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Jinx Beshears; Gil Beyer; Scott Clawson; Sandy Compton; Idaho Rep. George Eskridge; Lawrence Fury; Nancy Gerth, Dustin Gannon; Matt Haag; Nancy Hastings, Ernie Hawks; Kathy Osborne; Gary Payton; Paul Rechnitzer, Boots Reynolds; Lou Springer; Mike Turnlund
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September 2012
A Very Big Thank-you to Our Clients. When You’re Happy, We’re Happy. We’re pleased to announce that Edward Jones has been ranked “Highest in Investor Satisfaction with Full Service Brokerage Firms” according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Full Service Investor Satisfaction StudySM. We’ve always believed our way of doing business made sense for our clients. It seems they agree. Edward Jones received the highest numerical score among full service brokerage firms in the proprietary J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Full Service Investor Satisfaction StudySM. Study based on responses from 4,401 investors measuring 16 investment firms and measures opinions of investors who used full-service investment institutions. Proprietary study results are based on experiences and perceptions of consumers surveyed in February, 2012. Your experiences may vary. Visit jdpower.com.
Call or visit your local Edward Jones financial advisor today.
David B Reseska Financial Advisor
Former Sandpoint resident Joe Ference catches up with some hometown news while in Prague, Czech Republic.
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LEWIS RICH Learn to spell it now so you can write in Lewis Rich for Bonner County Commissioner on Nov. 6
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There’s still time to get ready for winter.
Gas, wood and pellet stoves, fireplace inserts, barbecues, spas and more.
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DOWNTOWN SANDPOINT EVENTS SANDPOINT EVENTS
September
Don’t Miss
Sandpoint’s Farmer’s Market
Third & Oak, Wednesday 3:305:30 and Saturday 9-1.
October 13
is the last day for the market. Enjoy it while you can!
13 Rock Creek Alliance’s Annual Party at Pend d’Oreille Winery, 58 pm 13 George Winston in Concert. 7:30 pm, Panida Theater. $25. 2639191. 14 Contra Dance, Sandpoint Community Hall, 7 pm, 263-6751. $5 donation. 14-15 Wild and Scenic Film Festival, Panida Theater 7 pm. $10/advance, $12/door. 2263-9191. 15 Woodie Cellars Open House (behind the Loading Dock) 4-7 pm 16 Scenic Half, 10k and 5k runs. Online at scenichalf.com. 19 5 Minutes of Fame, Cafe Bodega, open mic, 6:15 pm. 20-23 Idaho Draft Horse and Mule International, Bonner County Fairgrounds. 263-8414 20 Women who Wine, Pend d’Oreille Winery, 5:30-7:30 pm. 265-8545 22 Live music with Rob & Amy, Di Luna’s, 7:30 pm. Benefit for KRFY, $25. 263-0846. 27 The Poor Boyz: Triple Threat Tour ski film, 7 pm, Panida Theater. 263-9191 28 House of Floyd, Panida Theater 8 pm. $20 advance/$25 door. 208263-9191
October
6 McManus and Me: The First 20 Years. 7 pm, Panida Theater. $17. 263-9191 10 Glenn Miller Orchestra, Panida Theater, 7 pm. 263-9191 13 Harvest Fest - close of the Sandpoint Farmer’s Market.
Experience
Downtown Sandpoint!
Visit www.DowntownSandpoint.com for a complete calendar of events
PLUS:
Trivia every Tuesday night at MickDuff’s, 7 to 10 pm. Tuesdays with Ray, Trinity at City Beach, 6 to 8 pm. Sandpoint Swing Tuesdays at 6:30 pm, $3. Bongo Brew/Earth Rhythms Cafe 208-610-8587 Bingo Night: hosted by The Loading Dock, every Thursday, 5-8 pm. Winery Music - Live music every Friday night at Pend d’Oreille Winery Sandpoint Farmer’s Market, Wednesdays 3-5:30 pm, Saturdays 9-1, Farmin Park downtown. Lounge Music with Neighbor John, Thursdays 6-9 at 41 South. Live music, Coldwater Creek Wine Bar, 7-10 on Fridays. Wacky Wine Wednesdays. Di Luna’s Café 4-6 pm. 208-263-0846 Sandpoint Swap Meet, every Sunday, 9 am to 4 pm, Sandpoint Events Center.
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CALENDAR (Facing page) Take a look at what’s happening in downtown Sandpoint
12. CONCURRENT COMPENSATION Gil explains the conundrum faced by disabled, but vested, veterans. VETERANS’ NEWS
Gary’s mother reminds him of the importance of just what an obituary should cover. GARY’S FAITH WALK
4. FINDING THE SONG IN OUR HEARTS Meet Phil Hough, Executive Director of the Friends of Scotchman Peaks
13. SHI SHI BEACH Ernie’s journey to the coast. The West one, this time. THE HAWK’S NEST (Photo below left by Ernie Hawks)
6. THE SECRET LIFE OF BEEKEEPERS Thoughts about the new, hot trend (keeping bees) from a third-generation beekeeper.
14. EDUCATION REFERENDUMS Rep. George Eskridge provides an overview of education referendums that will be on the November ballot. A SEAT IN THE HOUSE
18. SUMMER SOLDIERS, FIELDS OF DREAMS AND FILTHY LUCRE Jody reflects on the many scams that surround veterns’ groups. SURREALIST RESEARCH BUREAU
(Photo above: harveyhoneyfarm. blogspot.com)
8. RUFFLED GROUSE The scariest bird in the woods. A BIRD IN HAND 9. WHITE WATER Challenging wild life and wild rivers. CURRENTS 10. HUNTING LEGALLY & ETHICALLY There’s the letter of the law and the spirit of the rules. THE GAME TRAIL 11. TRAFFIC There is a time to turn around. And a time to stay put. THE SCENIC ROUTE
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15. IN CASE YOU NEVER KNEW Paul applies some lessons from a WWII documentary. SAY WHAT? 16. OBITUARIES 17. AN OBITUARY: LIVED AND WRITTEN
19. THINGS I’VE DONE IN THE PAST And things he hopes never to do again. SCOTT CLAWSON 19. A RURAL EDUCATION Boots talks about sex education. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. FROM THE MOUTH OF THE RIVER COVER PHOTO: by MadMaven/ T.S.Heisele. www. madmaven.net
THE BEST PART OF REACHING THE TOP IS THE VIEW. WE CAN HELP YOU GET THERE.
• Personal • Corporate • Partnerships • Trusts 1211 Michigan, Sandpoint
208.265.2500 • 800.338.9835
September 2012| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 9| Page
Finding the Song in Our Hearts
When not hiking the wilderness himself, Phil Hough and the Friends of Scotchman Peak seek to preserve a small portion of our most important area resource: our land. by Trish Gannon
H
oisting a glass of merlot (or a mug of Alpha Dog) at an event to draw attention to one of his projects, or hoisting a dead, skinned beaver onto his back to carry it into the highest reaches of our local mountains in the hopes of tempting a wolverine into a photo shoot, Phil Hough is a man of many talents. The Executive Director of the Friends of Scotchman Peaks, a group working to gain federal wilderness designation for 88,000 acres of our back country, “Nowhere Man” and his wife, “Walking Carrot” (visit their website at walkingcarrot.com to learn the stories behind their trail names) are fixtures of the local nature scene. In between mountain hikes, he took some time to talk about his work, and why it’s important to all of us. Q. Can you give us some of your background? When did you come here, and what did you do before you ended up in North Idaho? A. In 2002, after 20 years of working in resort or upscale city hotels in Colorado, Arizona and California, Deb and I wanted to shift gears, so we moved to Sandpoint to enjoy life at a bit slower pace in a more natural setting. We were drawn to the area by the recreation in different settings and seasons as we enjoy paddling, hiking, backpacking, snowshoeing and cross country skiing. The small town charms of Sandpoint, which also offers a vibrant selection of art, music and restaurants, were other reasons for moving here. We also wanted a good “home base” for our hiking trips, a house where we could store things and that would be attractive to family and friends so that they would enjoy spending time as house-sitters. Q. What did you do here prior to your work with the Friends of Scotchman Peaks?
A. When we moved to Sandpoint we had a couple of trips that we were planning on doing, so while Deb tele-commuted, my main focus was to figure out the logistics for our trips. In 2002 we hiked across England on the 195-mile Coast to Coast trail. In 2003 we spent a couple months paddling and hiking in Baja and in 2004 we hiked the 2,700-mile length of the Pacific Crest Trail. In between, I did a little bit of consulting work for the catering department at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane. I was part of the group that formed the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness in January 2005. As an allvolunteer organization for the first several years, I also spent some time working a variety of part time jobs to help make ends meet. They included some technical editing for manuals produced by Specialty Technical Consultants, leading back country trips for the Galena Ridge School, doing some outreach work for the Model Forest Policy Program and working with Doug Scott from the Campaign for Americas Wilderness to help plan and coordinate logistics of his speaking engagements around the country. Eventually the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness volunteer position grew into a part time, paid position. I’ve also been an active volunteer. I’m a founding board member and vice president of the Idaho Trails Association, as well as a past president of the American Long Distance Hikers West Assoc., a past president of the Kinnikinnick Chapter of the Idaho Native Plant Society, and the former chair of the Bonner County Aquatic Invasive Species Task Force. Q. Tell us about the Friends... what is it, what do you do for it, and why does should anyone support it? A. A group of concerned citizens from our area formed the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness in January 2005. Spanning the Idaho/Montana border, the Scotchman Peaks are one of the last, and largest, wild areas in our region. The Friends conducts education, outreach and stewardship activities to preserve the rugged, scenic and biologically divers 88,000 Scotchman Peaks Roadless area.
