Some years ago, my partner Cadie and I canoed out to a spot on the lake where we often camp. After the half-hour paddle, we unloaded our boat and set up the tent, camp chairs and a small kitchen area. We then cracked a few beers and enjoyed the afternoon... until a motorboat came whizzing to the shore right next to us. The couple began unloading gear from the boat onto the beach, not making eye contact. I finally broke the silence and said, “You’re not camping here are you?”
“We sure are,” they replied.
“The fact that I can talk to you in a low voice probably means you’re a bit too close, don’t you think? There are a half dozen spots right over there, just down the beach,” I said. “I don’t come out here to be 10 feet away from other people all weekend.”
Alas, as some Americans refuse to be told what to do, they dug in their heels and decided they would indeed camp right next to us. That’s when I decided to stop getting mad and start getting even.
I took off all my clothes and stood naked on the shoreline, slapping my gut for all to see. I then began whittling a stick and attempted to spear some fish from the lake for about 30 minutes, bending wayyy over to get them. When that had no effect on the couple, I was forced to elevate matters. That’s right — I brought out my trombone.
Now, to be clear, I don’t play the trombone. I’m skilled at various instruments, but when I put my lips to anything brass, the sound that comes out could never be classified as “pleasant.” I only brought it with us so I could practice and not be so damned bad at it. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a naked North Idahoan playing the trombone, but it’s not a pretty sight. Ever.
There, on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille, I stood naked as the day I came into this world, blowing holy hell into a rusty trombone for close to an hour, pointing the instrument their way the whole time. The husband was not amused. The wife was not amused. My partner was amused, though. She sat there drinking her beer and cracking up at this beast that she chose to be in a relationship with.
Long story short, after close to two hours of harassing these people for camping too close to us, when there were a lot of other spots further away, I decided to give up. My nude spearfishing and trombone blasting wasn’t doing the trick. We decided to leave them alone and turned our camp away from theirs so we could pretend to have some semblance of solitude.
The night passed and, in the morning, we emerged to pack up the canoe and get the hell out of there. It had rained through the night and my only solace was noticing that their tent zipper had apparently failed, leaving the inside soaking wet.
I chuckled to myself and kept rowing, wondering what kind of stories they would tell about me.
DEAR READERS,
In this, our last edition of July, you’ll find all the usual Festival at Sandpoint information and fun, including photos from Week 1 on Page 13, a Festival Bingo card on Page 15 and a rundown of the shows on Page 21.
July is rapidly coming to a close. Soon, August will be here and we’ll start the gradual shift from summertime busy to autumnal serenity.
I’ve always loved summertime for the lake days, the backyard barbecues and the fact that I don’t have to wear socks for weeks at a time. But, deep down, I’m a sucker for fall. Sandpoint in summer has taken on a frenzied nature that doesn’t fill me with joy like it used to anymore. My trips downtown on busy weekend days are perfunctory and brief, with a sigh of relief when I step back through my front door.
To each their own, I suppose. I’m going to wring as many sunny days out of this summer as possible, then put it on the shelf and move on.
– Ben Olson, publisher
READER
111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 208-946-4368 sandpointreader.com
Editors Emeriti: Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Cameron Rasmusson John Reuter
Advertising: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com
Contributing Artists:
Racheal Baker (cover), Ben Olson, Bill Borders, Soncirey Mitchell, Jill Trick, Anna Kampe, Steve Johnson, Rich Milliron, Arleen Lothia, Olivia Gonzales
Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Soncirey Mitchell, Lorraine H. Marie, Brenden Bobby, Lauren Necochea, Jennifer Ekstrom, Sandy Compton, Emily Erickson
Submit Stories To: stories@sandpointreader.com
Printed Weekly At: Tribune Publishing Co. Lewiston, ID
Subscription Price: $185 per year
Website Designed By: Keokee
The Sandpoint Reader is a weekly publication owned by Ben Olson and Keokee. It is devoted to the arts, entertainment, bluster, politics and lifestyle in and around Sandpoint, Idaho.
We hope to provide a quality alternative by offering honest, in-depth reporting that reflects the intelligence and interests of our diverse and growing community.
The Reader is printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Leftover copies are collected and recycled weekly, or burned in bonfires to appease the gods of journalism. For back issues, contact the publisher. Free to all, limit two per person, please.
Letter to the Editor Policy:
We welcome letters to the editor on all relavant topics. Please, no more than 200 words, no excessive profanity or libelous statements and no trolls. Please elevate the discussion and stay on topic. Letters will be edited to comply with the above requirements. Opinons expressed in these pages are those of the writers, not necessarily the publisher. Send to: letters@sandpointreader.com
About the Cover:
This week’s cover photo features Sierra Ferrell during her show at the Festival at Sandpoint on July 25. Photo by Racheal Baker.
Local fire officials address budget challenges, explore future solutions
Chief sites, growth, inflation and fire district levy failure as among major challenges
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Leaders of Selkirk Fire, Rescue and EMS gathered with members of the public and other officials July 23 in Sagle to discuss the current status of the district and workshop plans to keep the fire service sustainable and effective into the future.
The discussion came about two months after voters rejected a slate of levies in the May 20 election that would have funded a range of fire service needs — from staffing to equipment — in the Northside, Sagle and Westside districts.
“I would just say it’s a question that we posed to the community on what they wanted from their fire service, and if they wanted to enhance that during that period,” said Selkirk Fire Chief Jeff Armstrong, who oversees all three districts.
“I think we didn’t connect with as many in the community as we would like to,” he added, “and a lot of that had to do with our ground game. A lot of that had to do with our timeline. ... Sometimes folks just drive past the fire station and go, ‘There’s firemen there,’ and just keep on going, and they don’t really realize what goes on in the community.”
If approved, the Northside Fire District levy would have raised an additional $1.2 million per year on a permanent basis, amounting to a tax of $61 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value. In Sagle, the fire district asked for a permanent increase for a total override of $750,000, resulting in a tax increase to $122 per year per $100,000 of taxable value. Likewise, Westside sought to raise an additional $810,358, also carrying a total tax burden of $122 per year per $100,000.
All three levies were intended to support recruitment and retention of firefighters;
fuller staffing of area fire stations; and equipment, maintenance and general operations.
Northside’s levy was defeated 1,059 to 559 — or 65.45% to 34.55% — while Sagle’s went down 1,253 against and 741 in favor, for a margin of 62.84% to 37.16% and Westside’s was 402 against and 339 in favor, for 54.25% to 45.75%.
In the wake of that defeat at the polls, Armstrong announced that paid staff at the Careywood station would be eliminated in June, in order to save “a substantial amount in overtime and personnel costs,” with those funds “shifted immediately to the maintenance of our aging fleet, fire station repairs and equipment replacement.”
That move prompted a petition from some community members, which stated in part: “This decision has left our community without direct, local emergency response. In rural areas like ours, response times are everything, and removing our local team puts lives, homes, and property at higher risk.
“We understand that budget challenges exist. But removing our fire protection should never be the solution,” the petition added. “Careywood residents deserve safety, transparency and a voice in decisions that affect our survival in emergencies.”
At the July 23 meeting, Armstrong laid out some of the realities that local fire districts are facing post-election, framing the larger issue as connected with growth in the county, which he cited as increasing in population between 20% and 27% in the past five years while call volume has gone up 15% — attributable both to new residents but also visitors and those traveling through the area.
“I did have a conversation with somebody at the county Planning Commission recently, and they told me that, you
know, 20% to 27% growth — that isn’t much growth. I feel like it is,” he said. “It is when you look at what it’s doing to our community, and the impact that’s having on emergency services. ...
“I’m the first chief in a while that has really sounded the alarm on growth,” he later added.
Armstrong also touched on the high rates of inflation experienced across the economy, but which also affect emergency services.
“There are things that we have to replace, that we have to purchase, that we have to have to keep this fire department and these fire agencies running, that has hit almost a 50% inflation [rate],” he said, pointing to the example of a $100 hose that now costs $175.
“When a hose breaks I have to buy a hose, or I have to carry less hose on fire engines,” Armstrong said. “That’s a very simple analogy, but that’s an analogy that I use. That’s a real-life piece of equipment that I looked at.”
He added that compounding high rates of growth and inflation, many pieces of critical equipment are aging while maintenance has been deferred, on top of a 3% yearly budget cap for the taxing districts.
“So we either need to scale back, find a way to do business cheaper or be creative,” he said.
Armstrong said a prima-
ry goal going forward is to continue developing a comprehensive strategic plan for the fire districts while undertaking detailed analysis of the current budget — with all its constraints — weighed against future needs.
He promised to compile a presentation specific to inflationary effects on emergency services and equipment for the next meeting of the fire officials, and ultimately prepare a budget for the upcoming fiscal year that includes a three- to five-year plan for addressing capital items — including fire engines.
“We’re trying to get ahead of this issue that we have with our fleet,” Armstrong said. “Twenty-five-year old fire engines are not sustainable. Our guys were responding to a call the other day, and the fire engine started having mechanical problems on the way to the call.
“That’s a reality. And this isn’t the first time that we’ve got a fire engine break down on the way to a fire, and it’s going to continue to happen until we get to a point where these this fleet is either sustainable, and we invest enough money into making these old fire engines completely new, or we get to a point where we’re at that tipping point of getting into fire engines that are a little bit more sustainable,” he added.
Among the options for closing the budgetary gap were
finding secondary uses for some fire district properties and facilities, as well as discontinuing some programs. Further consolidation of the fire districts could be a possibility as well, with consideration of placing an advisory measure on the next election ballot.
“We’re at a tipping point, you know,” said Gary Suppiger, who serves as a commissioner for the Sagle Fire District, specifically covering the Cocolalla and Careywood areas, among others, in the southern portion of the district.
“We need to know what does the community want? Do they want us to continue to provide the current level of service, enhanced level of service or lower services,” he said. “I mean, after the levy this spring we didn’t have any choice. We had to reduce services. We had to brown out the Careywood station because we couldn’t afford to maintain it, and I think that’s going to continue.
“The chief is doing a terrific job of trying to provide the resources we have within our budget,” Suppiger added, “but it’s just getting more and more difficult, and I see — longterm — our level of service decreasing unless we get more resources to devote to protect our patrons.”
The Selkirk Fire Westside station. Courtesy photo
Idaho AG’s Office asks judge to dismiss whistleblower lawsuit
New records show state officials subpoenaed in Health and Welfare grants investigation
By Kyle Pfannenstiel Idaho Capital Sun
In March 2023, Daphne Huang emailed her supervisor — repeating concerns she had shared a day earlier.
She was troubled with the ethics of the Idaho Attorney General’s Office new management — months after Raúl Labrador became Idaho’s attorney general.
“I don’t think [the executive office] is concerned with our ethical responsibilities under professional rules of conduct to which we are all bound,” Huang wrote. “They instead appear intent on dismantling government, and doing so without regard for the people who believe in public service who fall in their wake. They have drawn the [AG’s] Office into adversity with its clients based on anti-government pursuits irrespective of how the law applies to the facts.”
Before firing her a couple hours later, Labrador didn’t look into her concerns, he recently said in a deposition.
“I had no concerns. It was clear that she was not acting in good faith. And it was clear that she was already preparing for litigation,” Labrador said, according to a partial transcript.
Months before Huang’s whistleblower lawsuit against her former state employer is set to go to a jury trial, the Labrador’s office has asked an Idaho judge to dismiss the case, arguing Huang was fired for misconduct — not whistleblowing. Huang was fired early in Labrador’s investigation into $72 million of child care grants distributed by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, the agency she represented as a deputy attorney general.
