Reader_Nov30_2023

2 / R / November 30, 2023

DEAR READERS,

The week in random review

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

QUOTABLE

“Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status.”

— Laurence J. Peter, educator and author

cats are supervillains

Anyone who owns a cat knows the truth: They really own us. While dogs are often known for giving their human masters unconditional love, cats are a bit trickier. If there were a machine that allowed us to know what cats really thought about us, we’d probably all shudder at the idea of allowing these cute, purring psychopaths into our homes unsupervised. It turns out, on a neuroscientific level, cats are even more mysterious. There is research that shows that the presence of a protozoan that lives in cats’ stool called Toxoplasma gondii, might actually make mammals in their proximity behave strangely. In one story, researches showed that Toxo can travel into a rat’s brain and cause the rat to no longer avoid areas where cats live. The rats, in fact, become attracted to the smell of cat urine, where they were previously repulsed by it. These brain-infected rodents then cavorted carelessly through cat-urine-laced environments, walking right into the cat’s trap. It begs the question: Are we the rodents in this situation? Are cats secretly injecting us with pathogens that make us love them? While correlation is still undetermined linking this altered behavior to Toxo, it’s pretty obvious what’s going on here. Cats are in charge. They are slowly turning us into zombies who will do their bidding. We’re living on borrowed time, folks. So next time little Fluffy wants to cuddle on your lap while you’re reading a book, it’s not love or warmth they seek — it’s world domination. You have been warned.

the christmas book flood

There is an Icelandic tradition called Jólabókaflóðið, which translates roughly into English as “the Christmas book flood.” The tradition began during World War II, after Iceland gained its independence from Denmark in 1944. Paper was one of the few commodities not rationed during the war, so Icelanders often gifted books, as other presents were in short supply. This growing tradition reinforced Iceland’s cultural identity as a nation of bibliophiles, with more than half the country’s population reading on average more than eight books per year. Every year since 1944, the Icelandic book publishers produce a catalog (Bókatíðindi, or “book bulletin” in English) sent to every household in the country about mid-November. Icelanders then use these catalogs to order books to give to friends and family during Christmastime. According to tradition, gifts are opened on Christmas Eve and, right away, everyone gathers together and reads the books they have been given, often while drinking hot chocolate or a Christmas ale called jólabland. There are few things that seem more appealing than sitting around with your loved ones the day before Christmas reading books together.

Well, it’s the last day of November if you’re reading this on distribution day. I’m crossing my fingers for a good winter ahead, which means lots of snow. If you’re one of those who recoils at the thought of a heavy winter, I’m deeply sorry. It’s one of my favorite parts of living in North Idaho and you’ll never convince me otherwise.

There are a lot of great events going on this week. The Bonner County Historical Society and Museum is celebrating the 90th anniversary of the end of Prohibition on Tuesday, Dec. 5 at the 219 Lounge. It involves booze and history — which are two of our favorite things here at the Reader. It’s also a fundraiser, so come armed with a few bucks to toss in the hat (see Page 15 for more info).

Holiday events are popping up, including BGH’s popular Festival of Trees from Dec. 4-7 (see Page 13). Don’t forget to check out POAC’s grand opening of their new space on Second Ave. (see Page 16). See Page 18 for a full rundown of all the events happening this week.

– Ben Olson, publisher

READER 111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 208-946-4368

sandpointreader.com Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com Editorial: Zach Hagadone (Editor) zach@sandpointreader.com Soncirey Mitchell (Staff Writer) soncirey@sandpointreader.com Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey (emeritus) Cameron Rasmusson (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus) Advertising: Kelsey Kizer kelsey@sandpointreader.com Contributing Artists: Jenny Benoit (cover), Ben Olson, Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey, IDFG, Kinley Blu, Jim Howes, Cynthia Dalsing, Margo Johnson, Bill Borders, Ana Monfort.

Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Soncirey Mitchell, Lorraine H. Marie, Brenden Bobby, Lauren Necochea, Clark Corbin, Becca Renk Foster, Kyle Pfannenstiel, Dick Sonnichsen, Marcia Pilgeram Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com Printed weekly at: Tribune Publishing Co. Lewiston, ID Subscription Price: $165 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: sandpointreader.com About the Cover

This week’s cover is a painting called “Home” by POAC Artist of the Year Jenny Benoit. For more info: jennybenoitfineart.org November 30, 2023 / R / 3

NEWS

BOCC to draft response to alleged ‘misinformation’ given by sheriff

Regular business meeting dominated by discussions of county finances

By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff The Bonner County board of commissioners touched on multiple aspects of the county’s finances — including the much-debated fairgrounds funds — at their meeting on Nov. 28.

Public comment initially brought up concerns over county credit card stipends and how the board awards employee bonuses.

Clerk Michael Rosedale addressed the former during the meeting’s first action item, in which the board voted to approve the Fiscal Year 2024 Claims Batch No. 4 and Demands Batch No. 4 for a total of $2,857,144.26.

“It was determined that with credit cards, people have the ability to spend $5,000 and it’s assumed to be in good faith. Things come through on the $5,000 credit cards all the time, which are paid without question — which I strongly disagree with,” said Rosedale. “The Prosecutor’s Office I believe made that [policy] with the board of commissioners five, six, seven years ago.”

Rosedale clarified in a Nov. 29 email to the Reader that the county auditors do look over these credit card statements and code them into their respective budgets after the fact.

“The problem is that it appears some individuals use this policy to bypass the requirement for contracts to be approved by the BOCC for purchases of goods or services under that $5,000 on a monthly basis without prior approval,” wrote Rosedale. “That is the problem, especially when they are recurring.”

During the public comment section, resident Brandon Cramer asked what department oversaw and ensured the accuracy of the aforementioned $2,857,144.26 in charges.

“When it comes to individual invoices, we look for anything that looks suspicious. We raise red flags. We present those to the commissioners or the person entering the invoice and we reject 4 / R / November 30, 2023

them,” said Rosedale, explaining that the Clerk’s Office also rejects any invoices that go over the allocated budget.

Omodt’s action item to draft and issue a statement in response to a communication on Aug. 9 from Hayden Ross — the county’s external auditor — took up a significant portion of the nearly three-hour meeting. The firm requested that the BOCC counter a news release published by Sheriff Daryl Wheeler on July 26 regarding his investigation into the alleged fairgrounds fraud.

Omodt read part of Hayden Ross’ communication, which he entered into the public record to be made available with the notes and minutes of the Nov. 28 meeting.

“The Bonner County Sheriff’s Office’s public release — ‘Fairgrounds Fraud’ on July 26 — incorrectly stated that the fairgrounds’ financial activity was to be audited and included in the county’s fiscal year 2022 financial statements,” read Omodt.

Hayden Ross and Rosedale maintain that the county has never audited the entirety of the fair’s finances.

“We audit that portion of the Fair Board’s funds that run through the county: The tax levy, and what the county pays for (salaries, benefits and $20K for ribbons), but the other operating expenses we can never see (like the rodeo, ticket sales … the entire fair), so we can never include those in the audit (obviously),” Rosedale told the Reader in an Oct. 18 email.

The communication from Hayden Ross, read by Omodt, elaborated on that point: “The fiscal year 2022 did not include the assets, liabilities, equity, revenues or expenditures of the fair operations, which were kept in a separate accounting system maintained by [late-Fairgrounds Director] Darcy Smith.”

Members of the public raised concerns that the board would be overstepping its authority if it attempted to correct a statement made by another elected official

— in this case the sheriff — however, Omodt argued that anything pertaining to the audit falls under the board’s jurisdiction.

“The BOCC is going to draft a response to the continued misinformation presented by Sheriff Daryl Wheeler,” Omodt told the Reader in a Nov. 28 email. “Idaho law is clear, the audit is the responsibility of the BOCC, not the sheriff.”

Omodt emphasized that it’s in the best interest of the county to ensure that Hayden Ross completes its annual external audit so that Bonner County remains eligible for state and federal funding.

“Without a completed audit, Bonner County could lose $11 million in revenue, drastically cutting services of all county departments, especially EMS, Road and Bridge and Public Safety,” Omodt told the Reader in an email. “I do not support cutting services to hardworking taxpayers based upon inaccurate information, overreach and pride.”

Commissioner Asia Williams stated that she neither agreed nor disagreed with Omodt’s motion; however, she felt that the BOCC should decide the matter in a public workshop in which the sheriff, legal counsel and the public would have the opportunity to weigh in.

“I see that we’re going to get flagged for, ‘This wasn’t really noticed for what you’re trying to do.’

And we don’t have a legal opinion, and quite honestly your motion just says that you want to write something,” she said, directing her comments to Omodt. “It really should be that you have written it and that you’re presenting it.”

Williams agreed with public concern that the board could be overstepping its authority, and cautioned against opening the

county to more lawsuits.

“What you’re saying is that you can correct Sheriff Wheeler, which is a dangerous spot to be put in, in terms of litigation,” she said.

Williams said it is likely that the sheriff will publish a response to the county’s statement, potentially starting a lengthy back-and-forth conversation between his office and the auditors. In response to this concern, Omodt moved to amend his motion to specify that the external auditor “will not respond to the correspondence sent by any office other than that of the prosecutor, the clerk or the board of county commissioners” or the treasurer.

The motion carried with Williams dissenting.

Omodt then called for a vote on his amended motion, which also passed despite Williams’ opposition.

“There’s no requirement in this motion that [the response] go through legal. It’s a way to circumvent legal, which opens us up to more legal [issues]” she added, explaining her vote of “no.”

The board will publicly release its response to the sheriff’s statement at a yet-to-be-determined date.

The meeting continued on to Williams’ action items, including her motion to hold quarterly budget reviews to keep elected officials, employees and members of the public up to date on the county’s finances.

“It will help us to understand where we might be underfunding. It will help us to address the movement of money throughout the county. It will help us to anticipate some potential increases in costs that we may not have caught,” said Williams.

Bonner County Commissioners Luke Omodt, left; Asia Williams, center; and Steve Bradshaw, right. Photo by Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey.

The commissioners, members of the public, and Rosedale all expressed their support — with the clerk adding that the county presented quarterly budget updates until 2021, when a staffing change made it too difficult to keep up with the schedule.

“We can do that again. In fact, we have July’s done, but we can have October’s done by next week so everybody can see exactly where we are in real time,” said Rosedale.

There was some argument over whether or not the county could include the fairgrounds’ finances in these reports.

“Right now we still can’t see what the Fair Board’s doing, so we can’t vouch for anything the Fair Board’s doing. As far as the funds that we levy for the fair, and we spend for the fair, those would be included,” said Rosedale.

Although the county doesn’t have inherent access to all the fairgrounds’ funds, Williams said that she would personally attempt to obtain the required records for the quarterly meetings.

“There’s nothing wrong with calling the fair saying, ‘We’re doing a quarterly budget review. This is what we need you to present on this day. Please come,’” she said.

William’s motion passed unanimously.

The board tabled Williams’ final motion to archive all public records requests and responses on the county’s website — which would make them available to all members of the public — pending legal review.

NEWS

Rebuilding home

By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff Contractors began work Nov. 13 on Phase 2 of the Pack River Delta wildlife restoration project, which includes the addition of eight islands and 10 borrow areas.

The work encompasses the central and southern portions of the delta — north of the BNSF railroad line — which are part of the Pend Oreille Wildlife Management Area, co-managed by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“The construction and operation of the Albeni Falls Dam altered the hydrology of Lake Pend Oreille, which resulted in the loss of wetland habitats in the Pack River delta,” Pete Rust, mitigation staff biologist for IDFG, told the Reader.

According to Rust, officials in 1988 estimated that the dam, which was completed in 1955, flooded approximately 6,600 acres of wetlands and marshes. Shallow waters are crucial for waterfowl, who require such habitat to forage for food.

“You can still see the old cedar stumps on the Clark Fork and Pack River deltas when the lake is lowered to winter levels,” said Rust.

IDFG completed phase 1 of the Pack River project in 2009, and Phase 2 will build on that work by

repairing and creating new islands using on-site sand and silt, and lining the banks with rock to prevent erosion.

“The ‘holes’ or ‘borrow areas’ where the island-making material comes from will be several feet deep, hold water longer throughout the fall and gain water earlier in the spring, which should provide resting areas for waterfowl and other migrating species,” said Rust.

IDFG will also line the habitat with more than 80,000 native plants, including willows and dogwoods.

“We are most hopeful that bull trout will benefit from the restoration work — as they are considered threatened under the Endangered Species Act — and their recovery depends on cold and clean water, as well as complex shoreline habitat,” said Jennifer Ekstrom, the North Idaho lakes conservation associate with the Idaho Conservation League.

