I had Gov. Butch Otter tell Kerri Thoreson on her KVNI morning show today that he considers us at the top of the Panhandle to be part of "northern" Idaho not North Idaho. Quoth Butch: "I consider 'north' to be a direction, not a place." In Butch's mind, there's three geographic locations in Idaho: eastern, southern, and northern. He has a good argument. He mighta persuaded Kerri, who was leaning toward "northern Idaho" afterwards. But I'll continue to refer to the five northernmost counties as "North Idaho." Mebbe it's my way of saying that I consider our part of paradise to be an entity onto itself and somewhat separate from the rest of the state. I'd also like to remind Butch of another difference between North Idaho & southern Idaho: "North Idaho" is a state of mind; southern Idaho is a mindless state.