Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations Scrapbooks 2014 -16 by Molstead Library at North Idaho College

l LAWSUIT from A1

same-sex marriages because of the city's antidiscrimination ordinance.

Coeur d'Alene City Attorney Mjke G1idley wrote in an email to The Press that the stay was requested in order to allow both parties time to attempt to resolve the

Hitching Post suit delay sought Attorney for Cd'A files motion, city wants dismissal By KEITH COUSINS

kcousins@cdapress.com COEUR d'ALENE The lawsuit which put the city of Coeur d'Alene at the center of the national debate on same-sex marriage could be moving toward a resolution. Attorneys for the city filed a motion Monday in federal court asking for proceedings in the lawsuit -filed in October against the city by The Hitching Post - to be delayed. The motion was filed by Kirtlan Naylor, a Boise-based attorney representing the city in the case. Lawyers with U1e Alliance Defending Freedom - a Christian rights legal advocacy organization - filed the suit on behalf of Don and Evelyn Knapp, the owners of the Hitching Post. The civil rights lawsuit claims the Knapps are being forced to violate their religious beliefs and perform see LAWSUIT, A6

issue outside the courtroom. He added that the city wants the case dismissed. Jeremy Tedesco, senior legal counsel al Alliance Defending Freedom, also told The Press that the parties needed time to reach a settlement. But, Tedesco added that the ADF is seeking a formal clarification to the city's anti-discrinunatio11 ordinance. "The city has stated multiple times - orally and in writing, publicly and privately - that forprofit businesses such as the Hitching Post are subject lo the ordinance and would likely be prosecuted under it," Tedesco wrote. "Alliance Defenrung Freedom is requesting that the city honor the Knapps' fundamental freedoms and include a clear exemption covering for-profit businesses that are operated according to U1e owner's religious beliefs."

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Rallying in support of 'add the words'

Supporters of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community gather in front of the Human Rights Education Institute during the Add the Words Support Rally and Leelah Acorn Memorial event on Saturday afternoon. See story/ A3 TESS FREEMAN/

Press

Hagadone News Network

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Supporters advocate for 'sexual orientation' and 'genderidentity' to be added to the Idaho Human Rights Act By DEVIN HEILMAN

dheilman@cdapress.com COEUR d' ALENE - As a straight ally, Lindsey Shaw stood before a crowd of roughly 40 people and expressed her feelings about why Idaho should "add the words." "Adcling the words is important to me because I want my children to feel safe in the future, if they choose to be in the LGBT community," said the mother of two. "People are dying, and that's another thing, too. I've been to that point, in that dark place, I know how it is to feel suicidal and I don't think anybody should feel that way, especially for being who they are as a person. That's why I'm here, because I want to be as supportive as I can be." Shaw, of Coeur d'Alene, and others who support or are a part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community gathered Saturday in front of the Human Rights Education Institute during the Add the Words Support Rally and Leelah Acorn Memorial event. It was organized by Parents, Friends and Family of Lesbians and Gays (PFI.AG) Coeur

TESS FREEMAN/Press

Kiley Keith, of Coeur d'Alene, shares her story with supporters at the Add the Words Support Rally on Saturday afternoon. Keith decided to transition from a male to a female body at the age of 17.

d'Alene to encourage the community and Idaho's legislators to add the words "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to the Idaho Human Rights Act (IHRA), which provides reporting and mediation services for workplace, housing, public accomodation, transportation and education clisputes. The event was held in conjunction with a larger rally in Boise that began at noon. A legislative hearing regarding adding the words is scheduled to

take place the week of Jan. 26. "It is wonderful that we are finally getting a hearing with state legislators. That's really important. This is an important human rights issue," said Derek Kohles of Hayden. Kohles is a teacher at Lake City High School and is a former adviser of the school's GayStraight Alliance. "If you look at the history of human rights, some people have the ability to do things and other people don't," he

said. "If some people have the ability to do things based on law and other people don't, we have a human rights issue. It's basically that simple." People wore "Add the Words Idaho" buttons and held colorful signs that read "Celebrate love not h8" or "Everybody needs to feel safe" while they listened to testimonies of transgender individuals who shared their struggles with society and being themselves. PFIAG chair Juli Stratton of Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene City Councilman Dan Gookin also spoke about adding the words. ''I was very happy to support our nondiscrimination ordinance," Gookin said. "It was really easy to make the decision because it was the right thing to do. We need the solution, I've said before, this needs to be handled at the national level. This is a civil rights issue, it should apply to everyone in the whole country. Adding the words in Boise is a step in the right direction." Looking out at attendees who stood in the wet snow, Stratton said she couldn't be prouder to be a metnber of this Âˇ community. 'The point is that we need to come together as one community to show our support for all of us," she said. "We've made such great progress, but we're not done. The message is we're not done. We need everybody to stand together and let our legislators know this is really

important to us up North, this is not just an issue happening in Boise ... this is not just about the gay community or the transgender community, this is about all of us in this entire area standing together for Âˇ hlfman rights." On the subject of Leelah Alcorn, a transgender Ohio teenager who recently committed suicide and left behind a note calling to "fix society" and educate people about gender issues, Stratton explained the "universal sense of despair from feeling like you don't matter." "She didn't feel like she mattered to enough people, her parents in particular," Stratton said. "While we can love our kids as much as possible, when we as a community don't show them that they matter, that's what can happen. And it happens in this area too, we just don't hear about it as strongly. That's why honoring her life is so important The bottom line is, we needed her. We need people like her to stay alive to tell their stories so we can stand with them and they can live the life that they are meant to live. That's why we need to know who she was and what happened to her, because we don't want that repeated here, because we care about our brothers and sisters. My transgender friends, I would walk through fire for them, because they are human beings first" Info: www.addthewords.org

The Press, Tuesday, January 20, 2015

MLK would add the words Some things bear repeating. Freedom in all its forms, certainly. Freedom from legal discrimination, above all. "From the viewpoint of absolute truth, what we feel and experience in our ordinary daily life is all delusion. Of all the various delusions, the sense of discrimination between oneself and others is the worst form." -The Dalai Lama Discriminating between oneself and others, consideringone another unequal in value and thus, deservSholeh ing of less Patrick or more rights and freedom, is alienating. Alienation is the opposite of what humans naturally seek and need - companionship, love. To work alone is to achieve less; to limit oneself to one perspective - to one life's experience - is to know less. To Jrnow less is to be underequipped; to be underequipped threatens survival. So for society to discriminate, to apply laws and respect rights unequally, is to handicap all.

SECTION

A society is only as free as its most constrained class of citizen. Our daughter attends a Quaker college. No, we're not Quaker, and neither are 90 percent of her fellow students. Yet we are learning a lot about, and from, their philosophies. Such as a lesson in what "equality" really means. I thought I knew. I thought I had a healthy and respectful understanding of what it means to be "different" or unpopular or poorly understood by what we foolishly call "mainstream society." A truly free society has no such stream. There is no different. There is you. There is me. There is he. A collection of individuals who are equal and not the same. The more variety and the less that matters, the freer we are. Âˇ see PATRICK, C5

The Press

PATRICK C1

from

Just as Sunday's editorial described a similar lesson, I see from the patient and consistent application of the college's Quaker Principles and Practices - going out of their way to hear everyone from janitor to student to president (all addressed by first names as a matter of equal respect) on any issue of interest, free of judgments - that simply assuming one's knowledge of an individual or "group" is sufficient is to limit one's understanding of others. Worse, to assume that any number of people within that defined "group" have the same characteristics, aims, and opinions is ignorant, and harmful. That is the very definition of prejudice. Consider teenagers and young adults. The next phase in their maturity begins only when they realize, without feeling threatened or self-righteous, how little they know. Discrimination and prejudice are like that To let go of them is to accept that one can never know all, nor enough, to judge another in advance of knowing the person thoroughly, which is unlikely. That first step opens eyes to see, ears to listen, and minds to grow. If society denies one group the level of respect and legal right afforded another, we all suffer the loss not only of freedoms denied, but knowledge lost Grouping ourselves at all is as limiting. "Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality." - Martin Luther King Jr. That champion of civil rights and their peaceful 'attainment was not a fixed being. The minister's Âˇbiography reveals religious struggles and personal growth in his too-short life. These re-examinations of his beliefs contributed to the wisdom of his words, which emphasize respect for the experiences of others and, more importantly, the necessity of equal standing in society for every person. Were he alive today, MLK would add the words. It's a shame we need to make laws to emphasize equal appligition, that we are so fearful that prejudice still enters legal, business, and civil relations. Yet it persists along with human fear and ignorance. At first the "words" were race. Then age and disability, preceded by gender, but only of one type. Yes, there are more types and no, it's not up to you and me to define another human being. No more than skin defines the inner person does any other physical aspect define his, her, or their (will English one day have a genderneutral, singular pronoun?) identity. You and I can never be what we ought to be - unoppressive and unoppressed - until every person is equally free. Now or later, we will add the words. The common goal of a free society makes that as inevitable as it is necessary. Sholeh Patrick, J.D., Is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at Sholeh@cdapress.com.

COEUR -d' ALENE

~ North Idaho

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January 30, 2015

Committee holds 'Add The Words' bill, talks compromise By JEFF SELLE

jselle@cdapress.com The House State Affairs Committee voted along party lines Thursday to kill the "Add The Words" bill, but GOP Jaw-

,Âˇ

makers said a compromise can be found to address religious concerns. After 22 hours of emotionally charged hearings on the bill which would extend state civil rights protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people - the committee voled 13-4 to hold the bill in committee. However, several Republican lawmakers said they think a

compromise can b'e reached that would satisfy the LGBT community and address the religious concerns expressed during the hearings. "I am in favor of legislation," said Rep. Ken Andrus, R-Lava Hot Springs. "I don't think today that this is that legislation.'' In an Idaho Public Television recording of Thursday's hearing,

Andrus, who made the motion to hold the bill, said he has received more than 1;000 emails from people on both sides of the issue. "I want to assure you we wiJJ address it," he said, explaining his desire to reach a compromise. "Do not despair. We wiJJ have legislation." see W ORDS, A7

"But I'msure that eventu~lly we'll cont~~ue Âˇ to listen and we'll continue to wort<. . REP. KATHY SIMS, R-Coeur d'Alene

WORDS A1 from

Andrus told the packed meeting room that he recognizes the LGBT community's concerns are "very legitimate." "But we have to address both sides," he said. "1bis rule does not address the whole picture." Rep. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, made a substitute motion to pass the bill from committee, with a do-pass recommendation, and allow the full House to vote on the issue. "Even if we pass it today, you wouldn't have to agree with it You wouldn't have to condone it," she said. "But let it get to the floor for everyone to weigh in - our state deserves that." A third motion was made by Rep. Elaine Smith, 0-Pocatello, to move it to the floor without a pass or fail recommendation. State Affairs Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-lona, opened the hearing for debate, asking if legislators had thoughts on any of the motions.

"If government doesn't protect and provide for all, it fails and we all fail the greater test, while some Americans are h eld down, spurned and abused with the ugliest weapons of all, which are hate and ignoRep. Paulette Jordan, rance," she continued. D-Plummer, said she was Jordan, one of five offended at times with North Idaho legislathe way some people tors on the State Affairs were using the word freeCommittee, voted against dom - a word she holds holding the bill in comsacred - during their tesmittee. timony. She asked to read Rep. linden Bateman, a quote from her Native R-Idaho Falls, said he American grandfather, wanted to go on th~ who fought in World War record in support of a Il, on the issue. compromise bill. "When freedom means Rep. Vito Barbieri, someone in government R-Dalton Gardens, also ch ooses who is truly free said he would support aÂˇ and who isn't, we and all compromise. of America are diminBarbieri ished, for the exercise of said his fear freedom is dictated rather in passing than protected," she read. the "Add The "If life is a test, then the Words" bill is challenge is, can we really that it could love our fellow man? Do be used as Barbieri we love God enough to a "sword" follow him with goodwill rather than the "shield" it toward all, and do we was intended to be. like Andrus, Barbieri love our children enough to give them a world of said the bill didn't go far peace, hope and underenough to protect religious concerns. standing? "'There is no question that the testimony here is heartbreaking," he said, Thursday. "I can't deny the compassion that has stirred in me from listening to these stories and I certainly feel no animosity to anyone in the LGBT community."

He said he has no doubt that there is considerable persecution, violence and abuse against that community. "It needs to stop. Laws have not stopped that behavior," he said. "A change of heart needs to happen to stop criminal behavior and to date, throughout mankind, that has not happened." He said the proposed bill didn't address that human behavior either. Barbieri said there are several issues he has with the bill. "If we can work out some language that pr:otects all people of faith . and within this commuruty, I can support that," he

said. "But it is not in this bill, and I cannot support this bill." Rep. Kathy Sims, R-Coeur d'Alene, said she could not support the bill either. "This has been 21 hours of some very compassion- Sims ate testimony and I've Listened to it all," she said. "But you know, the time I spent on Idaho's Human Rights Commission Âˇ taught me that m~diation and compassion can be effective for both sides." She said she had concerns about the loose definitions of the terms that were proposed in the legislation, and added that eventually the Idaho Human Rights Commission would deal with the issue. "So 111 be voting to hold it in committee," she said. "But I'm sure that eventually we11 continue to listen and we11 continue to work." Idaho's Democratic lawmakers and the Add The Words coalition issued statements of disappoinbnent Thursday. "I think it's unfortunate that the committee refused to pass this important legislation even after acknowledging that there are problems in Idaho severe enough to have driven some people to despair '!Â°d _to commit self-harm, said House Minority Leader Rep. John Rusche, D-Lewiston.

"Although we are happy to hear that_some members of the committee are committed to showing more compassion it's not enough and we ~e very disappointed it) the committee's vot_e," said Cindy Gross, chair of Add The Words. "We will see the Human Rights Act updated in Idaho, and we'll keep working on this issue until all hardworking Idahoans are protected."

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Sunday March 1, 2015

Not putti·ng up with bullying Task force, training seeks to change culture of how kids treat each other of unruly cllilmdolan@cdapress.com dren's voices echoing COEUR d'ALENE through the Principal Bill Rutherford school's hallnoted a calmness blanketways, and no ing the hallways of Fernan teachers could Rutherford be heard Elementary School on Friday afternoon as straining their another week of learning own voices trying to regain and teaching was coming control of their classrooms. to a close. There were no outbursts see BULLYING, A2 By MAUREEN DOLAN

Isaac Myers, school counselor at Bryan Element ary, discusses bullying with fifth-graders Friday during a monthly class that is part of t he Steps t o Respect curriculum at t he Coeur d'Alene school. SHAWN GUST/Press

BULLYING from A1

No anxious children or parents were waiting for a turn to go into the principal's office to discuss an issue or problem. "It's nice when kids are making good choices," said Rutherford, the Coeur d'Alene School District's unofficial "anti-bully czar." Helping students and school district staff members learn to make "good choices" when it comes to bullying has always been one of the school system's highest priorities. But in 2013 school officials ramped up their efforts in response to several parents' complaints that their kids were being targeted by bullies in district schools. Rutherford, also a licensed professional counselor who . worked as a school counselor for 10 years in Coeur d'Alene, has coordinated and led much of the renewed effort An anti-bullying task force - a team of several dozen education professionals, school resource officers, some trustees and concerned community members - came together in March 2013 to find a new way to address the problem of bullying. Rutherford, who was on the task force, said they knew they had to do more than purchase a program. They had to change a culture. "It's something we need to cr eate, an idea, a philosophy of kindness, a philosophy of being kind to each other, and with Âˇsome training and education ... having people gain empathy through understanding, and then owning it, realizing that everybody is responsible when a child is bullied," Rutherford said in early February, when he gave school district trustees an update on the anti-bullying efforts.

Defining bullying One of the first challenges faced.by the task force was finding a clear, single definition of bullying. Rutherford said many people believe that if one child is mean to another, that's bullying, but that's not always the case. Sometimes it's just kids being mean. "We treat a kid being mean differently than we treat a bully, and the victim is treated differently," he said. To illustrate the difference, Rutherford said that if children are playing outside and one gets out of control and pushes another child down, that's being mean and out of control "But a kid who targets that kid, who goes out at every recess looking for that kid to push down, that's bullying," Rutherford said. "It's usually repeated over time, and there is an imbalance of power."

Learning from Wessler With the help of a $16,000 grant from the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe and Kootenai Electric, the school district was able to.hire consultant Stephen Wessler, an internationally recognized hate crimes and discrimination expert. Wessler spent time in the Coeur d'Alene schools in the fall of 2013. He held focus groups with teachers and students in order to uncover the issues specific to the school district. Wessler reported his findings - evidence of race and gender bias and prejudice - to school officials in February 2014. But the students in Coeur d'Alene also showed courage and empathy, Wessler said, offering hope that the situation

could be turned aroundÂˇif those characteristics were strengthened in the community. A group of Gednalske school district employees and community members were then trained in following the Wessler philosophy. Since then, the trainers have been working toward having all students in the district receive the training. 'They really work on what it feels like to stand up to the bully ... being the bystander and being a strong positive voice," Rutherford said. "So there's a lot of social training too, that the words you say really do .affect people." Rutherford said Wessler's program is designed to make a difterence for today's students and their children, the future generations of kids in Coeur d'Alene schools. "It will perpetuate itself. That's what he sees in the communities he works in, so that's our hope," Rutherford said. Nearly 400 Coeur d'Alene middle and high school students have since received the interactive, day-long Wessler training. Lake City High School junior Colton Gednalske said he already sees a positive change. Gednalske, 16, works as an aide for one period each day in the school's central office. "You don't really see a lot of people in there for bullying anymore," Gednalske said. Pam Asher, a longtime school counselor who is now an art teacher at Lake City High, recalled the day Wessler met with all the teachers at the school and shared his findings. "It was very eye-opening for some people," said Asher, who serves as the high school leader for the district's anti-bullying emphasis.

freshman Shayla Anderson, 14. "When we came into high school, there was no bullying, I didn't see any bullying, I was never bullied, I was never a bully." She said ninth-graders meet regularly with older students to talk about bullying and how to deal with it. "It's made a huge difference," Anderson said. Teachers now have icons on their computer desktops that enable them to quickly email bullying reports with just a few clicks of a keyboard and mouse. An online bullying reporting system for the entire school community is expected to go live within the next month. After researching what other school districts have done to make it easier for those who are bullied, or who witness it, to come forward, Rutherford said they decided to institute a system that allows those reporting the option of remaining anonymous. "The middle school educators thought people would not report bullying if they had to give their names," Rutherford said. 'That's not what we want" The plan is to have the reporting system installed on every computer in the school Other steps district. Rutherford said the schools The anti-bullying effort is instituted a new tracking syswidespread throughout the tem this year and by the end district. There are grade-level of this school year, they should appropriate training programs being taught in all elementary have data that will tell them what's working and what isn't. schools and middle schools. He said he hears positive Anti-bully, harassment, intimidation and threat posters feedback from parents all the now hang in every hall of every time. They say their kids feel school. Schools regularly hold safe, he said, and they often say their glad their children go to special anti-bully events and an "anti-bullying school." assemblies. "We're not an anti-bullying "I went to Woodland (midschool. We're just a school that dle school), and Woodland has doesn't put up with bullying," a huge policy on bullying, I mean, it's huge," said Lake City Rutherford said.

She said the students at Lake City have been receptive to the Wessler training, and she has seen Anderson it spark something in teens that they often don't expect. "I think when they leave they have their eyes opened -to the difference being kind can make, and what other kids are going through," she said. Asher said she has witnessed a change in the school community. "Everyone is nice in my class, but I do lunch duty," Asher said. "I haven't heard that kind of unhealthin68S. It seems as if there has been a breath of fresh air that's come through our halls." She said that while she thinks the anti-bullying efforts are making a difference, there is always room for improvement, so it's important they continue the work they have done. The message is consistent and ongoing, she said. "I think we promote it every chance we get, because if kids don't feel safe and comfortable in the school, they can't learn," Asher said. "I never let it die."

PAGE AS I SATURDAY, MARCH 21. 2015

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SUMMER OF ACTIVISM 'Freedom Rider' tells of '60s push for civil rights By Becky Kramer

Max Paveslc's booking shot ls seen In this photo scanned Friday.

beckyk@spokesman.com, (208) 765-7122

In Sandpoint

Max Pavesic wasn't sure what awaited him as the train rolled into the station in Jackson, Mississippi. During the summer of 1961, Pavesic was a 21-year-old college student and one of 436 ''Freedom Riders" - activists committed to ending segregation on public transit in the South. He was part of a group of 15 blacks and whites who had boarded the train together in

Max Pavesic will speak at 2 p.m. today at the Sandpoint Community Center, 204 S. First Ave.

