Have you ever heard a non-native English speaker flip-flop a word pair — like “stones and sticks” — and wondered why it sounds so odd? It means the same thing, but a native speaker would always say “sticks and stones.” Those expressions are called “irreversible binomials,” and are a pair of words used in a fixed order that form an idiomatic expression. English is full of binomials, such as “peanut butter and jelly,” “spick and span,” “rock and roll” and “now or never.” There are also irreversible trinomials like “ear, nose and throat” and “a hop, skip and a jump.” Irreversible trinomials like “hook, line and sinker” or “game, set and match” are also examples of “hendiatris” — figures of speech in which three words are used to express one idea.
English is full of weird rules and syntactical flourishes that we take for granted. For example, sometimes writers will mix up the subject-verb-object order in a sentence for dramatic effect. This is called “anastrophe,” which is most famously used by Yoda in quotes like, “Powerful you have become, the dark side I sense in you.”
“Hendiadys” is another figure of speech used for emphasis, when words that would usually modify one another are instead connected with “and,” like saying, “The coffee is nice and hot,” rather than, “This is nice hot coffee.” You can also emphasize a point using “antimetabole,” by which phrases or clauses are reversed and repeated. For instance, “I know what I like and I like what I know,” “One for all and all for one” and “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,” are all created using antimetabole.
There are fancy names for the silliest things in grammar. When you say something’s “not great” but you mean it’s “bad,” you’re employing “litotes,” a form of irony using understatement. By understanding litotes, we know that someone “who isn’t the brightest” is “dumb” and something that’s “not unlike” a vacuum is actually “like” a vacuum. Many slips of the tongue (to which I’m personally prone) have an “official” name as well: “spoonerisms.” Named after Oxford don William Archibald Spooner — who was clearly bullied during his lifetime — spoonerisms are instances when a speaker mixes up consonants or vowels within a phrase. Shel Silverstein’s book Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook uses spoonerisms throughout, which is why Runny rides the “Wherris feel” and reads “bomic cooks.”
DEAR READERS,
Can you hear it? The Festival at Sandpoint is back in town!
This annual two-week-long outdoor music festival is one of those quintessential Sandpoint summertime events that brings out the best in our little shire in the mountains.
Every year, we print hundreds of extra copies of the Reader to hand out to people standing in line at the Festival (if you’re reading this while standing in line: Hi!), so if you’re an advertiser, these are great editions to get an ad in front of thousands of extra eyes. Reach out to ben@sandpointreader. com if you need to schedule an ad for the next edition. We have a “buy three ads, get two free” deal going this summer that saves you 40% off each ad if you buy in a block of five — good for any ad size.
We hope you all have a fantastic week and enjoy those magical sounds coming from Memorial Field. Long live the music.
– Ben Olson, publisher
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English is the language pulchritudinous. Though it isn’t the easiest to learn, linguistic quirks are never more than a jop, hip and a skump away, and I, for one, find that delightful.
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.
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About the Cover:
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Four life sentences handed down in 2022 Moscow murders
Friends and families of victims deliver statements in July 23 sentencing hearing
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
After a sentencing hearing July 23 in Boise, the man who admitted murdering four University of Idaho students in 2022 will never see the outside of a jail cell, with four terms of life in prison with no chance of parole.
“The door will close behind him forever,” said Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson, who served as part of the prosecution term in the case.
Bryan Kohberger, a 30-year-old former Washington State University graduate student, broke into a residence at 1122 King Road in Moscow in the early hours of Nov. 13, 2022 and stabbed to death Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20.
In addition to the four consecutive life prison terms, Judge Steven Hippler also handed down a 10-year fixed prison sentence and $50,000 fine for burglary and fines of $50,000 for each count of first-degree murder.
Kohberger is able to file
a notice of appeal within 42 days of sentencing, though waived his right to appeal and admitted guilt July 2 in a plea deal that avoided the death penalty while eliminating his option for parole.
“His actions have made him the worst of the worst,” Hippler said.
Following the lifting of a gag order in the case days before the July 23 sentencing, friends and relatives of the victims were given the opportunity to speak, providing victim impact statements to the court.
Relatives of the Goncalves, Mogen and Kernodle families were present. The courtroom was full, requiring an overflow room.
Dylan Mortensen, who was a roommate of the King Road residence and survived the attack, described subsequent panic attacks, exhaustion and general fear.
“He may have shattered parts of me, but I’m still putting myself back together,” she said.
Mogen’s father, stepfather and grandmother all
spoke, as well as Mogen’s mother through an attorney. Concalves’ father, sister and mother also spoke, directly addressing Kohberger, who maintained eye contact but showed no emotion throughout.
“None of us are divided,” Steve Goncalves said, referring to disgust for Kohberger.
“I won’t offer you tears,” said older sister Alivea Concalves, who went on to call Kohberger a sociopath and psychopath, as well as other insults.
“Kaylee would have kicked your fucking ass,” she concluded, to which members of the audience applauded.
Kristi Concalves expressed disappointment that Kohberger won’t suffer the death penalty for the death of her daughter, but wished him harm in prison.
“Hell will be waiting,” she said.
Kernodle’s stepfather, Randy, told Kohberger, “You’re going to hell. There’s no place for you in heaven.”
Kohberger said he “respectfully” declined to make a statement during the July 23 sentencing, and has not given a motive for his crimes.
Many observers — including some of the victims’ family members — were upset
about the plea deal to avoid the death penalty, and have called on Kohberger to be made to explain why he committed the murders.
“By continuing to focus on ‘why,’ we continue to give Mr. Kohberger relevance,” Hippler said during the sentencing.
“In my view, the time has now come to end Mr. Kohberger’s 15 minutes of fame,” he added.
Reporting by Anthony Kuipers, of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, serving as pool reporter in Boise.
BOCC moves forward with Admin Building renovations, county named in RICO lawsuit
Business meeting interrupted by ‘Zoom bomber’
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
The Bonner County board of commissioners voted July 22 to move forward with tentative plans to change the layout of the Bonner County Administration building to make it more accessible for the public. Later, during public comment, attendees discussed a July 18 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act lawsuit that names the county and members of a former BOCC board, among more than 50 other defendants.
Staff Engineer Spencer Ferguson has been working with the commissioners, department heads and members of the public since February to draft two proposals for renovations to the county’s primary building. The preliminary ideas would move the Treasurer’s Office to the first floor and shift the locations of Bonner County Road and Bridge and GIS to make the offices more accessible.
“I think it was discussed that it was fairly necessary to move the Treasurer’s Office
down to the first floor, the main reason being that it’s a high-traffic office and the elevator has issues,” said Commissioner Ron Korn, going on to ask if the changes could be accomplished by county staff to save money.
“I don’t have the staffing to do that,” said Director of Facilities Teddi Lupton. “If we could put the county on hold and make sure nothing breaks and nothing else happens, sure, maybe. But it’d take quite a bit of time with just one staff [member] and me.”
The commissioners voted unanimously to approve the most minimal alterations possible to move the Treasurer’s Office, though the exact layout, timeline and budget have yet to be decided. The vote does not commit any funds to the project, but gives Ferguson direction to look for an architecture firm, which will then create a plan for the renovations.
“I’ll have to go draft an RFQ — request for qualifications — to select an architect. I’ll bring that before you guys for approval ... Once we go through the contract review and signing and bringing this architect on, there’ll be some
< see BOCC, Page 7 >
Moscow murder victims from left to right: Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves and Xana Kernodle. Courtesy photos
Sandpoint adopts increased development impact fees
Higher fees intended to make ‘growth pay for growth’
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
The cost of both residential and non-residential development in Sandpoint is going to get more expensive, after the Sandpoint City Council voted July 16 to increase development impact fees over a oneyear period in a tie broken by Mayor Jeremy Grimm.
Based on the city’s 10-year capital improvement plan, forecasted growth and the cost of maintaining services at their existing levels over that period, the council approved raising residential development impact fees by 75%, 32% for retail, 90% for industrial and 153% for office space in Fiscal Year 2026.
City staff recommended phasing those increases over three years — raising the fees by 75% of the “maximum supportable” level in the first year, then to 90% of the maximum in the second year and to 100% in the third.
According to the staff report, the phased implementation proposal was meant to “moderate the impact of these increases on the development community,” while remaining adequate to support infrastructure funding and “development continuity.”
However, the council was split on whether to incrementally raise the fees or go to the full amount all at once.
Council President Deb Ruehle moved to pursue a one-step, maximum increase, which Councilor Kyle Schreiber seconded. Councilor Pam Duquette also voted in favor of that approach, while Councilors Joel Aispuro, Justin Dick and Rick Howarth opposed. Grimm cast the deciding “yes” vote.
During deliberation, Schreiber said that he’d initially been in favor of phasing the implementation, “because it’s a drastic increase.”
However, he added, “if we can all agree that this is the
correct amount where growth pays for growth, it seems to me that going directly to the full amount is the correct conclusion. Otherwise, we are going to be subsidizing new growth with the existing residents.”
Howarth argued that the capital improvement projects outlined in the 10-year master plan were identified based on what the public wants, though without any established costs.
“Once the rubber meets the road and there’s a cost impact to citizens, I believe that list [of projects] would shrink,” he said. “I think what’s in that master plan is a little bit over-inflated.”
The capital improvement plan anticipates $58 million in projects, including:
• $23.5 million for parkland acquisition, improving existing parks and developing recreation facilities in order to keep current levels of service amid expected growth;
• $4 million for expanding the city’s network of non-motorized pathways;
• $25.7 million for improvements to intersections and roads to keep pace with a projected 20% increase in vehicle miles traveled;
• $1.2 million for a police station expansion to meet expected increases in service from population growth;
• $3.6 million to expand the fire station to accommodate more personnel and apparatus.
Of those projects, $7.4 million would go to parks and recreation from the increased development impact fees, $1.4 million would go to pathways, $5 million would go to roads, $551,000 would go to police and $908,000 would go to fire.
As an example of how the total increase would affect residential development, the city’s staff report indicated that the cost attributable to development impact fees for a 1,400-square-foot home
would rise from $5,441 to $9,521. Based on the previous structure, Planning and Community Development Director Jason Welker said that at $250 per square foot, a 2,000-square-foot house would pay a development impact fee equal to 1.06% of the total construction cost. Under the maximum supportable fee — as approved on July 16 — that would increase to 2.5%.
“So you’re talking a difference of 1% to 1.5% margin of change in the total cost of construction by the updated impact fee,” he said.
“When we talk in Sandpoint about growth needing to pay for itself, that’s really what we’re talking about,” Welker added. “That’s reflecting the impact of that single-family home on our system, our streets, our pathways, our parks, and police and fire.”
In addition, the approved impact fee methodology shifts the assessment on residential construction from the previous per-bedroom calculation to square footage, which “closes loopholes in the previous structure, such as developers avoiding fees by labeling bedrooms as ‘bonus rooms’ or ‘studies,’” according to the staff report.
