Best of the Northwest

I was such a fool. For once, I tried to be open-minded about plans by The Duane to build a botanical garden in downtown Coeur d’Alene. After all, I figured, closing two blocks of Sherman Avenue for a botanical garden seemed like a good trade — even if the bazillionaire didn’t want to pay a red penny for the use of public property. Or for street realignments. Now, calling from his megayacht in the Caribbean, The Duane has announced he also wants a block of Front Avenue, so his guests don’t get run over crossing the street to his nearly empty mall here . (Seems the skywalk between the parking garage and the mall isn’t good enough for them.) That’s one bridge too far for me because I know The Duane has other cards up his sleeve. Here’s a guy who wants the city to give him three city blocks when he wouldn’t give a square inch of rocky Sanders Beach in return. It’s time someone told this guy to jump in the lake.

1. Cartoonist Noah Kroese /UI Argonaut doesn’t believe Dubya shed tears when Secretary of State Collin Powell resigned here .

2. Boy-C State cracks the Top 10 for the first time in Bronco football history here and is ranked No. 7 in BCS standings here .

3. Monday means my Huckleberries column here .

4. My padre, Pastor Steve Massey of Hayden Bible Church, points out in his biweekly column for The Spokesman-Review that believers today need assurances just like people did in Bible times here .

5. Fresh from a stunning defeat, Leftest MoveOn.org organized get-togethers throughout the nation, including in Seattle, to encourage disciples to continue to push pacifism and gay marriage here .

6. IMHO-NW: Jim Moore /P-I ( Apple Cup win ), James Vesely /Times ( Washington suburban politics ), Spokesman-Review ( Abstinence-only teaching needed ), Idaho Statesman ( Idaho’s stake in Cabinet picks ), and Coeur d’Alene Press ( Ripping Washington water interests ).

7. Jack Potter has become an encyclopedia of knowledge about Glacier National Park in his 35 years he’s spent hiking, skiing and cross-country skiing in the northwest Montana treasure here .

8. University of Idaho’s Delta Sigma Pi’s chapter has been put on probation following the deaths of two members in a motorcycle accident here .