Earlier this week, I posted information re: the dilemma that SR colleague Betsy Russell and we other Idaho journalists find ourselves in — whether or not to vote in 2012 primary election in May. For the first time, as a result of the GOP-pushed closed primaries, journalists will be required to state a party preference to vote. Betsy has been told by the paper that she could be reassigned away from covering politics & government, if she declared a party affiliation & it became the source of contoversy. I've been told by the paper that I'm free to vote because I'm not a reporter but an opinion writer. Betsy is president of the Idaho Press Club. The column she wrote about her dilemma wasn't posted on the group's Web site when I posted the initial story. Now it is. You can read it here.

Question: Should the newspaper allow Betsy to vote in the primary w/o potential consequences? Should it allow me to vote?

In her Idaho Press Club President's Column for the spring newsletter, SR colleague Betsy Russell tells of a dilemma facing us journalists in Idaho this spring. We have to decide whether or not to vote in the primaries, which for the first time will require party affiliation. Seems Wayne Hoffman of the Idaho Freedom Foundation has hinted that he might track how Idaho journalists vote & in which primary they vote. Betsy says she has no problem complying with SR rules that journalists are not to take part in a party-run event designed for partisans, like a caucus. But a primary is another matter, especially in Republican-dominated Idaho where primaries often decide who wins the general election. Betsy goes on to say that she's been warned by Editor Gary Graham that a vote by her in the primary could compromise her ability to cover government & politics. (Gary has told me that I'm in a different situation in that I'm an opinion writer with well known political proclivities. Read: I'm going to vote the Republican ticket, Wayne.)

Question: Do you think it's right that journalists are somewhat disenfranchised by the Idaho GOP push to require party affiliation at the primary polls?

Idaho's political round
Is clearly closed-primary bound.
When hot-button issues
Mean get out the tissues
It's lawmaking in ultrasound.

Betsy Russell/Eye On Boise (More here) (AP photo: Vote tally board on pre-abortion ultrasound issue in Virginia on Feb. 28)

RE: Idaho media uses Capitol space rent free/Dustin Hurst, Idaho Reporter

Dustin, the space is not ours; it belongs to Legislative Services, which chooses to make it available to us during the session. The Legislature long has done this as a matter of public interest; it's in the public's interest that the business of the legislative session gets reported to the public. Lobbyists, who are here to represent their own interests and clients, rent a room in the capitol and pay for it.  In the past, in addition to the rent-free press work space for use during the session, there were several news outlets that also rented year-round space in the Capitol: The Associated Press, the Idaho Statesman, Idaho Public Television and NPR-Boise State Public Radio/Betsy Russell, Idaho Press Club president. More here.

Reaction?

They won't ban drivers who text
And health care reform makes them vexed.
Their right is to farm
Their students they arm
Your budget is what they'll cut next.

Objections don't stick in their throats
Nor loss after loss get their goats
Rather than cut
They'd revenue up
But they simply don't have the votes.

Betsy Russell/Eye On Boise

Overall, for the year, precipitation is running above normal – about .75 inches above normal for Spokane and a whopping 4 inches above normal in Coeur d’Alene. Those first low elevation snowflakes may be just around the corner as some chilly, moist air makes its way into the region by the middle of this week. Average snowfall for Spokane in the month of November is 6.4 inches. Coeur d’Alene averages 7.8 inches/Michelle Boss, Handle Extra. More here.

• Huckleberries: Right, far right wings flap/DFO
  
• Boise: Complicated or not, Idaho backs amendments/Betsy Russell
• Labor department plans party at new Post Falls facility/Nils Rosdahl
• Review: Simon Sez covers all the bases around CdA/Patrick Jacobs
  
• Sandpoint: Photographer focuses on hope, foster home/Patty Hutchens

Question: What do you have yet to do to get ready for winter?

Last Thursday former U.S. Representative Bill Sali, long an ally of Hart’s, sent a letter (disclosed, again, via Russell) on the subject to fellow Republicans. His counsel, after saying in essence that Hart was wrongly accused (though none of the reported facts are in dispute): “Why has Phil gotten so much media attention? In the legislature Phil has been an effective voice for freedom, less government and lower taxes. Apparently Betsy Russell can’t stand that and she wants to silence his voice.” How many more politicians snagged in trouble are going to use this kind of dodge – it’s all the freedom-hating media’s fault – and get away with it? We may get some answers to that, in Idaho and far beyond, next week/Randy Stapilus, Ridenbaugh Press. More here.

