To Beat The Best It Helps To Look Your Best

The key to successful high school volleyball rests on the lips. Bonners Ferry volleyballers have turned their season around since they all began wearing lipstick. First, the Badgers easily dispatched Newport behind Eanna Aaron’s six kill shots. Eanna said afterward that the little makeup secret made “a difference.” Everybody chuckled until the Lady Badgers (now 6-7 on the year) beat St. Maries in three sets Thursday. St. Maries hadn’t lost an Intermountain League game since Sept. 29, 1983. It had won 119 straight league matches. Eanna settled the final game, a 17-15 thriller, with a powerful spike down the outside line. And a nice shade of ruby lipstick.

Jaws & claws: Getting attacked by a grizzly isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Ask my ol’ buddy Dave Reich from Kalispell, Mont. Dave and two friends were hiking along a Glacier National Park path last month when a sow and a cub charged them. Dave suffered seven puncture wounds and several cuts on his right shoulder and lower back before a companion drove the grizzly off with pepper spray. Reich, personnel director at Kalispell Medical Center, still was shaken by the incident when I talked to him last week. Said he: “I still see her coming toward me.”

Double standard? CdA Recreation Director Steve Anthony read my criticism of Idaho state government loaning executives to the Ada County United Way. And noted that Washington state not only does this, too, but the S-R also runs free ads promoting the practice. “You gonna Huck yourself?” needled Steve. Well, let me say this about that. Onward. … Before last week’s O.J. verdict, Coeur d’Alene Highers were chanting, “Noose the Juice.” Afterward? “The Juice is on the loose.”

Phone mail: Ruthie Johnson of Hayden scolded me for giving “attagirls” last week to the pair that confessed to squeezing toothpaste on a neighbor’s car. In a note, the girls said they’d been drinking too much soda and were on a sugar high. Asked Ruthie: “Isn’t that the ‘Twinkie Defense’? The devil made me do it? I’m not responsible for my own actions? That’s not a very good message to be praised for.” Attagirl, Ruthie. … Al Bricker of Sandpoint suggested that Medicaid, Medicare and welfare be turned over to the Idaho Department of Transportation or the county road department. Said he: “They do such a great job on the roads that I’m sure they could administer that money, too.” Of course, Al’s comments were dripping with sarcasm. … One subscriber suggested that the O.J. Simpson verdict was a direct indictment of the L.A. police department. Said he: It was “weighed in the balance and found wanton.”

Huckleberries: That orange “Danger” sign in front of the Hedlund building at North Idaho College has nothing to do with NIC’s notorious sick building. Rather, it’s a safety warning that covers a sunken spot in the sidewalk. … Sign in front of a bait-and-tackle shop north of Bonners Ferry recently: “The best times to go fishing are days that end in Y.” … Bumpersnicker on a tan Nissan at the college: “Bad Cop - No Donut.” … Note from Mona Klinger’s speech class at NIC: If you find an object that looks like a perfume container attached to a lost key chain, don’t press the trigger! A student did recently. And, according to the NIC Sentinel’s Chokecherries, the class moved to the hallway until the pepper spray dissipated. … I know sex sells. But don’t you think a Nickel’s Worth ad for a mobile home got carried away with this lead-in line: “What a but (sic)!” … You know winter can’t be far off when you pass a sports car with this personalized plate: “DYN2SKI.”

Parting shot: Understandably, the Greater Coeur d’Alene Convention and Visitors Bureau is sponsoring the seventh anniversary celebration at Greyhound Park. One percent of the track handle goes to Kootenai County tourism promotion. But why is Kootenai Electric Cooperative sending out fliers with their monthly billings announcing the event? Didn’t Washington Water Power supply electricity for the “Tijuana Hot Plates” given in days gone by to unfortunate mutts?

, DataTimes MEMO: Gotta Huckleberry? Call the Huckleberry Hound Hotline, (800) 344-6718 or (208) 765-7125.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = D.F. Oliveria The Spokesman-Review