My partner’s mom Gwen sent me a fun book for Christmas called The Little Book of Shakespeare’s Insults. It has come in handy on numerous occasions. Here are some of my favorites, in case you’re looking for some new zingers:
• “[You] are as a candle, the better part burnt out.”
— Henry IV (Part 2, Act 1, Scene 2)
• “You juggler! You canker-blossom!”
— A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Act 3, Scene 2)
• “Thou damned and luxurious mountain goat...”
— Henry V (Act 4, Scene 4)
• “Thou whoreson zed! Thou unnecessary letter!”
— King Lear (Act 2, Scene 2
(Senior Writer Soncirey Mitchell informed us that Shakespeare used this insult because at the time “z” and “s” were interchangeable and many dictionaries just didn’t include “z.”)
• “The tartness of his face sours ripe grapes.” — The Comedy of Errors (Act 5, Scene 4)
• “A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave.” — King Lear (Act 2, Scene 2)
• “Thou crusty batch of nature...” — Troilus and Cressida (Act 5, Scene 1)
• “Thou art a boil, a plague-sore or embossed carbuncle in my corrupted blood.” — King Lear (Act 2, Scene 2)
Sacrificial offerings
It has long been my desire to start a new tradition in Sandpoint: Sacrificing a tourist to the lake every year. Let me explain. In the 1990 film Joe Versus the Volcano, Tom Hanks plays Joe Banks who, after being told he is dying of a rare disease, accepts an offer to travel to a South Pacific island to throw himself into a volcano on behalf of the superstitious natives. The tribe believes the fire god of the volcano on the island needs to be appeased by a voluntary human sacrifice once every century. Mediocre plot elements aside, the film sparked the thought that we Sandpointians should consider a similar idea. I propose that, once a year — perhaps on the same day as the annual Sand Creek Regatta — we should gather alongside the water’s edge after the race and read a proclamation before pushing forward a tourist who volunteers to become the annual sacrifice. With a local grabbing each arm and leg, the tourist is promptly heaved into the water to ensure good fishing and boating for the year ahead. Afterward, we supply the brave soul with free dining certificates donated by local restaurants and send them on their way to tell their friends and loved ones they were sacrificed in a small town in North Idaho. What a perfect way to thank the tourists for their economic support, while also acknowledging that sometimes we truly enjoy tossing them into the lake. Who’s with me?
DEAR READERS,
We don’t often put much truck in the calendar here in North Idaho. Spring could have technically started on March 20, but it’s never officially the season until you see a number of key indicators:
• Gnats flying around;
• People wearing shorts (other than those who wear them year-round);
• Mud-covered license plates;
• The first glorious mullet of the year, paired with a fine tank top;
• Soggy dog turds emerging from snow banks;
• Bike racks replacing ski racks atop cars and trucks;
• Neighbors sitting and drinking in the yard again;
• Traffic.
Here’s wishing you all a fantastic spring. Thanks for reading.
– Ben Olson, publisher
READER
111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 208-946-4368 sandpointreader.com
Tricia Florence (cover), Georgia York, Pat Sutphin, Laura Phillips, City of Dover, Jamie Schlehuber, Lance Lindquist, Danny Nolan, Alex Plant, Bill Borders
Contributing Writers:
Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Soncirey Mitchell, Lorraine H. Marie, Brenden Bobby, Emily Erickson, Mia Maldonado, Finn Helgenberg, Lauren Necochea, Conor Baranksi
Submit Stories To: stories@sandpointreader.com
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The Sandpoint Reader is a weekly publication owned by Ben Olson and Keokee. It is devoted to the arts, entertainment, bluster, 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 bonfires to appease the gods of journalism. For back issues, contact the publisher. Free to all, limit two per person, please.
Letter to the Editor Policy:
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About the Cover:
This week’s cover is a painting called “Three Willows” by Bonner County artist Tricia Florence, who said she sees this view on her drive to town. Thanks, Tricia!
Commissioners temporarily halt minor land divisions, place restrictions on RV parks
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
Bonner County commissioners made two decisions at the March 25 business meeting that will affect future population density and land use, approving a 182-day moratorium on all minor land divisions and family exemptions. The Bonner County Planning Department intends to use the time to close a loophole in the code that allows for the creation of de facto subdivisions without the necessary infrastructure to support them.
The commissioners also banned recreational vehicle parks and campgrounds in rural areas, following a code amendment proposed by the group Keep Bonner County Rural.
The MLD moratorium item didn’t appear on the agenda until the day of the meeting, taking some by surprise. According to Idaho Open Meeting Law, anything acted upon in a public meeting must be agendized and noticed 48 hours before the meeting. However, Bonner County Deputy Prosecutor Bill Wilson argued that the discussion on MLDs and family exemptions constituted an emergency under Idaho Code.
“We’ve done this on an emergency basis because we didn’t want to let people know in advance so that they would come submit stuff,” said Wilson, adding that the current code threatens “health, safety, welfare.”
“It’s important that we put that on the record because we are kind of going against the ordinary notice and agenda process,” he added.
Wilson later cited Idaho Code 74-204, which defines an emergency as “a situation involving injury or damage to persons or property, or immediate financial loss, or the likelihood of such injury, damage or loss, when the no-
tice requirements of this section would make such notice impracticable or increase the likelihood or severity of such injury, damage or loss.”
Bonner County Revised Code 12-6.6 defines an MLD as the act of splitting a parcel into four or fewer contiguous lots “provided that no planned unit development is requested to accommodate the proposed lot sizes.” Likewise, a family exemption gives landowners the right to sell or gift a portion of unplatted land to spouses and close relatives. Both divisions are intended to create small collections of homes, and so do not have the same infrastructure requirements needed to apply to create a subdivision.
“We tried to keep this pretty close to the vest within the [county] organization. Apparently, we were not totally successful at that because, yesterday, one of our local land use professionals came in with seven applications — combinations of minor land divisions and family exemptions — and that’s just an example of what we wanted to avoid because we want this to stop,” said Wilson.
Commissioner Ron Korn said he understood the need to alter the code but questioned whether the loophole was enough of an emergency to warrant the secrecy.
“How do we justify [that]
a land use issue that we’ve had in place for years all the sudden becomes ‘imminent peril?’” he asked.
Commissioners Asia Williams and Brian Domke agreed with legal counsel that the loophole threatened public health and safety, and voted to add the moratorium to the agenda without officially noticing it. They later voted to approve the item 2-1, with Korn dissenting.
Bonner County Planning Director Jake Gabell testified that his department “has identified some public health and public safety concerns” due to the current land use regulations in Bonner County Revised Code Title 12.
“These processes have led to underregulated land division that often lacks adequate infrastructure and presents long-term challenges for emergency access, fire protection and stormwater management,” he said, citing County Code sections that have led to “conflicting interpretations and inconsistent enforcement” of minor land divisions.
Gabell identified multiple infrastructure issues, including a lack of regulations on road width, surfacing and accessibility measures for first responders; a lack of fire mitigation requirements such as defensible space and adequate water supply; no stormwater
management requirements, leading to “drainage and flooding hazards”; and other public safety concerns.
“This pause will provide the necessary time for the county to review and amend its land use regulations to better align with the adopted planning goals, infrastructure standards and public safety requirements,” said Gabell.
To ensure property owners can safely divide their land in the meantime, the Planning Department will change the definition of a short plat, which is a division into five to 10 contiguous lots, to “any land division into 10 or fewer lots or parcels.” Unlike MLDs and family exemptions, short plats have the same infrastructure requirements as subdivisions.
“This has not been a lighthearted decision by the planning staff in our request to work with legal. I’ve lost sleep over this, to be honest. This is not something, as a director, that I take lightly,” said Gabell.
Project 7B member Katie Botkin and Bonner County Road and Bridge Staff Engineer Matt Mulder also supported the moratorium.
“The buzzwords ‘health, safety and welfare’ kind of get to me,” said Korn. “I really don’t like using that as reasons to do things, such as taking away people’s personal
rights,” adding that he had not seen any examples of infrastructure issues that would necessitate stricter regulations on private property.
He further cautioned against halting the family exemption due to the high cost of living making it difficult for younger generations to stay in or return to the area without their parents splitting up family property.
“My obligation within LLUPA [Local Land Use Planning Act] addresses ‘health and safety,’ so it actually is a requirement that I take a look at that,” said Wiliams, adding that, while costs to the individual dividing their property will likely go up, the welfare of the community takes precedence.
The Planning Department will now begin working on code changes. The moratorium will be in effect until Tuesday, Sept. 23, or until the county adopts a new ordinance to fix the loophole. The process will include multiple meetings and public workshops, beginning as soon as Tuesday, April 1, according to Gabell.
Finally, the BOCC considered a code amendment proposed by Keep Bonner County Rural Chairman Dave < see BOCC, Page 5 >
Planning Director Jake Gabell (left) presents the MLD and family exemption moratorium to Bonner County Commissioners Brian Domke, Asia Williams and Ron Korn (right).
Photo courtesy of YouTube.
City Hall takes in updates on major projects
Parking, wastewater treatment plant top list of big-ticket items
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
The Sandpoint City Council heard a number of updates on ongoing, big-ticket projects at its regular March 19 meeting, queuing up a busy season going into April and beyond.
Among the items discussed by councilors, the mayor and staff included the reconstruction of the downtown parking lot, the new parking management plan, the status of the wastewater treatment plant, the City Beach lifeguard program, state legislation related to concealed carry firearms that would affect the Festival at Sandpoint and potential plans for expanding the Bonner County Historical Society museum at Lakeview Park.
Talk related to parking featured throughout the meeting, with Councilor Kyle Schreiber reporting that the Urban Forestry Commission had recommended that a number of trees be preserved at the cityowned parking lot between Oak and Church streets.
“You might remember there were six spots for trees on the design that staff presented to council, and balancing the desire to preserve trees and also move forward with the project,” he said, later adding, “The recommendation is to preserve the two existing trees at the north end of each parking row, plus the grove of aspen or grove of
cedar at the south end of the eastern row, as well as a maple tree midway in that row.”
Meanwhile, new trees would be added to the south end and middle section of the western row of parking stalls.
The time is fast approaching for work to commence on reconstructing the lot, as Mayor Jeremy Grimm noted that the project is currently out to bid and will be advertised for two weeks. Construction is scheduled to begin in April with completion in the first week of May.
Grimm said businesses in the area had been notified of the coming disruption to parking and potential traffic impacts, while City Hall has worked with the Police Department to temporarily lift enforcement for three- and four-hour on-street parking in several areas downtown.
“We’ll be making on-street parking available to employees and users who have been displaced by the construction activity,” Grimm said. “We will basically make on-street parking in a couple zones free so that people can still park downtown during this construction, but there obviously will be some inconvenience for those weeks.”
Planning and Community Development Director Jason Welker later offered an update on the city’s parking survey, which launched March 7 and will run through the rest of the month. As of March 19,
Welker reported that more than 1,000 responses had come in, though only about 40% were from city residents.
In one takeaway from the responses so far, Welker said more than 200 mentioned the need for a downtown parking garage.
“And just to remind you, one of the reasons for considering paid parking is that we need to demonstrate that there’s a revenue source to fund ongoing maintenance and eventual construction of a parking garage,” he said. “I don’t know if those folks also think a parking garage would be free, but certainly you need a funding source to build a parking garage.”