Idaho law requires that “development impact fees shall be calculated on the basis
being paid to support projects that aren’t happening.
“If we collect fees and don’t do some of these projects, especially if they’re plan-based projects, then we would potentially have to return those fees, which is a bit of an accounting nightmare,” Grimm said, though added that all the projects in the capital improvement plan are already incremental — other than those related to roads — and will go before the City Council one by one over time.
of levels of service for public facilities ... applicable to existing development as well as new growth and development.”
At the July 16 meeting, Howarth asked whether development impact fees had ever increased so dramatically in Sandpoint’s history. Welker responded that the city hadn’t raised those fees at all from 2011 to 2021 — not even to account for inflation during that time — until they were raised across the board.
Howarth worried that the one-year implementation of the increases would slow development. For his part, Grimm, who works as a regional development consultant, said that some builders prefer to pay a lump sum in impact fees rather than parsing through a slate of fees intended to support individual things like fire, police, roads and others. In addition, he added, compared to the overall cost of building a “fairly modern home” with all its amenities, impact fees are, “in general ... a relatively small number on a total build. I’m not insensitive to it, but [in] an overall housing package, it’s a pretty small percentage.”
Howarth was also concerned about what would happen if the city later needed to scale back its capital improvement plan, resulting in fees
Duquette and Schreiber also raised concerns about the capital improvement plan constituting a “mandate” for the city to undertake identified projects. Grimm responded that the plan can be changed and fees adjusted annually. Meanwhile, consultant Nick Huff, with TischlerBise, which helped develop the impact fee study, said that funds collected can “generally” be held for up to eight years before they must be used, and in some cases up to 11 years.
In addition, Huff said that setting the fees at the maximum supportable level establishes a rate of collection that matches what it would cost to maintain current levels of service with projected growth. If it’s lower, then the city must pay for keeping pace with growth in some other way, such as drawing from the general fund or securing grants.
Grimm said the phased approach would acknowledge “that we know we’re going to need the next thousand homes, we know we’re going to need another X amount of park acres, but we’re going to adopt fees that won’t get us there. So our park crowding will be greater or we know we need X miles of pathway or X portion of police equipment or fire. We’re intentionally saying we know we need it, but we’re not going to put it on the new folks.”
Courtesy photo
Ponderay gearing up for Comp Plan update with open house and public meeting
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
The city of Ponderay will host an open house and public hearing Thursday, July 24 focused on its updated Comprehensive Plan.
Bringing together consultants, Planning Commission members and city staff, the open house is scheduled for 4-6 p.m. in the lobby of the Ponderay City Hall (288 Fourth St.). The event is intended to gather feedback and answer questions from the public ahead of the 6 p.m. meeting of the Ponderay Planning Commission the same day. Then, commissioners will hold a public hearing before considering whether to recommend approval of the plan before it goes to the Ponderay City Council for final adoption.
Idaho statute requires that municipalities have a Comp Plan in place to inform the vision for a community’s future growth, alongside its goals and policies — including guidance for zoning and other rules that determine how city leaders and staff consider future development.
“While the city of Ponderay does not desire to be, nor is it anticipated to become, a large city, Ponderay is making good on its promise of being ‘the little city with the big future,’” Ponderay City Hall stated in a news release. “This plan envisions a bold future, but at an incremental pace, ensuring services and infrastructure are in place to support new development.”
Bits ’n’ Pieces
From east, west and beyond
The Pentagon will end deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, where President Donald Trump sent them in early June. One Guard official told The New York Times that the deployment “is not what the military of our country was designed to do, at all.”
El Salvador’s president (who claims to be the world’s “coolest” dictator) said on Twitter that the 250 or so Venezuelan migrants Trump held there at a notorious mega prison were transferred to Venezuela. Ten U.S. citizens and permanent residents were returned to the U.S. A high number of those held told of daily beatings and torture while in the El Salvador prison.
The city has been working on the plan over the past year and a half, gathering public comment through surveys, information booths at community events, communications with local organizations and service districts, as well as Planning Commission and City Council meetings.
According to a proposed future land use map provided by the city of Ponderay, a mix of commercial and multi-family residential is envisioned for the southernmost portion of city limits between Highway 200 and U.S. 95, with single-family greenways interspersed with mixed-use neighborhoods, medium density and cluster housing to the north.
The plan also includes master-planned mixed uses to the east and north, with single-family greenway and medium density/cluster housing surrounding the Field of Dreams sports complex in the heart of the city.
North to south on both sides of U.S. 95 would be planned for regional commercial use, while pockets of industrial and “live/work spaces” are intended along the city’s southeastern boundary along Highway 200.
Finally, large swathes of parks, open space and recreational uses are envisioned along the Lake Pend Oreille waterfront, Sand Creek and encompassing the northernmost portions of the city — the latter including master-planned mixed uses.
The Guardian reported that an Irish tourist was jailed by ICE for three months after overstaying his U.S. visit by three days; a health issue prevented him from leaving on time. Despite prior efforts to make ICE aware of his condition, the engineer endured inhumane detention. He was surprised he was not deported to Guantanamo or El Salvador “because [ICE] was so disorganized.” The National Immigration Project called it “a waste of time and money ... when ... the government wants to cut expenses.” The man was finally returned to Ireland. His U.S. girlfriend went, too, since “I don’t want to be in America anymore,” she said.
Jeffrey Epstein questions are shaking Trump’s dedicated base, such as farright activist Nick Fuentes, who recently fumed that Trump is “fat … a joke … stupid.” Fuentes said the MAGA movement will be seen as “the biggest scam in American history.” The outburst was a response to Trump’s broken campaign promise to release “covered up” Epstein files related to sex trafficking of minors. Trump called his supporters “stupid” and “foolish” when they objected to not seeing the files. According to numerous reports, Trump has asked for pertinent grand jury info to be released, subject to court approval, which could be a lengthy process. The Justice Department will work to make “appropriate redactions.”
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Trump sent a “bawdy” letter to Epstein on his 50th birthday, which included the president’s signature positioned to represent the pubic hair of a naked woman and the message, “May everyday be another wonderful secret.” Trump denied
By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Contributor
responsibility and sued the paper for $10 billion, various media reported. Critics said The WSJ piece relied on “fake implants.” Other observers argued that Trump’s denial lacks credibility: his past doodles, auctioned for charities, show similarities.
Former Trump supporter Elon Musk had claimed Trump was in the Epstein files, and “that is the real reason they have not been made public.” Adding to concerns was a letter to the FBI from a Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee saying Trump-appointed Attorney General Pam Bondi urged the FBI to rapidly “flag” Epstein records where Trump was mentioned. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has blocked the House vote on releasing the Epstein files until at least September, and Republicans have blocked Democrats’ attempt to release the files.
The Trump Administration ordered incineration for nearly 500 metric tons of emergency food — enough to feed 1.5 million children, The Atlantic reported. Blast from the past: U.S. Rep. John Lewis died at age 80 five years ago this month. He popularized the term “make good trouble,” the theme of last weekend’s anti-authoritarian protests. After his birth in 1945, as a young adult he broke racial segregation laws and organized voter registration drives. He was an advocate of non-violence, but that did not stop violence against him. He was beaten by mobs and arrested 45 times. By 1963, Lewis chaired the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee and helped organize the March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I have a dream speech.” Lewis also spoke there. While demonstrating with 600 marchers in 1965 to register African-Americans to vote, mounted police beat Lewis and others with clubs and bullwhips as protesters stopped to pray at the end of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. Lewis’s skull was fractured. President Lyndon B. Johnson then urged Congress to pass a national Voting Rights Act, which he signed that August. In 1986, Lewis was elected to Congress representing Georgia, and won re-election 16 times. A reporter asked Lewis about being tempted to give up on creating change. His response: “When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, say something! Do something! Get in trouble, good trouble, necessary trouble.”
A rendering concept looking west from Field of Dreams toward potential neighboring properties. Courtesy image
Renderings supplied by the city show a conceptual neighborhood west of the Field of Dreams, with broad, tree-lined streets featuring vegetative islands and a roundabout — anticipating a scenario when utilities would be made available and development occurs consistent with the land use map — as well as a pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly shopping corridor with small businesses and plantings on Bonner Mall Way, provided portions of the mall parking lot are redeveloped. Looking out 25 years, the plan’s central elements include “maintaining and enhancing Ponderay’s smalltown feel and identity, delivering more walking and biking possibilities,
fees for their time to draft up concepts and some more finer price estimates,” said Ferguson.
‘Zoom bomb’
In the middle of Ferguson’s presentation on July 22, an unknown online attendee “Zoom bombed” the meeting by playing a looped recording of hate speech interspersed with screaming. Deputy Clerk Alisa Schoeffel was able to eject the participant via Zoom, and the meeting resumed without issue.
A similar incident occurred during a Sandpoint City Council meeting on May 15, 2024. In response to the intrusion, the council, under the leadership of Mayor Jeremy Grimm, discontinued public comment via Zoom.
Zoom has been a hotly contested issue during BOCC meetings for years. Initially introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, former-Commissioners Steve Bradshaw and Luke Omodt voted to end Zoom participation in 2023. Commissioner and current Chair Asia Williams fought to reinstate its use, and a month later, Williams and Omodt voted to resume livestreaming meetings via Zoom.
In 2024, Omodt and Bradshaw voted to adopt a set of standing rules for the meetings, one of which stipulated that everyone seeking to give public comment would have to sign up before the start of the meeting. Zoom participants had to use Gmail to access the online sign-in form, and give their name, county of residence and the topic on which they intended to comment. Immediately after the current board took over, Williams and Commissioner Brian Domke voted to strike the standing rules, eliminating the form for Zoom attendees.
nor county staff spoke to the issue.
The lawsuit stems from issues with the Mountain Homestead development, located north of Ponderay, which was created using the minor land divisionn process. The current BOCC instituted a moratorium on MLDs in April, under the advice of Deputy Prosecutor Bill Wilson and Planning Director Jake Gabell, to give the Planning Department time to fix loopholes in the county code outlining MLDs.
According to Gabell, the current code allowed developers to create de facto subdivisions without proper infrastructure, including a lack of fire mitigation and stormwater management requirements, as well as regulations on road width, surfacing or accessibility measures for first responders, among other issues.
The lawsuit, brought by the homeowners, alleges “negligent” and “fraudulent” behavior on the part of more than 50 individuals and entities, including former-Commissioners Bradshaw, Dan McDonald and Jeff Connolly, as well as Bonner County, Panhandle Health District and the real estate agencies, contractors, title agencies and developers involved in the sale, development or approval of the housing community.
Among the issues listed in the complaint as stemming from the development, the homeowners contend that problems with the septic system and drainfield have led to the contamination of their drinking water with “coliform bacteria, E. Coli, arsenic, nitrates and other harmful materials,” which have made residents sick.
enhancing recreational amenities while preserving natural features, providing new educational facilities and opportunities for Ponderay’s youth, ensuring a diverse mix of housing types, supporting business innovation and opportunity, and creating destination hubs for neighbors to gather,” city officials stated, later adding that the plan is intended to ensure that “the values expressed by the community have been carried into its policies.”
