I’ve been covering the Bonner County board of commissioners’ meetings for about a year now, which, if you’ve been following along, should already answer my titular question. It hadn’t occurred to me that the county’s penchant for conflict was leaving a lasting impression on my psyche until a recent summer night when a certain commissioner starred as the antagonist in my dream. Picture this: I’m a sentient otter driving a tiny Barbie dream car along the Sand Creek bike path. Commissioner X — a part-time elected official, FBI sniper and alien-hunter — sees me enjoying my ride and decides I’m a menace to society and would look better as an otter-fur hat. The specifics of why X wants me dead are unknown, as are the available funds in the FBI’s heretofore secret otter-hunting budget, but the latter must be somewhere in the billions. A team of FBI agents converges on me, AR15s pointed at my cute little face, as Commissioner X attempts to shoot me with a Glock, then an 1800s Colt revolver, then a bazooka, before giving up and coming after me with a rapier. I don’t give them the satisfaction of catching me, though. Instead I swim away into the jaws of Albeni Falls Dam where I’m promptly crushed by a malfunctioning gate. Checkmate, commissioner.
a linguistic education
The internet is a spectacular medium for creating and spreading linguistic change, and each generation that’s grown up online has developed its own language to connect with their peers and encapsulate ideas and emotions that are especially meaningful to them. Sadly, explaining Gen Z’s linguistic innovations to Reader Editor Zach Hagadone and Publisher Ben Olson has led them to comment, “It only took her a year to lose her mind,” and, “I think she’s having a stroke.” Sigh. Some people are just stuck in the past. For those open-minded folks out there, I invite you to add several new words to your vocabulary: “blorbo,” “scrunkly,” “scrimblo bimblo” and “horse plinko.” May they serve you well.
Blorbo (noun): Someone’s favorite character or celebrity.
Example sentence: “It doesn’t matter where you are in Sandpoint, you just have to say Zach Hagadone’s name and everyone lights up. He’s totally the town’s blorbo.”
Scrunkly (noun, adjective): Something cute in an unorthodox, disheveled sort of way.
Ex: “Your one-eyed, hairless cat is so scrunkly. I wish I had a scrunkly like him.”
Scrimblo bimblo (noun): Someone’s favorite underrated and/or obscure character or celebrity.
Ex: “The Reader’s secret fourth employee, PenHands Dan, is my scrimblo bimblo. Too bad he’s locked in the attic.”
Horse plinko (noun): Someone you want to torture.
Ex: “How does it feel to work in journalism in 2024?” “Thank you for asking — I’m God’s horse plinko.”
DEAR READERS,
A lot has happened since our most recent edition, including a devastating July 4 fire at the Army Surplus 1 store on Fifth Avenue that claimed the building along with everything inside the business. The fire is now being investigated as arson.
When an incident like this happens — especially in a small town like Sandpoint — it’s time to come together. Losing a building or business to fire is a devastation that hopefully very few of our neighbors have to endure. It’s not a time to make baseless accusations about the fire being set because of political motivations. It’s also not a time to express glee over someone’s loss just because you don’t agree with their political ideology.
We must never lose that special quality that makes us a small town at heart. We come together in times of tragedy, no matter what. That’s the Sandpoint I was born and raised in and that’s the Sandpoint that I miss in times like these.
–Ben Olson, publisher
READER
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Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Soncirey Mitchell, Lorraine H. Marie, Brenden Bobby, Clark Corbin, Susan Drumheller, Mike Wagoner, Karen Matthee Marcia Pilgeram
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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
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The Sandpoint Reader welcomes letters to the editor on all topics. Requirements: –No more than 300 words –Letters may not contain excessive profanity or libelous material. Please elevate the discussion.
Letters will be edited to comply with the above requirements. Opinions expressed in these pages are those of the writers, not necessarily the publishers.
Email letters to: letters@sandpointreader.com
About the Cover
This week’s cover art by Bill Mitchell, who said it’s a homage to Pablo Picasso’s famous lithograph, “The Flowers of Peace,” with pride flags replacing the flowers. @billmitchellart for more
Arson investigation ongoing in Army Surplus fire
Local fire officials applaud multi-agency response to dramatic July 4 blaze
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
While the smoke has cleared, the rubble remains — as well as an investigation into a fire July 4 that authorities believe was set deliberately and resulted in the total loss of the building housing Army Surplus 1 on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Oak Street.
The Sandpoint Police Department is assisting the Idaho State Fire Marshal’s Office and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with investigating the fire, which authorities announced on July 8 had been classified as arson.
According to a news release from the city of Sandpoint, police reviewed hours of surveillance footage and observed an individual headed east on Oak Street at about 10 p.m., then walking through the parking lot behind Army Surplus and into the alley, where they stopped halfway down the building and approached its south wall.
“After a short period, a flame on the south wall is observed,” the city stated. “The individual is observed stepping back from the flame before walking east to Fifth Avenue and leaving south.”
The recordings shared with the public and media do not depict the start of the fire.
SPD has asked area residents and businesses to review whatever surveillance footage they may have to help identify the individual seen in the video footage.
Those with information are asked to contact SPD at 208-265-1482 and/or the fire marshal’s anonymous tip line at 1-877-75-ARSON. The fire marshal is offering a $5,000 reward for information.
When emergency crews responded to the fire at about 10:15 p.m. on July 4, it was amid the heavy foot traffic and firework activity sur-
rounding the holiday and conclusion of the annual Fourth of July festivities at City Beach. As the flames grew, responders determined that the fire was mostly active on the south side of the building and, according to a later news release, “appeared suspicious in nature.”
However, during the response, numerous sources claimed that the blaze had been triggered by a stray firework. When asked at the scene by the Reader whether they’d seen or heard any fireworks near the building prior to noticing the fire, several witnesses said they had not.
The blaze was intense, spewing large clouds of thick, black smoke as it burned through what has been reported as about $500,000 of merchandise ranging from clothing to large quantities of ammunition, the latter which began exploding in a continuous clusters of bursts and contributed an especially dangerous element to the fire.
Meanwhile, hundreds of spectators gathered at the scene, with many describing the incident as akin to a second “grand finale” for the earlier fireworks show at the beach.
Sandpoint Fire Department Chief Gavin Gilcrease told the Reader in an email that the response “went as expected and designed.”
“The first firefighting crews arrived very quickly from notification as they were staged at Bridge and First for the fireworks show,” he wrote. “We did attempt to get a stop in the early stages before the fire self-vented through the roof. The age of the building along with the heavy fire load allowed the fire to establish itself rapidly.”
Gilcrease also noted that, “This was a very old building that had gone through many structural changes and occupancy uses during its lifetime.”
In addition to SFD —
which was officially established as of July 1, following Sandpoint’s departure from the Selkirk Fire joint powers agreement — personnel from numerous other agencies responded, including Selkirk, Northside, Schweitzer and Sam Owen.
“True, this was our first test, but as part of the fire districts moving in a different direction without Sandpoint, the most important part of the decoupling was to keep our response protocols the same,” Gilcrease wrote, later adding. “Sandpoint and Selkirk will continue to respond together. Sandpoint, Selkirk and Northside now respond as part of an auto-aid agreement. We are currently working with each other and Bonner County Dispatch to update the response protocols to make them more efficient for the resources we have available.”
According to Selkirk Fire, “the holiday weekend proved to be a challenging one for local fire agencies,” with an increase in call volume and multiple fires burning before midnight on July 4, including another structure fire and accompanying grass fire in the Sagle area.
The blaze in Sagle drew mutual aid from Timberlake Fire in Athol and West Pend Oreille Fire in Priest River. However, “Due to the lack of resources
and initial response of only a single fire engine a ‘defensive fire attack’ was established,” Selkirk Fire stated in its report.
“The two Selkirk firefighters who initially arrived were able to deploy hose lines and save multiple other structures and vehicles on the property.”
The exact cause of that fire is undetermined, though its origin appears to have been an electric off-road vehicle that was being charged.
“This weekend showed the need for Bonner County fire agencies to continue to build on their working relationships and highlighted the benefits of a common operating picture,” stated Selkirk Fire Chief Jeff Armstrong. “I would like to thank our mutual aid partners for their continued support of our community and Selkirk Fire Rescue and EMS.”
Though the Army Surplus property at 501 Oak St. is owned by David Arnold Sr., the business itself is owned by Cornel Rasor, who told the Reader in a July 10 email, “We were frankly devastated,” and noted that many personal items were also in the store, which was a family business in more ways than one.
“[M]y son worked for me, my daughters worked for me, my sons-in-law worked for me and lately I’ve had two grandsons and a granddaughter working for me,” he wrote. “We
homeschooled our kids there. We’ve taught our grandkids about life and art there (my wife Kim is an accomplished artist and instructor). My father-in-law’s inheritance that we were storing there is gone.”
What’s more, according to Rasor, his family had just finished building a home and hadn’t yet moved their personal belongings, resulting in the loss of almost all Kim Rasor’s clothing; a vintage, handmade guitar from early in their marriage; a piano from Rasor’s childhood; kitchen equipment; dressers; nightstands; and other items.
“But those are all just things, I’m truly grateful that no loss of life occurred,” Rasor wrote, adding his thanks to local first responders and expressing gratitude that surrounding businesses were not damaged.
The building was not insured by the owner, and Rasor wrote the goal is “to rebuild somewhere, but it will take a bit of time.” However, he was able to retrieve the store’s office and retail computers and retain his business information intact.
“We will move forward and
< see FIRE, page 8 >
A screenshot from CCTV video released by the city of Sandpoint reportedly showing a suspect walk behind the Army Surplus 1 store on the night of July 4 right before the fire was reported. Courtesy image.
East and West Bonner library districts look at redrawing boundaries
W.Bonner to E. Bonner: ‘Your lines encroach on my town’
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
East Bonner County has one of the most well used and financially healthy library districts in the state. While that’s good news for patrons from Sandpoint to Clark Fork, officials with the West Bonner County Library District see a disparity — and it has less to do with the different population sizes they serve than where the district boundaries are drawn.
“Your lines encroach on my town,” West Bonner Library Director Meagan Mize said at the July 8 meeting of the EBCL Board.
Mize is asking that the district boundaries be redrawn to coincide with the East and West Bonner County school districts. Currently, those boundaries are aligned with the Pend Oreille Hospital District, which means that the EBCL District encompasses a wide swathe of the county, including the communities of Laclede and Vay — and nearly to the Priest River Recreation Area, a.k.a. “The Mudhole” — which Mize argues should be taxed by the West Bonner library.
“This is not Sandpoint, Idaho, this is Priest River, Idaho 83856. All of Vay is Priest River, Idaho 83856. Every single service comes from my side of the county,” Mize said.
