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READER 111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 (208) 946-4368
The week in random review By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff
in honor of finding my first maya angelou quarter
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — American writer and civil rights activist Maya Angelou
Mac’s tricks
The list of commands my dog knows is short, but reliable. Among those commands are “sit,” “down,” “stay,” “off,” “gentle,” “scoot” and a few others, meant mostly to help her know where I need her or how I need her to behave in the moment. I also taught her “shake” early on, but not in the traditional sense. For Mac it means “shake your wet fur in the mudroom before I let you into the main house, please.” She also knows “paw,” which means “hand me your paw so that I can inspect it/clip your nails.” Work smarter, not harder.
11:11
The origin of “it’s 11:11, make a wish” is murky. Numerological reasoning aside, it’s fun to glance at the clock and seize the moment to send some hope to the universe. My sister once had a crush on a guy who was No. 3 on the basketball team, so for many months, we wished on 3:33. Sometimes, I still do.
drink some water
That’s it. We all need a reminder every once in a while.
secret talents
I can play the drum set. Most people don’t know this, but my interview this week with Little Hurricane drummer CC Spina (Page 21) inspired me to share. I’m nowhere near rockstar level, but I can keep a good rock beat. Everyone has a secret talent, and I think we should share them more often.
www.sandpointreader.com Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com Editorial: Zach Hagadone (Editor) zach@sandpointreader.com Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey (News Editor) lyndsie@sandpointreader.com Cameron Rasmusson (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus) Advertising: Jodi Berge Jodi@sandpointreader.com Contributing Artists: Ben Olson, Leland Consulting Group, Don Robson, Alex Carey, Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey, Racheal Baker Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey, Lorraine H. Marie, Brenden Bobby, Jerry Luther, Cate Huisman, Cameron Rasmusson, Marcia Pilgeram, Audrey Dutton Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com Printed weekly at: Tribune Publishing Co. Lewiston, ID Subscription Price: $155 per year Web Content: Keokee The Sandpoint Reader is a weekly publication owned and operated by Ben Olson and Keokee. It is devoted to the arts, entertainment, politics and lifestyle in and around Sandpoint, Idaho. We hope to provide a quality alternative by offering honest, in-depth reporting that reflects the intelligence and interests of our diverse and growing community. The Reader is printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Leftover copies are collected and recycled weekly, or burned in massive bonfires to appease the gods of journalism. Free to all, limit two copies per person.
Sandpoint Reader letter policy: The Sandpoint Reader welcomes letters to the editor on all topics. Requirements: –No more than 300 words –Letters may not contain excessive profanity or libelous material. Please elevate the discussion. Letters will be edited to comply with the above requirements. Opinions expressed in these pages are those of the writers, not necessarily the publishers. Email letters to: letters@sandpointreader.com Check us out on the web at: www.sandpointreader.com Like us on Facebook. About the Cover
This week’s cover was designed with pride by Ben Olson. July 14, 2022 /
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NEWS
‘Off the charts’ By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Sandpoint City Council members gathered with Planning and Zoning commissioners for a joint workshop July 12, during which they parsed through an in-depth report from Portland, Ore.-based Leland Consulting that drilled into some of the most pressing issues facing not only Sandpoint, but Bonner County as a whole. The study, commissioned by the council in late December 2021 and conducted throughout spring 2022, analyzed area land use, economics, population and housing demand, while providing projections and policy recommendations intended to inform a number of City Hall initiatives, including the Comprehensive Plan update and amendment to rezone applications, as well as Mayor Shelby Rognstad’s affordable housing task force. Leland consultants combed through publicly available data, including real estate and census figures, as well as toured the community and met with local employers, developers and other stakeholders to inform the report. Company President Chris Zahas, who attended the joint workshop via Zoom alongside Leland Senior Associate Ted Kamp, told the assembled city leaders that, “What you hear on the street and what you hear anecdotally is true.” In broad strokes, that means Sandpoint and surrounds have experienced a high level of growth over the past few years; the vast majority of that growth has come from wealthy, increasingly older newcomers; and they are driving up home values to a point that lower-income residents and many workers are being forced out. “Recent net migration has seen a cycling out of lower-income residents and an influx of higher-income movers,” according to consultants. What’s more, the report stated, there were 3,769 births in Bonner County between 2010 and 2019 but 3,902 deaths. “More people are dying than are being born in the county,” Zahas said, underscoring that population growth has come entirely from net in-migration to the county. 4 /
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Looking closer at the numbers, Leland found that the average income for in-migrants is in the $91,000 range, while those leaving the community earn an average of almost $53,000. Meanwhile, the annual household income aggregated from net in-migration has represented a cumulative $300 million in new income flowing into the county since 2019. Kamp added that those figures are drawn from 2020, which means “we expect it’s even worse than that. … It could be an even bigger discrepancy between the in-migrant and out-migrant incomes.” That enormous wealth gap has contributed to a dramatic spike in home prices, rising from a median that fluctuated between $300,000 to $400,000 from 2018 to 2020, but which skyrocketed to $675,000 in Sandpoint and $700,000 in the county by 2022. The national median home price has also risen, but only from about $300,000 to just over $400,000 during the same period. Looking at June 2022 alone, Leland found the largest number of for-sale home listings in the county were in the $1.5 million to $2 million range, followed by those priced between $600,000 and $699,000. There were no listings under $300,000. As noted in the report, despite the influx of well-heeled new residents, the county median income remains around $55,000 per year, “meaning that almost all listed homes in Bonner County are priced well above the range of affordable to a median income household in the county.” Even more dramatic, Leland wrote that June 2022 prices put the median asking price for a single family home 14.6 times higher than the median household income. In Kootenai County, median home prices are 10.3 times higher than household income and in Spokane County they are 7.7 times higher, which is more in line with national data. Almost 50% of the households in the county are renters — much higher than the national average — and those renters are typically paying almost $2,300 for an average three-bedroom, 1,430-square-foot dwelling.
Consultancy group provides City Hall with a report on area growth and how to manage it
A graph showing the sharp increase in aggregate yearly household income due to net migration in Bonner County, which rose from $44 million in 2019 to a whopping $155 million in 2020. Source for data: Internal Revenue Service. Graph courtesy Leland Consulting Group. At the same time, the median age in Bonner County rose from 44.2 in 2009 to 47.9 in 2021. In North Idaho, by far the biggest population growth by age group between 2021 and 2029 is estimated to be in the 70-and-older age bracket. All of these indicators point not only to a dire need for more housing in the “affordable” category, but the types of dwelling units and utilities and infrastructure needed to serve them. The Leland report estimated that Sandpoint will need between 1,500 and 1,900 units of housing over the next decade, as well as between 300,000 and 500,000 square feet of “employment space” for commercial, industrial and other job-related uses. There are 240 housing units already underway, including 190 units of multifamily and 50 single-family dwellings. At the same time, 560 units of housing are seeking rezones with the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council — about 90% of which is multifamily — and, on top of that, there are 860 housing units in the early stages of preliminary or final platting prior to official hearings, consisting of 493 multifamily and 367 single-family units. In total, there are 1,660 units at some stage in the development process — “a massive leap,” Zahas said. While those numbers might
look like they will be sufficient to meet the demand for the next decade, the consultants stressed that there is a regional shortage of construction crews, with construction delays compounded by high inflation and supply chain backlogs, and “we’re already seeing indicators that a recession is looming,” Zahas said. All of that makes it unclear how many of those projected 1,660 housing units will come to fruition, as not every project gets built even in the best of times. Also of concern is the simple fact that there isn’t an unlimited amount of available land on which to accommodate all that development. “That massive amount of housing that’s in the pipeline is already claiming most of the viable infill land capacity in town. You really are hitting a wall of capacity,” Zahas said, adding later, “The off-the-charts unprecedented-ness of what you already have in the pipeline can’t be overstated.” Still, the Leland report estimates 2.4% annual growth over the next 10 years, which will keep Sandpoint among the fastest growing communities in the fastest-growing state in the country. Among the recommendations for how to navigate that growth and its related challenges, the consultancy firm urged City Hall to complete its Comp Plan update and review land use codes, as well as refine the area of city impact in
concert with Bonner County. “That ACI is obviously critical,” Zahas said. “That’s where the vast majority of your future housing supply could be met.” To support the ACI revision — which could expand Sandpoint city limits significantly to the west — the report suggested forming an area plan to guide the process, including a comprehensive strategy for extending utility and infrastructure, rather than building that out on a fragmented, project-by-project basis. Other policy proposals included agreements with Sandpoint, Ponderay and Kootenai for water service and undertaking a highest/ best use analysis of the downtown Sandpoint parking lot and adjacent property, with potential not only for structured parking, but a mix of residential and commercial. Finally, to address the affordable housing crisis, Leland recommended creating a multi-jurisdictional housing authority using joint-powers agreements, which could leverage tax credits and other programs to ensure that what does end up getting built is attainable to lower- and middle-income residents. “The market is not going to provide that,” Zahas said, noting as well that not every housing type can or will be served in every jurisdiction, meaning that some communities just end up being priced out of reach — particularly for younger prevailing wage-earners, with millennials being particularly hard pressed and increasingly pushed out. “The presumption is that the millennials will be back when their income is high enough,” Rognstad said. Policy implications noted in the Leland report will go back before Planning and Zoning and the City Council at a future date, with citizens given the opportunity to provide their input. To view a PDF file of the study, go to sandpointidaho.gov/ your-government/meetings/-folder-3040 and click on “Agenda Item 5A Sandpoint Housing and Industrial Analysis” on the right side of the page. To watch a recording of the July 12 workshop, visit the city of Sandpoint’s YouTube channel.
NEWS
Idaho nears a milestone of enduring tragedy: 5,000 dead of COVID
Pandemic has cut short the lives of many more Idahoans through ‘excess deaths’
By Audrey Dutton Idaho Capital Sun Idaho will soon lose its 5,000th life to COVID-19. The state’s coronavirus-related death toll reached 4,993 on July 11. Two of the dead were under age 18. Another 272 were adults who died before their 50th birthday. As the wave of hospitalizations due to the delta variant slammed Idaho’s hospitals in fall 2021, Dr. Jim Souza of St. Luke’s Health System said the system’s hospitals had lost 80 patients to COVID-19 in the first three weeks of September. More than half of those patients were in their 50s or younger. Souza described the “really morbid exercise” of considering what those numbers meant. “We have lost more than 1,100 life years” due to those premature deaths, he said. “Can you imagine? For the people who say, ‘We all die some time,’ yes, we do. But these people didn’t need to die now, and they didn’t need to die like this. … Can you imagine all of the life and experiences contained within those 1,000-plus years? We shouldn’t trivialize that. These people deserve better.”
ents, and left health care workers traumatized. Once, at the height of Idaho’s delta wave, deaths were so frequent that workers in one morgue had no choice but to stack bodies on their sides, like books on a bookshelf, according to a person who worked on the front lines at the time but was not authorized to speak for their employer. The dark days of so many preventable deaths may be in the rearview mirror for now.