“We also hope that other native fish like westslope cutthroat trout will benefit from this restoration.”

Based on observations from a similar project completed in April 2022 on the Clark Fork Delta, Rust believes that waterfowl will be the first to benefit from the restoration.

IDFG has begun early discussions of a third phase of the res-

Phase 2 of wildlife habitat restoration on the Pack River Delta

toration, which would potentially affect the area south of the railroad line. Officials estimate that Phase 2 will be completed in early spring 2024.

“Wetland areas are extremely valuable because they provide high-quality habitat for waterfowl, waterbirds and numerous other species of wildlife, as well as help to stabilize streambanks, improve water quality and contribute to the diversity and abundance of palustrine habitats [wetlands with vegetation that grows out of the water],” said Rust.

Because the delta is a popular spot among locals for hunting, trapping and other recreational activities, IDFG will also add a new access site off of Highway 200. This, according to the ICL, will include a small parking lot and gravel boat ramp.

“Ideally, the parking lot would be constrained to the area already encompassed by the existing pullout along the highway, and the boat ramp would be exclusively for non-motorized watercraft,” said Ekstrom. “This solution would ensure that increased motorboat traffic does not scare the fish, increase the risk of introducing or spreading invasive species or disturb sediment in the shallow areas.”

IDFG will hold a public hearing on Thursday, Nov. 30 at 5 p.m.

at the Sandpoint High School to discuss the restoration project and address any questions or concerns that residents may have.

For more information, visit: idfg.idaho.gov.

An aerial map showing the areas of impact in the Pack River Delta.

Photo courtesy of Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

Brian Riley announces candidacy for BoCo commissioner Dist. 1 seat

Seat is currently held by Commissioner Steve Bradshaw

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff The actions of the Bonner County board of commissioners have been tumultuous — to say the least — and now comes a challenger to Dist. 1 Commissioner Steve Bradshaw’s seat, with Brian Riley announcing his candidacy in the May 2024 GOP primary.

In a news release, Riley highlighted his 25-year career with the Idaho Forest Group, via the Riley Creek Lumber Co. — from which he retired in 2021 after six years of managing operations in Laclede.

In addition, Riley has worked more than 10 years as manager of the Chilco and Laclede Facilities

Brian Riley. Courtesy photo.

Maintenance, Procurement and Filing departments.

He is the owner-operation of Riley Resources Log Hauling and Logging in Sagle.

Riley underscored his leader-

ship of 170 employees as a reason why voters should support him at the ballot box.

“The BOCC is essentially a three-legged stool designed to support our county’s residents interests along with providing guidance and support to the departments within the county that report to the Board of county commissioners,” he stated, adding that, “Honesty, integrity and the experience gained from listening to others input and perspectives,” have prepared him for a spot on the BOCC. Outside of politics, Riley stated that he has coached Sandpoint Little League and North Idaho American Legion baseball teams, and

volunteered for the Bonner County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue.

“Knowing that one ingredient that makes Bonner County special is its people,” Riley wrote that he has served on committees including Priest River Timber days, Winterfest and Timberfest in Sandpoint.

In the schools, Riley stated that he has worked to help local students gain training in professional trades, including apprenticeship partnerships between IFG and SHS, Priest River High School and Lakeland High School. He has also served on North Idaho College’s advisory boards in the Professional Trades.

“I have been a resident of

Bonner County for close to 38 years,” he wrote. “I attended Sagle Elementary, Sandpoint Middle School and graduated from SHS; my wife, Tania, and our two boys were born in Sandpoint. We live in a special place and as leaders, we need to be stewards to the communities of our county. This includes understanding we will continue to be a destination area for growth and tourism but to approach the challenges of this growth with a vision of keeping our rural roots intact and to represent all of the people of Bonner County.”

Further information about Riley can be found on the Facebook page: “Brian Riley for Bonner County Commissioner Dist 1.”

November 30, 2023 / R / 5

NEWS

City hosts Comp Plan open houses

By Reader Staff The city of Sandpoint hosted the first of two open house workshops Nov. 29 on the final draft of the Comprehensive Plan. The open houses have a drop-in format with City Council members, Planning and Zoning commissioners and city staff available to answer questions. The next gathering will be from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 7 at City Hall Council Chambers (1123 W. Lake St.).

According to the city, “The Comprehensive Plan is the community’s longrange vision for the future and provides a strategic framework for reaching the vision. Through the direction of specific goals and objectives, the plan will be used to guide land use regulations such as zoning and subdivisions, as well as funding decisions on other policies and programs.”

Work on the updated plan began in 2019 — 10 years after city officials

adopted the last plan — though the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a pause in 2020. The process restarted in 2022, focused on community vision, housing and neighborhoods. The city posted the draft document for online review and comment, and held an open house workshop on April 27. Further review and incorporation of comments from a joint City Council-Planning and Zoning Commission workshop, and a P&Z Commission public hearing have been included in the final draft.

The public is encouraged to review and provide input on the long-range document. Additional information on the planning process, and the final draft with all the appendices, can be found on tat sandpointidaho.gov/your-government/master-plans. The link to the draft document is available by selecting the Comprehensive Plan Update.

Online commenting closes on Friday, Dec. 8.

Sandpoint winter parking restrictions go into effect Dec. 1

By Reader Staff

Sandpoint residents and visitors alike should be advised that the city’s winter parking restrictions will be in effect beginning Friday, Dec. 1 through March 1, 2024.

In an effort to support snow removal efforts throughout the season, parking on the odd-numbered side of the street will be prohibited city wide — unless posted otherwise — and no parking will be allowed on either side of the street on emergency routes, as posted.

Additionally, vehicles may not be parked within cul-de-sacs, as posted, and snow must be cleared from vehicles parked on the street within 24 hours.

Residents will also be required to remove snow from their sidewalks within 24 hours of two inches of accumulation.

6 / R / November 30, 2023

When the snow finally flies and begins to stack up, crews will plow based on priority routes, with first priority including major residential thoroughfares like Boyer, Ella, Olive, Division and South Lincoln avenues; Larch, Cedar, Pine and Ontario streets; Schweitzer Cutoff Road, Woodland Drive and Great Northern Road; as well as a number of surface streets in north and south Sandpoint.

Emergency snow routes are also first priority and coincide with the most heavily trafficked city streets. Second priority routes are the remainder of residential streets, while third-priority will be centered on the downtown core.

For more information on the city’s snow removal policy — including a detailed map of priority snow plowing routes — go to bit.ly/3R05lXy.

Bits ’n’ Pieces From east, west and beyond

East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact.

A recent sampling: The Drug Enforcement Agency uncovered a “massive fentanyl distribution network” that led to the arrest of 23 defendants, ABC reported. Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for those 18 to 45.

The Congressional Fiscal Commission to make recommendations for balancing the federal government’s budget begins this week in the House. The Alliance for Retired Americans opposes the Commission, which appears prepared to cut Social Security and Medicare; they note that, “Social Security cannot, by law, contribute to the national debt.”

“These bills are built on the flawed … premise that we need to cut earned benefits rather than strengthen and expand them,” the Alliance stated.

In the past, House Speaker Mike Johnson favored raising the retirement age and reducing cost-of-living adjustments. According to CNN, raising Social Security payroll taxes is missing from cost-cutting proposals. Advocates for the program suspect some lawmakers will hide behind the commission to dodge blame for benefit cuts.

New UN climate data shows the planet rapidly heading toward 5.4 Fahrenheit warming above pre-industrial levels. Axios noted that “this existential crisis should transcend politics,” but if climate-denying politicians gain the U.S. presidency in 2024, “the problem will drastically worsen.”

The Guardian reported on a study saying the richest 1% of humanity (totaling 77 million people) is responsible for more carbon emissions than the poorest 66%.

Study participant Oxfam wrote that taxing extreme wealth can effectively tackle climate issues as well as inequality.

The U.S. — the planet’s second-largest carbon emitter — is “poised” to extract more oil and gas in 2023 than ever before, despite 2023’s record heat, The Guardian reported.

While the Inflation Reduction Act boosted clean energy investments, the energy emissions should drop 3% this year. But that rate won’t help meet U.S. climate goals. A hurdle for U.S. President Joe Biden’s climate plan is the election year cycle: voters tend to favor low gas prices over climate stewardship. As well, this week’s Cop28 climate meeting does not appear inclined to significantly rein in

By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist

gas and oil companies. The summit’s president is the chief executive of the United Arab Emirates’ national oil company, and he favors phasing down industrial carbon emissions.

After 40 years of economic backsliding for the middle class, a push in the opposite direction was signified by the United Auto Workers’ recently ratified contract with General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. Employees will see wage increases of at least 25% over the next 4.5 years, cost of living increases, reopening of closed plants and union coverage for electric battery plants, various media reported.

More than a century after shipping activity began at the Panama Canal, drought is having a major impact on water levels used to transition ships through the area.

About 40% of the world’s cargo traffic could be affected, The New York Times reported.

Helped by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar, the recent Israel-Hamas ceasefire resulted in the release of hostages on both sides, ABC reported. The UN scaled up aid deliveries, but noted that 160 to 200 truckloads daily are “hardly enough.”

This week Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s office said he will be in Israel and the West Bank to discuss preventing expansion of the Israel-Gaza conflict, and creation of a safe and secure Palestinian state.

A Colorado district judge has ruled that former-President Donald Trump “engaged in an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021,” with the “specific intent to incite political violence” to disrupt “the electoral certification.” She said he can still be a candidate on the state’s 2024 ballot; her decision is being appealed.

Moore vs. U.S., now in the Supreme Court, could provide a $350 billion “tax windfall” to big corporations and wealthy individuals, Inequality Media reported.

A large concern to IM is that, so far, several of the justices have not recused themselves from hearing the case, despite having received “gifts” or owning stock in corporations that will benefit from a favorable ruling. Also, the ruling could block Congress from fairly taxing corporations and the ultra-wealthy, thus crippling government resources.

Blast from the past: Five of nine current Supreme Court justices were appointed by presidents who lost the national popular vote.

NEWS

Voter data shows California Republicans — not liberals — are flocking to Idaho

By Clark Corbin Idaho Capital Sun With almost 30,000 California expatriates leading the charge, the number of Republican voters moving from other states to Idaho dwarfs the number of Democrats moving here from other states.

A new data visualization report released Nov. 29 by the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office maps the party affiliation of 118,702 current Idaho voters who moved here from other states.

The data comes from Idaho voter records, specifically a line on the Idaho voter registration form that asks voters to list the address where they were previously registered, said Gabe Osterhout, with the Secretary of State’s Office.

The map that Osterhout generated using registration data for voters who moved from other states to Idaho resembles something of a Republican fever dream — a red wave in 48 of 49 states.

Regardless of where voters are coming from and how liberal that state is, Republican voters greatly outnumber Democratic voters moving here from every state except Vermont, the data show.

On the map, Vermont is shaded gray to reflect that 60 unaffiliated voters and 51 Democrats from Vermont outnumber the 50 Republican voters who moved from Vermont to Idaho.

Everywhere else is a sea of red, with Republicans outnumbering Democrats and unaffiliated voters moving to Idaho from every state.

According to the data, among all Idaho voters who moved here from out of state: • 77,136, or 65% are registered Republicans.

• 24,906, or 21% are unaffiliated.

• 14,711, or 12% are registered Democrats.

• 1,949, or 2% are a member of a third party, such as the Constitution Party or Libertarian Party.

Almost 30,000 Republicans have moved to Idaho from California The data appears to confirm one myth and bust another.

First — at least among registered voters — ex-Californians are leading the surge of people moving from other states to Idaho, and it isn’t even close.

The report shows that 39,558 Idaho voters moved here from California and 29,516 of those voters, or 75%, are Republicans.

That compares to only 3,940 California voters who moved here and registered as Democrats.

There are 11,047 ex-California voters registered as Republicans in Ada County alone.

The number of ex-Californians who are now registered Idaho voters is almost twice the number of registered voters that came from Washington, the state that sent the second-most voters to Idaho.

The report shows that 62% of the 20,199 Washington voters who moved to Idaho are Republicans.

But that new voter registration data refutes a common myth passed

KLT announces trails app

By Reader Staff

Kaniksu Land Trust announced Nov. 21 that it has two new tools for Pine Street Woods trail users.

Via WhatsApp, trail-goers can join the Kaniksu Land Trust Trails “community” to receive announcements from KLT regarding trail closures, wildlife sightings and other real-time updates that may affect visits to Pine Street Woods and other KLT properties.

