Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations Scrapbooks 2013 by Molstead Library at North Idaho College

'Tapping into the abundance,' we ha:ve incredible connections, gifts Speakers at the 2013 Fig Tree Benefit Lunch shared insights on ways The Fig Tree has helped them make connections. M 7:1 z.: i .t

I want to talk about windfall and comment on fruitfulness, which I have learned about from working with Windfall, an outreach of the Cathedral of St. John. A windfall is the fruit a fruit-bearing tree or plant had dropped because of the wind. People can go pick it up for free or at a reduced cost. It was considered a boon, a bonus, like the Old Testament instruction for farmers to leave margins of their fields for gleaners. It's about abundance and gracefulness. Windfall is a store on South Perry started by St. John's women, who were tired of raising money with monthly rummage sales and five-cent luncheons. In 1958, they opened a thrift store as an easy way to make money. We quickly outgrew the little windmill building and moved into our current space. The service league's history records cycles of boom and bust as Windfall has gone from all-volunteer run, to having some employees, to now being 75 percent volunteer run. Last year when I was service league president, Spencer Graing~r of Liberty Park Child Development Center called and offered a partnership. The clothing program for their pre-school and after-school famjlies was hard to handle. He suggested giving us the clothing. I thought, that's a windfall, but it dido 't feel good just to take the clothing, so I said, ''Why don't we form a voucher system so families can come and shop with dignity, using vouchers as money. Two weeks after we formed the partner-

ship, I saw Mary Stamp at the South Perry Farmers' Market and said 'I have a great idea for an article." She agreed. The Fig Tree embodies the fruHfulness apparent in the world's great religious traditions. Ifwe pay attention, even in the busiest moments of our lives when we feel overwhelmed, there's the grace of abun9ance we didn't ask for or earn. Ifwe tap into that, we make incredible connections and have an incredible gift. Every time I pick up The Fig Tree, I have that experience. It's a windfall of grace, a windfall of knowledge. I am humbled to be in this room with people who have been in pages of the windfall (Fig Tree) who work for the windfall (Fig Tree). Mary is someone who opens the gate and says "come in and take the abundance, come on in." Lena Lopez Schindler- St. John's Episcopal Women's League and Windfa U Thrift Shop

I've been reading The Fig Tree a long time, as 1 have served as director of the Spokane Guild's School for 35 years. By the time it fully circulates at the school, it has many fingerprints on it. That's a testament to The Fig Tree, because there's so much important and positive information in it. The internet bas affected newspaper sales but probably some of the bad news reported has also bad an effect, because there's little good reporting in most U.S. newspapers today. The Fig Tree is a tribute to the people who have supported it all along. The Guild's School, a regional diagnostic and treatment center for children from birth to three with developmental disabilities,

works with children with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, hearing or vision impairments, rare syndromes, autism and children hurt through violence. The school is 53 years old. For the first 22 years it was in the Westminster Congregational United Church of Christ, which considered the school part of their outreach. Recently Deidre Jacobson interviewed me for The Fig Tree and asked why I do this work. For a long time, l would just say to people, " We' re doing God's work." with no further explanation. Everyone understood it in their own way. That's what The Fig Tree is.about. There's room for interpretation. I've always felt that given the right information, people want to do good. Sometimes we just have to lead them to do good. Dick Boysen - executive director of the Spokane Guild's School

The Fig Tree provides an outstanding contribution to understanding and promoting social justice in our region. Social justice encompasses the historical idea of creating a society based on the principles of equality, freedom, justice and fairness for all human beings. Social j ustice is part of secular philosophy, as well as the religious tenets of the world's great religions. The secular realm in democracy uses law to enshrine principles, while theologians and religious sects have not only embraced the constitutional principles, but also taken the next step onto the importance of economic justice, and the idea that God demands each of us Âˇto help the poor and needy among us. Âˇ At the 2012 National Prayer Breakfast, President Barack Obama spoke of social

justice from the theological perspective, saying, "It is a command from God to love thy neighbor as thyself. '' He added that Proverbs says it is our responsibility "to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute," and that Jewish belief considers that "the highest form of charity is to do our part to help others stand on their own." l see that long-standing mission every time l read The Fig Tree. As I've observed over the years while reading this inspiring publication, it bas eloquently covered the words and deeds of the interfaith community for many years, informing us of the theology, good works, partnership and ways each of us can be part of those efforts. The stories inspire us about individuals and organizations, especially civil rights groups. I thank The Fig Tree for the many times it has covered. the work of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, and the Human rughts Education institute as we over time faced challenges. We are so appreciative of bow The Fig Tree sends out word of what we believe in relationship to democracy and social justice. The Fig Tree has carved a path that covers the broadest definition of what it means to be a social justice activist. Thank you for your enduring determination to meet a mission that fills the vacuum in other publications and the media in general. Mary has stayed on course and focused on what social justice is about, for individuals, institutions and organizations, not only here but throughout the world. Tony Stewart of the Kootena.i County Task Force for Human Relations

The Press, Thursday, May 2, 2013

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Love 1,Âˇ Fear.O City celebrates 'Love Over Fear Day'

Love Over Fear Day in Coeur d'Alene," said Gedeik. "And al this very moment we are literally connected with thousands By SHANE RICHARD BELL of people all around the world Staff writer who are celebrating this day as we are in our own loving way." COEUR d' ALENE The day was inspired by Surrounding the Human Harold W. Becker, an American Rights Education Institute in speaker, author and president a half-circle, several dozen of the nonprofit., The Love people gathered to celebrate Foundation. the city of Coeur d'Alene's first 'That's where Kathleen "Choose Love Over Fear Day" Lamanna and I got the idea Wednesday. back in January," Gedeik said. The festivities were aligned "We thoug:ht this is a commuwith the 10th annual Global nity where we need more love Love Day. and less fear, so we came up Event organizer Jackie with this Choose Love Over SHAWN GUST/Press Gedeik read a proclamation Fear Day. This day is a platform Jackie Gedeik reads the mayor's proclamation designating from Mayor Sandi Bloem Lo to get together, to be open, to M ay 1 as Choose. Love Over Fear Day during a gathering the crowd. at Human Rights Education Institute Wednesday in Coeur 'This is the first Choose see LOVE, CS d'Alene.

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love, and to put love into action. And the form love takes is less important than its intention." Gedeik asked how citizens can make that difference in themselves and others. Of course, she had the answer. "We can give someone the precious gift of time," she said. "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 lunchbox, or your husband's briefcase." Later Wednesday, students from North Idaho College, in recognition of Choose Love Over Fear Day, offered random people hugs downtown Coeur d'Alene. Tony Stewart, secretary of the Kootenai County Task Force on

Human Relations, also spoke at the event. "After hosting 1,800 PBS1V shows, and Stewart a teaching career of over 39 years, and the honor of presenting lectures across the U.S., I have come to the harsh realization that humanity bas great difficulty in fully comprehending what is the true meaning of love," said Stewart. "Fear has found a fertile field in which lo flourish, unfortunately." Stewart attributed great citizens of the world, like Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mahatma Gandhi, with "showing us a path to unconditional love." "Not long before her death," said Stewart, "Mother Teresa was asked a very important question: What is the greatest problem that the human race faces? And she identified that as loneliness. That's the

greatest problem that she has seen throughout the world. I would suggest the fact emerges from a shortage of love." Stewart concluded: "It is not loving to remain silent in the face of hateful or degrading actions against anyone based on their race, nationality, color, origin, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status. True love for humanity does not allow for prejudice, for bigotry, or for discrimination directed toward God's children. It is about action. And true love demands actions of love." Sean Moller, 21, Coeur d'Alene, happened to be walking by the Human Rights Education Institute at the time of the event. "I saw the banner and just started listening," Moller said. "It's nice to see the community is moving forward with the thought of love. It's reassuring that there's a piece of humanity that has hope left, too." Karen Mello of Coeur d'Alene planned on attend-

Thomas Carter, executive director for Human Rights Education Institute, mingles w ith guests prior to the Choose Love Over Fear Day proclam ation.

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ing the event as soon as she found out about it "I felt relieved that something's happening in Cd'A like this," she said. "It's like with the whole thing that happened in B.oston, we can focus on the two people who did the terrible stuff or we can focus on all of those people who were helping each other." Mello thinks Choose Love Over Fear Day will prompt community members lo do more good. "Isn't this amazing?" asked Mello. "I hope it's going to be a yearly event. We got too much prejudice and separation. rm happy and I brought six of my fiiends, so I am like yes!" Organizer Kathleen Lamanna believes Coeur d'Alene is a testament to standing up against inequality and discrimination. "So many people here dug very, very deep through the years and stood for what is right and good and powerful as an incredible example not only to the state but to the world."

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We are tolerant enough North Idaho after speaking with some of them in April. So much so, By TOM HASS LINGER she said, that an association Staff writer subcornrnitteeis Raney COEUR d'ALENE -A recommending large medical organization the WOA select Coeur d'Alene that wondered whether Coeur for its 2015 summer conference. "I certainly didn't intend to d'Alene was tolerant enough cause such an uproar," said to host lhe cu lturaUy diverse Raney, who sent a letter April group of professionals for its annual conference is close 5 to Mayor Sandi Bloem - a to booking the Lake City for letter that later went public 2015. - asking about local efforts to promote diversity amid Western Orthopaedic Association President Dr. Ellen concerns that Coeur d'Alene Raney told TI1e Press Friday wouldn't be tolerant enough for the diverse group. "I she is impressed with the amount of effort local entities figured there were efforts, I have devoted to promoting ra- just wanted to know what U1ey cial and ethnic diversity across were."

Medical group close to coming to Cd'A for 2015 conference

After Bloem received the Jetter, which she spoke about at a Human Rights Education Institute banquet in AptiJ, Raney was contacted by Coeur d'Alene Resort Generai'Manager and Coeur d'Alene chamber member Bill Reagan and Tom Carter, HREI director. Raney said both conversations enlightened her on the amount of work iliat has been done to promote diversity, citing the foundation of ilie HREI, the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, educational efforts and the bankruptcy of former Aryan Nation leader Richard Butler as well as the effort to turn Bu tier's former compound into a peace park. see TOLERANT, A2

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'1 was impressed," she said. "And I was impressed they both took the time to contact me personally." She said the concerns the group had were primarily around Butler and North Idaho being home to the Aryan Compound more than a decade ago, and whether that movement still had footing in North Idaho. Recent stories or allegations didn't prompt the concern, she said, although they did :wonder if the perpetra:tor behind the 2011 'attempted Martin Luther :King Jr. parade bomb:ing in Spokane had any :ties to North Idaho. The :convicted perpetrator, :Kevin W. Harpham, lived ;in Addy, Wash. A Sept 7, :2011, Los Angeles Times Âˇreport of the attempted '.bombing described the 'Pacific Northwest as a growing hotbed for white supremacy, and mentioned Coeur d'Alene.

'That was our misinformation,~~ey said. The WOA has around 1,000 members, all licensed medical or osteopathic doctors. Its annual weeklong gathering should be attended by 450-600 people, according to the letter Raney sent. Carter called news of the possible booking "outstanding." "I was pretty sure they were happy, they were excited about everything we talked about," he said. "We work on human rights here every day and not a lot of cities do that. And we have a lot of different entities that work on that every day in Coeur d'Alene. And we're very proud of that." Incidentally, WOA president-in-waiting, Dr. Paul Collins, of Boise, was in Coeur d'Alene April 24 when the Press story on the WOA letter was published. "He found the area to be wonderful and accepting," Raney said. "He certainly thought it would be an appropriate spot."

Readers Write ELECTION: Three key voter points

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I thought I would share with Coeur d'Alene Press readers my observations, from a political scientist's perspective, regarding the results from Tuesday's School District 271 Board of Trustees and the Kootenai Medical Center Board elections. It seems to me that a majority of the voters were making three points: 1. We are troubled and have decided to reject the idea that any one political group/faction will determine who wins in every elected office in the county. Or the idea that you cannot be elected without the endorsement in this case of the Kootenai County Reagan Republicans is very troubling and not acceptable to the voters. 2. The voters seem to also be saying we do not want nonpartisan offices to become partisan. There is a long Idaho tradition

that offices such as education boards, city council/mayor, judges, etc. are best to be kept separate from partisan elections and political party ideologies. 3. The historical independent streak of Idaho voters really became clear in the Kootenai · Medical Center Board election when Dr. Neil Nemec was the candidate with the most votes in the four-person race without the support of either PAC. For example, Nemec received 4,811 votes out of the total county wide vote of 8,867. To put it another way, Dr. Nemec received 54.3 percent of all those who voted county wide. This is a most teIJing piece of data. The voters followed the theme of a recent Coeur d'Alene Press editorial which advocated that the voters not use a partisan label to make their decisions in these nonpartisan races but instead make a judgment based on qualifications of the candidates. I suggest that the results are very significant and important for future nonpartisan offices/ elections both here and around Idaho. The people spoke rather clearly Tuesday.

TONY STEWARf 1 Political Scientist j Coeur d'Alene

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Cd'Afights discrimination The proposed rule would prohibit anyone from discriminating in areas of housing, employment and public accommodations based on "sexual orientation, gender identity and expression.'' By TOM HASSLINGER Any violation would be a misStaff writer demeanor offense, punishable COEUR d'ALENE - The city by up to $1,000 fine and up to six of Coeur d'Alene moved forward months in jail. Tuesday with an anti-discriminaIt's an ordinance sorely needtion ordinance that would protect ed to protect basic human rights, gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans- proponents say, and a rule gender people. other Idaho cities have adopted

Rule would protect gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender people

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because state and federal laws don't coveriL Unless Coeur d'Alene adopts a new rule, landlords can reject a housing applicant on his or Stewart her sexual preference without legal ramifications. Employers can fire employees for the same reason. That needs to change, said Tony Stewart, Human Rights

Task Force on Human Relations member, the group spearheading the effort locally. Stewart spoke during a General Services Committee meeting that took in more than an hour of public comment, which was evenly split. The committee voted 2-1 in favor of sending an ordinance to the full city council for approval. "We find it in direct conilict with the core principles of

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democracy to s uggest th at some members of our fair city must remain second-class citizens," Stewart said. 'They deser ve a right to live a free Life." Opponents see it differently. They say s uch a rule would grant special privileges to a small group. Churches and religious nonprofits would be exempt from the rule's umbrella. Also, the rule wouldn't apply to people renting out a room in their home or a duplex. While that may be so, opponents said, individuals wouldn't be allowed to make decisions based on their religious beliefs. That infringes on religious freedom. they said. "It does not protect religious people as individuals," said Paul Van Noy, pastor at Candlelight Christian Fellowship, wh o listed 11'ore than a dozen concerns with the proposed rule to the GSC. "It's not the place of the state or city to force a morality or immortality." T hose concerns also included branding North Idaho as discriminatory. By making a rule against a perceived problem sends a message that the problem is g etting out of cont rol, and that's not the case here , they said . "We will revive the stigma associated with North Idaho," Van Noy said. But several g ay, lesbian and tran sgender people s poke in favor of a new r ule, saying it gave them a sense of protection other wise lacking . "We need this," said Susan Moss, a gay woman who said complaints aren't recorded

now because there isn't a rule on the books and victims have nowhere to turn. "There's no forum. Who do we go to?" Transgender Robyn Edwards lost a job about 10 years ago in Coeur d'Alene because of Edwards' gender identity, which prompted a move to Colorado. "I thought it was impor tant to come here and let you know these matters do affect people who do live here in your community; who do feel excluded and who are prevented from being full participants, " Edwards told th e audience. GSC meetings generally don't open the floor to public comment, but it was allowed for the approximately 100 people who showed up for the s ubcommittee meeting that usually draws only a few people otherwise. Discussion on the topic turned toward politics and religion. 'This is a deviant lifestyle," said Bob Pedersen, the conservative group Rally Right founder and pastor, who called adopting a rule ''shaking our fi st in the face of God. We love the sinner, but hate the sin." Brent Regan, outgoing Coeur d'Alene school board member, called it "a political stunt" with which City Councilman Steve Adams, Regan the lone no vote on the committee, agreed. 'This has no place at this level. We should ~~~~ not be here today," Adams said, calling it a "progressive, liberal Democrat idea" Adams designed lo polarize the commu-

nity and intimidate those who disagreed with the rule by labeling them as again st equal rights. "I would be forced by this ordinance either as an individual or individual business owner to violate my conscience. That's discrimination." At one point, a man in the audience said loud enoug h to be h eard, "there's a row of them" wh en he noticed more than one homosexual male in the crowd . Before the topic got under way, City Councilman and GSC Chairman Mike Kennedy told the crowd to withhold applause or jeering, a rule that was followed during the meeting. Except at the end , however, when a KHQ television repor ter covering the event applauded after Kennedy s poke in favor of U1e rule. 'We are he re representing a secular government. T hat is our charge, to work for ever yone regardless of their reliKL..en_n_.:... d'"'v--'' " gious background," Kennedy said . "Every person shou ld be treated equally unde r the law in our society ... This is mere human righ ts." City Councilman Ron Edinger also voted in favor of the ,~ -~""'Âˇ""''*Gliri..r.=----.1 ordinance ' which would mirror the one adopted in Boise. "We have the duty Edinger to ens ure that all our citizens ar e created - or judged equally," he said . "I get very frustrated at times when issues of this nature ... gel partisan, because I don't think it's rig ht."

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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

U.S. NEWS

Coeur d'Alene Councllman Steve Adams, left, opposes a proposed ordinance that is backed by Council President Mike Kennedy, above left, and human-rights advocate Tony Stewart.

Cities Take Lead on Antibias Laws BY JIM CARLTON

COEUR D'ALENE, IdahoIdaho's legislature has repeatedly declined to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation, so this city is moving toward enacting such a ban within its boundaries. A majority of Coeur d'Alene's city council members said they likely would vote in June in favor of an ordinance that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. ''If the state had done it, the cities might not have felt the need to do this," said Mayor Sandi Bloem, who said she supports the ban. The ordinance will be patterned after some others in Idaho, which make the discrimination a misdemeanor pun· ishable by a fine and or jail time. The resort city joins other local governments in the U.S. that have decided not to wait for their states to pass such antidiscrimination laws. About 170 cities and counties have passed local bans, said the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group for lesbian, gay, bise.xual and transgender, or LGBT, people. Ogden, Utah, in 2011 banned discrimination based on sexual

orientation and gender identity; bills that would have done so statewide have failed to get through the Utah legislature since 2008. At least 15 Utah cities and counties have passed similar bans since 2008, Human Rights Campaign said. The city council in Vicco, Ky., (pop. 334) passed such an anti· discrimination ordinance in January, said Mayor Johnny Cummings. Bills that would have extended such protections statewide have died in committee in the state legislature for the past several years. In Missouri, gay-rights supporters said they have been pressing the legislature for over a decade to consider a bill to ex· tend discrimination protections. But with no such bill so far, a number of cities and counties have passed their own bans. "We did what we could as a council to protect the rights of our residents," said Councilman Leif Hauser in Olivette, Mo. The St. Louis suburb added sexual orientation and gender identity to its antidiscrim.ination ordinance in 2011. Most of the municipal ordinances being passed call for civil penalties that can carry fines.

But many are so new that officials don't report many prosecutions. The trend is being fueled, in part, by the 21 states that have passed antidiscrimination bans on sexual orientation or gender identity since 1982, driving a move toward local change in states that haven't, said Douglas Laycock, professor of law at the University of Virginia who fol-

to jail or face a lawsuit," said Ms. Fiedorek, who is based in Wash· ington, D.C. Coeur d'Alene would join the Idaho ci.t ies of Boise, Sandpoint, Ketchum and Moscow in adopting the protections since 2011. The Idaho legislature has rebuffed efforts every year since 2006 to enact a similar ban statewide. State Sen. Jeff Siddoway of Terreton said one reason

In states where antidiscrimination bans on sexual orientation or gender identity haven't passed, some local officials say they need to act. lows the gay-rights movement in his research on religious liberty. Opposing such local efforts are groups like Alliance Defend· ing Freedom, a religious legalrights group in Scottsdale, Ariz. Kellie Fiedorek, a lawyer for the group, contends the ordi· nances are discriminatory because they may force people who oppose homosexuality on religious grounds to have business dealings with gays. "They are making people make a choice of violating their conscience, or go

he has opposed banning such discrimination is it might open the door for same-sex marriage, which he said doesn't mesh with his Mormon faith. "If I were going to propose something to this community, I would say figure out a way you can get what you want without putting pressure on the institution of marriage," said Mr. Siddoway, 64, a Republican rancher. Supporters of the bans said the absence of Idaho-wide protections has led to discrimina-

tion in work, housing and public establishments. Between April 2009 and April 2010, the Idaho Human Rights Commission re· ceived 21 calls alleging such discrimination, said Pamela Parks, administrator of the state agency. "A lot of people don't call because they feel they can't get addressed here," she said. In Coeur d'Altme (pop. 44,000), such discrimination isn't common but happens often enough to warrant a new law. said Tony Stewart, co-founder of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, a humanrights-advocacy group. Four of six council members said in interviews they either plan to vote for the ban or lean to doing so, while a fifth declined to comment and the mayor, Ms. Bloem-who votes only to break ties-said she would pass it. The other councilman, Steve Adams, a 47-year-old insurance agent, opposes the measure and questions both how much it would cost to enforce and whether victims of discrimination have exhausted other resources. Council President Mike Kennedy, who supports the proposal, said he plans to schedule it for a vote sometime in June.

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The Press, Saturday, June 1, 2013

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C Equality applies to everyone FORMAL STATEMENT: The

Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations Board of Directors Based on 32 years of promoting human rights and dedication to the principles of freedom, equality and justice for all, we have worked tirelessly to (1) oppose malicious harassment and hate crimes and (2) _ _ _ _ oppose dis-

OPINION crimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. This proposed ordinance r' has nothing to do with. same sex marriage or to deny any person his or her religious or philosophChristie ical beliefs. Wood We respectTony fully submit Stewart - - -- to you our My Turn responses to seven ques-

tions frequently asked when considering adoption of local ordinances banning discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations of the LGBT community. FIRST QUESTION:

Are there any federal or state of Idaho statutes protecting the LGBT community from discrimination in housing, employment or public accommodations? The answer is NO except for two federal requirements that protect only a small segment of Idahoans. The United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 Title II (Public Accommodations), T itle ID (Public Facilities) and Title VII (Equal Employment Opportunity) gives no protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation. The same is true of the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972. The Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 and as amended only provides protection based on race, religion, color, national origin, disability, gender and since 1988 familial see MY TURN, C6

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of Columbia had laws prohibiting any form of :from discrimination in one or more of the three categoâ&#x20AC;˘ :status (non-discrimination ries of housing, employ:of families with children ment and public accom:under age 18 or pregnant modations. :women). The attempts over , On Jan. 21, 2011 the past seven years :the U.S. Department to persuade the Idaho :of Housing and Urban Legislature to add protec,Qevelopment (HUD) tion for the LGBT com'issued new rules prohibit- munity to the Idaho Civil ing discrimination based Rights statutes have failed. on sexual orientation or The decades of failure gender identity in federal to act by the United States HUD-assisted or HUDCongress as well as the financed housing. As Idaho Legislature directs of 2013, the HUD rules Idaho human rights advoapply to only 6.2 percent cates and organizations to of the housing units in seek relief from local govCoeur d'Alene. ernments. A total of 205 President Bill Clinton. American cities, towns by presidential executive and counties have passed order; banned discrimina- such ordinances. tion based on sexual oriSECOND QUESTION: entation regarding hiring Are there any cases and promotion of federal of discrimination based employees. on sexual orientation in As of 2012, only 21 our city and region? The states and the District answer is YES.

North Idaho Let us be clear that the overwhelming majority of businesses in Coeur d'Alene that provide employment, housing and public accommodations are strong supporters and advocates of equality and fairness for all our residents. However and unfor tunately there are exceptions. The KCTFHR with decades of promoting human rights and serving as advocates for persons who have been victims of many forms of discrimination, harassment and hate crimes, we come before you with knowledge and expertise regarding this problem. Let us share with you three of our list of cases involving discrimination against the LGBT community. CASE ONE: Approximately five year-s ago, Tony Stewart received a call from a

dental assistant in Coeur d'Alene who had been fired on that day when her employer, the dentist, learned that she was lesbian. Her work evaluations were superior. She asked for advice and assistance from the KCTFHR. Stewart had to sadly inform her that there were no federal or state laws preventing the discrimination and thus she had no legal remedy. CASE TWO: We learned of-a housing discrimination case that took place in 2012 in Coeur d'Alene when a North Idaho College student was evicted from her apartment when the landlord learned that she was in a lesbian relationship. Again she had no legal remedy for the discriminatory act. CASE THREE: One of the most grievous and sad cases

FOURTH QUESTION:

happened recently in a northern Idaho city during the death of a same sex partner. The obituary announcing the gay man's death included the name of his same-sex surviving partner. Upon seeing the obituary, the employer of the surviving partner fired him upon learning of the gay relationship. The grieving partner had to now also deal with loss of his income during one of the most painful moments of his life. Once again the gentleman bad no legal remedy. THIRD QUESTION:

Should the city of Coeur d'Alene reject adopting the anti-discrimination ordinance due to any possible additional cost for the city regarding law enforcement and the legal resources to enforce the ordinance? The answer should be NO. We find it in direct conflict with the core principles of democracy to suggest that some members of our fair city must remain second-class citizens, subject to discrimination and denied equal rights and fairness based on the argument that the adoption of the ordinance might require some additional resources of the city. This argument is equivalent to proposing that we open our city to all forms of discrimination based on limited resources.

