Parting Shot: Feel the heat
The heat wave shattering temperature records across Eastern Washington was so intense that it caused a stretch of U.S. Highway 195 to rupture Monday, according to the Washington State Patrol
TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2015
Former Athol city clerk gets prison time 2
BOISE – Athol’s former city clerk, Sally R. Hansen, was sentenced to four years in federal prison today and ordered to pay nearly half a million dollars in restitution and fines for embezzling funds from the small North Idaho city. Was justice served?
Tuesday Wild Card 6.9.15 6
Mornings are not my favorite. Monday mornings are my least favorite. Yesterday, my son woke me saying, "Mom! Mom! Thor's throwing up and pooping everywhere!" Well, that has a special unfavorite category all its own.
Remote Idaho school district buys guns 14
The isolated Garden Valley School District has installed firearms in its K-12 school building and trained staff to use them in response to an active shooter. Citing safety reasons, Superintendent Marc Gee won’t say how many guns and safes were installed or where they are located.
Burglary suspect said he was filming porn 3
A burglary suspect told deputies he’d received permission to enter a Spokane Valley law firm to film a pornographic film. Greg A. Lang, 30, was booked into Spokane County Jail just before 7 a.m. Friday, facing a charge of second-degree burglary. I suppose his film career will be... brief.
My first pet 3
My first pet is in dispute because I say it was a cat named Butterscotch, but my sister insists that it was her cat. Whatever. However, my second pet was this adorable pup named Riley. Do you still remember your first pet?
Wolf shooting trial starts today 21
COEUR d'ALENE - A jury trial is underway today for the man who shot a wolf on Rathdrum Mountain while out walking his dogs near his home. Forrest Mize and his defense lawyer, Michael Palmer, hope the six-person jury can overlook his lack of a wolf tag when he killed the animal on Dec. 30.
Landers shocking solution to off-leash dogs 13
Outdoors writer Rich Landers ponders developing a cattle prod hiking stick to deal with agressive off-leash dogs. Having had my own close encounters, I think that may not be a bad idea. What do you think?
Idaho gas tax referendum falls short 5
BOISE – A North Idaho retiree’s push to force a voter referendum on this year’s Idaho transportation funding bill – which includes a 7-cent gas tax increase that takes effect July 1 – has fallen far short. Alan Littlejohn of Athol needed to gather 47,432 signatures by today to trigger a voter referendum; he turned in just 32, more than half of them from members of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee.
Arrests made in BB gun rampage 7
I have fours sons. Only one wanted a BB gun-- a Red Ryder BB gun. The only thing he's damaged is pop cans and maybe a squirrel. Our son with the paintball guns caused more damage and only to our fence. Did you have a BB gun? How about your kids?
Doug Clark: Street Music Week 1
The 13th annual Spokane Street Music Week opened at noon Monday with some of the highest expectations I’ve ever seen when it comes to raising Second Harvest food bank donations. And that was just Josh Burrows.
Timberlake students win Emmy Awards 3
How cool is this? The class of 2015 at Timberlake High School in Spirit Lake includes three Emmy Award-winning students.
OSHA: Let transgender people choose restrooms 15
In a handbook published last week, OSHA recommends that anyone who identifies as a man should be allowed to use a men’s restroom in a workplace, and anyone who identifies as a woman should be allowed to use a women’s restroom, regardless of the sex they were assigned at birth.
MS diagnosis doesn't dim former BMX champ's fighting spirit 3
The best part of my job is meeting people like Brenda Gildehaus. Almost overnight, she went from being a national BMX champion to being unable to feed herself. Here's here story of courage and resilency. Do you anyone who's been diagnosed with MS?
IFF: Group's assualt on Ken Ivory offers peek into left-wing playbook 9
The Campaign for Accountability’s assault on Utah state Rep. Ken Ivory last week felt so familiar. CfA, an offshoot of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, filed three complaints — in Montana, Arizona and Colorado — against Ivory, alleging he’s defrauding taxpayers by pushing the federal government to transfer its lands to the states.
Denny on Sunshine Law: 'I'd say leave it alone.' 1
Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney is less than enthusiastic about the resolution passed by the Idaho Republican Party central committee at its meeting last weekend calling for relaxing financial disclosure requirements for political committees or PACs by exempting them from reporting or itemizing the sources of contributions of less than $200; the current reporting threshold is $50.
Obama's Breakfast Beer 9
On Sunday morning ahead of the G-7 summit, Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the village of Kruen, where they enjoyed a traditional Bavarian breakfast replete with sausages, pretzels, alpenhorns, men dressed in lederhosen and, yes, beer.
Raise CDA undaunted 32
Organizers of Raise CDA are unbowed by yesterdays lack of support from the City Council Sub-Committee, General Services. Anne Nesse says the committee was completely negligent. But the fight will go on. Do you think most Cda residents support raising the minimum wage?
Urban Renewal Redux 17
On yesterday's Wild Card Dan of the Community bemoaned the closure of Friday's urban renwal discussion. The powers that be say leaving threads open beyond 72 hours is complicated. So I posted Dan's comment below. And Joker even composed a song for the event.
Early Signs of Huckleberry Heaven 1
Rich Landers writes, "Hiking at 5,000 feet today in the Cabinet Mountains, I found reason to have high hopes for this season's huckleberry crop, at least on this slope!"
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.