One of my first jobs was washing golf carts at Hidden Lakes Golf Resort, now called the Idaho Club (I’ll always call it Hidden Lakes in my heart, though). After a few years of working outside, my bosses Ken Parker and Mike Deprez brought me into the pro shop, where I answered phones, took tee times and eventually started teaching golf lessons. We had to answer the phone with, “It’s a great day at Hidden Lakes, this is Ben, how can I help you?” Quite a mouthful, but after several years of this, it became second nature. Sometimes I’d answer my own phone the same way, and a confused friend would say, “Dude, what are you talking about?” and we’d laugh. What’s weird is that just last week — a full 20 years since working at Hidden Lakes and answering the phone in such a manner — I picked up a call and started to say, “It’s a great day...” before catching myself with a confused smile. Somehow my brain spat that out after the phrase lay dormant for decades. Now if I can only remember where I left my dang car keys.
leaf peepers and foamers
DEAR READERS,
The Reader will publish a comprehensive candidate questionnaire in our Thursday, Oct. 17 edition, but if you’d like to get a head start on knowing your candidates, there is a forum just around the corner.
The Reader will team up with 88.5 KRFY Panhandle Community Radio and Sandpoint Online to host a candidate forum from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at the Sandpoint High School auditorium (410 S. Division Ave.). We have invited candidates from Legislative District 1 state senate and representatives (Seats A and B), as well as Bonner County commissioner candidates for Districts 1 and 3 to give opening statements and participate in a question-and-answer session. We have invited Bonner County sheriff, assessor and prosecuting attorney candidates to give opening statements as well, though those races are uncontested, so they will not participate in the question-and-answer portion of the event.
The forum will be broadcast live on KRFY 88.5FM and available later for streaming on krfy.org. See you all there!
– Ben Olson, publisher
READER
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Who knew such a wholesome activity would have such a suggestive name? If you haven’t heard it before, people who travel to view and photograph the changing fall foliage are generally known as “leaf peepers.” This, my friends, is just a dumb term. For starters, it doesn’t make sense. To “peep” means to look furtively and quickly at something, especially through a narrow opening. Like, you know, a peeping Tom, who spies into the windows of unsuspecting homeowners at night. A “leaf peeper” conjures images of a slovenly creep wearing nothing but an open robe, wandering through the forest doing untold things with those changing leaves. The term likely originated from “leaf-peeker,” which came from Vermont in the early 1900s. “Leaf peeper” didn’t make it into print until 1965, and it’s been a part of our lexicon ever since. What’s worse, the term isn’t exactly an endearing one, especially for people in the Northeast, who say it with disdain: “Look at those silly leaf-pee’pahs pahked all over da place.” Finally, what kind of psychopath “furtively” glances at leaves? Take them in, for crying out loud, they don’t mind you watching them change.
On the other hand, the term “foamer” is one that always brings a smile to my face. While those who are into railroading refer to themselves as “railfans,” the people who often have to deal with railfans refer to them as “foamers.” I asked a friend who used to work on a scenic tourist train why they call them “foamers.” She said, “Because they literally foam at the mouth they’re so excited to be on a train.” To this day, I still can’t get that image out of my head. Foam on.
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 soybased 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
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About the Cover
This week’s cover is a mystery even to us. Enjoy.
U.S. Army Corps: Albeni Falls Dam gate replacement may
span 4-10 years
Gov. Little calls lake management plan ‘unnecessarily conservative,’ urges Corps to speed project
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bonneville Power Administration spoke to a group of in-person attendees and online participants at an informational session Oct. 7 at the Ponderay Events Center, focused on the ongoing project to replace as many as 11 spillway gates at the Albeni Falls Dam. Analysis in the spring revealed serious defects in the 70-plusyear-old steel used to fabricate them, and the replacement effort could take no fewer than four years and up to seven or even 10 years to conclude the entire project.
U.S. Army Corps Col. Kathryn Sanborn — who is district commander based in Seattle — was guarded in her assessment of when the work could be completed, noting that the timeline is being directed by the ability of the steel industry to fabricate the gates and the difficulty of installing them.
“When it comes to actually installing these new gates, we’re going to be effectively merging two different eras of engineering,” she said, referring to the changes in steel manufacturing as well as safety standards since the 1950s, when the dam was constructed.
There are a limited number of contractors in the country who can handle such a job, she said, and the U.S. steel indus-
try is much less robust than it was in the 1940s and ’50s. That said, Sanborn referred to using regional expertise from hydraulic steel engineers in Walla Walla, Wash., and design from specialists in Vicksburg, Va.
“I don’t want to promise you something I can’t deliver,” Sanborn said, while outlining the process for replacing Gate 3 — which was the first to be found defective — and will take upward of four years to fully rehabilitate.
The remaining gates, which are likely to suffer from the same faults, would be replaced in six-month intervals thereafter. The central problem with the gates stems from the delamination of the steel over the decades, resulting in holes and cracks that have created a “rolling flaw in the metal,” according to Sanborn. That has meant the steel in the gates has thinned during their service lives, and become less strong and more bendable — liable to “crumple” under the immense pressure exerted by the force of the drainage of Lake Pend Oreille westward into the Pend Oreille River.
Putting some numbers to the equation, Sanborn said that 11.5 feet of Lake Pend Oreille’s water surface is usable for power generation. That amounts to about 1 million acre feet, or 735,000 football fields covered with water.
“That’s a lot of water,” she said.
“We’re more just shaping and shaving off” that portion as it moves through the dam,
Sanborn added.
If the steel in the gates were to fail — a worst-case scenario that the Corps is working to avoid — it would occur “at the speed of sound,” Sanborn said. It would “buckle, collapse downstream; it would collapse like a sheet of paper.”
That would result in water rushing at 20,000 cubic feet per second, which Sanborn said “sounds horrific,” but wouldn’t be “a wall of water.” The shorelines are capable of handling flows of up to 95,000 cfs; but, if such a failure were to occur in the summer, residents would notice a significant change in the lake level — dropping to around the winter pool level of 2,051-2,051.5 feet.
That’s not going to happen, Sanborn said, because Gate 3 will be patched with a fiber-reinforced polymer substance that will function as a kind of “Band-Aid” to reinforce the weakened steel while a replacement is made.
“We don’t really have a choice in terms of what we’re doing going forward,” she said, adding that there’s no “do-nothing” option.
Meanwhile, the dam will continue on reduced operations, with a goal to get the lake back to the 2,062-foot summer pool level even with the restrictions imposed by the gate replacement project next year. Again, however, Corps officials didn’t want to “overpromise” any outcomes.
Attendees at the meeting were critical of the timeline for the fix — calling it “arbitrary”
and unnecessarily long.
One participant, who did not disclose his name, testified that as an area dock owner, “Five or six inches [of water] might not sound like a lot, but to some of us, it is. Some of us live on shallow water.”
Others, like Lake Pend Oreille Commission Executive Director Molly McCahon, questioned whether there is a cost figure associated with a spillway gate failure and reduction to winter pool level. To that, Sanborn and other officials had no direct answer.
However, Sanborn said, the short-term fix for Gate 3 is expected to be in place by spring 2025 and it’s a case of crossing fingers that the upcoming post-winter snowmelt isn’t too high and residents notice little difference in the lake level fluctuation.
Leon Basdekas, who serves as Upper Columbia Senior Water Manager for the Corps, told meeting attendees the most recent runoff season had been the sixth-lowest since 1948, with just more than 8 million acre feet of water, but, “Chances are, we’ll get more than that next year,” he said.
Snowmelt from as far afield as Missoula, Mont. to lower British Columbia flows into the Lake Pend Oreille Basin and through Albeni Falls, with particularly high flows from April to June.
“In the meantime, if a gate fails tomorrow, I don’t have any spares,” Sanborn said. “I don’t have any tools to use to put in that slot.”
Idaho Gov. Brad Little has weighed in on the situation, voicing in an Oct. 3 letter to the Corps his “serious concerns for public safety and utmost expectation for your expediency in replacing all the faulty spillway gates at the Albeni Falls Dam project.”
“I understand your team is exploring creative ways to get new gates built and installed, and they were very clear in expressing the challenges related to engineering, construction, logistics and installation of new gates,” he wrote. “Frankly, a process to replace these faulty gates that stretches out years, approaching a decade, is flat unacceptable.
“The U.S. government, the largest contractor in the world, and especially the Corps of Engineers, is surely capable of reducing the prolonged elevated risk to life and property by finding a contractor with the ability and capacity to replace all these outdated and compromised spill gates in short order,” he added, referring to the Corps’ plan as “unnecessarily conservative lake level management” that results in “significant economic impact, including loss of recreation, tourism and property damage.”
To receive email notifications for Albeni Falls Dam outflow changes and shortterm lake elevation projections, email uppercolumbiawm@ usace.army.mil and request to be added.
Ruling could come on Idaho Club’s development near Trestle Creek by mid-Nov.
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
The Idaho Club’s proposed 88-slip commercial marina near the mouth of Trestle Creek was again before residents Oct. 7, when the Idaho Office of Administrative Hearings took public testimony on behalf of the Idaho Department of Lands.
Though first fronted in 2008, the development has undergone numerous revisions over the years, with the current iteration including a breakwater, pedestrian bridge and parking lot, as well as seven houses with corresponding private docks.
The plan has faced opposition from community members
and conservation groups alike, who worry about the potential boat traffic and pollution it could generate in proximity to bull trout and kokanee salmon habitat. Bull trout are protected by the Endangered Species Act and listed as threatened in all of their known habitats, including Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
According to the Idaho Conservation League, more than half of the Pend Oreille Basin’s bull trout population spawn in Trestle Creek. IDL approved an encroachment permit for a 105-slip community dock at the same site in October 2023. The developers then entered into a bargain sale agreement with
the Kalispel Tribe, transferring ownership of a 5.8-acre parcel that includes the final quarter mile of the main branch of Trestle Creek and one-eighth of a mile of the north branch. In doing so, the Idaho Club relinquished one of the three parcels required to qualify for a community dock, thereby nullifying the previous permit.
BoCo Republican Central Committee accepts resignation of Spirit Valley P.C.
Past felonies in CA prompt Precinct Committeeman Steve Rezac to vacate seat
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
The local Republican Party has experienced another resignation, with Spirit Valley Precinct Committeeman Steve Rezac relinquishing his seat on the Bonner County Republican Central Committee amid revelations of multiple past felonies.
Both Dist. 1B Republican Rep. Sage Dixon and Dist. 3 Republican Bonner County Commissioner Luke Omodt resigned effective in September. Dixon had not sought reelection in the May GOP primary and Omodt lost his primary bid to Ron Korn, who is now serving on the BOCC following his nomination by the BCRCC and acceptance by Idaho Gov. Brad Little.
According to an Oct. 2 email sent to BCRCC members by Chair Scott Herndon and obtained by the Reader, Herndon received information about Rezac’s felony convictions in California from an undisclosed source on Sept. 22. Herndon noted to committee members that past felonies do not disqualify individuals from serving on the BCRCC, with the only requirement being that a precinct committeeman is a qualified elector, a resident of their precinct for an established period of time and affiliated with the party. What’s more, Herndon wrote, “Those who have been convicted of crimes in other states are eligible to vote in Idaho when their
sentences have been satisfied.”
According to the email to BCRCC members, Herndon contacted Rezac in an effort at rumor control to ask whether he had past felonies on his record.
