Cameron Rasmusson (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus)
Apparently, physicist and director of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission Étienne Klein was trying to simultaneously joke around and make a point when he posted an image July 31 on Twitter purporting to be the distant star Proxima Centauri (4.2 light years away), taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. The image of a round, red celestial body — boasting an incredible “level of detail” — showed that “a new world is unveiled everyday,” Klein wrote. The “star” was actually a slice of chorizo. Klein walked back his posting of the image, claiming that his point was to give people a lesson in not trusting everything they see — especially from those in “positions of authority.” In another instance, he suggested that alcohol had been involved: “Well, when it’s cocktail hour, cognitive bias seem to find plenty to enjoy... Beware of it. According to contemporary cosmology, no object related to Spanish charcuterie exists anywhere else other than on Earth.”
it’s five o’clock everywhere
According to a widely shared statistic — provenance unknown — about 0.7% of all humans on Earth are drunk at any given time, amounting to about 54.2 million people. What that means is there are as many drunk people on the planet right this very moment as there are people living in the countries Myanmar or Kenya.
the last crusade
The other day I was flipping through a book that I’ve had for decades but never really took the time to read — The Knight Triumphant — and ran across a chapter about the “Lithuanian Crusade,” which began in earnest in 1283 and didn’t end until 1422. I’d known about the Teutonic knights for as long as I can remember, but (embarrassingly) didn’t know a thing about their Christian colonization of the pagan Baltic region. Some fun facts: the Teutonic knights went to the Baltic because it was closer than going to the Holy Land, meaning they could essentially crusade in their own backyard; that proximity to central and western Europe meant that bored nobles and thrifty mercenaries could join the crusade almost as a vacation; the Tuetonic knights kept up their “convert-or-die” campaign even after the Grand Duchy of Lithuania converted to Christianity and joined with the ultra-Christian Kingdom of Poland. Crazy. (There’s a really good BBC 4 episode of In Our Time on the Baltic Crusades on YouTube that I also recommend.)
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About the Cover
This week’s cover was painted by Hannah Combs to advertise for the upcoming 50th Sandpoint Arts and Crafts Fair!
Sandpoint to present proposed $49.6 million budget for FY 2023
Public presentation scheduled for Aug. 17, city workshop focused on property tax
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
The city of Sandpoint is proposing a fiscal year 2023 budget of $49,655,545 — up from $40,597,539 in FY 2022 — with the single biggest increase coming in the Parks Improvement Fund, which will benefit from a donation of $7.5 million for the James E. Russell Sports Center.
A public presentation of the budget is scheduled for the regular City Council meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 17 at City Hall (1123 Lake St.), and the complete budget book is available on the front page of the city’s website at sandpointidaho.gov.
In the meantime, Sandpoint City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton walked council members through the highlights on Aug. 3, beginning with some “shocking numbers,” as she described them, related to property valuations.
The most dramatic chart presented Aug. 3 showed the skyrocketing taxable value on property in the city, rising from just more than $1.1 billion in 2021 to nearly $1.7 billion in 2022.
“This year, our assessed overall property market value in Sandpoint went up by 50%,” she said, noting that recent year-over-year increases have tended to be within the 20% range.
Taxable value was about $676 million in 2016, representing an increase of more than 150% over the past seven years.
“This is the shock that people are seeing as they’re getting their notices from the assessor’s office for their home valuations,” Stapleton said.
However, just because property values have gone through the roof doesn’t mean that property tax rates will rise by the same rate. The FY’23 budget forecasts an increase of $46,000 in total property taxes to be levied across the entire property tax base.
How that will affect individual property owners depends on the degree to which their valuations increased. According to the city’s calculations, if a median market
valued property increased by the average 50%, that property owner’s tax bill would increase by $184.46 for the year.
On the high end, if that property increased in value by 70%, the annual tax increase would be $421.55. On the lower end, if valuations increased less than 33.75%, property owners would actually see a reduction in their tax bill.
The maximum amount of property tax that can be levied in FY’23 comes to about $4.9 million, but with $208,052 in tax relief, that number is reduced to $4,731,831 for an overall increase of just under $46,000 from the previous year.
Councilor Jason Welker pointed out that the greatest tax burden is going to fall on the homes with the highest values, particularly because they were likely far above the median market value to begin with.
“Likewise, that reduction would probably be more noticeable for somebody living in a house that increased by less than 30%, because that house probably started out below the median home price,” he said, underscoring that “a lot of the money coming into Sandpoint is monied outside investors or second- or third-homebuyers that can buy with cash that lakefront house or the high-end home that’s already twice the median home price in town.”
Welker added: “We hear all the time, ‘Oh my gosh, my property value goes up, I’m being taxed out of my home.’ If you live in a lakefront house I doubt you have to worry about that and you’re the one who’s going to see the highest burden. If you’re a working class person living in an average priced home, at worst you might see your taxes go up by $180, which is one trip to Winter Ridge in my household. It’s not as bad as everybody thinks.”
Some unique factors are at play with property taxes and valuations this year, Stapleton said, specifically that even as local market values rapidly increase, the FY’23 levy rate on tax per $1,000 of assessed value is going down from
$4.13 in 2022 to $2.79 — about half what it was in 2016.
That has a lot to do with a big change the Idaho Legislature made last year to the value of new construction as it comes onto the tax rolls.
Passed as a way to provide property tax relief, House Bill 389 stipulated that new construction comes onto the tax rolls at 90% of its value, essentially providing growth with a discounted levy rate. Whereas the city had originally counted on that new construction being taxable on 100% of its value — amounting to about $85,000 in revenue — HB 389 knocked that number down to just less than $62,000.
Stapleton called that a negative to existing property owners, who must pay tax on the full value of their property while new construction is statutorily protected from paying its fair share into the system, which determines municipalities’ ability to provide services ranging from public safety to utility and street infrastructure.
“So really, existing residences are subsidizing new construction through both a lower levy rate and through the 90% cap on what can be taxed?” Welker asked.
“With these changes that have been made, yes,” Stapleton said. “When we’re in a period of excessive growth like what we
are in and then with the change to the current tax year from the past tax year, then our levy rate is lower because of the new growth … “[Y]es, new construction rolls are coming in less than they would have in past years,” she added.
While the effects of HB 389 are being widely felt — “Honestly, every community, every council, every commission board, every district board is probably hearing about this in their budget discussions,” Stapleton said — there’s yet another challenge beyond reduced revenue from new construction.
The Legislature also changed the rules regarding urban renewal districts. Now, when those districts sunset, the properties within them come back on the rolls at 80% of their value, “so that’s even more discounted,” Stapleton added.
Sandpoint has two urban renewal districts: one downtown, which funnels dollars toward projects like street revitalization, and another in the northern part of town, which is going to help fund a large-scale improvement project on Great Northern Road. Both of those districts will sunset in 2029.
“These become serious issues for us as we look into the future and those come onto our rolls at less than 100% but are benefiting from city services, require city services, growth in city services
as well as infrastructure needs into the future,” Stapleton said. “We continue to be challenged by that.”
“We should talk to our legislators, folks,” Welker said.
Councilor Andy Groat asked why the Legislature would want to reduce the amount of tax revenue available to municipalities, to which Mayor Shelby Rognstad said, “The apparent goal is to bankrupt our towns and cities across Idaho.”
“We all would like property tax relief, but when you’re living in a jurisdiction you also have the expectation for good snow plowing, police services, fire services, adequate maintenance of streets, sidewalk repair, sidewalk improvements and extensions,” Stapleton said, “so that’s the fine balance that we’re always working through with the budget.”
Find the full budget book on the front page of the city’s website: sandpointidaho.gov. Watch the Aug. 3 budget workshop at youtube.com/c/CityofSandpoint. The public budget presentation is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 17 in the Council Chambers at City Hall (1123 Lake St.). To participate remotely via Zoom, go to sandpointidaho.gov and click on the “Meetings” tab.
Left: Graph courtesy city of Sandpoint.
City budget highlights new positions, capital projects
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Among the items in the city of Sandpoint’s proposed fiscal year 2023 budget are a number of big-ticket capital improvement projects, as well as a few expanded and new city positions — specifically in the areas of parks and historic preservation.
The newly created arts and historic preservation officer will be Heather Upton, the former executive director of the Bonner County Historical Society and Museum, and budgeted as a ¾ full-time position. The new City Hall job came out of the Afts, Culture and Historic Preservation Master Plan, and will be tasked with implementing that plan. The position will also play a part in reviewing development plans to ensure they meet the community’s vision for its historic look and feel.
Councilor Andy Groat said the position comes at a critical time.
“There’s been much conversation and much debate about our downtown and its historic nature and the building, and I understand that we are having some growing pains and some struggles and some very important voices that
need to be heard about the preservation of our downtown,” he said, asking that Upton work closely with city staff to determine “what historic districts in downtown look like and really start to refine what we want downtown to look like.”
He added: “We’ve heard very clearly from our community and citizens about what they don’t like, so let’s start entering into what they do like and what they do want.”
