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PEOPLE compiled by
Susan Drinkard
watching
“Who or what influences you to be a better human being?” “My faith and friends and family who are doing bold things—entrepreneurial endeavors—and making a big difference in our community.” Rachel Land Bluebird Bakery Sandpoint
DEAR READERS,
Congratulations to all the candidates who won their races on Election Night. Also kudos to Bonner County Elections staff and volunteers, who are hopefully getting some much-needed rest after the marathon of ballot counting. As of press time, there is still no projected winner in the presidential race. Joe Biden and Donald Trump are neck and neck, so this one could still go either way. I’d like to remind everyone to be patient and let the counting process take place. This delay is what most of us expected, but seeing the numbers so close like this, it truly does show that the United States is a nation divided. It is my hope that – no matter who wins the presidential contest – we can start healing some of the division and band together as a nation again. It starts with every one of us respecting our fellow human beings and putting aside all the name-calling and hate for the good of our country. I shudder to think of the lessons our next generation are learning by watching how grown adults have acted recently. Stay strong, Sandpoint, and be kind.
– Ben Olson, publisher
READER 111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 (208)265-9724
www.sandpointreader.com Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com Editorial: Zach Hagadone (Editor) zach@sandpointreader.com Lyndsie Kiebert (News Editor) lyndsie@sandpointreader.com Cameron Rasmusson (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus) Advertising: Jodi Berge Jodi@sandpointreader.com Contributing Artists: Ben Olson, Susan Drinkard, Bill Borders.
“My family inspires me. My wife inspires me. She makes me do things the right way.” Jack Ferguson Lowe’s—plumbing department Sandpoint
Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Lyndsie Kiebert, Lorraine H. Marie, Ranel Hansen, Michael Jacobson, Marcia Pilgeram, Claire Christy. Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com Printed weekly at: Tribune Publishing Co. Lewiston, ID Subscription Price: $115 per year
“My grandchildren. I probably wouldn’t have a life without them. They are honest and kind.” Sandra Scott Retired Sandpoint
“To be honest, it’s all the dark things that come to mind. I look out and see that stuff would turn my life in the other direction, so I don’t go there. I try to make wherever I am more enjoyable instead.” Thomas Halsted Courtesy clerk/produce North of Sandpoint “Biden, Obama, and their wives inspire me. Carol Deaner, who runs POAC, inspires me every day. She never complains and has been through so much. Trinity at PSNI inspires me. I and the people I am around work very hard each day at staying optimistic.” Ilene Bell Volunteer and retired contract negotiator Sandpoint
Web Content: Keokee The Sandpoint Reader is a weekly publication owned and operated by Ben Olson and Keokee. It is devoted to the arts, entertainment, politics and lifestyle in and around Sandpoint, Idaho. We hope to provide a quality alternative by offering honest, in-depth reporting that reflects the intelligence and interests of our diverse and growing community. The Reader is printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Leftover copies are collected and recycled weekly, or burned in massive bonfires to appease the gods of journalism. Free to all, limit two copies per person.
Sandpoint Reader letter policy: The Sandpoint Reader welcomes letters to the editor on all topics. Requirements: –No more than 300 words –Letters may not contain excessive profanity or libelous material. Please elevate the discussion. Letters will be edited to comply with the above requirements. Opinions expressed in these pages are those of the writers, not necessarily the publishers. Email letters to: letters@sandpointreader.com Check us out on the web at: www.sandpointreader.com Like us on Facebook.
Veterans Day is Wednesday, Nov. 11. We at the Sandpoint Reader thank all veterans for their service to our country.
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NEWS
Idaho logs another day of 1,000+ new COVID-19 cases Panhandle Health District shares guidelines for effective quarantine
By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff Aggressive community transmission and rapidly rising active case counts continue to plague Idaho as it navigates the novel coronavirus pandemic with an emphasis on local enactment and enforcement of health mandates, which remain largely opposed across the state. On Nov. 4, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare reported 1,290 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 664 virus-related deaths — 17 new — to date. In total, Idaho has seen 68,314 cases since counting began in March. The Panhandle Health District, which manages case counts for the five most northern counties in Idaho, reported a total of 558 cases in Bonner County on Nov. 4, 138 of which are active. As of that same date, 79 north Idahoans had died of novel coronavirus, including two Bonner County residents. In response to the consistently rising numbers, Governor Brad Little moved the state back to
Stage 3 of his reopening plan. While Stage 3 does not result in the closure of any businesses, the governor reinstated guidelines meant to limit crowd size. At a Sandpoint City Council meeting Nov. 4, City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton shared how those occupancy restrictions will affect War Memorial Field as the Sandpoint High School football team competes in the 5A state playoffs on its home field Friday night. She said that anywhere that there is a stated occupancy level in an indoor area, “we are limited ... at our facilities [to] 25% of our stated occupancy level.” At War Memorial Field — which seats 1,400 people, not including greenspace — Stapleton said that means 320 people in the grandstands, and 50 in the visitor area. Additionally, the Lake Pend Oreille School District came up with a plan for additional sideline occupancy space. All plans for managing crowd size at Sandpoint football games have been submitted to the Panhandle Health District for approval, Stapleton said. As case counts in the region
continue to climb, PHD released detailed guidelines for effective isolation and quarantine should a person find out they have the virus or have been in close contact with someone who tested positive. Officials shared that the increased cases are an indication that the area is experiencing significant community transmission. “This is a time when we all need to do our part,” said PHD Director Lora Whalen. “One simple way each of us can contribute to stopping the spread of this virus is to stay home when you are sick. It may be tempting to end your recommended isolation time early if you are feeling better, but we urge you to complete the full isolation period.” PHD referenced CDC guidelines, which state that individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19, as well as those who have had close contact with someone who tested positive, need to quarantine. PHD defines close contact as “within 6 feet of someone who has COVID-19 for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24 hour period starting
from two days before the individual experienced symptoms or two days before they tested positive.” Those who have had close contact need to quarantine for 14 days after their last contact with the person who has COVID-19, officials said. Those who test positive for COVID-19 follow a different protocol: a 10-day isolation period “beginning on the day they tested positive, or the day their symptoms began,” PHD officials shared, adding, “on top of the 10 days of isolation, they should also be fever free for at least 24 hours and their other symptoms should be improving.” PHD Epidemiology Program Manager Jeff Lee said he is often asked why those who were in close contact require a longer isolation than those who test positive. “Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus, so someone who is already exhibiting symptoms is likely days ahead in their infectious period than the person who was just exposed,” he said. “Based on studies of those who have become infected with COVID-19, a person can remain
City Council approves prelim plat for University Park subdivision By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Sandpoint City Council members voted Nov. 4 to approve the preliminary plat for development of the University Park subdivision — a 152-lot residential-commercial project planned for the 75-acre former-University of Idaho property on North Boyer Avenue. However, they had some conditions. Planning and Zoning Commission members recommended that council deny the project, citing concerns about traffic impacts, public access to open spaces along Sand Creek and the effect of double frontage lots along 2,000-foot stretch of North Boyer — what P&Z Commissioners 4 /
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Cate Husiman and Jason Welker both zeroed in on the potential aesthetic effect of what they called “a plastic canyon,” akin to large-scale developments on the Rathdrum Prairie and Coeur d’Alene areas. The developer and city council members sparred over the design specifications, with the ultimate decision being that the developers — Tim McDonnell and Derek Mulgrew — will have ultimate control over the design of the socalled “wall,” whether it will have features to break up its appearance, but have committed not to construct it in vinyl. Council members also approved revisions to the preliminary plat including that the city will handle snow removal along major streets outside the develop-
ment, agree to extending build out to 2025 and forego construction of a right turn lane on Ebbett Way until traffic conditions require it. A final plant will go before the council at a to-be-determined date. “This was a really drawn out process,” said Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad. “Everybody has put a lot of work into this.” Councilwoman Deb Ruehle opposed the project — the sole nay vote, though Councilwoman Kate McAlister was absent — worried that public access to property isn’t assured, nor is the developers’ assurances that the Kaniksu Land Trust will take possession of 16 acres of the property in a public trust. “I would caution the rest of the council that while we have
a letter of intent [with KLT], we have no guarantee that it will happen,” she said. “If it’s not in writing, then it’s not in writing.” Ruehle added: “This will be a legacy for the council,” suggesting that “part of this development needs to go back to the drawing board.” Katie Egland Cox, executive director of KLT, spoke in favor of the project, stating that her organization is “thrilled” to partner with the developers to preserve a significant portion of Sand Creek, which is to be passed over to the conservation nonprofit. “This property has long been on KLT’s radar,” she said, noting its historically and ecologically important areas. Jeremy Grimm, principal at Whiskey Rock Planning and a
infectious up to 10 days after their symptoms started. Those who had close contact with a confirmed positive individual will take a few days to develop symptoms, so their isolation is slightly longer.” “There are instances where an individual is quarantining due to close contact and they had additional close contact with someone who has COVID-19 within their household,” Lee added. “This extends the quarantine period because any time a new household member gets sick with COVID-19 and you had close contact, you will need to restart your isolation after the household member with COVID-19 infection has completed their isolation period. You can avoid this by having all household members practice social distancing and proper mask usage within the home during the infected person’s isolation period.” Those with questions about COVID-19 in North Idaho can call the PHD hotline Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., at 877-4155225. Additional reporting by Zach Hagadone.
former director of planning and community development for the city of Sandpoint, represented the developers. He underscored the importance of the prospective agreement with KLT, noting that nearly 27% of the entire property would be given over to public space. Yet, he said, the project — despite its large size — mirrors the city’s own plans for the property. “We’re aware that you’re faced with competing and sometimes contradictory aspirational long-range plans,” Grimm said, adding that the University Park development meets them. Regardless, Ruehle said, “It’s my feeling that we may be able to do a little better job with this than we’re doing.”
NEWS Save Selle Valley group challenges SpaceX FCC application Further legal action possible regarding failed appeal of Bonner County building location permit
By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff A group of concerned Selle Valley residents have filed a petition challenging an FCC licensing application from private aerospace manufacturer and space transportation company SpaceX, which would allow the permanent operation of a gateway earth station housing satellites to support the company’s space-based internet service, Starlink, on Colburn Culver Road. The group, which calls itself Save Selle Valley, first filed a petition against SpaceX’s application for temporary operating authority. That temporary license expired Sept. 28, before the FCC could rule on the group’s petition. The new application from SpaceX, filed Sept. 30, seeks permanent authority to operate it’s satellite facility on Colburn Culver Road, located just a short distance from the Highway 200 intersection. Save Selle Valley alleges in it’s petition against the new application that SpaceX has
been inaccurate in its analysis of the surrounding community, and that when all facts are considered, the facility’s current location is inappropriate. The petition’s main points include a failure to accurately measure population in the area, to recognize the existence of major highways nearby, as well as to log the regular passage of an Amtrak passenger train through the immediate area. “All of this, and the associated potential health and environmental effects prompted by the site’s location, warrant a detailed environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which the applicant has failed to conduct,” Norm Semanko, an attorney representing Save Selle Valley, told the Sandpoint Reader in an Oct. 28 email. “Quoting Benjamin Franklin, ‘A place for everything, everything in its place.’ Colburn is not the appropriate place for an Earth Station,” Semanko continued. “SpaceX needs to look for another location that complies with the
FCC rules. It is as simple as that.” Semanko said SpaceX will have a chance to respond to the petition before the FCC issues its decision, and that without authorization, “the project will need to be shut down and/or moved to a location that complies with the FCC rules.” Representatives from SpaceX did not respond to requests from the Reader for comment before press time. If Save Selle Valley’s petitions to the FCC are one facet of the group’s active opposition to the facility, the other is happening at the county level. The group filed an appeal against the building location permit — which Bonner County Planning and Zoning issued July 10 — on the grounds that it inaccurately defined the earth station satellites as solar fixtures, rather than communication towers, because they are fixed to the ground. Had the SpaceX equipment been categorized as communication devices, county code dictates that the site be subject to
analysis under Title 12, requiring a conditional use permit, public hearing and formal review against the comprehensive plan. Because the county opted to define the structures as a “solar array” under Title 11, the project required only a BLP. The members of Save Selle Valley allege that defining the SpaceX site under Title 11 ignores the possible health and environmental threats posed by such a facility, and also disregards the comprehensive plan that the Selle-Samuels Sub-Area Planning Committee has been working on for more than three years, which emphasizes the community’s desire to keep the area largely rural. At an appeal hearing Aug. 14, the board of Bonner County commissioners voted to uphold the BLP. Save Selle Valley filed a request for reconsideration with the BOCC in late August, and commissioners had until Oct. 27 to respond. The request went unanswered, and appellants have 28 days as of that Oct. 27 deadline to file an appeal in state court.
