It’s been about a year and a half since my family gained its latest member, in the form of a stately 8-year-old female bearded dragon. Named Lizzie by her previous owners, we took to her so fiercely that despite the unimaginative nature of her moniker, we kept it because that’s what she was called when we met and fell in love with her. Since coming into our lives, we’ve come to realize that despite reptiles’ reputation for cold inscrutability, Lizzie is a snuggler, a patient friend and companion, and freakishly intelligent. Sit down with her and she’ll crawl up to your shoulder and nestle in for a nap next to your neck, and maybe even give you a little lick. Talk to her about your problems, and she’ll cock her head and stare at you with unblinking sympathy. As for her intelligence — that manifested in dramatic form this past week when we confirmed that, somehow, we’ve potty trained her. A few months ago, when I had Lizzie roaming free in the house, she looked up at me and started hunching her back. I surmised that she was about to go No. 2; and, not wanting to clean the floor afterward, I carried her to the bathroom and held her over the toilet, where she happily did her business. I thought that was a one off, but it keeps happening. The other day, my wife was sitting on the couch reading — with Lizzie at her feet — and once again the lizard somehow communicated that it was time to go. My wife wasn’t fast enough, and so we had to get out the paper towels and sanitizer for the floor, but the intent was clear. We have housebroken a reptile; and, to borrow a phrase, I’ll counsel that if you want a friend, get a lizard.
Doggone successful… so far
It’s been a couple of weeks since the Sandpoint “Paw Patrol” program has been in effect, wherein residents are given a special permit from the city to walk their highly trained dogs around City Beach in order to spook the Canada geese away from the park. While sitting in City Hall the other week I overheard Community Planning and Development Director Jason Welker talking with a new Paw Patrol recruit about the program, and noting that he’d seen a marked decrease in the number of birds at the beach. My daughter and I took a stroll around the park on a recent Thursday morning and can confirm — at least anecdotally — that there did seem to be a paucity of geese on the grounds. I’d say that’s so far, so good.
big dad energy
If you’re anything like me, you found yourself recently googling, “Who is Tim Walz?” I think we’ve all since learned that he’s “Big Dad Energy.” A few choice quips I saw online the other day summed it up: “Tim Walz wants to know how many people want burgers and how many want hot dogs”; “Tim Walz left me a note in my lunch telling me he’s proud of me”; “Tim Walz isn’t mad at J.D. Vance. He’s just disappointed.”
DEAR READERS,
Have you noticed the gentle change of the season? There is a coolness early in the mornings and an edge off the midday heat. Town is still busy with tourist traffic, but you can almost taste the shoulder season coming. We still have a couple more weeks until Labor Day, and then another three weeks until summer is officially over, so cram in all the outdoor fun while you still can.
Speaking of the outdoors, Montana Shakespeare in the Parks will bring its annual free performance to Sandpoint on Friday, Aug. 16 at Lakeview Park. I remember not too many years ago having to drive over to Heron, Mont. to watch Shakespeare performances, but now we have our very own show date in Sandpoint.
If you’ve never been to one of these events, they are free and so well done.
Wishing you all a fantastic weekend.
– Ben Olson, publisher
READER
111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 208-946-4368
Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey (emeritus) Cameron Rasmusson (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus)
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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.
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Letters will be edited to comply with the above requirements. Opinions expressed in these pages are those of the writers, not necessarily the publishers.
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About the Cover
This week’s cover photo comes courtesy of Shawn Raecke.
Sandpoint Mayor Grimm fronts 1% local option sales tax to fund street repairs
Grimm:
‘Barring a solution like this, I do not see a path forward to fixing our roads’
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Sandpoint residents weary of degraded street conditions throughout the city may have the opportunity to weigh in on a 1% local option sales tax that Mayor Jeremy Grimm promoted during the Aug. 7 meeting of the City Council.
Funds from the tax would be directed toward street work; however, whether the LOT makes it on the November ballot will be up to councilors, who are expected to make a decision at their regular Wednesday, Aug. 21 meeting at City Hall. The deadline for ballot language to be submitted to the Bonner County clerk is Sept. 6.
Grimm pitched the idea Aug. 7, saying that in his seven months as mayor, “and having acquainted myself with the shortfalls and challenges that we face as a city,” Sandpoint’s streets are a high priority for his office — improving them, but also simply maintaining them to “prevent them from literally falling into the clay,” he said.
“Barring a solution like this, I do not see a path forward to fixing our roads,” Grimm said near the end of his presentation.
That was after he walked councilors through the broad strokes of the tax proposal, which he promised to bring back Aug. 21 with more finegrained detail.
However, at the Aug. 7 meeting, Grimm fronted some rough costs for three options. For the most basic rebuild of city streets — bringing roads to the national average, meaning 15-20% of streets are in “poor condition” — he estimated $44 million.
Currently, about 60% of the city’s streets are rated “poor,” and without any action, Grimm showed a graph
suggesting that without any action, “in the next few years, we go, like, 90% of our roads being in very poor condition.”
One tier higher — the “rehab all” option — would include reconstruction of sidewalks and run upward of $73 million.
The “full reconstruction” option of new base rock, curband-gutter, surfacing, sewer and water (including sewer laterals) and repairs on the city’s 330,000 linear feet of sidewalk would top $333 million.
Grimm called the middle option “a little more palatable,” though provided some rough estimates for what a 1% tax could accomplish based on the third “full reconstruction” option.
“Based on conservative collections, after 25 years, we’d be about $3 million away from that, and that would be in my mind a once-and-for-all solution to the street problem, the sidewalk problem, the sewer lateral problem, that we could offer our residents; and, barring a solution like this, I can tell you that the road conditions ... will continue to degrade, degrade, degrade, degrade, to a point that it won’t be an exaggeration that we will be driving on gravel streets,” he said.
Time is of the essence for the LOT, according to Grimm, since Idaho Code only makes that tool available to “resort communities” with a population under 10,000.
The most recent tabulation from the U.S. Census, in 2020, put Sandpoint’s population at 8,639. The next census, in 2030, will likely show that the city has grown past 10,000 residents.
Grimm said he wants to get ahead of that demographic trigger and lock in the LOT now for a period of 25 years, but that will require council approval and, ultimately, 60% of voters to approve the LOT
on the November ballot.
It’s not without its drawbacks.
“The pros and cons of it are that the biggest individual item that generates this money is grocery sales, which really sucks, because it’s a regressive tax,” Grimm told the Reader in an interview ahead of the Aug. 7 meeting.
The last time Sandpoint imposed a 1% local option sales tax was to fund reconstruction at War Memorial Field and Barlow Stadium, which Grimm said gives the city some insight into how much money the LOT could bring in and on whom it will fall.
“[W]hen we had that tax in place, we know that grocery sales take a tremendous bump in the summer — a big, big peak in June, July and August — so we know that a significant portion of that tax collection would be from outof-town users or shoppers,” he said, later adding, “To that degree it’s not just Sandpoint residents paying the tax.”
For instance, he told the council, grocery retailers he’d spoken to said their revenue is expected to show a 34% increase from the same period last summer.
“I bring this up because I don’t pretend to favor this tax; especially when the main driver of it comes from food sales, grocery sales. It’s a very regressive tax in that respect,” he told councilors, going on to show figures suggesting that the $80,000 collected in April — during “mud season” — compared to $149,000 collected in July shows “that bump is primarily related to tourist-related activity.”
In addition, the city’s streets budget is supported by a portion of the 14% lodging tax approved by voters in 2022 — 7% going to public safety and parks and 7% toward streets, the latter accounting for about $1 million per year,
which roughly doubled the previous allocation.
“Fifty-three percent of the lodging tax that we collected in Sandpoint came in those summer months. So I want to just start by emphasizing that this tax isn’t going to just be paid by Sandpoint residents and arguably those who can least afford a tax, but it’s going to be paid significantly by outside residents and visitors to our community,” Grimm said.
While he expressed regret about the regressive nature of the tax, Grimm pointed out that Ponderay is going to its voters in November to renew its 1% local option sales tax, which he described as providing some equity for area shoppers.
“So there’s some equality to that in some sense that whether you shop in Ponderay or here, your $1 purchase is going to be $1.01,” he told the Reader in an interview.
Grimm said that the average Sandpoint household spends between 12% and 13% of its income on food. Assuming the median income is about $60,000 per year, “the typical household will be spending about $77 additional dollars if this tax of 1% were applied, or about $1.48 [more] a week,” he said.
City Council President Deb Ruehle pushed back on Grimm’s proposal, emphasizing that she wants to see more detailed figures and data before
making a decision on Aug. 21.
“I think 25 years is an awful long time. It seems like we’re being rushed and pushed up against a deadline — I don’t love that,” she said. “I’d like you to come back with a lot more information on all the new revenue sources that are going to come in, including with the new hotel, and the increased lodging tax.”
Ruehle also noted that the final units of the Seasons at Sandpoint have come online, further contributing to the tax base, plus new housing moving through the construction pipeline.
In previous statements and interviews, city officials including Grimm have stated that as many as 1,000 new housing units are in various stages of development, which are hoped to lessen the tight market for renters and buyers alike. Whether that actually happens is anyone’s guess.
What’s more, Ruehle cast doubt on if it was wise to focus so keenly on street work, potentially to the detriment of pathways for pedestrians and cyclists and other elements of city infrastructure.
“I feel like we’re kind of choosing just one area of the city and maybe there could be some regrets or some cons to putting all of our eggs in one basket at this point with just this piece of it,” she said.
Finally, Ruehle took exception to a portion of the mayor’s proposal putting the city in charge of rebuilding and maintaining sidewalks — eliminating the current policy, which requires property owners to be responsible for their sidewalks or pay an “in lieu of” fee.
Grimm has called that system unfair, pointing to instances when property owners living on a certain street may benefit from a city grant that provides their sidewalks — essentially
Mayor Jeremy Grimm. File photo.
City OKs contract for preliminary engineering report on wastewater plant replacement
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Sandpoint leaders took their latest major step toward replacing the city’s aging and obsolete wastewater treatment plant on Aug. 7, unanimously approving a contract with Keller Associates to prepare a preliminary engineering report for the project.
“This is a really exciting step for us; it’s monumental, actually,” Mayor Jeremy Grimm said.
“Yeah, this is a big deal,” said City Engineering Brandon Staglund. “I’ve been waiting for this since I was a kid.”
Staglund summarized the purpose of the preliminary engineering report, saying Keller will be tasked with evaluating “the feasibility of replacing the wastewater treatment plant, develop strategies, some preliminary planning and scheduling, and some help trying to find money to do it.”
Keller’s contract with the city is for $431,920, which includes project management, the preliminary engineering report itself, support for finding funding, looking at geotechnical feasibility and conducting a topographical survey.
Overall, the wastewater treatment plant project is estimated to cost from $60 million to $100 million — what Grimm described during a recent tour of the facility as “the largest public works project outside of the byway in Bonner County history.”
Kyle Meschko, of the Coeur d’Alene office of Keller, keyed in on the financial lift that will be required to complete the project.
“One of the biggest challenges we will have moving forward is figuring out how we’re going to fund this and that’s the biggest question mark,” he told the council. “That might be substantially more complicated than the engineering, honestly.”
Nonetheless, the company — which Grimm noted is based in Idaho and does more than 70% of its business in the state — has experience with helping other communities fund similarly expensive projects.
However, as Councilor Kyle Schreiber pointed out during the Aug. 7 meeting, Keller hasn’t always gotten along with its municipal clients. He pointed to reporting in the Bonner County Daily Bee from October 2023, when the company butted heads with Moyie Springs over work on a sewer system that ran over budget and required redesign work that Keller wanted to be reimbursed for. City officials, however, declined to pay for the overage.
According to the paper, additional funds ran to more than $386,000 due to “unforeseen inflation of construction costs,” on top of costs for “additional engineering planning and work already completed and paid for.”
