Jim Brannon’s never-ending lawsuit to undo the 2009 Coeur d’Alene City Council election goes to court again today, where Judge Charles Hosack will hear a number of motions, including attorney Scott Reed’s request for summary judgment. We’re rapidly approaching the trial date for this case, in mid-September. Also, I’ll be keeping tabs on filings for North Idaho College trustee spots. Ronald ‘The Dragon Slayer’ Johnson of Rathdrum has filed so far to take on incumbent Christie Wood. Huckleberries hears that Johnson is a placeholder of sorts, willing to step aside should someone like Ron Nilson throws his hat in the ring. Now, for your Wild Card …

President Barack Obama reads his speech for photographers after delivering a primetime televised address marking the the end of combat mission in Iraq from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Tuesday. Los Angeles Times story here. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Question: Was Iraq worth it? Is our growing military presence and casualties in Afghanistan worth it?

Sisyphus: “Any chucklebunnies know what’s going on in Hosack’s courtroom? I’m still confused how this thing ain’t dismissed yet.” Also: “HolyMarymotherofGod, I just checked the repository and I can’t recall ever seeing such a lengthy file. They’ve opened up nine of ten different court files. And Kelso filed three Amended Complaints, the last one yesterday, alleging fraud and corruption. Trial is in two weeks!! This is ludicrous. Taxpayers should be incensed that they’re footing the bill for this.”

DFO: Judge Charles Hosack is allowing this lawsuit to go onto trial Sept. 13 because he wants to be sure that there’s no question that Jim Brannon’s long-running case gets a fair hearing of six impartial jurors. However, in hearing motions today, Hosack made it clear that Brannon and his attorney, Starr Kelso, need to produce in court six individuals who voted illegally to win their case. Also, the judge denied a motion by Kelso to compel individuals living elsewhere to be in the courtroom for the trial. The judge also denied a motion by Mike Kennedy’s attorney Scott Reed for summary judgment, to dismiss the case.

As reported her via Rumorama last week, Ronald Nilson, president of Ground Force MFG in Post Falls (pictured left), and Robert Ketchum are running as a tandem to seek North Idaho College seats in this falls trustee elections. Nilson, who led the successful campaign for the Kootenai Technical Education Campus levies, and Ketchum, the former workforce training director whose contact wasn’t renewed, filed today. Ketchum will run against incumbent Christie Wood for Seat B, while Nilson will face Coeur d’Alene attorney Ken Howard for the open Seat A being vacated by retiring Rolly Williams. In another expected move, place holder Ronald “The Dragon Slayer” Johnson dropped out of the race against Wood.

The remnants of a helicopter crash, which killed two Fish & Game biologists and a pilot, are shown Tuesday morning. The helicopter came down in a driveway near the intersection of State Highway 64 and State Highway 162, just blocks from Kamiah’s Main Street and the public school complex. Idaho Fish and Game news release here. And: AP story here. (AP Photo/The Clearwater Progress, Dave Medel)

• Feds, murder-for-hire suspect Fairfax OK deal/David Cole, Hagadone News Network
  
• Idaho task force wary of hiking truck fees/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise
• Brigham Young joins Gonzaga in WCC for basketball/Spokesman-Review
• Hayden neighbors defend deputy involving in pastor killing/Marissa Bagg, KREM
• Farmers Almanac predicts cool winter, average precipitation for NW/KREM
• Otter rips enviros for reneging on wolf deal/Dan Popkey, Idaho Statesman
• Idaho’s Cleveland adjusts to leadership role, life w/o Iupati/Nick Jezierny, Statesman
• Bonner County man jailed for kicking deputy/Bonner County Bee
• Bonner County to adopt $56M budget/Keith Kinnaird, Bonner County Bee
  

• 5:21 p.m. A baby is locked in a vehicle @ 715 Sherman Avenue/CdA.
  
• 4:16 p.m. A vehicle is driving n/b in s/b lanes of H95 past Fighting Creek landfill.
• 4:37 p.m. Overdose of prescription drugs reported in 2700 block of Fruitland/CdA.
  
• 3:56 p.m. Caller reports a downed power line in parking lot of Specialty Cut Meats, 7397 Government Way, Hayden.
• 3:54 p.m. Caller reports possible drug activity in vehicle parked in 3500 block of Government Way. The driver may have put out his marijuana by sitting on it.
• Much more below
  

BYU will go independent in football and join the West Coast Conference in other sports in 2011-12, ESPN.com, the Salt Lake Tribune and the San Jose Mercury News reported Tuesday afternoon. BYU will be leaving the Mountain West Conference just as Boise State joins, leaving the league with 10 long-term members. The Mountain West may have to play football with eight teams in 2011 if Nevada and Fresno State can’t get out of the WAC until 2012. ESPN.com and the Mercury News reported that a formal announcement will be made later today. The Mountain West now has lost Utah and BYU since Boise State joined in June/Chadd Cripe, IStatesman. More here.

Question: Can you imagine the basketball games between Gonzaga & Brigham Young beginning in 2011-12 season? Wonder what Boise State, Fresno State, & Nevada are thinking now. Is new Mountain West any better than old WAC?

• Biologists, pilot killed in downtown Kamiah crash/Associated Press
  

A helicopter carrying two Idaho Fish and Game fisheries biologists and a pilot crashed in Kamiah between 9:30 and 9:45 Tuesday morning, leaving three dead. “I am heart broken to report that this morning we had a helicopter accident near Kamiah,” Fish and Game Director Cal Groen said. “Two employees and the pilot were on board. All three were killed. Our hearts and prayers go out to the families and to all employees as we go through this difficult time.” Two were pronounced dead at the scene, the third was taken to a hospital but was later pronounced dead. Dead are Larry Barrett (pictured above), 47 of Lewiston, who worked for Fish and Game since 1985, and Dani Schiff (below), 34 of Lewiston, who worked for Fish and Game since 1997. “This is a sad day for Fish and Game and our families,” Deputy Director Jim Unsworth said. Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise report here.

What do you do when three titans of classic rock descend upon Spokane simultaneously  during the dog days of August to slay boredom and annihilate complacency? What else but declare a Super Rock Week! That’s just what we’ve done. Bob Dylan, Ted Nugent and John Mellencamp will burnish their respective reputations for inspiring showmanship this week (Nugent at the Knitting Factory on Sunday night, and Dylan and Mellencamp at the Greyhound Park on Wednesday). Yes, the Super Rock Trio’s power is compelling, its entertainment value is unmatched, its influence on rock as an institution overwhelming and unquestioned. Yet much like superheroes on the same team (the X-Men, the Avengers, Super Friends, etc.), Dylan, Nugent and Mellencamp each possess a singular super power that defines him as an individual/Mike Corrigan, Inlander. More here. (AP file photo from July 3: Bob Dylan performs at Hop Farm Festival in England)

Question: Got tickets?

Seems Spokane County Sheriff’s spokesman Dave Reagan has had to eat his words re: a visit by KREM report Marissa Bagg, pictured, to the Hayden home of Deputy Brian Hirzel. Hirzel is the deputy who shot 74YO Pastor Wayne Scott Creach to death at his Spokane Valley nursery last week. Reagan accused Bagg of trespassing and scaring the children in the home in an attempt to interview the family. Bloglander, the Inlander blog, provides Reagan’s first release, ripping Bagg here. Then, the Bloglander offers a follow-up post in which Reagan admits that Bagg had not trespassed as he’d been told. “The reporter, Marissa Bagg, walked to the front door of the home and knocked while her videographer filmed from the end of the walkway.  Marissa received no answer at the home and interviewed a neighbor instead.  Based on what the children told Kootenai County deputies, the kids were obviously shaken and may have overstated the event in recounting it to deputies.”

Question: Should KCSD spokesman Dave Reagan have publicly apologized to Marissa Bagg?

DFO: Do you still think you’re a better cowboy than Butch Otter?
Keith Allred (Web site here): I’ve certainly stayed on my horse more consistently. I actually worked as a real cowboy. In 1981 the cattle market had plummeted, which meant I was the lone hand on my grandpa’s 1200-acre, 400-head cattle ranch. We wondered if we were going to lose the ranch. He had to focus on his real estate business. And asked me to run the ranch. That wasn’t dressing up and playing cowboy. The family business was on the line.

• DFO: You are an unusual mix of cattle rancher/Mormon/Harvard prof. How do those things help in an election like this?
• Keith Allred: It goes to heart of my approach to governing which is based in the founding father idea that broad and diverse support is the best indicator of wisdom. We live in this highly partisan era where we draw lines and say I’m one thing of the other. That’s never what the founders intended. They intended for us to take the best from all sides. That’s what I tried to do in my life. I absolutely loved running my grandpa’s cattle ranch on my own. I learned so much re: practical problem solving. I loved my experience as professor of public policy at the Kennedy School of Government. My specialty was conflict resolution.

• See more below

The new lineup of  stars, from left, Brandy, David Hasselhoff, Jennifer Grey, Kurt Warner, Margaret Cho, Kyle Massey, Audrina Patridge, Rick Fox, Florence Henderson, co-host Brooke Burke, Bristol Palin, and host Tom Bergeron, pose for a photo in Hollywood, Calif., Monday. The two-hour season premiere of ” Dancing with the  Stars,” airs Monday, Sept. 20 at 8 p.m. ET on the ABC Television Network. (AP Photo/ABC, Craig Sjodin)

Question: Bristol Palin?

JohnA: Montana was always a fun place to visit back in the old days. Growing up a few miles away in the Silver Valley, we’d take advantage of their hospitality on more than one occassion. Seltice was a short drive away, especially when their drinking age was 18 (officially, anyway). The 10,000 Silver Dollar bar was another great place (the old one, not the commercial gag at Haugen) and for a longer trek there was St. Regis and the nearby hot springs. It was cool cruising along at whatever speed felt right, which when you’re a teenager is as fast as the old beater could go.

DFO: My family has strong ties to Montana from my 5 years there. My wife & I were the first O’s to migrate. Eventually, three siblings & my mother followed. My son was born there. Two of my siblings married Montanans. Two nephews were born there. I’ll always have a fondness for the rugged Rockies out of town to the east and the independent characters that I met there.

Question: Do you have Montana ties and/or fond memories of The Big Sky state?

Mike (Bullard, legislative candidate for Coeur d’Alene House District 4A seat) started out walking, but that wasn’t fast enough, so he reached down into his roots for a better way. As a youth he did not have a car through high school or college. Mike traveled by bike, even dating by riding girls on his handlebars. (Not many agreed to that, but they were the best ones). Now, with a little outfitting from one of our great local bike shops, he is rolling through the precincts. So far he has knocked on doors of 2500 voters. Five precincts down, sixteen to go by November/Coeur d’Alene Ped/Bike Committee. More here.

Question: What do you make of a legislative candidate campaigning on a bicycle?

Sixty percent of listeners who responded to an online survey by the Boise radio station say President Barack Obama is a Muslim, more than twice the figure in a recent national poll. Fifty-five percent of respondents to the non-scientific poll said Obama is a foreign-born Muslim and 5 percent said he is a native-born Muslim. Another 5 percent said Obama was Christian, but foreign born. KBOI host Nate Shelman said Tuesday afternoon that 716 respondents replied to the online poll Monday and Tuesday. During Monday’s show, Shelman discussed a Newsweek poll that found 24 percent of respondents said Obama was a Muslim/Follower of Islam/Dan Popkey, Idaho Statesman. More here.

Question: What do you make of this Boise area poll?

People are shown outside Red’s Bar on a late Friday night in Missoula, Mont., earlier this month.  Montana has long been a state where you could crack open a beer and drive down the interstate just about as fast as you liked. Drinking and  driving  was legal until 2003, when it was changed only under heavy federal duress, and there was no specified speed limit on major highways. But spurred by the high-profile death last year of a highway patrolman at the hands of an intoxicated driver,  Montana’s Old West drinking and  driving culture is in retreat. Story here. (AP Photo/Mike Albans)

• Abuse payments sap diocese fund, putting churches at risk/John Stucke, SR
• Sportsmen want wolves killed to protect elk/Perry Backus, Ravalli Republic
  
• FBI raids in Spokane County linked to suspect w/Aryan ties/Meghann Cuniff, SR
• 3rd person dies in chopper crash in downtown Kamiah/Lewiston Tribune
• 3YO was handling cop’s gun when it discharged/Katy Moeller, Statesman
• Butane burner explosion rocks Boise State student union/KBOI2
• 60% of listeners of Boise station say Obama is Muslim/Dan Popkey, Statesman
• Orbusmax Special: ACLU: Washington schools can’t seize students’ cell phones here
  

Question: Do you miss the days that you could drive as fast as was “reasonable & prudent” in Montana?

On Sunday, Cindy posted this exchange between her boys on her Facebook page: “Zack: ‘Stay away from Mom.’ Sam: ‘Why?’ Zack: ‘She’s moving furniture.’ Sam: ‘Ohhhh, man!’ And then: “Some folks spend a lot of money on therapy. Me? I just re-arrange my living room. Moving pianos, sofas and entertainment cabinets by myself is theraputic. By the time I’m done, I’m so exhausted I can’t remember why I was upset to begin with. You cope your way. I’ll cope mine.”

Question: What do you do to cope with stress?

At As The Lake Churns, blogmistress Pecky Cox says she knows summer’s over when she sees sights like this at a Kalispell Bay cabin on Priest Lake.

• Noonish: Black Labs (11:59 report) are now in front of KMart, headed toward Costco.
  
• 11:59 a.m. 2 black Labs are running n/b in s/b lanes of H95, north of Kathleen/CdA.
• 11:44 a.m. Female on Pinetree/Hayden reports that a neighbor’s Husky “did damage” to her cat Monday.
• 11:37 a.m. 2 males are sitting in a blue Honda Civic that’s stuck in a ditch on Charlie’s Place/Rathdrum.
  
• 11:04 a.m. A truck hauling hay is 10% on fire as it enters Spirit Lake, s/b on H41.
  
• 10:06 a.m. Curley’s reports that someone left a message in feces on the bathroom wall.
• 10 a.m. A male, wearing a corduroy jacket, is passed out in a white Subaru @ Walgreens.
• 9:59 a.m. Caller reports a dog attack at Hayden City Park.
• 9:57 a.m. A female has locked herself in a vehicle after a physical fight w/a male in 4100 block of Player.
• 9:32 a.m. A tan car that’s partly blocking Diamond Bar/Rathdrum has been marked. Owner who lives on road has 48 hours to move it.
• 9:19 a.m. A person is having trouble breathing on B Street/Plummer.
• 9:06 a.m. CPD Blue patrol officer can’t respond to call because he’s stuck in traffic as a result of road construction @ Appleway & H95.
  

But, falling for a guy after a party, dating for a few weeks and becoming completely infatuated is not my idea of love. Classic case: Significant other is fallen for, priorities become messed up because every waking minute “needs” to be spent with them and teenage hormones kick in. But then guess what? You get sick of spending every second with each other, and the inevitable break-up comes. Then all you’re left with are bad grades, an empty wallet after all those dates because it wasn’t “romantic” enough to stay home and maybe a bad taste in your mouth after all that making out — or a cold sore. How can someone become so infatuated with another person that fast?/Dara Barney, University of Idaho Argonaut. More here.

Question: Do you mind seeing public displays of affection?

As the governor’s transportation funding task force opened its meeting this morning, one member, Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, took the opportunity to formally disclose a possible conflict of interest. She both made a statement and submitted a written notice, noting, “My private sector employer is the Associated Logging Contractors of Idaho. My employer may be impacted by the work of this committee. I want to formally and publicly disclose this potential conflict of interest and uphold the state Senate rules and my oath of office”/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

• Task force worries about impact of truckers/Eye On Boise
• Idaho claiming subsidy under law it’s challenging/Eye On Boise
• E. coli found in water at Idaho prison/Eye On Boise
• Agency says Otter will ask Obama for OK on wolf hunts/Idaho Reporter
  

Question: Should more political figures in local and state offices declare conflicts of interest?

The Eastern Washington Eagles are hoping their red turf proves to be as advantageous as Boise State’s blue turf has been to the Broncos. (SR file photo: Christopher Anderson)

• Monday Poll: 60 of 102 respondents (59%) said political debates involving statewide candidates like Gov. Butch Otter & U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo aren’t important. 41 of 102 respondents (40%) said they are. One person was undecided.
• Today’s Poll: Which Inland Northwest college has a more attractive football field?

Spokane’s economy is recovering, Coeur d’Alene’s remains in recession, according to a new analysis of June data released Monday by Moody’s Economy.com. But the Kootenai County city’s ranking for cost of doing business and cost of living are slightly better than those for Spokane, as is projected employment growth through 2011, the noted economic research firm concluded. Offseting Coeur d’Alene’s the positives are retreating home prices, which significantly exceeded national levels three years ago, says Moody’s, which looked at 392 urban markets. Spokane was ranked 149th for job growth, compared with 41st for Coeur d’Alene. Cost of business in Spokane was 81 percent of the national average, Coeur d’Alene’s was 76 percent/Bert Caldwell, SR Office Hours. More here.

Question: How will you know that the recession is over in the greater Coeur d’Alene area?

Sessions says his party will try to convince voters that casting a ballot for Minnick helps Pelosi and the Democrats. “We’re trying to change the agenda,” Sessions said. “Minnick had a chance to vote for John Boehner.” But so far, the GOP’s “guilt by association” tactic doesn’t appear to be working on Minnick. Which is ironic, considering how successful Republicans appear to be elsewhere as they try to lace the speaker’s agenda around the neck of incumbent Democrats like an albatross. So this may be a good year for the GOP. But at least one Democrat who appeared quite vulnerable last year could emerge victorious in one of the country’s most Republican-leaning districts/Chad Pergram, Fox News. More here.

Question (for mainstream Republicans): Are you tempted to vote for Congressman Walt Minnick this year?

The robber left with an undisclosed amount of cash and was last seen riding a gray, three-speed bicycle south on Government Way. He wore a black mask, a black bike helmet, denim shorts, a long-sleeve button-down shirt and white shoes with red “squiggly” lines.  He was carrying a white cloth grocery bag with an American flag on it and the phrase “Freedom is not free,” and was described as being in his late 20s or early 30s, police said/Meghann Cuniff, Sirens & Gavels. More photos and info re: robbery here

Question: Have you ever had a gun held on you?

