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compiled by Susan Drinkard
Do you find yourself interested in new technology or do you embrace “old school” technology as much as possible?
“I embrace the old. I make jokes about throwing my iPhone into the woods.”
Carrera Swarm
General Manager at Mick Duff’s Sandpoint
“I’m probably in the middle of the road. I use a lot of technology, but I don’t run out and buy a new computer until it’s necessary, like when Microsoft quit supporting Windows XP.”
Dennis Thibault
Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor Sandpoint
“I try to embrace the old because I see so much that’s lost with my teens who are so attracted to technology instead of toward hands-on creative endeavors.”
Jan Leas
Office Manager, Green Mtn Medicine Sandpoint
“I don’t have a computer or a cell phone, so I don’t embrace new technology … but I like fast cars.”
Harvey Aulbach
Retired Jewelry Designer Sandpoint
“I don’t have a phone. I do have a broken Kindle. I am not embracing all the new technology because I believe it is taking over jobs. I like old school technology because you couldn’t text. You had to talk to people. Making friends online is not the same as making friends at the beach. People are breaking up through texting. You can’t always identify people’s emotions through text the way you can when you are in person.”
Kirsten Baker
SHS freshman Sandpoint
“I don’t race after new technology. I prefer the old stuff because relationships are stronger without it. I grew up going outside, and nowadays kids are more interested in technology than in doing what kids are known to do—playing and getting dirty.”
Rosie Kummer
Student at SHS Ponderay
Six months ago, we brought this thing called the Reader back into your lives. It’s hard to believe half a year has gone by already, but we’re still here and strong as ever.
In those six months, we’ve grown in leaps and bounds. Starting at 12 pages long and 2,500 copies printed, we are now a robust 20 pages long, with 3,500 copies printed per week. We started delivering to just over 100 locations, and now we’re available at 200-plus spots in the two northern counties.
As this is our “technology issue,” I think it’s appropriate to mention our new website which rolled out just last week. We feature daily news, expanded content from the print edition, and an easy to read design that will always and forever be free, just like the Reader. Check it out at www.SandpointReader.com.
Last week, we saw some amazing numbers online. Thanks to a few viral posts on Facebook, we were able to reach over 70,000 people with our coverage of the Cape Horn fire and the robbery news. We think this is a good indication that more and more people are turning to the Reader to find out what’s happening first. We thank you for that. This is only the beginning.
-Ben Olson, Publisher
111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 (208)265-9724
www.sandpointreader.com
Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com
Editor: Cameron Rasmusson cameron@sandpointreader.com
Zach Hagadone (emeritus)
Contributing Artists: Ben Olson (cover), Daniel Cape, Dion Nizzi, Angela Euliarte
Contributing Writers: Cameron Rasmusson, Ben Olson, Nick Gier, Scarlette Quille, Ted Bowers, Sandy Compton, Scout Anatricia, Dan Eskelson.
Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com
Printed weekly at: Griffin Publishing Spokane, Wash.
Subscription Price: $75 per year
Advertising: Jen Landis jen@sandpointreader.com Greg Larson greg@sandpointreader.com
Clint Nicholson clint@keokee.com
Web Content: Keokee
The Sandpoint Reader is a weekly publication owned and operated by Ben Olson and Keokee. It is devoted to the arts, entertainment, politics and lifestyle in and around Sandpoint, Idaho.
We hope to provide a quality alternative by offering honest, in-depth reporting that reflects the intelligence and interests of our diverse and growing community.
The Reader is printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Leftover copies are collected and recycled weekly, or burned in massive bonfires to appease the gods of journalism. Free to all, limit two copies per person.
SandpointReader letter policy:
The Sandpoint Reader welcomes letters to the editor on all topics.
Requirements:
–No more than 500 words –Letters may not contain excessive profanity or libelous material. Please elevate the discussion.
Letters will be edited to comply with the above requirements. Opinions expressed in these pages are those of the writers, not necessarily the publishers.
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Email letters to: letters@sandpointreader.com
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About the Cover
This week’s cover designed by Ben Olson, who still uses cameras with film and types on typewriters and is generally a big pain in the ass when it comes to technology, but he embraces it nonetheless.
By Nick Gier Reader Contributor
Pope Francis’ recent encyclical about the dangers of human-caused climate change has received mixed reviews across the world. The pope criticizes conservative politicians for their “cowardice” in resisting the overwhelming evidence that God’s creation is “being pillaged, laid waste and harmed with impunity.”
Republican presidential have been quick to criticize the Pope. Jeb Bush, who converted to the Catholic faith of his Mexican wife, responded that religion “ought to be about making us better as people and less about [politics]. I don’t get economic policy from my bishops or my cardinals or my pope.” Bush would probably not object to embracing the economics of Francois Quesnay, an 18th Century Catholic philosopher who promoted free markets.
Adam Smith, the founder of free market capitalism in the English world, did not write the “Wealth of Nations” until after his retirement as a professor of moral philosophy. Smith would agree with the pope’s critique of unbridled capitalism. Admiring the rich, and aspiring to be like them, while despising and neglecting the poor is, according to Smith, “the great and most universal cause of the corruption of our moral sentiments.”
The alliance of Christianity and capitalism has been a fairly recent phenomenon. Those Christians closest in time
Dear Editor,
The Sandpoint Lions Club would like to take this opportunity to thank Schweitzer Mountain Resort and Papé Machinery for their participation in this year’s Independence Day Celebration.
Without the generous gift on a 2015/2016 season ski pass and Papé’s assistance in purchasing a John Deere Gator, the Lions Club would have had difficulty in affording such great gifts to celebrate the birth of our nation.
Thank you students of Sandpoint High School for accepting our invitation
to Jesus himself held “all things in common,” and they chose to sell “their possessions and distribute them to all, as any had need” (Acts 2:44-45). When Ananias and Sapphira held some of their property apart from the group, Ananias was struck dead by God (Acts 5:1-5). Early Christian communism was not a temporary affair, because 200 years later Church Father Tertullian wrote that “we hold all things in common except our wives.”
Greed of course was one of the Seven Deadly Sins, and usury was forbidden until the Protestant Reformation. Pope Sixtus V (1521-1590) declared that charging interest was “detestable to God and man.” The pope may have been provoked by the fact the Henry VIII of England had signed a law entitled “In Restraint of Usury,” which allowed the practice as long as the interest rate was not excessive.
At the turn of the 20th Century, millions of Christians in Europe were socialists, and many Americans followed the less ideological Social Gospel. In his book “One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America,” Kevin Kruse tells the story of pastor James W. Fifield, Jr., who was very successful in convincing Americans that being rich was a sign of virtue, not vice. Turning Jesus’ teaching about wealth on its head, Fifield’s Christian libertarianism preserved the “dominance of the monied classes” and convinced the less wealthy to aspire to be just like them.
Conservative commentators are call-
ing Pope Francis a Marxist or a Communist, but he insists that “Marxist ideology is wrong” for spiritual reasons. He does acknowledge that Marx and Jesus joined forces in their concern for economic inequality. Commentators are saying, quite correctly, that Francis is now supporting the theology of liberation, whose theologians claim that Jesus had a “preferential option for the poor.” Previous popes had removed these thinkers from their posts or otherwise silenced them.
Pope Benedict XVI, Francis’ immediate predecessor, condemned liberation theology as “a fundamental threat to the faith of the church.”
In a recent speech in Bolivia, Pope Francis apologized for the brutal treatment of Latin America’s indigenous peoples, reversing Benedict’s position defending the Spanish Conquest in a 2007 visit. He also had strong words for unregulated capitalism: “This system is by now intolerable: farm workers find it intolerable, labor ers find it intolera ble, communities find it intolerable, people find it intolerable. The earth itself–our sis ter, Mother Earth, as Saint Francis would say–also finds it intol erable.”
cis sides with the early Church Fathers who “emphasized that private property rights obtain only after all human needs have been met, and that the excess of the wealthy truly belongs to the poor.”
