My brother Ed and his wife are flying in from central California today to spend some time with my recuperating 90YO mother, as well as the three sibs in Kootenai County. It'll be fun to hang with him in God's country. That's why I'm taking Friday off, paving the way for Taryn to take the helm of Huckleberries Online.
"I love it here," said Drea Bowen of Coeur d'Alene as she exercised her dog Ali, a Chinese crested, at Riverstone Park in Coeur d'Alene on Thursday. (Kathy Plonka/SR)
The four Republican candidates trailing Donald Trump will face him in a debate in Houston on Thursday evening in what may be their last best chance to stop the billionaire businessman before he runs away with the GOP presidential nomination — and disrupts their party. The debate is scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. on CNN.
Idaho, which ranks 49th in the nation for its number of doctors per capita, will get its first medical school, Gov. Butch Otter announced Thursday. The Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, a private medical school that will locate on the Meridian campus of Idaho State University.
The Cutline Contest today features Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump with televangelist Pat Robertson during a stop at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va. Wednesday Winner: CWM.
Scanner Traffic for Thursday PM (28 items + link to AM Scanner Traffic with 18 more items) includes search for a missing 3-year-old boy in Athol area. (UPDATE: 3YO boy found after about an hour of searching by officers & neighbors)
Idaho state Rep. Pete Nielsen, R-Mountain Home ignited the debate on an abortion bill by saying that rape and incest doesn't often result in pregnancy "because of the trauma of the incident." Nielsen's comments came during discussion that led to a party-line vote in favor of one of two bills championed by groups against abortion.
A dining room at the Mirabeau Park Hotel buzzed with conversation during the monthly meeting of Spokane Compass Club. Women greeted each other like old friends – which many of them were, but newcomers were welcomed with the same warmth. That’s because the club’s mission is to cultivate friendship among new arrivals to the Spokane area.
The daily roundup of posts from the Huckleberries Online blogosphere: Lionel trains/Simple Mind, Border collies R us/Slight Detour, This actually happened/Fort Boise, Small batches, big glasses/On Tap, I-90 crashes take toll on elk/Outdoors
First Take: Otter-Kasich/Randy Stapilus, Always one way or the other in Pullman/Grip ...
Former Spokane police officer Karl Thompson has been released from federal prison after being convicted of using excessive force against developmentally disabled janitor Otto Zehm, who died two days after a confrontation with Thompson.
3 of the 4 Kootenai County elected leaders whose terms are up next January are running for re-election in the May 17 primary. County Commissioner Dave Stewart and Sheriff Ben Wolfinger each will seek a second term. County Prosecutor Barry McHugh is running for a third term. County Commissioner Dan Green, first elected in 2010, will not run again.
In the Wednesday poll, More than 2/3s of Hucks Nation want to see convicted teen murderer Eldon Gale Samuel III to be sentenced to a facility that can provide him with mental health treatment until he turns 21 years old. Weekend Poll: Who do you plan to vote for in the Idaho GOP primary next March 8?
Anna Heisey, of Coeur d'Alene, a friend of mine, bought this book at an antique shop during a recent trip to the Oregon Coast. Notice the title: "History of North Idaho." Not "northern Idaho." Newcomers who don't know better and Idaho Gov. Butch Otter refer to the five northernmost counties in Idaho as "northern Idaho."
Constitutional scholar David Adler: "In the wake of the standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, and before a similar incident occurs, perhaps in Idaho or Montana, it may be wise to review the constitutional underpinnings of congressional authority to regulate public lands. he authority of Congress to regulate public lands is sweeping."
The daily roundup of AM Headlines includes Don Sausser's photo of fix-up work on the Coeur d'Alene Resort Boardwalk. Also: Blanchette: Let Empire building happen/SR, Local GOP calls for NATO withdrawal/Press, Editorial: Spokane Valley council turns ugly/SR, Legislators seek to boot AG from Land Board/SR + more ...
In a Facebook post, Post Falls Councilwoman Kerri Thoreson climbs on her Soap Box to address a mean email that she received recently. As you know, Kerri survived a heart issue almost 10 years ago. Well, a Mean Girl with passive-aggressive issues decided to warn Kerri about a possible cause to her old health issue.
Filing for county and precinct committee offices for the spring primary May 17 begins Monday, according to Kootenai County Clerk Jim Brannon. Four county offices will be on the ballot this year: two county commission seats (Dan Green & David Stewart's) as well as sheriff and prosecutor.
Idaho communities, like Sandpoint and Twin Falls, aren't the only ones divided on the Syrian refugee resettlement issue. Proposed resettlement efforts have divided Missoula, Mont. Now, several agencies are proposing a "March Against Hate" in Missoula to support resettlement efforts, including the Missoula County Democratic Central Committee.
Controversial conservative author Dinesh D’Souza gave a wide-ranging talk at Gonzaga University on Wednesday that repeatedly took aim at Democrats and those who opposed opening his talk to the public. The Hemmingson Center Ballroom was packed to capacity as D’Souza said he was glad to see members of the community, students & staff there.
The House State Affairs Committee is holding a hearing this morning on HB 516, Rep. Ron Nate’s bill to require women seeking abortions to be provided with a state-compiled list of providers who could provide them with free ultrasounds, and told they have a right to a free ultrasound and to hear a fetal heart monitor.
Kootenai County's hefty fund balance has commissioners eyeing multiple facility improvements, including jail expansion. "We are the envy of most counties in the state with an unappropriated fund balance of approximately $37 million," Commissioner Dan Green said during State of the County presentations at the Coeur d'Alene Inn.
A U.S. House committee will take up Congressman Raul Labrador’s Self-Sufficient Community Lands Act today despite some resistance from conservation groups. The bill, HR 2316, would create a pilot project that gives states and counties more of a say in the management of no more than 2 percent of the national forests in the West.
In its editorial this morning, the Moscow-Pullman Daily News comments that the Idaho Legislature is taking baby steps in addressing animal abuse. The editorial suggests that legislators take the giant steps needed to address this issue. (Question: Why are legislators so timid when it comes to addressing animal abuse?)
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.