Reader_May16_2024

The week in random review

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

faux brand tricksters

Companies spend millions of dollars on branding in the hopes that consumers will build lasting relationships with their products. If you doubt this tactic works, try purchasing one of the “fake” brands out there that are packaged to look identical to their more popular competitor. These often hilarious impressions can backfire on consumers, who not only didn’t get what they wanted, but also felt duped into buying some fugazi. Fans of sriracha sauce know there’s only one brand that’s worthy of a place in your kitchen:

Huy Fong Foods with the big rooster on the label. However, don’t fall for the Nhan Con Ngong Bay Flying Goose brand, which looks almost identical to Huy Fong but has a flying goose instead of a rooster on the label. Tricksy tricksy. Or Franz breads packaging Hawaiian bread identical to King’s Hawaiian breads, which have been crowned bread royalty for a reason. There are a bunch of other examples in this strange liminal food space, including Butter It’s Not! instead of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! (also runner-up, I Think It Tastes Like Butter); Mountain Drive instead of Mountain Dew; Fruit Rings instead of Fruit Loops; KatKot bars instead of KitKat (with the slogan, “Have a break, Have a Kat Kot); Creme Betweens instead of Oreos; Detos instead of Doritos; Thick Mints instead of Thin Mints; and, finally, the Circle K “Big MacDougal Burger,” which is like some gas station knockoff of the Big Mac.

lifetimes ago

We are closer to the U.S. Civil War from 18611865 than one might think. Though it ended more than 159 years ago, the last widow of a Civil War veteran died in December 2020. In 1936, 17-year-old Helen Viola Jackson married Union soldier James Bolin, who had served in the 14th Missouri Cavalry. Bolin was 93 when they married. Jackson met the veteran when her father volunteered to help the elderly man with basic chores. With no other means to repay her kindness, Bolin offered to marry Jackson so she would become eligible to receive his pension after he died. The marriage was never made public for fear that it would damage Jackson’s reputation. She continued to live with her parents and, following Bolin’s death three years later, Jackson ultimately declined applying for the $73.13 monthly pension checks after Bolin’s daughters threatened to ruin her reputation. The secret wasn’t revealed until 2017, when Jackson told her pastor about it while planning for her own funeral.

quotable

“We learn from experience that men never learn from experience.”

— George Barnard Shaw, playwright

DEAR READERS,

Election Day is Tuesday, May 21, with polls open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Please take the time to become informed on which candidates best represent you (read past editions of the Reader, check out Election Central on sandpointonline.com and check out candidate interviews and forum recordings on KRFY.org to start with). If you’re thinking of sitting this one out because it’s just a primary, don’t. Primary elections matter a lot in Idaho. Remember, if you don’t vote, you can’t complain.

The Reader and sandpointonline.com are hosting a media survey, which we used to do annually before the pandemic. If you’d like to win $100 in free dining at Heart Bowls and MickDuff’s, set aside five minutes and visit bit.ly/SandpointMediaSurvey-2024 to take the survey sharing which local media outlets you use regularly. Your participation really helps us.

Thanks, as always, and here’s a big cheers to the end of election season — at least for a few months.

– Ben Olson, publisher

READER

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About the Cover

This week’s cover designed by Ben Olson.

What to know about the May 21 primary Candidates, contributions

and what else is on the

ballot

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

Voting in the 2024 primary election will take place in person at the polls from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 21, though early voting continues from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday, May 17 at the Bonner County Elections Office (1500 Hwy. 2, Ste. 124, in Sandpoint).

The deadline to request a mail-in absentee ballot has passed, as has the deadline to register online, though voters are reminded that they can register at the polls on Election Day.

Local ballots will include candidates for U.S. House, Idaho Senate and House, as well as District 1 and 3 county commissioners, county sheriff, prosecuting attorney, assessor, and Democratic and Republican Party committeemen.

To find your polling place, check voter registration, or for any other election-related information, visit the Idaho Secretary of State’s new election website at voteidaho.gov/ election-information.

To watch local election results after the polls close May 21, go to bonnercountyid.gov/ elections.

Who’s on the ballot?

On the ballot for District 1 Senate will be incumbent Scott Herndon, R-Sagle, facing off for the third time against former-Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle.