Sandpoint City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton said that is certainly part of the historic preservation officer’s job, and will dovetail with the purview of the new park planning and development manager, Maeve Nevins-Lauter.
Stapleton said both positions are intended to bring parks and arts and culture planning in-house, rather than relying on citizen advisory committees, as the city has in the past. In this way, Sandpoint will be “functioning like a larger city does,” with dedicated positions for assigning planning reviews focused on specific areas such as historic preservation.
The creation of a broader planning team is intended to get ahead of the rapid pace of change in the city, which Stapleton said has morphed from planning for the
future into trying to adjust to meet evolving current needs that weren’t accounted for in past plans.
“[T]he city has historically done a great job of planning and planning for the future, but even with all of that planning I don’t think anybody planned for the growth that we are currently seeing now,” she said.
City planners will have much to work with in the FY’23 budget, especially in terms of capital improvement projects totalling more than $21.5 million.
Among the highlights:
•$8 million for improvements at Travers Park, including the James E. Russell Sports Center and the skate park expansion;
•$1.6 million for a trio of projects at City Hall, including an upstairs remodel, as well as generator and HVAC improvements;
•$1.3 million for wastewater mainline pipeline rehabilitation;
• $1.2 million for the city’s fiber backbone;
•$1.1 million for Great Northern Road revitalization;
•$750,000 for Phase III of downtown street revitalization.
Also in the capital improvement budget is funding for a number of other street, sidewalk and
A rendering of the proposed improvements to Travers Park, which will also include the James E. Russell Sports Center and skatepark expansion. Image courtesy city of Sandpoint.
bike path projects, including the Division Avenue Corridor Project and Superior Street and Baldy Mountain Road pathways. Of note as well is $400,000 for a stormwater project at Farmin’s Landing and a number of other wastewater treatment facility improvements.
The budget book on the front page of the city’s website — sandpointidaho.gov — has a project-by-project description of all proposed capital improvements, including narratives, maps, render-
ings, costs and timelines.
A public presentation of the proposed FY’23 budget is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 17 in the Council Chambers at City Hall (1123 Lake St.). To view an Aug. 3 budget workshop, visit the city of Sandpoint’s YouTube channel. To participate in the Aug. 17 meeting via zoom, go to sandpointidaho.gov and click on the “meetings” tab.
Bonner County will spend ARPA money, return funding to EMS EMS
By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff
Bonner County commissioners voted unanimously Aug. 9 to return $800,300 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to the county’s Emergency Medical Services budget nearly a year after the monies were originally allocated and then, due to a campaign against ARPA spending, revoked.
“We’re super excited that they took this step to return those funds,” EMS Chief Jeff Lindsey told the Reader following the vote, adding later: “This is a big victory for the community.”
Lindsey originally requested the funds in September 2021, citing an inflated cost of supplies, a doubled call volume and loss of revenue due to pressures to treat patients at home rather than transporting
Director: ‘This is a big victory for the community’
them to the hospital, which was already at capacity due to the Delta variant of the coronavirus sweeping through the county last fall.
Commissioners approved Lindsey’s request for the $800,300 but, in the months that followed, public debate over whether the funds came with “strings attached” such as forced compliance with vaccine or mask mandates — a notion originally introduced by Sheriff Daryl Wheeler, who requested ARPA funds but then returned them — prompted the board to change course.
Commissioners passed a resolution in January putting a hold on ARPA spending and stipulating that “all monies identified as ARPA funds that were allocated to Bonner County budgets shall be returned to the originating ARPA account.” Despite having already
spent the money on life saving equipment, EMS was forced to repay the ARPA funds.
“This would decimate our current and future budgets and we would be unable to provide the current level of service,” Lindsey told the Reader at the time.
Nonetheless, the funds were returned, per the resolution.
The Bonner County Prosecutor’s Office then issued an opinion in February stating that “Congress did not confer authority on the Executive Branch to institute a mask or vaccine mandate by passage of ARPA,” and, therefore, spending the funds would most likely not obligate Bonner County to implement federal mandates.
Commissioners appeared to take that opinion to heart on Aug. 9, as they unanimously approved the resolution, presented by the Clerk’s
Office, to reopen the EMS budget and increase the “ARPA COVID Mitigation” line item by $800,300.
Lindsey said the funds have been and will be used to update malfunctioning equipment and cover other costs associated with the department’s COVID response over the past year.
“That’s a huge win for us and the community, being able to get [this equipment] out there,” he said. “That’s just an example of something that would have taken a very long time to budget in versus having that money available to purchase those things right away.”
The past year has seen EMS at odds with some members of the community opposed to ARPA spending and, in some cases, at odds with vocal COVID deniers. At the height of the Delta spread, Lindsey expressed “frustration”
with that discourse, encouraged people to “come walk” in the shoes of medics, nurses and doctors, and to “stop making unsubstantiated statements like that, which isn’t helping anything.”
“As the leader of the organization, I definitely don’t mind being the face, especially when we’re getting beat up on for trying to … improve the delivery of EMS that we do in the community by use of funding that is exactly for that reason,” Lindsey told the Reader on Aug. 9. “To be beat up over that, it’s a little frustrating.
“But now we’ve come full circle and the funding is being put back into where it needs to be — where it originally was supposed to be — and we’re going to use that funding to make our service better and to … take the strain off our budget,” he added.
BoCo Comp Plan workshop slated for Aug. 16
By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff
Members of the public have the chance to have their voices heard regarding the suggested “Goals, Objectives and Policies” of Bonner County’s updated Comprehensive Plan at a workshop scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 16 at 4:30 p.m. at the Bonner County Administration Building, located at 1500 Highway 2 in Sandpoint.
The Bonner County Planning Commission is currently in the process of updating the county’s Comp Plan, which is used to guide land use decisions for the years to follow. To read the proposed Goals, Objectives and Policies document, visit bonnercountyid.gov/ departments/planning/current-projects, and select “File AM0012-22 – Bonner County Planning Commission.”
The first workshop, held Aug. 2, drew multiple comments from attendees wondering why a meeting titled a “workshop” would feature no presentation by the commission or printed materials to review. Instead, people were given three minutes to comment on the goals and objectives in the same way public comment is conducted at a hearing-style meeting.
Local land use group Project 7B doubled down on those critiques in a newsletter Aug. 9, stating: “At last week’s ‘workshop,’ the Planning Commission got an earful about how the process was not actually a workshop and did not
engage the public in a way that was at all educational or meaningful.”
“Nonetheless, they listened to the recommendations from the public and encouraged more input,” the nonprofit added.
Members of the Planning Commission did not respond to a request for comment before press time, so it is unclear whether the format of the Aug. 16 workshop will be any different following input from the public.
Those unable to attend the workshop in person can gain access to the Zoom link at bonnercountyid.gov/PlanningCommissionAgendasMinutes, or can watch the meeting as it is live streamed on the Bonner County Planning YouTube channel.
Submit written comments via email at planning@bonnercountyid.gov. Those with questions can reach the planning department directly at 208265-1458.
Bits ’n’ Pieces
From east, west and beyond
East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact. A recent sampling:
Last week Hungary’s autocratic Prime Minister Viktor Orban got a standing ovation when he spoke to thousands of admirers in Texas at the Conservative Political Action Conference, The Guardian said. Right Wing Watch observed that right-wing leaders love Orban for the same reason they love Vladimir Putin: they embrace Christian nationalism, are not averse to strongman tactics, and want to enforce their idea of traditional values about family and sexuality.
Kentucky’s flooding has taken at least 37 lives, and is linked to coal mining, The New York Times found. Lack of trees — removed by mountaintop and other coal mining practices — meant that when heavier-than-normal rains came (caused by climate change) flooding was worse.
The first person to be convicted at trial for his participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was given a seven-year sentence, Business Insider reported. The man’s daughter objected, saying the lengthy sentence was unfair, since more powerful people involved with the riot remain free.
According to the U.S. Labor Department, nationwide employers added 528,000 jobs in July — more than twice what was expected.
Kansas shocked anti-abortionists last week when state voters, who had rallied for Trump in 2020, voted to protect abortion rights in their state.
Conspiracy theorist and InfoWars host Alex Jones is in the hot seat, The New York Times reported: A Texas jury last week said Jones must pay $49.3 million in a case brought by parents of 20 children who were killed in the Sandy Hook, Conn., school shooting in 2012. The parents alleged that Jones spread disinformation, claiming the shooting — in which 20 elementary school-aged children and six teachers were killed — was a hoax.
Jones’ fabricated stories about the school shooting led to parents being harassed: gunshots were fired at a home and they experienced an onslaught of threats resulting, according to testimony, in parents suffering “complex PTSD.”
Jones’ financial records indicated he was again fabricating when he said under oath he was bankrupt: he earns about $800,000 daily from sales of gun paraphernalia, diet supplements and survivalist gear advertised in his broadcasts. Parents suing Jones say their primary goal is to
By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist
alert people to the harms from disinformation, and to warn disinformation dispensers that there will be consequences. Jones plans to appeal, the Associated Press reported. More trials brought by Sandy Hook parents are scheduled.