Should we not wait until there are federal and state legislative actions to prohibit the discrimination? The answer is NO. It has been 49 years since the passage of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 that excludes protection for the LGBT community and almost the same amount of time for the other federal civil rights laws addressing jobs, housing and public accommodations. This flawed argument is as old as civilization. The late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke eloquently in condemning this tactic in his "Letter from the Birmingham Jail" on April 16, 1963. He was responding to a group of ministers who had signed a letter criticizing him for his peaceful disobedience that they described as "unwise and untimely" activities leading to his arrest. Dr. King wrote in part "We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet like speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, 'wait,' ....There comes a time when the cup ofenduranceruns over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair." FIFTH QUESTION:

What does the ordinance do and not do?

The Ordinance Protects: First, the ordinance will add protection from discrimination for the LGBT residents in housing, employment and public accommodations within the city of Coeur d'Alene. It will prevent a landlord, employer or owner of for example a restaurant from discriminating against one of our LBGT citizens. Second, the ordinance recognizes, protects and embraces the democratic principle of equality. The Ordinance does not: First, the ordinance does not create quotas or special protections.

Second, the ordinance does not create any special rights or privileges. Third, the ordinance does not create undue financial burdens when the ordinance permits the prosecutor to reduce the violation to an infraction, payable by a $100 fine, if the defendant engages in corrective action. Fourth, the ordinance does NOT require religious organizations or religious businesses or religious nonprofits to comply. Fifth, the ordinance exempts one's own home/residents from the housing ordinance as well as housing accommodations for not more than two families living independently of each other, if the lessor or a member of his family resides in one of the housing accommodations (e.g. duplex).

SEVENTH QUESTION:

SIXTH QUESTION:

ls this a moral, ethical and fundamental democratic issue? The answer is YES. We are before you facing the crucial question of whether we will elect to advance the moral precept of embracing social justice encompassing freedom, equality and justice for our fellow human beings that is the root of any democracy. We are inspired with the words from the following advocates for justice: Elie Wissel, a world renowned humanitarian, has said: 'There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustices, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest" Mike Masterson, Boise Police Chief, during his testimony before the Idaho State Legislature's House and Senate State Affairs Committees on March 20, 2013, stated: "Justice for me professionally must include protecting citizens against being the victims of a crime, including the injustice of being denied housing or employment or refused a service accommodation based solely on sexual orientation or gender identitv ...."

Will the decision of the Coeur d'Alene City Council have an impact beyond the boundaries of the city and the state of Idaho? The answer is YES. Individuals, corporations and civic groups across America will observe your decision and draw conclusions based on that outcome. They are correctly sensitive about visiting communities with regard to a welcoming environment for their members including their LGBT employees and members. Corporate America has already begun voluntarily implementing this type of protection. Ninety-four percent of the top 100 companies in the United States have policies banning discrimination based on sexual orientation as well as the top 50 Fortune 500 companies. The companies prohibiting discrimination include for example IBM, Southwest Airlines, Verizon, Apple, Wal-Mart, Ford, Sears, Micron Technology, Wells Fargo and Hewlett Packard. CONCLUSION

As members of the human race, each of us is constantly in the process of establishing our legacy when we are no longer here. We will be remembered and judged by future generations based on our respect and fair treatment for each of our sisters and brothers. Christie Wood is president of KCTFHR and Tony Stewart is secretary of KCTFHR.

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EDITORIAL

School vote a good sign for diversity ofthinking On Tuesday, North Idaho politics returns to full boil as the Coeur d'Alene City Council votes on a human rights ordinance that would bar discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations based on sexual orientation and gender identity. We've endorsed the ordinance and are encouraged that it's reached this point. Lake City residents might've thought things would simmer down after contentious campaigns for school and hospital boards culminated in a May 21 vote that repudiated the far-right's push for partisanship in all areas of government But it's unlikely to cool off any time soon. Mayor Sandi Bloem has reiterated her decision to leave office, setting up a big battle to replace her. She told Dave Oliveria, of Huckleberries Online, she's "tired of all this," a reference to the failed recall bid against her and three council members and the amped-up battles over, well, everything.

The battles themselves are part of a larger war for control of the Republican Party. Hard-right conservatives, many of whom emigrated from Southern California, have succeeded in taking over the inner workings of the party and are now trying to shape it in their own narrow image. It's not enough to be a Republican; you must be a true believer. Moderates need not apply. In recent years, Republicans uncomfortable with the constitutionalist/libertarian views of so-called Reagan Republicans (a misnomer if we've ever heard one) have been on the run in North Idaho. Reagan Republicans took control of the Coeur d'Alene School Board and have made inroads at the City Council and North Idaho College Board of Trustees. Those outcomes are troubling because experience and qualifications were secondary to ideology. However, the momentum may have been halted with the May 21 vote, because voters booted Coeur d'Alene school board members Brent Regan and Anne Seddon. The victors, Christa H azel, Dave Eubanks and Tom Hearn, were endorsed by a new group called Balance North Idaho, which was formed as a counterweight to the Reagan Republicans. The winners emphasized their ability to a job that's supposed to be nonpartisan; the losers emphasized party allegiance.

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Perhaps the sickest symptom of partisan politics run amok was the pitched battle for seats on the hospital board. Apparently, 'the Reagan Republicans view this as a perch from which to clog the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Last week, two Reagan Republicans announced their candidacies to replace Bloem, whose leadership led to such achievements as the Kroc Center, new library and the growing higher education corridor. But her insistence on keeping partisanship at arm's length has drawn the ire of hard-liners. She told The Spokesman-Review, "I'm saddened by the fact that it has all become about political parties. The philosophy that all elected positions should be filled with same-thinking people doesq't sit well with me. I think diversity of thinking is important.'' We agree and hope the recent school board election is a signal that voters have had enough.

Hagadone News Network

Sunday, June 2, 2013

R eaders Write SHERIFF: Gay scouts

The BSA did a good thing in allowing openly gay members. just not sure why they have to have a label. Gee whiz, Sheriff Ben, BSA is half way there, now which KCSO-sponsored let those kids have good programs are next to get the leaders too! Gay or straight axe? The sodomy law is prob- - I don't understand why it ably being violated all over matters! town on a frequent basis by How about those church straight people .. .is there a leaders. coaches, teachers, task force picking them up? etc. who are pedophiles I am stunned that you would hanging out with children drop the Boy Scout charter and doing them harm? Are on that basis. Boy Scouts do you seeing someone for your good things and teach kids homophobia? good principles no matter MARSHA DORNQUAST their sexual orientation! Post Falls

are wrong targets

Letters Policy The Hagadone News Network welcomes your opinions - but make sure they're your own. A letter to the editor must be written by the person submitting it. Letters must include the writer's full name, hometown and daytime phone

number (not for publication). Comments may be edited for length. â&#x20AC;˘ Email to: mpatrick@ cdapress.com â&#x20AC;˘ Mail to: Readers Write, The Press, 201 N. Second St., Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814

SHERIFF: Not a good promoter For several years the Coeur d'Alene City Council, Chamber of Commerce and several other groups in Kootenai County have tried to convey the message to the rest of the world that Coeur d'Alene and our area is a good place to visit and do business. The message being promoted is that we are a progressive group of people who won't tolerate groups like the KKK, Aryan Nations, or other extremist groups. Now we have a sheriff who could arrest Tony Stewart and other members of the Human Rights Council for aiding sod omy (this word isn't even in the Webster's New Pocket Dictionary) . What a thoughtful way to promote our area. 0

WES ALDERSON Coeur d'Alene

SHERIFF: Can still get It right Coeur d'Alene is moving toward a non-discrimination ordinance and I hope for speedy approval both for its symbolic value in the region and its real value in the lives of those who are the targets of discrimination. HCTFHR has long been a part of the conscience of Kootenai and this would be another step forward in their efforts but there is another job for them at the county level. While that effort goes forward the actions of the Sheriffs Office at the county level must not be ignored. Sheriff Ben Wolfinger is a former member of the Task Force, a former Coeur d'Alene City Council member and a longtime employee of the Kootenai County Sheriff's Departmenl All this makes his break with the Boy Scouts even more puzzling. The BSA has simply changed their policy to allow gay boys to be scouts. Nothing more. TI1ey are not condoning sexual behavior on the part of scouts-be they homosexual or heterosexual. How a person of Wolfinger's experience conflates sexual orientation with the acts contemplated in Idaho's sodomy laws is inexplicable. Ignore for the moment that the Supreme Court has said these laws are unconstitutional and that their enforcement in Idaho is nonexistent Ignore the fact that the prohibitions contemplated by Idaho's laws apply to both gay and straight women and men. What could Wolfinger's logic be in focusing on a person's condition with no evidence of any law violation?

Does he plan that the Sheriff's Department disavow every group that might have someone who might break a law at some time in the future? Young men are by far the most likely to commit a crime in the community. Do we round them all up simply because they are young and male? Some parents abuse and neglect their children. Should the Sheriffs Department stop providing service to parents because some of them might break the law? The BSA seeks to instil) a range of values. Values that are important regardless of sexual orientation. While some may be offended it is only by holding heterosexual orientation to be the most important of all these values that one can reasonably argue that the BSA got it wrong when they changed their policy. HopefulJy Sheriff Wolfinger reconsiders his thinking, publicly admits his mistake and renews the Sheriff Department's relationship with BSA JERRY SHRINER Coeur d'Alene

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ec1s1on 1me • • • • on 1scr1m1na 10n d'Alene will consider Inside adopting tonight. • P to consider adopting 0 a1 lli Mi . . ress n.e . e rustries Readers ordinance tonight Pastor Jim Putman sound urged church memoff on By TOM HASSLINGER bers in a Facebook proposed Staff writer post to fight the pro- ordinance posed rule on grounds / C6 that would be ua pathCOEUR d'ALENE - A pasway to promoting sin." tor at one of the area's largest "Homosexuality is no worse churches is asking his congregation to oppose an anti-discrimina- then [sic] adultery or stealing tion ordinance the city of Coeur but it is still sin," Putman wrote

Cd'A City Council

last week. If "someone told me I had to hire or rents [sic) space to a thief I would not like that neither would I like this." He wrote that people who support the ordinance believe that homosexuality is not a choice and people are created that way, but "there is no solid scientific evidence for that and the Bible clearly calls it sin."

see DECISION, A2

Busy night The City Council has other big items on its plate tonight. It will consider whether it wants to take ownership of roughly 5 miles of East Coeur d'Alene Lake Drive, as well as whether Blackridge Properties LLC. should be allowed an easement to connect a tunnel to the Front Avenue parking structure tied to the McEuen Park project.

DECISION A1

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At the end of the post, which received nearly 40 comments and 172 "likes," Putman called for his congregation to call the city and voice' their concerns. ''We need to let them know they will be voted out if they go forward with this," Putman wrote. "Be respectful and loving but understand they are taking our community down a path that will continue to tell our kids homosexuality is a healthy and viable lifestyle - it is unhealthy and sinful - these people need Jesus and our love but not our approval." Real Life Ministries is a non-denominational Evangelical Christian church based in Post Falls. Putman declined an interview request, but the church has grown to an average weekend attendance of more than 7,000 since its 1998 founding, according to its website. The church is also located in Coeur d'Alene, Silver Valley, Boise, Spokane, Spokane Valley and Newport, Wash. Coeur d'Alene would join four other Idaho cities to adopt an antidiscrimination ordinance that would be aimed at protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in areas of employment and housing by preventing people from discriminating against them solely based on "sexual orientation, gender identity and expression." Boise. Sandpoint, Ketchum and Moscow adopted similar ordinances already. Coeur d'Alene could join them. but it's not a done deal.

Council members Mike Kennedy and Ron Edinger have said they support the ordinance, while council members Steve Adams and Dan Gookin don't. Councilwoman Deanna Goodlander said she's "conflicted" over the ordinance, while Councilman Woody McEvers hasn't weighed in. Mayor Sandi Bloem, who only votes when a deciding seventh vote is needed, said she's in favor ofit "At this point, I would be in Bloem favor of anything that would protect

the right of the citizens," she said. After the proposed ordinance went to the General Services Committee last week, discourse on the subject ran wild. National Public Radio ran a story on the local issue, as did The Wall Street Journal, which published a story and two photos on May 29. The Coeur d'Alene Press Online story had 152 comments, making it the most commented-upon story of the week. "It's a historical moment," said Tony Stewart, Human Rights Task Force on Human Relations member, on the attention the ordinance has received. Stewart brought the ordinance to the GSC last week,andis confident the city will adopt it after the GSC recommended it do so. "I'm very, very pleased with the direction we're headed," he said.

But opponents of the ordinance say the new rule would grant special privileges to a small group and would infringe on religious freedom. Churches and religious nonprofits would be exempt from the rule's umbrella. Also. the rule wouldn't apply to people renting out a room in their home or a duplex. While that may be so, opponents said, individuals wouldn't be allowed to make decisions based on their religious beliefs. That steps on religious freedom, they said. Goodlander on Monday said she has already received more than 100 letters from ------people who w . oppose 1t, more than she ever received on other controversial topics, Goodlander like McEuen Park. She said she's concerned the ordinance language may grant special privileges, and would prefer the city slow down and look at all the other ordinances out there, not just adopt Boise's version now. "People's right to do what they want should be a part of the picture," she said, adding, "We haven't had a chance to look at what other cities have adopted." Adams and Gookin have said it isn't even a topic the city should consider. Gookin said it's

a national issue and the city taking it up is akin to him scheduling North Korean relations as an agenda item. He said late last week he might make If"~~ a motion Gookin for exactly that to drive home his point that the city shouldn't "meddle in national political issues." The controversial topic comes at the same time that Kootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger has said he's considering dropping the office's Boy Scout charter because the organization recently amended its rules to allow homosexual scouts. Wolfinger, a former ~~~~ Coeur 1 1 .Altllii,.. d'Alene City l ~ I Councilman and Human Rights Education Institute !f}: ...... c: Âˇs I board member, is an elder at ReaJ Life Ministries, whose pastor is speaking out against the ordinance. Wolfinger told The Press in previous interviews that the scouts' policy is in direct violation of Idaho law that prohibits sodomy. Wolfinger didn't return messages from The Press late last week or Monday.

He was on the HREI board between 2007 and 2009, according to HREI. "I think (ReaJ) Life is pulling the strings for him," said Tom Carter, HREI director, on Wolftnger's Boy Scout stance. "You're either for human rights Carter or not, I'll put it that way. You can't be a halfway human rights supporter." The proposed rule would make any violation a misdemeanor o.ffense, punishable by up to $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail. It's an ordinance needed to protect human rights, proponents say, because state and federaJ laws don't cover it. Now. landlords can reject a housing applicant based on his or her sexual preference without legal ramifications. Employers can fire employees for the same reason. The City Council meeting is at 6 p.m. in the Comm.unity Room of the Coeur d'Alene Public Library.

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2013

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Photos by JEROME A. POLLOS/Press

Father Dennis Gordon discusses logical approaches in determining the need for the Coeur d'Alene City Council to pass a non-discrimination ordinance during a public meeting Tuesday.

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Hundreds debate discrimination

. Âˇ Comments continue late into the night

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By TOM HASSLI NGER Staff w riter

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COEUR d ' ALENE - Nearly 400 people packed the Coeur d'Alene Library Tuesday night some bringing signs - to weigh in on the proposed anti-discrinlination ordinance the city of Coeur d'Alene is considering. After four hours of testimony, the City Council hadn't voted on the ordinance by Press deadline. The proposed ordinance would be aimed at protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in areas of employment, public accommodations, such as restaurants and housing by preventing people from discriminating against them solely based on "sexual orientation, gender identity and exoression."

Jenny Vanderhoef, left, and Erin Lyke, debate their position in support of non-discrimination regulations with two individuals who refused to give their names and do not support the regulations. Due to a maximum capacity of attendees at Tuesday's meeting, many had to wait outside the city council meeting at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library until space w as available in the library's community room.

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While the City Council hadn't finished deliberations by 11 p.m., hundreds of people showed up to support or oppo e the proposed rule. "I used to be a le bian ... I've be n in that lifestyle and it' unhealthy," aid Tierzah McIntosh, who aid he turned her life to God and hetero exuality recently and didn't want to see th ordinance pas . he tood outside the library while the council listened to t timony and aid the proposed rule would open the floodgates to more pecial laws for a select group of people. "I've seen how much they try and pu h the laws. It' not going to stop here." The proposed ordinance has even made national headlines after it wa introduced last week by Tony Stewart, Human Rights Task Force on Human Relations member. Proponents of the rule say it offer protection for lesbian, gay, bi exual and transgender people oth rwise not covered by state

hi us dto be a lesbian ... I've been in that lifestyle and it's unheaHhy." TIERZAH MCINTOSH, ordinance foe and federal laws. A it tand now, someone can be fired from a job or denied a tay in a hotel olely based on their sexual preference, and that's discrimination that needs to be stopped, they said. "It i important to people like me; said Brett Becker, a homosexual male who lost hi job in the service industry after hi employer found out he wa gay. ' Like everyone else, I want to be gainfully employed ...There was no recour e for me. There was nowber for me to go." Opponent said Tuesday the rule would infringe on their religiou freedoms. They said the Bible makes it clear that homosex-

uality is a sin, and pa ing the rule would promote the lifestyle while exposing children to transgender people in public bathrooms. "It's just like San Francisco,' said Eric Seeley, who called hi children to the podium when h spoke and aid he wouldn't allow hi kids in the public bathroom if transgender peopl were there. "You got to hold it honey, the City Council can't prot ct you.'' Dozens of p ople brought ign , calling for equal right for all and other that quoted criptur , saying "the unrighteous will not inherit the earth.'' "It's hatred of a per on who' different than you, ' said Roy Bird, on what' driving the oppo ition. "Frankly, treating them diff r nt because they believe different that' wrong." An updated tory on the d cision, a well a th City Council's decision on Ea t Coeur d Al n Lake Drive and easement acce to the Front Avenue parking tru ture, will be po ted on cdapre .com. -u vt e s- ..i.ot:i

Ordinance testimony extends into night

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CdA council weighing anti-discrimination law

By Scott Maben

scottm~pokesman.com,

(208) 758-0260

In a contentious clash of morality, religious freedom, civil rights and equal protection under the law, hundreds of people packed a Coeur d'Alene City Council meeting late into the night Tuesday as city leaders moved toward a controversial vote on adding sexual orientation to the city's anti-discrimination law. The council listened to hours of heartfelt testimony, with a majority of the crowd opposed to the proposal, based on a signup sheet on which they marked their positions, as well as their comments and reactions to speakers. The ordinance did not come to a vote before The Spokesman-Review's print deadline late Tuesday night. An updated report can be found at www.spokesman.com. Clergy spoke of moral theology, religious sensibilities and the obligation to reject homosexuality as a lifestyle. Gay residents spoke of fear of losing their jobs with no legal recourse, and a desire to be respected for who they are. Business owners expressed worries about being exposed to costly litigation and forced to compromise their faith. The debate presents the community an opportunity to send a strong message that discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated here, said Norm Gissel, a Coeur d'Alene attorney and human rights activist who helped bankrupt the Aryan Nations in Kootenai County.

"In the matter of civil rights, we are the shining city on the hill," Gissel said, recalling the area's resistance to the white supremacist movement a generation ago. ''We are tested once again as a community.'' Speaking against the proposal, Pastor Paul Van Noy of Candlelight Christian Fellowship in Coeur d'Alene attempted to separate the issue from discrimination based on race. "This is not a racial issue," Van Noy said. "A person does not have a choice how they will be born ... but a person does have a choice about their behavior." He likened homosexuality to drug addiction and spoke of the need to protect gay people from the harm of their sexual habits. The new law would move the city "from tolerance to See ORDINANCE, AlO

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Continued from Al endorsement." But, Van Noy added, "As pastors in the community, we want you to know we are not homophobic." City Councilman Mike Kennedy drafted the ordinance, modeling it after one adopted in Boise last year. It would protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. The Idaho Legislature has spurned attempts each of the past seven years to add the words "sexual orientation" and

"gender identity" to the state's Human Rights Act, which now bans discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age or disability. In response, some cities have taken up the issue, beginning with Sandpoint in December 2011 Boise, Moscow and Ketchum followed with similar laws. Many speakers Tuesday described bomosexuality as unnatural and immoral, and warned council members not to embrace "the homosexual agenda." "There's good discrimination, folks, there's healthy discrimination," said Eric Seeley, a former pastor who spoke

against the ordinance. H e then called his young children to the podium and told them the city would no longer protect them from perverts. "It's just like San Francisco now." John Rennie said as a business owner he worries that the law would make it difficult for him to fire a gay employee for any reason. ''You're not giving equal rights here; you're giving special rights," Rennie said. Coeur d'Alene attorney Susan Moss said she has endured slurs and discrimination as a lesbian. She pushed back against assertions that beinggay is optional for her.

JUNE 5, 2013 • WEDNESDA y • PAGE Ag

"It wasn't a choice for me." ·Moss.said. "I would never ha;e chosen this. I don't like sticking out." Evelyn Adams, a former Kootenai County commissioner, also recalled the days Coeur d'Alene confronted the fear and hate of the Aryan Nations. "I think this city should welcome and should be willing to accommodate people from all walks of life," Adams said. Religious organizations would be exempt from the ordinance, as would anyone who owns a rental property in which they also live, such as a landlord renting a room in their house, Kennedy said.

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Thursday June 6, 2013

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on Wednesday on the positive feedback he had received gives blessing with from the previous night's vole. 5-1 late-night vote 'These things wind up being a great celebration." By TOM HASSLINGER And a lot of work. Staff writer Stewart, who brought the ordinance to the city to conCOEUR d'ALENE - The sider, said months of studying next step is taking a breath. went into bringing it to Coeur A day after the Coeur d'Alene. It's not someU1ing d'Alene City Council adopted that's jumped into. an anti-discrimination ordiCoeur d'Alene became the nance 5 to 1, Tony Stewart said fifth Idaho city to adopt an ~ - - ~ the next move is, ordinance that protects lesbiwell, stopping and ans, gays, bisexuals and transgender people from discriminataking it easy. "We've been tion in areas of employment, housing and public accoinmogetting a lot of JEROME A. POLLOS/Press caHs and emails," dation. Shane Duffy and Dotty Quade pray outside the Coeur d'Alene said Stewart, But just because Coeur d'Alene did, ~e task force isn't Public Library community room where the city council was Stewart Human Rights listening to public comment Tuesday regarding the nonTask Force on Human Relations member, see ORDAINED, A2. discrimination ordinance, which passed 5-1.

