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PEOPLE compiled by

Susan Drinkard

watching

“We are heading into our second year of COVID-19. What have you learned about yourself in the past year? What has COVID taught you?”

“It taught me a lesson in patience that has led to a new job and a blessed year. And we were able to adopt our new dog, Speckle.”

Ana Sigler Bookkeeper for Snake River Seeds Sandpoint

“It’s been an interesting year.

It has impacted my daily life from the mask I wear at work creating dry spots in my beard to how I interact with customers by social distancing to keeping my young daughter safe.”

DEAR READERS,

Spring greetings to one and all. March 20 marks the first official day of spring, and boy has the weather been showing cooperation on all fronts.

Congratulations to our friends at MickDuff’s Brewing Company, which is celebrating 15 years in Sandpoint this week. You can read the first of a series of beer columns we’re publishing starting this week on Page 16. We reached out to each of our local breweries and asked them all to contribute something leading up to April, which is Craft Beer Month in Idaho. We’re always thankful to highlight what our local brewers are up to, as this is something that benefits both locals and tourists alike. Keep an eye on future editions for more sudsy content.

In the meantime, hang in there, Sandpoint. Wash your hands, keep your disance, wear a mask and get those vaccinations so we can start hugging strangers again. I’m more than ready for it. Here’s to a beautiful spring in North Idaho.

– Ben Olson, publisher

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

www.sandpointreader.com Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com Editorial: Zach Hagadone (Editor) zach@sandpointreader.com Lyndsie Kiebert (News Editor) lyndsie@sandpointreader.com Cameron Rasmusson (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus) Advertising: Jodi Berge Jodi@sandpointreader.com Contributing Artists: Ben Olson, Susan Drinkard, Bill Borders, Racheal Baker, BGH, Jake Sullivan, Woods Wheatcroft, Teresa Pesce.

Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Lyndsie Kiebert, Lorraine H. Marie, Emily Erickson, Bret Johnson, Brenden Bobby, Sen. Melissa Wintrow, David Keyes, Jim Mitsui, Steve Johnson, Jackie Henrion, Sharon Kreider, Mack Deibel.

Kody Bogart Butcher’s apprentice Sandpoint

Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com

“How much physical human connection and contact matters on a day-to-day basis.”

Subscription Price: $115 per year

Kirsten Eggleston Customer service at First American Title Company Sandpoint

“If I think of all the people I could reach out to, I have learned that during this time I reach out to family first. More generally, I think you learn how important people are.”

Nicole Wolff Graphic designer Sandpoint “I’ve had more time to get into myself.”

Beulah Sandpoint

Printed weekly at: Tribune Publishing Co. Lewiston, ID

Web Content: Keokee The Sandpoint Reader is a weekly publication owned and operated by Ben Olson and Keokee. It is devoted to the arts, entertainment, politics and lifestyle in and around Sandpoint, Idaho.

We hope to provide a quality alternative by offering honest, in-depth reporting that reflects the intelligence and interests of our diverse and growing community.

The Reader is printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Leftover copies are collected and recycled weekly, or burned in massive bonfires to appease the gods of journalism.

Free to all, limit two copies per person.

Sandpoint Reader letter policy: The Sandpoint Reader welcomes letters to the editor on all topics.

Requirements: –No more than 300 words –Letters may not contain excessive profanity or libelous material. Please elevate the discussion.

Letters will be edited to comply with the above requirements. Opinions expressed in these pages are those of the writers, not necessarily the publishers.

Email letters to: letters@sandpointreader.com Check us out on the web at: www.sandpointreader.com Like us on Facebook.

About the Cover

This week’s cover is a bouquet to all of our beautiful readers. Also to the ugly ones, too. Much love.

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NEWS

BoCo drops appeal of Festival gun suit City to recover $71K in court costs, county hopes lawsuit by private citizens will ‘vindicate’ gun rights

By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff The Board of Bonner County Commissioners announced March 16 that it will drop its appeal of the lawsuit against the city of Sandpoint regarding The Festival at Sandpoint’s policy banning weapons, putting a seeming end to a case that Kootenai County District Court Judge Lansing L. Haynes ruled Sept. 2 the county had no standing to bring before the court.

“Our lives and our Western traditions focus on freedom and self-reliance,” the BOCC stated in a media release announcing their decision to dismiss the appeal.

“Fierce Western independence is part of the fabric of Bonner County, and that independence encompasses the right to bear arms. This is one reason why your board of commissioners challenged the gun ban at War Memorial Field.”

The statement went on to say that the commissioners are “united” in their belief that The Festival’s weapons policy violates Idaho law by banning guns on public property. The annual concert series is held at War Memorial Field, a city-owned park. While the county argues that this means a public entity — Sandpoint — is regulating firearm possession on public land, the city maintains that in leasing the property to The Festival, all rule-making and liability is transferred to the nonprofit. The state’s firearm preemption code is unclear about how the law is meant to work when a lease is involved.

“We are thankful to have reached a resolution in this matter and we appreciate the excellent representation provided by Peter Erbland and Katie Brereton of Lake City Law,” stated Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad in a news release. “City of Sandpoint taxpayers will be reimbursed the majority of the costs incurred for the city to defend itself in a case that should never have been filed as the county and sheriff lacked standing. They would have ultimately lost the appeal and cost taxpayers even more money.”

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The BOCC and Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler joined forces for the lawsuit, launched in September 2019, requesting a declaratory judgment. The county’s argument ultimately landed on public safety: How would the sheriff and Sandpoint Police coordinate a law enforcement response should pro-gun protesters gather at The Festival’s gates?

Would a protest create a violent “affray”? Nearly a year after the initial complaint was filed, Haynes ruled that not only did the county lack standing to bring the suit, but Wheeler didn’t need a ruling from the court to perform his duties.

Following the decision, the county appealed to the Idaho Supreme Court, stating that because Haynes only ruled on standing, they’d continue to seek “clarity on the law.”

When asked about the appeal, Wheeler replied to the Reader in an Oct. 21, 2020 email: “I am no longer an appellant. You will have to rely on the others for your request.”

Amy Clemmons, an attorney from Davillier Law Group representing the county in the case, told the Reader in a follow-up email that Wheeler would “move

forward with the court’s guidance to use his discretion,” and that “Bonner County, as the principal, is appealing the matter.”

The county changed its tune as of March 16, with the commissioners stating: “Unfortunately, the sheriff — who enthusiastically supported the lawsuit at its outset — has taken the decision not to participate in the appeal. Accordingly, the board is left with no choice but to abandon the appeal.”

As of Jan. 11, Bonner County had paid $226,352 in legal fees to Davillier Law Group specifically for work on the case. The county is also required to pay $71,206.55 to Sandpoint to fulfill a motion for costs and fees that the judge settled in the city’s favor. According to court documents obtained by the Reader in a public records request in September, the city’s fees and attorney costs totaled $93,965.55.

“Fortunately for the citizens of Bonner County, the Second Amendment Alliance has now filed a suit to obtain a ruling on the legality of the gun ban,” the BOCC media release continued, referencing a second suit brought by private citizens and gun lobbyist groups set to see a court date in April.

“Hopefully, their lawsuit will vindi-

cate the gun rights of the citizens of Idaho, and a future opportunity will arise to clarify the circumstances under which the county and the sheriff may have access to the court to obtain rulings clarifying disputed provisions of the law.”

After nearly a year and half of legal back-and-forth — with costs mounting to more than $320,000 for both sides — the message from City Hall was that it’s time for local governments to come together for the common good.

“We look forward to continuing to work with the Bonner County Commissioners in a productive manner to proac-

The Festival at Sandpoint, in pre-pandemic times.

Photo by Racheal Baker. tively and positively address other pressing issues, such as the impacts of significant growth in development and tourism we are experiencing in our respective jurisdictions,” Rognstad stated.

“It is more important than ever that we work together to protect the quality of life and character of our community.”

Additional reporting by Zach Hagadone.

Family identifies man who died after skiing accident on Schweitzer

By Reader Staff The family of a man who died as the result of a skiing accident March 12 at Schweitzer Mountain Resort confirmed his identity as Heath McHenry, who “was an expert all-terrain skier capable of any run on Schweitzer Mountain where he and his family have enjoyed every winter for many years.”

“Although a tragic ending to this blue sky day, his family is comforted knowing that he was doing what he loved and surrounded by good friends,” wrote the family in a statement March 14 and shared on Twitter by Spokane-based KXLY. “Heath is survived by his

wife and best friend Kelsy, their three children and his mom.”

Schweitzer officials confirmed the death, describing it “an unfortunate accident,” though did not provide any additional information as to its nature or circumstances. In a statement to KHQ, the resort said McHenry was transported to the hospital via LifeFlight, where he died of his injuries.

According to reports, any further updates will come from the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office or hospital.

Heath McHenry passed away after a skiing accident at Schweitzer Mountain Resort on March 12. Photo courtesy Kelsy McHenry Facebook.

NEWS

Here we have Idaho

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff The big tax cut Idaho House members approved on strict party lines a $389 million tax cut for state ratepayers, which proponents said would provide ongoing tax relief to the tune of $169.4 million and $220 in a one-time sales/income tax rebate for both individuals and corporations.

In its statement of purpose, House Bill 332 promises to deliver relief to taxpayers in the form of: “A rebate check ... sent to 2020 personal income tax filers providing a minimum amount of $50 for each taxpayer and dependent or 9% of income taxes paid in 2019 whichever is greater.”

Introduced on March 12 and co-sponsored by House Republican leaders, the measure cuts the tax rate for Idaho’s richest corporate and individual payers from 6.9% to 6.5%. The ongoing tax cut would be paid for with $110 million annually deposited to the General Fund from the Tax Relief Fund and $59.4 million from General Funds. The one-time rebate would be paid for with $180 million from the

Tax Relief Fund along with $40 million from the General Fund — the latter “covered by not conforming to some IRS codes,” according to the statement of purpose.

According to the Lewiston Tribune, the Idaho Association of Cities opposes the bill, because it “reneges” on a previous promise to share some online sales taxes. Rather, it leaves cities “reliant on property tax dollars — something we’re trying to get away from,” said AIC representative and Garden City Mayor John Evans, according to the Tribune.

While lower-income earners would also see reductions in their tax rate, critics were quick to hammer the proposal. Reclaim Idaho, which has proposed restoring Idaho’s previous corporate tax rate of 8%, and raising the marginal tax rate for those who make more than $250,000 in order to raise $170 million for K-12 education, took aim at HB 332, which passed March 17 with all 58 Republicans voting “aye” and all 12 Democrats voting “nay.”

