Reader_June8_2023

The week in random review

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

(bath)room with a view

It’s easy to take for granted the many things that make living in this particular era of human history so fascinating. Sure, we have plenty of tech-driven woes to ruminate on while we’re doom-scrolling on the toilet, but remember that while doing so, you’re accessing a communications network hitherto unrivaled by anything ever dreamed of on this planet. I had a moment like that on June 2, when I was doing what we all do and came across the European Space Agency’s “livestream” (actually images taken every 45 seconds or so and stitched together) from the surface of Mars. I was looking at another world in almost-real time (the delay was about 16 minutes) from a commode in North Idaho, 190.18 million miles distant. I bet Galileo Galilei didn’t have that on his bingo card for the future of astronomy.

Just my type

I fell in love over the past week, but it’s nothing that should concern my wife. My new obsession is with a 1947 Smith-Corona Silent portable typewriter (serial No. 4S123510), which a close friend of the paper brought to the office along with four other typers of various vintage and condition. Those in the know are aware that Reader Publisher Ben Olson is a collector of old typewriters — he has more than 30 of them — and many reside as totems and decoration around our newsroom and outer office space. I, too, am a typewriter lover. In college, I enjoyed annoying my political philosophy professor by handing in papers written on a 1936 portable Underwood, which my mother gave me and which I stupidly loaned to a filmmaker friend for a movie shoot and who then sold it without my permission along with an entire storage unit of miscellaneous stuff. I inherited my late-grandma’s 1970s-era Olympia SG3 manual typewriter in 2012, which I put on the scale at home and discovered weighs 34.5 pounds of West German engineering. Anyway, this friend of the Reader brought in the aforementioned typewriters and Ben generously offered that I could take one home. I picked the Smith-Corona (with case and instruction booklet) despite the fact that it looked like absolute crap — covered in dust and grime, its keys clogged with what seemed like an entire cat’s worth of cat hair, a busted type bar and smelling like you’d imagine a 76-year-old cat might. I had a feeling about it and, after only a half hour or so of blasting with a can of compressed air, an hour of thorough scrubbing with pure alcohol (on the internals) and Simple Green (for the externals), and some surgery on the faulty type bar, my Smith-Corona looked damn near new and typed like every writer’s dream. It has reinvigorated my practice of writing for pleasure and, when I’m not turning out my self-imposed 800-word-per-day minimum, sometimes I just sit at my desk at home and stare at it. Maybe my wife should be a little worried after all.

DEAR READERS,

What’s your favorite section of the Reader? Are you a “Mad About Science” fan? A newshound? An “Emily Articulated” follower? Do you just turn to the calendar to see what’s going on and leave the rest of the paper unread? Some tell me they read from the back page forward, others say they skip around and save a bit for the next day.

One of my greatest laments after taking on the role as publisher in 2015 is that I no longer read the paper like you do. By the time it hits the racks, I’ve stared bleary-eyed at every page for days, nitpicking design elements, fixing typos and diving deep into the minutiae that is layout editing. I miss looking at this paper with fresh eyes. The only time I open it anymore is to check for typos, or perhaps while using the Reader to start a fire, I’ll glance through a past edition while waiting for the flames to take hold.

All that being said, we’re so thankful to be a regular part of so many of your lives out there. You’ve made this a joy to be a part of.

Until next week,

–Ben Olson, publisher

READER

111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 (208) 946-4368 www.sandpointreader.com

Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com

Editorial: Zach Hagadone (Editor) zach@sandpointreader.com

Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey (News Editor) lyndsie@sandpointreader.com

Cameron Rasmusson (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus)

Advertising: Kelsey Kizer kelsey@sandpointreader.com

Contributing Artists: Lorna Holt Photography (cover), Ben Olson, Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey, Bill Borders, Bonner Co. Road & Bridge, Schweitzer, John Monks

Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey, Lorraine H. Marie, Brenden Bobby, Audrey Dutton, Emily Erickson, Lauren Necochea, Rod Gramer, Mike Wagoner

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About the Cover

This week’s cover features three lovely damsels from a past Sandpoint Renaissance Faire. Photo by Lorna Holt Photography.

Sandpoint council adopts Little Sand Creek Watershed Rec. Plan

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

The Little Sand Creek Watershed Recreation Plan has been given the greenlight, after Sandpoint city councilors voted unanimously June 7 to approve the document at their regular meeting.

After a year of active planning, followed by many more years of conversation among various landowners and recreational users on the nearly 7,413-acre property — 3,921 acres of which are owned by the city and held primarily as a water source — the plan puts in place a raft of action items and concepts touching on everything from conservation and placemaking to the construction of a network of trails for use by bicyclists, hikers and backcountry skiers.

Incorporating feedback and collaboration with fellow landowners Schweitzer, the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and Idaho Department of Lands, the city is looking ahead to the future of the watershed as performing multiple roles, including water supply, commercial timber

harvesting and a larger recreational footprint.

A network of trails were created by users in the watershed over the past almost two decades, and made formal by a 2015 agreement between the city and local biking organization Pend Oreille Pedalers. Today, those trails cover 13.5 miles and are maintained by POP, and according to the newly adopted recreation plan could expand by an additional 52 miles of trail — primarily in the “lower basin” area, where the bulk of POP’s existing trails are located.

Sandpoint Parks Planning and Development Manager Maeve Nevins-Lavtar told council members that the final plan included some slight changes from her previous presentation at the May 17 meeting of the City Council, notably expansion of the buffer zones along year-round fish-bearing streams to 300 feet of slope distance — in keeping with the U.S. Forest Service’s policy.

“We are at the conceptual, 30,000-foot level,” Nevins-Lavtar said, noting that while there are ideas for how to build out the trail network in the watershed, “it is

still conceptual, and they are not much more than lines on paper.”

Still, adopting the plan put the city in the position of creating a committee to get the process started on identifying trail locations and creating designs, though a multitude of steps will have to be undertaken before users see any substantial changes on the property. That isn’t expected to begin until 2024.

City officials and community members alike applauded the plan, noting that POP has been engaged with trail building in the area since 2004.

“[I’m] really excited to move forward with it, protect it and make it better,” said Councilor Deb Ruehle, who has for years worked on watershed-related issues.

“It’s been amazing what POP

has built here in this community,” said Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad, later adding, “Now we have a recreation plan for our watershed that has ubiquitous community support — everybody’s behind this.”

Idaho Labor Dept. data shows statewide wages approaching $25 per hour

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

New figures released June 6 by the Idaho Department of Labor show that the average hourly wage throughout Idaho rose $1.64 to $24.69 in 2022, while the state’s median wage went from $18.50 per hour in 2021 to $19.26 per hour last year.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wages Statistics survey provides details from across the state, as well as breakdowns for all seven of Idaho’s metro areas and two rural county regions.

Meanwhile, the Idaho Department of Labor compiles data on the six labor market regions, which include the eastern, north

central, northern, south central, southeastern and southwestern parts of the state.

According to the Labor Department, “all seven MSAs in Idaho experienced average wages increase of more than $1 in 2022 compared with 2021. The Coeur d’Alene MSA saw the largest average hourly wage increase of $1.90 from 2021 to 2022.”

Southwestern Idaho, which includes the largest urban centers in the state, reported the highest average hourly wage in 2022, pegged at $25.29, and the highest median wage at $19.83 per hour. The lowest median wage was in southeastern Idaho, with $18.33 per hour.

Idaho’s minimum wage comes in at $7.25 an hour,

which is identical to the federal minimum wage, while tipped employees earn a minimum of $3.35 per hour.

The northern part of the state — consisting of Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai and Shoshone counties — trails the overall state for hourly wages, reporting an average hourly wage of $23.87 across all occupational categories. That amounts to a mean annual income of $49,642, compared to $51,351 per year statewide.

The top five wage-earning occupations in the northern labor region included:

•general internal medicine physicians, earning an average of $248,278 per year;

•family medicine physicians,

with $246,866 per year;

•chief executives, with $168,350 per year;

•dentists, with $140,018 per year; and

•pharmacists, with $130,867 per year.

The bottom five wage-earning occupations in the region included:

•fast food and counter works, earning an average yearly wage of $24,928 per year;

•dining room and cafeteria attendants, as well as bartender helpers, with $24,851 per year;

•bartenders, with $24,730 per year;

•restaurant, lounge and coffee shop hosts and hostesses, with $24,604 per year; and

•sports officials such as umpires, referees and others, with $18,481 per year.

Occupations earning roughly the statewide average in North Idaho included community and social services workers; computer-controlled tool programmers; graphic designers; real estate sales agents; and child, family and school social workers.

The Occupational Employment and Wages Statistics survey includes both hourly and yearly data on mean, median, entry level, 10th and 25th percentile wages for more than 400 occupations throughout the state.

Find the report at lmi.idaho. gov and the searchable database at https://lmi.idaho.gov/data-tools/oews.

Volunteers work on the Watershed Crest Trail in 2015. Photo by John Monks.

Engelhardt appointed Bonner County assessor

BOCC Chairman Bradshaw calls BCRCC nomination process ‘a finger into the air’ to taxpayers

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff

Dennis Engelhardt became the new Bonner County assessor in a swearing in ceremony June 5. He replaces Grant Dorman, who announced in early May that he would resign only five months into his first term due to health concerns.

The Bonner County Republican Central Committee accepted applications to fill the role and nominated three candidates to send to the Bonner County commissioners for a final vote, per Idaho Code, since Dorman ran and won as a Republican in 2022.

Engelhardt is a retired sheriff’s captain and U.S. marine who ran unsuccessfully for assessor in

2018. The commissioners confirmed his appointment with a 2-1 vote on June 1, choosing him over fellow BCRCC nominees Thomas Brown and Dan Rose.

Engelhardt, Brown and Rose all interviewed for the assessor seat during a public meeting May 30, during which attendees — including elected officials and Assessor’s Office staff members — repeatedly pointed out that the candidates lacked any experience with appraisal. That became a sticking point for many observers who criticized the BCRCC for passing over a handful of other applicants more familiar with the job, including three employees of the Bonner County Assessor’s Office and Hal Carter of Carter Appraisals.

“Not taking anything away from the candidates, but I think the Bonner County Republican Central Committee did the entire county a disservice,” said BOCC Chairman Steve Bradshaw during

the June 1 board deliberations, later adding: “It was definitely an intentional slam to the board of commissioners, but in doing so it was also a finger into the air [to] every tax-paying citizen in Bonner County.”

BCRCC Chairman Scott Herndon, who also serves as District 1 Idaho senator, detailed his committee’s process during the June 1 meeting, and assured the commissioners that, regarding the eight assessor applicants initially considered: “We took them very seriously — I certainly did.”

“We ultimately leaned on what we perceived to be the leadership experience of the candidates that we did put on the nomination list for you — their background, their experience, their maturity,” Herndon told county commissioners.

Lake Pend Oreille School District to host hearing on 2023-’24 budget

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

Also during the open comment portion of the June 1 deliberations, Dorman encouraged his staff to “be brave” and “speak freely” about their preference for his replacement. Seven staff members spoke, expressing mixed support for both Engelhardt and Brown.

Commissioners Luke Omodt and Bradshaw ultimately voted to appoint Engelhardt as the new Bonner County assessor, while Commissioner Asia Williams voted against, stating she preferred Brown for the position based on endorsements from both current Assessor’s Office personnel and her District 2 constituents.

Engelhardt assumed the role June 5, but will need to run for election in 2024 to maintain office.

Meanwhile, state officials haggle over funding formulas for Idaho schools

Board of trustee members for the Lake Pend Oreille School District will hold a public hearing Tuesday, June 13, parsing through the 2023-’24 fiscal year budget at the Pend Oreille Events Center (401 Bonner Mall Way).

The hearing will begin at 5 p.m., while copies of the proposed, tentative budget document will be available for inspection at the LPOSD office (901 N. Triangle Drive, in Ponderay) from 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday-Friday until the meeting date, and will be available at the hearing.

According to the draft budget summary, the proposed total for LPOSD maintenance operations in 2023-’24 is $45,454,827, up from $40,866,262 in 2022-’23.

That includes $31,288,752 in state tax revenue; $13,252,455 in local revenue; $175,000 in transfers and $62,000 in other local funding.

The largest line items among expenses is $26,660,340 in salaries and $10,707,772 in benefits — up from just more than $23 million in salaries and $9.3 million in benefits in 2022-’23. Purchased services amount to $3 million, while supplies and materials run to nearly $2.4 million. Other costs include $1 million in transfers and indirect cost; $871,489 in capital outlay; $395,824 for insurance and judgements; and $389,231 in the contingency reserve.

Maintenance and operations fund figures include the $12.7 million supplemental levy, made permanent by 51.3% of voters in 2019.

While state funding has increased, the issue has been a political football in recent years — ramping up with vigor during the past legislative session and, in particular, since late May in a tussle over funding formulae.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little has championed big investments in Idaho education, which, while representing the largest single

piece of the state budget, is still consistently ranked at or near the bottom nationally for school spending. To help correct that, and stem a continuing flow of teachers away from Idaho in search of better pay in surrounding states, Little supported K-12 budget bills in the 2023 Legislature that teed up a total of $381 million to flow into education coffers.

However, according to a May 31 report from Boise-based IdahoEdNews.org, opposition is mounting to a potential $115 million cut to K-12 funding that would reduce Little’s “promise” to add $330 million to K-12 funding in the coming fiscal year, beginning July 1.

Grassroots nonprofit organization Reclaim Idaho and its supporters statewide circulated a petition critical of a move by Little and lawmakers that reversed a policy put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic that pegged education dollars to the number of students enrolled in school.

Rather, the current formula

allocates monies based on attendance by students, which Idaho Ed News pointed out, is “an inherently smaller number than overall student enrollment.”