The struggle against skunks is nothing new. Twin Falls resident Dennis Haynes recalled an encounter when he worked for former Twin Falls County Sheriff James Benham, who served from 1954 to 1967. While on patrol in the evening, Haynes noticed a baby skunk wandering into the courthouse through an open door. Haynes quickly caught the baby, then decided to take it home to surprise his wife and daughters. Haynes’ wife wouldn’t let him into the house with the skunk (which bit his finger after his barking dog startled it). He put the baby in a sack and took it to his in-laws, where they put it in a wire potato basket. When Haynes tried to stop the skunk from escaping, it sprayed his uniform and shoes/Melissa Davlin, Twin Falls Times-News. More here. (SR file photo for illustration: Jesse Tinsley)

Question: Have you ever been sprayed by a skunk?

I’m glad Glenn Beck felt the need to put on this rally. I’m glad people came to it. Such a rally, again, shows the desire for people to have their voice heard. That’s a good thing, isn’t it? You know what a “better” thing is? Love your neighbor. As yourself. Every neighbor. But you gotta start by loving yourself. And only God’s hand on us will allow us to do that. Patriotism doesn’t move God’s heart, loving my neighbor does/Dennis Mansfield. More here.

• To reform government, reform the culture first/Adam Graham, Adam’s Blog
• Boise gets some creamy white Nugent/Sisyphus, 43rd State Blues
• Does Beck have the answer/Idaho Conservative Blogger

Question: Do big rallies in Washington, D.C., like the one just staged by Glenn Beck, have a lasting impact?

I found a scam in my e-mail this morning, involving some online cad who is trying to pass himself/herself off as a friend. This is the second time that I’ve gotten something like this from a friend or acquaintance. The e-mail says: “I’m writing with tears in my eyes, I and my family came down here to (Cardiff, Wales) United Kingdom, for a short vacation unfortunately we were mugged at the park of the hotel where we stayed,all cash,credit cards and cell were stolen off us but luckily for us we still have our passports with us. I have been to the embassy and the Police here but they’re not helping issues at all and our flight leaves pretty soon from now but we’re having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won’t let us leave until we settle the bills. your contribution will go along way here. Please be so kind to reply back so i can tell you what to do and how to get some cash to us …  Am freaked out at the moment.” Be careful out there. (AP Illustration/Peter Hamlin)

Question: Have you received a scam e-mail like this one?

Restaurant workers from Anthony’s at Spokane Falls watch from a back service entrance Monday as a robot carries a black case that was found just south of the business on the Post Street Bridge. The case was later determined to contain a video camera. Story here. (SR photo: Dan Pelle)

• Idaho Records/Sherry Adkins, Spokesman-Review
• Monday Scanner Traffic/DFO, Huckleberries Online
• Autumn-like rain to end dry August/Mike Prager, Spokesman-Review
• Manager ‘ballparks’ 2010 North Idaho Fair crowd at 70,000/Alecia Warren, CdA Press
  
• Mourners note ‘good example’ set by clergyman/Thomas Clouse, SR
  
• Montana drinking/driving culture at crossroads/Matt Gouras, Associated Press
• Clearwater Paper death classified as an accident/Elaine Williams, Lewiston Tribune
• Henderson resigns from legislative budget committee/Brian Walker, CdA Press
• Wells Fargo robber may have struck in Spokane, too/Tom Hasslinger, CdA Press
  

Mattel has come out with a new product line, “Monster High,” that is proving popular. The line includes dolls, diaries, clothes and purses. Story here. (Courtesy of Mattel/MCT)

DFO: I’m going to change this post to one inviting comment rather than cutline suggestions.

Question: Would you rather buy your daughter a Barbie or one of this line of Monster High dolls?

Kootenai Conservative: All my relatives on my father’s side are from the South, and they would tell you it would be a grave mistake to interpret a display of the Confederate flag as a gesture of racism or sympathy with slavery. It’s a symbol of Southern pride that those of us from the North or West can have trouble understanding because there’s nothing analogous to it in our own regional cultures. A lot of people in Texas fly Texas flags for the same reason.

Question: Do you consider the display of a confederate flag to be a racist statement?

Bent: While I am sure there are a few incidents, I cannot recall reading about any problems with people and alcohol at Post Falls City Parks … Alcohol is leagl in Post Falls Parks and Beaches… Didn’t see any problems at the fair this weekend either… I see more trouble in the police bar report on Sherman Avenue, where bars are allowed to sell the evil drug to people.

Don Sausser: I have nothing against anyone enjoying beer but the effects of alcohol are well demonstrated. … I don’t “buzz” and find life really good without it. Not much buzz in a diet pepsi but it taste good on a hot day. I’m glad that it works in Post Falls Park. But while I was on the NIC Board we allowed alcohol on the NIC beach. It caused so many problems that we reversed the policy after one season.

Question: Would you like to see alcohol allowed in city parks and more public events like the North Idaho Fair?

Alright, so what did $55 buy you at the North Idaho Fair and Rodeo in Coeur d’Alene this past weekend? As it turns out, not much. Here’s the Lovely Family’s tally:

• 1 Lemonade (to share)
• 1 kid’s sized hotdog, minus the bun
• 1 gyro with too much lettuce and not enough meat
• 2 corn dogs
• 12 tickets for the kiddie rides

Forget the fact that the folks at Huckleberries Online agree that MB is the cutest kid in North Idaho (wink, wink) and we got tickets to get in for free, the Lovely Family is still down $55. Yowza! I remember the days when I could go the fair with little more than $0.25 in my pocket and walk away with a giant stuffed animal, two dead goldfish, cotton candy, puke on my clothes from all the rides, passing out on Dad’s shoulder as he carried me into the house/ilovecda.com. More here.

Question: How much did you spend at the North Idaho or Bonner County fairs? Do you consider it to be too much?

Michael Ramirez/Investor’s Business Daily

Ready or not, we’ve moved past the North Idaho Fair & Bonner County Fair. Which means that the fall campaigns for county, legislative, statewide, & congressional offices are officially upon us. If you didn’t realize that, you weren’t paying attention to the political ads last week from Spokane television stations. I flinched the first time I heard an attack ad in the Murray-Rossi campaign. Unfortunately, we’re also subject to Washington’s mudslinging as a result of our proximity to the Washington state line. Sigh. While I go in search of covering for protection from mud splatter, I’ll play this Wild Card …

Jordan Hooton, of Daingerfield, Texas, gets thrown from  Smoke  Signal during the  Kitsap County Fair & Stampede in Silverdale, Wash. (AP Photo/ Kitsap Sun, Larry Steagall)

Maybe people are simply adjusting. Anecdotes about the high cost of education are everywhere — a recent New York Times Magazine story details the plight of 20 somethings too broke to move out of their parents’ basements. Young people — and, often, mom and dad — are finishing college with unprecedented debt loads. To put it in the visceral parlance of contemporary politics, it’s like a tax on trying hard. By choosing not to fund higher ed, our leaders are over burdening the newest recruits to the working class — and potentially crippling our economic future. Some are giving up. According to a recent Delta Project report on higher ed, more college students today are abandoning their education, and low-income applicants are finding it particularly hard to take those first steps toward realizing the American Dream/Ted S. McGregor, Inlander. More here.

Question: Can you afford to send your children to college?

• 6:02 p.m. Caller reports a black-and-silver boat racing on Fernan Lake.
  
• 5:47 p.m. A pack of alpacas are standing on H97 & M/P 91 (Beauty Bay Hill grade).
  
• 5:09 p.m. A female who had been unconscious in a vehicle in front of McDonalds on H41/Rathdrum now is awake and screaming.
  
• 5:06 p.m. Possible structure fire @ 10176 Cliffhouse/Hauser Lake.
  
• 4:56 p.m. Female reports that she took home a jacket that was left on a bike near Hancock Fabrics, Prairie Shopping Center/Hayden, when she couldn’t locate the owner.
• 4:14 p.m. Oak Crest Park on Ramsey Road/CdA reports unwanted salesman of cleaning supplies in mobile home park.
  
• 4:03 p.m. A vehicle has hit a pedestrian @ 4th & Locust/CdA.
• 4:02 p.m. Motorcyclists are popping wheelies on I-90 @ Spokane Street/Post Falls.
  
• 4:01 p.m. Juveniles are causing problems in Head Start alley, 821 Spokane/Post Falls.
• More below
  

North Idaho Fair manager Chris Holloway, left, is shown with the winner of the quilt raffle: Anita Price.  The reversible quilt measures 5-foot-2 wide and 6-foot-7 tall. It was handcrafted by members of the P’s & Q’s Quilt Group from Community United Methodist Church of Coeur d’Alene. And you can find the name and photo of the dollhouse raffle winner here. (Courtesy of North Idaho Fair Facebook page)

• MIA sex offender perfect fodder for welcome back post/Meghann Cuniff, S&G
  
• ‘Friends of Mary Lou’ meet Demo guv candidate Allred/Terry Harris, KEA Blog
• 2-fer: Spokane police identify deputy in pastor shooting; and: Mourners recall life of pastor, nurseryman/Thomas Clouse, SR
• Minnick flub plays into Simpson’s talk of ‘Speaker Hoyer’/Dan Popkey, IStatesman
  
• Crime Stoppers offers reward in briefcase bomb near NI fair/DFO, HucksOnline
• Much of downtown Spokane now under surveillance/Spokesman-Review
• Spokane firemen sent to wrong address in fatal fire/KREM2
• ISP to increase seatbelt enforcement in September/Dustin Hurst, IReporter

Crime Stoppers of the Inland Northwest is offering a cash reward for information leading to the arrest of the person responsible for placing an explosive devise inside of a briefcase. The briefcase was discovered at 4:30 p.m. Friday in a grassy swale on 2nd Street, south of Kathleen Ave. It later was detonated by the Spokane County Bomb Squad. A note was attached to the briefcase that said “Warning, do not touch, boom.” The briefcase was located about one block south of the Kootenai County Fairgrounds, off of Kathleen Avenue, where thousands of people were attending the North Idaho Fair. Any fair goers parked in the area are asked to report any suspicious activity they saw. Anyone with information on this crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 667-2111, toll free at 866-667-2111. Callers are asked to use a code name or number and do not have to use their own name to be eligible for a reward.

A supporter of Gustavo Rojas wears a pin depicting Rojas in Caracas,  Venezuela. Rojas, a candidate for for  Venezuela’s National Assembly Sept. 26 elections, is using an unusual campaign fundraising technique: raffling off a  breast enlargement surgery. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Cecilia Serrano)

Top Cutlines:

• 1. As a show of support from the dairy industry, A Rojas fan quells rumors that he’s “Lactose Intolerant” — Soaf.
• 2. With his motto “If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them both”, Rojas keeps constituents largely abreast of his campaign donations — JohnA.
• 3. A supporter of Gustavo Rojas, does a little amateur pole dancing in the streets of Caracas, while keeping the crowd abreast on the issues and milking the routine for all it was worth — Kage Mann.
• HM: Charlie & Herb
  

In a story in The Hill evaluating the growing strength of the Republican Party in this fall’s elections, reporters Shane D’Aprile and Sean J. Miller write that the race between Rep. Walt Minnick, D-Idaho, and Republican Raul Labrador has moved from “toss-up” to “lean Democratic.” The report continues: “Minnick has taken to Twitter to highlight the National Republican Congressional Committee’s reluctance to buy TV ad time in his once-targeted district. After party-favorite Vaughn Ward lost the primary to Raul Labrador, Republicans seem to have abandoned their ambition of unseating the conservative Democrat.” The rest of the story here.

DFO: A person in the know in Kootenai County Republican politics tells me that s/he’s thinking about voting for Minnick — as are a number of his/her Republican friends — thinking they’d rather have the incumbent for 2 more years than risk having a Bill Sali-like representative for the foreseeable future. Dunno if this person has ever voted Republican in a 1st Congressional District race. But it doesn’t bode well for Labrador.

“We still have a fair amount of summer left but you know Fall is approaching in North Idaho when the pumpkins are maturing and the corn crop is ready to harvest,” posts Sunny/Bent’s Beer Garden. More here.

• Dream a little dream (of school’s first day)/A Butterfly Moment
• Book review: Republican noise machine/Arch Druid
• 1st Priest Lake triathlon successful/As The Lake Churns
• Cyberspace show and tell/Atmospheric Ruminations
• New Orleans 5 years later/Community Comment
• Thank you Walt Whitman/Gathering Around The Table
• Welcome to hotels.com/ilovecda.com
• Serious yummage/JeanC’s Cat House & Shooting Gallery
• Getting a point across/Live, Love, Laugh, Hope
• Idaho cultural experience/Slight Detour
• Empty/Tumblewords

HucksOnline numbers (for week of Aug. 22-28): 50,923/31,020

The Idaho Transportation Department has joined ConocoPhillips in appealing to the Idaho Supreme Court a local judge’s decision to revoke its permits for four huge truckloads of oil refinery equipment to travel winding U.S. Highway 12 from Lewiston to Montana, saying the decision could “end up restricting commerce and limiting business opportunities.”    Meanwhile, the high court granted a motion from ConocoPhillips to expedite the court appeal, rather than take the usual time - averaging 450 days - to hear a civil appeal. However, it set oral arguments for Oct. 1. That’s expedited for a Supreme Court appeal, but it’s not quick enough to allow Conoco to move the four giant shipments before paving starts on the second lane of the Arrow Bridge on Highway 12/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

• ITD joins ConocoPhillips in appealing Bradbury’s decision/Betsy Russell, EOB
• Lack of political experience doesn’t bode well for Allred/Dustin Hurst, IReporter
• Otter meets with officials battling fires/Brad Iverson-Long, Idaho Reporter
• Wildlife advocates working toward resolution on wolves/Brad Iverson-Long, IR
• Study: high-tech jobs decline, but still pay well/Brad Iverson-Long, IReporter
  

Question: Are you pleased that the Idaho Department of Transportation has joined ConocoPhillips in appealing judge’s decision banning its rigs on scenic Highway 12?

I’ve wanted to post this terrific photo by Linda Lantzy/Idaho Scenic Images since I first saw it last week. Post Linda: “It felt good to get out tonight. It seems like it’s been awhile. Just a little pink sky over the lake.”

Idaho state Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint via Twitter: “Decided that the name of the airport’s new full body scanner ‘Rapiscan’ is Freudian given what it shows!”

Question: Have you endured the new full body ‘Rapiscan’ at an airport?

Ronald G. Johnson of Rathdrum, who calls himself “The Dragon Slayer,” has filed to run against incumbent Christie Wood in the North Idaho College trustee election for Position B, according to County Clerk Dan English. Wood has already filed for re-election. Also, Coeur d’Alene attorney Ken Howard has filed for the vacant trustee seat being vacated by Trustee Rolly Williams. Filing deadline is 5 p.m. Wednesday.

The Spokane Valley Police officer who fatally shot a pastor and greenhouse owner last week was identified Monday as Deputy Brian Hirzel. Spokane Police spokeswoman Jennifer DeRuwe said Hirzel has been with the Spokane Valley Department for two years. The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office contracts with the city of Spokane Valley to provide deputies to serve as police officers. Previously, Hirzel had worked at the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office in Idaho and as an officer in Cathedral City, Calif., which is near Palm Springs. DeRuwe – who is handling news releases because of a critical incident protocol between departments – offered no new information about why Hirzel shot Pastor Wayne “Scott” Creach outside his business, the Plan Farm at 14208 E. Fourth Ave/Thomas Clouse, SR. More here.

Toadman: This is why we generally come to hike Stickman’s hill in the fall. It’s quiet. Also, though we’re from Spokane, and have only lived in the area for seven years this September, we don’t feel like outsiders anymore. We feel we’ve become locals. What do you think? Seven years = Inland Northwest local, or no?

Question: Do you become a native Inland Northwesterner in 7 years?

A mink runs past dead animals on a road in Hiliodendro, near the northern Greek city of Kastoria earlier today. More than 50,000 minks were set loose in the area on Friday and Saturday, after raids by suspected animal rights activists on two fur farms. Greece’s The National Fur Breeders’ Association said most of the released animals are likely to die, adding that the cost to the farm owners could pass Euros 1 million ($1.27 million) despite an effort to recover the animals. (AP Photo/Nikolas Giakoumidis)

JohnA: I’m a Chamber of Commerce guy when it comes to tourists, as I know the economic impact they provide to the area. It’s just that by the end of August we’re ready for a break from the hordes. We don’t mind sharing paradise but it’s great when we finally get our peace and quiet back. That’s our September reward, and like many locals, we look forward to it.

DFO: I’ll confess that I’m tired to death of having tourists all over our waterfront and downtown. Mrs. O & I drove thru downtown Cda en route to our customary walk along the north shore. I’d thought that the deluge of tourists had subsided because we were turning the corner to fall. But downtown was packed. The waterfront less so. We’ll have to wait for Labor Day.

Question: Are you tired of tourists and visitors overrunning the waterfront?

Scientists report that a favorite food of many bears, nuts from whitebark pine cones, is scarce. So as grizzlies look to put on some major pounds in preparation for the long winter ahead, they will be looking for another source of protein - meat - and running into trouble along the way. Wildlife managers already report bears coming down off the mountains and into areas frequented by hunters, berry pickers and hikers. “Pack your bear spray,” said grizzly researcher Chuck Schwartz with the U.S. Geological Survey. “There’s going to be run-ins.” The reason to lose weight? If bears are looking to make a meal of a human it stands to reason the fatter you are, the more bear cubs you would be able to feed. Any intelligent grizzly would know that one plump human is worth at least two skinny ones/Kathy Hedberg, Lewiston Tribune. More here.

Question: Have you ever carried bear spray while camping, hunting, or hiking in bear country? Or do you prefer a handgun?

We socially twitchy human beings tend to judge other people not only by the color of their skins but by the weird accents of their voices. For instance, I know a man who speaks upper crust English in the same accent as former English Prime Minister Tony Blair. But that’s misleading. My friend is a man of ordinary interests no smarter than most of us. But when you hear him speak, the accent tends to make a person think the speaker has some giant brain. We don’t often experience that accent around here. But when we hear it on television, it is often some brainy British politician, philosopher or scientist. So we tend to equate that accent with smart people, whether they are or not. On the other hand, President Lyndon Johnson and President George W. Bush - two men with down-home Texas accents - sound like uneducated hicks to my bigoted ear/Bill Hall, Lewiston Tribune. More here.

