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PEOPLE compiled by

Ben Olson

watching

“If you could master any musical instrument, what would it be?”

“I’d want to master the guitar because you can play so many different songs with it.

I really enjoy the sound of it a lot.”

Ken Wood Sandpoint

“The piano. It controls the whole room when you play it. You don’t need any other instruments with it.”

Donna Calhoun Sandpoint

DEAR READERS,

This week marks our official seventh anniversary of the Reader being brought back from the dead in 2015. If you count the seven-plus years the first iteration was around from 2004-2012, that means we’ve been a thing now for more than 15 years.

I have some great memories of my time with this newspaper over the years. Back in the old days, when it was owned and published by a trio of twenty-somethings, deadline night would often stretch to the wee hours of the morning. As one of the original owners, Zach Hagadone has seen more deadline nights than anyone else on staff. One of my favorite stories was when I dumped a two-inch thick file of notes and research on Zach’s desk one deadline night in the late oughts after I’d traveled around the West visiting resort towns that had undergone “Aspenization.” True to form, Zach grumbled and wrote the story, and it was a damn good one. That’s a true friend. If someone dumped that pile of notes and b.s. on my desk with a couple hours to go before putting the paper to bed, they’d hear more than just grumbling.

Kudos to our staff, our advertisers and our readers for keeping us going.

– Ben Olson, publisher

READER 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 Cameron Rasmusson (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus) Advertising: Jodi Berge Jodi@sandpointreader.com Contributing Artists: Woods Wheatcroft (cover), Ben Olson, Otto Kitsinger, Bill Borders, Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey, Lorraine H. Marie, Brenden Bobby, Clark Corbin, Jim Woodward, Emily Erickson, Raphael Barta, Chris Park Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com Printed weekly at: Tribune Publishing Co. Lewiston, ID

“I tried to play harmonica once but every time I broke it out my dog would howl like crazy.”

Bob McKeon Hope

“The piano because you can play it anywhere. You can have grandkids with you.

I’d love to have one in my home.”

Becky Rands Sandpoint

“The bagpipes, obviously. Just for the outfit, though.”

Jesse Jennings Sandpoint

Subscription Price: $155 per year Web Content: Keokee The Sandpoint Reader is a weekly publication owned and operated by Ben Olson and Keokee. It is devoted to the arts, entertainment, politics and lifestyle in and around Sandpoint, Idaho.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

About the Cover

This week’s cover photo was taken by the inimitable Woods Wheatcroft. Watch Suzi and Suki fly!

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NEWS

County approves separation of planning and zoning commissions

New two-commission system meant to improve efficiency with Comp Plan overhaul

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff The Board of Bonner County Commissioners voted unanimously Jan. 12 to do away with the county’s current Planning and Zoning Commission in favor of a new, two-commission system.

As a result, Bonner County will feature both a seven-member planning commission and five-member zoning commission, created under an ordinance set to go into effect March 30, 2022.

Planning Director Milton Ollerton, who presented the code change to the Bonner County commissioners at the Jan. 12 hearing, said that Idaho law allows for either a combo commission like the one the county currently has, or the separation of the planning and zoning components.

“Having more people involved in this process, I see as a positive,” he said.

Ollerton said that the Bonner County Planning and Zoning Commission held 28 meetings in 2021, and considered 123 files that required a public hearing. In 2020, that number was only 74.

The workload has diminished the commission’s ability to perform an increasingly pressing duty: to revisit — and revise — the county’s Comprehensive Plan, parts of which haven’t been updated in 20 years.

“In that 20 years, the population has increased by some 11,000 individuals,” Ollerton said. “As the county continues to change and land use continues to change, the Comprehensive Plan has not been updated in that many years.

So there is a lot of work to do.”

Under the new ordinance, the Planning Commission will work on the Comp Plan; consider amendments to the Comp Plan, zoning code and county-initiated zone changes; and work on issues surrounding Areas of City Impact.

“More legislative type of work, if you will,” Ollerton said.

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Commission’s work will be implementing the subarea plans from across the county.

“The challenge is that the Planning and Zoning Commission, this past year, has been so tied up in hearing land use files that they have not had the time to work on these subarea plans and integrate them into the Comprehensive Plan,” Ollerton said. “This would give the county an opportunity to further this work more urgently and be able to address the growth.”

The Zoning Commission will hear what the director called “quasi-judicial land use files,” including landowner-initiated zone changes, as well as applications for subdivisions, variances, conditional use permits and special use permits.

While the county has considered hiring outside consultants to help update the Comp Plan, Ollerton said the two-commission system is the route his department has settled on.

“I think that the community is better served by staff doing this work, and allowing the community to be involved as much as possible in this work,” he said.

“It may take a little bit longer, but I think the end product will be a lot better, and I think it will be a whole lot more meaningful to the residents of Bonner County because they are the ones who will have the most say in those documents and how they look.”

Those interested in applying for either commission are asked to submit a letter of interest. Applicants would then sit for interviews with the Bonner County commissioners.

“I think that there is enough interest in planning and zoning in Bonner County that the board could fill these 12 spots,” Ollerton said.

That interest has seemed to only grow over the past year, with citizen watchdog groups like Project 7B and Keep Bonner County Rural building up their followings and encouraging increased public involvement in land use issues.

Susan Bowman and her husband

Dave, both of KBCR, voiced their opposition to the commission changes on Jan. 12.

“This amendment before you today — it’s not about finishing the Comp Plan.

This amendment will create a new Zoning Commission and will make it easier to churn out the rezone applications,” Susan said, adding later: “Creating a hand-picked Zoning Commission to churn out rezones faster is not what the people of this county want, nor do we want to have to sue our own county to enforce our zoning laws.”

Susan Drumheller of Project 7B urged the board to send the code amendment to the Planning and Zoning Commission, which was not formally required to hear the file before it went to the county commissioners. P&Z Vice Chair Don Davis did, however, voice support for the code change during the public comment portion of the hearing.

“This feels like it’s being rushed, even though perhaps there

have been some internal conversations,” Drumheller said.

Asked whether the county could place a temporary moratorium on zone change applications and other development-related requests until they were caught up, Deputy Prosecutor Bill Wilson said that Idaho Code requires there to be a real emergency.

“Simply to issue a moratorium because we’re backlogged — I don’t think that would be a legally sufficient reason to do that,” he said.

Ollerton assured the board that the decision to form separate commissions “wasn’t taken lightly,” and that conversations with Latah County’s planning director, who lauded her county’s two-commission system, have only made

Bonner County admin. building.

Courtesy photo. him more certain that it is the right move for Bonner County.

Commissioners agreed, casting a unanimous roll-call vote in favor of the amendment to county code.

“To be honest, these guys are working too hard for a volunteer-status type of job,” said Commissioner Jeff Connolly, in reference to the current county P&Z Commission.

“There’s a lot of distrust about why this would be done, but I just don’t see it,” he added. “I see this as a good move for Bonner County and a way to get the Comp Plan done in a timely fashion.”

County aims to improve safety on Spirit Lake Cutoff

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff The Bonner County Road and Bridge Department could be one step closer to making Spirit Lake Cutoff Road safer after a unanimous vote from county commissioners Jan. 18 approving the submission of a grant application to the Local Highway Technical Assistance Council.

The grant, available through LHTAC’s Local Highway Safety

Improvement Program, would be used to improve safety on Spirit Lake Cutoff — a road known for its dramatic curves.

“Looking at all of the crash data that we have from the past five years, we’ve seen a pattern of people who have failed to negotiate the curves on Spirit Lake Cutoff Road,” said Road and Bridge Staff Engineer Matt Mulder. “There have been two fatal accidents and a number of other accidents, particularly on the sharpest corner of those curves.”

If secured, the $1.6 million grant would be used to “realign the sharpest corner so that it’s not as sharp, add guardrail to the outside edge of two of the curves and add lighted chevrons around all of the corners on that road,” Mulder said.

The grant would require a 7.34% match from Bonner County, totaling approximately $119,000.

Asked during the Jan. 18 meeting which of Spirit Lake Cutoff’s curves is the “sharpest,” Mulder said it was the “second corner north from Highway 41.”

NEWS

Sandpoint P&Z welcomes new members

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Gone are the days when the Sandpoint Planning and Zoning Commission was considered a sideshow to the City Council.

More growth and development activity has occurred in the Sandpoint area over the past two years than in recent memory, and much of the nuts-and-bolts of that growth has first passed under the scrutiny of the P&Z Commission, making its meetings must-see.

In its first meeting of 2022, the body welcomed three new members: Amelia Boyd, Ben McGrann and Luke Omodt, all appointed

by Mayor Shelby Rognstad and approved by the City Council in its first meeting of the year.

Boyd has been a Sandpoint resident for about six years and previously served on the Sandpoint Parks and Recreation Commission.

“I like to hike, I like the outdoors … and I look forward to

serving on the commission,” she said.

McGrann came to the area in 2019, currently living in Dover, and worked in real estate and development in the Seattle area after a college career at Pacific Lutheran University in Washington and military service in Iraq.

“We wanted a better way of life for our family,” he said of his wife and two sons.

Omodt ran an unsuccessful campaign for Sandpoint City Council and recently announced his bid for the seat on the Bonner County Board of Commissioners currently held by Dan McDonald.

A lifelong county resident, Omodt is a government teacher at Bonners Ferry High School and served 26 years of military service, including deployments in Europe and Iraq.

“I grew up in the Selle Valley, attended Northside [Elementary] School with Commissioner [Mose] Dunkel,” he said. “I’ve been a Sandpoint resident for 13 years, and I’ve been a Bonner

County resident since 1979 and it’s a pleasure to serve.”

In addition to introducing its new members, the commission also elected as its chairperson Tom Hastings, who had previously served as vice chair and will take over the role from Jason Welker, who now serves on the City Council. In another unanimous vote, commissioners elected Mose Dunkel as vice chair.

Hastings congratulated Welker on his election to the City Council and honored outgoing Commissioners Cate Huisman and Tom

Riggs — the former served the commission for 13 years and the latter for eight.

“They served our community well,” Hastings said.

Sandpoint City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton also introduced commission members to the new city planner, Amy Tweeten, who comes to Sandpoint from Petoskey, Mich., a resort community of about 5,700 on the northern shoreline of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

Stapleton said Tweeton brings decades of experience, “facing

Courtesy image. many of the same challenges we are facing here in Sandpoint.”

Daren Fluke had been serving as interim planner, as the city had been without a consistent, full-time planner since December 2020.

Fluke had served on a contractual basis, but Stapleton said that with the volume of planning and development activity in the city, he will likely still be involved.

“He will not be a stranger to the commission either, I suspect,” she said.

City Council grants appeals, denying use permit for proposed airport-adjacent development

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Members of the Sandpoint City Council voted Jan. 19 to grant two appeals of a conditional use permit handed down by the Planning and Zoning Commission in November that would have cleared the way for a 107-unit multi-family housing development adjacent to the Sandpoint airport.

The Schweitzer Cutoff townhome project, brought by developer Derick Driggs and represented by Todd Butler, of Forte Architecture and Planning, needed the conditional use permit to proceed with construction on the 6.35-acre parcel. The site in question underwent a rezone from residential single family to mixeduse residential in 2019, and its context area designation adjusted for lower intensity use under the

future land use map.

Around the same time, the city underwent the process of adding an airport facilities chapter to the Comprehensive Plan, which stipulated that rezones leading to increased residential density within the airport’s inner critical and lateral safety zones be deemed incompatible uses on a number of grounds, including safety and to protect the economic viability of the airport.

Both Driggs and Butler argued that the zone change to multi-family residential came before the adoption of the Comp Plan rules pertaining to development within the airport safety zones, and therefore the project should be allowed to go forward with a CUP. “This property is zoned mixeduse residential. … [T]he owners of this property should have the right to develop this property,” Butler

said.“My clients would not have purchased this property without assurances from the FAA.” “This is a grandfather situation,” Driggs said.

The applicants returned again and again to the housing affordability crisis affecting North Idaho, and assured council members that their project would provide the kind of housing that so many in the region are desperate to access.