We believe the Scotchman Peaks deserves congressional designation as Wilderness for the benefit and enjoyment of current and future generations. We now have a little over 4,200 Friends who support our goals and activities; over 80 percent of our supporters live within just a couple hours’ drive of the Scotchmans. As the Board Chair and Executive Director, I coordinate the activities of a small part time staff and a large number of volunteers. We are active in engaging the community through presentations, public events, organized hikes, naturalist led classes, trail maintenance, wildlife monitoring and other stewardship activities. We rely upon and draw strong support from our volunteers and the community for these programs. Every person has a unique reason why they connect on an individual level to wilderness. We see a common thread among our supporters in their desire to preserve some of our area’s unique and treasured natural landscape. Longtime residents, newcomers and visitors alike feel a connection to the land; this connection to, and love for, the land is a common value in our community shared by a large majority of people. Q. You and your wife have hiking’s Triple Crown under your belt (or in your backpack). Can you tell us a little bit about that—what it was like and why you did it? A. The Triple Crown of long distance hiking consists of the three most recognizable long distance trails in the U.S.: the Appalachian Trail (2,100 miles), the Pacific Crest Trail (2,700 miles) and the Continental Divide Trail (3,000 miles). About 140 people are known to have completed it, including three or four other couples. Hiking these three trails includes a wide range of physical, mental and emotional experiences from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. It’s extremely challenging and rewarding. We’ve also paddled the 2,000 mile length of the Yukon River across the vast wilderness of Alaska, with many similar experiences. These trips are really more about the journey than the destination. Successful
Photos by Deb Hunsicker
September 2012| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 9| Page
hikers have to be a little bit crazy I suppose, certainly somewhat obsessive and compulsive, and by the time they are done have seen the landscape of our country in personal way, have tested the limits of their bodies, psyches, and imagination. In the beginning I wanted to see more of our country’s remote mountains, our wilderness. In the end I wanted to find out more about myself. I’m now addicted to long distance hiking and paddling. Maybe it’s a bit of “escapism” from the more mundane life we lead; maybe it’s the chance to put everything in perspective—that we as individuals are such a small part of this huge landscape, of the natural world; maybe it’s the thrill of knowing, or finding out, that “if I can dream it, I can do it” and then bringing that attitude back to the rest of my community. I still don’t really know what drives me but with each trip I get a bit closer to figuring it out. Q. In 2005, author Richard Louv introduced the world to the concept of “Nature Deficit Disorder.” Do you agree that we need ‘nature’ in our lives? A. Richard Louv is the latest in a long line of authors, thinkers, and philosophers who see the need for people to connect to nature, to see the positive impact it has on our lives. I was fortunate when growing up to have the opportunity to escape the suburbs we lived in and go backpacking and canoeing with my dad. Those trips had a profound impact on me. Not only are we connected as individuals to nature, our nation’s identity has been defined by our landscape, our Western heritage by the frontier. Long before Richard Louv, Henry
David Thoreau wrote: “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” As I’ve seen, and lived, in cities, suburbs, rural areas and for months on end in the wilderness, the further away from nature one is, the more one finds “lives of quiet desperation.” Simply put, I believe we need nature to find the songs in our own hearts. For over two decades, I have kept another Thoreau quote handy. It’s the one inscribed on the monument at his cabin site on Walden Pond and it’s motivated me in most all that I do: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” Q. What would preserving the Scotchman Peaks area as wilderness mean for our communities? A. When congress designates the Scotchman Peaks as Wilderness, our communities will benefit from the certainty that this special place will always remain the same way it is now. In a world of constant change, keeping some special places the same are important. We would know that we would be able to continue to find the Scotchman Peaks as the same wild and natural place it is now, where we can keep going to find that song in our heart. Q. The Friends gathered a lot of support rather quickly. How did you do that? A. Individuals connect to the idea of wilderness for different reasons, so in
some ways it truly has been one person at a time, one conversation at a time, one public presentation at a time. We have been effective at this because there is a strongly shared common value in our area—our connection to the land. In the four million acres of land managed by the Kootenai and Idaho Panhandle National forests there is a lot of room to support the multiple needs that our public lands address. As a group we believe that there is room for sustainable timber, mining and grazing, for responsible and managed recreation in all its forms, motorized and nonmotorized. We also believe that there is room for wilderness, and that the Scotchman Peaks represents one of the very best examples of where wilderness designation would be the most beneficial use for the land. Many people agree with both this approach, and this assessment. As of August, we have a bit over 4,200 supporters and this number continues to grow because in an era defined by conflict, we are identifying something where there is some general consensus. Q. I understand you’ve gone to Washington D.C. as a lobbyist. What does that actually mean? A. Our representatives in Congress are faced with thousands upon thousands of legislative proposals each year covering hundreds of different facets of public policy. Just think about all the areas that our laws cover. Each congressman sits on a small handful of committees dealing with a few issues. They simply cannot be experts on every topic. Lobbyists tend to get a bad rap, and often times deservedly Continued on next page
September 2012| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 9| Page
Hough - Cont’d from previous page
so when they are using money or power to influence legislation. At the same time, there are many full time lobbyists who do not have money or power to peddle. They provide information and communications to congressmen and their staff. In the case of land management issues, grassroots lobbyists, like us, provide that special local knowledge of a specific place important to developing a complete understanding of an issue, like Wilderness. Our trips to D.C. have been an opportunity to provide information on the Scotchman Peaks to our representatives, and their staff, who otherwise would not be as well acquainted with the area. One of the remarkable things I have observed on several trips to D.C. is how open our representatives are to meeting with all of their constituents. Observing from the waiting area in their offices, I’ve seen a wide spectrum of individuals take time to visit their representative’s office to talk about whatever issue is near and dear to their heart. This is representative democracy at its finest. Q. Where can people go to learn more about what you’re doing? A. Our hiking map and newsletter, published six times per year, are distributed for free at about 80 businesses in our region. People can sign up for email or postal delivery of our newsletter by using the subscribe button on our website, located at ScotchmanPeaks.org. There’s no cost and we never share that information. Our website also features lot information about the area and activities, including upcoming hikes and trail projects. Many of our supporters connect to us and to each other on Facebook (Facebook.com/ScotchmanPeaks) for current information and to share experiences and photos. Q. Any final words? A. Our Rare Forest Carnivore (Wolverine) study will enter its third season this winter. In partnership with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game we have been setting and checking camera stations to capture images and DNA samples from Wolverine, Lynx, Fisher, Marten, Ermine and others. This cutting edge Citizens’ Science project has produced some valuable data and involved a lot of volunteers in some great wintertime fun! People interested in participating or supporting this project should check out the “Wolverine” tab on our website.
The Secret Life...
Fall is creeping up on the garden. Cilantro and dill tower over the beds, their flowers slowly drying and giving way to seed, and even clover (given free range in the garden due to its soil-building properties and the gardener’s lax attitude toward weeding) is reaching prodigious heights. Tomatoes have fruited, and new flowers have been ruthlessly cut away, allowing the plant’s energy to go directly into ripening fruit. The beans, lovers of cool weather, are still producing while the corn stands in silent testament to yet another year of not-quite-enough hot weather. And everywhere, there’s bees. Fat bumblebees stumble their way from flower to flower while curious, tiny sweat bees will break away from the garden to hover curiously over the gardener, living up to their name by sniffing out perspiration. And then there’s the honey bees—working busily from flower to flower before heading back to their hive, likely located within a quarter-mile or so, though honey bees have been observed to range up to six miles while looking for food. The honey bees, of course, are a particular delight to see in a time when the health of honey bees worldwide is still at risk. Though Colony Collapse Disorder doesn’t get the headlines it did five years ago (“Bee Colony Collapses Could Threaten U.S. Food Supply” “Mystery Disease is Threat to Bee Colonies” “Honeybee Population Collapse Sparks Strange Theories”) the threat—and the mystery—remains. For some history, back in the winter of 2006/2007, more than a quarter of the
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nation’s estimated 2.4 million bee colonies simply disappeared. Beekeepers reported almost empty hives from all states in the nation; the queen, young bees, and ample food were still there but the thousands of adult females, the “worker bees” whose job it is to collect pollen, had vanished, in most cases overnight. Strikingly, the dead bodies of these estimated billions of bees have never been found. And it wasn’t just that winter. From 2006 through the winter of 2011, an average of 33 percent of all managed bee colonies have been lost to CCD every year. The importance of bee pollinators to industry is enormous. Without honeybees, it’s estimated that $15 billion of crop value would be lost each year. And while $15 billion sounds impressive, what that represents is food to feed our families. The USDA says one bite out of every three we put into our mouths relies on the work of honeybees. “It was terrible,” said Blaine Harvey, of that first, dark winter back in 2007. “I lost over a hundred of my hives.” “I lost a lot,” added his brother, Mike. “About 500 to 600 of my hives were gone.” The Harveys are third-generation beekeepers. Their father Joseph, who received a deferment in World War II because the government needed his honey, and their mother’s father, William Pate, were also beekeepers. Maintaining bees and selling their honey is a long-time family tradition; albeit it one that’s now threatened by the mystery of the bee disappearances. Both are commercial beekeepers; Mike’s “bee farm” is located in Othello, Wash., while Blaine operates Harvey Honey Farm right here in Clark Fork, Idaho. Declining health combined with a declining number of hives, however, have recently caused Blaine to shift his remaining hives over to his brother’s farm in Othello. (Harvey Honey can be purchased at the Ponderay Co-Op, by the way, as well as at Antelope Valley Supply in Clark Fork.) Commercial bee keeping, like that done by the Harvey brothers, is more than just a step up from a back yard hive. Bees from commercial operations are trucked all over the country to keep America’s gargantuan agricultural industry afloat, logging more miles than a traveling salesman, with the honey
September 2012| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 9| Page
of Beekeepers
they produce little more than a profitable by-product of their primary job as pollinators. A typical pollinating schedule for a commercially kept honeybee hive might find it in California’s San Joaquin Valley in the spring. From February through April, the bees are working pollinating massive almond orchards, followed by oranges and blueberries, specialty vegetables and almonds. A commercial hive in the Northwest might move from California to Florida, then up the East Coast to pollinate blueberry fields before returning to their home. “I think the worst thing we ever did was to put wheels under our bees,” said Blaine, and he’s not just talking at a personal level, because a traveling bee is placed under stress; and stress, just like in humans, can cause bees to become more susceptible to disease and parasites, while the traveling increases an individual bee’s potential exposure. This matters in an era where bees are dying in massive amounts, with no yetknown explanation. Because we do know of a lot of things that can kill bees, and it’s possible that Colony Collapse Disorder can be laid at the feet of a “perfect storm” of a number of different variables. Take the vampire mite. It’s not really called a vampire mite, though some beekeepers call it that. But the Varroa mite sucks fluids from bees, transmitting disease and spreading bacteria and viruses that can wipe out a hive. (Deformed Wing Virus, generally not a major threat to a hive, can infect every bee in a hive, it’s been shown, when the mite is also present.) Believed to have first appeared in Florida around 1987, the Varroa mites imperil bees throughout all U.S. states today. And then there’s the zombie fly (are you noticing an apocalyptic theme here?). The Apocephalus borealis fly lays its eggs inside the bee. The infested bee will abandon its hive in search of bright lights, where it will dance in an increasingly erratic pattern until it falls to the ground dead. And those are just two factors implicated in bee deaths. The Harvard School of Public Health has published research linking the pesticide imidacloprid with hive losses; evidence of dual infection with the fungi Nosema apis and N. ceranae has also been found in failing bee colonies.
