Grass Growers Can’t Be So Sure

How can grass growers say unequivocally that field smoke had nothing to do with my friend Kelly McAnally’s near-fatal Sept. 9 asthma attack? How can they say, with 100 percent certainty, that their smoke didn’t kill asthma sufferer Sharon Buck of Sandpoint last month? I’ve supported the growers for years. Their industry pumps millions of dollars into the local economy, and their fields provide an appealing buffer to growth while filtering gunk out of the Rathdrum aquifer. But I don’t know how much longer I can back an industry that probably is sending people to the hospital - and maybe the morgue. Kelly, a Kootenai Medical Center nurse, collapsed during her shift. She used to sing in church. Now, she can’t. She used to be a marathon runner and swimmer. Now, she isn’t. Medical experts believe she contracted asthma as an adult from field smoke. The industry disagrees. But its knee-jerk denials are wearing thin.

Rathdrum response worse than water scare

Rathdrum, Idaho, residents can be thankful they didn’t have a serious coliform problem in their drinking water recently. If they had, a bunch of them would have the trots, or worse, today - courtesy of city officials. Seems City Hall knew for a week that the town’s water supply might be tainted. But city workers kept mum and - in this day of the Internet, Call Waiting and fax machines - opted to send warnings via “snail mail” when state health watchdogs issued a boil-water advisory. Hence, another two-day delay in notification. Schools were contacted like everyone else - by mail. So, classes were canceled Thursday because administrators didn’t have time to collect bottled water for 2,600 students. Later, Public Works Director Bob Lloyd said the problem was overblown - after all, E. coli wasn’t involved. Do you suppose Bob was boiling his water while the notices were in the mail?

Judge hands down common-sense ruling

Common sense is alive and well on Idaho’s 2nd District Court bench. Judge Ida Leggett, an ex-Coeur d’Alene attorney, restored some of my faith in the judiciary last week by ruling that the University of Idaho isn’t responsible for baby-sitting students. Rejena Coghlan of Spokane had sued the university and the state Board of Education after she fell, drunk, out of a third-story sorority window in August 1993. The fall paralyzed her from the waist down. Seems her attorneys thought the university was responsible for providing a safe environment. But it’s impossible to do that when Suzy Q guzzles four beers, whiskey and mixed drinks. Next case.

, 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.