Huckleberries Best of the INorthwest — 10/20/06

One of the nation’s newest citizens also is among its oldest. Nadezhda Ivanova Deynega, who turns 100 in January, loves everything about America. here . (Dan Pelle/Spokesman-Review)

Daily Briefing: How SR’s Jim Camden got his skewp about Kathy McMorris’s tough eastern Washinton race here .

1. Washington residents can blame the oil refineries serving the Intermountain West for paying some of the highest gas prices in the nation — sort of here .

2. Attempting to shore up support in what she describes as a surprisingly close race, freshman Rep. Cathy McMorris held a phone-in “town hall meeting” Tuesday morning and enlisted a Senate ally Larry Craig to defend her actions on veterans’ issues here .

3. Sisters Marnie and Annelise Driflot from Eagle, Idaho, will cheer on opposite sidelines when Boise State meets Idaho Saturday here . Meanwhile, UI is looking to beat BSU for the first time since 1998 here .

4. University of Washington President Mark Emmert received an annual pay raise of more than $100,000 Thursday here . Shawn Vestal/Campus Commons discusses here .

5. Seattle boosters hope its new brand and slogan “metronatural” will help visitors equate it with something other than gloomy, overcast days here .

6. IMHO-NW: Rich Landers /Spokesman-Review ( Teacher meets moose match ), Sarrah Benoit /UIdaho Argonaut ( Obsession with boozing, partying ), Billings Gazette ( Memorializing a Montana war hero ), Frank McGovern /UI Argonaut ( War withdrawal better than indulgence ), and Jamie Kelly /Missoulian ( Come fly with a geek ).

Online Poll: 18.1% of 613 respondents to a Seattle PI poll say they’re now using Internet Explorer 7. Another 44.5% say they aren’t and they don’t plan to upgrade soon.

*Wild deer chases runner from Bend, Ore., during race (with video) here . Free subscription required.

*New power plants and conservation have led to a surplus of electricity in the Pacific Northwest this year here .

*A man who was dressed in a gorilla suit when he grabbed a 5-year-old boy at a Lakewood store two months ago has surrendered to police here .

Orbusmax Special: 26-year-old man accused of sex act with family dog faces Washington prosecution here