December 20, 2018

READER

Arts, entertainment, bluster and some news

Dec. 20, 2018 |

Free!

| Vol. 15 Issue 51

‘Tis the season

Open Late Friday and Saturday

Filled wii Unique Giis

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(wo)MAN compiled by

Susan Drinkard

on the street

Does Christmas hold a spiritual meaning for you?

“We celebrate the birth of Jesus at my house. To me, the most significant thing is that he came to offer himself as a living sacrifice.”

Katie Favor Barista at Starbucks Sagle

DEAR READERS,

‘Twas the week before Christmas and all through the Reader office, Cameron was too impatient to continue this gimmick to its logical conclusion.

Sorry, everyone, I’m no poet, and I’ve contented myself with that reality (but you can read from plenty of people who are on the poetry page we’re running this week).

I truly hope everyone reading this note has a very Merry Christmas. This season is all about community, whether it’s your immediate family or the solidarity we share as townspeople and neighbors. Remember to do something kind for those around you, even as you focus on the loved ones in your life. Buy a few presents from our local retailers, artists or artisans. Send a check to one of the many worthy nonprofits we have in this town. A community is only as strong as the bonds its members create, so let’s be good to each other.

-Cameron Rasmusson, Editor

“Yes, it signifies the birth of Christ. Being raised in a household where religion and spirituality was important, I understand the deeper meaning of Christmas rather than focusing on it as a marketing holiday.”

Briarra Lewis 7th grade at SMS Ponderay “Yes, because it brings my family closer together and that is spiritual. Me and my mom and my brother are going to stay at a lodge in Whitefish and go skiing this year.”

Avery Britt 8th grade at SMS Sandpoint

www.sandpointreader.com Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com Editor: Cameron Rasmusson cameron@sandpointreader.com Zach Hagadone (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus) Advertising: Jodi Berge Jodi@sandpointreader.com

Contributing Writers: Cameron Rasmusson, Ben Olson, Susan Drinkard, Scarlett Quille, Lyndsie Kiebert, Nick Gier, Marcia Pilgeram, Mike Turnlund, Brenden Bobby, Phil Hough, Carol Visger, Tim Henney Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com

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GAME ROOM UPSTAIRS

Jordyn Phillips Pediatric occupational therapist Kootenai “Yes, my parents are divorced, but we all share Christmas. I love to see my brothers’ (ages 8 and 9) faces when they open up their presents. Some of my family is Christian, and I go to church with my grandmother because it’s fun.”

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Contributing Artists: Hannah Combs (cover), Ben Olson, Bill Borders, Cameron Rasmusson, Mike Turnlund, Phil Hough

“I’ve learned in the trials of life I’ve had to get past the commercialization of Christmas because Christ is living in me every day. For me the significance of Christmas is not just on the holiday, but year-round.”

Christine Heneise Kootenai

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About the Cover

Hannah Combs provided the beautiful cover art for this week’s paper.

You might know Hannah from her work at the Pend Oreille Arts Council, where she works tirelessly to promote and enable other artists. As you can see, she’s got some serious talent herself. Merry Christmas, Hannah!

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NEWS

City to establish sidewalk master plan

By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff

It’s a common refrain heard among local residents: Sandpoint is a walking town, so watch out for bicyclists and pedestrians.

The problem is, Sandpoint’s sidewalk network has spotty connectivity and maintenance issues. In a bid toward improving infrastructure for non-motorized transportation, Sandpoint Public Works Director Amanda Wilson announced the beginning of a master planning process at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

While Wilson said there have been no pedestrian fatalities from vehicle collisions in Sandpoint over the

last 10 years, there have been injuries and near-misses. And with 4,500 pedestrian deaths around the country per year, the importance of solid infrastructure for walkers and bikers can’t be understated, Wilson said.

“Personally this subject is near and dear to me, because my first week with the city … it became clear how important this discussion ... was to so many residents,” Wilson told council members.

Sandpoint already boasts 50 miles of sidewalk, 10 miles of multi-use paths and 800 curb ramps. However, because existing city code is inflexible and difficult to enforce, Wilson said problems have cropped up within the system. These include

gaps in sidewalk connectivity, a disagreement over a fair method to fund new sidewalk construction and no real standards or allocated responsibility for maintenance, repair and snow removal.

The city also suffers from a lack of benchmarks to evaluate over-

County EMS shift sees pushback

By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff The Board of Bonner County Commissioners is experiencing pushback following the news that the county may transition their current Emergency Management Services system from county-operated to a non-profit entity.

“We are always looking for better ways to do things, and we noted that EMS was a place that needed a much harder look,” said Commissioner Dan McDonald.

McDonald said North Valley EMS, the non-profit that the county’s EMS operations may be turned over to, was “created to potentially do business with Bonner County” by now interim EMS director Jeff Lindsey. Former EMS Chief Bob Bussey resigned earlier 4 /

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this month.

McDonald noted that nothing is set in stone just yet, and that a transition from the current EMS model to anything new is “at least six months to a year out.”

“There is a great deal of work between now and then,” McDonald said.

He said the non-profit option became appealing after being “impressed” by operations in Boundary County, where they use the non-profit EMS model.

Members of the public shared their concerns at the Dec. 18 BOCC business meeting. Former Sandpoint mayor Carrie Logan said the discussion around EMS worried her on “several levels,” noting possible violation of open meeting laws, lack of a bid process and possible changes to EMS response time and

staffing as her main concerns.

“I encourage you to hold off on your plans and conduct a transparent, open process — for the sake of public finances and the safety of our community,” she said.

McDonald said none of what the commissioners have done so far regarding the EMS issue violates open meeting law, and everything will be run past the county’s attorneys before moving forward.

County commissioner-elect Steven Bradshaw also made comment, quoting Thomas Edison in saying “When you think you’ve exhausted all the possibilities, you haven’t.”

“I’m not sure of all the details of everything that went into this, but I would encourage ya’ll to really rethink this,” Bradshaw said.

Sandpoint’s sidewalk network suffers from frequent gaps. Photo courtesy city of Sandpoint

all sidewalk performance.

That’s where the announced master plan comes into play. According to the city of Sandpoint’s breakdown, the plan will establish “prioritization (for) framework and policies, programs and project opportunity areas to advance pedestrian safety and accessibility for all people of all ages and abilities. It will lay out the key strategies and actions necessary to achieve a common vision and establish funding approaches and performance measures to gauge our success.”

The first step to establishing the master plan is to gather resident feedback, which will take place from now until January. This process emphasizes information gathering about residents’ experience with sidewalks and pathways, primarily through an online survey. People can access the survey through the city website or the Engage Sandpoint app.

From January to March, city staff and officials will work on improving city code covering sidewalks and pathways. The goal is to improve clarity, consistency and fairness. The city will also establish a citizen advisory committee, which will provide feedback on staff recommendations to the council. To apply for the committee, submit an application through the Engage Sandpoint app or apply in person at the City Hall front counter.

The final step is to actually draft the master plan. This process with take place from spring 2019 to spring 2020 and will draw on input from both residents and professional consultants.

For more information, contact Wilson at awilson@ sandpointidaho.gov or 208263-3411.

NEWS

BOCC cracks down on plow route changes

By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff A proposal from the Bonner County Road and Bridge Department Dec. 11 opened up a larger conversation regarding when and why the county makes changes to their winter road maintenance routes.

Director of Road and Bridge Steve Klatt brought the issue before the board in an effort to mitigate possible complications on a plow route in the Priest Lake area on Eastshore Road. Klatt said that the turnaround the plow driver is supposed to use is often clogged with trucks and trailers belonging to those snowmobiling the popular area. To avoid having to back down the road, Klatt proposed the plow driver be able to surpass the regularly plowed route to turn around further up the road, which is normally privately maintained.

“The worst scenario I can envision is a plow backing down and running into a snowmobiler with his toy hauler, and then we’ve really got a mess,” Klatt said. “We do not want to make this a regular feature.

We just want the operator to be

able to make that call.”

Commissioner Dan McDonald asked what would stop the county from extending maintenance onto other privately maintained roads.

“It feels to me that we’re being inconsistent with policy here,” McDonald said.

Klatt pointed out again and again that the passing of the proposal would only mean that the commissioners were giving the plow operator the authority to decide whether he needed to go beyond his regular route to turn around.

Still, members of the public who live further up the road — who would benefit from the road being plowed by the county — commented in favor of the proposal.

“It’s not a private road that we’re talking about. We’re not asking the county to come in and plow our driveways,” said Stephanie Coy, president of the Sandpiper Shores homeowners association. She noted accessibility during emergency situations as a main concern.

McDonald said the road leading up to Sandpiper Shores is usually privately maintained.

Coy said that Huckleberry Bay took care of maintenance until

Conversation spurred by proposal on Eastshore Road near Priest Lake

Courtesy of Bonner County Road and Bridge.

last year, when they transferred the road to public right-ofway. However, Klatt said that transferral does not obligate the county to adopt that stretch of road to their system.

“We’re not suggesting that we plow this for people — we want to do this for the safety of our road department,” Klatt said. “That’s the only reason we’re doing this.”

Commissioner Jeff Connolly voted in favor of the proposal, while McDonald and

Commissioner Glen Bailey voted against it.

“We want to do away with the good ol’ boy network, where we do favors for people we know,” McDonald said. “I look forward to the solution, but I just don’t think this is the solution.”

Klatt said the Eastshore Road issue hasn’t been discussed any further following the Dec. 11 BOCC decision — a decision that Klatt said “stands on its own.”