“On straight party lines, Republicans in the Idaho House have rammed through a massive

What’s happening at the Legislature this week

tax cut for the rich that would blow a $778 million hole in the state budget,” the organization wrote on Facebook. “The bill cuts taxes by $9,000 for the top 1% and $78 for the poor.”

To critics, House Republican Majority Leader Mike Moyle, of Star, said that a separate transportation bill — HB 342 — would give cities “twice as much money” as they would have taken in with the sales tax component of HB 332, according to the Associated Press.

“It’s a good deal,” the AP quoted Moyle. “I also hope cities start living within their means.”

Idaho Democratic House members were displeased by the haste with which the legislation moved from committee to the floor. Idaho Press Boise Bureau Chief Betsy Z. Russell reported that House Democratic Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, of Boise, called her party into caucus March 17, to reconvene in the afternoon on March 18.

Liability and Ammon Bundy State senators voted 32-2 to approve legislation March 16 that would protect entities ranging from schools to pri-

City approves Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation Master Plan

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff In a lightning-fast meeting March 17, the Sandpoint City Council approved the annual Sandpoint Urban Renewal Agency report and the Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation Master Plan.

The latter has been in the works for months — the draft plan having been presented in January, itself following an extensive period of public comment in 2020 — with a primary aspect being the consolidation of the Arts and Historic Preservation commissions in order to broaden participation between the city and local arts entities — hopefully expanding

to include homeowners, tribal groups and businesses.

A handful of final additions were made to the plan at the March 17 meeting, stemming from the feedback gathered from the Kalispel tribe, on whose land all the surrounding area communities now lie.

Meanwhile, the city is moving forward with seeking grant funding for implementation of the plan, which includes staffing up the new steering group.

“We will be posting openings for that commission within the next week,” said Sandpoint City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton.

Until mid-April, at least, the

vate businesses to government bodies from legal liability in cases alleging their policies and practices resulted in individuals contracting COVID-19.

The measure is an extension of identical legislation approved during the summer 2020 Idaho legislative special session, pushing the sunset date to July 1, 2022.

As the Associated Press pointed out, the so-called “liability bill” prompted dramatic scenes of civil unrest at the Statehouse during the summer of 2020, during which a glass door was broken and famous anti-government activist Ammon Bundy was arrested twice for noncompliance with law enforcement.

The Bundy family has made headlines since an armed 2014 standoff against federal agents related to grazing rights in Nevada and, in 2016, the militia

Sandpoint announces leaf pickup dates

By Reader Staff

Photo by Ben Olson.

Sandpoint City Council will be meeting at the Community Hall (204 S. First Ave.) while council chambers are being remodeled.

The public is welcome to attend meetings in person, though remote participation via Zoom is encouraged due to space constraints. Find a Zoom link at sandpointidaho. gov/your-government/meetings.

occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon that left one insurgent dead.

Ammon Bundy — now an Idaho resident — was to face a judge at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise March 15 for his trespassing and resisting arrest charges related to incidents at the Idaho Capitol during the summer, but he and a co-defendant refused to wear masks, per county policy. That resulted in the pair missing their court date, triggering a bench warrant for their arrest.

Boise TV station KTVB reported that Bundy lay on the ground in protest as his supporters demonstrated outside the courthouse.

Bundy remained in the Ada County Jail as of March 16. According to reports, his trial date is set for May 10.

The city of Sandpoint has scheduled its annual citywide branch pickup for April 12-16. All branches must be in place by April 11 for pickup, as city crews will not come through a second time.

Pickup guidelines include: • Stack all brush and branches lengthwise in the street along the curb — do not place branches on lawns. No leaves or bagged leaves; • The maximum branch diam-

eter is four inches and no longer than six feet. Larger branches or stumps will not be picked up; • Do not mix brush piles with other items such as leaves, grass clippings, building materials, timbers, or commercial contractor generated tree waste. Crews will not remove mixed piles.

Residents should prune branches that might overhang sidewalks to keep walkways clear and usable. Trees should also be trimmed a minimum of seven feet above the sidewalks and streets.

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NEWS

Idaho: All adults will have access to vaccine by end of April Panhandle counties downgraded to the ‘yellow’ risk category

Photo courtesy BGH.

By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare announced March 16 that all Idahoans over the age of 16 will be able to secure COVID-19 vaccine appointments by April 26, also releasing a complete age-based qualification timeline for the next several weeks.

Currently, those working in health care, K-12 schools and other essential occupations are eligible, as well as those over 65 years old and people between 55-64 with at least one qualifying medical condition. By March 22, anyone between ages 55-64 will become eligible; by March 29, appointments will open for people 45-54 with medical conditions, with the general population in that age group gaining access April 5. Finally, April 12 marks the eligibility date for people ages 16-44 — first those with medical conditions, then on April 26, the general public will qualify.

As of March 17, 328,004 Idahoans had received vaccines, 202,520 of them having received the two shots required to be considered inoculated against the virus using the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, or the single dose needed for the recently-approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine to work.

In Bonner County, 3,937 people have doses in progress, while 5,018 are considered fully vaccinated.

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group is currently eligible for a vaccine, any Idahoan can sign up through the state’s pre-registration website — covidvaccine.idaho.gov — and a provider will contact them when an appointment is available.

North Idaho received welcome news about transmission levels on March 11, as the Panhandle Health District announced that all five northern counties — Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai and Shoshone — were downgraded to the “yellow” risk category, which signifies the rate of community spread of the virus.

“We are cautiously optimistic seeing these trends,” said PHD epidemiologist Jeff Lee. “Although these trends are promising, this is not the time to let our guard down. These trends are in part due to the precautions we have been taking and should continue to take until we reach a level of herd immunity that will provide greater protection.”

PHD officials shared that there are currently five variants of the novel coronavirus in the U.S., making it imperative to continue “masking, physical distancing, hand washing, avoiding large crowds and getting vaccinated when your turn is up” to “limit the spread and give the virus less chances to change.”

North Idahoans with questions about COVID-19 or getting vaccinated can contact PHD on the district’s hotline Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at 877-415-5225.

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: The data is out and confirms the hunch of the former mayor of Stockton, Calif.: a universal basic income can propel people out of poverty. Michael Tubbs launched the pilot program that gave 125 financially struggling residents debit cards worth $500 a month; it began in February 2019 and ended this January.

Some of the findings, as reported by Business Insider: reductions in unemployment, paying off debts and improved emotional well-being that boosted goal-setting. Results showed that 37% of the UBI checks went to food, 22% went to merchandise, 11% went to utilities, 10% went to auto expenses and less than 1% went to alcohol or tobacco. By February more than half of recipients had enough money for a surprise expense, as compared to 25% at the start of the program. For some it meant the ability to take time off work if they got COVID-19.

Tubbs formed Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, which now has some 40 members and $18 million donated by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Several other cities have started similar programs.

Congress recently questioned the leadership of the U.S. Postal Service after news that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy planned further delays in delivery times, according to Talking Points Memo. He acknowledged that his policy of ordering mail trucks to strictly leave on time, rather than leaving with a full load, resulted in delivery delays. DeJoy alo expressed support for draft legislation that would end the Postal Service’s mandate to pre-fund worker’s retirement health care benefits, which is not required of any other federal operation, and has put the agency in debt by billions of dollars.

The $1,400 relief in the American Rescue Plan will go to 85% of households, with a family of four receiving $5,600 this month. It also includes expanding unemployment for 11 million people, providing aid for renters and homeowners, targeting child care costs with $39 billion, expanding the child tax credit, addressing the hunger crisis experienced by 29 million Americans, no taxation on the first $10,200 in jobless benefits and massively expanding COVID-19 testing to get people back to work and children into schools.

To help accomplish these goals, Politico reports that the plan features a trio of

By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist

tax hikes worth $60 billion for wealthy and big corporations. No Senate Republicans voted for the plan.

Social media can be “fixed,” according to The Wall Street Journal. The paper cautions that adjustments to Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which significantly exempts social media companies from liability for users’ content, could backfire and force heavy censorship.

Instead, the Journal recommends elimination of fake names and handles, accomplished by users registering with a credit card or other ID. Those who post threats risk being either sued or enduring criminal investigation.

Michael Regan will be the next Environmental Protection Agency administrator, after a 66-34 Senate vote; he will be the first Black man in the agency’s history to lead the EPA. He has pledged to restore confidence in the agency, which saw veteran staffers leave when environmental protections were sharply reduced under the past administration; to address marginalized communities that are at highest risk of pollution exposure; and to cut greenhouse gas emissions, The Washington Post reported.

In a 70-30 vote Merrick Garland was confirmed to serve as the next U.S. attorney general. Garland had been proposed for the Supreme Court, but Republicans delayed the nomination process for eight months until after the 2016 election, and instead installed their Supreme Court preference. With his background of supervising the investigation of the Oklahoma City bombing, Garland made clear to Congress that he will apply that experience to the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, according to The New York Times.

Deb Haaland, after a 50-41 vote, will be the new secretary of the Department of the Interior, and also the first Indigenous secretary in the nation’s history. She has vowed to responsibly manage our natural resources so “we can continue to work, live, hunt, fish and pray among them.”

Blast from the past: Since the Department of the Interior was established in 1849, it has been marred by corruption.

That has included misuse of funds for Native Americans that were intended to help with, food, shelter, clothing, education, health care, tools and seeds for farming, and money to replace the livelihoods they lost when forced off their lands; secret no-bid leases for oil fields; and rolling back of environmental regulations when seeking oil.

PERSPECTIVES

Emily Articulated

A column by and about Millennials

Human interactions

By Emily Erickson Reader Columnist With the world feeling like it’s starting to reopen, and the edges of our confinement slowly peeling back into this newest version of “normalcy,” I’ve noticed a reclamation of a subtler kind of interaction. By returning to a way of life that simply involves closer proximity to others, I’m reminded of the kinds of conversations that happen without words, and the shared, relatable experiences that can only be described as human.

It’s stepping into a long empty hallway in a building somewhere. The lights hum overhead as you walk on at full stride. As your cadence steadies, someone exits from a room ahead of you and turns their gait to face yours. They begin to close the distance and, suddenly, in an attempt to find a clear path around each other, you’re both locked in a tango of mirrored zigs and zags — two people veering in the wrong direction to get out of one another’s way.

It’s a back-and-forth that lasts a few moments, but creates tension enough only to be burst by an abrupt pause, an awkward giggle or a pointed signal that insulates, “No, I’ll go this way.”

It’s pulling into a parking space at the exact same time

Emily Erickson.

as someone else, your bumpers edging in equidistance to the door of the coffee shop at which you’re both arriving. Your focus moves from wherever it had been to an involuntary calculation of the time it will take to reach the door and settle into your place in the line inside. Your side-eye glance meets theirs, prompting silent attempts to establish who will play the role of door-opener and who will walk through, hands-free.