Huang’s email, Labrador’s deposition and hundreds of other pages of evidence were released in court documents related to the request for dismissal.
AG’s Office says lawyer was fired for misconduct
In its request, attorneys for the Attorney General’s Office stated: “Even under the most charitable interpretation of the facts, [Huang] was fired for misconduct — not for refusing to carry out an unlawful directive or for whistleblowing.”
Part of the case centers on the allegation that Huang gave the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare the cell phone of her former supervisor, who was asked to resign days before Huang was fired. The phone had data that Health and Welfare allegedly claimed privilege over and was deleted from the phone before it was returned to the Attorney General’s Office, court documents show. That was despite a request from the Attorney General’s Office to return the phone with the data preserved, the records show.
Labrador’s office argues that the timeline “is clear: she made alleged ethical complaints because she was being fired, and not the other way around.”
Huang’s attorneys responded with a timeline of the events leading up to her firing, arguing that Labrador started his leadership of the Attorney General’s Office with an unusual change.
“On the day he became AG, Labrador met with [deputy attorneys general] and staff and informed them everyone would be reappyling for their jobs and that he wanted employees who would be ‘Team Labrador,’” Huang’s attorneys said.
They allege Labrador told staff that the Attorney General’s Office “did not represent state agencies.” That confused Huang, who knew the office’s attorneys “are public attorneys for the people of the state,” her lawyers stated.
On July 28, Idaho 4th District Court Judge Jonathan Medema heard oral arguments on the Attorney General
Office’s request to dismiss the case, through a motion for summary judgment. He will issue a decision later.
In court, Deputy Solicitor General Michael Zarian argued Huang didn’t refuse the office’s directive.
“A refusal would be to decline to accept the directive and to express that,” Zarian said. “And that is the definition of the word refusal.
... But here, she expressed a willingness to agree and then did the opposite. And that’s just, honestly, dishonesty to your employer.”
An attorney for Huang, Guy Hallam, argued Huang did what she was supposed to do.
“The client requested the phone, and she gave it to the client. She has a duty to that client,” Hallam said. “... She did what she should do under the law, and under her duties under the rules of professional conduct. And it may have amounted to a refusal that they view as insubordination, but it’s appropriate under the law.”
The lawsuit is scheduled to go to a jury trial in October.
Recent court ruling affirmed Labrador’s civil subpoena power
Another court ruling seemed to clear a hurdle for the investigation. The Idaho Supreme Court on July 10 unanimously ruled Labrador had the authority to issue civil investigative demands to organizations that received the grant funds from Health and Welfare.
But the court wrote that “nothing in this opinion should be read as implying that we have concluded that any of the Grant Recipients have violated the law because we have not been asked to address that issue.”
In a statement after the ruling, Labrador said the office’s goal “is not to punish grant recipients but to ensure taxpayer funds were used according to state law.”
“We will continue to de-
fend the investigative powers the Legislature has entrusted [to] our office,” he said.
But more than two years after the investigation began, its status is unclear. For more than a year, state officials have released no information about how it’s going.
New records show officials received more subpoenas
In late 2023, when Labrador’s special prosecutor, Christopher Boyd, told state health officials he’d withdraw the civil investigative demands that they sued to block, he said he’d look to appoint a special inquiry judge — a court process outlined in state law that allows secrecy. At the time, Boyd wouldn’t say whether such a judge had been appointed, the Sun previously reported.
But government records obtained by the Idaho Capital Sun through a public records request show state employees were subpoenaed in early 2024 or earlier to testify to a special inquiry judge. The records don’t identify the judge. Government agencies linked to the investigation could not be immediately reached for comment.
In an email on Feb. 26, 2024, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Deputy Director Jennifer Palagi told the agency’s then interim director, Dean Cameron, that two state officials had been subpoenaed by Boyd to testify before a special inquiry judge on March 5, 2024. Those subpoenas were similar to ones she, other current and former state officials — including the agency’s previous director, Dave Jeppesen — had received, Palagi wrote.
Gov. Brad Little’s then-director of operations, Lori Wolff, also received a similar subpoena, Idaho the governor’s General Counsel Brady Hall wrote in a separate Jan. 30, 2024 email.
All the subpoenas were
signed by Boyd, sought testimony on the grants program and came with an “Agreement to Testify with Immunity,” Hall wrote.
The Idaho Capital Sun obtained the emails through a public records request to Little’s office. An attorney for Huang first obtained the emails from the governor’s office after allegedly not receiving them in the legal discovery process from the Attorney General’s Office. Judge Medema in July denied Huang’s attorneys’ request for sanctions over the evidence dispute.
The emails also asked how to arrange legal representation for the subpoenaed officials. It’s not immediately clear whether the testimony sought by the subpoenas happened, or how legal representation for the officials was arranged.
The Idaho Attorney General’s Office declined to share information on the investigation’s status. Other agencies and officials involved in the emails or investigation — including the Idaho governor’s office, the Department of Health and Welfare, and Boyd, who is also Canyon County’s prosecuting attorney — could not be immediately reached for comment.
Boyd was also appointed as a special prosecutor in Ada County “to prosecute this case,” Chief Deputy Attorney General Phil Broadbent stated in a reply email to the governor’s attorney in January 2024. Last week, the Ada County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office declined to comment on Boyd’s appointment, telling the Sun that the matter remains under investigation.
This story was produced by Boise-based nonprofit news outlet the Idaho Capital Sun, which is part of the States Newsroom nationwide reporting project. For more information, visit idahocapitalsun.com.
City of Sandpoint seeking input on wastewater plant reconstruction project
Officials considering an $80M-$130M bond measure in Nov. to fund the work
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Sandpoint City Hall is soliciting public feedback on the long-running effort to reconstruct the wastewater treatment plant through a survey announced July 25.
Respondents are invited to fill out the questionnaire until it closes on Tuesday, Aug. 5. Among the prompts are rating the level of awareness about the current state of the wastewater plant and its infrastructure challenges, as well as gauging approval for a bond measure on the November 2025 ballot to pay for some or all of the needed improvements.
Specifically, the survey outlines that a full reconstruction could run to about $130 million; however, “Due to this substantial cost, the city may pursue an initial phase covering the most critical needs, estimated at approximately $80 million, with a second phase occurring at a later date,” the survey states.
“Without bond funding or other financing, the city would still be required to replace the aging wastewater treatment plant to meet environmental regulations,” survey authors added.
If the work is delayed or lengthened by a phased approach, the survey states that the city may be faced with state or federal fines for water quality non-compliance, as well as “significant increases” in monthly sewer rates to fund emergency repairs or mandated upgrades, higher future costs due to inflation and further deterioration of infrastructure.
The central question on the survey asks whether residents would support a bond measure in November to fund the “critical phase” of $80 million or for the full $130 million — knowing that both options would result in higher utility bills.
For instance — based on the initial $80 million option, a hypothetical $100 monthly utility bill would increase to $160 over five years, or from $100 to $206 over five years for the more permanent fix.
The survey takes about five minutes to complete, and does not require the disclosure of personal information. Find it at survey.zohopublic.com/zs/5fD9Ks.
In a news release, the city described the treatment plant as “aging and undersized,” with reconstruction necessary because of “deteriorating in-
frastructure, regulatory mandates, and extreme flows caused by inflow and infiltration in the sewer system.”
“The city’s current wastewater treatment plant, originally constructed using salvaged equipment from Farragut Naval Station in the 1950s, is approaching the end of its useful life,” city officials stated. “The equipment is outdated, and the plant cannot reliably meet requirements under its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.”
Pointing to specific instances when rain-on-snow events resulted in “dramatic increases in wastewater volume,” City Hall explained that flows can top 10 million gallons per day — twice the capacity for which the plant is currently rated.
That puts the city in danger of “significant environmental harm and large federal Clean Water Act fines of up to $64,618 per day,” officials stated.
Before putting any bond measure on the ballot, however, City Hall stated that community input is needed to accurately reflect the public’s sense of urgency for the reconstruction project.
“This survey is part of our commitment to transparency and community engagement,” stated Sandpoint Public Works Director Holly Ellis. “We want to hear from residents about how they view the city’s wastewater services and how we can plan responsibly for the future.”
Added Mayor Jeremy Grimm: “We cannot fund this project on rates alone. The only path forward is to combine local bonding with aggressive pursuit of state and federal grant funding. This survey helps us understand how residents view our wastewater needs and the value of long-term investment.”
Bits ’n’ Pieces
From east, west and beyond
Reuters recently reported that close to two-thirds of lawyers at the Department of Justice, whose job was to defend Trump administration policies, have quit. One attorney said they came to defend “aspects” of the Constitution, adding, “How could they participate in the project of tearing it down?”
DOGE staff will use artificial intelligence to eliminate half of the government regulations by January 2026, The Washington Post reported.
The Supreme Court has handed “unprecedented” power to President Donald Trump, Slate reported, when conservative justices said he could fire 1,400 Department of Education employees as part of the plan to abolish the department. The ruling accelerated “this administration’s lawless seizure of duties ... expressly assigned to Congress,” wrote Slate Senior Writer Mark Joseph Stern. In contrast, when Joe Biden was president, conservative justices repeatedly limited his authority
According to NBC, as of late June, the U.S. was holding more than 56,000 people in detention centers, of which nearly 72% had no criminal history. As well, the Texas Tribune reported that the Department of Defense awarded a $1.26 billion contract to build the nation’s largest detention facility to “house” 5,000 people in tents at Fort Bliss.
The Huffington Post reported that Immigrants in Florida detention facilities faced life-threatening medical delays, as well as being shackled for long periods during transportation without food, water or functioning toilets; were held in overcrowded cells; forced to sleep on concrete floors; and even forced to eat “like dogs.” According to the U.K.-based Independent, ICE secretly deported an 82-year-old Pennsylvania grandfather after he lost his Green Card. Meanwhile, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported that ICE agents shattered a car window to arrest a man outside his child’s school.
For the first time since 1923, Paris opened the Seine to swimming, The Week reported. It took $1.6 billion to clean the river of pollutants, which included upgrading old water treatment plants and connecting 20,000 homes to sewer systems, instead of flushing directly into the river.
The DoJ has 100,000 pages of Jeffrey Epstein files it refuses to release to the public, The New York Times
By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Contributor
reported. According to other recent Epstein-related headlines, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson stated “It’s not a hoax,” in a break with Trump’s denials and attempted redirections from the scandal, while CNN reported newly discovered photos and video shed fresh light on Trump’s ties to Epstein. Finally, HuffPost reported that a House subcommittee — supported by three Republicans — has voted to subpoena the DoJ for files on Epstein’s sex trafficking.
In Gaza, The Guardian reported that doctors are “becoming too weak to treat patients” as the hunger crisis there deepens. According to the United Nations, 6,000 trucks worth of aid are ready to enter Gaza, though Israel is refusing to allow access. A Holocaust professor told Piers Morgan that Israel’s destruction of Gaza is now “greater than the destruction of Hiroshima.” The Associated Press reported that Israel has again intercepted a Gaza-bound ship carrying activists and humanitarian aid.
Other headlines from various media state that the U.S. heat dome is causing “dangerous conditions for more than 100 million people” while the EPA is seeking to end its ability to fight climate change; dropped cases against LA protesters have revealed false claims from federal agents; mercury emissions have fallen 70% over the past four decades thanks to a U.N. treaty and coal phase-out; and a line item in the Trump tax bill would give tax breaks to Wall Street firms that buy companies, load them with debt and later close facilities, lay off employees and cut wages.
