Ending a perilous stalemate, President Barack Obama and congressional leaders announced agreement Sunday night on an emergency deal to avoid to avert the nation’s first-ever financial default. The arrangement would cut more than $2 trillion from federal spending over a decade. The dramatic agreement, with scant time remaining before Tuesday’s deadline, “will allow us to avoid default and end the crisis that Washington imposed on the rest of America,” Obama said. Default “would have had a devastating effect on our economy,” the president said at the White House, relaying the news to the nation and to financial markets around the world. He thanked the leaders of both parties. More here.

Question: Do you approve of the debt deal?

It's the last weekend in July. Enjoy the sun. Enjoy your family. Be kind to each other in spite of the ongoing national debt debacle.

The best antidote for frightening times is living life in the moment. Embrace what is and leave the worry for Monday morning and DFO to handle.

Today is my father-in-law's funeral. There will be tears for sure, but also joy. Four children, 14 grandchildren and he loved us all well. That's something to celebrate.

Tell us what you'll be celebrating this weekend or let us know what else is on your mind on this Wild Card.

WASHINGTON — In an unforgiving display of partisanship, the House passed emergency legislation tonight to avoid an unprecedented government default and the Senate scuttled it less than two hours later.

The final outcome — with the White House and Senate Democrats calling anew for compromise while criticizing Republicans as Tuesday’s deadline drew near — was anything but certain.

“We are almost out of time” for a compromise, warned President Barack Obama as U.S. financial markets trembled at the prospect of economic chaos next week.

Worse case scenario?

Spokane Indians pitcher #30 David Perez comes to the plate with a pitch in the first inning against Eugene at Avista Stadium Monday July 18, 2011. Perez once again had a rough start and did not last through the first inning as Eugene jumped out an early 4-0 lead. Story here.

When is the last time you watched a game at a ballpark?

Wow! It's been like, a few weeks, since DFO took some time off! He must be exhausted :-)

I'll try to fly this thing solo, but you might want to take note of the emergency exits and barf bags. Due to budget cuts I am no longer able to offer you a snack, pillow, or blanket, but I do hope you enjoyed your complimentary patdown when you signed on.

On a more serious note, my family is trying to adjust to a world without my beloved father-in-law in it and it is proving to be a very bumpy ride. Thanks for your many kind words and condolences.

And just this thought, never miss the chance to say the words “I love you” to those you care about. It doesn't matter how many times you've said them, or that you're sure your loved ones know you care. Just say it, if you mean it, and say it often. You never know when it will be the last time.

WASHINGTON — Riven by partisanship, the Republican-controlled House passed legislation Friday night to prevent a threatened government default and bundled it off to a swift and certain defeat in the Senate.

“We are almost out of time” for a compromise, warned President Barack Obama as U.S. financial markets trembled at the prospect of economic chaos next week.

The final outcome — with the White House and Senate Democrats calling for compromise while criticizing Republicans as Tuesday’s deadline drew near — was anything but certain.

The House vote was 218-210, almost entirely along party lines.

Thoughts?

Washington state Treasurer Jim McIntire says he has six to eight weeks of cash available to keep paying state-government bills if Congress fails to lift the debt ceiling in time and interrupts federal payments of about $500 million a month.

Even so, McIntire sent a letter to the state’s 11 members of the U.S. House and Senate on Monday, urging action and warning that inaction could “crush” the fragile global economic recovery. It also could put unwanted pressure on state banks and even larger ones if federal Treasury investments lose value, McIntire said Thursday.

Things aren't looking good here in Washington. Whose fault is it when a state can't balance its budget? How about when a nation can't?

Investigators are looking into the cause of a second fire in three weeks at the Lucky Friday Mine.

The underground silver mine near Mullan, Idaho, was evacuated at 7 p.m. Tuesday after a contractor’s employee reported that he smelled smoke.

Hecla Mining Co. deployed three mine rescue teams to monitor the fire and prevent its spread. They were able to contain the fire to a small area on the 4900 level, according to a statement from the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

The fire was extinguished at around 3 p.m. Wednesday. Underground workers were able to return to work on Wednesday evening, said Melanie Hennessey, Hecla’s vice president of investor relations. More.

Do have any friends or family members who work in the mining industry?

Harrison Ford, left, and Daniel Craig star in “Cowboys & Aliens.”

Action-packed yet curiously lifeless, “Cowboys & Aliens” shoots blanks.

This multitasking genre mash-up successfully unites its discordant elements in a coherent dramatic universe.

Despite a stellar cast and out-of-this-world production values, however, it’s a saddle-weary horse opera. Lacking the high-flying zing of Joss Whedon’s space-Western TV series “Firefly,” the movie is competent but never compelling. More here.

Bad reviews won't stop my guys from seeing this one. Do movie reviews influence which movies you choose to see?

Or maybe you can. Seattle Weekly reports WalMart has apologized to Sandy McMillin.

“It's unclear if it was only Sandy McMillin's turquoise bikini top, or if it was her combining it with red shorts, a cane, a knee brace, and sailor tattoos that so offended a Walmart employee in Eugene, Ore.

But in any case, the retail giant is now sorry for telling the woman that her ensemble is a health-code violation.”

What do you usually wear when you do your grocery shopping? Have you seen worse outfits than the one pictured in the link above?

Several limits of large rainbow trout caught in Lake Rufus Woods over the Fourth of July weekend, 2011.

The photo at KREM.com  makes the trout in the above photo look like minnows.  A 41-year-old Pocatello man has shattered a state record by catching a 34.74-pound rainbow trout.Click here to see the pic and read this fish tale.

Do you enjoy fishing? How often do you go?

Jessica Ohlig and her daughter A’Maya Ohlig, 7, of Post Falls, paid a visit to the robot during the STAR Discovery Bus tour in Coeur d’Alene on July 18. Discovery Technology’s STAR Science Center is set to open in Rathdrum in 2012.

A proposed science center near Rathdrum featuring hands-on science and technology is on a roll.

After Kootenai County’s land-use permit process delayed the expected start of construction on the center, nonprofit Discover Technology launched the Discovery Bus Tour this month.

Stopping at festivals, fairs and schools in the region, the 45-foot mobile science center is giving audiences a taste of the 20,000-square-foot Science, Technology and Research (STAR) facility.

“The permit process was taking a long time, and we wanted to get science in the hands of kids sooner,” said Dennis Kimberling, education director for the nonprofit. More here.

What do you think about this privately funded science center?

Garbo is famous for saying, “I want to be alone.” Later she said, “I never said 'I want to be alone,' I only said I want to be left alone.'”

Either way, I can relate. Sometimes I crave solitude more than I crave chocolate. A few hours alone energizes me and helps me cope with the unrelenting demands of family and work. Carving that time out of my schedule is difficult, but necessary for me.

How about you? Do enjoy solitude or does being alone make you uneasy?

When Chris Weppner starts his shift at the Garwood dump site, the first thing he checks is the employee log for notes of problem customers.

He's already on the watch for it, folks who become aggressive over dump site rules.

Usually it's just verbal abuse, he said, cuss words and back talk. But occasionally, people really fly off the handle.

“The best way to define it is they make it difficult for us to do our job, and it's not an easy job to do,” Weppner said on Wednesday as cars lined up to dump their garbage. “And it's only over garbage.”

Dump site detail is a tough gig.

Incidents of illegal dumping and verbal abuse to staff are on the rise at Kootenai County's 14 rural dump sites, especially the three that are manned daily, said Roger Saterfiel, Solid Waste director. Full story. Alecia Warren, CDA Press

Wow! Who knew garbage makes people so grumpy? How often do you visit your local dump?

Former Kootenai Chairwoman Amelia Trice died July 21.

Kootenai tribal elder Amelia Trice made national headlines in 1974 when she led her tiny band in what is now known as the last Indian war against the U.S. government.

The standoff at Bonners Ferry led to creation of a 12.5-acre reservation for the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho and improvements to housing and health. The event also set the stage for tribal growth over the years.

Trice, 75, died last week after a long bout with cancer. More here.

I love this quote, “The state police came with Mace and sawed-off shotguns,” Trice said at the time. “The closest thing we had to a weapon in our tribal office was a fly swatter.”

Do you know much about Native American history? Had you heard of the last Indian war against the U.S. government?

In this May 20, 2010 file photo, American hikers Shane Bauer, left, Sarah Shourd, center, and Josh Fattal, sit at the Esteghlal Hotel in Tehran, Iran.

Jailed U.S. hikers await Sunday court date in Iran Steve Karnowski, AP

Votes not lining up for GOP debt bill David Lightman, McClatchy

Arrest stops apparent Ft. Hood terror plot David S. Cloud, Tribune Washington bureau

Cellphones, cancer not tied Melissa Healy, LA Times

Good news, bad news for Murdoch empire Meg James and Joe Flint, LA Times

TRENTON, N.J. – Johnson & Johnson said Thursday that it’s reducing the maximum daily dose of its Extra Strength Tylenol pain reliever to lower risk of accidental overdose from acetaminophen, its active ingredient and the top cause of liver failure.

The company’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare Division said the change affects Extra Strength Tylenol sold in the U.S. – one of many products in short supply in stores due to a string of recalls.

When did you last have a headache? What did you take for it?

Former New York Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu was found dead Wednesday after an apparent suicide.

Hideki Irabu joined the New York Yankees 14 years ago in a swell of international excitement. The quirky, flamethrowing Japanese right-hander seemed destined to become a pioneering star for American baseball’s marquee franchise.

Irabu never reached those enormous expectations, and his career spiraled. On Wednesday, the 42-year-old was found dead, an apparent suicide in a home in Rancho Palos Verdes, a wealthy Los Angeles suburb. Read more.

Did you ever see Irabu pitch?

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie

So Christa Hazel provides this link to a decidedly unflattering photo of Gov. Christie. The LA Times opinion piece poses the question “Chris Christie: Does he have the look of a president?”

To be president, do you have to look presidential?

And if so, does that mean Chris Christie should forget about a run for the Oval Office?

New Jersey's governor, considered a rising star in the Republican Party, was hospitalized Thursday after having trouble breathing (he suffers from asthma), The Times reported. The story takes note of Christie's weight issues:The governor has acknowledged leading an unhealthy lifestyle. In a recent interview with CNN's Piers Morgan, Christie said he feels “guilty” about his weight.

“I'm really struggling, been struggling for a long time with it, and I know that it would be better for my kids if I got it more under control. And so I do feel a sense of guilt at times about that,” he said.

What do you think? Would Americans elect an overweight man or woman as president?

PS: Mike Kennedy, Christa specifically hopes that you will weigh in on the subject.

COEUR d'ALENE - Time to celebrate, fellas. There are lots of ladies in Kootenai County.

Unlike the rest of the state, our county boasts more women than men, according to new estimates released by the U.S. Census.

Last year's count reveals that the county's 138,494 residents are comprised of 70,237 women and 68,257 men. Alecia Warren, CDA Press

A commenter on the press site says, “You can pretty much bet the excess female folk are over 70. Eeewwwwww ….”

Hmm… here I was thinking all those ladies most likely raised the collective IQ of the county. What do you think?

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll walks on the field at the start of a walkthrough practice to open NFL football training camp Thursday, July 28, 2011, in Renton, Wash.

For one day, Pete Carroll wasn’t hopping around with the vigor and excitement that was so apparent a season ago.

Apparently even the Seattle Seahawks’ head coach needed to ease his way into training camp on Thursday at Renton, Wash., after a whirlwind start to free agency that saw the Seahawks land quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, offensive lineman Robert Gallery and wide receiver Sidney Rice, and bid adieu to quarterback Matt Hasselbeck after a decade in Seattle.

Oh, alright. I admit it. I'm a diehard Seahawk fan and have been ever since I had a Steve Largent poster on my wall when all my friends had Andy Gibb posters. And I'm GLAD, glad Hasslebeck is gone. In addition, this is the first summer in 3 years that I haven't had a kid in football camp. And that makes me sad!

Is it too early to talk about football?

In this Nov. 17, 2010, file photo, then-Rep.-elect Joe Walsh, R-Ill., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington.

CHICAGO — Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh, a rising star in the tea party movement best known for his blistering lectures of President Barack Obama for “spending like a drunken sailor,” is now being peppered with questions about his own financial responsibility after reports surfaced that he’s being sued for more than $100,000 in unpaid child support. Full story.

Would you vote for a politician who owes back child support or has filed bankruptcy or hasn't been truthful with the IRS?

A fan photographs skateboarder Rob Lorifice during practice for the Skateboard Big Air at X Games 17 in Los Angeles on Thursday. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Question: Have you ever ridden a skateboard?

Cindy takes over Hucks Online blog watch Friday, as I bail to enjoy our viewtiful summer weather for a three-day weekend. Give her a rousing welcome back. Any of you who plan to watch the Silver Hoops 3-on-3 BB competition in Kellogg this weekend should keep an eye out for HBO regular Bent & his Bent BBQ who'll be vending ribs chicken and pulled pork sandwhiches. Say hi to him and/or his son for Huckleberries, if you see him there. Now, for your reposted Wild Card …

The current debt ceiling/deficit debate going on is important to be sure.  I've been doing a lot of ranting and raving about it for days now.  I must thank the former speaker, however, for adding some much needed levity with the comment, “What we’re trying to do is save the world from the Republican budget … We’re trying to save life on this planet as we know it today.” Oh, don't I wish!  I wonder if she has a clue how idiotic that sounds.  It's right up there with her comment when health care passed; she said we could then all read it and find out what was in it!  To think this woman is one of the most powerful in the country/Dogwalk Musings. More here. (AP file photo)

Question: Which statement made by one of the congressional partisans re: the debt ceiling showdown do you consider the silliest?

Pecky Cox/As The Lake Churns was walking at 5:30 this morning when she spotted this bird on one leg that appeared to be “hurting.” Pecky thinks the poor critter had a broken leg.

• Avista wants to decrease Idaho electic rates/Addy Hatch, SR
• 6YO on bike hit by pickup in Newman Lake area, airlifted/KHQ
• Pot, meth still most popular Idaho drugs/Twin Falls Times-News
• Fundraiser forestalls CASA cuts/Maureen Dolan, CdA Press
• Sandpoint council OKs fee increases/Cameron Rasmusson, Bee
• Twin suspects in Soap Lake shooting turn themselves in/KREM

Noel Buller, 21, from Los Angeles, stands in the middle of Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles holding up a peace sign while facing a line of Los Angeles Police Wednesday. Police say a crowd became unruly outside the premiere of a documentary about the Electric Daisy Carnival rave. You write the cutline. (AP/Los Angeles Times photo: Jay L. Clendenin)

• 1. (& winner of the $10 gift certificate to Fort Ground Grill): “Why yes, I certainly would like to purchase two tickets to the Policeman’s Ball. Thanks for asking” — Formerly Sandpoint.
• 2. The lead nudist from the Sun Meadows Resort is met with less acceptance than expected as he leads others down Sherman Avenue for an evening stroll — KeithinCDA.
• 3. Noel Buller: “I come to you in peace and I was hoping that a box of donuts would help end this standoff” — Kage Mann.
• HM: Dan Gookin

• 5:06 p.m. Sprinkler system is malfunctioning in business @ 217 E. Indiana/CdA.
• 5:01 p.m. ISPer is concerned that motorist will hit bag of trash lying along I-90 & H41 for 3 days.
• 4:30 p.m. Coeur d'Alene Police Department activities report for July 27-28 here.
• 4:09 p.m. 50ish man in 2900 block of Francis/CdA is threatening to kill himself.
• 3:56 p.m. Caller reports 2 drunk adults in an e/b gray Jetta from Sullivan in Spokane Valley are traveling to Kellogg, with two children in the back seat.
• 15 more items below + AM Scanner Traffic link

Coeur d'Alene Police Department news release: “The Coeur d'Alene Police Department will be joining Spokane County Sheriff's Dept. in the 2011 Charity Bowl football game against San Bernadino County on 7:30 p.m. Saturday at West Valley High School. Tickets are available in CDA at Nosworthy's and Peak Fitness. All proceeds benefit the Wounded Warrior Project. Come out and watch ID and WA police conquer CA police!”

Question: Do you think the cops in Idaho & Washington are tougher football players than the ones in California?

Idaho's Fish & Game Commission, meeting today in Salmon, has set the state's wolf hunting season for 2011-12. As planned, the season will lack limits in several zones, to encourage more taking of wolves. Commissioners today made a few tweaks to the original proposal from their staff, upping the limits in two zones that have them, extending the trapping season and extending the hunting season in the Lolo zone, and lowering the nonresident wolf tag price to $31.75 statewide retroactively - nonresident hunters who already bought tags would be eligible for a refund. Fish & Game is posting all the details at its website here /Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

Question: Will the hunt take place? Or will conservationists be able to stop it via lawsuit?

Anti-circumcision activists Frank McGinness, right, and Jeff Brown rally with about 25 protesters outside a San Francisco courthouse on Thursday. A judge today struck down a proposed ballot measure banning circumcision saying it would violate a law that makes regulating medical procedures a function of the state, not cities. Story here. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Question: Which side of this controversial issue are you on?

On the journalismjobs.com site, the Coeur d'Alene Press has a help wanted ad, seeking “an all-around star.” The ad reads: “The Coeur d'Alene (Idaho) Press, a 20,000-circulation daily in one of the most beautiful cities in America, is seeking a reporter/feature writer who wields a wicked camera, too. We have an immediate opening for weekend reporter. Duties include covering spot news, writing features, managing obits, and taking photos. Ideal job for someone with weekly newspaper experience ready to move up to a daily. Pay is only $12/hour, but we have a solid benefits package and you can't beat the quality of life here.”

Question: Are you “an all-around star”?

On his Facebook wall, Marc Stewart posts: “I had a blast being an assistant coach for my son's T-ball team last night after the regular coach (a 16-year-old kid) quit for reasons unknown. The field of dreams experience took a hit when our third basemen asked me, “So, how long do I have to listen to you?” I looked him in the eye and said, 'One inning kid.'”

Question: Have you ever coached your kids athletic team? Good experience? Bad one?

Mike Williams leads the Seattle Seahawks with 52 receptions this season.

It seems our own Sam Taylor had a little dust up on Twitter with Seahawk wide receiver Mike Williams. Sam took exception to William's tweet about a “white boy hatin on the Seahawks.”

Williams didn't appreciate Sam's comment and promptly blocked him with a little profanity tossed in for good measure.

You can follow the action here.

Do you follow any professional athletes on Twitter? Have you ever been blocked by someone on Twitter?

“Benewah County has an opportunity which may never come this way again.” – St. Maries Gazette Record, June 6, 1946

The above item was the last point in a campaign ad for C.A. “Doc” Robins, a former three-term Benewah County State Senator running for the 1946 Republican gubernatorial nomination. The 61-year-old Robins easily defeated former two-term Idaho Governor C.A. “Bott” Bottolfsen in the primary and went on to defeat incumbent Governor Arnold Williams by a landslide in November. Robins was the first governor of Idaho from the northern part of the state in more than 50 years and surely will be, as the ad suggests, the only governor with ties to Benewah County ever. Ask people on the streets of St. Maries today who “Doc” Robins was and the vast majority don’t have a clue. There is no sign as one enters St. Maries that it used to be the hometown of arguably one of the most influential people in Idaho’s political history/Chris Carlson, Ridenbaugh Press. More here.