Idaho seeks to dismiss CARES Act suit Bonner County Commissioners lay out position in press release
By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff Bonner County commissioners reiterated their stance on the CARES Act in a press release Oct. 23, responding directly to the state’s motion for dismissal of a case in which the county seeks declaratory judgment on the legality of Idaho’s disbursement of the coronavirus relief funds. Commissioners voted 2-1 — Dan McDonald and Steve Bradshaw for, Jeff Connolly against — in mid-July to pursue a lawsuit against Gov. Brad Little and other state officials, seeking a court’s opinion on “the rights, duties and obligations of the county and defendants in relation to the funds that are currently in defendants’ possession and control.” The funds are part of the U.S. Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, which are distributed from the federal level to the states and, in turn, given to municipalities within the state to help mitigate the negative effects
of the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. In the original complaint, commissioners alleged that the state was “generally prohibited” from attaching conditions to the funds, according to Treasury Department guidelines. Those conditions included how the money must be spent, and a requirement that the county waive the right to increase taxes or take foregone funds in the upcoming fiscal year. Counsel for Bonner County argues that U.S. Treasury directives require Idaho to distribute 45% of its share of CARES Act funds — $1.25 billion — to municipalities. That $560 million should be distributed according to population, the county argues. McDonald told the Sandpoint Reader in July that the county was also interested in receiving indemnification from the state in the event that Idaho’s interpretation of CARES Act guidelines was flawed. “[W]ithout the indemnification, we would end up having to
pay back all the money plus any interest and fees, and you would see the commissioners, clerk and treasurer charged with crimes,” McDonald said. Counsel for the state filed documents in early October seeking dismissal of the case, calling Bonner County’s desire to see the funds provided based on population as “misguided and legally flawed,” since not all areas are equally affected by the virus, according to the Associated Press. Deputy Attorney General Leslie M. Hayes, representing the defendants, also argued that because Bonner County did not sign up for CARES Act funds before the state-mandated deadline, “claims are moot due to the county’s own decisions and inaction.” Bonner County doubled down on its stance in a statement shared Oct. 23 with the Reader, responding to the motion to dismiss the case. In the statement, the county’s allegations are three-fold: the state government is “leaving small town America out in the cold” by in-
terpreting the CARES Act to only provide direct funds to towns and counties with populations greater than 500,000; that the governor is “using federal funds for political propaganda” by requiring a line item on all Idahoans’ property tax bills which says, “Your bill includes Gov. Little’s one time reduction of [blank]”; and the governor’s interpretation of the funding guidelines is “pro-spending, not pro-saving” by using the money meant for localities to increase “the size and budget of his State programs.” Bonner County contends that, based on Treasury guidelines, Congress intended for the county to have approximately $14.4 million in relief funds, without conditions. U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Ronald E. Bush will hear cross motions for summary judgment and the state’s motion to dismiss the case during a virtual hearing on Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 1:30 p.m.
Idaho DMV issues extension on expiring registrations and driver’s licenses By Reader Staff The Idaho Transportation Departments Division of Motor Vehicles is providing an extension on expiring vehicle registrations and drivers licenses. In an effort to reduce wait times at county DMV offices, non-commercial vehicle registrations and driver’s licenses that expire between September and December 2020 now have until Jan. 31, 2021 to renew. In mid-October, ITD implemented the fourth and largest phase of the state’s DMV modernization project, moving the vehicle registration and titling system from a 1980s mainframe to an updated computer program. Eight million records were integrated into a one-person, one record system, linking each Idahoan’s registration and title information with their license. The new system has temporarily slowed vehicle registration and title processing, and ITD is working diligently to speed up transaction times. COVID-19 social distancing measures with limited hours and appointment times also contribute to a backlog in service. The extensions will allow customers more time to safely complete their business. ITD is doing everything possible to reduce wait times, especially as temperatures drop this fall and winter, officials stated in a Oct. 29 press release. “People with expiring registrations and licenses don’t need to rush to the DMV. These extensions should give them some relief, help reduce crowd sizes and also open up appointment windows where available at county offices,” said DMV Administrator Alberto Gonzalez. “We also encourage Idahoans to renew their registration online, by mail or use drop boxes at county offices.” DMV online services, including drivers license and registration renewal, are available 24/7 at dmv. idaho.gov. Please note, county DMV office hours are determined by county sheriffs and assessors, and vary statewide. Hours and contact information can be found at dmv.idaho.gov. November 5, 2020 /
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NEWS
Bonner County to reconsider uses along area shorelines Lakes Commission plans to hold special meeting this month
By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff
The shoreline along the Pend Oreille River. Courtesy photo.
Bonner County Planning and Zoning is asking stakeholders to weigh in on updating the county’s shoreline setback code, which restricts certain uses within 40 feet of area waterways in an effort to mitigate erosion and preserve water quality. Commissioner Dan McDonald told the Sandpoint Reader that it was his idea to revisit the setback ordinances. “Unfortunately, we are restricting full use of private property for things that will have zero effect on water quality and in fact, if changed, will help improve water quality,” he wrote in an email Nov. 2. McDonald said the county is hoping to work with stakeholders to establish a “list of things” that are acceptable within the established setback. “As an example, you can’t have a patio or retaining wall higher than 36 inches with a concern about erosion, however patios are impermeable surfaces that actually reduce the effects of erosion and retaining walls hold back the possibility of erosion,” he said. “Structures that don’t off-cast any contaminants like those with metal roofs also do not present a potential harm to water quality and again reduce the possible area of erosion.” McDonald said lawns will still not be allowed, “as the use of fertilizer presents a threat of nutrient loading.” “The current ordinance is too general and doesn’t take into account good building and landscaping practices, but in my opinion is just a lazy blanket denial that keeps property owners from utilizing a very highly valued piece of their taxable property,” he continued. In an email to stakeholders Oct. 26, 6 /
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Lakes Commission Executive Director Molly McCahon detailed the planning department’s outreach and shared a statement from Bonner County planner Jason Johnson. “While this process will involve the normal noticing and comment periods that apply to any comprehensive plan amendment, we were hoping for more input, and earlier input, from interested stakeholder groups,” Johnson wrote. “It is hoped that this early input can help to inform this process and create a better finished product.” Johnson continued on to say that the county is “hoping for input from written sources that can be cited: Studies and scientific sources with implementable recommendations, model codes, existing codes from other jurisdictions, case studies, current statistical and inventory data on Bonner County waterways, etc.” He also noted that it’s his department’s goal to have all input collected by the end of November. The Lakes Commission — which studies and advocates for responsible treatment of waterways in Bonner County — is planning to hold a special meeting about county shoreline code during the month of November. To be added to the Lakes Commission mailing list and stay informed about meeting dates, email McCahon at lakescommission@gmail.com. “The Lakes Commission was involved during the initial creation of these setbacks in the early 2000s and we support the intention of these shoreline codes to protect water quality and decrease erosion,” McCahon said.
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: A federal judge recently struck down a Department of Agriculture plan to deny food stamp benefits to 688,000 people, NBC.com reported. Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue defended the plan as one of restoring dignity of work to a “sizable segment of our population” and of being respectful to taxpayers. But the judge noted that since May, due to COVID-19, there have been more than 6 million new enrollees. A Columbia University study says 8 million people have slipped into poverty since May. Cnet reports that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is not considering another COVID-19 stimulus aid package for two months, despite a recent single-day record of 99,000 new cases in the U.S. and pressure from the House to do so months ago. President Donald Trump had promised a “tremendous” stimulus package for right after the election. If he is not re-elected, McConnell will cease holding office Jan. 3. Once a stimulus bill is signed there is a one week gap before checks go out. The Senate bill, which did not advance, did not have provisions for $1,200 stimulus checks, as opposed to the House proposal. The Wall Street Journal compiled data that shows homicides from white supremacists and far-right extremists since 2016 have become the nation’s deadliest source of extremist attacks. The data was collected by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. Doctors in Brazil say President Jair Bolsonaro should face charges of crimes against humanity for how he’s handled COVID-19, The WEEK reported. A complaint was filed with the International Criminal Court. Bolsonaro has opposed health experts’ efforts to curtail the virus. The nation has one of the top rates of infection, but not as high as the U.S. Trump, prior to his own hospitalization for COVID-19, stated at a campaign rally that it only affects “elderly people with heart problems” and “virtually nobody” else. The U.S. is fast approaching a 250,000 deaths from COVID-19. “Maybe I’ll leave the country, I don’t know,” Trump said at a recent rally, speculating about if he were to lose the presi-
By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist
dential election. An opinion piece from retired Brigadier General Peter Zwack, in Politico, drew upon his U.S. Army career to observe that other leaders with parallels to Trump lead him to see Trump as a “flight risk.” The risk stems from Trump no longer having presidential protection against charges and lawsuits against him that could imprison him, debts in the $421 million range and the likelihood that his real estate holdings may plummet in value once he’s out of office. Legal battles over voting were already well underway before Election Day, as detailed by numerous media sources. Attorneys were seeking either to expand voter access (Democrats) or suppress it (Republicans), since Democrats typically have more wins when more voters show up. Due to the ease of mail-in voting, sought due to COVID-19 risks, voter turnout has been high. In Texas, one of an estimated 400 Republican lawsuits nationwide was struck down Monday by a federal judge when they sought to invalidate 127,000 votes in the Houston area on the grounds that the ballots were not cast in a building, but in tents. In Clark County, Nev., where 70% of the state’s population lives, the Republican Party tried to stop mail-in ballots but were blocked by a judge. Trump has said the results should be known on election night, whether or not mail-in ballots not yet received are counted. Attorneys for Democrats stand ready to defend all votes cast on time being counted. Participants in a peaceful assembly walk in North Carolina this last weekend accused the police of disturbing the peace, according to The Washington Post. Despite having a permit to walk from church to a voting site, the walkers were told to clear the street. When they refused, police used pepper spray on people of all ages and made arrests. The governor called the police action “unacceptable.” The sheriff defended the action, saying the walkers were blocking traffic. Blast from the past: Armistice Day, commemorated Nov. 11, marks 102 years since WWI ended on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. After the decision to end the war, another estimated 11,000 people died before the war reached official termination.