“There’s a hundred similar

situations in Bonner County.

However we apply an expansion of our maintenance to one, that same consideration has to be made to all,” Klatt said, pointing out again that last week’s proposal was not necessarily about an expansion of maintenance, though public discussion did make it seem that way. “We’re going to have an issue up there … (if) the plow is forced to back out — that’s the predicament I see.”

County to change procedures after discovering uncounted ballots

By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff

The Bonner County Elections office is making some changes to the way they count and track ballots after discovering 396 uncounted absentee ballots in a drawer last week.

“I have no idea why that last drawer wasn’t opened,” said County Clerk Michael Rosedale.

The uncounted votes did not change the outcome of any races from the Nov. 6 election, Rosedale said, making the mishap a much smaller ordeal than

it could have been.

“While it represented 2% of the vote and had no effect on outcomes, it still was something that never should have happened,” wrote Rosedale on the county’s website below the new election results. “I and my staff are very sorry, not to mention terribly embarrassed and have adopted measures already that will preclude this type of error from ever happening again.”

Elections Coordinator T.J. Eigler said the office is “doing something simple, straightfor-

ward and a little old fashioned” to help mitigate any future ballot misplacement.

Previously, the office would run a report each night compiling the names of everyone whose ballot they’d received that day, and then they’d compare the report to the physical ballots. Now, Eigler said they’ll add a log that tracks the number of ballots received each day, and they will then initial off that log on election night to make sure quantities match up.

“Now we’re making sure what goes in must come out,”

Eigler said.

Additionally, Eigler said reports will be scanned and saved to the county’s network as backup.

Prior to the recount, Steve Bradshaw defeated Steve Johnson for the District 1 commissioner seat 11,363 to 6,825.

The new total is Bradshaw 11,544, Johnson 7,029.

According to initial tallies, Dan McDonald defeated Steve Lockwood 10,810 to 7,442 for the District 3 commissioner spot. The new numbers are 10,990 to 7,651, McDonald

still with the win.

Donna Gow beat out Wendel Bergman by a 13,171 to 3,711 tally at first to become county assessor, which has now been corrected to 13,418 to 3,805.

The results of the Bonner Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor Board race also remain true to original voting results.

The outcomes of both ballot initiatives, as well as state and federal races, also remain the same after the lost votes were tallied. See all new results at www.bonnercounty.gov.

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OPINION

Smaller lumps of coal in some Christmas stockings this year

By Nick Gier Reader Columnist

Every mine safety law is written in a miner’s blood.

—Phil Smith, United Mine Workers Initially, I could not find a connection between the 40-year decline in coal consumption and Christmas, and then suddenly it came to me: there will be smaller lumps of coals in the stockings of those who deny climate change. They are definitely on Santa’s Naughty List.

Way up north Santa has had to strip down to his long underwear during the warmest five years since he started delivering presents in 1832. He has experienced first-hand the recession of the glaciers and the permafrost around his workshop has melted for the first time and has not yet re-froze this winter.

Despite Trump’s claim that “the coal industry is back,” estimates are that 2018 will experience the largest ever decrease in coal consumption.

This is mainly due to the closing of 250 coal-fired power plants since 2010—three in October alone. Cleaner natural gas and renewable wind and solar are gradually edging out coal in the nation’s energy equation.

Of course Trump has blamed Obama and his alleged “war on coal,” but the decline in consumption has been fairly steady since 1979, and the recent steep drop started during the second Bush administration. Furthermore, Obama’s Clean Power Plan never went into effect because of a court challenge, and now Trump has rescinded Obama’s executive order.

Even the easing of regulations for coal-fired plants has not stopped their removal off-line nor has it encouraged the building of new ones. “Ironical-

ly,” says former Obama official Joe Pizarchik, “the new tax law approved by the Republican-controlled Congress has encouraged coal plants to close, as utilities use a provision that allows them to accelerate depreciation costs for closing plants.”

Last July, blowhard Trump claimed that he had created 45,000 new coal jobs, but the actual number was 1,001 for 2017. This year the 4 West Mine in southwestern Pennsylvania is slated to close, and 400 jobs will be lost there.

Furthermore, over 1,000 miners were let go in Kentucky, Texas, and Ohio, reversing all the gains in 2017.

Mine deaths have nearly doubled, from eight in 2016 to 15 this year, the highest since 2014. During that time there were 60,000 more miners, but the Obama administration still brought the death toll down below 20. Safety rules, now under attack, were strengthened significantly after 29 miners lost their lives in the Upper Big Branch mine in 2013.

Black lung disease is also on the rise, and the Trump administration is revisiting regulations regarding coal dust put in place by the Obama administration. Mine safety lawyer Tony Oppegard believes there’s only one reason for this move: “To raise the amount of dust miners can breathe in or to create other loopholes where operators could violate the standard.” In June 2018, no doubt feeling freer to ignore existing rules, a Kentucky coal company was fined for not reporting the correct readings on its mine’s dust monitors.

Former coal lobbyist and climate change denier Andrew Wheeler has replaced the completely corrupt Scott Pruitt at the EPA. He is determined to de-regulate the coal plants even more.

He has proposed that any new plants could emit up to 500 more pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour of

electricity than the 2015 standard.

With Trump-like denial of the obvious, Wheeler claims that this would not increase carbon dioxide emissions! He boasts that that these were down 2.7 percent in 2017, but they have been decreasing since 2007 and have nothing to do with his EPA or Trump.

This year emissions have gone up 2.5 percent because of oil use and greater demand for cooling and heating. This is just under the 2.7 percent across the world, pushing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 405 parts per million, the highest in 3-5 million years.

Major health authorities have condemned the EPA proposal declaring that it is “a major threat to the health of all Americans, particularly those most vulnerable. Power plant pollution and climate change endangers the health of every American, but certain groups are more at risk—including children, older adults, pregnant women, low-income communities and communities of color. This latest attempt from the administration to give industry a license to pollute is irresponsible and illogical from both a health and economic perspective.”

A bill to shore up miners’ pensions funds has been held up in the GOP Senate, and Trump has done nothing to promote its passage. Former Obama official Pizarchik says: “Trump talks tough to the coal miners to get their support, but he doesn’t deliver for them.”

Nick Gier of Moscow taught philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years. Email him at ngier006@ gmail.com.

Hush fund...

Dear Editor, Wait a minute here! Dems want to impeach President Trump for paying hush money to women, while Congressmen on both sides reportedly have access to a taxpayer bankrolled slush fund they draw on for the same thing?

No two-facedness here, right? No corruption here, right? But hey, hush money payouts are bipartisan.

It’s reported our electeds, over time, have used this fund to the tune of $17,000,000.

Can’t be true, can it? It’s not possible that our Congressmen would use our tax dollars to pay women in exchange for their silence, is it?

And want it kept secret? Nah, I don’t believe it! None of this can be true. Congress couldn’t be a den of vipers, could it? And President Trump couldn’t have done what he is accused of, could he? He’s just as honest as our Congressmen, isn’t he?

God bless America, and God bless our military.

Steve Brixen Sandpoint Got something to say? Write a letter to the editor at letters@sandpointreader.com.

Under 400 words, and please elevate the discussion. Please no handwritten letters!

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COMMUNITY

New Year’s basketball Chamber names business, volunteer of the month camps offered I celebrate Christmas. Other people celebrate other holidays this time of year. Recently, I met a family who celebrates winter holidays from various cultures just so their kids can experience them. Now that’s cool.

Some of the better known un-Christmas holidays include Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, and while I was raised to take a “live-and-letlive” attitude toward these holidays and others, it recently came to my attention that we live in a world where this is not always the case.

As a reporter, I expect — and aspire — to see my name in print every week. It is something I’ve come to take for granted, so when someone recently requested anonymity before they’d write an article about these non-Christian holidays for the Reader, I had to take a long look at what it means to publish your words each week without hesitation.

This person shared a perspective that I’m sure many do: They said they felt overwhelmed and forgotten by the intense American embrace of Santa and other Christmas motifs. And I can see what they’re saying — when’s the last time you saw a menorah available at Walmart alongside the fake trees?

The person who contacted me did not originally want to write anything, and when I asked if they’d like to share their perspective in an op-ed, they requested anonymity. The Reader rarely grants anonymity, so I instead offered to speak up on the subject.

First, Christmas is not the only holiday this time of year, and it would do us all good to remember that and possibly educate ourselves.

Some readers may rant about the evils of political correctness while reading this, but my intention is only to point out the obvious: We live in a diverse world, even here in Bonner County, and that’s cool.

Secondly, I respect the person who reached out to me and their request for anonymity. We live in a world where sometimes placing your name beside writing is considered a radical act. Still, I hope one day a column like this can be seen for what it is: just another perspective, hoping only to get someone thinking outside of their immediate box.

Merry Christmas, heri za Kwanzaa, happy Hanukkah and happy New Year to all!

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By Reader Staff The Basketball School of Sandpoint is offering a couple of basketball camps to kick off 2019.

Two three-day basketball camps are being offered at Kootenai Elementary Jan. 2-4. Boys and girls ages 7-10 will play 9 a.m.-12 p.m. and boys and girls ages 11-15 will have the court 1 p.m.-4 p.m. The cost is $55 per player, with discounts available

Courtesy photo. for multiple siblings.

“It is a great way for kids to develop skills and confidence and for parents to help burn some holiday energy out of their kids at the end of Christmas Break,” said Darren Laiche, founder of the Basketball School of Sandpoint.

More information and registration is available at www.basketballschoolofsandpoint.com.