It’s a mutual decision so subtle that it feels removed from choice but has an outcome so clear that you know you made it together.

It’s being the first to enter an elevator and noticing a foul smell lingering from the person who left before you arrived. The odor fills the space, seemingly seeping through the fabric of your shirt and cocooning you in its presence. You will the doors to close, needing the ride to be

brief, when someone squeezes through into the space with you. You watch their face as they register the smell, their eyes flitting to you in knowing recognition. Your brain swims in shoulds and should-nots — like whether you should say something about the smell that lingered before you arrived, or if an acknowledgment would only strengthen their association between you and the permeating flatulent odor.

The silence booms around you both, wrapping you in a shared experience of embarrassment and discomfort, only to be relieved by the freeing “ping” of arrival at your floor.

It’s picking your way through a crowded room and nudging your way to an open sliver of bar top. You scan the space in front of you, absorbing the rows of bottles and lists of drinks until you find the beverage you think you’ll order. You raise your eyes to find the bartender, attempting to catch their eye with the perfect mix of eagerness and patience; of respect and urgency. They bustle around in a blur of business and concentration, until you pull out your credit card and arrange your hands to signal your efficiency. You give a small smile and nod when they look in your direction, and they match your gesture in an unspoken acknowledgment — a pending transaction to which you both have quietly agreed.

It’s these interactions that feel so natural — like unwritten rules that live inside us or ways of being to which we must have subscribed when it was decided we’d be human — that make our existence so very relatable.

Inside these relatable interactions, the subtle and unspo-

ken social contracts between people who might otherwise have very little in common, is the thing that can always bring us back together: the wonder and absurdity of being a person among people.

Retroactive

By BO

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

Idaho mask-burners prompt change of vacation plans...

Bouquets: GUEST SUBMISSIONS: • Last Friday morning my son broke his collarbone on the backside of Schweitzer. I learned that our local Ski Patrol are incredible! They sledded my son smoothly to the First Aid station with all of his gear, offered reassuring calm words and went on to attend other far worse emergencies on March 12.

-Submitted by Jodi Rawson.

Barbs • Imagine we’re all in a lifeboat, if you will. It’s discovered there is a small leak in the boat.

It’s not catastrophic yet, but without constant bailing, the boat will eventually sink. Let’s examine some of the actions of those in the boat. There are those who chip in and help bail the boat.

Even if they have life jackets and survival suits that will help them survive a dip in the water, they still bail for the good of the crew – many of which are elderly. Then there are those who are convinced there is no leak – it’s all a hoax to sell more lifeboats.

“The boat is fine, let’s not worry about bailing, let’s worry about the tyrannical captain telling us to ration water and food and bail out the boat,” they’ll say. Then there are those who decide to burn the life jackets because they remind the others in the boat that there is a leak. Do you see what I’m getting at here? We’re in this boat together, folks. The boat is staying afloat not because of the obstinate ones who refuse to chip in, but those who band together for the rest of the crew. Which are you? We’re almost within sight of the shoreline. Grab a bucket, for crying out loud, and help us all get there safely. Or continue being selfish. It’s your choice what kind of world you want this to be. Stop being an anchor dragging against the bottom and start being a good crew member. Or is that asking too much?

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Dear editor, We recently saw a disturbing video in the news. Idaho parents were gleefully encouraging their children to burn face masks, which have proven to prevent transmission of the COVID virus.

Our concern was: Why were parents teaching their children to be irresponsible, endangering public health? Would these parents also encourage their children to remove seat belts or breathe secondhand tobacco smoke in public places?

Since we will soon have both COVID vaccines, we were looking at possibly skiing at one of our favorite mountains, Schweitzer.

The video of parents cheering on their mask-burning children was so distasteful and showed unconcern for community welfare, we changed our minds and booked our ski vacation in Vermont.

Sincerely, Vic and Iris Yipp Oak Park, Ill.

Ponderay Rotary scholarship opens

By Reader Staff The Rotary Club of Ponderay Centennial is accepting scholarship applications for the 20212022 academic year. Deadline for applications is Monday, April 12.

In the past, the club has handed out between $12,000-$20,000 in scholarship monies to deserving students each year.

The club offers two types of scholarships: one assists promising and deserving graduating highschool seniors and the other helps past Bonner County graduates in realizing their continuing or delayed post-secondary education and training goals.

Applicants must demonstrate Rotary values of “Service Above Self,” with an emphasis on community service and volunteerism and/or employment. The scholarship committee also considers individual circumstances, academics, recommendation letters, and financial need.

To apply as a graduating senior, one must be from Sandpoint, Lake Pend Oreille, or Forrest Bird Charter High Schools or a Sandpoint area graduating home-schooler. If continuing or restarting an education plan, the applicant must have graduated from a Bonner County high school at some time. Both types of scholarships need both the

appropriate Common Application and the Ponderay application completed. Directions must be followed carefully.

Applications can be found on the Sandpoint High School scholarship webpage or downloaded from ponderayrotaryclub. com. Questions about applying for scholarships should be directed to ponderayrotaryclub@gmail.com.

For those who would like to contribute to the Ponderay Rotary Scholarship Drive, email Rotary or call 208-290-0213. Donations can be mailed to the Ponderay Rotary Club at P.O. Box 813, Ponderay, ID 83852 or via payment on the organization’s website.

of Human Rights is used as a guide — and it covers social and economic as well as civil rights.

Access to health care, the right to a clean environment, protection from discrimination on the basis of disability or mental illness are considered human rights along with freedom from bias due to gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or socio-economic status.

The BCHRTF has more than $18,000 to award this year — and will accept grants for amounts up to $8,000. Refer to the website bchrtf.org to see what has been funded in previous years.

Eligible applicants are 501(c)3 organizations, public educational institutions, and government entities including local governments

and libraries. Decisions will favor applications that closely align with the mission and goals of BCHRTF, reach a broad segment of the community or school population, meet an urgent or on-going need, collaborate with other community groups, provide matching funds, demonstrate the potential for sustainability and include letters indicating community support.

Applications must be submitted to the Idaho Community Foundation, and the deadline is April 30. Grants are to be awarded in May and June. Complete instructions for the submission process are on the website bchrtf. org. Questions can be sent to bchrtaskforce@gmail.com or call 208-290-2732.

Applications accepted for BoCo Human Rights Task Force grants

By Reader Staff Grant applications are being accepted by the Bonner County Human Rights Task Force to help sponsor programs and activities in Bonner County that promote human rights.

The mission of the BCHRTF is to affirm the American principles and ideals of the dignity and worth of every human being and their right to equality under the law.

The oranization has worked in the community since 1992 to counter bias and discrimination through advocacy and to promote an appreciation of diversity through education.

Human rights is defined broadly for the purpose of awarding grants. The Universal Declaration

April Parks and Rec. programming

By Reader Staff Sandpoint Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces will be offering the following programming in April, with masks required for both instructors and participants: • CPR/AED with optional First Aid on April 5 at the city of Sandpoint Council Chambers.

Fee: CPR $35 or CPR and First Aid $60. Online registration deadline is April 1. Minimum of eight participants required.

• Acrylic painting on Fridays, April 2-April 23 from 5:30 p.m.-7

p.m. at Sandpoint Community Hall.

Fee: $160 and all materials are included. Online registration deadline is Tuesday, March 30. Minimum of five participants required.

• The Parks and Rec. Department also acts as a clearinghouse to connect the public with other recreational opportunities in the community. Visit the department’s online activity catalog to view listings.

Outside organizations and individuals wishing to list their activities are encouraged to contact Parks and Rec. with their program information at recreation@

sandpointidaho.gov. For Parks and Rec. program registration and other community programs, visit the Sandpoint Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces web catalog at sandpointidaho.gov/parksrecreation, visit the department’s office at 1123 Lake St. or call 208-263-3613.

The Panhandle Health District recommends following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance for mitigating the spread of COVID-19: stay home if sick, reduce physical closeness when possible, wear a mask if possible and clean hands often.

OPINION

Idaho has yet again dropped the ball on education

By Bret Johnson Reader Contributor

Idaho House Republicans recently killed a $6 million bill to fund preschool literacy. Idaho has always been leery of Washington, and, based on our track record, education. One of only six states that doesn’t fund preschool, Idaho has the second lowest spending per pupil and is dead last in school funding. Teacher pay is comparatively low despite having many communities, including this one, with a relatively high cost of living. Additionally, 92 of the state’s 115 school districts require supplemental levies to keep schools open. Sure, says Idaho, you can offer us money for education, but you can’t make us take it.

So why the trepidation? There are purportedly strings attached, or that’s what Rep. Priscilla Giddings, R-White Bird, would have us believe — though no evidence supports this. In fact, further analysis paints a much different picture. If strings are attached they’re attached directly to Rep. Giddings, a puppet for the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a group that, while preaching against taking stimulus money, filled its coffers with $330,000 thanks to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. A quick aside, the Idaho Freedom Foundation (idahofreedom.org) is a powerful special interest group. It has a Freedom Index that rewards points to legislators who vote its agenda, which, I assure you, has more to do with control than freedom. If you think of the number as a measurement, the ones with the highest scores have the special interest hand furthest up their bums. They don’t work for the people.

With an impeccable Freedom Index rating of 100, Rep. Giddings, a staunch supporter of incumbent Lt. Gen. Janice McGeachin, fabricated a connection between former-Coeur d’Alene Republican Rep. Luke Malek, McGeachin’s opponent in the upcoming election, and

the Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children, an organization that, while their mission is simply to support children, families and teachers, is deemed, by Rep. Giddings, too liberal. Contrary to her claim, Malek’s law firm was never affiliated with the AEYC website; it was just a well-timed political ploy to raise suspicion.

Always one to spin a yarn, the tale Rep. Giddings is currently peddling is that the $6 million federal preschool grant has a social justice agenda, which, once again, is not the case. Twin Falls Republican lawmaker Lance Clow, who serves as chairman of the Idaho House Education Committee, pushed back, saying he never heard about any such agenda. Could it be there isn’t one?

With no evidence to the contrary it’s the reasonable conclusion to draw, and one, should the bill be revisited, we should base our decision upon.

As educators, we are obligated to present a comprehensive picture of the world. In contrast, a conservative agenda operates from a single viewpoint. In her TED Talk, “The Danger of a Single Story,” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the Nigerian writer and feminist — the very individual Rep. Giddings doesn’t want taught in schools — explains how a single perspective misrepresents truth.

