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PEOPLE compiled by

Susan Drinkard

watching

“What does true love mean to you?”

“Loving people for who they are and not for who you want them to be.”

Karen McClelland Physical therapist Sandpoint

“True love is unconditional. It is acceptance. True love makes you feel good.”

Zabrielle Dillon Art teacher Sandpoint

“When I think of true love I think of how much I love people and my three bunnies.”

Zarah Dillon, age 10 Sandpoint

DEAR READERS,

Bundle up, we’re in the midst of a cold snap here in North Idaho. We’re not alone though – most of the nation is experiencing colder-than-normal temperatures due to a polar vortex unleashing a frigid blast across the country.

Even though it’s cold out there, the sunshine is beautiful. Don’t be afraid to throw on an extra layer and take a stroll out in our natural beauty, or lace up the ice skates at one of our local ponds. After all, vegging out on the couch with a book or a movie feels so much better when you earn it with a little exercise.

This month marks the fifth anniversary of Reader food writer Marcia Pilgeram’s regular column in the, The Sandpoint Eater. We’re so honored to publish Marcia’s words and original recipes in our newspaper.

What many of you might not realize is that every recipe you read from her are written, tested, tweaked and made with love by Marcia. She is our favorite local chef and a beautiful person, inside and out. Thank you for sharing your love for good food with our readers, Marcia.

– Ben Olson, publisher

“If it’s love, it’s true. It is the life stream of the Universe.”

Greg Flint Retired stone mason Sandpoint

“It means having an open heart, unconditional, giving with no strings attached. Going on trips to unknown places in the heart, body and mind.”

Gina Graham Caregiver Sandpoint “When it comes to romantic love, it is preferring one person over everyone else.”

Tala Wood Library tech Sandpoint

READER 111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 (208)265-9724

www.sandpointreader.com Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com Editorial: Zach Hagadone (Editor) zach@sandpointreader.com Lyndsie Kiebert (News Editor) lyndsie@sandpointreader.com Cameron Rasmusson (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus) Advertising: Jodi Berge Jodi@sandpointreader.com Contributing Artists: Ben Olson, Bonner County Historical Society, Bill Borders, US Army Corps of Engineers.

Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Lyndsie Kiebert, Lorraine H. Marie, Tim Henney, Brenden Bobby, Jim Mitsui, Amy Craven, Susan Matley, Nancy Foster Renk, Mike Wagoner, Marcia Pilgeram.

Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com Printed weekly at: Tribune Publishing Co. Lewiston, ID Subscription Price: $115 per year Web Content: Keokee The Sandpoint Reader is a weekly publication owned and operated by Ben Olson and Keokee. It is devoted to the arts, entertainment, politics and lifestyle in and around Sandpoint, Idaho.

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

The Reader is printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink.

Leftover copies are collected and recycled weekly, or burned in massive bonfires to appease the gods of journalism. Free to all, limit two copies per person.

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

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

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

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

About the Cover

This week’s cover photo illustration is by Ben Olson. Wishing you all love and peace on Valentine’s Day. February 11, 2021 /

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NEWS

Anti-smelter groups: Watch Pend Oreille County Comp Plan rewrite Next workshop slated for Feb. 16

By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff Anti-smelter watchdog groups are urging interested parties to keep an eye on Pend Oreille County as the Planning Commission continues to work on its 2020 Comprehensive Plan update — an effort that many believe might pave the way for the proposed Newport, Wash., silicon smelter through a wholesale rezone of all parcels designated “Public Lands,” including the property owned by Canadian company PacWest Silicon.

The next Pend Oreille County Planning Commission meeting is slated for Tuesday, Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. via Zoom.

PacWest has been vocal about its need for a rezone on its property to allow for industrial use, staging the fight against the smelter as a conflict over zoning changes that might make the project possible.

A Pend Oreille County Comp Plan amendment proposed in 2019 to abolish the “Public Lands” designation and replace it with

“Public/Institutional Uses” drew firm opposition from area residents worried about what such a “blanket rezone” could mean for the future of the highly unpopular smelter project. County commissioners struck down the proposed changes in December 2019, with former-Commissioner Steve Kiss telling the Reader at the time that, “we feel that the Public Lands designation can be better addressed during our upcoming 2020 Comprehensive Plan update.”

The 2020 Comprehensive Plan update is now in the works, though it is unclear when the proposed changes will be up for official public review. Recent events suggest it could be soon: According to minutes from the most recent Planning Commission meeting on Jan. 21, Ben Floyd of White Bluffs Consulting — which is assisting Pend Oreille County in its Comp Plan update — said “he feels that the Comp Plan is ready for more formal public review.”

“Based on that info, hold another workshop and the Planning

Commission is ready for the next steps,” the minutes continue.

Part of the changes currently under consideration would be to abolish the Public Lands designation — much like in the failed 2019 amendment — and piece up the 62% of the county currently zoned as Public Lands into different designations.

It is unclear whether PacWest’s property could obtain a new designation, paving the way for industrial uses such as the smelter, but groups like Responsible Growth Northeast Washington and Citizens Against the Newport Silicon Smelter are watching closely.

“What we’re saying — what we’ve been saying all along — is that the needle needs to be pulled out of the haystack,” said Norm Semanko, a lawyer representing CANSS. “The PacWest property needs to be evaluated individually on its own merits, as to whether it merits a rezone. We do not believe it does. [PacWest] must not believe it does, because they are hoping for this blanket rezone to

allow for a transformation of their property to industrial use.”

Beyond obtaining a rezone to make industrial use possible on the property, PacWest will also need to undergo a stringent permitting process for its proposed smelter operation.

When asked if the company had applied for any of the permits necessary to operate a smelter on its property, or whether it is waiting for a rezone before moving forward with the project, a spokesperson for PacWest told the Reader in an email: “HiTest/PacWest is a patient landowner in the region.

We are looking forward to seeing

Local providers spearhead Bonner, Boundary vaccine efforts

An anti-smelter sign in west Bonner County. Courtesy photo. the Pend Oreille Comprehensive Plan rewrite and we will review how it impacts our property once it is completed.”

Pend Oreille County officials did not reply to multiple requests for comment.

Find information about joining the Feb. 16 planning commission meeting at pendoreilleco. org/your-government/community-development, or contact the Pend Oreille County Community Development department at 509447-4821.

BGH reopens registration for those 65 and older

By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff Bonner General Health is once again taking registrations for the two-dose COVID-19 vaccine after temporarily pausing sign-ups for people 65 and older on Jan. 27 due to a backlog of appointments.

“Bonner General Health continues to work through our list of patients who have registered for their vaccination,” BGH spokesperson Erin Binnall told the Sandpoint Reader on Feb. 10. “The BGH team is doing all we can to accommodate as many patients as possible while following the state’s stratification guidelines.”

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Binnall said that as of Feb. 9, BGH had administered 2,350 vaccinations — 289 of those being second doses. BGH is currently allocated between 200-300 doses per week.

“For the next two weeks, Bonner General will have administered 800 more second doses and 600 first doses,” Binnall said. “We are hopeful the county’s dose allocation will continue to increase in the coming months to vaccinate the overwhelming volume of people wanting the vaccine. We are grateful to the volunteers assisting us in our vaccination clinic and the community for your patience as we work through the 4,500 registrations.”

BGH is currently taking registrations for Idaho’s 1a and 1b priority groups, which include health care personnel; long-term care staff and residents; some home care providers; EMS and first responders; dental providers; pharmacy personnel; safety services; pre-K-12 educational staff; child care workers; and correctional and detention facility staff. The hospital has also reopened registration for people 65 and older.

BGH vaccine clinic hours are Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. by appointment only. Registration is available at bonnergeneral.org/ covid19-coronavirus.

While the Panhandle Health

District hosts vaccine clinics for Kootenai, Shoshone and Benewah counties, all vaccines allocated to Bonner and Boundary counties are being administered by enrolled providers in those counties.

Enrolled providers in the area currently include BGH, Sandpoint Family Health Center, Kaniksu Health Services, Boundary Community Hospital, Sandpoint Super Drug, White Cross Pharmacy and Medicine Man Pharmacy.

“Appointments may fill quickly,” PHD officials warned online. “It is recommended to check back each week. Thank you for your patience.”

As of Feb. 10, 155,814 Idahoans had received at least one dose

of the COVID-19 vaccine, with 39,720 having received both. In Bonner County, 2,712 residents had received a single dose, and 1,414 had received two.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare reported 458 new cases of COVID-19 across the state on Feb. 10, bringing the statewide total since March 2020 to 166,553 cases and 1,791 deaths. PHD reports that 2,849 Bonner County residents have had the virus, with 517 of those cases currently active and 30 resulting in death.

Those with questions about COVID-19 or the vaccine can reach the PHD hotline at 877-415-5225.

NEWS

Rep. Simpson’s plan to breach Snake R. dams offers to end ‘salmon wars’ while protecting ag and industry

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Congressman Mike Simpson, who represents Idaho’s Second Congressional District, stunned elected officials, agriculture and industry leaders throughout the Northwest when he announced Feb. 6 a $33.5 billion plan to breach the four lower Snake River dams in an effort to restore Idaho salmon runs.

The longtime Republican U.S. House member unveiled the proposal via a video posted to his website, simpson.house.gov/salmon, in which he stated, “Our system is clearly not working. So we are asking some very difficult ‘what if?’ questions. What if the dams came out? What if we were able to replace the energy from the dams?

What if we came up with different ways of transporting grain? What if we created new economic engines for our communities?”

Noting that while more than $17 billion has been spent on salmon recovery and management during the past 30 years, in 2019 only 3,763 wild adult spring chinook salmon returned to spawn in Idaho — “about 4% of the historical total,” Simpson said, adding that while he is uncertain that removing the dams will save the salmon, “I am certain that if we do not take this action, we are condemning Idaho salmon to extinction.”

According to plan, the Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental and Ice Harbor dams would be breached from fall 2030 to fall 2031.

Underscoring the historic nature of Simpson’s proposal — which keys in on a central component of the decades-long “salmon wars” over how to balance ecological protection with economic necessity on the Snake and Columbia rivers — the Idaho Farm Bureau in a Feb. 9 podcast noted that, “This is the first time any member of the Pacific Northwest congressional delegations has raised dam breaching and this proposal would drastically impact three state economies.”

That said, “The Idaho Farm Bureau is against breaching. The lower four dams on the Snake River produce a lot of cheap and environmentally friendly hydroelectric power to the region. The dams and the waterway allows wheat farmers, and other commodities, to cheaply export their ag products to the world,” the organization stated.

Critics also argue that removing the dams would make barge traffic impossible, threatening the flow of goods through the Columbia-Snake River system — which includes the Port of Lewiston — and imperiling one of the top three largest grain exportation hubs in the world.

Included in Simpson’s proposal are a number of efforts to mitigate the effects of breaching the

dams on agriculture and industry, including $16 billion in funding to develop alternative energy energy systems to make up for the loss of low-cost hydro power; $3.5 billion expand and enhance road and rail infrastructure in order to compensate for barge traffic; and $1.25 billion to develop the Snake River Center for Advanced Energy Storage in the Lewiston-Clarkston area, with the mission of exploring technologies and methods to capture hydro, wind and solar energy on a regional scale.

