Spokane7
32°
For a priest in northern England, the commandment that dictates “thou shalt not steal” isn’t exactly written in stone. The Rev. Tim Jones caused an uproar by telling his congregation that it is sometimes acceptable for desperate people to shoplift _ as long as they do it at large national chain stores, rather than small, family businesses. Jones’ Robin Hood-like sermon drew rebukes Tuesday from fellow clergy, shop owners and police. 
my fault!), and that is that my two sons never got their picture taken with Santa. We tried but failed miserably. It happened that my first son was born on the 10th of December – a little too young for a picture with Santa, mainly because as a new mother, I was NOT going to let just anyone hold my brand new baby. Not even a jolly old saint of a man, wearing red pajamas and ho-hoing loudly, giggling his large belly. No way. We settled for dressing the baby in a Santa outfit and placing him under the tree for endless adorable pictures/JeanieS, Nuts & Nonsense. 
long day of travel. I ordered a double Crown and Coke. This geeky bartender comes back, “we can only serve one once of alcohol at a time”, what about a shot and a beer?, “that is OK”, is it normal beer?, “What do you consider normal?”, well, for starters normal beer would contain 3.5-5% alcohol, “No, it’s low alcohol beer”, So I can have a shot and a low alcohol beer but not a double cocktail? “Yes”, can I have another Crown and Coke? Are you done with the first one”, almost, “I’ll need to take the glass before I can serve you a second”, you people are WEIRD, beam me up Scotty! 
of the switch to a new system for S-R blogs, Huckleberries lost about 40 percent of its traffic, for a variety of reasons. The blog spent much of the early part of the year catching up to the big daily numbers that it had in 2007 and 2008. HBO topped 2 million page-views last week and is ending the fourth quarter on a pace for 2.5M. More than ever, Huckleberries today resembles the kind of cyber place that I envisioned when I started this experiment almost 6 years ago. On a coupla occasions during the second half of the year, I divided comments among conservatives, liberals, and neutrals, and took polls to calculate the political balance of the blog. It couldn’t be more balanced. Huckleberries has become a place where almost everyone is accepted and respected despite a wide range of political, religious, and philosophical views. Things can still get rough in the comments section. But nothing like the old days. We’ve come a long ways, Berry Pickers. But we have a ways to go yet. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year/DFO.
Idaho gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell will be mixing what he calls doctrines from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints into his gubernatorial campaign in a series of meetings slated for LDS elders only. In January, Rammell will kick off a series of special meetings targeted specifically at “faithful priesthood-holders of the LDS Church” to discuss the so-called “White Horse” prophecy. “There is nothing secret about the meeting — it’s just the sacred nature of the things we will be talking about,” said Rammell. “We are going to talk about (LDS Church founder) Joseph Smith’s prophecy that the Constitution will be hanging by a thread and that the Latter-day Saint elders will step forward and save it”/Rexburg Standard Journal. 
DUI hit-and-run this last September. Washington State Patrol troopers say Sergeant Brad Thoma was legally intoxicated when he rear ended another driver in September then drove away from the crash without exchanging information about the fender bender. Because it was the veteran sergeant’s first offense he was able to enter a deferred prosecution program. Under that agreement Thoma can only drive vehicles with a special device that would test Thoma’s breath for the presence of alcohol. The car wouldn’t start if the ignition interlock detected alcohol. However Chief Kirkpatrick wasn’t willing to equip Thoma’s patrol car and other police vehicles he might drive with the devices/Jeff Humphrey, KXLY. 
and juvenile argument to the effect that man-caused global warming is true and the fact that there is such total scientific “concensus” among “real” scientists proves it’s true. He used a wikipedia article as support. Some of the other Huckleberry commenters can be quite, er, critical about the links people use to support their points, but in this case the wiki link sailed through. A wiki link? You’ve got to be kidding me… Wikipedia, that bastion of knowledge and untainted truth, with articles written by the smartest people on earth? Wikipedia, that liberal slimepit of lies and fabrication, where articles are written and edited by hacks? Which is it?/BillH, Free In Idaho! 
those surveyed find something “other” to believe in, whether it’s reincarnation, yoga as a spiritual practice, astrology, spiritual energy in mountains, trees or crystals, or that old-time favorite, the “evil eye.” In a different direction, and on a different continent, the tiny seed of liberal religion has found some fertile soil; mostly as a result of Africans having contact with Unitarians in the US, but also by “Google-powered spiritual journeys”/Fort Boise. 
responding to a domestic violence call near Eatonville, a spokesman said. The shooting was the third within two months in which police officers in the Seattle-Tacoma metroplitan area were targeted by gunmen. The suspected shooter, identified as David Edward Crable, 35, (pictured) was shot and killed during the incident, which happened shortly after 9 p.m. in the 
stuff to pass around the neighborhood again!!!! Have I EVER had a rough couple of months. The irony is I’m far more injured than I was in my rollover car accident. Just put my foot down the wrong way, did a face plant on the concrete and my glasses went into my face. Let’s hear it for klutziness. I freaked out and called the EMTs because I could stick my finger into my face and that was a little bit unnerving. As was the copious amount of blood. My poor son freaked out and thought I was going to die. Full post below.
at 6 PM, seventy people, many homeless, many young, gathered together around a burn barrel, in the rain, to remember Wayne and others who live without a roof over their heads. Four of their friends died this week, one pulled from his car, another found hanging from a bridge, unable , or unwilling, to live one more day out on the street. People came to look into the faces of those who live faceless among us and to offer a light to those existing in the dark.
wedding gift came along in the form of Idaho’s and Bowling Green’s 7-5 football seasons. Those records have landed the Vandals and Falcons in the Humanitarian Bowl on Dec. 30, and that’s made for some interesting conversations in the couple’s home on wheels, a 37-foot, 4-inch RV. The Vandals haven’t been bowling since 1998, when DeMulling and his teammates went from a preseason No. 112 ranking (last in Division I-A) to a Big West title and a 42-35 HumBowl victory over heavily favored Southern Mississippi. As luck would have it, Danielle graduated from Bowling Green/Jim Meehan, SR. 
down and write out a thank you note and mail it? Or being we are more into internet, do you sent an email? Or is just saying thank you, at the time the gift is given to you, enough? The Emily Post correctness is you write a note of thanks. Not just a card, but to actually write a note of thanks andhow much you appreciate it. She would never go for the email thank you note. I know I was required, even as a small child, to write a note of thanks. I also trained my children to write a note of thanks when it was a gift sent to them. If they were hand given, then I let them off with just saying thank you. Which they usually did on their own/Cis, From A Simple Mind. 
there aren’t going to be able to raise their kids in the very community they grew up in,” Benjamin says. The culprit is not necessarily individual discrimination, but structural and institutional momentum, with zoning and real estate policies often implemented by wealthy newcomers. “It’s not just a natural fact of life, how resources are mobilized on behalf of the rich,” Benjamin says. “The real estate industry has lobbied the (Coeur D’Alene) local government in such a way that you can only zone property on a one-acre lot. “The stated reason of one-acre lot rules is to control ‘congestion’ and to keep ‘low density.’ In reality, by requiring a one acre lot, the locality ensures only wealthy people move in — how many poor people/renters do we know who can afford a one-acre lot?/Rob Baedecker, Special to SF Gate. 
It’s going to be hard to muster up the usual festive Christmas spirit this year. On Thursday, we took our cat Milo to the vet after he started showing signs of weight loss and weakness. The diagnosis was kidney failure. The vet told us the end was coming fast and that we should consider having him put to sleep. This was all too sudden for us, and I held out some hope that the vet might be wrong/Idaho Dad, A Family Runs Through It. 
Factchecker: The last few weeks the spam to my e-mail has been outrageous. About 40-50 per day. A lot of them are these types of scams. Why does anyone open these? Haven’t we all been warned about these over and over?
the conservative Tea Party rebellion should move from the soapbox to the ballot box, it might well beat the Republican Party, according to a recent Rasmussen Reports survey. In what the pollsters called a “three-way Generic Ballot test,” voters were asked in a national telephone survey to assume the Tea Party movement had become a political party and then to say whether they would be likely to support a Democratic, Republican, or Tea Party candidate for Congress in their districts. Democrats drew 36 percent of all respondents, while 23 percent said the Tea Party would be their choice. Only 18 percent said they would be inclined to support a Republican candidate/Jack Kenny, New American. 
man was caught sleeping on the couch of a Spokane nail salon early Saturday in an alleged burglary detectives think may have been sexually motivated, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. The owners of Perfect Nails, 9311 N. Division St., arrived at the business about 9 a.m. Saturday and found the front door smashed out and a man police identified as Matthew S. Kelso, 21, sleeping on a couch. Kelso was still asleep when police arrived and was “physically taken into custody” after deputies said he refused to show his hands, according to a news release/Meghann M. Cuniff, Sirens & Gavels. 
shopping. The mice bought their gifts, after thoughtful consideration, by Nov. 15. The men wait until Dec. 24 — or if possible, until the small hours of Christmas Day itself. Ladies, think of it as male power shopping — but with an adrenaline rush. Starting time, as ever, will be 10 p.m. on Dec. 24. At that moment, you haven’t bought a single present — and more ominously, you haven’t purchased a single gift for your wife. By 10 o’clock on Christmas Eve, your options are something less than limited. Walmart and Target close at 6 p.m., Kmart, Sears and Home Depot at 7, J.C. Penney at 8. By 10 p.m., only convenience stories will be happy to see you — well, they’re not happy to see you, but they’re open/Steve Crump, Twin Falls Times-News. 
momentum: See Michigan State, Wake
Forest, Duke, all losses. Sits idly and calmly by as the refs kill his team. My God, man, do a Bob
Knight and throw a chair or something. Refuses to give ‘King’ Kong his minutes. Must not have liked “The King and
I”, RE: exceptional guys from the Sudan. Satisfied that if he can win 80% of his games, make a mil a year and go
flyfishing in north Idaho, life is good and who needs a Final Four, anyway?
laundromat. The pages are dog-eared, the covers are crumpled and the dryer with your clothes is going 
(somewhat exaggerated, but not by much) news reporters and anchors at KHQ change, which means just as you were getting used to their brand of news on Saturday mornings, since they offer the only news available in lieu of kiddee cartoons, what you see is what you get. The latest import, Jennifer Rohrar, seems to follow the logic that apparently rules how personnel are chosen at the station. They must not know anything about Spokane issues and news and they must have TEETH. Extra points are given if they can correctly pronounce the word Spokane. Oh, my word. There is hardly a sentence that goes by but what Mz. Rohrar doesn’t exhibit a set of whitened monster chompers that would do an angry wolverine justice/David Laird, Community Comment. 
