the Legislature, support would be offered up to children from birth to age 5 who have “special needs.” Of course, the Department of Health and Welfare insists that such an expansion of its role isn’t an expansion at all, that the words  “special needs” are merely a kinder, gentler way of describing an array of human frailties in which the government may offer support.  And those children who are at risk? Why, that includes every possible combination of ailment under the sun/Wayne Hoffman, Idaho Freedom Foundation. More here.

Question: Do you view this issue the same way that Wayne Hoffman/IFF does?

From FRAN FRIED to Romansko.com: This is something that’s been on the back of my mind for a long time — the media’s use of the acronym “GOP” to describe the Republican Party. I know it makes things easier for copy editors like me in an era of narrowed web widths, but simply: Isn’t “Grand Old Party” a form of editorializing? (And “Just because it’s always been done that way” isn’t a legit response …) More here.

Question: Well, should the media refer to the Republican Party as “GOP”?

Emergency personnel look over the wreckage of a Lancair aircraft that crashed at the Boise Airport Friday morning in Boise, killing Steve Appleton, the chief executive and chairman of Micron, the company said. He was 51. Officials at the airport say the experimental aircraft crashed between two runways. (AP/Statesman photo: Joe Jaszewski)

Fire crews are investigating a small plane crash at the Boise Airport that resulted in the death of Micron CEO Steve Appleton around 9 a.m. Friday. Appleton was the only person in the plane, according to Boise Airport reports and Micron reports. A news conference is scheduled for 2 p.m. Ada County dispatchers say reports came in of a small plane, with one person on board, on fire before it landed near an airport runway. The plane, a Lancair experimental aircraft, went down between two runways. The Lancair is a single-engine prop plane/Idaho Statesman. More here. (AP file photo: Steve Appleton checks on components of the engine that ran a stunt jet airplane in Boise in December 2005)

• Idaho delegation reacts to Steve Appleton's death/Kevin Richert, Statesman
• Idaho Statesman photo gallery in memory of Steve Appleton
• 2008 Idaho Press Tribune feature on Appleton: 'I don't have any regrets'/Brenda Ceja

Reaction?

• 11:28 a.m. Caller reports male in her neighborhood walking around w/handgun hunting coyotes.
• 11:24 a.m. Caller willing to sign complaint re: speeding/reckless white Lexus @ H95 & Silverwood.
• 11:21 a.m. Dodge Stratus crashed through fence into field near Seltice Way & Corbin/PF after going into ditch at one point & stopping in middle of road at another.
• 11:11 a.m. Clearwater County sheriff looking for 6-0, 190-pound Michael Dean Henderson, 47, who walked away from work release at the Idaho Correctional Institute in Orofino this morning and may be on way to Spokane or mother's home in Coeur d'Alene. Story here.
• 9 more items below

Rebekah Casey of Hayden (pictured in Eye On Boise photo) was one of the individuals who testified about Medicaid cuts before the Idaho Legislature budget committee this morning (she's one pictured in Eye on Boise link). Betsy reports on Rebekah's testimony: “My husband and I have adopted two children through the foster care system. My daughter has been receiving PSR services for almost two years now.” The youngster struggles, she said. “Without the PSR services … we would not have been able to maintain her in our home.” Over the summer, Casey said, her daughter suffered a crisis, and was unable to obtain additional psycho-social rehabilitation services due to the new 5-hour cap on such services for children. “Instead we were forced to consider medicating our 4-year-old daughter, when therapy services would have been sufficient,” Casey told lawmakers. More here.

• JFAC members: 'Put a human face on our budget decisions'
• JFAC wraps up after 2 1/2 hours of public testimony
• Testimony: 'I don't know what we'll do'
• Testimony: Parents of mentally ill kids being told to get them into juvie for treatment
• Testimony: School funding, state employee pay, restoring PSR, dental cuts
• Testimony: Impact of Medicaid cuts, funding priorities, suicide hotline…
• Testimony: ‘Medicaid cuts don’t necessarily lead to savings’

Question: Should the Idaho Legislature restore Medicaid cuts?

Carol Griffin, of Coeur d'Alene, dodges raindrops while taking a walk Wednesday along Sherman Avenue. The weekend forecast, however, is for sunny skies. See below. (SR photo: Kathy Plonka)

• Idaho Records/Sherry Adkins, SR
• Sunny weekend in offing/Spokesman-Review
• Blanchette: Motum deserves huge shoutout/SR
• Micron CEO Appleton dies in plane crash/Statesman
• Warren Buffet gets silly with Lake City alum/CdA Press
• “Teacher Grandpa” faces life in prison for child rape/KREM
• Idaho DEQ director quits to take Nature Conservancy post/AP
• SW Idaho man charged in mobster theft dead/Nate Green, IPT
• 500 copies of EWU Easterner dumped in trash/Anusha Roy, KXLY
• Kootenai County to reconsider luxury resort permit/Alecia Warren, Press
• Call to restore Medicaid cuts dominates hearing/Dan Popkey, Statesman
• 'Doogie Howser' try doesn't work at pharmacy/John Grant Emeigh, Standard
• House looks at another special plate, Senate wants limit/Betsy Russell, EOB
• Orbusmax Special: Seattle libraries: No sleeping or eating allowed, but porn watching OK here