Camp Good Times Can Do Without Juice Stains

Thu., Aug. 10, 2000

D.F. Oliveria The Spokesman-Re

You’re no longer a superhero when a camp for young cancer victims doesn’t want your money. Not that O.J. Simpson was offering a doughnation to the American Cancer Society’s Camp Good Times. It was a mix-up. But I’m relieved that the camp escaped controversy. For years, my son, a cancer survivor, spent a free week at Camp Good Times, held at Camp Reed north of Spokane. The camp showed him he wasn’t fighting the Big C alone. That he could lead a normal life. That he was luckier than others. Now, he’s 21 and doing medical research this summer. Camp Good Times has helped many families through hard times.

I coulda been a super; I coulda been sumbody

Item: Riverside Superintendent Jerry Wilson gets $325,000 buyout. Fuhgeddabout the lottery. If you want to hit the jackpot, work to become a school superintendent or college prez. Get the boot. Then sit back and rake it in. Happens all the time … Why ask why? Why don’t we hear about that other gender gap? You know, the one that has Dubya leading Alpha Male by a bazillion points among white males? Seems Joe Sixpack thinks Al’s a truth-impaired, self-righteous nerd … First, AG Janet Reno visits the Julyamsh powwow at Post Falls. Now, Gen. Colin Powell is coming to Coeur d’Alene. Do you think the federales are secretly planning to invade North Idaho? Again? … French Fries on the Side (or, Those Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer): 1. Field burning; 2. Richard Butler trial; 3. Road construction; 4. Parking garage, Act 2, Scene 57; and 5. Two-a-days.

But windshield companies don’t seem to mind

The snow makes it hard to drive during the winter. Ditto, road construction in the summer. Talk about Catch-22 … With all this Republican talk about “compassionate conservatism,” I half expect Rep. George Nethercutt and his GOP primary opponent, Richard Clear, to show up in the newsroom and ask for a hug … Quotable Quote: “Frank Bartel’s writing skills and his nose for news were the talents that held the attention of veteran readers and generated discussion that attracted new readers” - Maury Twomey, retired Spokesman-Review circulation manager, giving our late business writer his due … This edition of Hot Potatoes was brought to you by the No. 21. Or, the number of games the Seattle Mariners are over .500 (as of Wednesday afternoon), the most in club history. Hot Potatoes has said it before: Ken Griffey Jr. - who?

D.F. Oliveria can be contacted at (800) 344-6718 or (208) 765-7125 or daveo@spokesman.com.

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