By Reader Staff The Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce is proud to honor Ken Wood as December Volunteer of the Month. Ken recently left the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors after serving six year, from 20122018. During his tenure he also served as the chairman of the board.

Ken is a financial advisor with Edward Jones, a husband and father of two boys, a member of the Sandpoint Rotary and has been involved in Habitat for Humanity. He is also active in community theater scene.

The Chamber also congratulates Schweitzer Mountain Resort as Business of the Month. Recently celebrating their 55th birthday, Schweitzer Mountain Resort not only provides endless fun for outdoor enthusiasts, they are an active contributor and supporter of the Sandpoint Economy and Community.

Their generosity to the community is immeasurable.

From $10 Community Ski

Day, supporting Community Cancer Services and Bonner Partners in Care, to offering fifth and sixth graders skiing experiences for $18 in coordination with a Ski Idaho Program. They work with 24 hours for Hank to help research for cystinosis, fundraise for Bonner County Food Bank and partner with the Ponderay Rotary and their Duck Derby Fundraiser.

In addition, they donate ski passes to all sorts of organizations and fundraisers.

Schweitzer is also a great partner in the Winter Carnival, coordinating with all the participating businesses to make sure everyone benefits together. They are also a major partner with Visit Sandpoint, the Chamber’s tourism division, and working in conjunction with the state to bring visitors from outside the area in winter and summer. This is in addition to their constant support of Chamber events throughout the year.

BGH support group changes locations Laughing Matter

By Reader Staff

The Bonner General Health Parent’s Grief Support Group has changed locations and is now being held at Creations of Sandpoint on the Cedar Street Bridge. This is a recurring monthly meeting.

Meetings are held on the third Tuesday each month at 5 p.m. at Creations of Sandpoint in the Cedar Street Bridge located at 334 N. First Avenue in downtown Sandpoint.

This is an ongoing, informal support group meeting

that is open to all parents who have experienced the loss of a child at any age. Join us for a time to connect with others in a positive environment. These bereavement services are offered at no cost to parents who would like to receive support, grandparents are also welcome.

Please contact Lissa DeFreitas at 208-265-1185 for an application or for more information, or go to BonnerGeneral.org/bereavement-counseling

By Bill Borders

HUMOR

White elephant in the room There are a lot of Christmas activities that I do not understand, but one in particular stands out above all the rest: the White Elephant gift exchange parties.

First and foremost, don’t we all get enough stuff that we never knew we needed or wanted for Christmas? The way I see it is that pretty much every gift-giving situation involving people we don’t socialize with regularly are white elephant parties. Secret Santa?

Come on, we’ve all had a terrible Secret Santa who gifted us weird shit for an entire season. Hell, maybe you were the shitty Secret Santa because you got stuck with a person you do not know or like whatsoever. I understand the point of forced togetherness during the holiday season, but do we really need to add the awkward bonus of a gift exchange?

The only benefit I see to these types of gatherings is the social experiment aspect. You can learn a lot about a people from observing what their definition of a white elephant gift is. Let me explain.

I went to a giant, all-department Christmas party one year. There were at least 75 people there, and I had worked with maybe 25 of them. The people at my table received: a giant stuffed lion, a camouflaged dog kennel, a set of tastefully-scented candles and — lucky me — I got to open up a

giant vibrator in front of 50 or so strangers. Mind you, this vibrator did not come in any sort of packaging, and therefore was likely used and probably contaminated. Who brought the vibrator? Who? I am pretty sure that sex toys are on the list of things you shouldn’t one: RE-gift, and two: give as a gift to a coworker.

The other element to this type of party is that the gifts are anonymous. I found myself looking around the room at all of the people hysterically laughing trying to figure out what kind of a nut job would wrap a giant vibrator to exchange at the work party. I have my suspicions on who this person was, but in a party that size, it could have been anyone from the janitor to the CEO. Truthfully, my money is on the CEO. I think the gifts are supposed to be funny, so I kind of understand the lion and the vibrator. But what the hell is hilarious about candles?

Is it a social statement? I mean, candles seem like a pretty normal gift, which illustrates my first point: ALL GIFT EXCHANGES ARE WHITE ELEPHANT. I’m not sure why we need to add a gift exchange or theme to have an excuse to socialize with one another. I don’t need to wear an ugly sweater or take home a box of junk to enjoy a party. Honestly, most people will come if there is booze

involved. I guess the gift exchange part is for the people who don’t drink? If you really want people to come to your gathering, just be honest. Say “let’s get drunk,” and let the chips fall. No one needs to own clothes that make everyone look like a fat ass, and no one needs to bring home a box of junk or a used vibrator from a “Christmas” party. Can we all agree on that?

The last thing that haunts me about the white elephant parties is the practice of “stealing” someone’s gift. So if you open your gift and decide that you would rather have a box of candles than a vibrator, you can “steal” the candles. I never steal at these parties. It feels wrong to me. I may not be the Christmasiest bitch on the planet,

but I know that stealing doesn’t really go hand in hand with the spirit of giving and togetherness. So what do you do when your gift is a vibrator? Do you keep it, so all your co-workers and their spouses think you are a closet freak? Do you steal and ethically compromise yourself? Ask yourself these questions the next time you are proposing a white elephant party. Think of the person who might get a vibrator.

Having said all that, I go to the parties. I will be wearing a holiday-themed, ill-fitting garment this weekend. I wonder if I am supposed to bring a present. If so, I have just the thing.

Happy Holidays!!!

Scarlette Quille

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Mad about Science:

By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist It’s not every day that you get to see a comet. In some cases, it’s not every lifetime you get to see a comet.

A comet is an amalgam of rock and ice hurtling through space at great speeds. We often see them with a long glowing tail streaking behind them for extended periods of time. That tail is formed by escaping gasses being released as the ice warms up by getting closer to the sun (called outgassing, a byproduct of solar radiation pelting the ice molecules). It’s a beautiful sight, and to us it appears to be a tiny little streak across the sky. In actuality, a comet’s tail can reach as far as 1 AU, or the distance from the Sun to the Earth (about 93 million miles, 8 light minutes).

If we learn nothing else from this article, I hope that little tidbit sticks, because that’s mindblowingly awesome.

We believe most comets originate from the Kuiper belt, a band of rocky, icy objects past Neptune, though some may travel from even farther, coming from something called the Oort Cloud, which is a theoretical spherical mass of rocky, icy objects that could range in size from microscopic to planetary, stretching hundreds of thousands of AU outside of the solar system.

We’re aware of over 5,000 comets, but this isn’t even a hydrogen atom in the drop of the proverbial bucket of

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comets

Brought to you by:

‘80s, and how he got to see it, and how I would get to see it when I would be his age in 2061. Given The orbit of Halley’s Comet. my love of bacon and nachos, I sincerely our solar system. There is an hope he was right, and I get to unknown number of objects live that long. racing through our stellar Hale-Bopp was a great neighborhood that haven’t comet (a fancy way of saying passed Earth in the entirety of a comet everyone can see, not human history. just astronomers) that was Halley’s Comet is probably visible for almost 18 months. the most famous comet ever.

It was also perhaps the mostIt’s visible from Earth once every 74-79 years. It has a very viewed comet in human history, as the proliferation of long and tight orbit around the widespread television made sun, coming as close as 0.6 it easy for everyone, from AU, or between Mercury and every income to see the comet.

Venus, before being flung out as far as Pluto. It also has a tail Unfortunately, Hale-Bopp’s 100,000 kilometers long, which legacy was sort of marred by a bunch of stupid cultists, but is huge. Each time the comet we’re not going to go into that gets this close to the sun, it mess. Unfortunately for all of loses some of its mass and inus, we’ll never see Hale-Bopp creases its velocity when flung around the sun. Within the next again in our lifetimes. Its next expected naked-eye pass of 10,000 years or so, the comet will likely break in two, evapo- Earth is projected to be around 4300 AD. By then, I’m sure rate, or be flung into an escape we will have all become some velocity and sent back into the Oort cloud or beyond. The next form of collective AI that can just fly towards it and take time we’ll see Halley’s Comet robot selfies or something. will be 2061.

So, when are we expected Many readers my age and to see the next great comet? older will probably remember Comet Hale-Bopp, or the Great Your guess is as good as mine.

Statistically, one passes Earth Comet of 1997. I remember in some degree every 5 to 10 sitting in my grandpa’s truck, years. Whether or not they’re looking up at the sky asking a bright enough for us to see, bajillion stupid questions as he or if we’re even in the right patiently answered and re-answered each one. It’s one of my hemisphere to see them is a fondest memories of childhood. completely different matter.

Luckily for us, technoloI remember him telling me gy has evolved beyond our about Halley’s Comet in the

wildest dreams. Now, even hard-to-see comets are just a mouse click away in vivid, beautiful detail. Pixels are no substitute for the real thing, however. Lucky for us, Australia is pretty accepting of North American tourists, especially when astronomical spectacles come into play.

One of the most incredible images I’ve seen lately comes from an image of Comet

Lovejoy from 2014/2015. It’s enhanced digitally, but not in that way your last four Tinder dates were.

It’s been a good long while since we’ve had a real great comet in the northern hemisphere. Keep your eyes up, and maybe you’ll be the first amateur astronomer to see something spectacular.

Random Corner mas?

Don’t know much about Christ Part 2

We can help!

• During the Christmas of 2010, the Colombian government covered jungle trees with lights. When FARC guerrillas (terrorists) walked by, the trees lit up and banners asking them to lay down their arms became visible. Around 330 guerrillas re-entered society and the campaign won an award for strategic marketing excellence.