I was surprised to learn that House Speaker John Boehner, himself a Catholic, has invited Pope Francis to address a joint session of Congress. In his written invitation Boehner states that Francis’ “gospel of joy” has touched the hearts of all humankind, and that his principles are in line with the “American idea.” He joins Francis in a rejection of “crony capitalism,” but added his own dislike for the “ongoing centralization of political power in our federal government.”
I wonder, however, if the Republicans in Congress are actually ready to applaud Francis’ strong “preferential option for the poor.”
to be Grand Marshal of this year’s festivities. Due to your fundraising abilities in “Moose Madness” for several years now, you have made literally thousands of Sandpoint children very happy on Christmas morning.
To our large donors; Idaho Forest Group, Downtown Business Association and Pierce Auto Center for your generous contribution to this event. To all the merchants who purchased raffle tickets, you haven’t been forgotten and we appreciate your help in ensuring the success of this great day.
It has been a pleasure of the Sandpoint Lions Club to present the Independence
Writing for Republic (March/April, 2015) Elizabeth Stoker argues that Fran-
Nick Gier of Moscow taught religion and phi losophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years. labor-
Day Celebration to all of the citizens who purchased raffle tickets. Without your support, none of this would have been possible.
Our thanks also goes out to the Daily Bee for your generous support over the years. You have been the Lions Club’s voice to the community. Without your help it would have been very difficult to keep the community appraised of Lions Club events. And thank you Reader for your contribution to this event. To KRFY Radio and Blue Sky Broadcasting for your help in informing the public of our activities. Hopefully, I have not forgotten anyone. If I have, it was not
done on purpose. My sincere apologies for not mentioning you.
Come and visit us our Facebook page and we are now on Twitter. Or contact us our email address is sandpointlions@ gmail.com. If you are interested in supporting your community think about becoming a Lion. Our mottor is “We Serve.” Our telephone number is 2634118. Leave us a message and we will get back to you.
Dave Banister President, Sandpoint Lions Club
I live a life where on any given day, I may be privy to a conversation between an “adult” and a troubled adolescent. This simple exposure creates daily opportunities for me to:
1: Be instantaneously entertained or horrified by the general stupidity that plagues the average adolescent, and the complete and total lack of “comfort” or “guidance” that we as adults are capable of providing them.
2: Occasionally hijack quality advice from professionals and use it on family and friends, whom I can only presume consider me a genius at this point.
3: Thank the gods that most adults have figured out that hygiene is a key component to positive social interaction. This allows me to live comfortably knowing that I am adult, and when I react adversely to the foul stench of someone who doesn’t bathe or wipe regularly, no one will accuse me of being a bully. We use the “bully” word way too often, by the way. Bullies are dicks, but so are people who smell like a barrel of rotting entrails and sit in publicly shared spaces.
Every bully and every stinky kid has a story, and a lot of former prom queens are popping their kid’s Adderall. The person you are in high school rarely is who you end up being. Somehow, all the cliques in high school manage to reproduce and reappear decade after decade. People find their place in this world.
I overheard a conversation between a teen and an adult the other day. It was basically your runof-the-mill, I-will-never-be-cool-no-one-likes me teenage bullshit. The adult did their best to listen and offer support, and blah, blah, blah… What we all really want to say to that kid is, “GET A GRIP. Popular kids are popular because they are engaged, active and social. Are you any of these
things? Is the answer no? Well then, buddy, those are not your people. You speak a different language. This is a language you can learn, but you will have to work hard. Maybe it will be worth it. Maybe it won’t.
Cool is a high school fantasy. There are about nine million different ways to be cool once you leave high school, assuming you escape with your sanity intact. And once you leave, LEAVE. Really leave it all behind you, and move on.”
Sadly though, we don’t say this. And that person with the high school popularity complex becomes the girl sitting in the cube next to you at work, droning on and on about how she doesn’t have a boyfriend or a life. Of course, she has no idea why, and you are stuck trying to be supportive, when what you really want to say is: For starters , wax your mustache. That will elevate your sexy quotient, if you are looking for a straight male partner. Secondly, when someone asks you on a date, say yes and quit inventing imaginary scenarios where you are too good or not good enough at something to enjoy it. No one likes to hear you bitch. This may also be why you are in a “five-year dry spell.”
We are too nice. That’s the problem.
Recently I went to a Hank Williams, Jr. concert. I love someone who loves Hank Williams, Jr., so I decided to buy him the tickets for a birthday present. I didn’t think I would enjoy this activity. I might have actually secretly expressed dread over the upcoming experience. I have a love-hate relationship with country music that started at infancy—my dad loves it my mom hates it. I have felt strangely conflicted about this my whole life. However, as a child I learned how to live in both worlds. I learned country songs when my Dad drove me to school. I learned every nuance to ev-
ery Aerosmith song ever written when I was with my mother. I chose rock over country because the dudes in high school who liked rock music were hotter than the hicks.
Realizing that this was a terrible reason to hate an entire genre of music, I have slowly began to appreciate country music. After all, any decision I made in high school most likely occurred while wearing stone-washed jeans and blue eyeliner. As one may ascertain from this information, I was not equipped to make sound decisions. Country music deserved justice, a trial by concert if you will.
Hank was my first country concert—I like to go big, if I go at all. First of all, it was one of the best live shows I have ever seen. It took me straight back to riding in my dad’s truck on the way to school, rolling my electric blue eyelids while “Kaw-Liga” blared over the stereo. Hank sang and played a million guitars and outperformed musicians half his age. Surprisingly, I knew A LOT of the songs. It was fun. Those guys who were “hicks” in high school aren’t so shabby now. My companion was never a hick, and he is sexy whether he is singing along with Hank or Steven Tyler. I’m a pretty lucky chick.
Just saying.
After this experience, I have been offering the adolescents in my life, new advice that they will never take.
Learn a little bit of music from EVERY genre. That way if you find yourself in uncharted territory, alone and in need of companionship, you can strike up a conversation with anyone.
Learning some emo tunes, just in case.
YEE HAAA!!
Scarlette Quille
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
While almost 500 fire personnel still fight to contain the Cape Horn fire outside of Bayview, the worst is apparently behind us.
The 2,000-acre blaze has now been reduced to around 1,300 acres and is 70 percent contained, though spot fires and hot spots are still being dealt with. Fire crews made great progress building fire control lines down the Three Sisters Ridge on Wednesday. The ridge makes up the northern flank of the fire.
Last week, I was allowed special media access into the fire zone to photograph and report on the damage.
Evidence of extreme heat was everywhere; power lines melted and sagged, hillsides were barren with charred remains of undergrowth. Power boxes were burnt to a crisp, and real estate signs were melted beyond recognition. Small puffs of smoke still announced the evidence of hot spots that weren’t extinguished yet. All the while, an eerie midday haze crept over the waters of Lake Pend Oreille and hung over the small town of Bayview.
Last week, evacuated residents
If you’ve got any big ideas on how the city spends your money, you’re in luck.
Sandpoint City Council members approved a preliminary 2015-16 budget of just under $31 million Wednesday, which they’ll open to a public hearing Aug. 19 before official finalization. Overall, the proposed budget is down slightly from last year, with 13 percent of its funds coming from local property taxes.
In a presentation to the council, City Treasurer Shannon Syth detailed a host of city projects coming down the line, including city parking lot improvements, extended sidewalks, equipment for city personnel, public transportation funding and more.
“I think there’s a lot of really great projects in here this
were allowed to return to their homes.
“I’m just relieved to be here and fortunate that this oasis of homes was spared,” said Steve Seier, who had just returned to his home earlier in the day. “We’re a pretty tough family in Bayview. We all come together when the chips are down.”
Next door to Seier’s home sat the charred remains of one of six homes destroyed.
A Ford sedan sagged to one side as the tires and paint had been burned off and the plastic melted.
A collection of yard sculptures eerily sits untouched next to the pile of ashes and cinder that was once a home. The scene at once invokes emotions of sorrow and awe, that a force of nature is this powerful.
