Saturday Slight

Congratulations to Melanie Nickisch Almeida from Seattle. She submitted the only response for yesterday's Slight Detour assignment. So, she gets an A-plus along with a few extra credit points.

She had mostly right answers for each person listed in the quiz about what certain folks were doing professionally back in 1989. My senior English students wrote to these people, asking them about their careers.

Ed Humble was our superintendent; Steve Neuder might have still been doing his traveling entertainment show in schools, Ralph Sletager was on the school board and building or renovating stuff around the area, like the Old Power House.

Betsy Walker was a counselor; now she's a principal at Kootenai School. Nikki Hawkins was into design work, while her sister Mitzi was probably still working for the ski apparel place in California.

Bill Chambers was involved in the computer world, and the late Jim Stoicheff was a beloved school principal and dedicated Idaho State Senator.

Speaking of state senators, I saw ours last night while waiting for Annie's flight to arrive. Shawn Keough was coming back from Boise after a day spent with the finance committee, looking into upcoming Idaho state budget concerns. Things are looking pretty bleak, she says, but she says conservative fiscal policies of past years have ensured reserve funding.

Idaho has taken the economic problems harder than a lot of states because of down turns in both the computer sectors and housing market, both of which had been boosting state coffers for a number of years.

It's always good to see Shawn. She's a legislator who works hard for her constituents. Whether or not folks agree with her, I'm sure everyone will agree that she dedicated and professional in her approach to politics and its workings.

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Willie has taken off for Boise. In fact, his flight probably just left Spokane as I write. He survived Week One as a teacher and, overall, seems to have had some pretty positive experiences with his students and staff. Meanwhile, Annie is upstairs snoozing away in preparation for a usual Annie day, which features a tight schedule and high expectations.

She's talking about hiking Gold Hill today. There's a reward along the way---always breath-taking views of Lake Pend Oreille and the Sandpoint area.

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I've told Bill we need to buy an Apple computer. She brought home a present to thank him for the Mount St. Helens adventure. It's a hard-bound coffee-table-quality book of photos and captions from their climb in July. Unbelievable, to say the least.

She said she spent about an hour putting it together, sent it to Apple and two weeks later, two copies came in the mail.

I had seen another product from Apple technology earlier when Kathy Chambers showed me the family calendar, which again is phenomenal.

Thinking about this weekend's celebration of the David Thompson bicentennial, I can't help but wonder what David would think if he'd had that kind of technology to record his observations when he paddled along the shores of Lake Pend Oreille in September, 1809.

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Looks like we're getting a few more days of gardening time. My 'maters, hundreds of them, are getting big and starting to turn. We've got acorn squash trying to compete with zucchini in sheer numbers, and, by golly, the sweet peppers (some of them purple) are starting to look like stuffin' possibilities. I've gotta get some pork sausage and a good recipe.

Today we'll be eating off the garden a bit, with the last of the corn on the cob and lots of cucumbers. We'll barbecue up some German sausage, hamburgers and chicken. I'll probably make another apple cobbler with the big beautiful apples on the small tree by the driveway.
Made one earlier this week and it vanished from the big baking pan in less than two days.

Good stuff.

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On this beautiful day in September, I am mad about something. I'm damn mad to learn that Nadine Woodward will no longer be our KREM-News anchor. Nadine's story is hardly unique among people employed by media outlets these days but it still angers me.

The powers-that-be wanted her to take a huge cut in wages, figuring they had her over a barrel cuz they'd already cut her husband's position earlier this year. Of course, they thought she'd be desperate and would take whatever they handed her.

Well, Nadine said no. So, they terminated her.

I know the economy is tough but to see these stories happening to good people who put out a quality product and people like Nadine who've gained the public trust over an 18-year period---it's not right. The message sent through this tactic keeps resounding that quality means nothing over the bottom line.

Nice message to send to all of us and to send to our young people who must be pretty jaded when they see what happens to the good people who do good work as professionals. Seems like there could be some compromises worked to revive a little sense of integrity and loyalty between employees and their superiors.

I'll miss Nadine Woodward on KREM-2 News, like thousands of other viewers across the Inland Northwest. I met her once while shopping at the Bon Marche---most down-to-earth, nice lady you'd ever want to know. She deserves better from the BELO network.

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Well, it is a gorgeous day and much to do. So, happy Saturday to all and thanks again, Melanie, for doing your assignment.