Reader_Oct19_2023

2 / R / October 19, 2023

DEAR READERS, The week in random review

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

quotable

“Egotist, n. A person of low taste, more interested in himself than in me.”

— Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary

lost positives

As a self-avowed word nerd, I’m perhaps a bit too intrigued by the English language. At its core, it’s really a silly thing filled with inconsistencies. Think about the words: “cough,” “rough,” “though” and “through.” Their structure makes it look like each should rhyme, but they all have different vowel sounds. Then there’s the classic “i before e, except after c” rule, which apparently doesn’t take words like “neighbor,” “weigh” or a zillion others into account.

And don’t even get me started on contranyms, or words that have contradictory meanings “dust the cake with sugar” means to sprinkle sugar over the cake, while “dust the furniture,” means to remove dust from the couch. The latest entry in this weird list is lost positives, or words that only exist in their negative. I’m talking about words like “uncouth,” “disgruntled,” “immaculate” and “inebriated.” Try to write with them without their negative form and you end up appearing drunk. Here’s an example: “I awoke this morning in my maculate and sheveled room feeling very plussed with my persona grata’s couth decision to attend a vincible petting zoo where the ruly crowd made everything seem so scrutable, I wound up feeling quite combobulated.”

Hot goss in the office

The office watercooler used to be the epicenter of office gossip, where colleagues caught up on daily scuttlebutt (which, by the by, is a nautical term for the cask used to serve water on a ship and now is synonymous with gossip).

We don’t have a watercooler or a Navy cask at the Reader office, and we only have a few employees, so we just stick to our desks while ranting and raving about the day.

Occasionally, we say some clever stuff, and we’ll then write it down on sticky notes to marvel at. One of my favorites of late: “Their heart is so big it’s cutting off the circulation to their brain.” Or this classic taken from a Bonner County commissioners budget meeting many years ago when they were talking about audits and a woman stood up to remind everyone that, “The good Lord is auditing all of us.” Finally, a flubbed finger on the keyboard created the portmanteau “sadministrative” that we thought captured the feeling of small town government bureaucracy quite well.

do you eat bugs?

In case you aren’t in the know, those annoying swarms of little fuzzy bugs that come out this time of year and pester the hell out of us when we’re riding bikes or walking around town are called blue ash aphids. The reason they swarm is not to annoy you and fly directly up your nostrils, but to find love. When it gets colder, they know it’s time for some bug love and start to swarm. Don’t worry, the first good, long spell of freezing temperatures will end the orgy soon by killing them all. Life is beautifully cruel.

We take our finished product quite seriously around here, which is why we spend an hour or more doing “last looks” before sending the paper to the printer.

We always catch a bunch of random errors, typos and grammatical flubs during this editing session, which is great because we always want our readers to enjoy the paper without distracting mistakes.

Enter the gremlin that apparently lives in the layout computer. Occasionally this gremlin will erase page numbers, reverse actions and, to our horror last week, undo all of the edits we spent so much time applying before sending off the paper to our printer. One time, years ago, it corrupted the entire file, which meant instead of leaving at 11 p.m., we had to stay until 4 a.m. and rebuild the newspaper completely from scratch.

Rest assured, we’re fixing this problem with a new computer soon, but in case you saw more errors than usual last week, we haven’t thrown in the towel, it was just another attack from the gremlin.

The cover photograph this week came from Patty Ericsson, who has no idea that I added a little Halloween fun to her photograph with a photobomb by our very own Pend Oreille Paddler.

The Reader donation drive is humming along nicely. You can check out our progress on Page 16. We’re getting awfully close to the $50,000 goal. Special thanks to Sandpoint philanthropist Dennis Pence, who has pledged to match dollar-for-dollar up to $10,000 in donations received from the community. It has warmed my bitter heart receiving all of your thoughtful notes and well wishes over the past six weeks. I have learned a lot since I began my tenure as publisher in January 2015. There have been good weeks and terrible weeks in the almost nine years, but one thing remains constant: our readers continually make this endeavor something more than just a job. This is not my newspaper, it’s ours.

Give yourselves a pat on the back. You’ve earned it.

– Ben Olson, publisher

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

sandpointreader.com Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com Editorial: Zach Hagadone (Editor) zach@sandpointreader.com Soncirey Mitchell (Staff Writer) soncirey@sandpointreader.com Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey (emeritus) Cameron Rasmusson (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus) Advertising: Kelsey Kizer kelsey@sandpointreader.com Contributing Artists: Pattty Ericsson (cover), Ben Olson, Zach Hagadone, Ktunaxa Nation Council, Lenny Hess, Julia T., Karen Hempstead, Rich Milliron, Alex Carey, Travis Kiebert, Bill Borders, Lee Santa Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Soncirey Mitchell, Lorraine H. Marie, Brenden Bobby, Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey, Rep. Ilana Rubel, Jyl Wheaton-Abraham, Susan Drumheller, Marcia Pilgeram Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com Printed weekly at: Tribune Publishing Co. Lewiston, ID Subscription Price: $165 per year Web Content: Keokee The Sandpoint Reader is a weekly publication owned and operated by Ben Olson and Keokee. It is devoted to the arts, entertainment, politics and lifestyle in and around Sandpoint, Idaho.

We hope to provide a quality alternative by offering honest, in-depth reporting that reflects the intelligence and interests of our diverse and growing community.

The Reader is printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Leftover copies are collected and recycled weekly, or burned in massive bonfires to appease the gods of journalism. Free to all, limit two copies per person.

Sandpoint Reader letter policy: The Sandpoint Reader welcomes letters to the editor on all topics.

Requirements: –No more than 300 words –Letters may not contain excessive profanity or libelous material. Please elevate the discussion.

Letters will be edited to comply with the above requirements. Opinions expressed in these pages are those of the writers, not necessarily the publishers.

Email letters to: letters@sandpointreader.com Check us out on the web at: sandpointreader.com About the Cover

This week’s cover is by Patty Ericsson (with a little help by Ben Olson).

October 19, 2023 / R / 3

NEWS

Candidates’ forum recap

Office seekers for LPOSD Zone 1 trustee, Sandpoint mayor and City Council field community questions

By Zach Hagadone and Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff A near-capacity crowd turned out Oct. 17 at the Sandpoint Community Hall for a candidates’ forum featuring office seekers in contested races for Sandpoint mayor and City Council, as well as the Zone 1 position on the Lake Pend Oreille School District Board of Trustees.

Hosted by the Sandpoint Reader, KRFY 88.5 FM Panhandle Community Radio and SandpointOnline.com, the forum ran for about two and a half hours with questions submitted by the audience both in-person and by email, with Reader Publisher Ben Olson and Keokee’s Chris Bessler serving as moderators.

Questions for the LPOSD Board contenders led off the evening, though with nine candidates vying for city offices, responses from those candidates took up the bulk of the forum.

KRFY streamed and aired the event live, and a recording will be posted to KRFY.org.

LPOSD Board of Trustees Zone 1 The two Zone 1 LPOSD trustee candidates began the evening by emphasizing their strong familial ties, and though both indicated that they would not support another hypothetical mask mandate, their similarities ended there.

Jennifer “Jenn” McKnight described herself as “a Christian wife and mother” and was largely concerned with opposing critical race theory, which she alleged is taught in Idaho under different names like “Core” and “social-emotional learning.”

“I would put a strong focus back on academics and try to take that value stuff out and leave it to the parents,” she said, hinting at future changes to the curriculum should she be elected.

Scott Wood, of Wood’s Crushing and Hauling, and whose family has lived here since the 1940s, disagreed with McKnight’s claim that only parents can teach their children values. He said that the community — including teachers and coaches — helps to shape kids into successful adults.

Wood said repeatedly that he will make “no sweeping changes” to the curriculum, and instead emphasized the need to replace the district’s aged building infrastructure and promote career and technical education.

“What I believe is we need to go to our legislators and try to figure out how to get the state to fund the schools,” he said, adding: “Nobody wants a levy.”

He argued that funding is a state issue, not just a local one, because Idaho ranks last in the nation in per-pupil spending.

Wood also noted that three generations 4 / R / October 19, 2023

of his family have gone to school in the same middle school building, which has developed serious issues with age.

McKnight opposed state funding to both technical education and new school buildings, believing that the district should adhere to a strict budget. She further argued that neither students nor citizens have complained about the condition of the schools — a claim which brought forth grumbled protests from the crowd.

“We need to budget and work within our budget,” McKnight said, later adding, “We do need to maintenance the schools.”

Sandpoint mayor and City Council The role of the city administrator position Both opening and closing statements from all three mayoral candidates Jeremy Grimm, Kate McAlister and Frytz Mor touched on one theme that came up at several points throughout the forum: the balance of power between the mayor’s office and the city administrator.

Grimm, who served as planning and community director for the city of Sandpoint from 2007-2015 and currently owns land use planning firm Whiskey Rock Planning + Consulting, went right into the issue of growth and development, and how city leadership has — or hasn’t — adequately managed it.

According to Grimm, a study on development impact fees making future growth “pay its way” was adopted in 2012 but hasn’t been acted on, because “something happened in 2015 — we started a city administrator position, and I am very against that. I’d like to go back to department heads.”

Current City Council President McAlister, who is seeking the office being vacated

by Mayor Shelby Rognstad, led her opening remarks with thoughts on the role of the mayor, saying, “Believe it or not, we still have a strong mayor form of government, which means everything begins and ends

with the mayor. And the mayor has not been present a lot throughout this last term, not listening to people.”

She added that the top elected job in the city is a part-time position, and the city administrator — acting akin to a chief operations officer — “allows the mayor to be out amongst the public and listening to people … and we have been off track with that.”

In another question later in the forum, all nine candidates were asked if they would vote for or propose eliminating the city administrator position. Though not named during the forum, Jennifer Stapleton has served as city administrator since 2015, and has in recent years become a lightning rod for criticisms among segments of the community that argue the unelected position has amassed too much authority and resulted in elected officials becoming too reliant on the leadership of city staff.

Grimm responded that, “I am not in favor of the position; I don’t think it’s worked for a town our size.”

Mor agreed, saying, “it’s not working and we need to reorganize.” However, he added, “That’s going to be difficult if you have a City Council that doesn’t want the same thing that you want. Engagement is going to be necessary, because if the people of this town feel that the city administrator is an inappropriate position, you’re going to have to get involved and convince the people that need to vote for it.”

McAlister returned to her emphasis on the strong mayor role, saying, “we have not had a strong mayor,” and, “We need that position as the COO, because before that position all these projects are being deferred, deferred, deferred, deferred, deferred, and with somebody running operations, those projects are actually getting implemented.”

However, she said eliminating the city administrator’s post should follow the decision to make the mayor a full-time position that makes more than $25,000 a year. Until

It was a near-capacity crowd at the Sandpoint Community Hall for the 2023 candidates’ forum. Photo by Ben Olson. that happens, “We need that operations manager to keep some of these projects running so our city doesn’t fall apart.”

Council candidate Kyle Schreiber responded simply, “yes,” that he would remove the position, while Amelia Boyd — who currently serves on the Sandpoint Planning and Zoning Commission — said she’d have to investigate the idea further. However, despite the “disgruntled talk” in the community, Boyd added that she’d also heard of dysfunction at City Hall prior to the city administrator coming on board, with, “So many islands [that] were wasting money and a lot of our budget was going for redundancy and there wasn’t the checks and balances.”

Boyd likened the job to a CEO, saying, “You have a company — that’s what the city is — and you want someone who’s qualified to run it. So do I have a yes or no answer? No, I do not.”

Incumbent Councilor Deb Ruehle, running for reelection, also keyed into the “strong mayor” concept, adding that, “if the system seems to be in failure at that point, then it’s the mayor’s job to figure out how to fix those things.”

That said, “I don’t think you can throw the cogs out of the wheel if you don’t have a strong mayor running the ship,” Ruehle added, to which currents Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation Chair Elle Susnis agreed: “I think that Deb’s right — a strong mayor would definitely change the dynamic in City Hall.”

Pam Duquette came down on the side in favor of eliminating the city administrator position, saying, “it’s not working,” while current Planning and Zoning Commissioner Grant Simmons said he advocates for both a mayor and city administrator.

“I like the dual role system of govern-

< see FORUM, Page 5 >

< FORUM, Page 4 > ment — the mayor leads the vision and the policy, the administrator handles those daily operations,” he said. “At the end of the day, I’m a fan of professionalism, stability, competence and largely the non-politicization of city government.”

Street infrastructure Schreiber said the city must “start prioritizing critical infrastructure over unnecessary amenities.” Boyd highlighted the city’s pavement assessment that prioritized level of service on city streets, as well as the resort city local option tax approved by voters in November 2022, which allocates 7% of city revenue from short-term lodgings to street and sidewalk infrastructure.

That tax has already brought in $1 million, and “is in the right direction and that is going to help fix those streets,” Boyd said.

Ruehle agreed, though added, “the reality is we’re probably never going to be able to keep up with our streets because streets are expensive. … It’s going to happen slow, but we’re working on it.”

Susnis and Duquette also applauded the LOT, while Simmons suggested that a major part of the problem with Sandpoint’s streets lies with the sewage and water system, “which in some sense is a ticking time bomb.”

Grimm agreed with that, nodding to years of neglected maintenance that has resulted in stormwater infiltrating the sewer, but added that eliminating the city administrator’s position would result in cost savings that could be otherwise allocated and Sandpoint could “run this city like we always have, with department heads.”

Mor also said the city administrator position “is a failure,” and pointed to a budget that earmarked millions for parks and recreation projects but only about $1 million for roads.

“There seems to be a disconnect between what’s actually being spent and what is being told is spent,” he said.

McAlister reiterated her campaign’s emphasis on “drinkable water, flushable toilets and drivable streets,” and assured the audience that a complete road update is in the works.

The James E. Russell Sports Center Every candidate in some form or another pointed to lack of communication and involvement between City Hall and the public as being at the root of the furor over the facility, made possible by a $7.5 million gift from the Russell family and which broke ground Oct. 16 amid a vigorous citizen protest.

Simmons indicated he was in favor of the project but pointed out that if it’s true the sports center is “for the children, one way or another, the children don’t know about it.”

Duquette said the project had been mishandled, and had gotten “so out of control” that it needs to be halted.

“This was definitely a bad thing for the community; it’s really torn us apart,” she said, later adding, “The gift was amazing, but

we should have found a better place for it.”