Rev. Andy Schumacher’s journey to the priesthood began more than a half-century ago on a train bound for Oregon. “I used to stammer and stutter,” he recalled. “I left Lewiston on the train and the car transferred at Riperia. I was sitting there in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night. It was the first time I’d left home.” There in the cold rail car, Schumacher said a prayer. “Lord, if you want me to be a priest, please don’t let anyone at Mt. Angel Seminary ever know I stammer. I stopped overnight. By the grace of God, no one ever knew.” At college, he took a speech course and even won a speech contest with a soliloquy from “MacBeth,” “much to the surprise of my family”/Kerri Sandaine, Lewiston Tribune. 
Filmed several years ago in and around Coeur d’Alene, the film 
You read it here first … Duane Hagadone’s “Sizzler” is the largest
sailboat on Lake Coeur d’Alene and Fred Finney’s “Lady of the Lake” is
the largest lake yacht, but there’s a new vessel being custom
constructed right now in California that will be the biggest of them
all. How spectacular is it? There’s even an elevator!/Councilwoman KerriT/Main Street. 
know what it means to run as well as win with a “Blue D” after
your name in very red places. You certainly can’t win by only appealing
to (or being appealing to) just Democrats. You have to be able to work with Republicans and Independents. They
must trust you and experience that you treat them with respect and
treat their viewpoints as just as legitimate as yours even when you
have mutual disagreements. That’s the approach he appears to be taking and yet he drew some
clear, even sharp, distinctions about how his approach to governance
would differ from current practice.
following the movie, I didn’t even know if I liked it or if
I didn’t like it. My wife was kinda the same way. There were some
cheesey lines. No one is going to win any Oscars for acting. Those two
things I knew for sure. And being someone that is typically hyper
critical of those two specifics when it comes to rating movies, I was
bewildered that I couldn’t decide whether I liked it or not. After
getting home, my wife and I agreed that we were both a little “sensory
overloaded.” Continued below.
I were casting, and casting famous names, here’s who I’d pick: Bilbo Baggins: 
A man accused of causing a fatal accident on the Spokane River in Coeur d’Alene left jail last week after pleading guilty to boating under the influence. John F. Klinefelter, 45, Hayden, will be on probation for two years and received credit for 112 days spend in Kootneai County Jail. He was arrested Aug. 22 after his boat hit a boat from where Jack A. Miller, 30, of Stites, Idaho, was fishing. Klinefelter’s blood-alcohol level was 0.12, according to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department/Meghann M. Cuniff, Sirens & Gavels. 
woman told me that her son, AJ, had seen the stories on tv about our 4 slain officers. She said that they had driven to our station all the way from Kingston because her son was so intent on helping the children of these officers. I opened the gate and the boy handed me the plastic baggy containing all the money from his piggybank and a note on which he had written “AJ….From me to Pleec. I Love You.” And then, with tears in his eyes, he handed me his stuffed dinosaur. AJ’s mom explained that he wanted to give the children of the slain officers the most precious thing that he owned, and that was his dinosaur, Bruno/KHQ. 
I’ve fed the horses, cleaned the stalls, read the paper and am speeding along the keyboard to get something done on this blog. Just a second ago, Willie piped up, after his initial shock that Mom would be going to school, and asked, “Do you have an ugly sweater?” Seems it’s “ugly sweater” day today at Sandpoint High School. Actually, my sweater looks okay. I’ll opt for an ugly old goat showing up in a nice sweater. Howz that? After all, substitutes can be ugly old goats or pushovers. I’ll take the former/Marianne Love, Slight Detour. 
typos anyway. Especially when they make it into print. But some select few typos make me laugh out loud — partly because we catch them while editing. Like the one from the Statesman letter writer describing then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton wearing “high hells.” Or the writer warning against the “potentially deadline” West Nile virus. I’ve come to count on our letter writers to engage in free-wheeling debate on issues large and small. But sometimes, in the rush to have a point of view, a mistake sneaks in that is even beyond the reach of spellcheck/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. 
dry. I certainly have no problem with the contents of the letter being provided to the media, because I stand behind everything that was stated in it. … It is my belief that an open and candid discussion between counsel could be of value. I offered this meeting, not out of a concern for any weakness, or as a show of strength, of the complaint. It was offered because I thought that such a meeting might be viewed as productive for all. Perhaps it was a novel, or naive, thought that counsel might discuss a mtter before running off to the media and formal court proceedings. … Mr. Gridley advised that he was unaware how my letter came to be released to the Spokesman-Review’s Huckleberries blog”/Starr Kelso (pictured), attorney for Jim Brannon’s attempt to overthrow the 2009 Coeur d’Alene city elections. 
Coeur d’Alene resident and self-described advocate for autistic children is in jail in Missouri on sexual assault charges from more than 20 years ago. Randall L. Tetzner, 50, was booked into the Adair County Detention Center early this morning after fighting extradition in Kootenai County, where he’d been in jail since Sept. 18. Tetzner is charged with two counts of sodomy and two counts of rape for alleged incidents in 1986 and 1987, according to jail records. Tetzner is well known in the Coeur d’Alene School District, where he advocates for improved policies for children with disabilities and helped start an “autism essay contest,” according to news archives/Meghann M. Cuniff, Sirens & Gavels. 
got a turkey. For 10 years we use to get a turkey. We referred to it as a glove box turkey, as they were so small. About 10 pounds or less. The last couple of years that I worked we had a new owner, and we got a $25 gift card for Wal-Mart. Which was listed on our payroll statement as a gift and then the taxes were deducted for it. Meaning we got $22. Most of us where ok with the turkey or the gift card, until we found out that our boss got $500 or more/Cis, From A Simple Mind. 
I’m getting there. “There” this week is the point where I can answer “yes” when the umpteenth person asks me, “Are ya all ready for Christmas?” I think everybody asks with the same intent that goes along with the perennial automatic question, “How are you?” Half the time, we don’t really care how the other person is; it’s just something to say, and usually the answer is “fine.” Occasionally, I catch myself halfway between “fi” and “ne,” flog myself for lying and spout out a much more truthful, ” No, I’m not fine. I’m sick and I have too much work to do and my pet mouse died this morning”/Marianne Love, Slight Detour. 
from using the word “Christmas” in the school talent show. Michael Worth says his daughter attends the Garden City Community School, which is a public charter school. Worth says his daughter wanted to sing Alvin and the Chipmunks’ “Christmas Don’t Be Late” in Wednesday’s talent show. But he says the school asked her to substitute “Christmas” with “Holiday”. “I think it’s a First Amendment right to sing that song, it’s not offensive, it’s not inappropriate, it’s a Christmas song,” Worth said. Cindy Hoovel, the school’s director, says charter schools are having to be cautious about the separation of church and state laws following issues with the Nampa Classical Academy/KBCI. 
Cameron’s 
advocacy group the two founded together in Idaho; Noh was a founding board member. “It is not often enough that we find someone of such uncommon ability, objectivity and energy who is willing to devote their scarce hours in this land to political public service and leadership,” Noh writes of Allred. “I believe that once you become acquainted with Keith, regardless of partisan affiliation or the lack thereof, you, too, will not want to let this opportunity slip away.” He adds, “These are not ordinary times for Idaho or the nation. We must come together”/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. 
of Idaho athletic director Rob Spear says he and football coach Robb Akey have met three times about reworking Akey’s contract and progress is being made toward a new deal. No official announcement will be made, Spear said, until the Idaho State Board of Education approves the extension. The SBE meets next on Feb 17-18 in Boise. Akey’s contract discussion would have to put on the agenda by Jan. 19. “When it’s appropriate we’ll get that on the agenda,” Spear said. Akey is in the third year of a five-year deal that pays him $258,187 annually, among the lowest in the nation/Josh Wright, Sportslink. 
pain. Today, however, a great measure of joy was delivered to our mailbox, postmarked December 11th, 2009. My son, Colin, is a Senior in High School and long ago set his sights on attending the United States Military Academy at West Point - I think he began his planning when he was 7 years old. He attended my 20th class reunion with me, visited the Academy on a few family vacations and - on his own - spent a week at West Point last Summer - with the Student Leadership Seminar program. Well, today he received a letter from U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, nominating him to West Point/Dennis Mansfield. 
pitch — an attempt to put Allred on the defensive as he formally announces his campaign today and Friday. Maybe it’s also a way to undermine Allred’s appeal to his Common Interest membership — the group that, until last week, constituted his political base. But at least some of those 1,500 members are Republicans or Republican-leaning voters. By turning The Common Interest into a partisan talking point, the GOP risks alienating these politically active folks. The Common Interest’s response was disappointing as well/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. 
million a year - the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation has reduced its workers by 10 percent and grappled with double-digit budget cuts. Soon the agency will turn over one of its parks to Clearwater County, and it is preparing to close two more of the state’s 30 parks if the governor orders more immediate cuts from the budget year that ends June 30, Director Nancy Merrill said Wednesday as guest speaker at the Idaho Environmental Forum. But these cuts pale in comparison to what the department may face in the coming year - as her agency and every other one in the state anticipate deeper budget cuts down the road/Cynthia Sewell, Idaho Statesman. 
overpass. At that spot there is no barrier to keep cars from driving into oncoming traffic. If the crash had happened just six miles to the west in Washington, a cable median divides east and west bound lanes and would have helped prevent the SUV from crossing the centerline. … The cable barriers were installed on a seven mile stretch of Interstate 90 from Sullivan Road to the Idaho state line back in 2004. In the 4 years before installation there were six crossover crashes on that stretch of freeway. In the years since there have been none though on 93 separate occasions vehicles have been stopped from crossing over by the cable barrier/Sally Showman, KXLY. 
their forests is offensive. First, America does not have an ‘extra billion dollars.’ We would need to borrow it from the Chinese. Second, the President cannot make an appropriation commitment, only the Congress can appropriate. Third, our public forests here at home are in desperate need of restorative work and maintenance. That work includes watershed maintenance, fuel-load reductions and the eradication of a beetle infestation that plagues much of the West. We simply cannot send money to other countries so they can manage their forests when we lack the funding to take care of our own”/U.S. Sen. Jim Risch re: Obama’s pledge at the Copenhagen Climate Conference of $1B over the next three years go to preserve rainforests in other countries.
horrendous precedent, and we recently came across one of those projects, which comes up for a hearing later this week. A developer on Hayden Lake is proposing a “variance” to the County’s site disturbance ordinance to construct a walkway and landing in the 25-foot shoreline buffer zone. But when we looked at the County ordinance 
blurker via the front-page DFO was kind enuff to put out yesterday re: my financial aid stress, I am now past that hurdle, having filled out the necessary evil paperwork with wise eyes looking on. Not only that, but through Sara and her super-nice colleagues at the Alumni Office at NIC (who normally do not deal with greenie frosh like me!) I’ve learned that I may not have to relocate to Boise to attend BSU after all… I can get double bachelors and even MASTERS up here thru LCSC and satellite branches of U of I, BSU and even a couple others! All brand new news to me. Comment continues below.