The remainder of the proposed $33.5 billion appropriation — which would be earmarked as the Columbia Basin Fund and included in federal stimulus/infrastructure legislation — would go toward environmental partnerships to repair and enhance region-wide

ecosystems; assisting agricultural operators with research into new waste and nutrient management solutions; and funding for a wide range of recreation, tourism and economic development projects.

While organizations such as the Farm Bureau have balked at the proposal, conservation and outdoors groups from across the tri-state Northwest have applauded Simpson’s vision.

“The proposal is bold, comprehensive, and urgently needed for Idahoans and the people of the Northwest,” stated Idaho Conservation League Executive Director Justin Hayes.

A further 10 regional and national organizations, from the Association of Northwest Steelheaders and Idaho Rivers United to the National Wildlife

By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff

ordinance for [a] hearing with the board, some questions arose that needed to be addressed.”

“The Planning Department withdrew the application,” Ollerton continued, “and will be submitting a new draft to the Planning Commission after some rework.”

The proposal — which first went before the commission in late summer and has since been extensively workshopped — would have introduced a new mechanism for permitting some mining operations

in the county: the certificate of zoning compliance. The certificate would be issued administratively by the planning director without a public hearing, unlike in the case of a conditional use permit, which requires a chance for the public to comment on certain proposed operations.

The Planning Commission voted 3-1 to recommend approval of the code changes on Jan. 7, with commissioners Matt Linscott and Brian Bailey recusing themselves

The Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River in southern Idaho. Photo courtesy U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Federation and the Sierra Club all issued statements in support of the proposal.

“Everyone gets and everyone gives in this stouthearted proposal,” stated Giulia Good Stefani, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Now is the moment to move the conversation out of the courtroom, where it has been stuck for 20 years, and craft a solution that’s built in the mighty Northwest. Rep. Simpson offers a brave vision to safeguard salmon and clean energy, while taking care to meet obligations to the Tribes and rural working communities.”

Bonner County scraps mining code changes Proposed amendments to Bonner County Revised Code affecting mining operations are no longer up for adoption, despite the Planning and Zoning Commission voting to recommend the changes to Bonner County commissioners at a Jan. 7 hearing.

Planning Director Milton Ollerton told the Sandpoint Reader on Feb. 8 that “in preparing the mining

due to conflicts of interest, while acting Chair Don Davis abstained, as he didn’t need to break a tie.

While that would normally mean that the code amendments would go before the Bonner County Board of Commissioners for final approval, the Planning Department’s withdrawal of the project application means that any new drafts will need to go through another workshopping process with the P&Z Commission.

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NEWS

Hoodoo Valley zone change denied

County commissioners will make the final decision

By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff

The Bonner County Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended denial of a requested comprehensive plan amendment and zone change Feb. 4, affecting 160 acres in the Hoodoo Valley where Hayden-based Daum Construction, LLC hopes to build homes on five-acre parcels.

The proposal, which would have changed the property’s zoning designation from Agricultural/Forestry to Rural Residential and allowed for the land to be pieced into five-acre parcels, drew strong opposition from many Hoodoo Valley residents, 111 of whom signed a petition against the file. Of the 18 written comments the county received regarding the project, 17 were opposed.

Spirit Lake Fire District was the only official agency to express concerns about the zone change, arguing that the area would need two points of access/egress and a traffic analysis should be conducted on Spirit Lake Cutoff Road — where the property is located — to determine how the increase in home density would affect the roadway, which has seen a recent increase in vehicle crashes. The fire district also shared that “due to current traffic load, our emergency response has been hampered in those areas.”

Recommending denial, planner Tessa Vogel presented the planning staff’s analysis of the proposals, stating that the comp plan amendment and zone change “would not be appropriate per the goals, objectives and policies of the Bonner County Comprehensive Plan, as that change would allow for the potential building of five-acre minimums where 10 and 20 acres is appropriate.”

Tiffanie Espe, a representative for the project from Hayden-based Advanced Technology Surveying, told the commission after the staff report that Daum Construction was taking into account some smaller lots northeast of their property, and “thought that would possibly allow for this zone change to be 6 /

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approved.”

“The owner has no intentions of creating hardships for anyone,” Espe continued. “We respectfully disagree that the five-acre minimums would diminish rural character.”

Hoodoo Valley residents who offered public comments during the Feb. 4 hearing were all opposed to the project, many referring to Spirit Lake Cutoff Road’s limited capacity for traffic and questioning the ability of the local water supply to support upward of 30 more wells.

“I know everybody wants to move to our area, and the quality of life here is phenomenal, and I hate to see that in jeopardy,” said Michael Hogan, a neighbor of the Daum Construction acreage. “What everybody is talking about — limited hospitals, traffic, noise, having neighbors, the elk, the moose, everything that travels through there — all that’s going to be disrupted. I really, really hope you guys do the right thing and keep Bonner County, Bonner County. …

“I don’t want our area destroyed because of somebody making money, somebody just looking at the benefit of their pocket instead of the beauty of our area,” he added.

Espe declined a chance to offer rebuttal to the public comments before the planning commission went into deliberation.

Commission Chair Don Davis emphasized that while the proposed comp plan amendment and zone change would allow for five-acre parcels within Daum Construction’s 160 acres, the property’s current zoning already allows for development on 10-acre parcels.

“That could happen tomorrow — 16 more houses, 16 more lots, 16 more families, 16 more wells … right then and there,” Davis said.

The commission ultimately followed the staff recommendation for the proposed changes, unanimously recommending denial. The file will now go before the Bonner County Board of Commissioners for a final decision on March 10 at 1:30 p.m.

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: If enacted, the 2021 Raise the Wage Act, which would bring minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025, will not only boost paychecks for 21% of the workforce, but annual government expenditures of major public assistance programs would fall by up to $31 billion, according to estimates by the Economic Policy Institute.

On Feb. 6, 2020 the nation’s firstknown COVID-19 victim died. Twelve months later, the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 and related causes now stands at more than 464,000 — exceeding the number of Americans who died in WWII. Regarding former-President Donald Trump’s current impeachment: If his attorneys focus on what Trump wants, it would call for the ex-president to appear as a witness, according to lead impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., yet that’s exactly what Trump’s attorneys don’t want to happen.

Meanwhile, if there are no repercussions regarding the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington, D.C., which is the focus of the impeachment, Raskin said that it establishes “a precedent, where every president on the way out the door” can “try to incite an armed insurrection against the Union. And if it succeeds, he becomes a dictator. If it fails, he’s not subject to impeachment or conviction because we just want to let bygones be bygones.”

“Forget about it and move on” is not an acceptable response to the Capitol insurrection, according to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who experienced the violent raid. She confided that she’s been a victim of sexual assault, and the “forget about it” attitude is used by abusers who find it convenient if everyone just “moves on.” Ocasio-Cortez said prosecutions are not about revenge, they’re about creating safety.

According to Reuters, the Justice Department is considering whether to prosecute the Capitol insurrectionists using the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The Act was designed to address those individuals who orchestrate illegal events but don’t “get their hands bloody.” For instance, The Wall Street Journal reported that the heiress to Publix Super Markets donated “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to fund the pro-Trump gathering that immediately preceeded — and many lawmakers

By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist

argue — triggered the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol Building.

Smartmatic, producer of voting machines, is suing Fox Corporation for “at least” $2.7 billion for defamation and for contributing to the Capitol insurrection. The suit also targets Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, according to The New York Times. As well, Dominion Voting Systems has filed suit against Giuliani and Powell. Fox Corporation is valued at $17.8 billion, making the Smartmatic suit “significant” if Fox loses.

Newsmax surprised far-right viewers during a segment featuring Mike “My Pillow Guy” Lindell, during which he repeated baseless claims that the 2020 election was “stolen.” The interviewer interrupted to make clear, “We at Newsmax have not been able to verify any of those allegations … there’s nothing substantive that we have seen.”

Economists at Citigroup say that if Black entrepreneurs had better access to credit, there would have been an additional $16 trillion in economic output since 2000, bloomberg.com reported.

The more contagious coronavirus variant from Brazil recently arrived in the U.S. via a traveler returning from there. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines offer protection, but will be slightly less effective, according to the companies, as reported in The New York Times.

After a recent Senate all-nighter, Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney passed a non-binding resolution similar to the closed-door TRUST Act, which could attack Social Security by enabling cuts to both SS and Medicare. Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., objected, saying Romney’s proposal could open the door to cutting SS, Medicare and Medicaid, thereby “impacting some of the most vulnerable people in this country.”

Blast from the past: When Abraham Lincoln was a Senate candidate in 1858, he said arguments that white men were more worthy of rights than Black people were no different from those “that kings have made for enslaving the people in all ages of the world … You work, and I eat; you toil, and I will enjoy the fruits of it.

Turn it whatever way you will, whether it come from the mouth of a king, an excuse for enslaving the people of his country, or from the mouth of men of one race as a reason for enslaving the men of another race, it is all the same old serpent.”

NEWS

HereWhat’s Wehappening Have Idaho at the Idaho Legislature this week

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Emergency powers Republican state lawmakers are continuing their session-long effort to work around restrictions and public health policies stemming from Idaho’s COVID-19 response, most recently with a House concurrent resolution that would lift Gov. Brad Little’s public health orders — specifically the limitation on gatherings to no more than 50 people.

Introduced Feb. 5 by Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, the Idaho Statesman noted that a resolution “could circumvent the governor’s actions” because, unlike a bill, it would not have to go to Little’s desk for his signature and could not be subject to veto.

The Idaho House on Feb. 10 voted 55-15 to approve Crane’s resolution, which purports to declare “null, void and of no force and effect” the public gathering limitation.

However, following a request from Boise Democratic Rep. John Gannon in late January, the Idaho attorney general’s office has already weighed in on the constitutionality of whether resolutions may be used to “sidestep the governor,” as Gannon put it at the time. “[Resolutions] cannot be considered to have legal effect other than stating the policy preference of the Legislature, or the chamber that has adopted it,” wrote Chief Deputy AG Brian Kane in the opinion, released Jan. 28.

As the Idaho Constitution outlines, the Legislature may end an emergency declaration only by following the established legislative process, which requires the governor’s signature.

“Any legislation that does not meet these requirements is not law,” Assistant Chief Deputy Brian Kane wrote in the opinion.

“Any legislative override of an executive order or emergency declaration must comply with the lawmaking requirements of the Idaho Constitution.”

Crane said he’s undeterred.

“I have seen attorney general’s opinions before that have not been upheld,” he said, according to the Statesman.

Crane’s resolution — HCR 5 — now goes to the Senate, where it will be assigned to a committee.

Absentee ballots Of the approximate 1 million registered voters in Idaho, 878,527 cast their ballots in the 2020 election, amounting to a historic turnout of more than 81%. Likewise, nationally, turnout reached 66.7% of the voting-eligible population — nearly 160 million people — marking the most participation as a percentage of registered voters since 1900.

Huge turnouts both in Idaho and around the country were driven by the widespread availability of mail-in ballots — a measure intended to allow millions of Americans to vote from home rather than having to travel to in-person polling places and run the risk of transmitting or acquiring COVID-19.

