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(wo)MAN compiled by

Susan Drinkard

on the street

Do you think it would be easier for a gay man to be elected president of the United States or easier for a caucasian female to be elected?

In other words: Is our country more misogynist or homophobic?

“I think a gay guy would be elected before a female would be elected.”

Kenneth Garbrecht Shamrock Painting contractor and caddy Coeur d’Alene

“Oh my. I don’t think it’s about who they are. I think it’s about what they believe in, what their plans are, and their qualifications for president rather than their lifestyle.

I try not to judge people.”

Inamae Henderson Retired nurse Sandpoint

“I would say a woman would have an easier time getting elected than a gay man.”

Steve Woodall Millworker Sandpoint

“In the Inland Northwest, I think it would be more difficult for a gay man than a caucasian woman.”

Jackie Riggs Administration work at United Methodist Church Laclede

“Definitely the female. There is a lot of animosity toward homosexuals because of religious beliefs. Throughout the nation, a female would have a more acceptable standing than a gay man.”

READER 111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 (208)265-9724

www.sandpointreader.com Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com Editorial: Zach Hagadone zach@sandpointreader.com Lyndsie Kiebert lyndsie@sandpointreader.com Cameron Rasmusson (editor-at-large) John Reuter (emeritus) Advertising: Jodi Berge Jodi@sandpointreader.com Contributing Artists: Ben Olson, Zach Hagadone, Lyndsie Kiebert, Cameron Rasmusson, Bill Borders, Sharon Lewis, Susan Drinkard.

Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Lyndsie Kiebert, Cameron Rasmusson, Jim Mitsui, Lorraine H. Marie, Emily Erickson, Brenden Bobby, Sharon Lewis, L.S. Jones, Beth Weber, Amy Craven.

Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com Printed weekly at: Griffin Publishing Spokane, Wash.

Subscription Price: $115 per year 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.

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Requirements: –No more than 400 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 Check us out on the web at: www.sandpointreader.com Like us on Facebook.

Darryl Cunningham Construction worker Bonner County August 22, 2019 /

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NEWS

Council approves FY2020 budget while nixing inclusion initiative

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff The Sandpoint City Council adopted the fiscal year 2020 budget at its regular meeting Aug. 21, putting its seal of approval on more than $39.32 million in expenditures — $5.21 million less than FY2019, attributable to the reduction in some grants, Sandpoint Urban Renewal Agency funding and wastewater projects. However, absent from the budget was $8,000 requested by Mayor Shelby Rognstad to fund the Social Equity and Inclusion Initiative, which council members voted to nix, citing concerns that it represented “a very slippery slope,” as Councilman Joel Aispuro described it.

Aispuro made the motion to approve the budget, sans inclusion initiative.

Reduction in grants alone will account for a $2.58 million decrease in spending, including $500,000 less spent related to a previous joint powers agreement for Selkirk Fire under which only the Sandpoint portion will remain.

Two SURA projects have been removed from the new budget: the Baldy Pedestrian Capital Project is on hold pending master planning, resulting in a reduction of $685,000, and $1.6 million budgeted last year for sewer line upgrades along Boyer Avenue was left out “as that property has not sold and final plans for that site have not been developed,” according to the budget narrative.

Finally, savings and efficiencies identified for projected wastewater facility upgrades resulted in a budget allocation of $2 million — $1 million less than last year.

“We’re seeing the spindown of those projects,” said Sandpoint City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton, explaining 4 /

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the FY2020 reduction.

However, property taxes under the new budget will increase to $4,385,949, up $227,851 from last year. That translates into a levy rate of $5.25 per $1,000 of assessed value, compared to $4.98 in FY2019. The tax increase was buffered with $40,754 from the Property Tax Relief Fund, drawn from Resort City-Hotel/ Motel Occupancy Tax revenue in excess of the previous year’s budgeted amount, and $100,496 in replacement monies that will not be levied in FY2020. Based on a home assessed at $200,000 in value, the tax burden will increase $27.27 year-over-year to $524.86.

Meanwhile, Sandpoint has experienced an increase of nearly $60 million in overall property tax value over 2017: from $775 million to $835 million. Looking back to 2014, when assessed values sat at about $665 million, the increase is more like $170 million. U.S. Census estimates suggest population growth of 5% in 2017 and 3.6% in 2018, which will likely push total population to 9,564 or even beyond 10,000 residents as early as 2020.

As the budget narrative put it: “Sandpoint is a distinctive city that has been discovered.

This fiscal year we have experienced significant growth and development pressures and we expect this to continue into the next fiscal year.”

Much of the budget for FY2020 focused on master planning, which is set to conclude by the first quarter of next calendar year. Stapleton spoke on the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, which underwent a round of public input on Aug. 14, telling council members that “there’s lots of debate about where this money is going to come from.”

She went on to explain that

Sandpoint City Hall. Photo by Ben Olson. $240,000 has been allocated for priority projects from cash on hand, including parks impact fees, the parks capital improvement fund, local option tax and rec fund.

“We have budgeted cash that we have on hand for those projects that come out of this master plan,” Stapleton said, adding that a further $10,000 will go toward trail maintenance in the Sandpoint watershed — a partnership with the Pend Oreille Pedalers bike group.

War memorial Field will receive $2.7 million from the local option tax through the life of the tax, which sunsets Dec. 31, 2020.

The majority of budget discussion both by the Council and those testifying at the meeting centered less on the big-ticket items — such as an underground utility project along Sand Creek that will see the installation of downtown fiber infrastructure and buried power lines between the old Arlo’s building and Beet and Basil — and more on the inclusion initiative.

Councilman Bill Aitken attempted to dispel the unfounded suspicion by some that Rognstad intended to hire his new spouse — with whom he is currently out of the country on their honeymoon and thus unavailable for comment,

though the Reader did reach out — to administer or otherwise be involved with inclusivity training under the proposed initiative.

Nonetheless, some members of the public who testified Aug. 21 continued to erroneously speak as if Rognstad intended to do just that.

After the meeting, Aitken clarified his comments to the Reader.

“My point was to try to head that off and not have those comments that that was his intent,” he said, adding that nonetheless he was “uncomfortable” with the initiative.

“I think it sets a dangerous precedent,” Aitken said.

Festival board to hire new executive director following DUI arrest

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Longtime Festival at Sandpoint Executive Director Diana “Dyno” Wahl has been removed from her position by the Festival board of directors following an Aug. 11 arrest on suspicion of drunk driving and resisting arrest.

The board issued a statement Aug. 21 on Wahl’s removal: “The Festival at Sandpoint

board of directors after much deliberation will be hiring a new Executive Director. The Festival Board appreciates Dyno Wahl’s 21-year commitment to The Festival and wishes her well as she moves forward with her career.

“The board anticipates naming an interim director after the September board meeting and the governance committee will subsequently post the job description. The Festival Board is looking forward to a successful

2020 season and the ongoing community support.

“A special thanks to the Festival Staff and every Volunteer for a great 2019 season.”

Wahl, whose attorney filed a not guilty plea on Aug. 14, is due to appear in Bonner County court for a pre-trial conference on Sept. 20 and a jury trial is currently scheduled for Oct. 3, during which she will face misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence and resisting or obstructing officers.

NEWS

MickDuff’s brewpub will move to historic Sandpoint Post Office building

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff The building at 419 N. Second Ave. is arguably the most iconic in Sandpoint. The Spanish colonial revival-style brick structure, built in 1927 and dedicated in 1928 as the Sandpoint Post Office, has since served as the Bonner County Library and, most recently, as the offices for First American Title Company. Soon it will take on a different role as the new home for MickDuff’s Brewing Company’s brewpub.

“It’s the most stressful, exciting day ever,” MickDuff’s co-owner and CEO Duffy Mahoney told the Reader in an interview Aug. 20, shortly after announcing that he and his business partner/brother Mickey had taken possession of the keys to their new kingdom.

“Having the opportunity to own a piece of history in probably one of the most well-built buildings I’ve ever seen … it’s like a castle inside,” he said.

The approximately 12,000-square-foot building will first require asbestos removal, then Duffy said MickDuff’s will close on a Small Business Administration loan to perform the necessary remodels. All the while, the brewery will have to work closely with the Sandpoint Historical Society to ensure its many early-20th century features and flourishes remain preserved.

“They have to approve everything we’re planning on doing,” Duffy said. “We have to take a picture of how it stands now then come up with what it’s going to look like.”

“We love the building, the history and are excited about this next phase in our business in Downtown Sandpoint,” Mickey, who serves as director of Brewing Operations, wrote in a Facebook post Aug. 20.

“We plan to keep it as original as possible while we make upgrades and remodel it for our

restaurant’s use.”

A yet-to-be-identified local contractor will repair and preserve the historic single-pane windows — complete with brass counterweights — and the interior design will skew period-appropriate.

“Instead of going industrial, which I think is on its way out, we’re going to go English-Irish pub — a little more ornate, to keep with the style of the building,” Duffy said. “The whole building is so neat; stuff you’d never do these days. For instance, all the plumbing is brass.”

Other planned changes in-

clude putting a three-barrel pilot brewery in the basement and removing a part of the first floor to create a viewing area from what will become the main dining room. In addition to the dining room and bar, the first floor will also house an expanded kitchen. The top floor will be given over to offices while the bathrooms and entrances will be made ADA accessible. Finally, the concrete ramp on the south side of the building will be raised three feet to accommodate an outdoor patio finished with brick pavers.

“We are extremely excited

The sold sign outside the future MickDuff’s location. Photo by Zach Hagadone.

about our expanded dining room and to finally have an adequate size kitchen,” Duffy wrote on Facebook. “Plus, because everyone loves a patio, we will have a large dining area outside for summer months.”

The hoped-for opening date will come sometime in June or July 2020. In the meantime, patrons will continue to visit MickDuff’s flagship location at 312 N. First Ave. Duffy acknowledged that the brewery’s current space on

First Avenue — where it all started in 2006 — is “probably one of the best locations downtown and it’s been a key to our success.”

That said, relocating to Second Avenue brings with it 28 parking spots plus additional street parking. Another bonus is proximity to MickDuff’s Beer Hall, which will remain exactly as it is, a stone’s throw away at 220 Cedar St. In their Facebook post announcing the new space, the Mahoneys thanked Realm Partners real estate, Mountain West Bank, Boden Architecture, Panhandle Area Council and First American Title for helping achieve the crucial step in their expansion and relocation. They also committed to hiring local contractors and subcontractors as work on the building begins in earnest.

“Sandpoint is so special, we truly couldn’t dream of owning this business anywhere else and we have our loyal customers to thank for this expansion,” they wrote. “After 13 years, we are excited to be investing in and adding to the vitality of downtown.”

BoCo EMS pursues grant for Pulse Point alert system

By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff Bonner County Emergency Management Services is pursuing grant funding for a mobile phone alert system designed to speed CPR-certified citizens to the scene of nearby emergencies while first responders are en route.

BCEMS Chief Jeff Lindsey presented the project — called Pulse Point — Aug. 20 at the county commissioners’ regular Tuesday business meeting.

Lindsey said the system is the brainchild of BCEMS Medical Director Ronald Jenkins. People

with certified CPR training can sign up through BCEMS to receive an alert on their cellphone if someone nearby is experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. They will also be notified where they can find the nearest automated external defibrillator.

BCEMS is pursuing funding for the system — about $58,000 — through the BNSF Railway Foundation.

Bonner County commissioners also approved a letter of support for the program to BNSF on Aug. 20.

“The ambulance might be five, 10 minutes away,” said Commissioner Steve Bradshaw.

“If you’re two aisles over at Walmart and somebody has a heart attack, you don’t know unless your phone gives you an alert. You get there five, 10 minutes before the ambulance does — that makes a big difference.”

Lindsey said the grant will also support new digital monitors for 911 dispatch, as well as more AEDs to distribute throughout the county.

BCEMS will now wait to hear whether it has received the grant funding. The BNSF Foundation’s decision process can take anywhere from three months to a year, according to the foundation’s website.

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NEWS

County releases 2020 budget, hearings set for Aug. 26

By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff Bonner County released a $63 million proposed 2020 budget Aug. 14, unveiling a $6 million increase over last year’s budget and prompting a conversation about how, when and why elected county officials should receive pay raises.

Department heads received a bump after third-party human resources consultancy firm AmeriBen performed a county-wide wage study in 2015 showing workers in similar positions around the state took home larger salaries. At the same time, elected officials in the county made about $58,000 annually.

While elected officials weren’t part of that initial study, Bonner County Human Resources Director Cindy Binkerd decided to recommend increases for them, as well. Those increases have been implemented gradually in the years since AmeriBen concluded its study.

