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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

MONDAY, AUG. 27, 2012

Ballot counting machines

Parting Shot: Vote tomorrow 

Christa Hazel sends this photo of Elections Dept worker Carrie Phillips, demonstrating how the two ballot counting machines will work tomorrow night. The machines can read up to 300 ballots per minute. Once the test is completed, County Commissioner Dan Green will sign off and…

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Monday Wildcard 8.27.12 

Well. It's Monday. Or as I call it, Sit At Your Desk Until You Make Deadline Day. Hope you got a chance to enjoy the gorgeous weekend weather. Saturday night was mother/son date night for my youngest and me. Dinner and a movie. We saw…

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 Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul raises his wife Kelley's hand as they celebrate his victory in Bowling Green, Ky., on Tuesday. (Associated Press)

Rand Paul: Audit the Pentagon 

TAMPA--Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul will use his prime-time speaking slot at the Republican National Convention to urge party members to be more open to scrutinizing military spending, a position that puts him in the minority within the GOP. Paul made the remarks Sunday when he…

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Soldiers linked to anarchist plot 

LUDOWICI, Ga. — Four Army soldiers based in southeast Georgia killed a former comrade and his girlfriend to protect an anarchist militia group they formed that stockpiled assault weapons and plotted a range of anti-government attacks, prosecutors told a judge today. Among the potential targets,…

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Tex and Nick Gaynos, seen here at their home in Post Falls on Wednesday, were married in 1943 in California. (Kathy Plonka)

WWII keepsakes to be auctioned 

Tex and Nick Gaynos, seen here at their home in Post Falls, were married in 1943 in California. Kathy Plonka, photo. The images came back this week; haunting, vivid, details slowed to an instant inside Nick Gaynos's mind like never before, and then it was…

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ISU goes smoke-free 

Idaho State University will ban smoking campus-wide starting in September, the Idaho State Journal reports, following a recommendation from student leaders, who passed a resolution nearly a year ago backing the move. That means ISU will join Boise State in becoming a smoke-free campus; BSU…

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Joan and Vernon Gallup made a substantial contribution to faculty, staff, students, alumni and researchers in 2011 with their gift of more than 15,000 rare books valuted at $1.8 million. Related to angling and outdoor sports, the gift is the largest ever to the Washington State University Libraries’ department of Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections.  (Washington State University)

Book hangover 

Stayed up 'til 2 AM the other night/morning, reading Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn. Gripping novel and obviously hard to put down! But boy did I pay for my late night the next day What are you reading?

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The kindest cut? 

CHICAGO – The nation’s most influential pediatricians group says the health benefits of circumcision in newborn boys outweigh any risks, adding that insurance companies should pay for it. In its latest policy statement on circumcision, a procedure that has been declining nationwide, the American Academy…

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Boaters enjoy peaceful fishing at Sullivan Lake. (Rich Landers)

Location, location, location 

Boaters enjoy peaceful fishing at Sullivan Lake. Rich Landers Location, location, location. That’s the key to a perfect Labor Day weekend camping destination. Virtually any campground will do if you’re going to sit around a campfire all day and simply enjoy the food, family and…

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Getting trashed 

Justin Gilpatrick said he hadn't had a drink in years. But after a night out drinking with a friend in Portland. Ore., the 27-year-old decided he was too intoxicated to drive home. So, in a questionable move, Gilpatrick decided to sleep it off in a…

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Horizon Hospice worker Cyndy Stevenson talks to Meadow Ridge Elementary fifth- and sixth-graders about obituaries that appear in the newspaper and the importance of appreciating a life story that has been condensed into a single paragraph. 
 (Photos by Brian Plonka / The Spokesman-Review)

High Noon: Obituaries 

Horizon Hospice worker Cyndy Stevenson talks to Meadow Ridge Elementary fifth- and sixth-graders about obituaries that appear in the newspaper and the importance of appreciating a life story that has been condensed into a single paragraph. I don't usually read the obituaries with the exception…

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“Oh my God,” said Julia Jakaber, of Otis Orchards, as she zipped through the trees in Wallace on Aug. 16. She and her sisters booked the adventure with Silver Streak Zipline Tours as a birthday present for their father, Ted Wentz. (Kathy Plonka)

Zipping Along 

“Oh my God,” said Julia Jakaber, of Otis Orchards, as she zipped through the trees in Wallace on Aug. 16. She and her sisters booked the adventure with Silver Streak Zipline Tours as a birthday present for their father, Ted Wentz. WALLACE – Ted Wentz…