The Jan. 6 House select committee also plans to explore Jones’ involvement with planning and promoting the attempted coup following the 2020 presidential election. Jones was virtually deposed by the committee earlier this year. According to the AP, he used the Fifth Amendment “almost 100 times.”
The U.S. Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on Aug. 7. The vote was 50 Republicans against and 50 Democrats for, with the vice president breaking the tie. Next will be the House vote this week. If enacted, the IRA would authorize $300 billion for working on climate change (the EPA says it will save families on average $500 a year on energy costs, while creating new jobs). It would also provide a three-year extension of health care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (and cap insulin costs at $35 a month for Medicare users); allow Medicare a limited ability to negotiate prices on prescription drugs (which will also provide savings for the government); appropriate $100 billion to the IRS for audits on large accounts (which is expected to offset the expense due to new revenue from corporate tax shirkers); impose a 15% minimum tax on corporations making $1 billion or more; and tax stock buybacks at 1%. Savings from the various measures will enable investing $300 billion to reduce the deficit.
Meanwhile, Big Pharma lobbyists have been pressuring lawmakers to kill the bill, says Social Security Works. Lobbyists want four House Democrats to vote “no.” Republicans labeled the IRA as “tax and spend,” but non-partisan government committee evaluations showed, pre-vote, that the bill will raise $700 billion over the next decade. Due to new credits and other incentives for lower-energy sources, there will be a net tax cut for some corporations. Rather than adding to overall spending, measures in the bill would show a reduction in federal spending by decade’s end.
Blast from the past: U.S. law disqualifies a person from holding office if they “willfully and unlawfully” conceal, remove, mutilate, obliterate, falsify or destroy records, documents or items filed or deposited with any clerk or officer of any court, or in any public office.
Judge to hear DOJ lawsuit over Idaho’s abortion trigger law on Aug. 22
State still waiting for Idaho Supreme Court to determine if trigger law will take effect in late August
By Kelcie Moseley-Morris Idaho Capital Sun
A hearing will take place on Monday, Aug. 22 for the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit against the state of Idaho over its abortion trigger law, according to federal court documents.
U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill, who will preside over the case, held an informal status conference with the two parties on Aug. 5 to set the hearing date and establish deadlines for briefs to be filed prior to the hearing.
The Department of Justice
filed the lawsuit against Idaho on Aug. 2, saying the state’s ban on nearly all abortions — which is scheduled to go into effect on Thursday, Aug. 25 — is unconstitutional and violates the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. That law requires hospitals that receive payments for the federal Medicare program to provide medical care to stabilize all patients who come to the hospital with a medical emergency.
At least 43 hospitals in Idaho have signed Medicare agreements, the lawsuit said, and 39 have emergency departments that are subject to compliance
with the federal statute. Violating the federal law can result in a hospital losing its ability to receive Medicare payments — one of the main sources of revenue for hospitals.
Idaho’s trigger law prohibits abortion in Idaho in nearly all cases, with potential defenses for rape, incest or to save a patient’s life. In the case of rape or incest, a victim must provide a copy of a police report. If a medical provider violates the statute, they can be convicted of a felony with a sentence of two to five years in prison. Anyone who performs or assists in abortion can also
have their license suspended for a minimum of six months or permanently.
The text of the lawsuit says Idaho’s trigger law puts health care providers in an untenable position of risking criminal prosecution under the state law or subjecting themselves to enforcement actions under federal law.
After the announcement of the lawsuit, Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said the text of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act does not include language that would override state and local laws and said the Department of Justice
did not attempt to engage in a meaningful discussion about the issue prior to filing the lawsuit. Gov. Brad Little called the lawsuit another example of federal overreach in a statement.
The Idaho Supreme Court is expected to decide whether to temporarily pause the trigger ban’s implementation prior to the Aug. 25 effective date.
This story was produced by Boise-based nonprofit news sevice Idaho Capital Sun, part of the nationwide States Newsroom reporting project. Learn more at idahocapitalsun.com
Fires burn near Priest Lake
IDL, Forest Service provide updates on Lion Roar, Diamond Watch fires
By Reader Staff
The Idaho Department of Lands reported Aug. 7 that there had been 89 fires — totaling 345 burned acres — on the 6.3 million acres of land the department protects across the state. Of those fires, 63 were human caused, burning 92% of the reported acreage. IDL’s suppression costs so far this season are estimated around $8.4 million, and that figure will continue to grow as the fire season picks up in Idaho.
Close to home, IDL is currently fighting the Lion Roar Fire in the Lion Creek drainage near Priest Lake. IDL reported the blaze at 55 acres on Aug. 10 — a 25-acre increase over the previous day — and at 0% containment. Despite 90 personnel currently dedicated to the Lion Roar Fire, officials report that “initial attack in logging slash combined with steep and rocky terrain is making containment difficult.”
Crews have established hose lays and there are plans to
reopen old forest roads to gain better access to the fire. Aircraft, heavy equipment and direct hand lines are all being used. Despite a light rain on the morning of Aug. 10, fire activity remained moderate.
According to IDL, the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office has initiated a “ready” alert for Priest Lake State Park-Lionhead Unit and residents of Sandpiper Shores. Lion Creek Road No. 42 and Lucky Creek Road No. 43 are currently closed for fire suppression activities until further notice.
To stay informed about the Lion Roar Fire and other IDL fire operations, visit idl.idaho.gov/ fire-management/fire-news-feed.
Meanwhile, the Diamond Watch Fire — located in Pend Oreille County, Washington, about five miles west of Nordman, Idaho — had grown to 270 acres as of Aug. 10, and remained 0% contained. Under the jurisdiction of the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, the fire was started by lightning on July 14
and has grown with the help of the high temperatures, winds and “very low relative humidity,” according to fire officials.
There are currently 26 personnel dedicated to the Diamond Watch Fire, who are focused on removing excess fuel from roadsides. A sprinkler has also been deployed on the northern edge of the fire, and hand lines are being constructed.
The Diamond Watch Fire has prompted a number of road closures. Closure of Forest Service Roads 311, 308 and Petit Lake are currently in progress to provide for safe heavy equipment operations and fire suppression activity. FSR 311 will be closed from the 311/308 junction to Petit Lake and FSR 308 will be closed from the 311/308 junction to the 308/1362 junction.
Best access to the Priest Lake area from the Colville National Forest will be through Newport, Wash., via US Highway 2 North and Priest River via ID Highway 57 North.
There are no evacuations
currently in place related to the Diamond Watch Fire. However, when living in fire prone areas it is recommended that all area residents have an evacuation plan in place, including having all important documents, pictures, prescriptions and pets gathered and easily transportable.
Residents of Bonner and Pend Oreille counties can visit nixle.com or text their zip code to 888-777 to sign up for emergency alerts.
A fuel break implemented for the Diamond Watch Fire. Photo courtesy US Forest Service.
Barbs:
• I don’t normally read Living Local Magazine, or their other publication GoSandpoint Magazine, which looks like it was designed to trick people into thinking they were picking up the actual Sandpoint Magazine. They are both synthetic publications, engineered to sell ads with bland, unethical stories often purchased by advertisers directly. But, when it was brought to my attention there was an article written about the Cedar Street Bridge, I thought I’d look at how they covered this contentious issue. What a complete and utter joke this article was. As diligent Reader readers know, the Bridge was recently purchased by Claire and Frank Fox, both attorneys out of Los Angeles, who made headlines after drastically raising rents on tenants, culminating in a large number of small business owners being forced to move out. This is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s a lot more going on there that has yet to be reported.
But I digress. If you were reading the GoSandpoint Magazine story written by Abagail Thorpe, you’d never know there was any contention at all. In fact, from the article, it sounds like all is hunky-dory at the Bridge. They only addressed the new ownership with one sentence, which read, “If you have a pulse on the town, you’ll also know that the bridge recently came under new owners, and while change can often be awkward and difficult, the heartbeat of Cedar Street Bridge is still well and alive.” This can roughly be translated as, “Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?”
My best advice? Don’t waste your time — or your advertising dollars — with publications that willfully obfuscate or ignore the truth, but instead attempt to gloss it over it with some happy crap that looks like it was written to make the new owners feel better about destroying everything the Cedar Street Bridge represents in the name of their own greed.
‘Enough is enough’…
Dear editor,
Ok, enough is enough! I’m tired of ideologues trying to tell me what I can read, say or think. They’re trying to make their morals and standards everybody’s morals and standards. That isn’t the way America works. The U.S. Constitution gives us freedom of speech and that means we can say, read or write whatever we please. Whether anybody else wants to hear or read what’s been said or written is a personal choice, and that is OK, too.
These modern-day book burners are nothing but sanctimonious hypocrites who are afraid of anything that is different from their narrow opinions and views. They wrap themselves in a cloak made of cherry-picked holy book stories and political opinions that ignore facts and any new information. That’s what the Taliban does and they are no different in that respect.
Believe it or not, you are not the decider of what can or cannot be read or said. The individual is and the sooner you accept that truth the better for all concerned. The idea of libraries being limited to one set of truths is contrary to all this nation stands for. Libraries are meant to expand intellectual horizons — not limit them.
