Among the many — and increasing — indications of onset middle age is that, for the first time, my wife and I have been invited to more than one graduation party in the past week. This is to say that we have friends who have children who are 18 and now graduating from high school, which makes us officially among the population of “my parents’ friends” for people who will soon be enrolled in college. Having never done this, and realizing that our own graduations were in the previous century, my wife and I have been debating points of protocol like, “are we supposed to bring our own beer — or even beer at all?”; “how long do we stay?”; and, crucially, “how much money are we supposed to give these kids?” It seems to me that getting $25 in a card was pretty standard back in the late 1990s, but I also understand that eggs cost like $6 a dozen these days, so I’m wondering if $50 is the new $25. I feel like $35 is going to look cheap and $40 is going to look lazy — like, “I had these two $20s in my wallet and just remembered. Have a nice life, kid.” But is $50 even $50 anymore? These are things I didn’t realize would be difficult to suss out. I’m sure we’ll figure it out, though. In the meantime, happy graduation to all our local 18 year olds. See what you have to look forward to?
The (Egyptian) blues
Speaking of old things, I read the other day that researchers from Washington State University (my grad school alma mater) working with the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute have recreated what they believe to be an example of the world’s oldest synthetic pigment: “Egyptian blue.” Described as ranging “from deep blue to dull gray or green,” the pigment dates as far back as 5,000 years ago but the recipe for making it was apparently lost by the time of the Renaissance. Using 12 recipes containing mixtures of silicon dioxide, copper, calcium and sodium carbonate, researchers heated the recipe at temperatures of about 1,000 degrees Celsius for between one and 11 hours. The results were then compared with Egyptian artifacts to see how accurate the pigments turned out to be. According to WSU, “the pigment emits light in the near-infrared part of the electro-magnetic spectrum that people can’t see, which means it could be used for things like fingerprinting and counterfeit-proof inks. It also has a similar chemistry to high-temperature superconductors.” Maybe this is a good example of why we should fund university research?
DEAR READERS,
“I’m back, babyyy!”
— Frank Costanzo (played by Jerry Stiller) on Seinfeld.
That’s right, I’ve returned from my three-week adventure in the Balkans. I’ll publish a travelogue with photos from our time in Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro in the following weeks. In the meantime, my time will be dedicated to reaquanting myself with this thing we call “work.”
This week’s cover is a painting by local artist Jeff Rosenkrans depicting the Sandpoint Byway Trail along Sand Creek. Meet Rosenkrans and see his excellent work at the Pend d’Oreille Winery art opening on June 5 from 5-7 p.m.
Stay classy, Sandpoint.
–
Ben Olson, publisher
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: Jeff Rosenkranz (cover), Ben Olson, John Edwards, Bill Borders, Soncirey Mitchell
Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Soncirey Mitchell, Lorraine H. Marie, Brenden Bobby, Clark Corbin, Emily Erickson, Rose Olson, Erik Bush, May Roberts, Sandy Compton
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 300 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 features a painting by Sandpoint artist Jeff Rosenkranz.
Court vacates CUP for Panhandle Bike Ranch in Sagle
BOCC
‘failed to list facts supporting its decision,’ according to ruling
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
The First Judicial Court of Idaho ruled June 6 to vacate the conditional use permit for a recreational facility that the Bonner County board of commissioners granted to Panhandle Bike Ranch nearly a year ago.
Judge Casey Simmons found that the county “failed to list facts supporting its decision” to approve the permit and remanded the decision to the BOCC just days before the scheduled Friday, June 13 opening.
As of press time, the BOCC had not scheduled a public hearing, and PBR owners Scott and Jennifer Kalbach announced via the business’ Instagram page that planned summer operations were largely on hold.
The Bonner County hearing examiner held a public meeting on, and later approved, the CUP in April 2024, allowing the Kalbachs to build the downhill mountain bike course in the area’s Rural 10 zoning. The decision divided Sagle residents, and neighboring property owners ultimately appealed, arguing that the increased traffic on the dirt road to the park would be detrimental to their quality of life and property values due to increased pollution, dust and noise, among other concerns.
The BOCC held another meeting in June, later voting to affirm the hearing examiner’s decision. Neighbors then made a formal request for reconsideration, which the board denied, leading the property owners to enter into litigation against the county.
The CUP was contingent on the fact that the business would be considered a recreational facility under Bonner County Revised Code 12-818, which is defined as, “A place designed and equipped for the conduct of small-scale and low-intensity sports, leisure
time activities and other customary and usual recreational activities.”
The code further lists rafting, cross-country skiing, horseback riding and snowmobiling as appropriate “low-intensity sports.”
“An opposition group has been fighting against us, claiming that we are a resort even though we have no lodging, restaurants, spas or many other characteristics of what you would expect from a resort. Resorts are not allowed in our property zoning, so this opposition group has been using this false claim to try to stop our business,” the Kalbachs wrote June 4 on the PBR Instagram page.
Opponents of the park, represented by Boise-based attorney Norman Semanko, argued that mountain biking did not qualify as a “low-intensity sport” and that the property was better classified as a commercial resort, which is not allowed in Rural 10 zones.
BCRC 12-818 defines a commercial resort as an “area privately owned, devoted primarily to outdoor recreational uses conducted for profit, which may include, but are not limited to, such as: swimming, boating, fishing, hunting, camping, picnicking, winter sports and similar uses.”
“This is a family-built bike park that we want to enjoy with the community,” Jennifer Kalbach told the Reader
The court did not rule on whether the bike park qualified as a recreational facility or commercial resort, but found that the county’s “lack of sufficient findings prejudices the petitioner’s due process rights to judicial review” and, therefore, violated Idaho Code 67-6535. Essentially, the county did not clearly cite the reasons for declaring it a recreational facility and consequently did not give the court “sufficient findings or reasoning to review.”
“It’s an incredibly frus-
trating situation because we followed all of the rules and this really just comes down to technicality nonsense between Bonner County and this judge,” wrote the Kalbachs on Instagram.
The court further found that the county did not provide evidence that PBR satisfied requirements for “adequate water supply for fire suppression” or drinking water stipulated by BCRC 12333. The board declared that, by virtue of the park falling within the bounds of the Sagle Fire District and the condition that the Kalbachs dig a well, PBR had met the fire suppression requirements. Still, the BOCC did not set a specific output that the well would need to produce to qualify as “adequate,” and neither Selkirk nor Sagle Fire responded to the county’s
notice of application.
“In essence, there is nothing in the record affirmatively demonstrating whether adequate water supply exists for fire suppression,” Simmons stated in the ruling.
As with the recreational facility designation, the court did not rule on whether PBR fulfilled the water requirements, only that the BOCC did not provide enough proof.
“The judge could have just sent it back to the county commissioners and asked them to fix any issues while leaving our existing permit intact. Instead, Judge Simmons completely revoked our permit 10 days before we open to the public,” according to the Kalbachs’ Instagram post.
Though the park’s future is uncertain, PBR will still host 60-person open houses Saturday, June 7 and Sunday,
June 8, to open the park up to the community. The future of 2025 summer operations remains uncertain, but Jennifer Kalbach told the Reader that the family is considering opening the park to the public for free, if possible, while they sort out any legal issues. Season pass holders will likely receive a refund in the coming weeks.
“Even though we are devastated by this terrible decision, we want the community to know that we will not give up on this business,” the Kalbachs stated. “The bike park is already built, and we will not walk away from providing this amazing bike park experience to the community.”
The view from the Kalbachs’ property in Sagle before biking trails were built. Courtesy photo
With $101K revenue shortfall, city looks at options for James E. Russell Sports Center
Alternatives include cutting staff, adding multiple sports or bringing on third-party operator
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
About six months after opening the doors to the James E. Russell Sports Center, city officials reported May 28 that the facility is running at a deficit of about $101,000 — generating an estimated $72,000, mostly from membership fees.
“[I]n the municipal recreation industry, we talk about the cost recovery ratio, so that puts us at about 54%,” Sandpoint Planning and Community Development Director Jason Welker said at a City Council workshop hosted in the JER community room.
The sports center incurred about $138,000 in expenses since opening in mid-December 2024, though Welker said many of them were related to one-time startup costs. However, staffing at JER ran to about $95,000 during the period, though that’s expected to go down with the restructuring of the Parks Division — reducing full-time equivalent staff at JER from 130% to about 70% FTE.
Membership has lagged behind expectations at JER, with 51 members paying $400-$450 per year to access the tennis and pickleball courts, and a further 50 members who pay $40-$45 per month.
“So as of last week, we had 101 paying members in the month of May, but all-time we have had 238 paying members. So if you’re wondering, ‘Why aren’t we covering more of our costs?’ there’s a big reason,” Welker said. “Member retention is very low. We’ve had only about 35% or 40% of our members renew their membership. ...
“That is obviously a statement about how we are operating the facility,” he added. “We aren’t offering an experience that has made people want to pay that $40 to $45 a month. That’s something we are very aware of.”
Built with a $7.5 million donation from the family of the late-James E. Russell, Sandpoint Mayor Jeremy Grimm called it “an amazing gift,” but “a gift that’s now becoming a cost,” which is “obviously a concern.”
Welker walked the council and attendees at the public workshop through a range of options for how to operate JER in the future, with hopes of increasing revenue, reducing costs or some combination of the two.
The four options presented included maintaining the status quo, or “staying the course”; adapting the facility to serve multiple sports beyond tennis and pickleball; bringing in a third-party operator, such as the U.S. Tennis Association-Pacific Northwest; or minimizing operations.
The status quo option would mean maintaining the current in-house operations under newly hired facility supervisor Ryan Wells, who would be tasked with growing the primary user groups while prioritizing programming with local pros and instructors, hosting regional leagues and tournaments, and increasing daily play alongside private court and community room rentals.
Moving to a multi-sport model would include installing a “semi-permanent” basketball and volleyball court over one of the tennis courts and “modular temporary” turf field that could be installed over another tennis court.
“This would maintain three tennis courts and 10 pickleball courts for the primary user groups and enable access for hundreds of local youth and the broader sporting community,” Welker said.
He estimated the multi-sport court would cost about $54,000, and between $77,000 and $80,000 if the design included six basketball hoops on one full court and two half courts.
Adapting the space with a portable volleyball system
would cost about $12,000, though the portable field turf could run to $130,000. Two batting cages would cost about $8,000, while a 120-foot-by120-foot gym floor covering for special events on two courts would cost $25,200.
With miscellaneous expenses of about $18,000 added, the multi-sport option could run to about $326,000. However, Welker indicated that an anonymous donor has already offered to match any investment made using city or private dollars, which would bring Sandpoint’s overall cost to $163,000, with funding from either the Parks Capital Improvement Project or Development Impact Fee funds.
“I don’t want to get into details about what that is, but we do have dedicated funds for parks projects like this,” Welker said. “Of course it’s not free; it comes with trade-offs.”
Specifically, he added, “I did not take into account the possible reduction in revenues from pickleball and tennis use as we convert one court on a semi-permanent basis and on a seasonal basis we lose a second tennis court, so we would definitely see revenues from tennis and pickleball decrease.”
Welker said discussions are still preliminary on how a third-party operator agreement might work, but the nonprofit USTA PNW has a track record of running similar facilities in Washington, with a mission of getting adults, kids and families engaged in tennis across Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
“[I]t would be a hybrid
model where the city maintains the front desk staff. We maintain a lot of the daily kind of foundational operations, but all the programming will get handed off to an outside organization,” Welker said.
Going that route would likely include $89 to $129 a year for a membership and court fees of between $12 and $17 for members. Non-members would pay something like $20 to $27 per court.
“This would not be an option that would necessarily make it cheaper to play,” Welker said.
Finally, the “minimal operations” option would reduce costs by going to one parttime employee working eight to nine hours per day, with opening hours limited to five days a week. Welker said the concern with that option is that while it may reduce costs by up to $75,000, revenues would likely fall by even more.
“To give you an idea, we’re open almost 80 hours a week right now. If we went down to 40 hours a week, that’s half the revenue bringing possibility as well,” Welker said. “So losses will definitely continue even if we went towards a cost minimization strategy.”
Feedback on a recent survey included comments opposed to the multi-sport option, including that it would be “alienating the entire racquet sport community, destroying a world-class facility and creating a mediocre field house for children.”
However, another comment noted that JER “has caused negative outcry from
locals since the start. By engaging youth and adult organizations you are showing that JER is intended for all. Not only paddle sport players.”