Members cannot post comments in this community, but have the

option to message admins to report news to share in the app.

The Pine Street Woods WhatsApp Chat Group is for those who want to engage with other trail users, enabling them to share experiences, ask questions of the group, or find a trail buddy. Group members will receive announcements and alerts from the Kaniksu Land Trust Trails Community.

Everyone is welcome to join. Learn more at kaniksu.org/ whatsapp.

around Idaho that liberals are fueling the out-of-state growth and threaten to turn Idaho blue or purple. In fact, the data shows that the percentage of Republican voters coming from other states is greater than the percentage of Republicans who already live in Idaho.

Overall, 66% of the voters moving from all other states to Idaho registered as Republicans.

That compares to just 58% of Idaho voters who are registered as Republicans.

“There is a lot of misinformation floating around, especially about people coming from California and what their political views are,” Osterhout said in an interview. “I went in expecting more red than blue, but I wasn’t sure how much, and I’ve been fascinated to see just how red it is.”

The voter registration data visualization map Osterhout created allows people to click around through different states on the map and find out which cities voters are coming from and which Idaho counties they are moving to. For instance, more Californians moved to Ada County than anywhere else in Idaho. The data reports that 11,047 ex-Californians moved to Ada County and registered as Republicans, versus 1,976 ex-Californians who moved to Ada County and registered as Democrats.

It’s no surprise that conservative voters from progressive states are moving to Idaho. Several real estate agents are marketing Idaho homes to conservatives living in heavily populated, progressive states like California, Washington and Oregon, the Associated Press reported in 2022.

Jaclyn Kettler, a Boise State University political scientist who researches and teaches about government and elections, said the data is helpful for taking stock of how Idaho’s rapid growth has affected the state.

Fueled by people moving from other states, Idaho was the second-fastest growing state in the country in 2022 one of the fastest growing states in the county between 2010 and 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Kettler said Osterhout’s find-

ings are in line with survey data and other reports she has seen.

“It is really important to understand this growth and its effect on state politics,” Kettler said. “Any additional data source we can gain is helpful to better explore and understand that, especially in states where we don’t have as much public opinion or survey data as larger states.”

Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane presented the voter registration data Nov. 29 at the Associated Taxpayers of Idaho annual conference in downtown Boise.

In an interview with the Idaho Capital Sun, McGrane said he hopes sharing the report will lead to increased voter participation in Idaho elections, particularly primary elections.

“One of the big things is this uses data to show what is actually happening,” McGrane said. “The other part is it really shows how significant participation in our primary elections is.”

The Idaho Legislature passed a closed primary law in 2011 that means voters cannot participate in a political party’s primary election unless voters are affiliated with that political party. The closed primary law makes it so that primary elections are closed unless a political party specifically notifies the Secretary of State’s Office that it wants to open its primary election to other voters. During the most recent primary election in 2022, only the Idaho Democratic Party opened its primary election to all voters. The Republican, Libertarian and Constitution Party primary elections were all closed, the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office previously told the Sun. Because of Republican majorities and decades of political dominance by the GOP, many of the state’s elections are effectively decided during the closed Republican primary elections, not the general elections.

A coalition of groups, including Reclaim Idaho and Mormon Women for Ethical Government, is gathering signatures for a ballot initiative seeking to end Idaho’s closed primary elections. They hope to replace it with a top-four

primary election that is open to all candidates and all voters and a ranked-choice system for the general election, where voters pick their favorite candidate and can rank the remaining three candidates on their ballot in order of preference.

What does Idaho voter registration data tell us?

The voter registration data from the Secretary of State’s Office doesn’t tell the full story of Idaho’s growth. First, it only deals with adults who are registered voters — not the state’s entire population. Second, the data doesn’t address voters who moved out of Idaho to another state. Depending on how they fill out their voter registration card, the data may not reflect voters who moved from another state to Idaho and then moved again to a different county in Idaho. For that reason, the number of out-of-state voters may actually be higher than what is included in the report.

The data is based on the files from all current registered voters in Idaho, so it doesn’t include a timing element to show when voters moved to Idaho. The data is current as of Monday and dates back to 2004, following Congress’ passage of the Help America Vote Act, which requires states to establish statewide voter registration systems.

Prior to 2004, voter registration in Idaho was handled at the county level, McGrane and Osterhout said.

U.S. Census Bureau data and Department of Motor Vehicle data and public policy surveys also provide additional context to understanding Idaho’s rapid growth that isn’t included in the voter registration data, Osterhout and Kettler said.

This story was produced by Boise-based nonprofit news outlet the Idaho Capital Sun, which is part of the States Newsroom nationwide reporting project. For more information, visit idahocapitalsun.com.

November 30, 2023 / R / 7

NEWS

Idaho’s infant, mother death rate is rising, new report finds

Idaho Kids Covered report recommends state legislators revamp Medicaid coverage for children and mothers

By Kyle Pfannenstiel Idaho Capital Sun A new report released Nov. 28 found children and mothers are dying in Idaho at an increasing rate. Reforming Medicaid coverage in the state could make a difference, it suggested.

All key health indicators have worsened since last year, when Idaho Kids Covered released its first report on the health of Idaho children and mothers.

The mortality rate for mothers rose 121.5%, while the rate for children rose 18%, the report found. Idaho’s maternal mortality rate in 2021 was 40.1 deaths per 100,000 births, compared to 18.1 deaths per 100,000 births in 2019.

Seventeen Idaho women died while pregnant or within one year of pregnancy in 2021. Idaho’s maternal mortality rate is below the national average, which has grown in recent years.

One hundred seventeen infants died in Idaho in 2021, compared to 97 in 2019, according to state records.

“Moms and children in Idaho are dying at an alarming rate,” said Ivy Smith, health policy associate at Idaho Kids Covered.

The report recommended overhauling Medicaid coverage for children and pregnant women by updating income cutoffs that haven’t been adjusted in decades and extending postpartum coverage to match what other states are doing.

The report painted a grim picture for Idaho mothers: • One in five Idaho moms didn’t receive prenatal care in the first trimester of their pregnancy.

Women of color got prenatal care even less.

• Three in 10 Idaho moms lacked health insurance before becoming pregnant.

• One in four Idaho moms had moderate to severe postpartum de8 / R / November 30, 2023

pression soon after birth — above the national average of 13%.

• One in five Idaho moms weren’t screened for depression during prenatal visits. More than half of pregnant women with depression never sought treatment.

And for Idaho children: • More than one in 10 Idaho infants and toddlers did not see a doctor for a well-child exam in 2021.

• Eighty-five percent of Idaho kids aged 9-35 months didn’t get a recommended developmental screening.

Idaho Legislature disbanded maternal death review committee this year The report comes months after Idaho lawmakers disbanded a committee to review maternal deaths in June, making Idaho the only state without such a committee. The committee previously found that most maternal deaths were preventable. The report called for the committee to be reinstated.

More than half of all pregnancy-related deaths in Idaho in 2021 happened between 43 days and a year after birth, the report said. In Idaho, pregnant women only receive Medicaid coverage up to 60 days after they give birth. That’s not the norm. Forty-six states offer postpartum coverage one year after birth. In all states except Idaho, pregnant women also have higher income eligibility cutoffs for Medicaid.

Early work to implement at least one of the report’s findings is already underway. The Department of Health and Welfare, Idaho’s largest government agency that runs Medicaid, requested funds in its budget request to implement 12 months postpartum Medicaid coverage, agency spokesperson AJ McWhorter told the Idaho Capital Sun. Budget requests are only one

step of the process. Idaho Gov. Brad Little still needs to draft his proposed budget, and the Idaho Legislature needs to appropriate the funds The state health department also agreed that bringing back the maternal mortality committee would help.

“We agree that the reinstatement of the Maternal Mortality Review Committee would help in the identification of the causes [of] Idaho-specific maternal deaths and Idaho-specific recommendations that could be made to prevent future deaths and potential maternal morbidity due to pregnancy-related issues,” McWhorter said.

Idaho’s House Majority Leader Megan Blanksma told ProPublica earlier this year that she was working on bills to improve prenatal and postpartum care.

Why is Medicaid important for Idaho children and mothers?

Medicaid offers insurance to people with low incomes and disabilities. The program has wide-reaching impacts for mothers and children.

Nearly one-third of Idaho mothers were on Medicaid when they gave birth last year. Medicaid coverage is even higher for births in rural Idaho. For instance, 48% of births in Lemhi County in-

volved mothers covered by Medicaid. And half of all people enrolled in Idaho Medicaid are children.

Children have higher income eligibility cutoffs, but the report says they don’t go far enough.

Medicaid coverage should be revamped for children and pregnant women in a number of ways, the report recommended — including extending postpartum coverage and raising income eligibility cutoffs to get more in line with policies in other states.

About half of all Idahoans on Medicaid are children, the report said. And for patients who become pregnant, Medicaid is a crucial option because anyone can enroll any time, Smith said. That’s unlike private insurance, where people have a window of a few weeks each year to enroll.

“In Idaho right now, it is really hard to find quality and timely access to maternal health care and reproductive health care,” Smith said. “And with the statewide provider shortages, we must do all we can to ensure that Idaho moms have access to health care when they need it.”

Idaho, like other states, is reevaluating the eligibility of all people on Medicaid for the first time since the pandemic, after federal protections barring eligibility reviews ended. Idaho officials

Courtesy photo. have reportedly removed at least 121,000 people from Medicaid.

But recently, thousands of Idahoans removed from Medicaid have gotten back on the program.

Seventy-thousand Idahoans removed from Medicaid this year were children, the report stated. At least 51,000 kids were removed for not replying to the state’s requests for information, Smith said. That means state officials weren’t able to verify that they were ineligible for Medicaid. And that’s likely growing the number of Idaho children who are uninsured, Smith said, which was last recorded at 28,100.

Idaho children are eligible for Medicaid if their household income is at 190% of the federal poverty limit. But in more than one-third of states, families could earn 300% of the federal poverty limit — or a little more than onethird more — and children would still be eligible for Medicaid.

This story was produced by Boise-based nonprofit news outlet the Idaho Capital Sun, which is part of the States Newsroom nationwide reporting project. For more information, visit idahocapitalsun.com.

PERSPECTIVES

Making it to the manger

Why are women in Nicaragua more likely to survive childbirth than women in the U.S.?

By Becca Renk Foster Reader Contributor It wasn’t quite a manger, but after I was born, my parents wrapped me in swaddling clothes and laid me in a dresser drawer lined with a blanket. They had a crib prepared for me at home, but home was a log cabin in the woods more than an hour away on a bumpy road. So, when my mom and I were released from the hospital, they brought me to an upstairs room they had rented from the widow Mrs. Long in Sandpoint. They had gone into town to wait there until it was time to go to the hospital, and we would also spend the next couple of days there until my mom and I were well enough to make the journey.

In 1977, with CB radios as their only form of communication in the mountains, it was dangerous for my mom to make the trip to the hospital while in labor — and even more dangerous to give birth out in the wilds of North Idaho.

Today, it remains true that pregnancy and childbirth can be dangerous, but 80% of maternal deaths are entirely preventable.

Nicaragua, where I now live, has proved this over the past 15 years: Despite being one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, it has managed to reduce maternal mortality by 70% and infant mortality rates by 56%.

Through the country’s universal free health care system, all prenatal, childbirth and postnatal care in Nicaragua is offered countrywide free of charge: C-sections; premature births; neonatal ICU stays; and, incredibly, even fetal surgeries are all free.

Home births, previously common — especially in rural areas — are now nearly unheard of. Ninety-seven percent of all births are in hospitals. Lay midwives, who once attended home births, have now been incorporated into the health care system to provide prenatal and in-hospital birth support.

Nicaragua has built 25 new hospitals and remodeled 46 since 2007 to make giving birth in a hospital a possibility even for rural families. Respect for Nicaragua’s diverse cultures has been incorporated into new hospital birthing facilities, so that Indigenous women can safely give birth squatting or standing up — the way that women in their communities have traditionally given birth.

For parents who still live far from hospi-

tals, a network of 181 maternal wait homes around the country provide space for nearly 70,000 women per year to stay near a hospital for the final two weeks of their pregnancy. Food, housing and vocational training are provided free of charge; women rest and are checked by medical staff regularly; and, when they go into labor, they give birth safely in the hospital next door.

More than four decades after my mother went to stay in town with Mrs. Long in her self-made maternal wait home, the situation for women in rural Idaho hasn’t improved — in fact, it has gotten worse.