• Nearly all of the most popular Christmas songs including ‘Winter Wonderland’, ‘Chestnuts roasting…’, and ‘I’m Dreaming of a white Christmas’ were written by Jewish people.

• During the Christmas of 1914 (World War 1), a truce was held between Germany and the UK. They decorated their shelters, exchanged gifts across no man’s land and played a game of football between themselves.

• In 1918 and for the past 40 years, the Canadian province of Nova Scotia has sent the city of Boston a giant Christmas tree as a thank you for their support after the 1917 Halifax explosion.

• The Nazi Party tried to turn Christmas into a nonreligious holiday celebrating the coming of Hitler, with Saint Nicholas replaced by Odin the “Solstice Man” and swastikas on top of Christmas trees.

• The U.S. playing card company ‘Bicycle’ had manufactured a playing card in WW2 which would reveal an escape route for POWs when soaked. These cards were Christmas presents for all POWs in Germany.

The Nazis were none the wiser!

• An artificial Christmas tree would have to be reused for more than 20 years to be “greener” than buying a fresh-cut tree annually.

• Japanese people traditionally eat at KFC for Christmas dinner, thanks to a successful marketing campaign 40 years ago. KFC is so popular that customers must place their Christmas orders 2 months in advance.

HOLIDAYS

What your 20-something really wants for Christmas

By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff

As a kid, I’d unabashedly produce a Christmas List for my mom each year, sometime in October. Although she is a year-round holiday shopper, my mom would wait for this list to decide what “big” gift to get me. I had a really fortunate childhood, and would often get a lot of what I listed, including what was (and is still) called the “Santa Gift.”

A BB gun.

A guitar.

A snowboard.

Yes, this tomboy supreme was spoiled, and still is on Christmas, but the holiday has taken on a new meaning.

Some would say us 20-somethings are in limbo. I don’t live with my parents, but I don’t have kids to wake up with on Christmas morning yet. I’m not married, but my long-term boyfriend and I have to navigate whose parents’ house we’re going to and when on big holidays.

Also in limbo is my Christmas List, which my mother still requests. Of course I want things, but I need things, too, and Christmas is a good time to take stock.

So what is it the 20-something in your life needs?

Stuff to make cooking easier: Why did no one tell me that 80 percent of being an adult is deciding what and when to eat? In college I subsisted almost entirely on pizza rolls, so my cooking skills didn’t make any huge improvements until I invited a 6’3” man to live with me.

Suddenly I had more than myself to think about while I browsed the grocery aisles.

There’s plenty of gadgets on the market meant to make cooking more hassle free — food processors, zoodle tools, wireless

Photo by Thought Catalog. smartphone-connected meat thermometers — but nothing has compared to my slow-cooker. Thanks, Mom. Printed photos: I have 1,724 photos on my phone, but there might be one printed photo sitting in a frame in my living room. Blame it on tech culture, but millennials aren’t scrapbookers. Most of our memories reside within our phones, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want a nice framed photo of us with our siblings to hang on the wall — it just means the last time we walked into the Walmart photo center was circa 2005, and it was to develop our disposable camera from vacation.

and sip vouchers, or tickets to a show or sporting event are just a few ideas.

That thing I should have bought last week but didn’t: I’ve needed new sheets for months now. I don’t know where all my favorite pens have gone. None of my pots or frying pans have lids anymore. My dog

could certainly use a good grooming.

These are all things I’m bound to spend money on — once I finally remember to write them down — but just haven’t yet.

So to all the adults trying to shop for a 20-something this season, just know a surefire way to make their holiday is to simply ask them what they need. I promise the list isn’t short.

Plans: At this phase of life, it’s easy to get caught up in working, paying the bills and maybe doing a fun thing here and there in between when it’s affordable. As a result, gifts that mean we get to go out and make memories with the people we love are great. Restaurant gift certificates, paint

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Dollar Beers!

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

Live music w/ Bright Moments Jazz 5:30-7:30pm @ Cedar Street Wine Bar Live music w/ BareGrass 5-7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority Live music w/ Laney Lou & the Bird Dogs 6-9pm @ 219 Lounge

Live music w/ Ron Kieper 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

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Annual Procrastinator’s Holiday Fair 10am-3pm @ Evans Brothers Local artisans and makers, handmade gifts, sales on EB coffee and merchandise, live jazz Live music w/ Bright Moments Jazz 11am-2pm @ Evans Brothers

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25 26 27

Authentic Relating G 6-8:30pm @ Evans Bro Celebrate the gift of co It’s the most wonderfu tially stressful — time down, take a breath a some much needed con

Chris Lynch, Brian Jacobs & Meg Turner 8-10pm @ Back Door Bar Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee Meets every Sunday at 9am

Live 8-10p

Live music w/ Sadie Sicilia 6:30-9:30pm @ Matchwood Brewing

Live music w/ Brian Jacobs and Chris Lynch 5-7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

m o n d a y t u e s d a y

Girls Pint Night Out 5-7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority Cool Chicks! Great Beer! No Dudes! Potluck night. Bring your favorite holiday appetizer to share and pair with beer. For more information contact Vicki 208-596-0740

Live music w/ Bob Be 5:30-7:30pm @ Cedar

Live Music w/ Bob Beadling 2-4pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Holiday piano tunes

Christmas Music S 10am @ Gardenia C

Monday Night Blues Jam w/ Truck Mills 7:30pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Merry Christmas

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

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

Hootenanny Open Mic Night 6:30-8:30pm @ City Beach Organics If you have an instrument to play, a song to sing, a poem to read, or want to hear live music, join Fiddlin’ Red and Desiree for a Hootenanny. 265-9919

Trivia Takeover Live 6-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Family friendly interactive trivia

ful

December 20 - 27, 2018

PSNI Christmas Market Daily through Dec. 23, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday @ the PSNI greenhouse Support the community and adults with disabilities by shopping local in a festive atmosphere. Over 20 vendors are selling handmade gifts, retail items, and holiday decor. Free admission.

ck to ion

nery

A weekly entertainment guide to keep you on your toes. To list your event free, please send an email to calendar@sandpointreader.com.

Reader recommended

Live music w/ Kevin Dorin & Steven Wayne 8-10pm @ Back Door Bar

Brewing

Dark Beer Day 3-9pm @ 219 Lounge Featuring 10 different barrel-aged stouts and porters from regional breweries

elating Games Night Evans Brothers gift of connection! wonderful — crazy busy, potenul — time of the year. So, slow a breath and get wrapped up in eeded connection

w/ Bob Beadling @ Cedar Street Wine Bar

s Music Service Gardenia Center

Celebration of Light-Guided Journey and Conscious Dance 6-8pm @ Embody Studio $20 at the door Live music w/ Devon Wade 6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

Live music w/ The Wow Wows 6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Convoy of Hope Fundraiser & live music 11am-1pm @ Davis Grocery A one-day fundraiser where Davis Grocery will donate 50 percent of all sales that day to Convoy of Hope. Music from Dusty Drennen

Santa Skis @ Schweitzer Mt. Resort

20% off all Christmas ornaments and decorations

Live music w/ Bart Budwig 9pm-12am @ 219 Lounge

Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes 4-6:30pm @ Matchwood Brewing

mas, everyone!

to sing, a join Fid265-9919

‘Elf’ Sing-A-Long 6:30pm @ the Panida Free event

More than a store, a Super store!

Sandpoint Direct Primary Care and Frazier King, M.D. Welcome:

Jan. 5 Free Fat Bike Demos @ Indian Creek Campground

Now accepting new pediatric and adult patients Enjoy extended, relaxed visits, same day scheduling, wholesale labs and medications, and full access to your physician via technology, 24/7 Call t od a y to m a ke an a ppoi ntme nt

Jan. 11 Follies Auditions @ Sandpoint Charter School

1323 US-2 Suite 300 Sandpoint • 208-263-3091 sandpointdpc.com

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HEALTH

Sandpoint Direct Primary Care is expanding

Welcome Dr. Jillian Verby Klaucke

By Mike Turnlund Reader Contributor The success of Ballot Measure 2 in the recent general election demonstrates a growing concern over the affordability of health care in Idaho. This ballot measure allowed for the expansion of Medicare insurance to cover more low-income families in our state. But this ballot-box success might also serve to illustrate the misunderstanding many people have about access to medical care, confusing affordable healthcare insurance with affordable health care. They are not the same. Access to medical insurance is not a guarantee of better medical care. It only means a company or organization is collecting a fee. The affordability of the actual care, even with insurance, is another matter.

One doctor in Sandpoint recently addressed the problem of affordable medical care in a very tangible and innovative way.

Three years ago, Dr. Frazier King founded Sandpoint Direct Primary Care (DPC), which provides “full-spectrum” health care for families and individuals. Costs are very affordable. Adults pay only $50 to $65 a month, depending on their age, while children are $25 a month or less, to receive comprehensive family medical care. And Dr. King limits the number of patients he will serve, which allows him to spend as much time as he needs with each person he meets. Members of Sandpoint DPC can even consult him via the internet or with a smart phone!

Interestingly, Sandpoint DPC does not accept insurance. They have nothing to do with insurance companies. That is the genius behind the direct primary care model: insurance companies play no role.

Business has been good; too good.

Dr. King has more requests for service than he is able to take. So, he went out and found a partner. Sandpoint DPC is expanding! Please welcome Dr. Jillian Klaucke, Dr. King’s new partner. And she is accepting new patients.

