Huckleberries Blog

I'm worried today. I actually agree with Rep. Bob Nonini on something. He supports a wide range of education alternatives, commenting that "more school choice is better for students and schools -- competition raises all boats." I believe in school choice. But I also believe that the Idaho Legislature is responsible to make sure that the public schools are well funding, too. Which probably would set me apart from your average Idaho legislator. Now for today's Wild Card ...

• 10:38 a.m. Crash b/n GMC Yukon & service vehicle is blocking i/s of Highways 95 & 53/Hayden.
• 9:55 a.m. Caller reports some sort of injured animal is in 1300 block of E. Violet/CdA.
• 9:29 a.m. Construction company may be illegally burning material at site west of Denise/PF.
• 9:19 a.m. Jeremiah from moving company at 6816 W. Seltice Way/PF reports vehicle burglaries.
• 9:16 a.m. PFPD officer reports kids may have put road cones @ Greensferry & Poleline.
• 8:28 a.m. A pitbull is running loose near Kindercenter, Hayden & Govt Way/Hayden.
• 8:26 a.m. Father is concerned re: way new stepfather is treating his daughter.
• 8:09 a.m. Alvin @ UHaul, 30600 H95 reports fuel stolen from business vehicles.

Don Sausser provides this viewtiful photo, emailing: "Low winter sun backlights CDA Lake’s rippled surface while Brook’s sea plane rests, poised to invade nature’s beauty."

• Idaho Records/Sherry Adkins, SR
• Idaho bill would ban minors from tanning beds/AP
• Idaho's share of mortgage settlement nearly $100M/StateImpact
• Montana's bishops criticize Obama's contraception rule/Missoulian
• Whitefish, Bozeman, Ketchum, Bend among world's top ski towns/Daily Inter Lake
• Idaho building repair, renovation nearly half billion backlog/Betsy Russell, EOB
• New bills target wolves, dangerous dogs, repeat animal abuse/Betsy Russell, EOB
• Orbusmax Special: Washington cop arrested for stealing for slain officers' fund here

A notorious anti-gay church known for protesting military funerals says members will be at Saturday’s memorial service for Charlie and Braden Powell, claiming their deaths are payback from God over the state Legislature's support of gay marriage. An online campaign is already under way to keep the Westboro Baptist Church (pictured) from disrupting the funeral, which will be at Life Center Church in Tacoma at 11 a.m. Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5, died Sunday when police say their father, Josh Powell, intentionally set fire to his home in Graham, Wash. The boys were there on a supervised visit, but the supervisor was locked out of the house/King5 News. More here. (AP file photo)

Reaction?

Unsurprisingly, OpenCDA & Co. are celebrating the decision by 2nd District Judge Michael J. Griffin that voided the appointment of Wanda Quinn to the Coeur d'Alene School District Board of Trustees. Quoth Bill McCrory: "Judge Griffin’s decision took three pages.  It was elegant in its simplicity,  and Judge Griffin applied a concept that would likely be considered unique and innovative (maybe even 'anarchy') by our First District Court judges:  He read and followed Idaho law." You can read the rest of Blustery Bill's all-out snark here.

Question: It seems to me that Mary/Bill & sympathizers believe in the justice system only when they agree with verdicts. But they seem to think a judge is on the take when a verdict is rendered with which they disagree. What do you think?

This image provided by the NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program shows the first live tubeworm seen at a hydrothermal vent site in Atlantic waters during the August 2011 expedition. Chemosynthetic bacteria living inside the tubeworms derive energy from chemicals emitted in the hot water of hydrothermal vents. When Russian scientists examine samples from Lake Vostok, which hasn't seen light or wind for 20 million years, they may find microbes. If so, it'll show again that no matter how harsh, life finds a way to survive in the strangest places on Earth. Story here. (AP Photo/NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program)

When Spokesman-Review columnist/blogger Dave Oliveria started bugging me about Twitter, I scoffed at the notion that I needed any more social media in my life. Facebook already ate up too much of my time. Oliveria insisted that Twitter is far more valuable than Facebook when it comes to tracking and reporting breaking news. However, the only breaking news I usually cover is when I break a fingernail. Yet as more and more of my media friends started jumping on the Twitter-wagon, I wondered if I might be missing out/Cindy Hval, SR Front Porch. More here.