According to a spokesperson from the governor’s office, Little “believes education should be in-person and student-focused in order to improve student outcomes.”

If Idaho school funding is tied to attendance, Reclaim Idaho, policy observers and many education officials around the state fear that “$115 million is on the chopping block,” Idaho Ed News reported. However, Reclaim Idaho co-founder Luke Mayville, originally of Sandpoint, said May 30 that if attendance hits the 90% range, it would mean $100 million for school funding, though those dollars would flow into a stabilization fund.

“It’s being held back,” Idaho Ed News quoted Mayville. “This pot of money does not do any good for Idaho students if it does not go out to the school districts.”

Reclaim is widely regarded as being instrumental in getting the historic education funding package through the 2023 Legislature — fronting a voter initiative that called for $330 million in tax increases on the highest-earning tax filers in the state, with proceeds benefiting K-12 education. Before the measure could land on the ballot, however, Little called lawmakers into session for one day only in September 2022 to hammer out a $650 million tax reduction and $410 million for ed funding — that number including the $330 million called for by Reclaim to benefit K-12 instruction. Reclaim then suspended its initiative.

While the wrangling over education budgets continues at the state level, members of the public in the Lake Pend Oreille School District are invited to submit written comments on the 2023-’24 proposed appropriations by emailing LPOSD Board Clerk Kelly Fisher at kelly.fisher@lposd.org.

Dennis Engelhardt.

Photo by Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey.

Proposed gas station at Dufort and Vay roads headed to BOCC for a second time

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff

A rezone proposal for a gas station and other amenities to be built at the intersection of Dufort and Vay roads, southeast of Priest River, will go before the Bonner County commissioners for a second time on Wednesday, June 14, after the previous board remanded the file back to the Planning Department in December 2022, encouraging the property owners to also file for a Comprehensive Plan map amendment and to be more detailed in their plans for the site.

Property owners Sean and Laura Hammond, of Priest River, are applying for a Comp Plan map amendment from Rural Residential to Neighborhood Commercial and a zone change from Rural-5 to Rural Service Center on about 12 acres just south of Willow Bay Resort.

Application documents show plans for a gas station, convenience store, boat storage and five residential lots of approximately one-acre each on the property.

According to the amendment application narrative, written by Jeremy Grimm of Whiskey Rock Planning + Consulting on behalf of the Hammonds, growth at Willow Bay Resort and the surrounding neighborhood has made it so “many area residents and visitors demand a variety of commercial retail services including gas/fuel sales

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:

By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist

which currently are unavailable in the area.”

“Without a successful Comprehensive Plan map amendment and subsequent rezone to Rural Service Center, it is impossible to provide retail services to the local residents and tourists who flock to the area,” Grimm wrote.

While the application narrative argued that the map amendment and rezone are in accordance with the goals and objectives of the county’s Comp Plan, members of the Bonner County Planning Commission found March 21 that the file did not align with several elements, including property rights, economic development, community design, public services and land use.

The recommendation to deny the Comp Plan map amendment will now go to the board of Bonner County commissioners for a final decision at the June 14 planning hearing, which will be held at 1:30 p.m. at the Bonner County Administration Building (1500 U.S. Hwy. 2 in Sandpoint). Also at that hearing, the BOCC will consider the rezone for the same property, which is the file previously approved by the Bonner County Zoning Commission in October 2022 but subsequently remanded back to planning staff by the board in December.

To view the map amendment application, as well as an aspirational site plan map, go to bonnercountyid.gov/ FileAM0002-23. The rezone application can be viewed at bonnercountyid.gov/ FileZC0012-22.

No party got everything they wanted, The New York Times pointed out, but a debt ceiling deal passed the House and Senate, and was signed by President Joe Biden. Republicans said they would not raise the debt ceiling, which could have resulted in the nation’s first-ever default on bills already approved, unless their demands were met. Those demands would have diminished most of Biden’s accomplishments. Bipartisan support dodged that scenario and avoided financial collapse.

In the House, 149 Republicans and 165 Democrats voted “yes” to raising the debt limit, while 71 Republicans and 46 Democrats were opposed. In the Senate, 44 Democrats, 17 Republicans and two independents voted “yes,” while four Dems, 31 Republicans and one independent voted “no.”

to resumption of student loan payments; food instability will increase for some; weaker government spending will lead to a trickle down of an estimated 150,000 fewer jobs by year’s end; and the spending cap would reduce economic growth by 0.3% next year. But, said a former Federal Reserve economist, all that “pales in comparison to the global catastrophe” that could have occurred without a debt ceiling deal.

Ironically, Congress just passed an increase in Pentagon spending. A recent 60 Minutes documentary laid out the case for examining ways that military contractors can profit by both tax breaks and product price-gouging when contracting with the Pentagon. This has led to the reintroduction of the “People Over the Pentagon Act,” which would shave funds from the Pentagon’s budget and invest it in nurses, teachers, Head Start and household renewable energy.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, another 339,000 jobs were added in May.

A parent’s complaint about violent and vulgar content in the Bible led to a Salt Lake City school district removing the book from its elementary and middle schools, the AP reported.

Garfield

Bay Park to see grant-funded improvements

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff

The Bonner County commissioners on May 30 unanimously approved accepting a grant from the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation to fund improvements to Garfield Bay Park in Sagle.

The grant would pay for new picnic tables, benches and fencing at the park, which is adjacent to the Garfield Bay Campground and open from the weekend prior to Memorial Day to the weekend after Labor Day.

IDPR has pledged $30,600 in funds to the project, and the grant requires a $7,100 match from Bonner County.

“About half of that [match] is in cash and the other half is in labor,” Bonner County Recreation Director Pete Hughes told commissioners May 30.

During public comment, Deputy Prosecutor Bill Wilson commended Hughes for his work to improve the site.

“Those picnic tables out there are pretty tough to sit on right now,” Wilson said. “They’ve been out there a long, long time.”

Also at the May 30 meeting, Hughes received unanimous approval to request $116,200 in reimbursable funds from IDPR in relation to a Waterways Improvement Fund grant for the county’s Lakeview breakwater repair project, which Hughes said is now complete.

The final deal: the $31.4 trillion borrowing limit was extended until early 2025, and federal spending was cut by $1.5 trillion over a decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That would be accomplished by freezing some spending, limiting spending to 1% growth in 2025; reducing promised funds for IRS updates and catching wealthy tax cheats; pulling back unspent COVID-19 relief funds and ending the student loan repayment freeze. Hard right-wing Republicans wanted deeper spending cuts. Meanwhile, Democrats were alarmed by cuts that will affect environmental protections, food benefits and the IRS.

According to the CBO, food benefit spending will actually increase by $2.1 billion, since it will embrace the needs of veterans and the homeless. Also, the CBO stated that Republican-initiated cuts to the IRS will cause a loss in revenue and increase the deficit by $19 billion.

Had there been no bipartisan effort to address the possibility of a default, Biden said “America’s standing as the most trusted, reliable financial partner in the world would have been shattered.” As well, “It would have taken years to climb out of that hole.”

According to experts consulted by The Washington Post, the debt ceiling deal does little to balance the budget; 43 million will take a financial “hit” due

Blast from the past: President John F. Kennedy’s American University speech, in June 1963, not long after the Cuban Missile Crisis, moved the world away from nuclear catastrophe. The speech called for peace, rather than an arms race. JFK proposed a nuclear test ban treaty, preceded by discussions, in Moscow, with the U.S. and Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev. The Soviet press, which usually suppressed American news, published the speech. JFK’s military leaders, who frequently wanted to use atomic weapons for conflicts around the world, were rebuffed by the president. That forced him to secretly reach out to Khrushchev; both leaders discovered they felt boxed in by their country’s military leaders, who wanted confrontations that would have led to catastrophe. Khrushchev convinced Cuban leader Fidel Castro that JFK could be trusted, and Castro cautiously explored how to proceed. He and JFK were due to meet for discussions, but the president was assassinated first.

More than 66,000 Idahoans who had pandemic-era protections are losing Medicaid

Tens of thousands of people aren’t responding, after three years of automatic Medicaid coverage

By Audrey Dutton Idaho Capital Sun

More than 66,000 people are set to lose Idaho Medicaid coverage, as the state undertakes a major review of eligibility following the end of the national public health emergency during the COVID-19 pandemic.

That’s about 73% of the people whose Medicaid reviews Idaho has completed so far. The state has about 62,500 more reviews to complete. If the trend continues, more than 100,000 people who had Idaho Medicaid this spring would lose health coverage — unless they get private health insurance, try to re-enroll in Medicaid or obtain coverage some other way.

To lose Medicaid, those Idahoans either didn’t submit paperwork to prove their eligibility, or the state reviewed their cases and found they didn’t meet criteria.

Tens of thousands who are losing health coverage were deemed ineligible after not responding to renewal notices.

State health officials knew at the start of the review that low-income Idahoans could lose Medicaid coverage — even though they still qualify — because they didn’t receive, read, understand or respond in time to notifications.

The department this week added as “ineligible” the Idahoans who never responded to notices to reapply for Medicaid — a group that numbers in the tens of thousands, based on a comparison of the data published June 5 and previous tallies.

Last week, the state reported having reviewed the eligibility of 58,743 people on Idaho Medicaid. It determined that about 23,500 of those people could stay on Medicaid and about 35,200 could not, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s weekly data.

The count June 5 showed 91,350 reviews processed, with 25,070 Idahoans are eligible and — now including those who didn’t respond to notifications — 66,280 are ineligible to stay on Idaho Medicaid.

Idaho Medicaid is a state-run but mostly federally funded program that pays for health care for low-income Idahoans of all ages.

During the COVID-19 public health emergency, Medicaid cover-

age was largely frozen in place — as officials sought to ensure people could seek health care. As the U.S. neared the end of the emergency this year, Medicaid officials across the country prepared to start reviewing whether people with pandemic-era uninterrupted Medicaid coverage are actually still eligible for it.

Idaho planned to notify about 20,000 Medicaid households each month that it was time to reapply for coverage — from early 2023 through this fall.

Risk of losing Idaho Medicaid in error

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimated that more than 17.4% of Americans would be removed from Medicaid as states undertook these reviews.

But the department estimated that only about half of those dropped from Medicaid would lose coverage because they were no longer eligible — having moved to another state or gotten a higher paying job, for example. The rest — about 8% of the people on Medicaid — would lose coverage “despite still being eligible,” according to the department’s estimates.

That means several thousand Idahoans could lose Medicaid coverage when they still qualify for it — after missing a deadline to fill out paperwork or not seeing a notice from the state, for example.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare anticipated this.

“We recognize that during the [COVID-19 emergency], there has been minimal or no contact with many participants for an extended period, as many have not completed a renewal for their Medicaid coverage,” the department said in its plan for the mass Medicaid review.

“Because of this, there is a significant risk participants who would otherwise be eligible may lose their Medicaid coverage [because] they have a new address or they have not updated other contact information since their last renewal” which, for most people, was more than three years ago.

The department’s strategy to make sure low-income eligible Idahoans don’t lose health coverage included creating “a dedicated unit to process contact information changes” and making “a good-faith effort to contact an individual” using more

than one means of communication before terminating their coverage based on the department’s mailed notice being returned to sender.

“How much this will impact Idaho Medicaid participants will not be fully known until we begin processing annual renewals during the unwinding period,” the department said in its unwinding plan.

A recent study of Medicaid data from Minnesota found that, when the state removed people from Medicaid after eligibility reviews, about half of them remained uninsured six months later and “a substantial share” had resumed their Medicaid coverage within one year.

“Many enrollees failed to seamlessly transition to new coverage, and a meaningful share of disenrollment may have been among enrollees who were eligible for Medicaid or experienced short-term changes in eligibility that did not persist for a full year,” the study authors wrote. “These transitions incur administrative costs for states and can disrupt access to care.”

Medicaid enrollees who are children, Latino, Black, female and in poverty are those most likely to lose coverage even though they’re still eligible, according to the federal predictions.

Removing children from Medicaid can be especially costly. A study of Phoenix-area health care claims, published in 2007 in the medical journal Pediatrics, found that removing 10% of children from Medicaid drove up health care costs by about $2,000 per child — not just for the child, but for the community as a whole.

Who qualifies for Medicaid in Idaho now?

Since Idaho’s expanded Medicaid took effect, following a ballot measure in 2018, the health care safety-net program has been available to all adults and children who meet income criteria and/or have disabilities.

The number of Idahoans on Medicaid grew in the past three

years as people continued to join the program — but few people were dropped from the program each month.

Idaho Medicaid enrollment peaked at nearly 450,000 people this year — gaining about 150,000 people since March 2020, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

The department is now about one-third of the way through reviewing, one-by-one, whether 153,857 of those individuals are still eligible for Medicaid.

Those who were about to lose their Medicaid coverage were directed to another option: Your Health Idaho, the state’s health insurance exchange where middle-income Idahoans can purchase private insurance plans with federal subsidies.

This story was produced by Boise-based nonprofit news outlet the Idaho Capital Sun, which is part of the States Newsroom nationwide reporting project. For more information, visit idahocapitalsun.com.

Culvert failure on Dufort Road

A culvert located at the 5700 block of Dufort Road, near Lakeshore Drive, failed on June 4, necessitating major road work in the area for an indeterminate amount of time.

According to Bonner County Road and Bridge Operations Coordinator Autumn Inman, “there was no warning for this failure and we have reports of residents in the area as late as Saturday evening that say everything looked fine.”

As of June 6, an opening in the road had to be excavated to mitigate flooding. The county is currently weighing its options for repair, including a possible replacement culvert or a bridge. Traffic is being rerouted entirely during the closure, seeing as there is no way around the damaged portion of Dufort.