ELECTIONS FEATURE
Sound and fury signifying nothing Idaho electoral results return incumbents up and down ballot
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Wagnerian opera dictates that it ain’t over until the fat lady sings. As of press time she’s staying mum as far as the U.S. presidential race goes, but she sang loud and clear in the key of R in Idaho. In summing up what transpired Nov. 3 in the Gem State — an election that every thinking person regarded as an historic one — a phrase from William Shakespeare came to mind: “Sound and fury signifying nothing.” As the nation waits anxiously for the result of the race for the White House, Idaho politics watchers couldn’t have been too surprised by the results, which trickled into the wee hours of Nov. 4. As the dust settled, incumbency ruled the day, with Republican Sen. Jim Risch besting his Democratic challenger Paulette Jordan 62.58% to 33.28%. That vote broke down to 537,456 to 285,824 — a huge turnout that mirrored (almost to the number) the state’s participation in the presidential race between Republican incumbent Donald Trump and Democratic challenger, former-Vice President Joe Biden. Incumbent Republican Rep. Russ Fulcher won a second term in Congress against Democrat Rudy Sotoe, 67.78% to 28.63%, pulling 310,737 votes to 131,268 districtwide. Down ballot, in the state races, results were similarly red-hued. Incumbent District 1 Sen. Jim Woodward, of Sagle, dominated his race against placeholder Democrat candidate Vera Gadman 77.4% to 22.6%, accounting for 19,662 votes to 9,245. Lightning rod Republican
Blanchard Republican District 1A Rep. Heather Scott — whose tumultuous career in the Statehouse has spilled more ink than anyone in recent memory, not least of which for inclusion as a participant in “domestic terrorism” activites, according to a state-commissioned Washington report earlier this year — handily beat Democrat placeholder Gail Bolin with 68.02% of the vote to 31.98%. Scott’s victory isn’t as surprising as the strong showing of her challenger. Bolin ran no campaign, yet, pulled 7,859 votes to Scott’s 14,911 — the former taking all Sandpoint precincts. Scott dominated overall, but received a little more than 50% in the Airport and Hope precincts. Incumbent Republican District 1B Rep. Sage Dixon won out over Democratic challenger Stephen Howlett by a similar margin: 71.36% to 28.64%, pulling 20,212 votes to his opponent’s 8,113. Unlike his fellow Democrats in the district, Howlett actually ran a campaign, responding to media questions and participating
in candidate forums. Yet, his name recognition in Boundary County didn’t translate into a win in Bonner. As it stacked up, Dixon drew more votes than Scott, and Woodward drew more than either — for Scott, the message in the populous areas of the district was that her extremism and focus on out-of-area political issues turned off voters enough to cast their ballots in large numbers for a candidate who never even mounted a campaign. Bonner County Commissioner Steve Bradshaw, a Republican, handily won reelection over Democratic challenger Steve Johnson, 17,566 votes to 8,999. Johnson carried all the most populous precincts in the county, while Bradshaw commanded the rural areas. Commissioner Jeff Connolly, also a Republican — though frequently the more moderate, dissenting voice on the three-member commission, led by Commissioner Dan McDonald — ran unopposed. Likewise, County Prosecutor Louis Marshall. Among the more heated
contests on the ballot, the office Bonner County sheriff goes again to incumbent Daryl Wheeler by a wide margin against challenger Cindy Marx. Marx ran as a write-in during the spring primary, garnering enough support to make it to the 2020 General Election ballot. She ran on a platform of depoliticizing the sheriff’s office, as Wheeler — a selfstyled “constitutional sheriff,” which he describes as one that disregards laws he deems at odds with the original intent of the U.S. Constitution — has put himself front and center in various partisan battles over the past year. Wheeler was a plaintiff in the lawsuit between Bonner County and the city of Sandpoint over The Festival at Sandpoint’s weapons ban, claiming concerns over a violent “affray” if the concert series continued to bar firearms from publicly owned War Memorial Field. The judge in the case called that argument “unpersuasive” and “speculative,” dismissing it earlier in the fall. The county in recent weeks has
appealed the case to the Idaho Supreme Court, though Wheeler is no longer a party. Meanwhile, the sheriff has also interceded in statewide politics by vocally opposing Gov. Brad Little’s efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the virus caused by the novel coronavirus that has killed more than 250,000 Americans since the spring. As with other contested races, Marx carried the most populous precincts in the county, including all Sandpoint and portions of Ponderay. Elsewhere in the state, Republicans dominated their races, though a handful of Democrats did win in precincts in the capital city of Boise. Finally, the constitutional amendment on the ballot — HJR4 — which would set the number of Idaho legislative districts at 35 passed 67.96% to 32.04%, with 525,766 in favor and 247,897 against. As for the fat lady, we’ll all have to wait to hear her swan song.
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ELECTIONS FEATURE
Déjà vu all over again
Election 2020 is looking to be even more fractious than election 2000
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, “It’s déjà vu all over again.” People with memories that stretch back to 2000 and the contested election of George W. Bush vs. Al Gore will remember the tenterhooks on which the nation hung for a month and more waiting for the resolution of who would be president of the United States. Here we are again. As it stands as of press time, incumbent Republican President Donald Trump has won 214 electoral votes to Democratic challenger and former-Vice President Joe Biden’s 264 votes — both vying to reach 270 to win a four-year term in the White House. For his part, Trump has waged a relentless propaganda campaign over the past few months to delegitimize the results of the election should he lose. Late in the evening Nov. 3 he declared victory, despite millions of votes yet to be counted — a process made more time and labor inten-
sive for elections workers by the more than 100 million voters who cast ballots early in person and by mail as a precaution against gathering amid the ongoing and increasingly deadly COVID-19 pandemic, which has so far claimed about 250,000 American lives, and rising. As the votes continue to come in, Pennsylvania, with its 20 electoral votes, is leaning toward Trump, as is North Carolina (15 votes) and Georgia (16). Biden leads in Nevada, whose six electoral votes would put him over the top, as of press time. The margins in all those states, accounting for a total of 57 electoral votes, are razor thin. All the remaining states are within a 2% difference. Trump needs 54 votes, as of press time, and if he takes all the states that are leaning toward him, he’ll reach 51. He’d need to turn Nevada as well to clinch the presidency. Nationally, as far as the popular ballot goes, Biden drew more than 72 million voters accounting for 50.4% of the turn-
out. Trump, meanwhile, garnered more than nearly 68 million votes for 48% of the turnout. In Idaho, Trump predictably blew out Biden, 66.88% to 33.09%, with 554,019 to 286,994 votes. In 2000, the election hinged on the electorate in Florida, where voting irregularities triggered an 11th hour take-back concession from Gore, who argued that the election had been thrown to Bush by dirty tricks. That assessment has been corroborated — and challenged — by a generation of political-science scholars, but the result is not in dispute: A lengthy court battle, a nervous nation and, ultimately, a George W. Bush presidency. Looking at the electoral map, pollsters and various experts from across the partisan spectrum also foresee a forthcoming flurry of litigation stemming from the 2020 election, potentially dragging out the final result until January 2021. Scores of lawsuits were already in the pipeline before the polls closed on Nov. 3, including in key states like Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas that centered on voting accessibility
Joe Biden, left, and Donald Trump, right. File photos. and vote counting — mostly focused on the unprecedented measures being taken by elections workers to adapt to the novel coronavirus. According to The Washington Post, more than 300 suits hit the courts this year related to COVID-19 and access to the polls. Trump, as is his habit, broke news Nov. 4 on Twitter claiming “For Electoral Vote purposes, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (which won’t allow legal observers) [an apparent reference to his call for Trump-loyal poll watchers, which many have described as an effort to intimidate Democratic voters and suppress the franchise] the State of Georgia, and the State of North Carolina, each one of which has a BIG Trump lead.” Trump also went on to “claim” Michigan, despite the lack of final vote tallies. Twitter marked the president’s tweet, as “disputed and might be misleading about an election or other civil process.”
Sandpoint Parks and Recreation league sport programming update By Reader Staff
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In compliance with the Idaho Gov. Brad Little’s Stage 3 Stay Healthy Order issued Oct. 26, the city of Sandpoint is currently only offering Parks and Recreation programs where social distancing guidelines can be maintained. Unfortunately, the Parks, Recreation and
Open Spaces will not be offering any sports leagues — neither youth nor adult — at this time. Available programs will be listed on Sandpoint Parks and Recreation’s website for registration. For class details and to register, visit sandpointidaho.gov/parksrecreation, the Parks and Rec. office located at 1123 Lake St. or call 208-263-3613. A notification will be sent out when sports league programming resumes.
FEATURE
To forgive is divine
PPP loan forgiveness applications now being accepted
By Ben Olson Reader Staff For many small businesses in the Sandpoint area, the PPP — or Paycheck Protection Program, passed by Congress in spring 2020 as a part of the CARES Act — was a lifeline to keep many businesses operational and employees paid without interruption during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the forgiveness process has begun for business owners to document where their PPP loan was utilized, and if businesses followed the right procedures by applying funds to payroll, rent and utilities, the potential is high for most or all of the funds to be forgiven. Eric Paull, vice president of Washington Trust Bank’s commercial banking division in Sandpoint, said the program was a game changer for small business owners in Sandpoint. “I think people by and large were grateful that the money was available,” Paull said. “I think truly here in Sandpoint it bridged that gap for some businesses. It was definitely make or break for some.” Paull said the Sandpoint branch of Washington Trust processed more than 70 PPP loans. Across its branches in Idaho; Washington; and Portland, Ore., Washington Trust handled more than 5,500 loans during a 10-day period in the spring for a whopping $1.25 billion in assistance. Keeping in mind that Washington Trust is just one of the many banks that processed PPP loans, it’s easy to see the real impact of the CARES Act on small business owners throughout the nation. The Small Business Administration reported that between April 3 and Aug. 8, more than 5 million PPP loans were approved, accounting for $525 billion in direct financial aid. Now, as business owners begin the forgiveness process, Paull said it helps immensely to prepare the necessary documents. “Have very good detailed records of your payroll,” Paull told the Reader. There was a potential for Congress to pass another round of stimulus, but Senate leaders redirected their attention to confirming President Donald Trump’s
Supreme Court Justice nominee Amy Coney Barrett, pushing off stimulus talks until after the election. There have been discussions to include clarifications and possibly streamlined or automatic forgiveness for loans under a certain dollar amount — either $150,000 or $50,000 — but the total was never agreed upon and the stimulus talks ended with no results. The Small Business Administration did roll out a simplified application, called Form 3508S, in October for businesses that received a loan of $50,000 or less. Paull said those who received loans of $50,000 and under will not have to certify the full-time equivalent, which refers to retaining the same number of employees as before the pandemic. “You don’t have to supply the documentation, but if you ever get audited, you’ll have to prove it,” Paull said. When the CARES Act first passed in spring, the PPP loan provided eight weeks of support to cover payroll, rent and utility costs for a business to remain operational. Later, the eight-week period was amended to cover 24 weeks so businesses could use all their PPP funding to cover payroll costs. “I think when the CARES Act first passed in spring, they chose an eight-
week time frame because they believed everything would be done in eight weeks,” Paull said. “The second levy of funds had a 24-week window in it. So everybody had the option for 24 weeks or eight weeks.” Paull said it’s important to include detailed payroll reports when applying for forgiveness, including the most recent 941 document, which denotes the quarterly payment of taxes. While there is no immediate rush to apply for forgiveness — applications need to be processed 10 months from the date of the end of the covered period or loan payments will begin to be due — Paull said he encourages his clients to start the process now rather than waiting for potential new legislation from Congress that might streamline the process. “It’s best to get it out of the way now,” he said. “Any client that is at $50,000 or under should apply for forgiveness to get it off their desk. The application is a shorter application, just one page, but you’ll still have to provide supporting documents.” Washington Trust has set up an online portal for its customers to navigate the process. Paull also said that anyone who has questions about the process should discuss it with the banker who processed their initial application.