Former-President Donald Trump and many other conservatives decried mail-in balloting for months prior to the election, fronting baseless claims of election fraud and insecurity — at one point, Trump expressing his fear that should mail-in voting become the norm, “you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.”

As with many other states, Idaho allows for so-called “no-excuse” absentee voting, meaning registered voters may request a mail-in ballot for any reason.

However, Middleton Republican Rep. Tammy Nichols wants to change that, introducing legislation Feb. 8 that would only count in-person votes when selecting presidential electors.

HB 105 purports to “assist in ensuring integrity in our elections process by fortifying the selection of presidential electors.”

According to its statement of purpose, “[P]residential electors will be chosen based on which candidate won the most votes

among in-person voting on Election Day.” What’s more, as the bill text makes clear, absentee voting would only be available to Idahoans who are subject to the Uniformed and Overseas Absentee Voting Act and “a person who has sworn to a physical inability to vote in person.”

There is no indication in the legislation how any oath of physical inability to vote in person could be administered or enforced.

The bill has since been referred to the House State Affairs Committee.

Monuments bill Communities and institutions throughout the country have in recent years revisited the significance of historical names and monuments. The partisan flashpoint over the issue has centered on buildings, streets, institutions and monuments that honor historical figures prominent with the Confederacy of the southern states in the American Civil War, as well as others whose legacies are associated with racism, misogyny and colonialism.

If first-term Hayden Republican Rep. Doug Okuniewicz has his way, that won’t be happening in Idaho — at least not unless the Legislature approves it.

According to the statement of purpose for HB 90 — referred to as the “monument protection” bill — the legislation would lock in “the names of historic figures and historic events memorialized in or dedicated to public schools,

streets, bridges, structures, parks, preserves or other public areas of the state or any of its political subdivisions that were in place prior to July 1, 2021.”

That includes monuments and memorials erected on state property, neither of which could be “relocated, removed, disturbed, or altered without approval of the Idaho Legislature by way of a Concurrent Resolution.”

The House approved HB 90 on a 51-19 vote, though not without a robust debate that zeroed in on the partisan political roots of the issue.

According to the Idaho Press, Lewiston Republican Rep. Aaron von Ehrlinger supported the bill, comparing the removal of certain

Courtesy image of the Capitol in Boise. monuments in some cities around the country to “the Russian revolution” and “absolutely despicable,” reserving special venom for “all the mayors in these big cities that did absolutely nothing in the face of these leftists and sometimes Marxists.” “[T]hey need to be not allowed to be making these decisions, because if they’re not going to lead, the people in the statehouses should, and that’s why I will be voting ‘yes’ on this,” he added, Idaho Press reported.

The bill now moves to the Senate.

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Picking and choosing which laws to obey...

Bouquets: • Here’s a Bouquet for Sandpoint’s own Shook Twins for donating $2,500 to the Panida Theater from their virtual show held in November. Katelyn and Laurie Shook have both shared that they love the Panida Theater and wanted to give back to it during these trying times.

Thanks for supporting our community theater, Shook Twins! Their funds will be put toward sound equipment to make sure the Panida has a complete sound system so bands and promoters won’t have to rent equipment from out of town for performances. The Panida will then be able to rent the equipment itself and make a profit on the rental fees.

Barbs: • After watching some of the impeachment hearing this week, I was again reminded of the incredible hypocrisy that exists in this nation today. Former-President Trump’s defense team soft-soaped their way through opening arguments, attempting to paint a rosy picture of Congress wishing to work with honor and bipartisanship to “move on” from the events of Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol. In other words, they want us all to forget that dark day ever happened, and that it was a U.S. president who incited it. They told the sitting body of U.S. senators that impeachment was just a knee-jerk reaction, that it wasn’t constitutional, that it was polarizing for the nation. I agree. Impeachment is not a unifying action, but it is a necessary consequence when an elected official oversteps their bounds and commits “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Whatever happened to accounability? If you truly believe in law and order, act like it. Don’t just wave a flag.

True patriotism means putting your country over your party or personal political beliefs. The sad part of this whole thing is that no matter how strong the evidence against Trump, GOP senators will largely side with their party and vote against conviction – this includes Idaho Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo. There’s one way to prevent this from happening again: vote to convict.

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Dear editor, To Sheriff Daryl Wheeler: So you say that you will not be enforcing the mask mandate passed by the Panhandle Regional Health District. It must be great to be able to pick and choose which rules that you will enforce. I would guess that you would not let me pick and choose which laws to obey. What a wonderful power you have over the rest of us. You also say that the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office is working at maximum capacity on real crime. I was unaware that crime here was that bad.

I am older, 65, and disabled (COPD), on oxygen 24/7, at higher risk of a fatal case of COVID-19. I want to buy local, but Safeway and Home Depot also do not enforce the mask mandate. So locals get little of my money, most going to Walmart and Amazon. Per your advice, I usually stay home. Because meeting a maskless person is like letting them play Russian roulette with my life.

Imagine that I were to go to city park, loaded revolver in hand.

Close my eyes, spin around, waving my arms randomly, then pull the trigger. Bang! Chances are that shot will strike no one. If someone is hit, chances are it won’t kill them. But it may kill them — especially if they are older, disabled, on oxygen 24/7.

And that would be OK with you? You would not enforce a law prohibiting that? What is the difference?

Sincerely, Chris Meikle Sagle

Flag etiquette...

Dear editor, As the mother of two Eagle Scouts, I am fussy about flag etiquette. Here are some do’s and don’ts for our flag: 1. Do not place any other flag more prominently than the American flag. No politician or cause supersedes the United States flag; 2. Never bastardize the flag for your political beliefs like changing the colors; it is not gray with a blue, red or any other color stripe. It is red, white and blue; 3. Do not display the flag with the Stars and Bars. The Virginia Confederate flag is about the destruction of the United States. That is its history; 4. Never use the flagpole of the U.S. flag to try to beat a Capitol police officer to death while chanting, “Shoot him with his own gun”;

5. Never cut the American flag down off of the Capitol and throw it to the ground as insurrectionists cheer; 6. Never try to replace the U.S. Capitol’s American flag with a Trump flag.

What happened on Jan. 6 was the culmination of an anti-Democracy, anti-American movement that has been building in our area for a while. It was not liberals in Trump hats who disgraced our flag. It was people who believe that only they should have a vote, and with Trump’s lies and hateful words ringing in their ears, they were willing to spill blood to make Trump king.

Any politician or person that does not condemn that day is not an American let alone an American patriot.

Mary Haley Sandpoint

Accountability for ‘the Big Lie’…

Dear editor, I’m an Idahoan by choice, not birth. I have held this status for more than 50 years. I’ve seen the twists, turns and machinations of state politics under both Democrats and Republicans. But never have I been as frustrated or disappointed as I’ve been for the past month. Frustrated by the lack of moral fiber and backbone by our federal office holders. Disappointed that these same “representatives” for all Idahoans are kowtowing to a fringe minority in an unabashed effort to not be primaried and remain in office.

The events of Jan. 6 were well covered and documented as a seditious mob that was fired up and emboldened by a narcissistic spoiled man-child, invaded the U.S. Capitol to chants of “hang Pence” and “where’s Pelosi?”. This mob killed one policeman and beat others severely while desecrating our national seat of government.

There can be no dispute as to what happened and why.

These rioters believed the “Big Lie” told to by a serial liar and conman. Senators, now is the time to reaffirm your oath of office and convict the twice impeached fraud that formerly occupied the White House.

Show us proof you still believe in duty, honor and country.

Gil Beyer Sandpoint

Practice what we preach…

Dear editor, Recently, I received an “Economic Impact Payment” card. I’m sending it back (via Rep. Russ Fulcher).

Here’s why: 1. I don’t need it. The way our government throws money around is irresponsible at best.

2. Government has no place in charity. You do. I do.

3. “Economic Impact Payment.”

Indeed. Payment for the economic impact of politicians who made lists of jobs they thought were “essential,” who then published these lists, then threatened to fine or imprison anyone whose job didn’t appear on the list if the individual went outside to do the job.

4. Conservatives like to complain about government control, socialism, etc. But our words are empty, because corporately, if not individually, we constantly seek out and accept government funding in all its various forms and, with it, the stipulations. There is always a catch, and our supposed hate of socialism is also shown to be false, as we continue to place more and more aspects of our lives in the care of the government.

We pretend that Idaho is full of sturdy, independent people. It is. It’s also supported heavily by federal funding. The lifeblood of our local jurisdictions is state and federal grants. We pocket a “relief” check for our business, then in the same breath complain about national debt or the rise of socialism.

There are real needs which demand real solutions. However, our current method is not the answer.

We need to practice what we preach.

Isaiah Williams Cottonwood

Props to BGH COVID-19 team…

Dear editor, On Feb. 1 I had an appointment at Bonner General Hospital to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.

The personnel were prepared and knowledgeable; the scheduling was fantastic — no huge lines nor excessive wait times; the planning for location and social distancing made the experience a pleasure. Thanks to all for doing an excellent and efficient job during these trying times.

Jane Holzer Hope

Distribute the $900 million federal aid already...

Dear editor, Thanks to Gov. Little, who acted quickly to get us those funds, Idaho has received $900 million in new federal aid to help Idahoans

impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This includes $164 million for rent assistance for workers who lost jobs, $851,000 for the Commission on Aging for meals on wheels for seniors, and $58 million so day care centers can remain open for children and operate safely.

Now it is up to the members of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee to actually help Idahoans.

However, many of the bills I have seen introduced in the last 3.5 weeks seem to suggest that there is no pandemic, no economic crisis, no health emergency: constitutional amendments blocking Idahoans from getting pain relief and treat other medical conditions through medical marijuana; a bill to ban abortion, thus taking control over someone else’s body; free-range parenting; lemonade stands; stripping the governor of his emergency power that helps provide funding (such as the one I mentioned above); making the community less safe by allowing bigger gatherings; allowing concealed weapons in schools. The list goes on.

On Thursday [Feb. 11], I’ve been assured by one committee member that they’re “working on pushing the supplemental appropriations out of committee this week and next.” It should have happened as one of the first actions of this legislative session.

Idahoans, please pay attention to what is going on and hold your elected officials accountable.

Katrin Lepler Idaho Falls

Evolution...

Dear editor, I have watched the Reader evolve from a small-town newspaper, that I frequently made fun of, to an incredible publication. Your articles are amongst the best that I read. Your team is similar to the Guardian but with a local North Idaho perspective. Thanks to you all.

Your team is a gift to our town.

Harvey Brannigan Bayview We accept letters to the editor that are under 300 words, contain no libelous or profane statements and address issues that affect us here in North Idaho. We reject letters that contain glaring falsehoods, letters that have no grasp on reality and letters that attempt troll or defame. Please elevate the conversation.

OPINION

Little things mean a lot On culture, friendships and life at large

By Tim Henney Reader Contributor

Having suffered through a year of COVID-19 and four years of national anguish and global disgrace, “the little things,” as the old song goes (vocals

by Kitty Kallen, circa early ’50s), “mean a lot.” Little things like dogs returning to the White House. Champ and Major are German shepherds who help make our nation’s First Residence again livable and hospitable — they make Joe and Jill happier and healthier First Persons, too. Dogs just do that.

