The River Journal November 2010

Because there’s more to life than bad news

A News MAGAZINE Worth Wading Through

Let it Snow

winter sport fans say

Local News • Environment • Opinion • People • Hiking • Veterans • Humor • Politics

November 2010 | FREE | www.RiverJournal.com

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Nov 26 - Jan 1

November 2010

The helping hands of hospice (p 2) Opportunities for winter fun (p 5) Flu Season arrives (p.7)

Departments Editorial 11..........Wellness 12-14......Outdoors 16..........Politics 18..........Education 20..........Veterans 21..........Sandpoint Calendar 22..........Faith 24-25......Other Worlds 26..........Obituaries 27..........Humor

9 Love Notes Becoming a Sounder 15 Currents Fungus among us 17 Politically Incorrect A mandate for destruction 19 The Scenic Route Don’t do it, Bambi 23 The Hawk’s Nest The trail goes up 27 From the Mouth of the River An election nightmare

Cover: Powder hounds got a promise of what’s to come in late October as close to a foot of snow blanketed the high country, and Sandii Mellen couldn’t resist getting out into it. She snapped this great shot of a larch tree coated in snow. See page 5 for a list of what to enjoy this winter.

Internet.... Everywhere

THE RIVER JOURNAL A News Magazine Worth Wading Through ~just going with the flow~ P.O. Box 151•Clark Fork, ID 83811 www.RiverJournal.com•208.255.6957

SALES Call 208.255.6957 or email trish@riverjournal.com

PRESS RELEASES (Email only) to editorial@riverjournal.com

STAFF Calm Center of Tranquility Trish Gannon-trish@riverjournal.com

Ministry of Truth and Propaganda Jody Forest joe@riverjournal.com

Cartoonists Scott Clawson, Matt Davidson

Regular Contributors

Desire Aguirre; Scott Clawson; Sandy Compton; Marylyn Cork; Dick Cvitanich; Idaho Rep. George Eskridge; Lawrence Fury; Dustin Gannon; Matt Haag; Ernie Hawks; Lt. Cary Kelly; Marianne Love; Kathy Osborne; Gary Payton; Boots Reynolds; Sandpoint Wellness Council; Lou Springer; Mike Turnlund; Michael White

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Contents of the River Journal are copyright 2010.

Reproduction of any material, including original artwork and advertising, is prohibited. The River Journal is published the first week of each month and is distributed in over 16 communities in Sanders County, Montana, and Bonner, Boundary and Kootenai counties in Idaho. The River Journal is printed on 40 percent recycled paper with soy-based ink. We appreciate your efforts to recycle.

“

MIRACLES HAPPEN every day”

Death is certain. The timing isn’t. But it is guaranteed. One day you are going to die. So am I. Nonetheless, death—even just thoughts about death—is something most of us prefer to avoid.

And hospice is undeniably linked with death. After all, in order to be eligible for services, a person must be in a stage of disease for which medicine can no longer offer an effective treatment, and that disease must be progressive, whereby if progression continues at the current rate, death would be expected within six months to a year. “Hospice is a special concept of care designed to provide comfort and support to patients and their families when a life-limiting illness no longer responds to cure-oriented treatments,” says Hospice Foundation of America on their website.

Yet meet with hospice staff or volunteers, or talk with those who have utilized hospice services, and you discover death plays but a minor role; hospice, in practice, is all about life.

“It is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done,” said Darlene Coon, who has volunteered for Bonner General Hospital’s Home Health and Hospice Services for over a decade.

She came to it as do most volunteers, after having experienced it in her own life.

In 1996 her husband was unexpectedly killed in a car accident, and she signed up for a grief acceptance class hospice puts on that’s open to anyone in the community. The

by Trish Gannon

value she got from that led her to undertake hospice training as a caregiver (eight weeks of training consisting of one three-hour night each week), and ever since she has worked in the homes of people diagnosed with terminal illness, helping them and those around them come to terms with this transition.

“Each loss is so different,” she explained, “but I realized it’s a help to have someone there who’s walked that path. It’s such a privilege that people allow you to do that.”

Darlene says that true friendship and affection occurs when volunteers become involved at such an intimate time in a person’s life, and “I wouldn’t miss that caring for anything.”

Hospice is merely a term describing a type of end-life care, and can be provided from a range of organizations: in this area, there are both for-profit and non-profit hospice organizations. Bonner Community Hospice and Home Health Care, which operates under the aegis of Bonner General Hospital, is a nonprofit organization funded partly through the hospital, partly through donations from those in the community, and partly by the reimbursements they receive through Medicare. Throughout the U.S. hospice care is a funded benefit through Medicare/Medicaid for those with a prognosis of six months or less of life, and recent studies show that one of four Medicare patients utilize hospice services.

Many think of hospice as a program that offers emotional support to those with terminal illness, and it does, but hospice

YOU COULD BE HERE

today is an integrated program that offers much more than just emotional support; the list of hospice services covers doctors, nurses, home health aides, medical equipment and supplies, spiritual, dietary and other counseling, continuous care during crisis periods, bereavement services and trained volunteers who help in the home. Hospice isn’t supplementary support for patients who are desperately ill; hospice care actually supplants regular medical care, empowering the patient themselves (along with medical staff) to determine what treatment they want as they near the end of life. This not only improves the patient experience but, according to a 2007 Duke University study of hospice care, reduces end-of-life medical costs by an average of $2,309 per hospice beneficiary.

“Given that hospice has been widely demonstrated to improve quality of life of patients and families... the Medicare program appears to have a rare situation whereby something that improves quality of life also appears to reduce costs,” writes lead author Don H. Taylor, Jr., assistant professor of public policy at Duke’s Sanford Institute of Public Policy.

It is still, however, a small percentage of patients who choose to utilize the services of hospice; at Bonner Home Health and Hospice Services, manager Tami Feyen estimates only about 13 percent of those who die in the community were hospice patients. That is likely due, in part, to the government care

30TH Annual

HOLLY EVE Saturday, Nov. 20 • 6 pm Sandpoint Event Center

Trips • Jewelry • Artwork • Gift Baskets •Gift Certificates • More!

Benefits the Festival at Sandpoint, the Panida Theater, Pend Oreille Arts Council, Community Cancer Services and Bonner Community Hospice

• Complimentary Champagne & Hors d’oeuvres • Live Auction • Silent Auction • Fashion Show • Live performances by Danceworks & Company, Sandpoint High School Performing Choir and Men’s Choir, harpist Donna Brosh and Sandpoint Youth Orchestra

Tickets are $25 and available at Eve’s Leaves, the Festival at Sandpoint Page | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. November Office and 11| Panhandle State2010 Bank

reimbursement requirement that a person choosing hospice services must relinquish curative medical care for their ailment.

That’s a requirement that may be eliminated in the future: The Affordable Care Act (often referred to derisively as “Obama Care”) has eliminated that requirement for children enrolled in either Medicaid or CHIPS, and creates demonstration projects to evaluate the impact of providing the same to Medicare patients. (Unfortunately, our neighbors in the state of Washington have decided that, as of January 1, all hospice benefits provided under Medicaid will be discontinued.)

Choosing hospice is a difficult place for most people to reach: it’s an acknowledgement that medically, there is nothing left to be done that offers a realistic expectation of increasing life expectancy.

“It’s a fearful unknown,” said Dr. Nancy Copeland-Payton. Dr. Nancy is a local Presbyterian pastor, medical doctor, and author of “The Losses of Our Lives,” a book that explores the issues of grief and loss. She muses that the “very presence of hospice” brings the reality of death to the forefront in a way we’re not always comfortable with acknowledging; she adds, however, that hospice care, “is a very quiet way of bringing us back to the natural process [of death],” and that, “when it’s time, [hospice] restores the sense of dignity... to death.”

Patients can enter hospice via two routes: either their physician recommends it, or the patient and/or family members can request services, though an individual must have a doctor’s referral before hospice services can be provided. Once accepted into the program, hospice staff meets with the patient’s medical team to discuss medical history, current symptoms and prognosis.

Then a meeting is held with the patient and the patient’s support team (family and friends who will be a part of the process) to develop a plan of care; this covers everything from pain management to equipment needs to what type of emotional support will be required.

In hospice care, priorities change. Standard medical care focuses on extending life, and those treatments can sometimes sacrifice the quality of life right

now in favor of a perceived or hoped-for gain in life extension. With hospice, the focus is on the full quality of life right now, regardless of whether a particular treatment or response will extend or shorten the time frame of that life.

Surprisingly often, this focus ends up extending life; for example, a study published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management (Sept. 2004) stated, “Furthermore, for certain well-defined terminally ill populations, among the patients who died, patients who choose hospice care live longer on average than similar patients who do not choose hospice care.”

“It’s all driven by the client,” explained Tami Feyen, who looks at hospice care as an immensely empowering process for patients who might be seen to have little power at all. “It’s all about what a client wants to accomplish in the time they have left; it’s about living their life.”

What someone in hospice might want to accomplish varies as widely as the people themselves. “Someone might want to take one last boat ride on Lake Pend Oreille,” said Tami. “Or they might want to make amends with family members they’re estranged from.” There might be legal or financial issues to be resolved, or a garden to plant, or family members out of the area the person wants to reconnect with. “Sometimes people want to do a life review; talk about what they’ve achieved in their life. We had one client, a lifelong native, who even wrote a book. We do whatever we can to help people accomplish their goals,” Tami said, and mentioned that the book written is soon to be published.

Surveys have shown the top priorities of patients with a terminal illness are

not necessarily medical issues, but instead focus on quality of life issues like being with family, having the touch of others, being mentally aware, and not becoming a burden to others.

There is, of course, much more hospice provides for clients. There are trained nurses who help clients make medication decisions (how much painkiller?), and volunteers who arrange for palliative equipment (hospital beds, walkers and the like), who sit with the patient so that caregivers can run errands, who run interference with well-meaning family and friends so that the client’s wishes are honored. But again and again, be it hospice staff or volunteer, the conversation keeps coming back around to that one-onone connection with the client themselves.

“Sometimes I’m just an ear to listen,” said Darlene. “After all, you’re a new audience— you’ve never heard their stories before.

This is such a nice way to give back to your community, by giving your time to someone like this.”

It’s an experience that will change you— in a positive way—forever. “We see miracles happen every day,” Tami said with a smile.

Sometimes they are true miracles— events with no explanation—like patients who seem to be able to determine the time they will die, holding on until the time is right for them to go. Sometimes the miracle extends to recovery. “We call them Continued on next page

November 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| Page

Hospice- Cont’d from previous page graduates,” said Susan Benesh, the volunteer and bereavement coordinator for Bonner Community Hospice. Mostly, however, they are miracles of love. “Seeing families offer such loving care,” Susan offered. “It really is a miracle.”

Susan oversees about 50 regular volunteers in their hospice program, though she wouldn’t mind getting another 25 or 30 in the program. Someone who wants to volunteer must go through an application process that includes background checks, TB testing, reference checks, training and a post-training evaluation. “We have huge longevity in our volunteers,” said Tami, “and most of them come to us because, many times, hospice has touched their lives in some way.”

Although Medicare/Medicaid provides reimbursement for hospice care, that reimbursement averages only about $135 a day. A ‘typical’ patient may require, for example, a hospital bed to enable them to sleep sitting up; a morphine pump for controlling pain; medicines to cope with symptoms common to end of life (for example, dry mouth) along with medicines specific to their own illness. In addition, our local nonprofit hospice provides bereavement support to the family and friends of a terminally ill patient, support that’s available up to a year after the patient dies. This bereavement support, while required of non-profit hospice programs, is not funded at all. It’s easy to see why a non-profit hospice must also rely on donations in order to provide their services.

Surprisingly, however, Bonner Home Health and Hospice Services has no major corporate sponsorship. Its largest, regular donation comes from the Holly Eve Foundation, which each November puts on a live and silent auction, punctuated by

a fashion show and complimentary hors d’oeuvres, to raise money for hospice along with other programs in the community. The majority of the donations the BGH hospice receives come from those who have been touched in some way by the services hospice provides.

“We would love to get more donations,” Tami acknowledged, and mentioned that several of their volunteers actually spend their time with hospice actively seeking donations. “What we’d really like,” she added, “is for people to come to us sooner.”

Although hospice services are available to those with a diagnosis of six months to one year of remaining life currently, nationwide, the average length of time on hospice is just 14 to 20 days. “Unfortunately,” said Tami, “hospice tends to be viewed as giving up” And that’s not just by patients; doctors themselves may be reluctant to refer a patient to hospice services. Not only do doctors tend to overestimate patient survival times, they are often reluctant to acknowledge that there may be nothing further they can do.

After all, medicine is not an exact science; what if they’re wrong?

“People hear hospice and think death,” said Tami. “But that’s not the case. People should hear hospice and think life.”

Bonner General Hospital’s Home Health and Hospice Services holds two fundraisers each year: an annual rose sale (already over by press time) and the Memorial Tree of Lights, to be held December 5 at 4 pm this year. Make a donation to hospice (of any amount) and a light will be added to the tree in memory of your loved one. The ceremony takes place at four locations simultaneously: the Brown House in Sandpoint just north of Bonner General Hospital, the Free Methodist Church in Bonners Ferry, the Priest River Library and the Catholic Church in Priest Lake.

Although November is national hospice month, this story wasn’t written with that in mind. My good friend (and the best godmother to ever exist) Susan d’Aoust, in one of her last requests to me before she died, asked that I write this story. She wanted me to inform people of the services that hospice provides and to encourage our community to support this program. Susan was a tireless supporter of programs to benefit the community, and I was not surprised that even when facing death herself, she was continuing to focus on improving ours. If you are a local business, please consider adding a donation to hospice to your regular budget for charitable giving. If you’re a resident, please consider supporting this program that, ultimately, can be of benefit to each and every one of us who will eventually die. Tell them that Susan sent you.

You can reach Bonner General’s Home Health and Hospice Services at 208-265-1007 or simply mail a check to PO Box 1448, Sandpoint, ID 83864.

When someone you care about is diagnosed as terminally ill: •

When you hear that someone you know is dying, it’s typical to want to do something to help, or to ‘rush to the bedside.’

Remember to ask, first. Patients and families have different needs. Don’t take it personally if they don’t want you to stop by—energy levels can be limited.

Simply offer your help; if it’s needed, the family will let you know.

