Huckleberries Best of the INorthwest — 3/1/07

You’ve seen this itsy-bitsy spider before. Chris Peterson/Hungry Horse News wrote about it briefly on his Muse You Can Use blog here . Now, he writes about it in his weekly newspaper column here .

Doug Clark: Spokane gun-wielding cop who shot man in head suffered Oscar fever .

1. Gem County Sheriff Clint Short defended the efforts of his dive team Wednesday, saying deputies got to a submerged car in a frigid pond near Blacks Canyon Dam as soon as safely possible Tuesday morning. The dive team has been criticized for not starting rescue efforts for two hours after the accident that killed five young teens here .

2. The Washington state Senate has passed a measure that would create domestic partnerships for same-sex couples. It passed on a 28-19 vote over the objections of opponents who say the measure is essentially the same as gay marriage. The bill now goes to the House here .

3. The state Department of Corrections is scrambling to find space for inmates at out-of-state prisons after Gov. Christine Gregoire on Wednesday called a halt to the freeing of felons as a solution to prison overcrowding here .

4. A Columbia Falls man has pleaded guilty to dumping sewage from his septic-pumping truck into the Flathead River at the Kokanee Bend fishing access last April here .

5. Alan Stringer , one of seven former W.R. Grace and Co. executives accused of conspiring to conceal asbestos-related health risks posed by a Montana mine, has died of cancer. He was 62 here .

6. IMHO-NW: Jim Fisher /Lewiston Tribune ( Who needs safe day care? Where’s mom? ), Dan Hammes /St. Maries Record Gazette ( Tax Potlatch rec land accordingly ), Tom Forbes /Palousitics ( The Pullman NIMBY manifesto ), G. George Ostrom /Hungry Horse News ( 8 ways to avoid Death Row ), and John Blanchette /Spokesman-Review ( Raivio shares top-player honors ).

62% of 570 respondents to a Great Falls Tribune poll say greenhouse gases should be regulated.

*Boisean who beheaded wife also sentenced to 45 years for vehicular manslaughter, aggravated DUI here .

*9 people were hurt in a single-car crash near Burley, Idaho, including one who gave birth by C-section here .

*WSU students began lining up at midnight for tonight’s big game against UCLA here .

*NW Montana woman pleads innocent to misdemeanor in septic-tank death of 3-year-old here .

Orbusmax Special: Oregon cops investigate claim that bullies forced laxative-laces brownie on boy here .