Robin Loznak/Roseburg News Review
A small bug hitches a slow motion ride on a garden snail on a walkway in front of a house in Cottage Grove, Ore., Thursday.

I'm about to hoof it home and enjoy the beautiful sunshine outside along the way. Sometime in the next week, I need to take my bike out of the cob webs. And tune it up somewhat. I used to ride to work regularly a coupla years ago. But got out of the habit. Am I going green? Nah. Gas prices. My 4Runner gets decent mileage for an SUV. But it can't touch my late, great Honda Accord in that category. As a side benefit, of course, walking and biking to work and back is good for health. Now, to continue your daily Wild Card ...

Barack Obama apologized Wednesday to a Michigan TV reporter after he called her "sweetie" and dodged her question about autoworkers. WXYZ-TV's Peggy Agar shouted a question to the Democratic presidential candidate during his appearance at a Chrysler LLC plant in this auto-making suburb of Detroit. Agar asked Obama what is he "going to do to help American autoworkers." "Hold on one second, sweetie," Obama replied. "We'll do a press (availability), thanks." He did not reply to Agar's question. On the air later Wednesday, the station played a voice mail message Obama left for Agar. In it, Obama apologized for not getting back to her. He also told her he has a bad habit of calling people "sweetie"/AP.

Question: Was this incident apology worthy?

Earlier this week, I mentioned that third-grader Cassie Hoots/Atlas Elementary was a finalist in the "Doodle for Google" contest. Seems kids were asked to draw a "doodle" for the google website. The winner (in each category) receives a $10,000 college scholarship and the school gets a $25,000 computer lab, plus their "doodle" will be published on Google's Web site May. The contest runs through Sunday.

Vote for Cassie's entry ("Picnic") here

Kerri Thoreson/OnLocation North Idaho
Earlier today, a giant pipe is transported around the corner at Independence Point on Sherman Avenue to detour around the aging I-90 underpasses through Coeur d'Alene.

HBO Numbers (for Wednesday, May 14): 7466 page-views/4147 unique views

*Finding serenity in chaos/Soul Doubt
*CCC/Wayward Episcopalian
*Countdown/Tumblewords
*The 2 that got away/Ralph Bartholdt, The Skinny On North Idaho
*Ice out/TUBOB
*Off to see the kids/Slight Detour
*My wife's birthday/Synaptic Disunion

The general public and some members of the press were barred from the taping of Wednesday's Republican debate among candidates for the U.S. Senate by debate organizer KTVB-Channel 7. The event, recorded at 7 p.m. at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa for later broadcast, was open only to those on KTVB's guest list, said Bryce Quary, director of conferences and events for NNU. Among those barred were the Associated Press, an Idaho Statesman reporter and independent candidate Rex Rammell, who parked a campaign bus outside the 1,500-seat Swayne Auditorium/IStatesman. More here

*KTVB's Senate debate coverage; and KTVB's explanation for format
*Weather making jump to summer/SR
*Moscow officer's name added to fallen officer memorial/KXLY

Francois Mori/AP Photo
American actors Angelina Jolie and Jack Black touch bellies as they arrive at the photo call for the film "Kung Fu Panda" during the 61st International film festival in Cannes, southern France, on Thursday. You write the cutline.

Top Cutlines:

1. Jack took the sympathetic pregnancy weight gain thing a bit too far/A Token D.
2. Angelina is eating for three. So, apparently, is Jack Black/CindyH.
3. After Jack bumps her twins, it's the Pitts as Jolie knees him in his/John Austin.

HM: Nic

The National Weather Service has issued a Flood Watch for North Idaho. A flood watch means that flooding is possible but not imminent in the watch area. Unseasonably warm temperatures combined with above normal mountain snow pack are forecast to produce significant rises on the Coeur d’Alene River and Lake Coeur d’Alene. The Coeur d’Alene River at Cataldo is forecast to reach flood stage sometime Saturday night or Sunday morning and is expected to crest at approximately 1½ feet above flood stage midday Sunday. Lake Coeur d’Alene is forecast to reach flood stage next week/Office of Emergency Management press release. More here

“Plugged pumps have become a recurrent problem as the number of users increases, and with this increased use, the number of people flushing baby wipes and diapers also increases,” Gerry House, Hayden Lake Recreational Water and Sewer District chairman re: today's sewage spill in Hayden Lake.

