Reader_March7_2024

The week in random review

By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff

Quotables

“What kind of man would put a known criminal in charge of a major branch of government? Apart from, say, the average voter.” — Terry Pratchett, Going Postal

“His philosophy was a mixture of three famous schools — the Cynics, the Stoics and the Epicureans — and summed up all three of them in his famous phrase, ‘You can’t trust any bugger further than you can throw him, and there’s nothing you can do about it, so let’s have a drink.’” — Terry Pratchett, Small Gods

add it to the soncirey file

It’s become a running joke among the Reader family (emeritus included) to say, “Add that to the file of things only Soncirey would say (or do),” after I do anything totally normal and not at all odd, like talking about my childhood obsession with bowler hats. I’m honored to have what I imagine to be an X-Files-type manila folder full of weirdness, and will live my life in the hopes that it may overfloweth. My crowning achievement, however, will likely be my death.

For context, I recently asked Reader Publisher Ben Olson how he’d like to die and he gave me the frankly underwhelming answer, “In my sleep.” If you’re like Ben and your morbid fantasies lack showmanship and pizzazz, I invite you to take a peek into the Soncirey File and get inspired.

I’m going to be crushed by a falling piano, Looney Tunes-style. (I’d settle for something like a clawfoot tub, fax machine or elaborately carved ice sculpture, so long as it’s dropped from an appropriately ludicrous height.)

In my opinion, a good death should be three things: painless, unexpected and ridiculous. The first two requirements mean I won’t suffer, and the last makes for a good, morbid story. After my loved ones are done mourning, I want them to be able to chuckle about how I died like Wile E. Coyote. I want to be an unbelievable story in an old newspaper that my great-grandchildren bring to school for show and tell. It’s a stupid and absurd way to go, but death is inherently stupid and unfathomable, and all the living can do is laugh and carry on. Go forth and find your life’s pianos, friends.

help wanted

I’m looking to hire a piano mover. Must be available at a date of their choosing in the year 2095. No experience necessary. Cash upon delivery.

DEAR READERS,

Winter came late this year, but I’ll take it. To all of you who didn’t get to experience some of the magic up on Schweitzer all last week, it was something else. The last seven or 10 days have been excellent, but Tuesday morning was the crème de la crème; a sunny, mild bluebird day with about eight inches of light, fluffy powder on the ground.

Bluebird powder days are the reason many of us still live here. It’s a time when nothing else matters. The tax man knocking at your door with his hands out, a truck that fails to start on cold mornings, getting cut off in traffic, stubbing your toe — it all just sort of drifts away when you’re up there flying down the mountain on your skis or board.

Soon, we’ll be planting our gardens, hiking in the mountains and taking that first frigid dip in the lake, but don’t forget to take a few moments and enjoy the last weeks of winter while they’re here.

See you next week.

– Ben Olson, publisher

READER

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

Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com

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

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Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey (emeritus) Cameron Rasmusson (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus)

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About the Cover

This week’s cover photo of Taylor Prather is by Jason Miller at Schweitzer. What a day!

Sandpoint P&Z recommends approval of fairgrounds lot subdivision

City decision follows opposition from sheriff, contention at BOCC

By Zach Hagadone and Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff

Local government watchers enjoyed a double-header on March 6, as both the Bonner County board of commissioners and Sandpoint City Council took up the long-controversial issue of land boundaries at the Bonner County Fairgrounds and neighboring Sheriff’s Office Readiness Center.

Commissioner Asia Williams brought forward an agenda item during the regular BOCC business meeting that morning related to the platting of parcels that the council voted to rezone on Sept. 27, 2023. The controversy during the BOCC meeting stemmed from Sandpoint’s use of the word “subdivision” when describing the rezone.

“I do not recall the Bonner County board of commissioners making a decision to subdivide. I recall that there was a motion that passed to engage Sewell Engineering [James A. Sewell and Associates, LLC] for a boundary line adjustment,” said Williams, asking if there was somehow an additional meeting wherein the subdivision was approved.

All parties testified that there was no such meeting. Williams then invited Sheriff Daryl Wheeler — a vocal opponent of the rezone, as he argued that the land should be dedicated to the creation of a justice services complex — to raise his concerns.

“What I’m saying is that the contract that was signed was for the rezone, not a

subdivision of the property, and that whole process was concluded on the 27th of September... was this a new deal? Was this a new contract that had to be signed?” he asked, warning that any additional decisions made without public notice would be in violation of Idaho’s Open Meeting Law.

Williams then made the motion that, “Unless and until the board can show that the current application to subdivide the property referred to as the ‘Readiness Center’ was a decision made by the board, the board of county commissioners shall ask the city of Sandpoint to table their review and decision pending confirmation from Bonner County Prosecutor’s Office that the application was submitted in accordance with the rules that govern.”

The motion died without a second.

Commission Chair Luke Omodt then said that he had reached out to the city of Sandpoint, “verifying that this is the completion of that project.”

“I spoke with the engineer — who’s been involved in all of these projects — yesterday to confirm and he explained that ‘subdivision’ is a technical term, and that this is the completion of this contract, and that we are under budget,” he added.

That evening, the Sandpoint Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing on the county’s application for a three-lot subdivision of 59.11 acres, bounded by North Boyer Road to the east, Samuelson Avenue to the southwest, and private property to the north

and south.

P&Z commissioners voted unanimously to recommend that the Sandpoint City Council grant preliminary approval of the subdivision of the parcels, but not before testimony touched on many of the issues discussed at that morning’s BOCC meeting.

Representing Bonner County as the owner-applicant, Omodt told P&Z commissioners that the issue has “been very contentious.”

Though the push-and-pull dates back more than a year, the City Council approved the rezoning of the parcels in September. In addition, councilors granted an ease-

ment to Little Sand Creek, LLC — which is seeking to construct a 156-unit apartment complex immediately to the northwest — for construction of right-of-way west of the fairgrounds, on two acres previously used by the rodeo, in order to connect to Samuelson Avenue.

As a condition of approval for the rezone in September, the council required that unplatted property at the fairgrounds location be platted, creating lots that correspond to the new zoning district boundaries and dedicating Samuelson Avenue as public right-of-way — the latter which would clear the way

for Little Sand Creek LLC’s development project.

Omodt said that the county recognized those conditions and was returning to the P&Z Commission with an application that “addresses the Saumuelson right-of-way; it adjusts the plat to take into account that the Bonner County Fairgrounds was never properly platted. It addresses the fact that on the northwest corner of the Sheriff’s Department property, there was some incorrect information. ...

“The existing uses comply with what we are trying to achieve, and from our perspective, as the landowners or the custodians rather, of this property, this is preparing us to meet the next 50 years of use,” he said.

Wheeler testified in opposition to the application, reiterating the substance of his comments at that morning’s BOCC meeting, as well as repeating a claim he has often made that the subject property was “originally dedicated to the Sheriff’s Office.”

“We have a great need in this county to expand the Sheriff’s Office, possibly a courthouse in the future, and this would be detrimental to rezone and subdivide that property and actually take that two-something acres away [from the Sheriff’s Office] ...,” he said. “You may know that we are required to be here in the county, in the city limits, and it will really tie our hands.”

In addition, Wheeler argued that “there’s been some problems about notification of this.”

“I missed the posting in the newspaper, but I saw the posting on the edge of the

< see P&Z, Page 7 >

The rezoned property at the Bonner County Fairgrounds and Sheriff’s Office Readiness Center, following a decision by City Council in September. Courtesy photo.

Idaho GOP delivers delegates to Trump in low-turnout caucus ahead of ‘Super Tuesday’

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

The Idaho Republican Party held its 2024 presidential caucus March 2, with former-President Donald Trump handily winning the state’s 32 delegates to the Republican National Convention.

“Idaho has reaffirmed its steadfast support for President Trump today. We recognize that our state stands as a beacon of support for Republican ideals, reaffirming Idaho’s status as ‘Trump Country’ with his resounding victory in our caucus,” Idaho GOP Chair Dorothy Moon stated in a news release March 2.

The vote took place at 210 locations in 976 precincts across Idaho and drew 39,584 of the state’s approximate 580,000 registered Republicans — about 6.8% of eligible voters, according to February 2024 voter registration data from the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office.

Of those, 33,603 voted for Trump (84.89%) and 5,221 cast ballots for former-South

Carolina Gov. and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley (13.19%).

Though Trump and Haley were then the only major Republican candidates left in the race for the presidential nomination, candidates Ryan Binkley, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, and Vivek Ramaswamy appeared on the ballot. Of those, the highest vote-getter was DeSantis, with 534.

Calling it a “monumental event,” Moon lauded statewide Republican volunteers for planning, organizing and executing the caucus, adding, “Their tireless efforts ensured the smooth operation of the caucuses at 210 locations statewide, culminating in a resounding success.”

The Bonner County caucus took place at 12 locations, drawing 2,062 voters from among the 21,316 registered Republicans in the county — a turnout of 9.6%.

As with the statewide trend in the 2024 caucus, Trump support far exceeded the next nearest competitor, with 1,883 votes to Haley’s 152 votes.

Statewide caucus rules stipulated no early or absentee voting, and only registered Republicans were allowed to participate — including prohibiting reporters from the caucus locations, unless they were registered with the party.

Prior to this year, Idaho voters had typically selected presidential nominees in primary elections held in the second week of March. However, language in a 2023 House bill mistakenly eliminated those elections. When the Legislature failed to fix the problem, the Idaho Democratic and Republican parties determined to hold their own caucuses specifically for the nomination of presidential candidates.

The Idaho GOP voted at its summer 2023 conference to host its caucus on March 2 in order to give its members the chance to vote prior to “Super Tuesday,” on March 5, when the highest number of states cast their ballots for presidential nominees.

Despite that, local participation in the 2020 primary was more than double the

2024 caucus.

By comparison, the March 2020 GOP presidential primary saw a turnout of 4,445, or 22.7% of the then-19,497 registered Republicans in Bonner County, while Trump received the majority with 4,203 votes.

Despite that, Moon wrote on March 2, “The enthusiasm and dedication of supporters in Idaho is emblematic of the strength and unity of our party.”

In a written statement reported March 5 by the Idaho Capital Sun, political scientist and Alturas Institute President David Adler chalked up that low turnout to the preconceived outcome of the caucus.

“After all, for a state party in thrall to Donald Trump, the outcome was a foregone conclusion. No mysteries, no

curiosities, no surprises,” he wrote.

As expected, Trump swept the “Super Tuesday” round of voting, bringing his total delegate count to 1,215 as of press time on March 6 — 220 short of the 1,215 necessary to win the nomination.

All Idaho voters will go to the polls for the Tuesday, May 21 primary election, which will feature candidates for state and local races — but not presidential candidates.