“I called Steve to ask him about the information and whether he had ‘criminal convictions’ in California. He denied to me that he had,” Herndon wrote. “Minutes after my phone call though, he submitted the below resignation email, and he also deleted his social media accounts.”
Pasted into the body of Herndon’s Oct. 2 email to BCRCC members, Rezac’s resignation stated:
“My wife listened in to the conversation we had. To say she is upset about this is an understatement...she knows the truth and is not standing for rumor and conjecture. Neither am I. I’ve never lived in Fresno.
“The bottom line is, this cannot bring harm or distraction to BCRCC. And for that reason I resign as Precinct Committeeman effective immediately.
“Life is too short to put up with that kind of thing. I’m not sure where or how this was created. I’m baffled.”
Herndon confirmed the substance of those communications to the Reader. Rezac did not respond to a request for comment.
Though Rezac tendered
with BCRCC members to the court case from which the felonies stemmed.
The jury found Rezac guilty of “inflicting corporal injury on a cohabitant; battery resulting in serious bodily injury; assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury; false imprisonment; and destroying a wireless communication device.”
Though Rezac appealed the judgment on several grounds, the court denied those appeals, finding “no grounds for reversal under any of these claims” and affirming the judgment “in its entirety.”
his resignation on Sept. 22, it wasn’t until Oct. 2 that Herndon accepted it — not wanting him to give up his seat “based on misinformation.” Herndon then performed his own investigation, receiving confirmation via court records that Rezac had been convicted in a jury trial of four felonies and a misdemeanor in California in October 2011, for which he was sentenced to seven years and eight months with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Rezac made parole in January 2017 and satisfied the terms of his sentence in January 2020. He registered to vote in Idaho in October 2020. He ran for the Spirit Valley precinct committeeman seat in the May 2024 Republican primary against Jonathan Welch, of Oldtown.
Herndon shared a link
ITD to host in-person info session, seek online comments on U.S. 95 projects
By Reader Staff
The Idaho Transportation Department is again seeking public comment on improvement projects along U.S. 95 from Dufort Road to Lakeshore Drive, with an upcoming in-person meeting and online comment period.
Those interested in hearing more about the plans and design concept — which have
been updated based on previous community input and additional engineering work — are invited to an informational session Wednesday, Oct. 16 between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Sagle Elementary School (550 Sagle Road, in Sagle). Meanwhile, online comments will be taken from Oct. 16 through Thursday, Oct. 31 at itdprojects.idaho.gov/pages/us-95dufort-to-lakeshore.
According to fliers that went out to area residents in early October, ITD “is in a planning process to confirm future improvements” to the highway corridor, which include a reevaluation of the 1999 and 2010 environmental documentation.
For more info, call 208243-9326 or email info@ us95duforttolakeshore.org.
neck brace for six weeks after the incident, and had three surgeries to repair a detached retina and other injuries to one of her eyes.
In his defense, Rezac testified that she instigated the altercation, and her injuries were sustained in large part by a series of falls and trips throughout the house during two hours of fighting, after which he called the authorities. In that call, Rezac admitted to hitting her, but it was “each of our fault.” Yet, he said, “She got the end of it.”
The incident that led to the charges occurred in July 2010, when Rezac contacted the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department to report a domestic dispute and request an ambulance.
According to court documents, Rezac and his then-girlfriend, identified only by initials, had been living together though their relationship had deteriorated to the point of hostility.
Trial records describe an argument over Rezac spending time with another woman, which escalated into an altercation that left the victim’s eyes “purple and swollen shut,” according to records citing a Fresno County sheriff’s deputy report. “She was bleeding, hysterical and appeared to be in pain.” At the same time, “Rezac had no visible injuries except for red marks around one of his elbows,” the records stated.
Inside the house, the deputy “found blood splattered on multiple surfaces throughout the home and smeared next to a hole in the wall at the end of the hallways. A broken cell phone was located in the kitchen.”
Injuries sustained by the victim included clinical signs of a skull fracture, two spinal fractures, a nasal bone fracture, lacerations on her face and ear, and “bruises all over her body.” She wore a
At one point, he claimed to have feared that the unidentified female was going to shoot him with a shotgun, which he unloaded prior to her being able to access it. However, she testified that it was Rezac who held the shotgun, aiming it at her for as many as five minutes before removing the shells, stating, “I’m going to unload it for your sake and for mine,” then punching her several more times.
The prosecution contended that Rezac’s retelling of the events was inconsistent both with the evidence and the statements given by the victim immediately after the incident. The jury agreed.
Herndon told BCRCC members in the Oct. 2 email that he had cross-referenced and confirmed evidence that “our Steve Rezac is the same as convicted in California,” noting that his full name and date of birth all matched the records.
The process for replacing a BCRCC precinct committeeman begins on the date that the seat is officially vacant, with the chair giving 14 days notice before a meeting at which nominations to fill the seat may be made.
Following that, the committee members will vote on the replacement at the regular meeting. In this case, Herndon told the Reader that nominations will be made at the regular Nov. 19 meeting of the BCRCC, with a vote at the December meeting.
Stephen Rezac’s mugshot. Courtesy of the California Department of Corrections.
< Trestle Creek, con’t from Page 4 >
The Kalispel Tribe’s land will be held in conservation in perpetuity.
The new development proposes an 88-slip commercial marina and — taking into account public comment given at a September 2023 public hearing — will maintain several man-made islands as well as the creek’s eastern channel, which were originally slated for removal. Developers will also remove an old boat ramp nearer the mouth of Trestle Creek, as well as a culvert called the North Branch Outlet, which will redirect juvenile bull trout back into the main branch and away from predators.
“The proposed development does not touch Trestle Creek, with the exception of the North Branch Stream Restoration. You will note that the proposed docks, improvements and residential lots are further away from the mouth of the creek (by water) than the existing built-up marina to the south,” Jeremy Grimm, of Whisky Rock Planning + Consulting and also Sandpoint mayor, told the Reader in an Oct. 9 email on behalf of the developers.
According to a written statement by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and submitted by Panhandle Regional Supervisor Carson Watkins, “IDFG has concerns with the location of the project, and possible negative effects to fish and wildlife.”
“We were surprised that nobody has reached out to us to kind of consult on that [North Branch redesign] and we would be happy to come up with a design that was more suitable and a benefit to bull trout,” said IDFG Regional Technical Assistance Manager Merritt Horsmon, clarifying that IDFG was neither testifying for nor against the project.
One of the agency’s main concerns is that the North Branch be redirected into Trestle Creek without “holding water,” which can lead to improper spawning and strand fish when the water level drops. Additionally, Horsmon cautioned that nutrient runoff from the development could establish “weed lines” at the mouth of the creek, catering to bull trout predators.
According to Kalispell Water Resource and Program Manager Eric Berntsen, developers have yet to consult the tribe on their designs for the North Branch realignment, despite the fact that it affects their property.
“We do have issues with the proposed design, and honestly we’re a bit disappointed that the design engineers didn’t reach out to us to coordinate on the project,” said Berntsen.
Written comments submitted to IDL
by Kalispel Tribe Natural Resources Department Executive Director Deane Osterman outline concerns that the extensive use of riprap will stop the area’s sediment from shifting with the water to create natural, “active” habitat.
“[The developers] believe that the current restoration plan, designed by River Design Group — one of the leading river restoration consulting firms in the Intermountain West and Pacific Northwest — will provide significant benefits to juvenile fish by removing the existing man-made diversion and restoring the natural streamflow of the area,” Grimm told the Reader, adding that the Idaho Club is still willing to work with IDFG and the Kalispel Tribe.
Though developers maintain that their alterations will help more than hinder the local ecosystem, ICL North Idaho Director Jennifer Ekstrom requested that IDL “deny all aspects of the encroachment permit.”
“It is premature to approve it until after the Army Corps of Engineers completes their analysis and decision on whether a Clean Water Acts Section 404 permit is allowable for the dredge and fill activities,” said Ekstrom.
According to her, the Corps cannot make a decision until the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service completes an updated biological opinion to determine whether the project complies with the Endangered Species Act.
The 2022 biological opinion was technically rescinded following litigation by ICL and the Center for Biological Diversity; however, the plaintiffs dropped the lawsuit before Judge Candy Dale, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho, ruled on the validity of the document. The Corps suspended its previous permit based on that document in October 2022.
“It’s likely that the Corps or the FWS will require project modifications in response to environmental concerns. It is also likely that the FWS will determine that the project will adversely affect the bull trout or bull trout critical habitat,” said Ekstrom.
The Idaho Club submitted a joint application to IDL, the Corps and the Idaho Department of Water Resources, but “IDL was simply the first to act,” Grimm told the Reader
IDL will continue to accept written public comment until Friday, Oct. 11 at navigablewaterways@idl.idaho.gov, after which the Idaho Office of Administrative Hearings will make a recommendation to IDL Director Dustin Miller, who will deliver his ruling within 30 days following Friday, Oct. 18. For more information, visit bit.ly/4enpeCB.
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:
Billionaire Elon Musk’s mother took to her son’s social media platform X recently, advising people to use 10 fake names on Election Day, going to 10 polling booths and voting 10 times at each. “It’s not illegal,” claimed Maye Musk, of New York City. She was corrected by other X users, who pointed out that illegal voting carries a fine of up to $10,000 and a possible five-year prison sentence.
Category 4 Hurricane Helene is faulted for destroying entire communities, killing at least 230 people and cutting off access to essentials like food. Now it’s gaining attention for disrupting voting, where North Carolina’s results could factor prominently in the outcome of the November presidential election.
The storm’s waters are further muddied by Republican rumors, such as aid being withheld from Republican strongholds, plans to bulldoze damaged property and confiscate it, and FEMA funds being short. ABC reported the rumors have created fear and mistrust for those needing to reach out for help.
Politics has had another influence on hurricane disasters: 40-year meteorologist John Morales said storm warnings are “no longer well received by everyone.” He said he’s been accused of being an agenda-driven “climate militant” who exaggerates extreme weather threats. Morales said he remains committed to helping audiences be prepared and well informed.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor warned residents who don’t evacuate before Hurricane Milton hits Florida that they will die. Castor said, “Helene was a wake-up call” next to Hurricane Milton. President Joe Biden quickly approved Florida’s emergency declaration request. FEMA allocated funds and resources for Hurricane Milton in advance.
The International Longshoremen’s Association reached an agreement with the U.S. Maritime Alliance and ended their members’ three-day walkout — until January. Meanwhile, the labor organization has reached a tentative agreement of a wage hike of 62%, Reuters reported. Issues remain to be resolved. Biden praised the strike’s end, saying it would help ensure critical supplies for hurricane recovery.
Various media reported that Trump
By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist
backed out of a 60 Minutes interview, which CBS stated had been a “go” until last week, when Trump complained the show would be fact-checked. CBS officials said all their shows are factchecked. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is facing Trump in the November presidential election, accepted the invitation and appeared on 60 Minutes on Oct. 7 with running-mate Gov. Tim Walz, of Minnesota. Harris said on the show that she will not meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate the end of the war with Ukraine unless Ukraine is involved. She claimed Trump’s plan would be for Ukraine to surrender. On the economy, Harris said she plans a federal ban on price gouging on groceries, expanding the child tax credit, and tax breaks for first-time home buyers and those starting small businesses. Asked how she would pay for those programs, Harris said, “I’m going to make sure that the richest among us who can afford it pay their fair share in taxes. It’s not right that teachers and nurses and firefighters are paying a higher tax rate than billionaires and the biggest corporations.”