New Orleans, in defiance of local segregation laws. They knew they'd be arrested in Jackson and possibly beaten. They expected an angry mob and police with dogs. See FREEDOM, A6

Putting a face on struggle to end segregation

TYLER TJOMSLAND tylert@spokesman.com

Max Paveslc, a retired Boise State University professor who shares his 1961 experience as a "Freedom Rider," speaks Friday at the Human Rights Education Institute In Coeur d'Alene.

FREEDOM

Continued from AS "We were considered outside agitators," Pavesic recalled. "I don't know if I was scared. It was more anticipation. You didn't know what would happen." The retired Boise State University archaeology professor shared his story Friday afternoon du~ing a talk at the Human Rights Education Institute in Coeur d'Alene. He encouraged audience members to continue to work for racial equality. "Our society has to admit it is a racist society, and then we can start to change," Pavesic, who now lives in Portland, told the crowd. Pavesic joined the Freedom Riders at the urging of a classmate at the University of California-Los Angeles. The Congress of Ra-

cial Equality was organizing the rides that summer to challenge "Jim Crow" laws in the South, which included segregated public transportation. Bus and trains had "Whites Only'' seating areas and waiting rooms. The U.S. Supreme Court had struck down racial segregation on interstate trains and buses in 1946, but the ruling was largely ignored in the Sol.ith. Pavesic was already an activist, having taken part in protests against McCarthyism and compulsory ROTC training at state college. Stories about Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks moved him deeply. He abandoned plans to work on a New Mexico archaeology project and flew to New Orleans in late July. Pavesic boarded the train with the others for the four-hour trip to Jack-

son. Six members of the group were black, nine were white. All but two were college students. When they got off the train, Jackson's chief of police arrested them in the "Whites Only" waiting room for disturbing the peace. Members of Mississippi's National Guard were there with guns with bayonets. The Freedom Riders were whisked away in a paddy wagon, booked into the city jail and sent on to the state prison because the jail was full of other protesters. His mug shot shows a young man with a flat-top haircut, in a crisp suit and tie. The National Congress of Racial Equality required the Freedom Riders to dress up, emphasizing that they were upstanding young men and women, not rabble rousers. But, "I think it was a matte.r of chance that we weren't

beaten," Pavesic said. Mississippi didn't want the international publicity that had accompanied the earlier beatings of Freedom Riders in Alabama, where the Klu Klux Klan also firebombed a Greyhound bus. Pavesic and the other Freedom Riders were held in the penitentiary's maximum security block, isolated from other prisoners for their own safety. ''Every night, we sang like meadowlarks to keep our spirits up," Pavesic said. "We spent hours singing 'We Shall Overcome' and other freedom songs. It drove the jailers crazy." · The Freedom Riders spent 30 d.ays in prison before they were driven back to Jackson for their court hearing. When they started singing in the back of the truck, the driver pulled over and told them to shut up, or "we're all going to

get hurt." "He was ashen-faced," Pavesic said. "He said, 'I've been told where to drop you in the woods, and to leave you locked in the truck.' Who knew what the Klan had in mind for us." Pavesic said that if he had known how repressive Mississippi was, he might not have joined the Freedom Riders. "It was a violent time in a violent place," he said. "The viciousness is hard to comprehend. ... The powers that be were able to convince the poor whites that their problems were because of the blacks." · Two years later, civil rights leader Medgar Evers would be gunned down in the driveway of ~ Jackson home. Pavesic and the other Freedom Riders paid fines rather than serve out their six-month jail sentences. The Congress of Racial

Equality provided most of the money for their travel, bail and fines. Folk singer Pete Seeger also gave two benefit concerts for them. Their ride was the last one organized by the Congress of Raci;u Equality. In September 1961, the Interstate Commerce Commission ordered "Colored Only'' and ''Whites Only'' signs to come down at bus and train stations. Four years ago, Pavesic and other Freedom Riders reunited in Mississippi to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the rides. Both black and white residents thanked them for their activism. Their nonviolent protests helped build the credibility of the civil rights movement. · ''We had an objective in mind, and we accomplished that," Pavesic said. "I don't know if anyone knew it was a tipping point."

The Press, Saturday, March 21, 2015

SECTION

FIT FOR LIFE: Judd Jones: Good nutrition matters / D1

A ride for rights and white, held their ground in a "whites only" waiting room in a train station until they were charged with a breach of peace. By DEVIN HEILMAN Nonviolent but defiant, the dhe ilman@cdapress.com Freedom Riders were hauled off to a maximum security prison and held COEUR d'ALENE - On July 30, there near death-row cells for the mis1961, a 21-year-old archaeology studemeanor crime. KRISTEN MCPEEK/Press dent from the University of California, "We were put in the paddy wagon, Max Pavesic, a retired professor from Boise State Los Angeles, was arrested in Jackson, and at the end of the block in the University, speaks at the Human Rights Education Miss. Institute in Coeur d'Alene on Friday. Max Pavesic and 14 others, black see FREEDOM, C3

Former Freedom Rider speaks at the HREI

. ,Âˇ

FREEDOM

segregation that was still in place despite federal from Cl rulings against it. They rode buses into the Deep street there was the South and disregar ded National Guard with their Jim Crow customs in an rifle$, theif l>lyonets fixed effort to eraclicate the info'ttieir rules. There racial inequalities and were state police, local shake up communities police and plenty of police still practicing segregadogs, I remember that," tion. Pavesic said. 'Toe police "We weren't breakdogs were trained by ing the law. We were an ex-Nazi who trained testing the law," he said. police dogs for Hitler ... "We were breaking local it just kind of blows my customs, but we weren't mind to know that this breaking the law. Nazi was selling dogs to ''We were agitators." the local authorities." He described the Pavesic, now 75, intensity of the civil rights recounted-during an era- encounters with informal presentation the Ku Klux Klari, brutal Friday afternoon at the beatings and murders Human Rights Education that occurred under the lnstitute - his expericlismissive eyes of corences as a Freedom Rider rupt law enforcement, the and warrior for social pain and inclignity that justice. weighed so heavily upon Freedom Riders were the South. part of the Congress of ''If you were black Racial Equality (CORE), and you were walking a civil rights group that down the sidewalk and was instrumental in approached a white perbringing about change son, in many cities, you during the American civil had to get off the siderights movement. The walk to let that white perRiders' primary goal was son pass you by," Pavesic to peacefully challenge said.

.. He said some Freedom Riders even signed their last wills and testaments before boarding the buses, not knowing what violence may be ahead. More than 400 people participated in the Freedom Rides. 'They really thought they were giving their lives," he said. "Many had given their lives to the movement." Pavesic and his colleagues were incarcerated in the state penitentiary, Parchman Farm, for more than a month. He said at the time, it was considered the worst prison in the South and many people who entered were never heard from again. But the Freedom Riders didn't quit. "What kept us going, what kept the camaraderie going, was singing," he said. "We spent hours singing 'We Shall Overcome' and freedom songs. It would drive the prison guards nuts." Pavesic said his group was lucky because they were not beaten or injured, but the driver

who transported them from Parchman Farm when they were released revealed that he was directed to leave them in the locked vehicle in the middle of nowhere. "He was visibly shaken and he was ashen," Pavesic said. "Who knows what the Klan had in store for us if that would have happened ... Pavesic. of Portland. is a retired Boise State University professor. Dr. Lisa Manning, HREl's executive director, said Pavesic was invited to visit Coeur d'Alene by North Idaho College's Gender and Sexuality Alliance to share his e.xperie,nces fighting for human rights, in light of the club's work on the ''Add the Words" movement. "It's a broader picture for us," Manning said. "It's about human rights, about speaking up for your rights, about making a difference in your own world. We're all about education; you can't get anywhere without any education. This is what

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Freedom Rider Max Pavesic, Ph.D., is pictured here in 1961 when he got arrested in Jackson, Miss., for being part of an integrated group in a "whites only" w aiting room. Pavesic, then 21, and his colleagues were part of the last Congress of Racial Equality group that challenged segregation law s in the South.

we're trying to promote, to offer to the community all kinds of opportunities for education." Pavesic's daughter, Cammie Pavesic of Coeur d'Alene, is the producer and co-director of the "Add the Words" documentary film. She explained that the civil rights movement and segregation battles of the 1960s are akin to what Idaho's LGBT Oesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community is

enduring in the struggle to have "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" added to Idaho's existing Human Rights Act. "Human rights are human rights, they're not l?Pecial rights." Cammie said. "'Add the Words' is not a gay rights movement, it's a human rights movement. It's exactly the same thing in that people are fighting for their rights to use the bathroom. to be served at a lunch counter."

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Thursday March 26, 2015

South Carolina mayor to speak at HREI banquet Rock Hill, S.C., will be the keynote speaker at the April 13 banquet in Coeur d'Alene. Rock Hill is the city that made headlines in January A historic act of contrition will when its court vacated the 1961 be the main theme of this year's convictions of nine men arrested Human Rights Banquet hosted for conducting a peaceful sit-in at a by the Kootenai County Task segregated lunch counter. Force on Human Relations. 'This year's human rights Doug &hols, the ma}'.or of banquet is of historical signifi-

Annual event will take place April 13

cance as the banquet attendees will hear and witness Mayor &hols' account of what may be the first southern city and its municipal court to fully embrace Stewart racial reconciliation through reversing and vacating

the 1961 wrongful court conviction ... that had been based on the historical Jim Crow laws of racial segregation," said task force spokesman Tony Stewart. "Mayor Echols will show a clip from the January 2015 court hearing during his keynote address."

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The story began in February 1961 when eight black college students from Rock Hill ~~endship Junior College Jomed Thomas Gaither from the Congress of Racial Equality for a peaceful sit-in that challenged the ''whites onJy" segregation policy at the lunch counter of the local McCrory Variety Store. They were arrested, charged and convicted of trespassing and breach of peace. The men became known as the "Friendship Nine." What made the "Friendship Nine" different from other students who participated in sit-ins in other cities in the South was that they refused to pay the individual $100 fines into the city cotters but instead opted to serve their 30-day sentences at hard labor. Civil rights activists across the South adopted their slogan "Jail, Not Bail." More than 50 years later, Kim Johnson, the author of "No Fear for Freedom: The Story <>! Friendship 9," convmced Yori{ and Union County Prosecutor Kevin Brackett to address the injustice. Rock Hill Municipal Court]udge John C. Hayes presided over the Jan. 28 municipal court hearing. "We cannot rewrite Qistory, but we can right ~istory," Haynes stated in ~s ruling. '

In apologizing to the men and the court, Prosecutor Beckett said: 'There was only one reason that these men were arrested. There was onJy one reason that they were charged and convicted of trespassing, and that is because they were black." Echols' talk at the human rights banquet, in its 18th year, will be "Rock Hills' Civil Rights Journey From 1961 to 2015: The Story of the 'Friendship Nine."' Echofs is in his fifth four-year term as mayor of Rock Hill. Prior to becoming mayor, he served two terms on the city council. He is the past president of the Municipal Association of South Carolina representing 270 cities and towns in South Carolina and in 2012 he served a term as the president of the Association of South Carolina Mayors. He previously served on the board of directors of the National League â&#x20AC;˘

of Cities and was chair of the National League of Cities' Leadership Training Council. Echols and the Rock Hill City Council are partnering with regional businesses on a redevelopment project on 1,000 acres of land that represents a $600 million private invesbnent The project includes 250 acres for the construction of various public recreation and sports venues. Among his many public service accomplishments, Echols initiated Rock Hills' Commission for Children and Youth and the Mayor's Task Force for Greenways, Trails and Sidewalks. Echols had a long career as an educator and administrator in both the public schools as well as higher education. He is the past president of the NCAA Division Il Commissioners' Association. Echols holds a B.S. in biology and physical education from Mars Hill College, a Master's in education administration from Western Carolina University, and an Education Specialist Degree in administration from Winthrop University. He received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Winthrop University.

The April 13 ba1}quet will be held at the Best Western Plus Coeur d'Alene Inn, with a reception at 5 p.m. and dinner at 6. Echols' wife, a prominent South Carolina children's advocate, will conduct a workshop April 14 at 4 p.m. at the Human Rights Education Center, 414 W. Mullan Road, Coeur d'Alene. The workshop is free and open to the public. Sylvia Fulbright Echols is a board member of the Institute for Child Success in South Carolina During the workshop, she will share information about early childhood learning and discuss programs that address preschool children's health and safety in relation to literacy development Banquet tables may be purchased for $500 or $1,000 or individual tickets are $40. For ticket information, call (208) 292-2359 or (208) 765-3932 or by mail: P.O. Box 2725, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83816. All proceeds go to the Human Rights Education Institute for educational programs and North Idaho College Minority Student Scholarships.

Hagadone News Network

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Opinion 3 .- 2 7 - IS-

CO ~1

CDA: Double fress standards on gays On March 10, 2015, my brother was married at the Coeur d'Alene Hitching Post. I asked the pastor who officiated the wedding how the gay community treated him. He said they had to basically police the building and act as security. The hate prank calls and violent nature of the so-called ones that hate discrimination treated him just like a terrorist would. I read also how Pastor Tim Remington of The Altar Church when holding a Bible to try to speak to them gets spit on and called the "F" word. So I ask you, Christie Wood and Mr. Stewart, does your discrimination work both ways or do we forget the word "accountability?n Obviously Christie Wood should be unbiased, but once again the hypocrisy is what tells me you are the ones we fear! mEUNINGERS Coeur d'Alene

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HARASS: Group condemns all forms In response to the liningers' letter of March 27 in The Coeur d'Alene Press, we want to assure the liningers that we condemn and have zero tolerance for any harassment experienced by the pastors of the Coeur d'Alene Hitching Post or any harassment of Pastor Tim Remington of The Altar Church. No one should face harassment from any source because of who they are or because of their status in life. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations has worked for 34 years to combat malicious harassment, hate crimes and discrimination. In· fact, it was our organization through our attorneys that drafted and we successfully lobbied in 1983 for the passage of Idaho's Malicious Harassment Law that makes it a felony to maliciously harass any person because of their race, color, national origin, religion or creed. This law does protect individuals based on their religion. For years, we have worked unsuccessfully with other organizations to expand Idaho's malicious harassment law to provide protection to other victims of harassment such as the LGBT community. It is also our position that all Idahoans should be free from discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations.

We have been major players with other groups in the state for the successful passage of several laws and in some cases · we drafted the bills that protect Idahoans against harassment and hate crimes. Today Idaho's laws to protect persons from victimization include Idaho's Malicious Harassment Law, Idaho's Domestic Terrorist Control Act, Idaho's Bias (Uniform) Crime Reporting Act, Idaho's Explosive Devices Law, Idaho's Common Law Courts Act, Idaho's False lien Law and Idaho's Verbal Assault Law. Our organization was founded in 1981 with its primary function to protect individuals from malicious harassment and hate crimes. As we had been the initiator of the proposed City of Coeur d'Alene LGBT AntiDiscrimination Ordinance in 2013, on Oct 23, 2014, we issued an open letter to the Coeur d'Alene Mayor and City Council that it was our opinion that The Coeur d'Alene Hitching Post was exempted from performing same sex marriages under the religious exemption provision of the ordinance. The city came to the same conclusion. Our victim support committee investigates complaints of malicious harassment and or hate crimes and can be reached at (208) 765-5504 or 765-3932 or with Sgt. Christie Wood at the Coeur d'Alene Police Department CHRISTIE WOOD, president TONY STEW.ARI', secretary

KCTFHR

IN BRIEF From staff reports

South caro11na mayor wlll dlscuu race reconclllatlon The mayor of Rock Hill, South Carolina, will talk about race reconciliation in his city at the 18th annual Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations annual banquet in Coeur d'Alene on April 13. In 1961, nine African-American college students were arrested for a peaceful sit-in at a "Whites Only" lunch counter in Rock Hill Mayor Doug Echols will tell the story of how the men, known as the Friendship 9, were cleared of their offense this year before a packed courtroom. The banquet begins at 6 p.m. at the Best Western Coeur d'Alene Inn, with a 5 p.m. reception. Individual tickets are $40. Tables may be purchased for $500 or $),000. All proceeds go to the

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Human Rights Education Institute for education programs and North Idaho College minority student scholarships. More information is available by calling (208) 765-3932.

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with dvll rights award The Kootenai County Task Force on Human ReJations has honored two locaJ joumaJists with its 2014 civil rights award. The organization presented the award Monday night to Bill Morlin, a former investigative reporter for The Spokesman-Review who now writes for the Southern Poverty Law Center; and Sholeh Patrick, a columnist for the Coeur d'Alene Press. The award goes to people and organizations that have a long history ofcommitment to human rights issues and activities, support full equality for all persons, demonstrate courage of their convictions in promoting and advancing human rights, and refuse to remain silent in the face of hate, prejudice, bigotry and discrimination. At Monday's human rights banquet, Doug Echols, mayor of Rock Hill, South Carolina, shared his city's story of raciaJ reconciliation and redemption. In 1961, nine African-American college students were arrested for a peaceful sit-in at a "whites only" lunch counter in Rock Hill. Known as the Friendship Nine, the men were cleared of their offenses earlier this year. Scott Maben

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Tuesday April 14, 2015

Reflecting on the 'Friendship 9'

SHAWN GUST/Press

Mayor Doug Echols of Rock Hill, S.C., speaks during the 18th annual Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations banquet Monday at the Best Western Plus Coeur d'Alene Inn. Echols told the crowd about a 1961 segregation protest.

Righting history Rock Hill, S.C., mayor

city's civil rights journey and a group of men who were known as speaks at annual the "Friendship 9." In February of 1961, eight Human Rights Banquet black college students from Rock By KEITH COUSINS Hill Friendship Junior College kcousins@cdapress.com joined Thomas Gaither, from the Congress of Racial Equality, for a COEUR d' ALENE - Mayor peaceful sit-in at a local lunch counDoug Echols, of Rock Hill, S.C., ter with a "Whites Only" policy. said the 1960s were tough times The group was arrested, charged, for America, the South and the and convicted of trespassing and community he serves. breach of peace. ..Segregation ruled the day," Unlike other student sit-ins that occurred throughout the South Echols told the 321 people gathduring the civil rights movement., ered at the Best Western Plus the members of the "Friendship Coeur d'Alene Inn. "But at the 9" refused to pay their $100 fines same time, the struggle for civil rights was underway.'' and chose instead lo serve a 30-day Echols was the keynote speaker sentence of hard labor. Civil rights at the Kootenai County Task Force activists across the South adopted the g roups slogan, "Jail, Not Bail." on Human Relations annual Hu'They did not set out to be man Rights Banquet on Monday heroes," Echols said. "Yet they night The fifth-term Rock Hill mayor focused his remarks on his sparked a major milestone in the

civil rights movement, which gave Rock Hill a platform from which to launch a series of events through the years. They created a thread, if you will, from which we would carry on their core value - that all people were created equal and have equal rights." On Jan. 28, 2015, Municipal Court Judge John Hayes presided over a hearing that eventually ruled the nine men were wrongfully accused in the incident. After vacating the sentences before a packed courtroom, Hayes said, "We cannot rewrite history, but we can right history." 'To our knowledge, no other community has taken these kinds of steps," Echols said. 'The 'Friendship 9' event in 1961 was the platform from which our community began its struggle for racial

see HISTORY, A4

The Press

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

From the front

Sholeh Patrick reacts after being named as the recipient of one of two civil rights awards at the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations banquet.

Bill Morlin delivers a speech after receiving a civil rights award.

Photos by SHAWN GUST/Press

HISTORY

After Echols concluded his remarks, awards were from A1 presented by KCTFHR president Christie Wood justice. TI1eir courage con- and Tony Stewart, tinues to inspire us today, KCTFHR secretary. The and it will in the days to first award of the night, come." the "2014 Civil Rights

Award," went to Sholeh Patrick, Coeur d'Alene Press columnist, and Bill Morlio, former Spokesman-Review journalist and reporter for the Southern Poverty Law Center.

