Reader_January8_2026

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DEAR READERS,

The week in random review

By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff

old-school insults

Reader Publisher Ben Olson has a book of Shakespearean insults on his desk at all times, which often comes in handy for last words before locking the door and leaving the paper for the evening. It’s no secret that we’re language nerds here at the office, so I thought, “What if I find insults even older than Shakespeare to pepper into our conversations?” My first thought was finding Old English insults, which turned out to be difficult since Google doesn’t understand the difference between Old English (the Anglo-Saxon language) and Shakespearean English (i.e., Early Modern English with its “thou-s” and “thee-s”). The only words I was able to find were unwita, meaning “idiot,” and dysig, meaning “stupid.” Latin proved a much more reliable trove of complete insults, including my favorite, ructabunde, which means “gas bag” or “big burper.” A comprehensive list by the University of Oklahoma also included i in malam crucem (“go to hell” or, literally, “go to the bad cross”), taceas (“shut up”) or nihil nequius est te (there’s nothing that is more useless than you). After researching Latin, it was natural to see if ancient Greek had anything worth mentioning — and boy, does it. The issue is that ancient Greeks were often so explicit that they make Game of Thrones look like VeggieTales. The most PG insult I found was báll eis kórakas (“Go to the crows”), which essentially meant, “I hope you die and no one buries you and crows eat your corpse.” Yikes. Some other recognizable jabs include bólbiton (“cowshit”), mētrokoítēs (“mother-bedder”), órrhos (“ass”), péos (“dick”) and koprophágon (“shit-eating.”)

my kind of party

Recently, Gen Z has started leaning into the fact that we’re, as a generation, mostly socially awkward nerds who enjoyed Kahoot! way too much in high school (IYKYK). We have a less flourishing bar and club life than our predecessors, the Millennials, and therefore we’ve started coming up with alternative party activities that are both ridiculous and highly entertaining. The most recent fad is PowerPoint parties, in which each person comes prepared with a presentation on a topic of their choice — be it “The best TV shows of all time” or “Why the sound ‘kiki’ is spiky and the sound ‘olo’ is soft.” The important thing is to come up with a “hot take” — a new and unusual argument — and defend it. Tell me that isn’t more fun than trying to dance to EDM in heels. People have also started making their own Jeopardy and Family Feud games with answers specific to their friends and family.

The trend that has made me laugh the most, though, is the “Hear Me Out Cake,” where people print out photos of their unconventional crushes, tape them to toothpicks, and then take turns sticking them into the cake while being judged by everyone in the room. The people who play this game incorrectly put characters like Lola from Shark Tale, who is essentially Angelina Jolie with a tail. Boring and conventional. My correct submissions would be Mount Rainier, the worm from Labyrinth and Medieval studies.

After pushing our rock up the hill for all of 2025, it has now tumbled back to the bottom and we begin again with this first edition of a new year.

Such is the newspaper business. Such is life, too.

We are publishing the results of the fifth annual 208 Fiction writing contest in this week’s edition. See Pages 14-16 for the winning stories, as well as a few honorable mentions. As always, it’s a joy to read your submissions every year. We appreciate the robust participation.

It looks like Old Man Winter finally got off his keister and brought us some snow. I don’t know about you, but when I see December come and go without any significant snowfall, it gives me an uneasy feeling. I’ve never been so happy to shovel my sidewalk as I was this week when the good stuff began falling in earnest. Here’s hoping the rest of winter follows suit.

– Ben Olson, publisher

READER 111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 208-946-4368 sandpointreader.com

Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com Editorial: Zach Hagadone (Editor) zach@sandpointreader.com Soncirey Mitchell (Senior Writer) soncirey@sandpointreader.com Editors Emeriti: Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Cameron Rasmusson John Reuter

Advertising: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com Contributing Artists: John Larrabee (cover), Allison Barrows-Young, Douwe C. van der Zee, U.S. Justice Department Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Soncirey Mitchell, Lorraine H. Marie, Brenden Bobby, Laura Guido, Kyle Pfannenstiel, Mark Sauter, Michael Prewitt, Stephanie Le Roy, Coulter Eagley, Lance Miller, Jessica Bowman, Jared Johnston Submit Stories To: stories@sandpointreader.com Printed Weekly At: Tribune Publishing Co. Lewiston, ID Subscription Price: $200 per year Website Designed By: Keokee The Sandpoint Reader is a weekly publication owned by Ben Olson and Keokee. It is devoted to the arts, entertainment, bluster, politics and lifestyle in and around Sandpoint, Idaho.

We hope to provide a quality alternative by offering honest, in-depth reporting that reflects the intelligence and interests of our diverse and growing community.

The Reader is printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Leftover copies are collected and recycled weekly, or burned in bonfires to appease the gods of journalism. For back issues, contact the publisher. Free to all, limit two per person, please.

Letter to the Editor Policy: We welcome letters to the editor on all relevant topics. Please, no more than 200 words, no excessive profanity or libelous statements and no trolls. Please elevate the discussion and stay on topic.

Letters will be edited to comply with the above requirements. Opinons expressed in these pages are those of the writers, not necessarily the publisher. Send to: letters@sandpointreader.com About the Cover: This week’s cover photo was taken by John Larrabee of a nesting eagle photographer walking along the shores of Lake Pend Oreille near Farragut State Park.

January 8, 2026 / R / 3

NEWS

Sandpoint City Hall starts new year with swearing in of incoming councilors

Aispuro returns for third term while Tate, Torrez are newcomers to the dais

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff It’s a new year and a new Sandpoint City Council, with the swearing in and confirmation Jan. 7 of Joel Aispuro, Joe Tate and Joshua Torrez, who won their seats in the November 2025 election.

While Tate and Torrez are new to the dais, Aispuro won his reelection bid for a third term in 2025, and will remain on the new council with current members Pam Duquette, Deb Ruehle and Kyle Schreiber.

Councilors Justin Dick and Rick Howarth departed from the council as Dick, who served since 2022, declined to run for reelection and Howarth was the lowest vote-getter in the four-way race for three seats in 2025.

“First of all, thank you all of my fellow councilors,” said Dick, adding that while members of council don’t always agree, “politics makes strange bedfellows.”

“I appreciate all the passion and fervor you put into this,” he told Duquette and Schreiber, going on to thank Ruehle for her leadership as council president through “some really challenging times.”

To Howarth, Dick said, “I think your calm, level-headedness jibes most with me.”

In his farewell as a fellow councilor with Aispuro, Dick said, “You’re probably one of the most genuine individuals I’ve ever met,” before thanking Mayor Jeremy Grimm for his “steadfast leadership.” “[It’s] definitely an honor to serve this community,” Dick added, pointing to his involvement with programs and initiatives like the SPOT bus and Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation Commission, and singling out staff for special thanks.

“Thank you so much for 4 / R / January 8, 2026

the opportunity to serve together over the last year and a half,” said Howarth, who was appointed by Grimm in 2024 to replace then-Council President Jason Welker after he stepped down in order to take on the role of Planning and Community Development director.

“We walk out as friends at the end of the meeting,” Howarth added. “I truly respect each and every one of you.”

Describing his time on the council as a “phenomenal learning experience,” Howarth said one of his key takeaways from serving on the dais was the passion that community members bring to issues at City Hall. He emphasized that testimony and communication with residents has “a profound impact,” and encouraged them to “fight for this community each and every day.”

In a round of well-wishes and farewells, Duquette told Dick and Howarth to “enjoy your Wednesdays,” while Ruehle said, “I thank both of you for your time served.”

“Being on here eight years, I want to thank you guys for stepping in and doing the hard work,” Aispuro said, telling Dick, “you’ve been strong; a good leader.”

To Howarth, Aispuro admitted to some initial

misgivings about his appointment, “but as I’ve grown to know you, I’ve come to really respect you.”

For his part, Schreiber wished the outgoing councilors “the best moving forward with your next adventure.”

Finally, Grimm said, “it is a service to sit up here — a lot of hard decisions, a lot of work.”

He lauded Dick as a business owner, given that the “business and council hat overlap, and you’ve always done a really great job representing the interests of the people of Sandpoint.”

To Howarth, Grimm said, “Thanks for your calming tone and the breadth of experience you’ve brought to this community and the council. ...

“We’ll miss you up here and look forward to your astute commentary from that side of the dais in the future,” he added.

Grimm administered the oaths of office after Dick and Howarth left their seats, first swearing in and confirming Aispuro, who placed his hand on a bible held by family friend Aaron Guyett — a “trusted brother” who served in the Marines and attended in full dress uniform.

Tate was accompanied in his swearing in by close family friend Jay Watson and his

mother Barbara Gauzza, while Torrez was joined by his mother Loy and daughter Aspen, swearing on a family album.

Following the swearing in and opening remarks, and once the new council was seated, Duquette nominated Ruehle to serve as president for another two years, carrying the responsibility to preside over meetings, sign documents and oversee operations in the mayor’s absence.

“I think she’s done a fine job as a leader with her experience,” said Duquette.

Ruehle began her service on the council following appointment in 2014 and is currently halfway through her third four-year term.

Aispuro seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

Top left: Joel Aispuro is sworn in by Mayor Jeremy Grimm and family friend Aaron Guyett.

Top right: Joe Tate takes the oath of office alongside family friend Jay Watson and mother Barbara Gauzza.

Bottom: Joshua Torrez is sworn in by Mayor Jeremy Grimm, with daughter Aspen Torrez and mother Loy Torrez.

Photos by Ben Olson Aispuro, Tate and Torrez will now begin four-year terms, while the next council seats up for election will be those held by Duquette, Ruehle and Schreiber, along with the office of mayor — all of which are serving four-year terms that began in 2024.

In addition to the swearing in at council, the Sandpoint Planning and Zoning Commission voted Jan. 6 to retain Mose Dunkel as chair and Wayne Benner as vice-chair in a unanimous vote.

NEWS

Idaho to receive $930M in federal funds to improve rural health care access

The ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ grant is expected to be used for tech, training, infrastructure

By Laura Guido Idaho Capital Sun

will be shared as they become available.”

Idaho will receive nearly $930 million over the next five years to improve rural health care access and affordability.

The massive federal tax and spending package approved in July 2025 included $50 billion for “Rural Healthcare Transformation” grants nationwide.

Idaho on Dec. 30 was awarded nearly $186 million in annual grants to be distributed over five years to implement the plan outlined in its grant application, which focuses on five initiatives: “improve rural access to care through technology; ensure accessible quality care through innovative models; sustain rural workforce with training, recruitment and retention; implement population-specific, evidence-based projects to make rural America healthy again; and invest in rural health infrastructure and partnerships.”

“For many Idaho families — especially in rural areas — affordable, accessible health care is a real concern,” Gov. Brad Little stated in a news release. “This investment, made possible by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, recognizes those challenges and puts resources where they’re needed most. It helps strengthen local health care and ensures Idahoans can get the affordable care they need, no matter where they live.”

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare submitted the state’s application with consultation from a task force convened by Little. The state will use the funds to provide subgrants to support the goals and projects outlined in its application.

“A budget request will now go before the Legislature for federal funds approval,” the release stated, “and additional details about implementation

Idaho plans to use technology to improve rural access to care The state’s application includes plans to conduct assessments on rural health care facilities to identify gaps, develop shared infrastructure among clients and to invest in equipment, software and training to expand telehealth options.

The state plans to help procure mobile apps and online portals to help Idaho patients for “self-monitoring, appointment scheduling, medication adherence and coaching.”

Investments in cybersecurity improvements, AI clinical tools, emergency system upgrades, and health management and analytics systems are also included in the plan.

The goals to achieve by 2030 include increasing the number of facilities utilizing telehealth by 50%, increasing the percentage of physicians located in each of Idaho’s rural counties that are connected to the new Health Alert Network to at least 80%, and increasing the number of appointments completed using telehealth or remote delivery modality by 50%.

‘Innovative models’ include diagnostic kiosks, workforce programs Idaho’s grant application outlines plans to deploy kiosks and pods in rural communities in places such as libraries, grocery stores and pharmacies where people may attend a telehealth appointment or receive mail-order prescriptions in lockers.

To address workforce shortages in rural areas, the plan proposes to further utilize health care professionals who aren’t doctors, such as emergency medical services responders. The plan said it may

use funds to create designated locations where these professionals could hold in-person contact hours or offer apprenticeships. Funds would also be used to develop a Community Health Emergency Medical Services plan and allow trained EMS professionals to perform checkups and wellness assessments in homes.

