Voices

It’s getting to be holiday bazaar season at Valley churches. The annual events are often important fundraisers for church programs while providing early Christmas shopping for craft lovers. Spokane Valley Nazarene Church will put on a holiday craft and business fair next Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sale items will include antiques, handmade jewelry, salon products, lawn ornaments and more. Breakfast and lunch items will be available for purchase.

Monday Millwood City Council – 7 p.m. at City Hall, 9103 E. Frederick.

“The Phantom of the Opera” is an amazing production. However, sitting at the backstage door, I observed the work of four local groups that deserve recognition. First is West Coast Entertainment, led by the dedicated and tireless effort of President Jack Lucas and his staff. Lucas has been the catalyst for bringing high-quality shows to Spokane and tends to the details, which causes them to run so smoothly.

Sure, Silver Valley native John Austin enjoys hunting season. But he also relishes the dichotomy he sees between old-timers who hang out year-round at Rose Lake junction Conoco and greenhorns in their Cabela’s camouflage get-up. At Huckleberries Online, John discussed the difference. First, the newbies: “They pull into the junction with their brand new Cummings-powered trucks, with the ‘straight-from-the-showroom’ ATVs. They’re towing the brand new 38-foot Arctic Fox trailer. They’re going to rough it, all right, what with the twin air conditioners on top, next to the Sat TV dish. It’s 15 degrees out and they need air conditioners? Not to worry, they’ve got the furnace to keep ’em warm and the generator running full time keeping the ice maker going. A guy’s gotta have his Chivas Regal on the rocks, after all. As they exit their rigs (smoking $20 dollar Cuban stogies), the locals chuckle at their attire. Camo’ed from hat to boots from the Cabela’s Deer Camp Collection, they are hell-bent for killin’ something. Even their faces are camo, we guess just in case they run into a herd of ‘commando’ elk along the way.” Their guides arrive a short time later, pulling horse trailers. Which confuses the locals: Will they ride the ATVs and pack with horses? Or the other way around? Concludes John: “The only guide a local’s ever needed was their father and late Uncle Buck.” Now, John’ll explain the right way to hunt. Hunting Idaho’s way

Pink-ribbon publicity raises awareness In response to Your Voices feature in today’s paper (Oct. 25) regarding “Is breast cancer hogging the spotlight and the money of other worthy causes?”

I’m not sure who’s to blame for this, but life’s gotten way too complicated, and it looks like it’s not going to get simpler any time soon. Take the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell’s breakthrough 19th-century invention. It used to have a simple, rotary dial and all it did was make phone calls, no last-number redial, personalized ring tones, text messaging, calendar and scheduler, built in camera or Web-browser. It was just a phone, not a “personal digital assistant.” It was as easy-to-use and reliable as two tin cans and a piece of string.

Sometimes the best and most interesting local cuisine is found tucked away in obscure locations. Every town has those family run neighborhood eateries that are hidden in plain sight, places you might drive right by all the time and yet never take the time to really acknowledge. One random day your gaze happens to catch the sign advertising chicken gizzards or maybe someone finally recommends them to you: “Oh wow, I can’t believe you’ve never been in there; Harry and I stop in every Thursday, they’ve got the world’s best recipe for egg salad, you’ll love it so much you’ll die.”

October definitely brought us a taste of cooler fall weather, but one thing missing was the rain. After a few decent showers to start off the month, the last three weeks produced little more than .01 inches. For folks that had their sprinklers blown out earlier to prevent any freeze damage, there were many brown lawns as a result.

Today “A FEW GOOD MEN” (DRAMA) – 7:30 p.m., Lake City Playhouse, 1320 E. Garden Ave., Coeur d’Alene, 667-1323.

Hey. This was a tough one – figuring whether the lead to this piece should be a new Persian restaurant or an erotic lingerie store. They’re both somewhat unique to North Idaho. Let’s go with Babak Kabab, which the owners claim is the only Persian food restaurant in the Inland Northwest. It’s in a former snack shack at 3023 Government Way. The well-known menu items are kababs, primarily barbecued kubideh or jujeh, ground beef and chicken sandwiches. They also have American and Persian breakfast items and espresso and hot dogs and chili for lunch.

When helping an aging parent or spouse, the caretaker is often a forgotten part of the equation. But now Bonner County families who have loved ones suffering from dementia are not only finding respite through the newly opened DayBreak Center, but their relatives are also receiving therapy in a loving and nurturing environment. The DayBreak Center opened in downtown Sandpoint in August, and while still in the six-month trial stage, those involved are confident it will continue to grow and meet the needs of those in this community.

For the week of Nov. 3-7 Monday – Beef stroganoff over pasta, vegetables, tropical fruit cup.

Kootenai County Sheriff Rocky Watson said the proposed $145 million facilities bond that would expand the jail and update all county public safety buildings boils down to this: “If you’re building a jail with sales tax, if it’s $140 million, it’s a half a cent. If it’s only $70 million, it’s a half a cent. So why phase it in? Just go get it done.” Two measures will appear before Kootenai County voters on the general election ballot: one is a $145 million property tax bond and the other is a half-cent increase in the sales tax – boosting it to 6.5 percent for 10 years – that would be used to offset the property tax increase. Voters would need to approve both measures for them to work in this manner. About $88 million of the money would be used to expand the county jail and the rest would renovate public safety buildings with upgrades that would last until 2020, said county Commissioner Todd Tondee, a supporter.