Today, Nicaraguans are less likely to die during pregnancy than Idahoans, although both countries have significant rural populations. Nicaragua had 31.4 deaths compared to Idaho’s maternal mortality rate of 40.1 deaths per 100,000 births in 2021, up from 13.6 in 2019. What is behind this sudden leap in maternal mortality?

In March of this year, the hospital where I was born — Bonner General Hospital — announced it would stop attending births.

The hospital said that it simply can’t find doctors willing to staff an obstetrics unit in Idaho. Doctors are worried that providing routine care for a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy could violate Idaho’s strict abortion laws, causing them to lose their license or even go to prison.

With this closure, the nearest hospital with perinatal care is now at least an hour away. But many families in rural North Idaho are low-income, lacking health insurance and with limited access to reliable transport. For these families, the journey to the hospital might be as long as three hours in

good weather, and longer in a North Idaho winter. To put it simply, there are women and babies who will die.

Unfortunately, while Idaho’s case is extreme, it is not alone: according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, maternal mortality rates increased by 40% in 2021 across the U.S. How is it that a third-world country like Nicaragua has better maternity care than the richest country in the world? The answer is that the Nicaraguan government has the political will to provide that care. Eradicating maternal and infant mortality has been a top priority in Nicaragua for the past 15 years, and that policy has been carefully followed up on at all levels.

The director of the local hospital where I live in Ciudad Sandino, Nicaragua — population 200,000 — recently told me the story of a local pregnant woman with preeclampsia. This young woman went to the local free health clinic with a headache and when the staff took her blood pressure it was very high. Over the next few hours, several dozen health care workers from local lay workers right up to the Minister of Health herself followed up to save the life of this mother and her baby, with the hospital director personally going to the patient’s home to transport her to the maternity hospital in Managua for specialized care.

For Nicaragua’s health care system, a pregnant woman or her baby dying was an unacceptable outcome, and health care workers took every possible measure to prevent that. The result of this is that only one pregnant woman has died in Ciudad Sandino in the past three years — nation-

Left: a proud Nicaraguan mother smiles with her infant.

Right: A nurse in a Nicaraguan hospital smiles next to a newborn baby. Photos courtesy of the author. wide, only 37 women died last year in a country of just more than 7 million people.

Each death was investigated and the details are available to the public.

Meanwhile, this past July, Idaho — with its 1.9 million people — became the only state in the nation with no legal requirement or specialized committee to review maternal deaths related to pregnancy.

As winter falls on Idaho with its icy roads, heavy snowfalls and treacherously long journeys to the hospital, I pray that there is a legion of Mrs. Longs who can rent rooms near the hospital to expecting families. Or better yet, that Idahoans begin to follow Nicaragua’s example of maternal wait homes. Because if nothing changes, too many mothers in Idaho won’t live to lay their new babies in a manger.

Becca Renk Foster was born at Bonner General Hospital and raised in Sandpoint.

She graduated from Sandpoint High School in 1995. She has been living and working in sustainable community development with the Jubilee House Community and its project the Center for Development in Central America (jhc-cdca.org) since 2001. She educates about Nicaragua through study trips as coordinator of the Casa Ben Linder in Managua and lives in Ciudad Sandino with her husband and two daughters.

November 30, 2023 / R / 9

‘Principles be damned’… ‘And yet we hope’…

Bouquets: GUEST SUBMISSION: • “North Idaho Mountain Sports Education Fund would like to offer a big cheers to the generosity shown by their individual and corporate donors, Schweitzer, its Ski and Ride employees and the NIMSEF volunteers. Everyone came together earlier this month to outfit 75 kids with ski/snowboard gear, season passes and lessons for the 2024-’25 season. As our community’s economic demographics tilt toward retirees and vacation-home owners, NIMSEF represents hope for local kids, disabled people and U.S. veterans who wouldn’t otherwise be on the slopes. Learn more at nimsef.com.”

— By Barry Campbell • A Bouquet goes out to the Sandpoint city staff members responsible for putting up the holiday lights along our downtown streets.

Sandpoint transforms into a quaint winter hamlet with the addition of these lights. I always enjoy driving through the festive town at night during the holiday season.

Barbs: • It was with some dismay that I realized Dec. 1 is coming up, which means we townies who live on the odd-numbered sides of the street will magically have to figure out a new place to park our vehicles until March 1. This policy, enacted last winter, prohibits any parking on the odd-numbered sides of the street — 24 hours a day, seven days a week — whether there is snow on the ground or not. As one might surmise, I’m not a fan. It’s a pain for people who don’t have driveways or garages in which to park their vehicles. Also, when the opposite side of the street is a four-hour zone, it means some have to park quite a distance from home, which is annoying when there isn’t a lick of snow on the ground for weeks at a time. I know it must be frustrating for plow drivers to deal with abandoned vehicles after storms, but there has to be a better system than this. Perhaps instead of always punishing drivers on the odd-numbered side, they could alternate prohibited sides.

10 / R / November 30, 2023

Dear editor, With the November election having passed, political activity usually transitions to the next election(s). The Republican presidential caucus is set for March 2, 2024. and the primary election in May of 2024. According to BCRCC Chairman Scott Herndon, the official Republican bonnergop. org website is weeks overdue in identifying party caucus requirements needing to be met by Dec. 31, 2023.

Speaking of the next elections, state Rep. Sage Dixon hasn‘t advised North Idaho Legislative District 1 voters, local Republican leadership and media of his future political office campaign intentions through Thanksgiving Day. Perhaps Rep. Dixon could confirm or dispel two rumors: First, he is running for Bonner County commissioner to implement former-Commissioner Dan McDonald’s unfinished county growth business. Second, Congressman Russ Fulcher seeks to hand the federal decay and booty to Dixon.

Apparently, Dixon’s intended “public service” is only a local secret, as lobby groups in Boise already know of Dixon’s intention of not running for state representative in 2024.

Why are local constituents and media last on Dixon’s political agenda?

Regardless, two-thirds of the BCRCC — comprised of Chairman Herndon and Activated Christians, who knock on doors for Legislative District 1 offices — have moved past Dixon’s communication failure(s) in prematurely selecting state representative candidates for the LD1A and LD1B offices, by violating IDGOP Rule Article IX, Section 1: “endorsements may only be made by a majority vote of the voting members and available to all eligible candidates, [candidacy deadline is mid-March] for any given office being endorsed.”

Principles be damned for the cause!

Dan Rose Grouse Creek

Dear editor, Robert Frost squints into the sunshine as he recites from memory, “The Gift Outright.” Our black-and-white TV magically puts us there as our country carries out its most sacred tradition, the peaceful transfer of power. I am 11 years old. I know it is an historic occasion. Hope is palpable.

Three years later, three rifle shots. Our eighth-grade teacher had heard it on her car radio. Black-and-white images of the open convertible in Dallas, Texas. The widow with two little children. The flag-draped casket on the funeral caisson.

No explanations. No reason. No answers.

Grief. Frustration. Anger.

Disbelief. Confusion.

And yet we persevered.

And yet we continued. And yet we hope.

Steve Johnson Sagle

Lowdown local politics…

Dear editor, Hooray, it’s Tuesday morning! It’s time for the latest installment of the Bonner County commissioners reality show. Sit back, relax and watch on YouTube as ardent conservatives pray for amity and wisdom, then tear each other apart. Watch angry citizens gang up against one side or the other. Watch a shebear protect her cub. Watch an elected official try to defend his maligned reputation.

Watch a county commissioner claim she fears assassination by another commissioner unless an armed guard is standing by. Watch the other commissioner claim he’s been victimized by perjury in court.

Watch as perplexing political alliances are born.

Yes, sit back, relax and shake your head in wonder; then pity the county where the level of local governance has fallen so low.

Mike Brown Kootenai

PERSPECTIVES

Idahoans value Medicaid; GOP should follow their lead Rep. Lauren Necochea, D-Boise Reader Contributor

With the holiday season upon us, I’m reminded of the ways in which we care for one another. One of the best ways we do this as Idahoans is through Medicaid. It provides necessary care for our children, pregnant Idahoans, seniors who need nursing home care, and both adults and children with disabilities. Medicaid delivers developmental screenings to our kids, substance use disorder treatment, cancer care and much more.

And it demonstrates a fundamental belief we share: We never want Idahoans to go without health care due to an inability to pay.

Idaho voters continue to express strong support for Medicaid. They passed Medicaid expansion in 2018 with 61% in favor and the policy has only become more popular. Recent polling commissioned by Idaho Voices for Children shows that 73% of voters favor keeping Medicaid expansion. Additionally, voters resoundingly oppose cuts to Medicaid services.

Unfortunately, Idaho’s Republican supermajority isn’t getting the message. They have made repeated attempts to roll back Medicaid expansion and take coverage away from Idahoans, chronically underfunded Medicaid services and threatened to make cuts to a critical lifeline.

Today’s direct care worker crisis illustrates what happens when budget setters starve a crucial service. Direct care workers help seniors and individuals with disabilities with daily tasks, like eating and dressing themselves.

This support allows Idahoans to live independently in their homes and is typically funded through Medicaid.

But a new report from the Office of Performance Evaluation reveals that this workforce faces a 3,000-person shortage and workers can earn 3639% higher wages in other industries.

Idahoans requiring this assistance can be forced into the more costly and less desirable option of moving into an institution when there are no direct

Rep. Lauren Necochea. File photo.

care workers available.

There are clear steps the Idaho Legislature must take to protect Idahoans who rely on Medicaid.

First, we must bolster reimbursement for Medicaid services, especially direct care workers, so that Idahoans can live as independently as possible.

We should also reject proposals that cut Medicaid services.

Second, we need to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage to mothers for one year after birth. This is a key recommendation that Idaho’s Maternal Mortality Review Board made after studying how we can best prevent maternal deaths in our state.

Third, we must reject attempts to dismantle Medicaid expansion.

Too many Republican politicians prioritize their anti-government ideology over people’s needs. And while some lawmakers do not believe that the public sector should solve problems and help Idahoans access health care, voters clearly do.

Voters want to ensure a strong Medicaid program is there when they, their loved ones and their neighbors need it. Idaho Democrats will continue working to protect and strengthen Medicaid to keep all Idahoans healthy.

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

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

Right: National Nurse Practitioner Week was Nov. 13-18, and this photo shows a group of NPs who work in Region 1 (back row, left to right) Michelle Anderson, Lynn Wood, Tammy Undiemi, Erin Bass, Paige Russell, Rene Mottoh, Briana Williamson (front row, left to right): Cynthia Dalsing, Alysha Enbom, Kathy Robertson, Whitney Lilly. Photo courtesy of Cynthia Dalsing.

Bottom left: Jim Howes snapped this photo of a beautiful winter sunset recently in Hope, showing Cottage Island and Pearl Island right behind it.

Bottom right: Honey Bell, a breed of cat known as a Rug Hugger, enjoys her first Christmas tree. Photo by Kinley Blu. We love publishing your photos! Send us more. Include your name, a brief caption and any other info you’d like to share. Send to ben@sandpointreader.com

November 30, 2023 / R / 11

Mad about Science:

Brought to you by:

book binding

By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist Book binding is an art that goes back to at least the fifth century B.C.E. This process could be even older but we don’t have a historical record of it — paper is notoriously fragile, after all. The actual process of binding together a book has evolved considerably alongside technology, though the core principles of how it’s done and what materials are used are relatively unchanged.

Rather than making one book at a time, we’re now pulling together thousands of books over the course of a day with the help of machines. Because of this, today’s article will focus on the process of creating a single book rather than breaking down the manufacturing process in a factory.

If you’re curious about the technology behind a book factory, there are numerous videos available online which are easily viewable from your local library.

The first step of the process is to procure paper. If the words have already been printed on the paper, the pages need to be gathered and placed in their proper order. The pages are gathered into small bundles — often in six or fewer sheets when done by hand — and sewn together at the spine with small bits of fine thread. Multiple stacks are weighted down, measured and sewn together into a single mass to create the core of the book.

Thread alone won’t be able to hold the book together over years of reading, so a strip 12 / R / November 30, 2023

of linen is then glued onto the spine. This cloth strip is smoothed out with a straight edge to keep it tight to the spine. A book binder will then place a sheet of wax paper on either side of the book, then use a screw press or vice to press the book together while the glue dries. The glue used by bookbinders is polyvinyl acetate, which is essentially Elmer’s glue. The drying process can take anywhere from 20 minutes to 20 hours, depending on the type of glue used, thickness of the book and other environmental factors.

The hard covers of the book are added to the front and back of the book. The bookbinder will straighten the covers so that they perfectly match. They will then glue the covers to the first and last pages of the book — in some cases, these are the endpapers — the blank pages at the beginning and end of the book, which we will examine later in more detail.

