Huckleberries: Commission mucks up the works

Kootenai County had a golden opportunity to create a good impression for the media that’ll be covering the murder trial of Joseph Duncan but blew it – thanks to county commissioners. At one point, Sheriff Rocky Watson was planning to set up a media center in an empty storefront across Government Way from the jailhouse, complete with telephone, fax line and wireless Internet. And his office had asked the city of Coeur d’Alene to paint a crosswalk on the busy road to make the crossing safer. However, Rocky’s best laid plans for mice and media went for naught when Commish Larry, Moe and Curley Kate refused to allocate $1,000 per month to fund the center, a smidgen compared with the cost of the trial. It could be that Commish Moe and Curley Kate are still honked at the local media for slights, real and imagined, during and after their GOPrimary defeats in May. (You’d think they’d be ticked at fellow Repubs who showed ‘em the door instead.) Seems the commissioners don’t realize that the nation and mebbe the world are interested in the outcome of the Duncan trial. By making it as hard as possible for the media to report the ha-huge crime story, they’re casting the county as Bush League. Not ready for prime time. Remember how proud we were with the superb PR job provided by Rocky and Capt. Ben Wolfinger during the criminal investigation? The media were well-served, and the public got the correct story. We’ll get it right again, with or without help from small people in high places.