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ready to make a pitch to neighboring cities to do the same. "It's a tremendous amount of work," Stewart said on bringing the ordinance forward. ''You have to focus on one place at a time." Some cities contacted by The Press Wednesday about adopting an antidiscrimination ordinance didn't comment, while : others said they would :cross that bridge if !they got there. Dalton ~Gardens, Hayden, Post .Falls and Rathdrum all ;said they don't have plans in the works for an ordi..nance. "We will maintain our holding pattern and see what the future brings," '"Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin said. Roger Saterfiel, presi: dent of the Hayden City :,Council, said the council .Jiasn't been approached ~Y anyone about the ~ssue, but that turnout :On Coeur d'Alene's ordi!nance made "quite a !show, though, I see." : Nearly 400 people :attended Tuesday night's :five-hour debate at the <oeur d'Alene Public : Library. It passed rather !easily in part because :City Councilman Dan :Gookin, who origi:Oally opposed the idea, ,-esearched the pro-;posal more and voted to

approve the ordinance. It passed 5-1. The rule now prohibits people from denying service, housing or jobs to a person solely because of their sexual identity. Violation of the rule is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and $1,000 fine. A mediation step is also involved in the process where the sides could work together. Fines could be as low as $100 then. The rule goes into effect Friday. Coeur d'Alene took up the issue because the Idaho State Legislature failed to do so, the City Council said. For seven years the topic died in Boise. In December 2011, Sandpoint was the first Idaho city to adopt an anti-discrimination ordinance. It did so more as a precaution than reaction to a specific event, said Scot Campbell, Sandpoint city attorney. Since that time, Sandpoint has had one reported case, but the case was dropped as the alleged victim failed to follow through in reporting the alleged incident. "I think they felt they needed to take the lead," Campbell said on the city being the first to implement it. "It just felt like something that needed to be done. Idaho should have taken it up as a state, but didn't.'' Ketchum, Moscow and Boise have adopted simi-

lar ordinances. Ketchum and Boise's legal departments didn't return messages Wednesday. Pocatello will consider adopting an ordinance at 6 tonight. Sandpoint's rule passed quietly, unlike in Coeur d'Alene, where the topic made the Wall Street Journal and launched lots of online chatter. "It was completely different than what you guys went through," Campbell said. "It's under the radar, but it's there if somebody needs it." Stewart said it's still too early to see if proposals will go before other towns. Rathdrum Mayor Vic Holmes said he would ....-----.1 listen to the " < proposal if it came his way. He said he thinks the topic is a state lli or federal Holmes issue, but "we've all taken oaths to treat everybody fairly and equally." He didn't comment on Coeur d'Alene's decision. "I never try to figure out what another municipality does," he said. "It's not my job or role to consider it right or wrong - that's between their citizens and their conscience." Staff writers David Cole and Brian Walker contributed to this report.

NewCdA law opens rift over equality Ordinance bars sexual orientation discrimination By Scott Maben scottmr<liSpokesman.com (208) 758-0260

Coeur d'Alene is the fifth Idaho city to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation following a heated community debate that exposed a deep divide on the issue. Human rights advocates, religious leaders, business owners. students and educators dug in Tuesday for a long night of testimony before the City Council. Shortly before midnight, councilors voted 5 to 1to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. The day after, some of those on the front lines spoke of moving on and bridging the rift. Others were disheartened, saying their words of caution fell on ears indifferent to their deeply held beliefs.

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"I think that the council members for the most part had already made up their minds before the meeting began," said a leading critic of the new ordinance, Paul Van Noy, the pastor of Candlelight Christian Fellowship and president of the Coeur d'Alene Ministerial Association. "The cry for equal rights was heard unequally," Van Noy said Wednesday. He believes the ordinance protects the rights of one group at the expense of those who wish to exercise their right of religious freedom, including city residents striving to live by Christian values. "For. me it is simply a matter of our call to protect the freedoms of all," Van Noy said. Around 400 people showed up for Tuesday's council meeting, and testimony ran about 2-to-l against the ordinance. Still, the council did the right thing in passing it, said Tony Stewart, See ORDINANCE, A10

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co-founder of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, a human-rights advocacy group. ''In a democracy a majority does not have the right to vote away the minority's rights," Stewart said. "Otherwise we could have kept slavery or segregation. The Constitution is there to say to the majority the minority also has rights." Councilman Dan Gookin said he was ready for a backlash Wednesday for his support for the ordinance, which is expected to take effect Friday. "l have gotten a couple ofangry emails and one Facebook post that said they need to recall me," Gookin said. But support for his stand has been overwhelming, he said. "The feedback on email and Facebook and everywhere else is running more like 4-to-l in favor, like 'thank you, thank you, thank you.'" Some opponents urged the council to put the issue to a public vote. Gookin said he believes the community also would support the ordinance. "This is an issue that inflames a lot of people, and therefore you bring out some people who are going to be really extreme on one side or the other," he said. "But I think the average person out there is OK with this. My experience in Idaho shows that we are a very tolerant people.'' That tolerance may be tested at the ballot box come November. The terms are up this year for three councilors - Mike Kennedy, Deanna Goodlander and Woody McEvers - who voted for the discrimination ban. No one has announced reelection plans yet, but this week's council vote could stir up political r epercussions in the fall. "There is certainly discontent in the community," Van Noy said. ''I do believe that when elections come around, people will have a stronger opinion about who they're going to elect"

Pastor Stuart Bryan of Trinity Church, a Reformed and Evangelical congregation in Coeur d'Alene, said he and his parish members had little time to learn about and react to the proposal as it was placed on the council's agenda in recent weeks. "To railroad the legislation through in that fashion was, I think. an affront to the citizens of Coeur d'Alene and a travesty," said Bryan, who spoke against the ordinance Tuestlay night. The council members who voted for it are vulnerable to community backlash, Bryan said. "I would support any and all lawful means to recalJ them from office and to replace them." He also said he'd advise members of his church to violate the new law, not their beliefs. "I would entirely support any parishioner who opposed that legislation. I think it's unjust," Bryan said. Many have compared this clash with the broad-based effort to drive the Aryan Nations out of Kootenai County. But Bryan sees a flaw in that association. "I absolutely condemn racism in all its forms, shapes and sizes. But I think we do so on the basis of an appeal to some higher law and higher principle," he said. "And that's why we fought against racism in this community. The question with the matter of sexual orientation is what higher law are we appealing to, what broader principles are we appealing to?" Gookin said he thinks the furor will die down and in time residents will realize the law rarely needs to be enforced. ''People have the anger now. ... But it's really hard to hate for a long period of time," he said. Attitudes toward gay rights, including marriage equality, are changing rapidly, Gookin noted.

''I think in several years people are going to look back and they're going to say, 'Four hundred people showed up for that? And so many people spoke against it? God,.whatwas going on back then?' " Mayor Sandi Bloem said she's proud of the council's "stance of acceptance of all and no discrimination and no hate'' - a message of diversity that she feels is important to project to attract good people and businesses to the area. Bloem sees a need now to mend the wounds of the argument and move forward. "This community seems to be able to rally around those divisive issues and come together with respect," the mayor said. "They have in the past, and that's what I'm hoping they will do here.''

EDITORIAL

CdAsends right lllessage with vote for hUinan rights On Tuesday, just before the clock struck midnight, Coeur d'Alene joined Sandpoint, Moscow, Boise and Ketchum as the only Idaho cities to pass an ordinance that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation. Thus, the Lake City struck another blow for human rights, just as it did with its resistance to the white supremacists who tried to turn this scenic enclave into their ugly bunker of hate. The long hours of impassioned public testimony that preceded the 5-1 Coeur d'Alene City Council vote underscores again the Legislature's stonewalling. The issue has yet to get a hearing, let alone a vote. Meanwhile, Coeur d'Alene became the latest town to extend basic fairness to its gay and transgendered residents by prohibiting discrimination in housing, the workplace and public accommodations. That this occurred in a conservative city makes it more noteworthy, though by no means unique. Fifteen communities in red-state Utah have passed similar ordinances. Resistance to gay rights is crumbling fast Washington was the seventh state to approve gay marriage, but five states have since followed suit. Meanwhile, the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which prevents the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage, has been found unconstitutional in several courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court is currently mulling its fate. The noxious "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy has been drummed out of the military.

Most nations have a national policy on gay rights, but it is debated community by community and state by state in this country, so the arguments are repeated over and over. Councilman Steve Adams was the lone dissenter, asking, "What's the rush?" To which we'd reply: What was the holdup? There are no new points to be made. There is no new information to digest. Adams said he rejected the ordinance on religious grounds. But the Bible won't be rewritten, and he isn't likely to change his interpretation. So why slow down? Âˇ Besides, as Councilman Dan Gookin said, "I don't think we can actually legislate from the Bible up here." Those who worry about slippery slopes and implausible what-if scenarios need only check communities where such discrimination has already been banned. What has happened in, say, Sandpoint or Spokane that justifies these fears? The answer is not much, except that employers cannot fire workers for being gay, landlords cannot kick out tenants due to their sexual orientation and businesses cannot turn away customers for beinggay. A former pastor told the council there is such a thing as "good discrimination," but he failed to persuade them of the merits of this particular bigotry. Council members Gookin, Mike Kennedy, Ron Edinger, Woody McEvers and Deanna Goodlander are to be commended for their courageous votes, and for sending a strong message that Coeur d'Alene remains a beacon for human rights.

To respond to this editorial online, go to www.spokesman.com and click on Opinion under the Topics menu.

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Friday. June 7. 2013

Editorial

Another day in Cd'A Coeur d'Alene looks the same today is it did â&#x20AC;˘ Tuesday, the day it adopted an anti-discrimination ordinance. It just feels a little different. We applaud the process that led to the council's decision to ensure that, outside churches and private homes, sexual orientation will have no bearing on the rights of any citizen within city limits. The process included powerful, passionate debate, filling biogs, pages of this newspaper and echoing through public gathering places, from people on both sides of the issue. It dredged up the ghosts of some of our most base instincts and fears, but in doing so, it brought to light important facts and heartfelt opinions. Fear was a driving force in this debate; fear of forfeiture of individual liberty; fear that the rights of one group would outweigh the rights of another; fear of the unknown; fear of moral erosion. Fear is what likely motivated an armed man in the crowd Tuesday night to threaten a Press photographer for taking his picture. The good thing about fear is that when it proves to be exaggerated or unfounded, it tends to dissipate. Reports of transgender individuals exposing themselves to children in public restrooms will be rare, if they occur at all. Cases of an employer going to jail for six months because he fired an openly gay employee will make headlines, because it will be so unusual, particularly because the ordinance requires mediation before any penalty can be assessed. In short, for most of us, life in Coeur d'Alene will be pretty much the same as it was before Tuesday night's vote. Maybe just a little better.

COUNCIL: And justice for all I am a heterosexual. As Lady Gaga put it so elegantly, "I was born this way." And, as my paternal Grandma Finney put it, ''You were born Irish and Catholic." As a third generation native of Coeur d'Alene, I have experienced discrimination for being Irish and for being Catholic. When l was 5 years old, I was asked to leave a local church Sunday School. The pastor took me by the ear and pulled me out of the church basement with tl1e dire warning to "get out and not come back. We don't want Catholics here!" When 1was 12, I snuck into a tavern on Third Street with some older friends. I was asked to leave. As the bartender took me to the door, he said, "We don't serve injuns." 1 had a summer tan and short dark hair. He wasn't concerned that I was underage. As a young newlywed, I was told by a doctor that he could not prescribe birth control pills because, "Women shouldn't make those decisions without their husband's written consent." I have experienced discrimination: ethnic, religious. racist and sexist. I attended the City Council meeting Tuesday night. They took a stand against sexual discrimination in public housing, accommodations, and service. It was not an easy nor a sin1ple vote. There were many testimonies pro and con. I believe that each citizen bas the right to "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." I also believe in separation of church and state. I am proud of the five memÂˇ hers of the Council who voted yes. I am proud of the Human Rights Task Force for bringing the ordinance proposal to the Council. I am proud to be a citizen of this city. MARLO FAULKNER Coeur d'Alene ~~'

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SCOUTS:Get their opinion Regarding the BSA Charter, I have a suggestion for the sheriff. Instead of forcing his own opinion about the inclusion of gay boys lo influence his decision about renewing the charter, he should perhaps ask a Boy Scout what he thinks about the inclusion of gay boys in BSA I did. I asked a 13-year-old Boy Scout due to start high school in the fall, who has been in scouting for many years. You won't believe what he said! He said HE DOES NOT CARE if there are gay boys in scouts. He DOES NOT CARE if gay boys go camping with straight boys. He is not afraid of gay boys and he is not even interested enough in other scouts' orientation to believe it is appropriate to ask. He is simply uninterested and unconcerned. So, if Boy Scouts themselves don't care, why do you? Do you think Cub Scouts should be asked at 7 years of age if they are gay? Do we wait until postpuberty to kick them out once they have discovered their orientation? Do you really think gay boys are going to attack straight boys on camping trips?

Get real and stop shoving your homophobic agenda on boys who could not care less. It is not the government's job, whether local or national, to dictate these things. KACEYL WALL Coeur d'Alene

COUNCIL: It's all about freedom

from WW2. This anti stuff is how he tried to eliminate the Jewish problem. Then he took other types and like the story goes, when they came for me. there was no one left. You do not have to live a lifestyle to let that style live as freely as you do. This is not about promoting any lifestyle but just having a freedom to live like we all want to. I see religious groups come to my door that do not believe in the military but are protected by the rights all military persons went to war to protect, so we could not be told how to Jive our Lives freely. LYNN AUS

I want to ask the folks who are against Coeur d'Alene's anti-discrimination ordinance a couple of questions. 1. If this bill hadn't passed, who would be next to discriminate against? The Catholics? The man down the street who "may'' have a Russian accent? And was born in the USA? 2. I remember Hitler _

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Op/Ed

Bravo to a brave Cd'A City Council Editor's note: This originally appeared in Thursday's Idaho Statesman.

Members of the Coeur d'AJene City Council on Tuesday night joined statewide leaders in the promotion of human rights in ~~~~ Idaho when they voted to enact an anti-discrinunation ordinance to prohibit discrimination David against their Adler - -- - residents in Guest the areas of Opinion employment, housing and public accommodations on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. Like colleagues in four other Idaho cities that have enacted similar measures - Boise, Sandpoint, Moscow and Ketchum they demonstrated once again that the real leaders on issues of civil rights in the Gem State are found not in the Statehouse, but in the neighborhoods and community centers where patriots gather to promote the concept of Uberty.

Discrimination on any basis - race, religion, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity - tears at the fabric of our democracy, a system in which we expect that rational discussion, not points of prejudice. will guide decision making on matters of public policy. Discrimination against women, African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and gays has plagued America since its birth and represents a form oi domestic terrorism that requires swift and sustained remedies. Our nation has made considerable progress over the past half-century in combating elements of discrimination and preju-

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dice through enactment of civil rights statutes and judicial decisions, as well as programs to educate the citizenry on the irrationality and dangers of discrimination, but much work remains to be done. American women have crashed various glass ceilings, but significant hurdles, including equal pay for equal work, remain. Hispanics, AbicanAmericans and Native Americans have witnessed the passage of legislation and the creation of programs designed to mitigate the evil nature of discrimination, but they remain among those segments of our country that are underemployed, undereducated and underpaid. More energy must be summoned to improve the lot in life of persons of color. Gay citizens, long the victims of impoverished beliefs, crude stereotypes and cruel, ignorant prejudices, have seen victories in recent years, but there remains the need to eliminate the caste system that characterizes these hard-working, productive and talented Americans as second-class citizens. When a city, like a state, refuses to prohibit discrimination, it effectively endorses it. Coeur d'Alene City Council members recognized the truth of that principle when they cast their votes to ensure that within city limits, discrimination grounded on sexual orientation and gender identity would not be tolerated in the critical areas of housing, employment and public accommodations. The alternative would have been the erection of a billboard that declared: Gays and lesbians not welcome here. It is inconceivable for Coeur d'Alene, or any other city in Idaho that is interested in promoting public safety, recruiting

businesses and industries, courting tourists, and seeking talented, productive workers, to close its doors on the crude premises that undergird discrimination and prejudice. Fifty years ago, Americans suffered the murder of Medgar Evans, a courageous civil rights worker who was gunned down in his own driveway by an avowed racist His goal of integration was one that we view today as a given, but it was in his day a mountain that defied the best climbers. At that juncture, legislative protection for gays would have defied expectations. In our time, we celebrate the progress that we have made in our battle against discrimination. but it is a celebration tempered by the awareness that we have, to borrow from Robert Frost, many miles to go before we sleep. Our commitment to human rights in Idaho and across our nation cannot afford the slwnber of well-meaning citizens, inside and outside the governmental arenas, who long for an end to prejudice and discrimination in all of its manifestations. The Idaho Statehouse is quiet these days; the legislative chambers empty. Our representatives are surely working on various matters, including proposals for the next session. Let us hope that discussion is underway finally to enact the "add the words" proposal to bring state power to bear against the forces of discrimination. If they need encouragement and courage, they can look to the Lake City. David Adler is the director of the Andrus Center for Public Policy at Boise State University, where he holds appointment as the Cecil D. Andrus professor of public affairs. He has lectured nationally and internationally on the Constitution, the presidency and the Bill of Rights.

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Pocatello protects. gays, lesbians City Council votes 4-2 to pass discrimination ban

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grassroots campaign to . change Idaho statute to conservative Republican include tanguage that lawmakers, meanwhile, prohibits Pocatello's have repeatedly refused ordinance protects to expand the state's people from discriminaHuman Rights Act to tion in areas of employprotect gay, lesbian, ment, housing and bisexual and transgen- public accommodations aer people from job and such as restaurants and

POCATELLO (AP) -

The city of Pocatello has passed an ordinance banning discrimination against a person because of their sexual orientation or gt".1der identity. The Idaho State Journal reports the city council voted 4--2 in favor of the ordinance after hours of debate Thursday evening. Pocatello is the sixth city in the state to enact an anti-discrimination ordinance. Idaho's

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stores. Other Idaho cities that have adopted sinuiar rules are Boise, Âˇsandpoint, Ketchum, Moscow and Coeur d'Alene. With Pocatello's passage of the law, roughly 22 percent of Idaho residents are no.w covered by the ordinance.

SMART BOMBS

Who shall overcome equality? After the Coeur d'Alene City Council voted to pass an anti-discrimination ordinance that protects gay and transgendered citizens, Pastor Stuart Bryan of Trinity Church said he would advise parishioners to follow their consciences and break what he calls an unjust law. Easy for him to say. He wouldn't be the one paying a $}.000 fine or spending up to six months in jail. Come to think of it, I haven't heard of anyone who has overtly paid a pr ice to defend this apparently cherished right to discriminate. There is a florist in Richland w ho is being sued for refusing service to a gay couple, but it wasn't her idea to go public. These human rights protections have been on the books for several years in other communities, and now Coeur d'Alene is one of them. It's the perfect opportunity to emulate a man of the cloth, like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., rather than capitulate to an "immoral" law. A fundamentalist pastor could raise an illegal ruckus and get arrested. Then he could write an essay on scraps of paper - "Letter from a Coeur d'Alene Jail"·- to inspire others to join the cause of discrimination. So when will this occur? King showed his commitment to equal rights by marching, protesting and enduring arrests. He ultimately died for the cause. Where are the deeds of deacons dedicated to discrimination? · Bryan and others speak passionately in defending the right to discriminate against gay, lesbian and transgendered

people because, GARY they say, CROOKS homosexuality is a .. · sin. Whether these religious leaders would back the right to discriminate against other sinners, such as adulterers and premarital fornicators, is unclear, because the fight is always over homosexuality. Where are the efforts to lend moral support to bosses and landlords who want to defend the entire Bib]e with the righteous weapon of discrimination? Pastor Paul Van Noy of Candlelight Christian Fellows)lip made it clear to the City Council that this was not a matter of homophobia. Instead, it's a genuine, heartfelt, soul-searching quest to save the sinners. How denying them homes or jobs helps them is beyond my limited knowledge of religious compassion. Love the sinner while kicking him to the curb, or something like that. Anyway, it just so happens that tl1e behavior this time is homosexuality. Next time - who knows? - it could be opposite-sex lust or even hypocrisy. Except it never is about that. It's always this. For whatever reason, homosexuality sticks deepest in the craw and arouses the desire to discriminate. Hence the need to pass an ordinance.

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AS YOU LIKE IT. A recent article

about student loan rates noted tl1at while votes were taken on Republican and Democratic plans, both moves were seen as political theater, because neither proposal was expected 10 pass. Now, an outsider might wonder, why bother? But not Congress, where the play's not only the thing, it's everything. Members of Congress, it seems, are so busy scribbling scripts, inventing drama and putting on a show, they've forgotten their real-life roles. So they haul an Apple executive before them and grill him about using tax loopholes of their own making. They fume and fulminate against the government tracking phone calls while ignoring the votes that made it legal. They pummel the Internal Revenue Service for the way it investigated whether obviously political players were engaged in politics, while ignoring who set that cynical stage. In a clever variation of this intentional amnesia, they abdicate their role in declaring wars, and then haul civilian and military commanders before them for accountability. They must think us dumb. They must think, "What fools these mortals be." · Then they head back home. And get re-elected. Associate Editor Gary Crooks can be reached at garyc@spokesman.com or (509) 459-5026. Follow him on Twitter @GaryCrooks.

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GOP may target gay rights measures North Idaho Republicans want to make city rules unenforceable By JEFF SELLE Staff writer

COEUR d'ALENE Cities' anti-discrimination laws aren't sitting well with the Republican Party. Neither is daylight sav• ings time, Common Core standards or Obamacare or 27 other issues, for that matter. So Saturday, the Idaho Republican Party Central Committee will consider two resolutions that call for the legislature to enact a law that would render any municipal antidiscrimination law unenforceable. GOP central committees in Bonner County and Idaho County have submitted the nearly identical resolutions for state committee adoption.

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Bonner County's reads: " ... the Bonner County Republican Central Committee recommends that our legislators support Idaho's current antidiscrimination laws and policies, and enact a law thal would make unenforceable any municipal ordinances that would seek to expand catego1ies of prohibited discrimination beyond current state anti-discrimination laws and policies." ldaho cities lhat have adopted such ordinances indude Boise, Sandpoint, Ketchum, Moscow, Coeur d'Alene and Pocatello. 1l1e state central committee will meet for its summer session in McCall today through Saturday. They will discuss a number of rule changes and 31 resolutions outlining see GOP, A2

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the party's stance on a nwnber of issues ranging from anti-0.iscrimination to ending daylight savings time. Bjorn Handeen, a Kootenai County state committeeman, sits on the 11state central committee's resolution committee. He said that committee will debate each of the resolutions and decide which to recommend for adoption by the state party. "Still, I would imagine that anything we pass will have little to no effect anyway," he said, adding that passage of a resolution carries as much weight as making an official statement. However, be said, if the anti-discrimination resolutions are passed the party will send a Jetter to the legislature requesting the legislation. ''We would find such a bill a real tragedy," said

Tony Stewart, a member of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, which has been encouraging local governments to adopt anti-bias ordinances. "Our hope is that our legislature would not support such legislation." Stewart said the task force believes that no citizen should be a secondclass citizen, and that no American should be denied such vital services as a job or an apartment based on discrimination. "lrus is a fundamental issue of democracy," Stewart said. He believes passage of the resolution by the state party would be sending the wrong message to the rest of the country. "It could even cause a boycott of conferences to the state," be said. Handeen said he is not sure if the resolutions will pass the full committee or not, and even then he doubts the legislature would take any action in

that area ''We make a lot of effor t at the grassroots level, but in.the end we have very little impact," he said. 'There are a lot of discouraged people who put in the effort on these issues, but we rarely see any results." Handeen said 50 years from now when Chinese historians are researching why America allowed itself to fall and asking themselves why nobody did anything, he will have a clear conscience. 'They will see that in 2013, North Idaho actually did try to do something," he said. Other resolutions to be considered include tax issues, reversing Common Core standards, ending the caucuses in lieu of primaries, protecting the second amendment, opposing the implementation of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and transferring federal lands to state ownership.

