Reader_July30_2015

JUSTREDUCED

compiled by Susan Drinkard

(wo)MAN on the street

What was the best event you’ve attended at the Panida Theater?

“I am a backcountry enthusiast and I think the Banff Film Festival is great. It brings the outdoor community — rock climbers, backcountry skiers and others — together.”

Adam Reynolds Sandpoint

“I’ve lived here 20 years but I’ve only been there twice. I went to an old-time Chautauqua that was really fun.”

Lynn Harpe

Cook at Sandpoint Senior Center Sandpoint

“No question, it was ‘The All Night Strut.’ It was directed by Bonnie Miller and performed nine nights. It was a WWII revue of sorts with Big Band and and the Sweet Adelines; they had rockets shooting off.”

Alan Ball

Retired Emergency Room Doctor Sandpoint.

“I’ve been to dance recitals and a spring fling concert there. I liked the African drumming they had at the Panida.”

Haley Kennick

Junior at Sandpoint High School

“The violinist Natalie MacMaster concert comes to mind. Also, the Emmylou Harris concert. We have enjoyed going to plays put on by local children over the years, as well.”

Dennis Scollon

Retired State of Idaho/Job SerSandpoint

“It was a performance by a blind opera singer a few years back.”

(Laurie Rubin, March 7, 2013)

Nataya Thompson

Junior at Sandpoint High School

DEAR READERS,

The countdown to the Festival at Sandpoint is on. Pretty soon, we’ll see the big white tent go up. Best of luck to all the volunteers and staff that put this show on year after year.

Also, the Huckleberry Festival is happening this Sunday at Schweitzer, so head on up and check it out.

We’re looking forward to these next few weeks of summer here at the Reader. Are you?

-Ben Olson, Publisher

READER

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: Scott Kirby (cover), Ben Olson, Angela Euliarte, Susan Drinkard,

Contributing Writers: Cameron Rasmusson, Ben Olson, Nick Gier, Scarlette Quille, Scout Anatricia, Susan Drinkard, Ted Bowers, Dan Eskelson

Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com

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Advertising: Jen Landis jen@sandpointreader.com Greg Larson greg@sandpointreader.com

Clint Nicholson clint@keokee.com

Web Content: Keokee

3-6pm

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.

Email letters to: letters@sandpointreader.com

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About the Cover

This week’s cover is a watercolor painting by Scott Kirby. Kirby is a composer, visual artist and pianist who always puts on a great show when he comes through town. You can see more of his work at www. scottkirby.net. This painting is called “Grain Tower I.”

COMMENTARY

Planned Parenthood broke no laws, but anti-abortionists may have

By Nick Gier Reader Columnist

Millions of Americans have donated their organs for transplantation; or, alternatively, they have offered their entire bodies for medical research. For the latter many universities and private companies contract to pay for funeral expenses, and hospitals generally charge $100-500 to prepare surgical tissue for medical research. The $30-100 Planned Parenthood bills to process fetal tissue, released only with permission by the woman involved, is modest in comparison.

Critics would argue that the fetus is a separate person and therefore must somehow give consent. Our moral, religious, and legal traditions, however, have not recognized the fetus as a person until late in pregnancy. In 1973 the Supreme Court followed these precedents by ruling that the fetus is not a viable, independent being until end of the second trimester. Only then does the state have a legal right to act on behalf of the fetus and protect its life.

In 1993 Congress lifted the ban, put in place by the Reagan Administration, on using fetal tissue for medical research. The legislation explicitly allows “reasonable payments associated with the transporta-

tion, implantation, processing, preservation, quality control or storage of human fetal tissue.”

In the uncut video taken by anti-abortion activists, Dr. Deborah Nucatola of Planned Parenthood insists we “are not looking to make money by doing this,” and she turned down offers of $1,600 by fraudulent buyers for two fetal organs.

Planned Parenthood has apologized for what Rep. John Boehner has called Dr. Nucatola’s “cavalier” tone about discussing fetal organs, but gallows humor is commonplace in the medical profession, especially in high stress situations. When Planned Parenthood’s Dr. Mary Gatter said that she was going to buy a Lamborghini with these modest proceeds, some people somehow do not get the obvious irony in this ludicrous comment.

Fetal tissue has been essential in investigating the causes and cures of diseases such as Parkinson’s and cystic fibrosis. It has been particularly valuable in producing vaccines against measles, rubella, chicken pox, and shingles. A polio vaccine was created from fetal kidney cells, and the researchers were awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize for Medicine. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center in Philadelphia, declares that “cells from one fetus have no doubt saved the lives of mil-

and am always in disbelief, when they strike—usually it’s too late to stop them. The damage has been or is in the act of being done.

lions of people.”

The anti-abortion activists introduced themselves to Nucatola and Gatter as representatives of the Center for Medical Progress, which has direct connections to the militant anti-choice group Action Live. In applying for its tax exempt status it deceived the IRS by claiming that it was a biomedical research organization. Since its founding in 2013, it has not filed the necessary 990 forms for non-profit organizations. Furthermore, Kamala Harris, California’s Attorney General, has launched an investigation into “allegations about individuals impersonating corporate officials from a fake biologics company.” She wants to know if any state laws have been violated.

Live Action is associated with Operation Rescue, which has held protests at abortion clinics all over the nation. Cheryl Sullenger, Operation Rescue’s senior advisor, served a two-year prison term for attempting to bomb a clinic in 1987. Operation Rescue led a multi-year campaign against abortion doctor George Tiller, who was assassinated by Scott Roeder at church in 2009. Roeder was active in Operation Rescue, and he claims that Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue and secretary for the so-called Center for Medical Progress, encouraged him to use violence to protect the lives

of the unborn.

Anti-abortion groups such as Operation Rescue maintain that they model their actions on the civil rights movement, and that they are standing up for fetal rights. There are strict principles for civil disobedience, and one of them is that one openly and nonviolently defies what one perceives to be unjust laws.

Mahatma Gandhi also immediately pled guilty in court and demanded that the judges send him to prison. Bombing abortion clinics, shooting doctors, setting up fake companies and doing undercover videography are of course far from the ideals of civil disobedience.

The bill that made fetal tissue research legal passed the Senate on a voice vote, and 59

Republicans voted in the affirmative on the final vote in the House on May 23, 1993. Three Republicans—Mitch McConnell, Lamar Alexander and Fred Upton—who voted for this bill are now calling for an investigation of Planned Parenthood and possible defunding of their programs. McConnell says that it appears that Planned Parenthood has violated the law, but I’m confident that America’s most effective family planning organization can prove him and others wrong.

Nick Gier of Moscow taught philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years. Read his article on abortion at www.webpages.uidaho.edu/ngier/abortion.htm.

Dear Editor,

They are the minions of the Sauronian, Darth Vadian and Voldemortian absolute worst agency in our state—those who do the dirty work for the ID(I) OT Machine. I usually include that middle “I” when describing this arrogant and seemingly all-powerful government agency—the Idaho Department of Transportation. I rarely know,

Yesterday I experienced the Machine’s latest path of destruction along Highway 200 driving east from the Pack River Delta, past Trestle Creek and traditional Kalispel aboriginal fishing, hunting and gathering camps along the Road to the Buffalo, towards Hope to join a friend for dinner. For 36 years and with tremendous gratitude and aesthetic enjoyment, I have

driven along that distinctive and beautiful stretch of highway with its rocky outcrops, towering Ponderosa pines and old growth cedars, and its hundreds of native serviceberry, syringa (our state flower!) and ocean spray shrubs, both beautiful to look at in spring and so important to our native songbirds and other wildlife as essential food and habitat. I once lived at the foot of Eagen Mountain along this formerly scenic stretch of highway.

Last year the Machine massacred the flora and trees along

the lakeside. Never in my darkest mind did I imagine that next they would annihilate the mountainside. They took an abundance of life for many species, and beauty for all to see, and wasted it into death and ugliness. Why?

Maybe it’s because they want a more visible and faster highway for the big-wheelers that have increased in number and speed traveling along Highway 200, and more Megaloads like last summer. Maybe it’s AVISTA’s fault to ease expansion of their power lines. Or

maybe it was just to prevent one more automobile from flipping over because it was speeding. Now you can soar through this stretch of highway driving over the speed limit without even braking once.

I keep praying that someday we’ll seek higher moral values. Until then, the loss only reveals the violent muscle the white man continues to flex in ignorance when it comes to everything alive and beautiful in nature.