Schreiber said that while he’s “also excited to see this
project moving forward” — and voted in favor of approving the contract — he asked Meschko if “we have a plan to keep this project on budget? Because even just a couple percentage points on a project this big could be a pretty large amount.”
For instance, the Moyie Springs project started at about $3 million, but rose to $7.5 million, because of redesigns after city officials did away with a number of buildings from the facility.
According to the Bee’s reporting, “Members of the city council likened the request for money to a shakedown from Keller, now that the city has received additional funding and taken on debt from multiple state agencies in order to pay for the project that has now risen to more than double the original cost.”
Meschko reiterated that construction costs “doubled” during the COVID-19 pandemic, and inflationary pressures have since kept costs high. However, “It’s in our best interest to make sure that the budgeting and planning is captured early on so that it sets the city up for success,” he said, pointing to coordination with contractors and independent reviews on cost estimation.
“Things have doubled and it becomes very, very difficult to estimate that early on,” said Meschko, who was identified as the manager of the Moyie Springs project, later adding, “there’s never been a
pandemic like this.”
Councilors were enthusiastic about approving the contract.
“I will simply tell you that I was shocked at the state of decay in the wastewater treatment facility and so I am very, very excited to see us as a city moving this project forward,” said Councilor Rick Howarth, referring to his recent tour of the plant. “I know that there’s much better technology now; I know that we can get rid of the smell. It will help the whole city, the image of the city, and so thank you for pushing it forward.”
Council President Deb Ruehle likened the current facility to a ruin.
“It’s kind of like when you go back East and you go to Gettysburg; it’s like that historical [place], going in and checking it all out,” she said.
“It’s kind of fun and exciting, so I sort of love the sewage treatment plant, but I’m looking forward to having a nice, shiny new one.”
During a tour in late July, Grimm said the preferred timeline for completing the
project is three-and-a-half years, requiring local, state and federal dollars, with the city considering both grant and loan monies. In addition, Grimm said City Hall will be going to the public for bonding authority in the next year.
“I recognize it’s a huge amount of money,” he said at the time.
Now that the contract for the preliminary engineering report has been greenlit by the council, the city’s next step is to submit a letter of interest by Jan. 1 in order to go to the state for funding requests. The implementation phase could begin from 12 to 16 months from now, but it’s still to be determined whether the work will take place structure by structure or include a full teardown and rebuild.
“In my mind, the key things we need to understand is this an incremental, piecemeal replacement or is it a whole package, turn-key replacement?” Grimm said Aug. 7, later adding, “It’s a tough timeline.”
ITD plans lane closure on Long Bridge during nighttime resurfacing work
By Reader Staff
< LOT, con’t from Page 4 > ated that she worried about “putting all the eggs in one basket” though agreed that the 25-year timeframe made sense. However, “because of the duration, we need to spend some time thinking about what we’re doing with that.”
gifting those residents sidewalks — while others pay the in lieu fee that funds others’ sidewalks. Meanwhile, still other residents are saddled with sidewalk expenses if they perform $25,000 or more in improvements on their property.
“It’s wonky,” Grimm told the Reader However, Ruehle, argued that the mayor’s proposal was unfair.
“I don’t like the part about taking over the sidewalks in the sense that a lot of people have had to pay for their sidewalks and if we’re doing that we’re going to subsidize developers, and I’m not OK with that; we’re even going to subsidize maybe individual homeowners,” she said.
In the end, Ruehle reiter-
The Wednesday, Aug. 21 meeting of the Sandpoint City Council will take place at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall (1123 Lake St.). Stream the meeting live at sandpointidaho.gov.
Motorists on the Long Bridge should plan ahead for potential delays over the next month, as crews with the Idaho Transportation Department will conduct resurfacing work on the span during the evening hours beginning Monday, Aug. 19 through mid-September.
According to an announcement from ITD, work will take place Monday-Friday from 7:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. until the expected completion date next month. During those times, traffic will be limited to a single, alternating lane with flaggers and pilot cars to guide drivers through the work zone.
The surface of the bridge was ground down earlier this spring to increase traction and make it safer for travel, according to ITD.
“As a reminder, drivers are encouraged to slow down through work zones and stay alert behind the wheel for the safety of our crews,” the department stated.
For real-time updates on traffic impacts in the area, access the Idaho 511 system at 511.idaho.gov/#:Alerts.
To view other ITD projects in Region 1 — including the large-scale work being conducted on several sections of U.S. 95 between Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry from Elmira Road to Kootenai Trail Road — go to itdprojects. idaho.gov.
Public hearing, vote on final adoption scheduled for Sandpoint FY25 budget
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
The fiscal year 2025 Sandpoint city budget is on the agenda for the regular Wednesday, Aug. 21 meeting of the City Council, with a public hearing and potential decision.
Officials unveiled the preliminary budget on July 17, when councilors unanimously approved the maximum appropriation of $50,499,054, which is $2,475,215 less than the FY24 budget, representing an overall 4.67% reduction.
The council again heard presentations on the budget at its Aug. 7 meeting, when department and division heads gave individual overviews of their budgets.
Capital improvement projects in the budget rise to a total of $23,261,500. Big-ticket items include the design and planned upgrades/replacements to the wastewater treatment plant, a shortterm rehabilitation of the Bridge Street bridge; and Phase 3 of the downtown revitalization project focused on rebuilding First Avenue from Bridge to Lake streets, as well as improvements to Superior Street.
Other projects include realignment of Ontario Street at Highway 2 to improve visibility and shorten crossing distances for pedestrians at the intersections; sidewalk and bike path projects along Fourth Avenue south of Superior to Pacific Street; reconstruction of Cedar Street from Division to Lincoln Avenue; high-dollar improvements to the Great Northern corridor; and a range of street projects, among others.
According to the transmittal letter from Mayor Jeremy Grimm, “We will face significant challenges in future budgets to repair and maintain our basic infrastructure without fundamental changes to identify new revenue sources.”
In his letter, Grimm noted that despite the overall decrease in the budget the city will invest heavily in critical infrastructure projects — including the planned rebuilding and paving of
priority streets, “with total street and sidewalk spending increasing by 87% to $8,952,706.”
Meanwhile, wastewater project spending would increase 27% to $7,294,375, which includes the preparation of the preliminary engineering report for the replacement of the wastewater treatment plant, which councilors voted unanimously to award to engineering firm Keller Associates at the Aug. 7 meeting (see Page 5).
In addition, various wastewater collection improvements — including water main replacements and other improvements to the city’s water system — would increase spending on those projects by 97% to $3,752,016.
Based on the preliminary budget, Sandpoint estimates it will levy $5,131,368 in property taxes in FY25, representing $336,649 more than FY24.
Preliminary new construction is valued at $58,810,689, with 90% of that value available for levy purposes, resulting in projected property tax revenues of $138,017. City Treasurer and Finance Director Sarah Lynds said in July that those figures represent “about double what we’ve seen in past years.”
The public hearing and potential vote for final adoption are scheduled for the Aug. 21 meeting in the City Hall Council Chambers (1123 Lake St.), which begins at 5:30 p.m..
“At the next meeting we will do more of a high-level, budget-to-budget, year-to-year kind of [analysis of] the trends, the different funds,” Lynds said on Aug. 7.
View the online budget book, which includes narratives of FY25 projects, maintenance and operations at bit. ly/467YXVg.
Watch a recording of the Aug. 7 budget presentation at the city of Sandpoint’s YouTube channel, with that portion of the meeting beginning at the 1:37 mark.
To attend the Aug. 21 meeting remotely, go to sandpointidaho.gov and click on “meetings” on the homepage.
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:
Last week a federal judge ruled that Google is a monopoly, in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act. Repercussions could include breaking up the tech company, The Lever reported.
New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer has introduced the No Kings Act, which would stop presidential immunity for criminal actions as president. If approved it would negate the recent ruling by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority granting such immunity to Trump, according to The Guardian.
Slate reported that Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz and his wife are worth $330,000. They have no stocks, personal real estate or cryptocurrency. As governor, Walz’s annual salary is $127,629. Estimates of J.D. Vance’s worth are $3 million to $10 million. The Guardian reported that wealth is from the sale of his bestseller Hillbilly Elegy and investments in medical testing therapies, biotech startups, the Rumble video platform, a defense and security contractor, and a Catholic prayer app.
According to various sources, Walz’s six-year record as governor of Minnesota includes promoting clean energy and climate action, and using a $17.6 billion surplus from spending cuts and tax revenues for education, free meals for school children, free tuition for public colleges (if annual family incomes are under $80,000), and for paid family and medical leave.
Recently, on CNN, Walz was asked if he is vulnerable to being labeled a “big business liberal.”
Walz said he’s seen as a “monster” by right-wing detractors because in his state kids can eat and have “full bellies so they can go learn, and women are making their own health care decisions, and we’re a top-five business state, and we also rank in the top three of happiness. ...
“The fact of the matter is [where Democratic policies are implemented], quality of life is higher, the economies are better ... educational attainment is better ... personal incomes are higher, and you’re going to have health insurance,” Walz said. “So if that’s where they want to label me, I’m more than happy to take the label.”
Dawn’s Early Light, the now-controversial book previously slated for a September release (with copies already reviewed by many news sources), has been delayed to after the election, Newsweek reported. Author and Heritage
By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist
Foundation President Kevin Roberts chose Vance to write the book’s forward. Vance described the Heritage Foundation’s decades-long history as “the most influential engine of ideas for Republicans.” But The Guardian pointed out that none of the think tank’s previous policies “proved remotely as controversial as Project 2025.” Roberts has been a key builder behind Project 2025, the 900-plus page plan to dismantle democracy if Trump gains office.
Trump says he has “no idea who is behind it [Project 2025]”; but, at a Heritage Foundation event in 2022, he praised it as a “great group,” with detailed plans “for exactly what our movement will do.”
According to The Guardian, Trump flew on a private jet with the Heritage Foundation’s president to attend the event. There’s a photo of them smiling together. The Heritage Foundation calculates that 64% of its policy recommendations were either implemented or proposed by Trump during his first year in office.
The nonprofits ProPublica and Documented shared 23 never-before published videos from Project 2025’s Presidential Administration Academy. They said the videos were provided by “a person who had access to them.” Twenty-nine of the 36 speakers in the video have worked for Trump “in some capacity.”
Those video contents include: outwitting bureaucrats, avoiding Freedom of Information Act disclosures, ensuring conservative policies are not struck down by judges, eradicating climate change references, suppressing equity plans and equal rights advances, warnings that Project 2025 trainees should expect a “hostile reception,” making it clear to career staff that political appointees are in charge, how to scrub personal social media accounts of content that may be embarrassing, avoiding mainstream news outlets in favor of conservative media and avoiding the creation of paper trails
Regarding the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Project 2025 proposes an increase in the threshold for disaster declarations. American Progress said the plan would make it more difficult for states and localities — and thereby families and businesses — to qualify for disaster help. The Project also calls for phasing out low-income school funding and “revising” disability benefits for future veterans.
Blast from the past: “The most damaging phrase in the language is, ‘It’s always been done that way.’” — Grace Hopper, computer scientist (1906-1992)
Idaho Supreme Court dismisses AG’s challenge to open primary ballot initiative Court dismisses legal challenge on procedural grounds
By Clark Corbin Idaho Capital Sun
The Idaho Supreme Court on Aug. 13 dismissed Attorney General Raúl Labrador’s challenge to Proposition 1, the ballot initiative that would create open primaries and ranked-choice voting if approved by voters Nov. 5.
Luke Mayville, a spokesperson for the Idahoans for Open Primaries coalition that is sponsoring the ballot initiative, said the opinion represents a big win for voters.
“Today’s decision is a major victory for Idaho voters,” Mayville wrote in a statement to the Idaho Capital Sun.
