Looks like local Demo Chairman Thom George found a convert for Barack Obama while trolling among Repub Duane Rasmussen's friends during the Fourth of July Parade. Above, Thom and Beth are dressed in Demo blue as part of a 150-strong Demo contingent that formed an entry in the annual parade. Meanwhile, MamaJD has photos of Woody, Councilman MikeK, Thom George, and Ken Howard on her blog today here. I plan to get out on the lake again this week with brother-in-law Tom in his two-man canoe. We're thinking about buzzing Duane Hagadone's digs that are under construction on the Gold Coast. We'll see. I spent too long re-creating Friday to think much about posting. So I'll be lazy and simply drop another Wild Card on you ...

Well, HBOers, I'd promised you to post a coupla things to get you going today. But ... I'm going to renege on that promise. It's the Fourth of July, fuhcryinoutloud. Go out and have some fun. I'm heading for the parade at 11 o'clock, then to my mother-in-law's home for a family lunch and gab, and finally to City Beach and the fireworks display around 10 o'clock. Enjoy yourselves. Get some sunshine. You can play this Wild Card if you want to exchange holiday greetings with other HBOers or post any other comments. Happy Fourth of July to all of you. And thanks for making this vocation/avocation so much fun for me ...

Jennifer Demonte/Daily Inter Lake, AP
Susan Stronberg describes the angle that her shinbone protruded from her leg following a hiking accident in June while in a bed at Kalispell Regional Medical Center Tuesday in Kalispell, Mont. Story here.

Well, I'm outtahere until Monday. I'll post a coupla things tonight for Fourth of July morning. But I'm going to be a slacker for the most part. If you have any interesting Fourth of July plans to share, you can use this Wild Card to do so. Otherwise, enjoy yourselves and keep safe.

Item: Death initiative petitions filed/Seattle Times

More Info: Supporters of a so-called "Death With Dignity" initiative turned in an estimated 320,000 signatures Tuesday to the Secretary of State's Office, virtually guaranteeing that Initiative 1000 will be on the November ballot.

Question: Do you support the assisted-suicide initiative?

Courtesy Photo
The late Roger Hudson of Hudson's Hamburgers stands with his sons, Todd, left, and Steve. The popular Sherman Avenue businessman died in May at age 71. He is featured in a Prairie Voice tribute today here.

*Pack the plastic, Alaska Airlines goes cashless/Seattle Times
*Sandpoint logger critically injured in crash/Bonner County Bee
*Burned car pushed into abandoned Silver Valley mine/Shoshone News Press
*Assisted suicide measure likely to go to voters/SR
*Washington's population grows, pace slowing/Seattle Times

Fan Changguo/Xinhua, AP
Members of China's armed police demonstrate a rapid deployment during an anti-terrorist drill held in Jinan, east China, on Wednesday/ roughly one month ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games. You write the cutline.

Top Cutlines:

1. Coeur d'Alene Police Department's new Segway Swat Unit practice prior to the opening of the new Prairie Trail segment -- Duffer.
2. Wanting some action, the Spokane Police Department rolls to Riverfront Park for the annual 4th of July Hidden Video Protesting March -- JeanieSpokane.
3. New summer blockbuster in theaters now, "Kung Fu Segway" -- Aliasjax.

HM: John Duh

AP File Photo
In this Jan. 24, 1996 file photo, a man dressed as Bozo, left, poses with Bozo creator, Larry Harmon, as they celebrate the character's 50th birthday during the National Association of Television Program Executives convention in Las Vegas. Harmon, who appeared as Bozo the Clown for decades and licensed the name to other Bozos around the world, died Thursday.

The Cook Political Report, published by Charles E. Cook Jr., is one of the most credible non-partisan trackers of congressional races (The New York Times called it “a newsletter that both parties regard as authoritative,” while Bob Schieffer of CBS News once called it the “bible of the political community”). Now the report has Idaho on its latest list of changing races, moving freshman 1st District GOP Congressman Bill Sali’s re-election race from “solid Republican” to “likely Republican”/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

*9th Circuit revises approach on environment cases
*A sign of bad economic times for Idaho
*But one area's still doing well

Jordan Bennion, 18, of Sandpoint, escaped serious injury when he drove over a steep embankment while eastbound on Selle Road in the Sandpoint area at 10:44 this morning. According to an Idaho State Police report, Bennion's vehicle narrowly missed a large pole as it rolled, four miles from U.S. Highway 95 (Mile Post 480). He was taken by private vehicle to Bonner General Hospital, where he was treated for injuries and released. A citation was issued to him. ISP report below.

