Commissioner Flat Out Fails Chivalry Test

Yes, that was Patty Rahn - dress, high heels and all - in the Bonner County Courthouse parking lot trying to change Commissioner Bud Mueller’s flat tire. Seems Bud-Bud-Budmueller rushed by the commissioners’ secretary en route to a meeting, threw his keys down and said something like “I’ve got a flat tire; go fix it.” Patty was struggling with the lug nuts when a janitor came to her rescue. He pumped some air into the tire and told Patty to take the vehicle to a service station. So, chivalry is alive in Bonner County after all - barely.

Visions of grandeur

Bonner County gendarmes were skeptical when transient Paul Martin Young, 42, told them he was a special FBI agent. This, after he had been arrested for trespassing near the water treatment plant. But there’s more. Young also confessed he was President Clinton’s personal physician and that U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy was his lawyer. Outrageous? Not really when you consider that Bob Howman, Bonner County’s special education director, claims he once was a pro football player, an Olympic weightlifter and a clerk for a Supreme Court justice. Maybe it’s something in the water at that treatment plant.

A fistful of dollars

No, Coeur d’Alene High School Principal Steve Casey wasn’t on the take at the 1997 graduation ceremonies. The dollar bills handed to him by graduates as he shook their hands had a noble destiny: the local food bank. … Take a message to District 271 Superintendent Doug Cresswell: Next time you retire, don’t pick your commencement speech to tell us of your accomplishments and future plans. The night’s for the kids - and inspiring oratory. … Recently, the Coeur d’Alene Press published a list of 101 things to do in North Idaho. No. 61 suggests you keep up with the news by reading North Idaho’s daily newspapers: the Press, the Bonner County Daily Bee and the Show-No News Press of Kellogg. Do you suppose Brand X left The Spokesman-Review out on purpose? Or is it just another typo? … Hmmm. You’d think there’d be free sandwiches and soda for the Kootenai County sheriff’s deputies who helped save Bayview by building a sandbag dam. But no-o-o. JD’s charged the pooped cops a dollar a pop. The restaurant had better hope it doesn’t need a patrol any time soon.

Huckleberries

For some reason, a bloodhound thought I should order a vanity plate like the license plate spotted on a Washington car on 15th Street: “666DFO.” I think I have an image problem. … It’s my 2 cents: If the remaining North Idaho College trustees pick someone other than ex-trustee Norm Gissel to fill a board vacancy, they’re not serious about cleaning up their mess. … Bumpersnicker on a brown pickup with Idaho plates: “My karma ran over my dogma.” … The Prichard flea market sends in this nominee for “Worst Pothole on Interstate 90”: the one in the farthest-westbound lane just past the Cataldo Mission. Be careful out there. … Female pages at the 1997 Idaho Legislature named state Sen. Jack Riggs, R-Coeur d’Alene, as “Most Kissable” because he hands out Hershey Kisses. Jack’s likely to hold that title, too - at least until his Senate comrades start clipping the hair out of their ears. … Chamber of commerce manager Pat McGaughey had reason to crow recently at the Coeur d’Alene Rotary Club. His daughter, Margie, will travel with a select group of students to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Parting shot

Last week, you read about the unreasonable demand made to 70 mining companies by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. EPA’s desk jockeys demanded that the firms turn over their mine records for the last 117 years by this Thursday - or else. But that’s not all. The EPA also advised those with questions to contact assistant regional counsel Clifford Villa. Never mind that ol’ Cliff has been on vacation most of the month. He gets back today, though. You can reach him at (206) 553-1185.

, DataTimes MEMO: Got a Huckleberry? Call the Huckleberry Hound Hotline at (800) 344-6718 or (208) 765-7125 or send e-mail to daveo@spokesman.com.

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