“When I left, the roof of this place was on fire,” said Seier, pointing to the burnt remains.. “The fire came within 150 feet of me.”
One of the tenets that Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter spoke about during his visit to the site last week was creating “defensible space” to prevent wildfire from threatening homes. A clear example of how defensible space helped prevent a disaster was Carl Costello’s home, just up the hill from the two burned
year, and I’m looking forward to seeing them come to fruition,” Syth said.
And hey, if you’re hurting for a little Wednesday night entertainment, one of the proposed budget items is video equipment that will let the council stream its meetings. If that goes through, consider skipping your TV show and tuning in. It’s just like “American Idol,” except with a lot less singing. [CR]
structures by Seier’s property.
In stark contrast, a charred line of earth met directly with a rock landscaping feature, with healthy, green grass just feet away. Costello had worked on creating defensible space on his property for years, keeping combustibles away from his home, and opening up his property to prevent fire jumping from one source to another.
“I lived in Southern California and watched it burn so many times,” Costello said. “The way that you landscape and create defensible space around your home is important.”
individual’s status is unknown.
As a major employer in Newport with more than 100 employees, the Zodiac Aerospace incident is understandably troubling to Newport residents. It’s one of the largest suppliers of aircraft interiors to major aviation companies, and the full extent of the damages are still unknown. [CR]
By the day’s end, after scrambling up and down charred slopes and gazing up the steep inclines where the wind had blown fingers of fire all up and down the ridge, I got an idea of what kind of hell on earth a wildfire can be. Then I realized that I was taking a safe media tour well outside the hot spots and danger zones where a boulder the size of a Volkswagen could dislodge and crush a fire fighter in a heart beat. I was in no danger. The fire fighters had already cleared this area.
To say the least, the experience was awe inspiring. I always have had a healthy respect for those
when New Horizons left Earth in January 2006. Now they’re taking a well-deserved victory lap nearly 10 years later. Enjoy your success, guys, and thanks for the cool pictures. [CR]
brave men and women who do our dirty work, who protect our land and property from this uncontrollable force, who endure the heat and terrible conditions, the life-threatening terrain, the back breaking work. After seeing it first-hand, however, I consider myself honored just to shake their hand, to be occupying the same space as them. Life seems strangely inadequate when you’ve just walked amongst heroes.
To see the photo essay from inside the fire, access the Reader website at www.sandpointreader.com.
Authorities are investigating an explosion at Zodiac Aerospace in Newport, Wash., that put five people in the hospital.
According to the Spokesman-Review, the conflagration tore through the structure around 9 p.m. The cause of the incident is still under investigation, but authorities determined the site posed no chemical danger. By Wednesday morning, three were released from the hospital, and one was in stable but serious condition. The final
Planet Earth was treated to an unprecedented look at Pluto this week courtesy of the New Horizons spacecraft.
Of course, you can thank NASA and its scientists for the groundbreaking new photos and data, but spare a little gratitude for Idaho National Laboratory. KTVB reports that the Idaho scientists developed the special battery that set the spacecraft on its three billion-mile journey to the outer reaches of the solar system.
INL had a hell of a wait to get some pay-off for their hard work. They were at Cape Canaveral
It’s been a long time coming, but the new Bonner General Health expansion is finally finished and ready to serve the community. Hospital officials announced this week that an official unveiling will take place Saturday, Aug. 22, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The event will include an open house to learn more about the expanded health services, including Sandpoint women’s health, women’s imaging services, performance therapy services, the wound care clinic and an anticoagulation clinic. [CR]
A two-year-old child was killed in a motorhome fire in Oldtown Tuesday night.
On July 14 at approximately 8 p.m., a structure fire was reported at 4038 Hoo Doo Loop in Oldtown.
Genevieve Winn, 2, died in the motorhome, which was completely consumed by fire. The fire began and was contained in the motorhome.
The child was alone inside the motorhome and other unharmed adults were at or near this rural location. Preliminary information indicates the fire may have been caused by electrical wiring, though the cause is under investigation.
Detectives from the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office and the Bonner County Coroner were at the scene throughout the night and into the morning. An autopsy has been ordered.
Our hearts go out to the family of the deceased. [BO]
By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff
Sandpoint has a speed problem—and it has nothing to do with streets.
For the last several years, public officials and private residents alike have explored options to establish more consistent access to high-speed Internet. Economic development experts have advised local governments for years that businesses of the near future will depend on fast, reliable connections to keep their revenues flowing.
“The Federal Communications Commission has estimated that the demand for bandwidth is doubling every two years and that currently, the typical download speeds needed by business will exceed [50 megabyte-per-second download speeds], which is either unavailable or prohibitively expensive in Sandpoint,” said Aaron Qualls, Sandpoint director of planning and economic development. “According to a recent economic assessment of Bonner County, Sandpoint lags behind the nation and other like communities for affordable, high-speed internet access.”
It’s a problem with vast implications. Earlier this year, for instance, the Lake Pend Oreille School District scrambled to establish alternative Internet service when previous provider Idaho Education Network drowned in a sea of controversy and accusations of government cronyism. Families, meanwhile, are increasingly reliant on strong Internet service for high-definition video streaming
and device connectivity.
“In the very near future, the ‘Internet of things’ will be upon us, and smart devices will be ubiquitous in every home and business,” said Charles Manning, CEO of Kochava. “These devices will need fast and reliable Internet connectivity and will change the way we live.”
Businesses already require snappy download speeds to run complicated data networks or computer operations, a topic on which Manning is very familiar. Kochava provides analytic services for companies using mobile advertising, and while Manning is committed to maintaining Sandpoint headquarters, the lack of quality Internet access has been a challenge.
unreliable,” Manning added. “I think that a bit more competition in the marketplace would serve us well.”
But like any infrastructure project, there’s always a financial cost. Complicating the matter further with a fiber optic network is the need for an Internet service provider to offer ongoing service, maintenance and customer assistance. For six years, the city of Sandpoint, as well as other Bonner Coun-
“The city of Moscow has been running its own fiber for years, so we picked their brain a lot on this,” said Mayor Carrie Logan.
It’s no wonder the city is taking initiative on the project. Over years of effort to improve Sandpoint’s Internet access, promising relationships with private businesses have fizzled over time.
“According to a recent economic assessment of Bonner County, Sandpoint lags behind the nation and other like communities for affordable, high speed internet access.”
-Aaron Qualls
Sandpoint Dir. of Planning and Economic Development
“Our infrastructure (servers and associated processing equipment) is located in a data center outside of the area simply due to the fact that here in Sandpoint, we don’t have a redundant, high speed fiber connection to the world,” he said. “Proximity to a data center would accelerate and enhance the growth of new businesses in the area.”
“[Local Internet options are] overpriced, slow and at times,
ty municipalities, have courted communications companies to take up the mantle of service provider in a public-private Internet service project.
After several false starts, the city is now taking the matter into its own hands; council members budgeted for the city to roll out its own fiber, an undertaking city workers are engaged in for the next several weeks. By the project’s end, Internet infrastructure will be in place from City Hall to the businesses clustered near Sandpoint Airport.
The Bonner County Economic Development Corporation, a local agency committed to enhancing the region’s career options and quality of life, was a major player in improved Internet access from the beginning. The corporation brought public officials and business leaders throughout the region together with a vision of comprehensive Internet service that stretched across Pend Oreille communities.
Perhaps the most promising moment in the push for fiber arrived in 2012, when Missoula-based Blackfoot Communications sat down for discussions as a potential service provider.
The partnership developed to the point where parties invited the public to an informational meeting in September. But then progress abruptly halted.
“[Blackfoot] bought some-
thing down south in Idaho, and it just didn’t work [from a financial perspective],” said Logan.
While the city has finally pulled the trigger on establishing a fiber network, the issue of securing an Internet service provider still remains, according to Public Works Director Kody Van Dyk. Local officials are in talks with Zayo, a bandwidth infrastructure company, to potentially establish service with them or another ISP company.