Running in the Republican primary for Idaho House Seat 1A will be incumbent Mark Sauter, Jane Sauter (no relation to Mark Sauter) and Spencer Hutchings. Karen Mathee is seeking the House 1A seat unopposed in the Democratic primary. In the House 1B seat Republican primary will be Chuck Lowman and Cornel Rasor, while Democrat

Kathryn Larson will face Bob Vickaryous.

In the Republican primary for the District 1 Bonner County commissioner seat will be James Burroughs, Brian Domke and Brian Riley. Meghan Yeats is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Republicans vying for the District 3 commissioner’s seat are incumbent Luke Omodt, Dimitry Borisov and Ron Korn.

Incumbent Sheriff Daryl Wheeler is facing current District 3 Commissioner Steve Bradshaw in the Republican primary, while Assessor Dennis Engelhardt and Prosecuting Attorney Louis Marshall are unopposed.

The Bonner County Democratic Party will have 15 precinct committee candidates on the ballot (all unopposed) while the Republicans will have 30 — 15 of which are contested, part of what statewide media and other observers have reported as a trend throughout the state GOP amid a “battle for the soul” of the party, as the Idaho Capital Sun described it in a May 13 article.

A number of familiar names on the ballot will also appear in Republican races for committee positions, including Mark Sauter vs. Dodie Glass for the Dover precinct; Korn against Barbara Schriber and Kathy Rose for the Grouse Creek precinct; Hutchings vs. Rasor in Southside; Borisov for Clark Fork and Herndon against Woodward in the Westmond precinct.

Meanwhile, Larson is running unopposed in the Democratic primary for the Sagle precinct committee position.

The District 1

Republican ballot will also include U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher, running unopposed, while Democrats will see Kaylee Peterson running unopposed for U.S. House. Constitution Party ballots will feature Brendan J. Gomez for District 1 U.S. representative, while Libertarian Party voters will see Matt Loesby for U.S. House. Both are unopposed in their respective primaries.

Republicans in District 2 will see unopposed candidates Fulcher for U.S. House, Phil Hart for Idaho Senate, Heather Scott for House Seat A and Dale Hawkins for Seat B, as well as candidates for Bonner County commissioner, sheriff, assessor, prosecuting attorney and precinct committeemen.

Democrats will have Peterson for U.S. House on their ballots, as well as Tom Hearn for Idaho Senate, Loree Peery for House Seat A and Yeats for county commissioner — all unopposed.

Voters of all parties in Districts 1 and 2 will see Idaho Supreme Court Judge G. Richard Bevan, Appeals Court Judge David W. Gratton and Judge Jessica Marie Lorello all unopposed on the ballot for another six-year term.

Battle of the war chests

An uptick in contested precinct committee positions isn’t the only headline-grabbing element of the 2024 Idaho primary — the unusually large campaign war chests of some candidates is also making news. So much so, that Idaho Republican Gov. Brad Little told reporters on May 2 that the amount of money raised during this primary has given him “pause” and makes him “yearn for the good old days” of less fractious elections.

That trend is particularly striking with the District 1 Senate race between Herndon and Woodward.

As of May 15, the most re-

cent campaign finance figures reported by the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office showed Woodward and Herndon were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 statewide for total contributions.

Below is the most recent breakdown of the top-five statewide candidates by total contribution:

• Idaho Senate candidate Jim Woodward, R-Sagle: $128,772.55

• Sen. Scott Herndon, R-Sagle: $110,864.97

• Rep. Steve Berch, D-Boise: $107,769.90

• Kootenai County Sheriff Robert “Bob” Norris: $94,056.94

• Sen. Chuck Winder, R-Boise: $84,160.87

Woodward, who served two terms as District 1 senator until a loss to Herndon in the 2022 Republican primary, has so far taken in $96,747.55 from individuals and $24,425 from companies, with $123,547.55 coming from in-state compared to $5,225 from out-of-state sources.

Herndon, who is seeking his second term in the Statehouse, has raised $98,330.98 from individuals and $8,100 from companies, with $106,536.39 coming from inside the state and $5,278.58 from out-of-state.