“Attorney General Labrador has once again failed in his attempts to game the system and prevent voters from having a say. Today’s decision guarantees that the people of Idaho, not the attorney general, will decide whether primary elections should be open to all voters.”
Mayville is the co-founder of the group Reclaim Idaho, which put forward the successful Medicaid ballot initiative that more than 60% of Idaho voters supported in 2018.
The Idaho Attorney General’s Office released a statement on Aug. 13 saying it is reviewing its options.
“Today the Idaho Supreme Court dismissed our petition on procedural grounds and acknowledged that our allegations about the Open Primaries Initiative are ‘serious’ but must be adjudicated in the district court,” the Idaho Attorney General’s Office wrote.
“We appreciate the court’s reasoned analysis of the issues at hand. We are now reviewing our options to show that outside interest groups knowingly misled Idaho voters about the petition they were
signing and will continue to defend the people’s right to an initiative process free of deception. We are disappointed that the court did not take up the single subject issue at this time, but are confident that the people of Idaho and the courts will eventually reject this clearly unconstitutional petition.”
On July 24, Labrador filed a challenge with the Idaho Supreme Court seeking to block Proposition 1 from going up for vote. Labrador alleged that signature gatherers misled the public and fraudulently obtained signatures that were used to qualify the ballot initiative for the election.
Labrador also alleged that the ballot initiative violates the Idaho Constitution’s requirement that laws only address one single subject.
Idaho Supreme Court says Labrador’s allegations must be heard in district court
However, the Idaho Supreme Court dismissed Labrador’s challenge on procedural grounds without even holding oral arguments on the case.
“Today the Idaho Supreme Court dismisses the attorney general’s petition on procedural grounds,” Idaho Supreme Court Justice Robyn M. Brody wrote in the opinion. “Allegations of fraud in the gathering of signatures in the initiative process are serious. Those allegations, however, must be adjudicated in the district court in the first instance. The attorney general’s petition fundamentally misapprehends the role of this court under the Idaho Constitution and the role of the secretary of state under the initiative laws enacted by the Idaho Legislature.”
The Idaho Supreme Court also said it would not weigh in on Labrador’s allegation that
the ballot initiative violates the Idaho Constitution’s single-subject requirement unless voters approve it.
“[T]hat issue will not be ripe for review, unless and until, Idaho voters approve the initiative at the general election in November,” Brody wrote in the Aug. 13 opinion.
In Idaho, ballot initiatives are a form of direct democracy where the people vote on whether to pass a law, completely independent of the Idaho Legislature. It would take a simple majority of the vote to approve the ballot initiative in the Nov. 5 general election.
Each of the other four Idaho Supreme Court justices concurred with Brody’s opinion.
The Idaho Supreme Court noted that its opinion does not prevent Labrador from pursuing his fraud allegations at the district court level.
In a July 31 interview with the Idaho Capital Sun, Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane said he was moving forward with preparing for the ballot initiative to go up for a vote, even as Labrador sought to block it in the Idaho Supreme Court. McGrane said he will continue to move forward unless or until a court orders him to stop.
The first absentee ballots in Idaho will be mailed Sept. 21, McGrane said.
What is a closed primary election in Idaho?
Idaho has had a closed primary election law since the Idaho Legislature passed House Bill 351 in 2011. The closed primary law says that political parties don’t have to let a voter vote in the party’s primary election unless the voter formally affiliates with that party.
In Idaho, more than
265,000 of the state’s 1 million registered voters are unaffiliated voters who are not allowed to vote in closed primary elections.
The 2011 law makes it so that primary elections are closed by default, but a political party may instead file paperwork with the state to allow other voters to vote in its primary election. Only the Idaho Democratic Party opened its primary election to other voters, a spokeswoman for the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office previously told the Sun.
The Republican, Libertarian and Constitution Party primary elections were all closed.
How does the Proposition 1 ballot initiative work in Idaho?
If a simple majority of voters approve the ballot initiative in the Nov. 5 general election, it would make changes to both Idaho’s primary and general elections.
First, the initiative would repeal Idaho’s closed primary election law. It would replace closed primaries with a nonpartisan top-four primary election that is open to all candidates and all voters, regardless of party affiliation.
Under that format, the four candidates with the most votes in the primary election would all advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. That means some general election races could feature multiple candidates from the same political party, or even all four candidates from the same political party.
The ballot initiative would also make changes to the general election. If it passes, the ballot initiative would create a ranked-choice voting system for the general election, which is sometimes referred to as an instant runoff. Under that
system, voters would vote for their favorite candidate and then have the option of ranking the remaining candidates in order of preference: second choice, third and fourth.
Under that system, the candidate with the fewest votes would be eliminated and their votes would be transferred to the second choice of candidate marked on the ballot. That process would continue until there are two candidates remaining and the candidate with the most votes is elected the winner.
Supporters say the ballot initiative will ensure all Idaho voters can vote in primary elections and force candidates to be accountable to a broader section of voters in order to win elections. Opponents, including the Idaho Republican Party and the Republican caucus in the Idaho House of Representatives, say the ballot initiative is overly complicated; will hurt Republican candidates; and destroy the principle of one person, one vote.
In a July 3 letter to legislative leaders, McGrane wrote that if Idaho has to replace its vote tabulation systems to process ranked-choice voting ballots, it could cost at least $25 million to $40 million, the Sun previously reported.
Mayville and other supporters of the ballot initiative say there is no need to pay to replace vote tabulation systems because there is low-cost software available that could be certified in Idaho to count ranked-choice ballots.
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.
Bouquets:
• Here’s a Bouquet to the city of Sandpoint for their recent efforts patching the cracks and potholes on our residential streets. I’m happy every time I see their machine out laying new patches. Sure, it doesn’t solve the bumpiness and general low-rent nature of our city streets, but it’s something. It’s an effort. That means a lot to a lot of people.
Barbs:
• The Republican playbook has grown into a weatherbeaten cult manual filled with some of the dumbest ideas imaginable. Every election, these same threadbare tactics are trotted out in an effort to take down their opponents. Now that President Joe Biden has dropped out of the race and VP Kamala Harris is the new Democratic nominee, we’re seeing a return to some of the classics. This includes Sen. Ted Cruz whining, “Kamala can’t have my guns. She can’t have my gasoline engine. And she sure as hell can’t have my steaks and cheeseburgers.” Dear God, nobody wants your cheeseburgers, Ted. Is anybody brainwashed enough to truly believe this garbage? That Democrats want your gas stoves or are threatening your sexy green M&M’s? Now they’re disparaging VP nominee Tim Walz for his 24-year military service. Trump dodged the draft during the Vietnam War by claiming he had “bone spurs,” has denigrated Gold Star Families and called combat soldiers who lost their lives in war “suckers,” yet Walz is somehow the charlatan? Don’t even get me started on the racist attacks on Harris’ heritage. What many who traffick in these sorts of claims don’t realize is that the vast majority of Americans are laughing at them. We are a quarter of the way through the 21st century, but you’d never guess that by the ridiculousness we see from the far-right extremists every day.
Dear editor,
I have great respect and appreciation for the men and women of the United States Postal Service. I cannot comprehend how, having visited other post offices throughout the area, that the Sandpoint Post Office has fallen into such disrepair and uncleanliness. The lobby light fixtures are filled with months of accumulation of bugs and the acoustical tiles are covered in spider webs. The floor mats are way past cleaning. Regardless of whoever and for whatever reason, the Sandpoint Post Office deserves to be the gem of the downtown public buildings and not an eyesore.
Respectfully,
Victor Kollock
Sandpoint
What is Bonner County’s alternative to animal shelter contract?…
Dear editor, Bonner County is in the process of renegotiating its contract with Better Together Animal Alliance (BTAA), our local animal shelter and so much more, to intake and subsequently care for stray dogs.
I’m a veterinarian and have spent my 40-year career maximizing the physical and emotional well-being of companion animals and the strength of the bond between them and their families.
The statutory requirements of the county to seize and impound stray dogs and ensure their humane treatment (Idaho Codes 25-2804 and 25-3504) are met through the contract with BTAA. In addition to providing accessible, climate controlled facilities for law enforcement to bring in stray dogs, BTAA works to reunite lost dogs with their owners. Emergency veterinary care is provided to these stray dogs if sick or injured.
BTAA staff is uniquely qualified and their partnership with local animal control officers is seasoned and strong. Stray dogs can be humanely acquired, transported and housed at the BTAA facility 24/7 until they are returned to their owners, or humanely euthanized in rare and specific instances.
If the BTAA contract isn’t renewed, what alternative does Bonner County have to safely acquire stray dogs any hour of the day or night, and to transport them to a suitable quality facility where they are housed and cared for by
qualified personnel?
As a county citizen, I expect my tax dollars to be allocated wisely. The cost BTAA has assessed to each jurisdiction is fair and likely less than the cost to establish and appropriately staff a new or independent facility for stray dogs.
Commissioners, please do the right thing for the residents and pets of Bonner County and renew the contract with BTAA for the humane care of stray dogs in our community.
Debbie Ford Sandpoint
County must ensure transparent, ethical treatment of stray dogs…
Dear editor,
I am writing to express my concerns regarding the ongoing renegotiation of the contract for managing stray dogs in Bonner County. As a citizen of Bonner County who is deeply invested in the welfare of our community’s animals, I urge the county to ensure transparency and the humane treatment of these dogs are at the forefront of this process. Managing stray dogs is not just a legal obligation but also an ethical one. It is crucial that government disclose clear plans about the care of stray dogs, addressing important questions such as the fate of unclaimed dogs and the methods of euthanasia, should it become necessary. Is there a provision for humane euthanasia performed by licensed veterinarians?
I also advocate for an adjustment in the budget to guarantee that any facility involved is equipped with temperature control and adequate veterinary support and has sufficient staffing. This should include provisions for both emergency and routine care; and, where necessary, humane euthanasia.
My priority is that my taxes are utilized in a manner that is both effective and ethical. Should a new facility prove more costly or less efficient than BTAA’s proposal, I strongly recommend reconsidering their continued involvement in our community’s stray dog management. The operational costs of maintaining such a facility — covering utilities, veterinary services, staffing and disease control — are substantial.
All things considered, BTAA does a fine job. I’m proud of them.
Robbie Gleason Sandpoint
Chamber names Business and Volunteer of the Month
By Reader Staff
The Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce honored We Haul Moving and Services and Margo Johnson as Business and Volunteer of the Month for August, respectively, recognizing their service to the community.
We Haul Moving and Services owner Travis Knaggs is a homegrown Sandpointian, and feels it is important to give back to his community. One way he does that is through his work with the chamber, offering his crew to help with the load-in and load-out of the chamber’s Summer Sampler and Beerfest.
“We had the help of an army of volunteers. One critical part of that army is Knaggs and his team of people at We Haul Moving and Services,” the chamber stated. “Knaggs and his team do the literal heavy lifting that is needed to help the chamber execute our big events.”
According to the chamber’s announcement, Knaggs likes to find ways of being around successful, accomplished and experienced people — “people he feels he can learn from and from those conversations he has with them, he is inspired to raise his game just that little bit more,” the chamber stated.
“Knaggs stands out as a hard-working business own-
‘Highway
litter pickup’…
She needed a place in the shade so I told her she could sit in my pickup. I finished the little stretch of highway we had been cleaning up and went back to the pickup to check on her. She looked up when I opened the door and I could see she had tears in her eyes.
“Are you OK?” I asked.
er in our community who wouldn’t ask his team to do anything he wouldn’t do himself,” the chamber added.
Margo Johnson is the chamber’s August Volunteer of the Month.
Johnson started 26 years ago as a volunteer with Bonner General Hospital, and has been volunteering there ever since — logging just shy of 11,000 hours in that time.
