Sandpoint Reader Jan 5, 2017

READER

January 5, 2017 | FREE | Vol. 14 Issue 1

Mistrusting the messenger:

Albums to look forward to in 2017 Greenprint report faces backlash

Dear Readers, We’d like to say thanks to all of our loyal readers and advertisers for another great year of publication!

Supporting the arts in Sandpoint for 30 years

sales...................................

...................................

We’re offering an ad special for first time advertisers... buy two ads and get the third one free.

Give Jodi a call and she’ll help you out!

service..................................

.................................

208-627-2586

WWW.TSCHEVY.COM

2 /

R

READER

/ January 5, 2017

LOCAL: 208.263.2138 TOLL FREE: 800.866.2138 476751 Highway 95, Ponderay

(wo)MAN compiled by

Susan Drinkard

on the street

How are you enjoying or coping with this extremely cold weather?

“Very carefully. I am layering up to stay warm. Actually, I like it better than rain or snow except for my new car has salt all over it from the roads.”

Jim Gunter Caregiver Sandpoint

DEAR READERS,

Lately, one of my favorite diversions is to stare out my second floor window while working at our humble headquarters and watch people scuttle down the sidewalks and streetcorners. Everyone has this shocked, offended, are-you-effing-serious kind of look on their faces, especially when the gusty wind nearly blows them over.

Yes, it’s 2017 and it’s cold. Single digit cold. Can’t-walk-a-block-without-feeling-chilled-to-your-bones cold. But there is hope in sight.

According to the weather pundits, Thursday should usher in a new system of warmer temperatures and the end to this terrible wind. The 10-day outlook shows highs hovering around freezing and lows staying in the low twenties. Plus, it looks like more snow is headed our way starting on Sunday and lasting through next week. Yipee!

Stay warm out there, folks. Remember to take your time on the icy roads and get home safe. Also, don’t forget to give those you love an extra tight squeeze on these cold nights. They deserve it.

-Ben Olson, Publisher

Roselle Caesar Semi-retired Sandpoint

Zach Hagadone (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus) Advertising: Jodi Taylor Jodi@sandpointreader.com Contributing Artists: Ben Olson (cover), Lori Reid, Jodi Rawson.

Subscription Price: $95 per year

LIVE MUSIC Thursday Night Solo Series

“I like cold weather. I like walking and looking at the beautiful scenery and the sunlight glistening on the snow. As long as you’re bundled up, you can enjoy it.”

Editor: Cameron Rasmusson cameron@sandpointreader.com

Printed weekly at: Griffin Publishing Spokane, Wash.

“I grew up in Chicago so I’m used to cold weather and expect it to happen.

After all, we are in the Pacific Northwest.”

Georgia Stitt Retired Naples

www.sandpointreader.com Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com

Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com

Terrie Gardener Retired Naples

“The cold air feels good to me.”

111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 (208)265-9724

Contributing Writers: Cameron Rasmusson, Ben Olson, Pastor Bob Evans, Dr. Gabrielle Duebendorfer, Lyndsie Kiebert, Brenden Bobby, Jodi Rawson, Art Pilch, Eric Morgan, Dianne Smith, Marcia Pilgeram.

“If it is going to be cold it should be snowy. I wear lots of layers and have fun cross-country skiing, sledding with my granddaughter and tubing.”

Dan Schwerin Retired Sagle

READER

BENNY BAKER 7-9pm

First Fridays Live Music

DEVON WADE 7-10pm

SCOTIA ROAD 7-10pm

BREWERY & BEER HALL 220 Cedar St. 209-6700 FAMILY FRIENDLY BREWPUB 312 First Ave.

255-4351

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 photo taken by Ben Olson. The Music Conservatory of Sandpoint has an upright piano sitting outside their facility on Second Ave. and Main St. that is a joy to play when walking home from a night at the bars (even though it’s terribly out of tune).

If you’ve had enough beers, it actually sounds in tune. Try it!

January 5, 2017 /

R

/ 3

COMMENTARY

The Inoculant

by Lori Reid

Tea Leaves:

By Pastor Bob Evans Reader Contributor I remember very vividly, as a student in the ‘50’s attending Lincoln and Kootenai grade schools, ducking under the old desks in response to air raid drills. The scenario: Russia has dropped a nuclear bomb on us. I really didn’t understand entirely the magnitude of the drill, but I do remember when we, as kids, started to catch on. It was then that whenever we had one of these drills, the boys around the room would whisper to each other, “Here we go. Bend over and kiss your ass goodbye.” This command, “Bend over and kiss your ass goodbye,” is sneaking its way back in as the words under which history will be written for the next four years. It is so obvious to everyone reading the tea leaves.

“Look at the Tea Leaves, They’re tellin’ me ‘bout the Bomb.

Top pagan god of our new age is the Bomb.

The world’s on its knees, These leaves tell me, before the Bomb”

Let us follow the outline inherent in these lyrics of a song I wrote a long time ago. Every time a news commentator reports on something Trump has to say in one of his tweets, the report is qualified with something like, “Do you think Trump is really serious about this?

Do you think he understands the gravity of what he is saying?”

Reading the inner workings of Trump’s mind to figure out who he is and what he means is a lot like reading tea leaves to tell the future. It is commonly believed that the inner message contained in the mingled leaves can only be seen by the mystic reading 4 /

R

/ January 5, 2017

them. This belief, that Trump’s mangled/mingled statements can only be understood by some mind reader/mystic is being given power by the media who are afraid to say what is obvious. Prophets, mystics, insightful people, poets or whomever never say anything profound that isn’t already completely obvious.

The scariest, most threatening, existential fear in this age is, and has been since its creation, the “bomb,” the same evil we thought we were hiding from in the ‘50s. This pagan god was created in the name of destruction with the intent to give absolute power to the one who controlled it. All of us, no matter what ideology we may favor, need to accept what the tea leaves are plainly saying about the incoming president. Yes, we need change and we are always changing, but let us stay in control of change, that it be for the good of the world.

Trump has succeeded in gaining the ultimate scepter of power, control over the nuclear weapons button—control of the top pagan god of this age. It is no secret he would use them, he said so.

Take his word for it. It is what culminates his power.

The tea leaves say of Trump: Narcissist, bully, racist, hawk, science denier, fact denier, conspiracy theorist, liar, misogynist, and he who preaches suspicion and hate. These leaves speak a loud warning about who it is that sits at the right hand of the pagan god of the world—the bomb—while throwing “gold coins”—promises of making America great again—to his followers and leading the world into further chaos. We must insist that our government keep him under control.

‘The Inoculant’ comic sponsored by:

The law firm of

Elsaesser Jarzabek Anderson Elliott Macdonald.

Forgotten Musicians...

Dear Editor, The Reader forgot some important musicians who died in 2016. Date of death is listed after their names.

Paul Bley (Jan. 3) was a Canadian pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s. Bley was playing bebop piano in Los Angeles in the ‘50s when he crossed paths with saxophonist Ornette Coleman which totally changed his approach to playing the piano.

Pierre Boulez (Jan. 5) was a French composer and conductor. He was one of the dominant figures of the post-war classical music world.

Paul Smoker (May 14) was an American composer and jazz trumpeter. In the 1980s and 1990s, Smoker worked with musicians such as Anthony Braxton, Gregg Bendian and Phil Haynes. Smoker was also involved in the performance of contemporary classical music.

Bobby Hutcherson (Aug. 15) was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. Hutcherson’s mastery of harmony and chords combined with his virtuosity is why he was often used in the bands of Eric Dolphy, Jackie McLean, and Archie Shepp.

Toots Thielemans (Aug. 22) was

known for his harmonica playing, as well as his guitar and whistling skills.

Some film soundtracks that Thielemans recorded are “The Pawnbroker” (1964), “Midnight Cowboy” (1969) and “Looking for Mr. Goodbar” (1977). His harmonica theme song for the Sesame Street TV show was heard for 40 years. He often performed and recorded with Quincy Jones, who once called him “one of the greatest musicians of our time.”

Neville Marriner (Oct. 2) was an English violinist and known as “one of the world’s greatest conductors” Bob Cranshaw (Nov. 2) was an American jazz bassist. His career spanned the heyday of Blue Note Records and is best known for his long association with jazz giant Sonny Rollins.

Mose Allison (Nov. 15) was an American jazz and blues pianist, singer, and songwriter. He became notable for playing a unique mix of blues and modern jazz, both singing and playing piano.

Allison performed a fantastic concert at the Panida Theater in 2003.

Betty Loo Taylor (Dec. 21) was an American jazz pianist and the subject of the 2003 documentary, “They Call Her Lady Fingers: The Betty Loo Taylor Story.”

Lee Santa Sandpoint

PERSPECTIVES

Freedom...

The Mysterious Elite

By Gabrielle Duebendorfer, ND Reader Contributor I have been wondering about this “elite” that people have been resenting during and after the election.

Hearing this resentment expressed repeatedly made me start to wonder whether I am part of this target as I have several degrees as a naturopathic doctor – maybe I am part of this American intelligentsia?

It started getting me worried as I just recently had spent time in Cambodia where I was horrified to learn that the Khmer Rouge had basically eliminated all intellectuals in the ‘70s and ‘80s—even just wearing glasses made you suspicious! The workers and farmers were the ones in power then—at least that’s what the propaganda proclaimed.

This is an extreme example of targeting a specific group of people, and I am not equating the U.S. with Khmer Rouge Cambodia by any means, but I do want to examine this use of the term “elite.”

It didn’t make sense to me for so many people to vote against the “elite” and for Mr. Trump, who seems to me to be a perfect example of the elite, having gone to an Ivy League school and living like a king in a palace. Perusing the Internet I came across two articles that helped me understand how this term is being used indiscriminately and what is lying underneath.

Mr. Bershidsky explains in the Bloomsberg View that this voters’ movement was not against wealth, political experience, or some social class but rather against what he calls the “U.S. intelligentsia.” He defines this as an “entrenched, closed, arrogant group that sees fit to tell people what to say and think.”

He goes on to say that this was a vote against political correctness and against not having perceived injustices taken seriously. His conclusion is that we need

Part 1 of 3

an open discussion rather than a “safe” dictate about people’s needs.

Ms. Kramer, a professor of political science, who, for several years now has conducted a study of rural Massachusetts’s voters, presents a slightly different slant.

Her study also found a basic resentment of not having been heard, not having gotten the decision power and respect that they deserved. She observed that the rural population being labeled uneducated racists provided fertile ground for Trump’s allegations that urban elites were, with the help of the news media, privileging immigrants and Muslims at their expense.

This vote was not about facts or political experience, it was about being heard.

