I don’t remember much from preschool, but I have one vivid memory of playing at recess and singing, “Teeter totter, teeter totter, wash your hands in boiling water.” (I’ve since looked up the song, and the actual lyrics are “wash your face in dirty water,” but we were clearly too “metal” for that.) It struck me the other day that I don’t know where I learned that song, nor do I remember anyone teaching me “Ring Around The Rosie” or “London Bridge is Falling Down.” In my mind, those are the songs kids are born with, like factory-issue ringtones. At least they were. I can’t help wondering if Gen Alpha — who grew up on YouTube with Ms. Rachel telling them to love their bodies — is haunted by the same eerie tunes. Someone lend me a child, for science.
Songs about death
What does “Ring Around The Rosie” or “Ring A Ring o’ Roses” even mean? Or “The Muffin Man” song? If you’ve heard these little ditties, you’ve probably also heard people speculating about their secret dark origins because, apparently, we can’t have nice things. Around the mid-20th century, people started passing around the idea that “Ring Around The Rosie” was about the Black Plague. The children “all fall down” after pretending to sneeze to mimic the victims’ deaths. The American version replaces fake sneezing with the line “ashes, ashes,” which some have claimed refers to cremation. As fun as this is for horror fans, these interpretations have no historical evidence and only began circulating after WWII. Likewise, there’s a theory that “The Muffin Man” was a serial killer named Frederick Thomas Lynwood who lured children down alleys with muffins on strings. Again, this has no basis in fact — and any muffin dragged down a dirty 19th-century alley isn’t worth getting murdered for.
Yes, another Nana story
I didn’t have the opportunity to meet many of my Nana’s friends until the day of her funeral, but they didn’t disappoint. Sure, there were many tearful words, but you could spot who had been closest to her by how much they laughed and grumbled. One woman in her mid-90s — who’d been Nana’s close friend since the ’50s — shakily got up and grabbed the microphone to tell the story of how the two had met as new neighbors. She talked briefly about how the local ladies would go over to Nana’s house and marvel at her skills as a painter, pianist, decorator and gardener, but that wasn’t the point of her story.
“The first time I walked into Patty’s house, I hated her,” she said, pausing to wheeze. “I loved her too, later, but her house was so perfect it made me want to kill myself.” She promptly sat down, having said what she needed to say. Of all the people at that funeral, that old bat best understood how Nana wanted to be remembered — with equal parts love and jealousy.
DEAR READERS,
This week Reader Publisher Ben Olson and I Freaky Friday-ed ourselves — swapping desks, duties and demons for the week so that I could get more familiar with publishing and he could enjoy more writing duties. Whether or not he actually “enjoyed” himself watching the Bonner County commissioners and writing features while looking over my shoulder to explain our billing system, well, you’d have to ask him. At least I had fun.
I tried my best to put out an Olson-quality paper, but in case anything looks wonky, I’m officially slapping a “Student Driver” sticker on this bad boy. I may have gone 15 under the speed limit, hit the brakes too suddenly and failed to parallel park, but at least both student and teacher survived (as of press time).
As always, thanks for reading.
– Soncirey Mitchell, Senior Writer
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Real estate listing indicates City Beach resort hotel will include condos
Pre-sale offering taken off MLS for lack of condo plat approval, but not before prompting social media reaction
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Local social media users kicked up a fuss late last month when a real estate listing on Zillow made the rounds, showing that Averill Hospitality was planning to reduce the number of hotel units at its resort development adjacent to City Beach and replace them with condos.
According to current indications, the number of hotel rooms at 56 Bridge St. could be cut down to 99 and 27 condos offered for prices ranging from about $1.3 million for one-bedroom, one-bathroom units to more than $3.5 million for three-bed, three-bath units.
Sizes may range from about 1,000 square feet to more than 2,300 square feet, promising access to all the amenities offered by the hotel, as well as discounts on boat rentals, restaurants and spa services; priority reservations at restaurants; maid service; grocery stocking; and a rental program with 60% to the owner and 40% to the resort plus a management fee.
The listings for the pre-sale of the condos at what is being called the Sandpoint Lakeside Resort disappeared from the Selkirk Multiple Listing Service and Zillow not long after it was shared Jan. 25 on social media, leaving some observers scratching their heads.
Sandpoint Planning and Community Development Director Jason Welker told the Reader that City Hall had been made aware of the Whitefish, Mont.based developer’s interest in condoizing a portion of the resort in November, and was under the impression that “most” of the privately owned condos would be managed as short-term rentals through a “widely used model for financing projects like this referred to as a ‘condotel.’”
As such, the condos would be subject to the city’s lodging tax — which is active until 2035 — and applied to short-term lodging.
The tax benefits to the city were a central part of Averill Hospitality’s initial proposal in summer 2024 — with
the developer suggesting the then-181room hotel would bring in $500,000$600,000 per year in property taxes and $2.5 million in “tourist tax” local option revenue.
“The city has not run any sort of model to estimate potential revenues based on occupancy assumptions of the originally planned 181 hotel rooms versus what appears to be the current proposal for 99 hotel rooms and 27 condos of various sizes,” Welker wrote in an email. “But for the periods during which those condo rooms are rented out by the hotel, they will be taxed just like the hotel rooms would have been.”
An Averill Hospitality representative did respond to requests for comment, but declined to go on the record.
Welker, however, told the Reader that the condo plan is an allowed use under City Code and, because the site plan and underlying use for the hotel has not changed, it does not require a public hearing for approval.
There is a process the development must undertake to secure a condo plat before proceeding, but Welker said that hadn’t happened as of press time. Once such an application is received by the city, it would undergo review and be noticed for public feedback, as well as include an appeal period. He estimated that could take — at the soonest — between four and six weeks upon filing, though a monthslong process might be more expected.
That’s why some were confused to see the condos listed for pre-sale, and the reason the listings disappeared.
“We don’t allow in the MLS, per our MLS rules and regulations, property that has not passed final approval of plat or planning and zoning and things like that,” Selkirk Association of Realtors Executive Stephanie Rief told the Reader. “If you can’t sell it, you can’t put it on the MLS.”
Rief said she also had been told by numerous sources that the resort would feature a limited number of condos, with the majority of the development dedicated to hotel rooms.
“The Averills gave a presentation of what their plans were for the units at City Beach at a chamber luncheon
last week. From what I have seen from them and heard from them, they truly do have the community’s best interests at heart,” she added, chalking up the premature pre-sale listings to “some confusion and some miscommunication.”
That didn’t stop social media commenters from expressing frustration that the condos hadn’t been a high-profile part of the project when first introduced, and worries that the addition of private owners at the location would put stress on parking and trend the wider beach area toward more exclusive use by the resort.
Sandpoint Mayor Jeremy Grimm has repeatedly pushed back against the idea that City Beach may be “privatized” as a result of the resort development, stating at the Jan. 21 meeting of the Sandpoint Planning and Zoning Commission, “City Beach is not being sold, it’s not being privatized, it never will be under my administration.”
The resort project has also rankled some community members with a reduction in dedicated off-street parking, opting to pay the city’s “in lieu” fee to shrink its number of required spaces from 244 to 145. Several residents testified at the Jan. 21 P&Z meeting that they feared fewer parking stalls at the resort would result in “spill over” to the beach parking area, thus cutting down access for beach users.
Welker said that’s not a big concern, considering overnight parking at the beach is prohibited.
“The hotel’s parking needs are intended to be met by the hotel through their code-required off-street parking facilities,” he said. “The hotel’s representative suggested over the phone today that for peak season special events such as weddings, the hotel intends to provide off-site parking for guests and using their provided shuttle services — similar to what the Festival at Sandpoint does to reduce the negative impacts of Festival parking around Memorial Field during their annual concert series.”
Welker also told the Reader that the parking reduction “was not based on any proposal to pre-sell condo units within the hotel.”
Regardless, he reassessed the calculations used to determine how many off-street parking spaces would have been required under an initial conditional use permit envisioning 27 condos and 99 hotel rooms, and “the net effect would have been 44 fewer off-street stalls required (putting it at around 196 off-street stalls instead of the 240),” he said.
“I have informed the hotel’s representatives that the 145 spaces currently planned for the development will not be further reduced by city staff,” Welker added.
A question to the broker who was identified on the condo listing went unanswered by press time, making it unclear if and when Averill Hospitality would file for the condo plat and, again, list the units for pre-sale.
Rendering showing the proposed resort hotel project from Averill Hospitality, located at the current Best Western Edgewater site. Photo courtesy OZ Architecture.
Idaho bill would repeal Medicaid expansion if work requirements, benefit caps aren’t implemented
Rep. Jordan Redman, R-Coeur d’Alene, says federal approval of sideboards is more likely now under Trump administration
By Kyle Pfannenstiel Idaho Capital Sun
A North Idaho Republican lawmaker is bringing back a bill that would require a range of Medicaid reform meant to save costs for voter-approved Medicaid expansion to remain.
House Bill 138, by Rep. Jordan Redman, R-Coeur d’Alene, would require the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to implement work requirements for able-bodied Idahoans enrolled in Medicaid; cap Medicaid expansion enrollment at 50,000 people, or less than all disabled and senior Idahoans on Medicaid; and ban Idahoans on expansion from being eligible for Medicaid benefits after three years.
“This legislation provides safeguards to Idaho’s Medicaid program, ensuring its sustainability, prioritizing resources for needy populations, and promoting fairness and accountability,” Redman told the committee. “It establishes safeguards for the continued expansion of Medicaid eligibility for able-bodied adults, aligning the program with the principles of self-sufficiency, fiscal responsibility and integrity.”
The Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee on Feb. 4 unanimously introduced the bill on a voice vote.
Introducing the bill tees it
up for a full committee hearing, including public testimony and a possible vote to advance it to the Idaho House floor.
Idaho lawmakers introduced a separate bill last month to outright repeal Medicaid expansion. Redman’s reform-or-repeal bill will have a committee hearing before the expansion repeal bill, Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee Chairman John Vander Woude, R-Nampa, told Idaho Capital Sun by text message.
To become law, bills must be approved by the Idaho House and Senate, and avoid the governor’s veto. If passed into law, the bill would take effect July 1.
If the bill’s sideboards aren’t implemented by July 1, 2026, Redman’s bill would repeal Medicaid expansion.
About 89,300 Idahoans are enrolled in Medicaid expansion, according to December figures from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
“This legislation sets a bomb to go off in a year and a half, blowing up health coverage for tens of thousands of Idahoans,” Hillarie Hagen, senior policy associate with Idaho Voices for Children, wrote in a statement.
Bill is a repeat of what many feared was an expansion repeal with more steps, nonprofit says
The bill introduced Feb. 4 is similar to a bill Redman brought last year.
The House Health and Welfare Committee last year blocked that bill from advancing in a full committee hearing, after widespread negative testimony largely called the bill an effort to repeal Medicaid expansion with more steps, by relying on sideboards that likely wouldn’t get needed federal approval.
Repeating concerns about Redman’s previous bill, Idaho House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, said she believed that the bill would “for all practical purposes, mean Medicaid expansion repeal.”
“Because some of these waivers we’ve asked for in the past, and they’re not possible to grant in compliance with the Affordable Care Act, which requires that there can be no additional cost beyond Medicaid,” she said.
The bill’s fiscal statement estimates it would likely save up to $163 million in state funds.
In response to concerns by Rubel about the savings estimate’s accuracy, Redman said the fiscal note is based on Idaho implementing safeguards that would save Idaho money to keep Medicaid expansion. And he said the federal government now — without mentioning the Trump administration specifically — is more
likely to approve waivers for the sideboards.
“I’ve actually spoke to several folks at the new federal administration, and they said they’re looking for waivers that are unique and creative, that they want to grant,” Redman said. “And I believe that this year we’re going to have that opportunity to get these waivers granted.”
How the bill’s proposed Idaho Medicaid sideboards would work
Some of the bill’s proposed sideboards don’t appear to specify they would only apply to Medicaid expansion enrollees, but to able-bodied adults enrolled in Medicaid more broadly.
Idaho Medicaid expansion is a law, widely approved by Idaho voters in 2018 and implemented in 2020, that expanded income-based eligibility for Medicaid to 138% of the federal poverty level.
The bill outlines exceptions to the proposed work requirement program, including for people under age 19, people over age 64, as well as people who are pregnant, who have disabilities that prevent them from working, or who are caregivers of young children under age six or kids with disabilities.
Rep. Josh Wheeler, R-Ammon, said he would support introducing the bill and is supportive of guardrails as a
concept. But he worried about the bill’s trigger mechanism to repeal expansion if the sideboards aren’t implemented.
“I’m concerned that that may not be our best way to govern. Because I’m worried that we’re going to give up our power as an elected legislative body to D.C. bureaucrats,” Wheeler said. “And I’m curious if you would give consideration to the idea of that trigger being for us to immediately have a full legislative review, rather than dissolution, essentially.”
Redman said he’d be happy to talk more about that.
The bill also includes a provision requiring Health and Welfare to ensure a maximum 5% improper Medicaid payment rate. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office website, “improper payments are payments that should not have been made or that were made in an incorrect amount. While all fraudulent payments are considered improper, not all improper payments are due to fraud.”
This story was produced by Boise-based nonprofit news outlet the Idaho Capital Sun, which is part of the States Newsroom nationwide reporting project. For more information, visit idahocapitalsun.com.
Senate’s private school choice bill narrowly clears committee
By Ryan Suppe IdahoEdNews.org
A Democrat cast a surprising swing vote Feb. 3 to advance a bill to unlock state funds for private schooling and home schooling.
The Senate Education Committee sent Senate Bill
1025 to the floor on a 5-4 vote. Sponsored by Sen. Dave Lent, R-Idaho Falls, the bill would expand Idaho’s Empowering Parents program from $30 million to $50 million; increase yearly grants from $1,000 to $5,000; and add private school tuition as an eligible expense.
The bill also promises public schools an additional $30 million in special education funding to partly address a funding gap estimated at $80 million. This pledge won over Sen. Carrie Semmelroth, who broke ranks with the Democratic caucus, which has fervently opposed subsidies for
private education. Semmelroth, a Boise State University instructor specializing in special education, told Idaho Education News that her vote wasn’t about “partisan politics.”
“Policymaking is about serving the public good,” she said after the Feb. 3 hearing.
“This is the first time I’ve
seen legislation that’s actually trying to put money into special ed. Separate from partisan politics, separate from vouchers, as a special education teacher, I have to take efforts like that seriously.”
