Coeur d'Alene Held Hostage, Day 43: Can't stop smiling today. Kootenai County & North Idaho haven't consumed the Kool-aid that would veer this great region into political chaos. In fact, there are signs all around that local Republicans are turning away from Far Right excess (although maybe not the Central Committee). This provides hope that Coeur d'Alene will come to its senses and reject the outrageous Recall attempt against our fine Mayor Sandi Bloem and three fine City Council members. Our town is too great to allow the Souza-Orzell-Sims troika to trash with their absurd denunciations of the Bloem administration and urban renewal. Remember: Friends don't let friends vote for Sims (in November). Now for your Wild Card ...

• Forgot to mention that Huckleberries Online topped 1,000,000 page-views for the year on primary election day, which registered almost 15,000 page-views. As always, thanks for your support.