I’m happy to hear that another blogfest is planned. But the Hoffman/Gookin theory of economics would suggest to the SR that “recognition” is not a legitimate business expense. Yea, yea, I hear them howling that there’s a difference between private industry finance and tax funds. But I say that the “city” is a business, not a clutch of volunteers. And recognition is a time-honored way to foster morale. So, I’ll attempt to be humble and gracious as I accept my pizza; and I’ll spring for some suds for the blogmeister.
recognition shows the mayor and council are out of touch with their constituents. “I don’t think anyone on the Coeur d’Alene city council stands up for the taxpayer. No one has ever said ‘The folks out there are hurting, and what can we do? They’ve had to cut back, they’ve had to deal with less, what can we do to deal with less?’ Now granted, their (city employees) unions took a zero percent, they didn’t give anyone a COLA (cost of living adjustment). But yet they’re still wasting money. The stuff they pay for that they don’t have to is just ridiculous”/Jay Howell, Idaho Family Forum. 
was flying from New York to Washington with Sen. 
means. Possibly they share the House GOP leadership’s view that taxes are too high and that programs from schools and higher education to transportation or social are a burden. That’s the conventional wisdom in this reliably Republican state. Or just maybe Idahoans have entered their 15th year of single-party rule wondering if the GOP is so busy fighting itself that it has lost track of them. It’s possible they’re fatigued with a governing philosophy that says investments in their education system must be slashed while tax breaks for big business retain their priority. If anyone can bring that message home, it’s Allred. Almost the antithesis of Otter, Allred likes to get his mind around complex, policy questions/Marty Trillhaase, Lewiston Tribune. 
stands for has changed, mainly because other companies have traipsed into its territory. 
and best friend, Yogi (golden retreiver/pyrenees mix) couldn’t get up off the floor. We rushed him to the Vet and they did sonograms and xrays to determine he had a tumor on his spleen. They operated and removed the spleen and a tumor the size of a cantalope. Pathology report won’t be back until tomorrow. Then we will learn if the tumor was benign or malignant. (Only about 24% are benign). But, on Saturday, they detected a blood problem and said he might not make it through the night. Transfusions, plasma etc etc. We decided to bring him home to be with us if he were to die. Continued below.
did take time, however, to attend a coffee hosted by the Kootenai County Democratic Chair. Not being a Democrat I’m not sure why I was invited other than being on a lot of local Facebook friends lists and having been a strong supporter of Obama during the campaign. Plus we’re acquainted through the local blogging crowd. The reason for the gathering was to hear an explanation of the challenge of the recent city council and mayoral election by one of the challengers. I was interested to hear if what I understood from the papers was on track/Dogwalk Musings. 
road, and the officer in charge was beyond a jerk. The only damage to the car was a dent in the door where it had bumped a post. The officer refused to let the car be driven away and called a wrecker. His attitude when he found that the car was not high centered on the curb as he claimed was one of sheer indignation that someone would point out that he was mistaken. Talk about a watching someone become a jerk in less than three seconds. It was like watching Dr. (Jekyll) become Mr. Hyde in supersonic speed!
the St. Maries resident who is the only living African-American Medal of Honor recipient from World War II. “I encourage Idahoans to honor this courageous citizen who is the embodiment of the true American hero and who ensures and reminds us of all that is wonderful about Idaho and this great country,” Otter wrote in the official proclamation, signed Dec. 8. Baker turns 90 on Thursday. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1997 and also served for eight years on the state’s Human Rights Commission. When he learned of the proclamation Tuesday, Baker said, “Oh my lord, thank you. I appreciate that very, very much. The only thing I can do about it is sit here and cry”/Alison Boggs, SR. Continued below.
still think that they should have come up with another title than “Invictus,” which - no matter how justifiable it is - simply doesn’t tumble easily off the tongue. I have problems with the way that director/producer Clint Eastwood oversaw the editing (as in “Gran Torino,” he has problems here with back-and-forth conversation). Finally, there’s the genre that “Invictus” belongs to: the cheesy sports film, which obligates it to, among other things, to underscore the emotions with some at-times corny music. All that said, “Invictus” is one of the most entertaining films I’ve seen in a long time/Dan Webster, Movies & More. 
that he could win the 1st District nomination as a Republican by cobbling together a coalition of moderate Republicans and disenchanted Democrats. Grant quickly backtracked and said he was joking when the observation caught fire in Idaho blogs and brought the Congressional Quarterly calling. At that point, he said all the right things re: party unity and that he had no intention of running for Walt Minnick’s seat. However, some damage remains from his comment that he’s approached weekly by unhappy Democrats about the possibility of taking Blue Dog Minnick on in the Demo primary. Several prominent bloggers have written about this flap, including 
this week, 
From long ago and far away, up pops the 
ruffled a few feathers, irritated a few people, but hasn’t really screwed up majorly, either. The main disappointment is that the “maverick” (to use a political cliche) firebrand Legislator and Congressman has turned out to be pretty much a run of the mill “establishment” Governor. The voters who re-elected Kempthorne, the consummate slick, egotistical, professional politician, over an arguably strong Dem challenger, will have no problem voting for “Good Ol’ Butch,” who can at least play the part of the “cowboy populist” when he wants to.
Count me as one that is still excited about our pres and the job he is doing. I am impressed by the way he takes on challenges head-on. An example is his speech in Norway talking about war while receiving the Peace Prize. Another example is inviting the gays to the White House to explain why he has not delivered on his pledge to end don’t ask don’t tell. He seems to have down the proper amount of pressure to give congress to keep things moving foreword.
to pick the wrong lender, put down the wrong date or amount (like, for instance, when they say, “search for available loans, do it put the exact amount listed on my award letter? both sub and unsub, or both combined?) Arggh! And I have the feeling, once I quote unquote, sign on the dotted line, there’s no turning back and what’s done is done. Plus, there’s greed poking its ugly little green head up too, especially once I saw during my first look-see at the website that I was entitled to up to nine grand per school year. Full post below.
Rite Aid (208 Ironwood Drive) store Sunday night. The male was
library to Sherman Avenue and City Park — and finally to Independence Point. Yeah, yeah, I know that Mudgy & Millie is a children’s book creation of gifted local talent Susan Nipp. But I couldn’t figure out why the trail of statues began at Tubbs Hill and then wandered around to the library/downtown/City Park and Independence Point. Why not start at City Park, for example. Then, there was the little song that was sung at the annual Hagadone Hospitality tree lighting about Mudgy looking for Millie all over town. I spotted Susan’s children’s book while hanging out at Hastings last week. And, shazam, I read it in one sitting. Great children’s story. Great art work featuring the Coeur d’Alene waterfront. And, of course, great statues. I wonder how many visitors have taken a photo with the one at Independence Point? BTW, you’ll have to read Mudgy & Millie for yourself if you want to learn why the statues are situated where they are/DFO.
attempts at becoming a state representative. The margins of loss in my races were very large so requesting a recount never even crossed my mind. Coming up just a few votes short of winning is certainly disappointing but not requesting a recount must show in your heart that you recognize the original vote count indicated your opponent had won. Rather than blaming the voting process, you might consider blaming the 70 plus percent of registered voters who sat on their hands and chose not to exercise their right and obligation to participate in the election of their city officials/David B. Larsen, Coeur d’Alene (Coeur d’Alene Press letter to the editor). 
I got an email from SR staffer Joe Butler on Thursday saying his wife had seen me at NIC. Says Joe, “I told her next time to say hello.” Only problem? It wasn’t me. I was chained to my desk all day Thursday. Then on Friday I ran into an aquaintance at the Montvale Hotel. She said, “I saw you this morning at Christian Supply, but you didn’t say “hi,” you just looked right through me.” I was out an about all day Friday, but nowhere near Christian Supply in North Spokane. So, I’ve been wondering about my double. Is she having more fun than I am? If you see her, please ask.
The driveway also had those pesky little blacktop bumps that always seemed to mess up my rhythm and jam the shovel into my gut when I got going too fast. I can still feel the handle of that wood and plastic shovel that I cursed every snow day for ruining my fort building and sledding. But alas, I’ve graduated to a real snow blower that’s pushing five years now - a gift from my mom one December. And no, it didn’t make up for not having a snow blower for the 18 years I lived at home. It was close though, especially over the last two years of record-breaking snow/Dan Kolbet/Avista. 
a Christian, rather than a Muslim aligned with fanaticism, needs to seek therapy forthwith. Anyone still unconvinced that Obama is really an American committed to his nation’s values, rather than an imposter who doesn’t pledge allegiance to his critics’ satisfaction, should probably surrender to the asylum. Obama’s speech, an artful balance of realism and idealism, was both a Judeo-Christian epistle, conceding the moral necessity of war, and a meditation on American exceptionalism. He was, in other words, the unapologetic president of the United States and not some errant global villager seeking affirmation/Kathleen Parker, Washington Post. 
Keith Allred 
the illegal immigration issue jumped right in there with him. Labrador, R-Eagle, is challenging Iraq War veteran Vaughn Ward in next year’s GOP primary for the right to face U.S. Rep. Walt Minnick, D-Idaho. Labrador is an immigration attorney, and one of Ward’s supporters, state Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, was only too happy to point that out. It remains to be seen whether Labrador’s professional stance on illegal immigration is at odds with his public views. But Jorgenson is throwing red meat to the nativist element of the Republican Party. It immediately puts Labrador on the defensive. What you won’t hear - from Labrador or anyone else running for office - is the brutal truth about undocumented workers in this country. We need them/Marty Trillhaase, Lewiston Tribune. 
all day, reacted strongly to the presence of Palin opponents. There was some nasty jeering and some verbal confrontations. “We didn’t really want to be anti-Palin,” Bry said of her segment of the protest group. “My best friend thinks Sarah Palin is just an awesome woman. I don’t want to be disrespectful to my neighbors and I don’t want to be disrespectful to Sarah Palin either. I just don’t agree with her on almost anything.” Jenni Roberts-Martin said some of the Palin supporters’ vitriol was directed squarely at her and her children, but has no regrets about exercising her civil rights/Keith Kinnaird, Bonner County Bee. 
depict a Caucasian woman with the message: “Love your white race.” Think about it. How lacking in common sense or a meaningful life would you have to be to read that vile foolishness and be persuaded to dial the Aryan Nations’ contact number? There’s a certain satisfaction to sticking these clods with littering. But prosecutors no doubt were correct in dropping charges against Paul R. Mullet, Kevin B. McGuire and Todd N. Weston. Mullet, a veteran racist activist, reacted to the decision as if he had won White Supremacist of the Year. “We know we were in the right and that the Coeur d’Alene Police Department wasted time, money and resources … .” Gag me. Mullet is so lucky to live in such a tolerant nation. If being ignorant were a crime, these racist mopes would be doing life without parole/Doug Clark, SR. 
