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PEOPLE compiled by
Lyndsie Kiebert
watching
SOCIAL DISTANCE EDITION: “What house chore do you dread doing?” “I dread mopping.” Randy Stuart Sociology student and research assistant at the University of Idaho Priest River
“Laundry! No matter what, it never ends!” Carleen Sandell Teacher Sandpoint
“I don’t like having to mow our orchard and our yard, it’s a lot of work. I even broke the mower once.” Emily Myers Ninth-grader Hope “I don’t like vacuuming because it’s very loud, and stressing the animals out stresses me out.” Claire McMahon Nonprofit program officer Hope
“I hate cleaning the litter box. Well, I don’t really clean it … I mostly supervise.” Pistol Expert napper and mouse slayer Hope
DEAR READERS,
Next week, we will resume mailing copies of the Reader to our subscribers. We apologize for the hiatus and appreciate your patience. We will continue delivering the Reader only to our core distribution locations (grocery stores in Sandpoint and Ponderay, some gas stations, Sandpoint Super Drug) until mid-June, when hopefully enough businesses are open to begin dropping at our usual 300+ locations around the two northern counties. Meanwhile, Tuesday, May 19 marks the last date you can request an absentee ballot for the primary election, so make sure to request it before 8 p.m. Ballots need to be received by the Bonner County Elections office no later than Tuesday, June 2 — results will be posted that evening. The easiest way to request a ballot is to visit idahovotes.gov (make sure you use .gov, as any other extensions will send you to unauthorized websites). In closing, I was bummed to hear that the Sandpoint Lions Club had to cancel its Fourth of July festivities this summer, but I completely understand that this decision was made for the health of the community. How disappointing it is to see so many people on Facebook forums criticizing the Lions’ decision. They do so much for this community — let’s not forget that.
– Ben Olson, publisher
READER 111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 (208)265-9724
www.sandpointreader.com Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com Editorial: Zach Hagadone (Editor) zach@sandpointreader.com Lyndsie Kiebert (Staff Writer) lyndsie@sandpointreader.com Cameron Rasmusson (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus) Advertising: Jodi Berge Jodi@sandpointreader.com Contributing Artists: Ben Olson, Bill Borders, Lilly Mitsui, Erin Mader, Martin Shoeller, Racheal Baker. Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Lyndsie Kiebert, Lorraine H. Marie Emily Erickson, Brenden Bobby, Nancy Gerth, Susan Drumheller, Chris White, Jim Mitsui, Brenda Hammond, Jay White, Amy Craven, Beth Weber. Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com Printed weekly at: Tribune Publishing Co. Lewiston, ID Subscription Price: $115 per year Web Content: Keokee The Sandpoint Reader is a weekly publication owned and operated by Ben Olson and Keokee. It is devoted to the arts, entertainment, politics and lifestyle in and around Sandpoint, Idaho. We hope to provide a quality alternative by offering honest, in-depth reporting that reflects the intelligence and interests of our diverse and growing community. The Reader is printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Leftover copies are collected and recycled weekly, or burned in massive bonfires to appease the gods of journalism. Free to all, limit two copies per person.
Sandpoint Reader letter policy: The Sandpoint Reader welcomes letters to the editor on all topics. Requirements: –No more than 300 words –Letters may not contain excessive profanity or libelous material. Please elevate the discussion. Letters will be edited to comply with the above requirements. Opinions expressed in these pages are those of the writers, not necessarily the publishers. Email letters to: letters@sandpointreader.com Check us out on the web at: www.sandpointreader.com Like us on Facebook. About the Cover
This week’s cover was designed by Ben Olson. We feel for you, class of 2020 graduates. Congratulations! May 14, 2020 /
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NEWS
A ‘drive-in’ graduation
District schools are adapting their class of 2020 grad ceremonies to COVID-19 restrictions
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Every graduation ceremony is memorable, but, for the senior class of 2020, their big day will go down in history as the first to adapt to the social distancing guidelines put in place to lessen the spread of COVID-19. Trustees of the Lake Pend Oreille School District met May 12 with Superintendent Tom Albertson to go over the plans for graduation ceremonies at Clark Fork, Sandpoint and Lake Pend Oreille high schools, emphasizing that “it’s very, very important for us to be celebrating our seniors,” Albertson said. Under the plans, which are all still tentative, Clark Fork High School will keep to its Wednesday, June 3 date, though that puts the ceremony within Phase 3 of the four-phase “Idaho Rebounds” plan to gradually lift COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings. To accommodate the guidelines, which prohibit gatherings of more than 50 people, Clark Fork will erect a stage outdoors in front of the school with families watching from their parked cars as this year’s 21 graduates file past to receive their diplomas. Likewise, Sandpoint High School’s ceremony will take place within Phase 3 of the reopening plan, with its date set for Friday, June 5. Similar to Clark Fork, the “blended traditional and drive-in graduation” will require attendees to watch the proceedings from their vehicles, arranged in the high school parking lot in rows facing a stage and large projection screens. Graduates — all 231 of them — will be called to exit their vehicles and gather in groups of 40 at a time on the southeast grassy area before crossing the stage and returning to their vehicles. “The main idea is that we’ll invite every senior to drive into the parking lot — it’s one car per senior, however many family members they can fit in their car,” said Sandpoint High School Principal David Miles. “Everyone will still get to see everyone else graduate and they’ll still have that opportunity to walk across the stage.” Along with the large projection screens, Miles said the school is working with Bluesky Broadcasting to air the ceremony over the radio, though it is still undecided on what frequency the event will air. The 5:30 p.m. ceremony will also be broadcast on Facebook live. “There will be lots of options for people who aren’t even physically here to see the graduates,” Miles said. Lake Pend Oreille High School had intended to celebrate its 19 graduates of the class of 2020 on Thursday, June 4, but decided to move the ceremony to Monday, June 15, when the 4 /
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state has moved into Phase 4 of the reopening plan and groups of more than 50 are allowed. The event is scheduled to take place at the Sandpoint Events Center using social distancing, masks and other public health precautions. Albertson said the target is for between 80 and 100 total attendees, who will be required to remain 10 feet apart. “As of now, those are the three plans, which I feel fairly solid about,” Albertson said, adding that he’s leaving the details of each ceremony up to individual principals and their staff. “The good news is that we have a plan for celebrating the hard work and 12 years or 13 years of education of these graduates.” Miles said discussions and planning about how to adapt this year’s graduation to the often-changing restrictions imposed by COVID-19 began immediately after district officials decided to transition to distance learning in mid-March. As the Idaho Rebounds plan took shape in April, it became more feasible to start establishing firm plans, and both Albertson and Miles underscored that schools engaged in outreach to gather feedback from students and their families. A survey went out to Sandpoint High School students last week, Miles said, and the current option came out as the most-favored. “I think we’re making it as normal as we can while still holding to the requirements that we operate under from the governor’s reopening plan and the health district,” he said. For instance, the valedictorian and salutatorian speeches will go on as they always have, graduates will still don the distinctive cap and gown, and they will receive their Sandpoint High School diploma covers as
decades of students have before them. Caps and gowns and honor cords will be available for pickup on Thursday, May 28 and Friday, 29 at “Senior Days,” when seniors are invited to pick up their graduation gear as well as take care of other end-of-the-year requirements. Students and their families are invited to attend — while observing social distancing guidelines — to take pictures. Miles said he expects a fair amount of honking as attendees lay on their vehicle horns to celebrate their friends and family members cross the stage during this year’s ceremony, but that’s really no different than the “hooting and hollering” that typically characterizes the event, which in the past has typically drawn around 2,500 people. This year that number will no doubt be lower, as attendance will be limited to one vehicle per graduation, and that is simply because the parking lot doesn’t have that many spaces. “I get that it’s not ideal, but it is what it is,” said Miles. “You can’t make everyone happy, of course … [but] we appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding.” For Miles, himself a Sandpoint High School graduate, one of the things that makes
him unhappy is the difficulty of maintaining social distance while celebrating such a major milestone in his students’ lives and education. “I’m into handshakes, so I’m still trying to figure out how to handle that,” he said. Recognizing how anxious area students and their families are about the nuts and bolts of this year’s graduation, Albertson stressed to the trustees that the plans as they are have met with approval from state and local public health officials while also aiming to acknowledge the graduates for their years of hard work. It’s a balancing act, he said, “with what would be most meaningful and respectful to the graduates but still stay within the social distancing guidelines.” LPOSD Board Chairman Cary Kelly expressed his thanks for the flexibility and thought that had gone into crafting the various graduation ceremonies. “I’m very pleased with the planning that’s going on and that we’re going to be able to recognize these students,” he said.
adhere to social distancing guidelines. According to reports in statewide media, Herndon is joined by two other North Idahoans in the suit, including Revs. Josh Jones of Laclede and Michael Gulotta of Grangeville, who argue that despite the expiration of the shelter-in-place order, Little could still reimpose restrictions should cases of COVID-19 increase beyond certain thresholds in the fourphase “Idaho Rebounds” reopening plan. The Moscow Daily News reported May 9 that Rev. Jonathon Krenz, of Augustana Lutheran Church in Moscow, expressed similar concerns about the constitutionality of the stay-at-home order to the local chief of police, and those correspondences — though Krenz is not a plaintiff — have been included in the complaint. As the Associated Press in Boise reported, similar challenges to the constitutionality of
gubernatorial mandates limiting gatherings, including church services, have gone down to defeat in courts around the country in recent weeks. However, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, on May 13 the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled against that state governor’s stay-at-home order, opening the way for all “bars, restaurants and concert halls” to reopen without restriction — “unless local officials implement their own restrictions.” The implication, as the paper pointed out, would be “a patchwork of policies, with rules varying significantly from one county to the next.” Meanwhile, according to a poll commissioned by the state’s largest business lobby, the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, 79.3% of Idahoans approve of Little’s phased reopening of the economy. The results, announced May 12, also show 75.5% of residents approve of Little’s handling of the pandemic.
A sign honoring graduating seniors at Sandpoint High School. Photo by Ben Olson.
Three N. Idahoans front suit challenging constitutionality of COVID-19 restrictions
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Sagle resident Scott Herndon, who mounted an unsuccessful bid for Idaho Senate in 2018 and has since been in the forefront of a number of local hot-button issues from abortion to gun rights, is again in the regional news after filing a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of statewide COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings. The federal suit, leveled earlier this month at Gov. Brad Little and Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen, argues that the now-expired “stay-at-home” order violated constitutional rights to assemble for church services. The so-called “stay healthy” order that replaced the governor’s shelter-in-place directive allows gatherings in churches, but still mandates that congregants
NEWS
Downtown street construction to be ‘substantially complete’ by May 14
Farmers’ Market sets May 16 opening day By Ben Olson Reader Staff
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Drive through downtown Sandpoint on First Avenue and you’ll see signs of life returning as the phases of Gov. Brad Little’s “Idaho Rebounds” coronavirus reopening plan proceed apace. Most of all, you’ll notice that you can drive through downtown Sandpoint on First Avenue at all. Core streets have been in various stages of reconstruction — and closure — since September 2019, but as of Thursday, May 14 the wide-ranging project will be “substantially complete,” according to city officials. “Final touches/clean up will continue through June 1, in alignment with the original contract timeframe,” said Sandpoint Public
Works Director Amanda Wilson. First Avenue from Church to Cedar streets and Second Avenue opened for use on May 11, signalling the beginning of the end of Phase II of the city’s project to improve downtown infrastructure, which began in 2017 with the two-way traffic reversion throughout downtown, followed by a complete revamp of Cedar Street from First to Fifth avenues in 2018. What remains is for crews to deal with an unanticipated subterranean void at the eastern sidewalk on First Avenue and Church Street, which project managers said will be finished in time for the June 1 completion date. The final touches include installing green ornamental pedestrian lights — a grant-funded contract that is expected to take about a
week and make way for the incorporation of flower baskets along First Avenue. Among the features of the project are enhanced pedestrian crossings; seat walls at planters; almost 50 new street trees; 50 parking spaces, including those for standard and compact vehicles; five ADA parking spaces and four motorcycle parking zones; three loading zones; 16 bike racks and seven new benches; the ornamental lights still to be installed; and infrastructure intended to accommodate high-speed fiber internet connectivity throughout downtown. For more information on Phase II — and the larger downtown revitalization project — go to sandpointstreets.com.
“During this time, we all need to respect and help each other. Eliminating fines is one way the library hopes to help the community,” she said. Comments and questions may be directed to the Information Desk at the East Bonner County Library District’s Sandpoint Branch: 208-263-6930 ext. 1209 or infodesk@ebonnerlibrary.org. Meanwhile, the West Bonner County Library District reopened May 11 with regular hours and limited services at its Priest River and Blanchard branches. According to Director Katie Crill, patrons are asked to practice social distancing and stay home if they don’t feel well. No more than 10 people will be allowed in the buildings at a time — including staff. Computer use will only be allowed for one, one-hour session per user, as most of the computers have been shut down to allow for six-foot spacing. The libraries can now accept requests from more than 28 other libraries and are still offering curbside
pickup. “We’ve installed plexiglas at the circulation desks and books are sanitized or quarantined for 72 hours,” Crill told the Reader. “We use UV wands to sanitize keyboards after each use and counters, door handles, etcetera, are disinfected regularly.” Patrons will have to wait for Stage 3 of the “Idaho Rebounds” reopening plan for meeting rooms and in-house programs to resume. The children’s services staff is doing StoryTime videos and posting on Facebook, with craft “kits” available for the kids, Krill said. West Bonner County libraries are located at 219 Main St., in Priest River and 412 Railroad Ave., in Blanchard. Both branches open at 10 a.m. and close between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., depending on the day. Open hours end at 2 p.m. on Saturdays at both branches. Comments and questions can be directed to 208-448-2207 or go to westbonner.lili.org for more info.
E. Bonner libraries eliminate overdue fines policy; W. Bonner libraries reopen By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff The East Bonner County Library District Board of Trustees voted May 11 to eliminate late fees for overdue materials. Library officials said that the board has been weighing the decision for some time. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to sow uncertainty, job loss and an unsettled economy, the trustees were unanimous in agreeing that now would be a good time to eliminate fines. The policy goes into effect immediately. Patrons will still be responsible for paying for any lost or damaged materials and processing fees, and will still be asked to bring materials back on time. The trustees are hopeful that library users will continue to honor due dates, knowing that all library materials are shared with the whole community. Removing fines for overdue children’s materials last year has not caused any problems, according to Library Director Ann Nichols.
Additional reporting by Zach Hagadone.
