They Roll Heads And We Lose

Sure, Spokane City Hall has had quite an exodus since Mayor John Talbott and Co. won a council majority in November. Ten department heads have resigned, retired or been axed. But Coeur d’Alene is keeping pace. In the last year under Mayor Steve Judy’s reign (of terror), four departments have lost their heads, not including two city administrators who were shown the door. Finance Director John Austin was the latest to receive his blindfold and cigarette. Such turmoil can’t be good for City Hall morale or efficiency. But it does make this Potatohead wonder who’d be better at playing Alice’s headhunting Queen of Hearts: Talbott or Judy?

How do you spell `stupid’? S-i-g-m-a N-u

A Sigma Nu member is found bound by duct tape in his burning Wazzu frat house Saturday and he sez - what? That it wasn’t a big deal? That it’s a typical kind of thing the Sigma Nus do to each other? And you thought Beavis and Butt-Head were passe? Heheheh … Take a note to Carl’s Jr.: Nice to see you’re requiring Spokane worker bees to get hepatitis shots. What with a Third Avenue Carl’s Jr. employee contracting the disease and all. But don’t forget us Potatoheads. Here’s hoping the policy is extended to the soon-to-open Coeur d’Alene restaurant … Till annulment do us part: “Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire?” was not womankind’s finest prime-time hour … French fries on the Side, or What Spokane City Manager Henry Miggins Sez He Isn’t: 1, A yes man; 2, A puppet, 3; A headhunter; 4, An unqualified dogcatcher; and 5, A long-term investment.

All aboard! McCain Express is moving out

As an “Anyone But Alpha Gore” voter, I don’t mind that the Inland Northwest is smitten by John McCain, too. But what are you bandwagon jumpers going to do when you find out Big John is almost as conservative as Dubya? … In the category of “Our Loss is Eastern Washington’s Gain”: Kootenai County Medical Foundation Director Jim Faucher has taken a similar fund-raising job with Providence Services of Eastern Washington. Faucher helped found Coeur d’Alene’s outstanding fund raiser, Festival of Trees … Quotable Quote: “I know that these (hate) organizations and groups do not in any way represent the good people of this area” - civil rights lawyer Morris Dees addressing a sold-out Spokane crowd … This edition of Hot Potatoes was brought to you by the number 1.5. Or the number of trees that are sacrificed each year per person for junk mail.