Benefit breakfast scheduled Sunday

The 20th annual Shalena’s Breakfast with Santa is scheduled for Sunday at the Hauser Lake Fire Station.

The all-you-can-eat breakfast – featuring sausage and eggs, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, and beverages – is scheduled from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Suggested donations are $3 per person or $10 for a family.

All proceeds go toward the medical bills of a 15-year-old Idaho teenager suffering from leukemia.

The annual event began as a way to raise money for the family of Shalena Mobbs, who was diagnosed and later died of cancer. She was the child of a Hauser Lake volunteer firefighter. Every year, the Fire Department hosts the event to help a child with a serious or terminal illness.

The fire station is on Hauser Lake Road, a mile and a half from state Highway 53.

Postal office open next two Saturdays

Coeur d’Alene’s main post office is open the next two Saturdays to help people ship their holiday packages.

The post office, 111 N. Seventh St., will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Dec. 17 in addition to its regular hours, said Postmaster Philip Kuntz.

The postal station at the Coeur d’Alene Do It Center, 1217 N. Fourth St., also is open every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Customers also can use the U.S. Postal Service Web site at www.usps.com for stamps, postage, calculators, ZIP code locators, delivery tracing and other services.

High court suspends Spokane attorney

Olympia The state Supreme Court has indefinitely suspended Spokane lawyer Gail Schwartz from practicing law.

Schwartz, 52, has refused to cooperate with a state bar association investigation into a client’s complaints. It was the second complaint against Schwartz in recent months. Both clients said she did little or no legal work. One says she refuses to relinquish control of about $300,000 of his money while he serves out a prison sentence in Idaho.

Schwartz “is suspended from the practice of law pending compliance” with the bar association’s request for documents related to one of the cases, Chief Justice Gerry Alexander wrote. If she later complies, she can petition the court to lift the suspension.

Candidate takes campaign to Web

Lewiston

A candidate for a U.S. House seat from Idaho has created a Web log in hopes of reaching Internet-savvy voters who might fire up his campaign and bring in donations.

“There’s a significant group out there that spends a lot of time on the computer,” said 59-year-old Larry Grant of Fruitland. “They’re really vibrant right now and the purpose is to expand to them.”

Grant, a Democrat and former Micron Technology general counsel, is seeking the U.S. House seat Rep. Butch Otter, R-Idaho, is leaving to run for governor in 2006. One other Democrat and six Republicans are also running for Otter’s seat.

Boise-based writer Julie Fanselow was hired by Grant’s campaign to create the Web log, called Grassroots for Grant.

At Web logs, called blogs, groups or individuals can post articles or photos, and visitors to the blog can write comments.

Apology sought from Santa impostor

Springfield, Ore. Impostor Santa Clauses aren’t welcome at the Springfield Community Parade.

In six of the past seven years, the parade’s designated Santa has been Springfield resident Ray Jamison.

But during last weekend’s parade, another man donned a Saint Nick suit and rode through the parade route – in a makeshift tank turret.

Gary Swindler said he didn’t know about the rule barring other Santas, and that he wanted only to pay tribute to troops fighting in Iraq, and to a family member and combat veteran who died recently.

But Jamison, the true Santa, was approached by plenty of people who wanted to know why he would mix Santa and weapons.

He’s upset about the mistake, and a parade official wants Swindler to write a letter of apology to local media.