Special Counsel Jack Smith’s 165page filing regarding Trump’s alleged criminal effort to overturn the 2020 election was made public. The BBC reported the case may not go to trial if Trump is elected, as he would likely stop the case. The suit was altered to reflect crimes committed by Trump as a private citizen, since the Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled Trump could not be prosecuted for official acts as president. Allegations include that Trump planned to claim victory “no matter what” and, prior to Election Day, was ready to challenge results. Despite calling “fraud” claims “crazy,” Trump supported those claims. His vice president, Mike Pence, often urged Trump to move on and run for office in 2024. During the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Trump called for Pence to be hanged, since he acknowledged Biden’s win.
A pro-Trump county clerk in Colorado was sentenced to nine years in prison for crimes and lies about what she said were rigged voting machines during the 2020 election, CBS News reported. Blast from the past: “When one with honeyed words but evil mind persuades the mob, great woes befall the state.” — Euripides, Greek tragedian and philosopher (484-406 B.C.E).
Dumb of the week — extended edition
Dan Foreman should go back to where he came from
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Here’s a little tale about a man named Dan. Dan David Foreman III, born Sept. 20, 1953 in the mid-sized town of Lake Forest, Ill. Lake Forest has a population just under 20,000 today; but, back in Dan’s day, it was probably a lot smaller. Kind of a Mayberry place, probably. I don’t know — I’ve never been there. I’m from here.
Well, old Dan — Col. Dan, because he served 30 years in the Air Force — grew up in that town, which is situated in the far-northwestern part of the “Land of Lincoln,” almost 100 years to the date in 1857, when the roads got laid and the plats got platted for the town of his birth. Of course, that was 21 years after the Potawatomi people — who’d lived in that area for untold tens of thousands of years — were pushed out by the U.S. government in 1836, “as part of the Indian Removal of tribes to areas west of the Mississippi River.”
That’s all from Wikipedia. What Wikipedia doesn’t say on that particular page is that Dan hails from the heartland of one of the most ancient and profoundly important places on this continent. He grew up about 300 miles from the site of Cahokia — a city at the center of what was once among the greatest civilizations to ever exist on Earth. You can still go see the mounds, on the Illinois side of the border with Missouri. I’ve never been there, but I want to go. It’s a long way from here, where I was born, my dad was born and my son was born.
Has Dan been there? I don’t know.
I do know that Dan moved from Illinois at some point after graduating from Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., earning a B.S. degree in business management and administration in 1975. He was a commercial pilot, an “amateur radio operator” and served as a master navigator on KC-135
jet tankers and C-130 cargo planes, including combat duty, which got him his full colonel rank and vice commander role of the 168th refueling wing in Fairbanks, Alaska. Following that, he wound up in the Moscow area, where he was a cop for 11 years.
He describes himself as a “Christian conservative” and “life member of the NRA,” as well as the Military Officers Association of America, Potlatch VFW Post and Farm Bureau of Benewah County. He’s been married for 49 years, has seven children and 22 grandchildren. He is a staunch Catholic.
Amid all those accomplishments, Dan ran a losing campaign for Latah County sheriff, but won a term in the Idaho Senate from 2016-’18 representing District 5 — including parts of Latah and Benewah counties — in a narrow race against Democrat Dan Schmidt, 50.76% to 49.24%, respectively. He held onto that seat in the 2018 Republican primary, but lost in the general election to Democrat David Nelson by a sizable margin — 56.1% to 43.9%. He lost to Nelson again in 2020, with 49.6% of the vote to Nelson’s 50.4%. But he was back as the winner of the 2022 GOP primary and went on to unseat Nelson in the general election for District 6, 50.1% to 48%.
That’s why his Idaho Legislature bio lists him as a firstterm senator, but he also won the 2024 primary with 52.88% of local Republican votes and will face Democratic candidate Trish Carter-Goodheart in the November election.
That’s why Dan’s in the news this week. Dan, of Lake Forest, Ill., blew up on Carter-Goodheart at a bipartisan candidates’ forum in Kendrick on Oct. 1. When she asked him whether racism exists in Idaho, he shouted, “go back where you come from” and, shortly thereafter left the venue.
The trouble is, Car-
ter-Goodheart is more “from” Idaho than pretty much anyone. She’s a member of the Nez Perce Tribe, more properly called the Nimiipuu, or “The People,” which have lived in the region that we call Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Montana for untold millennia. Col. Dan and his Illinois pedigree pales in comparison, no matter how you cut it. He might be able to claim similar lineage in space and time if he went back to his Neanderthal progenitors in Ice Age Europe, and I’m sure they’d all get along just fine.
For her part, Carter-Goodheart was born and raised in Lapwai, where she serves her lifelong community as a fundraiser and grant writer, with a particular focus on children’s health and safety. She’s been on the National Indian Child Welfare Association Board since 2008, and held a seat on the organization’s public policy committee during all that time.
So, to recap: Dan stood on land Carter-Goodheart and her ancestors have inhabited for eons (and which she actively serves) and told her to “go back” there.
Then, to further prove his repugnance, Dan wrote on Facebook: “I enlightened this person [Carter-Goodheart] to the fact I was born in America, and I am therefore a native American. There was no racial slur in my statement.”
The depths of racism, misogyny, lack of self reflection or even awareness — not to say outright contempt — contained in that statement staggers the mind. The only refuge for insight into Dan’s mind may well be the DSMIV. Particularly the section on dissociative disorders.
I’m not qualified to diagnose anyone, and don’t pretend to, but this isn’t the first time Dan has popped off. He has referred to his own constituency as a “cesspool of liberalism”
(I get his sour grapes on this one, since barely more than 50% of voters ever
actually want him to represent them, and more often than not tell him to take a hike at the polls — which doesn’t make them “liberals,” they’re just reasonable. Unfortunately, there are about 2,500 reliable Dandroids in Latah who want to rule over some kind of retrograde Idaho-cum-Salem, Mass., circa the 17th century).
He made other headlines in 2018 by reneging on a speaking engagement on birth control and sex education with students at the University of Idaho, but somehow was still on hand to rant “abortion is murder” at them in a campus hallway. That’s how you teach kids about representative government, I guess — lurking in hallways to scream at them.
Indeed, on his Idaho GOP bio page, Dan states that “the top issue for Idaho is to abolish the unnecessary, harmful and wasteful curse of abortion.”
Because everything else in Idaho is going so great with the roads and schools and everything, dealing with the “curse of abortion” is the No. 1 priority for the entire state.
Sure, Dan.
He also promises to “introduce legislation that eliminates the current affirmative defense for having an abortion in accordance with state guidelines. The only exception to the prohibition on abortion is to save the life of the mother.”
To be clear: Dan Foreman wants women who are raped and/or the victims of incest to be forced by law to carry those pregnancies to term.
Those are his words, or at least the words of the Idaho GOP. And there’s more: Dan also introduced (shelved) legislation that would make both the mother and the attending physician liable for first-degree murder in the performance of an abortion, unless it was to save the mother’s life.
Ladies take heed: Your great-grandpa, granddad, dad, brother, uncle, male cousin, son, grandson or great-grandson rapes you, and Dan wants you to carry that baby or else he’ll put you in jail — maybe for life, maybe to the death penalty. Murder 1 is nothing to sniff at. Sit and think about that for a minute.
Oh, and before we forget, he also says climate change is a “scam” and, according to his own Wikipedia page, “does not support the separation of church and state.” So he’s a theocrat to boot. One wonders what Dan’s hot take is on whether the planet is round.
Essentially, in Dan Foreman, we have the ne plus ultra of the Idaho Republican Party’s fundamental derangement, nicely wrapped up in a bald, white Illinois man (and I say this as a balding, white, multi-generational Bonner County man).
And so: I invite Dan to take a hint, and “go back” to where he came from, though to do so would require him to travel not just geographical distances, but gulfs of time.
Sen. Dan Foreman, R-Viola, can be reached by mail at P.O. Box 8254, Moscow, ID, 83843; 208-332-1405 (home); and 208332-1405 (Statehouse, session only). He serves as vice chair of the Judiciary and Rules, Agricultural Affairs, and Commerce and Human Resources committees.
Sen. Dan Foreman. File photo.
Bouquets:
• Thanks so much to Kelly Price for bringing us a basket of homemade scones made from a 65-year-old sourdough starter. “My dad nursed and nurtured it all that time, and now it’s mine to carry its torch and share with family and friends,” Price wrote in a thoughtful note accompanying the scones. Sorry we weren’t in the office to receive them, but we appreciate the kind gesture.
• A special thanks goes out to our advertisers, who sent me their ads early for the Oct. 10 edition and helped me sneak out of town for a road trip around Montana this week. I know it’s a pain to have deadlines moved up on you, but every task I finished before heading out of town helped the rest of the staff from being overwhelmed. When you produce a paper like this with only three people every week, it’s like losing a leg of a tripod when one of us goes on vacation. Much gratitude for the assistance, advertisers. If you want to help support the Reader, please support our advertisers, as they are the ones who keep the ink (and beer) flowing around here. See you all next week.
Barbs:
• Well, I guess this Barb is for me. I ran into a friend at the bar last week and couldn’t help but agree with them when they said I was wrong when I wrote that I didn’t shed any tears when they pulled the stoplight at the intersection of Church Street and Fifth Avenue. So far, the stop signs have been pretty slow. However, that’s mainly because the lights at Pine Street are still under construction. Once we have that route — and hopefully a light that works better than the last one — I’m hoping traffic will again crawl at the slow-but-comfortable rate we’re used to in Sandpoint.
Dear editor,
The strength in our communities lies in our freedoms and democracy. The more citizens who participate in our democratic elections, the stronger and more representative we are. The people have proven time and again that the best choices for our leadership are made by the majority.
The Open Primaries Initiative will restore full and fair elections to Idaho for every registered voter, including ones who are independent or unaffiliated with a political party by ensuring the right to vote in every election.
We are electing individual leaders, not political parties, to lead us and every citizen has the right to participate. Currently in our closed primary elections, 270,000 registered Idaho voters (including half of our veterans) are blocked from voting because they are independent and not members of a political party.
Low voter turnouts in closed primaries mean that the majority of our leaders are nominated and elected by a minority of voters. Elections are publicly funded and every voter’s voice is equal and important.
Support our democracy by passing the Open Primaries Initiative and restoring every citizen’s right to vote to select our next generation of leaders in primary and general elections. Make every voter count.
Gary Suppiger Cocolalla
‘Mark
Dear editor, I’m backing Mark Sauter for House Seat 1A. I’ve known Mark since 2012, when we lived in the same Sandpoint neighborhood. As it turned out, we were both retired fire chiefs. Mark had also worked as a paramedic. Recognizing his leadership capabilities, he was even tapped by his city council to be a “stand-in” city manager.
While remodeling a home in Sandpoint to accommodate his aging mother, he worked part-time for Sagle Fire District as a fire prevention specialist.
Mark continued to work in that role for Selkirk Fire and Rescue, helping residents — including my neighbors and me — make their properties safe.
As our representative, Mark has stood up against library book bans, and fought for better school funding — especially for facility repair and replacement.
Under his watch, 300 local kids have received LAUNCH scholarships.
And Mark has worked to keep our property taxes from skyrocketing. Mark stands for what he believes and will not be intimidated by “special interests.”
He regularly meets with constituents and is willing to take your phone call to discuss any issue you might have. Reach out to him if you have questions or concerns. Join me in supporting Mark Sauter for House Seat 1A.