“It’s a thoughtful project; it’s a community-geared project, not a greedy developer project,” Driggs said.

A majority of Planning and Zoning Commissioners had agreed in November that the need for housing went beyond the potential risks, granting the CUP, but Bonner County — which owns the land under the airport and serves as the sponsor of the facility — as

An aerial photo of the Sandpoint Airport with property lines highlighted. Courtesy city of Sandpoint.

well as Granite Aviation brought two separate appeals of the decision.

Allen Schoff, of Davillier Law, represented the county and argued that not enough due diligence had been completed to assess the threats posed by a housing

development so close to the airport, including jeopardizing vital funding from the Federal Aviation Administration.

“The question is not do we need housing in Sandpoint … the question here is this parcel we’re

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NEWS Idaho sees highest COVID positivity rate since pandemic began Free at-home tests now available for each U.S. household through easy online ordering system

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff The past week proved to be a dire one for Idaho COVID-19 statistics, as the omicron variant caused a surge in positive cases unmatched during any other time during the nearly two-year pandemic.

Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen told reporters at a media briefing Jan. 18 that the Gem State is currently logging a 25.7% testing positivity rate — the highest since the novel coronavirus hit the state in spring 2020, and more than five times the target rate of 5% or lower.

What’s more, the Idaho Capital Sun reported that, with backlogged positive tests factored in, Idaho is seeing a per capita rate of 197 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population, excluding “unreported cases, such as people who test positive using home rapid tests or who choose not to get tested.”

The increasing rate of infection is being felt statewide through shortages of both health care personnel and school staff, pushing some regions to consider once again rationing care and moving to remote schooling. Despite discussions of reclassifying the coronavirus pandemic as an endemic — that is, a virus with which the world coexists and maintains at a baseline level — Idaho health officials came out firmly against the concept on Jan. 18.

Elke Shaw-Tulloch, administrator for the state’s division of public health, stated: “While we all very much want this to be over, get back to some sense of normality, public health officials do 6 /

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not feel that we have transitioned from calling this a pandemic to an endemic.

We have too many people worldwide that still don’t have protection from the virus.”

That protection could come either naturally or from a COVID-19 vaccine — a measure that officials continue to recommend. According to the Idaho Capital Sun, “hundreds of people in the state” receive their first dose each day.

Still, the state maintains one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country.

“The number of people getting sick continues to rise, which is not something that you would see from endemic viruses,” Shaw-Tulloch said, as reported in the Idaho Press.

An effort to put testing tools into the hands of all Americans is officially underway as of Jan. 18, as the Biden administration officially launched covidtests.gov — a website where anyone can order four free at-home COVID tests for their household by providing their name and mailing address. The tests will be shipped at no charge between seven and 12 days after ordering. The tests being provided are rapid antigen tests, which don’t require lab analysis and provide results in about 30 minutes.

Learn more about the free tests and access the order form at covidtests. gov. For more local COVID-19 information, including how to obtain a vaccine, visit panhandlehealthdistrict. org/covid-19. The Panhandle Health District’s COVID-19 hotline, 877-4155225, is available Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-noon and 1 p.m.-4 p.m., excluding holidays.

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: Even after a five-day quarantine a third of people with COVID-19 could still be infectious, according to a study at England’s University of Exeter Medical School.

Sanctions against Afghanistan may cause 1 million children to die and double the rate of poverty, Commonweal reported.

The U.S. froze the assets of the Taliban when it took over in September 2021.

Most of those assets were U.S.-held; but, as The Atlantic pointed out, sanctions may not prove productive when a country’s leaders don’t care if their citizens suffer.

Commonweal magazine said that aid to Afghans does not have to equate to formal recognition of the Taliban — rather, assets could be released on a conditional basis.

While COVID-19 cases spike around the world, the WHO announced the recommendation of two new drugs for treatment. Axios said the recommendation followed observation of more than 4,000 COVID-19 patients.

COVID-19 cases are soaring in nursing homes, but the death rate is a fraction that of 2020, according to NPR. The bigger problem is unvaccinated staff with a higher sick rate, that’s impacted the level of care.

The U.S. Supreme Court blocked President Joe Biden’s mandate for businesses with more than 100 employees, which required workers for those businesses to be vaccinated, get tested weekly and wear a mask at work. The mandate was to be implemented by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, but The New York Times said six of the nine justices claimed OSHA had no authority in the case — even though OSHA, established by President Richard Nixon, is directed to “assure safe and healthy working conditions.”

In a 5-4 ruling the U.S. Supreme Court also decided that health care workers in facilities accepting Medicare and Medicaid will allow enforcement of those employees to be COVID-19 vaccinated.

That will impact 76,000 facilities with 10.4 million workers, as well as home health care providers.

A clinical trial involving 300 patients for a Chinese traditional herbal medicine for treating mild to moderate

By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist

COVID-19 cases has been declared successful by the Pakistani government, Reuters reported.

Some U.S. hospitals have allowed COVID-infected staff to stay on the job if they have mild or no symptoms, the Associated Press reported.

The struggle to shore up voting rights via the Freedom to Vote Act, after a 2013 Supreme Court decision struck down the 1965 Voting Rights Act, is so far being thwarted by all Republicans and two Democrats. The two Dems said they support the voting bill, but disagree with passing it if it requires sidelining the filibuster, which Republicans say they will use to stop the bill. What’s in the proposed voting bill, according to The Guardian and Business Insider: making election day a federal holiday, creating more protections and resources for voters with disabilities and for overseas/military voters, automatic voter registration, 15 days of early voting, an easier path for voters to go to court to ensure their votes aren’t tossed, provisions to make it more difficult to remove election officials without justification, allowing a wider range of non-photo ID, restoring voter rights to those formerly incarcerated and convicted of felonies, and a requirement to get federal approval before making changes regarding voting where there is evidence of recent voting discrimination.

The bill is up for a vote.

Historian and columnist Heather Cox Richardson on the difference between voter fraud and election fraud: the first is rare and doesn’t impact voting results; the second involves a rigged system and overturns voters’ will.

Blast from the past: In the early 1960s Mississippi had a 40% Black population; most didn’t vote due to violence directed at them, poll taxes and literacy tests. The issue of white dominance came to a head when three young men were tortured and murdered by the Ku Klux Klan for helping Blacks register to vote.

With national attention pivoted on Black voting rights, Congress passed the 1965 Voting Rights Act. It was gutted in 2013 when right-leaning Supreme Court members claimed it was no longer needed.

Immediately certain states began putting up roadblocks to voter turnout. In 2020 alone, 19 states passed laws making it more difficult to vote.

NEWS

$600 million income tax proposal heads to the Idaho House floor

By Clark Corbin Idaho Capital Sun The Idaho Legislature’s House Revenue and Taxation Committee advanced the largest tax cut in Idaho history on Jan. 18, moving a $600 million proposal to provide tax rebates and reduce income rates to the House floor.

If signed into law, House Bill 436 would provide $350 million in income tax rebates to Idaho income taxpayers this year and spend $251 million annually to reduce individual and corporate income tax rates beginning in 2023.

Republicans who guided the bill through its committee hearing said the state has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to use the projected $1.9 billion surplus to cut taxes and provide some of the largest investments in education and transportation funding in Idaho history.

“It’s helpful to all Idahoans,” said House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, who is one of the bill’s sponsors. “Every Idahoan benefits from this bill. I want to emphasize that.“ Moyle said the state has enough revenue and surplus to cut taxes and invest in education and transportation.

“You will hear if this bill passes there’s no money for education — that’s not true,” Moyle said. “In fact, the ongoing costs of this bill are going to be less than the ongoing increases to the K-12 budget. We are going to take care of education.”

During a 75-minute public hearing Jan. 18 at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise, several influential organizations and advocacy groups came out in support of the bill, including Associated Taxpayers of Idaho, the Idaho Chamber Alliance (a small business federation), the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry and the Idaho Freedom Foundation.

On the other hand, individual Idaho residents who testified on the bill opposed it, saying legis-

lators should focus on investing even more of the surplus and increased revenue in education and transportation while reducing property tax rates or repealing the sales tax on groceries.

Kathy Dawes, a Latah County resident and retired teacher, testified remotely over Zoom, where she said the surplus is a result of underfunding education. She also said cutting income tax rates for people and corporations would benefit the people who need it least.

“Instead of tax cuts, please use our taxes to ‘establish and maintain a general uniform and thorough system of free public schools,’” Dawes said, quoting the Idaho Constitution.

Two Democrats and one hardline conservative serving on the committee suggested the Legislature would do more to help regular working Idahoans if they focused on addressing property tax rates or even the sales tax on groceries.

“As we heard from the constituents who testified today, this is not what they want to see us do with the dollars we have sitting on the bottom line,” Rep. Lauren Necochea, D-Boise, said. “There is much more interest in repealing the sales tax on groceries or allocating those dollars and using

< COUNCIL, con’t from Page 5 > considering today appropriate for developing 107 homes,” he said.

Meanwhile, Andy Berrey, of Granite Aviation, stressed that if approved, “The development would be the closest high-density residential to incoming and departing aircraft at a federally funded airport of our output or bigger in the state of Idaho and likely the western United States.”

“Do not think for a second that safety is not an issue here — it is a huge issue,” he said, noting four aircraft accidents at the airport between 2008 and 2021, as well as 200%-300% growth in air traffic over the past two years.

What’s more, Berrey said as

them to buy-down the impact on property taxes in some way. This is not the priority of Idahoans, and it is just too lopsided.”

The bill includes both one-time and ongoing costs.

• The $350 million in one-time rebates would be sent out in 2022 and paid for out of the state’s budget surplus.

• Reducing the top income tax rates to 6% and reducing the number of individual income tax brackets from five to four would cost $251 million per year, beginning in fiscal year 2023. Of that $251 million, $94 million would come from the tax relief fund, which is made up of money collected from sales tax paid on online purchases. The remaining $157 million would come out of the state general fund.

Miguel Legarreta, president of Associated Taxpayers of Idaho, tes-

tified that the bill’s passage would reduce the taxes of a hypothetical married couple in Idaho with two children who are making $110,676 with a taxable income of $84,976 by about $962. Legarreta said that breaks down as $582 via the onetime rebate and $384 ongoing.

House Bill 436 heads next to the House floor with a recommendation it passes. The Idaho House of Representatives could call the bill up for a floor vote as early as this week. If the bill passes on the

much as $7 million in conditional FAA funding could be thrown into doubt if the agency decided the land use was incompatible with safe airport operations.

“The airport will not know if the funding is pulled until after the incompatible land use is constructed,” he said, later adding that Idaho Code requires studies for conditional use permits that may pose airport-related hazards.

“This should be a no-brainer to say let’s take a step back and see what’s going on here,” he said.

Airport Manager Dave Schuck said the development would be “a bad idea for a number of reasons,” including noise and safety.

Council members had to weigh those factors, but centered

on remaining consistent with the current Comp Plan, rather than what it looked like in 2019 before the addition of the airport facilities chapter.

“We have had a deep and expressed commitment to our airport and, although it’s a good [development] product and a compelling argument, I believe this is unfortunately the wrong location for it,” said Council member Andy Groat.

“It is inappropriate for me to be trading one problem for another.”

For his part, Council member Justin Dick said he is “very deeply empathetic about the housing situation … [but] I too feel like we have made a commitment to this airport and we do have to look at the Comp Plan as it exists today.”

House Majority Leader Mike Moyle (R, Star) at the Idaho Capitol on April 6, 2021.

(Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Capital Sun) House floor, it would head to the Idaho Senate and be routed to a committee to repeat the process that started in the Idaho House.

If signed into law by Idaho Gov. Brad Little, the new tax rates to the bill would be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2022.

This story was produced by the Idaho Capital Sun, a Boise-based independent, nonprofit online news organization delivering in-depth coverage from veteran Idaho reporters on state government and policy.

The Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a national nonprofit funded by tax-free donations in 22 states. Learn more and follow daily updates at idahocapitalsun. com and statesnewsroom.com.