Idaho Democrats will hold their presidential nominating caucus on Thursday, May 23, which will allow absentee voting. Participants in the Democratic caucus will need to request an absentee ballot by Thursday, May 16. The general election is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 5.

BOCC back and forth on county insurance

By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff

The Bonner County commissioners were able to approve several bits of new business — mainly regarding Road and Bridge rock crushing contracts and Bonner County Waterways funding — even though much of the March 5 meeting was spent rehashing months-long arguments over county insurance and the fairgrounds and readiness center property rezoning [see Page 4].

Due to frequent litigation, commissioners have spent more than six months struggling to obtain stable insurance for the county. The current coverage under Redman Insurance ends in October, and, in the words of Commissioner Asia Williams, “We begged 30-day incre-

ments [to extend coverage] three separate times to when they gave in and said, ‘Fine, we’ll give you a full policy until October.’”

Against Williams’ advice, Commissioners Luke Omodt and Steve Bradshaw are currently seeking to change insurance providers well before the October deadline. To that end, County Risk Manager Christian Jostlein contacted Idaho Farm Bureau, Western Community Insurance agent Bea Speakman on Oct. 30, 2023, to request a tailored proposal for property insurance. Speakman attended the March 5 meeting to present her policy to the board and the public but was ultimately unable to speak due to an argument between Omodt, Bradshaw and Williams, who stated that she had not seen a copy of the proposed policy.

“Bonner County staff — to include myself and the risk manager — have not received the policy. It has been requested,” said Williams.

Williams maintained that she would not listen to Speakman’s presentation without first seeing the policy, later addressing Omodt, “you are ignoring elected officials and key players — to include a broker, who tried to present to you the risks and benefits of making a decision to drop insurance that we already paid for and buy a different form of insurance, outside of our budget line, that would negatively impact not just the dollar amount but the reputational risk of doing so.”

“I find it unfortunate that you believe that saving the county hundreds of thousands of dollars, while improving coverage for the taxpayer,

could be possibly deemed to be inappropriate,” Omodt said.

Deputy Prosecutor Bill Wilson testified that he had not reviewed the contract, bolstering William’s protests — which Omodt called an attempt to “filibuster.”

“Does a contract exist?

I myself have not seen one. If so, why would it have not been produced for everybody?” Wilson asked.

Omodt explained that Speakman had been working with the county’s Risk Management Department and broker but had not sent out the proposed policy as it was still under revision. Following a back and forth between the commissioners

and Wilson, Omodt called for a recess, during which time he privately spoke to legal counsel and agreed to postpone Speakman’s presentation pending a legal review of the policy.

“I will bring to the public’s attention that today was the third time that Mrs. Speakman from Farm Bureau had been here, and all of these proposals were emailed to our risk manager. They were available,” said Omodt. “And Mrs. Speakman has graciously said that she is so confident in her project that she will return a fourth time... I too am that confident in the project, and I too am resolute in doing my job.”

Former president Donald Trump. Courtesy of Creative Commons.

The Follies 20th anniversary recap

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

Sandpoint felt just a little weirder last weekend, as the 20th anniversary of The Follies, held by the Angels Over Sandpoint, brought the community together for a good cause.

For director Dorothy Prophet, the show is a chance to showcase the cream of Sandpoint’s theater and arts scene crop, have a laugh and let it all hang out there.

“I thought we had a great variety of acts this year,” Prophet told the Reader. “We never know what we are going to get in auditions. Sometimes it is song-heavy or skit-heavy, but this time it was a good mix.”

Prophet announced before opening night that it would be her last year directing The Follies.

“I had promised Kate [McAlister] I would stay until the 20th, and although that was pushed back by two years because of the pandemic, I kept my word,” she said. “I think it’s time for young blood to step in!”

Prophet said she is “grateful for the opportunity I had to have worked with the Angels on The Follies. So many great memories.”

Angels Over Sandpoint member Kate McAlister told the Reader, “It means so much when people of all ages come and audition and make the show ... it’s our finest hometown talent.”

McAlister said the highlight this year was the opening act with all the Angels Over Sandpoint members on stage.

“Some for the very first time and scared to death,” she said. “They were wonderful.”

The annual variety show usually generates around $35,000 each spring, though McAlister said, “We used to do $45,000 to $50,000 when we could

bring in our own bar.”

The proceeds are used for a myriad of purposes to assist the community, including the Backpack Program, which provides school supplies to local families in need.

“It also helps support the Angel referral program, in which any Angel can refer someone who is in need of our help and we will pay up to $500,” McAlister said. “All monies go to the vendor, not directly to the individual.”

McAlister said the Angels also donate a portion of proceeds to Navigational Services to help people with rent and utilities, which Prophet added was a vital service in the community.

“It doesn’t provide large sums for anyone, but those small amounts that are given out, if not provided, can set people on a bad trajectory,” Prophet said. “Miss rent one month and it puts folks in the hole. The next month it is that much harder to dig out. The money raised just helps people make ends meet.”

The Angels also use funds raised at The Follies toward their scholarship programs to individuals and other nonprofit organizations, with assistance going to Priest River Advocates, Bonner Community Food Bank, NIMSEF and others.

“We have given over $1.6 million into our community and we have virtually no overhead, with the exception of a cell phone people can call for help, so the money goes directly to our causes. We are, and continue to be, a grassroots organization,” McAlister said.

The annual show is also a time for the community to come together, “when we all forget about everything else and just have fun,” she added. “After all, ‘Live, Laugh and Lighten the Load’ is our motto.”

To learn more about the Angels Over Sandpoint, visit angelsoversandpoint.com.

Bits ’n’ Pieces

From east, west and beyond

East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact. A recent sampling:

If you’re poor, eat cereal for dinner, millionaire Kelloggs CEO Gary Pilnick recently advised on CNBC. He called cereal “quite affordable.” But online kickback questioned if boxed cereals are a good health and financial investment when they are sugar-laden and priced much higher per weight than buying whole grains. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that cereal prices have gone up 28% during the past four years.

According to The Guardian, the U.S. House passed yet another short-term funding bill to sidestep a partial government shutdown. One hang-up: the Republican quest to shrink the budget by changes to Social Security, such as reducing benefits.

The nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy argued that the cost of Trump-era tax cuts needs to be factored into budget discussions. The institute’s new report states that the U.S.’s largest corporations dodged $276 billion in taxes from 2018-2022, adding more than $100 billion a year to the national debt, according to researchers from Princeton, University of Chicago, Harvard and the U.S. Treasury Department.

Sen. Mitch McConnell plans to step down in November from his 17 years of Republican leadership. McConnell’s history includes admitting former-President Donald Trump provoked the Jan. 6, 2020 Capitol insurrection, then acquitting him; not supporting election security; orchestrating a Supreme Court right-wing takeover; and a hearing-free Senate approval of big tax cuts for the wealthy. According to Slate, McConnell quickly grasped that winning elections was not required for enacting Republican policy; rather, the key was to stack the courts and enact laws through judicial review that would otherwise not pass via the democratic process.

So far, no evidence links the Trump campaign to dozens of fake AI-generated photos of a smiling Trump snuggled into a crowd of happy Black Americans. The BBC reported the images appear to have been created by Trump supporters wanting to exploit a drop in support by Black voters for Biden.

A new 85-page study from Stanford University, which examined 2020 voter fraud allegations in “battleground” states, found no evidence of the voter fraud claimed by Trump and supporters. The fraud claims have been used in some states to enact laws restricting

By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist

ballot access and voting rights.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump can’t be banned from state ballots based on the 14th Amendment’s anti-insurrection clause. BBC reported all justices saying only Congress had that power. Colorado’s secretary of state disagreed with the decision, saying they should be able to bar “oath-breaking insurrectionists from our ballot.” Three justices argued that five of their colleagues went beyond answering the initial question and tried “to insulate all alleged insurrectionists from future challenges to their holding federal office,” thereby relegating judicial review into lawmaking. The court did not reverse the finding of Trump being an insurrectionist.

The president’s son was questioned during the recent impeachment hearings on Biden, when Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., asked Hunter Biden if his father had employed family members in the Oval Office, if his father had ever owned a hotel while president and, if so, had his father benefitted from millions spent by foreign nationals at any such hotels. The answers were “no.”

Numerous media reported that Israel killed 104 Palestinians who were anticipating food aid. Deaths were from gunshot and trampling. Meanwhile, the U.N. is accusing Israel of starving Gaza. NPR reported the U.S. military has now begun a “costly and inefficient” food drop for Gaza via air. Vice President Kamala Harris has called for an “immediate ceasefire” of at least six weeks to address Gaza’s suffering and starvation.

“Mass deportations are going to start; if you don’t like that, then don’t vote for President Trump,” Trump ally Stephen Bannon said last week on his War Room podcast. Trump told Fox News that if elected he’ll use local police for “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.”

A rebound in immigration is one reason the U.S. economy is “surpassing expectations” for recovery from the impact of the COVID-era economy, The New York Times reported, citing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. New arrivals come due to international instability, economic crises, war and natural disasters. Now 18.6% of the workforce is foreign born, filling the gap created by birth declines and retirements.

Blast from the past: “Among the things you can give and still keep are your word, a smile and a grateful heart.” — Harry Hinton “Zig” Ziglar, American author, salesman and motivational speaker (1926-2012)

Idaho House puts bill to redefine ‘terrorism’ on ice

Bundy ranch militant was instrumental in crafting the bill

By Daniel Walters InvestigateWest

Two similar versions of legislation to narrow Idaho’s “Terrorist Control Act” to only apply to those connected to foreign terrorist organizations failed to find enough support to move out of an Idaho House of Representatives committee on March 1.

The bill had swiftly passed through the Idaho Senate with more than three-quarters of members supporting it. But critics, including former Idaho Attorney General Jim Jones, began raising concerns that the bill would render useless the Terrorism Control Act, which had been developed in response to a white supremacist bombing in North Idaho.

InvestigateWest subse-

< P&Z, con’t from Page 4 >

Sheriff’s Office property by the playground where there was a seven-day notice,” he added. “That was the first time that I recognized that this was even applied to. There’s been no communications with the other elected officials.”

Following that, Wheeler said that Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall “believes it does not meet the criteria [for public notice] and it would be a violation of Open Meeting Law,” concluding with the statement that he had asked the prosecutor “to provide a legal opinion” and appealed to the P&Z Commission to table any decision until that opinion could be given.

Omodt countered that the final plat and boundary line adjustment had been included in the work order contract, properly noticed and agendized on April 27.

“This work has been the intention of the board of Bonner County Commis-

quently reported that Eric Parker, leader of the Real Three Percenters of Idaho, a militia-movement group, had played an instrumental role in developing the legislation and pushing it from behind the scenes. Parker had himself been labeled a domestic terrorist by the FBI after pointing a rifle at federal agents during the 2014 Bundy ranch standoff in Nevada.