Question: Do you know much about Idaho history?

As the nation gets closer to Aug. 2 — the date we’ve been told the U.S. will default and be unable to pay its bills unless the debt ceiling is raised — the frustration and emotion among the electorate is at a fever pitch. Members of Congress are being deluged with passionate pleas from constituents. Some people are having a hard time getting through due to busy signals and full voicemail boxes. Such is the case with Idaho’s congressional delegation. And it’s good to see our elected officials in Washington being active and involved — and representing the values Idaho cherishes/Idaho Press Tribune (Nampa) editorial. More here.

• Idaho's Simpson presides over opening House debt ceiling debate/Dan Popkey, Statesman

Question: Which of Idaho's 4 congressman most closely represents your views on the debt ceiling? (Moi? That's easy. Mike Simpson)

Don’t be alarmed if you see dozens of miniature Mel Gibsons running around town on Aug. 6. Chances are the kids have just come from the 2011 Spokane Highland Games. Braveheart face-painting with accompanying balloon swords is just one of the many family-friendly activities offered at this year’s Games. However, those who prefer real sword action won’t be disappointed. “We’re going to have a Claymore demonstration,” said Ruby Devine, co-chair of the Spokane Highland Games. A claymore is a Scottish broadsword. “It’s a very large sword,” Devine said/Cindy Hval, SR. More here. (SR photo: Kathy Plonka — Jon McKenzie practices at Theyer Park in Rathdrum)

Question: Which culture is predominant in your personal heritage mix?

Baker, the dog seems to be walking on water to catch a ball thrown in Lake Whatcom at Bloedel-Donovan Park Wednesday in Bellingham, Wash. (AP Photo/The Bellingham Herald, Philip A. Dwyer)

• Cartoon: Ultraconservatives see socialists everywhere/David Horsey, P-I
• Census: Idaho still has more males than females/Associated Press
• Boy Scout abuser released from Idaho to Utah/Associated Press
• Boise State can't where blue uniforms for home games/Chadd Cripe, Statesman
• Olympic panel CEO re: Jeret Peterson: 'He opened heart to everyone'/KTVB
• Deputies respond to possible murder, find hoax instead/Bradley Guire, TFTN
• Schools prepare for merit pay law as Idaho enters new era/Ben Botkin, TFTN
• Orbusmax Special: WalMart tells Oregon woman to put shirt on over bikini top here

Question: Can your dog walk on water?

• Noonish: ITD is rushing signs to H95 & Prairie, where traffic is backed up due to power outage.
• 11:57 a.m. Power surge causes traffic lights @ H95 & Prairie to blink red in all directions.
• 11:37 a.m. Elderly woman w/Sandpoint plates is driving s/b on H95 & Granite Hill/Athol at speeds varying by 20 mph — also weaving into traffic. (Update: She stops at Alpine Store/Garwood.)
• 11:28 a.m. Thief has just stolen a balck Honda from Honeysuckle (cross of Stiner & Crawford/CdA.
• 11:27 a.m. Someone has suffered a trauma injury at 391 E. Coeur d'Alene Lake Drive.
• 11:14 a.m. Coeur d'Alene police are looking for noncustodial parent named Gary, in a black Isuzu with Boundary County plates, who has taken a 10MO baby from 3630 Government Way/CdA.
• 12 more items below

… this about musical chairs in high places in Coeur d'Alene. From a Berry Picker: “John Little, former owner of Outback Steakhouse, who was hired as the food and beverage manager for Hagadone Hospitality about 6 months ago was shown the door (Wednesday) morning. This on the heels of Steve Wilson's unceremonious dumping from long time employment as GM of the Coeur d'Alene Inn. With last week's ousting of Chamber CEO Todd Christensen this has not been a good summer for some big paycheck earners. It's ironic that Wilson was tapped as interim CEO at the Chamber to replace Christensen but the odds makers are betting against Wilson getting position permanently.”

Reaction?

Freshman 1st District GOP Rep. Raul Labrador's vote is among a handful that will decide today's expected tally on House Speaker John Boehner's debt and deficit reduction bill, according to The Hill. “He's leaning no but he's still undecided at the moment,” said Labrador spokesman Phil Hardy Thursday morning. The vote is expected to begin about 3:45 p.m. Mountain Time. Idaho's 2nd District GOP Rep. Mike Simpson, a subcommittee chairman and close ally of Boehner, is expected to vote for the bill. Labrador is among a group of 39 House Republicans who pledged to oppose any bill that raises the debt ceiling unless it includes major cuts, spending caps and a balanced budget amendment. Boehner's bill doesn't include a balanced budget amendment/Dan Popkey, Idaho Statesman. More here. (AP file photo)

Question: What should Raul do?

Everything about my father-in-law Aage (Au-gee) Hval was larger than life. His hands. His broad back. His warm smile. His generous heart. And Thursday afternoon, without warning, that big heart stopped beating. He’d spoken with my husband, Derek, several times that morning. My sister-in-law, who lives on the adjoining property, saw him walk from his office into the house around 12:30. A few hours later her 13-year-old son ran over to talk to Papa Aage and found him on the bedroom floor. He was lying at the foot of his bed, legs crossed at the ankles, one hand behind his head. It looked like he just decided to take a quick nap. My nephew called 911, but Papa was already gone. Now, we are left with the ache of his absence/Cindy Hval, SR Front Porch. More here.

Question: Have you been present when a loved one passed on?

Mention (re: Gozzer Ranch eyes Squaw Bay resort): Once Gozzer builds the condos here, the plan is to move the private beach that is at Squaw (Gozzer Bay as they call it) Bay over to Eddies, and close Eddies off to the public.

Question: Isn't it a bit presumptuous for Gozzer Ranch to use “Gozzer Bay” to refer to the bay formerly known as Squaw? Have we officially changed the name Squaw Bay to the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's preferred one, Neachen Bay?

With a little help from his mom, Leanne, Oscar Hoffmann, 8, takes his place behind the mic during the Mr. Hoffman Show on 92.5 FM, in Moscow. Lewiston Tribune story here. (AP Photo/Lewiston Tribune, Kyle Mills)

Question: Did you ever dream of being a radio DJ/announcer?

A mountain of a man in combat boots is perched at the wheel of a golf cart. Thick black hair swirls across his arms, chest and wraps around his back, making his big toothy smile seem bigger — almost brighter — in the sunlight. Aside from the boots, he’s buck naked. In a flash, wandering eyes can judge whether he’s circumcised (he is), carries a spare tire around his middle (he does), prefers to shave his genitals (he does not), or if he’s wearing a wedding ring (nope). But here, well-aside from marital status, none of that really matters. “We’ve got all shapes and sizes of construction workers, farmers, bankers, attorneys, doctors and lawyers,” says Kathy Smith, 62, discussing the membership at Sun Meadow Nudist Resort in Worley, Idaho. “We’ve got everyone from newborns up to people in their 90s”/Jordy Byrd, Inlander. More here. (Inlander photo/Amy Hunter: “Aprons are allowed for the cooks in the kitchen at Sun Meadow Resort.”)

Question: Have you ever thought of becoming a nudist?

Does any serious person believe the United States should cease or delay paying its debts? Social Security? Military retirement? Only in Washington, D.C., where extremists in both parties torpedoed a bipartisan agreement between President Barack Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner to cut the deficit over 10 years by $4 trillion by slashing government spending, reforming entitlements and closing tax loopholes while simultaneously reducing federal tax rates. Sensible Republican House leaders who understand the need for compromise, including my former colleague, Mike Simpson, were unable to sell this agreement to their tea party base because it closed some of the most egregious tax loopholes like those which enable hedge fund billionaires and General Electric to pay little or no taxes on their annual earnings/Walt Minnick, Idaho Statesman guest column. More here.

Question: Who will blink?

Item: Bonner County GOP CC debates no confidence vote vs. Keough, Broadsword/Cameron Rasmusson, Bonner County Bee

More Info: Keough countered that while it wasn’t her or Broadsword’s intent to put Kootenai County Republican incumbents against each other, tough choices will need to be made. “We are in the reddest of the red states,” she said. “No matter how that map is drawn, there will be Republican incumbents against each other.”  She also defended the choice to issue a press release, saying that other legislators have expressed opinions through columns and other media expressions. Keough said the press release was an efficient way to communicate the work she and Broadsword had been doing.

Question: How badly has this new confidence vote politically hurt Sens. Keough and Broadsword?

I so enjoyed that photo by Live, Love, Laugh, Hope Wednesday that I thought I'd publish another one. You can see more of Bullwinkle, plus some other wild life and fawna shots on Twin Lakes from LLLH here.

• Idaho Records/Sherry Adkins, SR
• Wednesday Scanner Traffic/DFO, Hucks Online
• Warming starts today, continues into August/Mike Prager, SR
• Leaking car fluid trail leads to arrests/Spokesman-Review
• 1 dead in Soap Lake shooting, 2 stabbed/MIke Prager, SR
• Lightning strikes Pray woman, kills 2 horses/Associated Press
• Hawaii picked to win WAC football, Idaho 6th/Brian Murphy, Statesman
• Blanchette: Pac-12 TV deal will be served as cold dish/SR
• CHS Viking Field House campaign kicks into gear/Alecia Warren, Press
• Illegal dumping, verbal abuse at Dumpsters on rise/Alecia Warren, Press
• Rathdrum proposes 1 percent tax hike/Brian Walker, Press

Post Falls Police said alcohol could be a factor in a rollover crash Thursday morning. The car crashed around 1:30 a.m. on Seltice Way just a few blocks east of Highway 41.Officers said they received a phone call that a driver was going the wrong way on Seltice at speeds more than 100 miles per hour.The driver hit and crashed into a car that was pulling out of a gas station, police said/KXLY. More here.

A group of atheists has filed a lawsuit claiming the display of the World Trade Center cross at the 9/11 memorial in lower Manhattan is unconstitutional, calling it a “mingling of church and state.” The American Atheists, which advocates an “absolute separation” of government and religion, filed the lawsuit Monday to stop the display of the cross, arguing that it should not be included if “no other religions or philosophies will be honored,” according to a statement on the group's website. The cross, which consists of two intersecting steel beams that were found intact in the rubble at Ground Zero, was initially constructed on a side of a church in lower Manhattan/Fox News. More here. (AP file photo)

Question: Should the World Trade Center cross be taken down?

Item: New Gozzer resort proposed: Owner envisions cabin owners renting units out like motel rooms/David Cole, Coeur d'Alene Press

More Info: Discovery Land Co. wants to develop a resort of 15 large privately owned cabins - valued between $2 million and $4 million per unit - along Lake Coeur d'Alene at what was long called Squaw Bay. The developer envisions owners of the cabins renting the units out like motel rooms. Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Discovery, a large development firm known in Coeur d'Alene for its Gozzer Ranch golf and lake club project near the now proposed project, is seeking approval from Kootenai County officials to move forward on what's initially being called Gozzer Bay Resort.

Question: Thumbs up? Or thumbs down?

Dr. Michael Trantow has seen plenty of the expected in his 30 years of peering into the mouths of patients. Cavities. Diseased gums. Abscessed teeth … Seeing the Virgin Mary staring back at him, however, was definitely a first. “I was so startled,” the Spokane Valley dentist said of what he witnessed earlier this month after removing a patient’s crown. “I told everyone in the office to come in and look at this.” The consensus, he said, fell pretty much into the category of shock and awe. The exposed surface of a tooth belonging to longtime patient Marilyn Blossom appeared to bear the face of a woman who could be, well, you know who/Doug Clark, SR. More here.

Question: What do you make of sightings of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary in odd places like a tooth?

Michael Ramirez/Investor's Business Daily

Kylee Carnegie, 8, takes a closer look at a beached juvenile gray whale in Bremerton, Wash., earlier today.  The whale was alive when the stranding was reported Wednesday morning but was later found dead when a National Marine Fisheries employee arrived on site. (AP Photo/Kitsap Sun, Meegan M. Reid)
  

Looks like SR techs have fixed problem with right rail this AM. Seems the entire right rail was hanging out at the bottom of this main thread. HMOffsuite had sounded the alert via private email. Which I appreciate. Any time you see something going on weird with Hucks on your computer, don't hesitate to give me a heads up. Sometimes I'm so enmeshed in daily posting that I'm not aware when things go sideways for readers. Now for your Hump Day Wild Card …

It’s putting a pretty face on the, uh, ugly. Not that the ever-changing, ever-updating Coeur d’Alene Wastewater Treatment Plant is unattractive from an aesthetic sense, it’s just that the job it’s designed to do is just so, well, unglamorous. Never mind that though. The plant is the spot for the city’s next public art piece. “It’s kind of neat,” said Fred Ogram, Arts Commission chairman, on the call to artists soliciting a hands-on, interpretive art piece that should support the facility’s functions while highlighting the nearby natural environment and resources/Tom Hasslinger, CdA Press. More here. (Photo courtesy: city of Coeur d'Alene)

Question: You be the artist. What would an appropriate art work look like for the Coeur d'Alene wastewater plant?

In the midst of a 15-minute, man-against-fish fight, Pocatello angler Mark Adams knew he had a lunker on the line. The rainbow trout Adams eventually pulled from the depths of American Falls Reservoir on the Snake River actually exceeded expectations. See AP/KBOI story here.

• Mountain West to Boise State: No blue for you/J. Bates, KBOI
• Every Pac-12 football, basketball game on TV/Associated Press
• Poll: City of Coeur d'Alene raises aren't justified/CdA Press
• Bids open for 15th Street upgrade (Margaret to Dalton)/CdA Today
• 9YO girl critically burned after playing w/lighter in NW Spokane/KREM
• Bond set at $500,000 for Moses Lake rape suspect/Rob Kauder, KXLY
• Peterson teammates shed tears at Olympic Park/Lynn DeBruin & Matthew Brown, AP
• Shoshone County deputies search for I-90 run vehicle/Zac Failla, News-Press
• Labrador focusing on immigration/David Cole, North Idaho News Network
• Singletary series concludes with da Vinci lecture/Coeur d'Alene Today
• Redistricters set meeting dates for August, September/Betsy Russell, EOB
• Mountain West commissioner: No expansion talk/Brian Murphy, Statesman

Michael Phelps of the U.S. prepares for his men's 200m Individual Medley heat at the FINA Swimming World Championships in Shanghai, China, earlier today. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer)

Top Cutlines:

• 1. (and winner of $10 Fort Ground Grill gift certificate): As debt talks continue, the left and right still can’t seem to reach any sort of agreement — Nic.
• 2. After winning the race, Phelps pats himself on the back, mumbling “I told them I wasn’t going to pot” — JohnA.
• 3. Dang it! Why does it always itch right in the spot I can’t reach?! — Jen.
• HM: Stebbijo

Sgt. Christie Wood has sent this photo of the stolen run vehicle (red Dodge Charger from Washington) that eluded Post Falls & CdA police Tuesday. Patrol officers backed off rather than pursue on city streets at speeds of 100 mph. Incident reported in Scanner Traffic Tuesday & followed by CdA Press here. And:  Shoshone County deputies were involved, too here.

• 4:43 p.m. Man has sat in blue Audi in 500 block of Dana/Hayden for half hour, worrying woman.
• 4:29 p.m. Post Falls WalMart reports panhandler who was told to move on … hasn't.
• 4:13 p.m. Woman wanted on felony warrant is at adult probation expecting to be arrested.
• 4:08 p.m. Unkempt woman in short black dress asked Garwood Road resident for money.
• 4:01 p.m. Mother reports unkempt late-40ish man missing teeth talked to her daughters at Honeysuckle Beach/Hayden.
• 22 more items below + AM Scanner Traffic link

Under pressure from health and children’s advocacy groups, McDonald’s Corp. is making changes to its famed Happy Meals. The fast food chain will add a serving of fruit or vegetable to all of the meals, which are aimed at children, and shrink the portion of french fries. The changes, announced Tuesday, will take effect in September in some markets and then roll out to all 14,000 McDonald’s restaurants in the U.S. by April. McDonald’s said it first experimented with cutting fries entirely from the Happy Meals, but children and parents rebelled/Chicago Tribune. More here. (AP photo)

Question: Is McDonalds wise in making this business decision?

Ralph Young, the man who is suspected of attempting to rape another man in a College Hill residence early Tuesday morning, has been identified as a Washington State University employee. Young, 30, is the Native American Outreach Coordinator for WSU and in that capacity is responsible for recruiting Native American students as well as promoting higher education. He was arrested Monday after police responded to a sexual assault call on College Hill. A 22-year-old WSU student was sleeping on a friend's couch when he was awakened allegedly early in the morning by the assault by Young, his friend's roommate. The victim stopped Young's assault by pummeling him/Rob Kauder, KXLY. More here.

Tests at a North Idaho sprouts plant failed to turn up traces of salmonella after the government in June linked an outbreak of food-borne salmonella poisoning to two types of sprouts from the business. Nadine Scharf, owner of Evergreen Fresh Produce in Moyie Springs, says her company is on the verge of collapse after customers stopped filling orders in the weeks following the government action. Scharf said she complied with a request by officials to voluntarily recall alfalfa sprouts and a spicy sprouts mix. Since then, she has laid off 10 of her 14 workers and sold three vehicles to raise cash to pay her bills, she said/Mike Prager, SR. More here. (Courtesy photo: River Journal)

Question: The salmonella scare has almost bankrupted Evergreen Fresh Produce of Moyie Springs. Should the federal government have some obligation to help the company back on its feet?

“My hubby and I were out fishing recently,” posts Live, Love, Laugh, Hope, “when we suddenly had a visitor come tromping down through the yards, into the lake.  We were joined by Bullwinkle.  He stayed around for about an hour, feasting on lily pads and other plants out in the channel.” More photos & story here.

Top Post: I am a relic, I guess… as I get older, the more disconnected I get. If Verizon was smart, they would hold classes at night for the electronic disable or better known as those who can’t keep up with modern tech. I gave up my cell phone when I retired. It was part of the downsizing that had to be done. And to be honest with you… I rarely miss it. The only time that I do, is when I travel by myself. What if I have car trouble? Even if I am in the city, there are fewer and fewer pay phones. So for that reason, I miss having a cell phone. I do carry my old unconnected cell phone with me, as they say you can call 911 on it.. So that is in the glove box. But an I-phone, or any smart phone is lost on me/Cis, From A Simple Mind. More here.