With the threat that Colony Collapse Disorder poses to agriculture, researchers throughout the globe are examining potential causes, racing to find a cure. For while other birds, bees, and insects also pollinate fruits and vegetables, they simply cannot keep up with the demand. The honeybee, introduced to the American continent in the 17th century, is now essential to its ability to feed itself. These growing problems for bees make commercial beekeeping an iffy proposition these days. “It’s just a lot more difficult now,” explained Blaine. “In the ‘50s there was only one disease we had to contend with. Now there are threats [to the bees] everywhere.” Since 1940, the number of commercial beekeepers has dropped almost in half; the Harvey’s three generations of beekeeping will likely continue, however, as Blaine’s nephew is now working in the business. “It can cost about $200 to establish a hive of bees,” said Blaine, “so losing hives can be disheartening to those in the business.” His brother’s 500-plus hive loss, in other words, translates into a $100,000 failed investment. “We’ll never quit beekeeping... if we can survive at it,” he added. “It’s been a wonderful business for us.” Blaine is full of admiration for bees— “it’s fascinating to watch them work,” he says—and a few simple facts go far to make that case. To create a pound of honey, bees must visit around 2 million flowers, and they will travel a distance equal to two times around the earth to do so. In the entire life of a worker bee (who are all female, by the way), it can produce 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey. But 30,000 bees working together can produce and store a pound of honey in just a single day. And they need to—because it takes 35 pounds of stored honey just to keep a small colony through the winter. And those worker bees working over the flowers in the garden are actual the ‘wise elders’ of their hive, because collecting pollen is a job taken on by the females in the final few weeks of their life. Fascinating, indeed. In our next issue (God willing and the creek don’t rise) we’ll look at back yard beekeeping and more local honey producers in our area. In the meantime, you can learn more about the Harvey Honey Farm at www. harveyhoneyfarm.blogspot.com. -Trish Gannon
300 Bonner Mall Way • Ponderay
208.263.4272
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• Bert’s Hot Dog Haus • 265-6121 Bonner Mall Cinemas • 263-7147 Days Inn • 263-1222 Dollar Tree • 255-5237 Hideaway Lounge • 255-2603 Home Sweet Home Consignment & Home Décor • 255-1818 Horizon Credit Union • 263-1371 Idaho State Liquor Store • 263-5441 JC Penney • 263-3510 KBM Computer Service • 265-0902 Les Schwab Tires • 265-4518 Marcy’s Hallmark • 263-8855 McDonalds • 263-5614 Meyers Sport Tees • 263-6790 Paris Hair Designs & School Of Poise • 263-7283 Pizza Hut • 265-4452 Sandpoint Furniture • 263-5138 Sandpoint School of Hair Design • 263-6874 Sayers Jewelers • 263-0010 Sew ‘n Vac • 263-8841 Smokers’ Express • 255-4897 Staples • 255-4551 Vapor Depot • 877-867-0965 Yoke Fresh Market • 263-4613
Collection runs through Sept. 27. Cosponsored by the River Journal, the Daily Bee and Blue Sky Broadcasting
There’s still great deals on school supplies! 300 Bonner Mall Way in Ponderay
208.263.4272
September 2012| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 9| Page
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A Bird in Hand
Ruffled Grouse: The Scariest Bird in the Woods
Michael Turnlund
I love the Ruffed Grouse. They are fun to chase through the woods, shotgun in hand. I am an unapologetic bird hunter and the Ruffed Grouse is my favorite species to hunt. But even if I was not a bird hunter, I’d still be enamored with this bird. It is an incredibly interesting bird, with many peculiar habits and abilities. It is also the scariest bird in the woods. How can that be? How can any bird be considered scary? Well, if you don’t know, you’ve never experienced this feathered phantom! You can be hiking along, lost in the enchantment of the beautiful scenery around you and then suddenly—BOOM!— you accidently flush a Ruffed Grouse. If you’re caught unawares this event can even trigger a fight or flight response (in some people I know it is more accurately a flight or flight response). And this bird’s launch is quite dramatic—sound and fury! Not bad for something that is the wild equivalent of a chicken. And that is what grouse are, in a way. Grouse are members of the order Galliformes, which they share with partridges, pheasants, turkeys, quail, and chickens. The Ruffed Grouse is not the only grouse in our five-acres of paradise—we also enjoy the Dusky Grouse and the Spruce Grouse—both equally “explosive” though they live in slightly different habitat, preferring conifer groves and a bit more altitude. The Ruffed Grouse favors mixed forests and less altitude, which also makes them a bit more accessible. Council website at tristatecouncil.org. The Ruffed Grouse is mediumsized for a grouse, about the size of an average chicken but cryptically colored. That is why they are hard to see in Oil Changes the forest. They Tire Rotation run in either the drab reds or the by appointment drab grays, but the two color morphs seem to appear equally dark in the
Hay’s Chevron Gas • Convenience Store Unofficial Historical Society
208-266-1338
m | Vol 17 No. 18 | November 2008 | Page 5
CONSTRUCTION AND CONSULTATION
“The rumors of my retirement are greatly exaggerated.”
woods. Both the male and the female have small lazy crests, which they can raise up or down, and which often give their heads a triangular appearance. The males also sport a “ruff” around the neck, with which they use to display to the females during breeding season. A ruff is sort of like a thick fringe of extra feathers and it is not normally visible. But a male can puff it up like a lion’s mane when he is strutting his stuff. Beyond that, the males and females are virtually indistinguishable. And this is where you might hear the birds before seeing them. Few things in the woods are as distinctive as the sound of a male Ruffed Grouse on display. I’ve also seen it and it is quite bizarre. The male bird will find a fallen log upon which to stand. He will then grasp it as best as he can with his feet and then start “drumming;” that is, he begins to loudly flap his wings, slowly at first, but with increased rapidity until he sounds like a helicopter. He can only drum for a few seconds before he runs out of steam, but the ladies find it irresistible. He will also fluff his ruff and fan his tail—whatever it takes to make a love match. It is during this time that this otherwise unremarkable bird appears quite exotic. Here are some more interesting facts that I learned about the Ruffed Grouse from Cornell University’s website. These birds will grow little projections like combs on the sides of their toes during the winter. These projections help to convert the feet into “snowshoes” for travel across the snow (as these birds are primarily ground dwelling). During the winter the Ruffed Grouse might also dive into a soft snow bank for the night. It can then also “explode” out of this igloo just like it does in the summer. Some Ruffed Grouse populations also go through 8-11 year cycles, where their numbers dip noticeably at the peak of the cycle. This population cycle used to confuse ornithologists, who at first attributed it to hunting pressures. It was only later discovered that this large drop in Ruffed Grouse populations was related to the same cycle in Snowshoe hare populations. The correlation in populations between the Snowshoe hare and the Lynx is well known. An increase in the hare population triggers an increase in the lynx, its primary predator. Of course these population increases cannot go on forever and finally the hare population peaks and crashes, taking the lynx population down with it. And then the cycle begins anew. But after the Snowshoe hare population collapses, the lynx turn toward alternative prey—the Ruffed grouse. This increased predation by starving lynx then causes a rapid population decline in the grouse until the lynx population finds equilibrium with its prey populations. The Ruffed Grouse ranges across North America, roughly from the northern tier of states up through Canada and into Alaska, though it is also common in the Appalachians. It is the state bird of Pennsylvania and this game bird even has its own preservation society—the Ruffed Grouse Society, also based in Pennsylvania—that looks after the well-being of this bird. The birds are omnivorous, eating a variety of foods from plants and seeds to insects and small crawling critters. Like many other widespread species of birds, this flexibility in diet might explain this bird’s success as a species. The Ruffed Grouse: a fine pursuit for both hunter and birder. And for such a shy, retiring species its encounter in the woods can be startling. So don’t be caught unawares, you might have a heart attack. This can be one dangerous Michael Turnlund is an bird! Happy birding! educator, published author and avid birder. His books are available at Amazon. com. You can reach him at theturnlunds@gmail.com.