To have a president and first lady who love dogs is for my family and for dogster pals like Lynn Courville; Jill and Dan Murphy; Jean Courville and husband Tom; Mandy Evans; Courtney Wimmer; and neighbor Jim Armbruster, who misses walks with his canine best friend who lived to be 17, like being born again. “First Dogs’’ are as essential to the White House as peanut butter is to jelly. As tequila to a margarita. As Tom Brady to the Super Bowl.

When Tippy and I amble through Lakeview Park we meet people and dogs like Steve and his dog Charley; Ed and his dog Jessie; Frank and his dog Chester; Ed’s fishing pal Pete and Pete’s two Welsh corgis; track coach Matt Brass and his especially speedy companion, who appears to be part black lab, part greyhound, part cheetah. We visit with Deb, who brought her big lab to Sandpoint from Texas and claims he woofs with a drawl.

Tippy and I meet Nick, a professor from Nebraska, whose four-legged best friend is named Nebraska!

Cornhuskers are a lonely breed hereabouts, so I suggest Nick call upon Nate Harrell at Pend Oreille Vision Care, a fellow Nebraskan. (However, Nate doesn’t like football — the only

Nebraskan in the world who doesn’t — so that might discourage a new bonding).

Lynn Bridges, another South Sandpoint neighbor, regularly walks Buddy down our road. And Tippy always wags to Darby Benner, a chocolate-flavored poodle who lives along our hiking route through the park to the lake. I wrote an article once urging Sandpoint dog lovers to haul their dogs to Oregon’s beaches for a romp because that’s where the dog action was. Well, we’ve caught up. So stay home. It rains more on the Oregon Coast, but dogs reign more in South Sandpoint — in the park and along our own wide winter beaches during the lake drawdown.

Community advocate Mary Toland, everybody’s favorite neighbor, knows Sandpoint dogsters who Tippy and I don’t know but wish we did. Retired Washington State University faculty Preston Andrews and wife Patty Ericsson have three rescue dogs. Retired Lutheran pastor Dave and wife Lois have a passel of Lilliputian-size dogs, the kind who like to boss big dogs around. And Mary has a loveable stuffed Snoopy dog companion she’s had for 50 years.

Another of the little things that mean a lot as we edge into a more hopeful era is the extraordinary professionalism of Sandpointians in the COVID-19 trenches who schedule, manage and administer vaccine shots at the fairgrounds. TV aerial photos show people standing and in cars by the hundreds all over the globe waiting in exasperating lines for vaccine jabs. Here, thanks to devoted experts like Kristina Gavin, her mom Donna Dougherty, Karianne Yarnell, Katherine Kolberg, countless other Panhandle Health colleagues and a barn full of good samaritan volunteers like Mike Fallon, wife Laurel Dovich and Idaho National Guard members who

welcome arrivals at the door in “good guy” camo — Yay! — Sandpoint’s vaccination process is working like the proverbial well-oiled machine.

The courtesy, the smiles, the grace, the caring so earnestly shown might be a little thing. But it means so much.

It’s really why we live here.

A dramatic addendum to the above, just for the record: My 1957 bride, Jacquelynn, who recently turned 86, and I, nearing 90 (but would pass for 33 if not for neck wattles and ear hairs) and both with “underlying medical issues,” received our follow-up vaccines the other day. We should have left well enough alone.

Now, feeling indestructible, she leaps about in skimpy, spangled, red white and blue underwear and tall red boots thinking she’s Wonder Woman. And I have become “more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.” Those vaccines are amazing. I suspect they contain catnip. (Just joshin’, QAnon weirdos — don’t reach for your social media conspiracy gadgets).

One could go on ad infinitum about the little things that contribute so much to Sandpoint culture, friendships and life at large. Here’s one final example: A grateful doff of the snow beanie to those on-the-job Sandpoint Parks and Recreation people who keep the asphalt path through Lakeview Park (and other parks as well) free of ice and snow so that neighbors and dogs can stroll collegially and safely. Some of us are older than dirt, ice or snow. We no longer play tennis or volleyball, sail boats or ride horses, jog or cage fight. Instead, we walk with dogs on trails and through parks.

Sometimes we stumble and grumble — but not about you, Parks and Recreation. You help make life safe and happy. Our thanks for your many good deeds.

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Mad about Science:

Brought to you by:

septic tanks and sewer systems

By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist Have you ever wondered what happens after you flush your toilet? Where does it all go, and how are we not waistdeep in sewage right now?

You’re about to find out, because I had the misfortune of finding out what happens when the waste has nowhere to go. Before I continue, I’d like to thank Ace Septic and Case Plumbing, respectively, here in Bonner County for helping me out of a really crappy situation.

The average’s home wastewater system can be operated completely without electrical power, with one exception: If you have an electric pump for your well water, you won’t be able to replenish your system when the power goes out. So long as you are able to fill the tank of your toilet, you should be able to flush away waste without any problems. How does this happen?

Gravity.

Water will always move downward until it can’t anymore because of obstructions. Imagine a puddle, or our beautiful lake. All of the wastewater pipes in your house are designed to travel downhill, generally at a sloped grade to maintain a predictable speed at which your water will transport your waste. If the slope is too steep, the water could travel faster than your waste, risking buildups of waste that will eventually block the water from passing through the pipes.

At that point, the water has nowhere to go, and adding 10 /

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more water will only force that excess water and waste back up your pipes, into your house and all over your floor.

The final destination of your bodily waste can vary based on where you live and the age of your house. Living in rural North Idaho, you are likely familiar with what a septic tank is, though you probably have not spent a tremendous amount of time researching that particular technology unless you are trying to learn more about yours to avoid costly repairs. A septic tank is a large container made of plastic, fiberglass or concrete buried underground where most of your household waste will end up. Your waste enters the tank via an inlet baffle, a T-shaped pipe that is meant to help slow and direct solid wastes downward, and to keep scum from flowing back up the pipe and into your house.

The contents of your septic tank naturally separate into three layers, like a disgusting tiramisu: scum, liquid and sludge. The scum layer at the top is made primarily of oils and fats — things that are lighter than water and naturally float to the top. The liquid layer is a mixture of urine and wastewater that’s heavier than the scum layer above it, but lighter than the sludge beneath it.

Sludge is a mass of solids and bacteria that work tirelessly to decompose your solid waste — I would assume this translates to lots of gas, but you would have to consult a septic specialist or a biologist about how all of that gas escapes, and whether or not it will coalesce back into water after it has

been broken down. Liquid is allowed to escape your septic tank, and does so by exiting through a drain field, where it is dispersed into the soil, which acts as a natural filter to clean the water before it can return to the underground reservoirs.

This process is similar in many ways if you are hooked up to a sewer system rather than a septic tank. Sewers are built in towns where a larger volume of waste is produced, and though they take considerably more maintenance and upkeep than a septic tank, they’re easier to maintain when everyone’s money is pooled together to help out — just like the public library, fire department or police.

Waste from the sewer is transported to a sewer treatment plant where it undergoes a number of steps to be converted into drinkable water.

Upon entry into the facility, it is chemically treated and transported to filtration, where the waste is pushed through filters that separate larger items from the effluent, or liquid waste. All sorts of weird things end up in the sewer, including teeth, watches and (in at least one instance) half a car, according to some internet sleuthing. Good luck flushing your dad’s Camaro at home.

These larger items, including half of that car, are transported to a separate facility where they can be processed to be buried and fermented to be used as fertilizer, or taken to a landfill or recycling center for inorganics.

The wastewater left behind at the treatment facility is pumped into bioreactors filled with

bacteria that consume other bacteria that could harm us. At the end of its journey, it’s mixed with chlorine to kill any residual bacteria before it flows back out into a nearby body of water.

While that might gross you out, literally all of the water on Earth has been recycled.

Earth is built to recycle water by evaporating surface water, allowing it to coalesce into clouds, rain and snow that will

inevitably be consumed by you and me and released back onto the surface to evaporate and start all over again.

That’s right, that $8.99 bottle of designer water your favorite Instagram influencer duped you into buying was caveman pee at one time.

You’re welcome.

Sorry for ruining your lunch. Stay curious (and hydrated), 7B.

Random Corner ine’s day?

Don’t know much about valent • St. Valentine wasn’t just one person. Valentine’s Day was named after its patron saint, St. Valentine — but there’s actually some confusion surrounding which St. Valentine the holiday technically honors. According to history.com, there are at least two men named Valentine that could’ve inspired the holiday, including one Valentine (or Valentinus) who was a priest in Rome during the third century CE. As the story goes, this Valentine defied Emperor Claudius II’s ban on marriage (he thought it distracted young soldiers), illegally marrying couples in the spirit of love until he was caught and sentenced to death.

Another legend suggests that Valentine was killed for attempting to help Christians escape prison in Rome, and that he actually sent the first “valentine” message himself while imprisoned, writing a letter signed, “From your Valentine.”

• Valentine’s Day has its roots in an ancient pagan festival.

Though some historians believe that Valentine’s Day commemorates the death of St. Valentine on Feb. 14, others believe that the holiday

We can help!

actually has its origins in a pagan fertility festival called “Lupercalia,” which was celebrated on Feb. 15 in ancient Rome. The day was celebrated by sacrificing animals and smacking women with animal hides, a practice that was believed to encourage fertility.

• Cupid has its roots in Greek mythology. According to TIME, the cherub with bow and arrow can actually be traced all the way back to 700 BCE, to the Greek god of love Eros, who was actually a handsome, immortal man with the intimidating power to make people fall in love. It wasn’t until the fourth century BCE that the Romans adopted Eros into the image of a cute little boy with a bow and arrow, naming him “Cupid.”

• The first mass-produced valentines were produced in the 1840s when Esther A. Howland, known as the “Mother of the American Valentine,” commercialized Valentine’s Day cards in America.

• Americans spent more than $20 billion on Valentine’s Day gifts in 2019, including more than $2 billion on candy alone.

PERSPECTIVES

Bringing solutions, not division, to the table Candidate Luke Malek plans to bring leadership back to the lieutenant governor’s office put it pretty bluntly. She has not worked to involve herself in any of the decision making about how to deal with this crisis, she has not brought any viable solutions to the table — the solutions she did bring to the table were a joke, to put it charitably, they were laughed out of the public conversation.

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

For years, Luke Malek’s name has circulated among Idaho politicos as one to watch. A 2004 graduate of the College of Idaho, he served as North Idaho regional director for then-Gov. Jim Risch, later as executive director of the Post Falls Urban Renewal Agency. Earning his J.D. from the University of Idaho College of Law in 2010, Malek then went on to serve as a deputy prosecutor for Kootenai County and corporate counsel for Heritage Health in Coeur d’Alene.

Malek won two terms in the Idaho House representing District 4 (containing Coeur d’Alene) from 2012 to 2018 — in that time holding a seat on the powerful Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. Also during that time, in 2015, he co-founded the law firm Smith + Malek.