Read Banned Books week is Sept. 18-24 this year. I think it should be all year, every year. Any attempt to ban books, or any other form of speech, should be fought as an attempt to take away our constitutional rights.
Gil Beyer Sandpoint
Dick Cheney speaks the truth…
Dear editor, The emperor is buck naked.
Dick Cheney — you remember him, Republicans, as the former vice president and former secretary of defense from the great state of Wyoming — said recently:
“In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who has been a greater threat to our Republic than Donald Trump. He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence.”
Cheney added: “He is a coward. A real man wouldn’t lie to his supporters. He lost his election, and he lost big. I know it, he knows it and deep down, I think, most Republicans know it.”
Wow, now that’s refreshing coming from one of the most hardcore Republicans of all time. Of course,
at 81, Cheney has no fear of Trump and his acolytes. Meanwhile, many representatives in Congress are so full of fear.
Coincedentally, Alex Jones, of InfoWars fame, has admitted that the murder of 20 first-graders and six teachers at Sandy Hook 10 years ago was not a hoax, and it actually happened. The next thing you know we’ll hear that there is no Santa Claus or that the Reader is free
Shannon May Sandpoint
Another pungent summer…
Dear editor,
Once again, only unbelievably worse! Following the last event at the fairgrounds, piles and piles of dirt were left covering more animal debris. In the past, some type of sawdust mixture along with a supposedly odor deterrent was used — no improvement there, the flies loved it!
The mess left there now, along with the combination of the wind blowing, makes the fairgrounds a very poor neighbor. It’s time to be responsible. Forget the excuses we’ve heard then all.
Jo Reitan Sandpoint
Flash mobs…
Dear editor,
If one wants to see the beauty of what it would look like if the whole world came closer together as one, I suggest going to YouTube and looking at all the videos under “Flash Mob.”
Life seems so calm when one dreams that each of us is only
one of a few million other humans alive at the same time. But, like the uncountable stars in the universe, each of us is only a “brick in the wall” among the actual 7.8 billion other humans breathing at this moment on planet Earth.
I recommend going to YouTube and selecting “Flash Mob.” There are hundreds of choices, but start with: “Grease - Central Station Antwerp,” “Flash Mob Zorba - Vino,” “Sound of Music Central Station Antwerp,” “Les Miserables flash mob at the Adelaide Central Market” and “Another Brick in the Wall.”
Watching the surprised bystanders is the best part of the life-coming-together fun.
James Johnson Clark Fork
‘Vote them out’…
Let it be known that our two senators voted against the PACT Act. All the vets in Idaho now know they are like Trump, and don’t have any care or concern for you and your welfare. Let’s vote them out!
Sue Koller Sandpoint
Vote ‘yes’ on Prop 1 for Idaho education…
Dear editor,
In poll after poll, Idahoans say that K-12 education is the most important issue facing Idaho. The vast majority of Idahoans, regardless of party, want increases in investment in K-12 education.
We can’t repair all the damage done by 20 years of cuts to education funding. But voting yes for the
Tee’d up and giving back
Quality Education Act (Proposition 1)will begin the repair by funding classroom materials; career technical education; full-day Kindergarten; art, music and drama programs; instruction in civics; special education; and teacher salaries (the funds shall not be used to pay administrators.)
It not only helps our children, it massively improves the economy.
Prop 1 shifts some taxes away from local property owners and requires large corporations and the wealthy to pay their fair share. Prop 1 calls for reasonable tax reforms so that the tax burden is more equally shared by all Idahoans. Most small businesses will not see a tax increase.
Idaho’s attorney general caused unnecessary confusion by falsely claiming Prop 1 raises taxes on everyone — not just corporations and high earners. But trusted experts, including Mike Nugent, who spent 26 years as chief bill drafter for the Idaho Legislature, confirms that Prop 1 will do exactly what it was designed to do: boost funding for education by modestly increasing taxes on corporations and those earning more than $250,000 a year. Vote yes with me on Prop 1 to get this important work done sooner rather than later.
Nancy Gerth Sagle
‘Where is everyone?’…
Dear editor, Lock him up… lock him up… lock… hey, where is everyone?
Jeff Koon Sagle
By Reader Staff
The Wednesday Morning Women’s Golf League, which plays at the Sandpoint Elks Golf Course, presented a check to Kailee Stone from Community Cancer Services from their June 22 tournament, “Get Tee’d Off with Cancer.” The event raised $7,162, which was
donated to CCC.
“All the funds raised stay in Bonner and Boundary counties for our local communities to use for gas, electricity and other needs,” the golf group stated in a news release. “Mary Stevens, the event coordinator, works tirelessly contacting local businesses and asking for hole sponsors. We thank all of
the sponsors — they have all been very generous.”
The group also wanted to give “special thanks to the Sandpoint Elks Club for the use of the course, Dave for all the bookkeeping work, Linda for helping with the organizing and three good-looking men that helped with the food service prepared by Laura Lee.”
AUTHOR TALK
- August11,2022 Library
5:30-7PM at the Sandpoint Library
MIKE MEDBERRY
Science: Mad about
The kardashev scale, part i
By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist
Human beings are a global species, harvesting energy to transport supplies around the planet. We’re the only species we’ve ever observed that exists at such a scale, so it’s easy to believe that we’re top dog and the most advanced species in the known universe.
There are some big problems with that kind of thought. It’s important to consider the vast scope of the known universe. One light year is about 6 trillion miles. The diameter of the universe is about 93 billion light years, so for humanity to believe that it is the pinnacle of life in the universe would be on par with an ant colony believing it is the height of civilization in our entire solar system.
Enter the Kardashev scale. This is a method of figuring out just how advanced a civilization is, based on the amount of energy it harvests. Energy capture and usage can tell us a lot about a civilization — it’s a direct translation to how much matter can be shifted to meet an end.
As an example, the ancient Egyptians had no access to steam power, which meant building the Great Pyramid of Giza took considerably longer than it would have if they had access to hydraulic cranes or automobiles. The same can be applied to energy at a planetary scale.
It’s worth noting, before we continue, that energy is a touchy topic. Our current energy production relies on fossil fuels — the remnants of ancient carbon-based life that used photosynthesis to pull carbon from the atmosphere and convert it into a
building material for new cells. We apply heat to turn that carbon back into CO2, which produces energy from the reaction that we then apply to things like moving pistons, effectively undoing the photosynthesis of these ancient cells. This, of course, creates an abundance of CO2 in the atmosphere, which has an adverse effect on the global climate when waste production outpaces Earth’s natural ability to filter carbon back into plants.
So what exactly is the Kardashev scale, and where does humanity fall on it?
Designed by Russian astrophysicist Nikolai Kardashev in 1964, it originally showcased three levels of civilization based on their ability to harvest and use energy, though that number now goes up to five.
A Type 1 civilization would capture and use 100% of the energy of its home star. In our case, that would be the sun. Care to guess how much energy from the sun human beings use?
Currently, solar accounts for 3.1% of the entire Earth’s energy usage. That is only a tiny fraction of the amount of solar energy that reaches the Earth. Less than 1 billionth of the energy expelled by the sun actually reaches our planet. We are essentially using less than 3% of 1 billionth of the amount required to be considered a fledgling civilization, according to the Kardashev scale.
How might a civilization go about capturing that much energy?
We would need to build a Dyson sphere. A Dyson sphere is a hypothetical structure that would surround the sun, using a mixture of solar panels, insulators, water and closed turbines to
capture and convert 100% of the energy emitted by a star. This would essentially enclose a star in a colossal structure and use it like a giant fusion reactor, with the added bonus of being able to harvest energy from photons (or light), as well. Interestingly, building this sort of structure would rapidly propel humanity from a Type 1 to a Type 2 civilization, one that uses 100% of the energy produced by the sun.
The next big question becomes: What do you do with that kind of energy?
Storing that amount of energy would be no small feat. Even transferring that much energy into direct usage through production would be staggering — we would run out of material far before we would run out of energy. Unless we completely mined a planet down to its core, it’s also unlikely that we would have enough material to create batteries to hold all of that energy. And what about sending that energy back to Earth? What happens when we block out the sun?
Interestingly, there are a few proposed solutions to this problem. One could argue that if we’re using 100% of the sun’s energy, we could simply redirect a portion of that to powering UV lights to mass produce agriculture, as we’d have more than 100 billion times the amount of energy we currently use. Similarly, we would be able to use that energy to provide a regulated climate to the planet, since the Earth would no longer be receiving heat from the sun. In order to transmit energy from the Dyson sphere to Earth, it’s likely that we would use a wireless form of energy transmission, such as beaming a powerful laser to a target on or above
Earth. This is similar to forms of energy transmission we use today, particularly in communication arrays that use lasers and microwaves to send information to a wireless receiver that then sends data to hubs through cables.
Are you curious about the sun and the immense amount of energy it produces? Stop by the library meeting rooms (1407 Cedar St., in Sandpoint) beginning at 10 a.m. on Friday, Aug.