Susnis said the city needs to “meet the citizens where they are early and often,” while Ruehle said that she “can’t really fix what’s already been done,” she committed to “reenergizing” citizen advisory committees that have either lapsed or been eliminated in recent years.

Boyd said “there’s no doubt there’s a failure in the system,” and promised to hold regular councilor’s roundtables with the community and added that the city needs “true open public forums.” Schreiber said, “When people do spend the time to speak out, we need to take the time to listen and actually act on their voices.”

McAlister agreed with Ruehle that “things can always be done differently,” and that the city should bring back citizen committees — “but committees for the sake of committees gets us nowhere.”

Rather, she suggested that a council member be assigned to each committee with accountability for deliverables, and, like Boyd, said she would hold regular topic-specific meetings with citizens as well as pursue “citizen academies” that help the public learn more about City Hall processes.

Mor said that an indoor court sports space is “a brilliant idea, just not at Travers Park,” and, “People are giving their input, it’s just not being received.”

He went on to criticize the practice of contracting with out-of-area firms “to design our town for us.”

Grimm pointed to the protest that took place outside the sports center groundbreaking Oct. 16, saying, “I never thought I would live in a community and see what I saw yesterday.”

“The root of the problem is we don’t have elected officials driving the city,” he said.

Urban renewal, parking garage and Sand Creek development Candidates were asked where they stood on the creation of a new urban renewal district to support the development of a mixed-use parking structure at the current city parking lot, as well as implementing other changes as envisioned by the downtown waterfront design competition.

Mor said he opposed those moves, saying, “We keep talking about these expensive projects and it’s time to put those down and focus on what’s important.”

Likewise, Grimm said if it had anything to do with the downtown waterfront design, then he was also opposed, adding that a new urban renewal district would leach off revenue to pay for services while offering little in return.

“I think we need to slow everything down,” he said.

McAlister, who served on the Sandpoint Urban Renewal Agency board, applauded the downtown streets, parking and street trees made possible by urban renewal, but said she didn’t know enough about the parking structure to make a decision.

Ruehle also said she didn’t have enough information, but noted that a downtown parking garage has been discussed for years.

As for the design competition, she asked, “Is the scope of the downtown waterfront what Sandpoint needs? … It seems a little flamboyant to me.”

Boyd also had a skeptical take, saying the parking structure downtown “is not appealing at all and is not what I would like to see personally.” Meanwhile, she said the Bridge Street bridge is failing, which should take precedence over “this fluff and pomp and circumstance of light shows throughout the seasons and all that stuff.”

Schreiber said it was “a matter of priorities,” and added that he’s concerned to hear current city leaders say they haven’t made up their minds when a memorandum of understanding from December 2022 already establishes a process for transferring ownership of the parking lot for private development.

Simmons said a parking garage “doesn’t sound great,” and suggested a better solution to expand parking would be to look west toward the Granary District.

Meanwhile, Duquette said the cost would be prohibitive and, rather, the city should look toward reducing the number of cars downtown using rideshare or park and ride strategies.

Finally, Susnis applauded the current urban renewal district for its achievements, but wondered whether the community wanted “that prime piece of property to be a parking garage,” particularly during downtown events.

Wastewater treatment and treatment of the geese Candidates spent a portion of the forum addressing how to handle the inevitable excretal products of animal life — both human and non-human — with two questions: considering whether to revisit Baldy Mountain Road as the location for a new wastewater treatment plant, and how they can justify the killing of Canada geese at City Beach because of their droppings.

Candidates universally agreed that wide swaths of south Sandpoint are frequently malodorous due to the location of the treatment plant adjacent to War Memorial Field and Lakeview Park, and all concurred that it’s a problem to be solved with repairs, improvements and better maintenance of the current facility.

Both Schreiber and Ruehle pointed to the cost-prohibitiveness of locating a treatment plant at Baldy due to the necessity of pumps.

“We don’t really have the option to build another plant,” Ruehle said, adding, “The most economical way was to keep it where it’s at.”

Grimm suggested that while the current plant operates as a gravity system, a mechanical system upgrade would increase efficiency and reduce, or eliminate, odor.

Regionalization of services, however,

was unpopular with Schreiber, Grimm, Mor and McAlister.

With a regional approach, Grimm said, “Development will occur outside of our borders and that is very, very dangerous.”

Likewise, Mor said the reason for deferred maintenance has been a push to regionalize, which Sandpoint should be wary of.

McAlister also said she was not in favor of regionalization, as it would “open a can of worms,” but added that the city is “on the path” to addressing the problems facing the wastewater plant with a plan that she said would enter the initial phase in spring 2024.

Candidates were divided on the issue of geese at City Beach, and the years-long efforts to keep them from the park based on concerns about fecal contamination.

McAlister said the city had “tried everything” before settling on the controlled goose hunt at the beach, which will occur on eight dates in November.

“The important thing is there’s a lot of goose poop on the beach,” she said, adding, “I actually think the hunt is the most humane thing we can do.”

Frytz agreed, saying, “This is a hunting town; let’s go kill the friggin’ birds.” That said, he opposed the round-up and euthanasia of the birds that took place in June.

Grimm expressed his frustration at what’s been done at City Beach, adding that there are alternatives such as using drones or other harassment techniques.

Susnis reminded the audience that dogs are allowed at City Beach on leash from Sept. 15 to April 15, and residents should feel empowered to take their pets to the park during those times when geese are numerous to help frighten them away.

Like McAlister, Ruehle said “absolutely everything” had been tried, and while the hunt has been a “hard decision,” “I’m not going to allow children or adults or elderly get sick.”

Simmons said he has “nothing against goose hunting,” but argued that “shooting the geese from City Beach is not going to move the needle in goose mitigation.” Rather, he supported the idea of dogs at the park.

Boyd responded that “every single avenue” had been explored and supported the hunt, while Duquette and Schreiber both argued that there are still options other than lethal strategies.

“If we provide a giant field of grass for them, they’re going to eat it and produce three pounds of poop,” Schreiber said, referring to types of landscaping that deter geese from settling in certain areas.

Duquette echoed Schreiber’s points, noting types of grass that geese find unappetizing, as well as ribbed fencing along the shoreline that the birds might avoid.

Ultimately, though, she said, “We need to learn to live with our wildlife.”

Listen to the full Oct. 17 candidates’ forum at KRFY.org. The election takes place Tuesday, Nov. 7. Visit voteidaho.gov for all election related info.

October 19, 2023 / R / 5

NEWS

Mayor apologizes for halting testimony on Travers Park; Groat resigns expressing regret over sports center location

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

The uproar over the James E. Russell Sports Center at Travers Park took another dramatic turn at the Oct. 18 regular meeting of the Sandpoint City Council, when Mayor Shelby Rognstad opened the meeting with a mea culpa over the suspension of public forum testimony on the topic at a recent meeting, followed by the surprise resignation of Councilor Andy Groat.

“I would like to issue an apology to the public,” Rognstad said. “I wish I would have conducted that meeting differently two weeks ago and accepted public input, suspended the rules and allowed for the community to be heard.”

The meeting to which the mayor referred took place Oct. 4, when numerous residents showed up to City Hall to express their thoughts on the planned removal of 20 trees at Travers to make way for the indoor sports facility,

Councilor Andy Groat. File Photo.

Mayor Shelby Rognstad. File Photo.

but were told immediately that no testimony on the subject would be taken because the matter had already been decided.

“I recognize that this community is in a place right now — I don’t know how else to say it — we’re sensitive,” Rognstad said, adding that the pressures of rapid growth and change have fueled polarization and distrust.

That has often resulted in city staff being “berated, accused of malfeasance, attacked [and] disrespected,” he said, underscoring

that such behavior is “unacceptable; I will not tolerate it.”

However, Rognstad added that he didn’t think the council would have made a different decision about the location for the sports center even if it had taken more time to deliberate.

Groat followed Rognstad’s comments by apologizing for not being present at the Oct. 16 groundbreaking, during which loud protests occurred in the Travers parking lot (see Page 7); and, after acknowledging

members of the Travers family in attendance, said, “I am sorry for my decision.”

Specifically, Groat said that he had been unaware that the Travers’ interred the ashes of several family members in the park, or that many of the trees now slated for removal had been planted as memorials. Groat also said that he had been made aware of a piece of property now available on Ontario Street south of the Forest Service station that had become available for purchase.

“I cannot with good conscience ask for us to reconsider — I have no expectations of this body,” Groat said, becoming visibly emotional before turning to City Council President Kate McAlister.

“Kate, I thought I’d have enough. I don’t; I’m done,” he said, going on to ask, “Is this body willing to reconsider?”

At that point, Groat said, “I resign, I’m so sorry,” before standing and leaving the dais.

After applause and amid

shock, Councilor Joel Aispuro said, “That shows me and reminds me that up here, even though we do the best we can, we’re humans, too.”

Following Aispuro’s expression of support for Groat, Councilor Jason Welker added his own public thanks for Groat’s service.

“I know this has been a really tough process for him,” Welker said, also becoming emotional.

“He’s a good friend.”

Councilors Justin Dick and McAlister offered their own apologies for the suspension of testimony at the Oct. 4 meeting, both stating that they should have asked to allow those comments.

“My heart breaks for my friend Andy. He’s a good councilor, and he just couldn’t take any more of the hatred and the mean words. He tried his hardest,” McAlister said, adding later, “We all do share the blame for not standing up. … It’s really sad that someone like him will no longer serve in public service.”

Controversy continues over alleged fairgrounds fraud

By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff The County Fair Board issued an extensive press release Oct. 16, claiming that the Bonner County commissioners and Clerk Michael Rosedale are likely to blame for the alleged 2022 fairgrounds fraud. The 21-page statement claimed that the BOCC has a duty to internally and externally audit their accounts, and a failure to do so enabled the misappropriation of an unknown amount of funds.

An investigative report published July 26 by the Sheriff’s Office indicated that somewhere between $40,000 and $247,000 worth of fairgrounds funds were misappropriated; however, the investigation reached no definitive conclusion as to the exact amount or where the money went.

According to the press release, 6 / R / October 19, 2023

“[The BOCC’s] statutory duties were breached, in some cases willfully, in FY2022 and earlier and there is no sign that these duties won’t continue to be breached in the future thereby harming the CFB by disabling it from obtaining proper financial control over its financial operations.”

Both sides have gone back and forth claiming that the other is responsible for the fairgrounds’ finances. The Fair Board’s press release specifically cited Idaho Code sections 31-802, 31-809 and 31-1701 — which outline the BOCC’s role supervising and auditing all county funds — as supposed proof of negligence by Rosedale and the commissioners.

“We audit that portion of the Fair Board’s funds that run through the county: The tax levy, and what the county pays for (salaries, benefits and $20K

for ribbons),” Rosedale told the Reader in an Oct. 18 email. “But the other operating expenses we can never see (like the rodeo, ticket sales, ...the entire fair), so we can never include those in the audit (obviously).”

Rosedale filed a lawsuit against the Fair Board on Aug. 31 in an effort to force its compliance with his public records request.

Kootenai County Judge John Mitchell dismissed the suit at an Oct. 16 hearing due to a technicality — Rosedale did not include his address on the records requests, as required by Idaho Code.

The CFB referred to Rosedale’s actions as an “aggressive use of Public Records Act litigation” that attempted to “obscure his failure.”

“Rosedale is requesting financial records that he is aware probably don’t exist, aiming to

discredit the CFB,” according to the statement, though the Fair Board did not provide a reason for rejecting Rosedale’s request in lieu of any customary reply.

“Isn’t it strange how they won’t give us their records, yet say ‘please audit us,’” Rosedale wrote. “Isn’t it strange that a county clerk would even have to resort to a formal records request to get these, and then have to go to court to try to obtain them — and have the board fight and win to not disclose them.”

He went on to explain that the county treasurer and auditing staff don’t have access to the fairgrounds’ bank accounts, bills or payment history and so cannot audit them.

The issue came up during the public comment section of the BOCC’s regular business meeting Oct. 17, as the agenda called for a

“Discussion/Decision Regarding Fair Board” during the executive session.

Commissioner Luke Omodt, who as of Oct. 16 has been elected chair of the BOCC, spoke briefly about the fairgrounds controversy, but indicated that it should be discussed internally.

“The attorneys for the Board of County Commissioners and the elected county officials are going to meet with the hired third-party attorneys that the Fair Board has engaged. All we are doing today is to discuss preparations for that meeting,” he said, referencing the agenda.

“I think at this time, because of the current dynamics around all that, it would be inappropriate for the commissioners to go any further into detail on those subjects,” said Commissioner Steve Bradshaw.

NEWS

James E. Russell Sports Center breaks ground amid protests

As officials, stakeholder celebrate Travers Park project, others maintain opposition

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Current and former Sandpoint city staff, elected officials, friends and members of the Russell family, as well as representatives of local court sports groups, construction crews and the media gathered Oct. 16 to witness the groundbreaking of the James E. Russell Sports Center at Travers Park.

“It’s been a while in getting here and we’re going to make it happen,” said City Council President, and current mayoral candidate, Kate McAlister in an introductory statement on behalf of Mayor Shelby Rognstad.

“This is a dream of my father’s that started nearly 20 years prior to his passing in June of 2019,” said Jim Russell, who attended the invite-only groundbreaking alongside his mother, Ginny. “That dream was to give back to the city where he was born and raised, and provide a venue for sports that could be used year-round. Today marks the next step of turning that dream into a reality.”

The Russell family gifted the city of Sandpoint $7.5 million in March 2022 to establish the sports center, which pays tribute to James Russell’s lifelong love of tennis. Though the project has been moving through City Hall since last spring, opposition has mounted in recent months centered on the feeling by many — including members of the Travers family, for whom the park was named 40 years ago — that its

will be disruptive of the existing open space and playground and, most critically in the past several weeks, because of the planned removal of 20 mature shade trees, some of which were planted as memorials.

City officials have emphasized that 60 new trees will be planted and the wood from the removed trees repurposed for various elements of the sports center and its grounds, as well as the playground rebuilt using some of the existing elements and otherwise upgraded to be all-inclusive. Yet, community members have been in an uproar over what they say has been inadequate public involvement in the process — so much so that a number of residents chained themselves to a willow tree in protest for about a week in early October.

While the midday weather cooperated with sunny skies at the groundbreaking Oct. 16, the mood among dozens of protesters who gathered behind the construction fencing surrounding the future site of the 40,000-square-foot indoor tennis and pickleball facility was angry.