While some might label this a liberal agenda, we simply want students to formulate their own opinions based on information from multiple sources. The issue isn’t that we’re indoctrinating children; the issue is that we’re not indoctrinating children with the narrative conservative lawmakers want us to use.

Idaho has routinely dropped the ball on education. This is our chance to pick it up on the federal dime. Regardless of our ideologies, we should all strive to promote a free-thinking society, and, at the bare minimum, literacy, which is precisely, and singularly, what the federal grant is trying to accomplish.

Bret Johnson teaches English at Lake Pend Oreille High School.

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Mad about Science:

Brought to you by:

The Opabinia, a creature so unusual and contraditctory to everything we see in life today, it’s hard to believe it not only existed, but did so for more than 20 million years.

The cambrian period

By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist Earth is old — more than 4.5 billion years old. As far as we know, life has been clinging to Earth in its various forms for about 3.7 billion years, though it was unicellular in nature for most of that time. Early Earth was an inhospitable place — searing hot near the beginning and freezing cold for several hundred million years after.

There were actually two instances where most of planet Earth froze over to a degree that it has been referred to as “snowball Earth,” a time of global glaciation — we know this happened because of evidence of glaciation on rock near the equator. About 100 million years after the last recorded snowball Earth event, one of the strangest periods of biological evolution took place: the Cambrian Period.

The Cambrian Period marked a window in time where life evolved quickly into unique multicellular organisms that began about 543 million years ago, and lasted for at least 50 million years. Corals and other reef-forming organisms began to appear during this time, as well as a multitude of strange mollusk-like creatures, worms and arthropods like sea scorpions.

The strangeness of creatures that evolved in this time cannot be overstated. If you were to travel back in time and float around the ocean, you’d think you had accidentally traveled to an alien planet, as virtually nothing resembled life as we know it today. The only critter you would likely recognize was the trilobite, which found remarkable success existing through the 10 /

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Cambrian Period and beyond.

Trilobites were one of the greatest success stories of biological survival in the history of our world. They were remarkably complex for the period of time during which they lived and they seemed to have spread everywhere, with fossils ranging from Australia to Siberia and Canada. Hundreds of different variants existed around the globe, and due to the conditions in which they lived (crawling through sediment on the ocean floor) and their calcite chitin exoskeletons, they were preserved remarkably well for humans to study hundreds of millions of years later.

Trilobite fossils have been so well preserved and documented that their evolutionary forms have been utilized as roadmaps for scientists to study how Earth’s climates changed over an immense period of time. They survived for around 150 million years, until they finally died out during one of the greatest extinction events on Earth, during the Devonian Period about 354 million years ago. By this time, trilobites had evolved with large, pointed spikes on their exoskeletons to protect them from jawed predators like fish, which had begun to appear during the Devonian Period.

A lesser known, but far stranger creature that existed during the Cambrian Period was Anomalocaris canadensis, which looked like some kind of nightmarish, Lovecraftian shrimp creature with a segmented body that was flattened, like a halibut. These weird things had two curled and segmented mandibles that were lined with pointed spines, and two eyes on stalks similar to a snail. The

strangest thing of all was that they were likely the largest form of Cambrian life, measuring in at anywhere from three to five feet long and predatory.

While the mandibles for Anomalocaris were terrifying, its mouth was even stranger — the mandibles were designed to hold its prey while it devoured them bit by bit with a contracting orifice that looked like a pineapple ring lined with spines, which it would use to crush its prey.

While it probably couldn’t kill a human, being grappled and bitten by one or several would be a truly terrifying experience for anyone who already suffers from crippling thalassophobia.

Not everything in the Cambrian seas was out for blood. Tamisiocaris borealis was a large shrimp-like animal equipped with a set of filters similar to some of today’s whales. It would swim through the sea, allowing large amounts of microscopic matter to slip through the filters while pushing away larger critters that could present a choking hazard.

Filter feeders are a bit of a conundrum from our evolutionary standpoint. It’s hard to imagine large creatures being sustained by such small matter.

You have to wonder if these animals are always hungry. The truth is, most animals in the wild are always hungry, and it’s why they survive. Unlike humans, which need large caloric intakes to keep our bodies and brains functioning, filter feeders don’t need to expend a tremendous amount of energy by living in the ocean and will generally follow ocean currents, allowing them to simply vacuum up whatever is in their path. In the

case of whales, this allows them to build up large fat reservoirs to keep warm, but this likely wasn’t the case with Tamisiocaris.

Though large for Cambrian life, these guys rarely exceeded three feet in length.

The oddest form of life we have ever discovered from the Cambrian Period is undoubtedly Opabinia, a creature so unusual and contradictory to everything we see in life today, it’s hard to

believe it not only existed, but did so for more than 20 million years. It had a body shape similar to the other shrimp-like animals of the age, but it had an unusual head. It was equipped with five mushroom-like eyes and a prehensile proboscis that ended in freaky, gripping mandibles.

Nature is weird. Stay curious, 7B.

Random Corner ssoula Ice Ages floods??

ke Mi Don’t know much about the La • During the last Ice Age (18,000 to 12,000 years ago), cataclysmic floods inundated portions of the Pacific Northwest from Glacial Lake Missoula. This was a body of water as large as some of the Great Lakes — it formed from glacial meltwater that was dammed by a lobe of the Canadian ice sheet.

• At its largest, the lake was deeper than 2,000 feet at the dam and held more than 500 cubic miles of water — as much as Lake Erie and Lake Ontario combined.

• The floods did not happen all at once. Episodically — perhaps every 40 to 140 years — the waters of this huge lake forced their way past the ice dam, flooding parts of the Pacific Northwest. The peak rate of flow was 10 times the combined flow of all the rivers of the world.

• The floods have profoundly affected the geography and ways of life in this region. Lake Pend Oreille was one of the many geological features formed because of these floods.

We can help!

• Along the floodwaters’ course, more than 50 cubic miles of earth and rock were removed, and some of this was transported and then deposited as new landforms. The floods built gravel bars as tall as 400 feet and moved boulders weighing many tons as if they were pebbles. Some of the eroded material was deposited along the path of the floods, but most of the eroded material was carried out onto the floor of the Pacific Ocean, where extensive deposits of flood sediment have recently been identified hundreds of miles from the current mouth of the Columbia River.

• A glacial erratic, also called a dropstone, is glacially-deposited rock differing from the size and type of rock native to the area in which it rests. While driving west on Highway 20 through central Washington, house-sized boulders can be viewed in the middle of wheat fields, deposited from the flow of water after Lake Missoula’s ice dam broke.

OPINION

The unfounded fear of social justice

By Sen. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise Reader Contributor Opposition to “social justice” by the Idaho Legislature, while troubling, is not surprising. If you are in a majority, which has experienced power and advantage, it’s uncomfortable to admit you’ve been part of an unfair system. This may be why Republican politicians are defunding education programs that teach a more complete story of American history.

Republican legislators have leveled an assault on higher education programs addressing what they define as “social justice” issues. They cut Boise State’s budget because they felt threatened by diversity/inclusion programs, which are shown to have positive impacts on graduation rates. GOP legislators killed an early education bill from fear children would be introduced to “social justice” teachings — coursework emphasizing acceptance of all people. Quoting one legislator, these programs would also “encourage women to leave the home,” so the majority voted against funding early learning.

Sexism is alive and well in the legisla-

ture. Sentiments about a woman’s “proper” place in society simmer under the surface until they bubble up in votes like these, and he’s not alone. We see it in decision after decision.

We couldn’t pass a simple bill to expand Sen. Melissa Wintrow. File photo. access to prescription contraception. We don’t have full-time kindergarten or preschool because of sexist attitudes about a woman’s socalled role. After fighting to raise awareness about sexual and domestic violence, we couldn’t pass common sense legislation to keep firearms out of the hands of convicted domestic abusers.

Clearly, if you don’t fit in the majority, you will be silenced, defunded, erased — dare I say canceled due to fear that traditional culture will be pushed aside.

This backlash against “justice for all” is

not uncommon. When people in power feel their way of life is threatened, a common reaction to protect and fight back emerges.

Our fight shouldn’t be against everyday citizens just trying to get by; it should be a fight against myths of meritocracy and individualism that have been ingrained in education and culture. I was taught growing up if you just worked hard enough, you could do anything, but that’s really not true.

We have all been indoctrinated into a false narrative of our history. Policies and laws in our country have been enacted to work against people not in the majority. A quick Google search reveals what my public education left out about being American and the difficulty accessing the American Dream if you aren’t in the majority.

I was taught about the founding fathers, but I wasn’t told they owned slaves. I was taught the Thanksgiving story, but not the Trail of Tears and genocide of indigenous people. I learned about Abraham Lincoln, but not the Great Compromise deeming Blacks as 3/5 of a person, nor about lynching or Jim Crow. I was taught nothing about “redlining,” the government’s practice to segregate and deny property ownership to people of color. I learned about the Civil

War but not the Confederate “Cornerstone Speech” that used Christianity to justify slavery.

My public education reflected the values of the “majority” — it wasn’t until an educator challenged my own thinking that I began to examine what “justice for all” meant to those not in the majority. Educators are demonized for encouraging critical thought and inviting us to lean into discomfort as we learn a more complete narrative about our history. Social justice programs are merely set up to open our minds to a more inclusive truth.

Being from the white majority, I may not be responsible for past oppression, but I am responsible for righting wrongs and acknowledging how I have benefited from that privilege. And if we are going to achieve “justice for all,” we must look beyond what a quick Google search tells us and beyond what makes us — the majority — feel comfortable.

Melissa Wintrow is a first-term senator representing District 19 in Boise. She serves on the Transportation, Health and Welfare, and Judiciary and Rules committees.

Lottery’s golden goose killed in Boise

By David Keyes Reader Contributor The odds were pretty low Idaho would even have a state lottery when in 1983 a legislative committee harpooned the proposal.

After all, the Idaho Supreme Court eliminated all forms of gambling in the Gem State in 1953 and the state seemed to get along just fine.

The idea of a state lottery reappeared in 1986 when an initiative was passed by the citizens. However, this initiative came up “snake eyes” when the Idaho Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional. The lottery plan had one last roll of the dice and in 1988 voters approved an amendment to the Idaho Constitution and the Idaho Lottery was born in 1989.

Idaho Lottery’s very existence has been a love-hate relationship between certain legislators, religious groups and an underfunded educational system that has benefited from yearly dividends.

Out of every dollar the lottery receives, nearly 25 cents goes to an annual dividend.

David Keyes. Courtesy photo.

From 1990 to 2019, the dividend has been $961 million, of which 62% goes to Idaho public schools while the remainder goes to the Permanent Building Fund and the Bond Levy

Equalization Fund.