The Sandpoint Farmers’ Market is back, with a few changes. “It’s going to be a modified market,” Market Manager Kelli Burt told the Reader. The 32nd season of the Sandpoint Farmers’ Market will open Saturday, May 16 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at the city parking lot between Oak and Church streets. Wednesday markets have been canceled until further notice. Live music and special events have also been canceled for the season. Market organizers determined that they needed a new location because the former space at Farmin Park, as well as Oak Street, were not big enough to allow proper social distancing between vendors, Burt said. Each vendor will occupy a 10-foot-by10-foot space with a five-foot buffer between booths, which will be staffed with two employees — one to handle the produce and the other to deal with money from customers. The city parking lot will be roped off, with a dedicated entrance and exit. The entrance will be located on Oak Street and the exit on Church Street, with volunteers helping to count customers to ensure the market does not exceed a 50-person capacity, per guidelines under the “Idaho Rebounds” reopening plan. “We ask that people come with one person from their household to shop for other family members,” Burt said. “If it’s a situation where they can’t come with one person, we totally respect that, but we do want to allow for the most families to get in and out as quickly as possible.” Burt said there will be a limited number of vendors this season, restricted to those selling agricultural products and food packaged to go. The market is discouraging anyone from eating or hanging out in the park, stressing to customers the importance of purchasing their necessities and going home. “Vendors will be wearing masks and gloves to protect the people they are serving,” Burt said. “There will also be hand-washing stations within the market and we’re encouraging customers to wear face masks as well.” The city of Sandpoint worked with the Farmers’ Market to come up with these guidelines, Burt said. “The city was super helpful, and really supportive of looking at other options that would not block off businesses,” Burt said. The market will also continue taking SNAP and will continue its Double Up Food Bucks program, which matches up to $10 on customers’ EBT cards. Burt said the market is working on developing an online store, thanks to a grant it received from the Bonner County Economic Development Corporation. She also noted that the market needs volunteers to help count people and educate them on proper social distancing guidelines. To sign up as a volunteer, and for all other information, visit sandpointfarmersmarket.com. May 14, 2020 /
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NEWS
Sandpoint Lions Club cancels July 4 festivities By Ben Olson Reader Staff
The Sandpoint Lions Club announced May 13 that it would regretfully have to cancel its annual Fourth of July festivities in Sandpoint due to the coronavirus pandemic. “The Sandpoint Lions Club annually sponsors a July 4th community celebration that draws a large crowd, beginning with a parade and ending with a raffle drawing and fireworks at City Beach,” the Lions wrote in a statement released May 13. “Unfortunately, after careful deliberation and consideration, the Sandpoint Lions Club Board of
A young man on a parade float waves the American flag at the 2019 Independence Day Parade in Sandpoint. Photo by Ben Olson. Directors voted to cancel our July 4th festivities this year. We are aware this decision is disappointing, however the health and safety of the community we serve is our primary concern. We look forward to celebrating the 4th of July with our community next year.”
County adopts furlough policy Guidelines created ‘in advance’ of any need for use
By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff The Board of Bonner County Commissioners unanimously approved a furlough policy May 12 to be utilized in the event that the COVID-19 pandemic cuts into the county’s funding. Director of Human Resources Cindy Binkerd presented the new policy for commissioners’ approval at the board’s regular Tuesday business meeting, stating that it was being created “in advance” of any potential furloughs, due to “low work volumes as well as a projected decrease in revenue.” According to the approved policy, a possible furlough would affect all Bonner County positions if necessary, with employees given “as much notice as feasible under the circumstances of their selection for temporary furlough status.” “We didn’t have a policy to handle this, so we wanted to make sure we picked that up,” said Commissioner and Board Chairman Dan McDonald. McDonald elaborated later in an email to the Reader, saying that as of right now, there isn’t concrete cause to 6 /
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believe that Bonner County will suffer any major funding deficits due to widespread mandated business closures and a shelter-in-place order amid the COVID-19 emergency, which as it stretches into its second month in Idaho is being met with the phased reopening of the economy based on Gov. Brad Little’s “Idaho Rebounds” plan. “We won’t really know if there will be revenue issues with respect to property tax receipts until we get beyond June,” McDonald said. “We are expecting our sales tax receipts we get from the state to be down, however, we have always budgeted well under what the actual is to begin with.” He said the new furlough policy is a back-up measure should the county need a solution for an unplanned-for decrease in revenue. “With the spending and budget cuts we’ve done over the past three years, there isn’t a great deal of wiggle room in the budget short of looking at furlough or reducing service, should the unlikely happen and we see a drastic reduction in revenue,” McDonald said. “At this point, I am cautiously optimistic.”
Bits ’n’ Pieces From east, west and beyond
East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact, which COVID-19 has illustrated so well. A recent sampling: As of early Monday, May 11, five children were dead from “a rare COVID-related illness,” according to NBC New York. They had experienced pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome, which affects organs and can put the body into shock. Further study may reveal why COVID-19 impacts adults more than children and show how the virus operates. The CDC reports 2% of COVID-19 cases are found in those under age 18. Germany had cautiously reopened with the understanding that if any of its counties exceeded 50 new cases per 100,000 people, lockdown would resume. That “snap-back mechanism” was triggered in several German counties over the weekend, resulting in the resumption of closures. Similar resurgences of COVID-19 were reported elsewhere in the world, including China and South Korea, where previously officials felt confident enough to reopen portions of their economies, CNN reported. The U.S. ranks 39th for COVID-19 testing, according to worldometer.info. To safely return to what resembles normal life, it’s likely daily COVID-19 testing will be required. The price will be “trivial compared with the economic pit into which the virus is driving this country and the world,” according to a director of medical ethics and a Yale adjunct biology professor, writing in Newsweek. The two advocate “immunity passports” showing a person’s COVID-19 status. With testing and documentation, they said — even without a vaccine or treatments — we could start to live in a world free of COVID-19 fears. Emergency physician and George Washington University public health professor Leana Wen wrote in The Washington Post that, since there’s still no vaccine or cure, reopening will cause COVID-19 to spread with “explosive speed.” Wen says family gatherings and shopping aren’t worth the risk — continue social distancing, wash hands frequently, limit human interactions at work, and be an advocate for employee and customer safety. Meanwhile, a UK-Hong Kong study shows that face masks do make a significant difference in reducing COVID-19 infection rates. Illinois’ stay-at-home order is constitutional, U.S. District Court Judge John Z. Lee found in a 37-page ruling. A church had objected to the order. The judge said
By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist
practicing religion freely “does not include liberty” to expose others to ill health or death. The church’s suit had argued it was unfair that people could grocery shop but not gather at church. Lee said grocery shopping under COVID-19 restraints means leaving as quickly as possible without social interactions, unlike church gatherings. California adopted a stay-at-home policy early in the COVID-19 pandemic. With a population of 39.51 million, the state had recorded 2,770 COVID-19 deaths as of May 11. Canada, population 37.6 million, has experienced 5,240 deaths. The entire U.S., with a population of 329 million, has recorded 81,506 deaths. There have been more than 289,000 COVID-19 deaths among the world population of 7.8 billion. Business Insider compared the onetime $1,200 COVID-19 checks for U.S. citizens to stimulus plans in other countries, which range from one-time cash payments for low-income earners to the UK paying up to 80% of wages, plus free cash grants to small businesses. In a new study, scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory reported that a newly identified strain of COVID-19 could be more contagious than the earliest strain. That strain came to the U.S. East Coast from Europe in February and is now the dominant strain since midMarch. It spreads faster and appears to make those who’ve already had it liable to acquire a second infection. Priorities sought by U.S. doctors and nurses: access to personal protective equipment and diagnostic testing, says Dr. Bill Frist, a heart transplant surgeon and former U.S. senator. He told Newsweek there are two other important needs to meet: a National Response Portal that would analyze data and provide community monitoring that would lead to reopening schools and businesses; expansion of telehealth, which he says can safely replace more than 80% of routine visits; and crossstate physician licensing, which could increase physician capacity by up to 40%. Big Blast from the past: Mount St. Helens erupted May 18, 1980, killing 57 people and creating a 15-mile high volcanic cloud. Trees downed by the blast still float in Spirit Lake. The volcano, on active status, went from 9,677 feet high to 8,365 feet, and can be climbed without technical experience.
PERSPECTIVES
Emily Articulated
A column by and about Millennials
Quarantine Morning: The play Bodi is walking from window to window, his sentences are clipped and low, barely audible to the audience.
By Emily Erickson Reader Columnist
Act One, Scene One: The Bedroom, Sandpoint, Idaho. Dawn. Emily, a late-20s workingfrom-home writer, is sleeping in bed. She has wrestled all of the covers to her side of the mattress and her partner, Reid, lies shivering in his slumber. Bodi, their dog, snores gently from the end of the bed, his tail twitching in happy pup dreams, likely of squirrels. The first beam of morning light shines through the window, it’s sunny tendril resting on Emily’s face. She stirs, accidentally nudging Bodi awake with her foot. He stirs, too. BODI: Morning miss. Is it that time already? [Bodi strikes the tone of a tenured small town sheriff, and his dialogue is only recognizable to the audience. Emily hears a long sigh.] EMILY: [With a whisper and a pat on Bodi’s head] Good morning sweet boy. Emily takes note of the status of her nighttime cover-thievery, replacing the blankets on Reid with a chuckle. She rises from bed and begins to quietly sift through the laundry stuffed in the corner of the room, finding her hoodie. Pulling it on, she tiptoes out of the door. [Stage lights dim, the spotlight focuses on Bodi] BODI: [In a grave tone] Today, like every day, I wake with a boiling resolve in my belly, dedicated to my life’s mission of safety and security for the
Emily Erickson. people around me. It’s no small feat, being a guard dog, and it’s a task that’s greatly misunderstood. The humans don’t recognize that when I bark, it’s for them. When I stop at regular intervals to pee on trees, it’s for them. When I strain against my leash toward the big, white trucks zooming in the road, it’s for them. [Pause, sigh] All of it is for them. Bodi hops off the bed and exits through the door. [Blackout, End of Scene One]
Act One, Scene Two: The Kitchen, Sandpoint, Idaho. Early Morning.
Reid is still asleep in the adjacent room. Emily is attempting to be quiet while preparing the morning coffee. She reaches for the pot on the stove, gingerly positioning it under the sink. Peeking through the crack in the door to the bedroom, she takes a deep breath and turns the water on high. The steady stream splashes into the pot, filling to the brim within seconds. Emily swiftly turns off the water and listens for movement from the other room. [Silence.] She lets out her breath, and transfers the full pot from the sink to the stove, switching on the burner.
BODI: The tall window. Status. A small disturbance in the tall grass at the base of the tree. Will monitor throughout the morning. [He shuffles to the next window.] The long window. Status. A broken twig on the right-side birch. Suggests a climbing critter in the night. Interesting. Will keep my eyes peeled. [He moves to the door.] High door window. Difficulty seeing anything but the sky. Status… Bodi freezes in place, lifting his nose to take several deep sniffs through his snout. His right paw lifts slightly off the ground and his curly tail stretches out to a point.
slept. Threatening my humans and everything I hold dear with its presence. Its wings flapping with such spiteful arrogance. [Fade to a muttering stream of words.] REID: What happened?
EMILY: Ugh, sorry. Bodi barked at god knows what and I dropped my mug, spilled the coffee. Evans Brothers coffee, too. [Sigh.] Good morning, anyhow. Hearing a whimper, Reid and Emily look up to see Bodi staring
at the high window, anguish clear in his expression. Approaching him together, Reid and Emily begin soothing Bodi, petting his back and cooing shushes. Bodi rolls over, exposing his soft white belly. Reid and Emily look at each other and smile, and begin to rub his belly in unison. BODI: [Closing his eyes, he whispers in a soft sweet voice.] All of it is for them. [Blackout] The End.
Retroactive
By BO
BODI: [His voice is a crescendo, ending at a full yell.] What... is... that? It’s a bird. A bird is in the tree. Miss! This is not a drill! There is an unauthorized flying object outside of the door window! Away you! Away! Get away you filthy flying son of a squirrel! Startled by Bodi’s sudden bark, Emily drops her coffee mug on the floor, the cup shattering with a bang. In the adjacent room, Reid wakes with a groan. [Blackout. End of scene 2]
Act Two, Final Scene. The Kitchen. Sandpoint, Idaho. Moments later. Reid opens the bedroom door looking disheveled and sleepy. Emily is scrambling to pick up the pieces of the broken mug while sopping up coffee with a dirty kitchen towel. Bodi is pacing back and forth, clearly distressed. BODI: I’m in disbelief. The injustice of it all. The bird. Flying outside of our home. While we
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A promise kept...
Bouquets: • A reader emailed over the weekend to recommend giving a Bouquet to dairy farmer Randy Poelstra, who recently brought back a truckload of potatoes from a farmer in Washington. Because Poelstra needed the truck empty for farm work the day after, on May 10 he generously decided to give away the entire truckload of spuds to anyone who wanted them. Apparently quite a few county residents got in on the action and stocked their pantries with potatoes. Thanks for looking out for the community, Randy.
Barbs: • I’ve heard from several of our readers about the abundance of Kootenai County and Washington license plates they have seen around town the past week or so. I’m concerned about it, too. I see the downtown streets lined with out-of-state plates, and the regional trailheads are even worse. Do they not have hiking trails in Kootenai County or Washington? We are in a very tricky position right now in Bonner County — while we rely on tourism dollars to fuel our economy, it’s kind of a kick in the face when you see all these people traveling to our region from areas where community transmission of COVID-19 has been reported. Also, what the hell happened to wearing masks in grocery stores? Last week, I counted two people (other than myself) in a busy grocery store that were wearing masks. This isn’t over, people; please stay vigilant. • I find it humorous that when election season comes around, so many wives and family members of Bonner County residents who regularly dog on the Reader — calling it “fake news” and saying that tired cliché phrase, “The only thing I use it for it firestarter” — have no shame in writing letters to the editor to the Reader to support a candidate. I guess the Reader is good for something after all. 8 /
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Dear editor, During this year’s Idaho legislative session, I worked with Representative Sage Dixon regarding state rules and regulations around employment opportunities for people with significant disabilities living in Idaho. During my many trips to Boise to advocate for employment choices, I met with Sage regularly and he always took the time to listen, provide feedback and advocate for those who can’t advocate for themselves. This year, in large part due to Sage, Senate Bill 1330 was passed protecting the rights of people with disabilities to choose where they work. During one visit, PSNI’s client ambassador Ricky traveled to Boise in order to testify before the House Education Committee but was unable to do this as the bill hearing was postponed. However, in a true show of compassion and understanding, Sage took the time to open up the hearing room, turn on the lights, set up the microphone and let Ricky say what he had come to Boise to say. A truly touching moment that is such a great example of what I have come to know about Representative Sage Dixon. Thanks to his support our bill passed and the employment programs we offer here at Panhandle Special Needs have been secured. From all of us at Panhandle Special Needs we thank him. Trinity Nicholson PSNI executive director Sandpoint
Wearing a mask is a selfless act... Dear editor, As any intelligent, educated being knows, it is the number of deaths from COVID-19 not the number of cases that we need to ponder to see the danger of this pandemic. It is a staggering figure in the U.S. Six weeks ago, on March 24, there were 957 deaths from COVID-19 in the United States. As of May 5, there were 70,110 deaths in the United States. As an extrovert, a party giver and an extremely social person, I am weary of staying home. I miss physical touch, hugging my family and friends, volunteering out and about in the community. Talking on the phone and Zoom are getting old quickly. But I am staying home. I am talking on the phone vs. in person.
