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Archive for September 2009
I’ll bid adieu this evening with the Post Falls police in hot pursuit of yet another Oxycontin robber who fled Walgreen’s on foot about a half hour ago. Seemed like a fairly routine day in our little bit of paradise until the robbery occurred. Then, Scanner Traffic is like that. Things are going along routine — a road hazard here and a DUI driver there — and then, wham-o, something big happens. Same goes for Huckleberries Online. I don’t even know when something’s going to hit my e-mail, the comments thread, or cyberspace that’s going to turn everything here on its head. But that’s why you check in daily, right? And it’s why I enjoy getting up in the morning. Now, I’ll replay the Wild Card …
A lone thong sits on a sand bank as rescue workers dig through a swampy area at Saleapaga, Samoa, as they search for bodies Wednesday, a day after a deadly tsunami rolled through several South Pacific island nations. A earthquake centered about 120 miles (193 kilometers) south of the islands of Samoa and American Samoa, triggered the tsunami early Tuesday. Story here. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Robbery (at 5:35 p..m.): Post Falls police are looking for a 5-foot-8 Hispanic-looking male with stubble on his face who just robbed Walgreens Pharmacy/Post Falls. The man (who was wearing black sunglasses, a black bandana, black gloves, and a light-colored sweatshirt) reportedly covered his face with a black bag while coughing significantly. He handed the pharmacist a note that warned he had a gun and later fled the store on foot. The robber took 7 plastic bottles of Oxycontin.
John Sowell of the Roseburg News-Review e-mailed the following to HBO: (Photographer Robin Loznak) me that AP in New York cropped the photo on the right to remove some of the 
offending organic material. I always thought that it was up to the member media outlets to decide how they want to use a particular photo. I can remember once having a class assignment where we each had to choose which photo of Pennsylvania Treasurer R. Budd Dwyer we would publish in illustrating the 1987 story about him removing a gun from an envelope, holding it out and putting it to his head and shooting himself. There was a full range of photos from that press conference sent over the wire that day and the AP didn’t feel it was their job then to make that decision for its members. Interesting that today, in a photo that was disturbing but a lot less graphic in that way, the AP didn’t want to send the full-frame shot. HBO thread here. Photo (warning disturbing image) here.
From his perch high above Sherman Avenue & Northwest Boulevard, Don Sausser offers this shot of Cougar Bay at sundown.
President Barack Obama peers into a microscope during a tour of the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Md., Wednesday. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Top Cutlines:
He’s back in the hot seat again. Tuesday, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) warned that the 
Republican health care plan was to “die quickly.” On Wednesday, Grayson riled up Republicans again, likening the lack of health care reform to a “holocaust in America.” Republicans howled and threatened to try to sanction Grayson for his comments on Tuesday. This mirrored efforts by Democrats to punish Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) after he shouted “You lie!” at President Obama during a Joint Session of Congress. On Wednesday, Grayson refused to apologize. “Because I said the truth,” Grayson noted in an interview with FOX News. But the Florida Democrat did apologize/Fox News. More here.
HMOffsuite: Well, Joe Wilson kinda embarrassed the republicans with his “you lie” comment. But now, not to be counted out, the dems’ Grayson trumped Wilson, imo.
More Craziness: Did conservative Newsmax advocate for a coup against Obama?
Question: Is Demo Grayson’s statement in the same league with Repub Wilson’s “you lie” comment?
The Burns series last night included an excellent portrait of Roosevelt, who, as much as any 
single man laid the foundation for conservation and preservation in America. He was friends, colleagues and fellow traveler with the giants of 19th Century conservation, John Muir, Gifford Pinchot and George Bird Grinnell whose thoughts and lobbying contributed to Roosevelt’s remarkable legacy. But it was Roosevelt himself who saw how preserving the nation’s beautiful places, wildlife and natural bounty was an essential and largely unrecognized cornerstone of the nation’s democracy/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. More here.
Question: Who will be this generation’s Teddy Roosevelt?
“The Fancy Nancys (Nancy DiGiammarco & Jennifer Ross) team set a goal of raising $1,500 that they met and beat by a mile. With a whopping $7,685 raised, the team was the runaway winner,” reports KerriT/More Main Street. More here. Kerri’s Main Street column here.
The North Idaho College volleyball team (19-3) was ranked first in the nation in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association Division I poll released Tuesday, the first time in the program’s history that the Cardinals have been ranked No. 1. The ranking comes after NIC defeated the top-ranked College of Southern Idaho, NIC’s conference rival, Saturday/Greg Lee, Sportslink. More here.
A teen-ager escaped criminal charges after he was seen “flashing” motorists and pedestrians at Garage Town in Huetter about 6 p.m. Monday. Witnesses said that the boy was standing 
outside the door of a storage unit, which was propped open with a pillow, “exposing himself” to people walking or driving by. A couple who drove past said the boy was naked and remained outside the unit exposing himself for at least 10 minutes when they drove past again. When contacted by a sheriff’s deputy, the boy said he’d simply gone outside to use a toilet on the other side of the building. He couldn’t explain why he did so naked. But was afraid of being prosecuted and ending “up as a sex offender.” He also denied the couple’s contention that he appeared “excited.” The boy was turned over to his father. The officer told the father that no charges are being filed but a report of the incident would be kept on file.
Question: Should charges have been filed against the boy?
Matt Hathaway is claiming responsibility for hanging posters of President Obama wearing a Nazi uniform at three Sandpoint schools. Shown in this 2006 photo, Hathaway was fired later that summer from the Spirit Lake Police Department. SR story here. (Kathy Plonka/SR)
A window case displaying a life-size cutout of President Barack Obama was pelted with a bucket-sized load of feces early Tuesday at Douglas County Democratic headquarters in downtown Roseburg. The excrement appeared to have been thrown from some kind of container as it coated the window at 827 S.E. Cass Ave., covered the eaves and was visible on the ground. “I was shocked to see it,” said Jean Patricia, a Democratic Party volunteer who discovered the vandalism when she arrived at 10 a.m. to open the office. “You’d think people would have something better to do”/John Sowell & Mark Adams, Roseburg News-Review. More here (warning: unsettling image).
Photographer Robin Loznak: We used it as the main art on the front page of The News-Review today. The stink at the scene was overwhelming. I got some on my shoes. I bet it was cow poop, but it could have been human.
High school sports scribes Mike Vlahovich & Greg Lee make their picks to win football games this weekend.
The Gookin Squad:
Here are Dan’s own words about the police sub-station: “This building is not about the police or public safety. It’s about a big pot o’ free money. This Police booth is merely a symptom of the City having too much money to spend and no solid plan or vision with which to spend it. … Expect to see an over-designed, Las Vegas-like LCDC-funded Police Palace coming to a City Park in your home town soon! (Comment by Dan — March 8, 2008 @ 11:30 am)
Question: Do you think the police substation in City Park has been a plus or minus in fighting crime on the waterfront and downtown?
A five-year-old Coeur d’Alene girl is recovering at Kootenai Medical Center following a dog 
attack Sunday night. It happened along the 800 block of North 17th Street in Coeur d’Alene, when a young girl ran out of her house to meet her mom and was pounced by the dog. The three-and-a-half-year-old Belgian Melanois is being held at a private animal hospital and neighbors say they were surprised the dog attacked unprovoked. A police report says the dog, named Bogie, attacked the young girl, biting her in the throat, chest, arm, and head. At one point, Bogie picked the girl up off the ground and started thrashing her around/KREM. More here.
Question: “Bogie is going to be held here for ten days under quarantine, and after that period the owners can decide to keep him, while following some strict guidelines, or they can choose to put him down.” What would you do if you owned and loved the dog?
A black-tailed prairie dog peers out of its burrow at a prairie dog town in Dodge City, Kan. Two conservation groups are suing the Environmental Protection Agency for its decision to register pesticides that curtail prairie dogs. Defenders of Wildlife and Audubon of Kansas, which filed the federal lawsuit last week in Washington, D.C., say the chemicals threaten the endangered black-footed ferret, which feeds on prairie dogs. Prairie dogs can compete with livestock for forage. Missoulian story here. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
Question: Do you see anything wrong with using poison to eradicate a pest?
I need some advice from the progressive delegation at Huckleberries Online. The AP has just published a photo by Robin Loznak in Roseburg, Ore., that shows the aftermath of someone tossing feces at a photo of Barack Obama in the window of the Roseburg Democrat Party HQ. Should I publish it. Stomach-turning stuff. But is it newsworthy?
Put your hands together for my Spokesman-Review colleague Betsy Russell, who has been 
picked as the best political reporter in Idaho by the Washington Post. Writes the post: “As we have said before, political reporters out in the states are doing great work on a daily basis and, by aggregating the best of the best here, you have a chance to follow their work. We will put our list in a permanent spot on the blog — exact spot still to be determined — so that it can be used as a reference in advance of the 2010 midterm elections.” In Arkansas, Michael Wickline of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette was named as a top political reporter. He’s a former Coeur d’Alene Press/Lewiston Tribune political writer.You can see full list below.
Otis G Experience: Bumpersticker on a soccer-mom-mobile this morning: “Support Terrorism. Vote Obama. The Middle East is counting on you.” So, I guess Obama is a fascist, communist, socialist, tyrannical… terrorist? These people are starting to scare me. Not surprisingly, the aforementioned mini-van had one other sticker prominently displayed… a proud NRA member.
Question: Do you have a bumpersticker on your vehicle? What does it say?
Idaho Dad spotted this Tank McNamara ‘toon that was published Saturday, before Idaho’s big victory on the road against talented Northern Illinois. Which boosted the Vandals’ record to 3-1 on the season. That, of course, isn’t good enough for a No. 1 ranking in the country. But it should get the Vandals out of the cellar of the NCAA Division 1A football jungle, where they’ve resided at times in the last three years. You can get a better look at the Tank McNamara ‘toon here.
Question: Anyone care to guess now how well the Vandals will do in the Western Athletic Conference this year?
My husband and daughter pulled over to assist the little dog and in the hope of returning him
safely to the owner. The dog was coming toward her when the officer on the motorcycle scared the little dog off again. At this point my daughter went back to her truck to get treats to entice the dog back over to her. The little dog went over to the officer’s car and laid down by the passenger door. The officer moved his car away from the dog then got out of his car and shot the little dog. He then went over to the dog, picked him up, and threw him in the ditch like a piece of garbage/Geri Henricksen, Juneau, Alaska. More here.
DFO: I recall hearing something about a pug running loose in the median of I-90 Friday afternoon. And I thought I heard later that the dog had been injured and an officer shot it. But I can’t be sure. Sometimes, you can snippets of transmissions. I didn’t post anything on scanner traffic because I wasn’t sure of the details.
Question: When should an officer shoot a loose dog?
A model pushes up her falling dress, part of Russian designer Masha Kravtsova women’s Spring/Summer 2010 fashion collection, presented in Milan, Italy, earlier today. (AP Photo/Alberto Pellaschiar) Question: Have you ever had an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction?
Coeur d’Alene Police Association statement re: endorsements: All candidates for mayor and council attended with the exception of Joe Kunka. Mr. Kunka called the Department this morning and apologized for not attending. After hearing the vision, views and accomplishments of each candidate the Police Association voted to endorse Sandi Bloem for Mayor, Mike Kennedy for Council seat #2, Woody McEvers for Council seat 4, and Deanna Goodlander for council seat 6. … The Police Association believes the incumbents have been very supportive of our Chief, the Police Department, and have been diligent in their governance of the City. Therefore we strongly endorse the incumbents for the upcoming election.
Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden held a fund raiser at the Yen Ching restaurant in 
Boise. kicking off his reelection campaign. He spoke, briefly, and said that he’d been recruited by the “RNC,” so I guess there was an effort to get him to run against Walt Minnick. (I can’t imagine why; there’s no more rock-ribbed Republican than Minnick.) Anyway, Wasden said that he asked his recruiters (paraphrasing) “Why would I do this? How will this let me do a better job of serving the people of Idaho?” He was sincere. He spoke of the accomplishments of the lawyers in the AG’s office, and he lauded how they’ve helped the citizens of Idaho/IdaBlue. More here. H/T: Treasured Valley
Question: Are you satisfied with the job Lawrence Wasden has done as Idaho attorney general?
A vast majority in Bonner County residents feel it’s either dead or on life support, according to a recent online poll by the Bee. Of the 377 people who voted, 22 percent said it’s gone the way of horse-drawn carriages and another 58 percent said it’s barely hanging in by a please and a thank you. Why are we so gloomy about good manners? Is it because politicians seem rude and disruptive as a matter of course and strategy? Is it because of the egocentricity of some entertainers that pushes them to acts of stupidity? Is it because a world-famous athletes acting like children denied a cookie? Unfortunately, these are merely symptoms. I don’t know if it’s selfishness or some narcissistic gene, but we seem unwilling as a society to let others have their say — or even to agree they have a right to believe something different/Carolyn Lobsinger, Bonner County Bee. More here.
Question: Is Huckleberries Online civil enough for you?
Parents Robert and Connie Heckathorn releases a dove Tuesday in memory of their 17-year-old son Shawn, as friends and family members look on during the graveside service at Canyon Hill Cemetery in Caldwell, Idaho. Heckathorn, a high school senior, died in a head-on collision with a school bus last Wednesday. (AP Photo/Idaho Press-Tribune, Mike Vogt)
The Bayview Community Council has 90 plus members and it has come to our attention that the Parks and Waterways Advisory Board is considering reducing Bayview’s no-wake zone. This decision would adversely affect a very large population in this area and other residents of Idaho that moor their boats at Bayview. This also will adversely affect the float home association and yacht club members, not to mention many other individuals and organizations in the Bayview area. Canoes, kayaks and paddleboats are used in the bay by both adults and children because the waterways are calm. Moving/modifying the no-wake zone would cut down on their recreational pursuits and create dangerous hazards for them to contend with/Robert E. Hammell, letter to the editor, Coeur d’Alene Press. More here.
For the past 5 years, just like clockwork, I have lost a very good friend As a result, I have made 
some adjustments in my life, trying to be able to take something away from the loss of each of these friends. One thing, is that I attempt to spend more time with the old friends that I had not spent much time with in the past. I’m not trying to heal wounds, just spend more time with the healthy friendships that have been neglected. Likewise, I am avoiding some friendships that are more social work and have more drama than I care for. Friendships are like marriages, you get out of them about what you put in.
Question: Have you taken time of late to nourish an old friendship or repair a family relationship?
Sgt. Christie Wood: He failed to answer the Sgt. Cupcake portion of the question so that was my follow up question 
to him. He said that other people such as Bill McCory have called me that and he may have done it once. He agreed it is disrespectful. I was more interested in his negative comments on his, Bill’s and Mary’s blog toward my Chief and Captain regarding our new building in the park. I had a follow up question after he told the group of officers that if elected he would do what he could to provide us with what we need to do our job. I then questioned him about the park bldg and our belief that it is what we need to do our job. I also asked about his negative comments. He immediatley said ‘oh the Bunker?” Full answer here.
Question: Are you satisfied with City Council challenger Dan Gookin’s answers?
Signe Wilkinson/Philadelphia Inquirer
I didn’t mention that I attended the memorial service in Wallace for my friend who committed suicide recently. It was sad, of course. But there was a recurring theme from members of the family, some of whom were estranged. An older brother expressed regret in tears that he’d lost touch with his little sister. Other members of her family are struggling with the ill will that had driven them apart from the suicide victim. Why do I mention this? It might be time to try to heel old wounds that have kept you apart from friends and loved ones. Just a thought. Now, for your Wild Card …
The FBI is looking for this man, who robbed the INB bank branch at Hawthorne Road and Nevada Street at gunpoint Tuesday. Officials say the suspect tied up bank employees with duct tape during the robbery. Story here. (Courtesy of Spokane Police Department)
Otis G Experience: A couple weeks ago, I got some campaign literature from a guy running in
Post Falls. His card really said nothing about where he stands on anything, but focused on the fact that he’s a gun-toting elk hunter. Essentially, “Vote for me, because I’m a Republican”. And because of that, people will vote for him… knowing nothing else about him. Now, Mike Kennedy’s website really makes no mention of his political leanings, and mostly just talks about what he’s done and what he hopes to do. Which is how I think it should be.
Question (from Otis G): Local issues are typically not hard-hitting “left vs. right” items. If that’s the case, why do we still make such a big deal about whether local politicians are Republican or Democrat?
Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Post Falls, second from left, speaks out at a legislative task force meeting on Tuesday, where he and other lawmakers decided to wait a year before shifting gas tax money away from the state parks department and the Idaho State Police. At left is Sen. Diane Bilyeu, D-Pocatello; second from right is Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, and at right is Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert. Betsy Russell, who snapped this photo, published a number of posts re: budget action today in Eye On Boise here.
Participants in the Stilettos Run, wearing stilettos, wait for the start of the race, Sunday in New York. The 80 meters run and nationwide walks are part of an effort to raise public awareness of child trafficking. The run also sought to break the Guinness world record for the largest event of its kind. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)
Top Cutlines:
H/T: Granny
A Kootenai Medical Center worker told police that someone fired a bullet at her as she was 
leaving the hospital’s parking garage last week. Kimberly Shaul reported that she thought a tire had gone flat when she heard a loud noise as she was driving down the ramp from the second floor about 4 p.m. Friday. She continued home when she discovered none of the tires were flat. On Saturday morning, she found a bullet hole in the tailgate of her minivan. The bullet also went through the plastic molding on the driver side wall and came to rest on the floor behind the driver’s seat. Shaul reported that she didn’t see anyone in the garage as she was exiting.
… the Coeur d’Alene Police Association is interviewing municipal candidates for endorsement purposes at the moment. Huckleberries Online hears that one of the questions that council wannabe Dan Gookin will be asked about his disparaging past remarks about police spokeswoman Christie Wood. He has called her “Sgt. Cupcake” and “a snake” in blog writings. It’ll be interesting to hear how Gookin talks his way out of that one.
St. Louis Rams linebacker David Vobora leaves the field after an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers in St. Louis Sunday. The NFL has suspended Vobora without pay for the next four games for violating its policy on performance enhancing substances. The NFL made the announcement today and said Vobora’s suspension begins immediately. He can return to the active roster Oct. 26. Story here. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)
The fact is, people lie. We all lie. We lie to each other, we lie to ourselves. I lie to you. If 
everyone on the planet was honest one hundred percent of the time, society would have never evolved as far as it has. These are the “socially acceptable” lies. The “oh yes, I love this gift you’ve given me!” lies, the “oh don’t worry about breaking that, it was old.” lies. Or even the “why yes boss, our work IS our passion!” lies that we tell to keep our jobs, our situations, and our incomes. Nobody really wants to hear the truth. The truth does not set you free, unless by free, you mean, free of people who want to be around you/Toadman, Synaptic Disunion. More here.
Question: Do you lie much? What about usually?
“I’m usually dragged kicking and screaming out of summer each year, but I do enjoy the beautiful north Idaho autumns once summer’s over,” posts KerriT/OnLocation North Idaho. “This driveway at the east end of Fernan Lake offers a postcard view of the beauty that’s there for the looking.”
HBO Numbers (for Monday, Sept. 28): 7703/4381
The Gookin Squad & Phaedrus have been keeping tabs on possible position changes of City Council candidate Dan Gookin. Gookin Squad offers the following today:
Question: Do you think it’s fair to hold a candidate accountable for words that he wrote two or three years ago on a blog?
A Chinese acrobat performs during the inaugural ceremony of China Culture Show in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday. The show organized by Pakistan Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Chinese Embassy to celebrate China’s 60th anniversary. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed) Question: How flexible are you?
I love almost everything about college football, but the one thing I cannot stand is ranking polls. How does Boise State get ranked fifth in the nation? Maybe it’s because they beat a couple high schools by like 50 points. Can we please get a system that works?/Nick, UIdaho Argonaut. More Off The Cuff.
Question: Are you happy/angry that Boise State is ranked No. 5 in the nation?
But you must remember that, when dealing with liberals, they’re always right, and you’re always 
wrong. Unless, of course, you’re also a liberal, then you simply hold a “differing viewpoint.” Think back to the Bush administration with the protest signs and buttons with such phrases as “Bush is a Warmonger” and “Bush Lied, Soldiers Died.” Do you remember all the Hollywood celebrities taking potshots at the president and then having the severity of their remarks ignored by the mainstream press? It seems that what used to pass as appropriate “political discourse,” when spoken by the left, is now deemed “racist” and “disrespectful” when spoken by the right. Why did the rules change? Why is it now inappropriate to question President Obama and his motives, even though it was appropriate to call Bush “little Hitler”? Clearly, a double standard exists/Henry Johnston, Moscow-Pullman Daily News. More here.
Question: When does harsh criticism of President Obama cross the line into disrespect and even racism?
A year ago, Democratic Senate candidate Larry LaRocco claimed his Republican rival, Jim 
Risch, had benefited handsomely from the tax shift Risch engineered during his brief stint as governor in 2006. Risch’s bill cut property taxes by $260 million and boosted the sales tax by 20 percent, raising $210 million. During a televised debate, LaRocco said the move saved Risch anywhere from $53,000 to $250,000. “That’s a lie,” Risch said. “If I got $53,000 out of this bill, I’ll drop out of this race.” Risch didn’t drop out. He went on to win the seat, and because of that he’s required to file a financial disclosure report. That report says he’s worth at least $19.29 million, making him the 13th wealthiest member of Congress. The report also says he owns at least $16 million in real property, most of it in Idaho. With land that valuable, theoretically the tax cut would be worth $48,000 to Risch/Marty Trillhaase, Lewiston Tribune. More here.
Question: Were you helped or hurt by the 2006 tax shift?
There are occation’s when our publication has error’s — both in print and online — and we 
have some loyal reader’s who occationally point them our to us. We alway’s appreciate those who help keep us on our toe’s. Having said that (or, to be more precise, having written that), let me expres’s my concern about what I feel seem’s to be a growing epidemic in the United State’s — apostrophe abuse. That humble little piece of punctuation has undergone quite a beating lately. Apparently there are quite a few folk’s who think that the proper way to make a word plural is to interject an apostrophe before the “s”/Phil Bridges, 2C Etc. More here.
Question: Are you skilled in the proper handling of an apostrophe?
KerriT’s sister, Janna Scharf shared a photo she took on Friday on N. 7th Street in Coeur d’Alene. She did a double take when she noticed this doggy in a second-story window so drove around the block to get the picture. That’s when she noticed the dog was joined by a feline friend on the windowsill as they watched the world go by/More Main Street.
An airplane was stolen from the Boundary County Airport early today. The heist is the latest 
move in a series of mysterious activity near the United States and Canada border in the past week. The Creston, B.C., airport reported burglaries over the weekend. Handguns, food, beer and other supplies were stolen, along with an attempt to take another plane. Authorities think the same group broke into the Boundary County Airport on Sunday night before returning late Monday or early today to take a 2005 Cessna model T182T, said Jessica Short, airport office manager. “It’s a really nice, brand new, $340,000 plane,” Short said/Meghann M. Cuniff, SR. More here.
Shipments
of mine waste started arriving at the East Mission Flats repository Monday, after a top Superfund official endorsed a plan to store 40,000 truckloads of soil tainted with heavy metals in the Coeur d’Alene River’s floodplain. Mathy Stanislaus expressed confidence in the repository’s ability to protect groundwater during a conference call with reporters. But he also said an “early warning system” will be installed to address concerns about potential contamination during floods. Additional monitoring wells at the repository will alert officials if metals start leaching into the groundwater/Becky Kramer, SR. More here.
Pleading guilty to unlawful sex with an underage girl — the drugging, raping and sodomizing of 
a 13 year-old — isn’t stopping Hollywood from ginning up an indignation campaign over the possibility of fugitive director Roman Polanski being held accountable for his crimes. Yes, these are the values of those who control the most powerful propaganda device ever created. Which begs a question: If his unspeakable deed doesn’t meet the standard, what exactly would Roman Polanski have to do in order to become a pariah in this town … I mean, besides vote for Sarah Palin?/John Nolte, Big Hollywood. More here. H/T: Clayton Cramer
Question: What would you like to see done with fugitive director Roman Polanski?
Not that the end result necessarily will be much different, but one of Idaho’s most unusual 
candidates this year – Melissa Sue Robinson, running for mayor of Nampa against incumbent Tom Dale – is creating a larger stir than you might have expected. What there was at first was just some interest by way of curiosity. Melissa Sue used to be Charles, and that change of genders at first seemed to be central to her candidacy, an emphasis on issues related to sexual identity. (Consider her campaign website’s domain, equalityidaho.org.) Or that at least was our first reaction, and considering that the electoral jurisdiction we’re talking about is conservative Nampa, there seemed not much more to say. Since then, a few months back, matters have developed. The transgender part of the campaign hasn’t gone away – how could it? – but it has become a news peg for a variety of news organizations to take a look at the race/Randy Stapilus, Ridenbaugh Press. More here.
Question: Would you vote for a transgender candidate who was qualified to hold office?
This undated image provided by the U.S. Postal Service shows a 2009 postage stamp honoring “The Twilight Zone” television show. (AP Photo/USPS)
Question: Do you collect stamps? Which stamp in your collection do you prize most?
Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate, has finished her 
memoir just four months after the book deal was announced, and the release date has been moved up from the spring to Nov. 17, her publisher said. “Governor Palin has been unbelievably conscientious and hands-on at every stage, investing herself deeply and passionately in this project,” said Jonathan Burnham, publisher of Harper. “It’s her words, her life, and it’s all there in full and fascinating detail.” Palin’s book, her first, will be 400 pages, said Burnham, who called the fall “the best possible time for a major book of this kind.” The book now has a title, one fitting for a public figure known for the unexpected — “Going Rogue: An American Life“/Associated Press. More here.
Question: Is ‘Going Rogue: An American Life” a good name for Sarah Palin’s book?
The loss to Boise State hurt. But we moved on and bounced back. We learned a lot about our 
team during that week after Boise. We know now what it takes to not let a team beat us twice. Purdue was a hard fought physical game. We learned how to keep fighting when someone was dishing it back at us. It was a game that came down to the last play and tested our resolve. Against Utah we found a way to win when things were not going the way we wanted. We overcame turnovers and other mistakes to earn a victory over a very talented and confident football team. On an individual level or within position groups we all faced talented players and are better for it. Positions learned how to play — and stick — together/Ex-LCHS footballer Carson York (shown in 2006 LCHS photo) in Oregonian diary. More here.
Question: Did you play college sports?
A Bonner County man has come forward to claim responsibility for posting images depicting President Brack Obama in Nazi regalia on the doors of three local schools. Matt Hathaway, 33, 
said he posted the images at Washington Elementary, Farmin Stidwell and Sandpoint High School on the morning of Sept. 8 to protest the president’s nationwide address to students. “I believe that Mr. Obama can contact our kids any time he choose, I should have tthe right to go ahead and place what I feel on the school grounds,” Hathaway (a former Bonner County deputy) said in remarks aired on KPND radio. The posters, which were approximately 8 1/2 inches by 11 inces in size, likened Obama to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, according to Lake Pend Oreille School District. Superintendent Dick Cvitanich/Connor Christofferson & Keith Kinnaird, Bonner County Bee. More here.
Question: In the KPND broadcast, Hathaway said that the school district told him that he wouldn’t pursue charges if he apologized. Hathaway said he would rather face trial than apologize. Yet, the school district still has elected not to pursue charges. What should the school district do?
Dylan Hopkins and Katie Coyle, volunteers, harvest cucumbers on the Soil Stewards three-acre farm outside of Moscow Wednesday afternoon. Story here. (Sebastian Edgerton/Argonaut).
Laughing: There is absolutely nothing safe about football. It is a violent sport and often even 
the best coaching and equipment will not protect a player from serious injury. Period, end of statement. Having said that I allowed my sons to participate. To some young men there is a huge attraction to football. I had it and I sustained a life lingering injury. I told my sons that I would actually prefer they didn’t play football,. I told them that I would not stand in their way. Their mother was less understanding, especially when they got hurt … and they did. I use to “joke” that between my sons I personally paid for the new parking garage at the hospital.
DFO: My son played football and baseball at Coeur d’Alene High. I let him play football without saying anything, even though he was one of the littlest players his freshman year. He was better for the experience. Yeah, there’s an element of danger, but there’s also much to learn about dealing with others in a rough sport like that.
Question: Have you ever allowed your kids to do something, even though it made you nervous?
JohnA: Wallace in the past was a rollicking good time, no matter your take on the morals of the 
place. It was good for what’s bad, a dissertation on dissipation if there ever was one. It was corrupt officials elected time and again, and a Madam who bought uniforms for the high school band. It was high stakes stud poker, blackjack and dancing girls at every turn. It was, simply to us locals, Slippery Gulch. But, most of all, it was the Old West as it once was, when minin’ men went to town on Friday night and owed their soul to the company store the rest of the week.
Question: Are there any places that you’d call the “Old West” remaining in the region?
Joe Heller/Hellertoons
KVNI’s Norm McBride tickled the funny bone of SR prep sports scribe Greg Lee this morning. En route to work, Greg heard McBride say that YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook had consolidated and henceforth would be called … YouTwitFace. I thought Greg was serious at first when he related the joke to me a few minutes later at the office. Then, I got it — and appreciated a little levity to kick off another Monday morning in Paradise. Hope you did, too. Now, for your Wild Card …
A bull runs loose after escaping from ENA Meat Packing Inc. in Paterson, N.J. on Monday. Police say the 1,400-pound bull that escaped from the northern New Jersey slaughterhouse dragged officers with a lasso down a street and ran 10 blocks before being captured and sedated. No injuries were reported. The bull was returned to the slaughterhouse. (AP Photo/The Herald News, Elizabeth Lara)
A 3-year-old Coeur d’Alene girl suffered large lacerations to her throat, chest, right and left arms, the back of her head, and her left side when she reportedly was attacked by a neighbor’s Belgian 
shepherd dog at 6:15 p.m. Sunday. The girl’s father suffered a broken knuckle when he tried to pry the dog’s jaw open to rescue his daughter. The attack began when the girl ran toward her mother as she returned from the grocery store. The dog, one of two running loose on the neighbor’s property, immediately attacked, picking the girl up off the ground and thrashing its head around with the child in its mouth. The girl’s mother told police her child appeared to be in shock and didn’t cry. She simply had a helpless look on her face. The father ran from the back yard to rescue the child. The father told police that the dog is one of two that roam freely in the neighbor’s yard — and that the dogs get aggressive and go “nuts” when he walks by their kiennel.
Question: Have you been bitten by a dog?
On Sanders Beach again with KerriT/More Main Street, a row of chairs greets the fall sun on a private beach belonging to the only home on the south side of East Lakeshore Drive.
Kingman’s All Starz Academy members perform stunts in front of the crowd at the annual Andy Devine Days Parade in downtown Kingman, Ariz. Saturday. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Kingman Daily Miner, JC Amberlyn)
Top Cutlines:
Just to let you all know. I am officially going on dialysis tomorrow. Woo Hoo! Let’s Party – meet 
me on the 5th floor and we can all watch the set up. I have chosen peritoneal dialysis as my choice – which can be done at home. For about two months, though, I will have hemo dialysis until my new little appendage is healed and in place. The good news for me – well of course feeling tons better is that they are arranging for dialysis for me at Disneyworld in the middle of October. My four friends and I have saved for five years for this trip. I was beginning to think that I would lose out on a great trip. (The dialysis center there caters to Mickey maniacs like me.) Thanks for all your prayers and hugs and good thoughts/JeanieS, Nuts & Nonsense.
DFO: Indeed, keep JeanieS in your thoughts and prayers — tonight, tomorrow, and beyond.
Megan Fox hosted the 35th season premiere of Saturday Night Live this past weekend and critics say the actress was simply mediocre, but she opened the show by sharing photoshopped nude pictures of herself-including one of her as a centaur. While Megan played up her sexpot persona throughout the show, it was new cast member Jenny Slate that has gained the attention of the media when she inadvertently dropped the F-bomb during a sketch with Kristen Wiig. The F-bomb slip has only happened three other times in SNL‘s three-decade history/SheWired.com. More here. Photo Courtesy: NBC.
Question: Are you surprised — pleasantly or otherwise — that television shows haven’t added F-bombs to its list of formerly verboten words that are now in use?
Mike_S: MikeK is fine just the way he is. The conversation really should be about the creepiness of Dan Gookin’s makeover. I mean, Gookin used to look like the typical rich Californian trying to fit into his idea of the North Idaho image but now one just isn’t quite sure what to make of his new look.
DFO: Actually, I give Gookin credit for slimming down. It isn’t easy to do. He certainly has made himself over since his days as a pony-tailed Libertarian 6 or 7 years ago. Nothing wrong with that. I have a little more problem with his attempt to spin some of his past positions on the Kroc Center and other urban renewal projects that have added to the quality of life in this town.
On Saturday, Don Sausser, HBO’s Eye On Sherman Avenue, captured the mood of the warm, late summer night mood as the moon’s reflection lit up City Docks and the tour boat/Don Sausser, special to Huckleberries Online.
Seventy-seven-year-old Duane Hagadone has been a Coeur d’Alene resident his entire life, 
and within that time he has gone from selling subscriptions to the local newspaper to owning a major corporation with four divisions including hospitality, newspapers, publishing and real estate/property management. With the completion of his new Casco Bay estate several months ago, Hagadone has placed his Stanley Hill estate on the market with Hurwitz James Company for $27.5 million. Just five minutes from town, the compound sits behind private walls flanked by 2,000-pound gate doors; the house is invisible from the road and very few homes can be seen from its impeccably landscaped grounds/Sarah Binder, Unique Homes. More here.
Question: Have you ever visited Duane Hagadone’s Stanley Hill property?
Sailors enjoy a beautiful late September day at Lake Pend Oreille while racing in the Buttonhook Regatta on Idlewild Bay Sunday. (J. Bart Rayniak/SR)
Did Kennedy pick up the coveted Krispy Kreme Golden Doughnut endorsement? — Joker.
Question: What other kind of ”endorsements” best fit the current crop of candidates for Coeur d’Alene mayor and City Council seats?
In West Virginia, where there’s roughly one deer for every two people and the largest city 
boasts an annual deer hunt within its boundaries, it’s no surprise the animals pose a common hazard for motorists. On Monday, insurance giant State Farm added some hard numbers to back up the anecdotal impression, naming West Virginia the likeliest state for vehicle crashes involving deer. Using its claims data along with state motor vehicle registration figures from the Federal Highway Administration, State Farm estimates drivers in West Virginia have a one in 39 chance of hitting a deer in the next 12 months. That’s up from a one in 45 chance last year. … Joining West Virginia in the top five are Michigan, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Montana/Missoulian. More here.
Question: Have you ever hit a deer, elk, or any other big-game animal w/your vehicle?
Wallace, Idaho (population 1,000) is among the coolest small towns in America. The magazine Budget Travel touts Wallace’s mining history and some of the salacious activities that went along with it. The article suggests an affordable trip to the Oasis Bordello Museum. The magazine’s website also notes the town’s access to bike trails, The Red Light Garage (“a cafe decorated with vintage musical instruments”) and the Wallace Brewing Company. Photo Courtesy: www.google.com.
Question: Can you think of a cooler little town than Wallace, Idaho?
I wish I had back all the money I’ve spent through the years on breast enlargement 
cream.Obviously, I got skunked. I should have known better. But when you’re a young 20-something and have just had a couple of babies and you look in the mirror and realize the figure you always dreamed you’d have just never materialized, you’re sometimes driven to desperate measures. My thinking was: If the breast enlargement cream company would spend big money advertising in a fine journal like the National Enquirer there must be something to it. People may look askance at the Enquirer’s journalistic standards, but I can guarantee you their ad rates ain’t cheap. Eventually the breast enlargement cream went the same way as other useless gadgets I’d been conned into buying over the years/Kathy Hedberg, Lewiston Tribune. More here.
Question: Have you ever been suckered into buying a gimmick that purportedly would improve your life in some way? What was the product?
Protester Maggie Taylor of Bellingham, Wash. joins protesters lining College Way in Mount Vernon, Wash, where Glenn Beck is receiving the key to the city from Mayor Bud Norris Saturday. The event has been criticized by some who claim Beck is too polarizing a figure. Story here. (AP Photo/Skagit Valley Herald, Matt Wallis)
Conservationists have endorsed the re-election bid of Coeur d’Alene Councilman Mike Kennedy. In a news release today, Lee Flinn, director of Conservation Voters for Idaho, said Kennedy has protected Coeur d’Alene’s quality of life through leadership on open space protection, sustainable growth, and water consrvation. “Mike Kennedy is a strong leader who will continue to advocate for well-managed growth, livable neighborhoods, clean water, and a continuously improvted quality of life for Coeur d’Alene,” Flinn said/Conservation Voters of Idaho, news release.