Funds may be targeted at recruitment, retention and training of EMS professionals.

Goals include increasing the percentage of Idaho’s rural counties that have at least one county-level full-time equivalent paid EMS position from 28% in October 2025 to at least 97% by December 2030 and to decrease the percentage of emergency responses to repeat users (those who received services more than more than once in a year) from 32% in 2013-’16 to less than 10% by December 2030.

Funds may target medical education, training and retention in rural areas Most of Idaho is rural, and the entire state is experiencing a significant shortage in doctors — especially in certain areas such as obstetrics and gynecology. The state does not have a public medical school within its borders, but it has some state-sponsored seats at the University of Washington and University of Utah medical schools.

Both graduate and undergraduate medical students can do required training rotations in Idaho, and increasing opportunities for these clinic rotations in Idaho has been a focus of a recent task force looking to boost medical education in the state.

The application includes financial incentives for doctors who commit to working in rural areas for at least five years, including signing bonuses and retention bonuses. There

would also be money put toward health care education scholarships to students who would commit to serving in rural areas upon graduation, and support for physicians who train undergraduate or graduate medical students.

Using the federal grant to support medical training in rural areas was an idea floated by the Idaho Medical Education Working Group, the Idaho Capital Sun reported in September.

Projects to address chronic disease, mental health, maternal health Within Idaho’s initiative to “make rural America healthy again” are projects to implement national standards and screening to prevent chronic health conditions, improve mental health and substance abuse treatment, and address shortages in maternal and child health services.

Projects include the National Diabetes Prevention program to prevent or delay Type 2 diabetes, and diabetes self-management education and support programs, as well as enhanced screening and education about Alzheimer’s and related dementias, cancer, heart disease and other chronic conditions.

Funds could be used for start-up costs for a pediatric psychiatry access line, so that pediatricians may be able to consult with child psychiatrists, according to the application. Other efforts could include providing space for mental health treatment in schools, expanding mobile crisis response teams and mobile medication assisted treatment for substance abuse, and to complete a needs assessment of maternal and neonatal care.

Goals include decreasing the number of deaths from suicide, drug overdose and alcoholism by 25% from 1,216

in 2023 to 912 or fewer by December 2030 and increasing the number of rural hospitals completing one or more new perinatal collaborative initiatives from zero to eight by December 2030.

Investments may include equipment, vehicle and mobile screening units The planned investments in rural health care infrastructure include supporting renovations of facilities that would facilitate prevention programs, behavioral health treatment, dental and maternal health services.

The funds could also be used to modernize facilities with the purchase of equipment such as MRIs, CT scanners, equipment for compounding pharmaceuticals and other items that would allow rural residents access to higher-level care without having to travel to a larger community.

The application includes a plan to purchase mobile mammography units to offer breast cancer screenings in areas where they are not offered, and to help clinics and facilities retrofit vehicles to use for patient transportation.

The application included a commitment to strengthen its partnership with the five federally recognized Native American tribes in Idaho, as well as to set aside 3.5% of its total grant to support tribal health care facilities and projects intended to improve services for Native American residents.

This story was originally produced by News From The States, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network that includes the Idaho Capital Sun, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501(c)(3) public charity.

January 8, 2026 / R / 5

NEWS

Bits ’n’FromPieces east, west and beyond

BOCC warns of fraudulent This year, loss of health insurance is Planning Department invoices expected to affect 4.2 million people,

By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff Bonner County Board of Commissioners Chair Brian Domke warned residents Jan. 6 of an ongoing scam using fraudulent Planning Department invoices. The phishing scam has been operating since at least October 2025, but has recently increased output, targeting members of the community with ongoing applications with the county department.

“I was made aware by the Planning Department yesterday that they’re seeing an uptick in fraudulent invoices being sent out,” said Domke at the Jan. 6 regular BOCC business meeting. “Apparently, the folks who are sending out these fraudulent Planning Department invoices have increased the quality of the appearance of these fraudulent invoices to make them look more and more real, causing more confusion for folks.”

The scammers supplement the

6 / R / January 8, 2026

forgeries with targeted information on specific applications, which is available to the public on the list of current projects at bonnercounty.id.gov/departments/Planning.

“The documents people are receiving — these emails — are not the way our county sends out invoices or asks for fees to be paid, so please call and confirm before sending any kind of a payment and make sure it’s a legitimate fee,” said Domke. “Just because you have a project going on, or have actually submitted an application for a permit, [that] does not mean that the invoice you’ve received is actually accurate and real.”

Domke cautioned residents not to use links, email addresses or phone numbers included in such emails, and to instead call 208-265-1458 or visit the Planning Department directly at the Bonner County Administration Building (1500 Hwy. 2, Suite 208, in Sandpoint).

according to the Congressional Budget Office. That can result in rural hospital closures and failure to seek lifesaving care.

On the heels of Venezuela’s vice minister of foreign affairs saying they were preparing a major lawsuit against President Donald Trump and the U.S. government for “all the crimes” committed when deporting Venezuelan men from the U.S. to El Salvador’s CECOT prison, the U.S. military attacked Venezuela on Jan. 3, capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. Meanwhile, numerous media reported an estimated 80 people were killed in the attack (including 32 Cuban officers).

Trump allies were “thrilled” by the attack, while others said the military raid violated U.S. and international law. Venezuela plans to prosecute for war crimes.

Maduro and Flores were taken to the U.S. and charged with drug and firearm violations. Maduro told a U.S. judge Jan. 5 that he was kidnapped, and said he was not guilty.

Trump said the U.S. will “run” Venezuela until a “proper transition can take place,” adding that the U.S. will leverage billions of dollars from Venezuelan oil funds to rebuild the country’s oil infrastructure. Former-Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said people are sick of the playbook that neglects the American people but serves big money interests. Congress has a Jan. 30 deadline for federal funding, which could allow lawmakers a chance to block funds for further U.S. intervention in Venezuela.

Shortly after Maduro’s capture, Trump said he warned Mexico, Cuba and Colombia that they could be next.

He also said Greenland is on his radar and threatened Iran with war.”

The Lever reported that just weeks before the invasion of Venezuela, U.S. energy giant Halliburton filed an unusual lawsuit in international court, claiming Venezuela owed them damages for U.S. sanctions against the country. Halliburton and other companies could be “first in line” to receive what The Lever called a “massive windfall” from a Trump-installed Venezuelan government.

Trump shocked Venezuelans, who expected a swift democratic transition following the seizure of Maduro, when he tossed the idea of installing Edmundo González — who many in the country felt had been the real winner

By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Contributor

of the country’s 2024 election — or of installing Venezuela’s recent Nobel Peace Prize winner, Corina Machado.

Polls show 90% of people in the U.S. say Venezuelans should decide who will lead them; 60% oppose the U.S. aggression against Venezuela.

Many Venezuelans focused on stocking up on essentials in the event of chaos. Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, said the U.S. operation was an open violation of the U.N. charter. She was sworn in Jan. 5 as interim president, but Trump warned she would face a “bigger” price than Maduro if she did not comply with U.S. demands. Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello condemned the U.S. attack by “rats” and vowed “they are going to regret it for the rest of their lives,” various media reported.

Media outlets around the world cautioned that Trump’s attack on Venezuela could cause a surge in violence, disruptions to global energy and food markets, and push more hemispheric migration. It has also been a significant distraction from the lack of compliance for the release of the Epstein files, the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s testimony about Trump orchestrating the Jan. 6 insurrection and from the health care insurance crisis.

Top Republicans are backing away from the U.S. “running” Venezuela, appearing skeptical of Trump’s claim that Venezuela’s government will reimburse “very large oil companies” to get the “oil flowing.” The Lever noted that oversupply has caused crude oil prices to decline.

Trump said he gave U.S. oil companies a heads up before the attack, and they will provide benefits for Venezuelans. Trump administration officials also claimed they did not need congressional approval to strike a Venezuelan military base, saying the aggression was a law enforcement effort against drug trafficking. Notably, the region has 15,000 U.S. personnel, warships, fighter jets and surveillance craft “standing by.”

As many political commentators pointed out, Trump recently pardoned Honduran ex-President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was serving a 45-year sentence in the U.S. for cocaine trafficking. Trump explained: “The country, uh, deals in drugs, like probably you could say that about every country ...”

Blast from the past: “America is an oil company with an army.” — George Carlin, U.S. comedian, social critic, actor and author (1937-2008).

NEWS

BY THE Idaho lawmakers ask state to freeze child care grants program NUMBERS Move comes after alleged fraud in Minnesota prompted Trump administration crackdown

By Kyle Pfannenstiel Idaho Capital Sun Two Republican state lawmakers have asked the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to withhold federal funds to expand child care availability until the state boosts fraud oversight measures.

The move comes as the Trump administration has heightened federal oversight of child care subsidy distribution after a conservative social media influencer alleged fraud in Minnesota’s child care programs.

In a letter last, two Idaho Republican lawmakers — Rep. Josh Tanner, an Eagle Republican who on Jan. 5 became co-chairman of the Legislature’s powerful budget committee, and Sen. Brian Lenney, a Nampa Republican — asked the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to freeze payments for Idaho’s program, which they called similar to Minnesota’s.

Idaho’s funds haven’t yet been doled out, but the Department of Health and Welfare is shoring up oversight efforts now, agency spokesperson AJ McWhorter said in a Jan. 2 statement.

“Recent federal enforcement actions in Minnesota, now under investigation as one of the largest welfare-fraud schemes in U.S. history, have revealed systemic vulnerabilities in child care subsidy programs similar in structure to Idaho’s,” Tanner and Lenney wrote. “Those investigations identified inadequate enrollment verification, limited financial oversight and insufficient inspection controls.”

In their Dec. 31 letter, Lenney and Tanner asked Health and Welfare Director Juliet Charron to temporarily suspend “proposal solicitations, contract issuances and fund disbursements” linked to $14 million in funding the Legislature approved in 2025 to expand child care availability, “pending implementation of enhanced program-integrity and fraud-prevention safeguards.”

Lenney and Tanner could not be reached for comment.

Idaho’s funds haven’t been given out, Health and Welfare says Last year, through Senate Bill 1206, the Legislature allowed the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to spend the $14 million in funding through contracts, grants and programs.

The Department of Health and Welfare “is committed to administering all programs with robust oversight and will continue efforts to address suspected fraudulent behavior by bad actors,” McWhorter said. “While the department has established processes for fraud and abuse identification and mitigation, the department has been working closely with the Governor’s Office ... to take additional steps to conduct heightened reviews of subsidies that were previously disbursed.”

“The department is actively redirecting staff to scale up resources to continue to support these reviews and necessary actions, including provider termination when appropriate,” he added. “Any bad actors will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

In an X post, Lenney called the Dec. 30 letter “just the opening shot.”

“Minnesota got torched for BILLIONS in childcare fraud. We’re not waiting around to be next,” he wrote.

It isn’t immediately clear whether fraud has been alleged in Idaho’s program. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare could not be immediately reached about whether it received specific fraud allegations in its program.

Idaho’s request came after Minnesota fraud allegations prompted federal crackdown On Dec. 18, a federal prosecutor said fraud in Minnesota’s Medicaid services could be more than $9 billion, the nonprofit news organization Minnesota Reformer reported.

Two weeks later, the Trump administration cracked down on child care funding in response to a viral YouTube video by right-wing social media influencer Nick Shirley that alleged Somali-run child care centers receive state and federal funding but had no children attending those centers, the Minnesota Reformer reported.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced it froze all child care payments to Minnesota and is requiring states to provide “justification” that federal child care funds they receive are spent on “legitimate” providers in order to get those dollars, States Newsroom reported.

In August 2024, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare paused new enrollments for parents to receive subsidies through the program for months as the agency anticipated the program would face a budget shortfall. At the time, state officials said the projected shortfall was caused by rising costs of child care and expanded program eligibility, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported.

This story was produced by Boise-based nonprofit news outlet the Idaho Capital Sun, which is part of the States Newsroom nationwide reporting project. For more information, visit idahocapitalsun.com.

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

33 The number of Jan. 6 insurrectionists of the nearly 1,600 pardoned by President Donald Trump who have been charged, arrested or convicted of new crimes, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics. The charges range from possession of child pornography to sexual assault, child molestation and aggravated kidnapping. One pardoned Jan. 6 defendant was killed by police after resisting an officer during an altercation while pulled over just days after receiving his pardon. Of the 1,583 defendants who prosecutors charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, 608 faced charges for assaulting, resisting or interfering with law enforcement trying to protect the U.S. Capitol that day. About 174 of those 608 were charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or otherwise causing serious injury to an officer, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. At least 15 Justice Department prosecutors involved in the Jan. 6 investigations were fired after Trump returned to office, according to a report released Jan. 5 by the House Judiciary Committee. The report also notes that a plaque honoring officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6 has not yet been displayed, despite a federal law requiring it.

