Reader_Dec7_2023

2 / R / December 7, 2023

DEAR READERS,

The week in random review

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

weird mail

By their nature, newspaper offices receive a lot of communications. Most are useful to the gathering of news and events, others are warm-hearted, including notes of thanks, encouragement and even donations. Still others are not-sowelcome, in which category we place various brickbats, insults and (on rare occasions) veiled and not-so-veiled threats. There’s yet another genre of communique, and that falls in the spectrum of just plain weird, a prime example of which we found slipped under our door the other day.

Put simply, it was a postcard advertisement for a 2024 calendar of “Social Justice Kittens.” That’s right, 12 months of pictures of “adorably defiant” kitties who are “heroically declaring their righteous anger” at the various inequities afoot in the world. As one fluffball puts it in the sample image of the calendar’s cover, “I have been too quiet. Too peaceful.

Too passive. The fires need to burn.” Apparently not a joke, the calendar comes from LiarTownUSA.com, which is the website of Sean Tejaratchi, whose musings — some far more offensive than others — on Tumblr made their way into the 2017 book, LiarTown: The First Four Years, which The New Yorker described as “brilliant fake news.” As for the Social Justice Kittens, LiarTownUSA invites holiday shoppers to, “Ignore the privileged garbage kittens eagerly supporting the status quo in other calendars! Let these woke, whiskered warriors (and their pals the pandering pups) inspire you, or give them as a gift to a loved one as a unique souvenir of the modern social justice era!”

slang worth retaining

Knowing my penchant both for weird words and colonial American history, my dad recently shared an article with me that lists a dozen or so pre-revolutionary slang words that should be resurrected in modern usage.

Originally published by Mental Floss, some of the highlights are “kedge,” which means “doing well” but sounds weirdly post-post-modern despite its 300-year-plus pedigree; “chuffy,” meaning “surly” or “impolite”; “scranch,” which comes from the Dutch term schransen and is used to describe the sound and action of cracking something with your teeth; and, “gut-foundered,” which is an evocative way of saying “very hungry.” Perhaps my favorites, though, are “twistical,” meaning “unfair” or “immoral,” and best of all is “circumbendibus,” a fantastic word for “unnecessarily roundabout” that should certainly be applied to more than a few instances of local politics.

words to live by

“Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.”

— Jules Renard, French author (1864-1910) from The Portable Curmudgeon, compiled and edited by Jon Winokur.

One tradition we’d like to keep doing each year is offering up some of our pages for holiday designs so our readers can use them for wrapping paper. This week, the cover and the center spread are both dedicated to this purpose, so please feel free to wrap your gifts in the Reader this year.

There’s nothing quite so depressing as rain in the wintertime. It’s like seeing that the winning lottery numbers were all one digit away from your picks; you get excited for a second, then spend the rest of the day thinking about what could have been. I shudder to think of how many inches of snow this atmospheric river of rain would’ve been if only the temperature were a bit cooler. It’s so bad, Schweitzer even had to close the mountain for the first part of the week. If you have any pull with the weather gods, now is the time to speak to them.

Finally, here’s another reminder about our 208 Fiction contest. If you’d like to win $150, send us your short fiction stories that are exactly 208 words long (not including title or byline). Each entry is $5. See Page 21 for more information.

– Ben Olson, publisher

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

sandpointreader.com Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com Editorial: Zach Hagadone (Editor) zach@sandpointreader.com Soncirey Mitchell (Staff Writer) soncirey@sandpointreader.com Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey (emeritus) Cameron Rasmusson (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus) Advertising: Kelsey Kizer kelsey@sandpointreader.com Contributing Artists: Ben Olson (cover design), Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey, Bill Borders Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Soncirey Mitchell, Lorraine H. Marie, Brenden Bobby, Christina Lords, Clark Corbin, Rep. Lauren Necochea, Emily Erickson, Jim Payne, Barbara Russell, Karissa Huntsman, Mark Reiner Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com Printed weekly at: Tribune Publishing Co. Lewiston, ID Subscription Price: $165 per year Web Content: Keokee The Sandpoint Reader is a weekly publication owned and operated by Ben Olson and Keokee. It is devoted to the arts, entertainment, politics and lifestyle in and around Sandpoint, Idaho.

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

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

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

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

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

Email letters to: letters@sandpointreader.com Check us out on the web at: sandpointreader.com About the Cover

This week’s cover is wrapping paper! Use it on gifts you give to the Reader staff. Just kidding. But seriously...

December 7, 2023 / R / 3

NEWS

Continued hostilities at the BOCC

Commissioners discuss work environment, finances and offensive language

By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff The Bonner County board of commissioners covered a number of issues at the forefront of the public’s consciousness during their regular Tuesday business meeting Dec. 5, including the Aug. 31 lawsuit between Clerk Michael Rosedale and the Fair Board, the use of Zoom in public meetings and various aspects of county finances.

The meeting opened with two motions by Commissioner Steve Bradshaw and Chairman Luke Omodt to amend the order of agenda to move the public comment section and commissioner reports to the end of the meeting.

“The public need to be able to speak before getting into the agenda, as this board is picking and choosing what items people can comment on,” said Commissioner Asia Williams, further stating that working members of the public might not have time to sit through the entire meeting to make a comment.

The motions passed with Williams dissenting after a chorus of protests from meeting attendees.

Williams herself presented three action items, beginning with a discussion of the county’s workplace environment. Her extensive explanation — which occurred before her actual motion — encompassed multiple issues brought forward in past meetings, including Omodt’s use of Idaho Code 31-802 to submit public records requests for Williams’ emails in his capacity as a commissioner.

I.C. 31-802 gives the commissioners the authority “[t]o supervise the official conduct of all county officers and appointed boards or commissions of the county charged with assessing, collecting, safekeeping, management or disbursement of the public moneys and revenues.”

Williams previously petitioned legal counsel to settle whether or not this statute gave one commissioner the power to audit another.

“Legal opinion came back, 4 / R / December 7, 2023

and the answer from legal was, ‘BOCC overstepped its authority when it attempted to audit Commissioner Williams’ email account. To the extent such audit is still occurring, it should cease immediately,’” Williams read aloud during the meeting.

She then briefly addressed her civil protection order against Bradshaw before reading another legal opinion regarding the allegation that the sheriff’s deputy assigned to supervise the BOCC had illegally recorded confidential executive sessions using his body camera.

“The opinion from the attorney was, ‘Bodycam: No illegal search has occurred,’” said Williams, further explaining that the board does not have the authority to alter the protection order or remove the deputy.

Continuing her explanation of the county’s workplace environment, Williams discussed the audit committee, which the commissioners formed on Nov. 2 to oversee the fairgrounds audit, and which Williams subsequently moved to disband during the regular meeting on Nov. 14. “‘In conclusion, it is crucial for the BOCC to adhere to the statutory mandates and principles of independence in its financial oversight roles,’” said Williams, reading from yet another legal opinion. “I am requesting that the board review its auditing committee that they developed as it is not in compliance with statute,” she added.

This suggestion built upon her testimony during the Nov. 14 meeting — where she also referenced legal counsel — stating that the committee is unlawful because “it delegates powers of the board and individual commissioners.”

Omodt, Bradshaw and Rosedale all previously disagreed with this claim, but offered no argument, as Williams’ petition during the Dec. 5 meeting wasn’t a motion in and of itself.

In a follow up email, Williams told the Reader that the legal opinions from which she read at the meeting came from the Prosecutor’s Office and were “researched and written by attorney

Bill Wilson [and] distributed to the entire board.”

Williams quickly moved on to a discussion of the county’s Human Resources Department, which would prove to be at the center of her eventual motion. In past meetings, she has repeatedly voiced her disapproval of the fact that the BOCC now oversees the county’s H.R. Department.

“One of the things that I am asking — especially given the behavior of this board against staff that occurred last week [during executive session] — is that we move our human resources back underneath the Prosecutor’s Office, because everything related to Bonner County that’s not the way that it should be has something to do with human resources,” said Williams.

She stated that H.R. previously conducted an investigation, which concluded, among other things, that there is “significant dysfunction” within county operations.

Williams further related H.R. to the lawsuit between Rosedale and the Fair Board, where — in his official capacity — Rosedale sued the Fair Board in an attempt to force it to comply with his public records requests. The county treasurer and auditing staff don’t have access to the fairgrounds’ bank accounts, bills or payment history, and so could not investigate the alleged fraud or attempt to

sort out the fair’s finances without the requested records.

The judge dismissed the suit Oct. 16 on a technicality — the same day the Fair Board issued a press release that placed the blame for the fairgrounds fraud on Rosedale and the commissioners, claiming that, “The BOCC did not cause such an audit on the unlawful instructions of County Clerk/ Auditor Mike Rosedale,” thereby enabling the fraud to continue undiscovered. “[The BOCC’s] statutory duties were breached, in some cases willfully, in FY2022 and earlier and there is no sign that these duties won’t continue to be breached in the future thereby harming the CFB by disabling it from obtaining proper financial control over its financial operations,” the Fair Board stated in its Oct. 16 news release.

In an Oct. 18 email, Rosedale said that the Fair Board’s “refusal to produce records (even just respond that they do or don’t have them)” made it clear that it was not interested in cooperating with the county.

Williams indicated on Dec. 5 that she did not support the litigation between the clerk and the fair because, according to her, the county paid the law firm Holland & Hart a $20,000 retainer to represent Rosedale, and the Fair Board had requested an additional

Bonner County Commissioners Luke Omodt, left; Asia Williams, center; and Steve Bradshaw, right. Photo by Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey. $27,000 to cover their half of the legal fees.

“It was not my choice to be targeted. It was not my choice to have things come at me from the fairgrounds,” Rosedale said in his defense at the Dec. 5 meeting, explaining that litigation was his only statutory recourse to obtain the public records.

“Why is it the elephant in the room is never addressed here? We have known for four months that I disclosed fraud in my fraud questionnaire,” he continued, going on to state that Comptroller Nancy Twineham and former District 2 Commissioner and current Priest River Mayor Jeff Connolly also disclosed fraud.

Williams’ motion to place H.R. back under the supervision of the Prosecutor’s Office died without a second.

Williams’ second item — agendized as a “discussion/decision” regarding county credit card limits — had no action component, but was rather an opportunity for her to address a comment made by Rosedale during the Nov. 28 meeting. “‘It was determined that with

< see BOCC, Page 5 >

NEWS

City swaps right of way with Bonner County to make way for airport expansion

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff In a joint meeting Dec. 6, members of the Sandpoint City Council and Independent Highway District unanimously approved the vacation and abandonment of a portion of E. Mountain View Road to Bonner County for use by the airport, in exchange for the deeding of an equivalent area of land immediately north of Airport Way. The airport will use the 4,084-square-foot section of unimproved right of way for additional parking and, according to the county’s application for the road vacation, dated Sept. 18, to “allow construction of an airport hangar to the south of the existing ROW.” It is so far unclear when the new hangar might be constructed.

The portion of E. Meadow View Road now given to the county measures 164.74 feet in length and is 25 feet wide. The county

< BOCC, con’t from Page 5 > credit cards, people have the ability to spend $5,000 and it’s assumed to be in good faith. Things come through on the $5,000 credit cards all the time, which are paid without question — which I strongly disagree with,’” Williams said, quoting Rosedale.

She clarified that not all Bonner County employees have access to these credit cards, and that there is more supervision than implied because, “There have been times when the Clerk’s Office has not allowed for someone to have the expense [charged to the card].”

The clerk was given permission to respond at Omodt’s insistence.

“There are lots of things that are paid, that go under the limit for the [$5,000] board-approved contract, that happen monthly.

There are some reimbursements or some charges that we don’t ever get receipts for, and my office is restrained from trying to go after those or the clarifications,” said Rosedale.

Williams asked the clerk who

is the adjacent property owner on both sides of the right of way, “and would therefore become the owner of the entire vacated ROW.” Meanwhile, the equivalent area of Airport Way to the south, which the county will transfer to the city, would clear the way for extending the sidewalk from the property to the east currently owned by Sandpoint.

According to supporting documents in the agenda report, no properties will lose access to any public street as a result of the vacation, and that portion of right of way hasn’t been used by the public or even maintained as a right of way for the past three years.

Though vacated, both areas will retain all public and private utility easements, drainage easements, irrigation easements and/or other easements.