Idaho’s Terrorist Control Act has rarely been used. Parker was not aware of it having been abused, but he said he was certain it would be politically weaponized in the future.

“I’m not here to relitigate the Bundy ranch or relitigate my character,” Parker said in an interview with InvestigateWest. “I’m trying to work in legislation to protect people

sioners, and yes it has been contentious, but it is our desire that this project moves forward,” he said.

In response to a question from P&Z Commissioner Ivan Rimar, City Attorney Zachary Jones said, “Our position is that this — at least with respect to what the city has done — has been properly noticed, and further that the representative from the county commissioners is the appropriate applicant in this matter.

“And finally, this was a condition of the rezone.

... And so this isn’t being rushed per se,” he added. “What’s going on at the county side, that’s kind of up to the county. We have a proper applicant here who is a member of the county commissioners, so it’s our position that this is all proceeding appropriately.”

Regarding the confusion over the terms “boundary line adjustment” and “subdivision” expressed at the BOCC meeting that

from weaponized laws.”

The House introduced the Senate’s version of the bill with some minor changes to the language. But the fundamental sticking point was over the bill’s unusual definition of “domestic terrorism,” which required a tie to a foreign terrorist organization.

A handful of Democrats on the House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee argued that the current law already had a clear definition of terrorism unmuddled by ideology: criminal actions, dangerous to human life, that were intending to influence government policy through intimidation.

“The idea that we would require someone who wanted to do that to send an email to Hamas first” in order to

morning, City Planner Amy Tweeten explained, “we don’t allow people to simply adjust lot lines. So in the county, often a lot line adjustment is referred to [as such]. But in the city, we call it platting.”

What’s more, City Code requires that because the boundary line is being adjusted from the existing two-lot plat at the readiness center onto fairgrounds land that is currently unplatted, the city has to perform “what’s called a subdivision.”

“It sounds to me that if the application is complete and isn’t missing any boxes that needed to be checked, then it sounds like we have a duty to fulfill a condition of the original zoning change, approved by the City Council,” Commissioner Scott Torpie said, to which the other commissioners agreed.

The application now goes to the City Council for consideration.

call that “domestic terrorism” didn’t make any sense, Rep. Chris Mathias, D-Boise, argued.

A few Republicans on the committee had similar concerns.

“There is ‘homegrown terrorism’ and ‘domestic terrorism’,” said Rep. Dan Garner, R-Clifton. “To tie it to a foreign entity does not encompass what that is in people’s minds.”

Supporters, meanwhile, both pointed to abuse of domestic terrorism laws at the federal level and stressed that the bill wouldn’t directly address that problem.

“This bill does not attempt or even profess to try to correct or alter any federal activity,” Rep. Douglas Pickett said. “That’s not our purview.”

A motion to send the replacement bill to the Idaho House floor failed in an 8-8 tie.

In theory, either version of the bill could be resurrected, but supporters like Parker believe the bill is effectively dead until next year.

“It wasn’t partisan,” a frustrated Parker said in a phone call on March 5. “It was never intended to be partisan, it was intended to protect everybody.”

InvestigateWest (invw.org) is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. A Report for America corps member, Daniel Walters covers democracy and extremism across the region. He can be reached at daniel@ invw.org.

City to host second joint work session on final Comp Plan draft

By Reader Staff

The Sandpoint City Council will host a second joint working session with the Planning and Zoning Commission on Wednesday, March 13 at 6 p.m. at the Sandpoint City Hall Council Chambers (1123 Lake St.), in an ongoing effort to conduct a final review of the Comprehensive Plan before it goes before the City Council for a vote.

Public comment will be accepted, but no action will be taken at the work session, which follows a similar work session on Feb. 13, in which City Council members and P&Z commissioners parsed through the first few chapters of the 138-page document.

The Comp Plan has been described by officials as providing, “A vision for the future, defined goals and policies and desired future land use character,” and meant to establish a framework for

achieving that vision over the course of the following 15 years.

The document is supposed to be updated every 10 years, but the current plan hasn’t been revised since 2009. An effort to put in place a new plan began in 2019, but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2022.

The draft document is available at bit.ly/3OaBXxH.

Open house workshops were held on April 27, Nov. 29 and Dec. 7, 2023. Further review and incorporation of comments from a joint City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission workshop — as well as a P&Z Commission public hearing — have been included in the final draft.

City officials stated that, “It is anticipated that following this working session the City Council will hold a final public hearing to consider adoption and implementation of the document.”

Bouquets:

• I received a call from a reader who wished to give a Bouquet to Schweitzer Ski Patrol after her husband was involved in an accident while skiing a few weeks back. The caller, who wished to remain anonymous, said she and her husband were very thankful for the Ski Patrol for getting him down the mountain. Also, the caller wanted to thank Bonner General Health for taking great care of her husband, first in the ER and later in ICU.

• A big Bouquet goes out to the Angels Over Sandpoint for another excellent year of The Follies. Special thanks to director Dorothy Prophet, all the crew, performers and everyone who bought a ticket. Everything raised by the Angels at these annual shows gets funneled right back into our community. Thank you, Angels!

Barbs:

• In a move that surprised exactly no one, former-West Bonner County School District Superintendent Branden Durst, who finally resigned after a monthslong debacle that led to two school board trustees being recalled, has filed a tort against the Idaho State Board of Education. Durst claims when he was denied an emergency provisional certificate by the Idaho State Board of Education, he lost his job and earnings, and he’s seeking $1.25 million in compensation. This seems to be the modus operandi of those from the far right lately: get hired for a job nobody wanted them for (or elected by an ignorant electorate), whip everyone up with fear and chaos, leave well after you’ve been asked to leave and sue on the way out the door. Why do any of us bother working when we could just grift?

‘A genuine gesture’…

Dear editor, July 17, 1994, Willie Nelson put on a fantastic concert in a hayfield in the Cocolalla Valley. A construction team set up the stage with giant speakers and Willie put on an incredible performance that thrilled all of us on that perfect summer evening. After the concert, I stood in line at Willie’s bus, hoping to see him and maybe get an autograph. A young boy was in front of me, and we all cheered when Willie’s bus door opened and he came down the steps. He visited and signed programs, and when it came time for the boy in front of me to get his signature, Willie asked him what he would like. The boy was wearing a bill cap and he took it off and he asked Willie if he would sign his hat. Willie chuckled and took off his own hat and said, “How about I sign my hat and we trade hats?” The boy was in wonderful disbelief as Willie traded hats. A genuine gesture. From a genuine person.

It’s been 30 years ago, and I wonder if that young boy, who is a middle-aged man now, still has that hat?

Steve Johnson Sagle

‘Sad choices’

Dear editor, When I was young and idealistic I looked forward to one day being able to vote for a president of our country, and I was excited. Back then I thought a president must be one of the smartest — or at least most capable — people in our country. I remember being in wrestling tournaments and thinking a president must be someone who wins against opponents with their intellect, then moves to the next round, as a wrestler advances with technique and strength. As Americans we find ourselves in the unenviable position of voting for a next president who is suffering from obvious signs of mental decline.

To be more specific with our choices, one man routinely forgets things that should not be forgotten. The other has had 26 women from different political backgrounds, and no connection to one another, other than they all swear to have been sexually assaulted or touched without permission by him.

Should personal integrity be something we hold at a high standard for a president? I have heard arguments for and against this. I guess that if I knew somehow

that a president would make great decisions for most Americans in the future and be selfless about their job but also an absolute creep in their private life, I might vote for that person. But when a person has an indisputable paper trail that tells the life of an adulterer with a spouse and new baby, then pays a porn star hush money, that crosses the line for me. And if I would not feel comfortable leaving my daughter alone in a room with one of our “choices” for a job interview, the choice becomes clear. I am not excited about my choice for president, but I do want to be able to sleep at night.

Justin Henney Sandpoint

A vote for Cornel Rasor is a vote for partisan extremism

Dear editor,

I’ll try not to repeat the points Zach Hagadone made on Page 22 of the Feb. 22 edition [Back of the Book, “Idaho’s militant fringe is trying to build a private army,” Feb. 22, 2024]. I would like to offer a brief observation of the article that revealed that an old schoolmate of mine, Cornel Rasor, is running for the District 1 state representative [News, “New candidates for BoCo commissioner, Dist. 1A House,” Feb. 22, 2024].

The observation is this:

If you are happy with the political direction that Idaho has taken over the last decade or so, then Cornel is your man.

If you like the Idaho Freedom Foundation continuing to dictate state governmental policy, then Cornel is your man.

If you still think that gun rights aren’t all they should be, then Cornel is your man.

If you think that the state should be able to dictate what books are offered in a library and allow people to sue librarians when parents should be the ones to control what their kids should have access to, then Cornel is your man.

If you want to have to go out of state to obtain pregnancy services, as doctors flee Idaho due to the draconian policies of the state, then Cornel is your man.

If you want only local control of property which can affect others and unlimited private exploitation of public lands, then Cornel is your man.

If you want to continue with those who say they will follow the constitution faithfully, but in actuality only the sections they agree with, then Cornel is your man.

Bottom line: If you want your con-

stitutional rights taken away and for continued partisan extremism, then vote for Cornel Rasor, I won’t be.

Lawrence Fury Sandpoint

‘Woodward for Idaho Senate’…

Dear editor,

The upcoming Republican primary election on May 21 is an important one for Idahoans, because whoever wins the race for the Senate seat will be on the ballot in the November general election and will most likely win the seat.

Up here in District 1 (Bonner and Boundary counties), Jim Woodward is seeking to take back the Senate seat from Scott Herndon. Jim held this position in the senate from 2018-2022, and served on the Education and Finance committees. During that time, he was productive and worked well with others. When elected in 2018, Jim was endorsed by retiring-Sen. Shawn Keough, the longest serving female Republican senator in Idaho’s history.

A lifelong Bonner and Boundary County citizen, Jim is a Navy veteran, a business owner and is civically active on boards in the community. Jim was supportive and in attendance at meetings here in Priest River, during our recent struggles to preserve our public school system at West Bonner School District 83. Jim understands that a strong public school system is vital to creating a healthy environment for the youth in our community.

Please join me in voting for Jim Woodward for Idaho Senate in District 1.

Alice Booth Priest River

Vote Borisov for BOCC, Rasor for House 1A seat…

Dear editor, I comment on a combined theme of dissent, dysfunction and penalization within three articles of the Feb. 22, 2024 Reader

The first story, “New Candidates,” identifies that commissioner candidate Dimitry Borisov finds public comment suspension “horrifying.” Borisov’s “horrifying” assessment, which spotlights our government representatives, a core American civic duty and the fifth pillar of the political process, is not hyperbole.

The second story, “Idaho GOP Faces Fierce Pressure,” identifies that political comment that dissent from government leadership results

in penalization. Zero toleration policy(s) of independent thought, or public opinion is antithetical to republican principle.