Question: Is it possible to flush a diaper down the toilet?

Up to 11,000 gallons of raw sewage may have spilled into Hayden Lake near Cooper’s Bay this week because of a plugged pipe, perhaps from residents flushing diapers and baby wipes, according to the regional sewer district. A Hayden Lake Recreational Water and Sewer District employee discovered the leak this morning. Test results from water samples taken near the site should be available Friday morning. Without the results, the district and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality don’t know whether a health hazard exists, but the area is posted with warning signs to minimize exposure to water in the area/Erica Curless, SR. More here

... Joseph Duncan is found incompetent?/Betsy Russell, SR Eye On Boise

More Info: “The law is that if you are incompetent, the proceedings are suspended,” said Rodney Uphoff, a law professor at the University of Missouri and an expert on death penalty cases. However, he said, “I would say that it’s highly, highly unlikely that the guilty plea would be undone.” ... But if the defendant isn’t competent to stand trial, he couldn’t go through with the sentencing hearings.

Question: If Duncan escapes the death penalty as a result of an incompetency ruling, would that diminish your faith in the judicial system?

A Christian group out of San Diego has found grounds for outrage over the new retro-style logo for Starbucks Coffee. The Resistance says the new image "has a naked woman on it with her legs spread like a prostitute," Mark Dice, founder of the group, said in a news release. "Need I say more? It's extremely poor taste, and the company might as well call themselves Slutbucks." The group, which claims more than 3,000 members nationwide and has found a place advancing various conspiracy theories, is calling for a national boycott of the coffee-selling giant/StarTribune.com. More here

Question: Should Starbucks change the new logo?

Ng Han Guan/AP Photo
Workers carry an earthquake victim evacuated by boat from Yingxiu to the Zipingpu Dam near Dujiangyan in southwestern China's Sichuan province. The boat was used to circumvent inaccessible roads. China warned the death toll from this week's earthquake could soar to 50,000, while the government issued a rare public appeal Thursday for rescue equipment as it struggled to cope with the disaster. For Andrew Zahler's complete SR Today In Pictures slideshow, click here.

Complete copy of Tony's speech

1. To: NIC employees, students, trustees and community -- Always embrace and celebrate the concept of collaboration, shared governance, and participatory decision making with the recognition that the final legal respnsibility for governing NIC lies with the Board of Trustees.
2. To: NIC decision makers -- Pursue creative ways to provide meaningful raises not only for the faculty but for all NIC's employees.
3. To: community -- Give wholehearted support to the proposed education corridor.
4. To: NIC trustees -- Become very proactive in carrying out the 2005 NIC Diversity and Human Rights Steering Committeee's 28-page implementation plan for advancing human rights and diversity on campus.
5. To: administration, trustees and legislators -- Support a 2009 legislative change in Idaho's PERSI rules making it possible for community college faculty presently not eligible for PERSI retirement to have that option.
6. To: all NIC constituencies -- Promote open lines of communication.

Complete copy of Tony Stewart's retirement speech

"I will be joining and collaborating with the PBS TV affiliate KSPS TV Channel 7 in Spokane to produce and host PBS programs. In our preliminary discussions as to my future role at PBS, I have begun the research and drafting a plan to create a large consortium consisting of experts in numerous fields of study at the colleges and universities throughout the Pcific Northwest and western Canada to produce PBS programs for KSPS on a wide range of issues. This concept is especially exciting and promising due to the fact that there is no prior history of anyone undertaking such a consortium to tap all these great minds for PBS conversations on an ongoing basis. I also plan to continue my human rights work including speaking engagements around the country."