Another strip of thicker fabric is then glued to the spine to bind the covers together. Again, the book is pressed by a screw press, vice or a heavy object.

Sometimes, this is reinforced by a strip of cardboard that is glued to the fabric as well — this is the portion your hand will likely spend the bulk of its time resting against while you’re reading the book.

A decorative cover is the penultimate step of the book binding.The bookbinder may cut slits into the corners of the decorative cover to keep it from moving around the cover too much. In some cases, the cover is glued on or adhered as a sticker, but this is fairly rare in

traditional bookbinding.

The final step is to glue the endpapers to the interior of the cover at the beginning and end of the book to conceal anything the decorative cover leaves exposed. These endpapers traditionally exist to protect the book from wear and tear, primarily from a reader’s hands. Sometimes, an author may include artwork or maps to make full use of the endpapers.

Each time the book is glued, the bookbinder will perform a flex test on the book. This involves completely opening the book to ensure the glue is holding the book together and loose pages aren’t falling out.

This will damage the book once it’s finished, but it’s an important step while the book is being bound or the reader may be greeted by an unfortunate surprise just as the plot is getting good.

Much of this is the same in a factory setting, but the initial page assembly process is vastly different. Factories use large sheets of paper and will press a mirrored text or image block onto these huge pages. This mirrored image will often have multiple copies of the same page, as these large sheets are cut down to specification later.

This helps save time and allows the factory to buy larger quantities of paper with fewer sheets of paper delivered.

The pages are sorted later, where they’re dropped into place on an assembly line and then fitted together later. The major drawback to mass-production of books in a factory is that if a relatively minor error sneaks into the process at any point, an entire batch will

reflect that error.

Found an ink smudge in your favorite Evanovich book?

There are probably thousands of others just like it out there.

Are you curious to learn about mending a book that’s already been bound? While the library doesn’t offer mending as a service, we will be hosting a book mending workshop on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 2 p.m.

as part of the library’s Natural Connections series. It will be presented by the library’s in-house mender, Rhela. She works hard to make sure that you get to enjoy every library book as it was intended, even in the face of hundreds of circulations.

I’m looking at you, Little House on the Prairie.

Stay curious, 7B.

Random Corner Don’t know much about world • World War I — which raged from July 28, 1914 until Nov. 11, 1918 — was the first war of its scale.

By the war’s end, more than 30 countries had joined the conflict.

There were 20 million deaths spread among 9.7 million military personnel and about 10 million civilians, as well as 21 million wounded in the conflict.

• Tensions were already high in Europe prior to the onset of war, but the last straw was the assassination of Austro-Hungarian heir, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, by a Serbian anarchist. Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia and the war began.

• The war was between the Central powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire) versus the Allies (France, Serbia, Italy, Russia, the U.K., Japan and, later, the U.S.).

• The war brought four empires to ruin. The German, Russian, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires collapsed, resulting in the formation of many independent republics, including Austria, Estonia, Lithuania and Turkey.

• WWI was the first war to take

war I? We can help!

place in the air, on land and at sea.

• The British built the first armored tanks used in WWI. The first time a tank entered the battlefield was on Sept. 15, 1916 at the Battle of the Somme.

• Popular German dishes were called by different names in the U.S. during WWI. Hamburgers became “Liberty Sandwiches” and sauerkraut was renamed “Liberty Cabbage.” Even German Shepherds were often called by their English name, Alsatian shepherds.

• One particularly nasty weapon used during the war was the flechette, a metal dart roughly five to eight inches long with a sharp pointed end and small stabilizing fins. Invented by the Italians but first used in WWI by the French, pilots would drop hundreds of flechettes at a time over their enemies’ trenches.

• The bedroom of deceased French soldier Hubert Rochereau, who died during the war, was left unchanged by his grieving parents.

They even made a contract so that successive owners of the property would maintain the untouched bedroom for 500 years.

PERSPECTIVES

The mating game A love story

By Dick Sonnichsen Reader Contributor And God said, “It is not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18), thus, initiating mating rituals that remain today — men and women engaged in sometimes intimidating dramaturgy to attract a potential spouse.

My own experience with these primitive customs was a prolonged, depressing, existential crisis with large doses of uncertainty and perplexity that had a numbing effect on my mind and body.

Through high school, college, post-college work and military time, I experienced a poverty of romantic encounters due to serial residency in predominantly male environments.

I began my odyssey with the opposite gender in high school as a sexually bewildered, pubescent teenager. My libido was awakened and raging hormones took up residency in my mind, devouring all common sense and any pragmatic brain cells separating reason from ignorance. In my senior year, I dated one girl in particular on a

fairly regular basis, but she started college, discovered a law student and unceremoniously dumped me.

Women one. Me zero.

I enrolled at the University of Idaho and quickly discovered I was attending an essentially allmale school. The gender selection ratio was overwhelming in favor of females — four men for every woman. One bizarre and humiliating ritual of the extraordinarily byzantine college dating culture was the coke date. Women would agree to meet potential partners at the Student Union Building for a coke, conversation and a diagnostic evaluation designed to determine if you were deserving of their companionship. I learned I had a low threshold for rejection and its associated pain and quickly abandoned the practice.

I didn’t own a car, was not an athlete, thespian, musician or member of a fraternity. As a forestry major, I wandered the campus outfitted in a plaid shirt, jeans and work boots, fully conversant in the adverse effects of fungi and insect infestations on timber stands. Hardly Mr. Excitement.

Finding a date for the For-

esters’ Ball was a humbling and exasperating experience. As you might imagine, this dance was not the No. 1 stellar social occasion on the fall party circuit. I finally asked a girl who was dating a friend of mine and she agreed after I assured her that foresters wore suits and ties to dances.

My nearly nonexistent romantic life further deteriorated after college. After receiving my degree in forestry, I was hired by a lumber company, which consigned me to the woods during the week with loggers and trees as my only companions. Wandering the forest came to an abrupt halt one day when I was drafted into the Army, but there was little change in my romantic life. Loggers and trees were replaced with soldiers and rifles, the forest with living and eating in all-male military bases far from urban populations and women.

About a year after my assignment to Fort Bragg, N.C., a fellow soldier asked me if I wanted to accompany him to Baltimore for a New Year’s party. He was dating a girl he met there and she had a friend who wanted to have a party but was without a date. I had

reluctantly concluded that finding a mate was an intrinsically unreachable goal; but, still desperate for feminine attention, I eagerly accepted his invitation.

The dateless party-giver’s name was Sally. She easily met my first criterion — female — but there was so much more. She was attractive, tall, slender, vivacious, charming, smart and gregarious, with an elevated tolerance for lonely, quirky soldiers. Fortunately, she was also dork dyslectic. My world suddenly became unbelievably wonderful.

It was probably not love at first sight, but certainly intense like.

Submerged in joyful emotion, I was unconditionally smitten with her, captivated by her intense gravitational pull. I was experiencing a rush of desire. She, on the other hand, had a much higher threshold for “smitteness.” Her affection dispenser was slower to respond.

Since Baltimore was a six-hour drive and a three-day pass away, we had a truncated version of courtship. After a year of dating long distance using the now-prim-

itive communication modes of handwritten letters and phone calls from a booth near my barracks — whenever I could find enough quarters to feed the ravenous pay phone — I mustered out of the Army and suggested we get married. She was reluctant. I was unemployed, and she was feeling a responsibility to complete a Peace Corps commitment to teach English in Ethiopia for two years, During Peace Corps training, she had begun knitting a sweater for me. On the plane ride from New York to Madrid, her fellow volunteers asked what had become of “Blue Sweater.” She informed them of my marriage proposal and they convinced her to return and get married.

My tortuous journey of involuntary celibacy was over. She deplaned in Madrid and returned to fulfill my dreams, which she still does 59 years later.

Dick Sonnichsen is a longtime Sandpoint local and author of several books.

BGH annual Parade of Trees Helping health care workers continue their education

By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff

The Bonner General Health Volunteer Council will host its annual Parade of Trees from Monday, Dec. 4 through Thursday, Dec. 7, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the BGH classroom.

The fundraiser gives the public an opportunity to give back to the health care workers who take care of the community while enjoying 20 or more decorated Christmas trees.

Proceeds from the fundraiser go toward educational grants for employees and volunteers, which help cover the cost of necessities like books and travel.

“The imagination among the hospital staff [who decorate the trees] is unbelievable,” said Margo Johnson, who spearheads the event.

A volunteer at BGH for 25 years, Johnson has seen every style of tree — from the annual pink-festooned one to raise awareness for breast cancer to a rugged tree inspired by the reality TV show Duck Dynasty.

The mini-Christmas trees are sized for an office or table setting and will be auctioned off complete with additional decorations and presents.

Meanwhile, attendees can snack on free cookies and punch while they place their bids on the festive creations.

Photo by Margo Johnson.

“The trees are just one of my favorite parts of the year.

You’ve got to see them,” Johnson said.

November 30, 2023 / R / 13

COMMUNITY

Nov.-Dec. Parks and Rec. programming

By Reader Staff Sandpoint Parks, Recreation, and Open Spaces will be offering the following programming during the remainder of November and December of 2023: • Open gym basketball for adults and youth. Sundays at the Sandpoint High School Gym (410 S. Division Ave.) through March 10, 2024. (No open gym on Feb. 11).

Adults play 4:30-6 p.m., $3/player fee at the door. Youth (Grades 3-12) play 3-4:30 p.m. for free.

• Stories and S’mores in the Park.

Hosted by Sandpoint Parks and Recreation, Bonner County Historical Society and East Bonner County Library, Stories and S’mores features Local authors telling a story, while attendees have a s’more by the fire with the kids. Each month will feature a new winter park experience and author.

The next event will be Friday, Dec. 15, at Lakeview Park (901 Ontario St.). Attendance is free and no registration is required.

• Contra dance. Parks and Rec. partners with Emily Faulkner to bring this series, which runs the second Friday of each month. The Friday, Dec. 8 dance at Sandpoint Community Hall (204 S. First Ave.) will take place 7-10 p.m. No experience necessary, all ages are welcome and no partner needed. Beginners are encouraged to attend introductory dancing at 7 p.m. Wear comfortable, breathable clothing and bring non-marking shoes to change into for dancing. No outdoor shoes on the dance floor. A $5 donation is suggested for each dance.

• CPR/AED with optional first aid.

For ages 16 and older or ages 12-15 with an adult guardian. American Health and Safety Institute class for those who need CPR/ AED and or first aid card for work, OSHA requirements, school or personal knowledge. Register by Thursday, Nov. 30 for the Monday, Dec. 4 class. Located at Sandpoint City Hall Council Chambers (1123 Lake St.), class meets 4-6 p.m. for CPR/AED and 6-8 p.m. for first aid. Fee: $35 CPR/AED, with additional $25 first aid option.

• Adult coed volleyball league. Runs Monday-Tuesday, Jan. 8-9 and March 11-12, 2024. Play is at the Bonner County Fairgrounds MEB (4203 N. Boyer Ave.) at 6 p.m. Players will call (officiate) their own games. Only a gym supervisor will be supplied, no officials. Team registration is online with a $20 non-refundable fee to hold your team’s spot in the league. Fees are due in full by the captains’ meeting: Thursday, Dec. 14 at 5:30 p.m. in the City Hall council chambers (1123 Lake St.). Register by Sunday, Dec. 10. Fee: $350/team total.

• Game night with Sandpoint Lions Club. A FREE family game night at Community Hall (204 S. First Ave.) on Friday, Dec. 15. Event runs every third Friday of the month, through December, from 6-8 p.m. Both card games and board games will be available, or bring your own to share.

• Adaptive fitness classes for teens and adults. The Unique Center for Athletes of all Needs (UCAN) and Parks and Rec. partner to offer free fitness classes tailored to kids with disabilities ages 11-20. Youth classes are from 2:45 p.m.-3:45 p.m. on Wednesdays and classes for adults are from 1 p.m.-2 p.m. Thursdays through May 2024

at the UCAN gym, 1007 W. Superior St. in Sandpoint. The class aims to provide a safe, supportive and enjoyable environment.

Register online with UCAN ucansandpoint. org/book-online.

• Come work for Parks and Rec. Sandpoint Parks and Rec. is hiring the following part-time temporary positions: youth basketball coordinator, $15/hour and youth sports referee (basketball), $10-$12/hour. Youth basketball league runs Feb. 3-March 9, 2024, Little Dribblers basketball runs Wednesdays from February-March 2024. Apply online: governmentjobs.com/careers/sandpoint. Get more information at 208-263-3613.