While Welker said “it is highly unlikely that JER will fully fund its operations out of revenues, regardless of the operating model chosen by council,” he said that its 54% cost recovery ratio is actually on par with sports facilities around the country and even better than many of Sandpoint’s public recreation facilities, which overall have a cost recovery ratio of 42.5% — costing $329,428 citywide and generating $139,850 in revenue.
Council members asked questions, but made no decision at the May 28 workshop, with Councilors Joel Aispuro and Rick Howarth indicating interest in the multi-sport option.
“I was a part of this process from the beginning, and there’s been a lot of difficult feelings and thoughts, and not knowing the future can be very difficult,” Aispuro said. “Off the bat, half of me says Option 2 is a great idea and that’ll benefit a lot of people. The other half of me thinks that it hasn’t even been a year yet.”
Several community members who spoke at the workshop were in favor of maintaining the status quo to give time for membership to increase. Others, including area coaches, favored the multi-sport option to provide broader access to local youth.
More than a few — including Welker — were critical of the lack of marketing for JER.
“We have completely failed in marketing this facility,” Welker said. “There hasn’t been adequate marketing whatsoever.”
“We have to figure out a way to utilize this facility — it costs too much not to,” Haworth added.
View the full workshop at youtube.com/@CityofSandpoint.
Inside the James E. Russell Sports Center during construction. Courtesy photo
More cuts to Forest Service offices announced in Idaho
McCall, Weiser and New Meadows ranger offices to close until further notice
By Clark Corbin Idaho Capital Sun
U.S. Forest Service officials announced additional cutbacks and temporary closures of ranger district offices in Idaho on June 2, following retirements and deferred resignation programs offered by President Donald Trump.
Effective immediately, the McCall, New Meadows and Weiser Ranger District offices will close until further notice, Payette National Forest officials announced in a news release issued June 3.
No reopening timeline was announced.
The three temporary closures were announced less than two weeks after Sawtooth National Forest officials said they temporarily closed Sawtooth National Recreation Area offices in Stanley and Ketchum through June 16 due to staff reductions.
Additionally, the Council Ranger District Office and the supervisor’s office in McCall are operating under reduced hours, Payette National Forest officials stated.
“We have adjusted our hours to allow current staffing to best serve the many communities surrounding the Payette National Forest, with the overall goal of improvement to our public services while providing access to the outdoors that we all love,” Payette National Forest Forest Supervisor Matt Davis said in a written statement. “The safety and enjoyment of our visitors remain top priorities, and we’ll steward the areas we can with available staff and resources.”
As part of its effort to reduce the federal workforce, the Trump administration offered a deferred resignation program to thousands of federal workers — including U.S. Forest Service workers — that allowed them to quit their jobs but continue to be paid through September, States Newsroom previously reported.
The temporary closures to U.S. Forest Service offices in Stanley, Ketchum, McCall, New Meadows and Weiser are arriving in conjunction with the kickoff to the busy summer recreation season on public lands in Idaho.
In recent years, Idaho has been
Bits ’n’ Pieces
From east, west and beyond
While most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs are not yet activated, the resulting trade war has cost companies more than $35 billion in lost sales and higher costs, Reuters reported.
Elon Musk, set loose by Trump to cut federal spending via DOGE, did so while under the frequent influence of ketamine, ecstasy, psychedelic mushrooms and more, various media reported. When Fox News asked about his usage, Musk did not answer directly, implying it was “false news.”
A judge has ruled that 14 states can pursue their lawsuit against Musk and DOGE, deciding that the states presented a valid argument that “Musk and DOGE’s conduct is unauthorized by law.”
experiencing record usage of public lands, campgrounds and trails.
Some conservationists worry that the reduction in U.S. Forest Service staff and cutbacks to offices won’t actually succeed in reducing government excess and waste.
Instead, they are concerned it will make it harder to provide the public with information about fire safety, food storage requirements in bear country, directions to recreation sites, hazards such as bear activity or trail closures, and help novice campers understand how to extinguish campfires and pack out their trash.
Josh Johnson, central Idaho director for the Idaho Conservation League, said countless people visit U.S. Forest Services offices every day seeking basic assistance.
“To not have Forest Service staff available to support visitors, help them find out where they need to go, answer questions and respond to other issues is a problem and unfortunate,” Johnson said in a May 23 interview.
“You can’t expect to eliminate as much Forest Service staff as you have and still provide essential services people are used to seeing,” Johnson added.
With the temporary ranger office closures in place and new hours at other facilities, officials with the Payette National Forest are urging the public to visit their website for information about closures and the availability of recreation sites.
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.
Fallout from Musk’s DOGE includes a “D.C. brain drain” that has impeded scientific research, shrinking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, maiming USAID, and imposing crippling measures on agencies like Social Security and those that help veterans and protect consumers. Musk promised to slash $2 trillion; he now claims he cut $175 billion. Axios reported that an outside analysis verified the savings were $16 billion. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump asked his aides if Musk’s savings were “all bullshit?”
Meanwhile, DOGE cut at least six agencies that had either fined Musk’s companies or were investigating them.
Musk has been concerned that investigations of his businesses would “take me down.” He aimed to halt that with Trump’s election, The New York Times reported, adding that Musk has installed billionaire Peter Thiel’s Palantir data analysis firm in places across the government, and employees have concerns it could be used against citizens.
According to The Nation, Thiel declared at a 2009 conference, “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.”
Forbes reported that Musk is now about $170 billion richer due to his association with Trump.
Of 238 Venezuelan immigrants sent to El Salvador’s mega-prison, only 32 had been convicted of crimes in the U.S. ProPublica reported that the Trump administration was aware that deportees’ crimes were primarily non-violent, but all were labeled terrorists.
The Alliance of Retired Americans wrote that House Republicans’ budget will harm seniors, such as removing minimum nursing home staffing requirements
By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Contributor
and locking in high drug prices.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, defended her party’s budget proposal for the largest cuts in Medicaid history, saying, “Well, we are all going to die.” She later apologized and invited people to “embrace Jesus Christ” for eternal life.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, 10.3 million people will lose health care coverage as a result of the budget.
Problems were found in a recent Make American Healthy Again report. The online publication NOTUS found non-existent study citations and misinterpretations of scientific studies.
According to The Hill, an aide to Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., was handcuffed amid a confrontation with federal agents, stemming from peaceful protesters who had gathered outside an immigration court located in the same building as the lawmaker’s Manhattan office. When ICE threatened the demonstrators with arrest, Nadler’s staffer invited some of them into his office, where the aide was handcuffed and accused of harboring rioters. Nadler called it an intimidation attempt
Recent headlines: a federal court has blocked Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs under emergency powers law; ICE has been “grabbing people out of their cars” on Martha’s Vineyard, demanding 3,000 arrests daily, and sometimes detaining legal residents and U.S. citizens; and Trump has lamented that the luxury airplane gift from Qatar is “much too big” for his own use. Upwards of $14 billion in clean energy projects have been canceled, likely affecting 10,000 new clean energy jobs; the White House canceled a $766 million Moderna contract to fight pandemic flu, even after $175 million had already been invested in developing a vaccine for a bird flu that is spreading to mammals, including people; Republicans’ budget bill is being described as “the largest upward transfer of wealth in American history”; and a judge has blocked parts of Trump’s executive order to overhaul U.S. elections, including a proof-of-citizenship requirement — adding that the president generally does not have the power to regulate federal elections.
Blast from the past: “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” — William Shakespeare, English playwright and poet (1564-1616).
The Payette National Forest ranger station. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service
By Emily Erickson Reader Columnist
“Sandpoint is a Walking Town,” the sign reads, proudly greeting vehicles as they exit the Long Bridge. “Come, park your car, stroll between shops, and wind your way along the sidewalks and paths, made just for you,” it invites.
I was holding a coffee. My friend held her dog’s leash as we walked toward City Beach. The sun shimmered across the creek on the first hot day of spring — a taste of the summer to come. We chatted about small things: how her family was doing, our upcoming trips, meandering in and out of conversation in the lazy, comfortable way that closeness allows.
As we crested the bridge, a car revved its engine. The tailpipe backfired as it accelerated toward the beach, skidding into the corner and peeling into a parking lot full of people. My friend’s dog cowered, tail tucked between her legs, whining to go home. The lid popped off my coffee from my grip.
“[Sandpoint’s] lakeside location boasts both breathtaking natural beauty and recreational opportunities,” one article declared, naming Sandpoint the “Coolest Small City in Idaho.”
I was biking from home, dressed in bike shorts and a neon top, set for a several-hour ride. Sweat began to pool under my helmet, and the reflective tape of my pedals glinted in the late af-
Emily Articulated
Walking town
ternoon sun. My tire hugged the edge of the pavement on the section of road without a shoulder.
A truck blasted past, its modified horn deafening, black smoke billowing from its tailpipe and into my face. I turned around and went home.
“From wineries, to breweries and the arts ... [Sandpoint] is a vibrant, happening haven in the wilds of northern Idaho,” the article, “10 Picture-Perfect Mountain Towns,” described.
I sat outside Heart Bowls, the wisteria draping lazily over the fence, casting soft shadows in the overhead sun. A bird played in the bubbling fountain. A toddler, fingers sticky from a smoothie, drew pink streaks across the table.
The peaceful scene turned cacophonous with the rumble of semi-truck brakes and the too-fast acceleration of engines that followed. My eardrums rang. The bird flew away. The little boy burst into tears.
I grew up in a farming community, a place where big, loud vehicles were a part
of life — their size and heft required to pull a combine. “Dually with a gooseneck” and “two-tons” were regular parts of the vernacular. I have driven cars to the point of being loud (my left tire inexplicably squeaky, as we speak), and understand quiet cars can be luxury.
But here, and lately (this spring especially), the loudness and bigness feel different, more intentional — the havoc, wielded for show, performed like roosters puffing out their chests, screaming at the top of their lungs to prove something.
This disruptive driving dredges up my inner crazy lady (is there one dormant in all of us, waiting for us to reach our mid-30s?) shouting “slow down” at the cars and trucks speeding past my house, through town and on neighborhood streets — soon to be in a nightie and hair rollers, I suspect.
But I come by my rage honestly. We forget, once inside a vehicle, what it’s capable of. We sink into our seats, temperature-controlled, favorite playlist cued up, and lose track of the fact that we’re operating heavy machinery capable of causing injury and death. According to the Idaho Department of Transportation’s 2023 crash report, 50% of all crashes in the state were caused by aggressive driving.
If we want to earn the title of “Walking Town,” then it has to be safe to walk. That means putting the safety of kids, pets and people first. It means preserving the ability to enjoy our front
yards, to stroll the sidewalks without fear and to trust that drivers will obey speed limits — that our lives will be considered.
If we want to preserve our small-town charm, the fix is simple: We have to drive like we’re in one. Windows down, radio low, eyes open, looking for the people and pets and animals that make this place wild, quaint and beautiful.
Every day, we get to
choose whether we contribute to or detract from the shared experience of being here.
So slow down. It’s a walking town — at least, that’s what the sign says.
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.
Bouquets:
• I can’t thank Reader Editor-in-Chief Zach Hagadone and Senior Writer Soncirey Mitchell enough for taking a heavier-than-average workload these past three weeks while I was off galavanting in the Balkans. The barnacles have been stripped away and I’m ready for another slog. Yeehaw.
Barbs:
• It will take a few months’ worth of Barbs columns to fully dress down the so-called “one big, beautiful bill” that our Idaho Republican Congressmen Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson voted for to please their overlord Donald Trump. In the meantime, here are a few more pieces of pork that should concern anyone who isn’t a millionaire:
If passed into law, the legislation would trigger a 25% expansion of logging in national forests, bypassing environmental reviews and fast-tracking timber production. The bill would also open up public lands for drilling, mining and logging, with royalty breaks for fossil fuel companies.
The bill would force independent federal agencies to follow White House legal interpretations and centralize authority under the president. Also, the bill would allow the White House to move around federal funds without congressional approval.
Finally, the bill would strip the states of the right to make laws or regulate AI for 10 years — a provision that even Trump stalwarts like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Elon Musk have voiced concern about. Musk broke with Trump on June 3, tweeting that the bill was a “massive, outrageous, pork-filled ... disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it.”
I say shame on those who donated $288 million to have Trump elected. You reap what you sow.
‘We can’t do nothing’…
Dear editor,
Early on Memorial Day morning, I was drawn back many years to my very small hometown in central Iowa, where friends, families, military veterans, ball teams, FFA, scouts and bands would gather from miles around to pay tribute to all of those who had given their lives defending our democracy. Then I realized it is nearly 250 years of the greatest democracy the world has ever known… and was shocked back into our current reality.