If both boards agree to the boundary realignment, 3,166 parcels currently taxed by East Bonner would move to West Bonner, resulting in what Mize estimates would be about $224,000 more revenue for the latter, though the exact tax implications for residents in the affected area remain to be seen.
The current levy rates for East and West Bonner are similar, at .000239892% and .000234518%, respectively.
According to Interim Director Vanessa Velez, who was later in the week named EBCL director, the state allows the district to levy at the same amount regardless of the boundary lines, but because the tax would fall on fewer property owners, it would increase their overall payment — though “very slightly,” she told the Reader in an email in June.
An estimate from the Idaho State Tax Commission using 2023 figures, and shared with the Reader, suggested that levying the same amount on a smaller territory in East Bonner would result in an increase of $2.28 per $100,000 in taxable value.
The alternative would be to reduce the EBCL District’s levy rate to retain the same tax burden on property owners, but that would result in lower revenue for the district.
“The West Bonner Board is definitely in favor of the change, but obviously it’s less advantageous to East Bonner, due to the potential loss of revenue if we reduced our levy rate,” Velez told the Reader in June.
For Mize, it’s a question of equity and aligning the districts with the patrons who actually use the resources in her part of the county.
“People don’t come to Sandpoint [to use the library],” she said, adding that of 30 West Bonner patrons she surveyed, only one said they currently take advantage of the East Bonner library system. That means many patrons are using West Bonner’s services, but being taxed by East Bonner.
Mize cited statistics showing that 2,713 West Bonner patrons used the bookmobile during the fiscal year to date, compared to 210 in East Bonner. The bookmobile’s circulation during that period — up to and including June 2024 —
numbered 4,047 in West Bonner but 398 in East Bonner. In Laclede, 77 patrons accessed the bookmobile during the fiscal year to date in June, while 133 used the service in Vay during that time.
“The amount of patrons that come through my libraries and that check out, it’s 88% higher than what you do on the bookmobile,” Mize said. “We serve hundreds and thousands per year compared to a dozen and a few hundred.”
Putting an even finer point on it, Mize went on to say that because East Bonner is able to tax so many more residents, it’s coffers have grown to the point that the EBCL District’s foregone tax revenue last year totaled $12,453 less than West Bonner’s entire annual budget.
“That’s the money you left on the table last year,” she said.
According to a presentation Mize gave to the EBCL Board in June, West Bonner’s total 2023-’24 tax income came to $451,266. The fiscal year 2024 budget for East Bonner contains just more than $3 million in levy income for a total budget of $3.9 million.
EBCL District Board members discussed the proposal at their July 8 meeting, continuing a conversation that has been ongoing for more than a month.
Trustee Jeanine Asche
said she was “very concerned about long-term” implications of changing the boundaries, and “I don’t want to see people’s property taxes going up anymore than they are.”
“I think West Bonner County Library District is very deserving of more money, but not at our expense,” she added.
Trustee Susan Shea also pushed back on the proposal, saying “we’re doing a real disservice to the taxpayers that we represent” if the board goes forward with a boundary line readjustment without putting it before the public in the form of a referendum — potentially as an advisory vote on the November ballot.
“I think that our taxpayers would be unhappy with an increase in property taxes,” Shea said. “If you have a referendum, and you have 3,000 parcels say, ‘We don’t want to be in your district anymore,’ we can go, ‘Well nobody wants to be in our district, let’s give them to West Bonner.’ I think it’s irresponsible just to give you $240,000 of our annual revenue.”
Asche also questioned whether it was proper for the board to redraw the boundaries when they were originally established by a vote, “so I
feel a little uncomfortable just saying, ‘Well, we’ll just change that vote.’”
Trustee Judy Meyers pointed out that the current boundaries were approved about 50 years ago, before West Bonner had a library district of its own, and aligned with the hospital district rather than school district lines because the East and West Bonner school districts weren’t then separate entities — they split following a vote in the late 1990s.
“I generally support the idea of having the library district boundaries coincide with the school district boundaries. That makes total sense to me,” said Board Chair Amy Flint. “However, I do agree with a referendum being necessary because I think it’s really important for us to hear from the patrons who will be impacted by this change. I think we need to do that.
“I just think this issue demands more research and intention, and I don’t know how the West Bonner library is going to be able to do that with patrons who are not their patrons, technically,” she added.
Board members agreed that the path forward would be to establish a special joint meeting of the East and West Bonner library boards sometime in September, and in the meantime investigate what it would cost — and establish the deadlines — for setting up an advisory vote.
Any changes to the boundary lines, and subsequent tax implications, wouldn’t affect residents until the fiscal year 2025-’26 budget, and while Asche said, “I don’t see it as being an urgency,” Flint said it would be better to address the proposal sooner than later.
“It would do them [West Bonner] a disservice to keep putting it off and putting it off,” she said.
West Bonner Library District (brown) is requesting a redrawing of boundaries with East Bonner Library District (blue). The requested area is in dashed lines. Courtesy image.
Sandpoint to consider final Comp Plan adoption at July 17 meeting
By Reader Staff
The city of Sandpoint will host a public hearing to address adoption of the updated Comprehensive Plan on Wednesday, July 17, set to take place during the regular 5:30 p.m. council meeting at City Hall (1123 Lake St.).
According to an announcement, “The City Council is eager to consider the plan for adoption.”
The Comp Plan forms the basis for the city’s decision-making on land use matters, the economy, transportation, housing and more. This is the first major update since 2009 and will guide the City’s aspiration for the next 15 years.
Work began on the revised document in 2019 — 10 years after city officials adopted the current plan — but
that effort was paused with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. The Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council resumed the project in 2022, with a series of open houses, workshops and even a full public hearing following in 2023.
The council came close to approving the final draft in October 2023, but tabled the decision to seek further feedback. Town hall-style workshops took place in winter 2023 and spring 2024, alongside joint working sessions with members of the council and P&Z.
Meanwhile, the public is encouraged to review and share their feedback and comments.
More information, including a copy of the draft updated plan and the history of the update, is available at sandpointidaho.gov/compplan.
E.Bonner Library District announces Vanessa Velez as new director
By Reader Staff
The East Bonner County Library District Board of Trustees announced July 10 that Vanessa Velez has been hired for the position of director.
Velez has twice served as interim director, fulfilling the director role and maintaining the library’s high standards for more than a year in total, the board stated in an announcement.
that she will continue to do an excellent job of managing the East Bonner County Library,” the board stated. “We appreciate everyone’s patience during this somewhat tedious process. The board was committed to finding and choosing the best candidate for the position, which required more time than originally anticipated.”
Bits ’n’ Pieces
From east, west and beyond
East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact. A recent sampling:
President Joe Biden’s July 5 interview with ABC showed him “more composed and fluent” than he appeared at the June 27 debate with former-President Donald Trump, according to CNN, but he was faulted for trail-away sentences and not quickly recalling whether he’d watched a playback of the debate (to which he answered that he had not). Biden took responsibility for his bad debate performance, and said those 90 minutes were offset by his presidential accomplishments, such as growing the economy after a pandemic, expanding NATO, providing student debt relief for 5 million Americans, stability for the Affordable Care Act and putting the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, a chorus of Democratic lawmakers are urging Biden to step aside.
CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, says he and other colleagues think Biden should undergo cognitive and movement disorder testing, with results to be made public. There have been no recent calls for cognitive testing for Trump, despite numerous psychiatrists saying there’s “overwhelming evidence” he has dementia, evidenced by “confusion about reality.”
After advertising nationally, the board interviewed six highly qualified candidates, with Velez standing out as the best fit for the EBCL District.
“The board is very excited that she accepted our offer, and confident
The board added: “Rest assured that East Bonner County Library will continue to provide excellent services and resources to the citizens of East Bonner County. We feel very fortunate to have both an amazing facility and a highly qualified new director in our rural area.”
Rebecca Solnit wrote in The Guardian that reporters, in the “dogpile and panic” over Biden, mostly ignore the bigger story about Trump’s coups: he led a takeover of the Supreme Court, whose far-right majority recently ruled that the presidency enjoys a wide amount of immunity from prosecution, and he engaged with an attempted government overthrow. But Solnit wrote those actions have not prompted headlines saying Trump should step down, even despite his own long string of gaffes and often nonsensical statements.
“[T]he media seems to know how to cover a “sub-par candidate,” Solnit added, but “they don’t know how to cover something as abnormal and unprecedented as the end of the republic.”
Solnit wrote that Trump’s own former staffers and administration officials have been part of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 team, whose president, Kevin Roberts, recently said on former-Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast, “We are in the process of the second American revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”
According to various media, Project 2025 it includes reversing federal protection of abortion rights and contraception; reducing the scope of social
By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist
programs like Social Security; dismantling the nation’s checks and balances; expansion of executive power; authoritarian measures like domestic military deployments, detention camps, mass deportations and political weaponization of federal law enforcement; eliminating the “woke” agenda from laws and regulations, such as terms like “reproductive rights”; a purge of government employees not aligned with Trump; disposing of the Department of Education and Head Start; undermining environmental regulations and climate progress; ending many worker protections; more tax cuts for big corporations and the rich; takeover of law enforcement in blue cities and states; reversing federal approval of mifepristone; banning pornography, including reference to transgenderism; privatization schemes; special interest giveaways; and prosecuting district attorneys who have run afoul of Trump.
To read the 900+ pages of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, go to project2025.org.
Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., who leads the congressional task force examining Project 2025, says he plans to hold a “congressional hearing-like event” regarding Project 2025, using experts, in September.
Trump claims he knows nothing about Project 2025 and disagrees with parts of it, CNN reported. Former Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele said, “OK, let’s all play stupid for a minute ... how exactly do you ‘disagree’ with something you ‘know nothing about’ or ‘have no idea’ who is behind [it]?”
To create Project 2025 the Heritage Foundation says it collaborated with more than 110 conservative groups. That includes those with close ties to Trump’s campaign, and more than 20 officials appointed by Trump in his first term.
In February, Trump praised Roberts for his “unbelievable job” at the Heritage Foundation. According to the substack site “Decoding Fox News,” Trump’s name appears on more than 190 pages of the Project 2025 “playbook.” Former Republican strategist Rick Wilson says Trump is distancing himself from Project 2025 because “most of it polls about like Ebola,” a deadly virus with a mortality rate of up to 90%.
Blast from the past: “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd president, re-elected three times, before presidential term limits were imposed.
Vanessa Velez. File photo.