View the proposed Comp Plan at cityofponderay.org/planning-zoning/ projects. Contact Ponderay City Hall at 208-265-5468 or email at klmiller@ ponderay.org for more info or with questions.
When asked if the board would change any policies in response to the Zoom incident, Williams told the Reader:
“The board of commissioners is committed to ensuring that our residents have access to our public meetings. Electronic meeting attendance has been an invaluable resource to our community. We will continue to ensure that our county business is conducted allowing for meaningful participation by the public.”
RICO lawsuit
During the public comment period at the end of the meeting, attendees announced and commented on the recent RICO lawsuit. Neither elected officials
The plaintiffs have demanded a trial by jury and requested that, should the jury rule in their favor, the defendants award an unspecified amount of damages, pay to connect the homes to sewer and water, and fix issues on the properties allegedly related to “negligence” and “fraudulent” actions, among other restitution.
The complaint alleges that “defendants conspired to push the nonconforming MLDs through, install and approve the faulty and deficient septic system, negligently develop the lots and dupe Plaintiffs ... into buying the properties without disclosing any of the numerous defects that plague the development.”
The case will be heard by Judge Amanda Brailsford of the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho at an undetermined date.
< PONDERAY, con’t from Page 6 >
< BOCC, con’t from Page 4 >
The proposed future land use map of Ponderay. Courtesy image
Bouquets:
• When Sandpointians gathered for the “No Kings” protest on June 14, it turned out to be the largest protest in local history. Aside from spreading awareness and standing against tyranny, the demonstration also generated a positive result for the community. The Bonner Community Food Bank reported receiving donations of 207 pounds of food from protesters. The same happened after a May Day rally, when the food bank took in 341 pounds of donations. What a great concept: Stand up for what is right and also gather food for those who need it. Win-win.
Barbs:
• It has been surreal watching President Donald Trump attempt to Jedi mind trick his base of supporters into not caring about the Jeffrey Epstein files. He’s throwing everything at them: deflection, distraction, dissembling, even direct orders for them to stop looking into the story. Big surprise, it’s not working. His most rabid loyalists are slowly realizing what most Americans figured out more than a decade ago: Trump is a con man, grifter, sexual assaulter and convicted felon who cares only for himself. The letter Trump sent to Epstein printed in The Wall Street Journal (which Trump denies he wrote) contains the line, “We have certain things in common, Jeffrey,” with a drawing of a nude woman and Trump’s signature standing in for her public hair. Remember, before his suicide in jail, Epstein had been credibly accused of sexual conduct with dozens of minors. Trump’s latest attempt to distract with a conspiracy theory about former President Barack Obama (who left office almost 10 years ago, by the way) is, in a word, ludicrous. Well, MAGA? Are we great again yet? Those who ever voted for Trump should be ashamed.
An ode on ‘dim voters’ and the ‘rule of law’…
Dear editor, With liberty and justice for all Was the pledge of allegiance’s call. Now Donald and the oligarchs Own Congress, courts and all. Dim voters cannot contemplate But then latter will recall Their own country’s tragic loss Of our golden RULE OF LAW.
Dave Crow Sandpoint
‘Our better angels’…
Dear editor,
I believe this current nightmare of cruelty, greed and treason will soon be replaced by the love, honor and patriotism of the country I grew up in. I believe in the goodness and intelligence of my fellow human beings. The present aberration of our ideals will not continue much longer. We have survived a civil war, world wars and the financial Great Depression. We will survive this ugly and dangerous period of time. Our better angels in concert with our determined resistance and steadfast optimism will return us to the wonderful country we love.
Steve Johnson Sagle
Collective love at Sandpoint Pride…
Dear editor,
I had the opportunity to sing on stage with Sideboob as they performed at Pride Fest in Sandpoint this past weekend at Matchwood.
I’ve played in a band and sang on stage for the past 10 years, but never have I ever felt so calm upon walking up onto a stage in front of so many people. The energy and collective love in the audience was palpable and a force worth mentioning.
Thank you, Matchwood, for hosting this celebration of pride in humanity. Thank you to the community of Sandpoint for showing up and supporting each other in our diversities.
What a feeling to embrace our neighbors without judgement or hostility. To accept all members of our community as our brothers and sisters. To live and let live — now there’s a concept worth embracing. How about “Don’t Tread on Anyone?”
Cadie Archer Sandpoint
Thanks to lineworkers and utilities for keeping the lights on…
Dear editor,
Kudos to our Northern Lights and Avista power companies for keeping the lights on during the recent windstorm. They must have an amazing infrastructure and lineworkers that maintain it.
I worried, however, about a power line going down in that wind. There could have been a big fire resulting. I think we dodged a bullet.
Bill Stuble
Dover
What does an American look like?…
Dear editor,
I just looked in the mirror after a shower and I realized I look very Norwegian!
I mean I am not sure I look “American” enough to satisfy ICE — especially if I were at a California supermarket. What if I stick out my tongue?
I might not have my Vietnam veteran Army discharge papers from 1969, including any awards I may have received, and I might have to go to some “Alligator Alley” holding/torture facility.
I am going to have to dress as “American-looking” as possible, but I can’t find any definition of this look in the U.S. Constitution. (The one Americans fought and died for, which has a lot of freedom and individual rights rules and laws in it.)
Gosh darn fudge, icky son of a gun. You will just have to take my word for it.
James Richard Johnson
Clark Fork
Kennedy Center renaming is ‘a hostile takeover’…
Dear editor,
Our Rep. Mike Simpson has proposed renaming the Kennedy Center Opera House after First Lady Melania Trump. While she serves as the honorary chair of the Kennedy Center Board — a ceremonial role traditionally held by all first ladies — there is no meaningful record of her contributing to the arts in any lasting way.
Worse, Simpson has tied the Kennedy Center’s funding to this change. That’s not just political maneuvering — it’s coercion. Making federal arts funding conditional on a partisan tribute undermines the very mission of the Kennedy Center. It’s
also worth noting that the board is chaired by President Donald Trump himself, after his forced removal of all prior board members. This isn’t leadership; it’s a hostile takeover of a national cultural institution.
This proposal reeks of political favoritism, not artistic recognition. It appears to be a transparent attempt to curry favor with Trump rather than honor a true arts supporter. This is a self-serving tribute from our Idaho congressman. There are far more former first ladies who deserve recognition such as this — women who have meaningfully advanced arts and culture in this country.
The Kennedy Center must stay above politics. The arts should inspire, not serve as tools for partisan tribute or self-promotion.
Kari Saccomanno Sandpoint
‘Have a little class’…
Dear editor, To the guy who was jogging
through Dover last week and took a shit on our waterfront: While I understand (and sympathize) that sometimes nature calls when you don’t expect it, have a little class and at least try to clean up after yourself. I saw you running down towards our dock and was getting ready to come down and ask what the hell you were doing, but before I could get down there you were gone. I found out what you were doing that evening when our dogs found your mess and rolled in it. You could have at least tried to bury it or, better yet, come back later with a doggy bag, but you chose to sneak away instead. I recognized you as one of the jogger/walkers that come by our house on a regular basis. Matter of fact, I think I saw you this morning at 5:30. Maybe you’ve altered your routine so as to avoid running into me? We’ll be installing cameras, so next time look up and smile.
John Hansen Dover
‘Cast a line for a lifeline’: Dream Fishing raffle to support family services
By Reader Staff
Whether you’re an avid angler or simply love a good cause, IdaHope Families invites community members to participate in the Dream Fishing Kit raffle, with a prize package valued at $360.
Prices are 1 ticket for $5, three tickets for $10 or 10 tickets for $20. With the support of the Futurity Foundation, 100% of ticket proceeds go to IdaHope Families’ faith-based mission to provide mentoring, housing and other resources for families in crisis.
Scan the QR code to purchase tickets.
The Dream Fishing Kit Includes:
• Pflueger Supreme spinning reel, pro-grade, nine-bearing, ultra-lightweight magnesium body and rotor;
• Abu Garcia Veritas spinning rod; six-foot, three-inch medium-fast action; designed for six- to 12-pound line;
• Ghosthorn multi-functional fishing bag; water-repellent with waterproof valuables pocket, built-in rod holder, adjustable shoulder/waist
straps and large-capacity gear compartments;
• Transparent double-sided lure box, preloaded with an assortment of lures selected by local guides and pros.
The prize package will be displayed Monday, July 28-Friday, Aug. 22 at the Cedar Street Bridge (344 N. First Ave., in downtown Sandpoint). The winning ticket will be drawn at 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 22.
“Valued by serious fishing enthusiasts, this is your chance to win the perfect kit for your next adventure — or gift it to someone who loves to fish,” raffle organizers stated.
More than that, they added, “Through strategic partnerships with community organizations and local churches, we provide wraparound volunteer support that empowers families to stay together — even in the midst of crisis. Your raffle entry helps fund this mission — and gives you a chance to take home an epic fishing prize.”
For more information, volunteer opportunities or to donate to IdaHope Families, visit idahopefamilies.org.
Republicans just cut lifesaving care — again
By Lauren Necochea Reader Contributor
When someone’s health fails or a child is born with a disability, families step up. They cancel plans, quit jobs and do what needs to be done. But even the strongest families need help. For decades, Idaho Medicaid has been one way we show up for each other.
Now, Republican lawmakers in Idaho and Congress are dismantling it. On July 15, Idaho eliminated paid family caregiving for people with disabilities. This lifeline helped fill a gap the state still refuses to fix. Direct support workers — paid just $11-$15 an hour through Medicaid-funded providers — are nearly impossible to find. Families wait months for support. In rural areas, there may be no service providers available.
Paid family caregiving offered a practical option: allowing parents and spouses to provide daily, skilled care with modest pay.
Parents like Justin Buell in Idaho
Falls are now left in the lurch. His 7-year-old daughter, Araya, is nonverbal and lives with a rare digestive condition. Thanks to this program, he gave her the stable, expert care she needed. Without it, he’s left choosing between her safety and his family’s survival.
In Boise, Jordy Skye faces the same nightmare. Her son has autism and
needs one-on-one care. Without this program, Jordy doesn’t know how her family will stay afloat or what will happen to her son if they can’t.
Across Idaho, families face impossible choices. Take a job only to lose it when the outside caregiver falls through? Risk medical mistakes from constant worker churn? Or institutionalize a loved one, knowing it’s isolating, less safe and more expensive for taxpayers?
Meanwhile, Gov. Brad Little is pointing fingers. After an outpouring of outrage from families losing care, he’s blaming the Legislature. But his director of Health and Welfare led the charge to shut it down.
Little’s administration justified the decision with claims of misuse. However, instead of instituting oversight that should have been in place from the outset, they decided to leave every participating family high and dry. Meanwhile, they’ve done nothing to address the underlying crisis: Professional direct care workers are vastly
underpaid and very hard to find. Worse, more damage is on the horizon.