I am Zooming. And I am wearing a mask when I am out around people. I applaud businesses like Costco for requiring all workers and patrons to wear a mask. I personally am looking for those types of businesses to patronize. It shows care about keeping this silent monster at bay. People, stay home if you can. And by all means, wear a mask when out around people. It is a selfless act. The mask is not really so much for you but for our elders, for our compromised relatives, friends and neighbors. Show your compassion for others. United we stand, divided we fall. Respectfully, Ann Giantvalley Sandpoint
Robust debate: Terrain and germs... Dear editor, I appreciated the civil tone in Lynn Settle’s LTE in the April 30, 2020 Reader issue [Letters, “The real facts…”]. As a naturopathic doctor I address terrain, i.e. the “soil” of the body where germs grow, with my patients on a daily basis. However, I also appreciate the power of germs. Though we have been lucky in North Idaho, many people all over the world in different living conditions than ours have died from the COVID-19 virus, which, with a severe infection, can also cause nasty short-term and long-term symptoms in young and healthy as well as old folks with underlying diseases. The current robust debate is not about terrain vs. germs — it is about terrain and germs. We currently have such a robust debate on our professional chat site and nobody defies current health measures. It is not about either terrain or germs but both, concurrently. Gabrielle Duebendorfer, ND Sandpoint
Sage Dixon is the true Republican choice...
Dear editor, Spreading untruths about your opponent is the tool of those with no argument. And that’s what the far-left supporters of Rep. Dixon’s primary opponent are doing by misrepresenting his voting record, cherry-picking his “no” vote on a poorly-written child-marriage bill, while purposefully ignoring his “yes” vote on a better bill prohibiting child-marriage. Why would they misrepresent
Dixon’s record? Here’s why: Rather than run on his record — including a permanent property tax increase via a levy ballot that omitted mandated cost disclosures — Dixon’s primary opponent is hypocritically promising property tax decreases, while simultaneously calling for more state-level school spending — an expenditure that’s already a major part of the state budget. Translation: Not only will Bonner County property owners remain saddled with a permanent tax, under his plan we’d face either further tax hikes, a reduction in other services or both. All while people are losing jobs and homes to a crisis not of our making. In contrast, Dixon has worked to lower taxes, champions area schools, small businesses and our constitutional rights, all while displaying honesty and integrity as the District 1-B legislator. How you present yourself to your constituents reveals your character. And while his opponent presents himself as a conservative while fighting for tax increases, Rep. Dixon walks his talk. Please vote Sage Dixon on your primary ballot. Lisa Keseloff Sandpoint
Reelect Sheriff Wheeler… Dear editor, A recent article in the Daily Bee reveals a write-in candidate’s views on her run for the office of sheriff of Bonner County. Having read the article twice now, I am confounded by her lack of understanding the position for which she is running and of the duties of a sheriff. She states, “This is an elected position. It’s not a law enforcement position necessarily and there is training for it if you’re not in law enforcement and you get elected.” Additionally, she says that she doesn’t look to make changes but wants the sheriff’s employees to tell her “what’s going right and what’s not.” In other words, a dilettante without a grasp of the position or the ability to even articulate her reason for running — particularly for the head of a complex and highly skilled agency with the powers of arrest. Fortunately, we have Sheriff Wheeler, who has led the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office in a professional and courageous manner for many years. He understands his responsibilities to those he serves,
to the employees he directs and, most importantly, he understands and defends the Constitution. He has earned the respect of the law enforcement community at large and the citizens of Bonner County. This election really is no contest. Louis Perry Sandpoint
County v. city suit should be dropped… Dear editor, A county commissioner has the responsibility to represent all the people in the county. The vast majority of Bonner County residents love The Festival at Sandpoint and the positive community impact it has on our little spot of paradise. Why then did the county commissioners sue the city of Sandpoint and in effect sue The Festival? If there was a small group of people who felt like their rights were being ignored they could sue. With their own money. And their own lawyers. Why did the county commissioners jump in with our taxpayer dollars ($100,000 and still growing) when those dollars are meant for roads, bridges, emergencies, etc.? Their disrespectful and counterproductive lawsuit needs to be dropped immediately. Steve Johnson Commissioner candidate District 1 Sagle
From acceptable to unstoppable… Dear editor, When it comes to the process of voting for whom I want to elect as president of the United States, I have found when talking with friends that it almost always comes down to a decision of whom I would prefer as opposed to whom I really want to be the next president. And I am talking about five decades of voting. At 43 years of age, John F. Kennedy was the youngest elected president (Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest to assume the presidency after the assassination of William McKinley at age 42.) Donald Trump was the oldest at age 70. Candidate Joe Biden is 77 and, given my choice, he falls into the usual “acceptable” category. Ho Hum. But wait: Who will be his running mate? I believe there is a good chance he may choose a woman, but hopefully his party won’t again
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become the fools that ruined John McCain’s chances and chose Sara Palin. My dream choice, and I would do all I can to support the choice, would be Michelle Obama. If something were to happen to Biden while in office, who else would I find more capable than Michelle and her rather knowledgeable husband Barack as “First Man?” That team is surely better than any other senator or House representative that I can think of. I believe our country needs her — just as much (or more) than we need Joe Biden. James Richard Johnson, Vietnam veteran Clark Fork
Horton the right choice for wood products… Dear editor, The wood products industry has been at the forefront of Idaho’s economic development from the state’s very beginning. We must continue to do our best by enhancing current jobs, creating new ones and protecting the resiliency of our forests in the face of disease and fire. That is why I am voting for Butch Horton for county commissioner (visit butchforbonnercounty.com). Our industry is complex and involves many constituents at the federal, state and local levels. We need a commissioner who wants to understand our work and is willing to coordinate and collaborate with diverse stakeholders. With all the challenges of today, we need “all hands on deck.” Wood products will continue to play a vital role in Bonner County economic development. With the presence of a dedicated and qualified commissioner we can do even more. Please join me by asking for a Republican ballot and voting Butch Horton for District 1 county commissioner. Remember, all voting is by absentee this year. Go to idahovotes.gov. Tommy Groff Sandpoint
Horton deserves your vote for commissioner... Dear editor, We live in challenging times. Between the devastation of the virus and ensuing economic challenges we can expect our county will need commissioners who know what they are doing. In February, I had a two-hour face-toface discussion with Sagle’s Butch Horton concerning his possible run for the Bonner County Board of Commissioners position currently held by Steven Bradshaw. Several phone calls followed this lunch meeting for me to better understand his position on important county issues. A University of Idaho graduate, retired Navy special operator and successful businessman, this individual is blessed with a huge dose of common sense and proven leadership ability. He listens carefully and has a keen interest in all natural resource issues affecting our county, as well as the importance of the wise
use of public tax dollars, the importance of adequate funding for public education and responsible land use planning. Bottom line, he is a well-rounded conservative, staunch supporter of the Second Amendment who understands the importance of the management of Idaho’s public lands for public use. I intend to vote for Butch in the primary and if you are a Bonner County sportsman, F4WM [Foundation for Wildlife Management] member/supporter or a voter who is hesitant on whether to vote Bradshaw or Horton, take my advice and give this exceptional individual — Butch Horton — your vote. He is dedicated to making Bonner County a better place for us all and deserves to be our next county commissioner. Tony McDermott Sagle
Defeating the common enemy… Dear editor, Who will survive the battle with the invisible foe who has infiltrated our lives, robbing us of our freedom, our jobs, our friends and loved ones? Yes, I am angry and shouting and pouting about being told by others what to do about it. Yet the invisible foe is winning. The death toll rises. Now what should I do? Should I blame someone? Should I devise weapons to kill the enemy myself? Maybe I should take hydroxychloroquine or a drink with a measured shot of Lysol or Clorox to protect myself. I know, I’ll dress in camouflage and carry my guns. I’ll feel safer that way. Or maybe, just maybe, I should listen and believe wearing a mask, keeping my distance from others, and being armed with hand sanitizer and a bar of soap is the best way to win this war. Sandra Deutchman Sandpoint
What it takes to be a leader… Dear editor, President Trump has still not used the full power of the Defense Production Act to produce all the medical supplies and testing procedures needed to protect all of us. Mr. Trump said he feels like a “wartime” president, but he is not behaving like one. Instead, he should immediately create a coronavirus office that would organize, coordinate and manage the logistics in the manufacture and distribution of protective gear we all need. This office could prevent the price gouging, cronyism and scamming that has occurred. Mr. Trump should appoint a retired and respected military officer, known for high integrity and competence in organizational skills to head this office. Mr. Trump said he is not responsible for the pandemic; however, he has a responsibility to “promote the general Welfare,” and guide our nation through this crisis, rather than
placing the burden solely upon our governors. It appears he doesn’t want this responsibility for fear he will be blamed if something goes wrong. His self-centered ego seems to make him more concerned about losing the next election than protecting, “We the People.” He has acted like a dictator by gagging the recent report from the CDC that gives detailed information on how to safely open our country, when the time comes. Mr. Trump has some of the best medical scientists at his disposal, but by not using all the resources available, in my opinion, is an act of extreme negligence. Quite frankly, his fears of losing the next election, and his fears of not taking on the full responsibility of the presidency looks cowardly. What we need is a president of integrity, intelligence, competence, compassion and, importantly, the courage to see the truth as it is. Even more, this would be the kind of leadership we deserve. Phil Deutchman Sandpoint
Horton is a ‘natural-born leader’… Dear editor, An important election is this May 19 — the Republican primary for local and state offices. This is when we choose our elected officials, because whoever wins the Republican primary election almost always wins the general in the fall. So if you care about who is steering our boat, please request your Republican primary ballot by May 19. Ballots are due back by June 2. Once you get your ballot, be sure to check the box for Butch Horton for county commission. Butch is a natural-born leader who has been a businessman all his life and earned an economics degree at University of Idaho. He’s reasonable, level-headed, fiscally responsible and cares about growing our economy while protecting our quality of life. Butch Horton will focus on providing efficient government services without all the drama. Visit his website at butchforbonnercounty. com, and then join me in casting your vote for Butch Horton. Michael Dawson Bonner County
Second Amendment. He believes in supporting our county and did not take a pay raise. He attends the monthly Bonner County Republican Central Committee meetings, where he keeps the public updated on issues that come up at commissioners’ meetings, and takes and answers hard questions. I have never seen his opponent attend any of them. When he and Steve Bradshaw were invited to a central committee candidate forum that was called for earning the local GOP’s endorsement, only Bradshaw came. He answered the tough questions, stated his full support for the Idaho Republican Party platform and received the endorsement. Mr. Horton never even responded. I guess he didn’t want the endorsement of the Republican Central Committee. But if you are a real Republican, as you so boast, why wouldn’t you? Look at who his supporters are and you will know that he, like them, are Republicans in name only or well known local Democrats, including the Democratic Central Committee. Vote for the real conservative candidate, Steve Bradshaw. Monique Hutchings State committeewoman, Bonner Co. Republican Central Committee Sagle
Bradshaw is ‘an awesome Republican’… Dear editor, Bonner County is privileged to have Commissioner Steve Bradshaw as one of our current commissioners. He has thankfully taken the correct road when dealing with constituents and issues and believes their input is critical to the success of the county government. His welcome demeanor and calm processing of information before making decisions is a welcome change. Steve was endorsed by unanimous vote of the Bonner County Republican Central Committee. This is because he is an awesome Republican — but his opponent, “not so much.” Vote to retain Commissioner Steve Bradshaw in the 2020 primary and general elections. Judy Gibson Sagle
Bradshaw earns GOP endorsement… Dear editor, People ask me all the time what it’s like to live in such a great Republican state. I have to remind them that Idaho is not run by only conservative Republicans, but there are many who run Republican in name only because they know if they ran under their actual party of Democrat/Socialist, they would have a hard time getting elected here. Steve Bradshaw is our conservative Republican in the race for commissioner. He has been a staunch supporter of the Constitution and has upheld our rights for the May 14, 2020 /
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Mad about Science:
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fermentation By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist Argue with me if you want, but Sandpoint’s a drinking town. Ever wondered how your craft brew goes from being a plant to being an awesome adult beverage? You’re about to find out. Fermentation is the process of microorganisms pulling energy from carbohydrates, or sugars, and producing carbon dioxide (CO2) as waste. In a way, it’s the reverse action plants make when pulling CO2 from the air and using photosynthesis to split the carbon and oxygen, then using the carbon to create carbohydrates that either foster floral reproduction or feed animals with the intent of propagating the plant’s genetic lineage, as with some berry plants. Fermentation takes place at a microbial level. In the case of fermentation for the purpose of alcohol consumption, humans use a specific strain of yeast to facilitate the fermentation process. Yeast is a microscopic fungi that confusingly behaves a lot like bacteria, but is vital in the process of making many human foodstuffs — from beer to bread to cheese. Bread is light and fluffy because the yeast farts CO2 into the dough, creating pockets of CO2 that causes the dough to foam up and expand before it is hardened by the oven’s heat and the yeast is killed off. A similar process happens when humans ferment hops and grapes into beer and wine, respectively. However, unlike the yeast used in bread, brewer’s yeast creates ethanol as a byproduct of carbohydrate consumption. 10 /
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Generally, the more carbs you have loaded into whatever it is you’re trying to ferment, the higher the alcohol content will be once the yeast has finished the process. During this process, you will notice the liquid you are fermenting will begin to bubble and froth. This is the CO2 being released as waste, which is lighter than the surrounding liquid and is rising to the surface. When left under pressure, this CO2 can become extremely dangerous. If left in a sealed container with very little space, such as a bottle or a mason jar, the built up CO2 can potentially blow the lid off the object as the carbon dioxide is building up, but there’s not enough volume to contain it. A simple air lock device can solve this problem. While you might be thinking about the airlock chambers from your favorite science fiction franchise, an airlock for homebrewing is much simpler. It is essentially a small S-trap, just like the one used by your sink. An S trap works by trapping just enough drain water beneath your sink so that the air from the sewer or your septic tank doesn’t rise up and stink out your entire house. A brewer’s air lock works similarly, having two compartments filled with water. CO2 from the beverage that is fermenting naturally rises, and is lighter than the water of the lock, so it passes through and is released into the air, while airborne bacteria, oxygen or other gasses won’t be able to pass into your brew. While most sugars used in fermentation originate from plants, there are some that come from animals, though they are markedly fewer in number. Mead is the byproduct of feeding
yeast the sugars from honey, produced by bees. We’ve talked before about how incredible and disgusting honey really is: bees suck up pollen grains from flowers and then regurgitate honey. It’s basically delicious golden bug vomit. Cheese is made by fermenting the lactose sugars present in milk. Fermenting the milk creates lactic acid, which then goes on to split the milk into two major components: curds and whey. Curds are globs of curdled milk and proteins, while the whey is primarily water. Cheese goes through a few extra steps after fermentation, where the whey is drained from the curds, the curds are pressed and salted and then introduced to new strains of fungi that will go on to add flavor to the cheese. The marbled blue substances that give bleu cheese both its name and distinct flavor are actually Penicillium colonies — the same type of fungi used to create the antibiotic, penicillin. So let’s talk about the best part of fermentation: alcohol. Alcohol makes you drunk because of the ethanol content. The higher the ethanol content, the more potent the drink. Your body’s ability to resist the effects of ethanol intoxication rely on numerous factors from your age, height, weight and probably a host of genetic things that I can’t even imagine. The way it inebriates you is by filtering into your bloodstream. The ethanol molecules are small enough to pass between individual cells and, once they reach the brain, they begin causing some weird reactions from just generally being in the way. Imagine for a moment that you’ve created an incredible
laser maze with magnets, mirrors and a laser. With the flick of a switch, you can change the shape of the laser maze to create images of anything you can imagine. Suddenly your roommate, Dale, fires a T-shirt cannon filled with reflective confetti into the middle of your laser maze. For a few hours until you can clean it all up, your laser maze is a disastrous mess and all it wants to do is call its ex-girlfriend at four in the morning.