In a memorandum from Airport Manager Dave Schuck dated Aug. 15, “The proposed exchange is in the public interest in that it removes a useless city

right of way from county property allowing additional public parking at Sandpoint Airport. I recommend exchanging these rights of way.”

Under a memorandum of understanding between the city and the Independent Highway District from June — and set to expire

in September 2027 — Sandpoint has the right of way over streets within city limits, though IHD owned that particular portion of E. Mountain View Road, requiring the joint meeting, which included a public hearing.

Neither City Hall nor IHD re-

was preventing his office from obtaining that information, to which Rosedale replied, “I’m not allowed to say.”

“I’m not taking the bait, Asia,” he added.

Omodt, with Rosedale’s help, further clarified that the board assigns budgets to individual departments, and each department head determines what expenses are justifiable. Omodt indicated that, if appropriate, the board would schedule an executive session to further discuss the matter.

For her final action item, Williams moved that “the board of county commissioners authorize, whenever and wherever possible, the use of Zoom for meetings, to include 24-hour meetings and executive sessions.”

Executive sessions are ordinarily confidential; however, Williams sought to open them up to the public because, according to her, the session “that occurred last week was of a ridiculously disruptive, cursing, yelling, slamming things [nature].”

The motion met with resistance from Bradshaw, and the board devolved into one of its many arguments.

“If we’re gonna sling shit, let everybody sling shit,” said Bradshaw, referring to Omodt’s attempts to quiet him amid a heated exchange with Williams.

Omodt moved to table Williams’ motion “in perpetuity,” which Bradshaw seconded, “because a lot of that is personnel, private information, litigation.”

The motion to table passed with Williams dissenting.

Omodt brought forward the final agendized item — besides the rescheduled public comment and commissioner reports — a “public apology” from the commissioners.

“A comment was made by a member of this board that we aren’t going to ‘play ring around the retard.’ To say that that is offensive is an understatement, but that has become par for the course in some manner,” said Omodt, referring to a statement made by Williams at a special meeting

on Nov. 16. “I apologize for that comment on behalf of the board of county commissioners.”

Bradshaw agreed, however, members of the audience questioned why Omodt would apologize for Williams’ statement but not for the offensive or profane language that Bradshaw has used in past meetings. Omodt indicated Williams’ statement warranted an apology because of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

“When Commissioner Williams called me an ‘asshole,’ that is perfectly legal because that’s freedom of speech,” said Omodt.

During the following public comment, Omodt gave Fair Board Member Ben Wood extra time to discuss the fairgrounds’ financial statements, which the Daily Bee published on Dec. 5. Among other things, he stated that the fairgrounds earned “close to $130,000 worth of donations and sponsorships from our community.”

Members of the public voiced their support of the fairgrounds,

An aerial view of the vacated area.

Courtesy photo. ceived any written correspondence related to the property exchange, and no testimony was offered at the hearing. Members of the council and district had no discussion or questions for city staff. and Rosedale restated his desire to work with the Fair Board on their upcoming audit, as he believes the board “has not been audited since 2000.”

The meeting concluded with commissioner reports, in which Omodt addressed past hostility between the Fair Board, the commissioners and the clerk — including the assertion that Rosedale and the BOCC were negligent in the matter of the fairgrounds fraud.

Omodt called these past allegations “knowingly inaccurate” and restated that former-Commissioner Connolly, Twineham and Rosedale all did their duty and reported potential fraud.

“How much money are we going to waste on lies?” said Omodt.

“Are we going to move forward and spend our taxpayer dollars looking ahead and investing in the future? Are we going to look back and just be adjudicating the past?”

December 7, 2023 / R / 5

NEWS

Feds grant wolverine Endangered Species Act protections Only about 300 of the animals remain in the lower 48 states, including Idaho

A wolverine walks along a tree branch. Courtesy photo.

By Reader Staff The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Nov. 29 that it will protect the wolverine population in the lower 48 states as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Wolverines once roamed across the northern tier of the U.S.; but, after more than a century of trapping and habitat loss, wolverines exist today in small, fragmented populations only in Idaho, Montana, northeast Oregon, Washington and Wyoming.

The decision comes after a decades-long campaign by conservationists that required six rounds of litigation — most recently in 2022, when conservation groups succeeded in persuading a federal judge to vacate a 2020 decision by USFWS denying protections for wolverines, sending the agency back to the drawing board and paving the way for the recent listing.

“This long-awaited decision gives the wolverine a fighting chance at survival,” stated Timothy Preso, an Earthjustice attorney who represented conservation groups in the long-running legal campaign to protect the wolverine. “There is now hope for this icon of our remaining wilderness.”

Conservation groups originally petitioned to list the wolverine as threatened under the Act in 1994 and again in 2000.

Wolverine populations are at risk from traps, human disturbance, habitat fragmentation and extremely low population numbers resulting in low genetic diversity.

In addition, the wolverine — the largest ter6 / R / December 7, 2023

restrial member of the weasel family — is threatened with habitat loss due to climate change, as the animals depend on areas with deep snow through late spring. Pregnant females dig their dens into the snowpack to birth and raise their young.

Scientists estimate that no more than 300 wolverines remain in the lower 48 states, including in Idaho.

“Biologists estimate a loss of more than 40% of suitable wolverine habitat in Idaho by 2060 if we fail to act,” stated Jeff Abrams, wildlife program associate for the Idaho Conservation League. “This decision allows us to move forward on recovery actions to prevent such extensive loss of wolverine habitat and recover wolverine populations.”

ICL was among several conservation groups represented by Earthjustice in the most recent suit to protect the wolverine, including, the Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Northwest, Defenders of Wildlife, Friends of the Clearwater, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, the Sierra Club and Rocky Mountain Wild.

“With only a few hundred remaining in the entire lower 48 states, Endangered Species Act protections are critical to recovering the wolverine,” stated Bonnie Rice, national wildlife campaign manager for the Sierra Club. “Today’s court decision gives this amazing, snow-dependent species a long-overdue lifeline in the face of massive habitat loss due to climate change.”

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: The first commercial airliner to use 100% biofuel landed in New York after a recent flight across the Atlantic, according to the BBC, using fuel derived from plant sugars and waste fats.

According to NBC, the Senate Judiciary Committee has authorized subpoenas of Harlan Crow and Leonard Leo regarding lavish gifts they’ve given conservative Supreme Court justices.

The American Farm Bureau scoured the nation and found that this year’s Thanksgiving dinner cost 4.5% less than one year ago, averaging $61.17 per guest.

The Lever reported that price increases are the “result of runaway greedflation,” referring to big corporations increasing prices to pad their profits.

A year after being elected, New York Republican Rep. George Santos has been voted out of the House on a 311-114 vote, The Guardian reported. Santos faces 23 federal charges while a House ethics committee said Santos used campaign funds for travel, cosmetic treatments and luxury goods. A majority of Republicans voted not to expel Santos. Recently introduced legislation would prevent lawmakers who’ve been expelled from Congress from receiving a congressional pension, Axios reported.

After a seven-day ceasefire, fighting between Israel and Hamas has resumed.

According to ABC, the U.S. wanted Israel to avoid new mass displacement. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris told Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi that the U.S. will not permit the forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank, or the redrawing of borders.

An independent U.N. special rapporteur for occupied Palestinian territories told the BBC that ending the truce was a “serious mistake,” given Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe.

The New York Times reported that Israeli military officials knew of Hamas’ attack plans as early as fall 2022.

Israel’s expanded assault on Gaza has included warnings to Palestinians to clear out. About 90 square miles remain as a “safe” refuge for those displaced, numbering about 2 million people. Areas Israel once said would be safe have now been bombed, CBS reported.

By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., stated he opposes “unconditional military aid” from the U.S. that would enable Israel’s government “to continue its current offensive military approach,” according to NBC. A federal appeals court released once-secret text messages from Rep. Scott Perry, R-Penn., about attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, Politico reported. From a lengthy list of those contacted via text, no one reported the attempt to overthrow democracy.

Meanwhile, more and more media are examining the potential consequences of Donald Trump regaining the presidency and deliberately ending democracy, including The Washington Post, thebulwark.com, The Atlantic and The New York Times.

Two federal courts have rejected Trump’s argument that presidential immunity protects him from both civil and criminal cases stemming from his actions on Jan. 6, 2020, MSNBC wrote.

Blast from the past: Henry Kissinger, secretary of state during the Nixon administration, died Nov. 29 at age 100. As a teenager in 1938, he and his family fled Nazi Germany for the U.S. Kissinger’s mixed legacy: he advised numerous presidents, had “contempt” for human rights and protected U.S. corporate interests to the point of being called a war criminal.

The Guardian said he worked with the CIA to support dictators and to overthrow the democratically elected president of Chile. With Nixon he made the decision to secretly bomb Cambodia; that prompted two Nobel Prize committee members to step down when Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in negotiating an end to the Vietnam War. The prize was shared with a North Vietnamese negotiator, who declined it. Kissinger supported the George W. Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq.

A journalist who supported that war said Kissinger should be tried for war crimes.

Meanwhile, members of both major U.S. parties and the political elite regarded him as a “brilliant statesman.”

And more: Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, died Dec. 1 at age 93.

She was known as a pragmatic jurist willing to rethink her impacts and positions.

NEWS

Panhandle Health District installs free Narcan vending machines in CDA, Kellogg

By Christina Lords Idaho Capital Sun Two new vending machines offering Narcan, a lifesaving medication that can help with opioid overdose, have been installed at The Pantry at St. Vincent de Paul (1317 N. First Ave., in Coeur d’Alene) and the Shoshone County Fire District (911 Bunker Ave., in Kellogg).

The machines, provided by the Panhandle Health District, are filled with free Narcan, a brand name of the opioid reversal medication naloxone, as well as medication disposal pouches to discard unused and unwanted medication safely, according to a press release from the district.

“These types of vending machines are rare in Idaho, with only a handful of them operating statewide,” said Katie Schmeer,

Community Health Program manager at Panhandle Health District. “Region 1 is setting the precedent in North Idaho by making Narcan available to the public to help combat overdose deaths among our citizens.”

The issues of substance use disorder and drug overdoses can be surrounded by stigma, the press release said, with the assumption being it is only “drug addicts” who are overdosing. Data from Idaho’s Drug Overdose Prevention Program attributes 15.5% of all overdose deaths in Idaho to those over the age of 55. In 2022, there were 381 overdose deaths in Idaho. Of those, 71% were related to opioids and 49% related to fentanyl.

“Overdoses can happen to anyone,” Schmeer said in the release. “That is why it is so important to provide access to anyone

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $14.5 million for wildfire resilience in Idaho

By Clark Corbin Idaho Capital Sun The federal government has allocated about $14.5 million in federal funding for wildfire resilience and fuel reduction in Idaho, officials with the U.S. Department of Interior said in a press release issued Dec. 1.

The federal funding is for fiscal year 2023 and came from the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act, often called the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, that Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed in 2021.

The funding went toward projects to help reduce wildfire risk on more than 170,000 acres across the state, Department of Interior officials said.

“As wildfire seasons become longer, more intense and more dangerous, investments from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda are helping provide for a more strategic approach to wildland fire management and mitigation, greater support of wildland firefighters, and much-needed equipment and preparedness methods,” Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland said in a written statement.

who would like this lifesaving measure.

We are incredibly thankful to St. Vincent de Paul, the Shoshone County Fire District and our many other community partners for helping us provide these needed resources.”

Narcan is safe and easy to use. The medication is an opioid antagonist, meaning it blocks opiate receptors, so when it is administered to someone experiencing an overdose it can reverse the overdose and keep that person alive until first responders arrive, the release said. Detailed instructions on how to administer Narcan are available on the medication packaging.

The health district also offers free Narcan training for organizations and groups throughout the Panhandle.

Narcan will not harm someone if it is given to them and they are not overdosing on an opioid. If they are, it can be the difference between life and death.

Since Narcan’s inception, there has been a 46% reduction in opioid overdose death rates in the state, according to the Idaho Harm Reduction Project.

“While Narcan is available over the counter at local pharmacies, it can be prohibitive, costing on average $50 a box,” the press release said. “These vending machines remove the barrier of cost and allow anyone to have it on hand when needed.”

People using opioids are encouraged to carry Narcan, and their friends, family and the general public are encouraged to do so as well, according to the release.

For more information on how to treat

An example of a Narcan, or naloxone, vending machine. Courtesy photo. substance use disorder or to learn about harm reduction and prevention programs, go to panhandlehealthdistrict.org.

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.

