Christie Wood is many things: a sergeant and spokeswoman for CPD Blue. A Coeur d'Alene school trustee. A North Idaho College trustee. Last week, she was proclaimed something else, by Lake City Development Corp. opponent Dan Gookin. In a post under a comment by ex-Coeur d'Alene superintendent David Rawls endorsing Wood's re-election bid, Gookin called Wood a "snake." Her offense? She backs plans by the LCDC to donate revenue collected within the city's urban renewal district to improve the handicap accessibility at out-of-district Sorensen School. Gookin doesn't think it's right to do so. After Wood posted a comment thanking Rawls for his kind words, Gookin pounced with a few lines of his own: "So it's okay to break the law when it's for handicapped children, eh Christy (sic)? You're being a snake, madam. The law is the law. Break it and suffer the consequences." That prompted Councilman Mike Kennedy to demand an apology from Gookin. At Huckleberries Online, Sgt. Wood described her reaction to being called a snake by Gookin: "It is frustrating sometimes to try to answer a patron's questions and then get that kind of response." Gookin's comment didn't last long online. It's hard to say whether someone pulled it. Or whether the "snake" response was the victim of a general malfunction that wiped out online story comments that day at Brand X. Heaven knows there's enough venom on the Press blogs to melt any computer system. I've been called worse there. Christie should be glad to settle for "snake."

---

---