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PEOPLE compiled by
Susan Drinkard
watching
What radio station do you find yourself listening to? “I like 88.5 because they play all different types of music. You never know what you’re going to get, but it’s always a happy surprise.” Susan Musson Cashier Hope
“I like 1400 AM KSPT Radio Coast-to-Coast with George Noory from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.” Justin Landry Hospitality Sandpoint
“I like our local station 95.3. I went to school with the owner. I love the music they play and I I like their giveaways.”
DEAR READERS,
So long, January. Thanks for picking up the Reader, folks. In this divisive time when it seems everyone in Bonner County is at each others’ throats, it’s important to remember a few things. Violence is never the answer. Common sense is a virtue. Think before you speak/write. I’m going to end with a quote from Jo Cox, a British member of Parliament, who spoke these thoughtful words at her maiden address before Parliament in May 2015: “What surprises me time and time again as I travel around the constituency is that we are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us.” Sadly, Ms. Cox was murdered a year later in 2016 by someone who opposed her political views. Let us not forget that no matter how much you oppose someone’s views – be it political, religious or otherwise – don’t ever allow the channels of comunication to close for good.
-Ben Olson, Publisher
OPEN 11:30 am
GAME ROOM UPSTAIRS
Adrienne Mason Pend Oreille Shores Resort Hope
“KRFY. I feel like it is not influenced by trends. It feels like the people’s radio.” Evan Metz Self-employed Sandpoint
The Psounbality with Per FRESH FOOD LIVE MUSIC THE BEST NW BREWS
“I like 105.3 F.M. local radio because it plays new music such as Dennis Lloyd.” Gemini Freeman Rehabilitation tech Sandpoint
212 Cedar Street Downtown Sandpoint
208.263.4005 A SandPint Tradition Since 1994
READER 111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 (208)265-9724
www.sandpointreader.com Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com Editorial: Zach Hagadone (Editor) zach@sandpointreader.com Lyndsie Kiebert (Staff Writer) lyndsie@sandpointreader.com Cameron Rasmusson (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus) Advertising: Jodi Berge Jodi@sandpointreader.com Contributing Artists: Chelsea Mowery (cover), Ben Olson, Bill Borders, Leslie Kiebert, Jodi Rawson, Rebecca Holland. Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Lyndsie Kiebert, Lorraine H. Marie Rep. Ilana Rubel, Sen. Dave Lent, Brenden Bobby, Marcia Pilgeram, Jodi Rawson, Ammi Midstokke. Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com Printed weekly at: Griffin Publishing Spokane, Wash. Subscription Price: $115 per year Web Content: Keokee The Sandpoint Reader is a weekly publication owned and operated by Ben Olson and Keokee. It is devoted to the arts, entertainment, politics and lifestyle in and around Sandpoint, Idaho. We hope to provide a quality alternative by offering honest, in-depth reporting that reflects the intelligence and interests of our diverse and growing community. The Reader is printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Leftover copies are collected and recycled weekly, or burned in massive bonfires to appease the gods of journalism. Free to all, limit two copies per person.
Sandpoint Reader letter policy: The Sandpoint Reader welcomes letters to the editor on all topics. Requirements: –No more than 400 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 photograph was taken by Chelsea Mowery Photography. Always great to see our resident moose in action! January 30, 2019 /
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NEWS
Boiling point reached in gun case
Bonner County has spent $36,563 on the suit thus far
By Lyndsie Kiebert and Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
As the Bonner County v. City of Sandpoint weapons ban lawsuit enters its fifth month, tensions have steadily increased, boiling over when an encounter between members of the public on either side of the issue resulted in a battery charge. During the regularly scheduled Board of Bonner County Commissioners business meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 28, Rebecca and Don Holland made public comments questioning the amount of money so far spent on the lawsuit, while Steve Wasylko commented to thank the commissioners for defending his gun rights with his tax money. After the public comment period, the Hollands and Wasylko exited the hearing room. Minutes later, raised voices could be heard down the hallway. Wasylko told the Reader that Don Holland asked him to “talk to him in the hallway,” then was being “super belligerent” and “grabbed [him] by the arm” when he tried to leave. “He asked me if I knew someone who was a white supremacist that lived in Bonner County,” Wasylko said, recalling the conversation leading up to the incident. “That’s when I said, ‘When you compare me to a white supremacist this conversation is over.’” Holland maintains that he was not comparing Wasylko to a white supremacist, but rather sharing an experience he had with a white supremacist in which he met with the man several times to “create a dialogue” between people on opposite ends of the political spectrum. He said he wanted to open the same kind of dialogue with Wasylko, this time about the gun issue. “[Wasylko] mischaracterized what I said,’’ Holland told the Reader, adding, “this needn’t be a binary issue.” A county employee escorted the Hollands from the Bonner County Administration Building and notified Sandpoint Police of the incident. Holland told the Reader 4 /
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on Jan. 29 that he had picked up his citation for misdemeanor battery. Under Idaho Code, if found guilty he could be fined a maximum of $1,000 or held in county jail for up to six months — or both. No court date has been set. A video of the incident, taken by Rebecca Holland and shared online, shows the moment when Holland briefly contacted Wasylko’s right arm with his left hand as the latter turned to leave the conversation. While Wasylko reacted angrily to Holland’s gesture — in a raised voice telling him “do not touch me, sir” — debate on social media swiftly turned on whether Holland’s action constituted battery. Idaho statute defines battery as: “Willful and unlawful use of force or violence upon the person of another; or actual, intentional and unlawful touching or striking of another person against the will of the other; or unlawfully and intentionally causing bodily harm to an individual.” According to an official summary of the incident by the city of Sandpoint, “an investigation is underway and will be forwarded to the Bonner County Prosecuting Attorney for a review of charges.” The Bonner County Commissioner’s office announced on Facebook shortly after the incident that “due to the physical altercation/battery resulting from public comment outside of our BOCC Business Meeting today, ALL public comment at BOCC Business Meetings has been suspended until further notice.” If people still wanted to comment, the post continued, they could submit a one-page, typed statement to the clerk prior to the meeting. All comments on the Facebook post regarding the limitation of public input were deleted and, hours later, the entire BOCC page was taken down. Jessi Webster, the BOCC deputy clerk responsible for managing the page, said deleting comments on the BOCC Facebook page is common practice, as the page was meant to be “purely informational.” “Yesterday afternoon I could no longer effectively do my job
and manage the nasty comments on the BOCC Facebook page,” Webster told the Reader. “I consulted legal, and I was advised to temporarily unpublish it.” Seth Grigg, executive director of the Idaho Association of Counties, told the Reader that Bonner County is only required to allow public comment when holding public hearings, not during regular business meetings. If commissioners do open a business meeting to public comment, Grigg said they are able to limit the scope and length of those comments. Commission Chairman Dan McDonald took to his personal Facebook page to defend the decision to limit public comment in business meetings, adding his thoughts on the incident between Holland and Wasylko. “We have seen violent attacks by the left and their storm troopers Antifa, this assault appeared to be from members of a senior citizens platoon of Antifa,” McDonald wrote. “It’s disturbing that once again the left proves their level of hate and violence.” A status conference for the lawsuit, held later the same day, marked the first time the gun-ban case appeared formally before a judge. At the core of the suit, the county is seeking a declaratory judgement regarding The Festival at Sandpoint’s policy barring weapons from the annual concert series. The county maintains that the prohibition of guns on public property — in this case, War Memorial Field — violates Idaho Code. Meanwhile, the city claims that because it leases the field to The Festival, the nonprofit is responsible for the rules and policies it chooses to enforce. Representing the county, Davillier Law Group attorney Mauricio Cardona told Kootenai County District Court Judge Lansing L. Haynes that he’d filed an amended complaint with the court earlier in the day. In order for the city’s lawyers to review the amendment, another status conference was set for Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 1:30 p.m. at the Bonner County Courthouse. This comes after the initially scheduled status conference, set
Steve Wasylko, left, and Don Holland, right, in the hallway outside the Bonner County Board of Commissioners business meeting Tuesday, Jan. 28. Photo by Rebecca Holland. for Nov. 26, was canceled due to the judge falling ill.
The running total
In response to a records request filed Jan. 27 by the Reader asking for the “sum cost to date” of the specific case, Bonner County replied Jan. 28 that it had paid Davillier Law Group $36,563. This comes after a records request filed in December revealed Davillier had billed Bonner County $28,510.50 in the case as of Dec. 19. Meanwhile, the most recent accounting from the city of Sandpoint — from an invoice due Jan. 4 — shows $8,170.08 paid to Coeur d’Alene-based Lake City Law Group, which is representing the city in the case and whose principal partner, Andy Doman, was hired as city attorney in October. That figure is almost certainly higher, as it does not include billings from the month of January, which will not come due until after Feb. 1. These totals are specific to the gun-ban lawsuit — they do not include money paid to Davillier for work on other Bonner County cases or Lake City Law’s other efforts on behalf of the city. Requests by the Reader for specific invoices and line item costs for the case against the city have been denied by the county. Requests for sum totals have also been denied on
numerous occasions, but ultimately fulfilled after multiple exchanges between the Reader and Bonner County prosecutor’s office. Based only on totals, the county has spent an average of about $8,000 per month on the case since filing in mid-September. The lawsuit’s price tag has become a point of public concern, even among those who openly oppose The Festival’s weapons policy. After the Reader reported the initial $28,510.50 total on Jan. 2, vocal Idaho Second Amendment Alliance member Scott Herndon — who attempted to enter The Festival with a firearm in August 2019 and helped raise money for ISAA to file their own suit against the city, which hasn’t yet happened — took to Facebook with his questions. “How is it possible, before any hearings for the county to have incurred this much expense?” Herndon wrote. McDonald was quick to comment, writing: “I’ve seen and approved the invoices. With all the research, the initial letter construction for the city and the filing and case prep it’s actually a deal these days especially with this specific issue. Are you saying the price for personal freedom and our rights is too high?” “I think you guys are getting ripped off, sorry to say,” Herndon
< see GUNS, page 5 >
< see GUNS, page 5 > wrote later in the comment thread. “And since that money is partly my money, then I’ll feel free to opine in whatever forum.” Many have questioned whether Bonner County could have avoided the lawsuit altogether — and mitigated the associated costs — by reaching out to the office of Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden for an opinion prior to pursuing legal action against the city. Bonner County Deputy Prosecutor Scott Bauer spoke to that issue at the Jan. 28 BOCC business meeting. “The attorney general is helpful, we get a lot of help from them [from] time to time,” Bauer said, “but one thing they don’t do, that I’ve learned, for intergovernmental disputes ... is offer themselves as mediators, moderators or arbitrators.”
The amended complaint
Sheriff Daryl Wheeler, who is also listed as a plaintiff in the case, weighed in with a statement posted Jan. 28 to Facebook announcing he had petitioned for an amendment, which led to rescheduling of the status conference. The amendment “asks the court to declare whether the gun ban violates Idaho law, so that the City, the County, Sheriff Wheeler, and the Sandpoint Police Department can effectively coordinate to ensure public safety at the 2020 Festival,” according to the statement. Sandpoint officials responded to Wheeler’s amendment in their own statement released Jan. 28, restating the city’s position that it upholds the Second Amendment and has instituted no policy banning firearms from any publicly owned property — nor has it turned anyone away from city-owned facilities for carrying firearms. As it has argued since August, when the issue of guns at Memorial Field first came to the fore, the city emphasized that The Festival instituted the no-weapons policy as a private lessee of the field and in continuation of a decades-long practice of barring firearms from the concert series. Additional security and screening measures were put in place two years ago by event organizers in order to satisfy performance contracts from artists. In the statement, Mayor Shelby Rognstad said Sandpoint is far from the only municipality to lease public property to private entities, including for concerts and other events where firearms are prohibited. “Although we believe we have acted legally, we are working with other jurisdictions and organizations throughout the state and our state legislators to hopefully provide legislative relief in the form of a specific exception for these activities,” Rognstad stated. “Such an exception already exists at Idaho college and university functions with more than 1,000 people. This solution would provide more clarity for all of us and reduce the financial burden of a court case brought by Bonner County and Sheriff Wheeler upon our residents.”
