Sandpoint Reader October 6, 2022

The week in random review

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff

‘knocking the corners off’

I was recently discussing the benefits of teamwork and group settings with someone when they said that such settings are useful for “knocking the corners off each other.” I’d never heard the term, and it brought me a delightful image of people as river rocks, ever evolving thanks to the unique people and circumstances around them. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.

lyndsie’s lyrical pick of the week

“I love you like the mountain/ loves the way the morn ing opens/ to a soft and bright greeting from the sun.” —Tyler Childers, “Shake the Frost”

overheard tourists

As a teenage server at a lo cal breakfast establishment, I remember someone asking me if elk were just deer that lived at higher elevations. I inter preted his question to mean that he assumed white tails and elk were the same spe cies, and “elk” was just what we called them when they lived higher up in the mountains and somehow evolved to be larger, darker and more antler-endowed. A decade went by and I convinced myself that I’d simply misun derstood his question, until another woman from out of the area asked me the same thing. I’d like to go on the record: No, elk are not just extra-buff deer. They are their own thing. That is all.

cheaper than therapy

When I find myself searching for answers during particularly anxious times in my life, I have some habits that help — at least momentarily. Chief among them is buying journals. This past weekend, I bought a beautiful yellow one made of vegan leather. As usual, I am terrified to write in it. Still, seeing it on my desk brings me a weird sense of relief. Please tell me I’m not the only one.

READERDEAR READERS,

One “insult” some of our haters like to employ is to call the Reader “firestarter,” as if we are offended that someone would start their home fires with our sacred text. We aren’t. In fact, all of us really enjoy when our newspaper is used for alternative purposes. Some shred it and use it in their compost piles (our printer uses soy-based ink). Others roll it up and smack flies with it. One person sent me a picture of their parakeet cage lined with a Reader. Most of you probably use it to start a fire, though.

That being said, it’s frustrating around this time of year because people grab way too many copies of our free paper from the stacks we leave around town, making it difficult for others to grab their copy. If anyone needs firestarter, we’re happy to pro vide you with it. The copies that don’t get picked up always go into a recycling bin at the foot of our office stairs. Every two weeks, this bin is rolled out to the curb and taken to the recycling plant. Everyone is welcome to grab as many copies as they like, no need to call. If you need directions on where exactly the recycling can is, call us anytime at 208-946-4368 or email ben@sandpointreader.com and we’ll point you in the right direction. Burn on, Sandpoint.

–Ben Olson, publisher

111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 (208) 946-4368 www.sandpointreader.com

Publisher: Ben Olson

ben@sandpointreader.com

Editorial: Zach Hagadone (Editor) zach@sandpointreader.com

Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey (News Editor) lyndsie@sandpointreader.com

Cameron Rasmusson (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus)

Advertising: Jodi Berge Jodi@sandpointreader.com

Contributing Artists: Jim Williams (cover), Ben Olson, Racheal Baker, Mayday Health, Bill Borders

Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey, Lorraine H. Marie, Brenden Bobby, Jacob Fischler, Marcia Pilgeram

Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com

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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 alterna tive by offering honest, in-depth reporting that reflects the intelligence and interests of our diverse and growing community.

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

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About the Cover

Allery

stuff

food

This week’s cover photo was taken by Jim Williams, who is giving a presentation on moun tain lions at Pine Street Woods. See Page 12 for more info.

Threat to Sandpoint schools resolved

Incident raises awareness of how to opt into district’s message system

By Reader Staff

A social media post threat ening possible violence at local schools Oct. 3 resulted in the criminal charge of a Sandpoint High School student and prompt ed the Lake Pend Oreille School District to encourage families to either sign up for message alerts or confirm their contact informa tion with their children’s school.

LPOSD Superintendent Dr. Becky Meyer took to the dis trict’s social media page to share news of the event on Oct. 3.

“We want to let you know that our district leadership was made aware of a social media post this morning, referring to possible school violence,” she wrote. “Sandpoint and Bonner County Law Enforcement were immediately alerted and are investigating. We do not have reason to believe that the threat was made by or toward any LPOSD students.

“Please be assured,” she con tinued, “our normal operations are in place with extra security

and law enforcement presence on our campuses.”

The Sandpoint Police Depart ment went into more detail about the report on its own social media, stating: “This morning a Sandpoint High School student reported to the school admin istration they had seen on a comment on [social media video platform] TikTok about a student being upset with another stu dent and a reference to a threat to bring a gun and shoot up the school.”

SPD went on to state that the department did “not believe there is a credible threat to Sandpoint High School,” but that officers were “taking all precau tions to ensure our students, staff and visitors are safe.”

Following the investigation, and later that same day, SPD reported that it had “located an SHS student who has admitted to posting the threat” in order “to create chaos in the school” that day. The student was charged accordingly, SPD said.

While LPOSD did send out

alerts via email, text and phone call, the district’s social media postings featured comments from families who claimed not to be notified. In response, dis trict officials have reiterated that such alerts are shared through the SchoolMessenger platform to people who opt in.

“Our reports show that some families had registered land lines, which are ineligible to receive SMS messages,” LPOSD officials stated. “Many families have also not opted in to our SchoolMessenger system.”

To opt in, text “Y” or “Yes” to LPOSD’s specific code num

ber at 67587.

Those who believe they’ve already opted in but are not receiving messages can contact their child’s school directly to confirm that their contact infor mation on file is correct.

City pushing Comp Plan forward, still looking for public input

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

There was a tone of frustra tion in the Oct. 4 meeting of the Sandpoint Planning and Zoning Commission, as members took in a presentation on the results of the recent Comprehensive Plan survey, which only drew 202 respondents.

“Two hundred doesn’t sound like enough,” said City Attorney Fonda Jovick.

“Not in a city of 10,000,” add ed Commissioner Luke Omodt.

The survey informs the on going efforts to craft an updated plan for future growth. City leaders last crafted a Comp Plan in 2009, making this revision particularly important, as much has changed in the community since then — and more so over

the past three years, with its wave of population growth.

Big things are happening with the Comp Plan process, including a meeting Tuesday, Oct. 18 at 5:30 p.m. to review the draft Jobs and Economic Development and Natural Resources Hazards chap ters, followed by all-day Housing and Neighborhoods workshops 1-6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 26 and Thursday, Oct. 27 at City Hall (1123 Lake St.). The open house-style format will include a mapping exercise on density; a review of regulations regarding height, density, standards and uses in various areas; how to define “neighborhood character”; and vi sual preference related to housing types, such as duplexes, townhous es, multi-family, cottage housing and accessory dwelling units.

Responses to almost every

question in the survey came in the range of 76-83% in favor, with a consistent percentage registering unfavorable to the Comp Plan statements:

•“The City of Sandpoint cele brates our local culture, character, and connections with our scenic surroundings, and cultivates a vibrant community for generations to come.” (72% agree);

•“A diverse mix of businesses and nonprofit organizations benefit from the quality education, versa tile workforce, fair taxes, sensible regulation, and reliable connec tions to the region and the world.” (76% agree);

•“Development should be based on principles that assure good stewardship of resources and responsible outcomes relative to the built and natural environ

ment.” (83% agree)

•“Development should pro vide connections among people through a diverse mix of housing, walkable and bike-able neighbor hoods that are safe and secure, ready access to recreational facili ties and public spaces, and robust street and digital infrastructure.” (78% agree)

•“The Sandpoint community should be inspired to create, expe rience, and support our history, so cial events, recreational pursuits, and art of all kinds.” (77% agree).

Lacking much public engage ment — the Sandpoint Reader was the only observer of the Oct. 4 meeting — commission members must work with the feedback they have, and it was scanty and unrep resentative, given its small sample size, according to officials.

“The desire of the communi ty is supposed to pour into your Comprehensive Plan, and that re quires involvement, and then your Comprehensive Plan — in a per fect world — feeds back all of that information that came into it from the public and then gives direction to the commission and the council for establishing your codes,” said Jovick. “That’s the whole purpose of the Comprehensive Plan.

“But if you don’t have a broad spectrum of your community pouring information in to help de velop a Comprehensive Plan that truly is reflective of a cross-sec tion of the community’s needs, then you’re missing bits and pieces,” she added, “But you can’t go out and force people to provide information and give input. So you rely on the information you get from those who choose to

Photo by Ben Olson.

As fires burn, closures remain

Hunters and recreators should stay informed before heading into North Idaho forests

By Reader Staff

Smoky skies across the whole of North Idaho might be few and far between as the weather cools, but the public should remain aware that many blazes are still burning and fire officials depend on recreators and hunters to make sure everyone stays safe until the snow flies.

North Idaho’s largest fire, the Kootenai River Complex, in the Bonners Ferry Ranger District, continues to burn and covered nearly 23,000 acres on Oct. 5. Boundary County residents near the fire might still be struggling with smoke, but the shifting of the season is likely to continue tamping down fire activity.

“Fire activity is reduced due to shorter days, lower tempera tures and higher daytime humid ity,” U.S. Forest Service officials stated in an Oct. 5 update. “How ever, a season-ending event has not yet occurred, and fire remains on the landscape. Expect to see continued smoke until the snow falls or significant rain occurs. Still, with decreased fire behav ior, the threat is much less than it was earlier in the season.”

The lightning-caused Koote

nai River Complex currently sits at 85% completion, meaning that 85% of planned fire mitigation operations have been deployed. While many fires are measured by containment, the accessibility of certain terrain changed the metrics by which fire officials tracked progress on this particu lar event.

Crews are soon slated to begin removing structure protection equipment like pumps, hoses and sprinklers from certain cold, burned areas of the fire.

“Equipment will remain around properties that could still be impacted,” officials stated. “Firefighters will stay in the area and continue strengthening firelines, testing pumps and hoses still set up, and cooling the fire’s edge where they can access it.”

There are currently no evac uations in place for the Koote nai River Complex, although residents along Westside Road closest to Ball Creek, Burton Creek and Clark Creek remain in the “ready” stage of the “ready, set, go” evacuation stages, and should have a plan in place to gather all important documents and other vital belongings in case of an emergency.

As hunting season continues, those planning to hunt on public land should check with their local ranger station about safety clo sures to forest access. In relation to the Kootenai River Complex Fire, the following National For est Trails and Roads are closed: Ball Creek Road (FR 432), Trout Creek Road (FR 634), Cascade Creek Road (FS 2411), Russell Mountain (No. 12), Russell Ridge (No. 92), Ball and Pyramid Lakes (No. 43), Pyramid Pass (No. 13), Pyramid Peak (No. 7), Fisher Peak (No. 27), Trout Lake (No. 41), McGinty Ridge (No. 143), Clifty Mountain and Clifty/ Burrow (No. 182), Myrtle Peak Trail (No. 286), Burton Peak Trail (No. 9), Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail (No. 221) and Long Canyon Trail (No. 16).

There are also closures in place related to the 1,220-acre Diamond Watch Fire in the Priest Lake Ranger District near Nordman, including the Petit Lake Dispersed Campsites as well as Forest Service Roads 1362H, 308 and 311.

“In the opened areas, the public should be prepared to meet heavy equipment and other fire traffic on roads; be aware that

weather conditions such as pre cipitation and wind can rapidly change conditions on the ground, especially in fire areas,” USFS officials stated. “Wind can blow trees across roadways and trails and precipitation can wash debris across roadways and trails block ing access and [raising] stream and river levels. Forest visitors must be prepared to stay longer than expected due to changing circumstances.”

Forest visitors are encouraged

to bring adequate food, water and other provisions to aid in staying in the woods longer than expect ed; a chainsaw, fuel and shovel in case of trees and other debris blocking the road; and a way to communicate depending on des tination, such as a cell or satellite phone. Hunters and recreators should also always tell someone where they are going, and when they intend on being back.

Johnson Creek Bridge replacement commencing next week

By Reader Staff

The U.S. Forest Service will begin replacement work on the Johnson Creek Bridge near the Clark Fork River on the eastern shore of Lake Pend Oreille start ing the week of Oct.10, USFS officials stated in a media release Sept. 29.