“We are meeting with all resources available to formulate a plan for the repairs,” Inman told the Reader

“The rising lake is complicating this plan immensely. As soon as we have figured out the best way to proceed we will post an update with a better timeline for the road to reopen.”

Updates are being posted to the “Bonner County Road & Bridge” Facebook page.

— Words by Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey.

— Photos courtesy Bonner County Road & Bridge Facebook.

A mountain of news

Colorado-based Alterra Mountain Company announces plan to purchase Schweitzer

By Zach Hagadone and Ben Olson Reader Staff

Sandpoint experienced one of its biggest news days in decades June 1, when Denver-based snowsports goliath Alterra Mountain Company announced it had moved to acquire Schweitzer for an undisclosed sum, making the area’s signature ski resort one of 17 year-round mountain properties owned by the company in the U.S. and Canada. The deal is pending regulatory approvals and other conditions, and expected to close later in 2023.

Schweitzer President and CEO Tom Chasse, who has led the mountain since 2006, explained in a statement posted June 1 to Facebook that the acquisition follows the decision by Seattle-based MKM Trust — which has been the owner/developer of Schweitzer for the past 18 years — to sell its resort operations and Mountain Utility Company while retaining non-ski operations and real estate holdings, including future real estate development.

“Since the early 2000s, MKM Trust has been instrumental in Schweitzer becoming one of the region’s top ski destinations, investing over $100 million in capital to help fortify itself as a premier destination in the Pacific Northwest,” Chasse wrote.

“With room for growth and

plans for future expansion and development, MKM’s decision to exit the mountain resort business puts Schweitzer in a favorable position to begin a new chapter with Alterra at the helm,” he added.

Schweitzer’s association with Alterra dates back to 2021, when the resort became an Ikon Pass partner, giving pass holders access to a number of other Alterra-owned destinations throughout North America. News of the purchase made waves across the ski industry, with observers noting that Alterra taking over Schweitzer “will reverberate across the megapass wars,” according to an article posted June 1 on stormskiing.com, referring to the long-running competition between Alterra and fellow Colorado-based resort conglomerate Vail Resorts, which through their Ikon and Epic passes, respectively, have “effectively turned the ski industry into a duopoly,” Powder Magazine reported in 2018.

In separate statements, both Chasse and Alterra officials assured passholders that no changes to the Ikon Pass are in the offing at this time for the 2023-’24 winter season, and Schweitzer Communications Manager Taylor Prather told the Reader in an interview June 5 that the mountain looks at daily lift ticket prices each year depending on the number of skier visits and budgetary goals, and so

hasn’t released lift ticket prices for 2023-’24 yet. Meanwhile, no immediate changes are in the works for lifetime passes, either.

“As far as it goes right now, lifetime passes will be honored,” Prather said. “This won’t change, whether you’ve received it or are racking up the years to receive the lifetime pass, the access remains the same … We know the news [of the sale] came the day after season pass buy-in, so we understand there are probably a lot of concerns that came along with that, but as it is right now, nothing changes with our Schweitzer season passes. If you’re an Ikon passholder, you’re going to have that same five-day and seven-day access as you did last season and seasons prior.”

What’s next?

According to Prather, Schweitzer’s many projects will continue once the Alterra deal closes, including the Schweitzer Creek Village, which is the name of the mountain’s new arrival zone, as well as its workforce housing developments.

Prather said that the Musical Chairs lift has already been decommissioned and removed, and crews are working on replacing it with a high-speed quad lift to be named Creekside. Schweitzer will install a skier access bridge downhill from the former loading zone of Musical Chairs, which

will provide entry to the new parking and staging area, as well as the village.

“For next season, the new lift will be ready,” Prather said. With the creation of the new arrival zone at Schweitzer, which will be accessible near the roundabout before the village, Prather said another 1,400 parking spaces will be added.

“For now, existing parking lots will stay as is,” she said. “Obviously one of the pinch points as far as guest experience is concerned, driving up the road and running out of parking is not an ideal start to your ski day, and so that is our primary focus, to be able to add parking.”

Next season, those parking at the Lakeview and Gateway lots will be able to access the village by walking up the hill, as usual, but those parking at the lower Fall Line Lot will instead ski over the access bridge and catch the highspeed quad up to the village.

Summer operations will begin on Schweitzer starting Friday, June 16, with the first event being Community Day on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 18 from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. The lifts will be open, food and drink vendors will be on site, as well as arts and crafts and plenty of village activities. One hundred percent of proceeds from $10 lift tickets will benefit the Bonner County Human Rights

Task Force.

“Not much is expected to change,” Prather said. “This is the beginning of a transition and the deal hasn’t been closed yet. As we navigate that, we want to stay in touch with our community and our stakeholders to understand what their concerns are. … This is going to be an ongoing process and big change for everybody, but we’ll navigate it the best we can. We’re always open to answering questions and addressing concerns.”

Chasse will remain as president and CEO of Schweitzer, continuing his role overseeing daily operations and future capital improvement plans, including the buildout of the Schweitzer Creek Village base area, which will eventually feature a new day lodge “and other skier amenities,” according to Alterra.

In Chasse’s statement, he underscored that, “Alterra intends to keep our entire Schweitzer team in place and is committed to retaining our mission, our values, our brand, and our unique and funky culture.”

Prather agreed: “Alterra’s focus is not on development; it’s very much on the ski experience. There’s obviously going to be some element of change and growth, but that’s already what’s been happening at Schweitzer under MKM over the last 20 years.”

< see SCHWEITZER, Page 9 >

The Schweitzer Bowl at Schweitzer, as seen from an aerial drone. Schweitzer courtesy photo.

Who is Alterra?

For being a relative newcomer on the destination mountain scene, Alterra Mountain Company has grown ferociously since its creation as a joint venture between Denver-based KSL Capital Partners and Chicago-based Henry Crown and Company — the former being majority owner.

Alterra had its origins when KSL and Crown purchased publicly traded Intrawest Resorts for $1.5 billion in April 2017, which brought with it ownership of Steamboat and Winter Park Resort in Colorado, as well as Tremblant in Quebec, Canada; Blue Mountain in Ontario, Canada; Snowshoe in West Virginia; Stratton in Vermont; and heliskiing company Canadian Mountain Holidays.

That same month, the joint venture acquired Big Bear, Mammoth and June Mountain, all in California — according to a 2019 profile by “Denver’s Mile High Magazine” 5280, those purchases alone represented “three of the six most popular ski areas in the country.”

Four months later, in August 2017, KSL and Crown bought Deer Valley, in Utah, and in January 2018 unveiled the Alterra Mountain Company brand, merging the assets of Intrawest with Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows Ski Resort.

Today, Alterra’s portfolio also encompasses Palisades Tahoe and Snow Valley in California, Sugarbush in Vermont and Crystal Mountain in Washington.

As 5280 magazine put it in a November 2019 article, “Alterra has moved swiftly and decisively over the past 24 months to compete with Vail, making a point to snatch up some of the country’s most popular resorts … For riders, it essentially creates a duopoly in the American ski industry, though Alterra has been reticent to remind people of a key difference between the two: management. Unlike Vail, Alterra insists that it hasn’t — and won’t — alter its properties to match a corporate identity, instead allowing them to operate similar to how they had before the ownership change.”

Jared Smith has served as president and CEO of Alterra since August 2022, having been with the company since 2021, leading

its Resort Division. Smith came to Alterra after more than 15 years at Live Nation Entertainment, where he served as president and global chairman of Ticketmaster.

If that sounds like a lot of heavy-hitters behind Alterra, that’s because it is. And the scale and scope of the company is even bigger than that.

Powder Magazine summed up the deep well of capital behind Alterra as the product of “a private equity company and one of America’s wealthiest families.”

Majority owner KSL is a behemoth in the global travel and leisure industry, making equity, private credit and tactical opportunity investments in a staggering number of hotels, resorts, marinas, hospitality groups, health and fitness clubs, resort real estate development firms, convention centers, aviation companies and a constellation of other categories.

KSL’s investments reach from as nearby as the Hayden Lake Marina (via Southern Marinas) in North Idaho and the Davenport Hotel in Spokane (via Davidson Hospitality Group), to as far afield as resort and hotel chains with dozens of properties in places like the Maldives and Thailand; the Netherlands; the U.K.; France, Switzerland and Spain; Australia, Canada and New Zealand; Mexico; and across the U.S. from Hawaii to the Florida Keys.

According to a 2023 press release, KSL has raised about $18 billion in equity, credit and tactical opportunities funds since its founding in 2005. In a 2018 press release from Alterra, that number was pegged at $8.2 billion across debt and equity funds, meaning KSL has more than doubled the value of its funds in five years.

Meanwhile, Alterra minority owner Henry Crown and Company is a privately held investment firm named for 20th-century Chicago industrialist, financier and philanthropist Henry Crown, and founded in 1959 after the Crownheld Material Service Corporation merged with General Dynamics. Forbes listed the Crowns as No. 34 among “America’s richest families” by net worth, which as recently as 2020 was $10.2 billion, according to the media outlet.

The firm has investments and interests in publicly-traded securities, real estate, investment funds

and private operating companies in sectors including hotels, sports, technology, banking, transportation, oil and gas, cellular phones and home furnishings. The family co-owns the Rockefeller Center in New York with real estate company Tishman Speyer, and also has stakes in the Chicago Bulls and New York Yankees. At one point, between 1951 and 1961, Henry Crown even owned the Empire State Building.

In the press release announcing Alterra’s formation in 2018, Henry Crown and Company’s other assets were identified, including the Aspen Skiing Company, which owns and operates Snowmass, Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk mountains in Colorado, with Aspen Skiing Company described as “one of the Henry Crown and Company entities which owns Alterra Mountain Company.”

Prather, at Schweitzer, said rolling the mountain into a much broader portfolio of companies brings with it a number of advantages.

“It kind of creates an opportunity for us as Schweitzer employees to help Schweitzer become the best version of itself because it’s creating connections with industry professionals, and it’s opening some funds not only for on-mountain experiences, but also for giving back to our community, which is such a big part of what Schweitzer does,” she said.

Word on the street

Local reaction to news of the Alterra acquisition was as loud as it was varied. Facebook threads proliferated across regional social media groups, while individuals

filled their own feeds with thoughts on what the sale could potentially mean not only for the mountain, but the community as a whole.

“As locals, we have to ask ourselves what is it that makes or made Schweitzer mountain the place we loved to call our home mountain? Will new ownership remove those things?” local skier Grady Swain told the Reader.

“At the end of the day, Schweitzer mountain is a business and if a business isn’t growing it is dying. With the sale I believe it will be growing,” he added. “I believe the new owners have marketing leverage to bring in an unfathomable amount of skiers.”

That may or may not be for the best, Swain said.

“In my opinion, some of my favorite things about the town of Sandpoint and the local skiers at Schweitzer mountain, historically, have been the kindness, the humility, and the love for one another exuded on a daily basis,” he said. “I have watched the marketing and growth of Sandpoint drive out many of these people while simultaneously bringing in droves of people with character nothing like this. I predict a strong likelihood of the same up on the hill.”

Lenny Hess, who has skied Schweitzer for close to 60 years, took a different view.

“Overall, the experience today is vastly improved with highspeed lifts and more accessible terrain. The word of our little secret private Idaho ski hill got out years ago, and with the addition of the Ikon Pass and now the purchase by Alterra, even more visitors will come,” he said. “The

ticket prices will inevitably go up but I don’t mind since I will most likely be using the Ikon Pass at Big Sky, Alta, Jackson Hole, etc., and for a few hundred dollars more this makes it appealing since I enjoy traveling to other areas. The only constant in life is change, and we can all testify to that living in North Idaho.”

Fellow longtime Schweitzer skier and local writer Sandy Compton also noted that “things have been changing at Schweitzer since they poured the first tower base for Chair One in 1963.”

“Some people won’t like it, and many more imagine they won’t like it,” he said. “The rumor mill is running three shifts right now. All of which is really none of my business. Speculation does not equal fact. …

“The future is hard to determine,” Compton added. “It rains at Schweitzer. There are days of crud and goop and fog that horrify ‘high-society’ skiers. A day or two of nasty weather — off they go somewhere else. So, I think, for the time being, we who ride to ride, not to be part of a ‘scene,’ are still going to have the place pretty much to ourselves quite often, even though that doesn’t mean quite the same thing as it did a couple of decades ago. Except some days.

“I wish the new regime success. The mountain operation is very important to the local economy, as it was meant to become in the beginning of things. The plan seems to be working.”

< SCHWEITZER, con’t from Page 8 >

Skiers ride up the Great Escape Quad with Lake Pend Oreille in the background. Schweitzer courtesy photo.

Bouquets: GUEST SUBMISSION:

•“A very special bouquet to Dave, Kathy, Lori and the rest of the Yoke’s Bakery Department in Ponderay. You have a way of making cookies so a person really enjoys them. Thank you for the ‘special’ ones you know I enjoy. A person couldn’t ask for a friendlier, more accommodating team.”

— By Michael Harmelin

Barbs:

•Earlier this week, it was time for my annual trip to the DMV for the “trifecta,” when I have to renew registration for my truck, motorcycle and sailboat. I have enjoyed renewals obtained online in the past, but I ran short of time this year and had to get the tags in person or risk being pulled over for expired registration. This time, I came prepared. I grabbed a number from the spindle about 30 places behind the person being served. I then proceeded to do some shopping at Yoke’s and Staples, taking my sweet time. After what seemed like an hour, I returned to the DMV to discover they had only made it about 10 places in line, leaving me another 20 or so minutes until my turn. Taking my place with the rest of the miserable people sprawled out on benches and floors in that corner of the Bonner Mall, I waited another hour until my number was finally called. The DMV employees are kind, professional and good at their jobs, but due to circumstances out of their control, the wait time in the lines is unacceptable. I know there are some renewals that can be obtained online, but sometimes you just have to go into the DMV in person.

