Memo To Judy: Do You Need All That Space?
They’re knocking out walls at City Hall because new City Administrator Bill Panos wanted a conference room in his office, too. In the good ol’ days, administrators had the big office with a conference table because they regularly met with underlings. And the mayor had the smaller office. That changed when Mayor Steve Judy was elected and insisted on the big office. The Boy Mayor could have saved us money by swapping offices again, particularly now that he’s keeping city hours only on Tuesdays.
Rumorama
If state Sen. Jack Riggs is tapped to become lieutenant governor, buzz is that the three nominees to replace him in the Senate will be Dick Compton, Bob Nonini and (drum roll, please) The Boy Mayor. Judy, after all, was an aide to then U.S. Sen. Dirk Kempthorne before he became a local superstar. And then a falling star … Judy & Co. laughed after I described the council as “a collection of owners of small businesses.” Actually, Dave Walker is the only one who operates a 9-to-5 business, Ace Travel (and Huckleberries hears he’s going to turn it over to his wife in February). The rest are underemployed, retired or run small businesses from their homes.
Missed manners
When we last tuned in, KXLY newscaster Eric Cannavaro was getting tongue-lashed in Priest River by a NASA astronaut for interrupting her. So, what’s new? On Wednesday, he ignored a request from IS-R staffers to come back later to photograph a shaken survivor in that Athol murder-suicide. Afterward, he said: “You can’t tell me what to do. I was here first.” And that’s why the media are viewed as vultures.
C’mon, be happy
Why’s County Clerk Dan English grinning? After the county switched to optical-scan ballots in 1996, he sold 300 used punch-card booths and tabulators for $20,000. Now, sez he, it’d be easier to sell nuclear waste than punch-card equipment … After it refused to allow racist Richard Butler to use a conference room, the Silver Lake Motel fielded this crank call: “The white people have been here longer than you. You can go back to wherever you came from.” It was anonymous, of course. Cockroaches do business that way … “At least they tell me it has been 106 years. I assure you that I haven’t been around for all of them” - exec Laura Skaer opening the 106th Northwest Mining Association meeting in Spokane … If the Idaho Employment newsletter is right, that’s some McDonalds restaurant being planned for Rathdrum - all 32,000 square feet of it.
Huckleberries
Coeur d’Alene Press pooh-bahs must believe the adage that a picture’s worth a thousand words. Hence, the Brand X policy that requires staffers to produce photos that contain a total of at least 25 local faces in each paper … Separated at Birth: Did you notice during the “Grinch” movie that Jim Carrey sometimes sounded like Sean Connery? … Huckleberries salutes Keith Babor, Kay See Ess Oh deputy of the year and bowler extraordinaire … Bumpersnicker on an old brown Ford rig: “Should a guy who wears a white tuxedo date a gal who chews tobacco?” … Bumpersnicker on a beige Cadillac: “Anger is a condition where the tongue works faster than the mind” … Gillon S. Johannson’s that fella you’ve seen standing along Northwest Boulevard with that green laminated sign that sez: “NIC student needs a ride” … Anyone seeking that Panhandle Health District receptionist’s job needs to meet “fluency in one or more of the following” minimum qualifications: “speaking, writing, reading both Spanish and English, willingness to work in a correctional facility” … In a letter, a greenie explains he voted for Al Gore “because having Busch as president will be a catalyst for a manmade catastrophic environmental disaster as the likes we have never seen in modern times.” Anyone drink to that? … Look for Coeur d’Alene Tribal Chairman Ernie Stensgar to be among the American Indian reps at opening ceremonies of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.
Parting shot
Only one person in the courtroom raised his hand during jury selection when Deputy Prosecutor Rick Baughman asked: “Are there any of you that harbor frustrations with our criminal justice system?” And that was defendant Henry Luke. He’ll have ample opportunity to become even more frustrated - now that he’s been convicted again for a brutal assault on a Seasoned Citizen.