Question: Do you pay attention to political endorsements?
I’d bet when Superman hangs out in the Hall of Justice with Aquaman, Wonder Woman and the 
Wonder Twins, the Man of Steel wonders whether he should be in a league of his own. Aquaman talks to fish. How useful is that? I’m faster than a locomotive!” Superman pontificates. Members of Congress are like that, belittling or ignoring the power of the people and the states. Congress’ Kryptonite is the U.S. Constitution. It’s a document that restricts the powers of the federal government. And just as Superman has a finite list of abilities — super strength, super speed and X-ray vision — Congress can only do what’s allowed under Article I, Section 8. There are only 18 expressly stated powers. Health care is not one of them/Wayne Hoffman, Idaho Freedom Foundation. More here.
Question: Should health care by a constitutional right?
181 female skydivers from 31 countries joined together to set a new
women’s formation skydiving world record in Perris, Calif., Saturday The women
raised more than $900,000 for the fight against breast cancer, the most in the
event’s history. The week-long event was organized to raise funds for City of
Hope’s breast cancer research. (AP Photo/Jump For The Cause, Willy
Boeykens)
Just 41% of voters nationwide now favor the health care reform proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. That’s down two points from a week ago and the lowest level of support yet measured. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 56% are opposed to the plan/Rasmussen Reports. More here.
Question: Time to play taps for the Demo health care plan?
More Info: When asked whether the “vast right-wing conspiracy” is still present today, the former president answered without hesitation, “Oh you bet.” “It’s not as strong as it was because America has changed demographically, but it’s as virulent as it was,” Clinton said today on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” ”Right-wing conspiracy” was the term used by former first lady Hillary Clinton to describe the tactics her husband’s political enemies used to attack his presidency after revelations of his affair with Monica Lewinski.
Question: Do you believe there is a “right-wing conspiracy” — either now or during Bill Clinton’s terms in office?
According to Assistant Coach Mike Heden, Drew, a defensive back, took a hard hit during the 
game. School administrator Derick Tabish says Drew was able to walk off the field to the sideline. At the sideline, he became sick, then collapsed. Friday night, Drew was airlifted to Sacred Heart Medical Center to undergo surgery that would relieve pressure on his brain. He was listed in critical condition all weekend. On Monday morning, at around 2 o’clock, KHQ called Sacred Heart to get an update on Drew’s condition. A nursing supervisor told us he died sometime before that/KHQ. More here.
Question: Do you consider high school football safe enough for your children to play?
To borrow a “Seinfeld” line, I thought we had a deal with the seagulls. We throw them crumbs 
from our lunch on the beach – and they don’t poop on us. OK, I haven’t kept my end of the bargain. I shoo the beggars away, as I did on Cannon Beach recently. It was one of those rare days on the Oregon Coast: shining sun, temperatures in the 80s, little wind, and a tide far out far enough to allow my wife, daughter and me to search tide pools near Haystack Rock. A tourist yelled at my daughter for simply pointing at an anemone, which apparently is endangered. The aggressive woman was soon forgotten when a town volunteer who has shown dogs in Coeur d’Alene volunteered to take our photo in front of Haystack Rock. That’s when the gulls got their revenge/DFO, Huckleberries. More here.
Question: Which is your favorite spot on the Oregon coast? What do you usually do there?
Regional Economist for the Idaho Department of Labor Kathryn Tacke sits in her office Thursday morning in Lewiston, Idaho. Unemployment rates have recently risen to double digit figures in some parts of Idaho. Story here. (Kevin Quinn/SR)
Question: Have you collected unemployment benefits in the last year?
What? Not another Spokane Police Department scandal. It’s deja blue all over again. Our latest episode involves an SPD sergeant, Bradley N. Thoma. The veteran officer was arrested last 
week for drunken driving. Hit-and-run charges may follow. Thoma has been put on paid administrative leave, which is a sweet deal considering that Thoma rakes in $91K and change a year.Oh, well. Look at the bright side. No innocent mentally ill janitors died after being clubbed, shocked and hogtied by Genghis Cop. No off-duty gunplay was involved as in Jay Olsen’s boozy rundown and shooting of Shonto Pete. No down and handcuffed suspects were kicked in the face. Allegedly. From what I gather reading the paper, Thoma was “cited and released for misdemeanor DUI following a hit-and-run crash” that occurred Wednesday on the Newport Highway and … Oh, brother. I’ve written so many columns about local cops acting out that I think I can now predict how the ensuing Thoma case will unfold/Doug Clark, SR. More here.
Question: How do you do you think the latest Spokane police scandal will play out?
William Safire, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and language maven for the New York Times, 
whose penchant for the barbed and memorable phrase first manifested itself in speeches he wrote for the Nixon White House, died Sunday in Rockville, Md. A longtime friend and former colleague, Martin Tolchin, said Safire had pancreatic cancer. He was 79. For more than three decades, Safire wrote twice weekly as the resident conservative columnist on the Times op-ed page. He also wrote the popular “On Language” column in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, exploring grammar, usage and the origin of words. The column led to the publication of more than a dozen books about words and language/Washington Post. More here.
Question: Are you a William Safire fan?
Michael Ramirez/Investor’s Business Daily
Finally … the University of Idaho Vandals football team appears to be turning things around after a long, long dry spell. Who would have guessed that UI would be 3-1 after four weeks of play. And that they’d beat a good team like Northern Illinois on the road? Meanwhile, the Cougars look like they’ll lose a bunch of games again this year — but not as badly as last year. Also, Don Sausser mentioned in the comments section Saturday that it’s time to pay attention to the No. 2-ranked NIC Cardinals volleyball team, which knocked off the nation’s top-ranked JUCO team, College of Southern Idaho, in four sets Saturday. ‘Tis nice that we in the Inland Northwest no longer have to hang our heads when it comes to college sports. Now for your Sunday Wild Card …
There won’t be a third straight week at the top of the rankings for the College of Southern Idaho volleyball team. For the second straight week, the Golden Eagles failed to defend their ranking against their rivals from North Idaho College, this time falling in four sets in Coeur d’Alene on Saturday afternoon. The 25-18, 25-22, 17-25, 25-22 victory for the No. 2 Cardinals (19-3, 1-0 Scenic West) means they will almost certainly take the No. 1 ranking from CSI (16-3, 0-1) when the NJCAA Division I Volleyball Poll comes out midweek/Twin Falls Times-News.
Southern California linebacker Shane Horton, left, and linebacker Ross Cumming bring down Washington State running back Marcus Richmond during the second half of an NCAA college football game in Los Angeles, Saturday. USC won 27-6. ESPN game story and boxscore here. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
(Idaho QB Nate) Enderle directed a
drive that included a key 25-yard third-conversion pass to Eric
Greenwood deep into NIU’s territory. The Huskies called the final
timeouts of the game as Idaho continued to push forward - largely on
the bullish runs of senior back DeMaundray Woolridge. The Vandals showed tenacity, maturity and effectiveness throughout the non-conference game. Enderle connected
on 18 of 23 throws for 270 yards and three touchdowns with passes going
to 10 receivers. Woolridge led the running backs with a hard-fought 143
yards on 19 carries - one of which was a one-yard TD. Three receivers had
three catches each with Greenwood tallying 67 yards, Preston Davis 29
and Maurice Shaw 28. Princeton McCarty scored on his lone reception - a
58-yarder with 47 seconds left in the first half. Defensively, the
Vandals were able to limit the Huskies to 128 rushing yards and were
relentless in their pursuit of NIU quarterback Chandler Harnish. The
Vandals wound up with four passes defensed and five tackles for loss/Idaho Athletic Media Relations. ESPN boxscore here.
We have a coupla more days to enjoy the extended summer weather that we’ve been experiencing. Then, we’ll face temperatures in the 50s (by Tuesday). Garrison Keiller once said that winter approaches in three steps — Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Well, we’re still a month away from the first giant step toward winter. So I plan to enjoy the last week of Mariners’ baseball. Once that’s over, I’ll turn to other fun spectator sports — like the municipal election campaigns this fall. They should erupt into something fun to watch any minute now. The candidates will be courting votes in City Hall Tuesday when they meet with the police officers union. It’ll be interesting to see who Coeur d’Alene’s finest endorse. While we wait for that news, I’ll play this Wild Card …
Let’s say you live in an isolated town of 130 souls, don’t have a
car and want to work 25 miles up 
the highway. Good luck with that –
unless you live in Tensed, Idaho, and covet a job in Coeur d’Alene. In
that case, you can relax. Just hop the free CityLink bus. The unusual service began in 2005 and has gathered impressive
momentum. Its origins were in the 2000 census, which designated
Kootenai County an urban area and thus in need of a public transit
system. This caused considerable consternation among political
officials, including Dixie Reid, who was a Coeur d’Alene council member
and chairwoman of the Kootenai Metropolitan Planning Organization. She said at the time, “It just scared me to death, because I didn’t
think we could do it. I’m still just amazed that we pulled it off”/Spokesman-Review Editorial Board. More here.
Question: Have you ever ridden a CityLink bus? Or you satisified with the service?
Edie Linane wouldn’t fall for it. She knew her 1976 Chevy
Nova couldn’t have done the damage that 
the woman claimed during a
confrontation in a Spokane grocery store parking lot earlier this
month. Police agreed, and Linane left without giving the woman the $100 she’d said was needed to avoid an insurance claim. But Linane, 73, fears the scam could be duping unsuspecting drivers into paying money for damage they didn’t cause. “I think it’s a scam being perpetuated on old people,” Linane said. Fraud
investigators warn against cash transactions. Most car insurance
policies require customers to report even minor collisions immediately/Meghann M. Cuniff, SR. More here.
Question: Have you ever been the victim of a scam or attempted scam?
A ‘recortador’ jumps over a bull during a bull leaping contest show at the Plaza Monumental bullring in Barcelona, Spain, Friday. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)\
Top Cutlines:
The White House acknowledged for the first time Friday that it might
not be able to close the U.S. 
military prison at Guantanamo Bay by
January as President Barack Obama has promised. Senior
administration officials told The Associated Press that difficulties in
completing the lengthy review of detainee files and resolving thorny
legal and logistical questions mean the president’s self-imposed
January deadline may slip. Obama remains as committed to closing the
facility as he was when, as one of his first acts in office, he pledged
to shut it down, said the officials, who spoke on condition of
anonymity in order to more freely discuss the sensitive issue. They
said the White House still was hoping to meet the deadline through a
stepped-up effort/Associated Press. More here.
Question: Should President Obama do everything to meet his self-imposed deadline of closing Guantanamo Bay by January, even if it means rushing the process?
If you operated an airline and more people were making reservations, would you slash routes 
and boost fares? If you ran a dental office and more people needed cavities filled,
would you cut your hours and send them home? Of course not. So why in the world does Idaho choose to cut back on higher education in the middle of a recession? People lose jobs in recessions. Eager to land on their feet, many show
enough initiative and faith in the future to put themselves back in a
classroom, acquiring the skills to become competitive in the new job
market. Lewis-Clark State College’s heat count surged to 4,200, cresting the 4,000 mark for the first time. At the University of Idaho, enrollments rose slightly to 11,957. After shedding students to the newly created College of Western Idaho,
Boise State University’s enrollment still was up 2.3 percent for a
total of 18,936, Even Idaho State University had more students, up 6.6 percent to 13,493/Marty Trillhaase, Lewiston Tribune. More here.
Question: Does Gov. Otter have any choice but to order a 6% cut in spendiing for higher education?
Spokane Police Sergeant Bradley Thoma’s arrest on a DUI charge has
sent shock waves 
throughout the Inland Northwest and the arrest has
upset none more than members of the organization ‘Mothers Against Drunk
Driving.’ Thoma was arrested on the DUI charge after he rear-ended a woman near Newport Highway and Farwell Rd. Wednesday evening. The 51-year-old woman was not injured and she proceeded to follow Thoma
to a nearby parking lot where Spokane County sheriff’s deputies took
him in to custody. Thoma was cited for DUI and released. The incident has members of MADD and others in the area upset that a police officer made such a dangerous decision. “My 3-year-old son was killed by a 17 time repeat drunk driver,” said MADD member Linda Thompson/KHQ. More here.
Question: Are you surprised that a Spokane police officer would be charged with DUI? How do you think this incident will play out?
Ben Bernanke says the recession is “very likely over.” What a relief. Yet how come we still feel so 
depressed (or at least recessed) about
the economy? How come my personal economy, and probably yours, still
feels as if it has a miserable, sniffling, sneezing case of the
Recession Swine Flu? And one other thing: How come the employment rate is at 9.7 percent
and rising? How come unemployment shows every intention of busting into
double figures and throwing you, and everybody in your family, out
of work? Well, in my capacity as the Recession Answer Man, I am pleased to
enlighten you. The answer is: Unemployment is a “lagging indicator”/Jim Kershner, SR. More here.
Question: Do you feel as though the recession is “very likely over” for you?
This will be a good barometer for how legitimate the Vandals’
surprising start really is. Northern 
Illinois went toe-to-toe with
Wisconsin before losing 28-20, then upended Purdue on the road last
week. NIU probably doesn’t have the same talent level as Washington,
which handed UI its only loss, but the MAC school might be more
well-rounded. “I think it’s the best defense we’ve seen to this date
from an overall standpoint,” Idaho offensive coordinator Steve Axman
said. These are the sorts of games, against quality opponents on the
road, where the Vandals have fallen flat in recent years. But this is a
different UI squad, starting with a much-improved passing game and a
run defense that’s ranked first in the WAC and 29th in the country/Josh Wright, SR Sportslink. More here.
Question: Pick the final score in the UIdaho game at Northern Illinois?
What took Gonzaga Prep running back Bishop Sankey four quarters to
accomplish the last three 
games the junior was able to achieve in less
than a half. Sankey eclipsed 200 yards for a fourth consecutive game as the
visiting Bullpups cruised past the Lake City Timberwolves 42-12 in a
non-league game Friday. The Bullpup had 209 yards with 1 minute, 50 seconds remaining in the
first half. He appeared to be well on his way to perhaps 300 when,
apparently, poor judgment got the best of him. Sankey was ejected after G-Prep’s fifth play of the third quarter
when he allegedly threw a punch. Bullpups coach Dave McKenna was going
to consult with the referees before leaving LC to determine if that’s
exactly what they saw. If the referees confirm the punch, it means that by rule Sankey would have to sit out the Bullpups’ game Friday against Rogers/Greg Lee, SR. More here.
Nick Anderson/Houston Chronicle
In the comments section, Bayview Bob asks: “What happened to the quick link to Huckleberries (on SR.com)? Makes it hard to get back when you go to other parts of the site.” Actually, there are two other quick links to Huckleberries on the SR.com site — under “Topics/Blogs” in the upper left corner and next to “Local” below the “Multimedia” features about midway down on the left side of the page. The quick links at the top of the page are rotating ones that highlight topics of interest in the news, like the Otto Zehm case, and various other features on our site. Huckleberries has been there for quite some time in the past. I suspect it’ll return there in the future. The easiest way to find Huckleberries is to bookmark it. Just sayin’. Now, for your Wild Card …
Idaho is known as the land of big mountains, tasty potatoes and lots and lots of spam. 
Spam? Yep, the Gem State gets more unsolicited e-mail than any other state, according to Symantec’s MessageLabs Group. The company named Idaho “the spam capital of the US” for 2009. A dubious honor for sure. Symantec says about 93.8% of all e-mail destined for Idaho inboxes was sent there without permission. That’s far above the average global rate of 86.4%. Most companies and e-mail providers have an array of spam filters, blockers and other techniques that stop much of that from actually arriving in your inbox – but just six out of every 100 e-mails sent to Idahoans is legit. Idaho zoomed up the charts – jumping a whopping 43 spots from last year, when it was the sixth least spammed states/KTVB. More here.
Question: What steps have you taken to cut down on the amount of spam sent to your e-mail address(es)?
Spotlight (4:16 p.m.): Coeur d’Alene police are responding to Ramsey Park where an R/P reports finding the body of a male gunshot victim. Update (from SR): Police are investigating the death after a parks worker spotted the corpse and called authorities about 4:30 p.m. Although there were early reports of gunfire in the park, police at the scene said the investigation is just beginning. Update II (according to police spokesman Christi Wood): Police have decided that the man shot himself to death.
At Main Street, KerriT snapped a number of photos of her outing to Sanders Beach earlier this week, including this one of a well-known beach owner who is enjoying his front yard.
Penn State students cheer during the first half of an college football game against Syracuse in State College, Pa. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
Top Cutlines:
Al-Qaeda’s as-Sahab released a video featuring an audio statement from Osama bin Laden entitled, “A Message from Sheikh Osama bin Laden to the People of Europe”. Osama bin Laden demanded that European countries pull their troops out of Afganistan in a new audiotape Friday, warning of “retaliation” against them for their alliance with the United States in the war. The message is in Arabic and was released in both an English and German subtitled version. On-screen text reads, “Say to those who disbelieve: if they desist, that which has passed will be forgiven them; but if they return [to their misdeeds], then the example of previous peoples has already passed before them. (AP Photo/IntelCenter) Question: Do you pay any attention to the occasional threats reportedly issued by Osama bin Laden?
“If you don’t speak English, get out of the United States.” We’ve all heard this statement time and time again from our fellow Americans. As Americans we have a tendency to believe that everyone in the U.S., regardless of their reason for being here, should speak English. We also think that they should respect our culture and our traditions, but we don’t extend them the same respect. The problem with not extending the same respect is that many Americans are arrogant and travel outside the U.S., yet don’t extend the same courtesy. What makes the situation worse is they don’t even see themselves as hypocrites. These travelers expect to step on foreign soil and have the locals speak English/Shauna DeMeritt, North Idaho College Sentinel. More here.
Question: Do you speak a second language?
Eagle-eyed
employees of the Coeur d’Alene Parks Department located a stolen stash of women’s clothing and lingerie, as well as sports gear, just off the lower trail at the Third Street entrance to Tubbs Hill Thursday afternoon. The city workers told Coeur d’Alene police that they found boxes and duffel bags full of items from Sweet Pea Home Interiors, the Sports Cellar, and other places, under a blue tarp in the trees just off the trail. Many of the items were new, with price tags still attached to them. The workers also discovered a city shovel with distinctive green marking that was stolen from a city vehicle about a week ago.
The admissions office was evacuated when the new paint on the walls made (North Idaho College) counselors woozy. Note to students: This is an isolated incident. Generally speaking, getting high in class and using that as an excuse to leave is frowned upon/Chokecherries, North Idaho College Sentinel. More Chokecherries items here.
Born in West Virginia, moved at the age of four. Went to private school until high school.
Married high school sweetheart. Had baby boy who changed my life. Realized you don’t know much in high school; got divorced. Life was hard and sad. Son was my saving grace. The best and worst time of my life. Pseudo blind date. Fell crazy in love. Married him nine months later. My soul mate and best friend. Life is fabulous. Had beautiful baby girl who made life even better. Blessed to be able to stay home. Dreams all came true. God is good/Midnight Marauder. More here.
HBO Numbers (for Thursday, Sept. 24): 8257/4757
Question: How would you describe your life in a few words?
Participants show off their tattoos at the International London Tattoo Convention in east London today. The convention, held till Sunday, brings together the world’s best tattoo artists from the US, Australia, Canada, Japan and UK as well as piercing specialists, fashion designers and fans of skin art. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) Question (for those of you who have tattoos): Do you think you’ll regret getting a tattoo or two or three when you older — and the ink begins to blend with fading muscles?
Dogs may be man’s best friend, but according to the American Veterinary Medical Association, 
cats outnumber dogs by nearly 10 million among the pet-owning public. With an estimated 90 million cats in the nation, it’s no wonder South Hill author Niki Anderson’s inspirational books featuring true-life cat tales are so popular. This summer Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster, released Anderson’s latest book, “Whiskers, Wit and Wisdom: True Cat Tales and the Lessons They Teach.” Each story features a Purr-rayer to reinforce the lesson, a tidbit called The Tail End that provides practical information, and Kitty Wit, a humorous quip. In addition, Anderson included a brief description of the featured cats’ owners/Cindy Hval, SR Voices. More here.
Question: What has your pet taughtyou about life?
If you’ve been looking for a truly unique home in North Idaho, the search is over. A barrel 
shaped drive-in restaurant is the talk of Osburn’s real estate market. The 80-year-old drive-inturned home was originally listed for $249,000, but the price has been slashed on the barrel-shaped domicile to $75,000. “It’s a challenge of a listing, let’s put it that way,” said realtor Roger Crigger. “I’m not even sure if you can find a person that can build a house like this anymore.” Built back in 1929, the Osburn landmark was known as “The Barrel”, a popular drive-in restaurant. Crigger says the architect built round designs throughout the area. The barrel came from the old railroad track that’s now a bike trail behind the house/KXLY. More here.
Question: Did any of the house in which you’ve lived have a strange feature?
In the catacomb-like basement of Ray McLean’s 105-year-old home, beyond the laundry and 
cold storage rooms and up against the stone foundation, the snakes are waiting and hungry. “This is the reptile room,” Ray says as a door squeaks open and three warming lights spar with the darkness. “All of these are fed pretty regular.” Bongo, a red-tail boa, Bingo, a ball python, and Lucky, a Texas rat snake, are coiled in their respective aquariums. Their combined length approaches 18 feet of constricting appetites. Bongo, the biggest, eats live rats. Bingo and Lucky usually dine on live mice. But Ray says he’s low on cuisine and must buy more rodents soon. “I try to feed them once a week.” It takes about three weeks, Ray says, for complete digestion/David Johnson, Lewiston Tribune. More here.
Question: What would you do if you have a snake in your house?
The fleet is out, congregating at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers at Lewiston, casting their luck and a lure to catch a salmon or a steelhead. (Tribune/Barry Kough)
After the murder of Yale doctoral student Annie Le, The Daily Beast ranked the most 
dangerous college campuses in the country. Now, the blog has ranked the safest campuses, including four of the colleges located in the Inland Northwest: Idaho State, at No. 5; Montana, No. 6; Utah State, No. 13; and Brigham Young, No. 17. You can read which colleges make The Beast list of top 25 safest as well as the 25 most crime-ridden here. Of Idaho State (student population 13,208), The Daily Beast said: ”Want a sign of safety? Pocatello, Idaho, bills itself as the Smile Capital of the US. In 1948, Pocatello Mayor George Phillips passed an ordinance making smiles the only legal mouth expression in Pocatello, following an unusually cold winter. Phillips would smile if he could see Idaho State’s place on our list.”
Question: Are you confident that your student’s college campus is safe?
Colleges and universities will take a 6 percent hit under Gov. Butch Otter’s new budget 
holdbacks, as will community colleges - even as they see enrollment swell due to the down economy. Asked how higher ed will handle that, after already taking big budget cuts, Otter said, “I don’t know - that’s why they’re managing their shops. I suspect every campus will look at it in a different way.” University presidents were involved in meetings yesterday and are working on their own plans. “They don’t like to hear it, I don’t like to deliver it, but it’s the reality,” Otter said/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.
Question: What is your reaction to the state cubacks proposed today by Gov. Butch Otter?
This will be a good barometer for how legitimate the Vandals’
surprising start really is. Northern Illinois went toe-to-toe with
Wisconsin before losing 28-20, then upended Purdue on the road last
week. NIU probably doesn’t have the same talent level as Washington,
which handed UI its only loss, but the MAC school might be more
well-rounded. “I think it’s the best defense we’ve seen to this date
from an overall standpoint,” Idaho offensive coordinator Steve Axman
said. These are the sorts of games, against quality opponents on the
road, where the Vandals have fallen flat in recent years. But this is a
different UI squad, starting with a much-improved passing game and a
run defense that’s ranked first in the WAC and 29th in the country/Josh Wright, SR Sportslink. More here.
Question: Pick the final score in the UIdaho game at Northern Illinois?
At the Unique Homes Web site, Sarah Binder is touring Idaho for good second home buys for the upper crust. In her most recent post, she writes about Duane Hagadone’s Terraces on Lake Coeur d’Alene, east of Coeur d’Alene. (SR photographer Kathy Plonka snapped the photo above of Terraces sales manager Mike DeLong at the back of the Silver Beach Property.) You can read her assessment here. She also plans to write about Hagadone’s Stanley Hill property, which is now for sale, too
Truly:
It warms a mother’s heart when her children are successful and touch others’ lives. Case in point - yesterday Sam the Reporter spoke at the University of Idaho to a journalism class and one of the students was thrilled at meeting him and apparently he taught them something useful. Now here I sit all blown up with mom pride and warmth that he can use his skills to touch others lives.
Question (from Truly): Anyone else have a parent pride story to tell from what their kids have done or are doing?
In recent years, California has forged an increasingly unfriendly business climate. And no one 
knows this better than Bob Potter (former Jobs Plus exec, pictured). Potter, a business recruitment expert with the Inland Northwest Economic Alliance, has spent the past several years luring companies away from California to the greener pastures of eastern Washington and northern Idaho. And according to Potter, those pastures are greener. “In north Idaho the tax structure is pretty much like California … but much lower,” he said. “The corporate income tax is 7.6 percent, and in California it’s nearly 10 percent.” And eastern Washington state is especially appealing to businesses with high profit margins, Potter said/Kevin Smith, San Gabriel Valley Tribune. More here.
Question: Did you ever live in California?
At Left Side of the Moon, the blogmistress wrote the following re: the noose that Rachel Dolezal/Human Rights Education Institute found on her front porch in Spokane: The 
“increasing diversification of the population” coupled with the election of Barack Obama has light the fires fueling fear of “the others.” Fear of others is fueled by more often than not further fueled by ignorance. I would venture that most people know that “getting to know” someone or those defined as “the others” tends to lessen fear. And then, there are those who simply have no interest in learning about others, lessening their ignorance or just bent on simply hating for the sake of hating. A lot of what has been going on reminds me of that moment when Mayella Euell was on the witness stand in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ she says, “An’ if you fine, fancy gentlemen ain’t gonna do nothin’ about it, then you’re just a bunch of lousy, yella, stinkin’ cowards, the - the whole bunch of ya, and your fancy airs don’t come to nothin.‘” More here.
Question: How has your views of another person or group changed after you took the time to get to know them better?
A Berry Picker (who is in the know) predicts that Mayor Clay Larkin will win re-election easily in 
his Post Falls municipal race. Which is no surprise. But A Berry Picker also predicts that two of the three incumbents running for re-election will lose their council seats Nov. 4. Here’s an example of ABP’s insight: “Ron Jacobson and Keith Hutcheson (pictured) for Seat 2 will be an interesting race. Keith has some experience as a candidate and came within about 50 votes of Linda Wilhelm in a three-way race two years ago. Ron was originally appointed and has never been challenged in three previous elections. If Keith gets out and works the neighborhoods he could take it.” You can read ABP’s observations re: all the Post Falls races here.
Question: Do you agree with A Berry Picker that two Post Falls council members could lose their seats this fall?
At Main Street, KerriT writes re: her time on Sanders Beach Thursday: “A kayaker glides away from the Sanders Beach shore with the million dollar condos and Coeur d’Alene Resort golf course in the background.” More photos here.
In this 1969 file photo, Susan Atkins, is shown. Atkins, who admitted killing actress Sharon Tate 40 years ago, has died. She was 61. Atkins died late Thursday night at a prison hospital in Chowchilla where she had been moved when she became ill. (AP Photo, File)
Question (for those who believe in the afterlife): Is there redemption for people like Atkins who committed such heinous crimes in this life?
When school first started, I noticed that students seemed very anxious to leave class and would pack up early or completely check out when there were 15 minutes left in class. I figured this 
was due to students still adjusting to being in school or anticipating their next class because they were not used to their new schedules. Now that classes have been in session for almost a month, I have not noticed a decrease in this activity, but a severe increase. I understand that students do not want to be in most of their classes. They would much rather be with friends or anywhere besides class. Yet this does not justify the actions I have witnessed in many classes. It is standard practice for students to whip out their phones, log on to Facebook or turn their attention from the teacher to the person sitting next to them after a meager 10 minutes in class. Not only is this highly distracting to students who are actually trying to learn, but a waste of their time and tuition/Katy Sword, WSU Daily Evergreen. More here.
Question: How often did you skip school or a given class?
The InterVarsity Christian Fellowship planned to host a Jesus look-a-like contest tonight on the 
Tower Lawn. Participants of the challenge are encouraged to dress up and represent how they view Jesus — a jock, a geek, a woman, a homeless person or anything else one could conjure. The winner will receive $100 cash. A similar use of the First Amendment was shown at Boise State University Sept. 15. The Secular Student Alliance held an event in which students could be de-baptized, in which they were sprayed with unholy water while being read the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints baptism prayer backward. A member of the SSA said they chose that prayer because it was the shortest/Kelsey Samuels, UI Argonaut. More here.
Question: The Argonaut editorialist goes on to say that such activities as those described above should be OK on campus, as long as they don’t disrupt education — and that those who disapprove don’t have to participate. Do you agree?
Joe Heller/Hellertoons
Huckleberries hears … that the candidates’ debate at the GOP Central Committee meeting was unorganized, at best. Seems the candidates cooled their heels outside the courthouse while someone looked for a key. Seems the time-keeping was uneven. And some of the questions were unorthodox, like one in which a Repub asked Mayor Sandi Bloem where should stood on the 10th Amendment. At one point, challenger Dan Gookin told the R’s that he was looking for bipartisan support from Dems and Independents, too. And challenger Jim Brannon responded later that he wanted bipartisan support but “I expect Republican support.” So goes life during the Pachydermization of city politics. Now for your Wild Card …
At Main Street, KerriT writes: “It just wouldn’t be a day at the beach without Thong Man, a Lake Coeur d’Alene institution for more than a decade. His favorite beach for sunbathing is Independence Point.” More fall photos from today from KerriT here.
Question: Years ago, the Coeur d’Alene City Council voted 4-2 to allow Thong Man to continue to sunbathe on Coeur d’Alene beaches in his skimpy bathing suit. Did the council of yesteryear make the right decision?
It seems like Spring and Fall are the hardest times for me to blog. I even try to do it at night time 
and post date it. But of late that hasn’t worked. As you can see I didn’t get to it yesterday. By night I am run down and tired. I have my daily morning routine, paper/coffee, exercise, straighten up the house, get the wash going if it is Monday or Thursday … but now I have the yard to deal with again. In the Spring it is to get it together, to get it started for the summer. Now it is time to harvest what is left of the garden after our deep freeze of Sunday. I need to dig up bulbs and separate them. Cut back some of my plants, and bring in the hoses, that we aren’t using now. So much to do, so little time/Cis, Simple Mind. More here.
Question: How much time do you spend on your computer blogging or commenting each day? What times of the day do you blog, comment?
At Main Street, KerriT spotted a scuba class offshore at Sanders Beach today. More fall photos here.
Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, left, is led into the screening of the film “Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel” at the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto recently. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Chris Young)
Top Cutlines:
Our states get confused a lot, what with three syllables and the same vowels and our 
geographic proximity (when viewed from east of the Appalachians), and here we see there may actually be another reason. Their long-time, Reagan Revolution, small-government conservative, Chuck “they’re going to pull the plug” Grassley is turning out to be insufficiently right-wing for the “social conservatives” that are feeling their oats in the GOP. He couldn’t even get elected as a delegate to their last state convention. (Don’t U.S. Senators get in free?!) But get this: they have a “well-known conservative” named Bill Salier, reporting “so much talk of primarying Chuck Grassley.” Someone even more Sali than our own Bill Sali!/Tom von Alten, Fort Boise. More here (third item down).
Question: Has anyone ever been to Iowa? Why?
“After a five-hour meeting in downtown Coeur d’Alene I changed into my swimsuit and headed for a mid-afternoon retreat at Sanders Beach,” posts KerriT/Main Street. “The water was just right for swimming. There was a group of pre-schooler moms enjoying the afternoon with the kids, kayakers, sunbathers of all ages, dogs chasing sticks thrown into the water, a scuba diving class taking place. September in Coeur d’Alene is reminiscent of what the town was like before we were ‘discovered.’” More here.
Question: Do you agree w/KerriT that September is the time of year when Coeur d’Alene most resembles the Lake City of old because the sun is shining and the visitors are gone?
The Coeur d’Alene Tribal Police Department is asking for help in solving a series of illegal 
burns on the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes. “Illegal fires are becoming more common on the trail,” said Coeur d’Alene Tribal Police Chief Keith Hutcheson. “We’re concerned that these fires will spread to the homes nearby and cause serious damage.” Evidence of the most recent fire was discovered Tuesday morning around 9 a.m. near milepost 12 of the trail. Police found several beer cans and garbage around the burn site. The fire damaged a newly paved portion of the trail, which is near Coeur d’Alene Lake. The repair costs to the trail are estimated at $2,000. Police said there have been at least five fires on the trail this year and Hutcheson said they have no suspects/Marc Stewart, Coeur d’Alene Indian Tribe. More here.
So when Molly McGee approached Wallace coach Dave Rounds last spring about playing this year, he was more than skeptical. After all, Rounds, a Wallace graduate, is a throwback to the 
old Miners’ slug-you-in-the-mouth teams of yesteryear. “I told her she didn’t have a clue how hard she was going to have to work,” Rounds said. For McGee to play, she was going to have to do what all the boys had to do, Rounds told her. That included showing up three days a week for 7 a.m. weightlifting sessions from late March through the end of the school year, three more times a week during the summer and doing running drills once a week. McGee, a senior, kept her end of the deal. “She worked and worked and worked hard,” Rounds said. “She made a believer out of me. She stepped up and did everything she needed to do”/Greg Lee, SR. Sportslink. More here.
Question: Should girls be allowed to play high school boys’ sports, like like football or wrestling?
“Fourteen-year-old
KellyAnn Cameron and her sister, Erin, 13, went on a bike ride with their parents over summer vacation. That might not sound as exciting as a trip to Disneyland, until you know the rest of the story. The bike ride covered eight states and one Canadian province. It spanned 3,050 miles and took 67 days.” The family began their trip at Salk Middle School in north Spokane on June 12 and ended in Ocean City, Md., on Aug. 17. But according to the girls’ parents, Bob Cameron and Barb Stuebing, the idea of the adventure began long before./Cindy Hval, SR Voices. Link here.
What’s the most memorable family vacation you’ve taken?
A Honda employee demonstrates Honda’s new “personal mobility” device at a press conference in Tokyo, Japan, earlier today. Honda’s new “personal mobility” device looks like a unicycle, but all you need to do to zip around in it _ sideways as well as forward and back _ is lean your weight into the direction you want to go. The U3-X was designed to take up the same amount of space as a human being to be safe and unobtrusive enough to mingle with pedestrians, according to Honda Motor Co. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi) Question: Would you use one of these things?
As a little treat this afternoon, let’s take go back in time to the May 2006 primary when attorney Rami Amaro tried to unseat District Judge John Mitchell. Here, Duane Rasmussen, left, and Lance Amaro chat during a lull in the traffic at the corner of Appleway and U.S. 95 in Coeur d’Alene while campaigning for opposing candidates, Judge John Mitchell and Amaro’s wife, challenger Rami Amaro. Mitchell, of course, won. But his race against ”Ramaro” became one of the legendary, long-standing, entertaining threads at Huckleberries Online. (Jesse Tinsley/SR)
Question: Do any current local races have a chance of “going Ramaro” at Huckleberries Online?
The vast majority of motorists courteously and safely share roadways with cyclists, but a very 
small minority not only aren’t courteous, but for some unexplainable reason fill up with rage whenever they see cyclists on the road ahead. Anybody who regularly rides bicycles on paved roadways knows about this minority. They not only think cyclists have no right to use public roadways but also show their anger by shouting obscenities and giving out the universal salute and even do all sorts of outright dangerous things like coming up behind cyclists blaring their horns, purposely passing inches from handlebars at high speed, or throwing beer cans and other objects, which become lethal missiles for somebody on a bicycle/Bill Schneider, New West. More here.
Question: Have you ever been the target of a road rage incident while you road your bike?
In observance of the “National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims,” the Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office Victim/Witness Unit will hold a vigil on Thursday. The vigil will be held in the County Commissioner’s Hearing Room on the Lower Level of the Public Works Building (1026 W. Broadway Ave.) from 5:30-7:00 p.m. Since 1951, the Victim/Witness Unit has documented 582 murders, vehicular homicides, manslaughters, and unsolved violent crimes from throughout Spokane County. While a few of these cases occurred in other areas, the victims’ families are here in Spokane and all too often, they are still struggling to cope with the murder of a loved one/KHQ. More here.
Question: Have you ever lost a friend or loved one to a murder, vehicular homicide or other violent crime?