Dick moved to grant the appeals, agreeing that giving the permit would not be in accordance with the Comp Plan or city code — specifically as it related to residential development within the inner critical zone — as well as could be detrimental to the economic vitality of both the airport and the community at large.

Groat seconded the motion, with City Council President Kate McAlister and Council member Joel Aispuro voting “yes.” Council member Deb Ruehle, who called on governments and groups with jurisdiction over the airport to “step up” and compile more current data related to the airport, voted “no.”

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Voting is the disinfectant of democracy…

Bouquets: GUEST SUBMISSION: Those in our community who do laundry at a laundromat instead of in our homes or apartments - people like me - are so very grateful to Adam Burton, the new owner of Nu-Way Wash-O-Mat at Fifth Ave. and Alder St., for saving this essential business from total decline. He bought the decaying business and has transformed it in all good ways with new machines, new services and such a pleasant and renovated environment, especially the new flooring and paint and so much more. It has gone from only a few working machines and reduced hours to all washers and dryers - many of them brand new - functioning and longer hours. As a patron for more than 25 years, it makes doing laundry at Nu-Way a pleasure again. The only alternative was a laundromat off Schweitzer Cutoff Road and Highway 95. Many town residents, inluding older folks, walk to Nu-Way. It serves an important role for tourists as well.

— By Jane Fritz Barbs: • This week, I heard from a reader who expressed their frustration at having to wait for their elective surgery since last fall because, you guessed it, many of the hospital beds are occupied by non-vaccinated COVID-19 patients. If you’re an anti-vaxxer, please don’t bother flooding my inbox with your drivel. This is me reminding those who refuse to get vaccinated that when you get sick and the hospitals take you in to save your life, you’re often making people who have been vaccinated wait months and months in terrible pain to receive their surgeries. In some countries, they’re taxing people who aren’t getting vaccinated. I support that idea 100%, because if compassion for other people doesn’t convince you to get the shot, maybe a hit to your pocketbook will.

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Dear editor, While watching the president’s speech on Jan. 6, I realized that the American people had just been given a shot of reality. The former president was outed. The defeated president was called what he is: a pathological liar. A liar that used his position to subvert the moral fabric of this nation.

This narcissistic liar was aided and abetted by individuals throughout the nation. Very few of those individuals did so out of loyalty. The vast majority of them supported this defeated loser to retain their own positions of power. Those senators and representatives that tacitly or verbally gave this loser support were being self-serving. This lack of morals and venal self-interest has filtered down to state capitals and county seats solely to retain or gain a position of power.

These shortcomings can be overcome by one simple act: voting.

The greatest gift our Constitution gives the people is the right to vote.

Limits of access to the vote are done to retain positions of power. That power is only kept by refusing access to the polls. Register to vote, become informed on candidates and issues and vote in every election — not just in November of even-numbered years.

Gil Beyer Sandpoint

Opinion and hope…

Dear editor, Facts: In 2021 President Biden and Congress had some major accomplishments: 1) The highest growth in GDP since 1984; 2) The biggest jobs increase in U.S. history; 3) Large increases in worker wages; 4) Stock market up 25%; 5) Bipartisan infrastructure act — the biggest projects since the 1954 Interstate Highway Act; 6) Bipartisan American Rescue Plan that helped American families recover from the pandemic; 7) 207 million Americans fully vaccinated; Opinion: Lots of good things accomplished.

Hope: More good things to come.

Steve Johnson Sagle

To Sen. Manchin…

Dear editor, I sincerely hope that my opinion is important to you even though I

live In North Idaho. I can’t help but think that North Idaho’s logging industry’s fate is very similar to Virginia’s coal industry’s fate. Both have provided good livelihoods for many people, shaped by long history and established culture. Here in the Northwest, polarization between foresters and conservationists has turned into cooperation, fostering sustainable forestry, as conditions on the ground changed.

The same seems to be happening for coal country with coal being pushed out by cheaper natural gas and renewable energy. Even more importantly, the urgency for reducing CO2 emissions necessitates the transition from fossil fuel towards renewable resources. The Build Back Better Act is a once in a lifetime opportunity to facilitate not only climate legislation but also support and create a profitable transition for coal mine owners and workers. The writing is on the wall for coal just as it was for the logging industry. Now is the time to negotiate to pass effective climate legislation before it is too late. Please negotiate not just for your voters but for our children’s future as well.

Gabrielle Duebendorfer, NMD CCL Sandpoint Chapter lead Sandpoint

VIP...

Dear editor, If you’ve picked up a copy of the local newspaper in the last three decades here in Sandpoint, chances are good that you’ve seen my dad’s name, Kim Woodruff, or seen a picture of his smiling face next to one of the countless parks and recreation projects he has worked on for this community. Small town fame — I got used to saying “yes, I’m Kim’s daughter” whenever someone heard my last name growing up.

I am so grateful that someone took a chance on a 24-year-old, freshly-graduated (Go Vandals), enthusiastic young man and put him in charge of the Recreation Department for an entire town, because that’s how I got lucky enough to call Sandpoint my hometown.

Seeing my dad’s name constantly in the headlines growing up made him a Very Important Person in my young eyes. Now that he is retiring after so many decades of service to this town, I’ll miss seeing his name in print — but he will never lose his VIP status in my eyes.

His new career as a Very Important Grandpa, I think he will agree, trumps it all.

Hailey Olson (Woodruff) Santa Cruz, Calif.

Kim Woodruff’s retirement…

Dear editor, I was there the day Kim was interviewed by Mayor Marian Ebbett and she never looked back. Kim enthusiastically began his almost 36-year career on May 27, 1986, and he never looked back. Marian liked what she saw and Kim did not disappoint her or any of the other nine mayors he served under.

Kim and Gina embraced Sandpoint as their home and raised three great children here. Now it is time to wholeheartedly enjoy those grandchildren and introduce them to the activities you and your staff have put into place.

Congratulations and best wishes to Kim, Gina and their family!

Helen Newton Sandpoint City Clerk, 1981-2005 Sandpoint

A driving force...

Dear editor, If you happen to enjoy the area parks and you see Kim give him a high five.

I worked with Kim for eight years during my time as the chair of the Sandpoint Parks and Recreation Commission. He was the driving force behind park development (12-plus parks in eight years, plus upgrades and maintenance). He visualized future needs and projects to benefit both youth and adults each season.

Being an outdoor enthusiast and his love for the community, Kim has done an honorable job! He deserves many thanks and a great retirement.

Thank you Kim, Susan Austin Past chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission Sandpoint

Retirement...

Dear editor, Kim will be greatly missed by all the volunteer range safety officers at the city of Sandpoint Range, and we all wish you well as you enter a new chapter of your life. Most of us as volunteers have already turned that page and can offer some sound advice on the subject of retirement.

First and foremost, find a good hypnotist and have “yes” and “OK” removed from your vocabulary. You can thank us later.

If you should find yourself wondering what to do next, please keep in mind that we are always

looking for volunteers with good people skills.

Bill Moody Head rangemaster Sandpoint

Thank you...!

Dear editor, So, the time has finally come — Kim Woodruff will be joining the young of heart in the land of retirement. Kim brought a great perspective to recreation in Sandpoint and played a key role in developing so many programs that all our kids grew up with. We are grateful. His leadership in Recreation and later in Parks Management has been a real addition to our community.

Besides that, he brought fun to the game, and I will always be grateful for the time spent brainstorming and sharing ideas. Relax Kim, it’s time. Trust me when I say that everything will be OK at work. Enjoy the next chapter — it is your time!

Mary Weber-Quinn Sandpoint

Kim Woodruff: ‘Cardio King’…

Dear editor, A number of years ago many of us (Kim, Kody Van Dyk, Jeff Hurst and myself, to name a few) were regular squash players at SWAC. Following a long, bruising rally with Kim, whether he’d won or lost the point he’d run to go get the ball.

We’d just finished a monster rally and the guy runs to get the ball between points… even if I was closer.

His heart rate never slowed.

He holds the record for the highest sustained effort on a stationary bike. Pretty much every day around lunch he’d get on a SWAC bike for a solid hour and ride with maximum resistance. In all my 27 years of monitoring members working out I’ve never seen anyone put themselves through continuous suffering like Kim did (does). He is truly “Cardio King.”

One of Kim’s great ideas was Summer Adventure Camp… a solution for latchkey kids (too young to be left alone and too old for day care) in the summer. He and I started Summer Adventure Camp in 1999. Kim was a tremendous supporter of the program through 19 years, serving hundreds of kids and their families.

Thank you Kim Woodruff for serving the community well… see you on the lake.

Don Helander Owner, SWAC

< see LTE, Page 9 >

OPINION

Legislative update

By Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle Reader Contributor In the Legislature, as in life, we play the hand we’re dealt. Fortunately, the deck is currently stacked in Idaho’s favor and I believe, in part, because of decisions made by Idahoans over many years and decades. We have the fourth lowest unemployment rate in the country.

Our population growth is the highest in the country. In a state with just over 1.8 million people, more than 50,000 people decided to join us last year. That growth has its pros and cons, but it is certainly driving strong economic performance in Idaho. From 2016 to 2020, our gross state product increased well over 20%.

Although inflation is now definitely a factor, something many people have not previously experienced, wages are also up substantially due to employer competition for the available workforce. There are currently more than two job openings for every person unemployed in the state.

That is opportunity.

With a strong economy comes higher state tax revenue. As of this week, we expect to end the fiscal year with Idaho general fund receipts of $1.9 billion more than anticipated. These are your income

< LTE, con’t from Page 8 >

Kim Woodruff...

Dear editor, I wish you the best in retirement! I have thought long and hard of how to describe the wonderful influence you had on my life as a boss and friend and could easily write a book, but finally realized the best way to describe it is short and sweet.Twenty-some years later the answer to two of my password security questions still remains the same. Who was your first boss? Who was your favorite boss? Both the same answer: Kim Woodruff. And to put that in perspective I am now my own boss and the answer still hasn’t changed!

P.S. I still refuse to wear a hat in the sun!

Yours truly, ex-Queen of the Lifeguards, Shawna Benner-Erickson Sandpoint

tax and sales tax dollars.

In addition to state tax revenues, Idaho is receiving more than $5.74 billion in federal ARPA funds. More than half of the money is flowing straight to Idaho residents as stimulus checks or direct to state agencies, counties and cities. The remaining $2.5 billion must be appropriated by the Legislature. The combination of

Awesome...!

Dear editor, Kim never took “no” for an answer and, as a result, Sandpoint’s park and recreation opportunities can best be described with one of Kim’s signature sayings: Awesome!

Kim was never afraid to ask for help and I don’t know anyone who has ever said “no” to him. Kim pushed me and others to support Barlow Stadium’s renovation and it is now awesome. Kim pushed me and others to support the skatepark and it is awesome as well. His list of accomplishments is long… and, you guessed it, awesome.

As Sandpoint’s Parks and Recreation director, he always led by example. Depending on the season, he could be found at Schweitzer or sailing on the lake. Between, he spent time training for the CHAFE 150 ride. More accurately, he trained to finish the annual 150-mile-ride in second-to-last place.

For months leading up to Rotary’s annual ride, Kim would

Idaho’s bright future

the additional state general funds and the federal funds provide great opportunity to catch up on a backlog of public needs.

The governor laid out his strategic vision in the State of the State address on Jan. 10. I expect we will implement most of his proposals during this legislative session. The highlights from the budget proposal are available in PDF format: bit. ly/3Iex5BI. To summarize, we will see substantial investments in education, transportation and broadband infrastructure. Debt on state buildings will be eliminated and rainy days funds will finally return to pre-2008 levels. Water and sewer infrastructure will be upgraded throughout the state. Wildland firefighting capabilities will be upgraded, along with expanding capacity at state parks to meet record demand. Health care capacity, behavioral health support systems and state veteran homes will see substantial investments.

Election security will be enhanced and law enforcement will gain additional capabilities. All these investments are possible while still providing one-time tax relief in the form of a 12% refund on 2020 state taxes as well as ongoing tax relief by reducing the state income tax rate.