The House 1A and 1B contests have been less high-profile than the senate race, but still reported healthy fundraising numbers as of May15:

House 1A:

• Mark Sauter, R: $37,836

• Spencer Hutchings, R: $10,669.99

• Jane Sauter, R: $8,235.97

• Karen Mathee, D: $6,229.17

< see PRIMARY, Page 5 >

House 1B:

• Cornel Rasor, R: $26,132.26

• Chuck Lowman, R: $10,907.13

• Kathryn Larson, D: $10,066.27

• Bob Vickaryous, D: $0

A handful of the county races, however, have included fundraising numbers comparable to — or even exceeding — some legislative campaigns. Below is the most recent breakdown for the local races by total contribution:

District 1 Bonner County commissioner:

• Brian Domke, R: $19,006.45

• Brian Riley, R: $6,791

• James Burroughs, R: $0

• Meghan Yeats, D: No data available

District 3 Bonner County commissioner:

• Ron Korn, R: $13,718.75

• Luke Omodt, R: $8,490

• Dimitry Borisov, R: $7,760

Bonner County sheriff:

• Daryl Wheeler, R: $9,920

• Steve Bradshaw, R: $0

West Bonner levy

Aside from the candidates, District 2 voters will have a $4,648,217 one-year supplemental levy to consider for the West Bonner County School District.

Almost $2.7 million of the levy would go toward salaries and benefits to recruit and retain staff, followed by administration, then safety and security maintenance — the latter including roofing, HVAC/boiler work, plumbing, services and supplies.

In addition, the district is seeking to fund a school resource officer; extracurricular activities; transportation, including new buses and supplies; child nutrition; curricular materials; technology; and cover increases in health and liability insurance.

Taxpayers are estimat-

ed to pay an average annual $94.43 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, beginning July 1, 2024 and ending June 30, 2025.

Kootenai-Ponderay Sewer District

Voters who reside within the boundaries of the Kootenai-Ponderay Sewer District — which comprises some, but not all, voters in the Airport, Beach, Kootenai and Oden precincts — will have a measure on their ballots to consider, consisting of whether to finance as much as $18.5 million of an estimated $32 million project to construct improvements to the district’s wastewater system.

Specifically, the ballot measure asks voters to consider issuing sewer revenue bonds in an amount up to but not exceeding $18.5 million to go toward construction of a mechanical treatment facility needed to comply with effluent limits set by state and federal law — including meeting discharge standards into Boyer Slough — as well as planting trees, improving irrigation and relining the storage lagoon at the district’s land application reuse site.

According to the official statement on the ballot, the average annual cost to taxpayers would be $92.41. Because the proposed bonds would be payable only from revenues of the wastewater system, there would be no tax based on assessed value per year.

The measure indicates that the total amount to be repaid at 2.5% interest over 40 years would be $29.3 million, including about $10.8 million in interest.

Visit voteidaho.gov or bonnercountyid.gov/elections for more information on all things election-related.

Army Corps says lake might remain at current water level until late May

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

Observers of Lake Pend Oreille can’t help but notice that the water isn’t rising as quickly as in years past, prompting consternation among many lake users eager to get their boats out of winter storage and property owners wondering when their docks will be usable.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates the dams that regulate water levels in Lake Pend Oreille, stated in a news release May 15 that a spill gate at Albeni Falls Dam had been removed the day before in order to protect against flooding. It also reduced flows and reduced flows through the powerhouse to keep the current lake level steady.

Meanwhile, officials stated that operations will remain restricted at Albeni Falls, located outside Oldtown, while the Corps investigates flaws and defects discovered on a spillway gate during a rehabilitation project in April.

All that means the Corps is keeping gate movements at a minimum, and current models show that “maintaining current Lake Pend Oreille elevation until late May might be necessary,” according to a statement.

Lake Pend Oreille typically reaches its full summer pool level of 2,062.5 feet between early June at the earliest and early July at the latest.

“Even with lower-than-normal snowpack recorded in the basin, there still is significant uncertainty in the inflow forecasts both in terms of total volume and snowpack runoff timing,” the Corps stated, noting that once the risk of flood is past, the lake will be brought to normal summer pool elevations “as

quickly as possible.”