In my work as a naturopathic physician I know about listening. When somebody is really heard, healing happens, hope surfaces and divides are being bridged, regardless of what action has been taken.Shutting up the other side once you are finally listened to, so that the world will be united and a better place again is simply reversing the sides.

Might we instead be willing to listen to each other’s needs and concerns in an open discussion and treat everyone with a sense of humanity?

In part two of this series I will explore the underlying issues that seem to have contributed to this resentment towards the elite and how they might be addressed in an open, respectful, productive discussion.

Dr. Gabrielle Duebendorfer practices naturopathic medicine in Sandpoint and has a keen interest in global and political issues. She travels extensively in Asia and Europe, grew up in Germany and recently spent a year there.

Dear Editor, There is a lot of talk (and bumper stickers) these days about freedom and being free: “We’re fighting for our freedom.” “Freedom isn’t free.” “We live in a free country.” Etc. When I hear the word freedom I immediately wonder: freedom from what? Are we free from British rule? Are we free from government interference in our lives? Are we free from an increasing loss of our civil liberties?

Are we free from our personal information being collected by the government and businesses without our consent? Are we free from an economic and political system that rewards the wealthy and penalizes the middle and lower classes? Are we free from the undue influence of the military industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us about decades ago?

Are we free from a constant stream of ads and marketing for overpriced crap that does not meet our expectations? Are we free from the mindless babble on television, radio and in newspapers and magazines that attempts to influence us one way or another?

Is our government free from the influence of lobbyists?

Are we free from racism? Are we free from prejudice? Will we ever be free from our country’s habit of engaging in wars halfway across the world? Will we ever be free of our addiction to oil?

Will we ever be free of the idea that we have to kill certain people to be free? Will we ever be free of taxation to support military action against other cultures?

I think that perhaps we need to think about our lack of freedoms in these areas and come up with innovative solutions so that we can move toward being truly “free.”

Allan Bopp Sandpoint

Retroactive

By BO

The 956mm “Big Momma” pistol, when you just absolutely have to show the world that you’re a bad ass. Holster not included.

Take our survey, win $50.

www.bit.ly/SandpointMediaSurvey2017

READER January 5, 2017, 2016 /

R

/ 5

NEWS

Council split on Kaniksu agreement revisions

By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff The Sandpoint City Council was divided Wednesday night over proposed revisions to its agreement on the Kaniksu Health Services planned downtown expansion.

According to Richard Villelli of Villelli Enterprises, Kaniksu officials have shifted their plans to from constructing a new building to refurbishing 15,000 square feet of an existing structure located on 200 Main St., currently occupied by Tomlinson Sotheby’s. However, council members were split over whether this significantly changed the terms of its existing agreement, which is to lease 60 city parking spaces to

the business.

“I think it’s a totally new agreement,” said Councilman Stephen Snedden.

With Mayor Shelby Rognstad absent and unable to break the tied 3-3 council vote, the amendments failed. According to City Attorney Scot Campbell, that means the original agreement adopted last month stands.

Villelli argued that the revised plan didn’t substantially alter the agreement, which was approved by council members in November with some revisions in December. He said the expansion would still bring 85 medical jobs, $3 million in annual payroll and 35,000 annual patient visits to downtown Sandpoint. What would

change is that any potential new construction would likely be smaller than the initially proposed 26,000 square feet.

“This gives us the flexibility to use the existing building, which we think is beneficial to everyone,” Villelli said.

According to Villelli, planners re-examined their construction plans after it became apparent that designing, bidding, funding and constructing the new building would not be possible by the target date of June 2018. However, he felt the new arrangement brought its own advantages, including the fact that ultimately, more downtown space would be utilized. He also said the business would likely require only half of the city’s agreed-upon 60

Greenprint report faces backlash

By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff Sandpoint Council members delayed a declaration of support for a greenprint report on Wednesday following a backlash from several individuals.

Pitched as a report to identify and protect valuable spaces within the community, the greenprint was criticized by several city and county residents as not reflective of the entire region’s values. Some said that planners hadn’t extended enough effort to inform the public or collect varied feedback. They worried that by tying up property through easements, it would make property ownership unaffordable for lower-income families.

They also questioned whether the city’s support for the plan would circumvent county authority and affect residents living outside the city limits.

“I would ask the council to table this and get the community involved in this, because there’s a lot in this that is very concerning,” said city resident Anita Aurit.

6 /

R

/ January 5, 2017

Others questioned the motives of the Trust For Public Lands, which guided the project with cooperation from several local cities and organizations. They pointed to the Clagstone conservation easement, which Bonner County Commissioner Glen Bailey said took 12,000 acres off the market.

“I like many of the stated objectives [in the report],” he said. “However, I wonder about some of the funding for these conservation easements.”

Resident Steve Holt, on the other hand, supported the report. He said many of the concerns expressed at the meeting were unfounded.

“I think there’s a misconception that easements create a community people can’t afford to live in, and that’s just not true,” he said.

Sandpoint Planning Director Aaron Qualls urged attendees to remember that the report was strictly informational. He said that the council’s support

of the measure was not a commitment to any action.

Councilman Stephen Snedden recommended that the measure be tabled a month and recommended that those opposed to the greenprint plan return with data and specific problems within the plan to address. He agreed with the criticism that the perspectives reflected in the plan were probably too narrowly focused but felt the plan’s goals enjoyed broad support overall.

“I’m a little perplexed tonight at the opposition to this report,” he said.

According to the greenprint plan document, its four main goals are maintaining water quality, providing recreation, protecting wildlife habitat and preserve working lands. It identifies 94,500 acres of “special places that are the highest priorities for voluntary conservation because their protection would best meet the community’s goals.”

parking space leases.

“We think everyone wins,” he said.

Snedden led the opposition to the changes, saying the shift from four-and-a-half spaces per 1,000 square feet of new construction to four-and-a-half spaces per 1,000 square feet of existing construction fundamentally changed the agreement terms.

Councilwoman Shannon Williamson, meanwhile, argued in favor of Kaniksu Health Service’s request, saying it was in the city’s best interest to support the expansion.

“I don’t really think it makes a huge impact in what we were anticipating in economic growth,” she said.

Chamber administration of BID extended

By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff Council members extended the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce’s administration of Business Improvement District funds Wednesday.

According to Sandpoint City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton, the extension until March 31 will give Boise State University students time to continuing surveying the public for opinions on the BID. Chamber president Kate McAlister said that winter and spring BID programs include the promotion and planning of the Winter Carnival and the ordering of flower baskets.

Informational meeting planned for wilderness proposal

By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff Representatives from Idaho Sen. Jim Risch’s office and Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness will host a Scotchman Peaks Wilderness Act informational meeting Jan. 11 at the Clark Fork High School.

The event is an opportunity for residents of Hope, Clark Fork and Eastern Bonner County to learn about the recently introduced bill. The local impact of the Idaho portion of the Scotchman Peaks being introduced to the Na-

Scotchman Peak as seen from the air.

Photo by Ben Olson. tional Wilderness Preservation System will also be discussed.

After a short presentation and overview of the wilderness proposal, staff from Risch’s office and the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness will be on hand for questions, comments and further discussion.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the Clark Fork Junior/Senior High School. Write to info@ scotchmanpeaks.org for more information or call 208-290-1281.

FEATURE

Mistrusting the messenger:

As political climates shift, journalists face growing resistance

By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff There was no love lost between Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, and the press last month.

During the organizational session for the 2017 Idaho Legislature in early December, Associated Press reporter Kimberlee Kruesi found herself killing time at the capitol lobby with Idaho Public Television journalist Melissa Davlin. According to Kruesi, the two Boise journalists spotted Scott and invited her to sit with them. The representative was unexpectedly cold to the invitation.

“She stopped and said, ‘I’m no longer talking to the press,’” Kruesi said. “She was about to leave, but [Rep. Mat Erpelding] asked her to sit down with us.

She did, but then left quickly, repeating that she’s not going to talk to the press.”

“We weren’t hoping to interview her, just chat about literally anything (we had a lot of time to kill [that day]), so that’s why it was so surprising when she said it,” Kruesi added.

Brief media articles later reported that Scott was no longer speaking to the press as a matter of policy. Scott resisted that reporting in an emailed response.

“I am not sure who reported this, but this is a false statement,” she said.

Scott did not reply to a request for clarification of her encounter with Kruesi and Davlin.

The organizational session isn’t the only example of Scott’s cagey relationship with the press. Betsy Russell, Boise correspondent for The Spokesman-Review, said Scott has recently been selective on how she will answer questions.

“Rep. Scott hasn’t told me directly that she’s not talking to the press,” Russell said.

“During the campaign, I did speak with her a couple of times, but in recent months, she said she was only taking questions in writing via email. I did send her questions and she did respond (though not to all of the questions).”

Scott’s mistrust in reporters’ good faith also manifested in the build-up to the November general election. She did not accept invitations from both the Bonner County Daily Bee and the KRFY Morning Show to speak alongside her opponent, Kate McAlister. And on the day of the candidate forum hosted by the Sandpoint Reader and Sandpoint Online, she denounced the event as a trap maliciously designed against conservatives.

“The local liberal media has hounded me for weeks to attend, in person, through others and in writing,” she wrote on social media. “However, by all indications, this forum has been put in place as a platform to harm conservative candidates and show Democrat candidates in a more favorable light as well as using this event to launch negative attacks on conservative candidates and the core values the majority of north Idaho voters adhere to.”

On the other hand, Rep. Sage Dixon, R-Ponderay, attended the forum, telling the audience it was important that voters have a clear view of the candidates they support. Dixon believes he has a largely productive relationship with the media, although he said there are certain individuals who skew stories along political lines.

“Being a participant in the political arena, I expect some negative press, so I don’t get too worked up about it when it appears, and try to control my message as best I can,” Dixon said.

Nevertheless, Dixon believes the search for punchy headlines can lead to improperly focused stories or media spin. Many of his supporters cried foul during the debate over a bill allowing the use of the Bible as a school reference, when Dixon was widely quoted as saying, “The little Supreme Court in my head says this is OK.” While the quote itself is accurate, Dixon said he intended the line as a joking, throw-away comment, and that context wasn’t communicated in press reports.

“Everyone on the floor knew my intention as I had just referenced that it was merely the opinion of other legislators to state that the Supreme Court would overturn this law,” Dixon said.

“As it came out of my mouth, I knew I was providing a headline for someone,” he added. “In hindsight, that was not the right debate to try and be humorous.”

Dixon said he tries to evaluate

each journalist individually and doesn’t simply assume that they have duplicitous intentions. Even so, he thinks that the media as a whole has to work to earn back the trust of the public.

“Much news reporting reads more like editorials, and many people feel that their beliefs and values are denigrated, or that the whole story is not being told,” Dixon said.