Jane Fritz Sandpoint

PERSPECTIVES

What is camping? Really?

I have been asking myself this very puzzling question for the last couple of weeks.

When I was a child, camping meant my family was going to go into the woods. We would spend days packing and hours loading vehicles. My father would drive us down strange mountain roads, and when we were far enough from society, he would park and then the search for the perfect camp spot would ensue. Once the adults agreed on the perfect campsite, we would unload and then I would sit back and watch my parents reach divorce-stage anger while trying to set up a tent.

My parents would then go about the task of setting physical perimeters for us kids by instilling fear of death by cougar or grizzly.This often came with a “what to do if you see a bear” lesson complete with a quiz afterwards. Other than that we were free to run, climb, get dirty, explore, shit in the woods, forget about bathing and pretty much answer the call of the wild. We had no cell phones, no generators and no hand sanitizer for that matter. We

Just like Laura...

Dear Editor,

Several hundred people, or so it appeared, showed up last Sunday afternoon on a grassy knoll on Lakeshore Drive to celebrate Laura Bry’s life of goodwill and good work. She had died of a heart attack at 53. As we listened to and empathized with the emotional tributes from family and friends, it occurred to us that the gathering said much about where we live. It said you, Sandpoint, are the real stuff.

One of the unspoken rituals

were living, REALLY living.

I am only mentioning this because camping has become something else entirely. I went to Lion’s Head campground in Priest Lake a few weeks ago. We brought a tent and some food. In my world, that’s what you need to go camping. The Lion’ s Head campground that I remember was pretty sparse.It had maybe an outhouse, hardly any RV spots and it was pretty easy to find a campsite that was far away from other campers. I was shocked to see how much it had changed.

Out of the 50-plus campsites, there was only one other “tent” camper. It was wall-to-wall RVs and camp trailers complete with electricity, working toliets, microwaves—you name it. We had to make a reservation. Seriously?! On top of that, there is a real bathroom with a bunch of working toilets right in the middle of the park. What?

How am I going to teach my 4-year-old the basics of shitting in the woods? I offered to take him on a hike. This was in the morning, and like most males of our species, my son has the entire morning reserved for spending hours in the bathroom taking a crap. At the tender age of 4, my son already plans for this type of “me time.” Despite the fact that every man I know has the same bathroom habit, I am still puzzled. It is common knowledge

of our entrepreneurial society is that the bigger the person the bigger the funeral or memorial service. The more ostentatious the house or houses, the bigger the crowd. The classier the cars and boats, the bigger the crowd. The more exclusive the club or clubs, the bigger the crowd. The more imposing the travels, the more prestigious the profession, paycheck and pals, the more of us show up to pay respects. The bigger the big shot, the more grand the tribute. That’s how it was in California and New York, were we spent decades.

campfires and looking at each other—not electronics—for the first 25 years.

Food for thought?

Scarlette takes us into the great outdoors

that it takes the average female about four minutes to poop, if she poops at all. You see, not every woman even admits to expelling bodily waste, let alone planning a few extra hours into her morning for such activity.

Back to my son. He answered my early morning hiking request with: “What about if I have to poop?”

I replied, “We will go in the woods.” After looking at me like I was some sort of heathen, robbing him of his precious morning bowel movement, he replied, “Mom, those are potties right there. I don’t poop in the woods. I only pee on trees.”

Touche son.

Our outdoor adventure wasn’t going to play out like I imagined. The quaint little campground that I remember from my youth is now a trailer park, full of rich people.

Camping with electricity and laptops? Trailer parks full of rich city people? This is like an alternate universe. I am more scared of the fact that these people believe that they are “experiencing” the great outdoors than I am afraid of grizzly mauling.

I think it’s great that people take their families out for a trip. But is it really camping if you have to make a reservation and spend your evenings watching movies in your RV?

When Donald Trump, just to pull a name out of the hat, checks out, admiring hordes will attend his service. Not all of those who rate Trump at the top of GOP presidential candidates today do so because they agree with his politically incorrect opinions. Most of them undoubtedly do. But many admire something else about him as well. He’s really rich. People such as Trump, no matter how oafish and offensive to humankind, are heroes to many in an economic system where financial might makes right. No mat-

What about the campfire? It used to be central to the camping experience. Now it’s just a novelty to cook s’mores over and a backdrop in the latest selfie.

There is going to be a whole generation of people who don’t know how to start fires and relieve themselves in the woods. Do you really want your child to be unprepared for their first kegger? Do you want your kid running a marathon and crossing the finish line with shorts full of crap because he was unaware that you could step off the road and go behind a tree?

Think about it.

How will you ever know if you have met the love of your life if you have never spent a rainy night in a tent playing cards and drinking cheap beer together? Camping—real camping—is always the test of true love. When you spend a weekend looking at someone who hasn’t bathed, brushed their hair and hasn’t used a hygiene product for over 24 hours and can say, “Damn, that’s hot,” you will know that you have found the one. How much time do we spend with our lovers or children when our cellphone is more than four feet away? Or turned off? The truth is sad. No wonder my parents have been married for 39 years. They have a lifetime of weekends spent together putting up tents, staring at

ter how they came by it.

We idolize people who name college buildings and stadiums, hospitals, hotels and investment funds after themselves.

We don’t lionize the teachers, students, patients, tenants and investors who benefit from self-promoting big shot munificence. We lionize instead corporate CEOs, celebrity lawyers, puppet politicians and Wall Street heavy hitters—no matter how much damage the unethical among them have done and continue to do.

Yet those in attendance Sun-

The summer is going to be over before we know it. It’s time to make your “End of Summer Bucket List.” This will be way more fun than New Year’s resolutions, and you will at least enjoy the process. Setting yourself up with the goal to do a bunch of fun things in a limited amount of time… sounds AWESOME. Right?

In case you need help starting your list, I have started one basically for beginners.

1. Sleep under the stars during a full moon.

2. Skinny dip (during the day if you need a real challenge).

3. Be the one dancing your heart out at an outdoor concert.

4. Buy a floaty, tie it to a friend’s, tie that to a cooler and spend the day on the water.

5. Spend 24 hours in the woods with no cell service and live to tell the story.

I would add “shit in the woods,” but I’ve been told that my language is offensive.

Also, I am looking for some new items to add to my list, so please send your ideas to the Reader Or better yet, snap a cell picture of you completing bucket list items and upload them to Instagram #SISSummerbucketlist.

Technology isn’t going anywhere. Let’s at least use it to promote screen-free adventure.

Enjoy the last month of summer.

Love,

Quille (a female capable of pitching a tent)

day on the grass on Lakeshore Drive were there to celebrate one who, as far as we know, barely owned the proverbial pot. She didn’t care. Wealth wasn’t one of her life goals. Helping others was. Greed, to Laura, was Greek. Friends came first. It said much about the heart, love and class of this community that so many citizens spent last Sunday afternoon and evening saying goodbye to Laura. They were genuine big shots. The real stuff. Just like Laura.

Tim Henney, Sandpoint

Beer has $1.2 billion economic impact on Idaho

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

The results are in: Not only is beer fun to drink, it has made a “hopping” impression on Idaho’s economy (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

According to a recent report released by the Beer Institute and National Beer Wholesalers Association, the beer industry has made a $1.2 billion economic impact statewide.

The report further states that over $556 million has been attributed to our congressional District 1 alone.

The data in the report is based on a 2014 study by economics firm John Dunham & Associates, using data collected from private companies as well as a number of tax bureaus.

In District 1, the report states that brewing supports around 2,500 jobs, including wholesaling and retailing. The statewide figure is roughly double that. Beer brewing alone supports 278 jobs in Idaho, adding up to around $10 million in wages.

For local craft beer owner Jon Hagadone, who opened Idaho Pour Authority in May 2013, the information doesn’t come as a surprise.

“I would’ve been surprised a couple years ago, but not now,” he said. “Beer is huge right now.”

Hagadone said that microbreweries are expanding like crazy. At his shop, he usually has a dozen taps flowing, with anywhere between 300-325 different varieties of beer, plus cider and wine. The specialty beer shop employs half a dozen people.

“Last year there were only 2,500 breweries nationwide,” he said. “Now, there are over 3,900. It’s amazing.”

For Mack Deibel, who calls himself “director of beer enthusiasm” for MickDuff’s Brewing Company in Sandpoint, beer helps put towns on the map for tourism.