Idaho open primaries supporters submit signatures to state for final round of verification
Coalition believes it has exceeded the requirements to qualify ballot initiative for the Nov. 5 general election
By Clark Corbin Idaho Capital Sun
Members of Idahoans for Open Primaries submitted their signatures to the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office for final verification on July 2, with supporters feeling optimistic they would qualify their ballot initiative for the Nov. 5 general election.
In Idaho, ballot initiatives are a form of direct democracy where the people vote on whether or not to pass a law, independent of the Idaho Legislature.
If it qualifies for the ballot and is approved by a simple majority of voters, the ballot initiative would end Idaho’s closed primary elections and create a ranked-choice voting system for the general election.
Taylor Jenkins, an independent voter who lives in Nampa, spoke in favor of the initiative on the steps of the Idaho State Capitol in Boise, where more than 200 open primary supporters gathered and formed a line stretching inside. As they chanted “Vote yes on open primaries; vote yes on 1!” supporters passed boxes of signatures from each Idaho county down the line from the Capitol steps, up to the Secretary of State’s Office.
Jenkins is one of 250,000 independent voters in Idaho. Under a 2011 state law, political parties do not have to allow anyone who is not formally affiliated with their party to vote in their primary elections. Jenkins said he chose to remain independent politically because no party aligned with his exact views.
“I know I am not alone when I say that I felt excluded by our current closed primary system,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins said the closed primary elections frustrate him because the Republican Party enjoys a supermajority and many elections are effectively decided in the primary
election before the general election.
“I feel forced to register with a party I don’t entirely believe in just so that I can have a voice,” Jenkins said. “[But] the open primaries have given me hope. This reform promises a future where Idahoans, regardless of political affiliation, have the freedom to vote in all elections without being forced to pick a party to participate in taxpayer-funded elections.”
Open primaries supporters have been gathering signatures since last year
Supporters have been gathering signatures in neighborhoods and at public events across the state since last year trying to qualify the initiative for this year’s general election.
To qualify for the November election, supporters must gather signatures from at least 6% of registered voters statewide and from at least 6% of voters in at least 18 of the state’s legislative districts. To meet the statewide total, open primary supporters need about 63,000 signatures in total.
Open primary supporters have already completed one round of signature verification. In a phone interview July 1, Reclaim Idaho co-founder Luke Mayville said county clerks across the state have validated enough signatures to exceed both requirements. Reclaim Idaho, which is part of the open primaries coalition, is the same group behind the successful 2018 Medicaid expansion ballot initiative, which more than 60% of Idaho voters approved.
Mayville told the Sun that during the first round of signature verification this spring that counties verified nearly 75,000 signatures and verified enough signatures to qualify in 20 legislative districts, not just 18.
“All across the state, supporters are fired up about the opportunity to turn in these
signatures and move on to the next phase,” Mayville told the Sun. “This is a celebration of how far we have come, and it also a launch of the next phase of the campaign, which is all about making sure that everyone in Idaho knows about the opportunity to allow all voters to participate in primary elections.”
Mayville told the Sun he expects the final signature review period to take about a week or two. Once that final review is complete, supporters will learn if the ballot initiative is officially certified for the Nov. 5 general election. If it is certified, Mayville said the open primary initiative will be called Proposition 1 on the ballots.
The Idahoans for Open Primaries coalition includes Reclaim Idaho, Mormon Women for Ethical Government, Veterans for Idaho Voters, Republicans for Open Primaries and thousands of volunteers.
The Idaho Republican Party is officially against the initiative.
How does the open primary ballot initiative work?
The initiative seeks to end the closed primary election law that allows political parties to keep independents and other voters from voting in their primary elections. The law also allows parties to choose to open their primary election to other voters if they notify the Secretary of State’s Office, but only the Democratic Party has opened its primary election.
The Republican, Constitution Party and Libertarian primary elections were all closed, the Secretary of State’s Office has previously said.
Instead of closed primaries, the initiative would create a single open primary election that all candidates and all voters would participate in. Under that open primary system, the four candidates that receive the most votes would all advance
to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.
The ballot initiative would also change Idaho’s general elections by implementing a ranked-choice voting system that is sometimes referred to as an instant runoff. Under that system, voters would pick their favorite candidate and have the option of ranking the remaining candidates in order of preference — second, third and fourth. The candidate with the fewest votes would be eliminated, and their votes would instead be transferred to the second choice candidate on those voters’ ballots. That process would continue until there are two candidates, and the candidate receiving the most votes would be elected the winner. Under that system, voters would only vote once.
Idaho Republican Party stands in opposition to ranked choice voting
The Idaho Republican Party came out in opposition to ranked-choice voting during the secretive Idaho Republican State Convention last month in Coeur d’Alene. Meeting behind closed doors, delegates updated the party’s platform to specifically oppose rankedchoice voting. The platform reads: “The Idaho Republican Party opposes ranked-choice voting and any other iterations of ranked-choice voting such as STAR voting, ballot exhaustion and instant runoff.”
Efforts to reach Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon were unsuccessful.
However, during a June 13 interview outside the Idaho Republican convention, Moon told the Sun she opposes the ballot initiative and rankedchoice voting.
“When [Republicans] ask me about ranked-choice voting, it’s bad,” Moon told the Sun. “It will destroy our conservative Republican state. So if we want this to become
a California — another Democrat state — pass rankedchoice voting. It’s a Democrat voting scheme that’s been implemented lastly in Alaska.”
Moon told the Sun rankedchoice voting is confusing and complicated.
“We have got a lot of boots on the ground ready to start fighting this issue,” Moon said. “You’ve got to vote for people you don’t even like and then you also have a system that is very confusing, especially for people who are used to voting for one person for one position and all of a sudden you are voting for multiple.”
Even though the Idaho Republican Party voted to oppose ranked-choice voting in the party platform, not all Republicans oppose the initiative. Former Gov. Butch Otter, former Speaker of the Idaho House Bruce Newcomb and more than 100 Republican former officeholders and voters have endorsed the ballot initiative.
Hyrum Erickson, a Republican precinct committeeman from Rexburg, also supports the open primary ballot initiative. Erickson spoke and participated in the July 2 turnin event in Boise, saying the closed primary elections are bad for voters and bad for the Idaho Republican Party alike.
“[The closed primary] incentivizes everybody to join the Republican Party, even if you don’t have any real affinity for the party itself or the policies” Erickson told the Sun. “It allows special interest groups and anybody that is looking for political power in Idaho to focus their money and their resources on just the slice of voters that vote in the Republican closed primary.”
This story was produced by Boise-based nonprofit news outlet the Idaho Capital Sun, which is part of the States Newsroom nationwide reporting project. For more information, visit idahocapitalsun.com.
Bouquets:
• A Bouquet goes out to Selkirk Fire, Rescue and EMS; Sandpoint Fire; Sandpoint Police; and other first responders who tried to save the Army Surplus building on the evening of July 4. I was on the lake that night, so I didn’t see it first hand, but all the accounts that came to my inbox detailed the difficult working conditions, including noxious smoke and hundreds of onlookers returning from the fireworks show at the City Beach. I’m thankful for our firefighters always striving to protect our forests, homes and businesses. Our hearts go out to Cornel Rasor for the loss of his business and we hope the culprit is identified and prosecuted accordingly.
• Newly hired East Bonner County Library Director Vanessa Velez gets a Bouquet this week. I was pleased to see the library hired Velez for the position after she had served as interim director twice before. Velez is a familiar face for anyone who has used the library in Sandpoint. She’s friendly, knowledgeable and has always advocated for the library in the best way. Best of luck to you, Vanessa.
Barbs:
• A reader reached out to me last week and said they were dismayed that their water had been shut off in their neighborhood due to some type of construction. According to the reader, the city of Sandpoint sent out notices about the water outage, but didn’t include several homes that were affected. The caller wanted to give a Barb to the city for not giving ample notice to several homes affected by the water outage.
Infamous dates…
Dear editor, Jan. 6, 2021 and July 1, 2024 are dates that will live in infamy. The day the president of the United States led an insurrection to overturn the election, and the day the Supreme Court overturned our democracy and the rule of law. The Supreme Republican Caliphate declared Donald Trump above the law.
Over 100 police were injured and five died from the attack on Jan. 6. Over 1,000 insurrectionists have been convicted but the man who organized and sent the attackers will not face charges. King Donald, Lord God Trump is above the law.
So what can we, mere mortals, do?
1. Vote, I know Idaho will go for his Royal Highness King Trump, but we can vote for open primaries and at least allow all Idaho voters the right to vote.
2.Talk to everyone you know about the loss of our democracy and the rule of law. This should be condemned across party lines. No president should be above the law. Not even the orange messiah.
3.Find a way to help those targeted and attacked by this new authoritarian regime. Can you drive a pregnant lady to see a doctor? Buy and distribute banned books? Write a letter to the editor in swing states and tell them what it is like living in a state that actively attacks its own citizens when they are different?
4.Finally, don’t be afraid to stand up for truth. I had two relatives in the Revolutionary War. Like them I will not yield.
Mary Haley Sandpoint
‘No one is above the law’...
Dear editor,
I usually steer away from discussing politics in a public forum. Too often, it prompts emotional arguments rather than thoughtful discussions. I would rather find common ground with my family, friends, neighbors, and community. While each person has their own beliefs and priorities, we also have many commonalities.
Every year, we celebrate July 4th with parades, flags, and fireworks, but sometimes we forget why this experiment in democracy ever started. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are based on the radical notion that no one is above the law. The colonists knew what it was like to be ruled unfairly by a king who could not be
held accountable for his actions. Instead of tyranny, our country was founded with the ideal that we are all equal under the law.
No one is above the law – that is our common ground as American citizens. The recent Supreme Court decision that a President cannot be prosecuted if their action is some vague “official act” negates our nation’s founding principles. Whatever your political affiliation and personal loyalties, your alarm bells should be ringing.
Of course, if you like the idea of one person or one-party rule, that one person cannot be held accountable, there are lots of other countries where you can live.
Bonnie
Sagle
Jakubos
‘Why Sandpoint is not a good retirement community’...
Dear editor,
1.As people get older, they need more help with tasks. Unfortunately, Sandpoint has a history of elder abuse. The woman I was expecting to help me recently decided at the last minute that she had better things to do, leaving me in a lurch. She told me that she would see me in three weeks. I told her she was behaving like an Idahoan. She said that I must be kidding. I assured that I wasn’t. She will not be cleaning my apartment, about which she was rather slovenly, in the near future.
2.My landlord told me they were sending an electrician to fix my outlets, which they noted weren’t working three months ago. Although I waited for three hours at the appointed time, no one ever appeared. I only got an appointment because I complained when they asked me to nominate them for “landlord of the year.”