Pew Research data backs Dixon’s observation that trust in the media—or at least, the mass media—is at its lowest point in years. In a 2016 study, only 32 percent of respondents said they had a great or fair amount of trust in the mass media. Republicans showed the least amount of trust at only 14 percent, while independents carried the center at 30 percent and Democrats showed the most trust at 51 percent.

The influence of the much-discussed social media echo chamber also shades those numbers. In a study of the two-thirds of American adults who use social media, Pew researchers found that 59 percent of users found engagement with opposing political views stressful and frustrating, while

35 percent said it was interesting and informative. The study concludes that a desire to avoid confrontation fuels social media users’ tendency to disengage from politically challenging ideas.

“I think that behavior is on the rise, and we’re going to see more of it,” said Dr. Seth Ashley, a Boise State University professor of communications.

“People have turned away from traditional journalism and oftentimes have turned away from any debate.”

With distrust in traditional news media growing, Ashley is discouraged by a corollary rise in the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories. He believes the solution is for news organizations to assert its value to the public by investing in their news reporting departments. Rather than cutting costs and reducing reporting positions, Ashley said the organizations that doubled down on those resources are thriving best in the new media landscape.

“We’ll overcome this,” he said. “We’ve faced technological hurdles in the past and gotten past them.”

January 5, 2017 /

R

/ 7

Walk 7B to start your year off right

By Ben Olson Reader Staff Bouquets: •Are you a conscientious neighbor? If so, I’d like to give you a bouquet. What does it take to be a good neighbor? When it dumps snow, the plows will come through and hit the residential streets afterward. This is when you need to move your cars out of the way so the block can get cleared. It does no good to wait a week until everything has frozen into a solid mass and nobody can park anywhere near their house. Also, a good neighbor will offer to shovel a driveway or sidewalk of their elderly neighbors who may not be able to keep up. Finally, does your in-town letter carrier often have to trudge through the snow to get to your mailbox? How about giving these hard-working men and women a break and shoveling your sidewalk clear for them? A little bit of kindness and consideration goes a long way. Just because the holidays are over isn’t a reason to resort back to indifference when it comes to your neighbors.

Barbs: •To the coward who wrote an anonymous hate mail letter to me last week: I own up to everything I say in this newspaper, as does every single person who writes something for the Reader. You, on the other hand, feel it necessary to spew your vitriol through the safety of anonymity. Does that make me right and you wrong? Nope. It just makes you a coward. If you believe in something, people, attach your name to it. Maybe, just maybe, if I know who it is that feels this way, we could have a productive discussion without the need to call people names and obscenities. If you are afraid to attach your name to something you write, perhaps that’s an indication that your stance is tenuous at best. At worst, it’s a bunch of racist bullshit that I don’t care to hear from members of my fine community.

8 /

R

/ January 5, 2017

Looking for ways to be healthier in 2017? One of the easiest, most beneficial ways to stay healthy might be one or two steps away.

Walk 7B is more than just a walking club says organizer Sue Graves: “It’s a walking group, but it’s also a fun way to socialize, learn about nutrition and build healthy habits.”

The group meets Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays to walk and socialize for an hour.

“We spend 45 minutes walking and the last 15 minutes we do resistance and stretching,” said Graves. “Everyone goes at their own pace.”

Graves, who has a background in fitness and nutrition, also offers members healthy recipes as “homework” for them to continue building healthy habits.

The club, which is sponsored locally by Sandpoint Parks and Recreation and Kaniksu Land Trust, aims to utilize the outdoors as much as possible, but winter temperatures force them to walk inside either the Bonner County Fairgrounds or the First Christian Church.

Graves believes walking is one of the most accessible way for people to build healthy habits, as well as to get out of the house.

“It’s easier to do, it’s inexpensive and just getting out does a lot for a person’s psyche,” she said. “Also, there’s the weight loss factor; whether people join to lose weight or simply to socialize, people have been losing weight.”

Walking during the winter months is especially important, said Graves, because many don’t leave the house.

“Depression and weight gain happens in winter when we don’t get out as much,” said Graves.

For club member Clayton Erne, he joined Walk 7B after hearing about it from a trusted advisor: “My social worker thought it’d be good for me to

walk and get to know people. It makes me feel a lot better.”

Another club member, Rosemary O’Bryan said that she lost 60 pounds due to walking.

“It’s really nice meeting people, and you have no excuses when you’re in the club,” said O’Bryan. “It’s so much better than sitting at home on

Rosemary O’Bryan and Clayton Erne walk during a Walk 7B meeting at the First Christian Church. Photo by Ben Olson. the couch.”

A few local doctors have also begun perscribing walking for their patients. Some members have a doctor’s perscription with a grant that helps pay for their participation.

The club has two sessions on each day they meet; one

in the afternoon and another in the evening. Members are asked to pay $15 per month to cover the costs. If you would like more information for how to join or to learn more about Walk 7B, call Sue Graves at (208) 290-1595.

Tell us how we’re doing and win $50

By Ben Olson Reader Staff Believe it or not, we care.

I know the media has taken a beating over the past year.

While a lion’s share of the criticism is unjustly heaped upon people just doing the job they were trained for, there have been instances where the media deserves a rebuke.

We have no delusions about our part in the grand scheme of things; we are a small, independent newspaper without much infrastructure. We have a humble newsroom, a stable of contributing writers and tipsters who help us keep current with what’s going on around North Idaho. The only way we can keep our seat at the table is to rely on you, dear readers, for reading us so diligently.

Because you are so adamant about reading the Reader, our advertisers continue to place ads in the hopes that the 5,000-plus people that read us every week will patronize their establishments. Somehow it all works. And it keeps working, week after week.

One of the tools that helps us prove to potential advertisers the importance of our publication is our annual media survey, which polls you, the reader, on which forms of print, online, TV and radio media you regularly consume.

Last year, after less than a year in publication, the survey showed that the Reader was consistently polling in the top three of media choices in the region. Almost 60 percent of the 700-plus people polled said they used the Reader regularly.

The other top contenders were Sandpoint Magazine and the Bonner County Daily Bee. We’re launching our next media survey this month, hoping to poll over 1,000 people on their media habits.

If you’d like to see us continue strong into 2017, please consider taking a few minutes to take the online survey. It’s just a handful of questions and usually takes about five minutes.

As a reward for donating your valuable time, we’ll award a random survey taker a $50 gift certificate good for food and beer at Eichardt’s Pub. To take the survey, go to:

www.bit.ly/Sandpoint MediaSurvey2017

COMMUNITY

Where skis, bikes and beer collide

Sports retailer provides skis and bikes - the new neighboring taproom provides the post-adventure beverages

By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Intern Some things just make sense in succession. Wash then dry. Ask then receive. Stop then go.

According to owner of Sandpoint Sports Svein Nostdahl, just as simple is the succession of skiing then beer, or biking then beer — depending on the season.

Nostdahl, who said he has been biking and skiing his whole life, is opening a taproom next door to his retail sports shop in Ponderay based on that lifelong observation.

“Skiers and bikers tend to end their adventure with cold beer and stories, right?” he said.

Though the idea is unique when compared to other contenders in Sandpoint’s beer scene, Nostdahl said he didn’t come up with the sports-retailmeets-taproom idea on his own.

“I’ve seen it done a lot of different places,” he said. “It’s just another way to diversify and its kind of fun. It fits the customer I guess.”

Nostdahl’s father came to the United States from Norway.

He accompanied Norwegian Olympic gold medalist Stein Eriksen in an effort to start more ski schools in the states.

As a result, Nostdahl was born and raised in Aspen, Colo., and also raised as an avid skier.

Nostdahl said he moved to Sandpoint nearly 20 years ago because Aspen had become too ritzy, and North Idaho seemed to offer the lifestyle he’d grown so fond of in his childhood. He began a sports consignment store in Sandpoint, operated by his now exwife, and he ran the Schweitzer Alpine Racing School, a junior ski racing program.

Now, nearly two decades later, the details have changed, but Nostdahl’s mission remains—provide people what

Svein Nostdahl stands behind the new SKa’L Taproom in Ponderay. Photo by Ben Olson. they need in order to fully enjoy their skiing or biking experience. The consignment store is now the retail store Sandpoint Sports, owned and operated solely by Nostdahl, and his new adventure lies in the taproom, SKa’L, which means “cheers” in Norwegian.

The taproom also boasts a Scandinavian theme, something Nostdahl said he’s never seen anywhere else in the states.

“It’s definitely a different concept than people (are used to). I think they might view (the store-taproom combo) as kind of strange, but interesting enough that it might have a draw,” he said.

Joining Nostdahl on this new adventure is SKa’L manager Lisa Campbell. Campbell has been a flight attendant for Alaska airlines for 27 years and hopes to use her background in hospitality to give the taproom a “homey” feel.

“Like when you go to Grandma’s and she knows you’re coming and she knows you love German chocolate cake—it’s there and ready for you. That’s kind of the feel that I have wanted to emulate here,” Campbell said. “And I want to give (customers) an experience, not just a local pub, but something unique.”

Campbell said the taproom will offer a rotation of regional beers on tap and in bottles, as well as classic domestic choices.

“It’s a fun thing to be involved with because there’s so many different regional breweries that are putting out amazing beer,” she said. “It’s growing, and it continues to grow, so we just want to be a part of it.”

Campbell said the taproom’s individuality won’t stop at the Scandinavian theme. SKa’L will use mason jars in place

of growlers, is partnering with the Pack River Store to offer fresh food that can be ordered for pick-up before hitting the slopes, plans to feature lesser-known artists’ work, and will feature a chalkboard wall where people can “draft it forward” — buy someone a drink, write their name on the wall, and through social media SKa’L will notify that person that a free drink is waiting for them. This community-centric feel is something Campbell, who has lived in Sandpoint for just under a year, can’t wait to be a part of.

“This offers, for me, an opportunity to belong to a community,” Campbell said, which is something she’s struggled with as an always-travelling flight attendant. “So far, I love the community. Everyone is so friendly and accepting and engaging and happy. I’m excited to offer them something that

they didn’t previously have.”

The business also plans to sell tickets to Brewer’s Dinners, during which a local brewer will have their beer paired with meals and attendees will learn about the flavors over a three- to five-course meal. It will be a sort of educational format, Campbell said.

Campbell and Nostdahl agreed that offering a unique gathering place for skiers and bikers on the north end of town was a main draw for starting SKa’L, and they hope it becomes a place where adventures are recounted over food and drink.

“My whole life I’ve been a skier and a biker, and it always seemed like those events always ended with a gathering of people and food and beer,” Nostdahl said. “So I think it just kind of fits. We’ll just see how it evolves.”