S.B. 1025 is one of two < see NEWS, Page 6 >
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bills Idaho lawmakers are considering to direct public funds to private schooling and home schooling. The other proposal, House Bill 93, would create a refundable tax credit. It’s awaiting a public hearing in the House.
Lent, chairman of Senate Education, touted the accountability measures in his proposal, particularly one to require participating private schools to accept students with disabilities.
bill is the closest any proposal has come to meeting Gov. Brad Little’s conditions for sending state funds to private schools.
“We’ve been asked to gather a bill that is fair, responsible, transparent and accountable,” said Burtenshaw, R-Terreton. “Everything else that we’ve seen in other legislation hasn’t had any of that transparency and accountability.”
“This is the first time I’ve seen legislation that’s actually trying to put money into special ed.”
- Sen. Carrie Semmelroth
“If we’re going to have a school choice bill, it has to look like this,” he said during the hearing. “We have to have exactly the right kind of sideboards to protect not only our students, but our parents, our families and the people of the state of Idaho.”
To be an eligible expense in the Empowering Parents program, private schools would have to be accredited by a body recognized by the State Board of Education. They would also have to:
• Comply with state laws related to special education, nondiscrimination and parental rights.
• Maintain enrollment and performance data.
• Administer a nationally normed standardized test.
• Conduct criminal background checks on employees who have unsupervised contact with students.
The bill also includes a sunset clause requiring a reevaluation in five years. And it has income restrictions: 95% of the money would be reserved for families earning $80,000 or less in adjusted gross income.
Three Republican senators supported advancing it — with little enthusiasm. Sen. Jim Woodward made the successful motion to send the bill to the full Senate, but he didn’t include a “do-pass” recommendation, which typically accompanies legislation that clears a committee. Woodward, R-Sagle, said he’s “not interested ” in going down the road of funding private education.
“But I think we’re on the road If we’re going to be considering a proposal, I’d much rather consider this piece than the others,” he said.
Sen. Van Burtenshaw said Lent’s
Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise, joined three Republicans in opposition. Sen. Christy Zito, R-Hammett, said a provision capping household grants at $15,000 was “discriminatory” toward families with many children. Sen. Cindy Carlson, R-Riggins, worried that accreditation requirements could exclude certain schools. And Sen. Tammy Nichols, R-Middleton, said the various facets of the bill could violate the Idaho Constitution’s “single-subject rule,” which prohibits legislation from addressing multiple policy areas.
The vote followed a curtailed public hearing, where most testimony opposed the proposal. Hundreds of people had signed up to testify, according to Sen. Kevin Cook, R-Idaho Falls, Senate Education’s vice chair, who chaired the Feb. 3 meeting while Lent presented his bill.
Just 15 people had an opportunity to speak. This included Stoney Winston, superintendent of the Fruitland School District. Winston said the bill is unconstitutional, diverts state funds away from “underfunded” public schools and offers pre-K funding to private schools while public schools don’t receive the same support.
Winston also noted that S.B. 1025 doesn’t provide a mechanism for delivering the promised special education funds.
“Our students with disabilities deserve clarity, not vague promises,” Winston said. “Special education funding must be a priority, not an afterthought, bundled in with unrelated policies.”
S.B. 1025 now heads to the full Senate.
Idaho Education News is a nonprofit online news outlet based in Boise and supported by grants from the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation, the Education Writers Association and the Solutions Journalism Network. Read more at idahoednews.org.
Bits ’n’ Pieces
From east, west and beyond
Shortly after announcing a suspension of all federal aid last week, President Donald Trump rescinded the action. Former-Labor Secretary and columnist Robert Reich pointed out that Trump’s “freeze” “is expected to be reimposed in a form less vulnerable to legal challenges.”
After Elon Musk forced his way into accessing payment systems at the Treasury Department, David Lebryk — the top-ranking official at the department — resigned to avoid compliance with Musk’s illegal action, The Washington Post reported. According to The Lever, Musk’s move was approved by Trump’s new Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and gave the billionaire “efficiency” czar access to $6 trillion in annual federal transactions — including access to Americans’ personal information and info on his business competitors. Musk then “deleted” the IRS’s free online tax filing, compromised national security systems, and emailed orders to end leases on federal offices.
Historian Heather C. Richardson wrote that with Republican control of Congress, the White House and Supreme Court, it would have been feasible to vote on budget bills and get a presidential signature, rather than allowing unelected Musk to declare shutting down agencies and cancellation of programs he dislikes. As she and others pointed out, “The replacement of our constitutional system of government with the whims of an unelected private citizen is a coup.”
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy said Musk’s Treasury takeover is rooted in “the billionaire class trying to take over our government” by shuttering agencies to create the illusion of saving money while the larger purpose is to “pass a giant tax cut for billionaires and corporations.”
A recent sampling of Trump administration headlines: “Trump Gutted Aviation Safety Committee Days Before National Airport Crash”; “DEI Not to Blame in Crash, Says Top Republican Overseeing FAA”; Trump blasted for “dangerous public health gag order”; “Trump Says he Ordered Air Strikes on Islamic State Group in Somalia”; Department of Transportation memo directs funds to “communities with higher ‘marriage and birth rates’”; Trump backs
By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist
down on North American tariffs after “threats rock stock markets”; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau work “Comes to a Halt as Trump Continues War on Federal Government”; and “USDA Ordered to Scrub Climate Change from Websites.”
The BBC reported that Trump’s tariff proposals are expected to cause higher prices in the U.S. Mexico countered Trump’s tariff threat with an agreement to reinforce the border with the National Guard and a U.S. commitment to work to prevent high-powered weapons from entering Mexico from the U.S.
Trump’s offer of resignation for federal workers, with pay and benefits until Sept. 30 — and no work — should be cautiously considered, according to Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, who serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee. She says “there is no funding allocated to agencies to pay staff for this offer.”
As reported last week, forensic economist and data journalist Greg Palast released his 2024 voter suppression investigative report, finding the Trump vs. Kamala Harris election included mass purges of voters of color and mass disqualifications of provisional and mail-in ballots. If counted, Palast argued that Harris would have garnered a further 3,565,000 votes, exceeding Trump’s popular vote by 1.2 million.
Had the purges, vigilante challenges and ballot rejections been random, it would not have mattered, Palast wrote. But they were not random. He cited Washington state, where a Black voter’s mail-in ballot was 400% more likely to be rejected. Uncountable was the influence of voter intimidation, (i.e. bomb threats to polling stations), and shuttering ballot dropboxes. In 2024, 22 states imposed 38 new restrictions on the ability to vote absentee; Palast said as many as 14.1 million mail-in ballots “vanished from the count” by being thrown out for various reasons.
Blast from the past: In 1980, Heritage Foundation co-founder Paul Weyrich told a group of Republican activists, “I don’t want everybody to vote … our leverage in the elections, quite candidly, goes up as the voting populace goes down.”
PERSPECTIVES
Today, I am an American
By Mariela Rebelo Reader Contributor
That’s what the banner standing next to the flag read.
Gray walls, paneled ceiling, fluorescent lights, plastic chairs, people wearing hoodies and hats indoors. American, indeed.
I chose a chair on the front row and felt... something as I read the “reserved” sign on it.
I’d been invited to this ceremony by an official letter that resembled the many others I’ve gotten in the past six years. What we, going through the process of immigration, call “Notice Of Action(s).” Basically, they are letters with our information such as our case number, and concise yet amazingly unspecific wording indicating they’ve taken some sort of action.
I’ve always been a “bythe-rules” person. In fact, I’m one of those weirdos who loves doing paperwork. There’s something exciting about figuring our hoops and loops in different languages and cultures, and I do truly get a kick out of bureaucracy. So much so, that almost a decade ago I dove headfirst into the epitome of slow, complicated bureaucracy when I decided to move to Italy to claim my Italian citizenship (which I have the blood right to, as a direct descendant born in Argentina).
Add the fact I didn’t know the language back then, and you end up with the most complicated real-life escape room, and a whole lot of fun. Fantastic food, Italian lifestyle and its many joys, and new language learnt were just some of the many, many cherries on top of something I had always wanted to do.
But today, I am an American.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m still Italian and you bet your sweet behind I’m still Argentinian (it’s literally impossible to renounce Argentinian citizenship, not that anyone in their right mind would want to stop being part of the best culture in the world, nay, the universe).
But today, I am also an American.
Unlike my Italian citizenship, the American one is
something I never thought I’d go for. Honestly, up until 2017 I never even wanted to come visit the USA, in spite of having visited more than 50 countries at the time. I never got the appeal, could never really see “the greatness.” Until one day, at a bus station in Costa Rica, I met who would eventually become my husband.
Spoiler alert: he’s American.
Two years into dating, we were ready to move to Europe, but the business he had just started took off and surprise, surprise, we needed to live in Idaho. Hence, my immigration process started.
First with a K-1 visa (better known as the “90 day fiancée visa,” popularized by a TV show), then with my temporary green card and, finally, with my permanent green card.
There were copious piles of paperwork along the road; several interviews in Buenos Aires; and, in the U.S., binders of pictures, letters, screenshots, bank statements, receipts and anything else you can think of putting in a binder when the American government tasks you with a simple quest: “Prove to me you are who you say you are. If you fail, you won’t be able to live with the person you love. You have one shot. Go.”
It was a process that took time and many, many thousands of dollars. I was lucky. My case was straightforward: neither my husband or I had ever been married, had no children, no debt, no criminal records. Argentina and the U.S. are “friends” (?), and the Argentinian bureaucracy is so streamlined that I can deal with it in my sleep.
Slam dunk, no lawyers needed. Just me, my patience and the one printer in the entire world that, believe it or not, actually prints when prompted to.
Two and a half years into the process, I was granted a permanent resident card: a permit to live in the U.S. for as long as I’d like, commonly known as a “green card.”
In 2021 I was an Argentinian, who was also an Italian, who was also an American permanent resident. I was content,
that was supposed to be enough.
But today, I am an American. I never planned to go for the U.S. citizenship. My permanent residency was perfect. Even though I got to appreciate the beauty of the USA — and most of its residents — I couldn’t erase from my mind the clarity with which American culture, propaganda, military activity and the government had been shown to me my entire life, growing up in Argentina — a country deeply focused on education (free and accessible, as it should be, of course) and traveling all around the world for nearly a decade.
For the rest of the world, America is not what Americans have been led to believe, and that has become more and more obvious in the past few months.
And that’s why, today, I am an American.
I was shocked at the election results last November. I received dozens of messages from my American friends apologizing for it, even though they had tried to do their part. My response to all of them: What these people represent
and preach, is not what I have experienced in my nearly six years living here.
Today, as I was about to become an American, I sat on my plastic chair, next to a lady from Scotland who had held a green card for 40 years. Forty years, until last November changed her mind.
I found myself wishing this decision had come from a different place. I felt a tear run down my cheek, and a pit starting to form in my stomach.
There’s no escaping the fact that this decision was made out of fear. Fear of this Orange Dude waking up on the wrong side of the bed one day and signing an executive order to get rid of green card holders. Fear that this Napoleon Complex Clown would finally convince my in-law I’m a bad hombre
Fear that I would be in a situation where I would have to explain myself to “authorities” for no reason. Fear that I would be criminalized, like many others. Fear that I would no longer be welcomed.
They were waiting for me. They greeted me with a smile and a genuine, “How are you doing today?” They told me they were taking my green card from me, but they were giving me something way better. They thanked me for coming and driving in this bad weather. They, the Americans.
The first thing I noticed was his tie, and I thought he must have been wearing it since at least the early 2000s. Gray/ white hair, bright eyes, a big smile and above all, a kind face. Officer Schneider preceded the ceremony. He started by saying the audio system wasn’t working, so we wouldn’t be playing the “Star-Spangled Banner” (phew, I thought — no offense, I just find it annoying). I saw that as a little wink from the universe, and I noticed the pit in my stomach shrinking. I looked around, there were about 20 of us, all of them in their “reserved” chairs. I could tell they had put care and attention into today: ties, heels, makeup, dress pants. The rows in the back were occupied by their friends and family members. I spotted my American Boy among them, and a sweet flashback returned me to seeing him for the first time at that bus station in San Jose de Costa Rica. The pit was gone.
Officer Schneider started talking again and walked us through the process. He read us a letter meant for us, welcoming us to the USA, saying how honored they were we were joining.
This one line in particular jumped out of his mouth and filled the room in giant neon lights wrapping us all and begging for it to be immortalized: “We expect you to keep practicing your culture, we the United States of America embrace all and cannot wait to try your food, listen to your music, dance your dances and learn about you.”
But then, I drew my attention back to the sign on my chair. Reserved. Reserved for me. Reserved for this immigrant, South American nonetheless, and a (very opinionated) woman on top of it all. Reserved
The U.S. welcomes one of its newest citizen, Mariela Rebelo. Courtesy photo
Bouquets:
• Paul Graves gets a Bouquet this week. Paul is in his last couple of weeks in Sandpoint. He’s a former Sandpoint mayor, a former pastor and a solid community member who has advocated for human rights and the elderly population for decades. When I learned he and his wife, Sue, would be leaving Sandpoint for a new adventure in Oregon, I was excited for them — but sad for us, because we are losing another great Sandpointian who has dedicated their life to making this community a better place. We appreciate you, Paul. Read more on Page 14.
• This Bouquet goes out to the bartenders of Sandpoint. I worked behind a bar once, long ago, and I know how tough the job can be — especially when dealing with people who can’t handle their booze. Sometimes on weekend nights downtown, I’ll look around a bar and realize I don’t recognize a single face in the room except the bartender, who is usually the person I end up talking to. As our town becomes more and more a place we don’t recognize, it’s so important to honor and savor the parts of our community that we still do. Here’s to you, men and women of the shaker: Thanks for putting up with our nonsense.
GUEST SUBMISSION:
• “If you have little people in your home or wannabe gardeners, Grow, Cook, Eat is a must watch on Amazon. I want to send a big shout out to Ms. Soncirey Mitchell, the newly appointed Senior Writer for the Reader “Soncirey’s suggestion from the January 23rd column of RLW written in the WATCH section Grow, Cook, Eat hits the mark. I agree completely. With our newly fallen snow it gave me something to binge watch and I love their Irish accents and mannerisms.”
— By Vicky Johnson Barbs:
• If you aren’t outraged right now, you’re not paying attention. If you’re not paying attention, you’re part of the problem. What’s happening right now isn’t about right vs. left. It’s about right vs. wrong. Good vs. evil. What side of history are you on?
8 / R / February 6, 2025
‘Time to hitch up our britches’...
Dear editor, House Bill 32 — just passed — is about more than mask mandates. The bill, which is now in the Senate, moves the duties and responsibilities of local communities to deal with the spread of infectious diseases to a centralized authority: the state.
