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DEAR READERS,

The week in random review

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff

33

…the number of days until school starts in the Lake Pend Oreille School District. Whatever you do, don’t tell your teacher friends. I have several who maintain that July hasn’t ended, and the date is currently July 35, 2022.

august days

“Youth is in a grand flush, like the hot days of ending summer; and pleasant dreams thrall your spirit, like the smoky atmosphere that bathes the landscape of an August day.”

— Donald G. Mitchell, American writer and farmer

shout out

…to the people who fulfill my online grocery order at Super 1 in Sandpoint. I order online through rosieapp.com and am able to pick up my order the same day. If Super 1 is out of an item that I ordered, they text me and offer substitutions. Last week, there were several items that needed substitutes, and the person who gathered my groceries did an incredible job of communicating with me to make sure I got everything I needed. The world keeps turning because of service workers. Thank one today.

impossible

It is impossible to hold your nose and hum simultaneously.

i wonder

…how many readers will attempt to hold their nose while humming this week.

Welcome to the final week at the Festival at Sandpoint. We hope everyone enjoyed themselves during the first week of concerts. Racheal Baker has photographed the past three seasons at the Festival at Sandpoint and we have another collection of her photos on Pages 18-19. Scrolling through Racheal’s Festival photos has always been one of my favorite things. She has a real knack for capturing the heart of this event through her lenses.

Town is hopping right now, but take heart, locals; this is about as busy as we get. Soon, the hordes of people will diminish, the nights will begin to cool down and you might actually be able to find a parking spot downtown during lunch hour. But we’ve still got a lot of hot, busy summer ahead of us, so chug your adult beverage, put on your big boy pants and squeeze in all the summer fun as humanly possible. Stay classy, Sandpoint.

– Ben Olson, publisher

READER 111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 (208) 946-4368

www.sandpointreader.com Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com Editorial: Zach Hagadone (Editor) zach@sandpointreader.com Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey (News Editor) lyndsie@sandpointreader.com Cameron Rasmusson (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus) Advertising: Jodi Berge Jodi@sandpointreader.com Contributing Artists: Racheal Baker, Bill Borders, Ben Olson Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey, Lorraine H. Marie, Brenden Bobby, Kelcie Moseley-Morris, Emily Erickson, Ranel Hanson, Rick Price, Sandy Compton, Clark Corbin, Ed Ohlweiler Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com Printed weekly at: Tribune Publishing Co. Lewiston, ID Subscription Price: $155 per year Web Content: Keokee The Sandpoint Reader is a weekly publication owned and operated by Ben Olson and Keokee. It is devoted to the arts, entertainment, politics and lifestyle in and around Sandpoint, Idaho.

We hope to provide a quality alternative by offering honest, in-depth reporting that reflects the intelligence and interests of our diverse and growing community.

The Reader is printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Leftover copies are collected and recycled weekly, or burned in massive bonfires to appease the gods of journalism. Free to all, limit two copies per person.

Sandpoint Reader letter policy: The Sandpoint Reader welcomes letters to the editor on all topics.

Requirements: –No more than 300 words –Letters may not contain excessive profanity or libelous material. Please elevate the discussion.

Letters will be edited to comply with the above requirements. Opinions expressed in these pages are those of the writers, not necessarily the publishers.

Email letters to: letters@sandpointreader.com Check us out on the web at: www.sandpointreader.com Like us on Facebook.

About the Cover

This week’s cover photo features Jackie Miclau of the band Mt. Joy, taken on Saturday, July 30 at the Festival at Sandpoint. Photo by Racheal Baker.

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NEWS

BoCo accepts campground extension grant despite sheriff pushback Sheriff Wheeler on the decision: ‘Stay tuned!’

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff Bonner County commissioners voted unanimously Aug. 2 to accept grant funding from the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation to expand the RV campground at the Bonner County Fairgrounds. The decision was postponed from the July 26 meeting of the board, as fairgrounds officials waited for more information from IDPR about the county’s ability to move or demolish the expanded campground without having to repay the grant funds.

The possibility of moving or demolishing the site became the center of conversation due in large part to the location of the expansion on two acres bordering the current fenceline of the Bonner County Sheriff’s complex.

The July 26 meeting saw ample testimony from Sheriff Daryl Wheeler and others, arguing that the county-owned land slated for the campground was actually intended for future enlargement of the sheriff’s grounds, with Wheeler stating: “These two acres will eventually be used as a parking lot for the justice complex when and if it is expanded to include a new courthouse, offices for the prosecutor and public defender, a new 911

dispatch center, expansion of the jail, records storage expansion, and general storage facilities for the sheriff’s vehicles and equipment.”

Commissioner Dan McDonald pushed back against the sheriff’s claims and pointed to other county acreage nearby that could host a new justice facility, for which he said there are currently no plans.

Wheeler did not speak during the Aug. 2 meeting, during which commissioners accepted the grant funding and effectively gave the green light to the campground expansion project. The Reader asked Wheeler for a comment after the meeting, to which he replied via email: “Stay tuned!”

As to whether the county would be liable to repay the $473,000 in grant funding should it opt to move or tear down the expanded campground, Fair Director Darcey Smith told the board on Aug. 2: “The short answer would be no, we wouldn’t have to repay.”

“The long answer is if we were to tear down the facility — the project that was built with these funds — for whatever reason … if it’s less than 15 years between the time of it being constructed and when we would tear it down, it would look very poorly on the county,” she continued, adding: “That would likely inhibit the fair-

grounds from receiving any future funding from IDPR.” However, should the site be determined better suited to another use or the fairgrounds be relocated 20 or 30 years down the road, Smith said “that would be a more acceptable timeframe,” with a caveat being that “the fairgrounds and the county would not be able to reapply for that project to get funding to rebuild that.”

“That would be on our dime,” Smith said.

Commissioner Jeff Connolly,

who advocated for the deferred vote at the July 26 meeting, said he appreciated the confirmation that the county wouldn’t be on the hook to repay the grant funding.

“I don’t think anybody up here can predict what’s going to happen in the future,” he said, referring to the board. “As long as this property can be reclaimed if it’s decided by future commissioners [that there is] a better use for it, then I don’t have a problem moving forward with this.”

Commissioners voted with-

The Bonner County Fairgrounds RV Campground expansion project, with the various phases of the project color coded. Map courtesy of Bonner County. out additional public input, with McDonald stating that there had already been “lengthy public comment” on the matter during the previous week’s meeting.

“All we did was table the decision,” he said.

August is public’s opportunity to comment on goals, objectives of BoCo Comp Plan

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff The window to weigh in on the Bonner County Planning Commission’s proposed changes to the Goals, Objectives and Policies of the Bonner County Comprehensive Plan is currently open, with opportunities to comment at a public workshop on Tuesday, Aug. 16 and again at the commission’s hearing on Tuesday, Aug. 30.

Bonner County is currently working to update its Comp Plan for the first time since 2005. Comp Plans — and, in particular, the Goals, Objectives and Policies established — are used to inform land 4 /

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use planning for the years to follow.

With Bonner County facing unprecedented population growth and demand for development, many interested groups are encouraging substantial public involvement in the rewrite process.

One of those groups is local land use watchdog nonprofit Project 7B, which shared in its July 28 newsletter: “A comprehensive plan’s goals and objectives should reflect the values and desires of the community as a whole, because they are the touchstone of all land use decisions.”

Project 7B has been a vocal opponent of what it describes as the “rushed process” to update the

Goals, Objectives and Policies document before the end of August. The Planning Commission, which became an entity separate from the Zoning Commission thanks to a change to county code earlier this year, began the Comp Plan update process in May. “We are concerned that the timeline is too aggressive to include meaningful public involvement,” the group wrote in its newsletter, “and that the goals and objectives were developed before the Planning Commission has had ample opportunity to gather the requisite data and information to inform them.”

To read the proposed Goals, Objectives and Policies document,

visit bonnercountyid.gov/departments/planning/current-projects, and select “File AM0012-22 - Bonner County Planning Commission.”

The commission is hosting two public workshops to hear comments on the draft — one of which occurred on Aug. 2 and the second scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 16 at 4:30 p.m. at the Bonner County Administration Building, located at 1500 Highway 2 in Sandpoint.

Comments can also be made at a hearing on Tuesday, Aug. 30.

However, the commission plans to finalize recommendations for the Goals, Objectives and Policies of the Comp Plan at that meeting, so it is best if comments make it into

the record before that date.

Written comments can be submitted to the commission via email: planning@bonnercountyid. gov. Those unable to attend the workshop or hearing in person can gain access to the Zoom link for each meeting once agendas are made available at bonnercountyid. gov/PlanningCommissionAgendasMinutes, or can watch the meetings in real time as they’re live streamed on the Bonner County Planning YouTube channel.

Those with questions about the process or the hearings can reach the planning department directly by calling 208-265-1458.

NEWS City Council OK’s wording for ballot measure increasing Sandpoint bed tax

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff The Sandpoint City Council unanimously approved language Aug. 3 for a proposed increase to the tax on short-term lodging, which is slated to appear on the Nov. 8 ballot for consideration by residents.

Councilors voted July 20 to table the proposed ballot measure, asking city staff to refine the wording to emphasize that the tax increase would not fall on property owners, nor would it reduce the current amount of bed tax allocation to public safety, parks, infrastructure improvements and property tax relief.

Staff returned Aug. 3 with that new verbiage, which first of all altered the title to read: “City Local Option Non-Property Tax for Tourist Lodging.”

The question put to voters at the polls will read: “Shall the City of Sandpoint, Bonner County, Idaho, adopt an ordinance providing for an increase of its hotel/motel occupancy tax from its current 7% to 14% and extend the period of years for its collection to end December 31, 2035. This tourist lodging tax applies to all short-term rentals of

30 days or less, including hotels and motels, condos and vacation homes.

“50% of the revenues received will continue to fund purposes approved by voters in 2014, including public safety services, public parks and other infrastructure and capital projects. The remaining 50%, anticipated to be $6,000,000 over 12 years, will be dedicated to the following purposes:” Those purposes include street pavement, sealing, widening, reconstruction and associated stormwater infrastructure; improvements to the Pedestrian Priority Network, including maintenance of sidewalks and pathways, as well as reconstruction and extensions to provide connectivity and increase ADA accessibility and safety; property tax relief; and to cover costs related to enforcement and collection of the tax.

“I think you did a great job clarifying that we’re not losing any money for public safety,” Councilor Jason Welker said.

The current tax of 7% is due to expire on Dec. 31, 2025, and has collected an average $500,000 per year over the past three years, including annual increases to receipts. Meanwhile, as City Council members heard on July

20, revenues from the tax have decreased related to motel and hotel occupancy, while short-term rentals — and vacation homes, in particular — have increased to make up just more than 50% of the total.

That trend is not expected to reverse any time soon. Doubling the current 7% to 14%, and putting the new revenues toward street work, is intended to meet an ongoing and critical need to improve the city’s infrastructure.

According to data shared in July, Sandpoint has a backlog of streets in “poor” or “very poor”

condition, amounting to about 21% — twice the national average. In its Multimodal Transportation Plan, the city identified the need to increase spending on streets to $1.3 million a year as a baseline to keep the backlog from growing and forestall more failing road conditions. At the same time, annual paving maintenance and reconstruction budgets have doubled to $500,000 in recent years, as has sidewalk funding, rising from $25,000 to $50,000.

Increasing Sandpoint’s shortterm lodging tax to 14% would fall closer to the national average,

identified in an industry analysis from 2019 at about 13.5%. Meanwhile, many resort cities, which experience a disproportionate amount of short-term rental traffic, have a bed tax rate of more than 20%.

City Hall officials underscored several times that the proposed tax increase is meant to capture revenue from short-term visitors — not local property owners — and would not result in reduced allocations to public safety and parks, as voters had already approved in 2014.