If you are involved in a local water or

click himself onto a stationary bike nearly every morning at the YMCA until he literally soaked the towels he put below the bike with sweat.

His soaked headband and UI cycling shorts and ability to chat it up with anyone walking by made him an attraction with a hint of celebrity.

Every year he gutted out pedaling his bike for 150 miles to support Rotary in the CHAFE ride and finishing second to last while having the time of his life and pushing everyone else along.

Kim’s can-do spirit will be missed in City Hall.

He was always on the lookout to improve our parks and recreational opportunities. His heart was always in the right place and his organizational skills, sense of community and vision got things done.

Sandpoint taxpayers, residents, parents and kids had no better friend than Kim, and we all wish he and his bride, Gina, a fun-filled retirement.

David Keyes Sandpoint Rotary president Sandpoint

sewer district, please start talking with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. They will be administering a $450 million grant program with an emphasis on rural communities in need of infrastructure upgrades. This is a unique opportunity to improve systems that will last for generations.

All these expenditures beg the question, “Just how much are we going to grow government?” In fact, we aren’t.

Idaho government is growing at a slower rate than the economy. State government expenditures have decreased from 4.7% of gross state product to 4.4%. Our population growth, ever more efficient business practices and increased tourism drive the unprecedented economic growth we are experiencing. To maintain our quality of life, we will continue to seek the balance between government spending and a sensitivity to the taxpayer’s wallet, something Idaho has long been known for.

Jim Woodward is a second-term Republican senator from Sagle. He serves on the Joint Finance-Appropriations and Education committees, and as vice chair of the Transportation Committee. Reach him during the 2022 legislative session at 208-332-1349, 208-946-7963 or jwoodward@senate.idaho.gov.

Kim Woodruff — circa 1986…

Dear editor, It was late May, 1986. Kim and his wife Gina arrived in Sandpoint for Kim’s internship with the city of Sandpoint Recreation Department.

As the acting director I would be orienting and training Kim. I met Kim at BGH, where I had been admitted for the birth of my son. Kim immediately stepped in demonstrating his upbeat, positive personality.

That was 36 years ago! Kim hit the ground running and by summer’s end officially became the recreation director. He maintained the existing programs while creating and funding more each year — particularly for the youth.

Most impressive was his ability to ultimately establish department organization and new hires, successfully combining the Recreation and Parks Departments to lead both.

In a position in which it’s impossible to make everyone happy, Kim avoided controversy with professionalism

and humor and balanced his job with the needs of the school district and surrounding community.

The most recent example of that is the Memorial Field sports facility and stadium! To have known Kim all these years as a friend has been the ultimate pleasure. His family and children are stellar (no surprise).

He swims the Long Bridge event annually as Jaws with his shark fin slicing the water. He cycles the CHAFE 150. The Sandpoint Triathlon ceased to exist at year 24. Kim suggested we continue unofficially with a few “Never Say Die Tri” participants meeting at City Beach each July.

My best description of Kim’s character and personal qualities is on the tennis court. We’ve enjoyed friendly competition over the years with endless rallies… me saying “Kim, my hit was at least a foot out.” Kim saying, “No, it was good!”

Cheryl Klein Sandpoint January 20, 2022 /

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Mad about Science:

Brought to you by:

the james webb space telescope

By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist You might have noticed the name of this telescope in the news recently and thought to yourself, “I wonder why the science guy hasn’t written anything about this in the paper? I bet I know something he doesn’t.”

I guarantee this: You certainly know many things that I don’t.

My hesitancy to write about the James Webb Space Telescope can be chalked up to immense hubris, unfounded self-importance and wild superstition.

Those who remember the Hubble Space Telescope launch (exactly one month after I was born) will know that the telescope had a defect in its primary mirror.

Fortunately, the Hubble was close enough to Earth that NASA was able to undertake a mission to fix the telescope — if something were to go wrong with the James Webb telescope, a fix would be impossible.

While Hubble sits about 560 miles above the Earth’s surface, the JWST will be parked 932,056 miles away. The craft’s destination is called a Lagrange point, and is designated as L2. The significance of this point is that it’s a space where the gravitational pull of Earth and the orbital motion of the body cancel each other out.

This means the spacecraft can effectively “park”; it doesn’t need to expend fuel to maintain a stable orbit, which can prolong the duration of its mission dramatically.

The telescope is huge, with its primary mirror stretching 21 feet across. This mirror is actually broken up into three large pieces that are further divided into 18 hexagonal mirror panels, which form its unique honeycomb shape.

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In comparison, the mirror of the Hubble — which has taken some of the most detailed images of the universe humankind has ever seen — is only about eight feet across.

The James Webb Space Telescope boasts another incredible feature that Hubble lacks.

In addition to its huge area for collecting light, it can also peer into the infrared spectrum, a feat made possible thanks to the sun shields mounted opposite this mirror. These shields keep the mirror in near-perfect darkness.

In space, there’s no atmosphere to trap heat, which means any heat trapped or reflected by the shielding won’t interfere with infrared readings on the other side. This means that half of the craft will be kept at nearly 0 degrees Kelvin or absolute zero, the point in which matter stops moving entirely.

This might sound like a dismal prospect, but these are perfect conditions for getting a crystal-clear view into the universe. Have you ever sat outside and star gazed? At first, everything seems pitch black, except for the odd star or satellite flickering overhead. Over time you’ll begin to see more stars, and eventually a huge swath of the Milky Way cutting across the sky. This gradual growth of light is from your pupils expanding to allow in more light, which captures the faint light of the distant stars. If you were to turn on your phone and check a text message, you’d be blinded. This is the same principle behind the space telescope: The fewer sources of nearby light it has to contend with, the more effectively it will be able to look outward toward places we haven’t seen in detail.

The first leg of the telescope’s journey was the most harrowing.

In order to fit on the rocket, the telescope needed to be folded up

like an origami crane. When it comes to rockets, the less surface area you have, the less air you need to displace and the less energy you need to expend in order to deliver your payload from the ground to its destination. This means that NASA engineers have to be a little crafty when it comes to their payload designs. thirty minutes after launch, the telescope’s solar array was the first to deploy. This would supply the telescope with the power it needs to operate. Two hours after launch the antenna deployed, so that it could communicate with scientists on Earth.

Three days after launch, the first stages of the sunshield deployed. Four days after launch, the tower, which houses the mirror array and the vital instruments for its operation, deployed up and away from the sun shield.

At this point, much of the “unfolding” began as the extending mid-boom arms of the sun shield moved laterally outward, pulling the large foil-like membrane with them and then tensioning them to create an accordion-like structure that would keep heat away from the mirror.

NASA’s engineers held their collective breath during the mirror deployment, as two sections of three mirrors each unfolded and locked into place on the main array over the course of two days. If a single part failed at any point during this entire, complicated unfolding process, the $10-billion mission could be a catastrophic failure.

Luckily, everything seemed to work, and I can breathe easy knowing that my superstition about writing an article too early would doom the mission was complete fallacy.

The telescope will spend the next five months pointed

at a single star as a reference point as it precisely calibrates its mirrors and tests its numerous instruments. If you were expecting some flashy images of the cosmos, you’re going to have to wait until summer, at least.

So what should we expect from the telescope? The telescope boasts the ability to view objects at least nine times fainter than anything Hubble can capture. Additionally, the ability to peer into

the infrared spectrum may be able to let us gaze at stars we never even knew about, as well as spy on planets in other solar systems to a degree. It’s believed that we may be able to peer far enough out to see what the universe looked like just a few hundred million years after the big bang.

What might that look like? I guess we’re just going to have to wait around and find out.

Stay curious, 7B.

Random Corner boarding?

Don’t know much about snow • Before there was snowboarding, there was snurfing. There are accounts going as far back as 1910 in which people would strap wooden boards to their feet and use either horse reins or fishing lines to help them maneuver down mountains.

• Sherman Poppen is credited with starting modern snowboarding in 1965 when he put two skis together and added rope to the front of the contraption to help steer. His wife called it a “snurfer” and the name stuck around for a while.

• While Poppen first sold his idea to a toy manufacturer, Tom Sims also crafted a snowboard in 1963 in his wood class in high school. A skateboarder, Sims wanted to combine it with one of his other favorite sports, which was skiing.

• Finally, Jake Burton Carpenter started his own snowboard business in 1973 when he was just 14. Burton’s boards featured a mechanism similar to wakeboards to secure the foot to the board.

We can help!

• Competitions helped popularize snowboarding, but also exposure in feature films didn’t hurt. In A View to a Kill, a James Bond movie released in 1985, Roger Moore starred as James Bond and was depicted snowboarding down a mountain. Tom Sims was Moore’s primary stunt double for that part of the film.

• In the early days of snowboarding, many resorts banned the use of the board, creating a sense of division between skiers and boarders. Some reasons included claims that snowboarders damaged the snow on the slopes more than skis, a claim that hasn’t been proven.

• Statistics show there is a higher chance of being injured snowboarding than there is skiing.

• Snowboarding was first introduced to the Winter Olympics in 1988. There were four events: the parallel giant slalom and half-pipe, each with a men’s and women’s division. Today, there are 10 Olympic snowboarding events.

PERSPECTIVES

Emily Articulated

A column by and about Millennials

Fiction 700

By Emily Erickson Reader Columnist

Emily closed her computer.

Ideas bounced around her head like fuzzy ping pong balls, none quite formed enough to grasp.

She had just been reading entries for the local paper’s fiction contest, the plots of two dozen-odd stories crafted by other writers branching into new stories and subplots and waterfalls of dialogue inside her mind.

She shook her head. There’d be time to think about stories later. Folding over to collect her computer’s power cord, she struggled to wiggle it free from the outlet — the motion knocking her glasses off her nose and sending them rattling out onto the coffee shop floor.

“There has to be a more graceful way to do that,” she thought.

Retrieving the glasses and shoving them back on her face, she recognized the man in the chair next to her. He was kindly pretending not to notice her quite-conspicuous attempt at exiting.

“Morning Jeremiah,” she chirped, wondering how long he had been sitting there.

“Mornin’,” he grizzled back, a lifetime of adventure twinkling behind his eyes.

Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she made her way to the door, more familiar faces snapping into focus as she passed them. Larry was on the couch, slipping measured bites of his half-piece of coffee

Emily Erickson. cake between the smirk on his lips. Rich was mid-charcoal stroke, pages with his creatures splayed before him as bursting expressions of a fantastical mind. Cora was behind the counter, zinging quips at her customers between pulling espresso shots, like a lead in her own comedy. And Greg was in the corner, his tinctures lined in rows before him, as peaceful a sentry to the exit as they came.

The warmth of the coffee shop and the cast of characters within was replaced by a sharp chill as Emily pulled open the door, pushing her way into the wintery air. Getting to her car, she was pulled into the narrative of the fiction contest’s winner, “Winter Mask.” It was a story about the guard we let down when in the safety of our own vehicles. The writer described the experience of looking into the face of a stranger through their windshield, overcome with empathy for a person’s story he couldn’t know.

She started the engine and resolved to look at the faces of the people passing by on her way home.

“Will this actually be possible while going the speed limit?” she wondered, flicking on her blinker and merging onto the empty street.

Driving slowly and with purpose, she scanned the road preparing for her impending bout of empathy, eyes finally locking on a purple sedan. She gripped the wheel tighter, leaning forward with squinted eyes.

As the vehicle approached, she began to make out a few details of its driver. Middle-aged man, blue puffy coat, an unintentional-looking beard, and… narrowed eyes?

“Yes, his eyes were definitely narrowed, and watery, perhaps?” thought Emily.

This sent her spiraling.

“Was he an insurance broker who recently had a brush with a childhood friend, and the interaction reminded him of his long-ago passion for playing the cello? And at this very minute he was confronting his choice to be driven by safety and security (like his father) instead of following his dreams (like his mother)?”

“The cello montage is basically writing itself,” mused Emily, as she braked at the gleam of taillates before her.