3.Although my primary care physician at BGH seems quite competent, all the local specialists to whom he has referred me seemed like charlatans who only knew how to charge. To get adequate medical care, I have had to drive to Coeur d’Alene. I have known several seniors who have moved to Coeur d’Alene for that reason.
4. I have never seen worse drivers anywhere in the world than in Sandpoint. They often seem to drink and drive. They never allow adequate space or time before turning into a line of traffic. I am amazed that I have never had a serious accident here.
5.Stores here are never adequately stocked. I often have to or-
der food and medicine from Amazon because I cannot find them in local stores — even in Coeur d’Alene. Although I have survived eight years in Sandpoint, I couldn’t recommend to anyone that they repeat my experience.
Donald L. Kass Sandpoint
‘Women
today refuse to go back to pre-1960 society’…
Dear editor,
With the oppressive laws passed by the Idaho Legislature, we have become a Ground Zero for the fight for women’s rights in America. Nearly 25% of our health care providers have left the state for fear of prosecution, leaving us with a dangerous void for maternity care, as well as general female health care.
Recognizing the crisis that exists here, 18 local women marched in our local July 4 parade as Handmaids with a banner that read; “Reproductive Freedom & Liberty, Bring Back Our Doctors.” Credit is due to the Bonner County Democrats for welcoming this message for our residents to contemplate on the day we commemorate the rights of all Americans.
Largely, the crowd’s reaction and applause along the full parade route were very positive. This reinforces our drive to continue questioning the Republicans’ position that each of the 50 states can piecemeal rules for women’s health care needs. How is it that there are not different standards for men’s health care procedures dictated to them? This is much like the early ’60s when Southern states claimed “states’ rights” to discriminate against Black citizens and other minorities. The federal government stepped up to enforce laws against discrimination. States’ rights have limits!
Women today refuse to go back to pre-1960 society. History is on our side fighting double standards and the discrimination against women. We will eventually win this battle across the nation to restore the freedom of U.S. women to again make their own health care decisions without overreach from far-extreme politicians. Take stock, we just defeated Herndon.
Rebecca Holland Sandpoint
Send letters 300 words or less to letters@sandpointreader.com. Please elevate the conversation.
expect to be taught, humbled and encouraged through this entire ordeal/event,” Rasor added. “And whoever set the fire, my desire would be that they would come to know the Lord Jesus Christ. For He could change their life.
“I realize once they are caught they will have to pay for what they have done but I’m not bitter — stunned and surprised for sure, but not bitter. God’s good results will come from this both in the near future and in the far future and we will watch for that and be delighted.”
Rasor is well known in the community as the longtime manager and later proprietor of Army Surplus 1, but also as a political figure, having previously served as a county commissioner; active in local, regional and state Republican organizations; and currently running for the Idaho House 1B legislative seat.
Because of Rasor’s long and visible participation in conservative politics, onlookers and social media commenters took no time in assigning a partisan dimension to the fire. Despite a lack of evidence, some suggested the building had been targeted out of ideological hostility. Others expressed satisfaction that the business had burned, celebrating misfortune befalling a political foe.
A majority of comments on Rasor’s Facebook page during and after the fire, however, extended prayers, recognition of the building’s long status as a local landmark and other support as needed.
“The community has rallied in a manner that I cannot even begin to articulate,” Rasor told the Reader “There have been so many offers of help and money that they boggled my mind. This is a wonderful place to live and it is populated by some of the best people on the planet.”
Those with information about the July 4 fire are asked to contact SPD at 208-265-1482 and/or the fire marshal’s anonymous tip line at 1-877-75-ARSON. The fire marshal is offering a $5,000 reward for information.
Residents asked to weigh in on Bonner County’s rural character
By Susan Drumheller Reader Contributor
“Rural” is difficult to define, but how to protect that character is at the heart of the debate over the future Land Use Map for Bonner County.
The county Planning Commission recently unveiled its proposed Land Use Map, which will drive how and where growth occurs in the county. The map was created without public workshops, and has already received a preliminary OK from the Bonner County commissioners.
But the new map fails to respond to local fears that Bonner County could soon look like the Rathdrum prairie, a checkerboard of five-acre residential parcels gobbling up all open space.
To measure support for the proposed Land Use Map, Project 7B and a group of rural residents — the Bonner County Rural Lifers — have created a short survey to gather input. The results of the survey will be shared with the Planning Commission at the first public workshop on Tuesday, July 16.
Go to bit.ly/3KLCpjl and let your thoughts be known. You can also attend the July 16 public workshop in person to share your opinions.
The Land Use Map is part of the County’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan and is a visionary document — a blueprint for growth. The Planning Commission is currently updating the last, and perhaps most important chapter of the Comp Plan, which includes the map.
The map is critical because it is the visual embodiment of the Comp Plan, showing where different types of land uses can occur. Key to creation of the map should be public input.
The next step is to update the code to follow the policy direction of the Comp Plan. However, the commission is trying to do both at once, which has resulted in a map that is oversimplified and very different from the current Land Use Map.
Essentially, the commission lumped the smaller rural residential land uses with larger agricultural and forest areas into one general “Rural” category (indicated in blue) for most of the county. This has raised alarms among residents in rural areas, as well as advocates for forestry, open space and the environment.
The new map is a near-total sea of blue outside cities, indicating that almost the entire county would be one single
“Rural” land use designation. This approach does not address local fears that Bonner County could start seeing a lot of low-density residential sprawl into the farmlands and hinterlands.
The county’s original Comp Plan more or less allowed five-acre minimums everywhere. Then when it was updated in 2004-’05, area ranchers and others urged the county to adopt land use designations to protect larger landscapes for agriculture and timber.
In 2022, the previous Bonner County commissioners handed the job of updating the Comp Plan again to the Planning Commission. They declined requests to hire a consultant with experience in public engagement. As a result, public involvement is relegated to the end of the process, instead of the beginning.
To their credit, the planning commissioners tackled the task and worked hard, relying heavily on the subarea plans. These plans were developed by volunteers serving on five different area committees. (However, none of the subarea committees suggested such a big change in the map.)
The Planning Commission also analyzed recent growth patterns, and the number of available vacant lots, and found that zoning doesn’t necessarily need to change to accommodate projected growth for the next 10 years.
The land use designations, which are shown on the Land Use Map, indicate general types of land uses and where they are appropriate (which is somewhat subjective). Zoning is the next step, which will determine density and allowable lot sizes within the large
sea of “Rural” indicated on the proposed map.
The Planning Commission says the zoning will largely stay the same, but that is not clear by the Land Use Map. By the proposed map, the “Rural”category could mean five-acre residential lots or large farms occurring pretty much anywhere.
Given the trend of zone changes and the law of attrition, it’s conceivable that over time the highest density zoning will become dominant, with most everything eventually becoming five-acre parcels.
Planning commissioners believe they can prevent this by writing better codes to maintain the current zoning. But their reasoning for making the entire map “Rural” is the difficulty in distinguishing between areas appropriate for larger versus smaller lot sizes. If they can’t do it at the Comp Plan stage, it’s unclear how they plan to make it bulletproof at the zoning stage.
Having a Land Use Map that accurately shows the public’s will and vision for the future will help ensure that low-density residential sprawl does not destroy the rural quality of life that makes Bonner County such a great place to live. Strong policies to reduce the frequency of Comp Plan amendments is also needed to protect the integrity of the Land Use Map.
It’s not too late for the citizens of Bonner County to weigh in. Please fill out the “Rural Character Survey” at bit.ly/3KLCpjl and consider attending upcoming workshops and hearings on this important issue.
Susan Drumheller is a board member of Project 7B, a local nonprofit whose mission is to educate and empower the public to engage in land use planning, and advocate for responsible growth. Visit project7B.org for more information.
Courtesy image.
Science: Mad about
flies
By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist
How many times have you suffered hours of torment from a lone, buzzing housefly persistently taunting you, landing somewhere on your skin and zooming away when you try to deliver it a one-way-ticket to the great dark beyond?
Such insufferable, infuriating, completely useless insects... Or are they?
Flies belong to the order Diptera, meaning “two-wing.” Many flying insects actually possess four wings, making flies somewhat unique in the animal kingdom. Dragonflies, butterflies and moths often have four wings masquerading as two, but there is no mistaking the two buzzing wings of a housefly.
The two wings of a fly are no accident. At some point in their evolutionary history, flies began to shrink a set of rear wings, which developed into rapid response and navigation organs that detect changes in air pressure, direction and tilt of the fly. These organs, called halteres, function as tiny gyroscopes that keep the fly oriented while performing highly acrobatic aerial maneuvers.
You may have noticed that it’s really hard to swat a fly with your bare hands, yet slapping them with a plastic fly swatter is easy as pie. Houseflies are covered in tiny hairs that are extremely sensitive to changes in air pressure. The insects can actually feel the air being pushed by your hand and react accordingly — zipping out of the way just before danger strikes. Fly swatters are designed in a checkered pattern to reduce the amount of air being pushed, defeating the fly’s ability to monitor air
pressure and instead transform into a splotch of hemolymph (bug blood) strewn across your countertop.
Diptera is an immensely large order of insects with more than 1 million species of fly. Among these numerous species are the common housefly that you’ve likely encountered, as well as the infuriating mosquito whose females have made themselves annoyingly present this summer. Female mosquitoes drink blood from vertebrates but males do not. Both males and females eat plant matter and nectar. The blood they love to steal from us contains a large amount of sugars, lipids and proteins, the latter of which is used to help create clutches of eggs the females will deposit in or along the edges of stagnant water, in some cases creating a raft of eggs that will spawn many larval mosquitoes.
A common exclamation I’ve heard from kids at a number of science programs at the Waterlife Discovery Center is: “Look at all the tadpoles!” Unfortunately, they are not tadpoles. While there are many macroinvertebrates dropping eggs and larva into the water, a vast majority of these little wigglers are certainly mosquito larva, which feast on algae before pupating and eventually transforming into the winged parasitic pests we all love to hate.
Many flies follow a similar life cycle as the mosquito, beginning as eggs that hatch into a larval stage and then pupate in order to become a fully grown fly. The larval stage of many aerial and terrestrial flies is that of the maggot, a revolting and juicy little worm-like critter that feasts on protein often found in dead and
decaying creatures. Certain kinds of maggots actually serve three very important functions for human beings.
Maggots have been historically used in medical fields for the process of “debridement,” or the removal of damaged or dead tissue from a wound. This means maggots are poured onto a festering wound and allowed to go to town eating all of the dead flesh. Once their job is done, they’re flushed out and the wound is sanitized. Debridement sounds disgusting, but it has been proven to reduce the chances of a patient suffering from sepsis and aid doctors in cleaning wounds, particularly burns that cover a large area of the body.