Chants of, “Public lands in public hands,” “Save our park” and “Put it somewhere else” punctuated the event inside the construction fencing, as well as drumming, the sound of air horns and shouts of, “You guys are cowards,” “What’s wrong with you people,” “This isn’t over” and, simply, the word “No.” “It took a lot to get it to look like that,” said Theresa Stevens, whose late-father Frank Travers was instrumental in found-

ing the park and whose ashes — as well as others from members of the Travers family — are also spread in the grounds.

“It took years of service and care, and now they’re going to throw it away like it’s worthless?” she told the Reader at the Oct. 16 demonstration, with visible emotion.

“It’s unfathomable to me.”

Stevens and her siblings have all testified before City Council that while they have no qualms with the sports center itself, they oppose it being located at the park that bears their family’s name.

“The playground is super, the building is super, but the building is just too big for this beautiful Travers Park — it’s going to completely take away the aesthetics of Travers Park,” Stevens’ sister, Monica Gunter, told the council in May. “I’m with my sisters,” John Travers also testified in May. Jim Russell delivered his remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony to the din of surrounding protesters, noting that the process of establishing the sports center began in the summer of 2019, when he made the initial contact with Sandpoint City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton “to discuss our desire to honor my father’s wish and give back something significant to the city of Sandpoint.”

Russell said he remembered one meeting early in the conversations about sponsoring a bench with his father’s name on it at City Beach.

“I said, ‘We were hoping to do something more meaningful and significant.’

Left: Representatives of the James E. Russell family and city officials break ground at Travers Park.

Right: Protestors hold signs and gather at the fences erected at Travers Park.

Photos by Zach Hagadone.

After many discussions, and learning this was a part of the city’s master plan for the parks, in March of 2022, the City Council voted to accept the joint donation from my mom and I for an indoor tennis and pickleball center,” he said.

At the time of the donation, city officials said the $7.5 million gift was the largest private bequest to any municipality in the state of Idaho that they could identify.

“Since then, and for the last 19 months, city staff and the City Council began planning, holding many community outreach sessions, online surveys and public meetings where the public could and did express their support for the center, or make suggestions, or even express opposition to it,” Russell said, later underscoring that the council voted unanimously approve the first phase construction contract amendment on Sept. 27.

“It is my sincere hope, that over time in the months and years to come after initial construction, and as improvements continue to be rolled out, that the community — including those who oppose the improvements today — come to see the positive impact these improvements have on the community

< see TRAVERS, Page 9 >

October 19, 2023 / R / 7

NEWS

Panida gives update to Century Fund at annual membership meeting

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

The annual Panida Theater membership meeting took place Monday, Oct. 16, with attendees receiving updates on the Century Fund campaign, as well as electing members to the board.

Board Chairman Jim Healey started off the night thanking some of the Panida’s historic supporters, including Susan Bates-Harbuck, Tari Pardini and longtime former-Managing Director Karen Bowers, who oversaw the Panida for 27 years.

“I also want to recognize our staff, Katelyn Shook, Todd Michael, Doug Jones and Mindy Thacker, who is the grants coordinator with the Century Fund,” Healy said. “These people have helped keep the Panida running and going.”

After thanking the volunteers for their time, Healey opened the stage to four board members up for election: Sean Behm, Jeremiah Greenfield and Dan Thompson — who were interim members appointed in June to take the seats of former board members — as well as Gail Trotta, who was running for a two-year term on the board.

Each candidate gave a brief statement about why they wished to serve on the board, and a ballot was passed around to the audience. Ultimately, all four were elected.

“We have applications for those interested in becoming a board member,” Healey said. “Just go online to panida. org. We’re always looking for qualified people to join the board and join the fun.”

Behm then gave a synopsis of the hiring committee’s search for a new managing director after the most recent director resigned in the summer.

“We’ve done a pretty exhaustive search and had a lot of applicants,” said Behm, later confirming that the board had about 15 people apply for the position.

“We’re down to the final candidates for final interviews, which will take place Thursday [Oct. 19]. After that, we’ll have an announcement forthcoming.”

Chris Bessler then gave a report on the Century Fund campaign, which aims to raise $1.9 million before the Panida reaches an important 100-year milestone in November 2027.

8 / R / October 19, 2023

Bessler said the Century Fund blew away the first-year goal of raising $273,100. Including donations from community members, grants collected as of Oct. 1 and a $200,000 matching pledge offered by Ting Internet, the first-year total raised was $438,755.

Grants included those from the Equinox Foundation, the Confidence Foundation, the Idaho Gem Community Fund and Avista, as well as Ting’s matching pledge, of which $75,000 has been paid out. There are also grants from Idaho Heritage Trust and the Equinox Foundation that have yet to be collected, including another $100,000 from the Equinox Foundation and another $125,000.

Projects accomplished with the Phase 1 funds include a new roof for the Panida, a marquee restoration and repair, new stairs behind the Little Theater and a refurbishment of the Little Theater interior.

Phase 2 calls for a smaller goal of only $100,000 before Phase 3 and 4 goals aim to tackle a large project — the main theater interior restoration. Phase 3 plans for $788,000 while Phase 4 will seek $715,000. The fifth and final phase will seek an additional $75,000 to finalize plans for the big centennial celebration on Nov. 22, 2027 — exactly 100 years after the first time the Panida opened for an event.

Those who donate less than $5,000 to the Panida now are still covered with Ting’s matching grant, so Bessler encouraged any who haven’t already given to show their support for the historic theater.

Grant Coordinator Thacker introduced a Five Year Century Fund Circle, which encourages donors to repledge an annual donation until the centennial celebration.

Events Coordinator Katelyn Shook gave a brief presentation about several successful recent events, including the recent sold out performance of David DaVinci’s “Thrillusionist” show.

“We’ve had 11 events since I joined the Panida, and the latest Thrillusionist event ended up being a huge fundraiser for the Panida,” Shook said. “We raised over $6,000 for the theater that night.

Huge thank you to David DaVinci, who is an incredibly talented local guy who was very entertaining.”

For more info, including how to donate, visit panida.org.

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: House Republicans have been without a leader since dismissing Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as speaker in early October. Speaker candidate Steve Scalise, R-La., withdrew when he did not have the 217 required House votes, NBC reported.

Temporary Speaker Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., is favored by Wall Street to be the permanent speaker, though receives 90% of his campaign funds from lobbyists and industries he regulates, according to The Lever. Speaker candidate Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who worked to enable 2020 election denial by Trump, has a record of never getting any bill through the House in his 16 years there.

Lack of House leadership has led to lack of progress on passing a federal budget, putting the nation at risk for a government shutdown after Nov. 17, which could cost billions in lost worker productivity.

After “brutal acts of violence” from Hamas militants toward Israelis, the Israeli government ordered the evacuation of more than 1 million people in northern Gaza, which Oxfam said is “inhumane and impossible.”

Palestinian militant group Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. President Joe Biden said on 60 minutes that “the extreme elements of Hamas don’t represent all the Palestinian people.” He also said that if Israel occupies part of Gaza, it would be a “big mistake.” Iran, which has aided Hamas militants in the past, says there could be larger consequences if Israel continues to attack Gaza.

The 2.3 million civilians caught up in Israel’s retaliatory bombing of Gaza face no fuel, water, shelter or income. Prior to the attack, Oxfam reported that 80% of Gaza’s people relied on international aid.

BBC reported Israel will not end its Gaza attack until Israelis taken hostage by Hamas are returned. Lack of electricity in Gaza has severe implications for sewage systems, while bombed hospitals are already compromised.

Biden declared that the U.S. stands with Israel in resisting antisemitism and wants to see relations in the region to normalize, including rights for Palestinian people.

U.S. involvement has included talks with Israel and Egypt for creating an evacuation corridor, various media reported.

Earlier this week, Hamas had killed

By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist

more than 1,400 and Israel had killed more than 2,700 with almost 1 million people displaced. Humanitarian groups say both Hamas and Israel appear to have violated international law. A U.S. special envoy has been assigned to get humanitarian aid to Palestinians, and media reported 2,000 U.S. troops have been prepared for deployment to the Middle East — not for combat, but for medical support and advice for Israelis.

Lever writer David Sirota, whose Jewish family escaped Eastern Europe early last century, commented on atrocities since Hamas militants unexpectedly fired on Israel.

Along with saying that terrorism of Israel’s Jews “is completely unacceptable,” Sirota also pointed out that Israel initially represented a “stronghold against violence” and “a haven on Earth from antisemitism.” But Israel’s more recent political focus on militarism and occupation, is contrary to peace and “some kind of two-state solution” between Israel and Palestine, he wrote.

The current Israeli regime, “run by right-wing extremists,” has used military power in “inhumane and indefensible ways,” Sirota added, saying it is now likely committing “war crimes,” and going “way beyond defending Israeli citizens and territory.”

Israeli journalist Haggai Matar wrote, “The dread Israelis are feeling right now, myself included, is a sliver of what Palestinians have been feeling on a daily basis under the decades-long military regime in the West Bank.”

The Intercept reported that Israel has warned Palestinians via Facebook, but bombings have destroyed internet access.

Meanwhile, four U.S. House members have presented a Ceasefire NOW resolution.

Blast from the past: According to the BBC, Hamas wants Israel’s destruction and to turn it into an Islamic state. Gaza has one of the highest population densities in the world. Their resentment against Israel has been fostered by Israel’s control of their airspace and shoreline, and their control of people and goods at border crossings. Egypt also controls passage in and out of their own Gaza borders.

And another blast: “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable.” — President John F. Kennedy, 35th president, born 1917, assassinated 1963.

NEWS City of Sandpoint sees final report of downtown waterfront design team

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Sandpoint city councilors viewed the final report of the downtown waterfront design competition Oct. 18, capping a process that began with a solicitation for teams in February and resulting in finalist GGLO-Bernardo Wills’ vision, titled “The Blue Necklace.”

The GGLO-Bernardo Wills team went before the competition jury Oct. 10 with its Stage III design, taking comments and suggestions, which they incorporated into the presentation Oct. 18 before council.

Sandpoint City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton reminded the council that no action had been requested on the report at that point; rather, “What you’re seeing here is their culmination of the process into a vision and this is where council will ultimately make a decision at a future meeting to accept the report.”

In other words, while the presentation of the final report marked the end of the competition, it represented the beginning of the process of “handing it back over to the city” for public workshops on priorities; analysis of when, how or whether certain elements should be implemented; and the adoption of codes to make it happen.

< TRAVERS, con’t from Page 7 > as a whole and for generations to come,” he said. “I truly believe that all these improvements will make Travers Park even more popular and used by more than it is today. …

“I am confident that once completed, this facility will become a destination facility,” Russell added. “I am confident that once completed, residents of Sandpoint, as well as residents of neighboring cities, counties and states will participate in events here.”

A number of protesters remained in the parking area after attendees of the groundbreaking ceremony had left, giving media interviews, receiving honks of support from motorists passing by on Pine Street and continuing conversations about why they felt called to demonstrate.

“To me this gets lost in the trees and the playground and everything,” longtime area resident Don Holland told the Reader. “The process never included a true workshop. …

That was purposefully not done, and there lies the whole flaw of it.”

Holland’s wife, Rebecca, has been among the most consistent and vocal opponents of the sports center location. She was served with a notice of trespass at the Oct. 16 groundbreaking, which among other allegations included instances of, “Making insulting, demeaning and other offensive remarks to city staff, in person and by social

“This isn’t something that we would see adopted, per se. I think what it is is a framework,” said Don Stastny, a Portland, Ore.based architect and master planner with whom the city contracted to manage the competition. Rather, he added, it gives the community a way to look at public-private partnerships and other strategies to bring together the city’s various master plans into a cohesive whole.

GGLO principal Mark Sindell presented the final report, while councilors asked a range of detailed as well as high-level questions.

Councilor Jason Welker keyed in on the design team’s recommended “next step planning and design projects,” which included seven items — among them, at No. 5, a “Sand Creek Corridor and First Ave. Core Zoning Study.”

“Further study? We literally thought a year ago, we told Don Stastny that the deliverable we expected was language … to be adopted upon completion,” Welker said, adding that the city has a planner, a historic commission, interested community members and a historic preservation officer.

“We could do this ourselves; why do we need another study?” he said.

Furthermore, he stressed that the report’s “short-term consideration” for building heights on First Avenue were 65 feet with

a 10-foot setback above 45 feet, while the “long-term consideration” identified 55 feet with a 20-foot setback above 35 feet.

“That needs to be short-term tomorrow,” he said, referring to the 55-foot height restriction.

“You think Travers is a big issue? Wait until you see a 65-foot building on Bridge Street.”

Welker emphasized that the city had been asking for code amendments more than a year ago, and was saddened to hear that developers on the east side of First Avenue are already well into their plans without those amendments in place.

“This should be Phase Zero,” he said.

Fellow councilors agreed that several elements of the Phase 1 implementation schedule could and should be moved on sooner than later.

The final design report will go back before the council for approval at a to-be-determined November meeting, followed by more public discussion and workshops, including recommendations on how to move forward as quickly as possible.

“We can start having these conversations now, prior to Phase 1 starting off,” Councilor Justin Dick said. “It is time to discuss these things.”

media,” as well as, “Attempting to harass or intimidate city staff from performing the functions and responsibilities of their job.”

The notice of trespass specified examples of “yelling and calling city staff names” and “goad[ing] and harass[ing]” staff at Travers Park on Oct. 12 and Oct. 13, and barred Holland from entering Travers Park “for any reason while construction work is being performed on the James Russell Travers Park project.”

Speaking with the Reader on the sidewalk outside the Travers Park grounds, Holland pointed to a handwritten sign as indicative of the feelings of protesters: “If these plans reflected intentional community involvement, you might not be seeing this level of community opposition.”

In a conversation with local media following Jim Russell’s remarks and the symbolic turning of dirt by the Russell family and Stapleton, City Councilor Jason Welker wondered, “Where were these people in January when we had town halls about this?”

The city of Sandpoint hosted an open house on the project Jan. 5 at City Hall that drew about 65 attendees, as well as park user groups, neighbors and council members. An open house is less formal than a town hall or workshop, through which protesters have repeatedly claimed the Travers Park plan should have gone.