“When people visit a town and hear there is a brewery there, they always want to go check it out,” he said. “It’s all about supporting small busi-

ness, and most breweries are small businesses.”

Deibel said he has enjoyed watching the evolution of the beer industry in the nine years MickDuff’s has been in operation.

“When we started, people were into microbrews, of course,” he said, “but not ev-

eryone was a fan. What we’re seeing now that people are supporting local breweries. Whether it’s MickDuff’s or Laughing Dog, they are excited to buy local and drink local.”

The nationwide figures are even more impressive. Beer brewing supports almost 50,000 jobs

nationwide, and when you factor the wholesalers, retailers, and indirect suppliers, the total nationwide economic impact is $253 billion. So, next time you hoist a few with your friends, you can pat yourself on the back for supporting your state economy in the coolest way you know how.

Festival at Sandpoint readies for another great season

By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff

For the Festival at Sandpoint staff this year, slow and steady wins the race.

The idiom holds true on several levels when it comes to the premiere concert event’s 33rd season. Ticket sales have been steady rather than experiencing dramatic spikes. The team has been working at a diligent clip to introduce new features and experiences while maintaining the much-loved essence of the August spectacles. And it’s certainly the preferred speed for eager attendees anxious to secure the best seating possible at Memorial Field.

That’s right—for the sec-

ond year in a row, Festival staff encourage attendees to take it down a couple notches when the gates finally open. While the so-called “running of the bulls” was something of a Festival tradition in past years (with some going so far as to hire Sandpoint High School track stars for the job), it also heightened risk for injuries and accidents. According to Dyno Wahl, festival director, the team is continuing its no-run policy introduced last year to provide a safer experience and better assistance from event volunteers.

“It was kind of fun to watch the running of the bulls, but people would end up tripping and hurting themselves,” Wahl said.

On the other hand, the numbering system continues for another year. Those who want

to get a great spot at Memorial Field but don’t relish the idea of spending all day in line can show up the morning of the show starting around 8 a.m. to grab a number between one and 300. More numbers are distributed at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and effectively preserve your place in line, allowing you to enjoy your day. While only one person is admitted per number, that person can then spread out an eight-by-eight-foot blanket for up to four people.

“It’s our way to reward people for being early while still setting them free to enjoy a summer day in Sandpoint,” Wahl said.

Wahl is also excited for the expanded family concert this year. For the first time, the doors open earlier at 2:30 p.m., allowing families greater time

good without tickets, which are selling fast in the final weeks before the Festival hits. According to Wahl, both Vince Gill and Ziggy Marley show signs of selling out the venue, so if those shows are on your radar, act sooner rather than later.

to enjoy a variety of activities. Kids can try playing various instruments with guidance from high school musical mentors, while moms and dads can enjoy a mini shoulder rub from local massage therapists. Other activities include an animal petting zoo, pony rides, clowns, face painting and games. This year also features the Festival at Sandpoint’s Community Orchestra and the Studio One Dancers, who kick off a perfor mance at 5 p.m.

Festi and perfororall-new

lis-

If your entire life is or ganized digitally these days, you’re in luck. The Festival debuted its all-new app this year, which allows you to view schedules, purchase ticket, lis ten to music samples, navigate the venue and more. Find it on Apple and Android app stores.

Of course, it won’t be much

The importance of a community theater

By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff

The Panida Theater is at a crossroads.

For almost 90 years, the theater has been a centerpiece of the Sandpoint community. Untold numbers of people have passed through its doors to enjoy plays, movies, music and performance art. It’s such a longstanding community fixture most residents have a hard time imagining Sandpoint without it.

“This theater has a presence,” Panida board member Susan Bates-Harbuck said. “It’s absorbed all the shows, all the work, all the love that’s gone into it.”

As the ‘80s aptly proved, however, a Sandpoint without the Panida Theater is an entirely realistic possibility. If it weren’t for a committed community, the theater could well have been lost 30 years ago. That possibility still hovers over the theater today. And sure enough, a combination of delicate finances and a lack of board members have put the theater on shaky ground.

“We struggle on an ongoing basis—this is what keeps me up at night,” said Panida Executive Director Patricia Walker White. “Without community support, [the Panida] is not going to make it.”

From the beginning of the modern Panida era, community was the gravitational force that kept the theater in its axis. Starting from the campaign spearheaded by the Panida Moms— Bates-Harbuck, Jane Evans and Laurel Wagers—to save it from demolition in 1985, the theater earned a reputation as the “community living room.” It was an apt comparison in many ways.

“When people were planning their weekends, they’d always look first to see what was happening Saturday night at the Panida Theater,” Bates-Harbuck said.

Today, the theater is just as essential a part of the Sandpoint experience. Between the Panida Little Theater and the big stage, the combined venues provide a setting for small and largescale productions and events alike. It’s often the only place for miles around to see smaller, critically-acclaimed films in limited distribution. And many regional bands count the Panida among their favorite venues in the Inland Northwest. The theater feels like an institution— something that will always be around come hell or high water.

“I think that’s part of the problem—for a whole generation of people [under 30 years old], the Panida has always been here,” Bates-Harbuck said. “There’s not the same pressure [that existed in the 1980s].”

Like many historic theaters governed by a nonprofit, however, the Panida is not a self-sustaining institution. According to Bates-Harbuck, the theater brings in roughly $10,600 each month from rental fees, ticket sales and other revenue. However, the theater costs about $14,000 a month to simply keep the doors open. Complicating the situation is the fact that the Panida faces much more venue competition today than existed 30 years ago.

The theater makes up for the shortfall in several ways. Grants help out to some degree, but on the other hand, it’s much easier to acquire grant funding for specific projects than operational expenses, Bates-Harbuck said. The bulk of additional funding comes from the theater’s various fundraisers. For instance, keep an eye out for the Panida’s booth at the Festival at Sandpoint and buy some ice cream—it’s a little gesture that goes a long way.

Local resident and cinematographer Erik Daarstad is certainly familiar with the theater’s budgeting process. For many years, he served as a board member himself. During

that time, the board instituted a rainy day fund for emergencies. When he left the board about three years ago, that fund sat at about $15,000.

That this fund has been largely drained worries him and other longtime Panida supporters. According to White, the funds were tapped to avoid losing even more money. With several grants to fuel the theater’s ongoing restoration effort set to expire, Panida officials used some of the fund to initiate the next phase of the restoration.

The project will bring a host of much-needed structural improvements to the theater. Now that workers have cleared out all the old insulation and asbestos, work began this summer on installing a fire prevention and sprinkler system and replacing the plaster ceiling to the theater’s historic specifications.

“[Contractors] actually have the exact color of the original plaster that they’re matching, so I think that’s pretty cool,” White said.

The rub was that in order to undertake the project, the theater had to close down for several weeks in the summer. Theater leaders decided to take the hit during the summer—typically the leanest weeks for revenue—to complete the projects, resulting in reduced staff hours for while work progressed.

“It does affect us, but it’s not as bad as you might think,” White said.

For Daarstad, the lack of board members is perhaps even more worrying. According to theater bylaws, the Panida is governed by a minimum of seven members to as many as 12. However, only five members currently manage the theater’s affairs. With the Panida’s annual meeting and the election of new board members coming up Sept. 22, Daarstad hopes to see community members with a love and dedication for the theater put their names forward.

“It’s so important to get good board members aboard,” he said. “We need people willing to do a lot of hard work.”

For people like Daarstad and Bates-Harbuck, it’s hard work for a cause that’s more than worthwhile. Thanks to diligent effort and financial generosity, Sandpoint saved a theater in 1985 that would become the pride of the town. They hope that communal will is still alive in 2015.

“If the theater ends up closing its doors, it becomes a lot harder to open them up again,” Daarstad said

What are some of your favorite memories from the Panida Theater? Write us at inbox@sandpointreader.com and tell us your stories for a future issue of the Reader.

Bouquets:

•Last Friday, a cyclist named John Harding reported seeing smoke around the 4th switchback on the way up to Schweitzer Mountain Resort. He reported the possible fire, and personnel from both Schweitzer and Selkirk Fire Departments quickly contained the small fire before it had a chance to get out of control. Same goes for the personnel from West Pend Oreille Fire District concerning the Laclede/Riley Creek Fire. Quick reaction times helped keep us safe, and I think everyone involves deserves a bouquet. Keep it up!