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Sagle doesn’t need — or want — more loud development…
Bouquets: • Thank you to all the election workers at our polling places who volunteer to make sure Election Day goes off without a hitch. We appreciate your service. Barbs • If you’re one of the people that have moved to North Idaho recently, welcome to town. Now here’s a bit of advice: Don’t come into this town thinking that you somehow know better or are better than those who have lived here all their lives, or even those who have lived here a few years and gotten to know this community. Also, don’t think that those of us who live here automatically think the same way you do. No matter where your political affiliation lies, if you think you can understand a place as complex as North Idaho mere days after you move here, think again. Join the community before you start trashing it, please. The Sandpoint I was born and raised in was a place that accepted everyone for who they are. Those who immediately start judging their new neighbors are doomed to find that out yes, Sandpoint is like everywhere else – there are those who might agree with your philosophies and those who don’t. You’d do well to get along and treat people with respect instead of immediately claiming that you somehow have earned the right to talk trash about our community. You haven’t. You’ll find that a little decency and common respect will take you a long way in this community. My own personal rule is, if you haven’t lived here through at least four seasons, your opinion doesn’t carry much water. Think that’s harsh? So be it. I’m tired of newcomers trying to tell me – or anyone who has lived here for a long time – what they think of this community when they still have a living room full of unpacked moving boxes. 10 /
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Dear editor, Planning commissioners: I understand that you are considering changes in expanding and changing the land use for concrete and asphalt plants in rural Sagle, along with possibly more mining. Who was the person to come up with this asinine approach to planning for rural Sagle’s future. People have bought property in Sagle to live the rural life. One does not need any more rock crushing, mining, concrete or asphalt plants in Sagle. Terms such as “temporary” are so arbitrary as to be useless. I am president of Tamaracks Estates in Sagle, and to a homeowner living there, nothing is more important than a quiet neighborhood. Everyone here enjoys the quietness of our area of Sagle, until the summer explosions of rocks just south of us. (Linscott.) Have you made any plans for testing water sources in the local area, if you decide to allow concrete and asphalt businesses? How many water sources will be ruined by the poor planning of this undertaking? There should be no further discussion or implementation of this extremely poorly planned endeavor. Thank you. Jim Corcoran Sagle
Life goes on… Dear editor, In these troubling times, perhaps I, and my fellow Americans, can take pleasure in the words of one of the greatest poets of the 20th century:
In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on. In all the confusions of today, with all our troubles ... with politicians and people slinging the word fear around, all of us become discouraged ... tempted to say this is the end, the finish. But life — it goes on. It always has. It always will. Don’t forget that. — Robert Frost (American poet 1874-1963) James Richard Johnson Clark Fork
Kudos to the road crews… Dear editor, Greetings. My wife and I are recent transplants from Oregon (please don’t hate us just yet). We read the recent article in the Oct. 29 Sandpoint Reader regarding the recent snowfall and the preparation of the Bonner County Road Department. [“Road Reflections.”] I just felt the need to pass along our highest
compliments for the job they did during the storm. We saw plow trucks routinely going up and down Highways 2 and 95. If there was any disruption in traffic flow because of the weather, it was negligible. From years of living in the Willamette Valley, I can tell you a storm like that would have been crippling. We are so looking forward to our residency here and its genuine four seasons. We have no doubt that with what we saw during October’s early snow, getting out and about will not be a problem. Thank you for your hard work! Dean and Anjali Jennings Bonner County
Gun owners should exercise their rights ‘en masse, on a regular basis’… Dear editor, An open letter to the anti-gun liberals who signed the letter on the back of last week’s Reader: This is Idaho. We love our guns and it is our right to carry whatever type of firearm we choose in public. Idaho law protects these rights. If you are uncomfortable with people carrying handguns or long guns openly in public you have a few choices: 1. suck it up, it’s legal; 2. move to some liberal nanny state where you won’t have to see it; 3. work on changing state laws that allow us to do so. (Good luck with that.) There is absolutely nothing illegal in Idaho about walking around in public armed, either by yourself or with a group of people. We are individual citizens exercising our Second Amendment rights, not a “paramilitary organization.” That terminology is being used to try and make legal activities seem illegal. They are not. I normally carry concealed only, because it’s tactically the most sound strategy. Since all the whining from the local left over the past five months I’ve been carrying openly when in liberal strongholds like downtown Sandpoint, simply to irritate the people who want to take away my rights. Now, since you continue to poke the bear with letters like the one in the last Reader, I guess it’s time we start exercising those rights, en masse, on a regular basis. Sincerely, Steve Wasylko Sandpoint
Editor’s note: The “letter” to which Mr. Wasylko refers was a paid advertisement.
Selle residents invited to attend P&Z Commission meeting... Dear editor, The Selle-Samuels subcommittee completed their three-year duty of updating the Bonner County Comprehensive Plan on Feb. 18. The subcommittee plan satisfies the desires as identified at the onset by residents who attended the meeting at the Northside School. Since Feb. 18, SpaceX and the county and Zoning Department formed a “relationship” to violate existing comprehensive plan land use. The Planning and Zoning Commission will undertake further consideration of the Selle-Samuel subcommittee plan, on Nov. 10 at 5:30 p.m. in the first floor conference room of the county building, before sending an approved/denial recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners. The Selle-Samuels subcommittee did great work in representing the citizens of the Selle-Samuels area. It is now the residents of Selle/Samuels area who are asked to attend this Nov. 10 meeting and to bring their comment of approval. It is my understanding that the real estate community is engaged in an effort to oppose and thwart the subcommittee plan at this Nov. 10 th meeting. The realtors’ interest being greater subdivision, which fosters a self-interest of greater commission revenue. Excessive subdivision of property lots will challenge the foundation of the subcommittee plan… limited water supply. Regardless of the decision rendered from the Nov. 10, 5:30 p.m. meeting, I thank all of the Selle-Samuel subcommittee members for their accomplished volunteer work aimed at preserving the long-standing identity of the county’s northern valley area, as a treasured country. Thanksgiving Day approaches. Dan Rose Samuels
Have something to say? Write a letter to the editor. We accept letters under 300 words that are free from libelous statements and excessive profanity. Please elevate the conversation.
COMMUNITY
Bonner General Health Community Hospice welcomes Dr. Jade Dardine By Reader Staff
Bonner General Community Hospice is expanding its team to include Dr. Jade Dardine. Dardine moved to Sandpoint at the age of 13 and attended Sandpoint High School. She has fond memories of spending summer nights camping on her family’s property up Rapid Lightning Road. Previously her parents and now brother own the Pack River Store. She has another brother here in town, and they all have kids around the same age. “It’s wonderful to be able to raise our children with the support of extended family,” said Dardine. As a family, Jade, her husband and two children love soccer, skiing, hiking, backpacking and yoga. Dardine attended medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, and completed family medicine training in a community hospital in East Los Angeles. Additionally, she lived and worked in northern India in 2004 and 2008, serving alongside a local community doctor to help develop a program to train rural health promoters. “It was during this time that I was first able to truly experience birth, death, ceremony, trauma — all of the parts of life that require us to stop and bear witness and to come to understand the privilege of doing so,” said Dardine. Between medical school and residency, Dardine completed a postdoc at UCLA in a biochemistry research lab and was recently published in the journal Science.
Dr. Jade Dardine. Courtesy photo. “Both during medical school and residency, I was fortunate to have excellent exposure and mentoring on my palliative care rotations and have always had an interest in end-of-life care,” said Dardine. “My specific interest is being a strong patient advocate and translating the patient’s condition to the patient and their family culturally and sensitively. What I have learned about the dying process from my experiences worldwide is how many different ways there are to experience death. We meet people where they are.” She added: “I see the role of hospice as supporting people and their families through this final phase of life, and I’m excited to be able to support this interdisciplinary team in their work.” Visit bonnergeneral.org or call Bonner General Health Community Hospice at 208265-1179 for more information.
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Mad about Science:
Brought to you by:
archery By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Confucius, the foundational Chinese philosopher of the fifth and fourth centuries BCE, summed up the metaphysical power of archery with his widely repeated quote, “In archery we have something like the way of the superior man. When the archer misses the center of the target, he turns around and seeks for the cause of his failure in himself.” Likewise, poets, thinkers and spiritualists from Japan to Arabia to Africa and the Americas have for thousands of years waxed eloquent about the elegance and challenge of accurately releasing an arrow from a bow. And that’s probably only scratching the surface of the peoples across millennia who have hefted a bow and marveled at its seemingly mystical mingling of human and natural mechanical power. No one knows how long the technology of the bow and arrow has been with us. Archaeological evidence suggests bows and arrows have been in use for upwards of 71,000 years, dating to the Paleolithic age, when humans used materials such as wood and vine to craft their hunting weapons. Based on the prevalence of prehistoric arrowheads that have been found the world over, it’s beyond argument that the bow and arrow — and hence archery — is a basic human invention and skill. Granted, many tweaks and variations developed over that mind-boggling expanse of time. From the crude “self bows” crafted from one piece of wood by prehistoric hunters to the more varied material construc12 /
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tion of composite bows, to short bows and recurves for mobility, longbows for distance and power, the perfected efficiency of the flatbows of Native American societies, and the enormous Japanese Edo era bows that married precision accuracy with range, the mechanics of the bow and arrow remained fundamentally unchanged from its misty origins at the beginning of the Stone Age to the invention of the modern compound bow in the 1960s. Even then, incredibly, the physics behind the functioning of the weapon hasn’t changed a bit — a feat of intuitive understanding by our most ancient of ancestors. Essentially, the bow works by the channeled transference of energy. Properly constructed, the limbs of a bow (which in contemporary compound bows feature wheels known as cams at the tips) are incredibly efficient storehouses for potential energy. This energy is gathered when an archer — using their own musculature — pulls back on the bow string, immediately pushing all that power into the limbs of the bow. The potential energy gathered in the limbs becomes kinetic energy when the string is released. The string functions not unlike an electrical wire, carrying a flow of energy to a switch where it can disperse in a focused burst — that is, the arrow, which is launched from the nock end, where it has been notched into the string. Contrary to how it might look, arrows do not simply jump off the string and shoot across the arrow rest to the target; they flex and bend, oscillating as all that energy sizzles up their spine. That’s why simply firing a notched stick from a bow
will result in crazy flight paths going nowhere. What’s needed to keep the arrow on target is stabilization, which is where the fletching comes in. These are the three little “feathers” at the back of the shaft, which act like mini-rudders, helping balance the oscillation of the arrow while slicing through wind and air pressure effects. The “strength” of a bow is described as its draw weight, or poundage — that is, the amount of equivalent force needed to bring the string to full draw, which for longbows and recurves is generally defined as 28 inches in length. The length of the bow, the materials used to make it, the length of the string — all these factors combine to influence draw weight. It sounds so easy: pull back on a tight string tied to the tips of a curved piece of wood, let go and watch the arrow fly. None of these notions of potential and kinetic energy entered our ancestors’ minds when they invented this technology — they just knew that it worked, and found increasingly ingenious ways to improve their techniques of construction, arrow manufacturing, types of arrowheads and, ultimately, turned this utilitarian device into a platform for artistic skill and even spiritual practice. When I got my current bow, it had been a long time since I’d loosed an arrow. I’d participated in archery as a Cub Scout in Sagle back in the ’80s, grew up with an old green fiberglass bow that used to be dad’s when he was a kid and even took a semester of archery in college, but had never been a consistent bowman. That changed when I was in graduate school, when firing
off a few dozen arrows in the backyard became a regular, vital meditative stress relief practice (though I’m sure my neighbors weren’t too pleased to hear me out there thwacking the target at midnight). Balance, stance, posture, breathing — all the physics of the body must align with the physics of the bow to accomplish its task. This also sounds easy, but is deceptively difficult. People say golf is a mental game; archery is a state
of mind. As one anonymous poet once wrote: “If an archer shoots just for fun he has all his skill. / If he shoots for score his hands tremble and his breath is uneasy. / If he shoots for a golden price he becomes mad and blind. / His skill was not lessened, but the vision of the target changed him.”
Random Corner eria?
Don’t know much about bact • All of the bacteria in our body collectively weighs about four pounds. • The average office desk houses 400 times more bacteria than a toilet. • There’re more bacteria in your mouth than there are people in the world. • Researchers found 1,458 new species of bacteria in belly buttons. • Sweat itself is odorless. It’s the bacteria on the skin that mingles with it and produces body odor. • Chocolate has an antibacterial effect on the mouth and protects against tooth decay. In a study where cocoa bean husk was added to water and given to rats, the rats showed markedly fewer cavities in their teeth than those given sugar water. • Tap water has a shelf life of six months, after which chlorine dissipates and bacteria starts to grow. • After two weeks of wear, a
We can help!
pair of jeans will have grown a 1,000-strong colony of bacteria on the front; 1,500–2,500 on the back; and 10,000 on the crotch. • The strongest creatures on Earth are gonorrhea bacteria. They can pull 100,000 times their own body weight. That’s like a human being pulling 18,000 tons! • Sorry fellas, offices with more male employees have far more bacteria. • In 2013, a bacterium was found in New Zealand that’s resistant to every single antibiotic known. • Beans increase flatulence because they carry a type of sugar called “oligosaccharides,” which are hard for bacteria to break down, so they release gas in the process. • Horseshoe crab blood is worth $15,000 per liter, due to its ability to detect bacteria. • It is estimated that a third of the world’s population is infected with tuberculosis bacteria, but most never have any symptoms.
