A few leftover bottle rockets
At the risk of getting socked with that steep new $513 fine for setting off fireworks in Spokane, here are some potentially explosive thoughts (and a few duds) to end July with a bang:
• Beloved Gonzaga hoops star Ronny Turiaf’s heart condition might keep him from playing pro basketball. Reviled Spokane Mayor Jim West vows his latest bout with cancer won’t force him to step down. Did someone accidentally switch those scripts?
• BNSF Railway is suing the engineering and construction firms that designed and built its leaky North Idaho refueling facility. The railroad aims to recoup the $18 million it’s lost – even including a $100,000 fine levied by the state of Idaho. So much for those heartfelt apologies in which BNSF accepted responsibility for its debacle. If it’s proved the railroad’s penny-pinching ways contributed to the problem – as Spokane’s Lydig Construction alleged last week – someone ought to give arrogant BNSF officials a “state-of-the-art” butt kicking.
• Justice Sandra Day O’Connor apparently enjoyed wetting a line with The Spokesman-Review’s Rich Landers during her recent Spokane visit. But there’s no truth to the rumor O’Connor admitted she’s gone fishing from the Supreme Court because our legal system has devolved from Roe v. Wade to Rove v. Plame.
• So it turns out an area couple owns the house connected to the U.S. side of that alleged drug-smuggling tunnel into Canada. But maybe they were just plotting their escape from Spokane County.
• In last Saturday’s story about Idaho sex offender John R. Tuggle’s alleged stabbing of his daughter, Shoshone County Sheriff Chuck Reynalds theorized, “I don’t think it was revenge.” The S-R’s Cynthia Taggart then recapped a 1996 state hearing at which “Tuggle told the Commission of Pardons and Parole that he planned to return to his wife’s home …” As the hearing minutes state, “He said he was mad and he wanted to get back at someone.” Conclusion: Maybe sheriff shouldn’t be an elected position.
• Earlier this week the Spokane Indians were tied for first in their division with two other teams. They all sported woeful 15-18 records. Minor-league baseball fever … You’ll get over it.
• Liquor stores open on Sunday? Tax breaks for gambling? Life’s really starting to get fun around here. Would it seem greedy to ask about hookers and heroin?
• A cattle truck flipped and caught fire last Sunday on I-90 near Coeur d’Alene. Heck, that’s just one crashed A1 Steak Sauce rig away from being a barbecue.
• Spokane political gadfly Steve Eugster may reenter public life with a state Supreme Court run, S-R columnist Jim Camden reports. Does that mean Eugster might someday sue himself over one of his own rulings?
• The nation’s first Hooters casino has opened east of the city, complete with Hooters Girls in orange hot pants. Finally, someplace besides TGI Fridays to give Spokane Valley some class.
• SpoVegas also welcomes new City Attorney Michael Connelly, who’s descending the career ladder after stonewalling – I mean spearheading! – Spokane’s investigation into Mayor West’s online shenanigans. Does Spokane Valley have an official probe that needs mishandling, too?
• The latest big box going up in Liberty Lake got me thinking: When they build a new Home Depot, do they have to buy their construction materials at Lowe’s?
• Given the Mariners’ disastrous season, is anyone surprised to discover the team fields a relief pitcher named J.J. Putz? Guess the M’s couldn’t sign that hot young phenom Butterfingers McLosingstreak.
• Last shot at the buzzer: May all of Ronny Turiaf’s dreams – hoop and otherwise – come true.