'These two people are in the same field and they follow lhe same path, which is one of the pen being mightier than the sword," Stewart said. The organization also honored Greta Gissel

and Jody Hiltenbrand with its "Bill Wassmuth Memorial Volunteer of the Year Award," and gave the "NIC Speak Out Communications Club" its "North Idaho College Student Club of the

Year" award. All proceeds from the event went toward educational programs at the Human Rights Education Institute and NIC Minority Student Scholarships.

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Friday April 24, 2015

By DAVID COLE dcole@cdapress.com

COEUR cl'ALENEF.conomic deYelopment legend Bob Potter was inducted Thursday into the Idaho Hall ofFame at .,._...._,_. Jobs Plus Inc.'s 2015 annu.___.-L..-.......... al meeting of members. MIKE PATRICK/Prea Potter spent 15 years Bob Potter (left) receives a plaque and a at the helm ofJobs congratulatory letter from former state Rep. Plus, the Coeur d'Alene Frank Henderson as Tony Stewart announces area's economic develo&>Potter's Induction into the Idaho Hall of Fame. ment corporation, and Potter, the first president in Jobs Plus history, has been credited with was honored during the organization's annual recruiting more than 70 meeting Thursday at The Coeur d'Alene Resort. companies.

"Bob, you must take the greatest satisfaction in knowing how many families' lives have been blessed and improved from the work that you did," Tony Stewart, a member of the Idaho Hall of Fame board of directors, said in announcing Potter's induction...And not only have those families prospered, but their children have experienced greater educational seePOTTER,Aa

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opportunities because of your work." Approximately 300 people attended the annual meeting Thursday at The Coeur d'Alene Resort. In an interview, Potter recalled his work helping bring major companies like Kimball, the office furniture manufacturer, to North Idaho. At its peak, the Post Falls plant had 450 employees. It was announced this winter, however, that Kimball would be shutting down the huge Post Falls plant to consolidate operations in Indiana. Potter recalled working hard for four years to

bring that major employer to Post Falls from California. "It was a huge move," Potter said. "Probably the largest manufacturing company that's ever just moved into the state." Buck Knive& was another one he fondly remembers recruiting. "I love that company," Potter said. There was plenty of love to go around Thursday. "Your work bringing businesses and jobs to Idaho has left a legacy of professionalism and success that's a credit to your commitment to our state and our citizens," Idaho Gov. Butch Otter wrote in a letter to Potter. Titan Spring In~.â&#x20AC;˘ in

Hayden, was the last company he recruited to Idaho from outside the state. "He knew what was good for us before we knew what was good for us," said Vince Desantis, vice president of operations at Titan Spring. "Bob is tenacious ... He chased us for about three years." Stewart said the companies Potter recruited have been responsible for more than $325 million in capital investment, nearly $100 million in annual payroll, more than 3,900 well-paying jobs and more than $2.4 million in property taxes. U Gov. Brad Little quipped that it was too bad Potter wasn't working on commission.

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NORTHWEST

Potter, ex-leader of Jobs Plus, honored The man credited with bringing over 70 companies to North Idaho, including Buck Knives and Center Partners, a large call center, was inducted into the Idaho Hall of Fame on Thursday. Bob Potter, who led Jobs Plus Inc. for IS years, was honored at the economic development corporation's annual luncheon at the Coeur d'Alene Resort. Potter, 87, retired as president of Jobs Plus in early 2003. Most of the companies Potter recruited are family-owned. They brought more than 3,900 jobs to North Idaho and made more than $325 million in capital investments in the area, according to the nonprofit corporation. Potter is a former AT&T sales executive who moved to Hayden Lake from California to retire. Business leaders recruited him in 1987 to become the first president of Jobs Plus, formed to help diversify Kootenai County's job base.

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

At NIC, love is the answer 'Choose Love over Fear Day' is Friday By DEVIN HEILMAN

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COEUR d'ALENE The Beatles may have been onto something when they said, "All you need is love." Lots of love and good vibes will surround the third annual ''Choose Love over Fear Day," taking place Friday on the North Idaho College campus. "One of the reasons for the whole day is to illuminate the good in unexpected places and the talents of unexpected people," said event co-organizer Kathleen Lamanna. Lamanna and her good friend Jackie Gedeik are the parties behind Coeur d'Alene's "Choose Love over Fear Day." They want to promote positivity in the community and encourage people to nol just be kind to one another, but to celebrate each person's wonderfulness. ''So much focuses on the fear and there are so many incredible people out there doing so many incredible things," Lamanna said. "If we can just honor them, that would be wonderful."

This year's evem will be a bit different. It moved from the Human Rights Education Institute to the Edminster Student Union Building at NIC. "We thought we'd follow the energy of the kids," Lamanna said. 'The best part of the day fo r us is when they come back from giving hugs. Just listening to their stories energizes us and lets us know we're on the right track." The guest speakers, including human rights champion Tony Stewart, will share first-person experiences of kindnass that have had positive impacts on their lives. '1t's more personal this year," Lamanna said. Lamanna and Gedeik have also engaged NIC students in a contest to see how many reader boards throughout town they can commandeer to advertise for the event. The free hugs, however, are here to stay. Participating NIC students and anyone who wants to join will be wandering downtown to hug strangers and brighten someone's day. Mayor Steve Widmyer will read a proclamation recognizing May 1 as the city's official "Choose Love over Fear Day,'' which occurs in conjunction with Global Love Day, the universal recognition of h umanity's interconnectedness through love.

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People can participate in their own unique ways by volunteering at a retirement center, hospital or school, paying for the next person in line's meal or coffee, complimenting at least five people, giving to charities or anything else that promotes love and makes someone smile. "We can give someone the precious gift of time," Gedeik said at the first event in 2013. "We can

buy a lottery ticket for a complete stranger. We can put some coins in someone else's parking meter. Sincerely compliment at least five people today, including a stranger. Leave an encouraging note on someone's car window, or your child's lunchboxâ&#x20AC;˘ or your husband's briefcase." "Choose Love over Fear Day" will begin at 3 p.m. Friday at the SUB. It is free and open to the public. Info: www.thelovefoundation.com

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'I will remember him forever' Community champion, longtime attorney Scott Reed dies at 87 By DEVIN HEILMAN

always had a twinkle in dheilman@cdapr~ss.com his eye. He always was professional and he never COEUR d' ALENE had a harsh word for any - Even though Pet of his adversaries." Erbland and Scott Reed Reed, 87, died didn't see eye to eye on Saturday night with his politics, they had a tight family at his bedside. H friendship that lasted 35 bad surgery about eight years. weeks ago and had been "I counted him as a in failing health since. dear friend," Erbland said SHAWN GUST/Press Sunday afternoon. "He see REED, A4 Scott Reed.

Atribute to Scott Reed â&#x20AC;˘ When Scott and Mary Lou Reed settled in Coeur d'Alene in 1956, the people of Kootenai County, the region, the state of Idaho and far beyond became the beneficiaries of this couple's limitless contributions in promoting the well-being of all the people, preserving the integrity of what nature had created in this corT ner of the world and guaranteeing a ony better life for future generations. Stewart I invite the readers to join me in remembering and celebrating the life of my dear

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Scott Reed at Tubbs Hill.

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"Scott is unique," Erbland said. "I don't see anyone filling his shoes." Friends fondly recalled Reed's unwavering perseverance and commitment to his community as well as his dedication and respectful, kind demeanor during his nearly 60 years as an attorney. He and Erbland worked together and collaborated on many cases. "I truly enjoyed that collaboration. I learned a lot from Scott," Erbland said. "His knowledge of property law was astounding. Scott was probably the most accomplished property law lawyer in the state of Idaho." Reed was a champion for environmental causes, civil rights, education and much more. He served on the boards of trustees for several organizations and institutions - North Idaho College, Idaho Water Resources, North Dakota Wetlands Trust, Idaho Nature Conservancy and the Coeur d'Alene Library. He was on the Coeur d'Alene Planning Commission and the National Audobon Society's board of directors. He also received the Distinguished Lawyer Award from the Idaho State Bar in 2012. Reed and Mary Lou, his wife of more than 60 years, were instrumental in preserving Tubbs Hill for the use of the people, among many other accomplishments that will leave a lasting impression on Coeur d'Alene. The Reeds were inducted into the Idaho Hall of Fame last year. "He has left a legacy," Erbland said. "If all of us could do a tenth of what he accomplished in his life, we would have lived a fulfilled life." Through it all, Scott remained humble and modest, always shifting the spotlight to others. Former city councilor Mike Kennedy said he vividly remembers being a dinner party guest in the Reed home, which friends jokingly refer to as the "Reed Hotel" because of the frequency with which visitors are welcome. He

said rather than engage in fiery debates like many others, the brilliant Scott would walk around and make sure his guests' glasses were always full. "He could have easily schooled all of us, but he was there filling wine glasses because he was so humble," Kennedy said. "He was the smartest guy in the room, but he never needed to show it." When Kennedy met the Reeds in 1991, he said he was immediately embraced by them and they helped connect him to the community. He said Scott lived his life with a very light touch while being "serious as a heart attack about his work and his principles." "He didn't take himself seriously at all, he was easy going," Kennedy said. "I think that's a good lesson for us all." Kennedy said the word "hero" should be reserved for those who deserve it, and Scott absolutely deserves it. "When you think about all the things he has done and preserved and saved, I think Scott earned that title as well as anybody," he said. "I am proud and honored to have been an acquaintance and a friend, and I will remember him forever, as will all of us." Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations secretary Tony Stewart has been a close friend of the Reeds since 1970. Stewart said he would describe Scott as a "renaissance man." "Not only did he work in the courtroom, but the whole region, and he was so committed to this beautiful environment we have," Stewart said. "He loved the outdoors so much." Stewart said Scott believed in academic freedom, was a great adviser who loved life and had a passion for making sure everyone had rights. He said the community is very lucky the Reeds decided to make Coeur d'Alene their home. "The older you get, the more you realize you're on this planet just for a twinkle of an eye," Stewart said. "Scott Reed made a huge difference and it lives on in legislation and in programs. "He maximized his years on this planet to make it a better place."

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friend Scott Reed, one of the most remarkable human beings I've ever known. This space will only permit me to share a minuscule portion of Scott's accomplishments and his incredible legacy. After receiving his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and law degree from Stanford, Scott used his many legal skills and devotion to humanity for six decades in Coeur d'Alene to touch and improve the lives of untold numbers of people, protect our sacred natural surroundings and yes guarantee a better life for generations to come. Among his many gifts to us included acquiring a loan from a national non-profit so that the City of Coeur d'Alene could purchase and preserve Tubbs Hill for the public, served as the attorney for 'Save the NIC College Beach Committee" at no cost from 1972-1976 when we successfully prevented the construction of condos on what today is the "Yap Keehn-Um Public Beach," a legal expert and defender of the First Amendment, a legal scholar of law journal articles, strong advocate and defender of human rights, an attorney with the highest integrity serving as a model for young upcoming attorneys , recognized as the most prominent envirorunental attorney in our region of the country, great promoter of public education, devoted supporter of public libraries, patron of the arts and humanities and represented many low income clients and organizations pro bono to name just a few of his many contributions to our wellbeing. A list of the boards on which he served highlights his numerous hours of public and civic service that included the North Idaho College Board of Trustees, Coeur d'Alene City Planning

Commission, National Audubon Society, Coeur d'Alene Public Library Board, Idaho Water Resources Board, North Dakota Wetlands Trust, and Idaho Nature Conservcincy Board. Because of Scott and Mary Lou's thoughtful modesty, many people do not know of their generous philanthropy of giving to so many worthy causes through the Margaret Reed Foundation over many decades. Scott and Mary Lou have been the ultimate exemplary or ideal married couple in a partnership that has accomplished so much. Although Scott was always extremely modest about his successes and deflected compliments from himself by always recognizing others' roles in these accomplishments, he was honored as the recipient of numerous distinguished awards. In the limited space here, I will only mention his being awarded the Idaho State Bar Distinguished Lawyer Award, University of Idaho's President's Medallion Recipient, American Motors Corporation Conservation Award, Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations Civil Rights Award with wife Mary Lou, and in 2014 he and Mary Lou were inducted into the prestigious Idaho Hall of Fame. I have never known a more generous, more giving of one's self for service to others, more ethical or more committed individual working for a more just and fair world. He used his great intellect and legal skills to advance these democratic principles. l will dearly miss his sound advice, wisdom, support of our many causes and above all his dear friendship. I extend my deepest sympathy to Mary Lou and this very special family. My friend's legacy will endure and be a blessing to future generations.

TONY STEWART Coeur d'Alene

1une 20 15 - The Fig Tree - Page 9

Sholeh Patrick uplifts human, civil rights in column in CdA Press By Kaye Hult With her "pen," Sholeh Patrick seeks to challenge readers to expand their thinking on topics related to human and civil rights. For 13 years, s he has written a free-lance column for the Coeur d'Alene Press to inv ite compassion and the ability to see someone else for a moment, to understand what it's like to waJk in another's shoes. Recognizing that her use of the pen is mightier than the sword, the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations presented her with one of two 2015 Civil Rights Awards at itsApril 13 Human Rights Banquet. The other recipient was Bill Morlin, former Spokesman-Review journalist and reporter for the Southern Poverty Law Center. Recently. Sholeh has written about Jesuits and other Catholic orders, sex trafficking, variations in Sharia and Islam, the impossibility ofliving on mfoimum wage. atheism, Hinduism, symbolic meaning of the animals of the Chinese zodiac calendar and Irish influence on English language. Just as she "feJl into" journalism. she "fell into" being a colwnnist. She saw an article in

Sholeh Patrick

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Lhe Coeur d'Alene Press and felt compelled to reply-the only letter to the editor she has written. Editor Mike Patrick ran it as a guest opinion and invited her to write a column. which she has done since 2002. She writes two columns a week and other articles for publications of the Hagadone News Network. She chooses her topics. Sholeh and Mike married in 2003. 'Tm not an expert on anything;Âˇ she said. " If I find common threads with what's going on locally, I try to address that.'' She keeps focusing on her be1ief that, at the core. every human being is the same. and everyone wants to be loved. "We become mired in our fears," she said. "This leads to insecurity, pain and prejudice." Sboleh likes historical fiction. Through it, she has become aware that people take much for granted today compared to times when life was more difficult. "Abuse used to be more common. People lived shorter lives. Less than I00 years ago, no one would raise large a mounts of money to give to a stranger," she said, referring to what is happening in Coeur d 'Alene since one of the city's poLice officers was shot.

"We do not hear as much good news as previously," she said, pointing out that national media outlets once found good news sold more than it seems lo now. Sholeh has Persian ancestry. Her father is franian. Her mother comes from Oklahoma and Wyoming. Born in New York, she spent much of her early childhood in Iran, coming to the United States for good when she was I0 years old.

From then on through college she mostly lived in Texas. She earned a bachelor's in international studies in 1988 at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. " I thought about writing as a child. I wrote for university journals in both my undergraduate and graduate schools," she said of becoming a journalist. Sholeh was managing editor of the law journal at South Texas College of Law, where she earned her J.D. degree in 1997, focusing in international law and trade. She learned that, while she enjoys pure research and writing, she does not enjoy practicing law. Going to law school made her "a fast researcher," she said. "1 learned where to look. I have some regular resources I start with when preparing a column." In 1999, she followed her family to North Idaho. Since then, she worked as a lobbyist for the Coeur d 'Alene Chamber of Commerce and in the local office of then-Congressman Butch Otter. When she wrote her letter to the editor, she was working at North Idaho College in public relations. Over the years, Sholeh received other awards: the Associated Press Columnist Award in 2004, the State of Tdaho Media Award

for Mental Health in 2006, and . There will be Jess prejudice." the Diakonia of North Idaho Sholeb 's articles often elicit letand Peace Coeur d'Alene Peace ters to the editor. Many support Award in 2010. _ her point of view. Many disagree Column topics sometimes stem with what she bas bad to say. from her spiritual convictions. "The good always seems to Her mother, a Catholic, and her outweigh the harsh," she said. "I father, an agnostic from a Muslim think most people out there are country, Jet her find her own way spiritually. She attended Mass with her mother as a child. Her grandmother and other relatives taught her Muslim prayers. "When I was eight, learning Muslim prayer, I began to think about religious questions," said Sohleh, who has gone to services of many faiths. ''Whenever I encounter another 1 religion, I learn as much as I can about it. I've been to Jewish temple and attended different types of Christian churches. Buddhism resonates most with me. " I have found beauty and truth in every religion so far," she said. ''1 am not a religious person," she continued. " I am not a onepath person. In all religions, I have found that participants are not uniform in what they believe. If we can understand each other, then we' LI fear each other less and want to help each other more.

trying to be kind, even when they disagree. "I'm still learning and looking. Hopefully we keep growing until we die," she said. For information, call 208-664817.6 or email Sholeh@cdapress. com.

STUDENTS: Cheers for anti-bullying

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Ms. Judi Sharrett Superintendent Lakeside School District Plummer, Idaho Dear Superintendent Sharrett: This morning [Thursday] I read the wonderful article "Plummer-Worley Students Stand Against Bullying" in The Coeur d'Alene Press. On beha1f of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations Board of Directors, I want to thank and praise your administration, staff, faculty, Board of Trustees, and especially you and the students for this very important project. It will pay huge dividends in the lives of your student body. Would you pl~ase extend our congratulations and our praise to the student body? We are so proud of them. Please extend a special thank you to students Cheyenne Scott, Sativa Bohlman, Rory Scott, Sarah Brown and Gavin Rea for writing the My Turn for The Coeur d'Alene Press. As an organization for 34 years, our KCTFHR has worked to promote equality and respect for all people while combating harassment and hate activity/ crimes, as we supported the victims. Over the past two years, we have especially suJ)ported the Coeur d'Alene School District's outstanding anti-bullying program. I believe rm correct that the Benewah Coalition for Human Rights has played a major role in the two school districts in ' Benewah County regarding antibullying programs. Again our congratulations. Keep up the good work. Warm Regards, Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations Board of Directors Tony S ~ Secretary see LETTERS, A5

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By JEFFREY COLLINS and RUSS BYNUM

Associated Press CHARLESTON, S.C

- It was an act of "pure, pure concentrated evil,'' Charleston's mayor said - a black community's leading lights extinguished in a spray of bullets, allegedly at the hands of a young white man who was welcomed into their Bible study session. And so the nine victims at The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church joined the ever-lengthening list of America's racial casualties. In one blow, the gunman ripped out part of South Carolina's civic heart: a state senator who doubled as the church's minister, three other pastors; a regional library .manager, a high school coach and speech therapist, a government administrator, a college enrollment counselor and a recent college graduate. Six women and three men who felt called to open their church to all. Dylann Storm Roof, !1, had complained that 'fblacks were taking over the world" and that "someone needed to do something about it for the y.,hite race," according to friend who alerted the FBI. He was arrested with his gun after an all-night manhunt, authorities said. President Barack Obama called the tragedy yet another example of damage wreaked on America by guns. NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks said "there is no greater coward than a criminal

who enters a house of God and slaughters innocent people." Others bemoaned the loss to a church that has served as a bastion of black power for 200 years, despite efforts by white supremacists to wipe it out. "Of all cities, in Charleston, to have a borrible hate- · ful person go into the church and kill people there to pray and worship with each Roof other is something that is beyond any comprehension and is not explained,'' said Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. "We are going to put our arms around that church and that church family." Surveillance video showed the gunman entering the c~urch Wednesday night, and Charleston County Coroner Rae Wilson said the gunman initially didn't appear threatening. 'The suspect entered the group and was accepted by them, as they believed th"a t he wanted to join them in this Bible study," she said. Then, "he became very aggressive and violent." Roof's childhood friend, Joey Meek, called the FBI after recognizing him in the surveillance footage, down to the stained sweatshirt he wore while playing Xbox videogames in Meek's home the morning of the attack. "I didn't THINK it was him. I KNEW it was him," Meek told The Associated Press after being interviewed by investigators.