Tony Stewart
NIC political science instructor
Local human rights leader

To some minds, a Southern accent is a tip-off of potential racial hostility. Don't tell that to native North Carolinian Tony Stewart. He will tell you that the closer you are to the challenges of prejudice, the clearer it is that it's wrong. Still, the soft-spoken political science professor – who steps down today after 38 years on the North Idaho College faculty – is a walking paradox. The quiet Southern gentility that marks his personality, for one thing, seems out of place alongside the personal courage that enabled him to denounce acts of racism as a boy in North Carolina and, later, to defy death threats as a human rights activist in the center of North Idaho's Aryan Nations infestation/Spokesman-Review. More here

DFO: I'm going to leave you for awhile to attend Tony Stewart's retirement announcement at North Idaho College at 1 o'clock. I talked to him earlier this morning. He plans to make 6 recommendations for NIC. It could be interesting.

AP Photo
Stuart Gaffney, right, kisses his partner of 21 years, John Lewis, left after hearing the Supreme Court decision on same sex marriages outside the State Supreme court house in San Francisco, Calif., today.

Item: Top California court supports gay marriage/Reuters

More Info: The California Supreme Court overturned a ban on same-sex marriages on Thursday in a major victory for gay rights advocates that will allow gay and lesbian couples to marry in the most populous U.S. state.

Bryan Fischer, Idaho Values Alliance: "This is another example of how the homosexual lobby uses judicial activism to get what they can’t get any other way. More here

Question: What say you?

Jesse Tinsley/Spokesman-Review
The Spokane River creates a cacphony of as it roils under the swinging bridge and a solitary runner at Riverside State Park Wednesday afternoon. High river flows from snow melt have weather watchers and emergency personnel watching for potential flooding across the region. Story here

1. In Boise, the long, painful trend of amped up gas prices continues – and for the first time, the average price of a gallon of premium gas has vaulted over the $4 mark here/KTVB.

2. Idaho’s State Board of Education will form a search committee to look for a replacement for University of Idaho President Tim White who was named the University of California at Riverside chancellor Thursday morning here/IStatesman.

3. Online Poll: 62% of 665 respondents to an Idaho Statesman poll say, with only 5 state primaries remaining, it's time for Hillary Clinton to withdraw from the presidential campaign.

4. IMHO: Hometown amenities for SpokAtraz/Doug Clark, SR; Be prepared to meet the definite article/Lynn Swanbom, SR; and Don't look to survey when electing a justice/IStatesman.

5. Blogs: Climate change solution bigger than ESA/Rocky Barker, IStatesman; What if you held a debate and told the public to go away?/Kevin Richert, IStatesman; The road to Paulville/Flathead Beacon blog; and A Republican candidate's indirect swipe at Gov. Otter/Scott Picken.

6. News Roundup: In Montana, Clinton blast Dem handling of Florida, Michigan delegates/Missoulian; Injured biker stranded for days/SR; Wolf illegally shot in Wyoming/IStatesman; Workers save 11 ducks stuck in drain/KTVB; and Stimson workers' final week extended/Missoulian.

Orbusmax Special: New revealing Starbucks logo has group yelling "Slutbucks!" here

1st District U.S. House primary - Neither candidate stands out U.S. Rep. Bill Sali faces a challenge from Iraq War veteran Matt Salisbury in the Republican primary for the 1st District congressional seat, but neither stands out as a stronger choice. Sali’s first term has been defined largely by his consistent votes against measures that he believes would grow government. But his first-term legacy is short, and he has been ranked one of the least-effective lawmakers in Washington/Idaho Press Tribune. More here

