Betsy Z. Russell

A group of Idaho inmates staged a sit-down strike at a private Louisiana prison over the weekend and won a surprising concession: more veggies. Officials at the Basile Detention Center agreed to increase portions of vegetables at meals after hearing the inmates' demands. "We took a look at them, and we agreed with them that in this particular case, the kitchen shift officer did not give them enough," said Floyd Antley, operations manager for Louisiana Corrections Services Inc., which owns and runs the prison. "So we made sure that that didn't happen again."

Tony Paquin has history against him. If the Coeur d'Alene computer entrepreneur succeeds in his attempt to unseat two-term U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth in the Republican primary, it would be a first.

Paquin

Imagine, if you will, that a 135-foot-high hot air balloon shaped like a Tyrannosaurus Rex has just landed on your roof. It's happened. About five years ago during the Boise River Festival hot-air balloon rally, Dino the Dinosaur set down on the roof of a home in southeast Boise. "The lady that lived there was so thrilled, she was so excited she could hardly stand it," said Scott Spencer, event director for the balloon rally. "She was busy taking pictures of it."

Idaho would get more than $10 million a year under the settlement with U.S. tobacco companies, said David High of the state attorney general's office. "It will, I believe, significantly reduce minors' smoking, which will ultimately save some lives," said High, chief of the civil litigation division. "Secondarily, the state will receive some payment for the wrongful acts of the past." Idaho was the 35th of the 40 states to join the lawsuit, filing its suit on June 9.

Walk into any convenience store, plunk down $2, and you can try for a royal flush, full house or three of a kind to win. Or for $5, match your cards against the dealer's in blackjack. Line up lemons or cherries on your paper card for a win. Match numbers against a picture of a roulette wheel or see if your pictured dice add up to 7 or 11. These are scratch-off ticket games offered by the Idaho Lottery. The Coeur d'Alene Tribe says the only difference between the scratch-offs and its new Internet lottery is that the tribe's version uses modern technology. While the state believes the tribe's Internet operation runs smack into Idaho's constitutional ban against electronic imitations of casino games, the dispute appears to be opening new legal issues where the terms have never been defined. Nowhere in Idaho law is there any definition or description of the state lottery's instant-win scratch games. "I don't think they're illegal," said David High, the gambling law expert in the Idaho attorney general's office. If they were, Idaho's state lottery could kiss its profits goodbye. Seventy-one percent of the lottery's sales - $64 million last year out of a $91 million total - are scratch tickets. "I think they appeal to the player in Idaho," said Dennis Jackson, state lottery director. "You get it, you scratch it, you know immediately whether you've won. It's entertaining." Idaho is ranked about 10th in the nation in per-capita sales of scratch tickets, Jackson said. In a letter to the National Indian Gaming Commission last week, Coeur d'Alene Tribal Chairman Ernie Stensgar said the tribe's Internet lottery games are identical to the state's. "For scratch-off games, we produce virtual rolls of tickets that reside on a computer located on the reservation," he wrote. "A customer purchases a ticket from this roll through their personal computer, over the telephone lines." The symbols on the ticket are preset, just like on the paper tickets, Stensgar said. He also wrote, "We have developed our games using familiar lottery 'themes."' I. Nelson Rose, a Whittier College law professor and national expert on gambling law, said, "Paper scratch tickets are paper slot machines." But their legal status depends on state law, he said. And video slot machines are treated differently by federal Indian gaming law. "This sounds like one of those cases that's going to end up in the courts," Rose said. Jackson credits some of the success of the state's scratch-off lottery tickets to their snappy, original graphics and themes. "It's all done right here in-house," he said. The way a scratch ticket works, there aren't really that many options for the type of game, Jackson said. A series of symbols is covered with a latex material. Players scratch the material off to reveal the symbols. Either they can match symbols to each other or to something else on the ticket to win, or they can match up rows or patterns like tick-tack-toe. "But there are unlimited kinds of graphics you can put on the top," he said. That's where Sherie Wood comes in. As graphics coordinator for the state lottery, she designs games such as Bonus Bowling, Wishing Well, Aces High and Sweet Rewards. In the lottery's three-person marketing department, "We kind of get together once a year and brainstorm," Wood said. From a list of names of games developed at the brainstorming sessions, she and a freelance illustrator develop the scratch tickets. "I try to make everything entertaining and fun and colorful," said Wood, who keeps a set of Mickey Mouse ears atop her oversized computer monitor. Her efforts have led to whimsical games such as "Squeaky Green," which pictured a cartoon character in a bathtub with a rubber ducky and required players to match three bars of soap or three duckies to win. Other games have used casino themes, sports themes or holiday themes. Said Jackson, "The real key in the marketing of these things is you need to have a variety, a selection. The game has to stay fresh and new." "There are people who like the casino theme, the Royal Flush, a blackjack kind of theme," Jackson said. "But we don't sell more of the Royal Flush, necessarily, than we do of the Cash Charmer." The Charmer features a cartoon snake charmer playing a bright yellow flute, with cash fluttering out of the snake's basket. Players match three snakes or three flutes, tick-tack-toe style, to win up to $37. In 1993, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe filed a lawsuit against the state over issues that arose when it negotiated with the state for a gaming compact. Among the issues in the case were whether the state's casino-themed scratch-off tickets were equivalent to playing the casino games. U.S. District Judge Harold Ryan wrote in his decision, "There is a considerable difference between a lottery ticket with a poker theme, and a live, banked card game at a casino." The card game would be illegal, Ryan wrote. "However, the Tribes may certainly conduct their lotteries in the same fashion as the State." The state's compact with the Coeur d'Alenes specifically authorizes the tribe to have paper scratch ticket games like the state's. That leaves open the question of whether the computer versions are just modern equivalents, or whether they cross the line of the constitutional ban on electronic imitations of casino gambling. Jackson, a one-time Arizona police officer who spent much of his career in management and banking, said he knows some people object to gambling, regardless of whether the lottery tickets use casino game themes or flutes, ducks or cars. But his job isn't to make policy, he said. It's just to run the lottery that Idaho voters approved. "The most successful game we have is the Bingo card," he said. "That sells head over heels."

