Editorial cartoonists are often considered among the chief canaries in the journalistic coal mine. I started out as one back in the late-1900s but drifted away from that duty some years ago. Still, I’ve always regarded the cartoonist on any paper’s masthed with the highest esteem — even more so since the first five years of the 21st century, when most of them got canned to “cut costs.” That was the first wave of canary casualties, signifying what a massive bloodletting the newspaper business would experience in the coming decades. Now we have the case of Ann Telnaes — the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist at The Washington Post since 2008. Anyone who has a love for editorial cartooning knows Telnaes’ work — an elegant, deceptively minimalist style that never fails to skewer its intended target with little or no words necessary. Telnaes announced she’d be quitting the Post after a cartoon she produced poking fun at obsequious billionaires shoving cash at Trump for favors got killed by editorial page editors. According to a Jan. 3 post on her Substack, it was the first one of her cartoons to be “killed because of who or what I chose to aim my pen at.” Specifically, she aimed her pen at Trump, Facebook/Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg; AI CEO Sam Altman; L.A. Times Publisher Patrick Soon-Shiong; the Walt Disney Company; ABC News; and, critically, Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos — ostensibly, Telnaes’ boss. It’s a very, very bad sign that media organizations are self-censoring amid a national political climate that already threatens journalistic integrity and the free press. Telnaes wrote: “As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable. For the first time, my editor prevented me from doing that critical job.” In solidarity, cartoonists around the country (those that are left, anyway) have been contributing variations on the theme of Telnaes’ spiked cartoon. Here’s mine:
DEAR READERS,
We’ve selected our winner for this year’s 208 Fiction writing contest: Tim Martin won top honors with his story, “Winner Takes All.” Martin took home $150 in cold, hard cash for his efforts. Congratulations!
The second-place award goes to Rianna Atencio for her story, “The Dulcamaras West Missing on Tuesday,” and third place goes out to our very own Bill Borders for his piece, “Special Delivery.” Astute readers might recognize Borders as the artist whose comic “Laughing Matter” appears on the penultimate page of every edition of the Reader.
Thank you to all of the writers who submitted works of fiction this year. We’re always stoked to read through your work and reward a winner with some cash.
Finally, don’t forget the Reader is throwing a 10th anniversary party from 5-8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 16 at Matchwood Brewing Co. Anyone who wants to come is invited and we’ll have free finger food for all to enjoy.
Thanks for reading.
–Ben
Olson, publisher
111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 208-946-4368 sandpointreader.com
Editors Emeriti: Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Cameron Rasmusson John Reuter
Advertising: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com
Contributing Artists: Ben Olson (cover design), Zach Hagadone, Bill Borders
Contributing Writers:
Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Soncirey Mitchell, Lorraine H. Marie, Brenden Bobby, Clark Corbin, Mia Maldonado, BCRWI, Helen Newton, Mark Sauter, Tim Martin, Rianna Atencio, Bill Borders, Coulter Eagley, Jodi Rawson, Marcia Pilgeram
Submit Stories To: stories@sandpointreader.com
Printed Weekly At: Tribune Publishing Co. Lewiston, ID
Subscription Price: $185 per year
Website Designed By: Keokee
The Sandpoint Reader is a weekly publication owned by Ben Olson and Keokee. It is devoted to the arts, entertainment, bluster, politics and lifestyle in and around Sandpoint, Idaho.
We hope to provide a quality alternative by offering honest, in-depth reporting that reflects the intelligence and interests of our diverse and growing community. The Reader is printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Leftover copies are collected and recycled weekly, or burned in bonfires to appease the gods of journalism. For back issues, contact the publisher. Free to all, limit two per person, please.
Letter to the Editor Policy:
We welcome letters to the editor on all relavant topics. Please, no more than 300 words, no excessive profanity or libelous statements and no trolls. Please elevate the discussion and stay on topic.
Letters will be edited to comply with the above requirements. Opinons expressed in these pages are those of the writers, not necessarily the publisher. Send to: letters@sandpointreader.com
About the Cover:
This week’s cover was designed by Ben Olson, who has a few too many antique typewriters.
Illustration by Zach Hagadone
City approves sending ‘letter of interest’ to state for wastewater treatment plant funding
Consultants:
‘[T]he competition for this funding extremely competitive’
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Sandpoint City Hall moved the ball forward on the long-running effort to replace and rebuild the aged wastewater treatment plant, with approval at a Jan. 8 special meeting of a letter of interest to the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality seeking as much as $130 million in funding for the project.
The unanimous vote signified City Council’s direction for Sandpoint to submit the letter, which seeks dollars from the DEQ’s State Revolving Loan Fund. It describes a timeline that includes a revenue bond in 2025, design efforts throughout the year and extending into 2026, with construction beginning in 2027 through 2029.
“The majority of the city’s WWTP facilities are beyond their useful life and date back to being constructed prior to 1983,” the letter stated, though many components of the treatment plant date back even further, including to the 1940s and ’50s.
“These facilities are frequently failing and temporary solutions are completed to keep the system functioning,” the letter continued. “The city struggles to find equipment replacement parts, which require specific fabricated solutions for interim fixes. The existing treatment infrastructure does not meet treatment capacity for existing conditions.”
Sandpoint Public Works Director Holly Ellis said Jan. 8 that the letter of interest — which is due to state officials by Friday, Jan. 10 — positions the city for different state funding streams, but nothing is guaranteed. In the meantime, she said the city will launch a series of informal,
biweekly informational sessions for citizens at City Hall during the noon hour.
“One takeaway I heard from the last council meeting is we’ve really got to bring everybody up to speed,” Ellis said, adding that the city is also working on a dedicated page on its website to provide periodic updates on the project and background information, “So we can be fully transparent about what we’re working on.”
The approximately 15page letter of interest includes details about why the project is needed, what the city is planning to do, the timeline and whether the current plant complies with regulatory standards.
Sandpoint paid a penalty of $3,450 for violations of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, according to an audit conducted on May 1, 2024, but otherwise — and despite its decrepit condition — the plant has a record that Sandpoint Mayor Jeremy Grimm described as “incredible.”
“And it’s maybe a bit unfortunate, right? One of the things that’s become abundantly clear is that our
exceptional staff has done an amazing job running an obsolete plant at the end of its useful life very well,” Grimm said. “And we’ve done an incredible job maintaining compliance. But it ends up actually harming you in the application ranking process.”
Kyle Meschko, Coeur d’Alene-based project manager with consultant Keller Associates, which is managing the wastewater treatment plant rebuild, said he wouldn’t “sugar coat” the hurdles faced by the city in securing state funding.
According to Meschko, when Sandpoint submitted a previous letter of interest seeking $80 million for the project, it ended up being ranked 29th out of 73 applications, and three were funded totaling $63 million. The paucity of available funding is relative to the glut of monies that flowed from the American Rescue Plan Act during the COVID-19 pandemic. When those allocations ended, “I think that threw a lot of communities for a loop,” Meschko said.
He also noted that inflation has played a part in making funding scarcer in recent
years, adding that funding demand to DEQ in 2018 was $265 million, while it rose to $963 million in 2023.
“It makes the competition for this funding extremely competitive,” he said.
But DEQ isn’t the only potential source of project support, as Meschko told the council that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Loan program is also an option — about which he feels “more bullish” and through which he suspects Sandpoint has “higher odds of getting a project funded.”
However, neither the DEQ nor USDA funding sources can be executed until a revenue bond has been passed or it is judicially confirmed that the city has the authority to go into debt for the project.
The city has already completed a rate study with a scheduled rate structure to cover the debt for a $61.5 million loan, with a preferred 30-year repayment period.
According to the letter, the current average user rate is $85 per month, but with the expected change in operations and maintenance cost upon
completion of the project — including debt service — would increase by $25 per month.
Broken down further, the rate study indicates that the fixed charge for all user classes would be $1,281.58 for six-inch meters in fiscal year 2025, going up to $1,433.30 by FY’28.
Grimm suggested Jan. 8 that a bond election is more than likely to go before voters “next fall.” In the meantime, he added that the strategy for the city is to see how the letter of interest shakes out with DEQ while also assessing USDA Rural Development funding.
Meschko provided an update on the preliminary engineering report for the wastewater treatment plant, and emphasized that “nothing is set in stone” at this point.
“With this letter of interest ... there’s no obligation, there’s no commitment; it’s really to get your name in the hat,” he said.
The WWTP preliminary site plan shared at the Jan. 8 Sandpoint City Council meeting. Courtesy image
Commissioner Korn founds BoCo Civil Defense and Resilience Team
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
At a Jan. 8 People’s Rights meeting, Bonner County Commissioner Ron Korn announced the creation of the Bonner County Civil Defense and Resilience Team, a group of county officials, employees and community members who will host emergency preparedness workshops. The free monthly classes will be held from 5:307 p.m. on the fourth Friday of each month at the County Administration Building (1500 Hwy. 2, in Sandpoint) but will not be affiliated officially with the county government.
People’s Rights, an organization founded by anti-government extremist Ammon Bundy, bills itself as “a network of neighbors united to defend each other’s rights” in a flyer available at the Jan. 8 meeting. The Southern Poverty Law Center calls the group “a nationwide network of right-wing, often antigovernment activists that can be called upon to quickly mobilize against perceived threats.”
The organization made headlines in Sandpoint in 2020 — amid the COVID-19 pandemic — when members of the group sporting black armbands demonstrated against mask and social distancing requirements outside the Sandpoint branch of the East Bonner County Library District.
Aside from an introductory statement, representatives from People’s Rights did not contribute to the Jan. 8 meeting.
In his introduction, Korn said he has been working towards BC-CDRT — pronounced “B.C.C. Dirt” — for more than two years; however, his vision only came to fruition with the help of Bonner County Emergency Management Director Bob Howard and Technology Department Director Jacob Storms.
Panhandle Health District Chair Dr. Thomas Fletcher has also agreed to participate. The volunteers will work without pay to host the classes, beginning Friday, Jan. 24, with a meeting on alternative communication systems and Baofeng radios.
Korn called the team “a concept that I have come up with to try and help the
public be more resilient and to try and build bridges between the government and the people — the citizens,” at the Jan. 7 meeting of the Bonner County board of commissioners.
“One thing that we have to understand, living in rural Bonner County, is that the majority of us live at least a half hour out of any certain town. We live out in the mountains. We live out in the hills. If something ever happens to you, your first responder — the first person that’s going to get to you — is your neighbor,” said Korn, emphasizing that people need to build connections with those around them in case of an emergency.
Korn listed the group’s primary concerns as grid failure, civil unrest, transportation issues, terrorism, cybersecurity, pandemic, wildland fire and severe weather.
Attendees of the Jan. 7 and Jan. 8 meetings questioned whether BCCDRT would be redundant, given programs like the Community Emergency Response Team, to which Korn replied, “This is not a club or an organization. We’re not asking anybody to sign up.”
Korn hopes that BC-CDRT will create a group of educated individuals who can then volunteer with the local programs that are already in place.
At the Jan. 7 BOCC meeting, Chair Asia Williams stated numerous times that the creation of BC-CDRT “wasn’t a board vote,” with Korn acknowledging that neither the county’s legal counsel nor Risk Management had vetted the decision.
“There is no legal review, there’s no risk review, there’s no insurance, there’s no liability review of this. I would request that before we present this as a Bonner County civil resiliency defense training, that we actually do those things, because there is not just liability for the activity, but it could negatively impact grants that the county has received as it relates to emergency management services,” said Williams. She cautioned that any missteps could result in more lawsuits for the county. Korn briefly addressed those concerns at the Jan. 8 meeting, reiterating that BC-CDRT “is not a county thing.”