“They’re our employees. They deserve a fair compensation for the work that they do,” Binkerd said of elected officials, adding that those overseeing department heads should be making a percentage more than the people they manage.

“You can’t have a director that they supervise at $80,000 and they’re at $55,000,” she said.

In 2019, commissioner salaries reached $78,000. Under the proposed 2020 budget, commissioners will make $84,500. That’s a 69% increase — an average of 11.5% increase per year since 2014.

Commissioner Dan McDonald said the increased salaries will help encourage “qualified people” with experience managing hundreds of employees and large budgets to run for commissioner seats.

“It’s a big job and takes some specific skills to do it well,” he said. “We can go back to the ever-increasing budget numbers and see the results of having what are honorable people in the seat, but maybe not qualified for what this job has become.”

Commissioner Jeff Connolly will not be accepting a salary boost for the second year in a row. He said that during the 2019 budget workshops, the board initially discussed no raises for elected 6 /

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officials or department heads, but that those raises were added near the end of the budgeting process.

“It’s just not who I am to say one thing and do something different, so I chose not to raise a big stink and, after the budget was passed, I chose not to take the raise,” Connolly said.

As for 2020, Connolly said that while he supported the annual 3% “cost of living” merit raise across county salaries, he “couldn’t support the size of the proposed raise” for the commissioners and will again personally turn down the increased wage. He said he “will consider the data and information” from another AmeriBen study, set to be released in 2020, and revisit the issue when it comes time for 2021 budget discussions.

While the county considered taking foregone taxes during last year’s budgeting process and ultimately settled for the annually allowed 3% property tax increase, the board didn’t have to consider such measures for 2020.

Bonner County will not be raising property taxes at all in the coming fiscal year, only gaining income from new construction.

Last year, McDonald emphasized the roles of procurement and attrition in cutting costs. During the 2018 fiscal year — the first year the county implemented a special position to procure ordering across departments — McDonald said about 10% of ordering went through that office. In 2019, he said procurement is seeing “wider use.”

As for attrition, County Clerk Mike Rosedale said the 15 retirements the county planned on in 2019 did not occur. Instead, he said the county has added employees, accounting for some of the increase between the 2019 and 2020 budgets. Also contributing to the overall $6 million increase is the annual 3% merit raise across departments, as well as a nearly $2 million solid waste budget increase for projects like the new waste transfer system. That substantial chunk is covered in the proposed budget by increasing annual solid waste fees from $115 to $185 — something the commissioners will approve or deny at a public hearing Wednesday, Sept. 4. If the increase is denied, the budget will be adjusted to reflect that loss. Rosedale

said that once the budget is adopted, it can be lowered, but not increased.

Ultimately, the ongoing theme over the past three years of county budgeting is for departments to live within their means — but not too far below the means set for them during budget season.

“The commissioners are trying to make sure that we don’t become a cash-hoarding entity at the expense of increasing levy rates,” Rosedale said.

“Whatever they do, they’re trying to make sure that we put the money we do have forward to make sure the levy is as low as possible, and that’s how they’re able to take no [property tax] increase [in 2020].”

Bonner Co. Commissioners from left to right: Dan McDonald, Jeff Connolly and Steven Bradshaw.

Photo by Lyndsie Kiebert.

Bonner County EMS, which budgets separately from all other departments, is anticipating $3.9 million in 2020 expenditures — just over the $3.7 million budgeted in 2019.

The county will hold two hearings before adopting the 2020 budget on Monday, Aug. 26 at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. at the county administration building, 1500 Highway 2, Sandpoint. Review the proposed budget at bonnercountyid. gov/departments/commissioners.

Albeni Falls Dam public areas to close for barrier project

By Reader Staff Public use areas at Albeni Falls Dam will be closed Monday, Aug. 26-Monday, Sept.

12 to make way for construction of a spillway safety barrier.

Expect closures including the parking lot, around the boat ramp and the day use area known as the Lower Vista, where crews plan to stage equipment and materials.

The project will install an industry standard engineered, designed, tested and manufactured spillway safety barrier, located upstream of the dam in order

An aerial view of Albeni Falls Dam. Photo courtesy U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. to control boating traffic and provide a last-resort stopping point for boats.

The project was awarded to Deer Park, Wash.-based Knight Construction for $426,500.

From east, west and beyond

East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact.

A recent sampling: Piranhas. In England. Two dead piranhas, normally native to the Amazon, were found at a lake in Great Britain.

They appeared to have been released after living in captivity. The discovery, reported

by The Week, explained why the locals were seeing the disappearance of both fish and waterfowl.

Of people 18 and older, 45% are single with more than half saying that getting married is not “an important part of becoming an adult,” according to a Census Bureau report. Furthermore, New York magazine reports that research shows unmarried people tend to exercise more, be more involved with their communities, are healthier and have more friends than their married counterparts.

If a diet is heavy on processed foods, a person will typically consume 500 extra calories a day, according to research from the National Institutes of Health.

Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg, who has vowed not to fly due to the large carbon footprint, will instead sail to the U.S. to attend the U.N. Climate Summit. She has accepted an offer to cross the Atlantic Ocean from the UK to New York City on a sailboat equipped with solar panels. She is now on board with her father, a filmmaker and two professional sailors. The trip is expected to be a twoweek journey.

The bug repellent DEET was developed in the 1940s for the military, then for commercial use in the 1950s. While it is typically well-tolerated, side effects can include skin rashes, nausea and eye irritation, especially at higher concentrations. Alternatives to DEET, according to Sierra magazine, include products with oil of lemon eucalyptus, citronella, Neem, catnip oil or grapefruit seed extract.

Bugs for breakfast: Pet food with insect content is being introduced to the European market. It looks the same but can have crickets, mealworms and black soldier flies. While it’s promoted as better for the environment as opposed to raising livestock used for pet food, online veterinary columnist Dr. Karen S. Becker says it is not known how the diet affects pets’ health long-term.

Fifty percent of the world will be nearsighted by 2050, up from 25% in 2000, according to the Brien Holden

By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist

Vision Institute. Meanwhile, an Australian National University study found that children who spent 40 minutes or more outdoors per day were less likely to become nearsighted.

Wolves’ summer diet: research in Minnesota found that the wild canines “eat whatever’s around,” including beaver, fish, deer fawns, raccoon, snowshoe hare, bear guts left by hunters, berries and the contents of bear bait piles — nuts, seeds and candy.

With 99% of all plastics being made from fossil fuels, by 2050 they will generate greenhouse gas pollution equal to 615 coal-fired power plants, The Guardian reports. But there’s an alternative: biodegradable plastics can be made from biofuels.

Cambodian officials announced the country will return 1,600 tons of used plastics from the U.S. and Canada, according to The Guardian. The country does not have the infrastructure for dealing with the waste and will investigate why it arrived in their country. Malaysia and Indonesia have taken a similar stance.

Fifteen cents of every dollar spent on food goes to the farmer who produced it, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

The governor of New Mexico recently signed a bill committing the state to getting 100% of its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2045. The state’s goal is 20% by 2020, 50% by 2030, 80% by 2040 and 100% by 2045.

CNN on presidential electability: In 2007 54% of poll respondents said Hillary Clinton was more electable than Barack Obama at 22%. It appears that was due to name recognition, and once voters knew more about Obama, he won the primary.

Blast from the past: “Just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else,” Toni Morrison, African-American writer, 1931-2019. She was a professor emeritus at Princeton University and her work received numerous awards, including the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes.

Another blast: Sesame Street turns 50 this year. The show was originally intended to bring education into the homes of the disadvantaged. But when Dr. Chester Pierce, an African-American psychiatrist and Harvard Medical School professor, joined the crew of the show, he encouraged adding another element: a multi-ethnic cast of characters with role models being people of color.

By Reader Staff Located along one of our region’s most scenic drives, the newly-remodeled Kelly’s Classic Car Café & Bistro is open for business.

The name is an obvious choice, once you see the classic car mounted on top of the quaint yellow building on Highway 200 in Clark Fork.

Owner and operator Kelly Kearns, who used to run the establishment as a bar, has switched gears, offering a family friendly eating experience. The back deck

Courtesy photo.

Bits ’n’ Pieces

Chamber welcomes Kelly’s Classic Car Cafe

has ample seating and is adorned with gigantic flower baskets, created by Kelly and his girlfriend Lisa Harmon. Their special Fish Fry Fridays are just a taste of the events and entertainment happening at the cafe.

They are open seven days a week: Sunday-Thursday, 7 a.m.-7 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 7 a.m.-9 p.m.

For more information, find Kelly’s Classic Car Café on Facebook, by phone at 208-266-3466 or stop by for a burger at 14 Elk Horn Drive in Clark Fork.

Laughing Matter

By Bill Borders

August 22, 2019 /

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BY THE NUMBERS

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

Bouquets: GUEST SUBMISSION: • Thanks to Jim Healy and the other volunteers at KRFY for the free movie “Woodstock” at the Panida. Jim had the foresight to realize the 50th anniversary was coming up and acted in time to arrange the showing. It was a full-house and many of us baby-boomers stayed up beyond our usual bedtimes to watch!

-Submitted by Jean Gerth.

• Ally and Scott Unzen, along with a woman named Kodii recently cleaned up after some disrespectful campers who left a ton of trash on the Forest Service road to Gold Hill. The before pictures looks like a trash bomb went off, but the after pictures (after 10 bags of trash collected) show the hard work that Ally, Scott and Kodii did. Thank you all for looking out for the rest of us. If you’re one of those people who leave trash behind at a camp site, you should be ashamed of yourself.

Barbs GUEST SUBMISSION: • To the pilot of float-plane #44. I’ve been kayaking on the Clark Fork River delta several times this year and had to endure a float-plane doing “touch-andgoes” in the delta for hours. It bothered me but it was probably worse for the wildlife. Most people value the peace and quiet here, why destroy it with technology?

-Submitted by Jean Gerth.

• I was eating lunch the other day at a local restaurant and I noticed a diner at another table talking on their cellphone on speaker while at the table. For the next five minutes, I and everyone else in the restaurant listened to this person’s conversation in detail. I thought cellphone ettiquette was established a decade ago, but apparently it still hasn’t taken. Reminder: You should never talk on your phone at the dinner table. Especially on speaker. Duh. 8 /

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$3 million

The amount of money spent renovating the former Post Falls Outlet Mall by new owner Thomas Tedder, CEO of Tedder Properties, LLC. Tedder purchased the outlet mall in 2016, renamed it the Tedder Business Center and has been steadily leasing out space in the 110,000-square-foot building. It is 95% occupied with more than 28 tenants. — Spokesman-Review

247

The number of doctors in California who have had their medical school debt paid off under a new state program aimed at addressing a medical provider shortage. Recipients must agree to see Medicaid patients for 30% of their caseloads for five years.

Forty dentists also took part in this program. — LA Times

12 weeks

Amount of paid family and medical leave now guaranteed under a new Oregon law that also makes it the first state in the nation to offer low-income workers 100% wage replacement benefits. —The Hill

one-third

The percentage of school districts in Idaho — of 159 districts total — that have written policies of some kind protecting gay and transgender employees from discrimination. While state law doesn’t include protections for LGBT employees, local agencies can decide to enact such workplace policies. Currently 35% of Idaho school districts have in place personnel policies protecting sexual orientation, 22% protect gender identity and 21% protect both. — idahoednews. org

Turf the Beach...

Dear Editor, As a longtime resident inhabiting our slice of the world I propose another solution to the Canadian goose problem affecting City Beach: turf it. One third of the park is already covered with asphalt, which is clearly of no appeal to the geese. By replacing all the grass with sport turf, their food source will be eliminated and the problem will work itself out naturally.

Modern turf is non-abrasive and from a distance has the visual aesthetics of natural grass. I use it in my own landscaping for general decor and a putt-putt course and can attest to its softness and durability.

It repels wildlife like nothing else and will rid the beach of the troublesome rascals in no time at all. The city will save thousands on mowing and maintenance costs and eliminate futile efforts like decoy coyotes, many of which have now been decorated with mohawks and cropped tails.

Used sport turf can be bought in bundles for pennies on the dollar at auction and will pay for itself in no time. If the city can afford designer trash cans, it can afford turf.

George Mooney North County

Then and now...

Dear Editor, Thanks to KRFY, the Panida and all who helped bring the “Woodstock” movie to town. That long look at a slice of history helps this O.F. focus on two reminders, re: then and now.

First would be any cohesive attitudes in our society toward the costs in suffering (never mind war machine tax dollars) generated in the last many years of war.

Then, since the movie devoted so much time to 400,000 or 500,000 youngish folks mostly in some state of undress, I’m set to wondering just how much did we as a nation get so very much more heavy across 50 years?

I guess the next 50 may prove the remark that “things are getting better but they are getting worse faster.”