Like waking from a reverie, she noticed the truck between her and the stop sign. It was a big, gun-metal gray thing, with lifted tires, oversized mudflaps and out-of-town plates. And proudly atop its bumper, as if jeering at her, was a “Bundy for Governor” sticker.

“What the actual hell,” she griped.

Which, of course, sent her

spiraling.

“Was he (in her mind, the driver was a “he”) a modestly-known conspiracy theory talk show host, pulled to Idaho by misguided promises of population and value-system homogeneity? Was he house hunting at this very minute for his parents and friends and colleagues, thoughts of his empire dancing in his head?”

Recognizing the trees passing slowing by her win-

dow, she looked down at her speedometer. 12 miles per hour.

“Isn’t it 35 here?” she thought aloud. “Well, that had better be enough for today.”

Emily Erickson is a writer and business owner with an affinity for black coffee and playing in the mountains. Connect with her online at www. bigbluehat.studio.

Retroactive

By BO

January 20, 2022 /

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COMMUNITY Outdoor ed. program focuses on animal tracking and sign interpretation

By Reader Staff Learn about animal tracks, sign, scat and habitats in an adult class hosted by college-trained instructors with outdoor education experience.

The class is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 22, with participants meeting at the Venture Inn (1015 Ninth St. in Libby, Mont.) at 9 a.m.

Mountain Time. According to organizers, participants will go through a brief instructional before embarking on a number of roadside stops for short hikes on private lands to explore a variety of habitats looking for wildlife tracks and sign. The class will wrap up at approximately 2:30 p.m. (MT).

Hikes will be less than one mile round trip. Attendees are asked to come prepared with full gas tanks, dressed properly for weather conditions and bring water, lunch, binoculars, cameras and “a good sense of humor,” organizers stated.

Snowshoes are optional. No dogs.

Participants will travel in their own vehicles and maintain COVID-safe physical distance while walking through the

PEDIATRICS FAMILY MEDICINE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

woods as tracking teams of fewer than 10 people.

Pre-registration is required. To register, email b_baxter53@yahoo.com or call 406-291-2154.

According to organizers, “This will be a great opportunity to learn tracking basics, break in your snowshoes, get some exercise and meet some like-minded outdoorsy folks.”

Bonners Ferry 208.267.1718 Priest River 208.448.2321 Sandpoint 208.263.7101

DENTAL VA

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Animal tracks in the snow.

Courtesy photo.

kchnorthidaho.org

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OPINION

Housing market storm warnings The homeownership dream is quickly becoming a mirage

By Raphael Barta Reader Contributor As we head into 2022, everyone from housing analysts, mortgage lenders, real estate agents, buyers and sellers are wondering: When will there be a return to “normal”?

Terms like “unprecedented” are frequently used to describe what has been happening in the market, but after several years of consistently rising prices and low inventory, guess what: This is normal, and there’s no imminent correction. The factors that have come together to create the current market scenario did not happen overnight, this has been years in the making. If you walk 20 miles into the forest, you can’t walk out in five.

There have been quite a few excellent articles over the past couple years in the various local media about the housing market in Bonner County. It is definitely on everyone’s mind, from the retail store clerk desperately trying to hang on as a resident here, to the prospective resident viewing listings on Zillow from their California residence. The market has been analyzed from many different perspectives, and a Sandpoint Mayor’s Task Force has been trying to come up with solutions for the affordability challenge. But so far, the overwhelming power of this tidal wave has moved forward defying all the good intentions and discussions.

For the foreseeable future, the low levels of inventory will remain as the driving factor that keeps prices artificially high.

In the Sandpoint area right now, there are about 1,000 units in the planning pipeline, although it remains to be seen how many of these will get built and when. There are still major challenges in securing the material, components and labor for new construction.

Historically low mortgage rates over the past three years helped fuel the explosion in home prices, but perhaps this factor is about to turn. As of Jan. 11 mortgage rates rose to their highest level since May 2020. The average rate for a 30-year fixed rate loan is

now 3.6%. A year ago, it was 2.65%.

As inventories stubbornly stayed low, intense buyer demand pushed up pricing. Still low by historical standards, rising mortgage rates do not seem to be affecting the residential market — yet. Existing home sales in 2021 had the best year since the 2006 boom days, and that is despite a rise in the median sale price of 20% year over year.

The Federal Reserve has said it is going to raise short-term interest rates this year. As mortgage rates track those increases, this will result in an even greater challenge for home affordability. As interest rates rise, existing homeowners will be less motivated to sell their current homes if they have a mortgage at favorable rates, as they are locked into the recent years’ low rates. Economists think that once rates hit 4%, this “locked-in effect” will become even more pronounced. This trend only makes the inventory situation worse.

Continuing supply chain problems are slowing the development of new homes.

The pandemic closure of factories, transportation bottlenecks especially in the trucking industry, and shipping port capacity limits have created huge challenges to completing new home construction. Basic items like windows, garage doors, appliances and even paint are in short supply. Paint! Something we think of as a commodity: Just go to a paint store and pick up a gallon to update the living room this weekend. But apparent-

ly the supply of the resin and other inputs have been severely disrupted (beginning to hate that word) and now paint store shelves sit empty and buyers are moving into new homes with bare drywall.

It seems 2022 will be characterized by shortages: housing inventory, workers, toilet paper, paint and, eventually, patience. We all want our lives back. The third wave of COVID (omicron as of this writing but by the time this article goes to print, we could be on to the next variation) and work-fromhome and the general restlessness in the population (“Hey, let’s all move to North Idaho!”) is wearing us out.

Investors, both individuals and very large corporations, have been quite active over the past 10 years in acquiring a significant proportion of homes that would have been first-time buyer homes. Investors predominantly buy with cash so have a distinct advantage over first-time buyers. The investors focus was at first the most affordable homes because these showed the best return as rents remained firm.

These rental properties rarely come back on the market because their returns are so good — in the 8% to 10% range — especially attractive in the low-interest rate environment other assets have generated over the past several years (the U.S. Treasury 10-year bond pays 1.5%).

As the supply of lower-priced homes dwindled, the potential first-time buyers became renters. The monthly rent they now had to pay would have bought a lot of house, if only they could find one: S monthly rent of $1,500 at current mortgage rates would support a home purchase of $400,000 — but there aren’t any in that price range.

So the homeownership dream is quickly becoming a mirage, and if you have ever been in the desert and hiked towards a shimmering lake in the distance only to have it constantly recede, you have an idea of this current market.

Raphael Barta is an associate broker with an active practice in residential, vacant land, and commercial/investment properties. raphaelb@sandpoint.com

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OUTDOOR

Registration opens for 2022 CHAFE 150 bike ride

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

Sandpoint Rotary Club opened registration Jan. 19 for the 2022 CHAFE 150 Gran Fondo bicycle ride, inviting those interested in participating in the popular one-day ride to enter at chafe150.org. Early birds who sign up before Friday, Feb. 18 will save $10 on their registration fee.

Hailed by Bicycling Magazine as one of the top 10 best charity rides in the country, the CHAFE 150 is an annual bike ride organized by the Sandpoint Rotary Club and supported by presenting sponsor Litehouse and more than 90 local businesses, organizations and individuals.

Proceeds from this year’s race will benefit the Lake Pend Oreille School District Book Trust Program, which enables all first- and second-grade students to purchase their own books on a monthly basis during the school year for reading in the classroom or home.

Sandpoint Rotary has contributed more than $700,000 over the past 15 years to benefit educational programs with LPOSD. Early childhood education received CHAFE-150 funding the first few years of the ride, followed by autism programs until this year, when funding was slated to go toward the Book Trust Program.

LPOSD Director for After School Programs Lorainne Gee and LPOSD Director of Teaching and Learning Andra Murray gave a presentation at the Sandpoint Rotary Club meeting Jan. 19 outlining the benefits accrued to local school children by past funds.

Gee and Murray said last year’s

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CHAFE 150 donation of $50,000 was used to add a staff position, purchase book sets and reading materials, add three paid high school tutor positions, provide snacks when greeting kids for after-school programs, as well as Chromebooks for student use.

“We know reading opens doors and literacy programs open doors to success for our students,” Murray said.

Hope Elementary School Principal Sherri Hatley also spoke to the Rotarians about the upcoming Book Trust Program.

Hatley said the program is estimated to benefit almost 600 students at seven local elementary schools by giving each kid $7 per month to spend on books.

“At the end of the year, if each student

gets two to three books per month, that means we’ll have an extra 10,000 to 11,000 books in our community,” Hatley said.

Rotarian and ride organizer Mel Dick commended the LPOSD staff members, saying, “You guys are such great stewards for that money. You make it happen.

Thank you very much.”

To help generate additional support, CHAFE 150 riders are encouraged to raise funds on their own for the cause through pledged donations, with those who raise the most receiving an assortment of prizes ranging from bicycles to free registrations for future rides.

The ride features varying lengths, including 150-, 100-, 80-, 40- and 25mile routes that take riders through the

Sandpoint Rotary Club members pose with LPOSD staff members as they present a check for $75,000 to benefit the LPOSD Book Trust program. Photo by Ben Olson. lake and river valleys of the Cabinet Mountains. The signature route of 150 miles remains in a class of its own, circumnavigating the entire mountain range while gaining a total elevation of 6,600 feet. The ride starts with breakfast on the beach, then starts and finishes at Sandpoint City Beach. Other mileage routes will all begin with breakfast at City Beach.

Visit chafe150.org for more details about each route and follow CHAFE 150 on Facebook.

LITERATURE

Publisher’s note: In last week’s edition of the Reader [Jan. 13, 2022], we published the results of our first 208 Fiction writing competition, where writers submitted fictional essays that were exactly 208 words long. The first prize of $150 went to Jeff Keenan, but there were several honorable mentions also published which earned enough votes to be published. Each submission was read without an author byline, so the three judges - Sandy Compton, Emily Erickson and Bret Johnson - read each piece for its substance, not knowing who authored it. We wanted to publish all honorable mentions which received a vote last week, but ran out of space, so we’d like to present the last two mentions, which coincidentally belong to the same author, Chris Park. Here’s to you, Chris! Thanks for the great submissions. We’re already looking forward to the next competition. —Ben Olson, publisher

Student Teacher My teacher training is going well and today’s lecture, “Letting kids know that the apocalypse is not their fault,” will wrap up my semester. It’s been a relief to move into gentler subjects after last quarter’s focus on playground safety during extreme weather, high pollution and civil unrest. Fortunately, the outdoor playgrounds are starting to be replaced by virtual playspaces.

Meanwhile, protective clothing and breathing apparatus have come a long way in keeping the kids safe.

Today’s lecture should provide some

Silence It’s so quiet here now that we speak in whispers. Long gone are the days when freight trains rumbled through town every 15 minutes blaring air horns, when diesel pickups with amplified mufflers belched black smoke at intersections, jets roared overhead or police sirens pierced the air. The human cacophony has faded to silence. Sadly, most of the birds have also disappeared.

The one exception being the occasional raven. Only the most adaptable creatures have survived.

We survived the Great Fires in the ’20s and ’30s mostly living in our root cellar eating potatoes and turnips. Fortunately, our spring didn’t go dry and we were able to harvest wild mushrooms from the remaining patches of forest. Most of the town burned.

It seemed like nobody took climate change seriously enough until it was too

By Chris Park

good insights into how teachers can brighten the past when talking to the children and how to take the “sting” out of extinction. For example, genetic modification has made it possible for many animals to live in zoos. One tool teachers now have is the gene splicing game where kids can create their very own animals. We’re taught to reassure the kiddos that if humans do go extinct, don’t worry because after a while life will return and maybe it will look like a blob of jello! Meanwhile, they can draw animals even if they’re gone.

Boxes of recycled paper coloring books and non-toxic colored pencils are being provided by Petroleum Industries of

America, bless their hearts, who are sponsoring our teacher training program again this year.

Judges’ notes:

Erickson: I liked how this piece used an interesting perspective to paint a “future reality” wherein teachers are having to help students navigate life in a dire world. The writer speaks through thinly veiled propaganda, which all makes sense as he/she/they concludes.

