Huckleberries Online

More Spokane News/Ideas?

Feb. 16, 2009 6:10 p.m. • 105 comments

I’ve been flirting with the idea of adding more Spokane news and commentary into the mix at Huckleberries Online — the big stuff, of course. Mebbe pull back a little on the southern Idaho news and shift focus across the border. After all, except for the Legislature, we’re more tied to Spokane than Boise. Would you like to see Huckleberries make this subtle shift, as it moves into its sixth year? Or would you prefer to see the lineup remain much like it currently is?

105 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

Cindy_H on February 16 at 6:20 p.m.
Careful. I flirted with an idea once.
I’ve been paying for it for 19 years.

Spokane news would be cool. NO Spokane Valley news, though. Everyone knows that’s really Idaho with higher taxes and better dental hygiene.
Just saying.
Transplanted_Texan on February 16 at 6:51 p.m.
If you kept it subtle, that’d great. HBO is my main news link to home when I’m away to school, and as you say, home is more tied to Spokane than Boise. Good idea, Dave!
hhuseland on February 16 at 6:51 p.m.
I think that the shift would be not only of more interest to those of us that reside near Coeur d’Alene, but to be honest, those that post from the treasure Valley, et al really don’t have much in common with us hillbillies up yer. Spokane valley is just a little like Idaho, except for sales tax. Go north out of spokane toward Collville or Newport and were pretty much the same rural types. Which remeinds me of my fav redneck joke.

“Y’all know how you can tell that the toothbrush was invented right here in Athol? Ah, no … Well, if it had been invented anywhere else, it would have, of course, been called a teethbrush.” Bada boom!
Bob on February 16 at 7:34 p.m.
Did Sisyphus leave and this is just a thinly veiled ploy to get him back?

Cindy, I’m with you sister. Spokane Valley is dullsville, I mean, our cops don’t beat innocent retarded guys to death in convenience stores for holding dangerous 2 liter bottles of mountain dew and manage to avoid being charged, and we have no Riverpark Square scandals where a rich established family not only talked the City into bending over and grabbing its ankles to get ridden like circus ponies in Tijuana, but when it was over the City paid them for doing it to them.

Yup, keep the Spokane Valley out of the papers. Exactly how we like it.
jreighley on February 16 at 8:33 p.m.
I am only a vicarious Idahoan through my college days at U of I. So if you shifted a bit more to my neighborhood, it wouldn’t bother me much, so long as you kept mentioning my hapless Vandals once in a while.
Joker on February 16 at 8:41 p.m.
Bob,

I think Sis might be gone. Couldn’t take the Joker running wild in his head. I hear tale he’s hanging on at the 43rd State Blues site with a radical group of angry left wingers.

Glad you’re tough as an 1983 Toyota Tercel.
Bob on February 16 at 8:49 p.m.
Jokerveria, before the legend in your own mind grows to leviathan proportions, I’m going to poke a needle in your needless ego balloon and let you know that it was not you but the slightly more limited Kage Mann that likely drove him away.

You are a lightweight who would not last one evening in an unfettered and unprotected thread with me as is so obvious by the provision you have been gifted of training wheels, a Bob-resistant kevlar vest, a nerdy Cone of Invincibility and a potty chair with “Made by DFO” carved roughly in the faded cherry stained plywood seatback.

You only last because DFO hobbles your targets. Unhobbled I’d burn you to ash.
Joker on February 16 at 8:58 p.m.
Ha, ha, ha, ha,

Sure you would. Keep telling yourself that. Last night you were posting affirmations about how to take criticism.

Your other minion ThomG was torn to pieces like the roof of the Super Dome during Katrina.

Maybe Kage took out Sis, if you say so. He didn’t offer much in defending the Dems.either.

I am playing by the rules pal. I know they constrain you, but adapt or move along to 43rd street.
JeanieSpokane on February 16 at 9:02 p.m.
Just checking in and, oops - i see this thread got hijacked and side tracked. First Spokane item will be a street fight, starring Bob.
Bob on February 16 at 9:08 p.m.
No, Jokerveria, you’ve got rules made to protect you, you’re allowed to take pejorative insulting shots at whoever you want and DFO deletes the return fire.