The billionaires, the GOP and the Heritage Foundation (Project 2025) have gone to great expense, effort and planning to re-elect the greatest danger to democracy that this nation has ever seen. The Founding Fathers could never have imagined that a psychopathic narcissist and adjudicated felon could ever get elected as president. How many lies has he told, how many laws has he broken? How many lives have been lost by his actions or inactions? Where was the Supreme Court? How many millions have taken the oath “to protect the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic,” and how many have given their lives to do so?
Contact our Congress members (better yet all of them) and demand that they assert themselves toward Donald Trump$ removal. The real power (for now) is in the hands of the people. We just have to convince our elected officials: they could retire heroes on the right side of history or live out their lives as accomplices.
Go to idaho.gov and get all the contact info you need. Do it soon. We may not have until the next election.
Jay Omundson Cocolalla
Small actions can make a big difference…
Dear editor,
As a lifelong Idaho resident and parent, I care deeply about the future of our state’s farms, forests and families. I’ve noticed warmer summers, drier winters and more wildfire smoke in the air. But I’m hopeful we can find solutions if we work together.
Many Idahoans are already taking small actions — planting trees, conserving water and using solar panels on farms. These community efforts show that we care about our
future.
Real progress requires leadership from the state and federal governments. We need policies that invest in renewable energy, protect our water, and help farmers and ranchers adapt.
When our leaders act with courage, climate-smart policies can create good jobs, support our agriculture and conserve the landscapes we cherish. With cooperation and determination, Idaho can become a model of resilience and hope.
We owe our children a future where Idaho’s natural beauty and our economy both thrive.
Sincerely,
Laura Abromeit Sandpoint
Hoping we live through these ‘interesting times’…
Dear editor,
I am not an opinion writer, but this last week’s edition of the Reader [May 29] really hit home with me. I am one of those “little old ladies” with Medicaid and SNAP benefits to live on. I live in fear and apprehension these days due to our political/economic situation. With the potential passing of the “one big beautiful bill,” now it is becoming even more apparent my lifestyle is in danger. What are all of us going to live on?
I may, or may not, have voted for our present U.S. representatives, but I now hold them in the same disdain as our Supreme Leader in D.C. They make me sick.
Your “Bits ’n’ Pieces” column echoes my opinions. As I find frequently with the Reader staff, we are simpatico. Nishelle Gonzales’ article [Perspectives, “The alchemy of grief”] states my feelings very well and I’m sure she does the same for many of us out here. That alone helps.
Our parents and grandparents lived in times of extreme fear and deprivations. While society floundered, they persevered — most of them. I hold out hope that this (older) generation does the same.
As with most parents, I had hoped to leave my child a better country to live in. I have my doubts now. It’s going to take many years and many lives to correct the astronomical errors being bestowed on the population by today’s political circus.
“We live in interesting times.” I hope we live through them.
Thank you, Reader staff, for
helping put our thoughts/feelings out there for us to see we are not alone. You do it every week.
Winona Anderson Bonners Ferry
‘Totally untrustworthy’...
Dear editor,
First he stood with Israel against its enemies. Next, he stood with Ukraine against Russia. Now he abandons both those countries and brags about how Saudi Arabia, Iran, etc., are now the “good guys.” Israel is surrounded by those enemies Trump now calls friends, and Ukraine is fighting Russia on its own again.
Donald Trump doesn’t give a damn about anything or anyone other than himself — how much money and power are in it for him. How is it that the American people elected someone who hates Americans? He’s such a liar, claiming that whites in South Africa were having their lands stolen by Black South Africans. The truth is that there were six incidents of farm owners being murdered and their lands stolen: five out of six were Black, only one was white.
He brings in these white South Africans and gives them citizenship, but kicks out men and women who fought side by side with American soldiers (they were the wrong color, apparently). So, Trump doesn’t want to make America great, he wants to make it white — not only regarding present-day people, but also in history books and the military, removing Medal of Honor recipients from the Arlington Cemetery Facebook pages because those people removed weren’t white.
Ever heard the words “melting pot”? That’s how this country started. He frees murderers, thieves and corrupt politicians from prisons and jails, so long as they pledge fealty to him. There are supposed to be checks and balances in the American system — three branches so that one branch can’t run amok. Where are the other two branches? Heads in the sand?
Do your jobs and reign in this snake oil salesman now.
Michael Harmelin Sandpoint
‘Good job Bonner County and Idaho’...
Thanks to the Reader [May 29] and Bee [May 27] for reports on the Laclede fire. This fire included multiple struc-
tures, vehicles, and vegetation and was controlled by state and local firefighters including Selkirk Fire & Rescue, who prevented an evacuation, injuries and flare-ups with help from Bonner County Emergency Management, the sheriff’s office, and Northside and West Pend Oreille fire districts, as well as the Idaho Department of Lands.
Good job!
We pay for fire protection with taxes. We also rely on FEMA funding for fire. That will likely go away. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees FEMA said, “The president has indicated he wants to eliminate FEMA as it exists today, and to have states have more control over their emergency management response. He wants to empower local governments and support them and how they respond to their people.”
Trump is giving us what we asked for: independence to care for ourselves — and to pay for it. But we failed to pass levies for our county firefighters and their equipment, deciding not to care. Good job voters? I wonder.
Local solution: tax the growing influx of developers and people to Bonner County — ask them to pay for themselves, with more modest increased taxes on current homeowners. We could ask for the “big beautiful bill” to fund FEMA by removing the largest wealth transfer, in the form of tax cuts from the poor to the rich, in the nation’s history. If we ask for what we want, we will get it.
Nancy Gerth Sagle
Got something to say? Write a letter to the editor. We accept letters 300 words or less that are free of libelous statements and excessive profanity. Please elevate the discussion. Trolls will be laughed at and their letters discarded. As always, please make your point as succinctly as possible.
Hiking safely in mountain goat country
Better yet, join FSPW’s trail ambassadors and lend a hand
By Rose Olson Reader Contributor
The days are getting longer, the snow is melting and wildflowers are blooming. That means it’s time to get out and hike Scotchman Peak. The tallest peak in Bonner County, this iconic ridge looms over Lake Pend Oreille and lends itself to fantastic views and the opportunity to see wild mountain goats in their craggy home.
Every summer weekend since 2016, Scotchman Peak trail ambassadors head out to make sure hikers know they need to keep their distance from wildlife. The Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness have been partnering with the Sandpoint Ranger District of the Idaho Panhandle National Forest to bring this program to life. It’s a great reason to get out for a hike while performing an important conservation service.
While it is tempting to get up close and personal with these herbivorous creatures, it’s important to remember that they are still wild creatures with sharp horns and tough attitudes.
Like horses and cows, these ungulates crave salt. They will walk many miles to find it in the wild. On top of Scotchman Peak, they don’t need to travel far, as our backpacks, shirts and urine all possess the precious mineral. The mountain goats of Scotchman Peak have learned that an easier way to find salt is to lick hikers and their equipment, not to mention the urine left behind on the ground.
While it can be an amazing feeling to be that close to a wild animal, please remember that it is not only dangerous for you, but also for the goats and future hikers. If a goat becomes a “problem,” it may face the death penalty. Future hikers will be harassed by salt-seeking goats.
And as we’ve seen in other busy mountainous places, aggressive goats can lead to trail closures at best and hiker fatalities at worst.
Please remember when hiking in
the home of these amazing wild animals: Give them space.
The recommended safe distance is 100 feet. If mountain goats are approaching you, be loud and intimidating. Maybe even wave your arms and do a little summit dance. Show the goat you’re not an easy target for salt. If you see other hikers getting too close to the goats, politely let them know that they should stay away because these wild animals can be dangerous.
If you care about keeping mountain goats wild and the Scotchman Peak
Trail open, volunteer as a Scotchman Peak trail ambassador this summer. As a trail ambassador, you get to do a little extra good on your day hike. You’ll be outfitted with maps, stickers, a T-shirt and a hat. As you hike, you’ll chat with fellow hikers about goat etiquette and safety.
To become a volunteer trail ambassador or learn more about hiking safely in mountain goat territory visit: scotchmanpeaks.org and find the “Trail Ambassador” button under the Volunteer menu.
Rose Olson is deputy executive director of the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness.
Trail Ambassador Laura Shields poses with a goat on Scotchman Peak. Courtesy photo
Science: Mad about
By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist
underwater tunnels
We’ve explored the exciting world of boring machines a few times over the past few months, most recently talking about the impressive tunnel systems drilled through the Swiss Alps. What happens when we want to drill under a body of water to connect two landmasses?
There are a lot of factors to consider when drilling under a body of water. The first consideration is the grade of the tunnel. A steep grade will take more energy for vehicles to ascend or create hazardous conditions during descent. Mountain passes are treacherous for large vehicles, which is why you see so many runaway truck ramps built throughout the western United States. Unlike a mountain pass, where engineers are adapting to existing topography, there’s a great deal of control involved with preparing the grade of an underwater tunnel.
Another consideration is what exactly crews will be drilling through. Water naturally seeks to fill voids in its endless pursuit to find the path of least resistance downward while also permeating everything. Scooping wet silt will make more wet silt slough into the void, which isn’t conducive to a boring machine.
A boring machine needs densely compacted soils or rock to function optimally, otherwise it’s basically just trying to grind its way through a giant bowl of wet oatmeal.
Pressure is always a consideration for boring a tunnel. Engineers must account for the weight of rock and water on top of the tunnel and need to be aware of how it may shift over the years due to
earthquakes, settling or even currents generated by ships. Imagine setting a cinderblock on top of a shoebox — you’re going to have to reinforce the heck out of that box if you don’t want the rock to crush your retro Jordans.
All of these considerations lead one to wonder, why build a tunnel at all? Why not just build a bridge?
This is often the first question asked by politicians seeking to connect two landmasses. In some cases, a bridge may be impractical for reasons beyond engineering, such as overshadowing a historic landmark or hindering ships moving through a port. Building a tunnel solves these issues.
One of the most interesting ways to build a tunnel is also the most impractical. Instead of boring through unstable silty substrate, engineers have occasionally opted to prefabricate huge concrete sections of a tunnel and drop them into the water to link together like giant LEGOs. This means they only generally need to do minimal boring on either side of the tunnel, if at all.
This is a technique called immersed tube tunneling.
In the most basic terms, huge concrete sections of tunnel — up to 650 feet long — are built in drydock and then attached to tugboats and floated to the construction site. They’re lined up and dropped into place then pressed together. Crews do this until both landmasses are connected, and bada bing, bada boom, you have an underwater tunnel.
“Wait a minute, Brenden, how are you going to float a concrete tunnel the size of a city block?”
That’s likely the simplest part of this entire process. By placing two watertight bulk-
heads on either side, this massive structure is going to float on its own thanks to the huge amount of air trapped inside. Placing the segment in its final resting place and sinking an object that’s designed to function like a boat initially is a bit more complicated.
It’s handed over to something called a lay barge, which is equipped with cranes and heavy machinery that work to line it up with the existing sections of the tunnel. To sink the tunnel segment, water tanks attached to the tunnel are filled to reduce its buoyancy and bring it down into the trench where it will rest. Lining up the tunnel segments is the most critical part; and, while you might think this would take a tremendous amount of time, it needs to be completed quickly to account for things like tides and ship traffic.
Rubber gaskets are built into the tunnel segments that will squish and deform when the segments are pulled together to create a watertight seal. In some cases, the tunnel segments are fitted with hydraulic jacks that pull them together, while others may use something akin to a train car coupler. In other cases, the lay barge will drag it into place and press the two pieces together. The final step to sealing is draining the bulkheads, which creates a pressure difference between the two sides of the tunnel, pulling the existing pieces tightly together and protecting the structure from changes in water pressure or currents.
After they’re connected, crews will backfill from the surface to bury the tunnel as an extra layer of protection.
Once both sides are connected, the tunnel isn’t quite ready to be opened to the
public. It’s basically just a big concrete tube and still needs to have roads laid, lights and electrical added and ventilation installed.
Immersed tube tunnels can unfortunately be extremely damaging to wildlife and waterways, especially when compared to traditionally bored tunnels. Dredging and moving huge amounts of sediment can deal a huge blow to aquatic life and ecosystems, or
A schematic from 1869 of the then-proposed Chunnel between England and France. Courtesy image
even pull up buried contaminants that had been illegally dumped. Because of this, immersed tube tunnels are not the default option for tunnel creation, even if it seems like the most cost-effective and practical method available — though it rarely is. There are fewer than 200 of these structures around the world, compared to at least 5 million bridges that currently stand. Stay curious, 7B.
