Reader_Jan12_2023

The week in random review

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

on england

43

Number of minerals found in the waters of Bath, England, where a trio of hot springs have attracted visitors for thousands of years — first as a sacred site, later as a health resort with an iconic bath house constructed by the Romans in the first century CE. Those minerals include sodium, calcium, chloride, bicarbonate, magnesium, iron and sulfate in high concentrations — allegedly giving the water healing properties but also (as I can attest) lending it a “distinct” rotten egg flavor.

~1,100

Number of calories in a modest “English breakfast,” consisting of one fried egg, two slices of bacon, two sausages, ½ tin of baked beans, two grilled tomatoes, two portions of “fried bread,” two portions of hash browns and one portion of fried mushrooms. I ate this for three days straight, and I lived to tell the tale — so far.

fun with english

One of George Bernard Shaw’s most famous quotes: “England and America are two countries separated by a common language.” I spent three weeks in the U.K. over the holidays, and I can tell you that Shaw is spot on. Here are a few examples that bemused me: a “jumper” is a sweater, from the French jupe, meaning “short coat”; “pants” are “trousers,” the former also meaning “knickers”; “shattered” seems to have replaced “knackered” as the colloquial term for being exhausted; and a raincoat is generally referred to as an “anorak.”

531 feet

Height of the “moving observation tower” on the beach at Brighton, England. It’s basically a big glass-and-steel donut that takes about 25 minutes to go up and down, offering huge views of the seascape fronting East Sussex’s original resort town (and maybe the first resort town in the English-speaking world).

DEAR READERS,

I think I can safely speak for the rest of the staff that we’re glad to have Editor-in-Chief Zach Hagadone back from his holiday in England.

We’re a small staff and a lot of our duties are often spread thin. When one goes on vacation, the others have to pick up the slack. News Editor Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey did a great job filling Zach’s size-13 shoes at the editor’s desk.

This week’s cover photo was taken by Jim Howes near Copeland, Idaho (in Boundary County). If you have photos you think would look good on our cover, or on our Photos of the Week page, please send them to me here: ben@sandpointreader.com

It’s always fun to see your photographs, and we love publishing your original photos and artwork on our covers, so send them in! Have a great week out there.

–Ben Olson,

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

www.sandpointreader.com

Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com

Editorial:

Zach Hagadone (Editor) zach@sandpointreader.com

Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey (News Editor) lyndsie@sandpointreader.com

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About the Cover

This week’s cover photo was taken by Jim Howes in Copeland, which is in Boundary County.

“The land of embarrassment and breakfast.”

— Julian Barnes, author

Status hearing set in Moscow murder case

Affidavit details timeline, as well as cell phone and DNA evidence allegedly tying WSU researcher to the killing of four UI students

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff

A Washington State University graduate student charged with the murder of four University of Idaho students will go before a Latah County judge for the second time Thursday, Jan. 12 at 8 a.m. for a preliminary status hearing. The court appearance marks the latest in a case that saw little movement from the time of the homicides in mid-November until Dec. 30, when police arrested 28-year-old suspect Bryan Kohberger at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania.

Kohberger was extradited to Idaho Jan. 4 and heard the charges against him — a felony burglary charge and four counts of first-degree murder — on Jan. 5.

Law enforcement officials have allegedly connected Kohberger to the Nov. 13 killings of Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Wash.; Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls; and Madison Mogen,

21, of Coeur d’Alene.

While Goncalves, Kernodle and Mogen were roommates in the house on King Road near the UI campus in Moscow where the homicides occurred, Chapin was spending the night as a guest of Kernodle, his girlfriend. Stab wounds were determined as the cause of death for all four victims.

A 19-page affidavit from Moscow Police Cpl. Brett Payne, who was among the first to respond to the scene of the murders, was unsealed Jan. 5, and detailed the timeline investigators have been able to create from tips, surveillance and firsthand witness accounts from surviving roommates at the King Road house. The timeline estimates that the murders occurred between 4-4:25 a.m.

Kohberger, a Ph.D. student in criminal justice at Washington State, is allegedly tied to the crime scene by vehicle sightings; cell phone records showing he drove by the King Road residence on at least a dozen occasions in the

months before the homicides, and disconnected his phone from cell towers during the window the crime was committed; and DNA evidence found on a knife sheath left at the crime scene.

In addition, one surviving roommate — identified in the affidavit as “D.M.” — said she was awakened in her second-floor bedroom around 4 a.m. by what sounded like Goncalves “playing with her dog in one of the upstairs bedrooms.” Shortly after that, D.M. recalls hearing a voice saying “there’s someone here.” She looked out her bedroom door, but saw no one. She opened her door for a second time, according to the affidavit, when she heard crying, along with a male voice saying something like, “It’s OK, I’m going to help you.”

The third time she opened her door, the affidavit states, D.M. saw a “figure clad in black cloth-

ing and a mask that covered the person’s mouth and nose walking towards her.” She recalled that the figure was “5’ 10” or taller, male, not very muscular, but athletically built with bushy eyebrows.” The figure walked past D.M. toward an

Bonner County officials sworn in

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff

A slate of new and re-elected Bonner County officials were sworn into office Jan. 9, marking the return of some old faces and the addition of two new members on the board of county commissioners.

Commissioner Dan McDonald performed his last act as chairman of the board by leading the Bonner County Administration Building’s packed first-floor conference room in the Pledge of Allegiance, then shared some parting words with the ceremony’s audience.

“It’s been a great six years,” he said. “When Jeff [Connolly] and I first came in we had a goal to make the county no longer act like government, and actually act like the private sector. We saw an unsustainable financial picture [and] processes that were too much like

typical government.

exit, and she then locked herself in her room.

Investigators have determined that the physical description of the unknown man in the King Road house matches Kohberger.

Records show that the surviving roommates asked friends to come over later that morning to assist with one of the second-floor victims who was suspected to have “passed out and was not waking up,” according to Moscow police. At 11:58 a.m., a 911 call requested “aid for an unconscious person.”

Upon arrival, Moscow police discovered the quadruple homicide.

Law enforcement officials are still accepting tips, particularly from anyone familiar with the suspect. Share tips by calling 208-883-7180, emailing tipline@ ci.moscow.id.us or send digital media to fbi.gov/moscowidaho.

Commissioners elect Bradshaw as new chairman of the board

“We set out on a new path and set some new goals and, while it would be great for Jeff and I to be able to take credit, I have to give the credit to all the employees and department heads who said, ‘You know what? We’re going to join in here. We’re going to pull together. We’re going to make it work out,’” he added.

McDonald called the occasion “bittersweet,” and congratulated Commissioner Jeff Connolly on his new appointment as mayor of Priest River. While Connolly ran in 2022 to keep his commissioner seat and ultimately lost, McDonald did not run again.

“I’m going to miss the employees of the county,” McDonald concluded, visibly emotional. “They became more like family than anything else.”

First District Court Judge Lamont Berecz swore in the majority

of the officials taking office Jan. 9, starting with Magistrate Judge Lori Meulenberg. Next, newly elected Bonner County commissioners Asia Williams and Luke Omodt took their oaths. Omodt had mostly recently served on the Sandpoint Planning and Zoning Commission, a position he no longer holds in order to discharge his duties on the board of commissioners.

Once the two new commissioners were sworn in, the board undertook its first official business in electing a new chairman. Omodt nominated Commissioner Steve Bradshaw — now the longest-serving member of the board — and Williams seconded the motion. With a unanimous vote, Bradshaw took the helm as chair.

Berecz went on to swear in Treasurer Clorissa Koster, Clerk Mike Rosedale and Assessor Grant Dorman. Bonner County

Prosecutor Louis Marshall swore in Coroner Robert Beers, rounding out the ceremony, which included closing remarks from Bradshaw.

“I think it’s important that we strive to do what’s right,” he said, noting the subtle difference, in his opinion, between the definitions of “legal” and “lawful.”

“If you look at the definition, the definition is the same except for one little, small detail,” Bradshaw continued. “In ‘lawful,’ it includes what is morally right, and

just — that we should address all these things that we do within our authority to be not only legal, but lawful.”

He said he looked forward to serving the county with both the new and old elected officials.

“New day, new board — let’s go and conquer,” he said. “Amen?”

Booking photo of suspected murderer Bryan Kohberger. Photo courtesy Latah County Sheriff’s Office.

Luke Omodt, left, and Asia Williams, right, are sworn in as Bonner County Commissioners.

Photos by Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey.

Idaho Legislature’s budget committee preparing to set 108 different budgets

JFAC will conduct budget hearing for Health and Welfare, Medicaid on Jan. 17

By Clark Corbin Idaho Capital Sun

The Idaho Legislature’s powerful Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee held its first meeting of the year Jan. 10, with the panel’s new chairpersons warning committee members about the workload they face in setting the state budget.

As the budget committee, JFAC controls the purse strings and wields influence that comes with that responsibility. JFAC is the only committee that meets daily, whereas the bulk of legislative committees meet every other day or twice a week.

JFAC is unusual because it includes members of both the Idaho Senate and Idaho House of Representatives, and the committee is responsible for setting each aspect of the state’s nearly $5 billion budget.

JFAC’s work drives the length of the legislative session. The committee will spend the next six weeks conducting budget hearings and then spend the six weeks after that setting the budgets themselves.

Altogether, JFAC members are bracing to write 108 different budget appropriations, plus any supplemental budget requests from Gov. Brad Little or state agencies.

“You will find this is different than any other committee you serve on,” Sen. Scott Grow, the Eagle Republican who serves as one of two JFAC co-chairs, told committee members Jan. 10.

“Nobody goes home until we get all of our 108 budgets across both floors and signed by the governor,” Grow added.

Like the rest of the Idaho Legislature, JFAC is also experiencing significant turnover and leadership changes. Both of JFAC’s co-chairs — Grow and Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls — are in charge of the committee for the first time. In addition, 12 of JFAC’s 20 members weren’t on the committee last year. [That includes Sagle Republican Sen. Scott Herndon,

who unseated two-term incumbent Republican Sen. Jim Woodward in the May 2022 GOP primary and succeeded against independent write-candidate Steve Johnson in the November 2022 midterm election.]

“We appreciate that each of you in this room chose to be here, wants to be here, even knowing the workload that comes with the privilege of serving in this room and with a phenomenal staff,” Horman told committee members.

Horman also told JFAC members she wears a widow’s mite on a necklace to remind herself that many Idaho families have to make sacrifices to pay their taxes.

“It’s easy to fall into the trap in this committee of thinking in terms of millions and billions of dollars, but never forget the value of a single dollar to an Idaho family,” Horman said.

JFAC’s first major budget hearing happens next week in the Idaho Legislature

There won’t be much opportunity for first-time JFAC mem-

bers to ease into their new roles. The action picks up considerably next week with one of the first major budget hearings of the year. On Tuesday, Jan. 17, JFAC will conduct a budget hearing for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare budget has surpassed the public school budget as the state’s largest expense, and the budget proposal for the Medicaid Division is expected to be scrutinized closely by conservative legislators.

get totals about $4 billion, with about 70% of the money coming from federal funds.

