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Huckleberries: Aside from the humidity, it’s heaven on Earth

Ben Stein, the former Nixon speechwriter famous for his role as the economics instructor in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” feels our pain as he suffers from heat at his Sandpoint getaway. Before praising Pat Buchanan’s new book about Richard Nixon, Stein writes in the American Spectator: “The real problem is the humidity though. We left D.C. to escape the humidity. It was unbearable, like being in a steam room with your suit and tie on. We do not have much humidity in L.A., but we sure have plenty of it here in North Idaho this summer.” Conversely, Stein said he enjoys “the incredibly tasty kettle corn” and posing for photos with the friendly people at Sandpoint City Beach. Then, there’s “Lake Pend Oreille, limitless cool blue expanse of water, blue sky, clouds, and mountain forests.” In a parting salute to the region, Stein tells of his “brilliant, world-traveling sister” who had just concluded a trip to Tanzania. She told him that Tanzania is beautiful but no more beautiful than North Idaho – to which Stein adds: “No place is.” And all God’s over-heated children in our piece of paradise responded: Amen.

A promise fulfilled: State Rep. Holli Woodings, D-Boise, has already fulfilled one campaign promise in her uphill battle for secretary of state against former House Speaker Lawerence “Boss” Denney. To her 3-year-old daughter, Mary. Rep. Woodings, who also has a baby son, was traveling with Mary last week when she visited Coeur d’Alene. Woodings told Huckleberries that she gets lonely for her family when she’s traveling around the state alone. On Monday, Woodings made her third campaign visit to the Lake City. During an earlier visit, Hollings promised her daughter that she could play in the new McEuen Park splash pad next time they visited Coeur d’Alene – weather permitting. The weather was outstanding on Monday. So the Boise Democrat kept her promise. Not many politicians do that.

Huckleberries: Poet’s Corner: “The world sometimes is dark and scary; to compensate, God made the cherry” – The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Bing Season”) … Post Falls police had to deal with some heavy cases last week, including that double slaying of a mother and her 6-year-old daughter. So this call to the PFPD swing shift must have provided comic relief: “Some juveniles were caught by a citizen and contacted by an officer ‘ding-dong-ditching’ in the area of Osprey Drive. Their parents were contacted and notified of their actions” … Huckleberries Online poll: 58 percent of Hucks Nation opposes repealing Coeur d’Alene’s open-container ordinance, which bans alcohol without a permit in public places, like Coeur d’Alene parks. Councilman Steve Adams brought up the prospect after voting in a 2-0 city subcommittee majority to allow alcohol to be served on a “bike bus” that’ll tour downtown … Quotable Quote: “What the hell is wrong with (Coeur d’Alene) Police Department when they can’t even issue a statement with at least SOME semblance of human compassion and emotion involved?” – Huckleberries blog commenter “OrangeTV” re: police shooting of black Labrador inside its owner’s vehicle Wednesday. (By the way, 78 percent of my blog readers consider the shooting unjustified.)

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