When asked why he used the Bonner County logo and name, Korn said, “The team is made up of Bonner County employees, and they are volunteering their time to offer you training and education.”
“Wouldn’t it be great if the people were more resilient in general? Wouldn’t it be great if we didn’t have to rely on our government to do
everything for us? That we’re actually able to take care of ourselves, even at a very basic level? So that is the idea here,” said Korn.
Additional reporting by Zach Hagadone.
Bonner County Technology Dept. Director Jacob Storms, left; Bonner County Emergency Management Director Bob Howard, center; and Bonner County Commissioner Ron Korn, right, talk about the Bonner County Civil Defense and Resilience Team at a People’s Rights meeting held Jan. 8. Photo by Ben Olson.
Lakes Commission reschedules meeting on Albeni Falls Dam gate replacement project
U.S. Army Corps announces lake level will rise 3 feet on flexible winter pool operations
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
The anticipated meeting of the Lakes Commission on Thursday, Jan. 9 will be rescheduled to Friday, Jan. 10, as the previous date has been declared a national day of mourning for late-President Jimmy Carter, who died Dec. 29, 2024 at the age of 100.
Representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other officials were scheduled to present updates on the Albeni Falls Dam gate replacement project; but, since Jan. 9 will be a federal holiday, most employees will be taking the day off.
The rescheduled meeting will now take place Jan. 10 from 10 a.m.12:30 p.m. at the Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center (10881 N. Boyer Road). Those who wish to attend
remotely can do so by registering via Zoom at bit.ly/41JSksk.
Meanwhile, the Lakes Commission reported that the Bonneville Power Administration has requested flexible winter pool operations on Lake Pend Oreille, which the Corps will accommodate with a temporary increase in the lake level over the next few weeks.
According to a message forwarded by the Corps and shared by the Lakes Commission, Lake Pend Oreille will be raised by three feet, then lowered as water is released to generate power.
Flexible winter pool operations are controlled under an agreement with BPA that allows the federal agency to ask that Lake Pend Oreille be raised up to five feet during the winter months and lowered to generate power during periods of higher demand.
BoCo Planning Department hosts open houses on Comp Plan Map update
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
The Bonner County Planning Commission, Planning Department and GIS are hosting 10 open houses throughout the county to gather public input on proposed changes to the Comprehensive Plan Map, which the entities have been updating since 2022.
The commission has proposed several changes, including reducing the number of land use designations from 10 to seven, renaming the Transition designation “Mixed Use” and altering the map to better reflect property lines, city limits and waterways. The majority of the suggestions seek to reduce redundancy, direct growth and reflect current land use.
Each event runs from 3-7 p.m. and gives attendees the opportunity to ask
questions of the planning commissioners and staff and submit written comments, which they will take into account before the map is finalized in May 2025.
The final five meetings will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 14, at Sagle Elementary (550 Sagle Road); Tuesday, Jan. 21, at Southside Elementary (307 Southside School Road); Tuesday, Jan. 28, at Clark Fork Jr./Sr. High School (502 North Main St.); Tuesday, Feb. 4, at The Inn at Priest Lake (5310 Dickensheet Road); and Tuesday, Feb. 11, at The Bonner County Administration Building (1500 Hwy. 2).
Members of the public can view the map, presentations by planning staff and related documents — as well as submit feedback — at bonnercountyid. gov/departments/Planning.
Bits ’n’ Pieces
From east, west and beyond
The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Russian and Iranian groups linked to disinformation efforts targeting American voters prior to the 2024 election. The disinformation included “deepfake” videos, fake news websites and social media posts. They were intended to undermine election trust and manipulate voters, CBS reported. The Russian attempts were pro-Donald Trump, while the Iranians’ were pro-Kamala Harris.
According to new Federal Reserve data, close to 75% of expected future flood damage will be to homes lacking flood insurance. The Lever stated that if there are no emergency government bailouts — a possibility under Project 2025 plans — victims face a choice of huge out-of-pocket expenses, bankruptcy or homelessness.
With the Postal Service reporting financial losses, Trump is considering privatization, The Washington Post reported. The USPS was founded in 1775, when it was intended to be a service, not a business, for boosting commerce. In his first term, Trump tried to turn the USPS over to the Treasury Department. The USPS became financially self-sustaining in 1970; but, under Trump-appointed leadership, it sustained a $9.95 billion loss in 2024. That was said to be due to modernization of facilities and equipment, and declines in mail volume — due to more internet activity. Forbes reported that privatization would bring “disaster” by way of a likely increase in rates and a decrease in services, such as fewer days of mail.
A lifelong California farmer told France24 how Trump’s mass deportation plans could impact food supplies if at least 9 million immigrants and their families are deported: “Without our people, farms will come to a stop,” causing a spike in food costs. That spike could be even higher with the tariffs Trump wants on imports. Trump’s “border czar” pick, Tom Homan, told ABC News that deportation plans on “Day 1” include “shock and awe.”
President Joe Biden recently signed the Social Security Fairness Act into law. It will benefit close to 3 million U.S. retirees, who will now receive full Social Security benefits. The Act eliminates two federal policies that prevented those with a public pension, such as former police officers and teachers, from receiving full benefits. Payments will be retroactive to January 2024, CBS reported.
By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist
Former Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney was one of 20 individuals that President Joe Biden has awarded with a Presidential Citizens Medal for “exemplary deeds of service” for their Jan. 6 committee work. Trump responded by calling them “dishonest thugs.”
Cheney stated: “Donald, this is not the Soviet Union. You can’t change the truth and you cannot silence us. Remember all your lies about the voting machines, the election workers, your countless allegations of fraud that never happened? Many of your lawyers have been sanctioned, disciplined or disbarred; the courts ruled against you, and dozens of your own White House, administration and campaign aides testified against you. Remember how you sent a mob to our Capitol and then watched the violence on television and refused for hours to instruct the mob to leave? Remember how your former vice president prevented you from overturning our republic? We remember. And now, as you take office again, the American people need to reject your latest malicious falsehoods and stand as the guardrails of our constitutional republic — to protect the America we love from you.”
Also honored by Biden with medals were military personnel for their bravery; scientists for work on climate change, diseases and communications; and public safety officers who risked their lives.
Trump’s plan to pardon Jan. 6, 2020 rioters is opposed by 60% of Americans, according to Newsweek.
Moody’s Analytics reported that, “President Trump is inheriting an economy that is about as good as it ever gets.” According to The New York Times, Biden’s administration has overseen the best national conditions since at least 2000: no U.S. troops serve in foreign wars, the murder rate is significantly down, drug overdoses dropped sharply, undocumented immigration is below where it was when Trump left office, the economy is growing, real wages are rising, inflation is down and close to the “normal” range, unemployment is at historic lows — 700,000 manufacturing jobs were added — and energy production is at a historic high.
Blast from the past: “A year from now, you may wish you had started today!” — Karen Lamb, Canadian-born Australian author.
Idaho governor calls for public schools funding, tax cuts and investments in wildfire fighting
Gov. Brad Little outlines budget, policy priorities in annual State of the State address
By Clark Corbin Idaho Capital Sun
Idaho Gov. Brad Little began the state’s 2025 legislative session on Jan. 6 by calling for additional investments in public schools, new tax cuts and bonuses for wildland firefighters.
When he delivered the annual State of the State address at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise, Little repeatedly evoked a theme of “keeping promises.”
“We also promised and delivered unprecedented investments in schools, the American worker, water, roads, fire, outdoor recreation and other infrastructure without raising taxes,” Little said. “My ‘Keeping Promises plan’ builds on those investments by adding more support for schools — on top of the 80% increase in state funding we championed for education since I took office.”
Most of the proposals Little highlighted in the annual speech were enhancements of programs he has embraced since being elected in 2018.
Increasing funding for public schools, providing raises for teachers, cutting taxes, reducing regulations and bolstering state savings accounts all featured heavily in the speech.
The Idaho Legislature actually sets the state budget each year, so Little will have to work with legislators in order to enact any budget priorities.
Governor calls for using $50 million to expand education options for Idaho families
But for the first time, Little left the door open for spending taxpayer dollars on tuition at private or religious schools.
While most of the funding Little proposed for education is for public schools, Little also called for leaving “$50 million to further expand educational options for Idaho families.”
Little did not specify how
the money should be spent.
For years, prominent Republican legislators including House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star; Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls; and Sen. Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, have been pushing for the creation of a refundable tax credit or education savings accounts that would allow taxpayer dollars to be spent paying for or reimbursing families for tuition or other expenses at private or religious schools.
Until now, Idaho has not spent taxpayer dollars for tuition at private or religious schools.
“Just like we do with every taxpayer dollar that is spent in government, we will ensure there is oversight in school choice,” Little said in the address. “Why? Because accountability in government is an Idaho value, and it is what taxpayers demand and deserve. Just as we expect the following from our public schools, any school choice measure I would consider must be done the Ida-
ho way, which means it is fair, responsible, transparent and accountable. It must prioritize the families that need it most and it must not take funds away from public schools.”
Little’s state budget proposal includes 4.6% increase, record rainy day funds
In conjunction with his State of the State address, Little released a proposed fiscal year 2026 budget on Jan. 6. The budget proposal includes $5.2 billion in general fund expenditures, a 4.6% increase from the current budget.
Little’s budget proposal leaves a $200 million ending balance at the end of the fiscal year and a record $1.4 billion saved in state rainy day funds.
Some of the budget proposals put forward Jan. 6 include:
• $150 million in new funding for public school, including $50 million for rural school renovating rural school facilities, mental health ser-
vices and school safety;
• $100 million to cut taxes. Little didn’t issue a specific proposal for how to cut taxes, or which taxes to target, but he will work with the Idaho Legislature to come up with the details;
• $100 million to fight wildfires. Little called for $1 million in bonuses to retain firefighters and provide funding for the state’s fire suppression account;
• $83 million in additional funding for teacher pay increases;
• $30 million in additional funding for water infrastructure projects;
• 5% change in employee compensation pay increases for state employees.
“On the heels of a destructive fire season, our Keeping Promises plan also deploys additional bonuses to hire and retain wildland firefighters,” Little said. “Our firefighters battle dangerous conditions to protect lives, property and our
Idaho House begins session with legislation on same-sex marriage, Boise State volleyball
By Mia Maldonado Idaho Capital Sun
The first pieces of legislation introduced in the Idaho Capitol this session address same-sex marriage and Boise State University’s decision to forfeit its women’s volleyball matches against San José State University.
On Jan. 7, legislators in the Idaho House State Affairs Committee voted to move two items — a memorial and resolution — forward.
Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, was the first to introduce her memorial to the committee. The memorial pushes to restore the authority of defining marriage to the states and urges the U.S.
Supreme Court to reconsider its 2015 decision in Obergefell v.Hodges that legalized samesex marriage.
A memorial is not a bill, but rather it is a “petition or representation made by the House of Representatives and concurred in by the Senate, or vice versa, addressed to whoever can effectuate the request of the memorial,” according to legislative rules. The committee voted to move the resolution forward with a hearing that will take place at a later date.
The second piece of legislation came from Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, who introduced a concurrent resolution commending the Boise State University women’s
volleyball team for forfeiting its matches against San José State University in protest of the team having a transgender athlete, Idaho Education News reported.
Ehardt, a longtime college basketball coach, said Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in sports, changed her life. She said a transgender athlete should have never been allowed to play in the Mountain West Conference.
“Shame on the Mountain West for allowing this to happen and not changing their policies,” she said. “Even bigger shame — we call out the NCAA (President) Charlie Baker for allowing this to happen. It should never
natural resources. … I am also asking the Legislature to properly fund the fire suppression account so these firefighters know we’ve got their back.
