COMMUNITY
Learn to salsa dance By Reader Staff Bouquets: • A bouquet goes out to all the hard-working firefighters who responded to the fire on First Avenue this weekend. With temperatures in the single digits, it must have been a brutal night for these hard working firefighters. Also, our hearts go out to the business owners that are affected by this. It is times like these that they depend so much on the love and compassion of their neighbors. Let’s send some good thoughts their way and hope for a speedy recovery. Also, let’s not forget the businesses and homes that were damaged by falling trees in the storm just the night before. Tough weekend here in Sandpoint. • We received a very generous donation this week from a gentleman who said he wanted to give his support after we were again targeted by an anonymous knucklehead hell-bent on taking this newspaper down. I won’t share his name out of respect for privacy, but the person who donated sent in a check for $1,000, which is by far the largest single donation we’ve ever received. Such kindness and thoughtfulness! Thank you so much, R.W. We really appreciate the support. We also appreciate all the encouragement of late. Thank you.
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Barbs • This submission came from an anonymous reader: “I would like to submit a Barb this week about co-workers who don’t recycle. I often watch in exasperation as my co-workers throw away cardboard boxes, aluminum cans and other recyclable goods when they could easily be recycling it. I am always digging in the trash, putting their recyclables in the correct receptacle. Sometimes, the business needs to step up and get a recycling can from Waste Management. It’s not expensive – usually just about $20 per month. Let’s be better at recycling, Sandpoint.” /
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Salsa in Sandpoint: March & April sessions, Ages 12 – Adult Salsa is an energetic and fun Latin dance. Unlike some partner dances, it is a very sociable dance. You don’t need to have a regular partner; in fact it is common to dance with people who have never met before. That is the fun part of dancing salsa. Once you learn to salsa you can dance with people all over the world. Salsa dancing sessions will be held Thursdays during March and April for ages 12 to adult. They will be held at the Sandpoint Community Hall, 204 S. First Ave.
from 6–7 p.m.. The fee is $63/ month. A minimum of four participants is necessary to offer each monthly session. Pre-register for March session online by Feb. 24 at www.sandpointidaho.gov/parksrecreation or at Sandpoint Parks and Rec Office, 1123 Lake Street. Call 263-3613 for more information.
Children’s intro to taekwondo, karate and self-defense By Reader Staff Sandpoint Taekwondo will be offering children age 5 - 13, an introductory Taekwondo, Karate and Self Defense class beginning Thursday, March 5. Pre-register by Feb. 28. The session fee is $52 ($2 city discount), and includes a uniform and two weeks of lessons on Tuesday and Thursday from 3:15 - 4 p.m. Each session will meet at Sandpoint Taekwondo Center, 218 Main St., in downtown Sandpoint. Each session will teach basic self-defense skills and highlight
the importance of self-discipline and character building in a child friendly setting. Looking for more taekwondo offerings? Contact Sandpoint Taekwondo at (208) 610-2577 or visit www.SandpointKarate.com.
Hospital District... Dear Editor, Did you know that we pay property taxes to support the Hospital District just like we pay taxes to support the School District? The Hospital District (comprised of seven elected members) makes decisions regarding the expenditure of tax dollars providing health care services to citizens in our county who do not have adequate health care insurance of their own. Sadly, this would include too many of us. Did you know that six of the seven members of the Hospital District also serve on the board of Bonner General Hospital? You might ask: so what? Bonner General Hospital is a private corporation with its own agenda and finances. And even if we assume that the agenda of the hospital (and its board) are honorable, we can also fairly assume that the agenda of the public Hospital District may not line up exactly with the agenda of the private hospital. Public agendas and private agendas do not always satisfy the same priorities. By way of example, let us consider a private Christian school, which we will assume is an excellent school. Would you want the board (leadership) of the private Christian school to be in charge of spending our tax dollars allocated to the public schools? The stewardship of spending tax dollars should be kept at arm’s length from a private organization regardless of the motives of the organization in question. In three months, Bonner County will hold elections to choose a new member of the Hospital District. As you examine the roster of candidates running for the Hospital District board, you may not know much (if anything) about the individuals running for the position. However, you might want to know if the candidate also sits on the board of Bonner General Hospital. In order to avoid a potential conflict of interest, the majority of the members of the Hospital District board (elected by you) should not also sit on the board of the local private hospital (not elected by you). Let me be very clear. I am not
impugning the motives or moral character of any of the individuals of the Hospital District board or Bonner General Hospital board. I am, however, suggesting that in order best to serve the interest of the taxpayers we should elect Hospital District board members who are truly independent of the local private hospital. Regards, Thomas Fletcher Careywood
School Levy... Dear Editor, You may have noticed the parade of school related stories in the forefront of the local newspaper over the past several weeks. Could it be promoting the upcoming $25,400,000 levy in March? To clarify that, the school board has decided it wants to increase the levy amount by nearly 50 percent! What is the levy for? Mainly for staff and, according to LPOSD November 27, 2018 minutes: “…into this levy we are also asking for a salary increase of approximately 13.2 percent for all certified and classified staff.” Also in November, Superintendent Woodward explains in the minutes, “It is very hard for an average wage earner to afford a home in our area.” According to LPOSD’s levy presentation, the average income in Bonner County is $3641/ month. Based on the current 190-day contracts, certified personnel average $4120/month. So it appears the public school wants to make it even harder for the average family to own a home in Bonner County, as to enslave them to government workers who already earn more than they do. We have seen this many times before. Get ready for the sales pitch full of misleading information and deception. Get ready for the threats of closing schools, double shifting and losing staff. How much is enough? It seems to be never enough. Vote against this thievery March 12. Monique Hutchins Sagle
The Ponies are back in Town! By Reader Staff The Carousel of Smiles has moved its workshop into Sandpoint, and is now located at the “Cedar Street Station”, also known as the Misty Mountain Furniture Building. “The space is great” says Reno Hutchison. “One can almost envision our new workshop resembling one from the 1920s when these great horses were originally carved. It is exciting to be in
town, and work is progressing on the next group of ponies that are almost ready for paint.” The Carousel workshop is in the corner space, 210 A at Fifth and Cedar streets. As part of the Sandpoint Winter Carnival, The Carousel of Smiles will be participating in the Friday Eve Parade (5:30 p.m.) - come see our full-size snow globe featuring “Stormy.” The Carousel of Smiles and will also have open houses on
both Carnival weekends. All are welcome to stop by and see the ponies in their new stable. Open House Hours: Friday, Feb. 15: 6:-8p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, and Sunday, Feb. 17: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 22: 5-8 p.m. Saturday, Feb 23, and Sunday, Feb 24: 10 a.m-4 p.m.