From Memorial Field to the Idaho Capitol
The conflict between Bonner County and the city of Sandpoint over The Festival’s weapons ban has already reached the Idaho Statehouse, with a bill drafted by Rep. Christy Zito, R-Hammett, amending the state’s Firearms Preemption law to strengthen prohibitions on gun regulation and put in place penalties for violations of the statute. The draft legislation is intended to expand the scope of existing law to expressly state that, barring already established exceptions, no political entity in Idaho may by “tax, law, rule, regulation or ordinance” hinder the possession, sale, transfer, transportation, carrying or storage of firearms and/or ammunition — including, the legislation would add, on “public property that is leased to a private person or entity.” The amendment related to leased public property cuts to the core of the county vs. city lawsuit, as the policy banning guns from Memorial Field comes from The Festival, not the city. If adopted, Zito’s bill would put municipalities or other political subdivisions on the hook for such policies on public property, regardless of whether they come from a private, non-governmental entity. What’s more, the measure would institute a range of penalties and avenues for legal recourse not currently included in the law. Specifically, the draft text classifies violations of the statute as a misdemeanor offense, while directing courts to invalidate whatever action constituted the violation and issue a permanent injunction against “the public or private offender.” “It is no defense that the offender was acting in good faith or upon advice of counsel,” according to the draft. The bill goes on to prohibit the use of public funds to defend or reimburse “any person or entity found to have knowingly and willfully violated” the law and threatens that acting in an official capacity to enact or enforce any actions that contravene the preemption statute — even “under color of the law” — “shall be cause for termination of employment contract.” Zito told the Reader in an email Jan. 29 that “there is no simple answer” to how that aspect of the bill would function, writing that, “Every city, county, agency or other political subdivision treats the firing of individuals differently.” By way of a hypothetical example, she added that if a city council member asked a clerk to sign a document that “knowingly and willfully” violated the statute, the clerk would only risk losing their job if they honored that request while also “knowingly and willfully” running afoul of the law. “To what extent someone is ‘knowingly and willfully’ violating the statute is a caseby-case basis,” Zito said. Under the provisions of the draft bill,
individuals or organizations whose membership may “reasonably be adversely affected by a violation” of the preemption law would be entitled to sue “any person or entity in any court of this state having jurisdiction over any defendant to the suit for declaratory and injunctive relief and for actual damages.” Those damages would be awarded to the prevailing defendant in the form of attorney’s fees and “costs in accordance with the laws of this state, including a contingency fee and the actual damages incurred.” In an email sent Jan. 21 to House and Senate colleagues, Zito included a list of talking points to be used in support of the bill, underscoring that current Idaho Code does not attach any enforcement mechanisms or penalties to the firearms preemption law. Highlighting the successful work of the Boise-based gun rights lobby group Idaho Second Amendment Alliance in overturning violations of the preemption statute across the state, Zito’s email specifically referred to the Bonner County suit against the city of Sandpoint, which she wrote “will cost both the city/county money because the mayor and City Council of Sandpoint are thumbing their nose at the law and disarming law-abiding citizens through a private security firm with the threa[t] of the Sandpoint Police Department by their side.” Zito said that she has worked in the past with ISAA on issues related to firearms preemption in her south-central Idaho district and, “I know firsthand that this is an issue we need to address.” The ISAA, working in conjunction with several local gun rights activists — including Herndon — initially pressed the issue at the 2019 Festival, testing the event’s no-weapons policy by attempting to enter the field while carrying firearms. They were turned away by security at the gate, triggering the legal challenge by the county and Sheriff Wheeler. Zito in her message to fellow lawmakers made particular note of Wheeler’s stance on the issue, writing that the misdemeanor violation contained in the draft bill “gives law enforcement the ability to enforce the law. When the city of Sandpoint was allowing a private security firm to violate the law, the Sheriff in Bonner County, Daryl Wheeler, informed citizens there was nothing he could do to enforce the law because there was no penalty listed.” She added: “This bill gives law enforcement the ability to take action when Idaho citizen’s right to keep and bear arms under firearm preemption is being violated.” The bill has yet to receive a number, and it was unclear as of press time when it might be introduced. As far as where the issue rests locally, it appears the next development in case will occur Tuesday, Feb. 25 at a status conference at the Bonner County Courthouse. Additional reporting by Ben Olson.
Here we Have Idaho What’s happening at the State Legislature this week
By Ben Olson Reader Staff Wolves Sen. Bert Brackett, R-Rogerson, introduced a bill Wednesday, Jan. 22 in the Idaho Senate that would create some wolf-free zones in Idaho where hunters would be allowed to kill the predators year round. The bill would also designate “chronic depredation” zones where wolves have caused problems for livestock owners, which would also allow wolves to be killed year round. “Wolf numbers continue increasing [and] livestock depredation remains at an unacceptably high level,” said Brackett, who is a rancher in south-central Idaho. “More needs to be done. Ranchers’ livelihoods are being threatened by wolves.”
Time Change The House State Affairs Committee voted to introduce a measure sponsored by Rep. Christy Zito, R-Hammett, to end Idaho’s participation in daylight saving time. Zito claimed the biannual time change was a safety hazard that caused temporary jet lag leading to injuries among motorists and pedestrians, as well as increasing chances of heart attacks and strokes. A Finnish study cited by heart.org concluded that the risk of a stroke goes up 8% in the first two days after the beginning of daylight saving time. However, the same study claimed the risk for heart attacks dropped 21% on the Tuesday after the fall time change.
‘Repeat’ bond issues Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, has sponsored a bill intended to make it harder for school districts and other taxing entities to bring bond issues back to voters after they’ve been rejected. House Bill 347 would institute a waiting period of at least 11 months before previously defeated bond issues could reappear on the ballot. According to Boise-based Idaho Ed News, the measure drew opposition from a number of Idaho school superintendents, whose districts in the past have returned to voters several times before successfully passing bonds to pay for school infrastructure and capital improvement projects. Scott said the legislation protects Idahoans from “aggressive taxing districts,” while state school officials characterized the bill as “a solution in search of a problem.” The bill cleared the House State Affairs Committee and received its second reading Jan. 29 in the House. Lawmakers may vote on HB 347 before the end of the week. January 30, 2019 /
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NEWS
Derailed train entirely removed from Kootenai River
Enlisting the help of a Portland-based dive team, BNSF crews on Jan. 26 removed the final piece of the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe train that derailed into the Kootenai River on New Year’s Day. The train derailed due to a rock slide, requiring the rescue of two railroad employees who were onboard at the time. No one was injured in the incident. BNSF officials report that water monitoring is ongoing. Photos by Jon Kerby.
County Road and Bridge given green light to fix deteriorating roads Road and Bridge director: Roads are ‘truly, extraordinarily rough’
By Reader Staff The Board of Bonner County Commissioners approved a resolution Jan. 28 that would allow Bonner County Road and Bridge to take measures necessary to repair gravel roads severely damaged by the unusually warm and fluctuating weather patterns this winter. “There are potholes like I’ve never seen in 60 years,” Road and Bridge Director Steve Klatt said Tuesday at the BOCC business meeting. “It’s something we wouldn’t normally make a maintenance feature, but this year, we have roads that are truly, extraordinarily rough.” Klatt listed East River Road, North Kootenai, North Boyer, North Center Valley, Blacktail and Woodland Drive as some of the roads in particular need of repair. “I’ve gone out driving some of the [roads] in my district, and you’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Com6 /
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missioner Dan McDonald. “A lot of that is because it snowed in September, froze, thawed, froze, thawed and people don’t change their driving habits.” A majority of the work will be trucking in gravel to fill potholes. Klatt said that work will be contracted out to avoid having to break down and convert the county’s trucks, which are currently outfitted for plowing and managing icy roads. Klatt said he’s also been working to create a mechanism that would blow standing water out of the potholes, seeing as the new gravel cannot be laid over waterlogged roads. The department anticipates spending as much as $50,000 on the necessary repairs, Klatt said. McDonald said he has received several calls and emails from concerned people throughout Bonner County having trouble traveling on county roads. “They’re desperate for us to do something,” he said.
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: “Something happened,” but npr. org reports no one knows why victims of “sonic attacks” in Cuba showed “significantly less white matter” — a dense collection of nerve fibers in the deep tissues of the brain — via MRI examination across their whole brains. There was also evidence of less connectivity in the brain region involved with hearing and vision. A study author said victims showed no sign of concussion or traumatic brain injury. In another mystery, the Washington State Department of Transportation recently captured two photos of what appears to be Bigfoot. The first occurred near Sherman Pass and the second was east of Snoqualmie Pass. Two possibilities: January doldrums have driven someone to don a furry suit or Bigfoot is similarly bored and opted for a walkabout. Believe it or not? A 12-year Harvard study of 78,000 women who drank milk three times a day revealed they broke more bones than those who rarely drank milk. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine says the most healthful sources of calcium are green leafy vegetables and legumes. As well, active people tend to keep calcium in their bones, while sedentary people lose calcium. Excess salt can significantly increase calcium loss through the kidneys, and animal proteins tend to leach calcium from bones, as opposed to plant proteins. Months-long bushfires in Australia have so far released about 900 million tons of carbon — almost double what Australia emits from fossil fuel sources over a full year, according to NBC News. One of the top Democratic presidential candidates has a plan for transferring more power to workers while addressing weaknesses created by the 2017 Trump tax cuts. The Corporate Accountability and Democracy plan includes the option for workers to elect 45% of their firms’ boards of directors, for large corporations and publicly traded companies “to provide at least 2% of stock to their workers every year until the company is at least 20% owned by employees,” closing corporate tax loopholes, rolling back “disastrous” corporate tax breaks, halting mega-mergers and eliminating the use of offshore tax havens.
By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist
Scientists in Germany have discovered that chromium and nickel particles can enter the body from tattoos. The particles, shed by needles, are “impurities” and are linked to allergies and carcinogens. Novel birthday celebration: For her 80th birthday, Peggy Wheatcroft bought 80 blue envelopes and put four $20 bills in each. Then, she told AARP Bulletin, she inserted a self-addressed stamped postcard and asked each recipient to give the money to anyone they chose, to be followed by writing her back and sharing the story. “Let’s spread a small bit of joy,” she added. Most of the envelopes she delivered over the next year — specifically by hand to emphasize the joy of personal interaction. Wheatcroft said the stories that came back ranged from buying 52 pair of socks for a homeless shelter to large tips for service workers. Most notable: All were delighted to help her celebrate her 80th birthday. Internet and video game addicts now have a way out with long-term rehab programs, which grapple with “gaming disorder” and “intimacy disorder,” The New York Times Magazine reports. A successfully completed program allows graduates to discard the all-consuming electronic lifestyle and engage more with the world. One such program, reStart, is based in Washington state. Florida Republican lawmaker and well known Trump supporter Matt Gaetz said the arguments against impeachment by attorneys for President Donald Trump looked like “an eighth-grade book report.” In Sean Hannity’s coverage at Fox News, wherein muted footage of the impeachment proceedings ran to the side of the screen, Hannity told viewers “none of this matters.” Polls of Americans’ thoughts about removing Trump from office: from Fox, 50% and CNN, 51%. Higher percentages from both sides want Senate Republicans to lift their prohibition on introducing witnesses in the trial. Blast from the past: During the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in 1999, Mitch McConnell (who is now overseeing Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, and has pushed for no witnesses and minimal media coverage) said, “My view was that we were entitled to witnesses … I voted for live witnesses myself. I voted for the one live witness the House asked for and I voted to allow videotaping of the witnesses they asked for.”
