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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>If the employee was <b>truly</b> irreplaceable, then she’d have bargaining power. The fact that she <b>doesn’t</b> have bargaining power belies your claim that she’s irreplaceable, it seems to me.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>And, what responsible person would <b>ever</b> counsel someone with a job to quit before having another lined up??? Not me, although I’d certainly advised her years ago when the writing was clearly on the wall that perhaps <b>looking</b> exhaustively elsewhere would be in her – and her family’s – best interest given the fact that her employer didn’t value her. That’s not rocket science.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>OTOH, a person choosing to just stay put for many years in the scenario you describe and then blame minimum wage increases rather than a rotten employer bears some responsibility for her choice, yes?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>IMHO, the “behavior” of far too many employers over the past decade or two certainly shows what would have happened without minimum wage legislation – that is inarguable, it seems to me.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>LOL – I think you’ve done drunk the Steve King Kool-Aid where the reason we don’t have gas station attendants is because of minimum wage, right? ROTFLOL!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Saundra<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'> Paul Rumelhart [mailto:godshatter@yahoo.com] <br><b>Sent:</b> Friday, May 02, 2014 10:44 AM<br><b>To:</b> Saundra Lund; 'Tom Hansen'; 'Moscow Vision 2020'<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Vision2020] Ri$ch & Crapo<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Well, at least you didn't tell me I'm making this person up. Just trying to point out that it's not all unicorns and rainbow farts whenever the minimum wage is increased.<br><br>Also, when you have a job and a family and you have worked there for many years such that you are now irreplaceable, uprooting and moving in the hopes of finding a job with a higher wage cap isn't always the best idea in these economic conditions.<br><br>Paul<o:p></o:p></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><div><div><div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><hr size=1 width="100%" align=center></span></div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'> Saundra Lund <<a href="mailto:v2020@ssl1.fastmail.fm">v2020@ssl1.fastmail.fm</a>><br><b>To:</b> 'Paul Rumelhart' <<a href="mailto:godshatter@yahoo.com">godshatter@yahoo.com</a>>; 'Tom Hansen' <<a href="mailto:thansen@moscow.com">thansen@moscow.com</a>>; 'Moscow Vision 2020' <<a href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</a>> <br><b>Sent:</b> Friday, May 2, 2014 10:13 AM<br><b>Subject:</b> RE: [Vision2020] Ri$ch & Crapo</span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div id=yiv5471694431><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Oh, I see . . . now that we’re going with the ol’ “I know someone who . . . ” stories, shall I start reciting all mine as well? Maybe I’ll share a just a couple rather than the scores & scores I <b>could</b> share.</span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> </span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>I know someone who works in Washington who spent years working hard to advance up through a relatively small business. Every time minimum wage was increased, her employer appropriately adjusted the wage scale. Her employer has rewarded her competence, hard work, and longevity, and she’s a huge supporter of minimum wage increases because as a single mom with a bum for an ex who has never paid child support, she knows how important living wages are.</span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> </span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>I know someone who works in Idaho. He’s spent years working for the same employer, and he always gets excellent performance evaluations. There haven’t been opportunities for formal advancement. His employer has set a reasonable pay scale that uses minimum wage as the bottom rung and then factors in longevity. It’s a business with a fair amount of turnover, and there aren’t too many people who benefit from the wage & benefits package, but those who stick around do. This man has been able to support his family because he’s got an employer who <b>hasn’t</b> forgotten about the importance of “the human factor” in a successful and ethical business.</span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> </span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>I know someone who worked in Idaho in a professional position for a national corporation. She was an excellent employee – hard-working & dependable & very, very dedicated to her job. There were no chances for advancement without four years of additional education, but it’s a field where many are satisfied with working their lives in that professional field. When she was hired, it was above minimum wage with annual increases based on longevity and merit. Three out of the four years she was there, there were “excuses” as to why the annual increases couldn’t happen, all the while the company was posting “record profits.” I’m sure those record profits where helpful to those at the very top of the food chain, but it meant nothing elsewhere – they certainly weren’t reinvesting any of it in employees or in training or in equipment or anything else that mattered. Turnover was massive, morale sucked, and the employer had a bad local reputation not only amongst employees around the country but also in the field. After four years, she left the job and got hired in a completely unrelated field. She realized she’d never get anywhere with that particular employer because they didn’t value their employees. She’s happy as a clam now – before changing fields, she hadn’t a clue as to what it was like to work for a decent employer.