Executive Director Bryan Fischer announced today that the Idaho Values Alliance is joining forces with a coalition of evangelical leaders, national and state organizations, and policy makers to launch a nation-wide campaign to counter the environmental hype surrounding global warming. The “We Get It!” campaign, launched today, will gather one million signatures on a simple statement by which Christians can show that they are united behind biblical perspectives on the environment and the poor, and don’t believe the hype about global warming. ... Said Fischer, “We’ve already seen that the rush to convert food into fuel has sent the price of food staples skyrocketing around the world, and Christians cannot and must not remain silent when it is the poor who receive the brunt of our obsession with global warming”/Idaho Values Alliance news release. More here

Idaho Blog roundup:
*Bill Sali roundup, 5-14/MountainGoat Report
*Is Idaho subsidizing liquor sales?/Clayton Cramer
*LaRocco mentioned on the Daily Show/DianaMaria13's Blog, 43rd State Blues
*GI Bill/IdaBlue

Question: What is your reaction to the "We Get It!" campaign?

... that state Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Post Falls, not only mouthed his opposition to Coeur d'Alene's Education Corridor at the local Pachyderms' $18 sham discussion about higher education Tuesday night. But also that he privately called Idaho's congressional delegation to lobby against a possible $1 million federal earmark to help pay for the project. Coeur d'Alene has no friend in Nonini.

Update: White named chancellor at UC-Riverside

University of Idaho President Tim White could be named chancellor of the University of California Riverside as soon as this morning. A report in Wednesday's Press-Enterprise of Riverside County cited unnamed government sources who said the new chancellor could come from Idaho. White announced last month he was in discussions to take over another university, but declined to name the school/Lewiston Tribune. More here

Question: What will be White's legacy at University of Idaho?

Three years have passed since Mark McKenzie, Brenda Groene and her child, Slade Groene, were brutally murdered in their Wolf Lodge home. The two younger children were abducted and sexually tortured in the weeks that followed, resulting in the death of Dylan Groene. The Wolf Lodge house is boarded up; the memorials of stuffed toys deteriorate along the roadside as time slowly passes. I was in the Wolf Lodge area this last weekend and I reflected on this event. How has our community changed? How have I changed?/MamaJD. More here

Question: How have the McKenzie-Groene murders and kidnappings by Joseph Edward Duncan affected you?

Item: Kempthorne makes tough call on polar bear listing: While blaming the animals' plight on global warming, he says the Endangered Species Act can't be used to regulate greenhouse gases/Idaho Statesman.

More Info: Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne may have cast polar bears as the enduring symbol of the effects of global warming on Wednesday by protecting them with the Endangered Species Act. But Kempthorne also sought to prevent the use of the powerful federal law from regulating greenhouse gases around the country.

Question: Did Kempthorne make the right call by using the Endangered Species Act to protect polar bears?

Item: NIC seeks to maintain college campus feel: New strategic plan charts course through 2013/Maureen Dolan, Coeur d'Alene Press

More Info: During the next five years, North Idaho College plans to grow its professional-technical programs, develop more opportunities for students to transfer to four-year colleges and acquire properties for expansion while maintaining "the existing college campus feel."

Question: What do you appreciate most about North Idaho College?

First, you need to know that my sister, Lil, is a good person with a sparkling driving record. Also, she's an exec for a large central California winery. People hop when she sez jump. Except for a Spirit Lake police officer who had some time on his hands Friday night. For more background, you should know that Lil received her only parking ticket ever – a $10 one – for misunderstanding signage a few years back in CdA's Third Street lot. And that she's fed up with my comments re: what North Idahoans think of Californians. Now, onward. Seems Lil was behind the wheel of sister Charlotte's Ford driving through Spirit Lake when she failed to notice that the driver of an oncoming car had blinked his lights, not once but twice. Worse yet, the car flipped a U-turn after she passed. Moments later, she was being lectured by an SLPD Blue for not pulling far enough off the road. Lil explained that she wasn't familiar with the area as she handed the officer her license. The patrolman took a look at her address and exclaimed: "California?! Don't you know that's the only dirty word in the Idaho dictionary?" We siblings, of course, howled with glee while Lil muttered darkly for days about "that Barney Fife"/D.F. Oliveria, SR Prairie Voice. More here

Question: Have you ever been stopped by a patrol cop in a small town?

