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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016

I'll be back ... tomorrow 

Well, I have to say I'm pretty proud of you, HBO. DFO said behave and you all behaved. I'm switching from blog mode to mom mode now. I will check in from time-to-time to make sure the comments section remains troll-free, but otherwise I'm checking out for the day. Have a great rest of the day. I will be back in the morning. Bright and early.

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Monday Wild Card -- 4.25.16 11 

Rise and shine, HBO. The skies over Rathdrum Mountain are looking mostly blue from my back window, so I'm just going to call it now: It's going to be a beautiful day. By now I'm sure much of the HBO family has heard the sad news that Tom Wobker, the beloved Bard of Sherman Avenue, died Saturday at the age of 71.

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Mendy Plotkin and Sholom Dubov, right, who hosted what they believe may be the first publicy announced community seder in Coeur d’Alene on Friday, pose for a photo, Thursday, April 21, 2016, at the La Quinta Inn & Suites in Coeur d’Alene. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)

Coeur d'Alene's first Jewish seder 

Led by two Orthodox rabbinical students, the group took part in a three-hour seder meal commemorating the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Friday’s dinner is believed to be the first publicly announced Jewish seder in Coeur d’Alene.

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Feds take over BF church arson investigation 

Federal agencies have taken over the investigation of the arson fire that destroyed the Catholic church in Bonners Ferry early Thursday morning. The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Office, are leading the investigation of the fire set at St. Ann’s Catholic Church.

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Herb Huseland is the Bayview columnist for the Post Falls Voice.   JESSE TINSLEY The Spokesman-Review (Jesse Spokesman-revi / The Spokesman-Review)

Bayview Herb: Contested convention? Seen it. 10 

Herb Huseland/Bay Views reminisces about contested presidential conventions of years past in a new blog post: "I have some personal knowledge of contested conventions, the last being the Democratic Convention in the 1952 election year. This has to go down as the only advantage to…

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The Slice: Typos come in all sizes 

In my former life as a newspaper reporter, I was witness to some major typos. One of my worst was when I miscalculated the impact of a school levy in an article printed on election eve with no time for a correction. As bad as that was, it paled in comparison to a couple legendary typos made by my colleagues. In today's Slice, a reader shares:

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No Dems on ballot in 8 districts 

Betsy Russell/Eye On Boise shares some interesting stats about the May 17 Idaho primary election. There are 8 districts with no Democrats on the ballot and 49 incumbent Republicans unopposed in bids for re-election to the Idaho Legislature. More here.

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Throwback: Proud Atholians protest name change 23 

My former NIC journalism prof, Nils Rosdahl, loved making cracks about Athol. He told me that one time the town leaders grew tired of being the butt of jokes and proposed changing the town's name. I thought he was ribbing me, but I recently found an old newspaper clipping that proves otherwise.

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A green light for those who don't look up 11 

In the "Seriously, what next?" department: Officials in the city of Augsburg became concerned when they noticed a new phenomenon: Pedestrians were so busy looking at their smartphones that they were ignoring traffic lights. The city has attempted to solve that problem by installing new traffic lights embedded in the pavement.

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Press: Does Labrador owe Sims? 

The Coeur d'Alene Press editorial board says U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador's endorsement of State Rep. Kathy Sims "hints at two things: Labrador owing Sims a favor, and Sims feeling uneasy about her chances against a smart young candidate who represents rational approaches to common problems, rather than Tea Party politics at any cost."

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One of the many morels I picked over the weekend.  (Taryn Thompson)

Sure, I have morels 

Several friends tagged me in a meme this weekend: "I hunt for mushrooms because I have no morels." This weekend's forays paid off for the Thompsons, but hours of hiking in Mountain Goat territory have my muscles crying out today. As anyone who has enjoyed a morel-topped steak can attest, the pain is so, so worth it. Question: Are you picking?

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A Spokane-themed coloring page created by Spokesman-Review staff artist Molly Quinn. Print and color, snap a photo of it and post it to your Instagram account, using #spokesmancoloring. (Illustration by Molly Quinn/SR)

Adult coloring as an escape 11 

I'm a huge fan of coloring books. I just bought a new one that incorporates some of my favorite Psalms. I find it relaxing. The SR's Carolyn Lamberson reports on the craze of adult coloring in Sunday's SR. Question: When is the last time you picked up crayons and colored? How do you de-stress?

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Not all outrageous letters are signed Athol 

Last week there was a lot of chatter on HBO about the type of people that hail from my hometown of Athol. The suggestion was made that all of the craziest letters to the editor in the Coeur d'Alene Press are authored by Atholians. As evidence to the contrary, I'd like to share this letter from Sunday's Press, headlined "MEAT: Eat less, heat less."

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Marilyn Shuler sits in front of, from left to right: Steve and Judy Meyer, Sandi Bloem and Norman Gissel on Friday at the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations' 19th annual banquet. All five were inducted into the Idaho Hall of Fame. (JAKE PARRISH/CDA PRESS)

Meyers, Bloem, Gissell, Shuler inducted into Idaho Hall of Fame 

For their contributions to the lives of people in Idaho and beyond, five “outstanding” men and women were inducted into Idaho’s Hall of Fame Friday evening in Coeur d'Alene. ... The inductees included many local names: Sandi Bloem, Norman Gissel, Steve Meyer and Judy Meyer, as well as Marilyn Shuler of Boise./Mary Malone, The Coeur d'Alene Press.

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North Idaho No. 1 in nays 

Every year a bloc of lawmakers in the Idaho Legislature votes against billions of dollars in spending for routine functions of state government, and this year was no exception.When the 2016 session ended March 25, one lawmaker had voted against nearly 60 percent of spending…

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Huckleberries Online

D.F. Oliveria started Huckleberries Online on Feb. 16, 2004. Oliveria's Sunday print Huckleberries is a past winner of the national Herb Caen Memorial Column contest.