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FILE - In this Aug. 24, 2012, file photo Republican Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., talks to the media gathered in Chesterfield, Mo., and told them he will stay in the U.S. Senate race despite the uproar over his remarks about rape and pregnancy. Akin's comments awakened the ever-slumbering tensions between the Republican Party's two core wings: social conservatives and corporate interests just as Republicans were hoping for a united front at their convention to nominate Mitt Romney for president. (Sid Hastings / Fr158536 Ap)

Rape and pregnancy in Idaho 

In this Aug. 24, 2012, file photo Republican Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., talks to the media gathered in Chesterfield, Mo., and told them he will stay in the U.S. Senate race despite the uproar over his remarks about rape and pregnancy. TWIN FALLS • If…

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Summer breeze: A dog riding shotgun in a car on East 29th Avenue leans out the window and lets the wind catch its fur during a break of early afternoon sun on Tuesday. (Tyler Tjomsland)

Buckle up, Fido 

WASHINGTON – Fido can fetch, heel and stay. And if a New Jersey lawmaker has her way, it will be dog owners who have to obey a new law requiring them to buckle up their pets on car trips. And no, the proposal was not…

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A wildfire burns, Friday, Aug. 24, 2012 near Featherville, Idaho. A burnout maneuver has so far been successful in reducing fuels between Featherville and the 187-square-mile wildfire that forced the central Idaho community's evacuation a week ago, officials said Saturday. ( AP/U.S. Forest Service / Kari Greer)

Barker: Otter on fire 

A wildfire burns, Friday, Aug. 24, 2012 near Featherville, Idaho. A burnout maneuver has so far been successful in reducing fuels between Featherville and the 187-square-mile wildfire that forced the central Idaho community's evacuation a week ago, officials said Saturday. Idaho Gov. Butch Otter told…

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CdA Mines employee dies in Mexico

An employee of a Coeur d’Alene Mines property in Mexico died late Sunday morning while doing maintenance work. The employee was outside the underground mine and apparently fell while working on a piece of surface equipment at the company’s Palmarejo silver and gold mine. Authorities…

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GOP covention expected to dodge Isaac 

TAMPA, Fla. – His Republican National Convention curtailed by a threatened hurricane, Mitt Romney conceded Sunday that fresh controversy over rape and abortion is harming his party and he accused Democrats of trying to exploit it for political gain. “It really is sad, isn’t it,…

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Mutton Busting

Speaking of sheep... 

Duane Rasmussen sends this photo of a kid taking a spill while "Mutton Busting" at the Kootenai County Fair. One year my thirdborn came home with a wild tale of his Mutton Busting adventure while on a field trip with his 1st grade class at…

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Outstanding in their field: Trina, a 3-year-old Finnsheep, stands with her unusually large brood of seven 2 1/2-week-old lambs in a field at the home of their owner, Colleen Peck, on Thursday in Snoqualmie, Wash. Finnsheep, a breed of domestic sheep known for multiple births, commonly give birth to up to five lambs. The healthy septuplets, including four boys and three girls, are fed both by their mother and a supplemental formula hand-fed by Peck. American Finnsheep Breeders’ Association acting secretary Herb Tucker said such a feat has only been recorded twice in the United States. (Associated Press)

Basque Country (Idaho) 

Sheep, you may be surprised to learn, are not as dumb as they look. Some people might even describe them as shrewdly calculating, remarkably crafty animals with fierce independent streaks. Given the slightest opening, for example, they will quit a herd, striking out in small,…

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CdA Press: KTEC: Tribute to determination

Steve Wilson provided safe harbor and warm cookies at the Coeur d'Alene Inn. A dozen or so smart people, passionate people with vision, were gathered around a conference table. Sometimes the talk got testy. Sometimes the struggle for momentary control or long-term influence was evident.…

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FILE - In this July 20, 1969 file photo provided by NASA shows Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, the first men to land on the moon, plant the U.S. flag on the lunar surface.

His last small step 

When Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the moon, on July 20, 1969, he uttered a phrase that has been carved in stone and quoted across the planet: “That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.” The grainy…

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Huckleberries Online

D.F. Oliveria started Huckleberries Online on Feb. 16, 2004. Oliveria's Sunday print Huckleberries is a past winner of the national Herb Caen Memorial Column contest.