Huckleberries Best of the Northwest — 1/9/06
A cow makes a dash onto 8th Ave. S. in Great Falls, Mont., while running from law enforcement officers. Appeals to spare the life of the 1,200-pound heifer came from across the nation after she fled Mickey's Packing Plant on Thursday, and had several near-death experiences before walking into a makeshift pen and a stock trailer. Now, it appears the cow may be saved here/APhoto.
1. In the "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" category, the rates Avista charges customers in the Inland Northwest are the lowest in our six-state region, while Montana's rates are the highest, here.
2. Cartoonist David Horsey/PI doodles re: the ailing Ariel Sharon and what he means to Israel security here.
3. Steve Hetrick, a former Air Force chaplain and carpenter, experienced the high of helping Hurricance Katrina survivors get their lives back together in New Orleans and now the low of having his tools stolen out of the back of his pickup while it was parked in a church lot here.
4. Further, the 1939 International school bus made famous by late author Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters, is being resurrected from the swamp on Kesey's Willamette Valley homestead, to tell the story of the psychedelic '60s here.
5. The new Oregon pseudoephedrine registry appears to be making a dent in the illegal drug trade built on turning the over-the-counter cold remedy into methamphetamine here.
6. IMHO-NW: D.F. Oliveria/Spokesman-Review (Monday's Huckleberries), Joel Connelly/Seattle PI (John Edwards comes to town), Doug Clark/Spokesman-Review (Washington rep can bite my tail pipe), Jim Kershner/Spokesman-Review (Longing for good ol' days?), and Jim Moore/Seattle PI (WSU Cougs on the rise).
Online Poll: 86% responding to a Helena Independent-Record poll believe the Jack Abramoff scandal is Jack Abramoff scandal is evidence of a more widespread problem.
*Idaho Values Alliance lobbies against same-sex marriage here.
*Victims advocates: Tougher sex offender laws could backfire here.
*Leukemia claims Montana lieutenant governor's wife here.
* A Wal-Mart employee of Pasco, Wash., has been taken into custody for investigation in seven bomb threats against two stores in Washington and one in Oregon here.
Orbusmax Special: The new endangered species in Oregon? Hunters and fishermen, with habitat the loser, here.
