Gov. Brad Little hands out meals, buys lunch, coffee, and visits downtown shop

Gov. Brad Little hands out meals, buys lunch, coffee, and visits downtown shop

COEUR d’ALENE — Lunch was ready Friday afternoon for Gov. Brad Little when he walked into Rustic on Third and Sherman.

He chatted with owner Deb Heit, who greeted him at the counter, then wandered back to pick up meals for himself and his staff.

“With any luck, we’ll come back and I’ll sit right there in the window,” said Little, who was wearing a mask, as he headed out.

Heit, also wearing a mask, said it was wonderful to see the governor.

“We’re so honored he chose us,” she said.

Asked how her business was holding up during Little’s stay-home order due to the coronavirus, Heit said everyone was doing their best.

“We look forward to when things go back, but as long as we all stay healthy and strong, we’re doing what we need to,” she said.

Little paid a short visit to Coeur d’Alene on Arbor Day that saw him stop at a sawmill, hand out sack lunches for students at the Kroc Center, buy drinks at Vault Coffee, talk with a business owner and chat with the media.

He received a warm reception.

“Gov. Little, thank you for your leadership,” said a masked woman helping distribute free lunches. “Thank you for all you’re doing.”

Little greeted people enthusiastically.

“How are you?” he asked as he handed lunches through the car window.

“Stay well,” he added.

Linda Parkin, a volunteer and Coeur d’Alene High School English teacher, asked Little to share a message with graduates of 2020, who will not go through the usual commencement ceremonies.

“This has just been really a letdown for them and really difficult,” she said. “I’ve been surprised how really resilient they are.”

Parkin recorded Little as he delivered a few words of hope.

“We’re sorry about your graduation, we’re sorry about your prom, but hang in there,” he said.

He said if he could “flip a switch and make it all better, I would do it. Just keep up that spirit and keep working. Congratulations.”

Parkin was pleased.

“He’s obviously on the side of people, really cares about kids, he really cares about the state of Idaho,” she said.

Little on Thursday released a phased-in approach to reopen the economy. He said it’s important to continue social distancing, good hygiene, and staying home if you’re not well.

That approach, he said, has kept Idaho numbers low. The state has had about 1,840 cases of the coronavirus and has had 54 deaths.

“The only reason we’re where we are is because of the almost incredulous adoption of those practices by the people of Idaho,” he said.

He said the state hopes to increase testing and improve tracking.

“But nothing will replace all those good habits and we gotta do that so we can go back to school in the fall and get the economy going.”

Complaints about Washingtonians coming to Kootenai County to use parks, trails and boat launches have reached his office, to which the governor showed a sense of humor:

“I’m going to make everybody get a visa if they come in from Washington state,” he said.

His plan calls for reopening restaurants on May 16 and bars at the end of May. But that, he said, could change.

“It’s all predicated on the science being good and we continue with the incredible numbers we’re having now.”

He said the hope is, everything will be open by the end of June.

When asked about Montana announcing it plans to reopen bars, casinos and restaurants on May 4, Little said it was a different situation.

“Community spread is a little less risk in Montana than it is here,” he said.

Little said he is in contact with the White House and other governors.

“There’s so many things we’re doing to take care of the symptoms,” he said. “We gotta get a cure, we gotta have better research, we gotta have a treatment and most important, we gotta have a vaccine so we can get over this.”

He said his biggest worry is that if a large number of seniors come down with the virus, there won’t be a place for them to go if hospitals are full.

“We just don’t have a lot of health care workers, so to me, that’s the weak link. If we have a run, will I have enough nurses and doctors and ICU professional to handle it?”

On his last stop at All Things Irish on Sherman Avenue, Little asked owner Craig Moss how it was going. When told sales had stalled and the store had been closed since the stay-home order issued March 25, Little said it will take time, but customers will come back.”

“That’s what we’re hoping,” Moss said.

“Even if we wiped it away, it’s going to take people a while to be comfortable to get out,” Little added.

In a bit of good news, Moss mentioned that All Things Irish had just received approval for the Paycheck Protection Program.

“Good for you,” Little said. “Keep after it.”