DFO: My father-in-law was a sharp man who taught math and science in high school. However, he had an accent that made him sound as though he came from the streets of Brooklyn. Which he did — and an orphanage, to boot.

Question: Do you form opinions of others as a result of their accents?

Bulls riders leave the arena as steel  beams from the World Trade Center from Sept. 11, 2001, lie on a trailer behind during the  Kitsap County Fair & Stampede in Silverdale, Wash., Sunday. The beams, which were put on display in two or three Kootenai County locations earlier this month (see Kerri Thoreson’s photos here), will become part of a Kitsap County, Wash., memorial. (AP Photo/ Kitsap Sun, Larry Steagall)

• Cartoon: Haunted housing market/David Horsey, Seattle P-I
  
• Suspicious briefcase near Spokane bridge held camcorder/Spokesman-Review
• Charge dismissed against woman who told judge to ‘slow down’/Daily Inter Lake
  
• Wyoming won’t change stance on wolves/Ben Neary, Associated Press
• WAC demands $5M from Fresno State, Nevada/Brian Murphy, Statesman
• Barker: Maybe it’s time to rethink ‘don’t feed the bears’ rule/Idaho Statesman
  
• New Sterling Financial chairman paid $1.5M/Bert Caldwell, Office Hours
• Robb Akey: Vandals as healthy as ever/Josh Wright, SportsLink
• UMontana player faces DUI charge/Kim Briggeman, Missoulian
  
• Accused wife killer says she set him off w/’green card’ comment/Associated Press
• Orbusmax Special: Mayor’s plan for new Portland gun laws could face opposition here
  

Aaron  Paul, left, a graduate of Boise’s Centennial High School and native of Emmett, holds his award for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series and Bryan Cranston holds his for outstanding lead actor in a drama series, both for their work on “Breaking Bad,” during the 62nd Primetime  Emmy Awards Sunday in Los Angeles. Story here. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Question: Did your favorite actor or show win an Emmy last night?

Rumor has it that the University of Idaho and Washington State University are discussing a renewal of football games in 2013. But Josh Wright (follow his Twitter here), who covers the Vandals for us, reports: “Vandal AD Rob Spear told me, ‘Nothing is set.’ The series was suspended after ‘07.”

Question: Would you like to see the football teams of the University of Idaho and Washington State University renew their football rivalry ASAP?

Coeur d’Alene police provided the media with a series of photos re: the suspect in the robbery of Wells Fargo Bank that occurred around 6 p.m. Friday, including the one above. KREM2 has other photos of the individual who got away on a three-speed bike here.

• 11:52 a.m. Caller reports that two pieces of wood fell out of an unsecured load in a trailer pulled by a pickup that entered the Ramsey Road transfer station. Also, an item from the load hit his vehicle.
• 11:31 a.m. A driver talking on a cell phone swerved all over road before pulling into 3120 Ironwood Place.
  
• 11:02 a.m. Resident @ 8785 Hillview/Hayden reports that someone in a green Jeep hit his mailbox and drove off.
• 10:57 a.m. Someone at U.S. Bank call center @ Seltice Way & old Atlas/CdA is suffering chest pains.
• 10:50 a.m. Hayden man has questions re: his son wrestling w/his roommate’s daughter.
• 10:41 a.m. A suspicious female in a green Pontiac Grand Am is parked in Athol city park, along 3rd, apparently watched children.
  
• 10:19 a.m. Maintenance worker at North Idaho College reports “everybody’s triple parked and nobody can get out of here” @ sewer plan overflow parking lot.
  
• 10:18 a.m. Brad has questions re: how many ducks & chickens his neighbor can have.
  
• 10:11 a.m. Dalton Gardens resident reports neighbor’s 2 dogs killed some of her chickens over the weekend.
  
• 10:02 a.m. A child has his foot caught in a bicycle frame (no location given).
• 10:01 a.m. Student needs a jump start for his red Toyota in NIC library parking lot.
• 9:53 a.m. An irrigation sprinkler is spraying onto H41 @ Wyoming/Rathdrum.
  
• 9:39 a.m. Caller has spotted a Ford Torino rolled on its top off road @ Hidden Valley & Starrina roads/Hauser.
• 9:19 a.m. H&W worker reports that mother and two teen children — 18 & 16 — are missing.
• 9:19 a.m. Graffiti reported @ I-90 & Government Way/CdA.
• 9 a.m. A Subaru station wagon has rolled over @ H95 & Garwood.
• 8:30 a.m. Hazmat team has been called to gas spill @ Chevron station, Government Way & Kathleen/CdA.
• 8:17 a.m. CPD Blue is checking on transient @ H95 & Northwest Blvd underpass.
• 8:16 a.m. Caller reports theft of irrigation equipment off Idaho Road/Post Falls.
• 8:11 a.m. Caller reports that a pickup is pulling a trailer that is leaking raw sewage onto road (unknown location). Pickup & trailer has just pulled into gas station.
  

• Weekend Poll: 31 of 87 respondents (35.6%) predicted that Lake City High will win the 5A Inland Empire League football championship this year. 30 of 87 (34.5%) guessed that rival Coeur d’Alene High would capture the title. 20 of 87 (23%) picked Post Falls to emerge as champs, while only 8 of 87 (7%) said the Lewiston would.
• Today’s Question: Are political debates involving statewide incumbents like Butch Otter & Mike Crapo important to you?
  

I was walking up and down Lewiston’s Main Street Saturday afternoon, having a great time looking at all of the (Hot August Nights) custom cars and wishing one or two of them were mine. Then a bigot opened his mouth, and a nice day was instantly downgraded. While I walking along looking at cars, a man seated along the curb pointed at the T-shirt worn by another man who was looking at cars. The seated man made a comment of approval about the Raiders. That was his team. Then he said, loud enough for everyone in the nearby crowd to hear, “Now that they got rid of that watermelon carrier, they’re going to the Super Bowl.” The guy was referring to former Raiders quarter JaMarcus Russell. Russell was, by all accounts, a total failure at the job. Indeed the Raiders dumped him. Russell is black, which is why the guy said what he said. But Russell isn’t bad because he’s black; he’s bad because he’s bad/Jeanne DePaul, Virtual Deadlines, Lewiston Tribune. More here.

DFO: I had a similar experience Sunday. My wife & I were walking along the north shore, west of City Park, when that guy a U.S. flag and a confederate flag flapping from his beater pickup bed drove past. A half hour later, we saw an African-American female running along Locust Avenue. I hoped that she would never see the jerk in the pickup.

Question: When did you last encounter racism on the street?

Before the May GOP primary, I took Gov. Butch Otter and Sen. Mike Crapo to task for skipping out on debates aired statewide on Idaho Public Television. The prospects are looking better this time around. Crapo’s campaign has tentatively agreed to an Oct. 19 debate — although the Senate’s adjournment date could pose a potential glitch. Otter’s camp has agreed to an Oct. 28 debate, just five days before the Nov. 2 election. According to the conventional wisdom, debates (help) a challenger by providing a shared podium with an incumbent. This is why incumbents often have considerable incentive to limit the number of debates — since the office holders already hold the edge in name identification and, generally in fund-raising/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. More here.

• Non-expendables: Don’t look for Yul Brenner, Steve McQueen/Dennis Mansfield
• Glenn Beck: An unlikely preacher/Fort Boise
• Do Idaho’s wilderness areas need safety signs?/John Robison, ICL
• Idaho 6th from bottom in 2nd quarter tax revenue/Dan Popkey, Statesman
• So much anti-federal wind comes from Idaho/Randy Stapilus, Ridenbaugh Press
• A view of federal lands policy … 50 years ago/Marc Johnson, The Johnson Post
  

Question Why do you think incumbents Butch Otter & Mike Crapo are willing to debate this year?

Tennessee Titans cornerback Ryan Mouton (29) shakes hands with Arizona Cardinals wide receiver  Max  Komar (18) at the end of NFL football practice last week in Nashville, Tenn. The Cardinals and Titans held a combined practice two days after playing a preseason game against each other. On Saturday night, Komar, a former University of Idaho Vandal, made six catches for 76 yards, including big catches on the final drive as Arizona beat Chicago 14-9. More here. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Throw all the small-school talk out the door. Niners left guard Mike Iupati is as NFL-ready as any rookie offensive lineman in the league. Just ask Raiders coach Tom Cable, who went out of his way to congratulate Iupati after the 49ers’ 28-24 victory over the Raiders in Saturday night’s exhibition game at the Coliseum. “He’s going to be a good one,” said Cable, a former Idaho offensive lineman, just like Iupati. Pro Bowl running back Frank Gore agrees, citing the monstrous hole Iupati forged on his 49-yard carry up the middle on his first touch of the preseason/David White, San Francisco Chronicle. More here.

Question: Are you going to follow the 49ers this year to watch ex-Vandal Mike Iupati play?

When the Knicks, not unpredictably, lost out in the LeBron James me-stakes, Turiaf came into play. New York launched its latest rebuild with a sign-and-trade of forward David Lee to the Warriors, bringing Anthony Randolph, Kelenna Azubuike and Turiaf in return. Earlier, the Knicks had signed free agent Amar’e Stoudemire, and since have added guards Raymond Felton and Roger Mason to the makeover. “I feel fantastic about people wanting me to be part of their organization,” Turiaf said, “part of the movement. I can’t wait to get started on the East Coast. I’m not looking forward to the weather, but the basketball side is something else. I thank the Warriors for what they did for me and the fans and wish them nothing but good luck – and I can’t wait to play them twice. “This has brought happiness to my life”/John Blanchette, SR. More here.

• Former Gonzaga men’s basketball standout  Ronny  Turiaf  acknowledges the audience and fellow 2010 graduates May 9  in Spokane.  Turiaf received his degree in sports management. (AP Photo/The Spokesman-Review, J. Bart Rayniak)
  

Question: Who is your all-time favorite Zag?

“Stand by your Klan” by Doug Clark

“No matter what you hear, no matter what you think, no matter what you feel, you have to say the following: ‘No, that is not my husband’s voice,’ ” Steele said. “Then, like a rhinoceros in the road, you have to stand your ground and refuse to say anything but that.” That paragraph prompted one of my editor pals to suggest a makeover of the old Tammy Wynette hit “Stand By Your Man.” Well, you know me. When my editors say, “Jump,” I say, “Show me the cliff!” Steele was back in the news this week over a lovey-dovey birthday card he sent to his wife. Allegedly. The card violates a no-contact order, according to a federal prosecutor. So Friday found me in a recording studio with Joe Brasch, my bandmate and musical co-conspirator/Doug Clark, Spokesman-Review. More here.

Question: What do you think of Doug Clark’s latest spoof song, “Stand By Your Klan”?

Sunday evening, reports photographer Don Sausser, a major float party assembled at City Docks. Hundreds, with some people in tuxes, crossed the bridge to board the Coeur d’Alene and Mish-an-Nock coupled together while on the other side were three additional tour boats tied together. Before the first bunch boarded in came 18 school buses with another throng of folks loading. A banner said: “Gonzaga Student Association.

• Idaho Records/Rainey Coffin, SR
  
• Clouds, showers likely today, warm air returns Thursday/Mike Prager, SR
  
• Memorial set this morning for slain Spokane Valley pastor/Spokesman-Review
• Doug Clark: A song to help you love your Klan man/Spokesman-Review
• Idaho superintendent’s race in the spotlight/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise
• And the North Idaho Fair winners are …/Coeur d’Alene Press
• Post Falls police on alert for ‘incense’ used as drug/Brian Walker, CdA Press
• WSU researchers trace apple’s origins to Kazakhstan/KXLY
• 1 person, 3 dogs die in Sunday morning fire in Spokane/KREM2
  

On her Facebook page, Trish Gannon writes: “Worst thing you can hear while your son is killing a monstrous wolf spider for you? “My god, how come you’re not dead yet?” I’ll have nightmares that a truly ticked off spider is determined to get in the house for revenge.

Question: My wife spotted the first of the wolf spider invasion this weekend — an arachnid that had gotten into our garage. Have you found any wolf spiders in the house yet?

Maggie the Ghost needs to get busy throwing plates and shattering coffee cups. Legend has it that a woman named Maggie checked into Wallace’s Jameson Inn decades ago and never really checked out. Apparently, she waited patiently in her room for months and months for her rich suitor to return from a trip back east, and he never did and though she finally gave up and left the hotel in life, in death she has returned to wait it out for eternity. I can’t blame Maggie for being in a rotten mood, but unfortunately her bad vibes seem to have put a curse on the service level and quality of food in the old Inn’s restaurant/OrangeTV, Get Out! North Idaho. More here.

Question: OTV had a bad experience trying to get a hamburger and then nachos at the Jameson in Wallace. Have you had a better experience eating at the Jameson?

The assignment was simple: Go to Costco and buy a gray cooler on wheels so your husband could carry your 4-year-old while rolling the device, with his brewskis chilled to a perfect 45 degrees inside, to the Festival at Sandpoint this month. Only Maryellen Garasky hadn’t figured on a close encounter with Costco’s “The Cooler Nazi.” The problem started when she discovered that the coolers were blue instead of gray. So Maryellen whipped out her cell phone to text a photo to her husband, to see if the color mattered to him. Only to hear the Cooler Nazi shriek: “You can’t take pictures in Costco!” Maryellen said she tried to explain her dilemma, but was admonished twice more: “You can’t take pictures in Costco!” So Maryellen backed off, bought a $10.26 bottle of Columbia Valley wine and munchies, and headed to the checkout counter – only to see Cooler Nazi, stationed by the blue coolers, giving her the stink eye/DFO, Huckleberries Online. More here.

• Boise: U.S. Senate delegation loses ground in digital IQ/Betsy Russell
• Business: Sandpoint Pita Pit to open mid-September/Nils Rosdahl
• Restaurant: Wallace restaurant can’t withstand Big Burn crowds/Patrick Jacobs
  
• Weather: Weather combination leads to red-flag warnings/Michelle Boss
• Schools: North Idaho College welcomes studious throng/Jacob Livingston
  
• Sandpoint: Mayor: Proactive approach keeps Sandpoint strong/Patty Hutchens
  

Question: When did you last have a bad experience shopping at a local store?

Joe Heller/Hellertoons

An Athol motorcyclist was killed after he crashed and rolled his bike along Highway 95 @ Homestead Road/Bonner County at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Mason L. Justin, 36, was northbound on his Harley Davidson when dor an unknown reason he crossed both southbound lanes and crashed off the west side of the road, rolling his motorcycle. Justin was not wearing a helmet and was deceased at the scene. This crash is still being investigated by the Idaho State Police.

Looks like all hell broke loose as I was leaving work last night. I recorded that a suspicious device was found at 5:50. But I didn’t realize at the time that it was that briefcase near the fairgrounds, that tied up things for fair goers who parked nearby for hours afterward. And I turned off the scanner a few minutes after 6 o’clock, so I didn’t hear about the bank robbery at Wells Fargo — my bank — until I saw Christie Wood’s news release a couple of hours later when I checked my e-mail. Then, there was that attempted robbery allegedly by a gang of thieves that was thwarted by a couple who live near Coeur d’Alene High earlier this week. What’s this town coming to? We’re getting as bad as Spokane, as far as crime goes. With that happy thought, I’ll post the Wild Card …

Hazel Christa came home with several ribbons from the North Idaho Fair, including one for this black-and-white portrait. But she had to work for it. On Facebook, she explains: “We noticed in the B&W Child category, there was a 1st and 3rd place but no 2nd place awarded. My picture did not have a ribbon on it. We asked about the 2nd place ribbon. The attendants came and reviewed the cards and determined that A) no 2nd place had been awarded (possibly due to oversight) and B) the picture wi…th the 1st Place ribbon had been misidentified. The actual 1st Place entry? My picture of my son. I actually kissed Ken Cook the Superintendent. As he stood in front of his wife, Elaine Cook, the other Superintendent.”

On her Facebook page, Denise Durflinger writes: “went to the NI Fair yesterday. What a gorgeous day…partly cloudy with temps around 70. Saw so many old friends — Don & Kathy, Amy, Sandy, Linda. Ate so much, thought I was going to burst! German dog with fried onions, garlic french fries (from the Lions Club booth - YUM!!!) funnel cake. Orange julius, diet pepsi, huckleberry shake!!! Hey - the fair only comes around once a year!

Question: How important to you is going to the fair to run into old friends that you haven’t seen in awhile?

We were talking with a nice couple from Calgary last weekend when the husband asked, “Do you really like Canada or are you just saying that to be polite?” Awww. That’s so Canadian. We don’t say things to be polite. We’re Americans. So for me, at least, the answer is yes, I really do like Canada. And I am particularly enamored of that entire country right now, having just returned from a trip to Cranbrook, Fernie and Waterton Lakes National Park (the park that sits atop Glacier National Park like a tuque)/Jim Kershner, SR. More here.

Question: Do you really like Canada — and Canadians — or are you just being polite?

Law enforcement leaders tell us that officers don’t get special treatment. Some tell us that they ought to be held to a higher standard. But the rules are clearly different when one of them is involved in a fatal incident. It is department policy to forgo an interview with an officer for the first 48 hours. Policy also dictates that an officer not be named for the first 72 hours. That’s why the details are sketchy. But Spokane police Maj. Scott Stephens said no further information will be released until next Thursday, which is more than a week after the incident. This only raises more questions. When will the shooter be interviewed? Will he or she be named once the 72 hours has passed? If not, what’s special about this case? What about witnesses? Are there any witnesses?/Spokesman-Review Editorial Board. More here.

Question: Is the officer involved in the shooting of a Spokane Valley pastor/nursery owner getting special treatment by investigating agency?

A s we roll into one of those precious last weekends of pre-election-season summer, there is something fitting about an item that blends politics and beer. Sen. Mike Crapo will tour a Pocatello craft brewery today, as he touts his bill designed to give a tax break to small breweries. On May 11, the Idaho Republican was one of four original co-sponsors of a bill to cut the breweries’ federal excise taxes in half. The bill now has 24 co-sponsors, which improves its prospects of making its way onto the Senate docket. Eight co-sponsors come from the West’s barley belt, but it’s still a curious bipartisan coalition. How else can you describe a bill that brings together the likes of Crapo and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.? Crapo is an unlikely champion for microbreweries, as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which disapproves of drinking. But - as Crapo explained in May to Statesman reporter and beer blogger Patrick Orr - he sees the issue as “a business, not a moral, decision”/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. More here.