The third story, “The Future of Public Comment at the BOCC,” revisits the commissioners’ dysfunction, arguably equal to the second story’s federal and state legislative dysfunction(s). The BOCC dysfunction, led by Omodt, in trespassing and penalizing two BoCo citizens — an inappropriate tool of censoring public dissent — is as “horrifying” as Borisov and Lauren Necochea pronounce.

If public comment and questioning of public servants is not permitted, as it has been for 30 years prior to Omodt’s 2023 arrival, it is arguable that Bonner County policy and business is being conducted in secret — contravening I.C.74-201.

Vote Borisov and Cornel Rasor on May 21.

Daniel Rose Samuels

‘Freedom or funding: You can’t have both’...

Dear editor,

Sen. Scott Herndon’s Senate Joint Resolution 105 would add to the Idaho Constitution a provision guaranteeing rights to homeschooling “free from government regulation.”

The Idaho Constitution guarantees the freedom to homeschool: “The Legislature may require by law that every child shall attend the public schools of the state … unless educated by other means, as provided by law.”

And homeschoolers can and should teach anything they want.

So what’s the hidden point of the amendment? Guaranteeing homeschooling “free from government regulation” would lay the basis for funding religious education. Again, the Constitution: “No sectarian or religious tenets or doctrines shall ever be taught in the public schools.”

All public money has to be accounted for. Government expenditure without regulation will corrupt both church and state — and education — as Jefferson and Madison argued.

But maybe I’m wrong. If Sen. Herndon doesn’t intend to use this amendment to justify funding religious education (or other things not allowed in our public schools), let him swear publicly and to his god “no funding for homeschooling,” before the primary election on May 21, please.

Nancy Gerth Sandpoint

Seek the facts on W. Bonner levy…

Dear editor,

Over the next few months you’re going to be reading a lot of comments about the upcoming West Bonner County School District levy. Do your own research, but do a good job. Don’t base your decision on other people’s opinions. I have been at the board meetings and listened to the auditor’s reports and have yet to find fact about levy opponents’ reports. The superintendent broke down all the false claims with factual information. That should be the basis of your decision about the audit until the completion of it.

The state funds ⅔ of the cost of education. The district has to provide the rest. You may not like it or agree with it, but that’s the way it is. That’s not just this district. All the districts have to fund their share.

I favor a levy large enough to cover our needs with perhaps a little cushion. I also favor running it for two years. If the levy fails and our district goes under, there is a possibility the state will lump us in with the Sandpoint district. They have a permanent levy with a tax rate much higher than ours.

We must vote!

Ernie and Helen Schoeffel Priest River

Science: Mad about

dna ancestry

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

When my aunt and uncle visited a couple of years ago from England, the latter brought along a folder of genealogical research he’d compiled about his side of the family — to which I’m connected through my mother. According to what he found, our family could be traced back to an illustrious Scottish clan whose most prominent member served as the lord high admiral during the time of James IV in the 15th and 16th centuries. Further in the past, our ancestors were involved in the wars between the pope and Holy Roman emperor in the 12th-14th centuries. Not only that, our people were the leading family of the faction known as the Guelphs. Through that line, we could trace our lineage to a minor branch of the Medicis. Gazing yet deeper into the mists of time, we found a direct connection to Alfred the Great, king of the Anglo-Saxons. It just got more and more illustrious — and more dubious from there.

Of course I want to believe that I’m descended from grand admirals, ruling families and ancient kings, and I’m not alone. Ancestral research is among the most popular hobbies among Americans, and it’s become a billion-dollar, high-tech enterprise.

While my uncle used old-fashioned written records for his research, a 2019 report from the Pew Research Center found that a full 15% of U.S. adults reported mailing a sample of their DNA to testing companies like AncestryDNA and 23andMe. That number is certainly higher five years later — especially accounting for the COVID-19 lockdown era, when people were already

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sitting at home spending hours online and engaged in general navel gazing. And what is genealogical research but gazing at the navels of your ancestors?

All that said, the science behind those DNA results that tell us we’re related to Genghis Khan is simultaneously more complicated and less instructive than it first appears.

DNA is a molecule in your cells composed of chains of alternating groups of sugar and phosphate. Those chains are connected via bases attached to each sugar. Those bases bond chemically in specific ways in various sequences. Encoded into those sequences is all the biological info necessary to make an organism develop and function.

All that DNA information is (usually) organized into 23 pairs of chromosomes that about half the time don’t pair up, giving us combinations of XY (men) and XX (women). Meanwhile, RNA — sometimes called DNA’s “cousin” — grabs that biological info from DNA and runs around doing the business of building cells and, in the process, regulating how the genes around which the DNA is arranged are read and expressed by those cells.

The DNA in your body might contain the instructions to give you your grandmother’s nose, but you won’t grow it unless some form of RNA tells your cells to make it so.

However, genes are the least of what’s contained in our DNA. About 97% of what’s encoded in your DNA is what geneticist Adam Rutherford, writing in Scientific American in 2018, described as “a smorgasbord of control regions, scaffolding and huge chunks of repeated sections. Some of it is just garbage, left over from billions of years of evolution.”

What’s more, the National Human Genome Research

Institute states that “DNA from any two people is 99.9% identical. ... The differing 0.1% contains variations that influence our uniqueness, which when combined with our environment and social contexts give us our abilities, our health, our behavior.”

That 0.1% is what we’re really looking at when we run a swab around our cheek or spit into a tube and mail it off in search of ancestral revelation.

Here’s how it works (basically), according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology: DNA is extracted from the spit you sent to the lab and measured against the human genome. Technicians scan millions of areas in the genome simultaneously, flagging tiny differences.

Once identified, those variants are measured by breaking the DNA in your sample into single strands, then sliced even finer and reexamined to see which of your variants bind to the same variant in the wider genome.

The lab then looks to see which of those bonded variants match the ones uniquely associated with DNA found in people from various geographic areas. The degree to which those variants link up indicates whence in the world your ancestors may have come, and that’s what the DNA test company will tell you on a percentage basis.

But our DNA isn’t a pie chart. Rather than being “30% Irish,” the test indicates there’s a 30% confidence rate that variants in your DNA indicate someone in your family tree came from Ireland. As Stanford University Professor Marcus Feldman said in a Popular Science article in 2019, “You can’t take your DNA and chop it up and say, ‘This bit came from here, and that bit came from there.’”

While you inherit all your genes from your parents, because DNA gets shuffled around with every generation, it’s likely that you and your sibling got different portions of whatever DNA your parents got from their parents and so on (unless you’re identical twins). Because of that, some of your DNA might go back eight or nine generations while you may share very little if any with a grandparent from five or six generations ago.

So what does DNA ancestry really offer? Not much more than an estimate, and

certainly no centuries-spanning indicator of personality or identity — those things we get from the people living around us today and the social, cultural, political and environmental structures and systems into which we’re born.

It makes me a little sad that I probably share nothing with my lord high admiral grandpa, but it does remind me to think more about the folks around me than the ones who died long ago.

Stay curious 7B, and look forward to Brenden Bobby back in this space next week.

Random Corner

• While the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections were quite divisive, the election of 1800 was a doozy as well. Then-Vice President Thomas Jefferson defeated incumbent John Adams in an election that many historians claim was one of the most contentious in U.S. history. The candidates called one another “a contemptible hypocrite,” “a bastard brat of a Scotch Peddler,” and “a hideous hermaphroditical character which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a women.” Adams, distraught over his loss, didn’t attend Jefferson’s inauguration — a presidential snub that wasn’t repeated until 2021, when Donald Trump refused to attend President Joe Biden’s inauguration.

• During the election of 1860, Broughton’s Monthly published four editions featuring engraved portraits of candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas with astrological charts, including commentary on their political success based on a reading of their horoscopes.

• Trump may turn out to be the

first U.S. president to serve while in prison, but there was a candidate who ran his campaign from the clink. Eugene V. Debs ran for president five times as a Socialist Party candidate in the early 1900s, once while serving a prison term for agitation against the government. He lost, but still received more than 900,000 votes.

• When John F. Kennedy debated Richard M. Nixon prior to the 1960 election, the candidates agreed to four televised debates. While JFK appeared tanned and relaxed, Nixon looked pale and sweaty. To many listening to the debate on the radio, Nixon came out ahead, while those watching on TV overwhelmingly came out in favor of JFK.

• According to a 2022 report from Pew Research, the U.S. ranked 31st among 50 countries for voter participation in national elections between 2018 and 2020 — between Greece (30th) and Colombia (32nd).

• George Washington blew his entire campaign budget on 160 gallons of liquor to serve to potential voters.

McCall Mayor urges citizens to engage legislators regarding House Bill 506

By Mayor Bob Giles Reader Contributor

I’m compelled to let you know about House Bill 506, a proposed bill that would severely limit city councils’ ability to protect the health and safety of our visitors, citizens and neighborhoods with reasonable requirements on short-term rentals. I understand the deep connection we share to our homes and the collective responsibility we hold in safeguarding the well-being of every resident and visitor alike.

Our town thrives thanks to the dedication of our business owners. In McCall, shortterm rentals provide additional accommodations for visitors, bolstering our local economy

Yet, within this prosperity, we mustn’t overlook the importance of safety and community. Effective regulation can complement our way of life rather than hinder it. By implementing sensible permitting and regulations, we can ensure that everyone feels secure in their surroundings, whether they’re here for a brief escape or a more extended stay.

and supporting our local businesses. Moreover, the local option taxes they generate play a crucial role in maintaining our city’s infrastructure and local housing initiatives while supporting nonprofit initiatives that benefit us all.

From adhering to fire code regulations to preserving the residential integrity of our neighborhoods, these measures are essential in safeguarding the unique character of McCall that we cherish.

In January, the city of McCall partnered with the McCall Fire District to explore our short-term rental

owners’ and managers’ satisfaction with our new safety protocols. By surveying stakeholders, we’ve gained valuable insights into their experiences with the STR inspection and permit procedures. Working closely with McCall Fire, we’re actively exploring ways to improve the process. We were pleased to discover that the majority of respondents noted an enhanced sense of security in their homes for guests after completing the inspection process.

As elected leaders, the City Council and I strive to balance property rights and community welfare. We recognize the concerns of both permanent residents and short-term rental operators, and it’s our duty to protect the interests of all par-

GOP indifferent as Idaho abortion ban causes widespread harm

By Rep. Lauren Necochea, D-Boise Reader Contributor

Health care decisions should be made by Idahoans and their doctors, not politicians. In the 15 months following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the harmful consequences of Idaho’s abortion ban are only accelerating. We are losing physicians, patients are suffering and the GOP lawmakers who brought us here are only making things worse.

