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7B THE HISTORY OF BONNER COUNTY AND OTHER FUN 7B FACTS
Free refreshments and gift wrap 2 /
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s u o m a f d l r o w Try our tartar sauce! 476560 Highway 95 Ponderay, ID
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What do you want for Christmas? “On a general level: peace. On a personal level: kids and grandkids and a good book.”
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Lawerence Blakey Retired writer Sandpoint
“I want an end to all violence.” Aimee Moran Fundraiser, Idaho Cons. League Boise, ID
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DEAR READERS,
For a feature this week, we delved into your favorite letter and number combination: 7B. Several readers out there actually pitched the idea to write about 7B, and I thoroughly enjoyed delving into the history of our county. Got something you’d like to pitch for a feature or a story idea? Would you like to see your pet featured on our “Pet Photos” page? Want your voice to be heard? Would you like to dabble in writing or taking photographs for the Reader? Send me an email at ben@ sandpointreader.com. We’re here for you, folks. -Ben Olson, Publisher
READER 111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 (208)265-9724
www.sandpointreader.com Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com Editor: Cameron Rasmusson cameron@sandpointreader.com Zach Hagadone (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus) Contributing Artists: Ben Olson (cover), Gabriel Burns, Nick Gier, Scarlette Quille, Gary Payton, Jen Heller, Drake the Dog, Melannie Wurm. Contributing Writers: Cameron Rasmusson, Ben Olson, Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com Printed weekly at: Griffin Publishing Spokane, Wash.
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“I want my kids home.” Jenni Paganot Sun Rental Sandpoint
“A really good holiday with children and grandchildren, and for them to celebrate the real meaning of Christmas.” Ramona Steckmann-Chrowell Self-employed at Tree Farm Sandpoint “I want a new car for Christmas and family to be healthy and together.” Jordan Gilchrist In school for auto mechanics Spokane, Wash. (from Spt.) “I want to see my grandbaby more.” Judy McPhee Plains, Mont.
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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.
Sandpoint Reader letter policy: The Sandpoint Reader welcomes letters to the editor on all topics. Requirements: –No more than 400 words –Letters may not contain excessive profanity or libelous material. Please elevate the discussion. Letters will be edited to comply with the above requirements. Opinions expressed in these pages are those of the writers, not necessarily the publishers. Email letters to: letters@sandpointreader.com Check us out on the web at: www.sandpointreader.com Like us on Facebook. About the Cover This week’s cover designed by Ben Olson, who is looking forward to next week when the Reader comes out a day early and he’ll get TWO whole days off!
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COMMENTARY
Three Faces of Domestic Terrorism: Attacks on abortion clinics, Muslims and blacks By Nick Gier Reader Columnist
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, speaking about his decision to open his city to Syrian refugees, said that he was more afraid of domestic attacks rather than those inspired by Islamic militants. A mass shooting data base (limited to a minimum of four deaths) gathered by the journal Mother Jones supports Rawlings’ position. In 73 mass shootings since 1982, Islamic militants were involved in only three. Professors Charles Kurzman and David Schanzer have published a broader study that identified Islamic terrorists as responsible for 50 deaths since 9/11. In stark contrast they found that “right-wing extremists averaged 337 attacks per year in the decade after 9/11, causing a total of 254 fatalities.” Americans are five times more likely to be killed by a right-wing terrorist than a jihadist. Kurzman and Schanzer contacted 382 law enforcement agencies and found that “74 percent reported anti-government extremism as one of the top three terrorist threats in their jurisdiction,” while only “39 percent listed extremism connected with Al Qaeda or like-minded terrorist organizations.” The federal government defines domestic terrorism as acts “intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or to
affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping.” Please note the significant “or” in this definition. Anti-abortion extremists definitely come under this definition, and since 1977 they have been responsible for 11 murders, 17 attempted murders, 42 bombings and 182 arsons. The three killed in Colorado Springs by Robert Lewis Dear have been added to this list, because his anti-abortion views have now been verified. This was evident from his cry, “No more baby parts,” as he entered the Planned Parenthood office, and the fact that he had previously vandalized a similar facility in South Carolina. I believe that the people who surreptitiously videotaped Planned Parenthood officers, and convinced far too many people that the organization sells fetal tissue (it does not), should be held responsible for these murders. Our
elected representatives and GOP presidential candidates who continue to libel Planned Parenthood are also culpable. Sen. Ted Cruz was thrilled to receive the endorsement of Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue, which advocates violence against abortion providers. Cheryl Sullenger, Operation Rescue’s senior advisor, served a two-year prison term for attempting to bomb an abortion clinic in 1987. Newman is also an officer in the phony Center for Medical Progress (CMP), which filmed the discredited videos. In a September GOP debate Carly Fiorina claimed that the CMP videos showed “a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking, while someone says, ‘We have to keep it alive to harvest its brain.’” The videos contain no such footage, but Fiorina refuses to back down. Sadly, most of the GOP presidential candidates operate in a fact-free zone. Since 9/11 there have been almost weekly attacks on American Muslims and their mosques. These assaults can be categorized as acts of domestic terrorism “to intimidate or coerce a civilian population.” Hundreds of mosques have been either vandalized or burned down. Copies of the Qur’an have been either burned or shot through with bullets. Pigs’ heads have been thrown into mosques or onto Muslim property. The third face of domestic ter-
Dylan Roof posing with a Confederate flag and a .45 caliber Glock pistol. rorism in America is seen in racebased attacks. On Oct. 22, 2015, St. Louis police reported arson at seven African-American churches, presumably as retaliation for protests about the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson. Ironically, a black man has been arrested for setting two of them. The Council on American Islamic Relations immediately responded with a statement: “Whenever a house of worship is targeted in this manner, Americans of all faiths should feel the spiritual injury and stand with those under attack.” The largest Christian terror organization in U. S. history is the Klu Klux Klan. Using data from Tuskegee University’s Records and Research Division, it has been determined that 3,446 African Americans were lynched over 86 years. The most recent racially moti-
vated mass shooting occurred on June 17, 2015 at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina. After sitting with congregants in a prayer meeting, Dylan Roof opened fire and killed nine. His website contained typical white supremacist propaganda and a picture showed Roof wrapped in the Confederate flag. Reverting to the horrors of Germany’s dark past, Donald Trump is calling for the registration of all American Muslims and the closing of their mosques. Given the violence actions against Muslims and Planned Parenthood, the same perverted logic could be used to shut down churches that preach hate against Muslims, gays and lesbians.
Dan McDonald’s Commentary...
Refugee Situation...
Nick Gier of Moscow taught philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years.
Robert Lewis Dear.
The Problem With US... Dear Editor, The wealthy elite, especially in the southern United States, recognized during the late 18th century in America that they were outnumbered by enslaved people at a ratio of about 9:1. There was also an additional populace of white indentured servants and natives that were abused or not paid as well. The elite feared an uprising was imminent and they would be overrun. The plantation owner’s and power elite’s solution was this: Create a system of indentured service where some people gained and others did not. Some people after some time would be given freedom, paid for their labor, given some land, an ox, tools, and such, and others would not. Some would be able to sell 4 /
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their crops and goods for one price and others would get paid less. This would create competition and unfair levels of income between the “haves” and the “have nots.” The real diabolical train of thought here is that it was a social idea planned and executed by the rich and powerful of that era. It worked. It created a form of “racism.” This is where we are today with the minimum wage debate, immigration and credit. The debate is largely between the people who don’t have much and the people that have a little bit more. Sound familiar? It keeps us feeling superior to one another and most importantly, focused on each other, which is where the power elite wants us looking, not at the little man behind the curtain and certainly not working together. After all, that was the fear in the
18th century south. If the working classes united the power elite would have been overrun. That is always the government’s fear. Once we open our minds and understand concepts like this, we will start to gain compassion for other people, (and we’re talking about many children here), that have had their country blown up, been traveling on subsistence for months and are now homeless halfway around the world. We will also gain compassion for the people that are already here and living in substandard conditions. We certainly don’t want to put our social safety at risk and allow violent groups to infiltrate our society. But if we think broader and together we can find solutions that will work for all of US. Cole McAvoy Sandpoint
Dear Editor, Dan MacDonald’s commentary in the December 10th Reader asserts that the Pakistani woman involved in the San Bernardino mass shooting had been vetted by the State Department. So although the refugee screening process is rigorous and comprehensive, maybe it’s not airtight. Clearly, the only solution is to ban them all! Um... by the way...the San Bernardino attack was carried out with assault weapons given the shooters by a friend who had purchased them legally. So, clearly... Peace, Dr. Mark William Cochran Sandpoint
Dear Editor, This letter is regarding your stand on the refugee situation. First of all, I found it very interesting that you printed only one letter opposed to letting them into our country. The letter from Rachel Castor, regarding white American Christian males–I would like to know where she got her facts to base that on. We can no longer open our borders to any refugees. We can’t take care of the people that are here. What it comes down to is this: 1. Take care of the people that are here. 2. Get our debt paid for. 3. Stop going to war in countries that hate us and do not want us there. Letter continued on next page.