PERSPECTIVES
Idahoans deserve a second chance Bipartisan ‘Clean Slate’ bill introduced to Idaho Legislature
By Rep. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, and Sen. Dave Lent, R-Idaho Falls Special to the Reader
Our criminal justice system is intended to ensure there is an appropriate penalty associated with crime. We refer to this as paying one’s debt to society. However, under some of Idaho’s current laws, the payment never seems to stop. Our courts assign formal penalties, like prison time, probation and fines, but these can often be the least of a former offender’s difficulties. The bigger problem is the long list of “collateral consequences” that are not part of the sentence but follow individuals far beyond the end of any time served. It is not hard to link these collateral consequences with the unacceptably high rate of people returning to the correctional system. Often those affected are friends or family members who committed relatively minor offenses, learned their lesson and are ready to move on with their lives. Unfortunately, these records will follow them forever and can severely affect their ability to find housing or a job. Inquiries into their criminal record will follow them to every job and housing application, and can be the first and last question that companies ask before turning them away. The resulting higher rates of unemployment, underemployment and homelessness for these individuals actually increases the risk that they will reoffend. With no money and no roof over their head, it’s no surprise that Idaho’s recidivism rate is 35% for
time for Idaho to seriously start addressing reform of our criminal justice system. Many of these folks deserve a real second chance, but we continue to hand out these collateral life sentences. We are proposing legislation referred to as a “Clean Slate” bill that would allow those who have committed non-violent, non-sexual Sen. Dave Lent, R-Idaho Falls Rep. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise offenses; who have completed their sentence (including probation and felony offenders. Remember Idaho’s 35% parole); and who have gone In Idaho, if you were 18 or felony recidivism rate? This at least three years without older at the time of offense, study showed a 1% felony reoffending to petition a court everything on your record — recidivism rate for those who to have their public record even misdemeanors — stays had successfully had their resealed. If they can make their in public view to your dying cords sealed. It turns out that case to the judge that they are day. The majority of states having been given a chance to don’t operate this way. In get their lives back fact, 41 states and the Dison track, they did trict of Columbia offer some not want to blow mechanism for record-sealing their opportunity by for adults, and it has proven reoffending. successful. Only infractions, The most comprehensive misdemeanors study we could find showed and nonviolent that those with relatively felonies that fall minor offenses who had below a defined gone several years without threshold would be reoffending and then had sealed. This means their record sealed were 22% those with a need more likely to be employed. to know, like law If previously employed, their enforcement and wages were 25% higher after judges, would still sealing. Most important, this have access to enwas accomplished with no sure repeat offendthreat to public safety — in ers are accounted fact, there was substantial for. The point is to benefit. The recidivism rates better define when for these former offenders justice has been were extremely low and arrest served and allow rates for those with sealed individuals to move records were 29% lower than on with their lives. those of the public at large. We think it’s
no longer a threat to society, they can earn a real shot at getting their lives back on track. With the cost of our correctional system being second only to education in our state, it is time to consider different approaches to enable those who have paid their price to society move forward. We need those with criminal records to succeed, not reoffend. Taxpayers are footing the bill every time a person is reincarcerated in our already overburdened prisons, and it’s better for all of us when more of our citizens are employed. Instead of setting former offenders up for a life of frustration and desperation that may push them to commit another crime, let’s work to remove barriers to employment and empower them to learn from their mistakes.
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COMMUNITY
The fifty-three…
Parks and Rec round-up By Reader Staff Bouquets: • As is usually the case, any time some doofus attacks our newspaper or our advertisers, our loyal readers respond by sending us donations. After the latest, we got a very kind donation of $500 from a Hope man, and several $100+ donations from other readers (I’m not publicizing names for privacy concerns). We always appreciate the thought, dear readers, and the only reason I mention this in print is to reaffirm to this troubled individual (or individuals) that the more he (or they) tries to stop us, the more people rally to support us. This has been the case for two years of harassment and it’s not likely to change. Thank you all for your support. Barbs: • Speaking of, I have to mention something I found repugnant that I saw on (you guessed it) Facebook. After Deschutes reacted to the threat sent their way and Eichardt’s posted the information on their Facebook to inform the public, I noticed several commenters (some who have even run for local office) insinuating or implying that Eichardt’s or the Reader were somehow making up these attacks to drum up business. To be 100% crystal clear, anyone who promotes this idea is woefully misinformed and should think twice before spouting off on social media. For anyone to suggest this ridiculous idea only shows that they either know nothing about what they speak or are maliciously trying to smear good people. Either way, let me explain a few things: first, we don’t publicize a lot of the details of attacks and threats we receive because it only feeds the deranged desire of whoever is behind them to use our platform to amplify their message; second, if anyone doubts the veracity of these two-plus years of threats and attacks we’ve received, I invite you to make an appointment with me so I can show you the large file we have accumulated; third, it’s not a bad thing to be skeptical, but measured skepticism is a far cry from promoting rabid conspiracy theories. Use common sense on social media, please. 8 /
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Bollywood Dancing for Youth (5-12yo)
This four-week dancing course features the engaging and energetic dance style seen in blockbuster movies from India. The dance is a mixture of styles including belly dance, Kathak (traditional Indian dance), Indian folk and various western modern and popular styles. No experience is required. Must pre-register by Sunday, Feb. 2. Classes will take place Tuesdays from Feb. 4-Feb. 25 from 3:30-4:15 p.m. at the Sandpoint Community Hall, 204 S. First Ave. Monthly sessions will also be offered for March and April.
Contra dance
Sandpoint Parks and Recreation has partnered with Emily Faulkner and Lost Horse Press to bring community dancing for all ages in the New England tradition. Contras, circles, and occasionally squares or long ways are taught and called to live music with great local bands and lively callers. This month’s dance will take place Friday, Feb. 14 from 7-10 p.m. at the Sandpoint Community Hall, 204 S. First Ave. Bring light, comfortable shoes; a bottle of water; and $5 donation.
Bollywood Dancing (ages 12-adult)
This six-week dance course is taught by Chika Orton and will take place Sundays, Feb. 16March 22 from 4-5 p.m. at the Sandpoint Community Hall, 204 S. First Ave. The fee is $59 with a $4 discount for city residents. For info about these events, call 208-263-3613 or sandpointgov.parksrecreation.
READER ON THE HIGH SEAS
Pilassage (15-adult)
Pilates, yoga and massage combine to form pilassage, which can help keep you healthy, happy and reform your body with a gentle approach. Massage and stretch to soften the muscles, then train your core and inner muscles. Participants are encouraged to bring a mat and a rolling pin. Well-behaved children are welcome to accompany adults. Classes will take place Thursdays, Feb. 6-Feb. 27 from 9-10 a.m. at the Sandpoint Community Hall, 204 S. First Ave. Must pre-register online by Feb. 2.
The Fifty-three, Where might they be? A beast has frightened them up a tree. Behind fake smiles they hide their frowns. But gripped by fear, they won’t come down And face the wrath of the yellow-haired clown. Alas, their cronies they shan’t ditch, For fear of a spanking by Lindsey and Mitch. They stand by and watch first-hand The sad decline of this fair land Under a demagogue’s self-serving hand. America can only again become great When we end the lies, corruption and hate. O’ exalted Fifty-three We beseech your integrity. Be no longer deaf and dumb Or deeper woe is sure to come. Burst forth! from under the bully’s thumb. Mayhap that will mean a partisan beating. Or — God forbid — an angry tweeting. How will you be judged by posterity? As a courageous leader in the Land of the Free? Or will you spin yourself into irrelevancy? Stand tall! Escape the shady tree. Vote your conscience with dignity. Very respectfully, Mark W. Cochran Retired U.S. Marine Sandpoint
A few concerns about City Beach...
Salsa in Sandpoint for teens and adults
Salsa is an energetic Latin dance. Unlike some partner dances, it is a very sociable dance — regular partners are not necessary. Classes will take place on Thursdays from Feb. 6-Feb. 27 from 6-7 p.m. at the Sandpoint Community Hall, 204 S. First Ave. The fee is $43 for the month, with a $4 discount for city residents. Pre-register online prior to Feb. 2.
Dear editor, The fate of our Democracy Lies in the hands of the Fifty-three.
Publisher Ben Olson brought the Reader along on his recent sailing trip through the Caribbean islands. He is seen here triumphant after battling a 25-pound tuna into the boat with Captain Chris White on their passage from Anguilla to Virgin Gorda. The crew thanked the skipjack tuna, which fed the crew of five three meals each and was delicious. Photo by Cadie Archer.