Majorities of Idahoans and larger majorities in North Idaho are suspicious of moving power to the state and away from local authorities. Disease spread in communities often depends on the unique characteristics of a community, including local decision-making by individuals, businesses, school boards, the medical community and libraries. Addressing issues and problems at the lowest possible level works better than having a centralized authority impose uniform rules for issues like this.
Rep. Mark Sauter, R-Sandpoint, voted “no” on the bill. It makes sense for communities to make these decisions, as local knowledge is essential in addressing local challenges. He voted for us to keep local control.
I’m glad Rep. Sauter stands up for local decision-making and keeping government close to home.
Thank Rep. Sauter and ask Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle, to vote against this bill.
It’s time to hitch up your britches and get ready to tell our people in Boise what we want. Add these emails to your address book: : MSauter@house.idaho.gov; JWoodward@ senate.idaho.gov.
Nancy Gerth Sagle
it will need $8 billion over the next decade. Where will that come from?
The focus on deficits is political gamesmanship. If they pass this tax cut, that $400 million will be documented as a cost in the budget. That’s right. When our Legislature gives back tax money, it is reported as a cost, but we get no services for that money.
And, while you are getting your extra couple of dollars per month, Stefan Gleason — one of the out-ofstate funders for the Idaho Freedom gangs — will be raking in millions through a new precious metals clause embedded in Moyle’s bill.
Meanwhile, multiple bills (most written by out-of-state lobbyists) propose cutting health care programs and diverting money to for-profit schools. They continue to underfund infrastructure. Local governments (property tax) will have to pick up the slack. Most of these will also result in costly lawsuits that we will fund.
Attacks on citizens’ initiative are active again. The Legislature tried taking our voice away and the Idaho Supreme Court struck it down as unconstitutional; so, now, they want to change the Constitution. We have a property tax homeowners exemption only because of a citizens’ initiative.
Medicaid expansion, which saves us money and gives many families peace of mind, was also a citizens’ initiative. This is our only certain method to be heard in Boise. Make some noise now. Call your legislators. Testify.
Kathryn Larson Sadpoint
‘Does a state tax reduction sound good?’... Where does it end?…
Dear editor, Mike Moyle is taking House Bill 40 to the House floor. He’s advertised that it will put more money back into our pockets. It’s projected to give households making $110,000 per year less than $70.
Those income taxes support health care, public education and roads. Would you rather have an extra $5.83 in your pocket or have the state have an additional $400 million to spend on services?
Idaho is growing and our infrastructure is aging. The Idaho Transportation Department estimates that
their food assistance will disappear.
A friend’s nonprofit group may not survive. I’m worried about the inflation that is predicted with the tariffs he has imposed.
While there is good reason to reduce federal spending, reckless actions that sow fear and endanger lives are not the way to do it.
No one denies that government programs can be improved, but let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Slashing aid without a plan for those who rely on it is irresponsible and cruel.
As voters, we still have a voice.
I urge you to write to your federal and state legislators and let them know how you are affected by their decisions. They need to hear from us, and they need to be reminded that most voters don’t want chaos.
If you think that the chaos hasn’t affected you yet, just wait, because it will.
Contact U.S. Sens. Mike Crapo and Sen. James E. Risch; U.S. (1st Congressional District): Rep. Russ Fulcher; and Idaho Legislative District 1 Sen. Jim Woodward, Rep. Mark Sauter and Rep, Cornel Rasor.
Jean Gerth Anderson Sadpoint
‘Tell lawmakers to stand up to vouchers’...
Dear editor, I am deeply disappointed that Sen. Jim Woodward on Feb. 3 made the successful motion to send voucher tax credit bill S.B. 1025 from the Senate Education Committee to the full Senate.
our public schools to keep students and staff safe.
Since Sen. Woodward seems to be on the fence about funding private schools, this is the time to tell him what you think. Tell him to vote no on S.B. 1025: JWoodward@ senate.idaho.gov.
Karen Matthee, Bonner County Democrats chair Sandpoint
‘Are you nervous yet?’...
Dear editor,
My fellow Republicans: Recently, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that redefined the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution regarding birthright citizenship. Consider, how is it possible that a president can unilaterally alter the Constitution without the consent of Congress or the states?
This should cause us great anxiety; because, if Trump can do this to the 14th Amendment, what is to stop him from doing this to the Bill of Rights? Specifically, what is to stop him or a future president from suspending our cherished Second Amendment?
Are you nervous yet?
Furthermore, many in our party believe that the Constitution is a divinely inspired document on par with the Bible. Does his ability to unilaterally alter this divinely inspired Constitution make him a god?
The way our party bows to him, it appears that we have already ceded godhood to him.
Sincerely,
Dear editor,
So if Trump decides to ignore the birthright citizenship article of the 14th Amendment, what would prevent him from ignoring the 22nd Amendment, which states that a president may only serve two terms? That’s assuming that we’d even have another election.
Ted Wert Sagle
Stand up against Trump’s chaos…
Dear editor,
Has President Trump’s “strategy” for decreasing federal spending impacted you yet? I work with a young child with autism, and her single mother is now terrified that
He said he did so reluctantly, but still... he did not include a “do-pass” recommendation, which typically accompanies legislation that clears a committee.
He said he is “not interested” in going down the road of funding private education, “But,” he said, “I think we’re on the road. … If we’re going to be considering a proposal, I’d much rather consider this piece than the others.”
S.B. 1025 would expand Idaho’s Empowering Parents program from $30 million to $50 million; increase yearly grants from $1,000 to $5,000; and add private school tuition as an eligible expense.
Given the deep tax cuts that passed the House this week and are likely to pass the Senate — plus the two voucher bills gathering steam (H.B. 93 in the House) — one has to ask how the state is going to fund the many facility repairs needed by
Daniel Haley Sandpoint
‘Intelligence’...
Dear editor,
About “artificial” intelligence I know nothing… yet words are so evocative — for example: I don’t like “artificial” foods, fabrics, facts or smiles. I like the real thing! As for what our world needs, what would actual, genuine, organic, obvious, intelligent intelligence suggest?
Perhaps, since nobody likes how it’s all going, and since we have the technology, we ask (all 8 billion of us!) one simple question: “How would you like this world to be?”
Yes, it touches “The Wound” — answering anyway and hearing each others’ answers (especially the kids!) begins the healing…
Greg Flint Sandpoint
Too many answers, too few questions
By Tim Bearly Reader Contributor
Questions, though they may hold value, do not sell tickets, books or win votes. One is less likely to be invited to speak when one is merely promoting skepticism. People desire not doubt, but to hear how their lives may be changed, if only they subscribe to this or that philosophy, political ideology or embrace the teachings of, say, some pseudoscientific self-help guru.
The reason salespeople, politicians and charlatans thrive is not because they display skepticism and critical thinking in matters where they are uninformed or uncertain, but because they offer answers, even when those answers are patently false.
Questions are not an impetus for action in the same way that answers are. A movement foments and propagates because it compels its adherents not to think, but to repeat — to act. This is why answers abound, while questions are in short supply.
In the so-called marketplace of ideas, the space for questioning is like a neglected food truck tucked away in a dark alley, serving up brain-healthy meals that aren’t exactly delicious — thoughtful, challenging
< AMERICAN, con’t from Page 7 >
Today, I am that American. Not the one spreading hate and fear in the news, social media or the White House. Not the one dividing us. Not the one who’s so incredibly individualistic that they become a walking irony. Today, and all days on, I am the American I know.
On Nov. 6, 2024, I replied
concepts that take time to digest and don’t appeal to one’s taste buds. The sign reads, “Still figuring out the menu,” so few, if any, stop by. Meanwhile, the booth selling easy answers glows with neon lights, flashing promises of “Get Rich Quick!” and offering fast, shallow ideas — sweet, savory, tempting and quick to consume.
A long line of people eagerly wait to buy the latest bill of goods, while the booth rakes in profits, expanding to multiple locations. It feeds the crowd with empty calories of instant satisfaction, leaving them hungry for more, but grossly malnourished.
This is the problem Socrates identified at the heart of democracy’s deepest failings: When people choose satisfying but false decisions and answers over the more logical, yet less appealing ones. It is the allure of certainty — of the quick fix — that often supersedes the hard work of critical thought and the humility of questioning.
This raises the question: What is truly best for you? Is it best to question everything, even if it leaves you isolated, without friends, family or a support system — without a cause to champion and nothing to live for? In a system where
to my friends in Washington:
“... [A]t the end of the day, we’re still the same. And it’s people like you, with your kind gesture of checking in and caring, that makes our reality. Not the hypothetical scenarios of things that may happen in the future. Whatever that is, we’ll get through it. After living here for almost six years, I’ve only interacted with a small handful
believing and regurgitating lies is conducive to success, how can one survive by questioning everyone and everything? Will not one end up suffering the same fate as the aforementioned gadfly?
How do you think your employer will view your performance if you tell a customer, “Honestly, I’m not sure if purchasing this automobile is the best decision for your family right now. While it might enhance your social status, the fact that you’d need to finance it makes me wonder if holding off might be a more prudent choice.”
Do you think you’ll be the one getting the promotion? Or will your sociopathic co-worker — the one with a copy of The 48 Laws of Power — be the one to land it instead?
Obviously, a political career would be out of the question for someone inclined to prioritize honesty, integrity and raising questions, instead of offering the comforting, yet empty answers that the masses seek.
Now, we find ourselves in another realm, where it’s not just about neglecting to ask questions, but where maintaining pretenses becomes a necessity — that is, if one wants to climb the ladder.
Take, for example, a
of people who truly represent what Trump preaches. Everyone else I’ve met is just an overall good person, trying to live life with kindness and peace. All I know is that today I walked to yoga, enjoyed the beautiful fall we’ve been having in Sandpoint, soaked up the sunshine and my good friends checked on me.”
Officer Schneider started
police officer who refuses to honor the “blue code of silence” — the unwritten agreement among officers not to report on the misconduct of their colleagues. If they witness racism, abuse or corruption, they turn a blind eye, remaining silent. But in this hypothetical scenario, the officer chooses to become a whistleblower, drawing national attention to the corruption within the department. What do you think will happen to their career as a police officer? Will their colleagues in uniform hail them as a brave hero? Unlikely.
This dynamic is present in many professions, though perhaps not as extreme. That is because all workplaces exhibit cult-like behaviors to varying degrees, often demanding loyalty and obedience in different ways. In its more benign form, it can manifest through language — like calling customers “guests,” referring to employees as “associates” or labeling managers as “leaders.”
While these terms are often used to foster a sense of unity and goodwill, they can also reinforce an unquestioning, conformist culture. In its more extreme form, it can become something far more toxic — like blindly following a leader, even to
naming countries and, one by one, people got on their feet. Argentina. Cambodia. Canada. Colombia. I looked around; another tear, this time from a place of compassion, company, love, oneness. Italy. Mexico.
the point of drinking poisoned Kool-Aid when told to do so. Questioning the status quo, or pointing out that the emperor — or employer — has no clothes, is a surefire way to find yourself terminated — or “laid off” due to some ostensibly unrelated issue.
The reason it’s so important to ask questions in these situations is because when people are too afraid to speak up, a “spiral of silence” can take hold. This is when everyone knows something is off, but because no one says anything, each person assumes they’re the only one who sees it or has a problem with it. They believe everyone else accepts things as they are, so they stay silent too, caught in a cycle of fear and self-censorship.
Do you seek to climb the ranks within your company, church, political party or institution of any kind? Or do you seek truth? It seems that often these two things are mutually exclusive.
The question remains: What is truly best for you? And if I were to act like I had the answer to that question, everything I have written here would be a contradiction.
Tim Bearly is a substitute teacher and private tutor who likes to write essays, books and songs in his free time.
Russia. Scotland. Ukraine.
There I was, next to my fellow new Americans. All of us, standing as one. Today, we are Americans. Today, and all days on, we are one.
Mariela Rebelo is a Sandpoint resident and American.
Science: Mad about
the taum sauk reservoir
By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist
Hydroelectric power is a big deal in the Pacific Northwest. The Albeni Falls dam has been the subject of local headlines for nearly a year now, and I can vividly recall partaking in a tour of the Cabinet Gorge Dam while I was in elementary school.
Most dams are built in valleys that utilize the natural topography of surrounding terrain to direct water through the dam to turn turbines that generate electricity. The Taum Sauk Dam in Missouri is a very unique dam in this regard, in that it’s built at the top of a mountain.
This seems like a really unusual and inefficient way to build a dam; and, in most cases, you’d be right. A reservoir at the top of a mountain provides only one benefit: as a battery storing potential energy.
Hydroelectric dams produce energy when gravity carries water down through turbines that spin and produce electricity. In order for water to reach the reservoir at the top of a mountain, the water must be pumped up from a lower reservoir, which requires energy to do. The reason it makes sense to do this in the case of the Taum Sauk Dam is because battery technology wasn’t as advanced at the time of its construction, therefore engineers had to get crafty about storing potential energy in other ways.
A hydroelectric dam produces electricity and it sends it out to the grid. The grid requires more power at certain times of the day than others
based on household use in the surrounding area. If families are gathering around a television for dinner, imagine all of the sources of energy used in this two-hour window: the television, the stove, the lights, phone chargers and more. The bulk of this power usage slows to a crawl after it’s time for most people to go to bed; but, if the same amount of energy is being produced by flowing water, the electricity has nowhere to go as it’s not being used.
The Taum Sauk upper reservoir solved this problem by using off-peak power to pump water from its lower reservoir into the top reservoir, which would then drain to power the dam during peak usage and then repeat the process anywhere from 100 to 300 days out of the year. This had about 70% efficiency, which was acceptable enough to commit to the construction of the closed-loop dam.
Despite its name, the Taum Sauk Reservoir isn’t actually seated on Taum Sauk Mountain, the highest peak in Missouri, but instead atop Proffit Mountain, the sixth-tallest peak, about five miles away. Construction began in 1960 and concluded in 1962. The upper reservoir was constructed by using rockfill in huge guided mounds that was then sealed on the interior with a colossal wall of concrete. Its unique kidney-bean shape is due to a structure of weak geology around which the engineers built, rather than the layout of the peak.
The reservoir is capable of holding up to 1.5 billion gallons of water. In 2005, it sent its full capacity ripping down
the side of Proffit Mountain and back into the Black River, scarring the mountainside for decades to come.
