Here’s a crash course in crowd control

So, where were Kootenai County Sheriff Rocky Watson’s deputy dawgs when the fireworks quit bursting in air at the Bayview Daze celebration? As far as Charlene Soppit is concerned, the county mounties were MIA when oohers-and-ahhers gridlocked on the way out of Bayviewtiful. Charlene runs Bayview Liquor and a mobile home park. She told Huckleberries that this year’s fireworks crowd was as big as any she’s seen during her approximate 30 years as a resident. That’s why she was peeved when deputies failed to direct traffic at the busy intersection of Corbin Street and Hudson Bay Road. So she and daughter Annie Parker took matters into their own hands. They directed traffic for at least 2 1/2 hours, Charlene estimates. Fortunately, Charlene’s resume includes work as a “flag lady.” It’s not that deputy dawgs weren’t present to arrest drunks and keep order; Charlene said several officers waved as she directed them through the intersection. They simply didn’t have their priorities straight as the tired crowd slowly put Lake Pend Oreille in their rearview mirror, she said.

“Huckleberries hears locals have a new nickname for U.S. 95 between Appleway and Lancaster Road: the Berlin Wall. At certain times, when traffic is backed up from stoplight to stoplight, 95 divides the east side of Coeur d’Alene from the west.

“For the second time in two weeks, gumshoes are investigating the theft of a Bible from a car (along with a $105 stereo this time, from Joshua Florence/CdA). Either thieves are trying to get religion, or clever evangelicals have found a new method for getting the word out.