Huckleberries Best of the INorthwest — 2/27/07

A moose calf stands alongside a driveway in Indian Meadows in urban Coeur d’Alene waiting for his mother. The pair have been spotted around the northwest Coeur d’Alene neighborhood since mid-January/Kerri Thoreson, www.fyinorthidaho.com.

Leaning Straight Up: Who is the real Al Gore? Statesman or politician, environmentalist or fraud here ? Meanwhile, Michael Costello/Palousitics sez Dubya walks Gore’s talk here .

1. Four children from two families are dead and efforts are under way to revive a fifth who were trapped in a submerged card that slid of an southwest Idaho highway into an icy pond in northeast Oregon here .

2. Colfax teenager Robert Duckworth’s Sunday started with a ghost hunt. It ended with him stuck in a 77-foot-deep well, imagining scenes from a horror movie while he awaited his eventual rescue here .

3. A woman is asking North Idaho College to refund the money she paid for an English class, saying her instructor spent more time bashing Republicans than teaching English composition here .

4. A scarlet fever outbreak in Jerome could have been caused by mishandled or contaminated food, but it probably didn’t come from a dairy, Idaho Dairymen’s Association President Bob Naerebout told Jerome County commissioners Monday here .

5. The Montana House killed a bill Tuesday that would have allowed children who aren’t vaccinated for religious reasons to attend a state-funded preschool or day care center. Parents can currently get a medical exemption for immunizations and still send their children to such facilities, but can’t exempt them because of their religious beliefs here .

6. IMHO-NW: Frank McGovern /UI Argonaut ( Celeb lifestyles are whack ), Doug Clark /Spokesman-Review ( Dunno much about poker ), Chuck Pezeshki /Moscow-Pullman Daily News ( Food, well-being and WSU ), Idaho Statesman ( Weak justification for English-only bill ), and Jimmy Blue /WSU Evergreen ( WSU fans major in bad sportsmanship ).

Online Poll: 55% of 364 respondents to a Helena Independent poll say they favor comprehensive sex eduction in Montana schools.

*Members of the Idaho Science Teachers Association have approved an official position against teaching intelligent design in Idaho’s public schools here .

*Three Boise-based filmmakers will produce a documentary about the Boise State football team’s 2006 season for release as early as this fall here .

*Accused Chehalis underwear thief won’t face sex charge here .

*An American bald eagle found injured in Cheney Monday night has died here . Video here .

Orbusmax Special: Idaho’s tribes seek to eliminate S-word here .