Regardless, both elected officials and city staff have pointed to a number of meetings over the past year that have featured testimony on the project, as well as surveys and gatherings with various user groups.

The current location for the sports center featured on the plans at the Jan. 18 regular council meeting. Testimony at that meeting featured Holland speaking about the project as “quite overdone” and contending that the location of the sports center “hasn’t gone through any public input.”

Referring to past meetings, Welker also added, “It probably could have been in a different location if this had been a conversation people were contributing to nine months ago, 10 months ago,” however, early alternatives such as siting the sports center over the existing tennis courts or farther to the west where the softball fields are currently located prompted their own pushback.

“I was being yelled at by softball coaches who didn’t want to lose their softball fields and tennis players who didn’t want to lose their tennis courts,” he said.

As for what happens next, construction crews are on the site, though protesters indicated to the Reader that some form of complaint or other action through the courts could be in the offing.

“Hopefully we’ll have some kind of legal recourse,” Stevens said, though declined to elaborate.

View a PDF of the full GGLO-Bernardo Wills Stage III report at bit.ly/46RQpkI.

October 19, 2023 / R / 9

‘Ironic’...

Bouquets: GUEST SUBMISSION: • “I’d like to give a Bouquet to the artists responsible for the beautiful mural along the highway in Hope. It adds some colorful history to our drive.”

— By Cynthia Mason • The Sandpoint Reader, Sandpoint Online and KRFY 88.5 FM hosted a candidates forum Oct. 17 at Sandpoint Community Hall. I’d like to give a Bouquet to all the candidates who attended, as well as those who watched and submitted questions from the audience.

Everyone was civil with one another, the questions were on topic and respect was given at every opportunity. I don’t know why I’m surprised that we are still able to meet in public and discuss ideas without yelling, temper tantrums and saber rattling. It is still possible to calmly discuss issues that are important to us in North Idaho without resorting to a mob mentality. Here’s a big thanks to everyone who participated, as well as Sandpoint Online and KRFY for co-hosting. If you missed the forum, you can stream it on krfy. org. Don’t forget to vote Nov. 7.

Barbs: • The late, great comedian Mitch Hedberg has a bit about people who use their car horns too much: “I think we should only get three honks a month on the car horn. Then, someone cuts you off, you press the horn, and nothing happens. You’re like, ‘Crap!

I wish I hadn’t seen Ricky on the sidewalk!’” While Hedberg was just telling a joke, this idea intrigues me, especially after having an altercation earlier this week with a man who continues to blare his horn around town at people for no reason. Horns are there to tap lightly to say hello to your friends driving by, or blast if someone’s about to hit you. They aren’t to be used in a punitive manner, or because you think you own the road and need to tell others how great you are. Mitch Hedberg for president.

10 / R / October 19, 2023

Dear editor, Goose hunt, really? “Welcome to Sandpoint. We kill geese.” Is there any verifiable evidence that hunting/killing geese twice a year prevents other geese from returning to the inviting land of the slaughter the following migration period? We invite them to our fair city with our large green grassy areas at City Beach, and then we get offended when they do their business at the beach to which we invited them.

The city manager informed me at one of the waterfront design open houses that the beach’s attractive nuisance (no good hiding spots for goose predators) is partly responsible for the regular return of the geese. Seems like we are the problem and the enemy, particularly the enemy of the innocent goose population. Yet, in the city’s design competition winner’s revised design concept booklet under “Nature and Stewardship,” a line reads, “At Sand Creek we highlight those wild connections through shoreline and habitat restoration, creating an oasis for people and critters alike in the heart of downtown.” Ironic.

We invite tourists to town, so when do we start hunting them?

Lord knows, they certainly have some annoying habits.

Shannon May Sandpoint

‘My vote is for Troy Reinbold WBCSD 83 trustee for Zone 3’…

Dear editor, Thank you, Troy, for standing firm in your commitment to values that keep our school district accountable in finances, curriculum and policies. You didn’t engage in uncontrolled outbursts at the school board meetings and were not coerced to give in to that mentality. Proverbs 29:11, a fool utters all his mind: but a wise man keeps it in till afterwards.

I attended a meet-and-greet with Troy and found him to be open and engaged. He understands the issues and will continue to be diligent in preventing social emotional learning and social justice teaching from creeping into our curriculum. Troy is for a full and complete forensic audit to clarify the questionable bookkeeping practices that appear to have been ignored by previous administrations. Troy stressed his concern with bullying and suicide incidents and will continue to promote policies to create a healthy

and caring environment to prevent suicides in our young children.

Troy promotes policies to keep our children safe with boys being boys and girls being girls, and not being swayed with the changing culture.

If you want someone to promote policies to protect and educate our children to become productive members of society, then vote for Troy Reinbold!

Susan Anderson Priest River

An open letter to city leaders…

Dear editor, I’m writing to plead for our community gem, Travers Park.

Have you walked on the trails, especially in winter when the snow is removed and one can enjoy the fresh air, open space and extraordinary view of the mountains? Have you seen elders from nearby facilities pushing their walkers on the trails?

Have you watched kids playing on the bike trails behind the tennis courts?

Have you watched the Waldorf students expanding their art class in the great outdoors of Travers?

Have you helped the library conduct storytime under the charming pavilion?

Have you watched your children grow up on the playground as the beautiful trees planted long ago grow up, too?

Have you cheered your children on as they participate in sports on the fields?

This is the community gem that is Travers Park. It is perfect as it is.

Please don’t let Important parts of it, including the trees, be demolished to put up a building.

Why not put the building in another location? It seems so simple to just put it in another location rather than demolishing what works so wonderfully for the community and beginning from scratch.

Save Travers Park. Listen to the people you represent.

Cynthia Mason Hope

Letters to the editor will be curtailed at 200 words until after the election Nov. 7.

Starting the Nov. 9 edition of the Reader, letters to the editor will return to a 300-word limit.

Send letters to letters@sandpointreader.com.

COMMUNITY

Better Together Animal Alliance earns ‘no-kill’ status in 2022

By Reader Staff Better Together Animal Alliance recently received recognition from Best Friends Animal Society for the shelter’s ongoing commitment to maintaining a no-kill philosophy. The accolade, based on data from 2022, places BTAA among nationwide organizations dedicated to saving 90% or more of animals entering shelters. In 2022, the shelter achieved a rate of 98%.

Animal welfare organizations that identify as no-kill facilities do not euthanize animals in order to create space for new animals.

However, they may euthanize animals to relieve pain and suffering, or to protect the public from animals that are considered too dangerous to be adopted.

“We are truly honored to receive this recognition from Best Friends Animal Society,” stated

BTAA Executive Director Mandy Evans. “This acknowledgment is a testament to the dedication of our staff, volunteers and supporters, who work tirelessly day in and day out to ensure that every animal in our care is given a second chance at a happy and healthy life.”

BTAA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Ponderay and serving Bonner, Boundary and Kootenai counties. BTAA assists approximately 2,400 stray or surrendered animals every year and more than 8,000 pets through its various programs — including Home To Home, which is geared toward reducing shelter intake — and stated that it is determined to continue its mission of a “no-kill” future.

To learn more about Better Together Animal Alliance, visit bettertogetheranimalalliance.org.

PERSPECTIVES

New Camp Bay hearing set for Oct. 25

Attempting to locate the public interest for Camp Bay

By Susan Drumheller Reader Contributor It’s been out of the public eye for months, but the battle over public access to Lake Pend Oreille at Camp Bay is not over.

The latest court hearing over the issue is Wednesday, Oct. 25 in Coeur d’Alene.

It’s easy to get lost in the legalese of the attorney’s briefs, but the passion jumps off the page.

This has been an emotional contest over 50 feet of waterfront with million-dollar views.

Perhaps it would be less bitter if the larger community didn’t feel so powerless as the wealthy move in, buy up land, drive up property values and economically push out the working class.

Here’s the bare-bones timeline: • April 7, 2021: Bonner County commissioners vote to vacate a half mile of Camp Bay Road and allow development company M3 to close it off for a 400-acre private development.

• Neighborhood residents Fred and Jennifer Arn challenge the decision, arguing conflict of interest among county staff and loss of lake access. The judge agrees and sends the decision back to the commissioners.

• Feb. 16, 2022: Second public hearing over the road vacation request, and this time the commissioners vote against vacating the road, saying that the status of the waterfront access at the end of Camp Bay Road is uncertain, and encourage a legal challenge to resolve the issue in court.

• Spring/summer 2022: M3 challenges the decision and proposes the court send the matter back to the commission to consider an offer to build a walking/bike path to another waterfront location in exchange for vacating the road.

• Winter 2022: The judge again remands the decision to the commissioners and gives them the leeway to determine testimony scope.

The upcoming court hearing concerns a challenge to the latest decision, which was held shortly before Christmas and the end of two commissioners’ terms. The room was packed with people in favor of keeping the road open to the public. The staff mentioned that written comments were received, but didn’t note the overwhelming opposition to closing the road, including a letter from Idaho Fish and Game.

The commissioners limited the scope

An idea proposed by Camp Bay developer M3 to connect Camp Bay to existing trails near Gamiln Lake and the Lost Lake / Mineral Point trail system. Courtesy image. of the hearing to discussing the merits of building a gated pathway to the lake and providing 50 feet of waterfront access at a new location. The pathway would be non-motorized and only open to the public from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The commissioners would not allow any consideration of whether or not they are giving up superior lake access via Camp Bay Road. Any testimony that spoke to the existing public access was off limits.

The county was able to enshrine its official position that the status was unknown, even though a previous court ruling stated county planning staff erred in claiming the road does not provide lake access.

The developer delivered a neat solution for the commissioners with the alternative pathway — but the access is only good for

able-bodied people and the exact location or quality of the waterfront remains uncertain.

Generally, it would be located in the west corner of the bay, near the Camp Bay community docks.

At the county hearing, the developer also introduced another tantalizing offer: to provide public access to neighboring U.S. Forest Service lands and the Mineral Point trail system. As an avid mountain biker who has ridden those trails for decades, helped build them and even once snuck through the Camp Bay property to get to Gamlin Lake, I understand the offer’s appeal.

But it was not part of the scope of the hearing, and created a wedge between interest groups — hikers, runners and bikers versus kayakers, elderly and disabled, for whom walking the half-mile path to the

lake would be a hardship and severely limit access.

Since the hearing, the developer has been in discussions with the county about the trails and has filed a construction easement for the pathway to the lake, but no easement has been filed specifically for public access to the USFS lands. County planning officials said they cannot discuss the trails or road, citing the ongoing litigation.

In approving the road vacation, former-Commissioner Dan McDonald said that Bonner County has plenty of public waterfront access, approximately 40 locations, and his claim was included in the commissioners’ “findings of fact,” though no one had the opportunity to dispute or debate that claim during the hearing.

Kayaker and lake access advocate Kelly Courtright later conducted his own research and found only 13 publicly owned and road accessible boat ramps on Lake Pend Oreille.

Perhaps the most controversial reason for approving the road vacation, however, was the commissioners’ view that it was a matter of private property rights.

“This board unequivocally has always, as a priority, held private property rights in position No. 1, over public interest,” Commissioner Steve Bradshaw said. “Public interest would be second to that.”

Commissioner McDonald made statements indicating he considered it a private property rights issue as well.

Camp Bay Road, however, is a public road, owned by the public. And Idaho Statute (I.C. 40-203) requires that a decision to vacate a public road must be determined to be in the public interest in order for it to be legally justified.

If the Arns prevail and the court again sends the decision back to the commissioners, it’s uncertain how the new board will rule.

If the road is lost to the public, either by court decision or the new commission, the growing gap between the haves and havenots in our county may be symbolized by a gate that blocks the views of — and less able-bodied from — Camp Bay. Susan Drumheller is a former conservation associate with the Idaho Conservation League and serves on the board of directors for Project 7B, a local nonprofit that advocates for responsible land use planning and public involvement in land use decisions.

October 19, 2023 / R / 11

Mad about Science:

Brought to you by:

the value of mature trees

By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist This topic was suggested by community member, Julie Perchynski. Thanks, Julie!

It’s hard to throw a stone in Bonner County without hitting a tree. Though they seem overabundant, they provide benefits to human beings at all stages of life.

We often discount mature trees as a source of firewood or lumber, but did you know that trees actually alter the environment in which they inhabit? This environmental alteration pays off in unexpected ways for humans.

The first and most obvious value of a large mature deciduous tree is its shade. In 2016, it was projected that a tree planted on a house’s western side would reduce energy consumption of the home by as much as 12% over 15 years. As temperatures and fuel prices have increased globally in the past seven years, this figure has likely grown. Shade provided by the tree lowers the heat within the home transferred by energy from the sun.

The average power bill for a residential home swings between $95 and $150 a month. Splitting the difference at $125 a month, this would create $2,700 in savings over a 15-year period — not to mention, this would reduce the amount of fuel consumed during the same time, which helps us all in the long run.

This is the measurable value of a single mature tree. Adding additional trees, while producing diminishing returns when directly impacting your house, can reduce the average ground-level temperature and provide refuge for birds, insects, squirrels, chipmunks and other wild critters in our area — all of which help with species propagation for beneficial

12 / R / October 19, 2023

flora that include native berries such as thimbleberry, which feeds and houses creatures as small as bumble bees and as large as grizzly bears.

The true magic of trees is in their ability to pull carbon from the atmosphere and transform it into building blocks. Using photosynthesis, plants are able to literally pull matter from the air by using photons from the sun to split carbon dioxide into carbon and two oxygen atoms. The tree will absorb the carbon and spit the oxygen out as waste, which is great for animals that need oxygen to survive.

A single acre of forest can absorb up to six tons of carbon dioxide per year and spit out four tons of oxygen in the process.

Young trees simply cannot compare here, as they take years of photosynthesizing carbon dioxide to reach a meaningful size for carbon storage.

Several years ago, I was exposed to an interesting perspective on carbon dioxide in our atmosphere that completely changed how I viewed energy, matter and the environment. Due to the law of conservation of matter, matter cannot be created or destroyed, but it can change shape during chemical reactions. In the case of gasoline, multiple changes occur here.

Petroleum was algae a very long time ago, now fossilized into the oily black sludge we pump from the ground. In order for that algae to grow, it utilized photosynthesis to split carbon dioxide into carbon and oxygen, just like a tree, and in doing so retained a portion of the energy from that reaction. That energy was trapped for hundreds of millions of years, until we introduce a spark to it to create a controlled explosion — a spontaneous release of ancient sunlight that fuses carbon and oxygen back together to create CO2, much like

what happens when we breathe, and the inverse of the process of photosynthesis in plants.