January 5, 2017 /

R

/ 9

Mad about Science:

By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist Women’s rights are a hot topic, especially since the election.

I’ve overheard conversations in the street that made me wonder if I had stepped into a singularity and was sucked into the 1800s, and not in the cool “G’day, gent!

Hello there, chap! Hup hup!” way.

Because apparently 2016 cast doubt in some peoples’ minds of the validity of contributions from the women of the world for some stupid reason, I feel it’s my duty as a human and a promoter of science to take to the horn and do what I do best: Make science awesome… for women!

For the month of January, I’m going to pen articles strictly about women and their contributions to science. Likewise, as I shamelessly plug, the library will be promoting a display of Women That Made History to the left of the Circulation Desk all month. Check something out, I guarantee you’ll learn something you didn’t know.

We’re starting off the new year in a radioactive way.

With Marie Curie.

Everyone knows how Madame Curie’s story ends: a tragic and ironic climax with her research ultimately killing her.

While technically true, that really doesn’t paint the most accurate picture.

We’ll come back to that later.

She was born Maria Sklodowska, a very proud Polish citizen in Warsaw in 1867 while it was still part of the Russian Empire. You know, while the Russian Empire was still a thing.

She came from a family of prolific teachers, which is definitely one way to start off in the right foot when you’re planning on making history. Due to her parents’ strong Polish pride, many of the Russians in power worked hard to push them down and dash their family’s fortunes, making schooling a very difficult thing to pay for.

However, that didn’t stop her 10 /

R

/ January 5, 2017

Brought to you by:

marie curie

from grabbing life by the horns hog-tying science into submission.

She studied in Warsaw first, at the age of 23, before moving to Paris to study there, where she would soon meet her future husband and the man she would share a Nobel Prize with: Pierre Curie.

Shortly after she earned her PhD, she became infatuated with radiation, a term she actually coined. Radiation wasn’t understood as well at the turn of the century as it is today. X-rays had just been discovered, and we found that Uranium salts could emit rays that did something similar.

During her time studying radiation and the elements that emit it, she stumbled (almost by accident) upon not one, but two new elements.

The first was polonium, with the atomic number 84. It is highly radioactive, and she named it after Poland.

The second was radium, with an atomic number of 88, also highly radioactive. When it decays, it turns into radon gas, which I think is pretty awesome, but also kind of scary because the gas is also radioactive and hazardous to your health. It’s also colorless and odorless, so you can neither see nor smell it, but it can kill you. Zoinks!

Polonium and radium have a really interesting pairty to them.

Especially when you look at tobacco production since World War II. We’ve found traces of polonium in cigarette smoke, which we’ve found comes from particles of lead from the atmosphere.

That lead is a product of radon gas, which is the result of radium in fertilizers decaying. What a crazy, carcinogenic loop.

After the arduous task of isolating radium (It took over a ton of ore to get one tenth of a gram of the stuff), they published several papers on useful applications for it, including noting that it could kill tumor-causing cells

faster than healthy human cells, the basis for modern radiation therapy in cancer patients.

In 1903, she shared her first Nobel Prize in physics with her husband and also physicist Henri Becquerel, for their work discovering the new elements. She became the first woman to win a Nobel prize, which is a pretty huge deal, especially since she would win another one in chemistry eight years later, becoming the first person and the only woman to win the award twice, and in two completely different fields of study.

I don’t know about you, but my aspirations waking up in the morning are to sleep for another 15 minutes and try not to spill my cereal on myself.

During World War I, she contributed an immense amount of time and personal resources as a humanitarian to help treat wounded soldiers near the front lines. Her background in radiation meant she was a perfect fit for radiology (X-rays, primarily) that would assist front-line surgeons that, until her intervention, had been flying blind. She also used a special injector to administer radon gas from her own personal supply to sterilize wounds and halt infections. How cool is that?

Despite her countless accomplishments and her contributions to science during a time when women in science were pushed into the background and dismissed simply because of their gender, her death remained the most recounted story of her life.

She and Pierre both worked with highly dangerous radioactive materials, yet were virtually unaware of how dangerous they were. Both suffered from lasting chronic health problems (though Pierre was killed by a horsedrawn cart, totally unrelated to his work) including cataracts and anemia. All of Madame Curie’s paperwork is too radioactive to

handle without protective gear, and even her daily items like her cookbook had become tainted by radioactivity.

I could only scratch the

surface of the incredible life this woman lived. If your curiosity has been piqued, come check out one of our books about her. I assure you, we have no shortage!

Random Corner es?

Don’t know much about diseas

We can help!

• Heart disease kills more people per year than cancer, war, terrorism, hunger, suicide, diabetes, respiratory diseases and mental disorders combined.

• When syphilis first surfaced, the English called it the “French disease,” the French called it the “Spanish disease,” Germans called it the “French evil,” Russians called it “Polish disease,” Poles called it “Turkish disease,” Turks called it “Christian disease” and Japan called it “Chinese pox.”

• NFL players are three to four times more likely to contract Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS) than an average American.

• During the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, education about the disease was limited for political reasons. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop ended up infuriating members of both parties after he ordered that every home in America be mailed a letter explaining what AIDS was and how to protect oneself from it.

• After needing 13 liters of blood for a surgery at the age of 13, a man named James Harrison pledged to donate blood once he turned 18. It was discovered that his blood contained a rare antigen which cured Rhesus disease. He has donated blood a record 1,000 times and saved 2,000,000 lives.

• There is an autoimmune disease which mimics the symptoms of demonic possession, and it has only been identified in the last 10 years. It affects mostly young women and can come on with no warning whatsoever.

• Farmers feed large magnets to cows to prevent “hardware disease.” Cow magnets sit in their “stomach” for the lifetime of the cow and prevent accidentally eaten pieces of metal from lodging in the stomach folds causing illness.

The Bonner County Board of Community Guardian

Lives change for the better because of our volunteers Please consider volunteering.

Make a difference in someone’s life.

(208) 255-3098

The volunteer Community Board of Guardian is provided to Bonner County adults who reside within the county as a last resort when no family or friends are available to step in and help. The board’s purpose is to protect people who are not capable of making decisions for themselves, such as nancial, health and other aspects of daily living.

The Board accepts referrals from the community and determines ability to assist.

One of Sandpoint's nest restaurants ooering a blend of regional cuisines from around the world made with fresh, locally produced ingredients; serving breakfast & lunch all day.

Check out our mimosa bar!

207 Cedar St. dilunas.com

263-0846

List your property with us and get results that benefit you!

Why use Sandpoint Property Management to manage and lease your property?

Sandpoint Property Management provides:

January 5, 2017 /

R

/ 11

event t h u r s d a y

If you're tired of cloudy days maybe try our famous cappuccinos!

It's what drinking a cloud must be like!

f r i d a y

s a t u r d a y

located on the historic

CEDAR ST. BRIDGE in Sandpoint, Idaho

www.cedarstbistro.com

Special thanks to the Inland NW Community Foundation For awarding the Sandpoint Library $30,000 Toward the 2017 remodel and expansion project

s u n d a y m o n d a y t u e s d a y w e d n e s d a y t h u r s d a y

www.eBonnerLibrary.org www.inwcf.org

www.EBonnerLibrary.org 12 /

R

/ January 5, 2017

5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Live Music w/ Benny Baker 7-9pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall A man and his guitar rocking out like you’ve wanted to since you first heard the electric guitar Learn to dance the Country Two-Step 7pm @ Sandpoint West Athletic Club With instructor Diane Peters. 610-1770 Live Music w/ John Hastings 5-7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority First Fridays w/ Devon Wade 7-10pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall A monthly First Friday country event Fat Bike Demos 10am-2pm @ Indian Creek Campground, Priest Lake Part of the Idaho Free Ski and Snowshoe day, we’ll have FREE Salsa Fat Bike Demos from 10 am-2 pm (sorry, no kids bikes or riders under 18). Any questions, please call 208.255.4496 or email brian@greasyfingersbikes.com. Sponsored

by Greasy Fingers Bikes N Repair Live Music w/ Justin Lantrip 5:30-7:30pm @ Idaho Pour Authority Live Music w/ Chris Lynch 6pm @ Arlo’s Ristorante

f

Ice Age Mega-Floods: A Phenomeno Unique to the Pacific Northwest 12pm @ Sandpoint Library Ice Age Mega-Floods: A Phenomenon west, a presentation by Tony Lewis from The focus will be on the physical proc of the ice age flood features in eastern W

Live Music w/ Cole McAvoy 8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

“Seed - The Untold Story” 7pm @ Panida Theater The film follows passionate seed keepers protecting our 12,000-year-old food legacy

Intermed Join instr eight-wee day night Room of $1 senior

by Jan. 6

Computer Class: Basic Internet 8:15am @ Sandpoint Library The amount of information available on the internet is staggering; learn how to sift through it efficiently to find useful information. Space is limited and preregistration is required by calling 208-263-6930 Live Music w/ Scotia Road 7-10pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall This four-piece family band from Newport, Wash. is made up of guitar, mandolin and upright bass mingle with the calming vocals and harmonies of the mother-daughter duo

Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee Meets every Sunday at 9am. All are welcome Monday Night Blues Jam w/ Truck Mills 7:30pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Game Night at the Niner 9pm @ 219 Lounge Come down and take part in game night wit Learn to dance Salsa 7pm @ Sandpoint West Athletic Club With instructor Diane Peters. 610-1770

Memory Cafe 2-3:30pm @ Kokanee Coffee This casual gathering provides socialization, interaction, and fellowship for persons diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or other related dementia and their care partners. Free

Escape Room - Teen Event 3pm @ Sandpoint Library Teens solve a series of puzzles and find items around a room to help them escape within a set time limi

Free screening of “Being Mortal” film 10am-1:30pm @ Bonner General Health Services Bldg, Ste 101 BGH Community Hospice in partnership with Hospice Foundation of America is hosting a screening of PBS Frontline’s film, “Being Mortal,” exploring patients and families facing terminal illness and their relationships with the physicians treating them Learn to dance the Country Two-Step 7pm @ Sandpoint West Athletic Club With instructor Diane Peters. 610-1770 Musical Theatre Class Script Pick-Up Day 3:15-4:30pm @ Sandpoint Library Parts will be handed out along with scripts for a live performance of Aesop’s Fables. 263-6930

Dollar Beers!

8pm @ Eichardt’s Good until the keg’s dry

Bike Movie Night 6pm @ Greasy Finger Wednesday nights in Night, featuring bike-r always fun! Feel free to there will be some) and

Wilderness Act Info 6pm @ Clark Fork Se Representatives from Scotchman Peaks Wil Senior Center for a S mational meeting. Re Bonner County are in recently introduced b

ful

January 5 - 12, 2017

henomenon west

enomenon Unique to the Pacific NorthLewis from the Ice Age Floods Institute. sical processes and resultant landscapes n eastern Washington and northern Idaho

A weekly entertainment guide to keep you on your toes. To list your event free, please send an email to calendar@sandpointreader.com.