“Last summer, I called out the feds for not putting out wildfires more aggressively,” Little added. “The state of Idaho leads on fire and forest management where the feds have failed. Idahoans are tired of choking on smoke for weeks on end. I look forward to working with the Trump administration to boldly transform how wildfire and our Western lands are managed.”
Little spoke of his eagerness to work with President-elect Donald Trump and the new administration, mentioning Trump 10 times in the 22-minute speech.
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.
have happened. Their regressive policies are putting men in women’s sports, men in single-sex spaces, and it’s not right.”
The concurrent resolution doesn’t have the force of law. Instead, it expresses the opinion of the Legislature on a topic. The committee voted to move the resolution forward to a full public hearing to be held at a later date.
This story was produced by Boise-based nonprofit news outlet the Idaho Capital Sun, which is part of the States Newsroom nationwide reporting project. For more information, visit idahocapitalsun.com.
Bouquets:
• Here’s a Bouquet for my friend Travis Dickson. I’ve known Trav since we were both punk kids at Sandpoint High School. I’ve always appreciated Trav’s inquisitive mind, his quickness to smile and his commitment to good causes and living a good life. After earning a master’s in environmental science and a Ph.D. in paleoecology, Trav moved back to Sandpoint to work his dream job. Shortly after, he faced some devastating news: a diagnosis of brain stem glioma, a tumor of the glial cells that wrap around nerve cells and keeps them bundled together.
At the time, he was given a prognosis of about three years. Suddenly, at 34 years old, everything changed for this happy-go-lucky man.
After dealing with shock and a bit of depression, Trav got his priorities in order and promptly quit his job. “When I got that diagnosis, I never worked another day,” he told me for an article I wrote for Sandpoint Magazine in 2020. “My values shifted. I wasn’t concerned about my financial future. I was concerned about how I was going to spend my remaining days.”
Trav passed that three-year prognosis seven years ago. Also in that time, he met Renae, the love of his life and, last year, welcomed his son Esker into the world. All along the way, Trav’s smile never faded. He kept his head up and remained cheerful, saying often that he was on “borrowed time.”
That borrowed time is now waning for this wonderful human being. I wanted to take this time to sing Trav’s praises while he’s still with us, because, while many of us don’t know when the end will come for us, Trav does. He has lived one hell of a life and brought so much joy and love to his friends and loved ones. I’m so proud of you, Trav. I’m honored to be your friend.
Wrong Korn...
Dear editor,
It looks like the BCRCC is trying to make the two good BOCCs look incompetent. Korn shouldn’t pretend he knows more with his little experience. It is just the BCRCC firing up one MAGA base.
Sue Koller Cocolalla
Festival policies are a ‘money grab’…
Dear editor,
The new policy regarding outside beverages is a money grab for the Festival. If what they are saying is true about difficulty obtaining insurance, I can guarantee that the rider or umbrella policy was fairly expensive. Do you think they are going to pass along those savings to the patrons at the bar and grab-n-go? No way! To not add additional bars is going to create a logistical nightmare of lines and delays, which were already horrible before this change.
The processing fees for tickets has become another way to take money from this community. They range from 2025% per ticket. Outrageous! Gone are the days of going to the local grocery store to buy your tickets. Digital ticketing should decrease the cost of processing a ticket. Somehow the colleges and universities around here are able to offer digital season tickets without a processing fee.
Joel Bonvallet Sandpoint
‘Bones of Contention’…
Dear editor,
1.Gov. Brad Little, in his State of State address, said $50 million of taxpayer dollars will go towards private schools. Our tax dollars should go to public schools, not private and/or religious schools. Schools to assist disabled and mentally challenged is one thing, but the public financing private religious schools is unacceptable. Let the people who want those private religious schools finance them themselves; our tax dollars should support our local public schools, maintain them and revitalize them.
2.META (Mark Zuckerburg) will no longer fact check whatever is posted to its site, neither will X (Elon Musk). So we have the continuation of lies and misrepresentations in the so-called “modern age,” where anyone can now post whatever they want about anything or anyone and not be held accountable?
3.The continuation of the complete “dumbing of America.” Whatever happened to the concepts of: truth, justice and the American way? I guess that went out the window with the Lone Ranger.
4. As Forrest Gump so aptly put it, “Stupid is as stupid does.”
5.How many of our county commissioners are members of Scott Herndon’s BCRCC, and take orders or directions directly from him?
Michael Harmelin, Vietnam veteran Sandpoint
‘Arrogance,
greed and ego’…
Dear editor, Richard Nixon was reelected to the United States presidency in a landslide victory in 1972. He boasted about his mandate and in his arrogance he and his underlings broke a bunch of laws. When newspaper reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein investigated and broke the story it led to Nixon’s disgraceful resignation on Aug. 9, 1974.
Arrogance, greed and ego are dangerous traits for a politician.
Steve Johnson Sagle
Separation of church and state…
Dear editor, Gov. Brad Little and his Republican cadre must think citizens of Idaho are feeble-minded. The Republicans are going to cut taxes by $100 million, give private schools public money, but make the public schools the “first and foremost” priority. How is that going to happen?
Our poorly funded public schools already have to beg local communities for money to meet shortfalls. How about the fate of kids in Priest River facing a possible school closure due to lack of funding?
Finally, how about that thing in the Constitution about the separation of church and state? No taxes from Idaho citizens should be given away to a religious organization. It’s just wrong.
Georgia York Sandpoint
‘Climate
Change Deniers Travel Agency’…
Dear editor, I would like to announce the founding of my new business: “The Phantom Climate Change Deniers Travel Agency,” for all those right-thinking conservative citizens with their comfortable blinders on. Climate change deniers, this is for you! We will take you around the planet to experience what is really producing those 100+ degree Fahrenheit temperatures: gulf waters into which evil lefty Democrats are putting huge heating elements
so as to artificially give hurricanes more fuel to become larger than ever and aiming them at red states, and the beautiful Great Barrier Reef — now dead-white because climate change fanatics are pouring bleach in the water.
Next we will take you to what are really calm, peaceful areas of the country where fake science pushers claim all the increased flooding and tornadoes are caused by climate change, but are really products of AI.
All kidding aside, The Jan. 8 L.A. County fire demonstrates how detached from reality, reason and plain old common sense deniers are. Their nonsensical, even ludicrous statements that climate change is a product of our imagination is like the babbling from a mental ward.
The fire there wasn’t out in the boonies, it was in the Palisades — west Sunset Boulevard, in Hollywood — and is the worst fire in the county in recorded history. And this is January!
A little advice: Believe your own eyes and senses, not some blind partisan hacks.
Lawrence Fury Sandpoint
Got something to say? Write a letter to the editor. We accept letters that are 300 words or less which are free from libel and profanity. Trolls will be laughed at and forgotten. Please elevate the conversation. No toilet tweets.
Privatization of City Beach
By Bonner Co. Republican Women, Inc. Reader Contributors
As Republicans, we believe in free market capitalism, private entrepreneurship and private property rights. Still, we also believe in the inalienable collective property rights citizens have in commonly held communal recreational property.
Additionally, we believe in a “best practices” policy for all government operations, focusing on procedural propriety.
We are compelled therefore to vigorously object to the recent “giveaway” to private developers of the 180-room hotel complex at City Beach.
The unilateral decision, with no public input, to reduce the Sandpoint Code requiring 245 parking spaces down to 144 and convert City Beach to fee-based parking with an alleged “discount” for locals:
• Violates all principles of procedural fairness and “best practices”;
• Effectively privatizes City Beach as
an extension of the hotel/event center/ restaurant complex to the detriment of locals, who have for decades utilized it as a treasured sunning, swimming, boating, picnicking, gathering, communal oasis of tranquility and pleasure;
• Defies logic in the numbers: 180 hotel rooms plus 4,000 feet of restaurant space (operating lunch/dinner) and an event center (hosting a wedding of 100 or a big convention) cannot be accommodated with 144 spaces.
All this extra capacity will spill over into City Beach causing major congestion but, more importantly, inaccessibility to a vital, dearly loved public recreational resource.
Is a mother with two toddlers and a baby in her arms who has sand toys, floaties, beach blankets, sun tan lotion, diaper bag, picnic food, beach chairs, books, etc., supposed to deposit everything, then park up on Second Avenue — if she’s lucky — then walk 15-20 minutes with her children (who she can’t leave unattended) to finally get settled at the beach, and then repeat
the process going home?
The dramatic reduction in code-required parking for hotel complex use constitutes a “usurping” of City Beach for the principal use and enjoyment of out-of-town tourists and the financial benefit of the hotel owners. These proposed actions come perilously close to an illegal “taking” by government of that which belongs to the public.
We, as Republicans, are perhaps the least likely group to speak out against this untoward action by the city government. But the gravity of the offense requires a proportional response.
We invite our Democratic sisters and brothers to make common cause and raise their voices also to protect this treasure that is the symbol of Sandpoint and embodiment of all we love about it.
The Bonner County Republican Women, Inc. includes Victoria Quinn, president; Anita Aurit, vice president; Thea Few, treasurer; and board members Sandra Rutherford, Dianne Houts, Debbie Keeley, Jaime Schmunk and Jennifer Cox.
Jimmy Carter and Cecil Andrus exemplified public service
By Helen Newton Reader Contributor
It was in October 1976, before he was elected, that I met Jimmy Carter. Well, to be fair, I didn’t actually “meet” him; but, in a way I was “introduced” to him. Alas, I never got the warm handshake, the big smile and the, “Hello. I’m Jimmy Carter and I’m running for president.”
It was our country’s bicentennial year and I had spent a lot of time planning a family trip to honor the occasion. We would begin in Boston, take the train to New York and finish in Washington, D.C. I had been putting money away and writing lots of letters to set up the travel plans (no email, text, internet then).
As fall approached and I had to make airline reservations, my husband and our two daughters decided they didn’t have time for my adventure. So I went solo. Every minute was packed full. In Boston I walked the Freedom Trail; visited Paul Revere’s home, the Old North Church, Lexington and Concord; and toured “Old Ironsides” from the War of 1812. New York was next, where Ellis Island (opened only for that year), the Statue of Liberty, cathedrals and museums, and ethnic foods I could never have imagined awaited.
In Washington, D.C., I had reserved tours of the White House, the U.S. Capitol and the Washington National Cathedral. I said “hello” to the original Smokey Bear and Hsing-Hsing and
Ling-Ling in the National Zoo.
Perhaps because it was our bicentennial year, a free open-air tram ran constantly around the National Mall with passengers allowed to get on and off wherever they wished. The driver announced what was coming up and offered personal “commentary” as we traveled. As we approached an area where groundskeepers were digging in flower beds to perform fall gardening tasks, he pointed them out and told us “they’re planting peanuts.” Nobody objected.
Although it was three weeks before the election, he had already pointed out that work on the infrastructure in preparation for the inauguration was already underway. That’s how I “met” President Carter.
I and most Idahoans had voted for Sen. Frank Church in the 1976 Idaho presidential primary, so I was not acquainted with this obscure governor. I grew to like and admire him, his family and what they stood for.
In one of what I think was one of his best moves, in 1977 President Carter appointed Idaho Gov. Cecil Andrus as Secretary of the Interior. Andrus served four years. Andrus was the first of two Idahoans to be appointed to a presidential cabinet.
Carter and Andrus had become friends when both were elected as freshman governors in 1971. Andrus served 14 years as Idaho’s governor, making
him the 11th longest-serving governor in U.S. history.