Also: Sandpoint bicyclist injured in crash w/car/ISP

Joe Barrentine/SR File Photo
Pat Pace, center, of Coeur d'Alene, leads the Sanders Beach demonstration down the beach Oct. 1, 2006. Pace organized the event. The Idaho Supreme Court later ruled the beach was private.

Complete Land Board decision

In a 23-page decision this afternoon, the Land Board rejected the application for docks from Sanders Beach owners Wes Delaney, Gerald Frank, Dawn Kettel and John Thomas. It concluded: "The docks would create a safety risk to numerous young inexperienced swimmers and children playing in the water who go up and down the beach and those not have the swimming skills to safely go around the end of the docks." More in extended entry.

A US man who was born a woman before undergoing gender realignment surgery has given birth to a baby girl, US media reported Thursday.
Thomas Beatie, who is legally male but decided to keep his female sex organs during chest reconstruction surgery and testosterone therapy, attracted worldwide attention in April after revealing his pregnancy. The 34-year-old gave birth to a baby girl at a hospital in Bend, Oregon, ABC News reported, without providing further details. Beatie, who sports a beard, was dubbed the 'pregnant man' after appearing on Oprah Winfrey's television talkshow to discuss his pregnancy/Breitbart.com. More here.

Any questions?

There has been some modest discussion in industry circles that economic reporting by newspapers has been too negative, influenced in large part by the incessant drumbeat of negative news about newspapers. Journalists worried about the future of their own industry project that negativity on general economic news, according to the argument. Today's paper had a couple of negative economic stories. Dan Hansen (link here), reported on the escalating price of hay and the problems that is causing horse owners and cattle ranchers. ... And Bert Caldwell wrote about Avista's warning of really significant natural gas price increases this fall/Steve Smith, News Is A Conversation. More here.

*'Wanted' is better than you might expect/Movies & More
*Care center rises in Post Falls/Here's The Dirt
*Thursday's quickie political briefing/Spin Control 2.0
*Smoking: How did you kick the habit?/A Matter of Opinion
*Columbian hostage drama/News Diary

Questions (from Steve Smith): So, are we too negative about the economy? Is our negativity a byproduct of our own fears for the newspaper industry? How should we be reporting the seemingly limitless litany of economic woe and despair?

Pecky Cox/As The Lake Churns
Pecky Cox e-mailed this photo of Priest Lake kids with the note: "Aren't summers great?"

What does it mean to be a patriot? What does it mean to you? I'd suspect that for many Hannity and O'Reilly viewers, it would actually be the same definition of Jingoism. It wasn't so for people like Mark Twain, who said "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it." Somewhere in the cable news networks today, someone said "I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president." That sounds like the truth, and yet, cable news, in all it's glory and wisdom decided it was an issue. Do we elect war heroes based solely on their war records? Am I qualified to be Traffic Commissioner because I drive on roads, and was in a car accident once?/Toadman, Synaptic Disunion. More here.

*Of places, people & perspective/Slight Detour
*One month/A Butterfly Moment
*Divers & skeeters/A Family Runs Through It
*When you need a cop/Bay Views
*I had to laugh but I wanted to cry/Dogwalk Musings
*Statesman who can talk and listen/From A Simple Mind
*Strange phone call about Radiant Lake/North Idaho Real Estate

HBO Numbers (for July 2, 2008): 8393 page-views/4718 unique views

Question: Why would you consider yourself to be a patriot?

... bumper car chase on Ramsey Road/Sgt. Christie Wood, Coeur d'Alene Police Department

... Straight from the lips of a barrista at the Starbucks on Highway 41 (via one of my best Berry Pickers) that no area Starbucks will be closed as the result of the company plans to shutter 600 underperforming stores. If you can't believe your Starbucks barrista, who can you believe?