Serving as the current chair of the BGH Volunteer Council, Johnson organizes the team of volunteers and shared her thoughts on volunteering with the 50-plus attendees of the chamber’s August General Membership Luncheon on Aug. 8.
She challenged the group to think of themselves as a volunteer, according to the chamber.
“Yes, I’m fine… Your pickup just reminded me of my grandfather… the grease gun and twine string and the tools on the seat. I used to love riding with him in his pickup… special wonderful memories. He’s been gone for quite a while, and I miss him.”
Steve Johnson Sagle
Courtesy photos.
Emily Articulated
National parks
By Emily Erickson Reader Columnist
Last week, I closed the van doors on all the gear and supplies I’d meticulously measured, packed, stuffed and balanced inside. We were leaving for a trip I’d been thinking about for weeks and spent months preparing for.
It wouldn’t be long, as far as trips go — four nights and three days in Mount Rainier National Park — with nights being pretty simple. We’d park in beautiful campsites, eat Instant Pot mac ’n’ cheese to a chorus of frogs and crickets, and fling open the doors for midnight bladder emptying under the stars (could I get more Millennial than borrowing by boyfriend’s parents’ Sprinter van for the week?).
But the days would have a bit more on the itinerary. My friend and I were going to fill the hours of Washington sunshine by running on the Wonderland Trail — a 93-milelong circle of singletrack that wraps itself around the base of the glacier-draped volcano. In our circumnavigation, we’d rack up more than 22,000 feet of vertical gain, with each section of the trail ascending and descending through glacial river beds, old-growth forests, subalpine wildflower meadows, and snow and talus-pocked alpine terrain.
The physical rigors of the trip meant preparing our bodies to handle three consecutive days of 30-plus miles of trekking. But beyond preparing our bodies, we also had to plan the logistics inherent in the trip, finding answers to our questions like, “Where could our crew meet us each night to camp?”; “Was van camping allowed?”; “Do we have to make a reservation?”; “If we can’t make a reservation, what is the likelihood of actually
getting a camp spot?”; “What permits do we need?”; “What new park rules did we need to comply with?”
In short, we had to navigate the not-so-simple National Park System.
If you’ve been to a national park in the past five years, you might know what I mean. It’s not the same “show-up-andfigure-it-out” system I remember from a decade ago, and for good reason.
According to data from across 400 national parks, there were a total of 325.5 million recreation visits to parks in 2023. This visitorship marked an increase of 13 million more park attendees than in 2022, and 33 million more than in 2014 (reflecting a 90% increase in park use).
Zion National Park Superintendent Jeff Bradybaugh expanded on these numbers in an address to the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Natural Resources Subcommittee, explaining that, “along with overall visitation numbers, changes are also occurring in visitation patterns. Many parks that previously experienced a distinctive and quieter off-season no longer have one; their visitation numbers have largely remained steady or fluctuate only slightly in what had been the shoulder season.”
He continued: “Another example is the growing de-
mand for campground reservations. Recreation.gov, the online trip planning and reservation portal for federal sites, saw over 10 million reservations in 2022, almost double the amount made in 2020.”
In response to the influx of visitors, parks are taking various measures, such as requiring overnight and backcountry permits, restricting passenger vehicle traffic (instead offering shuttles and expanding multi-use paths to encourage walking and biking) and piloting timed-entry systems to reduce peak-hour congestion in the most popular areas of certain parks, including parts of Rainier.
The reasons behind this national park boom are multifaceted. The post-pandemic desire for social distancing; increased exposure from social media (parks with high social media activity see increases in visitation that are 16% to 22% larger than parks with less exposure, according to research by Georgia Tech); the rise of remote and flexible work options; and the appeal of an affordable vacation in an increasingly expensive world have all contributed to the surge in park visitors.
Of course, this increase in visitation has come with consequences. From park goers carving their names into ancient petroglyphs in Texas to trampling rare and restricted ecosystems in California, and leaving behind litter and human waste — everywhere, the impact of a boom of people in our preserved parks is evident.
Generally speaking, I’m glad people are visiting national parks. Connecting with nature is important for fostering a stewardship mindset for our public lands. But directly competing with this thinking is the reality that more people in these spaces also means greater risk to the parks themselves.
I can’t help but wonder if the surge in visitors has transformed the parks from the remote and rugged sanctuaries they were meant to be into something more like Disney World — where reverence is replaced with entitlement (cue the random tourist attempting to take a selfie with a wild Bison in Yellowstone).
I’ll always cherish national parks, and will gladly bake in extra planning and logistical hoop-jumping to enjoy my time in them. This past week in Mount Rainier National Park will be a trip I’ll remember for a lifetime, with the
wild, remote beauty forever imprinted in my brain.
So, even though I run the risk of sounding like a cliche, I hope you enjoy them too, always remembering to “take only memories, and leave only footprints in designated trail areas.” (And if that old saying doesn’t do it for you, maybe just, “Don’t be a dick and stop ruining it for the rest of us, please.”)
Emily Erickson is a writer and business owner with an affinity for black coffee and playing in the mountains. Connect with her online at www.bigbluehat.studio.
Retroactive By BO
Emily Erickson.
Science: Mad about
powered exoskeleton
By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist
The idea of a powered human exoskeleton is an old one. Sigourney Weaver whooping the crap out of the xenomorph queen with a power loader in 1986’s Aliens is forever ingrained into my mind whenever the subject comes up. The idea of artificially empowering our frail human bodies is a very attractive one in the age of rapid gains and exploding technology. Humans have made tremendous advances in the fields of cancer treatment, weight loss and dietary supplements in recent years.
Powered exoskeletons — sometimes called power armor in contemporary sci-fi — have limitations just like everything else. Lifting heavy objects requires enough force applied to move the weight, which means the item lifting the heavy object needs to be sturdy enough not to break while exerting those forces.
Organic structures are really good at applying varying amounts of force because of the self-replicating nature of our cells. A person attempting to lift something heavy may struggle at first; but, if they keep lifting lighter objects over a period of time, they’ll eventually be able to lift it with relative ease. Whenever you exercise, particularly with weights, your muscles tear. Tears in your muscles signal your body to repair those tears by adding cells to fill the voids, creating more bulk and more muscle, effectively preparing your body to face that challenge again in the future. This needs to be done organically and over time, so as to not cause severe and permanent damage to your body. Our cells are great at fixing little things and improving,
but they’re not as good at addressing catastrophic damage.
The real key to success in designing a powered exoskeleton for a healthy body is not to replace the function of your muscles, but to augment and improve upon them, as well as taking some of the stress from them and placing the bulk of fatigue on a non-feeling structure, such as a metal rod.
There is a greater purpose to designing a powered exoskeleton for a body that no longer functions the way it was intended, due to damage or genetics. One example of this is the Lifesuit, developed by former Army Ranger Monty Reed. Reed broke his back while parachuting in 1986, which robbed him of the use of his legs. In an attempt to regain mobility, he spent a number of years developing a powered exoskeleton that would give him the opportunity to walk again — not just for a few feet, but to complete a 5K race. In 2005, Reed competed in Seattle’s St. Patrick’s Day Dash, utilizing the exoskeleton to walk around 2.5 feet per second. As a point of reference, the average human walking speed is around 4.7 feet per second.
Power armor and exoskeletons are frequently showcased in militaristic science fiction. Popular video game franchises like Fallout and Halo have power armor front and center, presenting an alternate future in which knight-like warriors perform superhuman feats augmented by powerful technology. Seems like something the military would be into, right?
It turns out a number of factors have pushed the military away from trying to utilize power armor suits. The biggest and most obvious factor is powering it. How often does your phone fail to charge, only to die mid-selfie
during peak lighting? Imagine that, but it’s your entire body now locked in a standing position in an active warzone.
Additionally, equipping infantry with multi-million dollar suits is obscenely expensive. Building a vehicle that can achieve more with the same investment serves multiple purposes including transporting highly mobile personnel is far more attractive to military leaders than super-powered infantry that would make prime targets for enemy drones or rockets. The military has explored this multiple times, particularly through the 1980s, but it’s never made sense to make the leap.
You would think the power loader exoskeleton from Aliens would make sense to develop and use instead of a cumbersome vehicle like a forklift that requires extensive training and certification to operate. This is actually not the case. Forklifts and motorized pallet jacks are extremely agile and fully capable of completing the bulk of logistical necessities required of them. However unusable a forklift or power jack may be in rough or rural terrain, an easier solution is to simply devote the resources needed to pave an area seeing a higher influx of goods being transported in high enough quantities to necessitate the use of a lift or jack.
The best uses for power exoskeletons harken to their original design in 1890, to assist in movement for those that may be lacking in strength or endurance due to debilitating injury or genetic deficit. Initially, these were powered by compressed gas similar to the powered gate piston of your car’s hatchback. Speed and power critically lacked in these early designs, but that may have been a good thing, as proper designs to reduce catastrophic
failure such as extreme hyperextension weren’t actively developed until the 1960s.
Imagine for a moment your arm being physically bound to the arm of a forklift. Your movements control the lift for the most part, but if something goes wrong, that machine could easily tear your arm right out of the socket. That was the danger of early exoskeletons.
Much of the research conducted into these types of suits has been recently applied to humanoid robots intended to be utilized by first responders when dealing with situations too dangerous for humans to approach. There have also been applications to help
reduce the effort required for firefighters to ascend stairs in major metropolitan areas. Another major field of research is applying this to telemobility, such as the applications for remote assembly or surgery.
The ability to train workers in impoverished countries remotely, while still interacting directly through something like a robotic arm mirroring your own movements could be transformative for leapfrogging technology and economic growth in struggling areas.
One day, I’ll own a set of Mjolnir Mark V armor; maybe then I’ll finally be able to dunk a basketball.
Stay curious, 7B.
Random Corner
• The Olympic rings signify the world’s five major regions: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania.
• The early Olympic games were a religious festival celebrating Zeus that ran from 776 B.C.E. until they were outlawed in 393 C.E. because they were pagan in nature. The ancient games featured competitions that lasted up to six months, with contests like wrestling, boxing, long jump, javelin, discus and chariot racing.
• After a 1,500-year hiatus, Baron Pierre de Coubertin started a revival of the games in 1894, which are now known as the modern Olympics.
• The last year Olympic medals were made entirely out of gold was 1912. Today, the gold medals are actually gold-plated pure silver. The silver medals are at least 92.5% silver, and the bronze medal is 95% copper and 5% zinc. If melted down, the medals would be worth $800 (gold), $450 (silver) and $5 (bronze). The host city designs the
medals for their games.
• The U.S. has hosted the most Olympic games of any country. London is the only city to have hosted the games three times (1908, 1948 and 2012). There were no games in 1916, 1940 and 1944 due to the world wars.
• After the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, 66 nations boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
• The Olympic torch is a reminder of the games’ Greek origins. In ancient times, the flame burned in an altar throughout the games as a tribute to the goddess Hestia. The tradition returned in 1928, but now the flame burns in a torch — not an altar.
• The following used to be Olympic sports or events before they were voted out: motor boat sailing, hot air ballooning, tug of war, running deer shooting and dueling pistols.
The powered exosuit from Aliens. Courtesy photo.
It’s OK to stop this now
By Jim Imholte Reader Contributor
I grew up in North Idaho. I attended Southside Elementary from 1973 to 1978, where my principal was Jim Stoicheff, who was also an Idaho senator, elected as a “lunchbox” Democrat. He was a Coast Guard veteran and the most patriotic person I knew. Daily, the entire school would gather around the flagpole, raise the flag, recite the pledge of allegiance and sing, “God Bless America” before returning to our classes.
My parents were Democrats and middle-class, blue-collar workers who may have been seduced by the words of Ronald Reagan in 1980. By 1984, when I could vote, my party affiliation was essentially decided for me when I asked the wrong person what the FICA tax was on my first real paycheck, back in the day when Reagan popularized the notion of equating laziness to poor people that needed to rely on government assistance and programs like welfare and social security. It made sense to me at the time.
