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.