•

Don’t be afraid. Often times we find ourselves avoiding someone who has a terminal diagnosis because “we don’t know what to say.” Our role at this time is simply to listen: the patient or the family will let you know what they want you to say, and it might be nothing at all.

•

Avoid offering advice. We all have personal opinions, ranging from diet to medical options to how to live our everyday life and again arising out of our desire to help, it can be hard to refrain from sharing those opinions. But wait. If your opinion is wanted, it will be asked for. Accept the choices a patient makes, even if they’re choices you believe you would not make yourself. This is their journey, not yours.

•

Educate yourself. Whether the patient and/or their family reaches out to you or not, you will be better able to cope if you’ve taken the time to learn about what this experience is like. Stop and visit your local hospice center for tips on understanding the issues that face those who must live with a diagnosis of terminal illness.

Page | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| November 2010

Love it or hate it, La Nina promises snow October 26. Most area residents woke up to a sodden landscape, the end result of several days of heavy rain. And then Facebook exploded as locals began uploading pictures of Schweitzer.

“Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!” caroled powder lovers as they happily ‘borrowed’ pictures from Schweitzer Mountain Resort to post. About ten inches of snow in the village, over a foot at the top and skiers were itching to grab their poles and hit the slopes.

La Nina is the term used when Pacific Ocean temperatures in the region of the equator are lower than normal, creating a weather pattern of cooler and wetter weather. In our area, that usually means snow. Lots of it.

For those who love winter activities, that’s good news. For those who don’t, now might be a good time to learn to love winter activities. And there are enough of those to tempt many outside.

Downhill skiing and snowboarding is, of course, the one that most people talk about and when skiing or snowboarding is the topic, Schweitzer is the word on everyone’s lips.

With almost 3,000 skiable acres, Schweitzer Mountain Resort is the favored playground for many locals.

If you’re not a season pass holder, a great way to experience the mountain is what they call “the Sunday Solution.” With only three black-out days during the season, skiers can go online and purchase a day’s lift ticket for $25 (it’s $35 if you wait ‘til you’re on the mountain and purchase at the window). The slopes open for these ticket holders at 12:30, offering hours of fun. Schweitzer says this is their way of “saying thank you” to the locals.

Downhill skiers who want a change of scenery can also visit Silver Mountain in Kellogg, 49 North in Chewelah, or Mt Spokane in Spokane.

Visit schweitzer.com, silvermt.com,

mtspokane.com or ski49n.com for info.

Snow doesn’t stop hardy hikers from getting out into the mountains, though more than a few inches and you’ll want some snowshoes. Jim and Betsy Fulling, who own Mountain Stove and Spa in Sandpoint, are inveterate hikers who almost never miss a Monday out in the woods. Betsy’s “trip reports” are available online at our River Journal website (riverjournal.com, then click ‘outdoors>hiking>mountain walkers), and if you’re not quite ready to head into a winter wonderland on your own, you can travel vicariously with the pair as they detail the view from the top regardless of the weather.

For those slightly less adventurous souls not ready to careen down the side of a mountain on skis, the area also boasts several groomed cross-country trails. The local ski areas are one place to start, but there are plenty of others. A catalog of Nordic trails is available from Idaho’s Department of Parks and Recreation, or consider a $25 state parks annual passport for access to trails at areas like Round Lake and Priest Lake. The $25 “Park and Ski” pass gets you access to 11 back country sites across the state.

If you don’t own cross country skis or snowshoes, stop in at any winter sports shop to inquire about rentals.

There are many in the area who like a little power with their powder, and there are ample opportunities for snowmobiling. In fact, Idaho is said to have more groomed snowmobile trails than any other western state. Stop in at your local Forest Service office to find out which area trails are open to snowmobiles.

For the high country fan, there’s no better opportunity than Boundary County, where there are many trails open to take you up over 7,000 feet. Going south, there’s probably no place more welcoming than Wallace, Idaho, where the town encourages you to ride your

snowmobile within the city limits. Snowmobile rentals are available just about everywhere.

Anyone heading into the high country should educate themselves about avalanche dangers. Online, sandpointwinterriders.org posts a weekly ‘avalanche report’ as does the Idaho Panhandle National Forest (http:// tinyurl.com/2eq5cxq). You can also call 208765-7323.

Ice skating fans don’t have a lot of opportunities in the area, and certainly not early in the season, but if the weather is cold enough for long enough, some of the small area lakes offer a possible opportunity. If you’re not sure about the ice, call your local Forest Service office to find out where it might be safe.

When the snow is deep and the air is cold it takes a certain amount of fortitude to head out and enjoy the outdoors. There are some people for whom sking, snowmobiling, skating or showshoeing holds no allure.

For them, there is one winter activity that almost everyone can enjoy—experiencing the season while submerged to the neck in warm, lovely water. That’s right—winter at the hot springs!

And there’s no better opportunity to be found than just down the road in Montana.

Visit the appropriately named town of Hot Springs, or explore the adventure waiting for you just east of Plains in the even more appropriately named Paradise, Montana.

So if La Nina brings us a plethora of powder this year, take the chance to get out and enjoy it. You may find yourself agreeing with J.B. Priestley, who said “The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?”

-Trish Gannon

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Grunberg Schloss Collector’s Cabinet 210 C TRIANGLE DRIVE, PONDERAY • 208-263-7871• MON-FRI OR CALL FOR APPT November 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| Page

Eurythmy The Inland Isle Eurythmists, a professional eurythmy performing troupe, is touring the Northwest this fall and will be performing at the Panida Theater in Sandpoint on Wednesday, November 17. There will be a free children’s performance of Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes” at 9 am. A dramatic adult performance will be performed at 7 pm and is entitled, “Resurrection.” It includes both music and speech pieces, exploring the theme of how striving individuals can rise from their imperfections toward their higher humanity.

The program will include selections from the works of Rudolf Steiner, T.S. Eliot, Christopher Fry, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Debussy, and other great artists.

Ticket prices for the evening performance are $10 for adults and $5 for students (12 & older), and are available at Eve’s Leaves, Monarch Mountain Coffee and Eichardt’s Pub in Sandpoint, or at the door.

All members of the Inland Isle Eurythmists are graduates of The American Eurythmy School in Weed, California, and many are teachers of eurythmy. One of the troupe members is a North Idaho native, Nolan Clark, son of Laura Clark, Sandpoint, and another member, Shannon Weiller, is the part time eurythmy teacher at the Sandpoint Waldorf School. In addition to their performances, the troupe will be visiting several Sandpoint area schools for further eurythmy classes and demonstrations.

Adult classes are offered in conjunction with the eurythmy classes at the Sandpoint Waldorf School. This program is being sponsored in part by the Sandpoint Waldorf School and by many generous individual donors. Donations are still being accepted to help make possible this special offering to the community.

If you have any questions or need additional information, or wish to make a donation, please contact Susan Morton at 263-8345.

-Andrea Lyman

Kinnikinnick The November 27 Kinnikinnick Native Plant Society presentation, co-sponsored by the city of Sandpoint Parks and Recreation Department, will feature Jennifer CostichThompson botanist for the North (Kaniksu) Zone—Idaho Panhandle National Forests.

Jennifer will speak about “Results of 2010 Botanical Surveys and Monitoring.” This event begins at 9:45 am in the Sandpoint Community Hall and is open to the public, free of charge.

Due to the infusion of some grant money which is not normally available, the North Zone Botany Crew was really a crew this summer! In addition to their typical twobotanist field crew, four additional plant biological technicians lent some sharp eyes in the woods and “boots on the ground.” The result was not only a large amount of acreage covered for typical Forest Service work, but also the completion of several pro-active surveys in special ecotypes, some interesting monitoring projects, and the beginning of a new native plant procurement plan for restoration work. Jennifer looks forward to sharing the results of some interesting finds.

The Mission of the Kinnikinnick Native Plant Society is to foster an understanding and appreciation of native flora and its habitats in the Panhandle area of North Idaho, to advocate the conservation of this rich natural heritage for future generations, to encourage the responsible use of native plants in landscaping and restoration, and to educate youth and the general public in the value of the native flora and their habitats.

For more information visit their website at NativePlantSociety.org

Idaho Trails The Idaho Trails Association, is just starting. For some this may be news; others may already know something about this new organization. The group has a strong and motivated board of directors and some exciting support and plans for the future.

Working with volunteers and support from the Forest Service, their first two “pilot” projects this summer were successes. Recent grants from the Forest Service’s regional offices, REI and the American Hiking Association let them go into a fall strategic planning session with a great deal of enthusiasm!

The core mission is to build community among hikers, provide for trail stewardship with an emphasis on back country and wilderness trail maintenance, and to be a positive voice for Idaho Trails and back country recreation. Their first newsletter is now online. You can download it, and find out more about ITA, from their website at IdahoTrailsAssociation.org.

Ski Swap If you’re looking for some great deals on snow gear—from skis and snowboards to a huge variety of winter recreational equipment and clothing—don’t miss the SARS Annual Ski Swap on Saturday, November 13 from 9 am to 2 pm. An amazing amount of of new and used equipment and clothing will be available at greatly reduced prices. Highly organized with several professionals on hand for buying assistance. Outfit the entire family—skis, snowboards, boots, poles, bindings, helmets, hates, goggles, gloves, jackets, pants, socks, and more. Cash, check or credit cards accepted. Admission fees are $2 per person or $5 per family. Parking is free.

Angels Over Sandpoint Holiday Gift Cards for 2010

This season, give the gift that helps build community. Each card you purchase to send to friends, family & business associates is a donation to the Angels Over Sandpoint, Bonner County’s favorite charitable organization. The Angels are an all-volunteer grassroots group that provides immediate financial support & assistance to Bonner County residents. This year’s cards feature artwork by Amy Tessier.

208 597-3670 or email AngelsOverSandpoint@gmail. com for more information

Purchase your cards at Petal Talk on Cedar St. In Sandpoint, or at Mad Mike’s Coffee Shop at the corner of Bridge St. And First Ave in Sandpoint CARDS ARE $10 EA.

Page | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| November 2010

Just the VAX, ma’am Aubrey Updike was 27 years old when she came down with mild flu symptoms; mostly she was achy and tired. But after a week, she became delirious and her husband rushed her to the hospital, where she would stay for the next four months. Six times her lungs collapsed, she had a nearfatal seizure, and spent five weeks in coma.

When she went in to the hospital she was almost seven months pregnant. Before she got out, she learned her baby had died. Six months after that, she was still recovering physically and mentally.

Jamie Updike was 29 weeks pregnant when she went to the hospital with flu symptoms, but her story went the other way. Her baby Jack was born two months premature, and she got to hold him just once before she herself died from a virus that many still call “just the flu.”

Joey Holt, age 7, was sent home from school with a fever on a Monday. He seemed to get better but on Thursday he took a turn for the worse, and died later that day.

Max Gomez was five years old and fine on Friday, but dead on Monday. Conner Hainer-Zavarell was 7 months old when he died. Andrea Canet, a 28-year-old from Nampa, Idaho, also died from last year’s H1N1 swine flu.

People die every year from the flu, of course, but what was striking about the A/H1N1 swine flu that swept the globe last year was its affinity for a new target­­—the young. Instead of causing severe illness mostly in those over the age of 65, as generally happens with the seasonal flu, last year’s virus was much riskier for children, young adults and pregnant women.

According to the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota more than 85 percent of the

deaths from A/H1N1 were in people younger than age 60; the mean age of those who died was 37.4, compared with a mean age of those who die from seasonal flu of 76.

Which is why the CDC is recommending the flu vaccine for all age groups this year.

This year’s flu vaccine combines antigens for A/H1N1, A/H3N3 and the B/Brisbane virus.

There is a lot of misinformation circulating regarding the 2010/2011 flu vaccine, so a few points to keep in mind.

• If you are concerned about getting a flu vaccine containing thimerosal (a preservative), note that you can request that the flu vaccine you receive be thimerosal-free. It is worth noting that when thimerosal is included in the flu vaccine, it is present in the form of ethyl mercury, in the amount of 25 micrograms of mercury per 0.5 mL dose. Compare that with the 38.4 micrograms of methyl mercury contained in just two ounces of tuna fish.

• If you’re concerned about the inclusion of squalene as an adjuvant in the flu vaccine, don’t be. It is not (and never has been) an ingredient in the flu vaccine.

• If you’re concerned that receiving the flu vaccine might make you more susceptible to getting the flu, don’t be. The Canadian study commonly referenced in regard to this myth involved the 2008 seasonal flu vaccine (not the vaccine currently available) and the jury is still out on that one. A total of seven studies gave mixed results: two studies showed an increased risk of getting H1N1 after receiving the 2008 vaccine, four showed no difference,

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and two studies showed those who received the 2008 flu vaccine had a ­lower risk of contracting the H1N1 flu.

If you’re concerned about possible side effects from the flu vaccine, understand your risk profile. If you’re allergic to eggs (vaccines are currently grown in eggs) or if you have a fever, or if you’ve previously had a bad reaction to a vaccine, then you should not vaccinate yourself against the flu this year. If those constraints do not apply, then understand that the risk of a bad reaction to a flu vaccine is vanishingly small. Quite simply, vaccines are more heavily tested for safety than nearly anything else we eat, drink, or inject in medicine.

Feelin’ Good in Clark Fork?

My friend John Monks, owner of Monks Hydro-Geoscience, a ground water consulting firm located in Sandpoint, sent me this following tidbit which gives one some food for thought.

“I saw something on the Internet about how “they” were going to start putting lithium into “our” water to keep us happy during these tough economic times. [Note: urban legend, folks.] I took a look at the NURE geochemical database and found that, in the general Clark Fork-Kootenai watersheds, 2,314 water samples had a mean Li concentration of 6.5 pbb and ranged from 0.898 ppb to 620 ppb. It’s been there all along!”

-Trish Gannon

There’s Hope if you need physical therapy.

There’s also Sandpoint.

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Hope: 264-5067 • Sandpoint: 265-8333 www.CaribouPHysicalTherapy.com

November 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| Page

Update on BLM Land Exchange There are currently two federal land exchanges pending which would reduce the percentage of public land in Bonner and Boundary counties; according to the proposals, a total of 7,800 acres of public forest land would be privatized. M3 (an Arizona-based real estate development corporation), the Idaho Forest Group and Western Pacific Timber would become larger land owners in our area.