Jerome A. Pollos/Coeur d'Alene Press
Chief Wayne Longo, left, Capt. Steve Childers and Capt. Ron Clark, all from the Coeur d'Alene Police Department, hold one of three 12-foot-tall statues of police officers steady as it is anchored Wednesday behind the police department in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The statues are part of the Fallen Heroes Plaza that will be moved and installed at Cherry Hill Park later this year.

*Idaho Records/Sherry Adkins, SR
*Citizens worlds apart on wolves: Proposal calls for 25 animals to be harvested in Panhandle Region in 2008/Tom Greene, Coeur d'Alene Press
*Post Falls to unveil new water features/Laura Umthum, SR Prairie Voice
*Rapid melt churns a torrent: Emergency officials gird for rivers at flood stage/Jody Lawrence-Turner
*8 vie for Lakeland, Post Falls school board seats: Who will fill three open spots to be decided by voters May 20/Taryn Hecker, SR Prairie Voice

RE: Nonini, Pachydermers oppose ed corridor
I had a conversation with a member of the North Idaho Education Forum (funny how these folks scream for openness and free access in government, but don't tell people who they are and charge folks for information), I won't name him, but he complained to me about NIC being a bastion of liberals and a, and this is a direct quote, "Pus pocket of Democrats". Think these folks want a fair and open hearing? Or are they just pushing an agenda?

ThomG

RE: WND Poll: 'Who's most likely to fail?' survey
I don't have a problem with a teacher facilitating this kind of survey as long as students are likewise allowed to circulate a school-sanctioned survey that lets students vote on which teachers
1) are most likely to have an affair,
2) are probably sleeping with a student,
3) are gay,
4) are unregistered pedophiles,
5) have unreported criminal backgrounds,
6) go home after school and watch Cartoon Network alone with their cats,
7) Other: _________________________.

CCD

Item: Hillary to run as independent? Nearly 1/3 of Democrats think Clinton should bolt if Obama gets nomination/WorldNetDaily

Question: Do you think Hillary will run as an independent if Obama gets the Democrat nomination?

1. Yes, and she'll win the general election
2. Yes, she's already hinting at it by saying she's not a quitter
3. Yes, her personal ambition compels her even if it sabotages the Democrats' chance to reclaim the White House
4. Yes, she's no spring chicken – it's now or never
5. Yes, it would be political suicide to challenge President Obama in 2012 – she's got to keep him out of the White House now for her next run
6. No, she would be the ultimate Democrat spoiler
7. No, only fringe candidates go the independent route
8. No, she may be power hungry but she's not stupid
9. No, she knows she can do more to undermine President Obama or attack President McCain as a Democrat in good standing while biding her time for 2012
10. No, she's a loyal Democrat who's committed to supporting her party's nominee

For the WorldNetDaily news report, click here.

Michael Ramirez/Investor's Business Daily

Education Corridor. $31.1 million Coeur d'Alene School District levy. Primary elections. Looks like things are heating up in North Idaho as winter will finally begin to give away to spring (if you can believe the weatherman this time). I'm looking forward to sunshine tomorrow. And some passionate debate at Huckleberries Online. Now, for your Hump Day Wild Card ...

Christopher Anderson/SR
Seth and Beth Hohenstreet took their 3 children to see the water rampaging through the Post Falls Dam earlier today. From left are Stephen. James and Grace ( in the arms of Beth ).

SR critic Dan Webster/Movies & More lists 10 movies he considers unforgettable:

*“A Clockwork Orange”
*“Irreversible”
*“Boogie Nights”
*“Raging Bull”
*“Oldboy”
*“Dogville”
*“Celebration”
*“Bonnie and Clyde”
*“Memento”
*“The Vanishing”

Question: What would you add to the list?

Chris Peterson/Glacier Park Magazine
A coyote makes its way across (still) frozen St. Mary Lake earlier this spring.