Finally, Welker provided the latest update on the parking management plan, which now envisions city resident passholders getting six hours of parking at City Beach. The initial plan called for two hours, and was later amended to four hours.
“That’s really the No. 1 thing we’ve learned through this engagement, is people are concerned and anxious about how city residents might be excluded from their public waterfront,” he said. “[M]ost people say six hours is a day at the beach. So we’re now proposing that a city resident parking pass just includes all the time city residents would need for a day at the beach.”
Other changes to the current draft plan include eliminating the four-hour street parking limit “to better provide downtown employees with places to park that doesn’t require them to leave their place of employment every three hours to avoid getting a ticket,” Welker said.
“That would free up about 186 parking spaces downtown, increasing the availability of all-day street parking by 65% over what is currently available in downtown Sandpoint,” he added.
Wastewater treatment plant
Near the beginning of the meeting, Grimm noted that a representative from Gov. Brad Little’s office was in attendance, and that officials with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality had been in town to perform a tour and audit of the city’s wastewater treatment plant following two incidents of non-compliance over the past month.
Specifically, DEQ visited the site after a pump failure at the plant on Feb. 24 led to a period of overflow, followed by a separate release of E.coli into the river above allowable limits as the result of heavy rain on snow.
“We’ve made clear that the wastewater treatment plant is a growing and imminent concern for the city,” Grimm said.
Public Works Director Holly Ellis later gave a fuller report on the DEQ audit, telling the council that she and WWTP Supervisor Deven Hull met with the state agency earlier on March 19. The cause of the pump failure appears to have been due to a sensor fault that affected the control system, causing the unexpected shutdown of the pumps.
“[A]n ‘upset’ is the DEQ official language, so there’s more to come once we finalize our investigation and document our corrective steps,” Ellis said. “We’ll have a formal response back to DEQ on our fixes and of course the
< see CITY HALL, Page 6 > < BOCC, con’t from Page 5 >
Bowman and presented by the group’s planning consultant, Susan Bowman, which proposed banning RV parks and campgrounds as allowed uses on property zoned Forestry, Agriculture/Forestry and Rural. The change would not affect the two RV spaces currently allowed on parcels over one acre or the one space on parcels under one acre, nor would it affect existing RV parks.
The amendment comes in
response to a December 2020 decision by the BOCC to allow RVs in rural areas and strike the previous requirement that limited occupancy to 120 consecutive days.
Bowman’s proposal cited examples of how “RV parks are negatively impactful to rural character,” such as the increased fire hazard due to density; light and noise pollution; a lack of regulations to ensure adequate water supply; and a lack of infrastructure
needed to support RV traffic, among other issues.
“We’re not against RV parks in their proper place. They do not belong where the people live. We moved here for a reason — to be in a residential, rural place,” said Susan Bowman.
Korn agreed with the concept but stated that he “would like this motion to be a little more specific and not such a wide umbrella.” He also proposed looking into the allotted
RV spots on individual properties, as they are used as rentals rather than primary housing.
Williams and Domke agreed that there were facets of the issue they should look into further, but decided it was important to institute the blanket ban immediately.
“I do think that we have what’s essentially a loophole for residential density that circumvents what’s intended by current zoning,” said Domke.
“I think we need to plug
that loophole now because there are concerns that I think are legitimate for health and safety as well as the potential of compromising both the rural character and the nearby property values of the adjacent land owners,” he added, proposing that the county make more specific adjustments using the current Comprehensive Plan update.
The motion passed with Korn dissenting.
Photo by Ben Olson
< CITY HALL, con’t from Page 5 >
public and notifying them on all the ins and outs of what happened.”
City Hall announced March 24 that the malfunction led to between 300 and 500 gallons of “partially treated effluent” flowing for a brief period into the plant’s parking lot and into the chlorine contact chamber. The overflow incident occurred between about 6:26 a.m. and 7:05 a.m.
“This has never happened in my 17 years of operating the plant,” Hull stated in a news release. “Our team acted fast, and we’re taking every step to prevent it from happening again.”
At the same time, the city is moving along on schedule with its preliminary engineering report for the planned wastewater treatment plant replacement project, with a draft plan expected in April. In addition, the city is preparing to kick off its environmental permitting process for the plant, as well as taking steps toward putting a bond measure on the November ballot to secure local funding.
The city sent a letter of intent to the DEQ’s State Revolving Loan Fund in January seeking as much as $130 million in state support for the multiyear project.
However, as city officials have been told in the past by consultants, the competition for those dollars is fierce. Ellis reported to the council that DEQ ranks Sandpoint’s application 60th on its list for permit review, which is “pretty low,” adding that City Hall plans to work with DEQ to establish what the permitting requirements will be in order to raise the project’s standing with the agency.
“We might be able to push that to the top so we have less unknowns when the project does get here and we’re constructing,” Ellis said.
Lifeguards, House Bill 376 and museum expansion
While the city has been working for more than a year to staff City Beach with summertime lifeguards, Welker reported that those efforts have yet to produce results. City Hall raised the hourly wage from $14 to $16 and has been advertising the positions in local papers, but, “as of this afternoon [March 19], I don’t think we’ve actually received any applicants.”
Councilor Pam Duquette asked whether lifeguard pay could be increased even further, noting that her granddaughter is making $18.50 an hour at Taco Bell.
“Something’s wrong. I mean, the
lifeguards have responsibility,” she said.
Grimm said that there has been discussion about incrementally increasing that wage scale to find a level that might trigger more applicants.
During Central Services Director Cheryl Hughes’ presentation, Grimm asked whether the city had a status update on H.B. 376, which would guarantee the right to carry concealed firearms on property “that is normally and habitually open to the public,” regardless of whether it is being leased by a private individual, organization or other group.
If approved, the bill would reverse previous court rulings that held private entities can determine their own policies — including prohibiting weapons — on leased public property. The issue was especially important to the Festival at Sandpoint, whose no-weapons policy was challenged in 2019, leading to a yearslong legal battle that ultimately went to the Idaho Supreme Court.
Festival organizers have repeated that if weapons are allowed at publicly owned War Memorial Field during the two weeks that the event leases the property from the city for its summer concert series, it will struggle to secure insurance and artists will refuse to sign performance contracts.
“I just want to emphasize that impacts to the Festival could severely impact our revenue,” Grimm said. “The Festival provides a significant amount of revenue for the operation and maintenance of that facility [War Memorial Field], and any potential impacts to their operation may require us to have to adjust our planning for the year.”
H.B. 376 passed the House on March 13, with Rep. Mark Sauter, R-Sandpoint, as one of only two Republicans in opposition. As of press time, the legislation had been referred to the Senate State Affairs Committee.
Finally, Councilor Joel Aispuro reported that the monthly Parks and Recreation Commission meeting featured a proposal by the Bonner County Historical Society to expand its Lakeview Park museum to accommodate more storage and community space.
“They asked that the commission make a motion recommending to council that they be given permission to proceed with the more detailed development concept including stakeholder meetings,” he said. “The proposed museum expansion plan will be added to the April agenda.”
Bits ’n’ Pieces
From east, west and beyond
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, due soon for a vote in Congress, is poised to reduce the voting population. If you’ve switched parties, moved or changed your last name when you married, there would be a requirement to provide — in person — either a passport or birth certificate with your current legal name to your local elections office.
Currently, 69 million women don’t have a birth certificate with their married name, according to Common Cause.
Changes due to Elon Musk’s DOGE staff cuts to Social Security appear designed to crash the Social Security system, which has operated efficiently for 90 years — even when understaffed.
Fortune.com reported that a former Social Security Administration commissioner warns benefits could be cut in the next one to three months, followed by eventual systemic collapse. Late payments are likely before total collapse, hence the former commissioner’s warning to “start saving now” ahead of a payment stop.
Prior to DOGE’s interference, former-SSA Trustee Robert Reich said the program had a payment accuracy rate of 99.7% and administrative costs of 0.5%.
Destroying Social Security Insurance would allow the wealthy to dodge proposals to shore up the program by increasing or eliminating the cap on taxable wages. Raising or eliminating the cap would not change what most people pay in, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. Those paying in more due to higher incomes would get higher benefits.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said her office is inundated with calls from people terrified about DOGE’s attack on SSI, including plans to fire up to 50% of the administration’s workforce (so far 12% have been fired, triggering chaos).
She said there’s “no way” to make those kinds of staff reductions “without seriously jeopardizing customer service for tens of millions of Americans.”
President Donald Trump’s SSA wants to end phone services for SSI
By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Contributor
claims on Monday, March 31. The remaining options: processing claims in person or online. Under DOGE, SSA websites have been crashing, stopping account access for millions.
Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., has introduced bills to protect Social Security from DOGE. One piece of legislation would block office closures and another would protect private data, which Musk has allowed untrained DOGE employees to access.
According to experts, the collapse of SSI would affect 73 million people — about 4 million fewer than voted for Trump in the 2024 election.
After being mistakenly declared dead by SSA, Ned Johnson, 82, of Seattle, said the ordeal has been a nightmare. After numerous calls, he went to an obviously understaffed SSA office. Telling them he was dead worked, resulting in the return of a $5,200 deduction from his benefits.
Still, Johnson told the Seattle Times, he’s yet to receive benefits from February or March.
“If I was living solely off Social Security, I could be close to dumpster diving about now,” he said. “I’m OK with mistakes being made, but I’m not sure how much they’re focused on fixing these kinds of mistakes going forward, as they are in using the mistakes to tear the place down.”
In a 68-page decision, U.S. District Court Judge Theodore Chuang, of Maryland, ruled that the DOGE effort to close USAID likely violated the Constitution and ordered restoration efforts. U.S. District Judge James Bredar, also in Maryland, and U.S. District Judge William Alsup, in California, previously ruled that thousands of workers at other agencies were illegally fired due to DOGE-led employee purges.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, two federal auditors told Wired described DOGE’s audits as “a heist.” They noted that reviewing a single government project can take six to 18 months, not a week or two, which has been DOGE’s norm.
Blast from the past: “To educate a person in the mind but not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”
— Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president (1858-1919)
North Idaho legislators bring bill to add health exceptions to state’s abortion ban
Bill sponsor says he felt obligated to ‘start a conversation’ knowing it won’t get full hearing
By Mia Maldonado Idaho Capital Sun
North Idaho legislators on March 21 introduced a bill to add exceptions to Idaho’s strict abortion ban, the first effort in two years to create a health exception.
Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle, introduced the bill to the Senate State Affairs Committee to allow doctors to provide an abortion “to prevent a serious health risk to the mother” and to provide an abortion to women whose fetus “was diagnosed with a lethal fetal anomaly.”
Under Idaho’s abortion ban, a physician may provide an abortion if it’s to “prevent the death of the pregnant woman.” However, medical providers have said this wording does not make it clear if physicians can provide an abortion to prevent detrimental health outcomes, such as preeclampsia, hemorrhaging or the loss of future fertility.
This has led pregnant patients with severe health complications or fetal anomalies to seek an abortion out of state, as their providers could not perform an abortion without risking criminal charges — a problem that doctors have said is exacerbating the state’s existing physician shortage. The state lost 22% of its OBGYN workforce and more than half the specialists who handle high-risk pregnancies in the 15 months after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, according to a report from the Idaho Coalition for Safe Healthcare.
The committee voted to introduce the bill, but Senate Majority Leader Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, said it will not move forward for a full hearing.