Sparrows take a cool bath in one of the fountains on the Bremerton Boardwalk in Bremerton, Wash., on Monday. The incoming fall still has some summer heat. (AP Photo/Kitsap Sun, Larry Steagall)
In this town, Boise State takes center stage during football season – and every few weeks or so, ESPN puts the team on national TV for all to see. The school’s blue turf is usually a hot topic, but during the September 18th game against Fresno State, analysts Joe Tessitore and Rod Gilmour focused on something else: is it boy-see, or boy-zee? “If it’s pronounced ‘boy-see,’ shouldn’t it be ‘fress-no?’,” Gilmour said. While the ESPN guys might have been kidding – it’s long been a point of contention for locals: if you are a true Boisean, you use the “s” sound rather than the “z” sound/Don Day, KTVB. More here.
Question: How do you pronounce Boise? Boy-ZEE? Or Boy-SEE?
In this Aug. 31 photo, protestors stand across from City Hall in Mount Vernon, Wash. The demonstration was part of opposition that has sprung up since Mount Vernon mayor Bud Norris announced that he would give a key to the city to Fox News Channel personality Glenn Beck, who spent part of his childhood in the town, when Beck visits the area on Saturday. (AP Photo/Skagit Valley Herald, Frank Varga)
Question: Which conservative political commenter do you think is best: Limbaugh, Hannity, or Beck?
… (on an older sedan parked alongside the old prosecutor’s office): “Beautify Idaho … plant a developer.”
Question: What do you think of developers?
But we are not in a big city. We are up in Sandpoint, Idaho. Weather perfect although warm. 
Lots of friendly people. My great little Thompson boat with its pastel blue-green upholstery, like a Beach Boys boat. I am happy to be here. The kids come up to me for autographs. I love that. The girls giggle and want their picture taken with me. Everyone who drives by waves at me. Contrast that with Beverly Hills, where no one even says “hello” when you walk past. Or Malibu, which I love beyond words, but it really lacks friendly people except for Cruz, my pal at Howe’s Market, and Dusty Peak, my electrician pal/Ben Stein, American Spectator. More here.
Question (for non-North Idaho natives): Is your North Idaho community friendlier than the place you moved from?
The history of Afghanistan tells us that whenever we depart, tribal rivalries will erupt and 
religious factions will revolt against Western-style governance. History also tells us that the military will suffer and our efforts will be expensive for as long as we stay. The American people had been solidly behind the war, but support is waning. Upon receipt of McChrystal’s assessment, Obama has decided to review the mission. After eight years with spotty results, an extensive reassessment is in order. But we must remember that the goal is to fight global terrorism, not rescue pride. The question is whether this is the best way to go about it/Spokesman-Review. More here.
Question: Is it time to get out of Afghanistan?
In this May 12, 2008, photo, Paul Kirk, Jr., left, chairman of the John Kennedy Library Foundation Board of Directors, shares a laugh with late Sen. Edward Kennedy, center, and his wife Victoria at the annual Profile in Courage Award ceremonies at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. Kirk, with support from the Kennedy family, was named today as the interim replacement for the late senator. Story here. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole)
Item: Subway’s Jared Fogle to share weight loss secrets at St. Luke’s Fitness Celebration/Colleen LaMay, Statesman
More Info: More than a decade ago, Jared Fogle, now 32, captured national attention when he shed 245 pounds by eating almost nothing but Subway sandwiches. That was tough, but not as tough as keeping off the weight. That’s the hardest part for almost all people who are fighting the battle of the bulge, according to a mountain of studies.
Question: Do you resent success stories in the battle of the bulge, like Jared Fogle’s? Or are you inspired by them?
An odd but potentially productive legislative coalition wants to ban texting while driving. Boise Democratic state Sen. Les Bock is taking another run at the texting ban; a similar bill stalled earlier this year. He has some key allies: Senate Transportation Committee Chairman John McGee, R-Caldwell; and House Transportation Chairwoman JoAn Wood, R-Rigby. Wood’s support, touted by Idaho Democrats last week, isn’t just laudable. It’s shocking. Her history on safe-driving legislation, frankly, has been awful. In 2007, Wood blocked a bill, passed by the Senate, which would have required the use of safety seats for children under 6/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. More here.
Question: Is it time Idaho banned texting while driving?
There’s been some question about why Dan Gookin removed his name from the administration of this web site. That’s an easy answer: Dan decided that as a candidate for city council it would be best if his time was not split with a separate blog. Dan has his own campaign web site up and running now, as I noted above, and will be busy communicating with the public in every possible way. He will even make comments on this blog, as appropriate to the topics, but does not want the responsibility of site administration at this time/Mary Souza, OpenCDA.com.
DFO: OpenCDA.com now has a list of the Web sites for the challengers that it supports: Gookin here, Jim Brannon here, and Steve Adams here.
Sandpoint High volleyball coach Karen Alsager said she may never coach another senior class as talented and dominating as the class of 2010. Or as tight knit. The team is led by seniors (from left): Christina Johnson, Koko James, Piper Wahlin and Kaiti Lunde. Story here.
Item: Is Boise cyclist Kristin Armstrong the greatest athlete in Idaho history?/Brian Murphy, Idaho Statesman
More Info: Armstrong captured her second world championship gold medal Wednesday with a staggering 55-second victory in the women’s time trial event in Mendrisio, Switzerland, cementing her legacy as the most accomplished American woman cyclist. She has an Olympic gold medal (2008), two world championship golds (2009, 2006), a world championship silver (2007) and a world championship bronze (2005). She competed in the 2004 Olympics, finishing eighth in the road race.
Question: Murphy goes on to list three other athletes who could challenge Kristin Armstrong for the title of best athlete in Idaho history: baseball slugger Harmon Killebrew, Olympian Picabo Street and jockey Gary Stevens. A case also can be made for footballers Jerry Kramer and Jake Plummer. Who do you think is the greatest?
Item: No overcrowding at jail meeting: Public stays away from first information session on expansion proposal/Alecia Warren, Coeur d’Alene Press
More Info: Kootenai County officials are ready to talk. They just need someone to ask questions. The sheriff and county commissioners found themselves facing a room of empty chairs on Wednesday night at the first of the weekly information meetings they will be holding on the jail expansion proposal. “Well, we’ve got six!” declared Commissioner Rich Piazza. Unfortunately, the six were comprised of the three commissioners, Sheriff Rocky Watson and his wife, and a media representative.
Question: Why aren’t we, as the public, interested enough in important issues like this to attend a public meeting?
Nick Anderson/Houston Chronicle
On my walk home from work last night, I ran smack dab into Mayor Sandi Bloem and a group of her friends who were eating pizza outside Capone’s prior to the mayor’s debate at the Republican Central Committee. Former councilwoman Nancy Sue Wallace proclaim the others and herself to be “has beens.” But I don’t think so. They are some of the most committed, powerful women this community has produced: former commissioner Katie Brodie, former school board chairwoman Wanda Quinn, Nancy Sue, and Pam Potter. The mayor had on her game face (and, yes, OTV, was looking fierce) as she mentally prepared for the debate. Meanwhile, the Wild Card is in play …
This image made today from undated hidden-camera video taken from the web site Biggovernment.com, shows ACORN employee Tonja Thompson, right, speaking with Hannah Giles in a hidden-camera video made by James O’Keefe III, and Giles in Baltimore. In the video, Giles and O’Keefe pose as a pimp and prostitute and talk to ACORN employees who give them tax advice. ACORN has filed a lawsuit against the filmmakers, contending that the audio portion of the video was obtained illegally because Maryland requires two-party consent to create sound recordings. Story here. (AP Photo/Biggovernment.com)
Marmitetoasty: I stopped eating kidneys in steak and kidney puddings in honour of (JeanieS,
who is awaiting a liver transplant). I stopped eating pan fried liver and onions in honour of my friend who has liver disease. And stuffed ox hearts are off the menu due to my friend Helen’s son having a heart and lung transplant. I’ve stopped biting me nails. Chicken is off our list of likes due to the love of our chicken Janet. I can’t cook Toad-in-the-hole in sympathy with Toadman. What the hell is this world coming to?
Question: Have you ever given up a type of food, habit, or anything else out of deference to an ailing friend or family member?
Florined:
Opera singers’ voices are sorely (so to speak) tested during a full performance. Opera Coeur d’Alene’s director schedules to allow a day of rest. Big companies solve the problem by casting 2 different singers in a role and having them trade off, but OC doesn’t have the bucks to do that, so they have to protect those voices. Kind of like a baseball pitcher’s arm, I guess. I’ve heard the 7 singers in major parts and also the chorus and I’m tellin’ ya, these are BIG voices. What a treat.
Question: Do you like opera?
Rachel Dolezal, director of the Human Rights Education Institute in Coeur d’Alene, provided investigators with this photo of the noose she found on her porch Sunday. Another photo and story links from the SR and Press here.
Guilford County Animal Control Officer Tracie Ross raises her hand to stop traffic to allow a group of pigs, which were running loose, to cross the road in Stokesdale, N.C., Tuesday. You write the cutline. (AP Photo /News & Record, Nelson Kepley)
Top Cutline:
This Tuesday picture provided by the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ shows a female cat covered in duct tape from head to toe which was dumped in a yard in the Rhawnhurst section of Philadelphia, but found by the SPCA Tuesday. Medical staff at the Pennsylvania SPCA were able to successfully remove the tape. A $1,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the conviction of whoever wrapped the feline. Story/video here. (AP Photo/Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)
Spokane resident Rachel Dolezal takes a moment before a press conference at the Human Rights Education Institute in Coeur d’Alene on Wednesday. Dolezal found a noose (photo below) on her porch on Sunday and has experienced several incidents of racial harassment. She is the education director at HREI. I posted a Coeur d’Alene Press story re: this incident earlier here. You can read Alison Boggs’ SR story here. (Kathy Plonka/SR)
Adam Shackleford is out as head coach of the Spokane Shock and he will be replaced by 
former Shock standout Rob Keefe, The Spokesman-Review has learned. The Shock, who are on the verge of moving into a new league that is expected to compete at the highest level of arena football, issued a press release late Wednesday morning announcing Shackleford won’t be back for a fourth season as head coach. Spokane went 19-1 in Shackleford’s final season, winning the ArenaCup title last month in Las Vegas/Jim Meehan, SR. More here.
Question: Adam Shackleford compiled a 19-1 record in his second and final season as coach of the Spokane Shock, including a lopsided win in the ArenaCup. Are you persuaded that management knows what it is doing in cutting him loose? Have you ever been fired despite doing what you thought was a good job for your boss?
“So what do people in beautiful North Idaho do when Summer thumbs her pretty little sun-tanned nose at the first day of Autumn?”/Councilwoman KerriT, Main Street. ”Take another dip in Lake Coeur d’Alene or the Spokane River! Record-breaking 90 degree temperatures today … loving it.”
Gov. Butch Otter’s administration correctly determined earlier this year that part-time government employees should pay more for their health insurance than fulltime employees. Question: Should part-time Idaho legislators be allowed to get full-time state health insurance benefits for relatively little money?
Name a workplace where part-time employees get the same health benefits at the same cost as fulltimers. It hardly happens. For taxpayers, the change is a victory that will save them $10 million a year. Curiously, however, one group of part-time employees is exempt from the Otter administration’s new rules. Idahoans pay around $780,000 a year to insure members of the House and Senate (a small portion of that amount is for the staff of both chambers). State lawmakers, who are the most visible of the cast of part-timers, will still receive the same lucrative health insurance package that full time government employees enjoy/Wayne Hoffman, Idaho Freedom Foundation. More here.
Crime Stoppers of the Inland Northwest is offering a cash reward for information leading to the arrest of suspects responsible for the mal-injury and theft of newspaper vending machines in the City of Coeur d’Alene and Kootenai County. In the past several weeks’ 15 vending machines belonging to the Coeur d’Alene Press have been damaged and the money they contained was removed. Detectives continue to follow up on all leads received/Coeur d’Alene Today. More here.
While working in Hayden, Molly Boman spotted something in the bushes and snapped this photo. She didn’t know what was in the bushes until she had the photos developed. Do you see what she saw?
The first casualty in the wake of Phillip Paul’s escape from Eastern State Hospital came late Question: Do you think Wilson voluntarily resigned?
Wednesday morning when hospital CEO Hal Wilson announced his resignation. Multiple sources confirmed Wilson stepped down from his post Wednesday, less than a week after forensic patient Phillip Paul escaped from hospital custody during a visit to the Spokane Interstate Fair, triggering a 72-hour statewide manhunt. Immediately following Paul’s escape, Wilson claimed that the hospital did everything according to their policies and procedures despite widespread claims to the contrary from hospital staffers, hospital union officials and local law enforcement agencies/KXLY. More here.
A local advocacy group says that 16,000 people have signed a petition to be presented to the 
Mt. Vernon City Council Wednesday asking the council to cancel “Glenn Beck Day.” “Our problem is with honoring Glenn Beck,” said Aaron Ostrom with FUSE Washington. Mount Vernon Mayor Bud Norris declared September 26th Glenn Beck Day to honor the radio and TV host that grew up in Mount Vernon. Norris will be awarding Beck the key to the city in a ceremony at Skagit Valley College at 5:30 p.m. “I don’t think we’re going to change the mayor’s mind, but we’d like the city council to stand up for all the residents of Mount Vernon that disagree with him,” said Ostrom/Jamie Griswold, MyNorthwest.com. More here.
Question: Would you care if the mayor of your town announced s/he declared “Glenn Beck Day” and planned to give the talk-show host the key to the city?
Dozens of frogs gather in a shallow area of the South Umpqua River near Winston, Ore., today. Many of the amphibians were still in their transitional stage between tadpole and their adult from. (AP Photo/The News-Review, Robin Loznak)
This March 5, 1981, file photo shows John Phillips of the pop group “The Mamas and The Papas,” left, and his daughter MacKenzie, right, shown during a taping of the John Davidson Show in Burbank, Calif. Phillips says she had a long-term sexual relationship with her father, John. People magazine says Phillips writes in her new book, “High on Arrival,” that she had sex with her father on the night before she was to get married in 1979. Story here. (AP Photo/File)
Question: What do you make of this tell-all revelation?
Even worse than that, our dear Jeanie is home sick with the flu. The flu, by itself, even in the 
face of the various perversions of the flu making the rounds, normally would be a non-event. However, with her kidneys in the final stage of failure, Jeanie has no defense mechanisms left in her body to combat such things and thus she is quite ill. So, despite being well-known for being exceptionally verbose, this morning I have little choice but to throw my fates to the Deities and hope I can get some time later on today to write more about the news of the day. If you have any prayers handy in your most secret places, please say a few for dear Jeanie. Things may get better, but then they might get much worse/David Laird, Community Comment. More here.
The Rathdrum man killed in a mobile home fire Sunday has been identified has Gary M. 
Lindgren, 65. Lindgren died of smoke inhalation from an electrical fire caused by the misuse of extension cords, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department announced today. His neighbors called firefighters after seeing smoke from his home, 10278 N. Church Road, about 6:45 p.m. Neighbors tried dousing the blaze with a garden house, but flames engulfed the home and Lindgren’s body was found about two hours later, the sheriff’s department said. The residence was both Lindgren’s home and office space for his refrigerant company, OZ Technology/Meghann M. Cuniff, Sirens & Gavels. More here.
CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets CEO Jonathan Slone, left, speaks as former U.S. vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin listens during the 16th annual CLSA Investors’ Forum in Hong Kong Wednesday. Palin, criticized for her lack of foreign policy experience, was emerging in Asia on Wednesday to give a speech that could boost her credentials for a possible bid for the presidency in 2012. In her first speech outside of North America, Palin slammed President Obama’s spending here. (AP Photo/CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, Jeff Topping) Question: Is Palin’s speech in Hong Kong the best indication yet that she plans to seek the presidency in 2012?
Dan Gookin, the Former HBO Commenter Known As DanG, has finally put his campaign Web 
site online: DanGookin.com. Gookin, of course, is running against council incumbent Deanna Goodlander. The site features a photo of a new, improved Gookin, as well a logo that plays off his computer-books-for-dummies background. As a reason for running for council, Gookin contends on his site that Coeur d’Alene’s quality of life “is being compromised by the current city government.” Which must mean he’s still unimpressed by the new library, Kroc Center, education corridor, and expanded bike trails, among other things. Also, he says: ”There have been many actions by city council where they have purposely neglected the public process. When citizens ask questions, the council and mayor have demonstrated intolerance for the inquiries, are publicly abusive, and dismiss the concerns of the taxpayers.” You can see for yourself here.
DFO: Izzit it just me, or has Gookin split up with Dan & Mary @ OpenCDA.com? I just checked. He didn’t post a single item on the site this summer. What’s up with that?
Question: Notice any difference between the October 2002 photo above (when Gookin ran as a Libertarian for the state Senate seat from Coeur d’Alene) and the one on his Web page?
Kristin Armstrong of the United States reacts after crossing the finish line to win the Women’s Time Trial race, at the UCI road cycling World Championships in Mendrisio, Switzerland, earlier today. Idaho Statesman story here. (AP Photo/Keystone, Jean-Christophe Bott)
Question: How often do you ride a bike?
OrangeTV: As usual, the comments on the Press site under (“Activist feels threatened”) are beyond goofy and utterly embarrassing. They’re basically saying she made the whole thing up to get attention, with some blatant white power thrown in for good measure. North Idaho is so beautiful but some of its resident are so very ugly.
Question: I’ve often wondered what would happen if some of the redneck commenters at the Press tried to post their stuff on stories like this here. What do you think?
From the fields of Idaho to tasting rooms in suburban Chicago, potato farmers, researchers 
and industry representatives are in the midst of an elusive hunt: finding a new spud for McDonald’s french fries. A decade has passed since the fast-food giant last added a new U.S. potato variety to three others approved for its golden fries, something that both irks and motivates potato researchers who hope their progeny will be next. Because McDonald’s buys more than 3.4 billion pounds of U.S. potatoes annually, it has the power to dictate whether a variety sprouts or winds up in the less-lucrative supermarket freezer’s crinklecut bin - or worse yet, banished to become dehydrated taters/John Miller, AP. More here.
Question: Which restaurant makes the best fries in the region?
So, who do you think causes more waste in health care - doctors or lawyers? No really, this is not a trick question. Alright. Maybe it is for some people. Certainly President Obama might find 
this question a real stumper. He is the guy, after all, who believes that doctors cut off appendages just to make money. At least that is what he said in a speech. Now it is true that the speech did not get wide circulation. If you did not happen to see our president accuse doctors of slicing off body parts in quest of the big payday, don’t feel bad. Most people missed it. Sure, it’s true. Had it been anyone but this president then the entire world would have seen the clip. Several times. At least that is the way it used to be when a president said something really, really stupid. But the rules have changed with this president. When he says bonehead things, like accusing doctors of stealing millions and millions from taxpayers with the unscrupulous use of a scalpel, the media just don’t pay much attention/Dan Hammes, St. Maries Gazette-Record. More here.
Question: Are the media as quick to jump on President Obama’s misstatements as they were to jump on those uttered by former President Bush?
Former commercial fisherman Dune Lankard, from Alaska was named one of Time Magazines’ “Heroes of the Planet” gave a talk at North Idaho College on Tuesday. He was a commercial fisherman in Prince William Sound when the Exxon Valdez crash spilled 11 million gallons of oil into the Sound. Alison Boggs’ story here. (Kathy Plonka/SR)
Kendramama: When my second-oldest brother hung himself in 1996, he was attending college 
in Eugene on a debate scholarship. My family was at first stunned, then disbelieving (my mother still struggles with the fact that it was proven suicide and not foul play), then at last, especially after the funeral, absolutely devastated by the finality of it all. Suicide is such a selfish, permanent black mark on a family, especially one that is close- as ours was, and still is. The ONLY good thing that came of it- the rest of us siblings, five of us, swore in a prayer circle a sacred (to us) oath that we would NEVER, EVER, no matter how bad things ever got, commit the act that Jared did, knowing how badly it hurt the rest of us, especially our mom.
Question: Many, like Kendra, who has first-hand experience, believes that suicide is a selfish act. Do you?
Kootenai County commissioners are prepared to take their jail proposal on the road to 
organizations wanting to learn more about what’s included in the $57 million request. As if it wasn’t difficult enough to try to get taxpayers to support that kind of investment in the midst of a recession, commissioners now find they have a mere six weeks to convince 67 out of every 100 voters in the county that this is the best jail offer they’re going to get. The election is Nov. 3. We appreciate the observations of Commissioner Todd Tondee and Sheriff Rocky Watson about what the investment would mean: Safe lockup of criminals and a powerful shot to the local economy with millions of dollars in jobs and purchases. But there are questions the commissioners need to answer clearly before the general public is likely to hop on board the jail expansion express/Coeur d’Alene Press. More here.
Question: Will anything county officials say, at this point, change your mind re: how you plan to vote on the $57M jail bond?
Item: Coeur d’Alene activist feels threatened: Local human rights activist Rachel Dolezal has recently been targeted by racism/Maureen Dolan, Press
More Info: A local human rights advocate has become the target of something she fights every day — racism. Rachel Dolezal, the education director at Coeur d’Alene’s Human Rights Education Institute, awoke Sunday morning ready to enjoy a sunny, late summer day. Instead, she discovered someone had left a noose just outside her front door. “I spent a lot of time in Mississippi so when I saw that rope, I knew what it was,” Dolezal said.
Question: What should be done re: this situation?
Scott Stantis/Birmingham News
One of these days, I’m going to remember to post the Wild Card earlier, as I promised about a month ago. They say a new habit takes about three weeks to become ingrain. In my case, it appears that it’ll take longer. Sorry. (BTW, I noticed that Dan of the County is commenting today. I, for one, would like a medical update re: his recent tummy — OrangeTV’s word, not mine — surgery. I’m sure others would, too.) Now, for your Wild Card …
A woman’s reflection is seen as she poses for photographs in front of a piece entitled “Turning World Upside Down (Gold) 2009” during the press view for the Anish Kapoor solo exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London Tuesday. The exhibition opens to the public Saturday and surveys the career of the Turner Prize winning sculptor, showcasing a number of new and previously unseen works. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
Item: Mariners drop legal fight against strip club near Safeco Field/Seattle Times
More Info: The Seattle Mariners have agreed to drop their legal fight to block the opening of a strip club near Safeco Field in exchange for the club’s pledge to use discreet signs on the business. Under the settlement announced Monday, the baseball team won’t pursue its appeal of a judge’s ruling that allowed the strip club. The club, DreamGirls, a sister operation of Déjà Vu, has been sought by Seattle adult-entertainment businessman Roger Forbes. It will operate at 1530 First Ave. S., about 400 feet from the main entrance to the stadium.
Question: Have you ever visited a strip club?
A couple of fishermen drift down the misty Umpqua River near Elkton, Ore., earlier today. (AP Photo/The News-Review, Robin Loznak)
Paddleboarding champion Jamie Mitchell paddles his board as a humpback whale surfaces next to him earlier today, off Australia’s east coast near Tweed Heads. Mitchell was filming a television documentary “Living In Liquid” when a pod of whales came by, “At first it was kind of scary because they are just so big,” said Mitchell. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/www.jamie-mitchell.com, Liam O’Brien/Jason Muir)
Top Cutlines:
Top Post (from 2:14 p.m.): 4 people have suffered head and neck injuries in a 10-foot ball after a deck collapse at a home @ Versailles & Saint Michelle/Coeur d’Alene Place. They fell 10 feet. 2 ambulances are en route. KXLY story here.
Sisyphus: Right now I’m on pretty much the last round of antibiotics that can be useful to me to 
try and push into dormancy the staph infection I got from my back surgery. But now I’m having allergic reactions to that as well causing convulsive shivering after each intravenous dose I take daily. The convulsions last a couple hours and then the uncontrolled sheet drenching cold sweats continues through the night and I wake up exhausted. But the doc says I gotta plow through cause they don’t really have anything else to give me and I only should have a week to go anyways (maybe).
Question: What type of surgery did you have last (if you have undergone surgery)? How quickly did you bounce back?
“As soon as I saw the story, I called Minnick and said, ‘You’ve really gotta retract it,’” Frank told 
HuffPost, saying he was “absolutely opposed” to the proposal and told Minnick as much when they spoke about it last week. A Minnick spokesman didn’t return a call. The CFPA, which is still headed for a committee vote in October, Frank said, would be tasked with rating financial products and could restrict or ban those that it found to be deceptive and unsafe for consumers. It is fiercely opposed by both community banks and large financial institutions. Consumer groups were blindsided by the Blue Dog plan. “We did not know this was coming,” said Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.), the lead sponsor of the CFPA in the Financial Services Committee/Ryan Grim, Huffington Post. More here. H/T: Jill Kuraitis, New West.
Question: Who wins a showdown between Barney Frank & Walt Minnick?
I don’t know where this is. But it’s one of the cool, black-and-white photos posted @ Orange Frog 76. You can check out that blogmaster’s photography here.
HBO Numbers (for Monday, Sept. 21): 7966/4433
Everybody from President Barack Obama to Congressman Joe “you lie!” Wilson to Sen. Max Baucus insists federal health care reform should extend no benefits to undocumented workers. … Baucus, the Montana Democrat, last week released his own health care package, which would bar illegal immigrants from purchasing insurance through newly created state insurance exchanges. That doesn’t mean the millions of people illegally in this country don’t get treatment when they’re hurt or sick. It just means they get the most expensive type - in the hospital emergency room. And when they do, the taxpayer and the privately insured health care consumer pay for it. It’s the law/Marty Trillhaase, Lewiston Tribune. More here.
Question: Do you agree with editorialist Trillhaase that it’s in the country’s best interests to include coverage for illegal immigrants in any health care reform?
Coeur d’Alene Police Detectives have closed the case in the death investigation of Lynea M. Hambrice. Her death has been determined by investigators to have been caused from an accidental fall in which she sustained blunt force trauma to her body. Her companion in the hotel room with her that evening, Ian E. James, has been cooperative with law enforcement. He voluntarily submitted to a polygraph examination and was determined to be truthful in his statements to police. He is not a person of interest and no criminal charges are pending/Coeur d’Alene Today. More here.
Jack Tsonis, left, has a bit to eat while he shakes hands with Lindsay Morrison Monday in Sydney, Australia, during their Guinness Book of Records attempt at the longest continuous hand shake. To break the record the pair will need to shake hands continuously for more than 11 hours with rules stating they cannot separate even for toilet breaks. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
Question: Do you have a firm handshake?
So why didn’t (Mr. Potatohead creator George) Lerner and the Spud State click? Hard feelings, 
that’s why. Look, back when Dirk Kempthorne won landslide election as mayor of Boise in 1985, Mr. Potato Head received four write-in votes. I don’t think either of them were happy about that. Ten years later, when Kempthorne was in the U.S. Senate, the Idaho Potato Commission introduced Spuddy Buddy - a 16-inch-tall, bald stuffed tater with a red sweater and no discernible trousers - as its official mascot. After he became Idaho governor in 1997, Kempthorne started doing TV commercials with an animated version of Spuddy. Mr. PH, limited to a token tribute display at the Idaho Potato Expo in Blackfoot, simply got no love in Idaho - despite his meteoric rise to fame as a consequence of the “Toy Story” movies/Steve Crump, Twin Falls Times-News. More here.
Question: Why do you think Idaho has ignored Mr. Potatohead as a state mascot of sorts? And/or: Would you prefer Mr. Potatohead to Spuddy Buddy as a mascot?
It’s getting to be time for me to get a haircut, which gets me reminiscing… I remember my first 
real, not-just-a-trim haircut — also known as the worst haircut of my life. I was about 7, fresh from watching a Vandals football game and feeling particularly tomboyish. I wanted those long blonde (ratty, messy) waves chopped off. And that’s what I got — the man at the salon braided my hair, lopped off the braid and sent me packing. Eeep. The best haircut I’ve ever had, on the other hand, was performed by a friend in a hotel room during a road trip when I was 17. The moral of the story? Haircuts don’t have much to do with how much (or whether) you pay for them. It might feel a little risky, but forgoing the salon can be a great way to save a little cash/Tara Roberts, Moscow-Pullman Daily News. More here.
Finish This Sentence: I know it’s time to get a haircut when …
Walter Breuning speaks to guests during his 113th birthday party in the Rainbow retirement home ballroom Monday in Great Falls, Mont. The Montana resident, who was born in Melrose, Minn., is considered to be the world’s oldest man. (AP Photo/Great Falls Tribune, Rion Sanders)
Lynne: I don’t watch KREM anymore, due to the shoddy treatment of Nadine, but my husband said that Randy Shaw hasn’t been on the air since a day or two after Nadine left. Is he gone now too?
Question: Anyone?
CindyH:
How often do you read the links posted in a comment or in a thread before commenting? I ask because already in the Forfeiture Laws thread the “did you read the link?” question came up. As for me, I rarely read links in the comments thread unless the description peaks my interest. But I often read the links DFO posts in the main threads to get info before responding to the question. Often, but not always.
Question: Well?
Sarah Campbell, 9, makes her move in a pick up game of floor chess at Bryan YMCA on Sunday in Greensboro, N.C. She was waiting to compete in the 5th annual “One Hundred Chances to Checkmate” chess exhibition where chess experts played simultaneous games. (AP Photo/News & Record, Lynn Hey)
Question: Do you play chess. Do you play it well?
We at the Press-Tribune had to say goodbye this week a few people we have worked with — a 
couple for a few months, one for several years. Call them casualties of a tough economy. It’s difficult knowing how to say goodbye to people in that situation. You feel badly for them, and striking the right tone can be challenging. You don’t want to seem too cheerful when you wish them well because, after all, they’re really not leaving on their own volition. However, you want to give them encouragement in their search for future employment, hence you want to be as upbeat and positive as possible/Phil Bridges, 2C Etc. More here.
Question: How would you console a colleague who gets laid off as a result of the bad economy? Have you had to do so already?
At the Coeur d’Alene Press online, Councilman Woody McEvers currently is pulling 59% of the vote in a poll that asks: “If the election were today, who would get your vote for Coeur d’Alene City Council” — Steve Adams or Woody McEvers?
In this file photo, men leave a Lowe’s store in New York. Lowe’s, the nation’s second biggest home improvement retailer, warned it may need to write off up to $100 million during the second half of the year. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file) Question: Where do you shop for home supplies — Lowe’s, Home Depot, or somewhere else?
After reading that a good friend of my family had committed suicide over the weekend, Escapee commented: “My Dad committed suicide 8 years ago, and I still don’t know what to feel about that. We weren’t close. Sometimes I wonder if the way I turned out had anything to do with it. He once told me, “I don’t want to live a single day without your mother”; after she passed away he made it another 60 days and then, well …And life goes on. I’ve thought about suicide; I think everyone thinks about it at one time or another. And in the end, no, I’m not gonna give in.
To the guy at the football game that walked into the women’s restroom, went into a stall ahead of my daughter and then proceeded to urinate with the door open — shame on you. It’s not funny, its not cute, it’s just plain stupid. Grow up/Erin, UI Argonaut. More Off The Cuff.
Question: What is the most clueless thing you’ve seen someone do recently?
Phillip A. Paul is back in custody. Nobody got hurt. There’s only one way to commemorate 
Sunday’s capture of the criminally insane killer who took a powder last week while on an Eastern State Hospital field trip to the Spokane County Interstate Fair. Another parody song? Absolutely. Actually, while Paul was on the lam, a number of readers asked me to record a Paul-based song. Some even had the tunes picked out. One reader, for example, wanted to meet me in a coffee shop so we could co-write a ditty based on the Doors classic, “Riders on the Storm.” “Killer at the fairrrr …” he warbled in a voicemail message. Not bad. A good friend asked for a remake of “Psycho Killer” by the Talking Heads. Another reader wanted “Low Rider” by War/Doug Clark, SR. More here.
Question: What do you think of columnist Doug Clark’s latest parody song re: local news?
Blue Dogs and other conservative Democrats — uneasy with a key element of President 
Barack Obama’s plan to regulate Wall Street — are rallying around an alternative proposal that scraps the consumer financial protection agency the president has been pushing. Rep. Walt Minnick, a freshman Democrat from Idaho, has floated the new plan. Instead of creating a new federal agency to protect consumers from predatory financial firms and shoddy products, Minnick’s plan would have existing state and federal regulators work together in a “consumer financial protection council.” “We’re trying to come up with something that will achieve the objectives of what the White House is asking us to do without creating a new stand-alone federal regulator,” Minnick told POLITICO/Victoria McGrane, Politico. More here.
Question: Who would you trust more to regulate Wall Street — Barack Obama or Walt Minnick?
On Saturday, Vicki Isakson of Coeur d’Alene bagged a 5X5 point elk in the Idaho Panhandle. Fall means hunting season for many North Idahoans, and right now bow season is open. Check HERE for Idaho’s rules and regulations for hunters from the Fish & Game Department/KerriT, OnLocation North Idaho.
Question: Have you ever killed a big-game animal?
Redman (re: Feds want Jerry Carlson’s Benz, Cash): Forfeiture laws are wrong. It is getting so bad that now the fish and game can snag your rifle, fishing pole, truck all of it, over a northern pikeminnow.
Question: Do you support drug forfeiture laws that allow authorities to seize assets such as vehicles and cash (in former Farmers Insurance broker Jerry Carlson’s case)?
Idaho’s congressional delegation has served the state well in its stance on federal funding to the scandal-ridden community activist group ACORN. U.S. Reps. Mike Simpson and Walt Minnick and Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch have shown in their votes and statements that they want to break all financial ties between the federal government and the organization. In the most recent stumble for the group, a video has been widely distributed that shows ACORN employees advising a couple posing as a prostitute and pimp to lie to get housing aid, and employees in other cities counseling the pair on tax, banking and immigration issues/Idaho Press-Tribune. More here.
Question: How do you view ACORN?
During the segment, two talking heads began a heated debate over whether Swayze should 
have smoked or not. The host even went so far as to ask, “Why kill yourself?” She made it clear she opposed smoking and anyone who partook. Obviously there is some fairly convincing proof habitual smoking, especially cigarette smoking, can be extremely hazardous to ones health, but many activities can be hazardous to ones health, or even life. Sun tanning, over working and eating fatty foods can all have hazardous effects on a person’s health and even cause death. The simple fact is, smoking is bad for you, but what is not bad for you, is if Patrick Swayze smokes. As the guest said, “It’s his life”/Jeffrey Reznicek, UI Argonaut. More here.
Question: Do you have a bias against smokers?
Michael Ramirez/Investor’s Business Daily
I’m back from my weeklong furlough during which I entirely stayed away from Huckleberries Online for four days. Yeah, I went through withdrawals. But an afternoon sitting in 80-plus-degree temperatures on Cannon Beach helped with the tremors. As some of you know, this blog reading and commenting can be addictive. We learned just before our return trip home from Portland Sunday afternoon that a good friend of ours committed suicide over the weekend. I’m processing that today. It’s good to be back with you and return to some normalcy of schedule. Now, for your Wild Card …
Young trout, being raised at Freshwater Farms of Ohio, leap out of the water after the food Carson McKenzie, 4, was sprinkling into one of the outdoor tanks Sunday, during the Fish and Shrimp Festival in Urbana, Ohio. (AP Photo/Springfield News-Sun, Bill Lackey)
MTV’s The Real World, Washington DC.
Bravo: Top Chef — The cabinet vs. the interns.
ESPN8: Barack doing work.
Noggin: Malia’s playhouse
TLC: Barack and Michelle plus 307 million.
History: Obama’s lifestory
Discovery: Why Obama’s health care plan will save your life.
SCYFY: Attack of the Birthers
FX: Dick Cheney out for blood, a hunter’s tale.
Comedy Central: Joe Biden on Tour
HGTV: Curb Appeal on Pennsylvania Avenue.
E: True Hollywood Story: Hillary Clinton
USA: Dazed and Confused II, the Republicans.
Question: Any programs you’d add to the list?
Item: Sandpoint send ban on skateboards to the curb/Conor Christofferson, Bonner County Bee
More Info: Local skateboarders who have longed to legally cruise the streets of downtown Sandpoint are celebrating after the City Council voted to legalize all non-motorized transportation in the downtown core, ending a 20-year prohibition. By amending its current ordinance, the council is opening up downtown streets to all forms of human-powered transportation, a right previously given only to bicyclists. The amendment won approval on a 4-2 vote, with council members John Reuter, Michael Boge, John O’Hara and Stephen Snedden voting in favor of the changes and council members Helen Newton and Carrie Logan dissenting. Reuter, who introduced the changes, said the amendment reflects activities already happening downtown and will not affect pedestrians.
Question: How do you view skaters — juvenile outlaws? Talented athletes w/an attitude? Or something else?