$800,000 The price paid at auction for a three-coin set of the final pennies minted for U.S. circulation. The last pennies were minted Nov. 12, 2025.

19 The number of U.S. states where workers saw an increase in minimum wages as of Jan. 1 (Idaho was not one of them). Idaho has not increased its minimum wage since 2010, when it went from $6.55 an hour to $7.25 an hour. When accounting for inflation, comparing the $7.25 rate in 2010 versus the same wage rate in 2026 dollars, Idaho’s minimum wage is effectively $4.88 an hour.

January 8, 2026 / R / 7

‘We deserve to know who is behind a bill’…

Bouquets: • Bouquets to all of those who submitted stories for our fifth annual 208 Fiction writing contest. Congratulations to the winners and honorable mentions. Keep up the good work.

• Let’s hear it for the small business owners. January can often be a low month for sales (it certainly is here at the Reader), so don’t hesitate to head out and support our local shopkeepers whenever you can. Every bit helps.

Barbs: • Our office receives a half dozen spam calls every day, sometimes more. It’s happened every day for the past couple of years. It’s always the same scam: “Your business is not showing up correctly in Google searches,” the robotic voice tells us in urgent tones. I’ve blocked the number, but the scammer uses a spoofer, so it’s always a new number they call from (usually with a local area code). I’ve filed a complaint with the FCC. I’ve listed our number on the National Do Not Call Registry. I also filed a complaint with the Idaho Attorney General’s Office, but was told that they can’t enforce robocalls from spoofed numbers because they aren’t “legit” telephone solicitors. Incredibly, if the spam calls were from actual solicitors, the AG’s Office could do something to enforce them. At this point, 90% of the calls we answer are robocalls and, as a result, I’ve just about lost my tenuous hold on sanity. I get occasional emails from the AG’s office with bombastic headlines that claim AG Raúl Labrador “defeats Satan, again.” That’s swell, Raúl, but maybe your office should spend less time battling the prince of darkness and more time addressing issues that actually affect us here in Idaho, instead of just throwing more red meat into the pit.

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Dear editor, Looking toward 2026, I decided to focus on disclosure. It’s a big area so I’ll address just two examples in this letter.

The first applies to the Idaho Legislature. Last year, House Resolution 18 was introduced. It would have required disclosure by stipulating that each bill’s statement of purpose clearly identifies the lead sponsor and all other sponsors. If a bill is not the original idea of the legislator, the statement of purpose must also disclose the lobbyist, agency or political organization that proposed the legislation.

The second area needing more disclosure are health insurance companies and the businesses they own. Companies selling Medicare Part D insurance own mail order pharmacies and push clients to use those pharmacies. I did not know my insurance company owned a pharmacy until I did some research.

Disclosure is critical. We deserve to know who is behind a bill. Did it originate from constituents or a lobbying group?

Likewise, we deserve to know whether our health insurance companies own pharmacies and providers. That information enables us to decide — do I spend my money to support my local clinic and pharmacy or do I send my money to an out-of-state corporation?

Mary Ollie Sandpoint

How to stay informed of City Hall business…

Dear editor, Happy New Year Sandpoint. Does 2026 inspire you to keep abreast of the important meetings and decisions that will be taking place this year at your City Hall? If so, accessing sandpointidaho.gov/portal can help by connecting you with “alerts and notifications,” where you can choose to be automatically notified of all upcoming council and committee meetings. Clicking on one or more, you will be asked to “sign in or create an account.” An email address or other given options easily work for this. Agendas can be obtained through the link you’ll receive.

An informed public allows participation that does matter and can make a difference. Contact me at pduquette@sandpointidaho.gov with

any questions.

“Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much.” — Helen Keller. Let’s Keep Sandpoint Real!

Thank you, Pam Duquette, Sandpoint city councilor Sandpoint

The Republican Party is busy committing sycophanticide (word newly coined), the Democratic opposition is ineffective — I have no solution.

What is next on our madman’s list?

Cuba, Greenland, Mexico?

Richard Sevenich Sandpoint

Trump’s ‘unmitigated gall’… An unproductive Dear editor, I trembled for my friends when I read that Trump vetoed the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida’s attempt to recover its lands.

As editor of The Miccosukee Everglades News, in the 1970s, I enjoyed their incredible heritage. Composed of Natives, escaped slaves, South Americans and others, the Miccosukees are considerate, honest, open to ideas and deeply spiritual.

My son attended the tribe’s school. Initially he was afraid to act in a class pageant, but with the teacher’s coaxing, he actually enjoyed singing with the other kids.

The tribe had made it possible to share things with my son like the Native performers from tribes all over the country during the Miccosukees’ annual music festival.

Tribal Chief Buffalo Tiger worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and others to reverse damage to the Everglades caused by developers. I remember him taking famous environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas on an ancient dugout canoe ride into the Everglades.

I rejoiced years ago with my son when he learned the Miccosukees had built a gaming enterprise, environmentally situated on their tiny lands.

Now I’m weeping at the thought of the detrimental effects of Trump’s unprincipled, unmitigated gall on such hard-working, caring individuals.

Sincerely, Clarice McKenney Sandpoint

interview…

Dear editor, Reporter: “Mr. President, do you have a comment about the recent reporting that you were best friends with Mr. Epstein and flew with him multiple times to his private island where children were raped?”

Wannabe King: “Stupid question!

Stupid ugly woman reporter! You should be asking about the invasion I’m doing in Venezuela! Chevron and all my billion-dollar oil donors are congratulating me!”

Reporter: “Mr. President, what’s your reaction to all your photos with Mr. Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his accomplice in their underage sex trafficking ring?”

Wannabe King: “You’re another lazy woman reporter! You should be asking about me tearing out the stupid White House Rose Garden and tearing down the East Wing, the most stupid part of the White House.”

Reporter: “Mr. President, the Epstein files have not been released like you promised. And it’s being reported that you are desperate to distract the public with all kinds of crazy, dangerous things so people will forget about your close association with the convicted sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein.”

WannaBe King: “You are all stupid reporters with nothing but stupid questions! You are radical traitors and belong in prison!”

Steve Johnson Sagle

What’s next on ‘madman’s list’?…

Thanks for the well-wishes…

Dear editor, So the U.S. has invaded Venezuela — clearly illegally. The aftermath in Venezuela will be chaos and the obvious goal to seize their oil is very unlikely to succeed and certainly not a valid justification. It is quite similar to Russia invading Ukraine, the U.S. invading Iraq, etc. The U.N. may be brave enough to censure Trump, but unlikely — and what difference would it make anyway?

Dear editor, I would like to publicly thank Ben Olson and the Reader for the article regarding my recent retirement and closing of my business [Feature, “A tremendous blessing,” Dec. 24, 2025]. It will be interesting, figuring out how I’m going to handle the transition from what has been a constant in my life for the past 30 years. The hardest thing just might be missing the contact

I’ve had with the many customers, neighbors, friends and new people I was fortunate to meet. These people made it so that I never had a day I dreaded going to work. I am not a social media guy, but my daughter showed me the Facebook post following the article. The comments were simultaneously encouraging and very humbling. Thanks to all of you!

Thanks also to the people who went to the effort of throwing me a retirement party. I never imagined so many people would take the time to come in and show me their support and encouragement.

To this community, I would like to thank all of you and God above, for somehow, against all odds, making my very improbable venture possible in our small town. I don’t think it would have been possible anywhere else.

Ward Tollbom Sandpoint

‘New year, same us’...

Dear editor, As we enter a new year, we continue our commitment to the community and our advocacy for fire prevention, public education and preparedness.

The Sunset Fire exercised many local processes and highlighted the excellent communication and collaboration between county agencies and the fire districts. In 2026, we will continue to support relationships, joint training opportunities and explore improvements in our internal processes.

We will also continue our commitment to defensible space education, responsible growth and will advocate for fire-safe building practices. We encourage our community to sign up for emergency alerts through Bonner County, prepare a personal evacuation plan and have emergency supplies ready year-round.

Fire safety is not just a seasonal concern. There are many things you can do in the winter months as well.

Regularly check and replace your smoke and CO detector batteries.

Always utilize fire-safe heating and cooking practices. Have your furnace and fireplace checked, cleaned and serviced annually.

Together, we can create a safer and more resilient Bonner County.

Jeff Armstrong, fire chief, Selkirk and Northside Fire Bonner County Send letters to: letters@sandpointreader.com

PERSPECTIVES

Legislative update Looking ahead to the 2026 session

By Rep. Mark Sauter, R-Sandpoint Reader Contributor Greetings, Monday, Jan. 12 is the start of the 2026 Idaho legislative session. However, a more than usual amount of legislative activity has been occurring for the past six months. From special committees to DOGE to legislative resignations to filling leadership roles in the House, there are a considerable number of questions that need to be answered.

Years ago, I read a quote by Pittsburgh Steelers Coach Chuck Noll, who led the team during several Super Bowl wins in the ’80s. He opined how some of the Steeler success could be attributed to “doing ordinary things, exceptionally well, every day.” I’m hopeful the Legislature can do ordinary things — like budgeting and making good policy — exceptionally well this year.

As we look forward to Jan. 12 and Gov. Brad Little’s annual address, there are many issues to keep in mind.

First up, our 2026 budget appears to be underfunded. Regardless of the cause (lack of revenue or excess spending) we have an approximately $50 million shortfall. We will likely be addressing this issue early in the session. However, before we make any hasty decisions, I expect every state-level department and division will be reporting with their financial status as of the end of 2025.

Typically there are surpluses and shortfalls — sometimes they balance out. For example, the Department of Lands has already reported firefighting costs have exceeded the amount of funds the Legislature set aside for this past season.

Once identified, shortfalls are examined and, if necessary, a supplemental budget request is submitted to the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee.

Next, a decision will be needed on the forecasted revenue amounts for Fiscal Year 2027. This decision is a critical element for the state budgets as they are developed and balanced. Last year setting the expected revenue numbers took eight weeks — considerably longer than past years (typically one to two weeks) and came in after some 2026 budgets were already being set.

We already know the 2027 budget-setting process will be different.

Rep. Mark Sauter. File photo The pre-session, two-day revenue and economics reporting meetings have been canceled. This is the first time this public, insightful opportunity to learn more about the Idaho economy will not be held since I’ve been a legislator. I’m hopeful there is a substitute program with this information.

A decision will also have to be made regarding Idaho’s conformance with the federal tax system in 2025 and again in 2026. It’s been reported the “Big, Beautiful Bill” eliminates taxing tips, overtime, and car loans, and allows businesses to accelerate writing off their investments. If our state follows this plan, there will be additional shortfalls for 2026 and 2027.

Hopefully, once the above issues are resolved, the Legislature can focus more closely on setting 2027 budgets for the state departments and divisions.

As the Legislature performs its constitutional duty of setting a balanced budget, it will be time to process

several hundred draft bills. I’ve already written about several draft bills I will be running this session that started here in our district. I’m hopeful I can get some traction with other legislators and garner enough votes to make some good policy changes.

“Session time” also provides the opportunity for legislators to follow up on other district issues that may not require additional law making. Instead, what’s needed is persistent followup to ensure an ongoing effort continues. Our lake level situation, the Springy Point Campground shutdown, our forest health issues, keeping our public lands public and maintaining access to them will continue to be on my dashboard.

Finally, three legislators from the House have resigned. All three served for many terms and had advanced influence on the matters of the House

as committee chairs. Those leadership positions will all need to be filled by the remaining 67 House members, and the governor appoints replacements for the resigning representatives. The new representatives’ interests and votes will factor into the House decisions throughout the session.

It’s a humbling assignment to represent our district; I appreciate the opportunity to serve our residents and area. If you have thoughts, comments, or questions on state or district issues, please let me know: msauter@house. idaho.gov.

Rep. Mark Sauter is a second-term Republican legislator representing District 1A. He serves on the Agricultural Affairs; Education; and Resources and Conservation committees.

January 8, 2026 / R / 9

Mad about Science:

Brought to you by:

geology and oil

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Editor’s note: Brenden Bobby is taking a week off, but he’ll return soon.

