Now, we all know what Mayor Sandi Bloem meant at the annual Human Rights Banquet on Monday when she said she’d return to the feast in 2014, but maybe not in the same capacity. She had already decided not to seek re-election to a fourth term, for personal and professional reasons – not because she feared possible stiff competition against rival Councilman Dan Gookin. Bloem told Huckleberries on Wednesday that she wasn’t going to run, when your columnist followed up on her banquet remark. Despite her extraordinary accomplishments over the past 11-plus years (from construction of the Kroc Center and library to the Education Corridor), Bloem has attracted fanatical opponents. Who include masterminds of the failed 2012 recall effort against her and GOP hard-liners who want every nonpartisan elective office in Kootenai County filled with their kind of Republican/DFO, Sunday Huckleberries. More here.

Other SR weekend columns:

• Sheridan, players forged trails together/John Blanchette
• Spokane not only city with Street Music Week/Doug Clark
• Familiarity, trust can ease homeless problems/Shawn Vestal
• Eye on Boise: 2 stream gauges escape budget ax/Betsy Russell
• Smart Bombs: Spokane's Mike Fagan wrestles w/alter ego/Gary Crooks
• Spin Control: Washington Legislature adjourns w/l budget/Jim Camden
• The Slice: It's Monday, if must be time to discuss Don Draper/Paul Turner
• In the Garden: Artichokes require new seedlings every year/Susan Mulvihill
• Outdoors: Short hikes are perfect elixir for mind, body, well-being/Rich Landers

Question: Will Councilman Dan Gookin run for mayor?