When it comes to providing business owners and residents with more options, it’s a step in the right direction. According to Qualls, local officials will likely revisit the issue at an economic development conference hosted by the city, the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce and the Bonner County Economic Development Corporation this November.
It’s a healthy conversation to have, according to Manning. Without the ability to properly harness the power of technology, a world of missed opportunities for Sandpoint are only years away.
“Access to affordable highspeed Internet is simply a requirement in the world today,” Manning said. “If we hope to continue to attract and develop high quality innovative businesses in our area, we need to prioritize this issue.”
Bouquets:
Submitted by Lions Club:
•The Sandpoint Lions Club would like to thank Yokes, Schweitzer Conoco, North 40, Walmart, Hoot Owl, Super 1, and Sandpoint Super Drug for allowing us to sell raffle tickets in front of their businesses. You made the Independence Day Celebration possible.
•A bouquet for Michael Spurgin, who earlier this week walked into our office and wrote us a check for $100 “just because I felt like donating to your newspaper.” What a nice and unexpected gesture, Michael. We’re so happy to have readers like you out there.
Barbs:
•When you’re walking on a bike path and you hear someone say “On your left!” or you hear the ringing of a bike bell, the correct thing to do is to stick to your side of the path and wait until the bike passes. The incorrect thing to do is to stop in the middle of the path like a deer in headlights or change directions spastically. ‘Nuff said.
•Walmart’s campaign to bring back the “Made in the USA” label is gathering all sorts of press lately. The superstore has pledged to buy $50 billion worth of USA-made products over the next decade. Does anybody else see the irony in this? Is this the same store that put so many mom and pop shops out of business? Is this the same store that has flooded our country with imported plastic crap from China for decades? While I will always applaud those who buy products made in the U.S., I can’t get behind Walmart exploiting the “Made in USA” label because they’ve essentially driven all the rest of the competition away with their price cutting. Boo.
Got a bouquet or barb you’d like to offer? Write me at ben@ sandpointreader.com with “BB” in the subject line.
By Ben Olson
With reporting by Scout Anatricia Reader Staff
Five years ago, the ACLU threatened a lawsuit against the state of Idaho in regards to the public defense system. Last month, citing Idaho’s persistent failure to address the situation, the ACLU made good on its threat when it filed suit.
The class-action lawsuit names Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter as a defendant, along with seven other state officials involved with the public defense system.
There are five plaintiffs named, each with specific cases outlining holes in the public defense system. Some appeared in court without having met their court-appointed lawyers, while others claim to have spent mere minutes with theirs to discuss complex cases involving extended jail time.
“We have been working on this for over five years now,” said Leo Morales, acting executive director with the ACLU of Idaho.
“What we have been doing during that time at the ACLU is trying to work
with the state and pressure them to fix the defective system.”
Right to legal counsel and due process are constitutional rights guaranteed under the Sixth and 14th Amendments and Idaho state code. Morales claims that the faulty system denies individuals their constitutional rights when facing inadequate funding and unfair variances from county to county.
“Every person in this country is deemed innocent until you’re proven guilty,” said Morales. “That’s a common ideal that, as Americans, we strive to live by. Today, the realty is that we have a very powerful government, a powerful prosecution team that works with law enforcement and has adequate resources ... and we don’t necessarily have the same on the other side.
“We have an adversarial system of criminal
justice,” continued Morales. “Both teams must be very well equipped to enter the arena.”
According to Morales, the criminal justice system in Idaho does not afford the same luxuries to the public defense system as it does the prosecution.
Of all the 44 counties in Idaho, only seven have public defense offices. The others either share offices, or rely on a contract with individual attorneys or private law firms. While some counties use a sliding scale to account for the differing levels of financial commitment for defendants, other counties rely on fixed fees, which don’t account for any variance of income levels.
“In 2014, the state passed a law banning fixed-fee contracts,” said Morales, “The reality is, there are still 19 counties that continue to use the fixed fee system.”
It is this variety of public defense options that Morales says creates an imbalance of justice from county to county.
“The Supreme Court has made it very clear that public defense is a state responsibility,” he said. “What Idaho has done is push that responsibility over to the counties, without providing the adequate resources for the public
defender system. The state has been creating study committees after study committees and kicking the can down the road. Everyone knew what the problem was, but no one wanted to face the responsibility.”
Izzy Robertson, head public defense attorney for Bonner County until 2012, can identify with the alleged defects and believes that Bonner County could use a lot more funding.
Citing examples of cases where she had days to prepare when she needed weeks, Robertson said, “I think we would’ve put on a better show in court and possibly won more cases.”
The lack of resources to hire investigators was also an issue, according to Robertson, though she was quick to point out that she was appreciative for the Police Department because they never “short change” clients and they are thorough.
Idaho is not the only state to be accused of shortcomings within the public defense system.
“This is an issue across the country,” said Morales. “It’s part of a larger systemic problem with criminal justice courts in our country.”
The ACLU also filed suit in Washington State recently, as well as in Michigan and New York.
“The New York case was just resolved,” said Morales. “The court ruled in our favor this spring.”
Morales hopes the lawsuit against Idaho will help centralize and equalize the public defense system, and provide desperately needed resources to the counties to fund it.
“Most public defenders are doing an amazing job,” he said. “They really need the state to step in to provide the resources and create some uniformity once and for all.”
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
You know those scrapbooks your parents kept on the bookshelf? The ones that had photos of your ancestors, all looking slightly morose in black and white, with their funny fashions and poses? Well, they may be more important than you think.
Historians often look to early photographic evidence to denote everyday lifestyles of those who have lived in the past. They look to styles of dress, early models of technology, everyday activities caught on film.
Now imagine if those photographs were no longer available. Imagine if all photographs weren’t available, or rather, impossible to access because technology has either failed or surpassed obsolete forerunners so quickly as to leave it unattainable.
formats of documents that we’ve created ... may not be readable by the latest version of the software because backwards compatibility is not always guaranteed.
“And so what can happen over time is that even if we accumulate vast archives of digital content, we may not actually know what it is.”
Real examples of this occur all the time. Ever had a hard drive crash? Or a computer stolen when you hadn’t backed anything up? I have had both happen, and it’s devastating to lose a decade of photographs and documents.
Enter the Digital Dark Age.
What is the digital dark age? Well, we’re in it now. It refers to people’s dangerous habit of storing their keepsake photographs and documents in digital form alone, forgoing any tangible copy.
Another more famous example lies with NASA, whose early space records have gone missing or unaccounted for more than once. Magnetic tapes from the 1976 Viking Mars landing went unprocessed for more than a decade. When they were finally analyzed, the data was wholly unreadable because it was in an unknown format and the original programmers had either died or left NASA.
Google Vice President Vint Cerf is recognized as one of the “fathers of the Internet.” Recently, he told the BBC that he was concerned that all images and documents we have been saving on computers will eventually be lost because hardware and software becomes obsolete so quickly.
Cerf fears that future generations will have little or no record of the 21st century, creating a “digital black hole,” for future generations to ponder over.
“I worry a great deal about that,” he told the BBC. “Old
“I remember thinking, ‘This digital photo stuff will never last,’” he said. “Of course, this was when it was 1.2 megapixel and you couldn’t get a good print out of them.”
Hammersberg urges his customers to keep their photos safe by storing them in three separate forms: on a computer, on a separate hard drive, and, most importantly, with a photographic print.
“You don’t have the image until you have the print,” said Hammersberg. “It’s so easy to lose the ones and zeroes. A photograph is something written on paper—what comes up on your screen isn’t real. It’s just electrons.”
The images were finally extracted after the brightest minds in the country spent months struggling over archaic technology. They were lucky they preserved the data. If they hadn’t, would that mission have been a complete wash?
The fact that all of our precious memories exist as ones and zeroes is a problem Mike Hammersberg knows all too much about.
Hammersberg first started working at Image Maker Photo and Video in Sandpoint in 1992, before the days of digital cameras. In 2007, he and his wife Randi took over as owners. In 23 years, he has seen the industry change dramatically.