For Dr. Jillian, coming to Sandpoint means coming full circle. She was born and raised in Sandpoint and is excited about returning home and being near her family, parents, and grandparents. In fact, it was the example of her grandfather — Dr. John E. Verby II — that set her on the path to becoming a family physician. She knew by 14 /

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Dr. Jillian Verby Klaucke and Dr. Frazier King. Photo by Mike Turnlund. first grade that she wanted to follow in his footsteps. But the path was not direct. She attended college at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, Calif., attended medical school at the University of Nevada in Reno, Nev., and completed her residency in Billings, Mont., at the Montana Family Medicine Residency.

In addition, she twice worked as a family physician in New Zealand and at a traditional private practice in Baltimore, Maryland.

And along the way she married (her husband Jonathan Klaucke is an orthopedic surgeon at Bonner General), had two children (daughter Greta and son Andreas) and became a fellow with the Academy of Wilderness Medicine, which allowed her to combine her two interests of medicine and the great outdoors.

It was her work in New Zealand as a family physician that drew her to the direct-primary-care model after returning to the United States. In New Zealand medical doctors are spared the “red tape” and bureaucracy that plague doctors in the American medical system, and there she was able to spend the time necessary to meet the needs of those under her care. No racing the clock to hurry from

patient to patient. Similar to her practice in New Zealand, Dr. Jillian says that the direct-primary-care model allows her to have her patients’ “concerns heard and acted upon, not prioritized and put off.”

And for Dr. Jillian, the DPC-model also presents “the idea that medical care can not only be affordable, but that patients should feel like they are part of a family, not just a family medicine practice.”

And unlike the traditional American doctor’s office, the DPC model is inherently

flexible. This allows for patients to often have same-day appointments, buy their prescription medicines at wholesale cost and have 24/7 access to their doctor if needed.

Yes, affordable healthcare in the United States is an urgent problem. But Sandpoint DPC is a step in the right direction. And not only is it affordable, it’s friendly. And unhurried. And a good place to be. And now that Dr. Jillian has joined Dr. King, it’s twice as nice!

is now accepting applications for the remainder of the current school year.

We have openings in 7th-10th grades.

Accepted students may begin on Jan. 7, 2019.

Applications are available on our website www.forrestbirdcharterschool.org or in both school offices.

COMMUNITY

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON THURSDAY, DEC. 20 @ 6:30PM

ELF MOVIE AND SING-A-LONG Left: Dustin Ehrmantrout heads home in his stocking in 1987.

Right: Barrett Ehrmantrout is a stocking baby just like his dad.

Courtesy photos.

FREE EVENT • Sponsored by State Farm

Little Theater

FriDAY, DEC. 21 @ 6:30 & 7:30PM

Line and Swing Lessons & Dance Dec. 21 - Jan. 4

Welcome to Marwen See website for showtimes

Little Theater

By Reader Staff Dustin and Stephanie Ehrmantrout welcomed Barrett Bohden to their family on Dec. 12, making him the third generation of the Ehrmantrout family born at Bonner General Health in the month of December.

Barrett and Dustin both went home from Bonner General Health in red Christmas stockings and knit hats that were handmade and donated by members of the Bonner General Health Volunteer Council, Barrett this year and Dustin in 1987. For over 45 years all babies born at Bonner General Health in

the month of December have been given a red stocking and knit hat.

Dustin’s mom, Shirley Ehrmantrout, still has the stocking and knitted hat that she took Dustin home in. Shirley started the family tradition of being born at Bonner General Health in December on Dec. 3, 1954. Shirley was delivered by Dr. J.P. Munson, Dustin was delivered by Dr. Tom Lawrence and Barret was delivered by Dr. Jeff Johnson. Barrett joins big sisters Hope and Felicity.

Saturday, Dec. 22 @ 4pm

Panida’s Volunteer Holiday Party Little Theater

Dec. 28 - Dec. 30

Free Solo

Sponsored by La Chic Boutique and Plant Positive

COMING SOON

Becoming Astrid, Green Book, The Favourite, Banff

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TRAVEL

The Spell of the Yukon

Paddling 2,000 Miles from Source to Sea

By Phil Hough Reader Contributor

“There are strange things done in the midnight sun By the men who moil for gold; The Arctic trails have their secret tales That would make your blood run cold; The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, But the queerest they ever did see Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge I cremated Sam McGee.” -From “The Cremation of Sam McGee” by Robert Service.

T

he Yukon River begins in British Columbia, flows north through the Yukon Territory and then makes a large arc across Alaska through the wildest 2,000 miles left on the North American Continent. If something goes wrong, you are pretty much on your own with little or no recourse to rescue. Certainly, there is no place like it in the “lower 48” states.

So Deb and I, naturally, just had to go north to Alaska and experience its wonders!

We found ourselves one night, literally, on the marge of Lake Labarge, around a driftwood campfire, with my dad and our friends Paul, Rick, Doug and Laura, reading aloud Jack London’s poems. Unlike Sam Magee, we were not after heat from the fire. Words and embers warmed our souls, connecting us to the ages. To travelers past. To those seeking gold in the Klondike Stampede. To Jack London himself. To my grandfather. To each other. Campfires hold timeless stories and secrets.

Our Yukon adventure had its roots in another campfire 30 16 /

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A map of the paddling route. years earlier. At age 10, on the banks of the Allagash River, I came to know my grandfather.

He passed away before I was born, but my dad introduced me to him, feeding the campfire and telling tales about my grandfather’s experience in Alaska.

After World War I ended, grandad went to work for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service and Alaska Department of Game in Southeast Alaska. For three years, he counted salmon, inspected canneries and visited native villages. He hunted, fished and explored. In 1921, he spent the summer surveying the northern boundary of Mt McKinley National Park. Afterwards he traveled by steamboat up the Yukon River. At Dawson, he found men still working the Klondike Gold fields. The White Pass Railway took him to Skagway, 40 years before Alaska would

become a state.

The dying embers from that Allagash campfire sparked an idea that grew as my dad and I shared other adventures and campfires.

These embers flared to life in the summer of 2000. My wife Deb and I set out to retrace the “classic” route of the Klondike Gold Rush as faithfully as we could. We left San Francisco on Amtrak, bound by train for Seattle, as did thousands of “Stampeders” in 1898 during the “Last Great Gold Rush”.

We met our companions and boarded the Alaskan ferry.

Over three days we travelled the 1,000-mile Inside Passage, watching islands and fiords slide slowly by. Places that my Grandfather had lived and worked had changed very little. In Skagway, we got off the ferry and chased my grandfather’s ghost, staying

in the same hotel where he had slept 79 years earlier.

At 32 miles long, the Chilkoot Trail crosses the coastal mountain range, a high barrier to the Yukon’s headwaters in northern British Columbia. During the Goldrush, Canadian Mounties required that stampeders entering Canada via Chilkoot Pass each carry a ton of provisions. This took months, crossing over the mountains 40 to 50 times, in winter. We decided it was OK to take some liberty with historical accuracy. We started in June not December and hiked the trail just once, letting the tourist railroad deposit our boats and supplies at Lake Bennett.

We paddled 96 miles across several headwater lakes, whose outlet creates the Yukon River.

Then we travelled another 490 miles on the river, including the night on Lake Labarge, until

arriving in Dawson City and the Klondike goldfields. Here, my dad departed to return home, having completed his trip of a lifetime.

I knew before we began that I would not be satisfied unless we paddled on to the Bering Sea. I admit to having a compulsion to see what lays on the other side of a mountain (or river) until they end. It’s a curse.

“There’s a race of men that don’t fit in, A race that can’t sit still; So they break that heart of kith and kin, And they roam the world at will.

They range the field and they rove the flood, And they climb the mountain’s crest: Theirs is the curse of the

< see YUKON, page 17 >

< YUKON, con’t from page 16 >

gypsy blood, And they don’t know how to rest.”

-From “The Men that Don’t Fit In” by Robert Service

A

s we continued down the Yukon, our other friends left in stages, each pulled in their own direction. We waived goodbye to our last companions as we paddled under the Alaska Pipeline’s haul road, the only bridge crossing the river in Alaska. With 1,000 miles to go to the Bering Sea, we were now on our own.

In some ways, the real adventure had just begun.

Western Alaska is Wild Country! Look at a map and see the sheer size and scale of the place.

Note the blank spaces. There are no roads to the outside world.

Athabascan and Inuit villages are small and often 100 miles or more apart. They can only be reached by small plane or boat.

The Yukon River has many moods. It ranges from a half mile to four miles wide. Floods carve new channels and banks each spring. Levels drop in late summer revealing new features.

Islands and sandbars appear and disappear in each season, every year. The surface can go from mirror smooth to threefoot standing waves in minutes.

Crossing this river means making a decision 10 miles upstream, before you can see the other side. The channel cuts through permafrost, keeping the water temperature well below 50F, so hypothermia is a real threat if a boat flips.

This is a land where mosquitoes hunt in hordes, not packs; where temperatures can go from 90F to snowing in a day or two.

We paddled for six weeks before we saw a dark sky. Most nights we watched sunset linger and slowly become sunrise. Yet, in just a few months, there would be nothing but 24 hours of darkness. Every time we stopped on shore, we found fresh tracks from moose, wolves and bears, but never humans.

Pulling away from shore after a lunch break one day, a grizzly sow and cub pushed their noses out from the willows on the bank above, maybe 40 feet

away. From her puzzled look, we guessed she had probably never seen a human, much less a 19foot long floating creature with two torsos and four arms and no legs. Whatever she made of us, she did not care.