A new report from the Idaho Physician Well Being Action Collaborative, in partnership with the Idaho Coalition for Safe Healthcare, paints an alarming picture. Since Idaho’s draconian abortion ban took effect, Idaho has lost 22% of its practicing obstetric gynecologists. Only half of Idaho’s 44 counties have practicing OBGYNs. Recent closures of labor and delivery services in Sandpoint, Emmett and Caldwell are just the beginning. It is increasingly difficult to get appointments, patients face longer drives for routine care and emergencies

and medical care is being denied outright.

Jennifer, from Caldwell, discovered her fetus had a chromosomal abnormality with a 99% chance of miscarriage. And she was at risk of developing life-threatening conditions if the pregnancy continued. She had to travel to Oregon to receive necessary care.

At a seven-week ultrasound, Kristin, from Boise, learned she had an anembryonic pregnancy that would result in a miscarriage. When Kristin tried to fill her prescription to protect her health as she faced her miscarriage, a pharmacist denied her the medication, citing Idaho’s abortion laws.

Rather than addressing this growing crisis, Republican politicians are pushing further restrictions.

Idaho Attorney General

Raúl Labrador partnered with the Alliance Defending Freedom, a far-right organization, to challenge a woman’s access to abortion care in medical emergencies. The U.S. Supreme Court will take up the case in April and, in a shocking decision, has allowed Idaho to start enforcing the law prohibiting these emergency abortions unless the patient’s death is imminent.

Sen. Dan Foreman, D-Viola, introduced legislation to remove the abortion ban’s exception for rape and incest — which is essentially unworkable anyway — so that even a 12-year-old would be forced to birth her rapist’s baby.

Seventeen House Republicans voted against a bill aimed to restore Idaho’s maternal mortality committee the GOP disbanded last year. Rep.

Julianne Young, R-Blackfoot, introduced a bill attempting to replace the term “fetus” with “preborn child” in Idaho law,

ties involved. Through collaboration and open dialogue, we can find solutions that uphold McCall’s unique charm while addressing the diverse needs of our residents and visitors.

I urge you to join me in supporting these important safety goals and prudent control of vacation rentals. Together, we can ensure that our mountain towns remain a welcoming and thriving destination for all who call them home or visit our communities.

If you support our approach to having reasonable regulations to manage shortterm rentals, please take the time to contact your legislators as soon as possible to oppose HB 506.

Bob Giles is the mayor of McCall, Idaho. He originally submitted this letter to the citizens of McCall for publication in the Star News on Feb. 22, and later submitted it to the Reader. It has been lightly edited.

to inject politically and emotionally charged language into statute.

At the federal level, Republican Congressman Mike Simpson co-sponsored the extreme Life at Conception Act, which lacks protections for in vitro fertilization.

The stakes are too high to ignore. Democrats in the Legislature are bringing forward a bill to restore reproductive freedoms, even though we can’t get a hearing. And we will continue fighting for your reproductive freedoms for as long as it takes.

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

McCall, Idaho Mayor Bob Giles. Courtesy photo.

Rep. Lauren Necochea. File photo.

Idaho GOP’s ‘so-called caucus’ disenfranchised voters

By Mark Watson and Rebecca Revak Reader Contributors

The so-called caucus we received notice of for today at Northside Elementary in Bonner County did state a start time. It did not state an end time, which matches the Idaho GOP website specifying caucus locations: a start time of 11 a.m., with no specified ending time.

We arrived at 2 p.m. We had to bang on the doors and finally a person identified as a local Republican committee person informed us they had stopped all voting at 1 p.m. and were counting the ballots then and

there was to be no more voting today.

We are flabbergasted and disgusted. General election voting is usually 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. While we were questioning the person, six other people arrived and were also turned away.

This is nothing short of disenfranchising voters by not requiring caucus locations to at least inform of the times, but more importantly by not having the caucus locations open to create accessibility for the majority of voters.

For all your party talk of vote rigging in 2020, this is nothing short of taking our vote completely away from us.

Our Legislature fucked up, and our idiot governor should not have signed the legislation that removed our voting primary, but the Idaho GOP had the chance to shine by that and instead you totally fucked us and who knows how many others. The Democrat primary in May has a chance now to completely embarrass you just by actually allowing people to vote.

If you are capable of being embarrassed.

Idaho Republican primary results today are skewed, are not representative of the majority of the state population and we don’t believe the authority to assign delegates has been con-

veyed by this sham of a caucus. While the Idaho delegation is hardly more than symbolic, this refusal to allow us to vote in the primary is not symbolic, just as our individual voting rights are not symbolic. To not be allowed to vote is a criminal act, as so many have pointed out these past four years.

We invite your response, as we are sure you can find someone to blame instead of acknowledging your part in taking away our chance to vote. What solution do you offer us?

Mark Watson and Rebecca Revak are longtime Bonner County residents.

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

Top left: Gusti the dog bursts through the Reader with gusto. Photo by Julia Kaufmann.

Top right: After reading an article in the Feb. 15 Reader “Sandpoint Moments” about Cedar Street being torn up and locals playing soccer and hanging out in the street, Aaron Qualls sent this photo to jog our readers’ memories of that afternoon.

Bottom left: Photographer Rich Milliron snapped some photos of Sandpoint after a March snowstorm. This was taken at Sandpoint City Beach.

Bottom center and right: “The Wave,” also known as Coyote Buttes in the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument in northern Arizona. Photo by Lenny Hess. In the second photo, Lenny poses with the Reader with Karren Williams, Val Salvatore, Deb Chatigny and Nancy Dicke. Great shots, Lenny!

Mythweaver to raffle

original artwork

to benefit

Voices

of the Wild Earth podcast

By Reader Staff

The Idaho Mythweaver is hosting a fundraiser for its Voices of the Wild Earth podcast with the raffle of an oil painting by Troy, Mont.-based artist Terrel Jones that honors iconic Northwest salmon.

Jones’ piece measures 18 inches by 24 inches and features an impressionistic scene of the vibrant red-hued fish as they move against a wash of blues, whites and faint purples, evoking their ancient home waters. Her work is inspired by nature, color and pattern.

“Almost never is the landscape copied as it truly is. I interpret with my own palette,” Jones stated.

Valued at $500 and donated to the Mythweaver, “Spawning Salmon” is on display at Evans Brothers Coffee, where raffle tickets can be purchased for $5 each. Tickets are also available at the Pend d’Oreille Winery, where Jones will have a show in September. Her other work is hanging and available for purchase at Misty Mountain Furniture.

The raffle drawing is scheduled for Thursday, March 15.

Proceeds will benefit the upcoming Voices of the Wild Earth podcast “People of the Salmon,” which focuses on efforts to restore the Nez Perce salmon in the Snake River Basin.

The podcast is based on decades of historic recording created with regional Indigenous elders collected by the Idaho Mythweaver, digitized and shared in its “Native Voices Archive” with tribes, libraries and museums.

Installments of the podcast are intended to share and explore “lessons and wisdom of Indigenous peoples about how to live on the land and create a new relationship with nature.”

Listen to the podcast at mythweaver.org/podcasts.

In addition to Evans Brothers and Pend d’Oreille Winery, buy raffle tickets at mythweaver.org/take-action.

Women Honoring Women nominations open for 2024

By Reader Staff

Women Honoring Women is now accepting nominations for the Women of Wisdom Class of 2024. Started in 1999 by Marsha Ogilvie, the organization has spent the past 25 years recognizing women who have made Bonner County a better place to live through their service and leadership.

Candidates must be 65 years or older, possess vision and achieve goals through collaboration, love to learn and share that learning with others, show a long-term commitment to impacting life in a positive manner in Bonner County, demonstrate leader-

ship and inspire others.

“Facing life’s challenges with dignity, grace, integrity and honor is paramount,” organizers stated.

Posthumous nominations are welcome.

Nominations can be emailed to womenhonoringwomen@gmail.com or mailed to Women Honoring Women, 419 Upper Humbird Drive, Sandpoint, ID 83864.

Nominations will be accepted until May 1.

“This is a beautiful way to honor the woman — or women — who have made an impact on your life,” organizers stated.

Pend Oreille Chorale and Orchestra announces spring concerts

By Reader Staff

The Pend Oreille Chorale and Orchestra is gearing up for its spring concerts, scheduled for June 7 and 9 at the First Lutheran Church (526 S. Olive Ave., in Sandpoint).

Meanwhile, chorale rehearsals will be held every Monday from 6-8 p.m., beginning Monday March 11 in the Seventh Day Adventist Church classroom in the west end of the building. Chorale members must bring their black three-ring binders. Music and schedules will be provided.

Anyone interested in singing with the group is invited to join, and singers are needed. Reading music is not required, just a desire to participate in presenting

quality classical music concerts.

The first orchestra rehearsal will be on Sunday, March 24 in the Seventh Day Adventist fellowship hall. Experienced string players are needed. Music and schedules will be handed out at that time.

Orchestra and Chorale together will present the premiere of a new piece, “Be Still,” by Mark Reiner, as well as other music for orchestra and the combined chorale and orchestra.

The Pend Oreille Chorale and Orchestra is a group of volunteer musicians who have been giving free classical music concerts to North Idaho audiences for more than 30 years.

Call 208-946-9306 or 208-6031277 with any questions.

“Spawning Channel” by Terrel Jones.

Festival at Sandpoint announces Blues Traveler

By Reader Staff

Blues Traveler will take the Festival at Sandpoint stage on Thursday, July 25, with tickets going on sale Friday, March 8.

No matter how much the world around us may change, music persists as the last original magic.

It appears seemingly out of nowhere, affecting and altering emotions, feelings and moods before melting back into the ether.

Blues Traveler always treats this magic with the utmost care. It’s why they continue to resonate as loudly as ever among audiences nearly four decades since their emergence. It’s why their catalog endures, spanning three gold-selling records, one platinum LP, and the 6x-platinum opus Four, highlighted by the Grammy Award-winning “Run Around,” which became a seminal sound of the 1990s. It’s why the band tallies tens of millions of streams to this day and even notched their most recent Grammy nod in 2022.

It’s also why Blues Traveler can still roll through any town on tour and pack a shed or amphitheater — in-

cluding the Festival at Sandpoint.

Now, the quintet — John Popper (vocals, harmonica), Chan Kinchla (guitar), Tad Kinchla (bass), Ben Wilson (keyboards) and Brendan Hill (drums) — channel the same magic on their 15th full-length album, Traveler’s Soul.

On the record, the group put their spin on R&B and soul staples straight out of the American Songbook, and it’s nothing short of spellbinding.

Tickets for Blues Traveler are available at festivalatsandpoint.com.

Registration now open for Lou Domanski Chess Festival

By Reader Staff

Join fellow chess enthusiasts for a one-day tournament formerly known as the Sandpoint Chess Festival. Registration is open until Thursday, March 28, and the date of the festival is Saturday, April 6 at the Sandpoint Community Hall (204 S. First Ave.)

with play beginning promptly at 9 a.m.