I had a doctor's appointment today and he happily announced that this baby would probably be my biggest one yet. Nine pounds he guessed. Not that I care how big she is, I'm have a c-section after all. But I don't really feel that big and have only gained 15 pounds since the beginning. And the way I figure it, if the baby weighs 9 pounds and then there's 4 pounds of other baby stuff, I will only have to lose 2 pounds later. Sounds good to me. Bring on the 9 pound baby!/A Butterfly Moment

HBO Numbers (for Tuesday, May 13): 7708 page-view/4164 unique views

*Candidates visit Bayview/Bay Views
*So, we are not color blind?/Dogwalk Musings
*No babysitter needed/A Family Runs Through It
*Daily Show had better journalism/Arch Druid
*I don't know the answer/From A Simple Mind
*9 silly questions: Quincy Clark/Get Out! North Idaho
*Medicare prescription drug plan at its best/Hauser Thoughts

Question: What size were you when you were born?

Steve Hanks/Lewiston Tribune, AP
Idaho Department of Transportation's Frank Dammarell, left, and Wayne Ferguson replace a speed limit sign near Genesee, Idaho, as the speed limit is raised from 60 to 65 along the 16 mile stretch of U.S. Highway 95 between Lewiston and Moscow today.

*House OKs farm bill, Northwest lawmakers split/AP
*Shoshone County gets emergency status ahead of warming/SR
*Bus driver accused of racial slur going back to work/KTVB
*Ex-Borah High teacher sentenced on child porn charges/IStatesman
*Sandpoint charter high school proposed/Bonner County Bee

Paul Sancya/AP Photo
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, right, greets Honda's ASIMO robot after it conducted the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as it performed "Impossible Dream" during a concert in Detroit, Tuesday, May 13, 2008. Honda Motor Co. designed ASIMO, which stands for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility. You write the cutline.

Top Cutlines:

1. Seconds later, Asimo's hand, accidentally and tragically programmed to a 9 on a 1-10 scale of SUPERHUMAN GRIP STRENGTH, crushed Yo-Yo's million dollar cello playing right hand like a 260 lb gangbanger sitting on a small bag of cheetos in the front seat of a Honda Civic and instantly setting back the science of cute yet deadly kinda human looking Japanese robotic science at least 27 years -- Bob.
2. Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto, Domo -- Fat Lady Sings.
3. Yo-Yo Ma was impressed with more than ASIMO ability to conduct a symphony. "That's quite a codpiece you have," Ma told the robot -- Nic.

HM: KeithinCDA

4:56 p.m. hit-and-run accident reported at 95 & Lacey, with a dark-blue pickup described as the "run vehicle."
3:58 p.m. traffic hazard reported at 4th & Lunceford
10:54 a.m. injury accident involving tan pickup and blue passenger vehicle at mile-post 30 (Shoshone County) on Interstate 90
8:50 a.m. Officer wanted at Juvenile Detention Center to take possible rape report.

... that local Pachyderms are paranoid that popular CdA Councilman Mike Kennedy (shown kissing daughter Nora in 2006 prior to being sworn into office) will eventually run against Repub Marge Chadderdon for her 4th House District seat. Sen. Mike Jorgenson and Rep. Jim Clark have asked Kennedy about it already. Seems the paranoia can be traced to Mary Souza's Web site, where Kennedy's silhouette appears on a Gookin article speculating about the race. Seems Dem county chair Bev Moss is serving as a placeholder for the primary but plans to step aside and allow the Central Committee to choose a replacement after the primary. Kennedy tells Huckleberries that it won't be him.

Charles Rex Arbogast/AP
Chef Didier Durand, of Cyrano's Bistrot & Wine Bar, holds his pet duck, Nicolai, outside his restaurant in Chicago, where he talked today with reporters after the Chicago City Council repealed its controversial two-year-old ban on foie gras, a delicacy made of duck and goose liver.

