Gov. Jon Huntsman holds up a golden spike replica as he announces that Utah's quarter will feature the connection of the transcontinental railroad during a ceremony today in Promontory, Utah. The coin is scheduled to be minted in 2007. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac)

1. Eric Devericks/Seattle Times 'toons re: that letter to the U.S. by the whacky Iranian prez here.

2. Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu placed a hold on Gov. Dirk Kempthorne's nomination as Interior secretary today after the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved him. Landrieu's hold means Senate leaders cannot bring the nomination to the floor for debate or a vote unless they can get 60 votes to override her here.

3. A 400-pound, green and yellow fire hydrant apparently spent more than 30 years in the upstairs bedroom of a Yakima couple's home before it was returned recently to the West Valley Fire District, after the man's death here.

4. A 9-year-old boy was rescued Tuesday from the Spokane River by a man who was pulled out of North Idaho's St. Joe River when he was about the same age here.

5. A Spokane woman has been charged with stealing thousands of dollars from her Liberty Lake employer to get her breasts enlarged here.

6. IMHO-NW: Dan Popkey/Idaho Statesman (Kempthorne could have done more), Missoulian (Soft drinks and education), Kalispell Daily Inter Lake (Lumber pact may restore fair trade), Idaho Mountain Express (Kempthorne changes stewardship view), and John Blanchette/Spokesman-Review (EWU pair love track, each other).

Online Poll: In a 50-50 split, respondents to a St. Maries Gazette-Record poll were undecided whether Zacarias Moussoai's sentence of life in prison was enough.

*Actor Tom Cruise's stop in Aberdeen, Wash., thrills fans here.

*Nez Perce to open casino for miles east of Lewiston in July here.

*Boise State plans to add four sports over the next decade, including swimming and diving this fall here.

*An 18-year-old Portland man with autism, whose recruitment renewed questions about Army practices, was released Tuesday from his enlistment contract here.

Orbusmax Special: Gubernatorial candidates call Butch Otter "chicken" here.

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