Question: What do you make of U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, who is a Mormon, leading the charge to win a tax break for small breweries?

A Coeur d Alene Police Department officer was on routine patrol when he noticed flames in height of excess of 50 feet coming from behind the Dragon House at 512 East Appleway.  When the officer pulled into the parking lot, he found 36-year-old transient Andrew McLean Wanczak standing in the parking lot staring at the flames.  Wanczak told the officer he set the fire because he was cold. Coeur d Alene Fire Department put out the fire to prevent further damage. The fire set by Wanczak caused damage to landscaping/fencing of the Coeur d Alene Inn, three vehicles of hotel guests, overhead wires for phone and cable which caused interruption to the hotel and a small amount of flame damage to an adjacent building.  Estimated damage cost at this time of in excess of $20,000 dollars. Wanczak was arrested and transported Kootenai County Jail where he was charged with 1st degree Arson/Christie Wood, Coeur d’Alene police spokeswoman.

Michael Ramirez/Investor’s Business Daily

Throughout preseason camp, Lake City football coach Van Troxel emphasized starting fast. Troxel’s Timberwolves provided the fresh beginning Friday he desired after back-to-back miserable starts. Lake City rolled to a pair of touchdowns in the first two quarters, cruising to a 41-7 win over Lakeland in a season opener at Corbit Field in Rathdrum. The Timberwolves piled up 456 yards total offense and the defense was equally effective. A 50-yard interception return by safety Beau Martz put LC up 14-0 barely 5 minutes and 31 seconds into the game/Greg Lee, SR. More here./Christian Caple, Moscow-Pullman Daily News

• Coeur d’Alene scores first 42 points in stopping Moscow 42-19/Christian Caple, Moscow-Pullman Daily News
  
• Wallace 60, Clark Fork 12
• Kootenai 48, Mullan 0
  

Coeur d’Alene Police and FBI agents are investigating the robbery of Wells Fargo Bank, Appleway & Government Way, that occurred at 6 o’clock today. Witnesses stated a male suspect entered the bank and threw cloth re-usable grocery bags at the tellers. The suspect demanded they hurry up and fill them. The male suspect waived around a large caliber handgun. He then left the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash. He was last seen riding a grey three speed bicycle, south on Government Way. His description is as follows: Male, late 20’s to early 30’s, wearing a black mask, a black bicycle helmet, jean shorts, a long sleeve button up shirt, white tennis shoes with red squiggly lines. His white grocery bag had an American flag design on it/Christie Wood, Coeur d’Alene police spokeswoman.

A suspicious briefcase found near the Kootenai County Fairgrounds this evening contained some kind of explosive device. The briefcase was reported at 5:50 p.m. by passersby who spotted it while they were heading to the North Idaho Fair a couple blocks away, said Coeur d’Alene Police Sgt. Christie Wood. The case had the words “Warning do not touch” and “Boom” written on it in black ink. It was left in a grassy area near the sidewalk on Second Street, south of Kathleen Avenue and behind the Great Floors store on Government Way. The Spokane County Bomb Squad safely detonated the device shortly after 10 p.m., Wood said. No one was injured and no property was damaged, she said/Carolyn Lamberson, SR. More here.

Signs that summer’s ending — North Idaho Fair. Last free concerts @ City Park, Fort Sherman Square, and Riverstone Park. Cool edge to night breeze. High school football returns to local football fields. As you can see below, our old buddy Dick Haugen will launch his new on-line broadcast of high school football tonight w/the game between Coeur d’Alene & Moscow. Dick, I believe, will also launch a midweek news broadcast focused on the Coeur d’Alene area. I may make some appearances on that. I’ll keep you posted. For now, I’ll play the Wild Card … and get on with posting …

It’s a very red field for EWU at the Cheney campus Friday. New bright red turf and a rename to Roos Field have given the Eagles a new look. (SR photo: Christopher Anderson)

Question: Which football field do you like best — Boise State’s blue? or Eastern Washington’s red?

Huckleberries hears … that unsuccessful congressional candidate Vaughn Ward will be relocating from Eagle to Kootenai County soon — to become CEO of Northwest Specialty Hospital, 1593 Polston in Post Falls. His job begins Wednesday.

John Austin: Actually, DFO, the end of August means that the best month of summer is upon us.  It’s that magical time for locals when we get our lakes back, our roadways back and our sanity back. Now, of course, July and August are exceptional in north Idaho with their long, hot days and cool if short nights.  But September is the king of summer for Deena and I as we navigate the south end of the lake without much competition, and meander the St. Joe and Coeur d’Alene rivers, gorgeous in their changing-to-fall colors.  We also have the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes to ourselves, mostly, to witness the moose, deer, elk and bears in our chance encounters. No, the visitors to our area can have the rest of summer as long as they leave September, in all its majesty, to the rest of us.

Question: Which season of the year is your favorite in Inland Northwest?

• 5:53 p.m. PFPD Blue asks dispatch to tell Knife River to remove a 2 1/2-foot-high pile of asphalt chips from road @ 11th & Idaho.
  
• 5:51 p.m. ISP officer warns of a car full of people traveling 92 mph on I-90 to football game in Kellogg or Wallace.
• 5:49 p.m. Caller reports a suspicious package @ Kathleen & 2nd/CdA.
  
• 5:07 p.m. A sprinkler from a farm operation is creating a water hazard on H41 & Wyoming/Rathdrum.
  
• 5:06 p.m. Resident reports a kitchen fire in Silver Lake Apartments, 698 Wilbur/Dalton Gardens. She left without using extinguisher.
• 4:59 p.m. Off-duty officer is following a possible drunken driver in a red Lincoln Continental across Spokane River on H95.
  
• 4:42 p.m. Caller has spotted a vehicle that rolled down an embankment, off Marie Creek Road in Wolf Lodge area. No one appears to be around the vehicle.
  
• 4:28 p.m. A duelly pickup is on fire near Tesoro holding tanks @ end of Sherman.
  
• 4:12 p.m. Someone is suffering an allergic reaction in 8400 block of Sunnyside/CdA.
• 3:44 p.m. Manager of Guest House Inn asks CPD Blue to kick unwanted female out.
• More below
  

Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich told the media earlier today that his department wants to “express to the family of Wayne (Scott) Creach our sorrow for their loss.” A press conference was held outside the Spokane County Courthouse. A Spokane County Deputy shot Creach Wednesday night in the parking lot of Creach’s Plant Farm in Spokane Valley. Thomas Clouse/SR story here. (SR photo: Dan Pelle)

• Schweitzer bartender saves wedding guest from choking/Kieth Kinnaird, Bee
  
• Boise State unveils plan for stadium w/53,000 seats/Chadd Cripe, Statesman
  
• Zag trio playing in world championships in turkey/Jim Meehan, SportsLink
• Neck fracture ends WSU running back’s career/Vince Grippi, SportsLink
• Hope bridge work forces detour of 35 days/Keith Kinnaird, Bonner County Bee
• Hearing in relay cyclist death set for Sept. 15/Keith Kinnaird, Bonner County Bee
• Groups plan Beck-like rally on MLKJr speech anniversary/Dustin Hurst, Statesman
• Allen sues Apple, Google, Facebook re: patent infringement/Brier Dudley’s Blog
  

Laura Meske, right, an employee at The Fox Hole strip club,  protests  against New Beginnings Ministries Church as Debi Durr, a member of the church, talks with her before the morning worship service in Warsaw, Ohio. You write the cutline. Story here. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Top Cutlines:

• 1. Laura recruits Debi’s family to be in the Fox Hole’s Christmas pageant because they’re having trouble finding a virgin and three wise men — JohnA.
• 2. Debi: “You don’t say! I’m working my way through medical school too! How much money did you say you make a night? Because, this church secretary job just isn’t cutting it…” — Toadman.
• 3.  “I don’t think ‘Naughty Choir Directors’ is going to go over very well at the club, Debi. But first, let’s find a good stripper name for ya…” — Kevin Taylor.
  
• HM: Frum Helen Back.

In an updated post, Kevin Richert/Idaho Statesman provides the Idaho GOP reaction to news that Walt Minnick’s effort to retain his seat in the 1st District appears ‘rosy’: “Idaho GOP Executive Director (Jonathan Parker) today reacted with general hilarity to a news report from CNN.com which, among other things, proclaimed Spokane to be part of Idaho and commended the state on miraculously avoiding a downturn in the property market. Parker states, ‘It is truly depressing to see the downfall in the standards of journalism in our country today, I am sure that even Walt Minnick is embarrassed to be mentioned in an article with as many errors and even fewer facts. Idaho is suffering during this crisis and whitewashing its condition to try and build up Walt Minnick won’t fool anyone.’” More here.

Question: Sour grapes? Or does Jonathan Parker make a good point?

Judge people not for the content of their character, but the contents of their pockets. Just kidding. But what if we were judged by the contents of our pockets? What would the contents of my pockets say about me? There are currently five items in my pocket:

• 1. A single poker chip. Red.
• 2. Two guitar picks. One orange and one green. Both are medium gauge, but the green one is slightly thicker.
• 3. A dime. I usually carry coinage of some varying quantity, but today it is ten cents. One lone coin.
• 4. My iPhone. Also known as the Swiss Army Knife of the digital age. 
• 5. Keys. My wife’s keys to be specific as my keys are in her purse.

DFO: BTW, check out Nic’s new and improved Web site here.

Question: What’s in your pockets?

“While wading in the Spokane River at Corbin Park, on what was likely the last 90-plus degree day of summer,” writes Kerri Thoreson/OnLocation North Idaho, “I watched a solitary golden leaf float by. Summer may be brief in northern Idaho but it’s truly spectacular”

• 10 things I’ve done since Monday/A Butterfly Moment
• Baseball days/Accidental Rabbit Trails
• Priest Lake Fairy Lane — 2010 summer project/As The Lake Churns
• A gentle soul dies tragically in Spokane Valley/Community Comment
• School outside the classroom/Crazy Homeschool Mama
• What manner of candidate have we chosen?/Dogwalk Musings
• Wine, women, and networking/Jamie Lynn Morgan
• It got a tad bit dusty yesterday/JeanC’s Cat House & Shooting Gallery
• Walls/Live, Love, Laugh, Hope
• 5 for Friday: What’s in your pockets?/Rants, Raves, & Random Thoughts
  
• Friday already?/Slight Detour
• Breaking down/Tumblewords

Hux Numbers (for Wednesday, Aug. 25): 8943/5437, and (for Thursday, Aug. 26): 9024/5335

When it came out earlier this year that Conoco Phillips wanted to ship this equipment, it sounded like the needle scratching across a record. Because people were thinking “Hey this might not be the best Idea” then it was announced “Hey we want to do it in the Late Fall early winter.” In the high mountains of Idaho winter does hit early. In fact sometimes it hits so early that kids go trick-or-treating in their snow suits to stay warm. … Like I said earlier, Highway 12 is a beautiful drive in the summer, lazy river, lots of shades with some hot springs you can easily hike to. In the winter however it becomes one of the gnarliest, hair raising, spine tingling adventures you can imagine. It is narrow, windy, and sometimes when it is snowing you don’t know where the edge of the road ends, and the beginning of the high canyons start. I have been opposed to this little idea ever since it was announced because if anything went wrong it could seriously damage the canyon/No Cannot Have! More here.

Question: Have you ever traveled Highway 12?

New York Liberty’s Leilani  Mitchell, right, drives past Phoenix Mercury’s Temeka Johnson during the first quarter of a WNBA basketball game in Phoenix in June 2009.  Mitchell, an ex-University of Idaho basketball star (2003-06), has been voted the WNBA’s most improved player on Thursday. Story here. (AP file photo/Rick Scuteri, File)

Sam Taylor: We welcomed Wesley Allen Taylor into the world at 4:23 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 26. He was 6 pounds, 11 ounces and he was 19 and 3/4 inches in length. And he was three weeks early! Boy howdy was he a surprise! Unfortunately, because he’s early he’s having a bit of a tough time breathing on his own, so he’s in the nursery in an isolette where they’re giving him 33 percent oxygen (we breathe 21 percent normally) so his O2 levels are in the acceptable range.

DFO: Please join me in congratulating Sam & the lovely Kate on the birth of Wesley.

Actually, I’m not sure if you’re offer is tongue in cheek, Kage, but yes all records have been provided and examined starting very early in the process through today. Both myself and my election staff have spent significant time just this week providing requested documents to both attorneys and their associates. I’m honestly not aware of anything that hasn’t been provided and in as quickly a timeframe as the legal process allowed. Like everyone involved I’ll be very happy to see this come to some final closure, whatever the Court decides, in a few weeks so my office and I can focus on our primary responsibilities for the soon to be here General Election.

Question: Has Dan of the County’s re-election chances been hurt by Jim Brannon’s lawsuit against the city of Coeur d’Alene and Councilman Mike Kennedy?

Sheriff (Ozzie) Knezovich, shown in Dan Pelle/SR photo, acknowledged the concerns of Spokane Valley residents and the outrage many feel about what happened that night. Creach was a 74-year old pastor at Greenacres Baptist Church. But, Knezovich also says it’s important to let the investigation play out before citizens jump to conclusions. He also acknowledged the feelings experienced by the police officer who fired the shot, saying “We do our best our there to protect the public. No police officer goes to work intending to hurt one of the citizens they’re sworn to protect”/Melissa Luck, KXLY. More here.

• Sheriff promises ‘full and complete’ investigation into pastor’s shooting/Thomas Clouse, SR
  

Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich,  (front leads a group of city police and sheriff deputies to tell the media at noon today outside the Spokane County Courthouse that his department wants to “express to the family of Wayne (Scott) Creach our sorrow for their loss.” A Spokane Valley officer shot Creach Wednesday night in the parking lot of Creach’s Plant Farm in Spokane Valley. See story links below. (SR photo/Dan Pelle)

• Cartoon: Tea bagger headache/Milt Priggee, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
• Missoula County will try to stop Conoco shipments/Kim Briggeman, Missoulian
• 3-fer: Family of slain Spokane Valley pastor release statement/, and: Sheriff: No officer goes to work intending to hurt public/both Melisssa Luck, KXLY; Sheriff promises ‘full and complete’ investigation into shooting/Thomas Clouse, SR
• WAC, Learfield launch WAC Sports Network/Zach Wolken, KTVB
  
• High tech provides 7% of jobs, 17% of wages in Idaho/Department of Labor
  
• Conoco says delay of Highway 12 big shipments will cost $9M/Eye On Boise
• E-mails show BSU prez’s involvement in saving MWC/Brian Murphy, Statesman
• Lighthouse Christian footballer 1 of 2 killed in crash/Laurie Welch, Times-News
• Schneider: Glacier Park’s shuttle system a stunning success/New West
• 3 grizzlies shipped from Polson to Louisville zoo/Vince Devlin, Missoulian
  
• Orbusmax Special: Levi Johnston recants apology to Palins, lands CBS gig here

Question: Could you pray for, let alone forgive, a police officer who accidentally killed a loved one of yours?

“After the Friends of the Fair dinner on Thursday night I spent a few hours strolling around the fairgrounds,” writes Kerri Thoreson/More Main Street. “ … I ran into my friends, Tom Messina and Robert Cliff, who were enjoying a beer with their German sausages. I saw a few more people with beer in hand during the evening and they, too, were consuming food at the time. As I mentioned on the air on KVNI this morning, hopefully people will reserve judgement on the impact of the new rules until this year’s fair is in the books. More here.

Question: Do you plan to drink a beer at the fair this year?

The University of Idaho announced that they received a $1 million grant from the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation, to help start a U of I Law School in Boise. … The plan is to eventually be housed in a remodeled Ada County Courthouse, and to be co-located with the Idaho Supreme Court Library. They still need to raise another $6 million to achieve that dream. I dunno about all this, though I’m not sure the U of I has much choice. If they don’t get a Boise presence, the new Concordia Law School is going to siphon off a bunch of their students. And if they do get a three year Boise program, it will pull students from the Moscow campus. Either way, it’s difficult to see how the Moscow law school stays viable, or at least, stays in anything like its current configuration/IdaBlue. More here.

Question: Do you agree with IdaBlue that a law school branch in Boise eventually will undercut that main one at the University of Idaho campus in Moscow?

• 11:58 a.m. Resident wants extra patrol in 400 block of E. 4th Ave./Post Falls b/c drivers are speeding through area today.
• 11:48 a.m. Caller on Hardy Creek Road/Cataldo reports that a drunken male who goes by nickname “Geronimo” is refusing to leave property.
  
• 11:46 a.m. Someone @ 1st & Bennett/Athol has suffered trauma resulting in back pain.
• 11:13 a.m. Anonymous caller reports loud music @ park @ 3rd & Bennett/Athol is keeping him awake.
• 10:53 a.m. A CdA female wants an officer present to tell her of her rights while her vehicle is being repossessed.
• 10: 30 a.m. Caller reports that a baby is unrestrained in a Jetta on Seltice Way & Corbin/Post Falls.
  
• 10:11 a.m. A full-size garbage can is lying in left lane of e/b I-90 @ M/P 7.5 (near H41).
  
• 9:17 a.m. Pastor of Real Life Ministries/Post Falls reports that someone messed with the utility meter and turned off power to church.
• 9:02 a.m. Utility wires are down @ 110 Cosgrove (& Cornflower Loop/CdA, creating a safety hazard.
• 9:02  a.m. Caller reports that a neighbor in 9800 block of Meadow Way/Hayden has 9 cats in residence.
• 8:41 a.m. Caller reports seeing smoke at Q’emiln Park/Post Falls.
• 8:29 a.m. A pickup pulling a trailer is on fire on I-90 @ M/P 26 (4th of July Pass).
• 8:19 a.m. Rosemary, @ Rose Lake gas station, reports a gas drive-off.
  

Singer Charmaine Neville, background left, and actress Shauna Rappold, center, playing the role of a grieving woman, participate in a symbolic jazz funeral to honor  Hurricane  Katrina victims, ahead of the fifth  anniversary of the storm, in downtown New Orleans, Wednesday. The actual anniversary of the day Katrina reached shore, devasting New Orleans, and other Gulf Coast areas is Sunday. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Question: Have you visited New Orleans or other Gulf Coast areas that were devastated by Katrina in the last five years? Observations?