“We need to keep storage space available to guard against the potential for rain or snow events that can lead to sudden spring high inflows,” stated Albeni Falls Dam Operating Project Manager Amanda Smith. “The basin is extremely large so there is a lot to consider when monitoring the conditions. These rain events can happen in any year, so we are being cautious during refill operations.”

Rep. Mark Sauter, R-Sandpoint, said he’d been in touch with the offices of Idaho Congressmen Jim Risch, Mike Crapo and Russ Fulcher to express his concern, as well as Gov. Brad Little’s office, the Idaho Department of Lands, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and other local officials and stakeholders.

“My read is they are operating with an abundance of caution,” he told the Reader in an email. “The gates haven’t failed. It sounds like they are keeping the water down so they don’t get caught having to open the gates unnecessarily.”

According to a letter distributed by Lake Pend Oreille Alliance Board Member Dennis Hall to his organization,

the delay in filling the lake to its summer pool “will affect your ability to use your boat. This will have negative effects on the local economy, tourism, fishing and activity on our lake guaranteed by Senate Document No. 9.”

According to the 1949 federal document often referred to as Document No. 9, Albeni Falls Dam was to be operated for a multitude of purposes, including power generation and to serve navigation, flood control, fish and wildlife conservation, and recreational needs.

“Our economy rises and falls with the level of the lake, so I’m very concerned, but respect the damages that could occur should a failure or simply a very high flow below the dam occur,” Sauter wrote.

More details on when the lake will reach its summer level will be reported as they’re made available.

To receive updates from Albeni Falls on changes in outflow and projected lake elevation, email uppercolumbiawm@usace.army.mil and request to be added to the list.

The current lake level at Sandpoint City Beach as of May 15.

Photo by Ben Olson.

With Sandpoint leaving Selkirk Fire JPA, Jeff Armstrong selected as new chief

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

It has been about a month since Sandpoint Mayor Jeremy Grimm broke a tie vote of the City Council to start the clock on disengaging from the Selkirk Fire Joint Powers Agreement, and member districts have announced the selection of Jeff Armstrong to serve as chief.

Armstrong served as deputy fire chief of the JPA, which up until last month included the Sandpoint, Sagle and Westside fire districts in an agreement to share personnel, equipment and other infrastructure. He also serves as the interim fire chief for the Northside Fire District, in which capacity he will continue with support from the JPA Board.

“We believe this unique fire service model to be a proven success, providing coordination, cost savings and a higher level of service to our communities,” Selkirk Fire officials wrote. “Your fire districts continue to search for ways to provide adequate service to the community in the most cost-effective manner; however, funding and staffing continues to be a challenge.”

The JPA was founded in 2014 and later amended and expanded — including a decision to classify all fire service personnel as city employees. Sandpoint’s decision to leave the JPA will be effective in late June, 60 days from the vote in mid-April to unwind its participation.

The continuation of the JPA had been a hot political topic for months, with members of the firefighter union going public in September 2023 that they were unhappy with the leadership of former-City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton as then-executive director of the JPA, and raised a number of concerns about management and other policies that they said put first responders’ safety at risk.

Grimm ran for mayor with strong support from the union and Selkirk Fire members, though shortly after taking office indicated that he supported decoupling Sandpoint from the agreement and returning to the previous model in which the city operated its own independent fire department.

In April, Grimm said that if the other fire districts sought to establish a new “enhanced” JPA — equivalent to a new regional fire taxing district — the city would have to go its own way

because it was unclear on what legal grounds such an agreement would operate, since it became clear through further deliberation that Idaho law did not allow for the creation of such an entity.

What’s more, “even if they come back with a legally supported enhanced JPA that council wants to participate in — the budget process is such that we are moving forward with a budget as an independent fire department with a chief and nine firefighters.”

Councilors Justin Dick, Pam Duquette and Kyle Schrieber all spoke in favor of sticking with the JPA at least through September, in order to give Selkirk Fire officials time to research and potentially propose a new agreement.

Council President Deb Ruehle, however, argued Sandpoint benefited the least from the JPA, and extending the partnership would only result in “more time spent in the same place to come up with the same decision.”

That said, she suggested that if at some point the Legislature puts in place a statute allowing for the creation of an “enhanced” JPA that’s then approved by voters, “I am more than happy to join,” but, “that is going to be quite far down the road.”

