Idaho Voices

It was 1986 when Carolyn Gleason first came up with the idea: A weekend filled with vintage cars and rock ’n’ roll music, in celebration of a time when bobbysox, saddle shoes and poodle skirts were the style. But when organizers first hosted Sandpoint’s Lost in the ’50s weekend way back when, they were skeptical whether they could attract enough people to make the celebration a success. Time has proven there was no need for concern.

Bonners Ferry – The Boundary County Museum is now open for the summer, Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Boundary County Historical Society, made up of volunteers, recently prepared for the upcoming Smithsonian Exhibit, “Journey Stories.” The exhibit will open at the museum May 28.

Sunday Bill Reid (Jazz) – 1 p.m., DiLunas, 207 Cedar St., Sandpoint, (208) 263-0846.

The giant Palouse earthworm lives! The worm many thought as the stuff of legends or myth was found alive earlier this year by some researchers from the University of Idaho. While its discovery was an intriguing note of science, ordinary earthworms we encounter in the garden every day are no less noteworthy. Earthworms are nature’s most powerful ally in creating soil texture as they search the top layers of soil for a meal of compost, fungi or other organic material. The digested remains of their meals become food for other soil microbes and nutrients for plants. As they eat they mix and loosen soil particles so air and water can get into the soil. By one research estimate worms can process 16,000 pounds of soil per acre per year; 30,000 pounds if there are lots of them.

Filings from April 7-9 Chapter 7 (liquidation petitions)

Parents and other people who attended an April parent-teacher association meeting discussed whether Fernan Elementary School students should wear uniforms. According to the April 21 edition of the Fernan Elementary newsletter, other public schools in the Coeur d’Alene area have already adopted a uniform policy for their students, including Lakes Middle School, Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy and Sorenson Elementary School.

‘Um … uh … muy gracias, señor!” It was one of those moments when I wondered why I decided to take six long years of Français in school instead of the more logical choice of Español. Somehow, the gnarl-tooth gentleman in the black cowboy hat sitting across from us at Baja Bargarita must have understood my mangled attempt at his native language. He raised his bottle of Bud Light high in the air and yelled “Salud!” before barking loudly like a happily demented dog. Clearly, our new amigo had already finished off quite a few cold ones. He didn’t know more than a few words of our language either, so it took us a minute to figure out that he wanted to buy our first beer. “You buy us dos cervezas?” shouted my friend, as she repeatedly poked her finger in his direction, then ours. He grinned enthusiastically and nodded his head yes, nearly falling off his barstool.

COEUR D’ALENE – The city of Coeur d’Alene will commence street striping on Monday, as weather permits. The striping requires clean, dry streets and reasonable warm temperatures. Street striping will take approximately 12 days of good weather to complete. The striping is done in the daytime, when the weather is warm enough for the paint to dry quickly. Crews will use a pilot car with warning signs to alert motorists.

Today Bill Reid (Jazz) – 1 p.m., DiLuna’s, 207 Cedar St., Sandpoint, (208) 263-0846.

Advertisements for lawn services are everywhere right now. They can vary from the slick card in the mail to a hand-scrawled note on a bulletin board. How do you find a good one? Start by asking neighbors and friends who they use and what kind of services the company offers. Look around your neighborhood for particularly good looking yards and ask the homeowners who they use.

It must be spring the way things are blossoming. In the economic sense, owners of new businesses are taking advantage of previously empty spaces, the upcoming tourist season and other possibilities where they see a future. Right now we have so many places for inclusion in this space that we’ll run the food items this week and the “stuff” items next week. Working on the success they have had with their Syringa Japanese Cafe on Fourth Street, Viljo and Autumn Basso this week (probably Tuesday) are opening Garnet Cafe, a breakfast place at 315 E. Walnut Ave. Handy to the Bassos because it’s right behind Syringa, this building previously was the home of Anthony’s Midtown Bistro.

When people think of windy weather, the month of March usually comes to mind, along with the image of people flying kites. While March did include some windy days, 10 days saw gusts over 25 mph with a peak wind gust of 46 mph (Spokane data), April was even windier. April had 18 days with wind gusts over 25 mph, with a peak wind gust of 53 mph. A look back at April temperatures showed a roller coaster of ups and downs. Taking an average of all the highs and lows put the month’s temperatures pretty close to normal.

So there I was minding my own business on a return trip from church at 1:15 Sunday afternoon when I saw a friendly man with short-cropped hair and a sign waving. I was about to wave back until I noticed what the sign said – and the two large flags with swastikas held by other men nearby. The sign said: “If diversity wins, we all lose.” The swastikas spoke for themselves. I couldn’t figure out why a group of eight or so Aryans (there were also a couple of women holding a sign that had too many words for someone traveling 25 mph to read) would be hanging out on the sidewalk at the entrance to the Coeur d’Alene High football field. Until I learned later that the Race for Equality was under way on the high school track. Seems a local racist has pledged to protest every event sponsored by the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations. But the race was co-sponsored by the Human Rights Education Institute and the CHS Human Rights Club. Not Tony Stewart and Norm Gissel’s crew. Mebbe civil rights advocates all look the same to Aryans. And vice versa. Who knows? But the supremacists certainly chased away the lofty thoughts of human kindness and goodness that I was still mulling from the preacher’s sermon. Gordon Crow update

BOISE – The opposition may not be particularly active or well-funded, but Idaho’s senior U.S. senator, Mike Crapo, isn’t going unopposed for re-election this year as he did six years ago. The Harvard-educated Republican lawyer and former state senator made history by drawing only a token write-in opponent when he sought his second term in the U.S. Senate, but this time, he faces both a GOP challenger in the May 25 primary and two Democrats who are vying for a shot at challenging him in the November general election.

Today Opera Coeur d’Alene - “A Taste for Wine, Murder, and Opera” - 5 p.m., Coeur d’Alene Resort, Second and Front, Coeur d’Alene, (208) 765-3723.