In The Sore Eye Of The Beholder
Run that by me again: Regulators suspect as many as 100 junkyards operate in Kootenai County without proper permits or insurance. But they won’t do anything about them unless someone complains? In effect, Kootenai County is victimizing residents like Don Tryon. In winter 1992, Tryon moved onto five acres in the Garwood area - only to discover after the spring thaw he was living next to a field of rusted cars, rotting tires, broken boats and crumpled trailers. He complained - and the matter has bounced back and forth between the lenient courts and county ever since, with Tryon caught in the middle. Now, neighbor Alden Arveson has erected a hideous fence composed of mobile home siding. And all the county can do is shrug and say: “We don’t regulate beauty.” Fine. But how about regulating the regulations on the books?
Defense attorneys say the darndest things
Attorneys are paid to come up with all kinds of goofy explanations and mitigating circumstances to defend their clients’ crimes. But Michael Henegan beats them all for suggesting why jealous wife Barbar Flomer shouldn’t face an attempted first-degree murder charge. Flomer? She’s the ex-Moscow police dispatcher accused of turning her husband’s girlfriend into Swiss cheese. The Aug. 17 shooting cost Delaine Hawley her spleen, pancreas, left lung, a kidney and portions of her liver. She’s not out of the woods either. Esquire Henegan believes, however, that the charge against his client should be reduced to a misdemeanor because (drum roll, please) she had no malice toward the “other woman.” Gracious! How does Flomer act when she’s really mad?
What will the ACLU say about Bob?
What’s this? Kootenai County Commissioner Bob Macdonald, the born-again darling of the Natural Law Party (and possibly its only Idaho member), believes transcendental meditation is just the ticket to fix government? Yep. Natural Law followers believe TM solves crime, improves health and fosters social coherence. Do you want to point out to Bob and his gang, or should I, that TM is also an eastern religious practice? As such, Thomas Jefferson’s infamous wall separating church and state would prevent them from foisting TM on unsuspecting government workers. Yet, Macdonald, who’s trying to run as a Natural Law Party candidate for Coeur d’Alene’s House District 3B seat after losing his Republican primary for commissioner, is singing the praises of TM in his new life as a lame duck. Has someone slipped something in the courthouse drinking water? , DataTimes MEMO: D.F. Oliveria’s “Hot Potatoes” runs Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can comment on the items by calling (800) 344-6718 or (208) 765-7125, or by sending e-mail to daveo@spokesman.com.