• Why Democrats will lose big in Idaho/Adam’s Blog
• How about trick-or-treatin’ w/governor, 1st Lady?/Dennis Mansfield
• It came out of the swamp/Fort Boise
• Melaleuca and copyright/43rd State Blues
• Second acts: Dick Morris surfaces in Idaho/The Johnson Report
  

Question: Do you really think the media hate freedom?

Re: Betsy Russell to blame not Hart/Huckleberries Online

Sisyphus: He doesn’t even bother to use “liberal” before “media”. It’s becoming redundant for him. … I find it amusing. Shorter Bill Sali: “Hart has successfully hidden his overdue tax obligation and timber thievery for years, its only a liberal media conspiracy that it come out on the eve of his uncontested election”. Give it up Betsy. There’s no hope for you. Your best bet is to freak out over a burka wearing taxi driver and score a fat $2 million contract at Fox.

• Change the subject/Randy Stapilus, Ridenbaugh Press
  

Question: Are Phil Hart’s problems part of a “liberal media conspiracy”?

Last Thursday, former congressman Bill Sali wrote a “Dear Friend” letter defending Rep. Phil Hart from “biased accounts of the media.” In the single-page letter (which you can read here),  Hart met with Hart to hear the legislator’s side of the story and came away convinced that the media haven’t been “fair to Phil.” Quoth: Why has Phil gotten so much media attention? In the legislature Phil has been an effective voice for freedom, less government and lower taxes. Apparently Betsy Russell can’t stand that and she wants to silence his voice. She wins if you decide not to support Phil.”

DFO: For the record, Sali is playing fast and loose with the truth here. Betsy Russell did point out that Hart wrote a book and that he won various votes in the House Ethics Committee. On the other hand, I wonder why Sali didn’t remind you that the Ethics Committee unanimously, with 4 Republicans chiming in, recommended that Hart be stripped of his position on the House Rev & Tax Committee. Which would lead any fair-minded person to deduct that Hart wasn’t totally exonerated by the Republican majority on the Ethics Committee.

Question: Are you surprised that Bill Sali would attack messenger Betsy Russell for the well-documented tax problems and five-finger timber discount of Phil Hart?

You may know that Christa Hazel was subpoenaed to testify in the contempt of court case against Bill McCrory (which was dismissed Tuesday), springing from the failed Jim Brannon election lawsuit. But did you know that Christa got her money’s worth from the subpoena server? Literally. Christa received her subpoena on Oct. 8 from a process server with Confidential Investigations. E-mails Christa: “The process server with Confidential Investigations hand-delivered the subpoena to my door but failed to provide the witness fees per Idaho Rules of Civil Procedure. He returned later in the day with a check from the law offices of Arthur Macomber in the amount of $21 and change. I will promptly be endorsing this check and donating it to Mike Kennedy’s legal defense fund.” Wait, there’s more/DFO, Huckleberries, SR. More here.

• Boise: Spirited debate in race for secretary of state/Betsy Russell
• Weather: Just how does that thermometer work?/Michelle Boss
• Business: Toni & Guy Hair Academy moving to larger facility/Nils Rosdahl
• Restaurant: Skippers Seafood & Chowder House/Patrick Jacobs
• Sandpoint: Sculptor uses salvage materials/Patty Hutchens
• Education: Students stage ‘Twelfth Night’/Rainey Coffin

Question: Do you think Jim Brannon will appeal Judge Charles Hosack decision against him in his 2009 municpal election lawsuit?

Idaho is on track for an economic recovery in 2011, according to the state’s latest official forecast - though state lawmakers and the governor set a pessimistic budget for 2011 that requires historic cuts in education. The newest state forecast, issued in May, says, “Idaho’s economic recovery should be well established after this year, entering a period of modest growth beginning in 2011. … It has been awhile, but it is beginning to feel like a recovery.” The forecast is considerably sunnier in tone than the last official state forecast, which was issued in January; that one suggested “cautious optimism” and said, “Admittedly, risks to the economy exist, but it appears the worst is behind us”/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

• Prison opens w/budget ???, could save $$$/Brad Iverson-Long, Idaho Reporter
• Car emissions testing starts in Canyon County/Brad Iverson-Long, Idaho Reporter
• Labrador campaign gets help from national R’s/Dan Popkey, Statesman

Question: Are you better off today than your were when the recession started?