James Asche Sandpoint
Kathryn Larson believes politics are about community…
Dear editor,
In the coming election, I will cast my vote for Kathryn Larson for representative, District 1B. Kathryn is intelligent, thoughtful, positive and energetic. She believes in the idea that politics is about community. She will approach legislation with a local focus. She will ask herself if pending legislation will help or hinder her district.
Kathryn will never be beholden to outside interests, but will focus on the issues that are important to her constituents, working toward building an economy that works for North Idaho and improving the infrastructure to go with it. She will fight for fully funded schools, giving teachers and students the facilities and resources they deserve.
Kathryn believes in freedom: freedom for women to access appropriate, affordable, local gynecological care and doctors to deliver it; freedom for library patrons to read what they wish and librarians to continue their excellent services without becoming “book police”; freedom for Idaho’s children to attend excellent public schools without homeowners being taxed out of their homes to pay for those schools; freedom for local workers to afford decent local housing.
Kathryn will fight for Bonner and Boundary counties. Join me in voting for Kathryn Larson.
Sincerely,
Sherry L. Ennis Sandpoint
Sauter has the skills and respect in Boise to best serve Dist. 1…
Dear editor, Mark Sauter is our best choice in the upcoming election to represent our District. I’ve been impressed by Mark’s representation during the past two years. He shows up and listens to our community leaders and his constituents. He takes what is best for District 1 back to Boise and puts it into action by passing bills
that support our counties’ schools, agriculture and the environment, which helps our families who call Bonner and Boundary counties their home.
As an example, recently Rep. Sauter helped organize local and state officials to meet and address the issue affecting our recreation and economy — particularly the problems we are facing with the Albeni Falls Dam and lake levels because of the gate failure at the dam.
Mark is well respected in Boise and gets to the core of the problems that need fixing and offers viable solutions. He has the network and connections to get work done for District 1 and I will be voting to reelect him and send him to Boise to keep up the good work.
Please do the same and vote for Mark Sauter, Dist. 1 representative on Nov. 5.
George Eskridg Dover
election in November.
• Voters in November will choose their preferred candidate, but may also select their second, third and fourth choices (ranked choice). Then, if no candidate receives 51% of the vote, the candidate with the fewest votes will be eliminated and the second choices of those who voted for that candidate will be counted. This instant runoff process will continue until one candidate emerges as the clear winner. (Every voter still has only one vote per race. This process requires basic math computation — not rocket science.)
Some Republicans are threatened by Proposition 1 because it’s likely to transform Idaho elections and ensure winning candidates are broadly supported by residents — a truer version of representative democracy.
Amy Flint Sandpoint
‘Reelect Mark Sauter as District 1A representative’... ‘Prop. 1 is sus’...
Dear editor, “Sus” means “suspect,” for newspaper readers who may not be up on the current lingo. Prop. 1 advocates say there are a whole bunch of voters who don’t get to vote. How is that? How can that be legal? It’s actually not about who can vote but how we vote. Currently, the Republican primary is closed. That means Republicans vote for a Republican to represent them in the general. If Democrats want more power in Idaho, how about being a more inviting party? And while you’re at it, why not try being honest about what you’re doing and stop trying to trick Republicans into voting for something that will not benefit them.
Yours in Christ,
Jenn McKnight Sandpoint
‘Yes! On
Proposition
1’…
Dear editor,
Closed Republican primaries mean that almost 400,000 Idaho voters (Democrats, Independents and unaffiliated) cannot fully participate in choosing candidates. Besides giving those voters a voice, Proposition 1 would reduce the likelihood of electing extreme conservatives without broad public support.
Here’s how it would work:
• In the single May primary, every voter receives the same ballot, regardless of party affiliation — or no affiliation.
• The top four candidates from the primary move on to the general
Dear editor,
We support Mark Sauter for reelection as our representative for District 1A for Bonner and Boundary counties because he has the leadership skills; experience; and the traditional, conservative values to serve the citizens and communities of North Idaho. We need responsible leadership representing the best interests of our citizens.
Rep. Sauter is fiscally conservative and supports reducing property and income taxes where feasible. Mark has supported many bills targeting tax relief to lessen the tax burden on the citizens of Idaho. He believes in our public school system and supports the efforts to improve our students’ education from kindergarten through university.
The issue of public safety runs deeply through Mark. As a firefighter for over 30 years, he understands the critical role law enforcement, fire service and EMS personnel play in safeguarding our communities.
Mark believes in the Second Amendment, and recognizes the importance of responsible gun ownership. Mark recognizes and supports the significance of securing the southern border. Idaho is experiencing unprecedented growth that is taxing our infrastructure. Mark understands that we must now manage the growth to ensure the future of Idaho.
Respectfully,
Robert and Sherry Tyler Priest River
Sauter is your voice in Boise’...
OPINION
The Idaho Legislature needs more Mark Sauters
By William M. Woodhouse Reader Contributor
A vote to re-elect Mark Sauter as Representative for District 1 House Seat A will support women’s health and access to health care services in rural Idaho. He is driven by his commitment to represent his constituents. When Bonner General Health’s Labor and Delivery Services closed in 2023, he spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives regarding the impact of this closure. Mark Sauter is a courageous leader who routinely makes politically difficult votes because it is the right policy for his constituents.
Reinstatement of the Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC)
MMRCs are groups organized at the state level and tasked with reviewing the maternal deaths that transpire
< LTE, con’t from Page 8 >
Prop. 1 will make ranked-choice voting ‘an Idaho problem’…
Dear editor, I have been searching desperately for a source of news and opinion in Northern Idaho that actually represents the generally conservative opinion of the good citizens of Northern Idaho.
Unfortunately, despite finding your website, I’m still batting zero.
Just for your information, since the local propagandists keep referring to Prop. 1 as the “Open Primary” amendment, it’s not really the issue at hand.
It’s really about “Ranked-Choice Voting,” which is a system designed to benefit those who are willing to use duplicitous methods to achieve their goal.
For instance, dishonest characters can place fake Republicans on the ballot to draw votes away from the likely winner and then, using a recursive counting process, put their preferred candidate who lost, in first place.
Alaska fell for this scam and the result is a solid red state has turned purple.
You don’t seem to be publishing this truth. Instead, you repeat the
during or within one year of the pregnancy. MMRCs work to analyze the data in a thorough and comprehensive manner and make a number of recommendations, including how those deaths can be avoided. In 2023, Idaho became the only state in the nation without an MMRC, as the committee that was previously in place was sunset. Thanks to the support of Rep. Sauter, in 2024 the MMRC was reinstat-
“open primary” lie.
The fact Democrats have no primary candidates is not an Idaho problem, it’s a Democrat problem.
The fact Democrats can’t win races is not an Idaho problem, it’s a Democrat problem.
Let’s not make their problems an Idaho problem.
No on 1.
Dan Dove Sagle
Steve Johnson will be a ‘commonsense leader’…
Dear editor, County Commissioner candidate Brian Domke declared three important platform items at the Oct. 2 forum:
• He would delete all non-required county services. Bye-bye to two county airports! No more county fair or fairgrounds? It’s unlikely that Idaho requires either airports or fairs of our county. Is solid waste “required”? What else will we lose? Does he even know what is required? If so, he should be specific.
• Don’t accept federal funds: Who needs safe bridges? They are too expensive to build/repair with local funds. Well-maintained roads?
We have four-wheel drive and can
ed when H.B. 399 was passed and signed into law.
12-month extension of Medicaid postpartum coverage
In 2021, the MMRC provided a key recommendation to combat maternal deaths — extend Medicaid postpartum coverage from 60 days to 12 months. Postpartum extension removes barriers for new mothers and has been found to improve maternal mortality in other states. In March 2024, with Rep. Sauter’s support, this recommendation became law (H.B. 633).
Six-month prescription contraception
Prior to July 1, 2024, consumers could only access contraception for up to three months — a frustration that has been long shared by both physicians and patients. For more than a decade, there have been attempts to require insurance companies to
survive potholes. The two airports get numerous federal grants; another reason to shutter them. We locals will pay much more without national help. Reject money from federal timber sales? Previous commissioners fought hard for that income.
• He will scrutinize every budget line and cut, cut, cut. Well, savvy department heads will pad their budget requests. That way Domke can cut (and brag about it) and they will still have functioning departments delivering the services we count on.
After listening to Mr. Domke at the candidate forum, I am voting for Steve Johnson. He will be a commonsense leader.
Molly O’Reilly Sandpoint
Kathryn Larson will work for an Idaho economy that works us all…
Dear editor,
On any given week, my husband and I are working five or six jobs between us to support our family. We get by, and the kids are happy, but we work our fannies off and frequently feel left behind by our local economy. I want an economy and political representation that works for us — so I’m voting for Democrats like Idaho House of Representa-
increase coverage duration, ultimately saving patients money on routine appointments. Thanks to the vocal support of Rep. Sauter, S.B. 1234 was signed into law, extending coverage for up to six months.
House Bill 374
Entering the 2023 legislative session, there was a lot of confusion among physicians as it related to Idaho’s abortion laws. While confusion remains, Rep. Sauter actively supported H.B. 374, which provided exceptions for ectopic or molar pregnancy, removal of a dead unborn child and treatment of a woman who is no longer pregnant. H.B. 374 provided a pathway for victims of rape and incest to obtain a redacted police report within 72 hours, while also removing the affirmative defense or “guilty until proven innocent” standard that physicians were held to.
tives candidate Kathryn Larson in November.
Conversely, a far-right coworker of mine is also a parent of two and works like crazy to support her family. She’s racked up several thousands of dollars of debt since moving to Sandpoint. She’s abandoned hopes of buying a home here, and feels jilted by the local economy. Yet, she’s once again voting far-right in November.
To my fellow conservative friends, neighbors and coworkers who feel underserved by our local economy, I humbly ask you: What if we voted for something different this November? Kathryn Larson will fight to build an economy that works for all of us. She’s a proven problem-solver, an impeccable listener, and will represent each and every one of us with integrity and respect. Let’s vote for an economy that works — vote Kathryn Larson.
Emma Stanford Bonner County
House 1A Rep. Mark Sauter’s record is strong…
Dear editor, Rep. Mark Sauter is effective and experienced. These qualities make him the best choice to represent the
Medical residency funding
The state of Idaho ranks next-to-last in physicians per capita. This especially impacts Idaho’s rural areas, like District 1. Where a physician does their residency training after medical school is a strong predictor of where they will practice. On behalf of his constituents, Rep. Sauter has supported funding of Idaho’s Statewide Graduate Medical Education Strategic Plan, which supports Idaho-based residency training of family physicians, psychiatrists and general internists.
From the perspective of a longtime Idaho family physician, health policy advocate and educator, I strongly urge you to vote for Mark Sauter.
William M. Woodhouse, M.D., is past-president of the Idaho Academy of Family Physicians and past-president of the Idaho Medical Association.
interests and values of District 1.
During the 2024 session, Sauter distinguished himself as an effective representative because each of his bills was directly related to constituent concerns. Sauter doesn’t try to break records with needless bills that draw attention to him instead of helping his constituents.
He just gets things done. Every one of the bills he carried in the 2024 session was signed into law by the governor. That’s being effective. Rep. Sauter is also experienced. He navigated a politically inspired minefield to ensure the successful passage of House Bill 645, which closed a loophole that would allow recalled school district trustees to engage in lame-duck sabotage. And for that we in District 1 who support our local schools owe a debt of gratitude to Mark.
Experience also is knowing how to navigate difficult issues and how to work across the aisle to get things done. Rep. Sauter’s track record is strong.