The ultimate failure of the original upper reservoir was the culmination of many smaller factors literally spilling into a catastrophe. The rockfill used to surround the reservoir was filled with far more loose soil than had been expected, leading to portions of the structure sinking up to six feet lower than other areas. Sensor failures and a lack of redundancies led to inaccurate readings that weren’t visually verified, as the entire structure was built to be remotely operated. Finally, the lack of a dedicated spillway meant that if the structure did begin to overflow, it did so in a completely uncontrolled manner.
All of these issues contributed to the catastrophic failure on Dec. 14, 2005. Water had been seen spilling over the edge of the parapet wall when engineers triggered the pumps to stop — unfortunately, one pump continued operating and contributed to overfilling. As any adult with children knows, water spilling from a bathtub likes to seep under the tub if it isn’t properly sealed, which leads to the wood beneath the tub rotting and compromising the structure beneath. This is exactly what happened to the Taum Sauk upper reservoir, as water aided by gravity eroded the rockfill beneath the parapet wall and caused the pressure of 1.5 billion gallons of water to blast out of the concrete wall in a rushing force down the mountain, uprooting trees, boulders and a house in its path.
The superintendent of the state park in which the dam is located — as well as his wife and three children — were swept away by the intense rushing water. Luckily none of them were killed, but they suffered from injuries, as well as hypothermia.
The dam was rebuilt in 2010, though this time the walls were made entirely of
concrete on both sides with a stair-step design similar to an open-pit mine. This increased the structural integrity of the dam while also limiting the ability for water to utilize gravity as an erosive force on the ground below. Most importantly, a large spillway was added so as to direct excess water safely.
Stay curious, 7B.
Random Corner
• John Milton was a poet and polemicist who served as a civil servant under the Commonwealth of England’s Council of State and Oliver Cromwell. He is most famous for his epic poem Paradise Lost and his political pamphlet Areopagitica
• Milton lived from 1608 to 1674 under the rule of James I, Charles I and Charles II. He wholeheartedly opposed Charles I’s autocratic rule and wrote many pamphlets opposing him during the English Civil War, right up until Charles’ execution for high treason in 1649. To justify the regicide, Milton wrote The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates, which argued that the people have a right to prosecute and execute tyrants.
• The full title was The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates: proving that it is lawful, and hath been held so through the ages, for any, who has the Power, to call to account a Tyrant, or wicked King, and after due conviction, to depose, and put him to death; if the ordinary MAGISTRATE have neglected, or deny’d
to do it. And that they, who of late so much blame Deposing, are the Men that did it themselves. No one ever accused Milton of brevity.
• Milton’s Areopagitica is one of the most influential defenses of freedom of speech and the press. In it, he argued that the government had no right to ban texts because all writing — morally good or bad — was valuable. Each person had the free will, reason and morality to read whatever they chose and make their own decisions about its validity.
• The poem Paradise Lost is a complete retelling of the Biblical story of the fall of man, with new philosophical musings about the expulsion of Satan. The work earned Milton equal parts acclaim and condemnation for its favorable portrayal of Eve and the implication that Adam fell from God’s grace because he was “uxorious” — in other words, submissive to his wife. He was also criticized at the time for portraying Satan as a sympathetic and borderline heroic figure.
The reconstruction of the Taum Sauk Reservoir after its catastrophic failure. Courtesy photo
You can do it!
By K.L. Huntley Reader Contributor
My beloved sister and I used to debate “global warming.” She had bought the rhetoric that it was a hoax and that weather over the centuries had patterns that were always in flux. The weather is, as she pointed out, “always changing.” However, my sis apparently didn’t hear the scientists screaming for decades about the “warming” and the effects of oil and its products. But close to 200 countries and states did, and a little over eight years ago made an agreement in Paris to do something about it.
Tragically, the oil and gas industry — the largest source of greenhouse emissions in the United States — wants to keep drilling until we all die. Dramatic? In 2024, more than 11,500 people globally died in extreme weather events. That number could be higher if all the bodies had been recovered. Extreme weather in the same period cost approximately $182.7 billion in the U.S. alone. This was the fourth-highest cost on record, behind 2017, 2005 and 2022.
The responsibility of slowing this preventable phenomenon is trickling down to us, the common folks driving to and from wherever. It is we who have to attack this problem one step at a time, and each and every one of us united together can help mitigate the problem. It is just a matter of time before it affects our homes in the Northwest. Perhaps it already has; I still have no snow on the ground at my house. A real phenomenon I haven’t witnessed before.
Let’s start with the simple solutions. If each one of us consolidated some of our trips up and down the roads of this lovely area we could save a little gasoline. It wouldn’t have a great impact, how-
ever, because 376 million gallons are used daily in the U.S. and we are increasing those figures. Consider carpooling or driving a vehicle that uses less gas. Just consider it. Can you make the market and appointments on the same day?
Now, there are myriad petroleum products that have us operating under the illusion that “we need them.” Products lining shelves that weren’t even imagined in our parents’ time or mine. I’m not anti-plastic, I love the stuff. You could go through my house with a clipboard and go “tsk tsk tsk.”
However, several years ago I started looking around my own surroundings — at what I was using and why, and I am still making cuts. I no longer buy my milk in plastic milk cartons. I pick out the waxed ½ gallons that I know won’t take 1,000 years to disintegrate in the landfill.
Water bottles! Good grief, my sis thought she needed to buy her water in plastic water bottles by the case. Great stuff in an emergency. I sent her a gallon Brita water filtering system, ironically made of plastic, but she can use it for years. I refill bottles of water and keep them in the refrigerator. Nothing like it when you want a refreshing glass of filtered water.
Disposable this and thats… Look around. Do you really need those floss sticks? Disposable razors? Paper products wrapped in plastic? What about the single-use vegetable bags in the produce section? Those get rinsed out at my house now and it limits other plastic bags I might be tempted to purchase.
One friend turned me on to the big green construction bags. We dump the contents and keep the bags. They are used now until they are shredded. Yes, they still go to the landfill, but I have eliminated the amount by many pounds.
The list goes on and on. I was feeling a little rough around the edges one day at the checkout. I had forgotten my cloth bags. The cashier chanted, “paper or plastic?” for my purchase. I retorted, “Why don’t you just say renewable or non-renewable?” That, of course, was met with a frown.
I’m sure we all agree that plastic in the medical field is a miracle. Now we need another miracle and it starts with us, the consumers. Is it renewable or non-renewable and how can you and I use less petroleum? How can we take tiny steps to help Mother Earth and her inhabitants?
It is hard to fathom that our throwaway society, our bigger and bigger and biggering society is actually causing death and destruc-
tion globally. And that you and I, by simple actions can mitigate the whole thing. We can do it!
“We Can Do it!” was an inspirational poster by J. Howard Miller, made to encourage worker morale during WWII. Courtesy photo
PERSPECTIVES
Kakistrophe
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Only a fool would try to keep pace with the chaos emanating from the wreckage wrought by President Donald Trump’s administration on the fabric of civil reality in the United States since Jan. 20. Suffice it to say, the notion in the beginning of February that we are living in a functional representative democracy, underpinned by the concept of the rule of law, is swiftly becoming a fiction. But our body politic is addicted to fiction, and Trump knows this perhaps better than any American personality ever has. He and his apparatchiks are well aware of the political power inherent in dizzying a populace with bullshit, and it’s working.
It works because we don’t know what he is or why he is the way he is. And, by extension, who we are and why we are the way we are.
Many descriptions, analyses and metaphors have been applied to Trump over the years. He’s been compared to the kind of carnival barker and snake oil salesman who rolled the rubes of Jacksonian America, when we were even more pigheaded and brutal than today (which is hard to believe).
To some observers, he’s a pinstriped Queens, N.Y. playboy-thug with wandering fingers; a strutting Mussolini-type malignant narcissist with imperial designs in direct, opposite proportion to his talent for statecraft; a pissy King John whose mediocre striving for absolutism is mingled with a half-addled King Charles I — bewildered that not everyone automatically believes his claims to divine right.
The most popular comparison is, of course, to Adolf Hitler.
That’s not unfair, considering that Trump once boasted of keeping a book of Hitler’s speeches next to his bed in one of his grotty Xanadus, where he no doubt had someone read them to him — and skipped on the bill for the service. Even Mike Godwin has said that Trump is fair game for Hitler comparisons.
Then there are the comments Trump’s made about lamenting that “his” generals weren’t as loyal to him as the warlords of 20th-century
Getting a few things off my chest in the first two weeks of Trump’s Second Reich
Germany were to their führer (and many weren’t, really). Witness the revelation from retired-Marine General John Kelly — who served under Trump from 2017 to 2019 — that the then-and-now president said Hitler had “done some good things.” Kelly opposed his erstwhile boss and just a few days ago lost his security clearance and security detail under the Zweites Reich von Trump.
Then there’s Pro-Consul Elon Musk’s Nazi-non-Nazi “Roman” salute. Mein Arsch.
While Trump has promised that he’d never read Mein Kampft, he borrows a lot from the Bohemian corporal’s playbook — even referring to immigration as “poisoning of our blood,” a clumsy metaphor employed by Hitler over and over to sway his own people to atrocity on the same subject.
It’s probably true that Trump hasn’t read Mein Kampf — maybe he absorbed it via osmosis while using it as a pillow? But I have read it, and of most interest to modern-day Americans living under the Trump II regime should be the passage on Page 180 in the chapter on the “Psychology of Propaganda,” wherein Hitler stated:
“All propaganda must be popular and its intellectual level must be adjusted to the most limited intelligence among those it is addressed to. Consequently, the greater the mass it is intended to reach, the lower its purely intellectual level will have to be.
“The art of propaganda lies in understanding the ideas of the great masses and finding, through a psychologically correct form, the way to the attention and thence to the heart of the broad masses.”
Does that not sound like Steve Bannon’s injunction during the first Trump administration that, “The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit”?
Does it remind you of your dumbest relatives, neighbors and the idiot who doesn’t feel like they need to follow the rules of a four-way stop? It should. And it’s happening now — it has happened.
As of Feb. 3, Trump has come for the FBI and Justice Department, perpetrating a bloodless Weekend of the Long Knives on everyone who participated in the various investigations into his Beerhall Putsch of Jan. 6, 2021 and 30-odd other felonies. The FBI — never a blameless entity in the world of domestic political vengeance — will likely soon be headed by Kash Patel, who has made no secret that his Bureau will be an even more virulent political police force, targeting anyone who even stood next to a Trump investigator. And that will more than likely be broadened to include anyone else who doesn’t align with the “President’s priorities,” as the rescinded-not-rescinded Office of Management and Budget “funding freeze” memo of Jan. 27 put it.
Guess who’s not aligned with the “President’s priorities”: Whoever doesn’t or hasn’t kowtowed to his constellation of grievance-fueled thieveries, bloviations, treacheries and melodramatic authoritarian twitches.
To be sure, there’s more money behind this kakistocratic coup of kleptocrats than any banana republican in history could dream of. Lest we forget, Trump, like Hitler, leapt
into the arms of the oligarchs who reign over a perverse economic system in order to tighten his famously tiny hands on the levers of power that only they can afford.
Any person remotely informed of 20th-century history will know that the National Socialists relied on the acquiescence and collaboration of industrial titans no less than Henry Ford, IBM, IG Farben/Bayer, Mercedes (Daimler)-Benz, Porsche, Thyssen and Krupp etc., to bankroll their “revolution” to Make Germany Great Again. Today, the robber barons are in the business of controlling tech and media and, by extension, society — it’s Page 180 of Mein Kampf writ larger than Joseph Goebbels ever imagined.
But, all that said, I do not think Trump is an ersatz Hitler fit to bill for an American context. I think he’s too sybaritic and stupid for that. Trump shares few of the “qualities” that Hitler had — for one thing, Hitler was an OK painter (despite what the critics say), could and did read, and he liked dogs. Well, at least he liked them more than Trump apparently does not. All that aside, we’re sleepwalking into a dictatorship and that’s disturbing enough; our smartest people are dumbfounded when they’re not shouting into the void. Based on the trajectory of Trump’s recent executive orders, anyone who writes these kinds of things will soon be frog-marched off to a concentration camp.
That’s no hyperbole: Trump’s already bullheading his way to mass political incarceration, with a plan to corral “illegal” people in Guantanamo Bay — itself a disgrace and “hideous blot” on America’s already dire history of internment (to borrow a phrase from the also-problematic populist mansion-owner Thomas Jefferson).
And the crushing shame of it all is that it’s not being perpetrated for any higher philosophical tenet than getting rich at others’ expense.
The Trumpian takeover and dismantling of what we’ve called “The Great Experiment” — established imperfectly in 1776 and reaffirmed just as imperfectly in 1865 — is the greatest caper in history. It’s bird-brained mafioso garbage that only a professional wrestling scriptwriter would dream up for the world’s biggest heel, which is < see KAKISTROPHE, Page 13 >
Protesters at a 2017 climate march. Photo courtesy of Joe Flood on Flickr
PERSPECTIVES
what Trump really is.
He and his Know Nothing plutocratic pals are maneuvering to make off with the wealth of this nation by tearing down every institution that has contributed to its success — and even some that haven’t — in a corporate raid of world-historical proportions.
If that doesn’t bother some people, then those people are deficient in intelligence, morality or (more probably) both.
As a concept, the United States is both a challenge and an opportunity. Some people see it as an opportunity to meet the challenge of the nation’s essential anti-autocratic vision of a people granted equal rights under the law (in short: “diversity, equity and inclusion”), and exercising those rights with educated prudence toward a common goal of collective uplift — to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
We have failed to meet this challenge innumerable times, but we’ve also made progress to a “more perfect union” on many occasions. And the kinds of people we’ve produced in this
country who have striven toward that impossible but still essential perfection are the ones we celebrate — or did, until Trump told federal agencies on Jan. 31 to ban 11 “special observances,” from Martin Luther King Jr. Day to Black History Month to Juneteenth, LGBTQ Pride Month and Women’s History Day. He’s even axing Holocaust Remembrance Day. Let that sink in.
Then there are the people who see the United States as a challenge to seek opportunity. They are the cynics who seek any angle for personal enrichment, damning their fellow citizens in the process for their shortterm gain. The grifters, scammers, scofflaw con artists and mobsters — that is, Trump and his goon squad of malefactors masquerading as “made men” in a criminal soap opera of their own making.
We’ve been taken by our lesser angels, and it’s going to be the work of a generation just to undo the harm inflicted in the past two weeks. But that generation is going to need a shovel fit for the heap of bullshit that’s been dumped on it — and We the People.
