Idaho Voices

Girls 100 – 1, Camille Reynolds (Lakeland) 12.5. 2, tie, Shaundra Scott (Post Falls) and Dominique Billingslea (Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy) 12.8. 4, tie, Ashley Burke (Lewiston), Hanna Johnson (Coeur d’Alene), Melinda Van Dyk (Sandpoint) and Krista Perry (Lew) 13.0.

We’re back to reality after a nice warm-up earlier this week. The only record broken during the “hot” spell on Tuesday, was in Wenatchee where the mercury rose to 84 degrees. Cold weather has returned, with overnight lows dipping below freezing once again. Average lows during this time of the year are in the upper 30s, but the average date for the last frost is not until around May 4 for this area. Believe it or not, frosty temperatures have occurred as late as mid-June, though it is extremely rare.

When Chris and Carol Peine’s 100-year-old farmhouse just south of Sandpoint caught on fire, they were lucky that the Sagle Fire Department responded quickly and extinguished the flames, leaving damage only to an upstairs bedroom, a lower-level wall and loss of very few personal belongings. That was midday on March 28. The fire crew stayed at the sight for several hours and even returned in the early evening to ensure that the fire had been fully extinguished.

Filings from March 20-25 Chapter 7 (liquidation petitions)

Coeur d’Alene Jess Jensen, 1210 E. Sherman Ave., commercial, interior remodel, valued at $50,000.

For 04-19-2009

Losing a loved one can be a devastating experience for anyone. But for children, the grieving process can be especially confusing, scary and isolating. There’s help in Bonner and Boundary counties for youth who are undergoing this journey. For 12 years, Bonner Community Hospice has hosted a Summer Kids Camp for any child ages 8 to 17 losing a loved one.

This week Country Western Gospel Jubilee – Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Lake City Community Church, 6000 N. Ramsey Road, Coeur d’Alene. Free entertainment. Free-will offering accepted. (208) 765-8580.

Coeur d’Alene School District will be holding kindergarten registration on Tuesday at all local elementary schools. Registration requirements include a certified copy of the child’s birth certificate, current immunization records and a current utility bill to verify the family residence.

I’m not the hunting type at all. I will likely never create any kind of bang in the vicinity of an innocent, bushy-tailed buck. Still, I was expecting more bang for my buck at the White Pine Cafe, tucked inside the northeast corner of hunting and outdoor outfitting behemoth Cabela’s. The massive hype and excitement that accompanied the late 2007 opening of the burly sporting goods supercenter has waned enough that Q and I finally felt brave and bored enough to check it out on a recent gloomy Monday afternoon.

The Friends of Rathdrum Mountain will hold the second annual Toast to the Mountain today at the Westwood Inn and Steakhouse, 832 Main St. The fundraising event will include live music, door prizes and hors d’oeuvres.

In the “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished” Department, Berry Picker Kibby reports a close encounter with a sixtysomething F-bomber in the parking lot of Super 1/Kathleen Avenue. Seems Kibby spotted an old brown Lab mix waddling in the parking lot toward Highway 95, as she was leaving Ron McIntire’s store recently. She and two other women stopped the mutt and were about to contact management when the owner arrived. When Kibby & Co. asked if the dog was OK, the owner responded she was simply old and had jumped out of the back of his pickup (which was full of yard debris). Mebbe, said Kibby’s companion, the dog is too old to be riding in the back of a pickup. To which, the owner responding with an F-bomb and a don’t-tell-me-how- to-take-care-of-my dog. The hothead launched another cluster of F-bombs when the women explained they were trying to keep his dog from wandering into traffic. ‘Ere the owner and his limping dog walked off, Kibby stated: “That’s not how a real gent talks to a lady.” P’haps the hothead has been listening to too much rap music? She said … yes!

BOISE – Earlier, when House Speaker Lawerence Denney introduced a last-minute bill to require voters to show picture I.D. and to end mail-in voter registration in Idaho, he said the bill probably wouldn’t get a hearing this year – and then, suddenly, a hearing was scheduled for the bill in the House State Affairs Committee. Then, on the eve of the early-morning hearing, it was canceled.

When times get tough, the tough get going. At least that’s how it is in the Lions Den in Rathdrum. Instead of allowing today’s challenging economic times to hamper the dozens of community projects they support each year, the Rathdrum Lions, local members of the largest service club in the world, have risen to the challenge with a really great motivator – a wager.