As a 23-year-old man, Kelleher was a friar in a Carmelite monastery and 18 months away from ordination into the priesthood. He dropped out, Kelleher said, because he couldn't handle the vow of chastity. He has been married and divorced three times. He has seven children and regrets the effect his absence had on their lives. Kelleher said he particularly regrets the way he walked out on his first wife, Gerry, mother to his six oldest children and to whom he was long married/Billings Gazette. More here.

Question: Would you be more or less likely to vote for a candidate who told you upfront about his personal shortcomings?

4:11 p.m. 5 people at Cherry Hill Park (Hazel Avenue) are involved in a verbal dispute over child custody.

1:08 p.m. A shoplifter has been caught at Safeway's on Neider Avenue.
12:42 p.m. Motorist in blue SUV on I90, weaving in and out of traffic and flipping over drivers off. Leaves freeway at Exit 5 in Post Falls.
11:44 a.m. A 5-year-old boy reportedly is missing from his room in the 1300 block of 10th Street. His mother said that he had been playing in his room when she last noticed him.
8:55 a.m. Someone is injured at the Coeur d'Alene Skate Park
8:40 a.m. A resident in the 4200 block of Abby reports that two unaccompanied small children are on her porch.

Bob Brawdy/Tri-City Herald
Juan Gomez, husband of slaying victim Araceli Camacho Gomez, looks around Benton County Superior Court on Wednesday morning before the start of a hearing for Phiengchai Sisouvanh Synhavong. The 23-year-old Kennewick woman is being held without bail on suspicion of aggravated first-degree murder. She is expected to enter a plea to the charge next week. Story here.

Flying High: Like many Americans, Kent Couch plans to settle into a lawn chair during the Fourth of July weekend. Unlike everyone else, his feet will dangle high above the lawn. Couch is set to launch himself skyward on Saturday aboard his lawn chair, which will be attached to 150 giant latex party balloons filled with helium. His goal: to fly more than 300 miles from his gas station in central Oregon to somewhere in Idaho, preferably Boise/KTVB. More here.

*Protesters target Lewiston Burger King/Lewiston Tribune
*Montana superintendent candidate stops selling illegal raffle tickets/Helena Independent Record
*Horseshoe Bend woman says mountain lion killed her miniature donkey/KCBI
*Yellowstone visitor numbers hit record in June/IStatesman
*Close encounter with snake leaves man with self-inflicted wounds/Lewiston Tribune
*Montana girl claims to be Lindsay Lohan's half sister/Helena Independent Record
*Spokane asked to join suit by girl who claims fireman raped her/SR
*Montana senator tries to keep 'last best place' from being trademarked/Whitefish Pilot
*Idaho senator wants investigation of Tax Commission/SR

Orbusmax Special: Naked Ashland woman not joining 4th of July Parade here.

I was among those who attended the advance screening last night of “Hancock,” Peter Berg’s film that stars Will Smith as a drunken jerk of a would-be superhero. I was really looking forward to seeing the movie. The trailers that had been playing for months led me to believe that the film would be a pleasant change of pace from the standard superhero story – sort of an off-color look at the genre that avoided the Boy Scout feel of Superman or the vigilante darkness of Batman. And that’s just exactly what the film is during its first half/Dan Webster, Movies & More. More here.

Question: When were you last sorely disappointed by a movie with a big buildup?

Usually, the local gendarmes don't make headlines unless they goof while performing their regular duties. Mebbe one has to use force to subdue a suspect. And the suspect grabs a lawyer and sues. Or one of them crashes his patrol vehicle. Or is caught doing something untoward during office hours. We should give a major hat tip to the officers who prevented 75-year-old Ira Loudenback from killing himself or anyone else during his bumper-car rampage along Ramsey Road this morning. CPD Blue performed brilliantly, from the three who used their patrol cars to slow the grumpy old man down to the ones who finally took him into custody and called an ambulance. Loudenback coulda caused a lot more mayhem if he'd reached I-90, where drivers of cars driven at high speeds would have been vulnerable to serious injuries or worse from a car bump. I'm sure the officers involved would say it was nothing. They were just doing their jobs. I'm thankful for that.

Question: When were you last helped by a local police officer?