You are a sniveling poser who has big daddy DFO wiping your (his) messy bottom and shoving you (him) in the back of the minivan when the tough kids knock you down.

Your main purpose is to rep to wingnuts that they can survive here without getting their heads unscrewed by the smart grownups on the left, for DFOker to try to push this blog to the right.

But since you are you, it all works doesn’t it? Take off the mask and the protection and you’d be like the rest of them. G00kin was smarter than you, Clod D’Waalz was meaner, Tolle was more obsessive and Wondering was crazier. And they’re all gone. And lots more. It’s no wonder you have to play it this way. As they say, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.

Go, hurry! Your nose is running and you need your daddy (yourself) to wipe it.

Best in 35 years :-)
thomg57 on February 16 at 9:10 p.m.
Joker, a legend in your own mind. Torn to pieces? Because you played Mr Obvious ad nauseum? I don’t think so. Keep patting yourself on your back, if your arm gets tired I’m sure Dave will help.
thomg57 on February 16 at 9:12 p.m.
i see this thread got hijacked and side tracked.—Jeannie

Joker’s specialty.
Bob on February 16 at 9:19 p.m.
He’s a post-humper and I made sure to wear my gore tex moisture-proof hiking pants tonight as I know he gets so excited when he gets his little paws above my ankles and with a little hyperthryoidal pomeranian HOP! mounts my shin long enough to make a smear (2.7 seconds) before I violently kick him in a rainbow arc so beautiful and perfect that one cannot but help hear dear pre-barbiturate-addled Judy Garland singing “somewhere over the rainbow ….” as Jokerveria flies, yelping all the way, to a sudden and prejudicial halt of his furry velocity against the side of a Midtown Thrift store.
Joker on February 16 at 9:30 p.m.
Bob,

Find your center man. So much hostility is bad for the soul.

I bet you spent all day crafting those jabs and forgot to take out the garbage and go get groceries.

I have no idea of who those people that left were. Either they got bored with you, which I understand, or they didn’t have the discipline to stay with ya. I’ve got missle lock on your sorry Vietnam era F-4.

Thom, if you’d just answer the questions, obvious or not, the root canal would have stopped. Instead, you ran behind Bob’s legs and hid. Any time you want to talk about Bob Nonini, I am all ears.
Bob on February 16 at 9:39 p.m.
Joker, I’m so impressed with your amazing repertoire of ear jokes aimed at Thom. Seriously, is that all you bring? Oh wait. You bring wikipedia plagiarism and you also bring brilliant web site improvement ideas for making Kootenai Co a Demo majority again.

As to hostility, you’re never interesting nor funny, you are just a predictable troll who insults people without ever providing any added value. Why DFO protects you and coddles you, I’ll never know, although I think I have a few notions. (see: The Three Faces of Eve or Sybill).

But seriously, I dig having you here. The more you post the better I look to those who are, shall we say, not big time Bob fans. You are the wind beneath my wings little Joker. Keep up the lameness, it works well for me.

And make sure to visit my table at Blogfest and say hi. I’ll autograph something for you.
Joker on February 16 at 9:49 p.m.
Why show any more moves when the one works so well against a one-trick pony.

Lameness? That’s so 1985. Is your mind stuck on an 1980s teen movie marathon? Try some new lingo, it will help you tremendously. Go to North Town Mall and hang out near a Rave store. Seriously.
Bob on February 16 at 9:54 p.m.
You have no more moves. Mall insults? Put down the Doug Clark. Even Paul Turner’s better than mall insults. Not much better but a little.

Teen movie marathon?

I’m picking up some Tyler Wilson too.
sibulsky on February 16 at 10:00 p.m.
back on topic…i vote NO on Spokane stuff…we’ve lots of other media to give us that…like Spokesman.com…I’d rather see more depth on the Idaho stuff!
thomg57 on February 16 at 10:15 p.m.
Instead, you ran behind Bob’s legs and hid—Joker

Joker,

/ ignore off

At first I though that from your grasp of the obvious you would have known that you were being ignored, but I guess a person (you) can only take so much of that before they start creating their own reality to cope with life’s disappointments. Answer your questions? I can’t imagine why I would bother.

