High School Graduation: A Tear-Jerker

If Principal John Brumley’s speech at the Lake City High School senior awards night is an indication, parents should arm themselves with Kleenex this graduation season. J.B. jerked tears from mamas and papas faster than a Walla Walla onion. First, he leaned against the lectern for intimacy and asked parents: Do you remember giving birth to your child? His first tooth? His first birthday? The day he walked? Brumley went on in that vein for a while before opening the sluice boxes wide with: “And now he’s leaving you.” In fact, as the father of a graduating senior, I get misty just writing this. Doggone you, Brumley.

Mueller sandbags

In wet Bonner County, residents are permitted to get 50 sandbags from the road department - free. The sand is to be used for protecting homes and property but not docks. I’m confident none of the 1,000 sandbags Commissioner Bud Mueller hauled off in his county rig Wednesday will be used to anchor his Lake Pend Oreille dock. Aren’t you? … Idaho Superintendent of Schools Anne Fox should have no trouble fixing Bonner County School District’s problems. Fox has experience in these sorts of things. She got her own vote of no confidence years ago when she was the Post Falls superintendent.

Kids say darnedest things

The high water that covered the lower Third Street parking lot Thursday delighted 3-year-old Laurin Brown. She saw it while walking with her grandfather, Howard Martinson, to see Lake Coeur d’Alene’s ducks. Squealed she: “Wow! Grandpa, there’s a new lake.” … Say, did you hear the Kootenai County sheriff’s office has a submarine division now? Yup. Someone tied a marine division boat on too short a tether at a Bayview dock last week. And rapidly rising Lake Pend Oreille sank it. … Shoshone County Commissioner Jim Vergobbi called to defend disaster coordinator Bill Scott’s MIA status this flood season. Scott, according to Jim, had planned his May vacation long ago and had everything in place to handle the flooding after he was gone. Hmmm. … The first moon shot of the tourist season was spotted at 2 p.m. Wednesday at City Beach. “Thong Man” made his 1997 debut wearing a black strap. Or at least a bloodhound thought it was black. He didn’t want to get any closer.

Huckleberries

Overheard on the police scanner Wednesday afternoon, an SOS call for backup “for vicious dog and vicious owner.” The dog, it seems, was a Rottweiler. No telling about the owner. … I wonder how long that new “Welcome to Plummer” sign has been up. You know, the one that has “The Ghetto” spray-painted in red and blue over the town’s name. … Something really did stink at Wallace’s City Hall on Friday morning - a stench cartridge hauled lickety-split by a frantic garbage truck driver to the Fire Department next door. The harmless device is used to keep workers out of certain sections of a mine. Now, we know it also is useful for clearing out city buildings. See the Idaho News Observer on Tuesday for details. … Also Friday morning, according to our Silver Valley source, a man was stopped while driving a black Dodge Viper with white stripes more than 120 mph on Interstate 90 west of Kellogg. Either he was very late for work or he thought he was in Montana. … Who better to win the late-model Honda given away as part of the Lake City High School Renaissance program than (drumroll, please) Ivory Carr? … Oops: Noah Kellogg’s donkey made a jackass out of me, too. It stumbled on galena (lead ore), not gold.

Parting shot

What kind of scumball would steal an emergency medical volunteer’s portable radio, medical kit and oxygen tank? Charlotte Glidden left her convertible Suzuki at state Highway 54 and Ramsey Road to join the Spirit Lake ambulance on a run Tuesday. When she returned, she found $1,163 worth of equipment missing. Someone had popped the ragtop and helped himself. Here’s hoping this character needs emergency help sometime soon - and doesn’t get it. , DataTimes MEMO: Got a Huckleberry? Call the Huckleberry Hound Hotline at (800) 344-6718 or (208) 765-7125 or send e-mail to daveo@spokesman.com.

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