He and President Carter were a good team. Protecting and preserving our environment and public lands was a top priority and they accomplished much. I have read that when Secretary Andrus was seeking compromise solutions to get the Alaska Lands Act passed in December 1980, and had finally come up with language the various groups would accept, he said, “There is nothing like a hanging in the morning to focus the mind.”
In 1978, the National Geographic published an article asking if the Grand Canyon had become too popular. Litter had become a major problem. I wrote Secretary Andrus suggesting he read the article and do what he could to help. I very quickly received a reply beginning, “Dear Helen...” and signed “Cece. At the end, in his own handwriting, he wrote, “Please say hi to Jim and Jerry for me.” All who have been here for a while know that was referring to the Stoicheffs.
I had supported his campaigns and, after our first introduction, every time someone tried to introduce us again, he would say, “Oh, I know Helen.” I think he and President Carter were two peas in a pod — both great men!
Helen Newton served as Sandpoint city clerk for 24 years and was on the Sandpoint City Council for four years.
Science: Mad about
therizinosaurus
By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist
Dinosaurs were weird. Conditions on Earth over several hundreds of millions of years created some unusual evolutionary niches that nature was eager to fill.
The Therizinosaurus was one of these strange creatures filling a particular evolutionary niche during the late-Cretaceous period and among the last dinosaurs to walk the Earth before an asteroid wiped most of them from existence.
The strangeness of the Therizinosaurus (the “reaping” or “scythe” lizard), is compounded by the massive knowledge gaps we have of the creature. We aren’t entirely sure if it was feathered or scaled or a mix of the two. We don’t have a full comprehension of exactly what it looked like, as we have only collected a handful of fossils and still don’t have a complete skeleton, but paleontologists have referenced the remains against similar species to piece together a rough understanding of what the creature may have looked like.
The Therizinosaurus was a therapod, which contained members such as the Tyrannosaurus rex, Carnotaurus, Archaeopteryx and even ostriches and ducks. It was believed to be a beaked herbivore that found its home in an area that would eventually become the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, where its fossils were extracted. One of the most peculiar features of the Therizinosaurus are the three scythe-like claws on its hands somewhat reminiscent of the Utahraptor’s toe claws. Unlike the Utahraptor, Therizinosaurus’ claws could stretch up to three feet and
were believed to be used for snagging and shearing leaves from hard-to-reach places, as well as potentially warding off predators. It’s likely that Therizinosaurus used its long and imposing claws in similar ways to sloths.
Therizinosaurus had very large forearms, but relatively short and stocky rear legs that were believed to bear the bulk of the creature’s 5.5-ton weight. Proportionally, this creature likely looked completely ridiculous by animal standards of today. Given its strange frame, it’s likely the creature didn’t move very quickly but could deliver a devastating blow to potential predators if forced to do so. This thing was essentially the size of a small school bus with just as much weight at its disposal, ready to bear through six scythe-bladed claws.
The unusual crane-like frame of this dinosaur was believed to serve a specific evolutionary purpose that is strikingly similar to gorillas today. Despite having very stubby legs, it had a robust pelvis that seemed most suited for sitting. This likely means that the creature would meander to stationary food sources and sit down to pivot its long neck upward while it used its arms to pull down foliage to eat. Gorillas exhibit this sitting behavior while sloths exercise the pulling-food-to-mouthwith-claws behavior.
If feathered, this dinosaur very likely looked like a body-builder version of Big Bird, with a long neck, stout beak and a massive pot belly. A scaled version would have looked much stranger, at least to a human eye. Feathers provide ample insulation for animals to protect them from
both heat and cold by trapping air between interlocking ridges. This is one of the reasons that down comforters are so good at keeping us toasty and warm in the winter: by trapping our body heat beneath the covers and not letting it radiate out into the open air.
The process of fossil discovery and categorization is always tricky business, especially when only partial fossils are recovered. Many dinosaurs have undergone critical changes in how we perceive them today. A great example of this is how the T. rex was depicted early on, as compared to today. Early discoveries of the Tyrannosaurus rex led paleontologists of the day to believe the creature stood upright with its tail low to the ground — this is famously depicted in Walt Disney’s 1940 masterpiece Fantasia during the “Rite of Spring” segment. Now it is generally understood that the T. rex stood horizontally, with its tail stretching out for balance similar to a crocodile.
This also occurred during the Therizinosaurus’ discovery and analysis. When it was discovered by a joint Soviet-Mongolian expedition in 1948, Russian scientist Evgeny Maleev believed that the Therizinosaurus was a massive turtle. It was identified as a member of the theropods in the 1970s, and then classified as a segnosaurid in the 1990s. Segnosaurids are bizarre theropods with pot bellies, long arms and necks and a taste for vegetation, in stark contrast to animals like the Tyrannosaurus rex.
The climate in which the Therizinosaurus thrived was vastly different from the Gobi Desert of today. The Cretaceous lands that would even-
tually become Mongolia were much wetter and were prime real estate for a vast number of ancient killer reptiles to inhabit, including the Alioramus, a dinosaur that appears similar to a much smaller T. rex while potentially preying on Therizinosaurus.
Looking back at the skeletal form of what the internet lovingly refers to as the “tickle-chicken,” one can see roughly how birds would come to evolve into the forms
we know today, as countless generations shrank down and shifted to turn pronged claws into wings for flight. A cooler world led to a scarcity of resources, which favored smaller and more agile feeders over the hulking behemoths that once stomped across the land. Lucky for us — because not a single one of us would like to meet a six-ton dinosaur on the highway on a dark winter’s night.
Stay curious, 7B.
Random Corner
•The fastest winds in the solar system occur on Neptune. The frozen methane planet has wind speeds of more than 1,200 miles per hour. By comparison, the strongest winds recorded on Earth are about 250 miles per hour.
•People have used the power of the wind since 5,000 B.C.E., when early sailors harnessed the wind to power their boats on the Nile River. Wind-powered water pumps were used in present-day China around 200 B.C.E., and windmills were grinding grain in the Middle East about the same time.
•The first modern wind farm was installed in New Hampshire in 1980.
•Plants that grow in extremely windy conditions are described as being “anemious,” meaning “exposed to wind” or “windswept.”
•There are many different gods of wind from various cultures, including: Vayu (Hindu); Boreas, Notus, Eurus and Zephyrus (Greek); the Venti (Roman); Fūjin (Japanese) and Njord (Norse).
•While naturally occurring winds have only reached about 250 miles per hour on Earth, the most powerful gusts ever created came from a nuclear explosion that generated the equivalent of a 3,100 mile-per-hour gust.
•Wind is the largest source of renewable electricity in the U.S., providing about 9.8% of the country’s electricity. Today, there are more than 72,000 wind turbines across the country generating clean, reliable power.
•Wind energy is actually just another form of solar energy, since wind is created by the uneven heating of the Earth’s surface. Because the different types of surfaces (land, water, ice, etc.) absorb the sun’s heat at different rates, this creates wind currents.
•The U.S. is the second largest wind energy producer in the world, with wind farms in 40 out of 50 states (China produces the most).
Early notes for the 2025 legislative session
By Rep. Mark Sauter, R-Sandpoint Reader Contributor
Greetings.
The Legislative session started this week. On Jan. 6, Gov. Brad Little gave his State of the State address to a joint meeting of the House and Senate members. On Jan. 7, various committees started to meet and the House and Senate will likely start meeting for organizational votes.
At this point, nearly all the bill drafting work of the legislators (since the last legislative session) is unknown to most of the other House and Senate members (105 people). There is no clearinghouse of proposed or draft bills posted in the Capitol. The draft bills will surface as the authors, and others, believe they should. For many legislators, these bills will come as a surprise.
Some of the draft bills will be written to address a local issue for a certain district. Other bills will be written by a pair of legislators (or more) with an interest in remedying a statewide problem. Still other bills will be brought forward by a legislator who is
simply carrying a bill that comes from an interest group — sometimes these are bills from other states.
The drafting of a bill is often a private matter between a legislator and a specific, assigned attorney from the Idaho Legislative Services Office. Think of it as attorney/client privilege. Because of this situation, two or more legislators could be working independently on a bill with the same subject matter (with similar interests) but unknowing of the other’s work. Only after legislators learning of this situation and approving the sharing of the information, does a legislator have access to the complete LSO work. It’s a process.
Ideally, the above noted issue is addressed during the social/industry meetings and food events. These events serve as a platform for communication rather than simply talking with friends. Getting past the pleasantries, the get-togethers are ideal for those with the business of the Legislature in mind to question their colleagues, ask relevant questions of the hosts for these events and collaborate with other legislators. Many fruitful
legislator conversations start out with, “What bills are you working on?” For the industry hosts, it’s, “What information do you want us [legislators] to walk away with?”
Part of the preparation for voting on a bill is learning the history of the bill. Perhaps the most important questions for a legislator before voting on a bill are, “What is the problem the bill is addressing,” and, “How will the bill language address the noted problem?”
familiarize themselves with the website, frequently visit it and refresh it often.
There is a tab on the website that explains the path a bill takes to become law. However, there are many nuances to the process — and many potential roadblocks. The time necessary for a bill to “run the table” can also vary widely. Please reach out to me if you have questions or thoughts on the bill process.
The Idaho legislative website (legislature.idaho.gov) has a great amount of information regarding the daily activities of the Legislature. However, the website doesn’t post draft bills before a bill is introduced at committee meetings.
For example, a bill may be introduced at a morning committee through a “print hearing” process before very few have heard of it or had an opportunity to read it. So those interested in knowing what’s going on need to
District 1 legislators will have a meet-and-greet event in Sandpoint on Saturday, Jan. 11 at VFW Post No. 2453 at 1325 Pine St. at noon, and I can be reached at msauter@house.idaho.gov or 208-332-1035 (Statehouse) or 208-254-1184 (cell/text).
Rep. Mark Sauter is a second-term Republican legislator representing District 1A. He serves on the Agricultural Affairs; Education; and Resources and Conservation committees.
Rep. Mark Sauter. File photo
A profile in cowardice
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Gov. Little’s simpering Trump-laden State of the State address was a disgrace
By the third paragraph of Idaho Gov. Brad Little’s annual State of the State address on Jan. 6, it became clear that we can expect heightened Trumpification of state politics and policy over the next four years.
Standing before a joint session of the Idaho House and Senate at the Capitol in Boise, Little wasted no time kowtowing to the once and future president. Following his welcoming remarks, Little launched into a narrative of the 2024 election as a moment when, “America teetered between two very different futures for the next four years and beyond.”
“One future guaranteed the status quo — out-of-control federal spending, a lawless open border, sky-high inflation, onerous regulations and a depressed economy that traps families’ potential,” he said. “Americans rejected that failed path and instead re-elected a man with a very different vision for America — Donald Trump.”
Was this the Idaho State of the State, or a minor-league cosplay of Trump’s inaugural address? One could be permitted a moment of confusion. And yes, Trump indeed has a “very different vision for America” — one that was on full display during the lethal insurrection and failed coup perpetrated by his supporters and countenanced by his rhetoric and inaction to disperse the mob in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2020. That was four years to the day before Little said how “excited” he is about Trump’s return to the White House.
Even more blood-curdling, Little said, “President Trump’s vision for America actually looks a lot like Idaho.”
That was also rich, considering that right-wing celebrity troublemaker Ammon Bundy conducted a test run of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the Idaho Capitol, when he was arrested twice at the Statehouse during a special session of the Legislature in the summer of 2020. Back then, he was leading demonstrations against pandemic policies instituted by Little (called “Little Hitler” by then-Dist. 1 Rep. Heather Scott) that resulted in property damage in the Capitol and Bundy being wheeled out of the building by Idaho State Police troopers in an office chair — an incident dubbed “swivel disobedience” by some brilliant southern Idaho wordsmith.