The bridge will remain closed to public use for the duration of the project with an expected com pletion date in February 2023. During that time, travelers should use alternate driving routes.

Johnson Creek Bridge, a treat ed timber structure built in 1957, is located at Mile Marker 0.71 on Johnson Creek Road, immediate ly south of the Clark Fork River

delta, near Highway 200, just west of Clark Fork.

According to the media release, “USFS engineers have identified structural deficiencies in the timber structure and will replace it with a concrete bulb tree bridge that will provide ac cess to the Johnson Creek-Lakev iew Road for decades to come.”

This project is in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of En gineers and the Idaho Department of Lands.

Alternate Driving Routes

For travelers heading south from Highway 200 driving to Lakeview, Cedar Creek, Whiskey Rock and Granite:

The recommended detour from the north is taking Dry

Creek Road/Forest Service Road 230 to High Drive Road/Forest Service Road 332, then tie back into Johnson Creek Road via Johnson Saddle Road/Forest Ser vice Road 1066 to Forest Service Road 278/Johnson Creek Road.

Another detour would be Twin Creek Road/Forest Service

Road 277 to Ruen Creek Road/ Forest Service Road 1021 to High Drive Road/Forest Service Road 332, then tie back into Johnson Creek Road via Johnson Saddle Road/Forest Service Road 1066 to Forest Service Road 278/ Johnson Creek Road.

These locations can be ac

cessed from the south on Bunco Road/Forest Service Road 332 to Johnson Creek Road/Forest Service Road 278.

“The Forest Service appre ciates the public’s tolerance of these temporary inconveniences while the needed upgrades are underway,” the agency stated.

VA outreach planned in Clark Fork

By Reader Staff

Bonner County Veterans Ser vice Officer Bryan Hult will be at the Clark Fork Public Library Tuesday, Oct. 18, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. to answer questions about current veteran’s benefits, assist

with ongoing claims, and initiate new claims for benefits for eligi ble veterans and their dependents.

The Clark Fork Public Library is located at 601 Main St. Veter ans will be seen by appointment only to ensure participants are given quality time. Call 208-255-

5291 no later than Friday, Oct. 14 to schedule an appointment. If there are no appointments scheduled for the outreach, or if conditions prohibit travel, the outreach will be canceled.

The Kootenai River Complex, courtesy USFS.

NEWS

participate.”

Omodt also emphasized the importance of community involvement — and defini tions for who lives where. Often, residents who don’t live within Sandpoint city limits retain Sandpoint addresses, and wonder whether they are required to adhere to Sandpoint Code.

“The city of Sandpoint Comprehensive Plan is a legal document, so, there’s many people who have strong opinions, as they have invested potentially generations into our community. I would advocate as much clarity as possible to this plan so people un derstand there are boundaries to this plan.” Omodt said.

The frustrated nature of the meeting cen tered on what P&Z Commissioner Ameila Boyd called “misconceptions” about what can and can’t be done by city officials and City Hall staff, especially regarding growth.

“There’s a lot of talk about the corner of First and Bridge Street,” she said. “There’s a lot of misconception of what we and City Council can actually do. … I don’t think they [the public] understand the right of ownership, and what they can build.”

That was a theme of the proceedings, following the presentation. City Hall has heard enough complaints about develop ment and representation that electeds and staff alike singled out those concerns.

“What I got from the comments of the survey is, ‘ We don’t need condos down town.’ We can’t control who buys and owns property as long as they follow the codes. We can’t force them to do affordable hous ing,” said City Planner Amy Tweeten, re ferring to the luxury condos planned for the corner of First Avenue and Bridge Street.

She added that, based on the comments to the survey, there were many concerns about design and the type of people — based on market rate, that is to say “well off” — who might one day own those spac es, but not about height.

“If there was an affordable housing proj ect downtown, is 65 feet OK?,” Tweeten said. “Is it the character [that community members are really concerned about]?”

Commission Chairperson John Hast ings said he’d heard from “more than one source” that “community desires, communi ty norms, should outweigh the rights of the individual property owner, and that’s not the way it works Idaho — I don’t think that’s the way it works hardly anywhere, but I’ve heard that from multiple people.”

Jovick said something similar: “The public needs to understand that this is Ida ho, and there are still fundamental rights to owning property.”

Tweeten, for her part, keyed into the aversion to growth held by many Sandpoint residents.

“People are very touchy when some thing comes close to their home,” she said,

referring to the notion of “neighborhood character” and how it may or may not be altered by development, later adding: “How do we get to ‘yes in my backyard,’ versus ‘not in my backyard every time?’”

What the Oct. 4 meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission came down to was a plea for more citizen engagement, as the Comprehensive Plan will guide growth in Sandpoint in both the near and short terms.

“The first thing I would ask some body who complains about what’s not being done to protect them is, ‘Are you participating?’” said Jovick. “‘Have you answered the surveys? Are you providing input? Are you coming to the meetings? Are you at least watching them after the fact?’ They’re all published. ‘How are you … participating in the process, because now is your opportunity.’”

Upcoming workshops

Little Sand Creek Watershed Recreation Plan

Saturday, Oct. 8 — 10 a.m. All are invited to celebrate the completion of the new Little Sand Creek (LSC) Wa tershed — “Lower Basin XC” multi-use, soft-surface trail. Please join the Pend Oreille Pedalers (POP) at switchback No. 4 on Schweitzer Mountain Road for a ribbon cutting ceremony, to ac knowledge the effort between the City, POP, the trail builders, and dozens of volunteers who put in more than 700 hours of labor to get this trail added to the Lower Basin network.

The planning team will be in town all next week to assist the city in the plan ning for the Little Sand Creek Watershed Recreation master plan. There will be two public meetings and all are invited:

Tuesday, Oct. 11 — 5:30-8 p.m. at City Hall Council Chambers (1123 Lake St.). All are invited to a general overview meeting about the Little Sand Creek Watershed recreation planning project. There will be two presen tations: 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., including feedback and Q/A oppor tunities with the planning team from the National Park Service-Rivers, Trails and Conservation Association.

Wednesday, Oct. 12 — 5:30 pm at Matchwood Brewing (513 Oak St.). The city of Sandpoint and POP are holding a focus group meeting for all trail users in Bonner County who wish to share their vision for recreation in the Little Sand Creek Watershed. Inter national Mountain Bike Association’s (IMBA) Trail Solutions team will be in town to kick off the development of a detailed trail plan for the Lower Basin and the greater Watershed west of Schweitzer Mountain Road.

Bits ’n’ Pieces

From east, west and beyond

East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact. This column might best be dedicated to “too many cans kicked down the road for too long.” A recent sampling:

A bill passed late last week to avert a government shutdown. ABC reported that the bill keeps the government fund ed through mid-December. Coal industry supporter Sen. Joe Manchin attempted to insert special corporate-friendly privi leges for energy permitting “reforms,” but dropped those plans due to opposition from progressives and Republicans alike. The temporary plan includes funding Federal Emergency Management Act disaster relief.

The debt leverage Republicans seek regarding the national budget is, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s chief policy officer, Neil Bradley, “a hostage you can’t shoot.” Axios reported Republicans may want to negotiate a post-December budget by asking for a reversal of President Joe Biden’s policies. Bradley’s thoughts: “A government shutdown is like putting your hand on a hot stove and holding it there until the government reopens. Defaulting on the debt is a thermo-nuclear act that destroys all of Western civilization.”

To avoid a global recession, the Federal Reserve needs to stop raising interest rates, the United Nations recently stated, adding that the Fed’s policy “could prove worse than the economic disease.”

The recent Category 4 Hurricane Ian may be the most expensive storm in Flori da’s history. CoreLogic, a research firm for natural disasters, estimated a high of $47 billion in damages. (Hurricane Katrina in 2005 cost $108 billion). CoreLogic predicted Hurricane Ian will put insurers into bankruptcy, and homeowners will be forced into delinquency. Some areas expe rienced rainfall regarded as once in every 1,000 year events, CNN reported. Most of the affected homes did not have flood insurance. The death toll is more than 100 people, with more likely to be discovered.

When serving in Congress, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis opposed aid for Hurricane Sandy victims in 2013, but now wants federal help. For the uninsured, that won’t help much, The New York Times reported: FEMA aid typically pays an inadequate $40,000 (or less) per lost home. It’s up to Congress to decide if it will authorize Disaster Recovery grants, which can take years to reach those in need.

Florida is more climate-threatened than most states. Belief in climate change there, among Republicans, has doubled to 88% since 2019, according to Florida

By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist

Atlantic University. Nonetheless, the state’s Republican politicians side with and accept campaign funds from climate-denying corporations (the governor has received more than $800,000 from oil and gas indus try donors, according to followthemoney. org). U.S. House Clerk records show every Republican Floridian politician in Con gress voted against a bill that would have provided their state with billions of dollars for flood mitigation and climate-related weatherization.

DeSantis mocked the $19 billion that was headed to his state, the Orlando Sen tinel reported. Nearly 6,000 temperature records were broken in the U.S. in July, The New York Times reported. In recent years the prediction was that weather this extreme would not occur until 2050.

From various sources: Phone calls from Russian soldiers indicate they are poorly equipped and commanded, disillusioned and disgusted with Russian President Vlad imir Putin. A vote for annexing portions of Ukraine to Russia, regarded by Western nations as a “sham,” resulted in Russia declaring it had “annexed” four provinces. Since then, Russia no longer has full con trol of those areas due to Ukraine’s military maneuvers. Now, facing an unpopular conscription, Russians are resisting the war and at least 150,000 have fled Russia.

The United Nations’ food chief has warned that widespread food shortages could occur next year due to blockage of fertilizer supplies and climate influences When he took his U.N. position six years ago, David Beasley said 80 million faced starvation. Now, the number is 135 million. The situation requires ASAP action, Beasley says. He has met with billionaires to ask for help.

Blast from the past: In the Old Testa ment, Joseph advised Egypt’s pharaoh to set aside a portion of every abundant harvest to assure survival during famine years. In the face of climate change and destabilizing conflicts, and given that the U.S. has let stockpiles dwindle, revisiting stockpiling is likely due. In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s secretary of agriculture, Henry Wallace, adopted a similar Biblical stance: An Iowa farmer, Wallace had seen food prices soar during droughts and corn being “almost worthless” during optimal growing years. A granary of reserves helped smooth out price fluctuations. Now, according to the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, with shrunken grain stashes our food system is less resilient, and we should again consid er reserves of staple crops.

‘What century are we in?’ Biden asks of University of Idaho ban on abortion counseling

Memo sent to UI employees singled out during a public meeting of the White House Reproductive Rights Task Force

By Jacob Fischler States Newsroom

The federal law prohibit ing sex discrimination also bars colleges and universities from denying counseling and other services to abortion patients and contraception to all students — even in states where abortion is now severely restricted, the U.S. Education Department said Oct. 4.

The guidance, which clar ifies the longstanding rules for federal Title IX funding that virtually all colleges and universities receive, comes as several states have moved to ban or greatly limit abortion. The federal insistence on com pliance with the Title IX regu lations appears to be in conflict with some state policies.

The University of Idaho, for example, issued a memo last month telling its em ployees not to provide repro ductive health counseling or contraception to students to comply with a state law.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris singled out the University of Idaho during a public meeting of the White House Repro ductive Rights Task Force on Oct. 4.

“They told university staff they could get in trouble just for talking or telling students about birth control,” Biden said, referencing the memo. “Folks, what century are we in?”

Idaho is among the 13 states where nearly all abortions are illegal following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June that removed the nationwide right to an abortion, accord ing to the reproductive rights policy research organization Guttmacher Institute.

The Idaho Supreme Court convenes Thursday, Oct. 6 to hear oral arguments on the mer its of three Idaho abortion laws.

The federal high court rul ing “has sown fear and confu sion on our college campuses,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said at the task force meeting.

The guidance Oct. 4 was intended “to remind schools of their obligations under Title IX,” he added.

The department’s civil rights office determined in June that a Utah community college violated Title IX by not making accommodations for a preg nant student and encouraging the student to drop a course because she was pregnant.