Follow the Idaho Legislature remotely

Moyle and Winder said reversing or restricting Medicaid expansion is not off the table.

Each committee meeting and floor session of the Idaho House of Representatives and Idaho Senate is streamed live online for free via the Idaho In Session service (idahoptv.org/ shows/idahoinsession).

Committee agendas and Idaho House and Idaho Senate reading calendars are available through the Legislature’s website (legislature.idaho.gov).

In a meeting with reporters last week at the Idaho State Capitol, House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, and Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder, R-Boise, said they have been alarmed by the increases in Medicaid expenses.

This year’s Medicaid bud-

But Democrats, including Rep. Lauren Necochea, D-Boise, said repealing Medicaid expansion is a nonstarter and reminded Republicans that Idaho voters are the ones who approved Medicaid expansion.

More than 60% of Idaho voters approved a 2018 ballot initiative that expanded Medicaid coverage to about 100,000 low-income Idahoans under age 65.

Medicaid expansion is coming up on a five-year review, which is why GOP legislators are gearing up to scrutinize the program and budget.

2023 Idaho legislative session is underway

The 2023 legislative session began Jan. 9 with Gov. Brad Little’s annual State of the State address. Legislative leaders are targeting Friday, March 24 as a goal for adjourning the session, although there is no requirement to end the session by a certain deadline.

Generally, legislative sessions run for about 75-85 days, but can vary greatly. In November, Idaho voters approved Senate Joint Resolution 102, an amendment to the Idaho Constitution that allows the Idaho Legislature to call itself back into session any time it wants. Previously, only Idaho’s governor had the authority to call a special session of the Idaho Legislature.

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.

Survey asks Sandpoint residents to weigh in on housing, neighborhood infill

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

Sandpoint City Hall is casting its net even wider in hopes of capturing public opinion on housing and neighborhoods, offering a survey related to the topic that will be open until 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 25.

The survey follows up on a pair of workshops hosted in October 2022, which were intended to inform residents about current regulations affecting housing and neighborhoods, as well as gathering feedback on solutions to improve the affordability and accessibility of housing, and gauge community support for

various types of neighborhood infill housing.

“This conversation is really rooted in when we talk about infill, what does that look like and where,” Sandpoint Infrastructure and Development Services Manager Amanda Wilson told the Reader at the Oct. 26 workshop at City Hall. “Getting that pulse will help us inform how we get into the weeds on the future land use map and regulations.”

Insights gleaned from the workshops and surveys will help guide the ongoing process of updating the Comprehensive Land Use Plan.

According to the survey narrative, “Sandpoint residents

highly value their neighborhoods but are concerned about housing affordability. There are many ways to remove barriers to create more affordable housing through residential infill construction.

“Finding the right balance between protecting neighborhood quality of life and providing needed housing for current and future residents is the challenge that must be addressed by the Comprehensive Plan.”

Survey respondents are asked whether or not they support current regulations on accessory dwelling units, and what changes they’d like to see; if members of the public would support changes to Sandpoint City Code that

would allow smaller lot sizes to encourage housing options such as townhomes or other attached single-family and smaller detached homes; and what types of infill development they support or do not support in Sandpoint’s neighborhoods.

Open questions include, “What would improve your neighborhood?” and, “What do you like best about your neighborhood?”

As of Jan. 11, the survey had generated 48 responses from 79 respondents.

Get more information on the Comp Plan process at bit. ly/3vWLEWI. Take the survey at opentownhall.com/12503.

LPO enters flexible winter pool operations

Lake level fluctuation to be anticipated

Bits ’n’ Pieces

From east, west and beyond

East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact. A recent sampling:

By Reader Staff

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers launched flexible winter pool operations Jan. 6 on Lake Pend Oreille, and advised people living or recreating around local waters that levels may fluctuate as Albeni Falls Dam is utilized to store water for future hydropower use.

Corps officials shared in a media release that lake levels would rise about a foot over a 10-day period following Jan. 6. That water will then be released at a later date to generate power at the request of the Bonneville Power Administration.

Officials with the Lakes Commission, an advisory board that advocates for local waters and the people who enjoy them, shared a notice with stakeholders advising them to be aware of potential ice breakup and floating ice due to the flexible operations.

The Northwest River Forecast Center provides short-term forecasts regarding Albeni Falls Dam inflow, outflow and Lake Pend Oreille’s elevation at the Hope gage. Access that information by going to nwrfc.noaa.gov/river and selecting the “HOP1” button on the interactive map.

Dover wastewater system stressed with runoff

By Reader Staff

The city of Dover shared a notice Jan. 5 advising residents that its wastewater treatment is currently seeing increased flows, and therefore steps should be taken to reduce stress on the system.

According to city officials, the flow increase is due to rain and snowmelt entering the wastewater system through drains and pipes. The system then fully treats that runoff, and the resulting demands could cause problems for all Dover sewer uses.

“Our wastewater treatment plant and operators have been recognized as one of the finest in the state and overall plant performance is very good,” according to the city. “However, the excess flow stresses the plant and consumes capacity which won’t be available for future users.”

Officials warn that treating stormwater decreases capacity intended for homeowners “which means higher

costs for everyone.” With this in mind, residents are being advised to take the following steps:

•Conserve house water;

•If you have a septic tank, make sure that the septic lid is tightly fastened to avoid water entering the tank;

•Don’t drain sump pumps into the city system;

•Don’t divert stormwater and/or groundwater into sewer drains or septic tanks.

It is a violation of Dover City Code to discharge groundwater or stormwater into the sewer system. This includes draining roof runoff into the city system or connecting a sump pump to the city system.

If you currently have one of these connections, contact Dover City Hall at 208-265-8339 to discuss a resolution with the intention of working together to protect the wastewater system and avoid any enforcement action.

Big Pharma companies recently announced price hikes on 350 drugs, claiming the new prices will foster innovation; but, according to a study by economists from Brown University and University of Massachusetts, the pharmaceutical industry spent $747 billion on stock buybacks and dividends between 2012 and 2021, well over the $660 billion spent on research and development.

Amid chaos and after 15 ballot attempts and numerous concessions, Republican Kevin McCarthy won approval to be U.S. House speaker, various media reported. Concessions included keeping McCarthy on a tight leash: a new rule enables a snap vote to remove him, a limit on his role in edging out hard-right candidates, granting the hard-right approval for “plum” committee assignments and allowing spending bills to be gutted or scuttled via an unlimited number of changes.

More moderate House Republicans indicated concern the concessions will hand power to those not represented by the majority of voters, and result in government shutdowns, debt default and disruption of the global economy. The climate group 350.org said the new House makeup puts fighting climate change at risk.

House Republicans just passed a bill, 221-210, that would repeal new funding for the IRS that was in the Inflation Reduction Act, numerous media reported. The Congressional Budget Office said if the proposal makes it past the Senate, it would repeal $71 billion from the $80 billion marked for IRS office updates and more staffing. The Republican plan would also increase the deficit by $114 billion through 2032, according to the nonpartisan CBO. The staffing was designed to secure unpaid taxes from big-time tax evaders, with an anticipated revenue of $180 billion generated over 10 years.

Republicans, now ruling the House, are making moves to end investigations into their members by curtailing the independent Ethics Office, The Guardian reported. The office had been considering inquiries about lawmakers who had defied Jan. 6 House Committee subpoenas.

The FDA recently approved a new Alzheimer’s drug, Leqembi, which may slow cognitive decline early in the disease. But, The New York Times reported, it “also carries the risk of swelling and bleeding in

By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist

the brain.” Results of an 18-month clinical trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, stated that “longer trials are warranted to determine the efficacy and safety.”

Semafor, a new media company, recently launched a climate newsletter sponsored by Chevron, which has a reputation for spreading climate disinformation, Popular Information reported.

Mother Jones reported that 3,000 more media jobs have been lost since October. Challenges include low ad revenue, shrunken revenue from big donors and — in some cases — certain media closing their doors forever. The country’s largest newspaper company is ready for a second round of job elimination, with 400 already gone. The company’s CEO gets paid $8 million, while the median salary is $48,000.

The American Lung Association on zero-emission trucks: by 2050 the health benefits are expected to be 66,800 fewer premature deaths, $735 billion in public health benefits from cleaner air, 1.75 million fewer asthma attacks, 8.5 million fewer lost work days and fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

Vermont, Kentucky and Nevada significantly expanded the ability to cast ballots before Election Day, Politico reported. Voters had the choice to vote early or by mail. All of the states saw increased voting, and no increase in voting fraud.

According to the U.S. Labor Department, 223,000 jobs were added in December. Hourly wages rose 4.6%, down from 4.8% in November. CNN reported that unemployment fell to “historic lows.”

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated that the labor market is “out of balance” due to low unemployment, and the solution is to raise interest rates, which will create higher unemployment. Former Labor Secretary Robert Rich suggested it would be more productive to instead save jobs and foster reduction of prices by making markets more competitive via fewer corporate mergers that currently have a tight grip on rising prices.

Last year there were more than 1,000 corporate mergers. Reich recommends a possible move: bring an antitrust suit against any monopolistic industry dominated by giant corporations that raises its prices more than 2%.

Blast from the past: “We will return good for evil. Christ showed us the way and Mahatma Gandhi showed us it could work.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr., 19291968, human rights leader.

Residents advised to take steps to decrease treatment demands

Higher-density housing is coming — want to have your say?

By Cate Huisman Reader Contributor

By now it’s well known that housing is beyond a quandary for Sandpoint. People who have lived and worked here for years have lost their long-time housing to the higher prices our market now commands. Businesses paying a median wage have trouble finding workers, because a median wage isn’t sufficient to pay for housing. We have little power to stem the rising tide of non-resident homeowners who drive up prices, or to limit the businesses that choose to build the big homes that bring the highest return on their investments.

But, as a city, we can use zoning regulations to encourage the construction of higher-density housing that working people are more likely to be able to afford.

A recent column by the Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad in this paper [Perspectives, “Mayor’s Roundtable: Land use: Affordability and economic vitality,” Jan. 5, 2023] points out that the report of the

Leland Consulting Group — commissioned by the city to help it plan for growth — calls for “refining zoning districts to accommodate a range of residential development types such as townhouses, cottage clusters and multi-family housing at a range of densities.”

And he continues, “Providing for increased density across zoning districts is one of the most powerful tools the city has to lower the cost of housing.”

As Sandpoint prepares to update its Comprehensive Plan, it is asking for input on what this new housing should look like. Its Planning and Zoning Commission worked hard to write the current rules, which

include specifics such as setbacks and building heights that facilitate the transition where one kind of building is neighbor to another. The rub often comes at the juncture between a single-family home and a proposed multi-family building next to it. The attempt, according to City Code 9-4-2-2, is “to create opportunities for new types of housing that seamlessly integrate with existing neighborhoods in the area.” As we try to increase density, the current rules have not always seemed sufficient.

