Young newspaper reader off to great start

Frederick Post kindergartner Chloe Hudson turned 6 on Monday but missed making the Main Street birthday list in last week's newspaper.

Chloe's teacher encourages the students to search for sight words everywhere. Young Chloe is a newspaper reader, bringing The Press from the doorstep to her grandmother, Suzanne Holland, most mornings. Grandma tells me that Chloe's favorite section is the comics, especially Slylock Fox and finding the difference between two pictures. She also likes to read the names of new babies, movie listings and birthdays.

So as a lifelong newspaper reader myself, here's a special shoutout to Chloe and her classmates at Frederick Post Kinder Center. Reading will open so many doors to adventure and as one much-beloved author wrote in a wonderful book, "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" ... "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go..."

This week the eastbound traffic on I-90 through Post Falls has been a challenge, with ITD doing work near the Greensferry overpass construction. Traffic was at a crawl for a mile or more late Monday afternoon.

From the Idaho Street overpass, I watched several impatient eastbound motorists make U-turns on the restricted access turnout and then cut into the westbound lanes of traffic where vehicles were traveling the 70 mph speed limit.

I called ISP to inquire about the penalty for that illegal and unsafe violation and here's the scoop.

Idaho Code 49-1421 (1) addresses the unauthorized use of restricted access on highways. The fine is $171, not including court costs and one point on your driver's license. The other penalty should be obvious: Risking your life and the lives of others. Plan ahead, my friends.

On Monday afternoon, a log truck trailer overturned on the westbound on-ramp to I-90 at Spokane Street in Post Falls, spilling logs onto the road and resulting in a closure of that ramp. On Facebook I posted a photo of the logs being recovered and transferred to another trailer, mentioning that, while I enjoy the nostalgia of seeing log trucks these days, I've always had a fear of driving behind or beside them on the roadway. It must be a more common fear than I'd thought; dozens of people commented expressing similar concerns.

Back in the day when timber was king and lumber mills were plentiful in North Idaho, logging trucks even on city streets were a common sight.

This past Friday night three big fundraising events took place: The North Idaho Fair Foundation's Cowboy Ball, Children's Village Spring Auction and St. Vincent de Paul's annual Comedy Night. Only in this generous community could all three simultaneously succeed.

Saturday night at the North Idaho Sports Banquet, Mike McLean, Post Falls boys basketball coach and his state championship team took top awards, as did the Post Falls state champion wrestling team.

Coach McLean was sporting a cast on his right arm after five hours in outpatient surgery to repair a broken finger. When he left the hospital he made it to two of his sons' soccer games before the banquet.

So how did Mike injure his finger? It wasn't doing any of the dangerous jobs he does on the family ranch and farm. Nope, he and his wife Jessica play on a co-ed volleyball team and that's where, much to his chagrin, the injury occurred.

Income Tax Day on April 15 means another trip around the sun for Betsy Hawkins, Brian Walker, Denise Edmonds, Doug Harms (84!), Dave Holmes, Clay Ownbey (40!), Caroline Crollard, Tori Gray, Randy Teall, Kara Hicks and Judy Donner.

Happy birthday tomorrow to JD Dickinson, Leslie Gourley, Kevin Johnson, Kay Riplinger, Chris LaVoie and Tom Fisher.

On Friday, Pat Krug, Jaime Deacon, Andre Ney, Dot Rook, Betty Stone, Blythe Templin, Jonna Harris-Bowman, Sheila McDaniel, Curtis Ormesher and Peggy Fairfield will celebrate. Anna Goodwin, Brad Dugdale, Chris Mueller, Pat Stroud, Rebecca Priano, Glenn Gatherer, Ryan Edmonds, John Cross, Branson McAlister and Lisa Johnson mark their special day on Saturday. Angie Hannon, Rick Seymour, Petrina Spellman, Carolyn Beard, Rich Piazza, Rick Gonzalez, Steve Adams, Charlie Staples, BreAnna Brunton, Joe Bodman and Gerlinde Hamilton will enjoy a slice of birthday cake on April 19.

April 20 celebrants are my mother Alice Rankin (84!), Jerome Pollos, Bill Hilbish (50!), Sarah Gondo, Marcia Jimenez, Laura Warner, Sarah Myers, Blaise Koep and John M. Smith.

On Tuesday, Gunnar Amos, Brent Hostetler, Sandy Goedde Langston, Ali Taylor and Janet Johnson are taking another trip around the sun.

Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @kerrithoreson.