Oil has been big in the news lately, and specifically the vast oil reserves in Venezuela. This is “Mad About Science,” though, so we’ll avoid the politics surrounding the topic and focus on a basic question: How come Venezuela is so rich in oil?

According to most sources, the South American country holds more than 300 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves — more than Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, which round out the top five countries with the largest known reserves.

The first thing that might strike an observer is what those latter countries have in common: they’re all in the Middle East, which is filled with a mix of vast deserts and arid coasts and highlands.

When we think of major oil-producing regions, we tend to (rightly) envision desertified landscapes — whether they be sandy and rocky (like the Middle East) or frigid and remote (like the North and South Poles, which also have enormous oil and gas reserves). Venezuela is unlike those places, so what gives?

Speaking with Scientific American for an article published Jan. 7, petroleum engineer Luis Zerpa, with the Colorado School of Mines, said, “From the geology side, it just has the perfect location” for the accumulation of 10 / R / January 8, 2026

huge quantities of fossil fuels.

One thing all oil-rich regions have in common is the interplay of plate tectonics — that is, how the continents have bumped into each other and shuffled around the globe over the eons. The formation of oil, gas and coal, collectively referred to as hydrocarbons, requires organic material to be swiftly buried underground — so swiftly and thoroughly that it’s trapped in places where there’s not enough oxygen to spur decomposition, known as “anoxic” burial.

This generally occurs in areas where continental drift has pushed up land, resulting in a lower-elevation area nearby (or a “basin”).

Through the processes of erosion, sediments move from the higher- to the lower-lying regions and cover whatever plant and animal remains might be there. As those sediments build up over time, they turn to rock, trapping the organic materials beneath. This can happen both in terrestrial and aquatic environments. (Sadly, we don’t have the space to get into other formations like oil shale, but feel free to look it up yourself.)

Rather than rotting away in the presence of oxygen, this material keeps its bonds of hydrogen and carbon; and, under intense pressure and heat from plate movements over enormous spans of time, it turns into the highly concentrated hydrocarbons we burn for energy.

These “fossil fuels” would stay trapped underground, inaccessible for extraction, if not for plate tectonics.

Sealed deep below the surface — with the “oil window” ranging from 4,000 to 12,000 feet — hydrocarbons like oil and gas are released when their rocky prison walls start to crack as plates crunch together. Being more buoyant than water, oil and gas migrate toward the surface once free, seeking out pathways into porous and permeable rocks, which then become subterranean reservoirs — the “reserves” that fossil fuel companies (and governments) covet.

The answer to why places like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and the UAE have so much oil and gas is precisely due to these tectonic processes, occurring over a period of time that dates back to the beginning of the Cambrian Period about 540 million years ago, when they (along with Africa, Antarctica, Australia, India and South America) were part of the Gondwana supercontinent.

Sedimentation, the proliferation of marine life, sea level changes and the breakup of Gondwana all created ideal conditions in certain places for anoxic burial and the formation of oil, gas and coal.

In the most “recent” few million years, a number of geological faults, rifts, shelves and belts have developed throughout and surrounding the Arabian Peninsula, which is sandwiched between the African and Asian plates.

Which brings us to Venezuela. While Saudi Arabia is crunched between two plates, Venezuela is surrounded by three: the Caribbean, South American and Nazca plates.

Over the hundreds of millions

A map of countries with proven oil reserves, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Courtesy photo

of years since Gondwana, the interaction of those plates forced up huge regions of land, resulting in Venezuela’s highlands and no less than the Andes Mountains.

All those high-elevation areas resulted in a trio of enormous basins around Venezuela, identified today as the Eastern Venezuela, Maracaibo and Barinas-Apure basins.

Couple that with the fact that what we call Venezuela has remained a tropical region for far longer than places like Saudi Arabia, and you have a recipe for massive quantities of organic material getting trapped in a particularly active tectonic environment that, as we mentioned, is particularly politically active today.

Stay curious 7B.

Random Corner Don’t know much about snow • The earliest known snow shovel was found in a bog in Russia and is estimated to be about 6,000 years old. The blade was made from a carved elk antler section.

According to archeologists, the antler piece was tied to a wooden or bone handle.

• The first snowplows were horse-drawn wedge plows made of wood. The earliest reference found by the Oxford English Dictionary was written in 1792: “When a deep snow has obstructed the roads, they are in some places opened by an instrument called a snow plough. It is made of planks, in a triangular form, with two side boards to turn the snow out on either hand.”

• The first “snow-clearer” was patented in the 1840s for railroads. Milwaukee began operating horse-drawn carts fitted with snowplows in 1862, and the motorized plow was introduced in 1913.

removal?

We can help!

• In most Canadian cities, failure to shovel sidewalks when it snows can result in a fine of $100.

• Nationwide, shoveling snow is responsible for about 100 deaths and around 11,000 injuries every year.

This is because the sudden exertion of moving hundreds of pounds of snow after being sedentary can put increased strain on the heart.

The National Safety Council recommends not shoveling after eating or while smoking; shoveling only light, powdery snow; pushing snow rather than lifting it; stretching and taking the job slowly; and not working to the point of exhaustion.

• Trains often have small snowplows either permanently attached to the bogies, or wheels on an axle. They also might use a cowcatcher, a device mounted at the front of a locomotive that can deflect obstacles on the track that might otherwise damage the train.

PERSPECTIVES Jack Smith deposition gives insight into failed effort to hold Trump accountable

By Ben Olson Reader Staff While the nation popped champagne corks and checked out for the long holiday weekend on Dec. 31, 2025, House Republicans quietly released the transcript of special counsel Jack Smith’s Dec. 17 closed-door deposition before the House Judiciary Committee.

The daylong grilling saw a stalwart Smith defending his investigation into President Donald Trump for his efforts to subvert the 2020 election, his role in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection, as well as the mishandling of government records.

A grand jury indicted Trump on 37 felony counts on June 8, 2023 on charges of willful retention of national security material, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy relating to his removal of presidential materials and documents from the White House after his first-term presidency ended. Thirty-one of the felony counts fell under the Espionage Act. A couple months later, another grand jury issued a four-count indictment of Trump for his conduct following the 2020 presidential election through the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in both indictments and trials were scheduled; but, in yet another example of Trump’s ability to evade prosecution, the trials were never held.

A year later, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case against Trump, claiming that Smith was unlawfully appointed.

After Trump won the 2024 presidential election and because Department of Justice policy is to decline prosecuting sitting presidents of the United States, Smith announced he was dropping all charges and resigned on Jan. 10, 2025.

Like many of Trump’s scandals, the whole thing went away and became another of the so-called “witch hunts” against him.

The 255-page transcript of Smith’s deposition makes it clear that this was probably the last chance to hold Trump criminally responsible for his actions. Thanks to his 2024 election win, Trump narrowly escaped prosecution that may have seen him sentenced to actual prison time.

The House Judiciary Committee questioned Smith on Dec. 17 not to learn more about Trump’s illegal actions, of course, but rather to investigate former-President Joe Biden’s so-called “weaponization” of

the DOJ as part of Trump’s revenge-seeking tour after starting his second term.

The panel rebuffed Smith’s request to testify in public, then released the transcript and video of the testimony on New Year’s Eve in a not-so-transparent effort to bury the words and actions of Trump that brought the nation to the brink of disaster.

While reading through the transcript of the eight-hour hearing, it became clear that Trump’s habit of calling the special prosecutor “deranged Jack Smith” couldn’t be further from the truth. Instead, Smith’s testimony was controlled and deliberate — a slow, confident voice of reason that attempted to speak truth to power and was ultimately shut down.

A veteran public-corruption prosecutor who has gone up against politicians of both parties, Smith’s integrity was repeatedly challenged by the panel, whose members claimed his actions were merely to keep Trump “off the campaign trail.”

“President Trump was by a large measure the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy,” Smith said “These crimes were committed for his benefit. The attack that happened at the Capitol, part of this case, does not happen without him. The other co-conspirators were doing this for his benefit. So in terms of why we would pursue a case against him, I entirely disagree with any characterization that our work was in any way meant to hamper him in the presidential election. I would never take orders from a political leader to hamper another person in an election. That’s not who I am.”

Again and again, Republican lawmakers attempted to frame Smith as a special prosecutor who “took his orders from Biden” — a claim that Smith vehemently denied, claiming under oath that he never took instructions or orders from Biden or Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Smith claimed the evidence against Trump was too copious to ignore: “The decision to bring charges against President Trump was mine, but the basis for those charges rests entirely with President Trump and his actions, as alleged in the indictments returned by grand juries in two different districts.

“Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in a criminal

Document boxes in a Mar-a-Lago bathroom photographed by the Justice Department. Courtesy photo scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power,” Smith said. “Our investigation also developed powerful evidence that showed that President Trump willfully retained highly classified documents after he left office in January 2021, storing them at his social club, including in a ballroom and a bathroom. He then repeatedly tried to obstruct justice to conceal his continued retention of those documents.”

Smith made it clear there was no precedent for this case.

“There is no historical analog for what President Trump did in this case,” he said. “As we said in the indictment, he was free to say that he thought he won the election. He was even free to say falsely that he won the election. But what he was not free to do was violate federal law and use ... knowingly false statements about election fraud to target a lawful government function. That he was not allowed to do. And that differentiates this case from any past history.”

Smith pointed out that the case wasn’t built on Trump’s critics, but rather, his supporters.

“Our case was built on, frankly, Republicans who put their allegiance to the country before the party,” he said. “There was a pattern in our case where any time any information came in that would mean he could no longer be president he would reject it. And any theory, no matter how far-fetched, no matter how not based in law, that would indicate that he could, he latched onto that. ... We had so many witnesses who were allies of President Trump available to us to testify. This was not a case where we needed more witnesses, it was a case where we needed to be able to present the case in a streamlined way because there was so much evidence.”

Smith made no bones about laying the blame for the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol at Trump’s feet.

“Our view of the evidence was that he caused it and that he exploited it and that it was foreseeable to him,” Smith said.

The Trump administration’s entire premise that Biden “weaponized” the Justice Department is a surreal assertion when it appears that is exactly what Trump has done with his own DOJ. It was Trump who ordered the failed indictments of New York Attorney General Letitia James and former-FBI Director James Comey, then fired prosecutors who refused to comply with his instructions.

In the up-is-down, 2+2=5 world that exists today under Trump, it’s maddening to hear his baseless allegations against people doing what he, himself, does without compunction.

Smith’s deposition was released literally in the final hours of the year, scuttled like an old battleship and sent to the bottom of the sea. It serves as a sort of closing argument that Smith never got — a perfect example of a failed nation writ large, and a failed criminal justice system that is ill-equipped to handle what happens when we hand over unilateral power to a person like Trump.

Smith’s testimony is an anachronistic yawp from the times before, given under oath instead of on social media, trafficking in facts, not fiction.

It’s a reminder of a time not so long ago when truth, law and order actually meant something. Smith’s work was not based on politics or revenge, but rather in parsing through the facts and reaching an outcome that serves justice, not a political party or ideology.

The fact that Trump has called Smith a “criminal” who should be “investigated and put in prison,” is something the former special prosecutor is well aware of.

“I am eyes wide open that this president will seek retribution against me if he can,” Smith said. “I came here. I was asked to come here. ... If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat.”

Read the 255-page transcript of Jack Smith’s deposition at: bit.ly/JackSmithDeposition.

January 8, 2026 / R / 11

COMMUNITY POAC presents Northern Visions exhibition of paintings by Alison Barrows-Young

By Reader Staff The Pend Oreille Arts Council will present a new solo exhibition from Alison Barrows-Young, titled Northern Visions and opening Friday, Jan. 9 at the POAC Gallery (313 N. Second Ave., in downtown Sandpoint).

On view through Jan. 31, the show kicks off with a free, public reception from 5-7 p.m., when attendees are invited to meet the artist.

Created over the course of the Barrows-Young’s 15 years living in the Sandpoint area, Northern Visions “reflects a deep and evolving relationship with the landscapes of the Inland Northwest and beyond,” the gallery stated. “Drawing inspiration from her woodland homes near Sandpoint and travels throughout Alberta, Montana, Washington and Oregon, Barrows-Young describes this period as ‘a unique and special time’ in her artistic journey.”

One particularly meaningful piece in the exhibition is “Her Home,” which also appears on the show’s postcard.

Inspired by a house built by friends in the Selle Valley, the painting weaves together architecture and nature so that each moves in and out of focus.

Barrows-Young is especially drawn to the dramatic verticality of the re-

“Her Home” by Allison Barrows-Young gion. From lowlands to towering trees to expansive skies, she often translates these features into large, vertically oriented canvases.