Random Corner
Don’t know much
• Humans have 206 bones and each plays an important role in making all the mechanisms of our bodies function proper ly. Babies are born with more than 300 bones, but some tiny bones fuse together to form the larger bones of the skeletal system.
• There are two types of bones. The first is the hard, dense material called cortical bone, which are primarily struc ture bones. Trabecular bones, however, are soft and spongy. They are often found inside large bones used in the pelvis, ribs and skull.
about
• Bone marrow is a spongy substance found inside large bones like your hips, pelvis and femur. Marrow houses stem cells, which are responsible for producing many of the body’s most important cells, including blood, brain, heart and bone cells.
• The stapes, or stirrup, bone is the smallest in the human body. It is found in the ear and, together with the anvil and hammer bones, help
our bones? We can help!
translate the sounds we hear into waves our brains can understand.
• Some bones can absorb two or three times your body
• The hyoid bone, located inside our throats, is the only bone in the human body that doesn’t connect to a joint. It is responsible for holding our tongues in place.
•Most people have 12 ribs. Only 1% of people are born with a 13th rib, called a cervical rib, which can cause neck pain and other issues.
• When we fracture a bone, our bodies go to work immediately producing new bone cells and helping to heal the break. A blood clot forms around the break and a soft callus made mostly of collagen is created around the fracture. A hard callus begins to form two weeks after the break. The cast we wear is meant to ensure the bone heals straight. It generally takes about 12 weeks for a bone to heal.
Editor’s note: Kaylee Peterson has been campaigning as a Democrat against Republican U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher since 2022. Amid a swing through 10 counties in Idaho in 10 days, she visited the Reader offices June 2 for an interview, which has been edited below for clarity and length.
SONCIREY MITCHELL: So, obviously, this is a deeply conservative congressional district in a conservative state. How are you working to win those conservative votes and really enact change?
KAYLEE PETERSON: I think I noticed immediately that my job was to be an out-and-proud Democrat in really kind of hostile conservative spaces — places, where they haven’t had a Democratic presence in a long time. So, I started my campaign by doing what I called “Republican town halls,” where I go into places like Orofino and Kamiah and Riggins and Grangeville and ask the Republican voters to question the Democrat: “Tell me what you’re worried about. Tell me what worries you about the ‘D’ next to my name. Let’s have a discussion.” ... [T]hat was a really successful way to go into rural communities and for them to say, “Wow, she’s showing up,” and to start those conversations. [A] lot of those conversations start pretty angry, because there’s a lot to be angry about with what’s happening in the government right now. So, then we just focus on policy solutions. And with rural communities, they respect the work ethic, they respect accountability and they respect solutions to the problems that they’re facing — actual work that can be done to fix what’s happening. ...
So many Republicans, once they meet me, they’re like, “Well, you sound like a Republican,” because a lot of times our party politics are so personal, they’re not reflected in what’s happening at the national level. ... [W]hen I talk about fiscal responsibility — when I talk about holding the government accountable — things like this, it sounds like what they support, even though I’m labeled a Democrat. And I think that’s at least where we start repairing what’s happened.
ZACH HAGADONE: You’re running this campaign without financial support from the party. How does that work? Do you feel like you’re able to get out your message — even with Republican voters — without any institu-
tional Democratic Party backing?
KP: I think that’s why Idaho’s struggled to find somebody who’s willing to put in the time and work, because it is non-stop work. ... [T]his is my 24/7 life. But I realized immediately when I started that if somebody wasn’t working to build that foundation and that infrastructure, that it was never just going to magically appear. And Democrats have culpability in what’s happened in rural America, because the DNC didn’t show up here in Idaho. They weren’t out in those rural communities, talking to people and doing the work. ...
As a Democrat, I need to be in those communities building the ground game. And it’s slow and it’s agonizing, and it takes a ridiculous amount of work and the local candidates who are also doing this feel the brunt of that, but it’s working, and we’re building that relationship — and especially right now, when the current Republican congressional leadership is doing so much damage directly to these communities, it’s time where we can step in and say, “I can do this better. I can fix this problem; this doesn’t have to be that way.”
ZH: The Republican Party clearly has distinct camps at the federal level and even at the local level. If you were to be serving in Congress, are there camps within the Democratic Party that you would see yourself aligning with?
KP: ... [T]he truth is there is no camp for what rural America needs from Democrats right now. And I think that’s why I’m trying to run this campaign, is to redefine what that should look like for rural America. ...
We are truly trying to do something new that doesn’t fit any of the kind of groundwork that’s been laid by other people or other camps, because it hasn’t worked for Idaho. ...
I call myself a Democrat, but I’m an Idaho rural Democrat ... . We’re creating a truly Idaho candidate that focuses on Idaho issues and leads the way for a rural, progressive movement forward.
ZH: I’m very intrigued by this idea of the “Idaho Democrat,” because the Republicans have a real lock on this debate, it seems: “What are true Idaho values? What are true Idaho Republicans?” So, what is a “true Idaho Democrat”? How would you define that?
KP: My family homesteaded the North Eagle Foothills. My family has been [there] six generations. ... [I]t was this idea of live and let live, mutual
respect and community aid. You didn’t have to like each other, but you respected each other. You respected your right to live life the way that you wanted, and you showed up when there was an issue or a conflict, and you talked it out and you found the solution. You focused on the problems and found a solution. ... [T]hat’s Idaho values. It’s not ideological, it’s not how you believe or what you look like or any of these kinds of other defining ways, it’s how you act and how you behave in your community.
ZH: Do you feel like that mentality is under threat in the state — because of the influx that we’ve had from places like Southern California, from Texas? I mean, there’s a major, concerted ideological push to settle in Idaho. And people from that ideological background might say they like to help their neighbor, but it’s not really one of their big priorities.
KP: One of the worst moments I’ve had on the campaign ... I did my hometown Eagle Fourth of July parade with my kids — and it’s the only time I’ve taken the kids on the trail with me — and they are 11 and 6, and we’re in my hometown and we’re throwing candy and popsicles, and they announce that we’re the District 14 Democrats. And the crowd turns, and everyone’s booing, which is bad enough, but my daughter — who’s throwing candy — is watching grown adults stamp the candy under their feet. People are throwing it back at us telling us to go back to where we came from. ...
When we’re just living everyday life, if somebody’s tire is flat on the side of the road, Idahoans stop to help them out. We still wave at each other on
the road. It’s only when politics enter the conversation that things all of a sudden turn really hostile in a way that I think contradicts our values. ... I run a very positive campaign in an effort to try and turn them around and show how we can take hostility and confrontation and turn it into something productive that works for every party. And that doesn’t mean we don’t hold people accountable.
SM: We’ve heard from quite a few people in our letters to the editor and just around town that the idea of tolerance and “live and let live” has been, in part, what’s sort of led to this hostile takeover — that’s led to the Trump administration. So, how does that mentality actually translate into policy changes for you?
KP: ... [W]hat we’ve seen is the monopolization of markets. And so a lot of times our small businesses, our small family farmers can’t “live and let live” because they’re crushed under regulation and costs and all of these different elements, while these major monopolized industries — which they’ll never be able to compete [with] — have very little in the way of regulation, oversight and accountability. ... I mean, 85% of our beef industry is run by four companies. Nobody can compete with this kind of 1% idea. So, I wouldn’t say “live and let live” for those at the top who really are unrestrained in any capacity versus what working class people on the ground experience.
ZH: As you’ve traveled around and got to know the congressional district, what are the big issues — and not just for Congressional District 1, but for North Idaho in particular?
< see PETERSON, Page 12 >
Kaylee Peterson. Courtesy photo
KP: Well, the first one that comes to mind right now, just because of everything that’s happening, is public lands and federal workers. They did a study and 98% of Idahoans consider our lands and our wilderness to be essential to our quality of life. It is what most people move here and stay here for. Every person I talk to has stories about generations hunting and fishing and camping in the same spots. So, the public lands issue is huge, mainly because we can all recognize when you start getting rid of the regulations, the permitting process, and gutting the agencies that protect those lands and work those lands, then the only real option left over is to privately lease or sell. ...
[T]hen, when we look at our congressional delegation and the amount of money that they’re getting from real estate development industries, it’s not too hard to see why public lands are under such threat. ...
There’s this idea in national talking points that the federal workers are the “swamp,” are the corruption, but they’re not. They’re Idahoans, on the ground, serving their communities. They’re Forest Service workers, they’re rangers, they’re all of these people who try to manage the land with almost no resources. ...
The next one, it’s gotta be cost of living. ... [W]hen it comes to our small family farmers, the cuts to the USDA grants, the cuts to the federal government right now are only disadvantaging really small Idaho growers and businesses. It’s making it impossible in any way to compete at the top. And so the federal cuts once again are hurting rural communities’ ability just to survive and make ends meet. ...
The third issue, I’m stuck between education, health care and reproductive rights. These are things that everybody is dealing with on a day-to-day basis. ... [T]here’s so much that’s gone wrong right now. And I hate the idea that in politics, we only expect those we elect to fix a singular problem, or to focus on one thing. I think if you’re elected to Congress, your responsibility and expectation is to fix it all. You have the greatest privilege and power in the country. You should be able to look at the bigger picture and address all of the problems that people are facing. ...
People can’t survive on what they’re making in Idaho. We had the potential for massive job growth, but with the massive cuts that they’re making on previous legislation — like the CHIPS and Science [Act], like the infrastructure bill, things like that — that job growth is going to decrease. ... [I]t’s going to make it almost impossible for rural communities to make ends meet
when they’re already struggling to do so.
I just stopped in Bonners Ferry and the amount of Canadians crossing the border has decreased 12-17%, and that doesn’t sound like much except that most of these businesses are already operating on a razor-thin margin. That 12-17% is the difference that could shutter their businesses.
So, all of these federal policies that are being enacted right now under our current leadership are immediately harming anybody’s ability to make ends meet, and it’s time that we had a working-class candidate.
SM: Let’s talk about us as a border community. When we interviewed Rep. [Russ] Fulcher, he said that he hadn’t really thought about the fact that we are a border community, and he was very much focused on the Mexican border, which we don’t touch. If elected, how would you deal with the current border issues that we’re facing with Canada?
KP: ... I went to visit the border yesterday, to see what was going on there, and Idaho’s border is unbelievably well managed. They do a fantastic job. It was so funny because I asked, “Do you recruit nationally, like most border agents down south do?” and they were like, “Yeah, but we’re all from Idaho.”
We have locals who know the community, know the issues. They do a fantastic job; but, unfortunately, the fear mongering that has happened around our southern border and other points of entry has, once again, decreased visitorship. It’s basically hurt every opportunity for that community to make the money that it needs to make. ... [A]ll that they’re doing at the southern border is actually harming our well-functioning northern border.
What I’ve learned is you focus on the problem, not on talking points. It’s really frustrating because, right now, nationally, there’s a lot of these talking points coming from special interest groups, and the numbers don’t make any sense. I once had this sweet woman who said, “There are 200 million illegals in this country.” And I said, “There’s only 340 million of American citizens, and we call them ‘undocumented people.’”
The truth is, our immigrant community has the lowest rates of criminality out of any other demographic in this country. Almost every person that comes into this country has contact with border agents. There is a system under which people are crossing into this country. The problem was, it was undermanned, understaffed, underfunded — they needed some technological upgrades and we needed to streamline the process by which people could get legal immigration status. If we had just
addressed those problems, then it would have been fine.
And I will tell you, I haven’t met a single Idahoan who has actually dealt with a problem with our immigration in person. This is all national talking points. ...
I was really thrilled that the previous administration got a $1.3 billion investment from the Mexican government into the technology we use at legal points of entry to catch things like fentanyl and criminals. I think that that just shows diplomacy and the way in which we partner with our border countries is really, really important to solving the issues on the ground that people face.
ZH: Now we have this diplomatic crisis with the tariff backlash, where Canadians are staying away — not because of any issue with the border itself, but with an issue with the United States and with its politics — what can you do on the tariff side to ease that?
KP: Not do tariffs. I’m not naive enough to think I can singlehandedly undo the tariff disaster, and I do think we are going to feel the impacts of what is happening right now. It’s going to take generations to fully repair. What should have happened, in the place of this tariff war, in order to help American trade systems, is to focus on investing in American manufacturing. Because the more America manufactures, then the more we can export, and the better. But if you just destroy all of the necessary exports that Idaho farmers rely on to make money, and you destroy the ability to import the goods that American businesses need in order to survive, then the only people who are going to survive this are, once again, the already monopolized industries that small businesses can’t compete with.