Rajah Bose/SR
Two horses graze in a field near I-90 after their trailer overturned on the freeway Tuesday afternoon. Multiple passer-bys stopped to help the horses and kept them calm until their owner Marva Maring of Bonners Ferry, Idaho was able to get them and take them to the vet. No person or horse was seriously injured in the accident. Story here.

Move over Walter Matthau, step aside Jack Lemmon, make way for Ira Loudenback, north Idaho's poster child, uhh, poster senior for Grumpy Old Man. Police arrested 75-year-old Ira Loudenbach after he led them on a chase in which he crashed into nine different cars, four of them police patrol cars. Police arrested the 75-year-old Loudenback after he led them on an 8-minute pursuit Thursday morning. Loudenback crashed into a total of nine cars before coming to a stop/Kevin Blocker, KREM2. More here.

Item: Christian conservative leaders overcome reluctance, unite to support Republican McCain/FoxNews

More Info: “None of these people want to meet their maker knowing that they didn’t do everything they could to keep Barack Obama from being president,” Time.com reports the participant said. Concerns exist that Obama “will decimate moral values,” said Mat Staver, chairman of the Florida law advocacy group Liberty Counsel.

Question: How much does this strengthen John McCain's hand for his run for the presidency?

I received the following email from Rep. Bob Nonini of Coeur d'Alene, who sponsored the pro-life anti-coercion law that went into effect on Tuesday, which will prohibit Idaho's women from being physically forced or threatened into an abortion they do not want. Here's the note I received from him yesterday: "Thank you for the e-mail. July 1, 2008 was a special day in Idaho for women and the not-yet-born children. I have received many, many thank you e-mails. I am deeply touched and humbled by everybody's swords of encouragement and comments. Please share my gratitude with your readers." ~ Rep. Bob Nonini/Bryan Fischer, Idaho Values Alliance. More here.

*Wall-E/Clayton Cramer
*Clark vs. McCain/IdaBlue
*Chicago Trib & 2nd Amendment/Free In Idaho
*Thurgood Marshall @ 100/Political Game

Item: It's not just the food bill; it's the hay/Dan Hansen, SR

More Info: If you think it’s expensive feeding a 175-pound teenager, try feeding a 1,200-pound horse. Like gasoline, hay prices are at all-time highs and still climbing. That has cattlemen culling their herds and equestrians unloading some of their horses.

Question: Have you experienced sticker shock as you foraged for feed for your horses, cows and other hay burners?

Item: Fireworks bans don't deter celebrations: Buyers, beware: Injuries, damage not uncommon/Seattle PI

More Info: Fireworks are banned outright in Seattle, as they are in Kirkland and 19 other King County cities. Not that many residents would know it. Fireworks bans enacted around the state haven't curbed increases in the amount of damage done each Independence Day.

Question: If fireworks were banned in your area (mebbe they are), would you ignore the ban?

1. I am interviewed on camera
2. The URL runs on the bottom at least twice
3. I write all the interview questions in advance and get to "turn the tables" on the reporter and ask some silly yet ironic self-referential hipster questions of the reporter.
4. My inclusion in an AJR article on newspaper blogs is featured and the reporter acts very impressed.
5. At some point, I get to mention that the brownie boy story (high school boy frosts brownies with his own semen and takes to CDA high) is what got many of us into blogging/TUBOB. More conditions here.

Question: Dogwalk Musings and Bay Views have been featured this week on KXLY's introduction to the local blogosphere. Has your blog won notice beyond the boundaries of North Idaho?

Kathy Plonka/SR
St. Joseph's Catholic Church, a Spirit Lake landmark, is for sale, but it's going to take more than prayers to restore to its former glory the century-old church with a tall steeple. Story by Taryn Hecker/SR Prairie Voice

*Idaho Records/Sherry Adkins, SR
*Huckleberries: Enough already, Kendra's paid her debt/DFO, SR Prairie Voice
*Missing ATV rider found near Spirit Lake/KXLY
*German band to visit Post Falls/Amy Cannata, SR Prairie Voice
*Moyie Springs family coping w/son's rare birth defect/R.J. Cohn, RuralNorthwest.com
*Q'emiln boat lunch, swim area shut on Fourth/Brian Walker, CDA Press
*9th Circuit ruling clears way for deadwood removal/Rick Thomas, CDA Press

In a Coeur d'Alene Press article today, Undersheriff Tad Leach said that his department may have to release dangerous criminals to address overcrowding conditions. Recently, a Washington-based design group called for a jail/sheriff's office expansion of $147M. What is a reasonable cost to address current overcrowded conditions?