PERSPECTIVES
Ho Ho Ho... wait, what did you call me? We are striking distance from the epicenter of holiday madness. A week out from Christmas, I know people who have their shopping done, their houses decorated and their Pinterest worthy crafts on point. I start getting their Christmas cards with their color-coordinated families smiling at me the first week of December. These women are planning and baking and organizing year-round. They never forget a birthday, they change their décor with the season and the word “store-bought” is as filthy as Internet porn to them. I call them “celebrationists.” A celebrationist lives for the month of December, when they can serve salted-caramel covered perfectionism all month long. Sometimes, I sit alone in my bed devouring the celebrationists’ latest offering to the holiday office treat table. Typically I have secretly stashed away five or six extras for times of contemplation. As I casually snack away I think about how pathetic my existence is, and wonder what the celebrationist who created this masterpiece is up to right now. She is probably sweating glitter and shitting out delicious fudge into the shape of
Continued from previous page. There are amazing people in every country. They need to stay there and work to improve the conditions for their fellow countrymen. If the information in this paper is based on fact, then you tell me what percentage of refugees come to our country and get jobs and pay taxes. Oh, by the way, thank you Governor Otter and our commissioners. Thank you! Linda Nemec Ponderay Linda, thank you for writing. First of all, I’d like to take this
baby angels. It’s during these dark times, that I wonder why I have to celebrate this holiday. I am not particularly religious, and if I was going to take up organized religion, I would need to find one with pretty vague “rules” and no major holiday expectations. One can only dream. Don’t get me wrong. I love the idea of being nice and thankful and generous. It’s the deadline that I have an issue with. It’s so final, so foreboding. As the day approaches, more cards come in the mail. The celebrationists are mass producing and disseminating their wares at light speed. I try to block out the festive fury and remind myself that I need to wrap a bunch of presents and stick them under that tree currently residing in my living room. Actually, I still need to buy them. I am not going to lie. For all the things I hate about this time of year, that tree is not one of them. I painstakingly drove to Home Depot and selected it. It was wrapped up in twine and looked like a pine needle sausage. It is a seven-foot tree and I was able to bear hug it, waddle across the parking lot and shove it into the back of my
car. When I got home I stuck it in the stand and cut off the twine. It unfurled its majesty. It was totally a Charlie Brown moment. That’s how I prefer to remember it. My kids may have a different version of the story. Anyway, the pretty tree gave me hope which turned into something strange. I guess you could call it holiday confidence. I took on a holiday-themed project at work. This gives the impression to all that I am in the spirit, when in reality, I like spending hours in my workspace singing along to rock power ballads with my elves. The elves don’t require payment. They are just happy to be out of the main business area where their fragile ears are constantly assaulted with an assortment of “holiday” music which plays for eight or more hours a day. I used to wonder why businesses always play holiday music at an unnerving volume. After years of research and contemplation, I have the answer. If said business is a store selling actual items, they play Christmas music loudly so that you can’t hear the sound of the gigantic vortex sucking every last bit of money
out of your wallet before December 25. If you work in a business that doesn’t sell tangible items, they are playing the music so that your brain is mixed up, and you don’t become hostile or depressed when you figure out that you will likely have to work overtime for many months to pay for all of your seasonal generosity. I will participate in this bizarre ritual to a point. I have learned that my only obligation during the Christmas season is being magical and festive for my children and hanging out with my parents who make my Christmas magical and festive. If I follow this rule, I save myself and my liver a
lot of unnecessary pain. Having said that, I will occasionally indulge in an ugly sweater party. I have been to a couple of these events and the expectation bar is typically set low: look ugly and drink booze. Typically I will agree to the ugly sweater party and say no to the cookie exchange and ornament swap (whatever the hell that is). It’s nothing personal toward the hosts. I lack the organization, funding and time to fully commit to most extracurricular activities. The ugly sweater crew is the least likely to gift me heavenly, ass-growing potions contained in a sweetly decorated mason jars (which I accept, of course, because they’re cute and typically delicious). The lack of expectation at the sweater party is intoxicating. It’s a safe place in a world gone garland mad. With that, I would like to wish you all, especially the celebrationists out there, a very happy, safe, festive holiday.
opportunity to clear something up about our letters to the editor policy that seems to be misunderstood. You seem to be insinuating that because we only ran one letter opposed to refugee resettlement that we are somehow editing out letters that we don’t agree with. Quite the contrary. We run every letter that comes in meeting our criteria (under 400 words and not containing profanity or libelous material). If only one letter was published in opposition to refugee resettlement it was because only one letter was written and sent to us. Letters to the editor are a service a newspaper gives to the community to allow residents to sound off about
important issues without involving the editorial department. We never refuse to publish a letter based on its position—only if it doesn’t meet our word limit and profanity/libel clause. In answer to your question, I called Mark Kadel, the director of World Relief in Spokane (a refugee resettlement organization). I asked Mark about the success rates he has had with refugees finding jobs and paying taxes. He responded with this statement:
tlement Program that they will be required to obtain employment as soon as possible upon arrival. Any public assistance refugees receive is temporary and for those without children, assistance ends after eight months in the U.S. World Relief and other refugee resettlement agencies have staff who focus on assisting refugees find viable employment in the city they are resettled. Nationally, refugees spend the least amount of time on any public assistance than any other people group. (Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement, ORR). As for refugees resettled in Spokane, our employment pro-
grams work very hard to assist refugees in becoming financially self-sufficient through gainful employment. Our main employment Match Grant program is 100 percent successful in helping refugees find jobs and becoming financially independent within the first six months of arrival. Our other employment programs for those who are not as easily placed due to language or medical issues, are also 100 percent successful, but it usually takes more time for successful placement.”
“All refugees that are of employable age receive thorough orientations before being accepted into our Federal Refugee Reset-
LOVE, Scarlette Quille
[Ben Olson]
December 17, 2015 /
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NEWS
Council approves Stapleton as city administrator By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff
Sandpoint officially has a city administrator following Jennifer Stapleton’s approval by the City Council on Wednesday. The council vote brings an end to what was a lengthy, often controversial hiring process and a central issue of debate during the Sandpoint mayoral race in November. The new position represents a significant restructuring in city function, with the mayor and department heads ceding some of their administrative responsibilities to a centralized office. “I think it’s awesome,” said Mayor Carrie Logan. “Jennifer fits the bill with her whole skill set and an approach to government that we like.” Stapleton brings with her nearly 20 years of experience in administration. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Gonzaga University and a master of public administration degree from Eastern Washington University. Since Stapleton’s selection by Logan’s hiring committee,
she’s spoken with the city’s department heads to discuss which of their responsibilities she could take off their plates. The idea is to improve efficiency and give department heads time to focus on more immediate concerns. “For example, is the chief of police writing grants really the most effective use of his time?” she said. She brings with her years of grant writing experience, and that’s another area she thinks will be improved by a centralized administrative approach. The regulations governing federal and state grants change frequently, and it’s easy to fall out of good standing without proper administration. That can affect the availability of future funding. For Stapleton, the opportunity to serve as Sandpoint city administrator is a dream come true. Previously the director of grants management and financial assistance for the city of Spokane, Stapleton and her family frequently vacationed in Sandpoint. She said she and her family have dreamed of an opportunity to live here.