Blast from the past: The Trump administration just published 230,000 documents related to the assassination of Martin L. King Jr., which have been sealed since 1977. The release has been regarded as an attempt to distract from Epstein headlines. Historian Heather Cox Richardson does not see the ploy working, since the Epstein files suggest a cover up of powerful men, while the MLK files show government harassment by trying to pin illegal activity on MLK — using illegal surveillance under then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover’s goal, she pointed out, was to discredit people he considered his enemies or otherwise dangerous to his political beliefs.
A view from Sandpoint’s wastewater treatment plant. Photo by Soncirey Mitchell
Top left: Huxley in the raspberry patch during picking season. Photo by Jill Trick.
Top right: Penelope Gall, 12, brought the Reader to Placencia, Belize in Feburary.
Photo by Ana Kampe.
Middle left: A California quail with 32 babies in the barnyard. Photo by Steve Johnson
Middle center: “Dragonflies making it happen on our love boat during the summer,” wrote photographer Arleen Lothian.
Middle right: Kai Gonzales, 12, goes full send at City Beach. Photo by Olivia Gonzales.
Bottom: A quiet shot of City Beach. Photo by Rich Milliron.
Bouquets:
• A Bouquet goes out to photographer Racheal Baker, whose Festival at Sandpoint photos always bring the smiles.
Barbs:
• I’ve been a big supporter of the Festival at Sandpoint through the years. It’s an iconic local event that is not only a huge boost to our local economy, but also our cultural output. I have to say the no-outside-liquids policy instituted this season has ruffled quite a few feathers. Sandpointians and their wider Bonner County counterparts are a hearty bunch. We have been watching for decades as moneyed interests attempt to transform this area into a haven for the rich, whittling away all the jagged edges. While we might complain about everything from overdevelopment to goose poop, the collective heart of locals always seeks to keep Sandpoint weird, as opposed to this gentrified, aesthetically pleasing place where wealthy people can live, spend and recreate in peace. All that is to say we’re used to change. We don’t always like it, but we take it as it comes. Some changes go too far, though. I’ve heard from many of you who attended the shows last week and, invariably, the first and last thought expressed was frustration over not being able to bring your own liquids, long bar lines and limits on the number of drinks one could purchase at a time. One concertgoer said they spent half the concert in line. Another said they normally entertain guests with wine on their blanket, but this time everyone was moving back and forth from bar lines, so nobody came over to sit with them. I’ll end with this: One of the things I’ve always loved the most about the Festival at Sandpoint was the fact that it was unlike any other music festival. I hope we retain this identity instead of slipping into the sterile middle.
‘Seriously?!’...
Dear editor,
Lately, there have been a few things to laugh about or even be entertained about; but, recently, I laughed out loud.
This moment of humor was brought on by the July 3, 2025 Page 5 Reader article regarding Sandpoint Mayor Jeremy Grimm and his request for a raise [News, “Citing low city pay, Mayor Grimm moves to part-time”].
Me too, Mayor Grimm! Nurses, police, teachers, waitresses, retail folks and Sandpoint all would like a raise. Maybe we should let Gov. Brad Little in on our request and invite him to the conversation. Maybe just sticking to developing all the land in Sandpoint and the skies above is a better gig. It might pay more. What do you think, Sandpoint?
By the way, I would like to be able to pay for my kids to go to college, too — an excellent goal.
Thanks for the laughs!
Sue Baker Sandpoint
‘Piece de resistance’...
Dear editor,
You think you can make us ugly like you and forget our proud past. You think you have the power to turn our love into hate. You think you can entice us with greed and lust to follow your hollow soul. We will not betray our mother. We will not dishonor our father. We will not abandon our brothers and sisters. And if you think otherwise, you are sadly mistaken.
Steve Johnson Sagle
‘Does this not seem funny?’...
Dear editor,
That Trump is encouraging foreign investment in our country but we are chasing out all the foreigners? Stupidness.
Kari Saccomanno Sandpoint
Festival experience is souring…
Dear editor,
The Festival Board decided to eliminate outside beverages due to “liability.” It’s always been a liability managed by insurance. When asked on several occasions to identify the increased insurance cost, the answer was: “I don’t know.”
It’s as if the Festival’s in hospice. They’ve thrown up their hands with the elimination of the iconic
OPINION
Congress has surrendered to Trump, and Idaho’s delegation is leading the retreat
By Lauren Necochea Reader Contributor
Duty to country should come before loyalty to any politician. Members of Congress are elected to protect the people and uphold the Constitution. Idaho’s Republican delegation has abandoned that responsibility. Time after time, they’ve chosen to serve Donald Trump and his reckless agenda, no matter the cost to Idahoans.
Earlier this year, Congress approved a bipartisan budget to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year. It took negotiation, 60 Senate votes and bipartisan support. Idaho Republicans backed it. Trump signed it into law. Then the Trump regime reversed course, demanding cuts that undermined core government functions. This month, Republicans passed a rescission package that eliminated $9.4 billion in already approved funding. Idaho’s delegation supported it without hesitation.
The clawbacks are dangerous. They gut global health initiatives that combat infectious disease, save millions of lives and generate goodwill. They undercut peacekeeping efforts that prevent armed
tent, citing risks. What they have now looks like a large fireworks stand. Why not launch a capital campaign for a safe structure that resembles the old one? That canopy was one of the most identifiable structures in Sandpoint.
Meanwhile, pass on the insurance cost to ticket buyers. Put it out to bid. Negotiate common ground with the provider.
Friday’s concert had a 75-minute wait in the (overpriced) beverage line. Sunday they ran out of buckets and ice, requiring another trip through the line. Adding a second liquor sales area would decrease wait times and increase revenue.
Fans are voting with their wallets, which is probably why
conflict. They slash international development programs that support stable governments and prevent crises and violence.
Closer to home, the rescissions threaten critical support for public broadcasting, including PBS and NPR stations that serve rural Idaho. These stations provide public safety alerts, trusted local news and quality educational programming that many of us grew up with.
The process itself sets a disturbing precedent. The original budget required bipartisanship. The rescission took a simple party-line vote. It allowed Republicans to unilaterally rewrite a deal because Trump told them to. If this becomes routine, minority parties will have no reason to negotiate. Future deals will collapse. Trust will erode. Congress will become a procedural weapon for the president’s whims.
The Trump-first mindset was clear when Democrats pushed to release the Epstein files. Speaker Mike Johnson abruptly recessed the chamber to dodge more votes. Democrats fought to expose the influential individuals connected to Epstein’s crimes and to
they offered 25% discounts on GA tickets in May (nothing’s sold out).
These constraints have already played out this year, but as fans’ experience sours, next year will be a sign of how these changes impact the Festival’s future.
Joel Bonvallet Sandpoint
‘Kudos to book savior’…
Dear editor, I offer kudos and thanks to Mike, owner of Evergreen Homestead Supply (and also fire chief) in Clark Fork.
When my elderly next door neighbor told me she was selling her house and wanted me to take all the books
show that no one is above the law. Republicans blocked it. Every move now seems aimed at pleasing Trump. Mike Simpson recently inserted the renaming of the Kennedy Center Opera House after first lady Melania Trump into a larger bill. He claimed it was to recognize her support for the arts. That’s laughable. She stood by as Trump fought to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts.
This all reveals a larger truth: Idaho’s delegation is no longer interested in governing. They are focused on political survival in a party that punishes dissent and rewards obedience to the Trump regime. They support him even when it harms Idaho communities. Even when it means breaking their own rules. Even when it means undermining Congress itself.
If they won’t stand up for Idaho, for the Constitution or even for basic integrity, then they don’t deserve to hold office. Idaho needs leaders who answer to the people, not Trump.
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.
of her late husband to the refuse (dumpster) area, I was in pain. Most are hardcover. Besides having been a reporter, I also worked in a library for several years. I know that twice a week, anything on the “free shelves” will go into dumpsters and landfills. I had no place to store 20 boxes, but Mike agreed to store them, build a few bookshelves and sell the books for $1 each in his hardware store. The money is just to pay for the shelves and time. It is my idea because people do not respect things they get for free.
With the Corner Bookstore closing, people have another option. Maybe others will donate?
James Richard Johnson Clark Fork
Lauren Necochea. File photo
By Emily Erickson Reader Columnist
I remember summers as sticky things — sweaty strands of hair matted to my cheek as I lay on the floor beneath the air conditioner; sticky fingers from dribbles of Bomb-Pop juice or watermelon juice or lemonade, wiped clean on blades of grass; damp towels, crusted in sand, clinging to the river water still beaded on my skin.
I remember summers as expansive — long, open days filled with room to roam, with pedal bikes piled in heaps at the park like question marks or invitations. “Who’s here?” and, “What might we do, together?” Filling a whole day felt like filling a month: soccer practice and lakeshore rope swings, knocks on friends’ doors and double-decker cheese sandwiches, all before the heat drove us inside and Days of Our Lives aired on TV.
I remember reading for hours, the afternoon sun filtering through the blinds and the leaves of the maple tree outside my window. A sore neck would pull me out of the world I’d been lost in. I’d shut the book, blink back my surroundings — desk, lamp, bed, closet — objects reappearing like talismans of reality. None as magical as I wished they’d be.
I remember summer days fading into nights, with orange-skied sunsets and the silks of the corn we were shucking blowing on the evening breeze. Smells
Emily Articulated
Summers
of charcoal and grill smoke wafted through the yard, mixing with citronella like the official scent of the season. Even still, mosquitoes were undeterred, swarming under porch lights and piling their bites on our legs like little conquerors. We’d grow our nails just long enough to mark each bump with an “X” and pretend that helped quell the itch.
Summers eventually shifted to wilder things, with driver’s licenses turning to Ford Focuses and old Saturn sedans stuffed with teenagers running, together, from boredom. MapQuest pages were crumpled in door-side pockets with directions to the next town over — its own population of teenagers packed in cars like ours. We’d swap drama like reality TV contestants, dissecting each other’s words like scripture — meaning made between the lines, starring characters we weren’t sure were even real.
As I continued to grow, my summers kept growing with me. Sticky Bomb-Pop fingers gave way to crust-
ed ketchup globs and beer splashes from the rush of restaurant double shifts. College credits were crammed between after-work drinks and Saturday morning farmers’ markets. Late nights with live music on patios made us feel like the adults we play-acted we already were. Today, summer still holds magic and promise. But it feels packed full — events pouring like a firehose into a dry mouth (a gift, and also more overwhelming than it felt a decade ago). I schedule breathing room into my calendar like a wedge between color-coded busyness. And sometimes, I forget what it feels like to have brain space — to remember that I’m still, partly, the kid who needs to lie beneath the air conditioner, letting her thoughts blow freely until one of them feels solid enough to keep.
I forget what winter often reminds me: that even the best things are sweeter when I have space to reflect on them.
I love the rush of summer — festivals and lake days, long dinners with friends after full days of work. I love an event list with so many options that I can’t help but feel full just looking at them. And I also need a reminder that choosing none of them and spending time with myself is OK, too.
Maybe the secret to summer balance isn’t about reclaiming the expansive summers of old, but about making space for presence amid the craze. Summer can be for noticing the light shift
through the trees just as much as chasing cover bands and headliners, or for enjoying the quiet of an early morning before the world wakes up and the day begins. Sometimes, I can try to let a breeze brush past without immediately turning it into a task — and then charge into the joyful fray, headfirst and willing. Summer is still here, even when it feels like it’s racing
by. And I’m still here, too, learning how to be with it exactly as I am, in the both/ and — the doing and the stillness — that makes the season so sweet.