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FROM: The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations

On this sad and tragic day in Charleston, S.C., we extend our deepest sympathy, heartfelt care and prayers to the families who lost loved ones and all the residents of Charleston. We hope the grieving families and all the people of Charleston realize that millions of Americans have them in their thoughts and prayers. This is yet another historical example of a horrific murder of innocent victims by a perpetrator of racial hatred based on the false ideology of the superiority of one race over another race. The deep-seated prejudice and bigotry found within some individuals and extremist groups have resulted in these horrific acts in communities across our country resulting in

the deaths and injuries of so many innocent men, women and children over time. We hope that people of goodwill everywhere will redouble their efforts to starid up against the purveyors of hate in all its manifestations. As the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." We hope parents will hug their children tonight and share this message of love from Dr. King with them. With the Deepest Sympathy for the families in Charleston, 77re Kootenai County

Task Force on Human Relations Board Christie Wood, president Tony Stewart, secretary

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www.cdapress.com

Tuesday July 21, 2015

Judge hears Hitching Post case City of Coeur d'Alene has asked for dismissal By KEITH COUSINS kcousins@cdapress.com

COEUR d' ALENE -A judge heard arguments in U.S. District Court Monday on th e future of a lawsuit filed against the city of Coeur d'Alene by the Hitching Post Lawyers with the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian rights legal advocaqf organization, filed the suit in October on behalf of Hitching Post owners Don and Evelyn Kna~p. Th.e civil rights lawsuit claims the Knapps are being forced to vi?late their religious beliefs and perform same-sex marriages because of the city's anti-discrimination ordinance.

l\ttorneys representing the city of Coeur . d'Alene have filed two requests to have the lawsuit dismissed, most recently on March 30 in response to an amended civil complaint filed by the ADF. The motion claims the Knapps have failed to establish that "they have suffered actual injury" or "show a genuine threat of imminent prosecution," which is required to have the necessary legal standing to move for ward with a civil suit.

Kirtlan Naylor, a Boisebased attorney representing Coeur d'Alene, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Bush that. on Oct. 6, the Knapps established a religious corporation, Hitching Post LLC. City officials, Naylor added, were not aware of this information until the ADF filed its original complaint on Oct. 17. 'The ordinance allows exemptions for religious corporations, associations,

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educational institutions, or societies," Naylor said. 'The Hitching Post has established that they are a religious corporation and they fall within that exemption." Bush then asked Naylor why City Attorney Mike Gridley only wrote "nonprofit religious corporation" when refer~ncing exemptions in a letter to the Knapps prior to the laws uit. Without the inclusion of for-profit religious corporations, the Knapps could be led to believe that only nonprofits are excepted from the ordinance. "Inference is not sufficient for standing to be established," Naylor countered. For a week in October, the Knapps closed the wedding chapel because, according to the complaint, they were in ''a constant state of fear that they would be arrested and prosecuted if they declined to perform a same-sex ceremony." The amended complaint adds that beginning Oct. 23, three separate individuals called the Hitching Post about same-sex weddings, and that the chapel has had 15 such inquiries since t";he Knapps purchased it in 1989. However, Naylor mentioned that same-sex marriage wasn't legal in Idaho until Oct 15, and the Knapps reopened the . Hitching Post the following day. "If there was concern on their part that they could be prosecuted on the 15th, what transpired so that they thought they could open on the 16th?" he asked. "In any event, they have to prove an actual injury." Matt Sharp, one of three ADF attorneys at the hearing in Coeur

d'Alene, told Bush the constitutional rights of the Knapps were being threatened by the ordinance, and that the city targeted the Hitching Post in statements made to the media. "Are you saying the city had the Hitching Post in their crosshairs and were only intent on possibly applying the ordinance to the Hitching Post and no one else?" Bush asked, with Sharp replying he wasn't. 'Then why would you say they were targeted then, when that just serves to inflame things?" Sharp then began discussion of the ordinance being vague and that, in attempted pre-trial mediation, the city has refused to further define what it interprets as a religious corporation - giving city officials "unbridled discretion." 'The problem with the ordinance is that no one knows what it means," Sharp added. "We are happy to work with the city to clarify the ordinance. The Knapps established a religious corporation to protect themselves. Whether that satisfies the city, we don't

know." Bush mentioned that Gridley had given sworn testimony that the city would not prosecute the Knapps, and that the establishment of the Hitching Pos t LLC left the wedding chapel exempt from the ordinance. "What do you want that the city hasn't already said?" Bus h asked. "Simply issue an injunction that, as written, the ordinance is void from vagueness because it doesn 't define a relig ious corporation," Sharp replied. Bus h is eXJ?ected to issue a ruling on the motion to dismiss the laws uit within the next 60 days.

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Lawmaker's flag photo irks some

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Idaho's Scott says Confederate banner promotes free speech By Betsy Z. Russell betsyr@spokesman.com. (208) 336-2854

An Idaho state representative's Facebook post of herself posing with a Confederate flag has touched a nerve in the state, which still resents being associated with the racism of Richard Butler's Aryan Nations. Rep. Heather Scott, a Blanchard Republican, posted the picture on Facebook along with the message: ''Protecting and promoting our freedom of speech is an honor." The photo, which includes her campaign sign, was taken at Priest River's annual Timber Days celebration on July 25. In an interview, Scott said she flew the flag, along with three American flags, on her

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parade "float," which was an old Army troop truck. She was joined in the Timber Days parade by fellow freshman Rep. Sage Dixon, a Ponderay Republican. "We see it as a symbol of free speech," she said this week. But Tony Stewart, a founding member of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, called the Confederate flag "a symbol of segregation... a symbol of discrimination." ''We find it very unfortunate that any political leader would send such a message to their constituents that would be so highly offended or hurt by that symboV' said Stewart, who's still on the human rights group's board. Flags have been potent symbols in North Idaho's experience with white supremacists. In 2004, when an 86-year-old Butler held his last neo-Nazi parade through downtown Coeur d'Alene, he rode in the back of a pickup flanked by two Confederate flags, along with swastikas. The flag of Israel dragged on the ground behind the truck, and at one point, some of Butler's skinhead supporters stomped on it Scott's Facebook post came two weeks after South Carolina lowered the Confederate flag permanently from its state Capitol, as crowds chanted, ''USA, USA." That state had displayed the Confederate battle flag, with its stars and bars, since 1962. South Carolina lawmakers recently passed legislation calling for its removal after 21-year-old Dylann Roof posed with the flag before gunning down nine black churchgoers in downtown Charleston in Jwte.

Photo from Facebook

This Is the photo Idaho Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, posted on Facebook, writing, "Protecting and promoting our freedom of speech Is an honor."

"Hate speech is protected unde.r the First Amendment," said Stewart, a longtime professor of political science at North Idaho College. "But we also would really, really encourage people not to do that, because it doesn't move us forward towards equality. It resurfaces a form of discrimination."

Pries.t River Mayor Jim Martin said he didn't notice the flag at the parade. Even so, "I think that things like this will lead to people in other areas characterizing us in a certain way because of the history that we have in North Idaho," he said, "and then you have one of your elected officials

hoisting a Confederate flag. She has every right, for freedom of speech and all that stuff." But, he added, "Personally I think she could have used something else to represent her stand for free speech.'' Âˇ Scott's Facebook post drew only a handful of comments, all supportive. One supporter wrote, "Thanks for standing up for what we voted for you for.'' The Timber Days festival is an annual community gathering that includes logging-skills competitions, a car cruise and a Little League tournament along with the parade. Scott, a first-term lawmaker, defeated her Democratic opponent 66 percent to 34 percent for an open legislative seat last November; former longtime state Rep. Eric Anderson, RPriest River, had retired after serving five terms. Anderson said he was "disappointed" to see Scott embrace the Confederate flag on Facebook, and has heard similar sentiments from other area residents. "They're sick and tired of people coming in from other places, thinking that this is what we are, because it's not," he said. Scott, an aquatic biologist who moved to North Idaho from rural Ohio 16 years ago and has won support from tea party groups, said she never heard a negative word about the flag, which was loaned by a constituent, all day at the Timber Days celebration. ''We put it there to promote freedom of speech," she said. ''I know how sometimes things get twisted, but that's why we did it. We'd do it again.'' She added, "I'm sure some people find an American flag offensive, right? There's people that bum it, there's people that disrespect it. I will neve.r kill someone's freedom of speech."

Building Bubba ball Check out the special section on UN D football in today's Herald.

Grand For:

FRIDAY ,

September 4, 2015

Not 'part of our brand' Grand Forks leaders to hold meeting in response to anti-Islam event

Community members listen to social justice experts Tony Stewart and Norm Gissel discuss strategies for inclusive communities during an event Thursday at St. Paul's Episcopal Church.

Story I Charly Haley

meeting today'to consider "efforts to clearly express that this is an inclusive and welcoming community.'' Photo I Eric Hylden This meeting will be in addition to otherrecent efforts by local leadity Council member Bret ers to pJ()mote.inrlusivcnes.s. Weber says bigotcy should Usama Dakdok. who spoke not be part of the Grand Thursday night at the Empire, was Forks community. raised a Christian in Ewt and So in response to an anti-Islam, b-avels the U.S. preacbrng about the Christian speaker being scheduled "dangers of Islam." He has called to speak at the Empire Arts Center Islam a "cult" and "disease," saying on Thursday, Weber wrote an email it makes victims ofMuslims who to the Empire's director and other do not understand their religion, local leaders calling for an informal which he has studied for years.

The Thursday event, which was Dakdok's second visit to Grand Forks this year, was a rebuttal to local advocates' educational "Meet Your Muslim Neighbor" presentation in April "Meet Your Muslim Neighbor" was a response to Dakdok's first GI-as\d Forks visit, which atb-acted more than 150 protesters outside the Empire during the event The presentation itselfattracted 200 listeners.

We must guard against any sense that bigotry is somehow endorsed by our community. Bret Weber City Council member

COMMUNITY: See Page A5

Dakdok refutes 'Meet Your Muslim Neighbor' 'Dangers of Islam' speaker

"rebuttal the rebuttal" of"Meet Your Muslim Neighbor," which back, protesters absent. was held in April at Sharon Lutheran Church. By Becky Jacobs "I could not wait to get a DVD Grand Forks Herald of the rebuttal," said Dakdok, whose last presentation on the The last time Usama Dakdok "dangers oflslam" attracted was in Grand Forks, he was met more than 150 protesters. The by dozens of protesters. event also ch'ew nearly 2.()() atThe controversial speaker was tendees. told he was spreading messages But the Thursday presentation of "hate" when be gave his first did not garner protesters, and presentation in March at the the auditorium was half full. Empire Arts Center. The event An event organized by social even prompted a group to refute justice advocates at St Paul's his arguments with a "Meet Your Episcopal Church to counter Muslim Neighbor" program. Dakdok's event and to promote Dakdok returned Thursday diversity and compassion was night to the center to with a held at the same time. program he called "Rebuttal." DAKDOK: See Page A5 He explained that he wanted to

Becky Jacobs, Grand Forks Herald

Usama Dakdok returned Thursday to the Empire Arts Center in Grand Forks for a program he called "Rebuttal."

Online: Watch video from Dakdok's ~ presentation at gfherald.com.

Grand Forks Herald, Friday, September 4, 2015

COMMUNITY/ Continued from Page A1

At Thursday's Dakdok event, there was no organized protest. Instead, there was an alternate event at St Paul's Episcopal Church featuring national social justice advocates Tony Stewart and Norm GisseL who promote communicy strategies ofcompassion and inclusiveness. Those two speakers, who also visited classes at UND on Thursday, also will be at the meeting Weber called today, he said. ''We must guard against any sense that bigotry is somehow endorsed by our communicy -we do not want to have Dakdok's name become a part of our brand," Weber wrote in his email obtained by the Herald on Thursday. "(Dakdok's) name should not be associated with the brand of our cicy, of our downtown, ofUND or of the Empire." Weber, who is also a social work professor at UND, said he hopes to facilitate a conversation as to how Grand Forks should handle intolerance and fonn its brand as a welcoming communicy. The meeting today is not open to media, Weber said, because he wants attendees to feel comfortable speaking freely. In his emaiL Weber asked for recipients to "please feel free to share this message broadly, though not with the press at this time."

Free speech? Weber said allowing Dakdok's presentation, which he called "religious hostilicy," in Grand Forks is an example of discord between citizens' right to tree speech and the community's responsibilicy to protect its residents from harmful discrimination. "Between those two, there are difficult decisions you need to make," Weber said.

"How do you address that as a communicy?" Empire Director Emily Montgomery said she and the Empire's board ofdirectors strongly felt they should not censor someone's right to free speech, regardless of board members' personal beliefs. "We feel that what the speaker has to say is protected speech," she said. She added The Empire has hosted other seemingly controversial events, including part of the recent Grand Forks Pride Festival. "Our mission is to be welcoming to everyone," Montgomery said. The Empire did not sponsor either Dakdok event, it just rented out its theater. Both events were promoted by local Christian radio station Q-FM, said Phil Ehlke, station general manager. ''We don't believe it's bigotry.... The whole issue with Usama is there is a huge difference between Islam and Christianicy," Ehlke said "We believe clearly the God ofIslam is certainly not the God of Christianity." Weber said Dakdok's visits have indirectly helped raise a conversation about discrimination and inclusiveness, but he said Grand Forks should still strategire to peacefully oppose bigotry. ''There are people in the communicy that have really strong feelings about this. I don't want somebody coming to our town creating divisions," Weber said ''This is about trying to find the proper balance."

FROM PAGE ONE

Thursday, saying, "We are a communicy that's very welcoming and very diverse." Several people attended the event, where advocates Stewart and Gissel talked about their strategies for peacefully opposing discrimination. Organizers said the event was not a direct response to Dakdok, but rather a chance to have a public dialogue about discrimination and the need for inclusiveness. Stewart said communicy members should always speak out against hate speech, but they should never attend meetings ofany discriminatory group, and they should never engage in violence. "Be in charge of your culture and watch and look, and anytime someone goes through (discrimination), become their ally," Stewart said. "So many people suffer because of what they've been through, and they don't have an ally, and they need one." Stewart's and Gissel's message emphasized nonviolence and celebrating diversity. UND and the local advocacy group North Dakotans for Diversicy and Compassion were also partners in bringing Stewart and Gissel to Grand Forks. That event and the meeting with Stewart and Gissel today also coincide with Grand Forks' recent efforts toward a new cicy Commission on Inclusion and Diversicy, which will be proposed to Cicy Council in coming weeks. In a letter to the editor printed in the Herald on Thursday, Brown and Weber Peaceful effort wrote the new commission "will help us all do an even Many other local leaders are also working toward mak- better job of celebrating both ing Grand Forks known as a our differences and our comwelcoming, nondiscriminamonalities." tory communicy. Call Haley at (701) 780-1102; (800)477~572, ext.1102;arsend Mayor Mike Brown also voiced support for communicy emailtoc~cxrm. compassion and inclusiveness Follow her on 'Tulitter@cha:rlyat the st Paul's church event hal.ey.

Eric Hylden, Grand For1<s Herald

Attendees listen to social justice advocates Tony Stewart, at pulpit, and Norm Gissel discuss creating inclusive communities Thursday at St. Paul's Episcopal Church.

anything from my mind and my heart," but that "it comes from Mohammad." Continued from Page A1 "If there is a Muslim here tonight and you're upset, go Dakdok went step-by-step complain to Muhammad or through a shaky video that de- Allah," Da.kdok said. picted the entire "Meet Your He covered issues he Muslim Neighbor" event and recognized as controversial, compared it to the English such as women oflslam and interpretation he wrote of the whether Islam promotes vioQuran. lence. "It's just another propaPeople in the audience ganda of teaching lies about who came out to see Da.kdok Islam to get people in the had different reasons for church to become Muslim," coming to listen. Da.kdok said. Mardene Slaathaug and He showed a clip, paused Cheryl Hoime agreed that the video, displayed a screen they came to learn. Slaathaug with quotes from the video said she came to hear the and then compared it with rebuttal after she attended his "accurate translation" of "Meet Your Muslim Neighthe Quran into English in his bor." book, "The Generous Quran." While most of the people in In citing passages, Dakdok the crowd were middle-aged, said he ''will never quote Dillon Bommersbach, 21>,

DAKDOK/

said he came to broaden his insight on Islam and Evangelicalism, claiming he "knew little about either." Slaathaug said she was disappointed the two events weren't held at different times so people could attend both. "It makes it divisive," Slaathaug said. Dakdok was born in Egypt and was raised Christian while learning about Islam in school. With his wife and son, he promotes the Straight Way of Grace Ministry, traveling the country to reveal "the truth about Islam." "I am not anti-Muslim and anti-Islam," said Da.kdok, addressing comments that he spreads messages of"hate" and "lies." "The problem is in Islam itself: the cult Islam."

A4 I Sunday, January 10, 2016

Opinion REVIEW: Topstones on target As it is a common practice for each of us to take a look back at the end of a calendar year, I especially appreciate the end of the year reviews by the media. I thought the Top 10 list of regional stories for 2015 selected by the Coeur d'Alene Press were excellent choices. As to the invitation you gave your readers to add our thoughts, I would only suggest an honorable mention of the 2015 Coeur d'Alene City Council election. Local governments, especially cities, have direct and important impacts on our daily lives. The fact that the City of Coeur d'Alene became the first city in Idaho to be selected to receive the "All American City Award" in 1990 is ample evidence that the voters' choices for mayors and council members are important. The Coeur d'Alene Press coverage of the 2015 Coeur d'Alene City Council election was extraordinarily well done and demonstrated the height of professional journalism. I also appreciated the photos of the year selected by the Coeur d'Alene Press including civil rights activist James Meredith as well as the 5th-grade Winton Elementary Body Sox Dancers. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations provided the grant money to the Coeur d'Alene School District for the purchase of the body sox's from our successful "Lemons to Lemonade Fund Campaign" as a counter to the Aryan Nations march on Sherman in July 1998.

On January 14, the KCTFHR and the Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene schools will sponsor and celebrate the 31st year of the 5th grade students' celebration and honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's Birthday. The body sox dancers will perform again at the event for the 17th consecutive year. The MLK Children's Program has hosted over 36,000 fifth grad\:!rs since the inception of the event. Also, thanks and congratulations on that awesome editorial featuring the First Christian Church of Coeur d'Alene and its generous gifts to all those w~rthwh_ile charities after sellmg their property. Please allow me to share an historical footnote regarding that special church and its leaders. After the terrible incident by the Aryan Nations in victimizing Sid Rosen by targeting his restaurant in Hayden with anti-Semitic bate messages in December 1980, eight of us met in the basement of the First Christian Church in Coeur d'Alene one evening the first week of February in 1981 showed a film about the KKK and decided to establish

Âˇ Readers Write

the Kootenai County T~sk Force on Human Relations. we elected as our fir~t president Rev. Rick Morns, who was at that time the pastor of the First Christian Chur?hÂˇ. The site of the First Christian Church in Coeur d'Alene bas an important historical meaning for us. By the way, there were about six members of. the Aryan Nations present m the back of the room attempting to intimidate us. Happy New Year to everyone!

TONY STEW ART Coeur d'Alene

A4 I Sunday, January 10, 2016

Opinion REVIEW: Top stories on target As it is a common practice for each of us to take a look back at the end of a calendar year, I especially appreciate the end of the year reviews by the media. I thought the Top 10 list of regional stories for 2015 selected by the Coeur d'Alene Press were excellent choices. As to the invitation you gave your readers to add our thoughts, I would only suggest an honorable mention of the 2015 Coeur d'Alene City Council election. Local governments, especially cities, have direct and important impacts on our daily lives. The fact that the City of Coeur d'Alene became the first city in Idaho to be selected to receive the "All American City Award" in 1990 is ample evidence that the voters' choices for mayors and council members are important. The Coeur d'Alene Press coverage of the 2015 Coeur d'Alene City Council election was extraordinarily well done and demonstrated the height of professional journalism. I also appreciated the photos of the year selected by the Coeur d'Alene Press including civil rights activist James Meredith as well as the 5th-grade Winton Elementary Body Sox Dancers. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations provided the grant money to the Coeur d'Alene School District for the purchase of the body sox's from our successful "Lemons to Lemonade Fund Campaign" as a counter to the Aryan Nations march on Sherman in July 1998.