Jennifer Stapleton. Photo by Ben Olson. “We’d always talked about moving here long-term,” she said. [When learned about the job], I said to my husband, “There it is. There is my dream job.” Stapleton learned about the job opening from a Bonner County Daily Bee headline while boating with her husband in Sandpoint this summer. In a strange twist of fate, the box
displaying the newspaper was broken and the issue inside was a couple weeks old. “That box was broken for me,” she said. As she begins work with the city, Stapleton is excited for the future. She feels Sandpoint is poised for tremendous growth in the coming years and is happy to be on the ground floor of that progress.
Sunnyside standoff ends in arrest
City to consider supporting refugees By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff In contrast to the anti-refugee sentiment coming from county government, Sandpoint officials are planning to introduce a measure supporting Syrian refugee resettlement in Idaho. According to Mayor Carrie Logan, the gesture of support would come as a either a mayoral proclamation or resolution, or perhaps both. Whatever form it takes, it will serve as a counterpoint to the resolutions from North Idaho county commissioners voicing opposition to refugee resettlement. “Because of our city’s history of supporting human rights, we thought it important 6 /
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to restate in the context of the discussion about immigration and refugees,” Logan said. If a resolution is introduced for council consideration and members pass it—an action that would take place at the earliest by Jan. 6—it will put the city in direct contrast to Bonner and Boundary counties. District 1 Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, and Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler have both been vocal in their opposition of refugee resettlement, voicing concerns it will make communities vulnerable to terror attacks. On Dec. 1, Bonner County commissioners adopted a resolution urging Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter to halt the resettlement program using
any means in his power. The following Monday, Boundary County commissioners passed a similar resolution. In both cases, the meetings attracted large crowds and several public comments, most of which opposed the federal resettlement program. “The biggest motivation for me [in suggesting the measure] was the commissioners’ and sheriff’s support of the anti-refugee resolution a few weeks ago,” Logan said. The planned measure follows comments from some residents worried about the effect of the county commissioners’ resolutions on Sandpoint’s reputation. The few comments opposing commissioners’ reso-
“I think this is a great community, and the future is really bright,” she said. “I think the city is on the brink of some very significant changes, and I’m excited to be here at this point.”
lutions at public meetings highlighted North Idaho’s struggles with perceptions that the region is a haven for racists and xenophobes. Actions that reinforced that image, they feared, would reduce tourism and hurt local businesses. Logan said that’s not one of her biggest considerations in introducing the measure, but it is a factor. “I have some concern—although not a whole lot—about perpetuating the past reputation of our area as being racist,” she said.
There was a standoff situation Wednesday morning in the Sunnyside area that brought a large law enforcement response. According to Sandpoint Police Chief Corey Coon, the Sandpoint Police Department made a traffic stop on a suspect of DUI at approximately 2 a.m. Wednesday. The driver subsequently took off without stopping, and drove out to a residence on Sunnyside Hill Road. When the suspect exited the car, he was carrying a rifle. Coon said the suspect barricaded himself inside the house, and officers called for backup with the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Response Team. The suspect was taken into custody at about 8 a.m. without incident.
FEATURE
A history By Ben Olson Reader Staff Who would’ve thought a simple county designator code on a license plate could become a right of passage for locals across the state? In 1945, Idaho adopted the system still in use today. Not a whole lot of folks outside of Idaho understand (or care) what those little codes on the license plates mean— 7B, 1A, K, et. al.—but to those of us who live here in the Gem State, they refer not just to the county in which our cars are licensed, but where we hang our hats. “It just means local to me,” said Lenny Hess, owner of 7BTV in Sandpoint. “I spent a lot of time thinking about what to call this business venture, and when I saw a few other businesses that were starting to pop up with 7B in the name, I liked it.” “I wanted the name to be more of a local town feel,” said Cody
unty o c e t i r o v of your fa
Torgerson, who owns 7B Floors with his wife Eva. “It’s already branded so well.” When 7B Boardshop owner Rory Whitney had to name his business, he found the decision a tough one. “That was the first thing we were really struggling with,” said Whitney. “There weren’t really any local businesses with that name yet, and I wanted to portray the locals, not just Sandpoint, but the Sandpoint area. 7B is all about local pride, and we’re a shop who cares about it.” 7B Fitness owners Jenny and Matt Mire took over the Sandpoint gym last year and felt it was important to exemplify the hometown values they believe in as Sandpoint natives. “We thought, since we each grew up here and graduated in Sandpoint, that the gym deserved a name that is all about local,” said Mire. “I think people understand the underlying meaning of 7B, which is about taking care of each other and being friendly.” When David Marx, owner of 7B Skis in Sandpoint, saw bumper stickers that read “I SKI 7B,” he thought it was a great way to market to locals. “The name actually made great sense to me,” said Marx. “With my first model, I was creating a ski specifically for skiing the side-country off of Schweitzer. And to this day, all the skis are made right here in Sandpoint. I feel the
moniker has grown into a great way to let people know you are truly a local business ... It also keeps you grounded in the community. I mean how are you going to market or explain your 7B name if your business grows out of the area but is not based here?” Others around the area have embraced the 7B phenomenon in their own ways. Justin Schuck of Idagon Homes put “SEVEN B” on his plate as a way to best his father, Forrest. “My dad put “LOVE 7B” on his plate,” said Schuck. “It’s often difficult to outwit him. So, I needed to do that with the opportunity … by getting “SEVEN B” registered in my name. Two points for me.” “We have tremendous pride in our region,” Schuck continued. “It feels great to tell people where we are from and be able to smile about it. The 7B is somewhat of a brand, a cool brand that only locals know about.” History of Bonner County It all started with a man named Edward L. Bonner (you might see his name printed as “Edwin,” but that is because of a 112-year-old typo that is still cited). In 1863, Bonner, along with cousin Richard Eddy and friend John Walton, joined thousands of prospectors who flooded into the area after large amounts of gold were discovered in the East Kootenais of British Columbia. The path they followed was known as the Wildhorse Trail. The three men were headed north to the gold strikes, but when they arrived at where the Wildhourse Trail crossed the Kootenai River, Bonner realized it was an excellent place to build a ferry. Prior to this, the Native Americans would row prospectors over the river by canoe. Bonner bought
Justin (left) and Forrest Schuck (right) stand next to their personalized 7B license plates. the land on both sides of the river from the Kootenai Chief Abraham, and the location became known as Bonner’s Ferry (the apostrophe has since been dropped, as it has become an abominable U.S. policy to drop apostrophes in place names). Bonner’s time in North Idaho was relatively short-lived, however. “Edward had a trading post at Walla Walla, and him and Richard went back for supplies and they left John Walton, who was the one who actually operated the ferry,” said Sue Kemmis, curator at the Boundary County Museum. “How they got the name Bonner instead of Walton, who knows? We could’ve been called Walton’s Ferry.” After his return to the ferry, Bonner soon moved onto Montana, where he opened Bonner Mercantile and dabbled in politics until his death in 1902. His total time spent in North Idaho was probably no more than a few months. Richard Fry bought the ferry and trading post in 1875 and applied for the first U.S. Post Office. The town was officially called Fry, Idaho until 1899 when it was incorporated and the name was changed to Bonners Ferry. The entire landmass of North Idaho was originally included in Kootenai County until Bonner County broke off in 1907. “Then in 1915, Boundary broke off from Bonner,” said Kemmis. “We were called Boundary because we’re bounded by two states and a foreign country. So far as we know, we’re the only county in the nation that can say that.” It is curious why Boundary County changed names instead of Bonner County. “Mostly it’s just pretty silly that we ended up being Bonner County,” said Cameron Murray of the Bonner County Historical Museum. “It would have made more sense to rename the lower half when they split, but apparently the legality of moving a county seat is tricky and
See 7B, page 8
Ever wonder what all those county codes mean? Here’s a complete list of all the codes in Idaho. The county seat is in parentheses. Can’t remember this list? There’s actually an app available online called “Idaho PlateFinder” which allows users to type in the code and find out where the driver is from.