Nearly 5,000 Idahoans died of causes related to COVID-19 between March 2020 and July 2022. (Audrey Dutton/Idaho Capital Sun) COVID-19 related but were attributed to comorbidities, like heart disease or Alzheimer’s disease. Some of them may have been related to crisis and strain in Idaho’s hospitals. For months, patients had to spend hours or days in the emergency room; doctors had to send critically ill patients by airplane or helicopter to other states; and Idaho’s overloaded health care systems had to suspend procedures as major as heart surgery or tumor removal.
COVID far more deadly than flu During the six years leading up to the arrival of COVID-19, an average of 43 Idahoans died each year from influenza. When pneumonia-related deaths were combined with the flu deaths, that rose to an average of about 224 each year. The annualized number of deaths from COVID-19 is much higher: about 2,180 per year. The coronavirus disease was more fatal in nearly all age groups, too.
Flu killed a yearly average of 1.5 people under age 45, during the six years leading up to the pandemic. When pneumonia and flu were combined, that annual average rose to just seven deaths of people under age 45. The coronavirus disease has killed 88 Idahoans under age 40, and another 186 who were in their 40s, since the spring of 2020. The deaths left families and friends without their loved ones, left children to mourn their par-
Vaccines, medications and treatments such as antiviral drugs, monoclonal antibody infusions and preventive medications like Evusheld have helped people at risk of severe illness to recover at home. While highly transmissible variants of the coronavirus are spreading fast through the state, the number of people hospitalized and in critical care remain relatively low. Daily deaths are in the single digits, compared with dozens of deaths per day at the height of last fall’s delta surge. This story was produced by Boise-based nonprofit news service Idaho Capital Sun. Learn more at idahocapitalsun.com.
Excess deaths from COVID, and other causes The lives lost are just the official tally of coronavirus-related deaths. The pandemic took more lives than that — directly and indirectly. Federal data on excess deaths show that, since February 2020, about 1,300 more Idahoans have died than would be expected for Idaho — on top of the thousands of excess deaths known to have been caused by COVID-19. Some of those additional excess deaths may have been July 14, 2022 /
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NEWS
Sandpoint awards $7.8M contract for design-build of James E. Russell Sports Center By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Sandpoint City Hall is putting the James E. Russell Sports Center on the fast track, accepting a $7.5 million gift from the Russell family in March; awarding a $7.8 million design-build contract to Tualatin, Ore.-based Emerick Construction on July 6; and anticipating final design for the court sports complex at Travers Park in six to eight weeks. “We have an aggressive timeline for this project,” said Sandpoint City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton, who added that the work will be accomplished “as quickly as any design-build team ever possibly could.” The project, which was first fronted by the Russell family in July 2019, envisions an enclosed multi-purpose court sports facility with striping intended for four tennis courts, 16 pickleball courts and basketball, though the final design is yet to be determined. The interior will be engineered to support all-season usage, including restrooms, an entry desk and seating to accommodate tournament play. The sports center will also feature a new gateway complete with bronze statues of a bear and mountain lioness with cub, commissioned by longtime residents Ann Hargis and Denny Liggitt from Seattle-area artist Georgia Gerber, whose work is best known at the San Diego Zoo and iconic bronze pig at the Pike Place Market in Seattle. The facility is named for James “Jim” Russell — born in Sandpoint in 1933, a successful engineer and avid tennis player who died at age 86 in 2019. Growing up, Russell was also close friends with the late-humorist author Patrick McManus, in whose books Russell served as the inspiration for the character Retch Sweeney. The bronze bear and cougar statues are in homage to McManus’ work and his relationship with Russell. In addition to all that, the project also includes improvements to the skatepark at Travers, with an expansion not just for skating but a bike skills area. According to the Bonner County Skatepark Association, which has been raising funds to support the expansion project, the improvements will ultimately bring the park from 5,500 square feet to 15,000 square feet. A post on the BCSA Facebook page July 8 stated that the group currently has $300,000 in the budget for the current build, but aims to hit its goal of $500,000 “to build 6 /
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the best possible facility we can.” To donate, either as an individual or business, contact Rory Whitney at bonnercountyskatepark@gmail.com. East Coast-based consultancy firm BerryDunn — which acquired GreenPlay about a year ago, the same company that worked with the city on its Parks and Recreation Master Plan — has been retained to lead the James E. Russell Sports Center development. “As we work with communities around the country we really realize that what used to be a football field is now home to football, soccer, lacrosse, field hockey — multi-purpose and multi-use is very beneficial to communities as you look around the country,” said BerryDunn Manager Art Thatcher via Zoom from Virginia. Stapleton cautioned that during development of the sports center, the use of certain park amenities will by necessity be interrupted. However, “We will be reaching out to our communities that use the current tennis courts,” she said, including the Sandpoint High School Tennis Team, and City Hall will work with those groups to find alternative places to practice and compete. Tish Litven, a retired teacher with the Lake Pend Oreille School District, tennis and pickleball player, and who formerly headed up the Sandpoint Parks and Rec. tennis program, worried that four tennis courts would be lost to the public during the process of the development. “They’re not going to be replaced at this point, to my understanding, in the time that it will take to build this project,” she said, adding that she hopes City Hall can work with designers and user groups to ensure that “tennis isn’t given the short end of the stick.” That said, Litven described the Russell family’s gift as “beyond words.” “It’s going to be something that every member of the community will hopefully embrace and enjoy for years to come,” she said. Sandpoint City Councilor Andy Groat applauded the project, saying, “I really look at this as a way for our community to be steered and directed to getting along in a common interest.” Sandpoint Planning and Zoning Commissioner Amelia Boyd, testifying as a citizen at the City Council meeting, thanked the Russell family for its gift — likely the largest private donation to any municipal authority in the history of Idaho: “We’re extremely appreciative of this gift,” she said.
Bits ’n’ Pieces From east, west and beyond
East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact. A recent sampling: Not liking gas prices? President Joe Biden has asked Big Oil to “bring down the price you are charging at the pump to reflect the cost you’re paying for the product.” Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich offered tougher ideas: a windfall profits tax, antitrust enforcement, a ban on stock buybacks and publicizing names of highly profitable companies (not just Big Oil) that are “flagrantly raising prices.” Former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon now says he will testify before the Jan. 6 House Committee. He apparently had advance knowledge of the riot: On his Jan. 5, 2021 radio show, Bannon said, “All hell is going to break loose tomorrow.” The most recent Jan. 6 hearing on July 12 focused on violent domestic extremists, Congressional members who aimed to overturn the presidential election and Trump’s involvement. Trump’s White House counsel recently testified in private, and reportedly had nothing to contradict the explosive testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump’s chief of staff. According to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, Senate Democrats’ proposal to allow Medicare to negotiate directly with drug companies for lower prices would result in $287.6 billion in savings and new revenue over the next decade. The legislative proposal would cap outof-pocket costs at $2,000 for those using Medicare, and punish pharmaceutical companies that increase prices faster than inflation. Axios reported that a vote on the proposal could occur in early August. An executive order signed by Biden aims to protect access to reproductive health care. It requires the Department of Health and Human Services to expand and protect abortion medication access. According to Reuters, the agency says doctors must offer abortion when a mother’s life is at risk, which will protect doctors in states with abortion bans. Historian and columnist Heather C. Richardson said the order is reminiscent of the 14th Amendment, which gave the federal government the power to guarantee that states could not enact laws that treat some citizens worse than others.
By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist
There were 128 mass shootings in the U.S. in May and June, according to The New York Times, with 63 in the former and 65 in the latter. Research shows 60% of the shootings were related to domestic violence. Mother Jones reported that the Texas Republican Party has been uniquely ambitious. Its recently approved party platform includes a state vote on withdrawing from the Union, declaring the 2020 presidential election illegitimate, repealing the Voting Rights Act, outlawing all sex and sexual health education (including abstinence), access to guns for young people without waiting periods and more. Some economists claim Fed rate hikes may threaten the economy. Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich explained that rate hikes increase the cost of borrowing, causing individuals and consumers to cut back on purchases, which slows the economy. The Fed is taking this action to slow inflation. Current inflation has been driven by increases in post-pandemic demand, global supply shortages, fallout from the war on Ukraine, corporations’ use of inflation as a “cover” for raising prices and price increases from fossil fuel companies, despite their “sky high” profits. Inflation in the U.S. has been less than that found elsewhere in the world. Reich said inflation typically affects lower income people the most. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testified before the Senate Banking Committee that higher interest rates will not lower gas or groceries prices. Blast from the past: The argument that the current composition of the U.S. Supreme Court is not reflective of the general population of voters is supported by the facts: five of the current justices were nominated by presidents who lost the popular vote. Three were appointed by a twice-impeached president who led a violent insurrection against the government, two were credibly accused of sexual assault and harassment, and one justice has refused to recuse himself from hearing cases about the Jan. 6 insurrection effort, even though his wife was involved with helping orchestrate it. As well, four of the current justices lied during confirmation hearings about whether they would vote to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
OPINION
Uncomfortably numb We need to take seriously the danger of guns at public events
By Jerry Luther Reader Contributor We parked close to the City Parking Lot, got our puppets out of the car and quickly became our characters — my wife is in Andorra, the 9-foot-tall Avatar with blue and purple hair, and I’m the Dancing Duck Man with four little ducks. We’ve been living and entertaining at children’s festivals and in parades in Sandpoint for more than 40 years. We joined a hundred or so kids with their bikes and scooters and parents, ready to take off for the 9 a.m. Kids Parade on the Fourth of July. It started and we were off on Church Street. The kids left us in their dust but we moseyed along, entertaining the few early birds set up on the sidewalks. It did not rain. First Avenue was not yet full of people sitting, talking, milling about, waiting. The sun was warm, though; and, by the time Duck Man and Andorra got to the end of First Avenue, we stopped in the shade on the sidewalk in front of the Cedar Street Bridge to rest. We stood quietly near the Lions volunteer sitting in a chair with his yellow vest and walkie-talkie, and a little forward of a nice looking young man dressed in dark clothes. The silence was broken by Andorra’s voice coming from the speaker high up under her chin: “I’m really sorry that you felt that you had to bring your weapon with you today!” I whipped my head around and found myself staring at the muzzle of an AR15-type rifle slung over the young man’s shoulder. The young man (30s maybe) stepped toward Andorra and said something very close to, “I’m sorry you don’t respect my freedom!” The incident was momentarily comical because he was looking up at Andorra’s face 9 feet in the air, talking to the puppet. Blown away by the exchange of words, Andorra immediately stepped off the curb and started to walk away as the young man called out, “Communist!” The whole incident was so out of
Andorra and the Jerry “The Dancing Duck Man” Luther at a recent Independence Day Parade in Sandpoint. Photo by Ben Olson. context with what our mission was that day, that I just turned my music back on, loudly, with “Happy,” by Pharrell Williams, and joined Andorra in entertaining the many kids and adults that lined Cedar Street. I didn’t realize how upset she was. Somewhere between Third and Fourth avenues this beautiful little girl in a long flowing dress and a unicorn horn in her hair, came running down the middle of the street and hugged Andorra’s legs. Joni Mitchell came on with “Both Sides Now,” and the guy was forgotten. Forgotten, that is, until we got home and saw the news about the Highland Park parade shooting. Feelings of guilt rose up in me. I had almost asked the guy, “Are you here to defend us from a shooter or are you… the shooter?” How could I think that was funny? I live in a county where the sheriff supports bringing guns to public events, so I just blew it off. It never occurred to me to tell any of the other Lions that I might have concerns. I was near the sheriff’s car that was leading the parade as we left for home. I could have quickly mentioned my concern as he passed by, and he might have radioed for someone to check it out. The reality is, a shooter wouldn’t have to hide on a rooftop or behind a window or find an open door in the school — he or she knows it’s a suicide mission. They could just walk on the street bearing arms and start shooting. I apologize to my community for allowing myself to become numb, callous and indifferent to our situation.