At this point, the effects of vehicle emissions on climate change simply becomes math.

We’re not creating or destroying anything per se, we’re just undoing the action of billion-year-old plants in a brand new environment. Mathematically, as more vehicles hit the roadway and more adult trees are felled, an imbalance occurs and nature cannot keep up its cyclical processes.

Some species of trees have an incredible hidden talent that’s only present and noticeable once they’ve spent decades maturing.

Sugar maples change their environment in a way that is unlike virtually any other tree on the planet — in fact, only six species of trees are known to utilize this special evolutionary trait. Hydraulic lift is a function of just a few trees in the world that pull water up from a deep taproot and then store it in the shallow lateral roots for later. Oftentimes, these trees will pull up more water than they actually need, which spreads to the nearby soil.

This might seem wasteful, but it helps other plants and animals flourish around the base of the tree, which helps not only the local environment, but the tree itself in the long run.

As the symbiotic and parasitic plants at the maple’s roots grow and die, they process chemicals the maple might not be able to use until after the plant’s death or consumption by local fauna. Trees love four things: sunlight, water, death and poop. This symbiotic sharing technique is virtually nonexistent in younger trees, and it’s not until much later in life that they are able to alter their environment in this way.

Care to test this idea? Examine the soil around a mature

A mature oak tree. Courtesy photo. maple and the soil around a mature white pine tree. Rummage around in the soil and see if the consistency of the soil is different between them. It will be most noticeable between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m., once the tree has slowed down the hydraulic lift process.

One more hidden benefit of large mature trees is their ability to transpire water. Water evaporates from tree leaves throughout the day, adding to the water cycle.

This water cannot be destroyed, so

it instead becomes smaller, lighter and floats away. As temperatures fall at higher elevations in the atmosphere, the water begins to coalesce and form back into clouds or rain. Entire forest systems are able to create rain through transpiration. It’s likely that this is another hidden bonus to having a fully grown tree in your yard, as evaporative cooling will come into play in the surrounding air.

Stay curious, 7B.

Random Corner Don’t know much about trees? We can help!

• Trees are the longest living organisms on Earth, and never die of old age. Some of the oldest trees on Earth are located in California, where a few bristlecone pines and giant sequoias are more than 4,000 years old. The oldest known tree is a 4,855-year-old bristlecone pine named Methuselah, which has been growing in the White Mountains of Inyo County, Calif. since about 2830 B.C.E., when wooly mammoths still roamed North America.

• “Moon trees” were grown from seeds taken to the moon during the Apollo 14 mission in 1971. They were donated to state forestry services in 1975 and scattered throughout the country. The closest one was planted at Lowell Elementary School in Boise.

• Trees are natural noise blockers because of their sound attenuation qualities. This is because sound waves deflect when traveling through the leaves, twigs and branches on trees.

• Trees can help to reduce stress. A study conducted by the University of Illinois and the University of Hong Kong found the denser the forest, the lower the stress. That may be why walking down a tree-lined street could bring calm to one’s mind. Also, just being in nature helps promote more kindness among people because natural plants like trees release chemicals called phytoncides, which, when breathed in, can lower blood pressure and anxiety levels.

• There are more than 60,000 different species of trees, with Brazil containing the most with 8,715.

• Trees didn’t exist for the first 90% of Earth’s history.

Before trees, a mysterious genus of fungi called prototaxites grew large trunks up to three feet wide and 26 feet tall.

• A large oak tree can “drink” about 100 gallons of water per day, while giant sequoias can transpire about 500 gallons per day.

PERSPECTIVES

Remembering, rewriting and reconnecting A framework for decolonizing public space and people

By Jyl Wheaton-Abraham Reader Contributor

I spoke recently at a public hearing regarding a permit request at the mouth of Trestle Creek. While numerous attendees raised concerns about wildlife, water quality and property rights, I spoke about cultural resources and the importance of Trestle Creek to me, as a member of the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho.

I went into the meeting knowing I would talk; as an archaeologist I have years of experience and knowledge about our region. Like many in the audience, I felt it was my duty to speak up in support of the preservation of nature and the rights of the public. As I sat in the audience, I realized while I share common interests with many of my Sandpoint neighbors, my motivations for protecting and preserving this region are inspired by a very different experience within the same space.

My tribe, the Ktunaxa (Kootenai) people have been in this region for thousands of years, our Creation is rooted here: “I have created you Kootenai People to look after this beautiful land, to honor and guard and celebrate my Creation here, in this place.” — Quilxka Nupika (Elders of the Kootenai Nation and Members of the Tribe) Many have tried to remove us from this land, from history, from having a future in this space. Each of these attempts at removal have damaged us, erasing us from local history, severing us from many of the places we traditionally call home.

We were pushed out of the Sandpoint area in the name of “progress,” forced to eke out an existence on 12 acres west of Bonners Ferry. Our commitment to the land and to our Creator helped us survive generations of poverty, racism and state-sanctioned abuse, understood collectively as the colonization of our lands, lives and bodies.

At the end of my public testimony, I mentioned there had been a lot of talk about restoration that night, but for this

project to be truly restorative, the land should be given back to my people.

While I appreciated the applause, I said what I did not for attention, but to disrupt the ongoing erasure of the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho from their own land. I spoke up at the hearing and wrote this piece because to many, my Tribe is invisible, and remaining unseen and voiceless allows colonization to continue.

Colonization is the process of settling amongst and taking control of indigenous lands and people. There is only one way to stop colonization, and that is to decolonize — your actions, your knowledge and your self.

In an effort to decolonize both the public space and the minds of my friends and neighbors, my intentions that day and always are to remember, rewrite and reconnect my people to the shores of the lake. We often think of remembering as recalling something from the past, but for those experiencing colonization, remembering is putting ourselves back together.

Our bodies were taken from us, sent away to boarding schools and orphanages, assaulted and abused; remembering puts back together what was severed through the colonization process.

Rewriting crosses out the myths colonization creates about history, ownership and who should be considered “Native” amongst colonized lands and people.

Reconnecting physically returns indigenous people to lands they were driven off of, coerced into selling or abandoned in the face of the violent colonization of every aspect of their lives.

There are many ways to decolonize as both an idea and an effort, which I hope we can explore together in the future. I think there are many in our region who want to disrupt systems that push aside local people, turn a place we call home into a commodity few can afford and erases the past because, “Change is inevitable.” I am sharing my words and perspective because I want to live in a place where my people are acknowledged and to help others understand what truly happened in the beautiful place we all call home.

Jyl Wheaton-Abraham is a member of the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho. She has an M.A. in applied anthropology, focusing on archaeology and queer, indigenous decolonizing theory.

A map of First Nations communities in the region. Map created by Ktunaxa Nation Council.

October 19, 2023 / R / 13

HOLIDAY

A (maybe) true childhood mystery

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff There is a truism attributed to early-20th century weird fiction writer H.P. Lovecraft: “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”

That’s what makes the following one of the scariest things that ever happened to me — or maybe didn’t happen. I can’t be sure, and not knowing whether it was real has haunted me for decades.

This isn’t so much a story as it is a memory, though lacking much context other than what I can describe from the wider facts of my life at the time during which the “event” occurred.

I must have been between the ages of 9 and 10, and living in my childhood home on five forested acres off a dirt road in Sagle.

It got dark out there. We had neighbors, but all of them were screened by thick barriers of trees and brush, and little if any of their existence filtered through. We had no curtains to be closed.

The exceptions to that were the folks behind us whose woods abutted our own and occasionally fired their guns for no apparent reason. The others lived across our dirt road in a complex of trailers and small homes occupied by three generations of their family members.

The grandparents of the family lived opposite the mouth of our driveway, and they had a halogen light that shone out from their yard. Because our driveway curved slightly before meeting the road, we did not have a direct line of sight to their property, but at night their light could be seen as a constellation of bright pinpricks through the trees and cast a sharp-edged blue-white hue

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Generative AI image courtesy NightCafe. on the gravel of the driveway just where it bent to meet the road.

From the window in our living room at night, it seemed like a giant door stood ajar in the wall of indiscernible trees, letting in a sliver of cold light from another room beyond.

I wasn’t the kind of kid who got up at night and roamed around the house. When I did awaken, it was to go to the bathroom or get a glass of water. On those occasions, I’d glance out the front room window in passing and see that shaft of halogen. Despite my full awareness of its source, it always gave me an unearthly feeling and I wouldn’t stare too long into it for fear I might see something staring back.

The mysterious occurrence that I’m frankly hesitant to share because it makes me sound unhinged — and my own mind remains queasy about its essential reality — came on an otherwise typical night sometime in the very late summer.

My memory is of getting out of bed and, in my pajamas, walking out into the living room. I don’t remember why I got up, but do recall looking out the front window at the neighbors’ light, shining in that cold way at the end of the driveway.

The next memory I have is of being outside and walking toward the light. How or why I made the decision to leave the house is lost to me, as is the recollection of walking out the front door, but the sen-

sation of crunching across the gravel and feeling the night air is so distinct and vivid that no matter how analytical I’ve tried to be over the years, I can’t fully shake the perception that this actually happened in some form or another.

I walked on and remember feeling how close in and dark the woods were on either side of me, but I refused to look, feeling compelled to continue on to the end of the driveway where I would see the halogen light rising from the neighbors’ front yard.

As I neared the dirt road and neared entering the full glare of the light, my mind leapt to the realization that there was something crouched in the bushes to my right. I kept my eyes forward and took another step or two, then the thought burst into my head that there was a black dog hunched down next to me.

Though I could not see it — could not make out any details in the bushes and woods beyond — the image came fully formed and clear that this was a dog with medium-length, bristly black hair and its eyes fixed on me in a taut-coiled low posture.

I finally looked blindly to my right and, the instant I did so, I heard it growl and snap and felt somehow that it lunged about a foot toward me, though not far enough to leave the darkness in the bushes. I never actually saw it, even when staring directly at where I knew it to be, but felt suddenly that it had vanished after making itself known.

There is no further recollection in my mind, neither of continuing on toward the dirt road or returning to my bed. The incident ends at the point of my feeling the dog had gone and of being surrounded by the light as I blinked into the forest, and I’ll never know the truth of it.

PERSPECTIVES

GOP tries to cut Idaho women’s last lifeline that would save them.

Astoundingly, Idaho’s GOP politicians vowed to overturn the Recently we’ve seen whipWinmill order no matlash-inducing developments in ter the cost, to ensure the legal battle over women’s that even women fachealth in Idaho, but the underlying catastrophic health ing story is unchanged. Repubcrises cannot receive lican politicians are willing to an abortion. Not conforce women to endure horrific tent with having the athealth consequences rather torney general litigate than allow medically necessary the case, GOP legislaabortions, and will happily burn tors spent almost a half through mountains of taxpayer million dollars Rep. Ilana Rubel. File photo. dollars along the way. hiring a second team Let’s revisit how we got here. of private lawyers for In 2020, GOP legislators passed an aborthe sole purpose of denying abortions to tion trigger ban to take effect immediately women facing medical emergencies. should Roe ever be overturned. This ban They managed to get the appeal in contained no health exception. Abortion front of a panel of Donald Trump-appointis only permitted where “necessary” to preed judges, which on Sept. 29 overturned vent certain death — not where necessary Winmill’s order, meaning that even in a to prevent loss of a woman’s body organs, medical emergency doctors face prison possible death, paralysis, permanent loss for acting to save a woman’s health. But of fertility or other health catastrophes. As in a quick turnaround, the Ninth Circuit one Republican Committee Chair recently reinstated the Winmill order until a further told The New York Times, GOP legislators never looked that closely at the language of that bill, assuming Roe would never be overturned.

But the dog caught the car. Roe was overturned, and suddenly doctors in Idaho faced five years in prison for administering abortions to address health emergencies.

The U.S. Justice Department soon filed suit arguing that, under a 1985 federal law signed by President Ronald Reagan, hospitals receiving federal funds must provide stabilizing care, including abortions if medically appropriate, to people experiencing health emergencies. This put doctors in a bind — if they don’t provide an abortion to address a health emergency, they violate federal law, but if they do perform the abortion they face prison under Idaho law.

When laws conflict, federal law prevails. So, while Judge B. Lynn Winmill upheld Idaho’s abortion ban in almost all instances, he ordered a very narrow exception for medical emergencies requiring an abortion to avoid serious adverse health consequences.

You would think that anyone who values women’s safety would be relieved that a court put a common-sense safety valve into Idaho’s wildly overbroad and dangerous ban, and that even abortion opponents would drop the matter at this point; because, to be clear, the only legal issue in dispute was whether women experiencing health emergencies can receive an abortion

By Rep. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise Reader Contributor

hearing.

At least for now, women and doctors in Idaho have a shred of protection when medical crises arise requiring abortion. But GOP politicians are doing everything in their power to eradicate that last safeguard.

As long as Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador and his legislative allies press this appeal, Idahoans can’t truly win.

If Labrador ends up losing the appeal, taxpayers will bear the cost of still another losing lawsuit. If he prevails it’s even worse, because “winning” means subjecting women with pregnancy complications to grave bodily harm and expediting the exodus of doctors from our state.

But there is another option — Labrador and GOP legislators can voluntarily drop this appeal at any time. It is past time for the madness to stop. Judge Winmill threw Idaho women a lifeline. Let’s take it.

Rep. Ilana Rubel is a Democratic lawmaker from Boise, serving as House minority leader and on the Health and Welfare, Resources and Conservation, Transportation and Defense, and Ways and Means committees.

October 19, 2023 / R / 15

COMMUNITY

Early bird tickets on KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE sale for Sandpoint observatory launch

By Reader Staff

The ribbon cutting ceremony on Sandpoint’s inaugural telescope observatory is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 28, but early bird tickets to the event are on sale until 9 p.m., Friday, Oct. 20.

Limited tickets are available for the 5 p.m. cocktail reception and reserved for adults 18 and older, including complimentary food and drink from Beet and Basil and Matchwood Brewing Company.

Following the reception, the ribbon cutting at the University of Idaho Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center (10881 N.

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Boyer) will take place at 6 p.m.

The festivities will continue until 9 p.m. with an observatory tour, tin foil hat contest, night photography and Jupiter Star Party.