Strong storms barreled in several times, with strong winds and heavy rains coming off the north Pacific, keeping us pinned down in our camp on exposed sandbars for a day or two at a time.

We were alone, yet in a double kayak we, paradoxically, spent all day, every day, just 30 inches apart. We were even closer when storms would strand us inside a tent for a day or two.

This trip was the ultimate in both solitude and close proximity to another person.

The daily encounter with each other and our own selves was as much a part of the discovery of the trip as encounters with wild beast or other cultures. You don’t know how you will respond when its 10 p.m. and after 14 hours of paddling, in the cold rain, you and your partner pull ashore on the only mudflat for miles that held any promise of a campsite, to find the fresh tracks of a grizzly whose print measured over a foot long.

Deb and I have trekked in Central and South America and have hiked America’s “Triple Crown” (The Appalachian, Continental Divide and Pacific Crest Trail) but I can think of very few places or times when I simply felt as “alive” as along the Yukon River. We were traveling very deliberately, living in the moment, not knowing what challenge, experience or insight the next hour, much less day, would hold.

As I stare at campfires now, my grandfather looks back and I see the same wonders of the Alaskan wilderness as he saw.

My companions look back from the trips and campfires we have shared. My dad looks back from the many wild times we have had together and nods in silent satisfaction. And, I see the shared visions of many other wilderness travelers. Campfires connect us all as we wander across the ages and across the country that is wild and free.

Top: Hiking over Chilkoot pass in June.

Middle: Phil and Deb in the “Supertanker” double kayak passing cutbanks and weathered mountains in the Yukon territory.

Bottom Left: “We decided NOT to camp here - too fresh, too large and moving at such a gait that only the toes touched the ground/mud.” -Phil Hough.

Bottom Right: Camping on the “marge” of Lake Labarge.

Photos courtesy Phil Hough.

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FOOD

The Sandpoint Eater

It’s Poh-TEET-sah!

By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Food Columnist

Whenever I make the foods of my childhood, they invoke many childhood memories, and Recently, I unrolled and this is especially true of povitfloured the old, white cotton ica. I grew up in a small town sheet I use to cover my table for in Montana, where the main pastry projects. This time, I was industry, a lead smelter, emmaking povitica, the holiday ployed many immigrants from bread of my childhood. It’s an Eastern Europe. Besides their intensive, labor-of-love project strong work ethic, they arrived that I don’t get around to every with some really tasty recipes, year, but I am headed to Chiand povitica was one of them. cago for the christening of my The recipe, using walnuts, had youngest grandchild, Samih, many variations (some included and I wanted something familapricots or poppy seeds), deial for his special celebration. pending on the specific regions

the miners hailed from, and it also came with many different names: potica in Slovenia (pronounced Poh-TEET-sah), povitica in Serbia and Croatia, and Kolac in Yugoslavia.

It’s very similar to Hungarian beigli and Russian babka, and sometimes it’s simply referred to as a Bohemian nut roll.

Slovenians take great pride in claiming original heritage to this old-world bread. It’s even a favorite treat of Pope Francis, who routinely talks it up to visiting Slovenian visitors (though

Povitica (Nut roll) Recipe

last year, when he spoke of it to Melania Trump, she thought he was referring to pizza).

I remember being mesmerized as a kid when I watched neighborhood women, with their sturdy, weathered hands, carefully rolling the dough over the flour-dusted sheet, stretching it until it was so thin you could almost see through it.

I have used one of their handed-down recipes for more than 40 years, and sometimes I wonder if my own kids, who love this holiday-celebration,

will carry on the tradition.

After I stirred up my last batch, I posted pictures on Facebook, which stirred up a plethora of comments, critiques, poignant memories, and no fewer than a dozen requests for the recipe.

Though there are a dozen names and as many filling variations, one thing’s for certain: judging by all the comments, povitica will not soon be forgotten.

Wishing you a happy holiday season, and a perfect loaf of povitica. Merry Christmas, readers.

Makes 2 loaves

This bread is a perfect holiday treat for breakfast or dessert. Be gentle when you spread the filling, to try and avoid poking holes in the dough. I also use my fingers to egg wash the dough.

INGREDIENTS: For the dough: • 2 packages dry yeast • ½ tsp sugar • ½ tsp vanilla • ½ barely warm water • 5 cups all-purpose flour • 2 tbsp sugar • 1 tsp salt • 6 egg yolks, beaten (set aside the egg whites) • 1 cup butter, melted, cooled (2 sticks) • 1 cup lukewarm cream For the nut filling: • 1 lb finely ground walnuts • 2 tsp cinnamon • ¾ cup sugar • ¼ cup brown sugar • ¼ cup honey • 2-3 drops vanilla, divided • ¼ cup milk • 1 stick butter • 4 egg whites, whipped stiffly (saved from dough) • Mix other 2 egg whites with ¼ cup water, whisk well for glazing dough, before adding filling, and again, before baking 18 /

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DIRECTIONS: 1. In a small bowl, mix the vanilla, sugar and water together then dissolve yeast in the mixture. Let stand until proofed. In the bowl of a standup mixer (with dough hook attachment), sift the flour, sugar and salt. Add the yeast mixture.

Pour in the beaten egg yolks, melted butter and cream. Slowly add 4 cups of the flour, mix, until everything is blended together, add as much as the remaining cup of flour as needed, until the dough is no longer very sticky. Knead a couple minutes in mixer with dough hook, until smooth and not sticking to bowl. Grease a large metal bowl, add the dough, turn to coat with grease. Cover and proof while you make the filling.

2. Prepare the filling: In a sauce pan, mix together the ground walnuts, cinnamon, sugar, brown sugar, honey, butter, and milk, and stirring constantly, bring to a boil. Turn off heat and while warm, fold in egg whites. Cool and divide in half.

3. When dough has doubled, punch down and divide in half. Place half on a floured work surface. One at a time, roll out each piece of dough to a 14” x 13” rectangle. Turn the dough so that one of the longer edges is facing you.

Using a pastry brush or your fingers, brush some of the egg white mixture over the top of the dough.

Spread one of the bowls of nut filling over the dough, leaving about a 1-inch margin on each side of the rectangle but the far end, where you can leave a little less room (about ½-inch margin).

4. Start rolling the dough away from you, into a spiral, keeping the spiral firm and tight.

When you’ve made several turns, fold the 1-inch side margins inward, and then continue to roll all the way up, pinching the seam. Once rolled, coil roll, like a snail. Place the nut roll, seam down, on a parchment-lined and greased baking dish (you can use cake pan, bread pan or casserole).

Using a pastry brush or your fingers, lightly coat top of the rolls with egg wash (this will make the rolls nice and shiny). Repeat the process with remaining dough.

5. Preheat oven to 325 F. Let the rolls rise for 30 minutes, glaze with egg wash, one more time, then bake for about 45 minutes until the rolls are a deep tan color. Cool. Cover with plastic wrap. To serve, cut the nut rolls crosswise into slices. Freezes very well (cover plastic wrap with foil).

LITERATURE

This open Window

Vol. 3 No.16

poetry and prose by local writers

minoru mitsui These were the pictures in his house: My 6-foot uncle I never met, standing in a gold-braid uniform, the funnel vent of a Japanese merchant marine ship behind him; A studio family portrait of the seven of us taken in Spokane just before my brother was shipped to Camp Wolters, Texas.

The bridge gang in Skykomish, seated on push-cars, laughing at the camera.

He liked to go to Spokane on the train for miso, tofu, and fat sacks of Blue Rose rice.

To the woods on Wilson’s ranch for matsutake.

Cincinnati just to use his gold pass Out to his garden to raise more vegetables than we could eat; tomatoes the German wheat farmers talked about at the general store.

He wore long johns & blue bib overalls in 100-degree weather. Read Japanese newspapers from Seattle & Denver in the outhouse and believed it was bad luck to be sober on payday.

Earned a gold tie-clasp to wear on his vest, 50 years given to the Great Northern Railroad.

And this is what he knew: sweat was religious.

He could have been a black belt in judo.

All the big bosses in St. Paul knew him because they called him George. Life surrounded him with situations he could not hug. But his children would work to become successful and use laughter to ease them out of bad times.

edited by Jim mitsui

to the top of o'malley road You remember when we finally talked Mom into taking us to the top of O’Malley that one summer after Dad had left how the road ended at an open dirt space in front of a wall of alders and a mountain we didn’t know the name of loomed over us and how we ran to the alders only to find a tangled rabbit warren amongst its roots and a creek running through the middle making a slippery crossing and how on the other side the mountain seemed closer and we ran and ran—and ran—until we were exhausted and would’ve fallen to the ground had it not been a talus field of rocks and we tried again and again and got no closer how the mountain was still overhead but we had not yet reached its slope and maybe this had something to do with nearby Gravity Hill an optical illusion that makes you think your car is rolling uphill when it’s not, and then we knew Mom’s patience must be ending for she had no adventure gene, just look how long it took to get her to drive us up here and she was waiting with her Reader’s Digest so we reluctantly climbed back through the tangle of alders to the car.

-—Jeanette Schandelmeier Jeanette lives off of Talache Road with a view of Grouse Mountain. Here she writes about Alaska, the homestead area where she grew up. The poem captures an adventure that surprisingly agreed to drive them to.

-Jim Mitsui

I like to encourage students to always be on the lookout for things to write about, especially when they read a poem that they like and an idea or a format jumps out at them. Be sure to give credit to the source, do not plagiarize.