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The Supreme Court has made women partial citizens…
Bouquets: • Three cheers to all of our restaurant workers during these busy summer months. Whether working front or back of the house, these hot months are the busiest they get in Sandpoint. It’s tough work, and often thankless, so next time you’re eating out in Sandpoint, give an extra pat on the back (and maybe a few extra bucks) to your servers to thank them for taking care of you. Barbs: • I’ve complained about the stoplight at Church Street and Fifth Avenue before, but after watching the light skip an entire cycle the other day and leave us all scratching our heads, I figured it’s time to be a squeaky wheel again. I’m not sure why this light hasn’t been fixed yet, but it’s one of the biggest pains to deal with when trying to get through Sandpoint’s busy summer traffic. The light needs attention. Sometimes there is no traffic on Fifth Ave. for minutes and minutes while we wait patiently on Church St. for the light to finally turn green. Other times, I’ve noticed it turn green for about two seconds, then flip quickly back to red after only a car or two makes it through the intersection. City of Sandpoint? Are you listening? A little help? • I miss the good ol’ days when you didn’t feel out-of-touch for using the phone instead of texting. I have friends who won’t pick up my calls, but will text back and forth for hours. It’s maddening. Remember just showing up to someone’s house? Sometimes you didn’t even know if they were home. Now we have to text on the way, then again when we arrive, and maybe again as we walk to the door. Kids today must scratch their heads and wonder how in the world we all got along without cellphones in the first place. Let me tell you, kids, it was amazing. You could hold entire conversations with people without them hearing a little ding and turning into a zombie while they checked to see who liked the picture they posted of their breakfast bagel. We’ve all gotten so ridiculous. 8 /
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Dear editor, The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade means that just over half of our country’s population is deprived of agency, choice and control over their bodies; and, thus, their lives during their reproductive years, with consequences that can be lifelong. In my view, women have become lesser — merely partial — citizens of the United States. I can think of no other ruling in my lifetime that approaches the negative impact of this one. In rendering it, the six justices in the majority presume American women do not deserve and are not competent to make their own decisions about pregnancy. These justices ignore the fact that each woman’s life is uniquely complicated and that, sometimes, abortion is the best course to take. Giving the states jurisdiction over abortion curtails women’s freedom to determine what is best for their lives. What to do? Among other things, speak up. Make the Idaho congressional delegation (and others in Congress) hear your voice by supporting passage of the Women’s Health Protection Act, so that abortion up to the point of viability will be codified as a constitutional right. Contact Idaho state legislators, too. Perhaps Idaho’s restrictive trigger law can be modified or rescinded. Talk to friends, neighbors and others about your views. Find out why nearly one in four American women seeks abortion by age 45. No woman plans to or wishes to have an abortion, but when, in her and her physician’s view it is necessary, it absolutely should be available. Only then will female Americans regain the level of citizenship they attained on Jan. 22, 1973. Judy Boucias Sandpoint
Thanks for being a courageous storyteller… Dear editor, I’d like to thank Dorothy Prophet for telling us the story of her abuse and abortion [Perspectives, “A personal story,” June 30, 2022]. This is not an easy thing to tell, even to your friends. Four of my close friends were abused physically, emotionally and sexually. Five, counting me. I did not know that until I told them my story. All sorts of abuse, including rape and abortion, is traumatic and has lasting emotional, social and physical effects, even changing your
brain. (For more information go to numberstory.org). Abuse is much more prevalent in our communities than is spoken about. I cannot express enough admiration for Dorothy Prophet. For her strength and courage throughout her own experiences, and for opening a public discussion about abortion in our community. Respectfully,
COMMUNITY
LPO Repertory Theatre to host second annual Speakeasy fundraiser
Nancy Gerth Sagle
The Fourth of July 2022… Dear editor, Our half-staff flag pulled ever lower, by red stripes bleeding over the Divided States of America. Once the symbol of hope and equality, now, is the flag of greed, powered by hatred and fear. Sandra Deutchman Eugene, Ore. (recently of Sandpoint)
‘Oxymoronic parade participant’… Dear editor, Sad to see Scott Herndon unassumingly marching down our Sandpoint streets in the Fourth of July parade — the same man who so boldly bashed a really good man, Jim Woodward, a level-headed, true Republican, in the race for Idaho Senate District 1, with an endless barrage of shiny fliers spreading falsehoods. His victory was enabled by an out-of-state firm — McShane LLC, of Nevada — for him to run a sleazy, disreputable campaign. And yet, here he was, parading as if he were an upstanding, honest patriot. His glossy lies and delusional hate have taken up residence for far too long in our community. Big-money help contracted from a Nevada firm with ties to the Proud Boys, a white nationalist, extremist, hate group, has enabled him to expand his main platform of taking away every woman’s right to bodily anonymity regardless of any horrendous circumstance, and further extremism and hate in Idaho. Following close behind were his daughters playing ol’ time fiddle music, providing us an aura of innocence — those same daughters whom he is dead set on rendering second-class citizens. I found it oxymoronic and downright deceitful. Be smart enough to see past this toxic imposter masquerading as a man with integrity. Michelle O’Connor Sandpoint
Courtesy photo. By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff Lake Pend Oreille Repertory Theatre is once again offering two nights of elegant, interactive entertainment in the form of its second annual Speakeasy performance fundraiser at the 219 Lounge. This year’s performances will be held on two consecutive Thursdays — July 14 and July 21 — at 7 p.m., with seating open at 6:30 p.m. A limited number of tickets are available online with price points at $35 for general admission and $60 for VIP seats. The Speakeasy events serve as fundraisers for the nonprofit, which aims to “create a sustainable, professional and outstanding theatrical company here in Sandpoint.” Proceeds will go toward LPO Rep’s fall production of The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde, which will show at the Panida Theater over two weekends in September and October.
Last year’s events successfully funded the company’s production of Young Frankenstein and marked a bright beginning for LPO Rep. “It was such a humbling, wonderful experience,” said LPO Rep founder Keely Gray-Heki. “Our community rallied around us in such a beautiful way and embraced the experience completely.” The 2022 rendition of the Speakeasy performance will once again transport audiences back to the 1920s with song, dance and a compelling story. Costumes are encouraged, but not required. “This year we are expanding our talent, and we have fantastic new singers along with our old favorites,” Gray-Heki said. “We are also incorporating a burlesque style act with contortion and feather dances. You don’t want to miss out.” To purchase tickets and learn more about LPO Repertory Theatre, go to lporep.com.
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Mad about Science:
Brought to you by:
flubber, gloop and slime By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist We’ve been conditioned to think that gooey, slimy, sticky things are gross, and it’s true! A slimy surface is usually indicative of a bacterial film growing, and this can only be done in a place that isn’t regularly cleaned and holds all of the perfect conditions for dangerous bacteria to flourish. So what is it about bacteria that gives slime such a nasty texture? Sugar! Most bacteria are covered in a substance called glycocalyx, which is a polysaccharide made of organic starches like cellulose or other molecular sugars. This slime wall helps keep water inside the cell while repelling hostile viruses and other substances. You would never feel the sliminess of a singular bacterium, they’re far too small for our nerves to pick up. When there are a lot of bacteria gathered on one spot, you’ll be able to feel their collective slime walls as you touch them. A slimy form of bacteria you may be familiar with can be readily found in your home if you care for tropical fish. Blue-green algae is a form of cyanobacteria that feasts on nitrogen and phosphates in your aquarium water. Conveniently for the algae, these substances are pooped out by your pet fish and build up over time inside of the tank where they have nowhere to go. Cyanobacteria consume your fish’s waste and uneaten food and use these nutrients to multiply, creating more cyanobacteria. Eventually, you’ll notice your tank is covered in a slimy green substance that is nearly impossible to clean. Transferring your fish to a new home brings the algae along for the ride to continue the cycle until your fish is dead and the water is gone 10 /
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from the tank. Your aquarium isn’t the only place in which this occurs; this happens naturally in the wild, as well. Freshwater wetlands often have water that’s slimy and tinged with a dark-green hue — this is cyanobacteria at work. It’s easy for algae to take over an entire ecosystem, but many animals adapt to eat algae and use it as an energy source. Invertebrates like crabs, mollusks and even some fish will feed on algae to help keep it in check, while they themselves provide a food source to even larger animals, including humans. Slimy cyanobacteria have been spreading their goo all over the globe for nearly 2 billion years. Shockingly, cyanobacteria were responsible for the greatest extinction event on Earth. This sounds horrible and traumatic, but it’s the very reason you’re able to exist on the planet today. Earth’s early atmosphere was nothing like the oxygen-rich one we currently enjoy. It was thin and primarily composed of carbon dioxide, methane and water vapor. This made early Earth a very hot place that would cause water to rapidly evaporate then be split by solar radiation, dividing the oxygen and hydrogen atoms. The oxygen would rapidly bind with the methane, sink back to the surface and bind into minerals at the surface. Across this vast span of time, life on Earth was strictly anaerobic — a word you may have heard if you frequent the gym. Anaerobic organisms are microbial forms of life that don’t require oxygen to produce energy. These organisms pull nutrients from minerals in a similar fashion to a plants’ roots. Unlike plants, these organisms don’t use photosynthesis, but cyanobacteria do. Cyanobacteria use water and sunlight to split carbon dioxide molecules into carbon and oxygen,
then spit out the oxygen as a waste product while retaining the carbon atoms to increase its mass and eventually split. During the “Great Oxidation Event,” which occurred over the course of about 300 million years, cyanobacteria grew and spread, outcompeting the anaerobic life that had dominated Earth up until that point. Over this period of time, the cyanobacteria critically reformed the makeup of Earth’s atmosphere by flooding it with oxygen and reducing the amount of methane and carbon dioxide. There was so much cyanobacteria that the entire planet’s natural processes couldn’t keep up, and the climate drastically changed. Greenhouse gasses were reduced in this period, while oxygen expanded and repelled heat — this caused the global temperature of Earth to plummet and triggered one of the first major ice ages. In the process, the immense amount of oxygen poisoned the anaerobic organisms and caused a mass extinction event that paved the way for life as we know it to evolve. What remains of the ancient genocidal cyanobacteria is now largely pumped into your car’s fuel tank, then expelled from the exhaust pipe. The irony here is that we’re using cyanobacteria in reverse to undo the Great Oxidation Event and morphing the climate back into what it had been before the advent of cyanobacteria — conditions we cannot survive. Now that you’ve envisioned a giant, slime-ridden planet Earth, do you want to make your own slime at home? Get some white PVA glue like you’d use for a school project, a bowl and some baking soda. Mix a cup of glue together with one tablespoon of baking soda and stir it to your desired consistency. Add some food coloring and glitter, as well as a teaspoon of saline solu-
tion for contact lenses. Keep on mixing it until it starts to thicken. Now it’s time to knead your slimy dough. Use both hands to knead it while adding a little bit of saline until you get the consistency that you want. Once you’re done, store it in an airtight container or plastic bag and play with your new goop. I would not recommend playing with slime in a carpeted area. A table or a place with vinyl laminate is easiest to clean using
vinegar, whereas fibrous surfaces like clothes and carpet will make cleaning a nightmarish endeavor. The slimy, sticky nature of PVA glue is very closely related to the slime walls of bacteria. Glue is starch-based cellulose, very similar in structure to glycocalyx found in bacterial cells. Unlike the slime coating of bacteria, PVA slime is safe to play with — just don’t put it in your mouth. It’s still slime, after all. Stay curious, 7B.