It’s OK. It’s OK to change your mind when your gut tells you something is off, something doesn’t add up, something bad is coming, that maybe the information you have come to trust may not be trustworthy at all. This is how I felt when I left the Republican Party in spirit by voting for Barack Obama in 2012, and left it officially in October 2013 when Mitch McConnell shut the government down in a tantrum regarding the Affordable Care Act.
I struggled to be OK with my vote for Obama, as I had never voted for a Democrat, but the basic reasoning was simple: He had successfully navigated us out of a recession caused by corporate greed that took advantage of the relaxed and repealed regulations and oversight promised and delivered by previous Republican administrations, beginning with Reagan.
Also, I just couldn’t get behind Mitt Romney — an ultra-rich corporate raider who kept the bulk of his plunder in offshore accounts. I just didn’t believe this guy had a single clue about how a
normal American goes about their daily life.
I actually liked Romney — as governor of Massachusetts — for instituting a health care plan that, ironically, was the model for the Affordable Care Act. He seemed like a decent guy, and still does. It’s funny now that he’s one of the most hated Republicans in the United States by MAGA Republicans. The term RINO is used as a pejorative, I see it as a badge of honor for those who receive that label.
I feel fortunate that it did not take the rise of Donald Trump to set off the alarms in my head and gut that something sinister was afoot. As the rhetoric of hate of “the other” by the brazen evangelical wing grew louder and prouder, I had fewer reasons to defend what remained of my “rightof-center” fiscal beliefs. The narrative had become hate of immigrants (brown ones that is), hate of alternative lifestyles, hate of those born into poverty, hate of a woman’s right to make her own medical decisions, hate of those who desire common sense gun laws (“a well-regu-
lated militia” seems to be the undiscussed 2A argument), hate of non-Christians (a very un-Christ like stance), hate of public education, the list continues to grow.
It’s OK to question this; after all, it’s no secret this was the successful strategy used in 1930s Germany prior to the rise of the Nazis.
In the 2016 election cycle, I recall being amused by Republicans feasting on themselves during the primary season. This amusement came to an end when Trump won the nomination. I was not excited that I had to vote for a Clinton of all people (I would have been OK with Gov. John Kasich, now a despised RINO). This tepid support changed to enthusiasm after the second debate, in which Trump lurked creepily behind Clinton while she calmly spoke. This was the same debate where Trump unveiled his future strategy of claiming any loss to be “stolen.”
It’s OK to vote for a candidate you thought you’d never support when the alternative is a self-serving reality show villain.
Trump supporters frequently
say they back him because he “tells it like it is” and he “says what he means”, but every time Trump makes statements like, “I will be a dictator on Day 1,” or, “if you vote for me this time, you will never have to vote again,” or professes his love and admiration for brutal dictators, the response from his supporters is, “He didn’t mean it that way.”
Come on, which is it?
It’s OK to say, “This is weird,” and vote for normal. It’s OK to admit you were taken in (like so many others) by a career con man. I know that it’s not easy, I know some snobby elite will ask, “What were you thinking?” but we want to be your fellow Americans again. We want to have healthy disagreements, discourse and eventually compromise for the good of all.
I don’t hear that from the other side. I hear bloodbath, I hear second revolution, I see a handpicked Supreme Court bought and sold by those who desire an oligarchy. I see that, eventually, they will come for you or someone you love. It’s OK to stop this now. It’s OK.
Voters need to press local government to take care of stray dogs
By Mark Hon Reader Contributor
If your beloved dog went missing, and was found alone, sick or injured, what would you want to have happen to it? Would you want it humanely cared for and provided veterinary care if needed? If searching for and finding your companion at an animal shelter took you longer than five days, and you found out it was euthanized, how would you feel?
The answers to these questions are in your hands.
Bonner County stray dogs need your voice. Animal control is a mandated function of law enforcement. City and county governments must manage stray dogs, ensuring their humane treatment and
efforts to reunite them with their owners. Better Together Animal Alliance has provided stray dog services for our local government for 30 years. We do everything from an intake and a quick reunification to handling abandonment of sick and injured animals who need emergency veterinary care. Right now, BTAA is at risk of losing this contract. City and county budgets are formulated based on what we value. The Bonner County Sheriff’s Office under-budgets for animal welfare year after year. You may remember that in 2023, a couple abandoned 20+ husky-type dogs throughout Bonner County. The dogs were emaciated and riddled with parasites. The sheriff’s office called BTAA to let us know they did not have the
budget to pay for veterinary evaluations for each of the dogs, which was required to prosecute this unthinkable act.
BTAA told them we could handle it. The cost to BTAA and our donors was $26,000.
In October of last year, a dog involved in an animal abuse case was brought into our care. The perpetrator was accused of beating her dog with a garden spade. Because this dog was considered property of the accused, the dog had to be held as “property.” She refused to relinquish custody, which would allow us to adopt the dog to a new family. We cared for the dog for more than five and a half months at a cost of $8,000. We received no compensation for this service on behalf of law enforcement.
In 2023, BTAA assisted 250 stray dogs from Bonner County, providing a safe place to wait for their families or find new homes if their families never came. Our previous contract with the county was $15,000 for our services and facility usage. The actual cost to BTAA was $169,913. This doesn’t include the two cases mentioned above.
It is clear that Bonner County does not prioritize the care and management of stray dogs in our community. They are comfortable taking advantage of a local nonprofit to pay for their legal responsibilities. We can no longer afford to do this, it isn’t a sustainable model.
It is up to you — the taxpayer — to tell the county how you want animals to be
treated in our community. So far, there has been no plan to outline how they will care for stray dogs or even that they plan to at all.
This change could result in stray dogs being housed in insufficient facilities and euthanized after five days if unclaimed by their owners. All stray dogs would have to be taken to city or county facilities, which currently do not exist. Your voice is needed now to guide local officials to make this decision.
Visit bit.ly/btaastrays for more information and to access sample letters and contact information for local officials.
Mark Hon is the president of the Better Together Animal Alliance Board.
FEATURE
Rounding up the horses
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
The horses have finally found a home. In 2016, after Clay and Reno Hutchison unpacked two trailers and brought an intact 1920 Allan Herschell carousel into the light for the first time in decades, many in the community knew something special had come to Sandpoint. Of more than 3,000 wooden carousels created during the “Golden Age of Carousels” — from 1870-1930 — fewer than 200 are in operation today, and fewer still are original and intact with the same ponies and mechanisms used in their heyday.
Now, after 20,000 volunteer hours of restoration and several changes of venue, the Hutchisons have found a new home for the beloved project: inside the former Bizarre Bazaar building on Church Street and Fifth Avenue.
The Hutchisons announced they would begin moving the 36 ponies, the studio and workshop to the new location on Oct. 1, joining Marketplace Antiques Center and the Pie Hut, which will both remain in their current locations.
“Due to the cooperation of the building owners, we have secured an option to purchase the building, so this may well be the permanent and operating home for the Carousel and its other anticipated art programs,” Clay told the Reader
The property is an ideal location for the carousel, creating a bridge to the Granary Arts District and the downtown core of Sandpoint.
The Co-Op Gas and Supply Company initially built up the neighborhood in the 1930s, constructing a grain elevator in 1934. After that, 520 Church St. was a tire and auto repair shop in the 1970s, later selling to Celeste Kilmartin and Deanne Johnson, who ran a gallery and design business called Eklektos until the complex became home to
Marketplace Antiques and the Pie Hut, with the Community Assistance League’s upscale resale store Bizarre Bazaar occupying the main building.
CAL is moving to a new location at 114 S. Boyer Ave. with a reopening scheduled for the last week of August, and their vacancy opened up the opportunity for the Carousel of Smiles.
When the Hutchisons unpacked and showcased the vintage carousel in 2017, it was the first time the horses had gone on display since being packed up by the Kansas State Fair in 1952.
Community members turned out in droves to check out the future Sandpoint attraction, buzzing with excitement for the day the project would be complete.
Then the restoration efforts began, with more than 100 volunteers donating tens of thousands of hours to restore 36 hand-carved horses and the 40-foot diameter mechanism that propels them, as well as rounding boards, original artwork and other elements that made these old carousels something special.
“This is an all-volunteer project with North Idaho artists and craftsmen,” Clay said.
The fact that the carousel had been packed away and resurrected completely intact makes the project even more special.
“It’s very rare to find one intact like this,” Clay said.
Restoration of the carousel — now at 85% — is one of two main hurdles the Hutchisons have faced in bringing the ponies back to life. The other is finding a permanent home to share it with the public.
Since bringing the project to Sandpoint and establishing a nonprofit organization, the Hutchisons have been in yearslong talks with the city of Sandpoint to determine where the carousel would find its forever home. The city’s master planning incorporated the carousel into its vision, with locations like City
Carousel of Smiles finds a new home
Beach offered as possibilities. Eventually, the city and the Hutchisons believed the parking lot on Sand Creek just west of City Beach — which locals will remember as the old Lakeside Inn location — would house the carousel in a “cultural house,” inspired by architecture in small towns across Scandinavia. The Hutchisons tapped Tim Boden with Boden Architecture, who designed a unique facility that they said was an example of “destination architecture.”
“Despite not requesting any taxpayer or city funds to be used for this project, working over the years within Sandpoint’s governmental dynamics — with its various priorities and agendas — has been more difficult and elusive than anticipated,” Clay said.
After years of back-andforth discussions with thenCity Administrator Jennifer Stapleton, then-Mayor Shelby Rognstad and councilors, the Hutchisons’ dream of finding a home for the carousel continued to experience setbacks as the city’s design competition, lease arrangements with ITD and other hurdles continued to delay the process.
Unable to launch fundraising efforts because of the uncertainty of where it would end up, the Carousel of Smiles was stuck in limbo.
After Mayor Jeremy Grimm took office in January 2024, the Hutchisons met with him to take the temperature on finding a location. Grimm
told the Reader he was a fan of the project, but was pivoting from “visionary amenity projects to practical infrastructure” projects.
“I told them at that point, learning from the James E. Russell Center, the location and placing and encumbering public ground is such a more sensitive process and so wrought with feedback, it’s not something I was comfortable making as an elected official,” Grimm told the Reader “If they wanted to pursue that location [along Sand Creek], I was willing to put it to a vote of the public and I would follow the will of the public,” Grimm said.
With the National Carousel Association’s annual convention slated to take place in Sandpoint in September 2025, where the restoration project will be showcased — a huge deal in itself — the Hutchisons felt a great deal of pressure to secure a home. When the 520 Church St. location opened up, they jumped on it.
“I think time brings you to exactly where you need to be,” said Reno. “Like so many other aspects of this project, it’s almost like it’s fate that that building came available at a time when we really needed to house it.”
Even though it didn’t work out with the carousel and the city of Sandpoint, Grimm ap plauded the project.
“I’m thrilled they found a private sector solution
that works for them and works for their supporters,” he said. “I think the carousel will inevitably be a draw and benefit downtown. It will be of interest to many people. It’s unique and that location will anchor it near the arts district. ... I salute anyone who is that passionate to put that much of their personal financial backing and energy to preserve a historic timepiece.”
The Hutchisons told the Reader they expect restoration efforts to wrap up soon, with the carousel ready to operate by the fall of 2025. The completion of the project is especially touching for Reno, who said it’s a way to give back to this community that has given her so much over the years.
“I’ve lived here since 1981 and I was a single parent of three children a lot of those years,” she said. “It was hard to live here as a single parent. That I can give something like this to the community that held me up through some of my hardest moments, I can’t even find a word to describe how that makes me feel. It’s a way for me to pass on some magic that I always wanted to create for my own kids but couldn’t.”
To learn more about the Carousel of Smiles, visit thecarouselofsmiles.org.