Dollar Beers!

Alzheimer’s Support Group 8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub 1pm @ Sandpoint Senior Center A support group for families, caregivers and friends of those with dementia, Alzheimer’s and any related disorder, sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association. Free respite care is available at Day Break during the group session with advance reservations. 2901973 for more info

Intermediate to Advanced Bridge Class Registration Deadline Join instructor Mary Faux to learn Intermediate to Advanced Bridge. This eight-week set of classes will be held weekly from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday nights, beginning Jan. 11 and running through March 8 in the Main Room of Community Hall, 204 First Ave. Class fee is $30 ($1 City discount, $1 senior discount), and includes all essential class materials. Pre-register

by Jan. 6 at Sandpoint Parks and Recreation, 1123 Lake St. 208-263-3613

ble on to sift inforgistra930

Newmanh the the

Infini Gallery One Year Anniversary Exhibit 6-8pm @ Infini Gallery (214 Cedar St.) Infini Gallery is celebrating their one year anniversary with a new monthly exhibit featuring art by Kris Dills, Holly Walker and Kellee Kindred. Also featuring artwork by Ashlend Dills, Sedona Dills and Kaysia Dills. Live music by Brandon Watterson Sandpoint Friends of the Library Book Sale 10am - 2pm @ Sandpoint Library The January highlights of the Sandpoint FOL’s monthly book sale are self-help, exercise, New Year’s Resolution and a Naval Warfare collection. Also find great deals on mysteries, nonfiction and youth/children’s books. Music CDs are four for a dollar!

night with Racheal

Club 0-1770

vent ary uzzles and om to help time limit

Junior Race Series Jan. 6-27 @ Schweitzer Schweitzer Mountain Resort hosts Friday night races in January on NASTAR

$50? sandpoint’s premier

craft beer store

OVER 3OO BEERS IN STOCK PLUS 12 ROTATING TAPS

Live Music w/ Chris Lynch 6pm @ Arlo’s Ristorante Enjoy some fine dining with Chris Lynch on the piano. A great combo!

Learn to XC Ski Free Day 9am, 11:15am, 1pm @ Schweitzer Roundabout This is a specially groomed beginners trail and there will be free rentals and free beginner classic or skate ski lessons. Contact the Ski and Ride Center at 208-255-3070 or lessons@schweitzer.com to register and reserve your equipment now. Sessions at 9am, 11:15am and 1pm

108 Mindful Breaths as Dance, as Prayer, as Play 10-11:30am @ Embody (823 Main St.)

Puppy Power Hour 12-1pm @ Pend Oreille Pet Lodge Puppies enjoy an hour of supervised play and socialization open to puppies 8 weeks to 6 months of age. 255-7687 Night Sky Outing with Astronomer Sandy Nichols 6:30pm @ Great Northern Road View the night sky through telescopes at the viewing location on Great Northern Road. Weather dependent. 263-6930 for info.

Sponsored by the Sandpoint Library

Night sy Fingers Bikes n’ Repair nights in January will be Bike Movie ing bike-related films. It is always free and Feel free to bring your own chair (although some) and your own snacks/beverages

Want to win

Reader recommended

Karaoke with Alex & Rhonda 8pm @ Eichardt’s Sing it, baby.

The Conversation 6-8pm @ Ivano’s Ristorante “Speaking Words of WisAct Informational Meeting dom” with artist Marlene rk Fork Senior Center Petersen. The Conversation ives from Sen. Jim Risch’s office and Friends of is inviting all visual, perPeaks Wilderness will be on hand at the Clark Fork forming and literary artists to er for a Scotchman Peaks Wilderness Act infor- come together to share how eeting. Residents of Hope, Clark Fork and eastern we, as artists, can construct a unty are invited to come and learn about Risch’s more positive impact on our roduced bill. Hot beverages will be provided “Idaho community.” FREE!

It’s easy Participate in our third annual media survey to let us know how we’re doing and we’ll select a winner to receive a $50 gift certificate to Eichardt’s Pub!

2O3 CEDAR STREET

Go to this link and help us out:

2O8.597.7O96 | IDAHOPOURAUTHORITY.COM

www.bit.ly/Sandpoint MediaSurvey2017

DOWNTOWN SANDPOINT, ID

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK FOR UPDATES

Jan. 13 Sandpoint Contra Dance @ Sandpoint Living Local Jan. 13-14 A film and Evening with Viggo Mortensen @ the Panida Theater Jan. 19-21 Banff Mountain Film Festival @ The Panida Theater

January 5, 2017 /

R

/ 13

To submit your own pet photos, please send a photograph and a little bit of information about your special friend to ben@sandpointreader.com.

Please put “PET PHOTOS” in the subject line.

-DromokaI live in a glass house, so I won’t throw stones, but seriously ... what is the deal with dogs? As a lizard I cannot be elected “Ambassa-Lizard” or have my own column in the Reader. Am I not regal? My roommate, Smaug, and I like to fantasize about being dragons ... more respected than dogs.

Sincerely, Dromoka (owned by Jodi Rawson)

Hourly rates • Day rates • Image packages •Portraiture: business/school/ holiday/family/pure enjoyment •Commercial Photography: lifestyle/brands/architecture •Stock imagery for sale: business/website/branding

Listen in Sandpoint to KPND @ 106.7 in HD 14 /

R

/ January 5, 2017

Woods Wheatcroft • 208.255.9412 • www.woodswheatcroft.com

By Jodi Rawson Reader Contributor

The quest for healthy birth

When my best friend called to tell me her water burst, I hit the road. I told her I would be there in a couple of hours (she lives in Spokane) and that we would carpool to the birthing center together. However, births have their own schedule. This was her first planned “natural birth” with a midwife, and she wanted me there to support her.

She was late and very large, and for weeks I was on hold, waiting for her call.

Giving birth is frightening. From my own experience, it felt like my pelvis was an egg about to crack open, and I was terrified for my little chick. Living in the world’s richest nation does not ensure optimal care or winning chances of survival either. Our infant/neonatal deaths are statistically worse than most all of the industrialized countries. If the U.S. were as healthy and received as good of care as, say, Italy or the Netherlands, we would have 8,000 fewer infant deaths per year.

Overall, the world is improving care for pregnant women, with maternal mortality decreasing, but the U.S. is getting worse. Take a look at the graph to see the strange pattern. Out of all the industrialized countries, we are the most dangerous place to give birth, and sadly, that gap is widening each year as our maternal mortality rates are on the rise.

What is going on? Many say it has to do with our country’s higher levels of obesity, as well as increased usage of alcohol or drugs (pharmaceutical or otherwise). Some natural birth advocates say that these statistics line up with our modern methods, which include far too many interventions in dealing with a natural process.

Approximately one-third of births in this country are born by cesarean section. A century ago John W. Williams, the pioneer of scholastic obstetrics, wrote “[The C-section] requires only a few minutes of time ... while [vaginal birth] often implies active mental exertion [and] many hours of patient observation...”

In countries where this valuable intervention is not possible,

lives are lost, but so too are lives within industrialized countries that offer the major surgery. In several industrialized countries, both their rate of C-sections and maternal mortality are far less than ours. Over a quarter of mothers report to receiving pressure towards C-section; it is quicker and more expensive. There is probably an ideal percentage of cesareans that are performed for true emergencies, allowing the low-risk women an opportunity to deliver naturally while avoiding the risks from the surgery. The ideal rate of cesarean surgeries may be closer to a fifth, rather than one-third.

Between 2004 and 2010, the number of home births in the U.S. rose by 41 percent and a study was conducted as a result.

Among 16,924 women who planned home births at the onset of labor, 89.1 percent gave birth at home, and only 5.2 percent delivered by cesarean.

One of the reasons my friend wanted me at her birth was because she was aiming to labor naturally for the first time, and I have had three home births. My boys began their lives with “planned unassisted homebirths,” meaning that my instincts, good diet and exercise were my prenatal care, and my husband was my midwife.

Like a pregnant cat in search of a dark, hidden location, I wanted to birth alone. I wanted the empowerment of my OWN births, without pressure to have an epidural and C-section. In my 20s, totally headstrong and detached from death, I ended up really lucky. My unassisted home births went well, as many have for thousands of years, but what if I had needed an emergency C-section?

If one of my babies had died, I would have regretted the decision to birth without an expert’s assistance, for the rest of my life.

Thankfully I didn’t pay for my stubbornness with tragedy, but with years of busywork and even a court appearance, to obtain citizenship for my children born in secret. Extreme autonomy is unwise.

It is wise to lean on someone knowledgeable and strong. Local midwife Denise Midstokke, LM,CPM, is one of those people.

Several friends and acquaintanc-

es have testified that Denise is “the best.” With over 30 years of experience (“catching” around 65 local babies a year), she is a pillar in the community. I envy the relationship that my friends have had with Denise, as though she were “mothering” them through the difficult process.

Faith in a master can bring about relaxation, which is paramount in easing labor. Remembering how I failed to breathe properly and reached a high C soprano scream of panic with each of my births, I would have benefited from a relationship with someone like Denise.

“Our hope as midwifes is that all options of care could be recognized as valid approaches to supporting families’ choices and that we could be recognized by the community hospital and medical providers as a member of the health care team,” said Midstokke. “Licensed midwives provide prenatal, birth and postpartum care to moms and babies.

We believe that birth is a natural process and wish to support this process.”

But our local midwives have limits, as do our local hospitals. The highest risk births in our community are medevaced into Spokane. Even at Sacred Heart Hospital, with all the latest incubators and finest surgeons, deaths still happen. Birthing

Top: painting by Jodi Rawson. Bottom Right: an infant mortality graph showing the frightening trend of the rising maternal mortality rate in the U.S. Graphic by Tiffany Farrant-Gonzalez for Scientific American.

babies has always been dangerous work.

In the dark night of Sept. 18, I sipped my coffee and sped towards my laboring friend.

Imagining that I was in for a long night of massaging her lower back and playing the comic relief to her pain, I was shocked to find a perfectly formed and alert newborn, drinking breast milk from my blissful-looking friend, when I arrive. It was quite enough that my best friend and her baby were alive and well—this is the definition of a successful birth to most, no matter how it is done—but she had the bonus of a very quick natural birth, which was her ideal.

January 5, 2017 /

R

/ 15

OPINION

The science of natural and human-caused climate change

By Art Pilch Reader Contributor Scientists have been warning us that our climate is changing rapidly, and that humans are responsible. Most people can see that climate has been changing, but some question if it’s a result of human activity, and if it’s part of a long term trend. The details of how the climate is changing are based on many different types of studies, which I will discuss in another article.

