A Small Price For Quality
‘Mz Wanda” Quinn, chairwoman of the Coeur d’Alene School Board, is right when she says hiring a new superintendent is “the most important decision we will make.” She and other trustees also are right to hire a Washington consulting firm for $15,000 and expenses to help them find the right administrator. The volunteer board doesn’t have the time nor the expertise to conduct an extensive search. And no one wants the board to pick the first promising candidate who comes along to run its $44 million business. Remember Merlin Ludwig? He looked good - on paper. In two years, however, Ludwig’s brash management style alienated teachers, subordinates and the community. In Post Falls, meanwhile, some patrons remain upset that the district paid Kathy Canfield-Davis $30,000 in 1994 to buy her out of her superintendent’s contract. Fifteen thousand dollars? It’s a pittance to pay for finding the right superintendent.
Wild animals matter to this judge
By George, I think he’s got it: Last week, I groused about a Salmon judge for slapping the wrists of two creeps who poached seven elk and a deer - a month after they’d forfeited their hunting licenses for poaching. Now comes Magistrate Thomas Ryan. The Owyhee County judge fined two Oregon poachers $3,200 apiece and ordered them jailed for three months for killing four elk. The judge also made them write letters of apology to the local newspaper. Would that more judges appreciated the value of these magnificent animals.
Out of the mouth of babes
Sandpoint High soph Kristy Osmunson deserves Sweet Potatoes for demanding of the joint Idaho House and Senate Education committees Tuesday: “I would like you to provide the students, specifically me and my classmates, with a guarantee that our school is safe. I would like that in writing, if that is possible.” The solons laughed. But they wouldn’t have if they’d been sitting in the Sandpoint High gym Dec. 30 when the roof collapsed.
Tater Tots
State Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, has made a good first impression in Boise, according to my spies. She works hard. Asks good questions. And seems to be everywhere. … James Earl Ray’s need for a new liver should be treated with the same compassion he felt as he took aim at Martin Luther King Jr. … Another reason things are looking up: Business people outnumber lawyers in the 105th Congress, 181 to 172, the first time that’s happened since Congressional Quarterly began keeping track of members’ occupations in 1953.
, 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.