Bikers’ War A Riveting Tale Full Of Holes

Has it really been 10 years since the “Great Twin Lakes Biker War”? Gather around children. On Aug. 28, 1987, an upset woman reported to authorities she had seen 20 armed, camouflage-clad men near her home, east of Twin Lakes Village. Later, George William Lane, then 26 of Rathdrum, stumbled into a Highway 41 bar with a story that 75 bikers were shooting it out. He’d seen three people who looked dead, scores wounded. He’d been shot at. Of course, that sent cops, reporters and medical teams scrambling. Ultimately, the story was a hoax. And Lane was arrested on narcotics charges. So, what brought the Biker War to mind? A colleague pointed out last week there’s now a road between Spirit Lake and Twin Lakes appropriately named (drum roll, please) Ghost Rider Lane.

Paint it black

The media are concentrating on the wrong element of Give-‘Em-Helen Chenoweth’s planned helicopter tour of the Boise National Forest with House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Who cares whether or not Our Miss Chenoweth was involved in the coup d’etat to topple Gingrich? What inquiring Idaho minds really want to know is this: What color are those helicopters? … Over coffee Thursday at T.W. Fisher’s, Helen mentioned a poll that showed her name recognition in the 1st District at 92 percent. Moments later, a young waitress approached her and asked: “Are you Linda?” … As I entered Fisher’s, I saw something that made my jaw drop - Kootenai County Commissioner Ron Rankin and Republican stalwart Lee Shellman laughing amiably at Hale Ashcraft’s coffee klatch. We’re talking oil and water here, folks. Cats and dogs. Those two have hated each other for years. Yet, after Rankin had his knee replaced last spring, he turned to Shellman for physical therapy. Rankin’s analysis of his former enemy’s competence? “He’s the best there is.”

Lawn mower man

Sherry Adkins is the only person I know who’s run over a lawn mower while it was running. She had just pulled into The Spokesman-Review parking lot when a sleepy groundskeeper pushed his machine under her rear wheels. Afterward, the kid surveyed the wreckage and pronounced the mower fit for further service. (As a pancake?) I’d love to have been a fly on the wall when he explained the mishap to his boss. As for Sherry? She’s glad he hadn’t been pulling the mower instead.

Huckleberries

The Federal Emergency Management Agency must be convinced the closure of its disaster field office in Coeur d’Alene is big “disaster news.” Why else would it send us seven identical news releases reporting the nonevent? … Good thing Diane Sprinkle stopped payment on a check that was missing from her checkbook. She later found it, with her name forged and made out to a 15-year-old acquaintance - for $99 billion. No petty thief there. … A sticker looking for a bumper: “The ark was built by amateurs. The Titanic was built by professionals. …” Shhhh. Coeur d’Alene Councilman Ron Edinger has told dozens of his closest friends he wants to be mayor again. Stay tuned. … Hmmm. I wonder if the beginning of the divisive field-burning season really is the best time for the Intermountain Grass Growers Association to unveil its new Web site (http://www.nicon.org/igga)? Battle stations. … Gary and Penny Lambert of Lambert’s Jewelry on Kathleen went after the WWW crowd with this readerboard message: “http://www.you should have/got jewelry/dummy.com.” But, if you try that Web site, you’ll be lost in cyberspace.

Parting shot

A U.S. Forest Service news release that told of the two-week closure of a stretch of “Coeur d’Alene River Road” panicked the Silver Valley. A lot of people use the road along the north fork of the Coeur d’Alene River. Residents breathed easier upon learning that the USFS really meant Old River Road on the opposite side of the north fork. Groused one of my bloodhounds: “Don’t those guys ever look at their own maps?”

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

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