Random Corner ?
Don’t know much about rivers • A Slovenian man named Martin Strel has swum the complete lengths of the Danube River (Europe), the Mississippi River, the Yangtze River (Asia) and the Amazon River (South America). • Speaking of the Amazon River, there is evidence of an underground river 2.5 miles beneath the Amazon that may be as long as the Amazon itself (3,700 miles) and hundreds of times wider. • Of the top eight largest rivers, by volume of water, the Amazon River is bigger than all the others combined. • The most expensive photo ever sold was named Rhein II and was auctioned off for $4.3 million. Many critics were left scratching their heads at the high price, since the photo is a mundane view of the Rhine River from the side and was heavily Photoshopped. The Guardian wrote that it was, “a sludgy image of the gray Rhine under gray skies.”
We can help!
• El Paso, Texas, is one of the safest big cities in America — despite being across the river from Juarez, one of the most dangerous cities in the world. • After the collapse of the South Sea Company in 1720, which bankrupted many and severely affected the economy of England, a proposal was made in Parliament to place bankers in sacks filled with snakes and throw them into the River Thames. • Seventeen countries don’t have any rivers at all. Saudi Arabia is one of the largest. • The Chocolate River in Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory was made from real chocolate, water and cream, and it actually spoiled quickly and left a foul smell. • The mouth of the Catatumbo River in Venezuela receives 280 lightning strikes per hour, for 10 hours per day, for up to 160 days a year. This has been going on for centuries.
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PERSPECTIVES
How Bonner Community Housing Agency is helping to house locals By Cate Huisman Reader Contributor In my last piece about area housing policy [Opinion, “What we can do to address our housing crisis,” May 25, 2022], I mentioned that I wanted to write more about the work of the Bonner Community Housing Agency (BCHA). As a designated Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO), BCHA has long worked with low-income individuals in our area to find housing. But prices have become so high now that even middle-income individuals can’t find a place to live. Within the past 15 months, during which home values have doubled in some areas, our market has progressed from irrational to untenable. So BCHA has expanded its reach to this group. Director Rob Hart says they are now trying to find housing for people making $50,000 to $60,000, which has become low-income relative to housing. “We don’t like phrases such as low income,” he says, “because a good living wage elsewhere is low-income here.” A start to its programs for this middle-income group is the planned Good Samaritan Inn — for workers Hart calls the “surprised homeless.” These are people who have been living and working in Sandpoint, perhaps for years, and are suddenly
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homeless because the rentals they have been occupying have been sold and are no longer affordable and/or available. “These are highly qualified, educated, well-employed people living in tents and cars,” says Hart. The facility will be built entirely with donations and grants, and it has received site approval in the city of Ponderay. Unfortunately, it won’t be completed until 2024. For a longer-term solution, BCHA has several programs for what it calls Income-Based Local Housing, including variations that it can put in place for employers, landowners and investors. BCHA’s services make it possible for these individuals to use their resources for the common good — or the good of their employees — while making cost-effective use of their land or investment funds. The agency’s services can minimize some of the costs, making it possible to provide housing for working people at a reasonable profit. In these programs, BCHA assists with screening buyers and renters and charges no commission to either sellers or buyers. Potential buyers must be employed locally — that is, they must be able to commute to their job from the home that BCHA works to help them buy. And they must have an income of no more than $125,000 — 120% of the local
median income. Culver’s Crossing, which received final development plan approval just last week from the City Council, is currently the most visible example of this effort. Buyers must live in the home as their primary residence for at least four years, and must sell the home back to the original landowner if they leave within that time. The program allows for some set amount of appreciation in the price of the home when it is sold back. Buyers are free to sell as they wish at the beginning of their fifth year of ownership. This gives them a foot in the market door, but the four-year waiting period discourages investors and speculators whose primary purpose is not to provide needed housing but instead to profit from rapidly rising land values. (This is not to say that theirs is not a legitimate business; it just doesn’t help our community build housing for people who work here.) A specific version of this program is for employers who may lose potential employees who are put off by the cost of buying a home here. BCHA’s Employer-Directed Housing Program enables employers to use land they may purchase or already own to provide housing for their employees and recoup their initial investment, over a period of years, through rents or mortgages. Depending on what the employer sets up,
employers may lease homes to employees or employees may buy homes, with the stipulation that they sell the home back to the employer when they leave. Within its Income-Based Local Housing Program, BCHA has five projects in the works in North Idaho right now. They expect eventually to add more than 800 affordable units to the housing inventory, including the 49 at Culver’s Crossing. Hart anticipates that at least one other should become public within a month. “With Culver’s Crossing, BCHA is doing something that’s not been done before, at least here in Sandpoint,” he says. With new Planning and Zoning Commission members and new city planning staff coming on board, the approvals have taken a lot of time. Meanwhile, Hart says, “there is such a need that we are overwhelmed with demand” whenever the agency announces a new project. Nevertheless, BCHA is working hard to meet that demand. For landowners and investors who want to address our housing crisis, the agency is ready to help. Cate Huisman is a writer, editor and journalist who served for 13 years on the city of Sandpoint’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
‘Seeing the light go on’
Mary Levy is Monarch Mountain Coffee’s new featured artist
By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff When Mary Levy began her journey as a serious artist upon moving to Sandpoint about 35 years ago, her aim was simply to do what she felt called to do: paint. “I was just aiming to complete a picture and make me happy — that’s it,” she told the Reader, adding that she’s never been one to self promote. “I just want to paint.” She joined the Pend Oreille Arts Council Board of Directors and completed 22 paintings in two months in order to do a show with the nonprofit. “That’s kind of wild,” she said, looking back. “The feedback was really good and it encouraged me to keep going with it,” she added. Levy has certainly kept at it, and is currently showing her latest work at Monarch Mountain Coffee on First Avenue as the business’ featured artist. While Levy’s love for painting has remained steadfast, her subject matter has evolved. “I’d say the thing that’s changed in the last, I’d say, five, six years, is that I’m doing very powerful things that have messages, but they’re left to the viewer,” she said. “It’s not political, nothing like that, [but] when you look at it or read the title, you walk away with a different feeling.” One such piece, currently featured at Monarch Mountain Coffee, is titled “Bring It.” In it, an elephant with one broken tusk and the other one carved is exiting an enclosure. “He’s climbed out of everything that’s been done to him and he’s still alive, and he’s like ‘is that all you’ve got?’” she said. “That’s my favorite piece in [the show].” Animals are often the inspiration for Levy’s work, but she said she
is able to paint anything from portraits to landscapes. Beyond her technical prowess, Levy has proven herself an accomplished art teacher during her time in Sandpoint. Through teaching, Levy has been able to witness something she calls “seeing the light go on.” “Teaching is a hoot,” she said, adding later: “To see the light go on with [my students] — I think that delights my soul even more than doing it myself.” View Mary Levy’s artwork at Monarch Mountain Coffee, located at 119 N. First Ave.
Above right: Artist Mary Levy stands beside her piece titled, “Bring It,” featured in her collection, “The Wild Life of Mary Levy,” currently on display at Monarch Mountain Coffee. Photo by Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey.
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OUTDOOR
Nautical nostalgia
The Sandpoint Antique and Classic Boat Show will take place Saturday along Sand Creek boardwalk
By Ben Olson Reader Staff There is nothing quite as cool as an antique wooden boat cutting across the lake on a hot summer day. The waters of Lake Pend Oreille were once teeming with these antique boats, their varnished teak wood gleaming in the sun, throaty sounds from the motors purring like a big cat and spirited bows cutting sharply through the water. At once, these old gems instantly transport us back to a simpler time. Thanks to the restoration work of collectors around the country, these beautiful antique boats are given another life. For those who would like to check them out more intimately, the 22nd annual Sandpoint Antique and Classic Boat Show will take place along the Sand Creek boardwalk on Saturday, July 16. Starting at 9 a.m., visitors can stroll along the boardwalk and get up close and personal with these gems, talk with the captains and see firsthand the craftsmanship and care that went into restoring them. The event is put on by the Inland Empire Antique and Classic Boat Society, which has about 8,000 members and has twice been recognized as chapter of the year. It is hosted by the Sandpoint Marina
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and the Sandpoint Parks and Recreation department. Emeritus board member Don Robson said his love for antique boats started when he was a kid. “I’m a Great Lakes boy, that’s where I grew up,” Robson told the Reader. “If you go back and look at the heritage of Chris-Craft, Century, Gar Wood, they all have their birthplace in the Great Lakes area. As a kid, I grew up with them on the lake. I used to wash them for 25 cents apiece. As time went on, I said to myself, ‘I’m going to own one of those someday.’ And that’s how I got into it.” Robson’s dream came true when he acquired a 20-foot 1956 Century Coronado, which was manufactured in Michigan. Even before Robson joined the Society, he said he enjoyed going to the Sandpoint boat show to check out the vessels. “After we joined, I realized this is a great group of people with a real passion for what they do,” Robson said. “In this day and age, I believe it’s well appreciated that we still restore these vessels.” When asked what specifically appeals to him and others about classic wooden boats, Robson said he’s enamored with the history of them. “We always like to say a wooden boat
rides in the water,” Robson. “The more modern composites ride on the water. And then there’s the sound. They make such a great sound.” Robson said there will be 25 to 30 different vessels on display at the show this year. Starting at 3 p.m., local Fire Chief Gavin Gilcrease will lead the boats out for a parade up and down Sand Creek, past Sandpoint City Beach and then out for a cruise. Plus, Robson pointed out, there are numerous boat shows in the region, but the Sandpoint show is the only one in the Inland Northwest that is judged, so, “you’ll see some really nice boats come in here because of that. I think that’s the key thing. You can walk the docks and see the passion for them. We’re proud of the result.” Another fun activity engineered for future boaters is the kid’s boat-building program. “Captain Dan Mimmack started that years ago,” Robson said. “He assembled the whole program, brought in a stock tank and kids could build, paint and float their own seaworthy crafts.” The boat-building program is free and open to any kids interested in having their very own wooden boat model. Robson said many families come back each year with the desire to add to their growing fleet from years passed. “It’s a really great program for the kids,” Robson said. “Dan has since moved onto his pirate ship, so the program is sponsored by Stancraft now, so we encourage parents to bring their kids down to build and paint their own boats.”