Dear editor, This has been quite a journey for me. I began by trying to protect City Beach as a “Free Green Space,” because of the Carousel’s plan to be at the beach. Then, on Jan. 15, I saw the GreenPlay plan and my disbelief grew as I reviewed their map. Let’s start with what it does not address. There is no safe route on Bridge Street for bikes to access the beach. Imagine trucks hauling boats, children on bikes, pedestrians crossing in four directions and six lanes of traffic exiting and entering Bridge Street. Adding parking at the beach for boat trailers and their trucks take double space, limiting parking for families trying to use the beach. I am sure boaters do not want to do that. Dock expansion increases water pollution, affecting swimmers. Festival perimeter fencing would block beach access the entire time for each event. The area would have to stay secured. Then there is the noise of the trains. Sand volleyball is a very active, spirited game. It’s fine where it is. The Carousel needs year-round protection and year-round access. Placement on First Street would be a better location. Sand and water don’t mix well with machinery. Patricia Barnes Sandpoint
PERSPECTIVES
How to winter By Ben Olson Reader Staff I was standing in line at the grocery store the other day and heard a woman say, “I just don’t ever remember a winter being this bad in North Idaho.” She was somewhere north of middle aged, wore a trendy raincoat, leggings and boots made more for fashion than function. The flannel-shirted man behind me scoffed and shook his head, raising his eyebrows and rolling his eyes when I looked back at him. I couldn’t have said it better myself. If you were to listen to the water cooler banter and conversations in line at the store, you’d think North Idaho had just experienced winter armageddon instead of a few days of snow. The truth is, I can remember a winter “that bad.” I can remember half a dozen of them, in fact, including the famed 1996-97 winter that people will still be talking about in Sandpoint until the Earth’s magnetic poles reverse. These were real winters, with endless blizzards, roofs collapsing all over town, school canceled for weeks, not days. These were winters when you’d be a fool to drive anywhere without a plow, a chainsaw, a flare gun and your ski pass. Passersby would hobble on the downtown sidewalks with legs about to give out from weeks of powder skiing. Bars were cozy hamlets of debauchery where patrons felt safe having that extra drink, because nobody was even thinking of driving home in the blizzard. Families cozied up at home by roaring fires, mornings were filled with people climbing ladders and heaving metric tons of snow off of their rooftops — much to the delight of local chiropractors. It was hard work, but rewarding at the end of the day when all the snow had been dealt with. Now, it seems every time a strong wind blows or it snows for a day it’s cause for endless ranting and whining from the less-hardy citizens that call North Idaho home. I’m talking about the people who complain about the heat in summer, the raking of leaves in fall, the snow removal in winter, the damned jovial attitudes of people in spring. These wet blanket weather sissies make me wonder: Why in the hell do they live in North Idaho if they can’t handle a little snow? It seems we’re all due for a primer on
how to winter in North Idaho. First and foremost, if you can’t handle the snow, you may want to look into a new place to call home for the winter, because this is North Idaho. It snows in North Idaho — sometimes a lot. Snowbirds often head to Arizona or other points south to seek out vitamin D during the winter months. Others plan their vacations to coincide with the dreary cold-weather season. If you live in Florida, you’ll have to deal with a hurricane from time to time. If you live in North Idaho, you’d better believe it’s going to snow. Next, if you live in town, observe a couple of rules of etiquette during winter. On snowy nights, park your car on the even-numbered side of the streets (usually the west side of north-south streets and the north side of east-west streets) so the plows can remove it. There seems to be “that guy” on every block that refuses to move their vehicle when it dumps, resulting in the rest of the block having to trudge over snow berms to get to their homes. Don’t be “that guy.” Third, for those who live in the country, we know the roads are bad in some spots. Potholes have been known to swallow full-sized trucks whole, leaving only lewd mudflaps floating behind. However, chances are nobody forced you at gunpoint to live in the country. Chances are you probably enjoy the solitude of living away from town. When I was a
A tongue-in-cheek reminder that we live in snow country and how to deal with it
kid, we lived near Westmond and had to wake up early just to plow a route from the front door to the bus stop. Yes, we complained, but I was young and do you think my parents cared? Nope. They just handed over the shovel and said, “Get to work.” Granted, folks who live in the country complain about the snow less than townies, but I still hear it and it’s still as ridiculous as when I did it. In conclusion, channel that ill will toward the weather into your shovel and get some exercise. Snow will fall, rain will fall on top of it, mud will flow and your new car will get dirty. You will step in a puddle that soaks your pant leg. You will watch as the driver in front of you doesn’t stop in time for the intersection and slides right through it. These things happen. Learn to
Laughing Matter
“Oh man, it snowed ag--OOF!” deal with it or start making plans to move elsewhere, because it ain’t gonna stop. In all seriousness, if you are a senior or need help finding snow removal services, consider calling Sandpoint Community Resource Center at 208-920-1840 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday through Friday to learn about volunteer programs.
By Bill Borders
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Mad about Science:
Brought to you by:
Black-capped chickadees
By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist
In the heart of an inescapable and brutal winter, a faint glimmer of hope rings out amid the rime-encrusted bramble — faint, but unmistakable. Your heart flutters, your spirit lifts and you know beyond any doubt that spring is coming. That one, lovely little harbinger, singing its pulchritudinous symphony: “Cheese-burg-er!” Idaho is home to no fewer than four species of chickadee. I’ve personally seen two fluttering around the gnarled winter branches outside my home: the mountain chickadee and the black-capped chickadee. I was curious about these hardy hooligans when my wife went to start her car one morning and shouted, “These stupid birds sound like Negan from The Walking Dead! That’s scary!” To which I replied with a satisfied sigh: “Spring has arrived.” Well, at least it’s out there somewhere on the seasonal horizon. The call to which I’m referring is called the “fee-bee” call in chickadee-speak. Sometimes it’s been called “cheeseburger” and, more aptly, “Hey, sweetie”. It’s essentially a chickadee cat call, with which the alpha males of a flock try to attract a female as spring approaches. It’s a complicated call loaded with nuance, as all chickadee calls are. Part of the call is to attract females, but it’s also a way of marking territory and trying to warn off other wouldbe alphas. Each call is unique to the individual that makes it, 10 /
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like a fingerprint. While I can’t tell the difference between two bird-bros flexing on each other, the difference to the chickadees is like listening to Ed Sheeran and Ozzy Osbourne having a rap battle. Another unique call is the one for which the bird is named: the “chick-a-dee” call. This is a complicated call that acts as a form of remote checkin, like military patrols over a radio. It’s fairly commonplace for most birds, most noticeable in domesticated ducks that are constantly quacking at one another. Unique to chickadees is the modification they make to the call in the presence of predators. Chickadees will multiply the buzzing final “dee” syllable in their call numerous times to alert the flock of a nearby threat. The more “dee” sounds you hear at the end of a call, the more active and dangerous the predator. This can be a good indicator for a backyard farmer like myself to be on the lookout for hawks, though it’s also possible the chickadees are calling because of you. The chickadee predator call is so nuanced that people have observed the flock being able to report size, location and danger level of a particular predator against others using just those three unique syllables. Try telling your friends a specific UFC fighter is about to put the smackdown on you while only using three syllables — it isn’t easy. Chickadees are non-migratory, meaning they are one of the few birds in our area that stick around during the winter — one of the reasons we see so
many this time of year. As anyone with a down comforter knows, feathers do an incredible job of insulating heat. Most birds can trap the heat their bodies naturally generate from eating food and being generally active by controlling how much air flows through their feathers. If you watch closely, you can see chickadees making the feathers on their head rise and fall, which serves as equal parts showiness and thermal control. Another cool trick they have is lowering their internal body temperature overnight by up to 15 degrees, which can slow their metabolism when food is at its most difficult to find. Like all birds, chickadees lay eggs. A behavior humans may find odd is that chickadees don’t always like the first home they land in, and will drop a test egg into a shelter to see if they bond with the home. If they don’t, they move on and abandon the egg. While this might seem appalling to humans, most birds are capable of laying several eggs and rearing multiple young in one season, whereas humans need to devote nine months just to gestation and decades rearing their young. If humans regularly produced litters of children, I can guarantee that everything about our civilization would be entirely different. Chickadees are some of the bravest birds in the presence of humans. Surprisingly intelligent for possessing such small brains, they seem fully aware that humans aren’t able to catch them or harm them without some kind of tool.
The famous “Cheese-burg-er” bird: the black-capped chickadee. They’ll gleefully invade our yards and pillage our window feeders during the winter, when it’s most difficult for them to find food. If you fancy yourself a hobbyist woodworker and a bird nerd like myself, your local library has a great book with a ton of ideas for nesting boxes and other animal houses: How To Build Animal Housing: 60 Plans for Coops, Hutches, Barns, Sheds, Pens, Next Boxes,
Feeders, Stanchions and Much More, by Carol Ekarius. You can put it on hold from home from the digital catalog or ask about it at any of the desks. If you’re curious about some of the varied calls made by our local chickadees, the librarians can help with that, too. Just don’t ask them to make the calls themselves — another staff member might have to shush them.
Random Corner ion?
Don’t know much about pollut • Fourteen billion pounds of garbage are dumped into the ocean every year. Most of it is plastic. • Americans make up 5% of the world’s population, and yet, produce 30% of the world’s waste and use 25% of the world’s resources. • Human pollution has caused the average length of polar bears’ penises to shrink. Sorry, bears. • For every 1 million tons of oil shipped, about 1 ton is spilled. • Almost a third of San Francisco’s air pollution comes from China in the form of dust and other particulates that travel over the Pacific Ocean to the western United States. • Breathing the air of Beijing has the same health risks as smoking 21 cigarettes a day. Breathing the air in Mumbai, India, for just one day is equivalent to smoking 100 cigarettes. • In 2012, Humans generated
We can help!
over 49 million tons of electronic waste. • Thousands of marine creatures die by mistakenly swallowing plastic bags that resemble jellyfish. • Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles per hour. Each one takes 500 years to decompose. • Fish in polluted lakes lose their sense of smell. • About a third of male fish in British rivers are changing sex due to pollution, especially from contraceptive pills, a research found. • Pollution kills more than 1 million seabirds and 100 million mammals every year. • Scientists dip tampons in rivers to test for pollution.
FEATURE
The dogs of Goat Mountain
How Facebook groups, snowshoes and an uncharacteristic streak of bravery saved two Clark Fork canines
By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff I spend an inordinate amount of time cursing Facebook groups. They often become cesspools of pointless gripes and angry shouting into the void. Keyboard warriors thrive in these environments and, especially, in the groups with poor moderation. One group I am happy to be a part of — where the griping is kept to a minimum and moderators keep conversations on track — is the Clark Fork community Facebook group. Scrolling through the group on Saturday, Jan. 18, I noticed someone posted about hearing a dog barking up the mountainside on Lightning Creek Road past the snowplow turnaround — a popular location for snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling. Mary, a woman who lives across the creek drainage, commented that her dogs had gone missing Thursday and would head up in the morning to see if she could hear the barking. I had plans with my sister and a friend to snowshoe the road the following day, and mentioned the dog barking rumor to my boyfriend. Knowing my bleeding dog-mom heart, he warned me that going after a mystery barking sound in the woods was not a good idea. Knowing my distaste for mystery, surprise and extreme uphill travel, I told him he had nothing to worry about. That was, until we heard the dog. About a mile from the snowplow turnaround, a bark echoed down to the road. I checked the post in the Clark Fork Facebook group: The woman who suspected it may be one of her dogs had commented just hours before, saying she went up that morning and didn’t hear anything. We called out to the dog, and its barking became even more distressed. Thanks to the town’s new cell tower — which we’re all still getting used to — I was able to comment: “I can hear a dog barking right now, we are a ways past the Goat Mt. trail and the barking is
way up the steep hillside.” With my sister in cross-country skis and our friend in Yaktrax, it became clear that my snowshoes and I were uniquely fit to scale the completely untrodden mountainside. I’d never been up Goat Mountain, seeing as the trail is the steepest in all of Idaho. At this point, well past the trailhead, I was freestyling the trek. I post-holed my way up, the snow past my knees, and fell down more than once. The barking was more faint in the trees but I followed it, all the while hoping the poor pup wasn’t stuck in a trap or, for all I knew, not a dog at all. The closer I got, the dog noises went from manic barking to intermittent whimpering and howling. Soon, I could hear two distinct dogs. I took a break to check the Facebook post — Mary replied to my comment, saying she was on her way. Soon after my sister texted me that two women
were heading up in my tracks, and their husbands were converging from another way, all of us following the barks. It didn’t take long for Mary and her friend to catch up, and they continued uphill, letting me know I was free to go. As invested as I was in the mission, I knew I’d offered as much help and I could. I headed down the mountain and into town, and sat down to the most satisfying basket of chicken strips and fries I’d ever consumed. Mary soon posted that she’d found her two dogs: one trapped due to the snow balls on his coat, and the other staying loyally by his brother’s side. I don’t tell this story for a pat on the back. All I did was alert the Facebook group and break trail for maybe the first quarter of the grueling uphill journey. I tell this story because it shows the good that can come from speaking up when something seems out of place, the benefits of joining a community
Brenda Haase, left, and the author, right, beginning their trek along Lightning Creek Rd. before hearing the dog bark. Photo by Leslie Kiebert. Facebook group and the crazy things you can get yourself into when you care more about dogs than most humans. Days later, Mary’s husband posted a video in the Clark Fork group of the moment he found their dogs on Goat Mountain. He said the expedition took about four hours. “My wife and I are genuinely and truly grateful for the time and effort you all spent helping us,” he wrote. “The info you all relayed, and the comfort you all offered are a clear and concise manifestation of the very reason we moved up here — oldschool philosophy and neighborly behavior.” All in all, it was a good day to go snowshoeing. January 30, 2019 /
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Dollar Beers! 8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Good until the keg’s dry Open Mic Night 9pm-12am @ A&Ps Hosted by KC Carter
Edgar Cayce Study Group 9-11am @ Gardenia Center Meets every Thursday
Live Music w/ Benny Baker 6-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
f
Gerry Mulligan All Sta 6:30pm @ Panida Theat Jazz music of the late gre performed by the musici with him. $18 adults $12
Live Music w/ Mobius Riff Live Music w/ Mike and Shanna Thompson 5:30-8:30pm @ Matchwood Brewing 5-7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority A four-piece instrumental band play- Live Music w/ Jason Perry Trio ing eclectic and original music 9pm @ 219 Lounge Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz Funk, rock powerhouse trio, playing originals 8-11pm @ Eichardt’s Pub and exciting renditions of funk, rock and soul Jazz, ska and some other cool sounds classics. Late night food by Shilla Korean BBQ Live Music w/ Kenny James Miller Band 9pm @ 219 Lounge A unique rock/blues band. Late night food Live Music w/ Justin Lantrip 5:30-7:30pm @ Idaho Pour Authority Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes 2-4:30pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co. Live Music w/ Chris Lynch 8-10pm @ The Back Door A piano man in the finest tradition Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee Meets every Sunday at 9am
Deep Eddy promo party 9pm-cl @ A&P’s No cover. Prizes and giveaways Live Music w/ Truck Mills 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Blues master on the guitar Karaoke 8-close @ Tervan DJ Kevin 9pm-cl @ A&P’s
All Day Brewery Brunch 10am @ Matchwood Brewing Co. Open all day for brunch!