City Hall hosts second open house on final draft Comp Plan

By Reader Staff

A wildland firefighter at work. Courtesy photo.

Idaho’s share of the federal funding was part of a larger, $468 million funding allocation across the country, officials said.

Overall, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $1.5 billion for the U.S. Department of Interior to spend over five years on wildfire resilience, fuels reduction, fire science, preparedness and post fire restoration projects.

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.

The second of two drop-in open houses on the final draft of the Sandpoint Comprehensive Plan is scheduled for 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 7 at City Hall Council Chambers (1123 W. Lake St.).

City staff, members of the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council — as well as consultants — have been working on an update to the Comp Plan since 2019, though with a lengthy pause brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The effort began again in 2022, and progressed through multiple phases and drafts, culminating in a presentation of the final document to the council in early October.

Councilors voted to table approval of the plan at that time in favor of gathering additional public feedback, resulting in the

open houses on Nov. 29 and Dec. 7.

The public is encouraged to review and provide input on the long-range document, which provides the “vision for the future and provides a strategic framework for reaching the vision,” according to the city.

“Through the direction of specific goals and objectives, the plan will be used to guide land use regulations such as zoning and subdivisions, as well as funding decisions on other policies and programs.”

Additional information on the planning process, and the final draft with all the appendices, can be found at sandpointidaho. gov/your-government/master-plans. The link to the draft document is available by selecting the Comprehensive Plan Update.

Online commenting closes on Friday, Dec. 8.

December 7, 2023 / R / 7

Schweitzer’s corporate owner isn’t ‘heroic’…

Bouquets: GUEST SUBMISSION: • In response to the word of the week in last week’s Reader (vertiginous, n. causing vertigo), Ted Wert wrote, “Vertiginous, when used most frequently, describes the skier going down (or attempting to) the Great Divide on a foggy day. Occasionally applies to the middle of Stiles in the same conditions. Occasionally results in a toboggan ride.”

— By Ted Wert • I’d like to offer a Bouquet to my partner of 12+ years, Cadie Archer, for completing her 30-day yoga challenge. Every day in November — and sometimes twice a day — she rode her bike down to the yoga studio for a class. Now, a month later, she has no plans to stop. That kind of discipline is inspiring to me, and I hope it is to our readers as well.

Barbs: • Idaho Congressman Russ Fulcher gets a Barb this week for his vote against Rep. George Santos’ expulsion from Congress. Fulcher was one of 112 Republicans who voted against expulsion for the twice criminally indicted Congress member (there were also two Democrats who voted against expulsion and two who voted “present”). For those who don’t pay attention to the news, Santos first gained attention for his numerous notable — and laughable — lies told during his campaign.

These include assertions that he was Jewish (he’s not), that he played professional volleyball (he didn’t), that he worked on Wall Street (he didn’t) and so many more. Santos now faces 23 federal charges in which he is alleged to have defrauded his donors and then used the money for personal expenses, including botox injections, luxury clothing, credit card payments and subscriptions to OnlyFans. Santos has pleaded not guilty to the various charges against him, but it’s clear he belongs nowhere near Congress, which is why he was expelled. While Fulcher voted no, Rep. Mike Simpson voted yes for expulsion. Kudos to him for having at least some integrity.

8 / R / December 7, 2023

Dear editor, The company that owns and controls access to our local mountain is not heroic, nor is the larger conglomerate, which swallowed this company up. However, our daily newspaper has painted this business out to be more than just money makers.

Last week, the company was given free advertising because a rental agency called Schweitzer the “top ski hill.”

Last year, headlines were made about Schweitzer’s innovative and generous plan for employee housing.

So we are clear, Schralpenhaus is an 84-unit apartment complex, currently listed for a hefty rent.

There is no messiah for these employees. They work long, cold hours to appease the expectations of wealthy out-of-towners, and drive a frightening long route to do so.

There is no overtime pay for working holidays, because they are a resort.

And if an employee is injured on the job, this company has big lawyers to make sure they are not liable.

Why does the Daily Bee continue to put out advertising for this massive corporation in the name of “journalism”?

Jodi Rawson Sandpoint

Dad’s double bit ax...

Dear editor, I forgot to get gas for the chainsaw. But I only had a couple red fir tops that needed limbing, so I grabbed dad’s double bit ax that I keep in the corner of the woodshed.

Duct tape on the wooden handle by the head for the occasional miss.

Sharp and well balanced. The handle just the right length for me.

A well-placed swing and the first branch falls to the dirt. I pause for a minute and see dad with his stocking hat and yellow cotton gloves carrying the same ax I’m holding now. Marking out the stud logs that will go to Findlay‘s sawmill and make the payment on the farm. Lester and Ronny moving to the next tree, carrying the crosscut saw and the jug of kerosene that will keep the crosscut moving through the pitch.

The wooden handle of the ax feels familiar, feels like years ago.

Feels like home.

Steve Johnson Sagle

PERSPECTIVES

GOP leaders double down on imprisoning doctors over emergency abortions

By Rep. Lauren Necochea, D-Boise Reader Contributor Maya Angelou famously said, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” Similarly, when politicians vow to take away your freedoms, take them at their word.

Among many extreme positions in the Idaho Republican Party platform is the criminalization of any abortion, even to save a patient’s life. We should therefore be unsurprised that Republican lawmakers are doubling down on their extreme, anti-abortion agenda.

Recently, Republican Attorney General Raúl Labrador and Idaho’s Republican legislative leaders teamed up with out-of-state activists to file a frightening legal appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Their goal is to reverse a lower court-ordered reprieve for abortion care in medical emergencies.

Idaho’s abortion ban has no allowance for patients facing health risks from carrying a pregnancy.

Risk of permanent disability or fertility loss and even conditions that eventually cause death are not valid exceptions. This means physicians may have to prove in court — under threat of a lengthy prison sentence and loss of their medical license — that they performed an abortion to avert imminent death.

Simply preserving the patient’s health is not acceptable.

The U.S. Department of Justice successfully argued in court that this ban violates federal law enacted by former-President Ronald Reagan. The law requires hospitals with emergency departments to provide stabilizing treatment to anyone who seeks care. An Idaho judge agreed, ruling that pregnant women and those experiencing pregnancy loss deserve access to the full rights and protections of emergency medical care.

How did Republican legislative leaders respond to this lifeline for patients and doctors? They imme-

Rep. Lauren Necochea. File photo. diately appealed the ruling. Now, they are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the prosecution and imprisonment of doctors and nurses who perform emergency abortions while the appeal works through the legal system.

I know most Idahoans want to make their intimate medical decisions with their families and doctors — not have them dictated by politicians. But the new Idaho Republican Party continues to prove it is light-years away from what voters believe.

This assault on your freedoms isn’t coming from a few far-right fringe legislators. The ban was deliberately written without health exceptions and approved by nearly every Republican legislator. In fact, a few Republicans voted in

opposition because they didn’t think the bill went far enough.

We should not be surprised that this new brand of Idaho Republican politician is sticking to the script. But we should be very alarmed by their extreme ideology and the lengths to which they will go. This is not the representation that Idahoans want.

Patients’ lives and our ability to keep doctors in Idaho make it urgent that we vote them out.

Rep. Lauren Necochea is the House assistant Democratic leader, representing District 19 in Boise on the Commerce and Human Resources; Environment, Energy and Technology; Revenue and Taxation; and Ways and Means committees.

PERSPECTIVES

Emily Articulated

A column by and about Millennials

Reboots

By Emily Erickson Reader Columnist

I first watched the original Sex and the City TV series in my late teens (my older sister handing down her DVD box set like a family heirloom) and was immediately enthralled by the then-edgy portrayal of female friendship — built on candor, fallibility and a “full disclosure” nature.

The show followed four main characters: Carrie, who narrated the series through her sex- and-relationship-themed newspaper column; Miranda, the punchy, often cynical corporate lawyer; Samantha, the ambiguously older, sex-positive PR specialist; and Charlotte, the earnest and traditional-values art gallerist.

Each episode chronicled the women’s dating lives as single 30- and 40-somethings in New York City, showcasing their unique perspectives on seeking and finding (or not finding) love, all while keeping their relationship with each other center stage. It offered a commentary on its time (its six seasons spanning from 1998-2004), pushing back against the “woman v. woman” tropes so often portrayed in the early 2000s, while also highlighting alternative family structures and female desire — all of which felt honest and relevant at the time.

Which is why I turned on the recent reboot, And Just Like That, an HBO series that drops back in on the women in their mid-50s in present-day New York. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it past the third episode,

Emily Erickson. immediately exhausted at the show’s attempt to fit into 2023.

Like they had a checklist hanging in the writer’s room, each episode painstakingly ticked off every “politically correct” scenario we associate with modern life.

As though the characters had crawled out from under a rock and simply emerged in 2023, without growing or developing in the past 10 years — while also changing their fundamental social behaviors — And Just Like That showcased both Miranda and Charlotte navigating their whiteness in their now hyper-diverse surroundings, with literally every new person in each of their lives being nonwhite.

It also portrayed Charlotte struggling to perfectly parent a child who is questioning their gender identity, while Carrie blundered her way through her new role as a podcast host — a show she shares with trans comedian Che Diaz (who quickly becomes a lust-interest for Miranda), which had an actual button for “woke moment” disclosures.

Samatha, and any substantial plot, was nowhere to be found.

So in my best Carrie impression, “It all makes me wonder, when shows are so firmly rooted in the past, can they really make it in our politically correct future? And, perhaps, if we are honest with ourselves, is it time to maybe boot the reboot?”

The original Sex and the City had many of the inclusivity gaps common of its time, like one-dimensional representations of LGBTQIA relationships and a general lack of diversity in main roles, but it told the women’s stories it centered on believably and well. The reboot, however, swapped its substance for a performance of political correctness.

And performing political correctness feels very different from showcasing stories that highlight unique human experiences, and elevate diverse voices, in all their many and representative iterations.

Schitt’s Creek, a show that chronicled the main character David Rose (Dan Levy) in his fall from “spoiled rich kid” to small-town living, also touches on his pansexuality, and features his queer-love story arc. It centered on storytelling and character building, being inclusive by showcasing unique characters as multifaceted and relatable.

Although the show’s focus wasn’t on schooling anyone in political correctness, it ended up educating people anyway. Case in point: David’s iconic metaphor about his sexuality, “I like the wine and not the label,” being used in real-life coming out stories, and the cover of “Simply the Best,” sung by Patrick Brewer (Noah Reid) making even the surliest viewers root for his and David’s love.

As more reboots of classic shows are popping up in the media forecast, each tasked with shape-shifting to fit our new zeitgeist, I wonder if we should just let new voices — equipped to tell believable stories in the modern era — take the cultural reins.

At least in the case of And Just Like That, I much prefer Issa Rae’s Insecure or HBO’s The Sex Lives of College Girls

(or literally anything else with a plot). But maybe that’s just my inner “Miranda,” cynically eye-rolling while secretly hoping that The Office reboot rumors please, please be true.

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

December 7, 2023 / R / 9

Mad about Science:

Brought to you by:

pangaea

By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist A lot can happen in a billion years. The continents, as we know them, have not always been laid out in the way they appear on our maps. A keen eye might notice that certain coastlines could almost perfectly fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Beginning about 335 million years ago, this was exactly the case, as all of the continents were slammed together into a colossal supercontinent called Pangaea.

You may be wondering how we could possibly conceive of Pangaea — it was so long ago and spanned several documented extinction events. Luckily, something as large as a continent leaves lots of evidence behind whenever it moves.

The first and most obvious clue lies with the coastlines of South America and Africa. These two continents can fit together almost perfectly. More than simply appearing close together, archaeologists have discovered fossils of identical terrestrial species that existed near the coasts of both continents from the same point in time, based on the layer of rock from which they were extracted. This shows that these two continents were close enough together at a certain time for a relatively slow creature to walk from one to the other without worrying about a pesky ocean in the way.

Another hidden clue is the formation of mountains. Some mountain ranges were formed at the same time, despite being currently separated by an ocean several times over. One instance of this is the Appalachian Moun10 / R / December 7, 2023

tains, which were formed at the same time as the Caledonides, which have been fragmented between Scotland, Greenland and Scandinavia. These had been formed as a chain, but were pulled apart as the continents drifted from each other.