Bob Simmons Sandpoint

They should have called the police...

Dear Editor, The band [Afrolicious, whose members said they were threatened by a man with a gun in downtown Sandpoint last month] should have called the police. Displaying a firearm in any kind of threatening manner is a crime.

The next time that individual might actually shoot someone or be shot

himself for pulling a gun after making a pantomime threat. I am licensed to carry and if he had done that to me and then pulled a weapon I would have responded with deadly force. Such actions can have deadly consequences and should at a minimum be reported to the proper authorities.

Dan Creamer Sandpoint

area and helped attract others of like mind. His column did not accuse the community of being racist; it called for a challenge to racist thinking. Whether or not one thinks such a challenge is needed or appropriate for the city to engage with is another debate.

However, it is a hyperbolic mischaracterization of his column to suggest he painted the community as a whole as comprised of bigots. -ZH

Let’s talk about racism...

A gun society...

Dear Editor, Let’s talk about racism, Mr. Mayor. In the July edition of the “Mayor’s Roundtable,” the mayor suggested that people in the community of Sandpoint are “white supremacists” and “xenophobes.”

Based on the words and actions of a few individuals our mayor made harmful generalizations about our community. He asked the city to fund an “inclusivity initiative.”

As further proof of the mayor’s perceived community-wide racism, the Reader published an article the week of Aug. 8 about a visiting San Francisco-based band who reported they were the victims of racism in downtown Sandpoint.

Did the band members have any evidence that the person who committed this act was a local community member? Take into consideration that at the time of this incident, Sandpoint was flooded with tourists for the Festival at Sandpoint. It cannot be assumed that this act was committed by a local community member. Even if it was the act of a local community member, does that mean the entire community feels the same way?

The mayor has failed to provide evidence that this is a community-wide issue requiring a community-wide solution. Do we allow the mayor to misrepresent our entire community and request to use public funds to legislate a non-issue? What else is going on here?

As a local community member, I hope that the mayor’s initiative request is dismissed as unnecessary and harmful to our community. I hope for the next election voters will remember the mayor’s divisive hyperbole.

Dear editor, U.S. Senator Mike Crapo’s brief visit to our area [Aug. 7] didn’t surprise anyone. In responding to questions a few days after the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, he confirmed that “he was supported by the NRA.” He also said he would be unable to vote for reimposing a ban on automatic-type assault rifles (AK-47s) used in a number of recent mass shootings in America. (A federal assault weapons ban was authorized by Congress in 1994, but allowed to expire in 2004 under George W. Bush. Seven states have assault weapons bans, and recent polls show most Americans support a ban on assault weapons.)

Crapo also said he believed in the Second Amendment giving Americans the right to own guns. (In the D.C. vs. Heller case, the Supreme Court in 2008 — in a 5-4 split decision — ruled in favor of that interpretation, but also ruled that guns and gun ownership could continue to be regulated.)

With the increasing threat of white nationalist terrorism in this country — the El Paso shooter apparently said he wanted to kill Mexicans — travel warnings for Trump’s U.S. have been put out by several countries. Uruguay issued an alert to its citizens traveling to the United States to “take extreme precautions in the face of growing violence and hate.”

Blaming the “indiscriminate possession of firearms by the population,” it recommends that tourists, particularly children, avoid shopping malls, theme parks, religious activities, and cultural and sporting events because of crimes that have killed more than 250 people in the first seven months of this year.

Japan’s consulate in Detroit warned that its nationals “should be aware of the potential for gunfire incidents everywhere in the United Stats, which is a gun society,” according to the Los Angeles Times. And Mexico, which lost several of its citizens in the El Paso massacre, said it is considering legal action against the U.S. Jim Ramsey Sandpoint

Molly Errett Sandpoint

Editor’s note: Mayor Shelby Rognstad did not characterize the community of Sandpoint as being filled with “white supremacists” and “xenophobes” in his “Mayor’s Roundtable” column, published July 18 in the Reader. Rather, he wrote that the white supremacist and xenophobic beliefs of some people have negatively affected the reputation of the

PERSPECTIVES

Emily Articulated

A column by and about Millennials

Remote but not isolated

By Emily Erickson Reader Columnist

When I moved to Idaho, I left behind my stucco-walled office with a windowsill of plants I couldn’t kill, and returned to the age-old profession of bartending. Between the instantaneous pocket money and fast-paced shifts, slinging drinks was a job that always served me in my times of transition. No matter where I lived, I could always support myself through the simple act of knowing how to put booze in a shaker and beer in a glass.

The most valuable aspect of having bartending in my back pocket was one that I didn’t quite understand in its entirety until after I “retired” from the industry. When muddling limes and popping beer tops, a social exchange was happening. The currency of smiles and stories was just as important as the money slapped onto the counter and deposited into the register.

Since leaving bartending and working exclusively from my computer to run a small business, the hurdles to success haven’t been the ones I expected. Instead of stressing about acquiring clients or preparing for taxes, I struggle to navigate the isolation and loss of social currency in my days. I didn’t anticipate how much the reduction in face-to-face interaction would affect me.

I’m not alone in learning to navigate this isolation. Remote freelance work, rather than the traditional 9-to-5 office job, has been steadily growing for more

Emily Erickson. than a decade, changing the way we understand the workplace and employee-employer interactions. Millennials and, to a lesser extent, Gen Xers, have driven the trend since the turn of the century, putting greater emphasis on telecommuting, working from a computer and spending more time behind a screen than previous generations.

In a 2018 USA Today article, Charisse Jones wrote, “More Millennials want freelancing work than full time jobs. …

Four of every 10 Millennials intend to leave their full-time employers to work as a freelancer in five years. Only 23% of Gen Xers and 13% of Boomers had the same goal.”

Even among those workers who are merely “curious” about remote freelancing, Millennials lead the pack. According to the USA Today piece: 74% of Millennials say they are interested in freelancing, compared to 57% of Gen Xers and 43% of Baby Boomers.

The benefits seem immediately apparent. Freelance and remote jobs save individuals, employers and employees

money in basic costs like office space and gas spent on commuting, and in practical ways like child care and improved time management.

According to a 2018 piece for The Harvard Business Review, writer Jennifer Moss explained the appeal of this shift: “Flexible and remote work policies are becoming increasingly popular with employees ... [and] increased gratitude significantly. It also increased job satisfaction and decreased stress, particularly for parents with children at home.”

In small resort towns like Sandpoint, growing access to remote jobs can fill in the occupational gaps for people trying to live in more expensive locales. Instead of relying solely on the iffy availability of high-paying jobs in brick-

and-mortar businesses, remote workers can reap the benefits of good wages without sacrificing a love of where they live.

But, based on my own experience and the current research on remote workers, all of these benefits might come at a cost.

As Moss wrote in HBR, burnout is an unexpected risk for some remote workers, who channel their gratitude toward flexible employers into over-performing: “That feeling of indebtedness can lead some remote employees to keep their foot on the gas until they run out of fuel.”

Loneliness and social isolation, too, rank high on the list of drawbacks to working solo from home. Moss’ article cited dire research findings that suggest chronic feelings of loneliness can contribute to prema-

Retroactive

ture death, “and the magnitude of the risk exceeds that of many leading health indicators,” said one researcher quoted by Moss.

All of this has me considering new ways to reap the benefits of social capital while combating the isolation inherent in remote work.

Creating opportunities for people working online to connect in the “real world” should become a focal point of the work-life discussion. Ideas like coworking spaces, coffee-shop days dedicated to remote workers and an investment in “third spaces” designed specifically for interaction are already here.

In thinking about how we can keep baking connection into the new workplace equation, we can continue to grow in our careers, without growing apart.

By BO

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Mad about Science:

Brought to you by:

evolutionary Baggage

By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist When people talk about evolution, terms like “perfectly adapted” often arise. In truth, evolution is far from perfect but it has given us a lot of the tools we need to survive. Like a billionyear-long road trip, we’ve picked up a bunch of kitschy roadside trinkets we don’t really need any more called “vestigial traits.”

The appendix is the most obvious example of a vestigial trait.

It’s a shriveled organ attached to the lining of our large intestine. It is believed that the appendix was useful for helping our primate ancestors digest cellulose-rich plants in their early foraging diets; a pre-paleo diet, if you will.

Some physicians and medical scientists argue that it still serves a purpose in modern humans, but that the risk of keeping it around outweighs any benefits it offers.

The appendix resides in one of the most bacteria-infested places in our bodies, so it should come as no surprise that it can get severely infected, inflamed and filled with pus to the point of bursting. When your appendix bursts, it’s like a biological hand-grenade dumping a large volume of harmful bacteria into your abdominal cavity. Also, it hurts worse than getting clocked

by Brock Lesnar.

Wisdom teeth are another vestige of our dietary past that plagues our present. Anthropologists believe that wisdom teeth initially developed to help our ancestors chew through fibrous food the appendix would later help digest.

A lifetime of chewing and ignorance of dental hygiene meant our ancestors needed some backup teeth if they were going to celebrate their 25th birthday, so as their molars broke 10 /

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down, decayed and fell out, a new set grew in to replace them.

This became a liability with the advance of dental care: our molars stopped falling out, but our wisdom teeth kept growing, putting painful pressure on the still-healthy chompers.

Most of our vestigial traits are either part of our head or related to our digestive tract, which is a byproduct of our rapid evolution and frequently changing diets. Tonsils are another vestigial organ that most people end up having removed from their body by their sweet 16. Tonsils seem to have acted as a first line of defense against airborne contaminants that could infect the respiratory tract — a service they still perform, though very badly. Like the appendix, our tonsils get infected, swell up, discharge pus and create an allaround miserable experience that is completely unnecessary.

Though you may not realize it, our sinuses are also a vestigial trait inherited through evolution. The sinus cavities of our ancestors were most likely used to heighten a sense of smell to detect food and predators. As we evolved into a predatory role, we began to place a larger emphasis on vision than smell, and the body responded by putting more energy toward developing our eyes, leaving a big, moist cavity in our head that acts as a nursery for all manner of bacteria. It may be a trait we could live without, but it’s not completely useless or exclusively detrimental to our health. When a respiratory infection begins, the mucus you keep rocketing out of your nose will tell you something is wrong as it transitions from being translucent to a gnarly green or yellow.

Not all of our vestigial traits are quite as gross as the aforemen-

tioned infection centers. Some are completely neutral, while others can be somewhat entertaining.

Case in point: male nipples.

Why do we have them and what do they do?

These are a weird trait that likely precedes even our primate ancestors. An embryo in the womb will always begin as a female. It’s only when a Y-chromosome is present that the cells begin to develop testosterone and all the body parts it needs to embark on a journey of fighting and high-fiving through life. For some reason, the nipples don’t get reabsorbed back into the body, they just stay there. Perhaps at one time, one of our ancestors tens of millions of years ago may have had hermaphroditic traits during population fluxes; we really have no idea. In some rare cases, the body goes a step further and creates an extra nipple that’s somehow even more useless than the first two.

Dude nips aren’t the oldest useless thing we’ve inherited from our ancestors. That would be your third eyelid, the plica semilunaris. If you look in a mirror at the corner of your eyes, you’ll see a small band of pink flesh alongside the tear duct.

That’s it. In other animals, it’s called a nictitating membrane, and acts as an extra layer of defense against bacteria or other contaminants damaging the eye.

It’s most often seen in birds, reptiles and fish, which have some of the oldest and most direct genetic lineages to dinosaurs, but our dogs have them, too.

So what could be the last vestigial trait on the list? It’s our tail, duh.

The coccyx, sometimes called the tailbone or “the painful thing that everyone lands on

when they fall” is the remnant of a tail that our ancestors may have sported since shortly after the dinosaurs went extinct. Curiously enough, while we were all a fetus, a good portion of our body was actually a tail. Unlike most of the other traits listed in this article, our coccyx is still a useful and functioning part of

our anatomy, acting as a major anchor point for several tendons and ligaments around our pelvis.

If you’re curious about evolutionary biology or more weird traits we’ve developed with, ask your friendly neighborhood librarian about this article and get ready for a weird and wild ride.

Random Corner o?

Don’t know much about Mexic • Mexico’s official name is the United Mexican States.

• Mexico is the 10th most populous country in the world with 127 million people.

• Mexico has 68 official languages.

• In Mexico, artists can pay their taxes with artwork.

• The world’s largest pyramid is not in Egypt but in Mexico. It is the Quetzalcóatl Pyramid at Cholula de Rivadavia southeast of Mexico City. It stands 177 feet tall and its total volume is estimated to be 3.3 million cubic meters.

• Mexican General Santa Anna had an elaborate state funeral for his amputated leg.

• The Aztecs used cacao seeds as a form of currency.