• Also by Cindy: Hard times strengthened couple's bond/Love Stories

Question: How long will you resist the Twitter bug.

You can be reasonably certain when the University of Idaho and Moscow Police will not trigger an alert: When someone fires a gun at a dormitory. When he flees the scene. And when for hours, if not days, nobody knows where he is -- or who he is. So it went Sunday. Somebody fired a .45-caliber gun at Targhee Fine Arts Hall, a small dormitory filled with art and architecture students. A bullet crashed through a window, struck a ceiling fixture and then bounced back down into a a cinder block wall. Miraculously, it intercepted no human along the way/Marty Trillhaase, Lewiston Tribune. More here.

Question: In light of the murder-suicide involving former assistant professor Ernesto Bustamante, shouldn't the University of Idaho have a better response to shooting situations than this?

The executive board of regional Boy Scouts voted in favor of pursuing a purchase option agreement with an Arizona developer on Wednesday, which could result in exchanging a historic Boy Scout camp for a new camp to be built at a different site. The Inland Northwest Council's executive board vote tallied 24 in favor, six opposed and three abstaining to begin negotiations with Discovery Land Company. "These (board members) that were there, they spent so much time investigating, meeting with people on their own, reading the 40 pages from the survey," said Scout Executive Tim McCandless, referring to a recent survey to constituents on the project. "This was the most comprehensive decision I've seen an executive board make"/Alecia Warren, CdA Press. More here. (SR file photo: A Tiger Cub Scout gets help with a bow and arrow from his dad at Camp Easton)

Question: Do you support this decision?

Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, (pictured) introduced legislation in the House Environmental Committee Wednesday that would repeal 10 pieces of legislation that he says allows the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to dictate laws in Idaho. The bill didn’t get out of committee, failing on a 9-5 vote. Harwood is vice chairman of the committee. Harwood’s plan was to have it sent to print but not go any further, thus putting it up on the Legislature’s website in hopes that other states could access it and begin a process of coming together to fight the EPA. Rep. Pete Nielsen, R-Mountain Home, proposed a motion to send the bill to print, citing the 10th Amendment and the commerce clause within it. This led to some harsh words from Rep. Eric Anderson,R-Priest Lake. Anderson felt that the bill was flawed and that it would reflect badly on the legislative body and him personally/Mitch Coffman, Idaho Reporter. More here.

Question: Who was right in this instance -- Dick Harwood or Eric Anderson?

A naked man waves and shouts atop a 228-foot high communications tower, used by the Los Angeles Police Department, in downtown Los Angeles Wednesday evening. LAPD crisis negotiators were ascending the tower, and the fire department had placed rescue air cushions around two sides of the base of the tower. Story here. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

Pentagon rules are catching up a bit with reality after a decade when women in the U.S. military have served, fought and died on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, the Pentagon is recommending to Congress that women be allowed to serve in more jobs closer to the front lines. The change would open up about 14,000 additional jobs to women. According to defense officials, the new rules are expected to continue the long-held prohibition that prevents women from serving as infantry, armor and special operations forces. But they will formally allow women to serve in other jobs at the battalion level, which until now had been considered too close to combat/Associated Press. More here. (AP file photo: U.S. Marine Sgt. Monica Perez, of San Diego, left, helps Lance Cpl. Mary Shloss of Hammond, Ind., put on her head scarf before heading out on a patrol in Afghanistan)

Question: Do you support increased exposure of women in the U.S. military in combat roles?

A District Court Judge on Wednesday declared invalid an appointment of a Coeur d'Alene school board member in June, finding the board didn't comply with state law in its appointment process. Coeur d'Alene School District Board members Tom Hamilton (pictured) and Terri Seymour filed a complaint in District Court in Kootenai County questioning the validity of Wanda Quinn's appointment to the board. Quinn was appointed to replace former board chair Edie (Brooks) McLachlan. Hamilton told The Press on Wednesday that he and Seymour sought a judge's decision on the matter only after attempts at an administrative resolution failed/David Cole, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here.