Bonner and Boundary counties would receive about $.40 less per acre for property tax income after the federal public land becomes privatized as commercial timberland.

The North Idaho/Western Foothills Land Exchange involves up to 7,000 of acres of Bureau of Land Management land in Bonner and Boundary counties (a total of about to 8,500 of acres of BLM land in North Idaho) in exchange for roughly 11,000 acres near Boise. Public lands that would be privatized in the exchange include BLM parcels near the upper and lower Pack River, Lake Cocolalla, and the Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge.

The exchange has been modified since the River Journal’s August report, removing the more controversial 815 acres of BLM land that the real estate development corporation M3 would like to acquire for its planned 6,000 person subdivision near Boise.

The Coeur d’Alene BLM office has begun to assess the public lands here in Bonner and Boundary counties in preparation for legislation mandating the exchange.

Legislation is expected to be introduced to the U.S. Congress after the upcoming elections.

According to the Western Lands Project, a federal land exchange watchdog group, such land exchange legislation is often part of a Congressional Omnibus Lands Bill or a rider to a large appropriations bill.

The Four Rivers BLM office has begun to assess M3’s land that the public would receive in this exchange. The Field District Manager, Terry Humphrey, says that his office is not yet certain about the quality of the land, or how much the acquisition would cost taxpayers for maintaining and improving lands to satisfy federal public land management laws.

Proposed legislation mandating the exchange would prohibit the BLM from saying “no” to the deal, even if the BLM decides that the exchange is not in the public’s best interest Joe Hinson of the Northwest Natural Resource Group is facilitating the exchange and has been seeking the assistance of Congressman Walt Minnick for the legislation.

Hinson says “the delegation wants to wait until after the election to think about a discussion draft of legislation.” Congressman Walt Minnick is a former CEO of the Boise based lumber corporation TJ International, which was acquired by Weyerhauser in 2000.

The Upper Lochsa Land Exchange involves about 1,000 acres of Forest Service land in Bonner County, primarily along Hwy 41 north of Spirit Lake, and an additional 27,212 acres of Forest Service land in northern Idaho, in exchange for 39,371 acres land owned by Western Pacific Timber along Lolo Pass. The Forest Service seeks to acquire this land from Western Pacific in order to restore the terrestrial and aquatic habitats of the forest and watershed; Western Pacific Timber has refused Forest Service requests to purchase the land and requires that the land be exchanged for Forest Service parcels elsewhere in the region.

The Forest Service says it expects a Draft Environmental Impact Statement to be prepared by this upcoming spring; it was formerly scheduled to be completed by this past September. The proponents of the exchange, the Idaho Panhandle Forest Service and Western Pacific Timber, are not pursuing legislation to push through this exchange.

For more information about these

exchanges please check out the River Journal’s August issue feature “Say Bye Bye to lots of BLM land in North Idaho?” on our website at www.RiverJournal.com.

by Laura Roady

Montanans not Always Exempt

You’re in line at the store behind someone from Montana and you hear, when they check out, “I’m from Montana. I’m exempt from paying sales tax.” Is that true?

It’s certainly true if they’re within Montana’s borders, but here in Idaho it’s another story. According to Dan John, a tax policy supervisor with the Idaho State Tax Commission, Montana residents are only exempt from Idaho sales tax in certain specified situations.

Idaho Code (63-3622R) offers an exemption for motor vehicles, ATVs, snowmobiles, motorcycles, trailers and “vessels” as long as the vehicle is titled and registered in another state. Interestingly, sales tax will be owed regardless if the vehicle in question is used in Idaho for more than 60 days in any 12-month period. A similar exemption for aircraft is covered in Idaho Code at 63-3622GG. Lastly, Montana building contractors may purchase building materials without paying sales tax (Idaho Code § 63-3622B) as long as those materials are used in a construction project in a state where such materials are exempt from sales tax.

These, then, are the total sales tax exemptions available to Montana residents when they’re making purchases in Idaho.

Groceries? Dog food? Home repair items or home furnishings? Sales tax is required to be collected on all of them, as well as anything else that is taxable within the state that’s not a part of the three exemptions stated.

“In a democracy, the individual enjoys not only the ultimate power but carries the ultimate responsibility.”

As your North Idaho area legislators, we thank all of you who took the time to vote in this year’s general election.

We appreciate the chance to serve your interests.

Paid for by the committee to re-elect Representative Dick Harwood, Representative Eric Anderson, the committee to re-elect Senator Shawn Keough, the committee to re-elect Representative George Eskridge and the committee to re-elect Senator Joyce Broadsword.

Page | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| November 2010

and

ing ater the d to n as ake ues

ore vey ater heir

A Sounder ‘til I Die I’m a Sounder ‘til I die.

I’m a Bulldog like anyone who grew up in Sandpoint.

Like most longtime Sandpoint natives, I also claim to be Packer, especially during this year when the region is putting forth an allout blitz for former Green Bay legendary guard and SHS alum Jerry Kramer to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. (Be sure to vote at www.krem.com.)

As a 1969 U of I grad, I’m a Vandal.

I’m a Bronco because of three BSU alums in the family.

I was a full-fledged Saint throughout last year’s NFL season and the Super Bowl. When you’re married to a Louisianan, you’ve got to be both a Saint and a Tiger. Bill’s mother earned her Master’s at LSU. I’m a ZAG because their games provide my therapy through the long winters. Besides, I’d probably have to go to confession if I did not support the Zags in this area.

My daughter lives in Seattle, so it’s imperative for me to be a Mariner, Seahawk and yes, now a Sounder.

Actually, my personal sports-fan plate is getting pretty full, but I’m still managing.

When I die, maybe my tombstone at Pack River Cemetery should be covered with decals representing all those mascots.

What does a ZAG look like anyway?

Actually, I became a full-fledged Sounder last month while celebrating my daughter Annie’s thirty-second birthday. The blueand-green Sounders flag flies from my car window during Seattle visits. Besides the flag, I have two spent tickets from seating areas at Quest Field to keep among my paper memorabilia.

This winter I plan to wear the pretty Sounders FX scarf Annie bought for me on her birthday. I reciprocated with a Sounders hat

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for her, which she immediately began wearing proudly. I also bought a refrigerator magnet, destined for Ruby, a local soccer lover, whose eyes lit up one day on a horseback ride when I told her about my upcoming plans to attend my first-ever Sounders match.

Yes, I’m even versed enough to call it a “match” and not a game.

Sounders home matches go far beyond 90 minutes’ worth of action on the field with agile, high-powered athletes running, kicking, falling (often feigning serious injury), cheering, jumping, bumping and even stomping off the field after being ejected by the referee.

The ball gets a lot of punishment too. At that wonderful, uproarious moment, when it sails past the opposing players and the evervigilant goalie into the sweetest spot ever for the offense, I’ll bet even the ball must be happy.

After all, it gets a rest while all those jubilant players, who’ve been kicking it and head-butting it toward a goal to score a point, take a moment to run, jump and hug in celebration.

I remember once, years ago during my soccer-mom days, when one of my son’s teammates kicked the ball into the sweet spot, past his own goalie. He did not celebrate. He had scored a point for the other team, and it was not a sweet day for that poor little guy. I felt so sorry for him I bought him a hamburger at McDonald’s.

I doubt the pros do that when one of their teammates screws up.

I have heard and now have learned firsthand that Seattle Sounders FX and their fans put on much more than the match whenever they play another team on the Quest Field home turf.

For many Sounders diehards, like my daughter who holds an inaugural season pass, each of these events is a meticulously timed and planned happening.

The match I attended, pitting the Sounders against a team from Costa Rica, had little impact on Seattle’s overall season success, so attendance was down.

Love Notes

by Marianne Love

Annie was disappointed about that because she had wanted me to get the full flavor of Pioneer Square turning into a sea of humanity donned in blue-and-green scarves, jerseys, hoodies and even wigs.

When her friend Miriam comes to matches, Annie wears a florescent blue wig to go with Miriam’s green hairpiece.

The next challenge during pre-match is to make it through the door at Fuel. It’s the sports bar with the pig statue outside.

Inside, while tattooed waitresses wearing shorts and tank tops maintain a nonstop gait winding through the packed house with trays of brews and food. The noise level increases steadily as the next phase of Soundermania nears.

That’s the March to the Match. The Sounders have their own very entertaining and talented marching band. As the band plays on and assumes parade formation, fans assemble, ready to march while lifting scarves from their necks and holding them proudly while moving toward the stadium directly behind a row of twirling tuba players.

Once in the stadium, the real work begins for the diehards who stick together enroute to their seating area at one end of the playing field. It’s called a seating area, but these wild and raucous folks never sit down. In fact, while watching the action during the prematch and the first half, I concluded that the fans may just get more of a work-out than the players on the field.

They not only stand, but they also jump up and down a lot. They sway. They dance.

They stomp. They clap. They yell constantly.

Their arms must feel like falling off by the end of a match from the endless holding and twirling those scarves high in the air.

And their lungs! What punishment! Back in 1965, my classmates bestowed the honor of “Best School Spirit” on me during my senior year at Sandpoint High School.

In those days, I was a pretty active loud mouth when it came to cheering, and, yes, I yelled my lungs out, “We’re from Sandpoint, couldn’t be any prouder. If ya can’t hear us now, we’ll yell a little louder.”

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I wonder how these Sounders fans have any lungs left. From the time the match begins, their boisterous cheering never stops. The decibel level is significant.

Then there’s the content. Annie warned me that I might hear an F-bomb or two. Let’s just say that within the first 30 seconds of this crowd’s performance, our school principal Dick Sodorff would have been standing, glaring and shutting down the cheering section.

But these are not high school kids. In fact, I saw several heads and beards of gray among the predominantly college age to 30somethings.

Now that I think of it, I probably spent more time watching the cheering section than the match. I was actually tuned in, however, when Seattle scored a goal at the opposite end of the field from us. And, yes, it was the right goal for the Sounders who led 1-0 through the first half.

At halftime, I watched a 60-something lady and her 30-something son leave the rowdy section. If she was anything like this Sounders novitiate who tried in vain to keep up with the cheering, the lady was probably relieved. And, the son probably knew that Mom might not last the whole match in such an atmosphere.

I stood silently envious, figuring I was there for the duration.

While I was observing their exit from the stands, though, Annie was busy texting. She soon received word on her iPhone that her boss had tickets to seats in a more “familyfriendly” setting. Soon, Annie and her muchrelieved mom were leaving the renegades

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Finally, I got to sit down in nice, comfy seats, so I liked the second half much better than the first, except for the score. Those Costa Ricans kept edging that ball past the Sounders, and Sounder goalie Kasey Keller seemed to be off his game that night.

The match ended with the Costa Ricans triumphing 2-1, but it might have been a pyrrhic victory, of sorts. Late in the game, one of the Costa Ricans fell to the ground, obviously injured, right in front of the renegade section.

“Let him die! Let him die!” the crowd shouted. The Costa Rican lived and eventually got up off the ground to tell about it and maybe even to thumb his nose at the Sounder faithful.

I have now had the complete Sounder experience, and it will be months before another opportunity presents itself, but that’s okay.

After all, it’s ZAGS’ season, so I’ve got other fan responsibilities, like wearing my ZAGS sweatshirts, joining family, enjoying pizza and controlling my outbursts when things don’t go so well with our team.

After all, my 89-year-old mother will be in the room too, and she has new hearing aids.

As an in-home, exuberant ZAG fans, we all get to sit in comfortable chairs throughout entire games, and that’s also okay with me.

GO ZAGS!

A Holistic Approach to

Yoga Therapy

by the Sandpoint Wellness Council www.SandpointWellnessCouncil.com

By Julia Quinn, Twisted Root Yoga “Yoga therapy” is a phrase that’s popping up more and more in yoga studios and medical clinics across the country. Surfacing questions are: “What is yoga therapy and where can someone find it? Is it covered by insurance? Who is a qualified yoga therapist?

How is a yoga therapist different from a yoga instructor at a studio teaching to the public?”

Yoga therapy is different from a typical yoga class in that it is set up to provide oneon-one instruction in a therapeutic setting.

When a yoga practitioner shows up to a group class, she is participating with a number of individuals, all with differing therapeutic needs. The group yoga classes are beneficial to a high percentage of students; however, as more people understand the benefits of yoga, the more popular yoga classes become.

The increase in class size puts more stress on the individual with special circumstances and more load on the instructor.

Yoga instructors face a number of challenging population types and not all yoga certification programs are created equal.

Most yoga teacher trainings do not have time to thoroughly train an instructor on how to handle the diversity of her clientele’s circumstances. For example, a yoga student managing her autoimmune disorder/chronic illness will have different therapeutic needs compared to a yoga student practicing for orthopedic rehabilitation.

Twisted Root Yoga’s therapy sessions are designed to tailor specific techniques used in yoga to alleviate symptoms associated with chronic illness, pain, injury, pregnancy, mental health imbalance and/or neurological and physical rehabilitation. If a student is suffering from an autoimmune disease that produces inflammation in certain areas of her body, i.e. effecting the valves of her

heart, a group class practicing inversions (the head is below the level of the heart), is not appropriate for her and is potentially dangerous. It is important for a yoga student with special circumstances to understand how yoga can help and, equally important, how yoga can exacerbate her condition.

Before an individual starts a yoga curriculum, talking to a health care provider is imperative in order to understand the contraindications for certain health conditions and the physical and/or mental symptoms that one may experience.

Unfortunately, a client seeking yoga therapy is left with finding a credible provider on her own. It is important to ask the right questions when choosing a yoga therapist, especially questions around the yoga therapist’s experience with the condition a client is looking to manage. Understanding the scope of a yoga therapist’s training and also discussing her treatment approach will help an individual determine if the therapist is a good fit. Just because a yoga therapist has an advanced teaching certificate (500 hours with Yoga Alliance) does not mean she is properly trained in applying therapeutic yoga. There are advanced yoga therapy schools with excellent curricula on how to provide safe and effective therapy sessions.

However, these schools design a curriculum and teach according to their own approach.

With the freedom to write each curriculum without any standard of care, training programs can create innovative yoga therapy models based on their brand or name. On the contrary, without a standard of care, it is difficult to determine which program is a credible source and which program is a worthwhile investment.