In 2018, Malek threw his hat in the ring for U.S. Congress, ultimately placing third in a seven-way Republican primary that went to current Rep. Russ Fulcher. Now, at 39 years old, he’s making another run for elected office — this time seeking the job of lieutenant governor, which is currently held

by Janice McGeachin, whose first term has made headlines for her frosty relationship with Gov. Brad Little, support for fringe right-wing groups and opposition to the state’s COVID-19 mitigation efforts.

Though that election won’t be decided until 2022, and McGeachin has not confirmed whether she’ll seek the position again, Malek is already piling up endorsements from a host of prominent political, policy and business leaders from around the state. He recently spoke with the Sandpoint Reader from the Boise offices of Smith + Malek, with the following conversation edited for length.

SR: How would you characterize the state of Idaho conservatism or the Idaho Republican Party — I feel like there are some pretty serious schisms.

Luke Malek. Courtesy photo.

Sandpoint Reader: The first and most basic question is what’s making you want to do this now?

Luke Malek: I think we need good leadership now more than ever, and right now we don’t really have that in the lieutenant governor’s office. I have a lot of experience and I have the character to be successful in a leadership role in the state as I’ve proven in my legislative career. I’m a conservative but I’ve also proven that I can be solution oriented and we really need people who can bring those solutions to the table and I think I can be that person.

SR: What challenge do you see yourself posing to the current lieutenant governor?

LM: We have a health crisis and an economic crisis looming. ... Being a small business owner, I understand the needs of small business and through my work in the Legislature I talked with small businesses quite a bit and my work revolves around health care, so I am laser-focused on making sure that we keep people safe and that we keep the economy strong.

I just don’t see her bringing any of those solutions to the table. Or being at the table at all. ...

She has wasted a tremendous amount of time not providing any value to the citizens of Idaho, to

LM: I think you’ve really got to separate the party, which is having kind of a hard time right now, from Idaho conservative values, which generally aren’t having as hard of a time. I think generally people know what their moral compass says, it’s just a matter of whether the political realities are supporting that. I think there’s some vigorous debate to be had. People generally know that they want government out of their lives and they want to maintain safe, healthy communities and jobs that help families provide for themselves. Those are the values that drive everybody ... and, again, this is another place where the lieutenant governor is not providing any leadership in helping the Republican Party reflect those values.

SR: How would you diagnose the reasons for this disconnect that we’re seeing in parts of the party?

LM: I think the idea of obedience has been mixed up with the idea of being true to your values.

Obviously you have a lieutenant governor and others who are very obedient to factions like the Idaho Freedom Foundation and that obedience is often not reflective at all of the conservative values that we have in our state. If obedience becomes more important than being true to our values, then we’re going to have a crisis and

that’s where we’re at. ...

If you really want to have a discussion about what the right thing to do is to keep people safe then show up at the table, don’t just slap on a bumper sticker that says “disobey” when you really don’t even have a clear understanding of what you’re disobeying. Let’s have a conversation about how we can keep people safe and keep the economy open.

And if you’re not going to do that — I think I’ve demonstrated pretty clearly that I’m willing to call people out to put their money where their mouth is.

SR: Do you have a slate of things that are North Idaho-specific that get short shrift down in Boise?

LM: The problems that small businesses face right now are really universal throughout the state. Small businesses are navigating politics more than just about anybody right now; they’re serving customers from a broad array of value standpoints — people who don’t believe that COVID exists at all and people who won’t support businesses that don’t have a mask mandate. How does a small business survive in such a divided state of mentality amongst customers?

Particularly when you’re talking about retailers and restaurants — the ones that are most vulnerable because of COVID are also the most vulnerable because of the division that we face ... [T] hat transcends any geographic boundaries and that’s really where the focus needs to be, and having leadership that tries to heal the divide rather than capitalize on and exacerbate that divide is extremely important.

SR: That’s super tricky considering how effective it is in getting people elected.

LM: There are some people who will always see more opportunity in division than they do in

cooperation. ... When it comes to people who are trying to live their lives, looking at the future of what their lives look like, or their kids’ lives look like, or their grandkids’ lives look like, they are looking for ways that we can create something better together. ...

If you want someone who’s just going to create more division, that’s not me. You already have that and no one listens to her.

That’s why she will never have a successful policy, she’ll have four years in the lieutenant governor’s office with nothing to show for it because no one gives her the time of day in the public realm — other than those who might see that there’s something to be gained by increasing division.

SR: As lieutenant governor you’d be working a lot with the Senate ... Do you see the Senate playing a distinct role in the Legislature?

LM: I have a tremendous amount of respect for the Senate.

I have a few Senate endorsements already and am working on some others, and that’s because I do think that the Senate plays an important role and to be a successful legislator — even as a House member — you have to have a good relationship with the Senate, and I think this is important for the lieutenant governor’s position to keep in mind generally.

It’s not just a relationship with the Senate, it’s a relationship with the Legislature, it’s a relationship with the municipal levels of government, and prosecutors and elected sheriffs and everybody really, because it’s really a liaison — one more access point for government. If it’s being used to its full potential, that office can really be a liaison between private citizens and government, a liaison between the different levels of government and the different branches of government as well.

Read the full interview at sandpointreader.com.

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LITERATURE

This open Window

Vol. 6 No.2 poetry and prose by local writers edited by Jim mitsui

it’s the center of february, surprise, arizona Comments and instructions: I am in need of submissions so I thought maybe I could scare up some by giving you an idea to write about. The poem [to the left] is old, back when I was living in Arizona. Since we are approaching the middle of February I thought, “Why not?” Place yourself somewhere during the month of February. It could be in the past or present. Show us your location, where you’re bushes still displays orange & yellow blossoms, which inspires at and what’s going on. Show us the place and just start me to check Seattle’s weather report daily in the Arizona writing. Don’t plan it out like an essay. Just write, write using Republic; patting myself on the back I guess. Soon the major your stream-of-consciousness — follow what you’re thinking.

Arizona sky will display a diamond collection of stars. Our new black Let the subject evolve on the page. Use concrete specific pug, Ruby, trots outside to join me. I ask her images (we should be able to picture what you’re writing about). You’re not in your high school English class under if she likes how the profile of the White Tanks makes the watchful eye of Miss Browiak. Give us some details that the pastel horizon more vivid. But she’s too young, we can picture in our minds. Write until you stop at the right cocks her head at me like the old RCA dog, place. Remember to show, and not tell. Don’t write past and from across McMicken Dam an owl your best ending, close at a place that’s like being at the repeatedly asks who, who I think I am. end of a diving board. Good luck. Email what you end up — James Masao Mitsui with to Jim3wells@aol.com.

–Thanks, Jim Mitsui Early Sunday evening and I sit at a round table on our front patio, writing comments on student poems. A mourning dove critiques from the top of our neighbor’s roof which mimics the pyramid of Goldwater Peak on the skyline. One of our rose

a Brief history of the appaloosa in the west When Spaniards stormed the New World’s keep, in hulls of ships through ocean deep our hooves danced.

january mirror With a petite rubber whisk I stir my morning porridge I mix it in our smallest steel pot on the back right burner In the black glass of the stove top I catch the reflection of a large bird flying over the house I can’t stop my stirring or the cereal will not have the smooth creaminess I want so, after a few more seconds I turn off the heat and spatula the mixture into a shallow white bowl It must have been an eagle I think as I look out the east windows and then the window to the south And there she sits, high atop a one hundred foot Ponderosa Pine She holds forth like a queen surveying her kingdom She is the crown on the pinnacle, the triumphant angel on a Christmas tree She, whose silhouette appeared in the black mirror of my stove — among the tea pot, kettle, mugs, and sugar bowl Among the domestic realm of an Idaho morning — Amy Craven Amy is an embedded transplant from the East Coast. She’s a retired music teacher, singer and piano player, a frequent Open Window poet and a fan of all kinds of birds.

Send poems to: jim3wells@aol.com

When caught and bred by Nez Perce Tribe for color, pattern, strength and pride our hooves danced When captured in the Cayuse raids or bartered through more honest trade our hooves danced.

When Cayuse fell, reservation penned, and Nez Perce, too, came to bitter end the Army seized us. Some were sold others slaughtered. Escaped, the bold went wild.

Our hooves danced.

Man reclaimed us from the range — fed us, worked us — not much change from the New World now called West.

Pressed in modern horsemen’s quests our hooves still dance.

— Susan Matley Susan Matley is a former student of mine from Port Townsend, Wash. This poem is in the cowboy poetry style (they favor rhymes) and was written when she was working as half of the cowboy music duo Nevada Slim and Cimarron Sue. “A Brief History of the Appaloosa in the West” was inspired both by local history (particularly regarding the Cayuse), the beauty of horses (not a rider, but she worships them from afar) and the challenge we all face of working within constraints/captivity. She lives in Walla Walla, Wash. I believe Appaloosas originated with the Nez Perce Tribe of the Idaho territory.

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HISTORY FEATURE

James Henry Towles of Hope

Uncovering the mostly forgotten history of a singular Bonner County citizen

By Nancy Foster Renk Reader Contributor Hope was a relatively new town when James Henry Towles arrived there no later than 1901.

The Northern Pacific laid tracks across the Idaho Panhandle in 1881-1882 and transcontinental trains were running a year later.

There was little more than a small train station in Hope at that time, but the town began to grow by the late 1880s when the Northern Pacific opened Highland House, a hotel catering to tourists. Hope then became a railroad division point in 1888 with a roundhouse, shops and employee housing. More than 300 people were living there in 1900 — all white except for a group of 16 Chinese residents, mostly railroad workers, and a single Black man, a hotel porter named Charles Vires. Other Black men and women lived in Hope from time to time but Towles was the only one who stayed long-term, playing a significant — though mostly forgotten — role in the community.

If he’s remembered at all, Towles is often simply known as the Black saloon keeper in early-20th century Hope, though a less savory moniker also exists in the record. Yet, drawing on the federal census, deed records, city directories and historic area newspapers, a much richer portrait of his life can be uncovered.

What it reveals is a hard-working entrepreneur, a respected member of his community, a friend and a neighbor. Meanwhile, it opens a unique view of life at a time when the railroad lines and towns we know today were new.

Born in Missouri around 1857, James Henry Towles, better known as Henry, was in his 40s when he came to Hope. He was educated — at least well enough to read and write — and 14 /

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he settled down to make a life for himself in the small lakeside town. Between 1901 and 1908, he purchased four large lots below Highland Avenue, at the northwestern end of town, and nine adjoining lots above. He had a comfortable home, garden and orchard on this property, with enough room for some farm animals.

In 1902, the Kootenai County Republican reported that J.H. Towles, “a southern gentleman of experience in tobacco raising,” was trying several varieties of tobacco on his property.

He had started plants in hot beds in March, transplanted them in June and grew them to a height of 18 inches by early October, a few weeks before his planned harvest. The four varieties that he planted were Twist Bud, Iron Oker, Yellow Prior and Long Green. There were no further references to tobacco, suggesting that even the mild climate at Hope was not good enough for this crop.

Towles also raised chickens, hogs and at least one cow, and problems with all of the animals garnered attention in the newspapers. In 1905, Towles and another nearby rancher, Mr. Bullivant, regularly collected slops from one of the Hope restaurants to feed to their hogs and chickens. One batch of the food waste was tainted, most likely with strong lye from the kitchen, and caused the death of two hogs and 20 chickens at Bullivant’s place. Towles had even worse luck, losing five fine hogs that he had contracted to sell, along with 70 hens. An unhappy Towles told the newspaper, “Those two buckets of swill cost me a hundred and fifteen dollars” — more than $3,000 in current value.