This is what happens to your brain when you drink alcohol. If homebrewing interests you, I would suggest waiting until the library opens back up again. Aside from having many books dedicated to the subject, the library also gives you access to LexisNexis, a legal network that can help inform you about the legal status of homebrewing in your area. Stay patient, and stay curious, 7B.
Random Corner s?
Don’t know much about spider • Spiders can walk on water, and breathe under it, too. • Spiders can survive for hours underwater by entering a self-induced coma. • Spiders eat their own webs to recycle them. • There’s a viper in western Iran with a fake spider for a tail. • 95% of the spiders in your house have never been outside. • The chances of us eating even one spider in our sleep throughout our lifetime is close to 0%. • Spider silk is about five times stronger than steel of the same weight. • Research shows that if you’re afraid of spiders, you’re more likely to find one in your bedroom. • Spiders are scared of ants due to the formic acid they contain. • Spiders don’t have penises. They mate with the appendages on
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their face. • Many female black widow spiders eat their males after mating. • Each species of peacock spider has its own courtship dance. • Out of 46,000 discovered species of spider, only one has been found to be a herbivore. • Spiders can get high and build different kinds of webs while on cannabis, caffeine, mescaline and LSD. • The brains of some small spiders overflow into their legs. • Tarantulas have evolved almost exactly the same shade of vibrant blue at least eight separate times. • Spiders can tune the strings in their webs to transmit specific messages. • Spiders eat twice as much animal prey as humans do in a year — and even exceed the annual food consumption of whales.
OPINION
Failure to communicate By Ben Olson Reader Staff
Working with the media is an integral part of being an elected official. At least it used to be. Now, with social media serving as an unchecked medium through which politicians now share their thoughts with constituents without vetting or fact checking, many local elected officials have all but done away with communicating with local reporters. This is a problem. Over the past five years, I’ve watched as the divide between the media and those elected to represent us has widened to the point of dysfunction. Detailed questions are emailed in vain by reporters who resend them a day later, resend them again on deadline day, then end up writing the same line you’ve no doubt read a hundred times in the Reader: “So and so did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this story.” The relationship between politicians and reporters has always been complicated — and that’s for the good — but lately it has been especially flawed; so much that I feel compelled to write this editorial sharing our frustration in the hopes of improving relations in the future. To start with, neither of our jobs are easy. Politicians are elected by the people, and as such they have a duty to speak with their constituents about matters important to their community, whether that be a city, county, state or nation. Sometimes those communications are not pretty. Constituents can be mean, petty, self-serving, and downright vicious in their emails and phone calls. It’s an unfortunate part of the job. The flip side is that reporters have many of the same responsibilities, except we are not elected by the people. We do serve a vital need, though: Our readers depend on accurate information, insightful commentary and fairness. When they don’t believe we’ve delivered those commodities, they let us know about it. And trust me, they do. One would imagine that there might be some mutual respect between the media and elected officials, since we both deal with many of the same issues from constituents/readers (they are the same people, after all) who are sometimes unable to listen to reason. But in recent years, as everyone from President Donald Trump down to local officials have made it their mission to denigrate the media — that is, all media deemed “unfriendly” — as “fake news,” the empathy has broken down. In reality, there has always been an adversarial role between the media and politicians, as there is in any relationship where one serves as a check upon another. Again, this is a good thing. Reporters, by nature, are not supposed to be friends with their
sources — but that doesn’t mean the relationship has to be unprofessional and strained. Reporters aren’t always angels, just as politicians don’t always have your best interests at heart. We journalists are human beings, which means we are susceptible to the same biases and conflicts of interest as anyone else. However, we go out of our way when writing news stories to make sure our individual biases are not driving the coverage. Most of the time we succeed — sometimes we fall short. But never in my tenure as a journalist have I ever seen a news writer at the Reader make up quotes or deliberately take something out of context with the goal to discredit a source. That kind of stuff just doesn’t happen. I can’t speak for the partisan corners of the national mediascape, but I take offense when our president labels journalists as enemies and liars. It’s quite the opposite. Most reporters get into the business because they are passionate about the truth. They want to shine more light, not take it away. They’re not in it for the money, that’s for sure. Yes, sometimes we ask tough questions — it’s our job to speak truth to power. The role of the media is not to lob only softball questions or accept statements from elected officials without question. A reporter who challenges politicians with difficult questions can “cut through the noise” and get to the marrow of what’s really happening, because transparency in government is a goal most people agree is important. Rarely do you see a candidate running for office urging less transparency in government. Like it or not, we all want to know what they’re doing, because they represent us. How can people find out what their officials are doing? Sure, you can read an emailed newsletter or Facebook post directly from the source, but don’t you see the problem with relying on single-source, self-interested information as gospel? There are folks out there hollering about “tyranny” in our government, but they don’t bat an eye when their elected representatives completely ignore participating with local news organizations when asked about a story — essentially establishing a form of state media. If tyranny did descend upon us, it wouldn’t be announced on a politician’s Facebook page. There are some bright notes. Bonner County Commissioner Dan McDonald has been vocal on social media about his distaste for the media, including the Sandpoint Reader. I have had some unpleasant conversations with McDonald, usually after I had written something in my “Bouquets and Barbs” column that he felt was unfair or incorrect. I often have to hold my nose
What happens when local elected officials refuse to comment to the media? Nothing good
while reading some of his social media comments. One recent example: When a Bonner County resident asked on Facebook about whether a local gym had opened for business before Gov. Brad Little’s plan called for it, McDonald replied, “There is a hotline to turn your neighbors and businesses in. It’s 1-800-IMA-NAZI.” McDonald later pointed out that he was being “tongue-in-cheek” but seriously, is this really how we should be responding to constituents with legitimate questions? All that aside, McDonald regularly and punctually returns requests for comment from our newsroom, and makes himself available should the media need more clarification on a particular topic. Yes, some of his responses have trod into gaslighting territory, but others are extremely helpful and explanatory. I appreciate the fact that McDonald recognizes that communicating with the media is an important part of his job as commissioner. The same goes for District 1-B Rep. Sage Dixon, who has also been critical of the Reader in the past. Dixon understands that speaking with the media is one of the many ways he reaches constituents to better explain his position on the issues. When Dixon attempted to introduce several bills restricting the citizen ballot initiative process in Idaho during the 2019 legislative session, I called him with a list of tough questions in the midst of a busy session. Dixon made time to speak with me, and answered the questions both in detail and with respect, which I, as well as our readers, no doubt appreciated. Whether or not I personally agree with his answers is immaterial — what matters is the fact that he respects his constituents enough to provide them with answers to their questions and recognizes the central importance of the free press is helping convey those answers.
District 1 Sen. Jim Woodward always returns calls and emails, as did his predecessor Shawn Keough. For that matter, the offices of U.S. Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo, as well as Rep. Russ Fulcher, usually reply in a timely, detailed and forthright manner to emailed requests for comment — even to a small outlet like ours. Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad is equally as responsive to emails, phone calls, texts and face-to-face meetings whenever asked. Those are the bright spots. Then we have District 1-A Rep. Heather Scott. Since she took office in 2015, Scott has styled herself as a political maverick who regularly targets the media — and anyone who doesn’t share her ideology — as a threat, refusing to participate whenever asked for comment. Her voting base has applauded her in this effort, parroting her rhetoric on a variety of issues. Scott even went so far as to post a warning on Facebook hours before a candidate forum hosted in 2016 by the Sandpoint Reader and Sandpoint Online, urging constituents to boycott the forum because she believed it was a “trap” meant to ensnare conservative candidates so their words could be twisted and taken out of context to further a liberal conspiracy against her. It should be noted that Scott had been invited months before the forum, and had yet to attend a forum hosted by the Reader and Sandpoint Online. Encouraging voters to boycott a forum is the exact opposite of transparency in government, which she regularly touts as an important part of her platform. Or take Bonner County Commissioner candidate Steve Bradshaw, who did participate in a virtual forum held on April 28, but ignored emails with questions for our guide to primary candidates. After multiple emails, a deputy clerk from Bradshaw’s office finally replied, stating that he declined to participate. These were straightforward questions and answers without any commentary. Yet, Bradshaw claims in a bio on the Bonner County website that, “County government demands leadership based on facts and findings, commonsense and fiscal responsibility, coupled with truth and transparency.” I’m curious how not participating in an election guide read by thousands of his constituents furthers the cause of transparency. There is also Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler, who picks and chooses when to participate with local media. In August 2019, when the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of a suspect in the Shirley Ramey murder, Wheeler had no problem communicating with the media. He gave an in-depth press conference for news
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ELECTION
Questions and answers
District 1-B representative candidate Gary Suppiger on the issues
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Sandpoint Reader: What is the top challenge you see the state facing in the coming year? How might you face that challenge? Gary Suppiger: We are enduring the worst pandemic in over 100 years. Recovery and restoring the health of the residents of Idaho both physically and economically will continue to be a challenge. Our state has now been under restrictions for two months. To prevent the spread of the coronavirus, most Idahoans have been staying at home. Non-essential business, schools, churches and government offices have been closed. The infection curve in Idaho is now flattening and Gov. Little is implementing a four-step plan to get Idahoans out of their houses and into workplaces, social gatherings and places of worship. Implementing this plan without a second wave of infections and restoring our state’s economic health will require continued sacrifices and great patience on behalf of all Idahoans.
SR: With the coronavirus pandemic affecting both municipal and state budgets adversely, do you foresee any crucial programs and/or agencies suffering? What ideas might you have to help fund those areas of the budget that might go by the wayside because of cuts? GS: Every public dollar not spent ripples through the economy and causes more hardship. State sales tax and income tax receipts have already been affected by the coronavirus epidemic. Gov. Little used his emergency powers and announced a 1% hold back of state funds to all state agencies and programs for the 2019-2020 fiscal year and additional 5% hold back during the 2020-2021 fiscal year starting July 1, 2020. Idaho has a balanced budget and has always managed its fiscal affairs very conservatively. Agencies and departments within the state, as well as the state itself, maintain reserve accounts with balances for emergencies such as this. This conservative fiscal management served us well during the recession of 2008-2010 and will serve us again in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. State departments will tighten their belts, postpone some projects, limit hiring, dip into their reserve accounts and survive the coronavirus pandemic. SR: Gov. Brad Little has taken heat from some Idahoans that believe his stayat-home order was “unconstitutional.” 12 /
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Do you agree with Gov. Little’s decision? If not, how might you, as a legislator, have handled that differently? GS: I also feel the pain and frustration of Idaho’s stay-at-home restrictions. Businesses are closed and many Idahoans are not working. Finding the funds to pay rent, buy groceries, pay utility bills and make payments is very difficult. Coronavirus is still a dangerous pandemic. Over 80,000 Americans have died. There remains no prevention and no cure. ... Gov. Little has the authority under his emergency powers to order restrictions to protect the safety and security of Idahoans. … A single carrier with no symptoms can directly and indirectly infect hundreds of people. We must continue to be vigilant. We are in the midst of the fight. Gov. Little has used sound medical science and good judgement to manage the state during the pandemic. Our curve in Idaho is now flattening and the governor is beginning to relax the restrictions. I support the governor’s four-step plan to protect Idahoans and reopen Idaho’s economy. We are now in Step 1. On May 16 we will go to Step 2, where shops, restaurants and bars can begin to reopen . SR: The Idaho House and Senate battled during the 2020 session over the issue of how to institute property tax relief for Idahoans — especially in fast-growing counties. What would you, as someone on the “front lines” of the issue as a state lawmaker, like to see put in place? What policies need to change and why? How would you balance property tax relief with the need for growth to pay for growth?
GS: Property taxes are the primary source of revenue to support local government, including cities and counties, and should not be threatened or interrupted by the Legislature. Local property taxes are a poor way to support public education. Prior to 2006, the public schools were almost entirely funded by the state with an equitable formula. Then-Gov. Risch convinced the Legislature to revise the formula, promising that a 1% increase in the sales tax would keep up with the costs of the growing enrollments in Idaho schools. His economists were wrong. Sales tax receipts were down significantly during the recession of 2008-2010 and have never kept up with the cost of education. With state support eroding and to make up for budget shortfalls, school districts were forced to turn to the only tool they had: local property tax levies. These levies have been increas-
ing in frequency and size ever since. In 2006, one-fourth of the state’s districts used “supplemental levies” to support a very small portion of their budgets. Now, over three-fourths of the state’s districts use property tax levies to provide up to 40% or more of their budgets. Local levies are inherently inequitable because every district is different. They have different assessed valuations of private properties, different enrollments and different levels of support for levies. Some districts can raise $10,000 or more per student while other districts cannot get any property tax support from their patrons. Every student in Idaho deserves an adequate and equitable education. The system we have now is far from equitable. Fortunate districts can afford to spend three times as much per student as unfortunate districts. The only fair solution is to eliminate the local property tax burden for education and restore the funding formula we had before 2006, when the state provided adequate and equitable resources to support the education of every child in the state.
SR: In what order of importance — and why — would you rank your top three budget priorities for the state of Idaho? GS: Health and Welfare — We must continue to fund the coronavirus response and make sure Idaho’s families are safe, secure, and healthy; Emergency Services — Police, fire and emergency medical must have the resources to respond to emergencies and keep us safe; Education — Invest in our public school system to provide the best education possible for Idaho’s most important resource: our children. ... Idaho must invest in an adequate and equitable public school system to provide the tools every child needs to succeed.