• While previous scholarship suggested the Aztecs sacrificed about 250,000 people per year, more recent research puts that number at 20,000 per year — up to 80,400 on auspicious occasions such as the dedication of an important temple.

We can help!

• Remnants of popcorn have been found in Mexico dating back to around 3600 BCE. • Mexico’s 34th president ruled for less than an hour, then quit.

• San Francisco was part of Mexico until the Mexican-American War (1846-1848).

• Mexico City boasts the largest taxi fleet in the world, with 140,000 registered cabs running every day.

• There is only one gun shop in Mexico.

• A popular theory going back to Hernán Cortés suggests that Yucatán, Mexico, was named after a misunderstanding. Spaniards asked the locals what they called the place. They replied “Yucatán,” which in their language meant, “I don’t understand what you are saying.”

• It was estimated in 2014 that one Mexican cartel alone makes US$152 million a year from the sale of avocados.

FEATURE

To Priest River and beyond

Astronaut Barbara Morgan and P.R. teacher Chris Naccarato bring the stars to students

By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff Former astronaut Barbara Morgan and Priest River Elementary teacher Chris Naccarato share a dream of space. But that’s not the thing they have in common — they also both understand the power that space holds for inspiring young minds. That’s why, with decades of experience in their professions, their shared focus is firmly on inspiring students to reach for the stars, whether they do it figuratively or literally.

“What I love about education is its work is never finished,” said Morgan. “And it’s constantly going to be improved upon. As times change, we adjust to the times.”

Morgan didn’t grow up with any ambitions of space travel. Like many of her generation, she was awestruck by the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, but she never imagined she was cut out for a similar feat — an impression reinforced by gender norms of the time.

“It’s just not what girls did,” said Morgan. “Girls became teachers, moms, nurses, secretaries. So it never occurred to me that was something I would do.”

The opportunity nevertheless came her way when she was selected to train for the Teacher in Space Project, which was launched by the Reagan administration in 1984. A year after the program’s foundation, in 1985, she trained as a backup candidate for the Challenger mission with fellow civilian teacher Christa McAullife.

Morgan accepted the opportunity primarily as a way to inspire her students at McCall-Donnelly Elementary School.

“Just like a lot of teachers, I sat up and paid attention,” she said. “We’re always looking for ways to make the classroom a more exciting place for students, so it was a natural attraction for me.”

That mission ended in tragedy in January 1986, claiming the lives of McAuliffe and her six fellow crewmates, and the Teacher in Space Project ended in 1990.

Yet, Morgan remained committed to the NASA cause, finally blasting off on a mission to the International Space Station in 2007.

Likewise, as another young Idaho teacher, Naccarato recognized how space travel captured many of his students’ imaginations. It was an excitement he shared, remembering his own experiences watching the Apollo expeditions of the 1960s and ’70s. He saw it as an opportunity to fire them up not only for science, but also reading, writing and just about

every other educational discipline. To that end, he reached out to astronauts, hoping one would accept an invitation to visit his classroom in Priest River.

That’s how his and Morgan’s paths crossed for the first time.

It was the early ’90s, years after the Challenger disaster. Morgan had resumed her teaching career and was also working with NASA in its education division.

Naccarato, meanwhile, had contacted her as an Idaho teacher who had undergone astronaut training. He still remembers the day Morgan returned his call.

“I was a young teacher still living at home at the time,” he said. “I was in my room listening to music … and my mom came in saying Barbara Morgan was on the phone.”

They talked for about an hour on the possibilities of using space travel as an educational tool, Naccarato said. The conversation planted the seeds of what would become one of Naccarato’s proudest achievements: the National Astronaut in the Classroom Association, or NACA. The idea of the program was to encourage students to work hard toward their dreams through classroom visits by astronauts.

According to Naccarato, astronauts — themselves highly motivated and education individuals — proved remarkably receptive to the idea.

“They’re not the types who just send a rubber-stamped photo,” he said.

For Morgan, the next decade moved quickly. In 1999, NASA asked Morgan to resume her training as an astronaut. Over the next several years, she underwent a rigorous system of classroom studies, space flight simulations, hands-on work projects and Mission Control posts. It culminated in STS-118, a 2007 space flight mission in which Morgan and her crew assisted in the construction of the International Space Station. Morgan served as the robotic arm operator, moving massive pieces of equipment in a zero-gravity environment.

She spent 12 days in space, safely returning to the Kennedy Space Center on Aug. 21, 2007.

Despite the fanfare and excitement of space travel, Morgan’s original motivation to use her astronaut experiences as an educational tool hadn’t changed. She spent the next year working with NASA on educational initiatives before accepting a teaching position at Boise State University.

“I feel very lucky to have had three incredible careers: in elementary education, as an astronaut and higher education,” she said.

Former NASA Astronaut Barbara Morgan talks with Priest River Elementary students with teacher Chris Naccarato looking on. Photo by Cameron Rasmusson.

During the same time, Naccarato’s NACA program flourished. It evolved into a comprehensive educational tool framed around space travel. Students take on a variety of activities, from writing letters to astronauts as an English-honing exercise to studying physics and flight via bottle rocket launches. Through it all, astronaut visits motivate the kids to work hard toward their dreams. To date, the NACA program has facilitated 45 astronaut visits.

Naccarato and Morgan’s intertwining career paths came full circle this year when Morgan became one of the astronauts to visit Priest River Elementary as a NACA guest. The day kicked off with a classroom visit, followed by a school-wide assembly.

Afterward, the students and teachers headed outside for bottle rocket launches under the NACA banner.

The excitement was evident on the students’ faces as they blasted off homemade rockets with a real-life astronaut in the audience.

For Morgan and Naccarato, that’s the best result of a life’s worth of labor. “[Hands-on science education] is getting at the deeper level of things, and I’m really excited about what we’re doing,” Morgan said. “We can never take education for granted, especially public education. I think public education is the foundation of our democracy, and I really worry when it is constantly under attack.”

OPEN 11:30 am

GAME ROOM UPSTAIRS

The Psounbality with Per FRESH FOOD LIVE MUSIC THE BEST NW BREWS

212 Cedar Street Downtown Sandpoint

208.263.4005 A SandPint Tradition Since 1994 August 22, 2019 /

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WEIRD NEWS

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

DE NIRO SUES WORKER FOR THEFT, ‘ASTRONOMICAL’ NETFLIX BINGE Think your boss isn’t keeping an eye on your on-the-job Netflix habit? Maybe you should reconsider queuing up another episode during the 3 p.m. lull.

Graham Chase Robinson, who formerly worked as vice president of production and finance at Robert De Niro’s film company Canal Productions, is being sued by her famous employer for $6 million — in part for bingeing on streaming TV. According to Page Six, Canal Productions filed suit Aug. 17 alleging Robinson used 8 million of De Niro’s frequent flyer miles for personal travel, racked up tens of thousands of dollars in personal expenses on the company’s accounts and bilked Canal Productions out of 96 vacation days, claiming she hadn’t used the time off when, in fact, she had.

The icing on the cake: Robinson watched as many as 55 episodes of “Friends” over the course of four work days in January and another 30 combined episodes of “Arrested Development” and “Schitt’s Creek” during the week before she resigned in April this year.

Canal Productions wants $3 million to cover all the cash and property she “misappropriated” during her employment and another $3 million for her “disloyalty” — that includes, the suit alleges, her “astounding” and “astronomical” misuse of the company Netflix account.

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FEATURE

Seeing the forest for the trees

The many benefits of growing and maintaining Sandpoint’s urban forest

By Sharon Lewis Reader Contributor Have you ever experienced walking along a city street or suburban sidewalk and suddenly feeling calmer, more relaxed and maybe a little less anxious? If we are lucky, that sense of calm will linger for a few more city blocks, and the only thing that has changed from one block to the next is the presence of a few mature trees.

Surprisingly, there is a lot of scientific evidence that explains why human beings experience a sense of calm in the presence of trees: cortisol levels drop, anxiety lessens, energy increases. Although we are not always acutely aware of the changes in our psyches as we walk from an exposed, asphalt parking lot to a shady city street, most of us can remember experiencing that change. For all the advantages that town life has to offer, the reality is that without trees and access to natural environments within our city limits, our urban lives would be more stressed, less healthy and economically less valuable.

In the past few decades the economic, environmental and public health value of urban forests have been studied extensively in the United States and around the world. Urban trees have been shown to increase property values by as much as 20%.

Trees have undeniable aesthetic value; a healthy tree is lovely to look at, so it makes sense that a tree would add significant financial value to any home or business. However, urban trees aren’t just for real estate investors or appreciative pedestrians — trees have an involuntary calming effect on drivers, as well. People drive more slowly down treelined streets, which is especially critical in neighborhoods where children are present. Trees muffle traffic noise and less traffic noise

means less stress, which might explain why violent crimes are statistically less where trees are present.

Additionally, urban forests contribute to better air quality and reduce stormwater runoff.

After all, trees are essentially massive air and water filtration systems. Moreover, trees growing in proximity to buildings help lessen fluctuations in temperature, which can help reduce monthly energy bills — something we all need.

More and more cities and towns around the world are actively assigning economic and community value to their urban forests. The city of Sandpoint is no exception. Healthy urban forests don’t happen by accident, they require dedication and effort from mayors, city administrators and residents.

Beginning in the early 2000s, the city took over responsibility for the urban forest from the Independent Highway District. Fortunately, then-city officials appointed Stephen Drinkard, a grant writer for the city, as “Tree Guy.” Drinkard combined his passion for grant writing and trees to establish a solid foundation for building an Urban Forestry Program. It took years to adapt city code, establish a tree committee, develop a tree inventory, a budget and — most important — enlighten the community about the importance and value of urban trees.

In the early stages of Sandpoint’s tree program, Drinkard consulted with other cities around the West; today, Sandpoint is an example that inspires other small cities around the country to nurture their urban forests.

Urban forests include all trees: street trees, park trees and trees growing in our private yards. One of the stated missions of Sandpoint’s Tree Program is to create more tree canopy. However, as Drinkard pointed out, “A

city cannot plant trees on private property, but it can plant trees on public property, which includes the right-of-way in front of people’s homes.”

The right-of-way is simply defined as the section of public land located between the street curb and sidewalk edge (whether a sidewalk exists or not).

Understanding this is the basis of Sandpoint’s Neighborwoods program, which was established in 2005.

The Neighborwoods program reaches out to residents living within the city limits who have space available in the right-ofway in front of their homes.

With the homeowners’ permission and consultation, the city will plant a tree or trees in that right-of-way space for free.

Each year, with the help of the Sandpoint Tree Committee, local tree nurseries and participating homeowners’ commitment to care for their right-of-way trees, Sandpoint Urban Forester Jared Yost hosts a Neighborwoods workshop that assists homeowners in choosing “the right tree for the right place.” This means considering tree species, city code, overhead wires and underground utilities.

Since initiation of the program, the city has planted approximately 900 street trees.

Those interested in Neighborwoods, urban forestry, tree care tips and continuing to grow our urban forest are encouraged to visit sandpointidaho.gov/trees.

Since joining the city of Sandpoint Tree Committee more than 10 years ago, Sharon Lewis’ appreciation for urban forestry has grown alongside the Neighborwoods’ spring snow crabapple tree planted in the right-of-way in front of her house six years ago.

Top right photo: pedestrians walk past some of the stately trees at Sandpoint City Beach. Photo by Sharon Lewis.

•Watering — Regularly watering trees, especially newly planted trees, in the summer months can be critical to establishing a healthy, mature tree. As a rule of thumb, in hot, dry weather it is good to water young trees several times a week. More established and mature trees may or may not need watering, depending on the species or maturity of tree. If a tree looks tired and withered and the weather has been hot and dry, then it is time to water. If unsure whether your tree is thirsty, dig into the soil surrounding your tree; if it is dry, then it’s time to water. If the soil is moist, you can hold off watering. When watering, it is always better to water deeper and less frequently in order to encourage roots to grow deeply.

•Mulching — Mulching around a tree serves multiple purposes.

Certainly, mulching around the base of a tree helps prevent weeds and grass from competing with the tree for water and nutrients, but mulching can also conserve water and contribute nutrients to the surrounding soil. Additionally, mulching is a great way to establish a protected zone around a tree trunk, protecting it from the thrashing of a string trimmer or lawn mower. Mulching is a win, win, win.

•Construction Awareness — Summer is a popular time for road and housing construction projects. Before starting construction, it is always a good idea to establish a protected zone around a tree where heavy equipment is prohibited. Heavy equipment compacts soils and damages tree roots. The damage may not be immediately apparent but will eventually weaken the tree due to lack of nutrients, air and water. If soil compaction can be prevented, do it.

For more information on growing and caring for our community urban forest, go to sandpointidaho.gov/trees.