Chester D. Adkins set up some recording gear in a small space in the back of his wife’s downtown Coeur d’Alene record shop. Genevieve Adkins had opened Souvenir Records at 215 Sherman Avenue a few years earlier but eventually relocated to a larger space across the street in the plaza of the Greyhound bus station, where the 3rd and Sherman entrance of the Resort Shops now sits, giving Chester some space to tinker around with his new recording toys. My mother has vivid memories of the store, recalling that she bought her first record album there as a teenager; Elvis Presley, of course/OrangeTV, Get Out! North Idaho. 
Coeur
d’Alene at a greatly reduced price. A national real estate firm
will auction condos at the Riverstone development Saturday morning. A
previous auction was canceled due to lack of interest. Minimum
bids begin at $99,000 for one-bedroom units and two and three bedroom
units begin at $160,000. The units were originally priced between
$300,000 and more than $800,000. Riverstone is a mixed-use development that features retail stores and
condos. The project has been plagued by vacancies due in part to the
recession, restrictions on lending and high-interest rates. The auction
firm hopes lower rates and fewer lending restrictions will help sell
the remaining condos/Tania Dall, KXLY. 
apologized for the events of four
years ago as he had come to regret his involvement in the opposing
campaign. I thanked him and told him an apology was unnecessary -
politics is a tough business and that I had buried the hatchet, too. We
disagreed in the past but I think he was an honorable man with passion
and was open to taking a second look. I respected and appreciated that. It showed me a lot of character on Lee’s part because I think it
took a lot for him to seek me out quietly and privately as he did. It
was among the more sincere and encouraging things that have happened to
me in local politics. Full post below.
August outside Jimmy C’s bar in Athol.
Bar patrons said he’d been making racist comments, but McGuire told
Kootenai County sheriff’s deputies they only wanted him to leave
“because I’m white,” according to court documents. McGuire unsuccessfully ran for the Bozeman school board in
2005, criticizing schools for discriminating against
European-Americans, according to the Montana Human Rights Network. He’s
also been tied to the distribution of racist literature there,
according to the network, and organized a protest against a parade on
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 2005/Meghann M. Cuniff, Sirens & Gavels. 
grew up with the mostly jingoistic
studies of that era: “To Hell and Back,” “The Sands of Iwo Jima,” “God
Is My Copilot,” “30 Seconds Over Tokyo,” “Sergeant York,” “Back to
Bataan,” “Objective, Burma!” and so on. These war films of my
childhood were, generally speaking, actioned-oriented. Only a few of
them - “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “The Best Years of Our Lives”
- asked questions bigger that those involving courage, loyalty and the
obligations of duty. The Vietnam films, though, were different.
They did ask those questions. In the ‘60s, most of us did. And it made
the films more … difficult. Easier to appreciate as art, maybe, but
hard to embrace emotionally. Did I want to put my arms around “The Deer
Hunter,” for example, or “Apocalypse Now”? Not really. Same for
“Platoon” and “Born on the Fourth of July,” “Go Tell the Spartans” and
“Hamburger Hill”/Dan Webster, Movies & More. 
classes were two distinct things. This semester showed me the error in my thinking. So many instructors spend their lecture time expounding their personal political philosophies that I’m beginning to think that a designated political science class just isn’t necessary. I would guess that I lose about an hour of class time every week listening to one instructor or another harp on social equality, racism, feminism, commercialism or whatever. Even if these random sermons weren’t just rehashing the same old bologna, I wouldn’t be interested. I don’t want to hear the Bush’s mishandling of the Katrina disaster from my anthropology instructor/Connor DeVries, NIC Sentinel. 
Perfect opening for something I’ve been wondering about for the last few days. When I meet someone who’s obviously intelligent, I’m not able to predict with any certainty whether they classify themselves as a Republican or a Democrat. But when I meet someone who’s obviously ignorant … 90 percent of the time they identify as a Republican (this observation excludes anyone under the age of 18). Why is that? And I’m actually being serious here, not just a smart aleck like I usually am.
news release. ”
depicted her nude (her private parts were covered) with an IV pole attached to her. After the poster was displayed in the Idaho Commons, the photo was obscured by stickers stating, “This insults women.” One struggles with the question of what’s worse: possibly degrading women or vandalizing property? Whether or not the image was degrading to women, there is no reason to vandalize someone’s property. Twice this semester, a secular humanist billboard was vandalized. The standard way to get one’s point across is to bring the possibly offending material to the attention of someone with the capability of changing it/Kelsey Samuels, UI Argonaut. 
instructive to tell you how bad it can get. Sixty years ago, all hell broke loose across south-central Idaho. Folks were snowbound and schools were closed for weeks at a time. Food had to be airdropped to stranded motorists on U.S. Highway 30 in the Magic Valley’s east end. The winter of 1948-49 remains the second-coldest on record, blowing in during first week of January when temperatures fell to minus-8 in Twin Falls and minus-29 in Fairfield. But the second week in January, high winds had closed roads and forced the cancellation of even makeup school days on Saturdays. Then the granddaddy of all blizzards landed on Jan. 15/Steve Crump, Twin Falls Times-News. 
other day something happened, can’t remember what, but I said, “Oh crap.” “Mom,” my 8-year old son said, “you’re not supposed to say that.” Well, it was better than what I really wanted to say. While attending a Christian boarding school, I knew that I would have to curb the language, no four letter words here. But what I didn’t know was that I was also not allowed to say shoot, darn or oh my goodness. These are minced oaths-words based on profanity, but changed to make them less profane. Didn’t know that expression until I was told at school/Lisa Paolino, Are We There Yet. 
resolve issues — and defuse acrimony from a public court fight. Kelso asserts that client Brannon want to resolve matters in a positive, constructive manner for voters’ sake. Quoth: “I suggest that such an approach will go a long way towards renewing the faith of the voters in government, and in the election process. I would suggest, on the other hand, that a hotly contested court fight, focused on personalities and who won the election, will only serve to alienate voters.” Kelso asks Gridley and Kennedy to respond to his letter by Tuesday. He said that the concerns re: the city election process, if responded to in a straight-forward fashion, could “streamline an lesson costs, if court proceedings are the only option.” 
MamaJD: The former First Dude is of slight build, like a runner. He looks handsome in person. He is in the 5‘9 to 5”10 ish range. He was nice, warm and friendly. While he didn’t hog the limelight, he was present and participating. He greeted everyone immediately after Sarah Palin greeted them. He signed some books when asked. 
Huckleberries has learned that former GOP national committeeman Lee Shellman died last night from a massive heart attack. A family member reports that Shellman drove his boat across Hayden Lake at about sunset and called for help from the boat ramp where an unknown bystander stayed with him. Apparently, Shellman regained consciousness a few times. And later died with family members present. 
newly announced Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keith Allred, a page is devoted to testimonials from Idaho politicos. Guess who’s first on the list? “The Common Interest already has proven itself to be a valuable resource on issues of public policy,” says Republican Gov. Butch Otter. “There is an important place in any public policy discussion for a well-researched, facts-based voice of reason. We may not always agree, but the essence of sound public policy is open discussion and constructive disagreement that leads to better ways of empowering individuals and communities to succeed”/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. 
amendment to his lawsuit challenging the 2009 Coeur d’Alene city elections, dropping Kootenai County, County Clerk Dan English, and ex-county election administrator Deedie Beard from the list of defendants. The amended suit also seeks an injunction preventing the city from “installing” new City Council members at its first meeting in January 2010. Seems Brannon is concerned with the “legality of business conducted in the interim” should he get his way and all or part of the election be voided. The action was filed Thursday, according to McCrory. (
software has been one of the company’s staples for the past five years, giving ordinary citizens the power of God to spy on any location with its popular street view, as well as giving new meaning to the phrase, “Hey, I can see my house from here.” Up until recently, small suburbs, alleyway apartments and remote locations that were too small for the ever-roaming Google mapping cars to get to, were safe from Google’s ever-expanding web. However, I am here to introduce to you the most horrifying piece of technology ever witnessed, one that will make every street, avenue, alley and remote part of the world visible: The Google Trike/Ilya Pinchuk, UIdaho Argonaut. 
arguing that the war was morally just and strategically necessary to defend the United States and others from more terrorist attacks. In a moving passage, he invoked the memories of Mahatma Gandhi and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., saying that without Dr. King’s vision, leadership and sacrifice, he never would have been standing at that lectern in Oslo. But he said he could not be guided by their examples alone: “For make no mistake: Evil does exist in the world. A nonviolent movement could not have halted Hitler’s armies. Negotiations cannot convince Al Qaeda’s leaders to lay down their arms”/New York Times editorial. 
insulation. Bamboo flooring. Concrete countertops. All of these can simultaneously make your home beautiful and Green, and, for the past 15 years, Spokane area shoppers have been able to find these and more under one roof at EcoDepot. “EcoDepot is the only environmental building supply (store) in the Inland Northwest,” says president and owner Nadine Sullivan. his summer EcoDepot celebrated its 15-year anniversary. Sullivan, a former elementary school teacher, started the business with her brother, Bruce Gage/Cindy Hval, Down To Earth. 
Dean Lundblad, who knows members of the Palin family. She and others in the group were welcomed by the Palin family and invited to help with the book signing. The process went like this. People handed their books to someone at the beginning of the line and got a different one back with Palin’s signature from a table after they met the Palins. In the middle of the assembly line, Palin signed one book after another while pausing for a brief handshake and a personal comment for each autograph seeker. Todd Palin and Chuck Heath (Sarah’s father) also signed books. MamaJD told Huckleberries Online she was amazed that the only prominent Republican she saw in line was Ruthie Johnson. “The most remarkable thing about the book signing,” she said, “was that everyone is so unremarkable.” Common people turned out to see Palin, not big shots, she said. Some people were so excited to meet Sarah Palin, MamaJD said, that they had tears in their eyes, including Vietnam War veterans. “I don’t know about her political prowess,” MamaJD said, “but there’s something mesmerizing about her. She’s a warm person who has an energy about her.”
I’m okay with all the coverage. I like celebrity gossip. She’s irritating in a somewhat enjoyable way. At least it’s always a good time making fun of her and her supporters. She needs a makeover though, her look is stale. A blond Kate Gosselin hairstyle might do the trick. She should consider a reality show for her next cash-in gig. I’d watch it.
it’s not a legitimate means of assessment because the Broncos can’t do anything about it. They’re in the conference they’re in, and have to play those opponents. Assessing the Broncos by looking at the other teams is a bit like judging my job performance, or setting my pay, by saying my co-workers are slugs. I can’t affect their performance. It’s also a bit of an ism (racism, ageism, sexism, etc). It’s discrimination based on something the Broncos did not choose and cannot do anything about. (Well, at one point they may have chosen to join the WAC, but it was a constrained choice. It’s not like they can just join the PAC 10 any time they want/IdaBlue. 