Ruehle made the motion to withdraw from the JPA with 60 days notice, to which she and Councilors Joel Aispuro and Rick Howarth voted in favor, with Dick, Duquette and Schreiber voting “no.” Grimm’s vote broke the tie in favor of Sandpoint’s departure from the agreement.

Meanwhile, in a recent announcement, Selkirk Fire officials stated that staffing levels at the various districts and emergency response plans will not change — including providing automatic aid to Sandpoint.

During the next year, Selkirk Fire will undertake a strategic planning process and engage with community members to find ways to improve service.

“We want to hear from you and understand more of what you expect from your fire districts,” Selkirk Fire stated. “Please consider attending your local fire commission meetings or reaching out to provide input.”

For more information, including location and times of fire commission meetings, visit selkirkfire.com. Contact Chief Jeff Armstrong at jarmstrong@ selkirkfire.com.

Bits ’n’ Pieces

From east, west and beyond

East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact. A recent sampling: Who’s ahead? That changes when pollsters only count likely voters, the National Review reported. An NBC poll showed Donald Trump ahead in the presidential election, but when non-voters were omitted, Joe Biden had a ninepoint lead.

A motion to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, made by far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, failed 359-43. Greene accused Johnson of being “pathetic, weak and unacceptable.”

The rising cost of groceries has two sources, according to Food and Water Watch: corporations that price gouge and “decades of unwillingness” in D.C. to combat food monopolies.

Up to 20% of retail pasteurized milk shows traces of bird flu, the Food and Drug Administration reported, noting that pasteurization “right now” is effective at killing H5N1, The WEEK reported. President Biden last week said the U.S. will not supply weapons Israel could use against Gaza’s Rafah region, where 1 million Palestinians are sheltering. The Guardian reported that Israel used a U.S. weapon in the airstrike that killed seven aid workers. According to Human Rights Watch, that was a violation of international law and “Israel’s assurances that it is using U.S. weapons lawfully are not credible.”

Meanwhile, thousands of Israelis recently protested, urging a deal for bringing Hamas-held hostages home, early elections and the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, The Guardian reported.

The crowd at a recent Trump rally was seen to thin “considerably” after the former-president and current presidential candidate began speaking, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Trump talked about illegal immigration and made the unfounded assertion that various countries are sending their prison populations to the U.S. before making an apparently unrelated aside to offer his “congratulations” to the “late, great” serial killer and cannibal Hannibal Lecter, a fictional character played by Anthony Hopkins in the 1991 film Silence of the Lambs.

A federal judge has dismissed pharmaceutical companies’ lawsuit that claimed lowering the price of Medicare drugs is unconstitutional, CNBC reported.

A third whistleblower, who performed final inspections on aircraft parts, has claimed he was pressured to “downplay” numerous defects found on Boeing aircraft, CBS reported.

By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist

Trump met in April with fossil fuel CEOs, telling them that if he is elected in November his administration would end environmental regulations that reduce climate crisis emissions, in exchange for $1 billion, numerous media reported. In his first term, Trump gave Big Oil $25 billion in tax breaks. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics is exploring whether Trump’s offer meets the legal standard for bribery.

Western Canada is experiencing an early start to the wildfire season: Dozens of fires have caused evacuations as well as air quality alerts in the upper Midwest, AP and Axios reported. Fire causes include fire suppression, drought, lightning, monoculture forestry practices and climate change influences.

Many Trump trials are delayed, with media reporting the May trial for stolen classified documents is indefinitely postponed, and the Georgia vote-tampering case is delayed due to an appeal. But in New York, the falsifying business records case is still on, with Trump “fixer” Michael Cohen testifying that Trump was fully aware of and approved financial schemes during the 2016 election.

ProPublica and The New York Times teamed up to explore why Trump has refused to release his tax returns when running for office. Trump claimed the returns were being audited, but the money trail appears to show double-dipping for tax exemptions. Trump may owe the IRS $100 million.

Two people named Bob Ferguson recruited by a “conservative activist” to run for governor in the August primary against Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson have dropped out of the race, according to the Seattle Times. Both the non-AG Bobs were running as Democrats in what observers described as a scheme to dilute the vote and risked felony criminal charges.