The survey provides some idea of how we might come closest to that “seamless integration.” It gives several ex-

amples and asks us to consider which of these we would support. And it asks about using smaller lot sizes, noting that many historic lots in the city were only 25 feet wide, while current code requires a width of 50 feet. Narrowing that lot size would allow for more houses in a given space. Would we support that as a way to lessen the cost of housing?

There are also questions about accessory dwelling units — ADUs — which are smaller secondary homes on single-family lots. These are allowed now on most residential lots, but more people might be able to live in them if the regulations were tweaked — to

allow for more bedrooms, for example. Are we OK with that?

Drawings accompanying each question help us to visualize the effects of the proposed changes. They make it clear that we will have to adapt to a new aesthetic. We may not want this change, but the alternative — a town full of big houses owned by people who don’t live or work here — is much worse. The survey gives us an opportunity to contribute constructive input that may be our best hope for maintaining a real, working city.

You can find it at opentownhall.com/12503. It will be up until Wednesday, Jan. 25.

Courtesy photo.

Bouquets:

GUEST SUBMISSION:

•“I want to express my gratitude to the volunteer groomers at Pine Street Woods. Their dedication to somehow taking the rainsoaked ‘cement’ snow and grooming it into a ski-able delight every day is amazing! Thank you!”

— By Cynthia Mason

•Thank you so much to all of our generous readers who have sent in donations the past couple of weeks. We really, really appreciate your support. There are too many to list individually, but please know that we are always so thankful for your generosity.

•Being the owner of a newspaper, I generally avoid joining boards to avoid conflicts of interest (also because I just don’t have the extra time and energy to dedicate to sitting on boards). That being said, I’m always impressed by those who sit on nonprofit boards. It’s often a thankless job, where you work behind the scenes to ensure your organization continues serving the community. My hat is off to all of you out there who sit on a board. Your work doesn’t go unnoticed. We appreciate you.

Barbs:

• As I prepare for the annual pillaging of my income at tax time, I can’t help but feel incredibly upset that someone who makes as little money as I do has to pay thousands of dollars in income tax every year, while people like former-President Donald Trump continue to pay next to nothing. It just doesn’t make sense to me anymore. I pay up to a third of my income in taxes every year, while these rich jerks continue to get off without paying anything. Same goes for corporations. Did you know 55 of the largest corporations paid $0 in income taxes in 2020, despite having substantial pre-tax profits reported? Some even got massive refunds. Something has to change in this country. Tax the rich and make them pay their fair share. What in the Sam Hill is so complicated about that?

Dear editor,

I find it amusing how rightwing media rails against “the liberals” when they really mean “the progressives.” Maybe if we get the nomenclature right, we might arrive at a better understanding that it’s possible to be conservative and liberal at the same time. After all, “liberalism” means freedom of thought, speech and action. Conservatives value that as much as anyone. As a matter of fact, liberalism was originally a conservative construct.

Just as “conservative” and “progressive” are opposites, “liberal” is the opposite of “authoritarian.” Think of it this way: Stalin was a progressive but he certainly wasn’t a liberal — no freedom of speech, thought or action there. Nazis were conservative to an extreme extent (you know, nationalistic and superior race-type stuff), but also authoritarian.

Seems the more extreme, left or right, the more authoritarian the society needs to be. The more toward the center, the more liberal a society can be.

Our country’s history, particularly recently, has been a struggle to stay near the center.

Guy Lothian Dover

Festiventing…

Dear editor,

I just have to vent for a minute regarding the Festival at Sandpoint. In August 2019, I purchased two tickets for a concert that was canceled the night of the performance because of a storm. The Festival then issued two certificates for the concert of your choice the following year. The following year was 2020, and the Festival was canceled because of COVID.

When the Festival started up in 2021, I went to get tickets for a concert and was told they were not honoring the gift certificates. New director, new rules.

I tried calling the director,

but was never able to speak to her in person. I was told that possibly when the Festival was on better financial footing they would honor them.

Recently, there was an article in the Daily Bee about the Festival and how they had the most lucrative season ever this past year. I called the Festival office and — surprise, surprise — they still refuse to honor the certificates.

How is that for customer service! I for one will never attend another Festival at Sandpoint concert again.

Lea Sammons Sandpoint

Got something to say? Write a letter to the editor. We accept letters under 300 words. Please refrain from libelous statements and using excessive profanity. Please elevate the conversation. Trolls need not submit.

‘Conservatives are liberals… what?’...

Lessons we can still learn from Dr. King

‘No one has to lose for us all to join together and envision a more free and just society’

By Nishelle Gonzales Reader Contributor

truths in their hearts, changes began to take place. And more changes are still needed.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is known for dedicating his life to the Civil Rights Movement. Every third Monday of January we are called and encouraged to reflect on the principles of racial equity and nonviolent social change that Dr. King brought to the forefront of national reckoning. His life’s mission eventually delivered some of the fruits of his labor, as many laws and social changes resulted. As Americans are aware, not all have been ripe for the freedom of picking. We still have work to do. In that spirit, here are some key takeaways from Dr. King’s legacy that we can implement in our continued quest for equality:

One of the successful approaches he adopted from Mahatma Gandhi was the use of nonviolence against others who were oppressing people of color. That did not mean he and his partners in this coalition for change were not met with violence from the opposition, as he was assassinated in 1968.

Even people within his own movement would criticize him for his ability to take the high road and conduct himself peacefully despite he and other protesters being assaulted and arrested, their families threatened and reputations tarnished. People gave up their lives and safety for the common cause of equal human rights. To stay silent was to live in the shadow of a Constitution that didn’t actually promise what it preached. The stakes were and are too high for fellow constituents to hold steadfast in complacency. Fueled by anger, wisdom and love for our nation, holding these non-exclusive

Another important angle of Dr. King’s, was the use of vision. His famous “I Have a Dream” speech was moving because it was an outline of what he was envisioning our country to be. He focused on what equal human rights looked like, not on all the problems of not having them imposed. It’s easy to point out the hardships, as we are all living them in real time. Elections are fueled by slinging mud at the opposition, focused on the reality of negative outcomes with very little focus on what the solutions are and what the picture of our future would look like when these equal rights are in place.

Dr. King painted us a picture where a world could come together for the greatest good of all. A future hope and a kind of generosity displayed, elevating humans to a higher potential than where we currently are. He told us that he believed in us. He had faith in us to create a better world. He described a “world where my four little children were judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

To commemorate his progress, his life and his sacrifice, please carry this approach in your hearts when you’re at your wits end with all the problems facing our nation.

When you begin a conversation with, “Things are really terrible, can you believe that the [insert group you don’t agree with] said this or did that?” you end up focusing on the negative. Also, you end up spreading the message of the opposition by reiterating it, even when using it as an extreme example. These conver-

sations have their uses, but use them sparingly. Words matter. And, whatever you believe politically, repetition becomes a message spreader, even when you disagree with the message.

What if we focused on repeating what a better world would actually look like, instead of what it doesn’t look like? We all know what the current state looks like because we’re all living it; and, depending on where you live, what your social and economic status is, the color of your skin, age, your gender or sexuality, your lived experiences can be very different. We must believe in each other’s reality even when it’s different from our own. That is why it has been important to understand our complicated past about our nation.

Its various promises of liberty and opportunity were not initially intended for anyone but wealthy, white, male landowners, so it has never been free to all of its people, but we are getting closer every generation. If you feel uneasy about

the changes coming that allow for a more free and just nation, then you need to address that your adversity to change is just that — an adverse reaction of the unknown, because we’ve never charted this territory before. It becomes a fear response and resources can appear finite when we elevate to play the infinite game of power with each other instead of power over each other.

Equality is not a zero sum game. No one has to lose for us all to join together and envision a more free and just society. When we feel unsure about moving forward, it’s easy to stop dreaming. We are in a very juvenile stage of our nationhood, as we are the restless teenagers of the world’s family. We have progressive ideas — things we want to accomplish that are out of line with the status quo of the much older world nations. We get to experiment, our Constitution has a built-in mechanism for amending outdated laws and processes when they no longer reflect

A plaque commemorating the location where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous, “I Have a Dream” speech on Aug. 28, 1963 in Washington, D.C. Courtesy photo.

what’s best for the culture. We get to ebb and flow, try and fail. Most importantly, like Dr. King so eloquently put it, we get to dream. And that may be the most American value we can hold dear.

Celebrate this day by reimagining your dream for our nation and how we can get others to do the same. We can’t afford to take this American dream and give up on it, for it has yet to fully come into fruition. What is the most beautiful vision for our nation you can dream about?

Nishelle Gonzales is an occasional Reader contributor on social and political issues, as well as a board member for the Bonner County Human Rights Task Force.

Science: Mad about

By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore — While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door — “’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door — Only this and nothing more.”

— “The Raven,” by Edgar Allan Poe, January 1845

Most of us have very limited contact with crows, ravens, magpies and other members of the corvidae family. The likelihood of a raven showing up to torment you in the moment of your greatest grief would be extremely unusual, and you’d probably want to get that bird captured and tested for a communicable disease.

You’ve no doubt encountered a member of the corvidae family around here. They are gregarious and opportunistic eaters that don’t fear humans. The common raven and American crow are both residents of our area, and will eat just about anything they can fit into their beak — whether it’s insects, seeds, nuts, carrion or french fries.

To all the newbies in our area, if you want a visual cue for places to slow down during the winter, keep an eye out for crows or ravens. They are highly intelligent, have a great memory and they will remember where deer frequently attempt — and fail — to cross the road. Their stark black feathers against the white snow make the birds very easy to spot, and the fact that they’re hanging around an area likely means something was recently hit by a vehicle, or they’re anticipating something to be hit in the near future. This isn’t a universal rule, but it’s a good reminder that we’re sharing the space with nature.

A gathering of crows or ravens is

called a murder, further damaging their reputation among humans. These birds aren’t predatory for the most part and are more adept at scavenging food, so this term is a little bit misleading. A “cleaning crew” would be a much more accurate descriptor of what they are, even if a murder sounds way more ominous.

Members of the corvidae family inhabit every continent except for Antarctica. Similar to humans, chickens and cockroaches, their eating habits help them survive and thrive in virtually any climate. Opportunistic eaters without strict dietary restrictions have a considerable advantage to survive in the wild world.

You might be wondering what the difference is between a crow and a raven, and how you can differentiate between them when one is sitting on a lightpost heckling you with weird noises. The American crow is about two-thirds the size of a raven and has a straight, pointed beak. You’re more likely to find crows in less populated areas like farms, where they have easy access to seeds. Ravens have larger, curved beaks and their tails form a wedge shape that is longer in the middle, while crows have a fan-shaped tail with feathers of similar length all the way across. You won’t be able to identify them based on their tail while they’re on the ground, but it becomes easy to tell when they fly overhead.