A rendering of the new location where Carousel of Smiles will move starting Oct. 1. Courtesy photo.
New Idaho law protects predators over minors
By Rep. Lauren Necochea, D-Boise Reader Contributor
Children should come first. While we always strive to have supportive parents make children’s medical decisions, our state has long recognized that there are situations where older minors simply need to receive care. Idaho’s Republican lawmakers unanimously passed new legislation that upends this delicate balance, placing vulnerable kids at risk. Despite warnings from the health care community, they chose to ignore the harmful consequences.
One glaring impact making headlines is access to rape kits. The Idaho State Police shared how this law could obstruct a teenager’s access to evidence collection following a sexual assault. Imagine a young rape victim being further traumatized by the inability to access necessary medical care because a parent who may not even believe her may not be available to provide permission or who may be the perpetrator is legally allowed to block it.
The fact that this bill obstructs efforts to address sexual assault should not be surprising to its Republican backers because we discussed it before
the vote. The floor sponsor dismissed concerns, saying providers would report it, so there would be no problem. I explained to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that the protection of a health care provider evaporates if the minor can’t see a provider without parental permission. They voted for it anyway.
There are many more scenarios where a minor might lose access to health care. Fringe religious communities that withhold all medical care have taken refuge in Idaho and are associated with tragic, preventable child deaths. This legislation erased the
few escape hatches in statute for older teens in these communities.
Consider also a teen experiencing suicidal thoughts whose parents refuse to believe in mental health services. Gov. Brad Little himself acknowledged this law could hinder youth mental health services. He signed it anyway.
Consider the teenager who contracts a sexually transmitted infection and fears confiding in their parents. This law could prevent them from receiving urgent care, putting their health and possibly life at risk while threatening public health.
The legislation also targets abortion access in a cruel manner. In the exceedingly rare circumstance that a teenage girl in Idaho manages to obtain a police report after being raped, she may still be unable to end the
pregnancy because this law allows her parents to make the decision — even if the pregnancy is the result of incest.
Seeing the potential for harmful effects, every Democrat in the Idaho Legislature voted against this bill, while every Republican voted for it.
Idaho’s children deserve protection even when their parents can’t or won’t provide it. True parental responsibility means ensuring that all children, regardless of their circumstances, have access to the care they need.
It is time to put children first.
Rep. Lauren Necochea is the House assistant Democratic leader, representing District 19 in Boise on the Environment, Energy and Technology; Resources and Conservation; Revenue and Taxation; and Ways and Means committees.
Rep. Lauren Necochea. File photo.
Florida woman sentenced after pulling gator from pants during traffic stop
This week it’s Florida Woman making headlines, with 25-yearold Ariel Machan-Le Quire, who joined 22-year-old Michael Clemons to collect frogs and snakes under an overpass.
After a Charlotte County sheriff’s deputy stopped the vehicle driven by Clemons for running a stop sign, he received permission by Clemons to search the bags in the truck.
The deputy found 41 turtles in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles backpack, asking if Machan-Le Quire had anything else she was hiding. Yes. Yes she did.
Machan-Le Quire promptly pulled a one-foot gator from her yoga pants.
She was subsequently charged with possessing an alligator, possessing more than one turtle per day, transporting more than one turtle or turtle eggs, and one count of possessing a softshell turtle. Later, she was sentenced to six months’ probation, 200 hours of community service and was ordered to donate $500 to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Committee.
Online survey business leverages A.I. to learn customers’ needs
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
When it comes to gathering data from customers, there are few easier options than running an online survey. Respondents can give anonymous feedback, providing business owners with important metrics to help better understand their customers’ needs.
To help accomplish this goal, local entrepreneur Mike Peck has introduced a new business called Survey Noodle, which utilizes A.I. to help business owners easily and quickly create and share surveys with their customer base.
Survey Noodle — named after his son’s cat, Noodle — is an intelligent new survey generation and management platform that Peck and his co-founder are hoping will replace online surveys like Survey Monkey or MailChimp.
Peck, who moved to North Idaho in seventh grade and graduated from Sandpoint High School in 1999, said he first became interested in surveys after leading a team of 20 people while working at Kochava.
“I was always interested in their feedback,” Peck told the Reader. “Developers are a wide spectrum. Sometimes
they’ll say it right to your face, sometimes they prefer to give feedback anonymously. I wanted to build a platform to help other people give and receive feedback.”
Survey Noodle is simply set up, with an A.I. interface that helps get the user off the ground right away. Type in what you want the survey to accomplish and give it a few parameters, and the A.I. will return with questions that users can adjust to meet their needs.
The Reader gave Survey Noodle a test drive recently, prompting the platform to design a five-question survey that asks readers what they want more out of the newspaper and what they like the most. Thanks to a few dozen responses, we found that our readers are really interested in historical stories about the area, a note we’ve taken by adding more of this type of content in the near future.
“The whole goal is to make survey creation as easy as possible,” Peck said. “If you want to capture how employees are feeling or how customers are reacting to a certain product, just give it a sentence or two and the A.I. will come up with questions, then you can edit those questions manually.”
Not only does the A.I. help generate the survey easily, but Peck said users can tap into the A.I. to regularly “chat” with the survey responses and find trends and patterns.
“It’s just like ChatGPT in that it has a full context of responses, it has your data, and it can then provide action items or suggestions,” Peck said. “It can even summarize all of this and put it together in a PowerPoint presentation.”
Peck said while many online survey companies rely on their name recognition, none have features like this.
“It just doesn’t exist in any other survey platform,” he said. “They’re just doing survey creation, but they don’t have analysis or the chatting side yet like we do at Survey Noodle.”
Another feature is the ability for a local business to use Survey Noodle to gather feedback and reviews, then prompt the survey-takers to take their review a step further.
“One case we’re looking
at is when survey customers give positive feedback, Survey Noodle will ask them to leave a public review,” Peck said, which can help spread the word to more potential customers.
Peck said anyone interested in giving Survey Noodle a spin can visit surveynoodle.com and start a free trial. Then, if it’s a good fit, users can pay a small monthly fee to use Survey Noodle to their advantage.
“It’s important for a busi-
ness to be curious and want to improve,” Peck said. “They need to tap into all of the ideas from their customers, team or employees. Surveys are the quickest and easiest way to gain that insight.”
Learn more at surveynoodle. com.
A screenshot of the Survey Noodle user interface. Courtesy image.
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
Wands at the ready, set phasers to stun and prepare to geek out with Sandemonium Lite, a celebration of nerd culture. The convention will take over much of the Sandpoint branch of the East Bonner County Library (1407 Cedar St.) on Saturday, Aug. 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., giving everyone the opportunity to share and celebrate their preferred parts of pop culture.
“Even with traditionally nerdy things becoming more mainstream — D&D, video games — I know there are plenty of people who don’t get an opportunity in their daily lives to really share their passions for these things,” Sandemonium Board Member Steve Hammond told the Reader. “Sandemonium is here to give those folks a space to let their guard down a bit and connect with each other.”
This year’s celebration features a range of offerings that will appeal to anyone’s playful side, whether through art, gaming or storytelling. The fun begins with a fencing demonstration in the library’s garden, which will continue on and off throughout the day. From there, the fun moves inside.
“On the tabletop front, we have
By Reader Staff
Andy Gross has cornered the market on stand-up comedy, magic and ventriloquism. The multitalented comic’s videos have generated more than 100 million views and counting, and he performs 150-plus shows a year everywhere from comedy clubs to cruise ships to performing arts theaters.
Born in St. Louis, Mo., Gross has the distinction of competing as the youngest
Sandemonium Lite celebrates all things nerdy
Pathfinder, a tactical miniatures game called RelicBlade, Magic: The Gathering, a couple Munchkin games and a few quick-to-learn board games like Coup, Skulls, Imploding Kittens and Tsuro. The Teen lounge will have a bunch of video games available and will host a Smash Bros. tournament,” said Hammond.
Attendees can take a break from playing to paint miniatures or attend a writing workshop taught by local author Cael Amari.
Known for his fantasy novels Oathbound: An Age of Shadows Story and Rogue Story: Undervault, Amari will explore worldbuilding techniques from noon to 2 p.m. in Room 102.
“If you’re interested in running a homebrew tabletop campaign, writing a novel or are just curious about how fantastical places get created, it’s a must-attend event,” said Hammond.
Finally, to round out the day, convention-goers can show off their best cosplay in a contest beginning at 3 p.m. (with registration at 2 p.m.) for a chance to win prizes. With so much on offer, everyone will find something to love whether they’re a fandom veteran or just looking to explore the community.
“We’re a super inclusive bunch, and we love to introduce new people to our hobbies and fandoms,” said Hammond. “You don’t need to know anything about any particular fandom, universe or game to have a good time. Active curiosity and an open mind are all you need.”
The event is FREE. For more information visit 7bcon.com.
Multitalented comic Andy Gross to take Panida stage Shall we play a game?
professional racquetball player in history, later pivoting to a unique comedy career and whose abilities have earned him spots on national television, including appearances on Beverly Hills, 90210 and The Ellen Degeneres Show.
His ad-libs are often compared to Don Rickles and Robin Williams, and his voice-throwing abilities have astounded audiences for years.
Tickets are available for $25 to $44 at panida.org, depending on seating available.
photo.
Northwoods Unleashed hits the Circle
By Reader Staff
The 13th annual Northwoods Unleashed variety show will return to the Circle Theater in Newport, Wash. for five performances from Friday, Aug. 16-Saturday, Aug. 17 and Thursday, Aug. 22-Saturday, Aug. 24.
Directed by Mark D. Caldwell, Northwoods Unleashed features a
range of musical genres to please the listening taste of all audiences.
Tickets are $35 per person for dinner shows, or $14 just for the music. Senior and childrens tickets are $12. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., dining service begins at 6:30 p.m. and the curtain opens at 7:30 p.m. all nights.
The menus for Northwoods Unleashed includes beef enchiladas,
Moon Stage
from Mi Pueblo, on Aug. 16; chicken pot pie from Two Tones Restaurant on Aug.17; Tones favorite pasta, also from Two Tones on Aug. 22; and Salisbury steak from the Village Kitchen on Aug. 23-24.
For tickets, call 208-448-1294 or visit northwoodsperformingarts.com, or go to Seeber’s Pharmacy (336 S. Washington Ave., in Newport).
Courtesy
Attendees play at a past Sandemonium at the Sandpoint Library. Courtesy photo.
Top left: Craig Hinman, Corey Cassell and Dave Geary on a motorcycle trip in the Northwest Territories, Canada on the Dempster Highway. “The Reader made it all the way to the remote village of Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territories on the Arctic Ocean,” wrote Hinman. “Due to crazy mosquitos, the blazing midnight sun, heat and just the sheer exhaustion the guys took this pic a few days later on the way back 297 miles south of Tuk when they returned to the Arctic Circle. They rode 5,537 miles in 23 days, 1,200 of those miles on the infamous Dempster Highway, which is dirt, potholes, slimy mud and treacherous deep gravel which took a week up and back. All lived to tell their personal tales.”
Top right: Nancy Gerth and Jim Akers at Marshall Point Light Port Clyde, Maine. Nancy is holding her favorite page from the Reader
Middle left: A bald eagle flies off with a freshly-caught meal in this photo called “Dinner in Dover,” photographed by Jan Hellman.
Middle right: Guy and Arlene Lothian brought the Reader to the Spa-Francorchamps track in Belgium for the Belgium Grand Prix.
Bottom left: Steve Johnson wanted to give “Bouquets to Nicole at the View Cafe in Cocolalla for her lovely bouquets.”
Bottom middle: A bloom of fireweed up Lightning Creek. Photo by Susan Bates-Harbuck.
Bottom right: Cedar Hills Church volunteers help clean up the exterior at the Sandpoint Senior Center during their community-wide day of service on July 28. Photo by Loris Michael.