By any measure, the Idaho Lottery has run a solid operation without even a hint of scandal or misappropriation of funds. The lottery has the same number of employees and is in the same location with smaller office space 32 years after its inception.

This clean track record can be attributed to the leadership of Director Jeff Anderson, some dedicated state employees and the guidance of a commission of citizens. I was honored to be on that commission for nine years and I was the vice chairman for two of those years.

So why is the lottery in the news?

There is a golden goose about to be killed in Boise.

In 1992, Idaho was one of the original states to create and participate in the new Powerball game. Powerball is now in 45 states and has helped fund the lottery dividend to the tune of $14 million a year since fiscal year 2011 through last year.

Powerball easily has the best name recognition of any game offered by the Idaho Lottery and is truly a tax on those who can’t do math because the odds of winning are 1 in 292 million. The odds of constructing a perfect NCAA tournament bracket are even steeper: 1 in 9.2 quintillion. Suffice to say, I am not going to win either. But at least with the purchase of a Powerball ticket, the little voice in the back of my mind reminds me that I am “donating” to Idaho schools.

Recently, the agency that oversees Powerball decided to expand the game’s reach by including Australia in 2021 and Britain in 2022. Forty-four of the 45 states are onboard for the expansion, which will ultimately lead to more players and higher jackpots. Idaho state law limits those who can play lottery games to U.S. citizens and Canadians.

Last week the Legislature’s House State Affairs Committee voted against expanding,

which means Idaho will get kicked to the Powerball curb in August.

Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, stated she was worried that when Australia joins Powerball, the country’s officials might use the revenue for causes she opposes. Her logic: “In Australia anti-gun causes, which they see as good and we see as not good,” could be funded. Other Solons stated how the odds of winning would be diminished with more players, which also isn’t true.

The Idaho Lottery was a longshot when it was established and the odds of resurrecting Powerball and the millions it provides to Idaho education are low. Those are the kinds of odds the lottery is used to and every once in a while, it is someone’s lucky day.

In a state that is 50th for funding education and whose leaders don’t have a plan to replace the millions of Powerball dollars, it may be wise to also consider what will happen to all of the businesses located near the state lines when customers drive past their Idaho locations to Powerball outlets in Washington, Montana and Wyoming.

David Keyes is a former newspaper publisher and Idaho Lottery commissioner.

He lives in Sandpoint.

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FEATURE

Slippery slope

Avalanche danger persists throughout the West, resulting in a historically dangerous year in the backcountry

By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff

T

he 2020-2021 winter recreation season is shaping up to be one of the deadliest on record. While the record-holding 2007-’08 and 2009-’10 seasons saw 36 avalanche-related deaths each, the current season had already logged 33 deaths by the end of February.

Locals saw evidence of unstable snowpack first in mid-December, when skiers ducked ropes and triggered a slide in closed terrain at Schweitzer Mountain Resort. Then, in early January, a solo snowboarder triggered a slide on Blue Mountain — a popular backcountry area accessible from Schweitzer, though not located inbounds on the resort and therefore not subject to Ski Patrol’s avalanche mitigation efforts.

The entire country has been witness to similar stories all winter long, particularly in the West, where many of those tales ended in severe injury or death. During the first week of February, the Northwest Avalanche Center reported that the United States “experienced more recreational avalanche fatalities than during any other period in the last 100 years.”

Avalanche experts have landed on two main ingredients that have led to this recipe for disaster: historically weak snowpack, and unprecedented high numbers of recreationists in the backcountry — spurred in large part by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The making of a snowpack Every year, weather patterns determine the integrity of a snowpack. The pack comes together like a flaky pastry with each weather event, though in some cases, the result is flakier than is ideal for a safe and predictable winter recreation season. Such was the case this year, according to Schweitzer Snow Safety Supervisor Tom Eddy.

The “biggest problem this year,” according to Eddy, was a period of rain in January followed by “cold, clear weather,” resulting in “a pretty decent rain crust over all aspects, all elevations.”

“And then we had a little dusting of snow on top of that crust and then we had surface hoar develop just above that crust,” he continued, noting that surface hoar lacks structural integrity. “The worst part about that is that it didn’t get skied up, [and] the sun didn’t have enough intensity to start breaking it down. Then we received a couple of inches of light-density snow on top of that surface hoar, which preserved it in place.”

While other places across the West did not necessarily receive that same rain crust, Eddy said widespread surface hoar has prevented snowpacks throughout the region from bonding together.

The bottom line?

“This isn’t the season to go after the

big lines, whether it’s on a snowmobile or on skis,” said Eddy, who also serves as vice president of the Friends of the Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center. “You always have to keep that layer in the back of your mind when you’re making your decisions.”

As winter comes to its gradual end in the mountains and the snowpack warms, Eddy said the snow’s surface will be key to telling recreators what is happening deeper down. For instance, if pinwheels of snow begin popping up, that’s an indication of instability.

Right now, Eddy said, snow safety experts are observing what he called a “low probability, high consequence problem,” as the weakest layer is sitting about halfway down in the area’s snowpack.

“The likelihood of triggering [a slide] is getting a little more remote, but the results if you do trigger it are going to be a lot larger,” he said, adding that if someone were buried, it could be beneath “potentially a meter of snow or more, depending on where you are and wind loading.”

As harrowing as those conditions sound, many who have experienced avalanches — both in the backcountry and on established resort slopes — would agree that it doesn’t take very much snow to turn a perfect powder day into a perfect nightmare.

The telltale signs of an avalanche at a resort in the Alps. Stock photo.

‘I was not getting out on my own’ Nick Appl said it was “a cloudy, typical Schweitzer-visibility day” when he was caught in an inbounds avalanche in January 2018. Despite hitting Schweitzer’s slopes with a friend, Appl said the foggy conditions meant he and his partner weren’t always visible to one another.

“I slowed down because it was hard to see, and the snow that I triggered was on me,” he said. “I turned around and it was there — I was in it.”

Appl said that he tried to stay upright, but was pushed down onto his stomach.

When the slide stopped, he was able to move his arms around just enough to poke a glove above the snow.

“What I was most scared of was that someone else … was going to come through, and it only would have taken a little bit more snow to completely bury me,” he said.

Luckily, two nearby skiers heard him yelling and spotted his glove. Ski patrollers were nearby, attending to an injury, so they came over to help. Appl isn’t sure how much time passed, but he estimates he was buried for about 10 minutes — “a long 10 minutes.” After being dug out, he went to First Aid.

< see AVALANCHE, page 13 >

< AVALANCHE, con’t from page 12 > “I wasn’t injured, luckily — not physically, anyway,” he said.

That weekend turned out to be an eventful one for Schweitzer, as Ski Patrol detonated explosives in the North Bowl to trigger an avalanche that downed trees and pushed ice out of Colburn Lake. Appl recalls a number of other skiers also being caught in small slides that weekend, though none of them were fully buried like him. He said he suspects that a fair amount of fresh snow, along with wind loading, is what led to his avalanche experience.

“It just doesn’t take that much,” he said. “It’s true that when the snow stops, it’s solid. I was not getting out on my own.”

Since then, Appl said he’s been opposed to people listening to music while recreating. Had the other skiers around him been wearing headphones, Appl believes he may not have been found.

Appl also said he thinks the messaging around adequate winter sport safety needs to be more rigorous.

“I remember there were a lot of social media posts and other messaging [after the incident] about ‘make sure you ski with a buddy,’” Appl said, “and yeah, that’s good advice, but it’s not very thorough advice.”

Physically (and mentally) equipped Despite the effect recreation can have on a reactive snowpack, Eddy said “that’s not to say, ‘Don’t go out’ — you just have to be cognizant of the hazards when you do go out.

“If there’s a big warming event, you want to scale things back,” he continued.

“We get another big storm or a lot of wind transport, you probably want to scale things back. Personally, I’m happy to ski [in] 25-30 degrees in the backcountry — it might not be quite as exciting, but it’s fun and I know I’m coming home.”

Part of being cognizant of the hazards is being adequately equipped for any situation, Eddy said. “At minimum,” that means a beacon, shovel, probe and partner.

“You should have dedicated rescue equipment that doesn’t leave your body,” Eddy said.

Beyond the physical materials needed in order to responsibly enter the backcountry, experts are also pointing to the COVID-19 pandemic as a reason to reevaluate the kind of mental state recre-

Examining the crown after mitigation work in South Bowl at Schweitzer. Photo by Jake Sullivan. ationists are bringing with them on their snowy treks. “[W]hile it’s impossible to draw a direct line between the stressors of the pandemic and avalanche incidents, the virus clearly adds overt and latent stressors on all of our lives. These stressors influence our day-to-day interactions, and they likely impact our recreational mindset in the backcountry,” officials with the Northwest Avalanche Center shared in a Feb. 10 media release. “Your risk is determined by deciding where and when to go. Please consider the intersection of the snowpack, your experience, and the added stress of recent months on you and your partners. Are you feeling the need to push it, or could you pull back a bit?”

Another key to a sound mindset when heading out, according to Eddy, is acknowledging that the avalanche danger is prevalent throughout the backcountry — even if that snow is a stone’s throw from a resort.

“People refer to the backcountry terrain just out of ski areas as ‘side country’ or ‘slack country,’ and I think that’s a huge misnomer because [it gives] people a false sense of security,” he said, adding later: “The backcountry is the backcountry, however you access it — whether it’s from a ski lift, whether it’s human power or snowmobile or snow bike.”

To learn more about local snow conditions, and to access avalanche education opportunities, visit idahopanhandleavalanche.org or find Friends of the Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center on Facebook: facebook.com/friendsofipac. To review the North American Public Avalanche Danger Scale, visit avalanche. org.

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FEATURE

Made for the Mongol Derby

Sandpoint’s Lena Haug prepares to compete in the world’s longest horse race

By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff

Lena Haug is a dedicated equestrian and adventure seeker, and plans to prove it in the most awesome way possible: competing in the 2021 Mongol Derby, the longest — and toughest — endurance horse race on the planet.

“My whole life revolves around exploration and trying out new things — pushing the limits of what you can do outside,” she said.

As far as callings go, Haug found hers organically; without any prior exposure to the equestrian world, she decided she loved horses.

“I constantly talked about them,” she said. “I was obsessed with them.”

She recalls being 4 or 5 years old, staring and pointing out of car windows when they passed horses. She was first able to ride in Kindergarten, thanks to a friend’s family having horses.

When she resolved to have a horse of her own, her mom said she could — as long as Haug was the one to purchase it.