Take this poem for example. It’s about my father, and follows a pattern that’s easy to follow. Choose a person from your past that deserves to be written about; it should be someone close. A parent, relative, sibling, best friend, a favorite neighbor, and start writing about them using these four beginnings: 1. “These were the pictures in his house.” (you could change “pictures” to something else). 2. What did this person like to wear, and what were some of his habits). 3. Where did this person like to go, travel? 4. What did this person like you to know about their life and beliefs? Take these four ideas and write a brief stanza or paragraph that lists some responses to these questions. But don’t approach this like a questionnaire; just write spontaneously – follow your thoughts until you run out of material.

As for the ending, don’t think like you’re concluding a composition like those you wrote in school. Let your good sense recognize a good place to stop writing. Don’t sum up, answer questions, or form a final resolution. Just stop writing, and sign your name. You’re done.

lost Sometimes you lose a thing— a sock, a watch, a pen.

Sometimes, you might become lost inside a thought, a question, the swell of the moment. Time becomes lost, then, losing its talon grip.

One day, I became lost to family, country, the world I’d inhabited. That’s when I started journeying away. I looked for what I could hold true, self-evident.

I visited islands, cities, seasides, forested lands, and stayed for a while, finding what lay in front of me, when held up to the light, reflected everything that lay behind. I found this puzzling.

Was I losing my mind?

Then I came to find everything I needed was wherever I looked whenever I looked intently. Love, for example, or freedom.

Sometimes in a house, a window, a glance, a gesture, a touch, a string of words.

Everything in the universe moves inside the rhythm you walk, I remember a friend saying to me, if you’re willing to lose all sense of distance, separation, apportioning -Susan Botich

Susan is a published poet and lives in the Pack River area. It’s easy to write a narrative poem, you just have to follow the story until an ending appears. Here, however, is something harder---starting with an abstraction, “lost”, and coming up with a series of image examples that help examine the concept of losing something.

Send poems to: jim3wells@aol.com December 20, 2018 /

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COMMUNITY

CAL shares community organizations’ thank yous

By Carol Visger Reader Contributor

We at CAL would like to share some of the thank you letters received this year from grant recipients. Our customers that step through the doors of Bizarre Bazaar whether to donate items or do a bit of shopping are responsible for the grants and also the scholarships that are given out each year. Although these letters {and there are many more} were sent to our grant chairman Bobbie Franklin we want to include the community as well. Without your support many of these organizations would be unable to provide services.

Bonner Community Food Bank “With your support we will be able to assist our older adults, children, and veterans with disabilities in Bonner County. Your grant makes a real difference in the lives of hungry families.”

2nd Harvest “I would like to thank you for your gift for our recent Homegrown Help Mobile Market distribution. For every dollar you gave, Second Harvest gets nearly six pounds of food to where it is needed most. That’s about five meals for hungry people.”

First Lutheran Church “I would like to thank CAL for their support in helping our church bring a second Harvest Food Truck to our community. This year we distributed 11,055 pounds of food for 190 households.”

Thank you. -Sharon Walton Forrest M. Bird Charter Schools “Thank you for your generous donation to our school. With your donation, we were able to realize our vision of bringing six stainless steel “kitchen

LIBRARY’S STORYWALKS ENCOURAGE READING & GETTING OUTSIDE

Photos by Marcy Timblin.

Marcy Timblin with the Sandpoint Library writes: “We’ve been doing StoryWalk ‘event’ once a year in late November/ early December for the past 3 years. We invite school groups from Kootenai, Farmin-Stidwell and Washington Elementary Schools. Half of the class takes a tour of the StoryWalks led by their teachers and parent volunteers while the other half enjoys a story read by our Children’s Librarian, Suzanne Davis followed by a craft. All of the kids get a cookie or piece of fruit and a cup of cocoa or juice. I wish we had some metrics on how many of these kids end up bringing their families back to StoryWalks 20 /

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after the experience, but we have never tried to capture that data.

The purpose of StoryWalks is to encourage families to read together, get outside - even in the winter (StoryWalks are located on short, accessible trails), and connect with each other and their community. The partnership between Kaniksu Land Trust and The Library puts a refreshing spin on literacy and the outdoors. Getting outside, especially in the winter, is so important, not just for kids, but for all of us. StoryWalks can have huge mental, physical and emotional health benefits considering the short amount of time and effort it takes to enjoy them.”

prep” tables to our school’s STEM program. We also were able to purchase paint to beautify one classroom.”

Bonner County Museum “In 2018 CAL graciously awarded us a grant to purchase cases for our Wunderkammer exhibit. It also included funds for bookcases to store our rare and delicate books. Thank you so much for your support and generosity!”

Community Cancer Services “Thank you so much for providing us with a grant for our gas voucher program. Your grant provided 333 of our $15 vouchers during the summer months when gas in our area was the highest it has been for years. Many of the people have radiation and daily chemotherapy in Post Falls or Spokane and would not be able to afford the gas to get to treatment if not for this program.

Thank you again for all your support.”

Bonner General Health “Thank you for your generous donation to Hospice. Hospice services are dependent on the community to support many of the costs of services and programs. Your support is critical to our stability, growth and success.

Thank you again for your support.”

Pend Oreille Arts Council “Thank you for your generous gift for our Ovations Program and for our Kaleidoscope Program. We appreciate your enthusiasm to help youth in our community experience quality educational programs in both performing arts and visual arts.”

Many thanks to our community!

You can find Bizarre Bazaar at 502 Church Street in Sandpoint.

MUSIC

This week’s RLW by Ben Olson

An ode to the underrated track

By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff

Many of my favorite indie artists and albums have had their fair share of exposure, and anyone who’s into alternative music can name a few popular tracks from The Lumineers or Twenty One Pilots. These bands have name recognition, but some of their best work — in my humble opinion — is hidden beneath the songs getting plays on Pandora’s Indie Rock mix. Here are shout-outs to just a few: Artist: The Lumineers Songs you know: “Ho Hey,” “Ophelia” Underrated track: “Dead Sea” I think the real diehards among Lumineers fans know that “Dead Sea” is something special, but those unfamiliar should know about this unique love song. It combines the signature beauty of the band’s music with their also signature storytelling. But the power behind this track lies in its simplicity. The actual Dead Sea, known for its outrageous salt content making it easy for swimmers to float, becomes a deeply sweet compliment in this song, and now I just need someone to tell me I’m their Dead Sea and they’ll never sink when they’re with me.

Artist: Lorde Songs you know: “Royals,” “Green Light” Underrated track: “Super-

cut” If you’ve written Lorde off as a simple pop diva, we cannot be friends. But if you’re willing to give her another chance, “Supercut” is the way to go, though her entire 2017 album “Melodrama” is certainly worthwhile. This track specifically combines Lorde’s quiet power with her ability to dominate a synth-driven dance song. She recounts the great moments in a past relationship — the “supercut” of the good stuff, playing over and over in her head — but in the end acknowledges the good can’t outweigh the bad. Ouch. But the song sure is pretty.

Artist: Ben Howard Songs you know: “Old Pine,” “I Forget Where We Were” Underrated track: “Depth Over Distance” This track doesn’t actually appear on any of Howard’s LPs, but was instead released alongside better known “Keep Your Head Up” in 2011 as a two-track combo. It’s a hidden gem, to say the least. “Depth Over Distance” possesses that signature profoundness that Howard’s early songs always do — the kind of nostalgic sadness accomplished best through UKbased singer-songwriter work.

Howard’s second-person lyrics make this song as intimate as a

love letter as the music builds from a dark quietness to an almost raucous pleading.

Artist: Death Cab for Cutie Songs you know: “I Will Follow You Into The Dark,” “Soul Meets Body” Underrated track: “Summer Skin” Death Cab is a solid band all around, and their new releases never disappoint me, but I tend to look to their older stuff when I want an introspective afternoon of nostalgic tunes. “Summer Skin,” off their 2005 release “Plans,” has made it onto every writing playlist I’ve ever compiled. I think if the seasons changing had a sound, it would be this song. Plus, lyrics like “I don’t recall a single care / Just greenery and humid air / Then Labor Day came and went / And we shed what was left of our summer skin” get me every time.

Artist: Twenty One Pilots Songs you know: “Stressed Out,” “Ride” Underrated track: “Addict With A Pen” Ah yes, throwback TOP, because who doesn’t want to feel 17 and full of angst again? OK maybe that’s just me, the token millennial. But in all seriousness, TOP’s rise to fame doesn’t make me salty because these guys have remained true to

themselves and true to their sound. “Addict With A Pen” comes from their 2009 album — which saw no singles — and reflects the roots from which today’s radio plays came. Who knew emotionally raw spoken-word lyrics would sound so great over a simple piano riff and heavy drums?

TOP did. If you like their new stuff, you’ll dig their old stuff.

Artist: Mt. Joy Songs you know: “Silver Lining,” “Sheep” Underrated track: “Cardinal” Mt. Joy is a young band out of Los Angeles making serious waves right now, and I think — at least from a music consumer standpoint — that it has a lot to do with their songwriting. The better-known tracks off their one and only album, which is self-titled, shine because they’re catchy, relatable and unique. I love the album as a whole, but a song I wish saw more plays is “Cardinal.” I can understand why it’s a dark horse — not too political, not that quirky — but it still paints a pretty compelling picture of adolescence and acceptance.

Plus the imagery of the lyrics “We bought a broke-down bus and painted it green / And we danced in the parking lot under the shadow of 95” can’t be beat.

READ

One of my favorite books about Christmas is “Silent Night: The Story of the WW1 Christmas Truce” by Stanley Weintraub.