For now, I’ll just describe the physical laws that are driving global warming. These laws are well understood, verifiable and as independent of political opinion as the law of gravity.

Most of the energy radiated by the sun is in the visible part of the spectrum. Air doesn’t absorb visible light. Some of the sunlight is reflected by clouds and aerosols, but most reaches the earth’s surface. At the surface some is reflected by ice and snow. The visible light that doesn’t get reflected is absorbed by the ground or bodies of water and turned into heat.

The heat is radiated away from the surface in the form of infrared light. Some of the gases in the air absorb infrared light.

Because the incoming solar radiation, being visible light, doesn’t get absorbed, while some of the outgoing infrared radiation does get absorbed, the earth ends up getting hotter.

This is called the greenhouse effect. The two most abundant gases in the atmosphere, nitrogen and oxygen, exert almost no greenhouse effect.

Instead, the greenhouse effect comes from gas molecules that are present in small amounts.

Water vapour and carbon dioxide (CO2) are the two most important greenhouse gases.

When CO2 increases, the atmosphere warms up and it can hold more water vapor. The combined effect of more water vapor and more CO2 causes a much greater warming effect, 16 /

R

/ January 5, 2017

than the CO2 alone. Methane, nitrous oxide, ozone and halocarbons, present in the atmosphere in small amounts, also contribute significantly to the greenhouse effect. Clouds, depending on their type, location and thickness, may contribute to the greenhouse effect, or they may have a cooling effect by reflecting incoming light from the sun.

Without the natural greenhouse effect, the average temperature at Earth’s surface would be below the freezing point of water. Thus, Earth’s natural greenhouse effect makes life as we know it possible. However, human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels, have greatly intensified the natural greenhouse effect, causing it to be hotter now than it’s been since the beginning of civilization.

The climate has changed from natural causes in the past. What is the evidence that this time it’s human caused?

Since the 1970s, the sun has been cooling slightly, while the Earth has gotten warmer. Also,the stratosphere has cooled at the same time that the troposphere has warmed. If the sun were responsible for the increased warming, it would occur throughout the entire atmosphere.

The most dramatic example of major natural changes is the occurrence of ice ages. The onset of ice ages is linked to periodic changes in the shape of the earth’s orbit, and the tilt of its axis, which are called Milankovich cycles. Milankovich found that conditions that favored an extended period of more solar radiation in the winter at far northern latitudes, and less solar radiation in the summer, lead to slightly warmer, snowier northern winters, and less melting in the summer, leading to formation of glaciers. As glaciers spread over the northern hemisphere, more sunlight was reflected back into space, amplifying the cooling effect. The natural greenhouse

A graph showing the various human and natural causes to climate change on earth. Courtesy graphic. effect also played a role. As the oceans cooled down during the ice ages, the solubility of CO2 in the ocean increased. This led to a decrease of CO2 in the atmosphere, which decreased the natural greenhouse effect, and also amplified the cooling effect of the Milankovich cycles. This also explains why there is a lag between the onset of lower temperatures during an ice age, and the subsequent decrease in atmospheric CO2.

We have seen that Milankovich cycles can cause dramatic climate shifts but these changes happen over tens to hundreds of thousands of years, so slowly that they cannot account for the rapid warming we are seeing today. Also, the current position of the Earth’s orbit should result in cooler temperatures, but instead, the opposite is happening—the average temperature of the Earth is getting warmer.

Volcanoes can change the Earth’s climate is by causing a temporary cooling effect.

After a very large volcanic eruption, particles can stay in the atmosphere for as long as a few years, where they block sunlight and make the planet a little bit cooler. El Nino events can cause short term climate fluctuations, but only for a year or two. None of the above natural causes can explain global warming that’s occurring now, On the other hand, there is a very good correlation between the timing of the current warming trend and the dramatic increase in atmospheric CO2 levels in the modern industrial era. The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere depends on the carbon cycle, which has both natural and human caused components.

Prior to the onset of industrialization, the natural carbon cycle kept the CO2 level constant at around 270 ppm for thousands of years. CO2 levels started to increase in modern times, and the rate has been accelerating. Today’s level of 400 ppm is higher than it’s

been since the Pleistocene era, and can only be accounted for by human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuel. Since we have a good idea how much fossil fuel has been burned, we know how much extra CO2 has been added by this source. In fact, fossil fuel burning would have increased atmospheric CO2 twice as much as it has, if it weren’t for natural carbon sinks. In particular, much of the excess CO2 has been taken up by the ocean, which has led to ocean acidification, another serious problem. In the last few years, the concentrations of methane and nitrous oxide, both potent greenhouse gases, have also been increasing rapidly above their natural levels. Aside from burning fossil fuels, other human activities including deforestation, agriculture, natural gas leakage and cement manufacture also contribute to the increase in greenhouse gas.

OUTDOORS A column all about snow safety

By Eric Morgan Reader Columnist Can you think about a time you or someone you know had a near miss or close call in the mountains? I can.

Imagine a tree falling and pinning a 20-year-old, his buddy and brother down to the snowy ground. Luckily, this 20-year-old looked up and had one moment to yell. He took a step to grab his friend and dive behind another tree preventing fatal hits to the head.

All three were pinned to the ground, two by their legs. One was able to slip out of his boot pinned underneath the tree. The 20-year-old and his brother weren’t so lucky. They were pinned by the tree. The little brother was turning purple in the face because his coat was pulled tight around his throat.

This moment is imprinted in my memory forever. The experience I had and the education I had received in the prior months as a wildland firefighter may have saved our lives that day. Leaping behind other trees is a standard procedure in the unlikely event a tree falls on the fireline.

Making decisions in dynamic situations is an important life skill but is especially important in the outdoors. Not only receiving an education but developing the ability to use a bank of slides from life experiences is an essential factor to preparedness and the decision making process. The backcountry is a dynamic environment, so it’s critical to not only gain a strong education in snowpack, weather and topographical influences but also the capacity to revisit slides from our memory before venturing into avalanche terrain.

The first critical element in decision making is the ability to bring up and use slides or

Build ‘slides’ to make good decisions experiences imprinted in our memory. Individual experiences as well as detailed stories shared by others allow us to cache fundamental slides for use when faced with making difficult decisions in avalanche terrain or other risky environments. A person grows “older and wiser” as slides build.

Ultimately the slides become a significant part of our preparedness and decision making process.

It is unfortunate that many backcountry stories go unshared. These stories share lessons learned that could benefit others when faced with similar decisions. Reflecting on all aspect of the story both the storyteller as well as the listeners. Essential to a story are the specific details of what happened, what went right, what went wrong, mistakes made, and what might be done better if presented with a similar scenario in the future.

In these conversations pictures are painted and slides are built and pasted into other people’s minds. These slides are available for use when faced with similar circumstances.

The second critical element in making decisions is education. For example, getting educated in the three sides of the avalanche triangle—snowpack, weather, and topographical influences—is critical to a person’s safety in avalanche terrain. As a person studies each of these sides, it provides a better understanding of how changes in snow stability arise quickly. Education can be acquired through classes, books or time on the trail with more experienced individuals.

Conditions are constantly changing as one travels around the backcountry. Therefore,

adequate experience and education is paramount to obtain an accurate perception of the snowpack.

Understanding sensitivity given the past, current and expected weather, elevation, slope aspect, weak layers existing in the snowpack and more are critical pieces of the picture. Even with a good base of experience, deciding whether to venture into avalanche terrain can be challenging. Human factors such as ego, peer pressure, aggressive objectives to climb a peak, and fatigue still tempt the recreationist into dangerous situations.

But that is another story.

Eric is a wildland firefighter and avalanche forecaster for the U.S. Forest Service where he works on local fire and fuels projects and national fire management teams as a fire behavior analyst and division supervisor. The winters are spent as an avalanche forecaster for the Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center. Courtesy photo.

Did you know you can subscribe to the Reader?

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

as gifts for loved ones. We don’t promote subscriptions heavily since we don’t make any revenue Let’s face it: We’re all lazy off of them, but it dawned on me from time to time. Why not that perhaps many of you don’t embrace your inner laziness know that it’s possible to have and have the Reader delivered the Reader delivered. to your door?

A one-year subscription to the While the Reader has Reader costs $95, which breaks always been available for free down to about $1.80 per issue (and will always be free), it (includes postage, envelopes, does cost to send it through the etc.). If you’d like to join the mail. As we’ve noticed over growing list of subscribers, email the holidays, quite a few of you ben@sandpointreader.com and have purchased subscriptions we’ll take it from there.

January 5, 2017 /

R

/ 17

Living Life: Gratitude

By Dianne Smith Reader Columnist

Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”

-A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh When I watched the community over the holidays I was grateful for those who offered support to others and reached out with encouragement.

It made me appreciate what community means and to be part of something larger than myself. It is so easy to focus on the negative, and I see those posts on Facebook and in letters to the editor, but the ones who post appreciation or those who reach out to others are the ones that make the community. Gratitude and appreciation can change lives in so many ways and always makes a community stronger. Here is hope that people can see what they do have versus what they want or don’t have and that we can use that knowledge to encourage peace in the world and a appreciate for life.

Studies show that we can intentionally cultivate gratitude, and can increase our sense of well-being and happiness in the process. Gratefulness—and especially expression of it to others— is associated with increased energy, optimism, positive quality of life, better physical health, better relationships and empathy. The reality is that once we start looking for gratitude and gratefulness the happier we feel, which reinforces the behavior, so the more we find things to be grateful for. Gratefulness and gratitude feel better than anger and resentment and provide a better quality of life.

If you are having a hard time getting with the feeling of being grateful, experts suggest faking it until you make it and find that personal grateful experience. It doesn’t even have to be a current one. Are there things in your past where you have been grateful for an experience where you could reach out and share your gratefulness with that person? Are there things in your life where you are grateful for basics that others may not have? If you ate three meals today you are better off than 75 18 /

R

/ January 5, 2017

percent of the world.

Starting to look at things you can be grateful for helps you start to see what you do have instead of what you don’t have. It is a simple shift in focus. Consistently ungrateful people tend to get stuck on the materialistic things they don’t have or that they want. Gratefulness helps a person focus on relationships and the blessings in their lives, which brings satisfaction and happiness. Troublesome thoughts and negative memories pop up less when people see gratefulness and research suggests that gratitude can enhance emotional healing which makes us better physically.

Gratitude journals or lists are a simply way to begin seeing what you have to be grateful for. There are wonderful places where people can reach out in the community and get support if they

need it. So I am grateful to live in such a caring community where people show love. There are wonderful religious organizations, and I am grateful that we have safety in our choice. I am grateful to be able to brainstorm with organizations in the community about how we can work together to support our youth.