Monday Night Blues Jam w/ Truck Mills 7:30pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Karaoke 8-close @ Tervan
Dollar Beers! 8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Good until the keg’s dry
SYRCL Wi 7pm @ The Friends of S brate their 1 echo the car venture. Ap and raffle. $ Live Music 5-8pm @ Pe Blues maste
Live Music w/ K 2-4:40pm @ Kelly
Lifetree Cafe 2pm @ Jalepeño’s Mexican Restaurant An hour of conversation and stories. This week’s topic: “The Miracle of Dreams”
Night-Out Karaoke Live Music w/ Lauren Kershner and friends 9pm @ 219 Lounge Join DJ Webrix for a 6-8pm @ The Back Door Singer-songwriter/pianist from Portland, OR night of singing, or just come to drink who describes her music as “dark piano pop” and listen Wind Down Wednesday 5-8pm @ 219 Lounge With live music by blues man Truck Mills and guest musician John Firshi
Magic Wednesday 6-8pm @ Jalapeño’s Enjoy close-up magic shows by Star Alexander right at your table
Wi 5-8 Eve sno wit sic Sno goo
Ou 6p A tio
Trivia Night 7pm @ MickDuff Show off that bi beautiful brain o yours
Band of Drifters Concert 6pm @ Di Luna’s Modern American roots music band that audiences to dance. Their set draws fro and blues traditions with an emphasis o done in the old style. $12/adv, $15/at doo
Edgar Cayce Study Group 9-11am @ Gardenia Center Meets every Thursday
Joker film 7:30pm @ The Panid Screenings of the – nominated for 11 Awards
ful
Jan. 30- Feb. 6, 2020
an All Stars Concert ida Theater he late great Gerry Mulligan he musicians who worked adults $12 seniors and youth
A weekly entertainment guide to keep you on your toes. To list your event free, please send an email to calendar@sandpointreader.com. Reader recommended
TrustVets Monthly Meetup 4:30-6pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co. Veteran’s receive $1 off beers
Chippendales Tribute Performance 8pm @ Mitzy’s Lounge
Winter Whiteout Party 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Everyone is welcome to come and wear snowy white while enjoying live music inals with Nick Wiebe (reggae, country, classoul sic rock, ‘80s-’90s). Prize drawings, BBQ Snowball King and Queen crowned good food and wine. Free and open
son
Parasite film 7pm @ Panida’s Little Theater Won Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, nominated for 6 Oscars. Jan. 31 @ 6pm, Feb. 1 @ 7pm, Feb. 2 @ 1pm
Oscar Shorts (Jan. 31-Feb. 2) DJ Music 9pm-cl @ A&Ps Bar & Grill @ Panida Theater See Panida.org for times and Featuring DJ Shanner dates of Oscar-nominated Live Music w/ Kevin Dorin shorts (live action, animation 8-10pm @ The Back Door and documentary categories) Progressive blues Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes 3-5:30pm @ Davis Grocery in Hope
YRCL Wild & Scenic Film Festival Groundhog Day Eve Party m @ The Heartwood Center 5-8pm @ 219 Lounge iends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness cele- Right Front Burner playing their funk, groove and disco favorate their 15th anniversary with 10 films that ites with a tap takeover from Georgetown Brewing. Also, this ho the care for the wonders of nature and ad- is the time to grab early Follies tickets and support the Angels nture. Appetizers, no-host bar, silent auction Over Sandpoint and their philanthropic efforts in Sandpoint d raffle. $15/adv, $20/at the door Fossil Fuels Train Pollution Protest ve Music w/ Truck Mills 8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery 10am @ Sandpoint City Beach / 11am @ Bonners Ferry Visitor’s Center Rally at 10am at the Beach, 11am march at the Visitor’s Center in Bonners ues master on the guitar
usic w/ Ken Mayginnes m @ Kelly’s Cafe in Clark Fork
Superbowl party 3pm @ A&P’s Drink specials and prizes, plus an all-you-caneat buffet during the game for only $9.99
Outdoor Experience Monday Night Run rant 6pm @ Outdoor Experience This A chill, three-mile(ish) group run with opms” tional beverages to follow
Night MickDuff’s ff that big, l brain of
Pictionary at Utara 6pm @ Utara Brewing Co. Individuals and teams welcome. Winners get $10 gift cards. Happens every Tuesday night
band that encourages their draws from country, folk mphasis on original songs $15/at door. 208-263-0846
The Panida Theater of the film Joker ed for 11 Academy
Bonner Mall Seniors Day 9am-12pm @ Bonner Mall All are welcome to walk the Mall, plus a featured speaker or entertainment, free refreshments and a drawing. Held the first Tuesday of the month
Piano Music w/ Dwayne Parsons 4-6pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Dwayne’s talent is not to be missed The 2019/2020 IPAC Snow Pit Chats 6pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co. Learn valuable info about the backcountry Judy film 7:30pm @ The Panida’s Little Theater Film about legendary performer Judy Garland and stars Renee Zellweger, who is nominated for an Oscar for her performance
Feb. 12 KPND Ski and Board Party @ Trinity at City Beach
Feb. 13-16 Love Letters play @ Panida Little Theater Feb. 14-23 Sandpoint Winter Carnival (See next week’s Reader for more)
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COMMUNITY
Chamber welcomes Sandpoint Property Co.
By Reader Staff
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The Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce welcomed The Sandpoint Property Company to its membership Tuesday, Jan. 21 with a ribbon cutting. Specializing in commercial real estate and property management, Leonora Prince founded The Sandpoint Property Co. in late 2019. Prince has lived in Sandpoint for several years after moving from the Big Island of Hawaii. Growing up in Alaska, Prince was one of the first women to work in the field on the Trans Alaska Pipeline as an operating engineer in the 1970s. She later moved to Arizona to finish college and earned her first real estate license. She is currently licensed in Arizona, Washington and is a broker in California, Hawaii and now Idaho. “Having lived in Alaska, moving to Sandpoint was a no-brainer,” said Prince. “We just finished building a home in Sagle. This is our forever home. We’re dying here,” Most of Prince’s real estate career involved commercial and residential property management, and she acquired the acclaimed and highly regarded CCIM designation (which is touted to be the Ph.D. in commercial real estate) in 2005. There are no other CCIMs in
Chamber Staff, Ambassadors and friends join Leonora Prince, owner of The Sandpoint Property Company, at her Ribbon Cutting on January 21. Photo courtesy Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce.
the Sandpoint area. The Sandpoint Property Co. mission is to achieve superior customer satisfaction with exceptional people and exceptional service — to revolutionize the standard of property management with a performance that inspires; demanding superior standards of care and diligence; and building a culture where aspirations, visions and dreams do become a reality. Prince’s desire is not to manage hundreds of properties but rather have a boutique minded business where she knows each client and each client’s property: “It’s not about the money, it’s about the relationships and being happy with yourself your reputation.” She looks forward to getting more involved in serving the Sandpoint community as well. You can find Sandpoint Property Co. at 315 N. First Ave. in downtown Sandpoint or call 208-263-9197.
COMMUNITY
Local Boy Scouts place 2nd in district at derby By Reader Staff The Inland Northwest Council of the Boy Scouts of America hosted its annual Klondike Derby at Camp Cowles, Diamond Lake, Wash., bringing together scouts from across the region for a contest of wills amid the winter elements. More than 600 scouts attended the der-
BGH names new clinic manager of Sandpoint Women’s Health By Reader Staff Bonner General Health recently named Kim Bledsoe the clinic manager of Sandpoint Women’s Health. The clinic provides gynecologic and obstetric services to women in North Kim Bledsoe. Idaho and surrounding communities. Bledsoe graduated from the University of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in communications. She owned and operated Nieman’s Floral for more than five years and served as an office administrator at Forrest M. Bird Charter Schools. As clinic manager, Bledsoe’s role will include supporting three physicians, a licensed nurse practitioner, registered nurses, certified nursing assistants and administrative staff at Sandpoint Women’s Health. She also collaborates with other clinical departments at Bonner General Health to coordinate patient care, and ensures prompt documentation is relayed from the health care providers at Sandpoint Women’s Health to their patients and the patients’ primary care providers. Bledsoe began her career at Bonner General Health more than two years ago as the human resources generalist. When asked why she chose Bonner General Health, Bledsoe said, “I would meet people who worked at BGH, and they would tell me what a great place it is to work. The fact that we have so many long-term employees speaks for itself. I think it’s vital to have great health care that is easily accessible, and I’m proud to be a part of that through the services Sandpoint Women’s Health provides. Our team consists of some of the best when it comes to compassionate, integrative women’s health care. What I like best are the people who work at BGH. We really are a family.” Sandpoint Women’s Health is located at 423 N. Third Ave., Suite 210 in Sandpoint. It is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The clinic also sees patients in Bonners Ferry. Call 208-263-2173 or go to bonnergeneral.org for more information.
by, including Sandpoint Troop 308, chartered by St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. Because of recent changes to BSA, districts within councils have been merged, this year including the Mountain Lakes and Three Rivers districts — formerly four separate districts covering the Idaho Panhandle from the Canadian border to Coeur d’Alene and points south, encompassing Kellogg and St. Maries and extending into eastern Washington to include Colville, Deer Park, Nine Mile Falls, Metaline Falls and parts of Spokane, north of the river. Sandpoint Troop 308 recently welcomed a new scoutmaster and a group of mostly younger, “greener” scouts. The Troop 308 team this year consisted of 15-year old Senior Patrol Leader and Sandpoint High School student Jake Oliver, leading eight other scouts ranging from 11 years old to 15 years old, with an average age of only 13. The Klondike is a fierce battle that includes overnight camping in the snow at Camp Cowles, Diamond Lake, starting Friday night and wrapping up Sunday morning. Troop 308 members pitched tents during the recent snow storm, with a couple of them braving it out in hammocks with bottles of hot water tucked into their sleeping bags to stay warm.