Johnson: A good dystopian story hits close to home. From corporate-sponsored teacher-training to the things we say to reassure ourselves in the face of impending doom, this does just that.

By Chris Park late. Temperatures rose much faster than we predicted. When the polar ice and permafrost melted, then the Great Fires took off it tipped the scales seemingly overnight. Few were truly prepared and it’s unclear how many survived. It was a desperate time.

The old ways crumbled. Not by choice, carbon emissions screeched to a halt. Five decades have passed and we have grown old. The earth is repairing itself. In silence there is life.

Judges’ notes:

Compton: Of the futuristic pieces submitted, I liked this one best because it is the most realistically presented. It is not so much a fantasy as it is a prophecy.

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FEATURE

The king of play

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

In the sitcom Parks and Recreation, the director Ron Swanson is a deadpan libertarian who believes so much in small government that he wishes his own department didn’t exist at all; so, you know, the polar opposite of Kim Woodruff.

Woodruff, who has served as Sandpoint’s effervescent Parks and Recreation director for almost 36 years, announced this month that he was retiring at the end of January.

“Been living my cause and training the past 35-plus years to go pro at play,” he wrote to the Reader.

A lively part of the city of Sandpoint staff, Woodruff began his career in 1986 after graduating from the University of Idaho in Moscow with a degree in recreation administration.

“Cheryl Klein was rec director and Maurice Dunn was parks director,” Woodruff said. “It was Cheryl who brought me up as an intern. Sandpoint Mayor Marian Ebbett hired me as director when Parks and Rec. merged into one department.”

For Woodruff, he never considered his career as director as a “job”; rather, as a way to live the life he wanted.

“If I dropped dead 10 minutes from now, I’d still be stoked,” he said. “The retirement thing is cool. As a director of Parks and Rec., I’m always looking 20, 30, 40 years down the line. Without that burden/privilege, I can truly live in the moment.”

With three children, Woodruff is proud to say they are all successful products of public education in Bonner County. All received academic scholarships; and, with four grandchildren (one more is on the way), Woodruff is looking forward to spending more time with family.

“I’ve got grandkids now — they are 4, 3, 2 and almost 1,” he said. “They’re just digging living in the moment. When you look at a kid, that’s the epitome of living 16 /

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in the moment.”

Dreams of becoming rich and powerful never entered into the equation for Woodruff. Rather, he simply wanted to enjoy his time both on and off the clock, and felt it was a blessing to have a job that funded the lifestyle accompanied with living in Sandpoint. Referring to it as “The Sandpoint Way,” Woodruff said it’s important to honor the lifestyle of North Idaho by taking advantage of playtime whenever possible.

That lifestyle includes mountain and road biking, sailing, skiing and anything else that blows the hair back: Work hard, play harder.

“For me on the value scale, money was always fourth, fifth, sixth,” Woodruff said. “Money is a necessary evil. Everybody needs to eat and have a roof over their heads, but I’m lucky. For me, this has never been a job. I haven’t had a job since I sold cameras in college.”

Woodruff said that while Sandpoint has changed in many ways over the past 35 years, it still remains the same if you scratch deep enough under the surface.

“It’s been an evolution,” he said. “We need to give a lot of credit to the people who did the work before I came. Sandpoint got to hire its first play director back in 1943. We’ve had that value system here, where play is so important.”

Comparing Old Sandpoint to Mayberry, the fictional idyllic small town from The Andy Griffith Show, Woodruff said he tries to keep a positive outlook on the future.

“Change comes,” he said. “It really does. We do our very best, but it was a simpler time back then. Technology has changed things a lot — sped them up.

People are always trying to multitask all the time now. I’d love if our parks could be screen/ tech free zones. If you look super hard at the dirt, you can see way cool things there. Same with the sky! When you take time to observe, you’re always rewarded.

I’m looking forward to maybe not even having a phone during

Longtime Sandpoint Parks and Rec. Director Kim Woodruff retires into awesomeness

retirement.”

One thing Woodruff said he was especially proud of during his tenure as director was keeping Sandpoint parks free from commercial advertisements.

“There are no commercial signs or advertisements in any of our parks, in the outfields or scoreboards,” he said. “That’s a rarity.

With parks, I feel you need to have somewhere you can go to be free.”

Woodruff said he’s looking forward to a new venture with his son, cleaning boats because it’s a fun excuse to don SCUBA gear and dive in Lake Pend Oreille. He’s also looking ahead at spending a lot more time on his sailboat.

“All my kids grew up on sailboats. We’d take a week or more and sail around as a family,” he said. “I used to sail a lot, but now, I just don’t have to come back. I’ll come back and drop my wife off with the dog and head back out again. It’s gonna be awesome.”

Riding his road bike is another activity Woodruff hopes to

Kim Woodruff at the helm of his sailboat on Lake Pend Oreille. Photo by Hope Keenan.

increase. He’s completed every CHAFE 150 road race since its beginning, and is looking forward to training to post a better time this season.

“I love riding my road bike,” he said. “When my kids were in school in Moscow, I used to ride down to see the homecoming games. It was only 120-130 miles.”

Woodruff said there are a bunch of people he’d like to recognize for their work building this community into something it is today.

“Chris Bessler, as far as a person in the community who has been a solid all these years,” he said. “He really jumped on the quality-of-life cause. And same with Chris and Kathy Chambers.

They’ve done so much for this community.

“And I can’t forget about Mike Brosnahan,” he continued. “We took a lifeguard program that was marginal at best and, with his

work — he actually interned for me when he moved here. He and I taught tie-dye at U of I — it’s now one of the only, if the only [United States Life Saving Association] courses in the Inland Northwest.”

When it comes to his biggest supporter, though, Woodruff said his wife Gina remains at the top of the list.

“She’s my biggest supporter and friend,” he said. “I’m everything I am because of Gina. We’re so blessed with family. I’m the most blessed person on the planet.

I do a cause all these years that was never a job. I did my very best for 35 years. You know, you decide your own happiness in life.

You decide how you see things and react to the world.”

When asked who the ideal candidate would be to take over his job, Woodruff said, “Whoever they hire is cool because I’m done, dude. I’ll be there to support them if they ever need help, and I’d be glad to help, but this is my life, dude. … I need to let go to be happy. …

“This will be the Decade of Kim. I have so many thousands of friends I’ve made over the years, the volunteers, the coaches and staff. I’ve watched a whole bunch of kids grow up that now have kids of their own. It’s so awesome. It’s fun to see these Sandpoint kids grow up here, move away, then come back. My son’s a perfect example. They go away and think everyone sails and skis all the time because that’s what we did. …

“You go away and there are a lot of cool things out there, but it’s a huge place and we’re just a bunch of ants, but we’re ants in our own private Idaho. It’s been such an honor and a privilege to serve this community of Sandpoint.”

When asked to give any words for those seeking their own happiness in the world, Woodruff’s advice is simple: “Just be nice. All you gotta do is be freakin’ nice. Don’t judge people and don’t be a dick.”

Sage advice from the king of play. We’ll miss you, Kim.

HOLIDAY

Sharing the love, one card at a time

The Bonner Co. Valentine’s Cards for Seniors program aims to show love to the elderly

By Ben Olson Reader Staff Last year, Donna Price hoped to collect about 200 Valentine’s cards from the community to distribute to local senior centers and assisted living facilities.

“I originally had just contacted the Sandpoint Senior Center and they said they needed about 200 cards,” Price told the Reader. “I knew I couldn’t deliver that many myself, so that’s when I reached out to the community. ” Through social media, local newspapers and word of mouth, the Bonner County Valentine’s Cards for Seniors went viral.

“By the end of the collection period, we got 1,400 cards,” she said.

Back for its second year, the program is one of those ideas that’s hard not to love.

Price puts the call out to the community for anyone interested to create or purchase Valentine’s cards to distribute among the elderly population of Bonner County. Several baskets have been dropped off to businesses scattered throughout the county to collect cards, which will then be distributed to senior centers and assisted living facilities on

Valentine’s Day to ensure everyone receives a little love.

“When you drop off your cards, please make sure to thank the businesses,” Price told the Reader. “Without them, I couldn’t get all the cards collected. Also, many of the business owners and employees added cards to the collection last year.”

Price said the inaugural Valentine card drive last year was so successful it brought tears to her eyes.

“The cards were all amazing last year, both handmade and store bought,” she said.

“Some of the messages brought tears to my eyes, so I have my box of Kleenex ready.”

Those interested in creating or purchasing cards for the program can drop the finished items at a variety of locations throughout Bonner County. In Sagle: Java Bear, Pierce Auto, the Sagle Post Office, Sagle Elementary School and Fry Creek Animal Clinic.

In Ponderay: Cafe 95, Verizon and Fiesta Bonita. In Sandpoint: Sharon’s Hallmark, Spuds, MickDuff’s, Finan McDonald, Bluebird Bakery, Panhandle Cone & Coffee, Jalapeño’s, Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters, Sandpoint Super Drug, Kokanee Coffee, Litehouse YMCA, Monarch Mountain Cof-

fee, Cat Sanctuary Thrift Store, Christ Our Redeemer Church, Missi Balison Fitness and Miller’s Country Store.

After last year’s successful drive, Price said she received feedback from many of the facilities, as well as family members.

“They all thanked us for the thoughtful gesture,” she said. “They had no idea it was happening. You know, with some of these folks with dementia and in hospice, some of them aren’t with us this year. This is a way to make sure they were not forgotten, that we still keep them in our hearts.

Price, who worked in juvenile probation for 28 years before retiring, this program is a way to spread love to those who deserve our love and respect. She said she’s touched that so many people participated last year, and hopes for another banner year this time around.

“There are kids at the YMCA right now coloring pictures, which we’ll distribute as well,” she said. “I’ve got a school in Clark Fork taking care of the Clark Fork Senior Center out there. The sixth-grade class is doing it. Now I’ve got people mailing me cards from out of state — from Missouri and California. Word just spreads. When this community rallies behind a cause, we

Look for baskets like these at participating Sandpoint, Ponderay and Sagle businesses to deposit Valentines Cards. Courtesy photo. really do amazing things.”

To participate in the Bonner County Valentine’s Cards for Seniors program, make or purchase Valentines and drop them at the aforementioned locations in Sandpoint, Ponderay and Sagle. Those with questions can contact Donna Price atiamprob@gmail.com.

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events January 20-27, 2021

THURSDAY, January 20

Trivia Bingo 6:30pm @ A&P’s Bar and Grill Free to play. We play 5 games a night. 21+ with prizes for winners of each game

FriDAY, January 21 Live Music w/ KOSH 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Contemporary classic music from across generations Live Music w/ Harold’s IGA 5-8pm @ Taps at Schweitzer Indie rock originals & covers for the people Live Music w/ Scott Taylor and the Endless Switchbacks 6:30-9pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co. A fun pairing of local musicians playing all your favorite tunes and some originals!

Live Music w/ Devon Wade 6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Country night at the Beer Hall!

Banff Mountain Film Festival 7pm @ Panida Theater One of the largest and most prestigious mountain festivals in the world! This festival celebrates outdoor storytelling and filmmaking worldwide, and ticket sales help fund essential programs for local kids. These shows always sell out, so get your tickets early Artist’s Choice Exhibit Reception 5-7pm @ Columbia Bank Comm. Plaza A wide variety of subject matter and mediums by local artists. Come by the Columbia Bank Community Plaza at 231 N. Third Ave. to check it out Live Music w/ Kevin Dorin 7-9pm @ The Back Door Blues from one of the nicest guys in town

SATURDAY, January 22 January dance and instruction 7-10pm @ Ponderay Event Center Learn the night club two-step from 7-8pm, followed by general dancing until 10pm. $9/adults, $5/teens. 208-699-0421 Live Music w/ Ben Stuart 5:30-8pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co. A Spokane blues and Americana singer-songwriter Live Music w/ Steven Wayne 7-9pm @ The Back Door

Banff Mountain Film Festival 7pm @ Panida Theater Top notch outdoor films and storytelling

Live Music w/ Chris Paradis 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Chris is an impressive intrumentalist and vocalist playing banjo, mandolin and bass Live Music w/ BTP 6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Classic rock covers you love to sing

Live Music w/ Okay Honey 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

SunDAY, January 23

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

Banff Mountain Film Festival 7pm @ Panida Theater Top notch outdoor films and storytelling

monDAY, January 24

Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Group Run @ Outdoor Experience 6pm @ Outdoor Experience 3-5 miles, all levels welcome, beer after Lifetree Cafe • 2pm @ Jalapeño’s Restaurant “Conspiracies: What ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know”

tuesDAY, January 25 wednesDAY, January 26

Tap Takeover with Iron Goat Brewing and Live Music w/ Doug & Marty All Day @ Idaho Pour Authority Drink fine brews from Iron Goat Brewing all day. Live music with Doug and Marty from 6-8 p.m. Good times, better beer.