HEALTH
On the front line By Ben Olson Reader Staff Front line health care workers are always deserving of our recognition, but save a little extra love during National Nurse Practitioner Week, Nov. 8-13, for the 30 nurse practitioners who serve the Sandpoint area. Nurse practitioners, or NPs, are advanced educated registered nurses at a master’s or doctorate level. NPs can prescribe medicine, they can order lab work, radiology studies, home health and hospice, among other abilities. “In this state, NPs are the umbrella and under that you can have a specialty,” said Cynthia Dalsing, a Sandpoint NP who has practiced for more than 20 years and also serves as the District 1 representative for the Nurse Practitioners of Idaho organization. “When people have a health emergency and reach out to a provider, you’re likely to get an NP.” Dalsing said the 30 NPs in Sandpoint, as well as in other rural towns, do half the primary care in the area. For her, National Nurse Practitioner Week is a time to celebrate these front line workers, but also to educate those who aren’t aware of the lack of pay parity that exists in Idaho. “A physician has to make enough money to pay off their medical school loans, but you have to be able to make a living and pay off your loans, so most physicians are drawn to bigger practices and towns so they can specialize,” Dalsing said. “NPs are caring, well-educated, competent providers
who are really about making a connection with you.” Dalsing said smaller towns like Sandpoint have a more difficult time attracting medical providers because the pay scale is lower than larger areas can offer. “You don’t want to say it’s just about the money,” Dalsing. “Living in a beautiful place is great when you’re putting out a job position, but you also have to have a job for your spouse, good schools for your kids, you have to be able to afford a house. It’s definitely harder to attract people to rural areas.” One major hurdle Dalsing is hoping to rectify in the coming years is balancing out the pay parity that exists for NPs and physicians. When patients are charged for a service, such as a cold or a bladder infection, Dalsing said that billing code is then reimbursed by insurance companies. The problem lies in the fact that there is a distinct discrepancy for how much a physician vs. a NP is reimbursed. “NPs are frequently paid 85% of that reimbursement rather than a physician,” Dalsing said. “Patients don’t know that. Insurance companies are underpaying NPs that are doing the exact same thing as a physician under the same billing code.” For NPs such as Dalsing, who operate their own practice, this pay differential means their business has to operate on 15% less than a physician operating their practice. “It’s absurd,” Dalsing said. “We are actually taking it to the Legislature this year.” In comparison to neighboring states, Washington, Utah, Montana, Wyoming
Celebrate National Nurse Practitioner Week Nov. 8-13
and California all have full pay parity, and Oregon has mostly full pay parity while Idaho still has set the rule at 85% pay parity. Across the nation, 29 states and Washington, D.C. have pay parity. “We need NPs and physician’s assistants,” Dalsing said. “We are not as attractive a state because we’re not paid the same.” For example, if Dalsing were to place an IUD in a female patient, she pays full price for the unit, plus her insertion time, yet she is paid 15% less for that procedure, even though she pays full price for the device. “We should be on the same level if we provide the same service,” she said. While the global pandemic has caused front line workers to put their own health at risk to serve their patients, it has also created a bit of a silver lining for NPs regarding home health, a health care system that serves homebound patients that are unable to travel outside of their home to receive services, and hospice, which focuses on end-of-life care. Prior to the pandemic, NPs were not able to order home health or hospice care, so a patient would have to set up a separate appointment with a physician to obtain these services. Now, thanks to a recent change, NPs are able to prescribe home health and hospice services. “With the CARES Act, they broadened the scope so we can practice a wider set of services,” Dalsing said. “Because of the difficulty of getting out and the cost of seeing a second provider, as well as the delay in care, we can now order those two services for our patients. It’s a big money saver, so
patients don’t have to have a duplicate visit with a physician. It took a pandemic, but by god we did it.” In her capacity as District 1 representative for the Nurse Practitioners of Idaho organization, Dalsing said she has repeatedly brought up the pay parity issue with Idaho Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo, and U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, but likened the process to “banging [her] head against the wall.” “It’s hard to convince them what a cost savings and access in care savings it is,” Dalsing said. While Idaho does lag behind other western states in the pay parity issue, it is at the forefront of allowing NPs to establish their own independent practices. In 2004, Idaho was the first state in the country to allow NPs to practice independently. Below are the 30 NPs who practice in the Sandpoint area. Be sure to give them a little love during National Nurse Practitioner week: Laura Adams, Tabitha Barron, Erin Bass, Tafie Bowman, Laci Burk, Ann Cox, Cynthia Dalsing, Sarah Derrig, Beaver Eller, Leanne Elisha, Mary Fiedler, Kelly Fuhrman, Tracey Koch, Nichole Grimm, Jane Hoover, Darwin Hurst, Laura Lata, James Lathrup, Janet Lukehart, Mark McGrath, Kathy Robertson, Paige Russell, Natasha Splain-Talbott, Katie Sweeney, Travis Taylor, Joyce Wilson, Lana Young.
Enrollment for 2021 health insurance now open New carrier and record number of plans give Idahoans a range of choices
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff The annual open enrollment period for health insurance in Idaho started Nov. 1 and will remain open until Dec. 15. Until then, Idahoans can shop, compare and enroll in a plan through the Your Health Idaho state health insurance exchange, accessible online at yourhealthidaho.org. “The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that access to comprehensive and affordable health insurance coverage is more important than ever,” said Your Health Idaho Executive Director Pat Kelly. “In a time of so much uncertainty, knowing you have coverage in the event of an emergency is a welcome peace of mind.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened health concerns across the country. It has also had a significant impact on the daily lives of Idahoans, some of whom have found themselves without employer-sponsored benefits for the first time. “We expect to see many newly eligible Idahoans seeking coverage through Your Health Idaho in 2021, whether it’s due to a loss of health insurance or a change in household income,” said Kelly. “That is why we are encouraging everyone to complete an application. It never hurts to look, and you may be surprised to find how affordable health insurance coverage can be.” Your Health Idaho is the only place where eligible Idahoans can receive a health insurance tax credit, which acts like an in-
stant discount, reducing the cost of monthly premiums. Tax credit eligibility is based on household size and income. For example, an individual making up to $51,040 a year, or a family of four earning up to $104,800 a year, could qualify for a tax credit. In 2020, more than 80% of Your Health Idaho customers received a tax credit, and one in three paid nothing for their coverage each month. Idahoans will have a record number of health insurance plans to choose from in 2021, including plans from a new carrier to the exchange. Regence, which currently sells small group and individual plans off-exchange in Idaho, will offer medical coverage through Your Health Idaho for the first time. With the addition of Regence,
Your Health Idaho now offers Idahoans access to health insurance plans from seven different carriers. For Idahoans who are unsure about how to enroll or determine if they qualify for a tax credit, Your Health Idaho recommends working with an insurance agent or broker. These experts are certified by Your Health Idaho and their services are available for free. A list of certified agents and brokers is available online at yourhealthidaho.org/ find-help. To enroll in health insurance for the 2021 plan year, visit yourhealthidaho. org. For questions or to speak with a Your Health Idaho representative call 1-855-9443246. November 5, 2020 /
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OUTDOORS
Dirt-y Secrets Winter approaches…
By Ranel Hansen Reader Columnist “They who sing through summer, must dance through winter.” — Italian proverb There is no doubt about it, we are entering a new season and it’s likely to be a cold, snowy one. Time for your garden to rest and ready itself for the next growing season. We gardeners can rest a bit, too, while we plan for spring. There was a time when I could not rest until every flower bed was trimmed and raked and looked like a neatly made quilt. I have gotten over that, and I no longer clean everything up in fall. Instead, I leave lots of annuals with seed heads for the birds and some leaves and other garden debris for sheltering insects. Of course, that leaves more work for spring, but you can congratulate yourself for caring for the little creatures in your garden. They will reward you with pest control and seed spreading — and your soil will be improved, too. By now, you have likely planted your bulbs and moved tender plants inside. If you haven’t, it is too late for annuals. But, you can still mulch perennials and trees, which will help them stay healthy through the winter. Remember those eggshells we talked about for slug abatement? Throw some, with a little epsom salt, under your mulch to discourage slugs from hiding in there, taking a long winter’s nap and then chowing down in the spring. The egg shells and salt are good for your plants, too.
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Let’s talk about birds. The swallows and hummingbirds are long gone but the finches, chickadees, pine siskins, woodpeckers, nuthatches and others are here to spend the winter. I feed them all with sunflower seeds and they reward me with fascinating avian activity. But I have learned a little more about sparrows this year and though they are just trying to make a living like everyone else, they are invasive and a threat to all of the other cavity nesting birds. I have learned that they not only overtake nest boxes, but kill the birds inside. Not OK with me! But I did it to myself. Last year I fed the sparrows, too. And I let them take refuge from the winter cold in my sweet autumn clematis, which climbs on a porch pillar. Well, I can’t allow the killing to go unchecked. So, research suggests that a new kind of bird house opening will keep out sparrows. My winter project is to replace my conventional bird houses with the slotted kind, that is, you cut a slot instead of a round hole. I am still letting them shelter in the clematis, but no longer feed them nearby. As I said, they, like all of us, are just trying to get by. I will report back on my success or failure. Meanwhile, now is the perfect time to plan next year’s garden adventures. Seed catalogs are beginning to arrive and they are so much fun to spend time with. However, when it is time to quit planning and start doing, I urge you to visit your local garden centers. They are experts in local gardening information and they are our friends and neighbors. We have talked about the birds. Now, the bees. Mason bees are super pollinators and I have been having such fun raising them. They only live a few weeks
The sweet autumn clematis where Ranel Hanson allows her sparrows to overwinter. Courtesy photo.
but in that time have laid their eggs in the houses I have for them. Once egg laying and pollination is over, I move the bees — still in their houses — into my garage where they stay while the eggs develop. In October, I remove the cocoons and store them in the crisper of my refrigerator, checking them over the winter to be sure they stay a bit moist. I have planted early flowering bulbs near the mason bee houses so that next year they will have plenty to eat when I put them out in April. This year my bees doubled the number of cocoons they produced! One last thing: Amaryllis bulbs are everywhere right now and so easy for such a huge reward. Individual bulbs or in the prefab box, they are a simple little project that you can watch grow into a gorgeous flower. The box kind comes with a pot and soil for about $7 and the bulbs only need a container and some soil or even rocks to be happy. They usually take about six weeks or so, which makes them a perfect holiday decoration.
VETERAN’S DAY FEATURE
Dying Twice By Michael Jacobson Reader Contributor Some people don’t know how to make it back. Such is the case with Raymond’s brother, James. He took his own life one day. The nightmares, fears, terror, the very existence of watching his shipmates die — had finally taken its toll. James, I learned, was a sailor aboard a Fletcher class destroyer during WWII. During one of their patrols, the ship was severely damaged by a German U-boat from below and strafed from above by a squadron of enemy aircraft. During early hours of the following morning, six remaining survivors were rescued by a civilian Greek frigate — 393 sailors lost their lives that night. All too often sailors, soldiers, airmen and Marines of the 1940s and ’50s were never given a chance. The casualties of unprecedented slaughter, carnage and destruction that still lingered from WWI reappeared from out of the past, adding their losses to the second time the world went to war. The First World War was supposed to be “the war to end all wars.” WWII was often referred to as “the big war,” not only because the vast majority of the world’s countries were affected by it, but
Inspired by Raymond Kelly
it was also the deadliest conflict in human history — inflicting between 70 million and 80 million fatalities, tens of millions of people died due to genocides (including the Holocaust). Even more death, danger, and wounds both physical and mental awaited these generations of service members, as world leaders dumped them into the abyss of North Korea in 1950. Men and women, still reeling from the massive destruction of WWII were once again called to the front lines of war. While the men marched off to battle, women again took their place in the war machine’s factory floors. Feeding the insatiable appetite of the demon that was destroying their families, many felt that their efforts were the only way to support their loved ones. Then came the worst part of the mental journey suffered by family members and friends who remain at home. When many of our soldiers came home, family members would question themselves when they heard about topics like changed behavior or worse — soldiers committing suicide. Many people, Raymond included, suddenly asked, “Could I have done more? Why didn’t anyone notice, why didn’t I notice? Could I be the reason my brother died twice; once on the field of battle and once at home?”