Many horror stories have passed across the counter at Image Maker, usually involving lost photos or data.
“I had a good customer that came in all the time with film,” he said. “She went digital and put
See DARK AGE, Pg. 13
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Festival at Sandpoint Art Unveiling
4pm - 7pm @ Dover Bay
The Festival at Sandpoint holds their annual fine art poster unveiling at Dover Bay with live music. Free and open to the public
Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz
6pm - 9pm @ Neighborhood Pub
Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins
7:30pm @ Panida Little Theater
Ivins was one of journalism’s happy warriors, a quality adeptly captured by Miriam Robinson, who delivers a winningly assured performance in Lyric Stage Company’s generally satisfying production of Red Hot Patriot. Directed by Ron Ragone
Sandpoint Farmers Market
9am - 1pm @ Farmin Park
Live music by Joan & Gordon
Evidence of the After Life Show
6:30pm - 8pm @ Inquire Within (516 Bonnie communicates with loved crossed over, only $10, or private readings
Dollar Beers!
8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Take a load off, drink a beer. It’s only
Live Music w/ Tom Catmull 5:30pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery American-roots drivien sound
Live Music w/ Harold’s IGA 7pm - 10pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Free live music in the courtyard with of loonies that call themselves Harold’s
Live Music w/ David Walsh 5pm - 7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Latin-inspired Flamenco guitar music
Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins
7:30pm @ Panida Little Theater
Ivins was one of journalism’s happy warriors, a quality adeptly captured by Miriam Robinson, who delivers a winningly assured performance in Lyric Stage Company’s generally satisfying production of Red Hot Patriot. Directed by Ron Ragone
Schweitzer Mtn Music Festival & Northwest Winefest
All day @ Schweitzer Mountain Resort
Three great bands are lined up for a fun-filled day of live music, barbecue, arts and crafts vendors and wine! Live music includes Owen and McCoy at 11am, Milonga at 1:30pm, and Strictly Business at 4pm. Don’t forget to check out the Monkey Motion™ air jumper, Zip Line, arts and crafts vendors, hiking, biking, chairlift rides, climbing wall, disc golf and more!
Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins
3pm @ Panida Little Theater
Live Music w/ Scott Reid 9pm - 12am @ 219 Lounge
Monday Night Blues Jam w/ Truck Mills
7:30pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Trivia Night
7pm - 9pm @ MickDuff’s
Finally, a place to showcase how much useless stuff you know. Finally, a purpose!
Bingo Night
6:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Bingo, beer, popcorn, friendly bartenders, a nice courtyard. Seriously, what else do you need?
Dollar Beers!
8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Good until the keg’s dry
Live Music w/ Harold’s IGA 4pm - 6pm @ Ivano’s del Lago (Hope) Great music in a comfortable setting by the lake, with good food and drink
6th Annual Six-Pack Alleycat Ride
2pm @ Greasy Fingers Bikes ‘n’ Repair
A scavenger hunt on your bike. Plan to ride 15 miles. Swag and prizes at the after-arty. $15, or more information, call 255.4496. All proceeds benefit the Panhandle Animal Shelter
Karaoke Night
9pm - Midnight @ 219 Lounge
Sandpoint Farmers Market
3pm - 5:30pm @ Farmin Park
Live music by Larry Mooney
Charley Packard
7:30pm @ Come on only, Charley
Live Music w/ Nate Vernon and Carly 5:30pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Vernon is a singer/songwriter based in original songs. Fetzer is a musician sings with Wartime Blues and is known
Life Show
Within (516 Oak. St.)
with loved ones that have private readings for $20
beer. It’s only a buck
Catmull Winery sound
IGA
Beer Hall courtyard with the band themselves Harold’s
July 16 - 23, 2015
A weekly entertainment guide to keep you on your toes. To list your event free, please send an email to calendar@sandpointreader.com.
Reader recommended
Live Music w/ Justin Lantrip
Tech & Tidbit Thursday
6pm @ Greasy Fingers Bikes ‘n’ Repair
Capt. David Ramsey of the Bonner County EMS will demonstrate basic first aid for bikers and provide tips for gear to pack when taking a ride. Also how to make improvisations in the field
DJ at the 219 9pm @ 219 Lounge
Josh and Avery spinning tunes for your pleasure
Live Music w/ the Cole Show
9pm @ 219 Lounge
Local singer / songwriter
Open Mic Night
6pm - 9pm @ Monarch
Mountain Coffee Hosted by Scott Reid
Live Music w/ Ben and Cadie 5pm - 7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Live Music w/ Chris Lynch 6pm - 9pm @ Arlo’s Ristorante
Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes
7pm @ La Rosa Club
Foundation for Wildlife Management BBQ Fundraiser
3pm @ Dover Homestead Barn
Enjoy dinner, libations, auctions, games, raffles, and fun for everyone! It’s a great night out while supporting Idaho’s deer, elk and moose populations through predator management
Live Music w/ Aaron Wilder Band
Miriam Robgenerally
and crafts
1:30pm, and jumper, Zip and more!
(Hope) setting by the
Ride Repair
Plan to ride 12after-arty. $15, All proceeds Shelter
9pm @ 219 Lounge
Country classics and originals
Live Music w/ Justin Lantrip
7pm @ La Rosa Club
Schweitzer Mountain Trail Run
10am @ Schweitzer Mountain Village
Registration begins at 9am, with a mandatory meeting at 9:45am. 3.5 and 10 mile trail runs on challenging and scenic trails. Learn more at SMTrailRun.com
Sandpoint Storage Garage Sale and Benefit
9am - 3pm @ Highway 200 in Kootenai
All proceeds from food court sales during the event benefitting the Sandpoint Volleyball Club. This is the one day that Sandpoint Storage opens the gate and allows its customers to have a sale from their storage unit
Panida Garage Sale Fundraiser
8am - 2pm @ Fosters Crossing
Get some good stuff and support a good cause
Bodacious BBQ
5pm @ Litehouse Beachhouse (Hope)
32nd Annual fundraiser features a luau. Proceeds will benefit the Hope Memorial Community Center
Live Music w/ Dave Hannon
5:30pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Summer Sounds
4pm - 6pm @ Park Place Stage
Featuring Larry Mooney
Live Music w/ Chris Lynch 6pm - 9pm @ Arlo’s Ristorante
July 24-26 - The Garden of Artistry Invitational Fine Art Show
July 25 - Crazy Days in downtown Sandpoint
Aug. 1 - Long Bridge Swim
Charley Packard & Friends
7:30pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Come on down and see the one, the only, Charley Packard. He’s back, baby!
7pm @ La Rosa Club •virus, spyware and malware removal •windows and apple service
Vernon and Carly Fetzer of Wartime Blues Winery
singer/songwriter based in Missoula, and has penned over 50 musician and artist from Salt Lake City. She and is known to play the banjo on occasion
Live Music w/ David Walsh
5:30pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Latin-inspired music with a flamenco guitar. It’s perfect for dinner and wine on the patio
Cards Against Humanity
7pm - 9pm @ Neighborhood Pub
The infamous game is back! Come on down for some wings, beer and burgers, and make your neighbors blush. Not for the faint of heart
Because turning it off and on again doesn’t always work, you need the only area company with the experience to do it all!
•network security and data recovery
•wireless networks of all types
To submit your own pet photos, please send a photograph and a little bit of information about your special friend to ben@sandpointreader.com. Please put “PET PHOTOS” in the subject line.
-bella-
Bella is ten years old. She justifies her age by acting it, and snubbing anyone on the street who wants to touch her. Only eats treats from Finan McDonald, but accepts from other establishements only to hide them in the store. Enjoys bike rides in her basket, dips in the lake, chicken jerky and sofa naps. Dislikes anything that buzzes by her head and all other dogs.
Kathy Chambers Sandpoint
By Reader Staff
After nearly 20 years of research, Sandpoint writer and investigative journalist Bonnie J. Thompson, the daughter of former Logan County State Attorney Roger W. Thompson, has released a tellall trilogy called “Buried Truth.”