The cow landed Towles in a different kind of trouble. Officer Nugent impounded the animal in November 1910 when he found it roaming loose in Hope.

This action angered Towles who complained that stock belonging to businessmen and members of the city council were allowed to roam the streets at will, with no consequences to their owners.

This comment, labeled as “disrespect,” led to a hefty fine of $20 — equivalent to more than $500 in 1910.

This small-scale farming was not the main source of income for Towles. He worked as a

saloon keeper, probably in more than one bar over the years.

He took over the Betz saloon in the Rainier Hotel in 1910.

After hiring men to renovate the building, he opened his bar on February 10. His name periodically appeared in the newspaper in connection with his business.

In one instance, he broke up a fight and later was called as a witness in the trial where “his testimony provided several

A portrait of James Henry Towles taken while he lived in Hope. Photo courtesy Bonner County Historical Society. amusing features and he had the court and jury laughing.” The defendant, however, did not find this funny and several months later accused Towles of allowing gambling in his saloon, threatening his liquor license. The board

< see TOWLES, page 15 >

< TOWLES, con’t from page 14 >

of commissioners, after hearing from Towles, took his side and granted the license.

In November 1905, Towles helped solve the problem of “box car rustlers” who had been breaking into parked train cars in Hope to steal everything from coats and watches to booze and bacon. Three men walked into a saloon one evening and offered to sell bartender Ezra Johnston kegs of beer and cases of eggs at absurdly low prices. Johnston told them to come back later and, after they had left, Towles, who had been dozing nearby, surmised that these were stolen goods.

“You think too slow, Ezra,” he told the barkeeper. “I’m going after them.”

Towles soon ran into a local man serving as a fence for the robbers, who offered to sell him hams for 50 cents apiece (about $13 in today’s money). He agreed to take 40 hams and some bacon. When the fence left, Towles woke Judge Dooley and a couple of other men. Together they caught the crooks red-handed and recovered the stolen goods. The local fence served three months in the county jail

at Rathdrum while the other two robbers each got a year in the state penitentiary.

Towles was a single man when he moved to Hope and he was still listed as single in the 1910 census. He did not always live alone, however. A widowed cousin, Emma Elgin or Elligan, lived with him in 1910, along with her young son. She died in a tragic accident that August.

George Davis, the porter at the Rainier Hotel, invited Elligan out for a rowboat ride on a beautiful summer day. Their rented boat soon began to leak, frightening the woman so much that she stood up to move closer to Davis, tipping them both into the water.

Davis tried to rescue his companion but she never resurfaced.

Elligan, known around Hope as “Henry’s cousin,” was “a quiet, modest woman well liked by her neighbors,” according to the newspaper. “The entire community regret her untimely demise.”

At the time of the accident, Henry’s mother also was living with him on an extended visit from her home in Kirksville, Mo. Later that year, he traveled to Missouri to see his mother

just before she died. He returned from the trip a married man. The Pend d’Oreille Review reported that, “Mr. Towles brought home a charming young bride and he has been distributing cigars freely to all the boys.” The paper noted that he had “a comfortable home on the hill at north Hope.”

Very little is recorded about Towles’ wife, whose name was Martha, evidently known as Mattie. She had died by 1931.

Undoubtedly, as one of the very few Black residents in the area, Towles experienced racism, both subtle and overt, during his life in North Idaho. The incident with his cow, where he was slapped with an exorbitant fine for showing “disrespect,” is one example. The original photograph in the museum identifies Towles as “N----r Henry” — an epitaph used by at least one lifelong Hope resident interviewed in the 1970s.

At the same time, the local newspapers seemed to treat Towles like any other man of the time. Articles about him almost never mentioned his race, and his occasional trips to Sandpoint or Spokane were noted just like

the travels of other businessmen.

He supported local community activities, donated to the Red Cross and bought Liberty bonds during World War I. When the ladies of the Greater Hope Club wanted to raise money to build a sidewalk between Hope and East Hope in 1912, they solicited prizes from local businesses.

Towles donated a box of candy.

Some Hope citizens took the train to Sandpoint in March 1913 to hear the famous Black educator, Booker T. Washington, speak to a capacity crowd at the Rink Opera House. The group, listed in the order given by the newspaper, included Dr. Knapp, Mrs. M. Wood, Miss Ethel Larson, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Towles, and Mr. and Mrs. Jones.

Towles’ job as a saloon keeper ended by at least Jan. 1, 1916, when statewide prohibition went into effect, and he began working for the Northern Pacific shops in Kootenai. During the 1920s intermittent mentions in the newspaper revealed that he was living in Spokane or the Seattle area, returning periodically to check on his property in Hope. He was employed in the

Hope, Idaho in James Henry Towles’ time. This photo was taken looking south with the Hope Hotel to the right.

Photo courtesy Bonner County Historical Society.

Northern Pacific yards in Tacoma in 1926 but returned to North Idaho around 1931 when he was listed in poor health.

Towles sold his Hope home and property to Arthur Croy in 1937 and bought a place in nearby Clark Fork. He apparently lived there quietly until his death on Jan. 10, 1941, at the age of 84. Reverend A. H. Morton presided at the graveside service when Towles was buried in Pinecrest Cemetery. His grave remains unmarked.

Thanks to Dale Coffelt of Coffelt Funeral Services for information on the location of Henry Towles’ grave. Thanks also to Hannah Combs and Heather Upton for their assistance with the photograph collection and archives at the Bonner County Historical Society.

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By Mike Wagoner Reader Contributor

Kids These Days (Continued) I touched bases with you last year via the Reader about something my classes and I used to talk about when I was teaching.

We decided that a good way everyone could influence future environmental policy would be to vote with their wallets. Products and behaviors that hurt the Earth could oftentimes be discouraged simply by rejecting them at the checkout counter. We live in a free market economy. What gets rewarded monetarily will continue to be produced and what is rejected will most likely fade.

We also talked about what history has so often revealed: Significant change seems to occur from grassroots movements. New growth from the ground up — where the nutrients are — then legislation tends to follow from above.

It’s an exciting time to be young, really, to be at the cusp of and be part of an

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environmental renaissance. A paradigm shift. A new way of looking at things.

A nicer way of treating your mom: the Earth. This new president that’s come on line is already talkin’ about rejoining the rest of the world with regards to finding new ways of doin’ things. You might really have some well connected suits headin’ your way to help out.

I live near the train tracks. As I was watchin’ one go by the other day I started thinkin’, “What about solar panels on top of the cars, all linked together. Would that work?” Designate a couple cars for batteries. I wouldn’t get rid of the diesel engines altogether. It would be nice to have them around for backup.

Anyway, there’s the bell. Have a nice weekend. Stay alive.

Mr. Wagoner.

FOOD & DRINK

Dark beer, warm heart: 219 hosts Dark Love Stout Week

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

While the extended local forecast calls for freezing temperatures, there’s a hot-and-bothered front moving in as we approach Valentine’s Day on Sunday, Feb. 14 — perfect conditions for Dark Love Stout Week at the 219 Lounge.

“Love is in the air and so is dark beer,” said 219 Manager Mark Terry. “It’s also the coldest week of the year to be pouring 14% beer, so that kind of worked out in our favor.”

Launched as a single day set aside for sampling high-octane dark beers in 2018, the annual event had to be put on hold in 2020, as “COVID gave us the COVID kibosh,” Terry. While the 2018 and 2019 events took place in tandem with the winter solstice, Terry said the de facto third annual dark beer sampler is extending into a multi-day affair, which began Feb. 8 and will run through Feb. 14.

Since the kickoff of Dark Love Stout Week, the 219 has added two new stouts to its tap lineup each day, continuing through V-Day, with three additional barrel-aged stouts poured from bottles and cans one day only on Saturday, Feb. 13.

“You don’t have to come on just one day; each day we progressively have more and more stouts on,” Terry said. “You have a whole week, and kind of the reasoning behind that is being COVID-aware, giving people who don’t want to come on the busiest day of stout week the chance to come in and try the beers when it’s not quite so busy.”

Moderation is also crucial.

“Our lowest alcohol content

beer for this event is 10.1% [alPortland, Ore.; barrel-aged Dark cohol by volume] and the highest Star: Chocolate, Vanilla, Maple is I believe 14.2%,” Terry said.

Syrup from Fremont Brewing in “That’s another cool thing about Seattle; and barrel-aged Some spreading it throughout the week; People Are Immune to Good you have time to savor the beers, Banana from Evil Twin Brewing not feel like you have to taste in New York. them all on the same day and Special to Feb. 13 only will be worry about getting maybe a little bottled 2018 Canadian Breakfast too tipsy.”

Stout from Founders, canned The roster of beers coming to 2019 ADA County Stout from the 219 includes Cinnamon BabWoodland Empire Brewery in ka from Grimm Artisanal Ales in Boise and bottled 2020 Rusty Brooklyn, N.Y.; Nail from Fremont. barrel-aged Me“They were Dark Love Stout Week very, gaMeow from very rare Thursday, Feb. 11, 11 a.m.-midGeorgetown and we managed night; Friday, Feb. 12-Saturday, Brewing Co. in Feb. 13, 11 a.m.-1 a.m.; Sunday, to have a few put Seattle; Weekaside for us when Feb. 14, 11 a.m.-midnight; $15 for a 219 diner-style coffee mug they came out end and barand two 5-ounce pours, $10 rel-aged Bourmonths and months for a 219 taster glass and two bon Paradise, ago,” Terry said, 5-oz. pours, $5 per individual both from Prairie pour. Featuring live music from referring to several Artisan Ales in of the harder-tofunky Spokane-based Jason Perry Trio, Feb. 13, 7 p.m.-11 p.m. find selections.

Tulsa, Okla.; 219 Lounge, 219 N. First Ave., barrel-aged “What’s been 208-263-5673, 219.bar.

Espresso KBS really cool with a from Founders lot of these beers Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids, moving forward from traditional Mich.; barrel-aged Always Finish styles is they’ll take the imperial What You Stout from Lumstout and add toasted coconut, berbeard Brewing in Spokane; espresso, marshmallows, cinAstoria, Ore.-based Fort George namon… they’re getting very Brewery’s barrel-aged Made to creative with their beers,” Terry said, referring to so-called “pastry Order and Matryoshka Vanilla & stouts.” “There’s a lot of exciting Blueberry; barrel-aged Monsters beers on tap.”

Park Espresso Macaroon Edition from Modern Times Brewing in

A commemorative mug for sale at the 219 as part of Dark Love Stout Week. Courtesy photo.

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events

February 11-18, 2021

THURSDAY, February 11

Live Music w/ Kevin Dorin 6-8pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

Live Trivia at the Winery 5:30-7:30pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Fun, interactive and educational! Free!

FriDAY, February 12

Live Music w/ Nick Canger 6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

Live Music w/ John Firshi 7-10pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Live Music w/ So What 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Mike and Shanna Thompson are joined by Charlie Nash on percussion

Dark Love Stout Week (until Feb. 14) @ 219 Lounge A week of dark stout beers at the 219. See Page 17 for the full story.

