My guess is that of all the labels that might stick on Steve Eugster, "Cowles sycophant" is not one of them, despite the accusation from David Elton mentioned in the previous post.

Still, I think it's worth mentioning this nugget from an interview I had with Eugster last month. After talking for more than an hour on numerous issues, I asked him if he wanted to say anything about River Park Square. His response: "Oh, (deep belly laugh here) no, no. I thought that was done with when I went on the council. That's history, Jon. Let's forget about River Park Square."

But anyone who thinks Eugster, who was elected to one term on the council in 1999, is a "Cowles sycophant" should be reminded: He was the first to suggest that an investigation into possible manslaughter charges should be opened into the 2006 death of a woman whose car fell from the River Park Square parking garage and tried unsuccessfully to get portions of the garage closed. When County Prosecutor Steve Tucker declined earlier this year to file any charges related to the case, Eugster's opinion about possible charges hadn't changed.

The Cowles Co. owns River Park Square and The Spokesman-Review.