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Live Music w/ Naughty Pine 9pm @ 219 Lounge A mix of irreverent innuendo with a tried and true blend of soulful reggae Live Music w/ Ron Kieper Jazz Trio 5-7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority Live Music w/ Kevin Dorin 8-10pm @ The Back Door

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Hope History Event Dollar Beers!

Live Music w/ Jody Piper 6pm @ Davis Grocery 8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub 8-11pm @ 219 Lounge Photograph screenings Good until the keg’s dry Americana and folk presentation at 6 p.m.

Thurs. Night Solo Series w/ Kerry Leigh Redhead Express: Summer Nights Concert 6-8pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall 6:30pm @ Bonner County Fairgrounds Americana, folk, rock, country and blues Folk, country, pop and bluegrass from 4 redhea

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Live Music w/ The Turn Spit Dogs Annual SASi P 6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall 4pm @ Sandpoi Rockin’ blues Join the good f Live Music w/ Brian Jacobs nior Center for 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery DJ Exodus Popular, acoustic, folk 9pm @ A&P’s B Live Music w/ David Walsh 5-8pm @ Connie’s Lounge

Live Music w/ Kevin Dorin 5-7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority Live Music w/ Jake Robin 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Live Music w/ The Liabilities 9pm @ 219 Lounge R&B, funk and classic rock Live Music w/ DIGaddie 6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Blues, jazz, Americana, psych rock

Live Music w/ Truck Mills & Carl Rey 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Masters of the country blues Live Music w/ Larry Mooney 8-10pm @ The Back Door

Laughing Dog Anniversary Party 12-8pm @ Laughing Dog Brewery Celebrate 14 years with Laughing Dog! Live music w/ Harold’s IGA from 4-6pm

San Dem 7:30 Fair Clo wat sma of e vari

Sandpoint Chess Club Jackie Henrion book signing Piano Sunday w 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee 1pm @ Hotel Hope 3-5pm @ Pend Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes See page 20 for more information Self-taught, free 4-6:30pm @ Matchwood Brewing Monday Night Blues Jam Lifetree Cafe Outdoor Experience M 2pm @ Jalepeño’s w/ Truck Mills 6pm @ Outdoor Experie An hour of conversation and sto7:30pm @ Eichardt’s Pub A chill, three-mile(ish) g ries. This week’s topic: “Making Karaoke tional beverages to follow Life’s Toughest Decisions” 8-close @ Tervan Night-Out Karaoke 9pm @ 219 Lounge Join DJ Webrix for a night of singing, or just come to drink and listen

Trivia Night 7pm @ MickDuff’s Show off that big, beautiful brain of yours

Wind Down Wednesday 5-8pm @ 219 Lounge With live music by blues man Truck Mills and guest musician Denis Zwang Dollar Beers!

8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Good until the keg’s dry

Live Music w/ Fast Heart Mart 6-8pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Hold on tight for Fast Heart Mart’s fast banjo s at his funny story songs and contemplate the s Djembe class 5:45-7:30pm @ Music Conservatory of Sandp Join Ali Thomas for this djembe (drum) class

Magic Wednesday 6-8pm @ Jalapeño’s Enjoy close-up magic shows by Star Alexander right at your table

W Live Music w/ Fast Heart Mart 6 6:30-9:30pm @ The Fat Pig San Diego musician Fast Heart B Mart plays his unique blend of f L banjo and guitar songs 7

Live Music w/ Casey Ryan 8-11pm @ 219 Lounge Casey has toured with Third Eye Blind, Dashboard Confessional and more. In 2015, he was a top 200 contestant on NBC’s “The Voice.”

Yappy H 4-7pm @ Bring yo down for handle An sic w/ the

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ry Event s Grocery & Mercantile screenings all day, and a at 6 p.m.

Concert ds 4 redhead sisters

Open Mic Night w/ KC Carter 9pm @ A&P’s Bar & Grill

al SASi Potluck Picnic @ Sandpoint City Beach Pavilion he good folks at Sandpoint Seenter for their annual picnic!

odus @ A&P’s Bar & Grill

g!

Sandpoint Smash Demolition Derby 7:30pm @ Bonner County Fairgrounds Close out the 2019 Fair by watching a bunch of cars smash the living heck out of each other. Prizes for various heats. Tons of fun!

Sunday w/ Dwayne Parsons @ Pend d’Oreille Winery aught, free-form pianist

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

Festival’s Chamber Concert Series 6:30pm @ The Heartwood Center This will be the double feature of musical excellence, with Mika Hood and Daniel Hughes performing, as well as the C.O.D.A. Ensemble with Rebecca Stamm, Angela Schauer, and Mika Hood. $15 adult, $10 youth/senior

Challenge of Champions 7:30pm @ Bonner County Fairgrounds Watch as professional bullriders compete for the title of Tour Champion! Plus, mutton-busting and barrel-racing

Jr. Ranger Program: Fire Safety 11am @ Round Lake State Park for kids ages 6-12 interested in learning about fire safety. The program starts at 11 a.m. at the Amphitheater.

Karaoke DJ Skwish 8-close @ Tervan 9pm @ A&P’s Lazy A.08K Dance mixer 11am @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall 7-10pm @ Ponderay Events Center The first inaugural race sponsored Dance to the Variety Pack Band. A by the Angels Over Sandpoint. cha-cha lesson will be taught from Kid-friendly, live music by Miak 7-8 p.m., followed by open dancing Kohal Band, food by Jupiter Jane Sandpoint Farmers’ Market Sandpoint Rotary car wash 9am-2pm @ Farmin Park 8am-2pm @ NW Autobody Benefiting Washington Elemen- Come get your produce, starts, crafts tary School’s Design for Change and more! Live music by Bridges Home LDW Performing Talking Heads Lakeside Jazz 9pm @ The Hive 6-9pm @ Trinity at City Beach Join Bright Moments Jazz for a Life During Wartime is back with night of beautiful music by the lake more Talking Heads! $10

Sandpoint Waldorf School Nursery Open House erience Monday Night Run 4-6pm @ Sandpoint Waldorf School or Experience There are open spots for ages 18 months to three-andmile(ish) group run with opa-half years. www.sandpointwaldorfschool.org for es to follow more information

ast banjo songs, laugh plate the sad ones

y of Sandpoint um) class

PFLAG Sandpoint meeting 7pm @ First Presbyterian Church Support meeting for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. Meets the second Tuesday of the month, and a game night and social event on the fourth Tuesday of the month

Wednesdays with Benny Baker 6:30-9:30pm @ Connie’s Lounge Heart Benny Baker’s weekly music show, nd of featuring special guest Brian Jacobs Live Music w/ John Firshi 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Mart

Yappy Hour 4-7pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Bring your four-footed pals down for a fundraiser for Panhandle Animal Shelter. Live music w/ the Baldy Mountain Boys

Sandpoint Farmers’ Market 3-5:30pm @ Farmin Park Locally grown produce, starts, crafts and more! Live music by Patrice Webb

Utara After Hours: The Last Revel 9pm @ Utara Brewing Co. Front porch Americana from this Minnesota-based trio

Aug. 30 Queen B. Drag Show @ The Hive Aug. 30 Movie in the Park: “Night at the Museum” @ Lakeview Park Aug. 30-Sept. 2 Fall Fest @ Schweitzer Mountain Resort

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LITERATURE

This open Window

Vol. 4 No.11 poetry and prose by local writers edited by Jim mitsui

start of thursay morning's national thistle competition • sandpoint, idaho 2019 In the marina, jangle of halyards, slapping metal masts, emulates a convention of hyperactive Marimbas.

Postponement flag wrestles the wind to ovations from waves, race delayed until the southwester calms to bumping twenty.

Sixty-six Thistles swaddled in canvas and nestled in cradles slept on City Beach through last night’s powerful cloudburst.

This morning, a couple hundred sailors wriggle into neoprene and jumpsuits and deal with “considerable water in the hull.” No sitting still, they’ve got bits in their mouths as they ready to head out for the chaos of the line up, fastened sails waiting, a whipped cream of loose folds, bright red buoy-line in place, boats carried from cradles to waves. Officials pull down the flag. Crime Scene,

road kill Dead snake, dead mouse — What battle took place on this rural road in Idaho?

Did it begin in the sky?

Eagle versus Osprey — the constant competition causing drop of prey Perhaps an oft-used creature crossing, risk taken at various times leaving flattened dried corpses in close proximity Or alas, a scene where star-cross’d lovers took their lives, a story of woe: this of slithering Juliet and her rodent Romeo.

— L.S. Jones, July 9, 2019

the first boat out bobbing the buoy-line, waterboards its logo, chalkline drawing of a murdered body.The daggerboard drops.

All the boats scoot off through the chop with gust and gusto.

Sails crackle, roar. Sail bags, canvas covers, cradles, noodles, sandals and thermoses abandoned in the sand, boats head toward two yellow buoys near the north shore.

Windsock salutes horizontal. White sails rock across waves, an illusion of mellow, like quiet fish cruising an aquarium.

But through binoculars we see the frenzy of adrenaline as sailors pit their crafts against maximum weather “Thistle Racers! Thistle Racers! This is the race committee.

We’re shooting for 10:15. Five minute warning. 10, 9, 8, 7.. ” Sixty-six Thistles circle closer and closer, stacking up, two fleets, Championship and Presidential, timing their start,

Walking past this scene every morning got me thinking. Road kill is a 20th-century phenomenon that arrived with the advent of the building suspense. Everyone wants the pin. Official boats motorized vehicle. Most obvious to passing motorists are the larger hold positions at the marks. Judges’ boats hover. mammals lying on the side of the road but a whole other world of carnage exists, its victims too small to be seen when driving by or over.

Another countdown to the starting horn and they’re off, heading around the triangle, in a lesson of avoidance and aggression.

the gate

When you come over & ring the seven chimes of my front doorbell, When you drop by & knock on the kitchen door, calling out “Karen! You home?”

When you open either door & step in, continuing to hail me, You’ll get no response.

Can’t see each other for the rollers, but some have raced their Thistles fifty years. They’ve honed this down to sheer science.

this is May this is columbines and feathery new carrot tops to be thinned this is poppies blooming nearly obscene in orange-ness this is young pea pods learning how to grab onto the fencing this is Nellie Mosher clematis from which I cut bouquets for everyone I know this is sweet-smelling iris this is mixing up stinky fish emulsion to feed the raspberry canes this is what makes me happy this is like living inside a painting this is like shaping it.

Beth lives in Sandpoint. She’s a gardening expert, kayaker, music teacher, violinist and as this poem attests, a sailing fan.

If you want to see me, Try the gate.

the lionesses They wait, camouflaged in tawny fields, invisible lionesses amid dried corn and dream grass Grass from oceanside, where we walked yesterday and grass from some other time Real, yet unreal Vast, yet contained Sea and inland — together Quandary of a nightmare’s truth In this story, black tailed deer transform from the mild into stealth and musculature, with a hunter’s brain The agates I gathered from the beach seep blood and turn to the honeyed eyes of cats Lionesses are able to infiltrate my mind’s habitation Lionesses representing what — Fear of female power?

An inability to confront?

I’m aware of these symbols even as I dream them And I’m leery that something unwelcome is at hand Oh yes, here she is A lioness behind me Tunneled with me in a curved hall No doors or windows for escape No out I press my back body against the wall I hold so still and make no sound I smell her catness, her muskiness She slinks by, forsaking me — Amy Craven, November 2018

— Beth Weber

Amy lives in Sandpoint. She is a retired music teacher, singer and vivid dreamer. This poem is for those of you who have recurring dreams.

— Karen Seashore, June 1, 2019

Sandpoint resident Karen Seashore has tried to quit writing but the idea hasn’t “taken” yet so she continues to pump out words and sentences nearly every day. Her poem “We Have” was recently published in “Crab Creek Review.”

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COMMUNITY

27 years of craft beers at Schweitzer’s Fall Fest Four days of regional beers, ciders, and free live music

By Reader Staff The final long weekend of the summer is almost here and so is the perennial favorite Schweitzer event, Fall Fest.

“This is our 27th year of hosting Fall Fest and we know that it’s become a ‘must-do’ for so many people,” Schweitzer Marketing Manager Dig Chrismer said. “Wrapping up summer can be bittersweet, but a weekend sampling over 80 beers and ciders usually helps ease the pain a little.”

The four-day Fall Fest kicks off Friday, Aug. 30 with live music from 4-8 p.m. featuring Far Out West and Santa Poco.

“Friday evening really lends itself to our local beer fans,” Chrismer said.

“Pre-ordered glassware will be ready for pick up so you can get up here after work and start enjoying samples from the full collection of beers we have on hand for the weekend.”