SATURDAY, February 13

Live Music w/ Baker Thomas Packwood 6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall BTP is a Sandpoint classic rock trio

Live Music w/ Daniel Hall 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Acoustic folk rock Live Music w/ Jason Perry Trio 7-11pm @ 219 Lounge Funky Spokane-based trio

SunDAY, February 14

Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee Meets every Sunday at 9am

Piano Sunday w/ Tom Pletcher 3-5pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Celebrate love with wine and piano!

Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz 4:30-6:30pm @ Baxter’s on Cedar

Live Valentine’s Music w/ Kevin Dorin 6-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

monDAY, February 15

Outdoor Experience Monday Night Group Run – All levels welcome 6pm @ Outdoor Experience Lifetree Cafe • 2pm @ Jalapeño’s Restaurant “Can This Union be Saved: A Marriage Counselor’s Advice for our Divided Country” Monday Night Blues Jam w/ Truck Mills 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

tuesDAY, February 16 Paint and Sip w/ Nicole Black • 5:30pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery $35/person, includes supplies, instruction and a glass of house red or white. Call 208.265.8545 or stop by the Winery to sign up. Limited attendance.

wednesDAY, February 17

Live Music w/ Scott Taylor 7-10pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

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STAGE & SCREEN

A groundbreaking discovery Netflix original The Dig delivers drama in the dirt

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Sometimes it seems there’s little left for humankind to discover other than ever-more inventive ways to mess things up. So it is especially satisfying to reconnect with a sense of adventure and exploration that reminds us what it’s like to uncover something new that enriches the human experience.

That feeling is found in abundance with the surprise hit Netflix original The Dig. Based on the 2007 novel of the same name, which itself was based on the discovery in 1939 of an almost intact Anglo Saxon ship under an earthen mound in the east of England, its popularity is surprising not only for its academic premise but also because most of the action occurs with people scratching around in the dirt.

Of course, archaeology has long offered a rich vein of onscreen excitement — Indiana Jones, The Mummy and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider all come to mind — but not so many are as contemplative and on-theground, so to speak, as The Dig. Adapted by writer Moira Buffini and director Simon Stone, the film stars Ralph Fiennes as real-life amateur archaeologist (he calls himself an “excavator”) Basil Brown and Carey Mulligan as Edith Pretty, the upper-crust young widow on whose land the Sutton Hoo ship was found.

The film opens in gorgeous slow tones as Brown cycles his black Penny Farthing bicycle through the East Anglian countryside en route to Pretty’s rural manse — revealing that the wind-swept, wide-sky landscape is another star of the show.

In short order we find

Brown to be a rumpled, slightly cantankerous man of few words, as the self-taught expert meets the aptly named Mrs. Pretty, who wants to hire him away from another dig sponsored by nearby Ipswich Museum to look into the mysterious piles of earth on her vast property.

From their first meeting it’s clear that the crusty excavator and wounded young mother are kindred spirits — both enthralled by the mysteries of the past — yet sharing a pained-yetproud sense of outsider status.

It turns out both have always wondered what was under those big mounds; Brown’s instincts and self-taught expertise tells him what lies beneath is probably Anglo Saxon — dating to the seventh century CE — and Pretty thinks she knows exactly which hillock will yield the most important discovery.

After some bandying about, Brown ditches his museum gig and agrees to excavate based on Pretty’s hunch. She provides him with a crew of two sturdy workmen and a little shed on wheels, and, with Pretty’s curious young son Robert as a charming supervisor, they get to digging.

The emotional core of the first third of the film focuses on the growing respect between Brown and Pretty and affection between Brown and Robert, as the digger comes to fill some of the heartbreaking void left by the death of Mr. Pretty. Meanwhile, the excitement mounts as the excavation begins to yield little artifacts indicating that something phenomenal does indeed lie in the rich Suffolk soil.

By the second act the full significance of what Brown and company has unearthed becomes clear as the ribs of

the enormous ship emerge from the ground. Prior their discovery, historians and archaeologists had written off the Anglo Saxons as little more than barbarians — a marginal people overshadowed by the Norman invasion in 1066 CE. The Sutton Hoo ship literally rewrote the book on the sophistication of these so-called “Dark Age” people, revealing them to be skilled artisans, worldly travelers and possessing a rich culture.

Underscoring this groundbreaking — so to speak — addition to the historical record, the big wigs from the British Museum descend on the site, jockeying with the local museum over who should manage the remainder of the excavation while at the same time sidelining Brown, whose credentials came from experience rather than academic training.

This is where the film starts to take some serious diversions from what actually happened on the dig. The British Museum crew in reality worked with Brown, rather than push him aside. Of course they would — in the film, as in reality, the looming war in Europe made it imperative to finish the excavation as quick-

ly as possible before every aspect of British life would be mobilized. This dramatic tension is teased to great effect by the ever-increasing numbers of Spitfires and Mosquitos droning over the dig site.

More egregiously, the film recasts archaeologist Peggy Piggott — who was actually highly experienced and respected in the field — as a wide-eyed novice whose fellow archaeologist husband is secretly gay (Stuart Piggott was not, according to any available sources). In a similar strange twist, the two real-life female photographers on the dig have been replaced by the completely fictional character of Pretty’s hunky nephew,

Ralph Fiennes plays real-life amateur archaeologist Basil Brown in The Dig on Netflix. Courtesy photo. who provides an unnecessary love interest for the unhappily married Peggy.

All that aside, The Dig is at bottom a humane, at times achingly beautiful, and exceptionally well crafted docudrama about the power of curiosity to change how we understand ourselves and the world.

To view the real Sutton Hoo artifacts, including grave goods, visit britishmuseum.org/ collection/galleries/sutton-hooand-europe

Panida virtual theater presents ‘All About Love’

Tickets to view the second installment of local play series Coffee Shop go on sale Feb. 13

By Reader Staff Tickets to view the second installment of the Panida’s virtual theater series Coffee Shop — an episode titled “All About Love,” just in time for Valentine’s Day — go on sale Saturday, Feb. 13.

Tickets are $10 on panida. org, and viewers will receive a link to the performance that will remain accessible Feb. 13-28.

Coffee Shop, a comedy written and directed by Teresa Pesce, is the Panida Theater’s first attempt at virtual theater, utilizing the all-too-familiar pandemic remote conferencing tool Zoom to bring local performances straight to people in their homes. The first Coffee Shop performance went live in mid-January.

Coffee Shop’s second installment is about 30 minutes long and features local actors Andrew

Sorg, Alexandra Cope, Scott Johnson, Tim Martin, Steve Neuder, Zachary Sabbah, Tari Pardini, Sarah Caruso, Keely Grey and Panida Executive Director Patricia Walker.

The series is presented by Evans Brothers Coffee. Purchase tickets on panida.org starting Feb. 13, and call the Panida Theater at 208-263-9191 with any questions.

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FOOD

The Sandpoint Eater Sara Lee and me

By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Columnist

The pound cake, an alltime favorite dessert, has been around forever. It was first recorded here in the 1796 cookbook, American Cookery. I don’t have a copy, but I do have at least two dozen cookbooks that are more than 100 years old, and each includes a recipe for pound cake. James Beard apparently liked the loaf cake, too, as he also included a recipe in several of his cookbooks.

Pound cake was pretty simple to concoct: a pound of flour, a pound of sugar, a pound of butter and a pound of eggs. And a pound of flesh. Yep, there was no leavening ingredient, except air, so some of the oldest recipes recommend beating the (stiff) dough for an hour (just thinking about that makes my repaired rotator cuff ache).

I tend to use a scale, which can be set to pounds or grams for recipe measurements, as I use a lot of recipes written with metric weights. But I do wonder if the kitchens of my foremothers had scales or if they just intuitively knew that eight or nine eggs weigh a pound?

The ubiquitous pound cake is called quatre-quarts in France, or ponque in Colombia and Mexico. Some countries add a little something to make it their own. If you’ve ever been to the Carribean, you will see aisles and aisles of Tortola rum cakes, and the South American version is drenched in wine.

The cake has many variations in the U.S., too and is especially popular in the South.

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One of the oldest recorded recipes came from the first known cookbook written by an African American, Abby Fisher. Fisher was born a slave but after the Civil War made her way to San Francisco and sold her homemade wares of pickles, preserves and fruits. Since she could neither read nor write, her friends wrote the recipes from her oral instructions. Her book, What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking, is still available (on Amazon).

Being a curious food-purist, I have attempted to make the original cake from a couple of my older cookbooks, but I’ve

never been completely happy with the results, and they tend to be dry and lacking the flavor I’d hope for.

Today’s more modern recipes for pound cake include leavening agents, such as baking powder, and flavors, like vanilla and lemon. (According to thrillist.com, Starbucks’ best-selling pastry is its lemon pound cake).

Pound cakes were always a staple for me in my catering days. We made them by the dozens — lemon, vanilla, almond and chocolate — and served them for morning conference breaks and wedding brunches.

During my tenure as a private railcar chef, pound cakes were also omnipresent, including my dirty little secret: Sara Lee was my galley stowaway.

I’d remove the familiar redand-white packaging and then wrap and stash the cake deep in the small freezer. If needed, Sara Lee and I were ready for any emergency, like losing power in the middle of baking (thanks to a spotty head-end train engine or a pesky generator). Those dependable, crumbless cakes became the foundation of many petit fours, trifles or ganache-covered creations.

Whether you lose power

or just don’t feel like baking, Sara Lee will not let you down.

If you’re in a hurry, and just want to get to the fun part of creating sans the baking (I feel that way when I paint; I hate the prep work and just want to slap colors to the walls), you’ll find Sara Lee stowed away in the freezer case of every store in town. It won’t taste the same as homemade but still pretty delicious enrobed in chocolate ganache. Between the pound cake and the ganache, you’re sure to make your sweetheart(s) happy.

Perfect pound cake with chocolate ganache Makes one versatile, moist pound cake. For best results, use soft butter and room temperature eggs. Substitute vanilla with rum, Amaretto or other flavor of choice that will complement the ganache. Or skip the ganache, add lemon juice to replace vanilla in the batter — drizzle warm cake with lemon glaze and zest.

INGREDIENTS:

DIRECTIONS:

Pound Cake: • 8 oz soft butter • 1 cup sugar • 1 tbs vanilla • 5 large eggs, room temperature • 1/2 cup Greek yogurt • 2 cups flour • 1 tsp baking powder • 1/4 tsp salt

Pound Cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter an 8x4inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper (up the sides). In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.

In a stand-up mixer, add the butter and sugar on high speed and beat until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

On medium speed add the vanilla and the eggs, one at a time, beating between each addition. Add the Greek yogurt and mix until fully combined.

Add in the flour, baking powder and salt until just combined, then pour the thick batter into the loaf pan and tap on the cupboard to remove air pockets. Bake for approx. 60 minutes. Test with toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven, cool on wire rack for 10 minutes, turn cake out to continue cooling. Wrap well.

Drizzle or spread ganache on pound cake, garnish with fruit.

Keep in fridge for a week or freezer for 2 months.