PAGE A S I TU ESDA Y, JUNE 18, 2013

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GOP calls to void ordinances Republicans want to Invalidate local anti-discrimination laws By Betsy Z. Russell betsyr@spokesman.com. (208) 336·2854

Idaho Republican Party leaders want state legislators to wade into city affairs and invalidate local laws that ban discrimination based on sexual orientation such as the one Coeur d'Alene passed after an emotional community debate two weeks ago. Six Idaho cities have passed nondiscrimination ordinances in the past year • and a half, and a seventh, Idaho Falls, is looking into one now. T he Idaho GOP wants the efforts stopped. "It's a way for the people to make their expressions known to the Legislature,"

Idaho Republican Chairman Barry Peterson said. "We let 'em know that this is the w ay that the majority of the party feels." About 81 percent of Idaho's state lawmakers are Republican. Coeur d'Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem noted rifts within the GOP. ''The Republican Party itself appears to be somew hat fractured, so I'm not assuming that it would get full Republican support," she said. "I would assume that there would certainly be some that would recognize the local rights." The Coeur d'Alene City Council passed the ordinance on a 5-1 vote. Corne) Rasor, a former Bonner County commissioner and chairman of the Idaho GOP's resolutions committee, said, "I'd hire a gay guy if I thought he was a good worker. But ifhe comes into work in a tutu ... he's not producing what I want in my of-

combined and approved at the GOP central committee's sum.mer meeting last weekend in McCall with little debate. ''Resolved, that the Idaho Republican Sandpoint was the first Idaho city to State Cen tral Committee recommends enact a local anti-discrimination that our legislators support Idaho's curordinance covering sexual rent anti-discrimination laws and policies orientation and gender identity in and enact a law that would make unenDecember 20TI; Boise, Ketchum, forceable any municipal ordinances that Moscow, Coeur d'Alene and would seek to expand categories of proPocatello followed. Idaho lawmakers hibited discrimination beyond current have rejected a statewide law state anti-discrimination laws and polimaking that change each year for cies," the resolution states. the past seven years. The Idaho Human Rights Act now bans discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations on the basis of £ice." race, religion, disability and more. But lawRasor presented the resolution on be- makers have resisted efforts to add sexual balfof a constituent in Bonner County; an- orie ntation and gender identity to that law. other was proposed by Idaho County's GOP central committee. The two were See IDAHO GOP, A7

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"If a guy has a particular predilection and keeps it to himself, that's fine," Rasor said. "But ifhe wants to use my business as a platform for his lifestyle, why should I have to subsidize that? And that's what these antidiscrimination laws do." Tony Stewart, a founding member of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations who pushed for Coeur d'Alene's ordinance, disagreed. "Ifthe Legislature was to pass a law in Idaho voiding all of those cities' ordinances, they would be sending a nationwide message that the LGBT community is really not welcome in Idaho and they can be discriminated against in jobs and housing," Stewart said. "It would be a disastrous message." Because Idaho has no

statewide law banning such discrimination, Idahoans can now legally be fired from their jobs, evicted from their homes or denied service in a restaurant solely because they're gay. Stewart cited a case in Lewiston in which a man died, and the newspaper obituary named his live-in partner as his survivor. "And that day he got fired," he said. "So here's a man, a law-abiding citizen grieving over the loss of his partner, and also. got fired the same day. When you deal with jobs and housing and all, kicking people to the curb and saying somehow you're unacceptable, that's what they're really saying. It reminds me so much of segregation in the South." Rasor said, "All I see is more and more laws making things more and more difficult, more and more restrictive, more and more controlled, and I'm a lib-

erty person. I like to be left alone. I like to make my own decision." Peterson said, "Personally I don't know anybody that's been discriminated against on any of those issues, so I do not feel like a law should have to compel me to do something that I'm already willing to do.... You take away from somebody their opportunity to make a choice, to make a decision, to me that's a serious impact upon liberty and freedom." Sandpoint was the first Idaho city to enact a local anti-discrimination ordinance covering sexual orientation and gender identity in December 20ll; Boise, Ketchum, Moscow, Coeur d'Alene and Pocatello followed. Idaho lawmakers have rejected a statewide law making that change each year for the past seven years.

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Tuesday June 18. 2013

Chance of T-storms High 75, Low 53 Weather, A2

'.Feisty and kindhearted' Ex-Cd'A mayor, educator, WWII vet Stone remembered By BRIAN WALKER Staff writer COEUR d'ALENE -

Ray Stone was not one to back down from political pressures. - "You always knew where he stood," Ron E;dinger said of the former Coeur d'Alene Stone mayor. "He was a very staunch Democrat - and he always let you know it. He stood by what he believed." Stone, Coeur d'Alene's mayor from 1986 to 1994 and a city council member from 1971 to 1979, died at The Hospice House in Coeur d'Alene Monday. He was 89.

Stone was also a World War Il veteran, the leader and drummer of a local band called The Ray Stone Swing Band, a teacher and a former dean at North Idaho College. Edinger, also a former Coeur d'Alene mayor and Âˇ city council member who served with Stone, said Stone looked out for the "little guy or underprivileged person." "I lost a dear friend in Ray Stone and a good golfing buddy," Edinger said. "He was a feisty and kind-hearted man." Edinger recalls a time when he went to pick up his girlfriend, who later became his wife, from a dance in which Stone was a chaperone. "He wouldn't let me in because he didn't know me," Edinger said. "He wouldn't let me take her because of that" Current Coeur d'Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem knew Stone from education circles and served as cochair of a downtown revitalization project when Stone was mayor. "He was an inspiration not only to me, but a lot of others," Bloem said. "When he believed in see STONE, A2

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Tuesday, June 18, 2013

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something, he fought for it. He was always a proponent for a vibrant downtown. He left a legacy to be proud of." Stone was the product of hard work. "He worked his way through life and appreciated what hard work gets you," said Rolly Williams, who worked at NIC with Stone. "He believed in the working man and the rights of the working man." He learned to play the drums at age 12. His mother was a pianist, playing for silent movie screenings and grange hall shows in central Idaho. ''When I first played in the band with her, I couldn't see over the bass drum," he told The Press in 2008. His school's music instructor did not know how to play drums, forcing Stone to learn by ear on his own. Williams described Stone as an avid reader, a history buff and being well-organized. Stone, survived by his wife, Betty, performed in his band until recently. "My bands always dress up," he told The Press. "We don't go anywhere sloppy."

Stone fought in three combat campaigns during World War II, including the Battle of the Bulge. He received the Bronze Star as a paratrooper with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division for liberating the Wobbelin concentration camp in Geymany in 1945. Stone returned home to earn three college degrees. He taught at Coeur d'Alene High and North Idaho College before becoming the Dean of Instruction at NIC. "Ray was an educator and his time in the mayor position showed that, too," Bloem said. "He was always willing to teach and help others." During his two terms as mayor, he was involved with the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations. He accepted an All America City Award on behalf of the city for its role in dealing with the Aryan Nations. Visitation for Stone will be from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday at Yates Funeral Home, Coeur d'Alene Chapel. Funeral Âˇ services will be 2 p.m. Friday at First Presbyterian Church, 521 Lakeside Ave., Coeur d'Alene.

The Press, Wednesday, June 19, 2013

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C Panel to discuss gay rights ordinance Center, 1765 GoU Course Road. Panelists include Tony Stewart, human rights activist; Mike Kennedy and Dan Gookin, city of COEUR d'ALENE - The Coeur d'Alene council members; Hayden Chamber of Commerce and Dalton Gardens Republican is hosting a panel discussion on Sen. Steve Vick, the chamber the impact local anti-discrimiannounced on its website. nation ordinances will have on "Recently the city of Coeur businesses. d'Alene passed a controversial The topic will be the focus of ordinance aimed at protecting the chamber's monthly member- lesbian, gay, bisexual and transship breakfast meeting at 7 a.m. gender people (LGB1) in areas June 27 at the Kroc Community of employment and public accom-

Hayden chamber event is June 27 at Kroc Center

modations, such as restaurants and housing, by preventing people from discriminating against them solely based on 'sexual orientation, gender identity and expression,"' the notice stated on the website. "Since there are ongoing efforts to bring similar ordinances to the surrounding communities, there is a potential for this legislation to affect businesses in the Hayden Chamber." Coeur d'Alene is one of six Idaho cities who have passed

an anti-discrimination ordinance. Sandpoint was the first. Recently, the Idaho GOP Central Conunittee crafted a new resolution in response to the municipalities actions calling on the Legislature to overturn their ordinances. The breakfast meeting is informational only. RSVP to info@haydenchamber.org or call the Hayden chamber at 762-1185. Breakfast costs $12, or coffee service is $5.

EDITORIAL

Idaho GOP running roughshod over voters Action: Tired of waiting for the

Legislature to act, six Idaho cities have passed ordinances that proluoit discrimination (lgainst citizens in housing, hiring and public accommodations based on sexual orientation. Reactlon:'Idaho Republican Party leaders have called on the Legislature to void those ordinances and prevent other municipalities from passing similar ones. Action: Last fall, Idaho voters - via three referendums - successfully overturned education-related laws adopted by the Legislature. Reaction: The Legislature passed a law making it more difficult - some say impossible - to gather enough signatures to place an initiative or referendum on the ballot. Then lawmakers ignored the will of the voters and passed some o~ the education items anyway. That's life in Idaho, where about four out of five lawmakers are Republican, the right to petition the government is trampled and local rule is overruled. The passage of the human rights ordinance in Coeur d'Alene and the prospect of one in Idaho Falls seem to have panicked the party, which passed a resolution last week that would prohibit any expansion of state anti-discrimination laws. That's a heavy-handed move, because the kinds of ordinances passed by the cities have failed to even gain a hearing at the legislative level. The attitude appears to be: ''Why debate, when we can dictate?" The rationales offered for heading off local anti-discrimination ordinances were cartoonish, and inaccurate.

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Comel Rasor, chairman of the Idaho GOP's resolutions committee, said, ''I'd hire a gay guy ifl thought he was a good worker. But if he comes into work in a tutu ... he's not producing what I want in my office." Good grief. That is an actual concern from a former Bonner County commissioner. The ordinances bar the firing of workers for simply being gay. It's still safe to impose a dress code or to fire unproductive workers. But rather than listen and learn, party bosses want to shut down the discussion. That's not surprising from a group that raised the bar on what it truces for citizens to petition their government Before the change, initiative and referenda sponsors needed to get at least 6 percent of registered voters to sign up. Now, they need 6 percent in 18 of the 35 legislative districts. This geographic requirement means sponsors must fan out all over the state, which is a far more expensive and arduous task. Veteran signature gatherers say it could be the death knell for ballot issues, with the minimum-wage measure being the last gasp. Even under the old rules, only four out of 54 attempts have made it to the ballot since 2000. The change comes after voters rebuked the Legislature for its unpopular education reforms passed in last year's session. Legislative leaders deny this, saying they did it at the behest of the Farm Bureau, which fears ballot measures from animal rights activists. Even if that's the case, it's going too far to amend the initiative and referendum process for one special interest. But with one-party rule, such power trips are possible. And they will continue unless voters re-establish their role as the real bosses.

T he Press, Wednesday, June 26, 2013

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in collaboration with the Kootenai County from Task Force on Human Relations. The book will Devi Fournier, of be available for sale at the Coeur d'Alene, has institute, as well as onUne penned a children's book and at area bookstores, that features one of those such as Hastings. enlightening space visiIntended for elemenSales to support tors. tary-age readers, the Fournier will launch book tells the story of anti-bullying the sales of the book, Penelope, a young girl program in Cd'A "Peace Polly from Pluto," from Earth who befriends on Wednesday, from a child from another Little green men. City5:30 to 8 p.m. at the world. Penelope soon destroying Human Rights Education learns that there are monsters. Institute. many unique things about Ominous She will be on band to her new friend, Polly, but humanoids sign books ana discuss it is within her highly • with ill intent. her inspiration and writunusual teeth - which That's the ing process. are actually mir rored dark side of Proceeds from sales where Penelope finds the ~pace visita- Fournier most meaningful lessons of the book will benefit tion often poran anti-bullying program of all. trayed in books and film, at the Human Rights The book was illusbut extraterrestrial contact Education Institute, trated by Ryan Hamm, a needn't always be violent and scary. Sometimes alien encounters can bring us earthlings a positive message that really needs to be heard.

Kids book PEACE C1 promotes peace

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student just finishing the eighth grade at Lakes Magnet Middle School in Coeur d'Alene. Tony Stewart, retired political science professor from North Idaho College, recommended the book, calling it "a powerful story to promote understanding, kindness and peace in a world in great need of civility." A former journalist, Fournier was also the founder and co-pubUsher of Exceed Magazine for teens in Salt Lake City. She is the author of the novel 'Toe Gift Exchange;" the creator and designer of the Love & Peace Notes accessory line; and a member of the Coeur d'Alene School District's Anti-Bullying Task Force. Hamm has received numerous art awards, including Best of Show for three consecutive years in the Idaho State Duck Stamp Competition, • first place in the middleschool category Hayden Library Teen Film Festival and first place in the Panhandle A4tism Society Walk-a-thon T-shirt design. Hamm will attend Lake City High ;, School as a freshman in the fall. The Human Rights Education institute is located at 414 W. Mullan Road in Coeur d'Alene. ·at the eastern edge of City Park.

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Wednesday June 26, 2013

Censure falls flat Committee passes natural rights resolution By JEFF SELLE

Staff writer COEUR d'ALENE - It turns out the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee doesn't have the authority to censure four North Idaho legislators for voling against their wishes. "Sorry l don't have room for discussion on this." said Chairman Neil Oliver. "I fu1d the motion is out of order." 111e central committee spent about an hour Tuesday night wrangling over whether or not to censure four North Idaho legislators for creating a state health-care exchange, only to be stopped dead in its tracks when Committeeman Luke Sommer, an expert in parliamentary procedure, pointed out that the committee could not censure anyone outside the committee itself. "If we can censure someone outside this

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body we could censure the president of the United States,'' he said, adding there is nothing in the committee's bylaws or Robert's Rules of Order that would allow the move. Committeewoman Tina Jacobson passionately put forward the resolution to cens ure Rep. Frank Henderson, Rep. Luke Malek. Sen. John Goedde and Rep. Ed Morse. After that a lively debate ensued on issues ranging from those who were concerned about the message it sent to voters to those who felt the legislators should have an opportunity to speak before a,fmal vote was taken. Prior to the decision to drop the resolution, Committeeman Jim Pierce said that the people of Kootenai Counfy elected these legislators to th eir position, not the party. "1l1ey are accountable to the people - not the party," he said. "If we pass a cens ure, we are sending a message that the party is in charge." Committeewoman Kellie Palm was also concerned with th e party's image. She said passing the censure would make lhe par ty look "foolish" to the people who truly did their research and understand why the four

legislators voted the way they did. Party image was also a concern when Bjorn Handeen proposed a resolution to assert the Natural Rig hts of Contracts and to call on the city of Coeur d'Alene to repeal its anti-discrimination ordinance. He said the resolution was not about gay rights, but rather the freedom for any two parties to willingly enter into a contract or do business with one another. The anti-discrimination ordinance as passed by the city, he said, uses the law to force citizens to do business with someone they might not otherwise choose to do business with. 'We don't want to reject gays,'' Handeen said. "We want to protect their right to do business with whoever they want." Committeeman Duane Rasmussen said he was in favor of the intent of the resolution, but he felt the way it was written would make the committee look "goofy." 'This natural rights stuff is going to make us a laug hing stock. U not in the public's eyes, it will in the eyes of the legal community," he said. After a lengthy debate and few parliamentary maneuvers to amend the language the resolution passed on nearly a split vote. After the meeting,

Henderson said he had hoped to address the centTal committee before the cens ure issue was dropped. "I wish.we would have had our clay in court," he said. "But they would not allow it, so we have to respect that." Morse said his vote for the state-based healthcare exchange was in the best inte rest of all his constituents. ''The issue of whether or not they had the power to do it sidesteps the issue of whether or not it was a good decision to be made to try to cens ure essentia!Jy half their delegation," Morse said. Malek was prepared to address the committee as well. He prepared a statement that called on the committee to reject the cens ure, and chastised the local party for taking a position on the healthcare exchange that went against local control. "I want to be clear,'' he wrote. "I think the resolution from this body asking Republican legislators to adopt a federal exchange betrayed every value voters who have entrusted Republicans with the power here in Kootenai County hold dear. 'That action wounded this party's credibility in the eyes of those who value smaller government.'' Senator Goedde did not attend the meeting.

The Press, Friday, J une 28, 2013

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C Hayden chamber talks anti-discrimination It is unlmown if City Council will address possible ordinance By TOM HASSLINGER Staff writer COEUR d' ALENE -

Panelists representing both sides of an anti-discrimination ordinance geared at protect-

ing homosexuals discussed why they support or oppose the ordinance Thursday at the Kroc Center during the Hayden Chamber of Commerce's membership breakfast. Whether the Hayden City Council ever takes up the ordinance remains to be seen nobody is proposing to pitch it that way yet - but supporters said an ordinance wouldn't harm

local businesses ii "It really s hould be at it did. the national level," said Dan They also said Gookin, Coeur d'Alene City cities are doing U1e Councilman who voted in favor right thing by takof an anti-discrimination ordiing on the measure nance when Coeur d'Alene because protecting . adopted its version June 4. 'The gay, lesbian, bisexu- Gookin purpose of our government is to al and transgender protect our rights ... It's the No. people from discrimination is an 1 thing." issue Congress should address, but hasn't. see HAYDEN, C10

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Joining Gookin on the panel was fellow councilman Mike Kennedy, who is often on ilie opposite side of the political spectrum from Gook.in, but who also voted in favor of the ordinance for Coeur d'Alene. Tony Stewart, the Human Rights Task Force on Human Relations member joined the councilmen, along with Sen. Steve Vick, the Dalton Gardens Republican who sees the rule as an infringement on religious liberty and free speech, as well as an action of an overbearing government. Vick said - as opponents did when Coeur d'Alene was 1 1 ::;a ' ;;: considering the law -that the rule will do the opposite of what it's '!"" ,. .._ reportedly supposed to do. It will discriminate against those with religious beliefs, especially in the business world, by forcing them to go against their conscience for the benefit of a select few. That runs counter to religious freedom, he said. '1t's not my intent to discriminate against any group," Vick said. "My concern is religious liberty is going to get pushed out."

So far six Idaho cities • have adopted anti-discrimination ordinances. Coeur d'Alene's version is aimed · at protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGB1) in areas of employment and public accommodations, such as restaurants, and housing by preventing people from discriminating against them solely based on \. "sexual orientation, gen• · der identity and expression." ', Stewart called Coeur d'Alene's vote "the right side of history." Kennedy echoed Gookin and I Kenn';;Jy Stewart's . stance that 1t f extended rights to people who otherwise don't have , them. They said a rule wouldn't hamper local business, either. Greg Jesberger, of Jan Jesberger Insurance on Government Way in Hayden, said after the meeting their business supports anti-discrimination. We're "certainly opposed to any type of discrimination in the work place or anywhere else," he said. "We supported that resolution." But the breakfast topic

was for discussion purposes only; the issue isn't on the docket for the Hayden City Council. Council members Roger Saterfiel and Tim Timmins said the topic isn't on the governing body's radar. Saterfiel Saterfiel attended the breakfast but Timmins didn't, and neither would predict which way the city would vote if it got that far. '1 would vote as my constituents would want me to vote," Saterfiel said, adding he didn't know which way that would be yet. "At this point, I have no idea." The morning topic came one day after the Supreme Court overturned the Defense of Marriage Act, declaring it unconstitutional. The Supreme Court's decision struck down a federal law that denied federal benefits to gay couples married under state laws. Supporters like Gookin pointed to the federal government's involvement in same sex issues as an indication that it's only a matter of time before the feds take up the antidiscrimination protec;tion as well. "It will be national, it's headed that way," Gookin said. "It's a matter of time, and that time is coming soon." Yet right now, controversy has followed the topic, locally and statewide.

Recently, Idaho's Republican Party passed a resolution at the GO P's annual Central Committee summer meeting in McCall that urges the Idaho Legislature to put a stop to local communities' efforts to provide discrimination protections for the LGBT community. And on Tuesday, the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee passed a resolution calling for Coeur d'Alene to repeal its ordinance. Gookin had some words for the precinct , committee members voting to take such an action when asked about it after the panel discussion. 'They have no business stepping on our toes telling us to repeal an ordinance, it's way out of line," he said, calling the action a sign of "dysfunction. They have no political power whatsoever, but for some reason they think they do." A Republican, Gookin said his support of the ordinance surprised a good portion of his base, but he didn't fret any political push back. As for the KCRCC, "they somehow think they're more important than they are," he said.

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With momentum clearly on the side of gay rights, some longtime opponents are scrambling to get on the right side of history. They were never for discrimination. No sir. They simply wanted to preserve marriage for one man and one woman. This revisionist position is embodied in statements like this, from U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who said in April: "I do believe this could be solved greatly by a civil union law that would give gay people the same rights as married people. I think we can solve this problem without undermining the very basis of marital law in our country." Note how he draws the line at traditional marriage while positioning himself as proponent of equality. As the polls have swung in favor ofgay marriage and legal rulings have torn discriminatory laws asunder, this is becoming the position of many conservatives: Give them civil unions, and call it even. That might be persuasive in states that haven't been through the gay marriage wars, but it falls flat in Washington state. Before gay marriage became legal, we had the "everything but marriage" battle, which featured conservatives opposing a measure that would wipe out all discrimination based on sexual orientation. Marriage was omitted, but opposition was fierce. Before that, the Legislature passed a law that prohibited discrimination in housing, hiring and public Âˇ accommodations after three decades of futility. Marriage wasn't in the bill, but it was still difficult to pass. To refresh your

GARY CROOKS

memory about those arguments, head over to Coeur d'Alene, where the city just adopted a similar anti-discrimination ordinance after a bruising battle. Before that, municipalities passed ordinances that extended employee benefits to same-sex couples. Gl_less who opposed those? Many of the same people who now claim to be pro-traditional marriage but anti-discrimination. In a 2004 op-ed, Mitt Romney wrote (italics mine): ''Because of marriage's pivotal role, nations and states have chosen to provide unique benefits and incentives to those who choose to be married. These benefits are not given to single citizens, groups of friends, or couples of the same sex. That benefits are given to married couples and not to singles or gay couples has nothing to do with discrimination; i.t has everything to do with building a stable new generation and nation." You see, it's not discrimination; just an affirmative action programfor traditional marriage. Let's be honest: Many conservatives see these anti-discrimination measures as falling dominoes that lead to gay marriage. But let's not forget that they're willing to support discrimination, if that's what it takes. If you doubt this, keep an eye on Idaho, where Republican Party leaders have called on the Legislature to void the human rights

ordinances passed by cities. It's only when the battle is hopeless that the olive branch of equal rights except for marriage - is extended. SWEET AND SOUR. Mother Jones blogger Kevin Drum has a distressing item on the priorities of the nation when it comes to government-backed loans. The interest rates for student Joans will double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on Monday, because Congress and the president were unable to reach an agreement Meanwhile, the interest rate on Joans to sugar processors topped out atl250 percent last year. It's part of a sweet deal to protect the U.S. industry from competition. A total of three companies scooped up half the loan money, according to the Wall Street Journal, and if theyÂˇcan't meet the obligation, they can pay the government back in sugar. When students fail to pay up, the government turns sour, garnishing paychecks, intercepting tax refunds and tapping federal benefits. It will be easier for failed developer Marshall Chesrown to discharge his $72 million in debt through bankruptcy. Students can always console themselves with sweets, though the prices are higher than they ought to be, thanks to perverse, protectionist priorities.

Associate Editor Gary Crooks can be reached at garyc@spokesman.com or (509) 459-5026. Follow him on Twitter @GaryCrooks.

The Press

Friday, July 5, 2013

CPD to offer free movies in the park The outdoor movie season has officially begun. Three films are scheduled to show in the band shell area of the Coeur d'Alene City Park this summer, beginning Saturday with "Hotel Transylvania" at 8 p.m. or twilighl The first ''Free Outdoor Movie Night" is hosted by the Coeur d'Alene Police Depar tment, which said it is pleased to be a par t of the summer experience and free family events in the City Park. A bike safety presentation by the City Bike/Pedestrian Committee will be held at 7:30p.m. Families are encouraged to bring blankets,

chairs, picnic baskets and then sit back and enjoy the movie. The Panhandle Kiwanis will provide free Longo popcorn for the event. Police officers will be in attendance, meeting and greeting children. "We are excited lo host the summer movie nights in the City Park for families to enjoy together," said Police Chief Wayne Longo. "Brave" is scheduled for July 27. Officer Tom Sparks will present a short character education

lesson prior to the start of the film. 1l1e Bike/Pedestrian Committee will also do a short presentation on bike safety. The final movie of the summer, "Glee the Concert Movie." is scheduled for Aug. 24 and is spon- . sored by the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations. KCTFHR will provide a short message on the supp,ort for diversity and human rights for all prior to the start of the movie. Teens are encouraged to come and da11ce and sing along with the movie. CPD said it is looking for ward to a great summer movie season.

