Parting Shot -- 5.16.16
An aerial view shows a car making its way on a road through flowering canola fields on a serpentine section of the L401 highway near Nienstedt, Germany, Thursday.
MONDAY, MAY 16, 2016
Wild Card/Monday -- 5.16.16 3
We'll soon see if all that negative campaigning by the Idaho Republican Liberty Caucus PAC, Brent & Wayne's Idaho Freedom Foundation/Action outfit & individual Tea Party all stars will be effective. The extreme right Powers That Be have spent a lot of money to defeat competent Sen. Shawn Keough, Rep. Luke Malek and Sheriff Ben Wolfinger.
PM Scanner Traffic -- 5.16.16
Scanner Traffic for Monday AM (15 items & counting + link to AM Scanner Traffic with 12 more items) ...
Cutline Contest -- Time2Vote 9
The Cutline Contest today features members of Israel's Knesset rehearsing for the ceremony to mark the 68th anniversary of Israel's Independence Day. Weekend Winner: Nic.
Huckleberries recommendations 10
I've been asked by several of you re: the candidates that I support in tomorrow's election. I agree with most of the polls that we've had here at Huckleberries Online.
IFF officials defend 'Freedom Index' 9
In the Idaho Statesman, Idaho Freedom Foundation officials Fred Birnbaum and Lindsay Russell Dexter defend the organization's controversial Freedom Index from criticism by Richard Larsen that the index is just a bullying tactic.
Blogos: A comfortable 'unmade bed'
The daily roundup of posts from the HucksOnline blogosphee includes Slight Detour's review of Garrison Keillor's visit to Spokane over the weekend. Also: Craft beer week: Monday/On Tap, A tribute to a great guy/Simple Mind, Poetry, prose & music/Cindy's All Write, A baseball fight that was actually a fight/Grip + more ...
How right-wing emigrants conquered us 5
Almost three years ago to today, Sierra Crane-Murdoch wrote a definitive article for the Rocky Mountain News, describing how "Right Wing Emigrants Conquered North Idaho." That article is pertinent today in view of colleague Betsy Russell's wonderful follow-up report on the impact of the Redoubt Movement on the region.
Cheney SD doesn't pick Handelman 4
Superintendent Matt Handelman of the Coeur d'Alene School District didn't get the superintendent job in the Cheney, Wash., School District. The Cheney district hired Rob Roettget of the Lind and Ritzville Cooperative School Districts. Handelman was one of six semi-finalists for the Edmonds School District job in March.
Front row seat
On her Facebook wall, Kerri Thoreson tells of spending a "long exciting day" with the McLean family on the Rathdrum Prairie for its spring roundup. Kerri wasn't the only interested bystander watching the activity in the cattle pens.
Macomber mixes it up w/voter 10
On his Facebook page, Erik Hayton of Coeur d'Alene and House District 4 candidate Arthur Macomber mixed it up after Hayton said he was tired of the challenger's negative campaign material against incumbent Rep. Luke Malek.
Trib: No way to pick a judge 2
In an editorial, Opinion Editor Marty Trillhaase of the Lewiston Tribune comments that the lines have blurred among the four individuals running for the vacant Idaho Supreme Court spot. This, says Trillhaase, is a consequence of the way Idaho goes about choosing a judge who should be nonpartial but sometimes aren't on the campaign trail.
Nilson: NIC has been taken over 17
After announcing his resignation as a result of new trustee zones that would have forced him to run against another incumbent, Trustee Ron Nilson of the North Idaho College board fired a "parting shot" at the college he was elected to serve: "North Idaho College is in the middle of a “hostile takeover” and I’m not going to be a part of it."
Poll: Keep bathroom use the same 8
In the weekend poll, a slight majority of Hucks Nation opposed new guidelines from the Obama administration that calls for public schools to allow transgender students to use the bathroom that fits their gender identity.
AM Headlines -- 5.16.16 28
The daily roundup of AM Headlines includes Protesters at Target. Also: Click it or ticket effort in effect/Press, F&G hubbub reaches boiling point/Press, More NIPAC, IFA expenditures/Eye on Boise, Freedom Foundation suit dismissed/Eye on Boise, Business Bits: Northwest Boulevard changes/Press, North Idaho homelessness increases 5 percent/Press ...
Macomber endorses 'Liberty Compact' 12
In a flyer circulated by the Republican Liberty Caucus of Idaho PAC, House District 4A challenger Arthur Macomber signed a "Liberty Compact" on the front that reads: "As your elected representative I will work to: Restore liberty, not restrict it; shrink government, not expand it; reduce taxes, not raise them; abolish programs, not create them ..."
AM Scanner Traffic -- 5.16.16
Scanner Traffic for Monday PM (12 items & counting) ...
Malloy: Trump in touch, not GOP 3
Chuck Malloy: "Given the voter sentiment about politics-as-usual on both sides, Donald Trump probably would do just as well for himself by telling establishment' Republicans to jump in the lake. The more that old-guard Republicans ... whine about Trump winning the nomination, the more it galvanizes support for The Donald."
Trib: Guv's signal to F&G crystal clear 1
In his editorial this morning, Opinion Editor Marty Trillhaase of the Lewiston Tribune comments that Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has sent a clear signal to the F&G commissioners. Otter is mesng with the state's egalitarian wildlife management system while genuflecting to rural legislators by asking 2 quality commissioners to reapply for their jobs.
Community embraces suffering family 1
When members of the Geisinger family were struck with the death of their 8-year-old son and brother, Phillip, they were met with open arms by the community. It's as if the family, which moved to Post Falls from Cleveland during the winter, has lived here for years. "The support has been as if we're local natives," said Nickie, Phillip's mother.
Mary on the attack 10
I was amused to see that Sen. Mary Souza has received an endorsement from the North Idaho PAC. I immediately thought: So NIPAC thinks Mary has changed her spots. She recently circulated a newsletter in which she gives three pieces of advice to voters, including an indirect attack at "young" candidates Peters Riggs, Paul Amador & Rep Luke Malek.
Redoubters push NIdaho to Far Right 11
Must Read: If you've been wondering why the politics in North Idaho have gotten so zany, Betsy Russell/SR has the answer. This region is the focus for a migration of individuals who are part of the Redoubt America movement, religious isolationists who are looking for a safe haven from a national turmoil. Their politics have had an effect.
Fillios' flyer attacks Stewart 4
On Friday and Saturday, I received about 20 pieces of direct mail from candidates, including this harsh one from challenger Chris Fillios who is trying to unseat first-term Commissioner David Stewart in a GOP primary contest. Fillios accuses Stewart of living in an unpermitted pole barn and not paying the proper amount for property taxes.
Edit: Our solons should work together 1
In its editorial Sunday, the Coeur d'Alene Press doesn't name names when it comments that our legislators should work together to get things done. Unfortunately, the legislators who try to accomplish something are smeared by the puppet masters of the Far Right as being liberals and sell-outs to their obstructionist crowd.
Hucks: Beauty in eye of beholder, too 2
My Sunday Huckleberries column begins with the claim that Idaho is the most boring state in the country. AreaVibes.com makes that claim because the Gem State has one of the highest percentages of married people and has a high percentage of children living at home. I suspect that I fit the boring profile offered by AreaVibes.com.
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.