I don’t think that there’s a way forward unless none of the tariffs actually happen and we have a quick turnaround in leadership that works with other countries on appropriate trade deals while building up American manufacturing so we can have job growth and we can compete on the national level. And that rolls into diplomacy, right? Just trying to make China say, “Uncle,” doesn’t make America the greatest country on the global scale. We need to earn that by having the manufacturing and the trade and the shipping and all of these kinds of systems in place. We haven’t invested in those, which is why we’re losing footing. I think that’s where I would focus my attention.
ZH: Do you see a coalition of Congress members who would be willing to work in that direction?
KP: ... I’m seeing a whole new
generation of working-class candidates step up across the country, and we’re starting to see those people find success. There was a shocking statistic: Less than 2% — and I don’t know if this is Congress specifically or all elected officials — have a working-class background.
[Editor’s note: According to a Duke, Loyola-Chicago study based on 2023 figures, fewer than 2% of state lawmakers from either Republican or Democratic parties came to office from working-class jobs. Further, about 1% of Republicans and 2% of Democrats in state legislatures came from working-class backgrounds. Similar data for Congress is hard to verify, but reporting from sources ranging from The New York Times to the Center for Responsive Politics agree that more than half of U.S. Congress members have a net worth in excess of $1 million. The top 50 wealthiest Congress members have net worths ranging from more than $10 million to nearly $550 million.]
... The average income in Idaho is $30,000 a year And so it is a very, very different existence trying to make ends meet on $3,000 a year rather than $175,000 a year. And these are the people I’m seeing step up and start taking control in Congress and make their voices heard.
[Editor’s note: Idahoans’ per capita income in 2023 dollars is $37,169, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, while households earn a median of $74,636 per year]. We need fighters. And so I do think that, once elected, that there would actually be a large contingent excited. When I first started running, I wanted to join the Problem Solvers Caucus specifically for this reason. They were just Republicans and Democrats focused on problems and policies that solved them, and that was really attractive, but I think we need a louder version of that.
ZH: Speaking of working with people who aren’t even in your own party, I’m thinking about Rep. Mike Simpson co-sponsoring the Public Lands in Public Hands Act. What’s your feeling on that piece of legislation? If you were in Congress, would you support that? Or is that the wrong direction to go?
KP: Here’s the problem: Things are so bad right now, that any solution is better than the alternative. ... We have major corporations that are leasing the land, and now people are paying $500 for a tent permit and $1,000 to bring a camper on the lands that are supposed to be [public]. We’re having clear-cutting issues. We’re having a lack of oversight and regulatory processes ... . But I’m excited that the second [congressional] district does have somebody looking at the issue. I am excited about Keep Public Lands in Public Hands. I have heard a lot of concern from federal workers, from Forest
... about but solution issue, smaller altogether. real buyers. compared now, no you reproductive
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Service workers, about the 300-acre lots ... I would like to have a conversation about whether or not that’s negotiable, but 100%, I would love to work on a solution with Mike Simpson.
ZH: If you were to work on that issue, you would lobby for that to be a smaller acreage? Is 300 acres too big?
KP: I would like to remove it altogether. It only really works for real estate developers and out-of-state buyers. But I’m not naive. Any solution compared to what we’re facing right now, I’ll do what’s best for the people, no matter what.
SM: Going back again to something you mentioned earlier with women’s reproductive health — specifically at Bonner General Health, we lost our maternity ward, we’ve lost our OBGYNs. Is there anything you can do?
KP: Fight like hell. I don’t think people realize how instrumental Russ Fulcher was in making this happen. Because I’ve seen his private town halls. I’ve seen his smaller events, and the way he talks about this is a lot different than when he’s on television or in the media. He’s out there telling rural communities that people like me believe in abortion after birth. You’re telling people we’re literally murdering babies and I get called a “baby murderer” because of that. ...
[M]y district has lost three maternity wards in Emmett, Nampa and up here in Sandpoint. We’ve lost 25% of our OB-GYNs, 50% of our maternal fetal specialists. Thank goodness, we were able to get a [maternal mortality] review board back in some capacity ...
[I]t’s not a local issue because it’s happening from the federal level, and I hear all the time, “States should be able to decide.” Well, how about we let women decide? Because there’s nobody in the government, in office, who can ever dictate what’s best for a woman [better] than an Idaho woman and her family and her physician.
And it has become impossible to attract any new kind of medical leadership into the state. Doctors don’t want to train here — even the rural programs we had to bring doctors into unattractive areas are unable to bring people in. Doctors who aren’t leaving are retiring. And this isn’t just affecting Idaho. On the Washington [and] Oregon borders, physicians are so swamped that some of them are starting to retire and worry about being sued by trigger-happy people on the pro-life front.
This has done unbelievable harm, not only at the federal level, but on a personal level. Six times as many women are being lifeflighted out of the state
for emergency care. Thankfully, they finally passed the EMTALA [Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act] protection, but Russ Fulcher was on the steps of SCOTUS arguing against that ... saying, “Emergency care has nothing to do with abortion.”
I’m sorry, but if you’re a congressman, you at least have the responsibility to understand what reproductive health looks like. And I understand this as a woman and a mother; I understand this as somebody who’s experienced pregnancy loss, but I also understand this because I talk to women, the OBGYNs, the maternal specialists across the state, and not one of them has stated anything other than, “complete autonomy for the women and doctors be able to make decisions.”
If [Fulcher] was on the ground talking to these physicians, he would say the same thing, but he’s not. He’s working with special interests on the pro-life [front]. ...
So in Congress, this would be a massive issue for me. I would be right up there, one of the loudest voices, ensuring that Idaho women have the protections that they need and Idaho physicians can practice without fear of some big government mandate throwing them in prison.
ZH: So, short of going to the Supreme Court ... what are concrete things that a person could do in Congress to alleviate problems like we have in Bonner and Boundary counties?
KP: The scariest moment on the campaign trail for me — and it sticks in my head for this very reason — is I ended up in a snowstorm having to drive from Sandpoint to Bonners Ferry and back to Sandpoint. ... I almost did not make it. And I think about, not only women who are having to drive this far when you don’t have that much time in an emergency, but just even prenatal [care] ... . But then I think about winter months, when things do get extreme and the loss of life, the loss of opportunity, how scary that must be.
I know so many people who have left the state for this reason — not just women of childbearing age who want to start families, but older women who are worried about their reproductive health, cancer screenings, things like that, things that save lives.
So I think at the federal level, we have to use Congress to codify these rights, immediately passing broad, sweeping legislation that immediately codifies every right for women to choose, every right for a physician to practice. Get the government out of this issue, because it has no place in it.
ZH: How would that work with the Supreme Court?
KP: Well, it can go to court. That’s the three branches. But I think as quickly as we can address the issue. And that’s what Fulcher has done with this Trump administration: just to throw everything at the wall, federal courts be damned. We’ve seen it have negative impacts, well, I think it’s time we turn that around. Roe was on shaky grounds because it was more privacy based, and so I think if we get more specific with the legislation and exactly what we’re protecting, medical things like that, then I think we can start circumventing what the federal courts were ruling. ...
I think that the more succinct we could be with the legislation passed — even if long-term, SCOTUS tries to fight it — then at least in the short-term we can provide some kind of relief and fight that battle at the Supreme Court level. ...
I think Congress has a ton of power to be able to provide some short-term relief while we fight the jiu-jitsu battles.
ZH: The “big, beautiful bill.” We’ve got cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP and education — you name it. Assuming that you don’t support those kinds of cuts, what cuts would you support, if any?
KP: This drives me crazy. At the national level, I don’t know how every congressperson isn’t screaming about how much this government wastes in corporate handouts. Right now, our taxpayer dollars go to fund almost $800 billion in subsidies and corporate handouts, just in the fossil fuel industry. Ninety percent of Humana’s profits come from taxpayer-funded indigent services from the government. We spend an ungodly amount of money for monopolized industries, and then we say we have to cut Social Security, which people have paid into for decades. ...
We just have rigged the game for this top 1%. And then, a lot of times when I talk to rural communities, they’re like, “Well, that’s the American dream. That’s the American success story.” I like to remind them that the top 3% of earners in this country are closer to poverty than they are to the 1%. We are not talking about successful American-made stories. We are talking about centuries of industries that have rigged the game in their favor and are paying Congress directly.
What was it? Twenty corporations spent $4 billion just in 2022 on lobbying Congress alone? How much money do you have to be saving through congressional legislation for that to make fiscal sense?
[Editor’s note: According to a January 2024 report from NBC News, an unspecified number of lobby groups spent $4.2 billion to
influence federal lawmakers in 2023. Added with state lobbyist spending, that figure rose to $5.6 billion. In 2022, combined state and federal lobbying rose to a record-breaking $5.9 billion.]
So no, we don’t need to cut Medicaid, Social Security, education, federal lands, Forest Service. We don’t need to be cutting these agencies. We need to be looking at the handouts, and many of these handouts — these subsidies — were meant to be going to small agriculture, small business, and they cannot compete in order to get this kind of money. So, I think that we need to start looking a lot higher at where we make those cuts and where those handouts are, and who’s really milking the system. ...
The amount owed to the IRS right now is staggering. It’s just under $700 billion, and the IRS has stated they only believe they can collect $90 billion of that. So, over $500 billion, just in unpaid taxes to the IRS. There are massive amounts of money, and when DOGE came in and just took a wrecking ball to the essential services that, specifically, rural communities need to survive without once looking at any of those handouts, that’s when I knew, once again, that the system is rigged against working-class people. ...
I wrote an op-ed about this and I called it — because Fulcher is touting the KEEP Act, the one bill he’s almost close to passing in seven years in office — I called it “Crumbs from a Banquet Table that We’re Not Invited To,” because that’s exactly what it is. The tax credits that they are offering are not enough to make up for the increased cost of living, the cuts in services, the cuts in agency.
Life is about to get more expensive and even harder for everyday, working-class Idahoans. “But they’ll have a tax credit at the end of it.’” And so the “big, beautiful bill” is a nightmare for most people, and most families, including mine.
I think that’s why it’s time we have that kind of representation in Congress. We need those voices more than ever, because we don’t hear from them, and I’m trying to use this campaign as a platform to give them a voice and an advocate so that they feel like they might have some kind of impact on the government. That’s what everybody wants — Republican or Democrat. They want what they say and what they need and what they do to have an impact on how government represents them.
Zach Hagadone is editor-in-chief and Soncirey Mitchell is senior writer of the Sandpoint Reader.
FEATURE
Self-sufficiency, compassion and the philosophy of ‘chugal’ LPOHS students nurture their community one garden
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
The green-thumbed students at Lake Pend Oreille High School have been giving back to the community by building and maintaining gardens of all shapes and sizes — even portable bucket gardens — to bring fresh, organic food into the community. Students develop horticulture, design and fabrication skills as they transform scrap wood and seeds into low-cost, high-yield planters, and that’s just the beginning.
“I am a firm believer that if you help others, you help yourself,” said Career Technical Education culinary arts teacher Rand Rosecrans, who built the school’s garden alongside his students.
The entire student body gives back to the community in different ways — from volunteering at the Bonner Community Food Bank to cleaning the Ponderay Bay Trail — but students in Rosecrans’ classes have devised their own unique way of helping. Not only did they build the East Bonner County Library’s garden, but they’ve recently turned their attention to self-watering gardens made from two buckets, rope and some hosing, which they donated to local veterans through the Sandpoint VFW.
“We’re community-oriented. Our goal is to be a contributing, active, important part of this community, and that’s not a reputation that the alternative school has necessarily had in the past,” said Rosecrans.
Using buckets provided by Litehouse, the gardeners run a rope through the top bucket — usually planted with a tomato — into the bottom bucket full of water, wicking moisture up into the soil. The design minimizes evaporation and requires little maintenance, making for cost-effective, easy gardens perfect for the veterans. Through their hard work and ingenuity, the students make a big impact with a non-existent budget.
“We don’t have a football team. We don’t have a pep squad. What we have here are hearts and minds that have had challenges, and having had those challenges, sometimes that makes them much more resilient, much more rigorous, much tougher. We go out and do things to try to help other
people around us, and so that’s the core of what we’re doing right here,” Rosecrans told the Reader.
Rosecrans — or “Chef” to his students — describes himself as having a “bit of the absent-minded professor reputation.” As he wanders his indoor-outdoor classroom, checking in on students writing essays, building benches and germinating plants, he instructs and encourages, even speaking the occasional Spanish. His holistic approach to teaching emphasizes self-sufficiency, compassion and hard work, and the students rise to the occasion.