•My favorite place to eat in Sandpoint has consistently been Joel’s. From their humble beginnings in a taco van to the hopping restaurant of today, Joel’s has kept their prices low, their quality high, and always brings a smile to your face. In the past decade, I’ve eaten there a couple times a week on average. In that time they’ve never messed up an order and the food has always been fantastic.

Barbs:

•I was for the seven cents a gallon tax hike Idaho legislators pushed through recently... until I saw that hybrid owners have to pay an additional $75 per year just because their vehicles don’t consume as much fuel as gas guzzlers. Electric car owners get it even worse at $140 per year. I think if someone wants to purchase an energy-efficient vehicle, we should not penalize them monetarily for doing so, but instead, charge those who drive ineffecient vehicles more. I say this as the driver of a 1980 Chevy pickup which probably gets 10 miles per gallon on a good day (which is why I ride my bike most of the time).

Got a bouquet or barb you’d like to offer? Write me at ben@ sandpointreader.com with “BB” in the subject line.

On your marks, get set... swim!

By Scout Anatricia Reader Intern

There’s nothing quite like the sight of several hundred people breast-stroking their way to the finish line at the end of the 1.76 mile Long Bridge. And that’s exactly what awaits Sandpoint on Saturday, Aug. 1, when people turn out for the 21st annual Long Bridge Swim.

Now a local institution, it’s hard to believe an event as big as the Long Bridge Swim started with just one man. Local swimming fanatic Eric Ridgway founded the event in 1994 by getting two kayakers to follow him as he made the initial trek. Enough people heard about it and were interested that the following year, over 70 people registered to swim the Long Bridge. Sixty-eight of them ended up actually participating. Ridgway had the idea to turn the swim into a community event. Some people thought it wouldn’t work out. Others thought it was a great idea.

“I went with the people who said, ‘Let’s do it,’ and we did it,” said Ridgway.

Today there are well over 700 swimmers who participate in this fun community event.

Ridgway emphasizes that his number one concern from the beginning was safety. He created a multi-layered safety protocol that other events have come to follow. He took it into his own hands to reach out to the sheriff’s office, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Bonner General Health and fire department, while recruiting a multitude of spotters, kayakers and jet skiers to ensure the safety of the swimmers.

The founder and director for 19 years, Ridgway expresses deep satisfaction for the outcome of his event as well as appreciation for the community that supports it. The idea was to make the swim accessible to the average citizen—not a competition specifically for the elite swimmer.

“The Long Bridge Swim wants to help families become more comfortable in the water,” said Ridgway.

This goal has been manifest-

ed and brought to life by not only Ridgway but also by Jim Zuberbuhler, who has been the assistant director since 2007 and the director since 2013.

Zuberbuhler had an eye-opener in 2009 after a few drownings in Bonner and Boundary County. He soon realized there were a surprising number of people in North Idaho who didn’t know how to swim. He went to Bonner County Parks and Recreation as well as the school district and created a program funded by donation and sponsorship of the Long Bridge Swim. The program brings kids, starting in third grade, to Sandpoint West Athletic Club to take swim safety courses and swim lessons every so often. Special ed students take a class every Monday, nine months out of the year. Lessons continue up into middle school.

swim. And if you were wondering where the registration money goes, it’s definitely not to the people running the swim. All of those people are volunteers and work purely to keep a positive community event going. Registration money goes to projects like the machine that picks up goose droppings at City Beach and the 12 pilings that Jim Woodward from Apex Construction replaced this winter. Zuberbuhler believes in putting the money toward investments that will last many years after

“No child in this county should leave third grade without knowing how to swim.”

-Jim Zuberbuhler

“No child in this county should leave third grade without knowing how to swim,” Zuberbuhler said.

As someone who has lost a sibling to drowning, I am a firm supporter of this program, and I strongly encourage you to get ahold of Zuberbuhler if you know any child or adult in need of swimming lessons or safety courses.

In fact, all the sponsorship and donation money goes toward teaching kids how to

he is gone.

The Long Bridge Swim team makes it easy for both residents and visitors to register, jump in the water and swim toward the glory of crossing the finish line.

The behind-the-scenes people deserve some glory too, though. There are eight department chairs that cover everything from food to insurance. About 50 people coordinate the hundreds of volunteers, but there are a few people who go above

and beyond, including Karen McClelland, Courtney Sanborn, Wesley Dustman, Donnavan Leavitt, Sharon Bistadeau, Gretta Warren, Suzy Miller, Keith Hertel and Meleah McNair, Shawna Prummer, Ben Thompson and Gina Woodruff. If you are interested in sponsoring the race as well as the swim lessons for kids and adults who don’t know how to swim, go on the website listed below and see how you can sponsor. If you cannot sponsor but still want to help, contact Courtney Sanborn and volunteer to be a safety kayaker alongside the swimmers next year. She can be reached at kayakerlbs@gmail.com. In order to participate in the swim, register online at www.longbridgeswim.org or via mail. Registration closes Friday, July 31 this year, with registration occurring from 5:307:30 p.m. at Sandpoint High School. If you don’t register in time, you always have the whole rest of the year to train and sign up for the 2016 Long Bridge Swim.

For more information, visit the website or get in contact with LBS director, Jim Zuberbuhler, at (208) 263-2010.

30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6

Dollar Beers!

8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Take a load off, drink a beer

Live Music w/ Mac Lloyd

9pm @ 219 Lounge

Deep voiced songster on the patio

Yappy Hour

4pm - 7pm @ Trinity at City Beach

Bring your pooch and have some brews! Benefits Pan. Animal Shelter

Summer Youth Orchestra Performance

2pm @ First Baptist Church, Sandpoint

Under the direction of a guest conductor from Mexico, local young musicians will join with exchange students in this free concert sponsored by the Music Conservatory

Live Music w/ Marty Perron & Doug Bond 5pm - 7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

Sandpoint Farmers Market 9am - 1pm @ Farmin Park

21st Annual Long Bridge Swim 9am @ south end of Long Bridge

All swimmers must attend a mandatory safety meeting at Sandpoint High School at 8 AM and ride the shuttle to the start.

For more info: longbridgeswim.org

Live Music w/ David Walsh 5pm - 7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

Swingstreet Big Band concert 5pm @ Lakeview Park Free concert, come one, come all!

Sandpoint Chess Club

9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee Meets every Sunday at 9am. All are welcome

Monday Night Blues Jam w/ Truck Mills

7:30pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Karaoke Night

9pm - Midnight @ 219 Lounge

Trivia Night

7pm - 9pm @ MickDuff’s

Live Music w/ 7:30pm @ Di Luna’s Korby Lenker na’s Cafe. This nationally touring, 5:30pm. Tickets

Live Music w/ Owen & McCoy

5:30pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

Local musicians with a great sound

Live Music w/ Deep Fried Anything 6:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

Live music on the lawn

Live Music w/ Ken

7pm @ La Rosa

Live Music w/ Spumoni Blues 7pm @ La Rosa Club

Live Music w/ Harold’s IGA

12pm - 3pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

Midday music on the lawn from indie rockers with a good North Idaho sound Free 10am Free is and Summer 4pm Featuring

Live Music w/ Chris Lynch

6pm - 9pm @ Arlo’s Ristorante

Sing us a song, piano man

Huckleberry Festival @ Schweitzer 7am @ Schweitzer Mountain Resort

A full day of huckleberry fun. Starting with huckleberry pancake breakfast at 7am, the day full of activities and crafts, live music, a pie-eat ing contest, and the 2.5k and 5k Fun Run, where you run through the trails and get covered in ors by mysterious forest sprites. All summer tivities also available, including the Zip Line, Monkey Jumper, lift services and more!

Art Reception with Maia Leisz 1pm - 3pm @ The Entree Gallery (Nordman)

Feat. original paintings by Sagle artist Maia Leisz

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?

First Tuesday at Eichardt’s — 8pm @ Eichardt’s

Monthly live music event hosted by Jake Robin

Charley Packard & Friends

7:30pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Come on down and see the one, the only, Charley Packard. He’s back, baby!

Festival at Sandpoint Opening Night w/ Arlo Guthrie!

