No one can blame the Kootenai County commissioners for adopting a social media policy for county employees. The Spokesman-Review has one, too. But some of the 16 guidelines approved by Dan, Jai and Todd seem, well, paranoid and/or Big Brotherish. Consider Guideline No. 2 (which Huckleberries calls the anti-whistle-blower rule): “Employees are free to express themselves as private citizens on social media sites to the degree that their speech does not impair working relationships of the County and its elected officials for which loyalty and confidentiality are important, impede the performance of duties, impair discipline and harmony among co-workers, or negatively affect the public perception of the County”/DFO, SR Sunday Huckleberries. More here.

Other SR weekend columns:

• Obituaries show diversity of community/Shawn Vestal
• Smart Bombs: Sharp shooters are safer/Gary Crooks
• Outdoors: North Idaho Sportsman's Expo to debut/Rich Landers
• Eye on Boise: Slow growth seen in timber market/Betsy Russell
• The Slice: Mom makes exceptions for certain weirdos/Paul Turner
• Boston-style bombing could have happened in Spokane/Doug Clark
• Cutoff threat creates drama in Washington Legislature/Jim Camden
• With Olynyk gone, Gonzaga has to find way to fill hole/John Blanchette

Question: Do the county's new social media rules protect employees' right to free speech?