• Ramblings/A Butterfly Moment
• Tea Party crybabies want it all!?/Community Comment
• Politics as a double negative/Dogwalk Musings
• I am so disconnected/From A Simple Mind
• Sister Tour, Day 1/Gathering Around the Table
• A day out fishing/Live, Love, Laugh, Hope
• Tidbits: Keeping the ego in check/Rants, Raves, & Random Thoughts
• A summer of glimmers/Slight Detour
• Begonia/Tumblewords

Hucks Online numbers (for Monday): 8764/4846 and (for Tuesday): 8121/4827

Question: How do you rate on a scale of 1 to 10 with one being “entirely disconnected” and 10 being “very connected?

House Speaker John Boehner (pictured in AP file photo) leveled tough words at fellow Republicans Wednesday, telling conservatives who are unhappy his bill doesn't go far enough to “Get your ass in line.” Boehner's admonishment came during a closed-door meeting, during which House GOP leaders sought to rally support for their debt bill, according to two Republican sources who attended the meeting.  The Ohio Republican told members he was working hard and didn't want to turn around and not see an army behind him. House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia also said it was time to pull together and pass the House GOP debt bill, instead of feeding a storyline that pits Republican against Republican/Deirdre Walsh, CNN. More here.

Question: Will Boehner and mainstream Republicans be able to keep Tea Party Republicans in line long enough to forge a debt-ceiling compromise?

Former Idaho Vandal QB Nathan Enderle has signed a 4-year deal with the Chicago Bears! He was drafted by 'da Bears in the 5th of this year's NFL Draft. Chicago Tribune story here. (Photo courtesy of University of Idaho sports media relations)

JohnA lists these 4 reasons why upgrade to McEuen Field makes sense now:

• 1. The city needs to make improvements to Front Avenue that are long overdue. That makes it a good time to look at the whole neighborhood.
• 2. Interest rates haven’t been this low forever. The project can be financed now so we can use it now, and not wait for the money to accrue.
• 3. The city has quite a bit of funding already in place, including impact fees for Front Street and the park plus water and sewer fees for those improvements on Front.
• 4. The city has parking reserve fees for those parking more than two hours, dating back to 1991. A parking facility makes sense at this time, as indicated by the plans at McEuen.

Question: Can you add to the list?

“Cowboys & Aliens’’ — it sounds like a game you’d play in a 21st century backyard. That title, the presence of Harrison Ford, and the Steven Spielberg imprimatur (he’s on board as executive producer) promise blockbuster Americana with a sprinkling of extraterrestrials, a cinematic summer picnic suitable for the whole family. Trust me: Leave the littlest guys at home because “E.T.’’ this ain’t. As directed by Jon Favreau (“Iron Man’’), “Cowboys & Aliens’’ is a hell-for-leather action film with a healthy serving of scares. It really is “Aliens’’ on the open plains, “Independence Day’’ for the nation’s centennial, and what the movie lacks in originality and stick-to-your-ribs Western authenticity, it makes up for in pell-mell multiplex entertainment/Ty Burr, Boston.com. More here. (AP Photo/Universal Studios-Dreamworks II Distribution)

Question: Am I the only one in Hucks Nation who can't wait to see this one?

Obviously the Parents Television Council doesn’t read the articles. The advocacy group is condemning NBC for its upcoming drama “The Playboy Club,” putting pressure on local stations across the country to refuse its airing. The series, set in 1960s Chicago, stars Eddie Cibrian as Nick, a candidate for district attorney who frequents the titular establishment and soon finds his life entangled with that of Playboy bunny Maureen (played by Amber Heard.) Citing statistics that 200,000 Americans are “porn addicts,” and 56 percent of divorce cases can be blamed not on lack of love but on “one person” having “obsessive interest” in pornography, the PTC blames Playboy, and NBC for supporting it, for the demise of the American family/Jack Wineraub, The Wrap. More here. (AP, NBC photo)

Question: Do you have concerns re: network TV offering something as racy as “The Playboy Club”?

On a rock outcrop at Shoshone Falls, there’s a ledge covered with pennies. The copper has long since corroded into a rainbow of green hues, and they’ll be there forever because nobody is going to risk life and limb to salvage $1.14 that you can’t spend in the pop machine. I don’t think God is OK with that. I suspect that everyone who vacuums up a penny, or pitches it into a trash can, or walks over it without troubling to bend over is guilty of arrogance that may come home to roost. That’s because the penny is the currency of small mercies, the coin of petty indulgences from Providence. Think of it as the fiduciary equivalent of a sunbeam breaking through the clouds, a smile from a stranger, or your brother-in-law returning your cordless electric drill after 14 years/Steve Crump, Twin Falls Times-News. More here. (2009 AP file photo, of new penny)

Question: What do you do with your loose pennies?

Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Felix Hernandez throws against the New York Yankees in the first inning of a baseball game, Wednesday at Yankee Stadium in New York. Seattle beat the Yankees 9-2. ESPN Game Day coverage here. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)

• Cartoon: Tea Party crybabies want it all/David Horsey, Seattle P-I
• Kuna man lands Idaho record-setting carp/Twin Falls Times-News
• Twin Falls Perrine Bridge passes biennial inspection/Nick Coltrain, TFTN
• DNA reveals new suspect in 2007 murder/Meghann Cuniff, Sirens & Gavels
• Idaho's best known venture capital firm shuts/Sandra Forester, Statesman
• Falling rock hits motorcycle passenger in Glacier Park/Associated Press
• Small towns ponder possible post office closures/Daniel Person, Chronicle
• Australian paper laments loss of solar plant to Idaho/Rocky Barker, Statesman
• Oil from Yellowstone spill found at 60% of sites downstream/Matthew Brown, AP
• Orbusmax Special: Seattle mayor signing medical marijuana law here

Question: Is this the day that the Mariners end their losing streak, which now stands at 17 games?

• 11:59 a.m. A boxer dog won't let anyone in or out of Larks Haven Assisted Living/Hayden Lake.
• 11:46 a.m. Atlas Road residents report they're being attacked via lasers through their phones.
• 11:36 a.m. Man reports to KCSD that his song is under the influence & has stolen things.
• 11:15 a.m. Man in 1100 block of Paradise/Rathdrum reports brother turning off his water, power.]
• 11:06 a.m. Girl runs from house @ Arbor & Singing Hills to report woman is hitting her mother.
• 15 more items below

… That the Kootenai County GOP Central Committee came thisclose to a possible donnybrook last night. Seems Chairwoman Tina Jacobson threatened to call the police on Matt Roetter after the meeting after a verbal confrontation between Matt Roetter and  Lori Erickson. Jacobson accused Matt Roetter of shoving Erickson. Roetter denied even touching Lori Erickson. Huckleberries hears that Roetter had confronted Erickson earlier verbally when he asked her why she would not accept his emails. One bystander told Huckleberries that the dust-up was the worst he'd ever seen at a local GOP CC meeting.

• Tuesday Poll: Overwhelmingly, Hucks Nation is interested re: how redistricters rearrange legislative boundary lines in North Idaho & the Idaho panhandle. 74 of 96 respondents (77.08%) said the redistricting process is important to them. 18 of 96 respondents (18.75%) said it isn't. 4 were undecided.
• Today's Poll: Who deserves a vote of no-confidence more — state Sens. Shawn Keough & Joyce Broadsword or the Region 1 GOP Central Committee?

Canadian Press reporter Alex Posadzki leans over Toronto's downtown while participating in a media preview of EdgeWalk on the CN Tower earlier today. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darren Calabrese)

Question: Are you afraid of heights?

Bert Cross, known by many as the “last journalism professor” died Monday morning at the age of 92 from age-related causes. The former professor taught at the University of Idaho for 24 years, where he was chairman of the journalism department before it became a part of the School of Communication in 1973. Despite the change, Cross wanted to remain a “professor of journalism” instead of one of “communication” like the rest of his colleagues. “He was an institution,” said Roy Atwood, one of Cross' former UI colleagues. “He represents the end of an era - of the old inky-print newspaper tradition”/Kelli Hadley, Moscow-Pullman Daily News. More here.

Question: What will happen when all the journalists are gone?

On Tuesday afternoon, PM Scanner Traffic reported this item provided by a Post Falls police dispatcher at 1:39: “Male shoplifter in black has cartful of electronics near garden entrance to PF WalMart.” I didn't add it that the shoplifter appeared to be talking on a cell phone or some other device to a female accomplice in the parking lot. KREM2 provides the rest of the story in a report from last night re: how a couple that had been released from prison in Colorado last year, Donavan McComas and Katrina Scanga, were planning to make off with $1300 in electronics equipment. McComas is already wanted for probation violation. Check out the rest of the story here.

Question: Can you believe how stupid people can be?

Item: On Target Back-to-school shopping already? Retailer partners with Salvation Army to purchase school supplies/Maureen Dolan, Coeur d'Alene Press

More Info: Notebook paper? Check. Erasers? Check. Markers? Check. Cookie-monster T-Shirt? Maybe. And so it went for 25 Kootenai County youngsters who, with the help of Salvation Army Kroc Center volunteer chaperones, browsed the aisles and racks Tuesday at the Target store in Coeur d'Alene. The kids - armed with lists of their back-to-school needs and $80 gift cards given to them by Target - selected clothing, school supplies and other items needed for the upcoming academic year.

Question: Are you ready for school to begin again?

Just a short stroll from downtown Sandpoint, a dirt trail follows Lake Pend Oreille’s shoreline past groves of leafy cottonwoods that block out the sights and sounds of the bustling resort town. Instead of traffic, trail users hear lapping waves and the musical cadence of song sparrows. To the east, they can watch storm clouds gathering over the Cabinet Mountains. The privately owned trail is one of Sandpoint’s best kept secrets. But through a $1.6 million deal negotiated with the heirs of the late Sandpoint photographer Ross Hall, local cities and a nonprofit group hope to secure almost a mile of the undeveloped shoreline for public use/Becky Kramer, SR. More here. (SR photo by Kathy Plonka: Dann Hall, son of the late Ross Hall, talks about his family’s waterfront property)

Reaction?

After the funeral at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, the U.S. Border Patrol and the Patriot Guard escort the body of Staff Sgt. Wyatt Goldsmith to his final resting place at Mountain View Cemetery in Colville on Tuesday. SR story here. (SR photo: Colin Mulvany)

• Idaho Records/Sherry Adkins, SR
• Tuesday Scanner Traffic/DFO, Hucks Online
• One more day in the 70s before 80s return/Mike Prager, SR
• 35-pound rainbow trout caught in American Falls reservoir/AP
• Southwest to abandon Spokane-Seattle route/Mike Prager, SR
• Hayden approves tentative budget/David Cole, CdA Press
• Wolf advocates challenge delisting at Missoula hearing/Rob Chaney, Missoulian
• Fool proof shoplifting plan fails at Post Falls WalMart/KREM
• AARP Idaho aims to flood congressional mailboxes/Dan Popkey, Statesman
• Redistricters won't get to GOP plan until Monday/Betsy Russell, EOB
• Vestal: Wages fall depending on where workers fall/Spokesman-Review

Shoshone Conservative (re: “Fighting over a mascot”): Being Scottish, Irish, and German, I demand that Notre Dame drop their “Fighting Irish” mascot, since it fosters negative stereotypes about the Irish temperament. I also demand that the University of Idaho drop the name “Vandals”,. since it offends my Germanic roots. Not to mention, I demand that any team calling itself the “Highlanders” immediate rid themselves of such an offensive mascot! Since some of my forebears were farmers, I also demand that any team calling itself the “Aggies” find a new name forthwith! If I were Greek, I would also be offended by any school calling its team the “Trojans” or the “Spartans.” I’m sure even “Titans” would be considered blasphemous to those who still follow the ancient Greek religion (there’s probably a few out there somewhere). I guess it’s still O.K. to name teams after animals (Grizzlies, Broncos, Eagles, etc.)… Though, PETA may have an issue with that…

• Best Comment: Shoshone Conservative wins a $10 gift certificate from Fort Ground Grill for the best comment from Tuesday's threads.

Matt Hasselbeck is leaving the NFC West after 10 years of starting with the Seattle Seahawks, as he has agreed to a multi-year deal with the Tennesee Titans. He will be their starter this year and probably in 2012, but is expected to show rookie Jake Locker the ropes. With the announcement, the Arizona Cardinals lost one of their options at quarterback. With Hasselbeck leaving, teams in the NFC West should breathe a little easier. He has shown he can win in that division for a long time, and his experience and play were key in a playoff victory last season against the New Orleans Saints./Jeff Root, SB Nation. More here.

Question: Are you a long-suffering fan of the Seattle Seahawks?

Editor Mike Patrick of the Coeur d'Alene Press slugged one over the fence this morning with his editorial, “Vote of confidence.” In it, he points out the silliness of the Far Right, which is in control of the GOP Central Committees in Kootenai County and North Idaho, noting that it condemns decent state senators like Shawn Keough and Joyce Broadsword for simply offering a redistricting plan, while embracing the tax-dodging Rep. Phil Hart of Athol. Quote: “Region One committee members castigated the senators for “failure to adhere to Republican principles” and 'purposely attempting to cause electoral run-offs between Idaho conservative legislators in order to further your progressive agendas.' Progressive agendas? Last we looked, Broadsword and Keough couldn't be mistaken for Feinstein and Pelosi, but that's the point, isn't it? If the public has lost confidence in anybody, it's those jerking the reins of the Republican Central Committee.” More here.

Question: Are you very confident in the GOP Central Committee leadership in Kootenai County or Region 1?

Jeret Peterson faced serious personal challenges throughout his life, but he rose to great heights in aerial skiing — and will be remembered as an Olympic medalist who took the sport to a new level. “He was never satisfied to do what everyone else was doing and just do it better,” said Tom Kelly, spokesman for the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association. “He always wanted to do something bigger.” The 29-year-old’s body was found at 9:30 p.m. Monday outside his pickup in Lambs Canyon, a 15-minute drive east of Salt Lake City, according to a spokesman for the Unified Police of Greater Salt Lake. Lt. Justin Hoyal said Peterson called 911 and told a dispatcher that he was going to kill himself. He left a note at the scene/Katy Moeller, Statesman. More here.

Question: Has your life been touched by suicide?

Nick Anderson/Houston Chronicle

Why am I not surprised that we're experiencing another overcast summer day in viewtiful Coeur d'Alene? Seems the days haven't improved all that much since winter officially departed in March 21. On the other hand, I'm inside today, as I usually am through the work week, so it doesn't matter all that much. But I know many of you have more freedom than I to run around outside. Not to worry. The weather forecasters are predicting sunshine again Wednesday. Now for your Wild Card …

Jeret Peterson of the United States, celebrates his Olympic silver medal in the men's freestyle aerials final at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. Utah police say Peterson has killed himself in an isolated canyon. The Unified Police of Greater Salt Lake said Peterson called 911 before shooting and killing himself on Monday evening. AP Story here. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky, File)

The Jews, Buddhists and Hindus have applauded the City of Coeur d'Alene (Idaho, USA) for the public display of 'Ganesha' sculpture in its downtown.  “The City of Coeur d'Alene and its Arts Commission should be commended for their strength and inclusive attitude in displaying the 'Ganesha' sculpture along with 14 others in downtown as a part of 'ArtCurrents', its public art display program,” Rabbi Jonathan B. Freirich, the prominent Jewish leader in North Carolina (USA), said in a statement. “Ganesha may not be as sacred to us as it is to our Hindu friends, but we still welcome its addition as an integration of a wider range of public art into the community and an enhancement of the overall appeal of an urban area,” he added/Newstrack India. More here. (SR file photo by Kathy Plonka, of controversial Ganesha artwork in downtown Coeur d'Alene)

Reaction?

• 5:23 p.m. 2 females have battered Anthony @ St. Pius Church parking lot on Haycraft. All 8 to 12YO.
• 5:11 p.m. Coeur d'Alene Ave resident reports kids on motorized scooters tearing around street.
• 4:57 p.m. Plastic is blowing from back of pickup onto I-90 @ M/P 8 (Huetter area).
• 4:49 p.m. Sherry tells Spirit Lake police that brother has stolen & pawned her items.
• 4:37 p.m. Shannon has questions re: obtaining a permit for an upcoming regatta.
• 4:04 p.m. Noncustodial 45YO Washington woman in late '90s red Ford Explorer sought for taking 8YO daughter from pool in Lewistown, MT. Believed to be headed for Spokane.
• 3:41 p.m. Caller reports hearing rifle shot sound from behind Joanne Fabrics, 1031 3rd/CdA.
• 19 more items below + AM Scanner Traffic link with 21 items

Grizzly bear No. 399 crossing a road in Grand Teton National Park, Wyo., with her three cubs. A grizzly bear in Grand Teton National Park has wowed scientists and tourists alike by adopting a cub from another sow grizzly. Park officials say they’re fairly certain that No. 610 has adopted one of her younger siblings: No. 610 is the 5-year-old daughter of No. 399. Park officials say such behavior is not unprecedented but quite rare. Story here. (AP photo/Tom Mangelsen, File)

• Fire crews pull body from Spokane River/KHQ
• Hasselbeck won't re-sign with Seattle Seahawks/Seattle Times
• 8 injured in Naples tour bus crash/Julie Golder, Hagadone News Network
• 8YO boy loses 5 fingers in BMX race in NW Spokane/Mike Prager, SR
• Jews, Hindus, Buddhists laud CdA for Ganesha display/Newstrack India
• Judge critical of FBI tactics in MLK Day bomb arrest/Thomas Clouse, SR
• Almost 300,000 Washingtonians lose license for not paying tickets/AP
• What's up with Pend Oreille's lake level/Susan Drumheller, ICL
• Medical marijuana suspect calls on Willie Nelson/Meghann Cuniff, Sirens & Gavels
• Redistricters thank, praise those who submitted plans/Betsy Russell, EOB
• Rathdrum among Idaho towns eyeing electric rate hike/Brad Iverson-Long, IR
• Coeur d'Alene police drop chase of stolen vehicle to protect residents/Press
• Several Kellogg residents have rude awakening Monday/Zac Failla, News-Press

As a fan reaches for the ball, Boston Red Sox left fielder Carl Crawford makes the catch on a fly out by Kansas City Royals Eric Hosmer during the 11th inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, early morning Tuesday. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Top Cutlines:

• 1 (& winner of $10 Fort Ground Grill gift certificate) When she told her fairy godmother that she wanted to go to the ball and meet the man of her dreams, this isn’t exactly what Cinderella had in mind — Idaho Dad.
• 2. This image taken prior to the contact between fan and player shows what attorneys for Crawford are calling “unfortunate trajectory,” but attorneys for the fan call “an obvious grab for the plaintiff’s breast.” It would have been “unprofessional” and unlike the defendant to forsake ball for breast and the contact was “unintentional,” Crawford retorted in court filings, denying the allegation of giving “even a gentle squeeze” — Brent Andrews.
• 3. The Seattle Mariners quickly rush to sign the fan to a contract, thinking that anyone even TRYING to catch a baseball might help them avoid a 17th straight loss in New York today — JohnA.
• HM: Cabbage Boy & Idawa

The Unified Police Department in Salt Lake County, Utah confirms they are investigating the death of U.S. aerial freestyle skier Jeret “Speedy” Peterson.  Officials say the Olympian took his own life Monday night. Peterson was found dead at about 9:30 p.m. Monday from a self-inflicted gun shot wound.  It happened in a mountainous area of Utah called Lambs Canyon. Peterson was arrested Friday in Hailey for speeding and driving while intoxicated.  Earlier today, Peterson's attorney filed paperwork on his behalf pleading not guilty to both crimes.  His attorney was unavailable for comment/Jamie Gray, KTVB. More here. (AP file photo: Jeret 'Speedy' Peterson of the United States reacts after performing the first jump of Men's Aerials final at the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games at Sauze d'Oulx, Italy.) H/T: Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise

Reaction?

