Huckleberries Best of the INorthwest — 2/1/07

Dog trainer Lisa Lucas demonstrates to a gathering of federal inmates at Geiger Correction Center how to make a black lab mix from SCRAPS sit. Inmates will train dogs passed over for adoption at the animal shelter to make them more appealing to potential owners here /Dan Pelle, Spokesman-Review.

Eye On Boise: At least 2 Idahoans would pay $6K for 50-year-old bottle of scotch here .

1. Jason McElwain , or “J-Mac,” the autistic teen-ager who thrilled the nation by coming off his high school’s bench to sink six, three-point shots at the end of a game, is in Spokane as part of a fund-raiser — but he can’t say much about that because he’s under strict orders by his agent not to say anything to the electronic media. Story here . Video of his game performance here .

2. State wildlife officials released 42 bighorn sheep from Montana in the Laramie Peak Wildlife Habitat Management Area in an effort to boost the region’s herd and add genetic diversity here .

3. Nearly 11 months after he stepped down as head coach of the WSU Cougar basketball team, and recovering from hip replacement surgery, 63-year-old Dick Bennett admits the Cougars have responded better to his son, Tony, and he’s loving every minute of it here .

4. Three Army Rangers based at Fort Lewis have been charged with malicious harassment for allegedly assaulting an African-American man and using a racial slur outside a Lacey bar early Friday morning here .

5. Update: A five-alarm fire this morning destroyed 70 percent of Middleton (Idaho) High School, which has a student enrollment of 750, here .

6. IMHO-NW: Gary Crooks /Spokesman-Review ( Clear the air ), David Horsey /Seattle PI ( Taking a position on Iraq ), Bert Caldwell /Spokesman-Review ( WSU programs yanks poverty out by grassroots ), WSU Daily Evergreen ( Who should use N-word? ), and Helena Independent-Record ( Ole party switcheroo ).

Online Poll? 60% of 694 respondents to an Idaho Statesman poll say a New Jersey school district is violating privacy rights by insisting that students submit to a urine test to determine if they’ve been drinking in the last 80 hours.

*Street racing in Bellingham ends in fiery flames, death here .

*Coeur d’Alene family seeks help caring for twin babies with rare birth defects here .

*A pedestrian loses while playing a game of chicken with a train at a North Idaho crossing here .

*State frog bill leaps ahead in Washington Legislature here .

Orbusmax Special: One in 6 Oregon public school students is Latino here .