KRFY temporarily off air, but still streaming

By Reader Staff Community radio station 88.5 KRFY underwent a move of its broadcast antenna Aug. 1 that will take the station off the airwaves for several days. In the interim, however, the station is still live and broadcasting via the live stream at krfy.org.

According to Associate Station Manager Jack Peterson, the station has for years leased space for its broadcast antenna on a tower in Ponderay. That had to change

after the property on which the tower is located recently changed hands. KRFY last month secured a lease for its antenna on a tower owned by the Lake Pend Oreille School District.

The old tower came down this week; and, while the move to the new tower can be quickly accomplished, there’s an additional wrinkle: it requires approval by the Federal Communications Commission. Although such approval is routine, the station’s application is still pending.

While the permanent tower requires FCC approval, KRFY can in the meantime use a temporary antenna at low power, Peterson said. That temporary fix is underway.

“We hope to be back on the air at low power by the end of the week,” Peterson stated in an Aug. 2 new release.

Until that happens, KRFY listeners can still tune in using their mobile devices or computers to access the station’s live stream at krfy.org.

Sandpoint P&Z recommends approval of Boyer Farms subdivision Phase II

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Members of the Sandpoint Planning and Zoning Commission voted Aug. 2 to recommend approval of a preliminary plat request from Carousel Holdings, LLC., which is planning to build 25 single-family housing units as Phase II of the Boyer Farms subdivision.

The property is on about five acres north of Woodland Drive and connected to Samuelson and North Boyer avenues by an extension of Jersey Street. The lots are predominately 50 feet or more in width and between about 6,700 and 8,600 square feet in area.

The dwellings and supporting infrastructure will connect to Phase I of the project to the west, bringing the total number of units in Boyer Farms to 49, accord-

ing to Spokane-based developer Kelly Carroll, who added that homes in the subdivision will be in the 1,500- to 2,400-square-foot range and likely no higher than one story.

“We set out looking to do some stuff in Sandpoint several years ago and felt that this type of residential neighborhood would be good for this particular property,” he said, adding that he grew up in Spokane and has been coming to North Idaho “for years and years.”

The Boyer Farms property is within the residential multi-family zoning district, and Commissioners Slate Kamp and Mose Dunkel both asked Carroll whether his firm had considered a multi-family development and, if so, why it opted for single-family.

“It’s our understanding that there’s quite a bit of multi-family coming online — particularly to

the west of us. Our expertise, with our partners, we felt most comfortable with single-family,” Carroll said. “It’s a really good use of that property, as opposed to apartment buildings. … All I heard from realtors was that Sandpoint needed more and more single-family residential.”

Boyer Farms would have been built in one phase, if not for a traffic impact study that required additional time to conduct. That study found 508 net new weekday vehicle trips, which the analysis determined would not substantially burden the existing roadway infrastructure nor require any off-site improvements to handle the increased traffic.

Dunkel raised some concern about the cumulative strain all along the North Boyer corridor and its surrounding areas, which has seen an explosion of housing

developments both big and small in recent years.

“I don’t think this project is going to push it over the limit, but I feel like at some point Schweitzer Cutoff, Woodland Drive, Great Northern, are going to have capacity issues,” he said.

“At some point all these projects, once built out — and especially to the west and the northwest, and to the east and further to the east, all around, I guess — I don’t know if there’s a plan for what the traffic flow will look like, but I think it will be considerable,” he added. “It’s on the horizon, if projects like this keep coming up and stacking up, or bigger projects.”

Sandpoint Director of Infrastructure and Development Amanda Wilson told Dunkel that the city looks at all known developments that are in the pipeline, and per-

forms what’s called a concurrency analysis to get a handle on how future growth will affect capacity.

Normally that analysis is performed looking at a 10-year timeframe, but Wilson added that due to the surge in growth, “no later than five years is what we have adopted.”

There was no testimony during the public hearing portion of the meeting, and Commissioner Luke Omodt moved to recommend approval of the Boyer Farms Phase II preliminary plat to the City Council, albeit with two conditions: no driveways are to be constructed onto Samuelson Avenue and a development agreement provided to the council is to include terms and conditions related to public infrastructure improvements, as is standard. Commission members agreed unanimously.

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NEWS ID Department of Lands provides remote participation in property auctions

By Reader Staff

The Idaho Department of Lands announced July 28 that it is now offering more people the opportunity to participate in auctions for property sales and leases.

Bidders at live auctions may now participate virtually with online bidding.

Corbett Bottles will host the live auctions but will incorporate Proxibid’s online auction platform. The first time this process will be used is with the upcoming auction of 10 cottage sites at Priest Lake on Saturday, Aug. 13. The auction will take place at 10 a.m. at the Best Western-Coeur d’Alene Inn (506 Appleway Ave., in Coeur d’Alene).

Photos and information about the properties up for auction can be found at both the Corbett Bottles website and the Proxibid website.

“The former live auction process limited participation to those who could attend in person,” said Jim Elbin, division administrator for Trust Land Management.

“Remote bidding may increase competi-

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tion at endowment auctions, helping us better meet our constitutional mandate to maximize the return for our endowment beneficiaries.”

While in-person bidding requires pre-approval and certain fees paid the day of the auction, there are specific steps a remote bidder must take no later than four days prior to the auction in order to participate.

Those steps include registering for an account with Proxibid at proxibid.com and providing the Corbett Bottles auctioneer with the Proxibid username.

Participants must also complete and deliver the remote bidder registration form, auction terms and conditions, and other necessary auction documents to emily@markbottles.com, then deposit bid deposition, fees and other required deposits to be paid by a successful bidder with the escrow agent — Attn: Tami DeJournett, First American Title Company.

For more information, visit: idl.idaho. gov/real-estate-services/cottage-site-transactions.

Bits ’n’ Pieces From east, west and beyond

East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact.

A recent sampling: Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio has hatched a paid-leave plan for parents. If approved, all new parents would get three months of paid leave. The catch: parents would have to agree to delay their Social Security retirement schedule by three months per child. The other catch: if they die before they reach retirement age, their family will be billed by the government to repay the cost of the leave.

A CIA drone strike Aug. 1 took out an al-Qaeda leader who had replaced Osama Bin Laden, The Washington Post reported.

The man had helped plan the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. Senate Republicans stopped passage of a bill designed to provide medical benefits for veterans experiencing poor health from exposure to burn pits and other toxins, according to Military Times.

The U.S. House recently passed legislation to ensure nationwide access to contraception. The New York Times reported. Eight Republicans joined Democrats to approve the measure. The move is a response to Justice Clarence Thomas saying contraception and same-sex marriage could be “reconsidered” by the Supreme Court.

(Gallup poll: 92% of the population supports contraception.)

Meanwhile, U.S. Senate Republicans blocked guaranteed access to birth control, saying the Democrats’ bill could fund abortion providers. Democrats argued a proposed Republican bill had no language to prevent states from restricting or banning birth control, Huffington Post reported.

More than 20 Republican attorneys general recently filed a lawsuit that claims the federal government should not go forward with a Department of Agriculture school meal program. The disputed program prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, NBC reported.

Yep, we’re tired of COVID, but a spike in cases of Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 has resulted in rising deaths. According to The New York Times, epidemiologists are predicting 200,000 COVID deaths within the next year. Because Omicron is significantly different from the original COVID-19 viral strain, vaccinations designed specifically for Omicron are sought and expected to be on the U.S. market in September.

Forty-seven House Republicans recently voted with Democrats to safeguard marriage equality. Also, in a 217-213 vote, the House passed a ban proposal on assault

By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist

weapons.

Mother Jones scored another leaked audio, this one featuring former-Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon. In the audio, Bannon bragged about spreading lies regarding the contents of the laptop of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter. According to the Bannon audio, the lies were intended to make it easier for Republicans to make election fraud allegations against Biden.

With confidence in the Supreme Court at a record low of 25% — according to a Gallup poll in June — a bill introduced in the House would create term limits for justices. Currently the U.S. is the only advanced democracy without a mandatory retirement age or fixed terms for high court judges, according to The Guardian.

According to NBC, the top western oil companies reported record profits while gas prices topped a national average of more than $5 a gallon. Biden noted: “Exxon made more than God this year.”

Inflation update from historian and author Thom Hartmann: inflation continues to rise in the U.S. (currently it’s around 9.1%). Hartmann asks why, and looks at history: Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter were one-term presidents because of inflation woes. If inflation can be maintained, that could mean a presidential win for corporate-supporting Republicans; Biden has been defending corporate-defying actions, such as unionization and increasing taxation on the low-tax-paying ultra-wealthy. Hartmann suggests that corporations are helping to keep inflation high in hopes of ousting Democrats from office.

In response to news that the central bank is raising interest rates and may yet again in September, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich said it would be more productive to go after corporate structures that perpetuate inflation.

Biden announced $2.3 billion in FEMA funds for infrastructure that can withstand extreme weather, BBC reported. The funds will also go to expansion of flood control efforts, retrofitting buildings, increasing the structural integrity of utilities and helping families pay for heating and cooling.

According to numerous media sources, the Republican National Committee has warned Trump that they will stop paying his legal bills if he runs for president.

Blast from the past: “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” — George Orwell, author, including the books 1984 and Animal Farm, 1903-1950.

NEWS

U.S. Dept. of Justice sues Idaho over abortion trigger ban Attorney General Merrick Garland says law violates federal emergency medical treatment act

By Kelcie Moseley-Morris Idaho Capital Sun

The U.S. Department of Justice is suing the state of Idaho over the state’s trigger law that will ban nearly all abortions. The law is scheduled to take effect on Aug. 25, unless the Idaho Supreme Court puts the law on a temporary hold after a hearing Wednesday.

The lawsuit argues that Idaho’s trigger ban on abortion is unconstitutional. According to the Justice Department’s argument, the state law conflicts with a federal law that requires hospitals to provide medical care to stabilize all patients who come to the hospital with a medical emergency.

That federal law — the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act — applies to all hospitals that receive federal Medicare payments, which is effectively all U.S. hospitals with emergency rooms. The lawsuit says Idaho’s trigger ban on abortion violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution because it is in conflict with the act.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the lawsuit in a press conference Aug. 2, saying abortion is emergency stabilizing care in some situations. According to the lawsuit, Idaho’s trigger law places health care providers in an “untenable position of risking criminal prosecution under state law or subjecting themselves to enforcement actions under federal law.”

Violating EMTALA can result in a hospital losing its ability to receive Medicare payments — one of the main sources of revenue for hospitals.

“In some circumstances, the medical treatment necessary to stabilize the patient’s condition is abortion,” Garland said at the press conference. “This may be the case, for example, when a woman is undergoing a miscarriage that threatens septic infec-

tion or hemorrhage or is suffering from severe preeclampsia.”

Garland said Idaho’s law will make it a felony for doctors to provide emergency medical treatment that is required by federal law, and while the trigger law includes language that creates an affirmative defense when an abortion is performed to prevent a pregnant person’s death, it does not include an exception if an abortion is necessary to prevent “serious jeopardy” for a person’s health.

“Moreover, it would subject doctors to arrest and criminal prosecution even if they performed an abortion to save a woman’s life, and it would then place the burden on the doctors to prove that they are not criminally liable,” Garland said.

Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said in a statement that the Department of Justice did not attempt to “engage Idaho in a meaningful dialogue on the issue” prior to filing the lawsuit, and called it a waste of taxpayer dollars.

“It’s unfortunate that, instead of sitting down with the state of Idaho to discuss the interplay between its abortion laws and EMTALA, the U.S. Department of Justice has chosen to file a politically motivated lawsuit,” Wasden said in the statement.