AG Ferguson’s office has won more than 800 consumer protection cases; won a $460,000 price-fixing settlement, which was divided up among state citizens; has won numerous environmental crime convictions; and has defeated Trump measures in court more than 50 times.

A bipartisan bill that bans the importation of Russian uranium for use in nuclear fuel was signed by Biden this week, The Hill reported. Russia is the world’s main supplier of enriched uranium.

Blast from the past: Iran agreed to surrender 97% of its uranium in 2015, but Trump pulled out of the deal in 2018 and Iran returned to the development of weapons-grade uranium.

Bouquets:

• A Bouquet to the 20 volunteers who helped out during the city of Dover’s annual Spring Beach Cleanup on Saturday, April 27. The event featured free T-shirts with the new city of Dover logo sponsored by Avista Utilities. Fresh sand — donated by Idagon — was spread around the beach and playground areas, and branches, leaves and debris were loaded into large trash containers donated by Waste Management. A new tree, donated by the Spokane Conservation District, was planted to join others planted at last year’s event. Finally, the day wrapped up with a light lunch sponsored by Avista. According to officials, “The city of Dover looks forward to next year’s event and appreciates the work of our volunteer citizens in continuing to make Dover a wonderful place to live.”

Barbs:

• It’s camping season again, which means I already have a Barb to share. For the life of me, I’ll never understand what compels people to hang out so close to other campers while out in nature. For example, I was on a section of shoreline last weekend that had about a mile of open space on either side where people could hang out. I’m not exaggerating. Instead of seeking a quiet piece of their own shoreline in which to spend time, a pontoon boat full of people decided to stop right next to us and unload their boat, oblivious of the fact that they were 20 feet from us the whole time. Most of us go into nature to be away from others, not set up camp right next to them and listen to their dumb conversations all day. Find your own private Idaho and leave a buffer between you and others, for crying out loud. This used to be common sense.

Dear editor, Brian Domke is the District 1 candidate with the most relevant experience for the role of a County Commissioner. Throughout his career, he has overseen taxpayer-funded projects that have exceeded $100 million. He has also volunteered to work with the Bonner County Natural Resources Committee and chaired one of the Planning and Zoning Subarea Committees.

Brian is opposed to “rubber stamping” growth and development, which does not consider the residents of Bonner County, but is only advantageous for developers. He is supportive of goals and a vision for the county, which is currently sorely lacking.

Brian Domke will work with, not against, his co-commissioners, and supports public comment. He has strength and great integrity and will be a refreshing addition to the board of Commissioners.

Please visit his website to learn more about Candidate Brian Domke at Domke4BonnerCounty.com.

Sincerely,

Merilee Conley Priest River

Jane

Sauter wants to serve constituents, not herself…

Dear editor, We are writing this letter to express our strong endorsement of Jane Sauter for state representative 1A in Bonner County.

We have had the pleasure of knowing Jane for several years now and can confidently say that there isn’t a finer person running for this position. Jane is a breath of fresh air in this political environment. She embodies the primary ambition we need in our public servants: She wants to serve the people, not herself. And if you’re so lucky as to meet Jane and talk with her, you will come away from that experience better for it.

Although Jane isn’t a “seasoned” politician, she’s certainly a seasoned human being, and her compassion, desire and genuine understanding of what the constituents of her district need make her the absolute best candidate in this race.

If you want a state rep. who is in it for you rather than self aggrandizement, who wants effective governance but not big government, who truly cares about the values and interests that make a commu-

nity and state a great place to live, please vote for Jane Sauter for state representative 1A in Bonner County. You won’t regret it.

Chris and Kim Peckham

Hope

Dear editor,

If you want a commissioner who has integrity and a strong moral character, vote for Brian Domke for District 1 Bonner County commissioner.

If you want a commissioner who has the citizens’ of Bonner County and not the developers’ best interest, vote for Brian Domke for commissioner.

If you want a commissioner who cares about the citizens and their opinions, vote for Brian Domke.

If you want a commissioner who loves Bonner County and values its beauty and rural nature, vote for Brian Domke.