I am grateful that children can go to school every day and have teachers who love to teach and embrace the community as their own.

When I asked my 79-year-old tap teacher Gail to what she attributed her young looks and positive attitude about life she talked about gratitude and trying to see the good in life. It certainly worked for her because our jaws dropped when one of my classmates asked and she shared her age with us.

She always has a smile on her face and seems to love life.

Gratitude is no cure-all, but it is a

massively underutilized tool for improving life-satisfaction and happiness.

Research all you want, but you can find absolutely no negative outcomes to practicing gratefulness. Improved life satisfaction, physical health and happiness, better relationships including marriage, more positive experiences and overall increased contentment with life are all positive outcomes to practicing gratitude; however you decide to do it. The nice thing about gratitude is you get to decide how to do it in your life and create an experience that is personal to just you.

Dianne Smith, LMFT is a licensed counselor who works with both children and adults. She has offices in Bonners Ferry and Sandpoint and can be reached at 951-440-0982.

A ‘beery’ good sign?

By Ben Olson Reader Staff This photo was taken shortly before the new year

by Natalie McRae, a server at Eichardt’s Pub. McRae noticed her beer was smiling back at her and snapped this photo before the happy face dissipated.

This image has not been Photoshopped in any way.

Perhaps this is a sign that 2017 might not be as bad as everyone seems to think it will be?

I’ve heard of people seeing the Virgin Mary in a water stain and Jesus in the clouds, but happy faces in beer suds is a new one to me. It seems fitting that the happy beer man was spotted at Eichardt’s, which is probably one of the happiest places to take down a pint or three.

STAGE & SCREEN

Idaho Mythweaver film depicts Nez Perce horsemanship and history

By Reader Staff “Look in the direction where you think the Spirit has gone, and it will come to you.”

—the late Horace Axtell, Nez Perce.

Remarkable horsemanship, selective breeding techniques that resulted in “sound, fast and smart” breeds like the Appaloosa, as well as their spiritual relationship with animals made Idaho’s Nez Perce Tribe one of the greatest horse tribes in America.

More than 2,000 horses initially traveled along with 800 Nez Perce people during their infamous 1,700-mile flight from the pursuing U.S. Cavalry in 1877, to seek refuge with Sitting Bull’s camp in Canada. When the conflict ended desperately at the Battle of Bear Paw, only miles shy of the border and freedom, most of the hundreds of surviving horses left were rounded up and slaughtered by the U.S. Army.

The destruction of this herd was a devastating loss to the Nez Perce and their way of life. It would take a hundred years before the tribe would recover from this terrible blow to their cultural identity. In 1998, the tribe would reclaim their gift of horse breeding to create a Nez Perce Registry, and under the unlikely and surprising leadership of Rudy Shebala, a Navajo. Reintroducing the horse once again into the Nez Perce way of life would also make a meaningful and healing connection for at-risk tribal youth with the Nez Perce Young Horseman Program.

This story of the Nez Perce people’s love for the horse is the featured film in the Jan. 14 offering of the free Native Heritage Film Series sponsored by The Idaho Mythweaver, in partnership with the East Bonner County Library District and Vision Maker Media. “Horse Tribe” is a documentary film that tells the story of how the Nez Perce brought the horse back to their land and lives, especially to help tribal youth.

“Horse Tribe” is a story of vision and grit, of personal and tribal conflict, as well as one of hope and heartbreak, said Jane Fritz of the Mythweaver. One of the cinematographers of this astonishingly beautiful film is Sandpoint’s own Erik Daarstad, Fritz added.

“If you love horses, you won’t want to miss seeing this film on the big screen,” said Fritz.

And it looks as if the Jan. 14 will be a good January day in Sandpoint to experience a veritable film festival!

While the Panida Theater will be highlighting actor Viggo Mortensen’s visit to speak later that evening about his latest film “Captain Fantastic,” a fundraiser for several Sandpoint nonprofits, The Idaho Mythweaver will be highlighting a guest from Lapwai — Nez Perce historian and speaker, Diane Mallickan. She will lead the audiences in discussions of the Library’s free screenings. Mallickan is both co- vice president of the Mythweaver and a retired Nez Perce educator of 22 years with the Nez Perce National Historical Park in Spalding, Idaho.

Two free screenings of “Horse Tribe” will take place on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 12:30 and 3 p.m. in the Rude Girls Room of the Library’s Sandpoint Branch, 1407 Cedar Street in Sandpoint. Light refreshments will also be served.

January’s event is also a double feature. Each free screening opens with a film short called “Spirit in Glass,” which highlights the tribes of the Columbia Plateau region and their remarkable pictorial beadwork. An art form that arose after the upheaval experienced after white contact, which began with Lewis and Clark, contemporary artists from the Warm Springs, Yakama, Nez Perce and Umatilla Reservations tell how their distinctive beadwork reconnects the peoples to their ancestors, as well as reinforces their ties to the land, wildlife, and plants. Narrated by Nakia Williamson, Nez Perce storyteller, the film explores the resilience of cultural and creative expression that is uniquely Plateau.

February’s film in the free Native Heritage Film Series is a narrative, full-length feature showcasing Cherokee-Creek filmmaker Sterlin Harjo’s Barking Water, a love story and Sundance Film Festival selection, to be screened twice on Feb. 11. After each monthly screening, a DVD copy of the film will be released into the Library’s circulation for public check-out.

This film series has been generously underwritten by TransEco Services along with grants from the Idaho Humanities Council — a state-based part-

ner of the National Endowment for the Humanities — and the Bonner County Endowment Fund for Human Rights of the Idaho Community Foundation.

date to be announced:

“Certain Women” film

Three strong-willed women (Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern, Michelle Williams) strive to forge their own paths amidst the wide-open plains of the American Northwest

little theater

Jan. 6, 7 & 8 @ 7pm

“SEED: The Untold Story”

In the last century, 94% of our seed varieties have disappeared.

The Untold Story follows passionate seed keepers protecting our 12,000 year-old food legacy.

Jan. 13 & 14 @ 7:30pm

A film and evening with viggo mortensen A special appearance by Viggo Mortensen, who will answer questions from the audience after the showing of his latest film, “Captain Fantastic.”

Jan. 19, 20 & 21 @ 7pm

Banff Mountain Film FEstival The annual outdoors and adventure film festival is back!

January 5, 2017 /

R

/ 19

FOOD

The Sandpoint Eater Liquid Goals

By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Food Columnist

Happy New Year, folks! Did you set some goals or make some resolutions? There are two schools of thoughts with goals and resolutions. We either put them out there for all the world to see and hold us accountable (especially when we fail), or we keep them quietly to ourselves, waiting for someone to notice our new Mensa Society Award or our 20-pound weight loss.

Some say New Year’s resolutions are only meant to be broken, but I can proudly say it was a New Year’s resolution 14 years ago that inspired me to quit smoking once and for all.

My oldest initiated my motivation by asserting, “Mother, if I ever get married and have children and you are still smoking, I will never bring them to your home.” I knew she meant it, and with firm resolve I kicked that damn nasty habit. And my house has been filled with adorable grandbabes nearly ever since.

This year marks the year that I’ve now spent more of my life without cigarettes than I spent smoking. Besides the obvious health benefits, I’ve saved more than $25,000, which I’ve used to buy myself some very nice milestone gifts. Before each purchase, I used to proudly exclaim, “I’ve saved more than (fill in the blank) and I’m going to treat myself to a (fill in the blank) to commemorate my victory,” to which Casey would burst my bubble with a subtle reminder, “Ah, Momma, you already spent last year’s money.”

Though I mostly only reaped health benefits (and praise from every non-smoker I know), there was some collateral damage, including a 30-pound weight gain the first year. I met that challenge with fierce determination and the Atkins diet. Within six months, I 20 /

R

/ January 5, 2017

lost the weight and stayed completely committed to that lifestyle for more than two years. I was so disciplined, in fact, that during a two-week trip to Italy, not once did pasta, pizza or bread touch my lips. I discovered when in Italy, a woman can live by parmesan and prosciutto alone.

Fast forward 10 years, and though a cigarette has never again touched these lips, a fair share of tasty carbohydrate contraband has made its way to my not-so discriminating palate. And so, for the past couple of months, I’ve given myself the “muffin top” pep talk, determined to make some modifications to my epicurean existence.

The new year seemed like the appropriate time to refocus on me and set some health benefit goals, including weight loss. I granted myself a waiver for the first couple of days of the new

year since I went to Vegas to celebrate New Year’s Eve. And celebrate I did, with a New Year’s Eve package that included, oddly enough, a take-away gift of a juicer. I don’t know about you, but I found a Vegas juicer to be quite counterintuitive.

Personally, I’m no fan of a “juicing,” so my juicer will likely make its way to my highly coveted gift closet. Over the years, I’ve concocted fresh juices for clients and I’ve yet to find one that looked or tasted like anything I wanted to add to my recipe files. I am a firm believer in saving sward and similar vegetation for rabbits and horses, not whirring it into a fancy vegetable frappé, posing as a substance for human consumption.

Countless diets and weight loss programs beg for our consideration (and money), and it’s hard to know where to turn. I

have a friend who lost 40 pounds last year on the five-two diet, which is five days of eating normal and two days of near-fasting (and daydreaming about your next, real meal) with a calorie restriction of 600 calories a day.

There’s a smorgasbord of diets to consider: the Paleo, South Beach or Mayo diet. An op-ed columnist at the The New York Times is advocating a month without sugar (one small glass of juice per day is permitted) and famed food author Michael Pollan reminds us, “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.”

Or if you want to include liquids other than juice, you might want to consider the Drinking Man’s diet, which caught my attention. It’s the precursor to the Atkins diet, and was created more than 50 years ago by Robert Cameron, who published

his wildly successful pamphlet promoting low carbohydrate meals washed down with alcoholic spirits of your choice. The diet seemed to serve Cameron well: He lived to be 98 years old.

Seems Cameron and I shared the same views on juicing, as I just noticed his interesting little coda in the reissue of “Drinking Man’s Diet” (available on Amazon): “So, drinkers of the world, throw away your defatted cottage cheese and your cabbage juice; and sit down with us to roast duck and Burgundy. You have nothing to lose but your waistlines.”

Whether you’re watching your waistline or not, this recipe for Twice Baked Spaghetti Squash is a great low carb main or side dish. Spirits or juicing goals optional.

Twice Baked Spaghetti Squash Serves 2

This is a great vegetarian main dish, or add cooked Italian sausage and serve to your meat lovers.