1A 2A 1B 2B 3B 4B 5B 6B 7B 8B 9B 10B 1C 2C 3C 4C 5C 6C 7C E 1F 2F 1G 2G I 1J 2J K 1L 2L 3L 4L 1M 2M N 1O 2O 1P 2P S 1T 2T V W
Ada (Boise) Adams (Council) Bannock (Pocatello) Bear Lake (Paris) Benewah (St. Maries) Bingham (Blackfoot) Blaine (Hailey) Boise (Idaho City) Bonner (Sandpoint) Bonneville (Idaho Falls) Boundary (Bonners Ferry) Butte (Arco) Camas (Fairfield) Canyon (Caldwell) Caribou (Soda Springs) Cassia (Burley) Clark (Dubois) Clearwater (Orofino) Custer (Challis) Elmore (Mountain Home) Franklin (Preston) Fremont (St. Anthony) Gem (Emmett) Gooding (Gooding) Idaho (Grangeville) Jefferson (Rigby) Jerome (Jerome) Kootenai (Coeur d’Alene) Latah (Moscow) Lemhi (Salmon) Lewis (Nez Perce) Lincoln (Shoshone) Madison (Rexburg) Minidoka (Rupert) Nez Perce (Lewiston) Oneida (Malad City) Owyhee (Murphy) Payette (Payette) Power (American Falls) Shoshone (Wallace) Teton (Driggs) Twin Falls (Twin Falls) Valley (Cascade) Washington (Weiser) December 17, 2015 /
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Notes from Paris: Sandpoint’s Gary Payton talks about the future of climate change
Bouquets: •Last week, Schweitzer’s Community Day sold over 2,100 $10 lift tickets, and donated all of the proceeds to Community Cancer Services and Bonner Partners in Care. The total amount donated ended up being $21,220. Way to give back to the community, Schweitzer! I’m proud to call you my home mountain. Barbs: •Want to know how NOT to grow your business in Sandpoint? Treat the locals like second-class citizens. Last week, I made a faux pas while delivering papers. I’ve been known to make mistakes. Hey, I’m human. A business that is usually closed when I drop papers off happened to be open last week. I failed to notice this and dropped a stack of papers on the sidewalk as usual. The owner came out and yelled at me for not bringing the papers inside. I apologized and explained I hadn’t seen the open sign. It was raining buckets, and I was hustling to get finished. The owner remarked, “This is just what I’d expect from Sandpoint.” Upon hearing that, I grabbed my papers and told the cranky owner I would no longer deliver there if that’s how they feel about my town. We value our tourists because of the vitality and economic boost they give our community, but to treat locals like second-class citizens is detrimental to a long-term healthy business. Who do you think supports your business during the shoulder season? Who recommends your store when tourists ask locals on the sidewalk where to get a good meal, drink, etc.? But most importantly, when someone apologizes, it’s usually best to accept it and move on, instead of insulting their community. I’m tempted to name this business, but I don’t wish anyone hardship, even if they do deserve it. 8 /
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By Gary Payton Reader Contributor It was an emotional moment when French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius gaveled approval of the Paris Agreement last Saturday night. Over 13 demanding days, representatives of 195 nations at the Conference of the Parties, 21st Session (COP21) hammered out an historic agreement intended to slow the onrush of human-caused climate change, assist developing nations in adapting to impacts and accelerate the transition to lowcarbon economies. The preamble of the agreement acknowledges the challenge succinctly, “…climate change represents an urgent and potentially irreversible threat to human societies and the planet…” The science is settled. And, as Elizabeth Dirth, the Vice Chair of 2050 Scotland’s Youth Climate Group boldly told a COP21 audience, “We caused it. We’re threatened by it. We need to fix it.” Key points of the Paris Agreement include: •Goals: Keep the rise in average global temperature to “well below” 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) and aim to limit the rise to 1.5 C (2.7 F). By some point after 2050, human caused emissions should be reduced to a level which forests and oceans can absorb. •Targets: Countries agree to set national emission reduction targets every five years. One hundred and eighty nations brought targets to COP21. The review mechanism will continue to “bend the curve” downward by reviewing and strengthening the targets. •Financing: Wealthy countries should continue to offer support to poor countries to adapt to the impacts of climate change. The
current pledge is to provide $100 billion annually by 2020 into the Green Climate Fund. Defenders of the pact offered quick appraisals. “…this Paris outcome is going to change the world.” “…a turning point in the human enterprise, where the great transformation towards sustainability begins.” “…an unprecedented demonstration of how global cooperation has the potential to steer us on to a pathway of a safer future.” Detractors were equally quick to weigh in. “It’s a fraud really, a fake.” “Lots of promises and lots of issues left unresolved.” “The agreement contains mainly moral appeals and lip service.” “Unenforceable.” “Too slow.” Last Friday I attended a climate event with hundreds of others from around the world. As the speaker rose to address the audience, he reminded us, “We live on the edge of hope and fear.” His words resonated deeply within me. I know that even if all the national pledges to reduce emissions are kept, we only “bend the curve” downward to about 2.7 C above pre-industrial levels. Across the coming decades, extraordinary efforts will be required by nations and their sectors of society to reduce to a 2 C increase (the target set in 2009) or the stretch goal of 1.5 C (the target reset in 2015). I know that advancing temperatures will continue sea level rise threatening island nations, contribute to further species extinction, expand droughtstricken areas, strengthen global storm events, and more. Yet, I cling to hope and resist succumbing to fear. I hold on to that hope because of what I witnessed in Paris. Governments at all levels
(national, state/province/city) were well represented. National representatives may have shaped the Paris Agreement, but much of the progress toward reducing CO2 emissions will happen at intermediate and community levels of government through steps like encouraging energy efficiency and advancing the use renewables like solar and wind. Will we in Idaho and Bonner County play our role? In an underreported aspect of Paris, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg joined with other investors to launch the “Breakthrough Energy Coalition.” The group will invest billions to accelerate research and development in innovative clean energy. Beyond industry giants, the display space surrounding COP21 showcased dozens of worldwide companies highlighting their new technologies to move toward low carbon economies. We have only to think of Sandpoint’s Solar Roadways to see but one of these emerging companies. In official and unofficial gatherings, Paris was energized by the participation, passion and demands of young adults. While
their generation may not have “caused” the advance of climate change through excessive consumption, this generation will be living with the immediate impacts and serve as leaders developing and applying solutions. The Paris Agreement represents a milestone in decades of work by government officials, scientists, environmental activists and average citizens. It is not a perfect agreement. It took too many years to get here. But, I submit it adds momentum to our collective efforts to address the causes and impacts of climate change. Each of us as citizens of the world has a responsibility to live more lightly on the planet. The time for denial is past. The time for our renewed actions is now – government, business, faith communities, NGOs and individuals. Me? My next step is to offset the carbon emissions of my flight to and from France through a contribution to Climate Stewards. What’s your next step?
it mean I can’t hack it in the real world? Probably. It also means that I haven’t found anywhere as special as North Idaho in which to spend my precious days. 7B is all of that and more. 7B is just a number and a letter smashed together, but to get what 7B really means, you have to spend some time here in Bonner County. You have to talk with the old timers who were here before you, and to the newcomers that are drawn here for various reasons of their own. Somewhere along the line, they all crossed the Long Bridge for the first time and felt the magic we all feel daily. I can sum it up best with an experience I had in Los Angeles one day while I was still working in the film industry. I never changed
my license plate to a California plate, mainly because my friends back home would’ve disowned me, so I still rocked the 7B on my old clunker. I was on the Pacific Coast Highway outside of Santa Monica, stopped at a red light. Suddenly a car zoomed up beside me and honked, making the universal “roll down the window” sign. Used to L.A. traffic and the crazies that roam the roads, I warily rolled my passenger window down and expected an onslaught of profanity because of a traffic faux pas I must’ve pulled. Instead, an attractive woman in her thirties smiled at me and said, “7B! Sandpoint!” “Yeah?” I said, confused, still expecting profanity. “I grew up in Garfield Bay,”
she said. “Glad to see a sane face down here.” The light turned green and we both zoomed away to our lives. I never did figure out who she was, but I’m sure if we had a few more moments to talk, we would’ve figured out some people we knew in common. In a city full of people who refuse to look you in the eye, we made instant friends over a license plate, over a letter and a number. Life’s funny like that.
Young adults brought their passion and climate change demands throughout COP21. Photo by Gary Payton.
