Accepting Clubs Ok; Shot Was Out Of Bounds
Andy Brunelle shows his appreciation oddly. Brunelle? He was an aide to ex-Gov. Cecil Andrus, and created a stir last December by accepting a set of custom-made golf clubs from the grateful forest industry. No ethics policies were violated, though, because Brunelle was between government jobs. (He’s now with the U.S. Forest Service.) But the story doesn’t end there. Brunelle proved his golf game needs fine-tuning during a recent round at the Hayden Lake Country Club with Joe Hinson, the Intermountain Forest Industry Association exec. While waiting for his new clubs to be made, Brunelle shanked a drive - and dented Joe’s Blazer.
Healing near Saigon: Charlie Foulk, ex-philosopher/ owner of the Hungry Horseman, is teaching English 65 miles from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). And loving it. A river-boat skipper during the Vietnam War, Charlie writes that he’s finding “a healing from within” working with a people he once tried to destroy. “I’m treated very good,” writes Charlie. “The majority of people that I come into contact with want to have a conversation and, if nothing else, just to hear the English language.” Charlie sends along his thanks to CdA school officials for donating discarded English books.
Golden throat: Yes, that voice you hear on some CdA library book tapes is familiar. You’ve heard associate planner Jean DeBarbieris at City Council meetings, too. She’s taped several dozen children’s books, historical romance novels, one detective book and been reviewed by such publications as the L.A. Times. All but the detective novel are G-rated. Her newest effort, however, will be loaded with filth. It’s an 11-minute PSA she wrote and narrated about the CdA sewer plant.
Local boy does bad: Remember the spoilsport who gave his team and the CdA Church League a black eye last year during a Memorial Field tantrum? You know, the guy who almost tossed his bat through the back screen? Well, his exploits have gone national. USA Softball recently reprinted an S-R story about umps featuring our hometown “hero.” The article fails to tell how the league has adopted a zero-tolerance policy toward other budding Beavises. Writes league official Doug Eastwood: “If you take an attitude onto the field, you’re gone. Goodbye. Sayonara. Adios. Turn out the lights, the party is over. The fat lady has sung. End of conversation.” Attaboys.
Huckleberries: One daughter who refused to go to work Thursday with her father was Kerri Thoreson, Post Falls Tribune publisher. She didn’t want to help her dad, Ron Rankin, hand out leaflets opposing tomorrow’s Coeur d’Alene school levy. … A sign near the restrooms at Capone’s Sports Pub on 4th: “EMPLOYEES MUST WASH HANDS after picking nose.” … All the ladies in Patti O’Reilly’s Spare Time League went gaga when she brought her neighbor to the year-end casino sweeper at The Sawmill alley in Post Falls. It wasn’t his bowling that impressed, though. Pro quarterback Mark Rypien won only a buck. … It’s Monday. But you can’t be having a worse day than a sweet Tito Macaroni waitress named Tawnya did Friday. She spilled Chianti on Spokane Mayor Jack Geraghty, causing an Italian-American diner to bemoan the waste of good vino on an Irishman. … Rumor has it that Little Miss Hayden 1995 officials accidentally crowned the wrong girl Wednesday before properly bestowing the honors on 6-year-old Katie Zahnow. … Here’s a bumpersnicker after this partisan’s heart: “49ers 5.” Eat your heart out, Dallas Cowboy fans.
Parting shot: Neighbors of the Aryan Nations compound rated rock group Bound for Glory this way: The lyrics were awful (apparently, few things rhyme with “Sieg Heil”), and you couldn’t dance to the music. They called the cops when the skinhead band cranked up the volume late at night during the rev’rend’s annual youth rally and cross roast.
Gotta Huckleberry or a comment on today’s column? Call (800) 344-6718, (208) 765-7125, or fax (208) 765-7149.