Huckleberries: ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos,’ eat your heart out

Count Katrina Wright Swaim of Coeur d’Alene among the walking wounded who have injured themselves this winter by slipping on slick surfaces. Katrina’s tumble occurred as she was shuffling to the car to take her son to school Monday morning. A patch of black ice sent her flying, both feet in the air, cartoon style, onto her tailbone. She also hit the back of her head against the house. Later, a doctor’s visit confirmed that she wasn’t horribly maimed other than a sprained right pinkie finger, which swelled up like a sausage. Says Katrina: “Living through 15 Idaho winters does not completely shield you from the possibility of hilariously smearing yourself across a patch of icy pavement.” Now, Katrina is trying to shake the “fresh roadkill feeling” while she laments that there was no video of her fall. Who knows? she reasons. Maybe she would have had a shot at the $10,000 prize offered by “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” Now, here’s someone who looks for silver linings.

A listening forum?

State Sen. Mary Souza, R-Coeur d’Alene, had a legit reason for canceling her Health Care Listening Forum Saturday morning. Extreme weather. Sen. Souza plans to reschedule soon. And here’s hoping that she will listen to constituents other than the choir that local Republicans were tuning up to assist her. On the eve of the ultimately canceled event, Kootenai County Republicans circulated an email, under Chairman Brent Regan’s signature, that said: “At last week’s Town Hall there (were) a number of very vocal pro-Obamacare (single payer government run healthcare) and pro-abortion people attending. If you would like to express your views and share your ideas, I strongly encourage you to attend.” After all, you can’t allow the unwashed in ruby-slippery-red Idaho to say something nice about Obamacare, can you?

Huckleberries

Downtown Coeur d’Alene businesswoman Marie Widmyer calls it the greatest birthday gift EVER! And who can argue? On Marie’s birthday Monday, son Ben and his wife, Lindsey, made Marie a grandmother for the first time by welcoming Quinn Marie Widmyer into the world – at Kootenai Health’s top-notch McIntire Family Birth Center. Oh, and by the way, Marie’s husband, Coeur d’Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer, thought the birth of his first grandchild was swell, too … Should you automatically unfriend people who post social media photos of themselves enjoying a beach in warm country during a North Idaho winter, like Hawaii – or give them a second chance? … Tina Marie Busby of Coeur d’Alene offers a Facebook photo of her backyard and the challenge to find the four cars in it. The white Mustang protected by a tree is easy. And there’s another beside it. After that, it’s anybody’s guess where the other two are buried in the snow … After seeing a photo of New England QB Tom Brady kiss his wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, following the Patriots’ Super Bowl win, a Huckleberries Online wag sniffed: “A big year for foreign-born supermodels!”

Parting shot

Jean Evans of Moscow admits she gets tongue-tied on phone calls to strangers. That’s why she called U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo’s office at 6 one morning last week – to voice opposition via voice mail to President Trump’s nomination for Education secretary, Betsy DeVos. Jean was prepared with script in hand. And then a real person answered. Jean had called the Washington, D.C., office, where it was 9 a.m. – and the senator’s worker bees were on the clock. Jean stumbled and apologized through her prepared statement. Afterward, she tried to settle her nerves. Which took another hit Tuesday when Crapo joined 49 other Republican senators and VP Mike Pence in confirming the DeVos nomination.