Send photos to: ben@sandpointreader.com
To submit a photo for a future edition, please send to ben@sandpointreader.com.
Send event listings to calendar@sandpointreader.com
THURSDAY, August 15
Live Music w/ Chris Paradis
6-8pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Bingo Night
6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Game Night
6:30pm @ Tervan
Trivia Night
Sip ’n’ Shop to Benefit Friends of Panida
4-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Portion of proceeds support Panida
West Coast swing lessons
7pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Live Music w/ Devon Wade
6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes
6-9pm @ 1908 Saloon
Live Music w/ Heat Speak
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Live Music w/ Thompson Trio
5pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Live Music w/ Mike Wagoner
5:30-8:30pm @ Barrel 33
Live Music w/ Jacob Robin
7-9pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz
6-8:30pm @ Arlo’s Ristorante
Live Music w/ Tim G.
6-9pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Live Music w/ Jacob Robins
5:30-8:30pm @ Barrel 33
Live Music w/ Ian Newbill
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Live Music w/ Herkey Cutler
6pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Live Music w/ Ron Greene
6-8pm @ Smokesmith BBQ
Live Music w/ Justin Lantrip
8-10pm @ Baxter’s Back Door
Sandpoint Chess Club
9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee
Meets every Sunday at 9am
Magic with Star Alexander
5-8pm @ Jalepeño’s
Cottage Market
10am-4pm @ Farmin Park
August 15-22, 2024
Amphilochios: Saint of Patmos & Sacred Alaska
7pm @ Panida Theater
More info at panida.org
4:15-5:30pm @ The Yellow Room, 102 Euclid Ave.
No partner necessary. Ages 8+. $5-10 donation
FriDAY, August 16
Mont. Shakespeare in the Parks: Hamlet 5pm @ Lakeview Park
A free performance of Hamlet. MCS skits start at 4pm. Don’t miss it!
Kaniksu Fireside Dance
7-9pm @ Base of Pine St. Sled Hill
A dirt dance floor next to the forest. Lessons followed by open dance
Live Music w/ Justin Harris & the Pocket Aces
5-8pm @ Smokesmith BBQ
Live Music w/ Glizi
7-9:30pm @ Matchwood Brewing
SATURDAY, August 17
Sandpoint Farmers’ Market
9am-1pm @ Farmin Park
Natural Connections: Sandemonium
10am-4pm @ Sandpoint Library Idaho’s only convention for all things nerdy. Participate in workshops, gaming and meet-ups. All ages welcome
Live Comedy with Andy Gross 8pm @ Panida Theater
Gross is a stand-up comic, magician and ventriloquist. $25-$44
Live Music w/ Dammit Lauren!
9pm-midnight @ 219 Lounge
SunDAY, August 18
Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes
3-6pm @ 1908 Saloon
Summit Nature Hike
1:30-2:30pm @ Schweitzer Hosted tour of the Summit View Loop Trail at Schweitzer
monDAY, August 19
Outdoor Experience Group Run
6pm @ Outdoor Experience
3-5 miles, all levels welcome
Family Happy Hour
5:30-6:30pm @ Matchwood
Live music on the patio!
N.I. Philharmonia: Concert for a Cause 7pm @ North Summit Church
Join Maestro Jan Pellant and the North Idaho Philharmonia for a special concert to raise funds for the Music Matters! youth education program Music Matters! finale performances 4:30pm @ North Summit Church Magic from the Music Matters! Orchestra and Choir. 201 N. Division
Live Music w/ Chris Taylor 8-10pm @ Baxter’s Back Door
Webb Family Mission Fundraiser
5-8pm @ North Summit Church
Help fund the Webb family’s mission to North Africa. Pulled pork dinner prepared by the Hoot Owl. $12/plate. Wings Over Sandpoint Fly-In 8am-1:30pm @ Sandpoint Airport
Various aircraft on display until 1:30. Country breakfast from 8-10:30. $8
Live Music w/ Rosa Fosselman
7-9pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Live Music w/ Cast & Crew
2pm @ Bonner County Fairgrounds
The Bruce Festival
11am-6pm @ Boundary Co. Fairgrounds
Inaugural festival in honor of Robert the Bruce of Scotland. Sword fighting, food, live music, guest speakers, storytellers, activities, history lessons, vendor booths, bagpipes and more
Finale performances for MCS Summer Academy
2:30pm @ Farmin Park
Music Matters! Orchestra and Choir perform free
tuesDAY, August 20
Weekly Trivia Night
6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi
7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes
5-7:30pm @ Hope Community Center
Sandpoint Farmers’ Market
3-5:30pm @ Farmin Park
Live Music w/ John Daffron
6-8pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Free Food Distribution
11am-1pm @ Christ Our Redeemer Church Drive-up event for free food. Enter from Lincoln Ave.
Ballroom Lessons
5:15-6:15pm @ Sandpoint Senior Center
Donation-based class for all levels
wednesDAY, August 21
Benny on the Deck concert series
5-7pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Featuring guest Justyn Priest
ThursDAY, August 22
Paint and Sip w/ Nicole Black
5:30-8:30pm @ Barrel 33
Unleash your inner artist. $45 includes instruction, supplies and first drink
Live Music w/ Alma Russ 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Pinochle Wednesday
9:30am @ Sandpoint Senior Center
Live Piano w/ Bob Beadling
9:30am @ Sandpoint Senior Center
Summer Music Series: Spunj 6pm @ Farmin Park (FREE show) High energy, multi-genre fusion band from Eugene, Ore. A free outdoor concert at Farmin Park with drink vendors and the coolest vibe in town
‘What it means to be human’
Montana Shakespeare in the Parks performs Hamlet
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
The Northwest’s favorite theater group, Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, will return to Sandpoint for a free, open-air performance of the Bard’s magnum opus, Hamlet, Friday, Aug. 15 at Lakeview Park (801 Ontario St.). Sandpoint is just one stop on the group’s 78-show tour, which brings the thrills, chills and wisdom of Shakespeare to communities across five states.
“For folks who have certain ideas about Shakespeare because they were forced to read him in school, I’d invite you to come and have a look at what a company of 11 professional actors can do to make the text clear, relevant and a lot of fun,” Assistant Artistic Director Riley O’Toole told the Reader.
Though he only recently assumed his directorial duties, O’Toole is no stranger to the world of theater. He studied acting at the University of Minnesota before joining MSP in 2016, and has gone on to serve as the company’s tour manager as well as act in 11 different productions.
This summer, he’s responsible for bringing the stage’s most famous character to life.
“Hamlet is a seeker,” said O’Toole. “Less than two months [before the events of the play] this is someone who was off at school at Wittenberg studying philosophy, learning about the world, being a young person and having that curiosity.
“Ultimately, at the core, he’s dealing with what it means to be human and to try to discover your individual identity and make the right choice amidst the pressure that gets put on us by circumstance and everyone and everything around us,” O’Toole added.
him who have embodied the role of the Prince of Denmark, O’Toole — in partnership with Executive Artistic Director Kevin Asselin — has sought to develop a unique take on the character. His interpretation is influenced by the unique nature of the outdoor performance, as well as the reduced two-hour production, which is limited by daylight.
“We’ve really tried to mine the comedy and mine the jester [side of] Hamlet — the Hamlet that is really seeking and asking these questions and not getting too consumed by depression,” said O’Toole.
“It’s not a reverent theater experience that we’re offering. We always joke that we’re competing with the kid in the park throwing the Frisbee with his dog,” he added.
Though O’Toole’s performance will lean into the comedic side of Hamlet’s “antic disposition,” he maintains that the powerful themes and questions that Shakespeare grappled with are what has allowed audiences to relate to the story since the 1600s.
“We still struggle with the same things people struggled with over 400 years ago — what is our individual duty and how does that collide with what we would rather be doing with our lives? What is it that’s going to get us up in the morning? What’s our purpose going to be? What is it that’s going to drive us to be what we want to be?” said O’Toole.
Like the many great actors before
“To watch, to perform, to engage with one of these plays is to connect with, not only everyone around you who also struggles with love and loss and forgiveness and purpose, but to connect with the years and years of folks who came before,” he said.
For O’Toole and the rest of the actors, these affecting performances account for only a fraction of the time they dedicate to the company. In addition to all the travel time, everyone involved helps to build, repair and
tear down the stage each day before heading out to engage with the local families who house them at each stop on the tour.
“Shakespeare’s really just the conduit — it’s just a piece of the real point, which is to create an opportunity for community connection,” O’Toole said.
“We’re in close contact with our audience members — every night is opening night and every night is closing night, and that brings with it all the energy and excitement of being there for one night only. I feel like I have all these great friendships scattered across our 65 communities,” he added.
That sense of connection extends from text to actor to audience member, giving everyone involved the opportunity to gather and reflect on life’s big questions while enjoying the West’s natural beauty.
“It’s about coming together to appreciate art and to take in these old words that still resonate with us,” said O’Toole. “It honors the spirit of Shakespeare — what is worth honoring — and also goes beyond that to hopefully inspire the next generation of young artists and folks that maybe don’t have many opportunities to appreciate theater.”
Visit shakespeareintheparks.org for more information about this FREE performance.
Actors in the Montana Shakespeare in the Parks performance of Hamlet
Photo by Shawn Raecke.
Shower Thoughts
• We should just start to eat endangered species instead of pigs and cows because then we’ll immediately start breeding them by the billions.
• There is probably a lot of biodegradable product packaging that is stuck inside plastic trash bags.
• Humans are the only mammals that have to learn how to swim.
• The capitalist board game Monopoly begins with the social equivalence of universal basic income, which can also be called socialism.
• Owning a stick shift gets better and better as the years go by, since having a car with manual transmission lowers the chance of it being stolen because many younger thieves probably have no idea how to drive it.
Citizen survey indicates wide opposition to proposed land use map
By Katie Botkin Reader Contributor
Public input and has already had an effect on the controversial draft Land Use Map developed by the Bonner County Planning Commission.
At its July 30 meeting — following a packed public workshop two weeks earlier — the commission revised its map based on public comment that showed overwhelming opposition to a plan to lump all rural residential and agriculture/ forestry land into one land use designation.
At the workshop, a Project 7B board member shared preliminary results from a Rural Character survey also showing opposition to the proposed plan.
Over the past month, nonprofit Project 7B and citizen group Bonner County Rural Lifers have been gathering input from Bonner County residents for Bonner County’s Land Use Map and Comprehensive Plan. The map and Comp Plan will determine how and where development occurs for the next 10-20 years.
The two groups put together a Rural Character survey that they advertised widely in print media and online. The Rural Character Survey is now complete, and responses are in. Over the course of the month, 789 people participated. More than 99% of respondents live in Bonner County, and 95% of them own land here.
More than 98% of participants indicated that it’s important for Bonner County to retain its rural character outside towns. The vast majority (over 80%) indicated that of the options offered in the survey, their idea of “ru-
ral” roughly corresponds to, “Large portions of undeveloped land and forests, larger working farms (10+ acres), an emphasis on privacy, low traffic and the theoretical ability to hunt grouse off the back porch.”
More than half of respondents (55%) preferred the current land use map, while 8% of respondents were in favor of the Planning Commission’s working proposal, which had combined three areas into one designation called “Rural,” allowing five- to 40-acre parcel sizes, and kept the current Remote Forest with 40 or more acres. The remainder wanted a compromise (17%), didn’t know (16%) or wanted something else (4%). Most of the latter category seemed to prefer larger lot sizes than the current map.
Sample representative responses to “other” include:
• “Stop any further division of agricultural land to preserve our food sources. Any current agricultural land can not be rezoned. No new subdivisions outside city limits. Any future developments within city limits must be at the total expense of the developers. Including environmental studies, infrastructure improvements, etc.”
• “Large unfractured forest and ag parcels greater than 20 acres.”