*0
*$10M-$25M
*Up to $50M
*$50M to $100M
*$147M

Displays of disrespect for flags at south central Idaho's Minico High School have cost two teachers their jobs, but that isn't enough for Minidoka County's prosecuting attorney. She wants one of the teachers fined and/or jailed, and she wants county taxpayers to finance her futile attempt to do that under a law that is conspicuously unconstitutional. That'll teach county voters a lesson about electing Nikki Cannon/Jim Fisher, Lewiston Tribune. More here.

Question: Do you think the Minico County prosecutor should prosecute the former high school teacher who desecrated a Mexican flag?

Bob Rule … Tom Meschery … John Tresvant … Lenny Wilkens ... Forty-one years of Northwest professional basketball history goes into storage this morning. The classic skyline logo, the retired jerseys, the NBA championship banner, the Squatch costume – all of it, boxed up and mothballed in Seattle mayor Greg Nickels' attic. For 75 million pieces of silver – give or take 30 million – the city of Seattle sold its hold on the Supersonics on Wednesday, settling the about-to-be-decided lawsuit against Sonics owner Clay Bennett before a judge could rule whether the club would have to play out the final two years of its KeyArena lease/John Blanchette, SR. More here.

Question: Is/was anyone out there a Seattle Supersonics fan?

Signe Wilkinson/Philadelphia Inquirer

Sweet & Sour Herb received some air time this afternoon as KXLY featured his blog, Bay Views, in its nightly pimp-a-local-blog feature. KXLY picked a good time to focus on Bay Views because Herb has a comprehensive post about the events headed our way at the annual Bayview Daze celebration Saturday. You can read the post here. KXLY didn't mention Herb by name, for some reason. Earlier this week, Huckleberries hears that Dogwalk Musings was featured by KXLY. Hat Tip to both North Idaho bloggers. Now, for your Wild Card ...

William Fernando Martinez/AP Photo
Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt, right, embraces her mother Yolanda Pulecio upon arrival to a military base in Bogota after being rescued from six years of captivity today. Betancourt is one of 15 hostages rescued by Colombia's military from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Betancourt was abducted by the FARC when running for president in February 2002. Story here.

... a U.S. citizen? Try out this MSNBC quiz of 20 questions that are among the 100 asked of individuals, like Pecky Cox/As The Lake Churns, who are seeking U.S. citizenship here.

Hat Tip: Vox Box

Clay Bennett will take his basketball franchise to Oklahoma City next season in exchange for $45 million and an agreement to leave the Sonics' name and history behind for a future NBA team. The Sonics chairman will owe the city another $30 million if the state Legislature approves funding for a new arena or a KeyArena renovation next year and the city does not get a replacement NBA team in the next five years/Seattle PI. More here.

Question: Are you bothered that the Northwest has lost a major professional sports team?

Christopher Anderson/SR
Spokane firefighters and AMR ambulance personnel help a burn victim at the scene of an apartment fire today. The two alarm fire at Sprague and Pittsburg filled the building with smoke and drove residents out into the street in the late afternoon. Story here.

*Avista warns of spike in gas rates/SR
*Woman accused of cutting baby from womb gave no signs/Tri-City Herald
*Kidnapping charges reduced against Mississippi couple/St. Maries Gazette-Record
*Bennett, Riley Creek announce merger/Lewiston Tribune
*Washington county drops charges against Alabaman found with Boise teen/IStatesman
*Steelers cut Fiesta Bowl star QB Zabransky/IStatesman
*Teen asks Spokane for $6M in firehouse sex case/KXLY

AP Photo
First-time blood donor Amanda J. Lopez, 34, stares at the wall Tuesday as United Blood Services donor technician Bryan Hill searches for a vein to draw a pint of blood in Las Cruces, N.M. The UBS mobile unit rolled into the two Howdy's gas stations in Las Cruces, N.M. and offered the first 20 blood donors at each store a free 5-gallon gas voucher for their donation. You write the cutline.