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STAGE & SCREEN

Momentous and mountainous

Annual Banff Mountain Film Fest to grace the Panida Theater with three showings Jan. 21-23

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff In a time when everything seems to be changing, North Idahoans are glad that one thing hasn’t: The annual showing of the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour at the Panida Theater, this year slated for three showings Friday, Jan. 21-Sunday, Jan. 23.

Michael Boge, of Mountain Fever Productions, has brought the international film event to Sandpoint for 26 years.

“Banff inspires people,” Boge said. “It charges me up to be engaged in life and to not sit complacent. And it’s fun — hosting a winter party for the great city I live in. I love living here.”

Sandpoint is one of 550 communities across 40 countries who

showing, a typical Banff program will enjoy the festival this year. features six to 10 films.

High diving, slacklining, Each showing of this year’s skiing, mountaineering, hot air Banff Centre Mountain Film Fest ballooning, snowboarding, base in Sandpoint will benefit a different jumping, biking, kayaking and local cause, Boge said. At the Frigeneral dirtbaggery — all are feaday, Jan. 21 showing, Sandpoint’s tured in the varied and adventurIndependence Racing Team will ous lineup of 2021-’22 Banff film fest productions, telling the stories host a raffle to support its youth ski racing programs, and the Saturday, of the people (and sled dogs and Jan. 22 showing grizzly bears) Banff Centre Mountain will include a raffle who populate Film Festival World Tour benefiting NIMgreat stories of SEF, the North the great outFriday, Jan. 21, 7 p.m.; Saturday, Idaho Mountain doors. To see a Jan. 22, 7 p.m.; Sunday, Jan. 23, 6 p.m. Doors open one hour Sports Education complete list of the films featured before the show. $19 advance, Fund, which makes $24 day of show. Panida Thein this year’s ater, 300 N. First Ave., 208-263- winter sports more tour, visit banff9191, get tickets at panida.org. accessible for local children. Both the centre.ca/banffTheater capacity will be limited Friday and Saturday mountainfestival/ to 350 guests per show. Adtour/21-22-films. vance tickets are recommended, showings are schedbut not required. The Panida Though not all Theater strongly encourages all uled for 7 p.m.

On Sunday, Jan. films play at each guests to wear a mask, regardless of vaccine status.

23, Boge said organizers “will use part of the funds to support a group that is salvaging and restoring old lookouts towers, specifically the one on top of Lookout Mountain at the north end of Priest Lake.” The Sunday program starts at 6 p.m.

Doors to the theater open an hour before the showings on all three nights. Due to the popularity of this annual event and limited theater capacity, advance tickets

The Dunning-Kruger hero

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

Alexis De Tocqueville, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln get most of the credit for the notion that, “In a democracy, the people get the government they deserve.” French diplomat Joseph de Maistere wrote it first, though.

In his words: “Every nation gets the government it deserves.”

The theme has been hashed and rehashed. Adlai Stevenson, in the mid-20th century, said, “In a democracy people usually get the kind of government they deserve.”

Other sources attribute this nugget of bitter wisdom to George Bernard Shaw, Winston Churchill and, in classic meme-style, pretty much any salty old white guy from Mark Twain to Hunter S. Thompson.

No matter who said it, it’s a remake. So was The Suicide Squad, released in 2021 as a pointed doover from the disastrously crappy 2016 DC Comics film Suicide Squad. The former was orders of magnitude better than the latter, and shining within it was a charac-

ter who more than any other — including Harley Quinn — deserved their own spinoff: Peacemaker, whose character-centered series is streaming on HBO Max. Played by John Cena as “a libertarian psycho who will murder anyone for ‘liberty’ and ‘peace,’” as the Reader described it at the time, Peacemaker was far and away that film’s “funniest, darkest role.” And, if we get the government we deserve, then we also get the superheroes we deserve; and, following that, we deserve Peacemaker.

Not unlike Homelander, from the Amazon Prime series The Boys, Peacemaker is an avatar for the American amygdala — a physical manifestation of our collective jingoism and the murderous righteousness that goes along with it.

Theodore Roosevelt talked about walking quietly and carrying a big stick; Peacemaker is the stick, but he doesn’t walk quietly. He fairly stomps around to a soundtrack of jock rock, shooting and kicking everyone who gets in the way, oblivious to who truly stupid he

actually is. (E pluribus unum replaced by Dunning-Kruger Effect, as it is.)

His animal sidekick is a bald eagle that he’s named “Eagly” — which was the name I gave my own stuffed-animal eagle when I was 6 years old — and he wears a ludicrous shiny-metal helmet above a superhero suit that features a white dove, reminiscent of any number of evangelical Christian church mailers.

Those who watched The Suicide Squad will be familiar with Peacemaker’s character arc: He betrayed his team at the behest of a secretive U.S. security agency, which leveraged his donkey-brained loyalty to protect its darkest secrets. After that, according to the HBO Max series, he went back to jail but gained his release because — as always — “there’s another job.”

And so the shadow government agency trots Peacemaker back out into the world to fight its morally bankrupt battles — this time against a body-snatcher threat.

A screenshot from the film Salomon Trail Runner FKT featuring Jeanelle Hazlett on Mount Brunswick, which was shown at the 2020 Banff Mountain Film Festival.

Photo by Bruce Ferre. are recommended.

“Different year, different world,” Boge said. “Banff went through a tough two years, but are still here bringing out films for our viewers. I’m grateful for that.”

HBO Max series Peacemaker is America’s amygdala come to life

Some kind of alien (or is it?) power is taking over people’s minds and bodies with a bizarre type of flying insect-like organism, turning them into zombies termed “butterflies.” Peacemaker must bring his brand of “peace” to the situation (the old Romans called it a “desert” or “wasteland”), while navigating his own psychological horrors, including reckoning with why he’s “Peacemaker” in the first place. Spoiler alert: It’s because his dad was an enormous George Wallace-meetsBull Connor-meets Barry Goldwater-level jerk.

Peacemaker is brutal. It’s also

Courtesy photo. funny and dark-hearted, satirical and smart. Directed by James Gunn, who also brought The Suicide Squad to the big screen, it’s a high-value piece of TV-turned-cinema that’s earned a 94% critical rating on rottentomatoes.com and an 85% audicence score.

We deserve Peacemaker, but not as an anti-hero. He’s a villain in a protagonists’ role. We all should think about that, before we identify with him, which makes Peacemaker a series for our times: A remake/spinoff/rehash for our remade/spunoff/rehashed times.

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FOOD & DRINK

Ivano’s lives

Sandpoint’s iconic Italian ristorante finds its footing as a catering, take-out business in Ponderay

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff

Thanks to the hard work of Liz Evans, Nova Layton and a small cast of other Ivano’s Ristorante Italiano characters, Jim Lippi’s glass remains full.

After the iconic eatery — a local institution for nearly 40 years — announced the closure of its First Avenue location in early November, it appeared that Ivano’s would be counted among the relics of Old Sandpoint.

Two months have passed since the restaurant closed its doors; but, as of Jan. 13, the name will live on in the form of Ivano’s Catering — a catering and takeout business operating out of the Ponderay Events Center.

“We could have renamed it.

We could have gone in a completely different direction … but it’s holding up Jim’s legacy,” Layton said, referring to Ivano’s founder Jim Lippi, who passed away in 2016. “That was the whole point.”

“We both had the privilege and the honor of working with Jim,” Evans added.

It takes a single conversation with Evans and Layton to understand the mutual respect they have for Ivano’s as an institution, and for one another.

Evans has worked with Ivano’s since 2001, when she provided cakes and other baked goods for the restaurant’s catered events through her then-business Pine Street Bakery. After she sold the bakery in 2013, Evans found herself continuing to help Ivano’s with catering.

“I went there one summer to help him with an event and never left,” Evans said with a laugh, recalling helping Lippi with a wedding held in Hope.

As for Layton, Ivano’s was her first job in 2013. Though she took a break when her daughter was born and even forayed into other lines of work, she found herself coming back to 102 S. 20 /

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First Ave. “I just remember how much I liked being there,” she said.

“The warmth.”

The pair have been hard at work bringing that warmth to their new location in Suite S of the Ponderay Events Center.

The entryway features several luscious green plants, a wooden bench and pillows embroidered with wine bottles. Other Easter eggs pepper the actual catering space — a giant green jug full of corks, Evans’ purple Ivano’s trucker hat. Each item serves as an ode to the old Ivano’s — including the framed photo of Lippi next to a small glass of red wine.

“It’s exciting. It’s exciting every day,” Evans said, standing beneath Jim’s glass, tucked on a mantle in the entryway.

“There’s been a couple of sleepless nights.”

Ivano’s Catering is offering an array of lasagnas, pastas, dressings, sauces, desserts and other special order items through both its traditional catering services and new take-out operations. Take-out customers are asked to order food 48 hours in advance to be picked up hot, frozen or take-and-bake style.

The menu can be found on the business’ Facebook page under “Ivanos Catering.”

Helping Evans and Layton in

Top: A memorial for Jim Lippi with a perpetual glass of wine before it. Right: Nova Layton, left, and Liz Evans, right, in their new digs. Photos by Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey.

this new endeavor is chef Carl Agazzi — who taught Lippi to cook 37 years ago, according to Evans — and baker Kris Mills.

“There are other key players that didn’t come with us for other reasons that we will dearly miss,” Evans said. “We still love them.”

Ivano’s Catering is currently holding office hours Tuesday-Thursday from 8:30-11 a.m.

Take-out pick-up hours are Tuesday-Friday from 3:45-6:15 p.m., with the ability to make appointments outside of those hours if necessary.

As the phone calls start to roll in and Ivano’s Catering gears up for a Valentine’s weekend dinnerfor-two special, Evans and Layton are both thankful for the opportunity to keep a wellloved North Idaho establishment cooking — both for the people eating the food, and for the people

behind it.

“Ivano’s is a family,” Evans said. “That’s what we do.”

Ivano’s Catering is located inside the Ponderay Events Center at 401 Bonner Mall Way, Suite S (upstairs), in Ponderay.

Reach them at 208-263-0211.

GIVING THANKS FOR HARD WORK A group called Sandpoint Bridgers, which is a group of citizens who believe that all people deserve recognition and kindness, bought the hard-working staff at the Sandpoint Post Office lunch last week.

Pictured here are a few of the employees ready to dig into their tacos (from left to right:) Matthew Taylor, Ryan Kraus, David Krampert, Carol Hanson and Rhonda Sweatman. Photo

by Cynthia Dalsing.

MUSIC

It’s never too late to make sweet music

By Ben Olson Reader Staff If you asked a room full of musicians what inspired them to learn an instrument, some would probably say their love was awakened by a great piece of music.

Whether it’s a haunting orchestral score, a ripping guitar solo or a bass line that shakes something loose in your soul, music can leave a lasting impression on us. For the lucky ones, it spurs on the desire to learn to play an instrument on their own.

My gateway to musicianship was a Weezer song I listened to a lot when I was 14 years old.

I’d lock my bedroom door, turn up “Say It Ain’t So” and play a broomstick guitar in the mirror, imagining I’d someday be playing a real guitar.