Page | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 9| September 2012
Currents
“Just the thought of white water makes me wet,” was the motto printed on the river guide’s koozie for the cold drink. Just the thought of a wild river running through red canyons makes me soar. Thirty some years ago, having just sold a sweet Jersey cow, I sent the money off to Colorado Outward Bound for a raft trip through Cataract Canyon on the Colorado River. That trip—in small paddle rafts— inoculated me with a passion to scare myself silly on rivers. In the intervening years my long-term partner and I have been fortunate to float great rivers in our inflatable kayaks (aka duckies) or with friends on their rafts. Rio Grande through Big Bend, White River and Bull River in British Columbia, main stem of the Salmon, Grand Round, San Juan, Flathead, Blackfoot, Kootenai, Clarks Fork—damn, we have been lucky. Now my buddy’s shoulders are shot, but I’ve got a few more years of paddling through rotator cuff repairs. I have always wanted to run through those big drops in Cataract Canyon again, so last winter, seeing an ad from Sheri Griffith Expeditions,* I decided to throw some money at the urge and actually buy a trip. It proved to be a good choice: six paying guests, a published author—Page Lambert—to inspire and lead journal writing, three river guides, a couple of duckies and three rafts. A big desert river is so very different from our clear, cold rivers in the Northwest. The red rock rising 500 feet above the Colorado River south of Moab glows in the morning sun and causes the silt-laden river to become brick red. The water is lukewarm. The only greenery
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White Water is shrub growth along the narrow river corridor. The stone walls have leached minerals leaving a stain, ‘desert varnish.’ The varnish is blackish until carefully viewed, and then it becomes the blue hue of the tip of a new crowbar. Being a guest allows the time to gaze at the scenery as it scrolls past. In a desert river, the rapids are not full of white water. The brown water gets tossed high, mixes with air, and becomes the color of mountain spray blossoms. The rapids still roar as the water speeds over and around rocks while losing altitude, but the water foams gold/brown. The three rafts are rowed by the river guides. These people are strangers, and I realize that I have put my trust in the hands of people I don’t know. It isn’t like following Keith’s line through Alberton Gorge or riding Steve’s raft down the Salmon River, the skill level of these guides is unknown. And these three guides are so young. How young? My Eddie Bauer down sleeping bag is older than these people who hold my life in their strong hands. As the trip progressed, the guides proved their worth again and again. They worked well together, having to make some trip altering decisions while keeping an unruly flock of guests safe and comfortable. The food and the camp cooking impressed the other guests, but I have come to expect that level of incredibly good food on raft trips. What really impressed me was the guides’ patience, playfulness, nurturing nature and river skills. Brenda, Annie and Tabatha are young women with the strength, knowledge, and
Lou Springer
nature to have become great river guides. By day four when we reached the big drops—one was formally known as Devil’s Gut—I had total confidence in the girls to get us through. There is something uplifting to observe committed, brave young women. The three river guides reminded me of Erin Bolster, the twenty-five-year-old wrangler for Swan Mountain Outfitters near Whitefish, Montana. Last year, a grizzly chasing a deer burst into the trail ride she was leading. Most of the horses turned and ran down back down the trail. One, with a terrified 8-year-old boy barely hanging on, ran perpendicular to the trail. The snarling grizzly, his eyes on the motion, intent on the hunt, chased the errant horse. Erin, mounted on a large Percheron/Quarter horse cross, charged the growling grizzly and faced it down, not once, but three times. She was successful in persuading the grizzly to quit chasing the horse and boy. With young adults like Annie, Brenda, Erin and Tabatha, capable women who challenge wild life and wild rivers, maybe not all is hopeless. *This trip marked the 15th year that Page Lambert has co-led a river writing journey with Sheri Griffith Expedition. When not on the water, Lou Springer can be found with a book in hand. Reach Lou at nox5594(at)blackfoot.net
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September 2012| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 9| Page
The Game Trail
Matt Haag
Fall is definitely creeping into the air. The nights are bit cooler and it just feels like summer’s grip is loosening. My tomatoes are not happy with that situation, but I always look forward to the fall despite it being the busiest time for game wardens. My wife Becky just sighs when I say, “fall is almost here!” with a smile on my face. “See you in January” she says. It was a busy summer for me with Department related events, so I didn’t get to visit with most of you as much as I would have liked too. IDFG hosted the first ever Wildlife Summit August 24-26, which occupied much of our time recently. If you remember in an earlier article I discussed the Summit and the goals IDFG Director Virgil Moore set forth in bringing wildlife enthusiasts together to discuss the future of wildlife in Idaho. I may be a little biased here when I say that it’s pretty darn cool that a state agency opens their doors, ears, and minds to the ideas of Idahoans. It was pure democracy and a shining example of how successful it is to have dialogue among different and liked minded people. There was no doubt a difference in opinion and feeling toward the management of wildlife but a clear message we heard from the 800 registered attendees and 3,000 on-line participants is that Idahoans love their wildlife and they want more of it for years to come. With fall knocking on the door it means back to school and hunting seasons. I always like to use the September Game Trail article to remind folks of season dates and regulation related matter to reduce the unintentional violations. People always ask, do the majority of poachers do it intentionally. Hardly, the majority of wildlife related violations are committed by those not paying attention or
Hunting Legally and Ethically uniformed. During our Hunter Education courses we really harp on the idea that every hunter has the obligation to educate themselves and be responsible for understanding the rules, ethically and legally. Most of the violations we encounter are mistakes or oversights by the hunter, an unintentional violation. These mistakes are still violations though, and the hunter must educate himself or herself to avoid these situations. Common mistakes that hunters make include: failure to immediately validate and attach the tag, failure to leave evidence of sex, and waste of game. The hunting regulations clearly state that upon killing any deer, elk, antelope, black bear, wolf, or mountain lion you must immediately validate and attach the tag. This does not mean attach the tag once you drag it to the truck, or when you get home. If the animal is down, before doing anything else, take the time to properly notch the date and month and then attach the tag to the animal. I can always tell when someone properly tags their animal because there is no blood on the tag. Properly leaving evidence of sex is another common blunder, but the process is very simple. If you are not going to leave the head attached to your animal, leave the sex organs attached to one of the hindquarters. With antlered animals leave the penis or scrotum attached, with an antlerless animal leave the vulva or udder attached. Remember, with an antlered animal the antlers must accompany the carcass if they are detached. In addition, leave evidence of species attached as well. This could be as simple as leaving the tail or antlers on a deer or leaving a fully feathered wing on a grouse.
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During the early fall, the temperatures can be extremely warm. Unfortunately, every year there are a few hunters who don’t plan well and end up wasting meat. This is not only a violation but it breaks the code of ethical hunters. If you have any doubt that you can get the meat packed out before it spoils, don’t take the shot. One of my pet peeves is the hunter who packs out the head and antlers first before caring for, and packing out, the meat. The antlers aren’t going to rot. Please plan for this by bringing adequate amounts of ice and coolers and hunt within a reasonable distance from your vehicle. In addition, know where you will take your animal before you even go. Ask yourself, “Will I take it to grandpa’s cooler or the butcher?” Mistakes happen to the even the best hunters. The difference between an ethical hunter and a careless hunter is honesty. Every hunter knows somebody or has been in a situation himself or herself that resulted in an honest mistake. It doesn’t matter if it was accidentally taking two turkeys with one shot, or killing a bull trout because it was hooked badly, call your local conservation officer and explain what happened. We can make things right if you make the effort to contact us. However, if we have to contact you, do not expect leniency. For those hunters who intentionally violate the law, you are jeopardizing the privilege to hunt, and you are stealing from your own community. Before you go spotlighting, hunt over salt, or party hunt, ask yourself, “Is it worth it? Will I be in hot water with my family, friends, or even lose my job?” Don’t fuel the antihunter sentiment and ruin the hunting privilege for the honest sportsmen. I’ll leave you with this finally and important reminder. There is NO general cow elk season this year, all cow hunts have become controlled hunts in the Panhandle zones. I look forward to seeing you all in the woods this fall, whether you’re hiking, woodcutting, or hunting! Please have a safe, ethical, and legal hunt. Be a True Sportsmen— Protect for the Future! And leave no child inside. Matt Haag is a Conservation Officer with the Idaho Dept. of Fish and Game. You can reach him at matt.haag@idfg.gov. or call at 208-946-0671.
