Huckleberries: Kennedy slims down by ‘Running from Recall’

Coeur d’Alene City Councilman Mike Kennedy didn’t shrink from appearing at the Idaho Supreme Court hearing for Jim Brannon’s challenge of his three-vote 2009 loss to Kennedy last week.

But Kennedy is shrinking. Sixty-four pounds and counting since this time last year – from 245 pounds to 181 pounds.

In September 2011, Kennedy decided to get serious about his health. On his Facebook wall, he explained to well-wishers that his motivation “was avoiding a massive stroke or heart attack, and the fact that someone has to walk my three beautiful daughters down the aisle.”

When I kidded that he was getting in fighting trim for a rematch with Brannon in 2013, Kennedy replied that I must be a “sadist.” In his second term, Kennedy has accrued legal expenses for being the unfortunate victor in an election against the Ultimate Non-Quitter.

And Kennedy, along with Mayor Sandi Bloem and two other council members, survived a recall attempt this spring by foes of the McEuen Field upgrade.

Tongue firmly cheeked, Kennedy refers to his weight-loss program as the “Running from the Recall” Diet.

Hey, Daddio

Phil Corless, of Coeur d’Alene, has reached one of those bittersweet rites of passage for us fathers: when your kids quit calling you “Daddy.”

Sez Phil: “I’ve just always been ‘Daddy’ since they were born. But apparently it’s not cool for a teenager, or a pre-teen, to call their father ‘Daddy,’ so now I’m ‘Dad.’ That’s going to take some getting used to.”

… A moment of silence – puh-LEEZ – for the Panhandle Sun, the publication that was supposed to replace the late Tom Burnett’s weekly Rathdrum Star, which covered northern Kootenai County.

Herb Huseland, a former Sun reporter, wrote the obit for the Sun on his Bay Views blog, noting that newspapering is “a rough business even at the best of times.” Which they ain’t.

Huckleberries

That old, green warehouse that’s blocked the view of Memorial Field from Northwest Boulevard (near downtown Coeur d’Alene) for decades was bulldozed last weekend.

City Administrator Wendy Gabriel tells Huckleberries that the leveled ground will be used for piling snow this winter. Beyond that, she says, there’s no definite plan for the site (which once was featured as extended parking in an architect’s design years ago).

… In the “Can’t Keep A Good Man Down” category, Rob Elder, of the old Hot Rod Cafe in Post Falls, has opened a new restaurant, Satay, next to Long Ear Records on Fourth in Coeur d’Alene – and it’s getting rave Facebook reviews.

… Political watcher Randy Stapilus reports that the ballyhooed Clint Eastwood empty-chair routine at the GOP national convention had Idaho ties. Eastwood was added to the convention program after talking to candidate Mitt Romney at an Idaho fundraiser.

… Gone with the Bulldozers: You can follow the construction work on the McEuen Field upgrade via a webcam on the city of Coeur d’Alene’s site ( www.cdaid.org/), which updates photographs every 5 minutes.

Parting shot

For those keeping score at home, Idaho is one of seven bright-red states that President Barack Obama hasn’t visited since becoming our chief executive. Arkansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and South Carolina being the others.

Only surprise here is that the money-bags of “librul” Sun Valley haven’t lured the prez in for a fundraiser.