Huckleberries: Coeur d’Alene: Too Near Spokane, Always Suspicious

You may know the Idaho Panhandle has a healthy suspicion of Boise. After all, Boise stole the state capital from Lewiston way back when. But did you know that North Idaho views Washington warily, too?

An advance copy of Jon Mueller’s history of Coeur d’Alene’s City Park, “Private Park, Public Park,” explains why North Idahoans question the motives of the Evergreen State in general and Spokane in particular.

First, Spokane boosters came up with a proposal to locate a fort on their side of the state line, making Coeur d’Alene’s Fort Sherman (1878-2001) obsolete. Then, a U.S. senator from Washington pushed to locate a veterans’ home on the old Fort Sherman grounds in Coeur d’Alene until told to mind his own business by an Idaho senator. Then, Washington lawmakers concocted a short-lived scheme to use Lake Coeur d’Alene water to irrigate Central Washington.

Finally, there’s the matter of all that mining and timber money from North Idaho that helped build Spokane.

Spokane residents, of course, have supported Coeur d’Alene with tourism dollars for more than 100 years. At the turn of the 20th century, they climbed aboard F.A. Blackwell’s electric train to get to Coeur d’Alene, then camped out at City Park. Blackwell’s train is long gone. But Spokane residents still visit Coeur d’Alene’s waterfront by the thousands on warm summer days.

You can read all about Coeur d’Alene’s City Park and the bittersweet relationship between Coeur d’Alene and Spokane in Jon’s book when it debuts Friday, June 2.

This toenail’s for you

The close encounter by KXLY’s Derek Deis with a toenail clipping codger at the gym continues to reverberate at Huckleberries Online.

Linda Murray of Spokane recalls a supervisor from her bygone days in a local insurance claims office. Seems the supervisor had an unusual habit.

Huckleberries will let Linda explain the rest: “On a fairly regular basis we’d need to take files in to our supervisor, for review. Once we received the files back, we’d open them up to read his comments and often times found large nasty toe nail clippings inside.” The guy was a nice fellow otherwise, says Linda.

Again, Linda: “You should never judge a book by its cover, but rather you should shake the book out to make sure there are no foreign objects in it!”

Huckleberries

Poet’s Corner: Stars in the sky/fish in the sea;/candidates in/the GOP – The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Countless,” June 30, 2015) … In the Nothing New Under the Sun category, Tom Taggart of Coeur d’Alene tells of listening to a 1967 Los Angeles radio show, which included a newscast. The first four stories involved the Middle East, abortion, Russia and race issues. Tom sums up his feelings in one word: “Sigh” … So Spokane has abandoned “Near Nature, Near Perfect” as a motto in favor of “Creative by Nature.” Why not just go with the obvious: “Near Nature, Near Coeur d’Alene”? … For those keeping score at home, Cannon Hill demolition crews have knocked down the last of the dozen or so old houses along Park Drive on the edge of the historic Fort Grounds. Now, the space will be carved up into 10 lots and offered for sale by the urban renewal agency for high-end homes. The money from the purchases will be used on urban renewal projects around town. Can you say cha-ching, baby?

Parting shot

In the latest tale from the Kellogg PD Facebook page, an officer tells of stopping a driver on Railroad Avenue for a broken taillight. The man traded places with his passenger because he was driving without privileges. But that created a bigger problem. The passenger was drunk. The patrol officer informed Driver No. 1 that he had placed a drunken driver in physical control of his vehicle. Then, the Facebook report offers this nugget: “Driver No. 2 about made a Number 2 in his seat.” In the end, Driver Numero Uno was cited for driving without privileges and released. The report didn’t say whether the passenger needed some Heavy Duty Handi Wipes.

You can contact D.F. “Dave” Oliveria at (509) 319-0354 or daveo@spokesman.com.