The trilogy is a unique true crime saga about one woman’s undying perseverance in a lonely battle for truth and justice.
In “Part One: Backtrack,” Thompson takes the reader back to 1976 when she was a 19-year-old deputy circuit clerk in the Logan County Courthouse. That year a series of murders unfolded in her hometown of Lincoln, Illinois, and she became a witness to suspicious events and circumstances relating to the Schneider triple homicide, a Manson copycat crime.
Only one 21-year-old man was charged and convicted of the slayings. Two other men Thompson suspected as accomplices were never implicated and went on to become attorneys.
Years later in 2001, Thompson’s fa-
DARK AGE, con’t from p. 9
all her images on a computer and one day came into the shop in tears. She had transferred her images from one computer to another, which crashed after six months, and she didn’t have a backup. They couldn’t recover anything. She lost every single one of her pictures, and she was devastated.”
While Hammersberg wonders what the future will hold for camera shops like his, he also worries about what the future generations will deduce about our time.
“I’m worried about my daughter Michaella,” he said. “In 60, 70 years, where will her grandchildren find the images of this time, of her children?”
Nowadays, everything happens in the “cloud,” which is a buzzword that essentially means the software and services you once stored on your individual computer is now stored and accessed through the Internet.
While there are many benefits of cloud computing—ease of data recovery, worldwide accessibility of data and services—the essential flaw is that if the Internet goes down, your services and data are not available.
What happens if the Internet fails for good? Will we roam the vast wasteland of America in steampunk vehicles and fight tribal wars over dwindling resources? Will we collapse into a post-apocalyptic meltdown and enter the age of cannibalism? Will we die out because
ther dies a disturbing death, which takes her back to Lincoln.
Following her father’s memorial, she approaches Logan County State’s Attorney Tim Huyett and tells him of her longtime suspicions regarding the triple homicide. She is granted access to the old murder case files and begins her own investigation into not only the Schneider murders but also the murders of Michael Mansfield, Ruth Martin and Jay and Robin Fry.
“Bonnie Thompson has done an excellent job of uncovering some deeply buried truths regarding a series of related murder cases,” said Dr. Larry Farwell, forensic neuroscientist and inventor of brain fingerprinting
Bonnie J. Thompson is no stranger to the world of criminal law and courtroom drama. Her father, Roger W. Thompson, and grandfather, Donald L. Thompson, were both noted trial lawyers. The Logan County Courthouse provided Bonnie with a very important education, for it was there that she learned the value of truth and justice.
we’re too stupid to do anything without asking Google first?
Imagine we are wiped out as a civilization, much like the Anasazi, a Native American culture that emerged in the Four Corners area of the United States around 1200 BC.
These early Puebloans were hunters and gatherers who lived in shallow pit houses, while the later civilizations carved whole towns out of nearby cliffs like those found at Mesa Verde.
Although she often considered pursuing a degree in law, she found herself more drawn to music, writing, and investigation. In her spare time she performs as a professional singer/songwriter/guitarist, and she particularly enjoys singing jazz and blues standards.
Thompson is self-published and is releasing her trilogy in an eBook download PDF file format
Her new trilogy can be purchased through her website: www.buriedtruthtrilogy.com.
about us, in a thousand years, by looking at a bunch of broken plastic, shredded copper wires, cathodes and microchip pieces ground into nothing?
That’s just what they would know about us... nothing.
So what do we do? Well, we start finding a way to leave something tangible behind. We make prints of our treasured memories and keep them safe in scrapbooks and shoe boxes.
“I’m worried about my daughter ... In sixty, seventy years, where will her grandchildren find the images of this time, of her children?”
Around 1300 BC, they abandoned their cliff houses and scattered. Nobody really understands why, though some scholars think that a population explosion coupled with a drought and poor farming methods harkened the collapse.
The point is, we know about the Anasazis because they left artifacts behind; pottery shards, woven baskets, reed sandals, rabbit fur robes, grinding stones and bows and arrows, and lest we forget, the homes they had carved out of a mountainside.
Historians are able to piece together what type of people the Anasazis were, what type of society they had, what they ate, how they lived.
Now imagine if nothing was left behind. What could historians deduce
-Mike Hammersberg
Cerf is promoting a bigger plan. He wants to preserve every piece of software and hardware so that it never becomes obsolete—just like what happens in a museum—but in digital form.
“The solution is to take an X-ray snapshot of the content and the application and the operating system together,” he told the BBC, “with a description of the machine that it runs on, and preserve that for long periods of time. And that digital snapshot will recreate the past in the future.”
The concept, which Cerf refers to as “digital vellum,” may be the only tangible way to preserve the photos that matter, aside from making a print, which, if stored properly, will last indefinitely.
“If it’s important to you, make a print,” said Hammersberg. “I want my great grandkids to see who I was.”
By Ted Bowers Reader Columnist
In this final article about the “Early” days, I thought I would talk about some of our more memorable jobs with Boles Construction.
The Oddfellows remodel
We got the original contract to convert this venerable landmark to the Head Start center. It involved creating a commercial quality kitchen, a large classroom, bathroom and a second exit to meet code requirements. There was some interior framing to achieve this and a lot of drywall to hang, tape and finish, then paint. Jay and I were still novices at drywall, and to be “frank,” Earl wasn’t much of a teacher.
creating the second exit. There was an old furnace room in the basement next to the classroom that had its own entrance from the street. The problem was that a 10-inch thick, 80year-old concrete wall separated the rooms. Our job was to jackhammer a doorway through that wall.
Two days of bone shaking, ear shattering labor left us with ringing ears and fingers the size of bananas. I guess nobody had heard of concrete saws back then?
The Jennestad bathroom remodel
old guy who seldom smiled and his sales philosophy was to stand and stare (glower, even) at you there while you browsed through the store.
We were of the school of “smear a lot on, then sand it down.” It seemed like the drywall went on forever, and we were either covered with mud or working in a cloud of dust. We went a little crazy at times, flinging handfuls of drywall mud at each other to fight off the boredom. That part of the job, however, was a piece of cake compared to what was involved in
Ole Jennestad, proprietor of the Jennestad Clothing store in downtown Sandpoint, was a key figure in the history of the area. He got his start in the clothing business in the 1930s by providing the logging camps with clothing supplies: boots, pants, coats, etc. Being a tough, strong-willed Norwegian, he began by skiing to the camps with a pack on his back full of these supplies. Eventually, he accumulated enough to start his store downtown, and that is where I first met him. He was in his 80s or even 90s by then, still tall and straight. He was a dour
His daughter worked in the store as well, and she wasn’t much happier than Ole, so shopping there was a bit of an ordeal. When I found that we had gotten the job of providing his home with a downstairs bathroom, I was apprehensive about the atmosphere on the job, but it progressed smoothly and we seldom saw the Jennestads while we worked. Part of the project was to demo an old garage at the back of the house. Up in the attic I discovered an old pair of wooden cross country skis, the ones Ole used to deliver goods decades ago. They were huge—over six feet long—and heavy. I thought of him slogging uphill on these skis with a heavy pack on his
back and was able to imagine in a small way the amount of fortitude this old man had—a humbling experience. It was a privilege to have worked on these and many other remodels in Sandpoint. I’ve seen a lot of the town’s history, demoed some of it and had a small hand in creating some as well.
By Sandy Compton Reader Columnist
Has it been hot, or is it just me? OK. Damnably hot. Not hellishly hot, yet, but still.
A friend pointed out yesterday that if global warming isn’t real, a great majority of the world’s scientists are idiots. Love that kind of perverse logic. Sort of. Even if it does scare the hell out me. Not run-and-hide scared, but where-are-wegoing-with-all-this scared. If I extrapolate out far enough on that curve, we’re all going to die.
Oh, yeah. That’s right. We’re all going to die anyway. That and birth, by whatever means, are the two universally held life experiences of all living things. On this planet, anyway. And global warming probably won’t kill all living things, but it might kill all the mammals. Of which we are a part. A very vulnerable part. Don’t believe me? What will you do when your well runs dry?