Daniel D. Seitz published an article in the International Journal of Yoga Therapy (2010) talking about these issues. He states, “In an

emerging profession, before schools gain authorization to grant degrees, they generally issue a certificate or diploma signifying completion of the training. This may lead schools to state that they are certifying practitioners. However, certification within a profession is meant to be a uniform, objective credential, not one that varies from training program to training program.” The International Association of Yoga Therapy is currently working on a standard of care. The hope is to come up with a formal evaluation that all training programs recognize in order to increase the credibility of these programs and the credibility of the yoga therapy profession.

For practitioners at Sandpoint’s Twisted Root Yoga, we believe it is imperative for yoga therapists to have advanced training in anatomy, physiology, and the biological processes of the human body at the university level. A yoga therapist might be a medical health care provider who is a certified yoga instructor; a yoga instructor who has worked with or mentored under physicians/P.A.s/ nurse practitioners/psychotherapists; or a yoga instructor who has completed programs involving medical research, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Experience and education in understanding the application of pharmaceuticals, utilizing natural remedies/ Aryuvedic principles and working in clinical settings with a diverse patient population is essential to understanding how to apply the system of yoga therapy.

Yoga therapy is not yet covered under medical insurance. However, if an individual is working with a yoga therapist who is also a physical therapist or an occupational therapist, your yoga therapist has the ability to determine what yoga practices are recognized and covered by insurance companies. Requesting physical therapy with a yoga therapist who is a licensed physical therapist requires an order from a health care provider and in turn, a plan of care submitted to the health care provider and the insurance company from the physical therapist.

More and more evidence-based medicine is coming out on the benefits of yoga therapy.

The more yoga is investigated on a scientific level pertaining to the therapeutic advantages for different patient populations, the more likely insurance companies may cover yoga therapy in the future. In recognition of the importance of evidenced-based medicine in yoga therapy, Twisted Root Yoga is launching community based yoga therapy research programs to help continue advancements in yoga therapy.

For more information on yoga therapy, please visit online iayt.org, or contact Twisted Root Yoga, located at 323 Pine Street, Sandpoint, Idaho. Please visit twistedrootyoga.com or call 208-963-9642 to schedule your free 30-minute consultation with Julia Quinn and/or Daniel Quinn, P.T. For group yoga class information, please contact The Integrative Athlete by calling, 208-9464855 or visit theintegrativeathlete.com for current schedules and facility specialties.

November 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| Page 11

DON’T GET CAUGHT IN THE DARK!

The weather here is unpredictable, and your connection to power can be too.

We can help you keep the lights on. Call today to learn more.

A Bird in Hand

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet: Our littlest winter denizen

•

Our little piece of paradise can be a busy place in the summer. With all of the tourists visiting our area and the travelers passing through, many locals shy away from this human traffic and visit our pleasant places only after the hordes have gone with the end of Labor Day. And so, too, does our bird of the month: the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. This little fellow often seems to become lost in the hubbub of summer-only migrants, only to reappear with the first frosts of Fall. At least this is true in my backyard. So let’s take a look at this littlest of our winter denizens.

You might have to search your backyard or the neighbor’s trees very carefully in order to spot this little feathered wonder. Next to hummingbirds, kinglets are the wee-ist of indigenous birds in North America, weighting half as much as the Black-capped chickadee.

Yet they can endure our long, cold winters.

How they manage to do this is not well understood, but it is an impressive feat. As for me, I like to try to help them out with a suet feeder or two. If you have never set up your own suet feeder, this winter would be a great time to start.

You might very well hear a ruby-crowned kinglet before you see it. Its winter call is a brief chit-chit that might come in series.

Finding the bird, you notice a busy olive- or grey-colored bird moving actively among tree branches. They never seem to stop to rest, so you will have to be quick with your binoculars.

Kinglets frequently flick their wings and actively work all angles and degrees in search of their prey. They might even hover briefly in the air as they attack something tasty on a twig, an identifying trait.

Both males and females have a prominent yellowish wing-bar. The color of their olive-drab bodies will fade toward lighter shades on their face, breast and belly. The eyes have obvious, though incomplete, white rings which give them a distinctive appearance.

The primary feathers on

Mike Turnlund

mturnlund@gmail.com •

their wings are black, often laced with bold yellow streaking reminiscent of Pine siskins. This color pattern extends to the long tail.

Now, as for that ruby crown as indicated in this species name – good luck with that! Only the male sports this special effect and he is very reticent in showing it. I have only seen it once. The red crown is practically invisible until breeding season, when the males flash it at each other in a sort of avian duel.

In the winer at least, these kinglets are generally found alone or in pairs, but will hang out with other birds such as song sparrows and dark-eyed juncos. A word of caution: if you are an active birder or have spent time on the Pacific Coast, you might observe that the Ruby-crowned kinglet is the spitting image of the Hutton’s vireo. They’re not even closely related, but uncannily similar in size and appearance. But the Hutton’s does not reside in our area. Whew, that makes it easier.

Ruby-crowned kinglets can be very localized in abundance, but are a must for your birding life-list. Sometimes they seem to disappear in the summer—overwhelmed by the abundance of summer migrants— returning to familiar haunts only in the fall and winter. Even then, they might go south for a spell if the winter is particularly harsh. But they are amazing little birds, able to survive in an environment that birds many times their size find less than hospitable. For the birder, actually spotting that ruby crown is a special moment, though it might take time and patience. Good luck with that! Happy birding.

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Page 12 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| November 2010

ǡ ȋ Ȍǡ ǡ Ǥ ǡ Ǥ ǡ Ǥ ǡ ǡ

Ǥ • that mean you and your friends can’t Of course, more data needs to be collected hunt your own property? Of course not! It’s and analyzed, such as the Big Game Mortality just letting folks know that you don’t want Reports and flight survey data, before the them hunting your land without permission. total picture of elk population trends are Matt Haag However, I really recommend you do not use apparent. mhaag@idfg.idaho.gov the “No Hunting” as that implies that it’s Happy Veterans Day to all our vets out okay to trespass, just not to hunt. Use the there. Thank you for your service to our The whitetail “No Trespassing” sign to cover your bases. nation and the sacrifices you and your deer rut is One of the ways conservation officers families have made. For those brave souls here and combat trespass problems in areas is to who never made it home to their loved ones, what a great deploy a decoy deer or elk, or what we call you are not forgotten. The Sandpoint District

time to be in Artificial Simulated Animal or A.S.A. Wildlife conservation officers wish you all a happy Ȃ ǡ ǡ ȋ Ȍ the woods. decoys were first used by game wardens in Thanksgiving as well. Remember to take the ǡ ȋ Ȍǡ A skiff Wisconsin in the 1940s, and they have been time to be thankful for the natural resources of snow ǡ Ǥ ǡ ǯ ǯ used by other wildlife agencies across North we have here. It’s all our jobs to take care of u n d e r f o o t America ever since. They have been readily it responsibly. Ǥ ǡ Ǥ ǡ and the chance accepted by the courts as a legitimate tool Leave No Child Inside to glimpse a thick- for wildlife law enforcement officers. ǡ ǡ necked buck strut The use of decoys has many benefits, but Ǥ by your favorite hunting most important is they reduce the number of

The Game Trail The Rut has arrived

•

spot make it an exciting time of the year.

November brings more deer hunters than any other time during the hunting season.

During the heat of the whitetail deer season your local Conservation Officers receive hundreds of calls related to trespassing. This year I received more calls about trespassing in the general weapon season elk than I have in years past. I hope this is not a growing trend because it looks bad on hunters and it’s the reason we see more land posted for “No Trespassing.”

Here are a few reminders of Idaho’s trespass laws. If your land is not cultivated, you must post your land with signs or fluorescent orange paint. The paint or signs must be 100 square inches (10”x10” square).

The signs must be posted every 660 feet along the property boundary, and at any reasonable access points (trail, driveway, gate, etc.) If someone disregards the signs and enters your property they are in violation.

Please call the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office dispatch to report this immediately. They will dispatch your local Conservation Officer, or a sheriff’s deputy.

If you post your land “No Hunting”, does

live animals lost to poachers. Additionally, the decoys bring the wildlife thieves to us rather than conservation officers using valuable resources to find violators across thousands of miles of landscape. The aim of decoys is to discourage shooting game animals before a season opens or after it is closed, after legal shooting hours, or on private property or other land closed to hunting, hunting with an artificial light, or shooting from or across a public road. If you’re not engaging in such activity you don’t have to worry about running into us or our deer decoys.

Jim Hayden, our Big Game Manager in the Panhandle, has sent out some preliminary check station data. Jim provided us with some graphs; it’s easier to look at data than to talk about it. Jim reminds everybody that this type of data is soft because there are a lot of factors that affect success rates; i.e., number of elk available, elk behavior, lousy (or good) hunting weather, length of the season (especially for cows), whether the opener is on a weekday or weekend, etc. At this stage, things are looking pretty decent both in the Coeur d’Alenes and in the St. Joe, for both bull hunting and cow hunting.

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One out of two workers say they’re not as productive without coffee

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Nurses and doctors are the top professions for drinking coffee.

So if you want to be productive at work, don’t forget to stop for your coffee!

November 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| Page 13

Land Management

Preparing for winter Well, here it is fall and there is much to be done regarding the management of land and estates. There is the firewood to get in, road work including erosion control and rock to be put down in those bad spots before spring break-up leaves us with ruts and giant mud holes and then there is some seeding to be done yet, too. And of course, the clean up and organization of all the stuff which has been pulled out, stacked, piled, accumulated, etc. and needs to be put under cover before being covered for the winter by the inevitable snow. Yes, this is the stuff of fall estate and land management.

I like to manage my forest for firewood, as well as, timber, wildlife, water and esthetics too, so when I go out to cut the down and dead trees on my property for firewood, I think it is a good idea to pick out some trees which need to go anyway and girdle them for next year’s firewood. I pick a tree in a clump of trees which are too close together, or maybe one which is leaning into a road (and will eventually come down in a storm and block the road) and/or I find the trees which have beetles in them or root rot or blister rust or even ones which may block a view I want to open up and I will girdle them.

Girdling is when you cut a strip of bark away on the base of a tree (cut about six inches wide and a little bit into the wood, all the way around), so the tree will die and dry while standing up. Next year when I come out to get firewood, those trees I have selected to girdle last year will be standing dead and dry, ready to cut. Then I will select some more while out getting the firewood that year, for the next year, and so on. In this manner I have a steady supply of firewood and also I am working to improve the health, functionality and esthetics of my forest.

Now every spring my roads develop some ruts, some mud holes and parts may even threaten to slough off here and there too. A

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properly graded road, crowned, out-sloped or in-sloped in the proper places, with rolling dips installed in the proper places too, is the best way to ensure that your road lasts, does not erode and develop mud holes. If your roads were not built properly in the first place and you cannot get them redone, then there are some things you can do each fall to help keep your road in better condition

Michael White

NorthIdahoLandMan.com mdwhite@coldwellbanker.com

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during spring break-up.

Each fall I try determining where the problems will pop up this next spring. In that endeavor I must notice the previous spring where the water is running down the road and/or sitting on the road, causing the ruts and/or mud holes. First make sure there are ditches on each side of your road and that they are not clogged or have places which are too shallow and need to be dug out. Put water bars or cross ditches (kelly humps to some folk) across the road at appropriate intervals, to take the water off of the road and into the ditch. When you dig a cross ditch to drain water off the road be sure to angle the shallow ditch slightly downhill and pile the excavated dirt on the downhill side.

In the low spots you will need to put in some rock and if you can come up with some road fabric to put down first it will do wonders.

Then put down some bigger rock (pit run) and top that off with quarter minus rock if possible. If having rock hauled in is not an option, see about filling a pickup truck with some rock from abandoned gravel pits (with owner’s permission) and use that to put in the low spots.

There are some spots in a road where a

simple water bar or cross ditch will not be enough and a culvert is needed. I have been able to come up with old junk culverts many times which have cost little or nothing and worked very well but if a culvert is not an option, then you can make an old fashioned water crossing by digging a good sized ditch and lining both sides with some treated 4”x4” timbers and staking them in with rebar.

Make the gap narrow enough that a tire can roll over it without being obstructed and the ditch deep enough to carry a good amount of water across the road.

Also, each fall I like to identify areas along the sides of my roads, or even on the lesser used roads which have bare soil. There are also places all around my property which may have been over-grazed, dug up by the dogs or for some reason have bare soil. In those places I put down a seed mix in the fall, so that the seeds will start to sprout as soon as the snow melts and get an early start. I recommend a seed mix which will both stabilize soil and makes for good wildlife forage too. The CoOp Country Store in Ponderay has an excellent mix called the Forest Service Mix which is composed of the following: 20 percent Orchard grass, 15 percent each annual rye, timothy and mountain brome; ten percent each Idaho fescue, white Dutch clover and Alsike clover, and 5 percent red clover.

This seed mix will provide forage for a wide variety of critters, including deer, turkey, rabbits and even bear. I recommend that about 13 to 14 pounds per acre of this mix be used.

Yes, fall is the time to plan for winter, spring and even next fall’s firewood season.

Go out there and get your wood in, girdle some trees for next year, fix up those roads and put down some seed mix. Then get all the junk picked up and stored for winter and for gosh sakes, clean and organize “the resource yard”.

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Page 14 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| November 2010

Fungus Among Us October 2010 should be remembered as the month of the mushrooms. Tiny and translucent as infants’ fingernails, fragile forms pushed up overnight during the unusually balmy month. Tough and leathery boletus shouldered aside forest litter. Gold and orange and red circles shining under the canopy were not fall leaves. Yellow stalks of jelly waved gently, purple caps rose above pure white stalks. Ruffled fungus climbed a dead grand fir. Shingled fairy houses and elf umbrellas surged upward.

The October forest was a bazaar of color, shape, and texture of nature’s most bizarre form of life. Funguses are plants that don’t need chlorophyll. They are life forms that don’t require sex. They are even more foreign than jellyfish. They are queer and they are here.

Mushroom connoisseur/collectors have been busy as kids hunting Easter Eggs. “Batter ‘em, fry ‘em in butter and enjoy,” is their mantra. To be a collector, however, demands good skills and experience in identifying mushrooms; good enough knowledge not to accidently ingest a tasty morsel that results in extreme pain for six days while your liver is being destroyed, usually culminating in death.