The formation of Pangaea took an incredibly long time. It truly began during the late Cambrian period, around 490 million years ago. Over the 180 million years to follow, the continent that would become North America and parts of Siberia collided with basically everything else — a massive continent called Gondwana — and created a huge north-south supercontinent on one side of the Earth. Most continents now are fairly evenly distributed around the globe, but Pangaea was essentially a huge strip of land that stretched from the North to the South poles.

Most of terrestrial Earth would have been experiencing daylight at roughly the same time, with the exception of the farthest eastern regions of what would eventually become Australia and Eurasia, respectively.

Trying to figure out what kind of climates may have been on Earth over a period of 160 million years is difficult. It’s absolutely certain that the presence of a supercontinent created some really wild weather patterns and fossil evidence shows that extremes were the norm for a very long time.

Earth’s giant ocean meant two things. One was that wind had a whole lot of open space to move around without obstruction, and that the day and night cycle meant the superocean would spend a lot of time heating up and evaporating, and a lot of time cooling and condensing.

This meant the rain cycle was likely erratic and extreme and created huge mega-monsoons that would slam into the coastal regions of Pangaea and saturate everything for months. However, this was likely restricted to the coasts due to the sheer size of the continent, and the central portions of Pangaea were likely extremely dry and arid.

A mixture of mass extinctions and extreme climates meant that biodiversity plummeted during large portions of Pangaea’s existence, particularly toward the beginning of its formation. This is supported by a reduction of coal in rock layers of this time, indicating that plant life became more rare, likely because of the aridity of the colossal landmass. The poles may have experienced less extreme weather and fewer ice ages, and may have been able to support something akin to the Siberian Taiga, but actual rainforests were likely a rarity until the late Jurassic or even Cretaceous Period once the continent began to break apart.

Pangaea wasn’t the first supercontinent to exist on Earth.

We know of at least four preceding it: Gondwana, Pannotia, Rodinia and Columbia (Nuna).

It’s possible that there may have been at least five preceding those as well, but those are largely hypothetical.

It’s possible that Pangaea wasn’t the last supercontinent on Earth. Just like your least favorite Marvel movie adaptation, Pangaea may rise again as the continents drift together.

Pangaea Proxima is the name of this hypothetical supercontinent.

It’s hypothesized that North and South America will drift into one another and pull into Africa

and Eurasia to create a huge landmass spanning east to west.

Climates would likely be reflective of the original Pangaea with a plethora of heat, desertification and humid coastlines.

Whether or not human beings will be here to see that happen in the next 250 million years is largely up to speculation —

hopefully we’ll all have made friends with each other and figured out how not to go extinct by that time. I couldn’t think of anything more embarrassing for our species than alien archaeologists extracting a fossilized skeleton of a human taking a selfie.

Stay curious, 7B.

Random Corner Don’t know much about pearl • The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan on Dec. 7, 1941 ushered the U.S. into WWII. President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, the day after, that Dec. 7 would be “a date which will live in infamy.”

• Americans fired the first shot before the Pearl Harbor attack. On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, the destroyer USS Ward attacked and sank a Ko-hyoteki-class mini-submarine near the entrance to the harbor, making it not only the first shot fired that day, but the first official American shot of the war.

The ship’s crew didn’t get confirmation that they’d actually sunk the Japanese sub until 60 years later.

• The attack on Pearl Harbor lasted for only one hour and 15 minutes, killing 2,403 U.S. personnel, including 68 civilians, and destroying or damaging 19 U.S. Navy ships (including eight battleships).

• The USS Arizona still leaks fuel to this day. The day before the attacks, the Arizona took on a full load of nearly 1.5 million gallons of

harbor?

We can help!

fuel. According to the History Channel, more than nine quarts leak into the harbor each day, a phenomenon referred to as the “tears of the Arizona,” or “black tears.” Of the 2,403 American deaths that day, 1,177 died on the Arizona.

• There was a lesser-known second attack on Pearl Harbor called Operation K. Launched on March 4, 1942, this second attack used two four-engine naval flying boats nicknamed “Emily” by the Allies. Known as a flying porcupine, they had five 20-millimeter cannons and four machine guns in turrets and blisters.

This time, radar saw the planes coming. Just after midnight, air defense dispatched fighters to patrol Pearl Harbor. Unable to see the target due to cloudy weather, only one aircraft dropped bombs on a remote hillside and the other into the ocean.

• More than 134,000 Americans enlisted in the military only a month after Pearl Harbor. Less than a year later, 50 million Americans were employed in the war effort.

PERSPECTIVES

Human Rights Day and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

human being.

Human Rights Day is a reminder to reaffirm that every person is created equal and endowed with inalienable rights regardless of race, color, religion, sex, language, politics, origin, social status or sexual orientation.

It is a reminder to renew our commitment to uphold human rights across the world.

As former-President John F.

Kennedy said, “Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one’s own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.”

Across the world, as many people are suffering human rights abuses, affected by poverty and war, and lacking basic human rights, we can make progress toward a more just and equitable world by raising awareness and standing up for human equality and dignity.

Eleanor Roosevelt dedicated her life to working tirelessly to fulfill a vision of human rights for all people to live in a peaceful world and called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights her most important task. She shared her vision with the world as a challenge for people to choose how we treat one another and a

immigrants as human beings.”

This belief was passed down to her from her father.

The Greatest Generation — the ones who fought and died to protect the world from the Nazis, whose hate-speech white supremacists now parrot across the U.S. — saw the institution of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Some of the rights outlined in the UDHR are the right to life, liberty, security of person and to be recognized as a human being, as well as freedom from slavery and torture. Read the UDHR alongside the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Bill of Rights and you’ll see that human rights are the foundation of this country.

When I think about all the kind, vibrant teenagers who took their own lives, I have to ask: How

can we beg our children to live, and yet teach them that human life is meaningless? How can someone read Jesus’ command to “Love each other as I have loved you,” and call it unchristian?

Political extremists want to convince us that human rights are “liberal lies,” because if they prey on party affiliation, they can manipulate people into willingly forfeiting their lives. Republican, Democrat or Independent, we must agree that everyone is entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

If we want our community, our nation, our world to survive, we must hold human rights above political affiliation. No one should go to the polls to vote for politicians who, no matter what, will always enjoy the rights they force us to abandon.

By Barbara Russell Reader Contributor Human Rights Day is celebrated worldwide annually on Dec. 10 to commemorate the day the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, which this year marks its 75th anniversary.

While the Declaration is non-binding, it proclaims fundamental rights and freedoms, naming 60 human rights to which all people are entitled. It has been translated into more than 500 languages.

Former-first lady Eleanor Roosevelt was the chair of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights and oversaw the drafting of the declaration, which is widely respected as a moral measure for the just and fair treatment of every

call to action. Below are some of her words, which bear repeating: • “Surely, in the light of history, it is more intelligent to hope rather than to fear, to try rather than not to try. For one thing we know beyond all doubt: Nothing has ever been achieved by the person who says, ‘It can’t be done.’”

• “It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.”

• “Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world.

Yet they are the world of the

individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm or office where he works.

Such are the places where every man, woman and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination.

Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerned citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.”

For more information on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, visit un.org.

Barbara Russell is the chair of the Boundary County Human Rights Task Force.

Surrendering our rights for the sake of politics

By Sonciery Mitchell Reader Contributor In the four years I attended Sandpoint High School many of my peers took their own lives — in 2015 we lost three in one year.

The administration and the community came together to attempt to counteract bullying and create a kind, welcoming environment to protect kids from an unknown and often unseen threat.

During my junior year, in 2017, when the presidential election truly divided us, a fellow student said to me, “My family doesn’t believe in human rights.”

He explained that he didn’t know why, but his mother taught him that human rights were “evil” and “unchristian.”

That same year, another peer told me to, “Stop thinking about

December 7, 2023 / R / 11

PERSPECTIVES

A four-second miracle

By Jim Payne Reader Contributor We expect miracles to involve a long runup to an expected tragedy and then a drawn out period of reflection and gratitude.

Say, someone is going to die of an affliction and amazingly escapes this fate. We ponder it for months beforehand, and appreciate it for many months afterward.

Well, driving back from Spokane last Saturday I experienced a miracle, but it happened so quickly and so subtly that I’ve hardly bothered to tell anyone.

Here’s the report before I forget the episode completely: It’s just before noon, in bright, dry conditions, and I’m approaching Dover on the straight section of Highway 2, about a half mile before the overpass, going 60 miles per hour. An explosive, metallic bang comes from the right rear of the car. My guess is that the wheel broke and fell off, and the car must now spin into a swirling crash. But no, the car keeps traveling smoothly ahead. I glance in the rear-view mirror and see two deer. One, a rather mature fawn is continuing to run across the highway. The other,

12 / R / December 7, 2023

a large doe, is scrambling to get up off the highway, where she has fallen. In one more second, she is upright and leaps off the highway into the forest, back the way she came.

Four seconds later, there’s nothing to be seen behind me, and the car continues zipping along at 60 mph as if nothing had happened.

Quite a few drivers have had bad accidents, caused by deer’s incredibly stupid habit of running in front of cars. Well, in 84 years I’ve never had a deer accident, and now my record is still unblemished. By rights there should have been a collision, but this time, miraculously, the deer got the timing wrong by 0.2 seconds. As a result, both she and I escaped harm.

When I got home, I inspected the right door, expecting to see a big dent, but there was only a slight scratch just below the door handle.

Local writer Jim Payne is the author of One Inch Above the Water and four other books of kayak travel adventures.

PERSPECTIVES

Navigating water quality in Lake Pend Oreille

By Karissa Huntsman Reader Contributor As snow is falling on the mountains and hills around Sandpoint, many are looking ahead to the upcoming winter season. Here at the Idaho Conservation League, we are still reflecting on the summer months and Lake Pend Oreille.

Each year from May through September, we conduct our Water Quality Monitoring Program — a citizen science initiative dedicated to protecting Lake Pend Oreille and the Pend Oreille River. Our amazing volunteers, otherwise known as water quality stewards, collect data and water samples monthly to build a solid understanding of the condition of local waterways.

This summer we added four new sampling stations at Camp Bay, Kootenai Bay, Oden Bay and Sand Creek, bringing us to a total of 15 stations. Each station is selected through close collaboration with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), which uses our data to make management decisions that protect water quality.

With increasing shoreline development, our goal is to establish an understanding of baseline conditions, so issues can be detected early before water quality is compromised. Each sample collected throughout the summer was tested for various water quality indicators like temperature, dissolved oxygen, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and E. coli, to name a few.

Based on this season’s monitoring, water quality in Lake Pend Oreille remains fair — meaning it’s not terrible, but there is room for improvement.

To provide some context, in 2002, a cleanup plan called a total maximum daily load (TMDL) was created for the area near the shoreline of Lake Pend Oreille, due to increasing growth of algae and aquatic plants. The issues were found to be the re-

sult of excess total phosphorus (TP), leading to a TMDL stating that nine micrograms per liter (µg/L) of phosphorus is the maximum amount the water can assimilate while still meeting water quality standards.

Across 14 of the 15 stations we monitor, TP ranged from a minimum of two µg/L to a maximum of 52 µg/L, with an average of 13 µg/L, so not too far from the target.

Total nitrogen (TN) at these 14 stations ranged from a minimum of 50 µg/L to a maximum 805 µg/L, with an average of 306 µg/L. High concentrations of both of these nutrients can result from lawn runoff, soil disturbances, septic systems and discharge from sewage treatment plants.

While water quality is fair in most places, Boyer Slough is an outlier. There, the water quality is poor. Through this summer’s monitoring, we found TP levels in Boyer Slough ranging from 60 to 2,930 µg/L, with an average of 740 µg/L. TN levels ranged from 540 to 17,700 µg/L, with an average of 4,416 µg/L. That’s more than 56 times the average for TP at the other stations, and more than 14 times the average for TN. These numbers create an environment that is conducive for invasive weeds and toxic algae blooms, like the one that occurred in the slough in 2021.

You may be wondering, what is going on in Boyer Slough? The nearby Kootenai Ponderay Sewer District discharges wastewater into Boyer Slough from approximately October to May each year, though sometimes well into summer, depending on conditions. During the summer months, after water saturation of the soil has decreased, the discharge is moved to a land application site, where the wastewater is used to water trees. The trees uptake the nutrients and utilize them for their growth.

However, water quality problems remain in the slough throughout the summer.

Despite the pollution in Boyer Slough being a problem for many years, there are

reasons to be hopeful about its recovery.

