Extravagant Garage Offensive

Generally, I don’t mind what people do with their money. They can leave it all to their cat, for all I care. But California physicist Robert Kane has gone too far by building a 3,000-square-foot recreational-vehicle garage that looks like a medieval castle overlooking Lake Pend Oreille at Hope, Idaho. The design doesn’t bother me. To each his own. Nor do the snoops who trample across private property to get an up-close-and-personal view of Kane’s castle. I live an hour away. But I’m bugged by the extravagance - and the location. A man, particularly an outsider, who wastes a million bucks trying to make a design statement with a garage affronts many North Idahoans struggling to make ends meet. Yeah, I know - people routinely flaunt their wealth by building palatial homes a la Hollywood. But they usually don’t pollute a pristine view with their in-your-face monstrosities.

Hold on to your shorts - here we go again

Someone out there is playing Russian roulette with lingerie, bras and boxer shorts. The culprit would be wise to stop now - if he or she can - before winding up disgraced like “panty bandit” Steven D. Burris. Or worse. To date, someone has broken into six Coeur d’Alene homes and stolen 103 pairs of women’s underwear, five pairs of men’s boxer shorts, 11 bras, five women’s swimsuits, four slips, one camisole and one pair of women’s pajamas. As you may recall, Burris stole lingerie and ransacked 146 summer homes in Bonner and Kootenai counties until February 1991 when sheriff’s deputies caught him. A year later, he broke his probation by stealing more lingerie. Burris, who finally admitted he needed psychological counseling, was lucky he never encountered anyone during his panty raids. Let’s hope that our budding Burris is equally fortunate. And that no one gets hurt, or worse, before he’s caught with his pants down.

Working stiffs don’t have much recourse

I wouldn’t want to swap places with Susan K. Johnson, Sandpoint’s former economic development director who was fired, reinstated and then fired again. I’ve been fired once in a 26-year career. And it’s not all that much fun. Unlike Johnson, though, I was a manager in the private sector and had little recourse but to grin and bear it. Despite all the grousing about their pay and benefits, public employees have a lot more job security than we working stiffs have. It takes an act of Congress to fire a publicschool teacher. Johnson wants $225,000 from the financially strapped city of Sandpoint to go away. I’m sure she’ll settle for less - and still come out ahead.

, 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.