Deadly Serious Debate

How can a driver squealing his tires balloon into a fatal shooting by a police officer?

Boise is grappling with that question, after the Labor Day weekend incident left a 21-year-old man dead.

It happened at 1 a.m. in an area of downtown Boise with lots of bars frequented by a boisterous college crowd. Two cops on foot saw a flashy red car careening through a congested parking lot, squealing its tires, and they ran over and told the driver to stop.

When he didn’t, one officer reached in the car to try to turn off the ignition, and the other grabbed for the emergency brake. But Justin Atkinson accelerated.

The officer trying for the brake was thrown off, but Officer Christopher Rogers became “caught somehow,” according to police, and was dragged along as Atkinson sped down a downtown street at up to 80 mph.

When he swerved toward a sign, Rogers thought Atkinson was trying to knock him off the car. He pulled out his gun and shot Atkinson in the head, killing him.

At that point, Rogers was thrown off the car and it crashed into a building, injuring a passenger. Atkinson was declared dead at the scene.

It turns out Atkinson had a suspended license, was wanted on two outstanding warrants and was drunk, testing at nearly three times the legal limit for driving.

But the incident has been particularly disturbing for Boise, which has seen its police officers involved in six shootings in the past 20 months, five of them fatal.

In three of the shootings, the victim was shooting at police before they shot back. In a fourth, police shot and wounded a bank robber who came out with hostages.

But the latest incident and one last November involved unarmed, drunken young men who first attracted officers’ attention for their erratic driving.

Police Chief Larry Paulson has backed his officers, saying Atkinson was shot because he was involved in an aggravated assault on a police officer.

But many Boiseans still are troubled by the questions the incident raises. Atkinson clearly could have prevented the whole thing. His erratic, drunken driving was dangerous in the crowded downtown. But it’s shocking that the chain of events led so quickly to death.

Two separate rallies were planned this weekend in Boise, one protesting the incident, and one supporting the police.

Jack Van Valkenburgh of the Idaho ACLU, who is calling for an independent citizen commission to watch over the Boise police, said, “They had not had a bad reputation prior to a year ago.”

“But,” he said, “I think that reputation is quickly being marred.”

Don’t call it hooch

The latest thing among gourmet vodka drinkers across the country apparently is the liquor made from Idaho potatoes in tiny Rigby.

Teton Glacier Potato Vodka is winning taste tests against expensive imports and attracting national attention. That’s not bad for a product that was sold only locally just a few years ago.

A New Jersey company designed new packaging for it and started distributing it nationwide in 1996, and the crystal-clear, smooth vodka in the heavy square glass decanter took off.

The New York Times mused, “A subtle hint of viscosity rounds it off on the palate.”

Playboy gave it “a big thumbs-up” and called it “ultra-smooth.”

The Detroit Free Press noted, “It can also be used in dishes such as gnocchi with vodka.”

Keith Shumway, manager of a state liquor store in Boise, said it’s selling well at $17.95 a fifth.

“It’s gonna start hurting the higher-priced vodkas,” he predicted.

“It’s made from potatoes, not grain, and that is the key factor that makes it so smooth,” said Shumway, who attended taste tests with vodka aficionados that saw Teton come out on top. “Potato alcohol doesn’t have any bitter taste to it at all, it’s real crisp and clean.”

Teton Glacier is available in state liquor stores across Idaho.

No aliens, either

Sorry, drop the conspiracy theory.

Despite rumors that the U.S. House Republican leadership team would be escorted by Idaho Rep. Helen Chenoweth on a tour of Idaho forests via BLACK helicopter, the choppers that deposited the group at the Boise airport after their tour last week were less ominous.

The rented copters were bright blue and white.

, DataTimes MEMO: North-South Notes runs every other Saturday. To reach Betsy Z. Russell, call 336-2854, fax to 336-0021 or e-mail to bzrussell@rmci.net.