Here’s what Priest Lake looks like in the mornings when Pecky Cox/As The Lake Churns enjoys her first cup of coffee.
Heidi Klum arrives at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday in Los Angeles. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Top Cutlines:
Vandal fans cheer the University of Idaho’s newly illuminated Kibbie Dome/Geoff Crimmins, Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
Bob Haynes has been attending football games at the University of Idaho since 1953. So the Coeur d’Alene resident undoubtedly noticed a difference when he visited the Kibbie Dome for Saturday’s home game against San Diego State University. The dome’s west wall has been partially replaced by translucent fiberglass panels, part of a $10 million life-safety improvement project that began this year. From the outside, the panels appear opaque and off-white. However, when viewed from the inside, they let in 22 percent light illumination. That makes a difference even on a cloudy day, Haynes said. “It’s improved the atmosphere in here a great deal,” he said. “There’s much more light”/Holly Bowen, Moscow-Pullman Daily News. More here.
Question: Did you attend the San Diego State game? What do you think of the Kibbie Dome renovation?
A prominent school booster charged in a major cocaine dealing investigation could be forced to 
give up $40,000 and his Mercedes Benz, newly filed court document show. Jerald Stuart Carlson was indicted on a federal drug forfeiture charge last week, more than seven months after a police raid at a storage facility behind his insurance business on Government Way north of Coeur d’Alene. The charge, filed Sept. 15, demands that Carlson give up assets related to charges of conspiracy to posses within intent to distribute cocaine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine and attempt to posses with intent to distribute cocaine. Each of the three charges involves more than 500 grams - or half a kilogram - of cocaine and stems from allegations dating back to November 2007/Meghann M. Cuniff, Sirens & Gavels. More here.
At As The Lake Churns, Pecky Cox snapped this photo, which she labels, “All Creatures Great & Small.”
President Barack Obama is pictured with host David Letterman during a break at a taping of CBS The Late Show with David Letterman at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York today. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
HMOffsuite: Obama was on 5 political talk shows yesterday (unprecedented) and is doing Letterman tonight. That, of course, in addition to his address this morning. He is highly exposed on the media and in my considered humble opinion, he is over doing it. Like I have said before. Repeating the same thing over and over on TV makes him like watching the Weather Channel.
Question: Do you think President Obama should cut back on media exposure?
As you’ve probably guessed by now the newspaper’s online system has been down for the last hour. I’ll post the HBO Blogosphere roundup shortly. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Visitors to the Idaho Statehouse walk up the main steps in front of the sandstone columns in this AP file photo. The Statehouse, which has undergone an extensive renovation, is fairly picturesque compared to the five capitol buildings that rank on the State Surge blog list of worst ones in the nation, led by Alaska’s capitol, which resembles an elementary school rather than an important building. You can see the 5 worst capitol buildings here. (AP Photo/Troy Maben)
Question: Are you proud of the Idaho Capitol building?
Bent: Right
now I could rattle off a half dozen front page stories that no media has even begun to track down. Take the S-R for instance, they have a newsroom 80 persons strong, and not peep in paper about the upcoming BNSF re-fueling depot hearings to see how well BNSF complied with their original conditional use permit. Requests for comments went out to public agencies over a month ago… That is powder-keg topic, with no coverage. Full post below.
Question: How well does the local media do in covering local news of importance to you?
In a Roll Call survey, Jim Risch, Idaho’s junior U.S. senator, ranks No. 13 among the richest congressman with assets totaling $19.49 million, which is almost $4 million more than the late U.S. Sen. Teddy Kennedy, at No. 18, had. Risch lost almost $1 million between 2007 and 2008. The richest congressman is U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who has assets totaling $215.41 million. Survey of top 50 here.
Question: Would you rather be represented by a rich congressman or one of moderate means? Or does it matter?
Judges, left, keep watch on the vertical chop event action by Rob Waibel of West Linn, Ore., during the Lumberjack Days competition at Orofino on Sunday. (AP Photo/Lewiston Tribune, Barry Kough)
The world’s tallest man, Sultan Kosen of Turkey, poses in New York’s Times Square Monday. Kosen has been verified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s tallest living man at 8 foot 1 inch. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Question: Are you satisfied with your height? Or would you like to be taller? Or shorter?
Item: Obama open to newspaper bailout bill/
More Info: The president said he is “happy to look at” bills before Congress that would give struggling news organizations tax breaks if they were to restructure as nonprofit businesses. “I haven’t seen detailed proposals yet, but I’ll be happy to look at them,” Obama told the editors of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Toledo Blade in an interview. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) has introduced S. 673, the so-called “Newspaper Revitalization Act,” that would give outlets tax deals if they were to restructure as 501(c)(3) corporations. That bill has so far attracted one cosponsor, Cardin’s Maryland colleague Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D).
Question: Do you want to see the government involved in a bailout of the newspaper industry?
Coeur d’Alene will never be the same. It is with great sadness that we announce today that the Question: CindyH, the Huckleberries Online sub blogmistress extraordinaire, posted a link to OrangeTV’s announcement about The Wine Cellar Friday. The Coeur d’Alene Press wrote about it Sunday. I didn’t want the news to be relegated only to a weekend discussion. Are you a fan of The Wine Cellar? What does this news mean to you?
~Wine Cellar~ in downtown Coeur d’Alene is closing. The inspiration, orchestration and vision of Jim Duncan, the Wine Cellar has been gathering a fan club that reaches all across the USA and in locations around the world. This late night cafe has been a local favorite for a cozy romantic restaurant and a vibrant place for locals to take visiting friends and family for more than 17 years. They are famous for their extraordinary wine selections, great food at reasonable prices and for always being a venue for local musicians to share the spotlight. The wine, the music, the food will be shutting down Oct. 3rd due to a dispute of ownership and unforseen difficulties out of their control/OrangeTV, Get Out! North Idaho. More here.
The North Idaho Unitarian Universalist Church will feature an appearance of all of the candidates running for Coeur d’Alene Mayor and City Council this year. The program will begin at 10:30 a.m. Sunday in the Harding Family Gym on 15th and Wallace in Coeur d’Alene. Former State Senator Mary Lou Reed will be the moderator. This will be the initial public forum since the filing date closed and will give the public their first chance to ask questions of the candidates and hear their comments on the issues facing the community. This presentation is open to the public and anyone interested in hearing the candidate’s position is welcome to attend. Full post below.
The food is great,
the rides are thrillers;
it gets thumbs up
from all our killers.
The Bard of Sherman Avenue
On Friday, Allison Stam of 6740 Spurwing Loop filed her candidacy papers to run as a write-in candidate for mayor of Coeur d’Alene. The write-in candidacy was received by the city clerk’s office on Friday. Mayor Sandi Bloem will face challenger Joe Kunka and Stam in the Nov. 4 election.
Question: Have you ever voted for a write-in candidate?
Peggy Nardini was so sad when her twins left for college last year that she kept the doors to their rooms closed. When she recently dropped them off for their second year away, she felt the same pull at her heart. “That initial moment when you give them that hug goodbye, when you walk away from the dorm and back to the car without them – that was awfully hard,” says Nardini, 48, a secretary in Madrid, Iowa. Her son and daughter go to different colleges about two hours away from home. “You want to teach your kids to fly out of the nest,” she says, “but you don’t want them to actually do it”/Megan K. Scott, AP. More here.
Question: What can parents do when children leave the nest?
Sometimes I think the reason some companies have switched to electronic telephone operators 
instead of real humans is because of people like me who have been rude to real humans in the past. I am ashamed of the times I called somebody up, trying to find out about my insurance policy or why I couldn’t get my digital recorder to work. Sometimes the person at the other end of the phone seemed unable to comprehend the question - of course, I’m not always as articulate as I could be when I’m yelling hysterically. And, worse, the more I yelled the more disinterested the operator became. Really, what the heck does some guy in Bangalore care about whether or not I can program the clock on my coffee maker? I can scream all I want but he can check out mentally and nobody gets anywhere/Kathy Hedberg, Lewiston Tribune. More here.
Question: When did you last deal with an electronic telephone operator? What help did you need?
Idaho defensive end Charles Smith Jr., left, puts pressure on San Diego State quarterback Ryan Lindley during the third quarter of an CNAA college football game at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow on Saturday. (AP Photo/Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Geoff Crimmins)
Question: At this point, are you optimistic re: how the season will go for the Idaho Vandals football team?
In an online poll by the Coeur d’Alene Press, 51% of 449 respondents say they’d vote for challenger Dan Gookin over incumbent Councilwoman Deanna Goodlander, if the Coeur d’Alene City Council elections were held today. The current tally is 229-220 in favor of Gookin.
Question: What percentage of the actual vote will Dan Gookin get?
The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department is investigating an unattended death at a house fire near Rathdrum. About 6:45 p.m. Sunday evening, neighbors of the residence at 10278 N. Church Road noticed smoke coming from the single wide mobile home at that address. While the fire department was in route, neighbors attempted to put out the fire with a garden hose but were unable to overcome the flames. About 8:45 p.m. firefighters told deputies on scene that they had discovered a dead body inside the residence. Due to the state of the burned body, positive identification was not possible. Investigators are continuing their investigation today. Once the body is identified and notification of next of kin completed, the information will be released to the public. Cause of the fire is also under investigation.
It’s a coin flip deciding who looks crazier these days. Escaped psycho killer Phillip Arnold Paul? 
Or the alleged mental health professionals at Eastern State Hospital who let Paul and a troop of other criminally dangerous patients go on a field trip to the Spokane County fair? That sure turned out swell, huh? Here’s a thought. Next time Eastern State decides to make it Hannibal Lecter Day at the fair, how about letting the public know so families can skip the giant pumpkins and barnyard fun and head to a mall for a movie? As everyone in the country now knows, Paul ditched his keepers and, like the boogeyman, remains at large (Update: Paul was captured Sunday afternoon). A lot of people are pretty sore at Eastern State administrators for waiting two hours before sounding any alarms about Paul’s vanishing act/Doug Clark, SR. More here.
Question: So, who do you think is crazier: Phillip Arnold Paul? Or the mental health professionals at Eastern State Hospital who let him go on a field trip to the fair?
My stepfather likes to tell an amazing story about how he once lost over eighty pounds by 
eating both lunch and dinner at the ubiquitous Italian-American eatery every day for six months. Quite a few years ago, he was single and living in Everett, Washington in a place located a quick walk away from an Olive Garden restaurant. Normally he’s a pretty fit guy, but he had managed to pack on some extra pounds and his cash flow situation was looking tight. He found the perfect solution to both problems with the all-you-can-eat soup and salad special, which provided him with two low calorie, filling and affordable meals a day. Surprisingly, he swears the staff never got tired of seeing his face twice a day and that he never got burned out on eating piles and piles of iceberg lettuce and crunchy croutons/OrangeTV, Get Out! North Idaho. More here.
Question: Which local Italian-American eatery is your favorite?
Joe Heller/Hellertoons
Phillip A. Paul poses for a portrait in downtown Spokane in 2008, when he was living at The Carlyle, an assisted living facility.
Insane killer captured at Goldendale, Wash. “Phillip A. Paul, a criminally insane killer who walked away from a mental hospital field trip to the Spokane fair last week, was caught a shortly before 4 p.m. today in the Goldendale, Wash., area.” Full story: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/20/insane-killer-captured-goldendale-wash/
But I believe the folks out at Eastern State have a whole lot of ‘splainin` to do.
Update: He got by with a little help from a friend http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090921/ap_on_re_us/us_mental_institution_escape
Welcome to the weekend. Saturday=Soccer at our house. Someday, maybe fall weekends will mean something besides sports, but since the youngest of my four sons is nine, I think I’ll be screaming at referees every autumn weekend for the foreseeable future. Actually, one of those boys is a soccer referee so occasionally I find myself in the unusual situation of cheering for the ref.
Speaking of sports— boy howdy! Mt. Spokane toppled North Central last night 51 to 6. Nine of those Wildcat points were scored by someone with my last name. Just saying.
Hope you find plenty to cheer about this weekend. Feel free to post your cheers and jeers below. Monday morning the blogfather will return refreshed and ready to crack the whip.Thanks for tolerating me again :-)
Vandals grab second win: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/19/vandals-notch-second-win/
Cougs snatch an OT victory: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/19/huskies-upset-usc-cougs-down-half/ (Told ya kickers are important!) and
EWU shuts out Nothern Colorado: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/19/ewu-shuts-out-northern-colorado/
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin blows a kiss in Kissimmee, Fla., during a campaign stop in October 2008.
“A true fan of former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is paying $63,500 to have dinner with her. Cathy Maples of Huntsville, Ala., on Friday won the dinner in an Internet auction, which was a benefit for a charity that aids wounded veterans.” More here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090919/ap_on_re_us/us_palin_ebay_dinner
Who would you pay $63,500 to have dinner with?
“President Barack Obama said Friday that angry criticisms about his health care agenda are driven by an intense debate over the proper role of government — and not by racism.” Story here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obama
Question: If the POTUS believes this, why do so many others seem eager to play the race card?
A model displays a creation in the Hedonism display, a display of hats from different designers, during London Fashion Week, in London, Friday, Sept. 18, 2009.
You write the cutline.
Friday=Football around our house. This evening I’ll be sitting under the Friday Night Lights at Joe Albi. My boy has struggled a bit, missing his first two field goal attempts of the season at the Battle of the Bell game. He redeemed himself with a couple PAT’s (point after touchdown) but I’m still nervous. You know how they say, there’s no atheists in foxholes? Well. I don’t think there’s any atheists at high school football games, either. At least not among the mothers of players.
Speaking of football, you can watch the Mike and Greg show here: http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/sportslink/2009/sep/17/mike-greg-show/
They totally should ask me to be on the show— what with my newfound football knowlege and unbiased opinions and all. But they haven’t called. Go figure. By the way, it should be Greg and Mike, alphabetically speaking. Just saying :-)
You can discuss football or anything on this Wild Card.
Hazen and Jaeger Valley Funeral Home manager Dan VerHeul demonstrates the placement of a personalized memory corner on a casket in the Dignity Display Room at Hazen and Jaeger Valley.
What do you what to have done with your remains after you die? One of America’s prominent field biologists weighs in on the subject here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112894124&ft=1&f=1001
At Get Out North Idaho, OTV breaks the bad news: http://getoutnorthidaho.blogspot.com/
The popular venue is due to shut its doors October 3.
This is one of my favorite CDA eateries. I’ve never had a bad meal there. I am heartbroken. Say it aint so OTV :-(
This undated image shows Apple’s new iTunes Plus Web site.
“Just when it seems the music industry is starting to come around to the realities of digital distribution, groups representing songwriters, composers, and music publishers are hoping to tack on additional licensing fees to music downloaded online. If fact, the group would like to earn performances fees even from the 30-second previews you can hear when you browse the iTunes Store.” More here: http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/09/songwriters-want-to-get-paid-for-30-second-song-previews.ars
Really? They want me to pay for a 30-second preview? So how much do you think 30 seconds of Kayne West is worth? Taylor Swift? Beyonce?
Men sit on top of a tank as farmers spray milk onto a field in Ciney, Belgium.
1. First man: “Hey, Sig, you want that milk Pasteurized?”
Sig: “Nah, just up to our knees would be fine.” John A.
2. “Just wait until the load of Rice Krispies get here, then things will get really interesting!” IdahoDad
3. “Belgium farmers don’t cry over spilt milk.” Gary D. Rhodes
“No criminal charges will be filed against a former Sandpoint police detective who authorities say sent sexually explicit photos and video to a woman he had arrested during a methamphetamine trafficking investigation.” http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/18/former-sandpoint-officer-wont-face-sexting-charges/
Apparently sexting is only criminal if the person you are sexting doesn’t want to see your naughty bits. Seems to me to be a slippery slope. What if you change your mind after receiving such a text?
“As part of a deal announced Thursday, Google is opening up part of its index to the maker of a high-speed publishing machine that can manufacture a paperback-bound book of about 300 pages in under five minutes. The new service is an acknowledgment by the Internet search leader that not everyone wants their books served up on a computer or an electronic reader like those made by Amazon.com Inc. and Sony Inc.” Read more: http://www.physorg.com/news172389796.html
What are you reading?
“The International Air Transport Association is forecasting a gloomy revenue picture for the airline industry in 2009, according to an Associated Press article and an official IATA statement, both released Tuesday. The Montreal-based trade group, which represents over 230 airlines worldwide, estimates a total of $11 billion in airline industry losses for 2009.”
When did you last take a plane anywhere? What it a good travel experience?
Are your dentures loose? Be careful with that Poligrip: “Overuse of denture cream with zinc sparks lawsuits” http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090918/ap_on_re_us/us_denture_cream_zinc
And in local chopper news: “Swimmer unnverved by sight of ‘jaws’: http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2009/09/18/news/news04.txt
Both my grandparents wore dentures, but neither of my parents did. Do you think fewer folks need dentures now?
Outside the Spokane Opera House Thursday, Don Stone attends a Constitution Day rally sponsored by the Tea Party organization of Spokane.
Story here: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/18/small-government-backers-rally/
The CDA Press reports 1,000 folks attended the Stateline Tea Party event: “When a government can control what medicine you get, what doctors you see and what services you get, you become a medical indentured servant or slave,” Vliet told about 1,000 people attending the latest Tea Party Patriots of North Idaho rally on Thursday night during Constitution Day at Stateline Speedway.” http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2009/09/18/news/news01.txt
Do you think Tea Party events will have a lasting affect on American politics?
Jason Hargett makes more per hole than Tiger Woods: http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/devil_ball_golf/post/Meet-the-guy-who-makes-more-per-hole-than-Tiger-?urn=golf,190463
Have you ever particpated in a hole-in-one or make-a-basket-for bucks type event? Did you win any money?
Because I said so, that’s why. Though after reading this article I’ve added: Quantum Fluctuation. And I’m thinking they should have included, Spencer’s hair, that’s why.
Of course your answers may differ: http://brainz.org/10-all-time-best-answers-why/
Turns out chicken may save our bacon. Or at least prevent a trade war with China:
“China is threatening to cut off imports of American chicken, but poultry experts have at least one reason to suspect it may be an empty threat: Many Chinese consumers would miss the scrumptious chicken feet they get from this country.
“We have these jumbo, juicy paws the Chinese really love,” said Paul W. Aho, a poultry economist and consultant, “so I don’t think they are going to cut us off.” Full story here: http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/107757/chewy-chicken-feet-may-quash-a-trade-war.html
Can’t say I’ve tried chicken feet. What’s your favorite chicken dish?
”Ahh, the good ol’ days. When many people paid attention to the major issues of the day, and the newspapers fostered such informing and intelligent debate. Killed, on purpose, by the sound-bite/video clip culture, which thrives on ranting and raving, and yes, on both sides.”
It pains me to have to ask, but: What is your main source of news?
President Barack Obama gestures while addressing a health insurance reform rally Saturday in Minneapolis.
“The increasingly aggressive Democratic National Committee on Friday launched a new “Call em Out” website targeting prominent Republicans for statements they have made about President Barack Obama’s health reform plans.” More here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090918/pl_politico/27311
What do you think of this strategy?
Idaho’s got bipartisan legislation in the works to ban texting while driving, a move roughly two dozen states already have made. Sen. Les Bock, D-Boise, proposed similar legislation this year, but now he’s got a high-profile co-sponsor on board: House Transportation Chairwoman JoAn Wood, R-Rigby. “I’ve ben thinking about it for quite some time,” Wood told Eye on Boise. “Maybe it’s because I’m not very good at it anyway - there’s no way that I could do that and drive. I see kids coming out of the high school and doing it, and it really bothers me that they’re on the road and doing it.” / More here at Eye on Boise
Question: What have you seen people trying to do while driving?
“he won’t be messing with our kids. Field trips have been cut from our budget. How ironic.”
Do you think field trips are important for elementary-age kids? Did you go on many when you were a kid?
Halloween costume ideas:
*Dress as Mary Souza in her Margaritaville party gear, complete with silly hat and sunglasses.
*Bedazzled Liz Claiborne animal print power jacket + upswept frosted hair + chunky bling = instant Mayor Sandi.
*Bleach your hair until it’s fried, wear a hot pink tube top and a pair of cutoffs so short, the pockets (and possibly body parts) hang out the bottom. Accessorize with a pack of Ligget Menthols, a bag of Cheetos and a bottle of Blue Hawaiian Boone’s farm. It’s Smelterville Britney!
*Swipe a uniform from one of the Resort valets (preferably while he’s still in it). Tan polyester knickers and argyle knee socks. Hot.
*Easy last minute costume idea: Cd’A’s infamous Thong Man
Add your own HBO-themed costume ideas here.
Something just felt “off” to me in blogland yesterday. I was haunted by the nagging feeling that something was missing. Then, last night as I was falling asleep— it hit me. Not one thread led to Larry Spencer’s hair yesterday. Not one!
Could Poolman’s “Theory of Entropy” be wrong? And why was I thinking about Spencer’s hair while I was falling asleep?
Feel free to ponder that and other fascinating topics here.
Daniel Radcliffe stars as Harry Potter and Emma Watson is Hermione Granger in “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.”
“Universal Orlando Resort, together with Warner Bros. Consumer Products, today revealed first-ever details about the incredible scope of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Universal also announced that the highly anticipated land will open in spring 2010.” http://media.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/news.php
Is it just me, or does this sound like a gigantic shopping trip?
“A criminally insane convicted murderer walked away from an Eastern State Hospital field trip to the Spokane Interstate Fair and deputies are combing the fairgrounds for him.” http://www.kxly.com/Global/story.asp?S=11151340
H/T MamaJD
This ticks me off. My fourth-grader is going on his Fair field trip tomorrow. Now, I’m wondering what other kinds of groups will be field-tripping with the elementary school kids. Geez!
Thought this article might be of interest for you Hucksters. I predict comments will be split down partisan lines.(I’m kinda smart that way). What I wouldn’t give to hear from one of those self-identified moderates from DFO’s recent poll.
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1924348-1,00.html
Jorge Posada was in the center of Tuesday’s scuffle.
“New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada and Toronto pitcher Jesse Carlson both were suspended for three games and fined Wednesday by Major League Baseball for their roles in a bench-clearing brawl.” http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/17/mlb-suspends-two-brawlers/
Sounds more like a hockey game to me.
Someone, (Nick Adams?) mentioned this story earlier in the week. “Skewered” is a good word.
“A northern Idaho woman who was skewered in the neck by a tree limb while driving along the Lochsa River earlier this month says she is recovering at home.” http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/17/n-idaho-woman-impaled-tree-limb-recovering/
“Showers and thunderstorms arriving at daybreak today created an unusual golden glow as the sun’s low-angle rays lit the underside of this morning’s cloud layer over the Spokane region.” http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/17/golden-glow-greets-early-risers/
Weather stories make for some interesting newsroom debate. How important are weather stories to you?
“So, on Thursday, six of us brave mothers clutched our coffee cups and tried to appear wakeful. (Well, I was shooting for conscious.) It might have been the artificial alertness inspired by my triple latte – or perhaps the open notebook I’d laid on the desk. But when McLaughlin instructed us to introduce ourselves and identify our sons by number and position, he pointed to me and said, “You first.”
Who knew there’d be a test on the first day? I gulped. For a moment my name eluded me. Good thing I’d written it on my notebook cover. “I’m Cindy, my son is Alex. He’s number 21 and he’s a kicker.”
The other moms followed suit. I think we all passed. When one of the ladies mentioned hesitantly, that her son played OL/LB (that’s offensive line/linebacker for you novices), the coach nodded, “That’s right, he’s a stud.” http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/17/grid-clinic-for-moms-an-eye-opener/
Question: How much knowlege of a sport do you really need in order to be able to enjoy watching it?
“Many Idahoans are struggling even more than unemployment and poverty rates suggest, according to a new poll.The poll released by the Northwest Area Foundation, which includes data from 400 random adult Idahoans, says 32 percent have had problems paying for basic necessities such as mortgage, rent and heating in the past year.” http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2009/09/17/news/news02.txt
Thoughts?
See that blog roll on the right rail? There are some truly gifted writers featured there. To be honest I hardly ever click on the links, and that’s why I’m so glad DFO highlights of few every week. I’m going to be more diligent about checking these blogs out. The writers featured write because they love to, not because they’re paid to.
Here’s just sampling:
BethB talks about the “Way over 40 league: http://accidental-rabbit-trails.blogspot.com/2009/09/way-over-40-league.html
Inlandempiregirl: Writes about belonging (beautiful photos!): http://gatheringaroundthetable.blogspot.com/2009/09/here.html
Me speaks her mind: http://me-is-it-me.blogspot.com/2009/09/me-smart-you-dumb-duhhhh.html
At Notes on a Napkin Katrina is engaged in a “merry war”: http://notesonanapkin.wordpress.com/2009/09/12/dont-read-this-kathy/
JeanieS realizes she’s not the only impacted by her kidney disease: http://jeaniespokane.blogspot.com/2009/09/must-be-love.html
And OtisG shows biking prowess: http://otisgexperience.blogspot.com/2009/09/spokefest.html
Good stuff. Really good stuff.
Warning: This link contains some of the most disturbing music videos ever made: http://brainz.org/15-weirdest-music-videos-all-time/
While I loved “Total Eclipse of the Heart” I’m glad I’m not the only one who didn’t get the video. And for true horror nothing beats David Hasselhoff’s “Hooked on a Feeling”.
Can you think of other bizarre music videos you’d add to this list?
Sharron “Kay” Thornton, who received a rare surgery to restore her sight, talks about seeing again with Dr. Victor L. Perez.McClatchy
“A 60-year-old woman, blind for nine years, has regained useful vision following a rare operation in Miami in which surgeons removed one of her teeth, drilled a hole in it, inserted a plastic lens into the hole and implanted the tooth-lens combination into her eye. It’s the first such operation in the United States, they said.” http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/17/tooth-implant-restores-sight/
Do you think it was one of her eye-teeth?
Otto Zehm is shown in this handout photo.
“More Spokane Police officers could face criminal charges over the city’s handling of the fatal confrontation with unarmed janitor Otto Zehm, with newly filed court documents indicating a federal probe is continuing into potential obstructions of justice.” http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/16/more-charges-could-come-zehm-probe/
Thoughts?
“Jimmy Carter is 84 years old and three decades removed from the White House, but he still has the power to make Democrats run.
Away from him, that is.
From the White House to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Democrats raced to distance themselves from the former president’s claim that racism was behind Rep. Joe Wilson’s “You lie” outburst and other attacks on President Barack Obama.” http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/27248
Perhaps former presidents should take up gardening or golf and avoid the media.
What did you think of Carter’s claims?
Folk trio and activists Peter, Paul & Mary perform before the delegates during the Democratic National Convention in Boston in July.
“Mary Travers, who as one-third of the hugely popular 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary helped popularize such tunes as “Puff (The Magic Dragon)” and “If I Had a Hammer,” died Wednesday after battling leukemia for several years. She was 72.” http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090917/ap_on_en_mu/us_obit_mary_travers
~His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain,
Puff no longer went to play along the cherry lane.
Without his life-long friend, puff could not be brave,
So puff that mighty dragon sadly slipped into his cave~
Freshman Idaho Sen. Jim Risch is the 13th wealthiest member of Congress, according to a new analysis by Roll Call newspaper, and is richer than the late Ted Kennedy, Sen. John McCain or House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Roll Call pegged Risch’s minimum net worth at $19.29 million; he’s the only senator or congressman from Idaho or Washington to make Roll Call’s “50 Richest” list. / More here at Eye on Boise
Question: If you were that wealthy, how would you spend your time?
CowsMakeDeliciousMilk: Where are you?
When I post threads at HBO the S-R admin page gives a list of available authors. Since we got the new webpage when I typed in “c” I got “CowsMakeDeliciousMilk”. I’ve wondered about that author. And now, the cow who makes delicous milk is gone. Vanished from the author list. I hope the cow didn’t get laid off.
Of course we’ve still got “Imbloggertest,” and “thelagbeast,” but I sure miss the cow. You can talk about your own blogger name or anything else on this Wild Card.
I’m all for going green and sustainable living but…a human dung farm?
“Frank Sinton thinks human waste is highly underrated — and highly profitable.” http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/09/16/converting-human-waste-to-energy-here-today-dung-farms-booming/
Lotsa big words in the above story, but bascially the guy has found a way to make money recycling poo. Ew.
Thoughts?
Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg speaks to the press and advertising partners at a Facebook announcement in New York.
Facebook has announced that it now has 300 million members worldwide: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/6196720/Facebook-reaches-300m-users.html
Had several people ask me this week: “You on Facebook yet?” Nope. Not yet. I’m afraid I’ve got very little self-restraint. I’d probably whittle away hours of my life each day, which is why I’ve yet to join any social networking sites.
Has Facebook enriched your life or do you wish you’d never joined?
“State wildlife officials have received the first report of a wolf killed in the hunting season that began Tuesday. Perry Zumwalt of Roberts shot the wolf Tuesday just north of Yellowstone National Park. He could not immediately be reached for comment. (Emphasis mine) http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/16/first-wolf-kill-montana-season-reported/
Apprarently, the first victim of the Montana wolf season isn’t talking to the press.
Thoughts?
“An Army unit is reviewing how it delivers information to families after a call to a western New York couple led them to believe their son had been killed in combat.”
He wasn’t. I can’t begin to imagine the rollercoaster of emotions this family endured. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090916/ap_on_re_us/us_afghanistan_not_dead
Have you ever erroneously received bad news?
“Secretary by Day, Royalty by Night” It seems Silver Spring secretary Peggielene Bartels, is also king of Otuam, Ghana. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/15/AR2009091503393.html?g=0
Any royalty in your family tree?
The University of Idaho’s Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho, has new windows above the west wall, as well as an expanded seating area.
”During a tour on a sun-splashed afternoon, Spear had made his point – about the $10 million facelift and the football program in general. “If you’re going to be Division I, you’ve got to look Division I,” he said, summing up one of his core missions since taking over UI athletics six years ago.” http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/16/enlightening/
At first I thought I was reading the old S-R Home section. “revamped locker rooms” “spacious athletic equipment center” “Natural light streamed…”
What do you Vandal fans think about the makeover?
Which is worse: Having steep tax hikes hit Idaho employers during a recession, or having rates remain high when times are good? Right now, Idaho employers who are paying a 70 percent increase in unemployment tax rates this year are facing bigger hikes next year, as soaring unemployment drains Idaho’s unemployment trust fund. The state is also borrowing from the feds for the first time to bail out its fund. Washington, by contrast, has the healthiest unemployment fund in the nation at $3.2 billion, after revamping its system in 2005 at employers’ request to focus on stability; no tax hikes or borrowing are being considered there. / More here at Eye on Boise
Question: So is it better to save lots of money when times are good and have to pay more when times are bad, like the Idaho system? Or pay more all along and avoid tax hikes in bad times, like in Washington?
Here’s an odd one: A former BSU football player who was charged with two counts having sexual contact with a female inmate while working as an officer at a state prison has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge - burglary. Timothy Ryan Gilligan will not have to register as a sex offender after he admitted in court that he twice entered the Idaho Maximum Security Institution with the intent of having sexual contact with a female inmate, a felony, the Idaho Statesman reports. Entering a building with the intent to commit a felony is burglary. / More here
Thoughts?
“Lesbian Vampire Killers” ranks among the top worst movie names of all time. Here’s more: http://unrealitymag.com/index.php/2009/09/15/the-names-for-these-15-movies-cant-be-possible/
Has anyone actually seen these flicks? Can you add your own titles to the list?
Seattle reliever Mark Lowe cools down after allowing three runs in the seventh inning.
Jeanie thinks she’s a sports jinx. Perhaps she watched the M’s misery last night? http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/16/sox-pummel-ms-bullpen/
My favorite line from the above article: “For six innings,” said manager Don Wakamatsu, “I thought we played a good game.” But they play nine these days, and the Mariners let this one get away from them late.
Sportswriters excell at snark.
So you’re diligent about hand washing and complusively use hand sanitizer? It might not be enough to protect you from the Swine Flu: http://www.newsweek.com/id/215435?from=rss
“That’s because there is virtually no evidence that people can catch the influenza virus from germs that they pick up on their hands, according to Arthur Reingold, head of epidemiology at the University of California, Berkeley, and codirector of the CDC-funded California Emerging Infections Program. Instead, humans are most likely to catch influenza by breathing in microscopic particles exhaled by infected people.”
Now what?
“It’s election season for Coeur d’Alene’s urban renewal board, Lake City Development Corp. The agency will elect a chairman and vice chairman during its meeting at 4 this afternoon in the Community Room of the Coeur d’Alene Public Library, as well as review the contract for its executive director, Tony Berns.”
http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2009/09/16/news/news02.txt
Er. Nevermind.
“Sen. Max Baucus on Wednesday released the much-awaited Finance Committee version of an American health-system remake — a landmark $856 billion, 10-year measure that starts a rough ride through Congress without visible Republican backing.” http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/16/senates-10-year-health-fix-would-cost-us-856b/
Huckster Bent has said it’s up to Baucus to sell the plan. How’s he doing so far?
Netherlands’ table tennis player Li Jiao focuses the ball for serve during her semifinal match against Iveta Vacenovska from Czech Republic during the team competition of the Table Tennis European Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009.
#1 “I couldn’t figure out why the ping pong ball was getting bigger and bigger. Then it hit me.” BayviewBob
#2 Foot foul? You wanna call me for a foot foul in ping pong? You #@%%^ you! CabbageBoy
#3 Idaho Vandals top sport, NCAA pingpong. redman
HM: Charles Dixon
And probably would send him to his room without any dinner AND revoke his video game privileges for the rest of the month. http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/15/wilson.resolution/index.html
What do you think about the resolution?
Does anyone honestly disagree with President Obama’s statement about Kayne West?
“He’s a jackass,” Obama replies, which is met with laughter from several people. ABC News employees prematurely tweeted a portion of those remarks that turned out to be from an off-the-record portion of the interview.”
http://www.politico.com/click/stories/0909/did_obama_call_kanye_a_jackass.html
My thoughts? Much ado about nothing. Of course, your thoughts may differ.
Joe Heller/Hellertoons
Tuesday is the most deceptive day of the week. My weekly deadline is met (hopefully) and other deadlines seem do-able. I think, “I’ve got time to read the paper and sip my coffee, and chat with the guys in the neighboring office.”
Then BOOM! Something needs fact-checked, my e-mail overflows, there’s a meeting I forgot about…Tuesday sucker punches me every time. But today, I’m ready. I’m going to stay on top of Tuesday until 6 PM. Bring it on.
Meanwhile, here’s your Wild Card.
“This morning, PETA sent a letter to Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine offering to rent the Botetourt Correctional Center building, which is slated to close because of budget concerns, and turn it into America’s first chicken empathy museum.” http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=13544
I’m all for it. But hasn’t Colonel Sanders already done something like this? I know I bow my head for a moment of private reflection before I dig into a red and white bucket of juicy fried goodness.
H/T Aliasjax
Gov. Butch Otter, in his monthly “Project 60” message today, touts optimism and attitude as keys to the state’s economic recovery. “In my experience, attitude is a big part of recovery,” the guv declares, then lists Idaho businesses that are thriving or expanding, even as so many suffer./More here at Eye on Boise
Question: What other bad situations out there could benefit from some good attitude?
In this photo taken last week, Dylan Phifer, 12, concentrates while his parents Sallie, left, and Jim Phifer capture his record-setting attempt on “Guitar Hero” in Everett.
“The 12-year-old Everett boy’s superpower is playing the popular video game “Guitar Hero.” He’s not just better than his friends and better than most of the much older players at the local game store. He’s one of the best in the world.” http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/15/guitar-hero-star-shows-pluck-poise-persistence/
I’m getting grumpier by the minute. That’s cool for the kid and all, and he sounds like a well-rounded child, but when my son begged for Guitar Hero for his birthday, I bought him a real guitar and some lessons. That was four years ago. Zack has turned into an amazing guitarist. It’s a skill he’ll still have when Guitar Hero is obsolete.
Melissa Spangenberg looks at a “World of Warcraft” Web page in New York on Feb. 1.
“Ben Alexander spent nearly every waking minute playing the video game “World of Warcraft.” As a result, he flunked out of the University of Iowa. Alexander, 19, needed help to break an addiction he calls as destructive as alcohol or drugs.” http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/15/web-md/
Okay, this story makes me cranky. Do we really need treatment facilities for Internet addiction? Really?
your triple latte wears off. Otherwise you might read this headline “Study finds widespread feminizing of male boss”
When it’s really male bass: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/15/study-finds-widespread-feminizing-of-male-bass/
Sigh.
“Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday that the worst recession since the 1930s is probably over.Bernanke said the economy likely is growing now, but it won’t be sufficient to prevent the unemployment rate, now at a 26-year high of 9.7 percent, from rising.” http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090915/ap_on_bi_ge/us_bernanke
Thoughts?
Idaho’s Fish & Game Commission will hold a meeting, via conference call, tomorrow morning to authorize “special wolf tags” that would be auctioned off as a fundraiser for wolf management and conservation. “The way we look at it here, it’s a chance for folks to own a piece of Idaho hunting history, being as it’s the first time we ever issued tags for wolves,” said Fish & Game spokesman Niels Nokkentved./More here at Eye on Boise
Question: Is this a good idea?
I’m starting to wonder if video rental stores are going the way of the dinosaur. I still haven’t signed up for Netflix. I’m afraid I’d spent too much time in front of the TV. But every week I check out movies from the Spokane Public Library. Doesn’t cost a dime.
Blockbuster is planning to close as many as 960 stores by the end of next year. That would shrink the video rental chain by more than 20 percent as it struggles against stiff competition from Netflix and Redbox. http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/15/blockbuster-shutter-many-960-stores/
Vaughn Ward, the decorated Iraq war veteran and former McCain-Palin campaign official, and Ken Roberts, the Idaho House majority caucus chairman from Donnelly, are announcing dueling endorsements in their face-off for a shot at challenging 1st District Congressman Walt Minnick, with Ward announcing the endorsement of Kootenai County GOP Chairman Brad Corkill, and Roberts the endorsement of state Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, the 29th Idaho lawmaker to endorse Roberts/More here at Eye on Boise
Question: Whose endorsement makes a difference to you?
Here’s a new use for butter: “Government officials in south-east China have ordered workers to cover a 1,000 ft long steel bridge in butter to prevent citizens from using it to attempt suicide.” More here: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/life/2009-09/01/content_8642819.htm
What’s your favorite food to slather with butter?
A Smart electro drive car hangs from a column on the Frankfurt fairground Monday, a day before the International Car Fair IAA opens first to the media and two days later for the public.
Just wondering because it looks like the Volkswagon folks are coming out with an electic car. Not crazy about the name: E-Up. More here: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/15/volkswagen-plans-electric-car/
Would you buy an electric car? Why or why not?
“We have no agenda, we won’t be discussing any specific proposals or bills in Congress,” the Coeur d’Alene Democrat said, insisting there be no shouting or interruptions. “Health care is important, sometimes controversial.” http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2009/09/15/news/news01.txt
No shouting? No agenda? Polite discussion?
Sounds boring ;-)
Amie Rosenberger, who has multiple sclerosis, talks with Dr. Bhupendra Khatri during plasma exchange treatment at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee on June 22. McClatchy Tribune.
I found this story of particular interest since the last I read the Pacific Northwest has the highest rate of MS in the nation: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/15/system-slights-ms-treatment/
Do you know someone afflicted with MS?
Most folks are familiar with the M&M dudes> Here’s one in a pool with Halle Berry in a 1999 Super Bowl commercial, but how about other food mascots?
Like Twinkie the Kid, Chester Cheetah and of course the Jolly Green Giant. Here’s a link to 25 famous animated food mascots: http://www.gunaxin.com/25-famous-animated-food-mascots/26374
Which ones bring back memories? Which ones make you hungry?
Inmates at the Kootenai County Jail watch television on Monday. Kootenai County is placing two measures on the November ballot to expand the jail using increased sales tax.
“The county has been juggling space problems for years as its 325-person jail is regularly pushed to capacity. On Monday morning, 311 inmates filled its chambers, but that doesn’t mean 14 beds were available. An additional 11 inmates were being housed at facilities outside the county.” http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/15/push-for-larger-jail-back/
Thoughts?
(But still looks good to me.)
“Always so cool, so consistent, so in control of his emotions and his matches, Roger Federer amazingly let the U.S. Open championship slip from his grasp.” http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slug=txusopen&prov=st&type=lgns
Carol Schmidt, of Mead, pauses under the weight of the antlers from her first bull elk bagged in Stevens County last fall.
You write the cutline.
#1 Nice rack. Literally. Cabbage Boy
#2 Does my azz make you horny? keithincda
#3 ….and on the other side of the forest, the bull was showing other Elk the long blonde hair extensions taken from the Little Miss Hottie Hunter he scared the bejesus out of just moments before!!!! formerlysandpoint
Was on a cat toy at the Dollar Store. I bought Milo a little toy fishing rod with a burlap stuffed fish dangling from an elastic cord. He loved it. He played with it until the plastic rod broke and now he still bats the fish around, though it’s frayed at the seams and the stuffing is coming out.
What’s the best dollar you ever spent?
Starting tomorrow, the Idaho State Police will have extra officers working “the high crash areas in the Coeur d’Alene-Post Falls area” as part of a statewide program to reduce crashes involving commercial trucks. The target: Any aggressive drivers around commercial trucks, whether they’re in cars or trucks, who do things like speed, tailgate, and cut off other vehicles. “The economic and human costs of commercial vehicle crashes are significant, not only in dollars, but more importantly the impact that crashes have on people’s lives,” said ISP Commercial Vehicle Safety Lt. Bill Reese. “We want to reduce the number of people affected by aggressive driving and make the roads safer for all of us.”
Question: What’s your experience with big trucks on the road? What do you think would make things safer?
Joe Heller/Hellertoons
Hucksters pick Ichiro (43%) as number one. Edgar Martinez edged out Griffey 26% to 23%.
I’d sure like to know which lone Huckster chose A-Rod.
You should know by now how I feel about the phosphate ban in Washington. Not. A. Fan. On a recent trip to Costco, I bought the new Kirkland phosphate-free dishwashing gel. Came home. Loaded the dishwasher. Half an hour later, I notice suds pouring from the bottom of the dishwasher!
Geez! They’re not kidding when they say “use less product.” So I ran the rinse cycle twice. Some energy savings :-( The next morning I used less soap and fired up the dishwasher. More suds, more bubbles. What a mess! I hauled out the container to see what I could possibly be doing wrong. That’s when I discovered I’d bought dish soap, NOT dishwashing detergent.
Use this thread to discuss your own disasters, natural or unnatural or anything else that’s on your mind.
“…All have a prescription to use marijuana in Washington, and all gathered Monday outside the Spokane County Courthouse to protest the legal battle brewing between law enforcement and the medical marijuana dispensaries that police recommended be shut down last week.” http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/14/protesters-ask-keep-medical-marijuana-dispensaries/
Who do you think will win this battle?
“Patrick Swayze, the hunky actor who danced his way into viewers’ hearts with “Dirty Dancing” and then broke them with “Ghost,” died Monday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57.” http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/14/actor-patrick-swayze-dead-57/
What’s your favorite Swayze film?
Other?
http://media.spokesman.com/photos/2009/09/14/Farragut.jpg
Herb marks the annual Navy Reunion here: http://bayviews.blogspot.com/2009/09/navy-reunion.html
And it’s not good.
“In what may be the scariest shower news since Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho,” a study says showerheads can harbor tiny bacteria that come spraying into your face when you wash.” http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090914/ap_on_sc/us_sci_germs_in_the_shower
Be careful out there. Or in there.
“The first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court says there’s a serious problem with the government in Washington and many other states: They elect their judges.” http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/14/sandra-day-oconnor-end-judge-elections-wash/
Do you think judges should be elected?
Boise State University has confirmed its first swine flu case, in a student living in the dorms. They’ve got a long way to go, of course, to catch up to WSU at Pullman, which has the biggest campus outbreak in the nation with 2,500 cases/More here at Eye on Boise
Question: Will you get flu shots this year?
“A 10-year-old girl who spent the night alone in a barn with about 10 donkeys on the South Side was found this morning just before 8 a.m. after a team of Spokane police officers and volunteers combed her neighborhood throughout the night.” http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/14/police-girl-spent-night-outbuilding/
I can’t imagine how frightened this girl’s parents must have been. Thank goodness for happy endings, but this story does raise the question: why so many donkeys on the south side? Isn’t that traditionally Republican territory?
‘“Unprecedented’ level of Portuguese-Man-of-War seen around Britain”
But apparently that’s not good enough for NASA:
“A rocket experiment set to launch Tuesday aims to create artificial clouds at the outermost layers of Earth’s atmosphere.” http://www.livescience.com/space/090914-mm-noctilucent-clouds.html
Idaho’s had another uptick in its seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, but the bad news is actually good news for workers who’ve exhausted their federal and state unemployment benefits; it means they could qualify for some additional payments, for another three to seven weeks after regular benefits have run out. About 150 Idahoans a week are now exhausting their unemployment benefits, the state sez/More here at Eye on Boise
Question: What would you do if you lost your job tomorrow?
A health care forum, “Taking the Pulse of Health Care in our Community,” is scheduled 5:30-7:30 p.m. Monday at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library. http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2009/09/13/news/news03.txt
Anyone have plans to attend?
”President Barack Obama sternly warned Wall Street on Monday against returning to the sort of reckless and unchecked behavior that threatened the nation with a second Great Depression.
Even as he noted the U.S. economy and financial system were pulling out of a downward spiral, Obama warned financial titans on Monday — the first anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse — they could not count on any more bailouts.
He credited his administration and the $787 billion stimulus package rammed through Congress in the first days of his taking office for pulling the country back from the brink.
“We can be confident that the storms of the past two years are beginning to break,” he said.
More here: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/14/obama-touts-wall-st-changes-lehman-anniversary/
Has the stimulus package pulled our country back from the brink?
Above are a few of green designer Danny Seo’s bathroom must-haves: a great toilet brush (his pick, an eco-sensible model from Quickie); a quick-dry, cotton towel (better than chamois-style options, this one is just $5.99 at JC Penney); green cleaning products (Seo’s favorites are from Method); a new low-flow shower head from Kohler; and his own Wholearth bath products collection (Wholearth-beauty.com). Chicago Tribune
What’s a must-have in your bathroom?
How ‘bout this one?
Ryan Kiner, 8, takes a spin on the Lolly Swing ride at the Spokane County Interstate Fairm Friday, Sept. 11, 2009. The ride once belonged to Michael Jackson.
You write the cutline.
“Anyone else catch the MTV awards tonight? The media is already calling Kanye West “the Joe Wilson of rap” after he interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech by snatching the microphone right out of her hand and announcing that he thought Beyonce should have won the award instead. He’s actually right in my opinion, Beyonce is way better but what a rude bozo!” OTV
Here’s a link: http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/hiphopmediatraining/171413/kanye-west-has-truly-lost-it-this-time/
I’m not sure what the deal is with the Judge Judy avatar, but now every time I read an OTV post I feel soooo guilty. First Joe Wilson, then Michael Jordan, then Serena Williams, now Kayne West. It seems boorish behavior spans politics, sports AND entertainment.
What’s the deal?
“Antonio Banderas is on his way to Spokane to star in a film-noir movie, “The Big Bang.” The Spanish heartthrob plays a private eye who is hired to find a missing stripper. Complications ensue, in the form of a mean Russian boxer and a crazy old billionaire.” http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/sep/13/banderas-latest-will-be-filmed-in-spokane/
I think someone should interview Banderas when he’s in town. I think that someone should be me. I specifically want to know more about his new fragrance line: Blue Seduction.
Question for the guys: How often do you wear after shave? What kind do you wear?
Question for the gals: Do prefer your fellas scented or au naturel?
I read Adrian Wojnarowski’s critique of Jordan’s Hall of Fame speech and found myself thinking about sportsmanship: “This wasn’t a Hall of Fame induction speech, but a bully tripping nerds with lunch trays in the school cafeteria. He had a responsibility to his standing in history, to players past and present, and he let everyone down.” http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-jordanhall091209&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Then I read this stunner about Serena Williams’ meltdown at the U.S. Open: http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/blog/busted_racquet/post/Serena-Williams-berates-official-loses-match-fo?urn=ten,189028
Followed by this: http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slug=ro-serenafine091309&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Do you think displays of arrogance and unsportsmanlike conduct are getting worse? Or are these displays just more widely covered than they used to be?
I hate to do this with the muncipal campaigns under way — I saw yard signs belonging to incumbent Woody McEvers and challenger Steve Adams over the weekend — but I’m taking my week of unpaid furlough this week. I have to do so before Sept. 30. I’m leaving good back-up behind, however. CindyH will again steer the USS Huckleberries for the week in my absence, with Betsy Russell of Eye On Boise tossing in her 2 cents, too. They did a wonderful job during a vacation week earlier this summer. I’ll be blurking, of course. But not as much as I have in the past. Huckleberries Online will be in good hands.
Pecky Cox, As The Lake Churns, calls this wonderful photo (taken with parental permission) at Cavanaugh Bay Resort’s First Brews Blues and BBQ Saturday: “Brotherly Love.”
But there’s a flipside. Anyone in that 90 percent still employed who’s seriously thinking about quitting at a time like this, well, maybe he or she should. Those who are unhappy with their job — a precursor, one would think, to seriously considering quitting — are unlikely to be performing at a consistently high level. Aside from the personal disappointment, that’s letting the business down, which in turn contributes to further layoffs, pay cuts and other economic evils. There are many people who would joyfully accept most jobs an unhappy person would cast away. While some of these replacement workers wouldn’t have their predecessor’s experience, they would more than make up for that with passion to learn and to perform at a consistently high level/Coeur d’Alene Press Editorial Board. More here.
Question: The Coeur d’Alene Press editorialist seems to have the attitude that every should be content to have a job in these troubled times. And those who don’t should quit and let someone work who wants to. Do you agree with this sentiment?
Sometimes life around here takes so many weird twists that the only way to cope is with 
comic relief. Take what’s going on down in Pullman. Now, that place needs a dose of medicinal laughter. It’s not fair. Year after year, Washington State University tries so hard to achieve that coveted No. 1 ranking. And finally it happens. The Cougs get national recognition for being tops at … Swine flu? Are you kidding me? With this ranking, the only bowl you get comes with hot chicken soup. The nasty flu bug has affected just about everything at WSU. “Spewmoni” is the flavor of the month at Ferdinand’s ice creamery. Before each snap, the Wazzu quarterback must use a Clorox wipe to sanitize the center’s squat-pocket.* Bed rest has replaced sleeping it off as the favorite fraternity weekend pastime. Really. There hasn’t been a frat house kegger in weeks. Although I heard that one pledge overdid it on TheraFlu/Doug Clark, SR. More here.
Question: Are you concerned about getting Swine flu this year? Or do you figure it won’t be worse than any other flu or bad cold you’re likely to get — and the health nags are being hysterical?
Athol has always had a bit of an identity crisis, at least name-wise.
The town started as Colton, 
which was changed to Athol after a settler
from the Massachusetts town with the same name decided it was somehow
better. In 1966, after the Girl and Boy scouts both held events nearby
at the old Naval base, the name Roundup City was suggested and
rejected. Later that year, when Farragut State Park opened its gates a
few miles away, a town debate arose among its 300 residents whether
they should change the town’s name to Farragut to sort of “cash in” on
all the tourists that would be blazing through. Some residents thought
it would be a good way to avoid confusion, others were vehemently
opposed. In a Spokane Chronicle news article at the time, local
grocery owner Mrs. A. A. Olston complained “It’s always been Athol and
I want my children when they grow up to say they were born here”/OrangeTV, Get Out! North Idaho. More here.
Question: Should Athol change its name?
Seattle Mariners’ Ichiro Suzuki, of Japan, follows through on his double to left off Texas Rangers’ Tommy Hunter in the third inning of the first game of a double-header in Arlington, Texas, Sunday. The hit was Suzuki’s 199th hit of the season. He collected his 200th hit in the second game, an infield single, to set the Major League record of nine consecutive seasons with 200 hits or more. He had been tied with old-time player Wee Willie Keeler. Story here. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
I’m off the clock for the first time in 27 years as I begin my furlough week this week. As long as it helps balance the books and keeps journalists in The Spokesman-Review newsroom employed, I don’t mind that much. On the plus side, the weather looks like it’s going to be great this weekend. Also on the plus side, I have a dynamite duo lined up to help fill in the gaps while I’m away — HBO’s own CindyH at the throttle, with Eye On Boise blogmistress Betsy Russell riding shotgun. They did a terrific job last time I was gone. I expect you guys to behave. But I’ll be blurking just in case someone doesn’t. I’ll be back to maneuver Huckleberries Online through the municipal campaigns for the remainder of the fall, on Monday, Sept. 21. Now, I’ll play the Wild Card and then vamoose …
Idaho running back Deonte’ Jackson, left, is tackled by Washington linebacker E.J. Savannah (22) and linebacker Mason Foster, bottom, in the first half of an NCAA college football game today at Husky Stadium in Seattle. ESPN game story and boxscore here. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)
Today’s the big day for local college football. Idaho’s playing on FSN at Washington at 12:30 p.m. And: Eastern Washington is traveling to California for a 2:35 p.m. game. And: WSU will face Hawaii in a KHQ televised game at 4 p.m. And: No. 12 Boise State and Miami (Ohio) are matched up. Nick Adams picks Washington, California, WSU, and BSU to win — the Cougs by 4 over Hawaii. Let’s hope he’s right. Meanwhile, Coeur d’Alene High and Post Falls High knocked off Washington teams Friday night. You can find a list of Idaho prep scores here. While you’re waiting for results, you can start your own weekend threads with this Wild Card …
Team of Brazil perform with the hoop during the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships Group All-Around Final in Ise, central Japan, this morning. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
Top Cutlines:
First choice seemed to be Roberts, who in general appears to be more
the establishment candidate 
- he certainly has very strong support from
the Republican legislative community, and presumably much of its web of
support around the district and beyond. And Roberts is an experienced
candidate; and running for office is a different thing than simply
observing or even helping. But Ward has been doing well too, raising
money, probably making more headlines than Roberts (owing in part to
participation from the extended Sarah Palin family) and pulling in some
strong staff. Viewed externally, the campaigns seem at present to be
fairly closely matched. And any major philosophical or policy
differences between them, which might emerge, aren’t obvious yet. Both
will call themselves strong conservatives, within the usual Idaho
meaning of the term/Randy Stapilus, Ridenbaugh Press. More here.
Question: Do you agree with Randy Stapilus that the 1st Congressional District GOP primary race will be between Roberts and Ward? Or will someone else take the nomination away from them? Who do you favor?
When Idaho’s peregrine falcon quarter was released — to widespread
and unfair criticism — many 
Idahoans wanted a coin that celebrated
Idaho’s wild and rugged scenery. They’ll get their wish. In 2019. The U.S Mint will release 56 “America the Beautiful” quarters, commemorating one park, national forest or national historic site in every U.S. State territory, plus the District of Columbia. The Idaho quarter will feature the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. The quarter series launches next year, but the Idaho quarter is due
late in 2019. Quarters will be released in the order of the sites’
addition to the park or wilderness system. Since the Frank Church
wilderness was designated in 1980, it’s near the end of the line/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. More here.
Question: Have you warmed up to the Idaho quarter, featuring a peregrine falcon, yet?
In the past, Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Hayden, and other local communities held City Council elections in which the top two or three vote-getters won seats. Some refer to this method as the “horse race” system. Now, the three towns mentioned have muncipal elections in which candidates run for a specific seat, with the top vote-getter winning the position. Every council race in the two towns is contested this fall. Which method to you prefer?
Item: “M*A*S*H” developer Larry Gelbart dies/San Francisco Chronicle
More Info: Larry Gelbart, the award-winning comedy writer best known for developing the landmark TV series “MASH,” co-writing the book for the hit Broadway musical “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” and co-writing the classic movie comedy “Tootsie,” died Friday. He was 81. Mr. Gelbart, who was diagnosed with cancer in June, died at his home in Beverly Hills, said his wife, Pat Gelbart. Comic actor Jack Lemmon once described the genial, quick-witted Mr. Gelbart as “one of the greatest writers of comedy to have graced the arts in this century.”
Question: Which television sitcom do you consider the best of all time? Why?
More Info: CNN and Fox both reported falsely, as it turned out, that the Coast Guard had opened fire on a suspicious vessel. On Twitter, CNN reported: “Coast Guard confronts boat as Obama visits Pentagon, police scanner reports say shots fired.” It took almost 30 minutes for the network to get clarification and report that the movement by the boats was merely a training exercise. The false reports of gunfire were based on overheard radio calls in which Coast Guard personnel voiced imitation “bang, bang” noises, said Lt. Nadine Santiago, an agency spokeswoman.
Question: Does this shake your faith in CNN, Fox, or the Coast Guard?
The New York Times, for example, published its first story on the
controversy Monday, about 30 
hours after Jones’ resignation. On Sept.
4, while the blogosphere was aflame with Jones stories, Byron York,
writing for the Washington Examiner, tabulated every word dedicated to
the Jones controversy by the New York Times, the Washington Post, ABC
News, NBC News, and CBS news. All these mainstream news services
finished in a dead heat with zero. Since Jones’ early Sunday morning resignation, elite opinion and the
mainstream media have been lamenting the fact that the alternative
media were able to drive from power someone they obviously admired. The
New York Times’ Thomas Friedman called the alternative media an “open
sewer.” But this smear campaign amounted to the vicious and unfair disinterment
of videotape and irrefutable documentation of Jones’ radicalism. The
most effective witness against Jones was Jones/Michael Costello, Lewiston Tribune. More here.
Question: Do blogs and alternative media play an important role in today’s media? Or are they overrated — and simply a source of much misinformation?
Joe Heller/Hellertoons
This is the day that changed our lives as citizens of the United States forever — and launched two wars that has taken the lives of thousands of our service men and women. And continue to take lives. I still remember the moment I learned about 9/11. My wife woke me up that morning and said: “You need to see this. This is going to change things.” She was watching the morning news, something that we generally don’t do at our house. Then, I remember that sick feeling I felt throughout the day as I watched the awful images from New York and Pennsylvania, a similar feeling that I had on the day of the Oklahoma City bombing. You experienced the same thing. You can use this Wild Card to explain what 9/11 means to you or to start your own thread …
Mike Lujan of the City of Coeur d’Alene Parks Department prepares the Fallen Heroes Plaza at Cherry Hill Park on Thursday for the 9/11 ceremony on Friday in Coeur d’Alene. Dedication ceremonies are currently under way at the Cherry Hill Park (Kathy Plonka/SR)
Spencer:
My statement was that not very many smart people run for office. Nearly every poster here is smarter than the average person we send to Boise, and all but one or two of you are smarter than the Otter. Most smart people won’t run for office. Critical thinkers who think about what could go wrong don’t run, because they can see the downside. Stupid people only see the glory of being elected.
Question: Is Spencer right? Are you smarter than your average Idaho legislator? Are you smarter than Butch Otter, too?
Zelda Krup: re: KREM anchor Nadine Woodward is out: For chrissakes, “poisonous, self-
involved narcissists” are hand-picked for management jobs nowadays. Hello?! Ex-employees are supposed to either walk out the door silently or spout the usual cliches – “Nineteen years was a great ride. I learned so much in my job and was privileged to be a part of a great organization. I loved the people I worked with” and so on and so forth. Nadine will probably wind up as the development/communications director for a non-profit. Or at Avista. I forgot about the secret tunnel from the TV newsrooms to Avista HQ.
Question: Have you ever left a job w/guns ablazin’ (figuratively speaking)? Did it come back to haunt you?
Richard Gaines, a firefighter who died in a 1951 blaze in Coeur d’Alene, is fifth from the left. Sixth from the left is Ben Patzer, who found Gaines’ body. This photo is from the Fire Department’s Christas drive, around 1948. Gaines will be honored at 5:30 p.m. today as the city of Coeur d’Alene dedicates the Fallen Heroes Memorial @ Cherry Hill Park. You can read Alison Boggs’ story about Gaines here.
Nick Adams: How about a thread on the weekend’s college football games. U of I vs. UW, BSU vs. Miami
(OH), WSU vs. X, EWU vs. Y? As a BSU fan, I’ll be watching the U of I game closely. Interesting side note: there are at least 7 former Vandal coaches or players who are currently on UW’s coaching staff, including Nick Holt (DC), Doug Nussmeier (OC) and Joel Thomas (running backs). Both teams appear to much improved this year. I doubt it’ll be close, but I expect the Vandals to put in at least one good quarter against the Huskies.
Question: Pick the winners — and the point spread. Will the Vandals be able to give U-Dub a good game?
In today’s Coeur d’Alene Press, Mary Souza writes about a City Council meeting she found to be entertaining. She writes about information provided by a citizen who spoke during the 
meeting. Souza states in her article that “Susie asked about the franchise fees that are added to our gas, electric and cable TV bills.” Souza goes on to say “Did you realize that 5 percent is added to your bills, which then goes to the city? This, apparently, started a number of years ago, by voter approval, in order to fund the street improvements on Ramsey Road and Northwest Boulevard.” Souza accepts the information shared by the citizen at the Council meeting as fact and continues to share in her article her opinion that this amounts to a “hidden tax”. Unfortunately, the information shared at the Council meeting, which Souza states in her article as truth and upon which she bases her opinion, is false/City Administrator Wendy Gabriel, Coeur d’Alene. Full e-mail sent to Huckleberries Online.
At Hauser Lake, photographer Dave Nall snapped this tranquil scenic recently. Dave has a whole site full of his fine photography here.
HBO Numbers (for Thursday, Sept. 10): 8499/4815
Only the old timers of Hauser understand that we are a family out here. And like any family, we 
get mad at each other. But unlike some families, we still love each other after the blowup. Today I received a call from a very remorseful Oly (Olita Johnston), the Mayor of the City of Hauser. We were both apologizing all over the place for our behavior at the Council Meeting. I told her to let it go. I still love her and she still loves me! And Oly is going to try to not insult anyone at public meetings and I’m going to try my damndest to behave myself and not throw any fits at the public meetings. We both realize that not everyone knows that we have always had people come to meetings and get HOT/Frum Helen Back, Hauser Thoughts.
Question: Do you live in a small community now — or have you ever lived in a small community — that sometimes fights like cats and dogs. But then pulls together afterward?
On Wednesday night, Shaw and weather forecaster Tom Sherry had cleaned out her desk for 
her. Thursday, her smiling face and name were still plastered on the station’s Website, with When It Matters Most written below. But this morning, the station announced her departure on its Website. Woodward lays the blame squarely on Jaime Aitken, the station’s current general manager. “They thought they had me over a barrel because my husband was out of a job,” she says. Bruce Felt, her husband, was forced out of the station in April, during the last round of lay-offs. In July, Aitken wrote Woodward a letter detailing the terms of the new contract and stated they were non-negotiable. “He said this was boiler plate, that it’s the way things are done. Well, I’ve been at KREM for 19 years and this has never happened. Never”/Nicholas Deshais, Inlander. More here.
Question: Are you surprised by KREM2’s terse announcement that there may be more to the story?
Don Sausser was there with his camera Wednesday night when bright floodlights brought attention to the Dingle Building on 4th & Sherman (home of the Sports Cellar) where workers pressure wash the exterior for new paint.
So I am normally not a fan of reality TV, but I will make an exception for the likes of America’s Next Top Model. I just saw that the new season premieres tonight, and I will be one of the many viewers tuning in to see which shortie (5′7″ or shorter) will be crowned America’s Next Top Model. Yes, Tyra is over the top, with her costumes, hair and her catchphrase “that’s fierce,” and the models’ drama is even more over the top, but that’s all part of the fun. How could you not watch?/Omie Drawhorn, Moscow-Pullman Daily News. ‘America’s Next Top Model’ link here.
Question: Do you plan to tune into a reality show this fall? Which one? Why?
KREM-TV
and KSKN-TV announced on Friday that anchor Nadine Woodward will no longer be anchoring KREM 2 News. We wish to thank Nadine for her 19 years of dedicated service to the stations and the people of the Inland Northwest. “For Tom Sherry, Tim Lewis and myself, it’s been an absolute pleasure working with and beside Nadine here on the desk,” said co-anchor Randy Shaw. “Nadine is a truly wonderful colleague and a dear friend. All of us here at KREM 2 wish her the very best”/KREM2.
Question: Which Spokane anchor do you consider best?
For years, this newspaper has editorially championed the independence of the Idaho 
Transportation Department - one of two major state agencies whose director is not hired and fired by the governor. Now, we’re not so sure. In July, the Idaho Transportation Board dismissed Director Pam Lowe (pictured). Lowe responded with a tort claim seeking damages for improper termination and gender discrimination. Idaho law says: “The director shall serve at the pleasure of the board and may be removed by the board for inefficiency, neglect of duty, malfeasance or nonfeasance in office.” The board didn’t mention any of those four specific reasons in its decision to fire Lowe. For that reason, Lowe stands a pretty good chance of winning a lawsuit - and a lot of money - from the state/Twin Falls Times-News. More here.
Question: Should the the ITD board remain independent and continue to hire and fire Transportation directors? Or should the guv fill the position by appointment?
Two unidentified men on horseback drive an errant steer from the 76 gas station’s Food Mart on Meridian in Puyallup, Wash, on Friday. The annual cattle drive that marks the start of the Puyallup Fair went off course when a single steer broke ranks and slipped into the mini mart. Nearly the whole herd followed its lead into the Food Mart, with a least two cattle entering the store. Cowboys on horses went into the store to drive them out. (AP Photo/The News Tribune, Dean J. Koepfler)
If the new priest at St. Thomas More looks familiar to longtime parishioners, he should. The 
Rev. David Kuttner grew up across the street from the church, and his parents still live in his childhood home. He worshipped at the church and attended kindergarten through eighth grade at the affiliated school. Yet the path he took from parish kid to parochial vicar was far more extensive than a jaunt across the street. From his office, the youthful-looking 40-year-old recalled his journey. “Growing up, I had no desire to become a priest,” he said. Though his parents regularly took him to Mass, Kuttner said, “To be honest, my faith was never something I embraced. I guess I’d never met God through it”/Cindy Hval, Spokesman-Review. More here.
Question (from Cindy): Did you grow up in a household that regularly attended church– do you still identify with that faith?
God bless those firemen and those cops
who headed for the building tops
up pitch black stairs toward hell above:
“No man hath any greater love…”
The Bard of Sherman Avenue
In this April 6 file photo, Guinness World Records’ gerontology consultant Robert Young, left, presents Gertrude Baines with a certificate naming her the world’s oldest person living, as she celebrates her 115th birthday at the Western Convalescent Hospital in Los Angeles. Baines died in a Los Angeles hospital this morning. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, file)
Another unexpected source of information was Susie Snedaker, who questioned many budget 
items by page and detail. Susie asked about the franchise fees that are added to our gas, electric and cable TV bills. Did you realize that 5 percent is added to your bills, which then goes to the city? This, apparently, started a number of years ago, by voter approval, in order to fund the street improvements on Ramsey Road and Northwest Boulevard. The street bonds will be paid off this year and Susie asked if the fees will be stopped or if a new vote will be taken to continue them. No, Troy Tymeson responded, the city will continue to collect the fees, $2,250,000 this year alone, and add them to the general fund. No new vote? Seems to me these fees are hidden taxes and will never go away/Mary Souza, Coeur d’Alene Press. More here.
Question: Mary Souza goes on to recommend that residents watch City Council meetings on public television or in person in council chambers. I couldn’t agree more that residents be aware of such proceedings first hand. When did you last attend a meeting of a local government? Why did you attend?
Since when did people start caring about politics? We elect a bunch of stiffs to handle the 
government. It’s too boring for the rest of us to get involved. That’s why you saw so many people hollering at those health care forums. Why read a thousand page bill, or listen quietly to a sleepy politician when you can shout monkey noises into a microphone? I love freedom of speech, and everybody is entitled to an opinion. But is anybody else feeling fatigued? I want America to go back to normal. So no more presidential press conferences interrupting prime time television. No more Fox News or MSNBC. Sit down, make some popcorn and set your Tivo to record “30 Rock.” You’ll be much happier, I promise/Tyler Wilson, Coeur d’Alene Press. More here.
Question: Are you bugged when a presidential press conference or speech interrupts or replaces a favorite television program?
Indeed, I suspect that our collective search for villains—for someone to blame—has distracted 
us and our political leaders from addressing the fundamental causes of our nation’s health-care crisis. All of the actors in health care—from doctors to insurers to pharmaceutical companies—work in a heavily regulated, massively subsidized industry full of structural distortions. They all want to serve patients well. But they also all behave rationally in response to the economic incentives those distortions create. Accidentally, but relentlessly, America has built a health-care system with incentives that inexorably generate terrible and perverse results. Incentives that emphasize health care over any other aspect of health and well-being. That emphasize treatment over prevention. That disguise true costs/David Goldhill, The Atlantic. More here.
Question: Commenter JReighley called this “probably the most non-partisan pragmatic analysis of our system I have read. And it was written by a Democrat.” Spencer said he won’t debate anyone on healthcare unless they have read this article. What did you think of it?
Artist Michael Godard points to his tattoo of Ozzy Osbourne as he arrives at the launch of the Sunset Strip Music Festival featuring a tribute to Osbourne in West Hollywood, Calif., on Thursday. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
President Obama tried to reframe the health care debate Wednesday night. But he didn’t change the dialogue, because he hasn’t changed his course. Obama again pitched the controversial “public option,” government insurance for Americans who cannot obtain private health coverage. He didn’t insist on the public option as a component of reform. He downplayed its impact, predicting that fewer than 5 percent of Americans would sign on. But there was the public option, a prominent part of his speech, both a bullet point and a target. By revisiting the topic, Obama undermined everything he said about building consensus and embracing other ideas, even proposals from Republicans/Idaho Statesman Editorial Board. More here.
Question: Will healthcare reform survive w/o major compromise?
Now, I’m not defending socialism; I’m arguing that you show me someone who absolutely hates 
socialism and I’ll show you someone who probably can’t articulate why. We just know that Nazis were socialists; ergo socialism is bad, right? We all pay taxes. Even if you don’t have a job or pay no income taxes, you pay taxes on just about everything you buy. If you buy gas, electricity or guns, you pay specific taxes that go to the government, which then fund things like the police department, the fire department, the postal service, public schools and state universities. Those services are provided to all of us equally. How many of us right here at the University of Idaho are getting scholarships we don’t have to pay back? Someone else, not knowing us or what we’re going to do with it, gave us money to go to college. All of that is socialism. It’s not jackboot-wearing, hate-mongering Nazism, but it’s socialism/Matt Adams-Wenger, UIdaho Argonaut. More here.
Question: Do you agree w/Matt Adams-Wenger that socialism isn’t all that bad?
Mike Lujan of the City of Coeur d’Alene Parks Department was on hand to on Thursday, September 10 to spruce up the Fallen Heroes Plaza at Cherry Hill Park for the 9/11 ceremony on Friday in Coeur d’Alene. Alison Boggs reports on the only Coeur d’Alene fireman killed in the line of duty in a Spokesman-Review story here. (Kathy Plonka/SR)
Christian Bernash, 4, marches between American flags forming the shape of the Twin Towers during a commemoration ceremony to mark the eighth anniversary of the terrorist attacks, in Charlotte, N.C., earlier this morning. (AP Photo/ The Charlotte Observer, Todd Sumlin)
Question: Has 9/11 replaced Dec. 7 as this nation’s day of remembering sacrifice and a foreign attack?
On Thursday, a conservative commenter here guessed that Huckleberries Online “is about 80% liberal.” At times, a liberal commenter or two have suggested that it leans toward conservatives. So last night, I divided the commenters who posted Thursday into three camps: liberal, moderate/apolitical, and conservative. I didn’t count the half dozen or so who dropped by for the first time to comment on fluoridation and the UIdaho woman injured in the fall from the frat house. Of he 69 commenters, 22 were conservative (32%) were conservative, 21 (30%) were liberal, and 26 were moderate/apolitical (38%). I’d say those numbers make this blog extremely balanced. Also, I’m running the poll below at Nic’s suggestion to see where others fall on the political spectrum.
Item: 9/11 marked with mourning and a spirit of service/Associated Press
More Info: Cold rain mixed with tears as mourners collected under umbrellas and a dreary sky Friday to mark the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks with old rituals and a new purpose — honoring the spirit of those who rushed forward to help. Skies were gray in New York City, at the Pentagon and at the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93 in a Shanksville, Pa., field, where now-familiar ceremonies honored the nearly 3,000 people who were lost. Friday was also the first time the anniversary was observed as a national day of service, following an order signed this year by President Barack Obama.
Question: Any thoughts on the 8th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks?
Brent Andrews: I saw on the Spokesman’s Facebook feed that the authorities have raided 
Change, the Spokane medical marijuana dispensary which was providing hope and medicine to sick people. This is very sad and a big slap in the face of the law in Washington, which is not made only to be followed in the liberal western counties, but in all the counties. These are the laws “of everybody.” It is very sad when a prosecutor runs amok - it proves he’s ready to be replaced, certainly, and also that he might need his head examined. Full comment below.