• How Kootenai County commissioners could wind up picking new board member here. (H/T: DanG)

Question: Will remaining Coeur d'Alene School Board trustees reach a consensus on a replacement for Wanda Quinn who's half as qualified as she is?

University of Idaho College of Law Dean Don Burnett (pictured) has responded to 20 Republican lawmakers who are concerned with what they perceive to be a threat from the school over student attendance. In a message back to the group, Burnett apologized for the harshness of his tone in a message about diversity training, but says he plans to proceed with the workshops, slated for next week. “By the way, I have apologized in two open forums with students for the seemingly harsh tone of the language you have quoted,” Burnett wrote. “My intent was simply to be open and transparent, but I could have chosen my words more carefully”/Dustin Hurst, Idaho Reporter. More here.

Reaction?

Signe Wilkinson/Philadelphia Inquirer

• Related: Contraception controversy consumes DC campaign/CNN

Looks like the Mitt/Newt/Rick/Ron road show will continue a bit longer after seeing the results from Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri last night. If I were Mitt, I'd be wondering why I didn't have things wrapped up by now, what with all that money in the bank and Idaho Republicans elbowing one another for a place on his shrinking bandwagon. While we continue to enjoy the brawl for the GOP mantle, I'll post this Wild Card ...

Finished roses, which students welded and painted, stand on a table during the welding class at Eisenhower High School in Yakima, Wash, Tuesday. The roses are being sold for Valentine's Day and the proceeds from the sales go to help the welding club. (AP Photo/Yakima Herald-Republic, Sara Gettys)

Question: Do you go all out for your Sweetie on Valentine's Day?

Introverts are in the news, even if they’d rather not be. Time, NPR, Scientific American, and a host of other media sources are all buzzing about the new book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain. Introverts are cautious, quiet people who might prefer to work through a crossword puzzle at home rather than spend a night partying with friends. My kids are introverts, just like their parents. And their grandparents. Must be a genetic thing. Many people misunderstand my children’s social apathy as some sort of negative effect of homeschooling. Long ago, I stopped trying to explain that they’ve always been this way/Idaho Dad, A Family Runs Through It. More here.

Question: Are you an introvert, extrovert, ambivert?

• 5:19 p.m. Drunk woman in Ford, registered in Hayden, is leaving CdA casino/Worley.
• 4:56 p.m. Intecept House employee in blue Highlander is following 19YO male who broke window of house & now is walking on Ohio Match Road toward Rimrock. Psychological evaluation requested. (5:02 p.m. Male now throwing rocks at vehicle.)
• 4:29 p.m. Man on Grayeagle/Rathdrum has taken 2 bottles of prescription pills in overdose attempt.
• 4:18 p.m. KCSD is trying to contact man to warn him that inmate is being released from jail.
• 4:01 p.m. A Hayden woman named June reports that her home was burglarized over weekend.
• 11 more items + AM Scanner Traffic link below

Echo Oaksizes up her right hand to her left Friday at her, "New Atitude" salon in downtown Billings, Mont., last week. Echo was in an ice climbing accident last year and had severe frostbite on her hands. She lost the tips to some of her fingers as a result of the frostbite. Story here. (AP Photo/The Billings Gazette, David Grubbs )

• Bunker Hill Mine in Kellogg sold/CdA Press
• Washington House OKs same-sex bill/Jim Camden, SR
• Light snow showers not likely to last long/Mike Prager, SR
• NIC VP for student services takes Oregon job/Coeur d'Alene Press
• UI Law School dean apologizes for tone of diversity letter/CdA Press
• Environment Committee kills Harwood's anti-EPA bill/Betsy Russell, EOB
• Right-to-hunt amendment clears Resources Committee/Betsy Russell, EOB
• Jury clears CdA police in another Purviance lawsuit/Tom Hasslinger & David Cole, Press