On January 14, the KCTFHR and the Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene schools will sponsor and celebrate the 31st year of the 5th grade students' celebration and honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's Birthday. The body sox dancers will perform again at the event for the 17th consecutive year. The MLK Children's Program has hosted over 36,000 fifth grad'ers since the inception of the event. Also, thanks and congratulations on that awesome editorial featuring the First Christian Church of Coeur d'Alene and its generous gifts to all those w?rthwh_ile charities after selling their property. Please allow me to share an historical footnote regarding that special church and its leaders. After the terrible incident by the Aryan Nations in victimizing Sid Rosen by targeting his restaurant in Hayden with anti-Semitic hate messages in December 1980, eight of us met in the basement of the First Christian Church in Coeur d'Alene one evening the first week of February in 1981 showed a film about the KKK and decided to establish

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the Kootenai County T~sk Force on Human Relations. we elected as our fir~t president Rev. Rick Morris, who was at that time the pastor of the First Christian Chur~h._ The site of the First Christian Church in Coeur d'Alene bas an important historical meaning for us. By the way, there were about six members of. the Aryan Nations present m the back of the room attempting to intimidate us. Happy New Year to everyone!

TONY STEW ART Coeur d'Alene

January 14, 2016 31st Annual Human Rights Celebration

Martin Luther King Jr. "I Have a Dream!" 52nd anniversary of his timeless speech - August 28, 1963

Welcon1e and Introductions o Kristin Gorringe & Jim Gray, principals of Bryan Elementary & Dalton Elementary Schools

Martin Luther King Jr. -A Tribute to Peace slideshow

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National Anthem -

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Student Essay Readings

Lead by Canto de Sorensen - Directed by Charlene Babb

o Claire Swanby (Winton), James McLachlan (Sorensen), Aurora Pipoly (Fernan)

» Canto de Sorensen -

Directed by Charlene Babb o "A Change is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke; Jennifer Twitchell on piano

» Why a Martin Luther King Jr. celebration? »- Student Essay Readings o Chase O'Brien (Bryan), Dorie Kiesbuy (Ramsey)

» Introduction of the Reverend Happy Watkins ), I Have a Dream -

a reenactment of Dr. King's speech on August 28, 1963 o The Reverend Happy Watkins

» The Amazing Winton Elementary Body Sox Dancers o "Don't Laugh at Me" by Michael Black - Directed by Nancy Mueller

» Student Essay Readings o Jayelynn Vantwout (Borah), Rebecca Hines (Skyway), Taryn Olson (Hayden Meadows), Colton Hayes (Atlas), Payton Rae Smith (Dalton)

» Canto de Sorensen o "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" an African Spiritual - Directed by Charlene Babb

» All Audience sing-a-long o 'True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper Accompanied by Jennifer Twitchell on piano and Evan McLachlan on guitar

» Dismissal to buses o Brandi Meade - Logistics Coordinator

Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Essay Winners and finalists: All essays will be read by the authors during the program 1st Place winner: Claire Swanby - Winton Elementary - "But True Peace?" 2Â°d Place runner-up: Payton Rae Smith - Dalton Elementary - "Imagine"

Honorable Mentions: > James McLachlan - Sorensen Magnet School - "My Dream" > Chase O'Brien - Bryan Elementary - "King" > Aurora Pipoly - Fernan Stem Academy - "Fighting With Love" > Dorie Kiesbuy -Ramsey Magnet School - "I Have A Dream" > Rebecca Hines-Skyway- "What Do You Do With Your Freedom?" > Colton Hayes - Atlas Elementary - "End Segregation" > Jayelynn Vantwout - Borah Elementary- "Greatness is not Impossible" > Taryn Olson - Hayden Meadows Elementary - "The Drum Major Instinct"

Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Art Entry winners: 1at Place winner: Dream of Freedom - Bryan Elementary 2nd Place runner-up: Love is the Only Force - Dalton Elementary Special thanks to all of the classrooms who submitted art/ Please take a moment to view all of the entries in the foyer area

Canto de Sorenson Sorensen Magnet School of the Arts and Humanities Director: Charlene Babb Sorensen 3rd Graders Halle Wilde AnnaBelle Taylor Kaya Nielson Hattie Givens Viva Carr Lily Moser Kaya Riclunond Becca McLachlan Adeline Smith Kaitlyn Wittenbock Paloma Armitage

Quinn Troye Lola Burns

Sorensen 4th Graders Shalamar Fresques Wyatt Matthews Koryn Miller AyvaCurtis Ava Forsberg AnnieKate Unruh Kieran Schwegel Cassidy Hay

Sadie Metteer Eleanor Walsh Gabe Jones Emma Sharon Faith Goodwin Grace Breisacher

Daphnee Hammond Ella Moser Devin Wittenbrock Piper Wasson Lily Givens Oskar Hepworth

Sorensen 5th Graden Nicole Fuller Aleisha Hander Elizabeth Nelson Sienna Hepworth

Sorensen 6th Graders Elisabeth Edmonds Zoe Gephart Nevaeh Price Lilian Forsythe

The Amazing Winton Elementary Body Sox Dancers Director: Nancy Mueller and Marsha Dixon Claire Swanby Bianca Jungling Lauren Bergendahl Mariah Klepper Olivia Glenn

Julianna Ragan Chloe Windsor Juilian Conigliaro Emberlyn Reynolds Izzy Piedmont

Raeda Ernst Faith Elkins Susanna Pearl Ashley Carpenter Isabel Gonnan

Hannah Foster Taylor McFadden CalebAldag Jazzy Bicknell

We would like to thank those who helped sponsor this event: The Coeur d'Alene Tribe, The Coeur d'Alene School District, The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, The Human Rights Education Institute, and of course, our friends and benefactors ofinspiration, Mrs. Pam Pratt and Mr. Tony Stewart.

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KATHY PLONKA kathypl@spokesman.com

Her high note: Sorensen Magnet School third-grader Kaya Richmond, center, smiles after singing the national anthem on Thursday during the 31st annual Human Rights Celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. at Lake City Community Church in Coeur d'Alene. Essays from area fifth-graders, and the ''I Have a Dream" speech delivered by the Rev. Happy Watkins, highlight the yearly assembly.

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The Press, t-nday, January 15, 2016 SECTlON

C Dreaming .of peace 900 fifth-graders of Martin Luther King Jr's 1963 speech, "l have attend 31st annual a dream." The children listened human rights event

ing him and gave them some heady advice. "And recognize the three greatest instituintently as Watkins' tions - if Martin Luther voice bellowed through By MARY MALONE King was here he'd tell the church: "Free at last, you - the home, the Staff Writer free at last. Thank God family and the kitchen almighty we are free at table," he said. "And Rev. Percy ''Happy" listen especially to the last.'' Watkins received two Prior to his comgreatest professors and standing ovations manding presentation, teachers there are from 900 fifth-graders Watkins thanked the Reverend Happy Watkins delivers a reenactment of Dr. Thursday morning for See PEACE, C4 Martin Luther King's 1963 'I Have a Dream' speech. his powerful reenactment "young people" for invit-

Dorie Kiesbuy, a fifth-grade student at Ramsey Magnet School, reads her essay to a group of about 900 during the 31st annual Human Rights Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Thursday at Lake City Community Church in Coeur d'Alene. Photos. SHAWN GUST/Press

Friday, January 15, 2016

PEACE from C1

that's your parents, your guardians, your teachers. And be the best that you can be." Âˇ The Martin Luther King Jr. event, held at Lake City Community Church, was the 31st annual Human llights Celebration hosted by the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, in partnership with the Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls school districts. Tony Stewart, a founder and board member of the task force, said approximately 36,000 fifth-graders have been through the program over the years - and he has never missed one. "The first students we had are now 39 and 40 years old," Stewart said. "They have kids in the program now." He said the program has grown so much that two events are held now; one for 10 schools in the Coeur d'Alene School District at 9:30 a.m., and another for the five schools in the Post Falls district right after. Stewart said the purpose of the event is to teach children that everyone should be treated with dignity and respect. "We learned a long time ago, anyone who works in human rights and civil rights, that when children are born, they are not born with bigotry and prejudice," he said. "It's a learned behavior. So if you want to advance human rights, education is the place to do that. There are a lot of families that are very

wonderful and also teach their children, but some families don't." The program began Âˇ with a slideshow of photos and quotes by King, and then the kids were included in the program as well. Every fifth-grade student participated, writing a short essay or poem, and 10 of the children were chosen to read their work between songs, expressive dancing and the famous speech read by Watkins. The essays, part of a writing competition, covered topics such as war, bullying, and of course, dreams. Claire Swanby, from Winton Elementary, won first place for her essay titled, "But True Peace?" "I think that one of the biggest threats we face today is war," she began. "Just think about the great costs of war and how many people sacrificed themselves to do what they think is right for their country. There must be a better way to be heard ... Peace must be fought for, but must it be killed for?" She ended by stating that she believes there is a way to find true peace, not just a "temporary break between wars." Payton Rae Smith Âˇ from Dalton Elementary received second place for her essay, "Imagine," which began with lyrics from the John Lennon song of the same title, and also addressed war and peace. "Millions of people die every single day," she said. "Why? Simply because of misunderstandings. The more I learn about war, the more I want it to stop." The songs were per-

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Two task forces are better than one said Tony Stewart. secretary -'"'Mllt,...1 and founding member of the KCTFHR. "This will Stewart By DEVIN HEILMAN have great Staff Writer effects not only on Spokane County Tuesday was a tipping but the entire region. point in the crusade "This is just as happy for human rights in the a day for Spokane as it is Inland Northwest. for North Idaho." Members of the The announcement Kootenai County Task was made at a morning Force on Human press conference at the Relations celebrated the Northwest Museum of establishment of the Arts and Culture, where Spokane County Human human rights leaders Rights Task Force, an and community memorganization that has bers from throughout been at least 20 years in Kootenai and Spokane the making. counties shared the his"Something happens toric moment together. from time to time, and "We are so excited," it's a tipping point; it Stewart said. "It was changes the community," such a joyous day."

KCTFHR celebrates introduction of Spokane County Human Rights Task Force

Stewart said KCTFHR worked very closely for several months with SCHRTF organizers, who modeled their bylaws after those of KCTFHR. The KCTFHR was founded in 1981. The SCHRTF will consist of a 23-member board of directors who will represent a broad and diverse segment of the people and communities in Spokane County. Its mission is to combat hate crimes while supporting those who are victimized by prejudice and bigotry. It will provide support for those experiencing discrimination, promote human rights education and work with other human rights groups. The KCTFHR con. gratulated SCHRTF in a letter, saying "this is a major step forward

for the advancement of human rights not only in Spokane County but also throughout the region'' and that KCTFHR stands r eady "to join hands in unity" to advance their common goals. Stewart said the most exciting part is the partnership opportunities; SCHRTF's formation means the efforts for human rights in the Inland Empire will now be strengthened twofold. "It's the big umbrella," he said, adding the two task forces will be able to work together while striving for the same mission. The task forces will host joint events, alternating locations between the counties, Stewart said. "That state line is an invisible line," he said.

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Photos. SHAWN GUST/Press

The Amazing Winton Elementary Body Sox Dancers perform to Michael Black's 'Don't Laugh at Me.'

formed by the choir of Sorensen Elementary, known as "Canto de Sorensen." The group received extended applause for its rendition of "A change is gonna come," by Sam Cooke. Jim Gray, principal of Dalton Elementary, said it was 51 years ago, a year and a half after King's speech, when the song was first recorded. "A black man named Sam Cooke strolled into a recording studio, put on a pair of headphones and laid down the tracks for one of the most important songs of the entire civil rights era," Gray said. The "Amazing Winton Elementary School Body Sox Dancers" were no less powerful with their performance as they took to the stage, using their bodies and hands to express the anti-bullying

Borah Elementary fifth-grader Jayelynn Vantwout reads from her es.s ay during the Martin Luther King Jr. event.

message depicted in the song "Don't Laugh at Me,'' by Michael Black. The program ended as the entire audience stood up to join Canto de Sorensen in singing

"True Colors." Some of the fifth-graders sang quietly at first, but by the end they were belting out the words, "Don't be afraid to let them show, your true colors."

PAGE AS I WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2016

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Rights task foÂˇr ce formed Spokane County body will combat hate . crunes

By Kip HIii kiph@spokesman.com, (509) 459-5429

Religious, community and government leaders forging a pact in Spokane County to combat hate crimes have the benefit of a blueprint just across the state line. "This is a historical moment in Spokane," Tony Stewart, one of the founding members of the 35-year old Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, said Tuesday to a new coalition of Spokane County leaders hoping to emulate the success ofStewart's organization. "All communi-

ties have them. This is one for you." The Spokane County Human Rights Task Force has been organized as a nonpartisan nonprofit that will seek to condemn acts of bigotry and hate countywide and work as a regional partner with the Kootenai County organization, said Dean Lynch, chairman of the new group. The group announced its or,ganization at a news conference Tuesday at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture. "We are looking to reach out to anyone in the community who is going to come forward and help us,"

said Lynch, a community activist and (armer Spokane City Council member. "We're also looking for ideas as to how best we may contribute to existing organizations." The task force's creed opposes discrimination of any kind because of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or socioeconomic status. Prospective volunteers are asked to TYLER TJOMSLAND tylert@spokesman.com sign a statement supporting that Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich stands with creed, organizers said. The task force's board of directors Regina Malveaux, CEO of YWCA, and

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Raymond Reyes of Gonzaga University on Tuesday at the MAC in Spokane.

TASK FORCE

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includes members from Spokane's different faith and ethnic comm.unities, as well as representatives from local governments. Members include Baptist Rev. Happy Watkins, Downtown Spokane Partnership President Mark Richard, Catholic Charities Director Rob Âˇ Mccann and YWCA Chief Executive Officer Regina Malveaux. Hershel Zellman, who chairs a committee that organizes Spokane's Community Observance of the Holocaust, represents the Jewish community on the task force's board "We know that we have incidents of hate in Spokane County," Zellman said. "There are some groups that try to address it But when I heard there was an umbrella organization that would be offering education programs, I knew I wanted to become involved." The difference between the new task force and existing local organizations will be in scope and representation. Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, who will also sit on the board of directors, said his agency would support the work of the group. "We have to make sure there's a clear message," Knezovich said. "We will support this group, and my commitment is we'll prosecute hate crime offenders to the fullest extent of the law." Knezovich said he began

working with Lisa Rosier, a manager at the A:rc of Spokane, and others to establish the task force 18 months ago. The idea was to create a human rights organization larger than the city that could publicize the stories of hate crime victims and help them find support in the community, Rosier said. "Human rights are really a community responsibility," Rosier said. The announcement Tuesday, on International Women's Day, was significant, Rosier said, to honor the lives of women who were imprisoned, tortured and killed in their pursuit of the right to vote. Lynch pointed out that since 2011, Spokane County has seen many crimes that appear tied to discrimination. He listed the attempted Martin Luther King Jr. Day march bombing in January 2011, the painting of a swastika on Temple Beth Shalom in October 2014, graffiti reading "Death to lslam"Âˇon a center for worship in east Spokane in July 2015, and Thursday's break-in at a Sikh temple in

Spokane Valley. ''I may not know the motives for these criminal acts, but it is safe to say that in each instance, those in the religious institutions .that were defaced felt violated, victimized, hurt, scared and angry," Lynch said Lynch, Stewart and others read letters of support from Gov. Jay lnslee, Attorney General Bob Ferguson and the Kootenai CountyTaskForceonHuman Relations applauding the formation of the new group. Surrounded by board members, Spokane Valley Mayor.Rod Higgins and other supporters, Stewart said Spokane County's task force is off to a better start than Kootenai County's. Founding members met at First Christian Church in Coeur d'Alene more than three decades ago, with white supremacists sitting in the back to intimidate them, Stewart said. ''I said to my friends on the board, this morning, that you're off to a much, much better start than we were in Februaryl981," Stewart said.

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EDITORIAL

Task force on rights must keep goals clear The Spokane County Human Rights Task Force is the area's latest attempt to form a united front against hate. Its goal - and it's a lofty one - is to match the effectiveness of the long-standing Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations. But as history shows, it won't be easy. Politics must be sidelined, jurisdictional power struggles eliminated and the goals must remain clearly in sight. The stamp of approval of the man who started the North Idah~ initiative 35 years ago is an encouraging sign. "This is a historical moment in Spokane," Tony Stewart said of the formation of the task force. "All communities have them. This one is for you." The Spokane County task force does not face the daunting start-up challenges of Stewart's group, which initially met in a Coeur d'Alene church, in 1981, with white supremacists hovering in the back trying to intimidate. Since then overt hate, for the most part, has been driven underground. Neo-Nazis on parade have become a thing of the past. But, lately, civil discourse has coarsened, and the concept of political compromise has been replaced with standoffs and shutdowns.

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This is reflected in the presidential campaigns, where the rhetoric has become sophomoric, bombastic and irresponsible. Emboldened by the obnoxious tone, hate has bubbled to the surface. And, as usual, it's historically downtrodden people who are the targets. Our area has experienced its share of ugly events, with the latest being the break-in and desecration of a Sikh temple in Spokane Valley. Other examples are ''Death to Islam" graffiti at a mosque, a swastika painted on Temple Beth Shalom, and the 2011 bombing attempt at the Âˇ Martin Luther King Jr. Day march. Enter the Spokane Human Rights Task Force, whose formation was announced on Tuesday. Volunteers are expected to oppose discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or socioeconomic status. The hope is to bring the efforts of manysmallergroupsunderone umbrella for advocacy and education. The task force has a diverse group of board members, including Baptist Rev. Happy Watkins, Downtown Spokane Partnership President Mark Richard, Catholic Charities Director Rob McCann, YWCA Chief Executive Officer Regina Malveaux and Hershel Zellman, who helps organize Spokane's Community Observance of the Holocaust.

Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, who is also a board member, said on Tuesday, "We have to make sure there's a clear message. We will support this group, and my commitment is we'll prosecute hate crime offenders to the fullest extent of the law." Past efforts to fight discrimination have splintered or fallen victim to governmental budget cuts. The new task force is a nonprofit, nongovernmental entity with broad-based buy-in. It's a model Tony Stewart has endorsed. Let's hope the new task force can be as effective as its respected counterpart in Kootenai County.

To respond to this editorial online, go to www.spokesman.com and click on "Opinion."

The Press, Tuesday, April 12, 2016

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Cd'A man sentenced for insurance fraud / C2

Stocks to keynoteÂˇHuman Rights Banquet Western Plus Coeur d'Alene Stocks directs daily Inn, 506 W. Appleway Ave. operations of the National Stocks, a native of New Education Association Orleans, is the former execuJohn Stocks, executive director of the National Education Association, will be the featured speaker at this year's Human Rights Banquet in Coeur d'Alene. In its 19th year, the event is presented by the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations and will take place Friday, April 22 at the Best COEUR d'ALENE -

tive director of the Idaho Fair Share nonprofit as well as a former Idaho state senator. Stocks directs the daily operations of the NEA with 3.2 million members, more than 500 employees and an annual budget of $370 million. In this position since 2011, Stocks has charppioned social justice often referring to supporters of human rights as "Social Justice Patriots."

Ife will address the topic "Institutional Racism and Human Rights." The evening will also include the presentation of several annual awards from a variety of categories by the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations. "We are grateful to the banquet benefactors who have made it possible to award 75 minority scholarships to NIC students since 1998," said KCTFHR president Christie Wood. "Each year's large banquet gathering provides us the

opportunity to promote and celebrate human rights in our region." The board members of the Idaho Hall of Fame will be present to induct business entrepreneurs Steve and Judy Meyers, former Coeur d'Alene mayor Sandi Bloem, civil rights attorney Norm Gissel and former executive director of the Idaho Human Rights Commission Marilyn Shuler into the Idaho Hall of Fame. See BANQUET, C2

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The fonnders and board members of the recently formed Spokane County Human Rights Task Force will be introduced and welcomed as the newest human rights group in the Inland Northwest. The banquet will begin with a reception at

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5 p.m. and dinner stf ing at 6 p.m. Individual tickets ,n-c $40 and can be purct <.-J by calling 765-3932 1' by Wednesday, April 20 , . the deadline for pure CIi;,~ of tickets. The banquet proc, e o?) S go to the Human Ri~ll-> Education Institute , \v , It a portion of those fu $" used to provide min1 C1r1 t-f student scholarships to NIC students.

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Friday, April 15, 2016

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pl Editorial

On rightsand the right to look stupid ne group guaranteed to give local critics headaches is the Kootenai County Task O Force on Human Relations. Another nemisis of some: the National Education Association. Put them together and you can almost see the line forming outside Kootenai Health's emergency room. But there's a line of a different kind that will be forming one week from tonight at the Best Western Plus Coeur d'Alene Inn. That will be a celebratory line comprised of many of North Idaho's most conscientious and compassionate citizens, people who have been standing up to hatred and bigotry for decades. Several hundred of them will pay $40 apiece to attend the 19th annual Human Rights Banquet, featuring NEA President John Stocks as speaker. The event is sponsored by the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Rcl~~m. . Our goal today is twofold. One is to commend the Task Force on its determination to ensure all people are treated equally: that nobody's basic rights supers.ede or transcend another's; that each of us should be allowed to travel the same unfettered path in the pursuit of happiness.