/ignore on
thomg57 on February 16 at 10:17 p.m.
Put down the Doug Clark.—Bob

ROTFLMAO! Ding, Ding, Ding, we have a winner!
Bob on February 16 at 10:26 p.m.
Bob pwns Doug Clark.

;-)
moscow_minidoka on February 17 at 7:20 a.m.
To get back to the original question: No DFO, please don’t make the blog more Spokane-centric. I see the Spokane news everyday on what’s left of the print edition of the Spokesman… I turn to Huckleberries to get updates on Idaho news from the ENTIRE state (including the Treasure Valley and the Panhandle) that the Spokesman does not provide. You provide links to the Lewiston Tribune & Daily News for free, which is a valuable service.

I’ll still read Huckleberries even with a daily IVA update. If you shift to replicating the news from Spokane, you’ll be making this blog less unique.

Also, even though we may be more tied to Spokane, the city of Spokane does not determine policy in Idaho. I want Boise news, because it is the seat of our government and has a very important influence on our lives in a way that Spokane simply does not.
Bob on February 17 at 7:35 a.m.
DFO, is the idea to gain more Spokane visitors and drive site revenue back up? Because I’m certain you’ll get more action from neighboralopolis Spokane than Boise as the regional similarities between CDA and Spokane vastly outweigh those of S. Idaho.

But you would lose the original flavor here if you went Spokanocentric. Tough call. But in today’s economy you might wanna go for the sure thing - SPOKANE AND THE BEAUTIFUL SPOKANE VALLEY.
Bob on February 17 at 7:37 a.m.
neighboralopolis = neighboropolis

Need a preview button, please!
Arpie on February 17 at 7:51 a.m.
I would think a move toward more spokane stuff would lose you what appears to be a growing connection with the rest of Idaho. NOONE else is even trying to do what you are attempting in this state. Please don’t give up now! I think you are starting to make some progress.
toadman on February 17 at 8:28 a.m.
Those of use who tried to keep the ill fated ‘The Falls’ up and running, but were unsuccessful, would like some Spokane AND Spokane Falls news, yes. In point of fact, I know more about CDA city council than I do about Spokane’s city council because of HBO.
nic on February 17 at 8:50 a.m.
February 16 at 7:34 p.m. - Bob contributes to the discussion. Chimes in on topic

February 16 at 8:41 p.m. - enter joker. Off topic… bashing a frequent (liberal) contributer

February 16 at 8:49 p.m. - Bob defends Sis (who’s not here to speak in their own defense)

February 16 at 8:58 p.m. - Joker unleashes more antagonizing and insults of other HBO (absent) contributers

February 16 at 9:02 p.m. - JeanieSpokane observes Joker’s hijacking of this thread

And it all falls apart after that.

Dave, if Joker can’t contribute something other than off topic hatebrew and mindless lib-bashing… I’m going to have to go the way of toadman and jump off this sinking ship.

(voluntarily enters cooler)
Bent on February 17 at 8:50 a.m.
I say go for it DFO. There are a lot of people like me who work in Spokane and live in Idaho. I am interested in reading news from both areas…
Joker on February 17 at 9:15 a.m.
Hey Nic,

Chek out this morning’s Bob thread. The guy went carpet bombing. I said nothing today to provoke him. The guy thinks he’s winning by producing tons of posts. Just look at the venom and hate he’s sprewing. My jabs were little nuthing. Except if you’re hitting a glass jaw.
DFO on February 17 at 9:24 a.m.
Joker; I need to step in here. The war between you, Bob & Thom is amusing to watch — (wait for it) after hours. I’m not going to let the three of you trash the main thread during working hours. Bob got his licks in early. You got your licks in just now. I guess I owe ThomG a shot before I start deleting posts. ThomG, feel free to take your shot. Then, the three of you need to shut it down until After Hours.
thomg57 on February 17 at 9:44 a.m.
Don’t know if I should take my shot at Joker, or you for allowing this tool to turn every thread into a 5th grade pissing match complete with schoolyard taunts and digs. Let him do what he wants, it’s your blog.
JeanieSpokane on February 17 at 9:46 a.m.
Oh, NICE! So, After Hours is when I’ll go do something else like clean my house, take out the garbage, throw away mystery food from the fridge - my activities will fit right in with the After Hours Bob-Joker-Thom Wrestling Mania.
moscow_minidoka on February 17 at 10:00 a.m.
Yeah, I’ve just about had it… early morning is when I have time to check HBO, but the absolute dung that has piled up overnight makes me think it’s time to find other ways to get my mind warmed up for work.