There once was a time when Arizona Sen. John McCain warmly embraced the label “maverick.” He seemed to delight in taking positions at odds with his party - or even his state’s - orthodoxy. He had established himself firmly in the tradition of some of the great Senate mavericks of the past - LaFollette, Borah, even Goldwater. But just as BP’s “Beyond Petroleum” brand washed away in the Gulf oil spill, so has McCain’s maverick brand forever vanished thanks to his presidential election run and his ugly, but still decisive, victory yesterday in the GOP primary in Arizona. McCain, by all odds, will be back in the Senate post-November, but not as a maverick and likely not ever again as an interesting, important American political player/Marc Johnson, The Johnson Post. More here. (AP file photo)

• With a name like ‘Huck,’ he has to be good/Dennis Mansfield
• Ken Mehlman’s gay? Meh/Fort Boise
• Crapo unwittingly publicizes contradiction in GOP strategy/Sisyphus, 43rdSB
• Beginning of the end for UIdaho law school?/IdaBlue
• 90 years ago, a woman’s vote/Rick Johnson, Idaho Conservation League
• A shift from Labrador elseshere, and: How many ‘opposers’?/Randy Stapilus
  

Question: Which national politician today best exemplifies the label “maverick”?

OrangeTV, via Get Out! North Idaho Facebook: “Rumor has it that a certain recently evicted brewery in Cd’A has found a new location in a recently closed Christian performing arts center on 4th St. near downtown. If that’s not enough of a hint, can’t help ya …” (Hint: Coeur d’Alene Brewing Co. BTW, you can refresh your memory why Coeur d’Alene Brewing is looking for a new home and former Coeur d’Alene Press business reporter Rick Thomas is looking for a new job by clicking on this Coeur d’Alene Press story here.)

• Thursday Poll: 96 of 154 (62%) respondents said Gov. Butch Otter hurt Idaho education by offering & approving a budget that was too conservative. 55 of 154 (36%) said he wasn’t. 3 of 154 (2%) were undecided.
• Weekend Poll: Which talented team will emerge as football champion of the 5A Inland Empire League?
  

A Gallup survey indicates that in the first half of this year, 78 percent of Muslims approved of the job the president’s doing in the White House, while just 24 percent of Mormons give Obama a thumbs up. According to the poll, the president’s approval rating among Protestants and other Christians was 43 percent, it stood at 50 percent for Catholics, 61 percent among Jews, 63 percent for Atheists, Agnostics and those with no religion, and 64 percent for those from other non-Christian religions. The president’s approval among all Americans stood at 48 percent/Paul Steinhauser, CNN. More here.

• Cutline: President Barack Obama, and daughter Malia, ride bicycles in Manuel F. Correllus State Forest in West Tisbury, Mass., while the first family vacations on Martha’s Vineyard today. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Question: Any surprises here?

Hey Dave, A reminder to all High School Football fans. Tonight marks the start of my new business adventure NIWebsports.com. I’ll be in Moscow bringing you the Coeur d’Alene vs Moscow FB game. We take to the net at about 6:45. I’ll try to send shout-outs to those who e-mail me at talkjoc@niwebsports.com during the game. Thanks for the support!/Dick Haugen, President/CEO and chief bottle-washer, NIWebsports.com

• Ryan Collingwood/Lewiston Tribune predicts Coeur d’Alene will beat Moscow 34-14. Click here and scroll down.
  

Question: How about joining me tonight by tuning in online to Dick Haugen’s inaugaral broadcast of NIWebsports.com — Coeur d’Alene versus Moscow?

Dan of the County: To follow up on the original post, I had several friendly folks including Republicans stop by the D’s booth and visit yesterday. Tom Malzahn was working his booth during the same time and we both went to each other’s “territory” to say hello. I even had Bill McCrory stop and take my picture! Although I did jokingly tell him that I wondered if he should read me my Miranda rights before he took my picture … All in all a good time and good company, I’ll be out there again most of the afternoon and evening.

Question: Do you think the Kootenai County clerk’s race between Democrat DanOTC and Republican Cliff Hayes will be the nastiest one locally?

From Karleen Meyer/Rathdrum letter to the editor in Coeur d’Alene Press: “I spent Wednesday from 9 a.m to 10 p.m at the North Idaho Fair and Rodeo. As one of four superintendents in the Draft Horse barn I was out and about on the grounds and visiting with the fair patrons as they came through our barn. I did not encounter any drunks! And it wasn’t until around 8 p.m that I saw the first glass of beer being carried around, when three very pleasant women came through the barn.” More here.

Question: Have you encountered anyone carrying around beer at the North Idaho Fair? Did you see any problems?

In his weekly Cheers & Jeers column, Marty Trillhaase/Lewiston Tribune writes: “CHEERS … to Gov. C.L. (Butch) Otter. He’s the incumbent Republican in a Republican state. He’s ahead of Democratic challenger Keith Allred by, depending on the poll, at least 11 points. So the prudent thing for Otter would be to dispense with Allred in one obligatory debate. Not this time. Otter has agreed to share the stage as many as five times in this campaign:

• Aug. 19’s debate at the Idaho Falls City Club.
• Sept. 15 at the Boise City Club.
• Oct. 7 at Lewiston, sponsored by the Tribune, the Moscow-Pullman Daily News and KLEW. (Otter’s people say this is tentative. They’re still working out the schedule.)
• Oct. 13 at Caldwell, presented by Boise’s KTVB, Spokane’s KREM and Idaho Falls’ KIFI television stations.
• Oct 28 at Boise, broadcast statewide over Idaho Public Television and co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the Idaho Press Club.” More here.
  

Question: I join Lewiston Trib opinionator Marty Trillhaase in applauding Butch Otter for his series of debates against Democrat Keith Allred. But there be one debate in North Idaho?

Howard and Teresa Martinson enjoy corn on the cob in the Food Court at the North Idaho Fair Wednesday. Mutton Bustin & the Little Wrangler Rodeo are on tap at the fair today. The North Idaho Fair Web site provides the rest of today’s events here.

• Idaho Records/Sherry Adkins, SR
• Thursday Scanner Traffic/DFO, Huckleberries Online
  
• Cooler weather helps control Washington wildfires/Associated Press
• Fires blaze across Inland Northwest/Asia Hege, Spokesman-Review
• 2-fer: Spokane Valley officer kills pastor at popular nursery/Mike Prager, SR; and: Family of slain pastor irate over lack of answers/KREM2
• MSNBC ranks Labrador upset primary win No. 9/Kevin Richert, Statesman
  
• Coldwater Creek suprises investors by posting gain/Associated Press
  
• Greenbriar Inn: Still strong after 25 years/Alecia Warren, Coeur d’Alene Press
  
• Sacred Heart nurses win court battle over rest breaks/John Stucke, SR
• Man who harbored triple-murder suspect says he was duped/Melissa Luck, KXLY

Question: What is your favorite North Idaho Fair food?

One of my professors this week told us how bleak the future looks for journalism students. Basically, if I manage to find a job after graduation, I’ll make a laughable salary. Can I just stay in college forever, please? At least here, it’s considered normal to live off tuna fish and Ramen Noodles/Kelli, University of Idaho Argonaut. More Off The Cuff here.

Question: What would you tell your child, if s/he expressed a desire to go to college to become a journalist?

A playoff-caliber football team will not qualify for the state playoffs in the 5A Inland Empire League this season. The conference shapes up as the most balanced in years. Lake City, which qualified for the playoffs for a 13th straight year and captured the league championship last fall, returns most of its skill players, led by senior quarterback Mark Smyly. Coeur d’Alene, which lost to LC in the regular season but bounced back to avenge the defeat and advance to the state semifinals, returns practically its entire team. The key hole CdA must fill is at QB. Junior Chad Chalich has been tabbed the starter. Post Falls, which continues to close the gap on the traditional powers, returns its backfield led by senior quarterback Matt Lickfold, and the Trojans are seen by some as the preseason favorite after a solid summer camp. Something will have to give/Greg Lee, SR. More here. (SR file photo/Kathy Plonka, of Lake City High football coach Van Troxel)

Question: Do you follow a local high school football team? Which one? Why?

Last cycle, Minnick’s war chest was nearly double Sali’s, thanks in part to a $900,000 infusion of his own money. This time around, he hasn’t yet had to open his wallet: as of the most recent FEC filing, he had more than $1.1 million cash on hand, to about $69,000 for his Republican challenger. The remaining wild card is outside spending: Minnick’s been a top GOP target since his win, and conservative groups like Freedom’s Watch and the Club for Growth spent big here last time around. But recent indications that Minnick may have built up a daunting lead — combined with more-competitive races in bordering states that drove up the price of local advertising this summer — may move this race even further down the GOP’s priority list than it already seems to have sunk, in a year rich with Republican pickup opportunities/Rebecca Sinderbrand, CNN. More here.

Question: Is incumbent Walt Minnick reaching the point that re-election is his unless he stumbles badly somewhere in the next 2 months?

Signe Wilkinson/Philadelphia Inquirer

I ran into Dan English last night at the Democrats booth at the North Idaho Fair. He was surprised that most folks who’d ventured by were fairly civil, given the uncivil nature of local politics. I wasn’t too surprised. Most people are in a good mood at the fair, even Democrats and Republicans. The nasty stuff will start next week when candidates officially launch their fall campaigns. A date worth watching is Sept. 1, the deadline for North Idaho College trustee filings. It’ll be interesting to see who emerges to take on incumbent Christie Wood and file for a board vacancy. Until then, I’ll play the Macaulay Culkin (in honor of the ‘Home Alone’ star’s 30th birthday today) Wild Card and wait with the rest of you …

A mountain rescue team walks down from Mount Hood after recovering two sets of human remains today, near Timberline, Ore. The remains of two people have been found near the summit of Mount Hood and could be a pair of climbers who went missing last year. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Oh alright, I may as well say it.
I don’t want any fair photos at all.
I don’t like the Fair.
I don’t like the Food (I get my elephant ear fix at Silverwood and once a year is enough.)
I don’t like the rides.
I don’t like the stinky animals (piglets are ok, but not worth the smell).
I don’t like looking at vegetables or quilts.
I’d rather look at photos online or in a gallery.
I don’t like the crowds.
The only thing I’ll go to the Fair for is the Demolition Derby, which I LOVE.
There ya have it — Cindy.

Question: Anyone else out there who also doesn’t like fairs?

• 5:26 p.m. Caller reports that 3 males and 3 females on a CityLink bus threatened to kill her boyfriend and her — and now may be in Cabela’s buying a knife.
  
• 5:15 p.m. I-90 driver reports 2 motorcyclists — one male & one female — racing and popping wheelies.
  
• 5:13 p.m. Business at 119 Appleway reports an unwanted person on grounds.
  
• 4:46 p.m. Resident reports that female built a possibly illegal campfire on the beach behind his property @ 14368 Samhill Trail/Hayden Lake.
  
• 4:30 p.m. Caller reports a domestic dispute on Wolf Lodge Creek Road in which male is holding a pair of scissors he claims to trim his mustache.
  
• 4:32 p.m. Horses are loose on H95 @ M/P 445 (near Bunco Road/Athol).
• 4:18 p.m. Bag of concrete fell out of bed of white pickup on I-90 & M/P 3/Post Falls.
• Much more below
  

Capone’s Pub and Grill in Midtown Coeur d’Alene was a flutter with excitement on Monday afternoon when Guy Fieri of the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” stopped in to film an upcoming segment. The spiky-haired, bleached-blond Fieri was also spotted at Jimmy’s Down the Street on Sherman Avenue that afternoon. More from Kerri Thoreson’s Main Street column here.

• Wildfires force evacuations in Stevens County/Spokesman-Review
• Conoco wants expedited hearing before Idaho high court/Lewiston Tribune
  
• NIdaho bridge work on hold while Conoco seeks big-rig OK/Eye On Boise
• Boise State, KTVB battle over live broadcast/KTVB
  
• In Creach’s death, community loses a good man/Erik Loney, KXLY
• Questions outpace answers in highway funding dilemma/Keith Kinnaird, Bee
• Shoshone County jobless rate stuck in double digits/Ronald Bond, News-Press
• AARP wants Crapo to remove Social Security from deficit talks/Idaho Reporter
• Labrador, Minnick talk with business groups/Brad Iverson-Long, Idaho Reporter
• Crapo oversees Owyhee wilderness land purchases/Brad Iverson-Long, IReporter
  

Randy Cross, who went to multiple Pro Bowls playing for the greatest 49ers teams, thinks rookie first-round guard Mike Iupati is headed for a disappointing career — unless Iupati follows Cross’ advice to stop engaging defenders so aggressively. “Every time I’ve seen this potential annual All-Pro approach a defender, he engulfs defenders with his arms, with his hands, ending up in hugging position,” Cross writes. “Mike, embrace the term ‘within the frame of the defender’s body’ and get those hands on the numbers at the defender’s chest at ALL times”/Mike Sando, ESPN.com. More here. (AP file photo)

Question: What do you expect of rookie 49er lineman Mike Iupati this year?

I noticed with amusement the 7 fair photos published in this morning’s Coeur d’Alene Press. All 7 had children in them. 4 of the 7 had children with animals. Back when I was the editor of The Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Mont., I was told by the late Publisher C. Patrick King to fire my best news photographer because he’d taken a bunch of artsy fartsy photos of the Northwest Montana Fair carnival rather than ones with children holding animals. Indeed, King was so incensed that he wanted the hard-working man, who had several children to support, to get the boot. Not only did I succeed in saving the guy’s job, but also got him a dime per hour raise for the good job he did. Which was a big deal in that tight-fisted Duane Hagadone newspaper. Probably still is. Then, I made an error in judgment and told the news photographer about his close scrape. He quit a short time later to move to the Missoulian and later the Wichita Eagle.

• Cutline: Sydney Graczyk, then 7, tries to hang on while a mechanical bull spins and bucks, In this 2008 North Idaho Fair photo by Jesse Tinsley.

Question: Do you want kids and animals in all your fair photos?

Paul and I had been married for a glorious eleven days before we had our first big fight.  It was over something silly, of course, but it didn’t seem like it at the time.  I felt like all our future happiness and self-respect was hanging in the balance, teetering on the outcome of our fireworks.  There was a great deal of shouting, a little theatrical crying, a dramatic exit, and a stony silent treatment that would have made Clara Bow proud.  Thankfully, it didn’t last long.  Within an hour, the clouds had blown over.  Our newlywed hearts went predictably mushy, and we approached each other sheepishly, full of regrets and apologies, ready to work out an adult solution to our impasse. And from that day to this, we’ve never had another argument. Okay, okay.  If you’re married, you already know that last line is laughably untrue/Katrina, Notes On A Napkin. More here.

• DFO: Kristina e-mails: “Paul and I were trained this summer to facilitate an awesome course called Dynamic Marriage; it’s a powerful 8-week course that helps hurting marriages heal and makes good marriages great, and we’re offering it to the community as well as church members.” If you’re interested in joining Katrina & Paul for the 8-week course, there’s an informational link at the end of the blog post above.

Question: Can you remember one of your first fights with your mate after exchanging vows?

Interesting findings in KHQ poll re: the fatal shooting of a security officer earlier this week (and before the officer shooting of the Spokane Valley pastor/nursery owner last night): “Poll Question: Do you feel safe in Spokane?” 38% of the respondents marked “Yes, I do.” 15% marked, “I’m not sure.” And a near majority, 47%, said: “No, I don’t.” We discussed this issue at times here.

Question: What should Spokane do to address the growing perception that it’s a dangerous place?

Longtime aircraft builder Dean Wilson makes the first flight at dawn Wednesday in Lewiston. There were no problems flying the ancient but updated pusher design, making it ready for a centennial celebration in September of the first flight in  Idaho at Lewiston, made in 1910. (AP Photo/Lewiston Tribune, Barry Kough)

On Facebook, Cindy writes: “My life is a work in progress, but the teamsters keep walking off the job, the mental health professionals won’t take my insurance, my spiritual advisors are always on vacation, my editor red pens the sections I like best, and I can’t make up my mind about the color-scheme and decor.”

Question: How can you tell that your life is a work in progress?

In the seven years since the U.S. invasion, there’s been little to make me think the average Iraqi citizen might be better than us Americans. No doubt that has a lot to do with the selective news coverage: Mostly what we hear about is somebody blowing themselves to pieces, killing and maiming their fellow countrymen. That’s hardly something that could earn our admiration. Flailing away in random violence - it smacks of hopelessness, the very antithesis of the American spirit. In at least one regard, though, Iraqi behavior puts us to shame. That would be in the voting booth. For the most part, voting in America is about as difficult as signing up for a free refrigerator. We may have to stand in line for a bit, but with the vote-by-mail movement, even that’s quickly becoming a thing of the past. For us this basic duty is a minor inconvenience. In Iraq, by contrast, people die for the privilege/William L. Spence, Lewiston Tribune. More here.

Question: Why do we have to be dragged kicking and screaming to the polls, while Iraqis willingly will risk their lives to vote?

In the comments section, Voltron has proposed a contest between Councilman Mike Kennedy and challenger Jim Brannon, with a North Idaho Fair theme, to end Brannon’s long-running lawsuit from 2009 council elections.There’s seven rounds to the contest, with each round progressively harder. The Third Round tests, for example, “is about having a strong stomach. It consists eating an elephant ear, one cotton candy, an ice cream bar, a corn dog and a rasberry flavored snow cone in the fastest time possible. During the eating portion, Mike Kennedy will be forced to listen to a Mary Souza rant on tape. Jim Brannon will be forced to listen to Phaedrus rant on tape. Any vomitting is an automatic loss for the round.” You can read the entire contest proposal here.

Question: Can you suggest other fair-oriented tests to resolve Brannon’s legal challenge?