The second goal is to explain something about rights and the opinions expressed on this page. We've become somewhat notorious, it appears, not just for our opinions but the sentiments and beliefs expressed by others. Recent letters by individuals harshly critical of the police, of women, of human rights champions like Christie Wood and Tony Stewart - letters that are deemed in bad or very bad taste have themselves drawn criticism from other readers saying The Press should not print such nasty missives. To them we say, we have no law against bad taste. Bad taste doesn't cross the line by inciting violence or violating some clear standard that would outweigh the writer's right to express his or her opinion. In fact, bad taste to one might be good taste to someone else. We invite writers to embarrass themselves. That's a right we think the First Amendment affords them. Our hope is that calmer, more conscientious citizens will flex their First Amendment muscles and submit a letter that constructively exposes the ignorance and prejudice of others. In the meantime, we look forward to next Friday's banquet. If you haven't already bought your tickets or reserved a table for eight, there's still time. Order yours by calling 7653932.

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Saturday A pril 23, 2016

Anight of human rights Idaho Hall of Fame welcomes five new members

JAKE PARRISH/Press

Marilyn Shuler sits In front of, from left: Steve and Judy Meyer, Sandi Bloem and Norm Glssel on Friday at the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations' 19th annual banquet. All five were inducted into the Idaho Hall of Fame.

By MARY MALONE

Staff Writer

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For their contributions to the lives of people in Idaho and beyond, five "outstanding" men and women were inducted into Idaho's Hall of Fame Friday evening in Coeur d'Alene. Three board members from Idaho's Hall of Fame inducted the five nominees during the 19th annual Human Rights Banquet, hosted by the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations at the Best Western Plus Coeur d'Alene Inn. "Tbe goal of the Idaho Hall of Fame is to recognize those individuals, businesses, institutions and nonprofits throughout Idaho who have made a positive impact on their communities, the state of Idaho, and in many cases, worldStewart wide," said Tony Stewart, secretary of KCTFHR.

The inductees included many local names: Sandi Bloem, Norman G'issel, Steve Meyer and

Judy Meyer, as well as Marilyn Shuler of Boise. Bloem, former Coeur d'Alene mayor, is also a former Coeur d'Alene teacher and lifelong

Idaho resident. She has served on numerous city committees and commissions as well as non-government boards and foundations. Among her many accomplishments as mayor, Bloem worked to develop Cherry Hill Park, Riverstone and an education corridor at North Idaho College that will expand facilities and programs in the future. She also spearheaded the initiative for the successful $75 million grant from the Salvation Army to build the Kroc Center in Coeur d'Alene. She See HALL, A9

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'Patriotism at its finest' Task Force on Human Relations holds annual banquet By MARY MALONE Staff Writer

"Every human has rights." Those words have been the focus of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations for 35 years. "We would not be where we are today in Coeur d'Alene, as far as human rights goes, without Tony Stewart," said Coeur d'Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer, as more than 400 people rose to applaud the secretary and founding member of the task force Friday eveninÂˇg during the 19th annual Human Rights Banquet, hosted by KCTFHR, at the Best Western Plus Coeur d'Alene Inn. The keynote speaker for the evening was John Stocks, executive director of the National Education Association. Stocks is the former executive director of the Idaho Fair Share

JAKE PARRISH/Press

John Stocks, executive director of the National Education Association, speaks on lnstitutlonal racism and human rights Friday as the keynote speaker for the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations' 19th annual banquet dinner at the Best Western Plus Coeur d'Alene Inn. Âˇ

nonprofit and a former Idaho state senator. Stocks also praised Stewart, adding he has never met anyone more committed to championing human and civil rights. "To this day I am still in awe of what the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations has accomplished and how you have accomplished it," Stocks said.

Stocks lived in North Idaho in the 1980s when the Aryan Nations was the "most visible" white supremacist group in the United States. In the early 80s, he said there were 75 to 100 people living in the Aryan Nations compound in Hayden, creating "mayhem" throughout the west. See BANQUET, AS

Saturday, April 23, 2016

From the front

"We are not now, nor have we ever been, a race-neutral country. We have to have constructive and authentic conversations about racism, always keeping in mind that opportunity for all is our goal." JOHN STOCKS, keynote speaker National Education Association executive director

BANQUET

still exists in schools and funding of schools with the majority of from A1 black, brown and native American Students are "They wanted North "chronically underIdaho for people who funded" compared to white-majority schools. looked like them and hated like them," Stocks This means, he said, said. "To stand up to that black, brown and them was patriotism at Native American students are likely to have its finest." outdated textbooks and The task force and several other communi- technology, overcrowded ty members helped end classrooms and less-expethe reign of the Aryan rienced teachers. Nation in North Idaho, He said he has learned and the Hayden coma lot about white privipound is now a "peace lege, and that it is white park." privilege to insist that Stocks said 50 years America is a "race-neuago, whites made up 83 tral" country because percent of the nation's voters elected a black population, and today president. that number has shrunk "We are not now, nor to 62 percent. According have we ever been, a . to the census bureau, race-neutral country," he in 28 years there will said. "We have to have be no racial majority in constructive and authenAmerica. tic conversations about "Since we elected racism, always keeping our nation's first black in mind that opportunity president in 2008, we for all is our goal." have seen an increase After the speeches by Widmyer and Stocks, in the number of hate and extremist anti-govseveral awards were ernment groups in handed out to people America," he said. who have made a differHe spoke about "insti- ence in the community tutional racism," which in regards to human he defined as "the norms, rights. policies and practices "There are three jourthat are structured into nalists here that have political, societal and been remarkable in economic institutions telling it like it is and that have the net effect presenting research and of imposing oppressive accurate information, conditions and denying and they have really rights, opportunity and done what John Stocks equality to identifiable said today about trying groups based on race or to help people move ethnicity." along and being respectHe said research ful to others," Stewart shows white privilege said.

Two of the KCTFHR Civil Rights Excellence in Journalism Awards went to the Coeur d'Alene Pressâ&#x20AC;˘ own Maureen Dolan and Jeff Selle. Dave Oliveria from The Spokesman-Review was awarded as well. All were awarded for several years of "excellent" reporting with articles that have made a positive impact on the region in regards to human and civil rights. The investigative research and reporting on Rachel Dolezal by Press reporters Dolan and Selle led to a series of stories that received worldwide coverage last summer. "This is an incredible honor and I'm just' really touched," Dolan said. "I am really proud to be part of this community." Two board members of the newly formed Spokane County Human Rights Task Force received the KCTFHR Civil Rights .awards: Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich and Lisa Rosier, former chair of the Spokane City Human Rights Commission. The Bill Wassmuth Memorial Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to Christie Wood, KCTFHR president, as well as to a longtime task force volunteer, Mark Weadick. To top off the evening, five "outstanding" Idahoans were inducted into Idaho's Hall of Fame (see related article).

The Press

Photos by JAKE PARRISt-VPress

Coeur d'Alene Press City Editor Maureen Dolan, center, thanks the community of Coeur d'Alene and the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations on Friday after reclevlng the Task Force's Civil Rights Excellence In Journalism award. The Task Force's President, Chrls11e Wood, and Secretary, Tony Stewart, are on either side of Dolan.

Coeur d'Alene Press reporter Jeff Selle looks at his Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations Civil Rights Excellence in Journalism award on Friday as Task Force Secretary Tony Stewart looks on.

The Press

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Northwest

Coeur d'Alene, received Legislature to implement the honor of induction laws banning malicious for their success in harassment and parafrom A1 entrepreneurship and military training in the philanthropy efforts. 1980s and in 1990 helped is the only woman ever Steve currently create the Dr. Martin elected as mayor of serves on the Governor's Luther King Jr./Idaho Coeur d'Alene and the Economic Advisory Human Rights holiday only person elected for Council and is presiwith former Idaho State three terms. dent of the North Idaho Sen. Mary Lou Reed. Gissel is a local attor- College Foundation Among many more ney who has received Board. In 2012, Steve accomplishments, Shuler several awards for his was awarded the Charles helped establish public kindergartens in Idaho, work in fighting for Hummel Lifetime racial justice and civil Achievement award by is co-f9under of the fiverights, such as the Carl Idaho Smart Growth, and state Northwest Coalition Maxey Racial Justice in 2014 was inducted into Against Malicious Award and the Kootenai the Idaho Technology Harassment and co-foundCounty Task Force on Council Hall of Fame. ed the group that built and J-{uman Relations Civil Judy has served on directed the Idaho Anne Rights Award. Gissel several boards over the F'ranK Human Rights has served on multiple years for Blue Cross of Memorial in Boise. In 2014, nonprofit boards, includ- Idaho, the Coeur d'Alene she received an honorary ing the KCTFHR from Chamber of Commerce, Doctq;r of Humane Letters 1984-2009. For more than Idaho Public Television degree from Boise State 20 years he has held lee- and the Idaho State University. tures across the ·country, Historical Society. She "The reason I've done addressing communities' received the presidential so much is that I am responses to racism and medallion for her serreally, really old," Shuler hate groups. vice in higher education joked when Stewart As an attorney, Gissel through the University brought her the microhas been successful in of Idaho and Lewis-Clark phone. combating hate crimes, State College, and in "And you have a lot such as when he and 2012 was inducted into more to do," Stewart said. a client helped solve the Idaho Smart Women, the bombings of The Smart Money Hall of Spokesman-Review and Fame. · Planned Parenthood Together, Steve and buildings in 1996. He Judy have contributed helped bankrupt the to "many good causes," Aryan Nations with a including a $1 million $6.3 million lawsuit in gift to the science depart1998, turning its comment at North Idaho pound into a "peace College. park" after two of his Shuler, former chair of clients were chased, shot the Idaho Human Rights at, and had their vehi- · Commission, was inductcle run off the road by ed into Idaho's Hall of Aryan Nations members. Fame for several accomSteve and Judy Meyer, plishments that include owners of Parkwood being a "key player" in Business Properties in encouraging the _ Idaho __________ _ ____ _ _ /!

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IN BRIEF From staff and wire reports

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The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations gave its annual Civil Rights Award to two board members of the newly formed Spokane County Human Rights Task Force, Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich and Lisa Rosier, former chairwoman of Spokane's Human Rights Commission. The organization gave its 2016 Civil Rights Excellence in Journalism Award to Maureen Dolan and Jeff Selle of the Coeur d'Alene Press and to Dave Oliveria of The Spokesman-Review, for their years as "models to other journalists in upholding the highest standards regarding the professional ethical journalism creed and code." The organization's annual Bill Wassmuth Memorial Volunteer-of-the-Year Award went to Christie Wood, the task force board president, and longtime volunteer Mark Weadick. The awards were presented at the task force's annual banquet Friday night in Coeur d'Alene. Also during the ceremony, the Idaho Hall of Fame Board inducted Marilyn Shuler, former chairwoman of the Idaho Human Rights Commission; former Coeur d'Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem; local attorney Norman Gissel; and business partn.e rs Steve and Judy Meyer.

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Tuesday June 14, 2016

Orlando killer appears to have Task force: Become been 'homegrown extremist' allies to victims of hate By JASON DEAREN and TERRANCE HARRIS

tors dug into the Associated Press background of 29-yearORLANDO, Fla. - The old Omar gunman whose attack Mateen, the on a gay nightclub left American49 victims dead appears born Mateen to have been a "homeMuslim grown extremist" who who carried espoused support for out the deadliest mass a jumble of often-conshooting in modern U.S. flicting Islalnic radihistory. cal groups, the White "So far, we see no House and the FBI said indication that this was Monday. a plot directed from outAs Orlando mourned side the United States, its dead with flowers, and we see no indication candles and vigils, coun- that he was part of any terterrorism investigakind of network," said

FBI Director James Corney. But he said Mateen was clearly "radicalized," at least in part via the Internet. Corney said the bureau is also trying to determine whether Mateen had recently scouted Disney World as a potential target, as reported by People.com, which cited an unidentified federal law enforcement source. "We're still working through that," Corney said. See EXTREMIST, A2

It is with the deepest sadness and heavy heart that we once again witness the horrific and unimaginable violence and yet another act of evil that has taken the lives of so many innocent Americans. This act of terrorism and a hate crime by the perpetrator in Orlando, Fla., in an attempt to intimidate us must not succeed. We express and extend our deepest sympathy, thoughts and prayers to those

families that have lost loved ones and to those who have suffered injuries. We extend our hand of friendship and support to the LGBT community across

Stewart

See ALLIES, A2

AWES from A1

America which has once again been the victim of a horrible act of violence. We urge all Americans to reject messages of prejudice, bigotry and hate and commit themselves to the values of equality, freedom and justice for all. We must redouble our efforts to create a society that protects and guarantees the constitutional rights of all our people. It is essential that we never remain silent in the face of messages of hate or hate crimes; but rather we speak up and become allies to those who become victims of hate. Only when we all embrace and celebrate one another can we have a true society of love and peace. Let us all join in this noble cause. Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations Board of Directors Christie Wood President

Tony Stewart Secretary

EXTREMIST from A1

The FBI chief defended the bureau' s handling of Mateen during two previous investigations into his apparent terrorist sympathies. As for whether there was anything the FBI should have done differently, "so far, the honest answer is, I don't think so," Corney said. Despite Mateen's pledge of fealty to the Islamic State, a murky combination of other possible motives and explanations emerged, with his ex-wife saying he suffered from mental illness and his Afghanimmigrant father suggesting he may have acted from anti-gay hatred. He said his son got angry recently about seeing two men kiss. The Orlando Sentinel and other news organizations quoted regular customers at the gay bar as saying they had seen Mateen there a number of times. "Sometimes he would go over in the corner and sit and drink by himself, and other times he would get so drunk he was loud and belligerent," said Ty Smith. Smith said be saw the killer inside at least a dozen times. Wielding an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and a handgun, Mateen opened fire at Pulse Orlando early Sunday in a three-hour shooting rampage and hostage siege that ended with a SWAT team killing him. During the attack, he called 911 to profess allegiance t0, the Islamic State group. At the White House, President Barack Obama said there is no clear evidence so far that Mateen was directed by the group, calling the attack an apparent example of "homegrown extremism." Obama is traveling to

AP Photo/Alan Diaz

Family members of victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting hug outside a family reunification center set up at the Beardall Senior Center, Monday, In Orlando, Fla.

Orlando on Thursday to pay his respects to the victims and stand in solidarity with the community, the White House said Monday evening. More details of the bloodbath emerged, with Orlando Police Chief John Mina saying Mateen was "cool and calm" during phone calls with police negotiators. But the chief said he decided to send the SWAT team in and bash through a wall after Mateen holed up with hostages in a bathroom and began to talk about bombs and an explosive vest. "We knew there would be an imminent loss of life," Mina said. As it turned out, Mateen had no explosives with him. Five of the wounded were reported in grave condition, meaning the death toll could rise. A call went out for blood donation&,. In Orlando, mourners piled bouquets around a makeshift memorial, and people broke down in tears and held their hands to their faces while passing through the growing collection of flowers, candles and

signs about a mile from the site of the massacre. Later Monday evening, thousands gathered near the site for a vigil held on the lawn of the Dr. Phillips Center, the area's main performing arts venue. Many in the crowd said they were inspired to attend because Pulse played a huge role in their lives as gays and lesbians. "It was a place that a young 20-year-old who wasn't openly gay felt safe for the first time," said Cathleen Daus, now 36. About 300 employees of the Red Lobster restaurant chain - some in business suits, some in chefs uniforms emerged from the company's corporate headquarters and walked twoby-two across the street to the memorial, each carrying a red or white carnation. "We will not be defined by the act of a cowardly hater," vowed Mayor Buddy Dyer, whose city of a quarter-million people is known around the globe as the home of Walt Disney World and other theme parks. The tragedy hit the

city's gay and Hispanic communities especially hard. It was Latino Night at the club when the attack occurred. "As the names come out, they are overwhelmingly Latino and Hispanic names," said Christina Hernandez, a Hispanic activist. "These were not just victims of the LBGT community, but of the Hispanic community, as well. This was senseless bloodshed." Mateen's grasp of the differences between Islamic extremist groups appeared shaky. During three calls with 911 dispatchers, Mateen not only professed allegiance to ISIS but also expressed solidarity with a suicide bomber from the Syrian Âˇ rebel group Nusra Front, and a few years ago he claimed connections to Hezbollah, too - both ISIS enemies, according to Corney. The FBI became aware of Mateen in 2013 when co-workers reported that the private security guard claimed to have family connections to al-Qaida and to be a member of Hezbollah, too, Corney said.

The Press, Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Peace and justice vigil planned for Thursday Community reacts to Orlando shooting, event set for 7 p.m. at McEuen By DEVIN HEILMAN

Staff Writer

SECTION

C VIGIL from C1

COEUR d'ALENE -

The Orlando massacre happened 2,763 miles away, but its effects are being felt right here in North Idaho. That's why concerned citizens such as Juli Stratton are calling for action. A peace and justice vigil will be held at the Fourth Street entrance of McEuen Park at 7 p.m. Thursday. "I need to know that there are a lot of us in this community who choose love over hate. Period. I won't tolerate a tragedy such as what happened in Orlando," Stratton said Monday. "We mourn those victims and their families and their friends, but this affects every person in this country." Early Sunday morning, 50 people were killed and many more wounded in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. The shooter, Omar Mateen, had recently expressed anger toward the gay community prior to the shooting. June is pride month for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, and Orlando See VIGIL, C9

was in full celebration mode before Mateen opened fire. "People will say to gay people, 'You have marriage equality, what more do you want?'" Stratton said. "We want to live our lives safely. We have just enough of

Saturday, July 9, 201 6

Task force calls for nonviolence, unity, civil discourse Once again we have witnessed the horrific use of violence at the hands of a gunman to kill arid wound this time law enforcement officers in Dallas, Texas. We condemn in the strongest terms this heinous crime and extend our deepest sympathy to the families of the officers. Our heartfelt sympathies also go out to the families and communities in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and St. Anthony, Minnesota during their time of grief. Our thoughts and prayers are extended to all those who are in grief and we wish for healing in all three communities. We know first hand the pain a community experiences in such times as we faced the murder of Coeur d'Alene Police Sergeant Greg Moore. The KCTFHR was born out of a reaction to such acts of hatred and violence in our region in 1981. We faced the threat of hate activities and crimes from the Aryan Nations who directed their hatred toward people of color, the Jewish community, the Catholic community, the LDS community, the LGBT community and others. The result of that hatred produced acts of murder, bank robberies, counterfeiting currency, threats toward individuals and groups and a series of hate crimes. But our communities rallied in the form of non-violence and

unity to defeat those purveyors of hate. It is our commitment to the use of non-violence and a hope for all America that we turn away from violence and promote a civil discourse that promotes respect and dignity for all people. It is during these troubled times that we are reminded of the eloquent words and advice of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as he accepted the Noble Peace Prize at Stockholm, Sweden in 1964: "Non-violence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence." At our monthly KCTF1IR Board meeting last night prior to our learning of the killings of the police officers in Dallas, we agreed to host an all day conference on October 13 in Coeur d'Alene titled "Returning Civility to America's Democracy" with invitations to the faith community, business community, education community, civic groups and the general public. Let us all redouble our efforts to create an environment where we find peaceful resolutions to our problems and issues. Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations Board of Directors Christie Wood, president Tony Stewart, secret8Jy

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Idaho Community Foundation Herbert D . McAvoy Ftmd :::,

Idaho Humanities Council T ony Stewart

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The Press, Tuesday, August 2, 2016

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HREI marks grand re-opening with new exhibit story of community members' reponse to acts of violence by Aryan Nation members, efforts that paved the way for a 2002 After an extended pericivil lawsuit that resulted in od of construction around the disbanding of the group's the gallery, the Human Hayden headquarters. Rights Education Insitute Tony Stewart, a foundannounced it will hold a ing member of the Kootenai grand re-opening at 5:30 p.m. County Task Force on Human Wednesday. Relations, said the theme of the Exhibits are scheduled exhibit is triumph over hate. through December that support "And it was the good people the HREI message and vision of this region and all the people to "Tell the Story of Human of Idaho who said, 'We are not Rights." going to be silent,"' Stewart The first exhibit will tell the said.

