Samantha Hurst, 11, exposes the grass under the snow as she rolls a base for her snowman at the Creswell Middle School playground today in Creswell, Ore. (AP Photo/The Register-Guard, Chris Pietsch)

Crews prepare to right a car involved in a rollover accident on Interstate 84 just west of The Dalles, Ore., Thursday morning, Jan. 11, 2007. Snow Wednesday night and Thursday morning made driving hazardous throughout the Columbia River Gorge. (AP Photo/The Dalles Chronicle, Mark Gibson)

Doug Clark: A parody about the Spokane deputy who flashed his wares to a stunned barista here and (song) here. Hard 7: More fallout over the Free Willy deputy here.

1. Gov. Butch Otter told a crowd of more than 300 hunters he can't wait for a chance to hunt wolves in Idaho. "I'm going to bid for the first ticket to shoot a wolf," Otter said to a cheering crowd here.

2. The barren, wind-swept buttes surrounding the small Montana ranching town of Baker will offer scant places for coyotes to hide this weekend, as some 180 hunters from across the country converge for a "calling" contest to see who can shoot the most coyotes over three days -- and some folks don't like it here.

3. James "Dyke" Nally, the head of the Idaho Liquor Dispensary, is trying to get lawmakers to repeal a 1939 law that forbids his staff from engaging in partisan politics, including joining a political party, making campaign contributions or even sticking candidate bumper stickers on their cars here.

4. The "donkey kick," a controversial maneuver used in the fatal confrontation between inmate Benites Sichiro and several jailers, has been banned from use in the Spokane County Jail here.

5. Prison life might be dangerous, but getting out can be deadly, too. Newly released inmates were almost 13 times more likely than the general public to die during their first two weeks of freedom, a study in Washington state found here.

6. IMHO-NW: Dean Ferguson/Lewiston Tribune (Idaho ready for Katrina-type disaster), Luke Baumgarten/Inlander (Super-intense New Year's resolution weight-loss miracle), Bill Schneider/New West Boise (2007 Outdoor News predictions), Bert Caldwell/Spokesman-Review (Hybrid cars offer hope), and Hindu/Sagebrush (Bush goes for the win).

Online Poll: 66% of 1447 respondents to an Idaho Statesman poll say that beefing up U.S. troops in Iraq by 21,500 isn't an effective strategy.

*Daily News: Still no sign of missing Moscow city councilman here.

*J.R. Simplot moved from Arizona to Boise rehab here.

*Boise strip clubs' owner held in prostitution case here.

*Man's body found in heating vent of Missoula business here.

Orbusmax Special: Notorious Idaho criminal takes out personal ad here.

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