THURSDAY, OCT. 29, 2015
Thursday Wild Card 10.29.15
Yesterday I got an email from TravoltaLookAlike.com advising me that they're expanding services for "Live Parties Entertainment, Employee Parties etc." They offer Disco "Saturday Night Fever", "Pulp Fiction" and "Grease" themes. Trying to picture a Pulp Fiction party.
Malloy a man of the working-class
POST FALLS — At 38, Joe Malloy is the youngest elected official on the Post Falls City Council. He believes taxpayers are better represented by a working-class family man in a town where the average age is 33. “I believe it is important that the perspectives of all citizens are as well represented as possible,” Malloy explained. “The council currently consists of three men and three women, and that won't change after this election no matter who the voters choose on the ballot. Other demographics, however, are under-represented. The average Post Falls resident is 33 and a half years old.”
What Really Happened at That Company That Set a $70,000 Minimum Wage
Before Dan Price caused a media firestorm by establishing a $70,000 minimum wage at his Seattle company, Gravity Payments... before Hollywood agents, reality-show producers, and book publishers began throwing elbows for a piece of the hip, 31-year-old entrepreneur with the shoulder-length hair and Brad Pitt looks... before Rush Limbaugh called him a socialist and Harvard Business School professors asked to study his radical experiment in paying workers... an entry-level Gravity employee named Jason Haley got really pissed off at him.
Have a happy, sexy, bare-midriff Halloween, Boise
I'm totally in the dorkish Mr. Deeds camp. I simply do not undertand grown-ups spending big bucks to dress up on Halloween. Apparently, the #1 nationally trending costume (#2 for Boise) is is Harley Quinn, the female comic-book enemy of Batman. I don't even know who that is. Read Deeds column below.
St. Maries boy with rare disorder finally gets in the game
ST. MARIES, Idaho – The final game of the season for the St. Maries middle school football team on Saturday had a special meaning for one of its players. Carson Wicks, 13, plays for the Lumberjacks and suffers from a rare genetic disorder called Williams Syndrome. He hasn't played in a game all year and has begged his coach all season to put him in.
Pet costume business booming
LOS ANGELES – Wally the Welsh corgi used to get dressed up to go trick-or-treating for Halloween, often as a banana, once as a dinosaur. But Wally, owned by Marc and Cynthia Dalangin of Wharton, New Jersey, doesn’t go trick-or-treating anymore. Like a lot of busy dogs, he has too many other engagements. And as a budding Instagram celebrity, he needs a wardrobe full of costumes to choose from. Would you? Could you? Dress up your pets for Halloween?
Larkin’s experience an asset
POST FALLS — As a former mayor, city councilman and school board trustee, Clay Larkin’s qualifications to serve as a city councilman again are obvious. “I enjoyed my 18 years with the city, learned a lot, and feel I can be very productive helping to establish the future for the city to follow,” Larkin said. “I have proven my leadership capabilities and am ready to serve the citizens of Post Falls.”
Ex Idaho Aquarium head arrested
The former president of the Idaho Aquarium in Boise has been arrested in Texas on charges of violating conditions of his probation, including an agreement not to buy, sell or possess fish or wildlife. KTVB-TV reported that Ammon Covino was arrested Wednesday in Austin on a federal warrant. Court documents allege he violated the conditions of his release from prison, but details of the violations weren't immediately available
Debate highlights GOP’s 2 factions
I didn't watch the debate last night, but my son showed me a YouTube clip of Ted Cruz blasting the moderator for not focusing on legitmate issues. Seems like Sen. Cruz got the most applause of the evening. I read Chris Christie flipped out over a question about fantasy football. Have you watched any of these debates? Do you think criticism about the questions is justified?
Hope never goes out of style
For 16 years, supporters of Hope House, a downtown women's shelter, staged a celebrity fashion show as their fall fundraiser. However, spokesperson Sarah Howard said, “When it comes right down to it, we’re not a fashion house. While the people who came were fashion-conscious, they were also socially conscious." Are you fashion conscious?
Collared wolf killed
A report on the killing of a collared gray wolf on Eckler Mountain, a Washington portion of the Blue Mountains on Oct. 11, indicates the 9-year-old male in poor condition was approaching a cabin when the owner shot 10 rounds with a .22 cal. rifle to defend his dogs.
St. Maries hosts meeting tonight about Federal lands recovery
The Benewah County Liberty Republican Caucus is sponsoring an evening with Idaho County Commissioner Jim Chmelik and Doyle Shamley of Veritas Research Consulting, to discuss new strategies for the recovery of Idaho public lands. Is this something that interests you?
Happy National Cat Day
Do you really think it's a coincidence that DFO takes off on National Cat Day? Yeah. Didn't think so. Here is Thor, subject of today's column, trying to master chopsticks. Told you he was exceptional.
China decides to end 1-child policy
BEIJING – China’s ruling Communist Party announced Thursday that the country will start allowing all married couples to have two children, abolishing an unpopular policy that has limited many urban families to only one child for more than three decades. How many children do you have?
Hagadones named Citizens of the Year
COEUR d'ALENE — When community needs have called, Duane and Lola Hagadone have always answered. The Hagadones were named Citizens of the Year — the Coeur d'Alene Chamber of Commerce's most prestigious honor — on Wednesday during the organization's 103rd annual meeting. Do you consider this a well-deserved award?
House GOP, eager to mend wounds, elects Ryan as new speaker
WASHINGTON – Republicans rallied behind Rep. Paul Ryan to elect him the House’s 54th speaker on Thursday as a splintered GOP turned to the youthful but battle-tested lawmaker to mend its self-inflicted wounds and craft a conservative message to woo voters in next year’s elections. Do you think Ryan will be a uniter or a divider?
Idaho nuclear deal snagged on treatment plant
Negotiations between the federal government and the state over sending a shipment of spent nuclear fuel to Idaho collapsed amid mounting concerns a nearly $600 million waste-treatment facility at the Idaho National Laboratory in eastern Idaho might never operate, the AP reports.
Roetter ready to serve Hayden
HAYDEN — Matt Roetter, a longtime small business owner and Hayden resident, is running for public office for the first time and said he is ready to serve his city. "I’m at a time in my life when I can devote my service to the community of Hayden," Roetter said. Roetter is challenging incumbent Hayden City Councilman Tim Timmins for Council Seat No. 1 in Tuesday's election.
Viral video officer canned
The video of Deputy Ben Fields dragging a student from her desk in South Carolina prompted a rousing discussion at our dinner table Tuesday night. Surprisingly, my 21- and 16 year-old sons had little sympathy for the student who refused requests from a teacher, an adminstrator and deputy to relinquish the cell phone she wasn't supposed to be using during class. What say you?
4th St. Phantoms
A Cda woman says that her house is haunted. She and her kids have seen strange things, like the apparition of a woman in the hallway and a man who stands at the top of the stairway leading to the third floor. Have you ever lived in or stayed at a place you thought was haunted?
Police party gone bad
Hot tubbing. Drinking. A sexual assault accusation. Now allegations of evidence tampering. Not my idea of a good time. Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich is investigating whether Spokane police officers tampered with evidence and assisted the suspect, also a police officer, in an ongoing sexual assault investigation. “If there is anything nefarious, we will prosecute,” he said.
D.F. Oliveria started Huckleberries Online on Feb. 16, 2004. Oliveria's Sunday print Huckleberries is a past winner of the national Herb Caen Memorial Column contest.