“I’m OK with introduc-
ing this legislation to have it out for public consumption, understanding that we’re not planning on moving forward with the public hearing this year,” Den Hartog told the committee. “I think this is an important conversation. I have many serious and grave concerns with the legislation as drafted.”
Den Hartog did not elaborate on what her concerns are.
This is not the first bill of its kind. During the 2023 legislative session, Republican legislators introduced a bill to add an exception for an abortion to be performed “to treat a physical condition of the woman that if left untreated would be life-threatening.”
But House State Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, pulled the bill from the agenda the day it was supposed to receive a hearing amid criticism from anti-abortion groups, and it did not move forward, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported.
Meridian senator objects to discussion on labor and delivery unit closures
Woodward said he felt obligated to bring the legislation forward to start a conversation about addressing Idaho’s ban while acknowledging that it may not receive a full hearing.
“I do not believe in elective abortion, but I do believe in providing medical care for very particular situations that we are trying to address,” Woodward told the committee. “To receive medical care, we must have medical providers. As our law stands, we are pushing providers out of Idaho.”
His co-sponsor, Rep. Mark Sauter, represents Sandpoint, where in 2023, the city’s only hospital closed its obstetrical care unit. Sandpoint is not the only city where labor and de-
livery care services have shut down. In June 2023, Valor Health in Emmett stopped providing labor and delivery services in response to financial and staffing challenges. And in April 2024, Caldwell’s West Valley Medical Center closed its labor and delivery and neonatal intensive care units, citing declining birth rates and staffing issues.
“The women in Sandpoint now must drive for over an hour to the Coeur d’Alene area or drive out of state to get their normal OB-GYN type care. Women in Bonners Ferry, which is in Boundary County, which is even farther north, must drive significantly farther. Our women’s health care situation also exacerbates other hospital problems...,” Sauter told the committee, before he was interrupted.
“Mr. Chairman, could we just speak to what’s in the bill?” Den Hartog said. “Please, for the print hearing.”
Den Hartog later moved to print the bill for an introduction without hearing from the doctor who helped draft legislation. But Sen. Treg Bernt, R-Meridian, called Den Hartog’s quick motion “disrespectful.”
“I’m also a member of this Republican caucus that is prolife ...,” Bernt said. “I think cutting this senator off in this discussion is disrespectful, and I think that they deserve more.”
Committee Chairman Sen. Jim Guthrie said he would allow for more discussion on the bill given the controversy of the topic.
Dr. John Werdel, the medical director for women’s services at St. Luke’s Health System, then spoke to the committee about the legislation he helped draft. St. Luke’s has also sued the state over its ban as it relates to emergency room care, and has said a health exception written into the law would resolve their concerns.
“The threat of a criminal lawsuit has been overwhelming for many of our physicians, and it is the main reason so many of our colleagues have left the state,” Werdel told the committee. “This bill would clarify the law and provide reassurance to our physicians that they can exercise their professional judgment.”
Melanie Folwell, the executive director of Idahoans United for Women and Fam-
ilies, told the Idaho Capital Sun she appreciates the bill sponsors’ willingness to talk about the serious hardships created by Idaho’s current laws. Folwell is leading the effort to restore abortion access in Idaho through a ballot initiative in the 2026 midterm election.
“It’s a shame that other lawmakers were eager to shut down any discussion of those hardships,” Folwell said. “I’m sorry it’s uncomfortable to hear about the suffering of Idaho women and the doctors who take care of them, but it is the duty of lawmakers to hear about the consequences of the laws they make.”
This story was produced by Boise-based nonprofit news outlet the Idaho Capital Sun, which is part of the States Newsroom nationwide reporting project. For more information, visit idahocapitalsun.com.
Dist. 1 Idaho state Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle, listens to proceedings during a Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee meeting at the Statehouse on Jan. 7, 2025, in Boise. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun)
Bouquets:
• I’m pleased that both chambers of the Idaho Legislature voted to pass a bill that would create a media shield law protecting sources who provide confidential information or documents to journalists. Even more, the House and Senate passed the bill with unanimous bipartisan votes. I traveled to Boise to testify in person while the bill was in the House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee, and I’ve been watching its progress ever since. The bill is now on Gov. Brad Little’s desk, where he can either sign it into law, allow it to become law without his signature or veto it.
GUEST SUBMISSION:
• “Kudos and many thanks to Cory Donenfeld and the staff at Northwest Auto Body in Ponderay. My vehicle has a loose left rear quarter panel; thus, I pulled into their business for assistance or a quote for repair. Cory and another staff member quickly reset the panel to the factory position. I departed with the kind and appreciated words of ‘complimentary repair.’ Obviously, I will remember this when I need auto body work in the future.”
— By Ron Giddings
Barbs:
• Dist. 1 Sen. Jim Woodward and Dist. 1 Rep. Mark Sauter participated in a series of town hall events on March 15, which I’m thankful for. Conspicuously absent was Rep. Cornel Rasor, who declined to attend the town hall meetings. If you run for office, you work for the people who elected you. If you can’t show up for basic constituent events like this, don’t bother running for office.
Do our elected leaders care about their constituents?…
Dear editor,
I’m feeling scammed, conned, double-crossed and betrayed by those folks we elected to represent us. We were told that prices would start coming down on “Day 1.” Since Jan. 20, crickets.
Gas and groceries are higher. Did you elect Elon Musk — immigrant billionaire with no knowledge of our history — to gut and loot our government for his own benefit in the form of a huge tax cut?
Does someone close to you depend on Medicaid? Medicare? Social Security? Musk says to eliminate them. By the way, our medical providers and hospitals depend on Medicaid and Medicare to continue to exist. Can you cure your own illness or repair your broken leg?
Veterans’ health care is not exempt — they plan major cuts in personnel and services.
Do you need the National Weather Service and NOAA to predict weather so you can plan your life? If you farm, fish, travel or do countless other activities outdoors, you might miss accurate weather reporting.
There isn’t space here for the many services we could lose: Forest Service, agricultural services, education support, science and health policy, and more.
So far, Sens. Crapo and Risch seem to favor all of the above cuts, and so does Russ Fulcher, our representative in the U.S. House of Representatives. None of them has objected to anything done by the Trump-Musk crew.
Have they held town hall meetings here? Do they care about us constituents at all? They could stop all this nonsense if they just represent us instead of their ultra-rich donors.
This isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue, it’s about survival of programs we all need. Contact your representative and senators and let them know what programs you value. If they hear from many, they may respond.
Ann Warwick Sandpoint
‘Of the people, by the people, for the people’...
Dear editor
1. Gov. Little, it appears you have abandoned your voting constituents in order to keep yourself pressed up into Trump’s good graces. You approved the school voucher crap for private and/or
religious schools — money to be taken from taxes we pay and that is supposed to go for public education. That’s after the majority of people contacted you in opposition of the voucher system.
2. By the way, it is the Gulf of Mexico, not the “Gulf of America.”
One minute Trump says one thing, the next minute he says, “Oh, did I say that?” Hello, I don’t think anybody is home. Musk wasn’t elected, but it appears he is running a lot of this government.
3. Trump only wants people loyal to him: “yes people.” He has placed many unqualified people as heads of defense, the FBI, etc., because they are loyal to him and will approve/support whatever he does. No checks and balances, just “yes people.”
Our president is a blowhard bully who wants to be king — isn’t America supposed to be free of kings, dictators and oligarchs? Ever heard of: The Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the United States?
By the way, after Musk helps destroy our country, he can move back to South Africa. He is a citizen of the U.S., Canada and South Africa.
Michael Harmelin, Veteran Sandpoint
Error of omission...
Dear editor,
Funny how Dan Rose neglects to mention Russia’s invasion and takeover of Crimea in his defense of Trump’s abandonment of Ukraine [Letters, “Not one inch,” March 13, 2025].
Ted Wert Sagle
‘Point of no return’...
Dear editor,
We are racing to the point of no return, toward an oligarchy which will not allow democracy to exist anywhere on this planet. Look at what one malignantly wealthy fool has done with the help of an extremely resourceful convicted felon, adjudicated insurrectionist, found guilty of female assault (the judge said rape), charged with illegally removing and keeping confidential government and defence files, obstructing justice, etc., etc.
Somehow the Republican Party was able to get him elected to a second term. I won’t say stolen, but nobody can engineer the outcome of an election like the Republican Party machinery.
The above is just a taste of the
criminality from his last term. He lied more than 30,000 times in his first term. What made anyone think he was telling the truth on his campaign trail? In just two months he has totally ignored the United States Constitution and courts; removed roughly 200,000 government employees, many from critical positions; destroyed most of our social and financial protections; sent the stock market into a downward spiral; and destroyed our economy and our relations with most of the countries on Earth. Almost word for word from Project 2025 (a document he said he knew nothing about).
Well, here we are. If there is not a major change very soon, there will be no changing our future course. And undoubtedly the course of democracies and finance the world over will suffer the same fate.
Our Idaho congressional delegation will be no help at all. I will do all I can to support worthy Democratic candidates in other states who have a chance at winning elections. I ask please that everyone do the same.
Jay Omundson Cocolalla
Call on Congress members to protect clean energy tax credits…
Dear editor,
Idahoans are benefiting from made-in-America energy investments in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) — and we need Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, and Reps. Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson, to protect its clean energy tax credits.
Lower energy costs: Tax credits for modern energy projects keeps electricity affordable for Idaho families and businesses.
Energy security: Keeping these incentives in place means more homegrown energy production and less reliance on volatile markets.
Home savings: The IRA’s 30% tax credit helps households cut energy bills by making solar and battery storage more affordable.
Good-paying jobs: Idaho projects to protect our environment bring new investments and jobs.
Stronger rural communities: Programs like REAP and EQIP help farmers, ranchers and small businesses stay competitive.
Idaho has an opportunity to lead in affordable, reliable energy, but only if Congress keeps the IRA clean energy tax credits in place.
Sincerely,
Laura Abromeit Sandpoint
‘We won’t forget
Dear editor,
Recently, Arlington Cemetery’s public website scrubbed dozens of pages on gravesites and educational materials that include histories of prominent Black, Hispanic and female service members buried in the cemetery, along with educational material on dozens of Medal of Honor recipients and maps of prominent gravesites of Marine Corps veterans and those of other services.
Additionally, the famous Navajo Code Talkers have been removed from military websites.
We can’t allow DOGE to erase these brave veterans from history. If you know of a Black, Hispanic, Native American or female service member who has passed, please send a photo of them and some information about when and where they served to Bonner County Democrats, bonnerdemocrats@ gmail.com.
We will post these veteran profiles on all of our social media channels and encourage sharing of those posts. We will not forget them.
Karen Matthee Chair, Bonner County Democrats Sandpoint
‘Four to fur’…
Dear editor.
“Fur” a while now, I have been increasingly disturbed by a new pronunciation of a little three letter word. Maybe you too have noticed this change. Now it strikes my ears, causing pain to my brain. I attempt to ignore these small assaults — “What does it matter?” I say. By presenting this to you, I’m attempting to move on and let it go. The word is “for.” It has mostly been pronounced as our number four — four with its silent “u.”
Increasingly I’m hearing “fur,” like what covers most mammals.
When is it OK to say it is not OK to bring in Timberline Helicopters [News, “Timberline Helicopters announces expansion of Sandpoint Operations, March 6, 2025] — to have Mayor Jeremy Grimm’s vision of “economic
expansion” in Sandpoint: Having run out of land to develop, let’s “develop” the skies.