A unique gathering of four antique ChrisCraft Barrelbacks on July 12, 2015 on Sand Creek. Photo courtesy Don Robson. The entire event is free to attend for all, including the kid’s boat-building program. One of the chapter’s members also donated a wooden boat to a high school north of Spokane for them to completely restore from scratch. “They’ll do everything from wood construction, finishing, mechanical — all the different aspects you get involved with restoring a boat,” Robson said. “They hope to get her on the water in 2023. This not only exposes kids to these beautiful boats, but they also get the experience to build homes, woodworking, all kinds of these skills.” For Robson, the annual boat show is not only a time to celebrate these vintage vessels, but it’s also a time to appreciate the work that the community puts into making this event shine each year. “Michael Boge, with Burger Express, hosts the chapter group for a burger on Friday night,” Robson said. “Ralph and Sandy and Jenny [Sletager] at Sandpoint Marina has hosted this since 2000. George and Deb Hanson are hosting breakfast for about 50 people. The community is in such support of this and we’re so appreciative.” The antique boats will be on display from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. along the Sand Creek boardwalk in downtown Sandpoint. The boat parade down Sand Creek will begin at 3 p.m.
COMMUNITY
Red, white and a view: Schweitzer celebrates 6th annual Northwest Winefest By Reader Staff The phrase “in vino veritas” was already old 2,000 years ago, when Roman author and philosopher Pliny the Elder alluded to it in his Naturalis Historia in the first century CE. We all know what it means, translated from Latin: “In wine, there is truth.” In this case, the truth is that the sixth-annual Northwest Winefest at Schweitzer is an event not to be missed. Slated for Saturday, July 16 and Sunday, July 17, attendees will sip and sample the ample viticultural offerings of the region while also enjoying the summer season, complete with live music from five bands, barbecued eats, arts and crafts vendors, and offerings for the entire family. A total of 20 Northwest wineries will be on hand, pouring from 80 of their labels. To take part, purchase a souvenir wine glass with tasting tickets in the Mountain View patio near the clock tower in the Schweitzer Village. Each ticket is good for a two-ounce sample in “Wine Alley,” with additional tickets available for purchase at the glassware sales area. Being a two-day event, participants are invited to stay the night to extend the fun, including rides up the Great Escape chairlift
and visiting the Sky House lodge at the summit of the mountain. Other activities include hiking, biking, a climbing wall, disc golf and the ever-popular Trampoline Jumper. The wine tasting kicks off at noon on Saturday, July 16 and runs until 7 p.m., followed on Sunday, July 17 from noon to 5 p.m., with the chairlift open for hiking, biking and sightseeing from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Food vendors will be operating from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Pick your price: $35 for a stemless nine-ounce souvenir wine glass, $40 for a stemless 15-ounce wine glass or $45 for an insulated stainless wine glass. Each option comes with six tickets each good for two-ounce sample pours. Additional tasting tickets cost $3 each, and can only be used in 2022 Northwest Winefest glassware. Lift tickets over the weekend cost only $20 for those on foot and $35 for mountain bikers when purchased online in advance. Come for the wine, food and fun, but stay for the music. On Saturday, Bright Moments will play from noon to 2 p.m., followed by Runaway Symphony from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and the Jason Perry Band
Courtesy photo. from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wes Urbaniak and the Mountain Folk will kick off the Sunday festivities from noon to 2 p.m., followed by Northwest Breeze from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Complimentary parking will be available in the Gateway and Fall Line lots, though carpooling and shuttling are highly recom-
mended. The SPOT bus will run from the Red Barn to the Schweitzer Village every 30 minutes from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Sunday. Downhill shuttles will leave from below Lakeview Lodge. Complimentary RV parking will be available at the fire station near the roundabout — though with no services. For lodging call 1-877487-4643 or visit schweitzer.com. For more information about Winefest, visit schweitzer. com/event/northwest-winefest. For other questions about entertainment and summer-time offerings on the mountain, contact the Schweitzer Activity Center at 208-2553081 or activityinfo@schweitzer.com.
Basketball School of Sandpoint to host 5th annual camp By Reader Staff Basketball School of Sandpoint will host its fifth annual basketball camp from Monday, July 25 to Friday, July 29, focusing on teaching fundamental skills to boys and girls of all skill levels. The camp will be held at Kootenai Elementary School (301 Sprague St. in Kootenai) with boys and girls ages 7-10 participating from 9 a.m.-noon and boys and girls ages 1116 playing 1-4 p.m. According to organizers, campers will be grouped based on ability and taught fundamentals, including ball handling, passing, shooting, rebounding and defense. There will also be creative games, competitions, races and tournaments, all while developing basketball skills. Camp happens every day for five days
Courtesy photo. and each child will receive a BSS Camp T-shirt. There will also be the chance to earn trophies through the camp championship. Teamwork, sportsmanship, hard work and fun will be emphasized throughout the camp. Find additional information and register at basketballschoolofsandpoint.com. July 14, 2022 /
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FEATURE
‘Love will win’
Second annual Sandpoint Pride Festival will light up the Granary Arts District this weekend
By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff Last year, when Sandpoint held its first ever Pride Festival, Lucinda Meshberg was headed into her senior year of high school. She said she was “blown away by the warmth and love at the event.” “I hadn’t thought that anything like that could happen in Sandpoint, and seeing that supportive environment made me much more optimistic about the future for LGBT+ youth in this town,” she told the Reader. As a member of Sandpoint High School’s Human Rights Club (a youth faction of the Bonner County Human Task Force), Meshberg has been part of an effort to create “a place where a lot of kids can feel safe to be themselves.” While the club is not geared specifically to LBGTQ people, Meshberg said that many who consider themselves a part of that community
“gravitate toward the club.” “I wanted to help create that same feeling of support for people this year at the [Pride] festival in whatever way I could,” the recent graduate said, “so when [Sandpoint Pride Planning Committee co-chair] Adrian [Murillo] told me he wanted the younger generation to have a voice in this event, I jumped at the opportunity.” That concept of “voice” is central to this year’s Sandpoint Pride Festival, which sports the theme “Many Voices, One Heart.” This year’s festivities kick off Friday, July 15 with BCHRTF’s 30th anniversary celebration starting at 4 p.m. and continue into Saturday, July 16 with official Pride events from 2-10 p.m. Both days of events will take place in Sandpoint’s Granary Arts District at 513 Oak St., which is also home to several businesses, including Matchwood Brewing Company and Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters.
“As small business owners and community members, we are proud to use our space to connect people to each other to build community and trust,” Matchwood owners and Pride Planning Committee members Andrea Marcoccio and Kennden Culp stated in a media release. “In a world that is filled with difficulty and disconnection, we hope this event and our brewery can serve as a space where people feel welcome, safe, cared for and appreciated,” the pair added in a joint statement. “We are very proud allies.” The Granary Arts District will be teeming with live music, poetry readings, food vendors, advocacy booths, kids’ activities, a Pride costume contest, dance parties and more throughout the two days of events. Speakers will include Lauren Bramwell, of ACLU Idaho, who will address the flurry of anti-gay, anti-trans legislation
< see PRIDE, Page 17 >
A snapshot from the 2021 inaugural Sandpoint Pride Festival. Photo by Racheal Baker.
Sandpoint Pride security plan aims to keep event both safe and celebratory By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Organizers of the Pride event in Sandpoint are geared up for two days of celebration Friday, July 15 and Saturday, July 16, but they’re also aware of the potential for disruption, harassment, even threats from intolerant individuals and groups. A vivid example of that came on June 11, when 31 members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front were arrested in Coeur d’Alene before they could commit a riot against the Pride in the Park event. Of course, Patriot Front wasn’t the only group on hand to protest Pride — members of White Lives Matter as well as “far-right pastors, alt-right propagandists and a biker group,” as the Inlander reported, were also gathered at or near the park. In an effort to provide a safe event, Sandpoint Pride has 16 /
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adopted a much more robust security plan than last year, spurred specifically by the events in Coeur d’Alene last month. “Some of us were concerned and so we had a meeting … with the city administrator and the chief of police, just to impress on them that we had concerns and wanted to work in partnership to develop this safety plan,” said Adrian Murillo, a poet, activist and co-chair of the planning committee, who will be opening the event July 15 with some words of affirmation for the LGBTQ2S community. “I want to talk about resilience,” he said. “Resilience is not just something that’s intrinsic, it’s learned, and by coming together we can build up our resilience.” The event will be hosted near Matchwood Brewing Company in the Granary District, which is located on private property. As such, no guns or weapons will be allowed on the premises, with
security available to enforce that prohibition. Other policies and strategies to ensure safety include the instruction not to engage with any protesters or agitators who might show up. “Do not engage in negative dialogue or debate,” the safety plan states. “Debating only serves to reinforce their belief they have a valid position. Our rights, freedom, dignity, our lives, are not debatable. Focus your energy on the community celebration rather than those attempting to distract from the purpose of our event. They want attention. Don’t give it to them.” Sandpoint Pride event organizers drew on partnerships with a number of regional organizations and entities, including the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane, Bonner County Human Rights Task Force, North Idaho Pride Alliance, Western States Center and City Hall, to craft the
safety plan. One big difference with Pride this year will be a fenced buffer zone down the center of Oak and Church streets in order to keep demonstrators or other unwanted individuals even farther from the festivities. Meanwhile, volunteers underwent a peacekeeping training session led by PJALS, in which they learned techniques and tactics to defuse potentially hostile interactions in a respectful manner while also reporting any concerns — however big or small — to a lead security person on the volunteer team who will be on site with responsibility to interact with local law enforcement, if need be. Of the peacekeepers, Murillo said, “It’s really about the tone and the flow of the event; they’re keeping it celebratory and fun and hopefully encouraging people to be engaged — to create that sense of community.”