Page 10 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 9| September 2012
The Scenic Route
A few weeks ago, I came upon a sure sign of summer in Idaho; a line of cars waiting as giant, yellow pavement-eaters digested the south lane of Highway 200, making it ready to repave. Having torn several vehicles apart on Highway 200, I waited with generous thoughts and hosannas for the machine operators, the flaggers, the driver of the pilot car and the entire Idaho Department of Transportation. In the mirror, I saw a friend, so I shut the truck off and walked back to her car. We talked about our grand view of Oden Bay, her upcoming trip to Canada, and the soul-cleansing effect of a few days by the ocean. While we talked, at least five cars and trucks behind Cherie did beautiful threepoint turns and blasted off in the other direction. I wondered where they thought they were going. It’s not like they could go back a block, turn left, find another street and follow it to town. The shortest, most reckless, drive to Sandpoint in that direction was 15 minutes, and my guess is none of them knew the roads well enough to make it in less than 25, not counting the time they were destined to spend looking at a flagger in front of K-Mart on Highway 95. Yet, they took off in a batch, as if inspired by one another, and there was something so ridiculous about it that we looked at each other and burst out laughing. It was a fine moment to spend with a friend. Later that morning, after I got to town,
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Traffic I went to a memorial service for a friend of mine named Andy in his brother’s back yard. We sat in sunshine as Chris read a short biography of Andy and gave as fine a eulogy as a brother could give. Ladies cried, flickers and chickadees sang in the trees, and a Lutheran minister read the 23rd Psalm and preached on the famous “a time for” poem from Ecclesiastes. Afterward, we sat in shade and ate finger food and spoke of Andy’s death and the death of others close to us. We didn’t speak of our own, of course, except in jest and after the pall had risen far enough off Chris’s shoulders that we knew it was safe to ask him to laugh with us. Andy was 45 when he died. One week he was stocking shelves at IGA. The next week, he was in the hospital. The next week, he was gone; off into that other phase of life; burst through the opaque, undulating, elastic curtain we call Death. Andy is not in bad company. His parents preceded him, and we have lost other friends of late. Kathy, Dan, Mick, Kate, Elizabeth, and others whose names I don’t know. Even old Radar, darn his furry hide, has gone on without us. The rest of us are left behind with a funny taste in our mouth; of dust and ashes and a bit of nagging nostalgia. For a while, we expect to turn around and see our friends right behind us, grinning like it was just a big joke; thinking we will all have a big laugh and go home or back to work; back to our real life, relieved and grateful. We know down deep, though, that Andy isn’t hiding in the birch trees in Chris’s back yard. Mick isn’t down in the desert. Kate isn’t just on vacation. Kathy isn’t off
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climbing a mountain somewhere. We can reasonably expect they won’t be coming back. For us, they are irretrievable, except in memory and dreams, and we are left with a feeling that might be best expressed as “Well, damn.” “Well, damn … we were just getting to know each other.” “Well, damn … we were just beginning to get along.” “Well, damn … they were just getting their life together.” “Well, damn … I liked them so much. How will I live without them?” We will live without them. The holes left in our lives and hearts will heal, but as Chris so poignantly pointed out, never quite completely. We will wonder if we did enough with them, or enough for them. We will wonder what to do with the leftover creases in our relationships, the promise to ourselves to apologize next time we see them, or our vow to never tell them we are sorry. We will think of them and say, “Well, damn.” An old saying is that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. If that is true, it is cemented with regrets. Regrets are what keep the holes in our hearts open, bleeding and painful; rather than healing and forming a niche in which to keep our best memories of those who leave before us; friends and lovers gone out of our lives, even though maybe not as far as Radar and Andy. The Lutheran pastor in Chris’s back yard spoke of timeliness. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die …” There is also a time to get out of your car and walk back a few feet to visit with a friend. There might even be a time to frantically make a three-point turn and go off in search of a quicker way to town. After all, the image of someone else doing that helped Cherie and I enjoy our morning just that much more. “For everything there is a season,” … a time for regrets, and a time to cast regrets behind us. That time comes to us when we are able to say, “I’m glad I got to spend some time with them,” instead of “Well, damn.” Find Sandy online at www. SandyCompton.com or reach him at mrcomptonjr@hotmail. com
September 2012| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 9| Page 11
Veterans’ News
Gil Beyer
In 1980, after a twenty-one-year Navy career, at my discharge physical it was found that I had significant tinnitus in both ears—only one ear counted—and a few other maladies that earned me a 20 percent disability rating. Again, only one ear counts – more on that and its ramifications later. I accepted that rating and have been receiving my stipend from the VA for several years now. Over the past few years I’ve noticed that my hearing has been getting worse and it has reached the point where it is affecting relationships with family and friends. After visiting the open house event for the new VA Clinic at Kaniksu Health Services in Sandpoint, I opted to make an appointment to get a new audiology test and may be eligible for some kind of assistance with this growing problem. I called the clinic and they gave me an appointment for early August; pretty quick service in my mind. At 8:30 am on the morning of August 8 I presented myself at the clinic and was given a physical that covered everything I had just had done in mid-April—except for the blood work which had done with my April physical. The nurses were quick and efficient and the PA that did most of the questioning and answer recording was very thorough. He even did a ‘lavage’ of both ears to clear any accumulated ear wax and that may even have helped my hearing a little. Thanks, Mike. An appointment for an audiology exam was requested—they have to do those in Spokane at the VA Medical Center. The next day I received a call with an appointment date and time for my hearing test. That date is in early September and I was much impressed with the rapidity of the response. I believe the date was chosen to accommodate my vacation time—as I write this I’m south of Dusseldorf on the
Concurrent Compensation Rhine River, though I will have returned to Sandpoint by the time you are reading this. All in all, I am much impressed with the services offered and the efficiency of the operation at our new service clinic. Now, as promised, a little bit about a sore subject with many retired service people: concurrent compensation and its effect on our retirement checks. It is almost a given that if you serve in the military for the required 20 years needed to collect a retirement check you will suffer some level of disability. If you are awarded a rating of 20 percent or more, you will receive a check from the VA. But there is a catch: whatever amount the VA sends you will be deducted from your retirement check dollar for dollar. So, if you were supposed to receive $1,000 for your service —Army, Air Force, and Navy et al—you would receive $800 from them and $200 from the VA. That deduction—or reduction if you will—has never seemed fair to me. Why am I getting less money after being disabled in service to my country? The why and how of this can be answered in post-Civil War American history. After “the recent unpleasantness with the North,” to quote one of my history teachers in Florida, the U.S. Congress was reconstituted with representatives from both the Union and the states that made up the Confederacy that had been in rebellion to the Union. In the 1870s and 1880s the emotional and physical wounds from this conflict were still very deep and still quite painful. When a Senator from a former Union state proposed paying a stipend to veterans of the Union army who had become disabled in their service to their country, a former Confederate General—now a Senator—added an amendment to the bill
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to mandate that whatever stipend was granted to those disabled veterans would be deducted from whatever retirement pay that veteran received. This was done strictly out of spite because the retired Confederate veterans were denied any retirement pay whatsoever for their service. So a law that was enacted well over a hundred years ago out of spite still affects many retired servicemen and women by reducing their retirement check by an amount identical to the amount received from the VA. Granted, the VA stipend is tax free while retired pay is subject to income taxes at both the state and federal level. This is changing, which means that military retirees with 20 or more years of service and a 50 percent (or higher) VA rated disability no longer have their military retirement pay reduced by the amount of their VA disability compensation. By 2014 all veterans rated 40 percent or more will not have their retirement check reduced. That still leaves a lot of us who have our retirement pay reduced: all of those rated less than 40 percent disabled and are receiving a monthly stipend from the VA. We will continue to lose that few bucks a months from our retirement checks. Is this a win or a loss? I don’t know. I haven’t checked the numbers to see whether or not I’m paying more in taxes than I’m receiving from the VA. It was supposed to be a ‘wash’ from that perspective and I’ve never checked it out. At least those who have given the most for their country are finally getting something back. Next month I’ll be devoting much of my space to a letter that was written to all veterans by General David Petraeus. The General retired a while back and is now serving as the head of the CIA. This letter is worth a read by all who served and should be required reading for all those who never have. With Congress on their Summer Recess—read campaign mode—at least they haven’t done any additional harm to the veterans or the rest of the nation during the month of August. Congress should be required to function under the tenets of the Hippocratic Oath: “First, do no harm.” As the campaign season heats up on the way to November I’m sure that the gaffs, faux pas, lies, obfuscations and half-truths will continue to fly from both camps. Until next month – take care and stay safe. Gil Beyer, ETC USN Ret., can be reached at vintage40@frontier.com
September 2012| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 9| Page 12
The Hawk’s Nest
Ernie Hawks
