Huckleberries Best of the INorthwest — 3/5/07

Michaelle Dierich (cq) of Hayden was kidnapped, held captive and sexually tortured for 7 days over more than 16 years ago while living in Hillsboro, Oregon. Her alleged tormentors, two brothers, skipped bail as the trial was under way in 1991. Last October , one of the brothers turned himself in. The other is still on the loose here /Kathy Plonka, Spokesman-Review.

Stapilus: Cathy McMorris, Doc Hastings beat out Idaho delegates for most conservative congressmen from the Northwest. Rep. Jim McDermott and Sen. Patty Murray most liberal here .

1. Adam Morrison , a top-three NBA pick last season from Gonzaga, isn’t enjoying his first season of pro basketball that much, but he’s learning a lot in the school of hard knocks, according to Art Thiel/Seattle PI, here .

2. Montana is about to correct a law that had made it a crime to collect or sell old-time gambling equipment such as a 120-year-old roulette wheel with missing parts here .

3. As the second half of the state Legislature begins, the House will have this puzzler to ponder: What is a wild Montana huckleberry? State Sen. Jim Elliott , D-Trout Creek, thinks he knows and is sponsoring a bill that would bar labeling anything else with the words “Montana” and “huckleberry” here .

4. Hauled to the pokey here and need to post bail? Put it on plastic. The Missoula County Detention Center intends to accept credit-card payments for bail, as part of an effort to get people out of the building sooner and control jail crowding here .

5. After spending eight hours buried face up in the snow, a snowmobiler is facing six months in jail and a $5,000 fine for traveling in an area off-limits to motorized travel here .

6. IMHO-NW: John Blanchette /SR ( Zag women dressed for success ), Bill Hall /Lewiston Tribune ( Why are we laughing over a dead woman? ), Rebecca Nappi /SR ( Kendall Yards in the cards ), Michael Deeds /Idaho Statesman ( Copy-protected music should be axed ), and Leaning Straight Up ( Coulter bad, Maher OK? ).

Online Poll: 82% of 787 respondents to an Idaho Statesman poll said schools should keep Pizza Hut’s Read It program — which rewards children for reading by providing pizza gift certificates — although critics say in promotes poor nutritional habits and turns teachers into corporate promoters.

*Nampan who beheaded wife, killed two others, gets life without parole here .

*Portland officer gets OK to be funny here .

*Back-country skier killed in avalanche near Big Sky, Mont., here .

*Idaho gas prices likely to hit $3 here .

Orbusmax Special: Sunriver, Ore., police no longer can ticket for speeding, seatbelts, broken tail lights here .