7:30pm @ Memorial Field

Sandpoint Farmers

3pm - 5:30pm @ Farmin

Live music by Joan

It’s finally here! The opening night of the Festival with Arlo Guthrie. From his musical roots at Woodstock to famous collaborations with everyone from Pete Seeger and Ramblin’ Jack Elliot to Judy Collins and John Prine, an evening with Arlo bridges political, religious and social gaps and displays a continued life of inspirational songwriting and service to all. Brew tasting starts at 6pm.

sound

ful

July 30 - August 6, 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

Music w/ Korby Lenker and Jesse Terry

7:30pm @ Di Luna’s

Korby Lenker has packed the house every time he has played at Di LuCafe. This time around he is being joined by Jesse Terry - an internationally touring, award-winning singer and songwriter. Dinner starts at 5:30pm. Tickets are $10 advance, $12 day of show

Owen & McCoy

d’Oreille Winery with a great sound

Deep Fried Anything

MickDuff’s Beer Hall lawn

Mayginnes Club

Full Moon and Hors d’oeuvres Cruise

7pm @ Sandpoint City Beach

Enjoy a variety of excellent complimentary hors d’oeuvres while cruising through eagle territory aboard the Shawnodese

Live Music w/ Chris Lynch 6pm - 9pm @ Arlo’s Ristorante

Free First Saturday at the Museum

10am - 2pm @ Bonner County History Museum

Free admission to see local history. This month is generously sponsored by Paul & Susan Graves and Jack & Colleen Filipowski

Summer Sounds

4pm - 6pm @ Park Place Stage (1st & Cedar)

Featuring live music by Ruff Shod

Customer Appreciation Night

FREE Concert!

7pm @ Di Luna’s

Schweitzer

Resort

Starting with a 7am, the day is music, a pie-eatFun Run, where covered in colAll summer acZip Line, the more!

(Nordman)

artist Maia Leisz

Join us at Di Luna’s this Saturday for a great night of music with folk musician, Whetherman. Dinner starts at 5:30pm.

Poetry Open Mic Night

6pm - 8pm @ Monarch Mountain Coffee

Come share, come be inspired. No cover charge, no sign-up sheets, no judgment, no censorship!

Art Show with David Cohen

3pm - 6pm @ Common Knowledge

The Dragon’s Treasure: Handmade custom jewelry, wire wrapping, sterling silver charms, earings and chains, crystals, fossils, minerals, hair feathers, feather jewelry and sun catchers with swarovski crystals.

Clark Fork Valley Quilters Quilt Show

9am - 4pm @ Hope Memorial Community Ctr.

Come see what the group has been doing for the past two years - loads of beautiful new quilts on display, all handcrafted items in the boutique, and lots of fresh-baked goods for sale

Live Music w/ Phil Lee, The Mighty King of Love

6pm @ Heitman Docks at Glengary Bay Marina

A Nashville/California recording artist returns to the Sandpoint area for a concert at Heitman Docks. Grab your coolers, food and beverages, lawn chairs and listen to this clever Americana fellow. Gate opens at 5 p.m. and the show begins at 6 p.m. Some limited boat parking available. Donations accepted

Live Music w/ High Life Band — 8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

The Highlife Band is an authentic and unique reggae band from Seattle, Washington. Rhythms from the Spanish and French Caribbean are combined with Jamaican rockers, bif-baf, steppers, one-drop, and dancehall reggae traditions

UPCOMING EVENTS

Aug. 7 - Ziggy Marley at the Festival at Sandpoint!

Aug. 7 - Aftival presents the Funky Meters at the Hive

Aug. 7 & 8 - Bonner County Rodeo at the Fairgrounds

@ Eichardt’s pub

Jake Robin

Farmers Market

5:30pm @ Farmin Park by Joan & Gordon

Dollar Beers!

8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Good until the keg’s dry

Monarch Open Mic

Aug. 8 - Vince Gill at the Festival at Sandpoint

Aug. 8 - Aftival presents Yonder Mountain String Band at the Hive

Aug. 8 & 9 - Arts and Crafts Fair at the City Beach

Aug. 9 - Family Concert with the Festival Community Orchestra at the Festival at Sandpoint

Cards Against Humanity

7pm - 9pm @ Neighborhood Pub

-

6pm - 9pm @ Monarch Mountain Coffee

Hosted by Scott Reid. Come one, come all!

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

of information about your special friend to ben@sandpointreader.com. Please put “PET PHOTOS” in the subject line.

-Sissy and Eddy-

These are my two sweet little dogs Sissy and Eddy. They were both strays, and I feel so lucky that they found me! Sissy showed up just a little puppy on my mom’s porch in August, 2003 and has been with me since. She survived being picked up and attacked by a bald eagle out at Green Bay several years ago. She’s a tough little thing!

A friend brought Eddy to me on Valentines Day, 2007. He had been a stray in her neighborhood for several weeks, skinny as could be. He proved his worth just a few months later when he alerted me of a fire on my front porch. And he’s good at catching mice! I feel blessed to have both these little creatures in my life.

Lea Sammons, Sandpoint

Electrical hypersensitivity: the unacknowledged disease

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

The day begins like any other for Krista Hess-Mills and her three children.

Just after 7 a.m., the kids wake up, tie their shoes, and rub the sleep from their eyes. Olive, 13, feeds the pig, while Arthur, 8, fills the dog’s water bowl. Josiah, 11, rides his new bicycle around the yard.

It’s a seemingly normal day except for the fact that this Oldtown family of four did not sleep inside their home, but in a series of tents erected 100 feet from the house and covered with heavy tarpaulins.

According to Hess-Mills, she has chosen to sleep outside every night for the past month because she believes she has electrical hypersensitivity (EHS) to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) emitted from a new piece of technology being used more and more by power companies across the world; a twoway “smart” meter.

“I moved in late February of last year,” said Hess-Mills. “But they didn’t put the smart meter on until March of this year, then it was activated in June.”

Hess-Mills said she began to feel the effects about three weeks after the smart meter was activated.

“I started feeling weird,” she said. “I wasn’t able to sleep, and my kids said they couldn’t either. We just had to get out of there. We slept outside and we could actually sleep. Ever since, we haven’t gone back.”

What is a smart meter? Instead of having a meter reader come to your home and write down the numbers or relying on self-reportage of energy consumption, a smart meter is in two-way communication with the power company.

“Many power companies are moving to digital meters as they provide many efficiencies and better technology for our members and power systems,” said John Francisco, chief of energy resources at Inland Power.

Some of those efficiencies include lower operating costs since power companies no longer need to travel to members’ homes to read the meters, more accuracy and better information for members, who have access to their energy information 24 hours a day to help reduce their usage, conserve energy and save money. Improved power restoration is also included in the list of benefits.

“We can now pinpoint the exact location of outages,” said Francisco. “With our old system, members needed to call in their outage so that we were aware. Our system now alerts us, which means faster response time and ability to locate outages faster.”

The majority of smart meters send information wirelessly, except in rural areas where power lines are used to transmit the data.

It is this pulse surging of EMFs, according to Mary Maio, that has come under fire of late for being a possible health risk. Maio says she has several symptoms of EHS, which has not yet been recognized as a disease.

Fans of the TV show “Better Call Saul” might recognize the malady in Saul Good-

man’s brother, Chuck, who wears tinfoil blankets and bans cellphone use from his house.

According to Maio, however, the malady is no laughing matter.

“I have tinnitus, heart palpitations, chest pain and pressure,” said Maio. “I have difficulty concentrating, headaches. I have radio frequency hearing, so I can hear the signal. I can’t even go into Starbucks because I get headaches and start shaking, get dots in my eyes.”

Maio and her husband John have been filming a documentary to educate the public on EHS, possibly caused by items like smart meters, cellphones, power transformers, and other items that emit EMFs.

“While we are not experts on [EHS], we have looked extensively to studies done by third parties and none have shown conclusive harm,” said Francisco. “We did pick a system that transmits as little as possible at common frequencies.”

According to Inland Power, their Tantalus meters emit significantly lower radio frequencies than common household items such as microwave ovens and cordless telephones. The RF signal emitted from a cellphone held next to the head, for example, is 12.667 times greater than the signal emitted from a smart meter.

For Dr. Andy Marino of Louisiana State University, it has been his life’s work to show that EMF-induced biological effects are real.

“We are on the periphery of a huge, and essentially insolvable problem,” said Marino. “These people [who have EHS] have a severe problem ... when someone has a hypersensitivity to anything, a food for example, a wide range of symptoms are exhibited as the body reacts to alien substance. There is pain in the joints, headaches, twitches of muscles.”