The University of Idaho memo said university employ ees could not provide patients with birth control or emergency contraception. The document referenced a 2021 law that bans public funding to “procure, counsel in favor, refer to or perform an abortion.”

Standard birth control can still be dispensed at student health facilities, whose workers are not employed by the uni versity, according to the memo.

A spokeswoman for the university did not immediately return an email seeking com ment on the Education Depart ment guidance and Biden and Harris’ remarks.

Abortion bans have affected other health services, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Oct. 4.Women have been denied prescriptions to treat miscar riage or conditions like arthritis and there are “threats to contra ception,” including for college students, Jean-Pierre said.

Harris noted that 19th-cen tury laws banning abortion in

Arizona and Wisconsin have recently gone into effect.

Doctors testify before White House task force

The White House task force outlined some dire consequenc es of state abortion bans.

In Wisconsin, the abortion ban is sending some patients to Minnesota and Illinois and leav ing many who need care with out access, Dr. Kristin Lyerly, a Green Bay OB-GYN, said.

And it’s had a chilling effect on abortion providers, who can now only perform an abortion when the mother’s life is at risk. But even the judgment required in that decision could scare doctors from performing a medically necessary proce dure, she said.

“Pregnant people don’t have a warning light that comes on when they’ve crossed that threshold,” she said. “In places like Sheboygan County, where the district attorney has specifi

cally said that he will prosecute physicians, can I count on him to trust my clinical judgment?”

Georgia OB-GYN Dr. Ni sha Verma told the task force that she’s had to turn away patients with high-risk preg nancies or fetal abnormalities since that state’s six-week ban went into effect.

“Imagine looking someone in the eye and saying, ‘I have all the skills and the tools to help you. But our state’s poli ticians have told me I can’t,’” she said.

Biden, Harris urge Con gress to pass law codifying right to abortion

Biden, Harris and JeanPierre all urged Congress to pass a law codifying a nation wide right to abortion.

“If there were a national law that was passed in the Unit ed States Congress to protect reproductive care, so-called [state] leaders could not ban

abortion,” Harris said. “They could not criminalize providers. They could not limit access to contraception.”

Biden added that congressional Republicans would seek a nationwide abortion ban, alluding to South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham’s bill introduced last month to enact such a ban.

This story was produced by national nonprofit re porting project States Newsroom, which has affiliates in 29 states, including Idaho. For more information, visit statesnewsroom.com.

A digital billboard truck ad vertising reproductive health care options traveled around Moscow and parked in front of the U of I Administration Building Sunday, Oct. 2. Photo courtesy Mayday Health.

Bouquets:

GUEST SUBMISSION:

•“I dedicate HUGE Bouquets to the students who ‘in minutes’ reported the TikTok threat to our schools. Thank you for being aware and brave! You quite pos sibly saved many lives.”

— By Trine Grillo

•We’re so thankful for having such an engaged community of readers in this town. I was a bit surprised how much support peo ple showed after my “Dear Read ers” note last week about reading banned books and writing articles about them in the Reader. I even got a call from the College of Idaho in Caldwell after someone sent a screenshot of the message on Facebook (I stopped using Facebook a couple of years ago, so I didn’t know it was making the rounds on social media un til the phone call). A few of you have suggested forming a banned book club to help share the load, which is a great idea, but I’m one of those weird misanthropes who doesn’t join clubs. If anyone out there wants to spearhead this ef fort and coordinate writing articles about banned books in the Read er, please email me at ben@sand pointreader.com and I’ll consider it. I sometimes suffer from the old adage, “It’s easier to do something yourself than to delegate respon sibility to others,” so it’s not that I don’t appreciate everyone’s offers — I feel this is a personal journey I’d like to take, though. Expect to see the first banned book review in the coming weeks.

Barbs:

• One of the most important tips you can ever learn when it comes to arguing (or even just talking) with others is to avoid interrupting them while they are speaking. I struggle with this, too, as I always want to get my point out before it disappears. Listening is just as important for conversation as talking.

Send Steve Johnson to the Idaho Senate…

Dear editor,

A brief request of Bonner and Boundary county voters: Please write in Steve Johnson for District 1 senator. Don’t forget to fill in the box beside his name to make your vote count.

I know you’ve heard or read it many times by now, but it bears repeating. Steve has been a resident of Bonner County for decades. He is a farmer and has been both a teacher and a principal. He is a listener who will cast his vote only after gathering the facts. He knows us. He is one of us.

Steve Johnson is honest and fair. Let’s choose the high road and write in Steve’s name for District 1 senator. You won’t find his name on the ballot so you will want to write it in and fill in that box.

I hope that however you vote — absentee, early or on Nov. 8 — that you will join me and send Steve to the Idaho Senate to represent all of us!

Dear editor,

The tax-and-spend Democrats, their secret allies here in North Idaho and their big corporate allies down in Boise are at it again. They’re spending a lot of money to try and distract us from the fact that Scott Herndon represents true North Ida ho values. Scott believes in defending the right to life, liberty, property and safety for everyone in the state. He believes in small limited government. And he believes that government should be fiscally conservative.

the young people of Bonner County. What better representative?

I encourage you to write in Steve Johnson while you still have that right.

job fairly representing North Idaho.

His opponent ran on a platform that catered to a miniscule number of far-right voters. Since only regis tered Republicans could vote in the closed primary and only the truly dedicated vote in the primary, the incumbent lost.

Johnson focuses on ‘real issues for real people’…

Dear editor, May 17 was a shocking day for the citizens of Bonner and Bound ary counties. In a closed Republican primary, Sen. Jim Woodward lost to Scott Herndon. Voter turnout was modest, resulting in an upset by Herndon, the master of nasty and deceitful campaign tactics, including apparent violations of Idaho cam paign finance laws.

For years now the Idaho GOP has squeezed out independents and non-affiliated voters to the detri ment of the majority of Idahoans. We can change that this November. There is an independent write-in candidate that would better repre sent a broader spectrum of Idaho ans than the GOP Senate candidate. Those who aren’t committed to a label should write the name “Steve Johnson” as the write-in candidate for District 1 Senate this November.

Let’s have majority rule.

‘A vote for governmental change’…

Helen Newton Sandpoint Dear editor,

Like our great country, the state of Idaho has a republican form of government. The Founding Fathers of both our country and state designed the government that way to protect the rights of citizens. When we elect representatives to make laws that reflect our values, it is important to choose candidates who have a firm moral foundation and understand that government is designed to pro tect the natural rights that God gave us — not to take our rights, property, and way of life from us and redistrib ute them as they see fit.

Scott Herndon is just such a man. He has a strong moral foundation, which he has demonstrated through out his life here in North Idaho. Many people may not know this, but Scott volunteered as a chaplain in the Bonner County jail where he could have a direct impact on helping wayward men build their own moral foundation in Christ. If we elect Scott Herndon (the Republican nominee for our state Senate seat) in November, he will use that same moral founda tion to represent North Idaho values in Boise and help get our government back on the right track.

Kathryn Barlow Sandpoint

As a state senator, Herndon will fight for small business owners, farmers and working people. As a small business owner in this community this is of vital impor tance to me. He knows that taxing and spending to “redistribute” our earnings for the sake of “equity,” or to promote liberal values is the wrong policy for North Idaho. Scott Herndon knows that we want to see our country get back to the prin ciples on which it was founded with “liberty and justice for all.”

If you want to see that too, vote for Scott Herndon to represent North Idaho in the Senate

Anita Aurit Sandpoint

‘Write in Steve Johnson while you still have that right’…

Dear editor,

This letter is not to the editor, even though he is a nice guy. This is to my lady friends, my sisters, all women. It matters little if you are for or against abortion. That issue is your individual personal choice. The larger question is should the govern ment pass laws that dictate what you can do with your body? Mr. Herndon thinks so. Notice please, ladies, it has never even been whispered that we have laws that dictate what a man can or can’t do to his body.

This is solely an attack on females and candidate Herndon wants to take away your rights. That would be the first step toward “morality police” and other suppres sive acts towards women.

Herndon’s “right to life” beliefs however, do not extend beyond babies. His philosophy is that all of us have the right to own automatic weapons. Guns that are designed for one thing and one thing only: to kill other human beings.

Steve Johnson is a write-in alternative. Steve, a local man, has spent his life educating and uplifting

In comes a savior named Steve Johnson. With utmost integrity, life long Bonner County resident Steve Johnson, has stepped up to challenge Herndon in the Nov. 8 election for District 1 state senator. Honest as the day is long, Steve cares about the needs and desires of the residents of Bonner and Boundary counties.

Based on the volume of cam paign support through donations, letters to the editor, yard signs, button wearing and overall enthusi asm, residents are relieved and ex cited that there is a choice against Herndon. And Steve Johnson is a choice that believes in real issues for real people. Join me in this write-in option to ensure Herndon is defeated. When you see Scott Herndon on your ballot, on the line below, darken the bubble and writein Steve Johnson.

Join the fast-growing army of supporters in this grassroots effort to elect Steve Johnson.

Bev Kee Sagle

Write in Johnson to return Idaho to majority rule…

Dear editor,

On Nov. 8 Idaho voters will choose candidates to represent them at the county, legislative districts and state levels. These are important decisions. However all too often these positions are chosen based on tradition or party label. That should not be the case.

Let’s look at the last prima ries. On the GOP slate we had an incumbent who was doing his best to represent the majority of his constituents, be they Republican, independent or Democratic. In the opinion of most, he was doing a good

Gil Beyer Sandpoint

Don’t forget to fill in the bubble for Steve Johnson, Dist. 1 Senate…

Dear editor,

We need a man like Steve John son to represent us in the Idaho Senate. I have met Steve. I find him to be a respectful listener and sensible man. He is a locally raised and educated Idahoan. He spent 42 years as a teacher and principal in our local schools. As a farmer and landowner, he believes in preserving our rural lifestyle with common sense development as well as keep ing our public lands public.

He will fight to lower property tax by doubling the homeowner’s exemp tion. He supports public education. He supports funding for Idaho’s sorely needed infrastructure improvements. He believes women should have the right to medical privacy in making their own decisions regarding contra ception, reproduction and health care. He is a gun owner who believes in common sense gun laws.

These are issues many of us care about. By turning a blind eye to extremists like his opponent Scott Herndon, our rights are slowly being taken away in the name of “Liberty and Freedom.” I do not want the “freedom” to be told who to love, where to worship, what to read and when to have children. Those should be private choices and decisions. While we still have the freedom to vote, we need everyone to partici pate. Please write in Steve Johnson’s name for state senator on your November ballot. And don’t forget to fill in the bubble. Thank you.

Margie Corcoran Sagle

‘Scott Herndon represents true North Idaho values’…

K.L.Huntley Sandpoint

Dear editor,

The first article of our Idaho State Constitution reads as follows: “All men are by nature free and equal, and have certain inalienable rights, among which are enjoying and defending life and liberty; acquiring, possessing and protecting property; pursuing happiness and securing safety.”

The second article is also key to our way of life in Idaho. It reads: “All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for their equal protection and bene fit, and they have the right to alter, reform or abolish the same whenev er they may deem it necessary; and no special privileges or immunities shall ever be granted that may not be altered, revoked, or repealed by the legislature.”

Scott Herndon is the only candi date for our District 1 Senate seat who fully understands the meaning and importance of these two decla rations. More importantly, he is the only candidate for our District 1 Senate seat who understands where the principles inherent in these two articles flow from and why they need to be protected.

All those who agree with these first two articles of our State Consti tution should vote Republican. Vote for Scott Herndon to represent us in the Idaho State Senate.

Kendra Martin Sandpoint

Herndon filed and lost a lawsuit against the city of Sandpoint over allowing guns at the Festival at Sand point and taxpayers ended up paying for the legal costs on both sides.

On abortion, Steve Johnson believes that the government has no business involving itself in a person’s private medical decisions.

Scott Herndon believes that there should be no legal abortions for any reason, which is increased govern ment control.

Steve Johnson believes in democracy, which separates church and state. Scott Herndon wants to create a theocracy.

Write in Steve for democracy!

Ken Thacker Sagle

Satanic Temple sues Idaho...

