Idaho state Rep. Luke Malek, director of legal affairs for Heritage Health, talks to a group Wednesday during a presentation about the Affordable Care Act at the Idaho Department of Labor in Post Falls. (Coeur d'Alene Press photo: Shawn Gust)

North Idaho's "online marketplace" for health insurance is off to a rough start. When Rep. Luke Malek was asked on Wednesday, during the monthly Partners in Business meeting at the Idaho Department of Labor, how many low-income Idahoans have signed up for the state's health insurance exchange since it opened Oct. 1, he paused before answering. "Excellent question," he said. "We have no idea." Until software is built for the program, Malek said, the trouble is tied in with the glitch-filled federal exchange under Obamacare that lacks reporting data. And, as Malek and many other officials expected, the federal website to sign up for Obamacare has been an operational nightmare/Brian Walker, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here.

Question: Fuhgeddabout the issue at hand. What do you think of Luke's new beard?