In this photo from KEA Blog, endangered trees are on the left, between Rosenberry Drive & Lake Coeur d'Alene.

An incompetent Corps of Engineers and an inflexible FEMA are about to destroy a Coeur d’Alene treasure unnecessarily. The out-of-town and out-of-control federal agencies are blindly calling for the City of Coeur d’Alene to remove hundreds of mature trees from the dike that follows the lake and riverfront around City Park and North Idaho College. (News coverage here, here, here, and here.) Built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1940s, the dike runs just less than a mile and it purports to protect NIC and the Fort Grounds area from 100-year flood events. The main significance, however, is that the dike protects NIC and the Fort Grounds from unreasonable flood insurance premiums/Terry Harris, KEA Blog. More here.

Question: Do you agree with KEA Blog that Corps of Engineers is incompetent and FEMA inflexible on the issue involving Dike Road?

Honest George: In much of our area the young are moving away or at least being out-numbered by the old. Many lumber mills have closed, ranging from Sandpoint, Bonners Ferry, St. Maries, Coeur d ‘Alene to Lewiston.The demographics of the Silver Valley has changed drastically with the closure of the mines and smelter and the subsequent outflux of the well-paid working union core. Many of these workers have been replaced with people locked into service jobs that provide such low wages that involvement in politics or worker-conditions improvement efforts are probally the last thing on their minds. This entire area was much more vibrant when it was populated by young, growing families. IMHO, the only people that will be involved in politics are those that already ‘has theirs’, those that tag-along and want to be noticed by them that ‘has theirs’ and the conservative retirees that, in Idaho at least, will bet against their own best interests.

Question: Are you fortunate enough to have grown children living nearby? Or growing children intending to stay in the region?

OrangeTV/Get Out! North Idaho introduces us to a “then-and-now” look at downtown Coeur d'Alene, comparing 1981 with 2011: “The Facebook group 'Old School Coeur d'Alene' can be massively entertaining for folks like me who are fond of yammering on about a time long ago when our town was less prone to artsy-fartsy foofaraw, touristy rattleclap, and those pesky trees and flowers making everyone's allergies flare up. Call me old, and I'll smack you with a Hall & Oates record. The “THEN” images posted below were swiped from that group's page and landed there Saturday courtesy of Dave Bellamy, who writes, “My dad was on the plannng commission and this still and these pictures were gathered as part of a proposal looking at putting up a cover over the downtown area of CDA. It never panned out but the planning did lead to the downtown we have now.” The image on the left is the cover of the proposal pamphlet — love that totally hideous graphic design.”

Question: Do you remember when downtown boosters were considering transforming Sherman Avenue into a covered mall, back in the 1980s? I do.

7 year old Theo shows determination while practicing CPR techniques on a dummy during a training organized by Romania's ambulance service in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday in an attempt to get into the Guinness Book of World Records, on its 105th year in existence, for the largest training session in the world. The attempt was successful, with 7,404 people attending the event, according to local media, more than the previous record held by Mexico. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Question: Do you know CPR?

Not much stops that exercise class at Peak Fitness in the Prairie Shopping Center from getting-'er-done when it comes to burning off calories & shaping up. Case in point: Around 9:30 this morning, the group was going through its stretching and workout routine when the fire alarm sounded, set off by the smoke from welding occurring nearby. Peak Fitness cleared out. The Northern Lakes Fire Department arrived to find the class working out in the parking lot shared with Discount Theater off of Centa/Hayden.

This month marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Ty Cobb, the irascible Detroit Tigers right-fielder who was the first player voted into baseball’s Hall of Fame. Less well known is that Cobb, a Georgian who eventually retired to California, was a Twin Falls businessman during the 1940s and ’50s. In his third season in the major leagues — 1907 — Cobb began buying Coca-Cola stock and doing magazine and newspaper endorsements for the Atlanta-based beverage maker. By the time he died, he owned 20,000 shares of stock and bottling plants in Twin Falls; Bend, Ore., and Santa Maria, Calif. Cobb invested well elsewhere, but his relationship with Coke alone made him a rich man/Steve Crump, Twin Falls Times-News. More here. (AP file photo: Ty Cobb used to make his cleats razor sharp so as to better steal a base or break up a double play.)

You might get some dirty looks if you thanked God for your hot wife at the family Thanksgiving feast. But a pastor saying a prayer before a NASCAR race got plenty of laughs. Baptist Pastor Joe Nelms had a lot to bless before NASCAR Federation Auto Parts 300 race in Nashville.”So we want to thank you tonight for these mighty machines you brought before us,” Nelms said during the prayer. “Thank you for the Dodges and the Toyotas. Thank you for the Fords. Thank you for Sunoco racing fuel and Goodyear tires.”He also thanked God for his family — though not in a manner typical for a pastor.”Lord, I want to thank you for my smokin' hot wife tonight,” said Nelms/CNN, AP. More here. And: (Nelms' Website at Family Baptist Church of Lebanon, TN here) (Family Baptist Church website photo: Pastor Joe Nelms, wife, Lisa, & kids)

Question (re: this prayer that's gone viral): Was Pastor Joe being sacriligeous in thanking God for hot cars and his hot wife?

North Dakota political leaders are asking the NCAA to back off and let the state's flagship university keep its Fighting Sioux name and logo, even at the risk of potential blacklisting and scorn by other universities and its own conference. Lawmaker involvement is a strategy even some University of North Dakota boosters question, and is unique among schools forced to decide whether to drop American Indian nicknames deemed hostile and abusive or accept penalties for keeping them. North Dakota's debate appeared to be resolved when the state Board of Higher Education agreed in 2009 to drop the Fighting Sioux logo and nickname and UND agreed to phase them out by this Aug. 15. But state lawmakers intervened earlier this year, passing a law that requires the university to retain the moniker and logo/AP, Missoulian. More here.

Question: Who's out of line here re: the Fighting Sioux name & logo — North Dakota or NCAA?

• Noon: Teen girl has razor & is threatening to cut herself @ Hauser Lake & Cliffhouse.
• 11:59 a.m. Officer wants file started on weedly lot b/n 12th-16th/PF, belonging to construction firm.
• 11:36 a.m. David has questions re: flooding on Spokane River & lifejacket requirements.
• 11:24 a.m. Ryan, from 509 area code, reports his wallet stolen from Coeur d'Alene Casino.
• 11:15 a.m. Patrol officer reports n/b H95 traffic tied up half mile south of Silverwood. Didn't say why.
• 11:10 a.m. Run vehicle reportedly going 100 mph on Hanley. Vehicle now in residential area. (Update: Coeur d'Alene Press story re: incident here)
• 11:08 a.m. Run vehicle is driving erratically at 65 mph @ H95 before turning on Hanley/CdA
• 11:02 a.m. PF officer asks for Coeur d'Alene police backup to stop Dodge Charger, which pulled into Big Lots and then took off toward Government Way to Kathleen. Vehicle has Aryan nations sticker.
• 10:57 a.m. License Plate Recognition system alerts Post Falls police to possible stolen red Dodge Charger with Washington plates. Post Falls traffic officer is following e/b on I-90 to H95, where driver turns off to go northbound. Officer is worried that there's too much traffic “if he makes a run.”
• 12 more items below

This undated photo provided by the University of Idaho shows part of a giant Palouse earthworm, Driloleirus americanus. The giant Palouse earthworm will not be listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act because recent information indicates the worm might be more widespread than previously thought, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday. (AP Photo/University of Idaho via The Spokesman Review, File)

• Boise State favored to win Mountain West football title/Chadd Cripe, Statesman
• Pullman police investigating rape of man on College Hill/Rob Kauder, KXLY
• Crump: Hall of Famer Ty Cobb had ties to Twin Falls/Twin Falls Times-News
• Study predicts end to greater Yellowstone as we know it/Rocky Barker, Statesman
• Olympian 'Speedy' Petersen pleads innocent to DUI/AP, KTVB
• Idaho soldiers bring Boise State good luck gnome to Iraq/J. Bates, KBOI
• Montanan who shot 55 dogs recovering from suicide attempt/Billings Gazette
• Mother grizzlies in Grand Teton Park make rare cub exchange/AP, Gazette
• Orbusmax Special: Naked homeowner fends off would-be prowler here

Many of you (in the media) have inquired as to the latest condition of the 20 day-old infant that was hospitalized on (Sunday). The child’s father James Dean Blanchard was arrested in connection with the child’s injury. We checked with medical staff within the last half an hour and were told the baby continues to deal with many medical problems such as seizures. He is in very critical condition. Our hopes and prayers are with this child. I will update you as information becomes available/Sgt. Christie Wood, Coeur d'Alene Police Department news release/Sgt Christie Wood, Coeur d'Alene Press news release.

• Family depends accused child abuser/Alison Boggs, SR

• Luna Guv Run: Overwhelmingly, Hucks Nation doesn't want to see Superintendent Tom Luna run for governor in 2014, should Gov. Butch Otter elect not to seek re-election. 151 of 177 respondents (85.31%) said they don't want controversial Luna to run. Only 19 of 177 (10.73%) wanted to see him seek the top executive post. 7 of 177 (3.95%) were undecided.
• Monday Poll: 68 of 139 respondents (48.92%) would like to see Diamond Cup hydroplane racing return to Lake Coeur d'Alene. 64 of 139 respondents (46.04%) don't want the races. 7 were undecided.
• Today's Poll: Do you care how the legislative districts are redrawn for North Idaho & the panhandle?

Deanna Goodlander: The facts are, that FEMA who are the flood insurance folks have told the Core of Engineers who oversee levees that they must more stringently clear levees in order to make them less inclined to fail. After Katrina and more recently the Mississipi River levee failures they are getting more strict. If we fail to act, the entire fort grounds area will have increased rates and the insurance will not cover the full cost of replacement or repairs. With millions of dollars worth of private property, as well as, the college and wastewater plant the costs and risks will be astronomical. Fortunately even if we have to cut trees they will only be on the slope and the ones on the level can stay. More below.

• Previous: Coeur d'Alene subcommittee recommends cutting trees on Dike Road

Reaction?

Rep. David Wu, D-Ore. speaks in Hillsboro, Ore., in this March 7 file photo. Wu has announced that he is resigning in the wake of allegations that he had a sexual encounter with an 18-year-old woman. Story from The Hill here. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File)

Question: Should we require that all male U.S. senators & representatives wear a chastity belt, to keep them from sex scandals?

A Spokane woman is telling police she fell victim to the Nigerian boyfriend scam and lost $70,000 in the process.It was a combination of loneliness and a very generous heart that led this mother of five to have to apologize to her children for leaving her family in debt and even helping the scammer victimize other people as well.”He said his wife died three years ago from cancer and he was raising his son on his own,” the victim said. The woman who, is too embarrassed to share her identity, was contacted by the scammer on her MySpace page. She had just wrapped up a divorce and flattered by attention from a stranger.”He says you are the only hope I have to help me out,” she said/Jeff Humphrey, KXLY. More here.

Question: Can you feel sorry for anyone who falls for a Nigerian scam?

Before it can compromise, the city of Coeur d'Alene will likely comply. A subcommittee recommended Monday the City Council adopt a mitigation plan to begin removing vegetation and addressing other concerns regarding the levee along Rosenberry Drive in response to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' March order. “I don't love it,” said Deanna Goodlander, City Council and Public Works Committee member, on moving forward with the plan. “I don't even like it.” The Public Works Committee recommended the City Council adopt the mitigation plan during its Aug. 2 meeting, saying the city's hands were tied because of possible insurance increases for the surrounding neighborhood should it not adhere to the changes/Tom Hasslinger, CdA Press. More here. (SR file photo)

Question: Are you surprised that the city is rolling over on this one?

In PCMag.com, Lance Ulanoff writes: “At some point this week, I will put aside my BlackBerry device and pick up an Apple iPhone. Having been using one BlackBerry or another for at least five years, this is a big deal. The time, though, has come for a change. For years, people have been asking me why I don't carry an iPhone. They assumed I, as the editor of a major tech website, would always have the latest and greatest in my pocket. Sometimes that was true. I have borrowed an iPhone and a number of other spiffy mobile devices to use from time-to-time, but when I had to get back to work—do my email, send texts, Tweet—I invariably turned back to my BlackBerry device.” More here.

Question: What type of smart phone do you have? Are you thinking about switching?

Kim Ransier, director of operations for Hospice of North Idaho, delivers donated artwork to the Hospice House in Coeur d'Alene on Monday. The new facility expects to start accepting patients in mid-August. SR story by Alison Boggs here. (SR photo: Kathy Plonka)

• Idaho Records/Sherry Adkins, SR
• Monday Scanner Traffic/DFO, Hucks Online
• Cooler July weather hangs around to Wednesday/Mike Prager, SR
• Idaho tired of spud slander/Erika Bolstad, McClatchy Newspapers
• Oregon picked first, Cougars picked last in Pac-12/SportsLink
• Desmet, Tensed post offices among possible closures/AP, SR
• Redistricters agree to stick with 35 legislative districts/Betsy Russell, EOB
• Southwest Airlines to end Spokane-to-Seattle flights/Mike Prager, SR
• Mother of accused child abuser defends son, baby 'critical'/Cole Heath, KREM
• Kitchen fire destroys motor home at Huetter & Seltice Way/KREM

JeanieSpokane: I am very sorry to see Campbell’s adding salt back in to their products. I look at all the ingredients of every pre-packaged product that I bring home. I don’t care what the studies say - Americans consume way too much sodium and protein (both are hard on your kidneys in over-large amounts and will stress the kidneys of even the most healthy). My kidneys ARE messed up. However, when I was a young adult, I was unaware of my familial kidney disease. Truth be told, had I watched my sodium & protein intake, I would have prolonged the inevitable dialysis treatment for possibly another 20 years. If I had done that, I probably wouldn’t have lost my job because I would have been at my job instead of taking time off for dialysis. (I’m living because of dialysis, and living very healthy.) But had I watched those two evil twins then — I wouldn’t be on dialysis today. Campbell’s - my message to you — Keep the salt out and let the consumer add it in.

• JeanieS won the 2nd $10 gift certificate from Steve & Marie Widmyer's Fort Ground Grill for best comment on Monday. Another certificate will be given today for best comment.

Item: McEuen studies would cost city $60,300/Tom Hasslinger, CdA Press

More Info: The city of Coeur d'Alene is proposing to extend its contract with the McEuen Field design team, Team McEuen, so the architects and engineers can begin topography and traffic studies to ensure the downtown park's conceptual drawing can be turned into a reality. The contract would be for $60,300. It would survey the landscape of the park for structure, drainage and other improvements, while the traffic analysis would study traffic movement on downtown streets, including parts of Fourth Street and Front Avenue that could close to cars as part of the plan.

Question: Are you onboard with the McEuen Field makeover?

There won't be a steep learning curve for Steve Wilson in his new job as interim president and chief executive officer of the Coeur d'Alene Chamber of Commerce. The chamber's board of directors announced Monday that it had hired Wilson to step into the interim leadership role following the departure of CEO Todd Christensen last week. … Wilson has long been involved with the chamber and served as chairman of the chamber board in 2010. He previously was general manager of The Coeur d'Alene Resort and more recently performed the same job at the Best Western Coeur d'Alene Inn/Maureen Dolan, Coeur d'Alene Chamber. More here.

Question: Does this mean Hagadone Corp. will be running the chamber?

Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira each homered and drove in three runs, Freddy Garcia stifled his former team and the New York Yankees handed the snakebit Seattle Mariners their 16th straight loss with a 10-3 victory Monday night. A rain delay of 1 hour, 57 minutes was the only thing that slowed this loss for Seattle. The game was barely under way when Teixeira crushed any pregame hopes Seattle had of jumping out early and snapping the streak, hitting a rare homer into the second deck in left field after Curtis Granderson walked in the first. In the third, Jeter hit his first homer since connecting for hit No. 3,000 on July 9. He also tripled in the eighth/Associated Press. More here. (AP photo: Curtis Granderson applauds Mark Teixeira's home run against Mariners)

Question: The Mariners have lost 16 games in a row. The American League record for consecutive losses is 21. Will they tie or break that record?

Michael Ramirez/Investor's Business Daily

I enjoyed hobnobbing with the 55 or so Berry Pickers who showed up for the 2011 Blogfest (aka Hucks Summer Bentfest) at Steve Widmyer's Fort Ground Grill on our viewtiful afternoon Sunday. Blogfests re-energize me. They bring together a range of people with widely different political, religious, & philosophical viewpoints. I know what I do here has value, when I see Berry Pickers who disagree loudly in the comments section hobnobbing at blogfest. Of course, it's always a pleasure to renew acquaintances with those who have been with me from the beginning of this 8 1/2-year journey: Cis, Herb, & Henry. BTW, I have 8 $10 gift certificates to the Fort Ground Grill to give out this week, courtesy of Grill owner Steve Widmyer. I'm going to give one out today for best cutline entry and another for the comment of the day. Now for your Wild Card …

• 1st winner of $10 Fort Ground Grill certificate (for cutline contest): Stebbijo
• 2nd winner is JeanieS for superb comment at 2:04 p.m. Monday re: salt in diet.
• 6 more certificates to go thru Thursday

“We hadn't planned to go to Julyamish,” writes Marianne Love/Slight Detour. “I knew my sisters were going, but when Debbie came home from Seattle Friday night and told me one of her friends from the Shoshone-Paiute Tribe of Nevada would be dancing at the powwow, we wasted no time getting together with Barbara and Laurie. We all enjoyed every minute spent at the powwow, and we always do.” Story & More photos here.

Arpie: At least both of you had the sense to leave the shirts untucked despite being on the downhill side of the great shirt tuck divide. I’ve noticed that everyone 5 years older than me always has their shirt tucked in and everyone 5 years younger always has it untucked. People my age, just past fifty, are fifty-fifty. Hawaiian shirts should never be tucked in.

Question: How often do you wear Hawaiian shirts?