7B, con’t from page 7 Sandpoint had been designated as the Bonner County seat.” What it means to be a local People who live in beautiful places like to share inside secrets with one another. To be a “local” means something different for everyone. It could mean that a bartender knows your name and what you drink, or that you can’t get through the grocery store without stopping to gab with acquaintances. For me, being local is a state of mind just as it is a circumstance of geography. I’ve lived and worked all over the country, yet I keep ending up back in Sandpoint where I was born and raised. Life just makes more sense here. Does
Both the Bonner and Boundary County History Museums helped provide information for this article.
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Dollar Beers! 8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Good until the keg’s dry Monarch Open Mic 6-8pm @ Monarch Mountain Coffee Hosted by Scott Reid. Held on the first and third Thursday of every month
David Raitt and the Baja Boogie Band 5:30pm @ Di Luna’s Cafe Raitt is the son of Broadway star John Raitt and the brother of multiple Grammy award winner Bonnie Raitt. Tickets are $15 in advance, and $18 on the day of the show. 208-263-0846 Procrastinator’s Holiday Sale 10am - 1pm @ Evans Brothers Coffee featuring local artisans offering unique, handmade gifts Bad Holiday Sweater Party and Group Art Opening 6-10pm @ Evans Brothers Coffee Wear your worst holiday sweater, come hungry for fire-roasted brick oven pizza, Eichardt’s bar, and DJ Mercury Live Music w/ John Firshi 5-7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority Live Music w/ Chris Lynch 6pm - 9pm @ Arlo’s Ristorante
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Thursday Night Football Party Throwback Thurs 5pm @ Laughing Dog Brewery 7-11pm @ 219 Lou Rock 103 Thursday Night Foot- Featuring live mus ball Party hosted by Tracy Bell and friends, $2 dom featuring the Tampa Bay Buca- Join in playing in th night setting every neers at the St. Louis Rams Live Mus Live Music w/ Justin Lantrip Lil’ Smoki 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery 9pm @ The Singer/Songwriter in a comfortA great able, relaxed setting band base Live Music w/ Devon Wade 6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Missoula, M Throw down some beers while listen- will rock th ing to this local country artist Live Music w/ Patrice Webb “Die Hard 7-9pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall 5:30 & 8p A great folk, country, swing Yippie kay and blues recording artist in this str Live Music w/ Ben and Cadie series. Me 7-9pm @ Bernd Barrel town early Great originals and covers by this duo Live Music w/ Justin Lantrip 7-9pm @ La Rosa Club Singer/Songwriter from Sandpoint Winter Prom at the Niner 9pm @ 219 Lounge Dress up and win prizes. There will be a DJ, disco balls, price discounts and all around fun. Don’t forget the corsage!
Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee Meets every Sunday at 9am. All are welcome
Game Night at the Niner 9pm @ 219 Lounge Come down and take part in game night with
Monday Night Blues Jam w/ Truck Mills 7:30pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Trivia Night 7pm - 9pm @ MickDuff’s Jules Art On The Go 4pm - 7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority Join Julie Ellis for a few hours of recycled art crafting and make your own masterpiece from recycled products Bingo Night 6:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Bingo, beer, popcorn, friendly bartenders, a nice courtyard. Seriously, what else do you need? Dollar Beers! 8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Good until the keg’s dry
Karaoke Night 10pm - Midnight @ 219 Lounge
Avalanche Workshop: “Knowledge i 6pm @ Forest Service Building (1602 The Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Cent workshops and screening of the above
Santa Skis All day @ Schweitzer Come see jolly old St. Nick carve some turns at Schweitzer. Santa will lead a balloon parade with Mrs. Claus and also hear last-minute wishes at the Selkirk Lodge
Charley Pa 7:30pm @ Come on only, the C
Throwback Thursdays at the 7-11pm @ 219 Lounge Featuring live music with Brian and friends, $2 domestics and $ Join in playing in this informal o night setting every Thursday nig
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December 17 - 24, 2015
ck Thursdays at the 219 @ 219 Lounge live music with Brian Jacobs ds, $2 domestics and $3 crafts. aying in this informal open mic ing every Thursday night
A weekly entertainment guide to keep you on your toes. To list your event free, please send an email to calendar@sandpointreader.com. Reader recommended
Star Wars Premiere Costume Party 3pm @ Sandpoint Library Celebrate the premiere week of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” with a costume party. Free and open to the public. May the force be with you
Monarch Open Mic Night 6-8pm @ Monarch Mtn. Hosted by Scott Reid. Open to all. Held the first and third Thursdays of every month
ive Music w/ the il’ Smokies pm @ The Hive A great bluegrass and based out of Missoula, Mont. that will rock the house
Live Music w/ Marty Perron and Doug Bond Pet Photos with Santa 3-6pm @ Pet Lodge (Kootenai) 5-7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority Printed photos are available for Guitar/mandolin duo with a great energy a $5 donation DJ Music at the Niner Live Music w/ Chris Lynch 9pm - 12am @ 219 Lounge 6pm - 9pm @ Arlo’s Ristorante Men’s Shopping Night All day @ Downtown Sandpoint Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes Men, start your engines, this is a night for you! 7pm @ La Rosa Club “Die Hard” part 1 and 2 Beginning Photography Class for Adults 5:30 & 8pm @ Panida Little Theater 2pm @ Sandpoint Library Yippie kay aye, it’s John McClane back Learn to take quality pictures for the holidays using proper n this strangely festive action movie lighting and exposure techniques. Pre-register at 208-627-5790 series. Men, hit the shopping downLego Club – 2pm @ Sandpoint Library own early and hit the Panida after Create with Legos. Children ages 3-12 and parents welcome
Live Music w/ the Wagoner Band 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Mike and Sadie Wagoner are a father-daughter duo that sing and play not only acoustic versions of many classic tunes but also churn out some interesting original songs. Mike plays the guitar while Sadie rounds things out on a djembe drum Winter Romantic Dine and Dance Getaway 6:30pm @ Talus Rock Retreat (291 Syringa Heights Rd.) Let Talus Rock Retreat play host to a winter getaway night with Racheal complete with a gourmet dinner, dancing to live music, and lodging. Enjoy a roaring fire, soak in the hot tub, and more. Cost is $99 per person; additional enhancements available for purchase. 208-255-8458
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owledge is Power.” ng (1602 Ontario St.) nche Center conducts free the above film
Live Music w/ Goats with Headlamps 5-7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
harley Packard & Friends :30pm @ Eichardt’s Pub ome on down and see the one, the nly, the Charley Packard.
ys at the 219 e with Brian Jacobs tics and $3 crafts. nformal open mic ursday night
Santa Skis All day @ Schweitzer Come see jolly old St. Nick carve some turns at Schweitzer. Santa will lead a balloon parade with Mrs. Claus and also hear last-minute wishes at the Selkirk Lodge
Dec. 25 Merry Christmas! The Reader wishes you all a wonderful day and thanks for supporting our local effort to bring you an alternative voice in the community Dec. 26 MickDuff’s Christmas Party with Harold’s IGA and Josh Hedlund Dec. 31 Sandpoint’s favorite dance band Tennis plays @ MickDuff’s for New Year’s Eve Dec. 31 NYC rock group The London Souls play New Year’s Eve @ the Hive.