Otter and even GOP primary challengers Rex Rammell and Sharon Ullman, an Ada County commissioner. But he’s well-known around the Statehouse and Idaho public policy circles. His group has analyzed some of the most vexing issues on the legislative agenda — from transportation funding to closed party primaries. The group has also remained assiduously nonpartisan, which makes Allred’s jump into partisan politics a stunner/Kevin Richert, Statesman. 
with the city and all its amenities. But when an invitation crossed my desk to see Spokane through a visitor’s eyes, I was intrigued. The CVB (Spokane Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau) offers a four-hour class to train Certified Tourism Ambassadors (CTAs). The class, part of a nationally recognized program, educates frontline hospitality employees and volunteers by providing information about the region’s attractions, history and assets. “More than 400 people have completed the program,” said Gina Mauro, visitor services manager for the CVB. Recently, the CVB sponsored a bus tour of the city for the latest crop of Certified Tourism Ambassadors/Cindy Hval, Washington Voices. 
Actress and author Christina Crawford, daughter of actress Joan Crawford and author of the book 
August, my husband and I celebrated our 58th wedding anniversary in the nursing home. On that occasion, a young employee there asked me what were the secrets of a good, long marriage. I was taken a bit by surprise and only a flip answer occurred to me right then - “Don’t go to bed mad.” Later, as I thought about it, I realized that while that is true, I had really missed the boat on this. I should have said the real key is mutual trust. Trust is truly a fragile thing - one to be guarded at all times for, once lost, regaining and rebuilding it is a long, arduous task that is often unsuccessful/Lenna Harding, Moscow-Pullman Daily News. 
hard to describe. I stopped in to bring some egg mcmuffins, coffee and hand warmers to a friend. Saw quite a few people but not the “typical” crowd. I barely recognized my next door neighbor she was so bundled up! My dentist’s office manager, a guy from the Marine Corps League. Saw a few kids with parents. People in line are looking out for one another, saving spots and taking turns to walk inside to warm up. Very friendly group but I still wouldn’t dare try to cut into that line. 
of non-violence. But he also praised the peacemakers of the past, and said the world can and should still strive for peace. “Let us reach for the world that ought to be,” he told the 1,000-member audience at Oslo City Hall. “Clear-eyed, we can understand that there will be war, and still strive for peace.” The Nobel committee’s choice of Obama as this year’s laureate sparked controversy, in part because he is a president waging two wars abroad. Obama said force is sometimes necessary, but said that is simply “a recognition of history, the imperfections of man, and the limits of reason”/CNN. 
More Info: I doubt if the Otter gives a wit about a lawsuit. It is the election, and this gives him a platform from which to argue in the election battles that he never did anything wrong regarding ‘that woman.’ He can say “see what I did here,” and march her out for photo ops.
More Info: The Aryan Nations will continue to distribute its literature across North Idaho and Eastern Washington, one member said Wednesday. And prosecuting attorneys said nothing can be done legally to prevent it. The city’s legal team dismissed littering charges against three Aryan Nations members for distributing pro-white literature across Coeur d’Alene yards during the summer. The misdemeanor charges were dropped Dec. 3, Deputy City Attorney Anna Eckhart said Wednesday, because the fliers weren’t any different than any other political handout — therefore perfectly legal to distribute.
Question: Disappointed?
with the Secretary of State which will mark him as a Democratic candidate for governor in 2010, NewWest.Net has learned. Allred, a public policy negotiator and leadership expert who has won respect and praise from both parties, can’t officially file for office until March 8, but a preliminary fundraising committee is the usual signal that a candidate will run. Fifth-generation native Idahoan Allred, executive director of 
Snowman” Christmastime cartoon with two of the network’s comedy series is offensive and should be pulled, media analysts told FoxNews.com. The 
is preparing to step forward and offer Idahoans a clear choice in the 2010 election” (reports Betty Richardson). “Of course, we’ll have to wait for the primary election to see how this all shakes out, but I am absolutely thrilled that at least one candidate will be running who has the intelligence, integrity, energy and experience to run a winning campaign and, once inaugurated, truly transform state government. “Expect an announcement in the very near future.” By the way, when contacted she wouldn’t tell me who it is/Rocky Barker, Statesman. 
For all you Sarah Palin fans, here’s the latest “rules” on her appearance in Sandpoint tomorrow. She’ll be signing books at the Sandpoint Events Center (old Sandpoint High/Junior High school) over on Euclid from 6 to 9 pm. Only books purchased at Vanderford’s (201 Cedar St.) will be signed. Don’t yell at Vanderford’s for this, this comes straight from book publisher Harper Collins. You will be required to show your Vanderford’s receipt for the book you want to have signed. People can only get a maximum of two books signed. Only people who have purchased books to be signed will be allowed in the Event Center. (Media will also be allowed if they have a media pass, and they will have to remain in a “media pen.”)/Trish Gannon, Raspberries. 
will eliminate a two-lane, two-mile bottleneck on U.S. 95 north of Hayden, the Idaho Transportation Department announced. The project will widen a two-lane section of U.S. 95, between Wyoming Avenue and the Idaho 53 junction, to connect with four-lane segments on both ends. Widening the highway will create four continuous lanes from Coeur d’Alene to north of Garwood. A traffic signal at Lancaster Avenue also will be constructed, improving safety at the intersection. The project is funded with savings from federal highway stimulus projects bid earlier this year. Construction will begin in the spring 2010 and be completed in the fall/Idaho Transportation Department. 
in a row after somebody dropped a one-ounce gold piece in his kettle on Tuesday. “The guy gets out of his car and asked me if my name was Ted,” said Morris, a volunteer bell-ringer outside the Wandermere Fred Meyer store. “He put something in the kettle and said, ‘There is something special in there.’” Later that evening, the Salvation Army’s regional kettle coordinator, retired Maj. Tom Petersen, called Morris to tell him what that something special was – A $50 Liberty Eagle gold piece minted in 1998. And it came gift-wrapped in a $100 bill/Kevin Graman, SR. 
arrest of suspects involved in two recent Malicious Harassment incidents in Coeur d’Alene. The first incident occurred on November 19th 2009 at the Human Rights Education Institute located at 414 Mullan Ave. An unknown suspect placed a swastika sticker on the entry door of the building. The second incident occurred on December 4th 2009 at the corner of 3rd St. and Coeur d’Alene Ave. A male resident of Coeur d’Alene with Middle Eastern heritage discovered his vehicle had been damaged by spray paint and a slashed tire. The spray paint depicted a swastika and harassing comments intended for the victim/Coeur d’Alene Today. 
Noble, the 31-year-old Moscow man accused of an erratic driving episode Monday morning that put two Washington State University students in the hospital, made his first appearance in Whitman County Superior Court Tuesday afternoon. Mark Moorer, his Pullman attorney, told Judge David Frazier that Noble’s strange behavior Monday and the days before could have been caused by what he called “caffeine psychosis.” … He described Noble as a type-A personality who worked long hours as a financial analyst in the University of Idaho Trust and Investment Office. Noble would often rise as early as 4 a.m. and begin consuming copious amounts of energy drinks and Starbucks coffee, Moorer said/Joel Mills, Lewiston Tribune. 
inflation. One exception is the Director of Parks and Recreation, whose salary in 1996 was $76,440. In FY09, it was 31 percent higher at $100,360. That works out to an average increase of 2.4 percent per year. But other department heads have done better. For instance, the directors of the state’s seven health districts have gotten raises ranging from a modest 3 percent annually, to a whopping 5.5 percent. Carol Moehrle, director of the North Central Health District, and the only current district director who was in office in 1996, has seen her salary grow from $55,868 to $95,638, a 71 percent increase or 5.5 percent per year/Jay Howell, Idaho Freedom Forum. 
weren’t surprised when Idaho Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden, (pictured) took issue with state Rep. Raul Labrador’s plans to enter the 1st Congressional District race. But Jorgenson’s demand that Labrador, R-Eagle, immediately drop out of the running was over the top. “Raul Labrador is an immigration attorney and admits to defending illegal immigrants in his law practice,” Jorgenson told news outlets. “His pro-illegal immigrant stances are wrong for Idaho taxpayers and Idaho’s unemployed.” Who is Jorgenson to say which candidate is best for Idaho? The last we checked, that’s for the state’s voters to decide/Doug Bauer, Moscow-Pullman Daily News. 
Glad to hear that the Indian nations have received a $ 3 Billion dollar settlement. I am always confused as to how the Indian nations are a part of Idaho, and the U.S., on Tuesdays (election day) but separate and independent on all the others. The information on the settlement caused me to remember the recent article about the push for a new-or extended-continued medical care bill for the Indian nations. At what time (century, decade, year) does the money faucet run dry?
If the government decided that Viagra wasn’t necessary (which strictly speaking, it isn’t), and decided that it shouldn’t be covered, you would not get any argument from me. But the bigger issue here is Boxer’s misunderstanding of how analogies work. Boxer clearly doesn’t understand that the moral discomfort that most Americans have with abortion isn’t about sex; it’s about killing what is going to be, in a very short time, a human being. And this is analogous to Viagra in what way?/Clayton Cramer. 
four colleges she attended, in Hawaii. She and a friend who went with her lasted only one semester. “Hawaii was a little too perfect,” Palin writes. “Perpetual sunshine isn’t necessarily conducive to serious academics for eighteen-year-old Alaska girls.” Perhaps not. But Palin’s father, Chuck Heath, gave a different account to Conroy and Walshe. According to him, the presence of so many Asians and Pacific Islanders made her uncomfortable: “They were a minority type thing and it wasn’t glamorous, so she came home.” In any case, Palin reports that she much preferred her last stop, the University of Idaho, “because it was much like Alaska yet still ‘Outside’”/Sam Tanenhaus, New Yorker. 
Holly Sampson and Veronica Siwik-Daniels, who specializes in kinky sex flicks. But the titan of the PGA tournament is hardly alone when it comes to sex-fueled scandal. Former two-time presidential rising star John Edwards is back in the news as his ex-mistress, Rielle Hunter, is looking to move closer to the North Carolina cheater. She’s bringing her baby along, the possible love child of their liaison. Then there’s former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who is attempting a pop-culture comeback after resigning from office following a hooker scandal. Late night star David Letterman, who spilled the dirt on his wandering eye after allegedly being blackmailed about it, is cashing in on Tiger’s troubles almost every night this week/Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald Inside Track. 
