Huckleberries: Coeur d’Alene Carousel faces Sunday Rest Law – or not

With the back-to-the-future Coeur d’Alene Carousel taking shape near Memorial Field, the question had to be asked: What are you going to do about the Idaho law that prevents people from riding merry-go-rounds on Sunday? So Huckleberries asked Cari Fraser of the Carousel Foundation about the “Sunday Rest Law.” Her response was a resounding: “Hunh?” According to several websites, Idaho has a law that prevents the hoi polloi from riding a merry-go-round on Sundays. You can Google it. Originally, the law also banned other entertainment venues, too: theaters, playhouses, dance houses, racetracks, circuses or shows, concert saloons, billiard or pool rooms, bowling alleys, variety halls. Et cetera. When Huckleberries called Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh to ask about the law, he reacted as Cari did: “Hunh?” Later, Barry found a 1910 court case that was based on the Sunday Rest Law. But he found no evidence that the law was in effect today. The silly law was no laughing matter back in the day. A violator faced a $50 fine and 10 days in jail. In the early 20th century, Idahoans knew that merry-go-rounds were entry-level entertainment for more degenerate rides, like roller coasters and Ferris wheels.

Let it shine?

Hayden’s version of Clark Griswold is seeking help to make his controversial Christmas light show bigger than ever. Attorney Jeremy Morris has opened a GoFundMe account to raise $3,100 to expand the number of lights on his yuletide extravaganza. (That groan you hear in the background is from the West Hayden Estates Homeowner Association. The local HOA, which considers Morris’ light show to be more “Nightmare Before Christmas” than “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” failed to stop Morris last year.) According to the GoFundMe info, an electrician has offered to donate $6,000 in materials and labor to support the 2016 show. However, Kootenai Electric Cooperative told Morris that his grander vision would require a $3,100 transformer fix. The GoFundMe account had raised $255 in its first four days. The fundraising deadline is Nov. 15.

Huckleberries

Huckleberries applauds that eyewitness to a motorcycle-deer accident on Highway 97, near Harrison, Idaho, Wednesday. Not only did said person stick around to provide a firsthand account of the injury accident. But he was allowed to take the roadkill home afterward … Yeah, Huckleberries knows the identity of that good-natured Republican who got the goat of Tom Hearn, a Democratic legislative candidate from Coeur d’Alene. Seems the trickster planted a Donald Trump yard sign in Hearn’s front yard. Which caused the Democrat to fume. But anger soon turned to laughter when the friend called to say: “I just wanted to make your yard great again” … Front Porch column buddy Cindy Hval tells Huckleberries that Libertarian Gary Johnson would be the hands-down presidential winner in her Spokane neighborhood if yard signs were a true indicator of an election outcome.

Parting shot

Kim Ashbaugh (aka “Walkabout”) was picking up dog waste, near a garbage can, next to the new McEuen Park dog park, when Huckleberries spotted her Wednesday. Receptacles at the dog park were filled with doggy waste bags for use by dog owners. Kim, who voluntarily picks up dog waste and litter in Coeur d’Alene daily, told Huckleberries that she has seen an uptick in dog waste along McEuen Park pathways. The good news? She sees less dog waste on the west side of Tubbs Hill. In other words, some slob owners let Fido or Fifi relieve themselves in the park before hiking Tubbs Hill. P’haps we should rub their noses in the waste to teach them manners. Huckleberries is talking about the dog owners here, not their innocent pets.