Huckleberries Online

Downtown CDA shooting concerns business owners

Posted by Cindy

Dec. 29, 2009 8:30 a.m. • 7 comments

Young people partying and drinking in downtown Coeur d’Alene is nothing new; it’s been going on for years.

However, one thing that might have changed, several downtown business owners said Monday, is seeing young people bring guns along for the night. An early Sunday shooting outside a downtown bar left two young men hospitalized, one fighting for his life. In May, a young man was shot and killed outside a downtown bar after arguing with another patron.

Some business owners were surprised to discover they knew the suspected shooter in Sunday’s incident. Adam Johnson, 25, owns a telecommunications company and belongs to the same civic organizations they do. Full story.

Are downtown business owners right to be concerned? Do you feel safe after hours in the downtown area?

Seven comments on this post so far. Add yours!

OrangeTV on December 29 at 9:00 a.m.
Interesting story, but the two bar owners seem a little stuck in the past. He’s worried about that darned “Hard Rock Music”?. Well, Grandpa, these days at the clubs its nothing but loud, crappy mainstream hip-hop music which seems to engender an even more misogynistic, violent atmosphere in my opinion.

I don’t dislike all rap music and I know people who actually live the “hip-hop lifestyle” in an incredibly peaceful, positive fashion. The problem is the tragic wannabes who think they’re totally tough titty and act out some kind of fantasy created by that industry to sell records and movies and clothes.

But this scenario is a classic one and started long before even Rock-n-Roll reared it’s pompadoured white-boy head, causing the Rockabilly/Blues originators to react with pure disdain. Urban vs. Suburban tension is an old story, but involving guns definitely adds a very scary element to the situation.

To be honest, after at least three major gun incidents (I know of one that was never reported because no one was shot), I am a little wary of lingering around on downtown streets on a Saturday night at 12:03 AM. Will I stop stop doing it? For now, until the drama fades and I forget or quit caring.
Joker on December 29 at 11:03 a.m.
Everyone should be concerned about this shooting. There appears to be a disturbing trend of alcohol fueled violence in the downtown area.

The police need to crack down on overserving, serving to minors and violence. Bar owners play a huge role in this problem and need to be active in nipping verbal disputes in the bud before they turn physical.

Having an adult entertainment business in the heart of the city isnt’ a good thing either. You combine young men, attractive/scantily clad women, and large amounts of alcohol and you’ll get fights.

I won’t visit downtown after 9 p.m. until these problems gets cleaned up.
HUTCH on December 29 at 11:04 a.m.
This isolated incident is just that, however, when you are partying and alcohol is involved be prepared for violence. You never know what could come from drunken banter…
bcnqrgd on December 29 at 11:09 a.m.
Gotta love those gun laws…
idbarrelracer on December 29 at 11:10 a.m.
I wholeheartedly agree, OrangeTV. I don’t really frequent the downtown scene anymore, as the inundation of hip hop music just isn’t my thing. I prefer the “hard rock music” that can be found a few miles west of downtown.
Downtown business owners should re-think their choice of music and realize that with the music they’re playing comes the people that listen to it.
Tons of news reports and incidents of shootings and stabbings involving hip hop fans and rappers, not too often if ever do you hear of an emo rocker kid cutting someone besides themselves though, eh?
nic on December 29 at 1:05 p.m.
@ MKS

“I prefer the “hard rock music” that can be found a few miles west of downtown.” You mean The Grail? Right, because that place’s history is completely violence free.

“Tons of news reports and incidents of shootings and stabbings involving hip hop fans and rappers…” It happens to rockers too. Just ask Dimebag Darrell. Oh wait, you can’t… he got shot at a heavy metal concert.

“not too often if ever do you hear of an emo rocker kid cutting someone besides themselves though” Right.
Frontier Middle School in Moses Lake (Barry Loukaitis was a Pearl Jam and Steven King fan, and got his ideas from the movie Natural Born Killers),
Bethel HS (Evan Ramsey blamed his motives on the video game Doom),
Pearl HS (Luke Woodham admitted he was the member of a satanic cult),
Heath HS in West Paducah (Michael Carneal was another Steven King fan and he contributes his own writng to murderabilia),
Thurston High School in Springfield OR (Kip Kinkel was a Marilyn Manson fan, and identified with Leonardo DiCaprio’s movie Romeo & Juliet)
Columbine, (Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold played Doom & Wolfenstein and were fans of Rammstein, Marilyn Manson, & KMFDM)
I could go on, but I think I made my point. When you look at the trend of school shootings, they’re abused, bullied, into violent movies, games, and music. These bullied kids are mostly what you would describe as “emo kids.” They’re as harmless as a time bomb.

But that horrible hip-hop music. It’s the most evil and vile thing on the planet and everyone that listens to it is a violent thug. Thank you for your horribly inaccurate sweeping generalization.
otisgexperience on December 29 at 2:04 p.m.
Country music makes me angry and violent. :)

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.