Emily Erickson is a writer and business owner with an affinity for black coffee and playing in the mountains. Connect with her online at www.bigbluehat. studio.
Retroactive By BO
Emily Erickson.
Science: Mad about
gelatin
By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist
A jiggling bowl of Jell-O during a hot summer barbecue really hits the spot. But have you ever wondered how we make the stuff? One minute it’s a powder, the next it’s a liquid; a little chill later, and it becomes a weird cherry-flavored quivering mess. How does it do that?
It all begins with gelatin, which is a compound derived from collagen harvested from animal parts — particularly the skin, bones and tendons of pigs and cattle.
Harvesting collagen to create gelatin is a surprisingly old practice. It begins by boiling the bits unfit for human consumption. These parts are treated with compounds that alter the pH, then grinding it into powder.
Gelatin transforming into jelly is interesting when viewed at a molecular level. The powder absorbs water and is then dissolved by the application of heat. As the mixture cools, the collagen reforms the molecular bonds to create a matrix that traps water within the strands. At a macro level, this creates the wobbly jelly we all know and love. Heat it up again, and the process repeats. Scientific magic!
Culinarians have known about gelatin for at least a thousand years, and likely longer. It was first written down in an Arabic text called Kitab al-Tabikh (The Book of Dishes) from the 10th century. The author of the cookbook recommended suspending fish heads in a gelatin mixture to create a dish called “qaris.” Fish-flavored Jell-O sounds terrible, but it was a medieval
staple that was portable and made a watertight seal around food that rotted quickly.
Noticeably absent from The Lord of the Rings movies were hobbits eating fishy Jell-O, despite it being thematically accurate for the time periods they were portraying.
Though we don’t have a written record of it, it’s believed that some form of gelatin was used by the Romans to create thick and jelly-like broths. It was likely similar to some “kitchen-sink” style congee dishes from East Asia. It is not uncommon to cook the porridge with the bones and residual bits of a butchered animal to give it a little more nutrition.
It is likely that the Roman thermopolium, which was essentially an ancient fast-food restaurant, accidentally created some kind of gelatin compound by allowing meat and bits to boil for hours or perhaps days on end. The texture and taste was likely masked by garum, which some people refer to as “Roman ketchup.”
Garum was a serving sauce made from fermented fish guts and blood, which probably tastes awful when poured over a hot dog.
It wasn’t until the 17th century that the importance of gelatin became front and center in the eyes of culinarians, particularly in France. It is understood that fancy aspic dishes were commonly enjoyed by the aristocracy. Aspic is an evolution of the fish-flavored Jell-O we explored earlier. Chefs would create a savory broth with gelatin and entomb within it meats, vegetables and eggs. Aspic has fallen out of favor, but it had a major resurgence in the United States during
the 1950s and ’60s.
It’s likely the explosion of popularity of aspic and Jell-O was because of World War II. Gelatin was a staple in battlefield food because it was lightweight, held lots of protein, and was easy to transport and mix with other rations. Soldiers returning home after the war took comfort in one of the few pleasures available to them on the battlefield, and a booming postwar economy led to the exploration of more culinary and pharmaceutical uses for gelatin.
Medications and supplements are frequently mixed with gelatin to create gel tabs, or gelatin tablets. The medication is suspended within the water that is trapped by the gelatin matrices, which breaks down at our internal body temperature and allows rapid dispersal of the meds into our bloodstream.
Gelatin production at an industrial scale is a bit of a horrifying prospect. After pigs and cattle have been processed for meat, the bones and skin are shipped in refrigerated trucks to the processing plant that will produce gelatin. The skins are separated and washed in a gigantic vat, then flushed down a line where they are cut into thin strips. The skin is smashed together and stored at a cool temperature to create big blocks of flesh that are then crushed in order to extract the collagen.
Pig skins are immersed in an acid bath to break down the collagen bonds and make them soluble. Cow bits require an alkali bath that can take weeks to convert the pieces into raw collagen. To convert collagen into gelatin, the mixture is precisely controlled in huge stills where they are sub-
jected to heat and water — up to 90 degrees Celsius (almost 200 degrees Fahrenheit).
The extracted material needs to be put through heavy filtration to remove any residual solids. The liquid is passed through a number of metal and fabric meshes to remove the larger impurities. The final step of filtration passes the liquid gelatin through carbon filters to achieve total purity. Excess
water is then evaporated off to create a syrup-like consistency, and then the gelatin is forced through an extruder that creates long ropes that look like spaghetti noodles. Once it is dried, it is often crushed into powder for larger-scale applications, or converted into gelatin sheets for home cooks and pastry chefs.
Stay curious, 7B.
Random Corner
• An estimated 16 million thunderstorms occur on Earth every year, with about 2,000 in progress at any given time.
• Lightning forms due to the collision of ice crystals and water droplets within clouds creating positive and negative electric charges, which become separated by convective forces. A lightning bolt is produced when the charges become separated enough to form an oppositional (and therefore attractive) electrical field that builds to a degree that it overpowers the atmosphere’s insulating quality and discharges energy.
• Lightning strikes kill about 40 people every year.
• This rule has been muddied by bad math over the years, but there is actually a way to determine how far a lightning storm is from you by counting after you hear a thunder clap. The actual rule, according to meteorologists, is to count the seconds after you see lightning. Take whatever number you reach by the time the thunder booms, divide it by five, and that’s how many miles
away the lightning is. So, if you count five seconds from lightning strike to the thunder clap, the lightning is one mile away.
• A bolt of lightning can reach temperatures near 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit in a split second.
• It is a myth that lightning never strikes the same place twice. In fact, lightning will strike several times in the same place in the course of one discharge.
• The state with the highest number of thunderstorms is Florida. The state with the highest amount of meth gators is also Florida.
• The fear of thunder and lightning is called astraphobia.
• There is no such thing as “heat lightning.” The reason you might see a distant flash of lightning but no sound is because light travels faster than sound and you might be too far away for the sound to reach you. People will associate summer heat with distant lightning because summer months are more active.
North Idaho’s lakes deserve safer solutions, not chemicals
By Jennifer Ekstrom Reader Contributor
Our North Idaho lakes are havens for our communities. They are lifelines for fish and wildlife, cherished places for family excursions and vital sources of clean drinking water. Our treasured lakes deserve protection that prioritizes both human health and ecological integrity.
Once again this summer, Lake Pend Oreille and Cocolalla Lake are targeted for chemical herbicide application to kill Eurasian watermilfoil and flowering rush, which are aquatic invasive weeds. These weeds can certainly cause a nuisance for boating and swimming, but thankfully the areas where the nuisance is greatest are well suited for diver pulling to remove the weeds.
The Idaho State Department of Agriculture is finishing its weed surveys on Lake Pend Oreille, and is developing plans to kill Eurasian watermilfoil shortly thereafter. These plans will include using both chemical herbicides and diver pulling. Once the plans are developed, residents with formal water rights will receive a 14-day notice before herbicide application, and other waterfront homeowners may get just a 24-hour dockside notice, leaving many unaware.
The plans for Cocolalla Lake are already completed, with many areas of weeds slated for diver pulling. There are just fewer than 10 acres of weeds in Cocolalla Lake that will be targeted with the chemical herbicide florpyrauxifen-benzyl (ProcellaCOR).
To stay updated about ISDA’s 2025 weed surveys, chemical application and diver pulling plans, check the map at invasivespecies.idaho.gov/treatment-plans.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced plans to apply diquat dibromide (Reward) and diquat dibromide plus endothall (Aquastrike) to up to 60 acres of submerged flowering rush at Riley Creek, Morton Slough, Oden Bay North and the Pack River Delta. This is planned for Monday, Aug. 4-Friday, Aug. 8. The Corps is not recommending fishing or swimming restrictions; however, it is recommended that animals should not consume the water for 24 hours. Humans should not drink the water nor irrigate the landscape for three days, and there is a five-day restriction on irrigating food crops.
The Corps will avoid applying the herbicide within 600 feet of public drinking water intakes and water rights
holder intakes.
Chemical use raises serious concerns, in addition to human exposure. When large quantities of weeds decompose all at once, they release nutrients that can fuel the next generation of weeds, increase the risk of toxic algae outbreaks and deplete oxygen that fish need to survive. This risk is elevated when they are killed at the height of summer when temperatures are high.
Concerns about human exposure and aquatic life increase because of a loophole in the permitting process that allows for duplicative applications — this can result in concentrations that exceed approved thresholds indicated on the product labels.
The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality needs to update its Pesticide General Permit, and fix a critical loophole that allows herbicide discharges on areas up to 80 acres — 60 football fields — with no coordination or meaningful regulation. As a result, multiple overlapping herbicide applications could occur by ISDA, the Corps, homeowners associations and individuals.
We all want to reduce the spread of invasive aquatic weeds, but chemical herbicides should be a last resort, not the first line of defense.
The most effective, environmentally safe methods for controlling invasive weeds in the areas where they are truly a nuisance — like boat launches and swimming areas — are diver hand-pulling and bottom barriers. These techniques work, and they don’t contaminate water, increase nutrient pollution or harm fish.
Join the Idaho Conservation League in sending a strong message before the plans are finalized and implemented. Urge ISDA and the Corps to reduce or cancel herbicide applications and focus on safer, proven alternatives. Contact the following people to make your voice heard:
Chanel Tewalt; director, ISDA; chanel.tewalt@isda.idaho.gov; 208332-8503; Jeremy Varley; chief treatment engineer and Noxious Weeds Section manager, ISDA; jeremey. varley@isda.idaho.gov; 208-332-8667; Taylor Johnson; chief, Natural Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; 208-437-3133 ext. 7225; Taylor.M.Johnson@usace.army.mil.
Share your own story with them, and consider including some of these key points: avoid chemical applications near drinking water intakes by a wider
safety margin; cancel or minimize the acreage of herbicide application; and prioritize non-toxic, effective methods — diver pulling and bottom barriers
Jennifer Ekstrom is North Idaho director of the Idaho Conservation League.
Aquatic weeds washed up on the shoreline at the Memorial Field boat launch. If these weeds were pulled by divers they would be removed from the water, protecting water quality and the aesthetics of our shorelines. Courtesy photo.
Hoisted by their own dotard
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
In Act 3 of Hamlet, the titular character has been acting mad to throw off suspicion that he knows his uncle Claudius murdered his father and married his mother. Claudius convinces Polonius to hide behind a curtain to listen while Hamlet’s mother tries to ascertain if it’s truly madness that plagues her son.
Upon Polonius revealing his presence, Hamlet thrusts his sword through the curtain and kills him, thinking it was Claudius.
Wracked with guilt, angry with his mother — the queen — for conspiring against him, Hamlet addresses her:
There’s letters sealed; and my two schoolfellows, Whom I will trust as I will adders fanged, They bear the mandate; they must sweep my way And marshal me to knavery. Let it work, For ‘tis the sport to have the engineer
Hoist with his own petard; and ’t shall go hard
But I will delve one yard below their mines And blow them at the moon, O, ’tis most sweet
When in one line two crafts directly meet.
— Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 4
Thus it was Shakespeare who brought the term “hoist with his own petard” into its usage as a phrase that means, literally, a bomb-maker being blown off the ground — or “hoisted” by his own bomb. Figuratively, it’s a saying that captures the irony of one receiving poetic justice.
The phrase came to me the other day while thinking about our fragile president, who can’t seem to stop hoisting himself (and his legion of supporters who mindlessly follow him) into the air.
After all that Trump has said and done — some 30,000 lies according to The Washington Post — it’s perhaps telling that the one thing that threatens to undermine his entire edifice of power is the very cause that his supporters have been blathering about since he lumbered down the gold escalator.