Top Cutlines:

1. Onshore drilling! -- Pecky.
2. Amanda daydreams about trips she can take with her free gasoline... then figures out by the time she leaves the blood bank, goes to Howdy's to get her free gas, and stops at the grocery store... that will be her dream trip -- Inland Empire Girl.
3. A surgeon prepares Amanda J. Lopez, 34, to pay her first installment on the new $140 million Kootenai County Jail. "This time all we need is the arm," he said. "We'll be back for the leg later" -- Indy.

HM: Idaho Escapee

2:19 p.m. Rescue crews at Spirit Lake Road & Lake Haven in the Spirit Lake area are trying to locate a woman who called after she rolled her ATV on top of a mountain. Rescuers are now on the line with the woman who has told them she's bleeding from the face (possible broken nose) and wants to go to sleep. She can't start the ATV now. Later: Victim seems to be going into shock. She can only tell rescuers that she sees a mountain in way of a fix on her location. Her parents are with the rescuers but they don't know which road their daughter took. Finally: Rescuers find woman. She's evacuated by Med-Star.

6:01 p.m. Hazmat units responding to fuel spill at Waterford Loop & Hauser Lake Road. A truck spilled a small amount of oil on the road when it rolled over.
5:37 p.m. Motorcyclist has flipped over his bike handles on the westbound onramp of Northwest Boulevard & I90.
4:04 p.m. Report of motorcycle parked in handicap spot by Hagadone Corp HQ.
4:02 p.m. Motorcycle down in the northbound lane of Highway 95 at M/P 402. Worley Ambulance responding.
2:17 p.m. Two dogs reportedly have been left for some time in a maroon pickup with a camper in the east parking lot of KMC.
2:03 p.m. 3 motorcycles are weaving in and out of traffic on I-90 at mile marker 6.
9:54 a.m. Stoplight @ 4th & Harrison not functioning.
8:43 a.m. (w/update) A half dozen CPD Blue and sheriff's unit are searching for a man seen running south from Lakes Middle School. He's described as 5-8 with a mustache, dark skin and hair, possibly Hispanic. The units now have a house surrounded. County K-9 unit called in. The individual fled his vehicle after being stopped by a patrol car for blowing a stop sign. See press release in comments section.

Limbaugh is not a journalist, not even a TV/broadcast journalist as loosely as that is sometimes defined. He is an opiner, and an opiner who plays fast and loose with facts, who doesn;t hesitate to engage is personal smears of folks he doesn't like (One word, Kerry!). (Wait until he wraps his microphone around Barack Obama)/Steve Smith, News Is A Conversation. More here.

*'Hancock' is big summer downer/Movies & More
*Camper kids preserve dying art/Hard 7
*Shock back on top of poll/Sportslink
*It's not skating, and it's not basketball/Daily Briefing
*Plummeting auto sales make the front page/News Diary

I hit the Chehalis rez for explosives last evening. I've got a bunch of unsafe and insane fireworks. Their prices were outrageous. I'm used to the Coeur D'Alene stand which is huge, on the Chehalis they had bunches of very small stands, I'm guessing run by different families, with horrid prices. Oh well, some of the stuff I purchased looks like it could knock entire clans of bats out of the night sky. The fourth fever is startin to get to me. I'm going back home tonight after work. There is only one question worth answerin each summer: Can I maintain my pyrotechnic superiority at the lake?/TUBOB. More here.

Question: Are you part of the fireworks arms race in our neighborhood?

Item: Coeur d'Alene Tribe excludes St. Maries schools from cash payments for 'disrespectful' letters re: Indian sovereignty/Tim Trainor, St. Maries Gazette-Record

More Info: The St. Maries School District was excluded from cash payments by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe because it sent “inappropriate” and “disrespectful” letters on issues of tribal sovereignty, the tribe said. Coeur d’Alene tribal officials responded last week to a letter from the school district, asking why it hadn’t been included in the tribe’s annual payouts to regional schools.

Question: Is turn about fair play in this instance?

