Idaho Voices

‘Get your kicks on Route 66.” Depeche Mode’s ’80s-era cover version of the old rock ’n’ roll road trip classic was occupying the sound system as I pulled a stool up to the bar at Noah’s Canteen in Kellogg. Stumbling into the song was pleasant and unexpected, but also somewhat appropriate considering that I’d spent most of that sunny March morning leisurely travelling the crumbly, winding side roads that run east adjacent to Interstate 90.

For 03-07-2010

Filings from Feb. 9-15. Chapter 7 (liquidation petitions)

Coeur d’Alene Safeway Stores Inc., 1001 N. Fourth St., interior remodel, valued at $125,000.

For 03-07-2010

A suggestion: If you’re gut-shot, hide the wound when you report to the emergency room. Tell the admitting person that you think you’re having a heart attack. You’ll be dropped into a wheelchair, then sped into the work area where you’ll be gently lifted onto a bed then surrounded by a squad of eager medics and a doc who’ll ask you all about your symptoms as they strip you and begin assembling their tools.

Story ideas We want to expand our coverage of North Idaho neighborhoods and we need your help. All you have to do is let us know when something is happening that affects your neighborhood. We’ll take it from there. Contact Jeff Jordan, Voices editor, 13208 E. Sprague Ave., Spokane Valley, WA 99216 or e-mail idahovoice@spokesman.com.

COEUR d’ALENE – Tickets to the North Idaho College Foundation’s Really BIG Raffle are now on sale. The 17th annual fundraiser supports student and program needs at NIC.

BOISE – If Challis Republican Lenore Barrett has her way, electronic transactions in gold and silver will become an alternative form of legal tender for paying bills or taxes in Idaho. “When we left the gold standard, we did not do a really good thing,” Barrett declared to a House committee, which then voted 4-3 along party lines to introduce her bill.

Today A Touch of Jazz (Jazz) – 1 p.m., Di Luna’s, 207 Cedar St., Sandpoint, (208) 263-0846.

I’ve heard it said occasionally that there just isn’t any really awesome, authentic Mexican food in this area. I’ve enjoyed tacos made by sweet, pencil-browed abuelitas at sweaty California flea markets, and short of actually visiting Mexico itself, it’s hard to find more authentic cuisine anywhere, let alone the upper stretch of Idaho.

Charlie Brown never seemed to learn that Lucy always yanked the football before he tried to kick it. And Idaho conservatives never learn that they aren’t going to catch a break when New York Times reporters come calling with race issues on their minds. Last week in this space, I mentioned that front-page Times story about the Tea Party movement, which began and ended with comments by retiree Pam Stout, who’s president of the Sandpoint Tea Party Patriots. Reporter David Barstow’s article was informative. And not much of a hit piece. But that doesn’t mean that North Idaho Tea Partiers escaped the close encounter with the NYTimes unscathed. Columnist Frank Rich did the work of putting them in their place later with this comment: “Anyone who was cognizant during the McVeigh firestorm would recognize the old warning signs re-emerging from the mists of history. The Patriot movement. ‘The New World Order,’ with its shadowy conspiracies hatched by the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission. Sandpoint, Idaho. White supremacists. Militias.” Sandpoint, Idaho? Bottom line, Charlie Brown? Lucy pulls the football. The Times bashes North Idaho. Any questions? Lightest green

March is usually a volatile weather month here in the Inland Northwest. Most years, we’ll see everything from snow, thundersnow, thunderstorms with graupel (soft hail or snow pellets), and of course those mild sunny days that give us spring fever. Frosty mornings help us remember that it’s still too early to get the garden in. Though the Marches of the past two years have much more closely resembled winter than a prelude to spring, this month has definitely started out much differently, with the first two days of the month seeing highs in the middle and upper 50s. Average highs by mid-month should be in the upper 40s with average lows in the lower 30s. We typically see about 3 inches of snow in Spokane during March, while Coeur d’Alene averages about 6 inches. Speaking of snow, with a seasonal total of only 13.7 inches in the Spokane area (17.8 inches in Coeur d’Alene), it could be argued that this might be the least snowiest winter since records were kept at the Spokane airport.

Weekly Events Women’s Bible Study – Wednesdays, 10 a.m.-noon at Hayden Bible Church, 290 E. Miles Ave., Hayden Lake. (208) 772-2511

Third-graders at Hayden Meadows Elementary School recently did their part to help children in Haiti. The students raised more than $1,620 in three days with a penny drive they organized. The Hayden Meadows students also made bracelets for the children, “to help brighten their day,” said information from the Hayden Meadows Web site.

Many readers keep asking about the Texas Roadhouse restaurant nearing completion at the southwest corner of Highway 95 at Neider Avenue. Hold your horses! It will open March 29. The nearly 9,000-square-foot barbecue eatery will feature steaks, ribs, burgers, chicken and fish with sides of salads, chili, breads and a kids menu. And, of course, a variety of beverages.