Huckleberries: Party meetings good training for young Paul fan

You know your 3-year-old daughter is as cute as you think she is when she’s photographed by two members of different media at the recent Ron Paul confab. Nicole Hensley of KXLY snapped Lajla Handeen near glad-handing Ron Paul. Jesse Tinsley of The Spokesman-Review photographed her peeking through a curtain. She was in Spokane with her father, Bjorn Handeen, Precinct 52 committeeman for the Kootenai County GOP Committee. Bjorn tells of Lajla’s close encounter with Paul: “When Ron Paul shook her hand, he asked if she knew his name. She smiled, nodded, and said ‘Ron Paul!’ He got a big kick out of that. She was beaming that whole weekend. She’s not even 4, but I have the feeling that she’ll remember that exchange for a long time.” Bjorn packs Lajla to political events. She behaves well, he told Huckleberries: “If she can sit through a (Kootenai County Republican Central Committee) meeting, a Ron Paul speech is easy.”

Californicated?

Strange that the tea party-inspired Property Rights Council would quote the California Constitution for its legal authority to exist and second-guess Bonner County government land-use decisions, with the blessing of county commissioners. Actually, it’s an indirect tie. The Pacific Legal Foundation quotes the California Constitution – and is cited by the property council on its Web page as foundational authority … In the Not Ready For Prime Time Dept.: Gotta wonder how many votes uberconservative Kootenai County sheriff candidate John Green lost Wednesday when he dissed the Coeur Group for asking a debate question he considered, ahem, “tacky and unprofessional.” Which was a tacky and unprofessional way to treat the benign co-sponsor of a debate that will provide unlimited, free exposure on Coeur d’Alene’s local-access station for months.

Huckleberries

Poll: Fifty-four percent of my HucksOnline blog readers say they’ve smoked pot at least once, including a conservative middle-ager who said: “I tried it but, never inhaled much. Until I tried to beat the pros at their game. Ten massive hits later I drove my car 5 mph home and, subsequently, puked my guts out. Twenty years later, I haven’t been tempted” … Item: The Coeur d’Alene City Council makes it illegal to “drop trou” (display your bare buns) to insult or annoy someone. Dunno if Coeur d’Alene iconic figure Thong Man still lets most of it hang out on City Beach. But he might take note of this curious addition to the indecency law … Quotable Quote from Joe Paisley (aka “Joe in the Morning”) of Coeur d’Alene’s ESPN 1080/KVNI: “Remember that one time that someone told you that they really liked your turtleneck? No you don’t, because no one has ever said those words ever to anyone.”

Parting shot

Freelancer Holly Pickett knew French photographer Remi Ochlik, who died with a colleague in a bombardment on a Syrian town last week. Pickett? She’s a former Spokesman-Review photographer who chronicled some world hot spots with Ochlik. She told her hometown Butte Standard how Ochlik had protected her during Libya fighting: “He and I were together running for it in Ras Lanuf, and I had all my body armor on and he came back to help me get out of there.” Next time you’re tempted to criticize the media, think of the sacrifices many journalists endure to get you the news.