Sandpoint Parks and Rec. also acts as a clearinghouse to connect the public with other recreational opportunities in the community. Visit the online activity catalog to view listings. Outside organizations and individuals wishing to list their activities are encouraged to contact the department with their program information at recreation@sandpointidaho.gov.

Register for any Parks and Rec. program at secure.rec1.com/ID/city-of-sandpoint/catalog, visit the office at City Hall (1123 Lake St.) or call 208-263-3613.

Auditions open for Sherlock at the Panida Theater Dover to hold first Winter Market

By Reader Staff

Auditions for the production of Sherlock — an original play by Teresa Pesce — will be held in the Panida Little Theater on Tuesday, Dec. 5, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Scripts for scenes will be provided.

Performance dates in the Panida main theater are planned for the second and

third weekends in April 2024.

The cast of 12 characters is Sherlock, Watson, Mycroft, Moriarty, Lestrade and Deputy Jamison; Mrs. Hudson and her friend Mrs. Perl; heiress Mary Penniman and her husband Derrick; funeral director Mr. Livingston and his assistant Miss Darcy.

14 / R / November 30, 2023

By Reader Staff The city of Dover, in cooperation with Nutlicious, is sponsoring the inaugural Winter Market in Dover.

There will be a wide selection of quality and custom items on offer, including jewelry, candles, handmade purses, hair accessories, spices and sauces, raw honey, wood

signs and kitchen items, greeting cards, handmade soaps, beverages including wine, a variety of food items including Nutlicious hazelnut spreads and more.

The event will take place at the Nutlicious location at 25820 Highway 2 in Dover on Friday, Dec. 8 and Saturday, Dec. 9 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. each day. All vendors will be indoors.

COMMUNITY

Museum ‘Repeal Party’ fundraiser marks 90th anniversary of Prohibition’s end kind of projects we’ll be able to do.”

Combs said proceeds will be directed toward generation operations, care and maintenance for the collection and exhibits There are few better ways to celebrate as well as the various education programs the 90th anniversary of the repeal of the the museum spearheads.

Prohibition than hanging out at one of the “We do a lot of school tours as part of oldest bars in town, listening to live period this program,” Combs said. “We give free music and while hearing local stories of tours for third- through 12th-graders, which the era from museum staff and volunteers. is free to the schools.”

The 1933 Repeal Party will take place from The museum also brings along a “trav5:30-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 5 at the eling trunk” filled with different artifacts 219 Lounge. for students to touch and examine closely.

The event is open to everyone 21 and Museum staff members older, and is one part fundraiser for the Bonner 1933 Repeal Party talk to students about local archeology, early pioneer County Historical Society and fundraiser families, mining and local and Museum, one part live Tuesday, Dec. 5, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Indigenous tribes, among music and two parts casual FREE, 21+. 210 Lounge, 219 N. other topics. gathering of individuals First Ave., 208-263-5673. Learn “Our newest education who value history — espemore about the museum at program is the adventure cially while sipping on a bonnercountyhistory.org. packs for kids who typically cocktail. come in with their family “This is our end of the and want to experience the museum exhibits year fundraiser,” Museum Executive Director Hannah Combs told the Reader. “This is from a kids’ perspective,” Combs said.

Kids will be given fishing vests with where we’ll plan for next year and see what

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

tiny pockets filled with items to help as they navigate through the museum to activity stations, where they’ll learn everything from how to read an Osborne Fire Finder to how to determine the different types of geological specimens from the region.

“Our staff and volunteers love going out and talking with our local students,” Combs said.

At the event, Combs said a few different speakers will share historic anecdotes of Prohibition in this area, as well as a slideshow of photos that will play on the big-screen TVs at the 219.

“As a historian, I love that this time period generated so many entertaining stories,” Combs said. “When most people think about Prohibition, they think about

places like Chicago, but the experience in a rural community like this would’ve been quite different. … [I]t was really hard to regulate and keep everyone above board when you only have so many sheriffs in town. Plus, with such a close proximity to Canada and a lot of back roads to smuggle booze along, there were constant antics, chases and blunders.”

Bright Moments Jazz band will perform live music from the 1920s-1930s, and the 219 bartenders have ginned up a few Prohibition cocktails for the occasion — including the Brown Derby and Hemingway’s Daiquiri. Period accurate costumes are encouraged, but not required.

November 30, 2023 / R / 15

POAC to host grand opening of new gallery with featured artist Jenny Benoit

By Reader Staff The Pend Oreille Arts Council will mark the grand opening of its new gallery at 313 N. Second Ave., Suite B, with a celebration Friday, Dec. 1 featuring the work of Jenny Benoit alongside other local artists.

Organizers stated in a news release that the opening of the gallery “marks a momentous occasion for POAC, as its new facility seamlessly combines offices, gallery, and classroom under one roof since relocating.”

The open house will run from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., with Benoit’s artwork providing an apt centerpiece. Recognized as POAC’s artist of the year, Benoit is “not merely an artist; she is a dynamic force of creativity, born with an expansive imagination and a relentless determination to perfect her craft,” according to the nonprofit artist organization.

“Visitors are not only invited to witness the awe-inspiring exhibit but also to engage with the phenomenal force that is Jenny Benoit.”

POAC Executive Director Tone Stolz added that Benoit’s work is “a must-see, and we’re not just unveiling a gallery;

16 / R / November 30, 2023

we’re revealing a space that encapsulates the heart of POAC … providing a vibrant hub for artistic expression and community engagement.”

The grand opening will also feature works by metal sculpture artist Dave Gonzo, jewelry maker Mary Gayle Young and ceramics by Silverpine Studios.

In addition to the gallery’s unveiling, visitors will have the chance to peruse POAC’s winter art class schedule and register for upcoming classes. The range of mediums, including weaving, painting, drawing, pastels and more, offers an array of opportu-

“Watchful,” by POAC Artist of the Year Jenny Benoit will be on display at POAC’s new location, 313 N. Second Ave.

nities for individuals to tap into their creative potential.

“We encourage everyone to join us for an evening of art, wine and community as we unveil not just a gallery but an inviting space that has been eagerly anticipated by the community,” Stolz added. “Come and explore the possibilities within our newly renovated, beautiful facility.”

For more information, visit artinsandpoint.org or call the office at 208-263-6139.

POAC Artist of the Year Jenny Benoit, left, and POAC Arts Coordinator Claire Christy, right, prepare the new gallery space for the Friday, Dec. 1 grand opening. Photo by Ben Olson

COMMUNITY

Idaho Trails Association kicks off membership drive

By Reader Staff As the holiday season approaches, Idaho Trails Association has announced the launch of its annual membership drive, which began on Giving Tuesday, Nov. 28.

The membership drive aims to rally outdoor enthusiasts, nature lovers and community-minded individuals to join hands in supporting the preservation and enhancement of Idaho’s trail network.

“We’re inviting everyone who values the great outdoors and wants to make a tangible impact on Idaho’s trails to become a part of our trailblazing community,” stated ITA Communications Director Kelly Hewes.

“Membership is not just a donation — it’s a declaration of love for our trails, ensuring they remain accessible and enjoyable for generations to come.”

The annual membership drive is a criti-

Courtesy photo. cal component of ITA’s efforts to fund trail projects across the state of Idaho in 2024, including special programs for youth, women and veterans. ITA memberships begin at $30 per year to join.

To join the Idaho Trails Association, visit idahotrailsassociation.org/membership.

November 30, 2023 / R / 17

events

Send event listings to calendar@sandpointreader.com November 30 - December 7, 2023 THURSDAY, november 30

Festival of Trees Friends and Family Night 4pm @ Bonner County Fairgrounds A free and festive kickoff to the holidays. View beautifully decorated trees and vote on your favorite gingerbread creation, get a pic with Santa and enjoy cookies and hot chocolate

Thursday Night Football 4:45pm @ The Hive 21+

Cribbage League 7-9pm @ Connie’s Lounge

Game Night 7pm @ Tervan Tavern

Bingo Night 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

FriDAY, december 1

Free Pictures with Santa Huckleberry Jam w/ Huck & Ali Allegro Dance Studio presents: 6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall 3+6pm @ Terra Bache State Farm The Nutcracker Stop by Suite C at 509 Fifth Ave. 7pm @ Panida Theater Songs from the 1950s-1970s to get pictures of the kiddos with Enjoy this holiday classic holiday Fine Art & Craft Fair santa. Cookies and hot cocoa! tradition put on by students of 10am-4pm @ Memorial Community Center (Hope) Allegro Dance Studio Live Music w/ Truck Mills Pop-up event featuring fine art and quality crafts from local artists, in6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority cluding sculpture, painting and more. Open every day until Dec. 3 Live Jazz w/ Ken Mayginnes Sandpoint blues and world music 5-8pm @ Drift (in Hope) Live Music w/ Rock Candy Band • 7-11:30pm @ The Hive Live Music w/ Jason Perry, Live Music w/ Steven Wayne After rocking CDA and the Inland NW for years, the Rock Candy Band Justyn Priest & Barry Gross 7-9pm @ The Back Door bar is making their Sandpoint debut. Get ready to dance for this FREE show 9pm-midnight @ 219 Lounge playing classic hits, pop, funk, disco and more World eclectic rock ’n’ roll Live Jazz w/ Bright Moments 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Eclectic jazz

SATURDAY, december 2

Live Music and Album Release Allegro Dance Studio presents: Live Jazz w/ The Endless Party w/ Chris Paradis The Nutcracker Switchbacks 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery 2 & 7pm @ Panida Theater 7-10pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Local musician Chris Paradis will reFestival of Trees: Winter Wonderland lease an album of 12 original songs.

5:30pm @ Bonner County Fairground Check out the album on Spotify unJoin the Community Resource EnVision Center for a holiday evening der the band name “Waterhouse” with dinner, cocktails, live auction, gifts and holiday music Live Music w/ Lauren Kershner Winter FunDrive with KRFY (Dec. 2-9) and Chris Lynch The annual fundraising effort for our community radio station. Call 6-9pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall in and pledge your support during your favorite radio shows, or make Live Music w/ Double Shot Band donations at KRFY.org. Live Radio Show on Dec. 9 7-9pm @ Connie’s Lounge Friends of the Library monthly book sale • 10am-2pm @ Sandpoint Library Great deals on all kinds of books and media. Christmas books featured on sale. Thank you for your support Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee Meets every Sunday at 9am Allegro Dance Studio presents: The Nutcracker 2pm @ Panida Theater

SunDAY, december 3

Magic with Star Alexander 5-8pm @ Jalepeño’s Up close magic shows at the table

Cookie Decorating w/ Sawyer’s Bakery 5:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

Cozy Crafts and Cocoa: Letters of Love 12-2pm @ Talus Rock Retreat A free jamboree Dec. 3, Dec. 10 and Dec. 17. Spread kindness with charming crafts, hot cocoa and write letters to Santa. Perfect for guests of all ages to embrace the season’s magic. talusrockretreat.com

monDAY, december 4

Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi Outdoor Experience Group Run 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub 6pm @ Outdoor Experience 3-5 miles, all levels welcome Weekly Trivia Night Lifetree Cafe • 2pm @ Jalapeño’s 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority “Evolutionary Christianity” With rotating hosts

Tipsy Trivia Tuesday at the Back Door 5:30-7:30pm @ The Back Door bar First glass regular price, second glass only $5

BGH Parade of Trees @ Bonner General Health BGH employees, volunteers and community members decorate trees with treasures and treats and donate them for auction. Bidding closes at 4pm on Dec. 7. Proceeds benefit the BGH Volunteer Council and Employee Education Fund

tuesDAY, december 5 1933 Prohibition Repeal Party and fundraiser for Bonner County History Museum 5:30-7:30pm @ 219 Lounge Celebrate the 90th anniverary of the Prohibition Repeal (see Page 15 for more info)

wednesDAY, december 6

Live Jazz w/ Jake Robin 7-10pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Live Piano w/ Dwayne Parsons 5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

Thursday Night Football 4:45pm @ The Hive 21+

Game Night 7pm @ Tervan Tavern

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Holiday Cottage Market 10am-2pm @ Sandpoint Senior Ctr. See Santa every Saturday in December. Raffles for gift baskets and a gingerbread chalet Holiday Ball Dance 7-10pm @ Sandpoint Comm. Hall Start with a one-hour waltz lesson, followed by general dancing.