Maggots are also effective at reducing disease in the wild and in urban environments alike by devouring decomposing protein like roadkill — if left to fester, dangerous bacteria can experience explosive growth and the potential to infect other life through ingestion or spilling into waterways. Maggots stem this potential by eating the bacteria’s food source. Granted, flies can still spread dangerous bacteria, but the concentration of danger is reduced by being spread among hundreds of insects as opposed to one large mass.
Maggots are also a great lure for other animals, primarily fish. This has the additional benefit of being an economic driver in some areas of human society, allowing for people with relatively few resources to create a market for fishing bait to sustain themselves or their families.
In some cases, maggots can also be used to aid the composting of materials, but this is more often done with
species of beetles that break down plant matter, rather than protein-devouring maggots.
Some species of flies are masters of disguise. Flower flies will often masquerade as bees or wasps with alternating banding of yellow and black to deter predators. You may have seen one of these flies hovering outside during spring and summer. At first, they appear to be a bee and may instill a certain cautious
and fearful reaction, but their flight pattern is markedly different from bees due to how they’re built. Flower flies are very skilled at hovering flight, while bees and hornets tend to make arcing swoops. Flower flies are harmless to humans and they help pollinate flowering plants, so try to resist the urge to smash them into the great dark beyond whenever you see one. Stay curious, 7B.
Random Corner
•The ancient Greeks started fires by using concentrated sunlight. To this day, a parabolic mirror is used to ignite the Olympic torch.
•Earth is the only known planet in the solar system where fire can burn. Everywhere else is lacking the required amount of oxygen for fire to ignite.
•The fire triangle refers to the three components that flames need to exist: heat, oxygen and fuel. A fire is extinguished when one of the three components is eliminated.
•A low oxygen fire gives off a yellow light while a high oxygen fire burns blue. It’s for this reason that candle flames are usually blue at the bottom; that’s where they take up the fresh air. They’re yellow at the top because the rising fumes from below partly suffocate the upper part of the flame.
•Fire can make water. If you place a cold spoon over a candle, you’ll observe water vapor condense on the metal. Candle wax contains hydrogen, which combines with oxygen to make water.
•During wildfires, trees have been known to explode if the water inside the tree quickly turns to steam.
•It usually takes fewer than 30 seconds for a fire to become very difficult to control. Fire also doubles every 30 seconds or so in the right conditions.
•A gallon of gasoline has the explosive potential of 30 sticks of dynamite.
•Every year, approximately 4,000 Americans die in fires, most of which could have been prevented. Direct loss due to fires is estimated at $8.6 billion annually.
•The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration in central London that occurred over four days in September 1666, gutting the medieval city of London. It ultimately burned 436 acres of London to the ground, which included 13,200 houses and 90 churches.
Well, I’m on the healin’ side of the annual sinus infection I get most every spring, thanks to a good regiment of antibiotics and, now, some probiotics to restore the friendly little bacteria in my gut that help digest food... all this because pine trees and grass don’t have flowers.
You’ve heard the saying that there are two kinds of people in the world. Well... there’s also two kinds of plants in the world. Flowering plants... technical term being the angiosperms, and the types that don’t flower called gymnosperms. Evident-
By Mike Wagoner Reader Contributor
i feel so used
ly, the latter evolved first, then later in geologic time came the type that employ florists.
Flowers serve as a target... a marker that reveals to pollinators just where to bring the pollen to fertilize the female part of the plant. Pine trees, conifers, etc., don’t have that efficient system, thus the male cones just broadcast massive amounts of pollen hopin’ to get lucky and land some on the female parts. As a result, in gymnosperm country... everything gets pollinated, including our noses. I feel so used.
Paving the way for the return of labor and delivery
By Karen Matthee Reader Contributor
Gray skies and a steady drizzle outside Bluebird Bakery’s windows on July 2 were a fitting backdrop to the somber mood inside as Bonner General Health staff addressed the possibility of bringing back labor and delivery services to the hospital.
Dr. Stacey Good, chief medical officer for Bonner General Health, spoke to a packed room of women and men at the July meeting of a Democratic women’s group that meets monthly at Bluebird.
While hospital staff are taking steps
to lay the foundation for a more sustainable labor and delivery unit, “it’s looking like several years before it’s a reality,” Good said.
Getting funding to subsidize the high cost of an obstetrics program and replace failing equipment is one big hurdle. BGH needs about $4 million to pay for recruiting, staffing, obstetrics infrastructure upgrades and new equipment to restore maternal services. The other obstacle is the political climate created when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, sending the abortion issue back to the states.
Idaho outlawed all abortions except in cases of documented rape and incest
or when the mother’s life is at risk. The new laws criminalize physicians for providing the procedure outside of those circumstances. The BGH labor and delivery unit closed in March 2023 due to financial issues and the near-total abortion ban that drove many doctors out of state. BGH lost four OB-GYNs. Women now must drive to Coeur d’Alene to deliver at Kootenai Health.
“We need an obstetrical provider; we tried to recruit an OB-GYN but it has proven difficult finding that physician wanting to start a program from scratch,” Good said.
A surgical gynecologist is also “a huge need in our community right now, and we’re actively in the process of bringing one to our community,” she added. “If we can get him, we’ll at least have the surgical piece in place, which is necessary for providing standard of care obstetrical services. Then we can recruit obstetrical providers.”
In the past two years, 22% of OB-GYNs have left the state, along with half of Idaho’s maternal-fetal specialists. Three clinics across the state including BGH have closed their maternal services.
“Kootenai gained two OB-GYNs in the last six months,” Good said. “However, our maternal-fetal specialists in the state are the biggest loss. They’re gone.”
If you know someone who is pregnant, she said, “push them toward a Life Flight [insurance] membership.”
In the past year, five babies have been born in the BGH ER, including twins born at 32 weeks. All have been healthy.
The June 27 Supreme Court ruling at least temporarily permits abortions in Idaho when pregnant women are facing medical emergencies. The case was remanded back to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
“It was not the greatest ruling, but not the worst,”Good said. “What we need is a change in Idaho law. We need the law removed; at minimum, we need an exception to protect the health of the mother.”
As a legislative candidate, I agree with Good. At the very least, an exception to protect a patient’s health and fertility would provide physicians with the clarity they seek. But in the last legislative session, only House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, introduced such a bill, which the GOP majority ignored.
I would also let Idaho voters determine the fate of the state’s abortion
laws. Following two years of inaction on the part of GOP lawmakers, a group called Idahoans for Women and Families began exploring options for a 2026 ballot initiative that would restore access to reproductive care statewide, including abortion.
In the meantime, BGH has devoted time and resources to ensuring the E.R. is prepared to see children and is the only critical access hospital in the state with that kind of readiness. The loss of pediatric coverage contributed to the shutdown of maternal services. Additionally, Bonner General Family Practice now sees children as well as adults and has grown from one provider to four.
According to Good, BGH has had to get creative to obtain funding to replace broken beds and outdated monitors, and to purchase a new air handler that filters air in operating rooms. For that, BGH collaborated with the Panida Theater and Boundary Community Hospital on a grant submission, and is awaiting the results. Administrators hope to see similar fundraising efforts, including a community-led capital campaign.
The hospital’s goal is for a more practical and affordable labor and delivery model, which utilizes fellowship-trained family medicine/OB doctors and certified nurse midwives to deliver infants and care for them afterward. The number of deliveries at Bonner General has decreased steadily over the years to 265 in 2022 — less than one delivery per day. Yet the OB unit must be staffed 24/7 with two obstetrical nurses, and an O.R. team needs to be on call 24 hours a day.
“On call is expensive; it’s also a dissatisfier for nurses when being on call means being within 30 minutes of the hospital,” Good said. “Many of our nurses live outside that radius so that means staying in town, or in a hospital call room away from their families. ... We were losing $1 million every six months in labor and delivery.”
While shuttering the unit was a difficult and emotional decision for staff, it had to be done to keep BGH open.
“In the end,” Good said, “a hospital is a business.”
Here’s hoping that the progress BGH has made in the past year, its innovative attempts to obtain funding and the growing clamor to amend Idaho’s abortion laws will result in babies again being born in our hometown hospital.
seat 1A.
Karen Matthee is the Democratic candidate running for House
Karen Matthee. File photo.
To submit a photo for a future edition, please send to ben@sandpointreader.com.
The July 4 fire at Army Surplus 1 store in Sandpoint claimed the building before first responders could extinguish the blaze. Investigators suspect arson and have offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Idaho State Fire Marshal’s Office tip line at 1-877-75-ARSON. Top two phots by Jason Welker, bottom two photos by Zach Hagadone.
OUTDOOR
BGH Celebrates 75 Years with community celebration
By Reader Staff
Bonner General Health invites the community to celebrate its 75th year — a milestone in caring for the residents and visitors of the greater Sandpoint area — on Friday, July 12 from 4-8 p.m. in the BGH Health Services Building Parking Lot (423 N. Third Ave., in Sandpoint).
Healthy food samples, live music from Harold’s IGA, a performance by Star the Magician, face painting, giveaways and health information — including tips for healthy living, preventive care and managing common health conditions — will all feature at the event.
All activities and food will be provided free of charge by BGH, and will include take-home recipe cards that include approximate costs of ingredients for healthy meal options.
“We want to express our deepest gratitude to our employees and their families for their dedication to caring for our community for 75 years,” said BGH CEO John Hennessy. “We also want to celebrate our community for the trust and support they have shown BGH and all who work here. We are truly honored to share this milestone with our staff, providers, volunteers, their families and our community.”
Rock Creek Alliance hosts annual party
By Reader Staff
The Rock Creek Alliance is throwing its annual party and fundraiser on Thursday, July 18 from 5-8 p.m. at Matchwood Brewing Co. to help support their work protecting Lake Pend Oreille and the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness.
The event will be an opportunity to learn about the proposed Rock Creek mine and the current status of the permitting process. Rock Creek Alliance staff and board will be on hand to answer questions about what attendees can do to help the effort to keep the area
protected. A legal update will be presented around 6 p.m.
Live music will be provided by Headwaters, a multi-genre musical experience featuring a fusion of upright bass, acoustic guitar and threepart harmony. In addition, the event will include a silent auction of items donated by local businesses and artisans. New shirts and hats will also be available for purchase.
Alcoholic beverages and meals will be available with both indoor and outdoor dining opportunities. Matchwood Brewing is located at 513 Oak St., in Sandpoint. Visit rockcreekalliance.org for more info.
