Idaho Voices

The 40,000- square-foot space that had been Red Oak Clothing in Silver Lake Mall will become Timberline Trading Company on Aug. 1. The south anchor originally was an Emporium store. Owner Dave Knoll said Timberline will sell name-brand clothing and shoes at discount prices. It will feature casual comfort in Northwest styles.

BOISE – In his keynote speech this past week at the Pacific Northwest Economic Region’s big annual conference in Boise, Idaho Gov. Butch Otter had some sharp words for the federal governments of both Idaho and Canada. Otter told the group the best answers come from groups like PNWER, which brings together state and provincial officials from the U.S. and Canada to address regional issues. Ideas that bubble up from communities around the region, he said, “are going to be a whole lot better than either you get out of Ottawa or we get out of Washington in the United States.” That drew a burst of applause. “I’m gonna look for answers from you,” he said. “… All we need is for the rest of those folks to get the hell out of the way.”

Coeur d’Alene Viking Construction Inc., 6953 N. Caracara Lane, residence and garage, valued at $102,000.

For 07-19-2009

Living Water Camp Meeting – Weeklong services Aug. 9-14, delivered by preachers from all over the country. Sunday services at 8 and 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Weekday services at 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. at Post Falls Baptist Church, 1608 N. Spokane St. Nursery care provided for children up to age 5, free dinner each weekday at 5 p.m. (208) 773-5870. Weekly Events

It’s hard to not divulge the specialty without telling the name of the place. Garlic Jim’s Famous Gourmet Pizza plans for its first outlet in the Inland Northwest to be in Coeur d’Alene. Yes, featuring pizza with garlic (and homemade sauces and fresh cheeses and dough), the store will open later this summer in the 2,215-square- foot space formerly occupied by Wheat Montana in the minimall in the northwest corner of Highway 95 and Haycraft Avenue.

Recycling glass. The question in Sandpoint these days seems to be, do they or don’t they? Residents are uncertain whether the glass they put out on the curb each week is actually being recycled or whether it is dumped into a landfill. In an effort to clear up some of the confusion, a group displayed a sign in the recent Fourth of July parade that said Sandpoint does recycle glass. Some people who observed the sign said they were sure the statement was incorrect. So what is the truth and why the confusion?

Today All That Jazz (Jazz) – 2 p.m., St. Maries Art Festival, Cherry Bend Boat Park, St. Maries, 245-3563.

Supremacist Richard Butler is dead and his compound bulldozed. But that doesn’t mean racism in this region or country has vamoosed, too. In fact, the Southern Poverty Law Center reports the number of hate groups has gone up 50 percent in the past eight years, to 962 – a record. Earlier this month, Seattle’s KOMO News talked with 30-year-old racist Jerald O’Brien, who has stamped his skin with Aryan Nations symbols and has promised at Butler’s headstone “and my father, who art in heaven, that I would not let this die and I won’t lose my faith.” The Southern Poverty Law Center told KOMO there are three reasons for racist resurgence: exploitation of the illegal immigration issue, the crumbling economy, and the election of Barack Obama. O’Brien told KOMO “white America is waking up.” But Tony Stewart and Norm Gissel, who with the late Bill Wassmuth led the decades-long fight against Butler’s organization, predicted any attempt to resurrect the Aryan Nations in North Idaho will be met with stiff resistance. Stewart offers a bit of advice that I heard often while covering his human-rights group: “You never, never decrease the problem by ignoring it.” Anyone confused about the word “never”? Condom confusion

Jamie Packer would have been the first to lace up his skates and take the ceremonial first step onto a new indoor hockey rink in Sandpoint. But Packer did not live long enough to see that dream achieved. He died in a car accident four years ago.

POST FALLS – Young athletes soon to return to the region’s middle schools and high schools may receive free sports physicals Thursday between noon and 4:30 p.m. at Coeur d’Alene Pediatrics’ Post Falls office in the Kootenai Health Park, 1300 E. Mullan Ave. The program, now in its 12th year, is sponsored by Coeur d’Alene Pediatrics, Kootenai Health and Panhandle Health District.

Local sushi lovers are relatively spoiled when it comes to finding top-notch dining-out options, but it wasn’t always that way. Takara introduced the idea to downtown Coeur d’Alene in 1992, and it remained the area’s sole provider of sashimi and maki rolls until about midway through this decade when sushi bars began popping up faster than you can say “Domo Arigato Mr. Maguro.” Bonsai Bistro, Syringa, Fisherman’s Market, Japan House and Sandpoint’s Oiishi are all great sushi spots, but there are times when a formal dining affair isn’t really feasible and that yen for sushi just won’t cease.

Stormy weather rolled through the Inland Northwest last Sunday, and I was the lucky one filling in at the KREM weather center that afternoon and evening. When we get thunderstorms this time of year, it is usually the threat of dry lightning and the associated wildfire danger that is at the forefront. Fortunately, last week’s storms brought heavy rainfall along with the frequent lightning. On the flip side, many of these storms, which originated in northern Oregon, also had a history of producing damaging winds as well as large hail.