“She didn’t think I’d ever actually make the money,” Haug said. “I worked my butt off, and at 11 years old I bought my first horse for $3,000.”

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The Mongol Derby is the pinnacle of Haug’s passions, where outdoor adventure and horsemanship collide on the world’s biggest stage: the steppes across which Genghis Khan and his expert horse warriors once rode.

In August, racers will arrive in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and partake in three days of trainings prior to hopping on near-wild horses and spending the next 10 days navigating the Mongolian grasslands on a 1,000-kilometer (roughly 620-mile) racecourse that mirrors Genghis Khan’s horse messenger system during the 13th century.

“It’s not just riding horses — green horses, at that — but it really involves a lot of bigger-picture … thought around, ‘How do I do this for a long period of time — keep myself safe, keep my horse safe?’” Haug said.

While her experience guiding horseback tours in the Andes of South America and career as a horse trainer have prepared Haug for the equestrian aspects of the Mongol Derby, her latest professional endeavor as a pilot has prepared her for the navigational requirements of the ride.

Beyond the physical demands of the journey, Haug knows mental strength will also be paramount.

“This is a race of patience

and creativity, mentally,” she said, noting that part of her preparations has been learning about the culture of the nomadic peoples of the steppe. “A goal of mine is to really take in the landscape and the culture.”

Along the way, riders will change mounts every 35-40 kilometers, choosing a horse from a local herd offered by the people who live there. Mongolian families will also house and feed riders along the way. Haug said she’s learned that traditional Mongolian culture reveres horses as spiritual beings, and keeps them as undomesticated as possible — meaning the ability to communicate and build trust quickly between horse and rider will be key.

“It’s really unpredictable, right? Because you’re riding three to four horses a day, all of which are relatively wild,” she said, adding that in conversations with past competitors, they told her that for the “first mile, you’re just going to be riding a bucking horse.”

That uncertainty — along with the knowledge that many riders don’t make it to the finish line for a variety of reasons — is cause for some nerves, Haug admitted. She expects to be thrown from a horse once or twice on the journey — “That’s just a matter of time,” she said — but does worry about one of those incidents ending in injury.

“I’m a really good rider and I have a lot of experience with young horses,” she said, “but anything could happen.”

Haug is also a little worried about coming

across unstable ground — particularly a bog, somewhere soft that a horse could get stuck. She admits that this specific fear might be a bit irrational, as it is mostly based on a bad past experience while on horseback.

Ultimately, Haug said she will trust her horse to recognize such pitfalls.

“Those horses know [the land] — they roam free, there’s no fencing,” she said, adding later, “They know that land better than anybody.”

Haug is currently working to raise funds to cover the $14,500 entry fee, which is used to compensate the Mongolian families and other specialists who make the race happen.

“Every family that is offering their horses and their homes up, the veterinarians, the medics — all of those teams get paid,” she said.

As Haug continues to collect

Lena Haug and pup Buddy enjoy a ride from trusty steed Corazon. Courtesy photo.

the funds and equipment necessary to race in the Mongol Derby, she’s also preparing physically — running, cycling and, most importantly, riding. Luckily, it’s something she’s been called to do from an early age.

“The main thing is just getting time in the saddle,” she said. “Getting bow-legged.”

To learn more about Lena Haug’s journey to the Mongol Derby, or to support her efforts to prepare for the race, visit her blog at lenahaug2021mongolderby.com. Also find her on Facebook at facebook.com/ WildesseHeart.

LITERATURE

This open Window Vol. 6 No.3 poetry and prose by local writers

edited by Jim mitsui

a poem for steve weistling (1948-2009) Steve helped people feel like they knew what they were doing but he’d stand back in the foothills if anyone started talking about his deeds. Who in his first class knew

at lunch, talking across an Italian tablecloth he spoke of his E.R. volunteering. The deleted memories in some of the patients made him say, When I have to die, I want it quick. The many who treasured

Steve had carved a reputation, an outstanding Superintendent in the L.A. Power Supply System? Instead of raising that flag he absorbed poetry and the technical diction

him argued against this when it actually happened. His loss left a scar in our hearts. Today, reading his poems, we know he liked underdogs, frowned at Neanderthal politics and union rules stretched by men with stiff collars. One typical day in his writing turned into a flow of images as natural as an Ansel he bothered to take the time to free a grey moth, trapped behind Adams photograph. I remember telling him about the Salmon River, a window screen. Steve & Darlene moved from Bishop and donated Idaho. A drive that he had to try some day — U.S. Highway their furniture to a 20-year old Mexican kid who pulled weeds at the golf 95 North. Fishing camps, log-cabin motels with Alfred course. Steve’s words did what they said. The sky thundered when he stood Hitchcock vacancy signs. Drift boats surfing the current. six feet taller than Humphrey’s Peak, the highest place in Arizona, Fly-casting rods tied to the river by nylon lines, steelhead just like the times we felt like clapping in our workshop when he finished nosing the riffles for anything but lures. Steve’s poems reading his latest poem. Steve laughed at himself easily still sing like the Salmon, Zen-like and so compelling and played golf on 115 degree afternoons because no one else would. you’d trust every word. He took that drive: the windows He didn’t wait for this spinning world to act for him, whether it concerned of his GMC extended-cab diesel open — he liked to smell his family, volunteering at Del Webb Hospital, or helping neighbors sagebrush, feel the wind. Steve was easy to be around get used to new computers. It was simply how Steve scripted his life. whether it was spring training or a pickleball court. Once, — James Masao Mitsui

shelter

i sat on your deck today in one of the comfortable Adirondack chairs, a bit of rest after tramping up the big rock hill in a foot of crusted snow and looked in the big cabin window, everything just as you left it, the writing desk and bookshelves and the stairs you built that go up to the sleeping loft Not much change on the deck, a pile of pine cone pieces by the plank door and delicate tracks on the otherwise unbroken snow Lichen-covered handrails providing a partial frame for grand old Butler Mountain I set two more chairs alongside mine with the kindling chopping block in between for the thermos and coffee cups, just in case Dad and You showed up and we could reminisce about all the good times on the Farm About how Home is here and with us always.

— Steve Johnson Here’s a comfortable poem about late winter in North Idaho, memories and “not much change.” Fun fact: Steve was Reader Publisher Ben Olson’s elementary school principal.

Send poems to: jim3wells@aol.com

ground hog Women in isolation are keeping sane barely In our plastic bubbles we ache for daybreak when frozen fractals no longer crunch thawed where whispers of order trigger music Someone’s sending out eating words aplenty happy blue and lavender hairs conversing despite the sunset of political hospice keeping Rather indulging original wonder a strong skyline confirmed I stand nude, savor the reach lessons rainbow not hobbled misfits nose shits stranger shoes Radio out the soul wonder watts of health My lips taste a dilly garlic daybreak discovery

Not far from where I live A grove of large hemlock And cottonwood trees Goliath wrinkles on rippled bark Nestle in a dark ravine Deeply rooted and tall Long ago missed by loggers Provide a safe haven From snowflakes as big as Nickels and quarters.

I take a lungful of air Gaze up at the labyrinth of branches And wonder If I hang out with them Long enough Could I too be Strong Still Silent A giant in a shrinking world.

— Sharon Kreider Sharon Kreider retired back to Sandpoint after 25 years away to pursue her writing career. Her women’s fiction novel, Sylvie, will be available fall 2021. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys hiking in the hills surrounding her home near Garfield Bay.

— Jackie Henrion Jackie Henrion, host of 88.5 KRFY weekly show Songs-Voices-Poems, is a member of the Sandpoint Monday Writers and is currently working on a non-fiction book about personal growth.

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FOOD & DRINK

Cheers to 15 years of MickDuff’s Brewing Much has changed in the brewery business, but a commitment to experimentation has remained the same

By Mack Deibel Reader Contributor Mickey and Duffy Mahoney are poised to celebrate another anniversary of MickDuff’s Brewing Co. and 15 years of brewing in Sandpoint. So much has changed in 15 years, including the home of MickDuff’s Brewpub, and yet so much has stayed the same.

In 2006 when MickDuff’s opened, there were fewer than 1,500 breweries in the United States. While there was already a brewery in Bonner County, there were fewer than 20 in the entire state of Idaho.

When MickDuff’s first opened, one pound of hops cost $5-$7, and MickDuff’s sold a pint of beer for $3 out of fewer than eight beer taps, with five standard brews.

Today, in 2021, there are more than 8,000 breweries in the United State, more than 80 breweries in Idaho, four breweries in Bonner County and more on the way.

Hops range in price from $6-$18 (some even go for more than $20 in the secondary

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market), while MickDuff’s pints now sell for $4-$6.5 out of more than 15 taps. Three of their original beers remain alongside another five standard year-round beers.

Other things that have changed since MickDuff’s opened in 2006 include both Mickey and Duffy getting married and starting families, they’ve brewed more than 200 different beers from more than 750 batches of beer (they lost count), moved a brewery, installed a new production brewery and two pilot breweries. Most recently, they purchased the old Sandpoint Federal Building — which in the past also served as the Sandpoint Post Office and library — in 2019 and conducted an extensive remodel so they could house their brewpub in a building rich in history and ready themselves for the next 15 years. “[In 2006] We had a seven-barrel brewhouse, three fermenters and brewed just enough beer for our brewpub,” explained co-owner, Mickey Mahoney. “Now, we have a 20-barrel brewhouse, two locations and send roughly one third of our production out to local bars and restaurants who

are nice enough to carry our beer.”

While the changes in the industry and the business since MickDuff’s first opened are aplenty, the values of their business and reasons why they opened in the first place have remained steadfast.

“Everything has changed and nothing has changed all at the same time,” said Carrera Swarm, general manager. “Our team has gotten stronger, we’ve retained a handful of employees from our 2006 opening and many team members with more than five years with the company. The pub is always striving for the absolute best experience with high quality, fresh and local (when available) ingredients, providing our guests with the freshest and tastiest menu.

And one thing for sure hasn’t changed, Mickey and Duffy’s commitment to providing our employees, guests and community with an absolutely wonderful place to call your favorite restaurant, brewery and place of work/home.”

Making clean beer isn’t enough anymore — customers demand the new flavors and for MickDuff’s to push the limits of these new styles. The brewery is currently brewing beer with Norweigen landrace yeasts to bring new flavors to new and old styles alike. However, MickDuff’s is also pushing itself with classic lager styles like the current MickDuff’s LIGHT, a light lager featuring rice, and Ullr’s Amber, an amber vienna lager.