If you don’t want to think about such important matters today, you may want to skip over to someone else.
Once upon a time in a dream, I watched a covey of grouse feeding in a fringe of trees at the edge of one of my
grandpa’s fields. A huge black bird resembling an oversized raven, came out of the sky and took the hindmost grouse. Again and again, it swooped in, grabbed a grouse and consumed it. But it didn’t really eat it. It just chewed it up.
The predator bird revealed itself as not flesh-and-blood, but, rather, a machine with black metal feathers sporting large triangular teeth, like those of a shark. As each succeeding grouse was taken, the others moved off far enough that they couldn’t hear the bones of their brethren crunching.
On the other side of the thin strip of forest where the grouse were, the land drops into the Blue Creek canyon. In the dream, an eagle came up out of Blue Creek, soaring into the sky on a thermal. It dove on the black bird-machine, raking it with its talons, to no obvious effect, but the bird-machine rose to the attack, and an air battle ensued.
The bird-machine was bigger and faster, but the eagle was more maneuverable, able to pull tight turns and fly in spirals, while the black bird could only make big loops or long arcs. The eagle never retook the offensive, it just stayed out of harm’s way.
In the end, the bird-machine faltered and fell in a straight dive to the ground, where it crashed into a crumpled metal mess. I intuited that it had run out of fuel. The eagle flew on. The grouse kept feeding. The dream ended.
The bird-machine could be our crazy, greed-riddled, image-driven, non-stop, as-long-as-I-get-mine-everything-isfine culture. It’s chewing up folks and spitting them out.
The grouse could be us. You and me and the guy down the street. We just want to get by and eat our fill. We can’t be bothered with the plight of the last guy or gal or kid in line. Until we are the last one in line, of course. Then, OMG!
So, who’s the eagle?
That could be us, too, if we so choose. Willing to take up the cause of others, able to resist our crazy culture and wise and agile enough to stay out of its way.
Probably, all of us are a combination of the three. If you drive a car or use electricity, you’re arguably part of the machine. And, unless you’re Jesus or Mother Theresa, you likely suffer bouts of complacency regarding the plight of the neighbors.
But once in a while, we might all be eagles.
Sandy Compton’s new book, “The Scenic Route: Life on the Road Between Hope and Paradise,” is available at Vanderford’s in Sandpoint, or online at bluecreekpress.com.
By Scout Anatricia Reader Intern
One of the most challenging roles in theater is performing in a one-person show, and even more difficult is portraying an iconic character and getting it right. I know this from personal experience. Miriam Robinson has taken up the challenge bringing Molly Ivins to life in Ron Ragone’s production of “Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins,” written in 2010 by twin journalist sisters Margaret and Allison Engel.
Molly Ivins was a proud Texan who loved exposing corrupt politicians through her journalistic talents. She believed everyone should be accountable, especially if you were an elected official or a journalist. It was Ivins who coined the nickname “Shrub” for President George W. Bush. She had more than a few things to say about Mr. Bush, both when he was governor of Texas and President.
When I asked why he chose this play, Ragone replied, “My wife saw it at the Geffen Theater in L.A. and when she came home she told me I had to produce it for Sandpoint. So I am.”
He chose Robinson as the lead after seeing her performance in “The Counselor,” an original play by local playwright Teresa Pesce.
“There are also some similarities between the two,” he said. “Miriam is roughly the same age as Ms. Ivins and had a very similar relationship with her father. These experiences have made Miriam an even better fit for the role.”
As an audience member, I enjoyed the personal touch of having some of Ivin’s memories come to life through photos of poignant moments on the screen behind her. An explanation went along with each photo, and it was fun to see familiar faces to the American life and Ivins’ involvement with them.
The theme of father/daughter angst is apparent, and Ivins expounds on their relationship throughout the play. Being political opposites—she proclaimed she was a “liberal by choice”—created the most pronounced wall between the two stubborn Texans. In the end, the two never made amends, which haunted Ivins for the rest of her life.
The stage is set resembling a journalist’s office filled with file cabinets, a desk, the sound of a teletype machine
and of course, the Texas state flag. Robinson is also dressed for the part and obviously comfortable in the role, wearing jeans, a denim shirt and cowboys boots.
“I don’t like playing Molly, I LOVE playing Molly,” Robinson said. “She had the courage to do things most women of her time wouldn’t do. She was courageous. She respected everyone even if you didn’t agree with her. She was a hell of a woman.”
Although Robinson has the only speaking part, she is joined sporadically by Conrad Mearns who serves as
the “Coffee Kid” in the play. He simply comes to the stage, rips off the teletype messages and lays them on the desk. There are no small roles in theater, and in fact, this mute role plays a major part in the surprise ending. You have to attend to see what I am talking about. Very clever.
In the same vein as “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” Ivins felt society learned through humor. While laughing at her witty repartee, we inadvertently learn something about ourselves and, hopefully, get involved.
Molly Ivins was a vivacious character with an amazing wit, and it comes through loud and clear in this performance. Thank you Ron Ragone for producing and Miriam for bringing her to life. I recommend this performance as a great night out. Go to dinner and then the theater—you don’t want to miss it. Brava!
On a side note: For me, this play reminded me of my friend Laura Bry and her passion to get others involved in local and national politics. She and Molly would have been great friends. When you see the play, and if you knew Laura, you will understand. Laura Bry was also “a hell of a woman.”
“Red Hot Patriot” opened last weekend, with performances continuing this weekend. Check it out from July 17-19, with showtimes starting 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and a 3 p.m. matinee Sunday at the Panida Little Theater. Tickets cost $14.
al barrier throughout the year.
A properly designed windbreak has a profound effect on the physical and economic well-being of both humans and animals. Research has shown that heating costs can be reduced by up to 40 percent, since reduced wind velocity results in reduced air infiltration in homes and outbuildings. The shelter created by a windbreak provides a safer and more pleasant outdoor work and play area.
A five-year study in Iowa indicated that cattle sheltered from the wind gained an average of 80 pounds more per year and consumed 129 pounds less feed per hundredweight of gain than cattle not sheltered. Other animals, including game, find food and habitat within the windbreak, especially if diverse species of plants are used. Windbreaks also block blowing and drifting snow, reduce soil erosion and provide a pleasant visu-
Strategies and techniques used in the creation of windbreaks vary depending on site specific conditions and the owner’s requirements. Given adequate resources and sufficient area, a multi-row windbreak with a lot of plant diversity is ideal (see Fig. 1). Rows should extend well beyond the width of the area to be sheltered, and spacing between rows should account for mature plant width and maintenance practice between rows.
Placement of the windbreak should allow for the blockage of the most severe winter winds; in much of the country this would be to the north or northwest of the homestead. In areas where troublesome winds come from more than one direction, the windbreak can be planted in a “V” or “L” shape. Recommendations for the distance from windbreak to homestead (“D” in Fig. 2) vary from state to state, but average from five to seven times the height of the tallest mature trees. That distance should be measured from the row of tallest evergreen trees to the center of the protected area.
on a site-specific basis, at least some of the following suggestions will work for most sites. Consult with local soil conservation or county extension agents for plant suggestions based on specific soil type, hardiness zone, topography, exposure, etc.
Windbreaks
Rows 1 and 5
Highbush Cranberry, Forsythia, Spirea, Honeysuckle, Barberry, Privet, Sumac, Redtwig Dogwood, Lilac, Currant, Chokecherry, Winterberry, American Plum, Caragana Windbreaks Row 2
So if the tallest trees reach 30 feet at maturity, distance would be 150 to 210 feet. Though the five-row system will provide very efficient shelter, even a one-row windbreak will provide significant benefit. If limited to just one row, evergreen trees should be specified. In the northern Plains states, however, windbreaks should be planted with five or more rows to block the extreme high winds and blowing snow.