Chocolate Ganache: • 8 oz good quality semi-sweet chocolate bar, chopped finely • 8 oz heavy whipping cream

Chocolate Ganache: Place chopped chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over

medium heat until it reaches a soft boil (don’t let it boil over). You can add a tbs vanilla, rum or other flavor at this point.

Pour the cream over the chocolate, stirring slowly in one direction, until smooth and glossy.

While warm, use to drizzle over

slices of pound cake.

Tightly cover leftover ganache and store in the fridge for up to a week or freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator, reheat by placing in a glass bowl, over simmering water.

MUSIC

Once upon a time signature ‘Like a river flows surely to the sea,’ people will keep writing love songs

By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff Estimates place the first love song in Mesopotamia in 2250 BCE, when high priestess Enheduanna sang that she would make her lover “feel like a king.” Online music magazine Flypaper argues that love songs have been the most popular type of song in the Western world for 1,000 years, “if not longer,” and cites the Economist in its report that 40% of modern song lyrics deal with “romance, sexual relationships and sexual behavior.”

This ever-expanding catalog serves as a connecting thread through the history of humanity, as our species has done its best to put crippling infatuation and undying devotion into notes and lines — an endeavor still being pursued today, and which music consumers can’t seem to get enough of.

Luckily for songwriters, musicians and anyone else trying to put something as nebulous as love into words, what constitutes an effective and accurate love song is entirely subjective. The magic of a great love song is, for the most part, in the ear of the beholder.

For instance, “Every Breath You Take” by the Police consistently appears on most lists for best rock love ballads. However, as most women would tell you, a man watching “every move” they make is not necessarily romantic. It’s creepy.

Some people see the perfect love song as a series of personalized romantic confessions, like Elton John’s flawless “Your Song.” Others might be looking for something a little more saucy, like Marvin Gay’s “Let’s Get It On.” Anyone with ears can tell you that Whitney Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You” is an incredible

This week’s RLW by Zach Hagadone

READ

It’s tempting to think that Europeans living 1,000 or more years ago were unwashed brutes — it was the “Dark Ages,” after all — but as The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium makes clear, they were interesting people in an interesting time.

Co-written by English historian Robert Lacey and journalist Danny Danziger, the book offers a crisp, lively and frequently humorous take on 1000 CE that is somehow both academically sound and entertaining.

LISTEN

vocal feat, but it likely makes a select portion of the population cry each time they hear it.

Those of us who grew up in the 21st century might get choked up listening to “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls, but I think we can all agree that’s more due to Homecoming dance nostalgia than any deep appreciation for artistry. Still, there’s no denying that the lines “I’d give up forever to touch you” and “I just want you to know who I am” are pretty accurate depictions of the teenage craving for reciprocated love.

Another honorable mention for those who experienced an early 2000s adolescence: “Truly Madly Deeply” by Savage Garden — a timeless, and slightly cringe-worthy classic. Check out Yoke Lore’s cover for a modernized and considerably improved take.

Regardless of an individual’s taste in love songs, trends from several decades of popular music show that simple songs hit the right note. It’s impossible to know how many times people have covered Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help

Courtesy photo.

Falling in Love,” a song that turns 60 in 2021. Presley’s lyrics are basic and repeated, but ring true: You can’t help falling in love. That’s part of the great mystery — how, and why, do we fall head over heels for people and then vow to spend our lives with them? It’s horrifying, but undeniable. All we can do is leap in, or, as rock ’n’ roll’s most beloved heartthrob sang in 1961, extend a hand: “Take my hand / Take my whole life too / For I can’t help falling in love with you.”

Lyndsie’s guide to love songs: Love song to cry to: Love song to rock out to: Best country love song: Guilty pleasure: The ultimate love song:

“What Am I Here For” by Jade Bird “Somebody to Love” by Jefferson Airplane “Lovin’ You Is Fun” by Easton Corbin “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith “Northern Wind” by City and Colour

Sometimes songs without words are what you need to simultaneously zone out and focus. For that, I rely on “postminimalist” composers — those who traffic in layered, repetitious orchestral works that feel symphonic with a tinge of sci-fi complexity. Philip Glass is the master, but right up there with him is German composer Max Richter and his Italian mentor Luciano Berio. Both have multiple albums, but you can find out what their sound is all about with ample entries on YouTube.

WATCH

We all know the story of Hansel and Gretel, but the 2020 horror-fantasy flick Gretel and Hansel aptly turns the tale if not on its head, then gives it an intriguing quarter turn.

All the traditional elements are there — a brother and sister are forced into the deep, dark woods by unfortunate circumstances at home and encounter a witch in the forest. But in this slick, stylish and especially gruesome version Gretel is faced with the choice of picking up the broomstick herself.

Stream it on Netflix.

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BACK OF THE BOOK

If North Idaho was a board game

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

From Pend Oreille Review, Feb. 17, 1913

WAR OVER WHITEFISH Claiming that one of the wholesale meat concerns in this city has cut the price on whitefish and has taken their out-of-town customers, the colony of fishermen at Bottle bay most of whom are residents of Sandpoint, are up in arms and state that they will boycott the concern and do everything in their power to have a law passed at the present legislature which will prevent any company from controlling the market. It is understood that a meeting of the whitefish fishermen was held last week and resolutions sent to Boise to the Bonner county delegation asking them to attempt to have a law passed to protect the fishermen.

One of the fishermen who is in the city from the fishing grounds stated to a representative of the Review that when the fishing started this winter they decided to sell their own catch, as he explained that in years past they had been selling their fish to the markets in this city and receiving a very low price. This year letters were sent to all of the markets and fish dealers within 200 miles radius of Sandpoint and arrangements were made to supply them with the fish. It is known that as near as 50 miles from Sandpoint the whitefish from Lake Pend d’Oreille are selling as high as 25 cents per pound and never below 71/2 cents. The fishermen succeeded in disposing of their catch to the dealers of other cities at 11 and 12 cents a pound f.o.b. Hope, which is the shipping point, until the local company “butted in.”

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What if North Idaho was a board game?

How do you think it would look, and what exactly would be a good strategy to win?

In the interest of answering nonsensical hypotheticals, may we present to you a vision of what this board game would indeed look like. Welcome to “North Idaho: The Board Game.”

To start with, the board would be laid out in a circle, with Sandpoint in the middle as the end result, surrounded by rural “waypoints” spiraling inward. As game play advances, players can either pass through these waypoints undeterred or, as is usually the case, they might find themselves stuck by a train or until passing a series of more difficult mental and physical challenges.

Such challenges include: “how to make sure your child has a sufficient education when Idaho’s per-pupil funding ranks among the lowest in the nation?”; “how to deflect an argument by waving a flag or revving a Diesel engine”; and, “which laws passed in Idaho were later ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court?”.

There would be a lake section filled with trivia about weed treatments, no-wake zones and stories of big fish from years past. Players in canoes and kayaks are at a disadvantage to the more wealthy players with powerboats bumping modern country music from a set of speakers mounted and pointed at quiet beaches surrounding the lake. Players would also pass through the “Facebook Forum Dead Zone” where they may lose several turns mired in conspiracy theories, aimless gripes about public art and traffic, intolerant observations disguised as jokes and a circular loop of arguments meant to distract the player from reentering the real world.

The “Local Politicians’ Corner” would offer quotes and actions from our elected representatives — including everything

STR8TS Solution

from reading comprehension tips from Bonner County Commissioner Dan McDonald to how to spot a listening device by Rep. Heather Scott to a “Which laws will the sheriff choose to enforce?” trivia section.

The game pieces would be different symbols seen in North Idaho, such as a pair of skis, a mountain peak, a mangy moose, a Gadsden flag, a hapless tourist, a pothole and a handgun. There might be some confusion during gameplay since all the pieces would be different shades of white, but players will figure it out.

Before play begins, each player would be doled out Moose Money, with different starting amounts depending on one crucial factor: how long the player has lived in North Idaho. For those who were born and raised, they would begin with a meager stack of small bills and coins, as well as substantial debt and a low starting wage with which to pay their astronomical rent. Those who moved here in the 1990s and now claim to be “from here” earn a bit more to start with, including several gold pieces dug out of hidey holes in the backyard and a neat home bought at above-market value.

Players start off with big stacks of money if they recently relocated to North Idaho, with an extra payout if they’re from California and regularly tell other players to “go back to California.” They’ll get a leg up with the extra starting cash, but also a mansion on the lake and all sorts of toys with which they can torture their fellow players.

Those who moved here during COVID-19 to “escape tyranny” would earn the biggest starting wages, including a megaphone to broadcast their views to all the other players (as well as anyone else within 50 yards), and of course get extra moves despite their claims that they’re being “silenced.”

Players win the game by navigating the

Photo illustration by Ben Olson. winding county roads and summer traffic jams leading into the center, finally crossing the Long Bridge to Sandpoint, where they earn the right to dog on everything and everybody, with each complaint taking a turn away from those who haven’t reached the middle yet. When — or if — everyone reaches the middle, the ones with the most money and loudest voices win, and the rest are given tin-plated medallions signifying that they played — and lost — a hell of a town... er, game. It’s just a game. Right?

Crossword Solution

Sudoku Solution I hope, when they die, cartoon characters have to answer for their sins.

Solution on page 22

Solution on page 22

plashy

Wortdhe of

Week

By Bill Borders

/PLASH-ee/

[adjective] 1. marshy; wet.

“The duck hunters waded through the plashy driftyard in search of mallards.”

Corrections: Nobody’s perfect, but I guess we were last week. Let’s see how we do this week. – BO

CROSSWORD

Copyright www.mirroreyes.com

Laughing Matter

ACROSS 1. Thermionic tube 6. Seethes 11. Provide with a permanent fund 12. Fickle 15. Orb 16. Flood 17. Historic period 18. A verbal commitment 20. Buff 21. After-bath powder 23. Smudge 24. Religious splinter group 25. Eye layer 26. Stigma 27. Indian dress 28. Sassy 29. “Dig in!”

30. Data stream manipulator 31. Disencumber 34. German iris 36. Shade tree 37. Laboratories 41. Cajole 42. Wildebeests 43. Place 44. Low-fat 45. Adorable 46. If not 47. A late time of life 48. Former Dutch currency 51. Central

Solution on page 22 52. Gloomily 54. Ebb 56. Hollywood hopeful 57. French for “Queen” 58. Field of rice 59. Splines

DOWN 1. Debauch 2. Asthmatic’s device 3. Lyric poem 4. Anagram of “Prod” 5. Pitcher 6. Elderly 7. Believe in 8. Sea eagle

9. Roll of bills 10. High level of respect 13. Slanted font 14. 1/100th of a dollar 15. Install (2 words) 16. In a restive manner 19. Academy award 22. Scottish Highland robber 24. Type of black beetle 26. Collections 27. Drunkard 30. Cogs 32. 19 in Roman numerals

33. _____ in = aware 34. Leopardlike cat 35. Chart showing routes and streets 38. Malady 39. As well 40. Soft leather 42. Not innocent 44. Not more 45. Healed 48. Neuter 49. Makes a mistake 50. Bobbin 53. Brassiere 55. Spy agency

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\ ijrrest M. Bird �MARTER t' '- SCHOOLS

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