“I try to give my kids a lot of voice and choice. I’m an unorthodox teacher because, a lot of times, I’ll start out my first session with, ‘Welcome to my class. The education system has failed you miserably. I plan on not doing that,’” said Rosecrans.
Between his time in Alaska and Idaho, Rosecrans has worked with high school students for around 37 years and prioritizes authenticity, transparency and honesty in his classroom. There, students cook for one another and learn technical skills, all the while ensuring that nothing goes to waste — a philosophy Rosecrans calls “chugal,” a portmanteau of “cheap” and “frugal.”
“Everything in here is basically handmade from scratch. I built this fence and most of these planters,” Ethan, one of the students working on the bucket gardens, told the Reader.
Thanks to a grant from the Sandpoint Rotary Club, students were able to purchase cedar to build a fence around their garden. Otherwise, everything else is made of donated and salvaged materials. Power tools that the students repair themselves sit atop workstations made from recycled pallets, and the classes shred every scrap of paper to incorporate into their compost and mulch, as well as their vermiculture bins, which produce the garden’s fertilizer.
Their system is designed to maximize their resources, enabling them to contribute more to the community.
“We basically just try to do something that’s as meaningful to the community as possible and share small parts of each other through, basically, agriculture and hanging out with each other,” said Ethan.
at a time
Students have planted corn, peas, onions, cucumbers, herbs and lettuce that can be harvested throughout the summer and fall to feed students and hopefully give the food bank fresh produce. Rosecrans’ teacher’s assistant, Iris, and a few other students will stop by and check on the garden periodically while school’s out, but that duty will mostly fall to Rosecrans.
“I drive by here a lot during the summer, and I always see his truck parked here. He loves his garden,” said Iris.
She and her fellow students are devoted to the work, but there was an undercurrent of sadness during the final week of school as the kids prepared to lose five teachers and many of their electives due to budget cuts. Only three new teachers will join the community next year, likely increasing the average class size.
“[The school’s] struggling a bit right now — a lot a bit — but we’re working as students and teachers, but mainly students, doing a lot to keep our school open because it’s going down low,” said Iris.
Students will have the opportunity to take electives through Sandpoint High School, but for most LPOHS pupils, who have unique time constraints and academic needs, the traditional system simply won’t work. Moreover, the students want to stay at their school.
“The kids in Chef’s class — we sit and we brainstorm ideas, and then Chef takes them to Luke [Childers,
LPOHS principal] and proposes them. Sometimes it goes positive; sometimes it doesn’t. Luke likes to hear our ideas, but we have a lot of them,” said Iris.
Nothing’s been decided, but some proposals include selling the bucket gardens and other student creations to fund the school and implementing work-study programs with area businesses to take the place of electives.
“We’re in a transition period. We’re in a time of change, and we look to ourselves to see, ‘OK, what is it that we need to do to create that change in a positive and powerful manner for our students?’” said Rosecrans.
There’s no use “whining,” according to Rosecrans — the school and the teachers have a duty, and they will provide the education and opportunities their students deserve. For now, he’s is focused on showcasing his kids’ endless compassion, intelligence and work ethic.
“I need to show everybody what my kids are about because there has been some reputation. ‘Oh, those are the bad kids, blah, blah, blah.’ That’s not true. There are no bad kids. The reality is there are bad teachers; there are bad people supervising kids; there are bad administrations,” said Rosecrans. “I know and I see the heart and soul of my kids, and as we go out into the community, we show the community what they’re about.”
LPOHS students at work in the garden.
Photo by Soncirey Mitchell
Scholarships awarded for class of 2025 seniors
By Reader Staff
Dozens of local seniors recently received scholarship awards, including at Sandpoint, Lake Pend Oreille, Clark Fork and Forrest Bird Charter high schools. At SHS alone, 80 class of 2025 students submitted more than 1,600 applications for 297 scholarships, with the annual Scholarship Night event featuring the award of $295,000.
“Pictured here are only a handful of this year’s seniors who received generous scholarships from the local community,” Lake Pend Oreille School District officials wrote.
“It’s staggering how generous our
community is,” officials wrote “Thank you to the donors who make schol-
WANT TO SUPPORT A FRIEND, CO-WORKER, OR LOVED ONE LIVING WITH MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES?
arship nights happen at our LPOSD high schools.”
NAMI hosts free seminar for family and friends of those affected by mental illness
By Reader Staff
The National Alliance on Mental Illness FarNorth chapter will host a free seminar Thursday, June 12 at the East Bonner County Library Sandpoint branch (1407 Cedar St.).
Scheduled from noon-1:30 p.m. in Conference Room B, the 90-minute Family and Friends session will
cover mental illness basics, diagnosis, treatment and recovery to assist family members, friends and co-workers of individuals who live with severe anxiety, mood or thought disorders.
Local leaders will draw on their own experiences to help attendees learn communication strategies, crisis preparation and how to access NAMI
resources to help them understand and connect with those in their lives who are affected by mental illness.
Register for the NAMI Family and Friends seminar via Zoom at nami. org/affiliate/idaho/nami-far-north. Call 208-290-1768 with additional questions.
NAMI FAMILY & FRIENDS IS A FREE 90-MINUTE PRESENTATION PROVIDING INFORMATION AND SUPPORT TO ANYONE WHOSE FAMILY, FRIENDS, OR COWORKERS LIVE WITH A MENTAL HEALTH CONDITION.
JUNE 12TH 2025
Hybrid Meeting: East Bonner County Library Sandpoint, ID, 83864, or join on Zoom
Learn about diagnoses, treatment, and recovery Gain communication strategies and crisis preparation tools
Explore NAMI resources for support
12:00 - 1:30 PM PST WHAT YOU WILL GAIN: REGISTER AT QR CODE OR CALL!
Led by individuals with personal experience in family mental health conditions
CONTACT DAWN TO SIGN UP 208-208-1768, OR EMAIL INFO@NAMIFARNORTH.ORG
Arbor Day everyday in Sandpoint: A tribute to our urban canopy
By Erik Bush Reader Contributor
As spring deepens its hold on Sandpoint and the days stretch longer under the warming sun, Arbor Day reminds us of one of our community’s greatest assets: our trees. Arbor Day, which the city celebrated May 31, is more than just a holiday to plant a tree — it’s an opportunity to recognize the incredible value our urban canopy and urban forest bring to our city. From stormwater management and temperature regulation to mental well-being and economic vitality, the benefits of trees in Sandpoint are extensive and deserve our continued investment and celebration.
The role of trees in managing stormwater
One of the most significant, though often overlooked, benefits of trees in our urban environment is their role in managing stormwater. Sandpoint, like
many communities near large bodies of water, must be vigilant about protecting water quality.
Our urban canopy acts as a green infrastructure system. Leaves and branches intercept rainfall, reducing the velocity and volume of water that hits impervious surfaces. This decreases runoff, which in turn reduces the burden on our stormwater systems and minimizes the risk of pollutants entering Lake Pend Oreille.
Tree roots also improve soil structure and increase infiltration. In well-vegetated areas, stormwater can soak into the ground, replenishing groundwater supplies and filtering out pollutants naturally. This natural process is not only cost-effective but environmentally sound, reinforcing the importance of maintaining and expanding our urban forest.
Cooling the city and combating the ‘heat island effect’
Urban areas tend to be significantly warmer than surrounding rural landscapes due to the “heat island effect.” Impervious surfaces like asphalt and concrete absorb and retain heat, driving up temperatures and increasing the demand for energy-consuming air conditioning. In Sandpoint, where summer temperatures are on the rise, this can have a substantial impact.
Trees provide shade and release moisture through transpiration, helping cool the air and lower surface temperatures. A well-shaded street can be 10-15 degrees cooler than one without tree cover. This not only makes our neighborhoods more comfortable but also reduces energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
By strategically planting and preserving trees throughout Sandpoint, especially in areas with minimal shade, we can significantly mitigate the urban heat island effect, contributing to a healthier and more sustainable community.
Shade, comfort and livability
Beyond cooling, shade contributes to the overall comfort and livability of our city. Trees make our parks more inviting, our sidewalks more walkable and our neighborhoods more pleasant. A shaded playground is safer and more enjoyable for children. A tree-lined street encourages walking and biking, promoting healthier lifestyles and
stronger social connections.
Shade also plays a critical role in transportation infrastructure. Pavement shaded by trees lasts longer and requires less maintenance, saving taxpayer dollars. In commercial areas, shade improves the pedestrian experience, encouraging foot traffic and supporting local businesses.
Mental health and well-being
Numerous studies have shown that spending time in green spaces, or even just viewing trees from a window, has a positive impact on mental health. Trees help reduce stress, anxiety and depression. They offer a sense of calm and provide a connection to nature that is essential in our increasingly digital and fast-paced world.
In Sandpoint, our urban forest supports a culture of wellness. Whether it’s a quiet moment under the canopy in Lakeview Park, a stroll along the shady paths of Travers Park or a lunch break beneath the trees at City Beach, these moments nourish our mental well-being. They are priceless, yet often taken for granted.
Wildlife habitat and biodiversity
Urban forests also serve as vital habitat for birds, pollinators and other wildlife. They create green corridors that allow species to move through the landscape and contribute to greater biodiversity. In Sandpoint, where we cherish our connection to nature, supporting urban wildlife enhances the quality of life and fosters ecological balance.
Native tree species, in particular, support local ecosystems. They provide food, nesting sites and shelter for a variety of creatures, ensuring that our urban environment remains vibrant and biologically diverse.
Economic value and property enhancement
Trees are also good for the bottom line. Properties with mature trees typically command higher values and sell faster than those without. A well-maintained urban canopy signals a thriving community and attracts visitors, new residents, and investors.
In business districts, shoppers linger longer and spend more in areas with abundant tree cover. The cooling effect of trees can reduce energy bills for homeowners and business owners
alike. For municipalities, investing in tree planting and maintenance provides a high return in avoided infrastructure costs and increased tax revenue from enhanced property values.
A living legacy for future generations
Perhaps most importantly, planting and caring for trees is a gesture toward the future. Every tree planted today is a gift to the next generation. It is a living legacy that grows more valuable with time. Trees planted by our grandparents shade our paths today; those we plant now will shade our grandchildren.
Sandpoint has a proud tradition of stewardship, and our urban forest is a reflection of that. Arbor Day is an invitation to renew that commitment, to plant with purpose and to preserve with passion. It is a time to honor the leafy sentinels that stand watch over our streets, filter our air, cool our homes and soothe our spirits.
Cultivating a greener Sandpoint
Let us take stock of the benefits our trees provide and reaffirm our dedication to their care. Let us support policies that protect mature trees, fund tree-planting programs and integrate green infrastructure into our urban planning. Let us volunteer, educate and engage with the simple but profound act of planting a tree.
Because in the end, every tree planted is a vote for a cooler, cleaner, kinder Sandpoint. And that is something worth celebrating every day.
Erik Bush is urban forester/construction manager for the city of Sandpoint. He can be contacted at ebush@sandpointidaho.gov or 208-946-2062.
Legislature’s income tax relief left low- and middle-income families behind
By May Roberts Reader Contributor
The income tax package approved by the Idaho Legislature during the 2025 session gave huge tax breaks to Idaho’s wealthiest households while leaving behind or raising costs for many working families. These policy decisions negatively impact working families and the state’s ability to support important public goods and services. A new report released by the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy highlights these harmful impacts.
Income tax cuts approved by the Legislature continue to make Idaho’s tax structure more regressive. As the latest in a series of bills to lower the income tax burden on Idahoans, the lawmakers approved House Bill 40 and H.B. 231 during the 2025 session. H.B. 40 lowered the income tax rate for all Idahoans but continued a harmful trend of making Idaho’s tax code more regressive — meaning lower-income families pay a greater share of their incomes in taxes than higher-income families.
H.B. 231 served as a small coun-
terweight to H.B. 40 by enhancing the state’s grocery tax credit. However, it was not enough to make a significant impact, and Idaho families with lower incomes continue to pay a higher share of their earnings toward state taxes.
Inaction to renew the state Child Tax Credit will increase the tax burden on middle-income families. The Idaho Legislature failed to include a renewal of the state’s CTC, which is set to expire at the end of 2025, in its income tax package. The CTC is a tax incentive that provides tax relief for families with children. It is offered by the federal government and 16 states, including Idaho, to enhance the economic security of families with children — particularly those in lowto middle-income brackets, and is very effective at combatting childhood poverty.
The decision to allow the CTC to sunset, when taken into consideration with H.B. 40 and H.B. 231, will result in no tax relief for most Idaho families with children next year. Specifically, families earning between $31,100 and $146,000 annually will not see any tax
AreYou Kidding Me?