• 5:45 p.m. Shoplifter in goatee & black hoodie left Stateline WalMart & got into blue Dodge Neon registered to a CdA woman.
• 5:42 p.m. Everyone out of water & capsized sailboat retrieved on Hayden Lake.
• 5:39 p.m. Female driver wants ISP officer to retrieve bumper she lost @ w/b I-90 @ Atlas/CdA.
• 5:31 p.m. Tree is down over power lines @ 3916 E. Benewah Road/Harrison.
• 5:24 p.m. Caller reports unoccupied, capsized sailboat @ east end of Hayden Lake, near sandbar.
• 5:20 p.m. Vehicle on fire in the median of w/b I-90 @ M/P 11 (NW Blvd/CdA).
• 5:19 p.m. Tree down across power lines on Hayden Lake Road @ Jacobs Ladder Trail.
• 5:15 p.m. A dock is loose on Lake Coeur d'Alene, floating from NIC Beach toward resort boardwalk.
• 5:04 p.m. Transformer blows @ 4211 Appaloosa (near Mocassin/Indian Meadows/CdA).
• 5:03 p.m. Caller @ Royal & Havichur/PF reports hearing yelling & shots fired nearby.
• 4:44 p.m. Caller reports house in 8800 block of Dahlia/PF is fully engulfed in flames. But fire is out when firefighters arrive on scene near 12th & Forsythia.
• 4:40 p.m. Large tree down across Lake CdA Drive, east of Beachouse, along Centennial Trail.
• 4:39 p.m. Unwanted person is reported in 1900 block of E. Lunceford/CdA.
• 4:31 p.m. A man who was slumped over wheel @ Atlas & Kathleen woke up & drove off.
• 4:25 p.m. A 9 to 10-inch tree is down across W. Riverview @ Foothill, south of Spokane River.
• 4:15 p.m. Large tree limb down in Plummer City Park off C Street.
• 4:10 p.m. Woman reports her purse was taken at Cornerstone gas station/Hayden.
• 17 more items below + AM Scanner Traffic link (w/18 more items)

Samuel Gottsegen, 17, recounts his experiences as one of the victims of a bear attack that occurred Saturday evening near Talkeetna, Alaska, as he recovers in an Anchorage hospital on Monday. Gottsegen was taking part in an outdoor education course from the National Outdoor Leadership School. Story here. (AP Photo/Loren Holmes)

• Prosecutor says teen-age father was rough with baby son/Alison Boggs, SR
• UIdaho seeks dismissal of student's lawsuit over guns in dorms/CdA Press
• Sagle's Boatright keeps history afloat w/classic vessels/David Gunter, Bee
• 2-fer & more: Dems say road law for legislative districts violates Constitution and: complete redistricting coverage from today/Betsy Russell, Eye on Boise
• Credit Suisse: 'Meritless' claims are attempt to shift blame/Betsy Russell, EOB
• Labrador: Debt debate major, but expect a deal/Brad Iverson-Long, IReporter

At Blogfest 2011 (aka Hucks Summer Bentfest), Don Sausser catches DFO & DanG hobnobbing while waiting for Bent to finish preparing the sumptious chicken & beef barbecue for the event at Steve Widmyer's Fort Ground Grill. You write the cutline. You can see the rest of Don's photos here. (The winner of this cutline contest will be awarded a $10 gift certificate to the Fort Ground Grill.)

Photos of Blogfest 2011:

• Stebbijo's photos
• Nic's photos
• Cis's photos
• JeanC's photos

DFO: Monster H/T to Steve Widmyer & his Fort Ground Grill for hosting Blogfest 2011; KeithinCDA for doling out the latest home-made brews prepared by Bent, Stickman, & him; and for Bent and his amazing BBQ.

Top Cutlines:

• 1. Dan is thinking as DFO is expressing his viewpoint of the day, “I can’t believe you and Herb wore matching shirts” — Stebbijo.
• 2. DFO signals a hand count of the only issues on which he and DanG can agree: One, Bent’s BBQ was great, two, his brew was terrific, three, Steve’s place was the perfect venue, four, Hawaiian shirts, even on old guys, are cool, and five, no, despite the fact that they both seemed to toot their own horns alot, Mary Souza is no relation to John Phillip — JohnA.
• 3. (tie) We were arguing over rock-paper-scissors and how utterly ridiculous it is that paper can beat rock. I mean, c’mon. Really! — DanG; and: DFO shows the Gookster how he almost lost a finger in a keyboard battle to Mary Souzster — CoeurGenX.
• HM: Poolman, CoeurGenX, & everyone else. Terrific cutlines today.

Either Herb or I didn't get the memo re: what to where at the Hucks Summer Bentfest at the Fort Ground Grill Sunday. If you look closely enough, you'll see that the two Hawaiian shirts aren't exactly alike. But you have to look awfully close to figure that out. Mebbe this is a case of great minds think alike. Herb later changed his shirt to an orange one after I told him he couldn't sit anywhere near me with the one he has on here. That's Digger's knee in the foreground. Stebbijo snapped this photo. You can read Herb's review of Blogfest here. And: Dogwalk Musings break down of Blogfest here.

Top Post: The age of 27 has claimed more than its share of performers. Jimi Hendrix. Janis Joplin. Kurt Cobain. And now Amy Winehouse. Jim Morrison basically drank himself to death, although it's rumored there was heroin in his system when he was found in the bathtub. Janis was also drunk, buzzed and stoned a lot of the time. She accidentally overdosed; she didn't know the heroin she was sold almost Pure, not 'cut' heroin. But it's nice to know Van Morrison is still alive and singing his heart out, just in case you wondered/Atmospheric Ruminations. More here.

• Morgan the Cat/Accidental Rabbit Trails
• An open letter to Corporate HQ/Arch Druid
• If these walls could talk/From A Simple Mind
• Gardening: The good, the bad, & the ugly/Gathering Around the Table
• The awakening of Coeur d'Alene — 1981 vs. 2011/Get Out! North Idaho
• A wonderful weekend spoiled by Monday/JeanC's Cat House & Shooting Gallery
• Attitude/Live, Love, Laugh, Hope

HucksOnline numbers for week of July 17-23 (43,944/28,665)

Two Spokane women wanted in Kootenai County on drug-related charges headline Major Ben Wolfinger's weekly felony warrants list. Ashley Abuhl, 19, of Spokane (upper left), is wanted on charges of possession of contolled substance & under the influence of a controlled supbstance. No bond has been set. Karen Kristina Forrest, 40, of Spokane (upper center), is wanted on a probation violation for possesion of a controlled substance. Bail has been set at $30,000. Also, Steve Wayne Jackson, 25, of Coeur d'Alene (upper right), is wanted on a charge of delivery of controlled substation, with bail of $250,000, and Kristopher Lima, 33, of Hayden (bottom), is wanted on a probation violation for delivery of a controlled substance. No bond has been set. For a complete list of felony and misdemeanor warrants in Kootenai County click here.

They've whacked a failing program, ostracized a bunch of kids and parents, cut here, consolidated there and, in all likelihood, succeeded in getting every single employee to do his or her best work. That's what we call leadership. The Kootenai County commissioners - Todd Tondee, Dan Green and Jai Nelson (pictured) - are cutting expenses because that's the mandate they got from voters. They aren't waiting for the next budget; they're saving money right now. They're also tossing political caution to the wind by considering an unpopular step like eliminating county extension programs, including the popular 4-H program/Mike Patrick, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here.

Question: Do you agree with the CdA Press that the current Kootenai County commissioners are showing leadership by consolidating, eliminating, & cutting the budget?

The family I grew up in was very particular about how a slice of a round cake was to lie on a plate. It was supposed to be positioned so that you could eat it from the inside out and from the bottom up. For all of us right-handers, this meant the frosting had to be to the left. A piece of cake with the frosting on the right was said to be “flopped wrong.” This attention to direction has come to mind recently, as the citizens of Sandpoint have debated about whether the fish on their newly installed Sand Creek arch are flopped correctly/Cate Huisman, New West. More here. (New West photo of Cate Huisman)

Question: What do you make of the Sand Creek fish flop flap?

How in the world did everyone walk away from this crash of a Canadian tour bus near Naples, between Sandpoint/Ponderay & Bonners Ferry? Mike Weland, publisher of the online NewsBF.com provides the photos and news coverage here.

I have a friend who believes that when things break and then get fixed it's all related to the phases of the moon. She also admits she smoked a lot of pot when she was younger, but has since gone on to become a respected scientist, so I don't think you can totally attribute this wacky idea to a loss of brain cells. Anyway, Linda says when things go wrong - like your car breaking down, getting overdrawn at the bank or whatever - it has something to do with the shadow the Earth is casting on the moon at the moment. She says if you just wait it out the moon phase will change and then everything will be all right. Personally this philosophy has never quite worked out for me. When things go wrong in my life, I am pretty sure it's because there's an evil demon living at my house and he is trying to tip me over the edge. Even so, it does seem that when problems arise, they happen at once/Kathy Hedberg, Lewiston Tribune. More here.

Question: Do you believe that bad luck happens at once?

Campbell Soup Co's (CPB.N) incoming CEO Denise Morrison is bringing back the salt as she tries to entice people to buy more soup. The move to add salt and flavor in more than two dozen soups after a health-inspired low-sodium push failed to lift sales is one of several steps that Morrison — who has run the company since March — announced on Tuesday at an annual investor meeting at the company's headquarters in Camden, New Jersey. Campbell is overhauling soup products, coming out with bread shaped like Goldfish crackers, and will be, in Morrison's words, “a beehive of activity” in fiscal 2012 as it tries to spur growth after several winters of weak soup sales that have weighed on the company's share price/Reuters. More here. (AP file photo of Campbell's healthy soups) H/T: Joe Butler.

Question: Do you watch the amount of salt that's in your diet?

The NFL Players Association executive board and 32 team reps have voted unanimously to approve the terms of a deal to the end the 4-1/2-month lockout. Owners overwhelmingly approved a proposal last week, but some unresolved issues still needed to be reviewed to satisfy players; the owners do not need to vote again. The sides worked through the weekend and wrapped up the details Monday morning on a final pact that is for 10 years, without an opt-out clause, a person familiar with the deal told the AP on condition of anonymity/Associated Press. More here. (AP photo of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell)

Question: Do you have a favorite NFL team? Which one? How did you become a fan of that team?

Patrons flocked to Borders Books and Music store in Coeur d'Alene on Friday to take advantage of the going-out-of-business sale. Borders Group began liquidation sales at all of its 399 stores as the 40-year-old chain winds down operations. (SR photo: Kathy Plonka)

• Giant worm doesn't warrant federal protection/Associated Press
• Medical Lake women stole from their grandmother/Meghann Cuniff, Sirens & Gavels
• Olympic skier Jeret Peterson charged w/DUI at Hailey/Patrick Orr, AP
• Barker: People, bears coexist in Yellowstone Park/Idaho Statesman
• In-and-Out Burger claims Boise biz stole its look/Justin Corr, KTVB
• Amendment delisting wolves faces court challenge Tuesday/Rob Chaney, Missoulian
• Montanan gets probation for biting off uncle's lip/Alyssa Small, Chronicle
• Federal foresters nix North Idaho logging proposal/AP, KREM
• Idaho F&G proposes questionable hunting, trapping seasons for wolves/KEA Blog
• Orbusmax Special: 44 church youth injured in Shaw Island hayride here

Question: I heard from several people that the Borders book deals aren't that good yet, mebbe 10%. Anyone visit Borders to check out the sale?

Idaho schools chief Tom Luna was at dinner with his wife, Cindy, after his “Students Come First” education reforms cleared the 2011 Legislature, when a stranger stopped by his table. “This guy I’d never met came up and said, ‘Word on the street is you’re the next governor,’ “Luna said, relaxing in his Nampa home’s dining room. “The next day I was driving to work and somebody rolled down their window and flipped me off. I called Cindy and I said, ‘Okay, we’re about 50-50.”’ Hand gestures aside, Luna’s catalyst role behind reforms coveted by Idaho conservatives — they promote Internet classes and slash union negotiating power — puts him in position to vie to be Idaho’s next state chief executive, provided he wants the Republican nomination and Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter bows out of a third term, which he could still seek/John Miller, AP. More here.

Question: Would you like to see Tom Luna and/or Raul Labrador run for governor in 2014 if/when Butch Otter steps down?

JimmyMAC brought one of the two cutest Berry Pickers to Blogfest 2011 — his lovely baby daughter. Nic brought the other. Nic tells of daughter Zu's Blogfest experience here. And his overall impression of blogfest here.

• 11:53 a.m. Idaho Independent Bank, Government Way/Hayden, reports suspicious person in bank.
• 11:42 a.m. Cheryl wants to see animal control officer re: cat that won't leave her place.
• 11:36 a.m. Woman wanted for meth possession may be in 9700 block of Melrose/Hayden.
• 10:53 a.m. Motorist reports almost rear-ending a pickup&canopy pulling a tractor on a trailer w/o license or taillight @ n/b H95 & Canfield/Cda.
• 10:39 a.m. A man is threatening physical violence against a woman in 300 block of Cassia/Rathdrum.
• 10:36 a.m. A tan Silverado pickup, registered in George, Wash., is w/b on I-90 after an argument in which he refused to pay for gas @ station @ 350 W. Appleway/CdA.
• 10:18 a.m. Biz owner in Government Way part of CdA is tired of hearing passing vehicles w/o mufflers.
• 9:54 a.m. An e/b semi has lost its trailer on I-90 @ M/P 44 (Pinehurst), blocking freeway.
• 9:24 a.m. Connie, w/a property management company, reports concrete pillar has knocked her mailbox into field across from resident.
• 9:20 a.m. A dead head is reported on Spokane River, west of Greensferry/PF.
• 8:54 a.m. Caller reports possible meth lab activity along 15th in Dalton Gardens.
• 8:46 a.m. A white pitbull in 8400 block of Highland/CdA reportedly chases bikers and walkers.
• 8:34 a.m. Driver of Honda Civic is speeding, weaving, & flipping people off on I-90 @ Pleasantview/PF.
• 8:28 a.m. Someone's suffering a psychological episode at Hilgren & Jana/Hayden.
• 8:23 a.m. Possible business burglary reported on W. Main St. in the Riverstone complex.
• 8:19 a.m. Caller wants to speak to CdA officer re: possible lewd & lascivious crime.
• 8:13 a.m. A pickup w/California license parked at a boat launch off I-90 @ M/P 39 (near Cataldo Mission) has a broken window and damaged front end.
• 8:08 a.m. Coeur d'Alene Police news release re: injury crash @ Honeysuckle & Timber Saturday here.

With EMTs checking them out for injuries, passengers from an Edmonton tour bus gather behind the guardrail at the south end of the Naples Bridge after the bus left U.S. 95 and rolled onto its side. Fortunately, injuries were all minor. You can read all of Mike's account here.

A baby is in critical condition after being assaulted by his 19-year-old father in Coeur d’Alene, police said today. James Dean Blanchard was arrested today at 3 a.m. for felony injury to a child after police were called to 1042 N. 17th St. at 9:30 p.m. Sunday for a report of a 20-day-old child who had stopped breathing. Officers arrived to find medics performing CPR on the baby, who was airlifted to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. Doctors told detectives that the baby is bleeding from the frontal lobe of his brain, according to the Coeur d’Alene Police Department/Meghann Cuniff, Sirens & Gavels. More here.

• Weekend Poll: A plurality of Hucks Nation (51 of 104 respondents, 49.04%) voted that the goofiest resolution passed at the recent Idaho GOP state convention in Moscow was support for Idahoans carrying weapons anywhere at any time, including on college campuses. In descending order, other resolutions gaining support for being goofiest were: viewing spent N-fuel as an asset (24 of 104, 23.08%); getting EPA out of the Silver Valley (13 of 104, 12.5%); blocking Land Board from maximizing endowment assets (9 of 104, 8.5%); and shacking schools to only one election per year for bonds/levies.
• Today's Poll: Would you support the return of Diamond Cup hydroplane races to Lake Coeur d'Alene?

Michael Moscato uses some spray paint on his “art” that is made out of bales of straw and hay at the Ohio State Fair, in Columbus, Ohio., Sunday Feed is being turned into fine art at the fair, in a new sculpting competition using hay and straw. (AP Photo/The Columbus Dispatch, Kyle Robertson)

Question: Which art medium do you work best in?

Congratulations, neighbor, on being declared The Most Beautiful Small Town in America. But for the Coeur d'Alene faithful, is that honor bestowed a little to the north by USA Today and Rand McNally kind of like getting sandpoint kicked in your face? Not really - even though some sense of competition is alive and well. Between the Lake City and Sandpoint, “Coeur d'Alene has to take it,” said resident Robert Hoss. Granted, he said, they both have expansive, gorgeous lakes and a score of art shops downtown. But only one has a floating boardwalk, he said. And, in his opinion, shadier pines/Alecia Warren, CdA Press. More here. (SR file photo of Coeur d'Alene Resort boardwalk & waterfront by Jesse Tinsley)

Question: Izzit just me, or is this a bit of a 'homer' story for the Coeur d'Alene Press to publish? Coeur d'Alene vs. Sandpoint? C'mon.

Item: It takes a community: Hughes believes hydroplane racing could again be popular on Lake Coeur d'Alene/Alecia Warren, CdA Press

More Info: Doug Miller agrees. President of the Hydromaniacs nonprofit, Miller is in the midst of trying to resurrect the annual Diamond Cup Unlimited Regatta that the Lake City hosted annually in the late ‘50s and ‘60s. After organizing a revival regatta last year, Miller is planning a second regatta for this August. Although the regatta is only an exhibition of vintage Unlimited boats, Miller still holds Madison’s fervor for hydroplane racing as a role model for Coeur d’Alene, he said. (SR file photo of hydroplane exhibition run by J. Bart Rayniak)

Question: Is Coeur d'Alene finally ready to embrace hydroplane races again?

Saying their actions were detrimental to the party, the Region 1 Republican Central Committee approved a “no confidence” vote last week against Sens. Shawn Keough of Sandpoint (left) and Joyce Broadsword (right) of Sagle. “As elected state officials, your actions have demonstrated that you do not understand, care about, or are acting in a manner that is consistent in the best interests of your constituents,” Region 1 RCC Chairman John Cross said in the letter of censure. “Instead, (you) have used your political positions to further personal agendas and promote the best interests of the opposing political party in direct opposition to the Republican ideals we hold dearly.” The region encompasses the five northern counties - Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai and Shoshone. While it has no legal effect, the vote sends the message that party officials are unhappy with the pair's actions/Caroline Lobsinger, Hagadone News Network. More here.

• You can read the letter sent to Sen. Keough here.
• You can read minutes of Feb. 5, 2011, meeting in which a letter in support of Rep Hart will be sent to House Speaker Lawerence Denney here.

Question: Can you believe that Region 1 Republicans would castigate Sens. Shawn Keough & Joyce Broadsword while sending a letter of support to House Speaker Lawerence Denney for Rep. Phil Hart?

