Huckleberries: Dike Road trees topple without our review

You may have heard that the city of Coeur d’Alene harvested more ponderosa pine from the Dike Road (Rosenberry Drive) than originally advertised. Maybe twice as much. But did you know how that fact came to light? The cut zone was part of the route that S-R buddy Greg Lee and I walk at noon on weekdays. We noticed during our walks a few weeks ago that the cut seemed to be heavier than the 30 percent of some 1,000 trees estimated before the project began. Way heavier. Part of the levee running along the Spokane River was almost clear-cut. Last week, Greg and I counted the trees left. He took the bank along North Idaho College – 136 trees. I counted the pines along the water side – 194 trees. Dunno much about algebra. But I do know how to add. That totals 330 trees. I posted the results of the informal survey in my Huckleberries Online blog ( www.spokesman.com/blogs/hbo). And the fertilizer hit the fan. Maybe a bigger cut was needed to appease the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the certifying agency that had wanted a clear-cut. But the city erred by not including independent citizen review while the trees were toppling.

Keen mind, too

Most remember the late Major League Baseball player Rocky Bridges, of Coeur d’Alene, as a quick wit. Remembrances penned by sports scribes from the S-R’s Greg Lee to MLB.com’s Tracy Ringolsby are packed with his zingers. Example (this Rockyism from Ringolsby): “Coaching third with a pitcher on base is like being a member of a bomb-disposal squad. The thing could blow up in your face at any moment.” However (again according to Ringolsby), former Pittsburgh Pirates manager Jim Leyland had this to say about Bridges’ baseball smarts: “He is one of those guys who had a reputation more for being a character than his baseball knowledge. But he knew the game. He was sharp as a tack. When I asked him about a player, I could go to the bank with his answer. If he said a guy couldn’t play, he couldn’t. If he said a guy could play, he could. There was no debate.” Bridges died Jan. 28 at age 87. RIP.

Huckleberries

Poet’s Corner: “Of rain and mist/she had no fear,/’til moss showed up/behind her ear” – The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Wet Winter”) … For those keeping score at home, Idaho isn’t the reddest of Red Zone Country. Those honors go to Wyoming (35.5 percent GOP) and Utah (31.1 percent). Idaho is third most Republican at 25.2 percent. All this, according to a new Gallup survey … Hey, didn’t you used to be – a stately ponderosa pine standing tall along Coeur d’Alene’s Dike Road? … Poll: 49 percent of my Huckleberries blog readers say they’re already over the heartbreaking loss of the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. Which means they must not be true Seahawks fans. You never get over a loss like that. #handtheballtoMarshawn … A suspicious package found Wednesday near Seltice Elementary in Post Falls wasn’t dangerous. Unless you can’t handle the smell of decaying fish … Monthly, the city of Coeur d’Alene’s website asks a poll question. This month’s? “Have you used the free Wi-Fi service at McEuen Park?” Betcha didn’t know that Coeur d’Alene’s newest waterfront attraction came with free Wi-Fi, did you?

Parting shot

Christina Oss LaBang tells Huckleberries that she was almost hit by one of the trees being toppled along the Dike Road by the city Street Department. She said she and her daughter were riding bicycles on the edge of a North Idaho College parking lot when her daughter screamed: “Mom!” Christina said she swerved to the right. And the tree fell across the spot she’d been riding seconds before. Christina: “I was wearing a helmet but I could easily have died today. Cherish every second of this life. It could be your last moment alive.” And the chain saws buzz on.