I don’t hate many things in life, but I hate going to the DMV. I wish our county commissioners and District 1 lawmakers could work with the state of Idaho and figure out a way to streamline this process, because it’s more than a little ridiculous that people have to give up three hours of their day just to renew their motor vehicle registration.

Dear editor,

How did the extremist Scott Herndon get control of the local Republican Party? He had a strategy. He found other extremists who swallowed his extremist rhetoric and they became his Republican precinct troops. They in turn created such chaos and divisiveness that the regular North Idaho Republicans resigned their precinct positions in protest. Which was exactly what extremist Herndon had planned. Then he contacted a wealthy extremist lobbying group in Nevada, McShane, LLC, and paid them $80,000 to produce and distribute thousands of dishonest and distorted postcards that lied about state Sen. Jim Woodward. The lies worked, and extremist Herndon won the Republican primary in 2022.

And now power-hungry extremist Herndon thinks he can do it again. Although this time he will not only lie about Jim Woodward, he will also lie about Rep. Mark Sauter, and anyone else who calls B.S. on his extremist and divisive agenda.

How do we stop him? The honorable and community-minded Republicans will need to take back their party. They will need to run for the Republican precinct chairs in March 2024, get elected in May 2024, and when they are in the majority they can send dangerous extremist Herndon down the road.

In the interim, honorable and honest Republicans will need to make sure they are registered and will vote in the Republican primary in May 2024. Hopefully, Sen. Jim Woodward will run in the Republican primary in 2024 and win, and extremist Herndon will go back to wherever he came from.

Steve Johnson Sagle

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is for all Americans. We now have a senator and his “platform” taking away life, liberty and pursuit of happiness for all Americans in the great state of Idaho. If one doesn’t lockstep with the ideals of the “platform,” then those people aren’t Republicans because the “platform” says so.

Who created this “platform” and what it contains? Why it’s Scott Herndon, chairperson of the Bonner County Republican Central Committee, and those people that adhere to and follow the politics and beliefs of Herndon.

A senator is supposed to represent all the people, not just his beliefs and those of his/her contingency of followers, but all the people. Scott Herndon does not represent all the people. He shoves his personal beliefs and ideologies down the throats of all Americans, he does not represent the people, but rather only those that believe as he does. And if you don’t follow his beliefs and ideologies, you are vilified, lied about and are misrepresented in such a way that only “his way is the only highway.”

Enough, get out of office and leave the majority of the good people of Idaho to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Michael Harmelin Sandpoint

takeover is happening right now in the state of Idaho and there’s nothing that these people can do about it.” In a report on Christian nationalism from the BBC published in December 2022, Foxx is quoted from his own podcast following the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, stating: “We are the Christian Taliban.”

BY THE NUMBERS

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

Dear editor, Our neighbors and residents across the country are fighting to stop a zone change and a Comprehensive Plan map amendment intended to support a spot zone which would ultimately create a commercial property use for an 11.8-acre parcel at the corner of Vay and Dufort roads. This is currently zoned R-5.

Dear editor,

I am one of “those people” who moved to Sandpoint from another state. I am not a white nationalist nor a member of the Redoubt movement and, God forbid, a member of the Taliban, as the mayor suggests. I do have many friends and none of them fit the mayor’s mold either. I do feel that if the mayor hates Sandpoint and the state of Idaho that much, the good citizens should, by all means, terminate his time remaining as mayor and assist him in moving to an area where he does feel safe. Chicago might be a good place to resettle.

Pete Merritt Sandpoint

Editor’s note: The letter-writer above is referring to a 2022 interview with a Dutch television documentary crew, in which Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad spoke about North Idaho’s long and often remarked upon history with extremist politics, including right-wing religious movements. In the piece, Rognstad described some religious fundamentalist groups moving into the region as the “American or Christian version of the Taliban.”

The interview has since sparked outrage mostly among readers of the ultra-conservative blog redoubtnews.com, which provided a link to the video in a commentary published in April. In the video, produced by the current affairs program Nieuwsuur, avowed white nationalist activist Vincent James Foxx states flatly that a “right-wing

A hearing will be held at 1:30 p.m. on June 14 at the Bonner County Administration Building, 1500 U.S. Highway 2 in Sandpoint.

Why should you care?

Are you concerned about unrestrained development, the lack of infrastructure, the aquifer, our loss of agricultural land, wildlife and the loss of our beautiful rural areas? Think about what has happened in the Rathdrum Prairie!

What you can do: Please attend the hearing in person or on Zoom and let the commissioners know you oppose the zone change, File ZC0012-22, and the Comprehensive Map Amendment, File AM0002-23, due to the harm it will cause Bonner County ‘s agricultural land, wildlife, rural lifestyle and the property rights of those who live nearby. Please ask them to deny these changes.

Upgraded infrastructure must come before more development. Our rural character needs to be saved!

Sandy Sparling Priest River

The number of Bonner County assessor finalists chosen by the Bonner County Republican Central Committee to replace Grant Dorman who have any experience in appraisal. Dorman announced his resignation in May citing health reasons. Thomas Brown, Dennis Engelhardt and Dan Rose were chosen as finalists over a handful of applicants who were more familiar with the job, including three employees of the Bonner County Assessor’s Office and another resident who ran an appraisal business. The BOCC ultimately chose Engelhardt as Dorman’s replacement.

6,000 years

The age of an ancient earth oven uncovered by the Kalispel Tribe on the banks of the Pend Oreille River near Newport, Wash.

“This is some of the oldest technology used by humans to cook food anywhere in the world,” archeology professor Shannon Tushingha told the Spokesman-Review. “And here, we have some of the oldest ovens in North America.”

525

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The approximate number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills that have been introduced in state legislatures already in 2023. More than 70 have been signed into law.

3.7 million

The approximate number of babies who were born in the U.S. last year — about 3,000 fewer than the year prior.

‘The extremist strategy’...

‘America for all the people’…

One of ‘those people,’ but not ‘one of those people’…

‘Development will disrupt rural character’...

Emily Articulated

A column by and about Millennials

A daughter’s seasons

By Emily Erickson Reader Columnist

This article talks about addiction and death. Take care and pass by if you need to.

Reflecting on a life of loving someone who struggled with addiction is a lot like looking back on seasons; clusters of months and years grouped by their shared sense of feeling, markers of his relationship with alcohol and my relationship with him.

Because this person was my dad, my earliest memories are rooted in a season of not knowing; sunny vignettes of him applying Band-Aids to my scraped knees mixing with smells of freshly mowed grass and the way his shoes turned green from the task. Blips of fights with my mom or stretches of absence registered in my consciousness, but faded away like bad dreams or monsters under the bed — made better by trips to the park and the icy gift of a blue-flavored popsicle.

This was followed by a season of awareness, a recognition of his addiction that blossomed as I did into my teenage years. I more deftly tracked the gaps between his stints of sobriety; more accurately witnessed the relationship between his behavior and my parents’ fights. But my recognition was muddled with innocence and hope; an unshakeable belief in willpower and my dad’s ability to choose me over anything else. When he’d get sober, I’d champion him. And when he’d lose sobriety, I’d pick up the pieces of my devastation, so I could be ready to hope again when he needed me.

This cycle of hope and loss

inevitably teed me up for a season of anger. Young adult black-and-white thinking framed his addiction as a rejection of me; a lifestyle choice in which he prioritized alcohol over the people he loved. It was marked by loud fights over the telephone and my own months of silence and years of absence from his life. My perspective was forged by the fire of my anger until it gave way to a clarity that no one would choose his struggle.

I finally entered my season of forgiveness; of understanding addiction as a disease, not so much a choice as a daily battle against himself. This season was marked by empathy and the creation of boundaries, allowing us to rebuild our relationship on a foundation of acceptance and love. Our cautious first steps gave way to a heavily trodden path of discovering who we could be to each other, despite his addiction.

I was deep in this last season when alcohol finally took my dad’s life, printed forever as his “reason for death” on his final documents. But, as I study the line item that is meant to be his legacy, it feels too incomplete. “Alcohol abuse” doesn’t leave room for all the other life and love that occurred amid his struggle.

It can’t account for the times he snuck me Snickers bars when my mom wasn’t looking, or the way he proudly guided me through my first cast on a little pink fishing pole. It doesn’t capture the hours I spent sitting on his lap watching cartoons, or how he cheered from the sidelines at my track meets, waiting for me with open arms and a water jug at every finish.

A death certificate can’t capture the character of a person who got third-degree burns trying to save his beloved dog from a burning building, or the way he made me pancakes, eyes glittering as we dipped our fingers in the batter. And later, when disease aged his body beyond his years, the way he summoned his energy just to take me to the movies, or the tip he insisted on leaving from money he couldn’t spare, so our Lyft driver could pick up a pizza to share with his own daughter on his way back home.

My grief for my dad is fresh and raw, and as complicated as our relationship had been. I’m angry at the addiction from which he couldn’t escape, and the mess I’m tasked with cleaning up now that he’s gone. I’m sad about all the life he missed out on living, and the rest of mine in which he won’t get to participate. I’m heartbroken that we’ll never speak again, and that the little girl who never stopped hoping has to work through this final process of letting go. I’m grateful for the woman he helped shape me into and the memories his addiction couldn’t prevent him and me from making (the real legacy that’s now mine alone to carry).

Instead of his cause of death, I want to remember his hands — strong enough to shape raw piec-

es of wood into beautiful works of art; steady enough to push a pencil into life-like sketches of his surroundings; nimble enough to plunk the strings of a guitar; and soft enough to hold his daughter’s in his own.

I want to remember him as the sum of all his parts, the person he tried to be, the person he

so often was and the person I’m proud to have called “dad.” And now, I will.

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

Retroactive

Emily Erickson.

Science: Mad about

great basin bristlecone pines

By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist

This hot take might prompt a few angry letters to the editor: California gets a bad rap. Think what you will about its politics, but the natural wonders of the state are undeniably special and awe inspiring.

Last year, I spent a few hours walking among the redwoods. It was a transcendental experience, walking between towering giants whose lives began as seedlings around the time our species was inventing paper. The peace and serenity found at the heart of the Ossagon trail was something more people should truly experience to bring themselves back to the roots of what it means to be human.

California is home to a number of incredible trees, from the Sierra redwoods to the colossal sequoias to the topic of today’s article: the Great Basin bristlecone pine.

The Great Basin bristlecone pine, Pinus longaeva, might not look like much when comparing it to the massive redwoods and sequoias, but it is a unique addition to the mountainscapes of California, Nevada and Utah. It’s a notably ugly tree, often appearing gnarled and wreathed in dense, long-dead bark with small tufts of fresh growth emerging from the crevices. You’d be forgiven for passing this tree without so much as a second thought.

The longevity of these trees, referenced in its scientific name, is what makes them truly special. The oldest recorded bristlecone pine, named Methuselah, is confirmed to be at least 4,854 years old. This makes Methuselah the

oldest non-clonal organism on Earth. You might be wondering what that means.

Clonal organisms are able to reproduce by cloning themselves. A perfect example of this is Pando, one of the oldest and heaviest living organisms on Earth. Pando is a colony of quaking aspen trees in Utah. At a glance, it’s easy to think that this is simply a forest of trees, but they’re all connected by a single root structure. Pando has been growing and sprouting clones of itself for the past 14,000 years, replacing dead trees with fresh ones from the same core roots.

This is fairly common in the plant world, and a trait that humans have adopted for their own benefit in agriculture. Seedless grapes cannot reproduce, as they are by definition seedless. There are two methods for growing new seedless grape plants that use a very similar function. One method is to trim a limb from an established but dormant plant, wrap it in damp paper towels and plastic bags, and leave it in a warm place over the winter. Closer to spring, you can unwrap the cuttings and see a chalky powder growing near the base of the cutting, and maybe even some roots. You can plant these and grow a clone of the parent plant. There are a number of books on how to do this in more detail at the library.

Another process similar to cloning is grafting. This is when you carve a notch into an established plant and take a cutting from the plant you wish to propagate. Put these two together and seal them up, and with a little luck the plant should graft to the host. This is extremely common in orchards to fast-track the fruiting process.

The Great Basin bristlecone pine is neither of these things. The tree harbors some secrets for tapping into near-immortality. The biggest secret is the climate in which it lives. These pines live high on mountains, where the air remains colder than you’d expect in a place like the Golden State. This reduces a number of issues that trees in more temperate climates face, including insects, rot, mold and other plants. All of these together reduce the likelihood of the pines facing the biggest threat to California’s trees: fire.

Another secret to the pine’s longevity is its extremely slow growth. While the tree reaches maturity after two years, which is uncharacteristically rapid for most pines, it grows very slowly and creates thick layers of dense wood to shield its core from the elements. Interestingly, the outer portions of the tree dying and hardening are also a part of the tree’s survival mechanism. It effectively builds armor, then stops delivering energy and resources to those outer portions to help sustain itself.

This slow-growth and longevity is on full display in the tree’s needles, which are kept alive longer than the leaves and needles of every other tree in the world. Recent projections suggest that these needles remain active for up to 40 years. This allows the tree to devote relatively few resources to the needles by not having to cycle them regularly like our local ponderosa pine trees.

Finally, one of the most amazing things about this tree is the very thing that it’s named for: its cones. The bristly cones go through a colorful transformation, beginning as bright red

conical pollen buds that slowly transform into a deep purple pod before shifting into a spiky scaled brown cone that looks fairly similar (to the untrained eye) to the cone of a ponderosa pine.

