Huckleberries: Campaign coincidence has Seymour’s number

In spring 2011, there was a minor flap about the post office box number for the Coeur d’Alene School Board campaign supporting candidates Tom Hamilton and Terri Seymour. Inadvertently, the campaign was given the same number as a defunct one that had been used by the Aryan Nations. That caught the attention of some, including The Spokesman-Review.

We investigated and found there was no connection between the two groups. Seymour hasn’t let the matter go, however. On Monday, Seymour asked applicant Christa Hazel during public interviews to fill a vacant school board trustee spot whether she’d said Hamilton and Seymour were members of the Aryan Nations.

According to the Coeur d’Alene Press, Seymour also accused Hazel of being part of a new, nonprofit group that she alleged is spreading the bogus Aryan Nations rumor: Coeur d’Alene Education Partnership. Hazel, an attorney with a history of volunteer work for the school district, denied spreading the rumor and said she wasn’t a member of the new organization, composed of parents, some former trustees and patrons dedicated to improving schools.

Methinks this tempest would have died by now if Seymour – and, at times, Hamilton – would let it go. (See: Streisand Effect.)

Henry D. Johnston, a 20-something businessman from Moscow, was surprised to see his name in the obituary column last week: “Only after rubbing my eyes and reading it again did I discover it said ‘Harry D. Johnson.’ ” Mebbe there’s a reason people drink coffee with their morning newspaper … Seems the Seattle Mariners’ desperate struggle to regain respectability was on the mind of a Coeur d’Alene streets worker Thursday afternoon. The newsroom scanner caught him applauding the work of another city employee on a busy day of snow removal and then saying: “I hope the Mariners aren’t trying to sign you” … From my Huckleberries blog-sitter Cindy Hval: “Will all the men who wear size 36/34 jeans please STOP buying them? My husband is in danger of going pants-less for Christmas!”

Huckleberries

Shannon Forbes, of Coeur d’Alene, captured the quintessential snow removal experience of a North Idahoan when she Facebooked: “Well that sucked! I dug out our mailbox after the snowplow went by, and all the mailman brought me was a bill” … Phil Corless, of Coeur d’Alene, meanwhile, has ulterior motives for dreaming of a white Christmas: “My son just made $20 shoveling the neighbor’s driveway. I hope it snows a lot the next few weeks!” … DOA (Dead on Arrival): On Friday, NRA spokesman Wayne LaPierre proposed that the country station an armed cop at every school. And my Huckleberries blog readers deep-in-the-hearta ruby-red, flyover North Idaho responded. Fifty-eight percent disagreed with the NRA idea.

Parting shot

A good friend of mine and one of the two grandchildren she was baby-sitting awoke early Saturday morning, Dec. 15. All was dark except for the Christmas tree lights. Grandma will take it from here: “We talked about Baby Jesus and the reason we celebrate Christmas. She listened intently. Then, (the 5-year-old grandchild) said, ‘Some people celebrate Harmonica!’ My throat tightened as I thought of the (young children) who left innocently for school (Dec. 14 in Newtown, Conn.) and now will never be able to sit with their Grandmother and visit in the early morning sweetness.”