“There are more beer styles and beer drinkers have broadened their palates,” Mickey said. “In 2006, craft beer was less exciting, we rarely drank or even had beers such as sours, pastry stouts, milkshakes, hazy IPAs, India pale lagers, plus a boatload of others. In 2021, the more outrageous the

Mickey, left, and Duffy Mahoney, right, at work at the Beer Hall. Courtesy photo. beer is the more excitement it brings.”

MickDuff’s hasn’t let the beer trends pass it by. The brewery was an early adopter of New England (Hazy) IPAs, plus you can almost guarantee there’s a milkshake and sour on tap whenever you visit its two locations. Hazy IPAs grew in popularity because they taste juicy and hoppy with typically restrained bitterness, compared to standard IPAs that are usually two to three times as bitter. Milkshakes are made from similar base recipes to the Hazy IPA but then are dosed with lactose, vanilla and all natural fruit purees to make a delectable dessert beer. The newest trend MickDuff’s has dived into is the Pastry Stouts category, and they’ve got the richest, thickest, mouth-watering pastry stouts. MickDuff’s Pastry Stouts are high-strength sweet stouts, featuring lactose, organic flavor extracts and occasionally abstract ingredients like marshmallows to make beers you truly have to experience.

These trends, as wild as they may be, are truly at the core of what brewers have always appreciated the most: experimentation.

Mack Deibel has worked for MickDuff’s off and on for 15 years, seven of which he’s served as Beer Hall manager/brewer. He is also a past-president and current vice president of the statewide Idaho Brewers United organization.

This article is first in a series contributed by local brewers. Look for the next installment in the April 1 edition of the Reader.

Top row: A group of volunteers gathered at the Panida Theater March 14 to give it a deep clean from box office to backstage (top left). Karen Bowers runs the vacuum at the Panida’s deep clean day (top center).

Nancy Foster Renk and Phyllis Goodwin clean the concession area at the Panida Theater (top right). Photos courtesy Teresa Pesce.

Bottom row: Sandpoint skiers dominated at last weekend’s International Freesking & Snowboarding Association competition at Brundage Mountain in Mcall. Ivan Jones, Miles Wheatcroft and Blayne Kanning, all of Sandpoint, took first, second and third place respectively in the competitive male 12-14 category, while Sandpoint’s Lydia Nelson took second place in the female 15-18 category. Lydia Nelson delivered an aggressive run with some big airs to snag second place in the female 15-18 category (bottom left). Ivan Jones sends a huge air to take first place in the 12-14 category, beating a field of 18 competitors (bottom right). Photos courtesy Woods Wheatcroft.

To submit a photo for a future edition, please send to ben@sandpointreader.com.

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events March 18-25, 2021

THURSDAY, March 18 FriDAY, March 19

Live Music w/ Okay, Honey 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Singer-Songwriter duo from Spokane

Living Voices - Northwest Passages 7pm @ Panida Theater POAC presents this story of Julia Berg from Sweden, about a family’s growth in America at the turn of the century. See artinsandpoint.org for more info

Cornhole Tournament (March 19-20) 6pm @ Bonner Co. Fairgrounds 7B Baggers Cornhole Club presents a tournament. Bags fly Friday night at 6 p.m. and Saturday morning at 9 a.m. All levels welcome. 603-724-0163 for more info Live Music w/ Steve Rush & Scott Taylor 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Live Music w/ Devon Wade 6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Sandpoint country artist

SATURDAY, March 20 Live Music w/ Son of Brad 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery From 1950s hits to new favorites

SunDAY, March 21 Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee Meets every Sunday at 9am

Piano Sunday w/ Peter Lucht 3-5pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Bingo at the Winery 3-5pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

monDAY, March 22

Outdoor Experience Monday Night Group Run – All levels welcome 6pm @ Outdoor Experience Lifetree Cafe • 2pm @ Jalapeño’s Restaurant “Making Life’s Toughest Decisions: Dealing with Dilemmas.”

Monday Night Blues Jam w/ Truck Mills 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

tuesDAY, March 23 wednesDAY, March 24

Live Music w/ John Firshi 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

ThursDAY, March 25

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COMMUNITY

New physical therapy and myofascial release business opens its doors

By Reader Staff Many people have found lasting and successful healing, pain relief and ease of symptoms with myofascial release treatments. Kristine Rae, physical therapist and myofascial release practitioner, recently opened the doors to her myofascial release practice in the Selkirk Building on Fourth Avenue in Sandpoint.

Myofascial release is a therapeutic bodywork technique that involves applying gentle sustained pressure into myofascial connective tissue restrictions to eliminate pain and restore motion. It is deeply relaxing and nourishing to the nervous system.

The fascia plays an important role in the support and function of the body since it surrounds, permeates and attaches to all the body’s structures including the muscles, tendons, nerves, organs and bones. It is the connective tissue of the body and gives the body its structure and shape. In its normal healthy state, the fascia has the ability to stretch and move without restriction. When one experiences physical trauma, emotional trauma, scarring or inflammation, however, the fascia loses its pliability. It becomes tight, restricted and a source of tension to the rest of the body. Fascial restrictions can exert excessive pressure on pain-producing structures causing symptoms such as pain, headaches or restriction of motion.

The fascia also stores the cellular memory of trauma, both physical and emotional, that the person may have ex-

Kristine Rae at work on one of her clients. Courtesy photo. perienced in their life. Many people will experience feelings, memories and emotions associated with the injury or trauma that the tissue may be holding.

Rae works with people who have problems with pain, headaches, restrictions in motion, chronic tension and tightness, post-surgical pain and scarring, and other bodily injuries and trauma.

Myofascial release is a gentle, slow technique, which Rae has used during her 15 years as a physical therapist. Find her website at kristinerae.com. Contact Rae at 208-946-7072 or kristinemrae@ gmail.com.

STAGE & SCREEN

True crime

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

Aristotle thought long and hard about the nature of wickedness — specifically, the moral nature of ill deeds performed knowingly or unknowingly. In his Nicomachean Ethics, the philosopher argued that actions resulting in bad ends — even if performed out of ignorance and regardless of whether the actor thinks they’re doing good — are as blameworthy as those carried out by choice.

This line of reasoning is apt when watching Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, one of the higher-profile true crime documentaries currently streaming on Netflix. The four-episode series ostensibly focuses on Elisa Lam, a 21-year-old Canadian student who went missing during a 2013 solo stay at the Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

While Crime Scene does lay out the case, it more compellingly profiles the vast constellation of so-called “web sleuths” who took to their computers in an effort to solve the mystery. While the most earnest of them thought they were helping, in most cases these sleuths’ ignorance and self-serving obsession muddied the waters with conspiracy theories of ever-spiralling complexity — and corresponding error.

There are spoilers ahead, so read on with caution, but those who trolled “creepy” videos on YouTube back in 2013 will likely remember the bizarre security footage of Lam as she seemed to cower for her life in a Cecil Hotel elevator, pushing an entire row of buttons before spasmodically entering and exiting lift, whose doors (seemingly inexplicably) remain open. Finally, after a series of baffling hand gestures, Lam walks off camera, never to be seen alive again.

Web sleuths and YouTube commenters had an absolute field day with this footage, endlessly dissecting and speculating on

every aspect of its 3:59 runtime — specifically the 2:30 during which Lam displayed her baffling actions. There were theories that she’d been drugged, theories that she was being pursued by an unseen individual in the hallway (Lam is alone during the whole video), even a rich vein of supernatural theories. She was fending off a ghost, many said.

The Cecil Hotel has a long, shady history — a place where “serial killers go to let down their hair,” as the former hotel manager says in Crime Scene, referring to the once-residence there of the so-called L.A. “Night Stalker.” The documentary spends a lot of time chronically this history, with some admirable attention paid to the social, economic and political factors that contributed to its surrounding neighborhood devolving into the infamous “Skid Row.” Drugs, prostitution, suicide and murder were regular occurrences at the hotel for decades, with more than 16 unexplained deaths dating back to 1927.

Owing to this reputation, the Cecil changed its name to Stay on Main in 2011 and attempted to brighten its image. Still, retired detectives who worked on the case, past guests, at least one former long-term resident and the ex-manager herself all described the place almost as the center of a deadly web into which Lam became ensnared.

Again — spoiler — after three weeks of fevered speculation online, investigators discovered the girl’s naked body in one of the water tanks on the hotel roof. The official cause of death listed as drowning, and the strange events leading up to her tragic end chalked up by officials to Lam having been under-medicating herself for severe bipolar disorder.

Of course, the “web sleuths” didn’t, or couldn’t, buy it and maintained their obsession with increasingly ludicrous theories involving cover-ups by everyone from the coroner to the police to

Netflix series Crime Scene profiles the Elisa Lam case as much as the moral failure of its ‘web sleuths’

the hotel management. That the simplest explanation is likely correct seemed untenable to these keyboard Columbos, and the function of the internet pile-on in the Lam case provides insight into the psychology at work with other conspiracy-laden online

“movements” like QAnon.

That these people — several of whom are profiled in Crime Scene — don’t seem very contrite over their contribution to confusing the case, even at one point destroying an innocent man’s life, puts an extra sinister

CCTV from the Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Courtesy photos. twist on an already tragic situation. In the process, Lam became less important than the internet’s obsession with itself. Aristotle would not have been impressed.

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MUSIC

MCS hires a new director of music

By Reader Staff Spring is a time for new beginnings, and that is true for Sandpoint’s local school of performing arts. The Music Conservatory of Sandpoint recently announced a new face, Dr. Matt Goodrich, as incoming director of music and part of the MCS Piano Department.

Outgoing Director of Music John Fitzgerald is also heading on to a new beginning, as he pursues his doctorate.

Goodrich is new to Sandpoint and the conservatory.

“He brings a wealth of experience and energy that will certainly be felt by students at MCS,” the organization stated.

Goodrich is a graduate of Oberlin College Conservatory and earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Washington under the direction of Robin McCabe. An active chamber music and theatrical performer, Goodrich has enjoyed long associations with acclaimed performing groups such as Pacific

Northwest Ballet and Oregon Shakespeare Festival based in Ashland, Ore. With the Harrington-Goodrich Piano Duo, Goodrich performs Parisian fin-de-siècle repertoire for two pianos throughout the West. He also holds faculty positions at Southern Oregon University and the music conservatories of Sandpoint and Coeur d’Alene.

According to MCS, “Dr. Goodrich is in constant demand throughout the Pacific Northwest division of Music Teachers National Association for his expertise in training teachers and performers to approach their art in a holistic, healthy and persuasive way, having refined these skills for several decades through more than 2,000 performances approached in such a manner.”