12 for a presentation on the sun, followed by a viewing of the sun through a solar scope in the library garden. Solar scopes are designed to protect your eyes from the blinding light of the sun, while still allowing you to safely observe our resident star. Check back next week to find out more about the Kardashev scale, and what that could mean for the human species.
Stay curious, 7B.
Random Corner
•In Vermont, it’s illegal to ban banning clotheslines. I’m already confused.
•Wisconsin has a law on the books that states you cannot, “propel any stone, brick or other missile at any railroad train,” but some legal scholars pointed out that the restriction technically allows you to drop a brick onto a train. Moving on.
•Blasphemy laws used to be quite common in the U.S., but most have been removed from the books. Michigan, however, still makes it illegal to curse God.
•Sorry Mike Tyson, it’s illegal to bite while boxing in Utah.
•If you’re over 16 years old, it’s technically against the law to swear at players or officials during sporting events in Massachusetts. They must not golf much in that state.
•Thanks to the tireless work of a third-grader in Colorado, as of
2019 it is no longer illegal to have snowball fights.
•Officials in Texas aren’t allowed to be, “excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments, provided he acknowledges the existence of a Supreme Being.” Ummm.
•You can play all the Bingo you want in North Carolina, but if the game lasts more than five hours, you’re breaking the law, bub.
•You can’t sniff glue with the intent to get high in Indiana. Doing it for other reasons, apparently, is totally fine.
•Biting someone’s arm off is illegal in Rhode Island. You hear that zombies?
•From the “only in Florida” files, the state passed a law in 1974 allowing it to ban alcohol sales during hurricanes, which apparently was enacted to help curb “hurricane parties.”
Courtesy photo.
Emboldened haters not welcome
By Nishelle Gonzales Reader Contributor
Owning a handyman and contracting company has been a great way to interact and learn about our diverse local community. We get to assist everyone from elderly folks who need a handrail installed to get around better after a fall, to young professionals adding onto their home to make room for their growing families, to newcomers who want to renovate their new purchase to make it their own, to local lifelong residents just needing their garbage disposal replaced. We will work with all kinds of folks. We’ve made lifelong friends and memories doing this for the past six years, and our call volume has never been higher.
Unfortunately, due to the divisive climate here — and everywhere else — we have had some very unnerving comments lately from many of our clients and community members on the subject of race, immigration, emigration, gun rights, LGBTQ+ and women’s rights.
We employ anyone wanting to work. Sometimes they happen to be people of color, LGBTQ+, women and people from other places — our own family also reflects this diverse dynamic. Recently, we took some of our Latino-based subcontractors out to breakfast at a local eatery, where a gentleman felt emboldened to tell us that our hiring of such people will be the downfall of Sandpoint as we know it. We assume he wasn’t applying for the roof job we hired these hardworking professionals for, but he was still in fear of them taking “our” jobs. After the comment, my partner made a big scene announcing to the entire restaurant what the man said about our fellow coworkers. The man then left, hopefully embarrassed. The next day, we mentioned this incident to our insurance agent, who then agreed with and defended the man’s very ignorant and racist statements, and added her own egregious comments while doing business with us during the workday, wearing her professional hat. We are
now shopping around for a different insurance carrier. While at the Festival at Sandpoint, my son overheard some elderly people dropping the “n-word” several times, pointing to Black patrons of the concert. Heartbreaking.
If you moved here to escape your former state’s politics, then why don’t you heed your own advice to those seeking asylum at the borders and stay put to make the changes you seek in your own community?
We have had several clients — especially ones claiming to be Christian — make ignorant comments against homeless people, people of color, felons and every other marginalized group. You know, the kind of people that Jesus himself was kickin’ it with.
Also, if you are against mask mandates and vaccination requirements and don’t want the government involved in your health care decisions, then support women’s personal reproductive freedoms.
Another observation we’ve made is that most of the comments are made to make conversation and in pursuit of finding common enemy intimacy — connections based on hating the same people. Most of these individuals unfortunately also carry guns. The cornerstone of Christianity is faith, so your gun is a signal that you have lost yours and are terrified. If that’s not the case, then explain to me why a gun is necessary, other than hunting, if there’s no reason to shoot it when you’re armed with faith’s shield of Christ?
It’s OK to be afraid, a lot is changing, but a gun isn’t going to save you. Your curiosity, love and kindness is the only thing that saves a community and changes hearts. Something to ponder in our very society, which has to fear white men as the majority of mass shooters and the description of the kind of person making most of these hateful statements.
So, if you have opinions about hating other people and blaming marginalized groups for your community’s unraveling, I ask you to keep it to yourself unless you want to get called out. Those
comments are not welcomed here. You’re not in the company of people who feel the same, the majority believing in equal rights for everyone. Idaho is not the hotbed of ignorant thought and white supremacy you think it is. The people of Sandpoint do not aid and abet your ignorance, and please do not call 7B Handyman & Contracting, LLC if you want to complain about people who you are being manipulated to hate and do not want workers who show up and work hard to complete your project. After all, who is doing the majority of the hard work in this country, and who is doing the majority of the killing and hating in this country? Furthermore, if you fear people of color are taking your jobs, we are hiring today, so please step up and join the team.
If you hear these ignorant comments and don’t agree with them, then please stand up, do the right thing and say something to defend those who have to fight every day to belong just by being themselves.
If you are a senior, disabled person, or a veteran, we offer discounts for you and would love to help you with your project. We love Sandpoint and are here to serve, just like Jesus — the carpenter with a dark complexion who hung out with the outcasts.
Nishelle Gonzales is owner of 7B Handyman & Contracting, LLC, in Sandpoint.
Heart Lake, located in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho. Courtesy photo.
Wild Selkirks returns in updated third edition
By Reader Staff
The venerable hiker’s guidebook, Trails of the Wild Selkirks, is back in print with a new third edition that has been more than a year in preparation.
This new third edition was compiled and updated by Sandpoint’s Jim Mellen, who stepped forward to carry on the legacy of his friend Dennis Nicholls, the book’s original author. Nicholls wrote the first edition of Wild Selkirks in 2004, before his untimely death in 2009.
The new edition carries many of Nicholl’s original essays and musings, along with detailed descriptions, trailhead maps and photos for more than 170 trails in the U.S. portion of the Selkirk Mountains — the mighty glaciated frontal range of the Rocky Mountains that stretches north from Sandpoint far into Canada.
Nicholls’ opening essay in the original edition, “Initiation,” was an adventure tale of his and Mellen’s attempt in 2003 to hike in
one day from Fault to Beehive lakes — a rugged, cross-country attempt at which they ultimately failed.
For the third edition, Mellen has added an addendum, “Initiative Revisited.”
“For 16 years I wanted to see if I could actually complete this journey in one day,” Mellen writes in the new book. “So in late July 2019, I set out with my friend Dave Kretzschmar to see if a 70-yearold could do something a 54-yearold could not.”
rugged crossing is just one of many tales and essays that supplement the nutsand-bolts trail descriptions in the guidebook — intended precisely to help hikers stay safely on the trails and not lost in epic bushwhacks.
How Mellen and Kretzschmar fare in their own attempt at the
Trails of the Wild Selkirks is published by Keokee Books, of Sandpoint, and is available at retailers including Vanderford’s, Corner Book Store, Outdoor Experience, DiLuna’s, Super 1, Bonners Books and online at keokeebooks.com.
Half a century of craftsmanship
The
50th annual POAC Arts and Crafts Fair will color downtown Sandpoint Aug. 13-14
By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff
It’s been 50 years since Sandpoint experienced its first Arts and Crafts Fair, and 43 since the Pend Oreille Arts Council adopted the event. Records show that before it became the POAC Arts and Crafts Fair, the event was known as the The Gay Nineties Arts Festival and featured themes — “The Emerald City of Oz” in 1979, for instance — as well as demonstrations, music, theater performances, community dinners, child care and square dancing, in addition to the chance for local artists to share their wares.
According to a brochure from that first POAC-run fair in 1979: “The Pend Oreille Arts Council was established in May of 1978 by a group of local residents who were interested in stimulating the development of arts in Bonner County. As a non-profit organization, the group is dedicated to promoting all phases of artistic endeavors as well as providing support and aid to local artisans.”
Five decades may have passed, but the mission remains largely the same. POAC has continued to stimulate the arts, in part with the continuation of the Arts and Crafts Fair this year, when artist booths will populate downtown Sandpoint on Saturday, Aug. 13 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 14 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. There will be more than 100 vendors selling jewelry, paintings, ceramics, photography, home goods and more.
While the fair used to be held at City Beach, it now takes place on Main Street east of Farmin Park all the way to First Avenue, and across Second Avenue from Cedar to Church streets. These areas will be reserved for the event starting at 5 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 12, so plan your downtown parking accordingly.
“Moving the event downtown came with its challenges, but I think in the end it was a good move,” said POAC Arts Coordinator Claire Christy. “On Saturday, the fair and the farmers’ market crowds blend together, creating a profitable weekend for so many local artisans. Being downtown makes the fair more handicap accessible, and it is easier to access electricity for food vendors.”
