Sandpoint grad offers views on pope
As some of you know, 1978 Sandpoint High grad Cindy Wooden has spent 15 years tailing Pope John Paul II as a Catholic News Service reporter. She’s flown with the pope 30 times as a Vatican press corps member. Marianne Love of The River Journal will tell you about it in her third book, “Lessons with Love.” Or you can read about Cindy’s life with the pope in the archives section of her Web site ( www.mariannelove.com/ lovenotes.html). Quoth Cindy: “Whether you agree or not with some of his positions on moral or social issues, I don’t think anyone can doubt the strength of his faith or the fact that he seriously spends hours in prayer, has an uncanny ability to connect with young people and is truly moved when he sees people suffer.” Not a bad resume for a pope.
Good advice
Editor Frum Helen Back (nee D.J. Nall) is at her best in the latest edition of the Hauser Times online ( www.hauseridaho.com/newsletter.html). Seems the townspeople are upset at some kids who perform bike tricks at a hilly area near Hauser City Hall. One youngun complained to the Hauser Times that he’d be doing drugs if he didn’t have this outlet for his energy. Responded FHB/D.J: “Please work through this without using drugs. I have a child that has been struggling with drug addiction for 16 years now. It’s a life similar to that of being in a dark hole. Drugs will not only affect your life, but the life of those who love you. I know first hand, because the pain I have felt because of my child hurts really bad. Please don’t ever do this to yourself or your family.” Amen.
Scanner traffic
A gendarme had a funny way of inviting a buddy to a doughnut break last week: Kootenai County Cop 1: “Are you coming over so I can shine my countenance upon you?” Cop 2: “Your WHAT upon me?” Cop 1: “My countenance.” Cop 2: “Define that term.” Cop 1: “I don’t know, I read it in the Bible.” So he was offering to get together in the biblical sense? … Bumpersnicker: “We’re tired, not retired” … In the Sandpoint-goes-national-again category, check Page 77 of the latest Newsweek, under “Entertainment/Reel World,” and you’ll find a note about a ghost haunting the aisles of a venerable Sandpoint theater.
Huckleberries
“The mountain’s white,/The garden’s brown./Old Man Winter’s/Back in town” – The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“He’s Ba-a-a-a-ck”) … On RateMyTeacher.com, state Rep. George Sayler, a longtime Coeur d’Alene High gummint teacher, got high marks from three ex-students, including one who said: “A Democrat in an otherwise ultraconservative school adds to the diversity of education. Consider yourself privileged.” CHS is … Overheard (femme colleague talking in the newsroom): “I had a strange dream about (actor/CdA resident) Dennis Franz last night.” Then, to raised eyebrows: “It wasn’t erotic or anything like that” … Signs on a big yellow/blue mobile burger biz seen around town: “Honor veterans this month. Without them, I’d be making sushi.” And: “No sissy burgers” … CHS’s phones were ringing after the Vikes’ state champ cheerleaders performed a halftime routine during the quarterfinal playoffs to the Big & Rich tune “Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy).” That’s the trouble with country-Western. Grownups can understand the words.
Parting shot
Last year, the CdA City Council solved the parking problem at North Idaho College by (drum roll, puh-leez) eliminating parking on one side of the streets near the college. This year, the students lost even more parking when work on the new nursing building axed another area. All this during record enrollment. Which prompted this analysis from NIC Sentinel columnist Brandon Macz: “Since there are only 1,940 spaces available at NIC and at least three times as many students, it’s every man, woman and freshman for themselves. Make your peace with God before you enter these lots and forget about finding a space by the library.” Meanwhile, of course, spaces are easy to find at City Hall.