Losing This Bet Only For The Snout-Hearted

Post Falls High School won the basketball wars Wednesday but lost the Prairie Pig spirit battle. As a result, Post Falls Principal John Billetz found himself nose to snout with a Vietnamese potbellied pig. The pig was part of a side bet with Lakeland High School Principal John Meyer. For displaying the most spirit, Lakeland won a tiny, battery-operated pig and the joy of watching Billetz plant a wet one on Miss Piggy. But Billetz cheated and pecked the porker’s shoulder. Then he grabbed a mike and blurted, “All the students who didn’t wear school colors are to report to my office in the morning.” (Hey, I hear the pig wasn’t impressed either.)

Old habits die hard

Kerri Thoreson listens to her police scanner at home, though she left her job as Post Falls Tribune publisher to direct the local chamber of commerce. So she wasn’t surprised recently when her father, Kootenai County Commissioner Ron Rankin, called to say he was OK. The commish was snarled in traffic by a fatal car wreck on Mica Hill. He knew his daughter would be worried if she was dialed in because the accident occurred the time of day he had left work for his Kidd Island Bay home. It’s nice for a parent with a lead foot to check in with his kids occasionally.

Rousing send-off

Hundreds of Dr. Colin Cross’ friends will honor him between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Wednesday at KMC Health Park in Post Falls. The sawbones has fought intestinal cancer for two years and is facing radical surgery Feb. 10 in Bethesda, Md. Come one, come all. … North Idaho College student union reconstruction has been an inconvenience. But students take solace in the name of the company doing the work: MoMike Salvage and Demolition. They think it sounds ebonic. Not so, says Mo Noder of the MoMike moniker: “I didn’t think it sounded so ethnic.”

Rumorama

Word is leaking out about possible North Idaho fall matchups. … Huckleberries has heard Democrat Monica Beaudoin wants to represent Bonner County again. The ex-legislator/teachers union exec is broadcasting her plans to all, including likely opponent state Rep. John Campbell, R-Sandpoint. … Wine-and-cheese Democrats who attended Larry Belmont’s retirement party are pushing him toward a race against state Rep. Jeff Alltus, R-Hayden. The ex-Panhandle Health District director will decide about his political future in late March. … Ex-basketball coach Rolly Williams is said to be huddling with North Idaho College friends, deciding whether to run as a Democrat or independent against state Sen. Gordon Crow, R-Hayden. … Finally, Cecil Kelly is considering a race against Rankin - that is, if Rankin survives the Republican primary. GOP regulars are beating the bushes for someone to take out “Your Ol’ Buddy Ron.” Stay tuned.

Huckleberries

“Way to go, Dad!” read an “attaboy” left on our Web site by a Duke University student, celebrating the news that David Reese had been named Panhandle Health District director. Izzat you, Jeremy? … “The answers are clear to me, although I am not a member of the Idaho Senate - yet,” said Josh Buehner, 20, of the North Idaho College Human Equality Club, lobbying for tougher sex offender laws. And daydreaming? … “Coming Soon: Pasty Depot,” says an intriguing new sign on the building across Northwest Boulevard. Are we talking about those British meat pies? Or a missing “R”? Or worse? Stay tuned. … Poor Vern Newby. The Washington Water Power Co. official dedicates his free time to keeping signs off company poles, and what does he get for it? A U.S. Bank ad in both local papers, featuring a sign attached to a power pole, ballyhooing indexed money markets. … CDA’s Tom Car has his own horror story about U.S. Postal Service Express mail (“Huckleberries,” Jan. 26). Seems his sis in San Diego mailed a package to him on Dec. 29, three-day Express - and it arrived Jan. 10. Be careful out there.

Parting shot

From Bonner County comes word that the school board is thinking about buying out President Clinton’s contract. Gotcha.

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

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