Throughout the competition, scouts had to pull their own sleds loaded with all the gear needed to compete in such events as fire starting, lashing, orienteering, shotgun, archery and first aid, and were even judged on their field-prepared lunches, which had to be both hot and healthy. With such a young, inexperienced troop, hopes were high for fun but not necessarily for winning. Troop 308 members surpassed their expectations and ranked second for the Mountain Lakes District. The first place
Troop 308 after winning 2nd in district (from left to right): Asst. Scoutmaster Kenneth Gedde, Jake Oliver, Matthew Bryan, Shayden O’Dell Elliott, Harrison Gedde, Elias O’Dell Elliott, Lincoln Schubert and Scoutmaster Kevin Bryan. Courtesy photo. winner was a troop comprised almost entirely of Eagle Scouts, so these local scouts were particularly proud. After having such a great time and coming home as winners, Troop 308 is ready and fired up for some more snow camping in February.
discover
cross country skiing
AT PINE STREET WOODS
Adult and youth ski & snowshoe rentals available at the Pine Street Woods Outdoor Recreation Center. Go to sandpointnordic.com for rental hours. See you on the trails!
January 30, 2019 /
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Winter ecology class offered By Reader Staff Are you interested in learning more about the fascinating winter ecology of the Northwest? The Libby Hostel Base Camp in Libby, Mont. is sponsoring a Winter Ecology Outdoor Education Program on Saturday, Feb. 8, beginning at 9 a.m Mountain Standard Time (8 a.m. Pacific Standard Time). The class will meet at the Venture Inn, 1015 W. Ninth St. on U.S. Highway 2,. and begin with a short lecture on winter adaptations and survival techniques of mammals, birds, and coniferous trees and shrubs. The group will also discuss the art of tracking, scatology and sign interpretation, focused on the Canadian lynx, white-tailed
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ptarmigan, Rocky Mountain elk, long-tailed weasel, Boreal owls and wolverine. Participants will then head to the field to examine several sites and habitats. Those joining are encouraged to come prepared for the day with proper layers, water, lunch, winter boots, snowshoes (may not be needed for all sites), ski or hiking poles, hats, gloves, binoculars, cameras and a sense of humor. The class will visit private land locations, roadside stop-and-hops, birding viewpoints, riverside habitats and undertake a few short hikes of less than 1.5 miles round trip. The class will wrap up around 3 p.m. MST (2 p.m. PST). Accommodations may be found at libbyhostelbasecampairbnb.com, the Venture Inn at
ventureinnlibby.com or 406293-7711, or the Country Inn at montanacountryinn.com or 406293-2092. In each case, mention this class and get a discount on the room. Instructor Brian Baxter has college education in both forestry and wildlife management, and more than four decades of experience including wildlife research projects studying the Canadian lynx, wolverine, fisher, pine marten, Boreal owls and northern goshawks, among others. There is a $50 dollar per person fee for the class, payable to Libby Hostel Base Camp. For more info, email Brian Baxter at b_baxter53@yahoo.com or call 406-291-2154. Space is limited.
STAGE & SCREEN
Infectious enthusiasm
Panida Little Theater to screen internationally acclaimed S. Korean film Parasite
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
show-industrial complex? Bong sure doesn’t, describing the Oscars as “very local.” On the strength of his previous much-lauded efforts, including The Host, It’s hard to stress how extensively Snowpiercer and Okja, Bong is already critics have lost their damn minds over drawing comparisons to Hitchcock. Vanity Parasite, the South Korean-language film Fair credits him with “changing how Hollyfrom iconic-director-in-the-making Bong wood thinks” (thank God for that; someone Joon-ho. Released in 2019, the darkly needs to bash the sequel-remake-francomedic thriller prompted an eight-minute chise-Marvelization mania out of Tinselstanding ovation at the Palme d’Or at the town’s half-atrophied brains). Cannes Film Festival (which it won), and Turns out cinephiles both professional has racked up a mind-blowing 194 major international award nominations — winning and otherwise are more than willing to have their thinking changed: Parasite earns a 170 of them. 99% “fresh” rating from critics and 93% For American audiences, that includes from audiences. IMDb gives it 8.6 stars a Best Foreign Language Film win at the out of 10. Metacritic rolled out its “uni2020 Golden Globes on top of nominations versal acclaim” and “must-see” honorifics for Best Director and Best Screenplay — to accompany its rating of 96 out of 100. a double honor for Bong, who directed, Rogerebert.com maxed out its four-star ratpenned the story and co-wrote the screening system; evoked the word “masterpiece” play. Even more stunning, Parasite is among the extremely rare non-English films in its review; promised that “Parasite is unquestionably one of the to receive an Oscar nod best films of the year”; and, for Best Picture, one of six if Roger Ebert and Gene nominations including Best Thursday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m.; FriSiskel were still alive, it’s Achievement in Directing, day, Jan. 31 at 6 p.m.; Saturday, likely they’d raise all four Best Original Screenplay, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m.; and Sunday, of their collective thumbs Best International Feature Feb. 2 at 1 p.m.; $8.72 adults, then drive to your house Film, Best Achievement $7.67 seniors, $6.62 students, and enlist yours, too. in Production Design and $5.46 children. Little Panida See for yourself what Best Achievement in Film Theater, 300 N. First Ave., 208263-9191, get tickets at the all the fuss is about when Editing. If Parasite takes door or online at panida.org. Parasite comes to the Little Best Picture at the awards Panida Theater for a run show on Sunday, Feb. 9, of screenings Thursday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m.; it’ll be the first “foreign” film to do so. Friday, Jan. 31 at 6 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 1 at But who really cares about the awards
Parasite (R)
FSPW celebrates 15 years with Wild & Scenic Film Festival
tion’s commitment to the future of a federally designated wilderness in the Scotchmans. In one of the films, My Irnik, a Friends of Scotchman Peaks young Inuit father teaches his son Wilderness is celebrating its 15th about the value of shared advenanniversary Saturday, Feb. 1 by tures, exploration and his ancestral hosting the Wild & Scenic Film heritage. Aiden’s Butterflies features Festival On Tour Program at the 11-year-old Aiden Wang, who has Heartwood Center. harbored and released endangered According to event organizers, monarch butterflies since he was the 10 films in the festival echo 6 years old. Wild the care for the Olympics follows wonders of nature paddlers Adam and adventure that and Susan Elliott FSPW shows for the wild Scotchman Saturday, Feb. 1; doors at 6:30 as they kayak, fish, packraft and exPeaks on the Idap.m., event starts at 7 p.m.; $15 plore the wild rivho-Montana border in advance at Eichardt’s Pub and online at scotchmanpeaks. ers of the Olympic in Bonner County. Peninsula. org. The Heartwood Center, The event also The South 615 Oak St., 208-263-8699. marks the organiza-
By Reader Staff
Wild & Scenic Film Festival
7 p.m.; and Sunday, Feb. 2 at 1 p.m. In the meantime, try your best to avoid spoilers. Amid its gushing, awe-struck review, filmschoolrejects.com issued a dire warning that Parasite is so phenomenally great that the less you know about it going into the theater, the better. That’s a tough injunction to follow — especially for a reviewer who hasn’t yet seen the film. Carefully adhering to the frequent and prominently displayed “spoiler warnings” signposted all over the vast country of online praise for Parasite, we feel confident in describing a few rudimentary plot elements. The film is broadly about a poor South Korean family that somehow lucks into an opportunity to break into the world of the wealthy by running a tutoring scam on another family that happens to be among the mega rich. We’re tempted to say “hilarity ensues,” but by all accounts that’s not the half of this tale of toxic symbiosis. Most synopses of the film underscore its profound, scathing indictment of wealth inequality, classism and the viciously evil banality of capitalist society in the deranged
Yuba River Citizens League started the Wild & Scenic Film Festival in 2003 to celebrate the organization’s 1999 achievement of “wild and scenic” status for 29 miles of the South Yuba River. The annual event is held over five days during the third week of January in Nevada City, Calif., with 150 films, guest speakers, celebrities and activists. The home festival kicks off the world tour and, this year, Sandpoint is among the stops. Sponsors of the local event include Idaho Forest Group; Williams, Schiller & Styer, P.C., CPAs & Consultants; Pend Oreille Veterinary Services; Eichardt’s Pub and Kochava. For more information, email info@scotchmanpeaks.org.
Photo courtesy CJ ENTERTAINMENT post-industrial “First World.” Generational politics come into play, too, as The Guardian writes: “That Bong’s film also neatly taps into a global well of class outrage ... has given it universal resonance for socially conscious young audiences, hungry for texts to feed their havesversus-have-nots discourse amid global political disarray: Parasite’s class-based sympathies might be multi-generational, but it still cuts close to the bone for the ‘OK boomer’ crowd.” Considering how deeply anxieties over climate change, wealth disparity, rising nationalism and technology-driven social disintegration have penetrated culture throughout the world’s developed economies, it’s perhaps unsurprising that Parasite’s themes would find ready audiences among those who are simultaneously freaked out at the state of the world and seek release from those tensions by laughing up their sleeve at the gross absurdity of it all. Class this reviewer among them.
Panida hosts Oscarnominated shorts Reader Staff Sometimes the most incredible stories can be told in half an hour or less; and, frequently, the best way to do so is through the medium of the short film. The Panida Theater hosts a slate of 2020 Oscar-nominated short films Friday, Jan. 31 through Sunday, Feb. 2, celebrating the best in bite-sized cinematic storytelling. Films are split into three genres — animated, live action and doc-
umentary — and will be shown in blocks according to those genres. The animated films will screen Friday, Jan. 31 at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m. The live action shorts will screen Friday, Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 1 at 4:30 p.m., while documentary short films will show only once, on Sunday, Feb. 2 at 1:30 p.m. Film lengths vary anywhere from two to 39 minutes and showcase the work of directors and writers from around the world. Tickets are $10 per showing and are available at the door or online at panida.org. January 30, 2019 /
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FOOD
The Sandpoint Eater Old fashioned ribbing By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Columnist Though I’ve been gone for nearly 30 years, this time of year makes me wax nostalgic for the rituals of my former ranch life. Back then, at first light on the coldest days, the ranch hands would bundle up and head out to the fleet of frozen trucks and tractors to prime the engines. They called the exercise “spray and pray”: a little spray of (highly flammable) ether to coax the engine, and a prayer that the engine would turn over rather than erupt into flames. Once the morning prayers were answered and the vehicles were idling, the cold and hungry hands would head down to my kitchen for a hot and hearty breakfast before heading out to feed the herd of cows, who were equally cold and hungry. They’d huddle around the kitchen, sharing hot coffee and good-natured ribbing, waiting for me to place heaping platters of French toast or pancakes with links of sausage or rashers of bacon before them. Once they cleaned their plates and filled their stainless Stanley thermoses to the brim with coffee, they’d head back to the tractors and begin the daily routine of stacking hay and driving it out on the frozen meadows, then pitching it off to the hungry, Hereford-crossed cows. Occasionally, as a morale booster on the coldest of mornings, I’d serve up hungry man-sized steaks, basted eggs and crispy fried potatoes. We didn’t operate a feedlot and sold our calves in the fall, so, ironically for a cattle ranch with 1,000 mother cows, beef wasn’t as abundant as you’d imagine. Twice a year we‘d choose a couple of nice young steer calves and set them up for a good yet short life filled with lots of protein pellets and cracked corn before they were 18 /
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loaded up and hauled to Ranchland Processing, in Butte, Mont. Then I’d wait for the call to come and get my carefully wrapped and frozen supply of beef. More than once, just days away from this biannual journey, while visions of bone-in ribeye steaks danced in my head, some old cow would find her way to some unrevivable catastrophe (if you have ever depended on Mother Nature for your livelihood, you know exactly what I am talking about). Cows love to slip on ice, fall into rivers and wedge themselves into very small spaces from which there is no exit. The next course of action was to shoot, bleed and dress-out the old girl before hauling her to Ranchland. These poor bovines were never grilling-steak quality, but, doctored up with a little extra suet, they made fine hamburger, along with roasts and ribs that
were tasty enough after a long day of oven braising. Secretly, I’m sure my husband was pleased with a fattened steer to add to the ledgers, while I had one more damned old cow to stew about. Cuts of meat have changed a lot since then. Chuck roasts, seven-bone roasts (shaped like a number seven, not seven bones) and bottom rounds have been recut and labeled as tri-tips and flat iron steaks. The “caviar cut” of beef is no longer considered the tenderloin. Now it’s the “spinalis,” also known as the cap of the ribeye. My favorite cuts of meat come on the bone. As much as I love a bone-in ribeye or a porterhouse, I’m equally as happy with short ribs. Even before my ranch days, I remember my mom bringing them home from the butcher by the bagful. She’d shake them up in a brown paper bag, to which she’d added a little scoop of flour
and salt and pepper, then drop them into her electric frying pan to sizzle in hot bacon grease. After they were brown and crispy on all sides, she’d add some finely chopped vegetables and boiling water from the tea kettle, then leave them to simmer for hours. She served them, falling off the bone, in a rich and savory broth, ladled over wide egg noodles. For many years, short ribs along with organ meats, oxtails and marrow bones were considered cheap cuts, but not any longer. I remember being reintroduced to short ribs as an entrée choice, served over polenta, about 15 years ago on a first-class flight from New York to Shannon, Ireland. They were nearly as good as my mother’s, and I decided if they were good enough for international first-class service, I would start cooking them again — this time for my private rail car-owning clientele.