Marino, who has spent 45 years study-

ing the effects of EMFs on people, got his start working in Dr. Robert Becker’s lab. In 1968, Becker was the first scientist to give an evidence-based warning of the serious public health consequences that could arise from uncontrolled use of our living space as a conduit for EMFs. He pointed out that electropollution induced currents in the body comparable in strength to those that mediated the body’s natural growth and regulatory systems.

According to Marino, the tremendous expansion in society’s use of EMFs—via computers, cellphones, WiFi, smart meters and military weapons and communications systems—occurred in the absence of serious inquiry into their impact on the health of the population.

“I’ve been studying the biological effects for over 40 years,” he said. “The focus up until now in regards to health impacts has been a relationship to chronic diseases, mainly cancer. We’re looking at people exposed to electronic fields for a multiple of years and seeing if they have a higher rate of cancer.”

But, Dr. Marino says, progress is slow because of the political structure in the U.S.

“Physicians have no particular time to deal with patients who have these conditions,” said Marino. “When he goes to school, he’s not taught about the existence of the syndrome.”

It is the non-existence of the syndrome, in fact, that makes it hard for people like Maio and Hess-Mills to be taken seriously.

“There are no studies,” said Marino. “Which is probably a good thing, because the only people who would pay for it are the people that make the smart meters.”

As of now, the World Health Organization has concluded that although purport-

See EMF, p. 14

Living on the Cheap

How to save a few bucks in North Idaho

Everyone loves a deal and everyone (except cross allergy sufferers and Morticia Addams) love flowers.

Deep discounts on all annuals, perennials, fruit trees, rose bushes, and vegetable starts may be had from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday, July 31 on Northern Flowers’ last day at their Sandpoint locale until next May. If you don’t know where this is, think the Pine St. Bakery, or our town gun, which is right next to Wrenco Arms, which is right next to the flower company’s spot.

The tomato and pepper starts at Northern Flowers have much fruit on them and have been $1 for many weeks now.

“It’s best to plant these in pots rather than in the garden because you can move them inside if we have colder temperatures,” says Ali Fitzpatrick, who owns the business with her husband, Kief.

If you are living on the cheap, you will want to pick huckleberries; however, the reports on hucks are so varied that I cannot give you an accurate report on where to go. When I asked someone I know where she picked her gallons of hucks, she said, “in the mountains.” Asking folks where they go to pick their huckleberries is like asking how much money they make. It’s just not appropriate.

ed symptoms are real, there is no scientific evidence of a causal link with EMF exposure and that lowering internationally accepted EMF limits is unlikely to reduce the prevalence of symptoms. In short, EHS is not recognized by the scientific community as a disease.

“Most people think I’m making it up,” said Hess-Mills. “I don’t even want to talk with my mom about it anymore, because I don’t really know if she believes it or not.”

Hess-Mills recently requested that Inland Power exchange the smart meter with one that didn’t have a two-way communication function, which they have agreed to swap out for a fee of $25 per month.

“Inland Power created an opt-out program in response to these concerns,” said Francisco. “We will install a new meter without RF [radio frequency] communications to members.”

Although Hess-Mills isn’t happy about the extra fee, she is glad Inland Power has allowed her to opt-out.

I do know that if you want to save money on gas and pick delicious and nutritious blueberries, there’s a way to fill your freezer without breaking the bank.

First of all, there are some factoids to relay. If you don’t know the positive attributes of blueberries, you must have lived in a stump for the past few years, but let’s review: Blueberries combat free radicals and improve memory; they have anti-cancer properties and regulate blood sugar; they are important for eye health and have cardiovascular benefits. Eat 100-150 berries per day, which is equivalent to one cup, and you’ll outlive Tippi Hedren of Hitchcock’s “The Birds’”

fame, or Mr. Muscular Dystrophy, Jerry Lewis; the combined ages of the two equal 174.

The bushes are chock-full of luscious berries at the local farms. I picked a few days ago at one of the farms and went away with a gallon of Mama Cass-sized berries that ended up at three different social events, all for a mere $13.

Shingle Mill Blueberry Farm, just off Highway 200 as you are driving past Kootenai, is owned and operated by the Omodt family. Fred Omodt says the Drapers, Blue Crops and Rekas are $3 per pound. Ask him if there is still $2 per pound specials on the Dukes and Early Blues.

“They should accommodate whatever meter you want,” she said. “You’re the customer. You’re buying the electricity.”

In a recent court case, a judge in California ruled that opt-out fees violated state discrimination laws in a case where a utility company cut off electricity for 14 months for a customer suffering from EHS.

Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative (PSREC) terminated Josh Hart’s electricity after he refused to pay an opt-out fee for use of an analog meter instead of a smart meter. Hart and his wife lived without electricity for more than a year, until Plumas County Superior Judge Janet Hilde ordered PSREC to cancel the opt-out fee and monthly charge for reading the analog meter. She also ordered the utility to allow Hart to self-read the device.

For Marino, this is just the beginning of a larger problem, which he has discussed in over 150 scientific papers published over his career.

When you are picking berries at Shingle Mill Blueberry Farm, you are encouraged to help prevent disease by picking up the grounded berries; these are given to a women’s center.

“Leave the plastic bag open in the fridge overnight,” recommends Fred Omodt,, “and then close the bag and freeze them.” This is how you get berries that you can break off singularly. He says there is no reason to wash them. “If you want to keep them in the fridge and not freeze them, they will last up to 10 days, but of course they will all be eaten before then.”

Riley Creek Blueberry Farm is about 12 miles west of Sandpoint. Open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Stan Urmann and his family, wife Anita, and daughter, Whitney, have a unique setup: It’s an honor system at Riley Creek. You weigh the berries you pick and you put your money in the box.

Urmann does not recommend washing the berries before eating them because it takes off anti-oxidants when you do so. Presently they have Blue Crop, Northland and

“Over a long period of time, say 50 to 100 years, there is going to be a dawning awareness that man is an electrical animal,” said Marino. “His life is an electromagnetic phenomenon. Uncontrolled exposure to these EMFs is potentially harmful. Generalized emission levels will be set. I believe the model that happened with cigarettes is going to happen here, but it’s going to take a very long time.”

What advice does Marino have for people who believe they are suffering from EHS?

“The best thing to do would be to consistently follow an elimination-and-challenge strategy while carefully maintaining daily written records regarding all environmental factors that could plausibly account for the symptoms,” said Marino. “EMFs may or may not be a cause, either alone or in combination with other factors that cause stress.”

For Hess-Mills, who expects to have her smart meter exchanged to

Berkeley blueberries.

“Some people like the more tart berries and that would be a Blue Crop. The Berkeleys have a distinguished taste and are a little bigger than other berries, but they don’t have a long shelf life. Whatever your preference, the cost is $2.50 per pound and they can be purchased already picked for $17 a gallon.

For high-quality berries that are locally grown and a good deal at $2 to $3 per pound, take your family to the berry farms and then fill your freezer.

a non communicative meter soon, she worries that it will not fully solve the problem.

“If it still affects me, I wonder

if they’ll put in an analog meter,” said Hess-Mills. “At that point, if they don’t allow that, maybe I just won’t use power at all.”

ALT features renowned guest instructors for retreat

Story

and photo

by Ben Olson Reader Staff

What do Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Kate Winslet, Robert Downey Jr. and American Laboratory Theatre have in common? Photographer Pavel “Pasha” Antonov.

Russian born Antonov is one of many special guests at this week’s international theatre project “Emerge: Unveiling the Truth Within Us” held by American Laboratory Theatre (ALT).

“This project is a huge stepping stone in our vision to make Sandpoint a performing arts hub in the west,” said Jule Berreth, Directing Producer for ALT.

Berreth and ALT Artistic Director Jesús Quintero have invested a lot of passion and energy into the idea that Sandpoint can be more than just a small town in the mountains, but a theatrical epicenter of the west, increasing the cultural output of the town, as well as the economic impact.

“I’ve seen it in SoHo, in Brooklyn,” said Antonov. “These industrial areas where artists moved in, then businesses move in and it’s thriving.”

Antonov is just one of many international guest lecturers who have taken part in ALT’s project, which takes place from July 29–August 4 at the Eureka Center in Sagle.

Born in Russia on the Volga River, Antonov’s parents moved to Kazakhstan because “it was easier to find food there,” he said.

Antonov began his odyssey as a photographer indirectly through the heavy metal band Black Sabbath.

“We were not able to see the images of the bands we were listening to,” he said. “The government tried to track where you got them, how you paid for them.”