When is it OK to say it is not OK to have our small town become a “fly-in community,” where private jets arrive with no flyover curfew, increasing the numbers of planes flying over residential areas — including our schools?
< LTE, con’t from Page 8 > to gun violence… but, yeah, if my 6-year-old son was murdered in a school shooting I would support gun safety.” “I don’t know any girl who has been raped… but, yeah, if my 12-yearold daughter was raped and pregnant I would support abortion rights.” “I don’t know anyone who is queer… but, yeah, if my sister was in love with another woman, I would support their right to get married.” “I don’t know anyone who is disabled… but, yeah, if my mom has a stroke or an accident of some kind, I would support the government helping her.”
When is it OK to say it is not OK to worry in hindsight about the “lower-than-anticipated-revenue” of the James E. Russell Sports Center? Tell that to the many mature trees removed for “progress.”
When is it OK to say it is not OK to pay for parking in Sandpoint when Sandpoint residents can’t afford their property taxes or sewer bills?
Hunter S. Thompson wrote: “... I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio.”
Even though we may feel we are on empty, Sandpoint, we must still care about what is going on. Don’t lose hope!
Sue Baker Sandpoint
Dear editor,
Not too long ago, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., was driving his Tesla around, feeling all smug and sanctimonious about saving the Earth, when along comes Elon Musk and DOGE. DOGE was designed to seek out wasteful government spending, but quickly fell out of favor with many of the denizens of Foggy Bottom when they discovered their scam might be unearthed.
Musk became public enemy No. 1. Within a week, Sen. Kelly was on TV in front of his Tesla, denouncing it as being made by an a—-hole (he said it twice for emphasis), and that he was going to get rid of it. A few days later, he was on TV again, beaming proudly while posing with his brand-new Chevy Tahoe he got from trading in his Tesla. So his Tesla is still being driven; just by someone else. Such hypocrisy.
Sen. Kelly: Why didn’t you trade your Tesla for an electric car made by another car company? That way you could claim to be both pro-Earth and anti-Musk. Isn’t there a car out there that fits somewhere between a Tesla and a Tahoe?
The answer is that Sen. Kelly will jump on any bandwagon that gives him the most votes, and the anti-Musk bandwagon has surged while the Save-the-Earth bandwagon has waned. But beware, Sen. Kelly: The same lunatics burning Teslas today could easily turn their attention to gas-guzzlers tomorrow. Then what will you do? Trade your Tahoe for a bicycle?
Dave Mundell Sandpoint
‘Does it have to happen to you?’...
Dear editor,
”I don’t know anyone who has lost a child
It makes a big difference when it’s someone you know. Maybe it shouldn’t be that way? I’m gonna think about that.
Steve Johnson Sagle
Resist H.B. 376, which would allow concealed carry at the Festival…
Dear editor,
On March 14 in the Senate State Affairs Committee, a bill allowing private carry of firearms into the Festival at Sandpoint was presented [House Bill 376].
The House already passed this bill. Our Rep. Mark Sauter was one of only two Republicans voting against it.
The Idaho Supreme Court already ruled that this legislation is unconstitutional.
Some history: In 2019, two men attempted to gain entry to the Festival carrying firearms and were told of the event’s no-weapons policy and to leave their guns in their vehicles or be trespassed. War Memorial Field is owned by the city of Sandpoint and leased to the Festival for two weeks each year.
In 2021, the District Court dismissed a lawsuit brought by Scott Herndon and area resident Jeff Avery, with support from Boise-based lobby group Idaho Second Amendment Alliance and Washington-based Second Amendment Foundation.
In 2023, the Idaho Supreme Court found that a private party that leases public property from an Idaho municipality may govern those who come and go from its property during the lease.
Who paid for these court cases? The county, the city and perhaps ex-Sen. Scott Herndon, who brought the case.
Who pays for these lawsuits? Taxpayers and out-of-state funders.
In addition to spending our tax money, performers at the Festival have said they will withdraw from the Festival if guns are allowed. We will lose performers, attendees and a lot of money that comes into Sandpoint.
Irresponsible legislators have clogged this session with bills we don’t want without passing the budget bills they are required by law to pass.
Call the Senate. Call Gov. Little. Vote in every election that will help resist this nonsense.
Nancy Gerth
Sagle
‘Clown car in D.C.’…
Dear editor,
“Don’t you love farce? … But where are the clowns? Quick send in the clowns, don’t bother they’re here.” And their names are National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance.
These morons shared a chat thread with The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg and 18 other administration officials plotting airstrikes against Houthi sites in Yemen. The messages shared secret plans, including targets and attack sequencing that would take place in a few hours.
Just in case you are not bright enough to connect the dots, this put American soldiers ordered to implement the attacks in the sites of terrorists, Russia, China and North Korea, to name a few who routinely hack U.S. government communications.
Do you have a son or daughter in the military? How would you feel if they were killed by Houthi sympathizers in an attempt to preempt this strike?
Do you remember Trump’s mantra, “Lock her up, lock her up,” when Hillary Clinton used an unsecure phone to send emails that were neither classified nor top-secret war plans? If you do not see that this security breach is blatant evidence that Trump and his clown car of fools is riddled with incompetence, stupidity, sloppiness, absurdity and ineptitude, then you can add all of those words to your resume when describing yourself. Trump does not have the courage or integrity to fire any of these idiots. Do you?
Betty Gardner Priest River
Why did Rep. Rasor vote against transparency bills?…
Dear editor,
I find it interesting and strange that Cornel Rasor voted “nay” on these bills: H.B. 378 and H.B. 398.
The intent of H.B. 378 is to create transparency around the purpose of out-ofstate travel, identifying the person or entity funding it, travel destination and if it is being made in an official capacity.
H.B. 398’s statement of purpose: “Idaho’s lobbying laws, also known as the sunshine laws, were originally enacted in 1974 by a Citizen Initiative to increase transparency regarding money spent by lobbyists and on political campaigns. This legislation updates these laws by separating lobbying reporting from campaign finance reporting and increases the frequency of reporting by registered lobbyists.”
Since Republicans are in a rabid hunt for fraud and incompetence, these bills would shine a light on weak areas of our representatives’ travel and lobbyist influence.
So why the nay votes?
Sue Koller
Cocolalla
dumb of the week
Now with more fascism!
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
It was a decade ago this month when America found out that Hillary Clinton used a private email server to communicate while serving as secretary of state, and that some of those emails had classified markings.
The revelations proved to be a burden for her 2016 presidential campaign, leading to an FBI investigation and Donald Trump’s promise to “lock her up!” if he won the election. The chant became synonymous with Trump’s campaign and still emerges at his rallies (odd since Trump is the one who has been convicted of 34 felonies, but I digress).
Needless to say, Trump won the 2016 election and didn’t, in fact, “lock her up,” though he did often use anecdotes about the issue to disparage Clinton and Democrats at large.
Fast forward to the present day. We’re two months into Trump’s second presidency, and this headline drops in The Atlantic: “The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans.” If you haven’t read the story by Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, it’s a banger. It’s also yet another sign that we’re doomed.
When confronted about the incident by a reporter, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth retreated to the usual “deny and disparage” routine, attacking Goldberg as “deceitful” and a “discredited socalled journalist,” while bringing up previous critical reporting of Trump from The Atlantic. He also said there were no war plans in the texts, which was later disproven when Goldberg released transcripts proving otherwise.
When Trump was asked about his cabinet members using Signal to text war plans to a reporter, he claimed: “I don’t know anything about it,” but he was well-prepared with an insult: “I’m not a big fan of The Atlantic. To be fair, it’s a magazine that’s going out of business. But I know nothing about it.”
In an interview with another reporter, Trump downplayed the incident as “the only glitch in two months,” of his administration “and it turned out not to be a serious one.”
He later shared a social media post from Elon Musk from a conservative satirical news site with the headline, “4D Chess: Genius Trump Leaks War Plans to ‘The Atlantic’ Where No One Will Ever See Them.”
While no one ever gets the last laugh in Trump’s America, Clinton did share the article on X, adding an “eyeballs” emoji with the words, “You have got to be kidding me.”
Elect a clown, expect a circus.
Science: Mad about
trash
By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist
Have you ever spent time thinking about where your trash goes? Once you’re done with that Styrofoam tray and plastic wrap that contained your chicken cutlet, where does it go?
The observation of garbage’s life cycle ends for most of us in a large plastic bin that gets dumped into a truck and whisked away to places unknown. Others may transport their trash to a collection facility, like any of the 13 such sites in Bonner County. Regardless, the journey of trash doesn’t end there. Lots of garbage ends up in landfills, which at first glance appear to be giant plots of land in which garbage is dumped — but this is a critical oversimplification of the level of engineering design that goes into a landfill.
The first and largest issue of digging a hole and filling it with garbage is considering what happens when it rains. Water follows the path of least resistance downward, and, in the case of a giant hole filled with trash, it treats the garbage like a filter and collects every bit of bacteria, organic matter plastic particulates it can on its way into the substrate. This emulsion of garbage juice is called leachate, and it’s something you don’t want making its way into subterranean bodies of water.
Most landfills will compact clay soil to create a watertight membrane at the bottom of the pit to keep garbage juice from leaching into the soil. Some landfills will use a layer of plastic welded together, like a giant contractor bag that creates a membrane through which water cannot
pass. Often, both processes will be used. This creates another problem — where does the water go?
It doesn’t go anywhere until it fills the giant bowl, creating a disgusting garbage swamp and breeding ground for bacteria and malodorous aromas in an already vile and disgusting pile of refuse. This problem can be mitigated by lining the basin with perforated pipes that collect leachate for processing. Pumps can also be used at the bottom of the pile to push leachate up the slopes and into its destination to be processed. Processing leachate is extremely expensive. The cost of maintaining and operating pumps in a mountain of garbage while also making sure it doesn’t leach into the soil elsewhere is tricky. Some sites will create special ponds to allow the water to evaporate and become air moisture as part of the water cycle. Other facilities may use biological components that break down the harmful elements within the leachate. Plants and algae are also similarly used. Some facilities may use a combination of all of these processes to deal with leachate.
At this point, you’ve thrown a giant pile of garbage into a pit and collected the water. What happens when you start running out of space?
Trash is usually not very dense. The things we use and dispose of are often containers meant to hold other objects or a lot of air, so when they’re perforated and damaged they can be mashed down to drive out the air and minimize the physical footprint of the object. This is often done first within your own garbage can. The next step takes place inside the garbage truck, which
is equipped with hydraulic presses that mash the collected bags of waste and force out air. Finally, at the landfill, huge tractors with massive crushing wheels repeatedly drive over layers of garbage to further compact it.
The goal of a landfill is to maximize the volume used before running out of space, so maximizing compaction is a vital step to the success of a landfill.
Trash like paper and Styrofoam is very light and likes to blow around in the wind. This spreads the mess to surrounding areas and is something a landfill needs to account for. Many landfills are required to cover garbage at the end of a working day. In some cases, soil is used while others may use huge plastic tarps. This creates a problem when water collects as leachate and cannot penetrate the layers, creating a nasty garbage lasagna with layers of varying densities — not something you want to be driving over in a heavy vehicle.