The boardwalk was mossy green planks, slick in places but they kept us out of the muck below. The canopy of the old growth rainforest allowed minimal sun to dry the ground, so the alder, spruce, and cedars were gnarled and twisted, sometimes around themselves, sometimes around another tree, as they reached for light. We were on the trail to Shi Shi Beach through the Makah Indian Reservation. Nearly the entire trail is in the Reservation but the beach, our destination, is part of the Olympic National Park. We walked on, in the damp, late afternoon dim of the woods. Earlier, at the visitor center, purchasing park permits, we met the ranger. “There are rules. You may not like them or even think they are right, but there are rules,” he told us. Most of the rules were typical of wilderness or national park hiking but there were a few additions “You can build fires on the beach but not one big enough to be seen from another solar system. “All food, garbage, or any scented items must be stored in bear canisters. This is because of raccoons not bears, food hanging in bags will be torn open and eaten. “Finally, drive to the trailhead and drop your pack, then drive back along the road where you passed some houses with several cars in their yards and a cardboard sign saying ‘park here.’ Pay their price— whatever it is—and leave you car there. If you leave your car at the trailhead it will be gone.” “Do you mean towed?” “No, gone. You are going into another country; this is Ecuador in the 1970s. Pay their price to park in their yard, it will be fine there.” The trailhead parking lot sign said, “For overnight parking use secure lots.” So we dropped and drove back, where we found a steel box to put our money. There was a sign above it: ten dollars for the day you arrive, no matter how late. Ten dollars for each day your car is here, and ten dollars for the day you leave, no matter how early. That price was paid— after we found some journal paper to wrap our money in. The ranger had said, “They do not invest your money on signage, striping or envelopes.” He seemed to be right. Appreciative and entertained by the presentation, we followed all the rules to the letter. Although we did notice the only thing secure in the secure parking
Shi Shi Beach
area was the steel box where we left our money. We had done some research before the trip, so we knew the boardwalk would end before the mud bog did and we were ready for a slog. It wasn’t as soggy as expected. Our boots got covered and our pant legs dirty, but it was not nearly as bad as we understand it can be. Just before entering the park there are some openings in the forest. A hundred or so feet below each one lay the Pacific Ocean, with scattered rocky outcroppings. Small to huge free-form ,sculptured islands dotted the sand and the surf. White foam slammed against them so hard you would think they would move but the wave was broken instead. A steep trail down the cliff had to be negotiated before reaching the beach. We had heard it was very treacherous and a rope was provided for the descent. On our day it was not as slippery as expected but still, many countless roots made the dirt track a challenge; not at all insurmountable, but challenging just the same. At the bottom the trail headed toward the beach past a privy with a single “modesty” panel that could be seen over and around—better then digging a hole. Shi Shi Beach is a long, sandy, rockstrewn coastline. At the north is a rocky headland and the two-mile-long shoreline runs south to another: the Point of Arches. We set up camp at the demarcation where the rain forest spills down the cliff to join the light brown sand. A hike to the north headland allowed close inspection of the rocks. Conglomerate rocks are sediment with sandstone working like a mortar for larger stones and boulders of different kinds. They have been pressed into a hard sarsen, looking a little like a large aggregate and concrete mix. For millenniums, the surf has hammered these rocks into a tortured, distressed look—eerie, weird shapes looking structurally unsound but standing
strong against the ocean’s power. Around and between them are motes and wonder-filled, small tide pools, teaming with diversity of life and color. Bright orange to burgundy to purple to neon violet starfish wait to catch a ride on the next tide. At one point we kept hearing a recurring boom. A search led us to a small cave where the waves trapped and compressed air until the power of nature blasted, blowing vapor back out the opening. Early the first morning I experienced a karmic moment. On the horizon we saw the spray of whales. The spray was all we could see at first, yet I felt elation in the occasion. Then I remembered a few weeks earlier in Yellowstone Park. I had become cranky when tourists clogged the road looking at bears several hundred yards away. It was not a bear sighting, only a “couple of black dots” sighting. Now I was acting the same as those people each time I saw a spout in the distance. I got it: we can all get excited about witnessing something we are not used to seeing. Finally, one of the giant mammals seemed to lie at the surface for a while. As I watched with binoculars it dove, giving a great show of flukes high out of the water followed by a massive splash. During that day we saw otters and seals cavorting near the shore while eagles glided over us into the trees. The days were spent hiking the beach, sometimes barefoot, connecting to the ocean as an ever-changing constant. It is a force that may appear destructive yet, it is the reason for the wonderful, erratic rocks and beach where we camped. On the forth day we walked the trail back through the Reservation to the lot where we had left the cars. Just as before there were no lines, no permanent signs, and no one—and the cars were not gone. Reach Ernie at michalhawks@ gmail.com, and check out his photos at www. PhotosbyHawks.net
September 2012| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 9| Page 13
A Seat in the House
Rep. George Eskridge
The legislature passed three major education reform bills in 2011 that are being challenged by opponents of the legislation through three different referendums (propositions) that will be before the voters to accept or reject in the November 6 general election. Proposition 1 is a “referendum to approve or reject legislation limiting negotiated agreements between teachers and local school boards and ending the practice of issuing renewable contracts.” Proposition 1 refers to Senate Bill 1108 (S1108) passed in the 2011 legislative session that “relates to labor relations and employee entitlements.” Some of the provisions in S1108 include: • Phasing out tenure for all teachers not covered by tenure provisions upon passage of the legislation and replacing it with one- or two-year teaching contracts. • Providing for parent feedback in evaluating teacher performance. • Eliminating the 99 percent average daily attendance protection feature of the state funding formula and replacing it with a 10 percent severance fee for positions eliminated because of decreased enrollment. • Limiting the length of negotiated labor agreements to one year. • Limiting collective bargaining to just salaries and benefits. • Requiring that all labor negotiations be conducted in public meetings. Proposition 2 is a “referendum to approve or reject legislation providing teacher performance pay based on state-mandated test scores, student performance, hard-to-fill positions and leadership.”
Education Referendums on November Ballot Proposition 2 refers to Senate Bill 1110 (S1110) passed in the 2011 legislative session that instituted a “pay for performance system.” The plan “rewards teachers and administrators on a school wide basis for student achievement as determined by academic growth. Local districts will also reward schools based on growth as determined at the local level. Teachers may also be rewarded for teaching in hard to fill positions and for taking on leadership roles such as mentoring, creating curriculum, grant writing and obtaining National Board Certification.” Proposition 3 refers to Senate Bill 1184 (S1184) and relates to “public school modernization and reform.” S1184 “re-prioritizes statutory requirements to strategically invest in Idaho’s educators and technology, and increases transparency for Idaho’s public school system.” S1184 provides requirements for “implementation of online courses, one-to-one mobile computing devices (laptop computers) and other advanced technology in the classroom.” S1184 “provides high school teachers with mobile computing devices first in the rollout beginning with the 20122013 school year. Provides one-third of high school students access to mobile computing devices beginning with the 2013-2014 school year until all students have access to such devices by 20152016.” The legislation also “requires the State Board of Education to create digital citizenship standards, and to consider adding online courses as a graduation requirement for the class of 2016.” These are controversial propositions and supporters and opponents are
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expected to conduct extensive campaigns supporting the continued implementation of the 2011 legislation or rejecting any one or all three of the controversial pieces of legislation. Changes in the legislation, including funding provisions and online credit requirements, have been addressed by the 2012 Legislature and the State Board of Education but continuing opposition to the 2011 legislation still exists, resulting in opponents being successful in obtaining enough signatures qualifying the three referendums to be placed before the voters for their approval or rejection in the November 6 general election. The legislation represents major changes in public school policy and I encourage voters to obtain as much information as possible on the pros and cons of the referendums before voting on November 6. A “YES” vote on the ballot will mean that you approve the legislation as passed by the 2011 Legislature and a “NO” vote means you reject the legislation passed by the 2011 Legislature. Thanks for reading and as always please feel free to contact me with questions relating to this article or other issues important to you. I can be reached by phone at (208) 265-0123, by mail at P.O. Box 112, Dover, 83825 or by email at geskridge@coldreams.com. George Eskridge, is the Idaho Representative for House District 1B. Reach him at 208-265-0123 or P.O. Box 112, Dover, ID 83825
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September 2012| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 9| Page 14
Say What?
Paul Rechnitzer
If you believe that stories about the Great Depression are boring and if the stuff about the “Greatest Generation” is nauseous, please accept my apologies on behalf of those of us who believe they are not just the stuff of legends, but the core of our culture. On August 11 the National Broadcasting System, before capping off the 2012 Olympics, presented an hourlong documentary on Great Britain and “Their Finest Hour.” Rather than being just another summary of World War II, it vividly describes the courage and determination of the British people, and finally the Americans, to conquer an ideology completely foreign to our Christian principles. The scenes can never adequately describe the horror, the pain, and the losses those involved suffered to achieve a victory over an alien concept. Those were your ancestors and mine who responded in a display of conviction and force never before known to man. The history lesson, so precisely illustrated, points out the consequences of society being manipulated by those whose principles are essentially foreign to the background we accept. The history lesson clearly indicates the importance of inspired and inspiring leadership. Churchill was not only the right man at the right time, he spoke the language of the people he was honor bound to save through a victory, He catered to all his people and could easily see the importance of his role to the American people. There were skeptics then as there are now. Isolationists turned a blind eye and were outspoken.
