At The Slice blog, Paul Turner writes: One of my favorite moments from “Mystery Science Theater 3000” …  Joel or one of the 'bots speculated that when there was a break during shooting of “The Big Valley” and Barbara Stanwyck would be telling stories about the making of “Double Indemnity” or “Sorry, Wrong Number,” Peter Breck kept quiet about “The Beatniks.”  (Photo: www.artskooldamage.blogspot.com)

Top Post: As I woke this morning, the temperature a cool 42 degees, I realized that I was on the eve of being three quarters of a century old. Sunday, arch 23 1938 I came squalling into the world preparing for war. The Germans had been at war with England and most of Europe for a year or so at my birth. I grew up in a war atmosphere with dad going to work at Todd's Shipyard, building wooden decks on destroyers. At four I had climbed a cherry tree in our back yard and proceeded to fall, landing on my head. That may explain a lot. Somehow I survived childhood, though it must have been a close thing/Herb Huseland, Bay Views. More here.

Other local blogs:

• Last chance/Fort Boise
• The library/Writing North Idaho
• Day after Southern/SportsLink
• KAGU off air/Community Comment
• City Council in brief/Coeur d'Alene Today
• A little more offseason activity?/The EDge
• Should docs ask patients re: guns?/End Notes
• Overheard on Scanner — 3/22/13/Sirens & Gavels
• More than team are one and done/A Grip on Sports
• Political abrogations — committees/Dogwalk Musings
• The price of an Idaho/fed lands shift/Ridenbaugh Press

DFO: Please put your hands together w/me as we wish Herb a happy 75th birthday this weekend?

Heading back from Colville, Wash., on yet another trek to discover our family heritage, I stopped for gas in Chewelah. Right smack in the middle of town was a Chevron Station at the traffic light.The only light in town. I pulled up to the pump prepared to get out and gas up the car. But no. This was a full service station. The owner actually pumped my gas and cleaned the windshield. I was stunned at the sight, since the last full service station I have seen was too far back in memory to recall. I asked the proprietor whether he was full service out of choice or was he just too cheap to buy a computerized system? He chuckled and said, “well, kind of both but everyone seems to like it this way so I keep on doing it”/Herb Huseland, Bay Views. More here. (Chevron logo from Wikipedia)

Question: Would you frequent a full-service gas station if there was one in town?

Timberlake Fire posted the following on Herb Huseland's Bay Views blog this weekend, after the department and the U.S. Navy took part in the rescue of 8 individuals, including 3 elderly people, and three dogs who had ignored storm warnings on Lake Pend Oreille and nearly sank:

“Apparently of the eight passengers aboard three were elderly and had trouble climbing out of the sinking craft. Paying absolutely no attention to the widely circulated Thunderstorm warnings which went out over all weather channels including marine channel 16.   When the storm hit high waves estimated at 6 to 8 feet were pounding against the heavily loaded craft. This caused water to enter the front vents. When the fire district boat arrived the sinking craft was kind of beached near the Cement Plant on the south shore of Lake Pend Oreille, Why they didn't even look up at the sky as the storm neared is a mystery. Apparently many adults do not have the basic survival training needed to safely cruise the unpredictable waters of the lake.” Entire post here.

• Scanner Traffic reported on the rescue Friday PM (beginning with 4:48 post) here.

Question: Why do people regularly ignore Nature's danger signs & get themselves in trouble?

Top Post: At Bay Views, Herb isn't impressed by the unanimous decision by Kootenai County commissioners to cut CityLink funding: “It would appear that the sitting County Commission hasn't shown much leadership in the unanimous decision to cut funding. The simple choice of charging a modest bus fare should have been the obvious alternative. Leave the subsidized runs to Worley alone, but charge a buck a ride elsewhere. With the added income,  the service could actually expand.” More here.

• Don't create poverty/Arch Druid
• One man's delusional lovefest/Dogwalk Musings
• Food for the road/From A Simple Mind
• More new apartments coming to Coeur d'Alene/INW Business Watch
• Food in my thoughts, and: Splendor in the light/Slight Detour
• Writing under the influence of a favorite author/Writing North Idaho

HucksOnline numbers (for Tuesday): 11,299/6229, and (for Monday): 10,417/5807

DFO: Taryn Hecker Thompson told HBO via Facebook that the 1st edition of the weekly will be out March 28.

Well, my first story is in. I wrote about the current and past forestry practices in the Park and the reasons for doing what they are doing. It's going to be a fun ride. I missed writing for publication, since the Spokesman-Review pulled the Handle Extra out of Idaho. That happened over a year ago and with the retiring of the Rathdrum Star, There hasn't been much chance of local news and features making the paper. The date of the first issue isn't set qite yet but it will be in the next few weeks. The paper will be available in racks in loctions we will alert you to as soon as they are extabished. Advertisers can contact Mary Jane Honegger at: editor@panhandlesun.com or at 687-4030/Herb Huseland, Bay Views. More here.