Last month, Republicans in Congress passed $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts. In Idaho, more than 20,000 people rely on services like in-home nursing, physical therapy and behavioral health care. These services, and more, are now at risk.
There is always time to do the right thing. Little can call a special session. Republican lawmakers can restore paid family caregiving. They can ensure that direct support workers earn a decent wage, training and benefits. They can protect Medicaid from further sabotage and finally fix the crisis they helped create. If they won’t, we must vote them out.
Lauren Necochea is chair of the Idaho Democratic Party and a former District 19 legislator. Necochea spent a decade leading nonprofit programs dedicated to research and advocacy in tax policy, health care and children’s issues.
Lauren Necochea. File photo
Science: Mad about
tools of the 'frontier'
By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist
It was brutal to live in the 1800s. Cholera was nearly as prevalent as the common cold. Elevating your family from poverty meant packing up everything you owned and trusting in the navigational skills and good intentions of complete strangers over a 2,000mile trek. Not only surviving but thriving in this time period meant that the people of the “frontier” needed to use every tool to its fullest potential. It’s easy to hoard specialty tools in life today. We can 3-D print tool holders and store them in our stationary shops. In those former times, a broken axe meant the difference between life and death.
Imagine packing everything you own into the back of a Chevy Tahoe, except that Tahoe was powered by horses and made of wood. Pioneers had an extremely limited amount of space and tight weight restrictions on what they could bring. This meant that people had to calculate their load down to the pound, or risk dooming their entire family before the journey even began. No pressure — your road trip has a high certainty of being lethal if you forget your socks.
Considering every pound had to count, one of the pioneers’ most valuable tools was also among their heaviest. Cast iron Dutch ovens weren’t just a novelty, they were a necessity for the frontier family. Weighing in at nearly 20 pounds, these pots were specially designed to be rugged and utilitarian while also being large enough to feed a family of six. Dutch ovens in the
1800s weren’t often designed with domed tops like modern cookware. Instead, they would often have a concave top designed for holding hot coals so that bread could bake evenly from all sides. For a frontier family, a damaged or lost Dutch oven was almost certainly a death sentence and great care went into maintaining them.
There was virtually no cooking role the Dutch oven couldn’t perform. They could make stew, bake bread, roast meat and render fat for soapmaking. The lids could even be flipped to serve as a griddle for pancakes, bacon or fish. Caring for cast iron was the same in the 1800s as it is today, though seasoning the pot didn’t start with oil from the grocery store. Animal fat had to be rendered and spread across the pot to preserve its non-stick properties.
How did 19th century travelers get the animal fat they needed in the field?
The hunting knife was the greatest survival tool. A wellmade rifle was to be marveled at, but it wasn’t much good without a knife that could slice off a pelt and butcher a wild beast.
The hunting knife was a deeply personalized tool forged from high carbon steel. The handle was often made of hardwood or ungulate antler and curved to fit the grip of its user. The perk of using antlers was adding a natural grip to the handle so that the blade wouldn’t slip when covered in blood. There were no hospitals in the wilderness, so slipping and cutting your hand wrist-deep in an animal’s abdominal cavity was almost certain to result in joining your prey in death.
Blades had to be specially forged. They needed to be rigid enough to hold an edge, but flexible enough to not break off when cutting through sinew and cartilage. Reforging a knife in the wild would have been virtually impossible, requiring a wielder to return to a military fort or outpost to procure a new blade. This could be an impossibility in the depths of winter, which meant a blade needed to be reliable for months, even years on end.
The knife itself was only half the equation — wielders needed to understand how to maintain the knife and how to alter the angle of its edge in order to perform specific tasks. A knife was likely used for multiple tasks throughout the day, from butchery to preparing wood for traps and even as a surgical instrument for cleaning up a wound in preparation to sew flesh neatly back together. It had to be cleaned and oiled between uses to prevent rusting.
The knife was an important component of an even greater tool for those on the trail: the medical kit. The first aid kit of the 1800s was markedly different from the one in your bathroom today. Laudanum was derived from opium and used as a painkiller. Improper use of the compound could lead to addiction and overdose — since it was essentially morphine — but that didn’t stop some people from using it on teething babies to ease their pain.
Ipecac was another mixture found in medical kits, taken to induce vomiting in someone who had been poisoned. Poisoning on the frontier was less Machiavellian and more foolhardiness, as people would
eat things they shouldn’t in the endless pursuit of science and quelling hunger.
Many tools from those old-time medical kits persist in contemporary kits, including needles, sutures, bandages, gauze and scalpels. Absent from today’s kits are the bone saws of the 1800s. Frontier families needed to have an understanding of human anatomy in order to deal with
afflictions from the minor to the critical. Feeling your stomach churn at the sight of a scraped knee is silly when you must figure that more than a few parents likely had to amputate the fingers, toes or even limbs of their children after they took a tumble during particularly tough roughhousing sessions.
Stay curious, 7B.
Random Corner
• A group of local volunteers founded the nonprofit Festival at Sandpoint in 1982. The first summer concert series took place in 1983, with three performances by the Spokane Symphony Orchestra.
• The Festival featured mostly classical and orchestral music until 1992, when it expanded to other genres. That year, notable acts included Tony Bennett and Emmylou Harris. The following year, B.B. King, Johnny Cash and Lyle Lovett headlined the series.
• The iconic white tent at the Festival at Sandpoint was the symbol of the series for 40 years. There were actually two white tents in the organization’s history. The first was purchased in 1984 and stood as a memorial to one of the Festival’s founders, Winifred “Fred” Kubiak. This tent was used until 2001 when holes grew too large to ignore. A one-night fundraiser brought in $40,000 to purchase a replacement, which was used until the 2023 season, when Festival staff announced they were forced to
retire it because tensile tents have been deemed unsafe for concert venues. The new stage is an Apex 4240 — the “gold standard” for popup concert venues.
• According to the Festival’s 2024 annual report, ticket sales continue to set records. The How to Train Your Dragon — In Concert show on Aug. 4, 2024 was the highest-attended Grand Finale in Festival history.
• Aside from the annual concert series, the Festival promotes music and education all year long. Last year, the organization awarded $9,250 in scholarships to six local students for accomplishments in the music and the arts.
• The Festival Ticket Outreach program collaborates with local schools and organizations to ensure that free tickets to the Grand Finale reach those who need them most. Recipients include underserved community members, individuals with special needs, seniors, veterans and others.
Florida man arrested after arguing with AI bot and threatening to kill those on Epstein ‘client list’
Terrell Bailey-Corsey isn’t having a good summer.
The Florida man was arrested last week for allegedly threatening on X to kill “EVERY ONE” on the Jeffrey Epstein client list.
Bailey-Corsey, 31, posted the threats in a fiery and strange exchange with X’s AI shatbot Grok when the latter claimed the client list did not exist.
“Well @grok you’re wrong,” Bailey-Corsey wrote. “Everyone involved if I see them in real life I will KILL. On sight. With a machete so everyone can see the blood and gore of the moment.”
After that message, the Florida man posted another one singling out three government officials, whose names were not included in any charging documents.
“IT’S TIME TO START KILLING POLITICIANS ON SIGHT,” Bailey-Corsey wrote, followed by this apparent response to Grok: “You can’t fear death so you can’t understand. I will KILL EVERYONE ON THE LIST. ON SIGHT. AND THEY ABSOLUTELY DESERVE IT.”
BY THE NUMBERS
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
3,160
The number of flash flood warnings issued across the U.S., as of July 16 — the highest year-to-date total on record, according to the National Weather Service.
10.6%
The national decline in fertility in 2023, compared to the 2011-’20 average. The drop brought the rate to a record low of 54.5 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44, down from 61. Across the nation, 41 states and the District of Columbia saw their lowest fertility rates in more than three decades, continuing the longterm downward trend.
44%
The share of U.S. employers who provide free snacks to workers. The tax law recently passed by Congress eliminates the deduction for companies that provide snacks or even coffee to workers after Dec. 31.
1,288
The number of confirmed U.S. measles cases in 39 states as of July 8, a 33-year-high according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those cases, there are three confirmed deaths, 13% of the cases led to hospitalizations and 29% of the cases were in children younger than 5 years old. In 92% of the cases, the individuals were unvaccinated or their vaccination status was unknown.
$3.394 trillion
The estimated amount of money that will be added to the U.S. deficit during the next decade after Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill” was signed into law. The bill will also cause an estimated 10 million people to lose health insurance, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Annual Crazy Days sidewalk sale set to fill downtown Sandpoint on July 26
By Reader Staff
For the 38th year, shoppers are invited to peruse the storefronts throughout downtown Sandpoint to find smoking deals on everything from gifts and apparel to home goods and more at Crazy Days.
Set for Saturday, July 26, the annual tradition — sponsored by the Sandpoint Shopping District — is a sidewalk sale that this year features more than 40 merchants ranging from retail and services to bars and restaurants to cultural landmarks like the Panida Theater.
Billed as “Sandpoint’s biggest shopping event of the summer,” Crazy Days turns downtown into an especially busy hub of activity, inviting deal-hunters to mingle with neighbors,
visitors and merchants while strolling from shop to shop and supporting local small businesses.
The event goes on all day, giving plenty of time to explore all the discounts. In addition to bargains, Crazy Days also promotes a featured artist with the work of J.L. Williams “Capasso,” who can be found at PureWest Christie’s International Real Estate (108 N. Third Ave.). Explore his work at capassogalleries.com.
For more information on Crazy Days and the Sandpoint Shopping District — including a full list of all the participating locations — go to sandpointdowntownshopping.com/ crazy-days.
Panida introduces ‘$5 to Keep it Alive’ fundraising campaign
By Reader Staff
The Panida Theater is hoping to tap into the collective goodwill of the community to help stave off rising operating costs in the years ahead.
The historic theater has hosted large fundraising events like the recent Panida Moms Red Carpet Gala, which raised more than $30,000 toward the Panida’s Century Fund, but the $5 to Keep it Alive campaign aims to appeal to those who want to support the Panida, but might only be able to donate a small amount.
“The goal is to get people to donate $5 per month,” said Executive Director Robb Talbott, who hopes to get 1,000 microdonors on board. “Recently, fundraising has been difficult. The hope is that this campaign will connect with people who don’t usually engage with the Panida or may not be able to donate $100 at a pop.”
Talbott told the Reader that the Panida’s operating costs have been steadily rising, including a sharp increase for insurance coverage.
Talbott also hopes the fundraising campaign will help keep other costs down, which will benefit those who produce events at the Panida.
“This will allow us to keep our prices down for renters, whether it’s a dance studio or another nonprofit that is renting out the space to put on events,” he said.
To donate to the Panida Theater, visit panida.org.
Senior and disability hour to be discontinued at Sandpoint Driver’s License office
By Reader Staff
Effective Friday, Aug. 1, the senior and disability hour — from 9:15–10:15 a.m. — will be discontinued at the Sandpoint Driver’s License (4105 N. Boyer Road). Starting Aug. 1, regular appointments will begin at 9:15 a.m. and may be scheduled through the county’s appointment system, QLESS.