The Kootenai Ponderay Sewer District has successfully acquired funding to upgrade its treatment facility, and is working on its plan. DEQ has convened a watershed advisory group of local stakeholders to develop a cleanup plan that will ensure the long-term health of Boyer Slough. The data collected by our water quality stewards will inform this plan.

It will take some time to implement the treatment plant upgrades and allow for the slough to recover from decades of nutrient overload, but the wheels are turning in the right direction. Engaged community members can make all the difference by showing up, holding decision makers accountable, educating each other and getting involved in citizen science.

When I asked first-year steward Deborah Crain about her experience this summer, she said, “It gives a feeling of hope, to be out there with so many others doing something proactive to protect the lake.”

This is a message that I have heard time and time again from our volunteers. As

Courtesy photo.

Lake Pend Oreille remains the lifeblood of our community, linking us through invaluable resources, from recreation to drinking water, it instills a collective responsibility to learn about and care for it. Using the information we gather through this program, we hope to empower the community to engage in meaningful ways, when it really matters.

To see results from this year’s monitoring and to learn more about the program, visit idahocl.org/WQMP. If you are interested in becoming a steward next summer, email khuntsman@idahoconservation.org.

We look forward to continuing to work with volunteers and community members to protect the iconic lakes, rivers, and waterways of North Idaho. Just as these waters are the lifeblood of our ecosystems and communities, the people who speak up for them are our heartbeat.

Karissa Huntsman is community engagement assistant for the Idaho Conservation League.

December 7, 2023 / R / 13

PERSPECTIVES

dumb of the week

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

It was another banner week for the Republican Party.

‘Big Globe propaganda’ Recently elected GOP Chair of Georgia’s First District Kandiss Taylor single-handedly destroyed political satire in America with recent comments on her podcast called, no joke, Jesus, Guns, & Babies.

Taylor’s guests for the podcast episode were two gentlemen named Flat Earth Dave and Matt Long, both believers that the Earth is not a globe.

“The people that defend the globe don’t know anything about the globe,” Flat Earth Dave said. “If they knew a 10th of what Matt and I know about the globe, they would be flatEarthers.”

Taylor then went into a long diatribe about “Big Globe propaganda,” stating, “There’s globes everywhere, there’s propaganda everywhere. But it’s the truth. Do you know how many people who don’t believe in flat-Earth, that believe we’re in a solar system, they reach out to me and say, ‘Kandiss, you know what, you’re right. I have been looking in stores and there are globes everywhere. There are globe toys and globes in decorations. You said that on your show and people thought you’re crazy, but it’s true.’”

Taylor continued the rant, claiming that “globes are everywhere. I turn on the TV, there’s globes in the background. There’s globes right here, this [gestures behind her to a desk] would be a globe if I was a normal person. Everywhere there’s globes. You see them all the time. …

My children are like, ‘Mama, globe globe globe globe, they’re everywhere,’ and that’s what they do to brainwash our children, and so for me, if it’s not a conspiracy, if it is real, why are you pushing so hard everywhere I go, every store, you buy a globe, there’s globes everywhere, every movie, every TV show, news media. Why?” This isn’t Taylor’s first foray in nonsense conspiracy theories. While running unsuccessfully for Georgia governor, Taylor claimed state Republican leaders were “secret communists and Democrats were Satanic pedophiles,” according to her Wikipedia entry. Not only that, she claimed the Georgia Guidestones were “Satanic” and campaigned for their removal. After a vandal bombed the monument — which had been erected in 1980 as a literal guide for humanity after an expected future catastrophe — she praised the act, claiming it was God’s handiwork.

We used to have to tune into shows like Saturday Night Live for this kind of entertainment, but now we just look to elected Republican officials.

16 / R / December 7, 2023

‘After that, I’m not a dictator’ Recent pronouncements by former-President Donald Trump — who currently faces four indictments and 91 felony charges for every-

thing from a fake electors scheme to the “Big Lie” that the election was “stolen” to possessing confidential documents — have raised alarms that if elected in 2024, he would usher in an American dictatorship.

At a town hall in Iowa with his crony, Fox News host Sean Hannity, Trump declined to rule out abusing power when asked repeatedly whether he would do so during a second term.

“Do you in any way have any plans whatsoever if reelected president to abuse power, to break the law, to use the government to go after people?” Hannity asked.

“You mean like they’re using [it] right now?” Trump said, dodging the question.

Minutes later, Hannity again pressed him for an answer, “Under no circumstances — you are promising America tonight — you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?”

“Except for Day 1,” Trump said. “We’re closing the border, and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.”

In recent weeks, Trump’s comments have grown increasingly authoritarian. Over the past few weeks, he promised to “root out” his political enemies, calling them “vermin”; praised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has been accused of rolling back democratic norms; and celebrated the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping for ruling his country “with an iron fist.” Also, if elected, Trump claimed he would “investigate every Marxist prosecutor in America,” that he would put homeless people in “camps,” and replace as many as 50,000 career civil servants with ideologues and toadies who support him.

Meanwhile, in late September, conservative lawyer Mike Davis — widely viewed as Trump’s likely hire for attorney general if he’s elected in 2024 — offered some dystopian suggestions for what Trump’s second term might look like.

“We’re gonna fire a lot of people in the executive branch, in the deep state,” Davis said on a right-wing podcast called The Benny Show.

“No. 2, we’re gonna indict. We’re gonna indict Joe Biden and Hunter Biden and James Biden and every other scumball, sleazeball, Biden, except for the 5-year-old granddaughter who they refused to acknowledge for five years until the political pressure got to Joe Biden.”

He continued: “No. 3, we’re gonna deport.

We’re gonna deport a lot of people, 10 million people and growing — anchor babies, their parents, their grandparents. We’re gonna put kids in cages. It’s gonna be glorious. We’re gonna detain a lot of people in the D.C. gulag and Gitmo. ... I’m gonna recommend a lot of pardons.

Every Jan. 6 defendant is gonna get a pardon, especially my hero horn man. He is definitely at the top of the pardon list.”

Currently, Trump is 47 points ahead of his closest opponent in the Republican primary, setting up a potential rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden in 2024. This is leading to many claiming the 2024 election isn’t so much about Republicans versus Democrats, but rather, democracy versus authoritarianism.

COMMUNITY Festival at Sandpoint offers event production services and equipment rentals

By Reader Staff The Festival at Sandpoint is offering event production services and equipment rentals to the greater Sandpoint area.

After recognizing the increased need for professional event production services in the community — especially during the holiday season — the Festival at Sandpoint began offering the services last fall.

“In the last few years, many longtime production companies in the area have moved or had key players retire,” stated FAS Production Manager Paul Gunter. “With the gap in high-end production services becoming more apparent, we were happy to step in and start providing this to the community.”

In support of its nonprofit mission, the Festival is grateful to be able to use its expertise to assist other nonprofits and businesses in an attempt to keep arts, music and entertainment accessible

to our local community.

Services include but are not limited to sound and lighting production, design and engineering, event design and management, installations, repair and consultation.

Rental equipment is also available, including speakers, microphones, event and stage lighting, instruments, amplifiers, mixers, video screens and more.

The Festival is grateful to be able to use its expertise to assist other nonprofits and businesses throughout the year.

Some of the local organizations and events that the arts organization assisted in 2023 include Kaniksu Land Trust’s SledFest, Bonner General Health’s Heart Ball, Pend Oreille Arts Council, the Panida Theater, Lost in the ’50s and KRFY Community Radio.

Those interested in FAS event services or equipment rentals are invited to visit festivalatsandpoint.com/event-services and submit a request form.

December 7, 2023 / R / 17

Lesley Gadsby’s artwork to be featured at new POAC exhibit

By Reader Staff

Often described as “bold and visually stimulating,” the artwork of Lesley Gadsby will be on display at the Pend Oreille Arts Council’s ancillary gallery at Umpqua Bank Community Plaza (Third Avenue and Oak Street) starting on Friday, Dec. 8, when the public is invited to an artist’s reception from 5-7 p.m.

Named POAC’s Artist of the Year in 2020, Gadsby’s colorful and exciting work includes landscapes, figures and still lifes in oils, acrylics and encaustics.

“I quit studying art at the University of New Mexico because in the first year we only worked in black and white,” she said.

That led Gadsby to leave for the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design in San Francisco, where she studied color and design.

“I consider myself more of a self-taught artist,” Gadsby said. “I always painted as a child, and my mother thought I was wonderful.”

POAC thinks she’s wonderful as well.

Gadsby has participated in ArtWalk since

18 / R / December 7, 2023

Artist Lesley Gadsby. Courtesy photo. moving to the area in the mid-2000s and the nonprofit arts organization stated that it is “thrilled” to offer her a one-person show.

Gadsby’s work has been purchased by many private patrons, and corporations including Bank of America, Genentech and VISA. For more information on POAC, including how to get involved or donate, visit artinsandpoint.org or call 208-263-6139.

COMMUNITY

‘Sharing our inner light and warmth’ SWS hosts annual Winter Faire

By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff The Sandpoint Waldorf School’s Winter Faire has been a beloved local tradition since the school opened in 1992. This year the fair showcases 28 vendors — each selling unique, handcrafted goods like ornaments, knitted dolls and stuffed animals, pottery and jewelry — Friday, Dec. 8 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Heartwood Center (615 Oak St., in Sandpoint).

“We have many celebrations during this dark and cold time of year that celebrate kindling and sharing our inner light and warmth,” Pedagogical Director Julie McCallan told the Reader.

“The Winter Faire is the outward expression — the joy and celebration of gift giv-

ing and the approach of returning light as we near the solstice and the winter holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa,” she added.

Inspired by Waldorf education, the annual fair features entertaining, interactive elements through which children and adults can learn how to roll or hand-dip beeswax candles, needle felt, and make wooden ornaments and lavender sachets.

“The Sandpoint Waldorf School provides a strong academic, experiential, art-infused curriculum, which meets the children through developmentally appropriate activities from preschool through eighth grade,” said McCallan. “The students graduate from the Waldorf School with confidence, critical thinking capacities, compassion for others, and the sense that they can do anything that

they set their will and mind to.”

SWS views the Winter Faire as an opportunity to share joy and create life-long memories with the whole of Bonner County.

There’s no cost for admission, but parents need to purchase tickets for kids to use as money at the children’s store or to participate in the fair’s activities.

Bring the family for an afternoon showcasing the community’s creativity and stay for a delicious lunch of soups, breads and other fresh-baked goods.

elry, candles, handmade purses, hair accessories, spices and sauces, raw honey, wood signs and kitchen items, greeting cards, handmade soaps, beverages including wine, a variety of food items including Nutlicious hazelnut spreads and more.

The market will be hosted at the Nutlicious location at 25820 Highway 2 in Dover on Friday, Dec. 8 and Saturday, Dec. 9 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. All vendors will be indoors.

The Winter Faire runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 9 at the Heartwood Center, 615 Oak St. Admission is FREE. For more information, visit sandpointwaldorf.org or call 208-265-2683.

Dover to host inaugural Winter Market

By Reader Staff The city of Dover, in partnership with Nutlicious, is sponsoring the first-ever Winter Market in Dover.

Shoppers will find items including jew-

Dover P&Z Commission offers meeting to discuss trail connecting to Idaho border at Oldtown

By Reader Staff

Members of the Dover Planning and Zoning Commission invite the public to join a “trail talk” workshop Thursday, Dec. 7, at 5:30 p.m. at the Dover City Hall (699 Lakeshore Ave.), focused on a proposal to link Dover to the western Idaho boundary at Oldtown through a pathway system.

Liz Johnson-Gebhardt will update the P&Z on Priest Community Forest Connection’s work on a Dover to Oldtown trail connector that is under development on the western side of the Idaho panhandle.

Johnson-Gebhardt has been working on the Pend Oreille River Passage Trail since 2010. Through community workshops, student participation, Rotary Club and Kalispel Tribe support — as well as fundraising — the Passage program has built two miles of trail in Oldtown and is working its way toward the Albeni Falls Visitor Center.

Dover is interested in efforts its community can make on the eastern end to eventually close the gap.

City officials will also review the newly completed Dover to Sandpoint Connector Trail within the city of Dover, and feature other bicycle and trail systems connecting area communities.

Holiday Cottage Market offers local gifts at SASi

By Reader Staff The Sandpoint Senior Center (820 Main St.) will host a Holiday Cottage Market on Saturdays, Dec. 9 and Dec. 16, featuring more than 30 local vendors offering garden goods, crafts, clothing, instruments, crocheted items, baked goods, freeze dried candies and more.