The vocal range of the common raven is staggering. Scientists have observed ravens making specific calls for more than 30 specific scenarios. The common throaty “caw” you might hear from a raven seems to be a form of roll call — ravens making this call are announcing themselves and seeing what other ravens might be around. They’ve been observed making a shrill “scream” call when in the presence of predators, likely to confuse and frighten the predator and alert the murder of its presence. They even make percussive noises with their throats that can sound like water dripping into an empty bowl or someone knocking on wood.

Aside from their amazing ability to survive just about anywhere and create

so many specialized and varied vocalizations, ravens are incredibly intelligent as well. Everyone knows about a raven’s ability to hold a grudge, as they can identify humans by their appearance and treat them differently than other humans. Startling a raven or attacking one may lead it to announcing your presence with a different call, warning the other ravens in the area that bad news is afoot. Conversely, treating them well may cause them to attempt interacting with you, or simply leaving you alone.

You should never, ever feed a wild animal. What we view as a kind and charitable act creates a cascading problem in our delicate ecosystem. Feeding a wild animal incentivizes it to spend more time

around you. If that creature is diseased, it vastly increases the chances of spreading its illness to you or the domesticated animals you care for. Similarly, this also attracts the predators of the animal you’re feeding, which can put you, your family and your domesticated animals in mortal danger. Just don’t feed the animals, let them do their thing.

Looking for a little more spooky bird fun? Stop by the library on Friday, Jan. 13 at 5:30 p.m. while Jeannie Lyon shares some scary stories appropriate for third-graders and older. Still need a little more Gothic horror in your life? Check out the Edgar Allan Poe display upstairs and bid midwinter boredom “nevermore”!

Stay curious, 7B.

corvidae Random Corner

Don’t know much about mondays? We can help!

• The name for Monday comes from an Old English word mōnandæg and the Middle English monenday. It is originally a translation of Latin dies lunae, meaning “day of the moon.”

• Monday is said to be the best day to buy a new car. Studies have shown some people will avoid buying a car on a weekend, as these are busy days for salespeople. This means people will buy cars on Mondays with the hope of getting more of the salesperson’s time and attention, and thus a better deal.

• Mondays are statistically the most likely day that the U.S. stock market will rise, rather than fall.

• Productivity of workers is at an alltime low on Mondays. With people being up to 30% less productive on a Monday, it is shown they often only manage 3.5 hours of work throughout the day.

• In the U.K., “Monday” is a slang term used to describe a large and heavy sledgehammer.

• When Brenda Spencer was arrested after a school shooting at a Cleveland elementary school in 1979, where she killed two and injured nine, a reporter asked why she committed the crime. She reportedly answered, “I don’t like Mondays. This livens up the day.” The quote was the inspiration for a song by the Boomtown Rats called “I Don’t Like Mondays.”

• A 2011 study showed that the average person moans for 34 minutes on a Monday, compared to 22 minutes on other days.

• Mondays are the most sleep-deprived day. According to scientists, the extra sleep you get on a weekend makes you worse off on a Monday, as it throws off your body clock. When you wake up early on Monday, it’s more of a shock than waking up any other weekday.

• Almost 50% of employees are late to work on any given Monday.

Mayor’s Roundtable:

By Mayor Shelby Rognstad Reader Contributor

This is the fifth article in a series detailing recommendations that came out of the city’s Housing and Economic Study developed by Leland Consulting. In this edition, I will discuss Leland’s suggestion to update the policies and boundaries pertaining to the area of city impact (ACI).

Sandpoint is running out of land. Fundamentally, this drives up the cost of development and the cost of housing. With little more than small infill lots remaining undeveloped, fewer units can be built in a development, which drives up the per-unit cost. Growth is then pushed into neighboring communities where there is land but lacking city services like water, wastewater and fiber. Servicing outlying areas is expensive for developers and for the city providing services, again, driving up housing costs.

The city has to grow to solve these problems. The city needs to develop a land use plan that encourages development that meets the needs of its residents, like affordability and job growth. While the Comprehensive Land Use Plan provides an important piece of this puzzle, the city needs to revise its ACI map and policies to provide a thoughtful vision specific to urban growth. This includes capital and operational plans that support that growth.

The ACI is the area into which the city is expected to grow in, say, 20 years. This means extension of water and sewer service, sidewalks, fiber, street maintenance and other basic infrastructure — not to mention parks, fire, police, etc.

Doing this efficiently — that is, providing for significant density, diversity of housing types and uses, all without sacrificing amenities like parks, open space and connectivity — results in good development that can meet the community’s housing needs and support economic vitality. It also communicates to the development community what and where to build. This saves time, reduces risk and ultimately saves money

for developers, which means lower costs for residents.

Sandpoint can accommodate growth, house its workforce, and support economic vitality and a high quality of life if it chooses to grow responsibly and efficiently. That means focusing

urban growth where it makes the most sense and encouraging housing for everyone.

It is when we allow cities to be cities that we allow the rural and wilderness areas to remain natural. It is the rural and forested landscapes that we preserve surrounding our community that do as much to define our town as our downtown and neighborhoods. Without density, we get urban sprawl, which can look like a never-ending combination of suburbs and strip malls that have defined many cities in the U.S.

Leland Consulting recognizes Sandpoint’s dwindling land supply. If the city does not grow, housing prices will continue to go up as there will never be a supply sufficient to meet the demand. Leland also recognizes Sandpoint’s unique, diversified economy. Land shortage will begin to affect employment and job growth as new employers, or those looking to grow their business, will have no place here.

There is another important factor to consider when discussing growth in Sandpoint and the areas it serves. The wastewater treatment facility is well beyond its useful life. The plant operators do a phenomenal job every day to maximize functionality. Yet we need to move past outdated infrastructure to treat wastewater to modern standards. This is true for Sandpoint and its neighbors that struggle to meet standards. In terms of cost and long-term resilience, one regional facility to manage wastewater makes the most sense.

Meanwhile, as more and more

The Leland Report: Area of city impact

fractionalization happens in the rural county, we end up with a greater density of septic systems that ultimately threaten water quality in our aquifer and the health of our watershed. The solution is to build a modern plant that can meet future permit requirements and can scale to meet future growth.

Sandpoint has been preparing to do just that. Just this week the city submitted a funding request for the new plant. The plant is designed to accommodate future growth for Sandpoint and surrounding communities. It ensures that the city can do its part to protect our aquifer and our watershed which benefits all of us.

The more users we have paying for it, the cheaper it is for everybody. A revised ACI gives the city a solid growth plan. With smart growth, we can keep the best of Sandpoint while meeting long term needs of residents.

Previous installments of this series published in the Dec. 15, Dec. 22, Dec. 29 and Jan. 5 editions of the Sandpoint Reader. Find them all at sandpointreader.com.

Mayor Shelby Rognstad. Courtesy photo.

Poor Benjamin’s Almanack

What I wish I knew in my mid-20s

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

Getting old sucks. While my mind still feels like I’m somewhere in my late 20s, my body and those telltale gray hairs in my beard remind me every day that I’m a 42-year-old paperboy.

If I were to use one word to describe my 20s, it would have to be “hectic.” They were wild times. I never thought about saving money or buying a home. I lived each day like it was a new episode in a long-running TV show that, apparently, nobody watched. Hell, I didn’t even pay rent for six years during that self-important decade, instead choosing to ramble around the West, working a variety of odd and exciting jobs, sleeping on couches or in my car.

I fancied myself a writer and searched relentlessly for truths I could scribble into notebooks that are now stacked in a closet somewhere, forgotten and slowly decaying. I used to page through them while writing, hoping to unearth a turn of phrase that hit deep, but it was mostly just page after page of my preening attempts to feel relevant.

I like to say I have no regrets in life, but that’s just not true. I have many regrets. Chances are, so do you. We’re chock full of them, you and I, dreamers who woke too early or slept too late.

As I’m now firmly entrenched in my 40s, I realize how much of an idiot I was all those years. Back then, it seemed as if the world was still an oyster, ready to present you with the pearl it contained. The pearl was beautiful, elusive and something that would bring about a change in thought — a new direction toward a better, more fulfilled life. The pearl was something to chase.

Now, the pearl is just some cracked old marble someone dropped from their pocket. Nothing fancy, nothing special — just a damn marble. And I feel foolish for chasing after it all those years thinking it was something more.

I’m now at the same age my mom was when I first gave her one of those, “So you’re over the hill...” birthday cards. I remember the look of revulsion on her face.

But it’s not all bad, getting old. I no longer feel as if I’m missing out on something spectacular when I decline an invite to the bar or a party. My friends’ kids still think I know what I’m talking about, even if

I don’t have a clue. It’s not required to keep up with every pop culture reference and know the complete history of every bubble-gum pop singer and poser hip-hop artist anymore. Somewhere around your late 30s, you just stop caring what others think about anything.

The reason I’m writing this is to reach out to those still in the glorious foolishness of their 20s and impart some knowledge that I wish would’ve been shared with me back then. Rather, I wish I would’ve listened to that advice instead of rolling my eyes and continuing to scream into the abyss.

You see, a few years ago, I shed the dumb ways of my past and summoned together the courage to start being an actual grown-ass adult. It happened right around the time when I noticed I was spending more time looking up slow-cooker recipes than I was listening to new music. I realized I was closer to retiring than I was at the beginning of my working life, and I had not saved a penny toward that goal.

So, you lotus-eating 20-somethings still high on life and other recreational substances, here are a few words of advice from a grown up Peter Pan who wishes he would’ve started being an adult just a little bit earlier.

Start a retirement account

This is easy to do; and, if you play your cards right, you’ll be a multi-millionaire by the time you reach retirement age. A Roth IRA allows you to contribute a specific amount of money each year (this year, the maximum increased to $6,500 per year), which, when you reach 59-and-a-half, you can deduct without paying any taxes. A traditional IRA is roughly the same idea, but contributions are deducted from your income each year, which helps if you owe taxes. The caveat is that you’ll be taxed at the other end when you deduct the money.

If you contribute the maximum to an IRA, whether a Roth or traditional, you’ll be a millionaire by the time you retire. Of course, the future might be a Mad Max-

style wasteland by the time you retire, in which case, you’re double screwed.

Sign up for credit cards but don’t use them. Pay them off

The first day of my freshman orientation at college, I passed a table advertising free stuff if you signed up for a credit card. I did and promptly went into debt. I charged tuition onto the card and used the financial aid checks to live on. Before long, I was deep in the hole, which I carried for many years until finally growing up and facing the music.

The good thing about signing up for a credit card is that you start building up a credit history, which helps your credit score. Having a good credit score can help when it comes time to buy a car or a home.