To schedule an appointment, visit bonnerso.org, click on the “Driver’s License” tab, then follow the link to the QLESS system.
Due to staffing challenges and an increase in customer volume — including new residents and visitors from surrounding areas — walk-in availability will be limited.
The public is strongly encouraged to schedule appointments in advance to ensure timely service and minimize wait times.
dumb of the week
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
Greetings from the Land of Dumb. Strap on your beer helmet and get ready, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson really wants President Donald Trump to like him.
Simpson introduced an amendment to a spending bill for the Interior Department that would rename the iconic John F. Kennedy Center’s opera house after first lady Melania Trump. Because, of course. No, this isn’t an article from The Onion. It’s real, bud.
After introducing the amendment, Simpson said, “Yes, we renamed the opera house at the Kennedy Center for the first lady, who is the honorary chairman of the board of trustees of the Kennedy Center.”
The amendment was adopted by the committee on a 35-22 vote, but it’s unclear whether the bill will pass the full House, let alone the Senate.
Earlier this year, after whining about the “woke arts,” the newly constituted board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts elected President Trump as its chairman.
We’re probably two weeks away from elected Republicans giving Trump full body massages.
Also, in a not-so-subtle attempt to distract his base of supporters from his growing connections to Jeffrey Epstein, Trump said during a reception for members of Congress that he’d reduce drug prices by more than 1,000%: “We’re gonna get the drug prices down — not 30% or 40%, which would be great. Not 50% or 60%. No, we’re gonna get them down 1,000%, 600%, 500%, 1,500%,” MSNBC reported on July 23.
For those who skipped math class in high school, that means if a pill costs $100, after Trump’s magic reduction wand waves over it, the drug will now pay you $900 to buy it. Score!
Finally, Trump expressed glee after CBS announced it was canceling The Late Show With Stephen Colbert due to “financial reasons,” ending the show’s generational run in anticipation of a merger that requires approval of federal regulators.
Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, recently paid Trump $16 million in a settlement and, according to Trump, will also reward him with $20 million worth of free ads. Nothing like a mafia shakedown on the steps of the White House.
Downtown Sandpoint. Photo by Ben Olson
Woods Wheatcroft photography exhibit focuses on protecting public lands
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
The recent — and ongoing — debate about whether to open public lands for expanded resource extraction and/or development has raised awareness among many for how special and valuable those places are to the people who actually own them: that is, all of us, regardless of geography or political ideology.
Longtime local photographer Woods Wheatcroft has curated a selection of images depicting local landscapes that, if some legislative proposals come to pass, could be taken from the public and converted to private use. In partnership with Kaniksu Land Trust, he will host a photo art opening Tuesday, July 29 from 5-7 p.m. at Evans Brothers Coffee (524 Church St., in Sandpoint), where attendees can see what could be at stake.
“They are special places. Preserved in memory. Anchored in the effort and the deep desire to experience them,” Wheatcroft wrote in his artist’s statement, shared with the Reader. “These places are also public. No property lines crossed. Some are popular, familiar. Others are off the beaten path. In any case, need I repeat, they are public.”
Referencing a map of potentially vulnerable local areas provided by the Wilderness Society, KLT wrote, “These are not distant places — they are right here in our backyard.”
“While Kaniksu Land Trust focuses on the permanent protection of private lands, our mission is rooted in the same values — connection to place, community well-being and long-term
stewardship,” the organization added. “Woods’ work speaks directly to this. His images honor both the wildness of our region and the deep care people have for the land.”
According to Wheatcroft, the Public Lands Public Hands exhibit stemmed from a request from his longtime friend and photo editor Jane Sievert at Patagonia, for which he has worked as a contract photographer for years. She asked him to provide images of public lands in danger being sold off — both here and across the West. He provided more than 200 such pieces, then narrowed them down to focus specifically on the region surrounding Sandpoint, resulting in the selections featured in his upcoming show.
“This exhibit reminds us that whether it’s public or private, land holds meaning — and with care, creativity and community, it can be protected for generations to come,” KLT stated, noting that local action — not legislation — has resulted in the permanent protection of places like Pine Street Woods, The Sled Hill and Cabinet View Nature Area.
According to KLT, “These conserved lands remain open to the public, immune to political shifts, and are a testament to what’s possible when people come together to protect what they love.”
As for Wheatcroft, he stated that he hopes to “spread the message through a visual medium and dissolve differences to realize we all use and love and want to continue to create memo-
ries in our backyard.
“Our backyard is a very special place,” he added. “Let’s come together on this one.”
To see more of Wheatcroft’s work, visit woodswheatcroft.com. To learn more about the Kaniksu Land Trust, go to kaniksu.org.
The boys rest on a ridge in the Selkirk Mountains. Photo by Woods Wheatcroft
FESTIVAL MEMORIES
‘The best bar in town’
I wrote about a few of my Festival at Sandpoint memories in 2020 — in the onset of the pandemic, when all we had of the Festival were memories — including getting pasted by osprey crap during my Courtesy Kid volunteer days from 1991-’94, meeting Booker T. & the M.G.s and caddying legendary photogra-
pher Cap Davis’ gear. But I have more recent memories, including how much enjoyment I get out of seeing my son pass out copies of the Reader to the folks standing in line (he might even have handed you this copy).
One instance from contemporary days that sticks in my mind comes from the
By Zach Hagadone
2019 summer concert series, when a wicked storm blew into town and resulted in the cancellation of the Kool & The Gang show. I was in the press box area of the stadium stands when the weather turned nasty, and watched as hundreds (maybe thousands) of people fled the field under monsoon-like rain and flashes
‘The people outside the gates’
Before I brought the Reader back from the dead and couldn’t afford to attend the Festival at Sandpoint, my favorite place to listen was on the lawn by the basketball court next to the water. The camaraderie of the people outside the gates always made me feel like I was part of something greater than me. We, the humble few, gathered because we loved the music and experience.
Now, the Reader is an inkind sponsor, which means
we receive a few tickets to each show. These are usually given away to our staff members and friends of the paper; but, occasionally, the unclaimed ones will be doled out to a random stranger. That’s what happened one night in 2019 when I had an extra ticket to Lake Street Dive in my pocket. Since none of my friends claimed it, I decided to walk around outside the gates and find a lucky recipient. I saw a man sitting alone on the park side of the fence
Ben, Zach and Soncirey reminisce about the Festival at Sandpoint
of lightning.
I know that was one of the worst moments imaginable for Festival organizers — and more than a few ticketholders — but the bright part of that dark day for me was when I ran for shelter through Lakeview Park and ended up in the men’s bathroom. Inside, I found about 20 dudes all min-
By Ben Olson
with his chair and binoculars around his neck, eagerly awaiting the start of the show. When I came up and offered him the ticket, he looked at me with incredulous eyes for a moment before accepting it.
“I’ve been coming to the Festival since I moved here in the late 1990s and not once have I ever gone inside,” he told me.
‘Leave those kids alone’
By Soncirey Mitchell
I’ve been going to the Festival my entire life, and in that time I’ve amassed exactly zero interesting stories. This may be because I don’t enjoy concerts or crowds. Even as a kid, I would get in and out of the Festival as quickly as possible — no glowsticks, no antics and no dancing near the stage. Boring is the goal, and I consistently reach it every year.
Still, the Festival taught me some important life lessons: mainly that children have next to no rights in public spaces.
In middle school, our parents would set us free to gossip and promenade up and down the Festival’s aisles, showing off our jelly bracelets and emo hair
(which was the whole point of attending). We were like Jane Austen characters parading around a ball, except wearing skinny jeans and beanies.
How liberating, right?
Wrong. Because we were unaccompanied minors, every adult we encountered adopted the role of the strict grandparent who not-so-secretly hates kids. Talking at the bathroom sinks? A woman would tell us off for washing our hands “for too long.”
Standing near a trash can?
A man would make us pick up drunk adults’ garbage. Buying an ice cream cone? Some old-timers would demand to know if our “parents knew how we spent our money.” On
one absurd occasion, a woman overheard that I wanted to dye my hair red and promptly said, “What’s your favorite color? Blue? Well, it’s illegal for redheads to wear blue, so I guess you can’t dye your hair.” What? And why?
Now, in honor of my 12-year-old self, I go to the Festival and do everything I wanted to do growing up. I get ice cream, take a few turns around the grounds and even leave early sometimes to ride the swings at the park. I still get anxious that someone is going to yell at me; but, every time they don’t, I can hear my inner child cheering.
He got out of his chair and gave me a big, shaking hug and I felt myself grow a little misty-eyed. To this day, I’m still moved by his reaction. To be able to give access inside
gling around with their coolers, passing beers and generally having a hell of a time as sheets of rain fell outside.
At one point, I looked over at a guy I know who offered me a slug off his bottle of wine and we toasted to what we all agreed was (at that moment) “the best bar in town.”
the concert to someone who couldn’t afford it themselves definitely ranks among my favorite Festival at Sandpoint memories.
Festival at Sandpoint: Know before you go
By Reader Staff
The Festival at Sandpoint summer concert series returns for its 42nd year. While much remains the same since the first notes rang from the stage in 1983, there are a lot of changes in store this season. For first-timers and locals alike, here’s a quick guide:
Tickets and lines
Purchase tickets at festivalatsandpoint.org. Tickets are digitally delivered before the performance. There are different types of tickets: general admission, early bird and sponsor. Gates open for general admission ticketholders at 6 p.m., while early bird and sponsor ticketholders can enter War Memorial Field at 5:45 p.m. Be sure to stand in the right line (ask any Festival staff member and they’ll direct you). Ticket exchanges, replacements and refunds are not allowed, including for weather reasons. Children 2 years and under are free for all concerts.
The growing ‘no’ list
The Festival at Sandpoint added a few more items to the “no” list this year — the big one, starting this season, is that concertgoers will no longer be allowed to bring in outside liquids.
“Obtaining adequate insurance has become increasingly difficult, with more insurers declining coverage altogether due to our previous bever-
age policy, therefore threatening our ability to sustainably fulfill our mission and serve our community,” FAS organizers wrote. “We are extremely proud the Festival at Sandpoint was able to keep this tradition, years and decades past most other venues, however, the liability risk to our nonprofit organization has simply become too great.”
No glass is allowed either, and festivalgoers are encouraged to bring empty 32-ounce (or less) water bottles, as there will be water stations available throughout the venue.
There is also no re-entry, no hard-sided coolers, rolling coolers, wagons, strollers or other personal transportation such as skateboards. No framed backpacks, gum or sunflower seeds are allowed. No animals, other than service dogs, will be allowed.