There are five known toxins present in individual species within all the thirteen groups of mushrooms. The toxins run from

the aforementioned, death-dealing livereater through Psilocybin, which will produce hallucinations or religious visions, to the least terrible Gastrointestinal which act as purgatives leading to nausea and lots of trips to the toilet. Some mushrooms have a combination of toxins; some are okay unless wine is added.

This toxic power adds to the mystery of mushrooms. One has to admire our ancestors who survived the experimentation that took place. “Laverne, what do you think this one would taste like?” “Jeez, Shirley, anything that looks like that part of a dog won’t taste very good. How about this red one with the cute white polka dots?”

The forest floor is speckled with the fruiting bodies—think of them like apples— from a huge variety of fungus that lives hidden beneath the soil. Some of these odd life forms can damage their host plants; others promote the health of their host and still others help in the essential job of decomposition.

Years may pass before there is a repeat of this October’s lush production of mushroom ‘fruit.’ Fungi live long lives (some have been estimated to be 8,000 years old) underground waiting for the perfect combination of slanting sun and warm rain to send forth their unique fruit.

The strangest—could be the creepiest—

Currents •

Lou Springer

thing about mushrooms is that some of them grow incredible large. Biologists figured out how to measure the extent of an individual honey mushroom. They were surprised to find one whose underground parts spread as large as a football field. This first one proved to be small. Biologists have discovered everlarger fungi. The biggest one so far is a honey mushroom which has been measured to cover nearly four square miles of Oregon forest subsoil.

Of all the oddities about mushrooms—no chlorophyll, no sex, some toxins, humongous size—it is their beauty that astonishes. We have been taught that flowers are composed in beautiful ways to attract pollinators. To look across a field of wildflowers is to see a field of buzzing, busy bugs. But why, when attracting pollinators is not necessary, are some mushrooms lovely? Other fruiting bodies—apples, berries, and such—are attractive to animals in order to be eaten and seeds dispersed. Mushrooms don’t need their bright colors to spread seeds.

The beauty of mushrooms serves no practical purpose. Either they are alien life, an accident of nature or a gift from a whimsical God. In any case, I hope you enjoyed the unusual display of our queerest life form.

Lou Springer

nox5594@blackfoot.net

Expand Your Bookshelf

With these offerings from River Journal columnists Marianne Love • Sandy Compton • Boots Reynolds • Michael Turnlund • Dennis Nicholls

Look for them at your favorite independent bookstore, or find them online at www.KeokeeBooks.com or www.Amazon.com

“Losses of Our Lives” by Nancy Copeland-Payton

Available now at retail or online booksellers.

November 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| Page 15

A Seat in the House Not worried about the Walking Bridge Several people have expressed concern with the future of the Long Bridge across the Pend Oreille River as a result of articles in the Bonner County Daily Bee discussing the future of the highway bridge and the adjacent walking bridge. Before addressing this issue however, let me summarize the history of our bridges in this area.

The first pilings for the first bridge connecting Sagle with Sandpoint were driven on May 26, 1908. The bridge was completed on March 11, 1910 and became known as the longest wooden bridge in the world.

This bridge was replaced with a second bridge built during the Great Depression and was dedicated on March 3, 1934. The 1934 bridge was built with help from the Works Progress Administration, not unlike road projects being funded today with “economic stimulus” funding.

The third bridge was finished in 1956 but could no longer be called “the longest wooden bridge in the world” because the length of the actual bridge was shortened by using fill and was a steel and concrete structure.

The fourth bridge—the one still in use today—was dedicated on September 23, 1981 and was built in parallel with the third bridge that is now dedicated to pedestrian and bicycling traffic and used extensively by both local citizens and tourists.

The third bridge has become an important asset in our area and any plans that would eliminate pedestrian and bicycling access from Sandpoint to the southern shore of Pend Oreille would be met by significant opposition from many, including your state senators and representatives from legislative districts one and two.

Because of the concern resulting

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from the Daily Bee articles I asked the Idaho Department of Transportation to provide me information on the future of these transportation facilities and was provided • the following information: The environmental impact statement for the North/South Route project that resulted in approval and construction of the Sand Creek Byway was divided into four segments: the Sand Creek Byway, the Sandpoint to Kootenai Cutoff, the Long Bridge and the Long Bridge to Sagle segments.

The Idaho Department of Transportation was hoping to construct the Sandpoint to Kootenai Cutoff project as soon as funding could be obtained. However, the environmental impact statement for the North/South Route project (Byway) was challenged in court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the environmental work must be completed on all segments before construction could begin on any of the remaining segments.

Because the Department has been pursuing funding for the Sandpoint to Kootenai Cutoff in the hope of beginning construction of this project as soon as possible to complement the Byway project, it had to address the south bridge facilities even though it has no immediate plans for doing anything with the current bridges. This has led to the concerns expressed by several over the long-term availability of the walking bridge.

However the Department does have long-term plans to at some time “expand the Long Bridge corridor by replacing both bridges with a wider structure that will accommodate motorized vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians.”

Because the walking bridge was constructed in 1956 it could be determined

George Eskridge is the Idaho Representative for House District 1B You can reach him at 800626-0471 or via email at idaholeginfo@lso.idaho. that it should be listed on the National Historic Register of Historic Places. As a result, since any long-range plan to “widen the current structure” may impact the walking bridge, the ITD as a part of the 4f process used for approval of the Byway, “is required to notify any responsible parties willing to take over ownership of the bridge, and to maintain the integrity in its current location.”

As a result of my request for information the Department has assured me that: “Nothing is going to happen to the walking bridge until a project is identified and funding secured for a bridge replacement project. No project is currently being developed, nor is it in any long-range plan at this time. The purpose of any future Long Bridge widening project is to increase the transportation capacity of the system by adequately accommodating both vehicular and non-vehicular transportation, replacing the two current structures with one single structure.”

Given the information I received from the Department I believe that in reacting to the concerns for the two bridges across the Pend Oreille River that: 1) there is no long-term plan for the bridges that has any funding possibility any time in the foreseeable future and 2) any project that will be undertaken in the future will include accommodations for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Thanks for reading and as always please contact me with issues of concern to you.

My home phone is 265-0123 and my mailing address is P.O. Box 112, Dover, Idaho 83865.

George

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Page 16 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| November 2010

A mandate for destruction We’re moving into a new political season, and the voters have spoken—although nobody seems to be quite sure what it is they said, not even the voters themselves.

The closest anyone seems to come is that now-iconic “Network” phrase: “I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!”

And who cares if no one can actually define what “it” is?

The Republicans, and the tea-party candidates who ran as Republicans even though they might or might not agree with the party ideology, ran their campaigns on this very principle. They were the party of “No, we can’t,” but no we can’t isn’t actually a vision of how we’re supposed to go about fixing whatever that undefined “it” is that has people so sick and tired. In fact, most of the candidates I listened to or read about acted like very good grant writers: “Let me explain how what I’ve always done actually fits whatever it is you’re concerned about.” With “it” such a nebulous prospect, candidates were free to argue that more government/less government, more taxes/ less taxes, more regulation/less regulation was the answer to all our ills without having to bother to explain just exactly how that was going to translate into actions that would make us all feel better.

Let me make a prediction here. Simply undoing—or trying to undo—what’s been done in the last two years is not going to be the answer.

The great public outcry, which began during the lead-up to our last election season, was focused around the bailout of the financial industry, so analysts and pundits are now, of course, saying the voters have spoken... about health care reform. And not just analysts and pundits.

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Representative John Boehner, boiled the election results down to a simple statement that, “The American people were concerned about the government takeover of health care.”

Which wasn’t, by the way, about health care at all but was instead a focus on how to make health insurance available to everyone; that’s a whole different dog in the hunt.

Given that per capita spending (that’s the average amount spent per person) in the U.S. on health care is running about $5,771—for a $2.5 trillion total—every year, it’s easy to see why this is a concern as none but the wealthiest of us can actually afford to pay that. Yet we are paying for it, in one way or another.

Trish Gannon

trish@riverjournal.com I am not hopeful that a turnover in elected officials will somehow trigger a discussion about the real underlying issues we face. After all, it hasn’t in the past. Every election cycle we throw a whole bunch of the ‘bums’ out and it’s supposed to be some kind of mandate, and then the next cycle comes along and that wasn’t good enough so we throw ‘em out again.

So let’s go back to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the dreaded Obama Care). Will the new Republican majority actually call for a return to the practice of insurance companies denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions? I doubt it. Will it insist that children must be kicked off their parents’ health care coverage as soon as they graduate high school, instead of letting them make it through college and get a job before they have to pay for coverage? Somehow I don’t think they’re going to discover they have a “mandate” for that. No, I think they’re going to focus on the requirement for large businesses to provide health insurance, and add loopholes whereby people will not be required to have insurance of their own, and leave it at that.

None of which, let me point out, is going to result in anyone getting a job, or having more money to spend right now, and if they can’t make that happen, we’ll be throwing the Republicans out in the next round of elections.

The new tea-party candidates, however, throw an interesting twist into this mix. For the most part, they’re not just the party of “no we can’t,” they’re the party of “and we shouldn’t.” Many of them, if not all of them, seem to believe that collective government is the actual problem we face, and their goal is to eliminate the ability of government to act. They’ve started by advocating for

Politically Incorrect •

Trish Gannon state’s rights—the federal government shouldn’t address a problem because only the state should rightly have the power to do so—yet they carry on this same belief at the state level, wanting to gut programs that do, well... I guess anything at all. There seems to be no belief whatsoever in a collective good that trumps the individual.

Perhaps our best bet is that they succeed, and manage to destroy everything that is good about this country in the process. If they do so, it’s possible the electorate as a whole will respond, because Americans often seem to show their best face in extreme adversity.

The odds of this happening seem pretty good, as most of the major issues we face right now are not even national in nature, but global, and require a strong collective government to address.

Climate change is precipitating more and more issues faced at the local level. We are so busy spending our energy arguing over the cause that we’ve spent no time in addressing our response, and it’s clear that responding is something we’re going to have to do. Extreme weather events simply don’t follow artificial borders, and the ability to address such events at the local level is generally nil.

Public health, an area devoid of powerful advocates, is another major issue breathing down our necks. The micro world, where viruses and bacteria reign supreme, is poised to explode on an unsuspecting populace who simply are not prepared to respond. We have already reached a tipping point on this one, and our lack of support for collective answers is one that will be biting us in the butt sooner rather than later.

And the financial industry, which demonstrated so amply to us all that it has no real concern for the collective, is still running amok. Somehow we think it’s all going to work out okay if “the economy” just gets back on track; if Average Joe finds a job and has a paycheck he can spend to buy another big-screen HDTV, everything’s gonna be hunky dory.

But the economy isn’t really based on things like buying big screen televisions; instead, it’s a vast Las Vegas where most of the money doesn’t even exist. Like this example: the Bank for International Settlements reported the total market for derivatives (not HDTVs, you’ll note) is one quadrillion dollars. (That’s one thousand trillion by the way.) Compare that to the GDP of the world, which is only $60 trillion.

But the voters have spoken, and it’s all about repealing health care reform. Just ask John Boehner.

And God help us all.

November 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| Page 17

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La Nina Returns Yes, the weather word is out.

Meteorologists tell us that La Nina will return this year with a vengeance. For skiers, snowshoe fans, and those who love to drive on snow-covered roadways, this is fabulous news. For those of us charged with making a decision regarding school closures and safety of roads for transportation, this news is not met so joyfully. Try as we might to make the correct decision regarding the opening or closure of school, we just can’t seem to please everyone. However, judging by the recent political debate and climate, there seems to be displeased people on either side of any issue. Since we aren’t meteorologists, savants, or mind readers, it is difficult to make this decision for a number of reasons.

Dick Cvitanich

Superintendent, LPOSD

dick.cvitanich@lposd.org

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First, if we were 100 percent accurate in terms of predicting the weather, we might be employed by the local television stations. Hitting 100 percent would be a remarkable achievement. Second, our district encompasses several micro climates.

Hope might be balmy while Northside area is howling cold and snowy. Southside could be covered in snow and Farmin left bare.

Unfortunately for this prediction business, we cannot simply close one school and leave another open. We are a system and each part depends upon the other. As a result, when schools are open, they are all open. When the determination is made to close school, all schools are closed. This decision bewilders parents and students from time to time but we do our very best to make a decision that is safety oriented. Typically, the decision is made following a process.

The night before a potential snowfall I am in contact with NOAA. They have the best meteorologists in the area; they advise airports, military and others. I even have the luxury of a direct line to the meteorologists.

By the end of the season we are on a first name basis! However, this step is important as it is part one of trying to make a determination.

We learn about the next 12 to 24 hours of weather. The next morning at approximately 3:30 am, Transportation Supervisor Bill Wright begins traveling the roads, as do some of his drivers. They call Bill and report on the conditions of the roads throughout our 52-mile-long, micro-climate district. As soon as Bill gathers this information, he calls me. Usually, I am wide awake, just waiting. I

•

have read many good novels this way but I do find myself getting tired from time to time!

Bill reports the condition of the roads, the weather report he has heard, and we try to make a decision by 5:00 am.

At this point I contact my assistant Julie Menghini. She is charged with contacting local media, who then report the news on school closures. She also updates the district snowline—263-2312—and website—www. lposd.org—all by 6:00 am. We often have this message posted by 5:30 am. Listening to local media is your best bet as the snowline number is often busy. Our goal is to provide enough notice so students can meet their bus, and those driving can have adequate time to safely transport to school, including high school drivers.

Whichever decision is made, I usually hear about it from a disgruntled patron. However, for every patron who asks why we didn’t close school, I hear from another whose wish is that we did. There are those who have work responsibilities and no day care for their children on these snowy days. They expect and want their children at school. There are those who can remain at home with their children and they simply don’t understand why we don’t shutter the doors. There lies the dilemma.

Our goal is always to look at student and staff safety as the number one priority.

We live in a snowy climate and we could be closed for many days. However, our job is to educate children and doing so with the full amount of time available to us is the best way to make that happen. Our hope is that we do a solid job of finding the balance where our buses and cars can safely travel so school can occur.

For parents of high school drivers, who are upset when school does occur on a snowy day, please consider the bus as an option for your student. If you do not want them to drive, let them ride the safest form of transportation on our roadways; the yellow school bus. Your simple “No” to their request to drive will put your mind at ease. Finally, the parent does make the final decision regarding student attendance. If the area in which you live is inundated with snow, has dangerous, hanging branches, or is too cold, you may choose to keep your student at home. However, please be aware that school will continue.