Founded by Dannette Carnegie and her husband, Bradley Carnegie, the Cottage

Markets have proved popular at locations from Bonners Ferry to Clark Fork to Laclede, with the holiday iteration bringing awareness to SASi and its services.

Market hours are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day. Get more info at The Cottage Market-Sandpoint Facebook page and sandpointareaseniors.org.

Courtesy photo.

Innovia event at Matchwood benefits community fund

By Reader Staff Stop by Matchwood Brewing Company for some refreshment Friday, Dec. 8 and do a little good while you’re at it, as the Innovia Foundation holds its Bonner Boundary Community Fund Night.

From 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Innovia will be asking Matchwood patrons to round up their tabs 5% for a donation to the community fund benefiting the organization’s two home counties.

The fund offers grants to local nonprofits through Innovia’s Leadership Council,

which is composed of a variety of local business, nonprofit and government leaders.

“Think of the fund at Innovia as a dedicated, endowed way to support our local community,” the organization stated.

“Be philanthropic locally — that’s the message and goal.”

Learn more about Innovia at innovia.org.

Courtesy photo.

December 7, 2023 / R / 19

COMMUNITY

Gift Guide 2023: Buying Local

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

In each December edition that comes out before Christmas, the Reader dedicates a page to help our readers figure out what the heck to buy their loved ones for the holidays. Next week’s gift guide will focus on the weird and wonderful. The edition right before Christmas will focus on last-minute ideas. This week, it’s all about buying local.

Each one of these gifts are available right here in Sandpoint.

No need to shop online and give billionaires more of your money. All you have to do is put on your pants and go out in public (I know, sometimes even that is too difficult, but let’s give it a shot, shall we?).

Larson’s Department Store I’m a big fan of practical gifts, and this entry from Larson’s is so down-to-earth, it literally rests on it. This gift is one of those things you don’t know you need until you have one. If you tire of cleaning puddles from around your front door, upgrade your life with one of these rubber boot trays, which retail for $18. It’s wide enough to fit three or four pairs of boots, and the lip is tall enough to hold back the meltwater from spilling onto your precious floor.

Just empty it out every once in a

20 / R / December 7, 2023

while whenever it gets full and Bob’s your uncle.

The District Known for its wide array of fine wines you usually can’t find in grocery stores, The District also features a fantastic dining room, as well as an assortment of chocolate options to make your day a little better. For the wino in your life, get them an elf-themed wine bottle topper for only $10. If that doesn’t pop your cork, they have a little nook filled with wine gadgets. Go to town.

La Chic Boutique This boutique favorite in Sandpoint always has a lot of ethically sourced items that always bring a smile to your face.

Reusable bags made right here in Sandpoint by local Nina Welp are a great present for that loved one who can’t kick the throwaway plastic bag habit at the grocery store. They’re $26 each and feature a couple of different designs. There are also sassy cards that walk right up to the line and thumb their nose at it for $5 each.

Also, in that same vein, the store also carries sassy tea collections for $13 each. Finally, for those

who want their gifts to give a bit more, La Chic Boutique carries Italian-made wool and cotton blend blankets that promise to donate a blanket to local homeless organizations for each one sold.

Designs vary from $65-$140, but each one comes with peace of mind that, with each purchase, you’re actually giving two blankets instead of one.

7B Boardshop For the snowboarder or skier in your life, represent your home county with a 7B Boardshop beanie for only $25. Also, as any rider can attest, having a portable tool to change out bindings is super helpful. The Dakine tool makes a great stocking stuffer for $30. When in doubt, don’t neglect the wall of snowboarding socks, because that cliché about socks making terrible Christmas presents is horribly outdated.

I’ve yet to meet an adult who isn’t a little too excited when they unwrap nice socks under the tree. Finally, give your mountain partner the ability to go faster with a hot wax and board tune for only $25, or toss in an extra $5 for a full edge job.

Woods Wheatcroft Studio Sandpoint’s unofficial ambassador of fun, Woods Wheatcroft is celebrating his second year in a new studio at 104 S. Second Ave. Help fund his attempts to become Peter Pan by purchasing his annual photography calendar, featuring a baker’s dozen of photos from his various collections. Calendars are $20 each, or if you really want to be a pain, walk in the studio and give Woods a handful of 2,000 pennies. That’ll teach him. If you can’t make it down to the studio, calendars are also available for sale at Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters, Utara Brewing Company and Winter Ridge.

Top left to right: A branded beanie from 7B Boardshop; a holiday themed wine topper from The District; locally made reusable bags from La Chic Boutique; snowboarding socks carried by 7B Boardshop.

Above: A rubber boot tray from Larson’s Department Store.

Bottom: Woods Wheatcroft’s 2024 calendar. Photos by Ben Olson.

LITERATURE

Practicing the ancient art of the short story The Reader’s 208 Fiction writing contest is open for submissions

By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff The Reader’s 208 Fiction Writing Contest returns for its third consecutive year to celebrate the community’s best short stories. The competition is open to anyone with $5 and the chutzpah to write a story with exactly 208 words.

Though many are loath to admit it, high school English teachers are on to something when they assign short stories to reluctant teenagers. These unique slivers of storytelling evoke intense emotions as they immerse their audiences in deceptively mundane events or totally alien worlds — and the tradition stretches back centuries, including such famous works as One Thousand and One Nights and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

According to celebrated English author Neil Gaiman, “A short story is the ultimate close-up magic trick — a couple of thousand words to take you around the universe or break

your heart.” Synthesizing the elements of a story into a succinct, emotionally affecting piece is perhaps one of the most difficult challenges a writer can face. In this case, the Reader is going one step further by asking contenders to honor our area code by writing 208-word “flash fiction” — not counting the title and byline. By comparison, that’s about 150 words shorter than this article.

This year, Publisher Ben Olson, Editor Zach Hagadone and Staff Writer Soncirey Mitchell will take on the responsibility of judging the contest. The winning story may bring us to tears, make us laugh or otherwise haunt us for the rest of their lives.

The winner will receive a grand prize of $150, second and third place finishers will receive gift certificates courtesy of the Reader and its advertisers, and the top-three finishers will be published in a January edition of the Reader along with a handful of honorable mentions.

Participants should submit their stories to stories@sand-

pointreader. com at roughly the same time as their $5 entry fee, which can be delivered to 111 Cedar St., Ste. No. 9, Sandpoint, ID 83864 or sent via PayPal to paypal.me/ sandpointreader.

There’s no limit to the number of stories you can enter before the deadline on Friday, Dec. 22, but please send an additional $5 for each submission to help pay for the grand prize.

December 7, 2023 / R / 21

events

Send event listings to calendar@sandpointreader.com THURSDAY, december 7

COMMUNITY

December 7-14, 2023

Game Night Thursday Night Football Cribbage League Bingo Night Live Music w/ Buster Brown 4:45pm @ The Hive 21+ 7-9pm @ Connie’s Lounge 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority 7pm @ Tervan Tavern 4:30-5:30pm @ Matchwood Brew Happy Family Hour w/ shareable platter and live music

FriDAY, december 8

Live Jazz w/ Bright Moments 7-9pm @ The Back Door Sandpoint’s jazz aficionados Live Music w/ John Firshi 7-10pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Live Music w/ John Pitcher 6-9pm @ Connie’s Lounge

Live Music w/ Samantha Carston 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes 5-8pm @ Drift (Hope) Live Music w/ BTP 6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Classic rock

Bonner Boundary Forever Night 5-8pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co. Hosted by Innovia, this fundraiser asks patrons to round up their tab 5% to donate to the community fund for Bonner/Boundary counties

Live Music w/ Ian Newbill 5:30-8:30pm @ Barrel 33 Country and classic rock Celtic Christmas 7pm @ Panida Theater Renowned Irish group Everdream will feature Celtic and Christmas classics. panida.org for tickets

Dover Winter Market (Dec. 8-9) 10am-3pm @ 25820 Hwy 2 Check out local vendors and crafts with indoor shopping. Event held at Nutlicious (former Thorne bldg)

Live Jazz w/ Ron Keiper 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

Sandpoint Holiday Fest 4-7pm @ Guaranteed Rate Pics with Santa. 113 Cedar St.

Contra Dance 7-10pm @ Sandpoint Comm. Hall Beginners encouraged to arrive on time for intro dancing at 7pm. $5 donation suggested. Live music

Holiday Mixer and art gathering 4-8pm @ Woods Wheatcroft Studio Throw on some funky holiday attire and cruise down for flash sale of prints, collage and original art.

Holiday gifts and 2024 calendar release. BYOB drinks

Artist Reception: Lesley Gadsby 5-7pm @ Umpqua Bank Plaza Check out Gadsby’s dreamlike paintings in oil and cold wax Live Music w/ Jake Robin 6-8pm @ Smokesmith BBQ Live music, BBQ, beer – the perfect trio! 102 S. Boyer Ave.

SATURDAY, december 9 Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes 6-8pm @ 1908 Saloon Formerly A&P’s Bar and Grill Live Music w/ Mason Van Stone 6-9pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Rock, alternative Live Music w/ Bethany Highley w/ guest Robert Sutherland 6-9pm @ Connie’s Lounge KRFY Holiday Special Live 7-9pm @ Panida Little Theater Live Music w/ Blird, Harold’s IGA 9pm @ 219 Lounge Two bands in one, indie rock and electronic shoegaze Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee Meets every Sunday at 9am Magic with Star Alexander 5-8pm @ Jalepeño’s

Free Film: Sequencer 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority A snowboard film by Quiksilver Gothard Sisters Celtic Chritmas 7:30pm @ Heartwood Center Acclaimed Celtic folk group singing carols, Celtic tunes, Irish dancing and more. $20$30 Barbie showing and food drive 1:30 & 7pm @ Panida Theater Bring a can of food to get a ticket and a small bag of popcorn. Benefits the Food Bank

Natural Connections - Library 10am-2pm @ Sandpoint Library 10am: Basics of food preservation; 12pm: Hand-tying whisk broom demo; 1pm: Living with ease: tapping; 2pm: Hands on book mending workshop Pend Oreille Chorale Free Christmas Concert 3pm @ LDS Church (Ponderay)

Winter Faire and Children’s Fest 10am-3pm @ Waldorf School Free admission! Celebrate the holiday season. Annual event

SunDAY, december 10

Wire Idaho Monthly Meeting 1pm @ Priest River Messianic Church 5G: What is it? Data collection on us all? Learn more. 208-448-2601

monDAY, december 11

Cozy Crafts & Cocoa Mindful Miles slideshow 2pm @ Talus Rock Retreat 3pm @ The Heartwood Center Free jamboree. More info The Ethan Murray Fund presents a slideshow and silent auction fundraiser highlight- at talusrockretreat.com ing the 1,200-mile journey on the Pacific NW Trail for mental health. Doors at 2pm

Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi Weekly Trivia Night 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Outdoor Experience Group Run Lifetree Cafe • 2pm @ Jalapeño’s 6pm @ Outdoor Experience “Imagining a Future: a discussion 3-5 miles, all levels welcome about science and religion”

wednesDAY, december 13 Live Piano w/ Athena Crossingham 5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Classical piano and holiday tunes Open Mic Night 6pm @ Tervan Tavern 22 / R / December 7, 2023

Holiday Cottage Market 10am-2pm @ Sandpoint Senior Ctr Santa will appear Dec. 9 and Dec. 16. Raffles, gift baskets and a gingerbread chalet Bingo Fundraiser for FSPW 2:30pm @ Sandpoint Eagles club Prizes. Bring a donation for Toys for Tots and receive extra door prize ticket. Refreshments available Live Music w/ Pamela Benton 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Blues, indie, folk, rock and OGs

tuesDAY, december 12

Music Matters Christmas Concert 6pm @ Firth Lutheran Church The Music Matters Youth Orchestra, choir, percussion and bell choir groups will perform. $10/donation

ThursDAY, december 14

Thursday Night Football 4:45pm @ The Hive 21+ Cribbage League 7-9pm @ Connie’s Lounge Bingo Night 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority Game Night 7pm @ Tervan Tavern

Christmas Escape Room 2-4:30pm @ Sandpoint Library Beat the trickster elf who has locked up Santa. Team up to solve puzzles to find the combo to free him. Register at the library

Candy Making 3-5pm @ Spt. Library Learn the science behind how candy is made and try making your own

Artist Reception: Delia Nak 5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Welcome POW Artist of the Month, Delia Nak Fiction writers open mic night 6pm @ Sandpoint Library Fun, fast-paced evening of fiction writers reading their work

KRFY culminates Winter FunDrive with live holiday radio show

By Reader Staff

’Tis the season for giving, and KRFY 88.5 FM panhandle community radio is hanging out its stocking with the Winter FunDrive, which culminates Saturday, Dec. 9 with a Holiday Spectacular Live Radio Show at the Little Panida Theater (300 N. First Ave. in downtown Sandpoint).