(Bundy is today reportedly on the lam somewhere in southern Utah, ducking $53 million in fines owed in a defamation suit won against him by St. Luke’s Health System in 2022.)
That Little could stand in the Idaho House and mouth words of praise for the insurrectionist-in-chief Trump when that same chamber had been desecrated by Bundy and his MAGA-addled minions just five years prior beggared belief in political consistency. But Little’s lickspittle act wasn’t done — not by a long shot.
“With their votes, Americans affirmed they want for our country what Idaho has — safe communities, bustling economic activity, increasing incomes, tax relief, fewer regulations, fiscal responsibility and common-sense values,” he said.
Little was only right on one of those descriptors: “fewer regulations.” Idaho is in fact the “least regulated state” in the U.S., but that hasn’t delivered any of the other supposed benefits of the proto-Trumpian utopia that he conjured in his speech.
We don’t have “safe communities,” if you take into account the fact that armed militia thugs felt free to occupy the streets of Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint to “protect” us from a farcical fantasy of “Antifa” insurgency; that an actual vanload of rightwing outside agitators attempted to commit an act of terrorism against a Pride gathering in Coeur d’Alene; that Bundy and his militants harassed and threatened libraries, hospitals and the homes of public officials throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in some half-witted cause they termed “People’s Rights.”
We have “bustling economic activity,” if you count the smash-and-grab real estate frenzy that has jacked up property values to such an extreme that Idaho has joined Hawaii, Oregon and Montana in the dubious distinction of outstripping California as among the most unaffordable states for homebuyers.
That statistic, from the National Association of Realtors in 2024, also gives lie to the claim that we have “increasing incomes” in the state. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Idaho is near the bottom of the wage scale in the country, with a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour — untouched since 2009.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that per capita income in 2023 dollars is $37,169 in Idaho, with a median household income of $74,636. Meanwhile, the national per capita income is $43,289 and median household income is $78,538.
As for “tax relief,” the Tax Foundation reports that Idaho has a 5.8% corporate income tax rate (higher than Arizona, Colorado, Montana and Utah) and the Idaho State Tax Commission reported in March 2024 that Idaho ranks 35th in the nation for state and local tax burden — hardly a panacea for the tax averse.
(To be fair, the commission also reported that the state ranks 43rd when comparing taxes paid per person and has the second lowest tax burden among the 13 states in the West when
measured by percentage of income that goes toward taxes).
But Idaho also has a 6% grocery tax, which no less than the “free-market research organization” Mountain States Policy Center describes as “higher than most,” and a 5.8% income tax, which is “one of the higher income tax rates in the nation.”
As for “fiscal responsibility,” The Idaho Statesman editorial board wrote on Jan. 7 that “Idaho’s budget could get DOGE’d” under Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s “government efficiency” regime foisted on the states by Trump, noting the irony of Little’s praise for the Department of Government Efficiency in his State of the State address, when he said “Idaho was DOGE before DOGE existed.”
The reality is that Idaho suckles harder at the federal teat than most states. With a budget of $14 billion in fiscal year 2025, $5.2 billion of that comes from the hated “feds” — that’s about 37% of the total budget, according to the Statesman
Overall, Idaho ranks 25th in the nation among states that are most reliant on federal dollars (according to WalletHub), just ahead of Vermont.
On top of all that, while Little spoke out of one side of his mouth about “fiscal responsibility” and damning the “out-of-control spending” of the big, bad government, he crowed out the other side about all the money Idaho has spent on infrastructure, water projects, firefighting and education. Again, the Statesman reminded the governor that huge proportions of those dollars came from the federal government, in part via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that Trump promised but didn’t deliver, though was passed under President Joe Biden.
Finally, we have the canard of “common-sense values,” which is the loudest dog whistle available to signify the basket of authoritarian anti-trans, anti-women’s reproductive health, pro-state funding for private religious schools and anti-library/moral panic policies that Idaho’s bleeding-edge right-wingers have either pushed into law or will almost surely propose in the current legislative session.
Little even prompted a standing ovation during his Jan. 6 speech to < see COWARDICE, Page 13 >
congratulate Boise State University and its volleyball team for “standing up for what’s right” and forfeiting a fall 2024 match against San José State University because it has a transgender player on its roster. He singled out Idaho Falls Republican Rep. Barbara Ehardt for special notice, nodding to her role as the architect of Idaho’s pioneering ban on transgender athletes in women’s sports, which has become a template for similar laws around the country.
Little bowed and scraped to Trump with such effusion, that of the first five paragraphs of his speech, four were devoted to Trump and used his name three times. Little went on in his mere 22-minute address to refer to Trump a further seven times.
If other states heard that Trump’s vision for the nation is exemplified by Idaho, I’d suggest to them that it’s a warning, rather than a promise. And if Idahoans thought they had an independent-minded governor, they were disabused of that notion by Little’s simpering obeisance to Trump in what must go down as Idaho’s most craven State of the State to date.
LITERATURE
Here we present the winners of the fourth annual Sandpoint Reader 208 Fiction contest, in which we invited writers to submit a work of fiction totaling exactly 208 words for consideration by a panel of judges including Reader Publisher Ben Olson, Editor-in-Chief Zach Hagadone and Staff Writer Soncirey Mitchell.
This year we had about 25 entrants, each of whom paid $5 per piece for consideration, with first place winning $150 in cash and second and third place finishers receiving gift certificates courtesy of the Reader and its advertisers.
We had more difficulty than in years past selecting the top stories, and ended up rewarding those that most clearly illustrated a narrative arc that moved us through a concrete story. That, and they actually adhered to the 208-word requirement.
Thanks to all those who participated and we extend our hearty congratulations to the winners and honorable mentions.
— Reader Staff
‘Winner Takes All’
By Tim Martin
The race across the lake is a confidential event, available exclusively to those who can competitively swim the distance… and afford the $1 million entry fee.
The rules are simple: No names.
Don’t tell anybody, anything about it.
All contestants jump off the same boat, swim 5.5 miles.
Winner takes all (less my reasonable fee for coordinating the race).
This year, almost $6 million in the pot. We stood in the fog on the pontoon boat, around the dry bag full of cash, waiting for the sun. It rose.
I shot the pistol.
They dived, focused on beating the
Winner of cash$150prize!
others to the distant red strobe, losing sight of each other in the mist.
Idling the outboard, I followed. Spotted the trailing swimmer, just going under. Then another. And another. One by one, silently disappearing until only one remained, unknowingly racing alone.
I sped past to the finish. Waited. Stroking hard to the end, this year’s champion clutched the bottom rung of the boat’s ladder.
“Did I win?” he spluttered.
“You bet,” I said.
His look of triumph replaced by terror as he felt the teeth… then gone. I waited. A minute. Then two. The Paddler surfaced, her smile only for me.
“Until next year then,” I said.
‘The Dulcamaras Went Missing on Tuesday’
By Rianna Atencio
The Dulcamaras went missing on Tuesday.
A concerned neighbor called in a wellness check for the household on Saturday. Authorities found a spotless home, a missing couple and a notably empty shelf in the garage labeled TRAVEL. They didn’t think to check the freshly turned soil of the backyard flowerbeds; the ground had thawed on Saturday. It was planting season. The policemen went home, and the neighbors’ worry became annoyance that
the Dulcamaras couldn’t have bothered to notify someone before going on vacation.
The police returned four Saturdays later. The Dulcamaras had yet to come home, and their mail was piling up at the post office. They still didn’t check the flowerbeds. Of course nothing was growing; nobody was home to water it.
The following Wednesday, the police searched the house and took inventory with the help of Mr. Dulcamara’s
Winner of $25 gift certificateEichardt’sto
Judges’ notes:
Zach Hagadone: Attentive readers might recognize Tim Martin’s name from the 2024 edition of 208 Fiction, when he won third place for his story “The Price Paid,” which also featured a voracious Pend Oreille Paddler. This one caught my attention because I liked the idea of someone grifting folks who have more money than sense and feeding them to our resident lake monster. There’s also the potent image of someone “unknowingly racing alone,” only to be devoured by the ultimate local. Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch?
Soncirey Mitchell: Martin’s piece earned quite a few points for originality since it wasn’t another story about a dead wife or a dead pet or a dead wife’s dead pet. (Seriously, people, stop making me read stories about starving kittens and the like. My heart can’t take it.) I’m a big fan of a crime thriller with a grade-A con artist, so this twist ending delighted me, and the choppy sentence structure evoked the fast pace that makes the genre so fun.
Ben Olson: Tim Martin wrote this well, with the action moving along nicely and the plot resolved within the short framework we give for the contest guidelines. I also gave it extra points because it quite literally embodies the mantra, “Eat the Rich.” Stories that show originality always score well with me.
brother. The only item reported missing was Mrs. Dulcamara’s favorite opal hairpin. She never traveled with it for fear of theft.
On Thursday, the suitcases were discovered in the flowerbeds.
On Friday, the murder case opened.
On Saturday, I was questioned. I live across the street. Afterward, from my upstairs window, I watched the detective drive away. On the sill, an opal hairpin glinted in the morning light.
Judges’ notes:
ZH: When I was growing up in Sagle, there was a family at the end of the road that disappeared. They left everything behind — clothes, cups and plates, kids’ toys, furniture, even their car. It was all just sitting in their abandoned trailer deep in the woods, and my brother and I spent much of our childhood making up stories about what might have happened to them. I don’t suspect foul play in that case, but in this story we go there with a twist that (while being pretty apparent from the beginning) still delivers with satisfaction. I particularly appreciated the flow of time in the piece, which gives it a stepwise progression toward the ultimate reveal; and, of course, having experienced such a disappearance in real life, this story does a good job of conjuring the sense of mystery in such strange occurrences.
SM: This story has everything I look for in a mystery — imagery, foreshadowing, nosey neighbors, dead bodies and a satisfying conclusion. I enjoyed the circular nature of the narrative and the strong flow Atencio develops through repetition and the emphasis on the passage of time. Like all good stories, it left me wanting more. Do they catch the killer? Did the killer know the significance of the hairpin? Did the Dulcamaras — named after the poisonous nightshade — deserve to die?
BO: I love an ending with a twist, and I also appreciate the unspoken words in Atencio’s story. There has always been something incredibly eerie about things that disappear, so that made a great subject for this entry. My mind snagged on the awkward name Dulcamara, and also the twist ending that I couldn’t help but see coming, but otherwise this submission was very well done.
‘Special Delivery’
By Bill Borders
The snow fell thicker, the trail grew deeper, but Gideon urged Jezebel into the night.
Huddled beside him, Liza moaned with each bounce of the old sleigh.
“Hang on, love,” Gideon hollered. “Just two more miles.”
“Don’t tell me,” she groaned, “tell this baby.”
Everything was happening too soon.
The pregnancy.
The water breaking.
The weather.
Suddenly, Jezebel reared — the sleigh wrenched to a halt!
“What’s happening!?” cried Liza.
“Stay covered. A downed tree.”
Winner of $20 gift certificate to MickDuff’s
Gideon grabbed his crosscut saw and attacked the blockage.
Sawdust flew but the old cedar was stout.
“EWW-OWW-W-W!” Liza’s scream pierced the forest.
“They’re... coming... closer,” she gasped.
Gideon knew logging and hunting, not birthing or contractions.
He worked on, like a mad man.
Snow and sawdust swirled.
More contractions.
Louder screams.
Finally, the tree cleaved.
Gideon shouldered into it. Wouldn’t budge.