The best advice is to sign up for a card, charge one or two small things a month on them, then pay off the balance immediately. If you don’t trust yourself, sign up for the card and immediately cut it up.

Bonus points if you get a card that gives you some kind of rewards, like cash back or airline miles.

Newsflash: Adults are usually just faking it until they make it

When you’re younger, you think anyone older than 30 is an authority on matters far and wide. Trust me, that’s not even close to correct. Most of us are just making it up as we go along. Don’t think you have to have it all “figured out.” Chances are, you never will.

Be selfish

I’m not saying become a narcissist — there are plenty of those around already. But don’t fall for the idea that being selfish is bad. We often succumb to FOMO, or “fear of missing out,” in our 20s — thinking that if we don’t attend a party we’ll miss the most amazing experience ever. One thing I’ve learned is that if something doesn’t interest me, I don’t do it and I feel no guilt for my choice.

The quicker you figure this out, the

quicker you realize that it’s OK to put yourself first, to pursue your own dreams and interests without apology or explanation.

Embrace your free time

You’ll never have more free time in your life until you retire. Soak it in. Sure, you might spend eight hours a day studying and hanging out with friends, but think of how much free time you have in your 20s compared to your 40s. There aren’t kids to take care of, you probably don’t have a longtime partner yet and very little by way of familial obligations. You just have time. Lots of time. Don’t squander it. As the old saying goes: “Time is our most precious asset. Use it wisely.”

Invest in the stock market

I’m not saying to dump all your living wages into the market. I rarely had spare cash floating around during my 20s, but if I did and I knew then what I know now, I would’ve invested as much as I could’ve afforded.

Talk with your parents or family friends who might be savvy with money and ask them about the stock market. Tell your parents to buy you a stock instead of a new pair of socks for Christmas. Slowly drip more money into it as time goes on.

There’s nothing certain with the stock market, but most financial experts agree on one thing: The more time you spend in the market, the more money you’ll likely pull out of it. You don’t have to be a financial genius to notice that the market usually goes up over time.

Look at Apple stock: In 1999, when I was still in high school, shares of Apple were selling for under $1. Today, a share goes for around $130, and that’s after a huge drop from a high of $180 last year. That means if you invested $100 in Apple in 1999, it could be worth around $17,000 today. That’s an oversimplified example, but you get what I’m saying.

Don’t be afraid to fall in love

This is good advice for any age. In life, there are few things that rise above all the petty day-to-day nonsense. Love is one of those things. If you’re able to find love, lean into it. You might suffer from a broken heart from time to time, but there is nothing better in this world than love.

Except a Roth IRA, of course.

Driving ahead

Former Understory Coffee owners purchase Bonner Taxi

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

When Understory Coffee closed in January 2019, many locals were sad to see owners Evan and Johnelle Metz move out of Sandpoint as they sought new career directions. But, the pull of the small-town charm that Sandpoint exudes was enough to convince the young couple to return and embark on a new endeavor as the new owners of Bonner Taxi.

“Since we moved back to Sandpoint, Evan’s been cooking at Eichardt’s and loving it,” Johnelle told the Reader. “I was hired at Boden Architecture, where I’d previously worked part time. But after running your own business, it’s a gnaw that comes back to you when you work for someone else. Evan and I talked about starting something, and then we heard the buzz around town that Joel Cropper wanted to sell Bonner Taxi.”

Johnelle said the plan for the Metzes to become the new owners of Bonner Taxi came together quickly over dinner with Joel and his wife Kylee — who owns Cropper & Co. Barber Shop.

“I guess we’re taxi people now,” Johnelle said. “It’ll be the same service that Joel offered. We’re going to learn how it all works and might add some things moving forward, but for right now, nothing will change.”

“As someone who grew up here, I was very excited to play a role in my community when we started Understory years ago,” Evan wrote to the Reader. “I saw it as my heartfelt contribution to the tapestry of Sandpoint that I already knew and loved. However, I quickly learned that food service, being very competitive, brutal and having razor-thin profit margins, wasn’t the field where I would be able to feel like I’m ‘giving something back.’”

After driving with Joel for the month of December to learn the ropes, Evan enjoyed getting to know the regular customers who make up the lion’s share of Bonner Taxi’s business.

“You just fall in love with these people — our regular customers,” Johnelle said. “They’re very much Sandpoint locals.”

“I think Bonner Taxi is the kind of

hometown business I was hoping for when I started Understory,” Evan said. “I’m really excited about that.”

One aspect of running a Sandpoint area taxi service that surprised Johnelle was how much more it entails than simply driving people from Point A to Point B.

“I didn’t even know that Bonner Taxi delivers groceries,” she said. “It’s actually a crazy big part of our business. We’re hoping to add an option for people to purchase the groceries online and we’d just go pick them up and drop them off at their house. Right now our customers call and give us a grocery list and we’ll go shop for them and deliver to their homes.”

A large majority of Bonner Taxi’s business comes from regular, local customers, Johnelle said, and every day can be an adventure.

“When I’ve used a taxi or an Uber before, I used it to get a ride from someone right now,” she said. “The shocking part is how many people use Bonner Taxi ser-

vice who are flexible about their timing.

“They know the drivers, they’re super flexible for when they can get picked up and they have different requests, like grocery runs, or they’ll ask us to come over and shovel ice from a satellite dish,” she added. “A lot of these people might not have someone else to help them, like a family member would, so that’s where we step in.”

Bonner Taxi has three Toyota Sienna vans in its rotation, and the taxi phone number accepts texts and phone calls 24/7, though it only responds during open hours between 10 a.m.-3 a.m., Monday-Saturday. Bonner Taxi offers airport trips, which customers can inquire about by emailing bonnertaxiinc.com. Airport trips during regular hours are $165 and $200 during peak hours. Johnelle said the company is also exploring adding trips to Seattle.

“It’s been a fairly seamless transition,” Johnelle said. “It was really fun working with Joel. He and Autry [White] both

Johnelle and Evan Metz, new owners of Bonner Taxi, stand with one of the vans in the fleet in Sandpoint. Courtesy photo.

built this business that this community loves. Joel is an unspoken hero for this town. I don’t know how many drunk people he’s gotten home and people he’s taken to the ER over the years.”

Johnelle said Joel can now be found working at Cropper & Co. Barber Shop, so his fans can connect again while getting their hair cut and mustaches groomed.

“Bonner Taxi sort of has this cool history of young Sandpointers running it, serving our community for a few years, then passing it down the line to another young Sandpointer to do the same,” Evan said. “I’m proud to be stepping into that role, and when my time comes, passing it on to the next young local looking to make a couple bucks and a difference.”

To reach Bonner Taxi, call or text 208597-3463 or email bonnertaxiinc.com to schedule a pickup — or one of the many other services Bonner Taxi offers their customers.

Mountain goats: A wilderness icon

Author events feature readings, scientific survey results in W. Mont. and Sandpoint

By Reader Staff

Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness is excited to host wildlife biologist and award-winning author Bruce Smith on his educational nationwide book tour.

Join FSPW and Smith in Thompson Falls and Libby, Mont., or Sandpoint, at a series of events Friday, Jan. 20-Sunday, Jan. 22, featuring afternoon readings from his Legend Keeper book series titled, “Can Kids Save a Glacier?” In the evenings, in Sandpoint and Thompson Falls, Smith will present his recent statewide mountain goat survey titled, “Mountain Goats: A Wilderness Icon.”

The Legend Keepers series intertwines the antics of Buddy, an orphaned mountain goat kid, with detailed, engaging scientific information. The books are geared toward middle-grade readers, their fami-

lies and anyone who wants to feel like a kid for a few hours.

In the second half of the program, Smith will share results of a statewide status review of Montana’s goats,

which revealed starkly different fortunes of native and introduced goat populations and the conservation challenges they face. Dramatic photographic images from his book

Life on the Rocks: A Portrait of the American Mountain Goat, which won the National Outdoor Book Award, will accompany his discussion.

Smith will also discuss details of the mountain goat’s natural history, behavior and wilderness realm. His two years living among mountain goats in Montana’s Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area began a 50-year fascination with North America’s matchless mountaineer, the mountain goat.

Smith will sign copies of his books following the presentation. A no-host bar and snacks will be offered.

Event sponsors include Montana State University Extension — Sanders County, Kaniksu Land Trust, Cube Iron Cataract Coalition, Wild Montana — Shining Mountains Chapter, Thompson Falls Public Library, East Bonner County Library, Utara Brewing Co. and Lincoln County Library.

Learn more about Bruce Smith at brucesmithwildlife.

Event Schedule

Friday, Jan. 20

“Can Kids Save a Glacier?” Lincoln County Library; 220 W. Sixth St., Libby, Mont.; 4 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 21

“Can Kids Save a Glacier?” East Bonner County Library; 1407 Cedar St., Sandpoint; 2 p.m.

“Mountain Goats: A Wilderness Icon,” Utara Brewing Co.; 214 Pine St., Sandpoint; 4 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 22

“Can Kids Save a Glacier?” Thompson Falls Public Library; 911 W. Main St., Thompson Falls, Mont.; 3 p.m.

“Mountain Goats: A Wilderness Icon,” Clark Fork Valley Elks Lodge; 2519 Industrial Way, Thompson Falls, Mont.; 6 p.m.

com. For more event information, contact Juli Thurston juli@scotchmanpeaks.org or 903-440-2250.

Mountain goats are iconic members of the Scotchman Peaks ecosystem. Photo by Shayna Johnson.

Merry ol’ England

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

No one smokes in England anymore. I recently spent three weeks there over the holiday season with my uncle, aunt, cousins and my cousins’ kids, and there was something generally amiss that I couldn’t quite place — until I figured it out while sitting in a pub on Brighton Pier. No one smokes.

You still have to first look right when you cross the street, you still have to refer to your “pants” as “trousers” and you’re liberated from the practice of tipping your server — that externalization of employers’ labor costs that both giver and receiver must suffer because the United States thinks mandating a living wage for service workers is “socialism.”

Still, I sensed an absent sense memory — or, better than that, scent memory. Cigarettes.

That toasty-sweet, nutty-nasty, poisonous aroma riming clothes and upholstery, insinuating the recent passage of others and promising the movement of more to come.

It was never a pleasant smell — more so, simultaneously energizing, calming and edgy. People with grandmas who smoked indoors will know what I mean.

When I first visited England in 2002, as a 21-year-old college kid, the smear of tobacco on everything from coach seats to hotel curtains smelled like adults in a country that, unlike my own, seemed to be actually run by adults.

We all know cigarettes are bad, but there was always something kind of liberating about the European response: “We don’t care.”

That seemed like a very mature philosophy to me, compared to the incessant, ham-handed moralizing of the United States — especially in the first years of this century, which we entered like a cross-eyed lion with rabies and club feet.

