Column

Keyboard Cat shares the spotlight with two Instagram faves: Hamilton Pug and Toast, a spaniel with a dangling boa-sized tongue in a new PSA to boost pet adoptions.

Here’s a second helping of autograph stories.

Having never worked on Wall Street, I never learned the subtleties of bribing politicians. But sometimes you have to put your uncertainties aside for the good of the many. So I got straight to the point.

BOISE – County assessors, in town for an Idaho Association of Counties meeting, were stunned to hear the House tax committee vote to remove the annual indexing of the homeowner’s exemption from property taxes. “It’s like Groundhog Day – déjà vu all over again,” said Kootenai County Assessor Mike McDowell. “If they fix it again at $100,000,” as a bill sponsored by Rep. Janet Trujillo, R-Idaho Falls, would do, “we’re putting ourselves back into the position we were in in 1982.”

During a dump run on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a Silver Valley man wasn’t expecting to see two Confederate flags on a pickup belonging to a transfer station employee. But Jon Ruggles did. He protested to a Solid Waste Department official who sent the complaint to the Shoshone County prosecutor. All Ruggles has gotten for his trouble so far is grief from neighbors and the letters to the local newspaper that side with the Confederate flag-loving employee.

The Slice asked for autograph stories and readers signed on.

Sometimes, when visiting a large metropolitan area, it is impossible to resist expressing astonishment at the amazing volume of freeway traffic in the wee hours of the morning

People move here thinking they will stay a few years and then take it on down the road.

Maybe you didn’t know, but there is a group of people allowed in public restrooms who are putting women and children at risk. These people, for the most part, are law-abiding, decent, respectful folks. We should not demonize or taint all of them with the misdeeds of a few. But a few members of this group pose such a threat to children that prudence and common sense dictate we should not allow them into public restrooms.

Brushes with fame that just miss the mark.

Doug Clark believes Mayor David Condon needs to apologize for hiring former Police Chief Frank Straub, and Doug has some ideas on how to do it.

Complaints about media bias abound. Just about every week you’ll see a letter to the editor claiming that this newspaper leans to the left or reveres the right. Someone’s event/candidate/nonprofit was slighted and bias is to blame.

Now that we are again on the threshold of trying to find a police chief who will carry community-minded reforms forward, the citizens’ report to the mayor is a reminder that change is a long, long road.

Here are a few readers’ responses to last Monday’s call for localized nicknames.

You didn’t know the Seahawks dreamy leader and Pro Bowl MVP had his own line of gluten? Me neither.

Here are a few readers’ responses to last Monday’s call for localized nicknames.

Two Navy Seals auctioned their mementos to help raise funds to buy a specialized wheelchair.

Eye on Boise column for Sunday

Eden Irgens, a Coeur d’Alene fan and communications specialist, has searched for the perfect mocktail in Lake City after eliminating alcohol from her diet and lifestyle. As part of that process, she has started a blog to tell readers which bars and restaurants in town offer good mocktail alternatives. And which don’t.