Idaho Voices

BOISE – A new project that tracks word usage in the Congressional Record shows that the most-used word by our current senior senator, GOP Sen. Mike Crapo, in the past year was “energy,” followed by, in order, “Idahoans,” “stories” and “prices.” For 2nd District GOP Rep. Mike Simpson, the top word was “Idaho,” followed by “research,” “account” and “systems.” Does this tell us something of where their minds and efforts in Congress lie?

Schools Wallace High School Alumni All-Class – July 23-26, includes Slippery Gulch Celebration. A full agenda will also be posted at www.sd393.k12.id.us once available. Contact Marcy Hayman at (208) 752-4661 or e-mail marcyhayman@cebridge.net.

You “Caddyshack” aficionados will appreciate the recent Code Brown drill that occurred at the leisure pool in the Kroc Center (although a number of families present at the time did not). Joe Butler and Berry Picker MamaJD were on hand when Code Brown took effect. Seems MamaJD was preparing to swim at a birthday party when a, ah, Baby Ruth was spotted floating in the leisure pool. This was no false alert. A Bill Murray character did not calmly wade over and eat the evidence, a la “Caddyshack.” You see, Code Brown stands for poo in the pool. Several Code Browns have occurred at the Kroc. Which results in a cleaning exercise that takes a while. Which, on the last occasion, forced families with small fries to crowd into other swim areas. Which caused Joe Butler to wonder why the Spokane Valley YMCA is able to evac/clean/sanitize and reopen its aquatic areas under Code Brown conditions in 15-20 minutes. Which makes your Huckleberry Hound ponder how many Code Yellows go undetected. Ee-yew, too

It looks like June is living up to its reputation for being the peak thunderstorm month across the Inland Northwest. Storms caused power outages across parts of Eastern Washington last Wednesday, and earlier storms resulted in flash flooding across Eastern Washington and North Idaho. Some of the heaviest rains occurred just southeast of Northport, Wash., where 1.41 inches fell in less than an hour. The 24-hour total in Inchelium, Wash., from this past Monday to Tuesday was 2.90 inches. Many of the heavy rain-making storms were compact, dropping lots of water on one part of town, while only sprinkling another. Though the Spokane airport has received nearly half an inch of rain in the last week, it is still about three-quarters of an inch below normal for the year. Coeur d’Alene is holding to near normal values, though some parts of the city saw more than an inch of rain from localized downpours.

Coeur d’Alene – North Idaho College will hold a wrestling camp for high school-age students, beginning Saturday through July 1. A second camp will be held July 6 through July 10 for students of all ages. The high school camp will include technique instruction in the morning and two duals in the afternoon and evening. Teams will consist of approximately 15 weight classes and a team champion will be determined following pool competition.

Today J.A.M. BAND (ROCK/BLUES) – 4 p.m., Carlin Bay Resort, 33917 S. Highway 97, Harrison, 689-3295.

Filings from May 6-17. Chapter 7 (liquidation petitions)

Evil olive. No lemons, no melon. Desserts I desire not, so long no lost one rise distressed. I love palindromes, words or phrases that read the same forward and backward. In a truly cosmic twist of fate, Iranian-born chef Babak Haidari’s first name happens to be “kabab” backward and kababs happen to be Haidari’s calling in life. How about that for a stroke of luck?

Building Permits Coeur d’Alene

For 06-14-2009

Finding items to put into this space is never a problem. Narrowing the list as to what to include can be. Even with the economy struggling nationally, printing positive business here is not a struggle. Simply notice “coming soon” and “sold” signs around town. One example is the “Mother’s Haven coming soon” on the 1890 farmhouse at 2112 Government Way. New owner Margaret Hildahl is remodeling the former Country Porch store into retail spaces on the main floor and classrooms upstairs. She hopes to be open by the end of the month.

COEUR D’ALENE – The Coeur d’Alene Fire Department needs the community’s help. Since Sept. 11, 2001, fire and emergency service departments nationwide have struggled with increased demands coupled with reduced funding, the fire department said in a news release.

I have a large group of nonirrigated evergreen trees in my backyard. I figured that since these types of trees survive in the wild without anyone ever watering them, mine should fare OK. without receiving help from the sprinkler system. Mother Nature has not been very helpful recently and I finally had to drag the long hoses out to the trees. The area saw a long dry spell which started May 15 and didn’t end until June 8 with some much needed rainfall. As of June 10, Spokane’s total rainfall for this year is at 7.14 inches, just over an inch below normal. Coeur d’Alene is doing a bit better, having received 12.25 inches of precipitation so far this year, with the normal being 12.30 inches. Normal June precipitation is 1.18 inches for Spokane and 1.78 inches for Coeur d’Alene.

Most gardeners are familiar with compost made from excess plant materials such as leaves, grass clippings, garden trimmings and kitchen peelings. Piled up in a heap in a corner of the garden, kept moist and turned, this garden waste eventually turns into crumbly black soil gardeners call black gold. Another source of black gold that is returning to favor is farm animal manures. Long before the advent of modern synthetic fertilizers in the 1930s and ’40s, animal manures were the main source of plant nutrition. As we return to sustainable and organic forms of gardening and farming, their use is coming back into practice.

There was a time when Dave Turner meticulously reported on crime for the Coeur d’Alene Press. Today, he finds himself on the other side of the police blotter. Now a taxi driver, Dave drove a regular customer to Fred Meyer earlier this month. Only to have the customer run back out of the store and begin tearing the taxi apart in search of a lost wallet. When he couldn’t find his wallet, the customer demanded that Dave take him back to his house. When he didn’t find the wallet there, the customer returned to search the back seat of the car. Then, he accused Dave of taking his wallet and threatened to beat him. Finally, the customer disappeared into his house, stiffing Dave of his fare of $19.37. Which sounds like a worse ordeal than an editor hacking your copy on deadline. Monday, Monday