Despite the several factors that go unrecognized when a combat veteran returns home, many symptoms stay buried for years, even decades. Family members and friends, relieved to have their loved ones return home safely, sometimes never think — or want — to ask certain questions or broach certain topics. Soldiers’ memories of pain, stress, anguish, anxiety, guilt and much more are all too often locked into a buried vault. Our warriors returned home with nothing more but a parade. Innocent-sounding terms are given to the wounded and their families by those in charge of any conflict: shell shock, battle fatigue, gross stress reaction syndrome, PTSD. All are words given “by the powers that be” in an attempt to explain psychological differences when soldiers return from battle. Pre-existing conditions are also used in an attempt to deny any form of compensation, physical or mental.
Our loved ones died once; we must do whatever it takes to keep them from having to die twice by realizing that we must do all that we are capable of doing, and then some. We must stand firm in our support and question our country’s leaders when the men they send to war are left to fend for themselves. *** I met Raymond in a state park campground in Wyandotte, Okla. My wife and I had stopped for a few days on our road trip across the country. Raymond was out for a stroll with his dog on one of the many trails that went through the state park and adjacent campgrounds. When he and I started talking it was on the topic of rescue dogs and how therapeutic they were. He had gotten his dog from the local shelter nine months prior — a mixed breed of dachshund, corgi and who knows what else. As my two dogs, also rescue dogs from a shelter, and his were performing their canine acknowledgements, Raymond and I became acquainted. Suddenly, he thanked me for my service, as he pointed to the leather vest that
bore the insignias of the Army units I had been assigned too and several patches commemorating the Vietnam War. During a long pause after a comment about my patch commemorating the number of casualties during the war (officially 58,479) he told me about his brother, James. Wanting to find out more than a name, date or the events leading up to his brother’s death, I knew by the look in his eyes that I should return to the topic of our beginning conversation — our rescue dogs. In conclusion, I wish to have had more detailed information to fully honor James’s dedication, sacrifice and service to our country, but I must also honor Raymond’s mental wellbeing and let him remain in a place of safety. I hope that one day he will find solace and forgiveness for himself, that is my prayer for both Raymond and his brother, James. Michael Jacobson is a U.S. Army veteran from 1975-1992. We thank him and all veterans for their service to this country.
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events
November 5 - 12, 2020
THURSDAY, November 5
Alzheimer’s Support Group 1-2:30pm @ Tango Cafe Meeting Room For friends, family and caregivers of those with Alzheimer’s. Meets the first and third Thursday of each month. 208-290-1973 for more information
COMMUNITY
FSPW co-hosts Unlikely Thru-Hiker
Sandpoint Nordic Club Ski Team registration begins Register @ SandpointNordic.com (register by Dec. 10 to avoid $30 late fee) An 8-week program offering kids 6-18 years old the opportunity to learn and enjoy cross-country skiing. Season rentals available at a discounted rate.
FriDAY, November 6
Live Music w/ Berx Records Duo 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Family-friendly acoustic music Live Music w/ Devon Wade 6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Country night at the Beer Hall Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
SHS Football playoff game 7pm @ War Memorial Field 425 home tickets for sale for families of participants only starting Nov. 4 at 1:15 p.m. at SHS. Any tickets left will go on sale to the general public Nov. 5 at 1:15 p.m.
SATURDAY, November 7 Paint and Sip class 6:30pm @ Uncorked Paint Painting is “Birches and Pumpkins.” Reserve seat at uncorkedpaint.com. $35 includes all materials and instruction Live Music w/ Benny Baker 6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Classic rock favorites
Beginning Drawing Class 2-4pm @ Studio 1 Dance Academy Every Saturday in November, for ages 10 to adult. Bring 8x10 sketchbook, gum eraser and a small set of drawing penciles. deannanbenton@hotmail.com
SunDAY, November 8
Piano Sunday w/ Tom Pletscher 3-5pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
monDAY, November 9 Monday Night Blues Jam w/ Truck Mills Monday Night Run Posse (free) 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub 6pm @ Outdoor Experience Lifetree Cafe 2pm @ Jalapeño’s Restaurant “‘I Lived in a Dumpster’: How a Homeless Teenager Rose to the Top of Her Class.”
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By Reader Staff Think you could never pull off a long-distance hike? You might want to talk to Derick Lugo. Raised in the city, Lugo figured he was the last person to get involved in thru-hiking. So he surprised himself as much as anyone when he started his hike from Georgia to Maine on the Appalachian Trail. Turns out there was plenty to learn — and not just about thru-hiking. His encounters along the way taught lessons in preparation, humility, race relations and nature’s wild unpredictability. It’s all covered in Derick’s book, The Unlikely Thru-Hiker. You can hear about it straight from Derick “Mr. Fabulous” Lugo himself in a virtual conversation set for Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 5:30 p.m. PT (6:30 p.m. MT).
Derick Lugo, author of The Unlikely Thru-Hiker, hangs out on the trail. Courtesy photo. Lugo’s great sense of humor will shine through during the event — part of what makes his book so special. Even at their toughest, his thru-hike challenges can’t quash his inner Pollyanna. It’s an example of persevering with “humor, tenacity and an unshakeable commitment to grooming,” as Lugo puts it. Catch him again at a Gonzaga University presentation on Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. PST via Zoom. The virtual conversation is presented by Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness, Idaho Trails Association, Idaho Conservation League, The Lands Council and Washington Trails Association. Tune in for the live event by registering at bit.ly/MrFabulous.
COMMUNITY
SARS Ski Swap canceled
By Reader Staff The annual Schweitzer Alpine Racing School Sandpoint Ski Swap has been canceled for 2020 after the state moved back to Stage 3 of its reopening plan, which bans indoor gatherings of 50 or more people. SARS organizers was hopeful to be able to pull the swap off with social distancing measures in place but, given
The SARS Ski Swap in previous years. Courtesy photo. the popularity of the event — which regularly draws more than 1,200 people to the Bonner County Fairgrounds — and the requirement that gatherings being limited to 50 people, it became too difficult to move forward in a way deemed safe for the community. The swap will return to the fairgrounds in November 2021.
Registration for Sandpoint Nordic Club’s Youth Recreation Program is open Nov. 5 By Reader Staff The Youth Recreational Ski Team is an eight-week program that offers kids from 6 to 18 years of age the opportunity to learn and enjoy cross-country skiing. Coaches and adult volunteers lead groups of kids in activities designed to teach the fundamentals of Nordic (cross-country) skiing, from fun on the snow for the youngest skiers, to technique and even racing for more experienced skiers. Skiers younger than 6 are welcome to join but must be accompanied by an adult or parent during the ski session (there is no program fee for kids under 6). Sessions are hosted at Pine Street Woods from January
Courtesy photo. through February, and season rentals are available at a discounted rate for ski team participants. Register by Dec. 10 to avoid a late registration fee. Registration and more program information is available online at sandpointnordic.com November 5, 2020 /
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FOOD & DRINK
Let us now drink
Whether you’re celebrating or mourning, here are some presidential cocktails to conclude the election season
By Ben Olson Reader Staff Well, Election Day is finally over. Whether you are celebrating or mourning the outcome, now is as good a time as any to mark the end of this bitter season with some presidential cocktails. Here are some of our favorites:
ceramic or glass container. Cover and refrigerate overnight. George Washington’s whiskey old fashioned
John Adams’ Madeira port sangria
2 oz. Redemption Rye whiskey ½ oz. Benedictine liqueur 2 dashes Angostura bitters 1 dash Truth Lemon Bitters Stir over ice strained and serve in a rocks glass with a single large cube. Garnish with a lemon twist. Abraham Lincoln’s cucumber stiletto mocktail
½ cup sugar ¼ cup water 3 bottles of red wine ½ bottle of ruby port 2 oranges, sliced into wheels 2 limes, sliced into wheels 1 pineapple, cut into ½ inch cubes Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan, bring to a simmer to dissolve the sugar, making a concentrated simple syrup. You can also use prepared simple syrup if you’re too impatient to make your own, but we suggest making your own for the tradition. Combine the syrup, red wine, port, orange, lime and pineapple in a large 18 /
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½ oz. fresh lime juice ½ oz. simple syrup 2 sprigs fresh mint 2 thin cucumber slices soda water Place the mint, cucumber, lime juice and simple syrup, and a splash of soda water in a cocktail shaker with ice. Muddle and shake heartily. Strain over ice and top with soda water.
Our first president sounds like my kind of guy. Washington was known as a whiskey aficionado, and even distilled and bottled his own private label as his ancestral home of Mount Vernon. This modern take on the old fashioned pays homage to Washington’s spirited enthusiasm for whiskey.
John Adams was known to imbibe quite freely. It has been recorded that Adams took a cider in the mornings, wine with lunch and Madeira port every evening. After all, founding a country is tough work that requires stress relief. The following recipe is actually known as a “sangaree” because it uses port wine.
viding a non-alcoholic drink on this list for those who don’t wish to imbibe. (You can add vodka or rum, though — we’re sure Abe wouldn’t mind).
FDR’s gin martini
2 oz. rum (Cana brava is preferred, but any white rum will do) ¾ oz. fresh lime juice ½ Royal Combier (if necessary, substitute with Grand Marnier, but if you’re a purist, go with the Royal Combier). ½ oz. simple syrup Shake all ingredients over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. No, not all daiquiris are served like a slushie. Have some class, for crying out loud. Garnish with a lime wheel and tip your hat to Camelot. Franklin Pierce
America’s longest-serving president was also a devoted martini drinker. Roosevelt was even known to mix stiff drinks himself for White House guests. This recipe comes from the W Hotel for the perfect dry martini. 2.5 oz. gin ½ oz. Gewurztraminer two dashes Bitter Truth grapefruit bitters *Gewurztraminer is a variety of pink skinned, aromatic grapes used in white wines. One can always substitute with pinot blanc or riesling. JFK daiquiri
Honest Abe was a teetotaler, so we thought it might honor his legacy by pro-
cold winter nights with this tropical blend and hoist one for our 35th president.
JFK reportedly favored this Cuban-born tropical drink. Stave off those
There’s no recipe to go along with Franklin Pierce, but it’s worth noting that our 14th president was probably the biggest boozer of all the American presidents. In 1856, after he lost his bid for the Democratic nomination for president, a reporter is said to have asked him what he would do after leaving office. Pierce replied, “There’s nothing left but to get drunk.” In his later years, Pierce took up the life of what he called an “old farmer,” drinking and tilling the soil. In 1869, at the age of 64, he died from severe cirrhosis of the liver.
