Woodcarver turns baller for Ironman

You can do a coupla things with those floating golf balls that bob westward from the Coeur d’Alene Resort’s floating green during spring winds and storms. Keep them. Or make nice gifts of them, with that swell resort logo on one side and the word “floater” on the other. Or, if you have 850 of them, you can form them into a massive Ironman Coeur d’Alene logo in your yard to inspire the triathletes as they struggle past your home. Stickman and his bride, Walkabout, did that on their little corner of the Ironman course, across from East Tubbs Hill Park. Seems Walkabout, who patrols Tubbs Hill daily looking for litter, collects about 1,000 golf balls from the resort each year. Stickman told Huckleberries Online: “It was a big hit, as I would say at least half the athletes noticed and some took pictures, even to stop their run. It gave me something to do besides the sticks, and gave many a good smile on their last legs of the race.” Stickman, of course, is that delightful soul who fashions walking sticks from fallen Tubbs Hill tree limbs – and gives them away to all who ask. May his and (Walkabout’s) kind increase.

Ironman salute

They might seem all sleek and cuddly to you, but an Ironman gave a one-finger salute to a Facebook friend who works at the college. Seems my FF had the audacity to tell Ironman that he shouldn’t jaywalk between Memorial Field and City Park. And was rewarded for his efforts … Huckleberries hears – that Brand X editor Mike Patrick yanked NIC prez Patricia Bell’s column after the college had the audacity to challenge figures of her compensation package that were printed in the paper. Big boys have big feelings … Yeah, yeah, yeah, Idaho S-R staffers got nervous and called the cops the other day when we found an envelope on the Nickel’s Worth rack downstairs, addressed simply: “For A News Reporter” … Eagle Eye, a regular comment on Huckleberries Online, saw something he’s never seen before during his lifelong residency in Coeur d’Alene – at 7 a.m. Saturday (June 26), a transient sleeping at the front door of Bank of America on Fourth and Front. Eagle Eye said: “Welcome to the big time CdA!”

Go right, young man

Political activist Larry Spencer tells Huckleberries that he wrote four of the resolutions that were passed at the GOP/Tea Party state convention in Idaho Falls recently. But not the loopier ones calling for a party loyalty oath or for the repeal of the 17th amendment (which would allow the Idaho Legislature to pick our U.S. senators instead of voters) … Huckleberries Poll: A whopping 83 percent of my online readers say that House GOP leaders should remove Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, from his position on the Rev & Tax committee, as a result of his income and property tax problems. Only 14 percent said Hart should be allowed to stay on the panel … BTW, most of Idaho’s editorial pages, including the conservative St. Maries Gazette-Record, have called for Hart’s resignation or some form of action against him.) … 75 percent of my blog readers said local R’s would be wrong to donate $2,500 to Jim Brannon’s legal fight to overturn his nonpartisan City Council election loss to incumbent Mike Kennedy.

Huckleberries

In the “Kids Say The Darndest Things” department, Ryan Brodwater, of Coeur d’Alene, tells of his son, Bailey, asking him why “tourists want to do bad things to us.” After Ryan assured his son that they don’t, Bailey continued: “Then why did they crash into those skyscrapers?” … Dustin Hurst, an ex-NIC Sentinel writer who reports for the Idaho Reporter, noted a key difference in covering the state conventions of the elephants and donkeys: “GOP candidates give out free lunch … Dems required donations to eat.” Also, the donkeys kicked Dustin out of platform discussions, while the elephants trumpeted his reporting … For those keeping score at home, and Idaho Statesman opinionator Kevin Richert was, more Idaho governors were born in Iowa than Idaho – five to four… I’d love to have seen that boxlike vehicle that was described by a Washington patrolman as “Beverly Hillbillies like” that entered Idaho from Stateline, sans lights, windows, doors or license plates. I wonder how far Jed, Jethro, Ellie Mae and Granny got before the gendarmes pulled them over … Is the UIdaho really basing the sale of tickets to the Vandals’ game with Nebraska this fall in Lincoln on lifetime giving to the athletic department? Again, really?

Parting shot

A Demo wag on Huckleberries Online can’t understand why Repubs didn’t adopt that resolution asking that “Jedi” be named the state party’s official religion. After all, quips my commenter who leans far left, Idaho R’s represent Idaho’s Sith lords. And the force is with them, for the foreseeable future.