• “Parcel sizes of 10 acres; Ag/Forest, with parcel sizes of 10-20 acres; Prime Ag with 20-acre minimum; and remote Ag/Forest with 40+ acres” and “40+ acre parcels with gravel roads.”
To survey participants, the most important characteristics in rural Bonner County were wildlife habitat (87% considered it important); open spaces and dark
skies (77%); and low-density development that protects groundwater through adequately-sized septic drainfields (76%).
Of the 10 options offered, the least popular was “convenient access to shopping and other services,” which only 5% of respondents considered important.
In line with results from the previous question, 75% of respondents indicated that they did not approve of the county eliminating site reviews by environmental health officials for septic systems in most land divisions and building location permits.
At its July 30 meeting, the Planning Commission restored the distinction between “rural residential” uses and “agriculture/forestry” uses. This is more in line with the county’s current land use designations. The new draft has yet to be mapped out.
The commission has not yet decided whether or not to hold additional public workshops on the new language in the plan or a new draft map. At a minimum, it must hold a public hearing before recommending the updates to the Bonner County Commissioners.
To stay informed about the next steps in the process, or to learn more about Project 7B, go to project7b. org, or follow Project 7B on Facebook.
Katie Botkin is the Project 7B coordinator. Contact her at katie@project7b.org. For more info on Project 7B, which describes itself as “a non-partisan group of individuals who want to help the residents of Bonner County understand and become more involved in land use planning,” visit project7b.org.
MUSIC
Conductor Jan Pellant returns to Sandpoint for conservatory’s inaugural Concert for a Cause
By Reader Staff
The Music Conservatory of Sandpoint will welcome back internationally recognized Maestro Jan Pellant to Sandpoint for its first-ever Global Concert for a Cause, scheduled for Friday, Aug. 16, from 7-9 p.m. at the North Summit Church (201 N. Division Ave., in Sandpoint).
A native of the Czech Republic, Pellant studied at the Prague Academy of the Performing Arts, and he holds degrees from the Prague Conservatory, Carnegie Mellon University and University of Kentucky. He has also served as professor of conducting and orchestra studies on the faculty of the New York Conservatory in Prague.
Under the direction of Pellant, MCS, regional and international artists will perform a range of classical pieces — from Edvard Grieg’s iconic piano concerto (featuring Daniel Beal with the North Idaho Philharmonia) to Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 (in honor of the composer’s 200th birthday) to soprano Karin Wedemeyer singing the “Four Last Songs” by Richard Strauss.
Tickets are $5 for students and $20 for adults, with all proceeds and donations benefiting the conservatory’s Music
Matters! program, which offers year-long after-school classes that bring together creative ensembles and performance opportunities for area youth.
“We plan for this event to be the first of an annual summer concert dedicated to music accessibility and education for the youth of our town,” organizers stated. “Music Matters! annually reaches over 300 children in Bonner County. Through weekly classes
and groups, such as youth orchestra, children’s choir, percussion, musical theater and handbells, Music Matters! aims to remove barriers to participation.”
Advanced purchase is preferred, and tickets are available at sandpointconservatory.org/events or at the conservatory (110 Main St., in Sandpoint). Tickets for each performance will also be available at the door.
The performances will be streamed live and recorded on YouTube and available to donors, who are invited to give whatever amount they choose under the “select your own” donation ticket on the conservatory’s website.
For more info, visit sandpointconservatory.org or call 208-265-4444.
A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint
Justin Harris and the Pocket Aces, August 16, Smokesmith BBQ
Take two dashes of rock and a healthy pinch of country and you’ll get that magical genre of music called rockabilly, which dates back to early 1950s America. Notable acts have been The Stray Cats, or Bill Haley & His Comets.
One regional band that invigorates the rockabilly name is Justin Harris and the Pocket Aces from Kalis-
pell, Mont.
This good timin’ rockand-country trio has a set list filled with songs you’ll recognize and sing along with.
— Ben Olson
5-8 p.m., FREE, outdoor show. Smokesmith BBQ, 102 S. Boyer Ave., 208-920-0517, smokesmithidaho.com. Listen at Justin Harris Music and Facebook.
Herky Cutler, Connie’s Lounge, Aug. 17
Go to Herky Cutler’s website and you’ll be treated to a wide selection of sample tracks, and all delivered with a smile (literally... the background on his page is all smiley faces). Hailing from High River, Alberta, Cutler’s sound is an amalgam of roadhouse rock mingled with blues, country, folk, which — by his own description — includes Celtic and Latin sounds that “that speaks with many tongues about who I am, what I believe in and what makes me laugh.”
This week’s RLW by Zach Hagadone
True to form, Cutler is a oneman band whose smooth vocals seem to always have a laugh lurking below; which makes sense, since he’s clearly having a great time whenever he performs. You will, too, if you catch this neighbor from the north at Connie’s Lounge.
— Zach Hagadone
6 p.m., FREE. Connie’s Lounge back patio, 323 Cedar St., 208-2552227, conniescafe.com. Listen at sonicbids.com/herkycutler.
READ LISTEN
I’m not sure I want to divulge this, but I recently discovered a treasure trove of vintage “weird fiction” mass market paperbacks from the 1960s and ’70s, including hardto-find reprints of 1930s and ’40s horror/fantasy/sci-fi from Clark Ashton Smith. I’d been looking everywhere in vain for stuff by authors like Smith, Frank Belknap Long and other members of the “Lovecraft Circle,” as well as Lord Dunsany, who served as one of their chief inspirations. They’re all at the Corner Book Store — and more. Just leave some for me.
Credit must go to my brother, Jake, for this recommendation of Khruangbin. The Houston-based band has been around since 2010, but it wasn’t until this year that my brother’s playlist introduced me to Khruangbin. It’s a little like funk with a dubstep inflection, trippy and groovy yet mellow, and vaguely global. It’s a sound suited for chilling on the porch, cruising on the boat or midnight campfire dance parties. Listen where you listen to music.
WATCH
For five years, Netflix series The Umbrella Academy has been a mind-bending, bizarro, super-flawed superhero family dramedy spiced with spacetime hijinks, alternate realities and multiple apocalypses. Now, with the release of Season 4 on Aug. 8, it’s coming to an end — for real. For the final season, we reunite with the Hargreeve family, though all its members are stripped of their powers. Still, they have to do what they do: Stop the world from ending. Maybe. All episodes are streaming.
Jan Pellant conducts the North Idaho Philharmonia. Courtesy photo.
From Northern Idaho News, July 14, 1905
BIDS FOR BUILDING DOCK
The members of the village council met Monday evening and decided upon a plan for a dock they propose to erect. It is planned to build a driveway from the side of the Pend Oreille Hotel across the flat, running it over the Northern Pacific sand spur and out to deep water, about 1,500 feet long. At the outer end a permanent dock of 75 sq. ft. will be erected, also a floating dock of nearly the same size.
The permanent dock will be put in about 4 feet above low water mark and this can be used about nine months out of the year. During highwater season, the floating dock will be used, moving it up along the inclined driveway as the water raises and moving it back as the water recedes.
BIG METEOR PASSES OVER SANDPOINT
A meteor passed over Sandpoint heading northeast Saturday night. It was quite low down and lighted up the country with a bluish light. Witnesses on Sand Creek were much frightened as they say the meteor was bound to come right up the stream through the timber, and lighted up the timber as light as does one of the electric head lights on the engines light up the railroad right of way.
The velocity with which the body was passing through space was so great as to make fearful noises and some think it struck earth not many miles from Sandpoint, as fearful rumbling was heard just after it passed over, the rumbling sounding like an earthquake.
BACK OF THE BOOK
Bread and Cheesuses
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
I’ve started a cult.
I began laying the foundations of my church in March when I rediscovered the Vitruvian food that is the grilled cheese sandwich, with its crisp-yetsoft bread; creamy, gooey cheese and condiments; and tomatoes and arugula, here or there, if one feels so inclined.
Perfection incarnate.
My adoration drove me to eat grilled cheeses every lunch and dinner for two weeks straight, and has since prompted an office Post-It note on which I record each consumption of the divine meal. I’m currently up to 95 grilled cheese sandwiches since March, which amounts to approximately 0.6 sandwiches per day — though, it’s more like four on Monday, two on Tuesday, etc.
I’m not ashamed. As Reader Editor Zach Hagadone told me, “The power of two grilled cheeses will give you the strength of four Soncireys.”
From this love came the Cult of Cheesus (The Sentient Grilled Cheese Sandwich), which has its own cosmology, apocalyptic myth, practices and iconography thanks, in no small part, to an afternoon Hagadone and I spent procrastinating instead of doing actual work. Since its genesis, Cheesus has amassed no fewer than seven followers, including Publisher Ben Olson, who I baptized against his will by virtue of our small office space.
It was never my plan to be the high priestess of a grilled cheese sandwich, but when divinity’s timer chimed, I came with a ready plate. I now aim to convert Bonner County and then, one day, the world.
There’s a lot to learn from the hum-
STR8TS Solution
ble grilled cheese. Modern society’s conceptualizations of food swing from one extreme to another, often promoting simultaneous, contradictory ideas.
For instance, food can be a cultural touchstone — an avenue through which someone can learn about their heritage or understand a foreign place and people. It can also be an overly processed, commodified lump with no purpose other than to produce endorphins and help companies rake in money.
Food is touted as the cure for all ills and the secret to longevity. It’s also wrapped in shame, and abstaining from it allegedly rewards moral superiority. This concept especially applies to the relationship between religion and food — it can be a holy, integral element of worship like the Eucharist, or be emblematic of sin and damnation, like the apple.
The Cult of Cheesus adds a steady, cheesy layer to this multifarious sandwich.
Food is life. It’s both the basic sustenance that helps us survive and a means by which we can truly live.
Humanity has been evolving and thriving alongside bread for an estimated 14,000 years and cheese for at least 7,000, meaning those foodstuffs have existed throughout and before all of recorded history. Yet, when we finally created enough bread and cheese to keep everyone happy and fed, we decided to shame people for eating them.
How can a relationship so ancient and integral be anything but precious — sacred, even?
Reimagining food as both sin and salvation is simply another way to capitalize on our bodies, giving companies opportunities to charge for both the sickness and the cure. Digitally-edited — often weirdly hypersexualized
— advertisements hawk decadence in the form of high-sugar-fat-grease-carb pseudo-food made with little to no nutrients and sold for pennies, preying on low-income households while spreading obesity and diabetes.
When this inevitably alters our bodies, other companies step up to sell pills, protein shakes, diet sodas and weight loss drugs, shaming their audiences for eating any and all foods that don’t inflate the profit margins of companies like Nestlé or Jenny Craig.
The Cult of Cheesus proclaims that humanity’s relationship with food should not be reduced to a cycle of hunger, overconsumption and shame.
The idea isn’t to eat a grilled cheese for every meal — which is unhealthy and exclusionary to anyone with dietary restrictions — but rather that eating a grilled cheese is emblematic of the ultimate relationship between humanity and food. It’s delicious, comforting, filling, inexpensive, versatile, easy to make and available to everyone.
It’s not something you have to hold your nose to eat, nor is it something that encourages you to gorge yourself to death. It’s a simple sandwich to eat and go about your day energized and smiling.
Real food is a human right that nourishes not just our bodies but our spirits. If you agree, well, Cheesus welcomes you.
Solution on page 22
Laughing Matter
By Bill Borders
Week of the
Corrections: In our Aug. 1 story about the Sandpoint wastewater treatment plant, we spelled Supervisor Deven Hull’s first name wrong. We apologize for the error.
1. A bitter, sharply abusive denunciation, attack or criticism.
“His rally speeches have devolved into rants and diatribes about windmills, shower water pressure and victimhood.”
If you go parachuting, and your parachute doesn’t open, and your friends are all watching you fall, I think a funny gag would be to pretend you were swimming.
