Photo: The late Ron Rankin is shown with his wife, Alice, and daughter, Kerri, in the hall of heroes of the county courthouse veterans memorial prior to Memorial Day ceremonies 2004.

Seems young sweethearts go a-roamin'
Almost all students at North Idaho College cheat on their significant others. The gals more than the guys. This, according to Heather Dorrell/NIC Sentinel reporter. In a recent column, Heather admitted she got caught unawares for a brief period by a “manipulative out-of-towner.” But folks talk in small towns. Soon, she discovered her new beau had a cheating heart. Still, she gave him credit for being “an excellent liar and very talented when it came to keeping his stories straight and making legitimate-sounding excuses.” Bottom line? The kids can have the dating game. Huckleberries’ Hound has been a one-woman man for 30 years (as of June 21). And for some inexplicable reason she’s still Patsy Cline crazy for me.

Cheating Heart II
“C.J.,” a Coeur d’Alene man who got lonely when his wife left town, is poorer after a fling with a Spokane dating service. Seems he opened his door to a femme fatale a few days after calling the service – for companionship, not sex – and chatted her up until she asked to use the phone. At that point, he opted for a potty break and found the woman gone when he returned, with $200 in cash and a diamond-studded bracelet. Now, all he has to remember her by are a set of keys she left behind, on a key chain that sez “Bow to the Queen.” That, and a police report, which the real queen of the castle should find interesting.

Sightem
Four boys with boards on the sidewalk walking along Northwest Boulevard toward the Coeur d’Alene Skate Park – that is, three of them had skateboards in hand. The fourth was pushing a baby in a stroller. Musta got marching orders from Mrs. Teen-age Dream. That, or he was practicing for one of those PSA commercials about the consequences of fooling around.

Poet’s Corner
“Tears and laughter/flow warm and free,/welcome back home/Battery P” – The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Return” of Papa Battery) … Spokane’s John Livingston spotted this sign in a yard of a 48 Percenter along North Ritchey: “When women vote, Democrats win.” Didn’t Laura Bush vote? … Kerri Rankin Thoreson has the money to finish the job her late father, Ron, started when she sets in place the final war mural at the Kootenai County Courthouse vets memorial before Memorial Day – a group of Marines at Fallujah kneeling in prayer over a fallen buddy (see photo online). It was a Ronfather favorite (Ronfather link shows Ron as a young fightin' Marine.)

Huckleberries
“… A free hot dog dinner will be served in our lunchroom couresty of a state nutrition grant” – Fernan Elementary newsletter. For a few bucks more, they coulda had nutritional macaroni and cheese as a side dish … Gotta kick out of those photos (in online edition) by Phil Corless/The Old Goat Trail of the big cracks in the concrete supports beneath Hagadone Corp HQ … Shallow Thoughts: “There are no easy ways to break up with someone but an e-mail is only better than a sharpie scrawled note wrapped around a rock and thrown through a bedroom window” – Bob Salsbury on his new blog … Among the things Phil Corless is tired as saying as a father: “Cover your mouth when you cough.” Sound familiar? … Huckleberries Online provides a tabulator today that tells how long you’ve lived, to the minute. Me? 29,078,835 minutes – and counting.

Parting Shot
Every winter, Joy O’Donnell would say, Sandpointers should gather at Long Bridge to throw rocks at one another. A Great Rock Fight might knock the winter orneriness out of them. O’Donnell’s laid up. But her friend Marianne Love/Slight Detour sez a rock fight is needed now more than ever. Residents can’t get along. Eight people just resigned from the Panida Theater board, for example. Only one problem with Marianne’s plan. Which sinner would throw the first stone?

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