The fundraising effort is part of every local show during the first nine days of the month, during which listeners are invited to call 208-265-2992 and donate to KRFY when their favorite local show and/or volunteer DJ is on the air. Alternatively, donors can go to krfy.org/membership-drive-is-now and click on the “donate” link and become a member of the station. Visit the studio in person upstairs at 323 N. First Ave. KRFY organizers stated on the website that the FunDrive is the “last big push before the end of the year to raise funds and keep the station going strong and growing in 2024.”

The Holiday Spectacular Live Radio Show will run from 7-9 p.m. on Dec. 9, with doors open 30 minutes before airtime.

Tickets are $15 and available at panida.org or the door on the night of the show.

The broadcast will feature classic Christmas carols and original holiday tunes, with musical acts including Larsen Gardens, Buster Brown, Mike Wagoner and Utah John, as well as the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint ensemble choir. Local writers Sandy Compton, Zach Hagadone and Ammi Midstokke will read winter-themed campfire stories, and there will be special mystery guest stars, radio theater and music throughout by the Tinsel Trio/Sleigh Bell Syndicate All-Stars Paul Gunter, Justin Landis and Liam McCoy. Get more info — and listen to live streaming — at krfy.org.

STAGE & SCREEN

If you want to honor Pearl Harbor, don’t watch the Michael Bay film

By Ben Olson Reader Staff I confess, I’m a sucker for war films. Iconic entries in the genre like Apocalypse Now, The Thin Red Line, Saving Private Ryan and Dunkirk are cinematic masterpieces, blending the action with the pathos of war to help viewers experience even a small fraction of the terror that comes from combat.

Then there are the stinkers that are weighed down by enough terrible dialogue and cliches to scuttle even the mightiest battleship. I’m talking about entries like Windtalkers, which feels soulless and contrived, despite being directed by John Woo. If I had a nickel for every dumb line uttered

by Nicolas Cage — who spent half the movie brooding or yelling — I’d have at least enough to buy a Big Mac. Or Behind Enemy Lines, starring Owen Wilson for odd some reason, who leads this jingoistic blip of a film right into a dead-end (all to the sound of Wilson saying his trite line, “Wow”).

Stick to rom-coms, please.

At the top — or perhaps bottom — of this list of stinkers is Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor, released in 2001. I was excited to

see this when it first came out, but after watching all three hours and three minutes of this flabby dog, I was left feeling empty inside.

The plot, which is allegedly based on real historical events, features American boyhood friends Rafe (played by Ben Affleck) and Danny (played by Josh Hartnett) as they enter World War II as pilots for England’s Royal Air Force. When Rafe is reported to have been killed in action, his girlfriend Evelyn (played by Kate Beckinsale) finds comfort in the arms of Danny. When Rafe appears back from the dead, the three of them are just working out what to do about the love triangle while they reunite in Hawaii just before the Empire of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor.

While the 40-minute-long action sequence depicting the attack is visually spectacular, the movie is a hollow-hearted affair with flat, stereotypical characters you’d more likely find on a propaganda poster than in a film.

Featuring the usual bloated explosions and confectionary dialogue we’ve come to expect from a Michael Bay film, Pearl Harbor attempts to honor the servicemen killed in the attack, but

only manages to sensationalize the real events, tricking moviegoers into thinking they’re watching a historically accurate film. Instead, we are forced to wade through the three inches of muck that constitute Bay’s emotional depth.

By the time the credits roll, I was left feeling like I watched three hours worth of sentimental Kodak moments that would make any veteran roll their eyes.

One veteran pilot named Kenneth Taylor summed up his view of the film after watching it, describing it as, “a piece of trash; over-sensationalized and completely distorted.”

Jack Leaming, a radio operator in an attack plane that was shot down after the events of Pearl Harbor, said the film was doing a great disservice to the veterans it claimed to be honoring. “They’re not giving them the recognition that they should receive,” Leaming said. “In fact, they’re detracting from it. But that’s the movie business. It’s about money. It’s romanticized.”

To truly honor the fallen on Dec. 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor, put aside the Bay dreck and check out a number of documentaries that tell the story the way it should be

Free classical Christmas concert

By Mark Reiner Reader Contributor For more than 30 years the Pend Oreille Chorale and Orchestra have been providing free concerts twice a year to audiences of North Idaho. The tradition continues for another year with the entire orchestra and chorale members giving their time and talent — totally without salary — to give the gift of uplifting classical music to North Idaho.

This year’s Christmas concert will take place Saturday, Dec. 9 at 3 p.m. in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (602 Schweitzer Cutoff Road).

A free reception will follow the performance. Due to scheduling conflicts, the normal two concerts will be replaced this Christmas with one concert only.

A great variety of music will be presented. The Selkirk Brass, which normally forms the brass

section of the orchestra, will provide joyous traditional Christmas music attendees enter. The concert opens with the Chorale singing “The Heavens Are Telling,” by Beethoven, and then the brass section will act as one of two choirs in a two-choir motet, “O Magnum Mysterium,” by Giovanni Gabrieli. The text, “O Great Mystery,” reveals a mystery to the medieval mind of why animals were at the birth of Jesus, and has been used by countless composers before and since. Other lovely choral pieces by Mozart are accompanied by the orchestra. “Laudate Dominum (Praise the Lord),” features Caren Reiner as soprano soloist. “Birthday of a King,” also with a featured soloist, will end the first half.

Additionally, chamber groups will perform between larger choral selections. These include a serenade by Max Reger, with Gayle McCutchan on violin,

Alisha Dawson on flute and Marcy Hogan on viola; a violin sonata by Beethoven with Keegan Bernardin on violin and Caren Reiner on piano; as well as a trio by Schubert with Gayle McCutchan on violin, Christine Alexander on cello and Caren Reiner on piano.

The concert ends with the choir and orchestra together performing “Missa Brevis” by Haydn. This mass is interesting for a variety of reasons. First, it was written in 1749 — even before J.S. Bach had died — pointing out the fact that different styles of music, both Baroque and Classic, were concurrent. Further, this mass was written by Haydn when he was only 17 years old, and is his very first mass. The piece is written in Haydn’s typical joyous, uplifting style in six movements, and has soloists Janice Wall and Deanna Benton as solo sopranos and Alisha Dawson and Cindy Horton on flutes.

told: without the phony Hollywood veneer spread thick over it.

Pearl Harbor: Two Hours that Changed the World is a documentary narrated by journalist David Brinkley. It’s a bit dated, being released in 1991, but this documentary delivers the complete story through the eyes of survivors and witnesses, as well as exploring the aftermath of the attacks once the smoke cleared.

The documentary series World War II in Colour is an excellent collection of episodes that takes place from the run-up to the 1939 invasion of Poland by the Nazis, to VJ Day. The episode “Total

Pearl Harbor, a film filled with heartthrobs that somehow lacks a heart itself. Courtesy screenshot.

War” focuses on the attack on Pearl Harbor, showcasing never-before-seen footage of the attack, as well as explaining the chaotic day from a multitude of perspectives.

Finally, there’s a channel called “World War 2” on YouTube that does weekly episodes about the entire war. Creators dedicated a whole playlist to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which you can find by searching “Pearl Harbor Minute by Minute” on the channel page.

BoCo Barbie

Panida Theater fundraiser for the Food Bank

By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff

seeping in. With Ryan Gosling’s Ken in tow, Barbie sets out to save her home and discovers what it The Panida Theater will host means to be human along the way. two screenings of Barbie on There’s a reason Barbie is Saturday, Dec. 9 at 1:30 p.m. and already one of the highest gross7 p.m. to raise donations for the ing movies of all time, earning a Bonner Community Food Bank. total of $1.442 billion to date. This Attendees should bring cans or touching, genuine story encapsuother non-perishable contribulates the joys and difficulties of tions for the food drive, and in being a woman in modern society, and is as inspiring for boys as it is exchange they’ll receive a ticket for girls. for a small bag of popcorn to Barbie is on its way to besnack on while getting caught coming a classic, up in this sensaloved by the entire tional blockbuster Barbie (PG-13) family. Laugh and directed by Greta Saturday, Dec. 9; doors at cry as you watch Gerwig.

6:30 p.m., show at 7 p.m.; this story of empaBarbie — played by Margot $7 adults, $5 children and thy, self-discovery seniors. Panida Theater, Robbie — lives and the nature of 300 N. First Ave., 208a perfect, immorhumanity (with 263-9191, get tickets at tal life in Barbie a healthy dose of Land until the hot pink). the door or panida.org. struggles of the real world start December 7, 2023 / R / 23

COMMUNITY

Kaniksu Internet receives state grant for fiber internet in Sagle Service expected beginning in 2024 and will install 85+ miles of fiber

By Reader Staff

Kaniksu Internet recently announced the award of $2.5 million in grant money to bring high-speed fiber internet to Sagle.

The grant is part of the Capital Projects Fund grant program, and awarded by the Idaho Broadband Advisory Board, which is comprised of six elected legislators and three members appointed by the governor.

With the award, Kaniksu will be able to provide fiber internet with speeds up to 2.5 gigabits-per-second to homes and businesses in the Sagle area. Service is expected to cover the east side of Highway 95 to Lake Pend Oreille and include the neighborhoods of Westmond, Talache, Garfield Bay, Camp Bay, Elliot Bay, Glengary, Martin Bay, Bottle Bay and surrounding areas.

“Kaniksu Internet is incredibly grateful to the state of Idaho and the Idaho Broadband Advisory Board for the opportunity to bring high-speed fiber internet to the Sagle community,” stated owner Ryan Green.

“With fiber internet coming to Sagle, it will enable greater opportunities to its residents for distant learning, remote work and

24 / R / December 7, 2023

telehealth to a community that is unserved by existing internet service options.”

Kaniksu Internet expects to start construction in the spring of 2024, with a goal to start bringing customers online shortly thereafter. Work to provide service to the entire grant area will take until the end of 2026.

As of the time of the announcement Dec. 4, residential fiber service plans start at $69.99 for 100 megabits-per-second, and will offer speed plans of 250 Mbps, 500 Mbps, 1 Gbps and 2.5 Gbps. In addition to internet service, phone service will also be available.

Through both previous state grants and private money, Kaniksu Internet has brought fiber internet to the Clark Fork and Hope communities, including the cities of East Hope and the Hope Peninsula.

Kaniksu Internet is a Bonner County-based company, providing internet service to the communities of Sagle, Sandpoint, Sunnyside, Hope, Clark Fork and Schweitzer.

To learn more, and to pre-register for service, visit kaniksu.com/sagle.

MUSIC Local musician Chris Paradis releases new album Way Up Yonder

By Ben Olson Reader Staff For such a small town, Sandpoint has always been blessed with an inordinately high number of talented musicians. One of the more prolific artists in town is Chris Paradis, whose multi-instrumentalism and intriguing mix of genres has earned him a following.

Paradis announced the release of his newest full-length album Way Up Yonder on Dec. 5. Available on all the streaming services under the band name Waterhouse, the album is a collection of songs that Paradis wrote, performed and recorded himself in a studio behind his cabin in Selle Valley.

While he plays a mix of jazz, folk and world music, Paradis’ musical journey began with heavy metal.

“Once, a friend taught me to play Metallica,” Paradis told the Reader. “I was hooked.”

Paradis began playing the guitar at the age of 11. Growing up in New Hampshire, he later attended Gordon College north of Boston to study communications and creative writing, but, after graduating just a year before the Great Recession, found himself looking for meaningful work. He began teaching music lessons as a way to get by, but soon found he loved the experience.

It was after he joined AmeriCorps and worked as a wildland firefighter in Colorado that Paradis began his infatuation with the West.

“As soon as I was done, I wanted to come back,” he said.

After some traveling through South America and working on organic farms across America, Paradis decided to leave the Boston area and lucked into what he described as a “dream scenario.”