“Contrary to the carefully edited assertion in paragraph 25 of the department’s complaint that Idaho’s laws are preempted, EMTALA actually states: ‘The provisions of this section do not preempt any state or local law requirement, except to the extent that the requirement directly conflicts with a requirement of this section.’”

In the lawsuit, the Department of Justice said it reached out to the Idaho attorney general’s office on Friday, July 29, and did not receive a “substantive response.”

Idaho Gov. Brad Little issued a statement Aug. 2 calling the lawsuit another example of federal overreach.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. Photo courtesy Wikipedia “Here in Idaho, we are proud that we have led the country in protecting preborn lives,” Little said in the statement. “I will continue to work with [Wasden] to vigorously uphold state sovereignty and defend Idaho’s laws in the face of federal meddling.”

At least 43 hospitals in Idaho have Medicare agreements, DOJ lawsuit says U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra released a similar statement in mid-July saying under federal law, access to stabilizing treatment that includes abortion is protected in all states.

The lawsuit also includes a request for a permanent injunction that would prohibit Idaho from enforcing the law against health care providers who administer abortions as emergency treatment required by federal law, Garland said.

“In the days since the Dobbs decision, there have been widespread reports of delays and

denials of treatment to pregnant women experiencing medical emergencies,” Garland said.

“Today, the Justice Department’s message is clear: It does not matter what state a hospital subject to EMTALA operates in. If a patient comes into an emergency room with a medical emergency jeopardizing the patient’s life or health, the hospital must provide the treatment necessary to stabilize that patient.”

According to the text of the lawsuit, at least 43 hospitals in Idaho have signed Medicare agreements, and 39 have emergency departments that are subject to compliance with the federal statute.

The lawsuit also says Idaho’s law is an obstacle to effective emergency care because it threatens the professional license of any health care professional who “assists” in performing or attempting to perform an abortion. The trigger law threatens a provider with a six-month license suspension for the first

offense, and permanent revocation of a license for a second offense.

“A pregnant patient who arrives in the emergency department with an emergency condition is likely to encounter not just emergency department physicians, but also triage nurses, scrub nurses, lab techs, radiologists, anesthesiologists, and others whose role in any procedure could constitute ‘assisting’ in the performance of an abortion,” the lawsuit reads.

Associate U.S. Attorney General Vanita Gupta also spoke at the press conference and said the law would impede proper medical care.

“The law will chill providers’ willingness to perform abortions in emergency situations and will hurt patients by blocking access to medically necessary health care,” Gupta said.

Blaine Conzatti, president of the Idaho Family Policy Center who helped advocate for the trigger law’s passage in 2020, said this is the same tactic the Department of Justice unsuccessfully used to try to block Texas’ heartbeat law and he is confident the U.S. Supreme Court will similarly dismiss the case for lack of standing. The justices ruled the federal court did not have proper jurisdiction to sue the state over a law passed by the Legislature.

“This is just a last-ditch effort from a pro-abortion administration to keep abortion legal in Idaho, and the Supreme Court is not going to allow that to stand,” Conzatti told the Capital Sun. The Department of Justice filed the case in the Ninth Circuit federal district court.

This story was produced by Boise-based nonprofit news outlet the Idaho Capital Sun, which is part of the States Newsroom nationwide reporting project.

For more information, visit idahocapitalsun.com.

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The poor loser…

Bouquets: GUEST SUBMISSION: • “I would like to dedicate a bouquet to Sandpoint Women’s Health. They are gracious, understanding, sensitive, compassionate and efficient. They have been extremely supportive of my needs and questions. They promptly answer calls, questions, follow up with suggestions and send out referrals if needed. Many thanks to these servants of our women’s community!”

— By Trine Grillo, Sandpoint Barbs: • I received an email from one of our readers bringing attention to the vacant lot adjacent to the Post Office (where Monarch Mountain Coffee used to be located). The emailer brought up the fact that, “year after year” the owner of that property has failed to cut the weeds, leaving an unsightly mess. The emailer also said the city of Sandpoint “deserves being outed for failure to require the owner to cut the weeds.” I echo that sentiment.

Once, we received a notice from the city of Sandpoint demanding we abate the weeds along the alleyway of our residential area, but this commercial piece of property right in the middle of downtown Sandpoint can grow wild? Sadly, this will most likely end up as yet another luxury high-rise condo building, just like everything else in this town.

• One more Barb, this time for people who wave you through when it’s their right of way. I’m all for kindness, but it’s a royal pain when you arrive at a stop sign and the person already stopped sits there looking at you blankly before waving you ahead.

Same thing happens when I’m on a bicycle — people will stop and wave you across when it isn’t necessary. I know they’re just trying to be nice, but everything works a bit smoother if you just go when it’s your right of way.

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Dear editor, Another tweet another text, Another plot another ploy, What will be next?

No evidence or facts, Only sobs and cries, Then threats and lies, Then force and violence.

And still the blind Follow the loser.

Sandra Deutchman Eugene, Ore. (recently of Sandpoint)

A volunteer situation…

Dear editor, I am writing because of the volunteer situation at the Festival at Sandpoint. We volunteered at the Festival for 15 years, donating our time and at our expense. After 15 years we were escorted out like criminals by volunteer security that are packing firearms.

We were escorted out because we refused to leave our position to one they ordered us to. The place they ordered us to was a different team, as we were stage security, and they ordered us to go out into the venue where the crowd is.

We had told them that we could not be out in the crowd because we are 68 years old and, due to COVID, we would not do anything in the crowd since I’ve had a compromised immune system. We refused and were escorted out by gun-packing volunteer security.

Now, we were under the assumption that there were not to be any guns in the venue. I thought there was a lawsuit that did not allow guns in the venue. The management and the supervising volunteer people in charge are nothing like the people we worked with in our 15 years of volunteering and never will be.

Really, is gun-packing volunteer security and paid perimeter security the way to go? What a shame, and shame on them for treating two15year volunteers and their elders in this way.

Laurie and Scott Reid Sandpoint

Bonner County ‘clowns’…

Dear editor, Hmmm, let’s see. Our commissioners hire an out-of-state law firm [Davillier Law Firm, based in New Orleans and with offices in Phoenix and Sandpoint] to represent the county in a lawsuit at a cost of $230,000 to try to force the Festival to admit

guns into concerts, the law firm not only lost the case, but, in addition, the court required the county to pay the city of Sandpoint $71,000 to cover the city’s legal fees and, now, not only do the commissioners renew their agreement with this out-ofstate law firm, but they agree to an increase of 33% in fees paid to the firm. [News, “Bonner County signs updated contracts with Davillier Law Group,” July 14, 2022.]

This also raises the question: Why was the city able to successfully defend and win the lawsuit as the defendant, which is usually more difficult, at a cost of $71,000 in fees, while the county spent $230,000 in fees and lost?

Who are these clowns making financial and legal decisions for the citizens of Bonner County? The county should be hiring lawyers from Sandpoint at reasonable rates, not from out of state.

George Silvers Dover

Keep hope alive…

Dear editor, I always look forward to the “Lumberjill” column. I appreciate Jen Jackson Quintano’s thoughtful and passionate writing. However, I was taken aback by the frustration and anger and sense of loss she expressed in her July 21 opinion [“Generation WTF”].

I acknowledge these are challenging and in many ways discouraging times. But I have been here before.

During the 1960s our country was inundated with massive change, violence and generational gaps filled with distrust and hatred. Nightly news with Walter Cronkite that showed young Americans bleeding to death in Vietnam, napalm bombing of Vietnamese villages, entire American city blocks burning, women burning bras and men burning draft cards, uniformed police beating peaceful civil rights protesters, assassinations of leaders — all this and more day after day, year after year. But somehow we survived. We survived as a country and a people.

And we made progress toward tolerance and justice.

No doubt these are again the “times that try our souls.” And no doubt we must again turn that frustration and anger into action.

The price of progress is eternal vigilance. It seems to be several steps forward… and then some sliding backwards. But it is true, “the arc

COMMUNITY

Angels Over Sandpoint gears up for 20th annual backpack giveaway Local families in need of school supplies should register by Aug. 26

By Reader Staff This year marks two decades that the Angels Over Sandpoint have provided backpacks and school supplies to children in Bonner County. While 2019 was the last time the nonprofit handed out those items in person due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Angels will be bringing the tradition back in 2022.

Many parents cannot afford to purchase all of the necessary school supplies required each year, especially when they have more than one child in the home.

According to organizers, that’s why the Angels Over Sandpoint make it a priority to assist these families so that each child gets to start the school year prepared.

More than 2,000 students in Bonner County participate in the Free and Reduced Lunch program, and these are the students they aim to help.

Families interested in receiving school supplies need to contact the Community Action Partnership office at 208-2552910 to register their children

by Friday, Aug. 26. Parents will be given details on pick up locations and dates when they register. of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

You are not alone. We are not alone. We have our individual voices and we have our collective voices.

We will write our stories together.

Angels Over Sandpoint volunteers at the 2019 backpack giveaway event.

Courtesy photo.

If you know any families struggling to provide school supplies for their children, the Angels ask that you encourage them to call 208-255-2910 and register their children.

The Angels are providing supplies and backpacks to 1,100 children this year. This will require approximately $35,000.

Community support is vital in reaching this goal. All of the donations the Angels receive go directly to purchasing supplies.

Those who wish to donate can send a check made payable to Angels Over Sandpoint BTS, to P.O. Box 2369, Sandpoint, ID 83864. Donations can also be made online at angelsoversandpoint.org. Donations are tax-deductible and those who donate will receive a receipt for tax purposes.

The Angels Over Sandpoint would like to thank the Ponderay Staples for their partnership in making this endeavor possible, and a huge thank you to all of the organizations and individuals in the community who donate and volunteer.

For our daughters and for their daughters. Please keep hope alive.

Steve Johnson Sagle

NEWS

Education ballot initiative could reverse 2022 tax cuts and raise taxes on all Idahoans

Language in the initiative was written before the state’s most recent tax cuts were approved

By Clark Corbin Idaho Capital Sun An education funding ballot initiative that will go before Idaho voters in November could have the unintended consequences of reversing the Idaho Legislature’s 2022 tax cuts and increasing taxes for low-income families, state officials said.

The issue involves the Quality Education Act, which organizers from the nonprofit group Reclaim Idaho successfully qualified for the Nov. 8 general election after gathering voters’ signatures across the state. The initiative will likely appear on the ballot as Proposition 1.

Reclaim Idaho organizers intended to raise about $323 million per year for public schools by increasing the corporate income tax rate from 6% to 8% and creating a new 10.925% tax rate for individuals making more than $250,000 per year or married couples making more than $500,000 per year. In an interview with the Idaho Capital Sun on July 29, Reclaim Idaho co-founder Luke Mayville said that is still how the initiative works and he believes language on the initiative, the long ballot title, the funding source statement and fiscal note all make that clear.

Factoring in tax cuts passed by the Idaho Legislature this year However, a July 14 article from the Tax Foundation, and an email written by the Idaho Attorney General’s Office, suggest passage of the Quality Education Act could raise taxes for all Idahoans who pay income tax, including low-income individuals, and raise more revenue than expected because it does not factor in the tax cut package the Idaho Legislature passed during the opening days of the 2022 session.

Part of the issue is timing.

Reclaim Idaho organizers drafted the language of their initiative and started circulating petitions for signatures in 2021, before the Legislature’s 2022 tax cuts were proposed or enacted.

As part of a $600 million tax cut and rebate package in House Bill 436 from the 2022 session, the Idaho Legislature reduced the number of income tax brackets from five to four and set the top rate at 6% for a taxable income of $5,000 or more.

“The ballot measure reprints the old, higher rates on incomes below the new threshold, potentially restoring the pre-2022 rates — a tax hike for everyone, not just high earners,” the Tax Foundation article states.