There are no drugs or paraphernalia allowed, nor tents, umbrellas, tarps or shade stands. No toy guns, water guns or sling shots are permitted. No hula hoops. No full face masks/helmets, which obscure the identity of the wearer. No large chains, wallet chains
integrated healthcare
or spiked bracelets, poi or weapons of any kind. No aerosol products, air horns, bullhorns or noisemakers. No audio recording devices, professional cameras, video cameras, drones or remote-controlled vehicles. Finally, don’t bring laser pointers, laptop computers or tablets, massagers, selfie sticks, tripods, sleeping bags, walkie talkies or paint pens. Finally, the Festival is a cashless venue, so debit or credit cards are the only accepted forms of payment.
Parking/shuttle
The SPOT shuttle provides fast, free transportation to and from the War Memorial Field during the entire concert series. The shuttle operates from 4-11 p.m. each performance night. To use the shuttle, park at the Sandpoint High School (410 S. Division Ave.) and a bus will give you a ride to the venue and bring you back.
Security
There are security checkpoints at all entrances. Security personnel work quickly to move the line, so make their jobs easier by preparing for the checkpoint. Open any soft-sided coolers or backpacks to speed up the inspection process and ensure ahead of time that you’re not carrying any prohibited items through the gates. Standard vs. seated shows
Most Festival at Sandpoint shows are known as “standard,” meaning the area immediately in front of the stage is standing room only for dancing. If a show is listed as a “seated show,” it means the area in front of the stage is short chair and blanket seating only, with dancing areas to the left and right of the stage.
Cheap tickets?
For those who can’t afford to attend a regular Festival at Sandpoint performance, the organization has offered a budget-friendly option on Wednesday, July 30 with Community Night. Four regional bands will play and ticketgoers only pay $15 to attend the entire show.
Visit festivalatsandpoint.org for a full list of policies, to purchase tickets or learn more about artists.
Photo by Racheal Baker
Local contestant to appear on Fox game show The Quiz With Balls
Ginna Minervini and family feature in ‘City Lights, Country Might’ episode, airing July 28-29
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Longtime locals might know Ginna Minervini from her Temanos Counseling Services practice, or from being on the Panida stage as part of the Angels Over Sandpoint Follies variety show. But tune into Fox on Monday, July 28 or Hulu on Tuesday, July 29 and you’ll see a familiar face, as she and members of her family were contestants on the game show The Quiz With Balls.
Hosted by comedian Jay Pharaoh, the show pits two families against one another in a contest of knowledge across 10 categories featuring five rounds, with six possible answer choices per question. Answer incorrectly and a massive ball — or balls, depending on the host’s discretion — rolls down a ramp and knocks the unlucky contestant into a massive pool of water to the delight of a live audience, and is eliminated from the game.
Each correct answer will halt the ball before it makes impact, and earn that team an escalating cash prize amount. The winner is awarded $100,000 if the last family member who hasn’t been dunked gets their answer right.
Minervini joined her niece, nephew and two of her brothers on the show — all flying from their various homes in Florida, New York and Sandpoint to Antwerp, Belgium, where filming takes place.
“I grew up in New York with five brothers,” Minervini said. “My brothers went to Florida and my niece, Spencer Minervini — she is a singer, so she has tried out for The Voice, so she’s in that field. She has a modeling agency, so it was a scout who reached out to her to do a ‘city vs. country’ Family Feud kind of thing.”
In the “City Lights, Country Might” theme, the Minervinis represented the “city” side of that matchup, with the Ludemann family, of Iowa, portraying the “rural” side — dressing in flannels and overalls, and playing “country nice,” while the Minervinis put on some big-city sass.
Once on location in Belgium, Minervini said the process was “very comfortable,” with plenty of banter and a practice round.
“When we met the other team, the Ludemanns, we’re like, ‘Uh oh, they’re pretty sharp,’” she said.
During the game — the results of which Minervini isn’t allowed to disclose until the air date — she said the categories included subjects like literature (naming the titles of a particular author’s book), elements on the Periodic Table, “rivers of America” and “happy hour.”
“I think we did really good on the rivers,” she said. “You’re not just using your brain, you’re using intuition. You know, ‘My gut’s telling me this.’”
As for the “happy hour” questions, “the Minervinis are really into vodka now,” she added.
The mechanics of the game made participation extra exciting.
“There’s a conversation [among teammates], where you can talk it through,” Minervini said. “Then you stand in front of what you think is the right answer, and then the balls come down and stop right behind you, or they push you into the water.
“There’s a lot of anticipation, and it’s noisy and there’s this ‘whoosh,’” she added.
Despite some of the categories being general, the questions could get quite specific, resulting in a lot of
collective head-scratching.
“Everybody is guessing, so you didn’t have to feel really stupid if you didn’t get the right answer,” Minervini said.
However, getting the wrong answer meant being bowled into the pool below — “and it’s like at least 10 feet down,” she said.
Not to fear, though: “They have a hunk of a lifeguard, because some people can’t swim,” Minervini said, adding that when she met Rolf, her first reaction was “I feel like jumping in the water right now.”
The Minervini vs. Ludemann episode is the eighth of the show’s second season, and the family was flown in for three complimentary days at an Antwerp hotel where they met other contestants, then stayed for a further three days on their own. The filming day took eight to 10 hours, which could have been a slog, but Minervini said her family’s attitude was that, “You know, this is a show. Let’s just relax and have fun.”
Find out who prevailed in the “City Lights, Country Might” episode of The Quiz With Balls on Monday, July 28 and streaming on Hulu on Tuesday, July 29.
Ginna Minervini answers a question correctly on The Quiz with Balls, which will air on July 28. Courtesy photo
Send event listings to calendar@sandpointreader.com
Festival at Sandpoint: Neon Trees
7:30pm @ War Memorial Field
Opening night of the two-week Festival! Neon Trees is an alt-rock new wave band who brings the fun!
Live Music w/ Kerry Leigh
5-7pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Festival at Sandpoint: Sierra Ferrell
7:30pm @ War Memorial Field
A night of roots music, with opening band The Brudi Brothers
Live Music w/ The Night Mayors
9pm-midnight @ 219 Lounge
Live Music w/ TJ Hoops
6-9pm @ Barrel 33
Music w/ DJ Sterling
9pm-midnight @ Roxy’s
Live Music w/ Matt Lome
5-8pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Festival at Sandpoint: Toad the Wet Sprocket with The Jayhawks and Sixpence None the Richer
7:30pm @ War Memorial Field
Alternative, rock and folk bands we all know and love
Live Music w/ AP Collective
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Live Music w/ Jim Tilden Brown
6pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Live Music w/ Jason Perry Band
9pm-midnight @ 219 Lounge
Live Music w/ Jacob Robin
4-7pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Festival at Sandpoint: Third Eye Blind
7:30pm @ War Memorial Field
Alternative rock superstars. Openers
Snacks at Midnight
Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi
7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Live Music w/ John Firshi
5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Festival at Sandpoint: Community Night w/ Jojo Dodge, Brittany’s House, Harold’s IGA and The Real McCoy
7pm @ War Memorial Field
Tickets are only $15 for this special locals show featuring four bands from the region
Festival at Sandpoint: Brothers Osborne
7:30pm @ War Memorial Field
Country night at the Festival. Openers
The Kruse Brothers
THURSDAY, july 24
Live trivia ($5 entry)
7pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Live Music w/ Frytz Mor
8-11pm @ Roxy’s
Live Music w/ Ian Newbill
5-8pm @ Pearls (Beyond Hope)
FriDAY, july 25
Live Music w/ Brian Jacobs
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Live Music w/ The Plastic Owls
5pm @ Connie’s Lounge
No Ego Nights: Aftival ’25 dance party 9pm @ The Hive
Three DJs: Eben, Mr. Bootsauce and Christi Mills. $5. Goes until midnight
Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz
6-8pm @ Baxter’s on Cedar
SATURDAY, july 26
Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz 6pm @ Arlo’s Ristorante
Crazy Days in Sandpoint
See Page 12
Baby Foot 5K Fun Run & Walk 9-11am @ Travers Park
Live Music w/ John Daffron
6-9pm @ Barrel 33
Sandpoint Fest Fringe 10pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Eichardt’s guitar toad is back and bringing DJ RIMM (EDM music)
Live Music w/ Fiddlin’ Red 1-4pm @ Barrel 33
Live Music w/ Chris Paradis 4-6pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
SunDAY, july 27 monDAY, july 28
July 24 - 31, 2025
Bonner County Farm Tour
9am-3:30pm @ Shingle Mill Blueberry Farm
An immersive farm experience. Discover the magic of the farm-to-table movement firsthand
Historic downtown walking tours (FREE) 10am @ Panida Theater (meet in front) “A Walk Through History” is a free, guided tour. No registration required
Timber Days (Priest River) (July 25-26) priestriver.com/timber-days for more info
Karaoke nights (Fri/Sat/Sun) 8pm @ Tervan Tavern
Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes 6-9pm @ 1908 Saloon
Tai Chi at City Beach
9:30-10:30am @ Sandpoint City Beach
Sandpoint Farmers’ Market
9am-1pm @ Farmin Park
Fresh foods and produce, live music
Studio 54,000 w/ OJ Blazer & General Slime 9pm @ The Hive
Two DJs spinning high-octane boogie and swanky grooves. $5
Live Music w/ Mason Van Stone
6-8pm @ Baxter’s on Cedar
Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee
Magic with Star Alexander 5-8pm @ Jalapeño’s
Outdoor Experience Group Run 6pm @ Outdoor Experience 3-5 miles, all levels welcome
tuesDAY, july 29
wednesDAY, july 30
Sip and Clip
6-8pm @ Grumpy Chicken Farm
Includes snacks, drinks and a large U-pick bouquet from the field. $40
Open Mic Night 7pm @ Tervan Tavern
ThursDAY, july 31
Live trivia ($5 entry)
7pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Trivia Night 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Sandpoint Farmers’ Market 9am-1pm @ Farmin Park
Fresh foods and produce, live music
Live Piano w/ Jennifer Stoehner 5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
MUSIC FEATURE Carry on, Kansas
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
With nine gold albums, three multi-platinum albums, two platinum albums and hits like “Dust in the Wind” and “Carry On Wayward Son,” the classic rock band Kansas has forever secured its place in music history. The band continues to produce new material that honors long-term fans and entices new ones, and will perform at the Festival at Sandpoint on Friday, Aug. 1 as part of its non-stop national tour.
Taking the stage at War Memorial Field (801 Ontario St.) at 7:30 p.m. will be legendary guitarist Richard Williams alongside keyboardist Tom Brislin, guitarist Zak Rezvi, violinist and guitarist Joe Deninzon, bassist and singer Dan McGowan and percussionist Eric Holmquist, standing in for drummer Phil Ehart. Lead singer and keyboardist Ronnie Platt, who took over from Steve Walsh in 2014, said the band is hoping Sandpoint will break the recent pattern of extreme weather on tour.
“This run of shows has just been crazy — between torrential downpours of rain and extreme heat,” Platt told the Reader. “Fourth of July, we played in Ohio, and it was like 115 degrees on stage. Poor Zak; the last two songs, he was delirious. We had to carry him from the stage to the van. He had heat exhaustion.”