Eventually, the garbage must be covered once it reaches an unworkable height. This is essentially the same process that happens beneath the landfill to create an impermeable layer that doesn’t allow water into the garbage below. Grass is sown on top to help with erosion control and to hide the pile of filth below.
This still isn’t the end of the process of a landfill. Innumerable microbes trapped beneath the earthy tomb will work for decades to digest the organic trash and generate heat through methane as waste. This must also be carefully released and treated through a number of gas pump systems that carefully
release the methane without allowing oxygen into the heap. If it’s not carefully controlled, it presents the chance for a fire or even a methane explosion to occur within the sealed landfill.
In some cases, this excess gas is flared off on site to break the gas down into less environmentally damaging components. In other cases, it can be used as an alternative
to natural gas to power tens of thousands of homes per site.
After it’s all sealed up and left to do whatever it is the microbes want to do for three decades, many landfills are prime real estate to become parks. It’s land that can’t be used for anything else, so we might as well let nature take it back over and get some enjoyment from the space, right?
Stay curious, 7B.
Random Corner
• Cardboard or corrugated boxes can be recycled at least seven times and can be used to make new packaging boxes and even furniture.
• It takes about 60 days for a used aluminum can to be recycled into a new one and put back onto a grocery shelf. Aluminum cans are recycled more often than any other type of drink container and can be repeatedly recycled.
• Americans dispose of about 10 million metric tons of glass annually, and most of it ends up in the trash. Only about 30% gets recycled (some years it’s as low as 22%), compared with the 90% recycling rate in European countries like Switzerland and Germany. There are numerous reasons why the U.S. glass recycling rate is so low — but primarily because the single-stream recycling systems used in the U.S. often damages or shatters glass in the collection process, making it difficult to sort and contaminating the other recyclables.
• When recycling a plastic drink bottle, shampoo container, peanut butter jar or laundry detergent bottle, it’s acceptable in most community programs to leave the cap on when you put it in your recycling bin. When they are processed, the bottles and caps are ground into plastic flakes that are washed and separated in a tank where different materials float and sink.
• The U.S. recycles about 50 million tons of paper every year.
• If the U.S. recycling levels reach 75%, it will be the environmental and CO2 equivalent of removing 55 million cars from U.S. roads each year, as well as generating 1.5 million new jobs nationwide.
• One metric ton of electronic scrap from personal computers will yield more gold than that recovered from 17 tons of gold ore.
• Americans throw away 25 billion Styrofoam coffee cups every year, most of which end up in landfills.
By Emily Erickson Reader Columnist
I remember the footage of a woman screaming in the streets after the first Trump inauguration. She became a meme — a poster child for “snowflake liberals overreacting.” A few people in my life at the time openly laughed, saying, “It’s just four years,” and, “It’s just one election. Will this even affect us, really?”
But this apathy, this disbelief in the impact of a presidency, stemmed from a fundamental assumption: that a president would operate within the boundaries of a democratic system — one in which checks and balances would hold, and one office’s power was limited to the slow, incremental policy changes we’d come to expect.
Now, nearly a decade later, that woman screaming in the streets looks more like a bellwether than an emotional foghorn — and certainly more than a melting snowflake. We’ve seen the social and political power that can be wielded by a president and the seismic shifts that emanate from the White House to state capitols, to local governments and in our daily lives.
At a national level, we’ve seen rights rolled back under the guise of cracking down on supposed threats — each one conveniently embodied by a marginalized group. From the fall of Roe v. Wade to attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, the dismantling of DEI programs, mass deportation initiatives, and now the assault on education and free speech, we’ve witnessed the profound impact of a presidential office (and Supreme Court). With each
Emily Articulated
Overreaction
new headline comes validation that the so-called wailing liberal had every right to scream.
Still, despite a decade of evidence that our reactions are proportional to the weight of what we see happening around us, people say, “Don’t overreact,” and, “Will this affect us, really?” (Even I use this question to stave off a full-on panic spiral.)
Cut to me, scrambling to schedule an OB-GYN appointment in Post Falls because federal policies triggered local shutdowns of women’s health care services. Cut to my married LGBTQ+ friends, anxiously hoping their legal status will make it through this presidency. Cut to books being pulled from library shelves — works that once celebrated diversity, now deemed too controversial to exist in the public sphere. Cut to crumbling school ceilings, underfunded programs that rely on Medicaid and local government employees losing their jobs.
But history has shown that political changes at the national level don’t stay contained — they spread outward, shaping our realities in ways that are not only personal, but
alarming. It’s a ripple effect, if not an echo chamber, whereby smaller forms of government, organisations of power and the general public mimic federal policies in their own aggressive attempts to reshape the social and legal landscape.
Consider the Idaho Legislature’s attempt to defund its own public education system, mirroring the federal push to dismantle national oversight of education — like a younger sibling mimicking the worst impulses of its elder. Consider the woman forcibly removed from a Kootenai County town hall meeting for her dissent, at the same time the Trump administration cracked down on protests on college campuses.
These moves aren’t random — they are deliberate replications of broader efforts to erode rights from the ground up, reinforcing harmful policies at every level of government. Reflecting on this strategy — specifically as it relates to the arrest of foreign-born student protesters on Columbia University’s campus
— Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah discussed today’s political targets as convenient starting points for widespread suppression. She wrote, “For now, the threat is directed at ‘others’: Palestinians, undocumented immigrants, trans people.”
Attiah continued, “For this kind of strategy to work, there must be an intentional creation of distance between human beings, the illusion that they are different from us, and that the weapons we throw at them are from a comfortable distance. This distance is and has always been a delusion — a profoundly dangerous weakness that America touts as strength.”
This distance, beyond being an intentional illusion, also provides a convenient excuse for people to say, “Stop overreacting,” or, “That’s happening to people who deserve it.” But beyond the gross apathy toward the marginalized, that kind of thinking underscores a dangerous propensity for self-deception — one that emboldens oppression while convincing the majority they are safe from its reach.
Attiah concluded, “The question isn’t if these policies will expand — it’s when.”
Personally, I wonder what we’ll say in 10 more years, and if we’ll still be afforded the freedom to react (if not overreact) at all.
Emily Erickson is a writer and business owner with an affinity for black coffee and playing in the mountains. Connect with her online at www.bigbluehat.studio.
Retroactive By BO
Emily Erickson.
Republican budget procedures don’t add up
By Lauren Necochea Reader Contributor
Our state budget determines what we invest in and who we prioritize. It is crafted by Idaho’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, which includes both House and Senate members, using a model that was once nationally recognized for its effectiveness. Sadly, our budget procedures have been dismantled, and JFAC regularly makes headlines for its utter dysfunction.
The erosion of the committee’s integrity began several years ago, when GOP leadership reduced Democratic representation to one person among the 10 House members. Then, the Republican co-chairs invented new rules governing the committee without getting formal approval. Now, chaos ensues with unclear voting procedures, seemingly made up on the fly to suit people in power.
For example, committee leadership unilaterally decided that absent
members’ votes automatically count as “no” votes. This tactic, designed to kill budgets, is unlike voting procedures for any other legislative committee. The committee upended the longstanding, commonsense practice of setting a revenue estimate so they know how many dollars are available before spending them. This year, much of the money was spent before consensus on how much was available.
One day, the committee leaders attempted to send a failed budget bill to the Idaho House of Representa-
From SHS to NYC
By Conor Baranski Reader Contributor
From March 10-15, 20 students and three chaperones of SHS’s honors-level International Relations class trekked to the heart of New York City to attend the National High School Model United Nations (NHSMUN) conference — the largest and most prestigious MUN conference in the world.
Students participated in various committees for three-plus hours a
tives, even though they had previously stated there was no mechanism to send failed bills to the House. Their excuse? They forgot to bring their scripts to the meeting. Even some Republican committee members are questioning the haphazard decisions of leaders in their own party.
Senate Democrats Janie Ward-Engelking and Melissa Wintrow recently had only one route to stop reckless budget cuts that would have harmed Idaho’s children, veterans and working families. They heroically walked out of the meeting to deny the committee the quorum needed to make those cuts.
While the Democratic senators were able to stop some harm, they can’t prevent all of them. And the new JFAC’s extremist tilt is slashing popular investments that would strengthen Idaho.
JFAC zeroed out a boost to rural physician recruitment that would have made it easier and less costly for Idahoans to see a doctor. The committee also rejected a much-needed $15 mil-
lion investment to increase the supply of affordable workforce housing.
Republican JFAC members are even using their power to shut down services that don’t cost the state a dime. The committee rejected federally funded energy rebates that would have lowered energy bills for Idaho families. Funds slated for Idahoans will now flow to other states. Another federal funding stream would have helped rural libraries purchase computers. Republican legislators refused to support it.
The people of Idaho deserve a responsible budgeting process that allows working families to thrive, protects our quality of life and operates with integrity. We must elect leaders who will deliver this.
Lauren Necochea is chair of the Idaho Democratic Party and a former District 19 legislator. Necochea spent a decade leading nonprofit programs dedicated to research and advocacy in tax policy, health care and children’s issues.
Local students participate in national Model UN conference
day, attempting to pass resolutions on real-world issues around the globe.
Students gained hands-on experience in international diplomacy, developed public speaking and negotiation skills, and broadened understanding of global affairs as they represented either Switzerland or Bangladesh. The academic work was rigorous over the conference, and definitely a trip of endurance.
I was deeply impressed with how hard they had to work in these committees, as they are under a time constraint to agree upon the best course of action — often in committees of 50-100 delegates.
While work was intense, the group was able to play as well. We attended the Museum of Natural History, strolled through Central Park and saw Aladdin on Broadway on our first day before the conference started. Next, some students elected to visit the Statue of Liberty and the 9/11 Memorial, while others toured the Museum of Modern Art. The conference also featured former-President Joe Biden as a guest speaker.
New York City is pretty incredible to contrast to Sandpoint, and our students had experiences that I hope will last a lifetime. The cultural diversity of
the city and at the conference was staggering. Our class worked with students from Italy, France, Venezuela, the United Arab Emirates, England, Georgia (the country), Australia, Costa Rica, Spain, Cambodia, Mexico, China, Canada, Germany, California, Florida, Michigan, Connecticut, Texas and many more.
By the time I purchased the plane tickets, these students had raised around $35,000 in just a few months, and it was a significant grind with ups and downs in confidence that we would ever get over the threshold needed to actually attend the conference.
In the end, the community was so supportive of these students’ academic goals, and we are all so very thankful. As I said before, I don’t think it’s an
exaggeration to say that we made lifetime memories.
We’re already making plans for NHSMUN 2026.
High School.
Lauren Necochea. File photo
Conor Baranski teaches at Sandpoint
Students pictured: Bailey Lancaster, Fisher Dail, Houston Cordle, Carys Perilloux, Elizabeth Craven, Sophie Capodagli, Alex Appl, Trevor Richardson, Sienna Todd-Murray, Ari Holle, Jetta Thaete, Lane Gavin, Ada Anderson, Brooke Brown, Kenzi Norris, Gavan Miles, Maddie Hall, Bryce Tyburski, Maddie Mitchell, Camille McClelland Teacher pictured: Conor Baranski.
Our oceans are dying
By Finn Helgenberg Reader Contributor
In North Idaho, we are feeling the ill effects of the cuts President Donald Trump is making. As Trump downsizes Forest Service personnel, he is also downsizing the protection we would normally have from disasters such as wildfires. Without the security from these people, we are more at risk than ever before. The president of the United States is killing our planet.