Finally, we will do our very best to make the correct decision. We know we won’t always get it perfect, but that is certainly our goal. I look forward to your calls.

SNOW CLOSURE: 208-263-2312

Page 18 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| November 2010

Deer on Cabinet Hill Alternating between rage and anguish, I watch stupid, damned, poor, ignorant cretin devil Bambette (Bambi’s sister) in the mirror.

She’s standing in the road, looking not much worse for wear. I hope she’s thinking, “Daaaamn that hurt,” all the while knowing she’s not thinking at all. Her walnut-sized, kidney-bean-shaped brain is only recording shock and pain and she doesn’t have a clue that it’s a miracle she is still standing.

I haven’t had a close encounter of the deer kind for a while, not counting the noncontact variety that invariably come from driving Highway 200 on a regular basis. Some nights, all I can do is drive 45 and try not to swear out loud, at which I never succeed. I’ve called deer the vilest names I’ve ever called anything.

Stupid, blinking animals, anyway. Holy... ummm... crud.

Whitetail deer have been living with automobiles for over a century, yet I do not detect any genetic improvement in the breed. There seem to be more killed on the road now than when I was a kid. Of course, there are more and faster cars, but I can’t help wonder why whitetails haven’t figured out genetically that long, narrow strips of asphalt are bad for their health.

The deer I can see in my rear-view mirror— not the driver’s side rear-view mirror—has just proven itself (and the breed in general) idiotic—again. Given every chance to avoid colliding with a moving thing that weighs about 25 times what it does, and moves faster than it can in full panic mode, it does the unthinkable. It turns and runs directly into the beast that has it panicked. If it was a mountain lion, the deer would be lunch. If I, pilot of the behemoth, was as idiotic and panic stricken as that f... ummm, stupid deer, the stupid deer would be DEAD. Which, as I look at it in the passenger side rear-view mirror—because the idiot just destroyed my driver side mirror—I am wishing it was.

The Scenic Route • our own.

All this righteous indignation and wellaimed rage is well and good, but something else is going on, too. Some part of me is saying “That must have really hurt, poor thing. I hope she’s okay.” While I am still feeling Bambette-icidal, I also feel horrible about what she must be suffering.

It’s an interesting contrast, alternating between a shattered temper and a broken heart, and for the next 10 minutes, I wax and wane between the two.

The last time I saw the culprit, she was standing at the top of Cabinet Hill on the south edge of the road staring after me, looking for all the world like a normal whitetail doe—wide-eyed and sort of stupid.

But, she left hair on the mirror as she smashed it and she broke the little frame around the door handle with her left shoulder. The sound of her hitting the door was not a sigh, but a resounding thump. It is apparent to me that it hurt to break my mirror with her head and get slammed in the side by a thing that weighs 25 times as much as she does. It must have really hurt.

Have you ever been hit in the head really hard, hard enough that you can remember the sound of whatever it was colliding with your melon; the instant alteration of the spin of the planet; that warm, fuzzy confusion of impending unconsciousness; the immediate rush of blood out of your nose; and that sort of sparkly feeling in your septum and above your eyes that made you wonder if your brains were going to fall out?

That’s a version of what the deer must have felt, too. Poor damned thing, anyway.

One of the problems with experiencing pain is that once felt and acknowledged, we can’t pretend the other guy, gal, deer, dog, ant, cockroach doesn’t experience it, too. We might substitute our own rage or fear—for a while—but sooner or later, to remain human and humane, we have to acknowledge the pain of the other, and that it’s very much like

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An odd thought: I can’t expect another critter—or human—to reciprocate or fully appreciate a compassionate response to their pain. It may or may not be within their makeup to do so. But, that’s not my problem.

My problem is dealing with how I feel.

The mirror still works, though it now presents a Bizarro World version of whatever is beside or behind on the left—cracked.

When I find some black duct tape, it will be hardly noticeable. Except from the driver’s seat. Where I will be.

Do us both a favor, Bambette.

Stay the hell out of my way.

Sandy Compton

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208.263.9748 November 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| Page 19

Veterans’ News

Some like to scam; others, to support The other day I received two letters, one containing a crisp new dollar bill, the other a nickel. They were both from an outfit calling itself “The Coalition to Support America’s Heroes.” Their stated goal is to provide assistance to those veterans awaiting VA action on their disability claims. They say they want donations to ensure that these veterans get a good Thanksgiving Dinner.

Now I’m very much in favor of our veterans getting everything that they are entitled to—and more—but I am suspicious of these solicitations that give me money to encourage me to send them more money.

I did my due diligence and found that CSAH (and an affiliated organization called ‘Help Hospitalized Veterans’—HHV) received an ‘F’ on the website “Military-MoneyMatters.com”. They were very suspicious of any organization that pays its founder—and his wife—almost three-quarters of a million dollars per year. CSAH also ‘gifted’ several hundred thousand pre-paid phone cards to our troops, ostensibly to call home. The problem: these cards could only be used to call a service that provided sports scores!

What would be my recommendation?

Keep the dollar and donate it to a local veteran’s organization. By doing this you will accomplish two things. It will deny this bunch of con men a lot of money and do good for local veterans—a ‘two-fer’ that does good all the way around.

The above web search made me curious.

How many other questionable ‘charities’ are there that prey on people’s patriotism and generosity towards our service people and veterans to line their own pockets? The same site [military-matters.com/charities-ratings. html] that blew the whistle on CSAH/HHV also gave an ‘F’ to an astounding (to me) eleven other ‘charities’ that ostensibly are helping our veterans through your donations.

On the other hand there were several that received an ‘A’ grade. One these was Fisher House that got an A+ rating. So—word to

the wise—check out just what percentage of your dollars are going to veterans before your slip them into that envelope and line some chiseler’s pockets.

Here’s some excellent news for all you Jarheads out there. The new Commandant of the United States Marine Corps is a Vandal!

Gen. James Amos, a 1970 graduate of the U of Idaho is now the 35th Commandant of the USMC—Semper Fi! And—‘Go Vandals!’

Since this will appear just prior to

Gil Beyer, ETC USN Ret. vintage@gotsky.com

Veterans Day (we hope) it is appropriate to mention that the Applebee’s chain of restaurants (Coeur d’Alene and Spokane) will have a free dinner from a select menu on Wednesday the November 10 (the day before Veterans Day) between 11 am and midnight with appropriate ID. The Golden Corral chain (the nearest one is just south of Costco on Division in Spokane) will again be providing veterans with a free buffet for veterans and current military on Monday, November 16 from 5 to 9 pm. Krispy Krème Donuts in the Spokane Valley has free donuts. Also, for the second year (and closer to home), The Sub Shoppe on Hwy 200 in Kootenai is offering free meals and coffee to all veterans whocome in. They will be making this offer on Veterans Day as well as on Friday, November 12 and Saturday, November 13. The good people there—LeAnne and Barb Porath, Jim and Marti Ashford and Dave and Laurie Well— will be open from 8 am to 4 pm Thursday and Friday and 8 am to 3 pm on Saturday. Drop in and thank them even if you are not hungry.

Another local business that needs to be mentioned is Papa Murphy’s in Ponderay.

They will give every service member and veteran that shows proof of service a

Chip repair • Windshield replacement • Aquapel treatment • Window tinting

600 Schweitzer Plaza Drive (Behind Super 8 Motel) Ponderay • 263-2600

substantial discount on any pizza purchased.

And, Papa Murphy’s doesn’t just do this for Veterans Day —it is all year around.

Both Lowe’s and Home Depot always offer a 10 percent discount to veterans and the Texas Roadhouse in CDA always will give veterans a 15 percent discount on any meal.

The Sandpoint Elk’s Lodge is hosting a free dinner for all area seniors and veterans from 5 to 6:30 pm on Sunday, November 16.

As has become the custom there will be program at the Sandpoint High School honoring local veterans. Any veteran desiring to attend should arrive at SHS between 8:30 and 9:15 am on Tuesday, November 9 for a ‘Meet and Greet’ in the school Library.

The program will start at 9:22 am in the gymnasium.

There will also be the annual Veterans Day Ceremony at Memorial Field, 11 am with Honor Guard and Rifle Squad. All area veterans are encouraged to attend both of these events.

This just in—the Iraqi/Afghanistan Veterans Association has just issued its legislative scorecard for actions and bills that effect veterans. Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick received an ‘A’ for his work in support of veterans in this session. Both of Montana’s Senators received ‘B’s as did Montana Representative Dennis Rehberg.

Idaho’s other Representative and both Senators received ‘D’s. If you want to check out the way these grades were arrived at go to http://iavaaction.org/report-card.

By the time this article sees the light of day the 2010 mid-term elections will have come and gone. If the pundits and talking heads are even close to being correct it will mean the demise of participatory democracy and “Big Money” will once again control a branch of government. I will be saddened to learn that the majority of voters have once again allowed the GOP to buy an election.

We had an expression while I was in the Navy, “BOHICA.” The literal translation of this acronym is, “Bend Over—Here it Comes Again.” That exactly and precisely defines what will happen to 97 percent of Americans—IMHO—if the GOP again takes control of Congress. Until next month take care and be good to each other.

In closing I received another email recently. This was a fundraiser for a county Democratic Party in New Hampshire. I didn’t send them any money but I was much impressed by their insightful and innovative marketing. They were selling bumper stickers that pretty much said it all. They all ended with the same tag line—‘Thank Democrats.’

The opening lines differed. They said things like, “Got Vet’s Benefits,” “Got Social Security,” “Got Medicare,” “Got GI Bill” – you get the idea. Basically what they were saying is, “Have you ever gotten anything from the GOP?”

Page 20 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| November 2010

DOWNTOWN SANDPOINT EVENTS SANDPOINT EVENTS

November

Downtown Tree Lighting Ceremony Jeff Jones Town Square 5:30

Nov. 26

12- Iron Horse Rider Benefit Concert, Panida, $10/$12, 7 pm 13- Fundraising Tea at the Gallery at Cedar St. Bridge, 11:30 am, fundraiser for the Indoor Playground and Creations Artroom.

Silent Auction. $10 208-263-6155 13- Cafe Music fundraiser for Waldorf School 8th grade at DiLunas, $15, 7:30 208-263-0846 13- The Way I See It, ski film at the Panida, 7:30 pm, benefit for Climbing Gym. 17- Inland Isle Eurythmists at the Panida, 9 am free performance for children, adult perf. 7 pm, $10 adults/$5 children 208-263-8345 18 & 19 Hearbreaker, comedy film at the Panida, 7:30 pm 208-2639191 19 & 20 Holiday Festival of Fair Trade at Sandpoint Community Hall, 10 to 6 Fri, 9 to 3 Sat. 20- photographer Jerry Ferrara at Art Works Gallery, 10-5, free admission and raffle. 208-255-7569 20- Songwriter’s Circle Concert Benefit at the Panida, 7:30 pm.

26 & 27 Bizarre Bazaar grand opening celebration at 502 Church 26- Tree Lighting Ceremony, 5:30 pm at Town Square. Festive treats, caroling and a visit from Santa!

29 thru Dec. 4 Bonner General Hospital Parade of Trees.

December

Experience Downtown Sandpoint!

Visit www.DowntownSandpoint.com for a complete calendar of events

2- Light the Wick, ski film at the Panida, 8 pm 3- Evans Bros. Annual Holiday Party and Neighborhood Tasting, 525 Church, 9:30 am to 12:30 pm 3- The Nutcracker at the Panida, 7 pm.

PLUS:

Winery Music - Live music every Friday night at Pend d’Oreille Winery Open Mic Blues Jam every Monday night at Eichardt’s Trivia every Tuesday night at MickDuff’s.

DI LUNA’S

207 Cedar St. • 208.263.0846 www.dilunas.com YOUR IMAGE, YOUR WAY www.ImageMakerPhotoandVideo.com 320 North First Ave ~ 208.263-5322

World Cuisine Night

Every Saturday night starting at 6:30 pm.

Explore different In-store Photo Studio • Film & Digital cuisines from around Printing • Video to DVD • Photo Cafe Open Tuesday- the world. Live music.

Restoration • Classes • Cameras • Friday 7 am to 3 pm Regular menu also Open weekends Camera Repair • Accessories available.

November 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| Page 21 starting at 8 am

Gary’s Faith Walk Thanksgiving, here and there

Clark Fork Baptist Church

Main & Second • Clark Fork

Sunday School............9:45 am Morning Worship............11 am Evening Service...............6 pm Wednesday Service.........7 pm Call 266-0405 for transportation

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The church alter was laden with the bounty of the earth—squash, cabbages, apples, and more. The choir and the congregation sang enthusiastic hymns of joy and praise for the harvest had been good. The Protestant pastor offered the benediction at the end of the service and invited all to come forward to receive the gifts which the Lord provided. Slowly, mothers with babies in arms, pensioners, and young adults moved to the front of the rented hall in the former Soviet “House of Culture.” Each person paused and moved slowly away with a small parcel of fresh fruit or vegetables as partial provision for the week ahead. Worship that autumn Sunday morning in St. Petersburg, Russia was all about thanksgiving. As one Russian mother has shared, “We thank the Lord for the fruit in our gardens and fields, and also for the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, and for the new people in church.”

Elsewhere, our neighbors to the north celebrate Thanksgiving in October. Years ago, the Canadian Parliament proclaimed, “A day of general thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed—to be observed on the second Monday of October.”

In Canada, Thanksgiving Day or Jour de l’Action de grâce, makes for a three day weekend with Sunday worship lifting up the gratitude of the people for good harvest and family. Monday, the official holiday, sports a Thanksgiving Day parade and a double header football game broadcast across the country. Sound familiar?

Lest we citizens of the USA think we have an exclusive claim to North American Thanksgiving, it’s good to be reminded others may view history differently. Elizabethan explorer Martin Frobisher offered thanks upon his safe return to Newfoundland after searching for the Northwest Passage. All this happened in today’s Canada in 1578, 43 years

•

Gary Payton

gdp.sandpoint@gmail.com

before the Pilgrims gathered in Plymouth, Massachusetts with native peoples to celebrate the harvest and their return to health. But maybe being “first” doesn’t really matter.