Even when it was small, Boise was known as the headquarters for a raft of big corporations. Today, the biggies based here include Albertson's grocery stores, timber giant Boise Cascade Corp., Ore-Ida Foods Inc. and computer chip powerhouse Micron Technology.

Sandy Faulkner/Ward used to visit her husband in prison here three times a week. Then one day, he called her - from Texas.

Rents for state-owned cabin sites at Priest Lake would have to rise dramatically to reach market rates - which the state is required by law to charge. "We need to do something more than we're doing to get to market rent," said Bryce Taylor, a bureau chief for the state Lands Department. "What that more is, is the more difficult question."

Gov. Phil Batt wants the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's new Internet lottery shut down. Batt said Friday that he and Attorney General Al Lance believe the games offered on the tribe's "USLottery" Internet site are illegal casino games, and he's asking the U.S. attorney's office to take action. If federal authorities don't act, Batt said the state might sue. Deputy Attorney General David High, speaking for Lance, said, "They are offering casino gaming on the Internet. Video lottery, video slots, video poker, video Keno, video blackjack - essentially the same games that you would find in any casino. And they'd be available in your home." Tribal officials, who met with Batt Wednesday to demonstrate the games, were taken aback. The games are all electronic simulations of Idaho Lottery games, including specific scratch-off ticket games and the lottery drawing itself. When customers play the tribe's "Lotto 6/49" game, for example, they pick numbers and then watch as six balls are selected from among 49, to see if their numbers match the balls. That's how Idaho Lottery drawings look when broadcast on television. But High said the Lotto games are merely electronic depictions of casino-style Keno. The tribe's "Lucky 21" game is similar to a state lottery scratch-off game that uses a blackjack theme. But High said it's really a depiction of the casino game of blackjack. The state's gaming compact with the tribe allows instant-win scratch-off games only if they're played on paper, High said. David Matheson, tribal gaming CEO, said, "That is so ridiculous. That's like saying an accounting system is no longer an accounting system because it's automated. Or saying files are no longer files because they're not on paper, they're on a computer disk. That's more than splitting hairs. That's taking things to a ridiculous level." Matheson said the tribe could, theoretically, require players to print out their tickets from their home computers in order to play. Tribal officials, in addition to demonstrating the games to Batt, met with U.S. Justice Department officials in Washington, D.C., to show them their plans. "We gave them a thorough demonstration, and nobody raised an objection or a tough question," Matheson said. "There were people at that briefing in Washington from the criminal division, the computer fraud division, and other divisions. We wanted to make sure everybody, including the governor, had a chance to see what we were going to do before we did it." But Marc Haws, civil chief for the Idaho U.S. attorney's office, said Friday that federal officials are concerned about the tribe's Internet operation. "This proposed action by the Coeur d'Alene Tribe to establish a national lottery which could be accessed to play casino games within a person's own home is a very serious new development on the issue of Indian gaming," Haws said. "The United States has serious concerns about it, and the U.S. attorney's office for the district of Idaho in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., is evaluating what actions the federal government might take." When the Coeur d'Alenes met with Batt and other state officials, Matheson said, "We pleaded with him and anybody in the room to tell us which of these games do you think are not acceptable, and we will gladly modify them so everybody is happy. And nobody would tell us." "We're kind of shooting in the dark here," Matheson said. "We're trying to be the good guys about it. Then we leave town, and we find out we got ambushed." Both High and Batt said they wouldn't object if the tribe ran a more traditional lottery, with drawings held at regular intervals such as three times a week, and sold its tickets over the Internet. "We would not have a problem with that," High said. "Many other states would, but we would not." Matheson said the tribe already is planning to do just that. It's planning to add the traditional lottery to the services on the Internet site, which is at http://www.uslottery.com. The site is in only limited operation, with its official launch scheduled for next fall. The state of Missouri already has sued the tribe in a county circuit court there, saying its Internet lottery violates Missouri state laws. But the tribe says federal laws, not state laws, apply to its gaming operations. Under federal Indian gaming law, a sovereign Indian tribe may offer any game that's legal in its state, if it negotiates a gaming compact with the state. Said Batt, "I have told them in the past, if we have a lottery in Idaho, they can have a lottery." Matheson said High suggested at their meeting Wednesday that the tribe consider filing a friendly lawsuit to get a judge to rule on whether or not the Internet games fit in with the compact. "We said that might not be a bad idea, we might want to do that," Matheson said. "But now, we don't know how to read the statements of today." The tribe's compact with the state has provisions for binding arbitration to resolve disagreements, he noted. "Instead of grandstanding and saber-rattling, there's a logical and reasonable way to handle this."