Gary Suppiger Age: 66 Years of residence in Bonner County: 28 years Education: Duke University, Bachelors of Science in chemistry; Duke University, Master’s in forestry. Recent or pertinent employment or professional qualifications: Founder and owner of Panhandle Forest Products, serving Bonner County for 35 years; member of several trade and business organizations, including Society of American Foresters, Intermountain Roundwood Association and Cocolalla Lake Association; twice weekly volunteer at Sagle Elementary School for 17 years; elected trustee of the Lake Pend Oreille School District for three years. How can voters contact you? suppigerforIdaho. com, Facebook @Suppiger4Idaho, info@suppigerforIdaho.com, 208-290-5922
ELECTION
Questions and answers
District 1-B Rep. Sage Dixon on the issues
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Sandpoint Reader: What is the top challenge you see the state facing in the coming year? How might you face that challenge? Sage Dixon The top challenge facing the state next session will undoubtedly be our budget. The COVID situation, and our reaction to it, has driven down economic activity, and both state and national economists expect between a 10-20% reduction in revenue in the upcoming year. This will make necessary a closer look at our budgets, as well as what is truly essential within those budgets. The brunt of this discussion will be borne by the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, but individual legislators can advocate for specific positions to the committee members and on the floor of the House during the presentation of the budget. Providing as much stability as possible for the areas we are obligated to fund should be a goal. SR: With the coronavirus pandemic affecting both municipal and state budgets adversely, do you foresee any crucial programs and/ or agencies suffering? What ideas might you have to help fund those areas of the budget that might go by the wayside because of cuts? SD: The COVID situation will put pressure upon nearly every area of the state budget and will require intense deliberation from the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, specifically, and the entire Legislature, in general. The governor has already announced budget holdbacks, and has been as judicious as possible, but our requirement
to have balanced budget forces cuts to be made. If we reach a point that is as drastic as the recent recession, we have a well funded Budget Stabilization Fund (our “rainy day fund”), the Public Education Stabilization Fund and other reserve funds to draw from to try and keep critical portions of government functioning. SR: Gov. Brad Little has taken heat from some Idahoans that believe his stay-athome order was “unconstitutional.” Do you agree with Gov. Little’s decision? If not, how might you, as a legislator, have handled that differently? SD: I believe Gov. Little has the authority to issue a stay-athome order, and, given the information he is receiving, I believe he is doing what he thinks is best for Idaho. Were the decision mine: I would have sought counsel from the Legislature early on. As the elected representatives of the people, we are most keenly aware of what is happening in our districts and how the public is feeling; I would not have treated the entire state in the same manner. Certain areas present more risk than others, and the damage to local economies is different as well. I would have been more careful in my communication with the public. There was a way to protect the state from an unknown, without generating fear on one side and anger on another. SR: The Idaho House and Senate battled during the 2020 session over the issue of how to institute property tax relief for Idahoans — especially in fast-growing counties. What would you, as someone on the “front lines” of the issue as a state lawmaker, like to see put
in place? What policies need to change and why? How would you balance property tax relief with the need for growth to pay for growth? SD: My ideal would be a constitutional amendment that would allow for property taxes to be held at the level they are valued at upon purchase of a piece of property. This would protect those on a fixed income, and provide a measure of stability and predictability for governments and citizens. There are many facets to making this work, but I do think it is a good overarching goal. Restricting counties to either an annual 3% increase or counting the new construction rolls can help reduce budget increases, which, in turn, helps reduce property tax increases. Raising taxes in other areas with the hope of lowering property taxes only shifts the burden, and local taxing districts have a more direct impact on rising taxes than counties do, in most cases.
Sage Dixon Age: 50 Years of residence in Bonner County: 18 years in Bonner County Education: Studied Finance at San Jose State University Various Continuing Education classes including sustainable agriculture through the University of Idaho, and a variety of leadership courses. Completed 5 year electrical apprenticeship with IBEW. Recent or pertinent employment or professional qualifications: I have been the District 1 Representative for six years. How can voters contact you? sagedixon.com, sage@sagedixon.com, 208-610-4800.
SR: In what order of importance — and why — would you rank your top three budget priorities for the state of Idaho? SD: Currently, the largest priority will be mitigating the financial damage due to the COVID-19 situation, both within our state budget and for our business owners. If 2021 were to be a normal fiscal year, the top priorities would most likely continue to be health and welfare, education and transportation. Some specific areas that need to be addressed are the burden public defense is placing on most of our counties, the overcrowding of our prisons, and our aging bridges and roads.
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COMMUNITY
Summer training Sandpoint Teen Center reopens scheduled for CASA volunteers The center offers programs dealing with gardening, sports and recreational activities
By Reader Staff
By Reader Staff Looking for a way to help a child in need? Consider attending summer advocate training to become a court appointed special advocate in Bonner or Boundary counties. Classes are scheduled to begin in June, with class sessions kept small with plenty of room for social distancing. There is no special experience required to become a CASA. Volunteer advocates are trained, supported and assigned cases to represent child victims of abuse and neglect. A total of 40 advocates are
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A CASA volunteer works with a child in need. Courtesy photo. needed to meet the growing number of local cases during these difficult times. For more information, please call Jan Rust, advocate trainer, at 509879-1793 or email janisrust@ northidahocasa.org.
The Sandpoint Teen Center partially reopened Monday, May 11 with “at the door” contacts with area teens. The center, located at 221 S. Division St., will be open from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. “We really have missed the teens,” Director Joan Avery said. “We’re excited to be opening again.” First Mission will be serving snacks over the lunch hour. “The food will be hamburgers and hot dogs at first,” teen center cook Sandy Carter said. “We hope to add things like salad to give it a swing.” Another project will be raising crops — which include
strawberries, tomatoes and green onions — in the special raised beds at the center. “We need teens to help plant and care for our garden through the summer — and they will reap the reward of fresh produce for their families,” Avery said. For teens with sports in mind, the center has a basketball hoop and a five-hole Frisbee golf course. For players seeking a bigger disc golf challenge, the center can make arrangements to play at the Baldfoot Disc Golf Course on Baldy Road. The center has also organized a nature scavenger hunt with prizes of $5 for the first three participants who bring these five items in a plastic bag:
1. Needles of a ponderosa pine; 2. Seed cone of a Douglas fir; 3. A piece of quartz, however tiny; 4. Flower of a forsythia; 5. Tansy seed pod (dead from last fall)
Teen center volunteer Jim Payne offered some advice for finding the quartz pebble: “A good place to find the quartz pebble is along the bike path to Dover.” Find more information about the Sandpoint Teen Center’s programs, services and events at its Facebook page.
< OPINION, con’t from page 11 > outlets from Sandpoint to Spokane, standing in front of the cameras and outlining how the suspect was apprehended. We were happy to attend the conference and share with our readers the outcome of this case, as it hopefully brought some justice to those who have been following the story. More recently, he penned a letter on April 2 to Gov. Brad Little, calling the governor’s stay-at-home order “unconstitutional.” The letter received national attention, as it landed right in the midst of some of the hardest days yet of the coronavirus pandemic. When emailed questions about the letter he declined to participate, instead sending a press statement that specifically addressed an editorial written in another newspaper — in effect, refusing to speak to any of the questions the Reader had asked. A follow up email was left unanswered. When he was sent questions about a particular issue to do with Bonner County’s ongoing lawsuit against the city of Sandpoint over The Festival at Sandpoint’s no-weapons policy, he directed the Reader to review the documents and offered to answer any further questions. Later, when he didn’t like the content of the reporter’s follow up questions, he declined to answer. Wheeler’s assistant finally emailed a Reader reporter, claiming that the sheriff had “no further comments — the documents speak for themselves.” As a self-appointed plaintiff in the lawsuit, his input regarding several claims made in court documents was paramount to telling a complete story, but his voice was conspicuously absent from the article. At the heart of these latter examples is a central theme: fear. I’m not talking about the Stephen King kind of fear, I’m talking about fear as an abstraction. By inducing fear that “gun grabbers” will take away Idahoans’ Second Amendment rights or that the governor is tyrannizing Idahoans by his stay-at-home order or by issuing a blanket statement that the media is corrupt, these elected officials are relying on constituents to abandon reason and rely on fear to guide them. The best weapon for fighting irrational fear is truth. The truth takes us out of our own heads and plants us back on the terra firma of reality. One way to get to the
truth — especially when it comes to politicians, who don’t have the greatest track record when it comes to telling the truth — is to read it in your local newspaper. Remember, for all the flak that the media gets about “fake news” and the like, if we willfully publish something that we know isn’t true, we can be sued and lose everything. That’s not the case on Facebook, which is a dumping ground for rumor, false equivalence and hen-pecking. It’s worth noting that for all the times people have accused the Reader of “fake news,” when asked to specifically address the incorrect line or false quote, the accuser is either unable to do so or claims that the falsity or bias stemmed from what wasn’t written or what wasn’t covered. As always, if we make a mistake — even a misspelling — you’ll find it in the corrections box at the back of the issue. The media is not the “enemy of the American people,” nor is it the enemy of elected officials. But we are not their friends, either. We may ask tough questions, but that’s no reason for them to stick their heads in the sand in the hopes that the article we called or emailed about never gets written. It will, because it’s our responsibility to our community to keep it informed to the best of our abilities. It would be much better for everyone involved — the media outlets, the politicians and especially the readers — if instead of ignoring requests for comment, those elected officials who prefer to operate without the give-and-take of the free press simply emailed back like professionals and added their words to the conversation. After all, if they believe so strongly in a particular point, why shroud their answer in mystery? Wouldn’t they want to make sure we were reporting on them accurately? I’m not about to tell anyone who to vote for in these pages — that’s not my job, nor do I want it to be. Our job is to provide you with the information you need to form your own opinion. But if the candidate you support claims they value “transparency,” hold them to it. Ask them why they didn’t comment for a particular story or why they didn’t answer questions in a candidate’s guide or why they don’t want people to attend a forum. Remember, elected officials work for us, not the other way around.
COMMUNITY
HomeWood Farm offers roadside goodies By Ben Olson Reader Staff
Jennifer and Nathan Wood have been a mainstay at the Sandpoint Farmers’ Market for years. Selling their Land to Bath soap products, as well as a variety of baked goods like scones, cookies and pies, the Woods’ booth is always a popular stop. This year, with the market opening Saturday, May 16 at the Sandpoint city parking lot under social distance guidelines, the Woods will have to delay their participation because Jennifer is one of those who are especially vulnerable to COVID-19. “Due to my autoimmune disorder, I could no longer leave [my] farm safely, so we put up a farm stand in March for order pick up,” Jennifer told the Sandpoint Reader. “Pretty soon we had folks wanting our baked goods found at the market, so I added that as well.” The Woods’ home farm booth, called HomeWood Farm Stand, is open every day from 8 a.m. to dark, located
about seven miles northeast of Sandpoint at 374 E. Shingle Mill Road. The booth is set up right on Shingle Mill Road, with all the Woods’ most popular items, including homemade soaps, plant starts, baked goods, even homemade face masks. Baked goods are available every Wednesday and Saturday, but all the rest of the items will be stocked seven days a week. In June, Jennifer said they will begin adding produce, such as vegetables and berries grown right on the home farm. “This has been really great
The roadside booth at HomeWood Farm Stand on Shingle Mill Road, which offers baked goods, homemade soap, plant starts and more. Photo by Jennifer Wood. for a lot of our regulars,” she said. “We’re even building a bike rack, because we’ve had a lot of people riding out from town on their bicycles.” Check to see what they have in stock by searching for “HomeWood Farm Stand” on Facebook and Instagram. The pages are updated daily.
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COMMUNITY
MAY FLOWERS FOR YEAR-ROUND CAUSES North Boyer in Sandpoint is home to some major springtime beauty right now, thanks to the greenhouses at Lake Pend Oreille High School (1005 N. Boyer Ave.) and Panhandle Special Needs, Inc. (1424 N. Boyer Ave.). Both greenhouses, which opened May 4, boast a plethora of flowers, plant starts and other goods — all part of fundraising efforts on behalf of the respective institutions. Art teacher Randy Wilhelm has run the LPOHS greenhouse for about 20 years. Business has been booming in his greenhouse’s opening week, he said. The petunia baskets are all sold out, but there are vegetable and flower starts still available. Wilhelm said he uses funds from the greenhouse to fund classroom supplies, student trips and more. The LPOHS greenhouse is open Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Call Wilhelm with questions at 208-610-5020. The PSNI greenhouse is currently operating Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and weekends 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Organizers say the selection is rapidly thinning, but plant starts and handmade signs are still available. Funds raised through the PSNI greenhouse support the nonprofit’s various programs for local people with disabilities, as well as the organization’s goal to raise $1 million dollars for new facilities. Contact PSNI at 208-263-7022 with any questions. Photo by Randy Wilhelm. Words by Lyndsie Kiebert.
Give a little, get a lot By Nancy Gerth Reader Contributor
A little more than a month ago, a group of local women got together to find a way to do something positive for people and businesses affected by the COVID-19 stay-at-home order. The result was the Get a Meal, Give a Meal program, which encourages people to purchase extra meals at participating restaurants for people in our community. So far, donations to the Give a Meal, Get a Meal program have topped 260 meals — that’s $4,000 available to our restaurants and local economy. Several more thousands have been donated for ads in local newspapers and on the radio. In the meantime, businesses such as Sandpoint Super Drug and Bab’s Pizza have donated lunches and free food directly to community and business members. Our hats are off to them. Also, we give our deepest thanks to the newspapers who are staying open because they know the community needs information 16 /
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more than ever now. It’s not over yet. We need every business to make it through the pandemic. When you purchase a gift meal, your money is spent again locally. At the same time, the meal is gifted to another person who keeps active in the local economy, paying your gift forward. The meals are available to yourself, your friends and neighbors, or anyone you know who needs a boost — whether it’s financial or moral support. Maybe you work in a grocery store, or another essential job, and could use a night off from cooking. Maybe you haven’t had restaurant-cooked food with your kids in awhile. Maybe you can deliver a meal to a senior citizen. When you receive a meal, you are keeping the money moving, too. So please, buty a meal and give a meal — and get a meal, too. When our community comes together to support each other, everybody wins. Contact the Sandpoint Resource Center to get a meal: 208-920-1840. Also see our ad in this week’s Reader.
