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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

THURSDAY, FEB. 4, 2016

Wild Card/Thursday -- 2.4.16 

My siblings and I have found a diary that my 90YO mother kept in 1950, my first year of life. There's a lot of routine stuff in there re: daily life on a dairy, church and entertaining numerous relatives who lived nearby. But occasionally there's...

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Parting Shot -- 2.4.16

Anya Bondar of Rye Beach, N.H. checks her watch as she walks through empty chairs while leaving a campaign event after Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, appeared at a Toyota auto dealership Thursday in Portsmouth, N.H. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

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Public blocked from conservative's speech 73 

Gonzaga’s College Republicans student group is upset that the university won’t allow the public to attend a late-February talk on campus [Click and drag to move] by popular conservative writer and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza. “I was told he’s a nasty guy and a homophobe and that’s why it can’t be open to the public,” said Gonzaga junior Ben Dubois.

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CdA residents can dump storm debris

Wood debris from this winter’s storms can be dumped in large bins at seven locations around Coeur d’Alene next Wednesday through Feb. 17. Sponsored by the city, Avista Utilities and Cannon Hill Industries, the free “Cleanup CDA” program is intended to help residents clean up after the major windstorm in November and ice and heavy snow in December.

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Rocker Maurice White, 74, RIP 

In this AP file photo, Maurice White acknowledges the applause as his group, Earth, Wind & Fire, is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during the 15th Anuual induction dinner, in New York Monday evening, March 6, 2000. White, 74, died at his home in Los Angeles Wednesday.

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Panel will try to rewrite funding formula 

Last time around, it took lawsuits to force Idaho to rewrite its school funding formula. Then it took a ton of new money to seal the deal. The spending increase was huge — and today, it would take more than $350 million to match it. That was 1994. Now ... key legislators are planning to take a run at rewriting Idaho’s school funding formula.

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Cliff Arthur, a Shoshone County employee and "Dukes of Hazzard" fan, stands next to his 1995 Dodge pickup with the Confederate flag on the front license plate and back window. Arthur has angered Jon Ruggles of Wallace for parking the pickup in a prominent spot in public view at the transfer station.

Ruggles: No place for Confederate flag on county property 62 

Jon Ruggles of Wallace was bothered when he saw a pickup bearing 2 Confederate flags parked prominently at the solid waste transfer station on Martin Luther King Day. Ruggles has written about the experience for Huckleberries Online, including his struggle to get Shoshone County officials to take action to eliminate the display on public property.

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Update: CPD arrests standoff fugitive 

Last time around, it took lawsuits to force Idaho to rewrite its school funding formula. Then it took a ton of new money to seal the deal. The spending increase was huge — and today, it would take more than $350 million to match it. That was 1994. Now, fast forward to 2016.

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Rep. Paul Shepherd, R-Riggins, is proposing legislation to create a vanity plate to honor the controversial mascot of Orofino High -- Maniacs. (Courtesy of the Lewiston Tribune)

House panel OKs 'Maniacs' plate bill 12 

In the Run That By Me Again Department, the House Transportation Committee OK'd Rep. Shepherd's specialty plate bill to honor Maniacs, Orofino High's controversial mascot. But ... the committee expunged the name Maniacs from the legislation as some sort of good compromise. Sounds like some of these birds already have been in Boise too long.

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Blogos: No use for wilderness? 29 

The daily roundup of posts from the Huckleberries Online blog roll includes: Idaho's ALEC infection/Better Idaho, Cruzin' for a bruisin'/Dogwalk Musings, Celebrate love & reading/Cindy's All Write, 1st Take: Cruz & Robinson/Randy Stapilus, Idaho delays auction tag increase/Outdoors, Feeling like Charlie Brown/From A Simple Mind ...

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House OKs bill to create college zones 

After some fairly bitter debate, the House has voted 55-15 in favor of HB 387, Caldwell Rep. Greg Chaney’s bill to require community college trustees to be elected from five zones – and to boot out of office those currently serving from the same zones and replace them with new appointees in 2017.