We had a fairly musical household. My oldest sister sang with the SHS performing choir. It was common to hear her muffled scales coming from upstairs as she rehearsed before an important recital.

My mom was an accomplished accordion player in high school and lugged the sparkling gold beast out from its mothballed case every once in a while to make a spectacle of herself while playing some polka song. We had an electric Wurlitzer organ that I frequently fooled around with, never taking any lessons, but instead learning my own weird chords and patterns.

After I fell in love with alt-rock in the early ‘90s, thanks to bands like Weezer, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and the Pixies, I somehow conned

my parents into buying me an electric guitar. I rarely played it, opting to use it for air guitar performances instead.

It would be another decade before I picked up a guitar to learn in earnest. I was living in Santa Cruz, Calif., in that awkward period after college when I was trying to figure out what to do with my life. I worked at Pebble Beach Golf Resort and commuted an hour each way from Santa Cruz, where I rented an upstairs room in an old farm house from a deeply religious couple who only charged me $50 per month.

They were nice people, but they liked to corner me, inviting me to dine with them while they chipped away at my heathen soul.

As a result, I asked for more hours at Pebble Beach, then took a second job at another golf course in Carmel — anything to get me out of the house more.

No matter how much I tried, I still had to return home each night, where my landlords were waiting to save my soul in their own polite way. I needed a reason to spend more time alone in my room. I picked up a beat-up acoustic guitar and announced that I was learning to play. When dinner invitations were offered, I declined, saying I was in the middle of practice.

For months, I hid out inside the bedroom and slogged over that guitar, downloading tablature charts that explained finger positions for chords. I had no idea

what I was doing, but little by little, I started making progress.

I learned a half dozen chords and managed to switch back and forth between them. Later, I made it all the way through a song without messing up. I started to sing and play at the same time, which seemed like black magic in the beginning, but slowly became easier with practice. Before long, I was able to play and sing songs all the way through. I started learning more intricate songs with complex chords, still a novice in every meaning of the word, but I had jumped the first hurdle and was now in full stride, past the awkward learning phase and safely inside the “getting better” phase.

If not for that kind elderly couple and their proselytizing, who knows if I would have stuck with the guitar. By the time I had finally moved out, I had a skill that has stuck with me ever since. Today, as I play with my band at local bars, I’m sometimes amazed that I can play these songs after five shots of whiskey when they would have

been absolutely unattainable back in that bedroom in Santa Cruz.

Playing an instrument helps monitor progress in life when it seems we’re all on the same treadmill, wading through our shared monotony. What was once insurmountable is now simple. What before seemed like magic is now ability.

The best part is, it’s never too late to learn an instrument. Yes, it’s easier for kids to pick up things like foreign languages and playing an instrument. Kids are growing new brain cells all the time, and when they’re learning music, some of those cells are devoted to playing their instrument. Adults, however, have to work with the brain cells they already have to create new connections between them. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

It just takes a little patience.

One of the most fulfilling moments in my musical journey happened a couple years ago, while I was sitting down at our upright piano playing that same Weezer song that started my love of music in the first place. When it came time for the guitar solo, I sounded out the notes on the piano and laughed as I realized it wasn’t that difficult. After 10 minutes, I had mastered the solo that seemed so impossible decades ago.

If you want to play an instrument, whether you’re 6 or 65, the first step is always the hardest. Go for it. It gets easier, I promise.

A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint Chris Paradis, Pend d’Oreille Winery, Jan. 22

Ron Greene, Eichardt’s Pub, Jan. 21

He’s a picker, he’s a grinner, Chris Paradis is above all a master of the jam, and an instrumentalist and vocalist with few local peers.

Paradis plays a mix of banjo, mandolin and bass in the Northwest style, full of good nature for good times.

Catch Paradis at the

Ron Greene is said to hold a mantra close to his heart: “Don’t trade in authenticity for approval.” As a result, the singer-songwriter has drawn inspiration from across the board, landing at his most authentic self as a musician.

The Coeur d’Alene-based artist blends pop-music groovability with folk influences to land somewhere on the soft rock spectrum, creating a sound calling back to the rock radio hits of the ’90s, but not without a

Pend d’Oreille Winery on Saturday, Jan. 22 for the perfect complement to a glass of fine wine and a tasty meal on a cold January evening.

— Zach Hagadone 5-8 p.m., FREE. Pend d’Oreille Winery, 301 Cedar St., 208-265-8545, powine. com.

hearty dose of timeless R&B and vocals brimming in modern confidence.

Greene’s style is truly all over the place, promising a live set that never tires.

Find Greene’s music on all major streaming platforms, as well as on the artist’s website at rongreenemusic.com.

— Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey

This week’s RLW by Zach Hagadone

READ

With the zone of public discourse so flooded with B.S. it’s more important than ever to avoid hot-takes on the events of the day and instead seek out deeper analyses. Historians are often the best positioned to provide that kind of insight, and Timothy Snyder is among our keenest public intellectuals. An expert on totalitarianism and the collapse of nation-states in the modern era, subscribe to his online newsletter at snyder.substack.com and you’ll be instantly better informed.

LISTEN

It’s hard to keep up with the latest sounds — especially if you’re stuck in a sonic rut, listening to the same old favorites over and over again. Break out of your musical comfort zone and peruse Pitchfork’s “best new music” summary at pitchfork.com./best. The website has been offering its up-to-themoment accounting of best new albums, tracks and reissues across a broad selection of genres and styles since 2003, which it’s hard to believe was almost 20 years ago. Give it a listen and hear what’s new.

WATCH

Idaho legislators sat for an historic session in 2021 — numbering more than 300 days, it was the longest in history, and didn’t really end until November with the conclusion of a three-day “special session.” Well, they’re back in action for the 2022 session in Boise now, and it behooves all good Gem Staters to tune into the proceedings at the Statehouse. Idaho Public Television provides a daily live stream via Idaho in Session. Log into any number of hearings at idahoptv.org/shows/idahoinsession/ Legislature.

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

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BACK OF THE BOOK

On losing teeth From Daily Panidan, Jan. 20, 1928

REPORTS DISCOVERY BIG ORE VEIN TODAY A strike of a 16.5-foot vein of silver, lead and gold, made in a Grouse creek mine three years ago, and kept secret ever since, was reported in Sanpdoint this morning by E.H. Hammond, grizzled miner who owns the discovery. Mr. Hammond was injured shortly after he made the strike and was unable to resume work on the discovery, he declared, so he kept his find to himself.

Mr. Hamond came to town last night to purchase powder and other supplies, and to send samples of the ore from the vein to a Denver assaying office. He returned to the mine this morning.

The mine, which is unnamed as yet, is 23 miles from Sandpoint. It is located in the canyon above the falls on the north fork of Grouse creek. Mr. Hammond states that he has a tunnel a little over 300 feet into the canyon wall and that he has found paying ore all the way.

He is preparing to cross-cut on his big discovery to learn its extent.

“I haven’t been able to ship any ore as yet,” Mr. Hammond stated this morning in The Daily Panidan office. “The first winter I worked the mine I had about five carloads of ore ready to ship, when an early high water in the creek caught me and swept it away. The mine is only a few feet above the water grade.

There are two roads to the mine, one from Samuels and one from Elmira. The road from Samuels is a nine-mile haul.

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By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff Among the greatest joys of moonlighting as a paraprofessional teacher for part of the week is remembering what it was like to be a kid.

In my four years teaching at the elementary level, I’ve become acquainted with the distractions that today’s children face. These distractions feel endless, especially in our increasingly technological world. However, last week I encountered a timeless distraction: loose teeth.

Among my first-, second- and thirdgrade students, hole-filled smiles are common. As with everything, kids reach this milestone at their own pace, so when a first-grader announced to her class that she had her first loose tooth, it became clear she was the last of her peers to experience the sensation.

I hushed the choir of little voices shouting “just pull it out” and other unhelpful advice, and told the class that the tooth would come out on its own time.

Judging by the way the student pushed it back and forth with her tongue, nearly flat in both directions and likely hanging on by a single nerve, I figured it would be sooner rather than later.

However, the tooth had other, more theatrical, plans.

An entire day had passed since the first-grader made her announcement.

I asked her if her tooth had fallen out yet. She gave me a sad, scared look and shook her head, opening her mouth to display that the tooth was, in fact, still (barely) intact.

I could see that the anticipation was

STR8TS Solution

too much to bear, so we made a plan.

If the tooth fell out in class — and, yes, there will probably be some blood, I warned her — then she could take a friend to the office on her journey to obtain a “tooth necklace,” a small locket-style necklace in which the tooth would live until she got home. This settled her nerves for a while, though I still saw her working the tooth back and forth in her mouth as she solved math problems. At one point, she exclaimed — “It’s coming out!” — but it proved to be a false alarm.

The whole ordeal had me revisiting my own baby-tooth memories. I remember a white, tooth-shaped poster on the wall in my first-grade classroom, where we could log our losses over the month.

I remember the unsettling pops of roots breaking loose and the sensation of phantom teeth. I remember the crystal drink tumbler my sisters and I would leave on the kitchen counter for the Tooth Fairy, filling just the bottom with water and plopping in the lost tooth. In the morning, we’d wake to coins in the glass — smaller amounts for the first teeth, quarters for the molars.

A handful of students and I were discussing our tooth-loss memories during recess when the first grader stood indignantly before me, a determined look in her eye.

“I’m just gonna pull it out,” she declared. “Count to 10.”

Courtesy photo.

I wasn’t sure if she’d really follow through, but started an emphatic counting chant with the help of several of her classmates. Around 7 or 8, she ripped off her mitten, grabbed onto the tooth, and with a small shriek, pulled her first tooth from her mouth. We all cheered, and her designated friend escorted her — slightly shocked, mostly proud — to the office.

Talk about a tooth-loss memory.

Crossword Solution

Sudoku Solution

When I think back on all the blessings I have been given in my life, I can’t think of a single one, unless you count that rattlesnake that granted me all those wishes.

Solution on page 22

Solution on page 22

violescent

Woorf tdhe Week

By Bill Borders

/vahy-uh-LES-uhnt/

[adjective] 1. tending to a violet color.

“Her violescent sweater matched the reddening sky before dusk.”

Corrections: I was wondering how many people were going to notice the Easter egg we put on our cover last week (Jan. 13 edition). The keyboard layout is actually referred to as AZERTY, and is used primarily in France.

Sorry for the confusion. At least we know you’re paying attention. — BO

CROSSWORD

Copyright www.mirroreyes.com

Laughing Matter

ACROSS 1. Church officer 6. Wacky 10. Quarries 14. Feudal lord 15. Female sheep (plural) 16. Brother of Jacob 17. Improvise 18. Magma 19. Skidded 20. Horn 22. 10 10 10 10 23. Stratum 24. Humorous 25. Skilled 29. High ranking officer 31. Plumed 33. Estate 37. Occur 38. Artilleryman 39. Accord 41. Bearberry 42. Inshore 44. Prima donna problems 45. Indian antelope 48. Terror 50. Flexible mineral 51. Incorporating 56. By mouth 57. Large 58. Forbidden 59. Express in words 60. Small island 61. Make improvements

Solution on page 22 62. Countercurrent 63. Adolescent 64. Genders

DOWN 1. Distinctive flair 2. Adriatic resort 3. Sandwich shop 4. Auspices 5. Renegade 6. Detained 7. Rouse 8. Excited 9. Russian emperor

10. Plague 11. A small island 12. Corrupt 13. Like dishwater 21. Deep purplish red 24. Style of jacket 25. Pang 26. Fiber source 27. Past tense of Leap 28. Particularly 30. Fine or decorative clothing 32. Mortise and _____ 34. Catch

35. Roman emperor 36. Historical periods 40. Take up the cause 41. A flask for carrying water 43. Snarl 45. Clobbered 46. Broadcast 47. Burn with hot water 49. Quotes 51. Voucher 52. What a person is called 53. Wild goat 54. Not a single one 55. Deities

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