HEALTH
Blood donors still needed in North Idaho By Susan Drumheller Reader Contributor In March, as COVID-19 began taking its toll on the United States, fears of contracting the virus kept the usual donors away from blood centers and blood drives. Vitalant, the parent company of what was formerly known as Inland Northwest Blood Center, announced that more than 2,000 blood drives had been canceled across the U.S., as schools and other facilities closed down to slow the spread of the coronavirus. “We had at least 25% cancellations almost overnight in March,” said Tesia Hummer, Vitalant spokeswoman in Spokane. “It was really scary.” Many people who had previously made appointments either canceled or were no-shows, as they heeded public health advice to stay home. In addition, the blood center had to alter its practices to maintain social distancing between donors. Fewer donations can be made at a time, essentially slowing the flow of blood at the remaining community blood drives and Vitalant facilities. Now, “we have to keep our blood drives at capacity to maintain our blood supply,” Hummer said. Blood only keeps for 42 days, so a constant stream of donations is necessary. While blood may not be necessary for COVID-19 patients, it’s still needed for the wide range of other medical procedures. When the news broke about the potential shortfall in the nation’s blood supply, locals responded, filling up the available short-term appointments. But the need for new donors hasn’t gone away. The sur-
geon general, Federal Emergency Management Agency and even Anheuser-Busch have urged people to continue giving blood — the beer company is making hand sanitizer for the Red Cross. “It was the Band-Aid; it fixed this moment,” Hummer said last month. “But in a couple weeks more, we are not sure that blood donation will be as much of a priority.” As older, regular donors who may be at high risk for the virus stay home and schools remain closed — 35% of Vitalant’s donor base is students — the blood center will need to continue to recruit new donors. Lingering uncertainty regarding the transmission of the COVID-19 virus doesn’t help with recruitment. Here’s what Vitalant is doing to protect donors and their own staff during blood donations: • Decreased the number of people giving blood at a time in order to maintain social distancing. The Bloodmobile, for instance, now can accommodate only two or three donors at a time; • Created more space in waiting areas between donors. People can also wait in their vehicles until their appointment; • An extra temperature check is taken when donors check in as a screen for potential carriers of COVID-19. Vitalant staff members are also required to take their temperature twice a day and anyone with an elevated temperature — or any symptoms — will be sent home; • All donor chairs and high-touch areas are wiped with disinfectant after every donor, or every 15 minutes, and blankets are not reused until laundered; • Snacks are prepackaged, (“No donuts or cookies are sitting out anymore,” Hum-
mer said) and handed out by staff; • Staff members are wearing gloves and washing hands frequently. Initially, staff was not required to wear masks. Hummer said that was based on the recommendations of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Vitalant’s chief medical officer and other expert sources. Also influencing the policy is the shortage of medical-grade masks, and both the staff and donors are presumed to be healthy. However, the CDC later changed its recommendations for the general public,
Area resident Nancy Dooley donates blood in March. Photo by Erin Mader. advising people to wear non-medical cloth masks in public because of the possible transmission of the virus through the air by people who may display no symptoms. Vitalant followed suit and now is requiring staff to wear masks. Healthy people can sign up at vitalant. org for an appointment in the Sandpoint area. The next opportunity is Wednesday, May 27. Donors can also make an appointment most days at the North Idaho Donation Center in Coeur d’Alene.
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PERSPECTIVES
The Frog, Fear and the Happiest People By Chris White Reader Contributor
Members of the Pirahã people. Photo by Martin Schoeller.
L
ike an injected dye highlighting cancer in our body, this pandemic has revealed failures in our country— and ourselves. Two months ago, many were watching the darkening clouds of our government in wretched, agonizing slow-motion. Suddenly, like a frog removed from hot water, we have an extraordinary opportunity to look with fresh eyes, press reset and make changes as we emerge from our cocoons. We all desire happiness. As an extreme counterweight in this missive, I introduce the Pirahã (pee-da-HAN) people, whom MIT psychologists and anthropologists found to be the happiest group they ever studied. They are a hunter-gatherer, mostly uncontacted, society living on a vital vein to the artery that is the Amazon River in Brazil. Daniel Everett, educated in linguistics and an evangelical missionary working to convert the people, spent 30 years on and off living with his family among the Pirahã, gaining fluency in their unique language and recording his fascinating reflections in the 2009 book Don’t Sleep, There Are Snakes. Their world is not a utopia — and we will likely never live a life as attuned to nature as they — but what can we learn from their example that could be useful in our world? Socially, what stands out most starkly in Everett’s work is his observation that the Pirahã are always laughing, frequently touching and often dancing. They laugh not just when a practical joke is success18 /
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ful, they laugh when a fishing expedition is fruitful and when it’s not; when a hut is built or if it blows over; or if they are hungry or full. They cuddle but do not coddle their children. There is no word for worry or depression in their language. Absent is a chief or designated leader. They fish, hunt and gather cooperatively. Their possessions are few; no one owns more than another. The common good of the village is paramount. Though the Pirahã are not pacifists, aggression among them is rare. Everett relates a time when a friend’s barking dog was killed by the man’s drunken brother. Revenge over the slain animal was not on his radar — when asked about the incident, he simply acknowledged that his brother was, “broken in the head.” To my mind, they have the essential ingredients for all good relationships: trust, respect, kindness and humor. Juxtaposed with the Pirahã is our stressful world. Some of us chose a self-centered man with seemingly little concern for the people in our vast village to lead us. We’ve become numb to outrage. Pointed opposite from the Pirahã — and most advanced countries — our moral compass continues to bend foremost toward isolationism and offensive aggression. This leader’s collaborators try to convince us that it is acceptable to cage immigrant children and attack the environment. Safe? We fear falling alone through a cost-prohibitive medical system and weak social safety net that could
leave us destitute and homeless should we experience a personal health or financial crisis. We send our graduates into the world hogtied with crushing debt at a time when they should be soaring with unfettered aspirations. The differences in material wealth is as vast as the Grand Canyon is deep. Hope exists but, in our despair, it often feels like trying to move a cruise ship with a rowboat. By default, we’ve stumbled into the Paris Accord on steroids. Breathe the especially clear air — greenhouse gasses are expected to be down 8% as the coronavirus keeps many millions of people around the world out of their cars and away from air travel. Meanwhile, our collective interest in alternative energy has aroused the possibility that oil and mining companies could lose their government subsidies. We should keep pressing for properly taxed wealth going to the common good, a social and medical system that alleviates the fear of falling, and a living wage for the unskilled labor that we tout daily as our heroes. We have allies in Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats who have introduced the “Bill of Rights for Essential Workers” legislation in Congress. We can stoke this momentum. Living so deep in the cycle of nature, the Pirahã are unwitting Buddhists in the sense of nonattachment — poster people for living in the present. They do not cling to staying alive, nor a creation story. As Everett wrote in his book, “There is a certain dignity in going through life
without promise of Heaven or the threat of Hell.” The Pirahã do not try to relive yesterday or rehearse tomorrow. If they have not experienced something personally — or know someone they trust who has — it is irrelevant to them. Everett found that the greater good of the community supersedes ego-inspired struggles for power or personal gain. Their attachment to an identity is so light they may change their name three times in a lifetime to better reflect their personal evolution. For us, the coronavirus pandemic can be a time for personal house cleaning, which can start by taking an inventory of what we cling to, are fearful of and are willing to fight for. Are the dogma and ideology we hold in harmony with the deep inner sense of what we know to be right and true? Are we present and laughing enough? Everett took his own inventory and wrote, “I have given up what I could not keep, faith, to gain what I cannot lose.” The Pirahã, he found, were not lost. He was true to the quiet inner voice of truth and found himself. Before us is a chance for change and emergence from things that squelch our happiness. There is humor in everything. Seize the day. Chris White is fascinated with the human condition. He is not anti-religious, is a spiritual fellow and unashamedly seeks the marrow of happiness for all.
LITERATURE
This open Window
Vol. 5 No.5
poetry and prose by local writers edited by Jim mitsui
Day 33 (April 17, 2020)
how can i stay inside?
when trees push tender buds out of sticklike branches, winter-dead? Spruce, cedar and fir sway, offering soft prayers to the bluebird sky. A stack of wood leans against the fence, for future campfires, marshmallow roasts. Maybe I’ll come out this evening, light a little fire — watch sparks rise up into the sky — search for Ursa Major, Cassiopeia and Orion — reach out above the sacred space where treetops touch stars, pull in deep breaths of the universe, witness beacons reaching earth from its beginning millions of light-years away. Behold creation. One day, when I am summoned — lift off to worlds beyond,
hey, hey now carmen It was a turning point Of sorts I suppose. Giving up most all that preceded To earn the coin of the realm, Preparing for the eventual exit out the west gate. Meanwhile lunch time at Jorge’s counter, booths off to the sides, old and worn burnt orange leatherette definitely best years behind, the food never made me sick though it probably should have, which was why no one much ever went there. The coffee was good those days, and still cheap, with the daily lunch special and my favorite waitress, nearing middle age with dark black hair and a lovely smile, her name tag said “Carmen”, most likely Kentucky Carmen, even now the only Carmen I ever knew. Hair sprayed, starched white apron and orange dress, glasses, her smile and friendly greeting, a Beauty of the Time.
Brenda is the chair of the Bonner County Human Rights Commission and is a regular to this column. She’s originally from Michigan, lived in New Mexico and resides now in Sandpoint. For me this poem captures the atmosphere of our current stay-at-home situation.
Send poems to: jim3wells@aol.com
Two famous customers, we made three most late afternoons. They sat giggling; no doubt high on fresh weed, new to them, waiting to take the field in the night game, heading to the World Series for The Big Red Machine. Pete Rose, rarely kind and Johnny Bench a rare gift, sharing space with me and Carmen, all together, sharing the sun of warm summer afternoons, shining through the west facing windows. Now we all know about the famous and the fortunate, but the one I miss most from Jorge’s at the Fountain Square Hotel, on warm summer afternoons with the boys of summer is you, Carmen. -Jay White Having traveled from Ohio and Kentucky to various parts of the western U.S. over the past several years, and having visited Sandpoint a few times, Jay decided to call Sandpoint home in 2018, largely due to the water and the mountains. He is a first-timer to this column. This poem resonated for me, a reminder of hard working and unsung service workers in our world. Like nurses and medical personnel.
Her best customers would be there during my late lunch. Some hidden doubt, but hope for a big tip in the Fountain Square Hotel coffee shop always mostly empty like the hotel which housed it
late morning awakening
After a dull and dreamless night her body emerges into consciousness A realization that she’s lying amongst the bedding like an iron cast idol, tumbled from its pedestal in some ancient land Heavy and inchoate she lies Still and solid, her bones like drifted down settled planks on the bottom of something akin to a seabed of doubt
-Amy Craven
There are sounds — The churning of the furnace The persistent hum of elseness The absurdity of the cuckoo’s interruption And outside, the distant call of a crow whose blackness is a beacon in this late morning, for he’s been up and dressed for hours
Amy is a fan of birds, especially owls and crows. I like the casual and normal voice of this poem as she awakens on a normal day to the sound of a crow outside. She captures the cartoon essence of the crow dressed in his tux as she connects his world to ours.
white orange rind and artichoke
I’ll miss the stars as much as the sun. -Brenda Hammond
now mostly drunks for a night, or ladies of the hour, it still lived for me, waiting for its soon to be demolition.
I like to peel an orange so the rind comes off in one spiral that will
side of the leaf or is it a petal, or a sepal? Well actually you
fit back together and still look like an orange. Navel oranges are best,
use your top teeth on the white rind too, but on the same side
the ones with the thick white lining of bioflavonoids that you can
as the bottom teeth and it’s almost impossible to do it without breaking
scrape off with your teeth, similar to, but not like how you scrape
the single-coil peel into smaller pieces. But I always like eating those
the ripped-off bit of heart from the artichoke leaf with your bottom teeth.
artichokes and white orange rinds. It’s just animal-like enough to stretch
But on artichokes you use your top teeth too on the opposite
the limits of civilized dining. Not mere finger food, but finger and fang food.
-Beth Weber Beth is a natural poet and didn’t realize it until she took my workshop five years ago. One of her gifts is the ability to recognize daily opportunities to write poems about. Here she combines two different food items: oranges and artichokes, and entertains us. She lives on Ella in Sandpoint. May 14, 2020 /
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OUTDOORS
Happy camper By Ben Olson Reader Staff
Imagine a place where the coronavirus doesn’t really exist. Where the petty squabbling on social media is just a silly memory. Where there are no armed protesters or conspiracy theorists invading your quiet afternoon with their petty disagreements and weird hobby horses. If your imagination is anything like mine, you are probably picturing a peaceful campsite and a weekend of solace away from the constant noise. As the days grow longer and nights more pleasant, more and more of us are turning to camping in the great outdoors to escape reality. What is it about camping that appeals to so many of us here in North Idaho? Is it eating charred smokies cooked over an open fire? It is sleeping on the hard ground and waking up smelling like campfire smoke? Is it coming home stinking like a hobo? Most of us who enjoy sleeping out in nature were exposed to it at a young age — usually from camping with family and friends. Some of my favorite memories from childhood involved camping at Round Lake or Farragut State Park, or primitive camping in the mountains with my friends in high school and college. I spent a good part of my 20s searching for the ultimate spots around North Idaho and western Montana — some next to rivers, others deep in the woods where you were almost guaranteed solitude. Then, when passing on the location of these spots to trusted close friends and loved ones, I lived vicariously through them as they built their own memories in those places. On its face, camping seems ridiculous to those who have never been. We have evolved and advanced over thousands of years to reach our current — so-called — pinnacle of human achievement. We have roofs over our heads, running water, heat and electricity, and all the modern 20 /
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gimcracks to entertain us. Why in the world would we drive off into the hinterlands and sleep like animals when a new episode of The Bachelor is on? (barf) I’ll tell you why: It’s damn beautiful out there. Time passes slowly when you’re camping. Hours go by without a word spoken; the only sounds being the waves lapping against the shoreline or the river singing its song through the canyon or the grove of trees creaking in a warm afternoon breeze. While camping, I’ve never had someone call me a hack and a terrible human being. I’ve never received an email pointing out some dumb typo while I slept in a tent. I don’t get angry phone calls because the phone and computer either stay at home or spend the trip turned off and shut away. Let all that crap wait until Monday morning. For the time being, the only things that matter are gathering enough firewood to last the night, keeping the beer cooler out of the sun and enjoying the company of those with whom you spend this precious time. If you delve deeper into why we camp, you could argue that it’s a way to connect with our ancestral roots. Trace back our family trees far enough and you’ll reach a point where camping wasn’t called camping, it was called living. How wonderful it is to disconnect from the troubles of the modern age and return to a simpler way of life — if only for a weekend. Yet, no matter how far we drive into the boonies to get away from people, the rough touch of man’s hand can still be seen. I’d say nine times out of 10, when we arrive at one of our favorite hidden camping spots around North Idaho, we aren’t greeted by a serene, peaceful scene, but instead there are fire pits full of dirty diapers and busted air mattresses, broken glass and piles of human waste in the bushes, marked by the mounds of toilet paper left behind. In an effort to help us all disconnect from society in a positive way, I offer a few suggestions to
Why camping is good for the soul... especially right now
Cadie Archer enjoys a game of dominoes al fresco during a recent camping trip. Photo by Ben Olson. make both your trip — and the trips of those coming after you — a little better:
Pack it in, pack it out It’s that simple. If you brought it, you need to take it away. The only thing I leave behind when departing from a campsite is the firewood that we didn’t get a chance to burn. Nobody wants to clean up your mess. Also, make sure your fire is completely out before leaving the site. Just last weekend, I had to dump a half dozen buckets of water on a fire that was left burning by some inconsiderate campers down the shore. That’s exactly how forest fires start. Leave all the electronic b.s. behind I don’t want to tell anyone what to do with their own precious life. If you like to bring your computer and phone into nature and connect with the world, so be it. But you’re missing the whole point. Unplug the cord and listen to the river, for crying out loud.