Christy called the new location a ”winwin” for downtown shoppers and beach-goers alike, adding: “The traffic at the beach made it a difficult weekend for beachgoers and boaters to access the lake. With it being downtown, visitors can stroll the fair and purchase their wares, and then take a dip in the lake without excessive crowds.”
One way the fair has not changed, however, is the caliber of craftsmanship required
in order for an artist to be featured. The 1979 fair brochure reads: “Any work which does not embody good principles of design, originality and craftsmanship cannot be accepted. Handmade crafts only, no commercially mass-produced items will be allowed.”
“This aspect has not changed, nor will it,” Christy said. “We are dedicated to supporting artists who are in the fair to share their passions. I do my very best to weed out vendors who are buy/sell vendors. If someone suspects that commercially produced items have made it through the jury process, I ask them to bring it to my attention.”
Unlike at similar events, Christy said vendors at the POAC Arts and Crafts Fair keep 100% of their profits, and the diversity of media and style guarantees that visitors
will be exposed to art they’ve never had the chance to enjoy.
“As someone who grew up here, I can say that this fair has left me with lasting memories,” she added. “My grandmother would bring me every year and we loved meeting the vendors, grabbing lunch and ‘oohing’ and ‘ahhing’ over art that we had never experienced before. If we can accomplish that with visitors today, we are fulfilling our mission at POAC.”
To learn more about the event and see a complete list of vendors and booth numbers, visit the POAC website at artinsandpoint. org/arts-crafts-fair. The POAC office can be reached at 208-263-6139.
Top: Five Sandpoint ladies dress up for
“The Gay Nineties Arts Festival” held at the Sandpoint City Beach c. 1979, which was the predecessor of the Arts and Crafts Fair. Photo courtesy Bonner County History Museum.
Left: A man and his son stroll downtown Sandpoint at the Arts and Crafts Fair in 2021. Photo courtesy POAC.
These are some of the hallmarks of sports, from football to basketball and beyond. They’re also integral to one of rodeo’s up-and-coming team sports: ranch sorting.
Ranch sorting requires two riders on horses to move 10 cows from one pen to another. Inspired by the actual ranching activity of separating cows into different areas, the sport heightens the stakes by adding a timer and putting numbers on the cows. Riders must prompt the cows to exit in numerical order. If a cow exits out of order, the team receives a “no time.”
Ranch sorting has been gaining steady nationwide momentum, and also in North Idaho. While the Bonner County Fair has hosted the event in years past, Fair Director Darcey Smith said that it continues to draw larger and larger crowds.
“This event is fantastic to watch,” she told the Reader. “You get to see folks use their horse riding skills and teamwork to separate cattle up close. It takes a lot of horsemanship and trust between the team members to pull this off correctly.”
Locals will be able to see ranch sorting for themselves when the sport comes to the 2022 Bonner County Fair on Wednesday, Aug. 17 at 6 p.m. The event is free to watch, and was recently taken over by volunteers who are working hard to expose more people to the sport.
One of those volunteers is Mark Powers, who said ranch sorting is a more multi-dimensional activity than roping and other rodeo sports that only last for a few seconds.
“Ranch sorting is a full minute of constant activity, and you have lots of opportunities to make a mistake and to recover — to do something right, do something
wrong, and have a few things go right and few things go wrong,” he said. “You’re not defined by one thing.”
Powers said he’s found ranch sorting to be a welcoming sport, in which more seasoned riders often pair up with newbies to coach them.
“When I first started, I felt guilty when somebody had to ride with me. That would impair their chances for success,” he said.
“But for the most part, the people who have been there, who are better, have been in the [beginner’s] position and they understand. They appreciate that people are at different levels and they have to step up.”
The unpredictability of cows adds a sense of variability to the sport as well, Powers said, and allows for luck to play a part.
“Even the best people can have things go astray,” he said, “and if things go right, even the beginner can have things go right.”
Contributing to ranch sorting’s growing local popularity has been Careywood Creek Ranch, which hosts sorting practices, clinics and jackpots throughout the summer. Third-generation owner Robin Harris told the Reader that she’d always envisioned the family ranch as a horse facility, so when her daughter and son-in-law, Rachel and Lucas Reid, started getting into ranch sorting, it was the perfect opportunity to become a community hub for the sport.
“We will have folks come who say, ‘My horse has never seen a cow and I’ve never sorted,’ but it’s a sport that you can start safely and learn, and not feel like you have to take a whole bunch of lessons and have a super fancy, trained horse,” she said. “It’s really fun that way.”
Harris echoed Powers in saying that camaraderie and beginner support are important to ranch sorting, and she likes that the sport is both “accessible” and “practical.”
“At the fair, come and watch. Ask questions. Meet people,” Harris said.
Bonner County Fair to feature ranch sorting competition on Aug. 17
She said the same applies to Careywood Creek Ranch.
“Sign up and come,” she said, adding later: “It will be easy, fun, comfortable — you’ll learn. … The people are very nice. Jump in.”
While competition slots are filling up fast, Powers said that those interested in participating in ranch sorting at the fair should call him directly at 509-869-4360. Those interested in attending a session at Careywood Creek Ranch should view the practice schedule and sign up online at careywoodcreekranch.com.
The 2022 Bonner County Fair opens at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 17 and runs through Saturday, Aug. 20, concluding with the Demolition Derby on Saturday night. The fair itself is free, but parking is $3 per day and some events may require additional ticketing. For a complete list of events, visit bonnercountyfair.com, or pick up a Bonner County Fairbook at businesses around town or at the fair office
Rachel Reid of Careywood Creek Ranch participates in a ranch sorting competition. Courtesy photo.
events August 11-18, 2022
Sandpoint Summer Music Series • 6pm @ Farmin Park
A free, family-friendly outdoor concert in Farmin Park, featuring Drunken Hearts from the front range of Colorado. Food and drinks available to purchase.
FriDAY, august 12
Live Music w/ Sundae & Mr. Goessl
7-9:30pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co.
Live Music w/ Sara Brown Band
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Fun and spunky vintage style
THURSDAY, august 11
Artist Reception: Connie Scherr
4-6pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Come by to meet Connie and appreciate her artwork from 4-6 p.m. at the Winery
MCS Summer Academy Performance
5pm @ Panida Theater
Enjoy the orchestra led by Jan Pellant
Karaoke
8pm-close @ The Tervan
Trails and Tails • 11am-12pm @ Pine Street Woods
Weekly gentle hikes through Aug. 19. Sponsored by the Geezer Forum, partnered with KLT
Use clues, maps and other items to try to make it through the room in time. Winners receive a prize! For all ages
50th Annual Arts and Crafts Fair
9am-5pm @ Downtown Sandpoint
Two days of Arts and Crafts downtown in Sandpoint, featuring artist booths, food vendors and a youth art area. All proceeds go to support POAC’s programs in visual and performing arts and art education. Free and open to all. artinsandpoint.org
Live Music w/ Zachary Simms
6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Sandpoint Farmers’ Market
9am-1pm @ Farmin Park
Fresh produce, artisan goods, live music by Monarch Mountain Baldfoot Disc Golf Tournament
8am-5pm @ Baldfoot Disc Golf Course
The Double Trouble disc golf tourney, driven by Innova
Karaoke
8pm-close @ The Tervan
Priest River Sprints
7am-3pm @ The Mudhole (Priest River)
Non-motorized watercraft races hosted by the Pend Oreille Rowing and Paddling Assoc.
MCS Summer Academy Performance 11am @ Little Carnegie Hall
Live Music w/ Oak St. Connection 6pm @ I Saw Something Shiny
Live Music w/ Ian Newbill 6-8pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Good hunting
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
The plains of North America are a big stage on which many of the most dramatic episodes of our continental history have been played. Much too often those episodes have been depicted on film as binary conflicts between “cowboys” and “Indians” — reducing both to cartoon images that would be laughably ahistorical if they weren’t so harmful as sinister forms of white triumphalist propaganda.
In place of the “cowboy-and-Indian,” “cat-and-mouse” landscape drama, the impeccable action flick Prey (released only on streaming service Hulu on Aug. 5), centers a community of Comanche people in their home in 1719, pitted against the one-and-only Predator — that otherworldly hunter who we first met 35 years ago when it went toe to toe with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the jungles of Central America.
The original Predator touched
off a long-running franchise that has only gotten hokier and more cash-grabby the longer it has been allowed to exist. With Prey, ostensibly as its prequel, the story is not only returned to its essential form but made orders of magnitude more compelling by its historical, geographic and cultural context.
Our protagonist in Prey is in some ways the opposite of Predator: rather than the cigar-chomping, muscled mercenary with a heart of gold, we have Naru, a feisty, keen-eyed, loyal daughter and sister who wants nothing more than to move beyond her tribal position as a gatherer to become a hunter, like her older brother Taabe.
Played with coiled strength and whip-smart energy by Amber Midthunder, Naru and her devoted dog roam the land digging roots and picking medicinal plants, but in every spare moment practice the arts of tracking and ax throwing. While everyone else in the community has their roles, she yearns to become something more. Her trials begin
Prey is the best film in the Predator franchise
when she sees a fiery object descend in the clouds. She doesn’t know what it is, but she knows it’s important.