Please join me in voting for Mark Sauter — an effective and experienced representative for District 1.
Molly Ollie Bonners Ferry
William M. Woodhouse. File photo.
Science: Mad about
archimedes’ screw
By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist
Moving water somewhere you want it to go is a pain in the butt.
Projects involving moving large amounts of water generally use an electric pump, such as a well pump that many of us outside of town are accustomed to owning and operating. Vast amounts of water being moved — like through irrigation systems or hydroelectric power plants — largely rely on gravity to get water from one location to another.
But what happens if you need to move a sizable amount of water from a lower position to a higher one? A series of pumps could work, but these require an energy expenditure equal to or surpassing the mechanical work required to transport water — a heavy substance in vast quantities — from a low position to a high one.
The ancient Greeks figured out how to do it without electricity using something called Archimedes’ screw, or the Archimedean screw.
The story of this technology begins long before the birth of Archimedes of Syracuse — for whom the design is named — in the third century B.C.E. Evidence of a screw pump design has been unearthed in Egypt as long ago as 654 B.C.E. It’s also speculated that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon may have been irrigated using a form of screw pump.
There are variants of this design, with the earliest utilizing tubes wrapped helically
around an inclined cylinder contained within a hollow pipe. As the screw twists, water enters the tube and is carried through by the motion of the moving helicoid (spiral screw) until it runs out of tubing and is deposited on the other end.
Another variant of this doesn’t utilize tubing, but instead has angled planes like the threads of a wood screw. Either system works, though creating a screw conveyor for your home would likely be much simpler utilizing the tubing than manufacturing big screw threads.
This process is performed in reverse to generate electrical power. Water traveling from a raised position into a lower one will turn the screw to act as a turbine, generating power. In some cases, this has been used instead of a water wheel, though a water wheel can be slightly easier to manufacture depending on the types of materials being used.
You may be wondering, if Archimedes didn’t invent it, why is it named after him?
Archimedes showcased that you don’t have to invent something to be remembered for it. You just have to make it better than anyone else.
During Archimedes’ life, Greek naval vessels were getting bigger and bigger. While the Greeks never quite mastered anything as large as a ship of the line, which would be seen from the European powers of the 17th century, they still made some impressively large vessels. The problem with big ships was that they leaked. The
larger your vessel, the more vectors for failure. A ship full of water is just a reef in the making, so Archimedes was tasked with developing a mechanical solution for keeping water out of the ship.
Rather than tackling the problem at the source, Archimedes improved upon the screw conveyor. Adding more pitch or tar added weight and labor to the ship and yet more areas of potential failure — if the ship was already floating and just needed a little help, it made more sense to pump the water than stop it from entering the vessel entirely. He placed a large screw conveyor that traveled through the ship from the lowest deck to either an upper deck or off the ship entirely. Space was at a premium on Greek ships, so there was no way they could spare the space for an oxen or other beast of burden to power it — it had to be powered by a single man.
Effectively, by using screw threads instead of tubes, Archimedes was able to move a higher volume of water more consistently at the expense of requiring more materials to construct it.
This same construction is still utilized today for a host of applications. Hydroelectric dams use screw conveyor turbines to generate power. Tunnel boring machines use them to transport slurry of broken rock and mud to the back of the machine for removal and processing. It’s even used for processing wastewater, as well as moving water from the bottom of an amusement park ride
to the top without using a power-hungry jet pump.
Looking to try this principle out on your own at home? You can make one using the core of a toilet paper tube, some cardstock, hot glue, and a water bottle or other container to set the screw conveyor inside. Try to use it to transfer cereal from one bowl to another on an elevated stand.
It’s a fun and challenging STEM experiment to see if you’re as smart as an engineer from the third century B.C.E. Spoiler alert: I’m definitely not, but I did manage to transfer three Cheerios with relative ease.
I’m not giving you any of my answers on this one, you’ll have to figure it out for yourself.
Stay curious, 7B.
Random Corner
• Mario the video game character was created by Shigeru Miyamoto to appear in the 1981 Nintendo game Donkey Kong, which featured a gorilla at the top of the screen who rolled barrels while Mario tried to reach the top.
• Mario was originally known as Jumpman, but when Nintendo’s U.S. office was trying to think of a better name for the American release of the game, they were interrupted by their landlord Mario Segale, after whom they designed the character.
• Mario’s look was dictated by the graphical limitations of the hardware at the time. He wore a hat because hair was difficult to portray, a mustache to accentuate his nose and dungarees to make his arm movements more noticeable.
• The only game in which Mario stars as the antagonist is Donkey Kong, Jr. In that game, he has trapped Donkey Kong in a cage and the ape’s son must rescue him.
• The key antagonist of the Super Mario Bros. series is Bowser, but he appeared as a good guy in the
• Bowser was originally sketched as an ox by Miyamoto, but his drawings were misinterpreted by the animator as a turtle, which is what Bowser is known as today (no, he’s not a dragon).
• The iconic musical accompaniment to Super Mario Bros. is officially called “Ground Theme” and was created by composer Koji Kondo. The music has been hailed as one of the most recognizable pieces of game music ever created.
• The Super Mario Bros. series is in the Guinness Book of Records as the most successful gaming franchise of all time, boasting global sales of more than 240 million units.
• Mario has appeared in more than 200 video games and counting.
1996 release of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.
‘Do the right thing’: Vote in favor of the West Bonner school levy
By Ernie Schoeffel Reader Contributor
I am shocked, to say the least, that Priest River alums would vote against the upcoming West Bonner County School District levy. In one recent letter to the editor, the writer claimed to be an alum yet voted against the last two levies and plans to do so again for the one on the November ballot, which is for an amount 75% less than previous requests. They bring the fiscal credibility of the board into question, knowing the district needs the previously requested amounts — closer to $4.7 million dollars.
Lowering the amount and making cutbacks is listening to the public. Also, 44 of 47 of Priest River highschool seniors graduated last year — that’s 94%. However, the state uses the number of freshmen the class started with to get to a 66% graduation rate. The turmoil our district has been through has forced many to leave and
transfer, which lowers our grad rate. To use any of this as a reason to not support a levy is just crazy.
What is not crazy is voting for a $1,130,060 levy this November. It is not everything the district needs, but it is a step in the right direction. It does support extra/co-curricular activities, two buses, child nutrition, curriculum, snow removal, ½ clerk and ½ custodian positions, and needed software/ technology.
Since the ballot deadline, the district has earned a three-year grant that will pay for the SRO of the district. This reduces the levy by $80,550. However, even before that reduction, the levy was $23 per $100,000 of assessed value. If your property’s assessed value is $1.5 million or less, this levy costs less than $1 a day. If your are unwilling to pay less than a $1 a day to help educate, feed, transport, keep safe, provide sports and invest in local children and wonder what’s wrong with the world, you should look in the mirror.
There are many people who develop a mindset that is not based on fact. It is based on other peoples’ opinions. When you read opinions and come up with your own thoughts that are based on non-factual information, you are helping spread non-truths.
Some of the ideas that people sometimes write are so far from accurate that it makes the people who are truthful look like liars.
One example is the subject of the district’s forensic audit. People wanted it to prove that there were cases of misappropriation of funds. After many months of examination, the auditing firm came back with the report that nothing condemning was found, prompting a big cheer from the positive patrons. Then the naysayers said the audit was not accurate. Come on people. Check it out yourself and get your information from the source, not someone else’s false ideas or thoughts.
The truth of the matter is that our beloved district is in trouble and
we have to get funding to offset the shortfall. Should more of it come from the state? Yes it should. But we all know that is going to take time that we don’t have. Contact your state representatives and elected officials as high as the governor.
We need more state funding. Base it on need. Why should the bigger schools get so much more than the schools that really need it? Now that funding is based on attendance, how can we compete with Ada County? It doesn’t make sense.
In the meantime, put your efforts into keeping our district afloat. Work hard to convince people to get out and vote in November. Read the proposals carefully. Vote for WBCSD education. It’s our — and our future patrons’ — lives that are at stake. Do the right thing.
Ernie Schoeffel lives in Priest River with his wife, Helen.
Republican politicians show zero mercy as abortion ban hurts women
By Rep. Lauren Necochea, D-Boise Reader Contributor
What happened to Jennifer Adkins is a nightmare any Idaho family could face. A devoted mother from Caldwell, Adkins and her husband were eager to have a second child and make their son a big brother. But a routine pregnancy checkup revealed devastating news. The fetus was nonviable and wouldn’t develop into a healthy baby. Worse still, the fetus’ condition threatened Adkins’ own health. Discontinuing the pregnancy was the recommended care.
However, under Idaho’s draconian abortion ban, doctors and nurses face prison time for providing abortion care to preserve the health of the patient. The allowed exception is to prevent certain death. Adkins had to travel to Oregon, incurring personal financial costs, missed work days and emotional turmoil to receive care that was standard in Idaho before the abortion ban took effect.
Adkins’ story is one of many. She is now standing up with others who have been harmed by this law, including physicians and Kuna, Idaho resident Rebecca Vincen-Brown, whose pregnancy involved a fetal anomaly that endangered both her health and future fertility. Together, they are suing the state to prevent further suffering.
Last month, a judge heard arguments in the case. Anyone with common sense and compassion would want to see women and physicians prevail. Yet, shockingly, Idaho Republican Attorney General Raúl Labrador used taxpayer dollars to argue against them, trying to have the case dismissed. This is how far Idaho’s Republican leaders will go to uphold a law that harms families — using the power and trust we place in them to fight against our very lives and wellbeing.
We would never say Jennifer Adkins was lucky; but, in recent weeks, we have seen the ramifications of abortion bans can be even worse. Two women in Georgia have died tragically because
of that state’s abortion ban, which is no harsher than Idaho’s. These lives could have been saved if doctors had been allowed to do their jobs. It’s only a matter of time before an Idaho woman dies because care was delayed due to this heartless law.
As Gail Deady, attorney for the plaintiffs, argued, the vagueness of Idaho’s law leaves doctors in an impossible position.
“Physicians are not trained to wait until someone is at risk of death before acting,” she said. “They’re healers.”
Yet, the fear of prosecution has already driven nearly a quarter of Idaho’s obstetricians out of practice, leaving more women without essential care.
Our present is bleak, but our future can be bright. Throughout history, citizens have taken action to assert our freedoms when the government denied them. When we vote this November, we can vote for the Democratic candidates who will keep fighting to restore a basic freedom: the right to make our most intimate medical decisions without interference from politicians.
Rep. Lauren Necochea is the House assistant Democratic leader, representing District 19 in Boise on the Environment, Energy and Technology; Resources and Conservation; Revenue and Taxation; and Ways and Means committees.
Rep. Lauren Necochea. File photo.
By Emily Erickson Reader Columnist
I hit scan on the radio, searching for anything other than static, until a familiar song broke through the cracks and pops: “... all the roads we have to walk are winding/ And all the lights that lead us there are blinding./ There are many things that I would like to say to you, but I don’t know how … ”
As the lyrics bubbled out of me, emerging from some long-forgotten place where Oasis remained intact, I was 16 again, curving along Wisconsin backroads, singing the same words with the newfound freedom of a driver’s license. The whole world opened to me — as soon as I could master roundabouts and four-lane highways.