Goodrich holds Alexander Technique International teaching certification and is a founding member of the Integrative Alexander Technique Circle. He is editor for the biannual journal ExChange and has taught movement reeduca-

Sometimes a change of format is just what the doctor ordered. Bill Litsinger, longtime host of the weekly radio talk show “The Voice” on KSPT/ KBFI, is launching a new podcast Friday, March 19 after his former radio show was taken off the air in August 2020.

Litsinger told the Reader he was removed by Blue Sky Broadcasting after hosting a spokeswoman for a group trying to halt the relocation of an asphalt batch plant to a gravel pit in Sagle. When one of Blue Sky’s advertisers “threatened to pull their advertising,” Litsinger said his show was abruptly canceled, even though he said

he was “always treated well,” at Blue Sky over the years.

Blue Sky management declined to comment.

The change of format to a podcast means Litsinger will pre-record his shows a day or two before the weekly Friday time slot at 11 a.m. Listeners can listen to the show by visiting thevoicenorthidaho.com, which Litsinger said will be a similar format as his former show, where he will talk about “anything and everything: politics, COVID-19, gun control, flag burning, etc.”

The “no-holds-barred” discussion of local, state and national issues affecting North Idaho will feature in-studio guests, where Litsinger said,

READ

My poet friends would cringe if they knew this, but I absolutely adore Rupi Kuar. The 28-year-old Canadian poet released her first collection in 2014, and through her briefbut-poignant prose, proved to be a voice for a whole generation of young millennial girls. She tackles body image, trauma, identity and so much more, often paired with simple illustrations. I’m currently loving her book The Sun and Her Flowers.

LISTEN I

tion and performance skills to university students, teachers associations and international congresses for almost 10 years, and is eager to share this information with the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint community.

“I am honored to be taking over the music director post at our remarkable conservatory,” Goodrich stated. “The com-

Dr. Matt Goodrich at the piano.

Courtesy photo. munity has welcomed me with open arms, and I am so excited to add to our teachers’ tool boxes myriad advanced performance skills that will keep our students healthy and give them a competitive advantage wherever their music making leads them.”

Broadcaster Bill Litsinger unveils new podcast

By Reader Staff

This week’s RLW by Lyndsie Kiebert

“No topics are taboo but civil discourse is required. There are no personal attacks allowed.”

He encourages listeners to weigh in their input on topic suggestions or future guests by emailing talk@thevoicenorthidaho.com. There is also a dedicated message line at 208.265-5599.

Litsinger said he is encouraged with the podcast format.

“There are always going to be people that want to influence the show, but I think it

will be less with the podcast, because it’s not like they can say, ‘I’m going to call your advertisers,’ because I don’t have any advertisers,” he said. “I’m fortunate that there is an alternative way for me to do what I like to do.”

Litsinger also wanted to thank his many friends and former listeners from when he was at Blue Sky Broadcasting for encouraging him to continue his interest in talk entertainment and especially Chris Bessler and Chris Bassett for their technical support.

New episodes will hit the airwaves every Friday at 11 a.m. at thevoicenorthidaho. com.

recently stumbled across meija, and thus discovered his near-perfect EP So Long, Kid. Despite the fivetrack collection’s brevity, it is an odyssey into the comforting sounds of well-polished indie pop. “Buttons” and “Laugh It Off” are star tracks, but the cover of Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U” is something to behold. The throbbing synthpop classic is flawlessly reimagined as an alt-folk ballad — an absolute must-listen.

WATCH

I watched Hustlers — the 2019 film where Jennifer Lopez plays a scheming stripper during the Great Recession — without really knowing what to expect.

The ensemble cast of beautiful women is delightfully diverse, and the movie felt action-packed, despite following a true story.

More than anything, I didn’t expect to cry at the end of a stripper movie. Still, there’s a reason that Hustlers is rated R; be prepared for a lot of skin and suggestive sequences.

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BACK OF THE BOOK

We gotta get out of this place Travel — both past and present — has become a pandemic preoccupation

From Northern Idaho News, March 16, 1915

SUNDAY MOVIES QUESTION BEFORE COUNCIL AGAIN Though the moving picture Sunday opening ordinance cannot be passed ‘till next regular meeting, at council last night the Rev. George Bray obtained the privilege of the floor and made what he called an appeal to the hearts of the men present not to desecrate the Sabbath.

He placed Sunday movies in the same class as the red-light district or thieving, saying that the council would not hearken to a majority petition in favor of either of those.

He implored his hearers not to take men away from the churches, that it was hard enough work now for ministers to keep them. He professed the greatest respect and regard for Mr. Abbott and Mr. Tindall, of the moving picture shows, but said he would not be true to his religion if he did not enter a vigorous protest. He apologized for his talk not having been made sooner but said he had been present at three meetings for the purpose but the subject had not come up or there had been no meeting. Although the majority of his auditors were not in sympathy with him he was accorded most respectful attention.

H.V. Williams responded in a strong diatribe, speaking, he said, for the other 700 signers of the petition for Sunday opening. He said even among church people what keeping holy the Sabbath means is a subject of wide difference.

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By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff A decade or so ago, on the way home from a backcountry music festival in Montana, I stopped off with two friends at a bar in Clark Fork. We settled on some stools and ordered up some beers. After a few minutes, a fellow patron leaned over and asked us, “You aren’t from here, are you?”

Obviously it was more a statement than a question, but I am from here — born in Sandpoint and raised in Sagle — and I said so with some stridency. The guy narrowed his eyes and responded, “Yeah, not from here. That’s the big city.”

After a year of pandemic life, I have yet to travel farther than Clark Fork — well, the drift yard, to be precise, so not even as far as Clark Fork. Meanwhile, I haven’t been past Sagle Road to the south. A few weeks ago I found myself planning a family “road trip” to Priest River. My wife kiboshed it because she thought the kids wouldn’t want to “be in the car for that long.”

Truly, my world has become absurdly small.

I’m sure I’m not alone in this — it’s fair to assume that millions of other people share with me this feeling of claustrophobia, which has spurred fantasies of travel and thoughts of past trips. There was the time I saw the sun rise over the Algeria coast from 30,000 feet, winging east over the Mediterranean to Greece, where I wandered the Acropolis and made my pilgrimage to Socrates’ hillside prison cell.

Then there was the time I stumbled out of a Munich beer hall only to find myself being interviewed about the World Cup on local TV. The slick reporter rattled off a bunch of German, to which I responded, “Nein, ich spreche Deutsch” (“No, I speak

STR8TS Solution

German”). The man cocked his head and said simply, “American?” What followed was me rambling a bunch of nonsense I’d picked up in the pubs of south-central England. The resulting segment, which aired later that night, turned out to be a piece on how ignorant Americans are about futbol.

There was the time I failed to connect with a group of friends and acquaintances in Italy, and had to spend three days and two nights in the Ancona train station trying not to get mugged.

One time I visited Ben Olson during his L.A. days and we somehow ended up in a two-bit motel south of Tijuana, where we spent three days furiously editing and illustrating his first novel over endless bottles of Dos Equis at the Los Pelicanos bar. Another time, a few years earlier, Ben and I joined some friends on a non-stop road trek from Sandpoint to L.A., at one point traversing Death Valley on a quarter-tank of gas.

I remember long walks on the Isle of Wight and train rides through the English countryside, jazz clubs in Edinburgh and hiking the Royal Mile, a haunted castle on the Devon coast where my wife and I spent a couple of chilling nights on our honeymoon. On the same trip we explored Leipzig and Berlin and traveled by rail to Krakow, Poland, where we did what all love birds do and at one point took the bus south to Auschwitz.

I think about ferry rides in the Aegean, driving tours through Upstate New York, taking the train to Montreal and a tour bus ride to a bizarre casino in the jungle somewhere on the east side of the Caribbean island of St. Croix.

The other day I recalled that I’ve lost a shoe in both major oceans and three seas.

I find myself even wool-gathering over old journalism conferences, like the one in Miami where we boozed it up at the most

stereotypically South Beach nightclub you can imagine; or the one in San Francisco where we got to schmooze with Rolling Stone rockstar Matt Taibbi; and the one in Portland, Ore., where our host paper rented a sex club and handed out joints by the pound as protests against Donald Trump’s inauguration filled the streets with tear gas by night and the Women’s March by day.

I even get wistful about the conference in Salt Lake City… we got to see some cool dinosaur bones, at least.

For as cloistered and stir crazy as I feel right now, I’m profoundly grateful for the travel I have been fortunate enough to enjoy — it really is true that these memories become ever-more priceless as the years go on.

Yet, at this point, that road trip to Priest River still sounds more appealing than it should. While I am most definitely from here, I can’t wait to go there, wherever it is.

Crossword Solution

Sudoku Solution Sometimes I think you have to march right in and demand your rights, even if you don’t know what your rights are, or who the person is you’re talking to. Then on the way out, slam the door.

Solution on page 22

Solution on page 22

By Bill Borders

ACROSS

1. Put forward 6. Not in danger 10. French for “State” 14. Beat back 15. Cultivate 16. Desire 17. A gold coin of ancient Persia 18. “What a shame!”

19. Maize 20. A cylinder in a cave 22. Copied 23. Publish 24. Runs away 25. Young sheep 29. Wicked 31. Egg-shaped instrument 33. Ask someone to marry you 37. Choose 38. Waif /pan-GLOS-ee-uhn/ 39. Demesnes 41. Mollify [adjective] 42. Outdo 1. characterized by or given to extreme optimism, es44. Toboggan e of th pecially in the face of unrelieved hardship or adversity.

45. Skedaddles 48. Donkeys “She maintained a Panglossian outlook, despite the recent diagnosis.”

50. Ragamuffin 51. Secondary 56. Backside 57. 1 1 1 1 Corrections: Nothing to report other than a terrible usage of 58. French for “Queen” the term “terribly,” in one story, which was written twice. We’re terribly sorry. – ZH 59. Infiltrator 60. Left

Panglossian

Word Week

Copyright www.mirroreyes.com

Laughing Matter

CROSSWORD

Solution on page 22 8. Aircraft carrier 9. If not 10. Mallee 11. Metaphor or hyperbole 12. Concur 13. Looks after 21. Squealer DOWN 24. Clean 1. Probabilities between teeth 2. A male college 25. Fail to win social club 26. Air force heroes 3. Ancient marketplaces 27. Kiln-dried grain 4. Wicked 28. Suckle 5. Summary 30. Clothed 6. Endurance 32. Convulsion 7. Sick 34. By mouth 61. Openings 62. Implored 63. The products of human creativity 64. Borders

35. Wise one 36. Gave the once-over 40. Wrench (British) 41. Helps 43. A movement upward 45. Marsh 46. Christmas song 47. Corridor 49. Wait on 51. Hawkeye State 52. Require 53. Bell sound 54. Stake 55. Not more

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