Bob is funny because of his bizarre humor and wonderful turns of phrase, although he can be a bit much at times. Sisyphus is unabashedly liberal, but well-educated and articulate - a great asset for HBO. And there are many other great commentators here - left and right - who make this a great community blog.

Joker has interesting things to say from time to time, but lately he’s just been an absolute pest… and yes, DFO, it looks to many of us like he has your tacit approval. But his continual derailment of decent posts is just getting beyond bearable… if his/her behavior continues the way it has the past few weeks, you can expect many of us moderate posters to just leave, or check in less frequently, or - as I will probably do - continue to check the headlines but just ignore the trashing of the comments section by a few obnoxious schoolyard bullies.
DFO on February 17 at 10:06 a.m.
You can take a shot at me if you want, ThomG. Basically, I wanted those of you who engage in insults to see how it feels when someone was allowed to insult back. Last fall, I banned 2 individuals who were involved in regularly insulting others. Before The Joker arrived — and I assure you again, ThomG, I’m not The Joker (you can verify that with Blogmeister Ryan or Editor Gary Graham, if you like) — I was trying to rein Bob & you in re: insults you leveled at Kage Mann & HMOffsuite. The Joker came along and jumped on that theme. Frankly, I’m bone-tired of the insults leveled by less than a handful of individuals here. Although some have come to your defense re: The Joker’s presence, others have said here and in private e-mails that he echoes their sentiments. I’m trying to expand this blog by including new people and a better balance. Too many have been driven off here in the past. I’m not going to allow that to continue to happen.
OfCoffee on February 17 at 10:07 a.m.
DFO - my two bits on the original question is - “No” on Spokane stuff. I don’t know why, but I personally couldn’t care less about that area, even if I do shop at REI now and then.

But I do enjoy seeing your postings regarding other parts of Idaho. Probably stems from both sides of my family being native to Idaho for over 100 years. I actually feel bonded to the whole state and not just the northern 5 counties.
Cindy_H on February 17 at 10:10 a.m.
If we all take up a collection and buy OfCoffee a cool coffee avatar maybe he’ll comment more ;-)
OfCoffee on February 17 at 10:14 a.m.
Cindy - you’re right - I need to get a cool avatar. But if it helps, I will accept your donations… ;-)
OfCoffee on February 17 at 10:19 a.m.
DFO - just as another thought on this whole Joker vs Bob thing - I (mostly) quit reading Bob years ago. I just see his name and skip it. Joker seems to be just like Bob but on the other side of the aisle, and though I secretly enjoy seeing Bob get his own back at him, I now just skip Joker as well. Your call whether you ban these guys for awhile, but I think most of us out here can work around them when needed.

However, I never, never skip Cindy.
toadman on February 17 at 10:23 a.m.
Dave….I’m actually behind you on the whole “too many derogatory comments and insults” thing. But two wrongs don’t make a right, as the ancient cliche goes.

Too many good people HAVE been driven off by the actions of a few. I, for one, have been disgusted of late, by the anger and uncivil-tone some of the discussions here have taken. To be sure, Joker let’s some of the other poo slingers know what it feels like to get the poo slung back at them, but there’s a whole lot of us sitting in the middle watching it and all we see is poo from both sides anymore. It’s all becoming so fifth grade…
thomg57 on February 17 at 10:29 a.m.
Too many have been driven off here in the past. I’m not going to allow that to continue to happen.—DFO

Then you’ve chosen a very poor tactic.
keithincda on February 17 at 10:29 a.m.
what Toad said….
Bent on February 17 at 10:33 a.m.
Ditto…
Cabbage Boy on February 17 at 10:39 a.m.
—unnecessary insult to Thom removed— :)

Toad put it well. They may have deserved the poo being slung back, but does that make this a better place. As I tell my children, the other child may have “deserved” that punch/insult, but that doesn’t make it right. And it certainly doesn’t make it a more civil home.

Bob is more clever in his insults, so maybe his are 6th grade level. Kinda like a fart joke. They are funny the first time, but pretty soon the adult has to show up and bring some maturity to the conversation.