If you want a commissioner who believes in goals and a vision for Bonner County, vote for Brian Domke.

If you want a commissioner who has experience overseeing taxpayer-funded public projects, which have exceeded over $100 million, vote for Brian Domke.

If you want a commissioner who has volunteer experience in Bonner County with the Natural Resource Committee and chairing a Planning Subarea Committee in Bonner County, vote for Brian Domke.

If you want a commissioner who is a husband, father and very well respected in his local community, vote for Brian Domke.

If you want to learn more, go to Domke4BonnerCounty.com.

Brian would appreciate your vote and you will not be disappointed.

Sandy Sparling Priest River

In support of VanGesen and Lowman in Boundary County…

Dear editor, I am supporting Jon VanGesen for sheriff of Boundary County and Chuck Lowman for District 1B. Each brings work experience for the jobs.

Jon VanGesen brings many years of experience in law enforcement, which his opponents don’t. He strongly supports better wages for deputies, improvement in training and communication upgrades. He brings a deep understanding and caring for our children. Jon is aware of the growth in our area and with it the problems drugs will bring. He is dedicated to the youth

and people of our area.

I also support Chuck Lowman who is a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and spent nine months on the DMZ in Korea. He served the spiritual needs of our soldiers, sailors and airmen as an Army chaplain for over 10 years. He supports students and teachers, especially in our rural areas. He supports the needs of veterans, law enforcement, loggers, farmers, and ranchers and accessibility to our public lands for all Idahoans.

He and his family are very active in their church and Chuck has done research and land management activities for Idaho Fish and Game after studying wildlife management at the University of Idaho.

Liz Benage Bonners Ferry

In support of VanGesen and Lowman in Boundary County…

Dear editor, Let’s see? Wheeler/Bradshaw, Bradshaw/Wheeler. One has experience — one has politics. Especially in these crazy, dangerous times, we need protection. The one that deserves the job, has the job already. Sheriff Wheeler is the right choice.

Will Dittman Vietnam combat veteran Sandpoint

‘Voters beware!’...

Dear editor,

Regarding candidates for the upcoming primary, observations and questions. All seem likable enough when listening to them. How do you choose, or tell them apart?

Campaign signs, so you’ll vote for name recognition? Do the most signs win? Does it mean they are better for the job? Or have bigger bankrolls and backers? Could fewer signs mean the better candidate, but the lesser fundraiser?

Giant postcards in my mailbox making claims? Are they true, or just marketing and spin?

Clever sound bites. Are they true? Or useful promises made easily now, only to be broken later? Ever bought a political “product” thinking it would perform as advertised, only to find out it was a waste of money?

There are a couple of ways to really know: track record and character. The first is easy to look up for current and past officeholders, the second may require credible testimony or personal observation.

You, your family and future generations will live with the repercussions of your vote. Mine too. So, vot-

er beware! Don’t be swayed by signs, cards and soundbites. Choose your candidates very carefully. I have, and I’m backing the best: Scott Herndon, Cornel Rasor and Jane Sauter.

Yvonne Wilcox

Hope

‘Cornel Rasor is the only choice for

State Representative

1B’…

Dear editor,

The people of Bonner County need representation in Boise and Cornel Rasor is the best choice to represent us. He has earned his reputation as a man of integrity, a man who listens to others and a man who believes officeholders should live up to their constitutional oaths.

Cornel is a true Republican and has been active in politics and served this community for years. He has served as a county commissioner, a precinct committee person, a member of the board of the Bonner County Republican Central Committee, LD1 chair, parliamentarian and many other positions. Cornel cares about Bonner County and its residents. He is working to serve the people even as he campaigns, creating a list of bills that people are expressing interest in seeing implemented.

Cornel has a vast knowledge of the working of politics in Bonner County and his reputation for being even tempered, gracious and caring has been built over his many years of political involvement.

Cornel Rasor is the right choice for state representative and he has my vote.

Kimberly Anderson Sagle

Impressed by Woodward’s ‘compassion, concern and helping help’…

Dear editor,

It is known in the community that Jim Woodward understands emotional distress and has experience in helping his fellow community members. When my elderly friend, Lou Goodness, tragically lost his dog in a home accident, the frozen ground presented a burial obstacle. Jim, of his own accord, sent a crew member and equipment to take care of the job. Lou and I were very impressed with Jim’s compassion, concern and helping hand. I know he cares about the people in our community.