Question: Did the police do the right thing? Or is Brent right that this raid is “very sad and a big slap in the face of the law in Washington”?
Joe Heller/Hellertoons
On Wednesday, I published part of a blog post by Tara Roberts/Moscow-Pullman Daily News re: the mixed emotions she has for receiving welfare. The post attracted 23 comments, including one from Tara, who appreciates your input. Tara: “You guys are a lot — and I mean a LOT — kinder than many of those who have commented on the original posting. Thanks for reading what I wrote, thinking about it and understanding where I’m coming from. And even if some of you don’t agree with me … thanks for reading anyway.” I appreciate it, too. Much of the commentary here is top-notch. Just wanted to give you an attaboy before I dropped today’s Wild Card on you …
Visitors to the temporary Flight 93 memorial participate in a sunset ceremony of opening a large commemorative flag Thursday in Shanksville, Pa. United Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville, Pa, Sept. 11, 2001, after passengers and crew diverted the hijacked airplane from its intended target Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Item: East Valley players overcoming ACL injuries/Mike Vlahovich, SR
More Info: Women’s sport and the dreaded acronym ACL tend to go hand in hand. Scarcely a year goes by, it seems, when another female star is felled by a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her knee. “Research shows that females are anywhere from nine to 10 times more likely to tear an ACL than a male,” said Brian Cronin, an owner of U-District Physical Therapy and Institute of Sports Performance. “It definitely shows they are more at risk.”
Question: Have you torn an ACL? How has that injury affected your quality of life?
Let’s visit Sunday’s marvelous rainbow one more time before bidding it goodbye. Here’s what it looked like at Priest Lake, as photographed by Pecky Cox/As The Lake Churns.
A Los Angeles fireman looks under a fire truck stuck in a sinkhole in the Valley Village neighborhood of Los Angeles Tuesday. Four firefighters escaped injury early Tuesday after their fire engine sunk into a large hole caused by a burst water main in the San Fernando Valley. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Top Cutlines:
“What if they had a protest and no one came? The Kootenai County Reagan Republicans saw on the Obama Organizing for America site that the pro-Obamacare folks were holding a protest on Highway 95 and Appleway today at 4 p.m. We showed up with our signs but the other side is a no-show. Maybe they were as dissappointed as we were with the President’s speech”/Jeff Ward, Kootenai County Reagan Republicans (via iPhone).
If we want reform, there are four things we must do: 1.) Start over. The reform bills being considered by Congress must be scrapped due to their vagueness and lack of understandability; 2.) Go slow. Health care reform is complex and affects every American. We must get it right, not quick; 3.) We need to understand each component of health care reform. We cannot get it done in one big bill with a bureaucracy writing the details; and 4.) We must know the consequences of changes made to health care. It is too important to leave to chance or hope/U.S. Sen. Jim Risch in news release. More here.
Yikes! The Council Meeting tonight was pretty hairy. I left after being told by the Mayor in front 
of the people who came to the meeting that she’s afraid to come to my house because of all the lies I tell on this website. I’ll be looking up the word “slander” to see if it applies. Maybe the mayor isn’t aware of what is going on in the government she’s in charge of. Whatever the reason for her comments, it reminded me of the time she loudly announced in a Council Meeting that she had heard about all the crap I had been writing. If only the mayor would get a computer so she could read what I write. She could then send me an email and let me know what lie I tell when I tell it. Personally, I don’t like being called a liar. I don’t like it one little bit! And Mayor Johnston is the only one running for Mayor this November/Frum Helen Back, Hauser Thoughts. More here.
Question (for bloggers): Are you surprised by an occasional negative reaction to your blog posts?
At JeanC’s Cat House and Shooting Gallery, JeanC posts: “Not sure what it is, but this guy was hanging out while I was painting, so chased him around until I could snap a pic.” Anyone know what it is?
In this Sept. 1 photo, centenarian Dixie Monkhouse casts her fly on the waters of the McKenzie River in Eugene, Ore. with fishing guide Don Wouda, with whom she fishes once a month. Monkhouse, the first female member of the Flyfisher’s Club of Oregon, turned 100 on Monday. (AP Photo/The Register-Guard, Brian Davies) Question: Is centenarian Dixie Monkhouse inspirational or what?
Designer board games, sometimes referred to as German style board games, have gained 
popularity across the United Sates and on the Palouse over the last several years, and some local retailers are having trouble keeping the games in stock. The games are identified by their relatively simple rules, deep strategy, excellent replay value, and appeal to both hard-core gamers and casual gamers. Kathy Sprague, owner of Safari Pearl in Moscow, which sells a variety of designer board games, said the games are a “nice, social lubricant that doesn’t leave you feeling ill the next morning”/Omie Drawhorn, Moscow-Pullman Daily News. More here.
Question: I rarely play board games. They bore me. But I’m probably the exception to the rule. Do you enjoy board games. Which ones do you play most?
The Federal Election Commission has dismissed a complaint made against Sen. Jim Risch, R-
Idaho, by the Idaho Democratic Party raising questions about violations of federal election law during the 2008 campaign. Last September, as Risch faced former Democratic Rep. Larry LaRocco, Democrats questioned whether Risch’s campaign was improperly using his Boise law office. Their complaint questioned whether expenses such as rent, overhead and staff salaries were properly reported to the FEC. But the FEC said it dismissed the matter “in light of the complainants’ failure to include any substantiation for their allegations in the complaint.” The bipartisan commission voted 6-0 in June to dismiss the complaint/Dan Popkey, Idaho Statesman. More here.
Question: Do you agree with this decision?
North Idaho prep sports scribe Greg Lee and Spokane counterpart Mike Vlahovich provide their picks to win high school football games this week.
Joker: The whole fraternity/sorority scene wasn’t my thing. I guess I don’t believe in buying my friends.
Question (for those who belonged to a fraternity or sorority during college): Did you experience any long-lasting value from being involved in a college fraternity or sorority?
A funny thing happened to SR editorial assistant Rainey Coffin en route to the county 
courthouse to collect court records last Thursday. She almost got arrested. First, Rainey, who subs for “Idaho Records” regular Sherry Adkins during vacations, had trouble finding a parking spot. So she drove around the block 4 or 5 times. Then, she was confronted outside the courthouse by a female lawyer and a cop. Seems Rainey looked like a Wal*Mart shoplifting suspect. And she had trouble persuading the legal eagle and her sidekick otherwise, despite her laptop computer and press credentials. In fact, the cop put his hand on his gun when Rainey held up her computer to prove she was a reporter. Afterward, her editor lamented that she hadn’t been arrested. He thought that woulda made a good story. But Rainey didn’t laugh.
Question: Have you ever been mistaken for someone else? Who?
Spc. Jeffrey Hodge mourns the loss of four soldiers from his unit, Capt. John Hallett, Capt. Cory Jenkins, Sgt. 1st Class Ronald Sawyer and Spc. Dennis Williams, following their memorial service at Soldiers Field House, at Fort Lewis, Wash., Wednesday. The four soldiers were members of the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment killed in Afghanistan, Aug. 25, when their vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device. (AP Photo/The News Tribune, Janet Jensen)
The sundry items dangling from rear-view mirrors on North Idaho College student cars parked along Rosenberry Drive this morning caught the attention of a Berry Picker walking her dog. Air fresheners were the top item dangling from the mirrors, with Christmas-tree shaped ones outnumbering leaves. Then came graduation tassels, with ones from Coeur d’Alene High (four) outnumbering others. The Berry Picker also noticed box gloves, a rosary, a necklace, a man’s tie, a hula girl, baby shoes, and a snowflake among other things. And she wondered why the motorists had selected those items to hang from the mirrors. Was the guy with the tie going to be a business major? Was the motorist with the boxing gloves fighting his way through college?
Question: How about you? Do you have something dangling from your rear-view mirror? What is its significance?
A 19-year-old woman fell from the third story of a University of Idaho fraternity early today, the 
second such fall in less than two weeks. Amanda Andaverde was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle from Kootenai Medical Center “due to the severity of her injuries,” according to the Moscow Police Department. Andaverde, a sophomore majoring in animal and veterinary science, fell about 27 feet from a window at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, 920 Deakin Ave., at 1:10 a.m., police said. She was drunk, and there was a party at the fraternity Wednesday night, said Assistant Police Chief David Duke/Meghann M. Cuniff, SR. More here.
Question: Is it time for the UIdaho to take drastic steps to prevent further falls, now that two students have been severely injured in falls from fraternities? What steps would you suggest?
I don’t know about you, but I’m not interested in having a Socratic dialogue with strangers about my family’s spiritual beliefs, be they atheist or Zoroastrian. Ain’t nobody’s business but my own. 
Seen through the generous lens of my bi-focals, the ice cream girls were being kind-hearted and friendly. Seen though my less-generous lens, these girls - children themselves - were trying to chum new recruits into their church. And what do new recruits bring to church? In addition to energy and enthusiasm, they bring $5 and $10 bills for the collection basket. Some of that money may go to further the church’s good work, and some of it may go to reupholster the pastor’s Porsche. If you don’t believe me, ask a few of Jim Bakker’s, or Jimmy Swaggart’s, or Ted Haggard’s former congregants. The world is full of hustlers, with magazine salesmen at my door, credit card come-ons in the mail and robocalls on my phone. Fairly or not, I lump evangelicals in with other worldly annoyances/William Brock, Moscow-Pullman Daily News. More here.
Question: Do you get annoyed when someone tries to share their faith with you?
Item: Nampa officers will take blood draws from DUI suspects w/o consent/Idaho Press-Tribune
More Info: Nampa police are being trained so they can take blood draws in the field to determine whether drivers are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Sgt. Matthew Pavelek said in a news release Monday the Police Department recently took part in a program that trains officers to be qualified phlebotomists — blood-draw technicians. The training is funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and is presented by the College of Western Idaho. Pavelek said that by having police officers trained to take blood, they are able to conduct blood draws on suspected DUI motorists who do not consent to breath or other chemical testing during impaired-driver related investigations.
Question (from Treasured Valley): What do you think of the Nampa Police Department’s plan to involuntarily draw blood from suspects?
President Barack Obama kisses Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton after speaking to a joint session of Congress on healthcare at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Jason Reed, pool)
Question: What do you make of the body language in this presidential kiss?
In a rare moment of unity in the bitter American healthcare debate, both sides of the political 
spectrum have turned on a Republican congressman after his extraordinary heckle of President Obama during a keynote speech last night. Joe Wilson, of South Carolina, breached Washington etiquette by calling Mr Obama a liar as he addressed the joint houses of Congress last night. During an impassioned speech in support of his flagship health reform plan, Mr Obama insisted that there would be no provision for illegal immigrants to receive state-sponsored medical assistance. Mr Wilson responded to the claim by shouting “You lie!”. Two words that were greeted by groans and murmurs of disapproval from across the chamber. The President paused, looked in the direction of the outspoken congressman and said calmly: “That’s not true”/London Times. More here.
Question: What do you make of this situation?
CindyH: Am I the only one who makes up stories about people and their purchases while waiting in long grocery lines? Last week this older gentleman in front of me at Fred Meyer, had 
a cart full of baby items. Diapers, blankets, tiny socks. A new grandfather? A first-time dad? I wondered. I didn’t pass judgement. And do other people comment on your own grocery purchases? For instance, tomorrow is the Rosauers cereal sale. I routinely buy about 50 boxes at each sale. Cereal is expensive. I gotta lotta boys to feed. Anyway, people often look at my cart and make comments about the amount of cereal. I ususally say, “I’ve got four boys.” But tomorrow, I think I’ll just say, “I eat a lot of Trix. They’re NOT just for kids.”
Question: Do you wonder about the purchases made by other shoppers while you’re waiting in a long grocery line?
“A fast-moving rain storm about 6 p.m. Tuesday night (Sept. 1) darkened the blue skies and dumped quite a bit of rain over Post Falls,” posts KerriT/Main Street of this photo snapped with an iPhone by Sam Crawford. “To the east, Sam Crawford was enjoying the summer evening on the lakefront lawn of his neighbor, Jim Elder, when this rainbow appeared over Fernan Lake.”
Afterward, Republican Party Chairman Norm Semanko called Obama a gifted orator, but said “Idahoans…don’t support the president’s proposed government takeover of their health care.” Democratic U.S. Rep. Walt Minnick said he’s against a government-backed public option, but contends many of Obama’s ideas have merit, like forbidding insurers from cutting coverage for pre-existing conditions, limiting out-of-pocket expenditures and focusing on prevention/AP. More here.
Item: Conservative activists set tea parties: Stites will host two-day event starting Friday, while Lewiston will hold a similar event on Saturday/David Johnson, Lewiston Tribune
More Info: The size of the tea party, Cohee said, remains to be seen. But interest continues to grow, he said. He described organizers and attendees as “conservative” with little or no party affiliation. “I’ll be honest with you,” Cohee said, “I’m not Republican or Democrat.” He dismissed the notion the Republican party was involved with the tea party. “The only Republican I’ve seen in years that was worth anything is (former Alaska Gov. Sarah) Palin,” Cohee said. “She’s the first one to have a set of balls as far as I’m concerned.”
Question: Are Tea Parties having an effect on local, state, or national politics? consciousness?
Item: Sexual advances by clergy not rare” One in 33 women is target, survey finds/Washington Post
More Info: One in every 33 women who attends worship services regularly has been the target of sexual advances by a religious leader, according to a survey released Wednesday. The study by researchers at Baylor University found that the problem is so pervasive that it almost certainly involves a wide range of denominations and religious traditions and a wide range of spiritual leaders.
Question: Have you been part of a local church that was torn apart by a sex scandal involving a religious leader?
Michael Ramirez/Investor’s Business Daily
I made it. Twenty-five years with The Spokesman-Review in Coeur d’Alene. I began work as a local government reporter at the SR building at 4th & Garden — and also covered cops and courts for the first four months until Regional Editor Doug Clark and I both decided that I didn’t like chasing ambulances. So I added the Post Falls beat to Coeur d’Alene and City Hall, and dropped courts & cops. I covered a labor dispute between Coeur d’Alene’s teachers and the school district for my first story. I then reported on local government for 9 years before moving to the editorial board for the next 14 years. You know what happened from there. There won’t be a golden anniversary to go with this silver one. But I’m a long way from retiring. So I’ll play this Wild Card and get on with the first day of the rest of my journalism career …
President Barack Obama delivers a speech on healthcare to a joint session of Congress, Wednesday on Capitol Hill in Washington. Obama’s healthcare speech to Congress here. And: AP story here. And: AP fact check here. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
I took
Alex to the vet yesterday. I was worried that he was losing weight. We got there, weighed him. He was fine. But it was the ride there and back that was such a joy. Alex, unlike Annie (my other cat), hates the car. Hates it. He paces back and forth as I drive. (If I keep him in his carrier as I drive, he is more terrified. I figure watching a pacing cat is better than listening to his terror.) He meows the entire time - except when he goes guttural, meowing from deep inside. That’s when he sounds like a little cougar. At one point yesterday, he crouched atop my headrest and meowed in my ear as I drove. It’s my fault, really. I’m the one who wanted to take him to the vet/Beth Bollinger, Accidental Rabbit Trails. More here.
Question: Do you like cats?
Kayleigh Miller, left and Kaylee Cargile, 11-year-old 6th graders from Meadow Ridge Elementary in the Mead School District sang the opening song at Camp Lutherhaven on Wednesday. Camp Lutherhaven is back in business with a temporary water supply after ecoli was found in their well in early August. (Kathy Plonka/SR)
Yelena Meyerzone of Latvia performs during the qualifying round of the rhythmic gymnastics world championships in Japan on Wednesday. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
Top Cutlines:
Do you remember HMOffsuite’s photo of Sunday’s rainbow, looking across Lake Coeur d’Alene toward downtown Coeur d’Alene — the one that looked like the rainbow was touching down with its pot of gold @ Don Sausser’s condo? Well, Don snapped the same rainbow looking back. Enjoy.
HBO Numbers (for Tuesday, Sept. 8): 9366/5118
The City’s CDA TV Committee will be hosting a Candidates Forum to be aired on CDA TV cable Channel 19 beginning with the live broadcast of the forum on Oct. 7. The format for this forum is unique in that City residents have the opportunity to submit questions that may be selected for the Candidates Forum. The candidates will not have prewritten, prepared responses to these questions as they will be hearing the questions for the first time during the actual forum. If you have a question you would like asked at the Candidates Forum, please submit your question on-line via the City’s web site at www.cdaid.org /City Clerk Susan Weathers.
DFO: I sent the following to City Clerk Weathers a few minutes ago, to be asked of wannabe Dan Gookin: “You once referred to Sgt. Christie Wood as “Sergeant Cupcake.” Do you think a woman is incapable of serving as a police officer? Or was your animosity reserved for Christie Wood herself?” Do you think the moderator’d have the guts to ask it?
Question: Can you think of any question you’d like to ask any mayoral or City Council wannabe at this forum?
… and explain what he’s doing and where he’s at …
Public disapproval of President Barack Obama‘s handling of health care has jumped to 52 percent, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll released hours before he makes his case for overhaul in a prime-time address to Congress. With his health revamp moving slowly and unemployment edging ever higher, Obama’s overall approval rating has also suffered a blow. The survey showed that 49 percent now disapprove of how he is handling his job as president, up from 42 percent who disapproved in July/AP. More here.
Question: Congressional Republicans are saying that Obama should start over re: healthcare reform. Given the current polling numbers, do you think he’d be wise to do that?
Idaho Fish & Game has issued two poaching citations to an Eagle man for illegally shooting a small female wolf pup on Sunday evening. The shooting was in the McCall-Weiser wolf zone, which is not yet open for wolf hunting. The man shot the wolf from a public road; witnesses told officers he shot it while standing in the road at the back of his pickup truck. He called the 24-hour wolf harvest reporting line on Tuesday morning and reported that he’d killed a wolf in the Sawtooth hunting zone, which is open for wolf hunting/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.
North Idaho College posted a 16.5 percent increase in enrollment for fall 2009 with an increase of 803 students from last year’s enrollment of 4,856, bringing the total headcount this year to a record 5,659. “Like other community colleges across the nation, North Idaho College enrollment is up significantly this fall,” said NIC President Priscilla Bell. “But what’s truly remarkable is how NIC staff, faculty and administrators were able to accommodate this record amount of students without turning a single person away.” NIC is an open-admissions institution, and all new students who applied for admission this fall were accepted/Stacy Hudson, Press Room. More here.
Andra Suchy and Garrison Keillor sing “Side by Side” during the 35th anniversary broadcast of “A Prairie Home Companion” in Avon, Minn., on July 4. Keillor still plans to start his new season of “A Prairie Home Companion” as scheduled in just over two weeks, despite suffering a minor stroke. Keillor had the stroke and was admitted to Saint Marys Hospital at Mayo Clinic, said Karl Oestreich, a spokesman for the Rochester, Minnesota facility. He will remain there until Friday for tests “and upon his release will resume his schedule as previously planned,” Keillor spokesman David O’Neill said. (AP Photo/St. Cloud Times, Kimm Anderson, File) Question: Are you a regular listener of “A Prairie Home Companion”?
US President Barack Obama is set to make one of the most critical speeches of his presidency, as he faces Congress over his plans for healthcare reform. Mr Obama has said the speech at 1800 (0000 GMT) will clarify what changes he is proposing and dispel some of the “myths” widely circulating. In an interview with ABC News, he also said he remained open to new ideas. Members of Congress are preparing to fight over the details of the reforms, as they return after the summer recess/BBC. More here.
Question: Do you have your mind made up re: health-care reform? Do you plan to listen to Obama’s health-care speech tonight?
Among all the earth-shaking events that took place last week, few received more attention in 
south-central Idaho cyberspace than the announcement that the Twin Falls County Fair had signed a sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola, giving the soft drink company exclusive rights to sell its products at the fair next year. “I’ll be dammed if the fair board is going to tell me what I have to drink with the overpriced fair food,” huffed Wayne Frandsen on Magicvalley.com. “I’ll just stay home and drink my Pepsi.” “Even if I did drink soda, it wouldn’t be Coke,” wrote C. Donald. “That stuff will eat the rust off your bumper.” … Nowhere is polarized America more riven with contention than over choice of soft drink/Steve Crump, Twin Falls Times-News. More here.
Question: Coke or Pepsi? Of something else?
This month marks an interesting anniversary for me — it’s been one year since I became a welfare mom. And that’s been on my mind lately. Yep, I’m “on the dole,” as one of our Daily News columnists put it last week. My Medicaid benefits for pregnancy were approved last September. Your tax dollars paid for my prenatal care and the birth of my son, and now they’re paying for his doctor visits and immunizations. This sounds a little strange, but I want to say thanks. I know no one really voluntarily gives their taxes, but I still feel I owe a debt to everyone whose hard-earned money has helped pay for me to have a healthy family. See, I always feel a little sheepish — guilty, even — when I admit we’re on government assistance/Tara Roberts, Moscow-Pullman Daily News. More here.
Question: Should a motivated person like Tara feel guilty because she’s on welfare?
U.S. Senator Jim Risch has hired the Idaho bowling industry’s former lobbyist to head his Washington, D.C. constituent services operation. Barbara Strickfaden, who headed the Idaho State Bowling Proprietors Association as well as the Idaho Bankers Association, also worked for Risch in a similar capacity when he was Idaho’s temporary governor in 2006/AP. More here.
University of Idaho students Kelsey Anderson of Bismarck, N.D., enjoys the sunshine while laying in the grass working on homework Tuesday in Moscow. (AP Photo/Lewiston Tribune, Kyle Mills)
Suzanne Asha Stone, Northern Rockies representative for Defenders of Wildlife, said, “We’re 
disappointed that the injunction wasn’t granted, and I think that right now we feel that a hunting season for wolves at this point still poses a threat to the regional wolf population.” But she said the group, one of 13 that sued over the delisting of the gray wolf in Idaho and Montana, is “hopeful that the court recognizes that we’re likely to prevail on our legal claim, that the Fish & Wildlife Service acted illegally by delisting wolves in Montana and Idaho”/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.
After Jack Gibson and Kimberly Knox said their wedding vows, they turn to greet the crowd of family, friends and onlookers gathered at the main stage at Pig Out in the Park Saturday in Riverfront Park. (Colin Mulvany/SR) Question: Izzit me — or is there something fundamentally wrong with the concept of Pig Out in the Park when so many in this country are overweight and so many around the world are starving?
Football coaches have to live with Monday morning quarterbacking. It’s all part of the unwritten job description. Since the post-game Thursday night - when Boise State’s much-anticipated season opener degenerated into the Punch Bowl - BSU coach Chris Petersen has been dealing with plenty of second-guessing. Not about play-calling or pregame preparation, but about team discipline. The criticism is off the mark. And in the face of national scrutiny, Petersen is standing by his decision and sticking to his principles. Good for him/Idaho Statesman Editorial Board. More here.
Question: Will this college-football tempest in a teapot go away with another round of games this weekend? Or will it linger for the season?
As you have likely read, the City Council adopted a budget last week with a unanimous vote to 
not increase income from property taxes. This has been perhaps one of the toughest budget years the city has ever faced. Compared to last year, the budget is down $3.3 million, capital funds have been reduced 100%, training and travel was reduced over 50%, and department supplies and services reduced 14%. Also, six vacant positions are being held open. But most importantly, our Police Association, the Lake City Employees Association, and the Fire Union was willing to forgo their contracted cost of living increases for next year/Wendy Gabriel, Coeur d’Alene city administrator.
DFO: I appreciate that city officials didn’t increase my property taxes — that they made reasoned cuts to balance the budget. But I don’t view as much of a sacrifice the fact that the city unions opted not to take their cost-of-living raises. I’ve taken what amounts to a 10% pay cut this year for the privilege of working 50 to 55 hours a week. Each unpaid furlough (the first of which I’ll take next week) amounts to a 2.5% cut. The newsroom might get another one in the fourth quarter. All this, and I feel lucky to have a job. If I didn’t support the current administration, I’d be crankier re: the city payroll.
A Sept. 1, 2009 photo shows a copy of the 2010 edition of The Old
Farmer’s Almanac in Boston. The venerable almanac’s 2010 edition, which is
currently on sale, says numbing cold will predominate in the country’s
midsection, from the Rocky Mountains in the West to the Appalachians in the
East. (AP Photo/Bizuayehu Tesfaye)
If you want to know how extreme the online readers of the Coeur d’Alene Press are, you need look no further than the current poll, which asks: “If the election were today, who would you vote for as Coeur d’Alene mayor?” Current tally? Joe Kunka 128 votes (or 56%) and two-term incumbent Mayor Sandi Bloem 101 (44%). Bloem should win this race with at least 60 to 65% of the vote. Then, I believe that an individual can vote more than once on the Press polls. So mebbe Bloem is really leading 128 to 1.
I could hear the buzzing of the black helicopters outside my window and, peeking through the 
curtains, I swear that Elvis was peeking back from the other side. I knew the next knock on my door would have to be from the Men in Black as I sat down at my computer to write about water fluoridation. After all, isn’t that the prevailing view of anyone who doesn’t buy the story that fluoridating water is the next best thing to winning the lottery? They’re crazy, right? The chief toxicologist for the Environmental Protection Agency’s department of drinking water, Dr. William Marcus, would agree. Not that water fluoridation opponents are crazy, mind you, but that they’re marginalized by being considered so/Trish Gannon, River Journal. More here.
Question: Do you think individuals who oppose fluoridation are crazy?
A federal judge said Wednesday that gray wolf hunts in the Northern Rockies can go on, denying a request by environmentalists and animal welfare groups to stop the first organized wolf hunts in decades in Idaho and Montana. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy said plans to kill about 20 percent of the two states’ estimated 1,350 wolves would not cause long-term harm to the population. He said federal biologists had shown the animal could sustain a 30 percent annual reduction without long-term harm/AP. More here.
Question: Do you support the judge’s decision?
Cheeseburgers were served at Lakes Magnet Middle School in Coeur d’Alene on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. Lunches served in North Idaho this year will consist of less deep fried items, less salt and more vegetables. Betsy Russell story here. (Kathy Plonka/SR)
Item: An opening day pep talk: A few local classrooms see Obama’s school speech/Brian Walker & Maureen Dolan, Coeur d’Alene Press
More Info: Roughly 300 of Lake City High School’s 1,600 students opted out of hearing the president’s message. “I think that any parent, any grandparent, any coach, any pastor, any significant other in the life of a student, would probably have said, or has already said, the same things the president said,” Brumley said. The speech was shown live in roughly 30 high school classrooms in Post Falls — mostly social studies and health classes. Post Falls High Principal Dena Naccarato said the school had a few calls last week regarding the speech. “Those who chose to show it had very few students opt out,” Naccarato said, adding that she estimates fewer than 10 opted out.
Question (from Idaho Statesman): Was all of the controversy over President Obama’s speech on Tuesday worth it?
Dan of the County: In the morning (more like middle of the night—5 something a.m.) I’ll be 
getting admitted for a little bariatric bypass surgery. They’re going to take out my gall bladder too and fix a little belly button hernia while he’s in there. Kind of like throwing in new wires and a distributor cap since you’re changing the plugs anyway. I’ve fought with excess weight for most of my adult life and have gained and lost and then gained more than I lost several times but the scoreboard keeps inching up. We won’t talk exact stats but let’s just say I want to get back closer to 150 something than 250 something. I’ve read and researched a great deal about this option but thought I’d never have a chance for it. Full post below.
DFO: Keep Dan of the County in your thoughts and prayers today and in the coming days — that he comes through surgery successfully and heals quickly.
Nick Anderson/Houston Chronicle
Well, President Obama has delivered his speech to the nation’s schoolchildren — and the world as we know it didn’t come to an end (at least not yet). The kefuffle jump-started things at Huckleberries Online this morning after the nice, long, Labor Day weekend. We haven’t had much time to discuss the municipal election lineups that solidified on at 5 p.m. Friday. There’s going to be one-on-one races in all the council elections in Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, and Hayden — and a one-on-one challenge for mayor in Coeur d’Alene. That spells fun times in Kootenai County this fall for everyone but the participants. While we wait for the silly season to restart, I’ll post this Wild Card for your threads …
Five-year-old Morelia Gonzalez tries to keep her mother from leaving her at Hayden Kinder Center on the first day of school on Tuesday. Story here. (Kathy Plonka, SR)
Question: Did any of your children start a new school today? How did they handle it?
Blount (pictured scoring an extra-point conversion against BSU) was at least contrite in the skirmish’s aftermath, but where’s Hout? Why isn’t he in front 
of cameras telling everybody precisely what he said and explaining why he chose to say it? He was certainly willing to talk after the game. Why so quiet now? Or how ’bout this: How is it that the white kid from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, can pick a fight and go blameless while the black kid from E. Mississippi Community College may have to forfeit his livelihood? Could it be because, as I read on another blog someplace, “White kids make mistakes; black kids commit crimes”?/Elliott, Outside the Press Box. More here.
Question: Is it fair to raise the question that ex-Lake City High footballer Byron Hout received kid-glove’s treatment from Boise State because he’s white and Blount was suspended because he’s “a black kid from E. Mississippi Community College?
Item: Court: ‘Ave Maria’ can’t be played at graduation/AP, KGW
More Info: A federal appeals panel has upheld a decision to bar the instrumental performance of a hymn at a high school graduation in Everett, Wash. The case arose after seniors in the Henry M. Jackson High School wind ensemble asked to play an instrumental version of “Ave Maria” at their commencement in June 2006. When school officials said no, one of the students, Kathryn Nurre, challenged them in court. There are two versions of “Ave Maria”. The one familiar to most is by Franz Schubert often heard during the Christmas season or at funerals.
Question: Did the appeals court make the right decision?
Jayvin K. Curo is at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center after being struck by a pickup near Wilbur, according to the Washington State Patrol. The 2-year-old was walking on the highway when the pickup driver swerved to miss him but still sideswiped him, according to the state patrol. Story here. (Courtesy of KHQ)
A man jumps in the air and grabs hold of the the neck of a goose during the fiesta in the Basque town of Lekeito, northern Spain Sunday. The geese, already dead, are strung up on a line and the revelers try to rip their heads off. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)
Boos
to Tim Kirkman, the playwrite who will premier his play about the Larry Craig scandal in Boise. The play is called, “Wide Stance.” Apparently Idahoans didn’t suffer enough during the scandal and Craig’s relentless efforts to hold onto his seat until the very last day. Kirkman said he wouldn’t be inviting Craig to the performance and that he “feels bad for him.” Here’s an idea. If you feel bad for Senator Craig, don’t make the play. And if that’s not enough, give some love to his constituents and don’t premier it here/Adam Graham, Give Me Liberty. More here.
Complete this sentence: If I hear one more thing about Larry Craig and his “wide stance,” I’m going to …
Alexandra Kim, left, curator of the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection, and conservator Maria Jordan, right, hold a pair of bloomers and matching chemise, which once belonged to Britain’s Queen Victoria, as they pose at Kensington Palace, London, Tuesday. Story here. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
When did sizes 12-14 become “plus sizes?” I have worn size 14 most of my life. Even in high
school when I was 112 pounds at 5‘8” I wore a size 14. I had to. I’m built like linebacker with huge shoulders and big bones. My shoulders were a size 16 or 18. My bust line was a size 8 and my hips were size 10-12. There is no such size for those measurements. The best I could do was a size 14. My hipbones in those days rivaled Cher’s. She could have envied me I had so little padding on my bones. There are lots of women out there today wearing size 12 or 14 who are not overweight. Their build demands that size. Not everyone is going to fit in a size 4. I was moderately overweight until the Body Mass Index came along. Then I became obese. I didn’t gain any weight. In point of fact I weigh 22 pounds less than I used to. Now however with the new BMI, I am obese/Jean Wardwell, Moscow-Pullman Daily News. More here.
Question: Are you satisfied with your body type, size, and weight?
HMOffsuite snapped this photo of the terrific rainbow Sunday evening — and observed that the pot of gold at the rainbow end appears to be pointing to Don Sausser’s condo near downtown.
DFO: We have so much blog activity today — as a result of the Labor Day weekend — that I’m posting links to half of the HBO blogosphere today. I’ll post the other half Wednesday.
Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife staff chases a male cougar, right, found in a closed Discovery Park Sunday in Seattle. The cougar apparently lived in Seattle for more than two weeks and forced the city’s largest park to close was captured early Sunday and returned to the wild, state wildlife officials said. The cougar was immobilized with a tranquilizer in Discovery Park after hunting dogs treed it, Fish and Wildlife Capt. Bill Hebner said. (AP Photo/Kevin P. Casey) Question: Are you concerned that more and more wild animals seem to be moving closer to urban areas in this part of the country?
Having raised both honey bees and Mason Orchard bees, I am none too fond of aggressive wasps. A friend shared a good way to rid myself of them without using poisons. In the early morning, I just spray the nest and its wasps with WD-40. That suffocates them and keeps them away from that spot/Susan Flanagin, Missoula. More here.
Question: I’ve killed and killed wasps this summer — and they keep coming (especially when I try to eat a dinner containing meat on the patio. Anyone have a sure-fire method to rid yourselves of wasps?
Many times teachers, family members, career mentors have said things that challenged, 
inspired and motivated me— things I take with me throughout my daily life. The difference the words didn’t come through a television set. … Words from teachers, coaches etc. can have great impact because of the personal connection we have with those who are speaking. A presidential speech isn’t quite the same. I didn’t hear anything in Obama’s very fine speech that a kid would “take to heart and live their lives by.” Like I said, the speech was fine, I hope my kids will see it, but it was not an “Ask not what your country can do for you,” moment.
Question: Can you remember words from a teacher, coach, parent, etc., that inspired you?
Rep. Stephen Hartgen, R-Twin Falls, says he plans to re-introduce legislation at the 2010 
Legislature targeted at prohibiting harassment on the Internet, including social networking sites. Hartgen, a former newspaper publisher, still wants to expand harassment laws so they apply to online communication including e-mails, text messages and posted comments on personal blogs and related Web sites. Hartgen has cited the 2006 case in Missouri in which a 13-year-old girl committed suicide after receiving online taunts from a woman posing as a teenager on MySpace. The incident prompted that state to update its laws. “There have been quite a few cases this year of cyber-bullying noted around the country of one kind or another,” he said. “You’d like to have a tool in place that could deal with that”/Jared S. Hopkins, Twin Falls Times-News. More here.
Question: Is there enough of a problem re: Internet harassment in Idaho to warrant Hartgen’s legislation?
Mackenzie Galloway, 6, of Rigby hangs on as the sheep bolts out of the chute during the Lil’ Cowpoke Rodeo’s mutton bustin’ competition at the Eastern Idaho State Fair in Blackfoot Saturday. (AP Photo/Idaho State Journal, Bill Schaefer)
Clearing the way to move forward with its planned two films of “The Hobbit,” New Line Cinema 
has settled a lawsuit with the TolkienTrust and HarperCollins Publishers over the “Lord of the Rings” films. The trustees of the JRR Tolkien Estate and HarperCollins were co-plaintiffs in a claim filed last year against New Line relating to their profit participation in the highly lucurative “Lord of the Rings” movies. The suit sought to block production of “The Hobbit” films until those claims were resolved. The three films, which were released in 2001, 2002 and 2003, amassed close to $3 billion in worldwide ticket sales. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed/Los Angeles Times. More here.
Question: Which of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy did you like best?
The newest Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is escorted by Chief Justice John Roberts as they step outside the Supreme Court in Washington Tuesday for photos following an investiture ceremony with their colleagues. Story here. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
On two different occasions near City Beach last week, I saw beaten-up Toyota pickups, driven by young men, with words stenciled on the back window in white that said: “Welcome to Idaho … now leave.” I didn’t know whether to laugh that the rube drivers were holding themselves up as purveyors of majority opinion? Or to to admit that a part of me agreed with their frank message?
Question: Deep down, are you somewhat sympathetic to the message: “Welcome to Idaho … now leave”?
RE: Hazel Bauman, Coeur d’Alene schools superintendent responds to ThomG’s e-mail re: Obama speech op-out policy.
“Thanks for your e-mail I think we have a misunderstanding we are not banning the Presidents speech but just asking that we notify parents ahead of time. Unfortunately Janet Feiler did send out an erroneous message about parental permission but amended that late Friday. We never believed that seeking parental permission was appropriate but did all agree that parent notification was a good idea so that any family who did not want to participate could let us know and we would provide an alternate activity. More from Hazel here.
Question: How long do you think it’ll take for this local flap to blow over? Or will there be long-term repercussions?