It is pretty much to the point that I don’t read the Joker or Bob. Wish we had the option of “ignore” for certain posters like I have seen elsewhere.
DFO on February 17 at 10:39 a.m.
ThomG; Blogging is an inexact science. If I’ve miscalculated on this, it won’t be the first time. But I suspect that my “miscalculation” has brought this problem to the surface. You guys scream when I delete a comment in which you’ve called someone “stupid” or “dumb” — or some variation of that in a cleverly worded rant. For what? They disagreed with your politics? Or philosophy? Or some other aspect of your worldview? I know that’s acceptable behavior on an overwhelming number of opinion blogs. But it has transformed the blogosphere into nothing but a long-winded rant. My goal here has always been to bring a diverse group of people to discuss controversial themes and yet learn to enjoy one another. I discovered that was possible when I wrote on the Editorial Board. Mature people of goodwill can agree to disagree agreeably. If this blog becomes an echo chamber — whether to the right or to the left — it has lost its effectiveness. If this whole misguided exercise of mine causes the vast middle here to realize that insults of any kind — even those that it agrees with — harm the whole, then it will have been worth it.
Cindy_H on February 17 at 10:45 a.m.
((OfCoffee)) Cool avatar! Which one is you? :-)
MikeK on February 17 at 10:52 a.m.
Anytime you’ve got an animated discussion using the past, present, and perfect tenses of the word “poo” in the same thread, I sort of figure that ‘s an interesting day at the office.
OfCoffee on February 17 at 10:56 a.m.
Cindy - I have two brothers (no sisters) and I also have three sons (no daughters) so these three guys just kinda “spoke” to me. To answer your question, I am the good looking one. ;-)
MikeK on February 17 at 11:07 a.m.
Cindy I’ve met OfCoffee, and these three guys in his avatar look like Tom Cruise, Tom Selleck, and Tom Jones, compared to OfCoffee’s Tom Arnold.

I’m not sayin’, I’m just sayin’

:-)
OfCoffee on February 17 at 11:51 a.m.
Mike - you blew my cover. And I would be all vengeful and stuff if it wasn’t true.

But now that you are in your 40’s, you time is coming.

Next beer is on me.
florined on February 17 at 12:25 p.m.
OfCoffee, you must be the guy in the middle or on the left, cuz I’m pretty sure I recognize my cousin (once removed) Axel there on the left.
Escapee on February 17 at 3:21 p.m.
If I ever stopped commenting on this blog, it would be my own choice, not someone else’s, because I know better than to attack fellow bloggers and I just won’t stoop to that, and I tell ya, whenever I see threads like this which are basically embelliishments of snot-nosed kids fighting at the Daycare Facility of Your Choice, it makes me weary and gets me to thinking that, hey, we’re all smart people here (at least to a degree), and that we’re BETTER than all this. It’s the overall tone of the blog-baiting here which gets me really frustrated. There are posters here that I can learn from, but valid blog entries get buried and snowed under all of this mamby-pamby blogwash. GROW UP, PEOPLE!!!

I get the same feeling in this blog as back when I took a 400-level philosophy course at the University of Idaho, and the feeling was, “well, we’re all talking about something, but I’m not sure what it Is”…and to this day, I’m not sure I learned anything from that class. Maybe I’m the one that’s stupid, but Philosophy-400 just didn’t register with me. And a lot of the postings here don’t, either. There’s enough we all can attack, malign and direct at events, issues, politics, etc. without demeaning our fellow bloggers. It’s threads like this that I find extremely JUVENILE.
Bob on February 17 at 5:45 p.m.
Wow, DFO. That sort of weird rambling nopology reminds me of a parent who will slap the wrong kid upside the head and make him cry then tell his little brother “see that’s what’s going to happen to you if you spill your juice again.”

Seriously, the little experiment failed. The outcomes you desired weren’t remotely approached, and there’s still a litterbox needing dumping.

Nice try anyway, but you didn’t stick the landing and those three slips on the uneven bars will cost you all around points.

I.am.the.King.of.Metaphors.
Bob on February 17 at 5:48 p.m.
And I completely expected Joker to “stand down” today. ;-)

So.easy.

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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.