Dear editor,

The Satanic Temple filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn Idaho’s abortion ban. It wants Idaho to allow their members the ability to continue receiving voluntary abor tions as part of a religious ritual.

TST is using word tricks to usurp the unborn natural rights, granted well before the Fram ers signed the Constitution. The Declaration of Independence “holds these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The 1973 Roe SCOTUS decision launched a period of increasing moral decay; how could we fight for our nation’s values and institutions while murdering more than 60 million unborn.

The time to act is now.

Rodrigo Silveira Priest River

Editor’s note: According to the Satanic Temple’s website (thesan tanictemple.com), its “religious abortion ritual” “involves the recitation of two or our Tenets and a personal affirmation that is ceremoniously intertwined with the abortion,” “provid[ing] spiritu al comfort and affirm[ing] bodily autonomy, self-worth and freedom from coercive forces.” Its intention, according to the organization, is to protect members “from enduring medically unnecessary and unsci entific regulations when seeking to terminate their pregnancy,” and exempts TST members from “un necessary regulations” under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Sharing banned books…

Dear editor, I’m just finally getting the chance to read this week’s edition of the Reader [Sept. 29, 2022]. I’ll be trying to read those “banned books” as well and I have encour aged a few of my more conservative acquaintances to do the same. They genuinely are intrigued, and they seem more than receptive to look at this issue and see what all of the hoopla is about because they feel that their rights, as well as their children’s rights, are being violat ed… go figure! Anyway, keep up all of the great work.

immoral, wasteful and damaging to the economy of our country as a whole. We feel the pain from those bad policies every day as we head to the gas pumps and the grocery stores. Fortunately, our Republi can nominee for the Idaho Senate, Scott Herndon, understands these issues well and will fight for the common-sense limited spending and tax cuts that can get our state and nation back on the right track. If you are tired of the kinds of taxand-spend policies that are ruining our future like I am, make sure to get out and vote for Scott Herndon next month, on Nov. 8.

Faith Brenneman Sandpoint

Dear editor,

The differences between the two candidates for Idaho Senate Dist. 1 are:

On property taxes, Steve Johnson recognizes the problems caused by recent huge increases in property values and wants to help us by in creasing the Homeowners exemption. Scott Herndon doesn’t care.

On preserving our rural lifestyle, Steve Johnson wants to preserve access to our public lands and en courage growth that preserves open space. Scott Herndon wants to sell off our public lands to the highest bidder. This would be the first step toward Idahoans losing access to our favorite hunting and fishing spots.

On guns, Steve Johnson believes in the common-sense gun ownership he has enjoyed his entire life. Scott

The 6-3 Dobbs decision, which TST seeks to overturn by a run around, opened the door for We the People to fight to bring our nation back to our future, enabling us to become agents of the restoration of our nation’s values and character.

We must energize our local and state representatives, executives and members of the Judiciary, to prevent organizations like TST, which have been at the center of our nation’s moral decay for de cades, to use cheap unconstitutional tricks to prevent our state from stop murdering the unborn.

A failure to act will mean ac cepting the moral decay of the past 50 years as an integral part of our nation’s fiber. This is not the nation we want to bestow to our future generations.

Dear editor, Steve Johnson is a retired edu cator who is running as a write-in candidate against Scott Herndon. In January, our legislators will appropriate $410 million in addi tional education funds. We know that Steve Johnson will vote to send that money to our rural public schools. His opponent will vote to send that money to his preferred programs, which will weaken rural schools and cost taxpayers more money in the long run.

Scott Herndon’s voucher pro grams would divert money away from public schools and then send it to private and religious schools. This robs our rural public schools of critical funding. In addition, public tax money should never be used to pay for private or religious schools (tinyurl.com/mry8k7x3).

As a side note, Scott Herndon received $4,000 from Larry and Marianne Williams, from Boise, who support private and religious for-profit schools. Herndon had to amend his donation report to avoid violating campaign contribution rules (tinyurl.com/58dpzd8y).

Write in Steve Johnson because he will vote to send our tax money where it is needed most: our rural public schools. Remember, when you see Herndon, write-in Steve Johnson — and fill in the box next to his name.

Linda Larson Sandpoint

Dear editor,

Steve Johnson for Idaho Senate District 1 is the best choice. He is honest, supports funding quality public education, is a supporter of women’s privacy rights to make informed health decisions with her doctor, is a proponent of public lands and will fight to reduce prop erty taxes. He has been a lifelong resident of North Idaho and believes in preserving our rural lifestyle.

His opponent Scott Herndon, on the other hand, has extreme views and legislative proposals that will take away women’s rights, takes money from public schools, wants to sell public lands and moved here from outside of Idaho to change what locals love about it. Also, he lied about his opponent in the primary election and cost taxpay ers tens of thousands of dollars by leading the county to sue the city of Sandpoint over the safety require ments at the Festival at Sandpoint.

Remember to write in Steve Johnson for District 1 state sena tor. He will fight for the issues that matter to North Idaho. Write in his name and fill the bubble to make your vote count and keep Idaho out of the control of extremists.

Julie Menghini Sandpoint

Dear editor, We North Idahoans are suffer ing from the effects of poor U.S. fiscal and economic policy that is

Dear editor,

This letter is in response to a letter to the editor in the Sept. 29 Reader by Jenn McKnight.

Scott Herndon wears “nice datenight looking” shirts! C’mon North Idaho voters! Is this your best criteria for hiring an important em ployee? Please, where you see Scott Herndon’s name on your ballot, WRITE IN STEVE JOHNSON on the blank line instead. Steve Johnson wears suspenders over a plaid shirt!

Besides that, I think he has socks under his boots. Let’s show people that we North Idaho voters know how a hard-working guy is supposed to dress!

And don’t forget to fill in the bubble next to Steve Johnson’s name when you write it in. Thank you!

Jill Trick Sandpoint

Got something to say? Write a letter to the editor. During the run-up to the general election, the Read er will only accept letters 200 words or less to help conserve space. Letters over this word limit will be rejected. Also, please no excessive profanity or libelous statements. Please elevate the conversation. Trolls will not be tolerated.

‘Write in Steve Johnson for democracy’…

Johnson will fund public, not private, schools…

Steve Johnson will fight for issues that matter to N. Idaho…

Vote for their policies, not the clothes they wear...

‘Vote Herndon for better economic policies’

Herndon understands, will defend the Idaho Constitution…

Your devoted readers,

Tim and Dodie Koch Sandpoint

Science: Mad about

programming languages

By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist

I never intended to leave you hanging again, dear reader. Fortunately, Ben had my back and managed to crank out an awesome article on very short notice last week! Fortunately, I wasn’t sick this time, but on vacation, where I managed to soak up a bunch of fun science and history facts for another article.

Have you ever wondered what makes your computer work? How is it that a mass of metal, silicone and copper wires produces images of cats puking up rainbows or giving you a preview of what you may look like in 60 years?

There are a lot of layers to this, like an electronic tiramisu, but at its heart are programming lan guages. A programming language is a means for humans to commu nicate what they need a computer to accomplish in a way that makes sense for the human, while also executing operations on the ma chine. Behind your simple call of, “Alexa, find me pizza,” is a host of machine language meticulously designed by software engineers.

How does the machine under stand our words?

Let’s start at the beginning.

In 1822, Charles Babbage de veloped the difference engine, the

first true mechanical computer the world had ever seen. The program ming language used by the differ ence engine was sets of physical gears that would be swapped out of the machine to perform specific algorithmic tasks. The input was literally Babbage putting gears in the device. The gears would interact in a specific way with other gears, such as turning them a preset number of spaces, to produce a result to an equation, which was the output. You wouldn’t get any funny cat videos pouring out of the difference engine, but it meant that a mathematician wouldn’t have to spend time memorizing something, or writing something down when a machine could do it for them.

Computers as we know them now wouldn’t appear until well over a century later. One of these first electronic computers was the ENIAC, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, devel oped by the United States gov ernment and completed in 1945.

Instead of mechanical gears, the ENIAC had a number of electronic switchboards. Operators would flip switches to on or off positions based on what needed to be input into the machine, essentially a form of binary code that all digital com puters operate on in some capacity to this day. ENIAC was used to cal culate artillery trajectories by the U.S. military, though the usefulness

of being able to quickly calculate large and difficult equations wasn’t restricted to just this task. The groundwork laid by ENIAC would prove to be vital when it came to sending humans to space.

As you can imagine, flipping switches and typing in vast quan tities of 0’s and 1’s is a time-con suming affair. What’s the purpose of solving a huge equation if someone can still write it down faster than you can punch it into a machine? This is where things called scripts come into play. Scripts are a set of commands for a computer that tells it to perform a specific number of tasks, often consolidating other tasks into the process to speed everything up. Instead of punching in a huge swath of binary code every time you need to solve an equation, run a script that does the repetitive part for you. Within the script, you can even account for variables that change the outcome.

Being able to automate the foundation of programming lan guages gives humans more time to create more advanced programs and develop technology rapidly. As is true of everything I pack into a few hundred words every week, this is a massive oversim plification and not meant to be viewed as the whole picture.

There are a large number of programming languages out there, though some you may have heard of are Java, C, C++, C#, HTML and Python. There are several books at the library that give you an intro to many of these if you’re hoping to learn on your own.

Some programming languag es even use a visual interface that allows you link blocks of text together to create code. Not having to type your code means no worries about typos jamming everything up.

Did you know that the library is starting two Girls Who Code groups for after school? Girls

Who Code is an initiative to get more females involved in STEM by giving them a foundation in coding. More women in careers that require computer program ming means better representation for women everywhere. Large companies depend on the technol ogy sector for virtually everything, from logistics to marketing, which means the voices of those in technology are heard the loudest. Technology has largely been a white male’s club for quite some time, and giving girls access at a young age to the tools they need to succeed can help change that.

If you, or a girl you know, are interested in joining one of the library’s afterschool Girls Who Code clubs, you can email me for registration information at bren den@ebonnerlibrary.org.

One group is for girls in the third-fifth grade, and the other is for girls in sixth-12th grade. You don’t need to have any experience in coding in order to join.

The library has a few more coding-related programs in the pipeline, so keep your eyes peeled for more information in the next few months.

Stay curious, 7B.

Random Corner

Don’t know much about isaac newton?

We can help!

•There is no evidence that sup ports the fable that Isaac Newton was hit on the head and received an “aha moment” that led to formulat ing his now-famous laws of motion, but it’s possible he developed an un derstanding of the force of gravity by observing a falling apple.

•Newton’s mother originally wanted him to become a farmer, but he loathed that profession. Born premature and slight for most of his early years, she conceded that he wasn’t built for rural work and allowed him to pursue a formal education. He attended the King’s School in Grantham between the ages of 12 and 17. The school is still opera tional today, and includes New ton’s signature engraved on one of the windowsills.

•In 1664, Newton was awarded a four-year scholarship to Cambridge University, which gave him a chance to quit his many parttime jobs to contemplate new ideas. A year later, the bubonic plague forced Cambridge to close for

two years, during which Newton returned to Woolsthorpe Manor, resulting in an extremely produc tive period. It was during this time he supposedly saw the falling apple on the Woolsthorpe grounds.

•Newton invented calculus, but was a pretty shabby investor. He lost £20,000 (a whopping $5 million in today’s dollars) invest ing in the South Sea Company.

•Newton’s Principia was a collection of three books in which he wrote about the theor y of grav ity, among other subjects. In these volumes, he introduced three important laws of motion:

1.If there is no outside force, a stationary object will not move. Without an outside force, a mov ing object will stop; 2. More force equals more acceleration; 3. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

•Newton never married, likely had Asperger’s syndrome, and died of stomach pains at 84 years old.

NAMI Walks Your Way event aims to raise mental health awareness

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

When it comes to mental health issues in North Idaho, there are a handful of organizations whose mission is to provide help where it is needed. NAMI Far North — the local affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness — tops the lists for not only providing education and awareness, but assistance to those experiencing mental health episodes.

To help spread awareness, NAMI Far North is participating in NAMI Walks Your Way for the first time. This charity walk has been promoted by the national or ganization for years, but Saturday, Oct. 8 marks the first time NAMI Far North is hosting its own event.