Everyone welcome. $8 Live Music w/ Desperate 8’s 9pm-midnight @ 219 Lounge Rock, funk and blues

Cookie Decorating w/ Sawyer’s Bakery 5:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

ThursDAY, december 7

Cribbage League 7-9pm @ Connie’s Lounge

BY THE NUMBERS

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

$9.8 billion

The amount of money Americans spent on Black Friday this year from online shopping, up 7.5% from last year. This represents the biggest Black Friday in history. Adobe estimates U.S. shoppers spent a further $12.4 billion on Cyber Monday.

55.4 million

The number of people estimated to have traveled 50 miles or more for the Thanksgiving holiday this year, a slight increase from last year.

$1.2 million

The amount of money that more than half of Americans say would be enough for them to buy happiness, according to a new study.

Among those who participated in a survey, 32% said gaining $15,000 would have a meaningful impact on their lives. That rate rose to 42% when asked about a $25,000 increase. Nearly two-thirds reported that their income was not keeping up with inflation.

121.5%

The amount that Idaho’s mortality rate for mothers rose in 2021, amounting to 40.1 deaths per 100,000 births. The infant mortality rate also rose by 18%.

The report issued by Idaho Kids Covered comes after Idaho lawmakers in June disbanded a committee to review maternal deaths, making Idaho the only state in the nation without such a committee.

46 million

The estimated number of turkeys consumed on Thanksgiving this year across America. An estimated $1 billion was spent on the birds, and more than 290 million Americans ate turkey this year.

STAGE & SCREEN

Napoleonic

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff It’s tempting to say that the new film Napoleon, from director Ridley Scott, which premiered in theaters just before Thanksgiving, comes at an apt time — given how many strongmen and outright dictators have dominated our post-post-modern 21st-century political stage.

Just since the year 2000 we’ve seen the likes of George W. Bush, Saddam Hussein, Muamar Quaddafi, Osama bin Laden, Kim Jongs Il and Un, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump all enter stage left, exit stage right, and some (notably the latter three) remain in center stage.

Some draped themselves in medals, others have been self-styled revolutionaries and reformers, while most have played the role of the populist-turned-empire builder. But Napoleon stands alone, regardless of the time period — and encompasses all those aforementioned political impulses.

That a movie about him is making headlines in 2023 means very little, compared to the long shadow his famously false slight stature has cast over the Western world since the turn of the 1800s.

Every era since then is an apt era for a movie about Napoleon, because it’s hard to find any single person or thing that did more to shape the contours of the past two centuries than him and — more importantly — his mythos.

Name an authoritarian political and/or military figure since Napoleon’s literal and figurative Waterloo in 1815, and you’ll find a man (and they’re almost always men) who is merely trying on the emperor’s clothes.

How those clothes fit has been the test of every aspirant conqueror since Napoleon’s quiet demise in carceral exile on the island of St. Helena on May 5, 1821. Meanwhile, his adult life

is short-handed by historians as the Napoleonic Era, there is an entire branch of political philosophy called Bonapartism, and we still use terms like “smalltown Napoleon” and “Napoleon complex” for graspers both small and large. When Bill and Ted went on their Excellent Adventure through time in the 1980s, Napoleon stole the show with his love of ice cream sundaes and the San Dimas water park. I mean, we refer to the guy by his first name, which is always a sign that you’ve “made it” historically. (Go ahead and name your kid “Napoleon” and see how folks react. It lives in the same name space as Adolf, Genghis, Attila and, to a lesser extent, Vladimir.)

Living in the world since May 1821 has meant living with Napoleon Bonaparte. And here we are, in the Year of Our Lord 2023 and you can’t drive more than a few blocks in Los Angeles without seeing a poster of Joaquin Phoenix sporting le petit caporal’s bicorn and glaring out from under the big, bold letters “Napoleon: He came from nothing. He conquered everything.”

But how well the emperor’s clothes fit the emperor himself is the subject of Ridley Scott’s movie, which has kindled the kinds of passions that the man himself would have enjoyed, lover of drama and self-promotion that he was.

Put briefly, the French don’t like the film. They think it paints Bonaparte as his detractors would have seen him — as a vainglorious, rustic Corsican hustler, whose twin demons of insecurity and egotism drove him to excesses of political, military and sexual lust. That Ridley Scott is a Brit, and therefore a member of France’s and Napoleon’s bitterest frenemies doesn’t help.

English audiences seem to love Napoleon and their Amer-

Ridley Scott’s new film Napoleon is worth the ticket price, but it’s no documentary

ican cousins love it even more.

How could they not? For the English, the story of Napoleon is of the defeat of a radical despot paving the way for the ascendancy of the Victorian Era and their own empire, over whom the sun never set… until it inevitably did, which I suppose makes watching Boney’s fall all the more delicious to watch.

For us Americans, Napoleon is our crazy rich uncle, who kicked over the tables and chairs of Europe for almost 15 years, spoke the same language as our own “republican” revolution but wore an imperial crown and looked damn good doing it (like all Americans secretly want to do). He also sold us about half of our own country, via the Louisiana Purchase, so there’s that, too.

Napoleon doesn’t go into any of these subtleties — or any subtleties at all — focusing on Napoleon’s career from the siege of Toulon in 1793 until his death in 1821, with select bits thrown in regarding battles in Egypt, Austerlitz and Borodino; the self-immolation of Moscow; and, of course Waterloo, featuring Rupert Everett in a sneering, scene-stealing turn as Arthur Wellesley, duke of Wellington.

Shot through the entire sumptuous spectacle — and it is exquisitely costumed, choreographed and filmed, with the best battle scenes since Scott’s other Phoenix-imperial vehicle Gladiator — is Napoleon’s desperate, fraught love, life and marriage with Josephine de Beauharnais, who was his empress from 1804 to 1809 but with whom he could not bear children, therefore felt the monarchical necessity of putting aside in favor of another wife.

Played with wit, charm and more than a touch of villainy

by Vanessa Kirby (who some may recognize as Princess Margaret from the Netflix series The Crown), Josephine is the third pillar in Napoleon’s story, which Ridley Scott frames as “France, the army and Josephine” — the reported last words of Napoleon on St. Helena (though accounts differ).

And therein is the problem with Napoleon, and every other piece of Bonaparte-related media for the past 200 years. So much of it is propaganda at best and merde at worst.

Scott’s movie is no different.

In its three-hour runtime, it simultaneously humanizes, humil-

Courtesy photo. iates and glorifies its subject, all the while inventing exploits (like shelling the pyramids of Giza), exaggerating victories (historians doubt whether so many Austro-Russian soldiers were drowned in the invented frozen “lake” at Austerlitz) and dwelling on the great man’s pathetic, underperforming horniness for Josphine (this part does indeed get tedious).

But, as Scott responded to such criticisms in a recent New Yorker profile, “Get a life.”

Fair enough, and as someone who holds a Master’s degree in history with an emphasis and thesis on the 18th-century Atlantic World, I can attest that Napoleon is not a documentary. It’s a semi-biographical drama with a few laughs, much visual beauty, and compelling (but not spellbinding) performances

by Phoenix and Kirby — for real, they are literally the only characters in the film who get anything approaching development, much less a narrative arc.

Do I recommend Napoleon?

Oui. Is it a masterpiece? Non. In theaters now.

November 30, 2023 / R / 19

FOOD

The Sandpoint Eater A few of my favorite things

By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Columnist

It’s hard to believe Thanksgiving is behind us, and November is nearly a wrap. Now, we march on to the madness of the December holidays. This year, my family traveled tropically for Thanksgiving, so instead of spending days preparing a giant bird with all the trappings and sides, we had a low-key, poolside BBQ. Thus, I feel fresh and ready to jump into the holidays with both feet.

I put a lot of thought and care into the gifts I give to friends and family. Many are avid cooks like me, and those recipients will likely find a cookbook or a food gift inside their carefully wrapped package. When I wrap gifts, I like to fuss with bows and bells and boughs and, lucky for me, I still have at least 100 rolls of ribbon from the Coldwater Creek closure sale (you can imagine how many I started with — that was about 10 years ago)!

It may come as no surprise that my favorite cookbooks are Irish and read like fine nonfiction. They’re available through Amazon if you can’t find them at your favorite bookstore. The Irish Cookbook by Jp McMahon is a big book filled with an indepth history of Ireland’s cuisine and the origins of her food, both from land and sea. More than 400 recipes capture recipes of traditional fare and more modern cuisine created by McMahon’s culinary imagination.

My other favorite is Ballymaloe Desserts, by acclaimed pastry chef JR Ryall, who began working as an apprentice alongside Darina Allen and her mother-in-law, the late-greatMyrtle Allen, when he was only 20 / R / November 30, 2023

15 years old.

This book is filled with 130 dessert recipes that make up the iconic (and award-winning) dessert trolley at Ballymaloe House in County Cork, Ireland. Whenever I send visitors to Ireland, I encourage a lunch stop here.

Besides these show-stopping desserts that even a novice can master, JR’s book is filled with the history of Ballymaloe House, his novice beginnings there, and fabulous photos of his magnificent desserts.

I love discovering local cheeses in my (nothing to declare) travels, and I always travel with cheese wraps or containers.

Sometimes, I toss in an ice pack or two (in hopes I’ll find somewhere to freeze them before my return). Good cheese is expensive, so when I give it as a gift,

I also include cheese paper or bags, which allow the cheese to breathe and maintain humidity, keeping it fresher, longer. My favorite brand is Formaticum: formaticum.com.

Stasher bags are a great gift for anyone (especially the environment) for storing and freezing other items (stasherbag.com).

They come in myriad shapes and sizes, and you can even reheat food in them (buy lots to help eliminate single-use plastics, my friends).

I don’t like gimmicky kitchen gadgets that take up drawer space. But for fundamental kitchen tools useful in a home or commercial kitchen, you must check out JB Prince: jbprince. com. It’s a mecca for culinary enthusiasts.

My favorite gift for aspiring

chefs of any age is a sauce spoon designed by legendary Chef Gray Kunz. I’ve visited their showroom in New York, and there’s no other place I’d rather shop. Check it out on your next visit to the Big Apple, and I’m sure you’ll agree with me.

I often have a look at Oprah’s list of favorite things, and I’ve yet to find anything that compares to mine, like one of Costco’s newest items: a 45-pound frozen suckling pig! It’s unavailable in some stores, but I found it’s nearby, in warehouses in Washington and Montana (well worth the drive).

If roasting a pig seems daunting, for about $45 a pound, our friends at Costco have another outstanding pork choice: A Spanish melt-in-your-mouth, Iberico Bellota Ham, raised on

Irish coffee sauce INGREDIENTS: • 8 oz superfine sugar • 2 ½ fluid oz cold water • 8 fluid oz freshly made, strong coffee • 1-4 tablespoon good Irish whiskey

DIRECTIONS: Put the sugar and water in a heavy bottomed saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the water comes to the boil. Brush down any sugar crystals stuck to the side of the pan with a damp pastry brush.

Remove the spoon and do not stir again until the syrup turns a pale golden caramel, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and carefully add the coffee (it will spit and splash a bit). When settled, place back on the heat and stir well to mix the coffee and caramel.

Simmer for 5 minutes, continue to stir. Allow to cool and add the Irish whiskey.

Carefully pour into small containers, wipe the rims, add lids and secure tightly. Store in the refrigerator.

acorns and aged more than three years (stand and knife included).

If you’re a Costco member, you can order this beauty directly from their website.

Hopefully, you’ll glean some helpful gift-giving ideas from the ones I’ve provided. Don’t wait too long to order these wildly popular suggestions.

At the top of Page 40 in Ryall’s Ballymaloe Desserts, you’ll find a recipe for Irish coffee sauce. I make several batches and give them away in fancy half-pint jars. I first came across the recipe in Darina Allen’s Christmas 1989 cookbook (a still-treasured gift from Irish visitors). Nearly 40 years later, the only update to Darina’s recipe is less water and more whiskey.

Good job, JR!

This rich sauce is a delightful topping for ice cream, pound cakes and bread puddings. Store covered in the refrigerator and it will keep well for a couple of months. You can serve cold or warm it back up — it’s delicious served hot or cold. I make several batches (don’t try to double or triple the recipe).

MUSIC

Anthems or anathema, Christmas music is part of our identity

By Ben Olson Reader Staff It was the day before Halloween when I heard the first Christmas song of 2023.

I was thumbing through some costume ideas at a local store (which shall remain nameless) when I heard arguably one of the most annoying popular songs ever recorded: Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You.” I am a Scrooge about many things during the holiday season, but I generally accept the fact that retail spaces in November and December are dominated by loud, sometimes infuriatingly happy Christmas tunes that serve as a demented soundtrack to the rampant communal consumerism we have embraced as “tradition.”

