Both Batts Make A Good Point
Some six score and 16 years ago, Abraham Lincoln warned that a house divided cannot stand. He was talking about Southern secession - not, of course, the opposing views of Idaho Gov. Phil Batt and his wife, Jacque, on the controversial bear-baiting initiative. He’s against; she’s for. Similar initiatives banning the use of dogs and bait to hunt bears will be on the Idaho and Washington ballots this fall. And Lynn Fritchman, chairwoman of the Idaho Coalition United for Bears, isn’t surprised at the Batts’ split - women tend to support the initiative. Said Fritchman: “I think the maternal instinct comes to the fore.” Batt offered another explanation for his wife’s stand: “My wife, a woman of great wisdom who is not anti-hunting, will vote for the measure. She thinks the bears need a sporting chance.” Both Batts are right - she, about the issue; he (the silver-tongued devil), about her.
Forest Service has dynamite cure for stupidity
The U.S. Forest Service had two good reasons to launch an overdue campaign to close off abandoned North Idaho silver mines: Stephen Novak, 28, and Christopher Ost-Homstad, 22. The two curious explorers died last year after they had entered a Lake Pend Oreille mine full of carbon monoxide. Now, the Forest Service is using dynamite and metal bars to seal some 1,000 mines sunk into mountainsides 70 years ago. But spelunkers aren’t the only ones endangered by the old mines. Campfire debris and discarded beer cans indicate many of the caverns are party sites for the younger set. Some people have cut chains on gates and have dug holes around bars to get into the mines. Sometimes, the only way to cure stupidity is to remove the temptation.
EWU professor knows his wife isn’t typical
Good grief! Some faculty friends of Eastern Washington University professor James Wallace, 66, are huffy because newshounds are making a big deal of his wife. Maybe Wallace’s colleagues think a serial killer’s ex-girlfriend fits the profile of a typical faculty wife. Wallace met and married Veronica Compton, 40, while she was serving time for attempted murder. They have a 3-year-old now. Veronica tasted freedom briefly this year before the parole board sent her back to the joint. She reportedly had quit going to mental health counseling, painted “pornographic” murals on walls and answered the door nude when police and social workers came to check on her daughter. Commendably, Wallace has stood by his troubled wife. He should have known he’d have to do so, sooner or later, when he answered that familiar question with “I do.”
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