“We’re honored to deliver this amazing scientific instrument to Sandpoint and look forward to a long journey of curiosity and discovery,” organizers stated.

All-inclusive adult early bird tickets are $25. Adult tickets to the ribbon cutting and launch events are $10. Early bird student tickets are free.

Reserve tickets and get more info at spacepoint.org.

The above photo shows a usual scene at the public seating area outside of Tango Cafe inside the Sandpoint Center on Fifth Avenue and Oak Street. These Sandpoint pals, plus a few missing from the photo, meet most mornings at the Tango Cafe to “address international, national and local issues. Sort of,” claims Tim Henney, who sent the picture. “Mainly we gather because we like to visit and laugh - and we just like one another. In an age of unprecendented social angst and foreboding when even members of the U.S. Congress refuse to speak to one another, the Sandpoint Tango Table feels like the way things used to be.

And ought to be.” The group has been meeting off and on since 2005.” Photo by Lee Santa.

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

Top right: Lenny Hess and Karren Williams at Jules’ Undersea Lodge, an underwater hotel near Key Largo, Fla. Far right: A peaceful moment during a fall bike ride. Photo

by Julia T. Middle left: Orange peel fungus spotted on Gamlin Lake trail. Photo by Karen Hempstead.

Middle center: Vendors prepare German cuisine at the busy Oktoberfest event Oct. 14 at the Granary parking lot.

Photo by Rich Milliron.

Bottom left: Dorothy Prophet, Jen Jackson Quintano and Cynthia Dalsing took the Reader to a Pro-Voice Project event at The Kenworthy Performing Arts Center in Moscow.

Bottom middle: A wide shot of the Oktoberfest event on Oct. 14 at the Granary parking lot. Photo by Rich Milliron.

October 19, 2023 / R / 17

BY THE NUMBERS

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

206

The number of human-caused fires in Idaho reported by Idaho Department of Lands in 2023. Human-caused fires outnumbered natural starts in Idaho last year by a factor of almost three to one.

3.2%

The increase in Social Security benefits in 2024 as a cost-of-living adjustment, which amounts to a more than $50 per month increase for the average recipient.

About 71 million people receive Social Security benefits.

21

The number of species that have been labeled extinct by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as of Oct. 16. Currently, there are 650 species that have gone extinct in the U.S.

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OUTDOORS

The butcher’s binky Our first hunting season as parents

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Contributor

A couple of days into this year’s rifle hunting season, my husband Alex sent me a photo.

The text notification made my heart race. He’d been gone for a few hours, off to hike a route I knew well. If there were elk bedded in their habitual places, he’d surely have bumped them by now and very well could have gotten off a shot. A text message bearing, “Attachment: 1 Image,” during hunting season is often the first signal that it’s time for celebration.

Upon opening the message, I laughed. The photo wasn’t of an elk or even a scenic shot of Lake Pend Oreille from the mountainside above East Hope. It was of a dirty pacifier, plucked from the trail and held up for the camera with Alex’s boots and the changing colors of an autumn forest in the background.

The pacifier had a direct tie to the reason I was at home rather than beside Alex on his hunt: Liam, our 3-month-old son. A few weeks before, we’d walked the same trail as a family — along with my dad and cousin — on a mission to clear brush and blowdowns in preparation for the upcoming season.

The pacifier was clipped to the pack in which I carried Liam, strapped to my chest, during that trek.

It must have fallen off along the way and it was no surprise that I hadn’t noticed. I brought it along as a sort of insurance policy should the baby be particularly inconsolable on our hike; but, as it turned out, he didn’t let out so much as a whimper during the four-hour

journey over logs, under limbs and across creeks. Chock it up to genetics or the magic powers of baby-wearing, but, in any case, it made for a great memory.

“Binky’s big adventure!” I replied.

Even with Liam to consider, I managed to make it out of the house for two days of hunting thanks to help from my mom. On opening day, I found myself in awe of the silence. Among the things that have become abundantly evident about my son since his birth in July is that he doesn’t thrive in quiet spaces.

I recently discovered that if I need to pump gas, I keep music playing on my phone and place it next to him in the back seat to avoid a stopped-car-induced meltdown. His naps feature background music, and we’ve determined that a white noise machine does wonders to ensure that nighttime sleep lasts.

In the past three months, I developed an inadvertent fear of silence, as I’m sure many new parents do. In the woods, as I anticipated the sound of large ungulate bodies crashing through brush, I embraced the profound hush with new gratitude.

While Alex and I didn’t make a harvest on our opening day adventure, it was a perfect day of walking, listening and using our fine-tuned hunting sign language to communicate and make each other laugh.

In a few short years, we’ll have to make room for another person in our opening day plans. I imagine Liam contributing his own signals to our secret, silent language, and learning the names we’ve given

different landmarks along our opening day route, based on our experiences over the past seven years of hunting it together: cat crossing, skunk hole, table rock, the spike’s resting place and many more.

I grew up hunting elk in Hope, and it is my intention that Liam will, too. In the meantime, he’ll cut his teeth — literally and figuratively — on the spoils of my family’s sacred harvests, and take part in the teamwork of butchering in the coming weeks. He’ll be strapped to my chest while we carve roasts and grind burger, just as he was on his first hike.

Pacifier optional.

Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey is editor emeritus of the Sandpoint Reader and has contributed a story about her family’s annual observance of elk season each year since 2017.

Left: “It was of a dirty pacifier, plucked from the trail and held up for the camera with Alex’s boots and the changing colors of an autumn forest in the background. Photo by Alex Carey.

Right: Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey and up-and-coming hunter Liam Carey butcher an elk from this year’s hunt. Photo by Travis Kiebert.

Retirement is Murder opens at the Panida Theater

By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff Playwright Teresa Pesce’s Retirement is Murder opens at the Panida Theater on Friday, Oct. 20 with the first of five performances.

Local favorites star in this PG-13 comedy mystery — set in a retirement home — that will leave you guessing “who done it?”

“Residents of the retirement home discover that not everything is as it appears. Romance and hijinks come together in pursuit of the truth,” said Joe Woodruff, the founder of Applaud Productions, who’s putting on the performance.

No spoilers here.

Before the show, the audience

will be treated to jazz hits from the ’40s-’60s performed by singer Kelly Woodruff. The performance will also feature a ceremony with speeches and awards honoring the local retirement homes Life Care Center of Sandpoint, The Bridge at Sandpoint, Luther Park and Valley Vista Care, as well as their dedicated workers. Whether attending a matinee or evening show, the theater will be brimming with good feelings, nostalgia and laughter.

Music starts at 6:30 on Oct. 20, 21, 27 and 28 for evening shows, with a special matinee at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21.

Tickets are available online or in person for $17. For more information, visit panida.org.

October 19, 2023 / R / 19

COMMUNITY

Matchwood Brewing to host five-year birthday bash

By Reader Staff Matchwood Brewing Company is celebrating five years as an anchor for the Granary District and a hotspot for live local music and events.

To mark the occasion, the neighborhood brewery and brewpub (located at 513 Oak St.) is hosting a party Friday, Oct. 20 beginning at 5 p.m. with a house beer name and year-round canning launch, followed by live music from Headwaters from 5:30-8 p.m., with a community toast and free pour with Ester the Tiny Tap Truck at 6:30 p.m. Stick around for a silent disco dance party with Silent Shindigs from 8-10 p.m.

Reflecting on the past five years, Matchwood co-owner Andrea Marcoccio wrote, “The flight of time can feel so fast.

As Kennden and I reflect on our entrepreneurial journey — a lot has happened in five years.”

Since opening its doors, Marcoccio wrote that Matchwood has trained and

Sweet, sweet history Free tasting of heirloom apple varieties

By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff

Matchwood’s patio is a popular place during the warm months. Courtesy photo. employed 180 people, “endured a global pandemic; had two beautiful children; won a Great American Beer Festival medal; helped launch Sandpoint Pride; hosted over 750 events; debuted Ester the Tiny Tap Truck; donated thousands of dollars to local causes; invested in canning equipment; and shared endless moments, conversations and laughter with our community.

To celebrate, she added, “We will toast, eat, sing, dance and cheers — we hope you will join us.”

The University of Idaho Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center hosts a free tasting of 30 different types of apples on Saturday, Oct. 21. The orchard specializes in heirloom varieties, many of which date from the 1600-1800s — though their oldest, the White Pearmain, originated in England around the year 1200 C.E. “The majority of these varieties will never be in commercial production, and there’s a reason for that — mostly that they don’t ship or store well. The only way that these varieties will survive in some form is for home gardeners and independent orchards to grow them,” said Kyle Nagy, superintendent and orchard operations manager.

Nagy hopes to make the tasting an annual event that rewards repeat visitors. Each tasting will feature different apples chosen from the orchard’s 68 varieties, and there’s no telling what new trees the future holds.

The center already grows varieties of every texture, color and sweetness level.

“One of the reasons I like to do the tasting is to show people the enormous diversity you can get from one fruit. You wouldn’t believe the size variety — we get everything from [the size of] a grapefruit to a crab apple,” said Nagy.

His favorite is the Shinsei, a sweet, Japanese apple from the 1930s that’s a cross between a McIntosh and a Golden Delicious.

“It has a beautiful, light skin that almost glows on the tree.”

The center also marked the start of its 2023-’24 Heritage Orchard Conference on Oct. 18 — a monthly webinar series with presentations on everything from cider-making to the history of apples. Both the tasting and the webinars are free and open to the public, so attend both to satisfy your curiosity and your sweet tooth.

The tasting is FREE at the University of Idaho Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center, 10881 North Boyer Road, from noon-4 p.m. For more information, or to watch past webinars, visit uidaho.edu/cals/ sandpoint-organic-agriculture-center.

KNPS presents ‘Ice Age Mega-Floods’ presentation

By Reader Staff

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Anyone who lives in North Idaho should know about the geological history of the region, which was defined by ice age floods around 15,000 years ago. The Kinnikinnick Native Plant Society will host “Ice Age Mega-Floods: A Regional Phenomenon That Heavily Impacted Our Local Landscape,” a presentation by Tony Lewis, president of the Coeur du Deluge Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21.

The program will be available in-person at the East Bonner County Library’s main Sandpoint branch (1407 Cedar St.) and also remotely via Zoom by visiting bit.ly/IceAgeFloods.

Coffee, tea and snacks will be available starting at 9:30 a.m. and the program is sponsored by the library district and Sandpoint Parks and Recreation. The presentation will be free and is open to all.

Glacial Lake Missoula formed about 15,000 years ago by a gigantic ice dam that blocked the present Clark Fork River Basin.

The ice dam extended from Clark Fork to Sandpoint and south to Farragut. The waters behind the ice dam grew to 2,000 feet deep, containing more than 500 cubic miles of water and extending hundreds of miles eastward

past the present-day location of the city of Missoula, Mont.

The ice dam collapsed multiple times, with each instance resulting in the release of catastrophic flood waters of epic proportions.

Tony Lewis earned a B.S. in chemistry and geography from West Chester State College, an M.S. in natural resources and oceanography from Oregon State University, and a Ph.D. in physical geography and remote sensing from the University of Kansas.

He spent most of his professional career in the Department of Geography and Anthropology at Louisiana State University, where in 2008 he retired after 29 years as professor emeritus. Lewis taught at several other universities and served on NASA committees, as a United Nations and World Bank consultant, and as the National Geographic Society Coordinator for the Louisiana Geography Education Alliance.

Soon after moving to North Idaho in 2008, he became involved in the Ice Age Floods Institute, serving as vice-president and now as president of the Coeur du Deluge Chapter.

For more info, email KNPS.Tech@gmail. com.

COMMUNITY

Giggle water and glad rags: A return to the speakeasy days Popular LPO Repertory Theater fundraiser travels back to Prohibition era with 3rd annual event

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

Whether it was the high fashion, the roaring lifestyle or the suggestion of socially acceptable naughtiness, the Prohibition Era continues to fascinate us a century later.

For those looking to time travel back to the wild and wooly 1920s, Lake Pend Oreille Repertory Theatre is hosting its third annual Speakeasy at the 219 Lounge, which serves as the main fundraiser for the theater troupe. The popular event will be held on consecutive Thursday nights Oct. 26 and Nov. 2, with seating starting at 6:30 p.m. before a 7 p.m. event start.

Speakeasy is a unique production that combines a murder mystery, live cabaret singers and a lounge atmosphere that guarantees an escape from everything mundane.

“It really feels like a lounge experience,” said LPO Rep founder Keely Gray.

“It’s an authentic nightclub atmosphere, with the lights dimmed, decorations out, people mingling and having fun. It’s really

fun to see what happens when the crowd hushes each time a new singer comes out on stage.”

With a script penned by local thespian Corey Repass, Gray said the evening very much resembles some of the plays her troupe puts on, but has the element of live song and lounge vibes added.

The evening will see live performances by a half dozen singers, including Gray, Katie Skidmore, Holly Beaman, Sarah Morgan, Kate McAlister and Myla McKechnie.

“Each singer has a few songs they sing, and we also have a cute barbershop moment that will happen,” Gray told the Reader.

The event supports LPO Repertory Theatre’s annual spring musical, which in the past has included popular plays like Young Frankenstein and Into the Woods, which were both received with audience acclaim.

In the case of LPO Rep’s forthcoming spring musical, Gray announced it would be Legally Blonde, which she said would cost about $6,000 just to secure the rights to the script.

“This is why we raise funds during the

conclusion that the 219 Lounge would be Speakeasy,” Gray said. “It’s a hurdle, and the perfect location. that’s why before LPO Rep came around “We love the 219,” she said. “This has musicals were few and far between. It been our home the last two years. [Managtakes a monumental effort, lots of money er] Mark [Terry] is so awesome, and he’s and training to do it well. … I’ve develso easy to work with.” oped a team of people who are really Costumes from the Prohibition era are excited to do what we’re doing. They’ve encouraged, but not required. Gray said put their all into it.” anything with fringe or beading works Along with the singers, some familiar great for the ladies, and men can easily names will help perform at the Speakeasy rely on top hats, vests and suit pants. nights, including Eric Bond, Michael Clark, Andrew Sorg and Corey Repass.

“Anything that makes you feel excited to come out to the event and get into the Vicki Turnbull and Valarie Moore are mood,” Gray said. “Come as a character if also helping with setup, as well as Conrad you want, we’ll play along with you.”

Dean working as sound engineer.