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Letter: Jury didn't let Samuel down 

In a letter to the Coeur d'Alene Press editor, Susan Wheat of Coeur d'Alene writes about the guilty verdict in the Eldon Gale Samuel III double murder case. She takes exception of Public Defender John Adams' statement that "yet again Eldown has been let down by adults (the jury?) that should have protected him." What do you think?

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Facilities manager Ben Myers looks at one of the 13 giant diesel generators that automatically switched on at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center during the November 2015 windstorm. Each machine, using a V-16 engine, can produce 1,250 kilowatts of power. See story below. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)

AM Headlines

The daily roundup of AM Headlines includes: Generators kept hospitals going during windstorm/SR, Idaho bill would allow ISP to use unmarked vehicles/SR, Local woman excited to be living kidney donor/CdA Press, Partners in crime wanted in Coeur d'Alene/KREM, Vestal: Others pose greater risk to kids than transgender people/SR ...

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“We heard the rumor,” said Matt Dillon about the recent sale of the Cedar Motel and RV Park where he lives in east Coeur d’Alene. Hagadone Hospitality Co. bought the property, which is adjacent to the 200-acre Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course. (Kathy Plonka / The Spokesman-Review)

Hagadone buys Cedar motel, RV park 15 

A rundown RV park and motel where residents complain about pools of raw sewage has a prominent new owner in Coeur d’Alene. The Cedar Motel and RV Park sits next to Duane Hagadone’s 18-hole golf course on East Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive. Dozens of low-income renters are being displaced by the purchase.

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Poll: USA has PC problem 34 

In the Wednesday poll, A near supermajority of Hucks Nation sees political correctness as a big problem or somewhat of a problem in this country. Today's Poll: Do you agree with the Washington Human Rights Commission that public restroom use should be based on sexual identity rather than biology (genitalia)?

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Hoffman lets cat out of anti-tax bag 16 

Wayne Hoffman's bitter complaint that a tax-cut plan doesn't go far enough has let the cat out of the proverbial bag, according to Opinion Editor Marty Trillhaase of the Lewiston Tribune. The proposal by House Leader Mike Moyle is simply election year confetti that provides little help for anyone. But it does take money from more important places.

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Lewiston Tribune/Steve Hanks

Health officials protest Maniacs bill 15 

Mental health advocates across the state are planning to protest a proposal to feature the Orofino High School Maniacs on Idaho state license plates. A hearing will be held at 1:30 p.m. Mountain Time today in the Idaho House Transportation Committee room to review a bill proposed last week by Rep. Paul Shepherd, R-Riggins.

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Don't let celebs choose your candidate 

In an editorial in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Bill McKee says it's all right for celebrities to influence your choice of beer. But it's not OK for a celebrity to influence your choice for president. Rather, the editorial says, tune out the celebrity and do your own digging to see which candidate best matches your political philosophy.

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Obama: Faith great cure for fear 29 

President Barack Obama addressed the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, speaking about the need to overcome fear through faith, just one day after making a historic visit to a Baltimore mosque where he delivered a message of religious inclusivity. (Question: What is your greatest fear about this country?)

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This combination of photos provided by the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office shows eight people involved in the occupation of the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon on Jan. 2, 2016, who were arrested on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016. Top row from left are Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, Brian Cavalier and Shawna Cox. Bottom row from left are Joseph Donald O'Shaughnessy, Ryan Payne, Jon Eric Ritzheimer and Peter Santilli. (Multnomah County Sheriff's Office/Maricopa County Sheriff's Office via AP)

Indicted 37 

A federal grand jury has indicted 11 people arrested last week for their roles in the occupation of the Malheur refuge, including their leader, Ammon Bundy. Four occupiers remain holed up at the Malheur refuge south of Burns, saying they will not leave without assurances that they won’t be arrested.

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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.