Spread out It never ceases to amaze me how people have no manners when it comes to camping right next to another site. There was a time when Cadie and I canoed to one of our favorite spots on the lake. We reached it in less than an hour, set up camp and built a fire. Just when that warm
glow of isolation finally started settling in, a motorboat zoomed up to the shoreline right next to us and disgorged some people who set to work unloading gear. I mean, it was right next to us. A child could have thrown a rock through the boat’s windshield. I hollered over to them, asking if they wouldn’t mind moving to one of the half-dozen spots I knew about down the beach, where we wouldn’t be camping on top of one another. They looked at me with that classic “I-smellpoop-face” and continued setting up their camp. The wife even shouted, “There’s nowhere else to camp!” I yelled back:“You’re in a powerboat! I can direct you to a dozen spots right now that you can reach in less than five minutes.” They didn’t like someone else telling them what to do, so they dug in their heels and set up right in our sightline. I then gave up the effort and went for the jugular: I pulled out a trombone I had brought and for the next hour proceeded to make a horrible noise that sounded like an elephant dying. Maybe next time they’ll think twice about pulling on shore right next to another campsite when there are so many other great spots just minutes away. I have no regrets.
Leave the fire pit in a reasonable condition Better yet, scatter the rocks if you want to leave it pristine. I don’t understand why sometimes I’ll arrive at one of our spots and see someone has spent what looks like weeks building a fire ring that’s four feet high and full of broken glass and bottle caps. Why the hell does a fire ring need to be this stout? And no, that isn’t a trash can.
Do not, under any circumstance, share your ‘secret’ campsites with tourists I don’t want to be a jerk, but they haven’t earned these spots that we spend our formative years finding. I always tell them to go to Green Bay or somewhere that has already been discovered. Chances are, even if they mean well, when you show them one of the magical primitive spots around here, they’ll tell their friends and then next time you pull up to the site it’ll be full of Kootenai County or Washington plates. The bottom line: Enjoy yourselves in nature, leave all the nonsense behind and respect the fact that other campers do what they do because they don’t want to see or hear you. Leave the guns and firecrackers at home, bring a good book and give Mother Nature a chance to get a word in edgewise. She speaks the truth.
PETS & ANIMALS
It’s a bird, it’s a plane — full of puppies
Donor provides plane to fly future service dogs to local Canine Companions for Independence volunteers
By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff A plane touched down at Felts Field in Spokane on May 12, carrying arguably the cutest and most valuable packages possible: puppies destined to become service dogs for Canine Companions for Independence. The plane — donated for the cause by a business owner from Santa Rosa, Calif. — arrived in Spokane after dropping off other puppies in Boise and Great Falls, Mont. Volunteer puppy raisers met the plane on the tarmac. “It couldn’t have been better,” said the organization’s Inland Northwest Chapter President and Sagle resident Lilly Mitsui. “It was just perfect.” Canine Companions for Independence is a national nonprofit dedicated to raising, training and providing service dogs to people at no cost. Once the puppies are weaned at 8 weeks old, they are sent to live with volunteer puppy raisers
for a year and half. During this time, they attend regular training classes and focus on developing social skills. Dogs then leave their puppy raiser and move into other areas of training, with the ultimate goal of becoming an assistance dog for people with a range of disabilities. Mitsui said 29 puppies have taken the first step on their journey in the past few weeks thanks to the generosity of the Santa Rosa businessman, who told her he has friends involved in the organization and feels passionate about the program. Mitsui said his actions made sure the cycle of Canine Companions for Independence could continue, even amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. She said there is a constant waitlist of up to 400 people who need a service dog from the organization. “The puppies who were bred and born have been stationary,” she said. “We were lucky to get six puppies up here to people that were waiting for puppies to raise, and to ultimately get more gradu-
ate dogs out there.” Of the six puppies that unloaded in Spokane on May 12, two headed to Moscow, one went to Priest Lake and three headed to Sandpoint-area volunteers. First-time puppy raiser and Bonner County resident Cheryl Bailey met her pup — a male black labrador named Loyal — at Felts Field. She said she wanted to raise a puppy after seeing how much work and money a friend had to invest in order to train a service dog for her friend’s disabled son. Through Canine Companions for Independence, the training and expenses are handled by the nonprofit and its many volunteers, resulting in a fully-trained service dog — valued at $50,000 — given to people in need at no cost. “I thought it would be nice to give a puppy a good start,” Bailey said. “I think it’s a really good program.” She said it was an exciting surprise to find out that someone would be flying puppies to Spo-
kane despite coronavirus-related travel restrictions — she figured it would be a while until she’d be paired with a puppy. Loyal will call North Idaho home for a year and half before heading off to further training in California, then — if all goes well — he’ll be placed with his new family as an assistance dog for someone in need. “I just want to acknowledge all the people who volunteered their time,” Bailey said, making note of everyone from the pilots
A group of puppy raisers wait at Felts Field in Spokane on May 12. Photo by Lilly Mitsui.
to the breeders. “It takes so many people to make this work. ... A lot goes into it, and it’s awesome that people are willing to do that.” To learn more about Canine Companions for Independence, visit cci.org. To contact Mitsui about becoming a puppy raiser, email lilly3wells@aol.com.
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COMMUNITY
Festival at Sandpoint season passes can be donated to support 2020-2021 programs By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
With the news that the 38th Festival at Sandpoint summer concert series has been canceled due to disruptions and restrictions stemming from the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, event organizers reached out to season pass holders to inform them not only of what will become of their passes for the 2020 season, but how they can help the nonprofit weather the storm. The concert series is the primary annual fundraising event for the organization, supporting a number of music education programs, smaller concerts and other events throughout the year. “Unfortunately, this year’s cancellation due to COVID-19 will have a significant financial impact on the organization,” Festival staff wrote in a statement.
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“The Festival at Sandpoint is gratefully welcoming donations to help continue to offer its 20202021 programs and plans to hold a virtual fundraising event in the upcoming months in lieu of the two in-person fundraising events canceled this year.” To support The Festival in the interim, 2020 season pass holders have been invited to donate their passes in exchange for the chance to win a 2021 season pass; prime blanket placement; and Festival merchandise, including posters, wine glasses, pint glasses and more. As a thank-you, donors will receive a letter acknowledging their contribution in that amount for tax purposes. To donate, email info@festivalatsandpoint.com or leave a voicemail at 208-2654554 providing your season pass number(s), full name of purchaser and email address to which tax
information will be sent. The drawing is scheduled to take place Oct. 1. Another option, according to Festival organizers, is to keep your 2020 season pass, which will be honored for the 2021 Festival season. Refunds for 2020 season
passes cannot be offered. “The Festival thanks you for your understanding and your support,” event officials wrote. “We cannot wait to celebrate alongside you with good food and great music (and lots of hugging) under the stars in 2021.”
A performance at the 2019 Festival at Sandpoint captured by Racheal Baker.
To donate directly to The Festival at Sandpoint, go to bit. ly/2yTl32N.
STAGE & SCREEN
When the going gets weird... The weird should be watching The Midnight Gospel on Netflix
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff When researchers of intellectual and social history someday assess “The Coronavirus Era,” the smart money is on them framing it as a period of mass self-assessment in the so-called global West. Lock enough beneficiaries of post-industrialism in their houses for long enough, and their consumer culture and information-addled brains are bound to come up with some weird stuff. The Midnight Gospel should earn at least a footnote in those someday studies. The limited Netflix adult animated series by Adventure Time creator Pendleton Ward and comedian/podcaster Duncan Trussell has apparently been in the works for years, but dropped on the mega-streaming platform on April 20 — one of those moments of cultural-historical synchronicity that feels too right to be a coincidence: Americans’ self-isolation anxiety and subsequent soul searching reached a fever pitch, then collided with their ruminations on mortality and meaning. Meanwhile, they were already sitting on the couch looking for
something to watch. Summarizing the plot, such as it is, of The Midnight Gospel feels like a fool’s errand, but here goes: Clancy, voiced by Trussell, lives a low-rent existence alone in a dilapidated trailer on a seemingly abandoned farm in “The Chromatic Ribbon” somewhere in the universe. Well, he’s not entirely alone; sharing his trailer is a dysfunctional, off-license “multiverse simulator” (voiced by Phil Hendrie) and a dog under whose moplike hair hides a belly containing a portal to the cosmic void. Clancy uses his bootleg simulator to skip around the multiverse to visit dying worlds and interview their denizens for his titular “spacecast” — a podcast that, as the name suggests, is disseminated throughout “space.” The individuals he meets on his journeys, which are facilitated by sticking his head into the simulator’s strongly vaginal-looking entry port, are voiced by a roster of real-life intellectuals, spiritualists, writers and gurus who take Clancy on wild adventures while expounding on profound themes of transcendence and self-knowledge. For instance, in the first three episodes, he fights zombies along-
side Dr. Drew Pinsky as they talk about drugs and consciousness; travels through a planetary meat grinder with writer Anne Lamott and Ram Dass disciple Raghu Markus, who explore the process of giving up on fearing death; and talks with real-life former death row inmate Damien Echols about Eastern Buddhist meditation and Western-style ceremonial magic as they sail across “Ass Planet” on a ship crewed by pirate cats. Those are enough specifics; it would be a shame to reveal any more. Suffice to say, death stalks every frame of The Midnight Gospel, but not zombie death or action hero death or war death or any other kind of death you’d expect to see in our “death-obsessed” popular culture — though, paradoxically, they are all there in some form — but cosmic death. Like, real death. The death that actually does course through every living thing from the moment it is winked into existence by seed, insemination, meiosis or mitosis. It’s the death that’s so big we humans erect and inhabit structures to avoid it that are so large and elaborate, by design, that we never see them. We feel them, though, in those 3 a.m. “dark nights of the
soul” in which we became suddenly, inescapably and acutely aware that we were dead for trillions of years already and will be again for trillions more. That kind of thinking is the scaffold supporting Rick and Morty, which while also going down the interdimensional rabbit hole does so with a kind of (mostly) gleeful nihilism. The Midnight Gospel looks right into the abyss and jumps in with a sense of gratitude and wonder. In this way, The Midnight Gospel is better than Rick and Morty. It’s also better than Adventure Time and immeasurably better than that insufferable psycho-spiritual, philosophical animated hot mess Waking Life that everyone back in 2001 seemed to think was
Small town, big story
A still frame from The Midnight Gospel on Netflix. Courtesy image. so deep. Part of it is the podcast-meets-cartoon format — the conversations, despite their profundity, reel out in an easy bantering style. The other achievement of The Midnight Gospel is its mind-warping artistic sensibility, which, as The LA Times described it, combines “notes of Max and Dave Fleischer’s Koko the Clown, comic artist Jim Woodring, Yellow Submarine and Hieronymus Bosch.” In other words, it’s a big, wild, weird, squishy, sacred, profane, thinky jumble that we’re lucky exists in this particular corner of the multiverse.
Pahokee is the next film in the Panida’s Virtual Viewing Rooms Series
By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff
athletics, financial struggles and even parenting all while attempting to plan a future that will make their community proud. An acclaimed coming-of-age The power of Pahokee stems documentary based in a small in part from the sensitivity of Florida town serves as the next first-time directors Ivete Lucas and film in the Panida Theater’s VirPatrick Bresnan. While a docutual Viewing Rooms Series. The mentary following the trials of theater will offer virtual screenteenagers in an impoverished town ings of Pahokee Friday, May 15 could very well land with a thud of through Monday, June 1. The film will be accessible from home with hopelessness, Lucas and Bresnan inject a levitating a $12 purchase to Pahokee (NR) sense of empathy. benefit the theater. As one reviewer Pahokee follows Streaming Friday, May from the Pittsburgh the lives of four 15-Monday, June 1; viewing City Paper put it: teens in Pahokee, available anytime for 72 “In the hands of Fla., during their hours after payment; $12. other filmmakers, senior year of Access the film at panida. Pahokee could have high school. They org/event/pahokee. felt voyeuristic, but balance academics,
they approach their subject with familiarity and comfort. They’re rooting for the kids, too.” Pahokee boasts a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and made waves at film festivals across the United States in 2019. It serves as a snapshot of modern teen life, in which the youth harbor most of the town’s hopes and dreams. “Every now and then comes a documentary that feels like an American landmark,” wrote Pat Mullen, of POV Magazine. “Pahokee is one of those films.” Next, the Panida will offer screenings of Spaceship Earth, a documentary following eight people who quarantined themselves in a replica of Earth’s atmosphere — dubbed BIOSPHERE 2 — for two
years in the early 1990s. To access the Panida virtual screenings, go to panida.org and click the “tickets/events” button at the top of the page. Streaming costs $12 and films can be viewed
Courtesy image.