Dion Smith of Lapwai rides his horse, Mioxat, onto the grass dance circle Saturday during the horse parade at Julyamsh, the annual celebration of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe at the Greyhound Park. Story here. (SR photo: Jesse Tinsley)

• Idaho Records/Sherry Adkins, SR
• Fairchild airman killed in Medical Lake crash/Spokesman-Review
• Showers likely through this evening/Mike Prager, SR
• Big projects are starting at Rathdrum/Anusha Roy, KXLY
• Late season open for Q'emiln City Park/Annie Bishop, KXLY
• Boat catches fire near Hope on Lake Pend Oreille/KXLY
• Crews to stay at 10-acre Blanchard fire through Monday/KREM
• Some D's would face fight to keep seat under D redistricting plan/Eye On Boise
• Garcia top finisher at Race the River tri/Nick Rotunno, CdA Press

They call them “Brady officers.” If you ever find yourself arrested, they’re the ones you want to catch you. A Brady officer is a cop with a record of untruthfulness. On a witness stand, they could be a defense attorney’s dream. f a prosecutor gets a criminal case filed by a Brady officer, that officer’s record is “discoverable” – meaning it should be turned over to the defense as exculpatory evidence. Among the many reasons police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick cited for firing Detective Jeff Harvey – a list that is breathtaking in its comprehensive inclusion of all the ways we’d prefer that police not behave – was this one: He qualifies amply as a Brady officer/Shawn Vestal, SR. More here.

• Idaho resort founder sues Swiss bank for fraud/Betsy Russell
• Silver's collection suits refined tastes/Doug Clark
• Some good eggs live in this gnarly neighborhood/D.F. Oliveria
• The middle class is spent/Gary Crooks
• You know you care about the M's when you learn to hate/John Blanchette
• Kalispel Tribe restoring native trout in Pend Oreille tributary/Rich Landers

Question: Have you ever known a dishonest cop (no names, please)?

An autopsy is being held to determine the cause of Amy Winehouse's death, but a coroner's official says police have found no suspicious circumstances. The singer was found dead Saturday at her London home at the age of 27. An autopsy is being held Monday with results expected later. Coroner's officer Sharon Duff says “the scene was investigated by police and determined non-suspicious.” Winehouse's death came after the singer publicly struggled with drug and alcohol abuse for years. Her body was discovered at home by a member of her security team, who called an ambulance. It arrived too late to save her/CBS, AP. More here.

Question: Are you a fan of Amy Winehouse's music?

The man who has confessed to carrying out a bombing and shooting spree that left 93 people dead in Norway will be held for eight weeks, half of that in complete isolation, after a closed hearing in which he said his terror network had two other cells. Anders Behring Breivik has confessed to the attacks but denied criminal responsibility, pleading not guilty Monday to one of the deadliest modern mass killings in peacetime. He told the court he wanted to save Europe and send a strong signal, Judge Kim Heger said after a closed court hearing. Breivik could tamper with evidence if released, and will be held for at least another two months without access to visitors, mail or media, the judge said/Associated Press. More here.

Question: How unsettling is it to you that dangerous people as delusional as Breivik walk among us?

Signe Wilkinson/Philadelphia Inquirer

The long-overdue Blogfest 2011 (aka Hucks Summer Bentfest) is finally here — from 3 to 6 p.m. today (Sunday), at Steve Widmyer's Fort Ground Grill, 705 W. River Ave., in historic Fortgrounds. Usually, blogfest is somewhere around Feb. 16, the actual anniversary of Huckleberries Online. But we never got around to staging this one until Bent stepped up with his locally renown BBQ and Steve offered his place, along with baked beans, pop, and bottled water, on the house. The rest of the meal will be up to you. Guests are asked to bring a main/side dish, salad, or dessert (named after a Huckleberries theme). Herb/Bay Views has already prepared a batch of his famous potato salad (see photo). But hasn't come up with a name yet. Bent also will provide samples of his recent batch of homemade brew. I'll be there until Steve throws us out of the joint. I hope to see you.

• Will CouerGenX wear his Kennedy T-shirt?
• Will I be able to enjoy a beer with HMO?
• What color goatee will OrangeTV have?
• Will Cindy be there?
• Will she remember that I said I owed her a bottle of wine?
• What kind of gifts do I have for Stickman?
• Will Jimmy Mac bring his baby?
• What facts might Spencer misstate?
• Earlier this year the commenters were organized by # of posts. Who will be the highest ranked poster attending?

Question: Do you have any questions on your mind prior to coming to this afternoon's Blogfest 2011 (3-6 p.m. at Fort Ground Grill)?

Noel Strick, left, and Mitsi Evans, right, battle in the women's Ear Pull finals during the 50th World Eskimo Indian Olympics Friday afternoon at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks, Alaska. Strick defeated Evans and went on to win the event. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Eric Engman)

A Norwegian who dressed as a police officer to gun down summer campers killed at least 80 people at an island retreat, horrified police said early Saturday. It took investigators several hours to begin to realize the full scope of Friday's massacre, which followed an explosion in nearby Oslo that killed seven and that police say was set off by the same suspect. The mass shootings are among the worst in history. With the blast outside the prime minister's office, they formed the deadliest day of terror in Western Europe since the 2004 Madrid train bombings killed 191. Police initially said about 10 were killed at the forested camp on the island of Utoya, but some survivors said they thought the toll was much higher. Police director Oystein Maeland told reporters early Saturday they had discovered many more victims/Associated Press. More here. (AP/Mapaid photo/Lasse Tur: This aerial view shows Utoya Island, Norway. On Friday, a man dressed as a police officer opened fire at the island youth camp connected to the ruling party.)

Question: How do you process the level of evil that is behind mass killings like this, or Virginia Tech, or Fort Hood, or Columbine, or Oklahoma City?

Michele Bachmann is a headache!  Maybe even a migraine.  She certainly creates, in me, as per possible side effects of a migraine,  a degree of nausea and (a) disturbed vision! Now, it seems she has left her church.  She is ~ was ~ Lutheran. After having belonged to the church for at least ten years even if she hasn't attended, in favor of another, for the last two.  It seems, after all those years, she finds herself questioning the Lutherans stand on the Pope and the Catholic view of how one attains salvation. I left the church when I was in college for a number of reasons, not the least being witness to this doctrine being preached from the pulpit to numerous in the congregation from other countries and religions. I thought it showed an insensitivity to those exploring various religions, including Catholicism/Dogwalk Musings. More here. (AP photo of Bachmann in Aiken, S.C., this week)

Question (for former church goers who no longer attend church of any kind): What was the deal breaker that caused you to quit going to church?

The Spokane Borders bookstore was filled Friday with shoppers taking advantage of reduced prices after the company announced it is going out of business. Borders Group Inc. began liquidating its 399 stores nationwide Friday, including those in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene. Some Spokane customers expressed surprise at the announcement Friday – as they packed the store to save up to 40 percent – but others knew the closure was coming. Kati Lutz, of Spokane, said her husband is a former employee and they have many friends who work at various stores. Her husband, who did not wish to be identified, was laid off in 2008. “We … know a lot of people that work here,” Lutz said. “I think it’s going to be tough. It’s definitely not an easy time to be looking for a job.” However, she said, “I think most people saw it coming”/Chelsea Bannach, SR. More here.

Question: Where do you buy most of your books? And/or: What are you reading now?

This morning's paper tells us that we won a contest, sponsored by big names in the media business–USA Today and Rand McNally.  Yesterday the word spread quickly on Facebook that–after the judging, which involved visits to several communities throughout the country–Sandpoint is America's most beautiful small town. What that will bring is now the question.  Will we,  who love this place as it is and has been,  want all the more to put up the gates?  And, I'm not talking about gates to exclusive developments but gates to city entrances/Marianne Love, Slight Detour. More here.

Question: If you could, would you put up a fence around your North Idaho community and not let anyone else in?

Clay Bennett/Chattanooga Times Free Press

Competitors swim during the men's 5 km open water competition at the FINA Swimming World Championships at Jinshan City Beach in Shanghai, China, earlier today. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
  

We're two days from Blogfest 2011 (aka Hucks Summer Bentfest), which is scheduled from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday at Steve Widmyer's Fort Ground Grill in the historic Fortground area of Coeur d'Alene. Meat will be provided by Bent's BBQ (if you haven't tasted this beef, you haven't been living) and baked beans, pop, & water by the Grill. Berry Pickers are asked to bring a main/side dish, salad, or dessert (named after a Huckleberries theme). And if you can't bring something? Come anyway. Now for your TGIF Wild Card …

• 5:24 p.m. A male is threatening to fight children @ boat docks in Harrison.
• 5:23 p.m. Power line is down in the trees @ Government Way & Boekel/Hayden.
• 5:20 p.m. Caller reports wood lying in roadway on e/b I-90 @ M/P 24 (Wolf Lodge Creek bridge).
• 5:16 p.m. Caller reports youth w/o lifejackets on paddleboards on Coeur d'Alene waterfront.
• 5:15 p.m. Coeur d'Alene Police Department activities report for July 21-22 here.
• 5:14 p.m. 39YO man unconscious & unresponsive @ 2nd & Henry/PF.
• 4:47 p.m. Signal arms down & no train coming @ Prairie & Beck. Drivers going around arms/PF.
• 4:33 p.m. PFPD Blue checking scooter w/no plates @ Post Falls WalMart/Mullan.
• 4:27 p.m. Neighbor reports 10 people taking items from unoccupied house on Roth/Rathdrum.
• 4:09 p.m. 3 teens who are suspected in vehicle burglars trespassing @ 692 W. Wilbur/Hayden.
• 4:01 p.m. Boaters on Beauty Bay scare baby moose into woods now photographing its mother.
• 19 more items below + AM Scanner Traffic link to 18 more items

Linda Lantzy shot this scenic of the Idaho chain lakes for her Idaho Scenic Images during a drive Sunday. You can check out Linda's Facebook page of viewtiful scenics here.

• Arts Commission seeks wastewater treatment plant artist/CdA Today
• Kootenai County unemployment inches upward/CdA Press
• Duo arrested for attempted murder after attack in Mead/Meghann Cuniff, SR
• Judge deals Rock Creek mine developer another blow/Associated Press
• Sirens & Gavels 3-fer: Cops think botched robbery led to murder, and: 'Dog-gone thieves' swipe bulldog statue, and: 20-plus indicted on meth, cocaine charges/Meghann Cuniff
• Crump: Worried about default? Rupert's Lou Dobbs isn't/Twin Falls Times-News
• Bonner County recovers stolen hard drives/Cameron Rasmusson, Bee

A bear with a jar stuck on it's head is seen in Cocke County, Tenn. State wildlife officers looked for the bear for three weeks after reports he was caught in the unfortunate headgear. The bear was later tranquilized, and the jar removed from its head. It was released into the Cherokee National Forest. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency)

Top Cutlines:

• 1. People gather downtown to protest the city’s latest art work, claiming the statue might encourage the worship of jar-headed bears — JohnA.
• 2. A drunken bear reflects upon his decision to dive into the bottle — Herb.
• 3. Local resident Billy Jo Bob Smith snapped this picture of what he says is a real life space bear standing on the hatch of his space capsule — Northerner.
• HM: Rhodetrip

Stebbijo's Place offers “another recipe to the cookbook! You can’t miss with this one! Tried and true – by me!” Follow the link, click on the photo, and the recipe appears.

Nic of Rants, Raves, & Random Thoughts asks in his “5 for Friday” feature today: “I had to get some blood drawn on Wednesday. Is it weird that I was reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula while waiting on the phlebotomist to stick a needle in my arm?” More here.

• Walking the wall again/A Family Runs Through It
• Turned off blues (& other things that don't make sense)/Atmospheric Ruminations
• History unfortunately repeats itself for Sue B/Bay Views
• Surviving another week/Community Comment
• Politicians and that pesky old religion/Dogwalk Musings
• Are you sick of my project yet?/From A Simple Mind
• Harvest Day at orchard & garden/Gathering Around the Table
• Do you have a checklist?/Live, Love, Laugh, Hope
• Sandpoint is so beautiful; let's keep it that way/Slight Detour

Hucks Online numbers (for Wednesday): 8679/5730 and (for Thursday): 8450/5559.

A thermometer on the dugout steps reads 101 degrees on the field at Fenway Park during batting practice prior to the Boston Red Sox baseball game against the Seattle Mariners in Boston today. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

Question: On the day that I successfully interviewed for the sports editor job at the Red Bluff (Calif.) Daily News, the temperature topped 118 degrees. I'm not exagerating. What and where is the hottest day you've experienced?

President Barack Obama on Friday formally signed off on ending the ban on gays serving openly in the military, doing away with a policy that's been controversial from the day it was enacted and making good on his 2008 campaign promise to the gay community. The president joined Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Adm. Mike Mullen, the joint chiefs of staff chairman, in signing a notice and sending it to Congress certifying that military readiness would not be hurt by repealing the 17-year-old “don't ask, don't tell” policy. That means that 60 days from now the ban will be lifted/Associated Press. More here.

Question: Do you agree with this decision?

The late, great Senator from New York, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, was asked back in 1993, when Congress was debating an earlier federal budget deal, if there “would be a fight until death” over taxes. Moynihan, intellect and wit in full flower, came back at NBC’s Tim Russert: “Fight until death over taxes? Oh no. Women, country, God, things like that. Taxes? No.” We may see a grand deal struck this weekend in the long running Washington drama over taxes, spending and debt and it is a safe bet no one will fight until death, even if the rhetoric makes all of what has been going on in the nation’s capitol sound like Armageddon. A deal must be struck. The only Armageddon here would be the shape of national and world economy should the United States of America default on its debt, even for a little while/Marc Johnson, The Johnson Report. More here.

• Words from one of our job creators/Fort Boise
• Pend Oreille Bay Trail leaps forward/Susan Drumheller, ICL
• Raul Labrador's mistake updated/Idaho Conservative Blogger

Question: What would you fight to the death over?

There’s an unusual change in Boise radio, and a somewhat cloaked one one too. It’s unusual for the shift in control of a frequency from non-commercial to commercial. And it looks to be cloaked for the gap between the way it’s being presented to the public just now, and what its corporate and other alliances suggest. What’s going away is the jazz, local news and National Public Radio offerings on KBSU AM 730 (FM broadcasts will remain), whose license is held by the state Board of Education. You might remember that the latter consists of conservative Republican Tom Luna and appointees of conservative Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter. The Board sold off the AM 730 frequency to a private radio company, Impact Radio Group, a pretty unusual thing. What’s coming in its place is “NewsRadio AM730 KINF”, which was scheduled to go on air today/Randy Stapilus, Ridenbaugh Press. More here.

Question: Do you listen to talk radio? Who? Which station?

Earlier this summer, Stickman dutifully poured the latest batch of Bent's home brew into bottles in preparation for the 2011 Blogfest (aka Hucks Summer Bentfest). Samples will be available at the annual Blogfest, 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday at Steve Widmyer's Fort Ground Grill in historic Fortground area. BBQ beef, baked beans, pop, & water will be provided free. Guests or asked to bring a main/side dish, salad, or dessert. Or not.

So I'm walking south of 4th Street toward Midtown with my radio head set on, thinking deep thoughts last night, when I saw a sign. It blazed above the pavement — yellow and then red. The yellow part at the corner of 4th & Hattie said: “We buy gold top dollar.” And the red sign: “We have tacos.” As I tried to figure how the messages on the rotating sign related to each other and subsequent ones, I noticed the Tacos Los Ranchos food stand in the corner of a lot shared with a pawn shop (in the old Subway). I checked to see if any neo-Nazis were skulking about the food stand. Seeing none, I walked off still musing about the strange juxtaposition of the two messages. You had to be there. (SR file photo, for illustrative purposes)

Question: What have you bought at a pawn shop?

During a recent haircut, I mentioned to my stylist that I grew roses, all colors. Which prompted the significantly tattooed young woman to lament: “All the guys I date give me only red roses. Why can't they come up with some other color? I like yellow roses. Maybe white ones, too.” My wife prefers the pink one although she's warming up to the white roses I have planted between the pear trees in the back of the garden. I also have an area reserved for miniature roses — about 20 of them. My favorites are the yellow ones with orange fringe. But the monster Ingrid Bergman red rose that I bought this summer at Home Depot is coming on strong. How about you? (AP file photo)

Question: Which color of roses do you prefer? And do you still get/give them?

The handcuffed driver of a stolen car escaped from custody late Thursday when officers left him unattended as they chased his fleeing passenger, according to the Spokane Valley Police Department. Police are asking for help identifying the man who was was driving a purple Mercury Tracer that had been reported stolen in a residential burglary when Officers Mark Benner and Jason Karnitz spotted him at Pines and Cherry about 11:15 p.m., Sgt. Dave Reagan said in a news release. The car stopped in the dead end area of a parking lot and the passenger fled on foot. Benner chased after him, and Karntiz handcuffed the driver and told him to stay in the car as he joined the chase, but the officers returned to find the suspect gone. Neither officer knew his name/Meghann M. Cuniff, Sirens & Gavels. More here.

Question: Pretend that you're the public relations person for the Spokane Valley police — their Sgt. Christie Wood or Major Ben Wolfinger, so to speak. How would you spin this one?

Victims receive treatment outside government buildings in the centre of Oslo, Friday, following an explosion that tore open several buildings including the prime minister's office, shattering windows and covering the street with documents. At least seven people are dead and many more injured. Also, a shooter at a political convention on an island north of Oslo appeared to have inflicted more casualties, in incidents police are treating as connected. Story here. (AP Photo/Fartein Rudjord)

Reaction?

• 11:43 a.m. Rider appears to be OK after dumping scooter @ H41 & Ross Point/PF. Scooter not OK.
• 11:24 a.m. Man is in KCSD lobby to report daughter's bad behavior and learn his rights as father.
• 10:59 a.m. Black Bay Marina rep wants to know who owns boat trailers parked on property.
• 10:54 a.m. Red BMW, n/b on H95 entering Plummer, is passing unsafely, almost hit car head on.
• 10:20 a.m. PFPD Blue doesn't see Immaculate Conception Church procession as he arrives @ Seltice Way & Ross Point Road & is told that the procession crossed busy i/s without him.
• 10:17 a.m. Resident @ 3752 W. Shoreview/PF reports a hit-&-run crash at Wolf Lodge Thursday night.
• 10:07 a.m. CPD Blue reports his computer has frozen up as he stops @ Safeway on Neider/CdA.
• 9:49 a.m. License Detection System on I-90 has spotted white 1993 Plymouth Voyager van w/Washington plates, wanted in the connection with the disappearance of a 12YO girl.
• 9:41 a.m. North Idaho College security reports “crotch rocket” parked in “no parking any time” spot.
• 9:25 a.m. A dog running w/b on I-90 @ M/P 34 (H3 overpass) is creating a traffic hazard.
• 9:24 a.m. PFPD Blue is following a “neighborhood kid” to a stolen bike on Jessica.
• 9:12 a.m. Roger on Audobon Drive/Hayden reports his neighbors dogs are loose.
• 9:11 a.m. Brad w/Hayden WalMart security has video ready for 2 shoplifting cases.
• 9:04 a.m. Immaculate Conception Church alerts PFPD it'll be crossing Seltice Way & H41 at 10 a.m.
• 8:17 a.m. Suspicious man in red goatee & black fedora checking out vehicles @ 4315 E. 3rd/PF.
• 8:16 a.m. A white '86 Nissan pickup has been abandoned at 4th of July Pass parking lot.
• 8:13 a.m. Someone has been hurt in a fall in 2700 block of N6th (cross of Haycraft/CdA).