Who: Moore, Iacofano, Goltsman (MIG) of Portland, Ore., and Economic Modeling Specialists, Inc. of Moscow, Idaho
What: will present the details of their reports on the education corridor
When: from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 10
Where: in the Community Room of the Coeur d’Alene Public Library.
How: Panelists from education corridor partners will accept questions submitted by audience members. The presentation will also be televised live on the City of Coeur d’Alene Public Access Channel 19. Information: (208) 769-3316.

NIC press release

A settlement has been reached in the Sonics lawsuit, Seattle City Hall sources confirmed today. Seattle Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis and City Attorney Tom Carr briefed City Council members on the settlement today, according to sources. ... A press conference is scheduled for 5 p.m. More here.

Tony Gutierrez/AP Photo
A slice of watermelon is shown at the Gutierrez Produce stand at the Dallas Farmers Market, Tuesday in Dallas. Watermelons contain an ingredient called citrulline that can trigger production of a compound that helps relax the body's blood vessels, similar to what happens when a man takes Viagra, said scientists in Texas.

"Saw this (at corner of Chatcolet & Highway 95) coming home on Saturday and simply HAD to turn around and go back for a couple pics," posts JeanC @ her Cat House and Shooting Gallery. "I love people with a serious sense of humor."

I saw two women and five kids who were perfectly able bodied, pile out of their Escalade that the driver had just parked in the very first handicapped parking space at Target. I knew from the swimsuits and beach hair that they had just spent the day frolicking in the sand and water. I always wonder about people who think it's okay to park in those spaces when they so obviously don't need to. And how do they explain to their children that it's okay?/A Butterfly Moment. More here.

*Bayview Daze are upon us/Bay Views
*Info on memorial service for Glen Black/Hauser Thoughts
*Fool's gold/Dogwalk Musings
*It's about time this defense was published/Arch Druid
*Mike Wagoner and Priest Lake/As The Lake Churns
*When did the casual look start?/From A Simple Mind
*3BT: Invited back, music's power, human again/Kellogg Bloggin'
*Sunday drive/Live, Love, Laugh, Hope
*Bad muvver, piles everywhere/Marmitetoasty

HBO Numbers (for June 2008): 219,395 page-views/125,956 unique views

Question: What do you do when you see able-bodies people pull into a handicap parking spot?

Photo courtesy of Coeur d'Alene police

Coeur d’Alene Police responded to the 200 block of Mallard in response to two victims who reported their vehicles burglarized in the early morning hours of (Saturday, June 21). No forced entry was used, both vehicles were left unlocked. Items stolen were a wallet with credit cards, CD player, CD’s and a check imager. At (3:30 a.m.) a surveillance camera at the Albertson’s gas station at 220 W. Ironwood captured images of a suspect using one of the stolen credit cards. Attached to this release are three surveillance photos of the suspect pumping gas into his vehicle. If anyone has any information as to the identity of the suspects please contact the Police Department at 769-2320/Sgt. Christie Wood, CPD Blue.

*Digger passes along an incredible Salt Lake Tribune story that indicates that the garb worn by the fundamentalist LDS polygamy sect is catching on here.

*Yesterday, HBO answered to the best of its ability, after talking to CDA City Attorney Mike Gridley, that Segways are an unauthorized motor vehicle on the Centennail Trail. Or not. This Boise Weekly story provided by Duffer points out that Boise police are trying to figure it out, too. Click here.

*The Google Analytics numbers are in for Spokesman-Review blogs for the first six months of 2008. Huckleberries Online attracted 1,186,310 page-views and 682,816 unique views to run second to Sportslink (1,666,468 PVs). Rounding out the Top 5 are: Eye On Boise (129,846), Vox Box (124,963) and Video Journal (109,532). HBO is on pace to break its 2007 record of 2.25M PVs.

Item: NRA plans $40M fall blitz targeting Obama/Jonathan Martin, Politico

More Info: NRA members will get automated phone calls, mail pieces and pre-election editions of the group’s three magazines making the case against Obama. The National Rifle Association plans to spend about $40 million on this year’s campaign, with $15 million of that devoted to portraying Barack Obama as a threat to the Second Amendment rights upheld last week by the Supreme Court.

Question: Is the National Rifle Association being paranoid? Or do you think that Barack Obama is a threat to your 2nd Amendment rights?