Via Facebook, Eye On Boise blogger extraordinaire Betsy Russell zeroes in on camera targets Rex Rammell and Sharon Ullman during the recent Butch Otter-less gubernatorial debate in Boise. (Idaho Reports photo)

Question: Have you ever met Betsy Russell?

What’s the difference between North Idaho and southern Idaho? Well, there’s that whole water thing. This is Lake Coeur d’Alene this morning, amid country that’s so different from the arid south. And then there’s the wild GOP politics in Kootenai County, where the once heavily Democratic region is now heavily Republican, particularly in fast-growing areas like Hayden that are filling up with newcomers who never saw the old North Idaho Democratic politics. In these parts, there are the Republicans, the Reagan Republicans, the Pachyderm Clubs, the social conservatives, the constitutionalists and a whole lot more/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

• That’s unfair! Take it off your blog!/Dennis Mansfield
• Salmon River caveman’s legacy/Jonathan Oppenheimer, Idaho Conservation League
• Enough is enough! Profile already/Idaho Conservative Blogger
• Is Minnick still pleased?/MountainGoat Report
• El Nino showers bring May flowers/Rocky Barker, Statesman
• Friday Links (from southern Idaho blogs, politics, news)/Treasured Valley

Question: Besides beauty and mebbe politics, how do you think North Idaho differs from southern Idaho?

It is unusual for us to use this space to praise one of our competitors. When it comes to open government, though, the media should be allies. And we’re glad to have Betsy Russell on our side. The Spokane Spokesman-Review Statehouse reporter is a passionate, proven - and persuasive - advocate for the public’s right to know. Idaho has a better open meetings law, one that’s more enforceable and more clear for local agencies, thanks in part to Russell’s work as longtime president of the Idaho Press Club/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. More here.

• Denying the Statesman an interview/Adam’s Blog
• Tempestuous teapot/Fort Boise
• Another Idaho wingnut makes national stage/Sisyphus, 43rd State Blues
• Enjoy awesome Earth Day eats in Sandpoint/Susan Drumheller, ICL
• Virginia guv assault on public TV sounds familiar/The Johnson Post
• 2-fer: Treasure Valley blogging photographers, and: Daily Politics Briefs/Treasured Valley

Question: Does anyone but the media care about open government in Idaho?

Betsy Russell, Boise reporter for the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, has been named the recipient of the 2010 Max Dalton Open Government Award sponsored by the Idaho Newspaper Foundation. Russell earned the award and accompanying cash prize of $1,000 for her years of work advancing the cause of open government in Idaho through her work with a variety of press, citizen and court groups. The Max Dalton Open Government Award has been given each year since 1999 to a citizen or group judged to be an outspoken advocate of openness in either public records or public meetings on the state or local level. Russell has been president of the Idaho Press Club on and off since 1997 and chair of Idahoans for Openness in Government (IDOG) since its founding in 2004. She also serves on the Idaho Supreme Court’s Media/Courts Committee/Betsy Russell, Idaho Newspaper Foundation. More here.

Question: How closely do you follow Betsy Russell’s blog, Eye On Boise, and Idaho Capitol stories?

It’s standing-room only at the hearing this morning on legislation to raise Idaho’s beer and wine taxes - unchanged for the past four decades - to fund substance abuse treatment. “This increase is pocket change for the vast majority of responsible drinkers,” sponsor Keith Allred of The Common Interest told the House Revenue & Taxation Committee. Though the taxes would more than triple, the increase would be less than a dollar a month for a beer drinker who buys a six-pack a week, he said/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

• Stimulus bill 407 pages long
• ‘It’s pretty restrictive’

Question: Do you care whether the Legislature hikes taxes on beer and wine to fund substance abuse programs?

Rep. Steve Kren, R-Nampa, got himself peppered with questions today when he proposed legislation in the House Resources Committee to limit so-called “super hunts” mostly to state residents, allowing only 10 percent of the permits to go to non-residents. That’s the case already for most controlled hunts, but the super hunts are a special program in which about 40 tags are raffled off each year, allowing the winners to choose from any valid open hunt in the state. Kren said about 30 percent of the winners have been out-of-staters, and that’s gotten folks in his district grumbling/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

• Keough: Dover Bridge ‘a safety issue’
• Coleman: Stimulus package ‘rules could change’
• Senators back controversial Medicaid cuts
• Crowd wants to ease cuts for disabled

Question: Do you support Rep. Kren’s idea re: limiting the number of nonresidents who can participate in Idaho’s “super hunts”?