‘Epitaph’
Here lies a man, who died on the plains of North Dakota. Three bullets have pierced his side. They are old wounds, save for the hole in his heart from which the still-warm blood feeds the soil. Never is he to arrive home to his family, who await him in the Northwest, alongside the promise of a prosperous life. His body will never be found; his flesh now carrion, and his bones soon to be trampled to dust. He is declared dead soon
Year 2045, U.S.A:
He dropped to his knees, beaten.
So.
The baby would come here, in a blizzard, miles from the midwife.
Now Jezebel shrieked.
In the darkness, Gideon could barely make out the huge figure by the tree. Too big even for a grizzly!
Then... the tree moved!
And moved more.
The trail was passable!
Two hours later, Gideon S. Thorenson, Jr. bawled to life.
His middle name, borrowed from the Salish, was “Sasquatch.”
Judges’ notes:
ZH: This is a clean, concise and clear story with solid imagery that puts the reader in a specific place with characters whose motivations are determined for them by circumstances. We get glimpses of personality and hints at the larger relationship between them, which would have made it a tidy character study with baked-in drama. It’s that twist at the end that really elevates this story into the winners’ circle. Bonus points for using “EWW-OWW-W-W” as one of the required 208 words.
SM:With names like Gideon and Jezebel, I thought I knew where this story was going. Boy, was I wrong. The twist at the end absolutely slayed me and made me want a bumper sticker saying, “Bigfoot is real and he’s my godfather.” I appreciate that Borders was able to fit a lot of information and character development into 208 words and that his depiction of the Sasquatch is so wholesome. I’ll read stories about kindly cryptids any day.
BO: I really enjoyed the pacing to this story. Borders plodded us readers along like the clopping of the horse Jezebel’s hooves; slow and steady. I actually chuckled out loud when reading the last line, because it caught me completely by surprise. There’s a reason many parts of America are infatuated with sasquatch, or bigfoot or whatever name you want to give this hairy forest dweller. Perhaps Borders’ story is the clue cryptozoologists have been searching for relentlessly for decades. Or not. Either way, it was a fun read.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
By Coulter Eagley
after, when his letter home arrives. Said the letter: I’ll come by train. With luck I shall arrive in time to receive this letter myself.
A hole is silently dug in hallowed ground. The dead man’s family gathers around it; his father, his mother, his brothers, and his sister. Into the grave they lower an empty casket. A shovel is passed among the family, and the casket is soon buried beneath the soil. The
‘Prime’
“We gotta turn ourselves in,” Kari said while crunching numbers. There were no snacks to crunch.
“You want to live and work in the same warehouse?”
It was a redundant conversation Jere could no longer engage in.
“We still have a few months,” he said.
“We can’t pay our rent tomorrow!” cried Kari.
Jere bent over, lifted his shirt, and Kari gasped. He sold
By Jodi Rawson
his left kidney to Amazon Organ, knowing how against it she was. Poverty divided them.
A multifunctional drone, equipped with an icebox and all the proper medication, performed the operation in the comfort of their tiny apartment, while Kari was at one of her jobs. Jere’s account was credited the moment the kidney flew off.
-----
Later Across Town:
Bill pushed aside most of his prime rib that his servants split and bragged about to the neigh-
father mounts a gravestone.
In memory of Eugene Wallach:
Though his body is lost, this grave shall stand as a beacon to guide his soul safely home.
1896-1918
The marker is gone now. The grave is forgotten. The family has long since branched away from their home. Yet the casket remains.
ZH: This one is chock-full of atmosphere, which from its opening lines root the reader in a specific place with teasing markers that indicate a time gone by. There are nice word choices that evoke the high lonesomeness of a bygone West, and I liked the inventive intertextual use of the titular epitaph that gives it an extra creative boost.
SM: It was the line, “Yet the casket remains,” that really got me. I like the contrast of the coffin, a symbol of love and memory, remaining while the actual body disintegrates — as if Eugene’s family was able to preserve a part of him even after moving on from their shared home. The addition of the letter adds a nice depth to the character, imbuing him with love and hope while showing that it wasn’t enough to bring him home.
BO: This story reminds me of the westerns I used to watch as a kid. Sometimes they left us sitting on the edge of our seat, watching as the horrors of the pioneer days manifested themselves. Sometimes they evoked that lonesome feeling we of the West feel just from being born here. This story had great imagery along those lines, and the last paragraph gave me goosebumps.
bor’s servants. Bill hadn’t quite recovered his appetite.
“Hon, I want a new baby,” said Barb as silver was cleared and drinks were served.
“We’ve done this, Barb — it’s long and exhausting.”
“A drone could deliver one tonight through Amazon Stork,” Barb persisted, “costs less than your new kidney.”
“As usual,” agreed Barb, and they clinked glasses.
ZH: I love me some dystopian rumination, and this piece toys with satire in a post-post industrial society where Amazon fulfills every basic (and not so basic) need. I also appreciated the juxtaposition of perspective, with the haves and the havenots leading very different, though intimately connected, lives. The touches of wry, dark humor are also appreciated.
SM: The line, “There were no snacks to crunch,” was my favorite part of the story. I appreciate the satirical — but sadly not that unrealistic — look into the future and the critique of wealth inequality.
BO: I appreciated the effort put into this story, as well as the dystopian atmosphere that makes fun of our infatuation with large, soulless corporations like Amazon. It gave me Kurt Vonnegut vibes.
Sandpoint library discusses Indigenous literature with Let’s Talk About It
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
The Sandpoint branch of the East Bonner County Library will host a visiting University of Idaho professor for the first of three installments of Let’s Talk About It, a series of adult discussion groups created by the Idaho Commission for Libraries.
The discussion begins Thursday, Jan. 9 at 5:30 p.m. and will focus on Firekeeper’s Daughter, by Ojibwe author Angeline Boulley as part of the newest theme, “Through Indigenous Story: An Invitation to Understanding.”
“Stories are the lifelines that connect people, cultures and communities. So, it is my hope that by coming together to explore books by Indigenous authors, a greater understanding and appreciation across groups can be gained and a sense of shared humanity known,” said Joyce Jowdy, library community engagement and adult programming coordinator.
Library Teen Services Coordinator Bethany Williamson, who selected the first book from the Let’s Talk About It list, said the young adult novel has something to
teach people of all ages with its themes of “community, belonging and life’s purpose.”
The novel follows Daunis, a biracial young adult who witnesses a murder and becomes embroiled in the FBI investigation. Williamson warned that the story deals heavily with illegal drug use and sexual assault.
“The author weaves Indigenous culture and language throughout the story to enhance this soul searching of Daunis, all while leading the reader on an adventure with several thrills and suspense,” Williamson said.
Dr. Janis Johnson, who teaches ethnic American literature and American Indian and Black studies courses at the U of I, will journey from Moscow to guide Thursday’s discussion.
“By engaging with Indigenous narratives, participants in LTAI can confront biases, deepen their appreciation for cultural resilience, and contribute to the ongoing struggle for Native sovereignty and equity,” said Johnson. “This theme aims to foster a sense of shared identity and humanity, encouraging dialogue and reflection on
the richness of Indigenous cultures and their enduring significance.”
Those who did not have a chance to read the novel beforehand can still benefit from the lesson and check out the next two books: An American Sunrise, by Joy Harjo, and Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s, by Tiffany Midge, on their way out.
Sponsored by the Bonner County Human Rights Task Force and Friends of the Library, the program will reconvene at the Sandpoint branch of the library (1407 Cedar St.) on Thursdays, Feb. 13 and March 13 for the next two discussions. Register online at ebonnerlibrary.org.
Fire Keeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley. Courtesy photo
Panida seeks input on lobby changes
By Reader Staff
The board of directors of the Panida Theater is inviting feedback from the community on whether — or how — to make changes to the theater’s lobby area to address concerns about crowding during full-house events.
To that end, the Panida is hosting an open house on Saturday, Jan. 11, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with an exhibit of various plans for lobby improvements. Panida board members will be on hand to provide details and context for the plans, which range from a “no-changes” option, to augmenting the lobby with access to the theater’s currently vacant northern retail space or constructing a passthrough to the adjacent Little Theater.
“The bottom-line factor about any change for the lobby is to strictly maintain its historical character,” stated Panida Board President Sean Behm. “But assuming any change does adhere to its historical character — or can even return the lobby to its original functions — how can we best address the crowding that occurs in the lobby at sold-out performances?”
A major contributor to overcrowding in the lobby is the concessions counters, which are a more recent addition to the theater. When the Panida was built in 1927, theaters didn’t offer food and drink on site. Patrons would bring in
snacks or drinks from nearby restaurants — if food and drink were even allowed in the performance space. Today, concessions are a critical revenue source for all theaters, including the Panida.
“So one big question is, how can we continue to offer and improve access by audiences to our food and drink concessions, while reducing the extreme crowding?” Behm stated.
Other goals with any lobby change are, if possible, to provide greater ingress and egress without blocking some of the foyer doors, as the current concessions do; uncover and feature the historical fountain in the lobby’s eastern wall that’s been obscured for decades; and provide a more spacious and dramatic entryway to the theater, as audiences would have experienced in the 1920s.
Behm said the theater board and staff have already held separate presentations of the different plans with Panida stakeholder and volunteer groups. The open house on Jan. 11 is an opportunity for general public comment before the board considers a decision at its regular Thursday, Feb. 6 meeting, which is also open to the public.
“We’d love to see a great turnout from the community to see these plans and give us feedback,” Behm stated.
Panida board agendas and meetings are available on the “about” page at panida.org.
Send event listings to calendar@sandpointreader.com
THURSDAY, january 9
Journal Making Class
5:30-7:30pm @ Barrel 33
With Nicole Black. Make your very own journal from scratch. $65
Live Music w/ Kevin Dorin
8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Live Music w/ BTP
5pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Live Music w/ Ian Newbill
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Live Music w/ Jackson Roltgen
6-8pm @ Smokesmith BBQ
Live Music w/ Oak St. Connection
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Live Music w/ Hannah Meehan
6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Live Music w/ Courtney & Co.
8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Live Music w/ Matt Mitchell Music Co. w/ Little Wolf
6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Live Music w/ Brenden McCoy
5:30-8:30pm @ Barrel 33
Sandpoint Chess Club
9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee
Meets every Sunday at 9am
Cribbage Night (double elimination) 6pm @ Connie’s Lounge ($5 entry)
FriDAY, january 10
Backcountry Film Festival
7pm @ Panida Theater
SOLE’s annual fundraiser, with films that celebrate getting outdoors, benefiting this important youth program
Murder on the Red Carpet
5-9pm @ Talus Rock Retreat
A murder mystery dinner. 208-2558458 for more information
Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes
6-9pm @ 1908 Saloon
SATURDAY, january 11
Live Music w/ Kenny James Miller Band
9pm @ 219 Lounge
Old school rock ’n’ blues with some soul
Live Music w/ Mike Wagoner
6pm @ Connie’s Lounge
SunDAY, january 12
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
Trivia Night
6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Collage Night w/ Woods Wheatcroft
5:30-8pm @ Woods Wheatcroft Studio
Supplies provided. Personal supplies welcome. BYOB drinks and snacks. $20 drop in. Come down and have fun
Live Piano w/ Peter Lucht
5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
An evening of jazz piano
Live Trivia ($5 entry/person)
7pm @ Connie’s Lounge
January 9-16, 2025
Registration Deadline:
Murder on the Red Carpet
An Oscar-themed murder mystery dinner at Talus Rock Retreat. 208-2558458 to register. $127/person
Sandpoint Contra Dance 7-10pm @ Sandpoint Community Hall
Intro dancing at 7pm. All are welcome. $5 suggested donation
Paint, Sip and Plant
5:30-7:30pm @ Barrel 33
Night of painting and planting a new plant. $55. RSVP: barrel33sandpoint.com
Live Music w/ Mason Van Stone
6-8pm @ Baxter’s on Cedar
Live Music w/ Brian Jacobs
6-8pm @ Baxter’s on Cedar
Live Music w/ Oak Street Connection
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Rock, lounge, pop and even show tunes
Live Music w/ Fiddlin’ Red
1-4pm @ Barrel 33
monDAY, january 13
Outdoor Experience Group Run 6pm @ Outdoor Experience 3-5 miles, all levels welcome
Guest speaker Lisa Polk: “100% Safe, Smart Money Moves for Retiring Better”
Quaff Gala five course community style dinner • @ Eichardt’s Pub
An event to showcase Eichardts’ amazing chefs Reese Warren, Steve Flagg and Brandon DuMars. Five-course community style dinner with drink pairings. RSVP required: Stop by Eichardt’s to register. $75/person
Live Jazz Piano w/ Rich & Jenny • 5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
A vibrant jazz piano duo
wednesDAY, january 15
Taste of Tango
5-8pm @ Barrel 33
Learn the tango. $15
ThursDAY, january 16
Spanish for Travelers
5:30-7pm @ Sandpoint Library
Meet inside the communuty rooms
Reader Community Party and 10th anniversary
5-8pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co.