Question: Anyone enjoy foie gras?

At Huckleberries Online, who will be (or is):

*First regular to flee in tears (this week)___________
*Regular mostly likely to get tossed in DFO's moldy cooler ___________
*Newbie mostly likely to try and knock Bob's top hat off ___________
*First female poster to broach the abortion topic ___________ first male poster ___________
*male poster most likely to be front paged ___________ female ___________
*male poster not named Bob most likely to be front paged ___________ female not named kendramama ___________
*First CAVEr to come back and stick ___________

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo
Environmental activist from the Alaska Wilderness League and Green Peace watch Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne's news conference at the Interior Department in Washington, Wednesday, where he announced the status of the polar bear. Story here For Andrew Zahler's SR Today In Pictures, click here.

RE: Nikolas Aguirre's fatal accident

I want my boy to come home. He died May 8, 2008. He would have turned 18 May 9, but the car flipped over and ejected him out of our lives. He did not survive. I went to the mortuary to view his body. I admit it; I wanted it to be somebody else’s son. I did not want to have to kiss my green king goodbye. But I did. He looked like an angel, but he was cold. The room felt empty. And I feel empty without him. They told me he died instantly, and I cling to that. But he was alone and he was drunk and/or stoned. I want his death to serve some higher purpose/Desire Aguirre, River Journal. More here

Question: How religious are you re: buckling up and seeing that your children do, too?

One has to wonder when the Kempthorne strong hold on Idaho will end. Like the unfortunate limelight forced on Idaho by our infamous senior senator, Idaho's image is being tainted by the blatant disregard for precedent being displayed by our former governor. As if bestowing on this state the most hideous of state quarters wasn't enough, we are now being credited as the home of the man who doesn't seem to mind if poachers are let in to our national parks or if the people who first elected him to office have access to whatever records, important or not, may have been retained from his tenure in the Idaho Statehouse/Political Game. More here

Idaho Blog roundup:
*Videoconferenced Legislature?/Clayton Cramer
*One last kiss off from Larry Craig to America's vets/Unequivocal Notion
*Sali's afraid to debate foes w/military experience/The Stupid Shall Be Punished
*Sali gets top conservative rating/Trish&Halli
*GOP concedes prez race/Here In Idaho

Question: What will Dirk Kempthorne's legacy be once he steps down as U.S. secretary of Interior?

It's one thing to bring back Griffey as the final piece to a contending team. But the Mariners are apparently going to ask him at 38 to do what he already did once at 19 -- save the franchise. They will deny that's his job, but guess what happens when he goes through an ordinary 0-for-15 slump. Reporters will be all over him: You hurt? Swing slowed down? American League pitching? Cold Seattle air? Poor hitter's background at the stadium? Didn't you say a long time ago this wasn't a hitter's park? Griffey may be more mature, but some things don't change. He won't like being criticized, especially when through no fault of his own he's the last refuge of a desperate team/Art Thiel, Seattle PI. More here

Question: Should the slumping Mariners bring back former wunderkind Ken Griffey Jr.?

James Snook/AP Photo
Former President Bill Clinton gets a hug from eight-month-old Owne Zahn after speaking on behalf of his wife, Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., Wednesday in Missoula, Mont.

1. Hillary Clinton’s run for the presidency isn’t over, former President Bill Clinton declared as he stirred up about 3,000 people in a drizzling rain in Kalispell, Mont., Tuesday night here/Kalispell Daily Inter Lake.

2. The federal court has issued an order advising the more than 300 potential jurors in the Joseph Duncan case that they’re free to go on vacation – because the case won’t take up again in court until after June 23 here/SR.

3. Rather than putting up posters and distributing bumper stickers, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Fischer said he is focusing on prayer. Fischer, a Lakeside logger and excavator, acknowledged that he and running mate Steve White of Kalispell are running an unconventional campaign here/Billings Gazette.