Seniors in the International Baccalaureate program at Lake City High School watched the address by President Obama at the school in Coeur d’Alene this morning. Students who chose not to watch the address were allowed to sit in the auditorium. Kathy Plonka/SR, who shot this photo, tells Huckleberries Online that the auditorium was fairly full with students who decided to opt out.
The field is now set for Sandpoint’s City Council election, but voters will only see three new names on the ballot come November. All four incumbents up for election — council members John Reuter, Helen Newton, Michael Boge and John O’Hara — have entered the race, with all but Reuter seeking four-year terms. Reuter will run uncontested for the sole two-year seat on council. Three political newcomers have also joined the race. Justin Schuck, Jaime Davis and Marsha Ogilvie are all vying for four-year seats on the council/Conor Christofferson, Bonner County Bee. More here.
President Barack Obama delivers a speech on education at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va., this moring. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
“I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you
in this new school year,” Obama (shown at left greeting Wakefield High School students in Arlington, Va., after speech) said, according to a prepared text posted by the White House. The president mentioned the responsibilities of teachers, parents and the government in helping with education. “But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world — and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed,” Obama said. “That’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself,” he said/Los Angeles Times. More here.
Question: What, if anything, will be the long-range impact of President Obama’s speech?
Item: Officials: Higher education rankings only part of equation: WSU, UI administrators, professors say value of various college rankings is in eye of the beholder/Yesenia Amaro, Moscow-Pullman Daily News
More Info: Eric Spangenberg said his college doesn’t “chase” rankings. “I really just believe that we need to do the right thing strategically and then tactically, and then when you are recognized for having done the right things, that’s what is very satisfying,” said the dean of Washington State University’s College of Business. The college’s international business program was recently listed among the top 20 in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, which dedicates an annual edition to ranking the world’s best colleges.
Question: When you are helping your children look for a college to attend, do you pay attention to rankings by magazines like U.S. News & World Report?
Boise State coach Chris Petersen has taken some heat nationally for not suspending Hout, who 
tapped Blount on the shoulder pads and said something to him - no one will say exactly what - during the postgame handshakes. Blount responded with his punch and has been suspended for the season. Petersen disciplined Hout internally. He wouldn’t give any details of that punishment. “Byron is being disciplined, there’s no question about that,” Petersen said. “It was the wrong thing to do to say anything to anybody on the football field, but if everybody got suspended for saying something, half the teams wouldn’t have guys to play games. I think it’s something that everybody has learned from - our program and hopefully teams from the outside”/Chadd Cripe, Idaho Statesman. More here.
Question: Should ex-Lake City High footballer Byron Hout been suspended by Boise State for inciting the postgame punch that sent LeGarrette Blount to the showers for the year?
Sandpoint volleyball coach Karen Alsager near her home in Sagle. Here’s all you need to know about North Idaho high school volleyball – Sandpoint. Sandpoint will dominate all area teams this fall. The Bulldogs are heavily favored to capture an eighth state championship this decade. Story here.
It was a good old-fashioned yen for bacon that drove me into JB’s Family Restaurant recently 
on a sweltering late summer afternoon. We do have some mighty fine breakfast joints around, but few stay open long enough to cater to late-arriving bacon cravers such as myself, and none has the magic power that the JB’s cooks must use in their creation of the Perfect Strip. I first became acquainted with the Perfect Strip during trips through JB’s fantastic breakfast bar, which runs daily until 11 a.m. Stainless-steel bins gleam under heat lamps, filled with piles of French toast, biscuits, gravy, scrambled eggs, a mysterious casserole, fresh fruit, cereal, and of course a tall mound of flavorful, perfectly cooked bacon. The place is always packed when the breakfast bar is rolling, and if JB’s kept it open all day and into the night, it would probably still be buzzing with happy gluttons/OrangeTV, Get Out! North Idaho. More here.
Question: How much do you like bacon?
Item: Districts let teachers opt to air speech: Coeur d’Alene cites bad timing in deciding to pass on first day of school/Shawn Vestal, SR
More Info: President Barack Obama will be talking to schoolchildren Tuesday. It’s unclear how many of them in the Inland Northwest will hear him. Local school districts are taking a cautious approach to airing the speech – billed as an effort to encourage kids to stay in school and work hard – on the heels of a small but vocal opposition from parents concerned that it’s trying to smuggle a political message. At least one district in the region, Coeur d’Alene, won’t air the speech at all, citing bad timing. The speech, set for 9 a.m. Tuesday, comes on the first day of school.
Question: Does the Coeur d’Alene School District have a legitimate excuse for not airing President Obama’s speech — that it would create problems because it comes on the first day of school?
Joe Heller/Hellertoons
It’s Labor Day, and I’m off for the day, as many of you are. I don’t have much on my schedule today. Mebbe a lunch with the two grandmas in town. Then, some hard-core vegetating around the house. I don’t spend a lot of time doing absolutely nothing. I’m not good at it. I feel guilty when I vege. But I’ll try my best to recharge my batteries and be ready to man the center ring of this three-ring cyber circus at 8 o’clock Tuesday morning. You can use this Wild Card to start a thread — or kick back today and recharge, too. See you Tuesday …
Idaho’s Princeton McCarty (20) looks for some running room against New Mexico State in an NCAA college football game Saturday in Las Cruces, N.M. (AP Photo/The Albuquerque Journal, Jim Thompson) Idaho won 21-6. Sportslink story here. And: ESPN boxscore here. (AP Photo/The Albuquerque Journal, Jim Thompson)
I went for a long walk along the waterfront Saturday afternoon, starting at the Coeur d’Alene library and turning around at the north end of Rosenberry Drive, where the proposed Education Corridor begins — about 45 minutes each way when the boardwalk is included. There was still activity along the shoreline. But not nearly as much as there would have been, if the sun had been shining a bit more and the Saturday had been earlier in the summer. Boats for sale ranging from $50,000 to $665,000 lined the inside of the boardwalk. A wedding party decked out in tuxes and lace was taking photos. The Russians from Spokane were picnicking and playing another volleyball game at the southwest corner of City Park. A coupla Ironman triathlons were coasting slowing on bikes on Rosenberry Drive, showing off their race T-shirts from weeks gone by. The wind and overcast skies kept vendors of Jetskis and paddleboats from doing a good business. And a coupla dozen sunbathers were scattered along the various beaches. By next weekend, the north shore will belong to the locals again. Fall is here. Now, for your Wild Card …
I have mixed emotions as I approach the Labor Day weekend this year. I have a job. But the newspaper industry is still struggling to regain its footing after the recession compounded the ongoing problem of revenue losses. I still have a job. But I also have absorbed a pay cut that’ll amount to at least 10% when the unpaid week furlough is figured in. I’m still enjoying my job. But too many others are struggling to find work or make ends meet. Some predict that we’re beginning to emerge from the recession. Yet, we’re piling on mountains of national debt that will have to be addressed some day. By us. Or by our children. We live in unsettling times. But you and I still have this online community that we’ve built together over the last 5 1/2 years. And a three-day weekend. So we’ll have to be content with that and this Wild Card for now …
Tim Lorentz takes his 1994 Chrysler LaBaron/Apollo boat, he calls the Laboata, for a spin on Grand Boulevard and into Manito Park in Spokane. Story here. (Dan Pelle/SR)
BrentA: Took a pizza delivery job last night. Pretty fun. Very lucrative, for a
part time job. And easy 
if you know your way around. I’m making about
80 percent of what I was making this time last year, with all the same
bills. One coworker is a local Realtor trying to make ends meet;
another said he made $33K last year delivering pizzas. I always tipped
the pizza guy so I’m hoping some of that karma will come back around.
It did last night. One fellow tipped me $10 on $20 worth of pizza. It
felt really good to get some positive traction, after slipping,
slipping, slipping, for about the past year.
Question: Have you ever worked at a delivery job? Any good tales to tell?
Bent: Tell me you haven’t killed a thing today and I will call you a big fat liar. Life is life. Period. It is 
a circle folks. It is called the food
chain. Survival of the fittest. … We as humans probably manage that
situation more humanely that any species on the planet. Unfortunately, the ignorant see the food they eat as something that
comes from the grocery store, and they don’t want to be bothered with
the fact that something dies everytime they open their mouths. Are you folks arguing that the dead things we purchase to sustain
ourselves in a grocery store — and I am talking lettuce and carrots too
— are any more or less important than the lives of a wolf?
Question: What dead things have you eaten today?
Look, Blount bears the majority of the blame for the events of
Thursday night. He sucker punched 
(Byron) Hout (shown in red in 2007 as a Lake City Timberwolf) after the trash talking, then
shoved a teammate, then tried to attack hostile Boise State fans and
finally had to be dragged off to the locker room to avoid doing any
other damage. First-year Oregon coach Chip Kelly rightfully suspended
Blount, a senior, for the rest of the season. There is no comparison
between the transgressions, nor should there be an equivalency in their
punishments. But Hout played a role, too - and that’s why he should sit for the Broncos’ next game. Boise
State coach Chris Petersen, who has not hesitated to hand out
punishment when necessary, said Hout would be disciplined internally -
read: punishing conditioning at ungodly hours - but not suspended. The
WAC will not publicly punish Hout either, commissioner Karl Benson said
Friday. “Byron’s mistake wasn’t as extreme as LeGarrette’s,” Petersen said, “but he was still wrong”/Brian Murphy, Idaho Statesman. More here.
Question: Do you agree with Statesman columnist Brian Murphy that former Lake City High football star Byron Hout should be suspended for a game for his postgame taunting of LeGarrette Blount?
People have started dropping out of Facebook, according to the New York Times, for a variety 
of reasons: 1. Privacy issues. 2. Monotony over the “my-feelings-about-omelets” musings of their 3,000 friends. 3. Free-floating anxiety over corporate tyranny. 4. I guess people are
worried that Facebook might target their own omelet musings for
EggBeaters ads or something. 5. The “creepiness” factor, as in: Do I really want to know that Ralph G. is “really into spandex bicycle-wear”? I, however, am not dropping out of Facebook, because I have never joined Facebook. Not for any of the reasons listed above. I have resisted Facebook
for the even better reason that I would find it compulsively addictive/Jim Kershner, SR. More here.
Question: Are you starting to have second thoughts about Facebook?
Item: No nudity required in Spokane’s ‘high-intensity’ striptease class/Jonathan Brunt, SR
More Info: The fact that the class is open to girls as young as 16 might raise some eyebrows – especially because those who sign up for the parks department’s “Italian for the Traveler” class must be two years older. But Nickerson said she wouldn’t have a problem with older teens taking the class. “I don’t see a problem with it at all,” she said. “I think it would be beautiful.” Mimicking dance popularized in cabarets and strip clubs for fitness isn’t a new phenomenon. Pole dancing sans nudity also has become a popular activity for exercise and its artistic flair.
Question: Would the Coeur d’Alene Recreation Department run into problems with the community if it offer a ‘high-intensity’ striptease exercise class for girls as young as 16, as Spokane is?
Item: Post Falls, Coeur d’Alene mayors face challengers Filing deadline yields host of contested races/Alison Boggs, SR
More Info: Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin faces two political newcomers — private investigator Steven De Gon and Matthew Behringer, a 24-year-old who recently moved to this area. Larkin started as a councilman in 1996 before becoming mayor in 2001. Coeur d’Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem, seeking her third term, faces a repeat challenge from Joseph Kunka, a marketing manager for a company that turns restaurant grease into biodiesel. Kunka ran for mayor in 2005 and for council in 2007. Bloem is a fourth-generation resident and the city’s first female mayor.
Question: Do you prefer city council races that force incumbents to defend a seat or the old horse-race system where the top three vote-getters win seats?
Scott Stantis/Birmingham News
Obviously, the lineups are now set for the fall elections in North Idaho communities. In Coeur d’Alene, Mayor Sandi Bloem has token opposition as she seeks her unprecedented third, four-year term as mayor. But there will be fireworks in the three council races where OpenCDA.com’s Dan Gookin will lead a trio of challengers with designs on council seats. Gookin probably has the best chance for the outsiders to crack into city politics in his head-to-head matchup with veteran Councilwoman Deanna Goodlander. All three races will be one-on-one, which should make this fall’s campaigns interesting. Also interesting will be former commissioner/mayor Dick Panabaker’s attempt to return to local politics in Hayden. Now, I’ll break for the Labor Day weekend until Tuesday. But I’ll post things tonight for Saturday morning. You can continue to play this Wild Card in the meantime …
The moon rises behind a fan watching Iowa State’s game against North Dakota State in the first half of this NCAA college football game Thursday in Ames, Iowa. Iowa State won 34-17. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
If I am being completely honest, sometimes I cannot believe how asinine certain groups who reside in the Inland Northwest are. The latest bout of insanity comes from so-called “sportsmen” who insist Idaho needs to allow for the hunting of wolves. If I continue being honest for one more moment, I find hunting for recreation to be one of the dumbest pastimes on the face of the planet. Hunting is also, without a shadow of a doubt, not a sport/Cheyenne Hollis, UI Argonaut. More here.
Question: Do you have the same fundamental problem that Argonaut columnist Cheyenne Hollis does with the concept of hunting for sport?
University of Idaho student Shane Meyer fell from a third floor window of Delta Tau Delta fraternity last weekend. Meyer is currently being treated in the Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Story here. Jake Barber/Argonaut
City Clerk Susan Weathers of Coeur d’Alene told Huckleberries Online a minute ago that no one filed candidacy papers today for the fall mayor and council elections. That means incumbent Sandi Bloem will face Joe Kunka in an attempt to become the first Lake City mayor to win three, four-year terms. In the council races, incumbent Mike Kennedy is matched against Jim Brannon; incumbent Deanna Goodlander will face Dan Gookin; and incumbent Woody McEvers will run against challenger Steve Adams.
Question: Which incumbents are vulnerable?
Boise State fans watch as video of Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount slugging Boise State’s Byron Hout is played repeatedly following the Broncos’ 19-8 win Thursday night at Bronco Stadium in Boise. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Idaho Statesman photo - Darrin Oswald)
Top Cutlines:
As we wrap up the second week of classes here at UI, many students may be discovering 
already that going to class is really not their thing. In fact, only slightly more than half of the students who enroll as freshmen will graduate within six years, and that is far and away the best graduation rate in the state. The hard truth is many will not receive a degree at all, but there is another hard truth as well, at least for the university administration — dropping out is OK. Despite what we are told, college is not the best choice for everyone, intelligence or ability aside/Benjamin Ledford, UI Argonaut. More here.
Question: Is a college education considered a must in your family, for your children?
Oregon has suspended running back LeGarrette Blount for the remainder of the season for punching Boise State linebacker Byron Hout after Thursday night’s loss. Blount’s suspension includes any bowl games. Coach Chip Kelly said he will remain on scholarship. ESPN story here.
Question: Have you ever been punched in the face?
Minnick is an interesting inclusion on the list, given that he’s held one of the most conservative voting records for a freshman Democrat — a necessity given that he’s representing a conservative Idaho district that John McCain handily carried. But he’s also taken campaign money from abortion rights groups and is one of the most vulnerable Democrats up for re-election, making him a natural target for the organization/Politico. MountainGoat comment here.
Question: MountainGoat Report is somewhat surprised that Minnick landed on the Susan B. Anthony List, which targets pro-choicers for election defeat. Quoth MGR: “With Walt’s voting record you’d think that anything short of actually performing abortions would have kept him off this list.” How badly will Minnick be hurt by having his name on the list?
At As The Lake Churns, Pecky Cox takes us for a walk in the woods around Priest Lake to look for mushrooms. You can read about the adventure here.
Question: Do you pick your own mushrooms?
I lost my wallet for a few hours yesterday. I was paralyzed with fear. Credit card? Debit cards? Driver’s license? All of it was in there. It would be a colossal pain in the ass to get that stuff replaced. I’d be a hostage — no car, no money, nothing. What other things hold me hostage in that capacity? My computer? My cell phone? We live in difficult times/Greg Connolly, UI Argonaut editor in chief. More Off The Cuff here.
Question: What holds you hostage?
Scott Benner, an attorney often seen on the Vashon Island Ferry in a suit with a newspaper in hand, is shown reading a newspaper au natural in an easy chair amidst tall grass. His is the photograph for April in a calendar that features 12 fathers and husbands nearly nude as a fundraiser to help the Vashon Island School District. (AP Photo/Rebecca Douglas) Question: Would you pose nude in a discreet shot like the one above, for a worthy cause?
The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department is seeking information as to the whereabouts of David M. Vanderwood. Vanderwood was last seen on 08/31/2009 at approximately 4:30 a.m. on his way to work. Vanderwood is considered a valued and reliable employee; however he did not arrive for work or call his employer/Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department. Photo & more information here.
Re: Idaho Education Department fields question of Obama’s speech/AP, Press
My proudest achievement as a classroom teacher was to open up discussion among a group of 
kids who represented strongly divergent views. We set ground rules for civility and respect of others’ views and then we “let ‘er rip” for the rest of the hour. Occasionally I had to play referee, but always kids walked out the room pumped up and passionate about the lively debate that ensued. We should have faith in our young people that they will make the right choices on how they want to live their lives and how they want to conduct themselves in a world abounding with diverse thought and diverse cultures. We should not rule their minds by perceived fear of what’s out there/Marianne Love, Slight Detour. More here.
Question: What are some issues that you and your children disagree on?
Winmill wrote that all he got in the Idaho case was Idaho Republican Party Chairman Norm 
Semanko’s testimony that he “can’t say whether (crossover voting) did or didn’t or has or hasn’t affected the ultimate outcome of any particular primary,” that no studies of that exist, but that Semanko asserted that “Every single Republican who has been on the primary ballot since 1988” has modified his or her political message, ideology and position on public policy issues in order to persuade nonparty members to back him or her in the primary/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.
Question: Do you think much crossover actually happens in Idaho primaries, where voters are allowed to choose whether they want to vote Republican or Democrat?
Ex-Lake City High star footballer Byron Hout is in the doghouse of Boise State coach Chris Peterson after taunting Oregon RB LeGarrette Blount after the Broncos 19-8 win over the Ducks. Chad Cripe of the Idaho Statesman blogs about Peterson’s reaction to the incident here. In the photo above, which was rendered from video provided by ESPN.com, Peterson tries to pull Hout away as Blount sucker punches him.
This is a good thing because last weekend we returned from the lake to discover our 17-year-
old son had annihilated Anabelle, the replacement computer I’d had for less than a year. Perhaps not everyone names their computer, but Anabelle and I spend so much time together that she feels more like family than an inanimate office instrument. She knows my darkest secrets, like my inability to spell “definitely” without spell check. She knows about my forays into fiction writing and the title of the memoir I’m going to write someday. She tracks the contact information of dozens of folks who wrote to me, eager to share their love stories in this newspaper. Unfortunately, she took those secrets with her after the crash and is now unable to give them up/Cindy Hval, SR Voices. More here.
Question: Have you lost something important as a result of a computer crash?
Greg Lee and Mike Vlahovich predict the outcome of this weekend’s high school football games in the first of a series of weekly videos. Enjoy.
Christie Wood:
And thanks for the feedback on my photo. DFO please do not post it for PD stories. … I have a photo of myself in uniform I will make sure is provided to you. That photo is my NIC mugshot. High School glam? I was taken 3 years ago. I guess I have aged more than I realize! Oh well …thankfully my day job is not a beauty contest. I hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend.
DFO: Christie; do you have a driver’s license shot I can use? ;-)
Question: Do you like your driver’s license photo?
Former Idaho GOP Chairman Blake Hall has been ordered to stay at least 900 feet away from an Idaho Falls woman by a court in Bonneville County, as reported by the Idaho Falls Post-Register on Friday. Hall is the subject of a temporary civil protective order, which will remain in effect until a Sept. 15 hearing, when a judge will decide whether to extend the order. Idaho Falls police also are investigating Hall in connection with a complaint filed by the woman Monday, Sgt. Phil Grimes told the newspaper. The Post-Register did not identify the woman, citing its policy in such cases. The newspaper did not publish details of the woman’s allegation. On Friday, a deputy Bonneville County court clerk told the Idaho Statesman that the file in the case is sealed/Dan Popkey, Idaho Statesman. More here. H/T: Treasured Valley
Long before Adolf Hitler and his Nazis appeared on the world scene, the sleepy Lake Pend Oreille community of Lakeside featured two destination hotels, including “The Swastika.” Herb Huseland, who lives across the water at Bayview, reported on this odd but historic hotel in a column for Trish Gannon’s River Journal here. (Herb sent this to me yesterday after reading out discussion re: the swastika symbols in the Bonneville County Courthouse tile here.
Huckleberries Online has learned that Post Falls police have located three teen runaways, two of whom have been missing since Aug. 18. Nicholas Helbert, 17, and Alexander Leese, 16, were found in Montana and are now in custody. The two bought camping equipment after they left home and had been dropped off by a friend at a Burger King on Newport Highway in Spokane. Police have also located Holly Ann Brown, who left home without her father’s permission Aug. 24.
This image provided by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department shows William Rice, third from right, who had his finger bitten off by an unidentified man, far right, during a health care reform demonstration late Wednesday in Thousand Oaks, Calif. The biter fled before authorities arrived. Story here. (AP Photo/Ventura County Sheriff’s Department)
Question: Have you ever been involved in a confrontational protest?
OrangeTV correctly points out that the looney tunes on the Coeur d’Alene Press comments thread re: President Barack Obama’s speech to schoolchildren next week. Nicotinegun offered this: “Where does Obama’s role end? How much intervention from Obama will you accept? What if he wants to talk to your wife or your husband on a personal level? What if he sends an “expert” to your house for inspection of how clean it is? What if he sends an “expert” to talk to your kids? Where does this end, JS? Our concerns about this speach are that this is opening the door for something more.” You can read more along these lines here.
Question: Which side is worst — the looney left or the looney right?
One of Washington’s more colorful recent scandals is heading to the stage. A playwright and 
filmmaker who splits his time between New York and Los Angeles is writing a fictionalized play about former senator Larry Craig’s 2007 arrest in an airport men’s room sex sting, The Sleuth has learned. The work-in-progress, titled — what else? — “Wide Stance,” is already scheduled for a debut reading in Craig’s hometown of Boise in January at the spectacular home of former Washingtonian artistic power couple Liz Wolf and her husband, Bill Blahd. But don’t expect to see Craig there. Asked if the former senator would be invited to the reading, the playwright, Tim Kirkman, told us, “Oh God, no. I wouldn’t want him to come to the reading. That would be torture for him. I feel bad for him”/Mary Ann Akers, The Sleuth, Washington Post. More here.
Question: If you had a play based on an episode in your life, what would it be called — and why?
The Moscow-Pullman Daily News sports department reports that the Idaho Vandal defense is “growing up” is it prepares for its season opener this weekend. Story here.
President Barack Obama will be talking to schoolchildren Tuesday. It’s unclear how many of them in the Inland Northwest will hear him. Local school districts are taking a cautious approach to airing the speech – billed as an effort to encourage kids to stay in school and work hard – on the heels of a small but vocal opposition from parents concerned that it’s trying to smuggle a political message. At least one district in the region, Coeur d’Alene, won’t air the speech at all, citing bad timing. The speech, set for 9 a.m. Tuesday, comes on the first day of school/Shawn Vestal, SR. More here. Thread started by Arpie post yesterday here.
You didn’t need to see Boise State’s big 19-8 victory over Oregon State in Boise live last night to watch former Lake City Timberwolf Byron Hout gain his first 15 minutes of fame. He was the Bronco player on the receiving end of a punch thrown by LeGarrette Blount of Oregon while players were suppose to be shaking hands after the game. If you missed the punch heard around the nation, ESPN provides print and video coverage of it here.
Question: What should the Oregon coach do with hot-headed LeGarrette Blount?
Item: GOP group replies to health care plan: Comments range from fear to disgust/Alecia Warren, Coeur d’Alene Press
More Info: The Reagan Republicans, a local grassroots organization roughly 30 days old, held the free-speech free-for-all in response to a forum held by First District Congressman Walt Minnick last month, which some derided for restricting audience members to questions only. Although Minnick didn’t accept the group’s invitation to attend — he had declared at the Aug. 26 forum that he wouldn’t be available — the group still set up an empty chair with the congressman’s name at the front of The Coeur d’Alene Resort ballroom. Ward assured that complaints would not fall on deaf ears, as the group was videotaping the event and planned to personally deliver the tape to Minnick’s office.
Question: Was Congressman Minnick hurt politically by not appearing for the Reagan Republicans forum in Coeur d’Alene last night?
Michael Ramirez/Investor’s Business Daily
Huckleberries Online is beginning to show signs that it’s all the way back from the blogware switch-over of last December that knocked page-views and unique views for a loop. Early in the year, the blog numbers were off by as much as 40%. By mid-summer, they begin breaking through the 800-PV barrier consistently. Before the switchover, they were running between 8500 and 9000 daily. On Tuesday, the PVs hit 9,900. On Wednesday, they hit 10,007. I expect those numbers to level off. Meanwhile, unique views (each computer that tunes in here provides 1 unique view) are running around 5,500. I figure about 6500 to 7000 computers tune in here at least once a week. ‘Tis nice to see the turnstiles spinning again. Now, I’ll play the Wild Card again and get outtahere …
Freda Carda, right, helps her daughter Ayla, 5, figure out what to do with her first few minutes of the new school year at Charles Wright Academy in University Place, Wash, Wednesday. Throughout the state, enrollment in private elementary and secondary schools has declined 8 percent to 10 percent this year, said Judy Jennings, executive director of the Washington Federation of Independent Schools. (AP Photo/The News Tribune, Joe Barrentine) Question: Did your kids ever attend a private school? Why did you enroll them in a private school?
A helicopter herds two wild horses towards the corrals during a roundup at the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range near Lovell, Wyo., today. Story here. (AP Photo/Billings Gazette, Casey Riffe)
Our president has planned a speech for the nation’s school kids next Tuesday, the first day of 
school for our district. My first thought was cool, my third graders can hear the president extol them to work hard and do their best. He’s a great role model, and what can be a more patriotic and better way to start the new year. Our principal has asked us to let her know if we plan to watch the speech so that she can be prepared to back us up. Apparently, after reading a fox news blog (http://www.rightpundits.com/?p=4691), we need to be ready to excuse kids whose parents don’t want them to watch the speech. Whoever thought that asking public school kids to watch the president address them would become controversial? More below.
Question: What would you do if you were Arpie? Provide the opt-out forms? Or skip President Obama’s speech?
Eventual winner Pat Bertoletti, left center, of Chicago and second-place finisher Joey Chestnut of San Jose battle it out in the Best in the West Nugget World Rib Eating Championship in Sparks on Wednesday. Bertoletti ate 5.8 pounds of ribs in 12 minutes to narrowly beat Chestnut, who downed 5.7 pounds. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Reno Gazette-Journal, David B. Parker)
Top Cutlines:
Dick Panabaker, the former Kootenai County commission chairman and former Hayden mayor, has filed his candidacy papers for the Hayden City Council seat now held by Anson Gabel. Panabaker is one of two candidates who have filed papers for council Seat 2. The other is George Schultze. Incumbent Gabel has yet to file. In the Seat 4 race, incumbent Geri DeLange has filed for re-election, as has challenger. Jana Regnere. The filing deadline for local municipal races is 5 p.m. Friday.
Jeff Ward, president of the Kootenai County Reagan Republicans, tells Huckleberries that his organization invited Walt Minnick to address a meeting on health reform before the Democrat congressman announced his own townhall meeting at North Idaho College. In an e-mail this afternoon, Ward said:”We invited Rep. Minnick via his http://minnick.house.gov site on 8/19/2009 (letter attached). I believe on 8/21 he announced his own forum and Marie Hathaway (sic) , a Minnick staffer contacted me on the same day. I commented on my take on this process in a letter to the CDA Press (attached). I also got to invite him personally at the forum on the 24th. That night I told Marie that the invitation still stood.” You can read the Ward’s invitation to tonight’s 7 o’clock meeting at the Coeur d’Alene Resort here.
Katherine Callaway Hall listens during an interview in New York earlier today. Hall was abducted and raped in 1976 by California kidnapping suspect Phillip Garrido and says he deserves the death penalty. Garrido, 58, and his wife, Nancy, 54, were arrested last week and face 29 charges in the kidnapping, rape and imprisonment of Jaycee Lee Dugard. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
Today, Tania Dall and her photographer had the tough task of going to their neighborhood to see what people had to say. It’s something reporters don’t always like to do, but it’s a necessary evil to tell the story. Most often, families are not interested in sharing their feelings with the world. Today, though, the victim’s parents wanted to talk. They said they wanted to share their story so that it wouldn’t happen to someone else. We interviewed them, along with the other two TV stations in town. And, like they did, we put the story on the news tonight. The difference? We blurred the parents’ faces and we didn’t use their names. Why? To protect that little girl/Melissa Luck, KXLY. More here. Question: How do you think KHQ and KREM will handle the follow-up story today?
Re: Sgt. Christie Wood e-mailed the following statement to area media a few minutes ago:
Yesterday two television stations called me and asked me if the Police Department had any 
knowledge that the statements made by a manager in an RV Park about the 13 year old rape victim were true. Apparently the manager told some of you that the victim had been soliciting sex prior to her attack. I informed the two stations that contacted me that we had not received any kind of statement like that from the neighbors or the manager. (KHQ & KREM) reported what the manager said. I realize that you have many sources other than the Police Department that you use to put together a story. However this source is not credible. I instructed a detective to contact the RV Park manager today. He indicated he got his information from one of his employees. Our detective questioned the employee and that person admitted he lied about this child. If you have reported the manager’s statements please correct your story. We are concerned about the mental anguish of our young victim and the damage of false accusations/Sgt. Christie Wood (pictured), Coeur d’Alene Police Department.
A tile design featuring a swastika is shown on the floor of the Bonneville County Courthouse in Idaho Falls on Thursday. The tile floor was installed in 1921, more than a decade before Adolf Hitler took power in Germany and adopted the swastika as the Nazi symbol. Story here. (AP Photo/Post Register, Monte LaOrange)
Question: Did Bonneville County commissioners make the right call?
Mike Ferguson, Gov. Butch Otter’s chief economist, said of today’s new state tax revenue 
forecast, “Everybody’s been dreading it, but I don’t think anybody’s going to be particularly surprised by it, because we’ve known that things have not gone terribly well. Hopefully we’re getting closer to the bottom.” Ferguson said employment in Idaho actually is forecast to start growing in fiscal year 2010, “but this is still September - we’ve got a ways to go before we’re there, and it’s still not going to feel that great.” The fiscal year started on July 1/Betsy Russell, SR. More here.
Ask my daughter-in-law Sharis how fast a skunk can run… lot faster than their dog! Had a 
bicyclist on the Trail of the Cd’A’s come within 15 feet of a smaller bull moose that was walkin’ up the trail between Bull Run and Black Rock trailheads. This past tuesday, I was awakened by sounds that were unfamiliar to my ear. I’ve gotten used to logging trucks rolling by, the beep-beep honk honks of heavy equipment working on the water project … but … think it was a family of coyotes as the dogs in the neighborhood were really barking. Rosie heard the sounds the next morning … coyotes … or… /Joe Peak, Shoshone News-Press. More here.
DFO: I posted this column tidbit from Joe Peak in the Shoshone News-Press to give blurkers a glimpse of life along the Coeur d’Alene River. Joe, of course, is the long-time owner of the Enaville Resort. I haven’t dropped by there in quite awhile. Too long. What kind of wildlife have you encountered up the river?
I’ve seen wolves in Yellowstone, at a distance so great you could only see them as specks 
through a high power spotting scope. I’ve seen one wolf in Idaho, who appeared quite suddenly and disappeared just as suddenly; even had I been holding a loaded rifle with the safety off I doubt that I could have taken it. I don’t think most of the other 4000+ hunters who have purchased tags are going to have much better luck either. Perhaps, like me, they want that tag in their pack while they’re out after deer or elk? The “just in case” tag, so to speak? We’ll see. I think the wolves in Idaho, as a species, are safe. And as smart as they are, a little hunting pressure is only going to make them harder to take/BillH, Free In Idaho! More here.
Question: Do you think Idaho hunters will be able to shoot and kill the allotted 220 wolves this year?
A Grand Cayman blue iguana hatches from its egg at the San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research on Monday. The Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research is one of several conservation organizations working with the Blue Iguana Recovery Program in Grand Cayman to increase the population of this rare lizard, the largest land animal native to the Cayman Islands. (AP Photo/San Diego Zoo, Ken Bohn)
Question: Which reptile/amphibian creeps you out the most?
From former Hayden Councilman Chris Beck: I have filed to run for city council for the City of Hayden Lake. We moved to Hayden Lake from Hayden about 2 years ago. The incumbents for the two open positions are Tom Gorman (re-elected in 2007) and Jan Wingren (appointed last year to fill Evelyn Meany’s seat). Word has it they both intend to run. Hayden Lake still uses the “horse race” system with the top two vote getters winning the positions.
I like listening to classic rock; listening to the great songs of the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s is one of 
my favorite pasttimes. If your only knowledge of the music of that period comes from what you hear on radio stations today, you might think that music was a lot better back then. If you do that, you’ll be forgetting that the only songs that have made it to the “classic” radio stations are the best of the best. From the ‘70s, we forget about the horrible songs that actually dominated the airwaves back then: the insipid “Billy, Don’t Be A Hero“, the banal “You Light Up My Life“, and the indescribably horrible “One Tin Soldier“/Bubblehead, The Stupid Shall Be Punished. More here.
Question: What was the worst song of your g-g-g-eneration?
First, let’s say (Idaho liberals) persuade Minnick to vote more liberally. Any more liberal and 
Minnick will be too liberal for this district. Net result: The Democrats will lose the seat. Secondly, they could consider putting up a third party candidate from the left to protest Minnick’s voting record. Net result: The Democrats will lose the seat. Third, they could raise a Primary Challenge against Minnick. Of course, if it fails spectacularly, Minnick will have little reason to care what the left thinks. If Minnick is almost retired in the Primary, it will weaken Minnick, just as Matt Salisbury’s challenge t Bill Sali set the stage for Sali’s defeat. The net result: Democrats will lose the seat. Fourth, they could just stay home on election day or abstain from the First Congressional District race. However, if they do that, Minnick will lose the seat/Adam Graham, Adam’s Blog. More here.
Question: Will liberal Idaho Democrats be the cause of a possible 2010 defeat for Congressman Walt Minnick? Or will they come to their senses and fall in line behind him?
“As if the blue smurf turf wasn’t enough to make people adjust their televisions,” posts Brandon Hansen/Just South of North, ”Boise State is suggesting that fans where certain colors of shirts based on their seat section during their season opener against Oregon tonight. Look at the chart above … ”
Question: Which is uglier — Boise State’s blue football turf? Or some of the gaudy uniforms worn by the Oregon football team?
Digger: You know what we need next spring? Rami Amaro to take on Judge John Mitchell again. Talk about good times. :-)
Question: Which municipal race this falls offers us Merry Hucksters the best chance for unmitigated shenanigans a la Ramaro? Why?
rom Sept. 11-13, the Davenport Hotel will be awash in even more history than usual. That’s 
because the hotel will be the site of the 2009 Washington State Genealogical Conference. Genealogists, family historians and teachers will gather to swap tips, tell stories and talk about the past. Keynote speaker and author Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak (yes, that’s her real name) is the chief family historian and North American spokesperson for Ancestry.com, the largest genealogical company in the world. She’s also president of Roots Television, an award-winning online channel of genealogy- and history-oriented programming/Cindy Hval, SR Voices. More here.
Question: How much do you know about your family history?
A grasshopper sits on a sunflower at sunset on a ranch west of Sutherlin, Ore., Wednesday. (Robin Loznak, AP Photo/The News-Review)
This undated image provided by the Guiness World Records Book launch shows Lee Redmond, right, former record holder for longest fingernails (28-ft 4-in), posing with with Melvin Booth, the male owner of the longest finger nails (29-ft 8-in). This photo was taken just a few months prior to Redmond’s accident which resulted in the loss of her fingernails, for the 2010 Edition of Guinness World Records.Video here (H/T: Pia Hallenberg) (AP Photo/Guiness World Records Book Launch, Ronald Mackechnie)
Question: How long do you keep your fingernails?
Sgt. Christie Wood:
I feel compelled to comment to clarify the Police Department has no information that supports the claims of the RV Park manager. His statements are disturbing about a child. I was told by a member of the media that he also said the child “got what she deserved”. That comment if truly said, is highly uncivilized and disgusting. The Police Department will interview him and take his statement. I sincerely hope on-line commenters will wait for further information and not partake in re-victimizing this young girl.
