I read both the Review’s and the Press’s articles today about six of the Sanders Beach property owners wanting the city to stop its legal action. Lotsa fizzle, no sizzle.

With his irrelevant concern and speculation about who actually penned the lawsuit documents, I can only conclude that Mr. Magnuson took document authentication lessons from CBS News and Dan Rather. As he knows well, it wouldn’t matter one iota if the filing had been written by Saddam Hussein. Do I hear “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” playing in the background?

Mr. Magnuson’s effort to impute political motivation to City Attorney Mike Gridley’s involvement in the lawsuit was squelched by both papers including quotes from the mayor explaining that the City Attorney was acting at the City Council’s direction. Interesting, though, was where each paper placed the Mayor’s quote in relation to Mr. Magnuson’s allegation. The Spokesman Review’s article led with the allegation but included the Mayor’s refutation in paragraph 3 of its 985 word, 28 paragraph article. The Coeur d’Alene Press’s article cited Mr. Magnuson’s allegation in the second paragraph but didn’t include the Mayor’s quote until the last paragraph in a 913 word, 41 paragraph article.

Bill McCrory
Coeur d’Alene

DFO: Another discerning reader.

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