Undaunted, Antonov picked up a camera and began photographing photographs of popular bands like the Beatles and Black Sabbath, just to be able to look at his favorite performers.

It wasn’t long before Antonov turned his camera to people. After moving to Moscow, he attended a theatrical performance that changed his life. He was so

moved by the production, he began his long career as a theatrical photographer.

“I’m into art that creates,” he said. “I don’t need to see on stage what I see in real life. I need it to touch my soul. Theater wakes me up spiritually.”

Over the years, Antonov’s humble beginnings ended up with some big assignments, such as shooting for Vanity Fair, Vogue, GQ and Condé Nast. Some big names have appeared before his camera, such as Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder and Kate Winslet.

“Kate Winslet was an interesting one,” said Antonov. “After ‘Titanic,’ she hated photographers deeply. When I met up with her, she said ‘You have three clicks for my photo,’ and I could read in her eyes that she hated my profession.

“It’s all about demasking the people to photograph them,” continued Antonov. “You need to provoke people to get a real reaction.”

In regards to the five-day retreat, Berreth couldn’t have said it better herself.

“We want to strip away the mask,” she said. “To unveil the truth in everyone. There is a term called taksu, which means to transcend oneself. To strip away all the masks and find the core of you.”

Along with Antonov, “Emerge” will have a host of guest directors and instructors, including Jesús Quintero, cinematographer José Domingo Garzón from Colombia, visual designer Ximena Velásquez Sánchez from Colombia, physical movement instructor Alejandra Guarin Gutierrez from Colombia, and director Fernando Ángel Llera Rodríguez from Spain.

Each of the participants will bring their own materials to the retreat, where Jesús and other instructors will guide their output into an emotional performance not only for the performer, but for the audience, too.

“When you are teaching others, you are actually teaching yourself more,” said Antonov. “The more you give, the more you receive. I’m thankful to those people who taught me. I owe them. I can’t share it with

them, but I can share it with others.”

After five days of preparation, the attendees of the retreat will emerge into Sandpoint on Monday, Aug. 3 and hold “pop-up” performances around town starting at 3:30 p.m. at retirement homes, Jeff Jones Town Square, the City Beach, and culminating at the Little Panida Theater for a free show at 6:30 p.m.

Schweitzer’s huckleberry festival kicks off this weekend

By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff

If there’s one emblematic fruit of the Inland Northwest, it’s the huckleberry. And for good reason. Native sons and daughters of East Washington, North Idaho and Northwest Montana take maybe a little too much enjoyment when their out-of-towner friends and relatives set down a menu and ask, “Wait, huckleberries? What, like the hound?”

This sweet-but-tart mountain delicacy may owe a cartoon character its main claim to fame, but Schweitzer Mountain Resort officials understand how seriously locals take the berry. If you’re one of them, consider checking out the resort’s ninth annual Schweitzer Huckleberry Festival. The day kicks off Sunday morning, Aug. 2 and is sure to leave more than a few with conspicuously purple fingers

by the time it’s over.

huckle

For true huckleberry fans, the real draw is undoubtedly the hosted shuttles and hikes to Schweitzer’s huckleberry picking areas. For the less gung-ho out there, there’s plenty to keep the family occupied.

Schweitzer Mountain Village will be in full swing, with a huckleberry pancake breakfast, live music, Cranky Jennings Mining Company, Monkey Motion air jumper, zip line, hiking, biking, chairlift rides, climbing wall, disc golf and more to keep you busy.

Schedule of Events:

•Huckleberry pancake breakfast from 7am to 1pm: $8.95 for adults, $5.00 for kids

•Hosted huckleberry hikes

•Huckleberry Color Fun Run and Ride

•The Huckle Shuttle (to/from picking sites) runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (based on berry availability)

•Crafts and huckleberry activities in the village from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.

•Chairlift, Climbing Wall, Monkey Motion, Zip Line open 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

•Arts and Crafts vendors from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

•Free live music with Owen and McCoy from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

So you wanna build something?

By Ted Bowers Reader Columnist

So you have a building project you want to undertake. Where do you start? What comes next?

Presumably you know what you want, but you’re not quite sure how to get there. Sure, you can always hire me (insert smug smile), but what if you can’t afford me? Or maybe you can but are the type of person who likes to build things on your own. Great! Maybe this article can help. I hope so.

What I have to say comes from a lot of experience, a fair amount of which was learned by doing it wrong the first time. That’s one of the things I want to help you avoid—expensive, time consuming mistakes.

Careful planning can prevent a lot of those and can be fun itself. It’s basically building it in your mind and on paper or maybe even a three dimensional model, but I’ll get to that later.

Let me share something we do in our business—a document we call the “scope of work.” We

get a call to look at a potential project, visit with the customer, discuss, measure, take photos, walk through. Whatever that particular job needs for us to familiarize ourselves with it.

We make a list of what we will be asked to do while discussing it. We gather the contact information and head back to the office to create this scope of work, something we always attempt to do within 24 hours of the meeting. Why? Because no matter how good our documentation is, there always seems to be something that doesn’t get written, photographed or talked about, or even thought of, and if it hasn’t been documented, it

can easily be left out.

So, write it down in an organized form while it is fresh in your mind. (Write that down—it’s step one).

We then email or somehow get that document back to our potential customer and ask them to review and make changes, corrections—whatever it takes so that we all agree on what needs to be done. Then we can proceed with the design work, material list, job process, time line and so on.

Since you are your own customer, you may ask “why do this?”

Well, first of all, are you the only one involved who will be affected by the project? If so, you may still want to at least write as much down as you can think of while sitting quietly before you burst into action and forget what you had planned to do next.

More importantly, you may have a partner in this enterprise who may have completely different assumptions about what this project is supposed to be. I suggest you treat each other as the customer and create this scope of work. You might be surprised at what comes out of the discussion!

Once everyone agrees on the basics of the job, then you can get busy planning. This process depends on a number of things—size of the project, whether or not you are living in it, whether you have the funds to complete it or have to phase it, how much time you can devote to it, the level of expertise demanded by the work, access to tools, materials and information, even the distance to the board store.

All are factors in the timing and eventual success of the job. The better you plan it, the better and more predictable the outcome. And believe me, building something, even something relatively small, can get complicated and frustrating very quickly without that plan.

More importantly, relationships can get very stressed unless you and your partner are ON THE SAME PAGE! I say this because I have too often been the one who is on my own page and no one else has a clue about my page number!

I’ve witnessed marriages fall apart, and I will tell customers that sometimes if I think they should hear it. People can spend thousands of dollars on an expensive, well-designed, beautiful remodel and end up too stressed and mad at each other to enjoy their efforts. Make getting along a priority. Better yet, make it part of the plan!

Building something can be exciting, fun and creative. Kinda liking cooking—a wonderful blend of science, art and imagination. So enjoy the process. Next step? Next article... Or maybe I’ll wander off onto a totally different subject and come back to building later. I can do that. I’m an adult.

Questions and comments are welcome. Send em to ted@ tedbowers.com

One of the most persistent and damaging pests in our landscapes is the gopher. When we first moved to our property, it was home to literally dozens of gophers and ground squirrels. I really don’t know what has happened to the ground squirrels over the years. Perhaps they have moved on to more remote areas. But if they still were digging tunnels through my yard, control would have to take a violent turn.

Similarly, gopher control has evolved from very passive to very active control. In the

Effective gopher control

spirit of nonviolence, we had previously attempted to control these damaging critters by flooding their runs regularly. I believe all we gained with this technique was clean gophers.

Then we were convinced by advertising that a regular, low frequency sound would disturb the gophers and cause them to leave the area. To cover all our gardens, I invested over $150 in these “sonic gopher chasers” and inserted them in the ground at prescribed intervals. This time all we gained was gophers who could appreciate a sonic concerto.

The next rage was an “all natural” liquid that was “guaranteed” to repel the critters when sprayed over the areas with a hose end sprayer. The active ingredient, Castor Oil, cer-

tainly didn’t repel the pests—I believe all we gained was some very healthy gophers.

Speaking of healthy gophers, during one of our early years here, we lost an entire 50 foot row of garlic to these ravenous pests. So much for gopher control! OK, I finally figured out that if I wanted to maintain my sanity, my blood pressure, my vegetables and my ornamentals, my gopher control methods would have to change dramatically. I forced myself to drop the attitude of nonviolence (pertaining to gophers, at least), and I purchased a pair of MacAbee gopher traps. These sinister looking, and potentially dangerous, mechanisms were the final answer to the gopher problem. Finally, real gopher control.

