Proud To Be Making Some Good Enemies
Commissioner Ron Rankin’s still talking about that auction at the state GOP convention. Imagine, $7,000 just to sit at the head table next to actor Charlton Heston, the National Rifle Association prez. And $12,600 for a rifle autographed by Heston. Rankin is wondering if he could get that amount for the M-1 he held up during the Fourth of July Parade. P’haps. Mayor Steve Judy and any number of other political enemies might pay that, if it indeed came from The Ronfather’s “cold, dead fingers.”
I quit
Increasingly, the Boy Mayor drops this into conversations: “I quit subscribing to The Spokesman-Review six months ago.” (Or about the time Huckleberries caught him trying to get a Lake City High coach fired.) Recently, another Upbeat Breakfast diner brought him up short when he replied: “You mean six months and two weeks ago. You said the same thing to me two weeks ago” … Huckleberries is proud that nonsubscribers include Judy, Councilman Dave Walker and other City Council denizens … “A newspaper without enemies has no friends” - George Putnam.
Instant replay
Ribbon cutters had a false start for that dedication ceremony for a new section of U.S. 95 on Bonners Ferry’s north hill. Seems state Sen. Shawn Keough and Chuck Winder, the Idaho Transportation Board chairman, were gabbing when ITD spokeswoman Barbara Babic counted “one, two, three.” But they got it right the second time, after handy engineers taped up the ribbon - much like the project, which was wiped out by a 1998 mud slide.
Merry-go-round
At Farragut State Park, the drill goes like this: The rangers trap bears caught foraging in Dumpsters and drop them off behind Bernard Peak. Then, the bears scoot back to Farragut faster than you can say: “Why don’t those guys buy some bear-proof Dumpsters?” … Road crews made the terrible section of Centennial Trail along Northwest Boulevard even worse during the Fourth of July holiday. While patching and painting, they obliterated the section - not a good way to welcome new trail users to town … Huckleberries hears Lake City soon will ask K-County for an OK to build a million-gallon water tank in the tules. And that the county hasn’t forgotten about that $44,000 “consideration fee” that CdA charged to annex the jailhouse. Stay tuned … After several honks interrupted that meeting on a Bonner County dump site, the irate P&Z chairman ordered someone to do something. The problem? A fella outside was holding a sign that said: “Honk if you’re opposed to the dump site.”
Huckleberries
Tom Akren spotted this on Fourth Street: “If the chips are down, the buffalo is empty” … Proper cell phone etiquette sez you don’t jaw away while a U.S. Bank teller is trying to wait on you - and there’s a long line of customers behind you. Got that, Mr. Tank Top? … The pronouns don’t line up, but Norma Grimes’ TeeHee-Shirt message published in The Daily Bee Wednesday bears repeating: “I got my bypass before Sandpoint got theirs” … Bumpersnicker on a white Honda driven by a teen girl: “How’s my driving? Call my Dad” … So, how goes that Milo Creek project in the Silver Valley? Sez an update from the Idaho Bureau of Disaster Services: “Neckich Construction is moving at warp speed - or maybe a little faster.” Hey, it beats bureaucratese … Huckleberries isn’t going to name names, but Anne Nelson returned from work last week to find 60 flies trying to vamoose from her tidy home. Even flies don’t like what happens when you leave five eggs boiling for four hours.
Parting shot
Marlo Faulkner did a good job reviewing the CdA Summer Theatre’s “Hello Dolly” for the Inlander. And Huckleberries is eager to read other reviews by her. But her biography at the end of the “Dolly” review left out something - the part about her being a member of the theater’s board of directors. Hmmm.