Anticipating the American impulse to outrage, I’ll point out that we “don’t care” about a lot of other things that are harmful — and many of them are just as or far more damaging than cigarettes:

“diet” soda, social media, mega-churches, fossil fuels, Donald Trump, real estate speculation, Amazon, the stock market, the Pentagon budget, Elon Musk, gun fetishism.

Stacked up against that, what’s a cigarette, smoked in bored annoyance on the rainy platform of a train station? For that matter, what’s a pint (or two) of low-alcohol beer at lunch? When you’ve survived the Black Plague, Oliver Cromwell, the Blitz, Margaret Thatcher and Boris Johnson, why not engage in a little (mostly restrained) vice?

I guess it makes sense that this should be a surprise to me. The most recent time I visited England was in 2006, a year before the Health Act, which took effect in 2007 and barred smoking virtually everywhere in the U.K. — including train stations.

During my previous trips to the Merry ol’ Isle, lighting up a smoke was an invitation to conversation and comradeship, now it’s the activity of pariahs, done in huddled corners to the pinched disdain of passersby. Just like the United States.

The less smoking the better, of course (though I did notice a lot of vaping), but that’s not the only way that my last visit to England seemed strangely Americanized.

I have always felt a great comfort in and affinity for England, but the country that I found in late-2022 was much changed from the one I’ve known off-and-on for half my life. It was simultaneously wealthier and more impoverished.

Critical sectors, such as the Royal College of Nurses, Royal Mail and British rail system, were all striking to varying degrees over the holiday months, demanding higher pay as they’ve been forced to bear the enormous load of national life in the eras of austerity, COVID and the failed promise of post-Brexit prosperity.

That’s more than a decade of political wrecking, foisted on the U.K. by the likes of borderline Oswald Moseley-ite Nigel Farange, bellend Boris and everyone’s least favorite anal-rententive debate dork Jacob Rees-Mogg, the latter

whom I had the recent displeasure of watching in action on BBC 1’s Politics Today program, prevaricating and outright lying like the rest of the pan-national army of Trumpian know-nothings we call “The Right.”

There was a general sense of gloom cast over England’s social, political and economic life, with news stories ricocheting from how Brexit’s protectionism has made it unduly burdensome for European firms to do business with their U.K. counterparts, to how the post-COVID realignment of work life had led to staggering productivity declines, to how energy prices thrown into disarray by Russia’s ongoing aggression in Ukraine were emptying family’s bank accounts, to how the much-vaunted soundness of the pound was becoming a thing of the past amid rampant inflation and even how a brutal cold snap had laid bare the vulnerability of the country’s infrastructure.

Much of it sounded eerily similar to the litany of woes that dominate life in the States (no gun violence or retrograde legislation on reproductive rights, though). More compelling to me was how many of Sandpoint’s seemingly unique challenges are also in play in the wealthier counties of England’s South Coast — specifically Hampshire County, where my family members have lived for the past 25 or so years.

Around the turn of the 21st century, I recall Hampshire being mostly a quaint, rural postcard-version of the English countryside, with tidy hedgerows, rolling green hills topped with ancient oaks, wild ponies grazing in the New Forest (which is now a national park) and picturesque thatch-roofed houses along quiet narrow lanes.

One of my cousins, who was in his final year of college the first

How the U.K. feels more like America than ever

town life has ironically stressed many communities along the South Coast, pricing out young people and thereby shunting away the labor force necessary to provide the services demanded by the well-to-do newcomers.

time I visited, complained then that Hampshire County and the town of Lymington, in particular, could be summed up as “old ladies and Mercedes.” True enough, in 2002, that community put its most conservative face forward with the brashest displays of pro-monarchy sentiment amid Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee. To further illustrate, this had been a place where there was opposition to the criminalization of fox hunting on public land.

Twenty years later, the wealth in Hampshire County has continued to concentrate, with a huge influx of well-heeled remote workers and retirees pouring forth from the cities and into the countryside during the height of the COVID pandemic.

While it may once have been “old ladies and Mercedes,” I saw far more late-model Porsches, Maseratis, Ferraris and Aston Martins. Twice I forgot to look right before crossing the street in the small town where my uncle and aunt live and was almost run down by the same butter-colored Rolls Royce.

As in Sandpoint, the natural beauty and slower pace of small-

Still, looking at the real estate listings in my relatives’ area, the prices didn’t look much out of character for Sandpoint — most sources put the average sale price in Lymington (where at least one royal is a member of the local yacht club) between £400,000 and £644,000, which is roughly $485,966-$780,000. As recently as early-December, a consultancy group told our City Council members that home prices in Sandpoint were nearing $700,000 in April 2022 and had likely gone even higher as the year came to a close. My other British cousin recently purchased a home just outside Lymington and felt that she got a smoking deal in the £400,000 range — and I agreed with her. Though she and her brother were born in London, she’s always considered that part of Hampshire County her home, and was rightly grateful that she could afford to stay and raise her own kids there — something I, and many others around here, could also readily identify with.

The idea that homes on the South Coast of England are comparable in price to Sandpoint would have been unthinkable to me on past visits to the country; yet, that’s an indication of just how spendy it’s gotten around here.

They say that traveling abroad results in appreciating other places as much as it reinforces love for your own backyard; and, while that may be true, it can also underscore just how alike some places can be, even though separated by 5,000 miles. This time, England felt more like home than ever, but I’m not so sure that’s entirely a good thing.

Zach Hagadone feeling very at home in a 1,000-year-old pub in Winchester. Photo by Perky Smith-Hagadone.

Banff Mt. Film Fest returns to the Panida

Three showings slated for Jan. 20-22

By Reader Staff

As sure as a North Idaho winter is cold and a night at the community theater is enjoyable, the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour will return to the Panida Theater, just as it has every year since 1995.

However, for the first time in 2023, Sandpoint will see three nights of films, giving locals plenty of opportunity to enjoy the tour’s adventurous offerings.

Those three nights are Friday, Jan. 20; Saturday, Jan. 21; and Sunday Jan. 22.

Doors to the theater will open at 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, with films kicking off at 7 p.m. On Sunday, doors will open at 5 p.m. and films will start at 6 p.m. Tickets, which are $19 in advance, can be purchased at panida.org. Day-of tickets will cost $24.

Banff Mountain Film Festival

Friday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m.; Sunday, Jan. 22 at 6 p.m.; doors open an hour before the show; $19 advance, $24 at the door.

Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave., 208-263-9191, panida. org. More info at mountainfever. us or banffcentre.ca/banffmountainfestival.

As with each year, a broad variety of films encompassing mountain sport, humor and culture will take over the Panida screen. Films this year include Balkan Express, in which two mountaineers book a one-way train ticket from Munich, Germany to Thessaloniki, Greece, returning back to the start of

their 1,500-mile journey with only skis and bicycles. On the way they are able to explore the mountains of the Balkans, looking for beautiful ski runs and getting to know mountain communities.

For adventurers looking for an odd vacation there is A Baffin Vacation, in which Sarah McNair-Landry and Erik Boomer spend more than a month kayaking, climbing, camping and freezing in Canada’s Baffin Island area.

Taking it to warmer climes, there is the beautiful action mountain bike film, Colors of Mexico, in which rider Kilian Bron takes viewers from active volcanoes to the narrow historic villages that lie far below.

For a complete listing of 2023 films go to mountainfever.us.

The world tour immediately follows the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival in November, after which a selection of the top films submitted to the festival go on a tour around the world. The tour reaches more than 550,000 audience members through more than 1,100 screenings in 500 locations in 40 countries.

From its humble beginnings

A still frame from the film Walking on Clouds, one of the many films shown at the Banff Mountain Film Festival. Photo by Claudino Junior.

in Banff, Alberta, where a couple filmmakers got together, it truly spans the globe, even including some years in Antarctica.

From the classroom to the world

SHS advanced art students kick off Pend d’Oreille Winery exhibit with reception Jan. 12

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff

To create a work of art is one thing. To share it with the world is another.

Students in the pre-advanced placement and advanced placement art courses at Sandpoint High School will learn this lesson in January as their work goes on display at the Pend d’Oreille Winery, which is known for featuring a different artist on its walls each month. In this case, it will be approximately two dozen high schoolers showing off what they’ve learned in class.

“It’s important for them to present their work because it’s definitely all part of the creative process,” said SHS AP art teacher Ezra Stafford. “From the idea, to the process of making it and then displaying it — that’s why the winery [exhibit] is a great opportunity for a lot of these kids, just so they have a place to share their work with friends and family.”

Friends, family and the rest of the community will have the chance to take in those creations and meet with the artists on Thursday, Jan. 12 as the winery hosts a reception from 5-7 p.m.

The work on display will come from mostly high-school juniors, as well as some seniors. The art — “different expressions of topics that the students spin, manipulate, build and create,” Stafford said — will then be featured in the students’ AP portfolios their senior year.

“These examples are just a tiny

glimpse of their development throughout the Sandpoint High School art program,” Stafford said.

Most of these students have been studying art together since freshman year, he added, and the winery exhibit gives them an opportunity to bond further and get a glimpse into the broader art world that many of them plan to enter in college.

“It’s a great opportunity, especially at the winery,” Stafford said. “It’s a great venue, and a lot of people will see it.”

The Pend d’Oreille Winery is located at 301 Cedar St. in downtown Sandpoint.

A sampling of some of the work by Sandpoint High School Pre-AP and AP art students that will be on display at Pend d’Oreille Winery during the month of January. Credit various artists.

events

January 12-19, 2023

THURSDAY, January 12

Art Reception for SHS artists • 5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Stop in and meet our January artists of the month, SHS advanced art students

FriDAY, January 13

Live Music w/ Brian Jacobs & Samantha Carston

5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Indie and classic favorites in perfect harmony

Live Music w/ Big Phatty & The Inhalers

6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Rock and blues done right (see Page 21)

Live Music w/ Steven Wayne 7-9pm @ The Back Door

Live Music w/ KOSH

Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes 5-7:30pm @ Drift (Hope)

Living Voices: Within the Silence 7pm @ The Heartwood Center See Page 19 for more info

SATURDAY, January 14

5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Vocal acoustic soloist

Live Music w/ Kerry Leigh 6-9pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz

4:30-7:30pm @ Barrel 33 Sandpoint’s prolific jazz group

Live Music w/ The Real McCoy 6-8pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co.