“The dense, tall trees standing sideby-side create visions of things within them — almost like frames in a movie,” she stated. “There is an incredible mystery in the crossing branches and shadows that evoke surreal, nearly mystical characters.”

Working primarily in oil paint, Barrows-Young hopes viewers will bring their own experiences to the work.

“My favorite thing is what viewers see reflected there for them,” she stated. “Do they recognize something they, too, have seen but perhaps lost in memory or were unable to explain?”

For more information, visit artinsandpoint.org or contact the Pend Oreille Arts Council at 208-263-6139.

CHAFE 150 opens early bird registration for 2026 ride

By Reader Staff

12 / R / January 8, 2026

Sandpoint Rotary is inviting participants in the 2026 charity ride to register early for a $20 discount. The one-day CHAFE 150 Gran Fondo is celebrating its 18th year, with the race scheduled for Saturday, June 20.

Riders have the option of registering starting Wednesday, Jan. 14 with a range of route choices, including the 150-mile loop around the Cabinet Mountains of Idaho and Montana, traversing through river valleys and along regional lakes.

There are also 80-, 40- and 25-mile road routes, as well as 75- and 55-mile gravel rides starting in Clark Fork and also running through the Cabinets along Forest Service roads.

Finally, CHAFE 150 offers a fourmile Family Fun Ride that starts and finishes at Sandpoint City Beach on an out-and-back route along the Sand Creek trail.

Proceeds benefit the Lake Pend Oreille School District’s “Every Student Graduates a Reader” initiative, as well as after-school reading programs.

The 2025 ride drew almost 350 participants and resulted in a $50,000 donation to LPOSD from Rotary.

CHAFE 150 has contributed more than $1 million to youth education over the years, with a large portion benefiting local schools and Rotary youth service projects.

Get more information and, after Jan. 14, register at CHAFE150.org.

FEATURE

Theory of Unknown Origin: Pseudoarchaeology

By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff What do aliens, Nazis and the lost city of Atlantis have in common? A great deal, unfortunately, but not because of any global conspiracy hiding humanity’s secret history, as many pseudoscientific documentaries claim. The debunked and outlandish theories that aliens built the Pyramids or giants conquered the ancient world, are common enough fodder for shows like Ancient Aliens; however, though many view these ideas as entertaining crocks, the arguments are heavily rooted in a history of white supremacist doctrine.

These conspiracy theories prey on peoples’ paranoia and love of the fantastical to funnel audiences into a larger web of Shoah (or Holocaust) denial, Great Replacement Theory and other racist ideologies that ultimately pave the way for greater revisions of modern history.

Hyperdiffusionism and the Americas Americans have been rewriting the history of this land dating to the country’s foundations. In an effort to defend the Indian Removal Act and justify what would become the Trail of Tears, President Andrew Jackson argued in his 1830 “Second Annual Message” that the Indigenous people were not the original inhabitants of North America. Rather, the continent had once been populated by a white, technologically superior race that the progenitors of the Indigenous people killed off in what modern conspiracy theorists call a “white genocide,” according to Sapiens.

“In the monuments and fortifications of an unknown people, spread over the extensive regions of the West, we behold the memorials of a once powerful race, which was exterminated or has disappeared to make room for the existing savage tribes,”

said Jackson.

He was referring to the Mound Builders — ancient Indigenous peoples who created terraced, earthen mounds throughout much of the East Coast and Midwest that served as ceremonial sites, residences for religious and political leaders, effigies and more. The presence of such advanced and sturdy construction did not suit the characterization of the Indigenous peoples as “savages” who needed to be controlled and civilized; therefore, Jackson and many others attributed these accomplishments to an unknown previous “race.” This reconceptualization played into U.S. political goals, helping to justify Manifest Destiny as a reclamation of stolen land — rather than the act of stealing land — and the genocide of the Indigenous peoples as a necessity to give survivors the “gift” of civilization.

Though widely debunked, the same idea continues to resurface under different names thanks to the popularity of the pseudoarchaeological hypothesis of hyperdiffusionism. Proponents of hyperdiffusionism explain the similarities between ancient cultures — such as the presence of pyramid-like structures around the world — by arguing that a single, highly advanced (and frequently “white”) race once dominated the planet, disseminating these practices to almost every continent.

Hyperdiffusionism was the favorite theory of Frank Collin (a.k.a Frank Joseph), the former-Midwest coordinator of the American Nazi Party and founder of the National Socialist Party of America. He, as well as leading Nazi Heinrich Himmler and members of his German pseudoscientific propaganda organization Ahnenerbe, argued that these ancient people were the Aryan race, the direct ancestors of the Nazis. The Aryans, in the Nazi imagination, were a group of tall, blonde, white Europeans who conquered the

world under the symbol of the Swastika (“explaining” why the symbol appears in both Asia and the Americas), and even inhabited the lost island of Atlantis.

Modern white supremacists promote a similar, but rebranded, idea called the Solutrean hypothesis, which posits that the ancient people of the Solutré region of France — who lived approximately 21,000 years ago — were the first to populate North America by crossing the Atlantic Ocean on pack ice. Few archaeologists or geneticists subscribe to this theory, which is largely based on similarities between ancient arrowheads in France and North America. White supremacists have latched onto it, however, and use it in conjunction with the current favored theory that people coming from Asia populated the Americas to argue the European Solureans were there first, and the Indigenous people are descended from the “Mongoloids” who came later. This interpretation ignores a fundamental characteristic of the Solutreans, who likely preceded racial diversification and so, being not long out of Africa, were Black.

Ancient astronauts Eventually, as oceanic exploration made it more difficult to believe in the lost city of Atlantis and science fiction grew in popularity, these

mummies, which are said to have an “extraterrestrial” look due to elongated skulls from the practice of artificial cranial deformation. Cultures around the world, including in Europe, have practiced similar skull-binding techniques.

According to the Atlantic, The Great Pyramid of Giza. Photo by Douwe C. van der Zee. individuals who promote these theories and benefit from the racist ideas transitioned from myriad fraudulent documentaa focus on ancient humans ries on them — such as Unto ancient alien astronauts.

Capitalizing on this trend were earthing Nazca — have also taken to removing the mummies’ authors such as Erich von fingers and reattaching them to Däniken, who wrote the 1968 other bodies to give the illusion bestseller Chariots of the Gods?, of long, alien-like digits. arguing that extraterrestrial Rather than thoughtfully beings visited Earth to influexploring these rich civilience technology, religion and zations, conspiracy theorists civilization as a whole. Most purposefully distort or outright aliens in “ancient astronaut” falsify the historical record to theories are, unsurprisingly, Aryan-looking, and some pro- serve modern political agendas. Recognizing the power of ponents argue that they bred these ancient cultures jeoparthe “superior” white genetics dizes the baseless arguments into humanity. for white superiority, so Like the myth of the believers, in order to maintain Mound People, these aliens current racist power dynamics, are inventions used to explain how ancient people of color — have to explain them away by any means necessary. especially Africans and MesoThough rewriting the and South Americans — were narrative to serve a political able to build architectural agenda may have begun with marvels like the Pyramids of ancient history, under the Giza and Cholula. Notably, Trump administration, it is these theories do not include rapidly spreading to the recent European achievements. past. Conspiracy theories Most recent pseudoscholabout aliens and Atlantis may arship has focused on Peru’s be kind of funny, but they Nazca Lines and mummies, quickly funnel audiences into a which, in part, inspired the conspiracy pipeline that denies worst installment of the Indischool shootings and argues ana Jones series, Kingdom of the that the Jan. 6, 2021 insurCrystal Skull. The Nazca Lines rection was a “day of love,” are massive images carved feeding a climate of willful between 500 B.C.E. and 500 ignorance and blind hatred.

C.E. by ancient Peruvians Tolerating any such anachwho sculpted the soil into artwork visible only from the sky, ronisms and false histories — no matter how benign they which, subsequently, makes it seem — only perpetuates the easy for conspiracy theorists pattern of systemic racism, to tie them to aliens. This is bigotry and violence. often coupled with falsified research conducted on stolen January 8, 2026 / R / 13

FEATURE

2026

contest results Here we present the winners of the fifth annual Sandpoint Reader 208 Fiction contest, in which we invited writers to submit a work of fiction totaling exactly 208 words for consideration by a panel of judges including Reader Publisher Ben Olson, Editor-in-Chief Zach Hagadone and Senior Writer Soncirey Mitchell.

This year we had 36 entrants, each of whom paid $5 per piece for consideration, with first place winning $150 in cash and second- and third-place finishers receiving gift certificates courtesy

Judges’ notes:

FIRST PLACE

Familiar Stranger

By Michael Prewitt Tyler pushed through the bramble, his boots sinking into damp earth. The woods were silent today, as if the forest were holding its breath. Beside him trotted Lady, his Collie, her ears perked.

They reached their destination, a glassy pond hidden deep among moss-covered stones.

Tyler had come here countless times, but today something was off. The water glistened a bit unnaturally, like polished obsidian.

Lady growled low and deep. Tyler knelt, peering into the surface of the pond.

His reflection stared back — except it didn’t.

The face was his, but the eyes were not, like embers still burning in ash. Then his reflection smiled.

14 / R / January 8, 2026

of the Reader and its advertisers.

This year, we received several submissions that might have been considered for top prizes, but they failed to meet the word-count criteria. Other submissions were entertaining, but fell under the “memoir” category, as opposed to fiction.

Remember, the word count is always the body of the story, not including author name and title.

Thanks to all those who participated and we extend our hearty congratulations to the winners and honorable mentions.

— Reader Staff

Winner of $150 cash prize !

Tyler gasped and jerked back. He could feel his heart pounding, and his ears instantly filled with pressure. The water softly rippled, though he had not touched it.

The ripples stilled. The forest hushed again. All was silent.

Tyler could feel a pull toward the black pond, as if it were beckoning through gravity. He peered over the surface once more.

His reflection returned — normal, lifeless.

He stood staring, breath misting in the cold, crisp air. Lady whined, pressing against his leg as if to say, “Let’s leave this place.”

Tyler glanced down once more at the pond.

And this time, it winked.

ZH: Yes! I’m all in favor of the entry’s unsettling, topsy-turvey tone and what amounts to a mashup between the myth of Narcissus and Jenny Greenteeth. Good pacing, solid and evocative scene-setting — with an emphasis on showing, rather than telling — and the final line is a creepy chef’s kiss. It’s hard to write a beginning, middle and an end in 208 words, but this entry does it with skill and confidence.

SM: What makes this a good story, and sets it apart from other submissions, is Prewitt’s conscious use of the limited word count. He begins the story in medias res, or “in the middle” of the action, and so devotes the entire piece to character development — including the descriptions of the pond and forest. Then he manages to complete a full story arc with a twist ending that feels like a natural progression rather than a gimmick. Bonus points for the mischievous wink at the end.

BO: The author understood the assignment and presented a rounded snapshot in time that is both mysterious and somehow familiar at the same time. The story has an arc and gives the reader just enough to guess what’s happening, but also leaves a lot unsaid. That’s what made it a great story. I loved Prewitt’s last line.

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SECOND PLACE

Another Day

By Charles Mortensen

Though still autumn, the air felt more like winter.

The breeze gusted sporadically, and the asylum grounds were still wet from the passing squall. An unnerving quiet brought me pause. Still, I headed to the manor. John-John stayed to tend the boat and keep a lookout.

Entering the building, I came upon the warden and his assistant gagged and hog-tied together heel to heel and loosely roped to the banister by their necks. Not knowing the circumstances, I reckoned a recon was in order and made my way up the creaky stairs.

The padlock hasps on a bedroom door down the hall had been torn from the jamb, and the

whistling wind from an open window carried a whiff of roadkill. I entered cautiously, wishing I had brought my pistol.

The colonel, naked and soiled, sat cross-legged on the bed humming softly. Jane stood with her back to the window, wielding an automatic combat rifle. A bloodied machete lay on the floor in the doorway to the bathroom. Another day, I figured, and scampered out the door.

Downstairs again, I freed the prisoners and escorted them out and across the lawn to the dock, where John-John had already untied the boat. Thunder clapped, and the sleet fell anew.

THIRD PLACE

A Blue Mountain Horror

By Stephanie Le Roy

Kara stepped onto the sidewalk in Parsons, West Virginia, her two sons staying close. Owen was 10, Ryan 5, both excited to meet their father. Michael didn’t know they existed. He was a mechanic — known more for hunting than kindness.