You may be wondering how we deduce the age of these trees, and worry about some strongarmed lumberjack felling trees

as old as human civilization just to count the rings. Don’t worry, scientists have a specialized boring tool that can dig a long sample from the tree that allows them to count the rings without doing irreparable damage to the plant. It’s not much different from going to the doctor and getting a biopsy.

Stay curious, 7B.

Corner

• Trifolium repens is the scientific name for genuine lucky clovers, which usually have three leaves but can sometimes mutate and grow additional leaves.

•There are copycat plants that resemble the four-leaf clover, including water clover, pepperwort and oxalis, all of which have four leaves and could pass as the lucky variety.

•So-called four-leaf clovers can often have many more leaves than four when mutated. In 2009, Shigeo Obara found a clover with a whopping 56 leaves, the most ever recorded.

•For the pagan Celts, each leaf of a four-leaf clover had significance. The first leaf symbolized fame, the second stands for wealth, the third was love and the fourth brought health. Other Irish legends say that finding a clover with five leaves brings money, six brings fame and seven means you’ll have a long life.

•As Christianity became the dominant organized religion in the

global West, the four leaves of a “lucky” clover came to represent Christian virtues of hope, faith, charity and luck.

•The Guinness World Record holder for the largest four-leaf clover collection is Gabriella Gerhardt, who set a record of 118,791 clovers on Feb. 25, 2023. Gerhardt also holds world records for most fourleaf clovers found in one hour (451) and the most four-leaf clovers found in eight hours (887).

•A study by Swiss researchers found the odds of collecting a four-leaf clover is around one in 5,000. Four-leaf clovers are so rare because every cell in a clover has four chromosome copies. Therefore, for the mutation to occur, each chromosome copy must contain the four-leaf genetic trait, as the gene is recessive.

•President Abraham Lincoln reportedly carried a four-leaf clover everywhere (except, perhaps, the Ford’s Theatre on April 15, 1865).

A broken promise to our kids

By Rep. Lauren Neochea, D-Boise Reader Contributor

We made a promise to our schools when the Idaho Legislature enacted House Bill 1, a $330 million school funding boost last fall. No one could seriously argue against the dire urgency. On top of a $1 billion backlog in school facilities needs, schools were struggling with basic operations, and low salaries led to vacancies and disruptive turnover. At the same time, Reclaim Idaho’s pending ballot initiative to boost school funding finally had Republican lawmakers’ backs up against the wall. Idaho Democrats were thrilled to finally address school investment.

Idahoans overwhelmingly backed this move, with 80% supporting an advisory question on the November 2022 ballot. Unfortunately, rather than protecting and expanding learning opportunities for the coming year, many of our schools and districts are now considering layoffs and other cost-cutting measures because of an

unfair and outdated funding formula.

School leaders expect a funding reduction of $140 million, meaning they will receive a little more than half the boost they were promised.

Idaho is one of a handful of states that calculates school funding on average daily attendance instead of more reliable measurements like enrollment. Widely

considered to be the most inequitable way of calculating funding, average daily attendance often undercounts enrollment, particularly for students with the most challenges.

While this funding formula has long been a problem, the COVID-19 pandemic amplified it by causing severe volatility in attendance. Recognizing this, the Idaho Board of Education wisely voted to switch to enrollment-based funding. But, this temporary rule change is set to expire at the end of the school year.

The return to attendance-based funding means schools will lose millions of dollars. Idaho’s largest district, West Ada, will have $18 million less than expected. Districts will have to scramble to manage these shortfalls and learning opportunities will suffer. For example, funds earmarked to increase wages for teachers and paraprofessionals or expand career technical programs may be redirected to cover basic operating expenses like utilities.

In a news interview, Twin Falls School District Superintendent Brady Dickson warned, “For most districts around the

state, they’re gonna have to reduce staff.”

This didn’t have to happen. During the 2022 legislative session, all Democratic legislators — along with a number of Republicans — voted to extend enrollment-based funding through the coming year. The legislation also called for an interim committee to explore a permanent solution for funding calculations. Frustratingly, Gov. Brad Little vetoed the bill, despite pleas from teachers, school boards and the public.

While the nuances of school funding are complex, the bottom line is that schools deserve reliable adequate funding. Without action, the positive effects of HB 1 will be severely diminished and our promise to Idaho’s children will go unfulfilled.

Rep. Lauren Necochea is the House assistant Democratic leader, representing District 19 in Boise on the Commerce and Human Resources; Environment, Energy and Technology; Revenue and Taxation; and Ways and Means committees.

Rep. Lauren Necochea. File photo.

The misinformation campaign by voucher supporters

Attacks on competent, pro-education lawmakers are deceptive

By Rod Gramer Reader Contributor

A sure sign the politics of Idaho have changed for the worse is when attacks on good legislators begin weeks after the Legislature adjourns and a full year before the next election. That’s what is happening in our state right now.

Billboards have surfaced like weeds in Canyon County attacking Rep. Julie Yamamoto, chair of the House Education Committee, and in Moscow attacking Rep. Lori McCann, vice chair of the House Education Committee and also a board member of Idaho Business for Education.

The Moscow billboard accuses Rep. McCann of “failing to support our children.” In large letters against a pinkish background, it asks, “WILL YOU HELP?” Then it urges someone to “apply now to be a candidate for District 6.”

The billboard attacking Rep. Yamamoto is a carbon copy of the one attacking McCann and accuses the lifelong educator of not supporting children and urges someone

to run against her in District 11.

Both billboards send a clear message that would-be candidates would have support if they decided to run against Yamamoto and McCann.

So, why would these two legislators who voted for every bill that strengthens

public education and supports Idaho’s 300,000 public school students be attacked for supposedly not supporting young people? Because Yamamoto and McCann had the temerity to oppose efforts to use taxpayers’ dollars to support private and religious schools at the expense of our public schools.

These billboards are sponsored by a pro-voucher group called Citizens Alliance of Idaho. The Alliance is one of nearly 14 groups — many from out of the state — urging lawmakers to pass a voucher-like program to support private and religious schools.

The Citizens Alliance of Idaho spent $354,000 to elect voucher-friendly legislators in Idaho last year. Of that, $150,000 came from the Ohio-based Citizens Alliance Super PAC. Additionally, Doyle Beck and Bryan Smith, who serve on the board of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, tossed in another $30,000 each to finance the Alliance.

Meanwhile, another out-of-state privatization group, the American Federation for Children, circulated a flier in North Idaho this spring thanking Sen. Scott Herndon “for standing with Idaho’s students and parents.”

The flier, which had a return address for a suite in Dallas, Texas, claimed that “Senator Scott Herndon is putting Idaho’s Students First!”

The truth is Herndon didn’t vote for any bill that would help Idaho’s students. He voted “no” on increased funding for our public schools. “No” on increased funding for career technical education. “No” on $5 million to help students with dyslexia. “No” on funding for community colleges. “No” on funding for higher education. “No” on grants for students to attend community college or technical schools. “No” on scholarships for students to attend college.

Herndon even voted against a special appropriation to provide extra law enforcement security at the University of Idaho after four students were murdered in November 2022.

The only education bills Herndon supported were those that would send taxpayer dollars to support students who attend private and religious schools.

So much for putting students first.

It is no surprise that the American Federation for Children would distort Herndon’s record. During the 2022 Republican primary election in Idaho, AFC spent $200,000 to elect pro-privatization legislators like Herndon and another $74,000 in

the general election.

And the spending by these pro-voucher groups did not stop after the election. Of the top 10 spending organizations lobbying the 2023 Legislature, three were pro-voucher groups, including the American Federation of Children, which spent $81,000 — more than any other special interest group.

The other two were the Citizens Alliance of Idaho, which spent $36,000, and Young Americans for Liberty, which spent $59,000. By comparison, traditional Idaho interest groups, such as the Idaho Farm Bureau and Idaho Realtors, spent a mere $18,711 and $15,442, respectively.

Additionally, three of the top 10 individual spenders were pro-voucher lobbyists: Bill Phillips, American Federation for Children, $75,024; Lucious O’Dell, Young Americans for Liberty, $59,278; and Matt Edwards, Citizens Alliance of Idaho, $36,312, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

More and more interest groups like the American Federation for Children are trying to convince Idahoans what is truthful is false and what is false is truthful. That legislators like Herndon are champions of education when they are not, and pro-education legislators like Yamamoto and McCann don’t support students when they do.

In other words, what is happening to politics in Idaho is even bigger than just the issue of vouchers versus the future of public education. It is also about truth versus disinformation. It is about integrity versus deception.

Unfortunately, many Idahoans are falling for the disinformation and deception leveled against our very best lawmakers. Last year their deceptive campaigns cost many good lawmakers their seats. Now they want to defeat good people like Yamamoto and McCann with the same trickery.

If they succeed, the real losers will be the public-school students in Idaho.

The success these pro-voucher, well-funded, misinformation mongers have enjoyed only confirms what Mark Twain once observed: “A lie can travel around the world and back again while the truth is lacing up its boots.”

For the sake of Idaho’s future, we can only hope that “truth” starts lacing up its boots fast and sends these carpetbaggers back to Dallas and Ohio or wherever they came from.

Rod Gramer is president and CEO of Idaho Business for Education.

Rod Gramer. Courtesy photo.

Over the stigma and thru the woods

Local pair embarks on Pacific Northwest Trail thru-hike to raise funds for mental health services

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff

In the four years since her son, Ethan, was shot and killed by a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy, Sandpoint woman Justine Murray has not quit moving — both figuratively and literally.

In the figurative sense, Murray has been vocal since her son’s death about the lack of services available to people struggling with mental illness, largely thanks to stigma surrounding the topic.

As the mother of a child who experienced schizophrenia, addiction and homelessness, Murray has used her voice to create movement in the realm of philanthropy by starting up the Ethan Murray Fund, which aims to “empower and support individuals in need by providing financial assistance for mental health services in our local community.”

In the literal sense, Murray has been breaking trail, crossing creeks and climbing over blowdowns — navigating mountains to feel closer to Ethan, and to raise money for the fund meant to honor him.

This summer, Murray and her partner, Matt Connery, will thru-hike the Pacific Northwest Trail — 1,200 miles from the Chief Mountain Border Crossing in Glacier National Park to Washington’s Cape Alava — to raise

money for EMF.

The pair is set to begin their trek on Tuesday, June 20 and return in 70-80 days. Rather than starting at either end of the trail, Murray and Connery will tackle the PNT with what’s called the “flip-flop” method of thru-hiking: they will begin in Oroville, Wash., hike east to Glacier National Park and, once finished with the eastern portion of the trail, return to Oroville and head west toward the Cascades.

Flip-flopping will help give them the best chance at favorable conditions related to snow, runoff and fire season, Connery said.

“We’re just splitting it in half,” he said. “It’s like we’re starting twice.”

In comparison to the Idaho Centennial Trail, which Murray and Connery thru-hiked to raise funds in 2021, they said the Pacific Northwest Trail is slightly more established.

“But don’t let that fool you — it’s not like the Appalachian or Pacific Crest [trails],” Murray said. “People who do this, who are used to those thru-hikes … to them, this can be a beast.”

As for the hardest part of that “beast” of a hike, Murray and Connery said they had a good laugh when their research revealed warnings of a particular part of the trail notorious for difficult navigation: the Selkirk Range.

“No joke,” Murray said. “You

have to bushwhack. You have to get all the way from the Priest Lake side — Lionhead — all the way to Pyramid and Ball [lakes]. It’s taken people 12-plus hours to do six miles.”

Luckily, the pair has plenty of practice in North Idaho’s harrowing hills — as well as their prior experience thru-hiking the ICT — to serve them well as they traverse the PNT. The hike is also a second chance for supporters who want to be part of a unique fundraising endeavor, as there are options to make a flat donation or donate by the mile to help the Ethan Murray Fund further its goals to make mental health resources more available for locals in need.

As for contributions, Murray said “anything counts” — from $5 to sharing the nonprofit’s social

media links.

“There is something for everyone,” she said. “If [people] feel compelled to volunteer or share something with us or spread the word — we are happy with anything.”

Recent EMF efforts have gone toward funding counseling opportunities for people who fall through gaps in the health care system; exploring the possibility of a future scholarship program for graduating students; and working with fellow nonprofit NAMI Far North to put together and donate backpack kits to the food bank to help clients experiencing homelessness.

“That is ultimately our goal,” Murray said of working with NAMI and other groups who have similar goals. “We all need to

partner together to get the important work done.”

To donate, learn more and follow along as Justine Murray and Matt Connery embark on their Pacific Northwest Trail adventure, go to ethanmurrayfund. org or visit Murray’s business, La Chic Boutique, at 107 Main St., in downtown Sandpoint. Also see updates on the nonprofit’s Instagram: @ethanmurrayfund.

Top left: Justine Murray and Matt Connery in their happy place.

Top right: From left to right: Dawn Mehra of NAMI Far North, Justine Murray of the Ethan Murray Fund and Tammie Harder of the Bonner Community Food Bank show off some of the backpack kits now available to food bank patrons. Courtesy photos.

Citizen scientists, eager educators

Pend Oreille Chapter of Idaho Master Naturalists to host Waterlife Discovery Center open house

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff

While some choose to simply enjoy the natural amenities of North Idaho, some make it their mission to work for them.

One group putting forth such effort is the Pend Oreille Chapter of Idaho Master Naturalists — a volunteer organization partnering with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to ensure those natural amenities are monitored, supported and enjoyed by all for years to come.

The chapter will host an Open House event Saturday, June 10 at the Waterlife Discovery Center (1591 Lakeshore Drive, in Sagle) from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. with the goal to introduce more community members to the facility and bring more outdoor enthusiasts into the volunteer fold.

