Huckleberries Best of the Northwest — 7/7/05
Kootenai County Sheriff's Captain Ben Wolfinger (above) announced Wednesday that convicted molester Joseph Edward Duncan III is the only suspect in the slaying/kidnappings of Shasta Groene's family here. and that Shasta has been released from the hospital.
Plus: Steve Groene wants sex predators off the street here, Jailed Groene sibling sez family's death "turned on the light" here, and North Idaho reacts to Joseph Duncan's arrest here.
1. Seems political cartoonist David Horsey/PI naively believes only Repubs wrap themselves in the flag at party fund-raisers here.
2. Despite his bisexuality, Spokane Mayor Jim West adamantly opposed the formation of a gay business district in his town, according to new e-mails released by City Hall, here. Plus, The Spokesman-Review ran a fact check and found several recent public statements made by West aren't true here.
3. Jimi Lott, a longtime photojournalist for the Seattle Times and a Pulitzer Prize finalist as a Spokesman-Review staffer in the early '80s, was found dead by his own hand in a Wenatchee motel room here.
4. Foes of Washington's new 9.5-cent gas tax turned in 232,000 signatures yesterday and are planning to turn in 50,000 more in the next two days to ensure a spot on the November ballot here.
5. Gen. John Shalikashvili, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is undergoing a far tougher boot camp than he experienced as a young military man has he recovers from a major stroke at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center here.
6. IMHO-NW: Doug Clark/Spokesman-Review (We can handle the truth), D.F. Oliveria/Spokesman-Review (Prosecutor should release e-mails), Jamie Kelly/Missoulian (The plusses of libertarianism), Bill Virgin/PI (Legends are tough acts to follow), and John Levesque/PI (Losing Nate McMillan).
*Alas, University of Idaho scientists say, the wild huckleberry is almost tamed here.
*A woman who lost three fingers in a high school fund-raiser can sue the Chewelah (Wash.) School District, as a result of a court reversal, here.
*Wildfires in Oregon are speeding the demise of the controversial spotted owl here.
*A Columbia Falls (Mont.) man was fined for dumping 400 gallons of apples near Glacier Park here.
Orbusmax provides the rest of the Northwest here.