In a July 19 email to Chief Deputy Secretary of State Chad Houck that was obtained by the Sun, Chief Deputy Attorney General Brian Kane wrote that the concerns raised by the Tax Foundation “appear to be largely accurate.”

“The ballot measure uses the 2021 version of the statute as the base language to which it then applies amendments,” Kane wrote. “If the language in the ballot measure were enacted it would disregard all the 2022 legislative amend-

ments that lowered tax rates.”

In a statement of opposition to the Quality Education Act submitted to Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney on July 20, the Idaho Freedom Foundation argued passage of the initiative would increase taxes by $570 million per year, not $323 million, because of repealing the 2022 tax cuts and a mistake in calculating inflation adjustments.

“Idaho has a $1.3 billon budget surplus; it makes no sense to raise taxes!” the Idaho Freedom Foundation wrote in its statement in opposition to the education initiative.

The Idaho Freedom Foundation’s opposition to the education initiative was expected.

In a 2019 opinion piece, the organization’s president, Wayne Hoffman, argued against public schools, which are a central requirement enshrined in the Idaho Constitution.

“I don’t think the government should be in the education business,” Hoffman wrote.

In an interview July 29, Houck said the Secretary of State’s Office is not taking a position on the education initiative, but is choosing to share Kane’s analysis with the public.

Mayville said he still believes the ballot language reflects the intention of Reclaim Idaho organizers to not raise taxes on anybody making less than $250,000.

“Anyone who reads the petition will see that the document makes it perfectly clear that only annual incomes above $250,000 a year will be impacted,” Mayville told the Sun on July 29. “Only the top tax bracket is underlined in the initiative and so this is the only bracket that will be altered by the initiative.”

Mayville also said a mistake in calculating inflation adjustments that the Tax Foundation and Idaho Freedom Foundation flagged was language that the Idaho Attorney General’s Office originally suggested in a March 26, 2021 certificate of review that was conducted.

On Page 8 of the review, the Idaho Attorney General’s Office suggested several changes, including defining “adjustment factor” and suggesting language stating, “The adjustment factor is calculated by dividing the consumer price index for the calendar year 2024 by the consumer price index for the calendar year immediately preceding the calendar year to which the adjusted bracket will apply.”

That calculator flipped the numerator and the denominator in the adjustment calculation so that when inflation goes up, the dollar threshold for the tax bracket goes down, Kane wrote.

If the education initiative passes, Mayville said Reclaim Idaho would be happy to work with the Idaho Legislature on an amendment to fix the adjustment calculation.

What happens next with the K-12 education initiative?

Ultimately voters, the Idaho Legislature and the court system may all have a say in how this plays out.

Despite the conflicting views on what the

effects of passing the education initiative would be, the Quality Education Act will be on the Nov. 8 ballot for Idaho voters to decide.

It would take a simple majority of votes for the education initiative to be approved.

If it doesn’t receive a majority of votes, the education initiative would fail.

In his analysis, Kane wrote that the state doesn’t have the ability to correct the language in the education initiative. “[A]s we have all agreed, there is nothing that we can do at this point about the ballot language or the text of the initiative,” Kane wrote. “If it passes, it will be up to the Legislature to sort it out as it sees fit.”

If voters pass the Quality Education Act in November, legislators will likely play a role in how it is implemented. As with any law, legislators could amend the Quality Education Act or repeal it.

There is precedent for the Idaho Legislature overturning a ballot initiative passed by the voters. In 2002, the Idaho Legislature voted to repeal term limits that 59.4% of Idaho voters approved in 1994, according to the Idaho Secretary of State’s online initiative history page.

Legislators then doubled-down on repealing term limits by successfully overriding thenGov. Dirk Kempthorne’s veto of the bill.

Mayville said Reclaim Idaho would be prepared to take the matter to court to stand up for the education initiative’s original intention.

“If Proposition 1 passes in November and the state misinterprets the initiative, the only final resolution would come from the Idaho Supreme Court, and we are prepared to take the issue to court if necessary,” Mayville said.

Meanwhile, on July 30, Reclaim Idaho organizers and volunteers announced a getout-the-vote door knocking campaign in Boise to support the Quality Education Act. Houck said the Secretary of State’s Office does not have a position on the Quality Education Act and is not issuing a ruling on what passage would or would not mean.

“Our office doesn’t have a position other than that which we have been advised,” Houck told the Sun. “There are a million ways that it could play out. The Legislature could do things afterwards. If it did override all the tax cuts, the Legislature could turn around and reintroduce the tax cuts and nothing would stop them.

There is also precedent in Idaho of the Legislature fully repealing a passed ballot initiative.”

This story was produced by Boise-based nonprofit news outlet the Idaho Capital Sun, part of the States Newsroom nationwide reporting project. Learn more at idahocapitalsun.com.

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Mad about Science:

Brought to you by:

extinction event

By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist We’ve all learned about one major mass extinction event in school. The end of the dinosaurs, gone in a singular dramatic flash!

That’s not exactly true.

While dinosaur extinction was a remarkably quick event on a geological scale, it didn’t occur the moment the asteroid smashed into Earth. So what would it be like to experience a mass extinction?

We’re about to find out.

Earth has endured five mass extinction events, six if you count “The Great Oxidation Event” more than 2 billion years ago, and seven if you count the Holocene extinction we appear to be causing right now. Extinction is a terrifying prospect, but it’s a double-edged sword. Some forms of life have always evolved and adapted where other life has critically failed, and humanity as we know it wouldn’t have thrived if the Earth had not faced five extinction events before us.

Let’s examine the most famous of all: the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs.

The moments leading up to and immediately following the six-mile-wide asteroid’s impact of the Yucatan Peninsula in present-day Mexico were undoubtedly dramatic: A town-sized rock hurtling into the planet at 27,000 miles per hour, releasing the energy of both bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 multiplied by 1 billion. The crater left behind has a diameter of 121 miles, so it’s safe to assume that the superheated shockwave traveled 10 /

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at least that far, though it likely caused a massive rippling effect across the entirety of Earth’s atmosphere many times over.

All flora and fauna caught in the shockwave were instantly incinerated. The asteroid aerosolized sulfur and carbon deposits beneath the impact zone and sprayed a cloud of molten ejecta into space. This had two really nasty effects that would play out in the hours following the impact.

First, larger chunks of debris rained back down, heating up due to atmospheric drag — this is the same effect that makes spacecraft appear to catch on fire during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere This heat not only scorched anything it touched, but it released into the surrounding atmosphere as it traveled, elevating temperatures for hundreds of miles around the impact site.

The second effect was spraying huge quantities of dust into the atmosphere, a problem that was exacerbated by the searing rain of flaming rocks, which set forests alight on a global scale.

Carbon dioxide in our atmosphere acts a lot like a glass panel — letting sunlight through, but trapping heat inside. This is, at its core, why it’s called a “greenhouse gas” and where the bulk of issues from climate change originate.

However, carbon has a funny effect when there’s an immense amount of it, such as smoke from every forest in the world being on fire at the same time. Sunlight is reflected off the smoke and can’t reach the ground, which causes a cooling effect. There have been multiple times when Earth has experienced this global cooling — particularly due to volcanic activity — kicking off ice ages after periods of rela-

tively high temperatures. This is exactly what happened for at least a year following the impact, creating an effect called an “impact winter.”

Before anyone has a “eureka” moment about how to combat climate change, this was not beneficial for life on Earth at the time. This was the largest contributing factor to the ultimate destruction of the dinosaurs.

As Earth was choked by smoke, dust and chilled by a winter that may have lasted as long as three years, plants lost access to sunlight they desperately needed in order to survive.

As delicate plants died, herbivorous dinosaurs ran out of food and began starving. As herbivores starved, carnivores lost their food source and began to starve as well.

Oceanic fauna weren’t sheltered from the effects of the impact. The vast amounts of sulfur blasted into the atmosphere caused sulfuric acid rains around the world, which drained into the ocean. This disrupted the ability of animals that made shells and exoskeletons from calcium carbonate, such as molluscs. This is called ocean acidification, and it’s something we’re seeing today as a direct result of human industry, as it damages crab, lobster and coral reef populations globally.

The real story of triumph in the wake of tragedy came from opportunistic hunters — that is, carrion eaters and other creatures that were either pre-adapted or readily adaptable to their horrific new world. Crocodilians, which often eat carrion before they’re large enough to hunt on their own, were able to quickly pivot toward the sudden expansion of food sources.

Meanwhile, smaller animals that required less energy to survive were able to adapt and outcompete larger creatures.

It’s hard to say exactly how Earth’s climate changed in the years following the impact. We do know that Earth lost 75% of its biodiversity in the years following, and that it would take nearly 6 million years for life to recover to a level comparable to the Cretaceous period.

Fortunately for us, the extinc-

tion of the dinosaurs paved the way for the Paleogene period and the rise of mammals as the dominant species on Earth.

Keeping that in mind, we have to ask ourselves this question: Are we currently paving the way for another species that will one day write about how fortunate it is that humans drove themselves to extinction?

Stay curious, 7B.

Random Corner s?

Don’t know much about comet • A comet’s center or nucleus is made of ice and varies greatly in size per comet, ranging from a few feet to more than a mile wide.

• Comets lose mass each time they get close to the sun due to a process called sublimation. After many years of circling the sun, the comet will eventually break apart from being so small and moving at such a great speed.

• The ice that makes up the nucleus of a comet isn’t just frozen water like you might put in your summertime drink — super-cold methane, ammonia and carbon dioxide ices are also in the mix, along with dust, rocks and other debris from the solar system. (Not exactly a tasty cocktail.)

• One of the most famous comets is Halley’s, which is observable from Earth about every 76 years. It has been observed around the world since at least 240 BCE. It wasn’t until 1705 that the English astronomer Edmond Halley understood that the appearances were actually reappearances of the same comet.

We can help!

The comet was named for him after this discovery.

• Not as famous as Halley’s, the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 made headlines in 1993 when it broke into pieces, scattering large impacts over Jupiter.

• Comets used to fill people with fear. That irrational fear inspired entrepreneurs to market ridiculous products to sell to those who were afraid of the celestial objects, including umbrellas, gas masks and even “anti-comet” pills.

• Comets have two distinct tails, which are part of the coma, or surrounding dust and gas, blowing away from the nucleus. The main tail always points away from the sun, regardless of the direction in which the comet is traveling. A second tail sometimes stretches for millions of miles behind the comet. This second tail is more blue in color, and contains gasses escaping from the comet that are ionized by the ultraviolet photons from the sun. This “plasma” tail often points in a different direction than the main tail.

COMMUNITY

Chamber of Commerce welcomes Jumping Jackalope Axe Throwing

By Reader Staff The Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce welcomes Jumping Jackalope Axe Throwing to the chamber with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Specializing in hosting parties, team-building events, celebrations, date nights and family time, Jumping Jackalope provides a safe, engaging ax-throwing experience from beginning to end. Their hope is to make sure everyone involved has a fantastic, energetic and safe experience, including teaching people how to throw knives, ninja stars, sawblades, tomahawks, big axes and machetes.

“Our business is unique in several ways,” said owner Miguel Tamburini, “we are the only venue where all of our coaches are certified, all of our coaches are also competitive ax throwers, we are very proud of our reviews and the personalized customer service we

provide “ To Tamburini and the rest of the crew at Jumping Jackalope, Sandpoint was the preferred location for the business — from the area’s logging history to the place it has become, they love the community and want to be a part of it.

Tamburini also spoke on the building’s history: “It just made sense! We will be able to offer Sandpoint not only a stress-relief place, but a hangout area where you can enjoy your wifi, catch a game, have a drink and learn new skills.”