The event will also feature a Youth Fly Fishing Clinic. However, slots for that are currently filled and a waitlist is in place. The clinic is annual, so those interested in participating next year are encouraged to pre-register early.

The Pend Oreille Chapter of IMN volunteered 3,225 hours in 2022, furthering the organization’s mission to “develop a corps of well-informed volunteers to actively work toward stewardship of Idaho’s natural environment.” Those volunteer hours, according to the group’s Communications Chair Cindy Wolcott, were spent serving as goat ambassadors at Scotchman Peak trailhead; facilitating field trips for area students; teaching kids to fish at area lakes with the help of the IDFG fishing trailer; guiding hikes at Round Lake State Park; working on the Bull River restoration project; improving area trails; partaking in stream flow studies; and running the City Nature Challenge bioblitz for Bonner

County.

Past local IMN projects have included major efforts to restore the Clark Fork Delta, collecting kokanee eggs for the Cabinet Gorge Fish Hatchery, working on citizen science projects and more.

The Pend Oreille Chapter operates out of the Waterlife Discovery Center, which is an IDFG-owned education center on 10 acres in Sagle consisting of several indoor and outdoor exhibits, as well as a signed wetland walking trail and pond. While the grounds are always open to the public, the summer Naturalist On Duty hours are Thursday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. During those times, indoor exhibits will be open and the volunteers can help guide and educate visitors.

The East Bonner County Library District’s STEM trailer will also visit the Waterlife Discovery Center on several Fridays over the summer. Dates and times are listed at ebonnerlibrary.org/events.

Those interested in the Idaho Master Naturalist program should contact IDFG’s

Sara Focht at sara.focht@idfg.idaho.gov or 208-287-2906. To stay up to date on happenings with the local Pend Oreille Chapter, find “Pend Oreille Chapter Idaho Master Naturalists” on Facebook.

Top left: The pond at the Waterlife Discovery Center. Top right: A young angler learns to fly fish at a past open house event. Above right: Idaho Master Naturalists participate in a class. Courtesy photos.

POAC announces summer adult art classes and workshops schedule

By Reader Staff

Pend Oreille Arts Council’s summer schedule of adult art workshops offers classes in a wide variety of media, all taught by accomplished artists. All class sessions are held in the Joyce Dillon Studio (110 Main St., in downtown Sandpoint).

“Back by popular demand are three favorite classes,” POAC board member and Joyce Dillon Studio Chair Jan Rust stated in a news release. “Workshops to learn how to make glass wind chimes, Kimekomi and stained-glass dragonflies are bound to be well-attended again this summer, so I recommend people sign up early.”

Rust said that a shortened version of the fall season class in pastels will also be offered, so students can fit it into their busy summer schedule.

“The ‘Urban Sketching’ class will also be returning, but it’s been redesigned to take advantage of the beautiful summer weather. Much of the drawing and painting classes will take place outside in local neighborhoods,” she said.

Brand new for the summer are two postcard classes, as well, in which students will create postcard-size watercolor paintings that can be addressed and mailed to friends and families. Also new this summer is an introduction to metalworking, with a class titled “Forging Ornate Hooks”’ and another called “Creating Copper/Metal Ladles.” Finally, organizers said, “if spending an afternoon making unique artwork out of driftwood appeals to you, you’ll want to enroll in the July class.”

Classes and workshops start in mid-June and are offered through July. For a complete schedule, and information about enrollment go to the POAC website, artinsandpoint.org, and click on “Class Catalog.”

Forging Ornate Hooks with Dave Gonzo

Saturday, June 24; 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Stained Glass Dragonfly with Patricia Barkley

Saturday, June 24; from 1-5 p.m.

Pansy Post Cards with Elizabeth Peterson

Wednesday, June 28; 9 a.m.-noon

Soft Pastel Workshop with T. Kurtz

Friday, July 7; 4-6 p.m.

Urban Sketching with Barry Burgess

Tuesday and Thursday, July 11 and 13; 8-11 a.m.

Glass Wind Chimes made from Recycled Materials with Julie Ellis

Wednesday, July 12; 1-4 p.m.

Driftwood Mixed Media with Lee Bonn

Thursday, July 13; from 1-4 p.m.

Soft Pastel Workshop with T. Kurtz

Friday, July 14; 4-6 p.m.

Creating Copper/Metal Ladles with Dave Gonzo

Saturday, July 15; 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Kimekomi with Jenni Barry

Friday, July 21; from 1- 5 p.m.

Garden Flower Postcards with Elizabeth Peterson

Wednesday, July 26; 9 a.m.-noon

Basketball School of Sandpoint to host July youth camps

By Reader Staff

Basketball School of Sandpoint will further its mission to provide the right mix of skill development and fun this summer, as the organization hosts two co-ed, five-day camps in July.

The camps are set to take place Monday, July 24-Friday, July 28 at Kootenai Elementary School, featuring two daily time slots for two age groups. While boys and girls ages 7-9 will take the court 9 a.m.-noon, kids ages 10-16 will play from 1 p.m.-4 p.m.

According to camp organizers, Basketball School of Sandpoint camps emphasize

a combination of fundamental skill building with fun and competition. Athletes will work on ball handling, passing, shooting, rebounding and defensive skills, while also being given the chance to compete in games and tournaments.

All participants will receive a BSS T-shirt, and championship trophies will also be up for grabs on the last day of camp.

The cost for the five-day camp is $110 for a single player, $210 for a pair of siblings and $310 for a trio of siblings.

Registration is available at basketballschoolofsandpoint.com. Only athletes registered by Monday, July 10 can be guaranteed a T-shirt.

PERSPECTIVES

By Mike Wagoner Reader Contributor

I can quit anytime

I’ve heard it said that it helps to admit if you’re struggling with an addiction… to be open about it… well, here goes.

It started out innocent enough, having grown tired of the same old veggie sausage or bacon in the mornings, I began to reward myself by sneaking in a little turkey product now and then, rationalizing that I was still maintaining that new what’s-happenin’-now lifestyle. Still, after a while, I found myself wanting… yearning… for something that might really light me up. I began pausing in the meat aisle from time to time, gazing at it… imagining what it might be like.

My resistance continued to wane un-

til one day… I bought some… not a lot, just a little to see what would happen. It was cool. I kept doin’ it, a little more often, increasing the dose, telling myself, “I can quit anytime if it starts to, you know, become a problem.”

Well, it’s a problem. I’ve lost control, I consume it and it consumes me most every morning. The other day, shaking hands, I looked over the packaging … there were no warnings of any kind… no suggestion that it could lead to a serious problem.

Maybe I’ll talk to a lawyer… get some financial assistance for some kind of treatment before that damn Jimmy Dean sausage ruins my life.

Five years of chivalry, honor and a good old-fashioned good time

Sandpoint Renaissance Faire returns for its fifth year

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

Prepare thyselves for Sandpoint’s annual time travel back to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, with knights roaming in search of damsels to rescue, scoundrels and court jesters wandering the grounds bringing merriment to all and sundry — and where turkey legs as big as your arm are available for a pittance.

It’s the Sandpoint Renaissance Faire, back for its fifth year on Saturday, June 10-Sunday, June 11 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Bonner County Fairgrounds. Entrance to the popular event will cost adults $16 each, while seniors and children 6-17 years can attend for $12. Those 5 and under enter free.

For Tanya Anderson, who co-founded the faire with Anita Pew, watching the event grow over the years has been exciting.

“When we first threw it, we were out in a field with just us and some costumes and a bunch of colored sheets for décor,” Anderson told the Reader. “We had 800 people interested and 1,500 people showed up. The next year, we anticipated 1,500 people and 3,000 showed up. This year, we’re estimating over 6,000 people.”

Anderson said attendance isn’t the only thing that has grown at the faire.

“Our entertainment has grown; merchants have grown,” she said. “The entire faire has become more elaborate, with more decorations, more demonstrations, more food offerings.”

The two-day event offers attendees the unique opportunity to step back in time.

with a food village set up with over a dozen vendors.

There will be performances by belly dancers, equestrian events and acrobatic displays. The Seattle Knights will bring the best of theatrical stage combat with real weapons and armor.

New this year is a twist on one of the more popular events: jousting.

“This year is the first we’re hosting a tournament-style event,” Anderson said.

Sandpoint Renaissance Faire

Saturday, June 10-Sunday, June 11; 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; $16 adult, $12 seniors and kids 6-17, kids 5 and under FREE. Bonner County Fairgrounds, 4203 N. Boyer Ave., sandpointrenfaire.com.

“Expect that you’re walking into another time and immersing yourself in another era, in this case the Renaissance era and the reign of Elizabeth the First,” Anderson said. “We want you to smell the turkey legs, to hear the music, the clinking of armor and horses’ hooves. We want every sense to be fulfilled.”

Fair-goers can pose for pictures with Queen Elizabeth I — played by Anderson — and her royal court. They can watch and participate in demonstrations on candle dipping, fighting demonstrations, forging and casting, pottery and biking demonstrations. They can listen to live music, watch demonstrations and participate in the fun.

For food, expect everything from turkey legs to kettle corn and homemade bread,

Along with jousting, the tournament will also feature skills at arms, mounted archery, mounted melee, archery, hatchet throwing, longsword and boffer sword. Each discipline will have its own bracket system and, at the end of the tournament Sunday, all points will be tallied before the announcement of a winner, who takes home a cash prize. To win the cash prize, one of the events must be equine in nature.

Artisans will also display their wares, for sale as unique gifts.

The annual Ren Faire is made possible thanks to the army of volunteers and participants, who help transform the fairgrounds from modern-day to Elizabethan times. While ticket prices help cover some costs, Anderson said members of the community have donated to help keep the faire going, and local businesses like Mr. Sub, Second Avenue Pizza and Pizza Hut have donated food to help feed the volunteers.

“It takes a lot of work to make this happen, and I’m thankful for all of our volunteers,” Anderson said. “If you can come out and check out the faire, you might enjoy yourself.”

Participants prepare for jousting at the 2022 Sandpoint Renaissance Faire. Photo by Lorna Holt Photography.

New Old Time Chautauqua brings old-timey entertainment to the Panida

By Reader Staff

The acclaimed New Old Time Chautauqua will bring its passion for preserving and celebrating the spirit of old-time music to the Panida Theater, with a performance Saturday, June 10 featuring traditional tunes and vaudeville-inspired performances from the late-19th and early-20th centuries.

Based in Seattle, the New Old Time Chautauqua re-creates the bygone cultural movement that once carried entertainment and culture through rural communities across the country — so much so, that President Theodore at the time called Chautauqua assemblies “the most American thing in America.” At various times, writers like Mark Twain and suffragette Susan B. Anthony would present lectures at Chautauqua assemblies, alongside plays and musical acts. Almost a century after the dimming of the movement during the Great Depression, The Chautauqua Institution remains active in its namesake community of Chautauqua, N.Y.

In keeping with that tradition, the New Old Time Chautauqua brings together jugglers, magicians, aerialists, humorists and hula hoopists alongside a 30-piece band of up to 70 touring members ranging in age from as young as 8 months to as old as 92.

Chautauqua will be Jim Page, named by Seattle Met magazine as “One Of The 50 Most Influential Musicians In Seattle History.” Page is a gifted guitarist and songwriter who has penned tunes for Christy Moore, Dick Gaughan, Roy Bailey, The Doobie Brothers and Michael Hedges. He’s toured withGaughan, Planxty, Leftover Salmon, and Rob Wasserman and has shared the stage with Bonnie Raitt, Donal Lunny, Barry Melton, Robert Hunter and Björn Afzelius.

Yet another featured member of the troupe is Artis the Spoonman — the most famous and creative “spoon goon” on Earth. He reached worldwide fame when Chris Cornell and Sound Gardin recorded “Spoonman” and it went to the top of the charts.

In keeping with Chautauqua’s mission to engage with the community, local musicians will join the band on stage, which will also perform at the Farmers’ Market on the day of the show.

Audience members at the Panida show can expect an evening filled with music, one-of-a-kind performances and an atmosphere that can only be described as Chautauqua.

New Old Time Chautauqua

Saturday, June 10. Doors at 6:30 p.m., show at 7 p.m.; $15-$30. Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave., 208-263-9191, get tickets at panida.org. Learn more at chautauqua.org.

A fundraiser for the Panida’s preservation and maintenance and sponsored by longtime locals Jerry and Becky Luther — who have hosted the Chautauqua group at their home in past decades — this will be the third time the group has performed at the theater since 1989, when it opened the Panida after a long renovation.

One of the main acts in the NOTC is The Flying Karamazov Brothers, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The group has been on Broadway six times, featured on the small screen on Seinfeld and on the big screen in Jewel of the Nile, starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny Devito. Their shows are always interactive — a prime example: audience members are asked to bring objects to the stage for the brothers to juggle, and if they can do it they get a standing ovation; if they drop an object, they get a pie in the face.

The Panida encourages audience members to participate, bringing objects to the theater that are heavier than an ounce, lighter than 10 pounds and no bigger than a bread box.

Another performer in the New Old Time

“We are thrilled to host the New Old Time Chautauqua for this special fundraising event,” stated Lauren Sanders, managing director of the Panida Theater, in a news release.

“Their exceptional talent and commitment to preserving the traditions of vaudeville and music align perfectly with the Panida’s mission to celebrate and promote the arts. We encourage the community to come together, have a wonderful time and support this important cause.”

Meanwhile, the Panida has reserved 70 free seats for those who might not be able to afford going to an event.

“Thanks to the event’s generous sponsors, we are able to gift this experience to some of our local community members,” said Sanders.

The New Old Time Chautauqua performing their special brand of old-style music. The band will play the Panida Theater Saturday, June 10. Courtesy photo.