In Case You Never Knew But that the President of the United States thought Churchill’s bust in the Oval Office was inappropriate is a bit late in the game. It illustrates perfectly the great misunderstanding of America so easily found in both the Liberal Left and in non-English speaking parts of the world. Today we are being manipulated by cultures who do not begin to appreciate the role we have played in advancing civilization. They have no regard for the principles we cherish and defend. Our society is not based on the suppression of your religious belief. Our society is not based on denying you the opportunity to succeed by destroying your will. Our society is rooted in the importance of every individual, an idea never better illustrated than in the Declaration of Independence ... a document written in English That document might be translatable but its meaning can only be found and understood in the minds of those who understand the pain and suffering endured to create and maintain it. The words to our national anthem are meaningless to those whose ideologies we are being force fed on occasion. An interesting aspect to the documentary was that both President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill were outspoken in their Christianity. Imagine them singing “Onward Christian Soldiers” together on the deck of a warship off the coast of Newfoundland. Now you can deride that level of faith until hell freezes over, but it was their steadfastness in their principles that enabled us to be victorious. Should all this seem strange and out of place these days that is truly sad. The very
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foundations of our country lie not in diversity but in allegiance to the same tenets our forebears brought to our shores. Don’t doubt for a minute that the ways of life we so take for granted are not under assault. In the name of lord knows what, we are being prodded, persuaded, brainwashed and tricked into believing we have been wrong all these centuries. The great light we supposedly need is being provided by those who have not the slightest idea of right from wrong, nor the courage to stand for anything except an indefensible blind belief. The “hope and change” slogan of 2008 belonged to those who felt we needed to change and hoped we would all agree. But change to what? The hope was that we were all too self-absorbed to consider the possibilities. The hope was that we were all too dense to have either never understood our heritage or to have taken it for granted. A Denver newspaper at one time had in its masthead, “He who lives in hope lives in despair.” It simply says that hope “Isn’t going to get ‘er done.” It is past time to recognize the realities of hope and change. The British had no time to be hoping. They found out early on that diplomatic charm and conversation were meaningless. They became resolute in the defense of their principles. We need to do likewise and for the same reasons Paul Rechnitzer is a well-known local conservative and author. You can reach him at editorial@ riverjournal.com
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September 2012| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 9| Page 15
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PASSAGES Margaret Alys “Molly” Lynch HAPKE Aug. 20, 1914-July 23, 2012
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Peter Paul “Pete” FAUST Mar. 11, 1963-July 26, 2012
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V. Lois Warren GUNTER Jun 27, 1928 - Aug 13, 2012
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Virginia Alice Bissonnette WILLIAMS Nov. 5, 1915 - Aug. 25, 2012
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Linda Mae Wood ROCHIOLI Aug. 7, 1942 - Sept. 2, 2012
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Arthur J. “Smokey” CHUBB, Jr. Mar. 30, 1947 - Aug. 19, 2012 www.Coffeltfuneral.com
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Albert Leon EASTERLING Jun. 12, 1953 - Aug. 19, 2012 U.S. military veteran www.Coffeltfuneral.com
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Jane Marie Carter SMITH Jun. 22, 1919 - Aug. 22, 2012 www.Coffeltfuneral.com
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Page 16 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 9| September 2012
Gary’s Faith Walk
Gary Payton
As evening waned, my mother lay on her side, head on the pillow after another difficult day. Accelerating kidney cancer filled her with nausea, fatigue, and lack of appetite. She called me to her bedside and said, “Be certain to have these things in my obituary.” In the next few minutes, she ticked off the main points: 63 years of marriage to my father, 50 years as an active member of United Methodist Women, 27 years with the JC Penney Co., and more. She closed her eyes in sleep. Awakening the next morning, she burst out “Gary, I forgot two things. Write these down!” When she passed away in July, I dutifully followed her instructions, adding my own reflections to her obituary on both the facts of and the meaning of her life. While Mom provided many details, it was mine to find amplifying words like loving, caring, strong, determined, and dignified. The writing assignment for two newspapers in Kansas City and Independence, Missouri was short, shorter than a River Journal column, but far more demanding. As it happens, Stephen Covey also died in July. Leadership and management consultant, author, Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” has shaped the organizational and personal lives of tens of millions across the last 20 years. In his chapter “Begin with the End in Mind,” he asks us to visualize our own funeral and to ponder what we would like each speaker to say about our life—family member, friend, work colleague, church or community member where we have served. Likely, those things we would want to hear from the speakers would highlight our many activities in life, the “what” of our living. But, Covey suggests, wouldn’t we really be yearning to hear
Obituary: Live it, Write It about the “how” of our living, the “how” of our relationships with others? In a quiet moment after my mother’s death, I again sought the wisdom of Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister and her recent “The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully.” She challenged me with these words: “Meaning—the message of my life, the substance of my being… What do others see in me now? ... What does God see in me now? ... What do I see in my life now? ... What am I doing with my time now?” As this demanding summer ends, all these events, all these words swirl in my mind. To make sense of recent weeks, I turned to the Gospel of Matthew thedon’t And they don’t have to—after inall, inwe theAmericans New Testament. Jesus said, “You believe if it’s ours, it’s ours shall the Lord your all andlove we can do with it God whatwith we want? Or your heart, and with all your soul, and is with all your mind. Thisand is the wegreatest want it, then commandment. And, a second you have to give it to us and isif like you it: don’t, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ then you sponsor terrorism and we’ll On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22: By the way, China wants that oil as 37-40) well. Remember China? Dubbed the Double LoveThe people who loaned us all that money? China’s Commandment, the charge to love boils oil consumption around billion barrels down to a guideisfor living.6.5 While I can’t a year, and growing at 7 percent fully know myismother’s, Covey’s, or every year. It produces 3.6the billion Chittister’s invisibleabout love of Lord,barrels I every year. Does this math look good can see the visible signs of their love of to anyone? InCan anyone other than Sarah neighbor. my mother’s life, the love for Palin George Bush believe we can and careand of others abounded—immediate drill our way out of this problem? Anyone family, elders, friends, and work place who doesn’t we better hit the ground colleagues. Herthink memorial service was filled withtoexpressions of her running figure out how tooutreach, fuel what we care (sometimes stern, sometimes gentle), want fueled with something other than and me andto so go many others, oil concern. probablyFor deserves back to an she modeled “love your neighbor as yourself.” : I could go on As my but faith walkquit continues, ponder forever, you’ll reading. ISo one final the task of writing my own obituary discussion for the American public.and First, visualizing funeral. Activitiesanalysis are let’s have my a true, independent of what happened on September 11, 2001. The official explanation simply doesn’t hold water. This is one of those “who knew what, when” questions that must be answered—and people/institutions must
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a list of the “what,” but before me lay opportunities to improve the “how” of my living and my relationships with others. I’ll list the “what,” the major activities of a lifetime. But the “how,” the meaning of a life, can still serve as a road map to be followed in the months or years ahead. By writing and visualizing, there still remains time to change, time to love more, time to deepen relationships. In my opinion, it’s a spiritual exercise well worth doing. Excuse me now, I have some serious work to do. Gary Payton can be reached at gdpayton@aol.com
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September 2012| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 9| Page 17
Summer Soldiers, Fields of Dreams & Filthy Lucre Jody Forest
FROM THE FILES OF THE RIVER JOURNAL’S
Surrealist Research Bureau
As a brief respite I’d like to drift away from our usual otherworldly topics and take you into the Bizzaro world of small town Clark Fork and its Field of Dreams. Reading the July TRJ cover article about the difficulties in planning and building Clark Fork’s new baseball field at Memorial Field struck a nerve with me in that there seems to be a lot of posturing among summer soldiers such as the Clark Fork American Legion, pulling at our heartstrings and patriotism for simple, cold hard cash regardless of the consequences, a sort of “damn the torpedoes” approach from the Bizarro World. Briefly, you may recall a public-spirited citizen from Sagle, Marv Chapman, donated a whopping 14 cords of firewood to be sold to help raise funds to build the new ballfield. The local chapter of the American Legion, Post 146, offered to cut up and deliver that wood for free. So far so good except that the ballpark group never received a dime; turns out that “donated” labor and equipment by the American Legion cost the ballpark group between $1,500 and $1,700. “Devastating,” said Kasi Snider, who helped head up the fundraising efforts, “I can’t tell you how it feels when people in your own town go back on what they said to you.” “Incredibly embarrassing” agrees Corey Vogel, Chairman
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of the Parks Commission. “I don’t understand how people can do something like this.” The Sheriff’s Department has not filed any charges, reportedly because there was no written agreement between the two groups. (On a bright note, the Clark Fork VFW donated $200 when they heard about the unsuccessful fundraiser.) Moving on, CNN’s Anderson Cooper broke a story last May of how the Disabled American Veterans Nat’l Foundation has raised some 60 million dollars from ordinary Americans on behalf of the DAV but not one dime has gone to help them—it’s all lined the pockets of the executives of the Quadriga Corporation, who run the DAV’s fundraising efforts under contract. Charity Watch president Daniel Borochoff notes that 30 veteran organizations were graded for receipt of actual donations and fully 2/3 were given D or F grades. According to Charity Watch, “up to 2 billion dollars is raised annually and a great deal of it is simply wasted.” Now, I know from personal experience that the local V.V.A. (Chap 890) and the local DAV Chap. # 15 are both above board and transparent. For years I did an annual financial report on both, published in TRJ, showing how all funds raised were spent locally strictly to help area vets and families in need. (Only the local VFW and American Legion Posts refused me access to their financial reports.) Moving on again, I enjoy going to the monthly Clark Fork Book Club meetings and was really excited about the first book suggested to me there, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, a simple, almost naive travelogue detailing the author’s efforts to build schools in Afghanistan and raise
literacy, truly a heartwarming book. I was so moved I’d planned on asking my next Veterans Group meeting to vote on sending a donation to the author to assist him in his efforts. I’m glad it was a few weeks ‘til our next meeting, because just before then, 60 Minutes did a scathing expose of the author; his stories of being kidnapped by the Taliban and building hundreds of schools in remote areas were exposed as flimsy, tissue-filled lies built around a few kernels of fact. His “foundation” seemed to exist solely to fly him around in a private jet to book signings promoting his books, where he either refused to answer his critics’ queries or spoke only to fawning, respectful reporters where he questioned the motives of those who attacked him. The Montana Attorney General (where his foundation is based) recently ordered him to repay nearly a million dollars. Some seven or eight years ago our Vietnam Vets group sent off a donation ostensibly to a group supporting the U.S. Flag. It turned out to be a cover group whose real agenda was attacking abortion rights. These bastards are really sneaky, they knew we’d never give dollars to such a cause but now our local V.V.A. Chapter is listed as supporting countless right-to-life family issues like anti-homosexual laws, all because of a simple request to support the flag. I wouldn’t be surprised if most if not all of our local veterans’ groups were taken in by the same support-the-flag ploy. ‘til next time, keep spreading the word; Soylent Green is People! All Homage to Xena! You can reach Jody at joe@ riverjournal.com
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Page 18 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 9| September 2012
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Try to run in wet cement. Run with scissors. Or idiots. Run from a loaded gun. Or a loaded grizzly. Step out of a moving vehicle with a loaded weapon. Get tunnel vision. Fight a house fire naked. Open a smoking door. Catch a hardball with my nose. Attempt a handstand over a balcony railing. Try to shave with a hunting knife. Or probe a nostril on a bumpy road. Or “Hitch-a-bob” a similar one in winter. Go on a road trip with $1.45 in travel expenses. Buy a dirt bike that weighs more than I do. Crack the throttle on a yz-400 Yamaha. Assume the drain plugs are in place when launching the boat. Also that my ‘first mate’ might see some humor in this type of thing. Believe taxes will ever go down. Trust the weather report when it’s important that it be right. Or a fire extinguisher gauge. Swear to anything. Play deaf when someone hollers
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“Catch!”, “Heads!” or, “Think fast!” Say “Okay” when someone asks me to hold onto their anal retentive dog “For just a minute or two while we go get more beer.” Think I could be an electrician. Or a politician. Pass a water truck while it’s washing the lane I’m in. Ride a bike in flip-flops. Play Mumbley Peg. Spit out the first thing that comes to mind in mixed company. Burst into spontaneous laughter at funerals. In church. Or court. Go to Wal-Mart for anything. Search furiously for the one thing held so firmly in a clenched fist. Drive a nail with my left hand using my right thumb as a homing device. Consider gasoline as a reasonable approach to gopher reduction. Or to start a slash fire. Assume a line trimmer can be trusted around flowers or pets. Or my tiller within three feet of anything of value. Bend over to tie a shoe in front of a door. Use the top of my head for anything but hat storage.
