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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Political punches fly on the blog

Councilman Mike Kennedy won’t take up Jim Brannon on his challenge to stage a do-over election for Kennedy’s council seat on May 25. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you should be reading Huckleberries Online. Last week, Brannon responded to an online comment from Kennedy with an open letter to Hucks HQ, challenging the incumbent to a winner-takes-all second election during the spring primaries. Wrote Brannon to Kennedy: “Join with me to request a new election. If we agree, I believe the City will agree and the Judge will order it. Then, the necessary changes in the election process can occur in an atmosphere of cooperation. To ensure fair elections, let’s gather the people necessary to make the new election happen on May 25th. Time is short.” Repub Brannon didn’t mention he’d get a boost from the lopsided turnout by Repubs voting in the many contested GOPrimary races, including ones for two commission seats and for Districts 3 and 5, where no Dems have filed for the general election. But Kennedy wasn’t biting. Neither were my HucksOnline readers, 76 percent of whom voted in a blog poll that Kennedy should ignore the challenge. See what you miss by not reading HucksOnline?

Kennedy vs. Brannon II

Joe Butler has a better idea than an election do-over re: how to resolve Brannon’s never-ending lawsuit: “I think the voters would prefer more of an endurance program for their elected officials – think a series of physical and mental challenges over a weekend. Balance a budget. Do a Soduku. Win at Mario Kart. Carry an egg on a spoon. Read a book from the library and write a cogent summary of it in under an hour. Suggest a better use for McEuen Field. Jump off the rocks at Tubbs Hill. Finish with an all-you-can-eat wing battle at Capone’s.” Hmm. I still prefer a mano-a-mano battle in fat suits on the pitching mound of the American Legion diamond at McEuen Field.

Favorite things

Dunno about you, but Nic Casey of the Rants, Raves, & Random Thoughts blog offered “The 10 Best Things about the 2010 Legislature”: 1. The capitol building is still standing. 2. No one was caught toe-tapping in the men’s room. 3. They did not leak uranium into the state’s water supply. 4. No fist fights during the legislative session. 5. Members of the State Legislature did not form a Built to Spill cover band. 6. The Mountain Bluebird is still our state bird. (Unfortunately the peregrine falcon is still on our state quarter.) 7. Not a single member of the legislature was arrested for homicide. 8. The BSU/UI rivalry is still intact. 9. No one proposed plans for Idaho to secede from the Union. And 10. There’s always next year! Nic’s about eight “best things” ahead of me.

Huckleberries

Poet’s Corner: A little rain/a little snow/a little sun –/it’s spring, you know! – The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“An April Day in Idaho”) … That “Coffee with the Mayor” program on blogging is airing this month on Woody TV (CdA public television) – you know, the one with Her Sandiness, Woody McEvers, Wendy Gabriel, Coeur d’Alene Press Editor Mike Patrick and your Huckleberry Hound … I figured out how that school bus turned off Highway 95 and wound up going southbound in the northbound lanes of Northwest Boulevard. It turned onto the offramp but somehow made it safely to the back entrance to North Idaho College. Be careful out there … HucksOnline Poll: 127 of 179 respondents (71 percent) said it was unfair that Councilman Mike Kennedy is forced to pay his own legal bills as a result of challenger Jim Brannon’s lawsuit to overturn their election. And they’re right … J. Todd Foster, a former colleague in the SR’s CdA office, is the editor of the Bristol (Va.) Herald Courier, which won a Pulitzer for Community Service last week. But I still beat him in newsroom nerf basketball way back when … Bumpersnicker (on an old brown station wagon at NIC beach): “The 10 Commandments aren’t multiple choice.”

Parting shot

Look up “No Good Dirty Louse” in Webster’s Dictionary, and you’ll find a photo of the NGDL who swiped 20 of Stickman’s walking sticks from his carport. Stickman, as HucksOnline readers know, is the gentle soul who carves walking sticks from wood collected from Tubbs Hill to give away free to one and all who want them. Anyone who has a Stickman stick – I currently have two, after breaking a third one defending myself from two dogs on Ninth Street – knows that the value is in the loving care the carver uses in preparing them for giveaway. Why anyone would steal something that is given away free and brings such joy to the new owners is beyond me.