The Lou Domanski Chess Festival uses the Swiss system and is coordinated by James Stripes. Participants are encouraged to bring lunch and be ready to play all day.

Medals will be awarded for each division. Divisions and entry fees are

divided as follows: Elementary (entering grades 1-6) $7; Middle/High School (entering grades 7-12) $10; Open $12. Scholarships are available.

For more information, contact the Sandpoint Parks and Recreation Department: recreation@sandpointidaho. gov, 208-263-3613, or 1123 Lake St.

Panhandle Community Radio to host annual meeting

By Reader Staff

The community is invited to 88.5 KRFY’s annual meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, March 13, at 5:30 p.m. at Utara Brewing and Curry House, located at 214 Pine St. in downtown Sandpoint.

KRFY is a commercial free, non-

profit, listener-supported community radio station serving North Idaho at 88.5 FM on your radio dial and available worldwide via streaming at KRFY.org.

The public can stop by and meet local KRFY broadcasters, staff and board.

“Find out how KRFY meets its

mission to provide programming that educates, informs, entertains and enriches the lives of its listeners,” organizers stated. “Find out what’s happening at the station and find out why KRFY is an important and vital voice in our community.”

Visit KRFY.org for more information.

Photo by Graham Fielder.

Sandpoint rallies for reproductive rights

Organizers: ‘If we want Idaho to take women’s health seriously, we need to raise our voices’

By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff

In recognition of International Women’s Day, women of Bonner and Boundary counties will gather on Friday, March 8 outside Bonner General Health for the Pro-Voice Project’s “Rally for Repro.” The demonstration will run from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., featuring a series of educational and inspiring speeches about women’s rights and health care in Idaho, as well as messages of support for the understaffed hospital.

“If we want Idaho to take women’s health seriously, we need to raise our voices. We need to be seen and heard, both as patients and voters,” Pro-Voice founder Jen Jackson Quintano told the Reader in an email. “Our elected officials ignore 50% of the population at their own peril. They need to know how we are being impacted by their disregard for women’s lives and health, and that we won’t sit silently and bear the consequences.”

Speakers include activist and counselor Makayla Sundquist, faith leader Stan Norman and Reclaim Idaho representative Catherine Bren-

ner, plus many more locals who’ve experienced the reproductive health care crisis in North Idaho firsthand.

Rally for Reproductive Rights

Friday, March 8; 4-5:30 p.m.; FREE. Bonner General Health Campus, corner of Cedar Street and Third Avenue, Sandpoint. For more information on the event, visit bit.ly/48lRKAq. For more on The Pro-Voice Project, go to theprovoiceproject.com.

The U.S. Supreme Court established a new precedent in June 2022 with the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned women’s protected right to abortions established by Roe v Wade. Idaho has

since made performing an abortion a felony punishable by two to five years in prison and the suspension of the provider’s medical license.

“If we support our local health care providers, helping them not to burn out during these difficult times, while also holding legislators accountable for their ill-conceived, anti-women policy decisions, we will start to see incremental change,” Quintano wrote.

According to the PVP, the hostility toward reproductive health care has led 58 obstetricians — including

all four of BGH’s OB-GYNs — to leave Idaho in the past 15 months. Meanwhile, institutions like BGH have made national headlines with the suspension of their labor and delivery services due to Idaho’s “legal and political climate.” West Valley Medical Center in Caldwell — which provides services to the second most populous county in the state — will close its labor and delivery services facility on April 1.

Residents of Bonner and Boundary counties are currently forced to drive an hour or more, depending on where they live, to reach labor and delivery services in Kootenai County, increasing the risk of complications for high-risk pregnancies and low-income families. This loss of gynecological care affects all women, pregnant or otherwise, as their basic health care needs can no longer be met.

“This is a life or death issue,” Quintano stated in a recent PVP news release. “And not just for individuals who risk all kinds of problems by having to travel for care, but it’s life or death for our community. How can a town remain vibrant if it can’t bring babies into the world? If it can’t support its women?”

Left: Two completed signs made by participants. From left to right: Emma and Raven Stanford, Rebecca Holland, Christine Moon and Sylvie Quintano.

Photos by Arleen Lothian.

‘Find and Use Your Power’ on International Women’s Day

By Reader Staff

Sandpoint’s International Women’s Day celebration returns to the Community Hall (204 S. First Ave.), on Saturday, March 9, with a day of speakers, storytelling, food and introspective activities. Activist, nurse and midwife Naomi Newhouse will deliver the keynote address, discussing her personal experiences in maternal health care and options that locals can

use to address the current health care crisis in Idaho.

“We are extremely excited to have Naomi Newhouse as our keynote speaker,” said the event’s coordinator Ellen Weissman, according to a recent news release. “Ms. Newhouse has been a leader in nurse-midwifery since 1995, with contributions that include leading legislative changes, involvement with Northern California Kaiser and the American College of

LPOSD registering K-12 students for 2024-’25 school year

By Reader Staff

Following a 2023 Idaho law opening enrollment for students in any school, in any district — other than charter schools, which operate on a lottery system — the Lake Pend Oreille School District is offering a “pre-enrollment” process.

Some school leaders expect the open enrollment law could lead to more students from surrounding districts in the 2024-’25 school year, and are inviting in-district residents to “save their spot,” as district officials stated in a news release.

which may include a utility bill, internet bill, mortgage statement or rental agreement. Cell phone bills and driver’s licenses do not qualify as proof of residency.

Meanwhile, families or caregivers of kindergarten students are invited to visit their zoned schools on Sunday, March 21 for an in-person registration event from 8:30-11 a.m. and noon-2:45 p.m.

Kids are welcome but not required for the registration process.

To find which school a student is zoned for, enter their home address on the School Site Locator website at bit.ly/3ImtFzd.

LPOSD started accepting enrollment for the 2024-’25 school year on March 1 for first- through 12th-grade students.

All online enrollment information is available under the “Parent, Student & Patron Resources” section of lposd. org/home, and gives step-by-step instructions for all current, returning and new students.

New and current families who would like to be considered for enrollment in a school other than their zoned school (in- or out-of-district) must fill out the open enrollment application. For questions about the process, review the information on the enrollment page.

Those who do not have access to the internet, or do not wish to use the online platform, are asked to call their student’s school and make arrangements with the administrative assistant to begin the pre-registration process.

Proof of residency will be required,

Obstetricians and Gynecologists, promoting midwifery practice expansion in California and Hawaii hospitals, published work and executive medical group administration.”

Afterward, artist Titina van Hoorn will lead a creative and meditative workshop focused on self-empowerment. Organizers will also raffle off a “Rosie the Riveter” flask, as well as copies of Ejaculate Responsibly, by New York Times best-selling author Gabrielle Blair.

Attendees should bring donations of money or canned goods for the Bonner Community Food Bank, which experiences a shortage of food during this time of year.

“Please come support women and share in messages of empowerment

and gender equity on Sandpoint’s International Women’s Day,” wrote Weissman.

The event is FREE — though donations are welcome to offset the cost of the festivities — and runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 9. Attendees are encouraged to preregister at bit.ly/3uLc6Wj. For more information or to volunteer, donate or sponsor the event, text Ellen Weissman at 208-610-3376.

The district encourages in-person registration at the kindergarten event March 21. However, online registration is available on LPOSD’s enrollment page, found under the “Parent, Student, & Patron Resources” section of lposd.org/home.

Children entering kindergarten must be 5 years of age on or before Sept. 1. For enrollment into first grade, a child must be 6 years of age on or before the first day of September. There are no exceptions under Idaho law for exceptionally mature students to enter school early.

For more information or questions, contact your student’s school office coordinator or administrative assistant. For technology related inquiries regarding PowerSchool parent portal, email helpdesk@lposd.org or call the district office Help Desk line at 208263-2184 ext. 1001 between Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

events

Send event listings to calendar@sandpointreader.com

Cribbage League

7pm @ Connie’s Lounge

Game Night

6:30pm @ Tervan Tavern

THURSDAY, march 7

Live Music & Happy Family Hour

4:30-5:30pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co.

Live Music by Buster Brown

Trivia Night

6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

Live Music w/ Heat Speak Trio

7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Live Music w/ Jordan Pitts (country)

6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

Live Music w/ Mike Wagoner Trio

5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

Country, rock, Americana

Desperate Electric w/ Biddadat concert

8:30pm @ The Hive

Get ready to get down with some soul pop and neo-funk from these two excellent traveling bands. $5 at the door

Live Music w/ Luke Yates (Americana)

6-8pm @ Smokesmith BBQ

Live music, BBQ, beer - the perfect trio!

Live Music w/ Holly & Michael

6-9pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

Everything from Otis Redding to Radiohead. One guitar, two vocals

Live Music w/ Zach Simms

5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

Pop / spiritual / rock

The Gothard Sisters concert

7:30pm @ Panida Theater

Celtic trio playing just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. $25/$30 panida.org

Live Music w/ Ian Newbill

6-9pm @ 1908 Saloon

Sandpoint Chess Club

9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee

Magic with Star Alexander 5-8pm @ Jalepeño’s

March 7 - 14, 2024

Documentary film: Kikkan • 5-7pm @ Evans Bros Coffee Sandpoint Nordic Club is showing Kikkan, a documentary about Kikkan Randall’s journey from a young Nordic racer to Olympic champion to cancer survivor. Proceeds benefit American Cancer Society and Nat’l Nordic Foundation. sandpointnordic.com for info. $15

FriDAY, march 8

Rally for Repro w/ Pro Voice Project

4-5:30pm @ Outside Bonner General Health

International Womens Day event with demonstration to bring attention to reproductive healthcare crisis in North Idaho. Speakers, calls to action and messages for support for local hospital staff

Live Music w/ Brendan Kelty

6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

Sandpoint New Talent Night

5-7pm @ Connie’s Lounge

Enjoy a night with new local talent

Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz

7-9pm @ The Back Door

SATURDAY, march 9

Int’l Womens Day: Finding Our Power

10am-3pm @ Sandpoint Community Hall

A day of enlightened and motivational guest speakers, food, storytelling and rituals of empowerment

Kaniksu Folk School: Sashiko

10am-12pm @ Big Red Shed (11735 W. Pine)

Learn ancient style of Japanese stiching, taught by Hillary DeChecchis. $40

Live Music w/ Emma Greenwood

6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

Live Music w/ BTP

9pm-midnight @ 219 Lounge

Sandpoint classic rock trio

SunDAY, march 10

Natural Connections • 12:30pm @ Sandpoint Library

Fly Fishing Film Tour 2024

7pm @ Panida Theater

Back for its 18th year, with short films sure to get you fired up for the fishing season ahead. Support Panhandle Chapter Trout Unlimited fundraiser

Contra Dance

7-10pm @ Sandpoint Community Hall

Everyone welcome. Live music, lively caller. Beginners encouraged to arrive at 7pm for intro lessons. $5

Trouble at the Tropicabana

6pm @ Newport Roxy (Newport, Wash.)