My first summer of driving, I road-tripped 16 hours to Boulder, Colo. While most of the kids I knew white-knuckled their way to the Fox Valley Mall — just 45 minutes of straight highway away — I wanted more. Maybe it was fearlessness, or maybe it was the fear of being stuck in a life that felt small, that drove me a thousand miles from home (my own little Lewis-and-Clark pull toward the unknown). But that’s likely hindsight talking. In reality, that first brazen trip was probably just an undeveloped prefrontal cortex; my Wisconsin-kid version of an Idahoan teen hucking cliff jumps at Schweitzer.
I remember crossing state lines — first Wisconsin, then Iowa — until my eyes grew heavy. I called my mom from a Holiday Inn parking lot. “Yes, I got a room for the night,” I lied, as I locked the doors and fluffed my jacket into a makeshift pillow in the front seat. What I should have
Emily Articulated
Open road
said was, “I’m not spending your $100.” Money was hardearned at home, and I wanted to fund my own way (which on a minimum wage Subway paycheck meant car-camping and home-packed PBJs).
But, the next day, seeing the mountains emerge out of the flat expanse changed me. It had taken 16 hours, but I had transported myself to a new world — a new version of life and myself at the end of an open stretch of road. All it took was a few tanks of gas and cups of coffee, and my 1,000-person town was literally and metaphorically in the rearview. Like a moth seeing flame for the first time, that freedom was hypnotic, a feeling I knew I’d be chasing across a lifetime.
As the final lyrics of “Wonderwall” faded
— “You’re gonna be the one that saves me (that saves me)” — I switched off the radio. Only the gentle whoosh of tires and the slow clunk of windshield wipers remained, wiping away the dew left by morning fog.
Often, it’s the silence I crave as much as the open expanse. The car, with its motions like my own muscle memory, de-
mands just enough focus that the rest of my thoughts are forced into quiet, manageable order. Instead of grasping at fleeting ideas as they whirl by, I’m afforded the space to hold each one, examine it and then let it go.
At 16, these thoughts were of small, inconsequential things like the test I was worried about passing or the boy I wasn’t sure I was ready to call my “boyfriend.” But they were also of heavy things, like my mom rebuilding her life after divorce or my dad slipping deeper into addiction. They were thoughts about what I wanted to do after high school, what kind of person I wanted to become and what made up a fulfilled, meaningful existence.
At 33, the thoughts I sorted through were a blend of past and present — 16-year-old musings seen through the lens of knowing how it has all unfolded. My mom’s rebuilt life, cut short after just two years when she passed, reminding me not to wait on my dreams. (What are my dreams now, anyway?) My dad’s lonely end, marking the importance of caring for myself and my relationships like they’re the most important things I’ll ever steward. And life after high
school defined by freedom to be my own boss, to set my own schedule, to see the world, to learn from people who are different from me and to continuously seek new ways to be inspired
The fog hung low, clinging to the mountains like it knew I wasn’t quite ready to have my thoughts swept away by the big views. But as my mind cleared, so did the clouds, revealing peaks so vast they erased every lingering thought. I curved along the road, in perfect harmony with my present and my past — the
golden aspen leaves glittering in a jubilant greeting: “Hello, you’ve made it. This is what you’ve been searching for.”
“Yes, I got a room for the night,” I told my partner as I pulled into the parking lot of the Mountain Lodge Motel. I locked the doors to my car and headed inside.
Emily Erickson is a writer and business owner with an affinity for black coffee and playing in the mountains. Connect with her online at www.bigbluehat.studio.
Retroactive
By BO
Emily Erickson.
A short history lesson on ranked-choice voting
By Jim Jones Reader Contributor
The opponents of Proposition 1, the Open Primaries Initiative, have been making uninformed claims about this game-changing voting reform. Dorothy Moon, the head of the extremist branch of Idaho’s Republican Party, contends Prop.1 is an evil California measure that does not fit Idaho. Attorney General Raúl Labrador argues that it violates the Idaho Constitution. They both would have you believe the voting system is completely foreign to the United States. They are dead wrong on all counts.
It helps to view the progression of Idaho’s governing structure from statehood in 1890 to the present. We have periodically had governments that believed Idaho’s Constitution when it emphatically stated: ”All political power is inherent in the people.“ Those reformist governments expanded the voting rights of Idahoans. But they were usually followed by governments that tried to restrict the rights of the people and concentrate power in the hands of a few party bosses.
A reformist legislature in 1909 to 1911 did some remarkable things to enhance the political power of the people. That legislature enacted a ranked-choice voting system for party primaries and submitted a constitutional amendment to voters establishing the initiative and referendum to act as a check on unreasonable future legislatures. Subsequent legislatures have done their level best to limit or eliminate those people-power measures. The fight continues to the present day.
A 1909 voting reform law required voters in a primary election “to vote
for a first and second choice, where there are more than two candidates for the same office.” If no candidate received a majority of first-choice votes, each candidate’s second-choice votes were added to their first-choice votes and the candidate with the most firstand second-choice votes won the party nomination for that office.
The law was challenged in court and upheld by the Idaho Supreme Court in Adams v. Lansdon, 15 Idaho 483 (1910). In its ruling the Court stated: “The clear intention of the Legislature in enacting said primary election law was to take the matter out of the hands of party committees and conventions, and place it in the hands of the voter.” That is exactly what Prop.1 will do. Party bosses hated the system and got it repealed.
The ranked-choice concept is clearly not a California invention designed to make Idaho a liberal bastion. It is designed to give every voter, regardless of party affiliation, an opportunity to select those who will hold public office. Republicans like Butch Otter and Bruce Newcomb are firmly behind Prop.1 because the extremist branch of the GOP has made it nearly impossible for reasonable, traditional Republicans to win elections.
Greg Casey is another lifelong Republican who supports Prop.1. Greg served as chief of staff for former-Congressman Larry Craig and as the 34th sergeant at arms of the U.S. Senate. He recently spoke on Matt Todd’s The Ranch Podcast, calling attention to George Washington’s warning about the dangers posed to the country by political partisanship. He noted that our Founding Fathers wrote a rankedchoice provision into the U.S. Con-
stitution to ensure selection of the president and vice president without regard to party affiliation.
Under the original Constitution, each member of the Electoral College cast two electoral votes, with no distinction between electoral votes for president or vice president. The presidential candidate receiving the greatest number of votes — provided that number was at least a majority of the electors — was elected president, while the candidate receiving the second-most votes was elected vice president. Todd provided a tally sheet for the 1789 election, showing George Washington winning the presidency with the most votes and John Adams being elected as vice president. Partisans changed the system with the 12th Amendment to keep candidates for the two offices from being affiliated with different political parties. Partisanship prevailed. The hardliners opposing rankedchoice voting should bone up on history and recognize its deep historical roots. It gives all voters the right
to choose who will occupy important public offices, instead of allowing party bosses to control the process. It’s no wonder that extremist GOP officeholders are doing everything they can to keep voters from exercising the political power they are supposed to have under the Idaho Constitution.
Jim Jones is a Vietnam combat veteran who served eight years as Idaho attorney general (1983-1991) and 12 years as a justice on the Idaho Supreme Court (20052017). His columns are collected at JJCommonTater.com.
Jim Jones. Courtesy photo.
Dogsmile Adventures receives grant from Team Autism 24/7
By Reader Staff
Local nonprofit Dogsmile Adventures, which provides therapeutic sailing experiences, has received a significant contribution from Team Autism 24/7.
The gift — the amount of which was undisclosed — marks the conclusion of the local work of Team Autism 24/7, which has operated since 2011 to support the Sandpoint autism community through various programs and services, including educational workshops, professional training, community events, summer recreational classes and annual grants.
“This is about so much more than money. This is about one organization passing the torch to another,” stated Dogsmile founder and Executive
Director Jon Totten.
“We’re incredibly honored to carry this legacy forward. This gift is about much more than financial support; it’s about continuing the spirit of community and connection that Team Autism 24/7 embodied.
“Last summer, a mother tearfully called our boat ‘magic,’” he added. “We’re excited to turn this gift into even more of that magic, bringing therapeutic sailing to those who need it most.”
Dogsmile Adventures partners with local organizations to provide therapeutic sailing experiences at little or no cost.
For more information about Dogsmile Adventures and its mission, go to dogsmileadventures.org.
Jon Totten teaches young sailors. Courtesy photo.
Teton Gravity Research brings its 29th annual screening of stoke to the Panida
By Reader Staff
“Stoke” is a word that we use during this time of year to describe the excitement leading up to the commencement of the snow sports season. We’re talking about snowboarding, skiing, sledding, falling down when you’re wrestling your blower out of the garage at 6:30 a.m.
Well, maybe not that last one.
But still: Stoke! And that’s what’s on offer at the Panida Theater with a screening on Wednesday, Oct. 16 of Beyond The Fantasy, from Teton Gravity Research.
The event promises to be “an unforgettable night of social stoke and adrenaline-pumping action,” marking TGR’s 29th annual film.
Audiences will be treated to a night of “awe-dropping cinematography, mind-blowing lines, and the infectious energy of the skiing and snowboarding
community,” according to promoters.
DJ Mancat will be on hand ahead of the show, and — to sweeten the pot — there will be a prize giveaway with goods from Atomic, Volkl, K2, YETI, Mammut, GoPro, Nissan and more.
Then there’s the grand prize, which includes TGR partner Nissan flying the winner and their crew to Grand Targhee to film their own segment with TGR.
For real: Groms take note, your moves could make you a celebrity in the snow-sports world.
Additional grand prizes include a trip to TGR’s hometown at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, in Wyoming, along with prize packs from the company’s partners.
As they say, “Beyond the Fantasy is more than just a film; it’s a testament to the power of turning dreams into reality. Witness our athletes as they transform improbable mental images
into breathtaking feats of athleticism and creativity.”
If that’s not a recommendation to stock up on stoke, then we don’t know what is.
Tickets are $15 for adults in advance (available at panida.org) and $20 at the door. Doors are at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7:30 p.m. The Panida Theater is located at 300 N. First Ave., in downtown Sandpoint.
Screenshot from Beyond the Fantasy. Courtesy photo.
U.S. Navy launches attack submarine USS Idaho
By Reader Staff
One of the U.S. Navy’s newest attack submarines, the future USS Idaho (SSN 799), launched from General Dynamics Electric Boat’s shipyard into the Thames River in Connecticut on Aug. 6.
The launch, also known as “float off,” marks a construction milestone in the life of a ship, when it moves from the shipbuilder’s facilities and into the water for the first time to begin final outfitting, testing and crew certification.
“Today’s launch is testament to the strong collaboration the Navy has with its shipbuilding partners,” stated Capt. Mike Hollenbach, Virginia Class Submarine program manager. “Idaho will be a valuable national asset and source of pride for our sailors, the shipbuilders and all Americans for years to come.”
Submarine sponsor Terry Stackley christened the boat on March 16, 2024 with water she collected from several lakes in Idaho. The submarine began construction in 2017 and will be the 26th Virginia-class fast attack submarine to deliver to the fleet, and the fifth U.S. Navy ship named for the state. The last ship named Idaho was battleship BB 42, commissioned in 1919, and which played a critical role in the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.
Virginia-class fast-attack submarines have enhanced stealth, sophisticated surveillance capabilities and special warfare enhancements that enable them to meet the Navy’s multi-mission requirements. Additionally, through the extensive use of modular construction, open architecture and commercial off-the-shelf components, the Virginia class is designed to remain state-of-the-practice
for its entire operational life through the rapid introduction of new systems and payloads.
USS Idaho Commanding Officer
Randall Leslie visited Sandpoint in September 2023 for a reception hosted by the Rotary Club of Sandpoint and the USS Idaho Commissioning Foundation, which includes former-Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, who serves the commissioning committee as chair.
photo.