PORPA Sprints races canceled
By Reader Staff
The Pend Oreille Rowing and Paddling Association announced that its annual Sprints on the Priest River scheduled for Aug. 3 has been canceled due to unforeseen delays in the construction activities at the Priest River Recreation Area (a.k.a. “The Mudhole”) this summer.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is conducting an extensive paving project at the site, and had expected to open the recreation area for the season in mid-July. However, during paving work the contractor working for the Corps discovered sections of the base layer beneath the pavement that were unsuitable for supporting new pavement.
“That discovery required removing more material than originally expected,” according to a statement from Albeni Falls Dam Chief of Natural Resources Taylor Johnson. “We’re hoping that after removing
the unsuitable material and replacing it with new material, this will allow our new pavement to last much longer. While we’re disappointed this finding is going to further delay opening for the season, we want this new pavement to last as long as the old pavement did.”
There is currently no expected opening date and, while the dayuse area may open sometime in August, the campground will not open at all in 2024.
According to a news release from PORPA, the organization “considered other venues, but decided that there is no place as safe to hold water race events for kids than the Priest River. Without the ability to provide an extremely safe event for the little ones, we decided to cancel this year’s non-motorized fun races. It is unfortunate, but safety needs to be the highest priority. We look forward to the 2025 PORPA Springs on the Priest River.”
Sandpoint Pride celebrates fourth-annual festival
‘Queering
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Sandpoint Pride is back for its fourth year, with three days of activities and events featuring more than 40 advocacy and community vendors from Friday, July 12-Sunday, July 14 at the Heartwood Center and Granary District.
This year’s theme is “Queering Democracy,” which according to sandpointpride.com points to “a politics of respect and empathy’” and speaks to the belief that “people who have been forced to live marginalized lives by a hostile political climate, culture and/or government are better suited to teach others the value and meaning of freedom, safety and belonging.”
“Democracy is not just something that happens on Election Day. It’s how we live in a pluralistic, multicultural society, powered by skills that we learn in order to facilitate communication, understanding, connection and freedom,” the website states. “[E]ach ballot is a step towards a more inclusive future where every color of the rainbow is celebrated, where love knows no bounds, and where our identities are embraced without fear or discrimination.”
More than 1,600 community members are expected to attend, including families, businesses, nonprofits, advocacy and service organizations, sponsors, performers, singers, poets, drag queens, artists, musicians, dancers and more.
Events begin Friday, July 12 at the Heartwood Center (615 Oak. St.) with a community conversation from 3-6:15 p.m.
Sandpoint Pride Chair Andrea
Democracy’
theme supports a ‘a politics of respect and empathy’
Marcoccio wrote in an email that the community conversation gathering and subsequent open mic happy hour have been added this year to provide a space “where voices from the LGBTQI2S+ community will be centered, elevated and heard. Folks can expect queer-friendly service providers, leaders and experts to help guide these conversations.”
The open mic happy hour goes from 6:30-7:15 p.m., and the Pride open mic follows from 7:30-9 p.m.
Events then move to the Granary District (between Oak and Church streets near Sixth Avenue) for a presentation titled “Know Your Rights” from 9:30-10:45 a.m. on Saturday, July 13, with a “Ride with Pride” pre-party planned for 10:45-11:15 a.m.
Ride with Pride is also new this year, inviting participants to take part in a family friendly bike ride around downtown from 11:15-11:45 a.m.
A vendor meet and greet is scheduled for 1:30-2:15 p.m., and the gates will open on Sandpoint Pride Festival celebrations at 3 p.m.
Advocacy booths and activities such as tie dye, a bounce house, face painting and more will run all afternoon, including live music from Nights of Neon from 4-6 p.m., the Best of Sandpoint Pride from 6-6:30 p.m. and the Queen B Collective Drag Show from 6:30-8 p.m.
As the festival day turns into night, San Francisco-based headlining band Thrown-Out Bones will perform from 8-10 p.m., taking advantage of this year’s new large mainstage. Audience members are encouraged to bring lawn/beach chairs, blankets or other seating options.
A 21+ dance party will follow from 10-11:30 p.m. and the day culminates with a silent disco dance party until 12:45 a.m.
“There really is something for everyone,” Marcoccio wrote.
The event can be accessed via one entrance located at the northeast corner of the Granary District, and organizers encourage attendees to walk, bike or ride the SPOT bus in order to lessen parking stresses on the venue.
Attendees will be asked to show ID
and safety services will be provided by more than 25 trained peacekeepers, who will welcome festivalgoers and help them understand community agreements and event expectations. Sandpoint Pride is also partnered with the Sandpoint Police Department to ensure that the event remains safe.
Water stations and shade tents with water misters will be available to beat the July heat, and organizers suggest attendees bring reusable water bottles and wear sunscreen and other sun protection.
Finally, at 9 a.m. on Sunday, July 14, Sandpoint Pride will host a “day of action” titled “Operation Rainbow,” in which participants are invited to take one of the 250 inclusive Pride flags purchased for the event and hang it in a visible place at their home and/or business.
Major donors this year include Emily French, Ting, Matchwood Brewing, the Bonner County Human Rights Task Force, Applegate Health Care, Bluebird Bakery, and Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho.
“Sandpoint Pride received significant financial support from the most generous and longest list of supporters in Pride history,” Marcoccio wrote. “A record number of businesses, individuals and organizations have made Pride possible.”
Get more info at sandpointpride. com.
Swim instructor assistants needed for August classes
By Reader Staff
The Pend Oreille Rowing and Paddling Association and Long Bridge Swim Association are providing free swim and water safety lessons in August at the Riley Creek Recreation Area.
Meanwhile, assistant swim instructors are needed to support the program, and will be paid an hourly rate, as well as reimbursement for travel expenses.
Classes are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays the weeks of Aug. 6, Aug. 13 and Aug. 20, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day. Paid training will also be held the week of Aug. 4.
Applicants must know how to swim and help kids feel safe and comfortable.
“This is a great opportunity for students in the Priest River and Newport area,” organizers stated, adding that teens ages 13-17 are encouraged to apply.
Assistant swim instructor training will be provided by the lead water safety instructor.
Contact Lead Swim Instructor Sean Bostrom at 208-597-3398 for more information. Free Swim Lessons remain open for kids ages 1-17. Register or find out more at priestriverswimlessons.com.
Sandpoint Pride 2023. Photo by Racheal Baker.
All hands on deck for Sandpoint’s 22nd Antique and Classic Boat Show
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
A boatload of history is set to float into Sandpoint Saturday, July 13 with the 22nd annual Antique and Classic Boat Show, put on by the Inland Empire Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society. This year’s festivities will include the traditional parade, kids activities and a special exhibition of boats crafted by the Dodge Motor Company.
“These boats all, in some way, have a story behind them,” said Show Chair Don Robson. “Maybe it’s their dad’s boat, their dream, their newfound hobby to restore them and many more little secrets. You can tell that in many cases by asking the owner how they came about the name of the boat, and get ready for the unexpected answer.”
Approximately 50 boats — with an average age of 65 — will be on display in all their polished glory along the Sandpoint Marina and City Boardwalk from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The parade itself begins at 3 p.m., with the Sandpoint Fire Department boat leading the way up Sand Creek and out past
City Beach. For the best views, snag a spot on the Sand Creek Bridge.
“We will have a first-time ever display of no less than six boats manufactured by the Dodge Motor Company, with the oldest being 100 years old,” Robson said. “This first-time Dodge exhibit will total 559 years of unique, historical wooden beauty. When you view this exhibit, you are going to see names like Horace Dodge [and] the Harrah family, coupled with storied histories dating back to 1924.”
This year, organizers have partnered with the nonprofit Creations to raise funds for their new BUILD Lego Studio (334 N. First Ave., Suite 210, in Sandpoint), which provides a safe, fun learning environment for the community to get creative and develop STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) skills.
Sailors and landlubbers alike can show their support by donating items to, or bidding at, the evening’s auction. To donate, drop off auction items at the registration desk on the day of.
Kids attending the boat show can have their faces painted courtesy of Creations, as well as participate in a boat-building experience created by
City collecting stories of Sandpoint historic homes
By Reader Staff
The Sandpoint Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation Commission is calling on residents to share interesting stories about the history of their homes,
In partnership with the Bonner County Museum, the commission is seeking to enrich its archives of Sand-
point’s residential history. Information collected will be used only for educational purposes, and participants do not have to be the homeowner to contribute their stories.
The city invites submissions via a form available at forms.gle/AwpqJVbG1tW1h3wo6.
Sandpoint’s own Captain Dan and sponsored by StanCraft Wooden Boats.
“The show is free to all and we encourage everyone to show your appreciation of our efforts by contributing
support to our selected community organization, Creations, at creationsforsandpoint.org,” said Robson. “See you there!”
Courtesy photo.
Send event listings to calendar@sandpointreader.com
Pro-Voice Project: Conversations Matter
5-6:30pm @ Sandpoint Library
A facilitated dialogue as part of the PvP’s “Worth of a Woman” exhibit
Game Night 6:30pm @ Tervan Bingo Night 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Auth.
Live Music w/ Paper Flowers
8:30pm @ The Hive Fleetwood Mac tribute band. 21+
Live Music w/ Monarch Mountain Band
5:30-8:30pm @ Barrel 33
Live Music w/ Nights of Neon
6pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Funk and rock Sandpoint group
Live Music w/ Steven Wayne
8-10pm @ The Back Door
Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes
6-9pm @ 1908 Saloon
Sandpoint Pride Festival (July 12-13)
See Page 16 or sandpointpride.com
Live Music w/ Miah Kohal Band
5-8pm @ Farmhouse Kitchen Ruby Park
Classic rock/outlaw country at Ruby Hotel / Farmhouse Kitchen park
Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz
6-8:30pm @ Arlo’s Ristorante
Live Music w/ The Rub
8:30pm @ The Hive
Enjoy Julyoween with this rock group
Live Music w/ The Sevens
8-10pm @ The Back Door
Live Music w/ Scott Taylor
6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Sandpoint Chess Club
9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee Meets every Sunday at 9am
Magic with Star Alexander
5-8pm @ Jalepeño’s
Up close magic shows at the table
monDAY, July 15
THURSDAY, July 11
Pairings in the Pines tasting event
4:30-8pm @ Pine Street Woods kaniksu.org/happenings for more info
Artist reception: Jennifer Benoit 5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
FriDAY, July 12
Sandpoint Antique & Classic Boat Show
Along Sand Creek Boardwalk in Sandpoint See Page 17 for full event info
Live Music w/ Tim G.