Herb Huseland: Why anyone would want a hard right or hard left sheriff is beyond my comprehension. The ideal law enforcement officer is politically neutral, constitutionally correct and community oriented.An example of this in Ben Wolfinger is last year’s Athol Daze Parade. The community was so impressed with the handling of a abusive officer, replaced by a good one that they made the community cop the Grand Marshall of the parade. The first time ever. The radical politicizing of the Sheriff Department is a scary thought. Will Spencer send his minion to harass me if I write negative things about him? If we don’t shuck the radicals from out local government we will have hell to pay. (SR file photo: Ben Wolfinger acting as media contact during the Groene-McKenzie murder investigation)

Question: Agree/disagree?

Herb Huseland of Bay Views writes: “I was surprised to get a call from Taryn Hecker Thompson today. She said that prior Spokesman-Review correspondent, May Jane Honegger is the editor of a brand new Newspaper named Panhandle Sun. Taryn will be writing for the spirit Lake/Athol Twin Lakes area, and yours truly my old beat, Bayview and Farragut State Park. Look for the first edition soon. It turns out Mary Jane has been looking for me for the last couple of weeks not knowing I was listed in the phone directory. It will be fun to write for a publication again. The Rathdrum Star closed down a while back leaving local businesses without advertising coverage. Some of those businesses stepped up, hired Mary Jane and the rest is the future. We will specialize in features and stories about local people. The paper will be distributed in Bayview, Rathdrum, Athol and Spirit Lake.” More here.

Question: I think this is a great thing. How about you?

Below, Herb writes about missing his first Blogfest ever. Above, DFO and his HucksOnline Super Subs, Cindy (left) and Christa (center) pose for Don Sausser's camera at the annual event at the Fort Ground Grill.

Well I scored a first Saturday. Unfortunately not the right kind of first. I missed my first blog fest since they started. I can't remember what year that was, but I organized it and we had about nine or so attendees here in Bayview. We held it at the Captain's Wheel Restaurant. Since then the idea has exploded, the Spokesman-Review has taken over sponsorship and I understand there were over 70 people present at the Fort Ground this year. I wasn't one of them. The night before, I had a minor health issue that kept me awake for hours. Finally around 7:00am I got to sleep. I awoke around non and wasn't in any shape to go anywhere. I'm fine now but deeply regret the opportunity to see many of my friends again and to meet new ones as well/Herb Huseland, Bay Views. More here.

• Santorum still wants intrusive, activist government/Arch Druid
• Thumbs up? Am I crazy?/Dogwalk Musings
• Flagship down, and: Mystery man: Frank VanderSloot/Fort Boise
• Some lives, and: Playing with matches/From A Simple Mind
• Perfect Fit opens, and: Sprint retail store closesINW Business Watch
• Mammoth baby/This Is Not A Fairy Tale
• The transplant call/Nuts & Nonsense
• Tuesday Twitterdeeoink-oink/Slight Detour
• I read banned books/3Rs
• Aurora/Tumblewords
• Charles Dickens 200 years on/Writing North Idaho

HucksOnline numbers (for Monday, Feb. 20): 7601/4514

Often, readers move on quickly after a horrific accident or crime, while victims are left to deal with injuries and shattered lives. Take Yvonne Wallis, for example. She was one of the four victims of that hammer attack by a deranged Bayview neighbor pre-Christmas 2010. Daughter-in-law Patty Heath died in the attack. Suspect Larry Cragun is in jail awaiting trial. Yvonne wears a blue football helmet to protect her fragile skull. She has undergone two serious surgeries and faces another at University of Washington, to have a permanent plate installed in her skull. Herb Huseland, a good friend who transported her to Seattle this summer, reports: “Nothing is guaranteed. She is still in a life-threatening condition, and without great care could fail to survive”/DFO, SR Huckleberries. More here.

SR weekend columns:

• Beware the new parking meters, no cheating/Doug Clark
• I prefer my wildlife on the mild side, thank you/Jim Kershner
• Slice: Pick your poison — wildlife or creatures/Paul Turner
• Boise: Zions office would complete Boise corps/Betsy Russell
• Gold-plated tuition a challenge for state's college-savings program/Shawn Vestal
• Smart Bombs: Let's clear the air about jobs/Gary Crooks
• For Eagles, whatever can go wrong will/John Blanchette

Question: Do you know someone who was severely injured in a violent attack?

As I sit here in Federal Way, Washington, I've come full circle. I left this place for Idaho 20 years ago. Business and marital failure caused me to seek new horizons which I had left in Idaho in the '70's. One should never go back after a long absence from a place. The changes have been radical. Traffic is horrible, new homes everywhere with tiny little yards separating neighbors from each other. I looked out my bedroom window and found I was staring at the next door neighbor through an opposite window just 12 feet away/Herb Huseland, Bay Views. More here.

Question: Did you have the same experience as Herb when you returned to a former home or old stomping grounds?

Herb Huseland: We are all going to have to tighten our belts. The gravy train is over. Tough times are ahead. Tough times that the last several generations have not had to face. Every faction that is affected by the income shortfall is in denial. We are going to have to do more with less, become more inventive and stop throwing spears at each other. Luna did not invent the budget he is faced with administrating. The legislature did. I suspect he is doing the best he can with very little help from the funding end.

Question: Do you think we're facing a long-term recession that will last up to a decade?