When asked about future plans, Tamburini spoke of adding a simple but satisfying menu, supporting local breweries and becoming one of the top places to spend time and get out of the ordinary. Tamburini said he looks forward to Jumping Jackalope educating

Courtesy photo. and showing that anyone can participate in ax throwing and have fun with it, plus running competitive and amateur leagues of course.

For more information, visit Jumping Jackalope Axe Throwing at 160 N. Sixth Ave. in Sandpoint or go to the website: jumpingjackalopeaxeco.com.

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PERSPECTIVES

Emily Articulated

A column by and about Millennials

Rant, Rave and Domino’s

By Emily Erickson Reader Columnist

I’m what I like to call a “silent observer” on the Sandpoint Rant and Rave Facebook page.

I’m subscribed, but do not post or comment, or even allow new content on my newsfeed, making any engagement I have with it intentionally sought and willfully perused.

If it’s not obvious, the Rant and Rave page is a public message board on which people air grievances and share positive reviews of their experiences within the community — akin to Ben Olson’s “Barbs and Bouquets” column here in the Reader (albeit, far more unruly).

The structure of the forum is simple: any member may share their thoughts as long as they keep it local, leave out politics and avoid solicitation.

Posts and comments in violation of the page’s guidelines will be removed by the administrator, but everything else is open for discussion, argument, agreement and all the murky territory between.

I gate my participation with this page, because, frankly, it makes me uncomfortable. As a naturally gossip-averse person, a forum half built on the foundation of people’s complaints could easily leech into my already tenuous worldview.

It’s a space where people are bolstered by the protection of their computer screens and their lack of proximity to the individuals and establishments they’re critiquing; their perceived anonymity lending itself

Emily Erickson. to boldness at best. But, despite the page’s propensity toward ugliness, I’m a subscriber because I think it’s important for our community.

Ranting and raving is, at its most basic, doling out public shame and praise — a practice as integrated into our society as we are. Shaming is a social tool for establishing the rules, both explicit and implied, within a group, and holding members accountable when they break them. It has the power to impact how we view ourselves; our identity being partially defined by our interpretation of other people’s opinions of us (which is why we wake up in the middle of the night and ruminate on our decades-old shameful experiences).

Praise is the other side of this coin, positively reinforcing behaviors we want to see more of within our society. Its function is not to create a boundary around what we shouldn’t do, but to set a standard for how we’d like others to act. A rave is a signal to members that a person or business is doing things the “right” way and therefore upholding the collec-

tive values of the group.

Recently, the Sandpoint Rant and Rave page has been a hotbed of shame and praise for local workers at the Domino’s pizza franchise, underscoring the unwritten rules about how we treat and consider service industry establishments in our community.

A waterfall of posts and comments about Domino’s seemingly started with two separate rants about the respective customers’ experiences with order and delivery accuracy, and the attitude of employees tasked with rectifying the situations. The posts were aimed at drumming up collective admonishment and validation around a customer’s expectations when ordering food. The result, however, had the opposite effect.

Domino’s customers, service industry employees and general pot-stirrers came out of the woodwork to defend the establishment — turning the attempted shaming by the ranters back on themselves.

Supporters of the business highlighted the incredible customer volume and staffing issues plaguing every restaurant in our community, calling for patience and understanding for occasional less-than-perfect customer experiences — and not just at Domino’s, but anywhere a person is expecting service right now.

They shared their distaste for the ranters publicly airing their negative experiences (despite it being the “point” of the page), firmly aligning with and grouping together all the businesses simply doing their best to keep up with the demands

of a rapidly growing community. The line of “a customer is always right” was re-drawn in real time to offer leeway to employees and businesses stretched to the ends of their abilities.

The Great Domino’s Debate was an opportunity for us to work through and reestablish the rules of our transforming society, or, as commenter Gayle B put it, “A lot of us just took offense when our local

establishment was attacked and decided to share all of our good stories. It’s what we do in Sandpoint. We watch out for our neighbors and try to find the good vs. the bad.”

Although I won’t be signing up for push notifications from the forum any time soon, I appreciate its function and will continue to silently observe the messy shaping and reshaping of our community, one Rant and Rave at a time.

Retroactive

By BO

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OUTDOORS

Dirt-y Secrets Summer is a busy season in the garden

By Ranel Hanson Reader Columnist “Hot fun in the summertime!”

— Sly Stone If you are a gardener, you live for summer. I am speaking for myself and anyone who loves to get in the dirt. Water, fertilizer, weed pulling, slug battles, aphid wars, deer discouragement — those are our challenges, and our rewards.

For deer, as much as it totally grosses me out, blood meal seems to work. I sprinkle it pretty liberally around the plants deer love to eat. Sunflowers, lilies, hostas and others are favorites. I also put stakes with flags or ribbons around the taller plants. Motion-detecting lights and sprinklers work, too, or so I am told. I am much too lazy to rig those up.

Slugs are not so happy about hot weather, and most plants are past the tender young stage that slugs like by now. But they will be back with cooler, rainier, weather so keep saving those eggshells. I saved all winter but depleted my supply early this year. Eggshells mixed with epsom salts are the recipe for slug death.

Aphids are pretty rampant this year, too. A good squirt with the garden hose on the underside of leaves is the way to start. Then, insecticidal soap all over. You have to do this often because aphids are tough and persistent.

Hanging baskets need lots of water now, and lots of mild fertilizer. Water daily and fertilize every other time you water to keep them lushly blooming. Bedding plants also need plenty of water, and it really helps to mulch. I use grass clippings because I don’t

use pesticides or herbicides on the lawn. And, because I need a place for all of those clippings. But, you can use straw, bark or other organic material. The important thing is that you will conserve water, keep your plants moist and discourage weeds.

Some plants need a trim about now. Oriental poppies are finished for the first round, but might rebloom later if conditions are right.

Cut them right down to the dirt, leaving any new sprouts to come again. Roses that have bloomed need to be deadheaded. Many varieties can bloom again as a fall bonus. Peonies have had their party and their blossoms need to be cut off.

Now it is prime time for your pollinator plants. Beebalm, milkweed, mint, sunflowers, salvia, petunias — practically anything that blooms will provide food for butterflies and bees. And, butterflies

LIFE IS: WE'RE HERE TO HELP YOU THROUGH IT ALL Bonners Ferry 208.267.1718

PEDIATRICS FAMILY MEDICINE

Priest River 208.448.2321

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH DENTAL VA

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Sandpoint 208.263.7101

are so abundant this year! Monarchs need the milkweed and you can do these endangered beauties a favor by planting some. They lay their eggs on the milkweed plant so that when the eggs hatch and caterpillars are born, they eat the milkweed leaves. Hummingbirds love the same plants, particularly the red ones. And they are pollinators, too.

Speaking of hummingbirds, they are just beginning to return to feeders after nesting and raising young. You can recognize baby hummingbirds by their largerthan-body heads. Parents are teaching them the survival ropes and it does take practice. I have seen babies try to sip from the top of the feeder before they know better. Be sure to change your feeder water often because hot weather spoils it. Here’s my feeder recipe: ½ cup white sugar mixed with 2 cups water; microwave 2 minutes; cool and feed.

Many birds are raising their second brood by now. I don’t recommend feeding them just yet because food is so abundant and because we want them to be successful foragers. But when it is

hot, a bird bath is a welcome relief for a cooling dip and a drink. You must refill it often (daily) and clean it regularly. But the reward comes when you see them happily splashing away.

If you have read this column before, you know that I raise mason bees. Actually, they raise themselves, I just provide a house, water and mud. But this year, my bees flew the coop! They must have found better housing, because they barely filled any nesting tubes. I think, perhaps, the cold, wet spring discouraged them.

I will try again next year but I admit to being disappointed. There do seem to be plenty of other kinds of bees, though, and it looks as if pollination is in full swing.

For the first time, my two-yearold wisteria vine is blooming. Lots of blossoms are on my six-foottall vine and they smell divine.

I recommend them for drama. I have another vine of the same age, and it is just growing branches and leaves, but no flowers. Mother Nature is a bit unpredictable.

Don’t forget to take a dip in the lake!

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COMMUNITY

A perfect time for a swim Dive into the annual Long Bridge Swim this weekend

By Ben Olson Reader Staff Since its inception in 1995, the annual Long Bridge Swim has seen tens of thousands of swimmers cross the long stretch of water alongside the iconic Long Bridge. Some compete with all their might, others laugh and smile at their friends and family swimming by their side. It’s the perfect mix of health, competition and fun.

The 27th annual Long Bridge Swim will take place Saturday, Aug. 6. There will be a mandatory safety meeting at Sandpoint High School at 8 a.m., followed by shuttles taking all swimmers to the south end of the Long Bridge where the swim will commence. Those interested in registering should visit longbridgeswim.org before the Friday, Aug. 5 deadline, which is the last chance to submit registration. There will be no raceday registration.

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The event was founded by Eric Ridgeway in 1995, who wanted to establish a positive community event in Sandpoint.

The first year, just 68 people took part.

Attendance in recent years has averaged around 700 participants.

“My fondest memories from being the founder of the event and the director for the first 19 years are two things,” Ridgeway told the Reader in 2021. “Working with the wonderful and cheerful volunteers who make it all possible, and the sense of accomplishment from the swimmers who are not the greatest swimmers — they have never been on a swim team and were so nervous that they may not be able to make it — but they persevered and they felt encouraged along the way by the awesome kayakers and all the fans walking along the bridge cheering for them.”

As Ridgeway pointed out, the Long Bridge Swim isn’t just for avid swimmers. In fact, people of all ages and body types turn out in droves for the event.

“We had a woman who did it a number of years with MS, and she wanted us to unceremoniously dump her off the dock from her wheelchair — at her insistence — so she could swim the event,” said Jim Zuberbuhler, who took over as director after Ridgeway’s 20 years of stewardship.

“We’ve had a couple of parapalegics, deaf and blind swimmers, a couple of morbidly obese people, which is really great.”

Zuberbuhler is also very thankful for the small army of volunteers it takes to run this event every year.

“We have a very committed group of people who run their areas,” he told the Reader. “They are so committed, so passionate about this. ... We have no ego conflicts, no personality clashes. Everybody’s committed to the entire enterprise.”

The last chance to register for the swim is during early packet pickup from 5:30-7 p.m. at Sandpoint High School, 410 Division St. Those who want to pick up their packets on race day may do so

Saturday, Aug. 6 from 6:30-7:30 a.m.

At Sandpoint High School. Lines can get considerably long after 7:15 a.m., so plan accordingly. The mandatory safety meeting starts at 8 a.m. while the swim starts at 9 a.m. Fast swimmers who want to start in the water should load onto the front buses.

While the Long Bridge Swim is a lot of fun, it’s also an important fundraiser to help teach young people swim lessons in Sandpoint.

“Our entry fees offset event expenses, but we use the balance to provide swim lessons for local children,” according to the organization’s website. “The mission of our initiative is to see that no child in Bonner County gets past third grade without learning to swim. We hope for additional donations to support this life-saving and life-changing program.”

For more information, visit longbridgeswim.org.

Sandpoint arts organizations receive state grants

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

The Idaho Commission on the Arts announced a long list of fiscal year 2023 grants Aug. 1, amounting to $645,592 that will support 81 organizations and schools across 27 communities in the state. Included among those grants were several going to the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint; Pend Oreille Arts Council; Creations for Sandpoint, Arts Alliance, Inc.; the Festival at Sandpoint; and Panida Theater.

Grant recipients will match their awards with funds raised from their local communities, with a goal of spurring economic growth around the state. According to the commission, the arts generate $1.8 billion each year, making up 2.2% of the Idaho economy, as well as supporting 19,113 jobs.

“Artistic production is good business,” stated Idaho Commission on the Arts Chair Steve Allred in the grants announcement.