In my faith walk, Thanksgiving is rooted in the an Old Testament charge: “When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you… and settle in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land… and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling place for this name.” After setting the basket down, bowing down to the Lord, we are to “celebrate” for all we have been provided. (Deuteronomy 26: 1-11) Thankfulness and celebration: the family whom we love and who loves us; the beauty of the North Country which surrounds us; the general absence of forest fires this past summer; the joy, challenge, and responsibilities which come from our American heritage; and the freedom to worship as we feel called.

As I prepare for Thanksgiving, I’ll work hard to ignore the market driven, crass commercialism of upcoming Christmas. I’ll seek out the warm gathering of family in a quiet home. We’ll tell stories of then and now. We’ll enjoy yams and stuffing, pies and veggies, and an organic turkey raised at a Hutterite colony in Montana! And, together we will offer a prayer of thanks for the bounty we enjoy, and we’ll celebrate the life we share.

May the Lord bless you and yours this Thanksgiving.

Both on-premises and off-premises catering

Breakfasts, brunches, luncheons, receptions, buffet dinners, hors d’oeuvres, pick-up menus, bring a dish, holiday dinners or design your own!

Call to make your catering request.

And don’t forget... DiLuna’s Delivers!

Stuff those stockings today!

The Festival at Sandpoint

208-265-4554

www.FestivalatSandpoint.com

11 am to 3 pm Wed-Sat in the Sandpoint area.

220 Cedar St. Sandpoint

208.263.0846

DI LUNA’S

Your Way

Page 22 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| November 2010

Where the trails begin at the top... and go up The hill was steep, but not exceptional, and I had only hiked about a mile. Still, my lungs felt like I was sucking air through a small twisted straw. The burn in my legs, even at the slow pace I was setting, was all too real. In fact, pace sounds a little too much like progress; it was more a “walk a while and stop” routine.

Each stop allowed for views across deep and steep valleys to other ridges and peaks. A glorious place and a glorious day, with gorges dropping abruptly from the trail to tiny unnamed lakes and ponds, gave me the feeling of being on top the world.

Wait a minute: on top of the world? That was it—the trailhead was nearly six thousand feet high, an elevation where I usually end my hikes, or turn around and start back down. No wonder my lungs wheezed and my thighs hurt.

This was Stag Leap Provincial Park where the trails begin at the top of the pass and go up. It is an easy drive from home, in a good day trip though I planned for more.

The drive north with the sun coming over the Cabinets and shining onto the Selkirks was exquisite. To my surprise though, the high point of the day, so far, was not the Purcell Trench in the morning I was driving through; rather, it was a cinnamon roll found in a small general store and bakery a few miles north of Bonners Ferry. It was world class—the first one I have found I could not finish in one sitting. Not because it was too big; I’ve had bigger. It was just too darn rich and sweet.

I didn’t believe it was possible—neither did my wife when I called and told her. For her, when it comes to sugary goodies, a dip of her finger in the frosting is enough. However, I am quite good at eating super sweet stuff.

Ironically, as I was heading for the mountains of Canada, I found a sweet treat peak I could not scale on the first attempt. I savored the surprise as I drove north with half a bakery delicacy on the seat beside me.

Reaching Kootenai Pass in early afternoon, some close in exploring was in order.

Wandering around Bridal Lake and then back along the Bear Grass trail via Cornice Ridge, I figured out what the agenda would be tomorrow. There were several more trails needing my footprints.

Back in the car and driving down the west side of the pass, the valley spread out with mountain splendor rarely found on a major highway. Needing a spot to spend the night away from noise of the road I turned onto a

The Hawk’s Nest

by Ernie Hawks •

single-track lane, which took me to the Salmo River, a perfect spot. The river’s song covered the growling of the trucks up and down the pass and gave it a wilderness feel.

I was in an opening where the river flowed directly to me then turned just below my campsite. Golden tops of the aspen and birches reached out from between the sub alpine firs, glowing in the waning light. Fall was in the valley.

Someone once said (and I have used it on several occasions in different seasons), “If there is a time of year to just stop and absorb the beauty of all that surrounds you… it’s now.”

I love finding places like this, especially when I didn’t have a plan.

The next morning, while having coffee next to the river and finishing the pastry from the day before, I found a conflict struggling within me. I didn’t want leave this serene setting and I wanted to be back up trekking above the pass. Knowing the ridges would wait made it easy to settle in on a steam side rock for a long, morning meditation. The feeling of the mountain energy, carried by the water to my camp in the valley, was my reward.

At mid morning I was on the trails and up was the only way to go.

It was just off the main trail when my lungs and legs reminded me I was not used to hiking at these altitudes. Yet I loved every step, each one higher then the last. The trail became less evident so I followed the rim between two canyons; still I didn’t feel I was the first there.

The next bombshell discovery, maybe literally, was a sign bolted to a tree. Bright

red and yellow with black block lettering, an obvious product of a professional: “Danger avalanche control explosives may begin without warning.”

I had been thinking of coming back later to do some snowshoeing. The warning nipped that plan in the bud.

Next was a structure I still don’t understand with another sign: “If you find deformed or unexploded shells contact the Ministry of Transportation.”

Now, rather then scanning the vistas of cliffs and peaks to the horizon, I was looking at the ground like a soldier in a minefield.

I had been out of the trees for quite a while so nearly all the vegetation was less than knee high. With each step, the pebbles under my boots moved a little, giving the sound and feel of treading on a gravel walkway.

At the top where the ridge ended, no unexploded shells had been seen.

Looking beyond that point were inviting ridges to follow to more and higher peaks. I surveyed the possibilities while a brisk wind snapped the sleeves of my jacket like a flag on an antenna.

I thought about the pleasure I get from trips like this. With no real plans, the needs of the moment are revealed as necessary if I just trust my inner guidance.

The trip had been full of new and wonderful discoveries. New trails, a great campsite, and a cinnamon roll; all will need revisiting.

I looked down the hill and could almost see where I left the car, but I could not see where the trail entered the trees from this vantage.

A message came clear to me as I started back down. It was an old message but as usual, I had to climb to the top of a mountain to relearn it.

I see where I want to be, but no clear path for getting there.

I cannot let the inability to see the route keep me from my goals. In fact, there is no way for me to find the route unless I start. It forces me back to trust. I will see the way as I need it, but only when I move forward.

Ernie Hawks

michalhawks@dishmail.net

November 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| Page 23

The Invaders

“...beings from a dying world.” -From the 1960s ABC TV series Maybe this is not that dramatic, but I can’t resist a nugget from my childhood. I won’t give a tedious recap of UFOs throughout history, but the modern age, beginning at the end of WWII, featured Foo Fighters, the Kenneth Arnold sighting near Mt. Rainier, and the all-too-familiar Roswell, along with our own sightings right around here as well.

The latest occurred just this last August at the time of the Festival at Sandpoint. A brief sighting, it lasted about 15 seconds, was seen on the south side of town, and it appears to defy conventional explanation.

Two couples, the local hosts and their guests from Alaska, were, let’s say, well within earshot of the Festival’s music and were sitting around a barbecue pit, finishing off a late dinner and enjoying the warm August night. They were facing generally northwest,

NANCY BEECH THANKS YOU “There were many people who supported my candidacy in a variety of ways. It was all appreciated.

Thank you very much” -Nancy Beech Paid for by Nancy Beech for Commissioner, Box 1621, Trout Creek MT 59874 Democrat

Valley of

ThE

ShadowS with Lawrence Fury

looking over toward Baldy. One of the party noticed what he thought to be the lights of a plane approaching generally from the west, heading east/northeast. As it got closer, however, they all say that it appeared to be a dull, glowing orb, about the size of a golf ball held at arm’s length.

Someone suggested it might be a meteor, but that frail theory went out the window when it stopped over the Farmin/Stidwell school for a couple of seconds, then appeared to change direction and go toward the mountain, slowly fading into the distance.

Well, meteors usually don’t travel straight and level, and stop and change direction about the altitude that a small prop plane does that might be landing at Sandpoint’s tiny airport. Unmanned drone, perhaps?

Maybe North Idaho isn’t important enough for a full-fledged flying saucer? Well, we’ll see, but first a quick account that came to me recently from Nampa, Idaho.

Closing the main doors of a shopping mall late one night, two employees saw a vision in the sky. At first they saw what looked like four or five, then a dozen conventional, saucer-shaped UFOs hovering several hundred feet over the far edge of the parking lot. Suddenly, one of the objects came flying into the open main mall doors and landed on the floor, deflating like a Mylar balloon. While observers stared incredulously at the pile of silver material, it re-inflated and zipped back out the door to rejoin its companions, who then all accelerated away at incredible speed.

Maybe the little grey guys had a sense of humor.

Now, as promised for those of you who remember my first column in February ‘08, the recollection of my mother’s sighting over Happy Gap in the mid- to late-1960s.

Dad often drove my brother and I to the city beach after work to swim for half an hour. One evening after we got home, I remember my mom telling us over dinner about something unusual she had seen while taking the garbage out to the alley. (Yes, the garbage used to be collected out there.)

There had been a spectacular sunset with pink, salmon and lavender clouds over... wait for it... “happy gap.” She stopped to appreciate one of nature’s perks, but among the irregular clouds was what Mom described as a smoothsided, fat little sausage-shape cloud. Unusual

perhaps, but what really got her attention was that while the other clouds were just sitting there minding their own business, this little devil was descending; going down, down, down, and finally disappearing in the gap.

Don’t say ‘weather balloon.’ Weather balloons are an upside down, tear drop shape.

Next comes my one and only sighting of what could only be a UFOO: “Unidentified Flying Orbiting Object.”

It was the late summer of 1975. I was 19 and a couple of weeks away from going back to my second year at North Idaho College. I was laying out in a lawn chair at our family’s house in the 600 block of Forest Avenue, watching satellites go over. After over an hour I had seen nine, and told myself that one more and I’d go in and hit the sack. The first nine were in an equatorial orbit, west to east.

As I sat there waiting, number ten appeared, this time in a polar orbit, south to north. As it got over our neighbor’s tall jack pine trees, I started to get up to go inside, but then sat back down. The satellite had stopped. “What the f...?” was all I could think.

I lost track of the object in the star field, but then a second satellite appeared on a parallel course to the first. It moved past the first, then it, too, stopped, reversed course, moved over and joined with the first object. I should have gone in and gotten witnesses, but I was too afraid of missing something.

Both objects flattened out and began gyrating, changing all colors of the rainbow, then... stopped. They went back to looking like satellites. The second object undocked and continued north, leaving the first object.

This was about six weeks after the Apollo/ Soyez docking. Could aliens have been mimicking this for some reason?

Finally, from about 20 years ago, some of you may remember the account of a man driving north from I-90 to Newman Lake late one night. Suddenly, a bright light swamped his pickup, which stopped it in the middle of the highway. He got out and looked up to a blinding light encircling his rig which then winked out and disappeared north. Explain this.

Got your own unexplained sighting to share?

Send it to info@riverjournal.com Next month, the other story of Egypt.

Kinnikinnick Page 24 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| November 2010

From ThE

Files

of The River Journal’s

SurrealisT Research BureaU The Pilgrims, Plymouth Rock & UFOs On this Thanksgiving issue of The River Journal I thought I’d recount for you both one of the earliest recorded UFO accounts in American history and its link with a more recent close encounter sighting.

The incident was first recorded in a book written by John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. As recorded by Winthrop in 1638 James Everell (“a sober, discrete citizen”) and two other men were rowing down the Muddy River one night towards Boston, about 50 miles downstream, when they saw a bright light about three yards around with four legs or protrusions hanging beneath it, apparently dancing or swaying in the air above them for three to four hours as they rowed. (This was 150 years before the first balloon flight.) The object then flew off into the distance (“as straight and swift as an arrow”) and the men were surprised to find their boat was back where they had started from. Winthrop goes on to state that “diverse other citizens reported seeing the same strange light that night.”

Fuller, more lengthy accounts can be found online by simply googling Gov. Winthrop + UFO or by reading Winthop’s History of New England 1630-1639.

Governor Winthrop appears to have been

by Jody Forest

puzzled by the occurrence, devoting no less than two separate notes about it in the index to his History. The first merely gives a lengthy

rendering of the sobriety and piety of the primary witness James Everell (“a good man of reputation, activity and good estate”) and another detailed note speculating whether the sighting was due to “demonic influences” or was ghost lights or will o’ the wisps (an early version of swamp gas).

Now flash forward nearly 400 years and we find another eerily similar occurrence in New England in 1976, again a multiple-witness sighting. Four men were fishing in their boat late at night in the Allagash River and saw a bright light dancing above their boat. They grew fearful and as the light approached

them they hurriedly paddled back towards their campsite, only to find four hours had disappeared from their lives.

UFO researcher Raymond Fowler’s detailed 10-volume, 702page report on the incident, later condensed and chronicled in his book The Allagash Abductions (PB, 1993 Granite Pub.) provides a wealth of research data, including mental health evaluations on the witnesses (all four men were found “stable”) and lie detector results (all four men passed). Simply Googling Allagash abductions should cause a few sites to pop up.

CADDY UPDATE: As I mentioned in last month’s TRJ it appears the Discovery Channel’s lawsuit against The Deadliest Catch television show is settled and the network’s airing of the “lengthy, dramatic, and close-up” videos of an apparent school of Cadborosaurus will be shown after the premier of the next season of “The Deadliest Catch” to give a boost to the ratings of their new show, tentatively titled “Hillstranded” in April 2011. You can find further updates on the website www. cryptomundo.com. ‘til next time; All Homage to Xena!

“One gazes through the glass walls of Pellinor into the great, curious eyes of the sea beasts, and wonders who indeed is peering out, & who is peering in----?” Jack McDevitt

HOT DEALS TO HELP KEEP YOU WARM! Download money-saving coupons for November today! www.RiverJournal.com November 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| Page 25

Coffelt Funeral Home, Sandpoint, Idaho.

Get complete obituaries online at

www.CoffeltFuneral.com DORIS LUCILLE TUCKER LLOYD November 1, 1918 - November 3, 2010. Born Sacramento, Calif. Married William Lloyd; raised sheep and worked as an executive secretary. Mother of one. Moved to Sandpoint and became involved with Bonner General Hosp Aux. and was a master bridge player.

