Huckleberries: Hudson’s racks up another tasty tribute

You can add another accolade to the pile accumulated by historic Hudson’s Hamburgers in downtown Coeur d’Alene – “Most Iconic Restaurant in Idaho.” So says the Huffington Post, which picked one restaurant per state (and D.C.) for the honor. Writes Lee Breslouer of HuffPost Taste: “There’s a lunch counter that fits about 20, and it’s packed every day at lunch. Squeeze yourself into a seat at the counter and have a double cheeseburger, a slice of chocolate pie, and a fountain drink. You won’t miss the fries. Besides, you can get fries anywhere, so their absence will force you to focus on the deliciousness of everything else on your plate.” The state of Washington, of course, has a restaurant on the list – fine-dining Canlis on the side of a hill overlooking Seattle’s Lake Union. Do you suppose Canlis serves fries?

Final word

Sue Hovey, 82, a much-honored educator for Moscow schools and the University of Idaho, got in the last word despite her recent death. A Democratic activist in Red Zone Idaho, Hovey’s obit included: “Sue wanted her obituary to note that she was born Feb. 12, 1932, during a depression brought on by the Republican Party, and that she died on Jan. 13, 2015, during the recovery from a recession brought on by the Republican Party” … Spokane Transit Authority’s idea of expanding service to Coeur d’Alene raised some eyebrows on my blog ( www.spokesman.com/ blogs/hbo). One wag observed: “I love this idea. It gets the meth-heads from Spokane to McEuen Park lickety-split.” Onward … Kootenai County Republicans may not pass out tiny flags, per usual, at the annual Fourth of July Parade in Coeur d’Alene this summer. Costs are up. The treasury balance down. Then, some Elephants are still smarting from Independence Day celebrations of yesteryear when the flags were stamped: “Made in China.”

Huckleberries

Poet’s Corner: “Poor Uncle Joe, may he find rest,/preferred his entrees to have zest,/but Extra Hot for his pad thai/caused his internals all to fry” – The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Caution: Thai food”) … And: “So gray it is outside the car/it’s hard to say just where you are,/could be Post Falls or could be Prague –/but at least you’ll never shovel fog” – The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“In Winter Fog”) … One of Lake City’s finest knew where to look when a 4-year-old girl named Audrey vanished from the waterfront, east of the Coeur d’Alene Resort, Friday. Sure enough. Little Audrey was enthralled with the Mudgy Moose & Millie Mouse statue at the Third Street entrance to Tubbs Hill. Appropriately, the Mudgy and Millie story is about a search “all around the town” for his little buddy by Coeur d’Alene’s version of Bullwinkle … Hard to tell if telephone scammers are annoying, clueless or brazen. But the one who called Idaho AG Lawrence Wasden on Friday morning was all three. Tweets Wasden: “How do I know scammers posing as @USTreasury agents are working in Idaho? I got a call this morning” … Huckleberries Online Poll: By a one-vote margin, Huckleberries Online readers said the Idaho House State Affairs Committee didn’t give a fair hearing to “Add the Words” legislation before voting 13 Republicans to four Democrats against it.

Parting shot

City spokesman Keith Erickson tells Huckleberries that the tree-cutting phase of the Dike Road work on the Coeur d’Alene waterfront will end in mid-February at the latest. Two more weeks of cleanup work will follow. When the barricades are removed from the roadway that runs along two sides of North Idaho College, 300 trees will have become chipper fodder or firewood. But the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be happyhappyhappy. A moment of silence for the dearly departed trees, please.