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Ex-Aryan's book chronicles fall and his rise Former Butler protege apologizes to communities By TONY LYSTRA Longview Daily News

LONGVIEW, Wash . - Longview's most notorious Nazi says he's sorry. In December 2007, Zach Beck, a young, wellconnected member of the Aryan Nations, org anized a white supremacist rally at Longview's McClelland Arts Center. The rally attracted only about 30 sympathizers. But more than 400 Longview residents marched in a counterdemonstration to support the cause of local diversity. A swarm of TV news crews descended on Longview. Beck didn't show up for the rally, and his moment in the local

public eye came to an unceremonious end. But this year, Beck, who is serving a 51-month sentence at a federal prison in Arizona, self-published a book disavowing the neo Nazi movement and also publicly apologizing to the communities he victimized. "My behavior was childish, immature and lacking intelligence:Âˇ Beck wrote in one of many letters to The Daily News this year. "I truly want to apologize for the image of hate I broug ht upon the residents of Cowlitz County." Beck said he realized bis beliefs were "rooted in fear" and that he needed to "evolve." He began writing the book just after his June 2011 conviction for violating the civil rig hts of a black man he attacked with two

JASON HUNT/Press file

Zach Beck, right, stands alongside Richard Butler, founder of the Aryan Nations, during the Aryan Nations' world congress held in June 2003 at Farragut State Park.

other men in a Vancouver sports bar. "I wanted to explain how a young kid whose first concer t was the Grateful Dead, (who) wore tie-dye T-shir ts and worshipped Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix could fall prey to a world of hate and violence," Beck told the newspaper. "But more than that, (I wanted to show) why I was able to overcome such an igno-

rant, primitive ... instinct such as racism." 'Angry with God'

'Ibe book, called "Hate Behind Blue Eyes, Memoirs of an American Nazi," rambles for long stretches and includes entire chapters on neo Nazi dogma. But it also offers a glimpse inside Lhe movement and illustrates Lhe events that led

up to the 2007 Longview hate rally. What changed Beck's mind about the white supremacist movement? Beck wrote in his book that be had practiced a sort of religious faith throug h the Nazi movement and was taught to pray while making the Nazi salute. During one of his many stays in jail, be see BOOK, A4

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was struck by the futility of praying in such a way. "I became very angry with God ," Beck writes. "How could he let me fall prey to hate and why would he allow me to waste so much time, energy, blood, sweat and ... freedom for nothing?!" Beck said that getting away .from his mentor, Richard G. Butler, the Aryan Nations founder who died in 2004, also was key. 'Traveling opened my eyes to the truth," Beck wrote. "Getting out of there (Butler's Nazi compound in Idaho where Beck bad, perhaps, bee n most intensely indoctrinated) and meeting new people, going to different places, coming across old pleasures - music, girls, friends and experiences - made me experience life for all that it is and not aU that it can't be. The love I have for life is stronger than any sort of manufactured hate I've ever experienced." Beck declined to say how many copies of the book he has sold. But he said his public disavowal of the white supremacist movement prompted pris011 officials to house him in a secure unit for his own protection. "I had to be moved to a 'gang dropout' yard ," Beck wrote in his correspondence witl, a reporter. 'The Aryan Brotherhood has me

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kill on sight," he wrote in one Jetter. "Oddly enough, I felt a sense of accomplishment with tl,at. lt meant my book's message is a viable threat to white supremacy." Th~re's little question tI,at Beck, now 33, caused notI,ing but trouble in Cowlitz County during his time here. Beck told tl,e newspaper tI,at Butler dispatched him to Longview where he and a small group of local Nazis ran a campaign of thuggery, including spray-painting Swastikas and beating up local residents. ln May 2004, Beck shot at a police officer who came to arrest him after he broke into a Kelso woman's home and attacked her. Beck, who later said he was drunk at the time, was sentenced to 33 montl,s in prison. Beck also was convicted of cocaine possession in Cowlitz County. Local law enforcement agencies spent about $14,000 in overtime to monitor the 2007 diversity march and Nazi rally. In 2008, Beck hacked ilie law library computer in the Cowlitz County JaiJ and was caught surfing porn and white supremacist websites. "Washington doesn't want me to come back, and I feel the same," Beck wrote in a Jan. 16 letter to the Cowlitz County Superior Court about his fines. Cowlitz County . Commissioner Dennis Webe r, who was

Longview's mayor at the time of Beck's Nazi rally, said in an emaiJ last week that Beck wrote to apologize about 18 montl,s after the 2007 event. "I did forgive him," Weber wrote. "Interesting, though, that now he is trying to profit from his experience by writing a book. I don't feel obligated to go out and buy it.'' Mark Bergeson, a nowretired Lower Columbia College professor who organized a 400-person diversity march to counter Beck's hate rally, said he was surprised Beck had quit tl,e white supremacist movement. "Seriously?" Bergeson said on hearing the news. "If he is really doing that, that takes courage .... I'm moved by that. I think people can change." Bergeson last heard from Beck in February 2009, when Beck sent him a letter from prison in Walla Walla. "Mark - your (sic) an idiot!" the letter begins. "You discriminate and your (sic) stupid along with the rest of your closd (sic) minded haters." After making several offensive comments about people of mixed race, Beck signed off the letter thus: "You promote the work of tl,e devil. White power!" Bergeson said he sought the advice of local law enforcement to ensure his own safety. '1t threw a scJre intn me," he said of the letter, adding,

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"I think it would be a great thing if Zach Beck became humanized." The grooming of a supremacist

Beck said he was born in 1979 in Northern California and spent much of his childhood in Arizona. He wrote in his book that he had trouble fitting in, was ruthlessly bullied by other kids and was even sexually molested by "some neighborhood kids." He said he started drinking at 14. He spent his teenage years bouncing around California, inpulging in its Bohemian culture. "I grew my hair out, wore tie-dye clothing, hemp necklaces and started smoking marijuana," he writes. "My first concert was the Grateful Dead. I loved it. It was a great show even without the mushrooms and cocaine." "Ironically," Beck wrote, he lost his virginity to a black girl in his early teens. "I enjoyed having friends that were different from me. Different races, different cultures, different languages." That changed shortly after Beck was busted with marijuana, in violation of his probation, and sent to prison for a year at age 19. During his first day in a minimumsecurity state prison in Fort Grant, Ariz., Beck said about a half-dozen white supremacist gang members welcomed him into their fold and laid out a series of rules.

"In prison in Arizona, it doesn't matter where you grew up or if you were adopted by people of a different race," Beck said. "When you 'hit' (enter) the yard, you go to your color, period!" The Nazis explained that white inmates such as Beck cannot "sit on another race's bed, go into another race's 'house' (livi.Ig space), eat, drink, sm<1{e, play games, cards, sports or do business, buy or sell anything to other races beyond an introduction." In addition, the men told him, "If you're told to 'boot up,' it means we're going to war: find something sharp and wait in this area until told to move." Beck was then handed a copy of "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich," a classic history by William L. Shirer that chronicles ~azi Germany from 1932 to 1945. "I was too scared to speak," he recalled. As the weeks wore on, Beck was tasked with selling and holding drugs, keeping lookout for guards, passing messages or beating up "some poor kid for listening to rap music or something equally trivial." As a reward, he was covered in neo Nazi tattoos. Beck wrote that he began reading propaganda published by the Aryan Nations. He already was living in a violent, racially segregated environment, so what he read started to make sense. All of this dogma was supposedly validated by the Bible, Beck wrote.

He found a new religious conviction through the hate groups and kept reading Aryan Nations literature, saying "The more I read into it, the more powerful I felt." Beck was released Feb.15, 2000, the day after' his 21st birthday. In 2003, be went to live in Butler's home in Hayden, Idaho, becoming bodyguard, assistant and pupil of the

movement's notorious leader. "Busts of Hitler and Jesus adorned the small living room," according to Beck. 'There were about four Bibles on the coffee table and a library that looked to contain every piece of literature ever written since the dinosaurs walked the earth." There were two German Shepherds named "Hauns" and "Frits." Butler's home "became a Nazi fraternity house. There was even a Nazi radio show broadcast from his living room," Beck writes. "I wasn't used to this kind of exposure.... It's the attention that became addicting." The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, still has a file on Beck, said Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Montgomery, Ala., qrganization and editor of its magazine, "Intelligence Report." "We never took Zach Beck as any important leader. He's a bit of a street thug," Potok said. "He made a spectacle of himself, living with Richard Butler ... basically being a loudmouth jerk." Yet, Potok said, it's important to watch individuals like Beck because they might be domestic terrorism threats. Potok, for example, cited Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and Kevin William Harpham of Colville, Wash., a white supremacist who planted an explosives- and shrapnel-laden backpack at a 2011 Martin Luther King Day parade in Spokane. The bomb didn't detonate, and Harpham was sentenced to 32 years in prison.

'The world that Zach Beck moved in is a world where individuals are willing to murder and even carry out mass attacks," Potok said. So can Beck be taken seriously when he says he's done with the neo Nazi movement? "I take Zach Beck at his word," Potok said. "He certainly seems sincere and he's not the only one who has made a move like this.... I know of many cases like this where a young kid ended up in prison and very quickly was pushed into racist activities." A run for elective office Beck says he eventually became Butler's second in command and protege.

Butler fed him a steady stream of supremacist literature, including 'The Turner Diaries," an antigoveÂˇrnment novel found in the car of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. "At the time, it felt good to be a part of something I considered noble," Beck writes. "Living with Butler at the headquarters of one of the most popular white supremacist organizations in the world exposed me to a lot of influential people within the white power movement."

He and other white supremacists ran for City Council in 2003 in Hayden, Idaho, at the same time Butler ran for mayor, prompting a flurry of press coverage about the Aryan Nations' attempt to co-op Hayden's government. They all lost, and Beck spent election day in jail after he was accused of walking up to a Latino man and punching him in the face, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. ln his book, Beck denies the allegation. After the election, Beck moved to Longview. He told The Daily News this month that Butler made him the bodyguard for a wealthy Longview woman who had been "financing a large part of the Aryan Nations' activities." Beck said he ended up marrying the woman, who is 20 years his senior. She gave him a credit card and a new truck and took him on lavish vacations. The perks created tension with other skinheads, who Beck said Âˇbecame jealous. Beck and the woman now are divorced. Beck doesn't mention Longview by name in the book. He told the newspaper he didn't want to-further embarrass residents here. Still, he writes in his book that his goal in southwest Washington was to further the white power movement by recruiting new local Nazis.

Northwest "White supremacy is exhausting work, but I was eager to start this project I needed reinforcements," he wrote. "Once I started to accumulate a following, we started to have weekly meetings about how to expand while targeting our youth while they're still young and easily influenced." The young Nazis made a game of committing crimes in order to get news coverage. "I know it

sounds crazy, but this is how we bonded and grew stronger as a family," Beck wrote. Beck and his Longview Nazis also spent their days shaving each other's heads, giving each other Nazi tattoos, sleeping with as many "skinhead chicks as possible to keep our race alive,"Âˇ and sending young, new Nazis on "missions" to beat someone up and earn red laces to thread through their combat boots - indicating that they had spilled blood for the movement. In late 2007, Beck rented the McClelland Arts Center, calling his

The Press

planned event a religious gathering to "recruit other neo Nazis." About 30 skinheads showed up for the three-hour rally, which included several Aryan Nations speakers, a reading of poetry about Viking mythology, and the playing of punk music, the distribution of Nazi literature and the screening of a 9/11 conspiracy video. Beck didn't show. In an email this month, he told a reporter that had he attended, he would have been arrested for a probation violation related to alleged cocaine possession. After all the trouble,

Monday, July 8, 2013

Bergeson, the organizer of the diversity march to counter that neo Nazi rally, said of Beck, "I don't think he caused any damage at all. There were so few people that turned out." "I think people made a very powerful statement that we won't tolerate this. This isn't who we are," Bergeson said . "Longview gets kind of scoffed at for being a mill town, for being kind of dumb. But there's a lot of wonderful people here. (Beck) put something in motion that was very positive fo r the dommunity, for who we are."

The Press, Sunday, July 14, 2013

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By GEORGE KINGSON Staff writer Local kids' advocate D vi Fournier has just published her first children's book, "Peace Polly from Pluto." The 50-year old author is a woman with a social platform that, she said, can be summed up in a single word: Kindness. Following is an interview with Fournier in which she shares her view on kids, culture and kindnes .

•••

Where did the plot for "Peace Polly from Pluto" come from?

I was inspired by my daughter when she asked me one day what people were like on Pluto. I told her I was pretty sure that they're like us humans in that they want to be happy, suffer as little as possible and like it when others are kind to them. So that was the foundation. How did it grow into a book?

Well, I kept thinking about the stor y. I asked myself what it would be like if everybody on Pluto was kind and from that I came up with the concept of their having mirrored teeth. I thought that in that way they could see their own reflections, which would keep them from saying and doing unkind things to each other. Unkind people don't usually see themselves. They don't have the opportunity to see what they look like when they're being unkind.

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Many people tell their children stories, but few become published writers. What made you different?

I did it first just for my kids. But then I had teachers and other people who encouraged me to publish. So I self-published because I wanted to have total control over it. It's recently been selected as material to use as par t of the fifth-grade human rights celebration in the Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene School Districts the week leading into Martin Luther King Day. What age do you expect your readers to be7

There is no minimum age - as soon as children are able to conceptualize and someone can read to them. Actually, there's definitely no age at all. Everybody can benefit from Polly's message. As a member of the Coeur d'Alene School District's AntiBullying Task Force, have you yourself ever been bullied?

I was bullied in high school and threatened many times when I was

GABE GREEN/Press

Devi Fournier, auth~r of the new children's book "Peace Polly from Pluto," will be donating all proceeds to an anti-bullying program at the Human Rights Education Institute in collaboration with the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations. 1(!1 I

Devi Fournier Education: Utah State University,

Journalism

Favorite Book: Garth Stein's 'The

Art of Racing in the Rain"

Favorite Sports Team: San Family: Husband, Jeff. and children, Brea, 13,and Landen, 11 Francisco 49ers Hobbies: Writing, dancing (flaFavorite music: Flamenco Quality you admire most in a menco especially), skiing, traveling and yoga person: Kindness

a sophomore. It was done by girls who were older than me. Bul I actually stood up lo them and told them to knock it off. They were stunned l wouldn't back down. But then it

stopped and I wasn't hiding from them anymore. I was lucky because I had really good friends and a good support group. see FOURNIER, C2

Lifestyles

"In a~I my work, in everything I do, H's about connection - the human connectionÂˇ. We're all interconnected and can't live without each other. Âˇ .We're all striving-for the same thing, but we spend so much of our time debating our differences."

FOURNIER

from C1

Where does social media fit into this?

Clearly you've got some strong feelings about bullying.

There have to be better ways to cope with anger and pain. This is probably the toughest - the cyber bullying. It's vast and it's immediate and it's exponentially damaging. They (kids) are doing stuff before they even think about it. They're unaware how long-lasting it can be. Texting, for example, is so immediate and it comes across without any regard for what's happening on the other side of that phone. Adults have to be more involved with what's happening to their kids when it comes to texts and things like Face book.

As adults we have to be more mindful of those (bullying) situations - just be aware of how a child is reacting. If they're withd.rawn, ask them about it and let them know that you care. Something that's important to know about bullying is that the bullies themselves are the ones in very deep pain. They're unhappy people who want to hurt others. But it's also important for people not be victimized - not to live the same pain over and over. You need to be true to yourself and if you're happy with your intentions and motivations, you can move forward. When y.ou move forward, you can hopefully benefit others.

Does your previous book, a novel titled, 'The Gift Exchange,' express the same passion you were just talking about? In all my work, in everything I do, it's about connection - the human connection. We're all interconnected and can't live without each other. We're all striving for the same thing, but we spend so much of our time debating our differences. My book's been doing today? great. It does better I wanted to be a outside .this community, human interest reporter though. Readers really back then. I left (the stahave to have an open tion) when I realized I mind because I kind of didn't like telling the bad take you on a spiritually stories - the stories that deep journey in it. didn't feel good in my heart. I wanted to tell the ones that enhanced peoAs a community ples' lives and brought activist -in terms of some type of meaningful the work you've done message. on the Task Force and After I left there, I your involvement with went to publishing the Human Rights company and produced Education Inst itute a magazine for teens. what do you hope to It was called Exceed accomplish 7 Âˇ Magazine and it was We need to reach par- used in the schools. I ents, employers, comwas very passionate munity leaders so they about how we told the can be mindful of what stories - with redempthey're putting out For tion and meaning. instance, are they saying We didn't glamorize negative things toward celebrities who did nothyoung, impressionable ing to benefit others. minds? I'm passionate about kids - school age kids. You can make a huge impact on them - a lifelong impact. I'm very supportive of human rights and making sure all people are treated with kindness and compassion.

Early in your career when you were an onair television reporter in Salt Lake City, were you able to be as involved in your community as your are

How do you think others see you7 I'm sure people think I'm some kind of Pollyana and I'm definitely not that. I've experienced a lot of pain in my life and I've experienced great things as well. Without pain, we don't know what happy feels like. I can't stay stuck I have to keep moving for ward. So, what's next for Devi Fournier? I'm finishing the sequel to the novel I wrote and I'm also hoping to create a costume for Peace Polly that can be worn touring schools. I'm continuing to dance and to travel and I definitely enjoy motivational speaking. Any big dreams for the future? My greatest ambition is to promote peace in all situations. I think there's always an opportunity to choose between being kind or unkind and whether to do something right or wrong. It's pretty simple, really. I'm not asking for big things - it's the little things that add up. If there's a little moment of oppor tunity to be kind on a very minuscule 'level, it can really impact someone's day.

The Press, Thursday, J uly 25, 2013

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C Speakers to explore human rights history Kootenai County Democratic Club offers series in August COEUR d'ALENE - The history and impact of human rights advocacy in the region will be the subject of a five-part weekly speaker series hosted in August by the Kootenai County Democratic Club.

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"The Story of Human Rights in the Pacific Northwest: A Look Back at the Past Three Decades" is being coordinated by local human rights leader Tony Stewart at the request of the Democratic Club. 'The goal of the series is to tell the three-decade story of how the region's many human rights groups through their

leaders and supporters successfully defeated the purveyors of hate with the establishment of successful community models advancing human rights," Stewart said. 'These models have been adopted by communities across America to promote human rights and counter bigotry." The series will feature speakers and panelists who have

observed, reported on or directly participated in the enactment of civil rights laws, creation of regional human rights organizations, and the various communities' responses and support for the activities of the human rights groups. The discussions will focus on three main areas:

see HISTORY, CS

The Press

Thursday, July 25, 2013

The program will take place each Friday at noon, Aug. 2 through Aug. 30, at the Iron Horse, 407 E. Sherman Ave., Coeur d'Alene. The public is welcome and encouraged by the group to attend.

Idaho

the Benewah Human Rights Coalition; Joann from Muneta, co-founder of the Latah County Human First, the establishRights Task Force; and ment and growth, startChristie Wood, president ing in the early 1980s, of Aug. 9 of the Kootenai County 'human rights groups and Keynote Speaker: Bill Aug. 16 Task Force on Human their work to counter the Mortin, longtime reporter Panelists: Marshall Relations. Schedule of emergence of hate groups for The Spokesman Mend and Tony Stewart, Topic: 'The Merits speakers and in the region. Review and presently a founding board members of County Human Second, the rise and topics researcher and writer for in 1981 of the Kootenai Rights Task Forces in fall of hate groups in the Aug. 2 The Southern Poverty County Task Force on Promoting Diversity and region over the past 30 Law Center, has often Panelists: Mike Human Relations and Human Rights in Their years. Patrick, manager editor of been described as the KCfFHR attorney Norm Communities: What Do Third, the recognition The Coeur d'Alene Press; most knowledgeable Gissel wiIJ share four They Do?" of the many successes Maureen Dolan, longtime journalist in America inspiring events from the Aug. 30 and triumphs for the journalist with The Coeur regarding hate groups, 32-year history of the Keynote Speaker: region's human rights their leadership and the Norm Gissel, civil rights d'Alene Press; and Jeff movement. organizations in public Selle, a seasoned reporter methods used by human Topic: "Lessons attorney and one of the policies, educational pro- with The Coeur d'Alene rights groups to counter Learned from attorneys in the civil court grams, events, activities Press. Communities' Responses case 'The Keenans v the threat. and the national recogniTopic: 'The Role of the Topic: 'The Historical to Hate" Aryan Nations" in 2000. tions and honors that Media in Covering this Perspective on Hate Aug. 23 Topic: 'The Story of have come from these Human Rights Story Over Groups in America and Panelists: Gretchen How the "All-American successes. the Past Three Decades." the Success of Human Hellar, co-founder of City" Coeur d'Alene "I hope the series will Note: Tony Stewart's Rights Groups in the Bonner County became a National Icon be of interest to both new Human Rights Collection Countering the Hate" Human Rights Task and Model for Human residents and our youth Note: Toe Spokesman Force and former mayor Rights,, at the North Idaho who may not know this College Molested Library Review, according to of Sandpoint; Christina Info: www.kootenahistory," Stewart said. has documented that The Stewart's human rights Crawford, president of icountydemocrats.org

HISTORY C1

Coeur d'Alene Press has covered more of these human rights stories in our region than any media outlet in the United States.

collection, holds the record for the greatest number of editorials in support of human rights and opposition to hate groups over this 30-year period.

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THE SPOKESMAN ~REVIEW TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2013

SPARSE CLOUDS A 87 ... 60

WWW.SPOKESMAN.COM

"Her legacy is a wonderful one . ... She lived her life serving ot hers." Tony St ewart, co-founder, Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relat ions

Doctor remembered for service to others MaJ StormoGlpson died In river rafting accident By Becky Kramer beckyk@spokesman.com. (208) 765-7122

A Saturday memorial service will honor of the life of Dr. Maj

StormoGipson, a local pediatrician who made frequent trips to Latin America to help people in need. StormoGipson, 57, died Friday in a rafting accident during a family outing on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. The service is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at the Kroc Center in Coeur d'Alene, 1765 W. Golf Course

Road. StormoGipson became trapped underwater when her inflatable kayak struck a partially submerged tree, according to an account provided by her family. Because the upcoming rapids were expected to be mild, she had chosen to ride solo in the kayak. But a pine tree still smoldering from a forest fire had fallen into the water, blocking about half of the river. Others in the rafting party were able to navigate around the tree, which was located downstream from a blind curve, but StormoGipson saw it too late to alter her course. Efforts to revive her were unsuc-

Courtesy of Mary Slbulsky

Maj StormoGipson frequently volunteered with her husband at medical clinics in Latin America.

cessful. StormoGipson and her husband, Justin StormoGipson, an ophthalmologist, were a force in See STORMOGIPSON, AlO

STORMOGIPSON Continued from Al

social justice issues. They volunteered at medical clinics in Nicaragua, Mexico and Guatemala, helped found a nonprofit called International Eye Institute and were active in local issues. "They were a model couple a team - working on the behalf of dignity of all people," said Tony Stewart, co-founder of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations. In June, Maj StormoGipson testified before the Coeur d'Alene City Council in favor of an ordinance that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. Stewart said she presented national research about the success rates of children raised in households headed by stable, loving same-sex couples. ''Her legacy is a wonderful one," Stewart said of Stormo-

Gipson. "She lived her life serving others." StormoGipson grew up in India, the daughter of Baptist missionaries. She had a knack for setting people at ease and related especially well to children, said Dr. Bruce Abbotts, who worked with her at Valley Young People's Clinic, where StormoGipson was a pediatrician for nearly 16 years. "She was committed to fairness in kids' health," Abbotts said. StormoGipson was fluent in Spanish. She and her husband took as many as three trips a year to provide health care in other countries. "She was a remarkable person, quietly humble, never drawing attention to herself," said Mary Sibulsky, a nurse who was the team coordinator for the international trips. StormoGipson combined tenacity and hard work with a com-

passionate nature that found an outlet in helping others. Colleagues never heard her complain about difficult patients. "She had an amazing spirit for life," said Karen Sines, administrator of North Idaho Eye Institute, who went on mission trips with StormoGipson. "She was always giving." In a 1999 interview with The Spokesman-Review, StormoGipson's husband described how a trip to Nepal when they were college students steered the couple toward medicine. They met an English nurse who had provided health care in a remote area for 25 years. Both entered medical school and later worked in Nicaragua with a Peace Corps-type program through the Presbyterian Church. When they returned to the United States, they chose medical specialties that would take them back to Latin America.

The couple's work in Nicaragua influ.enced their decision 13 years ago to take part in a nonviolent protest at the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Ga. They were arrested. The school trained Latin American soldiers, and hundreds of its graduates were tied to torture, death squads and military dictatorships, accoraing to the Congressional Record. In Nicaragua, health care workers and clinics were frequent targets of the Contras, which were backed by the U.S. military. StormoGipson is survived by her husband and the couple's three children. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the International Eye Institute: 1814 Lincoln Way, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814 or www.eyegive.org. Information from The Spokesman-Review's archives was included in this report.

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Thursday August 1, 2013

Human rights leaders honored moguls, such as former Governor Cecil Andrus and Joe Albertson, who built one of the world's By JEFF SELLE largest supermarket Staff writer chains, Idaho SecGissel retary of State Ben COEUR d'ALENE- The latest Ysursa dedicated the edition of Idaho's Blue Book, a 22nd edition of the Blue Book to go-to resource for anything Idaho, Bill Wassmuth, Tony Stewart and has been dedicated to local leadNorm Gissel. ers of the human rights move"Both of us were on the same ment. page with this," said Pat Herman, In a spot reserved for Idaho who compiles the Blue Book for

Annual Idaho Blue Book dedicated to Wassmuth, Stewart, Gissel

Ysursa. "We had both seen Marcia Franklin's documentary The Color of Conscience."' So when Herman approached Ysursa with the suggestion Stewart that they honor the human rights leaders this year, it was a fairly easy sell. "He is the boss though, so he gets all the credit," she joked. see HONOR, A2.