Sandpoint City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton told the Reader that because the event is on private property, Sandpoint police will not be responsible for security, though the department has coordinated with event organizers and is aware of the security and event management plan. Sandpoint Police Chief Corey Coon stated in an email July 12 that, “At this time, we have no credible information that there will be any formal protests or outside organizations coming into our area to protest the event as we saw in Coeur d’Alene.” For Murillo, fellow organizers, volunteers and attendees, the sincere hope is that the event will play out in its full spirit and expression of Pride. “We have learned to be both realistic and joyful. That’s what we want this to be — a joyful coming together,” Murillo said.
< PRIDE, Con’t from Page 16 > around the country — including in Idaho — and how the American Civil Liberties Union is confronting it. Among the most notable happenings will be the second annual Sandpoint Pride Queen B Drag Show, featuring regional and nationally acclaimed drag queen performances, slated for 7 p.m. on Saturday. For a full list of events and times, visit sandpointpride.com. At its core, organizers said that the festival’s purpose is to “affirm the equality and dignity of the LGBTQ2S community, to acknowledge and appreciate their contributions to society and to inspire engagement with and support for the ongoing movement to secure the rights, freedom and safety of queer and trans individuals.” Proceeds from this year’s events will benefit PFLAG Sandpoint, BCHRTF’s High School Task Force and “an anonymous youth group working to build community and safe space[s],” Pride organizers announced. Last year’s Pride efforts were headed up by local PFLAG President Jeff Bohnhof, who said he’s been able to take on a more flexible role this year thanks to strong support from the community. He said he always envisioned Pride as an event all its own, “working in tandem with PFLAG.” “With the amount of volunteers and the people willing to step up and assume leadership roles it is happening faster than I
expected, which is pretty exciting,” he told the Reader. A multigenerational group of emcees will serve as the literal voices of Sandpoint Pride this year, including Jim Healey, Theo Kinnman, Meshberg and her sibling, Sidney Meshberg. Meshberg said she wants to share that philosophy of safety and acceptance she was able to foster as a part of the SHS Human Rights Club on a larger scale in her role at the 2022 Sandpoint Pride Festival. “It is a place where you can feel welcomed and comforted by your community,” she said, “and see that there are other people like you who have your back.” Bohnhof said that Sandpoint’s growing Pride is indicative of how such events are gaining traction throughout the region. “With all of the anti-LGBTQ legislation being brought up throughout the country this past year, it’s exciting to see how Pride is growing throughout the country,” he said. “This year alone, Newport, Wash., had a small Pride event for the first time. There’s the first annual Silver Valley Pride in Wallace, Idaho, the weekend after [the] Sandpoint Pride Festival. “With all the negativity, love is growing, spreading,” he added, “and love will win.” To learn more or get involved with the Sandpoint Pride Festival, visit sandpointpride.com.
BoCo Human Rights Task Force celebrating 30 years By Reader Staff
The community is invited to the 30th anniversary celebration of the Bonner County Human Task Force with an evening of music, poetry, a book launch and silent auction Friday, July 15 in the Granary district outside of Matchwood Brewing Company (513 Oak St. in Sandpoint). Events kick off at 4 p.m. with music from Bright Moments and continue until 8:30 p.m. or 9 p.m. In the meantime, the celebration will include brief vignettes about the history and activities of the BCHRTF, poetry and more music from violinist Max Reed and Nights of Neon. Beth Pederson will also perform and lead a few audience sing-alongs — echoing the theme of the event: “Add Your Voice.” The task force has been a local voice for peace, equality and respect for all since 1992, and is asking community members to “add their voices and join the effort to keep Bonner County a safe as well as a beautiful place to be,” according to the organization.
There will be T-shirts available for a donation, with new designs that symbolize standing together and replacing hate with love — “images that reflect the feelings and beliefs of most of the people who live here, and help to erase the stain left on our region by the presence of the Aryan Nations and other extremist groups,” BCHRTF leaders stated. The memoir Torn: Married to a White Supremacist, by author Christine Eddy, will also be launched June 15, and a new, highly acclaimed volume of Ukrainian poetry published by Lost Horse Press will be available as well. Rounding out the event will be a silent auction and art activities for kids and adults alike. BCHRTF hopes the anniversary celebration will help raise funds and gain new members, “but also to provide an opportunity for those who have been supporters for all these years to come together to celebrate what has been achieved as well as gain encouragement, inspiration and strength to face the challenges that lie ahead.” To learn more, visit bchrtf.org. July 14, 2022 /
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events Speakeasy with LPO Rep company 7-10pm @ 219 Lounge Join LPO Rep Theater Co. as they transport you back to the 1920s for an interactive evening of song, dance and comedy. Tickets $35 and sell out fast. This is a fundraiser for the theater company Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz 5:30-8pm @ Drift (in Hope) Live Music w/ Devon Wade 6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Trails and Tails 11am-12pm @ Pine Street Woods Weekly outings held every Friday
Summer Music Series: Little Hurricane 6pm @ Farmin Park Head down to Farmin Park for the second installment of the FREE Sandpoint Summer Music Series, featuring Little Hurricane
An Evening with Joe Bob Briggs 8pm @ Panida Theater Spend a fast-and-furious two hours with America’s drive-in movie critic as he uses over 200 clips and stills to review the history of rednecks in America. $40 tickets BC Human Rights Task Force 30th 4-10pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co. Celebrate 30 years of the Task Force, with live music, art, activities, poetry readings and a silent auction. All are welcome Live Music w/ Kevin Dorin 7-9pm @ The Back Door
SunDAY, July 17
Magic Night at Jalapeño’s 5-8pm @ Jalepeño’s Mexican Restaurant Starring veteran magician Star Alexander Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz 1-4pm @ Pearls at Beyond Hope
Northwest WineFest at Schweitzer @ Schweitzer A two-day summer wine tasting event. Sample great wines from around the PNW. Live music from 5 bands, food vendors, free parking, 80 wines from 20 regional wineries, BBQ, arts and crafts and more
monDAY, July 18 Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Group Run @ Outdoor Experience 6pm @ Outdoor Experience 3-5 miles, all levels welcome, beer after
tuesDAY, July 19
Trails and Tails 11am-12pm @ Pine Street Woods Weekly outings held every Friday
wednesDAY, July 20
Sandpoint Farmers’ Market 3-5:30pm @ Farmin Park Live music w/ John Firshi NAMI Far North support group 5:30pm @ VFW, 1325 Pine St. (Spt.) Guest speaker Justin Hughes, LPC Live Piano w/ Jason Evans 5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Open Mic 6-10pm @ The Tervan
Benny on the Deck • 6-8pm @ Connie’s Featuring Ron Criscione Live Music w/ Samantha Carston 6-8pm @ The Back Door
Live Music w/ Just Us Band 5-7:30pm @ Memorial Comm. Center Lenny Thorell, Andrea and Mark playing in Hope. Free event with food, wine and beer to purchase
ThursDAY, July 21 Speakeasy with LPO Rep company 7-10pm @ 219 Lounge The second installment of this interactive evening of song, dance and comedy. $35 tickets, funds support LPO Repertory Theater 18 /
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Danceworks Summer Dance Performance 7pm @ Panida Theater Doors open 30 mins before the show Live Music w/ The Teccas Live Music w/ Brian Jacobs 6-8pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall 6-8pm @ The Back Door
FriDAY, July 15
Live Music w/ Jason Evans Trio 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Live Music w/ Samantha Carston 6-8pm @ The District Come down to The District at I Saw Something Shiny on First Ave. for food and live music Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee Meets every Sunday at 9am
THURSDAY, July 14
July 14 - 21, 2022
SATURDAY, July 16
Sandpoint Pride Festival 2-10pm @ Granary Arts District Celebrate LGBTQ pride with Sandpoint PFLAG, featuring speakers, children’s crafts, vendor booths and a drag show. Close out the night dancing under the stars
Live Music w/ Right Front Burner 9pm-midnight @ 219 Lounge Funk, soul, groove and everything between Live Music w/ Honeysuckle 6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Featuring Sandpoint’s own Holly McGarry, this East Coast indie folk band is top notch Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz 1-4pm @ Pearls at Beyond Hope Sandpoint Farmers’ Market 9am-1pm @ Farmin Park Fresh produce, artisan goods, live music by BOCA (Ben and Cadie)
Northwest WineFest at Schweitzer @ Schweitzer A two-day summer wine tasting event. Sample great wines from around the PNW. Live music from 5 bands, food vendors, free parking, 80 wines from 20 regional wineries, BBQ, arts and crafts, and more Live Music w/ Chris Paradis 7-9pm @ The Back Door Live Music w/ Chris Lynch 6-8pm @ The District Food and live music right on First Ave.! Antique and Classic Boat Festival 9am @ The Sand Creek Boardwalk Come down by Sandpoint Marina to check out beautiful antique wooden and classic boats docked along the Sand Creek Boardwalk. Parade down Sand Creek at 3pm. Free and open to all!
