Idaho Voices

POST FALLS – Brad Richter, a local guitarist who works with at-risk youth, will be conducting workshops during his weeklong guitar residency at the Jacklin Arts and Cultural Center, 405 N. William St., Monday through Friday. Richter will end his week at the center in concert with cellist Viktor Uzur Friday at 7 p.m.

BOISE – GOP congressional hopeful Raul Labrador has been named to “Contender” status in the National Republican Congressional Committee’s “Young Guns” program, the second tier of the three-tier program. “By achieving ‘Contender’ status, Labrador has already demonstrated his ability to build a successful campaign structure and achieve vital fundraising goals,” the NRCC said in an announcement. NRCC Chairman Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Tex., said, “Raul Labrador has met a series of rigorous fundraising and campaign goals that will go a long way in helping to put this seat in the Republican column.”

Due to the efforts of many in this North Idaho community, people are finally opening up and talking about mental illness and its effect on not only the ones who suffer from it, but on their friends and family as well. Since it was established in February 2007, the Sandpoint chapter of the National Alliance of Mental Illness, NAMI Far North, has come a long way in educating people on this seldom talked about disease. The result? A variety of programs that have helped to make mental illness less of a stigma and enabled those who have long felt isolated to finally get the help they need.

Today Charley Packard (original) – 6 p.m., Spuds Grill, 102 N. First, Sandpoint, (208) 265-4311.

Yeah, yeah, Jim Brannon’s legal challenge to overthrow his five-vote loss to incumbent Mike Kennedy in the 2009 Coeur d’Alene municipal elections had its moments. Like when Lani Chamness appeared on the witness stand in her Salvation Army uniform to answer questions in Team Brannon’s attempt to steal her vote simply because she’d cast it in the wrong precinct. Of more interest during the tedious questioning was wardrobe. That’s right. Huckleberries wanted to know “who” the principals were wearing. And planted a fashionista in the courtroom to critique their garb. John Cafferty of the county prosecutor’s office stole the show. Hands down. Early in the week, he lapped the Red Carpet field by wearing a French jacket with two pockets on one side and one on the other. Then, he performed a victory lap during closing arguments for Hucks’ version of Joan Rivers with another dazzling display. My fashionista reporter gushed that Cafferty was “… the only man in this trial who could legitimately appear in Esquire.” Sounds like Cafferty also might be the only man in North Idaho who could grace those fashionable pages. Silly wabbits

The tavern at 816 Fourth St., Coeur d’Alene, changed more than its name last week. The former Office Tavern is now Bo-Jack’s Pub and Grille. It also has new ownership, a new menu and a no-smoking policy. Bo-Jack’s features a more-gourmet menu, with several appetizers, sandwiches, specialty burgers and pizzas along with extensive beer and wine selections. With a clean classic-car décor, it seats up to 75 customers at the bar and tables, including an area at the back with a pool table and darts. A flat-screen sports TV is near the front.

It seems like the choo-choo train from Flavortown took its own sweet time to arrive at downtown Coeur d’Alene’s newly-opened Sherman Junction restaurant. Rumors began swirling about the return of a diner to the former Rustlers Roost/Apple Barrel/Sambos building not long after the travel agency that had occupied the building disappeared a few summers ago. Late last year, clues gradually began to appear; some visible remodeling, the addition of booths and tables, a blurb in the newspaper.

Filings from July 31-Aug. 10. Chapter 7 (liquidation petitions)

Coeur d’Alene Louis Garbrecht, 1400 E. Sherman Ave., commercial, re-roof, valued at $5,300.

For 09-19-2010

Students from Lakes Magnet Middle School will raise money for Trail Creek today by playing – times three – at Triple Play in Hayden Lake. Canfield and Woodland middle schools also will participate in the fundraiser. Family and friends are invited to join in the fun.

Please do not disrobe and put on a backless gown. The stark-white, fluorescent lit interior of the take-out only Greek Street Pizza and More in Coeur d’Alene’s Ironwood Plaza may have you confused into thinking you just walked into one of the neighborhood’s many medical clinics, but you’ll soon discover that there’s plenty of homespun warmth and comfort to be had.

It was a party nearly a decade in the making, and Steve Van Horn bought his ticket months in advance. As the midnight-release party for the highly anticipated Xbox 360 game Halo: Reach, kicked into high gear at electronics retailers in more than 25 countries, the clamor of cash registers around the world revved up as the clock ticked closer to launch. Van Horn, of Coeur d’Alene, arrived a few minutes before midnight at the Ironwood Mall GameStop, where he found a line of roughly 200 people stretching out the doors of the store and around the building as fans queued up hours in advance of the game’s release.