121 N 1st AVE • DOWNTOWN SANDPOINT • (208) 263-0707 December 17, 2015 /
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Open for Dinner 7 days a week @ 4:30pm
Open Tuesday - Saturday
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FEATURE From refugee to Idaho farmer: a story of humanity By Jen Heller Reader Contributor
It was the wet and muddy spring of 2011. En route to an agricultural internship in Sandpoint, I stopped over in Boise for a few months to get my feet under me. I’d been through 10 states and as many countries in the previous year, and it seemed like a good idea to slow down and give back somewhere along the road. So, I started looking for an organization that needed some volunteer hours. Allow me this confession: I love nothing better than throwing the doors of my life open to refugees from all struggles, religions and DNA sequences. Ultimately, when life comes down to it, we’re not Hutus or Mormons or Libertarians. We’re all just people. I’ve been scratching my head over some of the bewildering moves our county officials have taken recently, and I couldn’t help but wonder: How is it that we feel so comfortable playing Billy Goats Gruff here on our Long Bridge? Is it the whole “we were here first” game? Because... let’s be honest, that’s rubbish. Most scientists and religious leaders agree at this point that the human race did not originate in North America—which makes all of us who live here in Sandpoint likely descendants of some refugee. All of these thoughts made me think back to the wet and muddy spring of 2011, when I first began falling in love with Idaho, and I dug around my cluttered journals and computer, until I found this: March 26, 2011. Every once in a while, trudging through life, I realize that I’ve gone weeks without looking out a window, and suddenly life is bright again. I’m having one of those monthlong moments, where I feel like grabbing people by the shoulders and shaking them and shouting, “Isn’t life great?” I stare at people’s faces at stoplights to see if they feel the same way, but everyone else steers around me in their swift
and silent car flocks, onto the highway and off again, quieter than the ducks laughing in the skyways above. So these days I allow myself to drift off the highways onto the back roads, just waiting for the next bend, a glimpse of beauty around the next corner. And, often as not, I’m not disappointed. In Idaho, God hides heaven imprudently, only about three minutes off the highway. Gifts are barely even wrapped. Every dirt road leads to a surprise sun-speckled valley crowned with scattered mesas, or a pasture of quiet cattle, whose calves’ astonished faces tell me my little red car might be the first they’ve seen. Southwest Idaho is a beautiful place; a strange mix of high desert and forest, hills and flat spaces. The mountains lie low and velvety in every direction, like an unmade bed, soft and curvaceous, seductive. Between them lie so many places of history, but few people know where to find them anymore. I had to search hard to find the community of Mayfield, which used to provide produce to Oregon Trail pioneers, just four crumbling wood and stone and shingle buildings from the 1830s behind someone’s pasture fence. The quiet dance hall has some untalented graffiti on its walls. Lonely settlers used to walk or ride over here from 20 miles away for events. Or there’s Bonneville Point, from which the whole Treasure Valley is visible in its strangely wooded glory, Boise’s buildings in the midst of the mountains and low desert brush, cliffs and clouds knitting together in a sight too big to take in, a 30mile panoramic. There are few places where I sense “something bigger” than myself more easily than where eight little people work a small farm acreage in the Surprise Valley, along the Oregon Trail in southeast Boise. This is Create Common Good, formerly known as Common Ground, the over-
Two refugees-turned-farmers at Create Common Good in southern Idaho. Photo by Jan Covey Schmidt. sized garden of a local nonprofit that employs refugees to meet local needs, all while learning English and being trained in future “employable” skills. While I wait for my farming internship to start in mid-April, I’ve been volunteering here two days a week, shoveling dirt alongside the refugee staff and trying to encourage them in their quest to speak more English. These people have been living in and out of refugee camps for most of my lifetime. P., from Congo like me, used to be a pastor and a teacher before fleeing the country—his ethnic heritage gave him the wrong nose shape and put him in soldiers’ gunsights. This guy has a higher level of education than I’ll ever reach, and even though he is pulling weeds by hand in secondhand clothes in the coldest weather he has ever seen, the man is smiling, and usually whistling. He can’t communicate his emotions, his longings, his thoughts with most of the people around him. Having been there, I know he is terribly alone. But, he is safe. And because he is safe, he is home. The seven folks from Bhutan are part of a people group that was displaced in a conflict at the end of the 1980s. The way it
has been explained to me, their people group emigrated from Nepal to Bhutan hundreds of years ago. However, in the last century, the Bhutan kingdom decided that they could no longer be citizens. They were given the choice of signing a declaration that they weren’t citizens, or spending significant time in jail. About 25 percent of them were forcibly removed from the country before the international community stepped in. India took them in for a while, then placed them all in dump trucks and literally dumped them out across the Nepalese border. Unwanted on every side, they’ve lived in camps ever since. Now they are here, finally in houses of their own, men wearing girls’ used jackets and woolen pink hats, whole and remarkably happy. At 66, K. is the oldest in the group. He wears traditional skinny linen pants that are tight and form-fitting, like an imitation of the rocker jeans that young men wear in cafés downtown. Most 60-year-olds I’ve known would be angry to find themselves still working the ground, shoveling dirt for seven hours a day, three to five days a week. Surely he is tired and sore. But I’ve rarely seen him any way other than lively and
positive, with a healthy dose of mischievousness in the mix. When it’s time for English class, he’ll turn to us and say, “English, no!” with a petulant tone like that of a toddler, but with a smile on his face. We all laugh. I tease him that he only speaks “little, little English” because he only eats a “little, little lunch”—a banana or a mango every day, sandwiched by rice for breakfast and dinner. No wonder he’s so skinny. But he is alive, he is here, and he is working. I wish we could communicate better, so I could hear his philosophy on life—what the colored dot he has painted on his forehead means to him, how he feels about his Promised Land now that he is here, and what makes him smile every day. These people are so beautiful, it makes my heart swell. I stop sometimes and lean on my shovel and look at them, and at the bluffs that line the Oregon Trail behind me, and at the snow-covered mountain peaks in front of me. Their impenetrable chatter mixes with the honking of the Canadian geese, flying in just under the ridge into the tree-sheltered creek nearby. They are Idahoans, and they are home. December 17, 2015 /
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By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff
ones with more d e v lo r fo ’s it hen ggernaut carju sy, especially w a g e in r p e p v o e n sh is e n g onli ppin pend om exists. The Christmas sho .c n zo a m f the iceberg. S A o , p ly ti te e a n th u st rt o ju F s into a sea of s, but that’ r st te re unusual taste. e te te in to e le rr b a a iz e li e most b azon, and you’r m A d ries items for th ir e W f o r envisioned. inner layers e e v e th n in a g fk n a K lo r o o to ft likes of Lovecra e th t a th ss e n d ma
Hutzler 571 banana slicer Edible insects sampler pack
“How to Avoid Huge Ships” by John W. Trimmer Captain John Trimmer probably had perfectly noble, life-saving intentions when he wrote his 1993 ship-avoidance opus. Then the Internet came around. Charmed by its matter-of-fact title, pranksters began flooding its Amazon page with hilarious reviews in 2000, a tradition that continues to this day. Amazon user Dan warns shoppers the book is “TOO informative” in his one-star review: “[I] read this book before going on vacation, and I couldn’t find my cruise liner in the port. Vacation ruined.” Graham Thomas, meanwhile, warns readers to check the title before purchase: “It was only after it arrived that I looked closely at the title and realized it said ‘How to Avoid Huge SHIPS.’ A simple error that means I am still treading on massive examples of canine excrement. Having said that, I read the book anyway, and I’m pleased to say I’m not even having near-misses with huge ships anymore.” 14 /
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Believe it or not, there are some compelling arguments for why we should all be eating bugs. For one thing, 100 grams of cricket have the same amount of protein and more vitamins and minerals than 100 grams of chicken, beef or pork. What’s more, farming one pound of insects requires far less land, food and water than one pound of traditional livestock, making them more cost-effective and environmentally friendly.
If you’re convinced we’ll be biting into cricket burgers within the next few decades, perhaps it’s time to acquire a taste with some delicious snacks. The edible insects sampler pack features great flavors like barbecue, bacon and cheese or chocolate-dipped. And if cricket legs between the teeth become a problem, a bulk supply of toothpicks is only a few clicks away.
Slicing bananas: The chore everyone hates. How many times have you prepared to make a fruit salad or a bowl of cereal, only to be cowed by the difficulty of this despised task? Take heart, weary pilgrim: The Hutzler banana slicer is here to save the day. “Faster, safer than using a knife!” boasts the Amazon listing, and it is. Uncle Joe’s hand stump is warning enough after my family foolishly sliced bananas without proper equipment one dark Thanksgiving Day. “Kids love slicing their own bananas!” the ad copy continues, and they do. In my experience, the only thing that tears children away from their Playstations and iPhones is the non-stop thrill of cutting fresh fruit.
55-gallon drum of lube Do you find yourself constantly running out of personal lubricant right when you need it the most? Probably not. But if this describes your strange life, perhaps a 55-gallon drum of lube would be a wise investment. As luck would have it, just such an item is for sale at Amazon. For a mere $1,415.67 (you save $1,384.33, nearly 50 percent!), you can own 55 gallons of Passion Lube’s unique water- and silicone-based hybrid formula. According to the product information,
it stays wet and is non-sticky, which strikes me as the basic point of lube. But hey, good to know! There’s no question this product will make you a more versatile human being. In fact, it’s hard to pinpoint the best thing about owning a 55-gallon drum of lube—aside from telling people, “I own a 55-gallon drum of lube,” of course. My guess is it’s the ability to make a quick and easy slip-and-slide in the kitchen, but that’s just me.