STAGE & SCREEN
Film school misfits
Famed critic Joe Bob Briggs reveals secret history of redneck cinema
By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Contributor
Briggs is interested in sharing it with the world. It’s a sensibility that’s informed much of his decades-long career and multiple TV shows, including Joe Bob’s Joe Bob Briggs is the working person’s Drive-In Theater on The Movie Channel movie critic. and MonsterVision on TNT. A legend in the film community and Full disclosure: I’m a Joe Bob Briggs particularly the horror subculture, Briggs fan, albeit a more recent one. A horror lovis a writer, actor and film critic with an eye er, I stumbled upon Briggs’ unique brand for the wilder side of cinema. This week, of film presentation through the streaming he brings his encyclopedic film knowledge service Shudder. The Last Drive-In with and irreverent sense of humor to the Panida Joe Bob Briggs is one of the service’s Theater with a deep dive into film history, tentpole originals, bringing in thousands “How Rednecks Saved Hollywood.” of horror fans — the self-described Mutant Set for 8 p.m. Friday, July 15, with doors Fam — for Friday-night horror marathons opening at 7 p.m., the show is a two-hour each season. tour of both grindhouse and mainstream From highbrow prestige films like The cinema told through more than 200 clips Changeling, starring George C. Scott, to and stills. Tickets are $40 and available in modern indie horror like Hellbender to advance or at the door. obscure videotape cult slashers like Sledge“How Rednecks Saved Hollywood” nav- hammer, The Last Drive-In is a celebration igates the unique relationship that America’s of the sheer breadth and depth of the horror working class shares with the entertainment genre. Regular viewers surf the waves of industry, observing why “the redneck is the film history from the 1922 silent film Nosscariest monster in all of film history, with feratu to recent standouts like the bonkers visual evidence.” 2020 horror comedy Fried Barry. If the teaser blurb piques your interest A diverse curation of genre offerings — “How Thunder Road, the Whiskey is all well and good, but two things Rebellion, the tight cutoffs worn by make The Last Drive-In exceptionClaudia Jennings in Gator Bait, al: Briggs’ expertise and the illegal Coors beer, and the Mutant Fam community. Each Cannonball Baker Sea-toDrive-In episode is broken into Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy movie segments and host segDash combined to inspire the ments, where Briggs jumps in to greatest movie in the history relate making-of-the-movie of the world” — then the anecdotes, offer filmmakFriday show is not to ing analysis, interview be missed. And it’s all cast or crew members, delivered with Briggs’ and even perform the unforgettable brand occasional comedic of sardonic humor. sketch. Briggs is a The host segchampion of ments draw out a low-budget new dimension to or no-budget the featured film, exploitation whether it’s an cinema, the old favorite or a type of movie first-time watch. that might The number make stuffy of hitherto-uncinephiles of a heard-of movies certain vintage I’ve discovered scoff. It doesn’t through The Last matter if the movie Drive-In is extraordiis held together by nary, but even classics twine and a dream like the 1999 Takashi — if there’s passion Miike film Audition, there, something which I’ve seen at least clever or compela half-dozen times, Joe Bob Briggs. ling or subversive, take on a new life in
Courtesy photo.
Briggs’ hands. Likewise, the stalwart Mutant Fam community makes each Drive-In event a special experience. Ably managed by Briggs’ co-host Darcy the Mail Girl, who brings a welcome voice to each episode, the Mutant Fam’s social media commentary adds yet another layer to the Drive-In experience. It’s a community bound by a singular passion for the misfit toys of film history. “How Rednecks Saved Hollywood ‘’ is a rare opportunity to enjoy the Drive-In experience live and in person. Those who hear the Mutant Fam’s call are advised to purchase their ticket and recite “The Drive-In Oath”: “As long as one drive-in remains on the planet Earth, we will party like jungle animals. We will boogie ‘til we puke. Heads will roll. The drive-in will never die.” Cameron Rasmusson is editor emeritus of the Sandpoint Reader and an avid film fan.
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FOOD
The Sandpoint Eater Stirring up love By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Columnist
I turn to therapy cooking when I’m whirlwind-busy with my travel business. The kitchen’s my sanctuary, where I seek solace from work and life-related stress. These long days of airline-induced anxiety have given me dozens of reasons to spend long hours at my stovetop, cooking more and more and more. The travel business has kept me busy, albeit far from my kitchen. April was devoted to Tahiti, May belonged to Ireland and June was dedicated to wedding travels. Now, July is all mine, all mine! It’s good to be home in my kitchen — a favorite hub, hangout and gathering spot. This month I whipped up food for an “Irish mingle” (a gathering of past travelers sharing photos of our recent trip), and prepared food for a special friend’s memorial. Finally, this week, I hosted a long overdue paella cooking class and invited some extra friends (donated long ago to the fundraising auction for Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness). I am definitely back in my element. Planning menus, shopping, prepping and cooking have refueled me. My kitchen crowd might include a friend perched on a stool at the counter, sipping coffee and rendering opinions of the samples I offer from across the stovetop. Near the sink, another longtime friend carefully chops and dices, per my specifications. For years, my mom often served 20 /
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alongside me as my prep help, and she would press her index fingers and thumbs together to form a small square and estimate the size of the chop I had in mind. She’s been gone nearly 20 years, but I still use her technique as a measuring stick for vegetable prepping. Other friends will drop everything to come and help me load my vehicle with sheet pans, baskets and assorted serving vessels. Now that we’re all out and about more, it’s been fun to see old friends and make new ones, as I did last week at the memorial service. Some of the kindest and most loving people attended, and feeding them was pure honor. A few days later, I received a delightfully unex-
pected note from the host of the home where the memorial was held, which I shall forever cherish. “The love you stirred into the food was tasted in each bite,” she wrote. She also included a quote by an unknown author: “Real cooking is more about following your heart than following recipes.” I was unfamiliar with that particular quote, but I loved the sentiment. I have oodles of favorite food quotes, and many are credited to my favorite chef, Julia Child: “People who love to eat are always the best people.” And, “if you’re afraid of butter, use cream.” My favorite Julia quote: “I think
Spanish paella INGREDIENTS: • 3 ½ cups chicken stock • ¼ cup olive oil • 1 cup dry white wine • 1 tsp saffron threads • 1 ½ lbs boneless chicken thighs, or quartered squab or Cornish game hen pieces • Sea salt • 6 cloves garlic, minced • 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves • 2 tsp sweet smoked paprika • 2 tsp finely chopped parsley • 1 large tomato, skinned and finely chopped • 1 medium onion, chopped • 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped • 6 scallions, chopped • 1 cup fresh green beans, snapped into thirds • 2 cups paella rice (short grain) • 1 dozen mussels, scrubbed, de-bearded and rinsed well • 1 dozen small clams • 12 large shrimp in shells • Lemon wedges and parsley for garnish
every woman should have a blow torch.” I agree and have several. I also love this Irish proverb I recently saw hanging in a Dublin pub, “Laughter is brightest where food is best.” I couldn’t agree more. I have a book of food quotes and, thumbing through them, I realized none speak of food as a commodity or a scientific endeavor, and rarely do they even mention an ingredient, measurement or technique. Instead, they mostly read as a love language, filled with inspirational words of food that warm the heart and nourish the soul. Other quotes I love are credited to Anthony Bourdain, whose zest for life (ironically),
and interpretation of global food and travel remain unmatched. His words continue to inspire me, especially these words: “For me, the cooking life has been a long love affair, with moments both sublime and ridiculous. But like a love affair, looking back you remember the happy times best.” I love cooking professionally, but honestly, my happiest cooking life memories will always revolve around my kitchen — abuzz with helpers and eaters who gather at my table. And a dish that always brings me great pleasure from all the prep to finally sharing, family-style, is paella. So, gather your gang and stir up some love!
This recipe can be altered to suit your taste. In Spain, paella dishes are regional — all different and all delicious. For vegetarian paella, start with vegetable stock and add additional vegetables, like artichoke hearts and peas.
DIRECTIONS: Soak the clams in salted water for a couple of hours (before you start the paella) to remove any sand. Discard clams that do not close when you tap on them. Press together the shells of any mussels that are open. If the shell doesn’t close, the mussel should be discarded. Heat broth, wine and saffron together in a large pot. Keep liquids on low simmer. Pat chicken and shrimp dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt. Set aside. Use a mortar and pestle to mash parsley, garlic and thyme, then stir in paprika and salt. Mash until paste-like. Heat half the olive oil in a 15” paella pan over medium-high heat and quickly brown the meat on both sides 3-4 minutes. Do not fully cook. Place in 300-degree oven for 20 minutes. Reduce heat in paella pan to medium, add remaining oil, onion, scallions and bell pepper to paella pan, and cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft but not brown. Raise heat slightly, add tomato with its juices and cook, stirring occasionally, until it becomes sauce-like, 2 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle the rice evenly across the pan and continue to stir ingredients. Pour in the warm broth and wine and bring to a boil, stir in parsley paste and mix well. Add the green beans. Continue stirring rice and rotating pan occasionally.
Add all reserved meats (but not shrimp). Gently stir the meat to coat in the sauce. It is important not to stir after this point. Lower the heat and allow to simmer, shaking pan continuously until mixture is no longer soupy but enough liquid remains to continue cooking the rice (about 10 min.). Add extra hot liquid if necessary.
Artfully tuck the shrimp, clams and mussels into the rice, placing edges of mussel and clam shells so they open facing up and out. Cover. Continue shaking pan for 15-20 minutes until rice is almost done. Remove pan from the heat and cover with foil. Let sit 10 minutes. Discard any mussels or clams that did not open. Garnish with lemon wedges.
MUSIC
A love for loud
By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff
When Celeste “CC” Spina posted a video of herself drumming in Craigslist’s “Musician’s Wanted” section over a decade ago, it is safe to say that she got more than she bargained for. Spina found the bandmate she sought in guitarist Anthony “Tone” Catalano and, soon after, a partner in life. The two are now married with a family of their own, built upon the band that came out of that Craigslist ad: the dirty blues duo Little Hurricane. “I often think about what my 10-year-old self would think,” Spina told the Reader. “I think she’d think it was pretty cool.” Little Hurricane will do what it does best on Thursday, July 14 at Farmin Park in Sandpoint as the band plays the free and family friendly Sandpoint Summer Music Series at 6 p.m. Spina said that each live show is a reminder of how far she and Catalano have come. “That’s where our love story was formed,” she said of Little Hurricane’s live shows. “So when we’re back on stage, there’s this energy, [this] feeling we have that’s nostalgic but also a really deep connection.” It would be easy to compare Northern California-based Little Hurricane to The White Stripes and call it a day, but that would sell the duo short. While the
band’s image, instrumentation and early music certainly parallels the messy rock of The White Stripes, Little Hurricane has proven itself capable of blending its self-proclaimed “dirty blues” with country, Americana and straight-up pop. At its core, Little Hurricane’s sound is pure, raw chemistry. “With two people it makes sense to go a little more grimey and loud and trashy,” Spina said. When the coronavirus pandemic canceled every anticipated show starting in March 2020, Little Hurricane was already in a major transitional period as a band and as a family, having recently welcomed their second child. Spina said it was “really scary” not knowing what would happen next. “Everything that we thought we would earn for the year was gone,” she said, adding that they hosted private shows over Zoom for a while as a way to get by. “We just got through it in the best way we could.” Out of that time at home came Little Hurricane’s forthcoming project: Life is but a Dream. The full-length album reimagines children’s nursery rhymes as groovy, rock-heavy tracks, showcasing Spina’s unwavering rhythm and Catalano’s bluesy vocals. “They sound like Little Hurricane,” she said of the songs on the new album. “We’re singing ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb,’ but it’s definitely in our style.” Those nursery-rhymes-turned-
This week’s RLW by Ben Olson
Dirty blues duo Little Hurricane to play free Sandpoint Summer Music Series show July 14
READ
It’s been many years since I’ve read John Updike’s “midlife crisis” novel Rabbit, Run. In his inimitable way, Updike tells the story of a 26-year-old nicknamed “Rabbit” who is in a loveless marriage, a dead-end job, and suddenly decides to strike out and leave his family for the unknown. This novel has it all: humor, pathos, struggle and drama. It resonates with anyone who is struggling to settle down from their wild and wooly ways. If you like Rabbit, Run, it spurred four sequels.