The iconic 18-ton rotating globe atop the building housing offices of the seattlepi.com, the web-only news site born out of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, is seen overlooking Elliiott Bay Thursday in Seattle. Most of the staff of the seattlepi.com is moving out of the building that bore the newspaper's name following expiration of the current lease on July 31. Story here. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
  

• Cartoon: Job creators/David Horsey, Seattle P-I
• Handcuffed man escapes Spokane Valley cops/Meghann Cuniff, SR
• Yellowstone grizzly killed for raiding garbage/Rocky Barker, Statesman
• Idahoan's war diary comes home 7 decades later/Kathleen Kreller, Statesman
• Father, son suffer bad feet burns at Bruneau Sand Dunes/Scott Evans, KTVB
• Montana unemployment rate up slightly to 7.5% in June/Associated Press
• ExxonMobile cleans up 4 sites in Yellowstone oil spill/Associated Press
• Yellowstone managers forced to play 'musical bears'/Brodie Fuquhar, New West
• Middle Fork of Salmon River: Paradise revisited/Gina Knudson, New West
• 'America's Got Talent' viewers dismiss Rupert's Rhinestone Roper/Eva Stutzman, TFTN
• Orbusmax Special: Montana Supreme Court uphelds verdict against Louisville Slugger in Legion pitcher's death here.

The Grand Entry ceremony at the 2009 Julyamsh Powwow and Encampment was a sea of colorful feathers, ribbons, beads and bells. More than 1,000 dancers, representing hundreds of tribes across the U.S. and Canada, took part in the 2009 Julyamsh celebration, photographed by Colin Mulvany/SR. On her Facebook page, Kerri Thoreson provides photos of the 2010 Julyamsh here. The 14th annual Julyamsh Powwow, staged by the Coeur d'Alene Indian Tribe, kicks off tonight and runs through Sunday at the Greyhound Park in Post Falls. Admission is free, with $5 for parking. See schedule here.

Question: Have you attended any of the Julyamsh celebrations? Impression?

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office is asking for help in finding Lisa Marie Calbick, 33 of Kellogg. Calbick, who also has gone by the last name of Anzures, is described as being 5 foot 8 inches tall, weighing 240 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. She is wanted on a $50,000 warrant charging her with vehicle manslaughter from a traffic crash that occurred near Post Falls Dec 15. Calbick was seriously injured in the crash that killed Donald Graham, 77, of Rathdrum. Graham was driving a yellow Chevrolet Equinox westbound near milepost 3 when he was struck by Calbick's Kia Optima, according to Idaho State Police. Anyone with information re: Calbick's whereabouts is asked to call KCSD (208) 446-1300. You can read Meghann Cuniff's Sirens & Gavels report of the crash here.

In Esquire's Politics Blog Thursday, essayist Charles P. Pierce provides a lengthy review of the history of white supremacism in North Idaho as well as the MLK Day bomb attempt. He writes: “Both (Norm) Gissel and (Tony) Stewart have noticed an increasing — and increasingly familiar — level of agitation in the air, even though what was left of the Aryan Nations splintered further recently when a power struggle broke out between two men, Paul Mullet and Gerard O'Brien, both of whom claim to be the true successor to Richard Butler. (Mullet seems to have won out, at least for the moment.) What's left of the movement seems to be made up either of small units, or a collection of lone-wolf operators. It has still been enough to set the region on edge. Entire blog post here.

Reaction?

• Thursday Poll: Hucks Nation has little sympathy for panhandlers. 69 of 130 respondents (53.08%) voted that police should roust them at all times, while another 29 of 130 respondents (22.31%) said police should chase off “aggressive” ones. 11 of 130 respondents (8.46%) said police should crack down on panhandlers “occasionally.” Only 16 of 130 (12.31%) said panhandlers should be left alone to beg. 5 were undecided.
• Today's Question: Which one (of a list of five provided) of the resolutions passed by the Idaho Republican Central Committee at its state convention is the goofiest?

Past winners of the “Papa” Hemingway Look-Alike Contest, including Jack Waterbury (1987), front left, and Rick Kirvan (1999), front right, examine contestants during the first of two preliminary rounds Thursday at Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, Fla. More than 120 men resembling Ernest Hemingway are competing in the contest that is a facet of Key West's annual Hemingway Days festival. The final round is set for Saturday. (AP Photo/Florida Keys News Bureau, Andy Newman)

Question: Which Hemingway novel is your favorite?

Here's one last item that Opinion Page Editor Marty Trillhaase of the Lewiston Tribune noted among the curious resolutions passed by the Idaho Republican Central Committee at their recent state convention in Moscow: “Repudiate Senate Majority Caucus Chairman John McGee, R-Caldwell. Sure, McGee famously got drunk outside a Boise golf course, then took an SUV and trailer, wrecked it and passed out in the back seat. Hardly exemplary behavior. But where's the outrage with state Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, who stole timber from public lands and continues to avoid paying his taxes? Where's the umbrage with Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, who is accused of using his State Affairs Committee chairmanship to kill a bill that would have complicated his right-of-way claims in Bonneville County? Who's complaining about former Tax Commission Chairman Royce Chigbrow, who used his office to reward friends and punish enemies? Don't forget, this political machine said not one word about Sen. Larry Craig's toe-tapping scandal.” Full editorial here.

Question: Why did Idaho Republicans pass a resolution repudiating state Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, when they ignored the shenanigans of Hart, Loertscher, & Chigbrow — and, back when, Craig?

Opinion Page Editor Marty Trillhaase jeered the Idaho Republican Central Committee for chasing “boogeymen” at its state convention when more important matters went begging. His list of goofy resolutions includes:

Let's play a little “Jeopardy.” The category: Best kept secrets. The clue: In excess of $153,800. The answer in the form of a question: How much money did University of Idaho student Mark Runsvold ultimately make on America's favorite television game show? Prior to his fifth taped appearance on “Jeopardy” Thursday evening, Runsvold was still keeping a tight lip. “I believe it would be a breach of contract,” the 25-year-old international studies student said of disclosing his final winnings before the 7 p.m. show finished airing. … Runsvold lost in his fifth Jeopardy contest broadcast Thursday night, finishing in third place/David Johnson, Lewiston Tribune. More here. (Lewiston Tribune photo: David Johnson)

Question: What could you do with $154,000 right now?

One of about 600 goats grazes in a fenced area above Collister Road in Boise Wednesday. The Boise Parks and Recreation Department is dispatching a herd of goats to feast upon rush skeletonweed in the 680-acre Polecat Gulch Reserve. (Statesman/AP photo: Darin Oswald)

• Idaho Records/Sherry Adkins, SR
• Thursday Scanner Traffic/DFO, Hucks Online
• Summer temperatures return Saturday, Sunday/Mike Prager, SR
• Study: Idaho quite social on the Web/George Prentice, Boise Weekly
• Idaho unemployment rate holds stead at 9.4%/AP, Eye On Boise
• Overflowing mailbox saves Osburn man's life/Anusha Roy, KXLY
• $495K grant will help Ground Force create infrastructure, jobs/Brian Walker, Press
• Vestal: Accident won't keep 'resolute' woman down/Spokesman-Review
• Edit: Permitting for megaloads in Idaho, Montana lacks coordination/SR

On the tailgate of a white bobtail parked on Walnut b/n 5th & 6th/CdA this morning: “Are you drunk or just on your cell phone?” and: “Don't act stupid, we have politicians for that.”

If it feels as though our governments are nickel and diming you to death, they are. If it’s not new or higher taxes being proposed, it’s some new fee.  The newest tact involves city governments passing ever higher utility franchise fees, which then get passed onto ratepayers. We’re seeing the phenomenon all over the state. Cities aren’t passing these higher fees in secret, but they’re certainly not putting the spotlight on what they’re doing either. While many tax hawks have been watching for higher property taxes, the franchise fees have been slipped onto city council agendas and passed/Wayne Hoffman, Idaho Freedom Foundation. More here.

Question: Why do taxpayers protest tax increases but not fee increases?

At least three states are vowing to ignore the latest requirements under the No Child Left Behind law in an act of defiance against the federal government that demonstrates their growing frustration over an education program they say sets unrealistic benchmarks for schools. The law sets a goal of having 100 percent of students proficient in math and reading by 2014, but states were allowed to establish how much schools must improve each year. Many states saved the biggest leaps for the final years, anticipating the law would be changed. But it hasn't, and states like Idaho, Montana and South Dakota are fed up. They are preparing to reject the latest requirements for determining school progress under the 9-year-old law - even if the move toward noncompliance may put them at risk of losing some federal funding/Associated Press. More here.

Question: Is Idaho being principled or foolish in risking federal dollars to take a stand against latest requirements under No Child Left Behind?

Item: County cuts, consolidates: Moves will result in annual savings of $429,554/Alecia Warren, Press

More Info: The Kootenai County commissioners have cut another 10 staff positions across several departments, including the full elimination of Adult Pre-Trial Services. The annual savings from the reductions will be $429,554. “Considering the economic times we're in, the commissioners are looking at all services, all costs, and just weighing them and sometimes making difficult decisions,” said Commissioner Jai Nelson.

Question: Which approach do you support more — the county cutting and consolidating? Or the city of Coeur d'Alene giving employees 3 percent raises?

Lisa Benson/Washington Writers Group

Today, I make the last payment on a loan that I took out five years ago. 'Tis sweet to pay something off. And free up money, especially in these hard economic times when pay cuts, furloughs, layoffs continue to be the norm. Dunno how I'm going to celebrate. I burned my mortgage several years ago. Mebbe I'll simply wait to celebrate a month from now when I no longer have to make the payment. What do you do when you pay off a loan? You can answer that question or use this Wild Card to discuss anything you want …

Divers are silhouetted as they warm up during the FINA Swimming World Championships in Shanghai, China, Wednesday. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

On his Facebook wall, Serephin, of 43rd State Blues fame (or infamy), writes: “Been a comic book reader since back when Jesus was hotrodding T-rexes. Mostly Marvel, and still have a box full of assorted comics from the House of Ideas (Howard the Duck #1, y'all). The kiddo and I are planning to catch the midnight showing of “Captain America: The First Avenger”, and the reviewers I follow say it's good stuff, Maynard. Someday, when I grow up, I might lose interest, but don't hold your breath.” (AP/Marvel photo)

Question: Is there something from your childhood that you still enjoy that proves you haven't entirely grown up?

• 6:05 p.m. A brown cow & a black one are loose in Habitat for Humanity lot @ H95 & Wyoming/Hayden.
• 5:50 p.m. Woman on N. Meyer/Rathdrum told boyfriend she'd overdose on pills if she found a bottle.
• 5:46 p.m. Possible camper trailer fire on Coopers Hawk/Grouse Meadows, Ramsey & Prairie/Hayden.
• 5:36 p.m. 20ish man dropped merchandise & fled toward Prairie Shopping Center when caught shoplifting at Hayden WalMart.
• 5:08 p.m. Woman reports 2 drunken men staggering in street @ 2nd & D streets/Plummer.
• 5:03 p.m. Vulgar man wearing camo cap swearing & being disruptive @ Post Falls Super 1.
• 4:42 p.m. Resident in 2000 block of Prairie View/PV reports neighbor trying to run him over for week.
• 4:26 p.m. Fireboat called out to assist in structure fire reported in 4900 block of Rockshore Drive @ 3-Mile Point @ Lake Coeur d'Alene. (Later: ambulance & Worley Fire dispatched to scene.)
• 4:16 p.m. Chip trip is speeding & not letting vehicles pass on H95 @ M/P 425 (Mica Creek/Presley).
• 4:06 p.m. 2 small sports cars have been racing repeatedly on Signal Point & Riverview/PF.
• 3:42 p.m. PFPD Blue is told officers ususally detonate explosives (blasting cap from 1:31 incident) on east side of police HQ.
• 17 more items & AM Scanner Traffic link below

Jenifer Schneider, “The Cannon Lady” is blasted out of the 27-foot barrel of a truck mounted cannon into the air some 40 feet landing in a safety net down the street in front of the Finlen Hotel on East Broadway during the opening day of Evel Knievel Days in uptown Butte, Mont., this afternoon. (AP Photo/Montana Standard: Walter Hinick)

• Arrest made in Colville homicide/Meghann Cuniff, SR
• Hiker finds 600YO artifact in Hells Canyon/Doug Petcash, KTVB
• Weed-weary Smelterville couple turns to goats/Zach Failla, Shoshone N-P
• Sandpoint ranks as best small town in USA by Rand McNally/Katy Moeller, Statesman
• Father will testify vs. MLK Day bomb suspect Harpham (w/video)/Rob Kauder, KXLY
• Northern Lakes breaks ground on new fire station (w/video)/Anusha Roy, KXLY
• Demos propose 3 legislative districts for Kootenai County/Coeur d'Alene Press
• Bonner County cities mull trail property purchase/Cameron Rasmusson, Bee
• Coldwater call center moving to CdA to consolidate/Jody Murphy, News&Sentinel.com
• NIC to hold information night for I-Best program/Stacy Hudson, Press Room
• Tortoise Gamera's artificial limb came from Ace Hardware/Nicholas Geranios, AP
• GOP mappers relent, will discuss legislative redistricting Friday/Dan Popkey, Statesman

A bull by the name of Wandering Comet sits in a pen behind the Idaho Center arena after being painted pink for Tough Enough For Pink night on Wednesday at the Snake River Stampede Rodeo in Nampa. Idaho Press-Tribune story here. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Idaho Press-Tribune, Charlie Litchfield)

Top Cutlines:

• 1. I suppose this is better than me seeing red. Ya know? — JeanieSpokane.
• 2. I pity da fool who climbs on my pink back for an 8 second tour. His arse will be as pink as my back when I’m through with him — Powder Farmer.
• 3. “You lookin’ at me? You lookin’ at me? Then who the hell else are you lookin’ at? Well I’m the only one here. Who do you think you’re looking at?” — Formerly Sandpoint.
• HM: Rhodetrip

After a year and a half on the job, Todd Christensen is done as president and chief executive officer of the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce. Christensen, who replaced longtime CEO Jonathan Coe in January 2010, declined to discuss details of his departure when contacted Thursday morning. However, he told The Press that he and his family love Coeur d’Alene and the North Idaho region and intend “to pursue other opportunities here.” Skip Peterson, chairman of the chamber board, also declined to discuss any details of Christensen’s departure/Coeur d'Alene Press. More here.

Question: Wonder why everyone clams up when a high-profile individual in the community like Christensen abruptly is out of a job?

Mike Martz might think the Chicago Bears could be ready to play the Hall of Fame game on a day's notice, but linebacker Brian Urlacher doesn't believe the team will be able to play on the scheduled date of Aug. 7. “I think the Hall of Fame game is a no-go even if we get it done today,” Urlacher told ESPN's George Smith, referring to the NFLPA possibly approving a new collective bargaining agreement Thursday. A Bears official told ESPN that the team is still planning to play the game against the St. Louis Rams but “everything is so fluid,” it's just not clear what will happen yet. The official said it's not up to the team whether to play. The league decides, and the Bears are doing their best to prepare/ESPN Chicago. More here.

Question (with H/T to Melissa Luck/KXLY): Are you more interested in the NFL deal or the debt celing deal?

Pecky Cox/As The Lake Churns reminds her Facebook Friends this afternoon that it was just over a year ago (July 16, 2010) that some cad burned the famous Shoe Tree of Priest Lake. The jerk has never been brought to justice. You can read the Huckleberries Online report of the arson here. And you can see a YouTube video of individuals lamenting the loss of the tree here.

Graham Creek announced Thursday that it will be closed for the public due to frequent bear encounters in the area. Graham Creek is located approximately 14 miles northbound on Forest Highway 9, north of Pinehurst. 
Authorities stated that there is potential  for danger if bears continues to return and become habituated to human encounters. Officials are hoping that by removing food and trash from the area, both the visitors and the bears will be protected/KREM. More here.

Question: Have you ever encountered a bear near your camp site? Will you tell us about it?

The North Idaho College Facebook page for mascot Cecil Cardinal offers an album of photos from a gathering on NIC Beach for Cecil's Facebook followers this week, including this one of summer students enjoying Lake Coeur d'Alene this week. Obviously, the photo wasn't snapped today because it's overcast again.

Question: Have you had a chance to swim in a North Idaho lake or other waterway this cold summer?

Indulge me in a rant about interest group questionnaires and the absurd length contained therein to ensure a candidate is a purist before he or she can receive the group’s nod, its mailing list and a donation from its PAC. Were we not taught in civics classes that we are a republic with the people electing representatives “hired” to use their intelligence and commonsense to weigh complicated matters most of us don’t have time to study and then decide what the greatest good is for the greatest number? Instead, many interest groups only want an automaton, a robot that will vote their way on issues of import to their agenda 100 percent of the time. Use your own judgment? Heaven forbid/Chris Carlson, The Carlson Chronicles. More here.

• Obama's race/Me&G, 43rd State Blues
• A wild Idaho hero honored/Rick Johnson, ICL
• Idaho AARP to deliver 20,000 petitions against entitlement cuts/Dan Popkey, Statesman

Question: Are candidate responses to questionnaires of a favorite organization important to you?

This has not been a good week for the Lochsa River but it isn’t the familiar megaloads controversy that has grabbed the limelight. Officials are in the Kooskia area today trying to decide the best way to remove tons of unprocessed toilet paper that was dumped in the river when a semi-trailer overturned earlier this week. They are trying of finding a way to keep it from dissolving into a cloud of pulp that would clog the river in the height of whitewater season. Yes, a Montana judge has halted the shipments of giant loads of mining equipment bound for the tar sands region of northern Alberta. District Judge Ray Dayton’s order blocking the Montana Department of Transportation from transporting the loads Idaho courts allowed, presents Imperial Oil, a Canadian subsidiary of ExxonMobil, with an interesting decision/Rocky Barker, Idaho Statesman. More here. (Lewiston Tribune/AP file photo/Barry Kough, of reduced megaload)

Question: Rocky sez ExxonMobile has a tough decision — modify megaloads or go back to court to fight Montana decision. What do you think the oil giant should do?

There's three days remaining until the long delayed Blogfest 2011, officially called Summer Hucks Bentfest, which acknowledges its ties to Huckleberries Online and to renown BBQer Bent, who will be providing the beef for the event. You are all welcome to the party that runs from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday at Steve Widmyer's Fort Ground Grill in Coeur d'Alene's historic Fortground area. Meat, baked beans, pop, & bottled water will be provided free. Guests are asked to bring a main dish, salad, or dessert (named after a Huckleberries Online theme, i.e. Sgt. Christie's DanG Good Cupcakes). Bent will have some of his home-brew beer to sample. If you can't bring something, don't worry. Come any way.

