Marmot passes time in Kennedy’s undercarriage

So, what do you do when a marmot crawls into the undercarriage of your car and refuses to leave? If you’re CDA Councilman Mike Kennedy, you call together a crack team of highly technical and creative colleagues – and then poke, prod and honk at the beast in an attempt to dislodge it. Mike also drove around for awhile, hoping to coax the varmint from its refuge. Which was more humane than the sage advice given to Mike by Sheriff Rocky Watson: “Shoot it.” Rocky was joking, of course. Methinks. In a phone call on another matter, Mike mentioned the marmot problem. And Demo-turned-Repub Rocky concluded immediately that the critter was a Democrat and deserving of death after he heard that the marmot had a “foul temper.” Earlier, a Demo in Mike’s marmot posse had concluded that the animal was a Republican for ignoring reasonable demands that it get out from under the car. In an e-mail to Huckleberries, Mike said, “So the political affiliation of the marmot remains undetermined.” The marmot was finally driven out without permanent damage to the car. “I now know just how much organic material – solid and liquid – a frightened marmot can create when trapped in an engine block,” Mike concluded. “Not pretty.”

Bad memories

An item that I published on my daily blog “Scanner Traffic” feature last week caught blogger MamaJD’s eye re: a resident who lives behind Chillers tavern on East Sherman Avenue. The householder complained that a cuss-tomer had spent most of the day at the tavern and then passed out in his car in front of his home. Seems this is a common occurrence with this particular cuss-tomer. MamaJD recalls her days of living behind Chillers, saying, “It left ourselves open to the patrons that pass out in their cars. Or worse. The patrons that didn’t pass out but should have. It’s a clue if the bar in your neighborhood allows campers and RV’s in the parking lot that perhaps they might be problems. In an attempt to be fair, Chillers did respond to ‘neighborhood pressure’ by adding bright lighting to the back parking lot. The police upped their presence on that block of Front Avenue, which helped as well.”

Huckleberries

Seems Affordable Inn on Government Way can’t afford a decent US flag. A Berry Picker tells Huckleberries she got no satisfaction when she dropped by the motel office about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday to complain about the condition of the flag. Which is in tatters … Kickers Espresso, located in the Skate Plaza parking lot, is creating a buzz with that readerboard message: “Will Trade Coffee For Gas.” Of course, the wags at Huckleberries Online quickly pointed out that coffee would cost a lot more by the gallon than even today’s gasoline … Ted Nugent made a hit with D.J. Nall’s grandson when the rock star signed a pizza box for him while eating at New York Pizza/Post Falls after the Silver Mountain concert Sunday … Columnist Vera White/Moscow-Pullman Daily News tried in vain to run down a rumor that US Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne is a candidate for UIdaho president. Undoubtedly, she wrote recently, a Kempthorne candidacy would have the support of ed board member Paul Agidius of Moscow, “who behaves like a giddy teenager panting after a rock star when in the presence of the former Republican Idaho governor.” Ah, White’s no fan of Kempthorne’s.

Parting Shot

Desperate, Berry Picker Dennis asked Huckleberries Online for advice re: how to get off Congressman Bill Sali’s phone list, so he won’t receive those robo-calls. “Over the past week I’ve received three pre-recorded messages inviting me to participate in a live town hall meeting. All three times he called during dinner. Grrr. And I assume I’m paying for this, too?” Some Berry Pickers responded that they’d asked to be removed from his phone list but to no avail. Others suggested contacting the AG. But Berry Picker Bubblehead had the best idea – write a letter to the local paper stating that the robo-calls have made you decide to vote for Sali’s Demo foe Walt Minnick.