A series of odd encounters with the animals of the area leads to a search-and-rescue operation (a plot retread from Predator), during which Naru’s suspicions are confirmed that there’s something unusually sinister in the woods.
Setting off on her own, Naru commences to hunt the hunter, in the process battling not only the creature, but the environment, a particularly aggressive grizzly and a stinking band of grotty French fur trappers who in some ways are even more evil than the Predator, but not nearly so effective.
The action is always taut — which really ought to be the baseline for any of these kinds of movies — but in the hands of director Dan Trachtenberg and his star, Midthunder, it not only feels gripping but also worthy of emotional investment. Unlike Arnie, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura and the rest of the machine-gunning “cowboys” in Predator, Naru’s
conflict is deeply felt as a quest for self discovery and transcendence, just as much as survival.
I don’t remember feeling like cheering when Schwarzenegger slugged the Predator in the swamp, but I sure as heck did when I saw Naru undergo her own swampy ordeal.
Much of that humanity comes from the relationship Naru has with Taabe (played with real big brother energy by Dakota Beavers). She wants him to be proud of her, and he wants her to succeed. Their sibling connection feels real and relatable from their first scene together.
The beauty and familiarity of the surroundings is also a critical component of the success of Prey — viewers in our neck of the woods will recognize these kinds of woods, rivers and valleys. They’ll also recognize the connection between Naru
and her surroundings, as she reads the subtle signs of the landscape in a way that only someone who knows and loves their home can. This is not a foreign backdrop, as was the jungle in Predator, it is Naru’s place, and so she not only fights the hunter to save her life and the lives of others, but to maintain the integrity of where she lives.
For fans of the Predator franchise, Prey is a departure from the grip-in-and-rip-it bullet fest it has always been, but in its quieter approach to the same themes, smarter writing and excellent casting, it makes this a film to seek out.
Courtesy photo.
By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Columnist
The Sandpoint Eater Still my Sandpoint
heat lamps warming the crispy fried chicken we’d take to Dover Beach for a swim and a picnic. I miss the Smokehouse and the giant, briny pickles we took along on our impromptu summer outings on the lake.
Lately, it seems all we hear (or talk about) is our ever-changing Sandpoint landscape. Last year, my daughter Ryanne published a book about the changes we’re facing throughout the region, Pushed Out: Contested Development and Rural Gentrification in the American West.
I saw plenty of changes last weekend when I took 7-yearold granddaughter Fern out on the m/s Shawnodese for our favorite “Birds of Prey” cruise. We arrived at City Beach early to enjoy a window table and lunch (topped off with a fancy lemonade for Fern) at Trinity. And, wow, I’ve never seen such a hodgepodge of oversized pop-up tents on the beach — it looked like Sunday on the Jersey shores. On our way to the boat launch, there was no parking place to be had at City Beach and, upon boarding the vessel, I overheard fellow passengers mentioning they’d had to park way over at the Amtrak station.
Far away in Southeast Asia, you often hear the saying, “same-same, different.” I have a better understanding of that mantra now. Though much remains, much has changed, and much is lost.
I miss calling Ivano’s for huge antipasto platters to go, a reward for our train crews after a successful private train excursion. I miss the sunset cocktails at Forty One South, followed by an array of sushi on Shoga’s nearby patio.
I miss Harold’s IGA and the
For all the things that have changed, much remains the same, as I was reminded, perched on the bow of the Shawnodese with Fern. As we cruised near the shoreline, eyes peeled for birds of prey, I remembered taking my youngest Casey when she was the same age. More than 25 years ago, she too leaned into the point of the bow, wind in her face, to strike the famous “Titanic pose.”
I still head to Dub’s for ice cream, but now, instead of hauling Casey and her Wash-
ington Elementary School cronies, my backseat is filled with car seats and little ones, including Casey’s. Their love of overly sweet ice cream flavors rivals their mother’s.
Though often packed with more visitors than locals, I still can count on longtime vendors at the Farmers’ Market to provide me with tasty produce, baked goods, and fragrant bouquets to fill my table on Saturday mornings.
When the kids come up from Moscow, we often head to the Hoot Owl, crowding into a booth for Sunday morning chocolate chip pancakes, just as we’ve done for as long as I can remember. Occasionally an adult or two will indulge in the best-ever chicken-fried steak,
still hand-pounded and slathered in darn-good gravy.
In Ponderpoint, I’ve had the same sets of close neighbors since I moved in more than 20 years ago. We look out for one another and share garden bounties and fence talk while commiserating about the massive dump trucks (driving too fast), hauling out loads of dirt and returning with bigger loads of rock to build even bigger lakefront homes.
And so it goes. I’ll continue embracing all the reasons I love Sandpoint because, in my opinion, there’s still lots more that is right with her than is wrong with her. I hear friends threatening to move. Where would we go? Though I could take a pass on winter, I can’t imagine miss-
Garlic butter shrimp
ing out on the summer magic of my children and grandchildren gathering in Sandpoint. That will never change!
I’ll tell you what else never changes: Candyland. It’s the game that never ends. It goes on and on, my friends (unless you happen to “misplace” some of the candy-fairy cards that send you back to the start of the game). I’ve been with my grandchildren for nearly two weeks, and that’s a lot of Candyland. It’s left me little time for cooking (besides, it’s been too hot to turn on the oven). Who cares? You can whip up this easy shrimp dinner faster than you can say, “lose a turn.” It’s just the right amount of garlic, so please don’t be tempted to make a change.
Makes 4 servings
This is quick and easy to prepare — a perfect stovetop main dish. Pair it with a crisp green salad, French bread and a chilled pinot grigio. (And don’t overcook the shrimp!)
INGREDIENTS: DIRECTIONS:
•2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
•1 pound jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined (leave tails on)
•Salt to taste
•6 cloves garlic, crushed and finely minced
•¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
•3 tbs fresh squeezed lemon juice
•¼ stick of cold butter, cut into 4 pieces
•1 bunch flat leaf parsley, rinsed. Finely chop half (save rest for garnish)
•2 tbs capers in their brine
•2 tbs white wine
•Lemon wedges
Heat olive oil in a heavy large skillet, over medium-high heat, until it barely begins to smoke. Place shrimp in an even layer on the bottom of the pan and cook for a minute, shaking pan, but don’t stir.
Season shrimp with salt and stir just until shrimp begin to turn pink, about 1 minute.
Stir in garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook and stir an additional minute.
Stir in lemon juice, 1 piece butter and ½ of the parsley. Cook until butter has melted and the shrimp are well coated. Remove the shrimp with a slotted spoon, place on serving platter and cover to keep warm.
Reduce heat to low and whisk in remaining 3 pieces of butter, one at a time. Continue whisking until sauce begins to thicken, about 3 minutes, then add capers in brine and wine,
and whisk until well mixed. Pour the sauce over shrimp.
Garnish with remaining parsley and lemon wedges and serve immediately.
Striking a musical match
Matchwood Brewing to host three more outdoor performances by traveling bands this summer
By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff
It’s been a musical summer so far at Matchwood Brewing Company.
Owner Andrea Marcoccio told the Reader that the brewery’s free, outdoor concert series — dubbed Sounds Under the Silo — has been an effort to combine “two essential ingredients” for creating a memorable Matchwood experience: craft beer and great music.
“At these outdoor shows, we watch families meet new friends, celebrate milestones and relax,” she said.
This summer, Matchwood teamed up with local music promotion outfit Mattox Farm Productions to secure both local and nationally touring artists in an effort to expand the brewery’s musical offerings.
“We have intentionally invested in our stage, quality of sound and the diversity of talent,” Marcoccio said. “This summer we have heard … baritone and bass saxophone, sousaphone, slide guitar, stand up bass, mandolin, ukulele, kazoo, harmonica and more. Performers have traveled from Missouri, Wisconsin, New Orleans, Seattle, Moscow, Telluride and Alaska.”
Sounds Under the Silo will continue through August with three more major gigs featuring traveling talent, starting Friday, Aug. 12, with musical comedy duo Sundae and Mr. Goessl. The husband-wife act hails from Seattle and specializes in “timeless” music and “vaudevillian style comedy.” Dressed to the nines and with years of performing behind them, Sundae and Mr. Goessl offer an award-winning act
that includes guitar, bass, ukulele, melodica, “velvet vocals” and the occasional kazoo. Listen at sundaeandmrgoessl.com.
Up next, Colorado’s Birds of Play will bring their well-honed acoustic style to the concert series on Friday, Aug. 19. The four-piece features guitar, mandolin, upright bass and violin, all played by accomplished musicians. Frontman Alex Paul’s songwriting speaks to the simple state of being human, and the accompanying music is the perfect soundtrack to mountain living. Listen at birdsofplaymusic.com. Moscow, Idaho-based Runaway Symphony will cap off the month with a Matchwood show on Saturday, Aug. 27. This indie rock band is best known for bending the very meaning of its genre, offering a full, orchestral sound. While the soundscapes are sweeping, the lyrical content hosts
a familiar comfort for any music lover. Lead vocalist Daniel Botkin grew up in Bonners Ferry, making shows in the northern reaches of the panhandle feel like homecomings. Listen to Runaway Symphony on Spotify.