She would tell him after the hunt.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” her mother asked.

“It’s been a while since you hunted with a man.”

Kara remembered leaving the woods pregnant last time. “We’ll be fine, Mom.” Their guide filled the hike with rumors — children stolen in the night, couples vanishing and Blue Mountain warnings he whispered like prophecy. Kara brushed it aside.

But, in the blind, Owen

listened. A whistle pierced the trees. Ryan returned it, and the huntsman snapped.

Temper rising, a branch cracked nearby, and he insisted they leave.

Owen protested.

They stepped out. The shape hung from a nearby tree, amber eyes gleaming. Its claws retracting as it landed silently. Their escort fled screaming.

The creature watched them. Considered the coward, then followed.

Kara dragged her boys toward the treeline. A gunshot. Then a scream. Another branch snapped. The scent of motor oil followed.

When the beast spoke.

“Is this why you left?”

Kara’s eyes burned amber.

“I was afraid you’d eat them.”

Judges’ notes: ZH: There’s a lot of really strong imagery throughout and it casts a palpable pall of doom and gloom, but it felt a little to me like wandering into a movie when the story is already well underway.

Still, it’s an effective piece of horror-suspense scene building that makes me want to know more about what happened before — and after.

SM: Mortensen has submitted a few stories about John-John, Jane and the colonel over the years — including the 2024 honorable mention “Blanket” — and each addition unravels and then adds another piece to the mystery. His writing is evocative, prioritizing setting and imagery over plot, and yet his characters feel complex and lived-in. The story makes you want to keep reading, and that’s the mark of good writing.

BO: The writing in Mortensen’s piece is evocative and, thanks to a good opening line, sets a definite mood. There is a vibe to this submission that makes me feel the author knows the story they’re trying to tell. Well done.

HONORABLE MENTIONS A Memory of White Fields

By Coulter Eagley

“Snow. You know snow, kid?”

The kid put a finger to his nose and made as if he were snorting a line of the powder.

“No! Not that junk! Jesus, kid.

I’ll do you a favor and keep that between you and me. I mean snow, real snow. Guess not?”

The kid shook his head.

“Figures. Used to be, this time a year, it’s what we’d be getting instead a rain. See, temperature up there gets cold enough it’d freeze the water in the clouds, turn those thick droplets we’ve got coming down right now into tiny flakes of ice — and I know you know

ice. Anyway, it’s where that junk gets its name, see, because to the eye those tiny flakes look like white powder.

Used to get enough-a those flakes comin’ down to cover entire fields, cities, you name it.

We’d get buried in the stuff, and everywhere you looked you’d see white. When we were about your age we’d go and roll in the stuff.

Ball it up, throw it at each other.”

The old man sighed. “Now you just throw mud. Look at you.

Go get yourself cleaned up.”

The kid darted up the stairs.

“And next time don’t track it in the house!”

ZH: I tripped a little over the use of dialect, but I could look past that to enjoy the sense of bitter humor and couldn’t help feel like there might have been a metaphor lurking behind the notion of “throwing mud.”

SM: It speaks to Eagley’s skill that you already know who these characters are by the second line. Since this is dialogue-heavy, it’s all about the characters, and the old man’s bitter, wistful musings are a brilliant way to relate to him and reflect on our current environmental situation.

BO: Dialogue is tough to excel at, so this submission won extra points for telling the story mostly in the characters’ words. I also like the premise of a discussion in the future about the snowy winters we are watching slowly disappear from our lives.

Jeru Town Diary Judges’ notes: ZH: I give this one high marks for inventiveness and the inclusion of horror elements. I especially appreciated the semi-vagueness of the monster and its threat. Not quite cosmic horror, but enough to keep the reader guessing, and (as H.P. Lovecraft said), “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”

SM: Weirdos (like me) know that West Virginia is well known for its cryptid sightings, which just adds another layer to this story. I love the idea that Mothman — or some other being — is a father, mechanic and cold-blooded murderer who eats people. It’s a compelling narrative with a rich, implied background, tied up nicely with that final serious but cheeky line.

BO: I loved the line, “Kara remembered leaving the woods pregnant last time.” I also enjoy the ambiguity of the beast or monster.

Sometimes a story is stronger for the images and words not included.

By Lance Miller

My name is Maria Mendoza.

I turned 14 today and was born in 2030, the first baby born in Jeru Town. Mom and 62 women and children left Sandpoint and walked here after the floods of ’28 and ’29 raised the elevation of the lake 50 feet, and settled below the slopes of Jeru Ridge, above the Pack River. All of the men were gone by then, drafted and disappeared in the Colombo Venezuelan war of ’27. Then the Covid III pandemic hit, and someone convinced the “right” that vaccinations were a scam, and so a hundred million died. The virus was very hard on men. I still don’t

know who the “right” was.

It rains almost every day.

Mom says that there used to be a thing called snow in the winter, frozen rain that fell from the sky.

There are 208 people living in Jeru Town. Some men and boys came down from Canada a few years ago. We built a hydro power plant on Jeru Creek and have all the power we need.

We salvage materials down the valley, and our divers bring cool things back from Sandpoint.

I’m headed to the river to spear salmon with friends, then pick huckleberries. I’ll write more soon.

ZH: I liked the dystopian satire elements that went just heavy enough to be evocative but not over the top. I also really appreciated that rather than just telling the reader “everything went to shit,” we get a sidelong perspective on events through the narrative device of the diary, which could very well be an artifact from an even more shitty future.

SM: Japanese media has a genre called iyashikei (“healing”) that’s often mixed with post-apocalyptic stories to create soothing, slice-of-life narratives set in a world reclaimed by nature. This story’s focus on the joy and peace in Maria’s daily life, contrasting with the backdrop of national tragedy, encapsulates that genre well and helps the piece resonate with a quiet hope, despite everything.

BO: Anyone who knows me well knows I don’t have a lot of hope for the future of humanity. This story scratched that itch. The author’s narrative effectively gives tells of a sketchy future, and imbues a tiny bit of hope (maybe?) with the promise to “write more soon.”

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< 208 FICTION, con’t from Page 15 >

Last Yellow Button By Jessica Bowman

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kchni.org

She looked up at the shelf. Her Shelf of Things. She smiled when she thought of her things. Jars of things, all neatly in rows.

She grabbed a jar; if you hadn’t known any better, you would think she grabbed a jar at random. But today was this jar’s day.

She took the jar into the kitchen and selected her tray. The tray was essential to this task. It had higher sides than her TV tray and the monochrome enamel made everything easier to see.

She upended the jar onto the tray, being careful not to let any of them slip over the edge.

She grabbed a yellow button.

One… Two… Three…

Seventy-five….

Her phone rang once, twice… by the third ring, she had lost count of the yellow buttons.

She began to count again.

One… Two… Three…

Two hundred and eight!

There has to be two hundred and eight!

The last yellow button, the 208th one, is always her favorite. It’s a tiny button with four holes, she calls it her buttercup button, but only to herself.

She takes her jar of yellow buttons and puts them back in their spot on the Shelf of Things.

She counts the jars, 208, with a smile on her lips.

ZH: I would have put this higher in the overall running for its play on the contest’s 208-word limit. Other entries in past years have tried to lean into that theme with far more mixed results.

This one is uncommonly clever and I was grabbed by the dreamy, sing-song quality of the prose, which is a lot harder to pull off than it might seem.

SM: I appreciate how descriptive this story is and how Bowman manages to create an entire narrative out of one small activity. It’s difficult to make a story about counting buttons compelling, but Bowman adds enough little details — the buttercup button, the enamel — to make it warm and inviting.

BO: I liked the randomness of this submission, and the writer’s attempt to include a double 208-theme in the story.

16 / R / January 8, 2026

STAGE & SCREEN

Stranger Things ends with a hefty dose of nostalgia for nostalgia

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff It was probably never meant to be that Stranger Things would end on a tone of universal acclaim. No show can sustain nearly a decade of cultural juggernaut status without accumulating more than its share of naysayers. Such has been the case following the series finale of the Netflix streaming series on New Year’s Eve, 2025.

Created by the Duffer brothers — Matt and Ross — the first season debuted in July 2016 and, since then, has achieved something rare: turned a show rooted in nostalgia for the early 1980s into an experience of nostalgia for the past decade.

When we met the “kids” of Stranger Things, they were literally kids. Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) was supposed to be about 11 years old, while the boys — Mike, Dustin, Luke and Will — were 12-ish. Their older siblings and cohorts ranged in age from 16 to 17.

That was pretty close to the actors’ real ages; and, while the show covered a period of about four years, obviously that wasn’t reflected in real life as those 12-ish-year-olds went through the inevitable changes of life and ended up as 20-somethings portraying high school seniors.

That was tough for a lot of viewers, who just couldn’t suspend their disbelief, which is pretty rich considering that the show was about cosmic horror monsters and government conspiracies bridging multiple dimensions and amounting to the threat of a spacetime apocalypse.

Regardless, fans and critics of the show alike literally watched the Stranger Things kids grow up on screen, lending that tone of nostalgia-within-nostalgia to the finale season and especially its last episode.

After almost 10 years in the spotlight, it hardly bears summarizing the plot, but here goes: Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard) and his buddies Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) and Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) are happygo-lucky preteens living in Hawkins, Ind., where they spend their days navigating school life and playing Dungeons & Dragons in Mike’s basement.

It’s 1984 when the events of the show begin, touched off by the disappearance of Will. His mom Joyce (Winona Ryder) goes into a panic, made more panicky by Hawkins’ history of

missing kids. Her eldest son Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) worries that his mom is losing it when she becomes convinced that Will isn’t really missing — rather, he’s trapped in some unknown alternate reality but can communicate with her by manipulating the Christmas lights that she’s strung all through the house as a kind of transdimensional telegraph system.

Burned out Chief of Police Jim “Hopp” Hopper (David Harbour) has been dealing (badly) with the death by leukemia of his daughter years earlier and has known Joyce since their own high school years, so he tries to provide some comfort while still disbelieving her theories about Will’s actual whereabouts.

Meanwhile, across town, there’s a shadowy military-scientific laboratory that’s been up to some seriously twisted experiments meant to access and weaponize the psychic powers of kids. One of those kids is No. 11 — a.k.a. “Eleven” — who is more powerful than the others and busts out, eventually falling in with Hopper, who more or less adopts her as a surrogate daughter.

When Eleven also meets Mike and the others, it becomes clear that she’s much more special than anyone could imagine; and, indeed, Will has slipped into another reality that comes to be known as “The Upside Down,” which they eventually can access through portals.

Basically, “The Upside Down” is a dimensional rift that replicates Hawkins, though in its darkest, most dangerous version full of monsters and all manner of other nightmares. In true D&D fashion, Mike and company embark on a quest to save Will and Eleven and, as things transpire, save the whole world from a big-bad space demon-like creature called “The

Mind-Flayer” and its minion Vecna in an epic final battle.

There’s romance — unrequited and otherwise — and a cast of characters including Mike’s elder and younger sisters Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Holly (Nell Fisher), Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink), Robin Buckley (a stellar Maya Hawke) and cool-guy-jerk who also has a heart of gold Steve Harrington (Joe Keery).

The power of their friendship, with all its strains and challenges, is the core of the story and so truthfully felt that it excuses lapses in writing and plotting that objectively pile up during the final seasons — and are on full display in the finale, which really didn’t need to be feature film-length but for the showrunners’ desire to give practically every character their own conclusion.

Still, it’s hard to hate on a series that so consistently and deftly delivered on an addictive blend of horror, comedy and genuine pathos backed by pitch-perfect period costuming, set design and art direction that felt real

Courtesy photo

while also fantastical.

It’ll be missed, but it’s time had come for an ending and — as with all pieces of nostalgia — Stranger Things will reward revisiting over the years.

