Reader earns awards for 2022 reporting at annual Idaho Press Club gathering Bits ’n’ Pieces

From east, west and beyond

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

Two people have been sentenced to jail terms of three and four years for defrauding investors in the “We Build the Wall” scheme, CNN reported.

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said “no” to a Senate request to testify about corruption by certain members of the court, according to The Lever. Concerns include justices (including Roberts and Clarence Thomas) receiving high-end gifts and not recusing themselves from cases in which they had a conflict of interest.

Three Texas women who helped a friend seek an abortion via medication are facing a wrongful death lawsuit over the terminated pregnancy. The legal action was filed by the former husband of the woman who sought the abortion, Axios reported. The abortion occurred in July 2022, before Texas’ new abortion laws became enforceable.

By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist

government and military salaries, Social Security checks and fund the National Weather Service (impacting forecasts).

Other effects: the U.S. Department of Labor would be prevented from recovering back wages due to workers, the U.S. credit rating would be lowered, there would be 10,800 fewer OSHA inspections, and shortterm borrowing costs would rise.

The Treasury secretary said debt payments will start failing as early as June 1. The debt ceiling has been raised 49 times under a Republican president (three times under Trump, including 2018 when Republicans and some Democrats voted for a 16% increase in discretionary spending) and 29 times under a Democrat. Democratic leaders are accusing Republicans of a “hostage situation” orchestrated by extreme MAGA lawmakers trying to “impose their radical agenda on America.”

By Reader Staff

Media professionals from across the state celebrated their achievements in reporting over the past year, with the annual gathering April 29 of the Idaho Press Club membership in Boise. Among the winners of the yearly journalism awards were staff members of the Sandpoint Reader, which together earned accolades in nine categories.

Reader Publisher Ben Olson won third place in the Serious Feature Report category for his story “The Hidden Homeless,” which explored the understated issue of senior citizens who lack housing and what is — or isn’t — being done about it.

Reader News Editor Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey took third place in the Watchdog/ Investigative Report category for her coverage (which is ongoing) of the investigation into the various controversies surrounding the Bonner County Fairgrounds. Kiebert-Carey also took third place in the Arts/ Entertainment category for her piece “The Pursuit of Transcendence,” which detailed the work of late-local artist Romey Stuckart and her husband, fellow artist Stephen Schultz, who in 2022 were honored with the Idaho Excellence in the Arts Award.

Finally, Kiebert-Carey took second place in the Environment Report category for her story “For Bears, Forebears and the Future,” about 1,000 acres of Kootenai Valley farmland being set aside for agricultural and wildlife uses.

Reader Editor-in-Chief Zach Hagadone earned three first-place awards and placed second in two other categories.

In the Editorial category, Hagadone won among weekly newspapers statewide for “We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us,” an opinion piece about the thwarted assault by right-wing extremist group Patriot Front on the Pride celebration in Coeur d’Alene in 2022; in the Political Report category for his story about legislation that would have repealed a longstanding Idaho law prohibiting private militias; and in the Business Report category for “This Isn’t the Way We Do Business Here,” on the change of ownership of the Cedar Street Bridge and subsequent impacts on numerous small businesses pushed out by dramatic rent increases.

Hagadone’s second-place finishes included his multi-part series “Conservation: From the Timber Wars to Collaboration” and, in the Election Report category, “Big-Money Nevada Consultants Play Part in Herndon Senate Campaign,” exploring the out-of-state influences animating the historically negative District 1 Republican primary election in 2022.

The Reader — Sandpoint’s only locally owned and independently operated newspaper, with a full-time reporting staff of three journalists — has earned 36 awards from the Idaho Press Club since returning to publication in 2015, including first-place for General Excellence among Idaho weekly newspapers for work produced in 2018 and 2021.

President Joe Biden’s administration announced actions against fentanyl that would reach worldwide, according to various sources. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is said to be more potent and deadlier than heroin. It comes from Mexico and Guatemala, using chemicals and equipment made in China. Two cartels control most distribution, using sophisticated trafficking devices, including submarines. Canada and Mexico will work with the U.S. The fentanyl death toll in the U.S. can be 200 a day.

The Nation reported there were 57,600 fewer child care workers early this year, compared to the same time in 2020, but the number of children needing care has grown. Problems include poor pay for child care workers and the rising cost of child care

The Council for a Strong America estimates that the child care crisis cost the economy up to $122 billion. Washington U.S. Sen. Patty Murray has reintroduced the Child Care for Working Families Act, creating child care affordability and better wages for child care workers.

Biden announced he will run for re-election. Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., had previously indicated he might run, but instead said he will support Biden.

Last week, U.S. House members voted 217-215 (four Republicans withheld support as did all Democrats) in favor of their Limit, Save, Grow Act, their proposal for lifting the debt ceiling.

Failure to lift the ceiling, which would be a first in U.S. history, is predicted to cause financial calamity as the nation defaults on already incurred debts. Fallout, the BBC reported, would include inability to pay

The Republicans’ Limit, Save and Grow Act includes freezing spending to the 2022 level for a decade. The plan would reverse most of Biden’s accomplishments. It now goes to the Democrat-controlled Senate, where the leader has proposed no negotiations until Republicans agree to pass a “clean” non-conditional bill to avoid debt default. Democrats say the Republicans’ plan would hurt the poor and middle class, and cuts made to the IRS would increase the deficit.

Using the 14th Amendment, Biden could refuse to act on the strings-attached House plan to raise the debt ceiling, according to former-U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich.

Section Four states: “The validity of the public debt of the United States … shall not be questioned.”

Reich said a debt ceiling “that prevents the federal government from honoring its existing financial commitments violates the Constitution.”

Unsafe lead and cadmium levels can be found in dark chocolate, Consumer Reports recently reported. Lead and cadmium are a natural part of the Earth’s crust, but mining, manufacturing, transportation and agriculture adds to levels found in air, soil and water. Health hazards include bone fragility and kidney and lung damage from cadmium

An expert quoted by The New York Times recommended 1/3 ounce daily of dark chocolate, and no more than one ounce.

Blast from the past: “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin, American statesman and scientist, 1706-1790.