Gazette on Palin’s stop in their eastern Montana town today. “The author and former candidate, wearing a dark suit and a red, white and blue stone-encrusted American flag pin on the lapel, is accompanied at Borders bookstore on the West End by her husband, Todd. As the line of Palin fans moves forward, Palin shakes hands and says, “So nice to meet you, thank you.” She is handed an open book by an assistant, signs it with a red Sharpie, then passes the book to another aide, who hands it to the person Palin has just greeted, who also gets a handshake with Todd. Each encounter takes about three seconds; the line moves fast.” 
the Oregon Ducks versus Oregon State Beavers football game Thursday night. And while the Ducks emerged victorious, an unknown perpetrator in Albany came out as the biggest swine of them all. An unknown goon and/or goons captured a male mallard in Albany, spray-painted Beavers’ orange on the bird and bound its legs with duct-tape. The duck survived, but its feathers no longer shed water. If it were released today, the bird would drown and die. “Insane,” said Jeff Picton, executive director of the nonprofit Chintimini Wildlife Center, where the bird must spend the winter/Joseph Fredrichs, New West. 
am I the only person wondering about the need and expense of police driving and flying there from all over the country?. I know their excuse is that this is “to honor” the fallen. Who is paying for all this travel? Are these police and deputies from Spokane and CDA on pay status? Are the departments having to pay overtime to others to cover for those who are at the wake? Are these mourners there on their own time and expense? If so, that is great. But the taxpayers from hundreds and thousands of miles distant from the coast should not be bearing these costs. Full post below.
MamaJD points out for Huckleberries Online that today marks the 25th anniversary of the fiery standoff on Whidbey Island between federal agents and 
these fine gentlemen. Bill and I are long-time friends…AND we have not…I repeat HAVE NOT talked about a 2010 candidacy run for the Sali Machine. I just sense it in the air. … And when he does announce, visit this site (and another fine site that I will point out at the time.) I know that Bill has a high calling of honor in his life and he sees his service in Congress as time that was providentially directed. Both “in and out” … And it’s my belief that he’ll be sensitive to that “call” again for another “in” opportunity. And May 2010 will be his. Whether Nov 2010 is his, will be yet to be seen. Walt Minnick has served Idahoans like no other Democratic incumbent since Gov. Cecil Andrus/Dennis Mansfield. 
taken in this space. I’ve probably been a harsher critic of some things than I maybe needed to be and have written some opinions that were maybe unpopular. My last column was recently the source of a customer service complaint to my district franchise manager. My column was only related to my store in that it was about the minimum wage and I certainly didn’t think it was necessarily offensive enough to generate a complaint to the home office. But then again, everyone defines offensive in a different way. I understand and respect that, and it certainly has not been my intention to offend anyone. So what do I do?/Henry Johnston, Moscow-Pullman Daily News. 
Jorgenson attempting to deputize himself as the Purity police in this race is kind of curious. I keep tabs on legislator’s voting record and overall, Jorgenson’s got a 71% Conservative Voting record, not horrendous, and certainly not as bad as North Idaho Senators Shawn Keough (R-1) or Joyce Broadsword (R-2 ) Jorgenson’s record includes support for Otter’s Gas Tax increase and opposition to a bill by Rep. Marv. Hagedorn’s (R-20) legislation to raise transportation funds through a specialty plate plan rather than raising taxes/Adam Graham, Give Me Liberty. 
Here’s a conversation stopper or starter for you. When my 15-year-old son slumped home from school yesterday, I asked him how his day had been. He said, “It sucked. I had to stare at a picture of a penis for like, an hour in health class. That’s just wrong!” I didn’t quite know what to say. However, he brightened up and said, “Tomorrow we’re gonna look at girl parts!” Oh dear.
Meet the most non-discriminatory person in North Idaho: Hayden Stern. A first-year general studies student from Santa Cruz, Calif., Stern is the vice president of the Gay Straight Alliance. Stern’s story can be summed up in one sentence - and notice we don’t use a sex-oriented pronoun such as “he” or “she” at request. “It’s actually kinda complicated,” Stern said. Stern is transgender. Stern moved here last December, leaving parents there and a stepsister in Illinois. Not having family here Stern has found support in other ways, including the GSA and religion. Stern was placed in a treatment facility for being bipolar and having an eating disorder/Ann Truesdell, North Idaho College Sentinel. 
but there are elections coming up, you know. Some people seem to think Ron Paul might run again in 2012. It’s possible. We have other options, actually, and it is a good idea to show America that we are more than a cult of personality, or a “one trick pony”. Gary Johnson seems worthy of support. We’d better get started. And just to cut down on the confusion, let’s cleave the Palinite Tea Partiers from the “Alternative Right” right now, before they break our hearts down the road.
me going in life besides the obvious brain and heart. I’ve always had an interesting relationship with music and sometimes it has even come between a partner and me because we did not see eye to eye on which music was good or bad. Unlike my love for music, I’ve had different relationships in my past — all of which have actually increased my musical tastes as well as confirmed thoughts about others. Fortunately, I’ve always avoided dating someone who enjoys listening to the Insane Clown Posse, but probably only because it would only end up being a deal breaker. Let’s be clear here in saying that just because someone chooses to listen to ICP does not make them a bad person — I am just saying it is not my cup of tea/Anthony Saia, UIdaho Argonaut. 
in public. That may be why I have such a problem with movies based on 
Mont., resident. “The hideous truth is that this empty suit-person almost singlehandedly took the reform out of health care reform, has introduced and somehow passed more legislation to abet the cornucopia of crime that is our banking system than anyone else in Congress, and has stalled the funding of any, if not all, modern programs that would give financial lifeboats of one kind or another to families in need. He did it by pretending he was a Democrat and by hanging in there long enough to get appointed, almost by default, as chair of the banking committee. And he gets elected in a state with the fourth lowest per capita income in the country by consistently ‘bringing home the pork’/actress Margot Kidder, Counterpunch. 
Three Coeur d’Alene men were due in court today on charges that they robbed a coffee stand at gunpoint over the weekend. Charles E. Spencer, 24 (top left); Arthur William Wilson, 18 (right); and Andrew Wayne Bryant, 18 (bottom left), were arrested Sunday after detectives received an anonymous tip that led them to a home at 1015 Mill Ave., according to the Coeur d’Alene Police Department. 
State Sen. Mike Jorgenson this morning called on fellow Republican legislator Raul Labrador to withdraw from the 1st Congressional District race. Today, Labrador is planning to formally announce his candidacy against Vaughn Ward in next spring’s primary election. “Raul Labrador is an immigration attorney and admits to defending illegal immigrants in his law practice,” Jorgenson said in a press release. “He has been on retainer as an immigration attorney to the Idaho industries that support a ‘free flow of labor across America’s sovereign borders’ while at the same time serving as an Idaho state representative/Coeur d’Alene Press. 
futile flight. Sure, I’ve devoted plenty of words over the years to the subject of police misdeeds. But contrary to what some of my critics would suggest, I’m not anti-cop. Not at all. I believe that law enforcement is no mere profession – it’s a high calling. Police officers take an oath to uphold the law and to protect and to serve. I don’t think it’s wrong to hold them to a gold standard of excellence. So I tend to get a little, well, Clarkish when some of them don’t measure up. I couldn’t be a good cop, I’ll be the first to admit it. I don’t have the discipline. I don’t have the temperament. I definitely don’t have the courage. Fortunately for society, the vast majority of our police officers do have the right stuff/Doug Clark, SR. 
young season – whacked Wake’s Chas McFarland with an ugly forearm shot to the gullet, properly earning him a flagrant technical foul and ejection. A series of town halls is in the works to parse the ethical and societal implications, and clergy will remain on red alert. While it’s fun to muss the hair of the pious, the Harris foul was certainly unpleasant to witness and his ejection a fatal development for the Zags, who still might have managed to overcome it had the Demon Deacons not been so adept themselves at bailing when water started coming over the side. In the end, it was a curiosity – and maybe most curious of all was the lack of a mea culpa/John Blanchette, SR. 
Ben Wolfinger told me today that they invite a criminal complaint on this matter, and will definitely follow through. If you have received one of these pieces of filth and desire the perpetrators to be brought to justice for littering, call the Kootenai Sheriff department 208-446-1300 and file your complaint. Each such call is treated as a separate count of littering. Let’s make it expensive for these Jerks to do what they do. Never has the city of Athol’s claim to fame name wise, ever been more appropriate than with these residents/Herb Huseland, Bay Views. 
Minnick, was targeting Sali’s spokesman Wayne Hoffman. Hoffman was drawing a federal salary as Sali’s congressional office press spokesman. He was also working on Sali’s campaign - and it was tough to tell when he was working for the taxpayers or whether he was campaigning at taxpayer expense, Minnick contended. Now the situation is reversed. Minnick is the incumbent. And John Foster, Minnick’s senior adviser and communications director, is drawing heat for doing the same thing - working as a spokesman for both the congressional office and Minnick’s re-election campaign/Marty Trillhaase, Lewiston Tribune. 
challenged the right of Army Sgt. Maj. Gregory A. Proft to vote in the local elections, based on residency. And Proft fired back in a Coeur d’Alene Press comment below a Spencer letter to the editor. The key sentences are these: “It sounds like since Larry doesn’t like the results of the election, my right to cast a ballot should be cast aside, thrown out because I am not physically present in the state in which I vote. I bet Larry would not grant me a pass on the property taxes I paid on my house while I was fighting in Baquobah, Ramadi and Baghdad while he was doing whatever it is he does in Spirit Lake.” Concludes Sgt. Maj. Proft: “Instead of challenging the legitimacy of my ballot, Larry ought to be offering to buy me a beer when I return for going out of my way to participate in the democratic process.” If Spencer doesn’t offer to buy the beer, I’m sure many others will/DFO, Huckleberries. 
Roosevelt said “would live in infamy.” Dec. 7, 1941, marked the entry of the United States in that terrible war, over two years after it had started. For the greatest generation that fought wars on two fronts and saved civilization from tyranny, the lessons of his fateful day must never be forgotten. Never again should we be unprepared to defend ourselves. Never again should we allow wishful thinking to become a strategy. Appeasement is not peace. Remaining strong, especially in the nuclear era of mutually assured destruction, kept the United States safe from superpower attacks. Terrorist attacks, however, represent the challenge of the 21st century/Jacksonville.com. 
Republican. In a three-way Generic Ballot test, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Democrats attracting 36% of the vote. The Tea Party candidate picks up 23%, and Republicans finish third at 18%. Another 22% are undecided. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, the Tea Party comes out on top. Thirty-three percent (33%) prefer the Tea Party candidate, and 30% are undecided. Twenty-five percent (25%) would vote for a Democrat, and just 12% prefer the GOP. Among Republican voters, 39% say they’d vote for the GOP candidate, but 33% favor the Tea Party option/Rasmussen Reports. 
with Boise State’s return to the BCS party than the University of Idaho. Sometimes, happiness is a moral dilemma. For the Broncos’ reward – and a few other toppling dominos – assured a prize for the Vandals, too: an invitation to play Bowling Green in the Humanitarian Bowl, which was officially issued Sunday after two months of officials from both the game and the school making goo-goo eyes at one another. Of course, the who, what, where, when and how of the whole deal only muddy up a moment of remarkable clarity. The Vandals are bowl bound. After a decade as college football vagabonds and punchlines, the Vandals get to rejoin the big gala, and forgive a few of them if they need to pinch themselves/John Blanchette, SR. 