“Virginia-class fast-attack submarines provide the Navy with the capabilities required to maintain the nation’s undersea supremacy well into the 21st century,” according to a news release.
To learn more, visit SSN799.org.
Travers parking lot to close for paving as part of overall park renovation
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff the north.
Big things are happening at Travers Park, as crews will pave the south parking lot located off of Pine Street. The work will run from Monday, Oct. 14 to Friday, Oct. 25, during which time the entire lot will be closed, temporarily removing access to the outdoor tennis courts, Tiny Woods Bike Skills Course and asphalt path on the southeast side of the park.
The skatepark will remain open, though accessible only from the southeast Pine Street sidewalk. Parking will be available at Great Northern Park, while the pathways on the west and northern sides of the park will stay open, as will the ball fields, which can be accessed from
According to city officials, the closure is necessary as part of the overall renovation of the south side of Travers, including the 7,000-squarefoot skatepark expansion that opened in July, the James E. Russell Sports Center, and inclusive playground and splash pad.
The cost of the paving project will run to $120,000, drawn in part from the $7 million gift from Jim and Ginny Russell, which has supported the development of the James E. Russell Sports Center. Remaining funds are being taken from the Sandpoint Parks Capital Budget.
At the Sept. 18 meeting of the Sandpoint City Council, Community Planning and Development Director Jason Welker said the asphalt work is
“going to really transform the face of Travers Park.”
Also in September, Welker announced that with irrigation and landscaping work slated for mid-October — including the planting of about 88 trees — “We are on track to have the building occupied by city staff around Nov. 15.”
After that, City Hall is aiming for a public unveiling of the finished James E. Russell facility to coincide with the annual Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot event, which this year will land on Thursday, Nov. 28.
Playground equipment is expected to be installed by the last week of October, leading to a “complete transformation of the playground area over the next few weeks,” Welker said.
Courtesy
Send event listings to calendar@sandpointreader.com
Artist Reception: Brandon Puckett
5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
THURSDAY, october 10
See October artist of the month Brandon Puckett’s vibrant, professional photography and have a glass of wine
Live Music w/ TJ Kelly
6-8pm @ Smokesmith BBQ
Live Music w/ Shine Sweet Moon
8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Live Music w/ Truck Mills & Carl Rey
6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuffs Beer Hall
Blues, folk and acoustic rock
Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Live Music w/ The Wow Wows
7-9pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Live Music w/ Weibe Jammin’
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Loop pedal pop sounds
Live Music w/ Whalien
8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Live Music w/ Tim G.
6-9pm @ MickDuffs Beer Hall
Acoustic rock
Pony Parade
12:30pm @ 5th & Cedar to 502 Church St. Carousel of Smiles ponies parade along the bike path through Matchwood Brewery to their new home
FriDAY, october 11
Play: Steel Magnolias (Oct. 11-13, 18-20) 7pm @ The Panida Theater A play by LPO Repertory Theater. Get tickets at LPOrep.com
Sandpoint Alliance For Equality launch 5:30-7:30pm @ Bluebird Bakery LGBTQI2S+ individuals and allies learn, reflect, and experience joy. Snacks, drinks
Artist meet and greet 4-7pm @ Misty Mountain Furniture
SATURDAY, october 12
Sandpoint Oktoberfest
12-6pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co. The second annual Oktoberfest with Matchwood, MickDuff’s, Laughing Dog, Utara and Timber Town. Family-friendly event with food/drink. Get more info on Facebook page
Open Mic Night
5:30-7:30pm @ Evans Brothers Coffee Music, poetry, stories and writing
Live Music w/ Sydney Dawn 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Veterans for Idaho Voters screening of Majority Rules
1-3pm @ Sandpoint Community hall
In-depth look and discussion of pros and cons of open primaries and ranked-choice voting
Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee
Magic with Star Alexander 5-8pm @ Jalepeño’s
Sandpoint Swing Dance
October 10-17, 2024
Game Night 6:30pm @ Tervan
Drumming Circle
Trivia Night 7pm @ Connie’s Lounge
5:30-6:30pm @ Phi Center School
Come to Clark Fork and bring your own drum or percussion instrument
Sandpoint Contra Dance 7-10pm @ Sandpoint Community Hall Dance and meet your neighbors. All ages welcome. $5 donation suggested
Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes 6-9pm @ 1908 Saloon
Play: Steel Magnolias (Oct. 11-13) 7pm @ The Panida Theater Get tickets at LPOrep.com
Harvest Fest
9am-2pm @ Farmin Park
Sandpoint Farmers’ Market closes out the season with entertainment, food booths, activities, displays and more
U-Pick Pumpkin Patch (Oct. 12-13)
10am-5pm @ Bushel & A Peck Farm Hay rides, barnyard animals, bounce houses, cider, food and more. 26 Shingle Mill & Hwy 200. From Sept. 29-Oct. 27
Live Music w/ Headwaters (21+) 9pm @ 219 Lounge Get down, boogie, kick up the dust bluegrass
SunDAY, october 13
Play: Steel Magnolias
2pm @ The Panida Theater Get tickets at LPOrep.com
6-9pm @ Sandpoint Community hall 1hr basic dance lesson then general dancing. $8 at door
Bring a potluck dish and enjoy fun with friends and neighbors. Silent auction with proceeds going to maintaining Oden Hall. Donations for auction tables are welcome
Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes
3-6pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
monDAY, october 14
Outdoor Experience Group Run
6pm @ Outdoor Experience 3-5 miles, all levels welcome
4-6pm @ Hydra Steak House Register 48hrs in advance: polkadotpowerhouse.com
Live Music w/ Jennifer Stoehner
5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Contemporary, pop, classical and OGs
tuesDAY, october 15
Live Music w/ Carson Rhodes
5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Game Night
6:30pm @ Tervan
wednesDAY, october 16
Bale Breaker tap Takeover
5-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Live music from Picked Up Pieces
Open Mic Night 6:30pm @ Tervan
ThursDAY, october 17
Trivia Night 7pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Bingo
6-8pm @Idaho Pour Authority
‘Merry Christmas Mr. Marconi auditions 5-7pm @ CREATE Arts Center, Newport More: outoftheboxentertainment.org
Trivia Night 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Beyond the Fantasy ski/board film
7:30pm @ Panida Theater Presented by Teton Gravity
Benny on the Deck finale • 5-7pm @ Connie’s Lounge Benny Baker and Friends all-star season finale
Live Music w/ Justin Lantrip 8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Litehouse YMCA open house 5:30-7:30pm Free event showcasing the YMCA. Games, prizes, arts & crafts
LPO Rep brings SteelMagnolias play to the Panida
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
Since its founding five years ago, Lake Pend Oreille Repertory Theatre has created some memorable moments on the Panida Theater main stage. Led by Keely Gray, LPO Rep continues to bring high-quality theater, music and performance arts to Sandpoint, and their upcoming production is sure to continue that momentum.
LPO Rep is performing six nights of Robert Harling’s play Steel Magnolias at the Panida, with show dates on Friday, Oct. 11-Saturday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 13 at 2 p.m., and a second weekend with performances on Friday, Oct. 18-Saturday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m., and a final matinee on Sunday, Oct. 20 at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $25 and can be purchased either at lporep.com or panida.org.
at an in-home beauty parlor where they discuss the upcoming wedding of Shelby (played by Julia Roberts in the film). The plot covers events over time, as Shelby deals with Type 1 diabetes and the women cope with conflicts that will resonate with many others who have dealt with similar issues in life.
Ultimately, the friendship shared by the women is the driving force behind Steel Magnolias — a message that Gray is excited to bring to the stage.
“It was another female-centric story,” she said. “It ties in with our whole season beautifully, coming off the heels of Legally Blonde.”
The cast features a who’s-who of Sandpoint’s local theater scene; but, for the first time in LPO Rep’s history, Gray cast understudies for two roles.
Steel Magnolias play
Friday, Oct. 11-Saturday, Oct. 12 and Friday, Oct. 18-Saturday, Oct. 19; 7 p.m.; Sundays, Oct. 13 and Oct. 20; 2 p.m.; $25. Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave., 208-263-9191, tickets at lporep.com or panida.org.
While many might recognize Steel Magnolias from the iconic 1989 film of the same name — and starring icons Sally Field, Julia Roberts, Dolly Parton, Olympia Dukakis and Shirley MacLaine — Harling’s play captures a slightly different snapshot of the same story, which still resonates.
Gray said she chose Steel Magnolias for LPO Rep’s sixth production not only for the impact the film had in the 1980s, but because of the messages the play leaves with audiences.
Set in a fictional Southern small town, Steel Magnolias is the story of a group of women who regularly gather
“The role of M’Lynn will be played by Nicole Luttman on the Friday and Saturday performances, and Karynn Thompson on the Sunday performances,” Gray told the Reader. “Both of them bring so much life experience and depth to the role.”
The other role to have an understudy is Annelle, played by Holly Sharp, on Friday and Saturday performances and Jessie McKechnie on Sunday performances.‘
“With both of these roles and the four women who play them, the shows will have a completely different feel,” Gray said. “I never wanted the understudies to feel like they were clones of the other actors, but instead, to bring their interpretation to the roles.”
Rounding out the cast will be Kate McAlister, bringing her trademark humor to the role of Clairee; Holly Beaman will play Shelby; Shelly Johnson will take on the role of Ouiser Boudreaux; and Aviana Elizabeth will tackle the role of Truvy, famously portrayed by Dolly Parton in the film.
“Truvy plays such a pivotal role in the story,” Gray said. “She is like the glue that holds them all together.”
Gray tapped Michael Bigley as stage manager, Terry Owens for lighting designer, Myriah Bell as sound designer and, along with her role as Annelle, Sharp will take on the props mistress duties. Nicole Buratto is set designer and Mary Ann Kutzleb will help with wigs. Gray will help tackle the costumes, and she wanted to give a shout out to Nikki Luttmann, “who is probably one of the best thrifters I have ever met. She seems to find gold every time!”
While Steel Magnolias the play closely resembles the plot of the film, there are some key differences.
“It takes place in the salon the entire time, whereas the film has many locations,” Gray said. “The other difference is the male characters. In the movie you get the brilliance of Sam Shepard and Tom Skerritt, but in the play they are only talked about.”
Gray said some of the dialogue almost matches the film word for word.
“Being based on the real-life story of the author Robert Harling’s sister, the play has the same wit and charm everyone knows and loves,” Gray said. “The characters are divinely written and a pleasure to dive into emotionally. This was a show I was looking forward to as most people know me for my comedies — which I love to direct — but drama
and the human condition and experience are why I love theater.”
Gray said the Friday, Oct. 18 performance will be a special one, as LPO Rep will collect donations during intermission to help benefit Community Cancer Services.
“So wear your pink and get your tickets to the 18th,” she said.
Ultimately, Gray said Steel Magnolias will be a play that will connect with many in Sandpoint — not only for its touching storyline, but because of its small-town setting.
“One of my favorite lines in the show is when Truvy is asked why all the gals are so nice,” Gray said. “And she says, ‘We’re all nice here, not much else to do in a small town,’ which I interpret as love for one’s community, which is what Sandpoint is all about.”
The cast of Steel Magnolias. Photo courtesy LPO Rep.
Oans, zwoa, drei, g’suffa
One, two, three, drink up at Sandpoint Oktoberfest
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
Sandpoint is going Bavarian on Saturday, Oct. 12 with its second annual Oktoberfest celebration in the Granary Arts District. Local breweries and vendors will congregate around Matchwood Brewing (513 Oak St.) and the central festival tent from noon to 6 p.m. for a day of games, German fare and, of course, beer.
