Primary Prompts Peroration

The pundits have been pontificating like mad all week down here. And pondering. And pooh-poohing.

The point of contention: What does it mean that Bill Levinger, a candidate who spent most of the campaign in a psychiatric ward, drew 32 percent of the vote against U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth?

Chenoweth’s Democratic opponent, Dan Williams, called Levinger’s tally “a staggering blow” to Chenoweth.

The day after Tuesday’s primary election, Williams said, “Yesterday was a severe setback for Rep. Chenoweth. To call it anything else is looking through rose-colored glasses.”

Chenoweth, naturally, sees it differently, blaming the result on Democrats crossing over to vote against her in the Republican primary and other factors. But she did sound a little miffed election night.

“To those who may be sending a message with their vote, we will continue to work hard. I will continue to work hard with Idaho on my mind,” she said.

If you add together the votes cast for Levinger, and those for Democrats Dan Williams and Matt Alan Lambert, the total anti-Chenoweth vote in this week’s primary election comes to 38,083. That falls short of her 38,565 vote total - meaning she still got just over half of the votes cast.

Chenoweth isn’t dwelling on the perfidy of her party’s primary voters. She says she’s ready for the fight ahead with Williams.

“I think it’ll be a spirited campaign in the best tradition of American politics,” she said. “I plan on winning.”

What’s the hurry?

Drivers up north - particularly in Spokane - are known for running red lights. For some reason, Boise drivers seem to have the opposite problem: Stopping at green lights.

It’s a common occurrence here to have the car in front of you slow down and even come to a full stop at a green light.

Boise drivers also seem to enjoy cruising along at 10 or so mph below the speed limit on occasion, perhaps to smell the spring flowers as they go. This driving behavior seems to be strongest in the downtown and North End areas.

There’s one exception, though. Boise has one busy commercial district, around its new shopping mall, that’s a wall-to-wall, bumper-to-bumper slice of southern California, right here in Idaho. After waiting through three lights to get through an intersection, people don’t hesitate to zoom through on the yellow.

The shopping mall was a political controversy that divided Boiseans for years before it finally was built out along the freeway. Now, the area around it is known as “the maul.”

We’re about to be discovered

This September, several hundred travel writers will gather in Boise for the annual conference of the Society of American Travel Writers. The prestigious group often holds its meetings in exotic overseas locales, but this year, the writers will spend their time whitewater rafting, biking, touring and sightseeing in Idaho. Then, in 1998, the North American Ski Journalists Association will converge on Sun Valley for its annual meeting, bringing in several hundred of the United States and Canada’s top ski writers and photographers.

The Idaho Department of Commerce played key roles in attracting both groups.

, DataTimes MEMO: North-South Notes runs every other Saturday. To reach Betsy Z. Russell, call 336- 2854, fax to 336-0021 or e-mail to bzrussell@rmci.net.