Magician Andy Gross returns to the Panida
By Reader Staff
Ventriloquist, comedian and magician Andy Gross promises a night of laughter and illusion Saturday, June 7, with the latest stop on his Are You Kidding Me? tour. Doors open an hour early for this 7:30 p.m. show at the Panida Theater (300 N. First Ave.), which will feature audience participation, unexplainable feats and good, old-fashioned puppetry.
Gross performs on land and sea across the nation and has made multiple television appearances, including on NBC, CNN, ABC, CBS and MTV. After leaving Sandpoint, his Are You Kidding Me? tour will take him up and down the East Coast.
Gross is most famous for his ability to throw his voice, his quick-witted humor — compared by fans to Don Rickles and Robin Williams — and his “Split Man Act,” where he appears cut in half, holding his legs. Other tricks include levitating audience members and making a $100 bill appear inside
an orange.
Tickets range in price from $25 to $44, depending on seat location, at panida.org. To learn more, visit andygrosslive.com.
benefit, and families earning between $55,600 and $91,800 will actually experience an annual income tax increase of about $100.
Lawmakers must take action to ensure low- to middle-income families aren’t paying more than their share of state taxes. A more balanced tax code can be achieved by renewing the CTC, making the CTC refundable and investing in other tax credits that support low- to middle-income families — such as creating a state Earned Income Tax Credit.
The full report can be read at bit. ly/4dIJCyp.
For further analysis on H.B. 40, H.B. 231 and the CTC, visit idahofiscal.org/reports.
May Roberts is a policy analyst with the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy, which is a nonpartisan organization with a mission to offer Idahoans high quality fiscal research and analysis.
Andy Gross. Courtesy photo
Send event listings to calendar@sandpointreader.com
THURSDAY, june 5
Toshi’s Trivia Thursdays
7pm @ Connie’s Lounge Bingo Night 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Live Music w/ Brenden McCoy
6-8:30pm @ Matchwood Brewing
Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz
6-8pm @ Baxter’s on Cedar
Live Music w/ Weibe Jammin’
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Live Music w/ Chris Paradis
6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Live Music w/ Yotes
9pm-midnight @ 219 Lounge
Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz
6pm @ Arlo’s Ristorante (on the patio)
Live Music w/ Ian Newbill
6-9pm @ 1908 Saloon
Live Music w/ Suspicious PKG
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Familiar folk and blues songs
Live Music w/ Double Shot
6pm @ Connie’s Lounge
E9 Tap Takeover w/ live music by opener
Abe, then Hannah Meehan
5-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Andy Gross Comedy & Illusion
7:30pm @ Panida Theater
Comedy, magic and illusion. Get tickets at panida.org
Live Music w/ The Swingin’ Jays
8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee
Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi
7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Pool tournament
6pm @ Connie’s Lounge $10 entry fee. Every Monday
Live acoustic guitar w/ John Firshi
5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Seamless and pleasant acoustic guitar
Sandpoint Farmers’ Market
3-5:30pm @ Farmin Park
Fresh produce, artisan goods and more
Live piano w/ Peter Lucht
5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Jazz and contemporary piano
Toshi’s Trivia Thursdays
7pm @ Connie’s Lounge
June 5 - 12, 2025
Art Opening: Jeff Rosenkrans • 5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Come and meet Jeff while perusing his excellent work
FriDAY, june 6
Birds & Burritos
6am @ Pine Street Woods
Join birding expert Rich Del Carlo for an early morning bird walk in the Pine Street Woods. Also coffee and tea by Evans Bros. and breakfast burritos by Celeste Grace. $40. kaniksu.org
Live Music w/ Sydney Dawn 5-8pm @ Connie’s Lounge
SATURDAY, june 7
Old Time Fiddlers jam
2-4pm @ Sandpoint Senior Center
Watch or bring an instrument to join!
KNPS Annual Native Plant Sale
9am-noon @ Bonner Co. History Museum
A great selection of perennials, shrubs, trees and vines in the parking lot in front of the museum. Also unique handmade crafts and info
Kids Color Run
10-11am @ Travers Park
Run/walk is 0.5 miles and can be done with strollers, walkers or other mobility devices. Leave dogs/bikes at home please. Free registration with donation to the Food Bank
Live Music w/ Matt Lome 6-9pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
SunDAY, june 8
Magic with Star Alexander 5-8pm @ Jalapeño’s
monDAY, june 9
Outdoor Experience Group Run 6pm @ Outdoor Experience 3-5 miles, all levels welcome
tuesDAY, june 10
wednesDAY, june 11
Benny on the Deck
5-7:30pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Join Benny Baker and this week’s guest Kyle Swafford for this weekly music show on the Connie’s deck
ThursDAY, june 12
POAC presents: Art Appreciation Talk
6-7:30pm @ POAC Gallery
Painter Alison Barrows-Young will lead these lectures throughout the summer. This week: “The Value of Visual Artists and Their Enduring Voices” $18
Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes
6-9pm @ 1908 Saloon
Live Music w/ BTP
6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Friends of the Library monthly book sale 10am-2pm @ Sandpoint Library Featuring books on gardening, dog breeds and training, oversized coffee table books and other genres
Sandpoint Farmers’ Market
9am-1pm @ Farmin Park
Fresh produce, artisan goods, live music by Bright Moments Jazz
Scenic Hope Overlook Run
10am @ Hope Memorial Community Center
Race will start and finish at the center. $25. Organized by Ice House Pizzeria. Register: oldicehousepizza.com
Live Music w/ Justin Lantrip 6-8pm @ Baxter’s on Cedar
Family Happy Hour w/ John Firshi 5-7pm @ Matchwood Brewing Family hour every Wednesday
STAGE & SCREEN
Bring back the mushroom zombies
The Last of Us second season favored boring human drama over apocalyptic tension
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Editor’s note: Spoilers ahead.
As much as it pains me to write this, Season 2 of The Last of Us left me cold. Cold like a mushroom person in the basement of a building bombed out by pandemic apocalypse. So cold that I ended up rooting for the mushroom people in the basements of buildings bombed out by pandemic apocalypse.
That’s not a singular opinion. Casting about on the review sites, the consensus among players of the video game on which the HBO Max series is based is that Season 2 dramatically altered pretty much every storyline out of recognition with its source material.
I didn’t even know it was a game when I tuned into Season 1, but swiftly fell in love with the grim and brooding characters as they navigated increasingly high-stakes situations. The friendship between Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) was so fraught with genuine loss morphed into familial love that I couldn’t think of anything comparable in a recent small-screen series.
The choices they had to make and the ways those choices altered them — especially when they resulted in friction or even resentment — felt real. By comparison, Season 2 concluded on May 25 leaving an overall feeling of soap-operatic hot air.
It’s clear that a lot of people have a lot of opinions — many misogynistic and/or homophobic — about how the series has played out in fidelity to the game. I don’t really care about that. HBO Max made this show to appeal to a broad audience, and I’m a part of that.
With the exception of a few
instances in a few episodes, Season 2 failed on basic storytelling levels.
The first major hurdle was the opening episode, which took place five years after Joel’s Rambo-style rescue of Ellie from a hospital, in which she was about to be vivisected for science in order to find a cure for the fungal plague that had brought down the world decades before.
You see, Ellie is immune to infection by the cordyceps — a fungus that takes over animal bodies and controls their brains, turning them into flesh-eating zombies (a real thing, but only a threat to organisms like ants... for now).
Joel’s mission in Season 1 was to bring her to a facility where her immunity could be investigated and replicated. However, their en route travails built such a bond of love and trust that he would have rather let the world remain mushroomed than see her die. Hence, the rampage/rescue.
After all that tension and meaningful catharsis, it was hard to be dropped into a walled-in version of Jackson, Wyo. — a self-satistied fortress city full of Pendleton wool-wearing hunky cowboy “Real Western” dudes whose
only apparent threats seemed to come from 20-somethings who hate their “dad.” (I imagine not unlike present-day Jackson.)
For real, Ellie’s characterization was so annoying right off the bat that I walked away from the TV more than a few times.
Romance, interpersonal drama, coming-of-age, blah, blah, blah. All that happened. Then, in Episode 2, Joel got clubbed to death (literally, with a golf club) by a brandnew character (Abby) in what appeared to be an abandoned finance bro’s mountaintop lodge-mansion. Amid all that, we learn that Abby’s been on a vengeance hunt because her doctor-dad was among the dozens cut down by Joel in the hospital where Ellie was being held five years before.
The brutality of that killing notwithstanding — and it is excruciatingly graphic — Abby is a nonentity. That could be the fault of the performer (Kaitlyn Dever), who somehow managed to be so icily intense that it came off as hammy. I’m not sure how she did that, but either she deserves an Emmy or a Razzie.
Following that, the rest of the season played out in what
BY THE NUMBERS
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
277
The number of federal judges threatened during the first five months of 2025. In all of 2024, 379 federal judges were the targets of threats, according to U.S. Marshals Service data.
2.88%
The average Gross Domestic Product growth under Democratic presidents since 1970, as opposed to 0.94% during Republican presidents’ terms.
$300 million
felt like an overlong montage of set pieces in Seattle, where Ellie and her lover Dina (a weirdly smug and insufferable Isabela Merced) are tracking down Abby to kill her for killing Joel for killing Abby’s dad... meanwhile we meet a bunch of other people that it’s very hard to care about, while Joel’s heroic brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) dutifully takes it upon himself to save everyone with little to no thanks, and gets shot for it.
You see how this might all get a little tedious — especially with the mostly absent mushroom zombies, who gave Season 1 its baseline sense of mortal dread.
By the finale, when Ellie gets captured by a bunch of scar-faced cultists, inexplicably escapes and is motoring her way to downtown Seattle in a dinghy to exact her revenge, it’s long past time to give a rip about any of it.
My recommendation to bring this series back to life: Bring back the mushroom zombies.
Both seasons are streaming on HBO Max, but I’ll stick with Season 1.
The amount of money House Republicans have allocated in their budget to pay for President Donald Trump’s golf trips. Of his 135 days in office, Trump has spent 33 days golfing, amounting to almost 25% of his presidency spent on the links.
$0
The amount of money House Republicans have allocated in their budget toward Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, funding, which provides aid to Americans affected by natural disasters like tornados and hurricanes.
10
The number of non-existent books on a “summer reading list” published by the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper after a syndicated columnist used AI to generate the list. The “writer,” Marco Buscaglia responded, “Huge mistake on my part and has nothing to do with the Sun-Times. They trust that the content they purchase is accurate and I betrayed that trust. It’s on me 100%.”
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. Courtesy photo
‘What a long,
strange
trip it’s been’
From Jerry Fest to Summer Fest, 30 years of musical memories
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
When the iconic Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia died in the summer of 1995, a light went out in the world. However, Deadheads have kept his spirit alive by continuing the way of life championed by Garcia, which included love, music, counterculture and freedom of expression.
In Sandpoint, a group of Deadheads started a tradition called Jerry Fest that lived on every year until 2024, when the last remnants of that summer musical gathering that had then morphed into Summer Fest held its last show at the Eureka Center in Sagle.
Property owner Steve Holt confirmed to the Reader that Summer Fest at Eureka Center was no longer happening. Holt has been busy preparing to list the property for sale and said a variety of reasons have contributed to the end of hosting public events at the forested venue.
“It was a combo of things,” he said, listing the birth of a new grandson, falling in love, purchasing an RV, and hoping to hit the road and embracing family time. Also, obtaining affordable insurance for commercial events in wildfire zones has become something akin to spotting a surfing unicorn.
“I think I’m ready to move to the next chapter,” Holt said.
The music festival began as Jerry Fest, a loose gathering of locals who wanted to celebrate the music of the Dead and spend quality time together.
“After Jerry died, we just decided to have a party,” said John Edwards, one of the co-founders of Jerry Fest and member of the first and only band that played it the first few years, Edwardspark, along with bandmate Chris Park. (Fun local fact: The name was coined by famed local musician Charley Packard after seeing them play as a duo at an open mic at Bugatti’s.)
After hopping around to a few locations the first few years, Jerry Fest landed at the Eureka Center in Sagle and remained a staple of the
summer music scene in North Idaho for decades. Many had no idea it existed; others planned their entire summer around it.
Starting with just Edwardspark playing, Jerry Fest slowly expanded to invite other performers.
“We hired another band, then the year after, we had a couple more,” Edwards said. “Then we said, ‘Let’s do two days instead of one.’”