Braised Short Ribs
I remember the sticker shock of paying more than $12 a pound when I purchased a batch from a Chicago butcher (at the now defunct Fox & Obel) for an important client’s trip. They were a big hit and became a menu choice on every luxury rail car we operated on the back of Amtrak’s California Zephyr between Chicago and Oakland, Calif. It seems their popularity isn’t waning, either. You can braise, stew or sous-vide this versatile cut of beef and serve over rice, polenta, noodles or potatoes. Off the bone, you can tuck the meat into sandwiches or ravioli, or serve shredded atop benedicts or poutine. My favorite is still the classic seared and braised method my mother knew best. I continue to honor her — mine are always served over wide egg noodles.
Serves 4-6
They’re done when the meat nearly falls from the bone. Serve in a large, shallow bowl, over rice, polenta, potatoes or noodles. Expect no leftovers.
INGREDIENTS:
DIRECTIONS:
• 4 pounds bone-in beef short ribs (8 ribs) • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour • Sea salt and coarse ground black pepper • 2 tbs vegetable oil • 2 tbs butter • 3 medium onions, chopped • 3 medium carrots, peeled, chopped • 2 celery ribs, chopped • 1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms • 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced • 4 cups beef stock • 1 cup dry, red wine • 2-3 dried bay leaves
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Sprinkle short ribs with flour, salt and pepper. Heat oil and butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in 2 batches, brown short ribs on all sides, until edges are crispy. Transfer short ribs to a rimmed plate. Add onions, carrots and celery to pot and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until onions are browned, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and garlic and stir until soft. Stir in bay leaves, wine and stock, then add short ribs with any juice from the plate. Bring to a low boil. Lower the heat to medium, cover and transfer to oven. Cook until short ribs are tender, 2-3 hours. With tongs, transfer short ribs to a platter. Ladle any fat from
surface of sauce and discard; season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Serve in a large shallow bowl, with sauce poured over wide egg noodles
(or starch of choice). Top with short ribs and garnish with chopped, flat parsley.
FOOD
Soup-er Heroes
Inside the Gardenia Center’s free weekly meal
By Jodi Rawson Reader Contributor It may be just another cold Wednesday in Sandpoint, but in the basement of the Gardenia Center it is feast day — for some, a celebration. Free hot soup with a fresh slice of fresh bread, hot drink and a dessert, served with compassion and joy. Around 9 a.m., Paddy Ragen can be found washing pots and pans. Ragen, the homeless liaison, volunteers about eight hours a week providing and connecting people with services. She said the Gardenia Center typically serves the working poor and people with disabilities — people living on the street or otherwise without a fixed address do not typically ask for their services. The Gardenia Center (located at 400 Church St., next to the post office in downtown Sandpoint) serves about 80 people every Wednesday as part of a network of charities that serve hot meals daily in Sandpoint. A minimum of five volunteers make the soup kitchen happen each week. Aside from originator Jim Brown, who is said to do “anything and everything that needs done,” the volunteers are all women. By 10 a.m., the servers are actively setting up lunch. A plethora of inviting smells leads the guests downstairs where there are six crock pots filled with six simmering homemade soups. Carla Cook, one of the founders of the soup kitchen during the economic crash 11 years ago, brings fresh bread, “a brown loaf and a white loaf,” and serves them cut in a basket. Caren Reiner has made and served soup at the Gardenia Center for nearly a decade. Like all of the soup makers, Reiner fixes up around a gallon of soup at home from scratch (the Gardenia Center has no commercial kitchen), but her soup is uniquely vegetarian while most of the other soups include meat. To Reiner, the integrity of serving a soup she believes in is more important than minimizing cost. “Most people wouldn’t know if it’s organic or not, but I would,” she said.
Top left: Gardenia Center’s Soup Kitchen heroes prepare another Wednesday feast. Left to right: Caren Reiner, Marilyn Chambers, Paddy Ragen, Dona Cook, Camisse, Evie Leucht, Judy Tucker, Carla Cook (half hidden) and Terry Duncan. Volunteers not pictured: Jim Brown, Joanie McClure, Bonnie O’Conner, and Linda Fee. Right: Conner said the Gardenia Center has served him “beyond belief”. He is a regular soup patron and Alcohol Anonymous attendant at this location. Photos by Jodi Rawson.
Reiner’s recipes are dependent on the season, what is available and what organic ingredients are on sale. Sometimes an abundant harvest from Reiner’s garden decides the soup that week. She spends about $15 on each gallon batch of soup and three to four hours of labor each Tuesday prior. The time Reiner spends serving and cleaning on Wednesdays, in addition to the soup labor, totals more than 30 hours and $60 of her own money every month. Sacrifices included, Reiner said Wednesdays are the “highlight” of her week — her fellow volunteers are her favorite social circle and the gratitude she receives from those in need always inspires another batch of soup. At 11 a.m., dozens of community members begin loading their trays with hot soup, coffee, fresh bread and a piece of cake. There is merriment in the guests’ conversations. They are served much more than just great food. “When someone needs a hug we give one,” said Reiner. People often ask how the Gardenia Center funds its soup kitchen. The volunteers themselves, the “grandma goddess angels,” as John Conner calls them, are supplying the needs of the community. “They have served me beyond belief. It is always good to have food
in my belly,” Conner said. “These grandma-goddess angels go above and beyond. When I have a chance, I bring extra food for them, or clothes, and this is a great center for that. I am fortunate — a recovering alcoholic — and the Gardenia Center has shown me a better way. Anything I can do to help, like shovel walkways or set up tables, I do. I am here every morning for a meeting [of Alcoholics Anonymous] and every evening when they have one.” Marilyn Chambers, at nearly 88 years, has owned the building for more than three decades and said it has been through many changes. Originally, the Gardenia Center was opened as a med-
itation center but has grown to a hub of helpfulness. “People are wonderful,” Chambers said, and “we are here to help.” “Sometimes people show up in rags and they don’t have anything. We have even found people hiding in the building — not that they were doing anything wrong, but staying out of the cold,” she added. “We have had many meetings about how to help and it always works out, though we started with practically nothing.” For more info, visit gardeniacenter. com.
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‘Powerful and unique ideas’ POAC hosts receptions for 16th annual Student Art Show
All photos courtesy Pend Oreille Arts Council from previous student art events.
By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff
The artistic work of North Idaho youths will take center stage as the Pend Oreille Arts Council hosts its 16th annual Student Art Show, kicking off Friday, Feb. 7 with receptions in three locations. It is the nonprofit’s goal to gather “a body of artwork that represents the creativity, spirit and hard work of many Bonner County art students,” according to event organizers. “POAC prioritizes sup20 /
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porting young artists because we are proud of their creativity, their curiosity and the time and care they take to develop the skills to express themselves,” said POAC Executive Director Hannah Combs. “We believe that they deserve a public platform in which to share their ideas, which is why we hang their artwork every year in our public community galleries.” This year’s student art receptions will take place in three locations: the POAC Gallery (110 Main St.), the
Power House (120 E. Lake will be shown at the PowSt.) and Columbia Bank Plaza er House. Third- through (231 Main St.). sixth-graders in Bonner Sandpoint High School County schools who particistudents’ art will be on pate in the POAC art educadisplay at the tion program POAC Gallery, Kaleidoscope while the work will have their of students art displayed Friday, Feb. 7.; 5-7 p.m.; from Lake in the ColumPend Oreille bia Bank PlaFREE. POAC Gallery, 110 High School, Main St.; The Power House, za. All artwork Forrest M. will remain on 120 E. Lake St.; Columbia Bird Charter display into Bank Plaza, 231 Main St.; Schools and the spring. 208-263-6139; artinsandClark Fork “You can point.org. High School see the foun-
Student Art Show Receptions
dational skills developed in the Kaleidoscope elementary art program at the Columbia Bank Plaza, then go on to the POAC Gallery and the Power House to see the high school students use those skills to fully express their own powerful and unique ideas,” Combs said. “It is a testament to their passion and that of their teachers that so many students are taking art classes now that we are using all three of our galleries in February to hang student artwork.”
MUSIC
Saluting the jazz of Gerry
The Festival at Sandpoint Chamber Concert series presents Gerry Mulligan All-Stars
By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff
drummer Gene Krupa, which prompted the influence of ’40s bebop on his style. Mulligan’s writing made As a young boy in the 1930s, waves as he featured on iconic Gerry Mulligan fell in love with jazz compositions like Miles Dathe sound of big band jazz. He vis’ Birth of the Cool and set the pursued music in high school, tone for West Coast jazz with his which set him on a path to ultipiano-less Gerry Mulligan Quarmate stardom in the genre. His tet, which included no less than path would cross with countless trumpeter Chet Baker, whose talented musicians during his name to this day resonates in lifetime — some of whom will jazz history as a tragic genius be paying tribute to the jazz whose immense talents went great Thursday, Jan. 30 at the hand-in-hand with a devastating Gerry Mulligan All-Stars Conheroin addiction. cert at the Panida Theater. Mulligan, who died at the age Revered as perhaps the of 68 in 1996, had nine Gramgreatest baritone saxophonist my nominations to his name, in all of jazz history, Mulligan including a win at the 24th made a career out of composing annual awards show in 1981 for music and fronting bands that Best Jazz Instrumental Perled the way in formance, Big establishing Band, honoring the American his album Walk jazz sounds of on the Water. His the 1940s and Thursday, Jan. 30; doors open at first nominations ’50s — includ- 6 p.m., show begins at 6:30 p.m.; came in the 3rd $18 for adults, $12 for seniors and ing a stint as Grammys in youth. Panida Theater, 300 N. First arranger and Ave., 208-263-9191, panida. 1960 for Best sax player in org. Get advance tickets at Eve’s Performance the big band Leaves (326 N. First Ave.), the Fes- by an Orchestra fronted by tival at Sandpoint office (525 Pine with The Concert legendary St.) or online at panida.org. Jazz Band and
Gerry Mulligan AllStars Concert
Best Jazz Performance, Large Group, with the Peggy Lee-Duke Ellington original number “I’m Gonna Go Fishin’.” The Gerry Mulligan All-Stars Concert, which is part of the Festival at Sandpoint Chamber Concert series, will feature several jazz musicians who worked with Mulligan, including pianist Bill Mays, whose 60-year career has spanned from Hollywood to New York; bassist Dean Johnson, who spent 10 years in close collaboration with Mulligan; and drummer Ron Vincent, who also performed alongside jazz greats like Phil Woods and Bill Charlap. In addition, the All-Stars lineup will feature trombonist Dave Glenn — former director of Jazz Studies and professor of low brass at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash. and a 10-year player with Mulligan — and baritone saxophonist
Gerry Mulligan blowing on his saxophone. Courtesy photo. David Larsen, an up-and-coming Spokane-based artist who also serves as director of Instrumental Studies at Spokane Falls Community College and has been called a contender for “one of the top baritone saxophonists in modern jazz.”. The ensemble will pay tribute to Mulligan by playing his music, which persists today as some of the most cutting-edge compositions to set the stage for the modern jazz scene.