Love can make a person do unexpected things. For Rusty Clemons, it motivated him to wash dishes at his brother’s Colville restaurant. A pretty waitress named Marie had caught his eye. One night when the dishwasher didn’t show up, Marie offered to pitch in, and Rusty quickly volunteered to help her. “I went over to Colville a lot to just hang around,” Rusty recalled. “I was footloose, you know.” It had been awhile since the 25-year-old young man felt footloose. He’d grown up in tiny Rice, Wash., and times were tough. “I quit high school in my junior year,” Rusty said/Cindy Hval, Love Stories. Story here. (SR photo/J. Bart Rayniak, of Marie and Rusty Clemons)

Question: What steps did you take to meet your significant other?

The Sun Valley Ice Shows are widely known as a showcase for the art, comedy and drama of ice-skating. The summer shows feature world-class figure skaters and Olympic medalists under the stars behind the Sun Valley Lodge. An unexpected participant took to the ice during Saturday's evening performance, wearing only flip-flops and a grin. “It made everyone's jaws drop,” said Ice Show Director Scott Irvine. Some kids were heard asking if the streaker was part of the ice show. Other kids called the display “disgusting.” “Obviously, we do not think this is an appropriate activity at an ice show,” said Jack Sibbach, director of marketing and public relations for Sun Valley Co./Tony Evans, Idaho Mountain Express. More here. (AP file photo of a UCLA streaker, for illustrative purposes)

Question: Have you ever been present at an event where someone streaked?

When my husband was in surgery Tuesday, my sister and mom showed up in the surgery center waiting room, even though I'd insisted earlier in the day that I would be fine waiting alone. The surgery was not a major one, though Tony was put out for it,  and he was expected to be out in an hour or so. But show up they did — with lunch. My sister knows my favorite treat is french fries and she had a bagful for me. So we sat in the waiting room eating a fast-food lunch, talking and laughing and planning out the rest of the busy summer because of many family visitors expected/Becky Nappi, End Notes. More here.

Question: Becky adds that “one of the best things you can do for people you know well is hold vigil with them in a surgery waiting room.” Have you been encouraged by a vigil keeper in a waiting room recently?

Addison Benson plays in the front room of her home in Laurel, Mont., watched by her mother Andea Benson. Nearly a year after she lost her legs below the knee in a lawnmower accident, not much sets Addison apart from other children on the verge of entering the wider world outside the immediate circle of family and friends - not even her two prosthetic legs. Billings Gazette story from Aug. 16, 2010 here. (AP Photo/Billings Gazette, Larry Mayer)

• Cartoon: Customers are complicit in sex slavery/David Horsey, Seattle P-I
• Naked man crashes Sun Valley ice show/Associated Press
• Bears force North Idaho campground near Pinehurst to close/KREM
• Whitefish, Mont., mourns loss of snowboarding phenom/Lynnette Hintze, DIL
• Nez Perce commissioner pleads not guilty to sex charge/Associated Press
• Prosecutors: MLK Day bomb suspect took photos at march/Thomas Clouse, SR
• Woman with $26,000 in bra pleads guilty/Meghann Cuniff, Sirens & Gavels
• Boise uses goats to battle stubborn evasive weeds/Katie Moeller, Statesman
• Pain runs deep after Idaho dental cuts/Kimberlee Kruesi. Twin Falls TN
• Other states join Idaho to defy No Child Left Behind requirements/AP, Eye On Boise
• Glacier National Park tourism down after record season/Associated Press
• Megaload 2-fer: Montana Transportation Dept to fight court ruling, and: Smaller megaloads still cleared to roll this week/Kim Briggeman, Missoulian
• Orbusmax Special: Tolls on Seattle area express lanes could reach $5.50 here

If you squint your eyes a little, the scene at the Ferris High School practice field on a fresh summer evening last week looked as American as breakfast cereal. Behind the baseball field, four young guys in T-shirts and running shoes do drills in the green grass. They take turns hitting pop flies while the others in the field crane their necks upward, swaying as they peer up into the blue sky and then — slap — receive the balls out of the sky. “Niiiice catch, boy,” one calls out after a fielder dives to the earth to seize a hard-hit drive before it touches the ground. The fielder gets to his feet, shaking the sting out of his palms. The oofs and ahs, the laughter and jibes, the fresh smell of cut grass — it’s achingly familiar to anyone who ever sweated out a Little League season in left field. But these guys at Ferris aren’t the Saxon bench-warmers. They’re the Spokane Spartans, a team of Indian men devoted to the game of cricket/Joel Smith, Inlander. More here. (Inlander photo: Amy Hunter)

Question: Has anyone out there played cricket?

Franklin Mayor Fred Paris pours one of the 250 bags of ice into the Franklin Memorial Swimming Pool in Franklin, Ind., earlier today. Temperatures are expected to climb into the high 90's with heat index well over 100. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Question: Would you rather be experiencing the heat wave that's bedeviling much of the country or the unusually cool spring and summer that we're having in Inland Northwest?

• 11:22 a.m. Someone has suffered shoulder & ankle injuries in a logging accident on USFS Road 261 @ Leeburg Saddle.
• 11:19 a.m. 2 males on 4-wheelers are speeding up & down Davis & Peggy Loop/CdA.
• 11:08 a.m. Samuel reports there's a dead dog lying @ 18699 W. Riverview/PF.
• 11:04 a.m. Caller reports man possibly violating protection order @ Rice & Burdette/Hauser.
• 11:01 a.m. Back door of residence in Tribal Housing on L St./Plummer kicked in, possible burglary.
• 10:59 a.m. Caller reports road rager in pickup stopped & approached him @ H95 & Remington/Athol.
• 10:49 a.m. A small, gray pickup is abandoned in a ditch on Larson, 1/2 mile from Conkling/Worley.
• 10:48 a.m. A dead deer is in a ditch @ 42568 SH3 (M/P 98, Black Creek).
• 10:47 a.m. 2 women in older red Volvo slammed trunk & acting suspicious at Twin Falls Elementary.
• 10:35 a.m. Man and a woman in parking area of Falls Park yelled at reporting party.
• 10:34 a.m. A red pickup & another vehicle are playing “chicken,” w/b on Prairie from H95.
• 9:59 a.m. Heather reports to Spirit Lake police she may be victim of identity theft.
• 9:41 a.m. An vehicle that's disabled is blocking road H41 & Boekel/Rathdrum.
• 9:29 a.m. A 20-something man is passed out under train trestle on Cave Bay Road/Worley.
• 9:03 a.m. Kootenai Health, 1701 Lincoln Way, reports unknown medical emergency.
• 8:46 a.m. Someone is locked out of a small SUV @ Post Falls Dashco.
• 8:33 a.m. Cassandra reports her dog is missing in Cataldo.
• 8:19 a.m. A suspicious person is hanging around apartments in 1000 block of Emma/CdA.

Rand McNally's 2011 Best of Road Rally has named Sandpoint as the most beautiful town in the United States. Jeff DeKorte, Rand McNally’s SVP, Travel & Digital Media and John Peters, VP/GM Digital Strategy along with Victoria Borton, General Manager of USA TODAY Travel, announced the five winning teams to a packed house at the Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI) Annual Convention in New Orleans. Narrowed down from more than 600 submissions, 30 top towns in five categories — Most Beautiful, Most Patriotic, Friendliest, Most Fun, and Best for Food — were selected for review during the inaugural Best of the Road Rally. More here. (SR file photo/Pia Hallenberg, of small-scale Statue of Liberty on Lake Pend Oreille)

Question: Which place in America's most beautiful small town would you point out to visitors as quintessential Sandpoint?

• Wednesday Poll: By a slim majority, Hucks Nation supports U.S. House Republicans “cut, cap, & balance” approach to the debt ceiling controversy. 69 of 135 respondents (51.11%) voted for “cut, cap, & balance.” 58 of 135 respondents (42.96%) opposed the House GOP approach. 8 (5.93%) were undecided.
• Today's Poll: What approach do you want your local police force to take with panhandlers?

Watch out, Mr. Hare, this tortoise has a wheel. A 12-year-old African tortoise that recently had its front left leg amputated due to injury is now moving just fine, thanks to a swiveling wheel attached to his shell by doctors at Washington State University’s veterinary hospital. The 23-pound tortoise, named Gamera after the giant flying turtle of the old Japanese monster movies, is gaining weight and generally thriving with his new appendage. “I don’t know whether he’d pass the hare, but he moves around very well,” said Charlie Powell, spokesman for WSU’s veterinary hospital in Pullman. The nearly teenage mutant turtle is particularly good at moving toward food and has gained 3 pounds since the wheel was attached, Powell said/Nicholas Geranios, AP. More here.

Question: Do you think Gamera is related to Ganesha?

On her Facebook wall, Taryn Hecker-Thompson writes: “Headed into the deep, deep woods of North Idaho, where there is no such thing as cell phone service or email. This is when I will truly put my survival skills to the test.”

Question: How often do you completely unplug — leave behind cell phones, computers, and other electronic gadgets that keep you connected 24/7?

Occasionally, Scanner Traffic posts an item in which a freeway detector spots a stolen vehicle on Interstate 90 as it passes through Kootenai County. Anusha Roy, the hard-working KXLY reporter for North Idaho, talked to law enforcement in Kootenai County about the License Plate Recognition system. Post Falls Police Chief Scot Haug calls it “probably the best technology to come to law enforcement since DNA.” You can read Anusha's story here.

On her Facebook wall, weather woman Kris Crocker of KXLY writes: “ABC is featuring a show tonight about … gulp … exorcism, and it's right before the news. I wonder what kind of audience is going to be sticking around for the 11 o'clock news. Should I freak them out and forecast 666 for tomorrow?” Kris is talking about a two-part segment on “Nightline” tonight that focuses on casting out demons & a pastor who believes we all carry around demons here.

Question: Do you believe in demons or exorcism?

No quota has been set for the wolf during this year’s season. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has proposed a wolf hunting season for Aug. 30 to March 31. Jim Hayden, IDFG regional wildlife manager, said the commission has also proposed a trapping season for the wolf, Dec. 1 through Jan. 15. “We’ve added a month to the front of the hunting season and this will be our first trapping season,” Mr. Hayden said. The public is invited to an open house at the Panhandle Region office at 2885 W. Kathleen Avenue in Coeur d’Alene (today), from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Regional staff will be on hand to answer questions and to solicit input on the 2011 wolf season proposals. Mr. Hayden said the changes should bring an 18 percent harvest increase. Overall, the IDFG expects to see a 20 percent reduction in the state’s wolf population numbers/Summer Crosby, St. Maries Gazette-Record. More here.

Question: Do you support a wolf hunt without quotas in Idaho?

Say what you will about America’s homebred religion, but one thing is undeniable: The Mormon church is moving into mainstream pop culture in a way not seen before. There’s Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, distant Mormon cousins both running as Republicans for president. There’s The Book of Mormon, the Broadway musical about Mormon missionaries by South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker that swept the Tonys last month. The Twilight vampire novels — written by Stephenie Meyer, a Mormon — were the biggest book-movie tsunami to crash into American culture since Harry Potter. Political leaders Glenn Beck and Harry Reid are Mormon. So are actors Amy Adams and Jon Heder. While many Americans are only now learning about the church and some of its notable members, Mormons have long been a part of the Inland Northwest, with as many as 20,000 now living in the region/Nicholas Deshais, Chris Stein, Daniel Walters, Inlander. More here. (From Inlander: Scene from “The Book of Mormon” Broadway play)

Question: Is it now cool to be Mormon?

Jon McKenzie, of the Northwest Heavy Athletics Association throws the hammer during practice at Theyer Park in Rathdrum on Wednesday, July 20, 2011. the World Championships in Amateur Scottish Heavy Athletics for men and women will be held for the first time in Spokane on August 6. Dave Trimmer's SR story here. (SR photo: Kathy Plonka)

• Idaho Records/Sherry Adkins, SR
• Wednesday Scanner Traffic/DFO, Hucks Online
• More clouds, showers arrive today/Mike Prager, SR
• Clark: Hot times or bummer summer/Spokesman-Review
• CdA Summer Theatre stages 'Island' musical/Jim Kershner, SR
• County to review highway district LIDs/Alecia Warren, CdA Press
• LaSarte-Meeks out as CdA casino CEO/Brian Walker, CdA Press
• Violent Crimes Task Force seeks fugitive/Coeur d'Alene Press
• Tribal officers arrest Benewah County escapee/Alison Boggs, SR
• License plate recognition used to bust criminals/Anusha Roy, KXLY
• Duncan ordered to pay $10.5M for murder, kidnappings/KXLY

Months after Spokane passed an ordinance making it illegal to panhandle on street corners and freeway entrances and exits, the panhandling hasn't stopped. Men and women are still there and now they've also moved into neighborhoods - hidden from law enforcement.It started with fruit peddlers, whom KXLY discovered were actually illegal immigrants dropped off on neighborhood corners by an Oregon farmer. Then panhandlers started moving up from I-90 and into neighborhood areas/Colleen O'Brien, KXLY. More here.

Question: Do you support the aggressive enforcement of anti-panhandling ordinances in Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls, and Kootenai County?

The ad is simple in nature, a statement in white letters with a blue sky background and clouds that read: “Are you good without God? Millions are.” That's the advertisement set to appear on the sides of Spokane Transit Authority (STA) buses starting August 29. The ad was created by the Spokane Coalition of Reason, a local group of atheists, humanists, secularists and members of free thought societies. They are part of a larger, national organization called the United Coalition of Reason or UCoR/KHQ. More here w/video.

Question: Why are atheists becoming more aggressive in proselytizing their view that God doesn't exist?

A nuisance hotline, neighborhood watch and photographing repeat offenders. These could help address issues with the Fresh Start homeless service facility on east Sherman Avenue, said Mike Kennedy, Coeur d'Alene City Council member, on Wednesday night.  “The goal is, how do we improve the situation right now, while we work at long-term strategies?” said Kennedy. His suggestions were made while mitigating a meeting between east Sherman area businesses, residents and Fresh Start representatives at City Hall/Alecia Warren, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here.

• H/T to MikeK for serving as a mediator on this ticklish issue.

Question: What's the best solution for Fresh Start and its neighbors to deal with problem people around the homeless center, beyond just sucking it up?

Clay Bennett/Chattanooga Times Free Press

We're not just entering the halfway point of the week today. We're only four days from the 2011 Hucks Summer Bentfest at Steve Widmyer's Fort Ground Grill (3 to 6 p.m. this Sunday). Meat, beans, pop, water, & a venue will be provided. All you need to do is bring a main dish, salad, or dessert (named after a Hucks Online theme) and enjoy the annual fellowship of the Berry Pickers. If you haven't tried Bent's BBQ, you're in for a treat. We're still trying to get a head count. So let us know if you're coming. Now for your daily Wild Card …

Gamera, a 12-year-old, African spur-thighed tortoise, shows off his new front “leg” at Washington State University in Pullman Friday. Gamera had to have his leg removed after an infection set in. To aid in the tortoise's recovery, doctors at WSU’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital replaced Gamera's leg with a small swiveling ball-type caster attached to its shell with an epoxy adhesive. Story here. (AP Photo/BCU/WSU photo: Henry Moore, Jr.)

On her Facebook wall, Cindy writes: “Sam is a proud member of the No Cavity Club. He was a bit more worried than usual. As he told the dentist: 'If I have a cavity, my dad's gonna subtract the bill from whatever he'd spend on my for Christmas.'” How about you?

Question: Are you a member of the No Cavity Club? Or are you anti-dentite?

• 5:42 p.m. David reports someone put a tracking device on his friend's truck.
• 5:36 p.m. 50ish male & female smelling of alcohol left Midtown Safeway in red Honda Prelude.
• 5:33 p.m. Man bleeding from head & mouth after fight w/relative in 400 block of E. Orchard/Hayden.
• 5:20 p.m. Coeur d'Alene Police Department activities report for July 19-20 here.
• 5:10 p.m. Several men are loitering in State Liquor Store @ 2611 Government Way/CdA.
• 5:02 p.m. W/b Irish setter running in middle of Dalton Avenue toward H95 is creating traffic backup.
• 5:01 p.m. Woman having trouble breathing after 2-vehicle, blocking crash @ H95 & Lancaster/Hayden.
• 4:50 p.m. 83YO resident of Ivy Court, 2200 Ironwood Place/CdA, is trying to hit staffers.
• 4:48 p.m. Dirt biker w/long hair reportedly riding 90 mph & cussing resident on Pennsylvania/CdA.
• 4:41 p.m. Someone is injured in a fall at North Idaho College, 1000 W. Garden/CdA.
• 4:26 p.m. Erin reports 2 pitbulls running loose near driving range of Hayden County Club.
• 4:19 p.m. Caller reports she's locked out of a vehicle at Paul Bunyan, 700 N. Idaho/PF.
• 4:15 p.m. Auto burglary reported in 5200 block of Parkwood Court/CdA.
• 4:14 p.m. Youth is holding barrel of long rifle in gray VW s/b on N/W Blvd toward Sherman/CdA.
• 4:07 p.m. Hayden WalMart reports catching a juvenile shoplifter who's being cooperative.
• 17 more items below + AM Scanner Traffic link

This bull snake, also called a gopher snake, was found along the Centennial Trail in Washington near the Idaho state line on May 29. Estimated overall length about four feet long. (SR photo: Jesse Tinsley)

• Grand jury indicts medical marijuana dispensers/Meghann Cuniff, SR
• Ex-Coeur d'Alene developer guilty in murder plot/Associated Press
• One-time Hells Angel cook pleads guilty/Thomas Clouse, SR
• Suspected bank robber arrested in Spokane River/Meghann Cuniff, SR
• Sagle company gets $750,000 for solar parking lot/John Miller, AP
• Atheist group wants to put ads on Spokane Transit buses/KHQ
• High-risk premiums will drop in some states, not Idaho/Statesman
• WSU veterinarians replace turtle's leg with wheel/KHQ

Question: Any thoughts re: having a snake of this size hanging out near the North Idaho Centennial Trail?

New York Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner, left, and center fielder Curtis Granderson look up after Granderson lost a fly ball in the roof of Tropicana Field, allowing the ball to drop for a single by Tampa Bay Rays' Justin Ruggiano during the eighth inning of a baseball game Tuesday in St. Petersburg, Fla. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)

Top Cutlines:

• 1. “They must have done raised that there debt ceiling cuz i sure can’t see it! Can you see it Grandy?” — Formerly Sandpoint.
• 2. Even the Yankees have to look to the heavens for answers when asked how the Mariners could lose ten straight games to fall from contenders to pretenders once again — JohnA.
• 3. Landscape workers forced to wear Yankee uniforms glaze up at shortstop Derek Jeters new house from the back yard — CoeurGenX.
• HM: Charlie

In this undated, Actor James Doohan appears in character as Montgomery “Scotty” Scott in a scene from the 1994 film “Star Trek Generations.” Doogan, who died on this date 6 years ago at age 85, wanted to have a few grams of his ashes launched 70 miles (112 miles) into space this fall from southern New Mexico. More from AP on Scotty's death here. (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, Elliott Marks, File)

Question: Which “Star Wars” character is your favorite?