Huckleberries Best of the Northwest — 10/9/06
US Army Reserve solider Shawn Green sustained a back injury while serving in Iraq. The VA hospital has noticed a high rate of back injuries, most likely due to the weight of equipment they carry while fighting. Green is unemployed and living in north Spokane, Washington near the Division Street Y here/Dan Pelle, Spokesman-Review.
Stapilus Two-fer: SR surprises by endorsing Demo Larry Grant for Congress here, and guv wannabe Butch Otter muzzles possible critics by hiring them away from media here.
1. A Spokane man watched in desperation as his dying friend struggled for breath, but he couldn't get immediate assistance from professionals just inside Spokane's Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Instead those VA staffers dialed 911 to get help for the man in the hospital parking lot here. Related: Cathy McMorris questions VA about death here.
2. A Republican state lawmaker is criticizing Gov. Brian Schweitzer for comments he made to a newspaper here about the lawmaker's belief that the planet is not millions of years old here.
3. It's been 47 years since the state set jury duty pay at $10 a day. Next month, jurors in two Washington counties and one municipal court system will begin making $61.04 a day -- the equivalent of eight hours at the state's minimum wage -- as part of a state-funded pilot project to see if boosting jury duty pay will get a greater number and more diverse pool of people to serve here.
4. 'Tis hard to believe that anyone would glory in someone else's tragedy. But the commenters who haunt the Democratic Underground Web site were rejoicing at the news of former Congressman Helen Chenoweth-Hage's death in a vehicle accident last week, according to D.F. Oliveria/Spokesman-Review, here.
5. A popular brand of lettuce grown in California's Salinas Valley is being recalled in Idaho, Washington, Oregon and other states over concerns of E. coli contamination here.
6. IMHO-NW: Doug Floyd/Spokesman-Review (System leaves too many deaths uninvestigated), Frank Sennett/Spokesman-Review (Stripping down comics blogs), Frank Mieli/Kalispell Daily Inter Lake (TV infection has no vaccine), David Horsey/Seattle PI (Disgraced congressmen don't need lawyers), and Joni Balter/Seattle Times (Washington U.S. Senate showdown).
Online Poll: 65% of 110 respondents to a Lewiston Tribune poll say the Mark Foley scandal will help Democrats take control of the House this fall.
*Ski Magazine puts Sun Valley in top 10 here.
*Ex-Boise State defensive end charged with sexual assault here.
*Rev. Jesse Jackson sets MLK Day speech in Boise here.
Orbusmax Special: Oregon boy awakens after 22 months in coma here.