Come down for some free appetizers and a celebration of 10 years of the Reader. No need to RSVP - all are welcome. This will be the last night to buy “Drink the Reader” beers at Matchwood
Brim, Band and Sip
5:30-8pm @ Barrel 33
Customize your own wide brim hat. First drink included. $85-$95
Cribbage Night (double elimination)
6pm @ Connie’s Lounge ($5 entry)
Stop calling Nosferatu ‘Gothic’
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
Warning: This article contains spoilers.
Horror movies aren’t especially known for their delicate themes and social commentary, but fans had high hopes for Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu, which promised to deliver a masterclass in adapting Gothic literature and its traditional layered symbolism to the big screen. Eggers faceplanted in about 10 minutes, even though he had more than 80 other Dracula adaptations — plus the original 1922 Nosferatu — from which to draw inspiration.
In addition to being a lackluster movie, Nosferatu represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the Gothic genre, leaning heavily into aesthetics and leaving little room for character development, emotion or plot, for that matter. After having laughed through the movie, I left with an appreciation for the cinematography and costume design, and the solace that at least Willem Dafoe had fun making it.
Eggers managed to check off every superficial box for a
traditional Gothic tale. Rats? Check. Necrophilia? Check. Castles, disease, death and the heiress of Gothicism herself, Lily-Rose Depp? Check, check, check, check. Yet, despite throwing everything at the screenplay, Nosferatu was devoid of substance.
Eggers barely introduced the characters, let alone delved into their relationships, and therefore never gave audiences a reason to care if they lived or died. Plus, despite gruesome deaths and Ozzy Osbourne-style pigeon snacking, the film didn’t conjure a single shudder.
Frankly, it was hilarious to watch the all-star cast — including Depp, Dafoe, Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Bill Skarsgård — give it their all for a script that failed to deliver any kind of meaning.
Nosferatu doesn’t deserve to be called “Gothic,” it’s an unintentional comedy at worst and a vapid horror movie at best.
The concept of the unheimlich — translated as “uncanny” or, more literally, “unhomely” — is central to the Gothic genre and identifies the unsettling feeling that only comes from a twisted
familiarity. Stories like Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House or Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak evoke the unheimlich by perverting the domestic sphere — taking a family-centric, traditionally safe space and using societal norms and supernatural elements to turn it against the occupants. This violation of the domestic is often understood in sexual terms.
Eggers had everything he needed to follow in del Toro’s footsteps with the protagonist Ellen Hutter (Depp), whose character embodies this violation on paper.
As a vulnerable young girl, Ellen is essentially raped by the vampire Count Orlok
(Skarsgård), who takes over her body from across Europe. From that point on, as Ellen briefly mentions, she feels unclean and unworthy of being in the domestic sphere, embodied by her friends, the Hardings, who have a seemingly perfect, traditional family.
Ellen has all the hallmarks of a Gothic heroine, as she’s stripped of her family and bodily autonomy and faces the threat of sexual violation, but Eggers never explores her character development. It seems the director was distracted by the fact that, unlike in 1922, he could write real sex scenes and make Depp moan every other line.
Instead of showing the psychological ramifications of Ellen’s abuse, Eggers stops at depicting a gorgeous 25-yearold getting raped over and over again — first by Orlok, then by her husband, then by Orlok again. Depp’s character is reduced to a sexual object by the men on both sides of the camera.
Nosferatu could have been a chilling tale of love, sacrifice and bodily autonomy, as well as an exploration of concepts like purity and virginity. It was, instead, a visually stunning but ultimately unfeeling adaptation that did nothing but retread a very old and often told story.
SOLE hosts 20th annual Winter Wildlands Alliance Backcountry Film Festival
By Reader Staff
Though there’s little to no snow in the lowlands, it’s time to grab your friends and family Friday, Jan. 10 to celebrate the local SnowSchool at the 20th annual Winter Wildlands Alliance Backcountry Film Festival at 7 p.m. at the Panida Theater (300 N. First Ave.).
The film festival is an annual event that celebrates human-powered, backcountry-inspired stories rooted in wild snowscapes, stewardship and stoke. Each year, the series makes its world premiere in Boise and then tours to more than 100 showings around the
world — from the U.S. and Canada to Antarctica, Europe, Australia and Asia — including a stop in Sandpoint.
The films come from renowned filmmakers who search backcountry corners across the globe to submit their best work, and from grassroots filmmakers who take a video camera out on their weekend excursions and submit their best films. In addition to the impactful films, there will be a “Rockin’ Raffle” including the opportunity to win a piece of Schweitzer history — a ski chair from the Musical Chairs lift.
The festival was created in
2004 to highlight the Winter Wildlands Alliance’s efforts to preserve and promote winter landscapes for human-powered users.
Funds raised stay in local communities to support like-minded, human-powered recreation efforts and to raise awareness of winter management issues, avalanche training/safety and winter education programs like SOLE’s award-winning and nationally recognized SnowSchool Experience program.
As part of SOLE’s larger fall season Reach and Teach Kids Campaign, the annual event aims at raising aware-
ness and essential funds for SOLE’s SnowSchool at Schweitzer. Since its inception in 2012, the place-based experiential education program has put more than 4,500 local area youth on the snow to explore and learn in (and about) their winter wildlands from the mountains to the lakes.
Educators and their students experience fun and engaging outdoor education lessons on outdoor living travel skills, snow science, winter ecology, avalanche awareness and conservation literacy.
During the past 12 winter seasons, every fifth-grade student in the Lake Pend Oreille
School District has been afforded outdoor opportunities through funds raised during the event and other partnership opportunities, including LPOSD, Panhandle Alliance for Education, the Innovia Foundation, the William Wishnick Foundation, the Blue Skies Foundation, TC Energy Foundation, Bonner General Health, the city of Sandpoint, Kochava, P1FCU, Mountain West Bank and Idaho Blue Cross Foundation.
For more information on the Winter Wildlands Alliance Backcountry Film Festival and Selkirk Outdoor Leadership and Education, visit soleexperiences.org.
Courtesy photo
By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Columnist
I’d been having a relatively easy week; Christmas was packed up and tucked away, ideas for this column were half-baked and my recipe for chili rellenos was ready to share. It’s a crowd-pleaser that I make every Christmas — and this year was no exception. Photography is not my forte (go ahead, ask Reader Publisher Ben Olson), so I was pretty happy to have a couple of holiday photographers on hand to “get the food shots.” And we did!
Over the years, my youngest daughter Casey has taken more than her share of food photos for me, which always comes with the gentle reminder, “Momma, think quality, not quantity.” Ouch. Lighting is my Achilles’ heel, and “The Shadow” follows my every move (and photo). So, I was thrilled to turn the Christmas food photos over to the professionals — and feeling pretty good about sharing one of my favorite recipes. Then, my good friend Darcy spoiled it all with one phone call. She phoned to tell me that she’d served chili rellenos for Christmas, and all the guests loved it so much that they wanted the recipe! So she shared it.
“Where did you get the recipe?” I queried. “From the Reader,” she replied. Foiled.
Sure enough, I searched the online archives, and there it was. I have a good memory of most things, like food, but that one slipped by me. In my defense, during the peak of COVID-19, I’d just returned from a 4,000-mile solo car odyssey to Chicago for the birth
The Sandpoint Eater A delicious decade
of my latest grandbaby, Runa Rae. Looking at the photo that accompanied the recipe brought back many COVID memories — there was no one to cook for at my home, so I’d package things up and make porch deliveries to friends.
There’s no index for the columns or recipes; and, after 10 years of biweekly submissions, duplicating a recipe is always a fear of mine. To the best of my knowledge, it only happened once. Though I vaguely remembered it in a column, it was one of the few times the original recipe didn’t make it to the online archives, which I only discovered after the fact.
I’m not sure how many recipes I’ve submitted over the years, other than “a lot.” I have just as many waiting to be shared. My criteria are sub-
Wonton soup
jective, as I try to keep recipes germane to the season or holiday and alternate between sweet and savory offerings. Sometimes, a friend or family member will ask for a recipe, and since I have to measure ingredients and commit it to paper anyway, it will most likely end up as a column recipe.
I rarely have a failure because I have made most of my recipes dozens (if not hundreds) of times. My biggest failure was creating a huckleberry muffin with white chocolate, almonds and lemon zest. I think they would be the decadent finale to a lovely Champagne brunch, and the recipe would be perfect for my Mother’s Day column!
I’m unsure how many of you like to watch your baked goods come to life in the oven, but it’s one of my secret
pleasures. With significant anticipation, I watched them rise to great heights before collapsing right before my dazed eyes.
I’m still unsure what went wrong: too much or too little leavening, over-mixing or adding too much sugar, but I loathe wasting food, so once the cookie-like discs cooled, they were wrapped and frozen for posterity. Luckily, son-inlaw John loves bread pudding, and the story has a semi-happy ending (although that recipe has yet to be reattempted).
One of my favorite recipes I make for myself is wonton soup, especially when I’m feeling under the weather or need a quick meal to take to an infirm friend. Daughter Ryanne often encourages me to share the recipe, though it’s so simple it barely felt worthy
of column space.
But this week, after myriad exposures from grandkids (and at holiday gatherings), plenty of us are fighting assorted viruses and maladies, and it seemed the right time to share said recipe. There aren’t many ingredients, but the fragrance and flavor from the fresh ginger delivers healing qualities at the first spoonful.
It’s the perfect get-well remedy, and just in time for us to be our best selves and gather at Matchwood Brewing to celebrate the Readers’ 10th anniversary on Thursday, Jan. 16, from 5-8 p.m. I sure hope to see you all there.
Ten years. Well done, Ben and Zach, thanks for having me along for the ride. What a delicious decade!
You can substitute vegetable stock and use vegetable wontons, I recommend Knorr’s or Better Than Bullion pastes for chicken or vegetable stock base. Miniature wontons are preferred, but it’s hard to find them in the vegetable-only variety. Add other vegetables to your liking or extra protein, such as shrimp or cooked chicken. Yield 2 bowls.
INGREDIENTS: DIRECTIONS:
•5 cups chicken stock (canned or, if using a base, use according to instructions)
•1 tbs fresh ginger, peeled and minced (a piece about the size of your thumb)
•½ carrot, thinly julienned
•¼ teaspoon salt
•1 tbs soy sauce
•2-3 baby bok choy, trimmed and quartered lengthwise
•2-3 mushrooms of choice, thinly sliced
•8-12 miniature wontons, fresh or frozen
•1 green onion, sliced thin, diagonally
In a medium size saucepan, bring chicken stock to a boil. Add ginger, carrot, salt and soy sauce. Reduce heat and cover.