Fall Fest will continue Saturday, Aug. 31; Sunday, Sept. 1 from noon-7 p.m.; and Monday, Sept. 2, from 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

Free live music will take place on the Musical Chairs stage overlooking Lake Pend Oreille with the ever-popular souvenir mugs, glasses and steins available for pre-purchase online and onsite during the weekend, as supplies last.

“This year’s music lineup is really solid, with some great acts including Miah Kohal, Nate Botsford Band, World’s Finest, Balance Trick, Josh Farmer Band, Ron Artis II & The Truth, Trego and Sol Seed,” Chrismer said. “The music is free to enjoy, so even if you aren’t participating in the tastings, you can still enjoy the sounds of Fall Fest.”

Schweitzer’s village activities will be in full swing all weekend, too, with scenic chairlift rides, climbing wall, trampoline and other kid-friendly attractions open at 11 a.m. each day.

Artisan and culinary vendors will be

located around the clock tower with Schweitzer’s Sky House offering dining options on the summit. The Great Escape Quad will be open from 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Friday; 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturday and Sunday; and 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday.

Schweitzer recommends using the SPOT Bus shuttle to get to Fall Fest, with shuttles available all four days of the festival. Shuttles run Friday night from 3-8:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m.-8 p.m., and Monday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. The shuttles leave on the half hour from both the village and the Red Barn.

Labor Day weekend is the last full weekend of summer operations on the mountain, with closing day set for Monday, Sept. 2.

For more information about Fall Fest,

Live music on top of the world.

Photo courtesy SMR. the full music schedule and all the activities at Schweitzer, visit schweitzer.com.

‘A true North Idaho experience’

Challenge of Champions, Demolition Derby sure to draw crowds at the Bonner County Fair

By Ben Olson Reader Staff It’s going to be a bull-riding, car-smashing, gut-busting weekend at the Bonner County Fair.

The Challenge of Champions bull riding tour bursts from the gate Friday, Aug. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at the Bonner County Fairgrounds.

The tour features some of the best professional bull riders in the West

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competing for the title of tour champion. For those unfamiliar with bull riding, the goal is for a rider to stay astride a bucking bull for eight seconds before getting tossed off its back.

Sounds easy? It’s not.

Bonner County Fair Office Manager Shelli Cowell said bull riders come from all over the West to compete.

“A lot of riders come from Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Washington, Oregon,” Cowell said. “Local riders can also apply to participate but everybody goes for the same pot.”

Winners receive a custom belt buckle, award jacket and cash prizes. Bull riding warps up Friday at 10:30 p.m.

Along with the professional bull riding, Cowell said mutton busting and barrel racing events will delight the crowds.

In mutton busting, kids climb on the back of a sheep and see how long they can hold on. In barrel racing, local women ride their horses around strategically placed barrels to compete for the best time all while trying not to knock down

any of the barrels. It’s a fast-paced, funfilled event that highlights the talent of many local and regional women.

Closing out the fair this year is everyone’s favorite event: the Sandpoint Smash Demolition Derby, set for Sat. Aug. 24 from 7:30-10:30 p.m.

Upwards of two dozen cars will race around the track in multiple heats, smashing and bashing each other in the process. Mayhem is even in the official rules: “You must make an aggressive hit

Courtesy images. every 2 minutes.” Divisions include Big Car, Small Car and Team Show. There will also be competitions for Mad Dog, Best Paint, Most Aggressive and Longest Traveled. Each heat will receive cash payouts and trophies.

“This is the last event of the fair,” Cowell said. “It’s a true North Idaho experience.”

For full information about the Bonner County Fair, visit bonnercountyfair.com.

ART

Form, function, hustle and tradition

By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff

Jennah Lucht puts her weaving prowess on display with Cool Bike Baskets

Beneath a brilliant teal tent at the Saturday Sandpoint Farmers’ Market, Jennah Lucht is combining old-school basket weaving with modern-day needs at her aptly named Cool Bike Baskets business.

A daughter of both Alaska and nationally renowned fiber artist Jill Choate, Lucht wove her first basket at 10 years old. Now, living off-grid at a Rapid Lightning homestead with her husband and three young sons, Lucht likes to say her family business makes “bike baskets and boys.” Cool Bike Baskets took off about five years ago when Lucht decided she wanted to spend more time at home with those boys.

It takes Lucht about two hours to weave one of her, what she calls, “modern-day burden baskets.” She uses rattan reeds, which her mother taught her to dye different colors, and incorporates a design called a Cherokee wheel in each basket. Lucht, whose father is a Cherokee native, said the

wheels were created by Cherokee women to differentiate their baskets from the baskets of white women.

The result of Lucht’s various influences is a visually appealing product that is utilitarian at its core.

“I wanted them to be pretty, beautiful, but also know that these are to work with,” Lucht said. “They are to be used.”

The baskets have short straps for attaching directly to bike handles, but also long straps for toting over the shoulder. Lucht said that versatility was born from a need she witnessed herself. Bikers would stow belongings in attached wire frame baskets, then — in what Lucht called an “awkward shuffle” — they would have to load all those belongings into a separate tote before leaving the bike behind.

“I thought, ‘that sucks.’ What if you could just have [a tote] on the bike, and then just click it off and go?” she said.

This season has been Lucht’s busiest yet, thanks to it being her first year at both the Saturday Sandpoint Market and the

Wednesday market in downtown Coeur d’Alene. She said she underestimated how many baskets she’d need to sell at both locations all summer.

“This year I made 125, but that wasn’t enough. Next year my goal is to shoot for 300,” she said. “But that’s going to be a whole lot of hustle.”

Though Lucht has built a style and market all her own with Cool Bike Baskets, she said she never forgets the origins of her art.

“Every time I weave it’s a ‘thank-you’ to the grandmothers,” she said.

Find Lucht and her creations at the Sandpoint Farmers’ Market Saturdays 9 a.m.-1 p.m., the Coeur d’Alene market Wednesdays 4-6:30 p.m. or online at coolbikebaskets.net.

Cool Bike Baskets owner and artist Jennah Lucht at the Farmers’ Market at Sandpoint Aug. 17. Photo by Lyndsie Kiebert.

A carnival for the kiddos

Aug. 24 Kids Carnival supports Creations for Sandpoint

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

at their location inside Cedar Street Bridge.

“We received a grant to create that treehouse in October,” Creations owner Shery Meekings said. “But it’s the things around Coming off a the treehouse that we need the community’s successful inaugusupport with.” ral event, the Kids Meekings said the treehouse will be upCarnival will be wards of 25 feet tall and feature two slides, back in Sandpoint a climbing wall, an interactive play area and on Saturday, Aug. glow-in-the-dark features inside the tree trunk.

24 from 11 a.m.-1 As part of the discovery play area, Meekp.m. at The Graings said Creations plans to offer a wide varinary near Evans ety of educational tools for kids and parents.

Brothers Coffee Roasters.

“We want to create the whole space as a The event, co-sponsored by Creations children’s museum, but geared toward the for Sandpoint, Evans Brothers and JourPacific Northwest,” Meekings said. ney Pediatric, promises to be a fun-filled There will be tree identification games, a carnival day with a variety of games for kids at only 25 cents per play. There will be fiber optics piece explaining constellations, mini-marshmallow launching, a duck pond, as well as an exhibit from the Bonner County giant bubbles and more. Also on the slate of Gardeners Association exploring varieties of plants that grow in North Idaho. activities are art projects Meekings said it’s important for tweens, Creations’ Kids Carnival to offer a wide variety of edufamous face painting and Saturday, Aug. 24; 11 a.m.-1 p.m.; cationally fun tools for parents, raffle drawings with lots FREE admission, games cost 25 too: “There’s a lot for parents to of prizes. cents each. The Granary, locat- learn, and that’s the whole point.

Money raised during ed between Evans Brothers and Parents can engage further with the Kids’ Carnival will Matchwood Brewing Co., cretheir children. That’s what we’re go to support Creations’ ationsforsandpoint.org. all about.” new indoor treehouse and 7- to 12-year-old discovery play area currently in the works August 22, 2019 /

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LITERATURE

At the Root of it all

‘Rerooted’ tells the fictionalized story of long-time Hotel Hope owner Marie Root

By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff Looking to buy some property in Hope in 2002, Jackie Henrion and her husband spent a night at Hotel Hope. The building, which was constructed circa 1897, houses an old-school saloon and, at the back of the room, a stained-glass portrayal of a woman overlooking the bar and lake beyond the hotel’s front windows.

On the back of the saloon menu, Henrion found a passage explaining that the woman in the stained-glass was meant to be Marie Root, the hotel owner from 1920 to her death in 1968.

“I was mesmerized,” Henrion said. “I sensed something deeper about the place.

I just wanted to know a lot more.”

Her ensuing research led her to write a song titled “Marie,” but Henrion felt drawn to create more from what she learned about the hotel keeper’s life. Henrion went on to write a novel about Root, but didn’t publish it.

“As I read through it, I said, ‘This is not satisfying to me.’ There was something about it that felt too conventional,” she said. “I decided if I was going to do this, I was going to need some help.”

Henrion pursued an MFA in creative writing from Boulder, Colo.-based Naropa University in 2016 and brought her interest in Root with her. Through archival research, poetry and memoir seminars and, ultimately, thesis writing, “Rerooted” was born. Sandpoint-based Turtlemoon Publishing released the novel in July 2019.

“I felt drawn to do something more with the material that I had researched,” she said.

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Jackie Henrion with the cover of her book, “Rerooted.”

Courtesy images.

Henrion discovered the work of American scholar and writer Gloria Anzaldúa during her time at Naropa, and said the philosophy surrounding how women experience the passage of time ultimately had a profound effect on how she wrote “Rerooted.” “[Anzaldúa] implied that women have a different way of understanding life.

They have a different way of experiencing it,” Henrion said. “Women have a fundamental understanding of change. We hesitate to brand things and claim things.

We’re willing to live in an indefinite sense of time.”

Time is certainly indefinite in “Rerooted.” Readers become time travelers as they experience history alongside first-person reflections, the date above each chapter jumping back and forth from

the early 20th century to times closer to the present.

Though this literary conceit can be initially confusing and off-putting, the mirroring between characters, places and circumstances helps to connect the dots.

“It’s a disruption of conventions,” Henrion said of her book’s timeline — or lack thereof. “It invites people to think, ‘Wait, where am I? What time is it? What time is this?’ That invitation is like a conversation.”

In that same vein of unconventional storytelling is Henrion’s incorporation of personal memoir into her semi-fictionalized tale. She said that after nearly two decades of studying Root’s life, she realized she couldn’t remove herself from telling the woman’s story. The result is a narrative full of parallels in the female experience, crafted in Henrion’s skilled, subtle manner.

“That was the part that was most surprising: discovering myself as a part of the process,” she said. “Not so much looking for answers elsewhere, but realizing that my self was the source of this creativity and this evolution.”

Henrion will attend a book signing at Hotel Hope, 126 West Main St., on Sunday, Aug. 25 at 12 p.m. There, she’ll have copies of “Rerooted” for sale as well as copies of her album “Mama Loose,” which includes the track “Marie.”

Learn more about Henrion and her work at jackiehenrion.com.

STAGE & SCREEN

Let’s talk about Quentin Tarantino’s new film Some things to think about when ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ comes to the Panida

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff In a Vox article Aug. 15, Emily Todd VanDerWerff called “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” the most recent film from iconic auteur director Quentin Tarantino, “The Movie to Argue About This Summer (August edition).” She then provided a primer on the central controversies swirling around the film: it “disrespects the legacy of Bruce Lee,” it heedlessly messes with history and it’s misogynistic. No matter how you feel about Tarantino’s work, there’s no arguing how important he is an artist.

We’d go so far as to say his influence places him in the ranks of Orson Welles and John Ford.

(Go ahead and argue with that.)

For those who have somehow avoided either already seeing the film or reading any of the approximate half-billion words devoted to it online, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” takes place in 1969, focused on a declining movie star (Leonardo DiCaprio) and a devil-may-care stuntman (Brad Pitt) as they scrounge and raise hell around TinselTown. The previously mentioned Bruce Lee makes an appearance, as does rising star Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie).

The latter pulls the story to its essential dark heart: the Manson Family, which, for those who know their history, in real life murdered Tate and several others in August 1969. In Tarantino’s universe — and this is no spoiler — the story ends differently than the history books say.

VanDerWerff doesn’t necessarily come down one way or the other on the various debates about “Once Upon a Time,” other than to make the point that “the way we talk about Quentin Tarantino and his latest movie is the way we talk about art in 2019.”

It’s true, “Once Upon a Time” is not only Tarantino’s second-highest grossing film (so far), but has launched a thousand think

pieces. Rather than pile on with another rumination, we thought we’d share a few questions we’ll be thinking about as we watch the movie and, if you’re anything like us, discuss afterward at a bar.

