Target's here, record's bunk, Miller's got a gun, Young's old and Woodruff will rock

It's official, Target has a bull's eye on us.

Target's relocation to the area has long been grist for the rumor mill.

When the Kmart building became vacant, Target was the top choice of those voting in that year's Best of Bonner contest.

So Sandpoint Mayor Ray Miller had everyone's attention last week when he stood up at the annual Downtown Downtown Sandpoint Business Association's meeting last week and said: "Target has come to town."

Pin drop, heard by everyone at Community Hall.

Once the mayor had everyone's attention, he delivered the punch line.

It seems Target photographers did spend some time in Sandpoint at City Beach — taking photos of tents for Target catalogs.

The Sept. 27 photo shoot included models and tents near the beach. Some might comment it was an intense photo session, but I won't.

The bad news is, the photographer isn't in charge of site location for Target store expansion. The good news is Target donated $1,000 to Sandpoint's Parks Capital Improvement Fund, courtesy of a Kim Woodruff suggestion.

This donation helps defray the costs of the many programs sponsored by the city, so in essence it was a tax break for Sandpoint residents.

Target isn't even here yet and the company is already a good neighbor.

Speaking of getting Mayor Miller's attention — he's tempted to haul out his bear gun after several early morning close encounters of the Gentle Ben type on the Sandpoint to Dover bike and pedestrian path.

"He's got to be a two-year-old and I bet he weighs 200 pounds," the Mayor said. Those who frequent the bike and pedestrian path near the state Health and Welfare building in the wee hours should be on the look out for this bear — or at least steer clear of the Mayor if you see him walking down the path with his hands on a rifle.

Astronaut Scott Carpenter is headed to North Idaho in May. Stay tuned.

Realtor/ political kingpin Dan Young celebrated his 50th on Sept. 11. Half a century old on the same day America was attacked, some guys have none of the luck. A few of his remaining friends — he's lost a few to old age — got together and started a phone tree. Throughout the day, 50 females called him from around the country to wish him the best. It's too bad he is too old to enjoy all this attention.

Sandpoint High grad Jason Wyley began as Sandpoint's new recreation director. Wyley is the owner of Full Spectrum Tours. He bested 24 applicants. Just so you know, Wyley has an master of science degree in recreation administration from the University of Idaho and spent two years as the recreation director at Soda Springs before coming here.

Good luck, Jason.

It will be tough for Woodruff to let go of the reigns at the recreation department. As the new head of parks and recreation, he still considers the recreation side his and said so several times before correcting himself in a recent talk.

Woodruff, 42, came to Sandpoint 18 years ago and became the head of the recreation department at 23. He has done a tremendous job with Sandpoint Rec.

He will take the same enthusiasm to the parks department.

Sandpoint and all of Bonner County should be proud of our boundless youth programs as well as a park system that is second to none for any town this size.

I can't think of a better person to run both of these departments than Kim Woodruff.

Last week I asked the Badger and Bulldog sports buffs to contact me if anyone knew about a national high school football record that is shared by Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry High School teams.

Ten people guessed and they were all wrong.

SHS statistician extradinaire Wendy Auld postulated the record might be for consecutive thumpings. That came in, coincidentally, after last week's thumping.

The national record I wrote about goes back to a Badgers, Bulldog tilt in 1928. In that game, 18 — count'em 18 — interceptions were supposedly thrown.

The record has stood the test of time, with only a few California teams coming within six of the record. The only problem is the record isn't real. Call it fuzzy math. Call it keeping stats in the frozen tundra. Call it wrong.

Bulldog Glen Rogers also has a national record from that game — eight interceptions. That's also bogus.

In that game, Bonners Ferry attempted 19 passes and completed just one. In the stat book, incompletions and interceptions were apparently transposed.

The Bulldogs had eight interceptions that game and Rogers had three of those. I actually called the keeper of national high school records a few years ago in an attempt to straighten the whole matter out.

My friend Bob Hamilton helped me with some of the research back then so he was disqualified from this contest.

The record stands.

Erin Daniels's Cedar Post is looking great this year.

We are proud to print the Cedar Post and love our association with these top-notch students.

Looking back over the past few years, I recognize I mention the Cedar Post staff and accomplishments often in this column. It occurs to me that there are many readers who would like to know more about what is going on at SHS.

If you would like a copy of the Cedar Post mailed to you, the cost is only $20 for the school year. Interested? Call SHS at 263-9534 ext. 244 to get this fine paper.

In last week's column, I promised I would update readers on the great courthouse newspaper heist. I can't because I haven't met with the alleged perpetrator yet.

Although, I must tell you, one of the witnesses to the alleged paper pilfer did file a witness statement with the city of Sandpoint and named names. The witness also said he would testify in court about the situation. Another witness isn't so forthcoming but named the same suspect.

David Keyes is publisher of the Bee. His column runs Tuesdays.