Can we really blame him for this, though? As a country, reflection is necessary for finding the reason for placing such a heartless man in such a high place of power; he is most certainly to blame for the decline that our environment will soon be facing.
President Trump is a longtime denier of global warming and, now that he is back in power, he is defunding the organizations that protect the forests and oceans. In doing this he is not just putting the United States at risk, but also the billions of others who live in our world.
Trump is looking to cut National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) funding by 20-50%. In doing this he is causing thousands of people to lose their jobs. Included within these thousands of people being “let go” are the scientists who protect the diverse ecosystems of Earth. Without these people, we lose our safeguards, which we greatly need.
Trump claims the U.S. has entered an energy emergency. In the same statement, he said that the Endangered Species Act (ESA) cannot become an obstacle for energy development. This puts thousands of land and marine animals in dan-
ger. This also puts the jobs for those studying those animals at risk. If we proceed with drilling at the expense of ESA protections, the planet will continue on an anthropogenically fueled downward spiral. Animals will die, the oceans will heat up and become toxic, and the rate of climate change will quicken.
Trump knows little concerning Earth’s climate. At one point, the president went as far as claiming that climate change was a “scam.” He even pulled the country away from the Paris Agreement (PA), which was put in place to combat climate change and the negative reactions occurring because of it. President Trump made this decision because he said that the agreement did not reflect U.S. values and would “unfairly burden the United States.” To call any burden imposed by the PA “unfair” is a stretch, as the U.S. is the second-largest contributor emitter of greenhouse gasses.
The president’s simple homogenization of the diverse values of the nation’s people is also unfair. The Paris Agreement recognized, “... the need for an effective and progressive response to the urgent threat of climate change on the basis of the best available scientific knowledge ... .”
The PA was ratified by every nation on Earth, apart from a few countries that were ravaged by civil war or did not think that the document went far enough to combat global warming. Without it, Earth’s temperature will rise, storms will become harsher and poverty will become more rampant. Beyond blaming just one person for the devastating ways the planet is being affected by climate change, individual responsibility must also be taken for the way the climate is changing. According to the European Union’s database of global emissions, the U.S. contributed around 5,960 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents in 2023 alone — more than 11% of the global total. Each person within the United States is to blame for the worldwide emissions that are produced. Americans overconsume everything from food
to clothes, which heightens the rate that these products are produced. Overall, nothing will be accomplished by blaming anyone but ourselves. The only thing we can do to stop the climate change crisis is to change our individual ways.
Though some might be fooled by his flashy speeches and grand promises, it is evident that Earth is suffering under the supervision of President Trump. One must remember that Trump is not just a man, but the president of the United States. In being the president, he has failed us by showing such an indiffer-
ence to the environment.
Ideally, as a leader, he would be able to find a balance between what is best for the survival of species and what is best for the U.S.; in his lack of doing so, it is evident that he is at fault.
If we want any hope for our oceans and lands, we must revolt against this apathy that threatens to consume us. Trump is killing us.
Finn Helgenberg is a ninthgrade student in the Lake Pend Oreille School District.
Dead fish and discarded plastic from the ocean. Courtesy photo
FEATURE
Closet cosplay
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
There comes a time in every nerd’s life when they get the urge to shirk their responsibilities and step into the life of their favorite fictional character. Sometimes, it’s not enough to watch the show or play the game; we have to be the hero we’ve always admired. When that itch needs scratching, there’s one surefire way to satisfy it: cosplay. Cosplay is a portmanteau of the words “costume” and “play,” because cosplayers don’t just dress up — they get into character with as much commitment and enthusiasm as any Shakespearean actor. It’s a time-honored tradition among nerds, and the practice dates at least to the 1960s, when Star Trek fans would dress up to host their own conventions.
Though professional cosplayers like Yaya Han can spend hundreds of hours and potentially thousands of dollars on their costumes, all it takes is a needle and thread and a bit of imagination to create memorable cosplay for any convention, renaissance fair or Halloween party.
Sourcing your costume
Whether you want to transform into a Star Wars alien or a superhero, the costume will more than likely require basic components you already own, like tights or T-shirts. Begin by raiding your closet, looking for anything that might be useful. Even if it’s not quite right, most everyday clothing can be pinned or sewn together with loose, removable stitches to change the shape and style without harming the fabric.
This year, I dressed up as Merlin from BBC’s Merlin for Emerald City Comic Con (see “Back of the Book,” on Page 22). I ransacked my closet and
returned with the perfect pair of brown pants but little else.
When the closet has run dry, head to a local thrift store and keep digging. To stay within my budget and donate to a good cause, I went to the Better Together Animal Alliance Thrift Store in search of a brown jacket, red cloth and a shirt I could fashion into a tunic. I found a faux suede jacket ($4), a men’s dress shirt ($2), a belt ($3) and $3-worth of red cloth napkins.
If you’re looking for something unusual — like a cape — keep an eye out for fabric that’s the right color, but otherwise might not exactly suit the costume. Tablecloths, sheets and curtains will work, but if you’re only looking at clothes, try to stick to sizes larger than what you ordinarily wear so you have extra fabric to work with.
If you find something that has the right look, double-check that the fabric is comfortable and easy to work with. Thick fabric like denim will likely require a sewing machine, whereas stretchy fabric like lycra will need specialized stitches or thread to keep it from bunching or tearing. Cotton or cotton blends with polyester or rayon — anything the texture of a T-shirt or stiff dress shirt — will be most straightforward to alter.
If thrift stores fail you, you’re left with two options: ordering off the internet or heading to a fabric store, which could mean a drive to Spokane. The Ponderay Walmart has a handful of choices. Still, most fabric stores in our area only carry quilting materials, which will be uncomfortable to wear and usually feature bright colors and patterns.
Once you’ve procured your cloth, you’ll likely need a sewing kit or machine to finish your costume. Most craft stores and supermarkets carry simple sewing kits with a few thread colors. If you’re new to sewing or simply don’t own a machine, head to the Sandpoint branch of the East Bonner County Library to check out a book on sewing or use their available machines. Beginners can reach for Sewing For Dummies or Sewing 101, in addition to the millions of YouTube tutorials.
Bringing it all together
Don’t stress about crafting perfect stitches or sewing at all, if you don’t want to. The simplest stitches will get the job done, and fabric glue, safety pins and tape can do the rest. Since you won’t wear your cosplay as regularly as you would any other piece of
A guide to nerdiness that doesn’t break the bank
clothing, it doesn’t need to be as durable. Plus, you can quickly repair it since you know how it was made.
This is where imagination comes into play.
To make my Merlin tunic, I removed the buttons from an extra-large dress shirt and sewed together the front with a simple running stitch. Then, I put the shirt on backward and inside out and marked with a pencil where I wanted the neckline to fall. I cut off the excess fabric, leaving half an inch around the line I drew, and folded the newly cut edge in on itself before sewing it shut.
Remember to keep your work inside out when sewing together elements so that the seams you create will end up on the inside.
The new tunic was too long and wide in the armpits, so I tailored it to my body shape using the same draw-
ing method. To change the shape of a dress or shirt, put it on and draw or pin lines along the side or back seams, taking in the same amount of fabric on both sides of the garment, if applicable. Sew along the line and cut away the excess fabric, leaving ½ to 1 inch extra to fold over itself and sew together to finish the seam and keep the raw edge from fraying or irritating your skin.
To make things easy. I used the jacket to cover up the seam left at the back of the tunic. The jacket itself was nearly perfect but had a few pocket covers and buttons out of place. I used a seam ripper — a little hooked knife that comes in most sewing kits — and went through stitch by stitch to remove the extra design elements. A pocket knife or thin pair of scissors will also work for this.
Finally, I folded the jacket’s lapels and sewed them shut, frayed the edges of one of my red napkins and safety pinned it around my neck. Tada!
On the day of the convention, to finish off the look, I added a touch of makeup to make my face look more masculine and sprayed on a can of $8 washable hair dye from a Seattle drugstore. All in all, the costume cost $20, not including the pieces I already owned.
After spending 12 hours straight in costume walking around a convention, there are two things I know for sure about cosplay: always prioritize comfort over style and don’t waste a second thinking about what you could have done better. If you’re having fun, no one will notice a missing detail or a stray thread.
Left: The author in her Merlin costume. Photo by Alex Plant.
Right: A promotional picture from BBC’s Merlin. Courtesy photo
To submit a photo for a future edition, please send to ben@sandpointreader.com.
Top left: The Woodruffs brought the Reader with them to a recent SCUBA diving excursion in Thailand. Pictured, from left to right: Kim and son Kevin, daughter-in-law Brynn Williams-Woodruff and wife Gina.
Top right: Sandpoint’s own Farli Boden (standing on the left, underneath the flag) placed 12th overall in the World Telemark Ski Championships at Les Contamines-Montjoie ski resort in France. Farli’s parents in Sandpoint are Tim and Janet Boden. Thanks to Judy York for sharing this with the Reader
Middle left: Protesters gathered in front of the Sandpoint Post Office on March 20 to oppose President Trump’s potential plan to privatize the U.S. mail service. Photo by Georgia York.
Center: “Donald Trump has united Canada as evidenced by a trip to the liquor store in Rossland, B.C. last week,” wrote photographer Laura Phillips.
Middle right: Dover Mayor George Eskridge cuts the ribbon on the newly opened Dover Post Office on March 20. Photo courtesy of the city of Dover.
Bottom left: Schweitzer Prime Timers enjoying a bluebird day on the mountain. Photo includes Mike Schlehuber, Jamie Schlehuber, Doug Sherman, Melanie Sherman, Sharon Kuhnert, Caroline Mills and Dave the Snow Boarder. Photo submitted by Jamie Schlehuber.
Bottom right: Lance Lindquist captured the lunar eclipse in this photo sent on March 14.
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation funds improvements to wildlife habitat
By Reader Staff
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and a coalition of partners in Idaho recently announced almost $4.2 million in funding to improve wildlife habitat. The allotment also supports wildlife management efforts, youth archery and trap shooting programs, and mentored hunting and educational conservation programs.
“These 27 projects stretch across the state and enhance more than 80,000 acres of habitat for elk, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, sage grouse and many other wildlife species,” stated Jameson Sharp, RMEF regional director for southern Idaho. “That’s good news for animals and the landscapes they rely on.”
RMEF allotted $472,596, which helped leverage more than $3.7 million in partner funding. Partners in the project include the Caribou-Targhee, Idaho Panhandle, Payette and Salmon-Challis National Forests; Idaho Department of Fish and Game; Bureau of Land Management; private landowners; and conservation, sports-
men, government, business and civic organizations.
The Bonner County portion of the funding will provide support for the Sacred Cedars Wilderness School, which hosts workshops for youth and women of all ages to learn about archery, wilderness survival, primitive skills and nature.
Visit rmef.org for more information about the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, which has conserved more than 9.1 million acres for elk and other wildlife in five decades of conservation.
Idaho Trails Association looking for volunteers for trail projects in North Idaho
By Reader Staff
The Idaho Trails Association has released its 2025 volunteer project schedule, which includes more than 80 trail maintenance projects across the state. Outdoor enthusiasts of all skill levels are invited to join a volunteer trail crew and help maintain and restore Idaho’s hiking trails.