LOREN RALPH WITTROCK Died November 2, 2010. Born Sioux Falls, SD. Worked for Boeing, became a teamster, worked as a truck driver on road and dam construction. Retired as member Local Teamsters Union 690. Married Pamela Vanderhoff, father of 4. Moved to Clark Fork, Idaho in 1992. Raised Black Angus cattle. Avid hunter and fisherman; he was 30 years sober.

ROBERT LEE OWEN August 28, 1944 - November 1, 2010. Born in Dahlgren, Ill. Served in the US Air Force from ‘63 to ‘69 and worked as an engineer in a Chevron research laboratory. Passed away in Heron, Mont.

BOB ROBERT MARLEY July 29, 1943 - October 30, 2010. Born in Sandpoint, Idaho, SHS grad class of ‘61.

Served in the US Army (Vietnam). Involved with numerous local businesses and served many years as the Chairman of the Democratic Central Committee.

JESSE RICHARD BENNETT July 26, 1914 - October 29, 2010. Born in Memphis, Tenn.

Hopped a train during the Depression to So. California.

Worked as a rodeo rider and fruit farmer. Married Marion E. Paddock, moved to Careywood, Idaho in ‘54. Father of 2. Raised Hereford cattle, farmed and logged. Worldrenown as a model railroader.

CLARENCE T. ‘LINDY’ LINSTRUM February 1, 1914 - October 28, 2010.

Born Winona, Minn, attended Fresno State & Boeing School of Aeronautics.

Married Dale Colvert; celebrated 72 years together. Father of 3. Was a mechanic and worked as an office manager. Moved to Sandpoint in 2008.

JACK HOLDEN PLUMB August 18, 1921 - October 28, 2010.

Born in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, served in the US Navy (WWII). Married Florence West; moved to Sandpoint in ‘51.

Worked as a welder; also for Fred Kennedy and for PGT. Worked on the Noxon and Cabinet Gorge dams.

BILL A. SELLMER December 19, 1926 - October 22, 2010.

Born Hay Springs, Neb., raised in Heron, Mont. Married Stella Tempero. Father of 5. Worked as a farmer, taxi driver and for the railroad, and as a logger. Retired at age 83 due to cancer. Taught adult Bible school.

TIMOTHY LEE ‘TIM’ MECHAM April 13, 1958 - October 21, 2010. Born in Sandpoint, Idaho, graduated high school in Beach, ND, attended George Fox Univ. Worked for Powell’s Book Store in Portland, returned to Sandpoint in 2004. Worked at Wells Fargo and Larson’s. He was a voracious reader.

“You can shed tears because she’s gone or you can smile because she lived...”

-David Harkins

RANDY GUY BROWN June 4, 1960 - October 17, 2010. Born Pendleton, Ore., attended Devry Institute of Technology. Worked various jobs, moved to Spokane, Wash. in 2000, volunteered and worked for “Our Club.” Died following an 18-month noble battle with cancer.

VIRGINIA ‘GINNY’ MAE GRAVES ELDER May 1, 1926 - October 8, 2010. Born in Sandpoint, SHS graduate, married Bud Elder. mother of 5. Worked at several grocery stores and as a 4-H leader, was a bartender at the Tam. Enjoyed bowling and quilt making.

MARGARET GRISHAM PIERCE September 8, 1912 - October 5, 2010.

Born in southern Idaho, moved to Shephard Lake in ‘29. SHS graduate class of ‘31. Worked for Allen Asher family. Married Myron Pierce, mother of 4. Built a home in Bottle Bay. Dedicated her life to family, friends and neighbors.

MICHAEL ‘MIKE’ BRUCE CASEY August 21, 1952 - October 4, 2010. Born in Fresno, Calif., moved to Sandpoint in ‘77, married Pam Pruitt, father of 2.

Worked top of chair 4 at Schweitzer; also for Neil Tucker and Lippert Heavy Equip.

WILLIAM GUY GIBSON April 26, 1914 - October 4, 2010. Long-term machinist for the railroad. Obituary pending.

MAEBELLE ELLEN SCHUTTER HULQUIST May 13, 1941 - October 4, 2010. Born Missoula, Mont., married Guy Hulquist, mother of three. Moved to Jewel Lake, Idaho in 1980, worked at the Edgewater.

An awesome cook, she loved square dancing.

Lakeview Funeral Home, Sandpoint, Idaho.

Get complete obituaries online at

www.LakeviewFuneral.org JAMES DELBERT DELAVERGNE September 19, 1926 - November 1, 2010. Born Patchogue, NY, served in the US Navy (WWII).

Married Loie Beal, father of five.

Worked as a prototype machinist, also for CD Medical, and as a logger in Alaska. Moved to Sandpoint in ‘96; was an avid volunteer.

DONALD LEE ‘BUD’ NEWTON August 20, 1927 - October 31, 2010.

Born in Sandpoint, 1945 graduate of SHS. Served in the US Navy (WWII), worked in the timber industry. Married Delores Koenig, father of 4. Retired in ‘88, living in Priest River.

SUSAN MARGARET SAXON D’AOUST August 9, 1939 - October 27, 2010. Born Ocean Falls, BC, BA in Psychology and English from Queen’s University. Married Brian D’Aoust, worked for Western Behavioral Sciences Inst., earned teaching certificate from U of W, taught in Seattle, moved to Bainbridge Island, mother of three, grandmother of two and godmother of one.. A breast cancer survivor in ‘77 she was a published author, moved to Clark Fork, Idaho in 1990 and maintained a stewardship forest. See more on page 4.

BEVERLY BURKE HAMMONS June 19, 1941 - October 23, 2010.

Born Malad, Idaho. Lived in California and Hawaii, moved to Sandpoint in 2003. Member of the LDS church.

DAVID S. “JENKS” JENKINS January 17, 1940 - October 21, 2010. Born Scranton, Penn.

Served in the US Marines.

Degree in child psychology from Denver Univ. Married Connie Hilton, Marcia Hart and Emily Jenkins. Father of three Wilderness/river guide and swim coach. Moved to Sandpoint ‘90. Worked as a teacher.

JOYCE LAVERNE JOHNSON EMERSON August 2, 1935 - October 20, 2010. Born Klamath Falls, Ore. Attended Oregon Tech; married Lew Emerson, mother of four. Worked as a librarian, moved to Sandpoint in ‘94.

STEVEN MICHAL ‘MIKE’ BURKS July 11, 1951 - October 19, 2010. Born Detroit, Mich. Worked in California and Oregon for KFC; married Lisa Weseman, father of two. Moved to Clark Fork, Idaho in ‘96; worked in stained and fused glass.

DUANE RALPH BINNALL July 29, 1935 - October 18, 2010.

Born Griswald, Iowa and served in the National Guard. Married Peggy Byrne, father of four. Worked as an electrical contractor, moved to Bottle Bay on retirement in ‘94. A pilot and member of the LDS Church.

DOUGLAS DALLAS PETERSON August 29, 1936 - October 14, 2010. Born Eugene, Ore., served in the US Army (Korea).

Worked for BLM and Oregon Steel.

Moved to Elmira, Idaho in ‘80. Married Barbara Peterson. Father of two.

RICHARD LAWRENCE ‘DICK’ STRUNTZ December 14, 1932 - October 9, 2010. Born St. Paul, MN, served in the US Air Force (Korea) attended University of New Mexico and worked in the food business. Married Dawn Harvey; father of two. The couple owned the Smoke House near the Long Bridge.

DAWN FLORENCE BROWN BECKER August 23, 1945 - October 7, 2010.

Born Niagra Falls, NY, trained as dental hygienist, married Richard Cordova, divorced. Mother of two. Worked as a dental assistant and real estate agent, moved to Sagle, Idaho in August.

WILLIAM R. “BILL” JACOBSON May 16, 1943 - September 30, 2010.

Born Sandpoint, SHS and U of I graduate, original owner of PJ’s Lounge; current owner of the Hideaway Lounge.

Member Sandpoint Elks. Married to Janie Jacobson, father of four.

MARY JANE MCINTIRE ABBOTT April 2, 1932 - September 27, 2010.

Born Los Angeles, Calif., married Carl Abbott ‘77, moved to Cocolalla, Idaho in 2001. Mother of eight.

Page 26 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| November 2010

From the Mouth of the River

I had a dream last night that we had an election and all the incumbents were sent to federal prisons. I got so excited I woke up.

Don’t these people know that all the negative commercials they run about their opponent starts to grind on your nerves and that memory of what you thought of tattletales back in your school days starts to surface?

And if they run for more than every fifteen minutes you start to hate these people. They never tell you what—“if elected”—they will do to help the country—except, cut taxes and reduce spending.

I think it was Lincoln who started that saying and he raised taxes and spent it on a war between the states. The politicians thought that went so well it should be their lead-in statements when running for office and they assumed you never expected to hold them to those statements or anything else they said while running for office any way.

Take Washington state’s Dino Rossi and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray. Their commercials on TV show not what they could, would or should do, but rather how bad their opponent has performed in the past. In fact, if their opponent has done what each of them has claimed they did, both should be in a federal pen for criminal acts against our country and

not running for election! Where is our federal prosecutor when these people make these statements? No one denies having committed these crimes against the public.

The only thing that comes out of their ads that might be beneficial is it’s like Christmas for the TV stations. That, and they scare the hell out of the kids being this close to Halloween. One looks like Dracula and the other looks like an old witch.

And what is it with spending millions of dollars on ads trying to win a job that only pays a minute part of that? I mean really, how dumb do they think the American people are..? Okay, don’t answer that because it’s apparent we are dumber than a box of rocks.

We might as well just say go ahead and do whatever you want with our country and our money and if that’s not enough money just charge us whatever you need ‘cause we’re dumb enough to pay ya.

However, you have already gone through what I’ll make in my lifetime as well as my son’s and you’re now spending my grandson’s income and they’re not even old enough to get a job because you passed a law against

child labor in this country, but not in the country where you sent our jobs.

I have an idea, why don’t we let the lobbyists and the big corporations buy the elections at a dollar a vote with that money going to pay off our debt and eliminate taxes all together. Instead of wasting it on TV ads antagonizing the American public until we get so mad we don’t give a damn who gets in office!

They’re all crooks anyway *%&#@#! it!

I’m goin’ fishing!

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November 2010| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| Page 27

Scott Clawson

acresnpains@dishmail.net There’s been a lot of talk about La Nina this year, mostly by those who hope to get something out of it. Well, bring it on! Last year we had an El Nino and I almost had to join a health club! Most of my exercise comes in the form of chores, two of which are the joys of shovelin’ show and splittin’ firewood. Neither of these got me to break much of a sweat last winter and, try as as I might, I just couldn’t seem to burn off enough calories washing dishes or feeding our dog, although I tried.

So I’ll be thankful if we just have a normal winter this time around (say ten feet or more) so that I can get back to my usual trim. It’s either that or drive twenty-five miles one way to act like I’m doin’ chores in a crowded room full of people pretending to be doin’ chores, too.

I hope this is sinking in ‘cause I’m gettin’ tired of all the blank stares I get when I mention splitting wood and shovelin’ show to stay in shape. Like I was part of some living diorama where I’m the old throwback from a different century holding proudly—but stupidly—onto my splitting maul and snow shovel. A North Idaho version of ‘American Gothic.’ Next to me would be some puttybutt bench pressing his utility bills and a snowblower payment book while wearing a big stupid grin and a pair of suspenders to contain himself and his happiness.

“So, if you want to know what the winter’s gonna be like just look at yer neighbor’s wood pile.”

This old piece of wisdom has been with us for so long that its original version probably came out in the form of grunts, snorts, growls

and spits with visual aids like mock shivers, arm waving, one-legged dancing and the flashing of one’s hemorrhoids; a very long time.

But this behavior can lead to overindulgence, causing extremely large wood piles, blisters, hernias, deforestation, burned calories and, of course, stumps. Although extra firewood, I have found, comes in handy if the forecast of a hard winter proves to be a lucky guess. If not, then I have a jump on next year’s wood supply!

A wood pile is like a pantry; a stash or cache of BTUs and it also represents exercise. Lots of exercise. If you’re an idiot like I am and have a forest to take care of in your spare time, you drop trees as far away as possible from the woodshed, limb ‘em and drag the slash some ridiculous distance with a rope, buck up the log, then coerce all the rounds by any means necessary until they’re resting comfortably next to the chopping block. After that, it’s easy!

When I welded stoves for a livin’ we used an old saying: “He who splits his own wood warms himself twice.” Well, he who grows his own firewood sweats, bleeds, aches, rips, tears, screams and curses. And that’s just gettin’ the chainsaw running. After that the warmth kicks in. By the time you get the slash burned, there’s absolutely no shortage of warmth.

It’s best to cut firewood when you feel like it. This almost never happens and you’d best be willing to compromise with those feelings.

Hypnotism works for me. All I need do is get out a blank piece of paper, sharpen a pencil and stare at that paper ‘til everything glazes over and pretty soon I can find myself out in the shop shakin’ hands with my chainsaw and looking for gloves with fingertips still present (which also seldom happens).

It’s almost November again if it ain’t already.

(Huh?) Time to give thanks for all your joys and

happinesses... or whatever.

Here’s a portion of my list.

• The recession is over (even though the depression is still here).

• Fire season came and went uneventfully.

• I have so much to do, I literally can’t think of anything else (and consequently get into trouble).

• I don’t have to mow anything for at least six months.

• My firewood is all in and split.

• I still have ten fingers and ten toes (my calculators are still intact).

• Although it repeatedly made me wonder, September turned out to be a good time to peel my roof back and play chicken with Mother Nature and her ability to ruin sheet rock and insulation in sudden, June-like cloudbursts.

• Doppler Radar and NOAA’s website.

• Tarps.

• I still haven’t fallen off my roof, even though I repeatedly give myself plenty of chances.

• My new roof is paid for.

• So was the old one.

• I still love my new Colorado.

• I have more friends than I can possibly offend.

• Dish Network and my DVR make it possible to avoid political fib-fests, slander/bashing and controversial testimonials that the candidates all seem to approve of. Simply with the push of a button I can render null and void the money they spend on my behalf, keeping me from throwing my shoes at the TV. And I saved the best for last...

• I can still make my mom giggle.

I hope that you and yourn have no trouble making long lists of your own. Happy Thanksgiving!

Page 28 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 19 No. 11| November 2010

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