Yeah, I’m talking about Epstein and the fabled “list” that may or may not have you-know-who all over it.
The layer cake of irony starts with the fact that Trump’s foray into national electoral politics began with the “birther” movement, which he concocted as a bigoted conspiracy that former-President Barack Obama wasn’t born in the U.S.
Trump stoked the fires of distrust in the government and built a formidable army of sycophants who have embarrassed themselves before the nation, all because a Black man had the audacity to get elected president.
With Trump as their lodestar, the MAGA faithful splintered into various degrees of psychosis, calling for Democrats to be assassinated, jailed or castrated to appease their bloodlust. Meanwhile, the QAnon conspiracy complex was founded on the idea that there was a satanic cabal of high-profile people in government who are also pedophiles.
Enter Jeffry Epstein, a financier who was friends with Trump in Palm Beach, Fla. They are photographed many times together, seen together on video leering at younger women at a party. The Wall Street Journal reported a “bawdy” letter Trump sent to Epstein for a birthday present that ended with the sendoff, “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
Shielded by his wealth as a financier, Epstein was a sexual predator. He and his accomplices, such as Ghislane Maxwell, lured dozens of underage girls to his Palm Beach mansion to give massages for $200, where he’d tell them to remove their tops and bottoms, touch them in private areas and masturbate in their presence. Witnesses allege he’d schedule up to three “massages” a day, all with underage girls.
After one of the 14-year-old victims’ family members reported an incident to the police, Epstein was arrested and ultimately given a “sweetheart deal” by U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta, who Trump later appointed as his secretary of Labor until he resigned in disgrace in 2019 after criticism over his handling of the Epstein case.
Following the report of 60 criminal counts against Epstein involving sexual misconduct with minors, Acosta agreed to charge him with two counts of solicitation of prostitution in exchange for a federal non-prosecution agreement, which resulted in Epstein being sentenced to an 18-month term in a minimum-security facility where he was allowed to leave for 12 hours a day to work at a foundation that he had recently incorporated. Epstein was released after serving 13 months.
The outrage was fierce, both
from the public as well as others who worked to put Epstein away for his crimes. By 2019, federal agents had arrested and charged him with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. Acosta resigned around that time after fierce public backlash. Back in jail and awaiting charges, Epstein was found hanged in his cell — an apparent suicide.
In February, Trump-appointed Attorney General Pam Bondi said the files related to Epstein and his “clients” were “right there on my desk” after handing out declassified binders labeled “Phase 1” to several right-wing media personalities.
The Post reported in July that Bondi informed Trump as early as February that his name was found in the files numerous times.
Then, pfft. Gone. Bondi released a report in June saying Epstein definitely committed suicide and there was definitely no Epstein files. Nothing to see here. Move along.
Except this time, hardly anybody bought it. The irony of the U.S. government telling a bunch of conspiracy theorists and anti-government nutjobs to “trust us, bro,” is just too delicious to avoid mentioning.
Trump rope-a-doped with some masterful distractions — releasing hundreds of thousands of pages on the Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination, accusing Obama of treason and recommending to the DoJ that they file charges on him, threatening to hold up a new stadium deal if the Washington Commanders don’t change their name back to the Redskins, even announcing that he had convinced Coca-Cola to alter its recipe to include cane sugar (just like in Mexico).
The irony is thick here. The Epstein files are, in a sense, Trump’s own petard. He has cultivated his base into distrusting the government, into believing wild conspiracy theories, into retreating from fact and relying on emotion. Every lie, every ad hominem attack, every projection and trolling statement from his mouth built that bomb on his back.
Speaking of Trump’s base, that’s the next layer of irony. While hoisting himself on his own petard, Trump’s supporters are hoisting themselves on their “dotard” — the term that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-ung Jong used to describe Trump during his first
term amid a period of saber rattling. It’s an archaic word that literally means an “old and senile person.” Point to the dictator. The North Korean one, I mean.
Trump’s base packed everything into the man. They bought the hats, the flags, the bumper stickers, perfume, memecoins and the shirts. They attended the rallies and shouted their two minutes of hate with the others. They bought into the lie so deeply that they didn’t notice when Trump claimed he could suspend the Constitution, that he could “take the guns first,” that Russia was our ally, that everyone was ripping us off, that the world respected him and that his meme-laden presidency stands for something other than a boil on the already blighted American political body.
These are the same “good Christians” who wanted to “save the children,” who have reshaped our reproductive laws because “abortion is murder”; who claim our country has lost its respect for law and order because of Democrats, or gay people, or green M&Ms, or “wokeism” or whatever distraction is the most useful at the moment.
While Trump sinks himself, his supporters trail after — like a train falling off a bridge and dragging every car into the ravine with it. Once caterwaling about “saving children” and “locking up the pedophiles,” these same supporters might now have to come to a realization that their orange god is not who they thought he was.
Real patriotism is recognizing when you’ve had enough. Real patriotism is refusing to follow your party blindly into the abyss. Real patriotism isn’t whatever the hell Trump is.
Photo illustration by Ben Olson
All photos taken at the Festival at Sandpoint by Racheal Baker.
Theory of Unknown Origin: Vaccines and autism
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr. recently visited Idaho to promote his “Make America Healthy Again” movement. Gov. Brad Little welcomed him, declaring August “Keep Idaho Healthy Month.” Meanwhile, the Idaho Capital Sun reported that demonstrators gathered outside the Capitol in Boise during the visit, chanting, “Hey, hey, RFK. How many kids did you kill today?”
The backlash is in response to Kennedy’s fearmongering and support of the debunked claim that vaccines are unsafe and cause autism, which has led to a resurgence of once-eradicated diseases like measles.
Kennedy’s hyperfixation on the conspiracy has led to his current crusade to “cure” autism, which has enraged, alienated and scared diagnosed individuals, activists and medical professionals.
“These are kids who will never pay taxes. They’ll never hold a job. They’ll never play baseball. They’ll never write a poem. They’ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted,” said Kennedy at an April press conference.
As many have pointed out, these descriptors do not apply to the vast majority of autistic people. Still, the fear of severe cognitive disabilities has led many parents to risk potentially deadly diseases. This previously niche conspiracy theory has no clear origin; however, its popularity can be traced to disgraced former-Dr. Andrew Wakefield.
Falsified evidence
Wakefield published a 1998 article in which he claimed to have connected the measles, mumps and rubella childhood vaccine and what he called “autistic enterocolitis.” He argued that the MMR vaccine had caused “chronic intestinal mea-
sles,” leading to digestive problems that damaged children’s brains. His proposed solution was to vaccinate for each disease separately, which would require entirely new vaccinations, like the one he patented for measles the year before.
Given the seriousness of the allegations, the British General Medical Council and other researchers and reporters began an investigation into the research that spanned years. Ultimately, the GMC concluded that Wakefield had been “dishonest, violated basic research ethics rules and showed a ‘callous disregard’ for the suffering of children involved in his research,” according to The New York Times.
Wakefield first claimed a link between the MMR vaccine and Crohn’s disease, which was quickly disproven, according to The Times. He then published his now redacted paper connecting it to autism in The Lancet in 1998.
Wakefield’s study was based on only 12 children, whom he subjected to invasive, painful and unnecessary tests such as lumbar punctures, “for which he did not receive ethical approval,” according to The Times. As part of his research, Wakefield admitted to taking blood samples from children at his son’s birthday party, paying each kid $5.
British journalists also reported that Wakefield’s research was in large part funded by lawyers representing parents of autistic children who were attempting to sue vaccine makers.
The GMC could not recreate Wakefield’s findings, and he refused to validate them with controlled experiments. Ultimately, the GMC found Wakefield guilty of more than 30 charges.
Yet his claims spread far beyond the MMR vaccine, causing many to speculate that thimerosal — a mercury-based preservative used to stop bacterial growth in some vaccines — caused autism. The MMR vaccine Wakefield
studied never actually included thimerosal as an ingredient.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigated the claims, finding that thimerosal caused “minor reactions like redness and swelling at the injection site” for some individuals, but was otherwise harmless. Still, the Food and Drug Administration removed thimerosal from childhood vaccines. Multi-dose flu shots still contain thimerosal, but single-dose shots without it are available for children.
Independent studies
In 2002, researchers from the Danish Epidemiology Science Center and the U.S. National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities worked to determine whether the MMR vaccine could be linked to autism. They studied every child born in Denmark from January 1991 through December 1998, comparing their MMR-vaccination status — obtained through the Danish National Board of Health — to the Danish Psychiatric Center Register.
According to their findings, of the 537,303 children in the study, 440,655 had been vaccinated with the MMR vaccine. Of the 537,303 individuals, 316 were diagnosed with autistic disorder and 422 with autistic-spectrum disorders. They then compared the number of vaccinated autistic children to unvaccinated autistic children and determined that there was no correlation between vaccinations and autism. In fact, with an odds ratio of 0.92 — with 1.00 meaning “no association” — there was actually a negative association. They further divided the children by age at the time of vaccination, the time since the vaccination and the date of the diagnosis, and confirmed once more that there was no association between the MMR vaccine and autism.
Eleven years later, researchers at the Whiteley-Martin Research Centre
in Australia published another paper, which analyzed all available studies, including data from 1,266,327 children. The findings reaffirmed the Danish ruling on MMR and further proved that there was no relationship between vaccines, thimerosal or mercury and autism.
Fact vs fiction
The number of people diagnosed with autism or autism spectrum disorder continues to grow, which anti-vaxxers claim is because more and more people are becoming autistic due to vaccines or other environmental factors. According to a PBS interview with Professor John J. Pitney, author of the book The Politics of Autism: Navigating the Contested Spectrum, “It is very likely that many people with profound autism were misdiagnosed with ‘mental retardation,’ a term in use [during the ’50s and ’60s], or schizophrenia, while other autistic people probably got no diagnosis at all.”
This misunderstanding is coupled with the belief that children aren’t born with autism but rather contract it from exposure to vaccines. Doctors can’t reliably diagnose autism until children reach their second or third birthday — or later, in mild cases — and begin to fully utilize communication and social skills, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Research is ongoing, but autism has been tied to different genetic conditions and mutations that either cause or raise the likelihood of being born with autism or ASD. As of 2022, one in 31 8-year-old U.S. children are diagnosed with ASD, according to the CDC.
The anti-vax industry
Besides supposedly “explaining” autism, this conspiracy theory appeals to many because it argues that pharmaceutical companies know the risks and choose to sell faulty products
anyway. This isn’t much of a leap for many people, considering U.S. pharmaceutical companies are known to charge exorbitant prices for life-saving medications like insulin.
Despite studies from around the globe proving the safety and necessity of vaccines, anti-vaxxers are more inclined to believe individuals who claim to go against the norms of the money-making industry. As the Associated Press reported, most believers don’t realize that the anti-vax community leaders are also getting rich. Famous anti-vaxxers Ty and Charleen Bollinger have made millions selling DVDs and books. Their series The Truth About Vaccines capitalized on the fear and anger of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which time the Bollingers aligned themselves with the far-right and even participated in the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection, the AP reported.
The Bollingers have also doled out hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions to individuals who advertise their products on social media using affiliate links. Prior to the 2021 AP investigation, the Bollingers’ website listed Children’s Health Defense — Kennedy’s anti-vax nonprofit — as an affiliate and Kennedy as among the Top 10 on the “Overall Sales Leaderboard.”
