In brief: Former pro cyclist to lead Democrats
The Idaho Democratic Party, deep in the minority in a Republican-dominated state, has hired the former managing editor of a business journal in Boise as its new executive director.
John Foster, 33, succeeds Maria Weeg, who took over as party director in Arizona earlier this month.
Foster, who took a leave of absence from the Idaho Business Review while interviewing for the political job, was news editor for the Rio Grande Sun newspaper in New Mexico before returning to his native Idaho last year to take the business newspaper post.
The former professional bicycle racer faces a daunting task of rebuilding the minority party.
All seven statewide elected offices – from Gov. Butch Otter to state Controller Donna Jones – are held by members of the GOP. All four members of Idaho’s congressional delegation also are Republican, and Democrats are outnumbered 51-19 in the state House and 28-7 in the Senate.
Foster pointed out that Democrats picked up six seats in the House last November, in urban areas such as Boise.
“I took this job in no small part because I’m a competitive person. I love to win,” Foster said. “All the members of the executive committee feel that way.”
Foster said among his first orders of business is to help recruit candidates for the 2008 election.
Former U.S. Rep. Richard Stallings remains the state Democratic chairman.
Spokane
Man accused of death threats
A Spokesman-Review custodian was booked into Spokane County Jail Thursday morning on two counts of felony harassment – threats to kill.
John Fallows, 53, was being held pending a mental health evaluation, officials said. A bail amount was not set Thursday.
According to police, Fallows walked into a Group Health clinic on West North River Drive and laid a gun on a table. He then handed a health care worker a note and asked that it be read.
The note detailed a threat to kill two of his supervisors at The Spokesman-Review, said Spokane Police Sgt. Frank Scalise. Based on the threats and the presence of a weapon, Fallows was arrested.
The note also said Fallows planned to kill himself, officials said.
His actions appeared to be a call for help, Scalise said.
Fallows has worked at The Spokesman-Review since June 8, 1980. He worked a graveyard janitorial shift.
Blackfoot, Idaho
Giant spud’s return eases worries
Some fretted that the giant plastic foam potato that has celebrated Bingham County’s spud-growing prowess for more than 20 years had been snatched by vandals – but it was just taking time out for a makeover.
Four weeks after it vanished, the giant potato is back on its perch in front of the Potato Expo museum.
Merlin Wright, the Potato Expo’s financial officer, said he received at least 30 telephone calls from people wondering about the tuber, which is roughly 20 feet wide and 8 feet high.
“People from Canada would come in asking about the potato,” Wright said. “They wanted to take their pictures in front of it.”
But the potato was beginning to show the effects of age, weather and pranks, prompting museum board members to spend $2,500 on restoration and preservation. The work, paid through fundraising and donations, involved putting new layers of plastic foam and multiple coats of polyurethane on a wire frame.
The potato symbolizes the industry in Bingham County, which produces about 2 billion pounds of taters annually.
Methow Valley
North Cascades Highway reopens
The North Cascades Highway reopened for spring and summer travel on Thursday, more than two weeks ahead of the state Transportation Department’s schedule.
Cooperative weather stabilized snow conditions, allowing snow-clearing crews to work much faster than originally anticipated, said Don Becker, Twisp maintenance supervisor for the Transportation Department.
Crews started the clearing effort on State Route 20 on March 26.
The highway was closed for the winter last Nov. 13 due to avalanches.
Over the previous eight years, the pass has reopened for traffic between March 10 and May 7.
From staff and wire reports