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Huckleberries: And here’s how a good guy caught the bad guys
![Last February, Wayne Manis took his daughter, Christa Hazel, to the shooting range to try out the new handgun that he had given her for her birthday. Said Christa: “First time to shoot it, and I’ll be going back for more. Yippee Ki-yay!” (Photo courtesy of Christa Hazel)](https://thumb.spokesman.com/uO6q6eDqVn9RLDznlEJuDvMVKgE=/600x0/media.spokesman.com/graphics/2018/07/sr-loader.png)
This isn’t the way to read a book. Chapter 9 first. Then,
First things first
So why did Huckleberries start with Chapter 9, “Arsenic Poisoning and the Mysterious Marie Hilley,” when Wayne’s experience with the Aryan Nations and Mathews’ murderous gang was farther back in the book? In February, Wayne will interview with a British network re: his work in capturing Marie Hilley of Blue Mountain, Alabama, a “Black Widow” type who had a nasty habit of poisoning those around her, including family and responding police officers – and then disappearing. Once Huckleberries read that chapter and then moved on to more familiar ground with the Aryans and Crnkovich, Wayne’s “Street Agent” was unputdownable.
Huckleberries
While Wayne was hobnobbing with TV networks, his daughter, Christa Hazel, was celebrating birthday No. 43 in style with friends watching the Zags – make that the now No. 1 Zags – crush San Diego 79-43 last week. Forty-three? Huckleberries first met Christa, now a Coeur d’Alene school trustee, when she was student body president at North Idaho College. She has aged much better than Huckleberries … Sound Off question posed last week by the Lewiston Tribune online: “In states where marijuana is legal, is it now socially acceptable to light up a joint?” Yo, Spokane County reader, we’re talking to you here … Poll: Outspoken Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, hasn’t gotten much love from Hucks Nation after she lost three Idaho House committee assignments for saying that female legislators gain power by swapping sex favors. Sixty-three percent said over the weekend that she shouldn’t get those assignments back … “Which is it? ‘Don’t take Trump literally.’ Or, ‘He’s doing what he said he would do!’ – tweet from S-R Opinion Editor Gary Crooks. Well?
Parting shot
Cindy Hval, of the S-R’s Front Porch column, was shopping the bread aisle recently when a random guy excused himself and reached above her. So far so good. Then, she Facebooks, the stranger said: “You smell really good.” Flabbergasted, Cindy muttered thanks. And: “I haven’t been able to smell myself for a week.” Awkward silence. She mumbles, “I’ve had a cold.” And wonders why she didn’t send hubby to the store. Be careful out there.