As Matchwood wraps up this season’s Sounds Under the Silo, Marcoccio said live music is Matchwood’s chance to “serve as Sandpoint’s neighborhood brewery, where personal connections foster positive community change through the power of dialogue and laughter.”
“Lawn chairs and dancing are encouraged,” she said.
All Sounds Under the Silo shows begin at 7:30 p.m.
A snapshot of notable live music coming up in
Sandpoint
The Drunken Hearts, Farmin Park, Aug. 11 The Working Spliffs, 219 Lounge, Aug. 13
The sounds that come from Colorado bands vary wildly, but at the core is a nod to the mountains, the high winds, the big expanse of sky and the bittersweet Americana umbrella over it all.
The Drunken Hearts have captured this high lonesome sound beautifully, with a mix of alt-country, outlaw rock and acoustic Americana. The fivepiece lays down comfortable tracks with lap steel, upright bass, electric guitar and a per-
cussive backdrop that keeps your feet tapping.
The band is stopping in Sandpoint on their tour to play a free show at Farmin Park as part of the Sandpoint Summer Music Series presented by Mattox Farm Productions.
— Ben Olson
6 p.m., FREE. Farmin Park, along Oak Street between Third and Fourth avenues in Sandpoint. Listen at thedrunkenhearts.com.
There are as many ways to party as there are party people. The Working Spliffs, based in Spokane, bring a polished repertoire of reggae, ska, R&B, punk and psychedelic rock (along with a mingling of jazz sensibility) for a party sound that is by turns dancy, head-boppy and trippy. Peruse through the band’s Reverbnation page and you’ll find “Took More than U Gave,” a groovy chill-out track that brings to mind shades of Procol Harum’s more downbeat numbers, as well as some Grateful Dead crunchiness. There’s
This week’s RLW by Ben Olson
READ
I’ve never seen another author nail a book’s overall tone like Cormac McCarthy. In The Road, he painted the post-apocalyptic picture, brush stroke by brush stroke. In No Country For Old Men, he captured the sorrow and loneliness of the changing desert world. But his novel Blood Meridian is probably his coolest work yet. The story focuses on a group of bounty hunters and The Kid, a rebellious teenager who joins the group as they go on the hunt. The book is filled with brutal violence, but somehow it all works flawlessly.
LISTEN
I watched the amazing band Beirut play in Portland a few years back (one of my favorite concerts of all time), but the openers actually left quite a mark on me, too. Helado Negro is the band name for Ecuadorian ambient pop star Roberto Carlos Lange. This cool, groovy collection of albums is just quirky enough to stand apart, but approachable enough to please the hoi polloi. He just released his seventh album in 2021, called Far In, which falls short of 2019’s This is How You Smile, but is still a great listen.
WATCH
a bit more psychedelia with “Desert Road” but a decidedly heftier rock infusion on the Spliffs’ covers of “The River” and “Tomorrow Never Rains.”
Then there’s a hopping ska-infused rendition of “Them Changes.”
Be prepared to dance, bop your head and trip out Saturday, Aug. 13 when the band comes to the 219 Lounge.
— Zach Hagadone
9 p.m.-midnight, FREE, 21+. 219 Lounge, 219 N. First Ave., 208-2635673, 219.bar. Listen at reverbnation. com/workingspliffs.
Alex Jones is a terrible human being. The bombastic conspiracy theorist whose media company InfoWars has made money off of lies for decades was finally held to account for his years of lying, claiming that the Sandy Hook school shooting where 20 elementary students and six teachers were murdered was a “hoax.” Two parents of a deceased child sued Jones for his repeated claims and were awarded almost $50 million by the jury after Jones made a fool of himself in court. I suggest going to the Law & Crime Network channel on YouTube and watching some of the highlights from this trial. It was a doozy.
Left: Sundae and Mr. Goessl will play Matchwood Friday, Aug. 12. Right: The Birds of Play will return to Sandpoint on Friday, Aug. 19. Courtesy photos.
From Northern Idaho News, Aug. 10, 1915,
MALCONTENTS ARE BACK ON THE JOB
PAVING STRIKE OF COUPLE OF DAYS IS OFF AND WORK IS RESUMED
The strike on the cement work on the street paving, which was pulled off last Thursday afternoon, ended yesterday morning. A number of the malcontents started to work again with a vim when the whistle sounded and a good crew was working all day. The boys claimed that they were not getting paid enough and wanted $3 a day for their work. The company raised their wages from 25 to 30 cents an hour.
The foreman for the contractors stated that as soon as the men were worth $3 a day he would be willing to pay it, but he said he had to baby many of the men and was behind in his work as a consequence and that hereafter men who want a job would have to hit the ball. Work since yesterday morning seems to indicate that the men are hitting the ball and that the best of the workers are back at work. No further trouble is expected.
BACK OF THE BOOK
On restaurant work
By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff
I’ve found no greater sense of kinship in this world than while sitting at a restaurant bar on a Saturday night in summer, surrounded by fellow food service workers after a dinner rush that left us all with new holes in our socks, new stories to tell of good and bad tables, and a renewed sense of appreciation for the only other people who fully understand what we just went through.
If this sounds at all hyperbolic, then you’ve never worked in a restaurant, and certainly not a lakeside establishment during the peak of tourist season.
I’ve spent my summers waiting tables since I was 15 years old. I got my first job at Holiday Shores Marina in Hope, back when the gas station held a small breakfast cafe. It was a baptism by fire as far as restaurant jobs go. I took orders, ran food, bussed tables, washed dishes and hand-tallied tickets. I did all of this over a seven-hour shift in flat-footed Converse high-tops, and then had the audacity to wonder why my back was always hurting.
My choice of footwear has since evolved, along with the fairness of the workload at the restaurants where I’ve worked. What hasn’t changed is my love for the job. I find serving to be fun. Many of the folks I met while serving as a teenager remain customers at other establishments where I’ve also worked, and I’ve had the chance to encounter incredible generosity through my time in food service.
However, it isn’t the relationships with customers that keep me coming back to the job; especially not at 11 p.m., with cash and a shift drink — both hard-earned — on the bartop in front of me. Instead, it’s the people who are also sitting there: the ones who helped bus the last table, wash the last wine glass and roll the last of the clean forks.
STR8TS Solution
The fastest friends I’ve ever made are the ones with whom I’ve worked at restaurants. I used to think it was just good luck that the best people I knew were the ones beside me in the pass, when the chef called my name, ready to help me run plates; or teaching me to uncork a bottle of wine in front of a 12-top; or boosting my ego after a no-tip table who was upset about something that I could not control.
I’ve since realized that it wasn’t luck putting those friends in my path, but the caliber of person who’s required to successfully work in such a fast-paced and unforgiving environment. A crazy-busy shift will bring out a person’s most vulnerable side. It will also bring out profound resilience. Whether front- or back-of-house, food service folks are not to be underestimated. The hours are long and the payoff depends on an unfathomable amount of teamwork, humility and trust. It also depends on the customers — so be a good one.
in Bonner County. Cheers to them, and to anyone who knows what I mean when I say, “I’m in the weeds, 86 huckleberry and there’s some dead fries in the window if you want any.”
I’m what many in the industry might call a “weekend warrior”: I work my serving job two or three nights a week in the summer and disappear mid-August to coach volleyball. Such is the rhythm of my year, and I’m thankful to everyone who supports me in doing so.
I am especially thankful to my friends who will continue to sling plates and mix drinks well past the busy season. I know how hard it is, and I know what you sacrifice (sleep, family time, sanity and more) to give North Idaho’s guests a dining experience to remember.
People who work restaurants year round are doing some of the most grueling labor
Sudoku
Solution
Too bad you can’t just grab a tree by the very tiptop and bend it clear over the ground and then let her fly, because I bet you’d be amazed at all the stuff that comes flying out.
Some tables leave nice notes, which never go unnoticed. Photo by Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey.
Solution on page 22
Laughing Matter
By Bill Borders
CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1.French for “State”
5.Flu symptom
10.Vagabond
14.Ancient alphabetic character
15.Martini garnish
16.Affirm
17.Merged
19.Genuine
20.C
21.Subsequently
22.Pub game
23.Allay
25.Specter
27.South southeast
28.Do business
31.Donkeys
34.Feudal lord
35.Malayan isthmus
36.Dampens
37.Goes ballistic
38.365 days
39.Grassland
40.Nominal
Week of the
[adjective] 1. tedious from familiarity; stale.
“The hoary alleyways between work and home began to resemble a treadmill as Jimmy weighed the decision to retire early or keep working another five years.”
Corrections: We were sent an incorrect time for a calendar item last week. The Mike Medberry author reading at the Sandpoint branch of the East Bonner County Library District actually takes place at 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 11, not 6:30 p.m. Sorry for the mixup.
