Best of Spokesman.com blogs: Afternoon edition

In honor of the inauguration of President Obama, Washington state’s Secretary of State is selling U.S. flags that are being flown at the state capitol today. (Yup, there’s some person who’s going to be busy hauling flags up and down all day. Really.) You can buy the 3-foot by 5-foot flags for $14 if you pick them up at the Secretary of State’s front desk, or they’ll mail you one for $17.25. “People just snatch them up,” said Dave Ammons, a spokesman for Secretary of State Sam Reed. Each comes with a certificate, state seal, and Reed’s signature. Any proceeds go to thestate capitol historical furnishings fund./Rich Roesler, Eye On Olympia. More here.

• Best of the INorthwest online/Huckleberries
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• Next Neil Young album/Down To Earth
• Man versus wild/The Eco-Traveler
• Bribery law called into question/Eye On Boise
• IVA: UI can’t defend co-gender housing/Huckleberries