HONOR

from A1

Herman said she was seeking photographs of the individuals and called the Human Rights Education . Institute, which offered , to put her in touch with \ Gissel and Stewart, but she : wanted it to be a surprise. Âˇ "I called Marcia : Franklin and she put me : in touch with Norm's wife : Diana," she sald. "And she : kept it secret. n Gissel said he was : completely surprised : when heard about it on Âˇ Tuesday. The book was : just released on Monday. : "I was telling my : daughter about it, and : my wife said she's known : about it along," Gissel : said. "I accused her of ; being a master secret : keeper."

Gissel called the dedication a huge honor. "'These are collecting enterprises," he said. "'They go on for years and years." He said he has never even met the Secretary of State. The book is published every two years, and chronicles information about the governments in Idaho, as well as facts on everything from Idaho's state bird to Idaho's state parks. They can be found in any library in the state, and they date back 44 years. They can also be ordered from the Secretary of State's office in Boise. Gissel was honored for being one of the original founders of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, which spoke out against the

Aryan Nations. Gissel also provided legal assistance for victims of harassment. He was instrumental in convincing the Keenan family to pursue a harassment case against the Aryans, and enlisted the help of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which eventually led to the collapse of the Aryan Nations and their Hayden compound. "Culturally there was a lot riding on this case," Gissel said, adding that he was glad they were able to topple the Aryans before friend and fellow honoree Bill Wassmuth passed away in 2002. "He called me about ever y six months to say you gotta win this case," he said. "Then he would call back six months later and say it again." Once they did prevail, Wassmuth joined Gissel

and a handful of other human rights leaders to tour the Aryan compound. "'That was a big moment," he said, adding Wassmuth was in poor health by that time. "We all told him not to, but he climbed the tower out there." It was really an emotional moment for all who attended, Gissel said. Wassmuth's house was bombed by the Aryans in the 1980s. He was not hurt, but that launched hiin into the human rights movement. He was recruited to lead the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, and mobilized a community rally the same week as the Aryan Nations' World Congress was held in Coeur d'Alene. "The rally outdrew the supremacists by 20.to-1, making Mr. Wassmuth

one of our state's heroes," the Blue Book states. Stewart, who was a professor of political science at North Idaho College for 40 years, was also honored in the book. "1 found out Monday and it was very surprising and humbling" Stewart said. "I used to teach from that book in my classes." Stewart was honored for his role in starting a support group that eventually became the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations. He was instrumental in developing the group's public relations strategy. He ran counter rallies to the Aryan rallies year after year, and is well known for his "Lemons to Lemonade" campaign, the Blue Book states. Stewart was one of the strongest voices speaking

out against Richard Butler and the Aryans during a time when they were drawing national media \ attention. He also helped work on the case that eventually bankrupted the Aryans. Stewart also had a talk show on PBS and organized NIC's Popcorn Forums for more than 37 years. Many of those forums and talk shows were focused on human rights. In true fashion, Stewart wants to pay tribute to everyone who was, and still is, involved in the human rights movement in Idaho. 'This dedication really belongs to every person that worked on human rights in North Idaho," he said. "There is no one individual that by themselves couJd have done this."

The Press, Saturday, August 3, 2013

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C Hate groups tough to cover Press staff members share experiences at panel discussion By DAVID COLE Staff writer

Mike Patrick, managing editor of the Coeur d'Alene Press, said he hates Lo be played. That instinct is triggered ~ - - ~ each time a hate group such as the Aryan Nations or,11 ganiz~s and parti~ipates m an event m North Idaho. "I feel a very Patrick strong responsibility to let people know, good and bad, what's happening around you," Patrick said Friday, speaking to more than 40 people at a panel discussion hosted by the Kootenai County Democratic Club al the Iron Horse bar and giill in Coeur d'Alene. One of the toughest parts of his job, he said, is deciding both whether and how to cover the activities of hate giÂˇoups, "especially when we know that they're being perpetrated by people who really only want U1e publicity." While it's a matter of avoiding COEUR d' ALENE -

"He said, ~eff, just something to keep in the back of your head. Richard Butler paid a $75 fine, and he just got a front-page ad across the countrv."' JEFF SELLE, Press reporter, recalling aconversation from years earlier

giving the groups the publicity they crave, il's also important to make sure a local media outlet doesn't overstate the presence of the groups relative to others who call the area home. Kootenai County human rights leader Tony Stewart has organized a series of weekly speakers this month who will address the issue of human rights. For the first in the series, Patrick was joined on the panel Friday with Press reporters Maureen Dolan and Jeff Selle. Following on what Patrick said, Selle explained that he learned a lesson about reporting on hate during a protest outside a Coeur d'Alene hotel years earlier. TI1en Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler got arrested at the protest for trespassing. Selle took a photo of Butler getting arrested, and gathered quotes from Butler as he was being pushed into a cop car. He

hustled back to the newsroom and cranked out a story. That story then was picked up by the wire news service The Associated Press, giving Butler a lot of publicity. Ben Wolfinger, who has since become Kootenai County's sheriff, called Selle on the phone after the story ran. "He said, 'Jeff, just something to keep in lhe back of your head. Richard Butler paid a $75 fine, and he just got a front-page ad across the country."' Dolan wrote about the Westboro Baptist Church for The Press, choosing lo focus her coverage more on the community's response instead of the actions of the group. 'The most important thing was the way the community rallied against them," Dolan said. "We saw people (from the community) who don't normally agree with each other standing up to that kind of hate together."

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at Northland Pioneer CollegeÂˇ in Snowflake, Ariz., last week, with former Coeur d'Alene Mayor Steve Judy in the audience. Never heard of the play? Well, neither had Huckleberries until a blog reader sent a link. Dramatist Lisa Jayne's play explores the conflicting issues faced by Judy and the community in 1998 when the Aryan Nations requested a parade permit to goose-step along Coeur d' Alene's Sherman Avenue - free speech rights versus confronting religious and racial bigotry. That year human-rights activists turned "lemons into lemonade," after the permit was granted, by raising money via pledges for every minute that the racists marched ($35,000 for 27 minutes). The play comes with a warning: "The play contains mature themes and language that may be unsuitable for children." It'll be interesting to see if "Coeur d'Alene" ever I plays in Coeur d'Alene.

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The Press, Wednesday, September 18, 201 3

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FOOD AND HEALTH: Turning 50 doesn't have to be a 'crisis'

An open letter to mayoral candidates Dear Mayor Bloem and Councilmen Edinger, Gookin, Goocllander, Kennedy and McEvers I hope all is well with you. I want to share with you what I found deeply troubling regarding the positions OPINION of mayoral candidates Mary Souza and Joe Kunka in the Coeur d'Alene Press Tony interview Stewart printed MyTurn on Sept. 12 when addressing the antidiscrimination ordinance passed br. the City of Coeur d'Alene on June 4.

As one who has spent a lifetime studying and teaching constitutional law and a human rights activist, I find theses candidates' position historically both foreign to and antagonistic toward the democratic principles of freedom and equality for all Americans, including all the residents of Coeur d'Alene. We in the human rights community will once again be energized to take a firm stand against discrimination directed toward any of our citizens. 1personally oppose the stands of Mr. Kunka and Ms. Souza based upon the following points: â&#x20AC;˘ When candidates or political office holders declare that they will support the will of the majority even if that requires policies that permit discrimination against some of their constituents, they have forsaken their moral compass on that particular issue in favor of political expediency or the desire to win an election. â&#x20AC;˘ As I grew up in the South in the 1950s, I observed many politicians in support of discrimination. and especially racial segregation, to placate a majority of the electorate so they could win yet another election. These Southern politicians lost their moral compass and history has condemned their actions. see MY TURN, C4

MY TURN

from C1

• It is a grievous affront to those law abiding and tax paying citizens in our city for a candidate to suggest that we should conduct workshops to discuss, negotiate and decide if some of our neighbors should be afforded equal rights under the law. The natural law guarantee of freedom and equality for all Americans should never be open to negotiation. • It is well established in both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution that all Americans have certain inalienable rights that are not subject to repeal by a majority vote. The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees no person shall be denied "Equal Protection of the Laws." I contend this means all people. • I find political stands based on discrimination contrary to the world's great religions whose tenets have historically been based on love, compassion and acceptance for all humanity. • If the views of these mayoral candidates prevail in Coeur d'Alene, our

beautiful city will forfeit its legacy as a city that embraces human rights and is a welcoming city with a Heart We no longer would deserve the status and recognition of the 1990 "All American City Award" or the recipient of the 1987 "Raoul Wallenberg Civic Award." Our image would unfortunately become more like those Southern cities of the 1960s who proudly promoted discrimination toward many of their citizens. 1 • The repeal of the anti-discrimination ordinance would send a message across America that we embrace discrimination toward some members of our community. It would take years to erase this stain on our city. • The city would be erecting a sign stating: "We welcome discrimination toward some Americans." • The repeal of the anti-discrimination ordinance would have a detrimental impact on our economy both as to visitors and the recruitment of future companies that oppose discrimination directed at some of their employees. After more than 40 "years as a resident of this

beautiful city, I am confident that a great majority of our residents will reject any attempt to endorse a policy of discrimination that would once again permit some of our neighbors and friends to be treated as second class citizens with regard to housing, employment or public accommodations in our restaurants, hotels or other establishments. At the end of life, each of us will be judged based on how we have treated our fellow human beings and if we had the courage to stand with those who faced such adversity as discrimination. Discrimination that denies equality and freedom for some of our citizens is not the Idaho way. Mayor Bloem and City Councilmen Edinger, Goodlander, Gookin, Kennedy, and McEvers, your place in history will be an honorable one and you will be remembered for your·moral courage. May you always be showered with respect and admiration by your fellow Coeur d'Alene neighbors and friends.

Tony Stewart of Coeur d'Alene is a political scientist and human rights activist.

Pontiff: Tiine to find 'new balance' Emphasis on abortion, gays criticized by pope By Nicole Winfield and Rachel Zoll Associated Press

VATICAN CITY - Signaling a dramatic shift in Vatican tone, Pope Francis said the Catholic Church had become obsessed by "smallminded rules'' about how to be faithful and that pastors should instead emphasize compassion over condemnation when discussing divisive social issues of abortion, gays and contraception. The pope's remarkably blunt message six months into his papacy was sure to reverberate in the U.S. and around the globe as bishops who have focused much of their preaching on such hotbutton issues are asked to act more as pastors of wounded souls. In interviews published Thursday in Jesuit journals in 16 countries, Francis said he had been "reprimanded" for not pressing ch urch opposition to abortion in his papacy. But he said "it is not necessary to talk about these See POPE, A14 Continued from Al

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issues all the time." "The church's pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently," Francis said. ''We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel," the pope said in the 12,000-word article, based on interviews conducted by a fellow Jesuit, the Rev. Antonio Spadaro, editor of La Civilta Cattolica, a Rome journal for the religious order.

"The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, 1 in small-minded rules," Francis said. "The most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you. And the ministers of the church must be ministers of mercy above all." The comments contained no change in church teaching, and the pope said reform should not happen quickly. StiU, it was the pope's clearest declaration yet of a break in tone and style from his immediate predecessors. John Paul II and Benedict XVI were both intellectuals for whom doctrine was paramount, an orientation that guided the selection of a generation of bishops and cardinals who now face making a dramatic turnabout in how they preach. The interviews were conducted by Spadaro over three days in August at the Vatican hotel where Francis has chosen to live rather than in the papal apartments. The Vatican vets all content in Civilta Cattolica, and the pope approved the Italian version of the article, which America magazine, the Jesuit journal in the U.S., translated into English. The admonition will especially resonate in the United States, where some bishops have already publicly voiced dismay that Francis hasn't hammered home church teaching on abortion, contraception and homosexuality: areas of the culture wars where U.S. bishops often put themselves on the front lines. U.S. bishops were behind Benedict's crackdown on American nuns, who were accused of letting doctrine take a backseat to their social justice work caring for the poor, precisely the priority that Francis is endorsing. "I think what Francis is doing when he's talking about these hot-button issues, he's not saying one side is right or the other side is right. H e's saying that arguing over these things gets in the way of the work that Catholics are supposed to be doing," said David Cloutier, a theologian at Mount St. Mary's University in Maryland. "This suggests a really different vision of what the church should look like in the world. It's not a defensive vision. He comes out and forthrightly says we don't have to talk about these issues all the time. I can't help but see this as a potential rebuke to American leaders who have focused on these issues."

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Thursday September 19, 2013

Regan critical of

Stewart By JEFF SELLE Staff writer

COEUR d'ALENE -

Former Coeur d'Alene School Board Trustee Brent Regan took aim at human rights advocate Tony Stewart on Wednesday, calling him out for publicly opposing two

mayoral candidates who do not Stewart support the city's anti-discrimination ordinance. see CRITICAL, A4

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lo what he described as "An open letter to Mr. Steward (sic)" Regan posted the following comment under the online version of Stewart's My Turn column. "Tony, During our conversation at the CDA Library I chastised you for falsely and publicly characterizing a person's position without doing the due diligence of first talking to that person. You apologized and assured me it would never hair · pen again and yet here you are doing EXACfLY the same crime," Regan wrote. "If you are to lead the Task Force on Human Relations then perhaps you should invest in the 'relations' part and actually talk to people before you start squawking like Chicken Little." The problem is, both Stewart and Tom Carter, director of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, said on Wednesday that conversation never Carter happened. Carter said at the meeting that Regan references in his comments he saw Regan approaching Stewart, so he walked over to the two of them to support Stewart. "I was standing right

behind Regan and he said 'Tony you have no integrity,' and Tony responded telling Regan that they did not ask him to resign," Carter said. 'Then Tony said 'when you apologized we accepted your apology."' Stewart said Carter's recollection was accu· rate. He made no apolo· gies to Regan at that meeting. "I said Mr. Regan we did not ask you to resign, and when you apologized, we accepted that. Then I went and took my seat." he said. "I am so fortunate to have a witness." Stewart said that is the only conversation he has ever had with Regan. In January, Regan apologized to the school board and the community at large after making what critics ~ed "racist" remarks during a gun rights forum earlier that month. At that forum, Regan shared part of a conversation he'd had with his wife: "I said, They can't figure out what an assault weapon is - it's just black and it looks scary.' And she looks at me and says, 'Well, so is Obama."' Regan later apologized for the statement saying he didn't realize how hurtful the remark was until he talked with someone who had been personally affected by discrimination. The public apology came on the heels of a press conference Stewart and two other members of the human rights task force held to specifically call for Regan's apology. On Wednesday, Regan said he stands by the comment he posted on Stewart's My Turn column. "When I talked to Tony, we were alone,'' Regan said, adding that Carter must have mis-

taken him for someone else. "That's not what happened. What he said doesn't even make sense. "You tell me ... is that the way a conversation goes?" he continued. "I am sticking by my story, and I have an excellent memory." Carter said if Regan is willing, he would be happy to take a lie detector test with him. "Because I know who would win," he said. Regan said the bigger point he was trying to make with his comment is that Stewart didn't bother to discuss his opinion with Coeur d'Alene mayor candidates Mary Souza and Joe Kunka before publishing his thoughts in The Press. "He is certainly entitled to his opinion, but not to his own facts," Regan said. "What he wrote is not only false, it's total speculation." Stewart said the main point he was trying to convey with his column was the importance of the anti-discrimination ordinance, and the comments each of the mayoral candidates made about the ordinance in a story published by The Press last week. "I spent my life trying to be an ally to those who face discrimination," he said. 'That's who I am and that is what I am trying to do." Stewart said the ordinance is very important and obviously needed. While he declined to release the details, he said the ordinance has already resulted in protecting an individual in Coeur d'Alene. "We've already had one case since that ordinance passed and we were able to resolve it in four hours,'' Stewart said. ''We couldn't have done that without that ordinance."

RIGHTS: Duty to defend them lo the Sept. 12 edition of the Coeur d'Alene Press the following passage was included: "Souza said as mayor, she would vote whichever way the public favored on highly charged topics when the opinion is stacked on one side, regardless of how she feels personally." I have waited several days to make s ure that she did not want to retract that statement or asser t that she was misquoted. To my knowledge, she has not done so. As to that statement, it is clear to me that God gave each person the capacity to form and hold moral values. He also gave each person the free will to act on those moral values. Failing to act on moral values one holds has the same effect as having no moral values. For Ms. Souza to assert ahead of time that she would go with the flow if elected is not leadership but rather a

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If Ms. Souza will not act on her moral values at critical times, when will sh e act on her moral values? The time to ask that question is well before the , day of the election. As to Mr. Kunka, another mayoral candidate, he said in the same issue of the Coeur d'Alene Press, "You can't protect everyone." Mr. Kunka is invited to read the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Idaho Constitution. He will see that while you can't protect everyone you can protect your fellow American citizens and in point of fact you have the duty to do so. No doubt secure in his knowledge of American history and political science, Mr. Kunka offers up the idea that "the only people who don't have some sort of protection are white guys between the ages of 18 and 90." I happen to be in this rather large class of people whom Mr. Kunka feels is without "protection."

My America, my home for all of my years is a unique and wonderful place. Capitalism reigns here like nowhere else in the world with its engines of innovation and risk taking. Freedoms of virtually every nature are more closely protected here than

anywhere else. Freedom of religion is demonstrated everywhere. with countless churches, synagogues and other places of worship large and small located all across our country. Here like few places elsewhere, the rule of law is h onored. Americans know that if each American citizen is granted a full measure of dignity we are all better off. I believe that most people know that Mr. Kunka completely misunderstands the America that we know exists because we are all living the American Dream. My advice to Mr. Kunka is to dry his tears, rejoin us in this great adventure of living in America. and then try again for public office.

NORMAN GISSEL Coeur d'Alene

JCOEUR d'ALENE

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Thursday September 26, 2013

SINCE

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www.cdapress.com

Battling bullies Expert Steve Wessler to start work with Cd'A school district By MAUREEN DOLAN

Staff writer

COEUR d'ALENE The Coeur d'Alene School District's anti-bullying efforts are getting a big boost, with help from several community partners. Internationally recognized anti-bullying and discrimination expert Steve Wessler - a former Maine Assistant Attorney General and the former director of the Center for Preventing Hate in Portland, Maine - will be working with the school district, beginning next month, to prepare to institute an anti-bullying program already used in schools in 26 states, Canada, Israel, Palestine, Cairo, Jordan, Northern Ireland, France, Morocco. Greece, Hungary and Kosovo. see BULLYING, A2

GABE GREEN/Press

Tony Stewart introduces speakers and outlines an upcoming plan to combat bullying throughout the community, spearheaded by the Coeur d'Alene School District No. 271 , Coeur d'Alene Tribe and the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations.

BULLYING

from A1

The effort is being funded with $16,000 in grants announced Wednesday by the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe and Kootenai Electric Trust. During a press conference at the Human Rights Education Institute, local human tights leader Tony Stewart said plans for the broader anti-bullying initiative began more than a year ago after he spoke with Coeur d'Alene students attending summer school. "I will never forget what one young man said to me;Âˇ Stewart said. That student told Stewart that three years earlier, a classmate committed suicide less than an hour after saying he was being bullied and that he couldn't take it any longer. Stewart said he promised the students that the task force would gel involved. With the blessing of school officials, task force members conducted a national search that led

them to Wessler. Wessler will make several visits to the Lake City over the next few months to analyze the level of bullying now taking place, ITain school district employees and work with students. "We know that bullying is an issue in our schools," said Superintendent Matt Handelman, noting it is also a problem in communities nationwide. "As educators, we know we play an important role in combating such behaviors. We also know we cannot do it alone." The Tribe granted $11,000 to the effort. "We just want to help any way we can," said Tribe Chairman Chief Allan. ''We all have kids in the school district, and we love our kids. We just want them to be safe. They can't learn if they're being bullied." Kootenai Electric Trust donated $2,000 and the task force will pay for the rest of the expenses, an estimated cost of about $3,000. The school district intensified its anti-bullying efforts last year after sev-

GABE GREEN/Pres.s

Tom Hearn, chair of the Coeur d'Alene School District board of trustees speaks at the Human Rights Education Institute on Wednesday.

era! parents complained that their children were being victimized. A task force was formed and the district is holding regular anti-bullying nights for students and families. The next "Stand Up, Speak Up" event will take place Monday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Salvation Army Kroc Center, 1765 W. Golf Course Road, Coeur d'Alene. Bill Rutherford, a school counselor who is now principal of Fernan Elementary, said the antibullying gatherings are one of the ways they are working to bridge the gap between the children they're trying to protect,

and the older, adult bullies in the community. Task force member Christie Wood, who is also a Coeur d'Alene Police sergeant, said that's an issue the school resource officers confront regularly. "A lot of the stuff hap-pens at home and it's modeled behavior," she said. Rutherford said they hope to create a "universal reporting system" to make it easier for those who witness bullying to do something about it ''We want to support the bystanders who can speak up for those who can't speak up for themselves," Rutherford said.

PAGE A6 • THURSDAY • SEPTEMBER 26. 2013

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

NORTHWEST

Expert, CdA schools tackle bullying Program to be aimed at all grade levels By Scott Maben scottm@spokesman.com. (208) 758-0260

An international expert on countering discrimination and bulJyingwill work with the Coeur d'Alene School District this year to assess the student bullying problem and help develop measures to end it. Steve Wessler, a Maine lawyer and college instructor who wrote "The Respectful School: How Educators and Students Can Conquer Hate and Harassment," will visit Coeur d'Alene schools and meet with student groups in October and January. Wessler's consulting work is

part of an effort by the school dis1 trict to crack down on bullying at STAND UP, SPEAK UP' all grade levels and change the culLearn what the Coeur ture that permits it. d'Alene School District is His visits and recommendoing to prevent bullying, dations will be funded by $11,000 Monday from 5:30 to 7 p.m., from the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, at the Salvation Army Kroc $2,000 from Kootenai Electric Center in Coeur d'Alene. The Cooperative's Operation Round program is for students and Up program, and another $3,000 families. Information: to $4,000 from the Kootenai www.cdaschools.org. County Task Force on Human Relations, officials announced Wednesday. "We all have kids in the school board, found Wessler in a national district, and we love them all so · search for a consultant. Stewart much, we just want them to be got involved a year ago after he safe. They can't learn if they're be- spoke with local students in suming bullied," said Chief Allan, mer classes and learned about chairman of the Coeur d'Alene their experiences with bullies. Tribe. "He said to me on more than Tony Stewart, secretary of the one occasion, reducing bullying in Task Force on Human Relations the schools will not be effective

unless you change the student culture and climate," Stewart said. Wessler will conduct in-depth student focus groups at the district's middle and high schools and create student "respect clubs" in each school to counter the bullying culture. He also will train select school employees and police officers who are assigned to the schools. ''If the program is as successful as I believe it will be and hope it will be, the Coeur d'Alene School District will become a model that will be used throughout this entire region to work with other schools to tackle this very, very serious problem," Stewart said. A school district task force has been working this year on changes to school board policies and curriculum plus holding community

events to improve how schools try to prevent bullying. Wessler's work will enhance those efforts, Superintendent Matt Handelman said. "We are really addressing this issue on a number offronts," Handelman said, including streamlined bullying education in the elementary schools and a pilot project for the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program at Woodland Middle School this year. Whatever its origins, bullying will not be tolerated in Coeur d'Alene schools, said School Board Chairman Tom Hearn, a mental health therapist who has worked with bullies and their victims. "Children deserve, and I think our parents expect their children, to be taught in a safe environment," Hearn said.

