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:

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, one of several justices in the hot seat for not reporting sizable gifts, claims Congress has no “authority to regulate the Supreme Court.” That’s been met with humor, The Lever reported that legal professionals — including judicial ethics expert Amanda Frost — pointed out that Congress regulates the court’s size, where it meets and writes the oaths of office for justices. Those oaths are intended to “ensure that the justices behave ethically.”

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

After more than a decade of planning and construction since 2019, BNSF Railway announced Aug. 7 that it had officially opened two-way traffic on the new and refurbished train crossings over Lake Pend Oreille.

The inaugural trip across the “Sandpoint Junction Connector” marked “the last step of the project,” according to a news release from BNSF, and signified the “final configuration” that would allow “both lines to now carry freight simultaneously.”

The second rail bridge — which spurred no small amount of controversy among many who opposed it due to environmental and safety concerns related to increased coal and oil shipments — runs parallel to the existing bridge, separated by approximately 50 feet.

Grassroots climate change activist group Wild Idaho Rising Tide has been the most vigorous and longtime opponent of the second rail bridge, consistently speaking out against the project as a source for ongoing and increasing pollution due to coal dust and diesel emissions, as well as arguing it represents a public health risk through the potential for derailments and spills.

Citing a July 2023 report from The Wall Street Journal, which found lead pollution stemming from buried communication cables beneath a number of rail bridges — including the Sandpoint bridge — WIRT leader Helen Yost told the Reader in an email that, “BNSF’s second lake and creek bridges construction in and near Sandpoint released not only toxic coal, diesel, and Superfund site contamination into the Pend Oreille lake and river watershed and the federally designated, critical habitat of threatened bull trout, but apparently disturbed buried lead, too.”

Completion of the new train bridge in late 2022 came about a year ahead of schedule, according to BNSF, and enabled the company to undertake a modernization project on the original 1904 bridge, which had been closed since last year for maintenance upgrades. Meanwhile, new bridges were also constructed over Sand Creek and Bridge Street in Sandpoint.

“The completion of this bridge is a big win for our customers and the community, especially before the start of the fall harvest season,” BNSF Vice President of Engineering John Cech stated in a news release. “This milestone is thanks to many team members spanning across multiple departments who collaborated to help improve the consistency of our service. This bridge will be critical moving forward to address our long-term growth and will allow us to meet customer expectations for the next century or more.”

BNSF went on to state that the commencement of two-way traffic over Lake Pend Oreille will reduce congestion at area railroad crossings by making freight traffic more efficient, therefore cutting down on the number of trains that sit idle on the tracks.

“BNSF thanks the community for their patience as the team worked to complete this important work as safely and efficiently as possible,” the company stated.

To learn more about the Sandpoint Junction Connector Project, visit keepsandpointrolling.com.

Heat is the deadliest kind of weather, and kills an average of twice as many people as are killed by tornadoes and hurricanes, according to The Lever. Recent months saw an increase in heat-related deaths, and July registered as the hottest month in recorded history.

UPS strikers are off the potential picket line with a new negotiated contract. According to the Teamsters, the contract has more workplace protections and full-time jobs.

Former-President Donald Trump has pleaded “not guilty” to allegations that he tried to overturn his 2020 election loss, including charges of conspiracy to defraud the U.S., obstruction of official proceedings and conspiracy against the right to have votes counted (violating a law passed to stop KKK terrorists from interfering in the 19th century with the counting of electoral votes).

The indictment charges came from a grand jury of 23 “ordinary” citizens who were tasked with weighing evidence of criminal activity. It said that, “until 2021 [the election process] had operated in a peaceful and orderly manner for more than 130 years.” The top charges in the case are punishable by up to 20 years in prison for Trump.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Trump is the 1,078th person charged in connection with the events of Jan. 6, 2021. He faces two other cases, one being mishandling of classified files and the other that of falsifying business records to cover hush-money payments.

“It is perhaps the most important indictment ever … to safeguard American democracy and the rule of law in any U.S. court against anyone,” David French wrote in The New York Times.

Trump claims that the indictments he faces are good for his 2024 presidential

By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist

campaign: “We need one more indictment to close out this [upcoming] election.”

A comment on Trump’s guilt came from former-Attorney General Bill Barr, who told BBC that Trump “knew well he lost the election.” Reports are that more than 15 pages of the 45-page indictment confirm that Trump’s lies about election fraud were knowingly made. Barr said the apparent defense of “free speech” offers no protection when one enters a conspiracy; other legal authorities have clarified that the First Amendment does not cover criminal behavior.

Details from the recent indictment include plans by the election conspirators to use the military to control protests against overturning 2020 election results. That led military leaders to tell Congress they hesitated to respond to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot for fear that they would be used under the Insurrection Act.

The recent indictment references six unnamed co-conspirators.

Political chaos prompted Fitch Ratings to downgrade — for the second time in U.S. history — the nation’s long-term credit rating. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called that “arbitrary,” pointing out that U.S. economic growth is strong and the president “has delivered the strongest recovery of any major economy in the world.” Nevertheless, she agreed that extremist politicians aiming for a debt default and to undermine the government does pose a threat to the economy.

Blast from the past: Adolf Hitler’s deputy, Rudolph Hess, was buried in a small German town in 1980. The town soon became a pilgrimage site for neo-Nazis. On Aug. 17, they marched through the town, aiming to incite riots and violence, which, in the past, anti-fascists felt obligated to respond to. The town tried a different strategy: Turn the Nazi parade into a charity walk. For every meter walked by neo-Nazis, people pledged 10 euros to EXIT-Deutschland, a group that helps extricate willing people from far-right groups. When the neo-Nazis crossed the finish line, they were surprised to be greeted with confetti and loud cheers, and learned they had raised $20,000 euros for the EXIT group. The effort went further, and later T-shirts with Nazi ideology were given to neo-Nazi marchers. When they were washed, the T-shirts had an offer to “free” them, and calls to the EXIT-Deutschland organization went up 300%.