STAGE & SCREEN
Mystery reimagined By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff The Netflix original Enola Holmes is the latest endeavor for 16-year-old rising actress Millie Bobby Brown, who found fame in her role as Eleven in the hit series Stranger Things. Brown ditched the monsters in her latest work but kept the mystery, resulting in a fun and fast-paced story that pairs history with activism to create a perfect film for a 2020 movie night. In a nutshell and without spoilers, Enola awakens on her 16th birthday to find her mother is missing. She calls her two older brothers — Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes — for help, but ultimately decides to embark on a journey to find her mother herself. She ends up helping a runaway boy — Viscount Tewksbury, a soon-to-be member of the House of Lords — escape his assassin and ultimately discovers that each of her entanglements have something in common: the upcoming vote on a reform bill which would aid the women’s suffrage movement in 1880s England. The film has garnered a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is enough to tell anyone that it isn’t just some teeny-bopper knock-off placed in a well-loved character’s world. Enola Holmes, based on the series of young adult novels by Nancy Springer, pays
adequate tribute to the quirks and complexities that make Sherlock Holmes stories great, while also creating a main character and plot that provide a needed feminist reinvention for modern viewers. Brown absolutely owns her role as Enola, providing the energy and charm that propels the film through its more than twohour run time. She even regularly breaks the fourth wall, addressing the camera directly, confiding in the audience or sharing humorous asides. While this would typically make me cringe, Brown makes it feel natural. Why wouldn’t she be talking to us? In a film where she is largely left alone — read: Enola backwards — the viewer is her confidant, and we are more than happy to be there for her. Critics across the board have lambasted the casting choice for Sherlock — played by British actor and former Superman Henry Cavill — as being untrue to the traditionally cold, analytical and physically slight portrayal of the legendary detective. Cavill brings a warmer side to Sherlock, though still staying true to the quiet and brainy parts of the character as he attempts to track down his sister. Cavill also makes for a hunky, cow-licked, can’t-rest-his-massivearms-at-his-sides Sherlock, and you won’t be hearing any complaints from me. Where I do harbor my one complaint is with the movie’s sudden and unnerving
transition from whimsical to outright terrifying. The film is rated PG-13 for a reason, but that reason isn’t apparent until you near the climax. While the violence up until that point is composed mostly of hand-to-hand combat, soon there’s a grisly and jarring death by blunt trauma to the head, and even some gun play. Not to mention perhaps the scariest part: when Enola’s brother Mycroft, a powerful and crotchety man, retrieves her after she’s run away and yells at her in the carriage on the ride home. Interpretations of what is violent and what isn’t varies from person to person, but for me, this scene was fairly triggering.
The Mandalorian Season 2 hits Disney+ By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
It’s already well established that The Mandalorian is a better addition to the Star Wars universe than the prequel trilogy, the standalone Solo film and even the final trilogy that supposedly ended the Skywalker saga with The Last Jedi in 2019. For most critics, the original trilogy and Rogue One are the only other best/comparable big-budget efforts to add to the universe created by George Lucas in 1977 with Star Wars: A New Hope. Since the Disney takeover of Lucasfilm, and acquisition of all Star Wars commodities, Disney+ has been the streaming home of “the galaxy far, far away.” That includes The Mandalorian, which saw its second season air Oct. 30 with an episode filled with callbacks to its long pedigree. In it, we see the titular bounty hunter-turned-armored nanny escorting his adorable powderkeg “baby yoda” charge through the most unsavory parts of the Outer Rim. Soon, he’s back on Tatooine,
home of both Anakin (a.k.a. Darth Vader) and Luke (his son and galactic savior) Skywalker. Mando is on the desolate planet to find a fellow Mandalorian, who he hopes will help guide him to the baby yoda homeworld. He finds a lot more than he bargained for, though, with a character who’s not all that he seems at first (yet maybe more), brokers an unlikely alliance and helps fell an enemy whose existence has haunted the Star Wars universe since Obi-Wan Kenobi saved a wayward Luke from Tusken raiders out beyond the Dune Sea. All the while, viewers get a bantha-load of hints and Easter eggs that fill in some of the lore surrounding the fall of the Galactic Empire after the destruction of Death Star II in Return of the Jedi. But let’s be real: So much of this is profoundly dumb. Lucas, for all his trend-setting foresight and technical brilliance, has never been much of a storyteller. The Star Wars canon is the most convoluted, ass-backwards ever created. Marketing and salability have always been the driving
Enola Holmes is a charming adventure that’s all too fitting for these turbulent times
Courtesy photo. In all, Enola Holmes is a funny and enthralling ride through mystery, political strife and the complexity of human relationships. The costuming is superb, the score is captivating and, above all, Millie Bobby Brown has found the role she was born to play. What’s more, it couldn’t have come at a better time. A movie about civil unrest, political reform and the power of a single vote released in the fall of 2020? What a coincidence. The film’s end makes it clear that this isn’t the last we’ll see of Enola Holmes, and for that, I am grateful.
The worthiest addition to the canon since Rogue One
forces behind The Force, and through all the spin-offs and pre- and post-quels the tiniest nerd-gastic detail is often fuel enough for an entire half-billion-dollar project — continuity be damned. The Mandalorian, for all its awesome sci-fi western gunslinger glory is indeed another money grab by Disney — the titular character being a spin-off of Boba Fett, who was himself an after-thought character thrown into the infamous Star Wars Christmas Special between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Despite Fett’s character appearing as an animated aside in the otherwise live-action (and truly horrendous) Christmas special, someone with pull back in the late 1970s-early-’80s thought the helmet looked cool and Fett got to be a fullfledged character. He had a handful of lines and a secondary role in the events of Empire and Jedi, but he met his unceremonious end being eaten by a big sandy butthole with tentacles on — you guessed it — Tatooine. Since then, the marketability of the helmet has really been what matters. The disastrous prequel trilogy shoehorned the
Fett/Mandalorian storyline into an absurdly central part of galactic politics, making Boba’s dad, Jango, the genetic template for every trooper in the Grand Army of the Republic — thus the precursor to the rise of the entire Empire and making Vader’s master-client attitude toward him more than a jerk move. Alas, that kind of retconning and ham-fisted fan service is par for the course with this grand-daddy of all film franchises. Regardless of all that, The Mandalorian manages to capture something of what made the original trilogy such a sensation: it’s gritty, funny, fun, exotic and quick on its feet — if a little low on intellectual caloric intake, even for Star Wars. As such, this second season is one to keep up on — new episodes every Friday on Disney+. November 5, 2020 /
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FOOD
The Sandpoint Eater Soup speed By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Columnist
It’s soup season, and in anticipation of the cold and snowy months ahead of us, I’m already stocking my larder. Though I rely on many of my mother’s recipes for the soups of my youth, the truth is I’ve yet to meet a soup I didn’t like. Years ago, I worked at a restaurant in Montana and loved its house specialty, a rich and creamy clam chowder. The owner parted with his recipe and I learned the creaminess came from using canned, condensed milk. I also learned with my first batch that there’s a huge difference between condensed milk and sweet condensed milk. I should have pitched the whole batch right then, but gosh, those clams were expensive so I kept doctoring it. Turns out no amount of salt, pepper or additional clam juice could fix my sweet clam chowder. That wasn’t my only soup mishap. Years ago, I was part of a startup tour company that operated luxury sleeping trains over Montana Rail Link’s route from Sandpoint to Livingston, Mont. This particular route — formerly the Northern Pacific — had not seen passenger service since Amtrak took over all passenger service in 1979, and we were eager to showcase our magnificent region. I worked extensively with the high-end clientele, which included nonprofit travel groups, such as Smithsonian, National Trust and Stanford University, to provide and promote regionally sourced foods. I chased down smoked trout from Salmon, Idaho; caviar from Whitefish Lake; crazy-expensive bison tenderloins from central 20 /
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Montana; and organic chickens and rabbits from the Milford Hutterite colony in Wolf Creek, Mont. These were not foodstuffs that were handled by distributors, so, during train layovers, one of the galley staff or I would load a rental car with coolers and ice and rendezvous on a county road (or country bar) to meet up with the respective vendor or farmer. Once I had my wild hare and other organically-grown fare, the galley crew would spend a couple of days prepping the meals, including three, four-tofive course dinners. The welcome dinner included consommé of wild hare, which took hours to prepare. First, the rabbit was poached until it fell off the bone, then the stock would be strained and simmered until it was reduced to a rich amber color. Finally, the stock was strained
through cheesecloth and clarified with egg whites until not a drop of fat remained. The dining car, The Missouri River, was a classic 12-table, 48-seat diner car. Each table was carefully set three times a day with fresh linens, flowers and table lamps (no open flames for a rail car). The staff looked sharp too, in crisp white shirts, black bow ties and fitted bistro aprons. Prior to the arrival of the first guests, the staff was trained over several days, while the train was stabled in Missoula. We had several opportunities to “polish” our crew by preparing meals for friends and Montana Rail Link staff. Finally, with much anticipation and excitement, we deadheaded the train to Paradise to greet our first guests who were arriving by motorcoach after a three-day tour of Glacier
National Park. The first course of Whitefish caviar, blinis and wild ramps was served with aplomb and met with raves. Next up was the piping hot consommé, carefully ladled into small consommé cups and topped with shaved morels. We had planned for (almost) everything! What I had not anticipated was track speed along the winding Clark Fork River and the thin, clear soup sloshing out of the bowls onto the servers’ trays. Normally, I left the radio communications to our conductor and the train crew, but there was no time for railroad protocol. I grabbed my radio and hollered into it, “Engine 391, please slow down! Our soup is spilling.” Luckily, we were able to salvage the soup that night, but because the menus had been printed for the entire season, we couldn’t
Three Sister Soup
modify the menu. Instead each Friday night, just before the procession of the second course, our conductor would radio the engine to request “Marcia’s soup speed, please,” which was 35 MPH. My rabbit stock and I were the laughingstock of train crews for many years thereafter. You won’t need soup speed with thick and savory Three Sisters Soup. It’s a traditional Native American recipe that refers to the three main crops of many indigenous tribes: corn, squash and beans. These three plants were planted close together and, like sisters, aided one another as they matured. It is often served in Indigenous communities on Thanksgiving. Whether or not our sisters can join us, this just might be a good year to add it to our menus.
Serves 6
Omit the pork for the vegetarian version. Instead, toss the onion with the cumin, salt and pepper, and saute. Substitute chicken stock with vegetable stock. Recipes call for canned beans or a variety of dry legumes, soaked overnight and added with stock and squash
INGREDIENTS: • 1 1/2 pound trimmed pork loin, cut into 1-inch cubes • 1 tsp ground cumin • 1 tsp coarse salt • 1 tsp coarse black pepper • 2 tbs vegetable oil • 1 large yellow onion, diced • 2 garlic cloves, crushed and minced • 6 cups chicken stock • 1 medium yellow squash, peeled and diced • 1 green pepper diced • 1 red pepper diced • 2 celery stalks, diced • 1 large carrot, diced • 1 (15-oz) can pinto beans, • 1 (15-oz) can black beans, drained • 1 (14 1/2-oz) can diced tomatoes • 2 cups fresh scraped corn kernels • 1 (4-oz) can roasted green chiles • 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, rinsed and finely chopped
DIRECTIONS: Season pork with cumin, salt and pepper. Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Add pork, in two batches and cook, stirring so it browns evenly, until browned on all sides, 6-7 minutes. Transfer pork to a platter and set aside. Add onion to pan and sauté, stirring occasionally, until soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Add peppers, carrots, celery and garlic and sauté for another 4-5 minutes. Return pork to pan, along with stock and squash, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for about an hour. Add canned beans, tomatoes, corn and chiles, and cook, uncovered, over medium-low heat until pork is tender
(about 40 minutes). Add cilantro and season to taste with salt and pepper.
