Huckleberries Best of the INorthwest — 2/20/07

In this photo released by Dove Lewis Animal Society, Velvet, a 4-year-old German Shepherd mix, is tended to Monday at DoveLewis animal hospital in Portland, Ore., after spending the night on Mount Hood helping three stranded climbers survive. X-rays show she has no internal injuries but does have some minor cuts and abrasions on her back feet and legs caused by prolonged exposure to the elements here . The rescue here .

WSU Daily Evergreen: WSU loses the face behind its famous icon here . Opinion: Randall Johnson should be honored here .

1. Members of a controversial Midwestern church say they plan to protest the memorial service of Marine Corps Sgt. Travis Pfister of Richland, who was killed in Iraq two weeks ago. The Westboro Baptist Church of Kansas has announced its plans to protest the March 4 memorial for Pfister at the TRAC facility in Pasco here .

2. Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor John Grasso officially charged Gonzaga University basketball player Josh Heytvelt today with felony possession of a controlled substance. However, Grasso sent the marijuana possession case against fellow player Theo Davis back to the Cheney Police Department here . KHQ slideshow about Heytvelt’s arrest here .

3. The Idaho Senate unanimously OK’d a wolf-hunt season, for as early as fall 2008, and put the price of wolf tags for Idahoans at only $9.75 here .

4. Twelve-year-old Jed Oyler is a duck whisperer. Well, maybe whisperer isn’t the right word. Squealer? Shrieker? Screecher? Squawker? However you describe what the Filer sixth-grader does to lure ducks, one thing’s for sure: It’s loud. Jed is an up-and-coming star on the national duck-calling circuit here .

5. Schumacher Furs & Outerwear is closing for good, saying anti-fur activists have thwarted its attempts to move out of downtown Portland by intimidating suburban mall managers. Rather than stay in Portland, the 112-year-old fur business will close when its lease runs out this spring, owner Gregg Schumacher said Monday here .

6. IMHO-NW: Doug Clark /Spokesman-Review ( Indigenous species missed by bird watchers ), Randy Stapilus /Ridenbaugh Press ( Nampa urban blues? ), Julie Fanselow /Red State Rebels ( Fear of “the other” ), Hindu /Sagebrush ( Chicken Little launches into space ), and Brian Murphy /Idaho Statesman ( Sports as bad as celeb gossip ).

Online Poll: 72% of 864 respondents to an Idaho Statesman poll say that police officers who are injured in the line of duty should receive their full salary until they are either able to return to work or they are deemed permanently disabled.

*It’s big, but this slug won’t squish if you step on it here .

*Montana Demos want to expand hate crime law to protect gays, women and disabled here .

*84-year-old Great Falls woman dies of hypothermia while snow-shoeing here .

*A Whitman County, Wash., woman was flown to Spokane by helicopter after running over herself here .

Orbusmax Special: Woman wins 2 cars in 2 separate casino contests here .