4. Blogs: Flag pins and patriots/Dogwalk Musings; Wednesday's Quickie Political Briefing/Spin Control 2.0; Dean announces 50-state blog strategy/Red State Rebels; and Idaho Statesman's endorsement policy/Adam's Blog.

5. IMHO: A case of grizzly 'track tremble'/G. George Ostrom, Hungry Horse News; Gridiron stimulus checks/Shelly Kraack, St. Maries Gazette-Record; Who you gonna choose for Bonner County sheriff?/Trish Gannon, River Journal; and Economic growth is an illusion in Ketchum/Idaho Mountain Express.

6. News Roundup: Little League heart attack survivor reads school announcements/IStatesman; Canyon County residents sue commissioners over new jail/IStatesman; McCall pays off $6M debt days before deadline/KTVB; High gas costs not slowing Yellowstone tourism/Billings Gazette; and Idaho book store owner dies in car crash/Sun Valley Online.

Orbusmax Special: Hazing ends in jail time for high school ballplayers here.

Sweet & Sour Herb/Bay Views
Vicki Richardson, dressed as a character from "Little House on the Prairie," is running hard for queen of Bayview. Colleague Taryn Hecker/SR reported recently that Bayview is planning to choose its first queen in 30 years. Vicki brought bribes to a recent Bayview Chamber of Commerce meeting and has collected a ton of money for fireworks.

Question: Have you ever been crowned as a queen or princess?

Lt. Gov. Jim Risch performed extremely well during his 7 months as the state's governor, following Dirk Kempthorne's selection as U.S. Secretary of Interior. In fact, I became a fan of his after he forced Republican legislators, largely against their will, to embrace major property tax reform. However, I don't think I'm going to vote for him this year. It's nothing personal. I decided a coupla years ago not to vote for individuals, Republican or Democrat, who skip important campaign debates. The theory goes that frontrunners like Risch have everything to lose and nothing to gain by open debates. Risch is dodging an open debate with the rest of the mob running for U.S. Sen. Larry Craig's seat. He's dodged debates before. Congressman Bill Sali announced Tuesday that he has no time for an Idaho Public Television debate with underdog Matt Salisbury. Meanwhile, 2nd District Congressman Mike Simpson also has bailed on debates. As far as I'm concerned, a politician who bails on important debates is similar to an applicant who fails to show up for a job interview. They don't deserve to be hired, no matter how qualified they are.

Related: Sali joins crowd of no-show non-debaters/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman; and Sali, poof/Shea Andersen, Boise Weekly

Question: Does it matter to you that Jim Risch, Bill Sali and Mike Simpson are dodging important debates?

Nah, this isn't sheriff's Capt. Ben Wolfinger's weekly lineup of warrant scofflaws. It's worse. It's three individuals who should know better than to fight Coeur d'Alene's Education Corridor (from left): Rep. Bob Nonini, Sen. Mike Jorgenson, and former Jobs Plus exec Bob Potter. Bob, of course, lives on the river, so he probably doesn't see the importance of expanded public waterfront access and education opportunities for the area's working class. Believe it or not, he's chairman of the House Education Committee. Mike, from prestigious Hayden Lake, doesn't represent the Coeur d'Alene legislative district either. Mebbe the Far Right Pachyderms called in old Bob to harrumph against the education corridor because the current Jobs Plus exec realizes how important it is.

On the national level, Republicans may have settled on a presidential candidate while Democrats are involved in a protracted struggle, but in Idaho, it is the Democrats who are coming together and the Republicans who are split asunder by a factional divide. The tale of two Idaho parties was well told inside Tuesday's Lewiston Tribune by Associated Press writers Rebecca Boone and John Miller. Miller reported that the last of the state's uncommitted Democratic superdelegates, Party Chairman Keith Roark, had joined his three fellow Democratic leaders in endorsing Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for the party's presidential nomination. And Boone told of continuing spite among Republicans over an attempt to close party primary elections to voters who will not register publicly as Republicans/Jim Fisher, Lewiston Tribune. More here