Tickets for general admission are $35 “We just finished doing Murder on the each and usually go fast. VIP tickets will Orient Express, and we’re lucky to have be $60 and include early enour costume and set designer from the play decorating try, a free drink and a piece Speakeasy of LPO Rep swag. The 219 the Niner for us, including Thursdays, Oct. 26 and Nov. will likely have themed drapes and table settings,” 2; 6:30 p.m. seating, 7 p.m. drink specials, but otherwise Gray said. start; $35/GA, $60/VIP; 21+.

Early on, Gray said she 219 Lounge, 219 N. First Ave., will have a regular bar with 208-263-5673, 219.bar. Visit beer, wine and cocktails discussed where to hold lporep.com for more info. available for purchase. the Speakeasy nights with fellow actors, coming to the

October 19, 2023 / R / 21

events

Send event listings to calendar@sandpointreader.com THURSDAY, october 19

Bingo Night at IPA 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority West Coast Swing dance lessons 4:30-5:30pm @ Yellow Room Class meets every Thursday at 102 Euclid Ave., second floor

Live Jazz w/ Bright Moments 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Live Music w/ Mobius Riff 5:30-8:30pm @ Barrel 33

Live Music w/ Chris Paradis 6-8pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Festival at Sandpoint Season Passes on sale @ festivalatsandpoint.com Passes for the 2024 summer concert series are on sale for $349. The 2024 Festival at Sandpoint will be July 25 through August 4

October 19 - 26, 2023

IPAC Sandpoint Movie Night Fundraiser 5pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Grab a beer and hang out. Movies start at 6pm. All-ages event. Win new skis, skins and other swag. All funds raised will benefit the Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center. idahopanhandleavalanche.org

FriDAY, october 20

Play: Retirement is Murder 7pm @ Panida Little Theater Comedy, romance, mayhem and murder; what else would you find in a retirement home?

PG-13 comedy/mystery with a pre-show at 6:30 p.m.

Live Music w/ Bridges Home 6-8pm @ Create (Newport, Wash.)

Celtic, bluegrass and blues. $12/$15 Live Music w/ BTP Live Music w/ 6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Samantha Carston Classic rock Sandpoint trio 7-9pm @ The Back Door Ukulele playing darling Live Music w/ Hogwire with a soulful voice 9pm @ The Hive Country music that rocks

Sandpoint Lions Club game night Live Music w/ Queen Bonobo 6-8pm @ Sandpoint Comm. Hall 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority Held on third Fridays of the month Jazzy folk singer-songwriter Laclede Harvest Party 11am-2pm @ Laclede Comm. Ctr. Free food and drinks, games, hay rides, prizes, candy, raffles. Costume contest and chili cookoff. 24 Moore Loop Road in Laclede Matchwood Brewing Co. 5-year anniversary party 5pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co. Celebrate 5 years, with live music by Headwaters at 5:30, free pour from Ester the Tiny Tap Truck and a community toast, followed by silent disco party with Silent Shindigs from 8-10pm

SATURDAY, october 21

Live Music w/ Whalien 9pm-midnight @ 219 Lounge An eclectic jam prog rock fusion band based out of Seattle

Live Music w/ Molly Starlite and the Sputniks 6-9pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Rock / alternative

Play: Retirement is Murder 2pm @ Panida Little Theater See listing above for details

Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee Meets every Sunday at 9am

Michael Winslow Music Experience and band with comedian Morgan Preston 8pm @ The Hive Fans will remember Michael Winslow as the talented “Man of 10,000 sound effects” from the Police Academy movies. His show is unique and hilarious. Also featuring comedian Morgan Preston, who has performed in Sandpoint many times. $25/advance, $30/ day of show. livefromthehive.com

Lake PO High School haunted house 5-9pm @ PSNI, 1424 N. Boyer Ave. May be too intense for younger audiences. $5/person Live Music w/ John Gallegos 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

SunDAY, october 22

Magic with Star Alexander The Cure for Hate: Bearing Witness to Auschwitz 5-8pm @ Jalepeño’s 6pm @ First Presbyterian Church of Sandpoint Up close magic shows at the table Documentary screening and discussion with the filmmakers

Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Outdoor Experience Group Run 6pm @ Outdoor Experience 3-5 miles, all levels welcome

Public Apple Tasting 12-4pm @ U of I Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center Free tasting of 30+ varieties of apples grown on-site

monDAY, october 23 Lifetree Cafe • 2pm @ Jalapeño’s “Embracing Mystery” Weekly Trivia Night 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority With rotating hosts

tuesDAY, october 24

Courageous and Kind talks and meditations 6:30-8pm @ CREATE Arts Center, Newport, Wash.

Talk and meditation by the monastics from Sravasti Abbey. Free to attend

wednesDAY, october 25

Open Mic Night 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

Live Piano w/ Bob Beadling 5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

ThursDAY, october 26 3rd annual LPO Repertory Theater Speakeasy 7pm @ 219 Lounge Enjoy an elegant and interactive evening of song and murder mystery set in the 1920s prohibition era. This is the main fundraiser for LPO Rep’s spring musicals. Tickets $35/gen. ad. and $60/VIP and are available at lporep.com 22 / R / October 19, 2023

Bingo Night at IPA 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority Live Music w/ John Daffron 6-8pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Rock / alternative

OCTOBER 19: Florida man uses KoolAid packets to steal $1,000 worth of merch A Kool-Aid packet in the hand is apparently worth about $1,000 in the bush, according to our latest installment of “Adventures with Florida Man.” Bradley Young, 37, was charged with grand theft and shoplifting in Collier County, Florida after using KoolAid packets to steal about $994 worth of merchandise from a North Naples Walmart.

Deputies said Young hid the powdered drink packets in the palm of his hand while scanning expensive items, which meant each item he scanned only rang up to 24 cents each.

A loss prevention worker at Walmart recognized Young from an earlier incident and followed him around the store before watching him in the self-checkout line.

Young is alleged to have used the ruse to purchase a $248 scooter, a $120 Dual navigation system, $160 worth of batteries and other small items, which he paid $24.44 for, but were valued at nearly $1,000.

Want to take your own adventure with a Florida Man? It’s simple: Just type “Florida Man” and your birthday into a search engine and prepare to be entertained by the results. For this new column, we will plug in the date of the edition and share with our readers what follows.

STAGE & SCREEN

United in compassion, curiosity and courage

Screening of The Cure for Hate: Bearing Witness to Auschwitz

By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff

“There’s definitely a crisis of masculinity. I think they’re young men seeking a paternal role model — they don’t have a good example of what healthy masculinity The Bonner County Human Rights Task Force invites the community to a free screen- looks like,” said McAleer. “[Extremist groups] offer a simple blueing of The Cure for Hate: Bearing Witness to print for what you’ll be rewarded for being Auschwitz on Sunday, Oct. 22, followed by a a man.

I could never figure out how to get discussion with filmmakers Peter Hutchison that kind of approval from my father, but and Tony McAleer. The documentary exthere was no shortage of father figures in plores the history behind the Holocaust and the movement.” the modern prevalence of far-right extremist He went on to explain how similar levels groups, while following McAleer on his of familial dysfunction and trauma in 1930s journey to repent for — and heal from — his Germany aided the rise of Adolf Hitler to past as a skinhead and Holocaust denier by power.

The death of more than 2 million visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Germans in World War I left many young “The whole thing was quite the expemen without their fathers — a vulnerability rience because different parts of the camp that Hitler preyed upon by making himself evoke different feelings. It really built into a paternal figure and promoting the throughout the day and then it hit me full nation as the “fatherland.” force the next morning,” McAleer told the Both filmmakers believe that the modern Reader. The filmmakers spent two days in resurgence of extremist groups like the the former concentration camp, learning and Neo-Nazis speaks to larger cultural and discussing, and were even allowed to stay systemic issues in the U.S. the night, which denied them respite from the “What happens when you don’t have intensely emotional and spiritual experience. economic opportunity?

What happens when “What we wanted was to bring the your academic experience is sub-par?

All Holocaust into the present as living history of these things create holes through which so it doesn’t just feel like grainy blackwe allow people to fall, so it’s not shocking and-white photos of the before-time,” said that people will grab on to Hutchison, a renowned docuwhatever thread allows them The Cure for Hate mentary filmmaker, New York to feel better about themTimes best-selling author and Sunday, Oct. 22; doors at 5:30 p.m.; FREE. First Presbyterian Church selves,” said Hutchison. the documentary’s director. of Sandpoint, 417 N. Fourth Ave., Isolation and a lack of Hutchison’s work often deals 208-263-2047. For more info, visit identity are a few of the with issues of masculinity and bchrtf.org/post/a-cure-for-hate-2parts.

To attend a Monday, Oct. factors that feed into the social and political divides 23 workshop about the “three hatred weaponized by exin the U.S. His film Healing c’s,” email a request to bchrtasktremist groups.

McAleer and from Hate: Battle for the force@gmail.com.

Hutchison travel the country Soul of a Nation shows the listening to peoples’ experiences, discussing life-changing effects of the organization preventative measures and advocating for Life After Hate, co-founded by McAleer, community involvement. which specializes in violence intervention According to Hutchison, towns like and helps people escape far-right hate Sandpoint use programs such as No One groups.

Eats Alone, which encourages children to “It was never my intent to immerse myreach out to classmates sitting by themself in this wheelhouse of violent extremselves at lunchtime, to give the next generism, but now I’m here,” he said. ation a support network and promote their Cure examines why people — and spemental and emotional health. cifically young men — are so often drawn “A lot of this stuff seems really small to hate groups. and foundational, but I think both Tony “The ideology itself is almost never the and I believe that the kind of transformadriver,” Hutchison told the Reader. “These tion that’s required does really need to be young men are looking for belonging, built upon these small acts of kindness and they’re looking for connection and comcompassion,” Hutchison said. “Compasmunity, they’re looking for the family that sion is not a passive exercise — it involves they’ve never had.” engagement and it involves work, but it’s McAleer emphasized that this is a been shown time and time again how that reason, but not an excuse. His own experiamplifies itself.” ence as a skinhead reflects that idea, as do Whether deterring or escaping viohis years of work helping victims and other lent extremism, Hutchison and McAleer “formers” — the term for ex-members of advocate for the “three c’s”: compassion, these movements.

In The Cure for Hate: Bearing Witness to Auschwitz, former skinhead and Holocaust denier Tony McAleer travels to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Screenshot taken from the film. curiosity and courage. McAleer credits his family’s compassion as the reason he was able to change, heal and become the advocate he is today — a process that he calls “rehumanization.”

“My children looked at me like I was some kind of amazing human being and perfect dad and that’s not what I saw.

Compassion reflects humanity back on the person,” McAleer said.

His young children’s innocence provided a safe space where he could be vulnerable

and emotionally open, giving him the time and ability to find the source of his hatred and work to overcome it.

When asked what small, rural communities like those in Bonner County can do to help young men struggling with fear and hatred, McAleer said: “Listen, and sit down with them without judgment. We can judge the activity, we can judge the ideology, but we should never judge the human being.

Speak to them with understanding and take away the stigma of talking about this.”

TEEING UP FOR A GOOD CAUSE

Members of the Hidden Lakes Ladies Golf Club presented the Clark Fork Food Bank with a check for $400 as their contribution to the community. The Hidden Lakes Ladies Golf Club includes Janis Goff, Laurie McVey, Linda Roque, Linda Warren, Misha VanBooven and Jill Chapman. Courtesy photo.

October 19, 2023 / R / 23

FOOD

The Sandpoint Eater

Oh, pear!

By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Columnist

Oh, pear — this is your time to shine! And thanks to a pair of my most favorite people, I’ve had more than my share!

Though my friends Dee Ann and Smitty aren’t exactly sure of the genre of their pear tree, one thing’s for sure: it is prolifically producing pears worthy of still art or a magazine cover. I’m just one of their lucky friends who’s been reaping the rewards of their magnificent fruit.

Dee Ann thinks her pears are Green Anjou due to their egg-shaped appearance. Unlike a Bartlett pear, an Anjou does not change color during ripening and will remain green even when fully ripened. You can check the ripening progress of an Anjou by pressing your thumb near the stem. When it yields slightly, your pear is ripe!

Our Pacific Northwest region is teeming with pears and, according to Washington State University’s Agricultural Department, there are more than 3,000 varieties of pears grown worldwide! Of those, only 10 varieties are raised in our region, accounting for 80% of the U.S. fresh pear production.

Pears fall into two categories: summer and winter. Summer pears include Bartlett and winter pears include Anjou.

Most of the pears we eat come from Washington, Oregon and California. Pear production is a vast industry that employs more than 13,000 people, and of the 41,700 acres in U.S. production, 32,300 are in the PNW. That’s a lot of pears!

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Like apples, pears are delicious as fresh fruit and a fresh or cooked ingredient: pear butter, pear chutney, baked pears (with or without a crust), poached pears and dehydrated pears are amongst a plethora of ideas to enjoy the versatile fruit.

I fondly remember my grandmother making green spiced pears during the holidays. Sometimes, she served them in dainty sherbet cups, and other times with a scoop of cottage cheese and topped with a small, candied crabapple.

When I was a young ranch wife, I tried my hand at making spiced pears and crabapples.

Ryanne says she still remembers

the endless rows of colorful fruit-filled canning jars lining our basement shelves. And I was delighted when she asked me to whip up a batch of each for the upcoming holidays!

(Back to Dee Ann’s tree I go.)

Pears are the quintessential fall fruit, and I always look forward to a friend’s gift of those famous Royal Riviera pears from Harry and David’s (Fruit of the Month Club).

They come carefully wrapped and shipped and always arrive perfectly ripe, without a single blemish. The skin on pears is delicate and, at home, I wrap my local ones in basket-type coffee filters to protect them

from fingernails or stem flaws as I wait for them to ripen.

I often prepare poached pears. Depending on the liquid used to prepare them, I serve them as savory for a first course or sweet for dessert.

They’re reasonably easy to prepare and make an elegant presentation to start or end almost any meal.

I serve them atop butter lettuce with crumbled Stilton cheese and chopped, roasted hazelnuts for the first course.

I carefully plate a whole poached pear (with stem intact) atop a light custard or berry sauce for dessert.

If you don’t have friends

with a pear to spare, the local markets are filled with them or you can make the short jaunt to Green Bluff, a pear lover’s paradise. It’s about the tail end of the season there, so it’s best to check their website to see what’s available: greenbluffgrowers.com.