6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Classic rock and country
Live Music w/ Heat Speak Trio
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Featuring Dario Ré and his band
Museum History Tour
2:30pm @ 212 N. First Ave. Bonnercountyhistory.org for info
Live Music w/ Justin Lantrip 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
SATURDAY, July 13
Live Music w/ Headwaters
9pm @ 219 Lounge
Local jamgrass boys done good. FREE
Live Music w/ John Daffron
6pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Live Music w/ Jacob Robin
5:30-8:30pm @ Barrel 33
Live Music w/ Ian Newbill
6-9pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Sandpoint Farmers’ Market 9am-1pm @ Farmin Park
SunDAY, July 14
Cottage Market
10am-4pm @ Farmin Park New vendors welcome: 509-319-9493
Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes
3-5pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi
7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Outdoor Experience Group Run 6pm @ Outdoor Experience
Trivia Night
6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Pinochle Wednesday
9:30am @ Sandpoint Senior Center
Sandpoint Farmers’ Market
3-5:30pm @ Farmin Park
Danceworks Performance
7pm @ Panida Theater
The annual spring/summer performance by Sandpoint dance troupe Danceworks. Get tickets at door
Game Night
6:30pm @ Tervan
Bingo Night
July 11 - 18, 2024
Live Music & Family Happy Hour
5-6pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co. With live music by Camden Morris
Live Music w/ Marcus Stevens 6-8pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
BGH 75th anniversary celebration 4-8pm @ Health Services parking lot Celebrate 75 years of services to the community. Live music w/ Harold’s IGA from 4-6pm, Star the Magician from 6-8pm, healthy meal and snacks, face painting, giveaways and more!
Contra Dance
7-10pm @ Sandpoint Community Hall
Live music, lively caller, A/C. $5 donation. New dancer session 7-7:45pm, all dances taught and called
Stop Oil Trains Spotlight (July 12-13) 10pm @ Downtown Sandpoint See wildidahorisingtide.org for info
Inaugural Sausage Fest
11am-8pm @ Smokesmith BBQ
Live music, drinks, hot dog eating contest and more! 102 S. Boyer Ave.
Live Music w/ Pamela Benton
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Lively electric violin
Resistance Outreach and oil train protest 9am-1pm @ Near Farmin Park Outreach from 9am-1pm, protest at 2pm from Farmin Park to City Beach
Live Music w/ Thrown-Out Bones 8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub San Fran-based multi-instrumental trio playing jazz, funk, rock and everything else. Think “swanky rock.” Also, a Pride Volunteer and Sponsor Appreciation Party!
tuesDAY, July 16
Live Piano w/ Jennifer Stoehner
5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Contemporary and classical songs
wednesDAY, July 17
Tuesday Mystery at the Arboretum: Butterflies
9am-noon @ Arboretum at Lakeview Park Hunt for clues about our native butterflies and their important role as pollinators
Live Music w/ Lenny Thorell, and Just Us Band (FREE)
5pm @ Hope Memorial Community Center
ThursDAY, July 18
Paint and Sip
5:30-8:30pm @ Barrel 33
Join instructor Nicole Black, who will walk you through a beautiful painting while you sip on wine and snack! $45
A celebration and update on the battle to protect Lake Pend Oreille. Live music w/ Headwaters. Food/drinks
Live Music w/ Ian Newbill
6-8pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Rock, folk, classic rock
Panida to screen Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert as Pride weekend kickoff
By Reader Staff
Audiences around the world raved when The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert came to theaters in 1994. Indeed, audiences had seen very few films like it, with its unwieldy title and storyline of drag queens Anthony (Hugo Weaving) and Adam (Guy Pearce) who team up with transgender woman Bernadette (Terence Stamp) to perform a cabaret show in a resort located in the Australian hinterlands.
As they traverse the wilds in their tour bus dubbed Priscilla, they encounter a cast of characters as sweeping as the desert landscape, from receptive Aboriginals to bigoted (and sometimes violent) small-town Aussies.
The three performers grow close on the road; however, Anthony has more than one secret that, when exposed to Adam and Bernadette, puts their performance partnership — and friendship — in question.
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert will screen as a $5 film on Thursday, July 11 at the Panida Theater, serving as a kickoff to the Sand-
point Pride Festival weekend (which runs Friday, July 12-Sunday, July 14, see Page 16 for more details).
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m.
Marking 30 years since it premiered, it’s tempting to forget just how much of a splash The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert made with critics and moviegoers alike. The film won an Oscar for Best Costume Design; Outstanding Film at the 1995 GLAAD Media Awards; snagged multiple international nominations, including for Best Film, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography; and acting nods for Stamp (in particular) from the likes of the BAFTA Awards and Golden Globes.
Directed and written by Stephan Elliott — who also earned a number of award wins and nominations — it’s a film described as “fun, daring, over-thetop and unforgettable. It’s a road movie with attitude and the occasional frock.”
Get tickets at panida.org or at the door, 300 N. First Ave., in downtown Sandpoint.
Courtesy photo.
By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Columnist
It’s hard to believe 11 years have passed since I created the dessert/cookie table for my youngest daughter Casey’s wedding in Chicago. It was everything we had envisioned it would be. For months before the July wedding, I baked family-favorite cookies, carefully packaging and freezing them for transport to the Windy City. When her older sibling, Ryanne, got married here in Sandpoint (more than 20 years ago!), I managed to whip out a five-tiered French vanilla cake, iced in Italian meringue, with a dotted Swiss decorative finish. I knew better than to attempt the same tall order for Chicago. Pre-baking and transporting frozen layers or finding a suitable kitchen to make it in Chicago seemed impractical; thus, we brought our vision of a cookie table to fruition.
If you’ve ever been to a wedding Back East — especially in the Pittsburgh area — chances are you have nibbled upon more than a cookie or two. Cookie tables have been popular there for a hundred years or so, when Italian immigrants arrived with their ethnic and cultural traditions — and their cookie recipes. Many families couldn’t afford wedding cakes back then, so the wedding cookie table tradition began.
It’s still a time-honored tradition to bake 10-12 dozen cookies for the dessert table (and indeed, it’s an embarrassment for any baker not included when the call for cookies goes out). Some of the most popular offerings on a Pittsburgh cookie table include thumbprint, buckeyes, lady locks and Linzers. The
The Sandpoint Eater Oh cookie!
diehard cookie table ladies are known to travel far and wide to support a bride (family or not), flying or driving hours to add their specialty to the pedestal and tiered plates. At the end of most tables, you’ll also find creative packaging, and you’re encouraged to take home a cute little box filled with your favorite varieties.
Cookie table bakers never lack for recipes; and many of their creations have been circulating for generations. Cookies date back to seventh-century Persia, one of the first countries to cultivate sugar. Since then, we have perfected six basic cookie styles: drop, bar, molded, pressed, refrigerator and rolled cookies. Today’s cooks rely mostly on drop, bar and rolled cookie recipes, but I remember my mother carefully rolling cookie
dough logs and chilling them until firm. Then she sliced the dough logs and carefully laid them on cookie sheets.
My family is fond of peanut butter cookies and Mexican wedding cakes. Both require rolling a spoonful of dough into a perfect little sphere (or not, depending on the age of your juvenile assistants). I rolled and baked 30 dozen Mexican tea cakes for Casey’s wedding. Keeping with her jewel-tone theme, I sprinkled the cookies with various shades of edible luster dust once we plated the cookies.
There’s power in flour, and all the accouterments, which is to say the options are endless. Need to decorate a cookie? No problem! Dozens of websites and Facebook pages dedicated to these supplies can get you hooked on the cookie obses-
sion. Start with a simple cookie art class if you’re a novice. For professionals, cookie conventions are held throughout the country (and world), with master bakers teaching classes in 3-D cookies and icing techniques like wet-on-wet, weton-dry and dry-on-dry (oh, to be 10 years younger).
I still have more than my share of cookie supplies, including more than 100 cookie cutters, sorted by seasons and categories (amassed over the past 40 years), and when the grands were younger, I made elaborately themed cookies in whatever whimsical genre held their interest at the time. Sadly, they have mostly aged out of cute cookies and now prefer classics like chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal and rolled sugar cookies. In fact, besides National Cookie
Day, which is celebrated in December, each of the aforementioned cookies have their own national day of recognition (as well they should).
I so loved my mother’s oatmeal cookies. She used bacon grease for the fat and called them “ranger cookies.” I still have her faded, hand-penciled recipe in my cherished card file box. Half of my crew are vegetarian, so I no longer make them, but the delicious taste will forever linger in my memory.
My recipe kind of resembles Mom’s, but I replaced the bacon grease with browned butter (which makes everything taste better) and added butterscotch chips (Ryanne’s favorite). A friend recently sampled one and alleged it to be the best damn cookie he ever tasted. You can be the judge.
Brown butter oatmeal scotchies
You will want to add these beauties to your cookie tray! The brown butter and rum add a whole extra dimension to this cookie’s taste profile. These cookies are small, so the mini chips and pulsed oatmeal give them a nicer (un-bumpy) look. Don’t double the batch and don’t let them burn!
INGREDIENTS: DIRECTIONS:
•One cup browned butter (recipe to the right)
•1 cup light brown sugar
•¾ cup granulated sugar
•2 large eggs, room temperature
•1 tbs vanilla extract
•2 tbs dark rum
•1 tsp baking powder
•1 tsp baking soda
•1 tsp ground cinnamon
•2 cups all-purpose flour
•2 ½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats (pulsed lightly in food processor)
•1 ¼ cups mini butterscotch chips (I buy mine at Miller’s Country Store)
Brown butter instructions:
Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; bring to a low simmer and cook, stirring frequently, until butter is browned and foamy with visible browned, solid bits — about 7-8 minutes. Set aside and stir a few times until cooled to room temperature, about 15 minutes, chill in fridge until it thickens up.
Cookie instructions:
Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon into a bowl, whisk in the oats and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together browned butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until fluffy — about 2 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, add vanilla extract and rum, mixing well. Add the dry ingredients and blend just until mixed (don’t overdo it!).
Roll the dough into uniform 1” balls and place on parchment paper-covered sheet pans. Chill until cold and firm (it will prevent the dough from spreading
Yield 6 dozen cookies
too much during baking). Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 10 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking time to ensure even baking. Cookies may appear slightly underdone when you pull them
out; this is normal — don’t overbake! Cookies will continue to set up as they sit on the pans. Cool for about 15 minutes on the pans and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
MUSIC
The music of nature
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
Picture this: You’re picking blueberries with a loved one, enjoying the gentle clicking of insects buzzing around the field. The wind tosses some pine branches about, jostling the needles. A neighbor’s hound bays at a deer with the temerity to walk through his yard where a sprinkler stutters and ticks. It’s another North Idaho day.