Holiday films to kick you into the spirit By Cameron Rasmusson and Chris Balboni
For many people, the Christmas season hasn’t truly begun until they’ve watched their favorite cinematic celebrations of the holiday. Reader film contributor Chris Balboni and editor Cameron Rasmusson are no different. Here are a few of their essential holiday movies and TV episodes.
Cameron’s Picks “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993) The perfect film to bridge the Halloween and Christmas seasons and still a technical marvel, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is one of the most visually impressive stop-motion animation films ever made. But even the most gorgeous movie is empty without story and characterization. “Nightmare” delivers on that front, too, offering both laughs and sentiment when Halloween Town resident Jack Skellington discovers Christmas Town and decides to celebrate the holiday himself.
he expects a routine Christmas vacation. That’s blown away when terrorists led by iconic villain Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) seize control of the Nakatomi Corporation headquarters, trapping him, his wife and hundreds of hostages inside. McClane escapes and begins a one-man operation to take them down. “Die Hard” is a near-perfect distillation of thrills, humor and a little holiday cheer: “Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho!”
Chris’ picks “Christmas Vacation” (1989) “Christmas Vacation” finds Clark and the Griswold family at home in the suburbs of Chicago during the holiday season. As previous “Vacation” films have shown, things always go horribly awry for Clark, and his descent into madness is gradual but inevitable. Written by the legendary John Hughes (“Ferris Bueller,” “Breakfast Club”) the film is very much the feel-good comedy he’s known for, but with a glaze of adult humor that makes it stand out from typical family-fare. Chevy
Chase is at the height of his comedic game here, and Randy Quaid steals every scene with his appearance as Clark’s disgusting redneck cousin Eddy.
allows you to hate him just slightly less by the bullet-riddled finale.
“Bad Santa” (2003)
“A Very Murray Christmas” is worth a look if only for its absolute absurdity. Bill Murray plays himself, trapped in a hotel as a snow storm brings New York City to a halt. He’s supposed to be taping a TV special, but with the storm raging outside, nobody can make it. So Murray ventures through the hotel, singing with and finding solace in the holiday spirit of the random guests he stumbles into. On the surface, it’s a musical, but one that doesn’t take itself seriously because ... Bill Murray. The film is rife with holiday gimmicks that might otherwise be easily dismissed. However, the endless parade of cameos and the sense that this is wish fulfillment for the real-life Murray make this a short but fun ride. Plus, if you’ve ever wanted to see Bill Murray sing “Let it Snow” with support from George Clooney and Miley Cyrus, it’s got that going for it too. Which is nice.
It’s easy to pick “Bad Santa” for a Christmas movie if you’re sick of holiday clichés. It’s an unflinchingly dark comedy about Willie Stokes, an alcoholic, sex-addicted, suicidal mall Santa-for-hire. Stokes ends every Christmas by robbing his employers with the help of his dwarf assistant Marcus, who is clearly the only reason Stokes is still alive. It’s the anti-Christmas-film film, essentially. That said, there’s some true comedic gold found here. Thornton’s performance is brilliantly poker-faced, making everything from his drunken stupors to his unfettered hatred for children all the more hilarious. And there’s a poetry to the foulness of the dialogue (co-written by the Coen brothers) that results in more than a few unexpected laughs. As Stokes accidentally develops a relationship with one obstinate child, there’s even a slight character arc that
“A Very Murray Christmas” (2015)
“Mystery Science Theater 3000: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” (1991) The Christmas season has inspired a few great movies but also plenty of saccharine drivel. “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” is one of the latter and would be completely unwatchable if it weren’t for cult classic “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” a TV show that skewers awful movies with biting wit. “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” sees jolly ol’ Saint Nicholas and two horrible child actors kidnapped by Martians, who hope to cheer up their depressed alien children. MST3K wisecrackers Joel Robinson, Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot give the film their usual hilarious treatment, mocking the laughable costumes, atrocious acting and the most insufferable comic relief character ever put to film (seriously, Jar Jar Binks has nothing on Droppo) with relish. “Die Hard” (1988) People sometimes forget that the action classic “Die Hard” is also a Christmas classic, using the holiday to distinguish its setting and enliven its set pieces. As far as I’m concerned, no December is complete without a viewing of the 1988 film that launched Bruce Willis’ career and redefined the action genre for an entire decade. When NYPD officer John McClane visits Los Angeles in the hopes of reconnecting with his estranged wife and child,
Friday, Dec. 18 @ 7pm
Shop Hard then Kill the Chill after Men’s Night Shopping in the Panida Little Theater —$3 drafts and free movies—
“die Hard” @ 5:30pm “die Hard II” @ 8pm tuesday, Dec. 22 @ 7pm
“Elf” The movie
Includes Sing-a-long – Free Elf participation prizes to the first 50
thursday, Dec. 31 @ 8pm
“casablanca”
Classic Movie and Champagne Toast!
Saturday, Jan. 9 @ 8pm
Nu Jack City in concert
Banff tickets on sale now on our website! December 17, 2015 /
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The Straight Poop:
o h a d I h t r o N n i es s es n i s u b y l d n e i r f og d r o f The quest
By Drake the Dog Reader Pet Columnist
Where am I taking my humans today? It’s a snowy night in Sandpoint, and I’m all decked out with a bright light secured on my red puffy coat. The Eve’s Leaves staff has volunteered their pets to harness up the sleigh to take the Mister and me to men’s shopping night. On Zorro, Coco, Mo, Bridger, Barkley and Taz! On Gracie, Meiling, BB, Squeaky, Krutzy, Shaggy, Truffle and Cletus! Dash away, dash away, dash away all to Eve’s Leaves, located at 326 N. First Ave. As I guide the sleigh, I can sniff out fashion and a dog friendly shop a mile away! Eve’s Leaves specializes in casually elegant, comfortable clothing for work, home and play. And any item can be paired with jeans. We are greeted by Marilyn Sabella, who has owned the shop for over 35 years, and has been dog friendly from day one. Back in the day, Marilyn had a Golden Retriever, Oris. She lived only 10 blocks from the shop, and there were no enforced leash laws. Mr. Oris would stroll downtown and visit Marilyn during the workday. Sometimes he would hang out, help her make a sale, visit with customers or make the rounds and visit other friends downtown. Then he would walk home.During the holidays, the shop offers wine, chocolate, cookies and sparkling water for all customers. There is always a clean fresh water bowl and treats for the dogs. No wonder why the scene at EL is so dog-gone friendly. The staff all have four-footed children, who will be invited to Yappy Hour this summer. Marilyn has Zorro, a cat that thinks he is a dog. Her sister Susan’s cat is Gracie, and Sonja has the cutest little black kitty, Coco. Mary and Judy have Shih Tzus, Meiling and Princess Beatrice (BB). Mo, a Black Lab resides with Barbro, and Verna’s cat is Taz —short for Tasmanian devil! Corene’s family includes four Dachshunds—Squeaky, Krutzy, Shaggy and Truffle—and a Bloodhound, Cletus. Betty’s Yellow Lab Bridger, is BFf with Barkley, their kitty. And they are all moonlighting pulling the sled tonight! Guys, to make your holiday shopping easier, dial in on this fashion trivia from Marilyn. She says, “In order to make a wardrobe work, you need just five tops for every pair of bottoms in your closet, 16 /
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and six, seven and eight are even better!” This barking’ combo of separates makes getting dressed in the morning and packing for travel easier!” Sonja has a container of magic pins (not treats for me), and she will alter any full price item at no charge. When she lived in California, she made and designed costumes for Knott’s Berry Farm and Disneyland. And she created my white satin coat and bow tie for the Reader benefit concert! As I sit on the floor looking in the full-length mirror adjusting my holiday bow tie, Marilyn is showing the Mister items from the Missus’ wish list. The Missus and I came in earlier, and she picked out the items that I gave a paws up to. Now all the Mister has to do is have another piece or two of chocolate, complete the transaction, take the
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The perfect gift for your thinking friends
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complimentary wrapped packages home and put them under the tree! That was easy! Gift certificates are also available. Woof! Woof! Cheers! Eve’s Leaves doggie fashion rules: •Wipe your paws on the welcome mat. •Practice your ‘paws up’ technique— needed for instant fashion approval. •Good inside behavior lowers shopping stress. •Offer suggestions to accessorize outfits—check out the purses, scarves, hats, gloves, and jewelry ... but don’t chew them. •Have a great fashion experience, complete with a treat. • Train for the runway! Marilyn Sabella with Drake.