Murder Mystery Night. $15. Tickets available at thenewportroxy.com

Collaborations With Nature

5:30-7pm @ Evans Brothers Coffee

A series of melding metals with the Earth’s beauty, with Dave Gonzo, Infinity Artistic Ironworks

Missoula Children’s Theater: Robin Hood 3 & 5:30pm @ Northside Elementary School Free for children, $3 for adults. More than 50 local kids in the play

Kids Day at The Rusty Trunk

10am-1pm @ The Rusty Trunk (Ponderay) Activities, prizes and free books. Lots to do at our vendor mall. All are welcome

Live Music w/ Groove Black

7pm @ Connie’s Lounge

Crafting Internal Ecology Through Living Foods. Explore the science of the gut-brain link and the ancient craft of fermentation in hands-on workshop. ebonnerlibrary.org

Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi

7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

monDAY, march 11

Outdoor Experience Group Run

6pm @ Outdoor Experience

3-5 miles, all levels welcome

Lifetree Cafe • 2pm @ Jalapeño’s “Jesus as Lord: Historical context of Jesus”

tuesDAY, march 12

Winemakers Education and Tasting • 5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

Join Pend d’Oreille Winery for an evening with their winemakers, who will take you on a journey of POW wins. 208-265-8545 for more information

Tapas Tuesday 4-6pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

Game Night

6:30pm @ Tervan Tavern

Bingo Night

6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

Cribbage League

7pm @ Connie’s Lounge

ThursDAY, march 14

Live Music & Happy Family Hour

4:30-5:30pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co.

Live Music by Buster Brown

Musical Madness with the Waldorf 6pm @ Panida Theater

With Waldorf’s 8th grade performing

Trivia Night

6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

Hosted by a revolving cast of characters

wednesday, March 13

Live Piano w/ Jason Evans

5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

Retirement Mixer

4-6pm @ Farmhouse Kitchen

An event to meet and engage with newly retired folks with the community. katie@CREWidaho.com

STAGE & SCREEN Celebrate Fly Fishing Film Tour’s 18th anniversary with Panida screenings

By Reader Staff

Now in its 18th year, the Fly Fishing Film Tour is returning to Sandpoint’s Panida Theater on Friday, March 8 as it swings through more than 14 countries with 300-plus screenings, all showcasing some of the most exciting and thought-provoking short films exploring all things fly fishing.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m.

This year’s F3T schedule features nine films taking audiences from South America to the Pacific Northwest to Mexico, the Caribbean and eastern Canada — and points between.

In Rio de Gigantes, viewers go on the hunt for enormous peacock bass in the Rio Marié. In Visibility, steelhead guide Lael Johnson navigates his life story, along with the waters of Washington state. With the Marlin Fly Project, conservationists and community members in Baja, Mexico come together around the billfish. A Line in the Sand explores the pristine ecosystem of the island of Andros, with the largest freshwater

source in the Bahamas and a legendary bonefish habitat. Only the Salmon Know is a portrait of angler Fred Campbell, who has spent the past 15 years fly fishing for Atlantic salmon in eastern Canada.

Presented locally by the Panhandle Chapter of Trout Unlimited, it’s the organization’s biggest fundraiser of the year, with a raffle including prizes such as top-notch fly line, a Yeti GoBox 30, Yeti LoadOut bucket, Greys fly reel, float trip for two on the Kootenai River and more.

Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for students high-school aged and under, and available at North 40 Outfitters (477181 U.S. 95, in Ponderay), at the door (300 N. First Ave.) and panida.org.

Visit flyfilmtour.com/home/us for more info.

Sandpoint Nordic Club hosts a screening of Kikkan

By Reader Staff

The Sandpoint Nordic Club will sponsor a screening of the documentary Kikkan, about the inspiring life of Kikkan Randall, on Thursday, March 7 at Evans Brothers. Randall is an Olympic champion cross-country skier, cancer survivor and single mother who has won 17 U.S. National titles, placed in 29 World Cup events and competed in five Winter Olympic Games — in the most recent of which she and teammate Jessie Diggins earned the United States’ first and only gold medals in cross-country skiing.

The film Kikkan explores Randall’s life growing up as the niece of Olympic cross-country skiers Chris and Betsy Haines and her own triumphant career, culminating in a gold medal in Pyeongchang and her subsequent breast cancer diagnosis. Since the 2018 Winter Olympics, Randall has put the same drive and passion for her athletics into raising her son, beating cancer and working with institutions like the V Foundation to raise awareness and

funds for cancer research.

Learn more about her inspiring life while supporting the American Cancer Society and National Nordic Foundation.

The film will run from 5-7 p.m. at Evans Brothers Coffee, 524 Church St. For additional information, or to purchase your $15 ticket, visit sandpointnordic.com.

Kikkan Randall. Courtesy photo.

By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Columnist

My oldest offspring, Ryanne, is a talented and prolific baker, who always arrives with a boule or two of her lovely, crusty sourdough bread. A couple of months ago, she was planning a weekend here, so I asked her to bring along some sourdough starter for my friend Nate. While the starter sat in the fridge waiting for a Monday morning delivery, I spent the weekend eating sourdough toast slathered in Irish butter and praising my daughter’s bread making skills.

Ryanne began telling me how I needed my own sourdough starter and encouraged me to give it a try. By Day 3, she’d worn me down, so from the starter set aside for Nate, and under protest, Ryanne created a new batch just for me.

When we first locked down with the dreaded COVID, I joined a couple of Facebook pages for professional and semi-professional bakers. Though I love to bake, I never had an interest in the science of raising and maintaining a starter. The longer we were in lockdown, the more pictures of wholesome-looking bakers and their perfectly crafted sourdough loaves popped up on my social media platforms. Still, I had no interest in joining the growing cult of sourdough breadmakers.

I blame Ryanne for my newest obsession. Don’t get me wrong; it could be worse. I refuse to buy into the whole sourdough craze, including myriad starters and accessories hawked by Williams-Sonoma, King Arthur Flour, Sur la Table and Amazon. I usually am not one to quibble, but the amount

The Sandpoint Eater Morning stretches

of money these bread makers are willing to drop into this baking craze is mind-boggling.

I already had a few tools of the trade: a metric food scale, bench scrapers and thermometers. I don’t have a lame (using for scoring the risen loaves before baking), nor any cloth-lined banneton baskets for proofing. And I don’t own a heavy duty, fancy Dutch oven for baking. But I have a multi-purpose box cutter that works fine for scoring, flour sack towels and bowls in every shape and size that work for proofing. My trusty old turkey roasters work fine and yield a golden, crusty round of sourdough every time.

Though I lack the hardware, I’ve picked up the vernacular: mother culture, hydration, fermentation, bulk proofing, retard, feed and discard, hooch, crumb and more. I’ve often said I don’t have

time for a pet. Honestly, the same might be said about sourdough. I hadn’t counted on how much time one must devote to this affinity. From lingering thought to finished loaf, it takes more than two days:

1. The starter comes out of the fridge and needs to warm up at room temperature (about a day).

2. The flour and water are added, sitting for an hour or so.

3. Salt and additional water are added (all carefully measured in grams), and then stretching and folding begins (I’m a very early riser, so I am at it quite early in the morning). The dough is stretched four times, in four rotations, 30 minutes apart.

4. The dough is covered to rise (I have two hours to run errands). In a food emergency, I’ve learned I can hightail it to Yoke’s and back in time

for the next 30-minute stretch (which saves a lot of money).

Once the dough has risen, it goes in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, I line bowls with flour cloth towels, divide the dough and shape it. Shaping requires a lot of rolling it back and forth on the cupboard to form tight tension. Then, it’s given a light dusting of flour, and the round side goes down in the bowl. It’s covered again and spends yet another night in the fridge.

Finally, on Day 3, I bounced out of bed, eagerly anticipating the baking day! The oven and pans are preheated to 450 degrees, and the boules are inverted onto a piece of parchment paper, then quickly and (semi) artfully scored. Right after I score, I remember that I forgot to dust with flour first — purely aesthetic, but still.

Red pepper bisque recipe

The bread is quickly lowered into the hot waiting pan, covered with the tight-fitting lid, cooked for 25 minutes, the lid removed and then an additional 20 minutes spent turning a beautiful bronze and filling the kitchen with a heavenly fragrance.

The hardest part of labor-intensive bread making is waiting for it to cool before slathering the first bite with a slab of Irish butter.

I usually whip up a batch of soup while the bread is baking and cooling, and this roasted red pepper soup is perfectly flavored for bread dunking. If you have all day, you can roast the peppers in between the morning stretches. If not, the jarred variety will do quite nicely, because either way, we cannot live on bread alone.

Serves 4-6

This basic recipe loves substitutions. You can add finely chopped, cooked chicken or shrimp. Or extra garnish of toasted sourdough croutons and Parmesan cheese.

INGREDIENTS: DIRECTIONS:

• 4 red peppers, blistered, peeled and chopped (see below)

• Or: 2 8-ounce jars of roasted red peppers

• 1 additional red pepper, finely chopped

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped

• 2 tbs butter

• 2 cloves garlic

• 3 cups vegetable or chicken stock, divided

• 2 cups half-and-half cream

• 1 tsp salt

• ½ tsp white pepper

• Finely chopped parsley for garnish.

Broil peppers, about 3-4 inches from flame, until skins blister, about 5 minutes. With tongs, rotate peppers a quarter turn. Rotate until all sides are blistered and blackened. Immediately seal peppers in a plastic sack, rest for 15-20 minutes. Peel and discard charred skin. Remove stems and seeds and chop. Set aside

In a large saucepan, saute red pepper, onion, carrots, in butter until tender, add garlic and continue to cook until garlic is soft.

In a blender (or with an immersion stick) combine the saute mixture, 2 cups broth and roasted peppers (or the jarred peppers); cover and process until smooth. Return to the pan. Add any finely chopped protein at this time.

Whisk in the cream and remain-

MUSIC

Music for St. Patrick

The Gothard Sisters return to Sandpoint with their unique take on Celtic music

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner, and The Gothard Sisters are prepared. The band, consisting of sisters Greta, Solana and Willow Gothard, has been playing a unique mix of Celtic and classical music for more than 15 years. With an optimistic style and dedication to giving performances that resonate with fans, the trio has built a following everywhere in the world they’ve played.

The sisters will return to Sandpoint for a special show at the Panida Theater at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 9. The show is perfect for the entire family, as they’ll ring in the shamrock season with Celtic fiddle tunes, Irish songs and ballads; Irish step dancing; and more.

Solana told the Reader that while their parents weren’t musicians, the sisters most definitely grew up in a musical family.

