And another thing …

His two scents worth. Bonner County constitutionalist Steve Aver has a keen legal mind and knows what he can and can’t do under the law. And there’s a good chance he has a constitutional right to reek of body odor while demanding courthouse access. Aver is the man who was thrown out of the courthouse by judicial decree because he smells so bad that his presence is said to gag some county workers and distract many others.

You have to wonder why Aver insists so much on his rights while completely ignoring the nonstatutory right of fellow citizens to work in a clean, nondistracting environment. If he’s trying to punish judges and county officials with his smell for slights, real and imagined, he is offending the wrong people. Meanwhile, whatever message he’s trying to send to fellow Bonner County residents is getting lost in the aroma.

Wheels of misfortune. In 1994, an earthquake centered in Northridge, Calif., displaced 20,000 people. The feds responded by offering emergency vouchers modeled on the Housing and Urban Development’s Section 8 program. Voucher recipients could rent apartments near schools, jobs and social and medical services.

Hurricane Katrina has displaced at least 10 times as many people, but the feds have chosen to reinvent the wheel by purchasing more than 100,000 trailers and grouping them in cramped spaces far from population centers.

The beauty of housing vouchers is that they break up concentrations of wealth and place people near transportation, employment and services they need to lift themselves out of their circumstances.

Trailer ghettos are a quick fix that will leave lasting damage.

Rustic setting. To protect your quality of life, many cities and counties limit your neighbor’s right to display rusty DeSotos in their yards. But such limits mean little if not applied.

With enforcement warnings going ignored and fines going unpaid, Spokane County commissioners are considering a task force that will get tough – sort of.

Commissioner Mark Richard says the intent isn’t to go after people with three or four junk cars, even though the law plainly permits only two. Is that what’s meant by “close enough for government work?”