ITA’s volunteer-led projects range from one-day outings to multi-day backcountry treks into Idaho’s most remote wilderness areas. Volunteers can backpack, camp, or travel by jet boat or plane to reach their projects, all while learning trail maintenance skills and working alongside a passionate outdoor community, according to the organization.
Projects planned throughout Idaho include the Youth Trail Crew Program for ages 14-18, Women in the Wild Program and Veterans’ Program.
“This is our biggest project season yet,” stated ITA Executive Director Melanie Vining. “We’re thrilled to offer more opportunities than ever for volunteers to connect with Idaho’s
trails, make a real impact and experience the beauty of our public lands firsthand.”
No experience is required to volunteer. ITA provides the tools and training — volunteers just need a willingness to work hard and a love for the outdoors.
Upcoming projects in the local area include:
• Mickinnick Trail (Sandpoint area): June 7 (National Trails Day)
• East Fork Boulder Creek Trail (Bonners Ferry area): June 21
• Coeur d’ Alene River Trail: July 25-27
• Heart Lake (week-long project in the Mallard Larkins Pioneer Area, in Shoshone County): Aug. 10-16
To sign up for these projects and see the rest of ITA’s North Idaho schedule, visit idahotrailsassociation. org/projects.
Courtesy photo
Deadline to register for Lou Domanksi Chess Festival approaching
By Reader Staff
FOOD & DRINK Bookmobile moves to new location on March 31
Chess enthusiasts wishing to compete in the Lou Domanski Chess Festival have until Mon day, March 31 to register for the event, which will take place Saturday, April 5 at the Sandpoint Community Hall (204 S. First Ave.).
Register at cityofsandpoint.gov, with divisions and fees including Elementary (entering grades 1-6) for $7; Middle/High School (entering grades 7-12) for $10 and Open for $12. Participants should pack a lunch and prepare to play all day. This tournament uses the Swiss system and is coordinated by James Stripes. Trophies will be awarded for each division.
before being recaptured and sent to a slave labor camp, where he remained until the Nazi attack on the Soviet Union resulted in his release.
In 1942, Domanski reported to Glasgow, Scotland, for intensive training at a Royal Air Force base. In 1944, he was promoted to the officer rank of aircraft commander, taking part in many airdrops to assist the Warsaw Uprising.
Eventually, his aircraft was shot down during a night mission over Hungary, and Domanski spent the remainder of World War II in a Nazi prisoner of war camp. The highly decorated soldier moved to Sandpoint in 1988 and immediately started a chess program, which continues to this day.
By Reader Staff
The East Bonner County Library Bookmobile will continue its weekly visits to Dover, but at a different location: The community’s new post office, located at 306 Roosevelt Ave. Hours will be every Monday (excluding major holidays), between 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Any materials checked out from the Bookmobile can be returned at any of the stops, as well as the Clark Fork (601 N. Main St.) or Sandpoint (1407 Cedar St.) branches of the library.
Domanski was born in Poland in 1918 and enlisted with the 18th Infantry Division Cadet Officers School as war loomed in Europe in 1938. He was first captured by the Soviets but escaped from the prisoner train
Domanski passed away in 2011 at the age of 92, and the Sandpoint Chess Festival was later renamed the Lou Domanski Chess Festival in his honor.
Patrons may also request items ahead of time at ebonnerlibrary.org/ bookmobile. Users in Dover are reminded to designate the Bookmobile in Dover as their pickup location. For more information, contact the Bookmobile staff at 208-290-3622.
Send event listings to calendar@sandpointreader.com
Brim, Band & Sip
5:30pm @ Barrel 33
A day of custom hat making. $95
Live Music w/ Justin Harris
6-8pm @ Smokesmith BBQ
Rockabilly and country
Live Music w/ The Cole Show
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
A night of loop, rock and pop
Live Music w/ Light on the Water
5pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Strong female singer with backing band
Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes
6-9pm @ 1908 Saloon
Live Music w/ Chris Paradis
6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Live Music w/ Harold’s IGA
9pm-midnight @ 219 Lounge
Indie rock originals and covers
Live Music w/ Justyn Priest
6-8pm @ Smokesmith BBQ
Live Music w/ Mike Wagoner Trio
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Sandpoint Chess Club
9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee
Meets every Sunday at 9am
Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi
7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Pool Tournament ($10 entry fee)
6pm @ Connie’s
Live Piano w/ Rich and Jenny
5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Husband/wife duo playing jazz piano
Live Music w/ Anna Tivel
6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
A ticketed show feat. a renowned songwriter from the PNW. Limited tickets left. $20/$25 day of show
Live Trivia ($5/person)
7pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Live Music w/ Cafe Gas Boys
5:30pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Bluegrass from a group of locals
THURSDAY, March 27
Cribbage double elimination tournament
6pm @ Connie’s Lounge
FriDAY, March 28
Live Music w/ Cole Decker
6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Wild and Scenic Film Festival
7pm @ Panida Theater
Films about wild places and the people working to protect them. panida.org
Chocolate making classes
5:30-7:30pm @ Sandpoint Chocolate
You’ll be decorating all your own chocolate and will get to see the chocolate machinery in action. Hand dipping fruits and cookies. 208-3043591 to reserve a spot. $75
SATURDAY, March 29
Live Music w/ Crooked Kilt
6pm @ Create Arts Center (Newport, Wash.)
Traditional and eclectic Celtic music
Live Music w/ Monarch Mountain Band
5:30-8:30pm @ Barrel 33
Live Music w/ Nick Wiebe
6pm @ Connie’s Lounge
SunDAY, March 30
Magic with Star Alexander
5-8pm @ Jalapeño’s
Up close magic shows at the table
monDAY, March 31
Outdoor Experience Group Run
6pm @ Outdoor Experience
3-5 miles, all levels welcome
tuesDAY, april 1
wednesDAY, april 2
Family Hour at Matchwood
5-7pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co.
Live music, food, beer and more
Live Piano w/ Dwayne Parsons
5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
An evening of original tunes and stories told on the grand piano
ThursDAY, april 3
Cribbage double elimination tournament
6pm @ Connie’s Lounge
March 27 - April 3, 2025
‘Saving the Western Monarch and its Habitat’ presentation
2-4pm @ Sandpoint Library
Presentation by Gail Bolin and the Mighty Monarchs Conservation Group about the monarch butterfly and Perky Smith-Hagadone about creating backyard pollinator habitats
Community Day at Schweitzer
Lift tickets $20 with 100% of proceeds going to Community Cancer Services
$5 movie: Rear Window
2 & 7pm @ Panida Theater The 1954 Hitchcock thriller
Live Music w/ Justin Lantrip
6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Live Music w/ Mason Van Stone 6-9pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Trivia Night 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Wild and Scenic Film Festival returns to the Panida
By Reader Staff
The Wild and Scenic Film Festival is returning to the Panida Theater (300 N. First Ave.) on Friday, March 28, hosted by the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness.
Featuring 10 films focused on the natural world and stories of people who find solace and adventure within it, the festival is a celebration of wild places, human resilience and communities built on compassion.
Entries this year include a story that profiles firefighter and burn boss Sasha, and her evolving perspective on fire — from seeing it as a threat to developing a deep interest in it, and eventually recognizing fire as a valuable tool on the landscape.
Native stories are highlighted in a film celebrating Yellowstone National Park’s 150th anniversary in an event called “Yellowstone Revealed,” where Indigenous artists come together to create a historic art installation and evoke long-overdue dialogue on the land that more than 27 tribes have called home for much longer.
There will also be films about
inspiring adventurers, polar bears, Mt. St. Helens, frogs and salamanders, navigating motherhood as a professional athlete and wolverines.
Doors open at 6 p.m. and the screening starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.
Attendance also offers the chance to win prizes in a fundraiser raffle, and Super Star Supporter ticket holders are invited to a hosted pre-event reception at Eichardt’s Pub (212 Cedar St.). Prizes will include gear from Outdoor Experience, a springtime flyover of the Cabinet Mountains and Scotchman Peaks in a Cessna 185, original artwork from local artist Ed Robinson and more.
This year marks the 22nd annual Wild and Scenic Film Festival, and the sixth year that the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness will host the event in Sandpoint. All proceeds will go toward the organization’s work maintaining trails, teaching outdoor education and keeping goats wild in the Scotchmans.
Classic Hitchcock thriller Rear Window to screen as $5 film at the Panida
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Few directors are more iconic than Alfred Hitchcock, and few of his films are as iconic as Rear Window. Now it’s coming to the big screen Sunday, March 30 at the Panida Theater (300 N. First Ave.).
Released to audiences in 1954, the film is a master class in claustrophobia, paranoia and voyeurism, as main character L.B. Jeffries (Jimmy Stewart) sits cloistered in his apartment with a broken leg and finds nothing better to do than peep at his neighbors in the apartments across the courtyard.
At first it’s entertainment with a subversive thrill, as Jeffries witnesses the mostly hum-drum comings and goings of his fellow residents. Things turn sinister — or do they? — when Jeffries is awakened at night by the sounds of breaking glass and the screams of the invalid wife of his neighbor Mr. Thorwald (Raymond Burr).
Throughout the night, Jeffries spies Mr. Thorwald going in and out of his apartment lugging his salesman’s case; and, the next day, Jeffries notices that the bedridden Mrs. Thorwald appears
no longer to be in her apartment. Making matters even more suspicious, Jeffries spots Thorwald cleaning a knife and saw.
With his imagination spiralling, Jeffries gets his hard-bitten nurse Stella (Thelma Ritter) interested in the apparent mystery, though his much more well-adjusted girlfriend Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly) finds his speculation a little tawdry. That is, until she also sees that Mrs. Thorwald is no longer on the scene.
With suspicions running rampant in Jeffries’ apartment, Detective Tom Doyle (Wendell Corey) is called in to investigate, but remains more than a little skeptical.
Tensions rise, motives are questioned, and audience members are asked again and again whether they can trust their own eyes.
The showings are part of the Panida’s Sunday Cinemas Series, sponsored by Joni MacNeill, DDS, of MacNeill Family Dental; Ben Richards, CPFA, of Merrill; Retro Play Arcade; and SkyRight Roofing and Gutters.
Doors open 30 minutes before showtimes, which are 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are $5, available at the door or panida.org.
“Every ticket purchased will help keep our local public lands open for hikers, hunters, anglers and anyone else looking to explore our rugged backyard,” FSPW organizers stated, “as the Forest Service is facing significant cuts to their recreation and trail crews, our trail stewardship work is going to be more meaningful than ever. Joining us at the show is one of the many ways you can support our efforts to keep our public lands open to enjoy.”
The festival has been made possible, in part, thanks to local business sponsors including KRFY 88.5 F.M. and Idaho Forest Group.
Visit scotchmanpeaks.org/event/ wild-scenic-film-fest-in-sandpoint for more info.
Screenshot from one of the films, 2 Legs is 2 Easy. Courtesy photo
EnVision Center’s Future Fund gets $20K matching boost for Live Give 7B
By Reader Staff
The Community Resource EnVision Center recently announced a $20,000 matching challenge for its Future Fund Campaign, which is part of the upcoming Live Give 7B giving initiative.
From now until Friday, April 18, every $145 donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar, doubling the impact of each contribution up to $20,000.
The $145 giving level was chosen based on the formula that if 7,000 people — or 13% of Bonner County’s population — contributes at that level, the effort would reach an overall goal of $1 million to strengthen community programs.
