Loukaitis’ Life Sentence Gives Teens Pause For Thought

I don’t care if Barry Loukaitis was depressed over his parents’ nasty divorce. I don’t care if he was shocked by his mother’s goofy suicide plans. I don’t even care if he was breast-fed or bottle-fed as a baby. The kid gunned down two Moses Lake classmates and former Coeur d’Alene teacher Leona Caires in cold blood Feb. 2 and should spend his life behind bars without possibility of parole. Washington Superior Court Judge Michael Cooper was right Friday in ordering Loukaitis, 15, to stand trial as an adult. If he’d been tried as a juvenile, Loukaitis would have been free in six years - or two years per murder. I hope local youngsters who’ve coined a new term for freaking out, “Going Barry,” noticed that Loukaitis cried when the judge rendered his decision. Crime has consequences. Maybe Loukaitis realized he probably will receive a life sentence - like his victims’ families and a third classmate who barely survived his rage.

Environmentalists are curiously quiet

Remember how environmentalists screamed and gnashed their teeth when President Clinton signed the salvage logging bill into law? They felt muzzled by the streamlined process to harvest dead and dying trees. Yet, the greenies applauded last week when Clinton declared as a national monument 1.7 million acres of public Utah canyon lands. Clinton probably figured he wasn’t going to win Republican Utah’s few electoral votes, so he tossed a bone to the Sierra Club (which endorsed him afterward). No wonder Republican Sens. Larry Craig and Dirk Kempthorne are worried. Idaho has more Republicans in its legislature than even Utah. Now, Idaho’s dynamic duo has proposed a bill to ban the president from declaring any land a national monument without public or congressional participation. Said Craig: “No one wants the president, acting alone, to unilaterally lock up enormous parts of any state.” Unless, of course, he’s unilaterally acting on your behalf.

Can’t stop thinking about Briana

I, like every parent in the Coeur d’Alene School District this past week, have thought a lot about Briana Ross. She’s the hard-working Coeur d’Alene High senior who died from meningitis Tuesday. I looked for quite awhile at her photo in my son’s yearbook. I noticed she wore a braided necklace, much like the one my son wears. I’ve prayed that her family somehow can find comfort - in its memories, in its faith. I’ve thanked God for each of my two offspring. My wife has dropped money into jars at grocery counters to help defray the expense of Briana’s hospitalization and funeral. I hope you will do the same.

, DataTimes MEMO: D.F. Oliveria’s “Hot Potatoes” runs Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can comment on the items by calling (800) 344-6718 or (208) 765-7125, or by sending e-mail to daveo@spokesman.com.