“I found a cabin up here in Sandpoint, very randomly, and came here,” he said. “I wound up meeting a lot of wonderful friends and music students. It’s been a great place for making music and having a musical life.”

After starting out on the guitar, Paradis began exploring a number of different instruments, including banjo, mandolin, bass and ukulele.

“The first thing I try to figure out is what will excite my students to make them pick up an instrument and play,” he said. “There is a thrill playing something you love.

For me, that’s what hooked me.”

After starting out with Metallica, Van Halen and ’90s grunge, Paradis studied under a jazz teacher and jumped head first into jazz and blues. Then, he studied with a fingerpicker for a while, which helped him enter the folk genre.

“Now, I’m exploring music from other parts of the world,” he said.

The resulting sound is a unique take that lives somewhere between the genres, and Way Up Yonder is a strong offering that showcases his various talents. With thoughtful instrumental tracks intermingled with lyrical numbers, Paradis’ music draws a lot of inspiration from his setting in North Idaho.

“I feel inspired being here in Sandpoint, living in these beautiful mountains and lakes,” he said. “I do a lot of hiking in

the summer, so nature is a huge inspiration with my instrumental stuff. I try to imagine I’m writing a soundtrack for my life and my listeners’ lives.”

Lyrical songs can be inspired by books he’s read, or, in the case of the third track on Way Up Yonder, a story about his family.

“That one was inspired by a news clipping my dad gave me about my grandfather,” he said.

“He died before I was born, and his car was found abandoned on the side of the road. He was missing for three months, and managed to wander all the way from New Hampshire to New Orleans.”

Paradis said nobody knows what really happened, but after his grandfather snapped out of his amnesia, he called his family and they came and picked him up in New Orleans.

“I was fascinated by that story, so I turned it into a song,” he said.

Along with playing live at various venues around Sandpoint, Paradis teaches everything from guitar, to banjo, mandolin, bass and ukulele.

Paradis said he owes so much gratitude to the Sandpoint com-

Left: The cover of the album Way Up Yonder.

Right: Chris Paradis playing live in Sandpoint. Courtesy photos. munity for supporting his musical career.

“I’m very happy to be here,” he said. “The real gift of this community is the music scene and how vibrant it is for such a small town.”

Find Way Up Yonder on various streaming services under the band name Waterhouse. Paradis will also be performing his annual Winter Solstice Livestream on Thursday, Dec. 21 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. (follow the link on the Waterhouse Music Lessons YouTube page). His next live show will be from 6-9 p.m. at MickDuff’s Beer Hall on Saturday, Dec. 23.

Celtic Christmas, Panida Theater, Dec. 8

Pamela Benton, Pend d’Oreille Winery, Dec. 9

Jump head first into the season with a special night featuring internationally renowned Irish group Everdream.

This talented trio of musicians and singers will perform much-loved Celtic and Christmas classics, including songs by Enya, magical movie songs, toe tapping reels and jigs, and unique Irish Christmas songs. They’ll also sing their chart-topping version of “O Holy Night.”

Emer (soprano), Mary (violin)

Dynamic artist Pamela Benton brings her electric violin and guitar to the Pend d’Oreille Winery for a thrilling performance that will demonstrate her status as one of the premier soloists in the Inland Northwest. Benton is an accomplished singer, songwriter, producer and recording engineer who plays indie folk-rock and jazz on five instruments: electric and acoustic violin, guitar, mandolin and piano. In addition to her solo albums Living by the Lake —

7 p.m., $20/adults, $25/kids.

Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave., 208-263-9191, panida.org. Listen at everdreamireland.com.

READ

Henry Kissinger died at age 100 on Nov. 29 and, in keeping with the momentousness of the occasion, Rolling Stone published exactly the kind of obituary that he deserved: “Henry Kissinger, War Criminal Beloved by America’s Ruling Class, Finally Dies.” Over the course of several thousand words, writer Spencer Ackerman dismantled one of the 20th century’s biggest power players, noting with cold disgust that between 3 million and 4 million people lost their lives due to his actions under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Read it (and don’t weep) at rollingstone.com.

A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint and Teresa (harp) are masters of their instruments, and between the three of them, have performed on stage and on television with some of the biggest names, including Michael Bublé, Mike Batt, Rod Stewart and more.

— Ben Olson

This week’s RLW by Zach Hagadone

influenced by her life in Coeur d’Alene — and Give Me Wings, Benton also wrote a fiddle instruction book in conjunction with her twin sister, world-renowned Celtic fiddler Deby Benton Grosjean.

Enjoy a cozy night out listening to her masterful originals.

— Soncirey Mitchell 5-8 p.m., FREE. Pend d’Oreille Winery, 301 Cedar St., 208-2658545, powine.com. Listen at pamelabenton.net.

LISTEN

We strongly suggest local residents turn their dials on Saturday, Dec. 9 to KRFY 88.5 FM for the community radio station’s Holiday Spectacular Live Radio Show.

Airing from 7-9 p.m., it’ll have music, readings, radio theater and more — all capping off KRFY’s Winter FunDrive. If you support independent local media (and we know you do), tune in and pitch in to help keep the station on the air.

WATCH

Despite being the two biggest films in recent years, I somehow missed both Barbie and Oppenheimer in the theaters this past summer. So it has been with much anticipation that I’ve waited for either of them to start streaming.

Barbie has been out there for a while now, but Oppenheimer only recently showed up on the various home viewing platforms. That said, I finally watched it and have to say that it more than lives up to the hype. Find it on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube and others.

December 7, 2023 / R / 25

BACK OF THE BOOK

A holiday vow from a cut-rate Scrooge I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but somehow over the past dozen or so years I turned into a Scrooge on Bob Cratchit wages (which I find online would be the present-day equivalent of about $13.50 an hour, so maybe things aren’t quite so Dickensian). Better yet, I guess I could be characterized as more of a Grinch, constantly grumbling about all the noise and general uproar associated with the holiday season.

Surely I’m not entirely alone in my Grinchitude; it’s a common complaint that everything costs too much, there are too many obligations and far too many chores accompanying the too-much food and drink around this time of year.

However, I must report that my shriveled heart has grown in size this year, as I vowed to my wife and kids that I would shrug off my now-traditional yuletide funk. For evidence: Not only have I lifted the strict rationing of Christmas music in my house — which usually extends until the holiday itself — but allowed for the putting up of the tree on the first weekend of December.

These are unprecedented alterations in what has been a pretty draconian set of policies in the past. As of this writing, we have already listened to more than a dozen hours of Bing Crosby, Burl Ives and Johnny Mathis; have no fewer than four different advent calendars going at once; the stockings are already hanging; and, as previously mentioned, the tree has been strung with lights. I even did that last thing myself — a task of detangling and awkward bough arrangement that I have traditionally (and grumpily) left to my wife.

And I’ll tell you what, it actually feels pretty good.

I can theorize a few reasons for this

tentative foray into the festive spirit. For one, my family was gracious enough, and probably a little grateful, to let me spend the three weeks surrounding last year’s Christmas and New Year in England.

While there I suppose I got to unshackle the holiday from the rabid commercialism and cultural hegemony it exerts in the U.S. Not that the Brits don’t do consumerism, but for whatever reason Christmas felt more Christmas-y across the pond, where the emphasis seemed to be more on taking long countryside walks, having pints and dense food in warm pubs, and spending quality time with loved ones rather than shopping malls or your Amazon account.

Of course, the English — and Dickens, in particular — pretty much invented Christmas as we view it “traditionally,” so it makes sense that they’d be pretty good at it, and scenes of thatch roofs and old stone houses on narrow lanes nestled among the hills go especially well with holiday nostalgia. There is a sight more charm in attending a Christmas market in the shadow of a 1,000-year-old cathedral than jostling around Walmart with a lot of people in their sweatpants.

So I guess I’d say that English Christmas charmed me to such a degree that I imported some of that merry-old feeling back home, and there’s been enough of it to sustain me for almost a whole year.

Plus, last year, I found that I dearly missed the ones left at home.

The other big reason I suspect I’m feeling the spirit more this year than many in the past is because, over the course of

STR8TS Solution

Sudoku Solution

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

From Pend d’Oreille Review, Dec. 7, 1909

SERIOUS FIRE NARROWLY AVERTED YESTERDAY A serious fire was narrowly averted by the prompt action of the fire department yesterday morning when a blaze started in the dry room of the Lakeside laundry, and only after prompt work was it extinguished.

During the cold snap over Sunday the steam pipes in the dry room had become frozen with the condensed steam which had run down in them and shortly after opening the laundry yesterday morning one of the employees began the work of thawing them out. He procured a torch and was holding it under the pipes when one of them suddenly broke open at which the fellow dropped the torch and ran to shut the steam off.

It was while he was in the act of closing the steam valve when the torch lighted the dry wood partition between the two dry rooms. The timber being dry it took but a few minutes until the interior of the dry room was ablaze. Employees attempted to get the laundry hose in action, but found that to be frozen also. This gave the blaze a chance to gain and a fire alarm was turned in. The fire laddies soon arrived on the ground and with the stream of water playing on the roof of the building through which the blaze had eaten its way and the smaller hose turned out in the dry room from the underside of the roof the blaze was soon extinguished.

Fortunately the fire occurred at a time when little laundry was in the building. The damage is estimated at about $150 and the building is partially insured.

26 / R / December 7, 2023

more than 11 years as a parent, I’ve come to realize that there are certain moments with your kids that — even as they’re occurring — you somehow know will be remembered forever.

We had a couple of those on a recent trip to L.A., where we spent Thanksgiving with family. Riding the rides at Disneyland with my kids and watching dolphins jumping in the surf at the beach are both standout memories, and during the former I had the strange feeling that it may be one of the final times either of my kids will want to hold my hand or sit next to me at an amusement park.

We don’t get an unlimited number of those moments, and likewise with our holidays, and even an old Grinch or cut-rate Scrooge can appreciate the value inherent in scarcity. This one plans on having an especially happy holiday this year, and hopes the same for his fellow mistletoe misanthropes.

Crossword Solution

If I ever get real rich, I hope I’m not real mean to poor people, like I am now.

By Bill Borders

CROSSWORD

Copyright www.mirroreyes.com

Laughing Matter

Solution on page 26

Solution on page 26

ACROSS

gauche /gohsh/

Woorf tdhe Week

[adjective] 1. lacking social grace, sensitivity, or acuteness; awkward; tactless.

“Trying to fit in with his well-mannered colleagues, he couldn’t help but feel gauche in their refined presence.”

Corrections: In the online version of the news article, “BOCC to draft response to alleged ‘misinformation’ given by sheriff,” [Nov. 30 edition] we issued a clarification that to the the fairgrounds fraud investigation did not originate with the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office. In a Bandwagon writeup Nov. 30, we inaccurately listed the name and lineup of The Endless Switchbacks. After some changes, which the Reader was not aware of, The Endless Switchbacks are now composed of Scott Taylor on guitar, Jim Rosauer on banjo, Muffy Nye on bass and Luke Lavesque on mandolin. Also, contrary to a calendar listing in the Nov. 30 paper, the band doesn’t play jazz. We regret the errors.

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33. Chocolate substitute 34. Anthology 35. Mammals like camels 38. Reciprocal 39. Celebrated in history 40. Scattered 42. Commode 44. Coarse file 45. Lustrous fabric 48. Nothing more than 49. Interruption 50. Circular course 53. Tear 55. Used in baseball December 7, 2023 / R / 27

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Hey Sandpoint, Ponderay, Dover and Kootenai!

Can you believe it's been almost six years since you welcomed us into this incredible community?

We're incredibly thankful for all we've experienced in that time.

Thank you for continuing to trust in us and our desire to bring better internet to our homes and businesses. We'll continue to do our best at providing a more enjoyable and reliable online experience as well as helping local entrepreneurs be more competitive.

Thank you for your patience and understanding while we did the work to bring Ting Internet to more neighborhoods. Whenever construction is necessary, we are committed to minimizing any inconvenience and to getting you connected as quickly as possible.

Thank you for reaching out to us and showing us how we can best contribute to the community.

We've been honored to support initiatives like the Panida Theater Century Fund, Sandpoint High School's computer lab, Festival at Sandpoint and so many more that make this community great.

We will continue to show our appreciation by listening to and engaging with our fellow residents.

We're so grateful to be a part of this community and are looking forward to an incredible 2024!

Sincerely, The Ting team in Greater Sandpoint

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