The location at the Eureka Center really tied the room together, so to speak. Surrounded by trees and affording privacy, adequate parking and camping space, the festival became a staple for locals who valued music, community and love over all the material things that get in the way of the good life.
Edwards’ wife Mesha helped design the stage and grounds, adding a funky flair that carried on each year. Brietta Leader brought a dance and yoga element to the grounds. Park helped plan the parties.
“And of course Jeff [Nizzoli], Doug [Clark], Reese [Warren] at Eichardt’s were a big part, too,” Edwards said. “Reese was always the cook out there and really held it together, especially when it evolved into an all-inclusive thing in the later years.”
At some point in the mid-2010s, Jerry Fest morphed into Summer Fest, mainly to help open the show to those who might be intimidated by the Grateful Dead.
“You have to remember, back in
the day the Dead had a bad rap,” Edwards said. “They weren’t an accepted commodity back then.”
With a new name and You have all-inclusive and included drinks and food with ticket purchases, attendees could show up with just the clothes on their back (or lack thereof) and party all weekend.
“I had so many memorable times there,” Edwards said. “Playing on stage, the audience was so receptive. Everybody was together.”
Though Summer Fest is not happening in 2025, there are sparks of hope for the locals’ event to live on in the future.
Robb Talbott, of Mattox Farm Productions, said he and a dozen others are throwing ideas together to possibly find a venue to bring it back.
“I don’t want to see it die completely,” Talbott told the Reader. “I’d love to be a part of bringing it back.”
Talbott acknowledged there are three main challenges to overcome to bring back Summer Fest: finding a suitable venue, obtaining the necessary insurance to make it happen and securing funding.
“To do all of this is rather expensive nowadays,” he said. “If Summer Fest comes back, we’re going to have to figure it out as a community. It’ll be a group effort if it happens.”
The sounds of live music and gathering friends might be absent from the forest this year, but don’t discount the power of this community to keep the things alive that matter most.
Various scenes from Jerry Fest and Summer Fest over the past three decades, including an original performance by Edwardspark, the first band to play the annual music festival’s history. Photos courtesy of John Edwards
COMMUNITY
Sandpoint Renaissance Association seeking volunteers
By Reader Staff
The Sandpoint Renaissance Association is holding a volunteer information meeting Saturday, June 7 at 10 a.m. at Flying S Title and Escrow (414 Church St., Ste. 200, in Sandpoint).
All interested local residents, community volunteer teams and current volunteers of the 2025 Sandpoint Renaissance Faire are invited to attend for more information on volunteer details, staffing needs and the organization’s overall mission.
RSVP on the event listing through the “Sandpoint Renaissance Faire Volunteers” Facebook group. There will be refreshments as well as a giveaway for volunteers who
wear Sandpoint Renaissance Faire T-shirts, swag or their faire garb to the meeting.
This year’s Sandpoint Renaissance Faire is scheduled for Saturday, June 28-Sunday, June 29, and is approximately 75% volunteer staffed. Event organizers are still in need of assistance with parking attendants, entry gate workers, and the information and merchandise booth, as well as breakdown following the event.
This week’s RLW by Soncirey Mitchell
KNPS announces Annual Native Plant Sale, other June events
By Reader Staff
The annual Kinnikinnick Native Plant Society sale will spring up Saturday, June 7 in the space between the Native Plant Arboretum and the Bonner County History Museum in Lakeview Park, off S. Ella Avenue, in Sandpoint.
A fundraiser for KNPS, the sale is a highlight for gardeners and native plant enthusiasts throughout the area. The sale will run from 9 a.m.noon, when most of the plant inventory will be sold out, if
Those who would like to volunteer but are unable to attend the meeting — or for additional questions — are invited to contact the volunteer coordinator at emily@ sandpointrenaissancefaire.com. The volunteer form is available at sandpointrenfaire.com/ volunteers. past sales are any indication.
In addition to native trees, shrubs and perennials grown by Athol-based native plant nursery Cedar Mountain Perennials, there will be a selection of garden art, KNPS publications, and the annual bake sale with coffee and treats available by donation.
Idaho Master Naturalists will have a booth with information and bluebird nest boxes for sale, and the Mighty Monarchs will be on hand with seeds and planting info to add native milkweed to your
Yotes, 219 Lounge, June 6
The rockabilly sensation, Yotes, is stopping by the Niner on his Pacific and Inland Northwest tour, bringing with him his more than 20 years of experience in country, punk, folk and blues bands. The Johnny Cash-esque baritone flies solo, playing music from the ’50s onward, plus the work of friends and contemporaries he meets along the way. He’s most at home
performing retro originals off his 2023 and 2024 albums, 100% Steel Cut and Tanks of Unleaded, respectively, which show off his dulcet tones and tributes to the classic stars that inspired him.
— Soncirey
Mitchell
9 p.m., FREE, 21+. 219 Lounge, 219 N. First Ave., 208-263-5673, 219lounge.com. Listen at yotesmusic.com.
garden to attract monarch butterflies.
In conjunction with the plant sale and the History Museum’s Hands on History First Saturday event — which offers free admission and engaging exhibits — KNPS will provide clay pots to paint. Flower seedlings, donated by All Season’s Garden and Floral, will also be available to plant and take home.
Another KNPS elementary-age kids’ activity will take place on Wednesday, June 25 as part of National Pollinator
Week. KNPS will supply the chalk and the History Museum will donate its cement walkway to be decorated with drawings of pollinating critters. That event will take place 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Pictures of various pollinators will be available for inspiration, along with information about the important job they do.
For more information on these events and other KNPS activities, visit nativeplantsociety.org.
Whalien, 219 Lounge, June 7
It’s hard to imagine a more appropriate band than Whalien to kick off the first weekend of June at the Niner. Get a load of this description from the Seattle-based four-piece: “Since the dawn of humankind, our species has asked one question: ‘How does one really, really rock?’
This question, pondered by philosophers, scientists, leaders, movers and shakers for millennia, is finally being answered. Whalien travels the globe, mov-
ing with the crash of thunder and the poise of the lotus, showing listeners everywhere how to really, really rock.” The only addendum should be a reference to “eclectic jam prog fusion,” costumes and crazy hats, and “glitter and sparkle.” You know what to do with all of that.
— Zach Hagadone
9 p.m., FREE, 21+. 219 Lounge, 219 N. First Ave., 208-263-5673, 219lounge.com. Listen at whalienmusic.com.
READ LISTEN
Watching Department Q (see “Watch,” below) has led me to revisit literary critic and activist Edward Said’s seminal work Orientalism, which examines the way Western culture portrays everything east of “Europe” (though Europe means different things to different people). Said’s work exposed how European colonialism created the image of the dangerous, mysticized “Orient” to promote the idea of Western superiority and increase political power. Consider Said’s theories while watching the character of Akram Salim in Netflix’s Department Q.
I recently discovered Australian pub rock band Amyl and the Sniffers, who capture the sound of early ’80s punk with a female vocalist, making all of my edgy high school dreams a reality. The group has all the raunchy, explicit lyrics you’d expect from a punk band, but it was the simple song “Security” that hooked me. It takes punk’s harsh sound and turns it into an endearing, funny story of a woman stuck outside a pub. Listen on Spotify.
WATCH
The Netflix show Department Q caught my eye both because I love British thrillers and have had a crush on star Matthew Goode for more than a decade. The binge-worthy crime drama revolves around Detective Carl Morck’s return to the force after a shooting that left one officer dead and his partner paralyzed. Morck is tasked with establishing a new cold case division and immediately stumbles onto a case that will consume his life and career.
Scenes from the 2024 Renaissance Faire. Photos by Karley Coleman
From Pend Oreille Review, June 4, 1920
BAD LIQUOR PUTS TWO IN HOSPITAL DEMENTED
John Hunt of Priest River and Frank Smeader, brought to the City hospital late last month suffering from a mental derangement alleged to have been caused from drinking bad liqour, have shown but slight signs of improvement to date. Hunt was brought here by friends May 23, while Smeader came in himself May 21 as his mind began to slip. Both are lumberjacks.
Dr. O.F. Page, who is treating both cases, has been able to gain practically no assistance in diagnosis from the men themselves as the minds of both are in such a confused state that neither has so far been able to tell anyone the name or nature of the stuff they drank. The more favored conjecture attempts to place the blame on wood alcohol, the cause of the nationwide wave of deaths and blindness attending holiday celebrations last winter.
At times the sufferers can carry on a rational conversation but never for more than a few minutes. Most of the time they are in a state of palsied repose and give way to nausea when they attempt to gain or keep their feet on the floor. The progress of their recovery has been so slow that Dr. Page, according to his statement, is unable to make any accurate prediction as to the time or degree of their more complete recovery.
BACK OF THE BOOK
on writing for free
By Sandy Compton Reader Columnist
After 61 days away traveling the West — with 10 days on Maui thrown into the middle — it’s good to be home. I drove 7,434.8 miles, took way too many pictures, played golf, skied, ate out my cooler, camped out, stayed with friends and stayed within budget.
It was a good break from the “real” world. The campsite gods treated me well, I got a dandy tan and had good adventures. Following twuad (twisting, winding, up-and-down) roads and blue highways, I avoided most urban craziness, dipping into it briefly at Vegas; Salt Lake; South Lake Tahoe; Tigard, Ore.; and Portland.
I really can’t blame people for moving away from places like that, but I wish they’d leave some of their lifeways behind — like the big-ass-truck syndrome and bumper-riding. U.S. 95 and Highway 200 are not I-15 at Salt Lake, folks. Ease up. Ten seconds saved ain’t worth the stress you put on yourself and others.
Slowing down has been my basic message since 1987, when I began writing a column for the Bonner News Digest. This was after a bunch of years of wandering in my personal wilderness, trying to get my head screwed on straight, which I kind of did. Not completely, but I don’t know many people who have their heads completely screwed on straight.
I’ve continued since to write that
STR8TS Solution
we need to decrease speed; take better care of each other and the planet; quite buying stuff we don’t need and can’t afford; quit trying to be like people who there is no way on God’s green earth we are going to be like; turn off the titillating, violent, formulaic bullshit on TV; and get outside.
I’ve not had a television since 1978, but I still like to watch sports and TVs are everywhere. In occasional motel stays, I did discover what appears to be a Harry Potter channel, which is almost worth suffering the commercials to watch, but “reality” TV goes to great lengths to suck us in with unreal scenarios — we must be really bored. Television sports now include six minutes of ads with each timeout, inning change or change of possession, all trying to get us to buy stuff we don’t need and can’t afford.
After writing for Bonner News Digest, I wrote for Sandpoint Newsline and The River Journal — all for free. After 38 years, I still don’t get paid. I’ve had appreciative readers, though, and managed to piss off ultra-conservatives on a regular basis — gratifying in itself — but I don’t feel I’ve changed many minds or changed the direction of our culture, which seems bent on self-destruction through self-gratification.
Just over half of American citizens have made a hero out of a man who should be in prison or an asylum. We’ve also elected a bunch of spineless men and women who are so afraid of him that they’ve given up their souls
Sudoku Solution
and responsibilities to the people who elected them. Between his insanity, that of his appointees and our “representatives’” lack of guts, much of the good our country has accomplished in the past 75 years is being ripped out by the roots.
Hopefully, the past four months have opened enough eyes that midterm elections will change our direction from dissolution by executive order toward a return to sanity. Those who still believe they voted for the right person either voted for Kamala Harris or aren’t paying attention.
If that pisses you off, I don’t care. I’m not writing to make anybody happy, or, evidently, to make a fortune. I’m writing to do my part in saving our country.
Crossword Solution
If you saw two guys named Hambone and Flipper, which one would you think liked dolphins the most? I’d say Flipper, wouldn’t you? You’d be wrong, though. It’s Hambone.
Solution on page 22
Laughing Matter
CROSSWORD
By Bill Borders
ACROSS
1. Relinquish
6. Gulf port
10. Play parts
14. Proprietor
15. Captain of the Nautilus
16. The central part
17. Slogan
18. In the center of
19. Hint
20. Heliotrope 22. Peel
23. Overact 24. Little kisses
on page 22
Solution on page 22
[adjective]
Week of the
Corrections: I must not flub. Flubs are the mind-killers. Flubs are the little-death that brings total obliteration to newsrooms everywhere. magniloquent /mag-NIL-uh-kwuhnt/
1. speaking or expressed in a lofty or grandiose style; pompous; bombastic; boastful.
“His star power is based on brains and brawn; he can recite magniloquent phrases while also giving the impression that he could fillet an enemy, Jason Bourne style, armed with only a Bic pen.”