FEATURE
‘Making a difference is my reason for being’
Former Sandpoint Mayor, pastor and elder advocate Paul Graves on loving — and leaving — Sandpoint
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
Former Sandpoint mayor, pastor and elder advocate Paul Graves announced recently that he would be leaving Sandpoint. Those lucky enough to have known Graves are eager to point out that his gentle, supportive manner has left Sandpoint a better place.
Even at an early age, Graves knew he wanted to help others. He grew up in Kellogg and his grandfather was a Methodist pastor, which set the tone for Graves’ future in the seminary.
“I actually preached my first sermon when I was 15 at a youth Sunday service at our church in Kellogg,” he told the Reader. “What I didn’t know was that it marked me in terms of other people’s expectations. Fortunately, I was in agreement with that.”
Graves attended the University of Puget Sound, headed toward the ministry and later moved onto Northwestern University, where he received a master’s in divinity.
“After that, I went right to work,” he said.
Graves served 27 years as a parish pastor in different places — including Sandpoint, where he and Sue came in 1988 to pursue his job as a pastor for the United Methodist Church.
In his time there, Graves oversaw preaching, administration, weddings, funerals and a host of other duties.
“Interestingly, over the years, I began to realize that I almost enjoyed doing funerals more than weddings,” he said. “It had to do with people’s focus. They were focused on grieving. At weddings, people are looking forward to the future, but people at funerals weren’t so much, so it was good to be in a place where I could say to them, ‘Yes, there is a future.’”
Graves stepped away from
the church in Sandpoint after seven years due to burnout.
“I wasn’t able to channel my compassion and my sense of injustice in ways that were healthy for me,” he said. “I was putting in 80 hours a week and Sue tried really hard to control that on my behalf. Sometimes she was successful and sometimes not.”
Graves dove into community involvement after his time in the church ended.
“In 1991 and 1992, I was privileged to be one of the founders of the Bonner County Human Rights Task Force,” he said. “I still think that was one of the smartest things that we did as a community in the long term.”
That era was a troubling time in North Idaho, Graves said. It was the heyday of Richard Butler and his headline-grabbing Aryan Nations compound in Hayden.
“I learned a great deal from Father Bill Wassmuth down in Coeur d’Alene,” Graves said, referring to the late-Roman Catholic priest whose home was targeted by neo-Nazis with a bombing in 1986. “Their task force had already formed and they gave us really good leadership. But it was the personalized attack on Bill at the rectory at their church that coalesced the community to fight against the Aryan Nations. … I felt as though we needed to take a stand, so we did.”
In 1996, Graves was asked to fill a Sandpoint City Council position left vacant after annexation forced then-Counselor Valle Novak to relinquish her seat.
“I served on City Council for three years until the summer of 1999, when [then-Mayor] David Sawyer announced he wasn’t going to run for mayor again,” Graves said. “He told me, ‘I think it’ll be really good for you to run.’”
Graves first went to each councilor to see if any of
them wanted the job, but nobody stepped up, so he launched a campaign.
“That was an interesting race,” he said, with raised eyebrows.
One of his opponents was Vincent Bertollini, a brief resident of Sandpoint who made a name for himself spreading hate propaganda.
“There was another candidate who, just before the election, was arrested and convicted for molesting his son,” Graves said. “Because there were about six candidates, we weren’t sure that I would get 50% of the vote, so one of the council members proposed an ordinance for a runoff if I came below 50%.”
It turned out to be a moot point, since Graves won the election handily with 87% of the vote.
“The fact that I was a human rights advocate was a big deal then, in November of 1999,” he said.
Graves was proud of establishing a streets department in 2000, which, “for better or worse we still have,” he said.
After serving almost three years, Graves and his wife realized they couldn’t subsist on just Sue’s salary and his mod-
est mayoral compensation. He interviewed for and accepted the Social Service director position at Life Care Center, ultimately resigning as mayor after finalizing the budget. Then-Council President Ray Miller took over as mayor, finished the term and won his own seat the next cycle.
After his time as mayor, Graves returned to advocating for the elderly — a topic that he feels passionate about.
“As we age, our physical and cognitive health is at greater risk,” he said. “Also, we are the targets of ageism. Both within the medical community as well as the general community people often dismiss older adults just because they’re older.”
After working with Life Care for three years — spending more time at the computer dealing with Medicare documentation than interacting with residents of the facility — Graves made another change.
At 63 years old, Graves drew his church pension, took early Social Security payments and retired. He then started Elder Advocates, which began as a consulting business, but blossomed into a conduit that helped Graves write, educate
ABOUT THE Geezer Forum
The long-running Geezer Forum, led by Paul Graves for many years, will take on a new role after Graves announced his departure from Sandpoint.
Sandpoint Area Seniors, Inc. will take on the Geezer Forum, drawing on SASi’s presence in the community and attunement to the needs of the local aging community.
Graves will offer his farewell at his final Geezer Forum on Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 2:30 p.m. Attendees will gather to celebrate his work and Graves will pass the torch to SASi Director Lisa Bond.
“We are excited to welcome the Geezer Forum and look forward to continuing to bring education, fun and connection to the Sandpoint area community,” Bond stated.
The Geezer Forum will continue to meet at Marigold Café (formerly Tango, located at 414 Church St., in Sandpoint) on the second Tuesday of each month at 2:30 p.m.
and share age-related issues with the elderly community.
He wrote a regular faith and values column for the Spokesman-Review starting in 1996 and started writing another column for the Bonner County Daily Bee in 2009. In 2012, he held the first Geezer Forum — a bimonthly meeting and discussion group that advocates for the local elderly population (see sidebar for
Paul Graves, at his usual table inside the Sandpoint Center.
Photo by Ben Olson.
PERSPECTIVES
By Bob McKeon Reader Contributor
As I approach 68 years old, the amount of history (some prefer to call this “Critical Race Theory”) that I’ve seen is extensive: Sputnik, Mercury, Gemini and Apollo; the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy; the Civil Rights Movement; the racism of the South; the Vietnam War; the Kent State student murders; Nixon; 9/11; war after war; the Berlin Wall; Woodstock; the overdose deaths of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and so many more whose music is still relevant today; the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on our democracy; and on and on
Due to all this, I feel as though I am entitled to my opinion. If you don’t want to hear my opinion, I would suggest you skip this article. To me, this shitshow we are now witnessing on a federal and state level dwarfs all of these events as the most his-
torically significant event I’ve witnessed. These events will be recorded and that knowledge will be out there for anyone who wishes to see it.
“Separation of church and state” — does anyone remember that phrase? As the son of a Catholic father and a Mormon mother, I am neither. Anyone who claims to “talk to God” or says God told them this or that belongs in a straightjacket in a padded room. The people who are posing as Christians in politics today are the most un-Christian. If you think God supports any politician, you are whacked — endless wars, genocide, abuse scandals, death, graveyards unmarked and deaths “unrecorded” in “Christian” schoolyards of victims whose culture and beliefs were literally beaten out of them, and on and on Do not use one penny of my money to fund private religious schools while our public schools are left to rot. The people who believe in sending their kids to these schools can
pay for it themselves. If your religion is so good, people would seek you out and you wouldn’t have to cram it down our throats. If your religion is so good, why has it and why does it continue to cause so much harm?
What happened to “love thy neighbor,” “care for the needy,” “turn the other cheek,” “do unto others,” etc ?
All of this bullshit about what flags can be displayed in schools by people who stand in front of Confederate flags while running for public office — was it hard to spend all of your time and our money trying to figure this out so that the all-inclusive rainbow flag was excluded but your twisted flags of hatred and racism could still be included? What a tough job you have.
What we are seeing today is a reverse Robin Hood: The rich are robbing the poor with ideas like, “Let’s deal with homelessness by making it illegal”; “Let’s whittle away at programs that help the mentally ill, veterans, the hungry
and needy, the suffering.”
Are these “Christian values”? I’ll believe it when I see it.
In this age when so many are one medical bill away from homelessness, the reverse-Robin Hoods say, “Let’s strip all of their benefits and the programs that help the people who need help the most.” Are those your Christian values?
Meanwhile, let’s keep flogging the dead horse on voter initiatives by saying, “Oh, the voters are confused.”
Let’s give the governor the power to veto any initiative put forth by a majority of the voters because the voters are so naïve and don’t understand “our” values. Let’s keep putting targets on the backs of our caregivers, teachers, librarians and anyone who speaks to inclusion, knowledge, fairness, etc.
Let’s give our poor, struggling judges a 30% wage increase and keep on refusing to raise the minimum wage. Oh, and hey, let’s make cannibal-
ism illegal and why not make racism mandatory?
WTF?
Let’s make sure cannabis remains illegal because we can’t use $1 million dollars a day in taxes on its sale for the good of our public schools or the people in need. Oh, but let’s all ignore the hypocrisy of the state-controlled liquor stores.
Here’s a thought: If there are books or videos that you find offensive, don’t read or view them. If you don’t believe in abortion, don’t get one. If you don’t believe in legalized cannabis, don’t buy any. If you don’t see the value of public schools, homeschool or pay for private ones. If you don’t want your kids to have access to certain materials, then start with their electronic devices.
Forcing your twisted ideologies on others is not Christian in any way. Do I sound pissed off? Yeah.
Bob McKeon is an opinionated old fart who has seen over four decades of politics in Idaho.
information about Graves’ last forum and succession plans for the group).
With about 11,000 Baby Boomers turning 65 each day, Graves felt it was his duty to use the forum as a place where the elderly could feel empowered and gather information they needed to live full, happy lives.
Though he’d always been a writer, either in the form of sermons or for his faith and values columns, a move across town inspired what would become one of Graves’ favorite projects: a children’s book called Sox Finds a Home.
“We made a decision to downsize in 2019,” he said. “We bought a house on south
Division about 1.7 miles from the old house across from Highway 200. In the first two months, Sox, our orange tabby cat, escaped three times and each time we found him back at the old house.”
The staff at North Idaho Animal Hospital, where Sox went for veterinary visits, told Graves he should write down the story, which he did. Graves connected with graphic artist Julie Coyle, who illustrated the story about Sox’s big adventures.
Graves said he’s already working on a follow-up to the first book, which involves a moose named Harold. He was reading from his book to children at Hope Elementary
School when a third-grader came up to ask if he’d written another. Graves told the boy about his idea about Sox meeting a moose.
“He came up to me after and was very shy,” Graves said. “He leaned in and all he said to me was, ‘The moose’s name is Harold.’ That was it and he walked away. So the book is going to be called Sox Meets Harold the Moose.”
Leaving Sandpoint is a decision Graves said didn’t come lightly, but he and Sue were ready for the change.
“Our son Brian and his family live in Hillsboro, Ore.,” he said. “When they moved there 13 years ago, they started asking us to come over.
Last August, Sue and I were over there visiting and fell into talking about it.”
They visited a few retirement communities and explored the town, falling into the natural decision that it was time for a new adventure.
“I turn 83 in May; Sue just turned 80,” Graves said. “We’re at the point where the years ahead of us are considerably fewer than those behind us, so we decided we wanted to spend them with our kids.”
While he’s excited for the move, Graves said he’s also feeling nostalgic for the community of Sandpoint — a place he and Sue have loved for many years.
“The closer we get to
leaving, the more the reality is sinking in,” he said. “This is such a wonderful community. We’ve had nothing but joyful experiences. We’ve developed good friendships, and I’ve learned a great deal as a person, as well as in the various roles that I’ve played. That all certainly benefited me, and I can only hope it benefits the community. I think making a difference is my reason for being.”
Publisher’s note: The Reader thanks Paul Graves for his service to the community and wishes him and Sue the best of luck in their new adventure. Thanks for leaving Sandpoint better than when you found it.
< GRAVES, con’t from Page 14 >
Cucumber Pete and the ‘riot’ at the Seattle Mug Saloon
By Nancy Foster Renk Reader Contributor
Note: This article uses the original spelling of Sand Point as two words instead of the current single word.
Sand Point had a bit of a reputation in its youth, but even by the town’s questionable standards, the riot at the Seattle Mug saloon was a doozy. Or was it?
In mid-February 1892, a dispatch from Spokane told of the terrible brawl at the opening of Sand Point’s new Seattle Mug saloon. The crowd included 300 “railroaders, cow punchers and mining men,” as well as 27 of “the lowest women in the northwest.” Things soon degenerated into “bloodshed and riot.” A character known as Cucumber Pete started a fight and was shot by another man. Two of the women — Irish Mollie and Iolanthe — were wounded, perhaps mortally, and “Steamboat Johnny had his brains blown out.” Fortunately the U.S. marshal and sheriff arrived with deputies to stop the mayhem and lock up more than two dozen of the “worst characters in the west.”
Newspaper editors could not resist this Wild West story. Within a few days, it appeared in dozens of papers all across the United States and into Canada, from Albuquerque and Macon to St. Louis and Buffalo and up to Montreal. While some newspapers omitted the mention of lowlife women, the story remained essentially the same, with occasional variations. The Potter Enterprise in Coudersport, Penn., evidently was unfamiliar with the term “cow punchers”
and changed the fight participants to mining men and “cow purchasers,” leaving the railroaders out entirely.
The sensational story raised the hackles of the editor of Sand Point’s Pend d’Oreille News. After quoting the dispatch as it appeared in the Helena Independent-Record, he wrote, “… it is an outrage that some obscure correspondent for a great daily paper can, without any [facts], send over the wires such a ridiculously blood-curdling dispatch as the above. There ought to be a remedy.”
He added that such stories take up space to the detriment of legitimate news.
A few days later, the Helena paper noted that Sand Point Justice of the Peace J. L. Prichard denied that there had been any shootings or trouble of any kind.
The editor of the Spokane Falls Review also came to the defense of Sand Point.
“It is a little strange that neither the people nor the authorities of Sand Point have heard of any such calamity,” he noted. “The only basis for such a report was the opening of a dance house on the flats, with the usual drinking and noise which accompany such events, but nothing further of serious import.”
The Review editor, however, was less concerned about Sand Point’s reputation than that of his own town, which appeared in the dateline of every one of the dozens of lurid stories smeared across the country. He blamed a “youth” working for “the bogus paper of this city” for the original dispatch — evidently not the first time this had happened. Such stories, he com-
plained, were “calculated to place Spokane in the light of being the center of all of the lawlessness and immorality of the northwest.”
He dismissed the Seattle Mug story as, “a small scuffle [which] took place in a dancehouse at Sand Point; no one was seriously hurt, and the affair was all over in five minutes.”
So was there any basis for the story of the Seattle Mug riot?