anytime during the 72-hour period following payment. All proceeds benefit the Panida. May 14, 2020 /
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LITERATURE
Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year remains remarkably modern By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
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Odds are that most people remember Daniel Defoe — if they remember him at all — as the author of Robinson Crusoe. That, or they confuse him with the actor Willem Defoe (no relation and they were born 295 years apart). The former Defoe, however, deserves to be ranked among the most important English language writers of the past three centuries, and not necessarily for his novels. In addition to Robinson Crusoe, Moll Flanders and others — a body of work for which Defoe is often labeled by historians as “the first novelist” — he was also publisher/ lead writer of a newspaper in London that became the template for all others to follow, earning him another moniker as “the first journalist”; and he turned his hand several times to writing history. Albeit, his version of “history” blended factual research with imagination and presented it as reportage. This amalgam of fact and invention might be better understood today as “historical fiction,” but back in the early eighteenth century, no such genre markers yet existed. To Defoe and his contemporaries — even readers into the late-1800s — the truth of his “histories” transcended their facts. Among Defoe’s most enduring historical works is A Journal of the Plague Year, which he published in 1731. The book purported to represent a memoir of the 1665-1666 bubonic plague outbreak “written by a citizen who continued all the while in London.” While Defoe had lived through “The Great Plague of London,” which killed 75,000 people, he was only about 5 years old at the time. Rather, he relied on primary source research and his flair for vivid, direct prose to recreate the chaos and despair, opportunism and denial that gripped the city even as “the visitation” was still silently working its way through the grubby East End districts. From the first pages, the reader is struck by the familiar modern tone, as Defoe opens by ruminating on the power of information — how in the absence of reliable media, rumor manipulated the reaction to news of a sickness that appeared only to affect a pair of men “said to be Frenchmen.” A foreign disease affecting only foreigners, in other words. The family with which the “Frenchmen” were staying tried to hide the infection, but “it had gotten some vent in the discourse of the neighborhood” and, as with a Facebook post, went “viral.” Among the many innovations in Defoe’s plague work is his device of breaking from the narrative to give official-looking infection and mortality reports — a practice of reportage that we are all too familiar with amid / May 14, 2020
COVID-19. Seeing these reports, Londoners experienced another wave of anxiety but soon relaxed: “And then we were easy again for about six weeks, when none having died with any marks of infection, it was said the distemper was gone.” Of course it wasn’t gone; it was simply worming its way from house to house, slowly building nodes of infection. Still, Londoners practiced some self-isolation and social distancing, avoiding the streets where plague had been identified “unless they had extraordinary business that obliged them.” Over the course of the following months, Defoe’s “citizen” — a well-to-do saddler trading with the American colonies — recorded the ebb and flow of public concern over the disease. Hope and fear waxed and waned as the weather changed and people ventured from their homes — some simply to go about their business, while others, especially the wealthy, “thronged” out of town seeking refuge in the country. Then the burial notices started to pile up and, seeing the rich in flight, people started to worry about government orders confining them to shelter in place and road closures “to prevent people from travelling, and that the towns on the road would not suffer people from London to pass for fear of bringing infection along with them.” The narrator, of course, opts to shelter in place to protect his business. It is clear to Defoe that if people had at first taken the plague seriously it would not have conquered the city over the course of the year. He writes as much, criticizing those who considered themselves “indifferently healthy” and lambasting the “wicked generation of pretenders” who cropped up to alternatively deny the plague, offer bogus cures, and attempt to make fast money on supplies and other comfort items. As Defoe’s saddler put it, “I often reflected upon the unprovided condition that the whole body of the people were in at the first coming of this calamity upon them, and how it was for want of timely entering into measures and managements, as well public as private, that all the confusions that followed were brought upon us, and that such a prodigious number of people sank in that disaster, which, if proper steps had been taken, might, Providence concurring, have been avoided, and which, if posterity think fit, they may take a caution and warning from.” For a piece of objective history, Defoe’s work is iffy. As for posterity, it clearly holds its “caution and warning” well on its way to a third century in print.
MUSIC
The future of live music in Sandpoint How local venue owners are changing course amid COVID-19
By Ben Olson Reader Staff Lovers of live music in Sandpoint are in for a rough summer. Many of Sandpoint’s most high-profile events have already been canceled, including The Festival at Sandpoint, Lost in the ’50s and the Sandpoint Lions Club’s July 4 festivities. According to several local venue owners the outlook for other events and live music performances remains uncertain. Under Gov. Brad Little’s fourphase reopening plan for Idaho, bars and nightclubs will be allowed to open Saturday, June 13, assuming the state meets all the requirements to enter Phase 4. But the reality of balancing crowds eager to return to normal versus respecting social distancing has many venue owners treading cautiously. “We may do some music in late June, but it will probably be music from a solo act or a duo,” 219 Lounge owner Mel Dick told the Reader. “We’re probably not going to have a dance crowd.” Dick said the capacity inside the 219 after it reopens will be about a third of what it was prior to the COVID-19 restrictions, figuring on no more than 30 patrons inside and maybe 60 outside in the beer garden. “We’ll have tables and barstools in certain areas,” Dick said. “The tables will remain apart and can’t be moved, and there will only be a few barstools at the bar.” There will likely be no walk-up bar service; rather, Dick envisions
patrons ordering drinks directly from their tables. For live music, Dick said the 219 will be more of a “listening concert” type environment, in the hopes that patrons will be content to sit and listen, enjoy their drinks and practice reasonable social distancing. “If we can accomplish that, we’re going to try it,” he said. The summer looks just as strange to navigate for Mattox Farm Productions owner and live music promoter Robb Talbott. He has had to cancel some big shows because of the coronavirus, including John Craigie, Fruition and Diggin’ Dirt. Talbott said he’s working on rebooking the canceled shows for mid- to late-summer and fall. Talbott said one big obstacle to booking shows is the fact that touring bands are able to play in small cities like Sandpoint because they play larger festivals and venues that help pay for the tour costs. With many of those festivals being canceled, it’s not economically viable for bands to tour without anchor gigs in place. “At first everyone was excited about getting dates back on the calendar,” Talbott told the Reader. “Now we’re just not sure when things are going to be available, and if people are even going to be out and able to spend money.” Talbott said he’s looking into booking regional acts that aren’t so reliant on bigger venues on their tour schedule. The issue with live music performances — especially with tour-
ing bands — is that the margins are already so tight, he added. “If you have 10% of people reluctant to go out because they’re concerned about contracting the virus, and another 10% or 15% that don’t have the disposable income, there goes any chance of making any money, or breaking even,” Talbott said. Meanwhile, he is working with sponsors to see if the Summer Series — an annual series of free concerts produced by Mattox Farm — will even take place. “It’s outdoors and sponsor-driven, but we don’t know if it’s realistic,” he said. “I’ll be making the call on that in the next couple weeks.” Talbott also books music for Eichardt’s Pub, which he said is hoping to get live music back in action in the summer, starting with solo acts and smaller performances. “I think a full band with the intent to get people smashed together, dancing and partying, is not what large swaths of the community is looking for right now,” he said. The Heartwood Center in Sandpoint hosts a wide variety of events, including many artists booked by Mattox Farm, as well as theater and community events. Venue owner Kathy Andruzak told the Reader that the center is working hard to open back up again. “Everything was canceled from March 15 to the end of May,” Andruzak said. The first gig back on the books was a play produced by Dorothy Prophet, of Cade Prophet Memori-
he relocated to Germany in the 1980s. It’s also because, despite his chops, he has only cut four records since 2004. That’s about to change with Every Which Way, scheduled for release on June 5. The new work, which listeners can sample on YouTube at his self-titled channel under “Dan Reeder (Live from Home),” follows his 2017 album, Nobody Wants to Be You. As is Reeder’s custom, the tunes are impishly funny, winsome, wry, sometimes bawdy,
playful and absurd, but, most of all, thoughtful, deceptively complex and utterly charming. Don’t take our word for it, though. Reeder has long been associated with Prine’s label, Oh Boy Records, which he joined based on the great man’s own seal of approval after sending him a self-made demo CD. If that’s not a recommendation, we don’t know what is.
al Productions, but it was unfortunately canceled, so Andruzak isn’t sure when the venue will be open for events yet. “We want to be open,” she said. “We’re a community events center. That’s what we’re there for.” Andruzak said the Heartwood will institute extra cleaning protocols, space audience members apart and utilize more of the backstage area so performers don’t have to congregate in the dressing room. Closing down the venue in spring was an especially hard blow, Andruzak said, because most of the venue’s community events occur during the months before summer. “Financially, it’s been a hardship,” she said. “We depend on those events. The Waldorf School usually has their eighth-grade play, the Homeschool Academy has their big performance that had to be canceled. We have a weekly group that comes in every Tuesday, but they haven’t been in the building since March 9. … Also, the Music Conservatory had to cancel their Spring Serenade and the Selkirk School had their big fundraiser for the year — that was also canceled, along with the Mattox Farm gigs. That’s a lot of revenue lost.” Andruzak said they’ll sit down and develop a plan after the next phase of the reopening plan, which begins Saturday, May 16. “We’ll figure out logistically how we’re going to make our facility work for the events coming in,” she said.
Prine-esque bard Dan Reeder set to release new album in June By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff If you’ve been missing the late, great John Prine, then consider Dan Reeder as a suitable salve. If it seems odd to put Reeder and Prine in the same sentence, then you don’t know Reeder — however, if you don’t know Reeder, you can be excused. Though he’s been active for decades, Reeder remains something of an enigma to American audiences. Partly that’s because
Learn more about Dan Reeder and his work at danreeder. com.
Dan Reeder’s album Every Which Way is scheduled for release June 5. Courtesy photo.
This week’s RLW by Lyndsie Kiebert
READ
The Humans of New York Facebook page is known for approaching random people and drawing incredible stories from them. During the ongoing pandemic, HONY founder Brandon Stanton has transitioned to collect “Quarantine Stories” online from people around the world. Anyone with a story about a person or event that changed their life can submit, and those published must include a headshot, among other photos to illustrate the story. The results are tear-jerking microcosms of the human experience.
LISTEN
I could not tell you how many times I rented the album Gold Medal by The Donnas from the local bookmobile as a kid. Something about the basic but hard-hitting rock sound of the all-female band drew me in and made me feel seen. Funny, considering I had to be no more than 9 years old when I first heard Gold Medal, and the album’s subject matter isn’t exactly kid appropriate. Still, this album holds up in my catalog of all-time favorites — if only for the nostalgia.
WATCH Early-2000s medieval adventure-comedy A Knight’s Tale has everything you could ever want in a movie: action, romance, camaraderie, humor, redemption and Heath Ledger. Ledger plays William Thatcher — a peasant who decides to “change his stars” by posing as a knight and jousting his way through tournaments across Europe with the help of his loyal — and hilarious — friends. The story is heartwarming, and the classic rock soundtrack adds to the film’s quirky medieval-turned-modern theme. May 14, 2020 /
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PERSPECTIVES
An ode to skunk cabbage By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff
From Northern Idaho News, June 1, 1915
GREAT NORTHERN OFFICE ROBBED AGAIN MAN ANSWERING DESCRIPTION OF HOLD-UP IS IN COUNTY JAIL Julius Allen, night cashier at the Great Northern was held up last night near midnight and robbed of $14 in precisely the same manner as George W. Bates, night operators was held up and robbed of $30.80 the night of May 6, less than a month ago. The man was not masked in either case and in both cases another man is supposed to have stood guard outside while his pal was going through the money drawer. No trace of the former robbers has been secured but this afternoon Deputy Sheriffs Mulcahey and Spoor, with Chief Special Officer E.D. Kirk and Special Officer Perry Pugh of the Great Northern arrested a man answering the description given by Allen. He was found in the jungles near Dover and gave his name as J.B. Hannon. Allen is quite sure that he is the man that did the job and Bates, who also was taken to see him, says he might be the man who held him up but is not positive. Kirk is certain that Hannon is the man wanted. 26 /
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Childhoods are defined by a range of smells, both good and bad. Fresh laundry. School lunches. Dad’s cologne. Locker rooms. Being a child of North Idaho, my upbringing also boasted a range of outdoor smells, some of my favorites being the warm alpine air at the top of the Lightning-Trestle Creek loop or the lakebed during fall drawdown. There is one scent that can’t be categorized as good or bad, and that’s yellow skunk cabbage. Imagine my surprise when I attempted to Google the plant only to find out that “skunk weed” — what I have always called it — is not even remotely recognized as a nickname for the pungent, swamp-loving vegetation. After sorting through search results pointing me toward various strains of marijuana, I found its proper name: Lysichiton americanus or Western skunk cabbage. Growing up near Denton Slough in east Bonner County, the first true spring day — one during which the sun shines long enough that it seems to warm everything to its core — brought on the sweet but unsettling scent of the skunk cabbage lining the boggy inlet. A drive to Clark Fork would confirm our suspicions: no black-and-white road kill — only shiny yellow flowers blooming just off the highway, large green leaves casting quivering shadows in the spring breeze. I’m old enough now to smell the difference between skunk cabbage and a skunk that has met its end. What’s more, I now live with cabbage patches surrounding me on all sides. While spending the
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past two months at home, my constant companions have been the sounds of quarrelling geese, the sight of robins hopping across the lawn and the scent of skunk cabbage coming in on the breeze. With a little research, the flowering stinkers went from facts of life to interesting local flora. The skunk-like scent is meant to draw in pollinators. Bears coming out of hibernation often consume the plants to serve as a laxative. However, humans should only eat the plants if they’re well cooked, as they contain crystals of calcium oxalate, which can cause a burning sensation when eaten — also, in enough quantity, kidney stones. Some research suggests that native peoples used skunk cabbage to treat some topical ailments, and they may have used the large, waxy leaves to store food. I can’t say I see much need to go out and begin harvesting these plants, but I can say skunk cabbage has served one major purpose throughout my life: It signifies a changing of the seasons. It told me the snow in the mountains would soon be gone and the lake would come back to full pool. It told me summer vacation was on its way, and what kid doesn’t look for signs of that? That smell, the one I cannot define as either good or bad, is one of the stinkier stations of change in the seasonal cycle of the Idaho Panhandle. Still, I can’t help but be grateful for the not-so-subtle reminder that summer is almost here.
Skunk cabbage in bloom. Courtesy photo.
Crossword Solution
Sudoku Solution One thing a computer can do that most humans can’t is be sealed up in a cardboard box and sit in a warehouse.
Solution on page 26
Solution on page 26
Laughing Matter
Woorf tdhe Week
solace
By Bill Borders
/ SOL-is /
[noun] 1. something that gives comfort, consolation or relief.
“I take solace in the fact that someone is flying the plane.” Corrections: We misspelled a word in a HEADLINE last week! Argh! I hate that. It should have read “judgment” not “judgement.” Apologies. Please contain your harsh judgment! -BO
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CROSSWORD ACROSS 1. Lure 6. Cook 10. Clods 14. Sorcery-based religion 15. Lasso 16. Smudge 17. Moat 18. Not closed 19. Wisdom 20. Uncommitted 22. Ancient Peruvian 23. Balm ingredient 24. High regard 26. After-bath powder 30. Actress Lupino 31. Regret 32. Hodgepodge 33. Remain 35. Unrefined 39. Implement 41. Inability to understand language 43. Unsmooth 44. River of Spain 46. T T T T 47. Carpet 49. Years (French) 50. Countercurrent 51. Detective 54. Head covering 56. An enclosure 57. Stretchability 63. Ends a prayer 64. Legal wrong
Solution on page 26 65. A fencing sword 66. Platter 67. Hard work 68. Primp 69. Satisfy 70. Alright 71. Genders
DOWN 1. Curdled soybean milk 2. Black, in poetry 3. Plateau 4. Long ago 5. 8th Greek letter 6. Like an alligator
7. A heavy beer drinker 8. Type of sword 9. Mudguard 10. Destroy completely 11. Single 12. Compel 13. Water vapor 21. Pretext 25. Very 26. See the sights 27. Countertenor 28. Place 29. The quality of agreeing 34. Seriously
36. Previously owned 37. Perished 38. Not difficult 40. Close 42. Propose 45. A German state 48. A poor city district 51. Oodles 52. Female demon 53. Excrete 55. Speech defects 58. Search 59. Worry 60. Wild goat 61. Tall woody plant 62. Cravings May 14, 2020 /
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