Theme of exhibit is triumph over hate

The exhibit, titled "Coming Face to Face with Hate: A Search for a World without Hate," includes 138 items that will illustrate what happened in Stewart Kootenai County and how it can be a model for any community in the United States. "We have some items we've never shown before," Stewart said. One of the items was a gift

from former Kootenai County Sheriff Rocky Watson. Several years ago, while on a trip to Mississippi with his wife, Mary, Watson came upon a sign "whites only" in an antique shop. It once hung over a drinking fountain. Watson and his wife bought it and donated it to the task force, and until now, it bas been in storage. Most people have never seen something like this, especially the younger ones. Stewart said. See HREI, C2

"It's just such a powerful piece," he said. Another item that will be on display is a board with a photograph of a black woman and a white man on it. It was found in a field. "It was used for practice shooting," Stewart said. Guest presenters Wednesday evening will include Stewart and

lamp that illuminates our path forward into the future," Gissel said. "What we did in '98 was to evaluate the history of the Nazis, the clan, and made a deliberate decision to move forward in this case based upon the sum of all that history. Had we not had that historical relevance, we easily could have made decisions that would not have benefited our community so completely. This decision was an effort to educate our local communities to the

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attorney and the official attorney for the task force. Stewart and Gissel will recount the story of the Keenan family, who were attacked by members of the Aryan Nation on J uly 1, 1998. That sparked an immediate response by the task force and resulted in bankruptcy of the Aryan Nation in 2000 with a $6.3 million judgement. "History is the only

had and that they must have as our further generation. Culture grows on history, and if we don't have that, then we fail furure generations and our place in history." The exhibit is free and open to the public through Sept. 30, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. The HREI building is located at 414 Mullan

For full listing of activities during the month of November, visit the HREI website at www. hrei.org. HREI is looking for volunteers from the community with unique family heritage to help with the December display featuring "Holiday Traditions from Around the World." For details, contact the HREI office at 292-2359.

HREI from C1

Road in Coeur d'Alene, adjacent to City Park. In October, students from the region will showcase anti-bullying essays and artwork in recognition of National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month. November will bring together a community partnership between HREI, the Salvation Army Kroc Center and the Coeur d'Alene Tribe celebrating Native American Heritage Month, which will take place in several locations

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There is a water fountain in the Human Rights Education Institute that says "whites only." It is part of the lnstitute's new exhibit providing information about the Aryan Nation presence in North idaho and how the Kootenai County community fought against hatred. Wednesday evening, HREI invited members of the community to attend its "grand re-opening." The parking lot outside HREI has been under construction since March, preventing people from parking in front of the building. Now that access to the building is back, BREI decided to throw a grand

HREI re-opens with new Aryan Nation exhibit

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Sisters Kay Sands, left, and Kathy Reynolds walk through the "Coming Face to Face with Hate: A Search for a World without Hate" exhibit during the grand re-opening of the Human Rights Education Institute Wednesday evening In Coeur d'Alene.

re-opening in honor of its new exhibit "Coming Face to Face with Hate: A Search for a World without Hate." "Throughout history we've had people who were filled with hate and they discriminated against people they did not like," said Tony Stewart, a founding

member of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations. "That goes way back to slavery and what happened with the Nazis in Germany. And what happens when hate comes into a community, is our people are victims." The exhibit leads viewers through a series

of standing poster boards detailing Aryan Nation goals and actions. Each poster board was laced with documents and photos that were found in the Aryan Nation compow1d outside Hayden after members of the enclave had left. When the Keenans were attacked outside the

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Aryan Nation Compound, the community and the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations fought to rid the area of violence and hate. In 2002, the task force brought a civil lawsuit against the Aryan Nation See EXHIBIT, A4

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next to a board with a photograph of a black man and a white woman from A1 with a caption that reads "The ultimate abomiand won. The group nation." The shooting owed the Keenans $6.3 target is so riddled with million. This bankrupted bullet holes, it's hard to the Aryan Nation group make out the photo. The and resulted in turning exhibit found another copy of the photo so over its Hayden headquarters. viewers can see what the Aryan Nation had been The Keenans sold shooting at. the old headquarters The last part of the to Gregory Carr, who destroyed the structures exhibit is about the and created a peace efforts of the commupark on the land. Before nity to abolish hatred and how people banned demolishing the compound, Carr let HR.EI together to make the take what it wanted. area a better place. On each poster board Complete with photos in the new exhibit, there from the demolition of is a copy of either a let- the compound, the new ter, photograph, certifiexhibit brings its viewcate, etc., demonstrating ers through a thorough the hateful vision of the history about what hapAryan Nation. pened in the late 1900s The first part of the and what history no one exhibit gives viewers a hopes to repeat. little background about "It's important for an the Aryan Nation. The organization like ours and the community to middle section talks about the Hitler Room rally behind the victims within the compound, and say to those that are complete with photos and peddling the hate and articles idealizing Hitler discrimination that we and his ideals. will not be silent and we The next part of the will have victory because exhibit exemplified we will be sure that in Aryan Nation hatred. the end everyone is treatThis is where the ed with respect," Stewart "whites only" drinking said. Partway through fountain is on display,

EXHIBIT

The Press

From the front the grand re-opening, Stewart and Norm Gissel, the official attorney for the task force, gave speeches, retelling the Keenans' story and how the community banded together. "The reason for this exhibit is to show what hate was like," Stewart said to the crowd. "What are communities sup· posed to do when this hate happens in the U.S.? You have a moral and ethical obligation to help those victims." Gissel spoke about the lawsuit against the Aryan Nation and how the only way it worked was to approach it from the point of view of comm unity values. "We approached this lawsuit as a cultural movement," he said. "We had to decide - in Kootenai County, where did freedom, equality and fairness of law land on our hierarchy of values? Our judgement was accurate." There were a few kids running around the exhibit and Virginia Shawver, with Americore Vista and the Atlas Program with the Coeur d'Alene School District, was glad she brought hers. "I think it's great to :epresent peace in a community that had pain for so long," she said. "It's nice to see the positive relationsh ips and partnerships that came out of it. We are all in this world together and we should all be treated the , same." Libbi Keyes. the · vice principal of Coeur d'Alene High School and a new board member of HREI, agreed. "I'm thrilled at all the young people here," she said. "As an educator, I think it's always a good time for kindness and learning bow we treat each other. Schools are a fabulous way to teach tolerance and kindness." In October, HREI will showcase anti-bullying

Photos by LOREN BENOIT/Press

Guests walk through the "Coming Face to Face with Hate: A Search for a World without Hate" exhibit during the grand re-opening of the Human Rights Education Institute Wednesday evening.

After an extended period of construction around the gallery, the Human Rights Education Institute re-opened Wednesday. Various human rights exhibits are scheduled through December. The current exhibit, "Coming Face to Face with Hate: A Search for a World without Hate," is free and open to the public through Sept. 30, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays.

essays and artwork from students around the region in recognition of National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month. November will bring together a community partnership between HREI, the Salvation Army Kroc Center

and the Coeur d'Alene Tribe celebrating Native American Heritage Month, which will take place in several locations tlu·oughout the month. For full listing of activities during the month of November, visit the HREI website at www.hrei.org.

HREI is looking for volunteers from the community with unique family heritage to help with the December display featuring "Holiday Traditions from Around the World." For details, contact the HREI office at 292-2359.

Hate group exhibit opens Human rights activists in North Idaho have opened an exhibit

detailing the downfall of the white supremacists movement that tainted the region's image nationally for decades. The exhibit at the Human Rights Education Institute in Coeur d'Alene includes more than 100 items taken from the nearby Aryan Nations compound after the group went bankrupt 16 years ago. Items include a makeshift target that used a photo of a biracial couple, racist pamphlets and a room dedicated to Adolph Hitler. Tony Stewart, a member of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, said the exhibit shows an important achievement of how a community came together to overcome a group of hate. In 2000, the task force and the Southern Poverty Law Center combined to push a civil lawsuit that bankrupted the Aryan Nations. That led to the sale of the compound.

Associated Press

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

PAGE C16 • FRIDAY • AUGUST 26. 2016

ARTS/CULTURE

HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION INSTITUTE "Coming Face to Face with Hate," includes more than a 100 items taken from the nearby Aryan Nations compound after the group went bankrupt 16 years ago. Items include a makeshift target that used a photo of a biracial couple, racist pamphlets and a room dedicated to Adolph Hitler. The exhibit shows how a community came together to overcome a group of hate, through September. Hours are Mondays-Fridays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturdays; 10 ~-!!'·:?.E·~--414 ~ .~ulla.!1_.~ve., Coeur d~Alene..(2.08) 292-2359.

A6 The Press

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Op/Ed

Redoubt movement has its doubters The anniversary passed largely unnoticed last week but it is part of the context which one must weigh in order to understand the "Redoubt Movement" taking place in North Idaho today as well as isolated and sparsely settled par~ of Montana and Wyom1~g. Inspired by a manifesto written (2011) and posted on his website (survivalblog.com) by survivalist author James Wesley, Rawls (he put the comma there), the doc~ment urged folks wor!Âˇ1ed about the next financial crash or Armageddon to move to the sparsely settled areas of the upper mountain west. Rawls pointed out that these areas would be good places to live by those who felt oppressed by exploding government regulations and a feder~ government over reachmg in people's lives. He noted places like North Idaho had a justifiabl~ reput!ition for being libe1ianan and a terrain that could more easily be defended. Thus, he urged fo~s to relocate where their numbers might be few but their unity could dispro-. portionally influence their political milieu. With Rawls emphasizing tittle inte~erence in their private life and the access to nearby U.S. Forest Service lands for hunting, fishing, berry-picking and a rea_l estate agent aggres:nvely marketing all this,. Rawls supporters claun thousands of folks have migrated here.

Chris Carlson The Carlson Chronicle Local officials in

Bonner and Boundary

counties dispute those claims, but the truth is no one really knows. What is known is the "redoubters" are participating in local politics. State Reps. Heather Scott and Sage Dixon, with "redoubter" support, have captured two of the three legislative District One seats. They have failed, however, to knock off Sen. Shawn Keough, current co-chair of the powerful Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee. Critics see similarities between the "Redoubt" movement and the old posse comitatus in its emphasis on the sacred status of the Constitution and the supremacy of a county sheriff as the top law enforcement officer.

Rawls has been careful to avoid anything close to appearing to be a racist. To the contrary, all are welcomed, he says, who share a desire for less governâ&#x20AC;˘ ment. The contextual aspect mentioned earlier with regard to an anniversary still lingers in the minds of many Idahoans. Aug. 21 was the 24th anniversary of the beginning of the siege at Ruby Ridge in which federal agents were responsible for killing Randy Weaver's ~ife, Vicki, and one of their children. Anyone who reads former SpokesmanReview reporter Jess Walters' excellent book on the siege comes away convinced that the federal government engaged in pure entrapment: A brilliant Wyorrung defense attorney, "Gunning for Justice" Gerry Spence, proceeded to tear apart the government's case and a Boise jury acquitted Randy Weaver of all charges after 19 days of deliberation. The message many took away from Ruby Ridge Is that the federal government ~ lite~ally kill one with unpuruty. However, if the time comes Rawls' message to redoubters is also one of possible murder, though he would call it self-defense. What they preach. is be ready to shoot to kill all the panic-driven fo1:k~ who will pow- out of cities in search of sustenance.

Seeing Idaho as a haven for anti-government, take-the-law-intoyour-own-hands types is not the image Idaho wants to convey. It can have a real downer impact on a local economy, especially if some national organization serves notice of a boycott. Losses could be in the millions. The legitimate concern that Idaho's elected officials should be sounding alarm bells about is the tendency of national media to want to characterize the Redoubt movemen t as the reincarnation of the Richard Butler/ Neo-Nazis plague that afflicted Idaho's image worldwide for years.

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James Wesley, Rawls and the redoubters are certainly hard right libertarian conservatives who can intimidate simply by sbowin~ up at . meetings wearmg theu: pistols, whether there 1s an open-carry law or not. There is no evidence, however, that they espouse the hatE:Âˇfilled,. white supremacist racist views of Butler. National and even international media are already monitoring and watching, perhaps hoping they are. The Aug. 6 Economist magazine had a long some would say sympathetic - article extolling the desire for less government regulations and more individual freedom. The author errs though in repeating the belief that thousands have already moved here. He also seemed to think people can still homestead in the West. In addition, two months ago the Washington Post sent one of its Pulitzer prize-winning reporters, Kevin Sullivan, to northern Idaho to explore the po sible story. (Editor's note: Sullivan's article appeared in the Aug. 28 issue of the Post two days after this col~ was written and distributed.) An obvious question is what's the difference between the Butler era and the Rawls era? The answer is that though it took some time to get it together, local leaders in Coeur d'Alene did unite with the state's political leadership to denounce the racist, hate-filled language of the neo-Nazis. Governors Andrus, Batt and Kempthorne all worked with local leaders like Tony Stewart, Father Bill Wassmutb and Marshall Mend to denounce Butler and company. In other words, there was real political leadership both at the local and state level. One has yet to hear a peep from Gov. Otter, or Sens. Risch and Crapo, or Congressman Raul Labrador speaking out that even the "redoubt movement," po ibly a more benign po. se comitatus group, is not reflective of Idaho, its citizens and its collective alues.

Chris Carlson is a longtime Idaho political writer who resides in Medimont. Email: semperfic 752@gmail.com

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Tony Stewart of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations Oeft) and 'attorney Norm Gissel at the new Aryan Nations exhibit at the Human Rights Education Institute in Coeur d'Alene. YOUN6 KWAK PltOTO

HISTORY

Worth Remembering An Aryan Nations exhibit is designed to showcase North Idaho's triumph over hate BY DAN NAILEN

he bullet hole in the rusted-oUL car wheel isn't huge. It would be easy to miss if it weren't for the white tag attached , dated August 3, 2000: "Admit· ted In Evidence." The holes in a piece of plywood next to the wheel arc more obvious. Partly that's because there are more than two dozen of them. But mostly because of the photo of a black man and whlte woman in the midclle that's been tom LO shreds by gunplay. An undamaged copy of the same photo is attached below, along with the message: "For bi-racial marriage. the sentence is death." Both the wheel and the ad hoc target arc part of an exhibit of artifact~. including racist recruitment Dyers and swastika-festooned Elags. from the Aryan Nations compound on display through the end of Sept.ember at Coeur d'Alcne's Human Rights Education Institute, along witl1 a series of iruerpretive panels explaining how the North Idaho community rallied to counteract the rac-

ist group's activities for decades. The people who put the show together arc part of the same group of activists who battled Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler, his whitesupremacist ideology and his often violent followers for years before successfully shuuing down the group's compound in 2000. "Some people say let it go and forget about it, but that's a terrible mistake:' says Tony Stewart, one of the founding members of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations and a longtime political science professor at North Idaho College. "Just like the Holocaust Museum in D.C. or the Wiesentllal Center in Los Angeles, you need historical perspective to teach new genera· tions what happened. There arc a lot of young people now who weren't even born [when tile Aryan Nations was active in the area], so we need to teach them what hate was like and how iL can happen. And this exrubit is a demonstration of a Lriumph and victory over hate by tile

community. That in the end, hate does not win." The victory of the task force came after years of engagement by civil-rights-minded community members - peaceful engagement on their part, primarily through counterdemonstrations and media outreach - and the racists based at the Hayden compound Butler operated two groups out of tile 20-acre plot. The Aryan Nations was the "political" arm that would disseminate propaganda and march on occasion, whllc he also held services as a religious leader for what he called "The Church ofJesus Christ Christian." Butler, who died in 2004, called for a "white homeland'' in the Pacific Northwest, and pushed his ideas through his weekly church services, by providing housing for disciples of his neo-Nazi ideas, in hosting large-scale gatherings at his compound and holding parades in Coeur d'Alene. Media outlets near and far couldn't resist writing about this bizarre outpost of antiquated bigotry, and Butler was a leading voice of the whltc supremacist movement as a result, even if not a parricuJarly eloquent one. Far from beingjust a peaceful, hate-filled rube, Butler and his charges engaged in vandalism, bombings, rob· bery. even murder, through the years. That eventually led to the Aryan Nations' demise when in 1998 some members at the compound shot al a passing car. a Honda Honeybee holding Victoria Keenan and her 19-year· old son. 1l1c car wheel in the exhibit comes from tbc Kecnans' car, which was forc.ed orr tile road by i;un~hots •. .co11tr1111(ti 011 110:I /Jage

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CULTURE

I HISTORY

Items taken from the since-destroyed Aryan Nations included Hitler photos and other Nazi iconography.

YOUNli KWAX PHOTO

"WORTH REMEMBERING," CONTINUED... before the mother and son were assaulted and threatened. A couple of days after the attack, Keenan contacted Stewart at the Kootenai County Task Force on H uman Relations, and he got in touch with local attorney and civil-rights advocate Norm Gissel. "With five rifle shots into a Honeybee, it's hard to hit it five times without hitting a passenger," says Gissel, who worked with the Southern Poverty Law Center on the case that saw the Keenans awarded $6.3 cnillion from Butler's organization, effectively shutting down the Aryan Nations and eventually putting the compound in the hands of the task force. "We worked all these years, and we never had the right case;' Stewart recalls. "But after Viaoria came to see me, I t0ld Norm, 'You're going to see her, and this is the one that's going to bring [Butler] down." The exhibit includes about 140 pieces that Stewart, Gissel and otl1ers kept from 1.he compound for educational purposes, before ilS buildings were burned down (as a firefighter and fire investigator training exercise) to form a "peace park." There's evidence of Butler's obsession with Adolf Hitler - a whole room at the compound was dedicated to the Nazi leader - as well as racist banners and Nazi flags. 111e exhibit includes shots of one building with a giant swastika painted on the roof for any surveillance planes to sec. Norm recalls a food outlet al the compound where "they had Nazi Burgers for

$2.25, $2.50," and laughs as he mentions taking from Butler's office a reverently hung picture of disgraced televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker. "When we took over the compound, it was a very eerie tiling," Stewart says. "There was a poster of the Twin Towers in New York, and it shows the towers going up in smoke and flames and it said, 'BumJ ew City.' That poster was from rwo years before it happened, 1999." It's also part of the exhibit which Stewart hopes will teach people that hate can happen anywhere without vigilance. He and Gissel have traveled extensively to talk about their experi· ences, and both are aware that even though the Aryan Nations is gone, there are still locals who believe in its hateful ideology. They hope this exhibit can serve ::is a needed history lesson for the young, and a stark reminder to those old enough to remember Aryan Nations bombs going off at churches, courthouses and businesses in Coeur d'Alene. "That's d1e reason for doing this, to keep the dialogue going:' Stewart says. "Say 'no' and stand up when hate rears its head in your community or in your country." • dam1@illlmukr.rom Aryan Nations exhibit • Through Sept. 30: Mon-Fri, 10 am-5 pm; Sat, 10 am-2 pm• Human Rights Education Institute • 414 W. Mullan Rd., Coeur d'Alene • hrci.org • 208-292-2359

COEUR cl' ALENE

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Sunday October 9, 2016

Civility 101: You're invited NIC will host one-day conference on Thursday By STEVE CAMERON Staff Writer

Graydon Stanley believes if we're looking for someone to blame, the mirror might be a good place to start. "We, all

of us, have stood aside and allowed Stanley a lack of civility and a general tone of unpleasantness to take root throughout society," said Stanley, vice president of student services at North Idaho College. "Now it's time that we admit it, and find ways to push back - to See CIVIUTY, A2.