</span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> </span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Hmmm – maybe someone should have told the person you know that sometimes one has to move on to find a decent employer. Something tells me that the situation would be the same for her regardless of any minimum wage smoke & mirrors. When I was growing up, most of my friends’ parents & grandparents worked for the same company/business most of their adult lives and retirement celebrations after 40 or 45 years – and I remember some after 50 years – service weren’t uncommon. “Only” having worked for the company for 20 or 30 or 35 years wasn’t that common.</span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> </span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>I think about the retirement parties I’ve attended over the past couple of decades, and I’ve attended a whole lot where even 25 years was uncommon. There are still some people retiring after working three or four decades for the same employer, but that’s less common, it seems to me.</span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> </span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> </span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Saundra</span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> </span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id=yiv5471694431yqt07034><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> <a href="mailto:vision2020-bounces@moscow.com">vision2020-bounces@moscow.com</a> [<a href="mailto:vision2020-bounces@moscow.com">mailto:vision2020-bounces@moscow.com</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Paul Rumelhart<br><b>Sent:</b> Friday, May 02, 2014 8:19 AM<br><b>To:</b> Tom Hansen; Moscow Vision 2020<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Vision2020] Ri$ch & Crapo</span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>About the minimum wage:<br><br>I know someone who works in Washington that spent years moving up the chain thanks to her hard work until she hit the wage cap that her employer had instituted. Every time the minimum wage increased, the wage cap stayed the same. Now there is very little difference between what she makes and what a wet-behind-the-ears kid off the street makes. So while you are all congratulating yourselves on how nice it is for those kids with no experience, you've essentially pissed on all the work she has done over the years.<br><br>Paul</span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> </span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> </span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><div><div><div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><hr size=1 width="100%" align=center></span></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> Tom Hansen <<a href="mailto:thansen@moscow.com" target="_blank">thansen@moscow.com</a>><br><b>To:</b> Moscow Vision 2020 <<a href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com" target="_blank">vision2020@moscow.com</a>> <br><b>Sent:</b> Friday, May 2, 2014 4:19 AM<br><b>Subject:</b> [Vision2020] Ri$ch & Crapo</span><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id=yiv5471694431><div><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Courtesy of today's (May 2, 2014) Lewiston Tribune.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:25.5pt;background:white'><span class=yiv5471694431blox-headline><b><span style='font-size:22.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Ri$ch & Crapo</span></b></span><b><span style='font-size:24.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Marty Trillhaase</span></b><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>JEERS</span></b><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> ... to Idaho's Republican senators, Jim Risch and Mike Crapo. Wednesday, they helped scuttle raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Yet they represent one of the poorest states in the union. Last year, 7.1 percent of Idaho workers earned the minimum wage. That's the second largest proportion in the country. The only reason Idaho didn't retain its status as the No. 1 minimum-wage state is because Tennessee had an even worse year.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>These are not teenagers earning gas money. Of the people on the economy's bottom rung, 88 percent are at least 20 years old and 55 percent are working full time. One of every three is supporting a child.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>The Idaho Risch and Crapo represent now ranks next to last - second only to Mississippi - in per capita incomes.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Raising the minimum wage would put more than $172 million into the hands of struggling Idaho families. And it would make up for lost ground. Had the minimum wage kept pace with inflation, it would already be at $10.60 an hour.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>The last time Congress raised the minimum wage - from $5.15 to $7.25 - was 2007. Then, Crapo, joined by Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, voted yes.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Who are Risch and Crapo looking out for?<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Not the little guy.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>JEERS</span></b><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> ... to former Idaho state Sen. Evan Frasure, R-Pocatello. He's playing both sides of the religion card.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Frasure is one of four Republicans seeking to succeed retiring Secretary of State Ben Ysursa.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Writing in the Idaho Statesman's online voter guide, Frasure notes he served a mission for the Mormon Church in New Zealand. Nothing unusual there. Frasure hopes to win big in heavily Mormon eastern Idaho while Chief Deputy Ada County Clerk Phil McGrane, former Sen. Mitch Toryanski, R-Boise, and former House Speaker Lawerence (Boss) Denney, R-Midvale, split the votes everywhere else.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>But that wasn't good enough for Frasure. He characterizes McGrane as "a good Catholic (who) goes to work for AmeriCorps for a year, then off to two colleges in Washington, earning a degree in philosophy at the University of Washington, hardly the path of a future Republican."