Coeur d'Alene tribal officials expressed confidence Thursday that they'll beat a Missouri legal challenge to their new Internet lottery. "We expect more (challenges)," said tribal gaming chief executive David Matheson. "Ultimately, the entire issue will be decided in court, and we are very confident that we're going to win." The tribe maintains that when someone plays its lottery over the Internet, the gambling is happening on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation in Idaho.

Private boat docks, public beach. The two can coexist at Priest Lake, the state Land Board decided Wednesday. The board gave final approval to a deal with Huckleberry Bay Co. to allow private docks at Huckleberry Bay and Canoe Point.

The Coeur d'Alene Tribe's Internet site, USLottery, can be found at www.uslottery.com. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Idaho could save $18.3 million or more over the next five years by reforming a Medicaid system that's inefficient, duplicative and not responsive to real needs, Gov. Phil Batt said Thursday. Batt unveiled a reform plan that calls for sweeping changes. He accepted 84 of the 88 proposals submitted to him by a special council he appointed last year and said some of the changes can begin immediately.

Several North Idaho bike trail projects won state grants Tuesday, with the money coming from petroleum companies that overcharged customers. Gov. Phil Batt designated $1.2 million from the Stripper Well Petroleum Violation Escrow Fund to bicycle and pedestrian path projects around the state.

Apparently it wasn't enough that House Speaker Mike Simpson snipped off Bob Fick's gosh-awful tie on the last day of this year's legislative session. Fick, the Boise bureau chief for the Associated Press, has donned the ugly tie for years to signal when a legislative session has gone on too long.

The Idaho Land Board's deal to allow private boat docks along a public beach at Priest Lake is running into local opposition. Homeowners near Canoe Point say plans for a 24-slip community dock could mean safety problems in an area already heavily used by boaters and water-skiers - along with the occasional swimmer or canoeist. And the Selkirk-Priest Basin Association says private docks just aren't compatible with a public recreational easement - and if the Land Board doesn't listen to their arguments, they might sue.

U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth apologized Tuesday for statements last week about racial diversity, but she stood by her opposition to the U.S. Forest Service's minority hiring program. "She deeply regrets if her statements offended anyone," Chenoweth spokeswoman Khris Bershers said. "That was certainly not her intent."

GTE will not receive an exemption from competition for being a rural phone company, Idaho public utilities commissioners ruled Monday. That opens the door for competitors to offer local phone service in North Idaho, which now is served entirely by GTE. Three companies have been approved by the state Public Utilities Commission to compete in the area; all are negotiating agreements with GTE to use its lines. Eleven others have applications pending.

Four strong opponents of gambling, four state legislators and four tribal representatives will make up Gov. Phil Batt's committee to study the future of Idaho gambling. Batt announced the appointments Monday. Lt. Gov. Butch Otter will be non-voting chairman. The committee will "collect information and gain expertise as to the social and economic costs and benefits of gaming activities," Batt wrote in an executive order. The group will make recommendations by Nov. 1 for consideration by the Legislature next year.

Sun-swept scenes of Idaho's outdoors roll across the TV screen. There's whitewater rafting. Golf. Fly-fishing. Horseback riding by quiet water. "A lot of vacation, just a short drive away," boasts the announcer. Or, in another ad, "This is your backyard. Go out and play!" With Idaho's tourism numbers leveling off, state tourism officials are launching some television spots this summer that pitch the state's recreation and attractions to folks who already live here.

U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth said Friday that North Idaho has plenty of ethnic diversity, and she's against the Forest Service trying to recruit minority workers who she said simply aren't attracted to the region. "If it were attractive to individuals maybe in the Hispanic community, Afro-American, to be in Northern Idaho, well, they would be here," she said. "It's an area of America that has simply never attracted the AfroAmerican or the Hispanic."

Idaho's Supreme Court justices had sharp questions for both sides in the term-limit debate Wednesday. The high court heard arguments for 10 Idaho legislators' challenge to the term-limit initiative that passed last November. Justices likely will issue their decision this summer.

Tony Paquin has been all over the state, testing the waters for a run against U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth. Next he'll step onto a statewide stage - right in Coeur d'Alene.