A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint Winter Whiteout Party w/ Nick Wiebe, Jan. 31, Pend d’Oreille Winery
Who doesn’t love a dress-up party? The Pend d’Oreille Winery is hosting the Winter Whiteout Party where everyone is welcome to come garbed in snowy white while enjoying live music by Nick Wiebe. Wiebe is a seasoned musician from the Pacific Northwest who has been influenced by everything from reggae to country to pop and classic rock of the ’80s and ’90s. Wiebe combines intimate acoustic jams that tap into the heartfelt singer-songwriter in us all with the skillful use of a loop pedal to add full band texture. The winery will offer prize drawings, good food and excellent wine. They’ll also crown the Winery Snowball King and Queen. This event is free and open to everyone — all you have to do is wear white. — Ben Olson 5-8 p.m., FREE. Pend d’Oreille Winery, 301 Cedar St. Ste. 101, 208265-8545, powine.com. Listen at reverbnation.com/nickwiebe.
Groundhog Day Eve Party w/RFB, Feb. 1, 219 Lounge
If extraterrestrial anthropologists were to describe strange human behaviors, we have to think the observance of Groundhog Day would rank high on the list. Whether a rodent sees its shadow or not is so far beyond the actual functioning of the planet’s climate systems that even a sci-fi writer couldn’t make it up as a cultural practice. Regardless, Punxsutawney Phil is a national treasure, and to celebrate his annual emergence as a buck-toothed harbinger of seasonal change, Sandpoint’s funk-rockdisco power trio Right Front Burner will heat things up for Groundhog Day Eve on Saturday, Feb. 1 at the 219 Lounge. Get down to RFB and down some pints from Seattle-based Georgetown Brewing. What’s more, toast the groundhog and get your early-bird tickets to Sandpoint’s bacchanalian variety show, the Follies — another custom that would leave ET’s scratching their big gray heads. Don’t miss out: This is an event that will not be repeated. — Zach Hagadone 5-8 p.m., FREE, 21+. 219 Lounge, 219 N. First Ave., 208-, 219.bar. Listen at reverbnation.com/theofficialrfb.
This week’s RLW by Ben Olson
READ
Known mostly for his noir detective novels involving Kenzie and Gennaro (many of which have been developed into films), author Dennis Lehane released a new book a couple years ago to my surprise. Since We Fell delves into the psychological thriller genre, following the story of a former TV journalist who suffers an on-air breakdown and begins questioning the truth about her husband. It’s a taut effort from this master of the visual story.
LISTEN
After a month of sailing in the Caribbean, I think I’ve had my fill of reggae. What interests me more are the early deep cuts from bands that existed well before Bob Marley was popular. Rocksteady — which formed after ska was introduced in the 1950s and before reggae — featured Jamaican vocal harmony groups that highlighted slower rhythms and beats. One such group I’ve fallen in love with is The Melodians, which sounds like reggae met doowop. Also try the Gaylads, Toots & the Maytals and the Heptones.
WATCH
New Zealand has slowly morphed into a hub for quirky, offbeat films in the modern age. The new status is mostly thanks to director Taika Waititi, whose films such as What We Do in the Shadows and Eagle vs. Shark capture the charming nature of the land down under the land down under. Waititi’s newest film, Jojo Rabbit, recently screened at the Panida, but you should also check out another excellent effort: Hunt for the Wilderpeople, in which a kid raised on hip-hop and foster care enters the strange world of the New Zealand countryside. Filled with hilarious vignette performances and offbeat plot lines, this film alone is worth your Netflix subscription. January 30, 2019 /
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HEALTH
A grain of salt From Pend Oreille Review, Jan. 16, 1930
BLAZE WEDNESDAY DAMAGES STOCK OF SANDPOINT MUSIC CO. Fire which broke out just before 9 a.m. Wednesday in the backroom of the Sandpoint Music company on First avenue did between $2,000 and $3,000 damage, according to estimates of fire officials, and caused much apprehension for the safety of the entire block for a time. The blaze, caused by a lighted match falling into a pile of waste, gained headway by the time the fire department arrived. The two nearest fire hydrants, those at First and Cedar and First and Main, were found frozen and a connection was made to a hydrant at Second and Cedar street while chemicals were used to combat the blaze until water could be brought to it. A fire hose, brought from the Panida news stand, was too short to reach the scene of the conflagration. When water was finally secured the hose was taken through the store space next to the music company, formerly the old post office, and then brought into the back entrance of the scene of the blaze. Smoke caused by the smouldering blaze and the chemicals spread through the line of business houses as far as the Mountain States Power company office, sending employees into the street and causing merchants to begin removing their valuables. It is said the smoke spread through the ventilation space between the ceiling and the roof of the buildings. E.C. Hembree, manager of the Sandpoint Music company, was cleaning musical instruments, according to the report of the origin of the flames, when a match he was lighting a cigarette with broke off and fell into a pile of waste starting a small blaze. 22 /
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/ January 30, 2019
A health column... sort of
Seasonal affect for the resistant By Ammi Midstokke Reader Columnist
When the sadness hits, I know it. It’s different from other kinds of sadness; it’s a kind of tender response to the humdrum of everyday life, when suddenly I tear up writing text messages, in grocery aisles picking out crackers or when someone tells me a story about their pet. I mourn a thousand losses that haven’t happened yet and histories I have not experienced. While I know it is there, I refuse to use words like “usually” or “in January” or “depressed,” because every year I optimistically thrust myself into winter with a laundry list of all the mitigating factors of my life: Vitamin D, leafy greens, tea and somewhere around 40 hours of exercise a week. I read books about hygge (the Danish art of joyful living, which is just like the Dalai Llama’s Art of Happiness only with more pottery, pillows and candles). I cry out “Self Care!” I book massages. I say “no” to the social obligations that overwhelm. Like the rest of the population, I focus on recommitting to my New Year’s resolutions. (Remember this year’s? Happiness.) I implement mindful practices, chewing damn raisins for 30 bites, only to discover raisins get really gross after a while, then panic about dental damage, then panic about going to the dentist. I read about the compassion of others, empathy and the science of how soup kitchen volunteers have more joy in their lives. It is not inevitable or even a geographical mandate. I cannot recall if it has happened every year. I read the research and bury myself in the shame of not having absolute control over my own brain. Then I cry a little more because people who suffer from
depression have to wade through this crap for years, or lifetimes, and apparently that empathy bit is starting to stick. There’s something else I’m learning along the way — something about the way that all things are ever-changing and dynamic. Today cannot be just like tomorrow. Whether better or worse, it will surely be different. The sun rises a little earlier, sets a little later. The coffee might be a little stronger. A friend might make me laugh. What I have learned is to at least let go of a sense of urgency. I have learned to accept that this will change like all things change: in time. Relinquishing control is also freeing. It allows us to move into, rather than resist. Rent Bridges of Madison County instead of Mama Mia! Why not just wrap ourselves in a weighted blanket of the feelings and let them course through our veins along with all the others for a bit? It is not necessary for us to be happy in order to have value, to function or be productive. I would argue that my worry about not being happy is far more disturbing than the actual lack of general bippity-boppity joy. It is also true that these darker times tend to bring forth new understanding or at least some Hemingway-esque creative flurry — minus the alcoholism and suicide — though I am somehow not surprised that he lived his final days in Idaho. While March and April tend to offer reprieve, so do cups of coffee and long naps, beautiful books and snow days, silk knitting yarn and children reading poetry. The Buddhists talk about how being in the moment allows us to bring small joys to profoundly sad experiences. They also refer to a slice of bread
as “the ambassador of the cosmos,” so we know that their ability to extract the extraordinary from, well, anything, is remarkable. Most important, when we can understand that the minutiae of our lives, tiny and wonderful, can coexist with our mental state of the moment, it takes away the power of that sadness, redirects it to the tangible. It reminds us that we are indeed surrounded by reasons for joy all day, every day. I know, because I cried all the way through a piece of avocado toast today and it was still delicious. Ammi Midstokke can be contacted at ammimarie@gmail.com.
Crossword Solution
I hope I never do anything to bring shame on myself, my family or my other family.
Copyright www.mirroreyes.com
CROSSWORD ACROSS
copacetic
Woorf tdhe Week
/koh-puh-SET-ik/
[adjective] 1. fine; completely satisfactory; OK.
“Are we copacetic, or are you still angry with me?”
Corrections: We listed an incorrect location on our Jan. 23 calendar for the TrustVets meeting - it was listed at Eichardt’s, but the correct location is actualy Matchwood Brewing Co. from 4:30-6 p.m. on Jan. 30. Sorry! -LK
1. Clan 6. Part of a leg 11. Radiolocation 12. Emit 15. Harvest fly 16. Felon 17. In song, the loneliest number 18. A British title of respect 20. Type of whiskey 21. Photos 23. Not pretty 24. Whirl 25. Immediately 26. Clothing 27. Related 28. Tropical American wildcat 29. Consumed food 30. An object 31. Unbiased 34. French for “The end” 36. Mesh 37. Laboratories 41. Barely managed 42. Devotees 43. Beige 44. Noxious plant 45. A promiscuous woman 46. Stepped 47. Diminish 48. Surreptitious cooperation 51. Dawn goddess
Solution on page 22
52. Aimlessly drifting 54. Dependable 56. Slight 57. Move forward suddenly 58. Rabid 59. Duck down
DOWN 1. Threesome 2. A vehicle that races 3. Actress Lupino 4. Invited 5. Historical periods 6. Paths 7. Hirsute
8. Doing nothing 9. A castrated tomcat 10. A 180-degree turn of a road 13. Attempting 14. Biblical garden 15. Thicket 16. Massive inexorable forces 19. A proportional share 22. Dyed 24. Frying pan 26. Faucets 27. “Eureka!” 30. Chickadees 32. Central
33. Canvas shelters 34. Weak 35. Japanese flower arranging 38. Land 39. A heated house for chicks 40. Like dishwater 42. Downy 44. Cried 45. French for “Sister” 48. Whip 49. Small island 50. Decorative case 53. Religious sister 55. Terminate
January 30, 2019 /
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