MUSIC AND ART
This week’s RLW by Zach Hagadone
Giving the gift of music
Shook Twins’ annual Giving Thanks show at the Panida will be broadcast live
By Ben Olson Reader Staff Over the past decade, Kateyln and Laurie Shook have hosted an annual Giving Thanks performance at the Panida Theater, where their band Shook Twins plays a special show including many of their favorite local musicians. The show has become a waypoint for many in Sandpoint to usher in the holiday season, with many performances in the past filling the theater to its capacity. The show will go on this year, but with a slightly different format due to COVID-19. The Giving Thanks show will be recorded live Thursday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. on the Panida main stage in front of an exclusive audience of 50 people. Only 30 tickets will be sold to the public, so check panida.org soon to get tickets. All profits from the fundraiser show
will be donated right back to the Panida. Shook Twins will then broadcast an online Facebook premiere Saturday, Nov. 28 at 6 p.m., which will include footage from the live performance, as well as behindthe-scenes shots that will make the premiere more of a concert film as opposed to just a live performance. The premiere will air on Facebook.com/shooktwins and youtube.com/shooktwins. Sandpoint regular John Craigie will join Shook Twins on stage, and will also perform a solo set. Craigie’s brand of comedy/music has enthralled Sandpoint audiences for years, with many of his Sandpoint shows selling out in the past. Also joining Shook Twins will be Sandpoint’s own Justin Landis, who has played with numerous bands in the Sandpoint and Spokane music scene. There will also be a song by Harold’s IGA and
another by Sandpoint’s Josh Hedlund to round out the performance. Katelyn Shook told the Reader that donating all profits to the Panida is a choice the band made to help the community theater weather the economic impact of the global pandemic. “We always like to say this is our favorite show of the year,” Katelyn said. “Usually this show helps us fill our cup emotionally. It’s so fulfilling every year. This
Connecting kids to art
Katelyn Shook, left, and Laurie Shook, right. Courtesy photo. year, it’s going to help fill the Panida’s cup, because the Panida is our favorite venue ever to play. It’s very special and nostalgic to us. It’s been with us all along our performing lives.” The online premiere will be free to watch, but the audience is encouraged to donate through PayPal or Venmo to help raise funds.
Pend Oreille Arts Council’s Kaleidoscope Program adapts to the times by offering materials and remote instruction
By Claire Christy Reader Contributor For 28 years, Pend Oreille Arts Council’s Kaleidoscope Program has provided art lessons to thirdthrough sixth-graders in Bonner County elementary schools without art education programs. Typically, a trained volunteer would visit the classroom monthly and teach an art lesson. This year volunteers are not allowed in classrooms due to pandemic protocols in area schools. While in-person instruction currently isn’t possible, the Kaleidoscope team has been hard at work creating a fun and unique alternative. Kaleidoscope welcomed two new team members this year: Artistic Director Amy O’Hara and Coordinator Nellie Lutzwolf. The Kaleidoscope team has come up with a program that allows for learning at home, or to serve as a supplement to teachers in the classroom. Each month, there is an art lesson posted online. There will also
be a yearlong sketchbook project, which consists of 30 creative prompts — one for each week of the school year. Nearly 800 sketchbook kits have been distributed to Bonner County students with the help of the Lake Pend Oreille School District. There are kits available at the POAC office for homeschooled students to pick up at 110 Main St., Suite 101, in Sandpoint. At the end of the school year, POAC plans to host an art show to celebrate the students who have participated in the program. The volunteers and students will miss the hands-on experience with one another in the classroom. However, some exciting benefits come from remote instruction. These online lessons will be accessible not only to students in grades three through six, but also to the broader public. POAC staff encourages as much community participation as possible, and invites the community to participate in the Kaleidoscope art projects and sketchbooks along with students.
READ
Born in Sandpoint in 1943, author Marilyn Robinson is our greatest literary export. Her books — particularly the Gilead cycle of epistolary ruminations on faith, hope, loss and love — have earned her a place among the finest living American writers. Robinson’s newest, Jack, provides the fourth piece in the series and, while only released Sept. 29, it is already being hailed as a classic.
LISTEN
Back in its original days, YouTube was a digital dumping ground for nutters talking about their lame lives in stiffly-set “vlogs.” Today it’s a bona fide entertainment juggernaut. Sure, there are still plenty of basement dwellers acting the fool into their laptop cameras, but sometimes you can find a great video series made greater by the fact that it’s free. Fall of Civilizations is a nine-part (and growing) series with great production quality, excellent narration and cool history.
WATCH
All instructions and information is available on the Pend Oreille Arts Council website — artinsandpoint.org/kaleidoscope — and on Instagram, @kal.scope. kids. For those without internet access, hard copies of the lessons are available by contacting the POAC office at 208-263-6139. Anyone participating in these creative tasks can share their work with the hashtag: #kalscopekids. That includes students, with help from their parents. The Kaleidoscope staff will reassess in-classroom lessons for the
Courtesy photo.
spring semester in January 2021. If you have a student in grades three through six who currently has no access to an art program, contact Kaleidoscope Coordinator Nellie Lutzwolf at kaleidoscope. art.education@gmail.com. Help POAC fund the Kaleidoscope Program by making a donation at artinsandpoint.org/giving or by mailing donations to P.O. Box 1694, Sandpoint, Idaho 83864.
I was shocked and a little disappointed in myself that I hadn’t run across the work of comedian Maria Bamford until last week. Though I’ve loved her voice work in animated series like Adventure Time and Bojack Horseman, I’d never seen her real-life schtick — that is, an autobiographical series titled Lady Dynamite that follows its star through her cringey, bizarre, mentally and emotionally off-kilter day-to-day. Ultimately endearing and hilarious, find its two seasons on Netflix.
Claire Christy is the arts coordinator for Pend Oreille Arts Council. November 5, 2020 /
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BACK OF THE BOOK
Veterans of wars, both foreign and domestic Thoughts on how to remain united despite conflict
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
From Pend Oreille Review, Nov. 9, 1918
ACCIDENTAL DISCHARGE OF GUN KILLS WIFE Mrs. John Fairwood, of Algoma, died at the City hospital at an early hour Monday morning, as the result of being accidentally shot by her husband. The accident occurred at their home Saturday afternoon, when Mr. Fairwood was preparing to shoot a cat. It appears that he had gotten out his 22-calibre rifle, put a shell in place, and as he snapped the barrel home the weapon was prematurely discharged. At the same moment Mrs. Fairwood stepped in front of her husband unexpected to him, and received the charge. The bullet struck a glancing blow on a hip bone and lodged in the intestines. Mrs. Fairwood was brought to the City hospital where Dr. Goldsmith of Spokane and Dr. Wendle operated for the recovery of the bullet, but without avail, as the character of the wound was such that her case was fatal from the start. Mrs. Fairwood was 26 years of age and came to Bonner county with her husband two years ago, to establish a homestead on a tract of land near Algoma, and while Mr. Fairwood labored to reclaim the land, she taught the Algoma school as a means of their livelihood. The Fairwoods had lived in Washington before coming here, and she was a graduate from the Cheney normal school. Mr. and Mrs. J.F. Pickett, parents of Mrs. Fairwood, also a sister, arrived from Washington Monday and on Tuesday accompanied the remains of the deceased to Outlook, Wash. where burial took place. 22 /
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Between Halloween, the hubbub of the 2020 General Election, chaos wrought by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the run-up to Thanksgiving, it would have been easy this year — of all years — to let Veteran’s Day slip by among all the other things demanding our attention. This year the day of remembrance and honor for service members past and present falls on Wednesday, Nov. 11. Of course, it’s always Nov. 11 — a date chosen to mark the cessation of hostilities in the First World World in 1918. Since its inception as Armistice Day, the observance has come to stand for all veterans, regardless of their branch of service or the conflict(s) in which they may or may not have served. If an individual wore a uniform on behalf of the United States, Nov. 11 is the day to honor them for doing so. I didn’t join the military. In fact, not too many of my family members have ever donned a uniform; my maternal grandfather was a Navy officer in World War II and I had a great uncle in the Great War. A few relatives fought for the Union in the Civil War, with one suffering grievously in a rebel prison camp at Richmond. On Veteran’s Day, I tend to think even further back, to two of my paternal ancestors, Jacob and his son William Hagedorn, who served in the 10th Regiment of the Albany County (New York) Militia beginning in 1777 — the former as a lieutenant and the latter an enlisted man. Also in the regiment were six Rockefellers (yes, those Rockefellers), including the great-grandfather of John D. Rockefeller, who served alongside Jacob as one of the regiment’s lieutenants. These kinds of pedantic family histories are only — even then marginally —
STR8TS Solution
interesting to people whose families are involved in them. I won’t labor you with much more, only to point out something that I think transcends personal interest to say something about the blurred battlelines around our self-construction as “Americans,” and how the causes for which we fight don’t need to permanently divide us. At the same time as Jacob, William and the Rockefeller boys were out fighting the “Tories and Indians” on the upstate frontier — as one 19th-century pension application by William put it — the Hagedorn patriarch, Christopher, was sheltering Hessian mercenaries at his farm, in an area where the family had settled alongside many other German-speaking immigrants more than 60 years earlier. Like the Rockefellers and the Hagedorns, the Hessian soldiers in the pay of King George hailed from the Rhineland — in particular, the German principality of Hesse, which encompasses the communities of Wiesbaden and Erbenheim, whence came the Hagedorns and 2,000 other Rhenish migrants in 1709-1710. In other words, though separated by an ocean and decades living in the New World, old man Hagedorn still considered these his countrymen, despite the fact that they’d been ferried over by the British to help quash the patriot insurgency in which his own younger kin were actively engaged. When the war ended with a patriot victory, among the first acts of the newly established United States government was to punish those who’d been “disloyal” during the conflict. Sure enough, the elder Hagedorn came in for a hefty financial punishment, which included losing a portion of his acreage, a sum of his money and, according to one record, even some livestock. It’s easy to imagine how embarrassing this must have been for Jacob and
William, who served throughout the war in critical battles involving such personalities as Generals Benedict Arnold, John Burgoyne and Horatio Gates. Yet, despite the high stakes of fighting, the sacrifices endured by their service, the risks taken by that humanitarian gesture toward a supposed enemy and the punishment meted out for the latter action, all these Hagedorns — and Rockefellers, for that matter — came out of the confusion as Americans, even as they so deeply identified with their roots in the German Rhineland. That feels like an important thing to remember right now, as we honor our service members, think about the causes for which they serve and how we all might transcend even seemingly profound ideological differences to recognize a shared national identity. If one American family can fight for a cause while sheltering its opponents and retain a unity that has lasted for 237 years — from colonial New York to Bonner County, Idaho — then the nation as a whole can weather and improve from the competing forces within and without it.
Crossword Solution
Sudoku Solution
When you’re riding in a time machine way far into the future, don’t stick your elbow out the window, or it’ll turn into a fossil.
Solution on page 22
Solution on page 22
gloaming
Woorf tdhe Week
By Bill Borders
/GLOH-ming/
[noun] 1. twilight; dusk.
“He looked off into the gloaming and hoped for a better tomorrow.” Corrections: In the Oct. 29 COVID-19 update, we incorrectly listed the protest occuring on Boyer Ave., which was a mistake. It occurred on Division St. outside the Sandpoint Middle School.
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Laughing Matter
CROSSWORD ACROSS 1. Satiates 6. Stigma 10. Sister of Zeus 14. Heavenly hunter 15. Cut back 16. Not odd 17. Line dance 18. Backside 19. Enumerate 20. Fascinated 22. Frosts 23. Consumed 24. Threadbare 25. He writes in verse 29. Semiconducting material 31. Antiquated 33. Dressed 37. Calm 63. Scream 38. Cleave 64. Leases 39. Sightseeing industry 41. Mollify 42. Impulses 44. Swill DOWN 45. A tart fruit 48. Anagram of “Fires” 1. Central points 50. Nights before 2. Weightlifters pump 51. Affiliates this 56. An international 3. Fluff trade agreement 4. Balcony section 57. Snake sound 5. Trap 58. Hold responsible 6. Involuntary jerky 59. Bright thought muscular 60. Margarine contractions 61. Creepy 7. Syndicate 62. Exam
Solution on page 22 8. Insecticide 9. Tall woody perennial grass 10. Sunflower 11. Kick out 12. Adjust again 13. Jittery 21. Least difficult 24. Crucifixes 25. Long ago 26. Chocolate cookie 27. Beige 28. Thermoregulator 30. Definitive 32. Negatively charged particle 34. Make well
35. Therefore 36. Bottomless 40. Rocket 41. Spray can 43. Boat 45. On the up and up 46. Avoid 47. Dishes out 49. Roughage 51. Greeting at sea 52. Away from the wind 53. Mountain pool 54. Send forth 55. Views
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