“This is probably one of the biggest walks in the country for mental illness,” said Dawn Mehra, president of NAMI Far North.

Starting at 10 a.m. on Oct. 8, the local NAMI Walks Your Way event will take place on the Sandpoint to Dover walking trail. Those inter ested in participating in the free

event should meet on the Sandpoint side of the trail (1717 Ontario St.), and plan on a short three-kilometer walk. Look for the signs to find the event location. Those not interested in walking are welcome to show up to support the cause.

“We’ll have prizes and lots of entertainment, live music, snacks, water, loads of free goodie-filled backpacks and more,” said Mehra.

For Mehra, participating in this year’s charity walk is a way for NAMI Far North to help grow and provide more services to the community.

“We’re working on a big proj ect to build a clubhouse in town,” Mehra told the Reader. “This will be a place where people can go for six months or a year while they’re recovering.”

One of the main goals of NAMI Far North is to promote less stigma when it comes to men tal illness.

“There are a lot of people in this town in particular who have conquered and recovered and are living with their mental illness in a functional way,” Mehra. “People

need to understand that these diseases are treatable, but they’re actually physical diseases — they just involve the brain, which is such a complicated organ. Educa tion is really, really important to getting that stigma gone.”

Mehra can speak to that stigma, since her family has seen its own struggles with mental illness. Sever al years ago, her child experienced a mental health crisis and was hospi talized in another country.

“The journey back was so tor tuous, during which time NAMI members were there for our whole family, every step of the way,” she said. “NAMI basically saved our family because we didn’t know how to navigate the mental health care system. It’s really different from going to the doctor for a broken arm. The brain takes much longer to heal than a bone — probably 10 times longer.”

“We want NAMI’s advocacy and stigma reduction to help make it acceptable for all individuals who are experiencing any level of mental health issues, depression, anxiety, as well as the more seri

ous illnesses to become more at ease in seeking treatment,” said NAMI Far North Treasurer

Catherin Perusse. “My father lived with depres sion his entire life but never sought treatment, and thus spent his whole life depressed. He had been told to act like a man, buck or, or work harder! Treatment could have made such a difference in his life.”

NAMI Far North is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization begun in 2009 and composed of eight board members and a varying number of volunteers and supporters. They host free movies every quarter at the Sandpoint Cinemas in Ponderay, which attract anywhere from 20-40 people, and general meetings each month with guest speakers who cover every aspect of mental health awareness. Meet ings and movies are always free to attend.

“I think the fact that this group is peer-led means these people really understood where I was,”

Mehra said of her experience deal ing with NAMI after her child’s mental health episode.

“Most of them had worse things happen,” she added. “When you walk into a group and yours is not the worst problem in the room, it gives you a lot of support.”

To participate in NAMI Walks Your Way, show up to 1717 Ontario St. on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 10 a.m. and join the short walk along the bike path to Dover. If you are ex periencing mental health issues or just need someone to help steer you in the right direction, reach out to NAMI Far North at 208-597-2047 or visit namifarnorth.org.

Courtesy photo.

Path of the Puma event sheds light on wild cats

By Reader Staff

With all of the attention that Pine Street Woods received over the recent mountain lion activity there, Kaniksu Land Trust invited wildlife biologist and mountain lion expert Jim Williams to come from Montana to talk about his engaging experiences with this elusive animal. “I love to talk about wildlife and conservation, but I also like to have fun and entertain,” he said.

Williams will share photos, videos, and personal experiences from his 20-plus years as a wildlife biologist and his time in Patagonia studying pumas.

The event will take place on Friday, Oct. 7 at 6 p.m. inside the “Sled Barn,” a new event venue at the Pine Street Sled Hill property, 11735 W. Pine St. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with beer from Mick Duff’s being served. KLT has requested that guests bring their own mug or cup to reduce waste.

“This is our first event at this new venue and we are so excited to open the “Sled Barn” to our friends!” said KLT Communications Director Marcy Timblin.

Timblin also noted that KLT was given permission to use the venue for this educational event by the current property owners.

“We are still fundraising to purchase the land and details on that can be found at kaniksu.org/savethesledhill,” she said.

The Montana-based Sportsman and Ski Haus is sponsoring the event with prizes and giveaways including gift cards for outdoor gear. Jim is donating a copy of his book, Path of the Puma, which he published in collaboration with Patagonia Clothing Company, to be given away at the event.

Tickets are $5 with proceeds going toward KLT’s conservation work. Tickets can be purchased online at kaniksu.org/ events/path-of-the-puma.

Williams is the partnerships manager for the Heart of the Rockies Initiative. The Initiative supports and partners with 27 land trusts in the northern Rockies and Canada. He is an award-winning, professionally certified wildlife biolo gist who has worked for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks for the last 30 years. He received an undergraduate degree

in biology with an emphasis on marine biology from San Diego State and Florida State universities, and his graduate degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University in Bozeman.

Williams also studied mountain lion ecology for his master’s degree on Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front, and has focused on mountain lion and other wildlife conservation issues in various roles ever since. As a wildlife biologist in central Montana, Williams managed big game populations ranging from pronghorn antelope and elk to mountain goats, worked with private agricultural landowners on wildlife tolerance issues, developed new conservation easements, wildlife management areas and other habitat conservation projects.

In 2018, Patagonia Inc. published his autobiography, Path of the Puma, which shares some of those adventures and the story of mountain lion conservation in the Americas. Penguin Random House Audio recently published the audio version of Path of the Puma, which Wil liams narrated.

On my laptop, in the folder ti tled READER, there are 680 doc uments.

I’ve had this particular laptop since the summer of 2018, so it’s only missing about a year of work dedicated to this newspaper, which became my full time job in 2017. The files in that folder are mostly haphazard notes, titled by topic followed by an underscore and the word, in all caps, “NOTES.” To solidify my status as a document hoarder, I must admit that these documents are often duplicates of Google Docs that still exist be cause the Cloud is a fickle thing and I’m not about to lose hours of work trusting technology. (It ap pears that Reader Publisher Ben Olson might actually be wearing off on me in that area).

Those laptop documents are riddled with misspelled words from frantic typing, my own thoughts and interjections in brackets and half-written ledes that never saw the gray light of newsprint. In fact, I’d guess that nearly half of the words present in those 680 docu ments never made it into the Read er due to space constraints and, in many cases, because this job is rife with asides; rabbit trails are part of the job, which is essentially to talk to humans and relay the most important parts of what they said. Humans like rabbit trails, and I’ve stumbled down a few compelling ones over the past five years.

Take, for instance, last week, when I interviewed Hawaiian ac tress and singer Tia Carrere. Many people — particularly men who came of age in the 1990s, two of whom I work with — will remem ber Carrere as the beautiful and edgy rock musician Cassandra Wong, love interest of Mike My ers’ Wayne Campbell in the 1992 film Wayne’s World and in Wayne’s World 2 the following year.

This launching point for her ca reer came up when I interviewed Carrere ahead of her Oct. 5 per formance at the Panida Theater as part of the music group Masters of

Hawaiian Music. Wayne’s World exists just outside my pop culture knowledge, but I knew enough to know that the rough and rowdy rock ’n’ roll she performed in that movie exists on the opposite side of the musical spectrum from the traditional Hawaiian tunes with which she’d be serenading North Idaho audiences.

That’s when Carrere offered up a nugget of movie trivia that you’ll only read in the pages of this news paper.

“Singing Wayne’s World stuff was very difficult for me,” she said. “I got laryngitis a couple of times while recording that record. It’s hard to sing like that. I don’t like singing like that.”

This information did not make it into the Masters of Hawaiian Music article (much to Reader Editor Zach Hagadone’s dismay) simply because it did not fit. This is why many of my most fascinat ing celebrity tidbits go away to die in the READER notes folder — there is no room, or no reason, to include them.

This has happened on many oc casions over the years, with sourc es both internationally known and of the hometown hero variety. I can’t always share the off-the-cuff facts, the frank moments of vulner ability or the weird and wonder ful rabbit trails that result from a good conversation. They are “off the record” in a very literal sense (though Carrere’s were not), but they always give me rich insights into the people I’m writing about. I’d say that’s worth something.

Festival at Sandpoint announces poster contest, season passes on sale and new rules for 2023

By Reader Staff

The Festival at Sandpoint is now accepting submissions for the 2023 Fine Art Poster Contest.

The Fine Art Poster tradition has been ongoing since the start of the Festival in 1982. What started as advertisement and fundraising for the nonprofit arts organization has now become a way to show case some of the community’s many talented artists and celebrate and publicize their work.

The original art piece is un veiled in July and a silent auc tion for the artwork begins. The auction ends at the conclusion of the Grand Finale concert. Copies of the original art piece are printed and sold for just $12, as well as various merchandise items. All proceeds go to the Festival at Sandpoint’s mission and serve as a fundraiser for the organization’s educational outreach programs.

In addition to a publicity boost, the winner will receive two season passes through the sponsor gate to that year’s summer concert series. For currently enrolled high school

or college students who meet specific criteria and requirements, a scholarship option could be applied in lieu of tickets.

All ages are encouraged and welcome to apply, those 18 years of age or under will require parental/ guardian consent. Applications are due by 5 p.m. Feb. 1 and a winner will be selected by March 1.

For applications, criteria, important dates and more informa tion, visit festivalatsandpoint.com/ poster-contest.

Meanwhile, the Festival announced 2023 season pass sales started Oct. 1, which sell for $299. There are a limited number of season passes available, and pass holders take advantage of highly discounted prices from regular ticket prices.

The nonprofit is gearing up for their 40th anniversary in 2023 by announcing several important up dates to its season pass and venue policies and procedures to imple ment industry safety standards and in an attempt to protect customers from ticket scamming services.

Next year, season passes will

be reusable, transferable badges with a single barcode that guests use to scan in each night. Season passes will not have individual tickets for each concert. Pass holders will not be able to upgrade their badge or concerts to early entry. For early access to concerts, possible tax deduction and other benefits, patrons are encouraged to become a season sponsor.

Hard-sided coolers will not be permitted in 2023, though soft-sid ed coolers will be permitted in the venue. In addition, wagons, strollers, scooters, skateboards and rolling, hard-sided coolers will not be permitted. To expedite the se curity scanning process, clear bags are encouraged, but not required.

One of the biggest changes will be the new policy of no re-entry to the venue once guests have entered and scanned their tickets. If a guest leaves the venue, they will not be allowed to enter again for that night.

To purchase a season pass and for additional information, visit festivalatsandpoint.com or call 208-265-4554.

Tia Carrere showing off her musical talents in Wayne’s World. Courtesy photo.

dumb of the week

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

After Florida Gov. and Garbage Human Being Ron DeSantis lured 50 migrants onto a plane and flew them unannounced to Mar tha’s Vineyard to prove what for him counts as a political point, the residents of the island community reacted by immediately providing the migrants with services and support, showing compassion in the face of the ugly stunt. Despite right-wing media outlets attempting to accuse Martha’s Vineyard of “deporting” the migrants within 24 hours, they were actually transferred to Cape Cod, a much larger community where they were given access to food, shelter and emergency services, according to Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker’s office. Facts matter. The attempts by those on the far-right fringe grew al most comical, as a blog calling itself the “Idaho Tribune” decided to tweet this facepalm of a message, instantly becoming the laughingstock of Reddit for about three whole days:

What followed were about 3,600 replies absolutely lambasting the “Idaho Tribune” for its tone deaf and callous tweet. One replied: “Seems like the $600,000 spent on flying them there could have paid for a lot of name brand cereal.” (DeSantis reportedly paid $12,300 per person to fly the migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, totaling $615,000 of Florida taxpayer money.)

Another wrote: “They are being clothed, fed and housed. Who gives one fuck that it’s Crisp Rice instead of Rice Krispies except for the bigots who supported their forced migra tion to Martha’s Vineyard?”

Indeed. The desperate lengths that some people will go to promote these faux outrages is astounding. Martha’s Vineyard residents helped people who were in need, showing much more “Christian charity” than those charlatans claiming to be godly people.