January 8, 2026 / R / 17

events

Send event listings to calendar@sandpointreader.com THURSDAY, january 8

Cribbage tournament 6pm @ Connie’s Lounge $5/person

Collage Night w/ Woods Wheatcroft 4-7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority Live Music w/ Frytz 8-11pm @ Roxy’s Lounge

Bingo with Dusty 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

Live Music w/ Mike and Sadie 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Father-daughter duo; rock, pop, folk

Live Music w/ Chris Paradis 6-8pm @ Smokesmith BBQ Singer-songwriter Americana

S.O.L.E. Backcountry Film Festival 7pm @ Panida Theater The 21st annual fundraiser event celebrating winter adventure while supporting S.O.L.E.’s SnowSchool program. Tickets at panida.org

Live Music w/ Endless Switchbacks 5pm @ Connie’s Lounge

Live Music w/ Monarch Mountain Band 5:30-8:30pm @ Barrel 33 Live Music w/ Justin Lantrip 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

FriDAY, january 9

Live Music w/ Jacob Robin 5-7:30pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co. “Up music for down people” Live Music w/ Ian Newbill 6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Country and classic rock

SATURDAY, january 10

Live Music w/ The Cole Show 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Loop pedal, pop, easy rock

Live Music w/ Buffalo Jones 9pm-midnight @ 219 Lounge Rock, Americana from a touring band

Live Music w/ Harold’s IGA 8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Indie folk and rock at Eichardt’s inaugural Publican Picks monthly music event. Drink, dance and be merry

Live Music w/ Paul Taylor 6pm @ Connie’s Lounge

Live Music w/ Andru Gomez 5:30-8:30pm @ Barrel 33

Live Music w/ Abe Barber does Townes 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

Drop in Swing Class 4-6pm @ Barrel 33 Country swing dance lessons, $15/person. 208-920-6258 Music w/ DJ Sterling 9pm @ Roxy’s Lounge

SunDAY, january 11

Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee Live Music w/ Traveling Huckleberries 3-5pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

Magic with Star Alexander 5-8pm @ Jalapeño’s

Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Trivia with Rob Goldworm 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

Outdoor Experience group run 6pm @ Outdoor Experience 3-5 miles, all levels welcome

monDAY, january 12

tuesDAY, january 13

Live piano w/ Jennifer Stoehner Big Rock Karaoke night 5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery 9pm @ Roxy’s Lounge Traditional, inspirational, contemporary Wednesday tango night 6pm @ Barrel 33 Beginner Argentine tango lesson 6pm, pracitca 7pm. No partner needed. $15

POAC Performing Arts Series: Living Voices ‘The Klondike’ 7pm @ Panida Theater Where dynamic solo performances and archival film merge to narrate the hunt for gold. $15/adult, $10/student 18 / R / January 8, 2026

January 8-15, 2026

wednesDAY, january 14

Live piano w/ Bob Beadling 5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Contemporary music on the grand piano Live Trivia w/ Toshi 7pm @ Connie’s Lounge $5/person

ThursDAY, january 15

SHS one-act plays 7pm @ Sandpoint High School auditorium Performed by SHS drama students

Live Music w/ Brian Jacobs 6-8pm @ Baxters on Cedar

$5 Movie: Fantastic Mr. Fox 7pm @ Panida Theater Screening of Wes Anderson films continues. While at the Panida, check out a special art and fashion show presented by SHS art students. Night sponsored by La Chic Boutique and Pend d’Oreille Winery Live Music w/ BTP 6-9pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Classic rock trio

Live Music w/ Fiddlin’ Red 1-4pm @ Barrel 33

Bluegrass Jam by Jim Rosauer 5pm @ Connie’s Lounge Open jam. All are welcome Get Knotty! Make a macrame plant hanger 5:30-7pm @ Verdant Plant Shop $35 includes all materials. RSVP at: bit.ly/3KZWqGJ Family Night w/ John Firshi 5-7:30pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co. Firshi will play acoustic tunes and chill vibes while customers enjoy dinner and beer with the family Cribbage tournament 6pm @ Connie’s Lounge $5/person

STAGE & SCREEN

SOLE Backcountry Film Festival returns for 21st annual screening

By Reader Staff Selkirk Outdoor Leadership and Education will host its 21st annual Backcountry Film Festival with a screening Friday, Jan. 9 at the Panida Theater (300 N. First Ave.).

The all-ages event is intended to raise money for SOLE’s SnowSchool Experience Program, which has provided more than 36,000 hours of outdoor education to more than 4,800 underserved rural youth over the past 14 winters alone.

Doors open at 6 p.m. with the introduction and first film reel from 7-8:15 p.m. After an intermission, the second reel will play from 8:45-9:45 p.m., and closing remarks around 10 p.m.

The Backcountry Film Festival is produced by SOLE’s partner organization, Boise-based nonprofit Winter Wildlands, with its world premiere in Idaho’s capital city.

The festival then tours to more than 100 showings around the world,

featuring award-winning and juried films that celebrate human-powered experiences.

In addition to screenings, the event features a silent auction with gifts from local vendors, artisans and businesses, along with gear vendors, raffle prizes, beer for purchase and special surprises.

Tickets are available at the door or panida.org, and range in price from $10 for youth 17 and younger in advance (does not include a raffle ticket) to $30, which provides one local youth a free three-day SnowSchool program as well as three raffle tickets.

Other tickets are $15 in advance or $20 the day of the show for general admission, or $15 for youth 17 or under on the day of the show (all without raffle tickets, which cost $3 for one, $5 for three or $10 for five).

Finally, the festival features a Schweitzer chair life raffle, with one ticket for $25 or five for $100.

SOLE’s SnowSchool was recently honored as a National SnowSchool

Flagship Site for its place-based experiential curriculum, which features a comprehensive watershed study, including snow science, winter ecology, conservation literacy, avalanche education, and outdoor living and travel skills. The program is open to all fifth-graders in the Lake Pend Oreille School District for free through the fundraiser.

“Grab your skis and backcountry

A screenshot from one of the films showing at the SOLE Backcountry Film Festival. Courtesy photo buddies, and help underserved youth in our community get unplugged and connected to winter wildlands by attending this event for a great cause,” SOLE stated.

For more information and to donate, go to soleexperiences.org.

Panida features Fantastic Mr. Fox as part of Wes Anderson series

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Few authors’ works cry out more loudly for film adaptation than Roald Dahl’s, and few directors are more suited to the task than Wes Anderson.

The auteur made his animation debut in 2009 with Fantastic Mr. Fox, a stop-motion adventure comedy based on Dahl’s 1970 novel of the same name. Featuring the voice talents of George Clooney as the titular Mr. Fox, Meryl Streep as Mrs. Felicity Fox, Jason Schwartzman as their son Ash and a stable of other Andersonian actors including Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Willem Dafoe, it’s as pleasurable to look at as it is expertly paced and faithful to Dahl’s signature wit.

Nominated for two Oscars in 2010 — including Best Original Score and Best Animated Feature Film — Fantastic Mr. Fox will screen Saturday, Jan. 10 as part of a Wes Anderson series at the Panida Theater (300 N. First Ave.).

Tickets are $5 and available at the door or panida.org.

Those familiar with Dahl’s source material will recognize the basic plot, though charmed with the visual and dramatic twists supplied by Anderson.

Basically, it’s the tale of crafty but somewhat flighty and often unreliable Mr. Fox, who goes back on a promise

Courtesy photo to Mrs. Fox — and against the advice of his lawyer, Mr. Badger (Murray) — that he’ll refrain from filching food and beverages from their odious neighbors, the farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean.

His thievery does not go unnoticed, as Boggis, Bunce and Bean join forces to run Mr. Fox to ground. The full-scale agricultural conflict ensnares not just the Fox family — including Mrs. Fox’s nephew, whose temporary

residence spurs its own bitter cousin-rivalry with Ash — but all the other animals of the area, who must unite to defeat the gruesome trio of farmers.

Sponsored by La Chic Boutique and the Pend d’Oreille Winery, the Anderson series will also feature an art and fashion show Jan. 10 presented by the art students of Sandpoint High School.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the screening starts at 7 p.m.

January 8, 2026 / R / 19

FOOD

The Sandpoint Eater So cleaver

By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Columnist I brought home a new kitchen tool last week — a six-inch cleaver — and I can’t stop smiling every time I wrap my hand around the smooth grip. This should not surprise my children; I’ve always been a bit of a kitchen outlaw, but yes, they all had a little something to say about my newest purchase.

It seems they are convinced that, at 70 years old, I should be downsizing — not reaching for something that looks like it could double as a deadly weapon. I have assured them, especially the oldest and bossiest one (Ryanne), that I won’t be practicing any theatrics with it. Yet. “You’re a danger with that thing, Mom.” I’ve heard that reference a few times before — once when wielding my plumber-sized blowtorch to ignite a baked Alaska (in Ryanne’s home) — but it doesn’t faze me. And if I do any entertaining that requires both blowtorch and cleaver, I promised to keep pre-dinner cocktails to a minimum.

(It’s true, there have been some incidents with the blowtorch, but none have ever required a call to 911, and really all I ever scorched — at Ryanne’s house, that is — was a worn dish towel that needed replacing anyhow.)

It’s really quite surprising that after spending decades in professional kitchens, I never owned a cleaver. I’ve been through plenty of chef’s knives, boning knives, and slicers with blades worn thin from years of slicing onions and deli meats. But never a 20 / R / January 8, 2026

cleaver. Somewhere along the way, I decided they were bulky, unnecessary, didn’t fit a knife roll and maybe a little too theatrical.

Turns out, I was wrong.

After following a couple of fabulous Instagram chefs (who are, in fact, a bit theatrical), I was mesmerized by the grace and efficiency they possessed when handling this oversized tool. The weight of the cleaver does the work for them. The wide blade chops like a dream and doubles as a scoop when they swoop up the chopped pieces and slide them effortlessly into a sizzling pan. There’s rhythm and flair to their movements; and, after some practice, I hope I can handle my own

cleaver as effortlessly.

I did promise the girls that I’ll keep a guard on the blade when practicing tossing and catching by the handle (I’m not there yet). It’s the next best thing to a kitchen power tool, which may explain why I like it so much.

The day after my purchase, I began perusing the meat section at a local market and eyed an oversized package of boneless chicken thighs (on sale!). I brought them home and initiated the cleaver. Since I had no menu in mind at the time, I packaged them up for future stir-fry and soup projects. Sadly, I didn’t get the endorphin rush I had hoped for, so the next day I headed back to the market, where I

spied a nice big boneless pork roast. I had it in my cart before I could say, Marcia, stop! Your freezers are full.

There was something deeply satisfying about breaking down the big roast with the big cleaver. It was all I had hoped for. And more.

But, wow — six pounds of boneless pork roast yields a lot of cubes.

Luckily, during said chopping frenzy, I remembered that I’ll be meeting up with the multi-generational clan for a Nordic skiing weekend in Priest Lake in a couple of weeks. And soon enough, visions of pozole verde danced in my head. It’s a win-win for me. Pozole takes hours, so I will sacrifice outdoor time

Pozole verde

to stand by the warm stove, stirring the pot and providing a tasty hot meal for the non-vegetarian skiers. Even 5-year-old granddaughter Runa may partake in pozole, as she recently shared with me that she’s still a vegetarian, but now eats sausage!

Pozole, a hearty stewtype soup, is one of Mexico’s oldest dishes, often enjoyed as a celebration food and commonly served on holidays, birthdays and long weekends.

I have prepared it many times for Super Bowl gatherings.

You might enjoy it at your upcoming Super Bowl gathering as well.

No cleaver? You can be almost as clever with a sharp knife.

Great flavorful and spicy one-pot meal for a crowd. Complementary condiment additions are endless.

Start early — the longer it cooks the better it tastes. No cleaver? Use a sharp knife. Serves 8 or so.

INGREDIENTS:

DIRECTIONS:

• 2 lbs boneless pork shoulder (or loin roast), cut into 1-inch cubes with a sharp clever.

• 1 tbsp olive oil • 1 large sweet onion, rough chopped • 3 cloves garlic, minced • 2 (14.5 oz) cans green enchilada sauce • 2 (15.5 oz) cans hominy, drained and rinsed • ½ cup diced green chiles (canned or fresh roasted, peeled and chopped) • 4 cups chicken broth (plus more water if needed) • 2 tsp dried oregano • 2 tsp ground cumin • ½ tsp cayenne pepper • ½ tsp salt (or to taste) • ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Brown the pork: Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the cubed pork and cook, stirring, until it is browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Keep skillet on stove.

Place the browned pork into a 4-quart dutch oven. Pour in the chicken broth, adding enough water to ensure all the ingredients are well-covered, if necessary.

In the skillet, cook the onion until soft.

Add the garlic and green chilies, until soft.

Add to the meat. Cover and cook for 1-2 hours, until the pork is very tender.

Pour green enchilada sauce over the meat, stir, cover and cook another hour or so.

Stir in cumin, oregano and cayenne pepper.

Add hominy and cook until the hominy takes on flavor.

Stir in the fresh cilantro and salt to taste just before serving.