LISTEN
Courtesy photo. rock-ballads will fit in perfectly to the band’s set at Farmin Park, since the Sandpoint Summer Music Series is meant to entertain all ages. Such a gig dovetails with Little Hurricane’s current ethos. “Family friendly events are definitely where we want to be right now,” Spina said. That isn’t to say that Spina didn’t once have dreams of spending each day on a tour bus, selling out major venues and entering what many would consider the next phase as a band. However, she said there’s a certain “peace” in Little Hurricane’s current circumstances: still in the van, but now, with their kiddos coming along for the ride.
“When I’ve seen interviews of bands who have gone on to do the things that I thought I wanted to do, when they talk about the best times of being in their band, it was this phase that we’ve been in for a long time,” she said. It’s a double life Spina said she “wouldn’t trade for the world.” “I think we have the best of both worlds, because I can take my kids to preschool, but then on the weekends, go rock out,” she said. “It’s not lost on me that I’m pretty lucky.” Listen and learn more at littlehurricanemusic.com.
Honeysuckle kicks off summer tour in Sandpoint By Ben Olson Reader Staff East Coast-based progressive folk band Honeysuckle will be kicking off its West Coast tour with a show at MickDuff’s Beer Hall on Saturday, July 16 from 6:30-9:30 p.m. The band consists of Sandpoint’s own Holly McGarry and her partner Chris Bloniarz — both graduates of Boston’s prestigious Berklee School of Music. Honeysuckle has performed extensively around the country, hitting such hot spots as the Newport Folk Festival, Lollapalooza and Americanafest. They were named Americana Artist of the Year in
2019, Folk Artist of the Year in 2018 at the Boston Music Awards, and hailed as one of the “Top 10 bands of 2016 so far” by NPR. After a hiatus due to the pandemic, McGarry said the duo is eager to get back on stage. “We’ve been flailing wildly, but I think we might’ve gotten a breath of fresh air recently,” McGarry told the Reader. “We’re working on new material, going into the studio in August to record a new EP. We’re trying to get back to our old haunts.” The dynamic between McGarry and Bloniarz on stage is nothing short of magical. Their harmonies are pitch perfect, their instrumentation top notch and unique, which
has taken a lot of work after their third band member Ben Burns departed for other endeavors. “The first couple of shows we played after Ben left, we were just playing the songs without his parts,” McGarry said. “The whole time you’re playing, you almost have this separate show going on in your head. It was disorienting.” The duo put in a lot of work crafting their sound to work without a third member, developing new, more intricate harmonies and sometimes utilizing completely new instrumentation. “We’ve gotten creative,” she said. “We’re writing songs in a different way now. If you start
playing a new instrument, it can bring out new ideas or directions.” After its Beer Hall gig, Honeysuckle will play the Lucky You lounge in Spokane on Sunday, July 17, then make tracks west and south to play the other dozen spots on their tour. “This has been our first year we’ve been able to tour as a duo,” McGarry said. “We’re trying to get the world back under our feet, tinkering with our new instruments and exploring how to fill out the sound with just two people. It forces you to pivot creatively and I think that’s been a lot of fun for us, as much as it’s been difficult.”
The number of quality female-led bands has exploded during the past few years, with rockers like Phoebe Bridgers, St. Vincent and many others adding some amazing music to our world. One of my favorite female artists of late is Lucy Dacus, whose song “Night Shift” always makes me want to scream along like a teenager. Her 2018 release Historian is a phenomenal record. Dacus captures the hard edge of the fairer sex, with a sultry, smoky voice and overdriven guitar blending perfectly.
WATCH
If I were only able to eat one variety of food for the rest of my life, it would be Thai food. If I could only watch one movie for the rest of my life, the choice is Office Space, hands down. This hilarious Mike Judge film was released in 1999, the year I graduated high school. It captured that late-’90s/early 2000s working world with perfection. The humor is sophisticated at times, crass at others. The writing is superb and I recite a line or two from the movie at least once a week. If you’ve never seen it, it’s streaming on Amazon Prime right now.
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BACK OF THE BOOK
The birds in my wall From Pend Oreille Review, July 14, 1911
TAKING SOUNDINGS What is the depth of Lake Pend d’Oreille in its deepest place? This interesting and long mooted question promises to be answered this week by Prof. George Kemmerrer and Prof. J.F. Bovard, representing the U.S. fishery department, who are taking soundings of the lake for a report to Washington. The two gentlemen departed yesterday morning for the deep waters at the head of the lake with a launch and with apparatus capable of sounding 1,000 feet. If they have to go further than that they will have to use deep sea sounding apparatus. Prof. Kemmerer, who has charge of the soundings, scouts the idea that Pend d’Oreille will furnish depth of water which he cannot reach with his 1,000 foot apparatus. The deepest part of the lake has always supposed to be either at the Green Monarch mine or at a point between the mouth of Garfield bay and Granite creek. J.F. Schroeder of Granite creek, one of the old-timers of the lake country, has always maintained that the Northern Pacific engineers in seeking a point to cross the lake without having to come to the narrows of the beginning of the river found a depth of 2,080 feet and found places in the upper end of the lake where they could not fathom bottom. Prof. Kemmerer is of the opinion that he will be able to reach bottom in the lake at any point. He found the deepest point in Lake Coeur d’Alene to be 200 feet. Wednesday he took a sounding out in the lake opposite Pack river and found the lowest depth there to be 160 feet. 22 /
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By Ben Olson Reader Staff There’s a bird that lives in my wall. Actually, there’s a whole family of them in there, jostling around, chirping, fussing and pecking. I first noticed the stowaways a couple of years ago. At first, I thought the sound was mice, so I put out traps and got down on my belly, scanning all the wall surfaces to locate an entry point. When that search failed and the traps remained empty, I finally sat still and listened. It was a curious sound, almost like someone was nervously dragging a paint brush with hard bristles along the surface of the wood. There was a restless quality to it. I imagined a tiny creature in a wool sweater two sizes too small, itching and contorting its body to finally rid itself of the constricting garment. Then, one day, the jostling sound gave way to the chirping of baby birds. They would cry for a few moments, then quiet down, only to repeat the process throughout the day every time momma returned with lunch. This was during the pandemic, when I was working from home, otherwise I might never have noticed my new neighbors. I mean, how often do you just hang out at home in the middle of the day, listening intently at creatures in your walls? After springtime came and went, the birds settled into a quieter routine. The babies had either left the nest or learned to keep their mouths shut, because only the nervous jostling sounds remained. Sometimes a crow would perch on a branch outside my window, examining the noises that came from the wall. Crows
STR8TS Solution
are very clever animals — they’ve been known to use tools and even recognize human faces. Years ago I harassed a crow on my friend’s property after he asked me to help scare off the population, and I swear to this day every time I see a crow, they recognize me and warn their brethren. Once, I tapped on the wall with my fingernail and everything went quiet inside. I pictured those little birds frozen in place, their little bird hearts beating fast, heads cocked ever so slightly to the side as they tried to figure out what beast was lurking on the other side of the wall. After summer, the noises would gradually diminish until, one day, I no longer heard the bird family. The babies had all left the nest and mom was off to her southern haunts for the winter. After months of listening to this family grow up, it was bittersweet to think of the silent span of time that would pass before I’d hear my neighbors again. As the snow piled up, I rarely, if ever, thought about the bird family in the wall. It wasn’t until the following spring when I heard that familiar jostling sound again, which I’ve determined is the momma bird building and fussing with her nest. Sure enough, as the snow melted and the irises and tulips began poking their heads out of the ground, the babies began chirping again every time momma returned to the nest with a juicy worm or grub for the dinner table. I often wonder how many generations of the same bird family have lived in that little hollow inside my wall. It’s possible that the family taking up residence this season includes the great-great-greatgrandchildren of the pioneer bird who
discovered the little nesting area in the first place. Whole generations of birds, living their best lives in my wall. When times get tough, I imagine shrinking down and hanging out with this plucky little bird family as they go about their day, pecking at nothing, eating worms, rustling around. I’d hang my head out of the hole and feel the wind blow off the lake, somewhere across town. I’d bump and elbow the baby birds, open my mouth wide and fight for the forthcoming morsel from the momma bird. Yum. I’d hear a crow screech from the nearby branch and huddle quietly with my fellow birds, hoping the predator would fly away soon. Then, my phone or email will ding and I’ll be transported back to my human life. With a weary sigh, I let the birds go back to their idyllic lives and direct my attention back to dealing with angry people in an angry world. But, for just a few moments, I’m free, just like those birds in my wall. Lucky bastards.
Crossword Solution
Sudoku Solution
The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face.
Solution on page 22
Solution on page 22
borborygmi
Woorf tdhe Week
By Bill Borders
/bawr-buh-RIG-mahy/
[plural noun] 1. rumbling or gurgling sounds caused by the movement of gas in the intestines.
“After a thorough investigation, the grumbling sound coming from the other room wasn’t a trapped animal, but just dad’s borborygmi while mom finished dinner.” Corrections: I left a sentence dangling while filling in for Brenden Bobby’s “Mad About Science” column in the July 14 edition. I honestly have no idea what I was trying to say, so let’s just leave it unsaid for real. Cool? Cool. —BO
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Laughing Matter
CROSSWORD ACROSS 1. Speed competition 5. Loft 10. Decays 14. Any minute 15. Hag 16. Reflected sound 17. Amateurish 19. Lowlife 20. French for “Friend” 21. Chain of hills 22. Rodent 23. Get 25. Ending in a piercing point 27. Air hero 28. Beginning 31. Extra 34. Wall coating 35. Snake-like fish 36. A period of calm 37. Perishing 38. Scottish hillside 39. Circle fragment 40. Huge 41. Flavor 42. Unicellular organisms 44. Damp 45. A group on concubines 46. Fundamental 50. Overact 52. Assumed name 54. Color 55. A roll of cloth 56. Skin diving 58. Train track
Solution on page 22 10. Holiday destination 11. Inhabitants 12. Therefore 13. Several 18. Instant 22. Shopping place 24. Noble DOWN 26. Be suspended from above 1. Radiolocation 2. Japanese animation 28. Siberian antelope 29. Tidy 3. Infant’s illness 30. Delight 4. East northeast 31. Smack 5. Not idle 32. Contented 6. Exchange cat sound 7. Chinese dynasty 33. Drunkard 8. Bowel 34. Fire obsession 9. C
59. Subsequently 60. Against 61. One single time 62. Keen 63. Lion’s share
37. Stupor 38. Matted cotton for stuffing 40. Old stories 41. On edge 43. Blab 44. Not stronger 46. Sorceress 47. Rhinoceros 48. Parental sisters 49. In accordance with law 50. River in Spain 51. Complain 53. Yearn 56. South southeast 57. Escape
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