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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Coeur d’Alene newspaper carrier trapped by passing snowplow

Boise State coach Leon Rice argues with a referee in December. Rice, the longtime former assistant to Coach Mark Few at Gonzaga, is earning many times more than the Idaho governor. (Herald Journal via AP / Eli Lucero)

A funny thing happened to Jamie Sedlmayer and her boyfriend, Les, while delivering papers at Coeur d’Alene Place early Tuesday morning. They got plowed in. We’re not talking about being plowed in while they were in a driveway, tossing papers for sleeping customers. They were plowed in WHILE driving on the street. Seems Jamie and Les were delivering the Coeur d’Alene Press in front of a snowplow when they pulled over to let the driver pass. He did, with blade down, creating a snow berm around Jamie’s vehicle, trapping it. While Les tried to dig the car out, Jamie delivered her papers the old-fashioned way. On foot. Jamie, who provided Huckleberries with details for this item, said on Facebook: “Moral of the story is, when a snow plow comes up behind and rides your (bumper), you do not kindly move over to let them pass. They won’t be so courteous as they leave you stranded at 2:30 a.m. with a 3-foot frozen berm trapping you.” Ultimately, Jamie and her boyfriend were pulled out of the berm by her district manager. And, when this item appeared on Huckleberries Online, Deputy City Administrator Sam Taylor phoned Jamie to apologize. Sam told Huckleberries: “This is a great teachable moment for us.” And that’s why CdA is called “The City with a Heart.”

Side effects

Color minimum-wage ($7.25/hour) earners in North Idaho green-less with envy toward their counterparts in Washington, who now are earning $11/hour. But Huckleberry Friend Jeanie Buchanan of Spokane sees a downside to the bump in the Apple State minimum wage: “My favorite fast food place raised their prices. My favorite pizza place raised their prices. My bowling alley raised the price for coffee! A lot! I can no longer afford to be frivolous for just a small black coffee.” All this, while Jeanie received only a $2 bump in her Social Security check – and that was eaten up by the $2 increase in her Medicare Part B coverage. Fixed income has an all new meaning for Jeanie.

Huckleberries

After learning that football coach Bryan Harsin ($1.1 million) and basketball coach Leon Rice ($650,000) of Boise State earn many times more than Idaho Gov. Butch Otter ($124,436), Huckleberry Friend Sharon Fisher deadpanned: “They had better years.” Yeah, yeah, Huckleberries knows Babe Ruth said it first when his salary was compared to President Herbert Hoover’s during the Great Depression. But it’s still funny … Betcha that hand-painted sign stuck in a snow berm outside Fasteners on Fourth Street attracted business in this Winter of our Discontent: “We have de-icer” … In the “Kids Say the Darndest Things” category SR sports scribe Greg Lee offered a flashback recently. When son, Sean, was 6, Greg tried to explain the concept of emails to him. For days afterward, Sean would ask, “Dad, did you get any females?” Awww.

Parting Shot

Huckleberries is impressed that Rep. Luke Malek, R-Coeur d’Alene, was named Idaho Elected Official of the Year by Idaho Young Republicans. But it’s a good thing that the power brokers of the Kootenai County GOP who tried to torpedo Malek in the 2016 primary weren’t asked to second that emotion. They loathe local Republican elected officials who think for themselves.