Police block off the driveway of The Plant Farm in Spokane Valley this morning. Wayne Scott Creach, 74, pastor and owner of a plant nursery, was shot and killed by a Spokane Valley police officer late Wednesday night. Erik Loney/KXLY talked to son of Pastor Creach on camera here. Mike Prager/SR story below.(AP Photo/The Spokesman-Review)

• Spokane Valley officer shoots, kills nursery owner, pastor/Mike Prager, SR
• Missoula trustee who left profanity-laced message quits/Jamie Kelly, Missoulian
  
• Conoco appeals Highway 12 ruling on big rigs/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise
• Report: 1 in 3 Treasure Valley homes worth less than debt owed/IStatesman
• Idaho snail no longer needs federal protection/Laura Lundquist, Times-News
• Report: Brigham Young to remain in Mountain West/Natalie Meisler, Denver Post
• Montana’s brightest head to Montana State, out of state/Chelsi Moi, Missoulian
• Libby council walks out on ‘dictatorial’ mayor/Canda Harbaugh, Daily Inter Lake
• Cub dies after sow bear’s death at posh club/Daniel Person, Bozeman Chronicle
• Montana won’t finish review of big-rig proposal until September/Helena IR
  
• Orbusmax Special: Washington man facing meth charges arrives in court w/meth here
  

People magazine reports today: “It may not happen to Peter Pan but it has to Macaulay Culkin – he’s all grown up. Forever known for his starring role as the abandoned 9-year-old Kevin McCallister in 1990’s Home Alone – the highest-grossing live-action comedy in Hollywood history – and its subsequent 1992 sequel, the former child star turned the big 3-0 (today).” More here.

Question: Feeling older?

There wasn’t a doctor in the house, but there were two freshly minted ones on that flight from Seattle to New York when a female passenger passed out and quit breathing. Drs. Kyle (pictured, from Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary residency program) and Lili Chambers were en route to the World Cup in South Africa when they heard the S.O.S from the flight attendant. Less than 24 hours before, the Chamberses had graduated from UWashington medical school — Kyle as an ears, nose, & throat doc; Lili, as a pediatrician. (Kyle, a 1999 Coeur d’Alene High grad, is the son of Dr. Dave Chambers of Nettleton Gulch.) So Kyle & Lili rang their buttons and were escorted to the patient who was turning blue. Complicating the matter, the family of the stricken passenger couldn’t speak English, which made it impossilbe to figure out if she had been ill, eaten anything, allergies, or heart problems. In spite of this, the Doctors Chambers quickly helped the woman to breath again and stabilized her. Ultimately, they made their connecting flight in New York, enjoyed the World Cup, and now working at residencies in Boston.

• Noonish: Female complains that a male is regularly driving by her home and texting her.
• 11:42 p.m. Grass fire of 1 acre reported along H95 @ M/P 421 (Mica Creek Bridge).
  
• 11: 23 p.m. ITD asks for extra ISP patrols on I-90 b/n M/Ps 24 & 32 (4th of July Pass) where road crews will be re-striping.
• 11:07 a.m. North Idaho Family Physicians @ 700 Ironwood reports a patient suffering a stroke.
  
• 10:27 a.m. Officer reports pulling over a yellow dune buggy that was speeding @ Government Way & Hanley.
• 10:16 a.m. 2 callers report that a dog is running into traffic @ H41 & 16th/Post Falls.
• 10:05 a.m. Female at Shore & Doyle/Cataldo reports that neighbor has blocked private road w/boulders and told her to take him to court when she asked him to leave her land.
• 9:51 a.m. A disoriented female, dressed in black, is standing in median @ I-90 & H41.
• 9:46 a.m. Tow truck accidentally dropped a damaged vehicle in H95 construction zone.
• 9:20 a.m. Connie has problems with her neighbor’s cat.
• 9:19 a.m. Caller reports a possible illegal burn on S. Lakeside Drive/Harrison.
• 8:37 a.m. A disabled, white vehicle is partly blocking H41 @ M/P 24.
• 8:34 a.m. Caller reports wood chips are smoldering @ Seltice Way & Post/Post Falls.
• 8:20 a.m. Les @ Rose Lake Conoco reports finding a briefcase in the Dumpster.
  

• Wednesday Poll: 126 of 172 respondents (73%) said they wouldn’t be disappointed if their child opted for a blue-collar job rather than go to college. 38 of 172 respondents (22%) said they would be. And 8 of 172 respondents (5%) were undecided.
• Today’s Poll: Did Gov. Butch Otter hurt Idaho education by being too conservative with his last budget?

On her Facebook page, Cindy reports: “So I open the shower curtain and see Milo (pictured) sitting on my towel with my bra around his neck. It’s an interesting way to start the day.”

Question: Can you tell of an interesting start to your day that happened recently?

I, after tiresome delays at SeaTac, needed a drink and so picked up the cocktail menu on the table to see what house libations were on offer. Apparently, rather than offer cocktails developed for mature and discriminating palates, the management at the Porch has decided to cater to what I can only describe as frat boy culture — uneducated “bros” who buy sickeningly sweet drinks to get their unsophisticated girlfriends blotto so they can get them in the sack. Despairing, I set the menu aside and ordered a pink Tanqueray and tonic. While the staff didn’t know what the devil a pink gin is, it’s easily made and not beyond the skills of even the most inept bartender. Weirdly, I had to ask for limes as these were not included with my drink/BrianH, Yelp reviews (via Get Out! North Idaho Facebook page). More here.

• 2008 review by OrangeTV/Get Out! North Idaho
  

Question: The Porch received rave reviews here during the short run of the HBO Grub Club. What do you make of Yelp reviewer BrianH’s complaint re: the popular Hayden eatery?

Keith Allred, Democratic candidate for governor, says the latest official state revenue forecasts shows “Otter cut schools unnecessarily,” and said in a news release this morning, “New information about Idaho’s budget once again underscores one point: Idaho school kids shouldn’t have to pay the price for Butch Otter’s botched budget.” Idaho lawmakers and Otter cut funding for public schools this year by $128 million, 7.5 percent. The latest state revenue forecast suggests the current fiscal year, which began July 1, could end with about $80 million more in state tax revenue that lawmakers predicted/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

Question: Did Butch Otter act responsibly by taking a conservative approach to the education budget? Or did he hurt education by being too cautious?

I saw Don Sausser and Mrs. S walking around the fairgrounds last night, by the exhibition barns. Later, he must have spotted this teen getting her face painted and pulled out his handy camera. Please feel free to send in your photographs of the fair — and post any comments about the fair. BTW, I saw that several regulars here had entered various items at the fair, including Christa Hazel, Arch Druid, & Shannon.

Question: Do you have any observations re: the first day of the North Idaho Fair? You can use this thread to post them.

The Philadelphia City Paper is reporting that Philly is requiring bloggers to get a $300 business license in order to operate their blogs. This seems kind of outrageous to me but may be a sign of things to come for the world of blogs.  I’m actually surprised at how many small readership blogs have advertising. I can’t imagine most of them are making more than a couple bucks a year. In my opinion, blogging makes a terrible business but it makes a great avenue for community involvement, personal discipline and just all around fun/Down To Earth. More here.

Question: Would you blog if you had to pay your city $300 — or a lesser amount — to do so?

Spokane just finished its primary elections. North Idaho’s were back in May. But Coeur d’Alene is still stuck in 2009 thanks to its city council election, a five-vote squeaker has created a frenzy of legal issues and cries of small-town corruption. Last November, incumbent Councilman Mike Kennedy beat challenger Jim Brannon (pictured). A few weeks later, Brannon filed a lawsuit challenging the results. Idaho law allows the loser a free recount if the victory is within one-tenth of a percent — but using the same ballots and the same machines wouldn’t do, Brannon announced, demanding careful analysis of the election. In the following months, that analysis has devolved into taunts and insults on competing websites (the Spokesman-Review’s Huckleberries Online and the conspiracy-minded opencda.com) and allegations that North Idaho’s civic leaders are as power hungry as North Korea’s dear leader. How did a city council race ever come to this?/Heidi Groover, Inlander. More here.

• DFO: Reporter Heidi Groover is a summer intern for the Inlander from Hayden.
  

Question: Has Jim Brannon’s lawsuit against the city of Coeur d’Alene and Councilman Mike Kennedy prevented the city from moving ahead in any way? Or is it simply a distraction?

As August wanes and the summer nights begin to cool us down, let’s stop a moment and say thank you to our deliciously swimmable North Idaho lakes. Although summer dawdled in June in turning the heat up, July brought the hot days it takes to warm the waters and turn our thoughts to getting wet and staying wet. There are lots of us who love to swim and believe all water — Coeur d’Alene Lake in particular — exists for us to swim in. Not everyone agrees. Recently, in a discussion about the future of Cougar Bay, Jim Aucutt, chairman of the Kootenai County Parks and Waterways Advisory Board, was quoted in the Coeur d’Alene Press as saying, “The waters of the state of Idaho belong to the boaters.” Grrrrrrrr/Mary Lou Reed, a former Idaho senator, Inlander. More here.

Question: Do you agree with Jim Aucutt of the county Parks and Waterways Advisory Board that the ‘waters of the state of Idaho belong to the boaters.’?

Charlotte Pegoraro and her son Luke Pegoraro, 4, of Harrison, wait for their vegetables to be checked in for competition at the North Idaho Fair Garden Building on Monday/Kathy Plonka, SR.

• Idaho Records/Sherry Adkins, SR
• Wednesday Scanner Traffic/DFO, Huckleberries Online
  
• Winds, wildfire danger to hit Inland Northwest today/Associated Press
• KTEC classes to begin in 2013/Maureen Dolan, Coeur d’Alene Press
  
• Run available for all ages at North Idaho Fair and Rodeo/Alecia Warren, CdA Press
• District: No chief needed for Timberlake Fire/Brian Walker, CdA Press
  
• Idaho unemployment levels off, tax revenues improve/Joshua Palmer, Times-News
• Coeur d’Alene hotel guests evacuated from rooms overnight/KHQ
• Richert: UI Argonaut weighs in (again) on rivlary ruckus/Idaho Statesman
• Hearing postponed in Spokane to Sandpoint relay death/Keith Kinnaird, Bee
• Police catch triple murder suspect in north Spokane/KXLY
  

Elin Nordegren is shown on the cover of People magazine’s Sept. 6 issue. Tiger  Woods’ ex-wife said she has “been through hell” since her husband’s infidelity surfaced but she never hit him, according to an interview released Wednesday. Nordegren told People magazine she and  Woods  tried for months to reconcile the relationship. In the end, a marriage “without trust and love” wasn’t good for anyone, she said. (AP Photo/People Magazine)

Question: Who do you feel most sorry for in the break-up of Tiger Woods’ marriage — Tiger or Elin?

Two Treasure Valley medical professionals have come up with a design to help make hospital stays a little easier on patients. Registered nurse Carleen Egbert, from Meridian, and Dr. Brian Kerr, of Boise, have developed a new hospital gown that parts at the side and thus covers the patient’s body more thoroughly. A source of embarrassment for many, the traditional gowns part and tie at the back, leaving the patient’s backside often uncovered/Christoph Kober, Idaho Press Tribune. More here.

Question: Should Kootenai Medical Center order these gowns?

RE: Officer shoots Southern Baptist pastor, business owner in Valley/Mike Prager, SR

Community Comment: It will be interesting to see how the spin-moguls manage to make it sound like Pastor Creach is at fault for his own death. it. More here.

Question: What’s wrong with the police departments in Spokane County?

Item: Otter gets involved in bi-state river dispute: Governor: New technology may help solve problem/Brian Walker, Coeur d’Alene Press

More Info: Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has been enlisted to help shake the bi-state Spokane River cleanup plan controversy. Otter and Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin met behind closed doors on Wednesday to discuss how Idaho agencies that discharge wastewater to the river can avoid a costly court battle with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Question: Do you want to see Gov. Butch Otter be involved in the cleanup controversy involving the Spokane River?

Nick Anderson/Houston Chronicle

I’ll be at the North Idaho Fair after work this evening to enjoy the usual fare of exhibits, huckleberry ice cream, and entertainment. (See fair schedule here.) I’ll be with Mrs. O and my 85YO mother. So we probably won’t get much farther than the exhibit area of the fair. Mom doesn’t walk that well any more. But she enjoys the fair nonetheless. I hope to see you there. Now, for your Wild Card …

Twelve-year-old Madison Gallus registers for seventh-grade classes at Canfield Middle School in Coeur d’Alene on Tuesday.(SR photo: Kathy Plonka)

The North Idaho Fair kicked off Wednesday with one controversial change. Alcoholic beverages bought at the Fair will be allowed throughout the fairgrounds instead of only in designated areas like beer gardens. Fair promoters argue it will help promote a family atmosphere during the event by allowing parents to stay with their children, but not everyone agrees. “I think it’s a huge mistake,” says Cammie Hastings from Coeur d’Alene. ” I think the fair is a family place and I don’t think it’s the place for alcohol.  If they want to have their own area especially in the evenings, a beer garden but not where all the kids are all day.  It’s just not right”/KREM. More here. (AP file photo for illustrative purposes)

Question: Are you looking forward to packing a beer around the fairgrounds this week?

• 5:54 p.m. Possible suicide attempt on Dodd Road/Hayden.
  
• 5:37 p.m. A male w/long gray hair rode off on a bike toward KFC after he allegedly pulled a knife and possibly stabbed another male in 100 block of East Borah/CdA.
  
• 5:21 p.m. An extremely drunk female is walking in front of Tim’s Meats on Government Way.
• 5:09 p.m. A juvenile has run away after taken prescription drugs from 900 block of Lincoln Way/CdA.
• 5 p.m. Patrol officer hit guardrail after his vehicle suffered a blowout on 4th of July Pass.
  
• 4:59 p.m. At 1:41 p.m. today, Bicyclist Russell W. Irby, 14, of Coeur d’Alene, was knocked unconscious & taken to KMC after he was hit by a vehicle driven by Marty D. Frantz, 59, of Post Falls, that was entering Government Way. ISP report here.
  
• 4:21 p.m. Oregon welfare worker wants CPD Blues to check on 21YO mother w/3YO son who might be staying in Lake Coeur d’Alene Drive motel. She left state w/o approval.
  
• 4:01 p.m. 3 females in front of the Iron Horse b/n 4th & 5th on Sherman are darting back and forth into traffic.
• Much more below
  

This isn’t part of OrangeTV’s Food Porn program. Rather, it’s from the Web page of ilovecda.com. Seems Blogmistress and her husband were concerned that one of their parents would introduce their child to Hudson’s Hamburgers before they had a chance to do so. Click here to see why that’s no longer an issue.

• 2 North Idaho winners of $250K remain a mystery/KHQ
• Coeur d’Alene No. 5 in first preseason prep poll/Idaho Statesman
• Bonner County considers employee layoffs/Keith Kinnaird, Bonner County Bee
  
• ConocoPhillips has appealed ruling against big rigs/Lewiston Tribune
• New forecast: $80M more for Idaho budget this year/Eye On Boise
  
• Spokane Shock to hold ArenaBowl title rally at 6/KHQ
• Commentary: Lessons from the Lochsa decision/Terry Harris, KEA Blog
  
• Wildfire burning north of Airway Heights/Spokesman-Review
• Kempthorne joins national park preservation group/Rocky Barker, Statesman
  
• Drinkers allowed to tote beers with them at North Idaho Fair/KREM
• Sebelius, Baucus find out there’s more to Libby than asbestos/Dan Testa, Beacon
• Sandpoint hits slow lane for fiber-optic network/Ralph Bartholdt, Bonner County Bee

Question: When did you last eat a Hudson’s hamburger?

In this October 2003 AP file photo, Aryan Nations founder Richard G. Butler, left, displays his new campaign signs, along with Aryan follower Zack  Beck, right, outside Butler’s home in Hayden. Butler, who has since died, was running for mayor, and  Beck for a City Council position. Now, Beck is indicted in a racially motivated attack on a patron in a Vancouver, Wash., bar. See story here. (AP Photo/Jeff T. Green)

The AP reports today that the Idaho Republican Party has shifted gears and isn’t using one of its “victory” staffers to work to elect Raul Labrador to Congress after all, instead spending most of his time on other state GOP campaigns. Jeff Ward, head of the Kootenai County Reagan Republicans, was hired to work in Coeur d’Alene and head up a push for Labrador against incumbent Congressman Walt Minnick, but state GOP executive director Jonathan Parker told the AP today that he’s now being used as “a traditional Idaho GOP employee”/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

Question: Does this move spell retreat from the Labrador campaign by Idaho GOP? Or is it simply a reorganization?

At the Cat House & Shooting Gallery, JeanC continues to enjoy the new camera that her husband surprised her with. You can see more of her recent work here.

• Spokane to Sandpoint relay/Adventure Junkie Mom
• Kootenai Technical Education Campus passes/Bay Views
• Permits for Highway 12 put on hold/Community Comment
• 1st day of school 2010/Crazy Homeschool Mama
• ‘Owl’ be darn, I’m totally whigged out/Dogwalk Musings
• Checking out the Bonner County Fair/From A Simple Mind
• Gardens of the Woolum women/Gathering Around the Table
• Sunday funday 4th Street pub crawl/Get Out! North Idaho
• That’s a humdinger/ilovecda.com
• Afternoon at the track/Live, Love, Laugh, Hope
• Semi-charmed kind of a life/Prime Beauty
• Desert lake, big wind, and Lahontans/Skookum Photography
• Oh, deer!/Slight Detour

Hucks Online numbers (for Tuesday, Aug. 24): 8986/5517, and (for Monday, Aug. 23): 10,016/5872.

Among the dinner specials at Crickets in downtown Coeur d’Alene is this plate of shrimp fry, which OrangeTV/Get Out! North Idaho presents to us on his Facebook page as the latest dish of “Food Porn.” And I had a can of low-fat Amy’s minestrone for lunch.

Question: Are you a seafood or stir fry fan?

At the Coeur d’Alene Press online site, Dan Gookin of OpenCDA.com and a poster pseudonymed RadRevD are discussing the city’s decision to buy insurance against terrorist attack. RadRevD wonders if the insurance will make Coeur d’Alene whole, if there’s some sort of attack against a chemical source that could pollute the Spokane River and Rathdrum aquifer. Gookin responds by returning to an old complaint that the city has refused to show a disaster plan for meltdown of some sort at the wastewater treatment plan on national security grounds. Continues Gookin: “My guess is that they don’t show the plan because FEMA gave them a D or an F on it. That’s most likely because PEOPLE WILL DIE (his caps not mine).” (SR 2007 file photo: Then Coeur d’Alene wastewater superintendent Sid Frederickson points out how dead bacteria settle in treatment tank.)

Question: Are you concerned re: a terrorist attack that would target the wastewater treatment plant in Coeur d’Alene?