Nothing says “America” more than a crowd of shoppers on Black Friday shoving and stampeding one another in order to save $50 on a flatscreen TV while Mariah Carey’s melismatic octaves pierce through the inner folds of our brains.

But I have to draw the line somewhere: Christmas music can play in public spaces no earlier than Thanksgiving and no later than New Year’s Eve. I fully recognize my opinions on this subject do not represent the majority. Many of you reading this will perhaps roll your eyes and de-

clare to no one in particular, “I like Christmas music,” and fold this newspaper shut with the goal of telling me the next time they see me in public, “You’re a Scrooge.”

Selah.

There is also a lot of research that supports the Christmas-music-lovers’ points about how this seasonal music makes them feel better about, well, everything.

Daniel Levitin is an author and musician living in Los Angeles who has a lot to say about this topic. Levitin, who is also a professor emeritus of psychology and neuroscience at McGill University in Montreal, told The New York Times that research shows most people in Western countries use music to self-soothe.

“They know that there are certain kinds of music that will put them in a good mood,” Levitin told The Times. “Christmas music is a reliable one for a lot of people.”

A 2013 study concluded that music does in fact boost the body’s immune system and reduce stress, according to Levitin.

“For those who find joy in Christmas music, the brain may increase serotonin levels and may release prolactin, a soothing and

tranquilizing hormone, that is also produced between mothers and infants during nursing,” The Times wrote.

On the other hand, if a listener has not-so-jolly memories of Christmases past, songs associated with the holiday might trigger a flood of the stress hormone cortisol, which increases the heart rate and activates the brain’s fear center, known as the amygdala.

Believe it or not, I’m actually a fan of Christmas music when it’s played in the right context (which isn’t around Halloween or even Thanksgiving).

I also enjoy these nostalgic tunes when they don’t sound like a poodle took a slug of Grandpa’s whiskey bottle and is now howling at the moon. I know she’s a talented performer, but I’d rather listen to Mrs. Claus dragging her fingernails down a chalkboard than the aforementioned song by Mariah Carey.

All that said, we have a record at home that is an absolute delight on a quiet Christmas morning. It’s scratched so much that the cracks and pops are just as vital to the actual song, but that’s not why I love it. No, I love this record because

it’s calm. Serene. Dare I say even classy.

Sure, the obvious tunes like “Frosty the Snowman” and the like entertain the kids, but as an official Grown Ass Adult, I’m to the point where I don’t need any more pandering in my life.

I’m also savvy enough to realize that these songs playing on endless loops in retail stores this time of year are part of the engineering to help consumers part with more of their money than they would if, say, Metallica was playing on the overheads.

However one views Christmas music, be it an anthem or anathema to the feelings that are supposed to be associated with the holiday, it’s clear that this is a very powerful medium — if only because it’s the soundtrack to the season in which we all examine where we are on the quest to achieve virtues such as peace, tranquility, love and tolerance of others.

“For some of us, that’s an inspiring message,” Levitin told The Times. “For others of us, it just draws in stark relief how far we are from achieving that.”

That, for me, is the rub.

Christmas music can be uplifting and beautiful as it helps us access those tender memories of the past and sets us on a path to embrace the present. But, it can also be a bitter reminder that we haven’t come all that far yet.

A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint

Rock Candy, The Hive, Dec. 1 It’s not unusual to hear folks reminisce about how much better music was back in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s. And, to this reporter born in the final year of the Gen-X period (1980), I must agree.

Now comes The Rock Candy Band, based in the Coeur d’Alene area but really known for rocking the whole Inland Northwest, with its Sandpoint debut at The Hive.

Fronted by Max Malone, the band features Derek Davis, Brien

Williamson and Jerry Krieder, turning out a pop-funk-discorock amalgamation with uptempo vocals, guitar, sax, drum and bass that are sure to fill the dance floor.

— Zach Hagadone Doors at 7 p.m., music at 9 p.m.; FREE; 21+. The Hive, 207 N. First Ave., 208-920-9039, livefromthehive.com. Get more info at facebook.com/therockcandyband.

Scott Taylor and the Endless Switchbacks, Eichardt’s Pub, Dec. 2 Listen to local singer-songwriter Scott Taylor and his band the Endless Switchbacks, and you’ll hear echoes of Neil Young, the Grateful Dead, James Taylor and Townes Van Zandt, but with a distinctive twist.

Joining mandolinist and vocalist Scott is Jim Rosauer on banjo and vocals, Rich Simpson on bass and Joe Sweeney on harmonica.

The band describes its style as fitting into the Americana-blue-

grass-string band genre, with a mix of Taylor’s originals and covers of the likes of Old Crow Medicine Show, Trampled By Turtles and Billy Strings. If there’s an “Eichardt’s sound” — and by extension a “Sandpoint sound” — this is it.

— Zach Hagadone 7-10 p.m., FREE. Eichardt’s Pub, 212 Cedar St., 208-2634005, eichardtspub.com.

This week’s RLW by Soncirey Mitchell

READ

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer is a spine-tingling, science fiction read that had me gripping the book so tightly my hands started shaking. This first installment of the Southern Reach Trilogy follows an all-female team of scientists known only by their titles — like the protagonist, “the biologist” — as they explore Area X. Terrifying discoveries await in this corner of the world where the laws of science unravel.

LISTEN

I didn’t need to hear their music to know that I immediately liked the indie-rock band Dr. Dog — the name alone sold me. Their neo-psychedelic, lo-fi song “Where’d All the Time Go?” off the 2010 album Shame, Shame scratches my brain and makes me want to perform hideous Just Dance moves (in private). Give it a listen on Spotify to experience the groovy mood-booster that helped me survive college finals.

WATCH

The BBC show Merlin is an enigma — a fantastic premise with generally ridiculous writing, great actors and character choices that will make you question your sanity. It’s simultaneously bad, and one of my all-time favorite shows.

The series follows a young Prince Arthur of Camelot and his friend and servant, Merlin, on their early adventures. In a kingdom where magic is outlawed, the wizard must hide his powers from the future king while guiding him on his journey of self-discovery and heroism. Watch it on Amazon Prime.

November 30, 2023 / R / 21

BACK OF THE BOOK

Worms on the pavement

By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff

From Pend Oreille Review, Nov. 29, 1923

SHERIFF CONVICTED ON BOOZE CHARGE A jury in federal court at Coeur d’Alene at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday returned a verdict of guilty on two counts against Sheriff William Kirkpatrick of Bonner County on charge of conspiracy to violate the prohibition law. Henry Thompson, Sandpoint, charged jointly with Sheriff Kirkpatrick, was found guilty on one count.

When the government rested its case counsel for Matthew Lyons, accused of being an accomplice of Kirkpatrick and Thompson, made a motion that the action against Lyons be dismissed, as testimony showed that he was not involved in the conspiracy. Judge F.S. Dietrick granted the motion, but Lyons was immediately arrested on a charge of possessing liquor.

The government’s chief witness was Ralph Decker of Sandpoint, formerly a deputy under Kirkpatrick, who testified that on April 1, 1923, he assisted Kirkpatrick in removing a quantity of seized liquor from a Spokane International car at Sandpoint. He swore that later he sold the booze at different places, in small quantities, under Sheriff Kirkpatrick’s orders.

A number of business and professional men of this city were subpoenaed and testified.

The jury took the instructions of the court and the evidence and retired to the jury room about 10 o’clock and at 12 returned with the verdict of guilty in the Kirkpatrick case on both counts and guilty in the Thompson case on the first one.

22 / R / November 30, 2023

If an advanced civilization of sentient rocks, or perhaps gaseous clouds, came to Earth in their starships, how would they perceive us? Would they recognize that humanity is made up of intelligent individuals, or would they look at our planet of hairless apes spouting inane, incomprehensible babble the same way that we look at seagulls in the Walmart parking lot?

When I watch something like X-Files, in which a random person gets picked up in a flying saucer to face horrors beyond their comprehension, I always think of my seventh birthday party.

My cousins had found a worm on the ground and were trying to get it inside an already inflated balloon — they were having difficulty grasping Newton’s Third Law of Motion — so that they could send it up into the sky.

When I found out about the attempted worm abduction, I was inconsolable. I sobbed in my parents’ front yard, wearing my scratchy, pink princess dress, until my cousins agreed to give me the worm. I released him back into the soil, where I imagine he told his family about the Lovecraftian entities that almost murdered him.

I’ve always felt a kinship with worms — especially the ones that crawl out onto the pavement during a storm. When I went to college in Washington, every time it rained — which was at least four times a week — thousands of worms would crawl up through the campus lawns to dance and writhe on the sidewalks.

There were so many of them that the students formed what we called “The Worm Savior Society,” where we pledged to scoot the invertebrates back onto the grass whenever we could. I would dutifully watch my feet as I walked to class, stooping to scoop the worms up with my ID card so they wouldn’t get squished or dry out.

I don’t think humanity would look much different than worms to a sentient space rock — all pink and squishy, always wiggling around. I’d like to think they’d look on us with affectionate bemusement as they try to push us in the right direction, because the alternative is death by intergalactic balloon.

I think it would do us some good, as we await our alien overlords, to embrace our wormy-ness. According to the Earthworm Society of Britain, the little annelids likely come out when it rains because they can easily glide across the earth’s surface to find food, friends or new homes: worm roller skating, if you will.

They’re moving blindly, so quick to get where they’re going that they sometimes get lost and need a helping hand to guide them back home.

Humanity engages in a similar race as we hurry through the work week to get to the weekend, hurry to the store for deals on Black Friday or hurry through life trying to achieve the next milestone. Eventually, despite our best efforts, we get lost.

Accepting our wormy-ness means realizing that we, at some point in our lives, will need help from others and they will need help from us. Sometimes we’re the worm, sometimes we’re the hand with the ID card.

Take a page from worm philosophy —

STR8TS Solution

Sudoku Solution

The author at her rain-soaked graduation from the University of Puget Sound, the headquarters of the Worm Savior Society. Photo by Ana Monfort. offer kindness to others freely, and accept it just as quickly the next time you’re left directionless on the pavement.

Crossword Solution

If your kid makes one of those little homemade guitars out of a cigar box and rubber bands, don’t let him just play it once or twice and then throw it away.

Make him practice on it, every day, for about three hours a day.

Later, he’ll thank you.

By Bill Borders

CROSSWORD

Copyright www.mirroreyes.com

Laughing Matter

Solution on page 22

Solution on page 22

ACROSS

vertiginous /ver-TIJ-uh-nuhs/

Woorf tdhe Week

[adjective] 1. liable or threatening to cause the dizzying sensation of vertigo

“The towering roller coaster offered a vertiginous thrill to its riders as it plunged from dizzying heights.”

Corrections: In the news story “BOCC addresses numerous county issues at special meeting,” (Reader, Nov. 22), we identified Tony Matson as as “attorney” when he is actually the “external auditor.” Also, Matson’s email was characterized to be “instructing” Bonner County, but Clerk Michael Rosedale told the Reader it was a confirmation email.

Apologies for the errors. —BO

1. Exclamation of contempt 6. Shredded cabbage 10. Play parts 14. Geologic period 15. Short skirt 16. Cut back 17. Category 18. Any minute 19. Double-reed woodwind 20. Gourmet meat 22. Serene 23. Cap 24. Tiny 26. Dad 30. Agitated 32. Detest 33. Dubious writings 37. Percussion instrument 38. Empty 39. Jetty 40. Minibar 42. A small island 43. Legal setting 44. Stinky 45. Moan 47. Viper 48. Unit of fat 49. Related to 56. Hubs 57. Sponsorship 58. Off-white 59. Not closed 60. Overhaul

Solution on page 22 61. Spooky 62. Large mass of floating ice 63. Observed 64. Clothe

35. Stiletto or wedge 36. Pretentious 38. Bar security 41. Type of snake 42. Connoted 44. South southeast 45. Fondle 46. Formula 1 driver 47. Malicious burning 48. Amorphous shape 50. Curved molding 51. Fair attraction 52. Affirm 53. Ripped 54. Greek goddess of discord 55. Colors November 30, 2023 / R / 23

10. Cataclysmic event 11. Secret group 12. Fairy tale character 13. Appear to be DOWN 21. Tavern 25. Soviet space 1. Clothespins station 2. Gush forth 26. Crazes 3. Sharpen 27. Dugout shelter 4. Anagram of “Care” 28. Impact sound 5. If or if not 29. Reunion 6. Brainy 30. Not together 7. Queue 31. Adhesion 8. Dwarf buffalo 33. Winglike 9. Airfield wind sleeve 34. Tablet