Lasting marriages run in the Fels family. In November, Gene and
Evelyn “Evie” Fels celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary. Gene’s
brother Wilbert “Joe” Fels and his wife, Nora, celebrated their 64th
anniversary in May. A festive feeling permeated Gene and Evie’s Spokane Valley home when
the two couples met to discuss their enduring relationships. “We have a
party going on!” Nora said. Indeed, the Felses have much to celebrate. Gene and Joe, both World
War II veterans, grew up in a large family in the Chelan, Wash., area.
Both men vividly recall the first time they met their brides/Cindy Hval, Washington Voices. 
in a head-on collision at Mullan Avenue and Henry Street in Post Falls Thursday morning. Preliminary evidence indicates that John Watson, 59, suffered a “medical episode” that caused him to crash his Jeep into a vehicle at Mullan and Idaho before ramming a Ford Contour driven by James Norris, 37, according to Post Falls police. Witnesses said Watson was speeding westbound in the eastbound lane when he struck Norris’s car. Watson suffered a traumatic leg injury and his 13YO male passenger sustained face and leg injuries. Norris suffered multiple fractures and trauma. Medical personnel extricated all three from their vehicles. 
the line. I, at first, dismissed it as a crowd
rumor, but then a guy showed me a picture of Sarah on his iPhone! My
daughter was texting all her friends in excitement. A security guy came
and made everyone stand on the curb as Sarah made her way down the line
of people. She shook everyone’s hand and asked his or her name, and was very
approving of Raechel’s Vandals sweatshirt. (Palin is a 1987 U of I
Grad) She had to pack up the baby and go into Hasting’s very soon
after. The Tri-City Herald interviewed me and did a story, which can be
found 
uninhibited disorganization and total
disregard for structure and rules and standards. Take baths, for
instance. I mean, I find it absolutely unnecessary to actually “take a
bath” every single day. Who cares? Mechanic Man? Yeah, right – a guy
that spends his days elbow deep in grease, dirt, and oil; running his
fingers through some vile smelling fluid, wiping his hands on his shirt
and/or pants and even his hair. He’s going to notice if I miss a bath? … I’m
worse than Scarlett O’Hara. “There’s always tomorrow” has become my
motto – I’m thinking of having it monogrammed on my sweats that I wear
all day long. On my butt/JeanieS, Nuts & Nonsense. 
I’m swerving off the road (figuratively speaking). KREM just aired a portion of the 911 call of the Mead, WA, woman’s call to 911 while being stabbed to death. The day this happened, I included a paragraph in my blog post on HBO about how I hope to never hear this audio, but then I deleted it before posting, thinking, surely, surely, no TV station would ever do this. But they did. Abbie Gibb was horrified and urged everyone to clear children from the room beforehand. Reality TV — who needs Bravo? 
Amanda Knox, whose trial on accusations that she murdered her roommate riveted the public on both sides of the Atlantic, has been found guilty. The decision by the jury of six laymen and two judges came after midnight Friday in a courtroom in this Italian city, where Knox, a University of Washington student, had come to study. So had the dead woman, Meredith Kercher. Knox’s former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, was also found guilty. Knox was sentenced to to 26 years in prison and Sollecito was sentenced to 25 years/Andrea Vogt, Seattle P-I. 
She then dredges up “the most famous local story” (of questionable residency, involving — who else? — Mike Kennedy, in 2005. Mary notes: “His house was not in CdA. His wife and their six children lived in the home that was not in CdA. (They were not divorced or separated.) He ran his business out of his home office in the home that was not in CdA. But Mike claimed he fit the residency requirement to run for elected office in CdA because, for 30 days beforehand, he “rented” a basement bedroom from a friend who lived in the city.” Mary goes on to drag City Attorney Mike Gridley and City Clerk Susan Weathers into her complaint (although she fails to mention that she finished third in the three-way race with Kennedy and that Kennedy was building a home in Coeur d’Alene Place at the time). Must be a slow day at OpenCDA.com — at least, slower than usual.
Matthews opined that the cadets had no reaction to Obama’s speech and that, in truth, Obama had found himself in the “enemy camp.” Matthews has since apologized for his comment. As he should. Besides the impolitic nature of his comment, he needed to apoligize because he got it wrong. Completely wrong. I watched those same faces that Matthews watched, when the camera panned to the audience during the speech. But I saw something completely different from what Matthews saw. Instead of lack of reaction, I saw intensity. Somberness. I saw young people, with perfectly pressed uniforms - how many hours did that take? to get those uniforms just right - listening to every single word, absorbing what the president said, determined to understand exactly what they will need to do - what their mission will be/Beth Bollinger, Accidental Rabbit Trails. 
Five miles west of Paul, there are still some traces left of Camp Rupert, a World War II German prisoner of war camp that held up to 3,300 POWs and administrated a network of satellite camps stretching from Sidney, Mont., to Wilder. But not just any prisoners of war wound up at Rupert. According to Tomas Jaehn, curator of the Chavez Library at the Palace of Governors historical museum in Santa Fe, N.M., the 300-acre Minidoka County compound was home to captured members of elite SS divisions/Steve Crump, Twin Falls Times-News. 
love to go back and say the things that you should have said, either to that bully in sixth period, to your autocratic home-room teacher or that girl in study hall whom you just could never summon up enough nerve to talk to? Well, one sub-genre of film is the time-travel adventure. I found a Web site that claims to list
Mary Souza … (asserts) repeatedly that approximately 10 different commenters are all Thom George under different names, thereby attempting to out anonymous posters, one of the most non-ethical, sleazy things one can do in an online forum. Naturally, the supposed moderator doesn’t seem to give a toss/OrangeTV re: “Top 10 reasons why the CDA Press online is more fun to read than Mad Magazine.”
Some skeptics (myself included) said hunters would have minimal success at harvesting so many of these far-ranging predators in the diverse landscape of western Montana. Others predicted hunter efficiency that would push wolves back toward extinction. Hunters hit their target nearly perfectly with 72 wolves harvested. FWP shut the season down a little early, maintaining a conservative position. This measured, step-by-step approach will be key if this is (as I hope) to be the first of many hunting seasons for wolves under the Big Sky/Chris Marchion, New West. 
an 
“Cleopatra Jones,” 
Here’s the odd thing for me: Celebrities make their careers by living life “out loud”. They hire PR firms to advance their name, talent, position or political connections. Face-time on network television is a “must”. Magazine covers are needed and wanted. Being seen … is everything. So, when life takes a tumble, why is it that their lives suddenly become “private” and policeman are turned away at their doors, with legal questions about their actions being set aside — as if they live in a different world?/Dennis Mansfield. 
flowing robes and a thorny crowns, picks up his cross and walks up and down a busy Coeur d’Alene street. Anderson told The Coeur d’Alene Press that it’s part of his personal crusade to remind people that Jesus’ birthday, not the jingling of bells, is at the heart of the celebration on Dec. 25. Anderson said most people have reacted positively, waving as they drive by or stopping to chat. He said only a few have shouted at him, but he’s prepared: Under the thorny crown, Anderson is wearing headphones and listening to music. “It sounds cuckoo, I know,” Anderson said. “But once I took that step, it made so much sense”/Associated Press. 
European authorities. But that doesn’t mean bunny cheese will soon be on store shelves—the genetically engineered rabbits would be milked to churn out a potentially lifesaving drug. Developed by 
My phone! My kingdom for my phone! If I had a kingdom… Or would it be a queendom, if I had one? Yesterday, in the midst of getting from my mom’s house to the airport to fly back to Spokane, I forgot to do a final “sweep” of the house to look for my belongings… and left my phone behind. My phone. That thing that is always with me - that I’ve never lost (unlike a bunch of people I know). I figured out what I’d done as we drove to the airport - soon enough to make plans with my mom to get it back to me, not soon enough to turn around and go back and fetch it/Beth Bollinger, Accidental Rabbit Trails. 
probably not the first thing that pops into your mind. That could change next spring if the rural Idaho school is successful in its bid to bring home a prestigious award associated with the Grammys. The high school music department, led by teacher Kathy Stefani, has made the list of finalists in two “Grammy in the Schools” categories. A panel of music educators and professionals determine the award winners, which will be announced in March. “It’s pretty much the coolest thing ever,” said Amber Farmer, 17, choir president. “We’re the smallest school that got nominated so it’s really amazing”/Kerri Sandaine, Lewiston Tribune. 
at least that’s what the pollsters at Zogby International say. (Campaign season is over, and pollsters have to ask about something.) They asked 2,330 adults last month to pick their top three favorite holiday songs from a list of nine tunes, and O-H-N topped the voting, selected by 58 percent. “White Christmas” which might’ve done better in Spokane, given our fondness for things Bing, was second with a mention on 41 percent of those selected, and “The Christmas Song” aka Chestnust Roasting on an Open Fire, was close behind at 38 percent/Jim Camden, Spin Control. 
businesses, prompting many shop owners and community leaders to wonder about the chamber’s priorities and loyalties. An e-mail sent to chamber members, titled “Member to Member AdVantage Announcements,” featured an advertisement from the Holiday Inn Express Spokane for a “Ladies Get-A-Way for Savvy Shoppers” - in Spokane. … “In a better economy, in better times it probably wouldn’t be a big deal,” said Rod Austin, director of the Business Improvement District of Missoula. “But right now, locally, there are a lot of businesses that need all the help they can get”/Betsy Cohen, Missoulian. 
the door to school when I heard him yell, “Mom! I had an accident with the scissors!’ Yikes! I ran upstairs and found him in my bedroom holding a pair of scissors. He’d given himself a “Moe” haircut, ala 3 Stooges. “Sam, using my scissors without permission is NOT an accident,” I said. “Yeah, but my hair is,” he replied. Didn’t have time to even him out. He’s got a couple big Christmas programs next week, so perhaps a buzz cut is in order. When I asked him why he felt the need to barber himself he just shrugged. Sigh.
with 20 co-workers for 25 years of work for The Spokesman-Review. I never planned to live in Coeur d’Alene that long. Or work for the SR that long. I’d never stayed more than five years at any newspaper before. I’d never lived in one place more than 12 years before. Columnist Doug Clark, the best man at my wedding in 1975, talked me into taking the job here, after I had been at the Lewiston Tribune for two years. I didn’t want to leave the Trib because Publisher Butch Alford and Editor Paul Emerson had restored my faith in the newspaper business after I’d worked for a combined 9 years in two of the worst chains in the news biz. Ultimately, I decided to take this job for two reasons — I could live in Coeur d’Alene and receive a decent wage to return to reporting. And the SR was big enough to allow me to move around within the organization. More below.