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www .cdapress.com

Wednesday October 9, 2013

Dees: Fight for equality continues Lawyer was a major foe of the Aryan Nations By DAVID COLE

Staff writer M OSCOW - Morris Dees. a lawyer and major foe of the Aryan Nations in the North Idaho hate group's heyday, said Morris Dees, founder and chief Tuesday at the University of Idaho that counsel of the Southern Poverty Law Center, speaks Tuesday at the the work of fighting for equality Counesy photo

University of Idaho. Coeur d'Alene attorney Norm Gissel looks on.

see EQUALITY, A5

North Idaho

EQUALRY from A1 continues on fronts such as U.S. immigration, health care and public education. "'There are millions among us who find neither opportunity nor justice," Dees said, speaking to a full ballroom inside the Student Union Building on the university campus. Reflecting back on Martin Luther King Jr.'s success decades earlier, Dees said, "I don't think Dr. King intended for his dream to be a static thing." Dees said the "march for justice" continues on numerous issues. "How are we going to treat millions, especially Latinos, among us who make the wheels of our commerce and industry work?" Dees said. He compared those immigrant workers' treatment to that of AfricanAmericans in the deep South during the 1950s and 1960s. He also cited the sometimes poor treatment of gays and lesbians. "So many people in this (gay and lesbian) community find themselves and their rights violated, abused, (and) denied equal protection of the law," Dees said. Meantime, incomes are rising for the rich, he said, while for other Americans the numbers aren't changing or are declining. "People don't have the ability to have a good living," he said. Additionally, much more needs to be done to protect kids in schools

The Presa

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

from bullies, and provide all kids in the public school system with a valuable education. "I could go on and on with the issues that face us today, that are part of this march for justice," Dees said. "One particularly important issue deals with health care." He said the Congress is gridlocked today because of the debate over health care for all citizens, and President Barack Obama's landmark health-care reform legislation. He criticized Republicans in Congress for trying to defund the law. "(The law) is being held hostage by a very narrow group of people who are concerned, and I want to say ~aid, because of the changing nature of our nation," Dees said. He added that the opponents of Obama's Afordable Care Act "don't like the fact that millions of Americans - who are not like them, who have different values than them - are going to get some of the goods and services of this nation, and this really disturbs them." He followed that by saying that when he was in school about 12 percent of the American population was made up of "people of color," but today the number has reached 36 percent. He predicted that by 2040 people of color would combine to account for a majority of the population. "lbe election of Obama for two terms shows that this coalition of people is coming together," he said. The

trend "really frightens a large segment of our population," he said, adding that there "has been an enormous rise in hate groups." Dees, whose speech Tuesday was titled "With justice for all in a changing America," is best known in North Idaho for a legal victory over the Aryan Nations that included a $6 million judgment that bankrupted the hate group. He's also known as an author, writing books such as "Hate on Trial" and "Gathering Storm: America's Militia Threat." He co-founded the Southern Poverty Law Center, a national public interest law firm with more than 40 lawyers. He graduated from the University of Alabama law school after growing up on a cotton farm in a rural part of the southern state. "I had a chance to work in cotton farms alongside African Americans," he said. In an interview after Dees' speech, Michael Satz, dean of the College of Law at UI, said he hoped law students and others at the university left determined to stand up for injustice, as Dees had done many times. Dees, he said, is an important historical figure. Hate groups can be beat, Satz said, when a community and leaders come together to stop them. "It's scary to make a choice to fight injustice, because you have to stand up," Satz said. "Someone has to be the first person to stand up, and I hope they'll be that first person."

The Press, Sunday, October 13, 2013

SECTION

SHAWN GUST/Press

Norm Gissel is a leading civil rights attorney in Coeur d'Alene.

SNAPSHOT Norm Gissel Born: 1940 Education: University of Idaho 195862, bachelor's in history. UniversitY of Idaho Law School 1967-1970 Family: Wife, Deanna, married in

1967. Two children, Greta Gissel and Leila Rasher. Favorite Boole A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole, written 1980. Favorite Case: Keenan v. Butler .~

Ill NIISOII Civil rights attorney Norm Gissel is a pivotal part of North Idaho history. He is one of the founding members of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations and he was instrumental in convincing Victoria and Jason Keenan to bring suit against the Aryan Nations, an action resulting in the $6.3 million verdict that forced the sale of Richard Butler's compound. Gissel has been honored many times. In 2013 Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ys ursa dedkated the 22nd edition of the Blue Book to local human rights leaders Gissel, Bill Wassmuth, and Tony Stewart

What did you do to make the Nazis no longer a part of the political process?

One of the first things we decided to do was appropriate all of the big power-

ful words in American society: Freedom, equality, fairness, the rule of law and human dignity. We believed that we had a right to do it, because we were on the side of these big words. What we were going to do is represent the society

••• '/

How did you get involved in the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relat ions?

The reason that I was drawn to this was my experiences as the child, as a young college student, then as a graduate. I was in the Air Force, and I was in on my way to a duty station in Mississippi, I needed to get gas. I saw the old '50s style restrooms and, out of the corner of my eye, I caught this image. I have to remind you that thjs was in 1963, so it was the height of the tensions in the racial world. What caught my eye was oil drums welded one on top of another two high, so it would be about six feet high. Whitewashed on there was the word "niggers," and that's where African Americans had to go to the restroom if they were there to buy gas. The rage that I felt, that is the same rage I feel today, that the person who owned this would go that far to humiliate some of his own client base. It immediately it occurred to me - that sign would not be there, that arrangement would not be there, if the cultural and political leaders had not tacitly agreed to this. This never left my mind, that social and cultural dishonesty that was there, on parade for every one to witness. What do you mean by dishonesty?

Good aspirational societies have everybody within those societies with a full measure of dignity and honor. When you rig your society to keep an entire class of people at a lower level, that cuJti.'!~ is dishon~!:,1 10 tl.'5 OW"-~ humanit'J.

of Kootenai County, and by extension North Idaho, and by extension, the Inland Northwest. They were co-equals with us in our racial consciousness. see GISSEL, C2

GISSEL

from C1

We used these words to identify ourselves, and to identify Kootenai County, North Idaho, and the Inland Northwest as people who understand these big, powerful words and what they meant Aqd the Nazis - neve~ e v e ~ ~ that. There's political isolation there. We would identify them as this group that did not understand the true, lyrical quality of American democracy. They did not understand it, but everybody else did. It was an assumption, but it eventually turned out to be a true of assumption. How did you know

it was going to work out7

We didn't We understood that we were cultural politicians. It was different from regular politicians, because regular politicians have elections and they tell you whether you are doing a good job. In cultural politics, there is no clear venue for your culture to tell you how you're doing. You can go for a decade without a clear indication of how you're doing. Cultural politics are extremely complex, and there are lots and lots of issues. We spent an enormous amount of time discussing these issues. When the trial came up, we had conversations about the virtues of the lawsuit, how much advantage we could receive from the lawsuit, how much disadvantage we could have by proceeding with the lawsuit and losing. That was a big set of conversations.

How did the Keenan case Âˇcome to you7

Mrs. Keenan and her son were driving home from a wedding, and she was driving a little Honeybee Honda. The old tiny little things, top speed of about 40 mph. And she was taking the back roads home. She lived in Bonner County. She was going down Rimrock. Rimrock Road was the frontage road for the Nazi compound, 20 acres, 12-14 structures altogether. The Nazis had built a tower. They were armed and in that guard house, and the facts of the trial show they had been drinking a case of beer. In the guard tower there were four guards. One of them walked down to the road and witnessed this Honeybee go past the compound, and then head back, and go past again because they had lost something. Then the car backfired, and this drunken Nazi with a gun believed that this was the long-awaited Jewish attack on the compound. So he rushed back. Two of the guards came with him, and they jumped in a pickup, went down the driveway and started chasing the Honeyb.!!e...In the back of the pickup; one of the so-called guards had an assault rifle. They (the Keenans) wouldn't stop - and who would? They had Nazis chasing them

He shot that Honeybee five times. The last shot hit the right rear tire, and they skidded into a ditch about two miles from the compound. Then these three Nazis got out of the pickup and proceeded to assault them inside the car. The neighbors had heard the shouting and the screaming, and they saw these guys with their weapons gesticulating around the car that the Keenans were in. The guy got his gun because he was afraid something awful would happen. He told his wife to call 911 and report what they were seeing. They heard the gunfire and then they saw the car in the ditch. They saw the Nazis around the car. The Nazis left when this guy came. The Keenans got out of their car and went into the house. They were thoroughly traumatized. The sheriff came in one or two vehicles and helped the Keeoans push the car back out of the ditch and escorted them to the county line. They asked the Keenans if they wanted to press charges or not The Nazis had said (to the Keenans) "if you say anything about what happened here tonight, we'll get you." The Keeoans said "we just want to get out of here." She (Victoria) was part Indian and she knew instinctively to plead to them that she was a white person. She denied her Indian heritage which really, really bothered her. So she called the task force. She said '.'I trust you guys, this ts what happened, can you help?" I said "if this is true, this is a serious serious, profoundly ous piece oflitigation."

seri-

Two of the three guards were brought back, and then they both pied guilty to felony assault Then we filed the civil litigation. At that point we brought in Morris Dees and the Southern Poverty Law Center. The basis of the lawsuit was negligent supervision and trammg of guards. The cultural basis of the lawsuit was totally different. In the past, the Nazis and the Klan had relied upon jury nullification when they were caught red handed doing something. We were trying negligent supervision and training of guards. They were defending

--en.ihe ba~is that a tury

would not find this person liable for these acts, because of who he was. A lawsuit is theater, a jury trial is theater. The one that tells the most interesting tale, and the most sympathetic tale, and reveals the most about their humanity is the one who wins the lawsuit The audience was all full. There were the Nazis sitting on the side with Butler, and we had all this weird, crazy interesting testimony. One Nazi, he was a character witness for Butler, he got up and testified, "I am one of the worst persons in America. and I am much, much worse than Richard Butler." We had a tape of that guy. He was giving a talk in the church at Butler's compound. This is essentially what he said: "I can't tell you today to go out and kill a nigger, because I could get Richard Butler in trouble for that If you want me . to tell you to go out and . kill a nigger, you've gotta come out to Iowa where I live."

The jury was just physically repelled. They moved back from the 1V monitors. Theo, in the magic of litigation, I still don't know how this happened, Morris got the right to play that a second time. They got to watch it twice, and it was . just devastating. It was a riveting trial, because it was culture and trial wrapped up together in this masterful way. Another thing I wanted to ask you about was your own safety.

The Nazis would have delighted in killing us. We were the enemy. Morris had an armored car that he had bought from the governor of Alabama or Mississippi. It was kind of bomb proof. It had solid rubber tires and thick glass. I rode that around for several months to let them know I had this car. It took 10 seconds to open the door because it was so heavy. And then we had guards 24-7 on our house. There was a time in '86 when Order Two was

see GISSEL, C3

GISSEL

from C2

out and about Order One was the first criminal conspiracy, Order Two was the second. Order Two had bombed Bill Wassmuth's house. It put shrapnel holes in the houses across the street. And then they bombed downtown Coeur d'Alene. There was a bomb set up at the Federal Building, there was a bomb at the restaurant at Seventh and Sherman, and then a bomb set up on top of the federal recruiting station which was at Third and Sherman... It was just really, really dangerous, so we decided the kids couldn't stay. Their bedrooms were on the street side. We'd had rocks through the window and they were setting off bombs.

The Press, Tuesday, October 15, 2013

C 0

SEGnON

The state of hulllan rights . 'Toe State of Human Rights in the United States" will be the topic of a presentation scheduled at the Human Rights Education Institute Friday in Coeur d'Alene. Lecia Brooks, the director of outreach for the Southern Poverty Law Center will give the presentation at 7 p.m. at the institute, 414 W. Mullan Ave. Brooks leads the Southern Poverty Law Center's outreach efforts on key initiatives and social justice issues. She also serves as director of the Civil Rights Memorial Cente r in Montgomery, Ala., an interpretive center designed to provide visitors to-the Civil Rights Memorial with a deeper understanding of the civil rights movement. She previously served as the director of Mix It Up at Lw1ch Day, a program designed to help break down racial, cultural and social barriers in schools.

The presentation is hosted by the institute and the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations. "We are proud of the rich history and partnership that the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations has shared with the Southern Poverty Law Center, and we warmly welcome Ms. Brooks to our community," states a press release. Civil rights attorney Morris Dees is one. of the founders of the nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center. Dees played a significant role in the civil suit against the Idaho Aryan Nations, which resulted in the bankruptcy of the group and the loss of its headquarters in Hayden. The presentation is free and open to the public.

The Press

Friday, October 25, 2013

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IT'ii RIGHTS: Thanks for standing up Dear Straight Allies:

TI1ank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for all the hard work, courage you have shown, and the help you give to the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered) community. Our straight allies are some of the most effective and powerful advocates for the LGBT movement. We also thank you for your future suppor t in the continued fight for LGBT equality. We could not stand strong and proud without you! Your voices have been heard while the voices of LGBT people have been ignored. When Y,Ou speak up and dispel myths, speak out for the rights of the LGBT community, and discourage hate speech, you make us tremendously proud and appreciative to stand side by side with you. No amount of thanks could repay you for the times when you stand up for equality, regardless of ones sexual orientation or gender expression. We look forward to continuing to work with you and stand with you in the future to ensure the safety and rights that all of us deserve. Until then let us con-

Readers Write i

tinue to walk together and create a safe and welcoming place for all of us! Gender and Sexuality Alliance ( GSA) at North Idaho College

belong to everyone Recently I was able to attend a presentation at the Human Rights Education Institute by a staff member of the Southern Poverty Law Center. The prese_n ter gave a OPINION brief history of the civil rights movement ' and also offered a snapshot of the situation for William civil rights. Green in America MyTum currently, including some specifics about Idaho and Coeur d'Alene. She also entertained a few questions that related to current efforts on behalf of civi,l rights here and comparisons with some situÂˇations in the European Union. I found the presentation to be fascinating. I especially appreciated the efforts and courage of so many who stand up for the rights of others whose voices are not very loud and garner little notice~ Of special note was the presenter's descriir tion of a "hate group." A paraphrase would be something like this: a homogeneous group with a dominant and common characteristic of believing that any other person or group who does not look like them or think like them or believe like them or act like them, is worthy of disdain, exclusion, denial of access or even symbolic or actual elimination. For this writer, this description naturally led to some thoughts of both praise and criticism for our own society nationally and locally.

It is praiseworthy that our society has grown and thrived by way of faithfulness to its roots, that is to the principles underlying our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution with its Bill of Rights. Prime among these is the dominant belief in the intrinsic worth and dignity of each person regardless of surface characteristics. And prime among the implications of this belief is respect for the many varieties of free self expression. see MY TURN, C2

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But it is also true that some elements of our social structure have at times condoned the exclusion and even violent persecution of cer tain persons. And the only r~ason is that on the surface they appear to be different from the dominant paradigm of the time. This is clearly worthy of criticism and positive correction. The presentation continued on with some poignant and inspiring personal stories of those who have suffered greatly just because of their surface difference; and also of those who have risen up to change the attitudes and structures that have condoned and even justified the suffering. At that point I wondered why

in our American Society there ever arose a need for a correction of course; a correction away from false judgments based on distortions; a correction back to basic "civil rights" based on the truth of each person's essential dignity. After all, we are the "Land of the Free," a land with social structures built on the proposition that "...all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ..." This is a fundamental founding principle that forms the shape and "terms" of our social contract. More than that, it forms a "covenant'' between citizens and the government to which citizens have given their consent. I realized that the reason we need to emphasize civil rights in a specific context is that we some-

times fail to be faithful to our original covenant. In fact our very beginning as a nation was clouded with a sad compromise of our fundamental founding principle. Some of the southern colonies, as a condition for signing the Declaration, insisted on the "right'' two own certain persons as "property." And the apparent justification was because they are "different'' and "not like us." It is amazing (and perhaps an example of divine intervention) that in spite of that kind of poisonous inner thinking the ideal of equal freedoms for all remained intact as the lynchpin for a new and free society. Throughout our history that ideal has inspired many to take the high road in defense of those with less influence and less access. And at times

they have done so in spite of great opposition and potentially dire consequences. Yet each step along that way brings us all closer to congruence with our original ideal and challenges us to check our own attitudes and values. But why do we fall short in the first place? It is probably because human nature sometimes finds the trappings of power and position too attractive and the fear of loss too threatening. When these attractions and fears combine, the resulting interpersonal behaviors can become violent or "hateful" in words or actions. Here in Coeur d'Alene we have a great tradition of standing up for those in need of a suppor ting voice. As a community we have a strong place on the right side of history. And as we progress with our very important city election, I think it is important that we make extra efforts to maintain

that sense of fairness and "justice for all." The various candidates present some clear choices. And the choices we make at the polls will have long lasting effects on the administrative directions of our community. Because of this there may be some "attractions" and some "fears" that tempt us toward "name calling" or "labeling" or other methods to discredit someone as we go about our discussions. A couple of years ago our visiting scholar David Adler reminded us that such methods will only erode the worth of discourse in the public forum. He also reminded us that respectful discussion of diverse ideas gives us a much better chance for wisdom. So we do better to focus on ideas and on which set of ideas will better serve us for the long term. I like to think of "justice" as another word for "faithfulness." Can we be faithful to our original

"covenant" of inclusion for all even if not thinking or speaking or acting "like us"? If we can we will come closer to Martin Luther King's dream of a society where "Justice flows down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream." And let's not forget Abraham Lincoln's ideal of going forward" ... with malice towards none and charity towards all ..." - Please take the time to learn about the issues and the candidates, and vote. Someone once said there is nothing more scary to a tyrant than an educated electorate. Wouldn't it be something if we have a 55 percent turnout? Besides election day itself on Nov. 5 at your polling place, you can vote in person at the Kootenai County Elections office at 1808 N. 3rd St. from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Their phone number is 446-1030.

William Green is a Coeur d'Alene resident.

WIDMYER: Truly a lifesaver In the spring of 1979, one of the tennis players on my North Idaho College tennis team was Geoff Mould, a close friend of Steve Widmyer. They had attended Coeur d'Alene High School together before a,ttending NIC. Steve came to watch Mould's home tennis matches. One Saturday I invited them to go water rafting with m~ on the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River. It was early spring and the water was high with rapid flowing currents. As we came around a curve, we spotted several trees that had fallen into the river over the winter. The current was ·SO swift that it drove our raft directly into the trees and held the raft against the trees. Geoff and I were thrown from the raft and I was pulled underneath the trees and trapped while Geoff was fighting the rapids trying to get back into the raft. The force of the water not only pinned me under the trees but emptied my pockets and I lost my eye glasses. I simply was trapped underneath the trees and unable to get out. But Steve reached over the raft and spotted one of my arms. He tightly grabbed on to my arm with both hands and pulled me from under the trees and into the raft. I have often thought about the rescue and know that I could not have escaped the trap without

Steve's quick action and strong hands. I have often thanked him for getting me out of a deadly situation more than 30 years ago. TONY STEWART Coeur d'Alene

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Near-fatal river mishap links rights activist mayoral candidate HUCKLEBERRIES

t's hard to imagine where the long struggle for human righ ts in North Idaho would have been without Tony Stewart. Yet the longtime Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations leader almost wasn't around to battle the Aryan Nations. In spring 1979, Stewart, a North Idaho College instructor, went rafting on the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River with a college tennis player and a second

student named Steve. T he water was high and flowing rapidly. As they rounded a bend, the three were pushed into several trees that had fallen into the water. All were thrown from the raft. Tony was pushed under the trees and trapped. All seemed lost until the third man in the party spotted Tony's arm above water and grabbed it,

DAVE OLIVERIA

pulling Tony to safety. Tony told Huckleberries last week: "I know I couldn't have escaped the trap without Steve's quick action and strong h ands." So why is the story pertinent 34 years later? Steve is now running for mayor of Coeur d'Alene - Steve Widmyer.

Killing the messenger Jeff Selle, the bulldog reporter for the Coeur d'Alene Press and barbecue cook See OLIVERIA, 83

Contact the ctty desk: (509) 459-5403; fax (509) 459-5482; email news@spokesman.com

The Press

Saturday, November 2. 2013

Batt: Add human rights protections for gays BOISE (AP) - A former Idaho Republican governor says it's time the Legislature updated the state Human Rights Act to include housing and job discrimination protections for gays, lesbians and transgender individuals. Former Gov. Phil Batt made the comments this week when he was honored with the Idaho ~uman Rights Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by the Human Rights Commission in Caldwell. Batt, who as a law-

maker in 1960 helped establish the Human Rights Commission, is the first recipient of the award. At the ceremony Tuesday, Batt said it makes no sense not to extend protections to gays and lesbians. He says they shouldn't have to fear discrimination when seeking somewhere to live,. a hotel room or a job. The Idaho Legislature has rejected adding proteetions, most recently during a 2012 Senate committee hearing.

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The Press, Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be celebrated The keynote speaker for the event will be Kenneth V. Faunce, Ph.D. He is an adjunct professor in the department of history at both Washington State University COEUR d'ALENE - The and the University of Idaho. North Idaho College Diversity Dr. Faunce's topic will be "A Events Committee. the Kootenai Review and Understanding of County Task Force on Human the U. N. Universal Declaration Relations and the Human Rights of Human Rights."

Event set for Dec. 10 at North Idaho College student union building

Education Institute will co-spon-

sor a program on Dec. 10 in celebration of the 65th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was approved by the United Nations General Assembly on Dec. 10, 1948.

He has been the recipient of a number of awards including the Potlatch No. 1 Outstanding Teaching Award for the University of Idaho in 2010, and the World Civilizations Faculty Excellence Award for Washington State University in 2008. He was also awarded the Harold and Jeanne Rounds

Since 2006, he has served as the Olsen Faculty Service Award in chair of the Moscow City Human 2007. Rights Commission. In 2013, he Faunce holds a B.A in was elected chair of the Northwest History and Anthropology

Coalition for Human Rights Board of Directors. The NWCHR is housed at the University of Idaho's Office of Human Rights, Inclusion and Access.

from New Mexico State University. He earned an M.A in Anthropology from New Mexico State University, and a Ph.D. in History and Historical

Archaeology from the University of Idaho. The keynote address will be followed by a response panel featuring Father Roger LaChance, pastor of St. Pius X Catholic Church, Father Patrick Bell, pastor of the St Luke Episcopal Church, and Marilyn Muehlbach, board member and immediate past president of

the Human Rights Education Institute. The program will start at noon in the Lake Coeur d'Alene Room of the Edminster Student Union Building at North Idaho College. The program is free and open to the public.

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reasons whywe're

thankful Spokesman-Review staff

We get it; the news isn't always pleasant It can be filled with tales of crime, hurt and malfeasance. But it also includes stories of triumph hope and achievement So ~n Thanksgiving Day, we pause to remember 10 things we're thankful for this year, in no particular order:

New ways to appreciate the Spokane River, with the extension of the Centennial Trail along the river bluff through Kendall Yards and construction beginning on Huntington Park in downtown Spokane.

The Gonzaga University men's basketball team landed in the No. 1 spot on the Associated Press and USA Today Top 25 polls for the first time in school history back in March.

The Lilac Festival, Spokane's ~ual rite of spring, celebrated 1ts 75th anniversary.

4 • Skiers were treated to a

before-Thanksgiving opening at several resorts.

Single-stream recycling rolled out in Spokane County, giving us the freedom to pitch most of our recycling into one big, blue bin. -,,

6. Equality took a front seat, with the city of Coeur d'Alene following Sandpoint's lead in banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. I

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A nearly $80 million new health sciences bujlding will be dedicated next week at WSU Spokane, while the University of Washington medical school has expanded the amount of time students can study here.

8. A generous community enabled Inland Northwest Honor Flight to take nearly all the World War II veterans on a waiting list to see national monuments in Washlngton, D.C.

9 • Work is well underway on McEuen Park, a 15-acre

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myriad contributions of people who arc no longer with us - the volunteers, politicians, artists and businesdoeople whose combined e orts created the community we enjoy today.

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Rights more universal overtime When you think about the times - just after World War a with communications among people and nations exponentially rarer and more difficult than today - calling anything "universal" was rather bold. Culture, language, and perspectives varied even more widely than they do now, because we had less cross-border interaction with each other on every level. NexL week's anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights may seem a nonevent today, but its signing on Dec. 10, 1948, was monumental. The war with its Sholeh inhuman atrociPatrick ties was over. A new body of international cooperation was born, its chief goal to prevent such atrocities from every happening again. The United Nations' first order of business, drafting a bill of (universal human) rights applicable to all people. was to become "a road map to guarantee the rights of every individual everywhere." It took two years. limitless discussions, and hundreds of people representing 50 nation-states. Even then, it had its naysayers.

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C I was one. As a new graduate with a freshly minted degree in international studies, like many 21-year-olds I had that annoying blend of too much information and too little maturity. At a Houston seminar and later, representing a human rights foundation at a celebratory conference at UNESCO in France for the Declaration's 40th anniversary, I argued that a few of the Declaration's 30 articles were not truly universal, because they didn't allow for certain cultural interpretations of "rights," such as arranged marriages (Article 16). I know better now, but one point still potently applies, to this document see PATRICK, C9

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and to all cross--cultural interactions: Our different experiences, beliefs, and perspectives make "universal" something which requires sensitivity. open minds, and patient understanding. We'll get there, if slowly. Most of the delineated rights are very basic rights to life, liberty, and property; to vote and participate in government; to equal treatment without regard to race, sex, language, religion, or political opinion; fair hearings and freedom from torture

or "degrading punishment." Others are more specific, such as freedom to marry, travel, and to have and change one's nationality. Less usual, but no less precious, is Article 18: "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change bis reUgion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance." When this was drafted the world was separated

into Eastern and Western blocks· of botl1 geography and philosophy, making common ground a colossal challenge. Yet as the years roll by, technological innovation gives crosscultural communication an increasingly universal ease, blurring old divisions with their associated fears and oppressionpermitting isolation, into, hopefuJly, someday-oblivion against the backdrop of human compassion. With luck, perhaps by the Declaration's centennial. Sholeh Patrick, J. D. is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at sholeh@cdapress.com.