People like Kennedy and the Bollingers have learned how to weaponize fear for wealth and power, manipulating people who just want to keep their kids safe. In 1990, there were 20,808 confirmed cases of measles in the U.S., according to the CDC. By 2000, that number dropped to 85 and continued to decrease. As of July 23, there have been 1,319 confirmed cases of the deadly disease in 2025 alone. Sixty-six percent of cases are in youth ages 19 and younger, and three people have died. Regardless of what you believe about the anti-vax movement, it’s clear that it is endangering all children.
By Sandy Compton Reader Columnist
It’s 4:19 p.m. on the day when “A Few Thoughts” is due, and I’m just getting to it. It’s been on my mind, but my mind has not been coming up with a good subject, which is not a new phenomenon, but one I’ve not had trouble with for at least a while, however long a while might be. Maybe a couple of years. It’s been so easy to go with “politics.”
But I’m about sick of politics (who ain’t) and particularly sick of certain politicians who, in spite of their mental maladies seem to get support from fellow loonies and not a few folks who seem to otherwise have their heads screwed on sorta straight. I don’t understand. I’ve been thinking about trees, though, which I sorta understand, so I think I’ll write about them.
There are 73,000-plus species of trees in the world, according to Google AI. Somehow, 9,000 of those haven’t been discovered. How this is estimated, I have no idea, but it gives me a lift to think there are things yet to be discovered on this orb. Deducting the undiscovered still leaves 64,000 tree species, of which I know maybe one tenth of a percent; about 64. But most of the ones I know, I admire.
Trees are the epitome of patience, strength and beauty, not to mention survival techniques. They split rocks; divert streams; ruin sidewalks; plug sewer lines; give other plants shade needed to survive; hold up swings, treehouses and hunting stands; and host birds, reptiles, mammals, insects, gastropods, lichens, mosses and sometimes even fish (no, really!) They also shelter humans in their structural material forms.
Bonus: They also give mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, insects and gastropods something to breathe. O2 is our friend, and trees produce a lot of that by processing tons of CO2, which an overabun-
On trees, O2, CO2 and basic breathing
dance of will cause us mammals, fish and etc., to keel over. How may tons? About 18 billion annually.
Unfortunately, humans are currently putting about twice that amount out in the same amount of time, but we cheat. Trees just do their thing without help. We use all sorts of gadgets and tools and toys and transportation devices to help us.
Trees still outnumber us, though, which is good, because it takes two good-sized trees to produce enough O2
for a single human. Helping out in O2 production are lots of other plants, of course, but trees are way ahead of all other flora in keeping us — well — alive.
We are helping keep them alive, too, ’cause they need that carbon dioxide to live as much as we need oxygen. Interesting how that works, eh? We breathe out. They breathe in. And vice versa; mutual dependency (what an ecological concept!). They also hold onto that carbon for later use, so they are ridding the air of the stuff we don’t need
too much of and giving back their “waste,” which, if we are relatively active, we need about 145 gallons of every day. Every day. In other words, our forests are living filters helping to keep us standing.
With that in mind, we might take a little more time when we consider cutting down a tree, and especially a whole bunch of trees. It seems fashionable to just hack everything when a housing development gets started. The lawns in front of those new houses are not going to keep us supplied. So, take a deep breath before you chop a tree down. It may not be able to hug you back, but it’s still a good friend.
POAC to host opening reception preview for 2025 Artists’ Studio Tour
By Reader Staff
The Pend Oreille Arts Council’s annual Artists’ Studio Tour is scheduled from Friday, Aug. 29-Sunday, Aug. 31, but the nonprofit organization is hosting a sneak peak opening reception on Friday, Aug. 1 in the gallery at 313 N. Second Ave., in downtown Sandpoint.
From the free opener, which will take place from 5-7 p.m., through the rest of the month, the POAC Gallery will show off the work of local artists who are inviting the public to tour their studios over the Labor Day weekend.
Attendees of the reception will have an early opportunity to meet artists, partake in light refreshments and get a start on planning their studio tour at the end of the month. A range of media and styles will be on display during the preview — all located in one place.
This year’s studio tour will
feature 20 artists, ranging from painters, sculptors and potters to weavers, photographers and more. Participants on the self-guided tour will have the chance to view works in progress, ask questions of creators and learn about the tools, techniques and spaces that make those works possible.
“This isn’t a vendor fair or retail event,” POAC stated. “This is an invitation to experience art at its source.”
However, art will be for sale directly from studio owners.
“[A]rt is more than a product — it’s a process. And this tour celebrates that in the most authentic way possible,” POAC added. “Every studio on the tour has been thoughtfully selected to reflect the diversity and quality of our creative community.”
For more information, visit artinsandpoint.org/artist-studio-tour.
The Long Bridge Swim turns 30
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
Swimmers will dive into Lake Pend Oreille on Saturday, Aug. 2, at 9 a.m., adding their names to 30 years of history as this year’s annual Long Bridge Swim kicks off once more. The iconic event has been a staple in Sandpoint since 1995, attracting hundreds of participants of all ages, skill levels and nationalities.
“It has been our great joy to encourage people to participate in the lifetime sport of swimming,” said Karen McClelland, a lead organizer for LBS. “Our oldest swimmer was Chuck Milton, who swam the 1.76 miles at age 92 in 2021. We have had multiple swimmers with disabilities set a goal of successfully completing the swim, and they have. Such a joyful celebration of human resilience.”
Since its inception, LBS organizers have sought to make the event a welcoming
and inspiring experience. The nonprofit organization ensures competitors receive the accommodations they need so that international athletes, kids with floaties and swimmers with visual, auditory or physical disabilities can all push themselves and succeed.
More than 900 registered swimmers are set to participate this year. Add that to the 250 volunteers who ensure a safe and smooth swim and the thousands of spectators cheering from the bridge, and it makes for one massive crowd.
“Our goal is for our community to safely be able to enjoy the lake and for people to recognize they can do hard things,” said McClelland. “We hope they take the success they feel from conquering the Long Bridge Swim and they apply it to other areas of their lives. We strive for a supportive, healthy and happy community.”
As part of its commitment to the community, LBS also
uses donations and registration fees to fund water safety classes and swim lessons for all ages. In the past 15 years, the organization has taught more than 9,000 Idahoans how to swim.
“As the founder of this event, I am so grateful to all of the organizers, volunteers and local business sponsors who make this event possible and such a splashingly fun part of our Sandpoint summer,” said Eric Ridgway.
For the race schedule or to register for the Long Bridge Swim, visit longbridgeswim.org. Registration is $65 if completed on Thursday, July 31, after which the price will increase. There is no day-of registration.
Courtesy photo
Sandpoint PRCA Rodeo coming to the fairgrounds
By Reader Staff
The Bonner County Fairgrounds are gearing up for a month of major events, kicking off Friday, Aug. 1-Saturday, Aug. 2 with the Sandpoint PRCA Rodeo.
From 7-9:30 p.m. both days, spectators are invited to view some of the best riding and roping around, with top-of-the-field performances and entertainment from rodeo athletes who are as skilled as they are brave.
“Get ready to witness heart-stopping bull rides, lightning-fast barrel racing and jaw-dropping roping skills,” organizers stated.
More than 100 athletes will participate in the rodeo over two nights, coming from southern Idaho, eastern Washington, Canada, California, Texas and points beyond, with the Sandpoint PRCA Rodeo being part of the Columbia River circuit, and co-approved with the Montana and Maple Leaf (Canada) circuits.
In addition to the events in the arena — located at 4203 N. Boyer
Road — 2025 Miss Sandpoint Rodeo Yesenia Pilgrim will make several appearances, serving in the grand entry and — at the end of the event — being available with other visiting rodeo royalty to sign autographs. According to organizers, if all goes according to plan, she’ll also be pushing cows for roping events.
Born and raised in Idaho, Pilgrim is a senior at North Idaho Christian
School, where she is student body president. Also a member of the North Idaho Saddle Mule Club, Pilgrim was introduced to all things equine at her first foster home, and is still learning at the Gem State Mule Company. She now rescues horses at Malinauskas Cattle Company in Worley, Idaho.
In addition to all the action at the fairgrounds, the official rodeo after-party will be hosted at The Hive, with two nights of rocking modern country from Pendleton, Ore.-based
Austin Miller on Friday and Hogwire on Saturday. Both shows start at 8 p.m. Get more info on Page 21 and get tickets at livefromthehive. com or at the door (207 N. First Ave., in downtown Sandpoint).
General admission to the Sandpoint PRCA Rodeo is $20, with children 2 and younger allowed in the event for free.
Go to bonnercountyfair.com/p/ tickets-and-merchandise to buy tickets, and sandpointbonnercountyrodeo. com for more information.
Send event listings to calendar@sandpointreader.com
THURSDAY, July 31
Festival at Sandpoint: Brothers Osborne
7:30pm @ War Memorial Field
Country night at the Festival. Openers
The Kruse Brothers
Festival at Sandpoint: Kansas
7:30pm @ War Memorial Field
Classic rock from classic rockers. Openers Vika & the Velvets
Austin Miller: Rodeo & Festival aferparty
9pm @ The Hive Part of Aftival ’25. Country music. $5
Live Music w/ Snacks at Midnight 9pm @ 219 Lounge
Spokane indie rock band
Live Music w/ CD Woodbury 5:30-8:30pm @ Smokesmith BBQ
Festival at Sandpoint: Dispatch
7:30pm @ War Memorial Field Bluegrass, alt-rock, roots and folk. Also w/ John Butler, G. Love & Special Sauce and Donavon Frankenreiter
Hogwire: Rodeo & Festival aferparty
9pm @ The Hive Part of Aftival ’25. Country/rock. $5
Live Music w/ Dave & Rey 6pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Festival at Sandpoint: Grand Finale
5pm @ War Memorial Field
Tasting event 5-7pm, music starts at 7pm. Theme: “Sounds of Summer”
Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz
11am-2pm @ Blue Heron Cafe
Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Live trivia ($5 entry) 7pm @ Connie’s Lounge
FriDAY, august 1
Bonner County Rodeo
7-10pm @ Bonner County Fairground Bonnercountyfair.com/events for info
Live Music w/ Weibe Jammin 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Live Music w/ Jason Perry 5pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Live Music w/ Kerry Leigh 4-7pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz 6pm @ Baxters on Cedar
SATURDAY, august 2
Live Music w/ Brian Jacobs 5-8pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Live Music w/ Light On Water 5:30-8:30pm @ Smokesmith BBQ
Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz 6pm @ Arlo’s Ristorante
Live Music w/ Justyn Priest Band 9pm @ 219 Lounge
Live Music w/ Chris Paradis 6-8pm @ Baxter’s on Cedar
SunDAY, august 3
Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee
Magic with Star Alexander 5-8pm @ Jalapeño’s
monDAY, august 4
Outdoor Experience Group Run 6pm @ Outdoor Experience 3-5 miles, all levels welcome
tuesDAY, august 5
Live Piano w/ Rich & Jenny • 5-76pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
wednesDAY, august 6
July 31 - August 7, 2025
Live Music w/ Tim G. 5-7pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Historic Walking Tours
11am @ Elevate Realty, 212 N. First Ave. One-hour tour of downtown Sanpdoint rooted in historic narratives. $15/$5 Artists’ Studio Tour preview 5-7pm @ POAC Gallery, 313 N. Second Ave. Opening reception. artinsandpoint.org
30th annual Long Bridge Swim See longbridgeswim.org for full details
Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes 6-9pm @ 1908 Saloon
Clark Fork Pedal & Farm Tour Visit kaniksu.org for more info
Live Music w/ Justin Lantrip 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Sandpoint Fest Fringe 9pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Enjoy free games in the alley
Sandpoint Farmers’ Market 9am-1pm @ Farmin Park Fresh foods and produce, live music
Sandpoint Swing Dance 6-9pm @ Sandpoint Community Hall Starts with 1-hour swing basics dance lesson followed by general dancing from 7-9pm. All welcome. $10
Pool tournament (entry $5) 6pm @ Connie’s Cafe
Trivia night 6-8pm @ Connie’s Cafe
Sandpoint Farmers’ Market
3-5:30pm @ Farmin Park
Family Hour & music w/ John Firshi
5-7pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co.