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restore respect and dignity into the way people treat each other." To that end, NIC will partner with the Coeur d'Alene Task Force on Human Relations, the school's own Diversity Council and the Associated Students of North Idaho College (ASNIC), and serve as co-host of a one-day conference this Thursday. The event, scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Schuler Performing Arts Center in Boswell Hall, is titled: "Returning Civility to America's Democracy: The Promotion of Civil Dialogue." The conference's keynote speaker will be Cornell W. Clayton, director of Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service at Washington State Clayton University. Clayton also is a professor of political science, an author and well-known lecturer on the topic of civility. The conference will feature a number of political leaders (including public office holders), interfaith religious leaders and representatives of the media - and there will be a special media panel at 2 p.m. Editor Mike Patrick, City Editor Maureen Dolan and columnist Sholeh Patrick will represent The Coeur d'Alene Press on that panel. The focus of the conference is to explore ideas and constructive proposals on how soci-

ety at the local, state and national levels can promote and encourage civil dialogue - focused on reasoned arguments and intelligent debate as a counter to incivility characterized by contentious discourse, negative personal attacks, demonizing opposition and abandonment of respectful communication. "We have worked to eliminate things like racism and discrimination from our community in the past," said Tony Stewart, longtime leader of the local task force on human relation, "but this growing lack of civility and respect in our daily communiÂˇ cation is another huge challenge. "People in all walks of life have lost our traditional acceptance of one another's dignity, and we need to address it now - and address it strongly. "Society simply cannot stay on the path that we're seeing on a daily basis." Two subjects certain to be raised during the conference are campaigning in the presidential race and the impact of the internet and other media platforms on how people treat each other. "This has to be a non-partisan effort," Stewart said. "Believe me, our problems with civility began long before this election cycle, and they will exist afterward. "Singling out one politician or one group isn't the point. We have to look at society as a whole." The rise of social media, however, clearly will be a target of conference attendees. "I believe there are so many wonderful things available to us through the internet," Stewart said, "but it also bas had

a dramatic negative consequence, because people can use it to insult or demean someone else and remain anonymous at the same time." "Most definitely, it's the lack of accountability that's frightening," Stanley said. "Academia must get involved in understanding and copÂˇ ing with social media. "I think that finding ways to change the tone of our conversations absolutely should be a goal for higher education, so this really is the right time and place to partner with the task force and discuss how we've gotten to this level in society - and how we can tum things around." Stewart noted three elements in any community are best-placed to promote a change like restoring civility. "The media, our various religious leaders and politicians with places in government have the stroigest and most regular, dayto-day effect on the community," he said. "Representatives from all those groups will be involved in the conference, and that's a real, down-to-earth way to start getting respect and civility back into everyone's daily lives. "We have 3j1responsibility here, a duty not to turn away ~d let this situation get worse. It simply has to be addressed, which is why this conference is necessary - but also why it speaks to some optimism that we can find our way out of becoming a negative society." There is no charge to attend the conference, and NIC will have food service available all day for people who want to stay on campus throughout the entire program.

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Editorial

Stepping up for civility ivility starts with each of us. What are you C doing to encourage respectful interactions with your fellow man? What do you do when someone is uncivil toward you? Do you match their nasty tone and then raise them one, taking the conversation from warm to boiling, from yellow light to flashing red? While we all know this is essentially the way of the world, thanks to a whole host of excuses, we also should admit we have the power to change. That power resides in each of us. We've done it before, so why not do it again? We re reminded of partisan lunch gatherings in a major U.S. city several years ago, where hundreds of party .faithful would unite for an hour of good food and fellowship. Each session had a featured speaker, and frequently that speaker was from the other major party. There were no catcalls, no interruptions, no early departures. There were handshakes, friendly joking, offers to buy the next round. The club benefited. The attendees benefited. · The city benefited. When you respect the other person, be it face to face or computer to computer, civility comes naturally. For respect to exist, each of us needs to be cognizant of the fact that we don't know everything and that some of what we're certain we know is wrong. Respectfully listening to other viewpoints can only help us grow, be more productive, become better neighbors and citizens. And yes, when respect goes both ways, maybe we can persuade others toward our way of thinking.

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Tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Schuler Performing Arts Center in Boswell Hall, "Returning Civility to America's Democracy: The Promotion of Civil Dialogue" will take place. Among keynotes and panel discussions, a superb mix of Republican and Democratic leaders will be joined by members of various faiths for IO-minute presentations. We believe that by the end of the day, those

attending will be more than enlightened; they'll be ready to act. One of the places where incivility flourishes is the comment sections of newspaper websites like our own. For years cdapress.com has allowed people to sign up and post strong opinions anonymously. We had convinced ourselves that occasional ego-bashing and name-calling is a small price to pay for freedom of speech. But a harsher truth has emerged as incivility runs broader and deeper all the time, and the need for change becomes increasingly apparent. That's why a new policy for online comments at cdapress.com is coming soon.

The Press

Idaho

Antidote to disrespect available at NIC today

Thursd ay, October 13, 201 6

By STEVE CAMERON Staff Writer

Surely the time bas been coming, that point when everyday citizens decide they've endured enough - and decide to push back against the rudeness and lack of respect that has infected society. We know an effort to restore dignity and common manners is coming, in fact - because some of that time working to rekindle civility will be spent today. That's certainly the goal of several local groups - including the Coeur d'Alene Task Force on Human Relations and various organizations at North Idaho College. Thus the school will host a large and potentially dramatic one-day conference, beginning this morning. The event is titled: "Returning Civility to America's Democracy: The Promotion of Civil Dialogue." The conference will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Schuler Performing Arts Center in Boswell Hall. The keynote speaker will be Cornell W. Clayton, a national and global authority on interpersonal relationships and behavior Clayton who has written widely on the subject and is director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service at Washington State University.

1n addition to a wide range of speakers, including active and former political office-holders and a diverse group of religious leaders, the conference also will al~o put the spotlight - q~te literally - on the media. A special media p~el will discuss civility m daily life, and reporting of it, beginning at 2 _p.m. Editor Mike Patrick, City Editor Maureen Dolan and columnist Sholeh Patrick will represent The Press on the panel, which will inv~lve all types of WTitten, visual and audio media organizations. "It's so critical that the media points out important things, even things that appear to be just a part of everyday life," said Tony Stewart, longtime member of the human relations task force. "Civility falls into that category," be said. '.'If no one is there to reml!1d . the public that one incident showing lack of . respect leads to an entrre society acting out and treating each other poorly, pretty soon everyone takes it as normal behavior. "That is where the media can step in, explain the issue, and ~et the public say: 'No! This isn't right."'

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Although the conference is intended to remain non-partisan, the lack of civility in current political campaigns (and public disagreements in general) has brought even more focus to this growing problem. "It clearly was time to address this subject, and with the people who understand it on a day-to-day basis," said Graydon Stanley, vice president of student services at NIC. "So many things have come together to put a focus on a problem that has gotten worse instead of stabilizing. Our campus _diversity group, along Wlth the ASNIC (Associated Students of North Idaho College) and our teachers, as well they've all been vocal about how to deal with this lack of civility at so many levels. "It was just such a great fit that the task force people like Tony and (task force president) Christie Wood have been trying to restore civility in our lives for so long. Putting together an event with the incredible quality and experience of these people, and getting just the right keynote speaker, the timing was ideal. "I just think we all believe these issues have to be discussed from several different viewpoints, and we have to talk about taking steps on a path in the opposite direction."

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Stanley and Stewart both indicated the startling surge of technology, and particularly the internet, has contributed to stunning insults being exchanged in routine conversations. "The whole concept of anonymity, being able to throw out opinions while dehumanizing someone else, has created a kind of monster so fast that people sometimes feel helpless," Stewart said, "and that's understandable. "No one really has all the answers for chat rooms and bullying and the dangers of people with no accountability. But we have to start talking about where to start. "It's pretty obvious to see where ignoring the internet and social media bas brought us. So wherever it goes, clearly there have to be events like this - and all levels of society have to pay attention." The conference is open to the public at no charge, and NIC will have food service operations working all day for attendees who don't want to leave campus du.ring the program. //

-Civility's solution: Less me, more us It negatively impacts everyone, yet we persist. Incivility has been rising for years, permeating society from living rooms to school- - - - yards and Capitol Hill. Generally, civilization progresses. Why, then, do humans seem to be Sholeh regressing to Patrick immature, - - - - bullying, and inconsiderate behavior, despite the knowledge that centuries of science and experience provide? Why are we less, rather than more, in control of our expressions and emotions at the same time we are increasingly fed up with that? This is deeper rooted than the mudslinging of national campaigning. Giving up a seat for a senior or pregnant woman, without being asked. Please and thank you. Phones taking priority over people at the dining table, or over someone making a presentation. Ignoring someone, allowing them to feel left out. Anonymous (or blatant) postings or email with words designed to hurt. Apologizing when bumping into someone; helping to pick up what's been spilled. Courtesies once considered minimums of human behavior are now increasingly rare.

Why? Is this a mere side effect of the rise of the individual? Do we blame it on the internet and the "look at me" egocentrism of social media? Both suggest that "I" matters more than "you" or "us." Discourtesy sends a message that others are unimportant, less valued, or unequal to ourselves. Impacts reach beyond hurt feelings, affecting (voters' choices and) economic arenas. Research reported in the New York Times in 2010 concluded that many workers leave jobs due to incivility in the workplace, but rarely report it. Blaming the target (you're too sensitive!) is an old tactic of bullies. If I behave badly, you provoked it, and if you hurt afterward, it's your problem. If I don't control my behavior, it must be someone else's fault. Why should I control it anyw~s? And there's the rub. Why, indeed? Once the individual was too unimportant; people suffered silently. That changed for the better, but perhaps we've gone too far in the other direction rather than hitting the middle. As a society, we no longer seem to feel it necessary to consider how what is said and done affects anyone else. In a way, we don't feel "as a society" so much as we feel "me" and me alone. Call it a loss of empathy or compassion. More than feelings, empathy is about understanding - the ability to take See PATR ICK, C10

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another's perspective. Compassion is a form of consciousness of others' experiences, from their vantage point, with their personality, experiences, strengths, and limitations. Compassion and empathy are thus knowledge; knowledge aids life by informing choices and predicting result. Without these, knowledge is reduced; one cannot comprehend the full extent and effect of each act done, each word uttered. Not only upon others, but upon our own environments. Why bother? Ironically there is self-interest in not focusing solely on yours truly, in thinking at least equally of others. When we're thoughtful, especially when it's a habit, it tends to make others act more thoughtfully toward us. So bettering the experiences of others by being courteous creates more courtesies and favorable results for ourselves. That makes the days go better, life easier, problems fewer, relationships more rewarding. When discourtesy rises to aggression and rudeness, psychologists say, the root cause is fear. So the nastiest people are the most afraid, deep down. Human beings lash out at others when we feel insecure, fearful.

Much has been written about fear's prominence in modem society, fueling prejudices of all kinds, not to mention misimpression to justify that fear. We have a flawed perception that all is violence, when statistically violence among nations and most violent crimes within U.S. borders are lower than at any time in history. While there is a bigger spotlight on social problems previously swept under a rug, we have a perception that all that is reported is negative or fearful, when the abundance of good or neutral news is ignored or forgotten, because we are drawn to and impacted by what is fearful. ''6eek and ye shall find" applies. So why are we exhibiting more fear? One theory is we are too focused on ourselves, as individuals. This is fueled by technology and the dozens of times each day we "check" for communications and make social media posts, and thereby Âˇ encourage others to fol- ./ low suit. Who wants me ,, what's on my mind, what / does everyone need to know about me... Gone is the ~ay when more information was taken in by ~e a_verage mind than is going out. It makes us anxious, and anxiety doesn't exactly fuel peace and calm. This shift in focus hit home when I was told that !oday's young (and to be fair, older) adults may tell all, but seldom ask a~ut others because they simply expect it to be announced. "If you have som~thing to say, you'll say It, so I don't have to ask." OK, but we used to ask because we actually ~ed and wanted to hear It. How does that fit in? We've lost some- Âˇ thing :Vital to happiness. Focusing on others builds _confidence. Take parenting; most parents can relate to how personal problems can diminish after having children. When attention shifted to another, what seemed big became small or faded away.

We find a comtort in experiencing lives beyond our own, and we feel stronger when we positively impact those lives. When we feel stronger, we fear less. This happens in intimate and other relationships; having partners, friends , and loved ones makes one feel less scared than being alone. Magnify that on a national and international scale, and interactions across ethnicities, borders, economic and social strata, and other perceived barriers. Compassion and empathy breed courtesy. Courtesies and civility breed connection, and connection breeds security, mutually reducing fear. Conversely, when we are more self-focused we feel less connected with others - as individuals, as communities, as nations - and so when we feel less connected to fellow man we feel more afraid of others. This connection, this empathy, conquers fear by making the unknown feel familiar, closer and better understood. If incivility's rise is due to unacknowledged or misunderstood fears, then civility's outward focus becomes its own solution. Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at Shole_h@cdapress.com.

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By DEVIN HEILMAN Staff Writer COEUR d'ALENE - Incivility isn't a cause of division in American society. It's a symptom. "People become more uncivil because they get passionate about politics because politics matter to them," Dr. Cornell W. Inside Clayton said. "We have deep divi• ~ewspaper sions and people ~ ters and care passionately ~di~~~ tackle about this, and mci~ihty that's what produc- topics /AS es incivilities. "Political incivility is everywhere." Clayton, director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service at Washington State University, was keynote speaker Thursday during a day long conference at North Idaho c...ull~ge. The event, titled R.;tuming Civility to America's Dcmocra""y· The Ptvmotion of Civil Dialogue," examined the state of cn lllLJ in American politics and the relauonship between incivility and democracy.

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Cornell W. Clayton, director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Polley and Public Service at Washington State University, gives his keynote speech on T nursday at the "Returning Civility to America's Democracy: The Promotion of Civil Dialogue'' conference at Boswell Hall at North Idaho College. Clayton spoke on the political polarization prevalent In the modern American's political views and decision-making, among other topics.

Clayton described it as an "incivility crisis." He said the incivility - name-calling, poor manners, lack of respect and other unsavory act.ions and behaviors - of modern politicians and their supporters is not exclusive to today. · "It's probably not going to be a relief for many of you to

know that as bad as our civil incivility is today, it was worse in the past," he said to the audience in Schuler Performing Arts Center. "Way worse." Plenty of mudslinging occurred between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams during the campaign of 1800. Deep personal attacks were

used against John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson during the election of 1828. Some of the most beloved presidents suffered from heavy negativity during their campaigns, including Abraham See INCIVILITY, A6

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Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt. "President Roosevelt was called every name in the book - communist, socialist, fascist, dictator," Clayton said. Clayton said the United States has not been as polarized yet closely divided as it is now - during the election season of Hillary Clinton v. Donald Trump - since the 1890s, when moral and economic issues split the nation. He said these points in history when presidential elections are intense and polarization is high are "critical junctures in democratic development," when people feel incredibly strong about the issues. These ardent political feelings boil over into how people interact and judge one another. "What's driving us apart from each other in terms of how we think about these issues is our social identities in terms of our partisanship," Clayton said. Following Clayton's presentation, 14 religious, political and community leaders spent about 10 minutes each at the podium, addressing the issue of incivility in just about every aspect

of American life while presenting constructive solutions for creating a nicer, more respectful society. A panel of media representatives also took the stage for about an hour to answer audience member questions. Rev. Craig Sumey, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Coeur d'Alene, discussed "speaking the truth in love." He used the "Mary Poppins" song, "A Spoonful of Sugar," to illustrate the importance of speaking with kindness. "When we are speaking the truth and it is accompanied by love, it makes that truth easier to swallow." he said. Rabbi Tamar Malina of the Temple Beth Shalom, Spokane, shared stories from the Talmud and spoke of "an argument for the sake of Heaven" and the value of humility; how it's important to value one another's opinions even if both parties disagree. Idaho Rep. Luke Malek tackled issues of racism and generational divide while Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh used a little humor to emphasize the power of language and the deep offense some feel in the presence of profanity. Coeur d'Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer encouraged people to "walk in

others' shoes" and understand scenarios from other perspectives. Representing the Islamic Faith Community, Admir Rasic of Spokane shared his sentiments about lslamophobia being at an all-time high and urged people to open a dialogue with their communities denouncing anti-Muslim rhetoric. Coeur d'Alene Tribe Chairman Chief Allan shared how important it is to raise children to "be people first." He also expressed the need for politicians to hold themselves to higher standards. "At the end of the day, we have politicians and we have leaders," Allan said. "We need to demand our politicians to be leaders." NIC student Lexie Levesque, 17, attended an afternoon portion of the conference. "I thought it was really good," she said. "It definitely made me think a little bit more about' our politics and some issues that we as a , country need to focus on : more." The civility conference was hosted by the NIC Office of Student Services, NIC Diversity Council, Associated Students of NIC and the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations.

Panel of journalists, editors discuss

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By DEVIN HEILMAN

Staff Writer It just takes a few pieces of trash on the ground before more and more people think it's OK to litter. That's the analogy Press columnist Sholeb Patrick used when describing how people fall into the mindset that a lack of civility is acceptable. "One person throws a piece of paper and suddenly, a clean area gets community trash," she said. "They call that 'operant conditioning.' It's typical human behavior. "Don' t throw the first piece of paper, the piece of paper representing civil discourse: speaking civilly, speaking with courtesy, thinking with courtesy, opening a door for an elderly person, getting up if you're sitting down and someone else seems to need a seat. It's just that general level of respect. But the operant conditioning does happen very quick, reverberating and affecting other people. "Pick up that uncivil litter off the community floor."

Patrick joined Press managing editor Mike Patrick, city editor Maureen Dolan, Spokesman-Review editorial page editor Gary Crooks and Inlander journalist Dan Nailen for a panel discussion during the civility conference Thursday at North Idaho College. The conference was focused on incivilities throughout politics, society and democracy and constructive solutions for a kinder America. The media panel fielded questions from the audience that ranged from bow media handles stereotypes to why positive news doesn't receive as much play as the negative and how the Internet and social media have helped and hindered communication throughout the industry. "I kind of miss the days when people would just call me on the phone to say, 'You suck,"' Nailen said. "Those were happier past times, you know, having a real conversation with someone instead of just a comment under an anonymous name on our Facebook page."

Mike Patrick said although online comments or even letters to the editor can show different levels of incivility, The Press honors the freedom of speech. "I admit, I probably go further than most editors do in allowing people to express themselves on the opinions page," he said. "There are some stereotypes, there is some slamming of different classes or categories of people. And I can just tell you, I take heat for that every time it happens, but that's the price I'm willing to pay for people to openly state, especially in print, what they really think and have their name attached to it. I would rather know what people around me are thinking than the facades we so often see. "I also think, every time they do something, it's an invitation for other people to present that different view," he continued. "If I have a disappointment, it is that too often, readers who have an opportunity to courteously present another side to a story, too often they just don't do it."

JAKE PARRISH/Press

Press managing editor Mike Patrick, second from right, answers a question from the audience as Press columnist Sholeh Patrick, far left, Press city editor Maureen Dolan and The Inlander Journallst Dan Nailen llsten during a media panel Thursday at the North Idaho College's conference on civll dialogue.

Sunday, Oct ober 23, 2016 I

The Press

Lifestyles

Community Thanks Civility conference a big success On behalf of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations Board, we express our deep appreciation to the following presenters for their eloquent presentations at the Oct. 13 civility conference at North Idaho College: . Dr. Cornell W. Clayton, director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service at Washington

State University; Idaho State Representative Luke Malek; Rabbi Tamar Malino, Temple Beth Shalom, Spokane; Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh; Rev. Craig Sumey, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Coeur d'Alene; Admir Rasic, Islamic Faith, Spokane; Coeur d'Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer; Chairman Chief Allan, Coeur d'Alene Tribal Council; Bishop Tyler Morton, Coeur d'Alene Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints; Tenzin Tsepal, Buddhist spokesman from Sravasti

Abbey; A. J . Konda, Kootenai County Democratic Party activist; Mike Patrick, managing editor, Coeur d'Alene Press; Maureen Dolan, city editor, Coeur d'Alene Press; Sholeh Patrick, columnist, Coeur d'Alene Press; Gary Crooks, editorial editor, The SpokesmanReview; Dan Nailen, journalist, The Inlander; Graydon Stanley, panel moderator, NIC VP of Student Services; Sandi Bloem, former mayor of Coeur d'Alene; Rev. Paul Graves, retired Methodist minister, Sandpoint; Father Roger LaChance, pastor of St. Pius X

Catholic Church, Coeur d'Alene; and Rev. Tracy Springberry, minister of Unitarian Fellowships, Oregon and Idaho. We thank the Associated Students of North Idaho College, the NIC Office of Student Services and the NIC Diversity Council for co-sponsoring the event. We extend a special thanks to NIC President Rick MacLennan and ASNIC President Sean Collins. Sincerely, KCTFHR Board CHRISTIE WOOD, president TONY STEWART, secretary