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Chat: Something for everyone today

| September 19, 2018 1:00 AM

Yep, it’s Wednesday, and that means all the excitement of our weekly Chat Day.

We can’t waste any time getting started, since Celine Dion is waiting in the wings once again.

But I have to toss out a reminder that our survey on the pros and cons of living in Kootenai County is still going on, and we’d love to hear from you.

Email me via the address at the bottom of this column, OK?

Good, now on to business ...

ITEM: Sure, naysayers called it a stunt and, yes, it provided a platform for a crowd of Democratic candidates.

So what?

Last Saturday’s Civic Action Festival was a great idea that turned into a fun afternoon.

Anything that helps encourage people to vote gets my applause.

A lot of Republicans turned up their noses at this event — without reason, I think.

Kudos to Rep. Paul Amador, R-Coeur d’Alene, and the Brad Little campaign for showing up.

Look, only 29 percent of Kootenai County’s 76,980 registered voters turned out for the May primary — and even that total of folks who registered is about half the county population.

Turnout here is embarrassing, so if the festival cooked up by Jessica Mahuron boosts our vote totals at all, the whole thing was worth it.

Besides, everyone seemed to have a good time.

Bouquets to Jessica.

ITEM: A local attorney who insisted on remaining anonymous sent along a cool list of things to ponder.

I suppose lawyers don’t want to admit they have a sense of humor.

Hurts business.

Anyhow, check it out ...

My wife accused me of being immature. I told her to get out of my fort.

Where do you find a cow with no legs? Right where you left it.

As I suspected, someone has been adding soil to my garden. The plot thickens.

And the Lord said unto John, “Come forth and you will receive eternal life.” John came fifth and won a toaster.

ITEM: One of the things that has popped up already in our survey about life in the county is annoyance at all the housing developments that swallow our open space.

Well, here’s a curious statistic that isn’t limited to North Idaho. In fact, it comes from the Los Angeles area, but it’s worth a thought ...

Foes of nearby development have been called NIMBYs, meaning “not in my backyard.”

According to a study at UCLA — and reported by the website CityLab — NIMBYs’ resistance to development might have one very unusual motivation.

They hate developers.

More specifically, they don’t like to see developers make a buck from their efforts.

Based on a survey of 1,300 L.A. County residents, researchers found that residents were 20 percent more likely to be anti-development when they see that developers will turn a nice profit.

I get that, but ...

Hopefully, Idahoans aren’t that small-minded.

ITEM: Remember our debate over the name of that gorgeous lake that laps up right next to downtown Coeur d’Alene?

Some longtime residents of the area claimed the lake was always known as Coeur d’Alene Lake until a bunch of newcomers flipped the name to Lake Coeur d’Alene for their own convenience.

I have plenty of emails containing exactly that argument.

Maybe these folks should check a page from The Press that’s dated April 8, 1905.

If you scroll down to the Cedar Poles ad toward the bottom right hand corner and check it out, there’s a reference to Lake Coeur d’Alene.

So now we can say officially that the accusation against newcomers for changing the lake’s name doesn’t hold water.

•••

Steve Cameron is a columnist for The Press.

A Brand New Day appears Wednesday through Saturday each week. Steve’s sports column runs on Tuesday.

Twitter:@BrandNewDayCDA

Facebook: Steve Cameron

Email: scameron@cdapress.com