Though it is best if no roads or work trails penetrate a windbreak, if absolutely necessary these paths should proceed through at an angle rather than parallel to the wind direction. Even at an angle, a path is susceptible to heavy snow buildup, and if close to parallel to the wind direction, the path will allow a funnel of strong wind to penetrate.
Diversity of species, even within the row, is important both from cultural and aesthetic perspectives. Culturally, diversity will provide some level of insurance if one species comes under attack from insect or disease. Aesthetically, diversity provides more interest in the landscape, especially during long, visually bleak winter months. In addition to the above, diversity in plant selection can provide food and habitat for a wide variety of birds and animals. Plant selection should be made with full knowledge of soil types, which may vary even within the site.
Two rows of evergreens, of different height as indicated in Fig. 1, will provide better protection than one row, and each additional row will contribute to further improvement of the windbreak. Though exact choice of plants should be made
Redcedar, Arborvitae, Rocky Mountain Juniper, Serbian Spruce, Dwarf Blue Spruce, Jack Pine Windbreaks Row 3
White Pine, Douglas Fir, Norway Spruce, Shortleaf Pine, Austrian Pine, Red Pine, White Fir, Concolor Fir, Ponderosa Pine Windbreaks Row 4 Pin Oak, Honeylocust, Hackberry, Red Oak, Black Walnut, Black Locust, Beech, Russian Olive, Siberian Elm, Silver Maple, Green Ash
Note that in a multi-row system the evergreens should be on the windward side of the deciduous trees, and the best wind deflection occurs with a rising plant height as shown in Fig. 1. Aside from the aesthetic and wildlife food val-
ues of the small shrub rows, these faster growing plants will provide some measure of wind and snow protection long before the slower growing trees.
In addition to the above mentioned benefits of windbreaks, wise tree placement can also provide energy savings and greater creature comforts in summer months. As shown in Fig. 2, trees can be used to funnel summer breezes toward living areas; both evergreen and deciduous trees will serve this function, but for aesthetic purpose a combination of both may provide the best design solution.
The establishment of a windbreak is undoubtedly a major investment, but considering the long term economic, aesthetic and social returns, it is an investment that will benefit several generations.
By Scout Anatricia Reader Intern
Imagine yourself on a beach, surrounded by friends, strangers, compassionate people and the sweet sound of a local band ringing through the evening air. If this sounds ideal to you then stop by Shangri La at The Beach hosted by Lindy Lewis, a fundraiser for Underground Kindness.
Recent high school graduates Owen and McCoy will be performing and representing Sandpoint High School. As a classmate, I’ve been watching them play at the lunch tables since eighth grade. They’ve come a long way in a short time, landing an opening gig for Wilco at the Festival at Sandpoint this summer. If you’re interested in a sneak peek of next month, you’re definitely going to want to stop by and check them out!
Better yet, you’ll be supporting a good cause. Underground Kindness is a nonprofit organization started by Lewis and supported by community members around Sandpoint. The short and sweet of Underground Kindness is that it serves as an empowerment program for students. Lewis describes her program as a way to, “present perspective and permission for self-acceptance and acceptance of circumstances”.
Underground Kindness does this by presenting students with “compassionists,” people who hold “a place of grace and compassion for self and others,” in the words of Lewis’ book, “Recovering Alpha Female.” In grades seven through 12, these compassionists discuss topics such as self-esteem, nutrition, yoga and manifestation of thought with students. Lewis said she was surprised by not only the positive feedback from students but also from appreciative teachers and
community members.
Due to the success of Underground Kindness, the Shangri La at The Beach concert is serving not only as a fundraiser but also as a celebration for 312 classes accomplished, plus success in the juvenile center.
Many students from Sandpoint High School have expressed deep appreciation for the talks and yoga practices that Lewis and her compassionists give. One student recently released from the juvenile center said that doing yoga with Lewis was his release from the loneliness and self-disgust that he felt on a daily basis. He appreciated that Lewis held space for him and made him feel important and worthy of someone’s attention.
In some cases, Underground Kindness provides a sense of self-worth that students simply don’t get anywhere else. Many live in homes where families don’t hold space for them or make them feel significant, so it is important to have a program full of grace and compassion that gives kids a moment where
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
There are some famous pairings out there in the world; Simon and Garfunkel, Sonny and Cher, peanut butter and jelly. Charley Packard and Eichardt’s. It’s hard to think of one without the other.
Last week, legendary Sandpoint performer Charley Packard returned to play his regular Wednesday night gig at Eichardt’s Pub.
After more than a year off battling cancer, Packard is back, with his sweet, lonesome songs that will bring a tear to
your eye one moment, and make you laugh like hell the next.
This spring, Packard sold out the Panida Theater with a tribute show featuring over 20 performers playing their favorite Charley Packard tunes.
At Eichardt’s on Wednesday nights, you can expect Charley in usual form; funny, insightful, and often with a friend or two sitting in with him.
He usually gets going about 7:30 p.m. If you haven’t heard him for awhile, head on down to Eichardt’s and let his songs of love and loss take you away. Glad to have you back, Charley.
they can feel safe and welcome.
“I learned that you really do have the ability to think for yourself. You are the only one who can change your mind to live a better life,” reads one student testimonial from the Underground Kindness website, www.inspiringgrace.org
If you feel that supporting Underground Kindness in our middle school, high school, alternative high school and juvenile center is important, then be sure to stop by Shangri La at The Beach on Thursday, July 23 from 6:30 p.m until sunset.
Bring a blanket, a picnic, and a $25 donation to help continue classes! Plan to enjoy a lovely evening while supporting Underground Kindness.
For more information contact Lindy at lindy@undergroundkindness.org
I lived in Missoula for many years, so I was curious as anyone to see how popular writer Jon Krakauer would handle the town’s recent, highly publicized rape trials and allegations that the city insufficiently investigated and prosecuted rape reports. In “Missoula,” Krakauer tells the harrowing story of women who not only experienced the trauma of sexual assault by men they trusted, but were then further violated by an uncaring legal system and victim-blaming public. The book is gripping and rage-inducing in equal measure.
John Darnielle, the creative force behind prolific folk outfit The Mountain Goats, has explored a range of songwriting subjects, from Biblical musings to black metal to H.P. Lovecraft. But his latest, “Beat the Champ,” is unusual even by his standards, a look at human frailty and struggle through the lens of professional wrestling, of all things. Darnielle uses songwriting as a medium to channel his exceptional storytelling instincts. With that kind of backbone, “Beat the Champ” becomes another album highlight in a career full of them.
Now available to stream on Netflix, “Nightcrawler” combines an amazing performance by Jake Gyllenhaal, effective characterization and high-tension suspense into one of the best movies of 2014. Gyllenhaal plays Louis Bloom, a former thief who throws himself into the dark world of trawling for accident and crime video to sell to the evening news.
More than once during the movie, I was reminded of the Scorsese classic “Taxi Driver,” not least in Gyllenhaal’s portrayal of a man on the fringe of society, ambitious yet woefully misguided. By the time the film reaches its logical conclusion, you won’t have enjoyed getting to know Bloom, but you won’t forget him either.
compiled by Ben Olson
Each week, we feature a new photograph taken from the same vantage point as one taken long ago. See how we’ve changed, and how we’ve stayed the same.
Historical information provided and verified by Bonner County Museum staff and volunteers. The Museum is located at 611 S. Ella — (208) 263-2344.
The same view today. The Power House building is now home to a bevy of professional offices.
Corrections: We don’t have any corrections this week. No misspellings either. Nothing to report, nothing to see here.
Anagram of “Irately”
African antelope
Vibes
Directed
Go by car
The Power House, center, and the Bonner County Courthouse, right, during the flood in the spring of 1948. The 140-foot tall smokestack can be seen behind the Power House. In my next life, I hope I come back as a parrot, because I already know quite a few words.
Craze
Jittery
Loamy deposit
Bit of gossip
3 times 3
Concern
Area
French for “State”
Askew
A large vase
Fasteners
Certain aromatic herbs
Pause
Grinned
Morally reprehensible
Catches
Cashew or almond