None of these rockers are strangers to the dangers of tour and have committed to playing through storms and personal injury for the love of the music. For his part, before coming to Kansas, Platt had played in bands all his life. He worked his way through the cover band circuit in Chicago until becoming lead singer for progressive rock band Shooting Star. As a life-long fan of Kansas (and a talented
musician who’d frequently covered its discography), Platt was a natural by the time he first took the stage with the band — not that that quieted his nerves.
“Are you kidding? I was scared to death,” said Platt. “It’s one thing to be playing ‘Wayward Son’ with your cover band, and it’s another thing singing ‘Wayward Son’ with Kansas. The intensity level kind of goes off the charts at that point.”
Joining his favorites on stage was akin to winning the lottery, according to Platt — “a 10-billion-to-one shot.”
An interview with the iconic rock band scheduled to play the Festival at Sandpoint
Listening to his performances, and to the many new songs he’s written for the most recent albums, Prelude Implicit and The Absence of Presence, you wouldn’t know he’s a newer addition to the band. According to Platt, Kansas has been a part of his life for so long that the classic sound comes naturally to him.
“You’re a product of your influences, and I’ve always said that I’ve developed my voice from intensely, forensically dissecting the guys that were my inspirations: Steve Walsh, Steve Perry, Lou Gramm, John Anderson, Geddy Lee, Brad Delp,” Platt said.
It also helps that he’s always had a passion for songwriting and experimentation. Platt has been performing and writing songs in his free time for decades, but he never expected to actually sing on a Kansas album, let alone write for one. Yet the very first
song he pitched, “With This Heart,” received a resounding “Yes” from fellow band members, and then the writing credits kept stacking up.
“To have Phil come to me and go, ‘We’re going to do a new studio album’? A studio album of new music that I’m going to be singing on that’s underneath the Kansas label?
I mean, I’ve already won the lottery once; this is the second lottery win.”
The new music is still undeniably Kansas and, in Platt’s opinion, gives a level of “validity” to the band’s newer members. Kansas is about the music, not the individuals playing it.
“There’s a reason why symphonies are still playing Beethoven and Mozart — they’ve been gone a long time. I haven’t seen ’em walking around the Denny’s lately. It’s
the music, it’s not the performer,” said Platt.
As both a musician and fan, Platt is careful about when and how he embellishes the older songs to ensure he’s honoring the music — a choice that Kansas lovers everywhere appreciate.
“I have such a high respect for the music,” said Platt. “‘Dust in the Wind’ — it’s hard to wrap your mind around how many times that studio recording’s been heard, by millions and millions of people over and over again. If I were to embellish that or put my own spin on it, people would either think I’m a lousy singer or singing it wrong. I keep things pretty respectful.”
Platt said that his past 11 years with the band have been one highlight after another, with momentum steadily growing as music from the
’60s, ’70s and early ’80s experiences a resurgence in popularity. Each show brings new generations of fans to engage with the timeless songs.
“It’s so great to be doing Kansas shows and see people who were original fans who are in their 60s and 70s, and their kids and their grandkids,” Platt said. “Just last week, I saw a whole group of kids who were probably in their mid-teens, and they weren’t just sitting there waiting to hear ‘Wayward Son.’ They were getting into every song. How great is that?
“It’s like riding a wave, and I don’t see it falling,” he added.
Tickets are still available for the Friday, Aug. 1 show at festivalatsandpoint.com/kansas for $85.16. Listen at kansasband.com.
Kansas will play the Festival at Sandpoint Friday, Aug. 1. Clockwise from top left: Tom Brislin, Phil Ehart, Richard Williams, Joe Deninzon, Dan McGowan, Eric Holmquist, Ronnie Platt and Zak Rizvi. Courtesy photos
By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Columnist
Last month, my family had an early and abbreviated gathering in Montana. For many years, I planned all the menus, shopped and was responsible for most of the meals. Back then, my children were busy with their children, and their summer holiday prep was focused on packing totes filled with toddler gear. Times change — we’re all getting older. Some of those toddlers are now college-bound; and, this year, their parents insisted on limiting my culinary responsibilities. Each family would spend a day in the familiar old log kitchen.
I stood over the low kitchen counter and surveyed the massive bowl containing more than 10 pounds of my mother’s potato salad — our family’s most requested, most fought-over and most beloved dish. I knew exactly who’d be nearly first in our hearty buffet line. Politeness dictated that elderly aunts went first, and 14-year-old Will was right behind them. Before long, he was back in line, plate in hand, ready for another serving. It was only after he returned for thirds that his mother, Ryanne, quietly reminded him, “Will, you cannot have thirds until all of the others have firsts.”
As soon as Will returned home, he begged his mother to whip up a batch of our traditional potato salad. Wisely, Ryanne is raising a family of cooks, and suggested that Will could look up the recipe in the Sandpoint Reader recipe archives and make it himself. He never got around to it, but they were headed to Sandpoint the following weekend and a potato
The Sandpoint Eater Provenance of a potato
salad tutorial topped his list. I reminded Will that it’s not my recipe. It was my mother’s. I’m not sure; maybe it was her mother, Irma’s, before her. I’ve made it hundreds of times — sometimes for two people, and in the height of my catering career, sometimes for 200 — and, every time, I feel my mother standing beside me. This is more than a family recipe. It’s our shared heritage. A lineage of love, and it was an honor to hand the reins to Will.
We started with the basics. The potatoes are boiled in their skins and should be cooked tender but not mushy. I showed Will how a sharp knife easily slides through the potato when done. The eggs are hard-boiled then peeled when they’re just cool enough to handle. While we waited, we mixed and tasted the wet ingredients as I ex-
plained that both potatoes and eggs must be warm when mixed with the dressing. That’s the real secret. Warm ingredients absorb more flavor.
As we worked, I told him about his great-grandmother, how she used to prepare this salad for church potlucks, summer picnics and family dinners. As a child, perched high on a wooden stool, I’d sit alongside her and watch her use her thumb to slide the jackets off the potatoes. I stayed put until she gave me a spoonful of the warm and creamy salad. It was never enough, and I always begged for just one more spoonful. Will listened carefully. Not just to the recipe, but to the story. Because to us, food is never just food. We are a family of cooks and caregivers. Ours is a family bound by recipes. We may not always agree
on parenting styles, but we all agree that Grandma Fern’s potato salad is a cherished tradition. With mayonnaise on his hands and purpose in his heart, we also decided that Will nailed the recipe. He already plans to teach his children to make it. How do I know? After his family returned to Moscow, Will was quick to whip up yet another batch and informed his mom that he’ll teach his children to make it, thus becoming the fifth generation to carry the recipe forward. I like to imagine him, an adult in his kitchen, watching his child mashing up the spuds under Ryanne’s watchful eye. They’ll mix and taste until someone proclaims, “It tastes just like Mimi’s.” We have other recipes and foods that bring us together, too, both in preparation and sharing, like Blarney Stones
— sweet little confections rolled in ground peanuts. Our Thanksgiving table will include Irish potato dressing, colcannon and hand-shaken butter. And that’s how family recipes survive — not in books or recipe cards, but in kitchens, over boiling pots, with stories shared while eggs are peeled and family secrets revealed over sturdy old bowls.
They’ll be back! Both daughters and their families are coming for a Festival at Sandpoint night. Casey’s oldest, 7-year-old Sam, has declared that Will’s potato salad tastes better than Mimi’s, so it may be time to switch up our summer salad offerings. I will try to win back Sam’s culinary (and vegetarian) affections with lemony garbanzo bean salad. It may lack provenance, but it does not lack flavor.
Lemony garbanzo bean salad with feta
Nice summer side salad or light lunch entrée served with warm pita, hummus and chilled white wine. Serves 4-6.
INGREDIENTS: DIRECTIONS:
Salad:
• 2 cans (15 oz each) garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
• 1 cup red, orange and green diced peppers
•1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
•1 cucumber, seeded and diced (or one small cocktail cuke, sliced)
• ½ red onion, small dice
• ½ cup Kalamata olives, pitted
• ⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese
• ¼ cup fresh parsley, minced
• ¼ cup fresh mint, finely chopped
Dressing:
• ¼ cup good quality olive oil
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 clove fresh minced garlic
• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Salad:
Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans thoroughly. Place them in a large mixing bowl.
Dice the cucumber, halve the cherry tomatoes, and chop peppers and red onion. Add to the bowl with the garbanzo beans.
Dressing:
In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the lemon zest and juice, olive oil, Dijon mustard, garlic and cumin. Season the dressing with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Pour the dressing over the garbanzo bean mixture and toss gently to evenly coat everything. Add the crumbled feta, fresh parsley and mint. Give the salad a gentle toss.
For best flavor, let the salad sit in the fridge for at least a couple hours so flavors can meld. Will keep covered in fridge for 3-4 days.
MUSIC
Festival at Sandpoint — Week 1
By Reader Staff
Since 1983, the Festival at Sandpoint has filled the air with music this time of year. Here’s a rundown of what to expect the first week of the 2025 summer concert series.
Thursday, July 24
Neon Trees with kylekelly
Pop, alternative, rock
Gates 6 p.m., show 7:30 p.m.
Since releasing their debut album Habits in 2010, Neon Trees has cemented itself as a dynamic, engaging band that has played at major festivals such as Coachella, Bonnaroo, Life is Beautiful and Bottle Rock.
Opening for Neon Trees is singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist kylekelly, whose anthemic pop-rock, songcraft and Gen-Z empathy has caught the attention of a widening audience.
Friday, July 25
Sierra Ferrell with The Brudi Brothers
Gates 6 p.m., show 7:30 p.m.
Americana, roots, bluegrass
One of the brightest young roots musicians active today, Sierra Ferrell brings a dose of beautifully strange magic to everything she touches.
Since the release of her 2024 album Trail of Flowers, the West Virginia-born songwriter has
A rundown of the first five Festival shows of the year
earned four Grammy nominations, several Artist of the Year nods and a wide following.
Opening for Ferrell is The Brudi Brothers, a dynamic Americana group out of Seattle, Wash., known for raucous performances and a distinctive old-world sound.
Saturday, July 26
Toad the Wet Sprockett with the Jayhawks and Sixpence None the Richer Alternative, rock, folk Gates 6 p.m., show 7 p.m.
The beloved alternative rock band from Santa Barbara, Calif., has captivated audiences since the late 1980s with heartfelt lyrics and a unique, melodious sound. Albums Fear (1991) and Dulcinea (1994) gave us such hits as “Walk on the Ocean,” “All I Want” and “Good Intentions.”
Opening is The Jayhawks, a rootsy band hailing from Minnesota that has released 11 albums in the past four decades. Also opening is Sixpence None the Richer, an alternative rock band best known for the hit single, “Kiss Me,” which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
Sunday, July 27
Third Eye Blind with Snacks at Midnight Alternative rock Gates 6 p.m., show 7:30 p.m.