<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>If Frasure thinks it's OK to vote for him because he's Mormon and McGrane is not, presumably the reverse is true.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>JEERS</span></b><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> ... to Congressman Raul Labrador, R-Idaho. Wednesday, he stood alone among every member of Congress and blew off America's military veterans.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Let that sink in.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>The men and women who served this country, some of whom came home grievously wounded, can count on the support of people like Eric Cantor, R-Va., Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Mike Simpson, R-Idaho. They can even count on every one of Labrador's Tea Party allies such as Justin Amash, R-Mich., Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., Steve King, R-Iowa, and Louie Gohmert, R-Texas.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>All of them recognized the need to boost spending on veterans services by $1.5 billion to reduce what Simpson called "the unacceptable backlog of disability claims."<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Labrador alone sees things differently.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>When he gets around to explaining why, we'll let you know.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>JEERS</span></b><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> ... to former University of Idaho football coach Robb Akey.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Before he was bounced in 2012, Akey had amassed a 17-33 record - including winning only three games during his final two years.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Meanwhile, his players weren't exactly hitting the books. The NCAA requires teams to meet an average Academic Progress Rate of 930 during four years. In 2010, the UI's APR slipped to 921, then to 881 the next year and 838 in 2012. That put the average at 903.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Last week, the NCAA imposed sanctions: No postseason play and the loss of four hours of practice each week in 2014.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Some teams lose games. Some get knocked for flunking classes. Under Akey, the UI managed to do both.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>CHEERS</span></b><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> ... to Sandy Patano of Coeur d'Alene. Once a top aide to Sen. Craig with serious political bona fides of her own, Patano is in the thick of a battle to cleanse the Panhandle of its wingnut legislative brigade.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Along with establishment Republicans such as former state Rep. Dean Haagenson, R-Coeur d'Alene, and former Intermountain Forest Industry Association head Jim Riley, Patano has founded a political action committee to support "reasonable" Republicans.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Two years ago, they helped pragmatic incumbents such as Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, survive Tea Party challenges in the state's first closed GOP primary election.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Now they're trying to ditch five Tea Party incumbents, including Sen. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, and Reps. Shannon McMillan, R-Silverton, and Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>If they succeed, you may have heard the last of Barbieri's flirtation with nullification and Nonini's unconstitutional ploy to siphon off your tax dollars from public schools toward private and religious academies.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Godspeed.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>JEERS</span></b><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> ... to Clarkston City Councilor Terry Beadles. If he thinks the law will allow Clarkston to avoid implementing Washington's legalized marijuana initiative, let him find the legal authority to do so.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>But Beadles' comments Monday suggest he's resorting to subterfuge under the guise of extending the city's six-month moratorium.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>A moratorium to give city officials time needed to implement the system of producing, processing and selling marijuana is one thing.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Renewing it simply because, as Beadles said, councilors don't want to "implement a drug into society" is something else.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div style='margin-top:7.5pt;outline:0px;float:none'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Right or wrong, Washington voters already made that call.- M.T.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><div style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" target="_blank"><span style='color:black'>http://www.MoscowCares.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Tom Hansen<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Moscow, Idaho<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>"There's room at the top they are telling you still.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>If you want to be like the folks on the hill."<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>- John Lennon<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><br>=======================================================<br>List services made available by First Step Internet,<br>serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<br> <a href="http://www.fsr.net/" target="_blank">http://www.fsr.net</a><br> mailto:<a href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com" target="_blank">Vision2020@moscow.com</a><br>=======================================================<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt;background:white'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>