Then, like a slap in the face, the music starts. In this case it’s heavy metal band Twisted Sister screaming, “We’re Not Gonna Take it!” as a small group of people picking blueberries roll their eyes in unison. Then a basstoned radio deejay announces a series of annoying commercials that lead into another banger from the past that, again, nobody wants to hear right now.
We’ve all been there. Whether out in nature or simply walking the downtown streets, there’s often some dude walking around with his Bluetooth speaker blasting music nobody wants to hear from a backpack. It has become more and more normal for people to play their devices out loud in public, as opposed to using headphones or earbuds. Same goes for taking calls on speakerphone while
in public. I once listened to a Boomer’s revealing conversation with a friend while waiting for lunch to arrive at the Pie Hut. It was a lot.
“I know way too much about these strangers,” I thought at the time.
Apologies for sounding like a cranky old man, but whatever happened to just listening to the music of nature?
Is there anything as soothing as the sound of water moving over stones in a river?
Or lapping against a rocky shoreline?
Do spring mornings really begin if you can’t hear the cheerful songs of birds as they flit from branch to branch?
rigging as the sail flaps and fills its way across Lake Pend Oreille.
How about the satisfying crunch of freshly fallen snow underfoot as you walk to work? Or the irresistible cracking sound that comes when you break frozen puddles with your boots? Or the far-off hoots and laughter of skiers on a powder morning at Schweitzer?
Then there’s the otherworldly sonic treat of a spring thunderstorm. After flashes of lightning, the rolling, gurgling thunder enters your chest cavity and bounces around inside, leaving you tingling and waiting for more.
Have you ever sat and listened to the wind moving through the trees at high altitude? There’s an ethereal rise and fall that seems both natural and supernatural at the same time.
While out sailing in my boat, the best moment is always when we hoist the main and jib, bear away from the wind and shut off the engine, leaving only the sound of water against the hull and the ASMR-like creaking of the
Recently, my partner had friends from grad school camp out in her yard. When asking how everyone slept the next morning, they complained about being woken by train noises every hour or so. I smiled, trying to empathize, but train sounds have been a part of my daily life in Sandpoint ever since I was a kid.
The lonesome hoot of a night whistle, the du-du-du-du of train wheels passing over a diamond connector just north
of Sandpoint and the dreamy whirring of an Amtrak coming into the station in the wee hours. These are all sounds that actually put me to sleep, not the opposite.
Nature gives a concert every hour of every day and night. The tickets are always free and the seats are wherever you’d like them to be.
There are some times and places where playing music in public is cool. When I pull up to the parking lot at Schweitzer in the morning, someone is usually blasting tunes from their open car door while skiers put on boots and goggles to prepare for the day. That always seemed like a natural fit, mostly because of the jovial atmosphere and the fact that it usually doesn’t last long. If you’re spending hours in the parking lot of a ski resort playing tunes, you’re not doing it right.
But overall, those who play music in public are generally thoughtless and rude. They might believe there are some who want to hear their music, and they might be right, but the majority of us just want to hear the sounds of nature, or have a conversation without being disturbed by others who erroneously think everyone enjoys the same genre and volume of music as they do. They don’t.
Wear your headphones.
A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint
Nights of Neon, Connie’s Lounge, July 12 Thrown-Out Bones, Eichardt’s Pub, July 14
It’s been about five years since Nights of Neon entered the local music scene, and in that time the band has become a fan-favorite fixture at venues from downtown to Schweitzer and beyond.
It’s no great secret why that should be — Nights of Neon’s core of funk and soul layers on elements of jazz, reggae, ’90s hip hop and more into an infectious sound that blows the roof off everywhere
they appear.
This week that’ll be Friday, July 12 on the patio at Connie’s, which has also become a fan-favorite venue with its regular rotation of acts kicking out the jams in the summer night air.
— Zach Hagadone
6 p.m., FREE. Connie’s Lounge back patio, 323 Cedar St., 208-2552227, conniescafe.com. Listen at facebook.com/NightsofNeonband.
After bringing down the house Saturday, July 13 at Sandpoint Pride, San Francisco trio Thrown-Out Bones will head to Eichardt’s for the Sunday encore that everyone will be waiting for. Singer and drummer Liliana Urbain, guitarist Nick Chang and bassist Sam Miller deliver funky rock originals with harmonies as complex as their lyrics.
Equal parts experimental and classic, these long-time
This week’s RLW by Ben Olson
READ
While many might only recognize Jim Harrison from his novella Legends of the Fall, his lesser-known works are some of his best. Farmer is a slim masterpiece about an aging farmer/teacher who has found himself between his childhood sweetheart and his seductive young student. It’s a classic midlife crisis situation filled with taboos and complex storytelling, in which Harrison sticks the landing — as always.
LISTEN
Sometimes a song will come along and define the moment for you. I’ve decided that the Austrailian pop duo Royel Otis’ song “Oysters in My Pocket” is my official “get ready to go out for the night” song. Released in 2022, this boppy little ditty has achieved both a retro and new sound at the same time, capturing the carefree quality of yesteryear and repackaging it into something fresh.
WATCH
friends have developed what they call “swanky rock” over their 15+ years performing together across the nation. Join them Sunday, July 14 for an interactive concert before their Pacific Northwest tour takes them back down the coast.
— Soncirey Mitchell
8 p.m., FREE. Eichardt’s Pub, 212 Cedar St., 208-263-4005, eichardtspub.com. Listen at thrownoutbones.com.
It brought me great pleasure to show my partner The Fifth Element for her first time last weekend. This sci-fi romp is one of the best in the genre in my opinion. Released in 1997, this film starring Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Chris Tucker and Milla Jovovich feels analog and natural, compared to the CGI-laden tripe that we often see on the big screen today. Imagine Die Hard in space somehow merged with a futuristic Indiana Jones and you’re pretty much there.
From Northern Idaho News, July 8, 1904
FOURTH OF JULY IS DULY CELEBRATED
The sun came up off the lake Monday morning and brought a continuation of the hot weather of the past week or so. Last year it rained on the Fourth, but this year as if to make amends there weren’t enough clouds in the sky to keep Old Sol from beating down. He seemed to be on a little celebration of his own, or perhaps in partnership for the day with the beer halls and the soft drink men, for his smile was so bland and his countenance so radiant that he melted a new collar with every ray.
From the time that “Bobbie” Jones mounted on a white horse and with a red sash around him, the gray accoutered in Chris Dahl’s handsome saddle and Billy Abbott’s $1,000 hair bridle, to the time when the musicians ceased to grind forth the strains of “Good Old Summer Time,” or something just as good, at the Eagles ball, there were “things doing.” The parade, which was first on the program, was not a very lengthy affair, but it brought to view the fact that Sandpoint has got a band that can play a tune and some ladies who can get up a float. The procession formed in the neighborhood of the K. P. Hall, marched across the Farmin bridge and thence around and back by the lower bridge. The procession was headed by the recently reorganized Sandpoint band. After the procession, there were some races on the east side for the boys.
One of the most interesting occurrences of the day was the dedication of the water works system. The exercises in connection with this important event took place at the corner of First and Church streets. J.D. Sherwood, president of Sandpoint Water & Light company, made a little speech and turned over the water system to the village.
BACK OF THE BOOK It can’t happen here?
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
I had trouble mustering much Independence Day fervor during the past July 4 holiday, what with the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that makes the Spirit of ’76 all but obsolete.
“We conclude that under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of presidential power requires that a former president have some immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts during his tenure in office,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the 6-3 decision handed down July 1.
What’s more, the ruling states that while a former president enjoys “absolute” immunity from prosecution for actions taken within their “core constitutional powers,” they also have “at least presumptive immunity” related to “acts within the outer perimeter of his official responsibility.”
President Joe Biden denounced the decision: “This nation was founded on the principle that there are no kings in America ... no one is above the law, not even the president of the United States.”
The immunity ruling becomes even more chilling when taken in the context of the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025,” which envisions the establishment of a dictatorship under “the next conservative president.” If that sounds alarmist, consider the section of the document titled Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise related to the U.S. Department of Justice.
In that 35-page chapter — posted along with the rest of the Mandate at project2025.org/policy — the authors wrote, “the DOJ has become a bloated bureaucracy with a critical core of personnel who are infatuated with
STR8TS Solution
the perpetuation of a radical liberal agenda and the defeat of perceived political enemies.” What’s more, the Mandate states, assistant U.S. attorneys and other prosecutors have taken “positions that are inconsistent with the interests of the President and his appointees in other places throughout the Administration.”
To combat this, Project 2025 states that as the DOJ falls under “the direct supervision and control” of the president, litigation other than criminal prosecutions “must be made consistent with the President’s agenda,” and systematically removes job protections across the federal government to make way for political appointees.
Not only did the Supreme Court just retroactively protect Donald Trump from his scores of illegal actions during and after his presidency, but Project 2025 has set the policy table for Trump — should he win the November election — to do exactly what he’s accused the DOJ of in the past: Usting it as a legal flying squad to advance the president’s agenda and punish opponents.
That’s just one of thousands of hair-raising passages in the sprawling document, which states as its central goal to “deconstruct the Administrative State” and bring swaths of the government under the control of the Executive Branch.
Policy wonks call that “unitary executive theory.” The Germans had a word for something similar in the 1930s: Gleichschaltung, or “coordination,” which realigned the critical governmental and cultural elements of the German state under the control of the Nazi Party and, ultimately, its leader with unitary authority to leverage those functions to carry out the executive agenda.
Amid all this bad news, I’ve also
Sudoku Solution
been rereading It Can’t Happen Here, the 1935 semi-satirical novel by Sinclair Lewis, which speculated how a fascist dictatorship could come to capture the United States and what it might look like as it achieved political power and consolidated its hold.
The book wasn’t a smash hit when it was published, but reading it 89 years later is a bone-chilling experience: a huckster-ish demagogue promising national renewal and prosperity for all whips the country into a populist froth, spiced with antisemitism, anti-Black racism and misogyny, then rides those passions to the White House, where he quickly dismantles or contorts the preexisting structures of government to place himself above the law, relegate Congress to an afterthought full of terrified lickspittles, delegitimize the independent media, and enrich himself and his cronies through graft and lucrative political appointments.
As I watched the Fourth of July parade from the Reader office, I couldn’t help but think about all this and consider that while “it” hasn’t happened here (yet), there are clearly powerful forces at work to see that “it” will.
Crossword Solution
The sound of fresh rain run-off splashing from the roof reminded me of the sound of urine splashing into a filthy Texaco latrine.
Solution on page 22
Laughing Matter
By Bill Borders
CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1. Winter accessory
6. Ending in a piercing point 11. Reef material 12. Floorshow