Since 1997, San Francisco’s Third Eye Blind has recorded 10 best-selling studio recordings and have sold more than 12 million records worldwide. The hits “SemiCharmed Life,” “Jumper” and “How’s It Going to Be” are anthems for Gen-X and Millennials.
Opening is Snacks at Midnight, a Spokane-based band known for its multi-genre energy that combines indie rock, pop and even a little punk.
Wednesday, July 30
Community Night
Jojo Dodge, Brittany’s House, Harold’s IGA and The Real McCoy
Gates 6 p.m., show 7 p.m. A night of cheap tickets, regional bands and good times.
Jojo Dodge, from Coeur d’Alene, is emerging as one of the most captivating voices in the indie pop-folk scene,
drawing influences from Fleetwood Mac, Carly Simon and Brandi Carlile.
Hailing from Coeur d’Alene and Spokane, Brittany’s House plays a mix of indie rock originals as well as classic rock and funk covers.
Harold’s IGA is a multi-instrumental trio from Sandpoint, which draws influence from indie-rock and folk, electronica and even some alt-country, grunge and shoegaze. [Disclosure: Reader Publisher Ben Olson is the frontman for Harold’s IGA.]
The Real McCoy is a high-energy three-piece rock band based in Spokane. Sitting in will be Sandpoint’s own Liam McCoy, covering a variety of music from the 1960s to the 2000s.
Visit festivalatsandpoint.com to purchase tickets or learn more.
The Plastic Owls, Connie’s Lounge, July 25 ‘No Ego Nights’ Aftival ’25 dance party, The Hive, July 25
I was intrigued when I saw the name The Plastic Owls on the Sandpoint Online calendar, but what won me over was the band’s first song listed on YouTube — “Labyrinth of Cheese.” I take my cheese very seriously, and musicians Grant Kimball, Nick Kostenborder, Lou Kohley and Chet Szwejkowski have my stamp of approval for this and many other original songs with eccentric lyrics that
have a nonsensical, Lewis Carroll-esque flare. Couple that with the group’s updated ’70s psychedelic rock and folk sound, complete with long instrumental interludes, and you’ve got a smooth band you feel compelled to groove to.
— Soncirey Mitchell
6-9 p.m., FREE. Connie’s Lounge, 323 Cedar St., 208255-2227, conniescafe.com. Listen at plasticowls.com.
Not all the musical action will be at War Memorial Field with the kickoff of the 2025 Festival at Sandpoint. The Hive is hosting its “Aftival” — as in “after the Festival — show Friday, July 25 with three DJs: Mr. Bootsauce, Christi Mills and Eben. Billed as a “No Ego Nights” dance party, the event is geared toward uninhibited dancing, house music and good times for all. Mr. Bootsauce hails from Montreal and comes
This week’s RLW by Soncirey Mitchell
READ
I’ve had a healthy fascination with Arthurian legend since learning to read using The Magic Treehouse, which is why, when I grew up, I tracked down a copy of The Once and Future King by T.H. White. It has a whimsical, comedic flare that makes the myth’s growing tragedy all the more shocking and devastating. Check out a copy at the library, but be aware that some of the language is an unfortunate product of the 1950s.
LISTEN
Jacob Lusk, of the band The Gabriels, has a once-in-a-generation voice and takes gospel, doo-wop, R&B and soul to new heights that feel both innovative and ancient. Elton John called the band’s EP “one of the most seminal records I’ve heard in the past 10 years.”
Having listened to the most recent album, Angels & Queens, it’s clear the band has kept that quality as the years have passed. Listen on Spotify for a spiritual experience.
WATCH
Doors at 8 p.m., show at 9 p.m.; $5; 21+. The Hive, 207 N. First Ave., 208-920-9039, livefromthehive.com. A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint
by way of L.A. with a funk and nu-disco sound. Mills started out in Coeur d’Alene before going to L.A. and making it big with collaborative shows drawing some of the best in the business. Finally, Eben started out in San Francisco but is now part of Spokane’s burgeoning house scene.
— Zach Hagadone
The Amazon Prime comedy drama series Étoile takes place in two allied ballet theaters in New York and Paris which, in an effort to revive interest in the art, trade their biggest stars and embark on an international publicity stunt financed by an eccentric and morally corrupt billionaire. Lou de Laâge, who plays the danseuse étoile Cheyenne, is especially captivating and delivers one of the funniest performances I’ve seen in years.
Courtesy photos
From Pend Oreille Review, July 25, 1913
THROWN FROM MOVING TRAIN
T.J. Conners of Van Meter, S.D. while stealing a ride on Northern Pacific train No. 41, was thrown off at Clarksfork one day last week and has been in the hospital since with some broken ribs and a punctured scalp. Conners, who has a homestead near Van Meter and who claims he was on his way to Spokane, states that he was ordered off the train by a brakeman after it was in motion and that he said he would alight if the train was stopped. The brakeman refused to stop the train and proceeded to throw him off. Conners threatens the company with a damage suit. After being thrown off Conners was found lying along the track and was conveyed to the depot at Clarksfork on a handcar and was brought to the hospital here on No. 3.
ACCIDENTALLY SHOT IN SIDE
William Klug, son of the ferryman at Clarksfork, while hunting yesterday afternoon, was accidentally shot in the side and is now at the City hospital where it is stated he will recover.
Klug, in the company with his younger brother, went out in the afternoon to hunt for bear. Entering an unused cabin on a nearby ranch, Klug saw a magazine lying on a shelf and climbed on a chair to get it while still holding his gun in his hand. In some manner, the gun was fired and the 45-70 caliber bullet passed through the muscles of the left side of his body under the arm, tearing a large hole out of his back. Although the young man lost a lot of blood, he will recover if no complications set in.
BACK OF THE BOOK
The heart over Hope
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
One of the saving graces of my life is owning a sailboat. I bought it with my buddy Jake Hagadone (brother to Reader Editor-in-Chief Zach Hagadone) about five years ago; and, after fixing it up inside and out, the Free Spirit has become one of my favorite ways to escape the madness of the day.
We share the boat well, each of us averaging at least a few missions a month. Whether it’s camping out for a weekend or just motoring out to bob around and drink a few beers, every time I climb aboard that boat, life slows down to the pace that really matters. Petty bullshit is not allowed on the boat — just good vibes. There are absolutely no exceptions to this rule.
Each trip out of the marina, I look up to the mountains and give a nod to the heart over Hope. It was created by either an old logging clear-cut or a landslide and resembles a big heart looking over us all.
The heart over Hope is a bit of a totem for me — a symbol of the love that these mountains and this amazing lake regularly give to our lives.
When I see it, I think of all the men and women in boats over the years who have also glanced up at that heart and smiled. I think of those old-timers of the past in their wooden Chris-Crafts, puttering along and looking at a shoreline devoid of the houses that line it today. I think of the ancient fishermen who smoked their pipes and waited patiently for the big ones to nibble at their hooks. I think of the behatted buddies cavorting in homemade skiffs, the ladies in layered skirts who were tougher than most men are today. I think of the ones who came before us;
the ones who knew North Idaho deep inside their souls.
The heart over Hope makes me think of the arc of history and how we’re all connected by this magical place. As more and more things change around us, the simple things that remain seem to matter more and more.
It’s easy to lose hope when you think about how badly we’ve lost our way in the U.S. We are as divided as we’ll ever be right now and the outlook ahead remains bleak. Civility is a thing of the past. Decency is dying out. Cruelty is entertainment now; a bloodsport that is claiming more and more “fans” every day.
The ones who made it to high ground have pulled up the ladders behind them, and now sit tossing rocks at those trying to grasp at the rungs to save themselves.
Yet, for just those few hours every week or so when I can shut off the engine, hoist the mainsail and jib, and feel the wind push me around this lake surrounded by mountains, I’m truly connected to the environment. I’m one with the small town in which I was born and raised. The only noises are the water against my hull, the wind against my sails and the ice rattling around in my glass.
On long passages across the lake to and from camping spots, I’ll let my mind wander. I’ll remember old friends long gone, familiar faces I haven’t seen in decades and funny stories from the past.
Living in the same small town where one was born can be a curse, too. Sometimes I wish I lived in a place where I wouldn’t feel pain every time I saw a big change.
But it can also be a blessing. Not everyone can feel this level of con-
nection to the place in which they live. Not everyone still runs into their elementary school teachers in the grocery store, or frequents a restaurant in which they remember eating as a kid. In a place like Sandpoint, which is changing more and more every year, it’s not the additions that we remember, it’s the things that are gone or taken away. Those are the memories that keep some of us up at night.
The heart over Hope helps remind me that we are stewards of this place, not owners. We, the lucky few who can still afford to live here, are merely caretakers. Once you let that mentality take hold, life in North Idaho gets a lot simpler.
It’s not about how much you can grab; but, rather, how gently you hold what you have. I’ll be the first to recognize that I’m damn lucky to have what I do. Things could be better — sure — but they could be a lot worse.
No matter how bad the storm blows outside our little shire in North Idaho, if we keep the home fires burning bright enough, we can stave off the darkness for a little bit longer. Long enough, perhaps, to find our own hearts over Hope to guide the way back home.
The heart over Hope. Photo by Cynthia Mason
Laughing Matter
Solution on page 22
By Bill Borders
Corrections: Last week we mistakenly produced a flawless paper. We regret the lack of errors. gainsay /GEYN-sey/ [verb] 1. to deny, dispute or contradict
CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1. Young seal 6. Footnote note
Immerse briefly
Consumer of food
Not yours 16. Component of steel 17. Red Sea peninsula
Head 19. Dugout shelter
Interchanged 22. Strong fiber
Cheapskate 24. They form skeletons
Diva’s solo
Solution on page 22
Solution on page 22
Brews
Adjust again Word Week of the
“No one could gainsay the evidence presented at trial.”
Isn’t it funny how whenever we go to a county fair or a state fair, the first thing we do is see if they have some kind of pornography booth.
Pertaining to medicine 31. Played around 33. Enchanting 37. Come to light 38. Develop into 39. Say again 41. Champion 42. One more 44. Its symbol is Pb 45. Ledger entry 48. Rabbits 50. Not odd 51. Cleaning 56. Not female
Prefix meaning “Within”
Pig out
Scent
Tattled
Anagram of “Sneer”
DOWN
Where the sun sets
Whiskers or locks
Europe’s highest
Not fatty
7. Prejudiced 8. Temporary 9. Exploit
Fiendish 11. Not rural 12. Scandinavian 13. Entwines
21. Olive stuffing 24. Doughnutshaped roll 25. Jewish month 26. Scarce 27. Nile bird
Cypher
55. Bird home 62. Current event facts
Light refractor
Enforced
28. Teetotallers 30. Floorshow 32. Inclined
Dogfish
Extend credit 40. Grain alcohol 41. Amounts of time 43. Handgrip 45. Evil spirit 46. Avoid 47. Not above 49. Type of sword 51. Bristle 52. Rubber wheel