Besides poaching and pairing with cheese and nuts, I’ve also been baking up some favorite pear recipes, mostly tarts and cakes. A guaranteed crowd pleaser is chocolate pear cake. It’s not only delicious, it’s a pretty addition to any fall menu. Here’s hoping it will become a favorite at your house as well.

Chocolate pear cake

This rich and moist cake is perfect for dessert or afternoon tea. Dress it up with a dusting of powdered sugar and serve on a pedestal stand. Serves 8-10.

INGREDIENTS: • 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour • ⅓ cup unsweetened Dutchprocessed cocoa powder • 1 tsp baking soda • ½ tsp salt • 1 cup unsalted butter, melted • ¾ cup granulated sugar • ¾ cup brown sugar • 2 eggs • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract • ½ cup whole milk • 1 cup chopped pecans (save a few to sprinkle on top) • 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips or good quality bar, chopped (reserve a few for the top) • 3 pears ripe, peeled, cored; thinly slice half a pear for top of cake, chop remaining pears into medium-sized chunks

DIRECTIONS: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch round springform pan, line the bottom of the springform pan with a round piece of parchment paper. Flip paper over so both sides are greased.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt until well-blended, set aside.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Allow to cool a bit.

To stand-up mixer, add the sugars and eggs, one at a time, beating well. Add vanilla and continue beating. Slowly add melted butter and blend well.

Add flour mixture and milk to mixer, alternating between the two until well blended (don’t overmix).

Add chocolate and pecans, mix well by hand. Carefully fold in pears.

Pour the (thick) cake batter into the baking pan and place pear slices on top of the cake batter. Tap pan to

countertop to settle into the pan.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

When cool, release the cake.

Store leftovers, covered, in refrigerator.

MUSIC

Festival at Sandpoint offers third year of free Pre-K Outreach program

By Reader Staff The Festival at Sandpoint this month entered the third year of its Pre-K Outreach program, a free series of in-class lessons designed to engage students through rhythm, movement and song.

During each session, students focus on a specific rhythmic element while integrating new instruments. This rhythm-based approach helps students establish musical foundations between the ages of 3 and 6 years old, which program organizers stated is one of the largest gaps in music education nationwide.

The curriculum is tailored each year to work with existing music requirements in the local schools and introduce students to different instruments and genres of music.

Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teacher Sharon Williams reflected on Selkirk School’s experience with the Festival at Sandpoint’s Pre-K Outreach Program over the past year. “[Festival Production and Education Manager] Paul Gunter visited our school once a week and presented lessons appropriate for three classes of young children,” she stated. “The needs of our three-schoolers differed greatly from those of our preschool and pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students, and Paul addressed those needs with lessons that were dynamic, motivating and just plain fun for each specific group of

children.”

Classes can be adapted to fit the school’s needs and can be integrated into the school day or offered as an after-school program.

“The Pre-K Outreach program from the Festival at Sandpoint is outstanding. It is unique in that very young children are actively engaged in learning about music,” Williams said. “We are extremely fortunate to have such an opportunity for our children in Sandpoint, and I am very grateful to have had these lessons at Selkirk School.”

The Festival in a news release thanked donors and volunteers to the nonprofit arts organization, as well as thanked the Idaho Community Fund’s Bonner County Fund for Arts Enhancement and the Community Assistance League for grants in support of education outreach efforts and the youth orchestra program in 2023.

The Festival at Sandpoint currently provides in-class sessions to

The Festival at Sandpoint is partnering with the Lake Pend Oreille School District to provide instrumental support for beginning band students.

In conjunction with its Instrument Library program, the Festival purchased 14 new Eastman

Little Lambs and Selkirk School.

For more information, contact info@festivalatsandpoint.com or 208-265-4554.

Festival at Sandpoint Production & Education Manager Paul Gunter teaches a Selkirk School preschool student how to play the violin. Courtesy photo

To learn more about the Festival at Sandpoint’s education programs and donate to support

its nonprofit mission, visit festivalatsandpoint.com.

student model trombones to outfit all seven LPOSD elementary schools.

Now, more than 300 students throughout LPOSD will have access to low brass instruments as part of the Sixth-Grade Band Program.

As part of the ongoing FAS Masterclass Series, students will

also receive section-based, small group instruction beginning with the trombone and other brass instruments.

To learn more about the Festival’s elementary outreach and other year-round education programs, visit festivalatsandpoint.com.

A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint Jona Gallegos, Pend d’Oreille Winery, Oct. 21 Let’s be real, things are going pretty rough out there in the big world, and it’s getting harder and harder to find solace for the soul.

Lucky for us, Spokane-based singer-songwriter Jona Gallegos is out there spinning sweet, soothing melodies with winsome lyrics and clean, cool vocals.

He’ll spread his gentle, easy vibe at the Pend d’Oreille Winery for an acoustic set that promises

to make for a low-key, relaxing Saturday night — the perfect opportunity to enjoy a little fruit of the vine and unplug from the craziness.

— Zach Hagadone 5-8 p.m., FREE. Pend d’Oreille Winery, 301 Cedar St., 208-2658545, powine.com. Listen at jonagallegos.bandcamp.com.

READ

Two young brothers, still recovering from the death of their father, confront a supernatural entity at the very heart of their house in the gothic novella Mapping the Interior. Author Stephen Graham Jones draws on his background as a member of the Blackfeet Nation to explore the lasting effects of colonialism and what it means to be indigenous in the U.S. You can read this disturbing story in one sitting, but you’ll remember it for years to come.

LISTEN

The Festival at Sandpoint supplies LPOSD with new instruments

By Reader Staff

This week’s RLW by Soncirey Mitchell

Whalien, 219 Lounge, Oct. 21 Get ready for a rowdy night at the 219 Lounge with Seattle-based band Whalien. These progressive rock/funk musicians bring the party with outrageous costumes, four-part vocals, a trombone and a synthesizer — not to mention each member’s distinct personality. Check out their website for in-depth, totally truthful bios on Whalien members Alex, Jimmy, Shane and Zach. For example, Jimmy’s begins: “Jimalayas was born and

raised by a wild pack of wolves in the harsh and rugged wilderness of Seattle, Washington.” Don’t miss this high-energy performance featuring hits from their 2022 album For Realien plus their recent single “Never Was a Fire.”

— Soncirey Mitchell 9 p.m., FREE, 21+. 219 Lounge, 219 N. 1st Ave., 208-2635673, 219.bar. Listen at whalienmusic.com.

The History of English by Kevin Stroud is a fascinating podcast that began back in 2012 with an exploration of Proto-Indo-European — the proposed ancestor of a variety of languages from English to Hindi.

After 11 years, Stroud has finally reached Shakespeare. I particularly recommend “Anglo-Saxon Monsters and Mythology,” which reveals the origins of English’s many spooky words like “witch,” “ghost” and “nightmare.” Listen on Spotify or your favorite podcast app.

WATCH

Comedian Bo Burnham filmed himself going insane over the course of lockdown for his musical comedy special Inside. Make no mistake — this Emmy-award winning performance isn’t very funny. Rather, Burnham uses music to explore social and political issues with wit, irony and sometimes deceptively immature lyrics.

Gen Z adopted his song “That Funny Feeling” as our generation’s equivalent of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” Watch it on Netflix.

October 19, 2023 / R / 25

BACK OF THE BOOK

The traditions we keep

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

From Northern Idaho News, October 17, 1922

SANITY LEAGUE TO ASK FOR WINE AND BEER W.E. Taylor and Fred Walker, of Seattle, representing the Sanity League, incorporated, reached Sandpoint yesterday in their campaign for signatures to petitions to congress asking a modification of the Volstead act, which prohibits the use and sale of alcohol. The scope of the Sanity League, say Mr. Walker and Mr. Taylor, is much broader than merely the relaxing of the Volstead act, but includes opposition to Sunday blue laws also. They say that the Lord’s Day Alliance has financed a lobby at Washington for the promotion of Sunday blue laws, and they quote statements of Rev. H.L. Bowlby declaring that the alliance will endeavor to stop Sunday games, and sports, even of an amateur nature, close bathing beaches and amusements where a fee is charged and stop Sunday automobiling.

The petitions, however, which are addressed to congress and which are offered for signatures, pertain to modification of the Volstead act to permit the sale of light wines and beers. They have covered Washington from the coast eastward. The entire United States will be covered and, with the signatures they have, it is expected there will be several million names when it is finally laid before the national law-making body.

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Tradition is a curious concept. Do something once, it’s a lark. A few times, a habit.

Often, perhaps you’re forming a custom. At some point, after time and repetition, these practices become tradition.

Traditions are everywhere. From opening a single present on Christmas Eve, to attending your senior prom or having one too many shots on your 21st birthday, traditions bring us out of the cold and unite us together under a common action.

One of my favorite traditions has been backpacking up to a mountain lake every fall to get in one last view of the alpine world before the snow buries it all.

This year, the road leading to our chosen trailhead was closed due to logging operations, so we had to redirect quickly to a nearby drainage for our annual excursion.

We hit the trail in the late morning. The crisp alpine air was softened by the warm sun overhead, shining free and clear from any clouds in the sky. The hillsides were dotted yellow with the changing needles on the tamaracks (a.k.a. western larch).

Once at the lake, we set down our heavy packs on giant granite slabs, took off our hiking boots and cracked some beers. There are those who are diligent about shaving every ounce of weight from their backpacks before a trip. Then there are those who enjoy a cold beer beside a mountain lake. I am one of the latter, except I usually stuff about four tallboys in my pack, along with a snort of whiskey.

I’ll take a bit of extra sweat in exchange for enjoying a slight buzz after a long hike.

Fall in the mountains is a peaceful time.

Swaying quietly in a hammock with my

book beside me, I’m amazed at the absence of noise. It’s a quiet you can hear. Most of the birds have moved to warmer climes for the season. Critters like pikas and chipmunks scurry around gathering nuts, occasionally emitting a loud chittering before scrambling up a nearby tree.

The only reminders of the outside world came both mornings, as we emerged from our tents to a world covered in frost to see a crazy old guy in an ultralight aircraft buzzing over the treetops. Shivering, I wondered how cold his morning trip to the lake was. While I was perturbed to be awakened so early, I had to admire the pilot’s chutzpah.

While cutting up wood for the fire, I counted almost 90 rings on one dead piece that was only about four inches wide. Trees grow slowly at high elevations because the more you climb, the less concentration of oxygen there is in the air. This often leads to stunted, gnarly subalpine trees — referred to as krummholz or knieholz — where trees are misshapen due to continued exposure to fierce winds and extreme temperatures.

Looking at the larger trees near our camp, I wondered if they were mere saplings around the time of the Civil War. With a fire roaring, we put together our lightweight burners to boil water for the evening victuals. After eating freeze-dried meals during a camping trip earlier in the year that tasted bland and overly salty, we decided to try something new. We brought pouches of wild salmon chowder made by our friends at Thunder’s Catch and a baggie full of oyster crackers. Purists will again scoff at the extra eight ounces of weight these pouches added to our packs, but I

STR8TS Solution

Sudoku Solution

A mountain lake in North Idaho. No, I won’t tell which one. If you know, you know. Photo by Ben Olson. have no regrets. These chowder pouches are amazing, whether you eat them camping or just at home when you don’t feel like cooking. You can find them at Winter Ridge.

A couple days later, we loaded our packs — now a few pounds lighter — and made the slow push back down the mountain, looking back to the mountaintop with smiles, already yearning for the next trip.

Sometimes traditions fall out of practice, due to age or changing habits. It’s the traditions we keep that are so important.

They bring us together, but they also remind us of the better things in life, like eating hot chowder with your loved ones beside a crackling fire in the mountains.

I’ll continue making the annual pilgrimage to the mountains each fall until I’m physically unable.

This is the way.

Crossword Solution

I hope some animal never bores a hole in my head and lays its eggs in my brain, because later you might think you’re having a good idea but it’s just eggs hatching.

Solution on page 22

Solution on page 22

By Bill Borders

bloviate /BLOH-vee-eyt/

Woorf tdhe Week

[verb] 1. to speak pompously.

“During the political debate, the candidate continued to bloviate about his accomplishments without offering any substantial evidence. ”

Corrections: There were plenty of mistakes in last week’s edition, due to a gremlin in our layout computer that attacked after we gave the file our last looks. Apologies for the errors. We will exorcise the gremlin soon.

Copyright www.mirroreyes.com

Laughing Matter

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1. Hawaiian greeting 6. Being 10. On top of 14. The real fifth element 15. Pare 16. Adopted son of Claudius 17. Android 18. River deposit 19. Motel employee 20. Provoker 22. Freezes over 23. In high spirits 24. Artist’s stand 26. Saddle feature 30. Blood pump 32. Malicious burning 33. Depiction 37. Decorated, as a cake 38. Showery 39. Bingo relative 40. Secretariat, e.g.

42. Triangular formation 43. Adjust again 44. Type of bowling 45. Trap 47. Provided with food 48. Immediately 49. Government worker 56. Dry riverbed 57. Component used as fertilizer 58. Intimate 59. Similar 60. Perishes

Solution on page 22 61. Rose dye 62. Large mass of floating ice 63. Sodium chloride 64. Lieu

DOWN 1. Dugout shelter 2. Diving bird 3. Spheres 4. Owl sound 5. Immune response trigger 6. English exam finale, often 7. Short theatrical episode

35. Against 8. Storage site 9. Earnest begging 36. Amount leant 10. Valid or accurate 38. Common wedding cake trim 11. Tranquility 41. Not him 12. Bay window 13. Silent assents 42. Figures out 21. Lass 44. Darjeeling or oolong 25. Arrange (abbrev.) 45. A post in the ground 26. Twosome 46. Low point 27. Whale 47. Banquet 28. Millisecond 48. Q-Tip 29. Lessening in 50. Murres intensity 51. Bobbin 30. Raise 52. Coagulate 53. Thorny flower 31. Sea eagle 33. Cut back 54. Largest continent 34. Cry of pain 55. Be inclined October 19, 2023 / R / 27

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..I� COLLISION ACCURATE SERVICES We ore proud to welcome Accurate Collision Services of Bonners Ferry to the Northwest Auto Body family. With our shared commitment to quality workmanship and exceptional service, we look forward to bringing our team to our neighbors in Boundary county.

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