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Think I can ever wrap my head around my computer. Expect a clean, clear answer when calling customer service. Question my wife’s motives. Drop trees near anything of value. Loan out anything with a pull starter or sharp teeth. Get a very comfortable shave first thing in the morning only to realize the guard was still on the razor. Gargle with body wash. Brush with hand lotion. Fire up my Sonicare prior to getting it in my mouth. Step on a bar of soap. Or, one of my favorites, is to get up for relief in the middle of the night, leaving brain on pillow so as not to disturb sleep, trust auto-pilot for guidance in lieu of lights, only to go skinny-dipping because the seat was left up!!
I could go on but this list is embarrassing enough.
Scott Clawson
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September 2012| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 9| Page 19
A Rural Education
Country kids have it over city kids when it comes to sex education because all animals perform their reproduction rites openly. From a very early age that’s pointed out to children as a natural thing, whereas city kids learn sex education by playing Doctor with the neighbor girl out in the garage, or by walking in on Mom and Dad during the height of their Sunday morning wrestling match. Then there’s the back seat of most cars made in the 40s and 50s, where you might find your sister and her boyfriend. There was once a movement by a women’s group to have the car dealers replace the back seats of any car they took in on trade-in before it was resold, for health reasons. My dad always had a simple explanation for things like that. “What about chickens?” I would ask. “How do they reproduce?” “Shut up and go get my whetstone so I can sharpen my K-Bar.” “But Dad, whose idea was it to eat the next thing that comes out of a chicken’s butt? And what if it wasn’t an egg?” I’m in my end days now, late 70s, and I still don’t know about those damn chickens, but I can understand why they’re part of the fowl family. Another things country kids get in on that city kids never hear about is the killing of animals. In the fall, when the weather starts to turn cold, it’s time to butcher hogs and beef for the winter larder. Dad taught me at an early age where to place the shot on a hog for an instant kill‑-right behind the ear with a downward slant and the hog will drop like a shot. Beef is a bit different: you draw an imaginary line from the ear across the face to the opposite eye, do the same thing on the other side, and where these two lines cross is where you place your shot. Not between the eyes where most people think it should be, this would just mess up their sinuses and cause a nose bleed. Country folks take care of their old, sick, and crippled animals in a way that avoids traumatizing them while putting them down with the least amount of disturbance. I got my first taste of this as an adolescent, and a small one at that, when the ranch boss came to me on a Friday afternoon and said, “I have a job for you which pays five dollars and the use of my new Mossberg automatic .22 with a seven-round clip. Also, you can drive the ranch pick-up”. These were three of the most exciting things I could think of, because all I had was an , bolt-action Remington with the stock held on with bailing wire. Plus, the only thing I had gotten to drive on the ranch was a old John Deer called Popping Jonnie with a hand clutch. “Tomorrow when we go to town to do our weekly shopping, I want you to load that old cat up and take it up the creek about a mile and dispose of it.” We hauled that old cat all the way from Illinois when we bought the ranch and she hads declined to a point where she was no good for nothing. “She has scurvy, body sores , is now blind and has the runs. So, while my wife and family are in town tomorrow you can dispose of her and they won’t know how she disappeared.” “You bet, boss, you can depend on me, the job will be done.” I could hardly wait to see their car pull through the ranch gate the next morning. I trotted up to the truck and opened the door and there it was, his new Mossberg with the plastic stock all shiny and with a full
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Red ‘88 Mazda RX-7, 5 speed, all original, always garaged. $2,500 208-263-7697. clip of long rifle shells. All I could afford was shorts for my .22, so this was outstanding. I looked around the barn and found the old cat sitting next to the feed room door. I picked her up and set her in the front seat of the pick-up. With one eye barely open a crack, she seemed quite content. I scooted forward in the seat so as to reach the starter and the gas pedal, turned on the key and stepped on the starter. That big Ford roared to life. Apparently, you’re not supposed to push the gas pedal all the way to the floor. Also, releasing the clutch is a gentle process—don’t just let it go. Both the cat and I were slammed to the back of the seat as the Ford fishtailed back and forth across the gravel parking lot, slinging gravel all over the tin barn. It was about this time I noticed the cat had both eyes open and was looking for an escape route. The door window looked good to her but, much to her surprise, it was closed. Ricocheting off that window she tried my side of the vehicle, using my thighs as a spring board. With all claws extended, she ripped me a good one. Going up my shoulder and across the back of the seat she spotted the windshield; diving across she splattered into the glass and across the dashboard, slinging old license plates, cans of Sir Walter Raleigh, half used plugs of Day’s Work, an open can of Copenhagen, and an assortment of pins and pencils. With my foot still trying to catch up with the gas pedal we were lurching across the parking lot and, after circling around the cab several times, the cat ended up down behind the back of the seat. Out from under the seat came a jack, a set of wrenches, and some old Playboy magazines. It was at this time I began to smell something raunchy; apparently the cat had lost control of its bowels and was spraying everything in sight. By this time the pickup had lurched its way down near the creek where I turned off the key and bailed out, along with the cat who hit the ground running back toward the barn. I pulled the Mossberg out and opened fire on an educational experience: I didn’t know a cat could jump that high when dead. I spent the rest of the day trying to clean out the truck and when I was finished, I placed the Mossberg back across the seat. Forgetting it was an automatic, I pulled the trigger. The bullet went through the door panel, the rolled down window and made a bulge in the outside door by the handle. That was one of my more memorable days growing up on a ranch. Boots
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| SUPPORT | No. 9| September | RECOVERY MAINTENANCE Page 20 | The RiverMouth Journal - A News Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21REPAIR 2012 From the ofMagazine the River
Grunberg Schloss Collector’s Cabinet MORE THAN A COIN DEALER BUYING & SELLING Coins & Paper Money • U.S. & Worldwide Gold • Silver •Food quality storage containers • Coin collecting books & supplies Metal detectors • Prospecting supplies
Newly Remodeled Store—Come check out our expansion!
208-263-6060 210 C TRIANGLE DR. PONDERAY
MON-FRI OR CALL FOR APPOINTMENT
This November, Elect a Representative Who Stands for People, not Parties
Natural Balance Massage Cathryn Cyr, CMT
208.946.3663 TWO CONVENIENT LOCATIONS!
Vote for STEVE JOHNSON. Let’s put a regular, working representative in the Commissioner’s Office for Bonner County’s regular, working population. /stevejohnsoncountycommissioner stevejohnsonforcommissioner.com @FarmerLPO PAID FOR BY THE COMMITTEE TO ELECT STEVE JOHNSON COMMISSIONER, Tom Pagliasotti, Treasurer
• Pinnacle Health Center in Sandpoint • Pend Oreille Shores in Hope
Celebrating 20 years of serving the Bonner County area.
Internet.... Everywhere D & Z Auto
Need reliable, high-speed Internet service? Call for a free site survey today! Intermax serves many areas of Bonner County from Dover to Hope as well as locations throughout Kootenai County.
Quality and Affordable Auto Repair and Maintenance
208.762.8065 in Coeur d’Alene 208.265.3533 in Sandpoint
Chris Gottwald 323 McGhee Road Ste
www.IntermaxNetworks.com
265-8881
TRADER’S
1007 Superior, Sandpoint, Idaho • 208-263-7518 • TOLL FREE: 1-877-263-7518 • FAX: 265-4220
LATTICE
SPECIAL
Heavy, 3/4” thick x 1 1/2” wide slats, 3” hole, 4x8. Makes great fencing or skirting for foundations & porches
Lignetics Pellets
$185.00 ton
Presto Logs $229.00
ton
9’ Railroad Ties, #2
$29.00 ea.
$8.99 ea by 15 pc unit
LUMBER SPECIALS
8” Cedar Bevel Siding ...................................... .69c ft. 2x6 Cedar (12’, 16’ lengths) ............................ .78c ft. 1x6 Fir (skip sheating) 3 & B .............................35c ft. Economy 2x4x8’ .................................................. $1.88
LOTS OF PLYWOOD REMNANTS!
(example: 1 1/2”x96”x1/2” thick, 8-ply maple ...$4.99) 2’x8’ Hardwood Plywood .................................. $24.00
Attractive, Functional, Pre-built Sheds!
Save up to
$400 on Sheds!
WE DELIVER!
We stock 6’ and 8’ TRI STACK ALL FUEL CHIMNEY, ceiling and roof supports, brackets, caps, etc. ALSOheavy wall black metal stove pipe, elbows, caps etc. We’re told we have the
LOWEST PRICES AROUND!
We are featuring 8x12 buildings at $1299.00 and 8x16 at $1599.00. All our sheds are built with colored metal roofs, cedar bevel siding (oil finish) and insulated steel doors. Built on 6x6 timbers, 3/4” flooring. Rafters are 2x6 w/105 lb. rated snow load.
BUILT TO LAST FOR NORTH IDAHO WINTERS. WE’LL DELIVER ON OUR TRUCKS. Open 6 Days a Week
Monday-Friday 8 am to 5 pm, Sat. 8 am to 3 pm