During late 1891 and early 1892, Sand Point was humming with activity. The Great Northern Railway was laying its tracks westward from Kalispell toward Sand Point. To speed construction, GN had a spur built from the Northern Pacific line in Sand Point, running about a mile and a half west to the new railroad right-of-way, close to where Baldy Road crosses the tracks today. Hundreds of railroad cars carried rails, plates and spikes on the spur, enabling crews to lay tracks both eastward toward Kalispell and westward toward Albeni Falls. This project brought large numbers of men to Sand Point for work. Paychecks often didn’t last long, squandered on booze, gambling and women, all of which led to frequent fights with the resulting black eyes and bloody noses. There were some prospectors in the area and lots of railroad workers. But cow punchers — or cow purchasers? No way.
Even Sand Point boosters like J.R. Law acknowledged the rougher side of town. He pointed out that saloons and gambling were common anywhere there was a large payroll like that of the Great Northern.
“It is not a genteel business,” he said, “and rough
and ill-mannered men can always be found among those who follow railroad construction.”
The editor of the Pend d’Oreille News defended Sand Point as “one of the most orderly towns in the northwest.” He attributed the bad reputation to outsiders who misunderstood the amount of business being done in town, where large sums of money were exchanged. The booming economy gave uninformed visitors the impression that the town was “wild and wooly,” when this was normal for the headquarters of railroad construction.
The Missoula Weekly Gazette obviously did not believe the sensational story of the riot, and, tongue in cheek, wrote of “the blood and gore, black eyes, broken noses and the usual et ceteras.” It went on to say that Cucumber Bill (not Pete) whipped his opponents in 11 fights and wanted to make it an even dozen. Alas, he met his match, and “‘Cucumber’ became a pickle.”
The Seattle Mug saloon was again in the news just a month after the earlier story. This time, Thomas Meagher, better known as “Steamboat Tommy,” got drunk and picked a fight. Bar manager Patrick Cunningham shot him in what he and other witnesses claimed was
Tommy had gotten his moniker from his years of working on Coeur d’Alene steamboats. One account of his death claimed that he was working at the Seattle Mug as a “chippy herder,” one who managed the women who worked there. He was known to be rough with women and feared by many.
Track laying on the Great Northern proceeded rapidly and Sand Point soon emptied when the laborers moved down the line. With business dependent on large numbers of men, flush with money, the Seattle Mug folded by June 1892 — just four months after opening.
The rough board building, located on the flats in the vicinity of today’s City Beach, did not stand empty for long. After losing his livery stable to fire in early June, Harry Baldwin converted the Seattle Mug into a barn, enabling him to continue his business while he rebuilt. His new building was ready by late August and the Seattle Mug was once again left vacant, its past — notorious or not — quickly forgotten.
Nancy Foster Renk is a local historian and writer. This article first appeared on her blog northidahopastpresent.com.
An April 23, 1892 ad in the Pend d’Oreille News. Courtesy photo. self-defense.
dumb of the week
Now with more fascism!
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
In the land of the blind, the oneeyed man is king, or so the old proverb goes. In the land of the Dumb, however, Donald Trump is king. Here are the latest salvos from The Island of Dr. Dumb. Crash
In the week that has passed since our last Dumbening, Trump and his minions have essentially been speedrunning through the downfall of America with a ham-fisted attempt to kick out the legs from the table that has supported our form of democracy for nigh on 250 years.
After a terrible mid-air collision in Washington, D.C., which killed 67 people, Trump gave a press conference where he claimed — without any evidence to support his position — that the crash was caused by “DEI,” “Democrats” and “Biden.” After that didn’t hit the way he wanted it to, he followed up with an actual executive order that officially proclaimed the disaster happened because of “diversity, equity and inclusion.”
It would take an archeologist to unearth the layers of Dumb that it takes to issue an executive order like this.
Let’s look at a quick timeline:
Jan. 20: Federal Aviation Administration Chief Mike Whitaker resigned after Elon Musk demanded that he quit. Musk didn’t like Whitaker because the latter proposed fining Musk-owned SpaceX more than $600,000 for allegedly failing to follow its licensing requirements during two launches in 2023. Whitaker’s ouster left the FAA without leadership.
Jan. 21: Onboarding new air traffic controllers was stopped after Trump issued an executive order implementing a freeze on hiring federal civilian employees.
Jan. 22: Trump disbanded the Aviation Safety Advisory Committee by executive order, along with firing the heads of the Transportation Security Administration and U.S. Coast Guard.
Jan. 28: A buyout demand was sent to existing federal employees, urging them to retire and take severance packages.
Jan. 29: The first fatal crash involving a major U.S. airline in 16 years occurred, as American Eagle Flight 5342 collided in midair with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, killing 67 people.
I’m not even going to go into the disgusting way that Trump’s explainers falsely accused a transgender military helicopter pilot of being at the controls of the Black Hawk that collided with the passenger plane, just because they wanted so badly for it to fit their narrative. I will call them all cowards, though, because they are.
Trade war bluff
Trump continued to rampage through the first two weeks of his presidency by
igniting a trade war after announcing he’d enact 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico. He also assessed a 10% tariff on China.
Immediately after, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced retaliatory tariffs on the U.S., which would affect more than $106 billion worth of American goods, ranging from beer and wine to household appliances and sporting goods.
“We don’t want to be here; we didn’t ask for this,” Trudeau said at a news conference.
Preach, brother, neither did I.
For a bloc of voters who complained incessantly about high gas prices, Trump sycophants will have to engage in Olympic-level mental gymnastics to explain how this helps anybody right now.
Remember that Canada supplies the U.S. with 61% of its total foreign crude oil — by far the largest source in the world.
Trump’s move left many baffled, as he managed to piss off one of our closest and oldest allies for absolutely no reason. Also, since Trump’s move, Canadians have united in opposition against him, and the U.S., as well. Fans at hockey games are loudly and vociferously booing the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Canadian liquor stores are striking American whiskies from their shelves, erecting signs that tell Canadians to buy from their own country. The mood is ugly between once-friendly nations. Let’s not forget that this was completely avoidable.
In the whiplash style that we’re now familiar with, Trump then announced he would pause the tariffs for 30 days, after speaking with Canadian and Mexican leaders. Of course, Trump claimed this was a win for America, stating that he lifted the tariffs because our neighboring countries agreed to strengthen border security. The truth is, Canada and Mexico called Trump’s bluff.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum was confident that Trump would blink first even before he paused the tariffs, and she even got concessions that he would promise the U.S. would do more to tackle the traffic of high-powered weapons from the U.S. into Mexico to prevent them from ending up with cartel gunmen.
For his part, Trudeau agreed to $900 million in measures that included efforts to disrupt the fentanyl trade, add new tools for Canadian border security efforts and enhanced coordination with U.S. law enforcement. However, Canada announced these measures in December. Trump didn’t win anything here; he only managed to alienate a longtime ally and spark a movement among patriotic Canadians to avoid buying American goods.
Well done, stable genius. What’s next, a war on puppies?
Are we great again, yet?
Travis Robert Dickson, 45
Trav was born on May 21, 1979, in Santa Maria, Calif. He was happy-go-lucky; quick to smile; inquisitive; and lived his life with a focus on family, friends, and a commitment to good causes and spreading positivity in the world.
Moving to North Idaho in 1982, Travis was raised in Sagle, where he enjoyed exploring the wetlands, fields, creeks, woods around his home and skiing Schweitzer from a young age. Fun was had riding his bicycle off “jumps” that he, his brothers and childhood friend — Lyf Gildersleeve — built in the yard.
He was strong-willed and determined to live life on his terms from a young age, which kept his Mom on her toes — especially when she found herself digging through the trash to find silverware that he decided to throw away when it was his turn to do the dishes, because he did not like washing silverware!
As a teenager, Trav learned the joy and sense of freedom that came from riding his bike across the Long Bridge to hang out with friends. He spent summer days jumping off the bridge at Fry Creek; rock-picking, swimming and jumping off cliffs at Green Bay; and exploring the woods. When he met Cody Crawford, two mischievous forces combined, they started a competition with their older brothers — Gary and Beau — to see who could do the most outrageous things without getting caught. The things they did, and lengths they went to, to “win” their adolescent competition were hilarious!
Travis attended Sandpoint High School, where he was renowned for his abilities on the soccer field. He was a stellar athlete and earned a spot in the Olympic Development Program for soccer, which afforded him the opportunity to travel around the U.S. playing his favorite game. This also included an amazing trip
to Europe with a local team of high-school kids.
Trav said the experience changed his life — the history and way of life in Europe was inspirational to him.
Graduating from SHS in 1998, he went on to attend the University of Southern Colorado-Pueblo to play soccer. After two years in Colorado, Trav transferred to the University of Idaho, in Moscow. While living in Moscow, Trav met some of his closest friends, all of whom happened to be from Sandpoint: Matt Stevens, Justin Lantrip, Katelyn Shook and Laurie Shook.
He went from an elementary school-kid that didn’t want to go on a field trip to Farragut State Park for fear of ticks, to a guy that backpacked and bushwhacked through the mountains from Lewiston, Idaho to St. Regis, Mont., and devoted his life ‘Trav,’
Graduating in 2005 with bachelor’s and a master’s degrees in environmental science (which included a year in an exchange program attending Western Washington University-Bellingham), Trav then worked as an environmental consultant for a year before he was accepted into the University of British Columbia-Okanagan, in Kelowna, B.C., Canada, where he researched under Ian Walker for his doctorate in paleoecology.
Trav’s research was intended to help understand the impacts of climate change in the past, hoping it would help others plan for the future. His research brought him to a remote, subarctic region near the Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Canada — the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. Travis enjoyed working with other talented scientists and was particularly amused by the requirement that he be accompanied by an escort with a rifle while conducting his research to protect him from polar bears.
to researching and advocating for nature. College solidified his passion for science and his desire to make the world a better place.
Throughout his life, Trav enjoyed sharing his knowledge of the natural world with his friends and loved ones. If you knew Trav at all, he probably taught you what a midge is.
In 2014, at the age of 34, Trav was diagnosed with brainstem glioma, a tumor of the glial cells that wrap around nerve cells and keeps them bundled together. When Trav found out about his tumor — which he called “Carl” — he immediately made essential changes in life.
In his own words, from a 2020 article in the Sandpoint Magazine, “My values shifted. I wasn’t concerned about my financial future. I was concerned about how I was going to spend my remaining days.”
He quit drinking alcohol, cut back on sugar and began a daily log of his health, which helped him feel empowered over his own body. It was with this empowerment that Trav battled and coexisted with “Carl” for nearly 11 years, often joking that he was well past his “expiration date.”
Trav was determined to live his best life, with whatever time he had. He didn’t dwell on the past, nor look too far into the future — whether that present time was spent lying
milestone in his life. Although the last year of Trav’s life was faced with many new side effects of his tumor, he always maintained it was his proudest, best year of life — being Papa.
in the mountains observing the smallest of critters for hours on end, playing games or deep in conversation. The present was Trav’s delight, and he lived in it fully at all times with grace. He has left an impression on many who have been blessed with his presence, as we continue to strive to live in the present: a true, simple gift.
In what was perfect karma, Travis met and fell in love with his wife, Renae. They had a shared love for surrounding themselves in nature. They spent a lot of their time; hiking, camping, traveling and plunging into alpine lakes. The two of them typically came home with a list of questions or pictures of plants that they wanted to identify or look up, to better understand what they had experienced in the natural world.
They sealed their love and commitment to one another atop the ridgeline of the Seven Sisters in the Selkirk Mountains, and welcomed a beautiful boy into the world promptly after New Year’s in 2024, naming him Esker.
Anyone who saw the look on Trav’s face when he spoke of his wife and baby boy got to see what love really looked like.
Trav was the most proud Papa around. He was eternally patient with Esker, and enjoyed teaching him sign language and observing every new
Trav impacted countless people in his 45 years on Earth, and was an integral part of a community of love. He is survived by his wife Renae Haug; son Esker Dickson; mother Cathy (Michael) Chayka; siblings Melissa (Blaine) Gault, Derrick (Mary) Sammons, Gary Dickson and Lindsy (Brian) Arbogast; grandmother Mildred McCarthy.
Trav had 10 nephews and nieces and six great-nephews and -nieces, as well as many friends not listed, who adored him. He was preceded in death by his grandfather “Papa” Robert McCarthy.
Trav passed at 8:01 p.m., Jan. 26, 2025 in Sandpoint, Idaho, with his family by his side.
His passion for science and research was present until the end. With the help of Bart Casey at Lakeview Funeral Home, Trav’s last wish came true: His brain and spinal cord were donated to the University of Washington Biorepository and Integrated Neuropathology (BRaIN) Lab in Seattle, to be used for research, in the hope of helping others.
There will be a celebration of his life on May 17, 2025 at the Shook Property from 2-6 p.m. For those who Travis touched, the family asks that they please share stories, pictures and words about Trav, so they can continue to share with his son, Esker. Email stories and pictures to renaecass@yahoo.com.
In lieu of flowers, please donate funds to a conservation organization of your choice.
Travis Dickson. Courtesy photo.
United Way donates to local organizations
By Reader Staff
United Way of North Idaho announced its grant recipients from the Community Care Fund Program, identifying 10 organizations in five North Idaho counties that were selected for support in 2025.
In Bonner County, beneficiaries included NAMI Far North, Sand Creek Connections, Food for our Children, Sandpoint Youth Center and St. Vincent de Paul.
According to United Way of North Idaho, the organization is dedicated to “improving lives in the five northern counties of Idaho by
supporting programs that advance education, health, financial stability and basic needs. The Community Care Fund, a cornerstone of United Way’s impact work since 1957, is primarily funded through voluntary workplace payroll contributions from over 60 local companies.”
Funding from the organization helps recipients to continue their work serving community needs.
“The expression of gratitude toward UWNI reflects the importance of their support in maintaining essential services for the residents of Bonner and Boundary counties,” the organization stated.
POAC Presents Places, Faces and Spaces, featuring Ed and Karen Robinson
By Reader Staff
The Pend Oreille Arts Council will present Places, Faces and Spaces, an art exhibition by Ed and Karen Robinson in February at the POAC Gallery (313 N. Second Ave. in Sandpoint). The exhibition will run from Friday, Feb. 7-Friday, Feb. 28, with an opening reception Feb. 7, from 5-7 p.m.
The Robinsons will be present at the opening and available to talk with attendees.
The exhibition features a diverse collection of works, including Ed’s plein air landscapes and Karen’s intimate portrayals of local spaces and people. Ed’s work captures nature meticulously, while Karen’s pieces reflect the warmth and at-
mosphere of familiar places.
“Ed and Karen have a special ability to capture a feeling,” stated POAC Arts Coordinator Claire Christy. “Their work reflects a true respect for seeing the world and honoring it through art.”