Retiring Jesuit priest Tom Connolly wrote the following form St. Maries Gazette-Record: Unfortunately, those like (North Idaho Citizens Alliance) who want to continue to keep tribes down have organized to seek to prevent them from exercising their long-suppressed rights. In a simple recent instance, Benewah County might need additional law enforcement for its civic events. If fully trained and certified enforcement officials were to be temporarily used from Kootenai County, nothing would ever be said. But if there’s a possibility of temporarily using equally fully trained and certified enforcement officials from the nearby Coeur d’Alene Tribe, a huge uproar is raised by NICA against any possible recognition or cooperation with an Indian tribe. … NICA bullies and threatens Benewah County with their anti-tribal diatribes to prevent any harmonious relationships between the tribe and the county. More here.

Question: Do you think a Jesuit priest with the gravitas of Father Tom Connolly can talk sense to the North Idaho Citizens Alliance?

Seattle Mariners’ Ichiro Suzuki strikes out against Boston Red Sox starter Josh Beckett during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Boston, Wednesday. Boston won 5-3. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Question: Are you still following the Seattle Mariners this year?

Here’s the Facebook argument from Kiki Miller that ultimately tipped the balance in my mind to vote for the Kootenai Technical Education Campus: “Still confused about KTec a bit. But…for my simple mind it’s….. a.) kids & education (yes, tech training is education!) = money well spent b.) districts rarely cooperation with each other, good to support that effort c.) it’s less tax than dinner with a friend outta my pocket and 30min to go vote. so.. yes it is!”

Question: What ultimately swayed your KTEC vote?

When German archeologist Heinrich Schliemann dug up the remains of ancient Troy in 1872, he discovered objects that contained images of what we’ve come to believe ancient Greeks looked like: Men wore tunics — basically knee-length T-shirts — and women sported togas. But what if that was just a fad of the 12th century B.C.? In normal times, maybe Greeks actually wore tie-dye, board shorts and Skechers. The question arises because the golf shirt (actually, polo shirt is the proper name) has become the unofficial work uniform of the early 21st century/Steve Crump, Twin Falls Times-News. More here.

Question: I’m wearing a polo shirt as I type this. How often do you wear a polo (golf) shirt? And do you think they’re a passing fad?

Idaho’s state Board of Tax Appeals has rejected Rep. Phil Hart’s bid to appeal an order to pay $53,000 in back state income taxes, penalties and interest, saying his appeal wasn’t timely. Hart argued that he should have months extra to file his appeal because of the state Constitution’s provision granting freedom from arrest or civil process to state legislators during legislative sessions; the appeal period ran out 10 days before the start of this year’s legislative session. You can read the decision here/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise.

• Loertscher: Now, ethics panel will take up more serious charge against Hart
  

Factoid: 88 percent of Huckleberries Online voters consider Rep. Phil Hart to be a “habitual tax scofflaw” while only 9% consider him to be a “principled tax resister.” What would you say to the 9% who are standing by their man?

Lynne: Are non-stop barking dogs a ticket-able offense in CDA? These dogs bark non-stop all day and night. Neighbors have talked to the owners. To no avail. I don’t want to start calling the cops every . single . night. But at 12:30 in the morning, when I have to get up at 5:00, and I have the window closed, fan on and TV on and I can STILL hear them … I’m going to lose it!

DFO: We had the same situation a few years ago, with neighbors and myself calling the cops several times on a pack of mutts in a yard that backed up to our street barking and fighting much of the day and into the night. One neighbor finally signed a citation and tuck the guy to court. End of ruckus.

Question: Do you have a dog problem in your neighborhood? What have you done to handle it?

Josh Kuntz maneuvers his paddle board in Hyalite Reservoir in Bozeman, Mont. Stand up paddle boarding is gaining popularity on lakes and rivers across the west. (AP Photo/The Bozeman Chronicle, Erik Petersen)

• Cartoon: Things that make absolutely no sense/David Horsey, Seattle P-I
  
• Fresh Sheet: Spokane chef wins national dessert contest/Spokesman-Review
• Boise State’s Kustra clarifies comment re: rivalry with UIdaho/KTVB
  
• Federal infusion will let Idaho schools drop furlough days/Jody Lawrence-Turner, SR
  
• Washington inmates get free phone call today/Nicolas K. Geranios/AP
• Boise State’s Petersen happy Nevada, Fresno in MWC/Brian Murphy, Statesman
• Aryan who ran for Hayden council indicted in race incident/Associated Press
• Wind power on the rise in Idaho/Tabitha Simenc, Idaho Press-Tribune
• Remains of MIA pilot return home after 39 years/Billings Gazette
  
• Orbusmax Special: Alaska political earthquake: Miller 51%, Murkowski 49% here
  

In this file photo taken Aug. 18, 2010, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, right, talks about the social network site’s new localization services called Places during a news conference in Palo Alto, Calif. Facebook has rolled out its long-awaited location feature, Facebook Places, an application that lets users “check in” on their mobile phones so friends know where they’re hanging out and what they’re doing. Story here. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar, File)

Question: Do you plan to sign up for Facebook “Places” feature? Or do you consider it too intrusive?

• 11:42 a.m. A dog is wandering along I-90 freeway @ M/P 8 (near Huetter).
  
• 11:19 a.m. EMTs are responding to report of an injury fall at North Idaho Fair.
  
• 11:14 a.m. 2 underage males are racing on dirt bikes on city streets (unknown location).
  
• 10:33 a.m. A large, white dog that tried to attack a neighbor Tuesday on Bald Eagle/Athol is out again.
• 10:01 a.m. Caller reports she received a text from a female who said she was threatened by another female in 2800 block of Julia/CdA.
  
• 9:49 a.m. Male who reported that his dog had been stolen calls to say the dog has returned.
• 9:42 a.m. A male who isn’t suppose to be on the grounds of an apartment complex @ 184 Spokane/CdA is walking on the sidewalk out front.
• 9:13 a.m. A disabled vehicle is blocking the intersection of 2nd & Wallace/CdA.
• 8:43 a.m. A pitbull is running loose @ 16th & Hanley/CdA.
• 8:32 a.m. 2 twentysomething hitchhikers with long hair and beards, wearing camo, are trying to get a ride @ Ramsey & Diagonal/Rathdrum.
  

• Tuesday Poll: 103 of 157 respondents (66%) said they support the permanent repeal of the ‘death penalty’ tax. 54 of 157 respondents (34%) said the tax should continue.
• Phil Hart Poll: By 80 votes to 8, respondents said they consider Rep. Phil Hart, R-Idaho, to be “a habitual tax scofflaw” rather than a “principled tax protester.”
• Today’s Poll: Would you be disappointed if your child opted for a blue-collar job rather than go to college?
  

There was a time when then-Idaho Sen. Larry Craig was dubbed the “cybersenator” because he was the first U.S. senator to send out podcasts. Now, it seems, our digital edge in the U.S. Senate has slipped. George Washington University and New York University’s Stern School of Business have completed a joint study that evaluated and ranked every senator for what it dubbed their “digital I.Q.,” or “online competence” based on presence on websites, social media following and sentiment, digital marketing aptitude and search engine optimization skills. Idaho’s results? Sen. Mike Crapo ranked 64th among the 100 senators, and Sen. Jim Risch ranked 93rd/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

Question: Are you more online competent than a U.S. senator from Idaho?

Sen.  John  McCain, R-Ariz., left, waves to supporters at an election victory party with his wife Cindy  McCain, Tuesday in Phoenix. McCain survived his toughest Republican election primary in years, beating former congressman J.D. Hayworth. Story here. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Question: McCain survived an election challenge from a Tea Party favorite in Arizona, while Lisa Murkowski appears to have lost to another Tea Party candidate in Sarah Palin’s Alaska. How would you rate the Tea Party’s impact on elections held so far this year?

Via Facebook, Arpie writes: “My normal bike ride last evening past the moss covered stone and around Round Lake State Park ended with a zip through the campground. To see these people from all over the country working so hard to enjoy a bit of a vacation a few minutes from where I live is always a reminder of how lucky I am.”

Question: What makes you realize how lucky you are to live in North Idaho?

Item: Coeur d’Alene covered in case of terrorist attack/Tom Hasslinger, CdA Press

More Info: The city of Coeur d’Alene has, opting to include for at least the second straight year insurance that would cover its assets in the unlikely event of a Lake City terrorist attack. But the city’s urban renewal agency, Lake City Development Corp., turned the same opportunity down last week, declining to pick up the $5,000 premium that would cover against covert strikes. It’s the second straight year LCDC said no.

Question: Is the city of Coeur d’Alene wasting money by insuring itself against terrorist attacks?

Voltron: I saw a lot of Hucksters opposing the KTEC based on who was behind it the campaign (Ron Nilson and Mary Souza) and letting their personal feelings about the anti-government group get in the way of much needed project. The outcome shows there is a push from society for an alternative to the college education path that is so commonly pushed by parents and the public school system. College isn’t for everybody. Just look at the drop out rates of college kids. How many millions of dollars are wasted by students who go to college simply because their parents have hammered into their brains — you will go to college

Question: Voltron goes on to say that many parents would be horrified, deep down, if their own kid decided to balk at college and the fine arts for welding and machine work. Would you?

A sunny side up egg, background, and an over hard  egg are shown in this AP photo by Larry Crowe. For safety sake, an  egg  cooked on both sides to 160 degrees, foreground, is a better choice than sunny side up, where the yolk is runny. About a half billion eggs have been recalled as a result of a salmonella outbreak here.

Question: How do you like your eggs served?

I’ve been hearing a rumor for a few days now that Ron Nilson, fresh from victory in the Kootenai Technical Education Campus, will now challenge Christie Wood in the North Idaho College trustee elections. And that Robert Ketchum, the former Work Training Center director who was down-sized out of a job by the NIC trustees, might also run. Stay tuned.

As a new school year begins, things are anything but old school. Teachers will likely have more students, more tests to grade - and less time for one-on-one attention. Bus routes may be more circuitous and less convenient. Field trips? Don’t get your hopes up. After two years of budget cuts, this is the school year when reality hits. It’s too early to gauge the effects. After all, classes are starting today in Boise and will start Monday in Meridian, while Nampa begins its second week of school today. Meanwhile, Idaho’s colleges and universities have just started fall semester. However, it is high time to issue a challenge - or assign some homework/Idaho Statesman Editorial Board. More here.

Question: How involved are you with your children’s education and with helping out in your children’s schools?

Craigslist should remove its adult services section because the website cannot adequately block potentially illegal ads promoting prostitution and child trafficking, attorneys general in 17 states demanded Tuesday in a joint letter. “Only Craigslist has the power to stop these ads before they are even published,” said Kansas attorney general Steve Six in a statement Tuesday. “Sadly, they are completely unwilling to do so.” The joint letter acknowledged Craigslist faces the prospect of losing revenue if it were to remove the adult services section/KXLY. More here.

Question: Should Craigslist remove the adult services section from its Web site in an effort to block potentially illegal ads promoting prostitution and child trafficking?

Nathon Akin of Lewiston keeps cool under the shade of his umbrella during his son’s football practice Tuesday in Lewiston. (AP Photo/Lewiston Tribune, Kyle Mills)

• Idaho Records/Sherry Adkins, SR
• Tuesday Scanner Traffic/DFO, Huckleberries Online
  
• Highs go into 90s ahead of Thursday wind/Mike Prager, SR
• Comcast upgrades broadband for businesses/Tom Sowa, SR
• Voters approve Kootenai Technical Education Campus/Alison Boggs, SR
  
• Full ruling on Highway 12 big rigs, ITD response/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise
• Kootenai County home sales drop, average price up/Brian Walker, CdA Press
• No arrest made in fatal shooting of Spokane security guard/KXLY
• 14YO Missoula assault suspect might go to NIdaho for treatment/NBC Montana
  

Revelers play with tomato pulp during the annual ” tomatina” tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol, near Valencia,  Spain, Wednesday. Bunol’s town hall estimated more than 40,000 people, some from as far away as Japan and Australia, took up arms Wednesday with 100 tons of tomatoes in the yearly food fight known as the ‘ Tomatina’ now in its 65th year. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)

Top Cutlines:

• 1. (only entry): No more ketchup for me! — Lew2nl
  

Some state legislatures across the country reacted to downturns in tax revenue by trying to raise more money from lotteries and other forms of gambling.  The Idaho Lottery doesn’t support that idea, and efforts in other states have been largely unsuccessful. More than half of all states considered changes to their gambling laws, but just four enacted changes so far, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).  Attempts in 17 statehouses failed, while five states’ actions are undetermined, according to the NCSL. Among the changes, Ohio and New York both are now selling tickets for Powerball, the multi-state lottery Idaho already participates in.  New York estimates that it will raise $134 million in the next year from Powerball/Brad Iverson-Long, Idaho Reporter. More here.

Question: Do you think the current level of gambling in Idaho is enough? Would you like to see more gambling opportunities? Would you like to see no gambling at all?

RE: “The Lakeland District’s $940,900 two-year levy received 1,007 “yes” votes, representing 55.27 percent of the 1,822 votes cast” — Maureen Dolan, Coeur d’Alene Press

Phaedrus: Curiouser and curiouser. The Lakeland levy won by just 5 VOTES, Will Dan Gookin and Mary Souza be hysterically demanding a recount? Will he and his cohorts want to examine the ballots? Will they sue to have the election thrown out? Why do they trust that the school board running their own election — hardly a neutral third part — did everything EXACTLY right? Did any of the voters who supported the levy vote absentee? Was every envelope time stamped? C’mon Mary Souza and Dan Gookin inquiring minds want to know. Or doesn’t any of this matter because you BFF Ron Nilson got his beloved taxpayer funded, employee training center?

Question: Does anyone want a recount of 5-vote victory in Lakeland School District levy election?

RE: KTEC passes in all three districts/Alison Boggs, SR

Christa Hazel: KTEC supporters should be commended for the job well done. Passing any levy in our area is not an easy task. Add to that the hurdle of our uncertain economy and the uphill climb gets even longer. Additionally, it was an August levy ran against conventional wisdom. The Consortium folks (Ron Nilson in particular) and district administration made themselves available at many different functions county wide for months. Time spent in meetings was time not spent with loved ones. While I was not supportive, I can respect the outcome. Hopefully now we can begin to build KTEC and look to the future beyond KTEC to address the myriad of issues that affect our public education. Most importantly, I am appreciative for those who took the time to vote.

Question: Were you surprised by the outcome of the levy elections for the Kootenai Technical Education Campus?

Signe Wilkinson/Philadelphia Inquirer

Voters in three North Idaho school districts Tuesday said yes to a levy that will raise property taxes for two years to build a $9.5 million professional-technical high school on the Rathdrum Prairie. Voters in Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls overwhelmingly supported the measure with 65 percent and 66 percent approval, respectively. In the Lakeland School District, the measure squeaked by, earning 55.27 percent, just above the 55 percent approval rating required. “I couldn’t be happier,” said Post Falls Superintendent Jerry Keane. “It is certainly a project that will serve Kootenai County kids for a lot of years”/Alison Boggs, SR. More here.

Moscow Minidoka: Crocs are as stupid as sweat pants. I wouldn’t be caught dead in either. To paraphrase an episode of Seinfeld, they both signal to everyone that the wearer has simply given up.

Question: Have you ever worn sweat pants in a public place, other than for the purpose of working out?

A member of the U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team gets hung up on a flagpole during a jump into the ballpark before the baseball game between the Minnesota Twins and the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas, Tuesday. No one was reported injured in the minor mishap. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Today’s the big vote day for the proposed $9.5M levy proposal for the Kootenai Technical Education Campus. It needs 55% approval in the three different school districts to pass — Lakeland, Post Falls, & Coeur d’Alene. Many of you don’t think the levies will get 50% approval. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it passed in the Lakeland School District (where campus will be located) and failed in Post Falls & Coeur d’Alene. There’s been quite a push by business interests to pass the levy. But it’s also a bad economic time. We’ll see. While we wait for the votes to be counted, I’ll post this Wild Card …

• Polling places for KTEC levies
  

In way of explanation, Charles Dixon comments inside: “You can say that anyone is racist for doing anything. The way the racist charge is getting thrown around these days it would make for a good Dr. Seuss book. It has become that nonsensical.” Then, he offers:

I’m a racist for tying my shoes in a knot.
I’m a racist for dotting my I’s with a dot.
I’m a racist for driving a purple and green car.
I’m a racist for driving that car way too far.
I’m a racist because my name’s Harry O’Leary.
I’m a racist for running and not being weary.
I’m a racist because I like blueberry jam.
I’m a racist because I hate green eggs and ham.
I’m a racist for using the made-up word Uppityville.
I’m a racist for thinking our president’s not civil.
I’m a racist because I don’t hate Sarah Palin.
I’m a racist cause I complain that my 401k is ailin.
I’m a racist for thinking the country’s going the wrong direction.
I’m a racist cause I deny I’d love Obama with more introspection.

Question: Do you agree w/Charles Dixon that the word “racist” is bandied about too freely today?

An employee of the Half Moon Ranch moves cattle on Monday, southeast of Hagerman. The Long Butte Fire ignited Saturday in a lightning storm in an area 35 miles south of Glenns Ferry. But strong winds Sunday and Monday fueled its growth, making it the nation’s biggest active wildfire. Twin Falls Times-News story here. (AP Photo/The Times-News, Ashley Smith)

• Judge Bradbury revokes permits for large loads on river canyon road/SR
• Northwest Christian teen collapses, dies after cross country run/KREM
  
• ArenaBowl champ Spokane Shock holding rally Wednesday/KXLY
• Down power line traps 2 people inside cars in Spokane Valley/KREM
• Bonner County man indicted on federal sex charges/Keith Kinnaird, Bee
• Pneumonia spreading among Montana bighorn sheep/Jule Banville, New West

An unidentified  fan is struck by a foul ball during the baseball between Minnesota  Twins and Texas  Rangers at  Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Tx., Monday. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Brandon Wade)

Top Cutlines:

• 1. There’s no crying in baseball. Even if you’re a dork and totally blow catching a foul ball in front of your girlfriend. Even if you get a huge black eye and lose your vision in that eye and your girlfriend leaves you for a guy who can catch. Even then, there’s no crying in baseball — CindyH.
• 2. Why do you look at the marble in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the baseball in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the marble out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a baseball in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the baseball out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the marble from your brother’s eye — Nic.
• 3. In an unexpected place, the Mariners find their new left fielder — JohnA.
• HM: Charlie & Soaf
  

• 5:47 p.m. Female from Fairway area/CdA threatens to commit suicide if she doesn’t get her prescription drugs from WalMart.
• 5:40 p.m. 2 extremely drunk males are trying to get their boat out of water @ Q’emiln Park/Post Falls
  
• 5:22 p.m. Caller reports that an extended pickup w/a Denver Broncos sticker may have taken off w/goods from Goodwill on 4th/CdA.
• 5:19 p.m. A vehicle w/Washington plates spun brodies @ Hauser Lake boat launch area before leaving.
  
