Perhaps That’s Why She Is So Red In The Face

Ah, there’s nothing like a faux pas to start a new job out right. Ask Ronald Bell, North Idaho College’s interim president. At a ceremony to kick off a new era of cooperation between NIC and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, Bell introduced his wife, Donna, “who, by the way,” he said, “has some Native American blood in her.” Then, Bell asked his wife patronizingly over the PA: “Which tribe was it?” She mumbled something and her husband repeated it over the mike, “Cherokee and something.” The Coeur d’Alenes in the audience probably weren’t surprised. It’s an inside joke in Indian Country that most whites claim to be part Cherokee. My wife, for example, is one-eighth Cherokee. I swear.

Strike two

But that wasn’t all. Pa Bell also introduced Ernie Stensgar, the longtime Coeur d’Alene tribal chairman, as “Chief Stensgar.” Someone’s been watching too many old Westerns. … In his remarks, Stensgar lauded the role education has played in bringing honor and dignity to the Coeur d’Alenes. Tribal members, he said, go off, earn degrees and become teachers - “and attorneys.” After a pause, Stensgar deadpanned: “Well, there’s nothing we can do about that.” … A guest at Amy Reagan’s Gotham Bay cabin arose Saturday before last expecting the best cup of coffee in the region. After all, Amy’s Java Java at Appleway and Ramsey was one of the first coffee huts in Lake City. But Amy was beanless on Lake Coeur d’Alene. So, the sleepy-eyed visitor drove the winding road to Beauty Bay, rousted a shopkeeper and settled for the same cup of MJB that we all did.

In (cyber)space

Kootenai County Sheriff Pierce Clegg has to run his department better than his web site. First, KCSO invites net surfers to click on to a management menu of 12 boxes, blank except for a meaningless icon. Then, the sheriff’s “10 Most Wanted” list offers only one desperado: “The Spokesman-Review.” I’d better watch the company I keep. … Hmmm. Last Monday, the Idaho Fish & Game Commission served notice of a meeting in Clark Fork, two days hence, to discuss the chinook season on the Boise River. At the bottom, the notice added: “Interpreters for persons with hearing impairments and brailled or taped information for persons with visual impairments can be provided upon five days’ notice.”

Huckleberries

Before being put on hold, Al Bricker of Sandpoint humored an IRS agent at Ogden, Utah, by asking: “Do you have any (canned) Willie Nelson?” … Bonner County Commissioner Bud Mueller shocked the gendarmes during a recent workshop about the sheriff’s marine budget. Seems they’d argued that the deep cuts proposed by Mueller would hamper their recovery of drowning victims. Responded Bud-Bud-Budmueller: What’s the hurry? They’re dead anyway. … Name Game: The U.S. Forest Service contact person at the Red River Ranger Station appropriately is named Ken Stump. … A white Jeep parked downtown offered this sign in the rear window: “The keys are on the front seat, right next to the Doberman.” And they might have been, too - if the Doberman in the front seat had allowed anyone to get close enough to look. No false advertising here. … Among the giveaway items in Bonner County Bee classifieds Thursday were a female rat, geese, Guinea pigs and “free kitchens.” Save one for me. … I was surprised to see a Brand X photo of my ol’ pals Rob Eachon and Gale McCalmant backpacking along some train “trussles” along the Taft Tunnel Trail.

Parting shot

The Coeur d’Alene branch of the U.S. Postal Service put its customers on hold recently when it switched its local number to (800) 275-8777. Callers reach a national postal service center and then sit on hold forever before talking to a customer service representative - who may not be able to answer their questions. And USPS officials wonder why e-mail has taken hold.

, 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