In Post Falls, Keith Hutcheson (pictured) ensured that all municipal races will be contested by filing against incumbent Ron Jacobson for council Seat 2. Hutcheson is the police chief for the Coeur d’Alene Indian Tribe. Those signing Hutcheson’s candidacy petition include: Lisa Hutcheson, Joseph Malloy, and Joe Doellefeld. Michael A. Hunt will serve as campaign treasurer. Currently, there’s a three-way race for mayor, involving incumbent Clay Larkin, Steven DeGon, and Mathew Behringer. For Seat 4, Betty Henderson has filed against incumbent Joe Bodman. For Seat 6, Bob Flowers has filed against Linda Wilhelm. The filing deadline is 5 p.m. Friday.
The nation’s contentious debate on the Obama Administration’s proposed healthcare plan will be center stage at the Coeur d’Alene Resort at 7 this evening. “We’ve invited Rep. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho) to attend and really listen to the concerns of citizens of Idaho,” said Jeff Ward, president of Kootenai County Reagan Republicans, sponsors of the event. “We hope he’ll show up.” At Minnick’s healthcare forum at NIC last week, Ward publicly invited Idaho’s sole Democrat in Congress to the event and asked why he hasn’t been pro-active in opposing the health-care bill when he announced he will not vote for it”/Reagan Republican news release. More here.
The bill, which passed the House 219-212 in June, would impose a cap on greenhouse gases, like CO2. Companies that emit greenhouse gases, like utilities and power companies that burn fossil fuels, would be required to purchase credits equal to the emissions they’re allowed under the cap. Those companies that emit less CO2 than their allowance could sell or trade their excess credits, thus setting up a carbon market. Over the last several weeks Montana’s two largest utilities, NorthWestern Energy and Flathead Electric Cooperative, have issued statements warning of the hazards posed by the Waxman-Markey bill in its current form. NorthWestern enclosed a newsletter in August bills saying the legislation could raise energy rates by as much as $225 per year for homeowners, and as much as $800 annually for businesses/Dan Testa, Flathead Beacon. More here.
Question: 2 Montana utilities predict that the so-called “cap-and-trade” bill will add $225 in costs per year for average households and $800 for average businesses. Are you willing to pay the extra money to fight climate change?
Robert Millage’s phone wouldn’t stop ringing Wednesday and his e-mail in-box was choked with 
messages. Most of the people contacting Millage are not happy with him, and they are not shy about letting him know. He’s been called a wolf murderer and every dirty name in the book. I have a thick skin and a good sense of humor. What am I going to do, yell back at them?” he said. “I obeyed the law and did what (Idaho Department of) Fish and Game wanted us to do. I can sleep well.” On Tuesday, Millage, of Kamiah, became one of the first hunters in Idaho to legally kill a wolf. He was featured in several news stories that quickly went around the globe via the World Wide Web. Before long, some people opposed to wolf hunting posted Millage’s contact information on Web sites like Craigslist and Facebook. He received about 50 phone calls and hundreds of e-mails/Eric Barker, Lewiston Tribune. More here.
Question: Are Robert Millage’s critics stepping over the line by posting contact information for him on the Internet?
Robbie Bishop, 19, is accused of killing his 33-year-old pregnant girlfriend, Robin Anderson. You can read Meghann M. Cuniff’s Sirens & Gavels post on the case here. (Dan Pelle/SR)
Convicted murderer and former Charles Manson family member, Susan Atkins, background center, is seen in a moveable bed beside her husband and attorney James Whitehouse, left of Atkins, during her parole hearing Wednesday at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, Calif. Atkins was again denied parole, remaining the longest-incarcerated female inmate in the California penal system. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, POOL) Question: Do you agree with the decision to keep Manson follower Susan Adkins in prison when she’s obviously incapacitated?
Slightly more than one-third of Americans have a favorable opinion of the Democratic-led Congress, a new poll said Wednesday in a clear warning to the majority party. The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press said the 37 percent expressing a positive opinion represents a decline of 13 points since April. The favorable percentage is one of the lowest in more than two decades of Pew surveys — if not the lowest, the poll said/AP. More here.
Question: Do you expect Republicans to regain many congressional seats during the midterm elections in 2010?
Item: Family of alleged rape victim moved to escape ‘bad memories’/KHQ
More Info: The family of the 13-year-old girl allegedly raped by a 61-year-old man Tuesday night says they moved to North Idaho from South Dakota two months ago to escape bad memories including the death of their 18-year-old daughter. The Lufkins say they lost their 18-year-old daughter in a stabbing in South Dakota. The family says the 13-year-old, the alleged victim in Tuesday’s rape, had also been the victim of a sexual assault two years ago there.
Question: How do stories like this make you feel?
There was a time back in my naive younger days of journalism when the imbecilic behavior of 
politicians would confound me. “How can these so-called leaders be such embarrassing clods?” I would ask myself. As I grew older and wiser I realized the truth. Silly me. I had been holding politicians to a totally unreasonable standard, namely normal behavior. But politicians aren’t like you and me. These are deeply flawed human beings we’re talking about. That’s why they lie so much and toe-tap strangers in airport toilet stalls. That’s why Rex Rammell keeps digging himself into a deeper and deeper hole/Doug Clark, SR. More here.
Question: Are politicians a cut above your average citizen? Or a cut or two below?
Nick Anderson/Houston Chronicle
I received a news release from the Kootenai County Reagan Republicans as I was preparing to leave the office for the night. Seems they have set a health care forum for the Coeur d’Alene Resort for Thursday evening — and they’ve invited Demo Congressman Walt Minnick to hear their concerns. You can read the news release here. The newly formed Reagan Republicans aren’t happy with the townhall meeting on health care that Minnick held recently at North Idaho College. They are expecting a big turnout and plan to film the event and send it to Minnick if he doesn’t attend. What do you think? Are the Repubs trying to set Minnick up? Or do they really want to express their views to him in person? You can state your opinion under this Wild Card. Or start your own threads …
A newly unveiled statue shows a human figure scaling a cliff in Silt, Colo., Tuesday. At least one critic in Silt says the statue is exposing the public to a little too much art. Story here. (AP Photo/Glenwood Springs Post Independent, Kelley Cox)
I am not on the side of public opinion on this one, Kage, but I think that the memorial garden thing that Duane had proposed would have been a wonderful draw to our town. Which, btw, thrives on tourism. I am a local merchant and I favor having fresh money come into town.
Question: Would Coeur d’Alene be better off or worse off, if the city of Coeur d’Alene had given Coeur d’Alene Resort owner Duane Hagadone the green light to construct his memorial garden downtown?
Tuesday’s disruption led tens of millions of Gmail users to get an “Unable to reach Gmail” error message as their computers tried repeatedly to reconnect to the service. Google said it had taken some of Gmail’s servers offline for routine maintenance, and underestimated the load that would place on other computers responsible for directing traffic to the appropriate Gmail servers/AP. More here.
Question: Some of you, including Taryn, mentioned Tuesday that you’d lost contact with your Gmail account as a result of the meltdown Tuesday. At such times, do you consider how dependent we’ve become on computers?
Larry Echohawk, left, Assistant Interior Secretary for Indian Affairs (and former Idaho attorney general), talks with Leonard Anthony, member of the 21st Navajo Nation Council, while at the Governor’s Native American Summit at Thanksgiving Point today in Lehi, Utah. Story here. (AP Photo/The Deseret News, Stuart Johnson)
Greg Lee writes: My weekly Panhandle Picks has found a new home. For the past 14 years, you’ve been able to turn to the Prep Page for my weekly high school football predictions. But we just don’t have the space we once had, so starting this week and continuing through the playoffs, you can check them out at Sportslink. Greg Pick’s Lake City and Post Falls to win, Lakeland to lose. This week’s picks.
Six-month-old Sanne Timmerman lies on the leaf of a giant water lily (Victoria Amazonica) at Diergaarde Blijdorp, also known as Rotterdam Zoo, Netherlands, earlier today. The zoo organised the event for parents to take pictures of their children on the leaves which can grow up to 3 meters (10 feet) in diameter and can easily support a weight of 15 kilograms or 33 pounds. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Top Cutline:
At A Family Runs Through It, Idaho Dad writes of his tubing on Lake Pend Oreille: “This is about as extreme as I get.”
HBO Numbers (for Tuesday, Sept. 1): 9909/5528
The third wolf was shot in the Lolo Zone in northcentral Idaho on Tuesday, according to an Idaho Department of Fish and Game spokesman. It was not checked in physically yet, but the hunter contacted Fish and Game by phone. Idahoan Scott Bledsoe shot a gray male in Unit 12 by the Powell Ranger Station. He joins Robert Millage of Kamiah and Jay Mize of Emmett as successful hunters Tuesday. No kills have been reported Wednesday/Rocky Barker, Idaho Statesman. More here.
Flowing like a river hushed
Where circling eagles reach.
Six children know that we are blessed:
Our mother’s love is deep.
For sixty summers since her youth
She’s been my father’s dream.
Through hurricanes and floods she was
A rock on which he leaned. (Complete poem here)
John Austin
Idaho Republican Party Chairman Norm Semanko has put out a statement criticizing the “Dispel the Myths/Squash the Fear Rally” in Boise in favor of health care reform today, but it makes no mention of the counter-rally that sought to shout down the main rally/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.
Question: What impact do protests and counter-protests have on the general public, on a contentious issue like health care reform?
Recent rumors have been floating around that the Kootenai County Commissioners are Question: Should the county leave the current no-wake zone on Scenic Bay/Bayview in place?
considering removing the no wake protection from Scenic Bay. A concerted attack on the status quo is taking place from several directions. One, the city of Post Falls recently was denied a no wake zone on the Spokane River. They then point fingers at Bayview saying, “If they can have one, why can’t we?” Thats a pretty valid question, actually. Perhaps the county should consider doing their jobs, which is to protect and serve their constituency/Herb Huseland, Bay Views. More here.
From a lakeside dock in Yucaipa Regional Park, the McHenry family cheers as a Sikorsky S64 Sky Crane firefighting helicopter goes “in the dip” for another load of water in Yucaipa, Calif., on Tuesday. The parents and their son spent the night camping in the park after receiving a mandatory evacuation order from their nearby home. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Times, Don Bartletti) Question: Have you ever been evacuated by threat posed by a wildfire?
Kage Mann: I went on a CDA Press thread about mayor Bloem and there is alot of people who don’t want to see her re-elected.Could this year, be an anti-incumbent year? (Example? Pacer: “We need to get this woman and her cronies out of office before they do any further damage or spend anymore tax dollars on their personal agendas.”
Question: Anyone in there right mind think that Joe Kunka or any other challenger will give Mayor Sandi Bloem much of a run this year?
You can sneer and turn your nose up at Timothy Egan all you want, but my point is that he 
does have a local’s perspective. I lived in Seattle for four years after college. Does that mean that all the years I spent driving trucks and tractors and moving hand lines and siphon tubes no longer count? Does the manure I shoveled and animals I castrated not count because I used to take the bus from Ballard to downtown Seattle to work? This knee-jerk “anti-outsider” thing is not one of Idaho’s most endearing traits. Full post below.
Question: How long does it take to officially become a North Idahoan? How long does it take to lose your North Idaho credentials, once you move away?
Item: CdA targets vandals with park curfews: Violation could be a misdemeanor offense/Jonathan Brunt, SR
More Info: People who stay in Coeur d’Alene city parks past 11 p.m. soon could be penalized. The Coeur d’Alene City Council on Tuesday voted to close parks between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. during Daylight Savings Time. Parks will close an hour earlier when clocks move to Standard Time, roughly from early November until mid-March. Parks Director Doug Eastwood told the council that the city’s parks commission recommended the change, in part, because of problems in the park after dark.
Question: Councilman Ron Edinger cast the lone vote against the curfew, arguing, “Our public parks should be left open,” Edinger said. “Are we going to have a police state?” Do you side with the council or Edinger on this issue.
A King County Superior Court judge said Wednesday she had serious concerns that thousands of invalid signatures may have been accepted for Referendum 71, but rejected an attempt to block a public vote on expanded same-sex domestic partnership benefits in Washington state. Judge Julie Spector issued her ruling just as Secretary of State Sam Reed certified the measure that aims to overturn the new “everything but marriage” law for the November ballot in Olympia. (Click here to read Spector’s ruling.)/Seattle P-I. More here.
Question: Will the attempt to overturn the “anything-but-marriage” legislation succeed/fail, if it makes the Washington ballot?
Anthony Johnstone, lead attorney for the state of Montana, argues the state’s stance on assisted suicide in front of Montana’s Supreme Court in the old Supreme Court chambers located in the capitol building in Helena, Mont., earlier today. The Montana Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday morning in the state’s appeal of a lower court ruling that Montanans have a constitutionally protected right to physician-assisted suicide. Story here. (AP Photo/The Independent Record, Eliza Wiley)
Question: Do you think Idaho someday OK assisted suicide?
CindyH: Ah Digger, the obits are not for factual news purposes. They are paid announcements 
and tributes meant for friends and families. If the families of the deceased choose to remember their loved ones as “saints” then that is their privilege. If it comforts them and they’ve got the $$ for a nice obit, good for them. I, however, am aghast at the horrible use of grammar and the wanton destruction of the King’s English in these notices. As such, I do hope I’m thought of with enough kindness at the old S-R, that should my family choose to use tortuous grammar to mark my passing, someone, somewhere will edit out the goofs. Oh, never mind. I think I’ll write my own. Full comments thread here.
Question: If you wrote your own obituary, what would the opening paragraph say?
Retired truck driver Bud Grose, 76, stands next to his 1959 John Deere tractor at his home in Glenrock, Wyo. A local police officer shocked Grose with a Taser during the town’s Deer Creek Days parade on Aug. 1 after Grose ignored the officer’s traffic command and departed the parade route. There are conflicting reports about whether Grose struck the officer with his tractor. Story here. (AP Photo/Matt Joyce) H/T: Charles Rhodes.
Question: When should police use their Tasers?
But this is a changed state in a quick-stirring part of the country — not necessarily less 
Republican, but certainly less tolerant of the kind of hate speech that used to flow with warm beer on late nights at the wacko corral. Obama, the candidate, drew about 14,000 people in his appearance in Boise last year — putting it among the largest political gatherings in state history. He got just under 47 percent of the vote in Ada County, the state’s most populous. The wolf hunt has brought out feelings that have less to do with Canis lupus than with something more deep-seated. Gray wolves were exterminated long ago in most Western states, a campaign of blood lust, terror and bounty kills/Timothy Egan, New York Times. More here.
Question: Has Idaho become less tolerant of hate speech?
“To us, the wolf hunt in Idaho and Montana seems indecent. Hunters want to kill wolves because wolves kill elk — and the human hunters want the elk. A second reason is a love of killing things. A third is an implacable, and unjustified, hostility to the wolf.” — New York Times. More here. H/T: Kevin Richert
Question: Do you care what the New York Times thinks about Idaho’s wolf hunt?
By now, it ought to be clear that Rammell is a buffoon. He’s also an easy target for past foes, 
such as Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and current opponents such as Gov. C. L. (Butch) Otter. But what about the woman in Twin Falls whose “Obama tag” comment provoked Rammell’s idiotic response? Where’s the public condemnation for that? Was there sweeping criticism of a northern Idaho man who put up a sign “free public hanging” after Obama had been elected? Better handled was the incident in which grade-school children in eastern Idaho chanted “assassinate Obama,” but there was virtually nothing said about a public school teacher who declared Obama’s election signaled the death of democracy in this country/Marty Trillhaase, Lewiston Tribune. More here.
Question: Where do you draw the line between legitimate criticism of the president and his administration — and comments that are racist and threatening?
Ronald Glen Sever, 61, of Coeur d’Alene, is in the Kootenai County Jail this morning, accused 
of raping a 13-year-old at his residence in the 3600 block of Government Way. The victim told Coeur d’Alene police that she was walking with her sister around the neighborhood at 7:14 p.m. Tuesday when she stopped to talk to her neighbor. At that point, the victim said her sister left to return home, and she allegedly was grabbed by Sever, forced into his residence, and raped. The victim reported that Sever locked the door, overpowered her, and struck her in the face during the time of the attack. Later, according to police reports, the girl was able to break free and went to the home of another neighbor who called police. Sever is facing charges of rape and lewd conduct with a minor.
James von Brunn is seen in court in this artist’s drawing by Dana Verkouteren in Washington, DC., this morning. Von Brunn is the alleged gunman who fatally shot a security guard inside the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. on June 9. Story here. (AP Photo/Dana Verkouteren) Question: How often do you think the national media will mention that Von Brunn has ties to North Idaho, although he only lived here for a few weeks?
Councilman Mike Kennedy made his re-election bid official this morning by filing his candidacy papers with the city clerk’s office. Kennedy, who won a three-way race for his council seat in 2005, will face challenger Jim Brannon in November. Among those signing his petition are: Tony Stewart, Thom & Melinda George, Ron & Nancy Edinger, Jim Winger, and George & Kathleen Sayler. LaDonna Beaumont is Kennedy’s campaign treasurer. Filing deadline for city office is 5 p.m. Friday.
Christopher Pannkuk, a Washington State University professor, was listed in fair condition 
Tuesday evening after being involved in a car vs. bicycle accident. Pannkuk, 52, of Moscow, was airlifted to Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur d’Alene after the bicycle he was riding here early Monday morning collided in the intersection of Third and Washington streets with a 2001 Chrysler Voyager driven by Sally Swanson, 56, of Moscow, according to a police report. Pannkuk, who appeared to suffer neck injuries, according to witnesses, was taken first to Gritman Medical Center, then transported to Coeur d’Alene/Lewiston Tribune. More here.
DFO: I was almost hit twice by motorists as I rode my bike to work this morning, including a trucker who pulled out in front of me because his view was blocked by an extended side mirror. In a three-day period last week, four bicyclist got hit by vehicles in Kootenai County. I predict that a bicyclist will be killed by a vehicle locally before the snow falls. Be careful out there.
Question: Have you had a close call with a vehicle while riding your bike?
Item: Some of Idaho’s state employees get raises: More than half of the small percentage of employees whose pay will increase work for the Idaho State Police/Dan Popkey, Idaho Statesman
More Info: There are 838 state employees who may want to keep quiet at the water cooler. They constitute a fortunate few who have received pay increases since the Legislature adjourned and required agencies to cut personnel costs by 5 percent. With about 25,000 people on the state payroll system, the 838 represent 3 percent of all employees. The raises took effect between May 1 and Aug. 10. Meanwhile, 69 workers have been laid off because of the budget crunch, 186 have had their pay cut, and 3,710 have taken furloughs without pay, according to the office of Controller Donna Jones.
Question: Is it fair that some state workers are getting pay increases while others are getting pay cuts or being laid off?
Will Kootenai County more than double the size of its jail? It’s up to the public now. The Kootenai County commissioners unanimously passed ballot language for the new jail expansion proposal on Tuesday, their vote mixed with concern for the closing window on the half-cent sales tax option. “This is our last chance,” said Commissioner Rich Piazza of the payment option expiring on Dec. 31. Commissioner Todd Tondee said he couldn’t predict how voters will receive the $56.69 million proposal, a complete overhaul from last year’s package that was more than double the price/Alecia Warren, Coeur d’Alene Press. More here.
“Sailboats in the harbor at Bayview signal summer’s swan song,” posts Councilwoman KerriT/OnLocation North Idaho. “Formed by glaciers Lake Pend Oreille (pond-or-ey) is Idaho’s largest lake and one of the largest inland lakes in North America. A renowned recreation and fishing mecca with a shoreline of 143 miles, its depth has been measured in excess of 1,170 feet. The name came from the early French trappers, referring to the earlobe pendants worn by the local Indian tribe.”
Me: 
sighhhhhh - again generalizations and perception of what YOU think hunting is. You don’t need a ton of supplies - you can go out for the day - yes it does cost more now with gas prices. We always butchered it ourselves. We bought butcher paper that was all. We usually had 2 or 3 in the family with tags so 2 or 3 elk we always had deer too and grouse and pheasant and we canned fish. We made our own burger too. It was always way more economical for us than buying meat.
Question: Have you ever killed and dressed out a big-game animal for family consumption?
Item: Rex Rammell says Idaho Gov. Butch Otter is out to ‘destroy’ him: But the gubernatorial candidate’s own lawyer calls the claim ‘absurd’/Dan Popkey, Idaho Statesman
More Info: Republican gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell said Tuesday that he believes GOP Gov. Butch Otter aims to “destroy” him for challenging him in the 2010 governor’s race. Rammell said his attorney, John Runft of Boise, told him on the morning of his May announcement as a candidate that he’d been threatened by an anonymous person. Rammell said Runft told him, “If you run to be the governor of Idaho, these guys are going to destroy you.” Rammell said the threat promised “they would hold nothing back to destroy me.”
Question: Who’s doing the most to destroy Rex Rammell: Gov. Butch Otter, the state’s Republican leadership, the media, Rex Rammell himself?
Item: Cd’A won’t raise property taxes: Original budget plan called for 2 percent hike/Tom Hasslinger, Coeur d’Alene Press
More Info: The Coeur d’Alene City Council approved its fiscal year 2010 financial plan Tuesday night, agreeing unanimously not to ask for an increase in property tax revenues as part of the plan. “People are anxious out there right now,” said Councilman Mike Kennedy, who surveyed 200 city residents this month prior to Tuesday’s public hearing on the budget. “It’s a tough economy and we want to bring the government on the same side as the taxpayer.”
Question: Any thoughts re: the city council’s decision not to raise taxes in these troubled times?
Signe Wilkinson/Philadelphia Inquirer
How about a little YouTube “September Morn” by Neil Diamond to welcome the unofficial beginning of fall today (lyrics here)? Sept. 1 means summer and the fair is behind us (although Labor Day is still a week away). High school footballers are playing (although school hasn’t started locally). The municipal candidates are announcing (although the filing deadline isn’t until late Friday afternoon). We’re in the transition period when the visitors dwindle. And the Lake Coeur d’Alene and the downtown north shore will return to the locals. In other words, my favorite time of the year is here. So, I’ll play this Wild Card and stare out the window at the viewtiful day outside …
Residents and business owners in downtown Priest River said they were told by firefighters to evacuate the area due to a possible chemical spill at the town’s water plant. The owner of the Feed Mill Beef N’ Brew Restaurant said officials came to the restaurant about 5 p.m. and told her to evacuate due to the spill, possibly chlorine/Sara Leaming, SR. More here.
Jeffery Warenyk holds his daughter, Madilynn, 2, as they watch a Florida black bear next to their house in Holly Hill, Fla. on Monday. The animals are on the state’s threatened species list and unless they become a nuisance they will left alone. (AP Photo/Daytona Beach News-Journal, Jim Tiller)
Spencer: I was at the timberlake fire station today, and while the secretary was printing a map off for me, I noticed a digital recorder on the desk, turned on. I asked about it, and she told me that they turn it on every time a person comes in. Is that OK with you?
Question: Well?
Item: Fluoridation question could turn up on city ballot/Conor Christofferson, Bonner County Bee
More Info: Sandpoint, like many communities in the United States, has added small amounts of fluoride to its water supply since the early 1950s. Endorsed by the American Dental Association and the Centers for Disease Control, the practice is meant to combat tooth decay. While pockets of local residents have protested the use of fluoride for years, it wasn’t until recently, when the Bonner County Republican Central Committee officially came out against the practice, that members of the City Council began toying with the idea of putting the issue to a vote.
Question: Are you surprised that the Sandpoint City Council would consider putting the issue of fluoridation on a municipal ballot, more than 50 years after adding fluoride to the water supply for more than 50 years?
Izzit me — or does rodeo look like more fun from the stands than from the back of a horse. Don Sausser, Huckleberries’ Eye On Sherman Avenue, snapped this photo from the stands at the North Idaho Fair & Rodeo last week. Ouch!
A praying mantis stands on the hood of a pickup truck and it’s image is reflected in the paint in a parking lot near Bloomsburg, Pa., on Monday morning. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Bloomsburg Press Enterprise, Bill Hughes)
Top Cutlines:
A bouncer for The Beacon @ Sherman & 4th has decided to press charges against a drunk 
who hit him in the face recently. Eric Nelson told police that the man arrived at the bar with a group of friends and then became combative when a waitress told him he couldn’t leave the premises with a beer. When confronted by another bouncer, the customer laughed, drank his beer, and then handed the bottle to Nelson’s co-worker. The customer walked toward Nelson, who had his hands in his pockets, and hit him in the temple when he noticed Nelson shaking his head nearby. Nelson also reported that he was hit in the back of his head as he was falling by someone with a cast on his hand. The bouncer required medical attention.
This picture provided by Robert Millage shows Millage, 34, of Kamiah, posing with the first reported wolf killed in Idaho today - the opening day of the state’s 2009 season.
Robert Millage of Kamiah shot a wolf shortly after dawn Tuesday in the Lochsa area and may 
have been the first to claim success in the state’s wolf hunt. Millage, a real estate agent, said he was surrounded by a pack of wolves before dawn and waited until light to call them with a hand call that sounded like a wounded coyote. The wolf came fast to him 25 yards before Millage shot him with his .243 rifle. “The whole area is lousy with them,” Millage said. “But I guess it was the luck of the draw.” Millage said he had not seen many hunters/Rocky Barker, Idaho Statesman. More here.
Bob Flowers of Maplewood Avenue filed his candidacy papers today for the council position now held by Linda Wilhelm. Those signing his candidacy petition were: Johnny & Carolyn Berry, Gary & Phyllis Kerenzis and Allen & Anita Poland. Leona Flowers will serve as the campaign treasurer. Wilhelm has filed to retain her post.
Speaking of germs, my son did an experiment where he swabbed various household items, then transferred the swabs to petri dishes to see what would grow. Yes, doorknobs and light switches were scary. As was the fridge door handle. But the worst, by far, were paper money and library books. Those children’s books from the CdA Library? Absolutely covered with fecal matter. Ewwwww.
Spencer: WWWAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY too much information! Anybody want the other half of my sandwich? I don’t seem to be hungry anymore.
Question: What was the last children’s book that you checked out from the library? ;-)
Another alleged assault victim on Washington State University’s Pullman campus has recanted her story. The university said this afternoon that the incident, which supposedly happened early on Aug. 24, did not occur. The person who reported two other assaults, on Aug. 19 and Aug. 24, recanted those allegations last week, police said/SR.
Question: Can someone explain to me what kind of messed up you’d have to be to file a false assault report of the nature of these?
A police department produced a film for teenagers in Wales, and an excerpt on the Internet has been viewed more than four million of times. In the video, made for $20,000, a driver’s cellphone distracts her and her car drifts into oncoming traffic. Several cars crash and by the end, her friends have been killed. The film’s director, Peter Watkins-Hughes, said, young people encouraged him to make it violent and truthful. American safety advocates, concerned about the dangers of texting while driving, have enjoyed a boost from an unlikely source: the chief constable of Gwent, a small county in Wales. The Gwent police department produced a film on the subject to be shown in Welsh schools this fall. And with zero promotion by the police, a gory, explicit four-minute excerpt from the film went viral, and has been viewed millions of times. (Tred Films via The New York Times)
Question: Did you see one of those gory crash films of yore that were designed to scare high schoolers into driving more carefully? Did it work in your case?
A North Idaho man man was arrested today on suspicion of possessing child pornography. Barry Buchmann, 57, is in Shoshone County Jail after a raid at his apartment at 610 Lewiston Ave. in Pinehurst, according to the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office and Pinehurst Police Department seized DVDs, CD and a computer from the apartment that will be sent to a state lab for testing, according to a new release/Meghann Cuniff, SR Sirens & Gavels. More here.
This year is the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street and at yesterday’s Daytime Emmy Awards, Sandra Oh from “Grey’s Anatomy” presented “Sesame Street” with the lifetime achievement award. The children’s show has won 118 Emmy awards since being on the air. The presentation of the award included a tribute video that showed clips from all the years it’s been around and the cast was there to sing a song to honor their 40 years. Love it! As they receive their award, we also get to see the puppet handlers/Video Fix, Seattle P-I. More here.
Question: Which “Sesame Street” character is your favorite? Why?
Along
with hunters who are headed out wolf hunting in the morning in the Lolo and Sawtooth zones, there’ll be members of the national media. “Today was the busiest day with the media I think we’ve ever had,” said Ed Mitchell of Idaho Fish & Game. “The ABC guys are going to be here tonight, New York Times. National Geographic is here - they’re going to go out with one of our game wardens who happens to be handy at howling wolves up.” Asked if that works, Mitchell said, “The guys who can do it, absolutely. It’s just amazing”/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise.
Question: Which region of Idaho will report the first wolf kill?
Rex Rammell, a GOP candidate for governor in Idaho, refused to apologize today for his joking remarks about shooting the president, instead launching his own attacks against Idaho GOP leaders who strongly condemned his remarks. Story below. (Betsy Russell/SR)
Councilwoman Deanna Goodlander has set up a fierce race for her council seat by filing for re-election today. Goodlander will face anti-LCDC activist Dan Gookin, who filed earlier this week. Among those signing Goodlander’s candidacy petition were: George & Kathleen Sayler, Mike & Kathleen McDowell, and Chris Copstead. Carol Malcolm is her campaign treasurer. The deadline for filing is 5 p.m. Friday.
OrangeTV:
That’s awesome to know, DFO (that Mayor Bloem is aware of OTV’s comments re: her “fierce look”). I’m honored that she’s aware of my silly comments, especially since that all started as kind of a joke. Maybe I’ll make “Mayor Sandi fashion updates” a regular feature on my blog. I’d rather not have her think I’m a stalker, so I’ll have to go by what she wears on Ch. 19 TV I guess. Let’s see if I can get an exclusive interview complete with style tips.
Question: Can your mayor be described as “stylish”?
A defiant Rex Rammell refused to apologize today for his joking remarks about buying hunting tags to shoot President Obama, and instead accused top Idaho Republican leaders of conspiring to sabotage his run for governor by strongly condemning his remarks. “They’re trying to ruin my run to be the governor,” Rammell declared at a press conference across from the state Capitol/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.
Question: At this point, can Rammell be taken seriously as a candidate for governor?
CindyH:
Oh the guilt! Sam started fourth-grade today. I took his photo, got him to his classroom, met his teacher— all the usual stuff. Except for one thing: Every first day of school during my boys’ grade school days, I send them off with a special note, written on a napkin, tucked inside their lunchboxes. Just a note wishing them a happy first day of school and covered with lipstick kisses. Sam is much more independent than his big brothers. He had his own lunch packed before I was out of the shower. I didn’t think about the note until I got home. Sigh.
Question: Did/Do you have a special ritual for sending your kids off for the first day of school?
This picture provided by owners Karl and Denise Shaughnessy shows their wire-haired dachshund Chanel in Port Jefferson Station, N.Y. on Long Island. Chanel, who was recognized as the world’s oldest dog, died on Friday. She was 147 years old in dog years. (AP Photo/Karl and Denise Shaughnessy)
Question: How old was your oldest dog?
Huckleberries Online has learned that Josh Arnold, a Coeur d’Alene Indian Tribe planner who had a scrape with the law, has pulled out of the race for Coeur d’Alene mayor. Arnold’s wife, Maya, visited the clerk’s office this morning to request that her husband’s Declaration of Candidacy be returned. Arnold encountered early problems with his campaign when local media reported that he’d been involved in a courtroom spat in which a bailiff’s arm was broken. At this point, incumbent Sandi Bloem and challenger Joe Kunka are the two announced candidates for mayor.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell will conduct two press conferences Tuesday to address the controversy surrounding his comment about hunting tags for President Barack Obama. The first press conference is at Boise’s Capital Park at 11 a.m. and the second at the Idaho Falls water falls viewing area at 3 p.m. Rammell said the comments were meant as a joke. But Idaho Republican leaders have condemned his remarks about buying a license to hunt President Obama/Idaho Press Tribune. H/T: Treasured Valley.
Question: Do you think Rammell has been helped or hurt politically by his insipid ‘Obama tags’ statement?
In an age where any public display of bipartisanship is rare and forced, Idaho’s two House 
members comfortably checked their affiliations at the door. Given this summer’s town hall debates over health care - which Simpson described, tongue in cheek, as “rambunctious” - a civil discussion is nothing to take for granted. Not when the takeaway point was identical. Simpson and Minnick share a must-have: Health care reform must include cost containment. That can mean increased use of health care paraprofessionals, as Minnick suggested. Or tort reform, as Simpson advocated. Or weaning the health care profession off of “defensive” procedures, as both congressmen support. But cost containment is a reasonable starting point to refocus this rancorous debate/Idaho Statesman. More here.
Question: Are you concerned/delighted that Idaho’s two congressmen appear to model bipartisanship in looking for an answer to the health care dilemma?
Mark Johnson, 23, spends his Monday morning driving a combine in the lentil fields near Liberty High School outside of Spangle, Wash., Monday. Johnson has been harvesting wheat and lentils for the past three weeks and still has 600 acres to finish. (Dan Pelle, SR) Question: Have you ever worked manual labor on a farm, ranch, orchard, dairy, etc.?
Sandi Bloem filed this morning for an unprecedented third term as mayor of Coeur d’Alene. Bloem and Ray Stone are the only mayors to serve two, consecutive, four-year terms in Lake City history. Among the people signing her candidacy petition are Dean Lundblad Jr., Erika L. Grubar, Kristi Johnson, and Scott Cranston. Frank Clovis will serve as Bloem’s treasurer. Bloem will likely face Joe Kunka and Josh Arnold in the Nov. 3 election. Filing deadline for candidates is 5 p.m. Friday. You can read Mayor Bloem’s announcement release here.
Question: Has Mayor Bloem earned an unprecedented 3rd term?
As the school season starts, the big topic in my little circle is the H1N1 vaccine. PapaJD says he 
couldn’t live with himself if the kids get sick and we failed to do our best to prevent it. On the other hand, I couldn’t live with myself if we shoot the kids with a vaccine that hasn’t been adequately tested, harming them more than had they just come down with swine flu. We keep weighing the pros & cons while waiting for the vaccine to arrive here in town. In the meantime, I can’t find a single parent who will be getting the two vaccine shots for their children. Every mom I speak with shares my concerns and will not be getting the vaccine/MamaJD. More here.
Question: Would you trust the H1N1 vaccine enough to vaccinate your kids (if you still had little kids)?
Item: Wolf hunt is on in Idaho, pending decision by judge/Rob Chaney, Missoulian
More Info: Wolf advocates and opponents met on the street and in the courtroom Monday morning as U.S. District Judge Don Molloy listened to arguments over imminent wolf hunting seasons in Montana and Idaho. The hearing took place just as wolf hunting licenses went on sale across Montana. On Tuesday, Idaho’s wolf hunt begins. Molloy issued no decision, but promised one quickly.
Question: How long do you think it will take Idaho hunters to kill the allotted 220 wolves?
Ted Parvin, center, chairman of the Northwest Film Institute, participated in a promo for a screenwriting competition in Sandpoint on Thursday. Parvin, who has “Psycho” among his credits and a group of media professionals living in the Sandpoint area are working together to start a year-long graduate level film school. Story here. (Kathy Plonka/SR)
Expanded domestic partnerships for same-sex couples could face a public vote after Washington officials ruled that referendum sponsors have enough voter support to force a referendum on the November ballot. The new partnership law, nicknamed “everything but marriage” by its supporters, would broaden domestic partnerships by granting gay and lesbian couples all the remaining state-provided benefits that presently apply only to married heterosexual couples.After a month of counting petition signatures, the secretary of state’s office said Monday that Referendum 71 had 121,617 valid voter signatures – more than a thousand more than needed to advance to the general election/Associated Press. More here.
Item: Boise mom pleads guilty after leaving her four kids alone on weekend nights/Patrick Orr/Idaho Statesman
More Info: Jennifer Ann Collantes will find out Oct. 8 if she will be sent to prison for leaving her four kids — ages 12, 9,5, and 3 — alone on weekend nights earlier this year. Collantes, 31, entered a guilty plea to one count of felony injury to child last month as part of a plea deal with Ada County prosecutors, who dropped three other felony injury to child counts filed in connection with the case.
Question: When is a child old enough to watch siblings who are 5 and under? Should this mom go to prison?
Item: New jail price: $56.7 million: County commissioners vote on ballot language for expansion proposal/Alecia Warren, Coeur d’Alene Press
More Info: Jail improvements that would impact Kootenai County inmates for years to come are on taxpayers’ plates again — and the commissioners are doing their utmost to accommodate voters’ frugal palates. The officials will vote this afternoon on ballot language for funding the newest jail expansion proposal, with nearly $90 million trimmed from last year’s price tag. … Even with cheaper building methods and fewer proposed facilities, the new $56.69 million proposal is still higher than the commissioners had counted on, Tondee admitted.
Question: Would you vote for a half-cent sales tax increase to expand the jail and to cut property taxes?
Signe Wilkinson/Philadelphia Inquirer
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.
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