Live piano w/ Dwayne Parsons
4-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Field to Fork Festival
10am-5pm @ Sandpoint Organic Ag. Ctr. Free to attend daytime festival centered on people who grow, raise, craft and serve our region’s food
Benny on the Deck outdoor music
5:30pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Special guest Liam McCoy Band
ThursDAY, august 7
Live trivia ($5 entry)
7pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Make your own macrame plant hanger 5:30-7:30pm @ Verdant Plant Shop $25; all materials and light refreshments included. RSVP: bit.ly/46t8tEQ
From Colbert to South Park, making fun of Trump has never been more important
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
In Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler complained that British propaganda worked better than its German counterpoint in World War I because the former portrayed the latter as savage brutes (“huns”) pillaging the civilized world, while the latter made the former look like a bunch of sissies.
That resulted, Hitler argued, in German soldiers taking the Brits for granted, and getting mowed down for the pleasure of the joke.
His assessment of that disparity in marketing is worth considering — and if there’s anything Hitler has to “teach” us it’s about how relentless, cynical P.R. and brazen lying can get people to do whatever you want them to do, no matter how awful.
However, it’s also worth considering how much Hitler hated humor in general. That’s a hallmark of dictators everywhere: They only laugh when they’re watching someone they consider their lesser being hurt in some way. But, jeez, Hitler really didn’t like to be made fun of.
In his book Explaining Hitler, Ron Rosenbaum does a great service by unearthing the too-seldom-told history of the Munich Post newspaper reporters who covered Hitler in the early 1920s — long before he was der fuhrer and just a criminal rabble rouser with an absurd mustache. They had him pegged from the outset as a vicious punk with a murderous streak made all the more dangerous because it was couched in an essential moral cowardice and bankruptcy that made him capable of any and every outrage.
For his part, Hitler hated practically everything — don’t even get him started on Charlie Chaplin — but he despised few things as much as the Munich Post, which he called “the Poison Kitchen” and sued over and over for what he perceived as defamation, fraud and/or libel. (That was, when he wasn’t having his goons send the journalists death threats in the night.)
Infuriatingly, Hitler won most of those cases because a lot of the judges shared his illiberal tendencies, but the Munich Post kept at it — providing a constant, painstaking accounting of all his legal transgressions and never losing the opportunity to make him look ridiculous.
The paper was unrelenting in painting Hitler as the creep he was; and, even according to his own associates at the time, the embarrassment and mockery drove him to the brink of ending it all. As his personal lawyer, Hans Frank, described it — and as Rosenbaum quoted — “he could not look at a paper any more, the terrible smear campaign would kill him.”
Of course it didn’t, and more’s the pity, but I’ve been thinking about all that as President Donald Trump’s authoritarian house of cards seems to be teetering under the pressure of the demands for disclosure regarding the “Jeffrey Epstein files” and a deafening chorus of jokes about him.
For evidence that the current humor offensive is crumbling Trump’s political foundations, there was the abrupt cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, whose host is regarded far and wide as one of the best and most astute critics of Trump in the “mainstream media.”
(Those of us who have reached a certain age will also forever applaud Colbert for his epic takedown of then-President George W. Bush at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2006, and it’s notable that Trump allegedly decided to run for office when then-President Barack Obama roasted him at the same dinner in 2011, and Trump has been steadfast in refusing to attend the annual event ever since.)
Colbert — as well as his former Daily Show colleagues Jon Stewart and John Oliver — has been landing haymaker hits on Trump with punishing regularity since the beginning of the latter’s second term in January, pulling massive network TV ratings to stake a place as the most-watched late-night program in a crowded field.
It couldn’t be more evident that this causes Trump’s already swollen amygdala to detonate with nuclear force. Trump is nothing if not a creature of mass media, which he loves more than anything, and now Colbert has been canceled by Paramount-CBS after not-so-subtle pressure on parent company Paramount Global from
the White House as it sought federal approval for an $8 billion merger with Skydance. (Surprise, surprise, Colbert’s cancellation on “financial” grounds went public on July 17 and the Federal Communications Commission approved the deal on July 24.)
But that isn’t all. South Park premiered its 27th season on July 23 with an episode that can be described without hyperbole as maybe the most epic public burn of all time. Titled “Sermon on the Mount,” it’s a searing satirical dismantling not just of Trump as a person, but the entire edifice of the MAGA movement, exposing it for the wretched tumor-cluster of hypocrisies, brutalities and bald-faced idiocies that it’s always been, but which right now is being demolished by comedians, where more than a decade of thoughtful analysis has not.
The greatest part, of course, is that Trump whined about South Park somehow being irrelevant (despite more than 20 years on the air) and the fact that creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker just signed a $1.5 billion renewal contract with no less than Paramount. You can’t make this stuff up.
It might be treading into “Pollyanna” territory, but I have a sense that the unceasing — and frankly hilarious — derision being directed at Trump on TV and other media is finally serving to erode not only his hold on the MAGA faithful, but his own always tenuous grip on reality.
Like every other strongman (wannabe or otherwise), Trump can’t and won’t take a joke. What’s more, it’s his fatal flaw. In a sense, he’s being canceled by culture, rather than “cancel culture,” and here’s hoping we, rather than him, have the last laugh.
A screenshot from South Park’s “Sermon on the Mount” episode depicting Trump in bed with Satan. Courtesy image
LITERATURE
Faith in truth, or truth in faith?
Gary Shteyngart’s newest book, Vera, or Faith,
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
The word vera is alternately translated as a Latin root for “truth” or, in the Slavic context, “faith.” That’s a good — if deceptively basic — way to begin contemplating author Gary Shteyngart’s sixth novel Vera, or Faith, which hit bookshelves July 8 under the aegis of Penguin Random House.
Beginning at the beginning, Shteyngart’s choice of “Vera” for his 10-yearold protagonist’s name is compelling for those linguistic reasons. That is to say, it suggests that “faith” is synonymous with “truth.” And that’s where we begin. Sort of. Maybe. It’s complicated.
Vera, or Faith is a family tragic-dramedy, focused on the eponymous daughter of a crumbling union between her father — a stubby, hairy and thwarted intellectual magazine editor from a Russian immigrant family — and her stepmother, who is his opposite in many ways: tall, blonde and of pure-bred Protestant
is maybe the most heartfelt satire ever written
white American “Boston Brahmin” stock with roots back to the earliest days of the republic.
They live in a near-term, AI-dominated and authoritarian future in what the father in the novel describes as the kind of New York apartment inhabited by the “merely rich.” The mom — rendered as “Anne Mom,” to denote that Vera doesn’t consider her “Mom Mom,” as in her biological mother — has a “small trust” from her family, which helps keep the family afloat as dad flails around with his failing magazine and scrums about with his Russian expat pals... with dubious results.
That means Anne Mom stays home and cares for stepdaughter Vera and her younger half-brother Dylan, who is the child of “Daddy” (a.k.a. Igor Schmulkin) and Anne Mom (a.k.a. Anne Bradford — as in those Bradfords, of hoary New England repute).
Vera’s Mom Mom was from South Korea, and disappeared right after she was born. Vera has never met Mom Mom and knows next to nothing about her, since Daddy won’t talk about it. In her absence, she worships Daddy — excusing all his many flaws while studying everything he says and does.
Vera is brilliant, and a list-maker. She has lists of words she doesn’t understand and endeavors to learn them (often coming from her dad, with his “famous sarcasm,” which gets him invited on various TV talk shows as a commentator, and whom no less than Bloomberg once wrote is someone who might have to be taken “seriously.”)
However, he’s on a downward trajectory and he and Anne Mom fight all the time. Shteyngart conjures their apartment as a battleground: there’s the parental bedroom, next to which Dylan lays down his golden curls to sleep, and a large living room that’s referred to as the “Maginot Line” — a zone of offense and defense, in which the family goes to battle to win or lose by inches but cutting to the bone with every sortie.
Vera has a list of reasons why Daddy and Anne Mom should stay married. Vera is miserable.
Her bedroom is on the other side of the Maginot Line, removed from everyone except her AI-powered chessboard “Kaspie” for company. Named for Russian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov (one of Vera’s only wall decorations is a poster of Kasparov), Kaspie is a central character in the novel, as is Stella, the AI self-driving family car, who mimics the voice and attitude of whomever has last been in the driver’s seat. This
becomes important.
To say that Vera is lonely and dispossessed is an understatement. Between Anne Mom and Daddy’s trench warfare and Dylan’s privileged little-boy assholery, there’s also the drumbeat of nativist fascism outside her Manhattan bedroom window, as the country is on the brink of a constitutional convention to grant “exceptional Americans” three-fifths of a vote in all elections.
Though Shteyngart started working on this book long before Donald Trump and JD Vance were elected as president and vice president, respectively, the same idea was floated in reality by Vance in early July.
Put simply, the notion is that people who can trace their lineage to at least the American Revolutionary period (and didn’t “come in chains,” as Shtenygart put it) should have more political clout than those whose progenitors came to North America later.
As Vance said — though widening the lens of acceptable Americanness to the Civil War — those people “have a hell of a lot more claim over America.”
Vera is terrified that this will render her stateless (she’s 10 and worried about this, God bless her but damn all the rest of us adults); meanwhile, much of the interior of the country has border access controlled by troopers checking for the sexual activity and/or development of women and/or sex trafficking, all in a moral panic that looks a lot like our current muddle-minded, hypocritical political climate.
“Life imitates art,” as Oscar Wilde wrote, and in Vera, or Faith that sentiment is truer than ever. It might be the most — maybe only — heartfelt satire ever written. The dystopian nature of the story hums beneath the major narrative, which is really about a girl, her family and a broken world that ultimately retains hope (or “faith” and “truth”), despite everything.
The book hits every note: from the tortured liminality of immigration to the breakup of an American family (its own liminality) to the quiet intrusion of artificial intelligence into every aspect of everyday life to the pure-hearted human story of a little girl trying to find her way in a world full of adults who don’t know what they’re doing while still being expected to be better than them — it’s a smorgasbord of ideas while remaining full of heart and should be on everyone’s summer reading list.
I dare you not to cry in the last chapter.
Find it where you find books.
MUSIC
Festival at Sandpoint — Week 2
By Reader Staff
It was a stellar opening week at the Festival at Sandpoint. Here’s a quick rundown of what to expect for the second and final week of the season:
Thursday, July 31
Brothers Osborne with The Kruse Brothers Country, rock
Gates 6 p.m., show 7:30 p.m.
John and TJ Osborne are the reigning CMA and ACM Duo of the Year winners. The brothers hail from a working-class upbringing in Deale, Md., and have established a progressive and still classic school of country music that represents the new generation of Nashville. They took home their first Grammy in 2022 for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for their song “Younger Me,” inspired by TJ’s recent coming out.
Opening is The Kruse Brothers, based in Phoenix. The brothers have transformed the country sound with their unique influences, infusing it with elements of blues and rock.
Friday, August 1
Kansas with Vika & The Velvets
Gates 6 p.m., show 7:30 p.m.