Herb: Baseball fields are important. We must have those facilities available for our children. Having said that, most of the population growth has gone to the north. The advent of a second high school, the ball fields on the old land fill to the south of the school, has made downtown a ghost of what Coeur d’Alene was back when the ball fields were on the beach. Demographics have changed, Coeur d’Alene has moved north to meet Hayden. To use waterfront for the baseball field is to under utilize it’s potential in a most ridiculous way. A baseball field can be built on any large flat space. Waterfront, belonging to the entire population of the city, cannot be replicated. The law of higher and best use must prevail in this discussion.

Question: Do baseball/softball fields belong on McEuen Field, a prime piece of Lake Coeur d'Alene waterfront?

I have been writing for the Spokesman-Review since The beginning of the Prairie Voice and subsequently, the Handle Extra. That, if I remember correctly, was the spring of 2007. April to be precise. In the beginning, I wrote news and features for Bayview, then included Athol as well as a few stories from Spirit Lake. At the time, I was writing at least two and sometimes more stories per week. Then the paper started cutting back. First, I was down to two to three stories a month, then the Prairie Voice was discontinued. I then started covering a little more territory and was published in the “Handle Extra.” At the end of December, the Handle Extra will cease publication, and me with it. It has been a great run/Herb Huseland, Bay Views. More here.

Question: Have you ever been paid to free-lance for a newspaper or magazine?

Some folks are ecstatic over results while others walk away saddened with the realization that it wasn’t their turn.Those who voted and are upset can at least hold their collective heads up high with the knowledge that they participated in democracy. For those that are disappointed and didn’t vote, shut yur pie hole. You didn’t participate and have absolutely no standing in this exercise. The Republic and it’s subdivisions have spoken and as the saying goes, “It is what it is”/Herb Huseland, Bay Views. More here.

Question: Do you know people who don’t vote, yet complain about the results?

Herb Huseland: Watching football and other activities this week-end, I suffered through the promo trailers for the fall network programing. It appears that most if not all featured very violent content. My question is: Is this a reflection of our violent society? Or is it a cause? This question probably occured to me with the announcement of the death of the “Leave it to Beaver” star. Entertainment seems to be much more into destruction and mayhem than when I was young.

Question: Is entertainment more into destruction and mayhem today than during your formative years?

“I went out with a friend yesterday to see some old goats,” writes Herb Huseland/Bay Views. “No, not us. We were at Bernard Peak. Usually, the kiss of despair if you want to see goats is to bring a camera. This time I lucked out.”

Question: Has anyone ever called you an “old goat”?

Old Fisherman: DFO’s banner says it all “KVNI needs to get their act together” It needs to start in Spokane, but they won’t listen to the locals, Big Brother knows best. Good luck to the new host, whomever it may be! Herb Huesland and the Stickman would be a good duo.

Question: Let’s think outside the box here. After all, we’ve already anointed Kerri as the next KVNI morning announcer. Who would you like to see matched as a morning broadcasting team at the local radio station, along the lines of Jane Curtin & Dan Aykroyd’s “Point-Counterpoint”?

Herb Huseland: I love adjectives. I use words that many don’t anymore, but then I’m older than dirt. Maybe we should have a story on fun words, descriptive words that drip with realism. Stuff like that. I’ll give this some thought, then perhaps submit this mirror image of profundity. Some of my favorite expressions are: “We’ve seen everything this week except famine and pestilence.” Some of the words that reach out and grab me are: “Maimed.” No need to define that one. “Crotchety.” I am whut I am. Ther’s a bunch of really good words that haven’t been used up yet and don’t need to be replaced with new ones. How about depraved? Deprived. If you are deprived and depraved, you are most likely depressed. (Enough already)

Question: Do you have a favorite adjective or two?

Herb Huseland: One of, if not the principle difficulty in getting old, is that I had absolutely no warning. It snuck up on me when I was not looking. Why, I ask is there not a training period on getting old. There I wuz skidding along in my middle age. I wuz (at least I thought I wuz) Cruisin’ along in my middle age, chasing fast women. Alas, I slowed down, falling out of the race. Now I’m faced with an old body and a mind that hasn’t shown any signs of growing up. Chasing fast women seems to be out of the question and slow women, especially those using walkers, object strenuously to being accosted in a suggestive manner. Woe Is Me!

Question: Is there a manual re: how to deal with old age?

Herb: Zealots are not all on the right wing. How soon we forget the liberal blocking of freeways, sit-ins in courthouses and armed forces recruiting offices back in the ‘60’s. Oops, I sometimes forget that it was the parents of todays liberals that did that. Perhaps after they grew up they somehow forgot to pass those experiences on to you. Heck, up here in Bayview, we recently had a sit-in by some lefties, (some or most are my friends, or used to be before I wrote about them) The cause? The replacement of a park bench in the boat launch area in Farragut State Park. It turn out the bench had reached it’s end of useful life, and the park decided it wasn’t a good place for foot traffic, what with boat trailers backing up with limited sight lines. They decided not to replace it and a cause celeb was born.

Question: Do protests generally work to achieve goals of the protesters? Please give examples.