The Music Conservatory of Sandpoint received $7,622 under an arts education grant, in addition to $4,523 for its public arts programs.

Kathi Samuels, board president for the conservatory, told the Reader that twothirds of the funds will go toward supporting MCS’s Summer Academy, which is happening right now, and consists of two, two-week sessions.

“The kids are having a blast,” she said, particularly with the marimba, which is a new instrument for the program this year.

The remaining third of the grant dollars will be applied to general operations, which can go to supporting classes and programming for 250 students.

“We have more than 20 musicians and teachers on staff, so you can imagine we are always seeking grant funding and new community partners,” Samuels said, adding that with an outreach budget of about $80,000 per year, “this support from ICA is much needed,” particularly in keeping tuition costs affordable.

The grants come at a time of expansion for MCS, and Samuels said the funds will ensure the “music within our walls [is] non-stop.”

“Now that we have completed renovation of the Little Carnegie Concert Hall, music is also spilling out into the street,” she said. “There’s no limit to our classes and student training as our support grows.”

POAC was awarded $4,769 via an en-

try track grant, which is intended to offer reliable, continuing support for the work of professional arts organizations in Idaho.

“Funding for these programs strengthens our state culturally and economically, while providing Idahoans with the invaluable experiences of performances, gallery exhibits, special events and workshops in all artistic disciplines,” according to the commission. “Successful applicants demonstrated exceptional artistic merit, clearly defined management and the public value of their work.”

POAC Executive Director Tone Lund told the Reader that this is the first year the organization has sought an entry track grant from the commission, and in the past has secured state funding for programs such as Kaleidoscope, Ovations, Showstoppers, Art for Life and others.

“We are so excited that this entry track grant will provide POAC with stable, ongoing support of all our programs and not just one specific one,” Lund said.

Also in the public programs in the arts category, Creations for Sandpoint received $5,132, the Festival was awarded $11,123 and the Panida garnered $5,098.

Panida Managing Director Veronica Knowlton told the Reader that the theater’s award was earmarked for general operations, but will be put toward the Panida’s new roof project.

“We’re in the process of applying for a multitude of grants to help cover the $150,000 project,” she said, adding, “We’ve currently been awarded close to $50,000 in grants for the project.”

If patrons would like to donate directly to the effort, they can do so at panida.org.

Idaho Commission on the Arts Executive Director Michael Faison thanked elected leaders throughout the state for their support of the commission’s services.

“These grants are catalysts for Idahoans of all ages in every region to enjoy our rich cultural legacy and for Idaho students to thrive with creative learning opportunities in and out of school,” he stated.

The commission acts as the official state agency for supporting and expanding the arts in Idaho, promoting creative excellence and education, as well as ensuring access to and community investment in the arts.

For more information on the commission and future grant opportunities, visit arts.idaho.gov.

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To submit a photo for a future edition, please send to ben@sandpointreader.com.

Page 18-19: Various photos taken during the first week of the Festival at Sandpoint.

All photos taken by Racheal Baker. You rock, Racheal.

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events

August 4 - 11, 2022

THURSDAY, august 4

Festival at Sandpoint: The Beach Boys • 7pm @ War Memorial Field The Boys are back in town with some good vibrations all around. Part of their “Sixty Years of the Sounds of Summer” tour through Sandpoint. Tickets are sold out, so if you don’t have any yet, post up outside the fence to listen. Gates open at 6, music at 7 Festival at Sandpoint: Gregory Alan Isakov with Shook Twins 7:30pm @ War Memorial Field Grammy-nominated folk-indie performer out of Colorado playing with Sandpoint’s own Shook Twins. Gates open at 6pm Suzuki String Academy free concert 1-2pm @ Sandpoint High School A family-friendly free performance Live Music w/ Ian Newbill 7-9:30pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co. Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

FriDAY, august 5

Bonner County Rodeo (Aug. 5-6) @ Bonner County Fairgrounds 5th annual PRCA/WPRA rodeo. Also feat. women’s barrel racing. See sandpointbonnercountyrodeo.com for times

Peter Pan play (Aug. 5-6) 5pm @ Panida Theater A production by Lake Pend Oreille Repertory Theater. Tickets only $10 Live Music w/ Kevin Dorin 6-8pm @ The Back Door Live Music w/ Rick and Doug 3-5pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

SunDAY, august 7

Festival at Sandpoint: Grand Finale feat. Lisa Livesay / Spokane Symphony 7:30pm @ War Memorial Field Gates open at 5pm with complimentary wine and beer tasting from 5-7pm.

Karaoke 8pm-close @ The Tervan

Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee

Magic Night at Jalapeño’s 5-8pm @ Jalepeño’s Mexican Restaurant Starring veteran magician Star Alexander

monDAY, august 8

Blind Beer Tasting 6pm @ Idaho Pour Authority A monthly blind beer tasting held every second Monday. $15

Group Run @ Outdoor Experience 6pm @ Outdoor Experience 3-5 miles, all levels welcome, beer after General Trivia w/ a grand prize Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi 7-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

tuesDAY, august 9

Trails and Tails • 11am-12pm @ Pine Street Woods NIC at Sandpoint Open House Weekly gentle hikes through Aug. 19. Sponsored by 1-5pm @ Next to Pine St. Annex the Geezer Forum, partnered with KLT Come check our the new space.

Raffle drawings and more!

Liam McCoy Trio in concert Live Music w/ Cruz Contreras 8pm @ Panida Little Theater 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Streaming at KRFY.org

wednesDAY, august 10

Benny on the Deck • 6-8pm @ Connie’s Featuring Chris Lynch

Pend Oreille Pedalers free movie night 7:30pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co. Family-friendly and free! Come watch four short mountain bike, trail and adventure oriented films. Main feature is premier of the film Biketown

Sandpoint Farmers’ Market 3-5:30pm @ Farmin Park Live music w/ Larry Mooney Live Music w/ Amy Obenski 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Sandpoint’s Got Talent open mic 6-10pm @ The Tervan Live Piano w/ Dwayne Parsons 5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

ThursDAY, august 11

Sandpoint Summer Music Series 6pm @ Farmin Park A free outdoor concert in Farmin Park, feat. Drunken Hearts from the front range of Colorado. Food and drinks avail to buy

Artist Reception: Connie Scherr 4-6pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Come by to meet Connie and appreciate her artwork from 4-6 p.m. at the Winery

Book reading: Mike Medberry reads from his book Living in the Broken West 6:30pm @ Sandpoint Library (free admission) 20 /

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Trails and Tails • 11am-12pm @ Pine Street Woods Weekly gentle hikes through Aug. 19. Sponsored by the Geezer Forum, partnered with KLT

Live Music w/ Mudslide Charley 9pm-midnight @ 219 Lounge Missoula powerhouse, roots/rock

Live Music w/ Big Phatty & the Inhalers 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Karaoke 8pm-close @ The Tervan

Festival at Sandpoint: Lindsey Stirling 7:30pm @ War Memorial Field Stirling performs many genres from dance/electonic to classical and pop. Gates open at 6pm. $59.95 Live Music w/ Zach Simms 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz 6-8pm @ The Back Door Live Music w/ Jordan Pratt 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Live Music w/ Nights of Neon 9pm-midnight @ 219 Lounge Sandpoint’s funk and party band Live Music w/ Ponderay Paradox 1:30-4:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

Sandpoint Farmers’ Market 9am-1pm @ Farmin Park Fresh produce, artisan goods, live music by Suzuki String Academy Free First Saturday at the Museum 9am-2pm @ Bonner Co. History Museum Free admission all day Long Bridge Swim @ Lake Pend Oreille Info at longbridgeswim.org Peter Pan play 2pm @ Panida Theater A production by Lake Pend Oreille Repertory Theatre. Tickets only $10 Karaoke 8pm-close @ The Tervan

SATURDAY, august 6

STAGE & SCREEN

LPO Rep Theatre presents a student production of Peter Pan at the Panida

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

tor for future classes, which will begin again in the fall.

“She is an absolutely incredible find for LPO Rep and we are The Panida Theater will so lucky to have someone of her transform into Neverland for skill and ability,” Gray said. two performances of Peter Pan The skills and abilities of the on Friday, Aug. 5 and Saturday, student actors will be on display Aug. 6, featuring the talents of as well, in the roles made iconic nearly two dozen young thespians in the novel by author J.M. between the ages of 8 and 15.

Barrie and adapted for the stage With the play produced by

by Craig Sodaro. All the classic Lake Pend Oreille Repertory characters are there: the Darling Theatre and under the direction children Wendy, Michael and of Keely Gray, the students will John, played by Cadence Hagen, take the stage as the culmination Dexter Simmons and Josh Harof a weeks-long summer camp, man, respectively; Nana played which also officially launches

by Halynn Harman; Tiger Lily the educational program for the played by Elena theater company.

Orton; Rainier Gray and Pappas as Smee; Courtney Roberts and Caleb ChrisPresented by Lake Pend tenson as both — the latter who Oreille Repertory Theserves as stage Mr. Darling and atre; Friday, Aug. 5; 5 p.m.; Captain Hook. manager for PeSaturday, Aug. 6; 2 p.m.; ter Pan — were Joining them $10. Panida Theater, co-teachers of the are Angel Rogers 300 N. First Ave., 208inaugural camp, as Mrs. Darling, with Roberts 263-9191, panida.org.

Sydney Carlson also serving as Get more info on LPO as Liza, Sarah education director Rep at lporep.com.

Plaisance as Tootfor LPO Rep and les, Sierra Meyers the main instrucas Curley, Des-

Peter Pan

mond Cross as Pots, Kyler Wood as Slightly, Wilhelm Anderson as Starkey, Jack Portell as Skylight, Sydney Carlson as Noodles, Ruby Moremen as Great Big Little Panther, Ailia Orton as Chattering Chipmunk, Laikyn Cunningham as Two Moons and Ruhl Upton as Raging Waters.

The title role of Peter Pan will be played by Erica Galletti.

Design concepts for the stage came from the students, with set and prop building by Elka Heuser.

Especially exciting is fight choreography by Cory Repass, who worked with actors on the epic sword battle between Peter and Captain Hook.

“The kids are having a great experience thus far,” Gray said.

The Aug. 5 performance will be at 5 p.m. and the Aug. 6 performance at 2 p.m. Doors open 30 minutes before the show and tickets cost $10 both in advance and at the door, with proceeds supporting the Panida Theater.

The Pend Oreille Arts Council sponsored the camp and offered scholarships, with the performance also made possible with support from the Panida, which helped with set and prop pieces.

“We are so grateful for their collaboration and look forward

Courtesy photo. to partnering with them for our fall classes as well,” Gray said, adding later, “We are forming this awesome trifecta of nonprofit collaboration!”

Pend Oreille Pedalers to host movie night

Event to benefit youth mountain bike grants and scholarships

By Reader Staff Sandpoint’s local trails organization and cycling club is hosting a family friendly outdoor movie night on Wednesday, Aug. 10 at 7:30 p.m. at Matchwood Brewing.

In addition to building and maintaining non-motorized trails in the Sandpoint area, Pend Oreille Pedalers provides youth mountain biking programs in spring, summer and fall. In 2022 the club began a scholarship and bike grant program

with support from Litehouse, providing new mountain bikes and scholarships to the spring after school program to six underserved youth from local elementary schools. POP’s Movie Night will raise funds to continue and grow the scholarship and grant program in 2023, with the goal being to raise enough funds to provide new bikes and scholarships to 15 youth in 2023. Club sponsor Outdoor Experience has offered to help procure 15 Trek youth mountain bikes and provide free assembly to support the program.

The Aug. 10 event will feature four short mountain bike, trail and adventure oriented films, with the main event being the premiere of the feature film Biketown, “a story of mountain bikers, unlikely partnerships and the communities they serve.”