Ed and Karen’s deep connection to the Sandpoint community is reflected in their longstanding involvement. Ed was named POAC’s first Artist of the Year in 2021, and, together, the Robinsons have become a favorite stop on the annual Artists’ Studio Tour.
The artworks will be available for purchase, with proceeds benefiting both the artists and POAC’s educational programs. For more information, visit artinsandpoint.org or call 208-263-6139
Angels Over Sandpoint to host ‘Follies adjacent’ event
By Reader Staff
The party is still on — it’s just a little different this year — with the Angels Over Sandpoint announcing the organization will throw a “Follies adjacent” event after confirming that it wouldn’t host the annual Follies adult variety show in 2025.
“The production team needs a break after 20 years, so we are going to dance the night away,” wrote Kate McAlister, the “Queen of Ireland” and longtime Follies emcee.
The Angels will throw a dance party from 8-11 p.m. on Saturday, March 8 at The Hive. Tickets are $30, on sale now at livefromthehive.com.
The dance party will feature Follies house band Right Front Burner, playing its special brew of funk, dance, groove and rock tunes.
“The Queen will be there and there may be a few surprises,” the Angels wrote.
Attendees are encouraged to dress as their favorite movie star or character, or wear their favorite Follies costume.
“Come out and support the Angels Over Sandpoint and have a great time,” the organization wrote.
For more information, visit livefromthehive.com.
EnVision Center mixer connects retirees with volunteer opportunities
By Reader Staff
The Community Resource EnVision Center is inviting newly retired individuals and retirees looking to become more engaged in their community to gather at a retirement mixer on Monday, Feb. 26, from 3-5 p.m. at The Hive (207 N. First Ave., in downtown Sandpoint).
Attendees of the free event will have the opportunity to meet like-minded individuals, learn about community organizations and learn about ways to make a difference in Sandpoint.
“With retirees accounting for 45% of total hours volunteered nationwide, the impact they can have on our local community is
immense,” organizers stated.
The event will feature six nonprofits making positive change in Sandpoint (to be announced at a later date), and retirees can explore how post-career volunteerism enhances longevity and quality of life. Research shows volunteering in retirement can have a greater impact on overall health than marriage, income or education level.
Following the mixer, participants are invited to stay from 5-7 p.m. for the Chamber of Commerce After Hours event, where they will hear about the future plans for the Community Resource EnVision Center — including the organization’s vision of creating a physical nonprofit and economic hub for Bonner Coun-
TERVAN TAVERN CUSTOMERS DONATE TO LOCAL CAUSE
ty, providing a space dedicated to collaboration, innovation and growth.
“Retirement is a wonderful time to reflect on how you can give back to your community while enriching your own life,” stated Katie Begalke, executive director of the Community Resource EnVision Center. “Our retirement mixer is the perfect way to explore opportunities, make new connections and find purpose in this exciting chapter of life.”
Light refreshments will be provided. To RSVP, visit bit. ly/4gnJyDT. For more information, contact Lindsay Morgan at 208-920-1840 or Lindsay@CRECidaho.com.
Tervan Tavern and its customers raised over $2,100 for Food For Our Children. From right to left; Daniela Caniglia, Kris Contor, Sarah Caruso. Courtesy photo
Send event listings to calendar@sandpointreader.com
THURSDAY, february 6
Truffle Making Party • 4-6 & 6-8pm @ Sandpoint Chocolate Tour, snack on hors d’oeuvres and sip champagne/beer/wine then learn to make truffles, chocolate bars and chocolate dipped strawberries. $100 worth of chocolate for $75 fee. 208-304-3591 to RSVP
Cribbage
6pm @ Connie’s Lounge $5 entry
Blood Drive
11am-2:30pm @ Sandpoint Library
Wastewater Open House
Noon-1pm @ Sandpoint City Hall Learn the basics of the city’s facility
February 6 - 13, 2024
Bingo with Dusty Lindy 6-8am @ IPA Artist Reception for Stewart Anstead 5:30-8am @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Vintage ski culture-inspired art
Trucker Hat Workshop
5:30-8pm @ Barrel 33 $40 to customize a hat
Live Music w/ BTP
6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Live Music w/ The Cole Show 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Live Music w/ John Daffron
5pm @ Connie’s Lounge ’60s-’90s hits
FriDAY, february 7
Bonner County Valentine’s Cards for Senior Citizens Deadline
See Facebook page for locations
Truffle Making Party
4-6 or 6-8pm @ Sandpoint Chocolate
See above
Live Music w/ Two Stones One Bird 6-8pm @ Smokesmith BBQ Blues/country
Live Music w/ Mike & Sadie Wagoner
5:30-8:30pm @ Barrell 33
Live Music w/ Jordan Pitts
6-9pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Country
Live Music w/ Brian Jacobs 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Sandpoint Chess Club
9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee Meets every Sunday at 9am
Live Music w/ Fiddlin’ Red 1-4pm @ Barrel 33
Live Music w/ Ian Newbill
5:30-8:30pm @ Barrel 33 Country and classic rock
Live Music w/ Chris Paradis 6-8pm @ IPA
Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes 6-9pm @ 1908 Saloon
Live Music w/ Jordan Paddock 7pm @ The Hive 7:30-8:30pm line dancing lessons
First Friday Opening Reception for Places, Faces & Spaces 5-7pm @POAC Gallery
SATURDAY, february 8
Cottage Market
10am-4pm @ River of Life Church
Vendors like Evos Garden, Copper Wizard, Chell’s Cards and Gifts
Live Music w/ Miah Kohal 9pm @ 219 Lounge Outlaw rock ’n’ roll
Bette Stepek 90th Birthday 3pm @ Sandpoint Community Hall
Live Music w/ Arthur Goldblum 6-8pm @ Baxter’s On Cedar
Live Music w/ Marcus Stevens 5:30-8:30pm @ Barrel 33
SunDAY, february 9
Magic with Star Alexander 5-8pm @ Jalapeño’s Up close magic shows at the table
Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Live Music w/ Justin Lantrip 6-8pm @ IPA
Live Music w/ Fox & Blü 6pm @ Connies’ Lounge
Live Music w/ Gold Tooth (Vance Bergeson with Ali) 5-6pm @ IPA
Sandpoint Swing Dance 6-9pm @ Sandpoint Community Hall Doors at 5:54. $10 for 1hr lesson + free dance
monDAY, february 10
Outdoor Experience Group Run 6pm @ Outdoor Experience 3-5 miles, all levels welcome
Lou Domanski Chess Tournament Registration Opens Visit Sandpoint Parks and Recreation’s Facebook page for info
Pool Tournament
6pm @ Connie’s Lounge
$10 entry fee
Live Music w/ Jonathon Nicholson
5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Acoustic guitar
Family Hour
5-7pm @ Matchwood Brewing
Spanish For Travelers
4:30-5:30 @ Sandpoint Library 3-5 miles, all levels welcome
Bring the whole family for delicious food, craft beer and live music with John Firshi
Chocolate tasting and networking with an international connection company. Reseve a space before Feb. 7 at 3pm at bit.ly/3CDWMi2
tuesDAY, february 11
wednesDAY, february 12
Live Music w/ Kjetil Lund and friends 5-7pm @ IPA
ThursDAY, february 13
Macrame Earrings
5:30-7:30pm @ Barrel 33
$30
$40 to customize a hat + wine. Call 208-265-8545 for info
Live Trivia 7pm @ Connie’s Lounge $5 entry fee
Cribbage
6pm @ Connie’s Lounge $5 entry fee
Let’s Talk About It: Indigenous Lit 5:30 @ Sandpoint Library
Scholar-led discussion of An American Sunrise
Netflix series American Primeval gets medieval on 19th-century U.S. history
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
The American West is ripe country for torture porn. The history of how “we won” the region is fraught, to put it lightly. Even that phrase “we won” requires interrogation. First off, who’s “we”? Second, what’s meant by “won”? And what went into the “winning”?
These are the critical questions that have occupied scholars and fired the imaginations of pulp novel readers and later boob-tubers for at least a century. And the genre is sprawling. From Owen Wister’s The Virginian and German author Karl May’s story cycle featuring Winnetou and Old Shatterhand, to The Last of the Mohicans, The Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, the entire John Wayne cineverse and more, all relied to varying degrees on an interplay of motifs that danced around brutality and morality, barbarism and civilization, heathen dissipation and religious zealotry, individualism and tyranny (though in most depictions, the “good” ultimately “wins”).
Media depictions of the “Old West” have altered with time, however, and the lens has shifted from the gauzy Frederick Jackson Turner-esque depictions of steely pioneer romance to the grittier realities of settler colonialism.
However, as cinema scholars point out, the genre as a whole fell in popularity at the end of the 20th century. During the current century — and notably in the past decade or so — Western narratives came roaring back more visceral, pointed and often grimmer than ever before.
Of the highest order is the brilliant portrait of ruthless, murderous ambition in There Will Be Blood (2007) — which somehow managed to encompass every central conflict that defines drama. Then there’s The Revenant, with its unsparing,
borderline passion-play depiction of one white guy’s battle with the landscape itself (2015).
Underrated for its sheer brazenness is Bone Tomahawk (also 2015), which is a curious Western horror-satire pitting the requisite mustachioed gunslingers against cave-dwelling Indigenous cannibals. There are big, big problems with all of that, but the reason I’ve always admired the film was for one line of dialogue: “This is why frontier life is so difficult. Not because of the Indians or the elements, but because of the idiots.”
That sentiment rang in my head when I devoured the Amazon limited series The English (2022), and again when I watched — without nearly as much enthusiasm — the Netflix mini-series American Primeval, which was released on the streaming service in early January.
There is much to admire in director Peter Berg’s and writer Mark L. Smith’s six-episode arc, which places viewers in the lawless, liminal and sinister space of the Utah Territory in 1856-’57.
Like the best Westerns, it must treat the environment as a central character, which it does with aplomb, depicting windswept high-desert steppe and frigid mountain passes alike. It also achieves something rare in the genre, insofar as it takes the second half of its title seriously — leaning into the “primeval” sense of violent creation-by-de-
struction inherent in the Western imperial project.
That said, perhaps a better description would have been “medieval,” as one of the key setpieces in the series is the “fort” lorded over by Jim Bridger (Shea Whigham), which operates essentially as a motte-and-bailey full of backcountry mercenaries, sharpers and landlocked piratical types. In other words, a bunch of idiots whose overweening greed and lack of self awareness get themselves and everyone around them killed.
Oh, and Mormons. That’s where American Primeval has really made its most controversial mark. On the surface, it’s a pretty pat Western story: a woman from Boston with an iron will (Betty Gilpin) is braving the wilds of the West alone with her son who suffers from a bum leg and trying to get to some amorphous place where her absentee husband is supposedly laying his own claim on the “frontier.” She needs a guide, whom she finds in a sulky lumbersexual hunk/hermit with a heart of gold (Taylor Kitsch), and you can imagine where it goes from there.
All that dusty-trail meetcute, buckskin-petticoat stuff is de rigueur, but American Primeval throws a curveball by centering the radicalism of the early Latter-day Saints, with Gilpin’s character and her son initially seeking safety on their trek — and a way out of Bridger’s den of iniquity — with a group of
Mormons on a wagon train that ends up getting bushwacked by a band of fundamentalist LDS paramilitaries.
The real-life Mountain Meadows Massacre was part of the so-called Utah Wars, and took place over about four days in September 1857. The attack on the Baker-Fancher wagon train resulted in more than 120 murders by the Utah Territorial Militia, self-styled as the Nauvoo Legion. The present-day Latter-day Saints don’t like this part of their history, and really don’t like American Primeval’s depiction of what went down, why and the personalities involved — particularly as it relates to one of their founding fathers, Brigham Young, who comes off in the show as a wild-eyed, crazy-like-a-fox, wannabe religio-feudal lord.
According to a statement on the series issued by the church on Jan. 24: “Brigham Young, a revered prophet and courageous pioneer, is, by any historical standard, egregiously mischaracterized as a villainous, violent fanatic. Other individuals and groups are also depicted in ways that reinforce stereotypes that are both inaccurate and harmful.
“As to the Mountain Meadows Massacre, which the series inaccurately portrays as reflective of a whole faith
group, the Church has long acknowledged and condemned this horrific tragedy. It has also taken significant steps to uncover and share the full truth of what happened and promote healing.”
What’s more, the LDS statement obliquely addressed a narrative critique echoed by some professional viewers of TV: “The problem with such deceptive, graphic and sensationalized storytelling is that it not only obscures reality and hinders genuine understanding but can foster animosity, hate and even violence. This is particularly troubling today when peacemakers are needed more than ever.”
Is American Primeval too violent and dark-hearted for its own good? I tend to agree with rogerebert.com, which called it “frustrating,” and screenrant.com, which pointed out that the show is so freighted with unrelenting brutality that its characters’ unending ordeals deaden any impulse to empathy or even identification. In short: It’s torture porn on the 19th-century high desert. But isn’t that how the West was “won”? Well, this series is no documentary — and the Mormon Church has some valid points — but, yeah, pretty much.
All episodes streaming now on Netflix.
Panida to hold board meeting
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
The Panida Theater will host a community board meeting Thursday, Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. at the Little Panida Theater (302 N. First Ave., in downtown Sandpoint).
Board President Sean Behm told the Reader that the board will be voting on which direction to go for the lobby design. Behm said the board is
using feedback gathered from a recent open house showcasing four design ideas to expand the lobby and/or merge it with the Little Theater in the future.
“We’ll also discuss bathroom expansion ideas as well, which ladies in Sandpoint should rejoice over,” Behm told the Reader Panida board meetings are open to the public and usually take about an hour.
Courtesy photo.
By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Columnist
Last week, I was in San Diego and discovered that Little Italy covers 48 square blocks, making it the largest Little Italy community in the U.S. It’s always been a favorite shopping and dining mecca for me. While I didn’t navigate all 48 blocks of everything Italian, I still managed to cover a lot of ground, walking back and forth from my hotel in the Gaslamp Quarter to savor the charm and delicious meals found there. Two of my favorite cuisines are Italian and seafood; and, voila, there is no shortage of either in San Diego’s Little Italy.
Aside from streets lined with lively patio cafes and oldstyle restaurants — complete with traditional red-checkered tablecloths — there are plenty of ethnic markets where you can pick up all the ingredients needed for a make-it-yourself Italian feast.