EDITORIAL

De Klerk, Mandela outshine Âˇ suprelllacists What must the white supremacists who longed for a homeland in the Inland Northwest have made of South African President F.W. de Klerk? Here was the leader of a white-ruled homeland in Africa opening prison doors in 1990 and releasing Nelson Mandela, the former African National Congress revolutionary who would, unquestionably, become his successor in an open election. What could motivate such a betrayal of the Afrikaners who had ruled South Africa absolutely since the 1948 declaration of apartheid, the official state subjugation of the majority black population? There were gasps in the parliament when he announced the end to sanctions against the ANC and other parties and boos from the far-right supporters of his government. De Klerk, in interviews following Mandela's death Thursday, recalled their first meeting and the .sense of dignity and authority of a man imprisoned for 27 years. "He was ramrod straight,'' said de Klerk, who shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela. "My gut reaction was 'I like this man' ." As did hundreds of millions of Mandela admirers mourning his death at age 95. During his long imprisonment, Mandela morphed from revolutionary to conciliator, but not one who had lost his zeal for righting the wrongs done black and brown South Africans for decades extending long before 1948.

His example, and those ot otners like Steve Biko, who was killed by police in 1977, and Bishop Desmond Tutu, the 1984 Nobel Prize winner and 2012 commencement speaker at Gonzaga University, exposed apartheid's evils to the world. International sanctions finally brought enough pressure on a white minority that abandoned an immoral, untenable perch. Mandela chose not to hide the outrages committed under apartheid. A commission aired offenses by whites and blacks. But Mandela did not let the harsh findings ruin his efforts to build a political and economic system with justice for all. Mandela made mistakes: He dismissed, for example, the threat of AIDS when early intervention might have slowed the affliction's , progress throughout southern 1 Africa. Economic inequities persist to this day. '1 De Klerk, from the sidelines, has :' witnessed Mandela's ascendance. "I think his greatest legacy to South Africa and to the world is the emphasis which he has always put on the need for reconciliation, on the imp~rtance of human rights," the former president said. "He was a man of great integrity." The Inland Northwest's supremacists - the Aryan Nations, the Ku Klux Klan, The Order, assorted skinheads and other losers - never awakened to the forces that brought de Klerk to his historic meeting with Mandela, nor the call for justice from Martin Luther King Jr. and others in the United States. They thought they could flee. Instead, they were overtaken by the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment and other groups and individuals who rejected their ideology of separation and hate. They slinked into history's dustbin, while Mandela became a man for the ages.

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Wednesday December 11, 2013

Human rights: work todo By DAVID CO LE

Staff writer COEUR d'ALENE -

After 65 years, the United States and other countries still have work to do to honor the intent of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, said Ken Faunce, a professor of history at both the University of Idaho and Washington State University.

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RIGHTS

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The document was adopted Dec. 10, 1948, by the United Nations General Assembly. "Right now in the United States. there are 250,000 estimated slaves living and working," he said Tuesday at North Idal10 College in the student union building. That number includes domestic servitude and sex slaves. he said. 'The United Nations estimates, and the U.S. Department of Justice as well estimates, that anywhere between 15,000 and 17,000 new slaves are brought into the United States every year," Faunce said. He said drone use and torture also leave the U.S. in violation of the declaration. "When we talk about h uman rights, many parts of the world don't take us seriously or credibly because of our own actions and history," he said. Domestically, he said, the election of the first black U.S. president brought "the racists out of the woodwork like crazy.'' He said there are more hate crimes in recent years compared with previous years. Though not crimes, he also pointed to the racist responses that surfaced after Nina Davuluri, an lndianAmerican, took the recent Miss America title. He said racist reactions that followed when a Mexican-American boy sang the national anthem at Game 3 of the NBA finals were nothing

GABE GREEN/Press

Ken Faunce, a history professor at both the University of Idaho and Washington State University, speaks Tuesday at North Idaho College about numerous worldwide human rights infringements. The event was in celebration of the 65th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

to be proud of either. "So, we've got a long ways to come," he said. Nationally, neo-Nazis and skinheads are declining in number. he said. 'They've just gotten better at infiltrating things as they go along, so we still have to be careful," he said. Worldwide, fundamental human rights remain under attack, via prisoner abuse, slavery, child soldiers, anti-gay legislation and restrictions on free speech, he said. The declaration is recognized worldwide as a contract between governments and their people. It touts the necessity for equal justice, opportunity

and dignity, among other rights, and is the most translated document in the world, he said. IL's crucial that "every individual, every community, every neighborhood promotes this declaration of human rights and pushes it forward," Faunce said. 'That's where the real power of this document is, and that's where it will have real meaning." It's not a treaty, however, so il doesn't directly create legal obligations for countries. "It is au expression of the fundamental values which are shared by all members of the international community,"

Faunce said. It has influenced the development of international human rights law. He spoke on the document's 65th anniversary as a guest of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, the Human Rights Education Institute and the NIC Diversity Events Committee. About 30 people attended the speech. Faunce is chairman of the city of Moscow's human rights commission and chair of the Northwest Coalition for Human Rights board of directors. He holds a doctorate in history and historical archaeology frorp the University of Idaho.

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

PAGE A6 • FRIDAY • DECEMBER 13, 2013

NORTHW EST

Awards recognize local efforts on betterment of human rights By Kip HIii kiph@spokesman.com, (509) 459·5429

For Spokane's Human Rights Commission, choosing honorees for the first of what the organization hopes will be· annual diversity awards meant winnowing decades of work into snapshots. "Some of these seemed to be almost lifetime achievement awards," Mayor David Condon said Thursday morning before a crowd of about 40 people, including U nominees in three categories. The timing of tile occasion, with the recent death of former South African President Nelson Mandela, was not lost on attendees. "He was probably the height of human rights," said James Wilburn, president of the Spokane chapter of the NAAC:f, who accepted the award for organizations on his group's behalf.

Lisa Rosier, chairwoman of .the commission, announced the winners before they were handed crystal flame-shaped trophies inset with a red, white and blue pattern. They were: Purnlma Karkl, lZ, who received the award for individuals under age 21 Karki, a .North Central High School student who immigrated to America from a refugee camp in Nepal, works with her fellow expatriates as an interpreter and helps them assimilate. • "It means so much," said Karki, who moved to the U.S. in October 2009. Francis Adewale, who received the award for individuals over 21. Adewale embraced Condon in a bear hug when his name was announced. A native of Nigeria, Adewale is an assistant public defender with the city and was an instructor at a Spokane Falls Community College event

Nominees Ancilla & Knights of the Leash; Austin Johnson; Francis Adewale; John Olsen; Loerelei Kalua; NAACP; NATIVE Project; PACE Services/SEER Program; Neil Kempen; Pumirna Karki; Randy Shaw; and Rick Bocook.

teaching immigrants the basics of state law. The Spokane chapter of the

NAACP earned the award for organizations. Founded in 1917, this branch of the national group organizes events in the community to shed light on the issues facing the city's black population. "This is like a shot in the arm, a booster shot," said Wilburn. "It shows that your work is not in vain." Funding for the trophies was provided by the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Rights, which has been hosting its own banquet honoring members of the community for several years.

Hagadone News Network

Sunday, December 15, 2013

I Editorial

Their living legacy T hey have only days remaining in their tenure as Coeur d'Alene's leaders. Mayor Sandi Bloem and council members Deanna Goodlander and Mike Kennedy all chose not to seek re-election, and all have expressed great optimism at the potential of those who follow in their footsteps. But before they leave - Kennedy after eight years, Bloem after 12 and Goodlander after 16 - we want to acknowledge the dramatic impact they've had on their community. Put aside for a moment whatever differences you have with them. Because they've served the community so long and because they weren't afraid to do what they thought best, these three have clearly made some unpopular decisions. The Press has been critical of some of those, and in truth, there were times we found even talking with these leaders a tough task. But largely through their graciousness, we always found a way to sit down and communicate, and we've seen them do the same with many other people of disparate ideas in the community. In our view, these three in particular did more than greatly influence creation of an education corridor along the Spokane River. Their fingerprints extend well beyond the community's new library and Kroc Community Center. Even McEuen Park, which will become a central point of pride for the entire region when next summer's grass grows gre~n. won't be their greatest legacy.

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These three changed a community's They were daring yet deliberate. Who e se set aside money from capital improvements to ensure public art would grace the city? Nobody. Coeur d'Alene was the state's pioneer. While not the first, Coeur d'Alene's City Council likely faced the fiercest opposition in Idaho to a human rights ordinance that is now becoming standard around the state. Agree or disagree with their decision or the consequences of that decision, but acknowledge that their motivation was pure. And that primary motivation was compassion. This trio in particular will be reflected in local history as three of the most compassionate leaders Coeur d'Alene has ever known. They've faced relentless personal and professional assaults and, in most cases, they've returned vitriol with kindness. Speaking of relentless, this newspaper has consistently criticized the mayor and council for what we believe is excessive pay and benefits for some city positions, but we also know that :financial remuneration isn't the only reason people are drawn to certain work places or stay there year after year. In fact, for many people, money isn't the most important ingredient in job satisfaction. This council, with Mayor Bloem leading the way, has treated its employees with kindness and respect, insistent upon creating and maintaining an environment that employers in both the private and public sectors envy. The culture these three fashioned over the years is less apparent on new buildings or parks or public art than it is on the faces of city employees and their families. Happy people; that's the kind of legacy that matters most.

COEUR d' ALENE

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Sunday December 29, 2013

Year in review: Notable news of 2013 It's been a year of change in Kootenai County. We said goodbye to many fongtime local officials, and are welcoming a fresh batch of newsmakers to government leadership positions. A major change in the pbysicaJ landscape of downtown Coeur d'Alene took place throughout the year, while there was a major shift in the political landscape. Join us as we take a look back at some of the most noteworthy, talked-about news stories of the past 12 months.

McEuen Park comes alive The McEuen Park transfor-

mation - an issue that since 2010 has launched countless meetings, news articles, letters to the editor, a few rallies and a failed attempt to recall elected Coeur d'Alene city officials who favored the plan - finally began taking solid shape in 2013. The official groundbreaking took place in September 2012, but the buJk of the project didn't go to bid until last March. The $14.8 million contract for park enhancements went to Coeur d'Alene-based Contractors Northwest, Inc. and the work began last spring. The estimated total cost of GABE GREEN,Pross the project is $20.2 million, Dick Stauffer answers questions anÂˇd elaborates on features according to a cost breakdown of the new McEuen Park on Oct. 12 as members of the public t see 2013, A2 oured the grounds for the first time since construction began.

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available for download from the Lake City Development Corp.'s website, lcdc.org. The price tag includes $15.6 million for park improvements. the new parking facility, the new parking lot near City Hall and the Front Avenue promenade that overlooks the park. The additional costs cover street and infrastructure improvements and architect and engineering fees. A section of the new parking structure opened in November. The rest of the parking facility is expected to open next spring. along with the new playground and splash pad, the sports cour ts and the plazas and pavilions.

Return of the hydroplanes

Local elections go partisan

In years past, any political office, that wasn't at least countywide, was considered nonpartisan. This year all of that changed. In April, Jeff Ward, of the Kootenai County Reagan Republicans, announced that the days of uncontested elections - eveo in the smallest nonpartisan taxing district races - were over. 'These taxing districts control hundreds of millions of lax dollars," he said. 'This is public accountability Office decided to take tomers filed lawsuits money we are talking about, and they are makthem to court in 2013. against the business The owners and operaThe Attorney General's and Mitchell, claiming ing decisions oo how this tors of the now-closed Office is seeking restitu- he swindled them out money is spent." Coeur d'Alene coin shop tion for customers who of tens and sometimes Ward's organization had CoiNuts have a trial com- claimed the owners and hundreds of thousands been quietly and successing up this year after the operators failed to deliver of dollars. They alleged fully putting up Republican Idaho Attorney General's on gold and silver paid for he either bought gold candidates in certain nonin advance. and coins with bad partisan races and in 2012, The Press ran a series checks or charged for wound up stacking a conof stories in 2013 on valuables be promised troversial majority voting CoiNuts and its owner, to order but never deliv- block on the Coeur d'Alene Kevin E. Mitchell, expos- ered on. School Board. ing alleged shady dealA trial is set for April When the school district ings with customers and 21. However, a motion for elections came up in May, Reagan Republicans not leading lo the Attorney summary judgment bas only backed their candiGeneral's civil case. been scheduled for Jan. dates with partisan literaSeveral former cus17. After a 45-year absence, hydroplane race fans and the lightning-fast boats they love to watch returned to Lake Coeur d'Alene. The Diamond Cup Regatta, a three-day extravaganza, was held during labor Day weekend just off Silver Beach. Organizers say the event GABE GREEN/Press attracted thousands of The No. 57 Fedco hydroplane, driven by Mark race fans to the Lake City. Evans with t he Evans Brothers Racing team, flies into turn No. 2 while performing a test run Aug. 30 on Lake Coeur d'Alene. Call for

ture, they also endorsed two candidates for the Kootenai Health Board of Directors. The group also backed two candjdates for the Post Falls School Board. All of the Reagan Republican candidates wound up losing the May elections except for those Post Falls candidates. They tried again in November during the city council and mayoral races in Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene. This lime they lost all of their races. A tide turned in 2013 making it much more difficult for the Republican club to dominate the local elections. Ward said during the school board and hospital district races, that a large number of new voters came into the race to oppose their candidates. The same thing happened in November. He said they do better in lowturnout elections. The loss appears to be attributable in part to the rise of a new Political Action Committee called see 2013, A3

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Balance North Idaho that was formed to support nonpartisan candidates.

Rise of the PACs It started in April when the Kootenai County· Reagan Republicans declared they were going to support partisan candidates for even the smallest taxing districts in Kootenai County. TheKCRRhas a Political Action Committee designed to financially support Republican candidates endorse by its club. That news prompted the formation of another PAC called Balance North Idaho, which founders say was formed to endorse and support qualified candidates for the nonpartisan elections regardless of the candidates' political affiliations. BNI was successful in battling back the KCRR endorsed candidates during the nonpartisan elections in May and November. But they were not alone. By the time the city elections came around in November, A total of eight PACs had formed or engaged in the nonpartisan race for the first time. They included Reclaim North Idaho, Coeur d'Alene Fire PAC, Truth North Idaho, Kootenai Fire and Rescue Local 2856 PAC, Professional Firefighters Association and Coeur d'Alene Peace Officers Association.

sioners decided to toss out the roughly $400,000 effort and start over. It started in June when the county commissioners asked its planning and zoning commission to begin holding hearings to adopt the new land use codes. Opposition was brewing, however, and the first public hearing - in a series of public hearings on the issue - was shut down by the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department because the hearing room was over capacity with protesters. The county commissioners suspended the rest of the hearings, and later decided to start over to create a more acceptable land use code. The county planning commission just began that effort in November, and is hoping to have a new code completed by late summer of 2014.

Cd'A, Post Falls mayors give way to new leaders

Coeur d'Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem and Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin decided to not seek re-election during November's election. Steve Widmyer was elected Coeur d'Alene's next mayor, defeating Mary Souza and Joe Kunka. Ron Jacobson, a Post Falls City Council member, was elected that city's mayor over Kerri Thoreson, another·council member. Widmyer and Jacobson will take office in January. Bloem is Coeur ULUC tossed out d'Alene's only three-terin After several years of mayor and its only female piecing together its new mayor. Larkin has been Post Falls' mayor for 13 Unified Land Use Code, Kootenai County commis- years, longer than any

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Jenny Vanderhoef, left, and Erin Lyke, debate their position in support of non-discrimination regulations with two individuals who refused to give their names and do not support the regulations. Due to a maximum capacity of attendance at the June 5 meeting, many had to wait outside the city council meeting at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library until space was available in the library's community room .

of the city's previous 35 mayors.

ing, employmenl and public accommodation. The council voted 5-1 to adopt the ordinanc Anti• after five hours of public discrimination testimony and debate, debate during a meeting that One of the most conattracted nearly 400 tentious issues considpeople lo Coeur d'Alene red by Coeur d'Alene Public Library. Attendees City Council members in weighed in on both sides 013 was the anti-discrim- of the issue. ination ordinance they Coeur d'Alene and voted to put on the books other cities in Idaho in June. have adopted· similar The municipal law ordinances because lhe protects lesbians, gays, state's human rights laws bisexuals and transge nder do not include langu ag people from discriminathat protects individuals tion when seekinR" housfrom discrimination du

to sexual orientation, and legislators have not been willing to change the law at the state level.

attended a memorial service held the Saturday befor Christmas County clerk's at the Lions death Grand The community was Pavilion at surprised and saddened Q'emiln Park in Post by the unexpected death FaUs. of Kootenaj County Clerk The Kootenai County Cliff Hayes. The 62-year- commissioners subseold died al his home near quently appointed Jim Post Falls on Dec. 12. Brannon to serve as Hayes served as Post interim clerk. He wi ll Falls police chief for 22 comple te the final year years before he was elecl- Hayes· term. The position d county clerk. will be on the ballot in More than 300 peopl November.

A look back at w-hat -was bnportant during2013 Today, the editorial board looks back with excerpts from editorials in 2013. Jan.12 - On the prospect of legal challenges to voter-approved charter schqols: ''Unfortunately, more battles could be looming, because the state teachers union remains miffed, and the state schools chief isn't satisfied with his non-role. They may be tempted to team up and take the initiative to court. We suggest they sit tight and give this idea a chance." March 7 - On the Use ofForce Commission's recommendations for the Spokane Police Department: "The panel issued many recommendations, and some of the ones that stand out to us are: the use of body cameras to record police interactions with the public, giving the office of the ombudsman investigatory powers, forming a citizens advisory board 'for the ombudsman, pursuing accreditation for police practices, training to help officers de-escalate confrontations with the mentally ill, and increased transparency during collective bargaining." May 31 - On charges being filed against Gail Gerlach, who shot and killed a man stealing his SUV: 'We do support the charge. It wasn't murder, but it does appear to be excessive." June 6 - On the Coeur d'Alene City Council passing an ordinance that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation: "Thus, the Lake City struck another blow for human rights, just as it did with its resistance to the white supremacists who tried to turn this scenic enclave into their ugly bunker of hate." July 5 - On Washington state's

; first tuition freeze in 27 years: "To get an idea of just how long ago it was when tuition last went unchanged: Ronald Reagan was the president and Booth Gardner was the governor. ... The hot movie was 'Top Gun,' which could be seen for $2.75." Aug. 9 - On Spokane Mayor David Condon's plan to hire 25 police officers: "The new police positions offer the opportunity to install a two-tier salary system in which new hires are brought in at wages that reflect local economic reality. This should be done with firefighters, too." Oct. 20 - On the death offormer U.S. House Speaker Tom Foley: "Along with Montanan Mike Mansfield and Idaho's Cecil Andrus, he was among a cluster of Northwest politicians of his time who exem.plified public service of the highest order." Oct. 22 - On Initiative 522. "1-S22 is a potentially good idea wrapped in very bad law-making. Labeling is already out there for consumers who want it and for producers who want to sell to them." Oct. 27 - On the botched rollout of the health care exchanges: "The federal government created a mandate for uninsured people to purchase health insurance online, set up a virtual store and then failed to unlock the door for most customers. Is this any way to run the signature legislative achievement of President Barack Obama?" Nov. 19 - On the Senate proposal to fully fund completion of the North Spokane Corridor: "This is the exit strategy we have been looking for." Dec. I - On the opening of the $80 million Washington State University Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences Building: "This is an investment that will pay dividends for generations."

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Human relations task force to host annual gala on Jan. 18 COEUR d'ALENE The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations will hold its annual Gala on Jan. 18. The event will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Human Rights Education Center, 414 W. Mullan St., in Coeur d'Alene. Tickets for the event

are $40 per person. The event will include a variety of foods, fine wines and music. There will also be a silent and live auction. Some of the bigger auction items are two full-page ads in the Cd'A Press, tickets to the Gonzaga basketball game, a color ad in the Hagadone

Black Book, plus many more. Former Coeur d'Alene City Councilman Mike Kennedy will be the auctioneer according to Marshall Mend. "Randy Shaw will also be there," Mend said. "It should be a great event" For ticket information call 208-76!>-3932

SECTION B I SUNDAY, JANUARY 12, 2014

WWW.SPOKESMAN.COM/PICTURE-STORIES

VIEW PHOTOS OF PEOPLE, HAPPENINGS

ÂˇFormer CdA mayor~s dilemma recast in play HUCKLEBERRIES he play "Coeur d'Alene" by Arizonan Lisa Jayne is based on events in the Lake City in 1998 when Steve Judy was a 27-year-o~d mayor. It focuses on J udy's handling of a request from the Aryan Nations to stage a parade in downtown Coeur d'Alene. The names have changed. But you can recognize some of the charaC'ters. "Thomas Metzler'' is former Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler. ''Danny White" is human-rights activist Tony Stewart. Judy and his wife, Mich elle, are identified under

DAVE OLI VERIA

Âˇtheir own names. The dialogue and situations in the script are plausible or mirror what happened. Except the part about the lemons-to-lemonade drive. Remember? The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations used the neo-Nazi parade to raise money for human rights by collecting pledges for every minute that the goose-steppers walked.

On the W eb: Follow Dave Oliveria's North Idaho blog, Huckleberries online, at www.

spokesman.com/hbo.

In the play, Judy eagerly embraces the idea. In reality, I remember Judy fretting over coffee with me at the Ironwood Square Starbucks. He wondered if he could trust "Democrats" like Stewart and local human r ightists to take an apolitical approach to the lemons-to-lemonade drive. Judy

was a staunch Republican. The task force has always made dominant Republicans in Coeur d'Alene nervous. Ultimately, Judy did the right thing and welcomed the lemons-to-lemonade gambit The Sieg Heilers raised $35,000 for human rights by marching 27 minutes. That's the important part. '

Rattled '.Bonner County instructor Rick Price sums up well the calamity that bas hit the Sandpoint area: "Sandpoint is See OLIVERI A, 8 2

Contact the city desk: (509) 459-5403: fax (509) 459-5482: email news@spokesman.com

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Friday January 17, 2014

Living the dream

Photos by GAB E GREE N/Press

"Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty we are free at last," Rev. Happy Watkins, a well-known civil right s leader, recites from Martin Luther King Jr's iconic "I have a dream" speech for loca l fifth-graders at Lake City Community Church Thursday.

Stepping out (and up) for human rights a11d hearing about. Seit ice Elementary students dream lives on danced lo a rap song about peace. through local youth Post Palls and Coeur d'Alene kids read their essays about how By BRIAN WALKER they're inspired by the likes of Staff writer Martin Luther King Jr.. ,md Molala Yousafzai for laking a stand on human rights. . COEUR d'ALENE - Local They also heard the moving fifth-graders on Thursday voice of the Rev. Happy Walkins showed that human rights are worth dancingÂˇ, singing, speaking as be recited Khlg's famous "I

Martin Luther King's

Have a Dream" speech made 50 years ago. About 1,400 students attended the 29th annual MLKchildren's program sponsored by the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations and the Human Rights Education Institute. TI1e event was held in collaboration with the Post Falls and see RIGHTS, A2 Seltice Elementary fifthgraders perform a choreographed dance to WOP by J Dash at Lake City Community Church Thursday during a presentation on Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, hosted by the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations and the Human Rights Education Institute.

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Coeur d'Alene school districts at Lake City Community Church. The MLK holiday is Monday. Ponderosa student McKenna Harn read her essay about Yousafzai, a Pakistani girl who was shot for standing up for education for women. "She's a shining example of bravery," Harn said. "Molala's heart is filled with perseverance. She inspires路me to keep trying through hard times." Watkins encouraged students to carry on MLK's dream in their own lives. "If Martin Luther King was here today, he'd say, 'If you can't be a tree, be a bush. If you can't be a highway, be a trail,"' Watkins said. "He'd tell each of you to be the very best you can be."

West Ridge student 路路 Taylor Dolezal said King was brave for talcing a stand on civil rights. "He got through our thick skulls that treating black people badly was wrong," she said. Mullan Trail student Randy Bowman called King an "American hero." "No matter what, he never gave up," Bowman said. "He never threatened .people or harmed people. He was a peaceful man." 路 The MLK program has been presented to 36,400 local kids over the years, said Tony Stewart, a founder of the human relations task force. "Kids from that first year are in their 30s and th~y now have kids who attend the program," Stewart said. "When a child reads his or her essay to other children, that's powerful."