Live Music w/ Benny Baker

6-8pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

Live Music w/ Doug Bond & Marty Perron

4pm @ BlueRoom

Sandpoint’s guitar/mandolin duo!

Live Music w/ Samantha Carston

6-8pm @ The Back Door

Live Music w/ Lauren & Chris

6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz

5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

Hillstomp at the Heartwood

7pm @ The Heartwood Center

Portland, Ore. junkbox blues duo. $15/ adv., $20/day of show. Youths $8

Live Music w/ Chris Paradis

4pm @ BlueRoom

Live Music w/ Dave & Rey

6-9pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

Live Music w/ Headwaters

9pm-midnight @ 219 Lounge

It’s a bluegrass party at the Niner

Live Music w/ Suspicious PKG

7-9pm @ Connie’s Lounge

Elevate your Music Career Workshop

4-8pm @ The Hive

Artist/musician development event. See livefromthehive.com for more info

Live Music w/ Ian Newbill

6-9pm @ Barrell 33

THURSDAY, June 8

Art Reception: Jeff Rosenkrans

5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

Check out Jeff’s work and grab a glass of wine and a bite to eat

Outdoor Experience Community Yoga

6pm @ Outdoor Experience

All levels welcome, free, mats available

FriDAY, June 9

Live Music w/ John Firshi

7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Originals, obscure covers and live loops

Laney Lou and the Bird Dogs live

7pm @ The Hive

Bluegrass band touring from Bozeman, Mont. that always brings the fun. 21+

Live Music w/ Kerry Leigh

4pm @ BlueRoom

SATURDAY, June 10

Chautauqua Parade

11:30am @ Farmin Park

The Chautauqua will parade through Farmers’ Market for a preview of their show later tonight, plus a short juggling workshop offered

Sandpoint Farmers’ Market

9am-1pm @ Farmin Park

Fresh produce and artisan goods, every week! Live music by Truck and Carl

New Old Time Chautauqua live

7pm @ Panida Theater

A unique and amazing troupe of performers, musicians and artists. See Page 17 for more information. Tickets $15-$30. Funds raised will support the Panida Theater

SunDAY, June 11

Sandpoint Chess Club

9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee

Live Music w/ Ian Newbill

1-4pm @ Pearls on the Lake

June 8-15, 2023

Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz

5-8pm @ Pearls (in Hope)

Live Stand Up Comedy: Paul Virzi

8pm @ Panida Theater

Comedy Central comedian with a special on Netflix. $25. panida.org

Contra Dance

7-10pm @ Sandpoint Community Hall

Live music, all dances taught and called. No partner or experience needed. New dancers encouraged to arrive early. $5 Timberfest (June 9-11)

10am @ Sandpoint Org. Agriculture Center

See Page 20 for more information about this exciting event open to all

88.5 FM KRFY Community Radio Day

10am-3pm @ Music Conservatory of Spt. Head over to MCS, 110 Main St., to celebrate community radio in North Idaho. Enjoy live music, radio dramas, special guests, refreshments and more

Sandpoint Renaissance Faire (June 10-11)

10am-6pm @ Bonner Co. Fairgrounds

Back for its fifth year! The merry old trip back to Elizabethan times. See Page 16 for more information. $16/adults, $12/seniors and kids 6-17. Under 6 gets in free

Idaho Free Fishing Day

Fishing in Idaho waters is free for all to enjoy without a fishing license, today only

Magic with Star Alexander

5-8pm @ Jalepeño’s

Up close magic shows at the table

Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi

7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Bingo Night

5-8pm @ Paddler’s Alehouse

Live Piano w/ Bob Beadling

5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

Benny on the Deck

6-9pm @ Connie’s Lounge

The Sound of Music live performance

2 & 5pm @ Farmin Park

Live musical performance of the classic by Suzuki String Academy. Family picnic style, bring a chair/food and watch the park come alive

monDAY, June 12

Outdoor Experience Group Run

6pm @ Outdoor Experience

3-5 miles, all levels welcome

tuesDAY, June 13

Enchanted Princess • 6:30pm @ Panida Theater

Dance presentation with dancers from Studio 1 Dance Academy

wednesDAY, June 14

Sandpoint Farmers’ Market

3-5pm @ Farmin Park

ThursDAY, June 15

Extreme Science at the Library • 5:30-6:30pm @ Sandpoint Library

Learn science and be amazed. Fire and Ice with Radical Rick will perform a science show with explosions and more! This science show is geared toward elementary aged children, but all are welcome to attend

Summer Surprise Film Series

7pm @ Panida Theater

You won’t know what film is playing until it starts! $5 tickets and $1 popcorn

Outdoor Experience Community Yoga

6pm @ Outdoor Experience

All levels welcome, free, mats available

Game Night

6:30pm @ Tervan Tavern

STAGE & SCREEN Panida Theater to host nationally renowned comic Paul Virzi

By Reader Staff

Paul Virzi is a comic on the rise — in a big way. He headlines comedy clubs across North America, has a special on Netflix and hosts two weekly podcasts: Anything Better, co-hosted by Bill Burr, and The Virzi Effect, both on All Things Comedy Network. He has performed at some of the most prestigious venues in the country, including Madison Square Garden, the Chicago Theatre and Carnegie Hall.

sports raconteur. Now he’s coming to the Panida Theater for a performance Thursday, June 8, and it’ll be a must-see event for Sandpoint audiences.

cc.com. Virzi’s second special, Nocturnal Admissions on Netflix, was released in June 2022 as Saturday Night Live alum Pete Davidson’s directorial debut.

Paul Virzi comedy

Thursday, June 8. Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m.; $25; 18+. Panida Theater, 300 N.First Ave., 208-263-9191, get tickets at panida.org. More info at paulvirzi.com.

Panida Managing Director Lauren Sanders said in April that the engagement at the theater was Virzi’s idea, and she was “blown away and super excited” that a comic of his caliber — who “has his pick of venues” — sought out Sandpoint.

His 2015 debut comedy album, Paul Virzi: Night at the Stand, ranked No. 1 on iTunes, and reached No. 4 on Billboard’s Top 100.

Coming up through the suburbs of New York City, he’s a family man, cigar lover and expert

Virzi’s debut hour-long comedy special, Bill Burr Presents Paul Virzi: I’ll Say This, premiered on Comedy Central in November 2018 and is currently available to stream on

Off the stage, Paul has also made appearances on a variety of TV shows, including TruTV’s Comedy Knockout, AXS TV’s Gotham Comedy Live and the NFL Network’s Good Morning Football. He has also written for ESPN’s highly coveted ESPY Awards.

“Paul’s stuff will resonate with everyone,” according to Sanders. “Whether you are single and dating or in a relationship or you

have gone off the deep end by getting married and having kids, Paul’s comedy is going to hit home. He is extremely relatable on all fronts.”

Bike club hosts movie night fundraiser to support bike skills park for Sandpoint

By Reader Staff

Pend Oreille Pedalers has long been Sandpoint’s local cycling club, and, for the last four years, emerged as an advocacy group and trail-building organization, whose efforts have contributed to the buildout of local trails loved by hikers and mountain bikers — including in the Syringa trail system and in the Little Sand Creek Watershed.

All told, POP has built nearly 16 miles of new trail since 2019, and through its bike grants and scholarship program, welcomed more than 20 new local kids into the mountain biking community. The club’s youth programs now serve more than 140 kids a year in after-school and summer clinics and camps, as well as weekly group rides and trail work parties that keep local road and mountain bikers healthy and active outdoors.

POP’s latest effort to advocate for cyclists of all ages, abilities and income levels involves a partnership with the Sandpoint Parks and Recreation Department to improve an existing dirt bike track at Travers Park by designing and building a modern mountain bike skills park on the site.

The skills park, slated to be

built this fall on the half-acre parcel north of the existing tennis courts, will include multiple prefabricated steel-andwood skills features from American Ramp Com pany, a firm out of the Midwest that builds bike parks all over North America. When complet ed, local kids and their parents will have a whole new place to ride their bikes in an environment that simulates the kinds of technical challenges mountain bikers might face out on the trails — essentially bringing the thrill of mountain biking right into the backyards of thousands of Sandpoint residents.

Design and construction for the Mountain Bike Skills Park will be funded through a combi-

nation of grant-writing efforts by POP and local fundraising. The project budget of around $60,000 will only be achievable through community support.

To help reach its fundraising goal, POP is hosting a film premiere of The Engine Inside, a new feature-length documentary from Anthill Films, which tells the stories of six everyday people from all over the globe who reveal the unique power of the bicycle to change lives and build a better world.

The film will premiere Friday, June 16 at the Panida Theater (300 N. First Ave., in downtown Sandpoint), with tickets available now at panida.org. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and the show

starts at 7 p.m. The evening will feature a raffle, with all proceeds going towards POP’s Skills Park fundraising campaign.

The next morning, Saturday, June 17, more than 300 road-andgravel cyclists from around the country will embark on the annual CHAFE 150 Gran Fondo — an event hosted by Rotary Club of Sandpoint, which takes participants on an all-day tour of North Idaho and western Montana.

This year’s CHAFE includes a gravel category that will take riders from Clark Fork, up Lighting Creek, over Trestle Creek pass and down Trestle Creek drainage before depositing them on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille for a race back to City Beach.

For more information about Pend Oreille Pedalers’ projects, programs and community activities, visit pendoreillepedalers.org.

Surprise Summer Film Series kicks off at Panida

By Reader Staff

Sometimes all it takes is a good surprise to bring a smile to your face.

Bleeding Hearts Tattoo Emporium is sponsoring the kickoff to a new event Wednesday, June 14 at the Panida Theater (300 N. First Ave., in Sandpoint), titled the Surprise Summer Film Series.

“It’s called the Surprise Summer Film Series because you won’t know what the film is until it starts,” theater organizers stated in a press release. “But trust us, you will be happy you joined in on the fun!”

The film costs only $5 to attend, with popcorn for sale for $1 and half off all drinks.

While the organizers aren’t spilling the beans on what movie will be screened, they have provided a couple of hints. The first clue: The film takes place in the 1950s. The second clue is that it’s a musical. For additional hints, check out the Panida’s social media channels.

“We hope to see you for this fun family-friendly evening,” the Panida stated. “And happy guessing the film!”

Paul Virzi will perform comedy at the Panida Theater Thursday, June 8. Courtesy photo.

Timber Framers Guild comes to Sandpoint for workshop and TimberFest 2023

By Reader Staff

Members of the Timber Framers Guild will converge on Sandpoint to participate in a special workshop organized by local craftsman Collin Beggs.

Guild members will learn from two master carpenters specializing in traditional Japanese timber framing during a 10-day course at the University of Idaho Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center, and the class project — a bell pavilion — will be installed at Pine Street Woods to hold the bell created by local artist Mark Kubiak.

While in Sandpoint, the Timber Framers Guild, in partnership with Kaniksu Land Trust, will host TimberFest, Friday, June 9-Sunday, June 11. The event, open to the public, will bring together more than 100 attendees for a weekend celebrating craft and community, and featuring a variety of demonstrations and speakers, as well as a KidsBuild and tours.

The weekend kicks off June 9 with a tour, during which TimberFest participants will visit a

local mill, the Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center and Pine Street Woods, including a stop at the Kaniksu Lumber milling site, where they will learn about the portable mill shared through a partnership with Bonner Soil and Water Conservation District and the lumber retail and forestry education initiative supported by Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation. Following a welcome dinner at the Ag Center, attendees will head to downtown Sandpoint to explore.

Saturday features presentations by Dale Brotherton, who builds in the Japanese tradition; Indigenous craftsman Shawn Brigman; Ken Conger, of the Bonner County Historical Society; Joe Miller from Fire Tower Engineered Timber, who provided his expertise in reviewing the engineering aspects of the bell tower; and Autumn Peterson, who will talk about the guild’s community building projects in her hometown in Oregon. Beggs, Kubiak and KLT Executive Director Katie Egland Cox will talk about the bell pavilion, its inspiration and development.

Local P.E.O. chapter supports young women with scholarships

By Reader Staff

After being postponed or canceled for the past three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, fundraising events have resumed and enabled awarding scholarships through one of two local chapters of P.E.O. — the Philanthropic Educational Organization, an organization founded in 1869 at Iowa Wesleyan College focused on providing opportunities for women.

Since then, the P.E.O. Sisterhood has awarded educational loan funds amounting to $243 million, $48 million in International Peace Scholarships, $70 million in Program for Continuing Education grants, $34 million in Scholar Awards and $20 million in P.E.O. STAR Scholarships.

The organization operates two chapters in the Sandpoint area: Chapter CA and Chapter V, which have been active for more than 50 years.

The nonprofit has benefited a total of 122,000 women in that time, helping them pursue their

Kubiak designed and crafted the bell, paying homage to the natural and historic heritage of the area.

“All of the work that has been done on the bell is referencing the flora and fauna of the area and things that might be seen or experienced in the woods around here, plus a little bit of Native American mythology,” he said. “I call it the legacy bell, referring to the ongoing legacy of Pine Street Woods.”

Throughout Saturday, attendees will have the opportunity to visit exhibitors and take in demonstrations. Master craftspeople will be demonstrating tool sharpening techniques and care, hewing, and more. Participants in TimberFest may also wish to try their hand at the ax throwing or hewing competition.

building a larger timber frame structure. The cost for KidsBuild is $25 per day. All supplies and tools are provided.

the community of Sandpoint, which I love.”

educational goals. The Sisterhood also owns and supports Cottey College.

Chapter CA in the Sandpoint area recently awarded scholarships to two local high-school seniors, “who personify the organization’s ideals of faith, love, justice, truth, and purity in heart and spirit,” according to a news release.

Adeline Henney, of Sandpoint High School, received support from P.E.O. Chapter CA, assisting her attendance in the fall of 2023 at Utah Tech University in St. George, Utah, where she will study environmental sciences.