You’ll have multiple opportunities to do both when “Once Upon a Time” comes to the Panida as a Reader Reel for six showings over five days Thursday, Aug. 29-Monday, Sept. 2.

Now, on to the questions: •Is this film a work of nostalgia, historical revisionism or speculative historical fiction?

Why does it matter/not matter?

•What version of America does Tarantino portray in this film? What role does American exceptionalism play in his brand of history?

•Did the fight between Cliff Booth and Lee occur in the world of the film or as a constructed memory of Cliff’s?

Does that matter when assessing Tarantino’s treatment of Lee? •Did Tarantino cynically deploy Sharon Tate to anchor his film in a shocking, yet aberrant, episode from American history — doing double damage as a misogynist and a bad-faith historian — or does his use of her as a fictionalized character reclaim her agency by subverting the historical narrative? (In other

words, is he using Tate or retroactively defending Tate against those who used her?)

•Was 1969 really such a pivotal year for American culture?

Was it the “end of innocence,” as many cultural observers characterize it, or did it only feel that way to people who thought there was “innocence” to be lost in America in the first place?

•Related to that, is “Once Upon a Time” an example of

noxious late-Baby Boomer historical retconning, or is it a commentary on the noxious contemporary celebrity-media complex?

•Does this film fit into the “Quentin Universe”? How/why/ why not?

•What role does the individual play versus the group in Tarantino’s oeuvre?

•Tarantino calls this a “good-hearted” film. Is it?

Promotional artwork for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” starring Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie.

What do you think he means by “good-hearted” in this context?

•In the era of “fake news,” do we really need “fake history”? What good does it do us to consider an alternate ending to the Manson Family murders? Does it need to do us good to be good art?

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When the ride description says “bring your bear spray,” you know you’re in for an adventure

By Jason Welker Reader Contributor I had seen Scott Bourassa’s posts on the Bike Bonners Ferry and Ride 7B Facebook groups for months. Each Monday a ride description is posted to the different North Idaho mountain biking groups, along with pictures from the previous week’s ride. But I have a confession to make; until three weeks ago I was too scared to RSVP to one of these rides. The reality is that the riding in the farthest northern reaches of our state just always looked too... well, hard. Ride descriptions usually involved long hike-a-bikes and loose rocky trails better suited for horses’ hooves or hiking boots than for Mavic DHFs (my tire of choice).

Three weeks ago, however, I decided to toughen up and join a ride, thanks to my buddy Beny — who is always up for an adventure — saying he’d join me.

We rendezvoused with the Bonners Ferry bike crew just north of town. The eclectic group of riders included everyone from a 17-yearold hay farmer from Porthill on the Canadian border to 72-year-old Will, who only started riding a bike four years ago. An inspirational riding crew, all of whom were surprised to see our 7B plates pull up to the meeting point. They welcomed us and we soon were caravaning to the lower trailhead.

The ride I’d signed up for

was Canuck Pass to Keno Creek, which includes a 7-mile singletrack ridge ride along the Montana-Idaho border. The ride starts at aptly named Canuck Pass, sitting at 6,000 feet just 5 miles from Canada. Northwest Peak looms large to the east and the Purcell Mountains of Canada are a stone’s throw to the north.

From the trailhead, we began south along trail No. 44, a ridge ride with about 1,500 feet of climbing over 7 miles. The views were insane and the grade was surprisingly rideable — with the exception of some slippery rock sections, most of our group was able to clean more than 90% of the trail. Personally I only had to put my foot down in a couple of places but for the most part rode nearly the entire ridge.

Our leader and ride organizer, Bourassa, guided Beny and me along the ridge, stopping often to soak up the stunning views down into Montana’s Yaak Valley, south toward the Kootenai River Basin, and north toward Kootenay Pass in Canada. The late evening light added an ephemeral quality to the ride, while the explosion of color from wildflowers in bloom provided a spectacular canvas on which the singletrack traced its way up and down the ridgeline stretching south.

The traverse culminated with a 400-foot, “no-fall zone” sidehill climb around the east flank of Keno Peak. We crested the pass

below the summit at 8:15 p.m.

With a cool wind blowing from the west, our group reconvened and we began what I can only describe as one of the funnest descents in all of North Idaho.

Over the next 7.5 miles we shredded a reclaimed logging road, now converted to a wide open singletrack, with bermy jumps and tight rock gardens to keep riders entertained. Over 3,300 feet the trail dropped into the Deer Creek Valley to where we had left some cars on our way to the trailhead. The last halfmile of the descent leaves the road grade behind and dips into a lush, fern-filled forest, carving its way downhill on a surface some mountain bikers might describe as “brown pow.” The sun had long since dipped behind the Selkirks to the west as we rolled up to our

cars and dove into some post-ride snacks and beverages.

I couldn’t believe what I had just experienced. Far from the ride being “too hard” or “not worth the effort,” as I had imagined most Boundary County rides to be, it was an experience I immediately wanted to repeat.

The Bonners Ferry mountain biking group, known as 9B Trails, represents a small but dedicated group of individuals who are passionate about the riding opportunities in North Idaho. And they don’t just ride their trails, they build and maintain them, too.

From beginner-friendly rides like Brush Lake and “Section 16” to the new “Enchanted Forest” trails in Paradise Valley just south of town, Bonners Ferry offers exciting riding opportunities for bikers of all abilities.

The author’s wife Liz Wargo, traversing the ridge between Canuck Pass and Keno Peak. Photo by Jason Welker.

Even better, there will be more new trails to look forward to as just last week Ride 9B members received a $25,000 grant from the Equinox Foundation to acquire their own mini-excavator, which will enable them to build new mountain bike-friendly trails all over the county.

If you’re interested in learning more about mountain biking in Boundary Country, follow the Bike Bonners Ferry and Ride 7B groups on Facebook. Scott Bourassa is always thrilled to share information about Boundary Country trails, and he can be reached on Facebook, as can the author of this dispatch.

Get out there and explore, and hopefully we’ll see you on the trails.

Chamber welcomes A|M Studio Salon and Cropper & Co. Barber Shop

By Reader Staff

Local friends have teamed up to offer Sandpoint a one-stop hair service for everyone. The Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce is pleased to welcome A|M Studio Salon and Cropper & Co. Barber Shop as new Chamber members. They celebrated with a grand opening and ribbon cutting on Saturday, Aug. 10 at their shared location at 219 Church St. in downtown Sandpoint.

Alysha McLelland and Kylee Cropper graduated together from the Paul Mitchell school in Spokane and started planning a fu22 /

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ture business in their hometown of Sandpoint. With McLelland working with mostly female cuts and coloring and Cropper specializing in men’s cuts, they had a vision of working together to provide a wide range of services to fit all needs and clientele.

They can share a space while creating their own unique yet complementary look and feel.

A|M Studio Salon, located in Suite A, specializes in color, color correction, cuts, styling and extensions. Find McLelland on Instagram at am_studiosalon and text 208-610-7407 for appointments. Hours are by appointment

only Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4:45 p.m.

Cropper & Co. Barber Shop, in Suite B, offers men’s cuts, kids cuts, beard-shaping, as well as products and instruction on beard maintenance. Find Cropper & Co. on Instagram at CropperAndCoBarber for messaging and online booking. Hours are Tuesday-Friday 10:30 a.m. and last cut at 5 p.m. (walk-ins and appointments). Saturday is dedicated to walk-ins only starting at 9:30 a.m.

Courtesy photo.

FOOD

Here be good burgers

The Burger Dock brings its gourmet grill skills to downtown’s waterfront

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

Sailing through its first summer as a brick-and-mortar restaurant, The Burger Dock has established a nautical-themed niche at 116 N. First Ave. in downtown Sandpoint.

The next evolution of the Old Tin Can food trailer, which started in 2014, the airy space features exposed wood beams, a paint scheme of robin’s egg-blue and turquoise, and enormous windows facing First Avenue and Bridge Street. A garage door opens onto a Sand Creek-facing patio, offering a laid-back ambiance tinged with the tantalizing scent of grilling burgers. Behind a counter faced with distressed wood and peeling paint, and sporting the stern piece of an old Chris Craft boat — complete with chrome logo — staff members hustle at the big grills, turning out boat-shaped wire baskets brimming with hand-pressed, gourmet burgers and crisp fries.

During a recent Tuesday lunch hour, we dropped anchor at The Burger Dock for an ultra-filling afternoon repast.

The menu is a thoughtful blend of tastes, including standbys like the Old Tin Can cheeseburger and Bacon Cheese ($8 and $10, respectively) alongside more exotic offerings such as The Popper — a burger featuring pepper jack cheese, Wood’s bacon strips, slices of jalapeno, iceberg lettuce, tomato, grilled sweet onions, jalapeno cream cheese and apricot jam for $10.50 — The Sticky Burger, which brings together cheddar cheese, bacon and peanut butter ($9.50); and The Bee, with brie, a drizzle of local honey, arugula and honey aioli ($10).

Vegan and veggie burgers are also available; the former with grilled portobello mushroom, sliced tomato, spring mix, grilled sweet onions and a vegan-friendly secret sauce for $10 and the latter sporting a house-made patty of quinoa, zucchini, carrot and seeds topped with sliced tomato, spring mix, grilled sweet onions and a secret sauce ($9.50).

A handful of salads in the $10-$12 range round out the main dishes and they look delicious but, let’s be honest, it’s called The Burger Dock for a reason.

We went with The Vegan Burger and

fries, The Popper and, because we had a couple of kids in tow, the Junior Burger and fries from the childrens’ menu.

A Montucky Cold Snack can ($2), Ten Pin Hazy IPA on draft ($5) and vanilla milkshake ($6.50) to wash it all down, we dug in. (Total price plus tip: $52.30.

Not cheap, but you get what you pay for in fresh, hand-crafted goodness.)

To start, the fries were thin-cut, light and crispy, seasoned to perfection and with just the kind of earthy undertone any true Idahoan expects from an authentic strip of deep-fried spud. The tangy mustard-esque dipping sauce was a superb accompaniment.

The Vegan Burger was more than ample, with a righteously large, expertly grilled portobello mushroom that both stayed firm and avoided the greasiness that sometimes plagues this variety of fungi when thrown on the grill. The sweet onions came off more sauteed than grilled, but that was counterbalanced by the shock of mixed greens that were clearly fresh as fresh could be.

The Popper Burger was downright intimidating. The juicy, hand-pressed patty came piled high with thick bacon and a crisp mound — almost too large — of iceberg lettuce. Napkins are definitely required with this monster and be prepared to reconstruct the burger at least once before finishing.

The pleasant charring of the patty mingled with the smoky zest of the bacon, which, layered with the fresh crunch of lettuce, evoked the taste and feel of an

The Popper burger, with a cold IPA overlooking the Sandpoint Marina. Photo by Zach Hagadone. entire barbecue in one bite. The zing of jalapeno and sweet undertones of apricot were an unexpectedly complex treat.

The Junior Burger, cut in half, was plenty for a 7-year-old and 4-and-a-halfyear-old. Their discriminating palates singled out the pickle for especial praise.

“I loveded the pickle,” raved the youngest.

Big brother concurred, but saved his biggest accolade for the vanilla milkshake — thick but not too thick, rich and easily consumed via straw, stacked with a generous dollop of whipped cream and topped with a brilliant red cherry.

“It’s the best one I ever had,” he said.

The Burger Dock offers a healthy variety of beverages: four beers on tap; 15 import, domestic, local and big-name beers and ciders in bottles and cans; nine types of canned cocktails from 10 Barrel, Cutwater and Seekout; two red and two white wines; and a cold case full of Coke products. Save 20% on bottles and cans to-go in six-packs — a big draw for those who boat up to the boardwalk on Sand Creek where, once moored, The Burger Dock will also deliver food.

Here’s the shipping news: The Burger Dock is a friendly port for anyone looking to chow down on a truly artisanal burger in a space that somehow simply feels like summer.

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MUSIC

The Festival presents Chamber Music Concert

By Reader Staff

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As part of its mission to promote excellence in symphonic music and music education, the Festival at Sandpoint is pleased to present the first installment of a chamber music series featuring the C.O.D.A. Ensemble, cellist Mika Hood and pianist Daniel Hughes at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 22 at the Heartwood Center in Sandpoint.

The newly formed C.O.D.A. ensemble, including members Rebecca Stamm, Angela Schauer and Hood, will perform “Serenade for Violin, Viola Performers from left to right, movand Cello” by Ernst von Dohnanyi ing clockwise: Rebecca Stamm, alongside duo performances by Hood Mika Hood, Daniel Hughes and and Hughes of “Cello Sonata No.1 in Angela Schauer. Courtesy photo.

