Where’s Andy when you need him?

First, you need to know that my sister, Lil, is a good person with a sparkling driving record. Also, she’s an exec for a large central California winery. People hop when she sez jump. Except for a Spirit Lake police officer who had some time on his hands Friday night. For more background, you should know that Lil received her only parking ticket ever – a $10 one – for misunderstanding signage a few years back in CdA’s Third Street lot. And that she’s fed up with my comments re: what North Idahoans think of Californians. Now, onward. Seems Lil was behind the wheel of sister Charlotte’s Ford driving through Spirit Lake when she failed to notice that the driver of an oncoming car had blinked his lights, not once but twice. Worse yet, the car flipped a U-turn after she passed. Moments later, she was being lectured by an SLPD Blue for not pulling far enough off the road. Lil explained that she wasn’t familiar with the area as she handed the officer her license. The patrolman took a look at her address and exclaimed: “California?! Don’t you know that’s the only dirty word in the Idaho dictionary?” We siblings, of course, howled with glee while Lil muttered darkly for days about “that Barney Fife.”

Tony’s legacy

After Tony Stewart’s preliminary announcement Monday that he was retiring after 38 years as a North Idaho College political science instructor, NIC Trustee Christie Wood made this comment about him at Huckleberries Online: “He is a true Southern gentleman. He has the fortitude, guts, intelligence, compassion and awareness of human dignity that has made a tremendous difference in our community in promoting Human Rights. Some people in the community identify him as ‘that democrat down at the college’ and they imagine he taught his courses only in that fashion. That could not be further from the truth. He is dedicated to the education of political science and that encompasses all political leanings.” Christie and her hubby were in the audience Saturday as UIdaho bestowed honorary doctorates on Tony (for human rights work) and Duane Hagadone (for business accomplishment). Tony will reveal today what his future plans are. Christie concluded her HBO comment by sharing the sentiments of many: “I hope (Tony’s) speech on Thursday includes (his) staying connected to our community and NIC.”

Huckleberries

Poet’s Corner: “First clouds, then sun, then rain and snow/in quick succession come and go/and thus we have the springtime’s way/– three months of weather in one day”/The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Spring Day 2008”) … Sightem (at the Spokane airport early Sunday afternoon) – local landscape architect Jon Mueller, just home from a grueling series of meetings in Washington, D.C., and – could it be? – Gonzaga basketball coach Mark Few, styling in a baseball cap and shorts … By now, most visitors to CdA’s Riverstone Park know that the three white swans – or p’haps they’re giant white geese – patrol the pond. They’re there to scare off the waterfowl that soil the adjoining grass. That’s why Jeanne Helstrom and her three grown daughters were surprised/disappointed to see a park user holding one of them by the neck. Jeanne hadn’t realized that the swan/geese were (drum roll, please) – fake.

Parting shot

Earlier this month, North Idaho College kicked off an outreach program aimed at introducing sixth-, eighth- and 10th-graders to the benefits of college, called Xplor. Nearly 1,000 sixth-graders participated, according to NIC PRmistress Stacy Hudson. At one point, Stacy e-mails, some students checked out the college’s radiography technology lab. So, Debra Ortiz, the radiography technology program, figured she’d make things interesting. She showed the students an X-ray of a skull with a recognizable nail in the sinus cavity. And asked: “What kind of device do you think caused this injury.” Without missing a beat, a Lakes Middle Schooler replied: “His wife?”