An insider’s view of jail crowding

Kendra Goodrick- Martinez, the ex-meth dealer who continues to go straight, was an interested observer when Kootenai County voters rejected that jail expansion proposal. She knows first-hand that a bigger jail is needed. In a Huckleberries Online comment, she described a spot of crumbling wall during her stay in the local hoosegow that separated pods that was called the “fax machine.” It was so porous that men and women passed notes back and forth. Space was so jammed in her women’s quarters that there was no ability to segregate known enemies and sex predators. Hence, she said, all sorts of “hijinks” took place outside the view of the security cameras. Worst, she said, was the time a young woman of 19 or 20 hemorrhaged for an hour from a miscarriage because jailers were too busy dealing with other crises. And the two nurses on duty (who handle 175 inmates each) were busy administering insulin shots to diabetics. Kendra concludes by saying that former male prisoners say things were worse on their side. Quips Kendra: “Adding mucho testosterone and subtracting some IQ points may have something to do with it!”

Me hates him

Earwitnesses in the City Hall hallway on the day of the canvassing for the Coeur d’Alene city elections last Monday tell Huckleberries of an interesting comment made by Gary Ingram. As you may recall, incumbent Mike Kennedy edged challenger Jim Brannon by five votes in possibly the closest election in Coeur d’Alene history. Now, onward. Seems Ingram, who was with fellow diehard Brannon supporter Jim Doty at the time, spotted Kennedy entering the hallway and said aloud for Kennedy’s benefit: “There’s the most hated man in Coeur d’Alene.” Kennedy didn’t respond to Ingram’s attempt at small talk. So, my sources say, Ingram followed up by telling Kennedy that he was half joking – only half of the residents in town hate him. Sour grapes, anyone?

Huckleberries

Poet’s Corner: “The nights grow long,/and days turn gray;/the sun appears/again in May” – The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“November”) … Only in North Idaho (from Scanner Traffic, 9:05 a.m. Tuesday): “Timberlake Fire District reports a deceased cow behind the station on Bunco Road. The carcass is tied up and has several beer cans around it. (Here’s hoping the drunks killed the cow before they tried to eat it) … For those keeping score at home, 76 percent of the respondents to a Huckleberries Online poll say they don’t mind living in a place that an African-American scholar designated to be part of “Whitopia” … Scanner Traffic (from 12:04 p.m. Monday): “Two youths are making out in a red Jeep Cherokee behind the Canfield Middle School sports complex.” Do they still call it “making out”? … From his Coeur d’Alene North condo, Don Sausser looks down on great scenes along the waterfront. Recently, he e-mailed a photo to Huckleberries Online of snow on Tubbs Hill, which exposed a small, denuded patch. Which, Don quipped, sorta looks like that bald patch “on the back of my noggin.”

Parting shot

Understandably, respected County Clerk Dan English didn’t react kindly to an insinuation by cranky Mary Souza that military ballots weren’t sent out in a timely manner. “Dan of the County” responded: “Two of my adult children are active duty military and have served three tours in Iraq between them. Our youngest son is there now. I take a high degree of personal offense at the implication that we would ever, ever shortchange our military voters for any reason or play games with their ballots. That’s just plain over the line and without a basis in fact whatsoever.” Meanwhile, the rest of us join Dan and his wife in praying for the continued safety of their two brave children.