Huckleberries: Progressive thinkers needed

With two legislators from the Post Falls area attacking Coeur d’Alene’s proposed education corridor, I wondered at Huckleberries Online last week whether other River City leaders were so shortsighted. After all, someone must be pulling Rep. Bob Nonini’s chain if he, as chairman of the House Education Committee, is actively lobbying for the DeArmond Mill site to be transformed into yet more condos for the well-heeled rather than expanded higher education chances for the region’s high school graduates, laid-off mill workers and single mothers, among others. Ditto for his House District 5 colleague Frank Henderson, who as an advocate of economic development should know the importance of higher education to attract new businesses. Yet, Henderson, when asked by the Coeur d’Alene Press, said he preferred an advisory vote to gauge community support for the purchase. Such a vote, of course, would give minority detractors more time to scuttle the project. As I pondered whether other Post Falls officials were actively seeking to undercut the worthy Coeur d’Alene project, Mayor Clay Larkin called to say he had only one qualm about the ed corridor – the environmental cleanup cost. Otherwise, he supported it. Clay was satisfied when I told him that part of NIC’s agreement with developer Marshall Chesrown calls for the 17 acres to be turned over to NIC environmentally clean. Seems Nonini and Henderson aren’t on the same page as the progressive mayor from Post Falls. No surprise here.

Foot-tapping for $$$

You may have heard that the St. Paul (Minn.) Saints gave away 2,500 “bobblefoot” dolls Sunday allegedly to observe “National Tap Dance Day” and, of course, to tie into the infamous Minneapolis bathroom incident last year involving U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho. But did you know that more than 50 of the dolls immediately popped up on eBay, selling for as much as $152? Some offerings included the ticket stubs for the St. Paul’s home game against Fort Worth. This, according to Boise’s KTVB Web site. The bobblefoot doll features a bathroom stall with two feet poking out from the bottom and a sticker on the side that says, “For a good time call (the team’s ticket sales hotline).” One of the spring-loaded feet tap when the stall is shaken. KTVB points out that the bobblefoot doll might have lifted the team as well as provide extra income for Saints fans. The Saints snapped a four-game losing streak with a win over the Fort Worth Cats.

Huckleberries

A man holding a red book with a swastika on it and handing out an eight-page brochure about jury duty, originating from Helmville, Mont., received little to no notice at the NIC discussion about the ed corridor last week. Which is probably as it should be. Sorry for bringing it up … Tony Stewart, the now-retired political science instructor at NIC and human rights activist extraordinaire, is a hard-to-believe 66 years old. May you and I be as active as Tony in our mid-60s … The two House District 1 Repub reps, Eric Anderson of Priest Lake and George Eskridge of Dover, received top grades from Conservation Voters of Idaho, while Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, was listed with three other legislators as “Out Of Step” with enviro concerns.

Parting shot

Yeah, food prices are going up, as everything else seems to be nowadays. But watch out for the curd cheese at Miller’s Food Center in Spirit Lake. Colleague Taryn Hecker bought a package last week – and the teller rang up $5,795. Which would put it way ahead of saffron as one of the priciest food items in the world. Unshaken, Taryn told her two urchins that they could have only one piece of the high-priced cheese per week until it was gone.