That’s the takeaway here, not what kind of cereal was served.

‘We want to make sure everyone stays warm for the winter’

Firewood Rescue provides wood for those in need

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

Winter in North Idaho is a beautiful time of year, but for those in need, staying warm can be difficult. That’s where the nonprofit Firewood Rescue comes in. Started in 2018 by Paul Krames, the organization aims to provide those who have an emergency need for wood to get them through hard times.

“It’s a challenge sometimes staying warm in the winter here,” said board member and administrator Eileen Esplin. “We have been blessed with being able to provide for ourselves, but not everybody is. We want to make sure everybody stays warm for the winter.”

In its fourth year of operation, Esplin said Firewood Rescue serves about 60 households each year, with the hope to provide for more every year.

Firewood assistance is open to anyone who believes they may qualify. Esplin said those who think they qualify should email firewoodrescue2020@gmail.com and provide a little information to see if they can receive a load of wood to help get them through.

“We ask that they tell us a little about the wood recipient or themselves,” Esplin said. “We need a working phone number, an address and what their issues are — are they a senior citizen, handicapped, low income and needing help? We just had a customer call who was over 90 and broke her hip and need ed some help. That’s what we’re here for.”

Firewood Rescue doesn’t provide people with full cords of wood to get through the winter, but rather smaller loads to help in an emergent need, for example if a family runs out of wood late in the winter and has no resources to procure or purchase the wood themselves.

“For those looking for wood to help get them through the entire season, we encour age them to apply for energy assistance at the Community Action Partnership,” Esplin said.

Community Action Partnership has a program in which they cover firewood, pro pane or electric heating bills. Applications will be accepted starting Tuesday, Nov. 1. Call 208-255-2910 for more information.

“It’s a great program because they pro vide you with money to purchase firewood or propane to get you through the winter,” Esplin said.

Firewood Rescue sources most of its wood through donations from the community.

“We get a lot of calls to pick up people’s

Volunteers help split wood for Firewood Rescue to provide to those in need. Courtesy photo. trees and sometimes people have firewood already cut up that they want to donate,” she said. “We don’t go out and clear land or take down trees or clear property of firewood. Many of our volunteers are senior citizens, so we have to make sure they’re safe and careful. We also have a couple of tree services that have brought us wood that we process, including Oliver Tree Service and Sand Creek Tree Service. Also Hickey Farms has donated a lot of firewood to us over the last two years.”

Firewood Rescue serves Bonner and Boundary counties, reaching as far north as Moyie Springs, east to the Montana border, south as far as Athol and west all the way to Oldtown.

“We prioritize those that need fire wood and give the highest consideration to low-income disabled individuals, the elder ly or low-income folks who are seriously ill,” Esplin said. “We serve anybody who is in need, though, and I always try to return phone calls and emails within 24 hours.”

Esplin said there is no harm in asking about qualifying conditions — more often than not, people will qualify.

“Unless you’re of medium income or have money and are able-bodied, we usually are able to provide you with some firewood on a one-time basis for emergency purpos es,” she said. “If you’re completely out of firewood or just about ready to be, we want to make sure you have enough to stay warm through the winter.”

Bank on The Bank

A shareable food menu and handcrafted cocktail bar has found a niche in Sandpoint

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

All it took was one bite from The Bank’s family style menu and a sip from their innovative cock tail bar to convince me this wasn’t your ordinary restaurant. For owner Nick Nizzoli, the plan was always to serve fresh food from local farmers in a simple, elegant manner. Paired with craft cocktails and a swanky atmosphere along the west bank of Sand Creek, the future certainly looks bright for this new start-up.

Fans of La Rosa — and later Beet and Basil — will enjoy seeing life back in the historic building along First Avenue. A few small changes have updated the feel of the building, including a new entryway installed along the north wall, a cocktail bar in the back room facing Sand Creek and new modern tile work and décor inside the dining room.

Flipping through The Bank’s menu, it’s evident that Nizzoli has focused his business on support ing local farmers and vendors every step of the way.

“Working with local farmers is one of our cornerstones,” Nizzoli told the Reader. “The quality of the product is far superior, but more importantly, they are in our community. … We wanted to start with those in our community and represent the food coming out of North Idaho, which isn’t known for its mass production. We have one of the best farmers’ markets in a town of 8,000 people and we feel the need to celebrate that a little bit.”

The Bank has partnered with a host of local farmers and food producers, including bread from Bluebird Bakery. Other vendors include Woods Meats, Pack River Farms, Mountain Cloud Farm, cheese from Selle Valley Cream ery, chickens and wildflowers from Grumpy Chicken Farm, the Red Wheelbarrow Farm and many others.

“A lot of our menu is inspired by Alice Waters and her book, The Art of Simple Food,” Nizzoli said. “There is an emphasis on identifi

able ingredients from local fields, but put together in a way that’s new and exciting. It pairs with our cocktail program well — which is not overly complicated ingre dients, but instead, simple spirits and ingredients presented well.”

They say a bar can be judged by the quality of its Old Fash ioned, so that’s the first cocktail I ordered. I was pleased with the result — an aromatic Bourbon served with a single large ice cube, accompanied by an orange peel and Luxardo cherry. An other favorite was called Spring in Europe, a refreshing mixture of Kettle One peach and orange blossom vodka paired with St. Germaine, aperol, lemon, saline and rosemary. The result was a light, not-too-sweet creation everyone will enjoy. Anything ordered from the bar is sure to be a winner, as they handcraft these quality concoctions with love.

“I’m certainly passionate about the cocktail side of things,” Niz zoli said. “I think it can be an art form and there’s a certain chemis try and creativity and attention to detail that we look for.”

Nizzoli is no stranger to the food industry, with his father Jeff running Eichardt’s, one of Sand point’s most successful pubs and eateries, for the past 28 years.

“Both of my parents owned successful businesses in Sand

point,” he said. “Especially with Eichardt’s having the legacy it does, that instilled in me from a young age what it takes to operate in this industry.”

Nizzoli plans to keep the food menu engineered as shareable, but update it often with new items for particular seasons.

“I think it’s the most authentic way of dining,” said Nizzoli of the shareable menu. “It pairs really well with good company and good cocktails. As we shift to a more winter-focused menu, the idea is to keep a small menu that we can rotate frequently with whatever cool ingredient we can get that week. We want to have that flexi bility to always be innovating and trying something new.”

The addition of new chef Eddie Sneva of Dish at Dover Bay fame is an exciting new develop ment that will lead to a few small changes in the coming months.

“Eddie and I know each other personally and communicate real ly well,” Nizzoli said. “I wanted to have him come on because he has more talent than he’s getting to display on a day-to-day basis. Being a smaller volume venue, he’ll be able to explore some areas of cooking he enjoys more.”

Regarding the board of fare, the Bank Board features a refreshing collection of local cheeses, spiced chevre and hummus, toasted nuts

and market crudites and pickles.

The choices were comforting and delicious, but some items such as watermelon radishes were a pleas ant change from the norm.

The Woods grilled smokie sausage dish featured an assort ment of grilled squash, corn relish, roasted peppers and Woods’ famous smokies, culminating in one of my favorite dishes so far. It has a rustic, farm-to-table appeal, with fresh, tasty ingredients cooked just right.

One special that everyone loved was the fried green tomatoes from Pack River Farms, served in a crunchy polenta crust and delicious vadouvan yogurt dipping sauce.

The only order that didn’t stick the landing was the prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe, served with burrata cheese, pickled Fresno chilis and breadcrumbs from Blue bird Bakery. All of the ingredients were delicious individually, and a gentle spice was welcomed, but the combination of juicy can taloupe and savory ingredients didn’t work for me. This was im pressive, because having a daring dish that does not work means the kitchen is experimenting with new, innovative flavors, not just relying on the same old, same old. It shows their dedication to take risks and explore intriguing new arrangements, which we don’t see too often. Kudos to their effort.

Topping off our experience

Left: Fried green tomatoes were a hit with the whole table. Center: A prop erly made Old Fashioned is a thing of beauty. Right: The Bank Board is the ultimate shareable for a hungry table. Photos by Racheal Baker.

was the hibiscus pavlova for dessert, a unique compote with a fantastic texture served with lemon curd, rose cream and fresh fruit. The cosmic apple walnut cake was also a warm, comforting way to finish our experience.

Dinner usually begins at 4 p.m. most nights of the week, but check The Bank’s website for updated hours of operation, which are expected to adjust in the winter season. Also to come is the opening of the dining room on the south side of the building with a fireplace, which will serve as a private area for events, gatherings, wine dinners and cocktail pairings.

Finally, Nizzoli plans to add lunch service at some point soon, with weekend brunch also in the works.

Whether looking for a great date night eatery or a cocktail with friends after work, you can bank on The Bank becoming a favorite haunt for foodies looking for an experi ence off the beaten culinary track.

The Bank is located at 105 South First Avenue, at the corner of Pine and First. Visit their web site at thebanksandpoint.com or call 208-948-2952.

Putting the ‘champ’ in champagne

Learn the art of sabrage and you’ll conquer every party

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

Some activities seem to have everything going for them. Sa brage, or the art of opening a bottle of champagne with a saber, must be high on the list. It has a rich history, it displays a certain flair to an already exuberant activity, it adds class to an already classy beverage, it involves a sword and it’s inherently dangerous.

Odds are most people have at least a passing familiarity with sabrage, and probably associate it with the poshest of posh occa sions. Its origins, however, are much more rough-and-tumble.

The most-told tale is that Na poleon Bonaparte’s Hussars, being on the move, didn’t have time to pull over on their horses and pop corks by hand. Thus, they used the edge of their blades to sever the corks from the necks of their bottles for some bubbly to go.

From there, sabrage has been deeply ingrained in the popular imagination as something rakish and reserved for high-style hotels and aristocratic celebrations. However, anyone can do it — provided they follow some very explicit rules — and doing so will automatically make them a cause celebre at any gathering.

I know this because Reader Publisher Ben Olson knows me quite well, and therefore gifted me a specially designed “champagne saber” for my 42nd birthday last month. Since then, I have suc cessfully sabraged no fewer than seven bottles of sparkling wine, all without incident and to the delight of all who stood by in witness.

Before an explanation of the process, it is imperative to cover the physics at play and why they are important not only to a successful performance of sabrage, but one in which no one is permanently injured (nor any unnecessary loss of champagne is suffered).

Make absolutely sure the champagne or sparkling wine you’re going to open is cold. That is, at least 45 degrees Fahrenheit,

but certainly not almost frozen. (So don’t go stick ing it in your freezer.) This can be accom plished by chilling in the fridge for 24 hours, buying the bottle already well chilled from the store and/or turning the bottle upside down in an ice filled bucket for at least 10 minutes before opening.

Warm champagne, aside from being disgusting, is more active in the bottle, meaning the cork is more liable to spontaneously pop itself. Whether you’re ready for it or not. Don’t shake the bottle, for obvious reasons. If those reasons aren’t obvious, you shouldn’t be drinking champagne.

So much emphasis is placed on the proper temperature of the bottle because it contains so much pressure from dissolved carbon dioxide. Good French champagne (which is really the only kind that can be properly called “cham pagne”) holds up to 90 pounds per square inch of pressure. Lesser types of sparkling wine are still somewhere in the 60 psi range.

For comparison, most passen ger car tires are recommended to carry 32-35 psi. No matter, that’s enough force to propel a cork at upwards of 50 miles per hour — sufficient to cause permanent eye damage (or blinding), shatter glass and, at the very least, leave a nasty bruise. This is such a danger to the eye, that the American Academy of Ophthalmology has an entire article on the dangers of flying champagne corks.

All that out of the way, sabrage — which almost every source refers to as an “art” — is the precise deployment of physics to create a controlled release of this pressure, which when done correctly will shear away the cork from the bottle neck, carrying with it the glass ring (called an “annulus”) in which the cork remains trapped. The very best sabrage will also result in little to no wastage of wine.

Preparation is critical to success.

Remove all the foil from the bottle neck — not just from around the cork. Remove the cage, also called a “muse let.” The bottle is now “live,” meaning it could go off at any time.