Matchwood, MickDuff’s, Laughing Dog, Utara and Timber Town will serve up their best brews alongside heaping helpings of pretzels, bratwurst, schnitzel, Black Forest cake and other delights that will make the whole family’s mouths water.
Live music begins at 12:30 p.m. with a performance by bluegrass singer and guitarist Hannah Meehan, whose gentle, folksy stylings embody the feeling of a crisp fall day. At 3
p.m., the equally talented John Firshi will take the stage and use his eclectic tunes to provide the soundtrack for the 18+ masskrug rennen , or “stein race.” Contestants will challenge themselves to run along an established course without spilling their precious beer.
“The stein race is so great. Teams of two race along a fairly easy course with full steins. Head-to-head against another team, the winners advance to the next round,” said Andrea Marcoccio, CEO and co-founder of Matchwood.
“Last year we had a bride-to-be participate in heels and make it to the final,” she added.
Not interested in cardio? Try your hand at the masskrugstemmen , or stein holding contest, at 4:15 p.m. and see who can keep these hefty pours aloft the longest.
This year, all participating businesses have agreed to donate at least 10% of every sale to local veteran Dan Shoemaker, who is nearing the
end of his journey with brain cancer. The money will help his wife, Monica Boone, and their children, Holden and Hazel, cover the cost of living while they work through this difficult time.
While recovering from injuries sustained in Iraq, the Purple Heart recipient was diagnosed with astrocytoma, an aggressive brain tumor. Doctors estimated that he had five years left, but Shoemaker has fought for13 years, spending his time with his loving family as a stay-at-home dad.
“After risking his life for democracy and freedom, the least we can do is prost to him and his family, his ongoing battle and give a little money to ease the hardship facing their entire family,” said Marcoccio. For more information, or to donate to the Shoemaker-Boone family, visit facebook.com/ events/1235024480989519/.
BY THE NUMBERS
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
22%
The percentage of OB-GYNs who have left the state of Idaho since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022
55%
The percentage of fetal medicine doctors — high risk pregnancy experts — who have left the state of Idaho since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.
3
The number of labor and delivery units closed in the state of Idaho since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.
$53,402
The average annual salary of women working for state and local governments in 2022, which is 28.9% less than their male counterparts. According to the U.S. Census Burea’s 2022 Current Population Survey, men in state and local government earned an average of $68,845 during the same period.
MUSIC
Carli Osika, Connie’s Lounge, Oct. 12
If there’s a “radio-ready” sound, Carli Osika has it. Listen to a few of her tracks on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Music, and you’ll be listening to an artist who, if she isn’t already, will probably soon be one of today’s pop-country stars.
The Coeur d’Alene-based singer-songwriter has made the rounds from L.A. to Nashville and back home
to North Idaho, sharing her uber-polished performance style honed from a near-lifetime of gigging going back to the age of 15 at the Coeur d’Alene Rock School. This is a musician whose time has come — if you don’t believe me, listen to originals like “Whiskey and Him” and “I Don’t Really Wanna Know.” Better yet, catch Osika at Connie’s on Saturday, Oct. 12. That way, you’ll be able to say you knew her “back then,” before
she became a mega-hit.
6 p.m., FREE. Connie’s Lounge, 323 Cedar St., 208-255-2227, conniescafe. com. Listen on all the streaming services.
Shine Sweet Moon, Eichardt’s Pub, Oct. 11
It’s a little difficult to say where Shine Sweet Moon is based, considering that the duo operates out of a tour bus, popping up in places like Flathead Lake, Mont.; Fairplay, Colo.; Casper, Wyo.; and, lucky for us, Sandpoint, Idaho.
It’s also a little difficult to say when Shine Sweet Moon is based, with an acoustic guitar-and-fiddle-driven sound that seems to stretch across time from a free-wheeling folk-rock ’60s
vibe to experimental indie, which employs all manner of clever vocal and sound mixing tricks that add layers of complexity to the band’s pitch-perfect harmonies. We can’t think of a better venue than Eichardt’s in which to experience Shine Sweet Moon’s one-of-a-kind feel. Here’s hoping their bus passes through these parts more often.
8 p.m., FREE. Eichardt’s Pub, 212 Cedar St., 208-263-4005, eichardtspub.com. Listen at shinesweetmoon.bandcamp.com.
Carson Rhodes, Pend d’Oreille Winery, Oct. 15
When you listen to Carson Rhodes sing and accompany himself on the piano, it’s easy to hear echoes of the artists that inspire him — legends like Elton John and Billy Joel, and even contemporary phenoms like Bruno Mars. He’s both a skilled songwriter and cover artist, and will use his timeless voice to bring classic hits to life on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at
the Pend d’Oreille Winery. Sit back, close your eyes and let his faithful renditions of ballads like “She’s Always a Woman” transport you back to the height of soft rock. —
Soncirey
Mitchell
5-7 p.m., FREE. Pend d’Oreille Winery, 301 Cedar St. Ste. 101, 208-265-8545, powine. com. Listen on Rhodes’ Facebook page.
The Wow Wows, Idaho Pour Authority, Oct. 11
North Idaho band The Wow Wows is rounding out its 2024 schedule with a gig Friday, Oct. 11 at Idaho Pour Authority, bringing its signature brand of psychedelia-infused rock to the local watering hole for a free show.
With a Wow Wows performance, audiences are treated to a full electric sound that jumps with hints of vintage punk but isn’t afraid to get down with rhythms that flirt
This week’s RLW by Soncirey Mitchell
READ
Karen Russell is able to capture the humanity in the inhuman, revealing both ugly and beautiful truths about our existence with breathtaking precision. Her collection Vampires in the Lemon Grove is a masterclass in magical realism, spanning eight short stories that explore colonialism, aging and the ramifications of cruelty. Find it at the library.
LISTEN
The best soundtrack for game night, arts and crafts, or simply staring out the window watching the leaves fall is undoubtedly Medieval Vibes on Spotify. This mix of historic and modern (but ancient-sounding) music is cheerful yet relaxing, giving any room the air of a fantasy tavern where mead and good will flow freely. The gentle lute playing also melds into the background just enough to give a dash of inspiration without distracting from someone, say, writing the news.
WATCH
with shoegaze and a taste of the rockabilly sensibility. Throw in a few more self-applied descriptions like “trance, surf and alt-country,” and prepare to be wowed at IPA. — Zach Hagadone
7-9 p.m., FREE, 21+. Idaho Pour Authority, 203 Cedar St., 208-597-7096, idahopourauthority.com. Listen at thewowwows. bandcamp.com.
Whenever I need a good belly laugh I head over to YouTube and type in “school project,” followed by any piece of literature or class subject that tickles my fancy. The result is hundreds of videos made by high-school students making political campaign ads for fake candidates, terrible songs about calculus, and spoofs on famous plays and novels. Some are surprisingly insightful and well-filmed, and others are crossovers like “Hamlet: The Office,” which I never knew I needed.
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Shine Sweet Moon. Photo courtesy of Facebook
Carli Osika. Photo courtesy of Facebook
From Pend Oreille Review, October 9, 1914
GRIGGS THE STABBER DISCHARGED
Joseph Griggs of Granite, serving a sentence in the penitentiary for stabbing Clarence Franklin, was pardoned yesterday by the state board of pardons.
Griggs committed his crime at a dance being held at Granite on the night of January 18, 1913. He and Franklin were rivals for the hand of a certain young lady of that place. At the dance Franklin seemed to have the better of Griggs, who, becoming irritated by the “joshing” of others at the party attacked his rival and drove a knife into his back, inflicting a wound which it was for a time feared might prove fatal. Immediately after committing the act Griggs left Granite and came to Sandpoint and gave himself up, and on March 11, was sentenced to imprisonment from three to 14 years.
There has been a feeling among people in the county who were acquainted with the circumstances that Griggs had suffered enough punishment for his act and the pardon meets with general approval. Attorney A.P. Asher represented Griggs before the pardoning board, as he did also F.E. Blanchand, the Bonners Ferry robber who was committed to prison for a period of from one to 15 years last February, but whom the board refused to pardon.
BACK OF THE BOOK
This is my home
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
Philosophers and science fiction writers preach that humanity is an inherently selfish race. I suppose they’re right, in a way.
Hurricane Milton follows on the heels of Helene, destroying thousands of lives, yet the wealthy elite who sow this destruction continue to deny the climate crisis to protect their investments in coal and oil. They’ve decided that growing their obscene wealth is worth more than the Earth and the lives of everyone on it.
Those who have the privilege of selfishness abuse it to the fullest extent, but having grown up in a community with such a massive wealth disparity — having watched multi-million dollar second homes shade the rusting trailers of their neighbors — I have learned that most of us do not have the privilege of selfishness.
Everything is disposable to the people who live a life of “want,” rather than “need.” A sweater, house or person is only valuable until something they want more comes along to replace it. Life’s necessities — not just food and shelter but health, education, liberty — are taken for grant-
STR8TS Solution
ed because of their constant presence; and, because everything is served up so neatly, they take and take and use and waste, believing that the rest of the world does the same.
Philosophers and science fiction writers say we do.
Those of us who live in a world of need like to think that we’d do better if the roles were reversed, but can I say for certain that I’d retain all my principles if the odds were more skewed in my favor?
I’ll likely never have the opportunity to find out, so I’ll just keep that question tucked in my frontal lobe to torment myself with when I can’t sleep.
Instead of inventing a moral high ground I can’t prove I have, I’ve come to believe that it’s far more productive to think of selfishness as just another element of humanity that can be used for good or ill.
I hear a lot of locals (myself included) complaining about rich out-of-towners coming into Bonner County and buying up swaths of land to raze and develop.
“How dare these people come into our home and do this?” is asked on countless street corners and at countless public forums.
That protective, possessive love is just another, purer form of selfishness — one that might just save the world
Sudoku Solution
if we harnessed it. Take possession of everything and treasure it as a child treasures their favorite stuffed animal. These are my trees; they will not burn. This is my water; it will not be polluted. These are my neighbors; they will not go hungry.
Take the instinct to possess and use it as the impetus to cherish the world and everyone in it. Be selfish and take responsibility for all we claim to own.
Crossword Solution
The weirdest thing about going to the store and seeing a jar of pickles with your picture on it is not that your picture is on the jar. It’s that the store manager won’t give you the pickles for free, and doesn’t even think the picture looks like you.
Courtesy image.
Laughing Matter
Solution on page 22 Solution on page 22
By Bill Borders
CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1. Couch
5. Q-Tip
9. Brought into play
13. Jewish month
14. Beauty parlor
16. Plunder
17. Obtains
18. Coronet
19. Smooth or level
20. Fire residues
22. Quality of not being stale
24. Anagram of “Nose”
26. Couples
27. Navy bigwig
30. Words to a song
33. Wrist ornament
35. Hawaiian greeting
37. Chafe
38. Rips
Solution on page 22
12. Lairs
15. Spiteful
Exploit 71. French for “Head” Word Week of the
/LEV-i-tee/ [noun] 1. lack of appropriate seriousness or earnestness
“During the tense meeting, his joke brought a moment of levity that eased the atmosphere.”
Corrections: In the Oct. 3 article “What’s on the general election ballot?,” we misidentified the school levy ballot measure as directed toward LPOSD. The levy is actually for the West Bonner County School District. We apologize for the error.