Classic rock — Seated show
A rundown of the final
With a legendary career spanning five decades, Kansas has established itself as one of America’s iconic classic rock bands.
It’s hard to find anyone who hasn’t listened to the hits of Kansas. Songs like “Carry On Wayward Son,” “Dust in the Wind,” “Point of Know Return” and others helped Kansas sell more than 30 million albums worldwide.
week
of Festival shows
The original “garage band” from Topeka has created 16 studio albums and five live albums that have gone platinum multiple times.
Opening will be Vika & the Velvets. Vika is a Spokane-based indie rock musician infusing classic rock with deep blues and jazz instrumentation alongside her hauntingly dreamy Amy Winehouse-esque vocals.
Saturday, August 2
Dispatch with John Butler (with band), G. Love & Special Sauce and Donovon Frankenreiter
Alt-rock, roots, folk, indie, reggae, funk, bluegrass, hip-hop, soul and rock
Gates 5 p.m., show 6 p.m.
Formed by Chadwick Stokes and Brad Corrigan
while in college in Vermont, the members of Dispatch have forged their own path outside the mainstream music industry as one of the most successful groups in the roots rock scene.
Joining Dispatch is John Butler (with band), one of Australia’s premier alternative songwriters and storytellers, who has released No. 1 charting albums, platinum records and more.
Butler’s music continues to traverse the globe and wow audiences at iconic stages and festivals.
G. Love & Special Sauce is a hip-hop blues band known for its unique fusion of hiphop, blues, funk and soul. The band, led by frontman Garrett Dutton, the band’s laid back, groovy style became popular in the MTV generation, described as “slacker blues” and “alternative hip-hop.”
Donavon Frankenreiter has
been traveling the globe as a pro surfer and musician for nearly two decades, and his grooves come with philosophical lyrics and soulful delivery.
Sunday, August 3
Grand Finale:
Sounds of Summer Gates 5 p.m., show 7p.m. Orchestra, classical The final night, featuring the Festival at Sandpoint Orchestra conducted by Morihiko Nakahara. This year’s theme, “Sounds of Summer,” will include selections from “The Four Seasons,” by Vivaldi; “From the New World,” by Dvořák; “Summertime,” by George Gershwin; and more.
From 5-7 p.m., guests can select to add on a ticket to the Cheers: Wine, Beer & Spirit Tasting event, during which guests can sample pours from across the region. This is a separately ticketed event.
Snacks at Midnight, 219 Lounge, Aug. 1 Austin Miller and Hogwire, The Hive, Aug. 1-2
We’re aware that we just had a “Bandwagon” on Spokane-based Snacks at Midnight in the beginning of July, but this feels like a special occasion. They just opened for Third Eye Blind at the Festival — which more than a few qualified observers informed us was probably the best opener of this year’s concert series — and now they’re kicking down a free show at the 219 Lounge on Friday, Aug. 1. Snacks at Midnight is a little bit of indie
rock, a little bit of pop and a little bit of punk — really more than a mere snack, their sound is a full menu of good times, high energy and stellar musical craft. Bonus: The Niner’s patio bar will be open and Killer Tacos will be serving up the literal snacks.
— Zach Hagadone
9 p.m., FREE, 21+. 219 Lounge, 219 N. First Ave., 208263-5673, 219lounge.com. Listen at snacksatmidnight.com.
The Hive will host its annual Festival at Sandpoint and Bonner County Rodeo after-parties with a weekend of country performances by Austin Miller and Hogwire on Friday, Aug. 1 and Saturday, Aug. 2, respectively. Miller is an up-and-coming singer and guitarist whose original music embodies modern pop country. His catchy, radio-worthy songs have taken him on tour across the Pacific Northwest and down to Nashville, Tenn. Local favorites Ian Newbill
This week’s RLW by Zach Hagadone
Though he and his work are not everyone’s cup of tea (or psychedelic substance), Robert Crumb must be recognized as a pioneer figure in the mid- to late-20th century graphic arts. From Zap Comix to ’60s-era album covers, creating characters like Mr. Natural and Fritz the Cat and popularizing the phrase “keep on truckin’,” Crumb has had an outsized influence on the culture (even if he’s a self-identified weirdo). His first-ever biography, Crumb: A Cartoonist’s Life, came out in April this year, and I’m eagerly awaiting my copy. Get it where you get books.
LISTEN
and Matt and Mark Linscott take the stage the following day as the Sandpoint supergroup Hogwire, delivering high-energy covers of classic country rock hits. Grab tickets for both nights to hear the full range that the genre has to offer.
— Soncirey Mitchell
9 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. concerts, $5, 21+. The Hive, 207 N. First Ave., 208-920-9039, livefromthehive.com. Listen at austinmiller2. bandzoogle.com.
The algorithm occasionally gets it right; and, perhaps due to my enjoyment of Cage the Elephant, it delivered to me Aviram — specifically, the 2023 album All My Love’s in Vain. The product of Israeli one-man band Aviram Amsalem, the album is an indie pop/rock assemblage of sweetly rendered tunes that evoke the likes of the previously mentioned Cage the Elephant, but also some of the swoonier numbers by The Kinks and Procol Harum. Stream it where you stream.
WATCH
It’s hard to stomach watching anything bearing the CBS/ Paramount moniker right now (even Sunday Morning), but the new season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds just dropped on Paramount+ and it’s well worth suffering the cognitive dissonance to enjoy. The current season — with three episodes released, as of this writing — opens with a distinctly more military footing than longtime Trekkies may be accustomed too, but that’s just how Captain Pike rolls.
Courtesy photos
From Northern Idaho News, July 31, 1917
CHILD FALLS UNDER MOVING AUTOMOBILE
A most unfortunate accident happened last Wednesday night at Naples when Elane Knight was thrown from the auto in which she had been placed and before the machine could be brought to a stop, had passed over the body, causing instantaneous death.
The machine was driven by Frank Bond, a relative of the little tot and when the mother and other children had been safely seated in the car, it was not noticed that the door had not been securely fastened.
The car in making a turn caused the door to open and before any of the other occupants could speak, the child had been hurled to her death.
The funeral was held Friday from the family home. Several relatives of the stricken parents reside in Sandpoint.
I.W.W. SITUATION IN HAND
The I.W.W. strike situation in Bonner county is well under control and great credit reflects upon the officers of the law who are maintaining such splendid order. No disturbances have been reported and several of the smaller camps are gradually going back to work. Working in conjunction with county officers is the entire strength of the abiding citizens, which in a great measure has increased the confidence of those men who really want to work and at the same time is acting just the reverse for I.W.W. agitators. I.W.W. men are gradually learning that the people are not with them in their demands, as was generally supposed to be the case at the beginning of the strike.
BACK OF THE BOOK Holy shed
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
I’ve been lucky in my life to pretty much always have my own “space.”
My brother and I had separate bedrooms starting when we were in grade school, and my dad and one of his buddies built us a treefort. I had a roommate for a year in college, but we moved into an off-campus house, where I again got my own spot. When my then-girlfriend, now-wife and I moved into our first house in Sandpoint in 2004, I commandeered a back room for my “study.” Over the following 20 years and four subsequent houses, I always managed to carve out some secluded area to make “mine.”
That is, until the place where we currently live. We moved in a year ago and it’s a great house in a fantastic location in town. There are three bedrooms for the four of us, but otherwise it’s a wide open floor plan that pretty much means the entire place is one long room — from living area to kitchen, with a liminal area between the fridge and door to the garage. That’s where I’ve been holed up, and it’s not ideal.
Thanks to the job I have, I enjoy the luxury of being able to work from home almost whenever I want — and even when I don’t want to, such as the two or so pandemic years when almost everything I did for the Reader happened in a curtained-off alcove next to my former-living room. Today, my desk at home runs up against where we keep the coats and shoes, in full
exposure to all passersby and equidistant to the fridge and laundry room. It’s been slowly driving me insane.
That’s why the most exciting thing in my life for the past year has been planning for the construction of a backyard writing shed, and it’s finally happening.
A builder-contractor friend of mine is volunteering his labor and emptying his garage of the lumber, fasteners, and other bits and bobs he’s accumulated from other jobs. His main payment will be getting a key to the finished product and license to use it when he doesn’t want to drive to his own home in the country.
Meanwhile, others have been offering to donate their efforts in what’s starting to feel like an Amish barn raising. Just the other day, one of my neighbors gave me a door, some spare rain flashing for the roof and a set of blinds. I know it’s corny, but “it takes a village,” and I’ve rarely felt so gratified to live in this particular village.
The whole process has also got me thinking about why and how it’s so important for everybody to have a place to which they can retreat for solitude, contemplation, uninterrupted creativity or just to exist without external demands. The term “safe space” has gotten a bad rap — specifically from people who make spaces unsafe — but that’s exactly what we all need.
Virginia Woolf referred to it as “a room of one’s own,” both literally and figuratively somewhere that (especially women, during the time she was writing) “could feel safe and comfortable
and write, if that’s what they wanted to do. Ideally, the place would offer a blanket of support, while at the same time be inspirational,” as Dr. Diana Raab wrote on psychologytoday.com. I bristle at the notion of a “mancave,” because there is no gender stipulation on seeking peace and autonomy — indeed, the article “Mancaves and Masculinity,” in the October 2014 edition of the Journal of Consumer Culture, argued that rather than a rejection of “the feminine conception of home,” those spaces “represent therapeutic venues that help men in alleviating identity pressures created by work as well as domestic life and aid revitalization of men’s identities as fathers and husbands.” Again: I argue that goes for anyone of any gender. Joseph Campbell had the best angle on the concept, quoted in A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living: “Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again. You really don’t have a sacred space, a rescue land, until you find somewhere to be that’s not a wasteland, some field of action where there is a spring of ambrosia — a joy that comes from inside, not something external that puts joy into you — a place that lets you experience your own will and your own intention and your own wish so that, in small, the Kingdom is there. I think everybody, whether they know it or not, is in need of such a place.”
Now more than ever, with the world being the way it is, I hope you all find your holy shed.
Laughing Matter
Solution on page 22
By Bill Borders
Word Week of the
Corrections:
One, two!
One, two! And through and through / The editor’s pen went snicker-snack! / He left it read, and to his shed / He went galumphing back.
I wish there was a disease where you’re afraid of clouds, because I think I could cure it. First, you sit the patient down and have a long personal talk. After that, I’m not sure, but maybe you could throw some water in his face or something.
CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1. Information
5. Use a broom 10. Portent 14. Nile bird
Eliminate 16. A detested person
Likening
19. Shredded cabbage 20. Night before 21. Assail 22. Defeats
23. Domestic 25. Cast out
Frozen water
Macabre 31. Noodles
34. Wall coating 35. Without precedent 36. Look at flirtatiously
37. Building block
38. Heap
39. Fifth sign of the zodiac 40. Sporting venue
41. Provides the cash for 42. Sign of nerves 44. Soviet space station
House 46. Library cubicles 50. Craze 52. Eagle’s home
Solution on page 22
Solution on page 22
59. Neighborhood
Rind
Duration
Foe
Being
DOWN
Not below
9. Writing implement
10. Preoccupy
11. Type of hormone
12. French for “State”
13. Current event facts
18. Manila hemp
34. Spring training
37. Engendered
38. Contented cat sound
40. Dwarf buffalo
41. Dismissed
43. Footnote word
44. By and large
Countdown clock
Viper
Calm
Joint of the lower arm
Lack of difficulty
Rodent 55. Decorated, as a cake 56. Dominance 58. You (archaic) 1. Chops into cubes