Hold the bottle in your non-domi nant hand, with your thumb inside the depression at the base — called the “punt.” Being absolutely certain to aim away from any people or objects that could be damaged, and re membering that corks have been recorded to travel distances of be tween 20 and 70 feet, depending on internal conditions, angle the bottle at 45 degrees away from your body. It’s also a good idea to place a towel over the arm with which you’re holding the bottle.

Rotate the bottle in your hand until you locate the seam, which will be a thin line in the glass running from the base all the way up the neck. Where that seam meets the annulus holding the cork is where you will strike. That point is the Achilles heel of any champagne bottle, where it is upwards of 60% weaker than anywhere else.

Now the fun part: Take up your sword/saber/knife — the one I received from Ben is a handsome 16 3/8-inch Laguiole champagne sword with an ebony handle, which retails for about $50 — and place it blade down. Some sources say it doesn’t matter whether you use the sharp or blunt end, while others strongly caution against

striking with the cutting edge. All I can say is my Laguiole is blunt on both edges, and it hasn’t missed its mark yet.

Angle up the blade slight ly and slide it along the seam, making contact with the annulus and (hopefully) sending the cork flying.

Among the many important points to pulling off sabrage is that you swing “through” the cork. Your sabrage stroke must be an unbroken motion — as if the cork isn’t even there. If you don’t do this exactly right, you’ll create a fracture in the bottle and all that pressure will either blow back at you or expand outward (or both). Don’t try to hack at it or strike it with a quick whack, and never, ever, ever strike downward on the neck of the bottle. Any of these incorrect methods will result in

the bottle (and its contents) ex ploding in your hand like a boozy hand grenade.

The stroke doesn’t take much force, either, having little to nothing to do with the power of the strike, but where on the bottle is struck.

Follow those steps and you’ll be sabraging with the best of them — or at least not showing up in any of the thousands of “sa brage fail” videos on the internet. There’s nothing quite so embar rassing as reaching for greatness but coming up short. Just ask Napoleon.

Top: The Laguiole champagne saber with ebony handle. Above right: Reader Editor Zach Hagadone successfully de capitates another bottle of champagne.

Photo by Ben Olson.

Thursday Trivia Night

5-8pm @ Paddler’s Alehouse

Live Music w/ Benny Baker 6-8pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

FriDAY, October 7

Live Music w/ The Cole Show

6-9pm @ The Blue Room

Live Music w/ Ron Keiper

5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

Hickey Farms Harvest Festival 2-5:30pm @ Hickey Farms

Live Music w/ Kevin Dorin

7-9pm @ The Back Door

Fall Concerts: Baroque Magic 7:30pm @ Panida Theater Featuring the North Idaho Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Jan Pellant. $30

Live Music w/ Chris Paradis 7-9pm @ The Back Door

Live Music w/ Chris and Lauren 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

Hickey Farms Harvest Festival 10am-5:30pm @ Hickey Farms

Live Music w/ Ian Newbill 6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

Sandpoint Farmers’ Market 9am-1pm @ Farmin Park Fresh produce, artisan goods, live music by Larry Mooney

Path of the Puma - A Visual Tour 6pm @ The Pine Street Woods Sled Barn With recent cougar activity at Pine St. Woods, wildlife biologist Jim Williams will share his experiences with these wild cats. $5/person, which benefits KLT

Live Music w/ Devon Wade

6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

Food For Our Children Wine Gala 6pm @ U of I SOAC, 10881 N Boyer Rd. Tickets: foodforourchildren.org/gala

SATURDAY, October 8 SunDAY, October 9

Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee

Sunday Tabletop Game Day 12-8pm @ Paddler’s Alehouse Bring your own games or come to meet others

Live Music w/ Ian Newbill

1-4pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Country and classic rock favorites

Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes 5:30-8pm @ Drift (in Hope)

Fall Concerts: Baroque Magic 2pm @ Panida Theater

The Brandenburg Concertos, featuring the North Idaho Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Jan Pellant. $30

Live Music w/ Right Front Burner 9pm-midnight @ 219 Lounge

Hickey Farms Harvest Festival 10am-5:30pm @ Hickey Farms

Free Film: The Way of Consciousness 7pm @ Sandpoint Organic Ag. Center Presented by the Gurdjieff Foundation, a film that asks questions for those seeking a more meaningful life

Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Blind Beer Tasting 6pm @ Idaho Pour Authority Each month features a new beer style

monDAY, October 10 tuesDAY, October 11

Group Run @ Outdoor Experience 6pm @ Outdoor Experience 3-5 miles, all levels welcome, beer after

Paint and Sip with Lori Salisbury • 5:30-7:30pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Autumn-inspired painting. $45/person includes supplies, instruction and a glass of vino

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

Sandpoint Farmers’ Market 3-5:30pm @ Farmin Park

wednesDAY, October 12 ThursDAY, October 13

Hickey Farms Harvest Festival 2-5:30pm @ Hickey Farms

LPOSD Walk to School Day Raise awareness for physical fitness

Artist Reception: Melissa Cole • 5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Mixed media paintings and mosaic sculptures inspired by a naturalist POV

Thursday Trivia Night 5-8pm @ Paddler’s Alehouse

Put it on the specials board

FX series The Bear is a unsettling look inside the kitchen, and a compelling story of family

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff

Anyone who has worked in a restaurant should watch FX’s series The Bear. On the other hand, anyone who has worked in a restaurant maybe shouldn’t watch The Bear — or at least make sure they’re in a well-balanced mental state when they do.

Let me explain: As a part-time server since teenhood, I experienced a very physical reaction to parts of The Bear. This visceral feeling mounted and subsided throughout the eight-episode first season, now streaming on Hulu, which is set in a Chicago sandwich shop.

One scene prompted me to actually hit pause and take a break from The Bear, during which the restaurant launches its online order ing system only to quickly learn that they forgot to turn off the pre-order option. This mistake, combined with a favorable review being printed in the newspaper that same day, results in orders for more food than the joint can possibly handle, let alone

before expectant customers start lining up at the door.

All hell breaks loose. Line cooks turn on one another. Frayed wits completely snap. The owner begins to scream a series of futile orders, telling his employees to fire food that isn’t even close to prepped. There may or may not be an acci dental stabbing, and this all happens in a single camera shot.

This is the stuff of kitchen job nightmares, and the stuff of riveting television.

Billed as a comedy-drama, The Bear is only funny in the way that living a hard life can be when you make sure to surround yourself with people who are willing to laugh at it with you. It tells the story of Car men “Carmy” Berzatto (Shameless’ Jeremy Allen White), who inherited his family’s sandwich business — The Original Beef of Chicagoland — after his brother, an alcoholic with whom Carmy had a strained relationship, committed suicide.

Along with the brick and mortar, Carmy inherits a cast of disenchant ed employees and resolves, with

the help of young and driven sous chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), to put the place on the track to becoming a respectable establishment — a microcosm of the upscale restau rants where he has spent the past several years as a formally trained, award-winning chef.

The pair enact a French kitchen brigade system, and — not without growing pains —The Beef sees positive change. Along with this evolution is Carmy’s evolution from wounded black sheep to not-quitehealed-but-getting-there restaurant owner. White gives a compelling performance and the actors around him — in particular, Ebon MossBachrach as pseudo-cousin Richie — push and meld his character into a better-developed person by the end of the first season.

While most critics have given The Bear rave reviews (the show has a 100% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes), some have been quick to bash the “genius white male chef” trope furthered by the creation of Carmy. This would be valid if Car my were the show’s only protagonist,

but he is only one of many. He is one cog in a diverse story.

As for the ending of Season 1, some critique its neatness. It’s true: The Bear’s first season ends abruptly and happily, which seems a small reward for the grease-coated, heart-pounding anguish the story in flicts on its viewers up to that point. I’m all for it.

“Charming” might be an odd word to use to describe a show mostly shot in dark kitchen corners and centered on a family trauma that none of the characters have the tools to properly process, but charming is what I’ve landed on. Under the French brigade system, all employ ees — from cooks to dishwashers

— begin calling one another “chef” to show respect (spoiler: it seems to work). On one side of the setting’s dichotomy we have foil-wrapped sandwiches and loud, thick Chica goan accents, while on the other there is a sense of culinary eleva tion, pride and the soft, sure love of chosen family.

On a human level, we come to relish the fact that the chefs of The Bear are just as worthy as their Michelin-grade counterparts, but also poised for an alley fight. These characters are exactly the kind of people I’d want in my kitchen.

Stream Season 1 one of The Bear on Hulu.

Courtesy photo.

The Sandpoint Eater Plum crazy

heaps of fragrant shallot bulbs and so much garlic!

By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Columnist

Hello autumn, I’ve been waiting for you. More than any other season, fall brings all the big feelings to me. It’s a mix of melancholy and joy; and, even though the long days of round ing up cows, weaning calves and endless hours of canning are far behind me, I can’t let go of the need to prepare food and stock the larder for the long winter that lies ahead.

The spirit of my previous lives, cooking for a hungry ranch crew and running com mercial kitchens, still lives deep within me. I can barely pare back to cooking for a single family, let alone a single person. Let’s face it — I’ve bought in bulk most of my life, and still can’t seem to pare back. Especially now, with rising food costs, if I find a bar gain, I’m likely to stock up for everyone (whether they want me to or not).

Last Saturday, I meandered through our Farmers’ Market. The summer crowds are waning, so it was a perfect way to spend a long, unhurried morning, sip ping coffee and often pausing to peruse the labors of hard-work ing vendors. I made time to say hello to strangers, catch up with friends and give a farewell nod to a lovely summer.

I may no longer hunt or gather, but I can shop, and bought way more magnificent produce than I had intended. A dozen ears of corn, lots of shiny poblano peppers, a few too many baskets of new potatoes, bunches of colorful carrots,

My large purchases sent me into a cooking mode, and it was a marathon weekend in my kitchen, resulting in not one but two freezers stocked to the top. As a result, hearty soups and chowders, twice-baked potatoes, savory meatloaves, spicy burritos and other assort ed MMRE’s (Marcia-mealsready-to-eat) are now carefully packaged and labeled for the hungry masses.

With this month’s culinary endeavors, I had some particu lar friends and family in need of a few meals; so, with that in mind, I added a few vegetarian options to the mix. After rais ing a vegetarian for more than 20 years (Casey), I’ve added

plenty of meatless options to my repertoire of recipes, and even the carnivore in me has learned to relish them.

I also prepared a great batch of split pea soup to haul cross-country on an upcom ing 14-hour drive to my son’s house in eastern Montana.

I love this annual October trek, and look forward to it all summer long. I especially love the adulation from my four always-hungry grandkids, who gather around their long table, sipping (or slurping) their favorite soup, warming us up before we bundle up and head out, into the chilly evening, to cheer on my eldest grandson at his football game.

I’ve been hesitating about taking my canning equipment

Plum Tart

INGREDIENTS: DIRECTIONS:

to Montana, but we never seem to have enough time for all my gastronomic projects.

Nevertheless, I remain hopeful that one or two of my grand children might be interested in learning the lost art of long, hot canning days in the kitchen. So far, no takers, but it doesn’t stop me from adding to my Mason jar lid and ring inventory, just in case.

I have managed to avoid overbuying fruit this year. Used to be, I couldn’t pass the fruit stand at Thorpe, Wash., with out bringing home caseloads of peaches and plums. I am crazy for plums and must have eyed at least six varieties at our market last week. Golden plums are my favorite for mak ing jam, and I love red ones

for cooking up kettles of spicy chutney. One of my fondest food memories involves plums. It was on my first trip to Italy, and I came upon racks of them, covered with bleached gauze, drying in the warm Italian sun, soon-to-be-sweet prunes.

Lucky for me, I had a cou ple of local friends who had an abundance of plums this year and, though I wanted to take more (with visions of chutney dancing in my head), practi cal me settled for just enough to bake up a couple of sweet plum tortes. If you’re more ambitious than that, you’ve still got time to head down to our Farmers Market this Saturday — and next!