Ladle the hot pozole into bowls and serve with traditional bowls of garnish that add texture and flavor, like shredded green cabbage, thinly sliced radishes, diced avocado, lime wedges, additional chopped cilantro and/ or onions. Serve with tortillas or cornbread.

MUSIC

Eichardt’s launches new Publican Pick music series

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Eichardt’s Pub has been a downtown Sandpoint home for live music since 1994, with regular weekend shows and the venerable Monday Night Blues Jam. On top of all that — and in addition to its other events throughout the year — Eichardt’s is adding something new: a tradition starting Saturday, Jan. 10 called the Publican Pick.

Every second Saturday starting this month, Eichardt’s Publican Jeff Nizzoli will curate the live music for the night.

“I wanted to reengage, as publican [with booking],” Nizzoli told the Reader, ex-

tending “a personal invitation to talented local and regional artists.” In addition Nizzoli is reaching out to band members of groups who have played Eichardt’s in the past, “seeing if their new music styles would like to grace our small stage once again.”

The inaugural Publican Pick will be Harold’s IGA, one of the musical projects of Reader Publisher Ben Olson, Cadie Archer and Josh Vitalie.

Harold’s is “a band that feels woven into the fabric of this town,” Eichardt’s wrote on its Instagram page.

“Familiar, joyful and always a full-room kind of energy, Harold’s IGA is the kind of band that turns a night at the

Pub into a shared memory.”

Music starts at 7 p.m., and the next installment of the Publican Pick will be Saturday, Feb. 14, with the

Harolds’s IGA playing at Eichardt’s Pub. Photo by Jared Johnston pick to be announced. Check the Eichardt’s Instagram and Facebook pages for updates.

Little Wolf releases new EP Longshot

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Sandpoint folk duo Little Wolf dropped some news right around the end of 2025, announcing the Dec. 30 release of their new EP, Longshot.

The three-track album features “Odell,” “Lung” and “74th Ave East,” written, performed and recorded by longtime local singer-songwriters Josh Hedlund and Justin Landis. Hedlund did the writing, while Landis handled the recording at Johnny Long Station in Sandpoint.

Hedlund takes lead on vocals with backing vocals and

instrumental support from Landis throughout, specifically on “Odell” — an introspective ballad with a somber sway — and “Lung,” which takes a more wistful, relatively more uptempo approach with touches of dreamy instrumentation.

“74th Ave East” — with vocal support from Pete Hicks and Santiago Gill — has a decidedly anthemic feel, though it begins with a slight lullaby feel before building to a chorus that couldn’t be catchier.

As with all Little Wolf’s work, every track is animated by lyrics that transcend “words to a song” to meet and

exceed the definition of “poetry” — particularly on “74th Ave East,” which is most obviously rooted in a lifetime of North Idaho living. And that’s to say nothing of the impeccable instrumental and sound recording chops on display.

Longshot is available for streaming and purchase on Bandcamp, and we have it on good authority that an album release show is forthcoming, with details TBD. Meanwhile, follow the band on Instagram

Little Wolf’s newest EP Longshot is available to listen and purchase on bandcamp.com

Endless Switchbacks, Connie’s Lounge, Jan. 9

Buffalo Jones, 219 Lounge, Jan. 10

There’s nothing quite as satisfying as getting the band back together.

After spending the past year living in Indiana, Scott Taylor missed Sandpoint and playing music with his friends.

Taylor is joining bandmates Jim Rosauer, Luke Levesque and Tim Kramer, as well as newest member Andy Ohlrich to revive the Endless Switchbacks, a newgrass Americana

Spokane-based indie rock band Buffalo Jones is poised to win over audiences at the Niner with its particular blend of ’90s nostalgia and a dash of alt-country. Featuring the talents of vocalist and guitarist Jason Johnson, guitarist Brandon Humphreys, bassist Andy Rumsey and drummer Joshua Martin, the band is an eclectic mix of Violent Femmes and Billie Joe Armstrong’s softer side, with a patchwork

5 p.m., FREE. Connie’s Lounge, 323 Cedar St., 208-2552227, conniescafe.com. Listen on YouTube.

READ

It’s the new year, which means it’s time for the results of the long-awaited 208 Fiction competition. The Reader staff spent a quiet afternoon reading submissions and arguing on behalf of our favorites, all to determine our three top picks (plus several honorable mentions).

Read through the fabulous assortment of short stories on Pages 14-16 to enjoy a dose of suspense and supernatural horror and see if you agree with our ratings.

LISTEN

Regardless of genre, my favorite bands can often be described as “weird” or “somewhat disconcerting,” in the best possible way. Though I’ve only just discovered Tele Novella, I can already tell that they fit the bill, with music that I would designate as psychedelic-yodelling. Start with “Eggs in One Basket” and “Vampire Cowgirl” off the album Poet’s Truth, which the band aptly describes as “Coin-operated medieval-western songs through a psychedelic ’50s-ish lens.” Listen on telenovella.world.

WATCH

A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint

mountain music quintet that plays a spirited mix of original and cover songs.

“We just like to play loud and fast and make people get up and move,” Taylor told the Reader. Amen, brother.

— Ben Olson

This week’s RLW by Soncirey Mitchell

of backing elements cut from 20 more genres. Not only do these musicians know their instruments, they know how to write a damn catchy tune that feels immediately radio and stage-ready.

— Soncirey Mitchell

When considering what to watch, no matter what, a Studio Ghibli movie is always a safe bet. Filmmaker and animator Hayao Miyazaki never fails to find the beauty in everyday life and instill a sense of childlike wonder in his audiences with cozy, minimalistic plots that deliver big emotional payouts.

One of his cutest is undoubtedly Ponyo, which is his take on The Little Mermaid except with 5-year-olds who just want to eat ham sandwiches and nap together. Watch this exploration of love, friendship and parenthood on Amazon Prime.

9-midnight, FREE, 21+. The 219 Lounge, 219 N. First Ave., 208-263-5673, 219lounge.com.

Listen at buffalojonesmusic.com.

January 8, 2026 / R / 21

BACK OF THE BOOK

Afraid to turn away

he dryer ticked loudly with the sound of those snap-button shirts Del wore. June stared ahead while loading the washer. Her lithe fingers picked through the dishrags and bath towels until she unfolded the onesie and froze.

It was crumpled next to a pair of Del’s jeans, no bigger than a game hen, the words still written in puffy paint across the front: Coming soon!

She sagged against the wall of the laundry room, the onesie in her dropped hand. Tears welled in her brown eyes and her other arm cradled her stomach.

Sounds of applause came from the other room and Del grunted with approval at something he saw on TV. June brought the item to her nose, her sobs muffled by the soft fabric.

The dryer kept turning round. Del grabbed another handful of chips. A truck downshifted on the highway.

It never stops, she thought. The sobs came harder, leaking through the fabric like a failing levee.

“You all right in there, hon?” Del asked the ceiling, chip in hand.

“Fine, I’m fine,” she gasped.

Del muted the game show, placed the chips back in the bowl and rose

from the recliner with a grunt. The dogs came and ate the crumbs that fell from his lap.

“Honey?” he walked into the laundry room and found her slumped against the shelf of canned goods opposite the washer and dryer. “What is it? Did you hurt yourself? Honey?”

She turned and pointed to the hamper where she’d dropped the pink fabric. Del looked down and saw the object, sagging as if someone had placed a heavy load on his shoulders.

He reached down and picked it up, the onesie tiny in his blackened mechanic’s hands.

“How did it get in there?” Del asked finally. The back of June’s head just wobbled back and forth.

He laid his hand on her shoulder and she shrank from the touch. She stumbled over the hamper and ran to the bedroom, her sobs attenuated through the closed door.

Del looked down at the onesie again, his thick fingers tracing along the words, Coming soon! The dyer kept turning those snap buttons around and a car without a muffler revved at the stop sign and sped off.

He folded the fabric neatly into a square and carried it into the living room with both hands, palms up. People on the television jumped up and down in muted celebration, but Del no longer watched them.

He walked to the fireplace and cranked open the cast-iron door. The noise carried into June’s room and, a moment later, she cracked open the bedroom door and peered through from the darkness.

The firelight flickered in Del’s eyes.

He searched the flames, fingering the item absently.

STR8TS Solution

Sudoku Solution

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

From Pend Oreille Review, January 10, 1907

FAKIRS UNLOAD CHEAP MANDOLINS There is music in the air over a “con” game that was worked last week by two young fellows who came to town and held out that they were going to give instructions in mandolin playing and who left town at the suggestion of the marshall.

The young fellows pretended to be agents for the American Mandolin & Guitar company, with headquarters in Denver. The contract called for 36 lessons for a total payment of $20 including an instrument. When the mandolins were delivered they did not look very good to the members of the new “mandolin club” and Marshal Moran was called upon to look up the “teachers,” finding that the company employed no such agents. The marshal took all of the mandolins and disposed of them to make reparations for the six people who were taken in.

The fakirs are known to have worked Newport with the same game and it is likely they have also found a few victims at other nearby towns.

BED CLOTHES CAUGHT FIRE AND OTTO RANDALL’S FEET GOT WARM Otto Randall, cook at the Sandpoint cafe, rooms at G.W. Powell’s residence. Tuesday night he took the electric light bulb to bed with him to keep warm. Shortly before midnight Randall noticed that his feet were warm — entirely too warm for comfort. The bed clothes caught fire and Randall had to scramble out in the zero atmosphere and turn in a still alarm of fire. The bedclothes were entirely consumed and the mattress burned into, but the fire was put out before it communicated to the rest of the house.

22 / R / January 8, 2026

With the publication of our fifth annual 208 Fiction winners and honorable mentions in this edition (see Pages 14-16), I thought I’d share one of my own short stories. I discovered this single-page, typewritten story that I wrote 20 years ago in my archives while moving this summer. I wrote it after a friend experienced a tragedy in their life.

T

June brought the door open more and padded her bare feet into the living room. She stood behind Del, watching as his head bowed to the onesie and his chest heaved with a few sobs of his own.

Del heard her standing there, but didn’t turn around. He held the folded square of pink fabric, soft as felt and cool to the touch, then placed it in the bright, burning center of the fire. The backs of his hands screamed in pain and June’s breath caught behind him.

Only when he began to feel the searing pain on his fingers did Del drop the item into the flames and withdraw his hands. The fabric turned black as the fire ate it ingloriously, until it was just another pile of ashes.

June stepped forward and rested her hand on Del’s shoulder, the pair exhaling together. They knelt before the warmth of the fire, hating its glow, but afraid to turn away.

Crossword Solution

There are many stages to a man’s life. In the first stage, he is young and eager, like a beaver.

In the second stage, he wants to build things, like dams, and maybe chew down some trees. In the third stage, he feels trapped, and then “skinned.” I’m not sure what the fourth stage is.

Solution on page 22

Solution on page 22

By Bill Borders

CROSSWORD

Copyright www.mirroreyes.com

Laughing Matters

ACROSS

skosh /skohsh/

Woorf tdhe Week

[noun] 1. a bit; a jot

“I think we’re going to need a skosh more compassion in America, friends.”

Corrections: So far so good in 2026.

1. Goat sound 6. Rotating mechanism 11. Immense 12. Merry drinking party 15. Draw a blank 16. Curling competition 17. Car nut 18. Isolate 20. Bar bill 21. Applications 23. Not his 24. Flame 25. Exam 26. Clutter 27. Blackthorn 28. Being 29. Donkey 30. Confine 31. Without a sound 34. Neighborhood 36. D 37. Plunder 41. Leave out 42. Break in two 43. Pitcher 44. Churn 45. Not now 46. Harness part 47. Estimated (abbrev.)

48. Promoted 51. South southeast 52. Swamps 54. Storehouses

Solution on page 22 56. Smiled scornfully 57. Munchkin 58. Father 59. Aromatic compound

DOWN 1. Tops worn by women 2. Generosity 3. Unit of energy 4. Anagram of “Sage” 5. French for “Head” 6. Cleans 7. Poker holdings

8. Rear end 9. Dandy 10. Fee paid for instruction 13. Charred 14. River to the North Sea 15. High-pitched woodwind instrument 16. State of supreme happiness 19. Board game 22. Lettering device 24. Disconcert 26. Letters and postcards

27. Mayday 30. Toot 32. Type of cereal grass 33. Inclined 34. Ease up 35. Left out 38. Stunning 39. Rump 40. Sea eagles 42. Poorly made 44. Kittens’ cries 45. In shape 48. Old-time poet 49. Border 50. Lairs 53. Grassland 55. Cooking container January 8, 2026 / R / 23