Legislators Can’t Shy Away From Field-Burning Issue

Apparently, state legislator Lisa Brown of Spokane likes to do her arm-twisting in private. Recently, she backed out of a Priest River, Idaho, meeting on field burning after learning that the media had been invited, too. And that’s not all. Brown, a Democrat and House minority whip, apparently reneged on a promise to help underwrite expenses for the meeting, according to organizer John Savage, who’s out about $1,000 in phone bills. Meanwhile, Idaho state Rep. Wayne Meyer, R-Rathdrum, met with Savage & Friends - though, as a grass grower, he was exposed to their criticism and local news cameras. Now that the field-burning summit has unraveled, legislators such as Brown and Meyer need to search for a solution to this irritating problem. That’s hard to do, though, when a camera-shy legislator turns tail and runs every time someone yells, “Roll ‘em.”

Judge milks O.J. trial for excuse

Fourth District Judge Alan Schwartzman earns a “Hot Potato” for using the O.J. Simpson trial to justify his opposition to allowing cameras in the courtroom. When is the last time Schwartzman saw an O.J.-type trial in Idaho? Or Washington? Or anywhere else but Los Angeles, for that matter? The problem wasn’t cameras in the courtroom, but rather, the media circus going on outside the courtroom. Now, Idaho is in the seventh month of a one-year experiment allowing cameras in the courtroom. Before Schwartzman and any finicky colleagues torpedo the practice, they should consider the words of Frances K. Zemans, an American Judicature Society executive: “It’s the only way that the public can get real access to the courts. I think what the television has allowed the people to do is to see the system in action - warts and all.”

Is Hagadone done folding Shoshone papers?

Hmmm. Seems the rumors about the Wallace Miner were true. The Hagadone Corp. folded the trade weekly into its Wednesday edition of the Shoshone News-Press this week to save newsprint costs. The move apparently caught the staff (which is always the last to know) by surprise since the Miner had published a half-page advertisement in its final edition soliciting two-year subscriptions at $175. Not a word about the “merger” was mentioned in the Miner or the Show-No News-Press. Now, a second rumor is circulating in the Silver Valley - that Hagadone plans to replace the News-Press with a Silver Valley version of the Coeur d’Alene Press. Has Hagadone’s flagship paper overextended itself? Has it given away too many Coeur d’Alene papers to legitimize its unaudited circulation figures?

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