Cigar Smoker Is Just A Pain In The Parade

The self-inflicted flap involving local Democrats and the American Heroes Parade Committee wasn’t the only Fourth of July stinker. So says Lela Biernacki. She and paradegoers endured second-hand smoke from a cigar-chomping man in a T-shirt advertising The Balloon-A-Tic. Seems he and three others arrived late, pushed their way to the curb at Fourth and Sherman and stood there, blocking the view of others. Mr. Spoilsport, says Lela, puffed on not one but two cigars - the second in defiance of a woman who asked him not to do so. The Balloon-A-Tic on Fourth Street should insist the man change his ways. Or his shirt.

Semi-authentic

You gotta hand it to Universal Pictures for being true to Wallace High School. The mascot for “Dante’s Peak” high school? Miners, of course. But then the studio strayed. Dante’s Peak has way too many art shops, antique boutiques and galleries among its fake storefronts to be mistaken for the historic mining town. Then, there’s “The Woodchopper,” a fake bar that would send any self-respecting logger scrambling for his Stihl. … Two Seattle transplants are doing brisk business as “Dante’s Peak” go-fers. For a slight fee, they run errands for the Hollyweird visitors, do laundry, drive to Costco and even bake cookies. “Volcano Crisps” are their specialty. … Even the venerable Jamison has gotten the motion picture bug. It offers a drink special: “The Dante’s Peak: A cool summer explosion.”

Still protecting her cub

In case you were wondering, Bonner County Prosecutor Tevis Hull’s float in Sandpoint’s parade July 4 had hidden meaning - for Huckleberries fans. The float featured Hull’s mother, her head in a cut-out drawing of a bear, with the legend, “Protecting Her Cub.” That was the subhead I used for a Huckleberry April 15 that told of Mama Hull seeking donations for an ad defending sonny’s dubious decision not to prosecute the man who shot a deputy. The gal’s got spunk. … Spoilsport II: Ray Miller, the Sandpoint council curmudgeon, was AWOL as Mayor David Sawyer led his council playmates on bikes down the parade route. Thfffft. … Debra Compton, daughter of Kootenai County Commissioner Dick Compton, has had it rough lately. A political consultant, she’s been at ground zero in a flap involving Commissioner Bob Macdonald’s questionable finance statements. Now, an S-R reporter has caught her entering the Avon Lady’s illegal business on Best. She bought something, too. Do you suppose Debbie was working under cover for the county? Nah.

Huckleberries

Wonder what the huge Fourth of July crowd along Coeur d’Alene’s waterfront would have thought if (drum roll, please) it’d known the explosives for the Jaycees fireworks display had arrived in two Ryder trucks - each with an Oklahoma plate? … A bumpersnicker from Sandpoint offers this sober thought: “Many try to seek God at the 11th hour, but die at 10:30.” … Suzy Snedaker’s impressed that people still care. A get-acquainted meeting for her CdA neighborhood was called - and 50 people showed up. Councilwoman Dixie Reid and planning commissioner John Bruning, too. Sa-a-a-alute. … Ambulance attendants chuckled after fishing S-R photographer Liz Kishimoto out of a Post Falls wreck recently. “Where’re we going,” asked our dazed shooter. To Kootenai Medical Center, came the reply. “Oh,” she responded, “the blue one.” As blue as they get. (You had to be there.) Onward.

Parting shot

So, you think the bureaucrats aren’t all that arrogant? Consider this demand accompanying a news release sent by Daniel H. Fraser of Boise, Rural Utilities & Community Development director: “Attached please find a news release that must be in your area newspaper immediately for public information. If you cannot print this public notice, please contact our agency to advise us of the reason.” We didn’t like his attitude?

, DataTimes MEMO: Gotta Huckleberry? Call the Huckleberry Hound Hotline, (800) 344-6718 or (208) 765-7125; E-mail: DaveO@spokesman.com.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = D.F. Oliveria The Spokesman-Review