Assessments send shock wave through Bonner County

Did anybody else notice the earthquake that hit Bonner County on Tuesday?

The quake didn't just hit once, it rumbled through the county all day long and coincided with local property owners opening their tax assessments.

Since you asked, ours is up about 63 percent from last year at the Keyes abode. That's on top of last year's already substantial increase.

People were visibly shaken by the shocking increases. I fielded many phone calls and commiserated with many friends I hadn't spoken with since last year about this time. We tried to call the assessor's office but the phone was busy … all day.

One new homeowner at the Bee was afraid to get her mail after work, after hearing all of us comparing the bad news.

An aftershock usually follows an earthquake. This political aftershock will probably be centered in and around the courthouse but will probably be felt all the way to Boise.

If at first you don't succeed, try Dye again?

I have heard through several sources that Karl Dye is contemplating mounting a write-in campaign in an attempt to keep his county commission seat.

Dye is in Boise and couldn't be reached for comment. I guess we will all know soon. The deadline for write-in candidates is fast approaching.

Dye lost to Lewis Rich in the primaries. The campaign slogan could probably be something like this: "Get Rich quick or Dye trying."

Who came up with the idea for a deadline for write-in candidates? Does that make any sense? I'm sure it limits votes for Mickey Mouse and the like, but it takes away some of the spontaneity.

It will be interesting to see if voters Dye one on in November. No word from the Phillips' camp, but we have heard Marcia isn't jumping in.

Your thoughts?

We made the semi-annual visit to the Bonner General Hospital's emergency room last Wednesday.

My 5-year-old daughter, Olivia, apparently attempted a swan dive off of a tire at St. Francis Preschool for Olympic Gymnastic Hopefuls and landed head first.

After a few scary moments of her going in and out of consciousness, we took her to Dr. George Deland. He was concerned and we were panicked.

Olivia would open her eyes and look right past me and scream out in pain. Any parent knows this sound and we all know how helpless you feel.

Dr. Deland sent us to the ER for a C-T Scan. It was a concussion. She spent that night throwing up and we stayed up all night that night checking on her every few hours.

She was pretty punky Thursday but was nearly 100 percent by Friday afternoon.

As luck would have it, Olivia's big brother, Austin, played in a soccer tournament in Kalispell over the weekend. During the second game of the tournament, Austin fell down and was kicked in the head by an opponent. He, too, was fine.

Thanks Dr. Deland and the folks at BGH.

Last week was "Head Trauma Week" at our house. That has been replaced by "What are we going to sell to pay the property taxes?" week. Oh, did I mention that already?

Gas was more than 20 cents a gallon cheaper in Montana. That doesn't include the fact that Montana doesn't have a sales tax.

In 1936, an editorial writer for the Northern Idaho News was complaining that gasoline in Sandpoint had been selling for 18 cents a gallon but that gas in Boise was 24.5 cents a gallon.

Recently, the price of gas here "has been kited" to the same amount as in Boise. The editorial writer opined that the powers that be wanted to make the Boise territory feel better if they leveled Sandpoint's prices to equal that of Boise.

Oops, we did it again … Sandpoint is on another "best of" list. This time the pedestrian friendly city was named as one of four Idaho towns that Men's Journal included in its 50 best places to live.

Sandpoint was named a top "telecommunity" for people who here and deliver their work via phone or internet. This notation was in the April Mens' Journal.

I was very impressed by the turnout and participation in last week's job fair. It is unbelievable that we have so many people looking for so many jobs and yet the unemployment rate is historically low. Great work to everyone who participated in the fair.

I heard from some folks that Litehouse hired more than 15 employees at the fair. The banks also made some good hires and my friends at Safeway and Wal-Mart also said the fair gave them some good leads. Nearly 50 businesses were there and greeted more than 500 job seekers and onlookers.

What's black and white and red all over? Probably the deputy who responded to this call last week:

"Deputy responded to Fernwood Drive at 12:43 a.m. to a report of a screaming animal in a garbage can. Deputy discovered mating skunks."

Same deputy, different call:

"Deputy responded to a West Fry Creek Road address to a report of a trespasser mowing a lawn." The perpetrator was arrested before he could clean out the gutters and paint the house, I imagine.

Poll question of the week: Which grocery store do you shop? 584 people voted. Yokes was the clear winner with 42 percent. Wal-Mart was second with 29 percent and Safeway was close behind with 22 percent. Other received 5 percent.

This week's question: Do you feel your property tax assessment was fair?

E-mail of the week: Buying a Bull

A brunette arrives at the stockyard, inspects a bull, and decides she wants to buy it. The man tells her that he will sell it for $599, no less.

After paying him, she drives to the nearest town to send her sister a telegram to tell her the news.

She walks into the telegraph office, and says, "I want to send a telegram to my sister telling her that I've bought a bull for our ranch. I need her to hitch the trailer to our pickup truck and drive out here so we can haul it home."

The telegraph operator explains that he'll be glad to help her, then adds, "It's just 99 cents a word."

Well, after paying for the bull, the brunette only has $1 left. She realizes that she'll only be able to send her sister one word.

After a few minutes of thinking, she nods and says, "I want you to send her the word "comfortable."

The operator shakes his head. "How is she ever going to know that you want her to hitch the trailer to your pickup truck and drive out here to haul that bull back to your ranch if you send her just the word "comfortable?

The brunette explains, "My sister's blonde. The word's big. She'll read it very slowly … Com-For-Da-Bull !!!

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