In the early months of World War I, on Christmas Eve, men on both sides of the trenches laid down their arms and joined in a spontaneous celebration. Despite orders to continue shooting, the unofficial truce spread across the front lines.

Soldiers from opposite sides sang carols, crossed into “no-man’sland” to bury the dead and spread cheer. It’s a heartwarming story of the power of humanity, even in the darkest hours.

LISTEN

By this time of year, Christmas songs can be a bit played out.

If you want an indie folk take on Christmas music, check out David Bazan’s “Dark Sacred Night.”

The holiday album was released before Christmas in 2016, featuring Bazan’s take on classic carols, but with his unique, melancholy voice instead of that chipper Glenn Miller dude.

WATCH

I know this isn’t a Christmas film per se, but when you really think about it, Wes Anderson’s opus film “The Royal Tenenbaums” has a lot of Christmas qualities to it.

If any film can be described as “wintry” it’s this one. Featuring a dysfunctional family that comes together just when they need each other, “Tenenbaums” is a beautiful, gray-skied epic that will make you feel the contemplative side of the holidays

Share your underrated tracks with Lyndsie at lyndsie@sandpointreader.com.

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PERSPECTIVES

Walter Mitty? In Sandpoint?

By Tim Henney Reader Contributor

Among the most cherished books in my personal library are those by author/artist/ humorist James Thurber, one of the lynchpins of the early New Yorker magazine. His most famous work is a short story, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” which the magazine published in 1939. If one ignores Hitler’s plunge into Poland to start World War Two, 1939 was a year of epic entertainment and creativity in America. The movies “Gone With The Wind,” “The Wizard Of Oz,” “Of Mice And Men,” “Goodbye Mr. Chips,” “Gunga Din,” “Wuthering Heights” and John Wayne’s first hit, “Stagecoach,” all appeared then.

Walter Mitty is a timid little man, the opposite of John Wayne’s heroic movie persona. Mitty leads a mundane life and, while waiting for his wife at a beauty parlor, has a series of heroic daydreams. He is pilot of a U.S. Navy flying boat in a raging storm; he is a famed surgeon performing a first-of-a-kind operation; he is a deadly assassin testifying in a courtroom; he is an RAF pilot volunteering for a secret suicide mission to bomb a Nazi ammo dump.

What blatant fabrications! When I read such imaginary ramblings I sometimes wonder why James Thurber is held in such esteem. Why he is ranked among the intellectual giants of American literature. Right up there with, and funnier than, Mark Twain, Harper Lee, Fitzgerald, Melville, Poe, Salinger, Richard Wright, Wilma Cather, Vonnegut, Whitman, Maya Angelou, Frost, London, Toni Morrison, Hemingway, Faulkner, Steinbeck and the rest.

With his minimal line sketchings of intimidating, dominating women and cowering men and dogs, Thurber was unique. But one thing his fellow lilterary greats did not do, to their credit, was this: They didn’t create a mousy little man, then make up a bunch of stuff he imagined he’d done but hadn’t. Walter Mitty, come to think of it, was not unlike John Wayne, every red-blooded he-man’s role model. Like such fellow homebound warhawks as Dick Cheney, Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and countless other well-connected armchair combatants, “Duke” Wayne zealously dodged military service. He did his part, though, leading courageous attacks against our WW II enemies on film. Moreover, Marion Morrison didn’t know a horse from a giraffe when he left Glendale High to play football at USC in 1925. But, re-badged

by Hollywood producers as John Wayne, he became a celluloid hero of the early west -- and always on horseback. In real life Duke became a super patriot. He admired infamous 22 /

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Senator Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin and helped fellow actor Ronald Reagan blacklist liberals in show biz. Orange County, Calif., a sunny, grabgrass-free, crowded colony of super patriots, even named its airport after him.

But Duke’s finest achievement, some oldtimers say, was a real life, three-year affair with international sex symbol and singer Marlene Dietrich. And an even longer one with actress Maureen O’Hara. Not sure his wives and kids at the time would have agreed, but back in the day one could do worse than Marlene and Maureen.

But I digress. This is about that other fake hero, Walter Mitty. Why would anyone concoct a story about a diffident, ineffectual little wimp who spends more time in heroic daydreams than in the real world?

“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” was so empathetic, so enduring, it gave birth to the derivitave “Mittyesque,” meaning one who attempts to mislead or convince others that he is something that he is not. I find that disgusting. Why would anyone be so deceitful? That a fictitious literary character could gain such lasting fame is absurd when there are authentic people right here in Sandpoint who have led lives of heroic leadership and achievement in military service, athletics, academia, business and culture. Yet no mention in The New Yorker — or anywhere else.

Not even Facebook.

It conflicts with my modest nature to say this, but I won the Heisman Trophy as outstanding college running back in the early 1950’s at Stanford while simultaneously preparing at New York’s famed Julliard School for a globally famous career as a giant of opera, the musical theater and film -- all performed under pseudonyms, of course. How, one might ask, did I manage?

Well, because of an undergraduate straight A average in physics at Princeton, where I also played quarterback, blue-chip corporations flew me back and forth on their Lear jets from NYC’s Lincoln Center, Julliard’s home, to Palo Alto, Stanford’s, in hopes that I might eventually join their employ. (I graduated Princeton in three years, then the Heisman at Stanford). Highly-decorated military service as a young green beret/Navy seal commander in the Korean conflict, and a year at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar (and, although it seems boastful to mention, also captain of the cricket team), gave me the polish needed to join the Bell Telephone System. Ma Bell is now defunct, through no fault of mine, but before it vanished I catapulted to CEO of its parent company, the original AT & T, then the world’s biggest corporation. During a sparkling corporate career I owned and fearlessly skippered a 50-foot Hylas center-cockpit

The author, during another century, receiving the attention he so richly deserved. sailboat in the San Juans, San Diego and Baja. Often in stormy seas.

There have been envious snipers along the way who insist that grand boat was never mine but my son’s, who has the same name. They say my sailboats were little ones. Typical noise from envious losers.

Pay no attention. These same cynics say I was not sufficiently athletic in the 1950’s to make the fraternity’s flag football team at Long Beach State, let alone win a Heisman at Stanford. They lie. Some jealous jerks say I struggled to earn a BA in journalism 101 from Long Beach State in five years, forget Princeton physics in three. That I was more interested in coeds and piano bars than in becoming a global music phenomenon which, they claim, I never was.

Furthermore, they scoff that comparing Princeton to Long Beach State is like comparing Lake Pend Orielle to a mud puddle.

Elitists! Fake news. Don’t believe them.

Anyway, it’s better to have been a Big Man On Campus in a mud puddle than never to have been one at all. Why these same critics, showing unexpected admiration, credited me with being a ‘stable genius” was always puzzling.

There are even those who guffaw at the idea that I was repeatedly decorated for bravery as a green beret/Navy seal commander. They chuckle and claim I was an enlisted peasant who edited an Air Force

base newspaper and dated Georgia peaches during the Korean war. They are lying bums.

And, believe it or not, they gossip that I was never the CEO of AT & T. These ignorant prevaricaters claim I was only a crummy corporate journalist, a toady, an Ivy League pretender in Brooks Brothers suit, briefcase and briar pipe from Long Beach State. Phonies mouthing alternative facts. Screw ‘em.

What’s that, you suspect these misinformed detractors are probably correct?

Really? What happened to trust? To decency? To civility? To loyalty? To “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours?”

And where is author James Thurber when I need him?

Crossword Solution

Copyright www.mirroreyes.com

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1. A male duck 6. Policemen 10. Musical finale 14. Classical Greek 15. Wings 16. Not under 17. Make a splashing sound 18. Morsels 19. Anagram of “Snob” 20. Harshly critical 22. Hint 23. Charged particle 24. Dimwit 26. Reimburse 30. An evil spirit I wish a robot would 32. Utilizing get elected president. 33. Measurements of water That way, when he depth came to town, we could 37. Feudal worker all take a shot at him 38. Curbs (British spelling) 39. Relating to aircraft and not feel too bad.

40. Shabbiness 42. Brown ermine /in-foh-MEY-nee-uh/ 43. Pee 44. Redress [verb] 45. Aspect 1. to steal or take dishonestly (money, especially public of the funds, or property entrusted to one’s care); embezzle. 47. By means of 48. Madly in love “Did you hear ol’ crazy Carl was caught peculating from the firm?”

49. A pungent herb We got a date wrong in last week’s calendar, but otherwise, I think we made it 56. French for “State” through another week relatively unscathed. Merry Christmas to us! -CR 57. Arab chieftain 58. Australian “bear” 59. What a person is called 60. Afflicts

Word Week

peculate

Solution on page 22 61. European currency (plural) 62. Skidded 63. Be worthy of 64. Relaxes

DOWN 1. Platter 2. Part in a play 3. Soon 4. Smooch 5. Repeating 6. Log home 7. Hodgepodge 8. A Maori club 9. Sittings

10. Make peace 11. Convex molding 12. Unveiling 13. Backside 21. 16 1/2 feet 25. Clunker 26. Regrets 27. Being 28. Satisfactory 29. Illiterate 30. Furze 31. Centers 33. Observed 34. A noble gas 35. Alumnus 36. Drunkards 38. Knitted clothing

41. Fury 42. A loud kiss 44. What we breathe 45. Deadly 46. A long-legged S. American bird 47. Line of a poem 48. Family lines 50. Dogfish 51. Lean 52. Debauchee 53. Hearing organs 54. Notch 55. Back talk

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