Warming enthusiasts, including scientists whose careers apparently depend on the globe warming. Thousands of documents were hacked from the server used by the University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit. The emails and documents show that scientists cheering for Global Warming falsified data, manipulated information and did what they could to discredit critics. They did this to sway politicians and public opinion to their doctrine. In other words, they lied. Big news, one would think. But as of last week only one television network covered the story. The New York Times did one report. One. The Wall Street Journal and Investors Business Daily have reported repeatedly on the story but few newspapers have devoted any space to the news. That’s weird/Dan Hammes, St. Maries Gazette-Record. 
whimsical bike racks for the city of New York. You could chain your steed to a dog, a car, a high-heeled shoe. Now the idea is coming to Coeur d’Alene. A group of students in the Resort and Recreation Management Program at North Idaho College has launched an initiative called WeCycle, aimed at promoting bike use and raising the profile of the bicycle in the city. As part of the initiative, they’re calling on artists to submit designs for between 15 and 20 five-bike racks, which would be installed along the Centennial Trail in May/Inlander. More here (second item).
Estes a penny. The Lewiston man and retired police officer fought a 2007 conviction for driving 10 mph over the limit all the way to the Idaho Court of Appeals. The court ruled to reverse that conviction in a written opinion issued earlier this week. “To me it’s a victory for the ordinary person,” Estes said when reached by phone Wednesday. He filed countless public records requests and court documents as he represented himself in the appeal, but Estes said it did not cost him any money to contest the ticket. The three-judge panel decided an Idaho State Police trooper’s estimation of a car traveling down the Lewiston Hill was insufficient on its own to base a conviction/Brad W. Gary, Lewiston Tribune. 
work in some passive aggressiveness on Iraq, revisit America’s history in Vietnam, conjure the memories of 9/11 and attempt, at least, to refocus attention on Afghanistan. Rhetoric doesn’t ensure success in Afghanistan. Nothing does - especially considering Afghanistan’s place in military history. But Obama backed up the rhetoric with a good argument for deploying an additional 30,000 troops in Afghanistan, and I was surprised by the somewhat favorable reactions from an often-skeptical Idaho delegation/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. 
so I didn’t get to see the “director’s cut” of “Blade Runner” tonight. Instead, I got to see the 
San Diego coach Bill Grier felt nearly powerless as he watched Washington State sophomore forward Klay Thompson score 43 points on his Toreros in the championship game of the Great Alaska Shootout. “If you watched the game, it didn’t look like we guarded him at all,” Grier said of Thompson, who had 31 points in the second half as WSU won, 93-56, Saturday. “We had no answer for him. We just don’t have any wings with his size. Even if we had a guy draped on him, it was like we weren’t there.” Thompson leads the Cougars (6-0) against 17th-ranked Gonzaga (5-1) tonight at 6 at the McCarthey Athletic Center/Jim Meehan, SR. 
So I just got on John (Tesh’s) website and found this interesting factoid, and just in time for your holiday consumption too: “These days a lot of respected wineries are doing away with the glass bottle because manufacturing and shipping them is expensive and wasteful. According to the Wine Group, the largest wine company in the world, using boxes instead of glass bottles is equivalent to taking 25,000 cars off the road every year!” So thank you Mr. Tesh. I can overlook your smarminess for one day to pass that on. Now go out and get yourself some boxed wine (or boxed sparkling cider for you non-drinkers)/Staci Lehman, Kootenai MPO. 
Raul Labrador, R-Eagle, said today that he’ll announce his candidacy for the 1st District congressional seat on Monday, with announcements in Boise and Coeur d’Alene. Already in the GOP primary race is Iraq war veteran Vaughn Ward; state Rep. Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, dropped out of the race on Nov. 10, at which time Labrador said he planned to jump into the race in about a week. Ward, who’s making his first run for office, has been campaigning hard for months and had outraised Roberts by four times/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. 
President Obama’s speech on the military effort in Afghanistan: 
had to fight myself to keep from turning it off. The speech had a weird kind of fairy tale quality about it, as if President Obama had swallowed some strange kool-aid, or had been smoking something he shouldn’t have. First of all, he seemed to accept the idea that it was necessary to start a “war” to deal with what was/is in reality just a small band of international criminals. The “war” was hardly a war of necessity, contrary to what Obama seems to believe. Even now there aren’t many al Quaida/Morialekafa. 
I have a question for anyone smarter than me. If Brannon succeeds in overturning the election, does that also overturn the failed jail expansion proposition? Given the controversy over the Washington court allowing Mr. Clemmons out of custody, would anyone anticipate a different outcome here if there were a new vote on the jail?
Brannon’s suit. He doesn’t claim that the tabulation of ballots – 3,165 for Kennedy, 3,160 for Brannon – is inaccurate. He believes the election itself is flawed, so the outcome would be flawed, too, even if unchanged. So skip the recount and get right to the lawsuit. But the scattergun approach is nevertheless unsettling. The challenge names about a dozen city and county officials, elected and appointed – all in their official capacities, of course. It alleges defective actions, including some practices that have been common (and uncontested) for years. It asks that the entire election be invalidated, but if not the whole election, then at least the Kennedy-Brannon race. Yes, that’s the way litigation works. That’s also what causes the discomfort/Spokesman-Review Editorial Board. 
surrounded by men and women in cadet gray uniforms being told by a president they could lose their lives in another Asian country. “It was an honor to be here, a generation later,” said Minnick, one of seven members of Congress asked to attend President Barack Obama’s speech on raising troop levels in Afghanistan. “There was rapt attention in that room. Their futures are on the line.” The Idaho Democrat said Obama articulated the need for more troops to Afghanistan, with clear but limited objectives and a specific timetable: “I think he made it very clear that this is different from Vietnam”/Jim Camden, SR. 
You still have time to head to Appleby’s in CDA, have a drink and/or dinner and at the same time contribute to Mike Kralicek’s tricycle fund. Today only, Appleby’s is allocating 10% of your bill to Mike. And, since my bill was only about $9, I ask if they had a way to kick in a little more than 90 cents. Sure ‘nuf. They have “an envelop in the back” for cash or checks. They can’t do the “extra” on a credit card, tho’. DFO put up the “coupon” yesterday (I think it was) and OTV has it on the Get Out! site. But Appleby’s had a little stack of them at the front desk, too.
senseless murders of the four Lakewood, Wash., police officers. With all the horrific things that we hear about and watch every day on the news, it would seem that we’d get hardened. Fortunately, we don’t. This brutal mass murder of innocents pierced the hearts of everyone in the Northwest. … At this point, all I’ve got to say is bless these officers’ families and bless all of our law enforcement who go through each day never knowing what horrors they’ll face even in the next second or in the most unlikely setting. Like the military, our police officers deserve our gratitude more than ever after this monstrous crime/Marianne Love, Slight Detour. 
inappropriate volume level, but this is not what was of note. It was the conversation, not his complete lack of library etiquette, that was interesting. He was having a rather lengthy moan about being dumped. Apparently, if one was to believe him, not only does he deserve better than her but she was a tramp anyway. What made the conversation a tragedy of comical proportions had to be the fact this gentleman had only been dating the woman in question for two months and their break up was over a month ago. I have been known to grind an axe or two but surely holding a grudge like that can only be considered unhealthy/Cheyenne Hollis, UI Argonaut. 
woodwork to claim an affair with Tiger, I’m saddened. Not because I believe a single one of them, but because where there is smoke their is usually something smoldering. If any of it is true, my heart is broken. If not, the damage has been done by false claims. The salacious will win out no matter what. It makes one ponder if men of power or celebrity will ever learn that they can’t have their cake and eat it too. Even if innocent of anything, there are those waiting in the wings who will jump on the band wagon for their fifteen minutes. It’s the bane of being famous/Dogwalk Musings. 
for months now. And to tell you the truth, I’m no more excited about this movie than I was when I first saw Matt Dillon and Co. preview their product. Can’t say exactly what it is. Could be the cast (Dillon, Laurence Fishburne, Jean Reno, Skeet Ulrich and Columbus Short). Could be the tired story line (an inside job goes horribly wrong). Could be the images (everything looks so dark). Maybe it’s the first name of the director (Nimrod, as in 
to court. And she takes a slap at “bloggers elsewhere” who have been ”attacking Jim on a personal level rather than discussing the rights of the electorate to have confidence in the honesty and efficiency of the system.” Not that I care what Mary thinks re: HBO, but I don’t think this blog has attacked Brannon personally for the lawsuit (although some commenters — which are different than bloggers — may have). Onward. Writes Mary: “When the poll books, tallies and totals were reviewed, THAT’s when the problems became obvious. I got a chance to look at some of the poll books and was surprised and shaken by the many irregularities. The process is not consistent. The rules seem to vary from one precinct to another. And there are all kinds of instances that cause a “you’ve got to be kidding me” reaction.” 
this to mind is the current film “2012.” If one watches any TV, one has to be aware of the premise of this film before it came out. Prophecies from Nostradamus, the Mayans and who knows who else are put together to make this seem a possibility. These prophecies coincide with the galactic alignment. This alignment happens when our sun’s plane is directly opposite the center of our galaxy. This rare celestial event occurs every 25,800 years. It is an interesting event that should be celebrated, not cheapened by sensational warnings of doom/Jean M. Chapman, Moscow-Pullman Daily News. 
Jim Brannon is not a pawn. He is part of a movement to oust the status quo. He almost won, so he can’t be that ineffective as a leader or communicator. The supporters of the status quo had better come to terms with the fact Jim Brannon and company aren’t going away and they’re eventually going to break down the doors unless changes are made.
the shadow of sore losers threatened to dampen the celebration as a lawsuit was filed late Monday afternoon, challenging the election itself, apparently without a request for a recount. In my opinion, with a five vote margin, the loser to Kennedy could have and probably should have called for a recount. Apparently the loser chose to insult the system itself, and by reference, the grand lady retiring. What they hope to accomplish is unknown and the outcome deplorable. Attacking the very system that allows one to abuse it is interesting at best/Herb Huseland, Bay Views. 
Barack Obama … is slated to deliver 
Jim Brannon is still alive. It’s reminds me of a bad Weekend at Bernie’s movie. All I ever hear from this guy comes from the fringe group that supported his campaign. Does this guy ever speak for himself…??? Cabbage, I know that you like this guy and all, but come on, how can you get behind someone who still hasn’t come out from behind his mama’s skirt? A little controversy and this guy is looking for rocks to crawl under… Partisan politics aside, don’t you want leadership in that position…??? 
were counted in his five-vote loss to Seat 2 City Council incumbent Mike Kennedy. If the challenge is successful, a judge will decide what happens next. Represented by attorney Starr Kelso, of Kelso Law Office, the challenger passed on his opportunity to have the Idaho Attorney General’s office conduct a recount of the tightly contested race, and instead filed a complaint in First District Court on Monday to void the election on grounds of several procedural irregularities. “Every vote should have a voter,” Brannon said Monday. “That’s pretty simple”/Tom Hasslinger, Coeur d’Alene Press. 
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