Comedy Avalanche: Gabriel Rutledge 8pm @ Panida Theater

Live comedy show with a nationally-touring comedian (see Page 19) panida.org

Live Music w/ Brian Jacobs 7-9pm @ The Back Door

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

Live Music w/ Snacks at Midnight 8-11pm @ 219 Lounge Spokane-based indie rock group

Live Music w/ Kaitlyn Weins Band 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Check her out at kaitlynwiensmusic.com Northern Lights Fireworks Spectacular 6pm @ Schweitzer

Torchlight parade down Jam Session, followed by a fireworks show in teh village, then music and partying at Taps

Follies auditions (Jan. 14-15)

Contact the Angels Over Sandpoint with questions: 208-290-5895 or email contactus@angelsoversandpoint.org

SunDAY, January 15 monDAY, January 16

Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi

7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Paint and Sip Night

5:30pm @ A&P’s Bar & Grill

Instructed by Lisa Maus. $45/person, please sign up in advance

Magic with Star Alexander (Sundays) 5-8pm @ Jalepeño’s Up close magic shows right at the table

Group Run @ Outdoor Experience 6pm @ Outdoor Experience 3-5 miles, all levels welcome, beer after

tuesDAY, January 17

Paint and Sip with Lori Salisbury • 5:30-7:30pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery $45 includes supplies to paint a winter wonderland scene, instructions and a glass of wine

wednesDAY, January 18

Live Piano w/ Bob Beadling

5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery CHAFE 150 registration opens Get more information at chafe150.org

ThursDAY, January 19

Live Music w/ Aaron Golay and the Original Sin • 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Listen at aarongolaymusic.com

History, come to life

POAC presents Living Voices’ performance of Within the Silence at the Heartwood Jan. 13

By Reader Staff

It is easy to learn about history from a distance, never taking the time to consider people’s lived experiences — especially in times of discrimination and strife. However, it takes more than a textbook overview to really understand how the events of the past impacted people’s lives and shaped the society in which we live today.

Seattle-based educational theater group Living Voices aims to make personalized stories based on historical events accessible for audiences across the country. The program is coming to Sandpoint on Friday, Jan. 13 as part of the Pend Oreille Arts Council’s annual Performing Arts Series, with a performance of Within the

Silence at the Heartwood Center (615 Oak St., Sandpoint). Doors will open at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m.

Within the Silence shares the story of thousands of Japanese-Americans during World War II, told from the perspective of fictional Emiko Yamada, a teenager in 1941.

Emiko is a second-generation Japanese-American living in Seattle, Was. Her family runs a grocery store and her parents are leaders in their community.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the family is relocated to an internment camp at Minidoka, in the southern Idaho desert, along with thousands of other Japanese-Americans.

The performance takes the audience on Emi’s journey through this difficult experience and her ultimate return to

American society after the war is over to fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher.

“Our long relationship with the incredible Living Voices program continues with this latest production of Within the Silence,” said POAC Executive Director Tone Lund. “This play is of particular interest to our local audience, with its tie-in to Idaho history, and POAC believes it is an important story to share. We hope you’ll join us for live theater at the Heartwood Center this Friday.”

Living Voices is taking part in POAC’s Ovations program — a free outreach that provides quality educational experiences in the performing arts for students in the community who would not otherwise have these opportunities. A study guide focused on the history of the

WWII internment camps will accompany performances in multiple schools in the Lake Pend Oreille School District prior to the public performance at the Heartwood Center.

Tickets are $18 for adults or $10 for youth, and available at the POAC Office (110 Main Street, Suite 101 in downtown

Catch nationally touring comic Gabriel Rutledge at the Panida Theater

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

Gabriel Rutledge is the real deal.

The Olympia, Wash.-based stand-up comic has won both the Seattle International Comedy Competition and the Laughing Skull Comedy Festival in Atlanta, Ga. He’s performed on Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham, Nickelodeon’s Nickmom Night Out, Laughs on FOX and Inside Joke with Asif Ali on Amazon Prime Video. He’s also made appearances at the HBO/TBS Comedy Festival in Las Vegas; the Bridgetown Comedy Festival in Portland,

Ore.; and the Great American Comedy Festival in Norfolk, Neb. — made famous as the hometown of legendary comedian and late-night TV host Johnny Carson.

On top of all that, Rutledge has released five albums — including an iTunes comedy charter-topper — and authored the book Happiness Isn’t Funny: True Stories of a Road Comic.

Phillip Kopczynski Presents Comedy Avalanche: Gabriel Rutledge

Saturday, Jan. 14; doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m.; $25. Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave., 208263-9191, get tickets at panida.org. Get to know Rutledge at gabrielrutledge.com.

Currently on a wide-ranging tour, which includes dates in Washington, Oregon, California, British Columbia, Wisconsin and Arkansas, Rutledge will make his oneand-only stop in Idaho with a

PG-13 performance Saturday, Jan. 14 at the Panida Theater in downtown Sandpoint.

Billed under Phillip Kopczynski Presents Comedy Avalanche, Rutledge will be joined on the Panida stage by opener Rob Wentz, a Sandpoint local who has been making a name for himself with his brand of observational humor everywhere from the Spokane Comedy Club to Nashville, Tenn., where he recently relocated.

Described by Louisville Weekly as “a quick-thinking, fast-talking, hard-working badass,” Rutledge’s style is

sardonic and witty, world-wise and self-deprecating as he riffs on navigating the foibles of sex, money, marriage, family, modern technology, and all the various indignities and absurdities of advancing middle age.

Particularly relatable is his routine on Amazon’s “hurtful”

Sandpoint), by calling 208263-6139 or by going online to artinsandpoint.org.

algorithm that he jokes placed him on “an internet fat list” after ordering an extra-large shirt and subsequently receiving offers on Cool Ranch Doritos and finding that Cinnabon had started following him on Twitter.

To get a particularly apt sampling of Rutledge’s work, watch his 2016 headline show at Laff’s Comedy Club in Tucson, Ariz. (“My Safe Word is Tucson — Full Show”), and an uproarious 2019 performance in Idaho’s own capital city of Boise (Gabriel Rutledge: Jokes vs. Boise — Full Special), both on his YouTube channel.

Living Voices’ Within the Silence will bring the story of Japanese-American teenager Emiko Yamada to the Heartwood Center on Friday, Jan. 13. Courtesy photo.

Gabriel Rutledge. Courtesy photo.

By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Columnist

It’s been a tough start to the new year for a few of my friends. Some are down with chronic winter colds; and, sadder, a couple of close pals have been diagnosed with medical conditions that require surgery, so I’ve been busy cooking some batches of healing foods.

I know food is always appreciated, and I spend a lot of time choosing meals that will help heal and offer comfort. When I have significant worries, cooking quells my anxiety, which is a healing process for me.

Most of us will agree we have certain foods that make us feel better, right? For me, it’s dry packaged Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup Mix. When I was young and under the weather, my mother prepared it with a beaten egg swirled in at the last minute. She served it with lightly toasted Wonder Bread fingers that I dunked in the broth. When I’m sick, I don’t feel like spending time cooking for myself. To this day, you’ll find two or three familiar red-and-white boxes stashed in my cupboard. Whether it’s nature or nurture, or a combination of both, it never fails to make me feel better (and miss my mother, still).

Soup has been around since 20,000 BCE. It always comes to mind thousands of years and thousands of recipes later when we want to nourish others. Many of us have family recipes we cherish. If not, don’t worry. The internet is ripe with soup recipes, and you’ll find numerous soup groups on Facebook boasting millions of members.

The Sandpoint Eater The scoop on soup

I think we’ll also agree that nearly all of us love soup!

Typically, during my travels, I search for the traditional soups of the area. I discovered ajiaco, a Colombian chicken stew, on a visit to Bogota, and still remember the taste of the silky, warm avocado topping the thick soup. Twenty-some years later, during Hurricane Katrina cleanup, I learned to make perfect, caramel-colored gumbo roux at a soup kitchen in Mobile, Ala. My taco soup recipe came from an old friend in Missoula, Mont., and I learned to make spicy green curry in Chang Rai, Thailand.

Curry is one of my favorite cold remedy soups. I make it frequently in the winter.

Many foods, including vegetables, healthy fats and protein sources, like eggs and poultry, help reduce inflammation, improve our immune functions and promote healing, so I often use these key ingredients when I make a batch of soup. When time permits, I start with homemade stock.

It’s not uncommon for me to have a freezer (or two) full of raw bones; and, once I have an adequate supply of one type (turkey, chicken, or beef), I start the long process of prepar-

ing bone broth (stock).

It takes a couple of days from frozen bones to a rich, clear stock. Still, it’s a beautiful and healthy base for nutritious and delicious soup or as a hot standalone sipping beverage (sometimes I combine beef and poultry stock for soups like French onion or Italian wedding — otherwise, I use one stock per recipe).

I use a lot of aromatic vegetables, like carrots, celery and onions (maybe peppers and garlic, too, depending on the recipe) in most soups, sautéing before adding to the stock. I don’t like to add ingredients like pasta, rice and beans if I

plan on freezing, as it compromises the integrity of the component — plus, they tend to soak up a lot of broth, so I wait and add those after I thaw and reheat the soup.

I like to use small pasta shapes, like acini de pepe or orzo (and, right now, there seems to be a shortage on the pasta shelves, so if you find some, stock up) because they don’t soak up the broth.

Lemon chicken orzo soup is a favorite recipe with any tiny pasta shapes. It’s creamy, zesty and travels well. Any friend, convalescing or not, would be happy to receive a batch!

Lemon chicken orzo soup

This soup is classic and creamy. Serve with bread and butter and a glass of white wine. Add more or less lemon juice to suit your own taste.

In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the celery, carrots, garlic and shallots, and sauté until tender, about 8 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Add the flour to the pot, stirring, then add in the stock, slowly so you won’t have lumps, and stir until all the flour is dissolved in the liquid. Add the bay leaves and thyme.

Add in the chicken, bring to a low simmer and cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Remove the chicken and let it cool.

Continue to simmer the soup for half an hour or so. Remove the thyme and bay leaves. Shred or chop the cooled chicken. Warm the serving bowls with hot water as you finish the soup.

Add in the butter to the soup, whisk, and add the lemon juice. Taste

and season.

Portion the orzo and shredded chicken into 4 bowls. Ladle the soup

over and garnish with thyme sprig, lemon zest, and an extra lemon wedge.

MUSIC

One (more) toke over the line

Steve Rush of Big Phatty and the Inhalers discusses music, life and the future

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

For Steve Rush, playing live music on stage is just about as good as it gets.

“I love playing music,” Rush told the Reader. “It was always a dream to have my own band.”

First formed in 2017, Rush’s group Big Phatty and the Inhalers has earned a reputation for its spirited renditions of rock favorites from the 1960s and ’70s. They’ll bring the ruckus to MickDuff’s Beer Hall for a special show Friday, Jan. 13 from 6:30-9:30 p.m.

Playing acoustic rhythm guitar, Rush originally started the group with local drummer and music instructor Ali Thomas and fellow musician Chris Paradis, where they focused primarily on playing Grateful Dead covers. After some personnel shifting, Rush and Thomas were later joined by bassist Ken Donegan and Liam McCoy on the electric lead guitar. It was then that the band really hit high gear.

“I was diagnosed with bladder cancer,” he said. “That turned into bladder cancer surgery at the end of July. The first week of August we played at Eichardt’s, even though I probably shouldn’t have, and now I need to get another checkup to make sure it’s not coming back. So that’s what I’ve been facing since then. That put the kibosh on playing music the rest of the summer.”