E minor” by Johannes Brahms and “Sonata for Cello and Piano” by Claude Debussy.

Hood has been performing for most began her piano studies at the age of 4 of her life on either piano or cello. and violin studies at the age of 8. When Learning from her mother, she develshe was 17, Stamm won a position with oped a keen ear and life-long love of the Yakima Symphony Orchestra. She music. She received a master’s in Cello earned a Bachelor’s of Music in Violin Performance from the Jacobs School of Performance at Central Washington Music at Indiana University.

University and went on to earn her A native of Portland, Ore., and master’s from Washington State Univerrecently moved to Sandpoint, Hughes sity, where she taught piano courses and has been awarded widely in local and accompanied for the music department regional competition and is well recognized for his frequent solo, chamber and as a graduate student.

Schauer is a violinist and violist collaborative performances. Previously from Moscow, Idaho. a student of Dr. Julia A native of Spokane, Hwakyu Lee of PortFestival Chamber she regularly performs land State University, Music Concert as a section player in Daniel will continue several regional orchesThursday, Aug. 22; 6:30 p.m.; his studies this fall at tras, including the Walla $15 general admission, $10 the Manhattan School seniors and youth (12 and Walla Symphony, Yakima of Music under Phillip under). Get tickets at Eve’s Symphony Orchestra Kawin.

Leaves (326 N. First Ave.) or and holds the position Stamm is a versaat the door. The Heartwood of principal violist in the Center, 615 Oak St., festivatile musician with 20 Moscow-based WashinglatSandpoint.com.

For more years experience as a information, contact Beth ton Idaho Symphony. freelance artist. She Weber at 208-771-5471. / August 22, 2019

MUSIC

Fast Heart Mart:

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

15 albums to his credit, each providing a keyhole view into the life and times of Fast Heart Mart. His songs are full of fast Origins stories are always fascinating. Martin Stamper was born banjo and guitar riffs, catchy lyrics that make you laugh and with a condition that makes his cry, and foot-stomping beats that heart beat so fast it doesn’t pump kill the doldrums on sight. There blood, causing him to pass out from time to time. While hiking in is an honesty and accessibility to Stamper’s songs that quickly wins the Appalachian Mountains in his over those in the audience. home state of Virginia, Stamper Some might mistakenly put was tasked with coming up with Stamper in the bluegrass or Amera “trail name.” The only one that icana box. They would be wrong. would do was “Fast Heart Mart.”

“I was raised in the mounTwenty years later, as a travtains,” Stamper said. “We always eling musician, Stamper still goes by that moniker as his stage name. called it ‘mountain music.’ Mountain music is different … it wasn’t “Don’t worry, I now have a until the early 2000s with ‘O defibrillator that shocks my heart Brother Where Art Thou?’ that the back into beating so I can keep world started to know about it.” singing songs about questioning Stamper said his origins with the system, the big picture, bugs mountain music morphed with his and other fascinating things,” early musical influences to create Stamper said. the style he throws out today, Fast Heart Mart will stop in which, according to Stamper, Sandpoint on his swing around is “something like the country Nirvana meets Johnny for a couple Fast Heart Mart Cash with a little bit of free Tuesday, Aug. 27; 6-8 p.m.; FREE. live shows MickDuff’s Beer Hall, 220 Cedar St., of Violent Femmes. next week.

208-209-6700, mickduffs.com/visit- I call it punk grass these days, if I’m He’ll be at beer-hall. Wednesday, Aug. 28; feeling in a good MickDuff’s 6:30-9:30 p.m.; FREE. The Fat Pig, mood.”

Beer Hall 301 Cedar St., 208-265-7675.

Stamper’s inon Tuesday, Listen at fastheartmart.com. fluences come far Aug. 27 from 6-8 p.m. and again at The Fat and wide, but first and foremost he said he’s a lyricist before a Pig on Wednesday, Aug. 28 from musician.

6:30-9:30 p.m.

“I started out writing prose,” The prolific songwriter has

BAND WAGON

This week’s RLW by Ben Olson

punk grass for the people

he said. “I love the whole Rorschach thing, where every time you listen to a song, it can be different depending on your mood. I think for a folk song, it’s hard for that kind of music to live on, so a lot of folk songs have a story that keeps it alive. I try to write something that has a story to it. The common people can hold onto that and the song can become more timeless.”

Part of Stamper’s story has been working through anxiety and depression. The best method he’s found so far: channeling difficult emotions into something useful by writing songs to share with people.

“I knew it was never going away,” he said. “I would have to do what singers I loved did: turn it into something beautiful and useful for the world, so when they hear it, they won’t feel so alone.”

While Fast Heart Mart occasionally plays with a full band, his appearances in Sandpoint will be

A very thoughtful reader gifted us a subscription to High Country News last year, and I’m so glad they did. This monthly periodical covers stories all across the West, with a particular emphasis on the environmental issues we face as a region. The story “Losing Lake Coeur d’Alene” in the June 24 edition was particularly well done (and scary).

LISTEN

“Fast Heart Mart” aka Martin Stamper. Courtesy photo. solo, but backed with a bass track he records beforehand.

If his upcoming local shows are anything like his past work, they should not be missed.

A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint

The Hooten Hallers, Aug. 24, Matchwood Brewing

LDW performing Talking Heads, Aug. 24, The Hive

This trio’s outward appearance does nothing to prepare listeners for the hard-hitting sonic experience to come.

John Randall’s self-described “demonically-tinged” vocals are wildly powerful. Combined with Andy Rehm’s rock ’n’ roll drumming and Kellie Everett’s thunderous baritone and bass sax, The Hooten Hallers are a musical force.

Recordings of the band’s songs make the heart beat faster. The thought of a live show induces sweat. The Hooten Hallers’ special brand of honky tonk blues seems to shout: “Forget your worries. Grab a drink.

Get to the front row.”

—Lyndsie Kiebert

You may ask yourself, “Why did I miss LDS performing Talking Heads the last time they played at The Hive?” If so, you’re in luck, because the Portland, Ore.-based seven-piece is bringing its homage to David Byrne and his iconic band back to Sandpoint.

Life During Wartime’s “Stop Making Sense” performance, which re-creates the 1984 concert film of the same name, returns to The Hive on Saturday, Aug. 24 — four months, almost to the day, since the last time it came to town.

If you want to feel the Byrne once — or, better yet, twice — in a lifetime this is your chance.

—Zach Hagadone

8-11 p.m., FREE. Matchwood Brewing Company, 513 Oak St., 208718-2739, matchwoodbrewing.com. Listen at thehootenhallers.com.

READ

9 p.m., $10-$20. The Hive, 207 N. First Ave., 208-457-2392, beeswaxsystems.com/thehive. Listen at ldwband.com.

Ben Gibbard’s songwriting and voice was one of the defining sounds of the early 2000s indie music scene. Though I first got into Gibbard through The Postal Service, most know him from his work with Death Cab For Cutie. Death Cab’s newest studio album, “Thank You For Today,” is a throwback to some of Gibbard’s early songwriting.

Full of catchy earworm riffs and thoughtfully unpretentious lyrics, the 2018 release is worth a listen or three.

WATCH

I’ve always been a sucker for films that tell stories of survival against all odds. “Arctic,” directed by first-time filmmaker Joe Penna and starring Mads Mikkelson, tells a simple story of a man stranded in the Arctic after a plane crash. What I like about this film is that it doesn’t tell you all the answers — it’s almost as if the camera is an unseen bystander that happened upon a life-or-death struggle. Absent are the usual filmmaking traits of exposition and narration. That’s what makes this film streaming on Netflix work so well.

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Historic painting donated to Library

By Reader Staff

From Northern Idaho News, Aug. 10, 1915

NEW SCHOOL HOUSE PLANNED AT BRONX The school board had a busy time last night at the regular meeting and was unable to finish their work, so decided to adjourn till Thursday night to complete it. A committee from Bronx appeared and petitioned the board for a new school house there. It was shown that a number of new families were in the district and that an allotment of money could be had from the county for a number of children in the Colburn district who would attend the school.

The board favored the idea of a new school under the new conditions and this afternoon went out to look over the ground, both to select a site and make final determination as to building. A petition for a new school at Coolin was turned down, with the understanding that the board did not feel warranted in building there till title to a site could be secured.

The question of janitors’ wages was considered but no decision reached.

A. H. Moss was awarded a contract for re-shingling the Jefferson school. Miss Gertrude LeHuquet was placed on the waiting list of teachers.

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/ August 22, 2019

The Sandpoint Library recently received a generous art gift with a story that spans back a century.

Nearly 100 years ago, then-vice president of the Standard Oil Company, Walter C. Teagle, commissioned artist Edward Willis Redfield (1869-1965) to paint a serene outdoor winter scene.

A member of a New Hope, Penn. art colony, Redfield had established himself as an well-known artist of American Impressionism. His paintings — almost entirely of outdoor scenes — won him more than 30 medals and awards between 1896 and 1936.

Redfield’s works have been exhibited in at least 30 prominent museums, including the Boston Museum of Fine Art, Luxembourg Museum in Paris and the National Gallery of Argentina. The Sandpoint Library is now counted among them.

The untitled Redfield painting, completed in 1923 and measuring 4 feet by 3

feet, was donated to the Library by owner Phyllis Mott.

Upon Teagle’s death in 1962, no one in his family wanted the colossal art piece. His secretary, Frank Mott, agreed to take it. After Frank and his wife passed away, the painting went to their son Walter and daughter-in-law Phyllis Mott, with whom it remained. When Phyllis decided to move into a smaller home, it became apparent the painting was too large for the new living space.

After looking into shipping the painting back East to auction — where works by Redfield have sold for between $60,000 and $730,000 — Phyllis decided it had better not make the trip for fear that the glass pane covering the painting and ornate frame might become damaged.

“Better to keep it local and not risk it,” Phyllis said.

After waking from a dream in which she had donated the painting to the Library, Phyllis contacted Carol Deaner with the Pend Oreille Arts Council, the organization that curates art for the Sandpoint Library.

Phyllis Mott sits before the painting at the Sandpoint Library. Courtesy photo.

Library Director Ann Nichols later accepted the generous gift.

The painting is located on the second floor of the Sandpoint Library in the south computer alcove.

“It’s a significant piece and we want to preserve it as best as we can,” Nichols said.

Crossword Solution

Sometimes I wish Marta was more loyal to me. Like the other day. The car parked next to ours had a real dirty windshield, so I wrote THIS CAR LOOKS LIKE A FART in the dirt. Later I asked Marta if she thought it was a childish thing to do. She said, “Well maybe.”

Man, whose side is she on, anyway?

Copyright www.mirroreyes.com

CROSSWORD ACROSS

Woorf tdhe Week

intellection /in-tl-EK-shuhn/ [noun] 1. The action or process of understanding; the exercise of the intellect; reasoning.

“She wrinkled her brow with a lightning flash of intellection.”

Corrections: Nothing this week, folks. Check back next week – same bat place, same bat channel. -BO

1. Conspiracy 5. Fabrics with long coarse nap 10. Regretted 14. Emanation 15. Lone-Star State 16. Covetousness 17. Format a computer disk 19. To endure (archaic) 20. Apprehend 21. Grin 22. Ales 23. Having three units 25. Stealer 27. Hankering 28. Tempestuously 31. Darlings 58. Leave out 34. Brandish 59. Courtyards 35. “The Matrix” hero 60. Backside 36. Hoopla 61. Risqué 37. Automaton 62. Welt 38. Glance 63. D D D D 39. Genus of macaws 40. Mistake DOWN 41. Close-knit group 1. Applied to a wall 42. Grasshoppers or canvas 44. French for “Good” 2.

Pertaining to the moon 45. Pays attention to 3. Small African antelope 46. Bouquet 4. Make lace 50. Large body of water 5. Flower part 52. Grieve 6. Spiral 54. Not against 7. Angle of a leafstalk 55. Specks 8. A geographical 56. Wandering from the dictionary main path

Solution on page 26 9. South southeast 10. Ransom 11. Crude 12. Always 13. Colors 18. Small islands 22. Fowl 24. Combustible pile 26. Low, flat land 28. Grain storage buildings 29. Lascivious look 30. Oxen’s harness 31. East Indian tree 32. Tropical American wildcat 33. Indifferent 34. Author

37. Electrical or crossword 38. Shallow metal containers 40. Biblical garden 41. Sores on toes 43. Frothy 44. Located in the north 46. Papal court 47. All excited 48. Gander 49. Sea eagles 50. Smell 51. Unwakable state 53. Brute 56. Crow 57. Unhappy

August 22, 2019 /

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Tront Aboiit AUGUST31 at Matchwood Bt·cwin ·