It takes a bit of practice to get the hang of it, but after a short apprenticeship, I was achieving a capture almost every time I set the traps. I still haven’t become

insensitive to the act of killing these rodents, but protecting my food supply is the highest priority. I imagine it will all be worked out in the end.

Check this link for tips on using the Macabee gopher traps: http://www.gopherandmolecontrolhq.com/gopher-traps/

drive them away. The only maintenance after initial application has been re- inserting the few that the gophers pop up out of their runs.

We have not yet added this product to our web store, but we certainly will if interest is shown. Let us know.

We have been experimenting with a relatively new product that seems to be repel gophers effectively. Persistent insertion of these units actually “herds” the gopher away from the garden area. It is a small biode gradable tube that contains concentrated garlic oil. Surprisingly, even though the go phers love fresh garlic, the sulfur com pounds in the concentrated oil

Garden Questions? http:// clearwaterlandscapes.com/ questions.

biode-

An interview with

By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff

For more than 15 years, Yonder Mountain String Band has been on the forefront of the bluegrass revolution in the 21st century. Bassist and vocalist Ben Kaufmann took some time to discuss the big changes in the band over the past year and a half, as well as their new album, “Black Sheep.”

You’ve only just released your latest studio album, “Black Sheep,” last month. How does it feel to have a major project completed and available to the public?

It’s great. We were waiting anxiously for the release date of this record and purposely not playing the material live, and now we’ve been able to play it for the past month. And we’re really quite proud of the new record, too.

Is that a standard policy to wait until a record is released before playing material from it?

No, we’ve never done that before. I think like a lot of people our age, we are short attention span kids, and so as soon as we have a song that’s finished enough to be played … we’re looking to play it live. But something about this project made it feel like the right decision to hold off playing it live … and looking back on it now, I think it was the right call. I think it’s kind of nice for fans to have their first listen be of songs they haven’t heard live before. It’s a true Christmas morning experience.

Tell me a little about the process of putting this album together. Were there any particular events or circumstances that inspired its creation?

Well, this was the first record Yonder made following one of our original members [Jeff Austin] leaving the band. That was definitely a big event, although I’m not sure if we covered it in the album at all. We try to write what we know, which is relationships and life on the road. There’s also a pretty groovy R&B love song on there called “Love Before You Can’t,” which is currently my favorite song on the record. … We didn’t sit down to explore any one theme in particular.

Speaking of those personnel changes, how is the band holding up

as a cohesive group in light of that?

We’ve been a year and a half since that change. The band now feels like a tighter band than it ever was. We had two new musicians come on board—Jake Jolliff and Allie Kral—and we’ve reached the point where we can play all the old material, we’ve got new material, everybody’s really starting to intuitively understand how to perform with each other. Now the exciting part is all the things you can only do as a band after you’ve had a lot of gigs playing together. That’s especially true for a band like us, where there’s a heavy improvisational emphasis. ... There’s just no substitute for logging the musical miles together. Now it’s all about finding those wide open improvisational spaces within the band, because that’s something that, musically speaking, is very exciting.

It’s interesting that you bring that up, because on this album during those instrumental interludes in the songs, it does feel like a musical conversation is happening between the members. How did that process sort itself out as you were recording the album?

A lot of those spaces that you’re talking about were recorded live, so it very much was a conversation. Everyone in their solo sections were free to improvise as much as they wanted … but a lot of the best moments happened when we were all standing around a microphone playing together. We’d just set up and play very much live experiences. It’s especially exciting because when the record was being made, we were just starting to perform with Jake and Allie. When I listen to the album, I can see the beginnings of what the project was going to become, and that’s pretty exciting for me.

The album is full of originals along with a cover of The Buzzcocks’ “Ever Fallen In Love,” which I thought was a great choice. Were there any other bands that you turned to for inspiration on this album?

Our original influences were the alternative bluegrass bands of the previous generation. John Hartford was always a big inspiration. So were the Kentucky Colonels. But as Yonder has gotten older, our influences tend to be outside of bluegrass. I can see from a couple

members of the band the influence of punk rock manifesting in their songwriting.

There’s such a similarity between bluegrass writing and punk rock writing. You can’t just overlap them completely, but there’s a relationship that I think bears exploring, and it always becomes so clear that there is such a strong relationship when we start learning and playing punk rock on our instruments. It just fits so easily … and I wouldn’t be surprised if that influence continues to manifest. We always like how direct lyrics are in punk rock. There’s no pretentiousness there.

Now that the work is done on the album, you’re on tour again. How does it feel to be back on the road?

It’s great. You know, I’ve spent half my life on the road in vans, tour buses, airplanes, and it’s very familiar. People who are called to be touring musicians are a unique breed of people, and home away from home is your bunk on the tour bus. It’s just great to be able to play music, and at the end of the day, that’s why we do this. There’s something very special about playing live—an energy that just doesn’t exist anywhere else. It’s one of the great highs that you can have, especially when it goes really well, and these days, things are going really well. It’s easy to have a good time and reach those high places when things are in alignment.

… In my opinion, Yonder Moun-

This week’s RLW by Susan Drinkard

READ

The author of the Booker Prize-winning novel, “Remains of the Day,” Kazuo Ishiguro, has also written literary psychological thriller, “Never Let Me Go” about a controversial topic that would not immediately come to anyone’s mind.

The characters are primarily Kathy, Tommy and Ruth and the setting is Hailsham, a boarding school for special students hidden in the English countryside. Kathy quietly narrates the story years later at age 31. Her even-keeled tone contrasts mightily with the suspense and bizarre discoveries the characters and the reader make together in this genre-crossing book.

tain has never sounded better than we do now, and in some ways, we’re just scratching the surface. Looking through my emails, I saw one today that said, “Alright guys, start making the new record.” I kind of laughed. Didn’t we just make a record? But I think the intention behind it is once you get a good energy flowing, you want to keep it going. As happy as I am with “Black Sheep,” I just have to believe that the next one is going to be better, and it makes sense to strike while the iron is hot.

Well, The Hive is a great venue and I’m sure you’re going to get an energetic crowd. Looking forward to seeing you!

We’re really looking forward to it, and we’re glad this opportunity came up to see this new place, meet some new people, have a new experience. That’s one of the reasons we do this.

Catch Yonder Mountain String Band at the Aftival Concert Series at the Hive in Sandpoint, Idaho, August 8. The show starts at 10 p.m. For more information go to www. LiveFromTheHive.com

Crossword Solution

The blues were red hot in Di Luna’s a few weeks ago when Polly O’Keary and the Rhythm Method played to a responsive audience. Wow and ouch, so blisterin.’

And so is Polly’s newest CD, “Compass,” which features Polly’s kick-ass bass playing and her fierce alto voice on some scalding original lyrics. “This is the best thing I’ve ever done,” she said during the intermission while holding the CD. Two blues societies in the Northwest agreed, designating Compass “album of the year.”

You can see the band perform both days at the Big Sky Blues Festival in Noxon, Montana this weekend.

LISTEN WATCH

For entertaining late-night binging, watch the Netflix streamed television drama series, “The Guardian,” starring Simon Baker as attorney Nick Fallin, and Dabney Coleman as his father, Burton Fallin, the senior partner at his corporate law firm.

A cocaine addiction and drug conviction lands Nick at Legal Services of Pittsburgh, where he is sentenced to 1,500 hours of community service as a lawyer for homeless children and adults who need free legal representation. While still trying to work at Fallin and Fallin, we watch incremental change in both men and complicated relationships with co-workers and clients during the 67 episodes you’ll need to watch from the beginning.

Then & Now

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 alley on First Avenue across from the Panida Theater (left). Insight used to occupy the building on the right.

The same view today. The Panida Theater is still on the left, and Zero Point now occupies the building on the right. A public art piece known as the “Sand Creek Arch” is the new addition announcing the entrace to Gunnings Alley.

Corrections: A couple of issues back, I reported that Hydra’s salad bar was no longer in service. I was wrong (thankfully). The salad bar is back and better than ever. My apologies for the shoddy reporting. [BO]

CROSSWORD

Hillocks

Composer

Kitty (poker)

Identical

Occurring together

Life is a constant battle between the heart and the brain. But guess who wins. The skeleton.