Slice mushrooms as thin as possible, quarter boy choy, slice green onion.
Remove lid and bring stock back to a boil. Add the wontons, mushrooms and bok choy. Cook 3-4 minutes. Won tons should float to top. Ladle into bowls. Top with green onions.
Festival announces Grammy-winning Brothers Osborne
By Reader Staff
The Festival at Sandpoint announced Grammy-winning siblings Brothers Osborne will perform on Thursday, July 31. Member presale for tickets opens Thursday, Jan. 9 from 7 a.m.-midnight. Tickets go on sale to the general public at 7 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 10.
Brothers Osborne are one of music’s most consistently adventurous bands, a duo connected by blood, but also a lifetime of performing together and a shared working-class upbringing in Deale, Md. The reigning CMA and ACM Duo of the Year winners, John and TJ Osborne are leaders of a progressive and still classic school of country music, and the faces of the new generation of Nashville.
The siblings took home their first Grammy in 2022, winning Best Country Duo/ Group Performance for their song “Younger Me,” inspired by TJ’s recent coming out. The song is featured on the deluxe version of their Grammy-nominated album, Skeletons. The band has been nominated for 12 Grammys in total, standing as six-time CMA Vocal Duo of the Year winners — and have been nominated again this year in the category — and are fourtime ACM Duo of the Year
winners.
Overall, Brothers Osborne have collected seven CMA awards, seven ACM trophies and received the ASCAP Vanguard Award in 2019. Their critically acclaimed hit songs have tallied multiple RIAA Gold and Platinum certifications while surpassing more than 2.7 billion global streams.
Previously sharing the bill with Chris Stapleton, Eric Church, Little Big Town and Miranda Lambert, Brothers
Osborne’s latest headlining “We’re Not For Everyone Tour” hit more than 50 markets. John Osborne produced Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville and has recently produced albums for Grace Bowers and Caylee Hammack. Their fourth studio album, Brothers Osborne, was released in September 2024 (EMI Records Nashville), which featured the single “Nobody’s Nobody.” They also released the Break Mine EP that fea-
tured two new songs.
The duo are wrapping up dates in the U.S. and will tour the U.K. and Ireland in early 2025. Keep up with Brothers Osborne and find upcoming shows at BrothersOsborne.com.
Tickets are $59.95 for general admission, with gates opening Thursday, July 31 at 6 p.m. and music starting at 7:30 p.m. Purchase tickets at festivalatsandpoint.com.
Matt Mitchell Music Co., Idaho Pour Authority, Jan. 11
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
It’s hard to do better than Matt Mitchell’s website, which suggests his sound is akin to The Band taking a trip to Laurel Canyon and picking up John Prine on the way. From Spokane but based in a live-in imported Japanese bus, the singer-songwriter does indeed evoke those vibes, but with his own observational, sometimes confessional and
always razor-sharp lyrics that hint at a sense of world-weariness that’s still game for whatever’s around the next bend in the road.
Performing as the Matt Mitchell Music Company, he gigs in spaces both intimate and rollicking, playing more than 100 shows a year both under the MMMC moniker and with other groups. A true Northwest original, he’ll be at IPA for a Saturday, Jan. 11 show with local openers Little
Wolf (a.k.a. Josh Hedlund and Justin Landis). If you’re going to miss a show this week, don’t let it be this one.
With Little Wolf, 6-8 p.m., FREE, 21+. Idaho Pour Authority, 203 Cedar St., 208-597-7096, idahopourauthority.com. Listen at mattmitchellmusicco.com, bandcamp.com and Spotify.
This week’s RLW by Zach
Hagadone
READ
Regardless of what the calendar says, spooky tales are always in season. Damnable Tales: A Folk Horror Anthology is about as good as it gets, bringing together stories from the likes of Algernon Blackwood, Robert Louis Stevenson and the inimitable Shirley Jackson, among many others. Selected and illustrated by Richard Wells, the entries cover a wide swath of literature from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s, representing some of the finest eerie writing in the English language. Find it where you find books.
LISTEN
By now there are enough bands that deal in jangly, jumpy, Django Reinhart-influenced “gypsy” jazz-folk that the sound ought to qualify as a genre unto itself. Among the better — but lesser-known — practitioners of the style is Caravan of Thieves, which distinguishes itself for its pitch-perfect harmonies and quirky, often sweetly subversive lyrics that border on the carnivalesque. I’m a particular fan of the 2015 album Kiss Kiss, but also 2012’s The Funhouse. Listen where you listen to music.
WATCH
Hugh Grant might have been a rom-com heartthrob during his 1990s heyday, but recent years have shown that he really shines as a villain — and no more so than in The Heretic Released in November, the film is a classic entrapment tale in which Grant’s character snares a pair of Mormon missionaries in his creepy house in order to “test” their faith through a series of sinister disquisitions on religion that culminate in a lethal game of cat-and-mouse. The first two-thirds are a stellar study in suspense, but it fizzles toward the end. Regardless, it’s not for the faint of heart. Available for rent on Amazon Prime.
Brothers Osborne. Courtesy photo
From Pend Oreille Review, January 8, 1915
NO PARDON FOR VIGUE
The state pardoning board today refused to grant a pardon to Joseph Vigue, who murdered his wife at Cocolalla nearly five years ago. Secretary of State Barker, who is by virtue of his office a member of the pardon board, being familiar with the circumstances of the crime, stated to the board that it was one of cold blood, and the board made short shift of the case. The pardon board was in session two days and considered over 30 pardon cases and but one pardon, a conditional one, was granted.
Joseph Vigue, whose pardon was refused, murdered his wife at his squatter’s home two and a half miles northwest of Cocolalla on February 2, 1909. The deed was perpetrated with the butt of a Winchester rifle, with which Vigue ran after his wife as she fled from the house from him, and beat her to death with blows upon the head.
After the crime Vigue remained at his house until an officer who had learned of his act went there and took him in custody. He lay in the jail for 11 months before being tried, during which time he is said to have suffered extreme remorse of conscience. At the trial, which took place in January 1910, Vigue’s friends made a strong effort to establish a plea of insanity, and it is evident that their efforts were of some avail as the jury rendered a verdict of guilty of murder in the second degree. Judge Dunn, before whom the case was tried, sentenced Vigue to a term of imprisonment of not less than 10 years, nor more than 50 years. The man has therefore at this time served nearly four years of his crime.
BACK OF THE BOOK So dumb it squeaks
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
I have an itinerant column I trot out every month or so I’ve dubbed “Dumb of the Week,” which highlights the sheer stupidity at work — usually by politicians.
This week, I’m merging our “Back of the Book” space with “Dumb of the Week” to give you this uber-dumb collection of nonsense that flowed through the toilet pipe during the past week. To wit:
Heather Scott
While many of us breathed a sigh of relief when Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, was shuffled off to District 2 after redistricting (a move she, of course, claimed was partisan and directed entirely at her), Boise still has to deal with Idaho’s dumber version of Marjorie Taylor Greene.
It was no surprise to see the first legislation introduced at the 2025 Idaho legislative session was by Scott attacking gay marriage, which was legalized nationwide in 2015. Scott’s introduction isn’t a bill, but a memorial, which serves as a sort of petition to the House. In other words, it’s window dressing and dog whistles for the worst of us.
Also interesting is the second bill introduced, from Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, which was a resolution commending the Boise State University women’s volleyball team for forfeiting its matches against San José State University in protest of the team having a transgender athlete.
So right off the bat we’re attack-
ing gay marriage and applauding bigotry. Yeehaw.
Korn and the LARPing LARPers Incoming-Bonner County Commissioner Ron Korn made no attempts to hide the fact that he’s very into militias while campaigning. He used to call his local gang of LARPers the Three Percenters, but after that organization was listed by Canada as a terrorist group, he changed the name to “Seven Bravo,” but don’t worry, it’s still the same group of bearded fools playing grabass with assault rifles and trying to convince the rest of the world that they are serious.
Now Korn wants the rest of us to embrace his militant philosophy with a plan he brought forward at the Jan. 7 Bonner County board of commissioners’ weekly business meeting.
Korn introduced the idea that we should form a “Bonner County Civil Defence and Resilience Team,” which sounds pretty dang close to a militia. They even have a nifty logo.
Look, there’s nothing wrong with being prepared for disasters, but the ignorant delusions that fuel this paranoia were out in full force at Korn’s meeting Jan. 8 with the People’s Rights group. If there’s any group of people I don’t want coming to defend me in my time of need it’s political extremists who are scared of Antifa burning down cities but think the Jan. 6 insurrection was A-OK.
The dumb is strong with this one Finally, we get to President-elect Donald Trump, the king of stupid. The man over half of Americans voted for — despite being charged with al-
most three dozen felonies, despite his being found liable for sexual assault, despite four years of an unstable presidency followed by almost four years of an unstable ex-presidency — is now on the warpath for... Greenland?
Lately, Trump has been ejecting stupidity from his mouth like magma from Mount Vesuvius in 79 C.E.
At a freewheeling press conference on Jan. 7, which is essentially an hors d’oeuvre for the next four years, Trump rambled about the following:
• He said he would pursue acquiring Greenland and retake the Panama Canal. He refused to rule out military force or economic pressure to achieve either. Trump has also said he wants to take Canada and make it the 51st state, as well as Mexico. At one point, he referred to the border with Canada as an “artificially drawn line.” He also proclaimed he would rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”
• Trump expressed “deep sympathy” for the Jan. 6 rioters and waffled on whether he would pardon them all. He also claimed Hezbollah was somehow involved in the Jan. 6 riot, which he inspired.
• Trump railed against low-flow faucets, shower heads and windmills. He reiterated he’d seek steep tariffs against both Canada and Mexico. He said Jack Smith “executes people.” He said Biden “wants all gas heaters out of your homes.”
Stable genius, indeed. Sometimes, the dumb is so dumb it squeaks.
Solution on page 22
Laughing Matter
By Bill Borders
One day one of my little nephews came up to me and asked me if the equator was a real line that went around the Earth, or just an imaginary one. I had to laugh. Laugh and laugh. Because I didn’t know, and I thought that maybe by laughing he would forget what he asked me.
CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1.Expend
6.Fourth sign of the zodiac
10.Opera house box
14.Home run (baseball)
15.Pertaining to flight
16.Computer symbol
17.Japanese animation
18.Rodents
19.Impact sound
20.Like a gyroscope
22.Desire
23.Satisfies
24.Belief system
25.Heads
29.Lowlife
31.Unassisted
33.Alike
37.Muffle
38.Turned into
39.Perfume
41.Denounced (archaic)
42.Lettering device
44.Focusing glass
45.Old Jewish scholars
48.Pandemonium
50.Small fastener
51.Coquetry
“Drought-resistant plants preponderate in this desert region.”
56.It has a palm and fingers
57.Hubs
Solution on page 22
Solution on page 22
61.Sea eagles
62.Part portrayed
63.Exam
9.Pear type
10.Relating to liturgy
34.Not early
35.Ends a prayer
36.Scarlet and crimson
DOWN
1.Carpet type
2.Racehorse
3.Arab ruler
4.Captain of the Nautilus
5.Clothe
6.Neck artery
7.Harvester
64.Adjust again Word Week of the Corrections: Happiness is an empty corrections box. preponderate /pri-PON-duh-reyt/ [verb] 1. to exceed in weight, influence, importance, amount, etc.