Emily Myers, of Clark Fork High School, also earned an award from P.E.O. She will attend the University of Idaho in the coming fall, majoring in biological engineering.

“The sisters of P.E.O. Chapter CA salute these fine young women from our community as they head out into the world to make a positive difference,” the organization stated.

Before closing out the weekend, engineer Jennifer Anthony and architect and designer Mira Steinbrecher will share their perspective on the design and engineering of timber frame structures.

Guild members and Kaniksu Folk School instructors will lead KidsBuild, a woodcraft and timber framing workshop for children of local families and visiting guild members. Younger children will build a timber frame bench and table. Older youth can participate in a two-day collaborative project

“This event has been over three years in the making, starting with the gift of the commemorative bell designed and cast by Mark [Kubiak]. Then, we pulled local timber framer Collin Beggs into the project knowing that the bell needed a very special structure to house it,” Egland Cox said. “Collin’s idea to incorporate the Timber Framers Guild and the greater community in the creation of this space is such a fitting culmination of the project.”

According to Beggs, “For many years I’ve dreamt of an opportunity to bring the Timber Framers Guild to Sandpoint for a community workshop. When I found out that the bell was being created I saw an opportunity to have world class craft training and cultural exchange, while serving

Allison Aurand, of the Timber Framers Guild, noted the significance of building relationships with communities for the organization: “Guild members are all about learning together and sharing their craft, and these kinds of workshops and events offer an opportunity not just to connect with one another but with new friends in new places. We’ve been lucky to join with Kaniksu Land Trust and the Sandpoint community thanks to Collin Beggs, and can’t wait to see how this friendship develops.”

Participation in TimberFest is open to the public. Registration is available through kaniksu.org/ happenings. For more information about the Timber Framers Guild, visit tfguild.org.

Rotary Club of Sandpoint awards local scholarships

By Reader Staff

The Rotary Club of Sandpoint has awarded 15 scholarships to area high-school seniors for academic excellence and community service. In the spirit of Rotary’s motto of “service above self,” the local club “selected students who already have this spirit kindled in their hearts,” according to a news release.

This year’s scholarships were awarded to graduating seniors

who not only achieved academically, but also have a heart for service, and who the club believes will continue to give back locally and globally in a meaningful way — “placing service above self as a way of life,” the club stated.

Recipients from Sandpoint High School included: Payton Betz, Ara Clark, Maren Davidson, Emory Feyen, Jacob Gove, Lance Hendricks, McKinely Jensen, Haleigh Knowles, Brady Packer,

Parker Petit and Kimberly Yarnell. Clark Fork High School scholarship recipients were Hank Barnett and Bethany Holderman.

Finally, from Forrest M. Bird Charter Schools, scholarship winners were Jason Colegrove and Margaret Russell.

“The Rotary Club of Sandpoint salutes these fine young students from our community as they head out into the world to make a positive difference,” the club stated.

Courtesy photo.

MUSIC

Do-Re-Meet me at Farmin Park

Suzuki String Academy and City Beach Organics team up to present outdoor performances of The Sound of Music

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff

The hills are alive with the sound of music — the hills being the rolling grass-covered knolls of Sandpoint’s Farmin Park, and the music being The Sound of Music, thanks to an upcoming pair of performances Sunday, June 11 from Suzuki String Academy.

A cast of 25 local actors, singers and musicians will bring the iconic story of Maria and the von Trapp family to life during two family-friendly shows at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. The gates will open an hour before curtain and attendees are encouraged to bring chairs and blankets. Tickets are $15 for adults, $7 for youth and free for children ages 2 and under. Find tickets online at suzukistringacademy.com/events, or purchase them at the gate.

According to Suzuki String Academy owner and instructor Ruth Klinginsmith, this is the academy’s first musical play.

piano accompaniment,” she said, naming some of that local talent as choreographer and director Chika Orton; costume designers Cora Johnson and Marianne Wall; and Sam Cornett — playing Captain von Trapp — contributing his sound and prop expertise.

Klinginsmith said each performance will be a little over an hour long and include all the fan-favorite tracks from The Sound of Music — with a dose of audience participation encouraged.

The afternoon will also feature food vendors, including event partner City Beach Organics and more.

Klinginsmith said Suzuki String Academy hopes to facilitate an event in which families can enjoy local eats from the comfort of the Farmin Park lawn while taking in a high-quality show from local thespians who have been diligently rehearsing since February.

Suzuki String Academy’s The Sound of Music

Sunday, June 11; performances at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., gates open an hour before each show; $15 adults, $7 youth, children 2 and under FREE.

“We are working together with some amazing talent in our very own community to bring full production of Sound of Music with singing, acting and

Farmin Park, Third Avenue and Main Street in Sandpoint, suzukistringacademy.com.

“It has been a lot of work and time to bring all the parts together,” she said, “but we truly believe it will be an enchanting experience for the whole community, old and young alike.”

To learn more about Suzuki String Academy, which offers

lessons for both kids and adults in a variety of instruments and regularly puts on performances for the community, visit suzukistringacademy.com.

A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint

Hillstomp, Heartwood Center, June 9 Laney Lou and The Bird Dogs, The Hive, June 9

Portland, Ore.-based musical duo Hillstomp brands itself as offering “do-it-yourself hill country blues stomp.” This sound is accomplished with both literal and figurative recycling — of both buckets and cans, as well as backwoods American music of days gone by. If you have trouble conjuring this sound from memory, there’s a reason: Unless you’ve heard Hillstomp, you haven’t heard it.

With Henry Kammerer on slide guitar and John Johnson on buckets, Hillstomp has been

creating country blues you have to hear to believe for the better part of two decades. So if you have trouble conjuring the sound of Hillstomp, there is only one solution: Catch the band Friday, June 9 at the Heartwood Center.

— Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey

Doors at 7 p.m., music at 8 p.m.; $15 advance, $20 at the door, youth tickets are $8. Heartwood Center, 615 Oak St., 208-263-8699, mattoxfarm.com. Listen at hillstomp.com.

When the Reader caught up with string-powered Bozeman, Mont.based quintet Laney Lou and The Bird Dogs at the tail of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2022, the band was touring behind its 2021 album Through the Smoke, and live shows were a rediscovered, much-welcome novelty. As we wrote then, The Bird Dogs’ shows were stacked with “wildly high energy, full of thumping bass lines and soaring fiddle solos.”

Fronted by guitarist and vocalist Lena “Laney Lou” Schiffer and featuring Josh Moore on guitar and vocals; banjo player and vocalist Matt Demarais; bassist Ethan Dema-

rais; and multi-instrumentalist Brian Kassay on fiddle, mandolin and harmonica, the group defined itself as “alternative grass,” pulling in the threads of rock, folk and everything in between — all layered with stellar four-part harmonies. No matter what you call them, these Bird Dogs most definitely do hunt.

— Zach Hagadone

Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8:45 p.m.; $15 advance, plus taxes and fees; $20 day-of, plus taxes and fees; $20 at the door; 21+. The Hive, 207 N.First Ave., 208-920-9039, get tickets at livefromthehive.com. Listen at laneylouandthebirddogs.com.

The Wars of the Roses were a series of conflicts for the English crown between the noble houses of York and Lancaster between 1455 and 1487. Annie Garthwaite’s historical fiction novel Cecily explores that story through the lens of real-life Duchess of York Cecily Neville, whose Machieavellian machinations made her the mother of both King Edward IV and Richard III. It’s a ripping yarn that eschews the battlefield for a more nuanced, political portrayal of a complex, flawed and fascinating medieval character and her times.

READ LISTEN

Esperanto was created in the late 1800s by a Polish eye doctor who wanted the world to share a common language and therefore achieve peace. Weirdly, even if you don’t speak it (and almost no one does), you can still kind of understand it. A similar sensation occurs with the 1972 song “Prisencolinensinainciusol,” by Italian pop star Andriano Celentano. The unwieldy title is an entree to the lyrics of this earworm, which are almost entirely gibberish but sound like English. That was Celentano’s point: He wanted to create an American-sounding pop song, but without using Americans’ native tongue. Find it on YouTube.

WATCH

Natasha Lyonne can do no wrong — and that goes double for the 10-part mystery-of-the-week series Poker Face, streaming on NBC-owned Peacock. Created by Rian Johnson (of Knives Out and Glass Onion), the show puts Lyonne front and center as a chain-smoking, beer-swilling, wiseass whose “gift” is that she always knows when someone is lying. This superpower gets her into trouble with a casino boss, and she goes on the run. While working odd jobs across the country, her builtin lie detector means she’s privy to all manner of crimes, which she solves mostly just by keeping a sharp eye and listening for unconscious confessions. Lyonne is a national treasure: Case closed.

This week’s RLW by Zach Hagadone

Suzuki String Academy performers rehearse The Sound of Music, which will grace Farmin Park for two shows on Sunday, June 11. Courtesy photos.

BACK OF THE BOOK

It takes a lot of work to relax

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

From Northern Idaho News, June 5, 1917

DRUNKEN TOURISTS TO STAND TRIAL

On information received from Westmond Friday night, members of the sheriff’s force journeyed to that place and arrested three women and four men for being intoxicated. When brought to Sandpoint, shortly after they gave their homes as Spokane and stated that they were but traveling through Idaho, en route to the western metropolis from a sojourn of a few days in Montana.

Extending to them every courtesy, consistent with law and order, a hurry-up call was made on the probate judge and county attorney who donned their street clothes in lieu of their night attire and upon arriving at the court house set the wheels of law in motion. The group entered the plea of guilty and were bound over to the district court.

Bonds for their appearance was fixed at $175, which they put up in cash and departed for their domiciliary residences.

It takes a lot of work to relax.

When I was in my 20s, packing for a camping trip or a weekend away was a pretty simple affair. I’d pick a few shirts and pants off my bedroom floor, sniff, shrug and toss them into a duffel bag. Then grab a couple clean pairs of underwear and socks, maybe a book or two, and a pack of smokies to cook for dinner. Then it was out the door and into nature. If I left something behind, I’d do without it.

The older we get, however, the more things we have. You just can’t go camping unless you have that special USB battery charging device, or a string of twinkly lights to hang around the tent, or perhaps a threecourse gourmet meal wrapped in tinfoil to be prepared over the fire.

While I relish my time outdoors, there are some weekends when I want to go camping, but am too lazy to endure the frantic hours-long packing extravaganza it takes to extricate myself and my partner from the world so we can sit by a fire all night and sleep on the ground like animals. (And we don’t even have kids! I don’t know how you do it, parents.)

Last weekend was one of those weekends. Thankfully, Cadie did most of the work and filled a cooler with healthy, delicious meals and snacks. Another cooler contained our beers, radlers, sparkling waters, and a bottle of Casamigos tequila and mixers.

The plan was to sail our boat across the lake and camp offshore — one of our favorite summertime activities. Except, as is often the case with boats, there was an issue and the sailboat wasn’t ready to use for another week.

Without missing a beat, we skipped to

Plan B, which was to load up the canoe and head over to paddle the Thorofare to Upper Priest Lake to experience that lake before the summer tourists made it unbearable.

“After all that preparation, we have to go camping,” Cadie said, thinking back on her Herculean effort to prepare the cooler and pack the car.

Ninety minutes of driving later, we pulled up to Lionhead to unload the canoe and begin our weekend adventure; except, the moment we exited the car, a cloud of mosquitoes descended on us, attaching to our legs and necks to suck our blood and leave us scratching for days afterward. Having just gotten over my last bout of dozens of bites after paddling Pack River the weekend before, I was having none of it. Neither was Cadie.

“Abort! Abort!” she yelled, dashing back to the car with her hands over her head after only 10 seconds in the fresh air. I had only loosened the rear strap of the canoe by that time, so I quickly re-ratcheted the straps and also fled to safety.

There we sat, feeling like fools. We drove an hour-and-a-half only to cancel the mission mere seconds after stepping outside. What’s worse, I remembered that when we stopped for a bathroom break at Coolin earlier, a couple saw our canoe and told me that the mosquitoes were bad on the Thorofare. We could’ve saved ourselves an hour of driving if we’d heeded their warning.

With Plans A and B both duds, we started the sad, defeated drive back to Sandpoint. We didn’t want to swat mosquitoes all night, so we put our heads together and thought about options.

Cadie’s parents moved to Dover a few years ago and purchased a boat. They had yet to return to town for the season, and were always cool with us using the boat, so we figured it would only take an hour or

Sudoku Solution STR8TS Solution

two of prep to tow the vessel from storage and cobble together a Plan C out of the wreckage of our weekend. Much to our surprise, the boat had already been summerized and was waiting at the slip in Dover.

Plan C succeeded.

An hour later, we were moored offshore, drinking tequila and ginger ales and watching the afternoon turn into evening as the boat gently rocked on the gentle waves. Cadie plunked a song on her ukulele and I read a book with the sun in my face. All the work, struggle, driving and planning was finally in the past.

We had reached the present.

Even better, going ashore we were delighted to find there were no mosquitoes waiting to pounce. We strung up our hammocks and slept under the stars, letting the chaos of the world wash from our bodies, finally free to experience life al fresco.

It takes a lot of work to relax. Sometimes you have to make contingency plans for your backup plans. But nothing beats waking up beside Lake Pend Oreille and watching the sunrise slowly turn into sunset.

It’s livin’.

Crossword Solution

Isn’t it funny how whenever a party seems to be winding down at somebody’s house, you can always keep it going just by talking a lot and eating and drinking whatever’s left.

Solution on page 22

Laughing Matter

CROSSWORD

Word Week of the

prismatic /priz-MAT-ik/ [adjective] 1.

in color; brilliant

By Bill Borders

Solution on page 22