Old Enough To Vote - And Run

Gino White visited my office the day when news broke that Joshua Buehner is too young to run for the state Legislature. Buehner? He’s the 18-year-old Lakeland High School honor student who had planned to enter politics - until state law intervened. Candidates for state representative have to be at least 21 years old. Which brings me back to White. The former lawmaker was only 24 when he was appointed to the Legislature. A Democrat, he served capably for several terms and was North Idaho’s only member on the powerful Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee two years ago before losing to state Rep. Don Pischner, R-Coeur d’Alene, by 15 votes. In 1994, Gino saved funding for North Idaho College. Youth has its place. The minimum age should be adjusted downward. If Buehner’s old enough to vote, he’s old enough to serve in the Legislature. Besides, he sounds sharper than some of the guys we’re sending down there now.

Attorney general’s office bails out GOP buddies

Here’s a steaming Hot Potato for the Idaho attorney general’s office and whoever let Margaret H. Eddy take the fall for a 1994 dirty political trick. As you will recall, a flier was mailed to 9,000 households in the closing days of the 1994 campaign, boosting Republican (and eventual winner) Dick Panabaker and sliming his two opponents. No one claimed credit for the smear - though Kootenai County Republican fingerprints are all over it. Eddy happens to be the daughter of the housekeeper for the Blackwell House, owned by county GOP Chairwoman Kathy Sims. This tale might have ended differently if the attorney general’s office were run by a Democrat. We might have discovered who was responsible for the 11th-hour nastiness. But Republican Al Lance’s office dismissed the election law violation with an $800 fine. Deputy Attorney General Bill Von Tagen believes the mild fine “should act as a deterrent.” He probably believes in the tooth fairy, too.

Bonehead coaches get wake-up call

The Idaho Board of Education deserves Sweet Potatoes for adopting a Boise State University policy that awards bonuses to coaches who produce graduates. (I hope new University of Idaho basketball coach Kermit Davis is paying attention.) It’s appalling when the number of games a team wins is almost as high as the graduation rate. At BSU, for example, the men’s basketball team won 15 games this year but has a graduation rate of only 21 percent. That’s one graduate for every five players on the court at a time. Meanwhile, the women’s gymnastics team graduates 70 percent. The women’s coach deserves the gold.

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