“For over a decade, the Community Resource EnVision Center has connected clients in need to the people, places, and programs that help them overcome obstacles,” stated EnVision Center Executive Direc-
tor Katie Begalke. “We have a vast understanding of our community’s needs as well as those of our service providers and nonprofit partners. The Future Fund supports our ability to be stronger together, maximizing efforts, assets and impact. This matching challenge is an incredible opportunity to double the generosity of our community and ensure a brighter future for Bonner County.”
The Live Give 7B campaign, taking place between Monday, April 14-Friday, April 18, is a county-wide initiative bringing 60 nonprofit organizations together to encourage giving back to the community. All participating nonprofits are featured on the Live Give 7B website, each with a direct donation link. Every contribution made during this time will go directly to the nonprofit of the donor’s choice.
According to organizers, the goal is to establish this initiative as an annual tradition of “community, philanthropy and celebrating everything that makes Bonner County so special.”
The campaign will culminate with a celebration on April 18 at Matchwood Brewing (513 Oak St.), bringing together nonprofits, businesses and residents.
Contact Begalke at Katie@CRECidaho.com for more information on how to participate.
To donate to the Future Fund, visit bit.ly/Donate2CREC or donate to other nonprofits through the Live Give 7B Campaign att 7Bgives.org.
Festival at Sandpoint announces Third Eye Blind for summer concert series
By Reader Staff
The Festival at Sandpoint announced another act for its 2025 summer concert series: Third Eye Blind will play under the lights on Sunday, July 27.
Since 1997, San Francisco-based Third Eye Blind has recorded five best-selling albums and assembled one career retrospective. Led by Stephan Jenkins, 3EB has earned worldwide success during a tumultuous group of years when the major-label recording industry was finally losing its grip on an enterprise that, for decades, it had dominated. Nothing could have made 3EB happier.
The alternative rock band’s self-titled debut album, Third Eye Blind (1997), was certified Platinum six times by the RIAA and spent more than a year on the Billboard 200 charts in the U.S. “SemiCharmed Life,” “Jumper” and “How’s It Going to Be” all reached the Top 10 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
The band’s 2021 album Our Bande Apart was recorded when lockdown ended, with Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast and Ryan Olson of Poliça. The band has continued to gain artistic clarification — and a fan base that
is larger, younger and more dedicated than ever.
Tickets for Third Eye Blind at the Festival at Sandpoint go on sale Friday, March 28 at 10 a.m. at festivalatsandpoint. com. Member presale opened March 26 at 10 a.m. and will
last until Thursday, March 27 at 11:59 p.m.
General admission tickets are $68.75 before taxes and fees. Gates will open July 27 at 6 p.m. and the music will start at 7:30 p.m. This show will be standard, meaning the
A snapshot of notable
area in front of the stage is a general admission dancing and standing area.
Indie folk songwriter Anna Tivel to play Idaho Pour Authority
By Reader Staff
Anna Tivel is a name that resonates deeply within the folk and indie music scenes. Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Tivel has carved out a unique space in the music world with her ability to weave intricate stories into her songs. Her music is a blend of folk, Americana and indie influences, but it’s her lyrical prowess that truly
sets her apart. Each song is a vignette, a snapshot of life’s complexities, joys and sorrows. Her ability to capture the human experience in such vivid detail has earned her comparisons to legendary storytellers like John Prine and Gillian Welch.
Tivel’s discography is a testament to her artistry. Albums like Small Believer and The Question have been met with critical acclaim, with NPR praising
her “lyrics that read like short stories and melodies that linger long after the song ends.”
Tivel will be touring by train as her “Slow Motion Locomotion Tour” kicks off at Idaho Pour Authority (203 Cedar St.) from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2.
Tickets available for $20 presale or $25 the day of the show if still available (tickets limited to 75).
This week’s RLW by Soncirey Mitchell
READ
Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary is a fun, wholesome story about an amnesiac astronaut on a mission to save Earth from a solar catastrophe... once he remembers why he’s on a spaceship. The former-middle school teacher has to figure out who he is and what he’s doing 12 light-years from Earth while navigating a new friendship with an alien crustacean. Find it at the library.
LISTEN
British singer-songwriter Lola Young came out swinging with This Wasn’t Meant for You Anyway, an alt-indie banger of an album with addictive songs like “Messy” and “Wish You Were Dead.” Young generates earworm after earworm, and her songs are worth the repeated listens. She pairs the addictiveness of pop with plenty of offbeat, unusual moments that keep her sound interesting. Listen on Spotify.
WATCH
Are you a nerd? Do you feel like our government shovels hate down our throats while stripping the majority of its citizens of human rights? Allow Brennan Lee Mulligan — gamemaster and host of the series Dimension 20 — to soothe your soul and remind you that you aren’t crazy. Watch it on YouTube to get lost in intricate stories, learn to play Dungeons and Dragons and hear improvised lines like, “Everyone you ever knew who told you that they would keep you safe as long as you behaved were already hurting you.”
Third Eye Blind will play the Festival at Sandpoint on July 27 at War Memorial Field. Tickets are available at festivalatsandpoint.com.
Photo by Danny Nolan
Anna Tivel. Courtesy photo
From Pend Oreille Review, March 27, 1914
TWO KILLED IN RAILROAD COLLISION
Two men were killed and four injured in a headon collision near Thama on the Great Northern road, Wednesday afternoon, when passenger train No. 44 and a special freight came together.
Alonzo Carle of Spokane, engineer, and J.F. Decker of Seattle, baggageman, were both killed.
The collision occurred at an abrupt curve of the road around a rock point halfway between Laclede and Priest River, near the sliding known as Thama. Passenger train No. 44, eastbound, and due at Sandpoint at 3 p.m., was a few minutes behind time and rounded the curve at full speed. The engineer of the freight proceeding west from Laclede, shut off his steam as he approached, with the evident intention of running into the siding just west of the curve.
The impact of the collision was terrific. When the engines struck, the freight engine reared up and fell completely over backward onto a car of lumber. The passenger engine glanced outward and plunged down the 30-foot embankment onto the rocks at the river’s edge, turning half over. Engineer Carle stuck with his post and went down with the engine and was still alive when rescued, but died en route to Spokane.
The baggage car next to the engine on No. 44 was completely torn to pieces, caught fire and was burned. Its only occupant, the baggageman, was instantly killed. The lumber car mixed up with the freight engine was also burned.
Blame for the accident attaches to the engineer of the freight train.
BACK OF THE BOOK Free nerd
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
It’s no secret that I’m a nerd. I’ve waxed poetic about The Lord of the Rings and Star Trek enough in these pages for the average reader to pick up on that. Yet, it wasn’t until March 2025 that I had my nerd coming-of-age experience and attended my first comic con.
The name’s a bit misleading since, for the most part, contemporary fan expos don’t focus on comic books. Instead, they’re dedicated to every flavor of nerdiness known to humankind. Whether it’s discussions of classic literature, Mario Kart tournaments or celebrity interviews, comic cons cater to all tastes.
I knew I desperately wanted to go to Seattle’s Emerald City Comic Con when I was an 11-year-old obsessed with Doctor Who. Still, there was always something to hold me back. First, I didn’t want my classmates to belittle me for the crime of loving something. Then, I poured all my energy into academics to the point that I barely allowed myself to look at the movies, books and games that brought me joy.
Comic con wasn’t going to make me cool or help me get a job, so why devote time and energy to it?
As a Gen-Z, I’ve come of age at the peak of “cringe culture,” a time when harmless joy is persecuted, while commodified, shallow pursuits are enforced. It’s a social panopticon where everyone self-polices to avoid punishment.
Comic con is proof that the punishment never comes.
This year, 85,000 people attended ECCC, and each chose to be their
STR8TS Solution
most authentic, nerdiest self. I dressed up like the version of Merlin from a small BBC show that ended more than a decade ago. I ate lunch next to a couple in their 80s cosplaying Cosmo and Wanda from The Fairly Odd Parents and a University of Washington astronomy professor in a Star Trek uniform.
My simple, inexpensive costume — which I debated making, let alone wearing in public — blended seamlessly into the throngs of Mandalorians in real metal armor and people with cardboard boxes on their heads Sharpied to look like TVs. There was no arbitrary amount of money we needed to spend or talent we needed to showcase to be accepted.
We had the green light to love what we love, and, to my surprise, it brought nothing but joy to everyone involved. Not even the office workers in fine suits passing by the convention center batted an eye.
Much to my shock and elation, my obscure costumes — I was also Phryne from Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries — led six people to ask to take my picture. I received enough compliments and nerdy quips to make my cheeks hurt from grinning. It was a whole lot of love and acceptance for an anxious introvert who’d talked herself out of attending ECCC for years. By god, it felt good.
After meeting one of my favorite authors — Silvia Moreno-Garcia — chatting with Kim-Joy from The Great British Baking Show, listening to the cast of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds nerd out and asking one of the world’s leading experts on the Planet Nine
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hypothesis about the Oort Cloud, I decided I’m done with cringe culture. I’ve tasted the freedom of being unapologetically myself with perfect strangers, and I’m never going back to my self-imposed limitations.
I will mourn the opportunities for joy that I denied myself because I thought someone would judge me for my passion — for a while, anyway. I won’t mourn for long, though, now that I’ve seen the connections and experiences that self-expression can bring, no matter how ridiculous it may seem.
There’s a lot more love and kindness in this world than social media and divisive politics would have us believe. All it takes to find it is the courage to look.
If I was a father in a waiting room, and the nurse came out and said, “Congratulations, it’s a girl,” I think a good gag would be to get real mad and yell, “A girl!? You must have me mixed up with that dork!” and point to another father.
The author, left, dressed as Phryne Fisher from Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries Photo by Alex Plant
Solution on page 22
Laughing Matter
By Bill Borders
CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1. Primitive weapon 6. He makes bread
Noodles 12. Undying 15. Individual 16. Arranged play time 17. Type of cereal grass 18. Cell division 20. Boozer 21. Gambol 23. Distinctive flair 24. Whispers sweet nothings 25. Fortune teller
The top edge of a container
Yearn
Celtic language
Solution on page 22
Engravings
Solution on page 22 7. Once more
Week of the
“The quiet lecture hall was interrupted by an abrupt grumble of borborygmus, signaling that lunch time was growing near.”
Corrections: In the March 20 edition, we printed the incorrect number for Idaho House Bill 376, which would amend state law to remove restrictions on carrying concealed weapons on public property leased by a private party. We regret the error. borborygmus
Picnic insect
Feeling
Comprised
Expend
intestinal rumbling caused by moving gas
Fraternity letter
Probabilities
Fashion
Telegram
Encounter
Pout
Boyfriend
Cicatrix
Male child
Colored arc in the sky
Before, in poetry
Critique
Fast feline
Southern breakfast dish
Refine
Leavening agent
Orator
Social gatherings
S
“Smallest” particle
Hindu princess
Lock openers
Antiquity
Motives
Dimwit
Adjusts
Sheriff’s group
Elected officials
Sea swallows
Come before
Prophylactics
Orchestra
Downwind 30. Anagram of “Ties”
Half of two
Bush
Frauds
Honey
Scatter
Mass
Not bumpy 35. Swoops
Millisecond
Humdrum
Religious ceremony
Debauchery 50. We are (contraction) 53. Skirt’s edge 55. By way of