“We grew up with a lot of Celtic, classical and New Age recordings constantly playing around the

house,” Solana said. “Music lessons started with Greta, our eldest sister picking up the violin at age 5, and then continued with Willow and I also picking up the violin.”

Solana said that while each band member began with the violin as their main instrument, they began exploring other instruments as the years progressed, including guitar, bodhran (the Irish drum), mandolin, djembe and whistles.

The Gothard Sisters

“Originally we started with classical music,” Solana explained. “I think one of the biggest reasons we got into [Celtic music] was because it was so much fun to listen to. We would go on road trips most summers as a family and Celtic music, especially from the ’80s and ’90s, was the music of choice on every trip. It matched the natural surroundings of mountain passes, rushing rivers and mysterious forests.”

Saturday, March 9; 7:30 p.m.; $30. Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave., 208-263-9191, panida.org. Listen at gothardsisters.com.

Solana said Celtic music can be both “soothing, uplifting and energizing at the same time. You can be swept away to another time and place

without going anywhere at all. It makes us happy to play it, and I think it does that for the audience as well.”

This isn’t the sisters’ first time playing in Sandpoint, following a Celtic Christmas concert at the Panida in 2022. Solana said they are excited to be playing their high-energy music back in North Idaho.

“I think one of my favorite parts of playing live for an audience is how it can be different every night,” she said. “The unique set of people in the room, singing together, with the energy of live music can make it feel pretty magical.”

A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint

Holly & Michael, MickDuff’s Beer Hall, March 9 Jason Garrett Evans, Pend d’Oreille Winery, March 13

Sandpoint’s newest duo is Holly & Michael, featuring Holly Beaman and Michael Bigley, which many may recognize from their work in local theater productions over the years.

Holly & Michael play everything from Otis Redding to Radiohead in one medley, and Nina Simone to The Cranberries in another. There might be a little Disney mixed in there, too.

With one guitar and two vocals — and an occasional harmonica thrown in — the duo plays mostly songs that everyone knows, with a focus on Holly’s sultry/sweet voice juxtaposed with Michael’s Dylanesque gravel.

— Ben Olson

6:30-9:30 p.m., FREE. MickDuff’s Beer Hall, 220 Cedar St., 208-209-6700, mickduffs.com.

Spokane-based R&B, soul and funk musician Jason Garrett Evans’ talent shines through in his original catalog of songs, which he’ll perform on the Pend d’Oreille Winery’s grand piano on Wednesday, March 13.

Music lovers may recognize Evans from his February appearance on KSPS PBS with his band Cosmic Fantasy, which has toured up the coast all the way to Alaska. Evans’s

This week’s RLW by Ben Olson

READ

musical ability is rivaled only by his fashion sense — and the two combine to form a magnetic stage presence that makes each show memorable. Treat yourself to a night out listening to this regional talent.

— Soncirey Mitchell

5-7 p.m., FREE, Pend d’Oreille Winery, 301 Cedar St., 208-2658545, powine.com. Listen on the KSPS PBS Public TV YouTube channel.

... the transcript from Hunter Biden’s deposition from the GOP’s closeddoor impeachment inquiry. Normally I’m not keen to read 229 pages of testimony from a deposition, but after reading the transcript, it shows very clearly that the GOP’s efforts to impeach President Joe Biden were based on a lie. To date, Republicans have yet to produce any evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden, and this transcript breaks down why.

LISTEN

There’s presumably a Spotify playlist for every situation under the sun. One that I’ve listened to of late is called “Oblique,” which is described as, “Angular. Asymmetrical. Experimental.” It’s filled with songs that don’t seem to fit anywhere, which is exactly why they all fit together on a playlist. It’s a good quiet-dayat-the-office mix.

WATCH

If you enjoyed Band of Brothers and The Pacific, take to the skies with the latest WWII series, Masters of the Air. Featuring a fresh, talented cast of characters, this series follows the 100th Bomb Group as they fly increasingly dangerous missions over Germany to help turn the tide of the war. Both Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg are listed as executive producers on this series, so you know it’s good. Stream it on Apple TV.

Photo by Ruth H. Photography.

From

FANS ARE READY TO ORGANIZE

If the fans of Sandpoint will support it, there will be a baseball team to represent this city during the season of 1913 that will equal the team of 1909. There are many amateurs and semi-professional players in the city who are anxious to play ball this summer, but the fans must give their loyal support.

The first meeting of the season has been called for Monday night at the Hotel Idaho and everyone who is interested in Sandpoint having a ball team are required to be present and assist in laying the plans.

Such players as Bobbie Jens, Harley Cave, Ernie Saunders, Bert Hines, Frank Berry, Casey O’Neil, Teddy Reinschmidt and others are willing to play if they can get the support of the fans and the leaders in the movement claim that they can get Bud Jones, who is one of the best shortstops in the country, and W.H. Navarre, who last year made an enviable record while pitching for the Newport club.

For the past four years Sandpoint has not been represented by a ball team and it is known that there are several business men who are willing to give their support if a team can be organized that will play throughout the season.

The meeting Monday evening is for everyone that is interested in baseball and if you are a fan and want to have a ball team it is doubly important that you be present.

BACK OF THE BOOK

By Sandy Compton Reader Columnist

In Missoula is a house on North Street referred to by its occupants as the Food Shack. It’s home to college students, recent graduates and miscellaneous other young singles, a successful experiment in rotational communal living that I’m privileged to be part of, even if it’s in a peripheral sort of way. A couch in the living room has often been mine for a night or five, and the sensibilities of my hosts and hostesses are remarkably like my own, given the disparity of our ages. They’re the kids and grandkids I didn’t have; full of fun and joy and wisdom and optimism. Once part of the Food Shack cohort, it seems to be for life.

I’ll admit that this may be the most difficult column I’ve written in a long time, maybe ever. I’m trying to temper my anger at the leaders my generation has manifested with my admiration and hope for this generation, the one in the kitchen making 30 pizzas to celebrate a 30th birthday. That they have learned to be the way they are — caring, compassionate, loving, accepting and fully willing to use their corporate intelligence to make the world a better place — is a credit to their real parents and grandparents.

Meanwhile, I’m nearly finished reading Citizen Soldiers by Stephen Ambrose, the story of World War II as seen through the eyes of those who landed in Normandy in June of 1944 and fought their way to Berlin and a German surrender in May of 1945. The men and women of that campaign were my parents’ generation. Had my dad been born in 1925 instead of 1928, he’d have been there

On sergeants, generals and firefights

with the high school senior classes of 1942 and 1943, living or dying or losing a leg in foxholes, minefields, house-to-house fighting, knee-deep mud and winter battles.

If American soldiers and Army nurses of the Allied Expeditionary Force were alive today, they’d be ashamed — incensed, in fact — to find the government for which they fought to assure would endure in its current state. Today, Congress and the administration refuse to sanction Israel for murdering tens of thousands of innocents, while the Israeli prime minister declares the Israeli army is the most moral in the world. The major parties are making a deal that will continue to allow inhumane treatment of illegal immigrants. The Republican majority in Congress is blocking attempts to send ammunition to Ukraine so soldiers there can defend against Russian invaders carrying out the orders of Vladimir Putin, a sworn enemy of the United States. This last seems treasonous, and I think the soldiers of 1944’45 might agree.

The National Republican Party has a leader capable of almost any reprehensible deceit, lie, subterfuge or crime to regain the power he lost in the 2020 election. Both parties flounder in a fight for supremacy that does no one any good but the participants. They’re in a holding pattern marked by eternal arguing about policy and politics and “who’s in charge here?” The only concern either party seems to have is their own.

My young friends and I stand in the Missoula kitchen and argue — I mean, “discuss” — the current political situation. I’m focused on the time between now and Nov. 5. They’re looking 20,

30, 50 years into the future, which I find amazingly hopeful. An analogy that comes to mind is the differing view of the frontline troops and the generals planning battles in the rear; ordering attack and retreat with the long view. While sergeants and their squads are experiencing the firefight that’s happening right now, and just trying to stay alive, the generals are trying to win the war.

The generals, NCOs and all those around them are necessary to victory, but they all have to do their job to achieve it. I guess I’m a sergeant, because I see the coming election as a firefight that has to be won, even if it means choosing a lesser of two evils. Perhaps democracy will survive if Donald Trump is elected, but I highly doubt it. In any case, it would be a huge setback for the goals my young friends have as generals in the struggle to save the country — and the world.

You may feel somewhat helpless in this struggle, but if you’re old enough to vote, you have a role as vital as the kids in the foxholes in 1944-’45.

Come the primary and general elections, vote.

Toward the end of the Stone Age I bet there was already a feeling that metal was just around the corner.

Solution on page 22

Laughing Matter

By Bill Borders

quafftide /KWAF-tyde/

Word

Week of the

[noun]

1. the time or season for drinking

“They closed the Reader office on deadline night and lumbered over to the 219 Lounge, for it was quafftide again in Sandpoint.”

Corrections: For some reason (see above), I typed editor Zach Hagdaone’s name with a Spanish flair in the Feb. 29 Junk Drawer, calling him Zach “Hagadonde,” which is a great nom de plume if he ever moves to Argentina and begins writing the great South American novel. — BO

CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1. Lion’s share

5. Chip dip

10. Stinging insect

14. Dull pain

15. Moves briskly

16. Reflected sound

17. Dramatic

19. Cards with one symbol

20. Before, in poetry

21. Rose dye

22. Parenthetical comment

23. Leave a jet

25. Cut into cubes

27. Unit of energy

28. Negligent

31. Birthday desserts

34. Sensational

35. North northeast

36. Barley beards

37. Geeks

38. Arouse

39. Caviar

40. Swine

41. Hindu social division

42. Inflammatory disease

44. Cunning

45. Fixed gaze

46. Pursuers

50. Munchkin

52. 24 in a day

54. Fifty-two in Roman numerals

55. Slang term meaning insane

56. Exchange letters

58. Writing fluids

Solution on page 22

Solution

59. Flannel shirt pattern

60. Abbey area

61. Superlative

62. Runs in neutral

63. Noxious plant

DOWN

1. Paired

2. Earth tone

3. Rams and ewes

4. Sri Lanka export

5. Powerful

6. Come up

7. Hubs

8. Norms

9. American Sign Language

10. Sneaky type

11. Mishaps

12. Outbuilding

13. Sit for a photo

18. Rips

22. Passed with flying colors

24. Dregs

26. Colored part of the eye

28. Spicy dish

29. Agitated state

30. Arid

31. Complain

32. Absent Without Leave

33. Tall socks

34. Property under a lease

37. French for “Black”

38. Declares

40. Scottish hillside

41. Category

43. Maximum

44. Tatters

46. Radium discoverer

47. Run off to wed

48. Washer cycle

49. Allied

50. Smooth-talking

51. Zero

53. By mouth

56. Consumer Price Index

57. Cat’s foot