The film is on a world tour and only available to view at a live premiere event, of which Sandpoint is one of only 20 such events this summer.

Also featured during the evening will be a raffle with items provided by the movie sponsors Maxxis tires and Specialized,

as well as several local businesses — including all five of Sandpoint’s local bike shops.

For more information and to buy tickets for the event, visit pendoreillepedalers.org/ movienight. Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for youth ages 7 to 17.

Children under 7 may attend for free. The shows will start at 7:30 p.m., with Biketown starting around 8:30 p.m., with a run time of 50 minutes.

Courtesy photo.

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MUSIC FEATURE

Gettin’ your grub on at the Festival at Sandpoint

Festival at Sandpoint leaves lasting memories

By Ben Olson Reader Staff As far as iconic Sandpoint events go, the Festival at Sandpoint reigns supreme. From its quiet beginnings in 1983 as a classical music series to the full-scale production it is today, hosting some of the best performers of all time, the Festival has always left locals and newcomers alike with memories that last a lifetime.

The Reader caught up with a few locals at the shows last week to ask what they loved about the concert series and if any specific party dress on before the show memories stood out above the rest. and come back. One year, in 2014, Montgomery Gentry was Paul Gunter: playing here. I came rolling “I was raised in a household in the back gate and there’s a where we didn’t listen to the bald guy sitting there on a bike, Steve Miller Band. In fact, saying totally bald, sport clothes on. So the words Steve Miller, it just I say to him, ‘Did you see any wasn’t done. So I meet the guy bald eagles out there when you and he’s cool as heck. I thought, were riding, besides yourself?’

‘Now what do I do? I was raised Russell goes, ‘Or you could just my entire life to hate you, now say, “Welcome to Sandpoint, you’re super cool.’ He was telling Mr. Montgomery.” Open mouth, me how he has driven the same insert foot.” bus for 40 years and takes his family and friends out on the road Marty Andrews: for his tours, and we sat down “I’ve been here in Sandpoint and had a cigar with him. It was almost 20 years now. I first went a pretty fantastic afternoon. Steve to the Festival about a decade Miller. He’s a real dude.” ago. My favorite thing is when people have a leftover ticket Linda Lacy: or something and give it to “Russell would be here you. You get to go see a show working throughout the Festival, that you’d have never gone to but I got to go home and put my before.”

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By Ben Olson Reader Staff

pulled pork and brisket, offering protein bowls and sliders of both kinds, plus all the usual sides.

They might come for the music, but Festivalgoers often find that some of their favorite parts of the two-week concert series are sampling the various dinner options on Food Street.

Here are some offerings to make your mouths water.

• The Burger Dock Returning to their roots as a food truck, The Burger Dock offers up one of the tastiest burgers in town: the Old Tin Can burger with crunchy lettuce and special sauce. Also available are bacon cheese, veggie, and kids’ items like junior burgers and grilled cheese.

• Tiki Pop Kettle Corn Who doesn’t love a big bag of crunchy kettle corn? Grab a bag (or two) for $9 and share with your friends.

Photo by Racheal Baker.

Chris Bessler: “The year that Johnny Cash came, I was right over there, hanging against the fence. It was a time we were getting settled here and didn’t have any extra money, so we’d go watch the shows outside. I saw Johnny Cash from outside the fence and I always wished I’d have scraped up the money and gone inside.

But I got to see Johnny Cash.”

Jen Landis: “I remember when my kids were smaller and would come and run wild. They’d get these massive ice cream sundaes and maybe Justin [Landis] played one year so they felt special.

I think the biggest memory is just them feeling like they’re at home here.”

• Panhandle Pizza Kitchen If you remember having a delicious slice of pizza while The Longshot was open, you probably had it from Panhandle Pizza Kitchen. They use organic or non-GMO ingredients whenever possible and their pies are so, so good. Prices range from $18-$22 for a 12-inch pie.

• Opa! Greek and Mediterranean Cuisine You don’t have to smash your plate to enjoy authentic Greek food, just shout, “Opa!” and head to Food Street. They have gyros, falafel, hummus platters, greek salads and baklava for dessert. Say it, you know you want to... “Opa!” Also, Opa! is offering their take on Latin cuisine with Opa! Goes South, featuring three street tacos for $15. They have carne asada, chicken asada and tofu.

• Felker’s Northern Smoke BBQ Don’t want to stand by a hot grill or smoker all afternoon? Head to Felkers, which specializes in

• The Cajun Kettle Take a trip down to the bayou to sample this “good ol’ downhome cookin’.” They serve jambalaya ala carte or with coleslaw and a roll, offered in both meat and veggie options. Also check out their red bean tacos.

• You Say Potato Choose from among seven types of loaded baked potatoes, including a wild ice cream “spud” that’s so delicious that it might be illegal in some states. They’re all top-notch spuds, but hey, we’re in Idaho.

• Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters Need a pick-me-up after a long day on the water? We understand — these days are packed and sometimes you need a bit of caffeine to pull you through. Evans Brothers baristas are standing by, ready to inject you with more “go juice” so you can get the most out of your Festival experience.

To learn more about specific food vendors, visit festivalatsandpoint.org and click on “Festival Vendor” at the bottom right.

STAGE & SCREEN Something to talk about: Monologue contest at the Panida Little Theater

By Reader Staff

The Panida Little Theater will host a monologue competition Saturday, Aug. 13, during which contestants will hold forth while competing for cash prizes.

“This is a great event for all sorts of people in our community,” said Panida Managing Director Veronica Knowlton. “It’s perfect for anyone who hasn’t had the opportunity to participate in local theater and would like to introduce themselves. For those who once participated in local productions, it’s a fun way to make a comeback. We are inviting representatives of theater production companies, plus local directors and producers to attend.”

Dubbed “Mono-Mania,” this will be the first event in the Little Theater since its recent facelift, giving audience members and participants an opportunity to see some of the changes coming to the Panida.

“We are hoping to fundraise

$2,000 to cover the costs of new paint, a brand new floor and lighting,” Knowlton stated. “I’m excited at the opportunity to begin to showcase the Panida Little Theater and host more intimate events. Our community is thirsty for a smaller venue, so to present Mono-Mania and future smaller productions will be wonderful for both the Panida Theater and for Sandpoint.”

Participants are encouraged to sign up for Mono-Mania and reserve their monologue space online at panida.org. They may write their own monologue, use Shakespearian verse or choose a piece from the many online monologue sites.

Judges include Tim Bangle, Paul Gunter and Mickey Quinn.

Bangle is founder of The Other Dog Films, a producer, writer, director and editor focusing on drama and sci-fi films. He graduated summa cum laude from The Los Angeles Film School in August 2020 and recently completed filming The Fade: Resistance, a

futuristic film that will premiere at the Panida Theater on Sept. 9.

Gunter is the education and production manager of the Festival at Sandpoint, the founding member of beloved local band Right Front Burner, longtime music director for Angels Over Sandpoint event The Follies and well known to crack wise — in public no less. In addition to his local performances, he is the “Commander of Funk” at the Forrest M. Bird Charter Schools.

Quinn is the founder of both Level Up and Mickey Quinn Consulting, producing motivating podcasts as well as training and consulting for professionals. After working in the corporate retail industry for more than 30 years, she now shares her passion for helping others by coaching individuals and teams to reach the highest levels of their potential.

Tickets are $15 online or $20 at the door. Seating is limited, so plan to get your tickets in advance. Visit panida.org for more information.

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LITERATURE

Broken living

By Rick Price Reader Contributor I chatted with the writer Mike Medberry the other day. I took notes about what he said so I could write up an interview. When I looked for them, phwtt they were gone. I don’t have the words. Of course I don’t.

I’ve known Mike for almost 40 years.

He has always been easy to chat with, except for after his stroke, when there were no words. He recounts this episode well in a previous book, The Dark Side of the Moon. His stroke happened in southern Idaho’s Craters of the Moon National Monument — a place that Mike has worked to protect by enlarging its area. His friends found him crumpled on the side of a trail unable to talk and barely able to move. One of the essays in the new book covers this, too.

His long recovery exemplifies the hope to which he clings. The words are back now, and we should all be glad. Mike’s voice is strong again. His most recent

Idaho author of Living in the Broken West to present reading and discussion in Sandpoint

book, Living in the Broken West, is a collection of essays about brokenness and the hope that can be found among the pieces.

I asked if some parts of the West are more broken than others.

“They are broken in different ways,” he said.

Mike went on to explain that hope and healing is different in different places, as well. In some places it is active due to the work of citizens who love these places and conservationists like himself. In other, more obscure places, the number of visitors has fallen off and the wilderness has returned on its own.

The essays in Living in the Broken West cover wanderings from the Antarctic, New Mexico, Utah and the Arctic, along with walks along the length of both the Boise and Los Angeles rivers. Other essays are about Mike’s work fighting for wild places, as well as a variety of topics, including an injured football player and a day in the slammer.

Mike thinks his writing about the Boise

River is the heart of the book, comparing the waterway to a human lifetime. The river is a playful kid at its source, jumping and dancing out of Spangle Lake, deep in the Sawtooth Wilderness. As it flows it matures into an adult as it flows through our state capital, then a worn-out shell of itself farther downstream, where it finally joins the Snake River along the Oregon border. Then, “Fare thee well.”

Mike is traveling from Boise to Sandpoint for a free reading and discussion of his book, Living in the Broken West, on Thursday, Aug. 11 at 6:30 p.m. at the East Bonner County Library.

Copies will be available to buy at the

Left: Author Mike Medberry. Above: Medberry’s newest release: Living in the Broken West. Courtesy photos.

event, and the book is also for sale at Vanderford’s in Sandpoint or online.

VA outreach planned for Aug. 9

By Reader Staff Bonner County Veterans Service Officer Bryan Hult will be at the Clark Fork Public Library Tuesday, Aug. 9 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. to answer questions about current veteran’s benefits, assist with ongoing claims and initiate new claims for benefits for eligible veterans and their

dependents.

The Clark Fork Public Library is located at 601 Main St., in Clark Fork. Veterans will be seen by appointment only to ensure they are given quality time. Call 208-255-5291 no later than Friday, Aug. 5 to schedule an appointment. If there are no appointments scheduled for the outreach, or if conditions prohibit travel, the outreach will be canceled.

BTAA has urgent need for dry cat food

By Reader Staff

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Better Together Animal Alliance’s community pet food bank is out of dry cat food and low on other pet supplies. The nonprofit is asking for urgent community support to help families and pets in need. Any brand of dry cat or dog food can be donated to the organization’s animal care center or to donation bins at Yokes, North 40 or Super 1.

“This is a vital service we provide to our community, and have traditionally relied on donations to help keep it going,” said BTAA Executive Director Mandy Evans. “Our pet food bank helps people feed their pets during difficult times, / August 4, 2022

so they don’t need to surrender them.

We want to ensure people and pets stay together. Being completely out of cat food to provide to our community puts community cats at great risk.”

In 2021, BTAA supplied more than 100,000 pounds of pet food to the community, and the need continues to grow as people face housing, health, gas, inflation and supply challenges.

Donations to BTAA’s pet food bank can be made at the organization’s animal care center at 870 Kootenai Cutoff Road in Ponderay, or visit bettertogetheranimalalliance.org to view its wishlist and order online.

MUSIC

This week’s RLW by Ed Ohlweiler

Free fiddlin’ fun

READ

Suzuki Summer Strings Festival to culminate with local students showing off their musical chops at two free performances

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff

The community is invited to enjoy two free performances by participants in the Suzuki String Academy’s second annual Summer Strings Festival, including a performance on Friday, Aug. 5 from 1-2 p.m. at the Sandpoint High School Auditorium and another on Saturday, Aug. 6 from 9 a.m.-noon at the Sandpoint Farmers’ Market in Farmin Park.