• 4:59 p.m. Caller reports finding a bicycle @ 724 1/2 11th/CdA.
  
• 4:49 p.m. Caller is concerned that a Jeep w/o doors is being driven while children are riding in the back.
  
• 4:48 p.m. Caller reports that a neighbor is creating a hazard by spray-painting his vehicle on the street @ Glacier Peak Drive/Post Falls.
  
• 4:47 p.m. Upset boy at Falls Park/Post Falls reports his bike was stolen 10 minutes ago.
  
• 4:27 p.m. Caller reports a possible illegal burn along Red Fir Lane/CdA.
• 4:02 p.m. A large group of drunks is using a dock w/o permission on lower Twin Lakes.
• Much more below
  

• Update: Opponents of giant loads won on both claims/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise
  

An Idaho judge has revoked special permits issued by the state to allow ConocoPhillips to ship four oversized loads of oil refinery equipment along a highway that follows a winding, federally protected river corridor in northern Idaho. Second District Judge John Bradbury ordered the Idaho Transportation Department to study the permit request again and take action to ensure the safety and convenience of the public. Last week, Bradbury put a temporary halt to the oil company’s plans to ship the massive coke drums along the 175-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 12. He issued his opinion today, after hearing testimony on the case on Monday/Betsy Russell, SR. (Courtesy photo from Judge John Bradbury’s Supreme Court run)

Question: Did Judge John Bradbury make the right call?

Via Twitter, from Jamie Lynn Morgan: “When someone yells at their screaming child in French it sounds way sexier than when it happens in English.”

Question: Can you speak or yell in French?

How drunk do you have to be to deny to police that you have a pitcher of beer while you’re still holding it. Here’s another of my favorites from the latest Downtown Coeur d’Alene Bar Report: “Officers cited a 34 year old male for open container after catching him walking down the street with a pitcher of beer in his hand. At first the suspect denied having the pitcher, and then would not say what bar the pitcher was from, but when the officer gave him the ticket he told the officer he was “not the person who walked out of the Torch with a pitcher.” Full report here (the 4 females who set fire to a napkin at the Torch is pretty good, too).

Question: What is the dumbest thing you’ve seen a drunk do?

U.S. Sen.  John  McCain, R-AZ., leaves his polling station earlier today in Phoenix after casting his vote in the Arizona primary election.  McCain is being challenged by former Congressman J.D. Hayworth. An AP story reports that McCain and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, are poised to win bitter primary fights against Tea Party opponents today here. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Question: Any predictions re: surprises in primary elections around the nation today?

Idaho Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo have sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar urging him to appeal a federal court decision placing wolves back on the endangered species list, which they call a “most unfortunate decision.” The two ask Salazar to “vigorously” appeal the decision to the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, adding, “It is imperative that the Department of the Interior put forth any and all necessary resources in order to successfully appeal and overturn the District Court’s decision.” Click below to read the full letter. Idaho’s top fish and game officials already have called for the state to appeal the ruling; as a named defendant, Idaho can appeal on its own, but the lead defendant in the case is Salazar/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

• $1M gift to help transform Capitol Annex into ‘Law Learning Center’/Eye On Boise
• US chamber joins Crapo in Boise, Minnick in CdA to talk trade/Eye On Boise
• Goedde named to national education position/Eye On Boise
• Boise has no plans to fine residents for not recycling/Dustin Hurst, IReporter
• 1 state lawmaker hasn’t pitched legislation in 2 years/Dustin Hurst, IReporter
  

Question: Should the Obama administration get involved on the side of Idaho and Montana in seeking to restore wolf hunts?

A federal prosecutor alleges in court documents that former Aryan Nations lawyer Edgar Steele appears to have violated a no-contact order with his wife, a woman he is accused of trying to have killed. Assistant U.S. Attorney Traci J. Whelan recently filed a notice in federal court saying that Steele mailed a birthday card from the Spokane County Jail with a plea for help to his wife, Cynthia. “I know how to say ‘I Love You.’ though they won’t let me say it, they can’t stop me from loving you … nor you from loving me, of course — which I hope you still do, Sweetheart,” the card reads. “I need you more now than I ever have — more than I ever have needed anything. “Never, in a million years, would I do anything to knowingly harm you. Please understand how much you mean to me. Help me-and-our family-to weather this crisis do-whatever it takes to be able to stand by my side and to continue to be my partner in life. You never will regret it, I promise you”/Thomas Clouse, SR. More here. (SR 2002 file photo of Edgar Steele)

Question: What would be an appropriate message on a greeting card that Edgar Steele could send to his wife?

Here’s a photo of the ballot measure from the proposed $9.5M levy in three school districts for today’s Kootenai Technical Education Campus levies. Kerri Thoreson provided the photo on her Facebook page.

On Facebook, Kerri Thoreson writes: “By 9:15 a.m. nearly 60 people had already voted at Frederick Post Elementary in Post Falls in the KTEC election. I’m predicting a huge turnout by 8 p.m. today. Earlier this month there were only about 300 votes cast TOTAL throughout the entire Kootenai Fire & Rescue Protection District in their bond election. VOTE!”

Question: Use this Wild Card to report how the vote is going at your polling place — and to report any interesting situations that you encounter while voting?

A Berry Picker dropped by a flyer that he found with others at the Lake City High polling place for the Kootenai Technical Education Campus. The flyer is informational and doesn’t explicity urge a “Yes” vote on the proposed $9.5M levy proposal being voted upon in the Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, & Lakeland school districts today. But it does have such sections as “What benefit is this to me if I don’t have children in school?”

Question: Is it appropriate for the informational flyers to be placed at polling places for the KTEC levies vote?

Writing for Off The Cuff (a University of Idaho column), Tanya says: “Saturday night I said goodbye to my career as a waitress. Now that I am no longer a member of the serving community, I would like to request a few things from the public. Please tip your server 20 percent since 10 percent is what they were tipped in 1980, do not say you are ready to order unless you really are, if you know you will need 15 cups of extra ranch then please give your server a heads-up, and remember servers are human too, and make mistakes sometimes.”

Question: Have you ever served as a waiter or waitress? What would you like to say to the dining public?

Also at the University of Idaho Argonaut, Illya Pinchuk laments that computer generated imagery is killing the movies: “Summer was a bad time for movies this year. Between ‘Iron Man 2,’ ‘Robin Hood’ and, God help me, the latest installation in the ‘Twilight’ saga, it’s not hard to see why many shunned theaters like they were the plague. To get my movie fix, I turned to Netflix and TV, catching up on ‘popular’ movie offerings I had missed out on. I was not impressed. Somewhere between the flashy-but-hollow ‘Avatar,’ the braindead-made-for-12-year-olds ‘Transformers 2,’ and the trying-too-hard ‘Star Trek,’ a realization hit me — I hadn’t seen a good movie in ages. What happened to the days of real-life action, of true comedy via social commentary, to the intelligent scrip-writing and the raw, masterful directing? Three letters: CGI.” More here. (AP file photo/20th Century Fox: Neytiri and Jake are shown in a scene from “Avatar.”)

Question: Which movie was the last good one that you’ve seen on the big screen that didn’t rely on computer generated images for action sequences?

Everyone has that friend they like to grab a beer, watch a game or go on a road trip with him is some of the most fun you have ever had. You have stories about drinking so much one night that neither of you can believe you didn’t puke the next day. You have been close for years and will be for many more. But he has one habit that you cannot get past, and he knows it all too well. Your best friend has a pair of sky-blue crocs that appear whenever a trip to the beach is mentioned. Crocs, the rubbery combination of shoes and sandals, have been around for some time. They are perfectly acceptable in our society for little kids and old ladies, but grown men of reasonable intelligence should know better. Though crocs may have a certain level of comfort, they scream “lazy” and “haven’t grown up yet” to the rest of the world/Steve Carter, University of Idaho Argonaut. More here.

Question: Do real men wear Crocs?

Standout lineman Mike Iupati is shown hugging University of Idaho coach Robb Akey in the final moments of the Vandals victory over Bowling Green in the Humanitarian Bowl last Dec. 30. Now, Iupati is not only a San Francisco 49er lineman. But he also was selected by Bleacher Report as No. 4 of 15 NFL rookies this year who are destined for greatness. Click here.

• Cartoon: Where’s that shoe?/Milt Priggee, Seattle P-I
  
• Work to start to fix leaky Dworshak Dam/Associated Press
• Coeur d’Alene fisherman snags record pike in lower Twin/Field & Stream
  
• Spokane airman logs 5000th flight hour over Afghanistan/KREM2
• Prosecutor: Edgar Steele’s card to wife likely violated order/Associated Press
• Military: Reports not true that captured Idahoan is now Muslim/Nishi Gupta, KTVB
• Crapo predicts switch in U.S. House majority/Amy Huddleston, Twin Falls Times-News
• Orbusmax Special: Police use stun guns to arrest naked Oregon State player here
  

In one of those rare even-a-broken-clock-is-right-twice-a-day moments, Dan Gookin of OpenCDA.com applauds Huckleberries Online for the discussion re: the Kootenai Technical Education Campus that has gone on here for a coupla days. Sez Gookin: “While I support the concept of KTEC, and welcome vocational education, I must applaud those in our community who have the courage to stand up and be against something.” You can read the rest here.

Question: Do you have the ability to disagree with people without developing a disagreeable attitude toward them?

• Noonish: Post Falls officer is checking on panhandler @ I-90 & Spokane.
  
• Noonish: Rathdrum juvenile has run away from N. Mill Street home.
• 11:51 a.m. A fat male w/a bald head, driving a 1990 Nissan pickup, has stolen a purse from a vehicle @ 7th & Lakeside/CdA.
• 11:31 a.m. Elderly male driving a brown pickup ran a stop sign @ Seltice Way & Cedar/Post Falls & may be drunk.
• 11:30 a.m. Caller reports that a female in home @ Dalton & Valley has been yelling at a male for about a week.
• 11:08 a.m. Male @ KCSD HQ reports daughter-in-law has stolen his mother’s credit card and may try to use it to bail out of jail.
• Much more below
  

On her Facebook account, Julie Fanselow writes: “With my daughter starting her junior year at Boise High this week, we want to know: When’s the best time for college visits? Spring of junior year? Fall of senior year? Before she applies? After she’s admitted? Weekdays instead of weekends, I’m guessing? Any and all advice welcome and appreciated!” I’ve gone through the drill twice — and both my kids ended up in Portland area schools (Linfield College and University of Portland). That made it easier for us than those of you who have had to traipse all over the country, helping a child find the right college.

Question: When’s the best time for college visits?

Piniella, always worried about his pitching staff, hit upon the notion of going with a four-man rather than a five-man rotation. His next comment was priceless. ”Now at four in the morning it seemed to work for me,” Piniella said. “Whether it works at 7 o’clock at night or 1:30 in the afternoon, I’m not sure.” Exactly. What seems like gold at 4:00 a.m. often looks like something a lot less valuable in the cold light of day. In any event, we may never know if another of Lou’s middle-of-the-night brainstorms is a keeper, since he vows he is done with the dugout and, finally, really going to hang it up/Marc Johnson, The Johnson Report. More here. (AP file photo: Paul Beaty — On his next-to-last game as a Major League manager, Chicago Cubs Manager  Lou  Piniella yells at home plate  umpire  Dan Iassogna after Atlanta Braves Saturday.) 

• Our blind dog, Cocoa — how to see more with less/Dennis Mansfield
• Bush era tax cuts revisited/Fort Boise
• Why are you voting tea party?/43rd Street Blues
• Semanko calls out Minnick in failed try to manipulate Lake Lowell issue/ICB
• Candidates look for votes in Shoshone County/Rocky Barker, IStatesman
  

Question: What do you remember fondly re: former Seattle Mariners manager Lou  Piniella, who retired from managing the Chicago Cubs Sunday?

On Twitter, Terry Harris of the Kootenai Environmental Alliance posts: “Not just because we got a great deal on an Americano this morning, we encourage everyone to head over to Java on Sherman and check out the Save Cougar Bay display they’ve allowed us to put up. Petition-signing is going very well there.”

Question: Which cause prompted you to last sign a petition?

• Monday Poll: Berry Pickers go to the North Idaho Fair mainly to see the exhibits (43 of 136, 32%), eat the food (33 of 136, 24%), and to enjoy the entertainment (21 of 136, 15%). To a lesser extent, they also go to the fair to see the motorcycle races (9 votes), go to the carnival (8 votes), attend the rodeo (7 votes), and attend the Demolition Derby (6 votes). 9 of 136 respondents said there was yet another reason why they go to the fair.
• Today’s Poll: Do you support the permanent repeal of the ‘death tax’?
  

Miss Mexico Jimena Navarrete is crowned Miss Universe during the Miss Universe pageant, Monday in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)

Question: Are you surprised that the most beautiful woman in the world isn’t a blond?

Howard Griffiths, a registered Republican, is stepping in where Idaho Democrats couldn’t. The Hayden businessman has launched a write-in campaign to challenge GOP state Rep. Phil Hart — a six-year lawmaker who is, depending on your point of view, either a principled tax protester or a habitual tax scofflaw. Said Griffiths, who leans toward the latter school of thought: “Some politicians forget who they are working for and think they’re above the law.” One thing is certain. Before Griffiths announced his late challenge, Hart, of Hayden, was untouchable at the polls. He was — and still is — one of 46 Republicans who face no Democratic opponent in the Nov. 2 legislative elections. Democrats waved the white flag in 17 of 35 state Senate races, and 29 of 70 House races. Do Democrats remain the state’s minority party because they can’t recruit candidates, or do Democrats fail to recruit candidates because they’re a historic minority party? It doesn’t matter/Idaho Statesman Editorial Board. More here.

Question: How much do Democrats matter in Idaho?

Republican candidate for Congress Raul Labrador has signed onto a pledge to repeal the estate tax.  The pledge request came from the American Family Business Institute (AFBI). … The estate tax, often called the death tax by its opponents, taxes the assets of deceased people passed down to from one generation to the next.  The federal estate tax is repealed for 2010.  Unless Congress acts, the estate tax will return next year, taxing all estates worth more than $1 million at a 55 percent rate. Labrador and other want to repeal it permanently.  The “Death Tax Repeal Pledge” is backed by more than 20 current members of Congress, including Rep. Mike Simpson and Sen. Mike Crapo, and more than 400 candidates for Congress this year/Brad Iverson-Long, Idaho Reporter. More here.

Question: Should the death tax be permanently repealed?

One of the rules for judges at the Bonner County Fair this year suggests that good judges should come rested and ready to concentrate on their jobs.  Must be my subconscious zeroed in on that rule last night cuz I have to judge the creative writing entries this afternoon. Whenever something important is happening the next day, my subconscious and possibly my brain conspire to keep me awake the night before. Something important happened every day when I was teaching school, so the insomnia card flashed across my mind virtually every night of my last 20-plus years as a teacher. ‘Twasn’t fun, as any insomniac will tell you/Marianne Love, Slight Detour. More here.

Question: How often do you have trouble sleeping? Why?

Arizona Cardinals (& former Univeristy of Idaho) wide receiver  Max  Komar  (18) scores a touchdown on a 22-yard pass play in the fourth quarter of a preseason NFL football game on Monday in Nashville, Tenn. Trying to stop  Komar are Titans defenders Nick Schommer, left, and Myron Rolle, right. (AP Photo/Frederick Breedon)

• Idaho Records/Sherry Adkins, SR
• Monday Scanner Traffic/DFO, Huckleberries Online
• Hotter weather to end with Thursday wind storm/Mike Prager, SR
  
• Grand jury indicts North Idaho trio on drug charges/Associated Press
• Cool-weather vegetables may show best at North Idaho Fair/Becky Kramer, SR
• Zags officially add French guard to mix/Jim Meehan, SR
• Kootenai County Fire tower work to begin/Brian Walker, CdA Press
• Steele may have violated no-contact order/David Cole, CdA Press
• 8YO who spent 2 days in woods says she wasn’t afraid/KREM2
  

Obama’s new Gallup Poll job approval number is 47%. Last month it was 53%. Regular Ticket readers will recall how in this space in late November we pointed out that Obama’s closely watched job approval slide was coinciding with Palin’s little-noticed rise in favorability. And it appeared they might cross somewhere in the 40s. Well, ex-Sen. Obama, meet ex-Gov. Palin. The new CNN/Opinion Research Poll shows Palin now at 46% favorable. [A previous version of this post said that, at 46%, Palin was “just one point below her fellow basketball fan”/Los Angeles Times. More here

Question: What do you make of these polls that show favorability rankings of President Obama and Sarah Palin nearly identical?

Item: KTEC levy voting takes place today: Polls open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Lakeland, Post Falls, Coeur d’Alene/Coeur d’Alene Press

• Polling places here
  

More Info: Polls are open today from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. in the Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Lakeland school districts. Voters in each of the three districts are being asked to approve a share of the financing to build a $9.5 million, 50,000-square-foot professional-technical high school. The building will be situated on land, already secured at no cost to taxpayers, on the Rathdrum Prairie, and will serve students from the three districts.

Question: Do you plan to vote today?

The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations on Sept. 7 will mark the Sept. 7, 2000, day when a civil jury in Coeur d’Alene returned a verdict of $6.3 million against the white supremacist group after its guards attacked two people. The verdict forced Aryan Nations founder Richard Butler to give up his compound and the group eventually withered away. Butler died a few years later. Other groups have cropped up around the country that use the name Aryan Nations. The ceremony will be outside the Kootenai County Courthouse, near the downtown area where the Aryan Nations for years held public parades that drew a handful of supporters and large numbers of opponents/Associated Press. More here. (AP file photo: Richard Butler & his followers rally in July 1999.)