Idaho Voices

What had been the classy Brix restaurant and the lively Underground dance club at 317 Sherman Ave. has combined into Icon, a dual sports bar and music-and-dance venue for downtown Coeur d’Alene. The formal dining tables and chandelier were replaced by bistro-style tables and chairs that are moved to the edges of the main room during dance time. Before then, starting at 11 a.m., the place is a sports bar with 10 large-screen TVs, two of them 65-inch plasmas.

Hayden Meadows Elementary School will begin presales for its custom hanging flower baskets on Monday. Green Thumb Productions, Hayden Meadows commercial greenhouse, is selling petunias in a variety of colors, red geraniums and cherry tomatoes. The baskets run $30 each.

Monica Paquin, a former resident of Coeur d’Alene now living in the Montreal area, finds herself the focus of an effort to overthrow the 2009 Lake City elections. And all she did was return her absentee ballot with her vote for longtime friend Mike Kennedy. Challenger Jim Brannon, who has sued to overturn his five-vote loss to Kennedy, contends Monica didn’t have the right to vote in the election. After all, she’s been out of the country since Nov. 12, 2006. Erin Jenkins of Confidential Investigations contacted Monica Tuesday morning on behalf of Brannon to ask questions. Later, Monica told Huckleberries that she asked for an absentee ballot from Kootenai County in fall 2008 to vote in the presidential election. And requested she be sent absentee ballots for all elections afterward. She was told by Kootenai County officials that she could vote in her last place of residence in the United States as long as she didn’t vote elsewhere. Monica, who works for a Washington company, is classified as a “permanent resident” in Canada and has no idea when she will return to the states. She didn’t know Kennedy was running for council until she saw his name on her ballot. She told Huckleberries that she could understand an attempt to challenge a presidential result. But considers Brannon’s effort to overthrow a local election “ridiculous.” She’s right. Grub Club launches

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

Coeur d’Alene Miller-Stauffer Architects, 751 N. Fourth St., commercial kitchen remodel, Capone’s, valued at $150,000.

For 01-24-2010

You’d think people had to eat to survive since nearly all the business news this week has to do with food. In fact, three fast-food options at once are happening in the former Arby’s building at 1500 E. Seltice Way (across from the Trading Co. store), Post Falls. What had been Arby’s and Taco John’s is now the combination of Taco Time and Samurai Sam’s. And it probably also will have a Great Steak menu. Taco Time, of course, has its traditional Mexican menu. The company began in 1960 in Eugene, Ore., and now has 350 locations in four countries.

DECA seniors at Post Falls High School will compete on Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. for the title of Mr. Post Falls at the Post Falls High School arena. The 2010 “From Boys to Men” contestants include:

If Kurt Cobain had gone into writing teen novellas instead of angst-filled grunge rock, he might have come up with some of the things the guy at the next table was saying. “Girls really hate me, especially my mustache; they think it’s so ugly,” he announced to his lady friend and anyone else within earshot. He continued, without a hint of irony in his voice, “That’s why I grew it, I guess. It’s a symbol of how I’ve decided to abandon all hope.”

Bayview ushered in the 2010 centennial year with a town meeting Jan. 15 called by the Independent Centennial Committee. This group of historians and community activists was able to put together a community calendar that was as spectacular as was the speed it sold out. Some of us still don’t have a copy, but there is a move to create another for next year.

POST FALLS – The Jacklin Arts and Cultural Center, 405 N. William St., has a busy schedule of upcoming events. •An Italian cooking class will be offered on Thursday, featuring Angelo Brunson of Angelo’s Ristorante in Coeur d’Alene, as part of Jacklin’s Good Friends, Good Food, Good Times cooking class series.

Where’s the snow? Well it’s definitely not in our neck of the woods. El Niño’s influence seems to be playing out as expected here in the Northwest, with the warmer-than-normal temperatures keeping the snowfall amounts at bay. As of Jan. 20, The Spokane airport had seen only 11.9 inches of snow for the season – and only .5 inches of that in January. At this time last year, Spokane had 17.3 inches of snow for the month of January, though fortunately, the snow depth had been whittled down to about two inches thanks to a brief thaw during the second week of the month.

You may already know that Kootenai County Clerk Dan English has lost the equivalent of a runway model worth of weight. But did you know that his successful stomach bypass surgery has prompted him to cross dress? Seems Dan was puttering around the house the other day when he spotted his wife’s jeans draped over a chair. Which caused him to wonder if he could get them on. “Way back when we first got married,” Dan told Huckleberries Online readers, “we used to joke that we could wear each other’s jeans (although hers were always a bit too long).” Not only did Dan get the jeans on, but he also zipped and buttoned them before walking into the kitchen, where he was awarded for his shenanigans with the appropriate scowls and growls from his wife. Dan has dropped 87 pounds since July, dropping from a 46 waist to size 10 women’s jeans. Such has been Dan’s transformation that three acquaintances failed to recognize him while he was in Boise to see a rededication of the state capitol. “Now, maybe she was distracted,” Dan said, “but I fear one was the S-R’s own star reporter, Betsy (Russell).” Dan says he’s beginning to feel like he’s in “one of those movies where you are a ghost and people don’t really see you.” But he ain’t complaining.

BOISE – State transportation officials say they’re scrambling to prepare for what they’re calling “Stimulus II,” federal legislation also known as the 2010 Jobs Bill that could potentially bring another $182 million to Idaho for shovel-ready, bid-ready transportation projects. The pending bill includes a critical requirement: That 50 percent of the money be awarded in 90 days.

Filings from Dec. 19-Jan. 5. Chapter 7 (liquidation petitions)

Coeur d’Alene Atlas Homes LLC, 2624 W. Sorbonne Drive, residence and garage, valued at $173,301.