The Summer Strings Festival serves as a summercamp-style week of music workshops for local chele justudents.

Ruth Klinginsmith, owner and director of the Sandpoint Suzuki String Academy, told the Reader that the inaugural camp, held in 2021, “was a great success.”

“The students learned so much, achieved more than they thought they could in a short amount of time and had fun in the process,” she said. “We have twice as many students participating this year.”

Those students will spend three days learning from guest instructors and putting that new knowledge to the test with the

I recently read The Meadow, by James Galvin, and was surprised at the end by all the dog-eared pages representing pithy quotes, wisdom and poetic imagery. It’s a telling of the Western American tale that spans several decades of a land both beautiful and harsh, and the settlers who come to know it. It is written in short chapters, prose-poetry style, and seems like it should be a classic — if it isn’t already.

LISTEN

two free community performances featuring styles from orchestra to fiddling tunes. The 2022 instructors include cellist Michele Jeglum, hailing from Spokane and Alaska; fiddler Rebecca Musser of Payette, Idaho; as well as violinist Jason Moody and cellist John Marshall, both of the Spokane Symphony.

Klinginsmith said that the visiting instructors bring a “new perspective” to students, as well as opportunities for masterclasses and adjudication.

“This is a great learning experience for students … giving them the opportunity to work with and play alongside profes-

sional musicians from Spokane and other areas,” she said.

Attending the two free and family friendly Summer Strings Festival performances at SHS and the Farmers’ Market is a chance for community members to show their support for area youths invested in their musical education. In addition, Klinginsmith said, “if anyone has kids interested in taking music lessons, this will be an inspiration for kids to see other kids performing great music.”

“We invite the community to come support the students who have been working so hard to pull off an incredible

Participants in the inaugural Summer Strings Festival in 2021.

Courtesy photo. performance in just three days,” she said.

Suzuki String Academy is currently enrolling for fall semester classes. Children as young as 4 years old can begin learning an instrument through the academy. Those interested in pursuing violin, viola, cello, piano, guitar, ukulele or voice lessons should contact Suzuki String Academy by emailing info@suzukistringacademy.

Visit suzukistringacademy. com to learn more.

A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint Jordan Pratt, Eichardt’s Pub, Aug. 6

Zach Simms, Pend d’Oreille Winery, Aug. 6

Based in L.A., singer-songwriter Jordan Pratt holds a degree in classical voice and it shows in every vocal moment on his most recent EP, The Deepest of Blues, which dropped in March. Listeners can experience some of those moments on Saturday, Aug. 6, when Pratt brings his sound to Eichardt’s Pub in downtown Sandpoint.

His influences — which he identifies as Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver and Adam Melchor — are evident especially on tracks like “Slow Burn Regret,” which skips along on a cushion of sunny California air and his signature winsome timbre, while the title track holds forth

Singer-songwriter Zach Simms may have made the move from the Midwest to Sandpoint only two years ago, but the folk artist has already made himself known as a local act not to be missed.

While his music is largely inspired by his faith, Simms defies a traditional understanding of the worship genre to create something accessible for all audiences. He blends indie folk instrumentation with earest

with understated balladic swells that give The Deepest of Blues an almost choral character.

These are immaculately constructed songs that never feel overproduced, which has much to do with why he was selected as a 2020 finalist in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition and took part in the Johnny Mercer Songwriting Project in 2021.

— Zach Hagadone 7 p.m., FREE. Eichardt’s Pub, 212 Cedar St., 208-263-4005, eichardtspub. com. Listen at jordanprattmusic.com.

vocals to make the perfect listening-room experience for those craving a performance defined by sincerity and peace.

Listen to Simms on all major streaming platforms and find the artist on Facebook at facebook. com/zacharysimmsmusic.

— Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey

My favorite COVID CD is Everyone A Song, Vol. 1

by The Steel Wheels.

A combination of country, folk, bluegrass and gospel, the band offers up fanciful musical interplay, down-to-earth homespun lyrics, even a cappella four-part harmony at times. The CD pairs nicely with WFMT’s Folk Stage sets, which include some storytelling — and which they’ve been giving out for free on the Internet. Thank you Steel Wheels!

WATCH

“Beautifully shot” is an accurate description of The Eagle Huntress, one of the most picturesque films I’ve seen. Following a 13-year-old Kazakh girl training to become the first ever female eagle hunter in her family, the film’s trajectory may be simple but you will have a hard time taking your eyes off the screen. The unique glimpse into the mountain culture of Kazakhstan is also worth the price of admission.

5-8 p.m., FREE. Pend d’Oreille Winery, 301 Cedar St., powine.com.

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BACK OF THE BOOK

On becoming a real character From Northern Idaho News, August 8, 1922

HOPE SUFFERS FROM FIRE FIEND Hope was the scene of another fire Sunday night when the Congregational church, the Tipton building, the Coffee residence, a barn and the wareroom of the Farmers’ store and the village hall were destroyed, the Jeannot hotel damaged, and a row of dwellings to the south threatened. Mrs. Kay, night operator at the Northern Pacific depot, was the first to discover the fire.

She had just finished her trick at the depot at midnight and passed up the street past the scene of the fire without observing anything wrong. Shortly after arriving at her home only about a block farther south, she discovered that the Tipton building was in flames, and hastened out to give the alarm. The fire spread rapidly and by the time that John Larson, the first man to reach the scene arrived, the Congregational church adjoining was enveloped in flames. Mr. Larson rushed into the church to ring the bell, but on the second stroke of the bell the rope was severed by flames.

Hope has an escellent fire-fighting apparatus, and but for it and the desperate work of the men the fire would have been far more disastrous. The Jeannot hotel was twice in flames which were as often fought down by the fire crew; not without a considerable damage to the building however, as well as to the Farmers’ store located therein.

The village hall, teh Farmers’ wareroom and the Coffee house, being more exposed, were destroyed in spite of the work of the firefighters, and it was only by a hard fight that the row of dwellings south from the Coffee residence were saved.

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By Sandy Compton Reader Contributor You may have heard someone say, “That person is a real character,” generally in reference to a guy or gal who is somewhat, or very — ummm — unique. Some folks achieve status as a real character without even thinking about it, but should you yourself ever want to become a real character, several qualities are required. Some are inborn and some are acquired. Which are which, I’ve not determined, and I’m not sure it matters. To become a real character, one needs luck, a talent, a passion for something, the ability to live on air and an initial lack of self-discipline.

The initial lack of discipline is very important. Strong self-discipline may be developed later in life, but if it happens too soon, you end up a civil engineer, an MBA or, heaven forbid, a hotel manager, making more money than you know what to do with. If there’s anything that will ruin a real character, it’s money. At least, that’s what my grandma used to tell me. And, she was a real character.

The ability to live on air develops directly out of that initial lack of discipline. Air is about the only thing that’s free anymore and, without the MBA, air is all a budding character can afford.

The character-quashing effect of money is best avoided early, but money is like self-discipline. Once you become a character, it’s fine to have money, especially as a direct result of being a character.

If a character gets enough money, they become an eccentric — in other words, somewhat out of balance. The quality that gets a character out of balance is often a passion for something. Some characters collect marbles, some collect rocks. Some collect rocks until they lose their marbles. Some become enamored of something as well known as baseball.

Others develop an interest in something as obscure as the habits of badgers at elevations

STR8TS Solution

over 12,000 feet in the American West.

Combine a passion with a talent and a little luck and what you have is a real character.

The talent may or may not be real. We all know someone like Barney Fife, who can’t carry a tune in a bucket but thinks they are Pavarotti. These characters can be painful to be around, but they are mostly harmless. (Not to be confused with the musical duo, Mostly Harmless, which does have real talent.)

Talents can include all varieties of art, music and hand crafts, plus skills like cooking, sewing, design, navigation, carpentry, computer programming, masonry and studying badgers.

A person who loves rock, understands drystack masonry and has the luck to live where there are large supplies of stone will almost surely become a real character, perhaps even a local legend.

A talent that may be applied to becoming a real character is writing. A self-recognized talent for such — real or not —and a passion for something, even if it’s simply the act of writing, is as sure a way to become a real character that I can think of.

A writing talent gives its possessor wonderful license to drop everything, sell the car, write the wife a quick note, quit the job at Burger King and run off to study the living habits of badgers in elevations over 12,000 feet in the American West. And then write about it.

A real character will never be deterred by the fact that not much happens with badgers above 12,000 feet in the American West.

Reality has nothing to do with anything. A real character will simply write about not finding any badgers, about the disillusionment experienced, and the subsequent search for badgers at increasingly lower elevations until they are searching for badgers on a beach in Mexico.

Later, they will write a book about the pain of divorce and personal bankruptcy. This is truly a real character.

My character-qualifying passions are the natural world and telling stories. If I had a

spouse — which I don’t, currently — she might define my passions as goofing off outdoors and telling lies about it. And I would argue that they just sound like lies. Some pretty interesting things can happen to a character out in the natural world, especially above 12,000 feet.

If a character is going to be married, it’s probably best for characters to travel in pairs.

A real character’s only other hope is to find a saintly partner with no homicidal tendencies whatsoever. A single character can pretty much go where they want when they want without having long, drawn-out discussions about their ancestry, attitude and earning abilities.

Being currently without another character to travel with, I miss some of the advantages.

And, in my defense, it never occurred to me that badgers might not live above 12,000 feet in the American West.

Sandy Compton is taking a summer break from writing about politics and cultural craziness. His newest book is 34 Poems. That and his other books, occasional rants and other writing can be found at bluecreekpress.com and local bookstores.

Crossword Solution

Sudoku Solution

Probably to a shark, about the funniest thing there is is a wounded seal, trying to swim to shore, because where does he think he’s going?!

Solution on page 26

Solution on page 26

Laughing Matter

archetypal

Woorf tdhe Week

By Bill Borders

/ahr-ki-TAHY-puhl/

[adjective] 1. of or having the nature of an original model or prototype

“Frank was an archetypal misanthrope with a heart of heart — hated most everyone, but always lent a hand when help was needed.”

Corrections: No corrections this week. Instead, here’s a quote

by Carl Sandburg: “I never made a mistake in grammar but one in my life and as soon as I done it I seen it.” – Carl Sandburg

Copyright www.mirroreyes.com

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1. Guest inviters 6. Tumble 10. Riot spray 14. Love intensely 15. Double-reed woodwind 16. Black, in poetry 17. Pertaining to the sun 18. Hot rum drink 19. Pew area 20. Proclaim 22. Any thing 23. Motel employee 24. 90 26. Tilled 30. North northeast 31. Canine 32. Type of fruit 33. Yield 35. Daughter of a sibling 39. Childhood disease 41. Demolish 43. British penny 44. Self-satisfied 46. Small island 47. Half of a pair 49. Air hero 50. Adjusts 51. Trophies and such 54. Not first 56. Found on most beaches 57. Blabbering 63. Falafel bread 64. Designed for flight

Solution on page 26

65. Audio communication device 66. Smooth or level 67. Twosome 68. Expend 69. Bird home 70. Ages 71. S S S

DOWN 1. Metal fastener 2. Scent 3. Alone 4. Streetcar 5. Type of body fluid 6. Blurriness

7. Worn down 8. Plunder 9. Fable 10. Brain fever 11. Diminish 12. Desire 13. Foe 21. Spear 25. Charged particles 26. Bulge 27. Curved molding 28. Distinctive flair 29. Lacking in harmony 34. Teachers 36. Celtic language 37. Farm newborn

38. Visual organs 40. Extend credit 42. Cast out 45. Protozoal infection 48. Get away 51. Poplar variety 52. Relinquish 53. Initial wagers 55. Brusque 58. Listen 59. Blows 60. Mid-month days 61. One less than 10 62. Deities

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