You can make the day before, refrigerate and bake off the next day. Easy recipe to double or triple!

FIRST BAKING:

DIRECTIONS:

• 1 small spaghetti squash, halved • 2 Tbs olive oil • 1 tsp sea salt • 1 tsp pepper

•Preheat oven to 400º and line a baking sheet with parchment or foil.

•Cut spaghetti squash in half vertically, from end to end. Place squash halves on baking sheet and drizzle with oil – about 1 tablespoon each.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

•Place squash cut sides down on the baking sheet and transfer to the oven. Bake 35 minutes.

•Remove squash from the oven and cool.

•After cool, flip them over and scrape out the spaghetti from each half. Set aside.

•In a large skillet heat 3 tablespoons of oil over low. Add mushrooms and peppers and saute for 10 minutes, until they’re soft (set aside enough mushroom and pepper to sprinkle on last with garnish).

•Add garlic and saute a couple more minutes, then add spinach and spaghetti squash. Toss gently to combine. Continue cooking for 3-4 minutes, just until spinach wilts.

•Scoop the mixture back into the

SECOND BAKING: • 3 Tablespoons olive oil • 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped) • ¾ cup sliced mushrooms • ¾ diced red and green pepper • 1 cup chopped spinach • ½ cup mozzarella cheese • ¼ cup parmesan cheese • basil for garnish instructions

hollowed squash halves, top with the remaining mushrooms and peppers and cheeses.

•Return to oven and bake 10-12 minutes, (longer if made the day

before and chilled) until cheese is melted and lightly browned. Remove from oven.

•Sprinkle with fresh basil and additional parmesan, if desired.

MUSIC

This week’s RLW by Cameron Rasmusson

Albums to look forward to in 2017

By Cameron Rasmusson and Ben Olson Reader Staff

As we look forward to a new year, music lovers have plenty of great new releases to anticipate. Here are just a few albums in the works that we’re excited about at the Reader office.

Cameron’s picks Fleet Foxes The world hasn’t heard much from Seattle, Wash.-based indie folk outfit Fleet Foxes since the release of their second album, “Happiness Blues,” in 2011 and an extended hiatus. That’s slated to change sometime this year (hopefully) as the band confirmed it is working on new material. In the meantime, band frontman Robin Pecknold attended Columbia University and aims to bring plenty of fresh perspective to his music. Considering that Fleet Foxes charted one of the strongest first albums I can recall with their self-titled debut, it’s exciting to contemplate what five years has done to their sound.

Wolf Parade Here’s another band that we haven’t heard from since 2011, and one of my favorites to boot. Boasting an aggressive post-punk sound and two of indie rock’s finest songwriters—Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner—Wolf Parade announced last year that they were back together for recording sessions and live performances.

Fans are speculating that their new album could drop this year, and I couldn’t be more pleased. While band members’ side projects like Handsome Furs and Sunset Rubdown are excellent, there’s nothing quite like the combined talent of Wolf Parade.

The Shins Like many who spent their teenage years in the early- and mid-2000s, The Shins’ 2001 album “Oh, Inverted World” was one of my earliest introductions to independent music. Since then, the band has released new material sporadically, last surfacing in 2012 with the album “Port of Morrow.” With The Shins’ latest, possibly titled “I Gleek On Your Grave,” set to release early this year, I’m hopeful that the dreamy and thoughtful indie pop outfit will enjoy a welcome return.

READ

If one thing has become painfully evident this year, it’s that the animosity between American political factions is more virulent than ever. That’s why everyone—both on the right and the left—should read “The Righteous Mind” by Jonathan Haidt. A social psychologist and professor, Haidt explores how the divide between the left and right deepened over the years and proposes solutions for better, more productive conversations.

LISTEN

Ben’s picks Arcade Fire When Arcade Fire released their debut album “Funeral” in 2004, it set a high mark for indie rock. Since then, they’ve released an album every three years until 2016. Their last album, “Reflektor” was in 2013, so they missed the cycle this time around, but the scuttlebutt is that the Grammy Award-winning Canadian rockers are definitely going to release another in 2017.

Core member Will Butler said last June that the new album would probably come “next spring.” Though he was quick to point out there was “no definite schedule … it’ll be done with it’s done.”

Will’s brother Win, also in Arcade Fire, has been deejaying extensively, so some fans are looking for this upcoming release to be the band’s DJ-rock fusion album. As I loathe most things associated with DJs, I hope they stick to what they know best.

Grizzly Bear I first saw Grizzly Bear around 2006 when they opened for Feist in Seattle.

The psychedelic pop rock band hailing from Brooklyn, N. Y., is dominated by the experimental use of vocal harmonies, as well as their mix of electronic and analog instruments. Their last album, “Shields” was released in 2012.

After five years of silence, Grizzly Bear singer Ed Droste told Rolling Stone Magazine that a new album is in the works and will most likely drop in 2017. Let’s face it, five years without an album is sometimes an eternity when it comes to music.

My favorite of their releases is “Yellow House,” which is full of raw, full sound, seemingly without the effort. They had

The Marshall McLean Band is Justin Landis, left, Marshall McLean, center, and Jesse MacDonald, right. Photo by Cluney Photo. some great guest stars on that album too, including members of the Dirty Projectors and Beirut.

Marshall McLean Band Training the microscope a bit closer to home, Spokane-based folk rocker Marshall McLean is set to release a follow-up to their critically-acclaimed 2013 release “Glossolalia” (in case you’re wondering, “glossolalia” means “speaking in tongues.” I had to look it up, too). The album will be called “Spokane Sadness” and will release at the Bartlett Theater on March 3.

The trio features the indelible songwriting and masterful guitar work by Spokane musician Marshall McLean, as well as Sandpoint’s own Justin Landis on bass and harmonies. Jesse MacDonald rounds out the trio on drums. You can also expect some of McLean’s musical homies to sit in during studio time.

If the forthcoming album is even a shred as good as “Glossolalia,” we’re in for a treat. The mood and temperament of McLean’s songs are both uplifting and melancholy. His lyrics aren’t throwaway rhymes and pithy banalities, but serve an honest portion of the themes that must live inside his head. This one is going to be good.

Crossword Solution

Monty Python’s musical output—especially songs penned by Eric Idle—has long been a surefire morale booster for me whenever I’m discouraged or disheartened.

As one might expect, the comedy troupe’s songs are hilarious, witty and intelligent, but they’re also often quite philosophically profound.

“Galaxy Song” is almost guaranteed to put not only my own problems but the entire world’s problems in proper perspective. And if there’s any song that comes closest to encapsulating my perspective and worldview, it’s “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.”

WATCH

For anyone who cares about thorough investigative journalism, Frontline is indispensable. From world leader profiles to international conflicts to American elections, the PBS-distributed TV series regularly pours hundreds of hours of interviews into its meticulously produced documentaries.

Frontline recently outdid itself with “Exodus,” a harrowing twohour account of first-hand stories from refugees around the world.

January 5, 2017 /

R

/ 21

w o N & Then compiled by

Ben Olson

Each week, we feature a new photograph taken from the same vantage point as one taken long ago. See how we’ve changed, and how we’ve stayed the same.

Historical information provided and verified by Bonner County Museum staff and volunteers. The Museum is located at 611 S. Ella — (208) 263-2344.

First Ave. looking south. Kamloops Klub was next to the Panida Theater for years.

Across Gunning’s Alley you can see the old PJ’s sign. The banner across First Ave. announces the rodeo.

CROSSWORD

Copyright www.mirroreyes.com

c. 1980

ACROSS

The same view today. The POAC Gallery and Little Panida Theater currently occupy the old Kamloop’s space. A&P’s is where PJ’s was. The Panida, of course, is still going strong!

2017

Woorf tdhe Week

senectitude

/si-NEK-ti-tood/

[noun] 1. the last stage of life; old age.

“I hope to still be crazy and youthful in my senectitude.”

Corrections: To Kevin Penelerick; sorry about misspelling your name twice now. I’ve given Cameron 20 lashes for not catching my dunderheaded mistake.

If we misspell it again, you win yourself a prize. -BO 22 /

R

/ January 5, 2017

1. Ritual 6. Sleep in a convenient place 10. A temple (archaic) 14. Pee 15. Iridescent gem 16. Nile bird 17. Profit oriented 19. Catches 20. Highly seasoned fatty sausage 21. Abet 22. Delight 23. Tablet 25. Ales 26. Shocked reaction 30. Bleep out 32. Urge 35. Total weight in tons 65. Contests 39. A small skullcap 66. Immediately 40. The one who was 67. Killed attired in 68. Tilt 41. Inveigled 43. Helps DOWN 44. A short stretch of 1. Monotonous sounds railroad track 2. District 46. “___ we forget” 3. Engage in logrolling 47. Battle 4. Ancient Peruvian 50. Suite 5. League members 53. As just mentioned 6. Point 54. Damp 7. Narcotic 55. Hard glossy coating 8. Prominent 60. Connects two points 9. Toboggan 61. Devotee 10. Nail at the end of 63. Natural satellite a finger 64. Cassava

Solution on page 21 11. Poplar tree 12. Fertilizer ingredient 13. S S S S 18. Zero 24. Card with one symbol 25. Parts of a skeleton 26. Scoff at 27. So be it 28. Petty quarrel 29. Penalization 31. Scatters seeds 33. Allowed 34. Sow 36. Backside 37. Obtains 38. At one time

(archaic) 42. Frightening 43. Yore 45. Become aware 47. Movies 48. Dimwit 49. Columbus’s birthplace 51. Japanese apricot 52. Kisses 54. Methods 56. A Freudian stage 57. Mother 58. Biblical garden 59. Misplaced 62. Bird call

I remember how my great-uncle Jerry would sit on the porch and whittle all day long. Once he whittled me a toy boat out of a larger toy boat I had. It was almost as good as the first one, except now it had bumpy whittle marks all over it. And no paint, because he had whittled off the paint.

Photos of the Week: Brrrrrrr!

Dec. 29 - Jan 4

From top right, moving clockwise:

• A bike frame buried in the snow outside of Sandpoint Sports in Ponderay • The 219 Lounge is undergoing extensive renovations inside to help rid the building of its 80-plus year smoke smell. The plans are to take up the ceiling panels and replace all the wood. The 219 Lounge went non-smoking in Dec. • A snowy view of Cocolalla Creek from the cross country ski trails inside Round Lake State Park.

• Lake Pend Oreille as seen from the Windbag Jetty. There is a good amount of ice that extends hundreds of yards into the lake.

• A snow sculpture seen outside the Burgstahler’s house in Sandpoint. The sculpture was built by Matt Burgstahler. Photo by Carrie Logan.

All other photos by Ben Olson.

January 5, 2017 /

R

/ 23