MUSIC
This week’s RLW by Ben Olson
Christmas Carols By Melannie Wurm Reader Contributor
In honor of the Christmas carols you are undoubtedly unable to escape (does every store really have to be playing “Jingle Bell Rock?”), here is a brief history of two such spirited holiday tunes and an opportunity to view the sound of Christmas cheer in new light. The song known today as “Carol of the Bells” has one of the farthest-reaching histories of all Christmas tunes. The haunting four-note melody at its core comes from a pre-Christian Ukrainian folk song called “Shchedrivky,” which celebrated the coming of the New Year, held mid-April, and the return of spring. The original words speak not of snow but of lambs and swallows. When Christianity arrived in the Ukraine, the New Year was moved to Jan. 13 and new traditions were introduced. Young girls would go doorto-door on New Years’ Eve singing songs of well-wishing, “Shchedrivky” among them. At each home, they were given treats and baked goods by their fellow villagers. Years passed and “Shchedrivky” faded into history, where it remained until 1916. In that year, Ukraine was embroiled in political upheaval. World War I was in full swing and the Ukrainian War for Independence would soon break the country into pieces. In the midst of this uncertainty,
Franz Gruber.
And the stories behind them
a choir director commissioned composer, Mykola Leontovich to write a song based on Ukrainian folk melodies. While his exact motivations cannot be known, it is easy to imagine a man hoping to remind an uneasy people of their shared history. Leontovich discovered “Shchedrivky” in an anthology and composed a new choral work around its melody. The Ukrainian National Chorus took up the song and performed it throughout the world. When American choir director and arranger Peter Wilhousky heard the song a few years later, he was reminded of bells. He devised his own English lyrics and, in 1936, published an English version celebrating Christmas and the holiday season. “Carol of the Bells,” as it was named in English, became popular almost immediately. It has been recorded and adapted by many artists in a great number of styles. Today there are at least 35 different versions available. While its popularity soared worldwide, “Shchedrivky” is still sung around New Years Eve in Ukraine. There it continues to signify the promise of a new year and better things to come. “Silent Night” is a song surrounded by myth. A particularly popular version says it was born out of necessity when an organ ceased to play after it may or may not have been sabotaged by malicious mice. The truth is much more simple. A young Joseph Mohr.
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When’s the last time you read “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry? If your answer is “too long” or “never” or “huh?” put this paper down and go out and get yourself a copy. Do it! “The Little Prince” is the most translated book in the French language. With a timeless charm, it tells the story of a little boy who leaves the safety of his own tiny planet to travel the universe, learning the vagaries of adult behaviour through a series of extraordinary encounters. It’s a book you hate to put down. Cherish every page, folks.
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German priest named Joseph Mohr penned the words in Mariapfarr, a small Austrian village. The poem is thought to be inspired by the quiet snowy countryside surrounding him. Two years later, Joseph visited his friend, a musician and schoolteacher named Franz Gruber. He brought with him his poem and a request. Joseph asked Franz to compose a guitar accompaniment so that the new song could be sung at midnight mass. It was Dec. 24. Franz must have been excellent under pressure because only hours later, the two stood in St. Nicholas Church and, with a choir behind them, performed “Stille Nacht” for the first time. Perhaps the most powerful event in the history of “Silent Night” wasn’t its creation or its rise to popularity, but another Christmas Eve, a few decades later. It was the end of the year 1914 and a divided Europe was engaged in the largest and most devastating conflict to date. Men hunkered behind trenches for 440 miles of Western Front,
Fans of Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon will enjoy one of his side collaborations with members of the unable to break through, unable band Collections of Colonies of Bees, in a whole new band called to stop fighting. Volcano Choir. On Christmas Night, in The sound is very close to Bon clusters all along the western Iver’s work, with a slight emphasis front, the German soldiers on more breakdowns and digreslit candles and began to sing sions musically. There is a beautiful, Christmas carols. When they haunting quality to the songs which sang “Silent Night,” the British both please the ear and encourage the soldiers on the other side listener to find their own digressions. joined in. It was the carol both Overall, both albums Volcano sides knew well. Witnesses say Choir have rethe English and German words leased are mastercould be heard together. Soon ful. 2009’s “Unmap” is probably afterward troops from both my favorite of the sides crossed no man’s land two. (the area between the trenches). They exchanged gifts and collected their dead for burial. The unofficial ceasefire lastThe latest edition to the Termied through the night and into nator franchise takes us back to the Christmas Day. For one day, in beginning. the midst of a war tearing the In “Terminator: Genisys,” diworld apart, all was calm. rected by Alan Taylor, the storyline follows the 1984 debut of “Terminator” in the fact that Kyle Reese is sent back in time to protect Sarah Connor (played by the fetching Emilia Clarke). It differs, however, in that the timeline of the past has been dramatically altered—Connor was raised by a Terminator since she was a girl and her and Reese must now deal with some confusing time/space anomalies. Hint: watch the first “Terminator” to get a legup on “Genisys.” And yes, Arnie’s in this one, looking a little old, but “not obsolete.”
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Crossword Solution
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w o N & Then compiled by
Ben Olson
Each week, we feature a new photograph taken from the same vantage point as one taken long ago. See how we’ve changed, and how we’ve stayed the same. Historical information provided and verified by Bonner County Museum staff and volunteers. The Museum is located at 611 S. Ella — (208) 263-2344.
This is a tinted postcard from the 1930s. It is a view of First Avenue in Sandpoint, looking south.
c. 1930
Copyright www.mirroreyes.com
CROSSWORD ACROSS
The same view today. This image taken from Sandpoint Property Management’s web cam, mounted atop the Snow River building at First and Cedar.
2015
fugacious
Woorf tdhe Week
/fyoo-GEY-shuh s/
[adjective] 1. Lasting but a short time; fleeting.
“The Reader is certainly not a fugacious enterprise.”
Corrections: In last week’s “Reel Injun” article, it was stated that the film series at the Library would occur once a week, when it is in fact once a month through March. 18 /
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1. Stake 5. A long narrow opening 10. Tibetan monk 14. Ride the waves 15. Passageway 16. Dash 17. Occupation 19. Essence 20. Clairvoyant’s gift 21. Swindle 22. Promises 23. Sewing tools 25. Fancy 27. Uncooked 28. Reflected 31. Fourpence 34. Lines of verse 35. How old you are 36. Parental sister 37. Get hitched 38. Anagram of “Ties” 39. Sick 40. Filaments 41. Loamy deposit 42. Relating to a newborn 44. Glass container 45. Rowed 46. Ecstasy 50. Nonsense 52. Double-reed instruments 54. Soak 55. Twin sister of Ares 56. Overstate 58. Skin disease
Solution on page 17 59. Locale 60. How old we are 61. Indian music 62. Glacial ridge 63. Joke
10. Smooth, in music 11. Uneducated person 12. Sitcom set in Korea 13. Picnic insects 18. Panache 22. Not yours DOWN 24. “Darn!” 1. Type of poplar tree 26. Legion 2. Medical professional 28. Type of mushroom 3. Metaphor or hyperbole 29. Auspices 4. F 30. D D D D 5. A type of nut 31. Acquire 6. Ascends 32. Govern 7. Largest continent 33. Witnessing 8. Haberdashers 34. Contradictions 9. Barbie’s beau
37. Small amount 38. Classify 40. Not cool 41. Expire 43. Queasiness 44. Coastal diving bird 46. Scoundrel 47. Habitual practice 48. Anagram of “Store” 49. Excrete 50. Listen 51. Killer whale 53. Financial institution 56. Night before 57. British rule in India
When I think of all the hours and hours of my life I have spent watching television, it makes me realize, Man, I am really rich with television.
SHOP 7B
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