Rush said he recovered from the surgery, but looks forward to his next checkup with trepidation, knowing that if the cancer comes back, a lot of “bad things” can happen.

“It can spread,” he said. “It could get so bad that you’d have to have your bladder removed.”

So Rush and the rest of the band are looking at their upcoming Beer Hall gig as a celebration of sorts, hoping they’ll be given more time to keep playing the music that fills their souls.

Big Phatty and the Inhalers

Friday, Jan. 13; 6:30-9:30 p.m.; FREE. MickDuff’s Beer Hall, 220 Cedar St., 208209-6700, mickduffs.com.

“After Ken joined the band, we played a private party,” Rush said. “It was a fourhour show and it was the first time we really played together as a band. It was such a blast. We were really looking forward to our future gigs.”

It was after that private party that Rush received some news that changed everything.

“Ever since we started Big Phatty and the Inhalers, it’s been a real treat for me,” Rush said. “By the way, the name came from a friend of mine who has a music studio over in Seattle. His band name was Big Phatty McDoobie and the Inhalers and I asked if I could use part of their name.”

When Rush speaks of his bandmates, it’s clear the love and respect that each has for one

another.

“Ali has been making music since she was 4 years old,” Rush said. “She’s taken lessons in piano, flute and singing. She came to Sandpoint in 1982 and learned tenor sax and played with the high school marching band. In her adult years, she learned traditional West African djembe, and drum kits and bass. I’ve always played with Ali and I really enjoy it.”

Donegan has been playing music for 46 years, Rush said, touring with bands in many genres.

“Music is food for the soul, mind and body,” Donegan said. “This group of artists all eat a sonic meal differently. The three of us are just riding Liam’s coattails until he gets discovered anyway. He’s the real talent in this outfit.” McCoy, at just 21, plays lead guitar with a confidence that matches someone with a lifetime of experience. He often sits in with the weekly Monday Night Blues Jam crew at Eichardt’s.

“I’ve been playing guitar since about 10 years old,” McCoy said. “I just like to jam. I love to find a groove and go for it. … At the

members, from left to right: Steve Rush, Ali Thomas, Liam McCoy and Ken Donegan. Courtesy photo.

end of the day, I just like playing guitar and making music with my friends. Big Phatty is a good group to do that with. ... I get to noodle endlessly on my guitar. It’s sort of a dream come true.”

Rush said Big Phatty plays a diverse mix of many of the songs he grew up listening to, including Jimi Hendrix, Cream, The Allman Brothers, the Beatles, Grateful Dead and more. They also delve into the blues.

While the future is uncertain regarding Rush’s bladder cancer, he and the rest of the Inhalers are always looking forward to the next song, the next gig and the next chance to live out a dream by playing on stage.

“There’s a lot of magic with this group,” Rush said. “Every single show is a thrill to me. That’s what has always kept me going. I’m 66 now and I’ve been playing music since 1969. Who knows how long it will last, but I sure hope I can play a lot more years to come.”

A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint

Snacks at Midnight, 219 Lounge, Jan. 14 Kaitlyn Wiens Band, Eichardt’s Pub, Jan. 14

Where unbridled joy and unabashed fun meet, there is Spokane band Snacks at Midnight, made up of five high school friends who “have a penchant for doing the ridiculous,” according to their online bio.

Lucky for them, and especially for live-music-lovers of the Inland Northwest, it really works.

Snacks at Midnight leans into the wide creative possibilities afforded to indie bands, with playful vocals reminiscent of Twenty-One

Pilots’ Tyler Joseph; the high-flying melodies of Dayglow and COIN; and, beneath it all, a thick and funky rhythm section putting in work.

For a taste of what the band is able to create from scratch, no track hits the spot like “Better Than Ever.” Find it on Spotify.

— Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey

8-11 p.m., FREE, 21+. 219 Lounge, 219 N. First Ave., 208263-5673, 219.bar. Listen at snacksatmidnight.com.

The post-holiday season can often feel like a cold-weather slog cast in various shades of gray. But Spokane-based singer-songwriter Kaitlyn Wiens and her horn-infused band breaks through that flat-palette wintry gloom with a voice that warms like a sunny cloud break and mellow jazzy-soul rhythms that flow like the tease of a springtinged breeze.

Originally from the Bay Area

in California, her debut EP In My Head dropped in 2021, and it provides the best recommendation to catch Wiens when she brings her refreshing sound Saturday, Jan. 14 to Eichardt’s Pub.

— Zach Hagadone

7 p.m., FREE. Eichardt’s Pub, 212 Cedar St., 208-263-4005, eichardtspub.com. Listen at kaitlynwiensmusic.com.

By now, most people ought to understand the historical importance of Ukraine.

East West Street, by British law professor Philippe Sands, centers the country in the 20th-century formulation of “crimes against humanity” and “genocide” as legal concepts. In case that sounds dry, Sands frames his narrative alongside an evocative personal journey of family detective work, uncovering his own grandfather’s past. It’s an important book that has only gotten timelier since its publication in 2016.

LISTEN

Ask Google “why is ABBA so popular?” and you’ll get more results than you bargained for.

Even the Smithsonian has considered the staying power of the Swedish pop quartet, which has been among the world’s favorite musical groups for 51 years. Almost everywhere I went on a recent trip to England, there was ABBA — on the loudspeakers in shops, in the pubs, on the telly (Dame Judi Dench playing “Waterloo” on the piano for New Year’s guests at a Scottish hotel) and even on the i360 observation tower in Brighton. It’s a mystery to me, but damn if it isn’t catchy.

WATCH

David Bowie’s final album, Blackstar, dropped on Jan. 8, 2016 — two days before his death at the age of 69 — making it probably the greatest swan song in music history. That Bowie died better than almost anyone is established; that he lived better than almost anyone is underscored by the 2022 documentary Moonage Daydream, which celebrates not only the iconic artist’s work, but his journey from rock star to stellar human being. Rent it on Amazon Prime.

This week’s RLW by Zach Hagadone

Band

From Northern Idaho News, January 10, 1911

WOODSMAN INJURED BY FALLING TREE

FRANK TAYLOR MAY DIE FROM INJURIES RECEIVED AT COLBURN YESTERDAY

Frank Taylor, a laborer at the camp of Fred Beckman, near Colburn, was struck by a falling tree yesterday morning about 10 o’clock and is not expected to survive the injuries he received.

Dr. Stackhouse was called to attend the injured man and found that Taylor has sustained a broken collar bone and pelvis, as well as internal injuries. The condition of Taylor was considered too serious to have him moved to a hospital at the present time.

Taylor went to work Sunday for Beckman and was assisting Woodsman Doyle in felling a tree, which was blown over unexpectedly by the wind before Taylor could get out of the way. The injured man had only recently been discharged from a hospital at Los Angeles, California, where he had been confined with a severe case of typhoid fever. Taylor comes from Winnipeg and he is a member in good standing of the Masonic and I.O.O.F. lodges of Montreal.

BACK OF THE BOOK

On the future of the planet

By Sandy Compton Reader Staff

Welcome to 2023. Here in the U.S. of A., it so far looks a lot like 2022. Or 2019, for that matter. We’re still stuck in neutral, suffering a lot of noisy engine revving and exhaust fumes from Congress, and getting absolutely nowhere. We‘re held captive by a minority because the majority doesn’t have the guts to stand up to them.

In other places — Ukraine, for instance — the suffering is more real than ours. While we whine about gas prices — mysteriously falling — Ukrainian kindergarten teachers and their boyfriends are toting rifles, tossing grenades and dying in defense of their country.

While many in this country have plenty to eat and resources to pay for gasoline burned ripping around on motorized rec equipment or idling in line at espresso stores, millions of children are hungry in Asia, Africa and Appalachia.

Again, a minority is bullying their neighbors — or ignoring them — on selfish grounds while a majority suffers and argues about what to do about it.

We still haven’t figured out or agreed upon how to save the planet from ourselves, but soon — on the scale of geologic time, if not sooner — we will need to turn our attention to saving ourselves from the planet. Earth will only take so much crap before it begins to administer a series of beatings, and it doesn’t care if we survive them or not.

The beatings may have already commenced. A small sample: drought in Europe kept ski resorts closed this season, unusually strong storms raged along the Pacific coast this month and wind “events” have been more regularly wreaking havoc on trees and power lines locally.

STR8TS Solution

Worldwide, megafauna and ecosystems we might fantasize about seeing in person one day are assaulted by climate change and human greed. As long as someone thinks it’s fine to shoot a rhino for its horn, kill every predator that isn’t us or reduce a patch of forest to smithereens — and pave it — for a new series of storage units in which to keep the stuff we don’t have room for in our overstuffed garages, things are only going to get worse. Every time we clear-cut a patch of forest, we get closer to suffocating from lack of oxygen. Boy, are we smart!

We might be the genius species, but we are just as susceptible to human foolishness as are the creatures and plants we are hounding to extinction and no more valuable to the planet.

That’s all kind of glum, isn’t it? Yep. Glum, but true.

Dang. Paying attention to all this might interfere with binge-watching soap opera dramas on Netflix or keeping up with that incredibly important fantasy-whatever team. Prioritization doesn’t seem to be one of our culture’s main strengths.

I’m being kind of a judgmental jerk myself this fine January morning, sitting in my electrically-heated home office tapping away on my Apple keyboard attached to my MacBook Air with the 23-inch LED monitor glowing in front of me while I list out the most obvious problems we face. There are many more, but I don’t have room to outline them all, or the knowledge necessary to write intelligently about them. I’ve always been a generalist, and I can only speak to what I see on the larger surface of our planetary culture. It’s the same culture that allows me to do what I’m doing, blessings I am grateful for and blessings that I do my best — and sometimes fail — to use wisely, which may be all any of us can do.

Sudoku Solution

It could be as simple as that. Maybe if we just start turning off the lights and turning down the heat when we leave home, things will begin to get better. Maybe if we actually get out of the car and walk into the coffee shop; maybe if all who can afford it donate a bit each month to feed the poor in their own neighborhood, and a little bit more to some group that works to make the planet safer for all humans; maybe if we spend a little less time watching drivel on television and spend it instead helping a kid learn something important; maybe if we quit throwing away tons of food every day; maybe if we start electing people who give a damn about something more than promoting their own self-aggrandizing agendas while selling it as patriotism; maybe if we start paying attention to little things we can each do to help save ourselves from an angry Earth, maybe we can actually do so.

In a culture as rich as ours, maybe we have the resources to save ourselves if we each regularly do a bit for someone else, something else, some cause other than our own “wants.” Maybe.

Time will tell, but it won’t wait. The future is now.

If I ever get burned beyond recognition, and you can’t decide if it’s me or not, just put my funny fisherman’s hat on my “head.” See, it’s me!

By Bill Borders

CROSSWORD

ACROSS