Wherever I travel, I seek out ethnic neighborhoods, especially Italian ones. When I traveled as a private chef, purveying goods for train charters, I would seek out local, fresh markets. Finding a little Italian area was a bonus and was the first place I headed. Fresh pasta, sauces, cheeses and salumi — not salami (the Italian equivalent of French charcuterie) — were omnipresent on my extensive shopping list.
The Hill in St. Louis was always a favorite shopping stop for all things Italian. In addition to delis, The Hill
The Sandpoint Eater Brava Bernalda!
was dotted with small bakeries filled with the scents of freshly baked bread and sweets, like soft amaretti cookies and cream-filled, crispy cannellini.
While the thousands of Italians who migrated to San Francisco, Monterey and San Diego were primarily fishermen, the masses of immigrants who arrived in St. Louis came with a promise of work in the clay mines.
Though Irish settlers immediately come to mind when we think of the copper mines in Butte, Mont., plenty of Italians showed up to toil in the dark, damp mines there, too. They settled in
an area known as Meaderville, and shops such as A.C. Grosso General Merchandise and Guidi Brothers Grocery thrived for years, offering specialties like head cheese and four-inch salami that took an entire year to cure. Sadly, Meaderville no longer exists, and many other once-thriving Italian communities are also shrinking. Little Italy in Lower Manhattan is quickly disappearing, thanks to skyrocketing rents. Most of the original families who operated shops lined with Italian goods on bustling streets for decades are now nothing but memories.
It’s ironic that, today, the
successful offspring of immigrants are buying villas and palazzos in Italy, reconnecting and reestablishing ties to their ancestral homeland. One of those people is Francis Ford Coppola. In 1904, his grandfather left Bernalda for an immigrant’s life in the U.S. In 2004, Coppola purchased a historic villa near his grandfather’s place of upbringing and converted it into a small luxury hotel.
I learned of Coppola’s Palazzo Margherita at a travel show in France last December, and was fascinated by the history of the villa, the Coppola family and the region’s culinary traditions
that the engaging general manager, Rosella, shared with me. She opened a small treasure box tucked in a tote at her booth and presented me with a scorzette Bernalda. Baked by the chef at the villa, it was the best cookie I have ever tasted. She shared the ingredients and the recipe technique as I nibbled away, savoring every bite.
Shortly after I returned home, I contacted Rosella for the recipe and, within days, it arrived in my inbox, with permission to share away. And so, I have. You’ve got time to perfect your batch before Valentine’s Day. Brava, Bernalda!
Scorzette Italian cookies from Palazzo Margherita
These tasty little cookies originated in Bernalda, a southern province of Italy. They are rich, crisp-yet-tender and are the perfect sweet finish to any meal. Added bonus — they’re gluten-free!
Yield: About 6 dozen.
INGREDIENTS:
• 2 ½ cups of almonds
• 1 ¾ cups of almond flour
• 2 ¼ cups of granulated sugar
• Whites of 5 large eggs, room temperature
• Dark chocolate, as needed (approx. 9 oz.)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Use a food processor to chop the toasted almonds into small, coarse pieces. Do not grind them too finely; they should add texture to the pastries. After chopping, toast/stir in frying pan, careful not to burn!
Place the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl. Use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. In a separate bowl, whisk to combine the almond flour, the chopped almonds and granulated sugar.
Gently fold the dry mixture into the whipped egg whites using a spatula. Do this slowly to keep the mixture airy but well combined. The result should be a sticky, thick batter.
Scoop the batter into a piping bag fitted with a round tip (large tip, so nut pieces pass through).
Pipe small balls of the batter (about the size of a walnut) onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave some space between each ball, they will spread slightly. If you don’t have a piping bag, scoop batter onto a teaspoon; and, with another spoon, push the dough onto the cookie sheet. Keep the size uniform.
Bake for about 12 minutes, or until they are slightly golden but still soft in the center.
Once baked, let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheet. Do not try to remove while hot or warm, or the cookies will not release from paper/pan
Carefully melt the dark chocolate on low in microwave, or use a double
boiler (place a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water, ensuring the bowl doesn’t touch the water).
Dip one side of each cookie into the melted chocolate or drizzle it over the top, depending on your preference. Place the dipped pastries on parchment
paper and let the chocolate harden at room temperature. Dust tops lightly with powdered sugar, if desired. Store in airtight container, placing parchment paper between layers. They do not freeze well (they turn sticky).
Dispatch, John Butler (with Band), G. Love & Special Sauce and Donavon Frankenreiter all set for Festival stage
By Reader Staff
The Festival at Sandpoint dropped a handful of artist announcements for the 2025 summer concert series, with advance notice that Dispatch, John Butler (with Band), G. Love & Special Sauce and Donavon Frankenreiter will take the stage Saturday, Aug. 2 at War Memorial Field.
Member presale tickets are available now, and tickets will go on sale to the public beginning Friday, Feb. 7 at 10 a.m. at festivalatsandpoint.com.
Formed by Chadwick Stokes and Brad Corrigan during college in Vermont, Dispatch has forged its own path as one of the most successful artists in the roots rock scene. Through a slew of acclaimed studio and live albums and countless tours and festivals, the band has gone on to become one of biggest success stories in independent music history, selling out three nights at Madison Square Garden and drawing more than 100,000 fans to a massive outdoor show in their adopted hometown of Boston — without any traditional radio or major label support.
This year, Dispatch will be back with its ninth studio album, Yellowjacket, which draws on the band’s reggae-funk roots.
To celebrate the spring 2025 release, Dispatch will embark on a U.S. summer tour alongside John Butler (with Band);
also joined by G. Love & Special Sauce, Donavon Frankenreiter and Illiterate Light on select dates.
John Butler is one of Australia’s premier alternative songwriters and storytellers, with accolades spanning from No. 1-charting albums, platinum records and ARIA Awards.
Butler’s catalog of hits spans more than a quarter of a century, including signature songs such as “Zebra,” “Better Than,” “Ocean” and more. His music continues to traverse the globe, having performed on some of the world’s most iconic stages, venues and festivals — including Glastonbury, Coachella, Red Rocks Amphitheatre and more with his high-energy live show and revered musicianship.
In 2024, he released two solo studio albums Season One — Running River, an ambient album taking the audience on a journey of deep relaxation
and meditation followed by Season Two — Still Searching, an instrumental album that harkens back to the beginning of his career busking on the streets of Fremantle, Western Australia.
G. Love & Special Sauce is an American hip-hop blues outfit formed in 1993 in Philadelphia, originally featuring Garrett Dutton, a.k.a. “G. Love,” as the lead vocalist and guitarist; Jeffrey Clemens on drums; and Jim Prescott on bass. The trio quickly gained attention for its laid-back, groovy style and G. Love’s unique vocal delivery, blending rap-like spoken word with bluesy singing.
Over the years, G. Love & Special Sauce has released numerous albums, including Grammy-nominated The Juice in 2020.
Known for energetic live performances, G. Love & Special Sauce has played at festivals like Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza.
Born in Southern California,
Donavon Frankenreiter has been traveling the globe — first as a professional surfer and later as a musician — for nearly two decades. These days, instead of surf competitions, it’s concert halls that bring Frankenreiter to town, where he entertains audiences with his unique blend of mellow grooves, philosophical lyrics and soulful delivery.
Frankenreiter released his first studio album in nine years in 2024 — Get Outta Your Mind, marking the 20-year anniversary of his self-titled debut album.
The Aug. 2 performance will be a standard show, meaning that the area in front of the stage is a general admission dancing and standing area.
Member presale ends Thursday, Feb. 6 at midnight. General admission tickets are $59.50 (before taxes & fees) Get more info at festivalatsandpoint.com.
A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint
Jordan Paddock, The Hive, Feb. 7
Hailing from the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene area, Jordan Paddock brings a smooth, sonorous country sound to venues around the region. This time he’s bringing his full band to The Hive for a Friday, Feb. 7 show preceded by line dancing lessons — which ought to come in handy when he takes the stage and the crowd starts boot scootin’. Paddock will showcase some
of country lovers’ favorites, as well as his original tunes.
Bonus: the band includes Sandpoint guitar player Jake Smith.
— Zach Hagadone
Doors at 7 p.m.; line dancing lessons at 7:30 p.m. ($10); show at 8:30 p.m.; $5; 21+. The Hive, 207 N. First Ave., 208-920-9039, livefromthehive.com. Listen at Jordan Paddock Music on Facebook.
Fox and Blü, Connie’s Lounge, Feb. 8
The genre-hopping duo Fox and Blü are traveling all the way from the wilds of Montana to bring some smooth covers to Sandpoint. Led by Fox Rodgers — a.k.a. Corey Morris — who boasts a “repertoire of well over 1,500 songs,” the duo plays selections from bands as varied as Maroon 5, Tears for Fears and the Eagles. Morris is known for his country music and has shared
This week’s RLW by Ben Olson
READ
This book has been recommended a few times in the Reader over the years. So be it. It’s remarkably prescient right now. Sinclair Lewis wrote It Can’t Happen Here during an explosion of fascism in 1935. The novel describes the rise of a demagogue who is elected president and becomes a dictator by fomenting fear. Sound familiar? Remember, if you’re not outraged right now, you’re part of the problem.
LISTEN
Music genres continue to bifurcate into more specific sounds that cater to any feeling. I’ve been exploring the “-wave” genres, such as vaporwave, officewave, coldwave and synthwave. Each has its own vibe. Vaporwave is like ambient synth muzak, officewave celebrates the 1980s synth aesthetic, coldwave is like Polish and French post-punk, and synthwave is a retro-themed take on synthesizer-heavy music. All of these playlists can be found on YouTube, among other streamers.
WATCH
the stage with Zac Brown Band and Brooks and Dunn; however, he prides himself on adapting to any and all genres. Bluette Long will also lend her soulful, classic voice to any request the audience makes.
— Soncirey Mitchell
6-9 p.m., FREE. Connie’s Lounge, 323 Cedar St., 208-2552227, conniescafe.com. Listen at foxrodgersent.com/fox-blu.
There used to be a world before the internet (I swear!). One film that covers that liminal space before we lost our way is Pump Up the Volume, starring Christian Slater. The film is about a high-school loner who starts a pirate radio station to point out the hypocrisies of the world (but mostly his own high school). The soundtrack is an absolute banger (Concrete Blonde’s version of Leonard Cohen’s song “Everybody Knows” still rings in my head).
From left to right; John Butler, Dispatch, G. Love and Donavon Frankenreiter. Courtesy photos
From Pend Oreille Review, February 4, 1916
HUMBIRD BRAKEMAN MEETS DEATH UNDER LOG TRAIN
Robert McMeekin, a breakman on the Humbird logging train, lost his life under his train near Camp 4, Sunday night. How the accident happened will never be known, as it was not until McMeekin was missed by others of the train crew and search instituted and the lifeless body found, that the accident was known to have occurred.
The work of the train was about completed for the day when a stop was made to unload a few packages a short distance from Camp 4. McMeekin was on duty at that time and assisted in the unloading, and gave the engineer the signal to start. When the train reached the siding at the camp the engineer stopped to allow McMeekin to go ahead and throw the switch. As the brakeman did not respond to the calls, the crew started to look for him and his body was found lodged on the tracks near the rear end of the train sufficiently mangled to make it certain that death was immediate.
McMeekin was 32 years old and unmarried. His home was Washburn, Wisconsin, where his parents still reside. The young man came to Bonner County about eight years ago and has since been employed alternatively by the Humbird company and the Bonners Ferry Lumber company. A grandfather, also an uncle and aunt reside in Coeur d’Alene. The uncle, William Hanna, arrived in the city Wednesday to make preparations for shipping the body, and the following morning Mrs. Hanna arrived and proceeded with the remains to Washburn.
On bullies and bravery
By Sandy Compton Reader Columnist
Long ago, I saw (by accident) an episode of The Apprentice, and learned that Donald Trump is a bully. I never ventured there again. Trump is still a bully. He likes to pick on people. He likes to see others squirm and suffer. He loves to make others angry. He carries grudges, and now he’s brought his bully friends along to help him “get even.” He’s singling out individuals and groups with views other than his and using his power to punish them for speaking out or not thinking his way.
I learned in fifth grade that the way to handle a bully is to stand up to them. Do you want to live where you need to be fearful — as opposed to thoughtful — about what you say? If not, it’s time to be brave.
As we slide into February, the Felon-in-Chief takes the opportunity to blame a tragic air accident on innocents, persecute the FBI for doing their job, bully our neighbors and attempt to dismantle government, good and bad. Since Jan. 20, Trump has been striking out like a pissedoff, spoiled 3-year-old who was not allowed to have his way, throwing a full-on tantrum. His tantrum will cost our country friends — which he cares nothing about — and money — which he cares way too much about. Not ours. His. And making ours his.
MAGA might crow about a “landslide,” but “47” (as his supporters
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delight in calling him) won the popular vote by a slim margin — slimmest since 2000, when George W. Bush beat Al Gore by chicanery and one electoral vote, though Gore had half a million more popular votes.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton got nearly 3 million more votes than The Donald.
(Is the electoral college outdated? Yes.)
This time, Trump garnered 77.284 million. Kamala got 74.999 million. The margin is 1.5 %. If this was a county commissioners’ race, there would be a recount.
If you are one of the 74.999 million, don’t despair. The noise of MAGA comes from a relatively few Kool-Aid drinkers; in the millions maybe, but not tens of millions. More sensible folks who cast “R” votes are likely kicking themselves as they watch the Terrible T do his thing.
The congressional election in two years has a chance to change the balance in Congress, if people have long enough memories about what The Donald is doing right now. A large number of those who voted for His Childishness are likely watching hopes go up in smoke, including those whose economic well-being has already been threatened by executive order. Tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods are not going to make food prices go down or housing more affordable.
We’ve not elected a savior. Trump worships no sort of God but himself and his fortune. Maybe the reason the ultra-conservative Christian community is so much about Trump is that
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they believe the Bible’s warning that Jesus can’t come back until after the antichrist shows up, and they’re trying to hurry things along. (For reference: 1 John 2:18, 2:22 and 4:3; 2 John 1:7.)
This will make some of you cringe and maybe even rage. The rest of you, hold this thought: If we’re going to move past where we are now, and where we have been much of the time since Bush 2.0, divided by finger-pointing, rhetorical blaming, conspiracy theory and all-consuming self-interest — both personally and on both sides of the congressional aisle — it’s time to start acting like grownups who see that what’s good for the neighbors is likely good for us, as well. I think that’s what Jesus really had to say (Matthew 22:39).
It is time to be brave.
Basically, there are three ways the skunk and I are a lot alike. The first is we both like to spread our “stink” around. The second is we both get hit by cars a lot. The third is stripes.
