Huckleberries: Digging up old mud to sling

In case you missed it, the Idaho R’s fired the first major salvo in the U.S. Senate campaign a week ago by issuing a news release linking John Edwards’ infidelity to Demo Larry LaRocco’s distant past. As an, ahem, public service, the R’s wanted to alert newcomers to the old affair that helped the late Helen Chenoweth unseat LaRocco in 1994. “Idaho has changed a lot in 14 years, with a lot of new voters arriving in that time,” GOP Chairman Norm Semanko said in the release. “I wonder how well those new arrivals truly know Larry LaRocco and his past?” Immediately, state Demo chief Keith Roark fired back to remind the R’s about their own Sen. Larry Craig, with his wide stance and wandering feet, and other straying R’s. Then, LaRocco issued his own release to denounce the “tawdry shots” from both parties. So which side finished with the most mud on its face? Dennis Mansfield, a social conservative who ran unsuccessfully for Chenoweth’s seat, said his fellow R’s should be ashamed of themselves. In his blog, Mansfield admonished: “Larry LaRocco should be judged on his record and on his political beliefs this time around. He’s not John Edwards-lite, nor is his situation. In years since, he has shown himself a faithful man who loves his wife, his family and his state. He’s presented himself twice now for the citizens to consider as an elected official. Judge him on that. To quote Alice Cooper: ‘School’s out forever …’ Let’s grow up.” Bingo.

Oopsy

At the Bonner County Fair/Sandpoint, organizers will offer a class that should interest area artists who have a single grandmother available – “Widow Decorating.” Don’t believe me? Check out Page 7 of the Bonner County Fair Book. Under that heading, the fair book describes the class as “one or more old energy inefficient widows may be used – single or multiple pane, wooden or aluminum frame, etc.” Blogger Cis/From A Simple Mind spotted the gaffe … At the Seattle PI, sports columnist Jim Moore had fun with the spate of criminal misbehavior involving WSU football players, regaling readers with jokes making the rounds in Pullman this summer. They include: “Why can’t most Cougs get into a huddle? It’s a parole violation to associate with known felons. And the Cougs are expecting to go 7-6 this year – 7 arrests and 6 convictions.” Ouch.

Huckleberries

Scanner Traffic: How serious was that Nettleton Gulch standoff involving an 18-year-old who pointed a .25-caliber handgun at himself? Consider a comment from a cop on the scene who asked that a group of “Looky Lous” standing on 17th Street be removed because they’re in the line of fire “in case we have to take this guy down.” Hat Tip – to all agencies for the peaceful resolution of that situation … Scanner Traffic II: At 9:32 a.m. Wednesday, a local mother called the 911 center to ask that an officer be sent to her home to explain the importance of 911 to her child. Seems the child dialed 911 Tuesday night and hung up. Now, there’s a wise mother … From Connecticut, Michille Jackson has followed the details on Huckleberries Online of the shooting death of her younger sister, Cynthia Bewick, and her lover, Neil Howard, in Shoshone County – and asked that the community be informed that a trust fund has been set up at Wells Fargo Bank/Kellogg for her now orphaned 9-month-old nephew, Rick. Done.

Parting shot

Faced with gavel-to-gavel coverage from SReporters Betsy Russell and Meghann Cuniff at Huckleberries Online, Berry Picker CindyH cried no mas. Quoth: “I don’t want to read any more about the Joseph Duncan trial. Not a blog, not a Twitter. I just want it to be over and justice to be served. I’m dreading the day by day, blow by blow accounts of the torture and killing. A little boy is dead, a girl forever changed. I don’t want to read another word about Duncan, unless it’s his obituary.” I can’t blame CindyH. However, if you want the latest on the sentencing hearing, you should check Huckleberries Online, where I regularly post links about the hearing to Meghann’s item-by-item Twitter commentary and Betsy’s Eye On Boise and Duncan: Inside The Courtroom blogs.