Makes 2 tarts, using 9-inch springform pans. Try using peaches, too! 8 servings each.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line bottom of the springform pans with parchment paper and light ly butter bottom and sides of pan.

lemon and set zest aside.

lemon and add 2 tbs to sliced plums, stir and set aside.

Cream sugar and butter until pale in color, beat in eggs until light and fluffy. Whisk flour with baking pow der and salt. Add to wet mixture until just mixed well (don’t overmix).

Spoon mixture into 9-inch springform pan. Cover top of batter with plum halves, skin side up. Mix lemon zest, sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over top, along with almond slices, before baking.

Bake for 45 minutes. Cool in pan, remove ring.

Dust lightly with confectioner’s sugar before serving. Eat one and freeze one! Wrapped well, you can freeze for up to a month.

North Idaho Philharmonia announces Baroque Magic

By Reader Staff

The Panida Theater is offering a rare opportunity to experience the groundbreaking compositions of Johann Sebas tian Bach, with performances Friday, Oct. 7 and Saturday, Oct. 8 of the complete “Brandenburg Concertos.”

Led by Artistic Director and Conductor Jan Pellant, North Idaho Philharmonia returns for a second season to kick off the 2022-’23 performance series with its Bach program.

Friday evening begins with a pre-concert talk at 7 p.m., followed by Baroque Magic at 7:30 p.m., during which all six “Brandenburg Concertos” will be showcased.

Bach perfected these instru mental pieces, originally titled “Six Concertos for Several In struments,” put them together as a set and sent them as an offering to Christian Ludwig, the mar grave of Brandenburg-Schwedt. The multi-movement works fea ture soloists, groups of soloists, and a string and continuo ensem ble. They are widely acclaimed as one of the most masterful sets of works ever composed.

The performance repeats on Saturday with a 2 p.m. matinee, also at the Panida Theater’s main stage. The pre-concert talk

begins at 1:30 p.m.

Following the Baroque Magic program, the community is in vited to a Meet the Conductor — High Tea Fundraiser on Sunday, Oct. 9 at 3:00 p.m. in the Little Carnegie Concert Hall at the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint (110 Main St.). The program fea tures vocal and instrumental duets and offers an opportunity to learn about the NIPH mission. Admis sion is $20 and includes a variety of teas and coffee, mimosas and baked treats.

This year’s North Idaho Phil harmonia performances are made

possible with support from First American Title and WESTAF: Celebrating the Western Imagi nation through the Arts.

General admission tickets for Baroque Magic at the Panida are $15 for students and $30 for adults. Advanced purchase is preferred, and tickets are available now at sandpointcon servatory.org/events or at the conservatory. Tickets for each performance will also be avail able at the door.

NIPH, in collaboration with the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint and other high-level

performing arts institutions, fo cuses on orchestral and chamber music literature. Annual pro gramming features diverse styles across the musical periods with an emphasis on classical music. Visit the conservatory at 110 Main St., call 208-265-4444, or go to sandpointconservatory.org for more information and a full online concert schedule.

A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint

Larry Mooney, Farmin Park, Oct. 8

Local guitar teacher Larry Mooney has spent decades creat ing an engaging and memorable solo set, using only his guitar and voice — as well as a lifetime of influences, practice and passion — to entertain audiences.

Mooney is touted as a favorite of the Sandpoint Farmers’ Market, where only two Saturday mar kets remain on Oct. 8 and Oct. 15.Mooney’s musical chops will grace the penultimate market of the season, where listeners can an

ticipate guitar riffs with influences from classic rock to Latin and jazz flavors.

Catch him on the Farmin Park stage and check out offerings from local farmers and artisans all at the same time.

— Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey

10 a.m.-1 p.m., FREE. Farmin Park, Third Avenue and Main Street in Sandpoint. Listen at re verbnation.com/larrymooney.

Ian Newbill, MickDuff’s Beer Hall, Oct. 8

In a February edition of the Reader’s former “People Watching” column, we asked folks to identify their “happy place.” Among the respondents was Ian Newbill, who told us, “On the lake — depending on if I’m catching fish or not.” That kind of down-home answer fits Newbill’s music to a T.

Specializing in ’70s and ’80s country and rock hits, Newbill also proves a dab hand at blues and folk — all delivered out with skillful guitar work and a sono

rous tenor voice that feels just at home reeling out a ballad about lost love or bopping along to a classic rock number.

Your “happy place” just might be MickDuff’s Beer Hall, when Newbill brings his sound for a down-home Saturday night show.

— Zach Hagadone

1-4 p.m., FREE. MickDuff’s Beer Hall, 220 Cedar St., 208290-6700, mickduffs.com. Listen at soundcloud.com/ian-newbill.

Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey

READ LISTEN

Read about new scientific discoveries sur rounding the Dyatlov Pass incident. This recommendation doubles as a “Listen,” since I actually discov ered the topic thanks to the pod cast You’re Wrong About. While the hour-plus podcast episode was wonderful in all the ways some thing gory, mysterious and sad can be, the story of the horrific deaths of nine experienced backpackers in 1952 Russia is seeing some new answers. Check out recent articles in The New Yorker, New York Times and National Geographic.

Paramore dropped the band’s first single since 2017 on Sept. 28 — “This Is Why,” a funky, drum-driven track that seems to call back to early, pop punk Par amore without compromising the group’s musical maturity. Lead singer Hayley Williams is an ex ceptional vocalist, and plays to her strengths with a perfect bal ance of trills and more grunge-in spired notes in the chorus. If “This Is Why” is truly a preview for the band’s forthcoming album, it’s go ing to be a powerhouse offering.

WATCH

The fifth season of The Handmaid’s Tale is being released on Hulu one ep isode at a time on Wednesdays. Viewers enter the new season as main character June — a former handmaid in the theo cratic Republic of Gilead, formerly the United States — grapples with her graphic and admittedly satisfy ing act of revenge against the man who previously enslaved her. The show, based on the novel by Mar garet Atwood, is powerfully shot but sometimes agonizingly slow. Still, it is the main reason I keep a Hulu subscription.

This

Jan Pellant conducts the North Idaho Philharmonia Orchestra at the Panida Theater. Courtesy photo.

MISS DUBOIS IS A TICKET COLLECTOR

As a collector of traffic tick ets, Elizabeth DeBois, daughter of Idaho’s first senator, was doing pretty well until police finally broke her string at 12 straight since May 1, 1931.

With it came the sudden cessation of the long habit of ignoring the pink invitations to appear in court the next day. Twelve policemen, one for each ticket, were lined up before Judge Ralph Givens in police court yesterday.

Miss DeBois conceded she got two of the 12 tickets, be cause her name and number were on them last year, but told the judge she let her friends use her car frequently and that they must have col lected the other 10.

Unimpressed Judge Givens ruled the tickets were worth $60.00 a dozen. Miss DeBois promptly replied she was with out funds to pay.

Since she had been some time collecting the tickets, the judge decided she could have some time in paying and released her under $100 bond with orders to retire the $60 on the installment plan.

Senator Fred DeBois, who died in 1930, was the first senator from Idaho. He served from 1891 to 1897 and from 1901 to 1907.

BACK OF THE BOOK

The magic of the high country

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

This time of year, I gather with a group of friends and we make our annual pilgrim age to the mountains. With everything we need to survive for three days strapped on our heavy packs, we trudge up river drain ages to the high country, where the pace slows to a meditative crawl.

The destination is usually a mountain lake, far from the daily stresses of our work aday lives. After a few hours of sweating, we arrive to find our camp spot unoccupied, clean of debris and ready to receive us.

This year, our camp was situated be tween huge swaths of huckleberry bushes already showing fall colors, bent heavy with berries. Apparently nobody at this particular mountain lake read recent reports that Idaho had a bad huckleberry year, because these bushes were thriving.

We set up camp, slowly unloading the essential gear from our packs. When you carry everything on your back, every item is scrutinized — some culled because the added weight wasn’t worth it. When you’re hoofing 30-40 pounds of gear up seven or eight miles of steep terrain, every pound matters.

But everyone has luxuries. Ours was beer. There is nothing quite so satisfying as a cheap beer cooled by a mountain lake after a long uphill hike. Each of the five tallboys I packed weighed a pound, but I appreciated every sip over the following days.

With our tents erected and firewood gathered, we got down to the real business of relaxing. The lake we visited this year was surrounded by a granite shelf that loomed overhead like a natural cathedral. Sounds of pikas and chipmunks filled the air as they gathered food for the coming winter. Little birds flitted here and there, chirping their innocent songs.

There is a silence in the high country that enters your soul and hangs around for a while.

STR8TS Solution

The clouds seemed to rush over the peaks like water, almost close enough to reach your arms out and touch them. Slowly, the last rays of sun dipped behind the cliffs and immediately the temperature dropped about 15 degrees. Down in the valley below, the sun might shine for another two hours, but twilight comes early in the high country.

We sat by a roaring fire, burning hot with the hardscrabble dead branches and trees we scavenged. Sometimes we talked, other times we just quietly sat and contem plated the flames.

After the fire had been drowned in lake water and food put up in a bear box, we gazed at the brightest stars you’ll see all year before disappearing inside our tents.

The mountains are a different place at night. With every noise, our eyes popped open. As we were camped on a granite bedrock, every footstep reverberated loudly. The hooved steps were somewhat easy to recognize, but the quieter steps accompa nied by moving brush were the ones that really made us sit up in the tent.

“Hey bear, hey bear!” we heard our friend call from his tent. Whatever that monster was lumbering by outside our thin walls, I’m glad I couldn’t see it. Whether it was a harmless elk or deer, or a hungry grizzly bear, we yelled and whistled and eventually fell asleep until the next set of footsteps woke us again.

I can see how this could be terrifying for some — I have an active imagination and it’s hard for me to sleep easy when I’m in grizzly country — but I have to remember that most wild animals are more afraid of us than we are of them. Nonetheless, the can of bear spray is always within arm’s reach.

With the morning sun came relief, both from wild animal encounters and from the cold night air. With the sun beaming off the granite cliffs, we ate our freeze-dried meals and set out for a day of hiking ridgelines, scrambling up rock screes and talus slopes, excited to make our way higher until the

Sudoku Solution

mountains reached the sky. Standing high overhead, our knees bloody and arms scuffed, we looked down on our camp from the ridge, all of us feeling a sense of accom plishment. Not many people have touched the rocks we sat on, and we felt damn proud to be part of this exclusive club.

Sunday morning, we packed our gear and gave the camp a last look before starting the long downhill voyage. We tromped down the trail quickly, eating away the miles we worked so hard to climb just days earlier, stopping to pick huckleberries for nourish ment and eventually reaching the trailhead. We shared ice cold beers left in the truck cooler, dipped our feet in the cold creek and soaked in the last few minutes of the moun tains, nature, blue sky, fragrant trees and deep satisfaction that comes after a success ful backpacking mission in the high country.

“Can you believe some people go their whole lives and never experience this?” one of us asked.

In truth, I’m glad they don’t, otherwise these quiet havens would turn into Disne yland. I like how difficult it is to reach the high country and how complete we feel after returning.

On the long drive home, our thoughts were of the clear mountain lake water, the crystalline sky overhead, the flawless stars and our small, insignificant place under them all.

Ain’t no place I’d rather be.

One of the worst things you can do as an actor, I think, is to forget your lines, and then get so flustered you start stabbing the other actors.

By Bill Borders

CROSSWORD

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'fbe 'Way of Consciousness

Sunday, October 9th at 7PM

University of Idaho, SOAC 10881 N Boyer Rd, Sandpoint

For many of us the events of the last few years have created real questions about the possibility of leading a more meaningful life. In the early 20th century, during a similar period of war and uncertainty, a man named Gurdjieff brought a teaching of self understanding, based not onfaith but on actualexperience. Fornearly 25 years his teaching has beenstudied here in Sandpoint. The one hour film provides a opportunity to learn about this way of mindfulness and understanding, now more relevant than ever.

The Way of Consciousness, a one hour documentary film about Gurdjieff and his teaching, will be shown on Sunday, October 9th at 7pm atthe University of Idaho Organic Agriculture Center. Panel discussion to follow. Admission is free.