My husband and I are voting for Jim Woodward.

Tina Harvey Sagle

What part of the library is Cornel perusing?…

Dear editor,

I was reading the primary forum and was amused at Cornel Rasor’s response on limitations on materials in Idaho libraries. I tried to find the Playboy and Hustler magazines in the Children’s Section. Imagine my surprise that they weren’t there. I couldn’t find them anywhere. Maybe Cornel might think about researching the issue before he makes crazy claims.

Jon Nylund Sandpoint <

Vote Woodward for good governance, not ‘conservative virtue signaling’…

Dear editor, Conservative-liberal. Fascist-communist. These are examples of binary categories that don’t capture the true complexity of political thought that actually exists. To a fascist, Scott Herndon is liberal. But that doesn’t make him a liberal. To Scott Herndon, Jim Woodward seems liberal. But that doesn’t make him a liberal. To a communist, both would seem fascist.

Scott Herndon is certainly more extreme than Jim Woodward, and if you like the polarized and extreme state of our current politics — if you think conservative virtue signaling is more important than good governance — then you should support him.

But if you think people can be wrong without being evil, you favor limited government, fiscal responsibility and well thought out policy positions, you should support conservative Jim Woodward.

James Knobbs Dover

Vote for Woodward’s integrity and honesty…

Dear editor,

Regarding S.B. 1244 extending the distance for electioneering near polls from 100 feet to 250 feet — a bill written by Mark Sauter, opposed by Scott Herndon (surprising as he often simply doesn’t follow laws that he disagrees with). He didn’t abide by the 100-foot rule, so what difference would extending to 250 feet make?

At the last election when he was on the ballot, he and his crew entered the polls all wearing shirts advocating to vote for him! A clear violation of the electioneering laws! It was immediately reported to Mike

Rosedale, who replied he’d “take care of it.” Interestingly, no mention was made of this blatant violation in any of Rosedale’s followup reporting. I hope law enforcement are on site at the polls to turn him and his buddies away if they show up dressed as they did previously, planning to advocate for him within the polls. Dealing with such a situation shouldn’t be left to volunteers working the polls.

Please cast your vote for the candidate who respects and follows the law, for someone who listens to all constituents and votes with integrity and honesty for all.

Vote Jim Woodward for Idaho Senate.

Tari Pardini Sandpoint

‘It’s morning again in America’...

Dear editor,

Forty years ago, Americans heard those words in a Ronald Reagan presidential campaign ad.

Forty years later and many Republican candidates are dishing up gloom and doom. Groomers are lurking for our children and grandchildren. The borders are wide open. Government is the enemy. Only those who have the requisite “freedom scores” are worthy of election.

This is about control. When people are afraid and angry, they don’t investigate the details and they are more willing to support legislation that centralizes control. Instead of working toward solutions, they are more willing to distrust their neighbor.

The alternative to the dark messaging is to be “prouder, stronger, better.”

And we can be that by electing candidates who listen instead of lecture and who encourage ideas rather than spout dogma and IFF scores.

Mark Sauter, Chuck Lowman and Jim Woodward offer us that path. As the 40th president of the United States said, “The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave.”

The brave don’t follow in fear; they lead.

Mary Ollie Bonners Ferry

Sauter is the right choice for state, local fire safety…

Dear editor, Here in the West, the threat of catastrophic fire is always looming. We saw the grim reality last summer when hundreds of homes were

torched in a matter of hours just across the state line. That’s why we need Mark Sauter representing us in Boise.

You see, our firefighting system is about to be upended. Sandpoint’s Fire Department is withdrawing from the long standing operational agreement with Sagle and Westside fire districts. Not because the cooperative system wasn’t working; our local firefighters and experts agree that combining forces has streamlined operations and made our communities safer. It wasn’t money either — cost-sharing and eliminating redundancy has led to savings. Instead, it was abandoned because our state lacks the necessary legal framework.

To provide the most effective fire protection and enjoy the cost-sharing benefits of a unified force, we need a legislative fix. We need someone representing us in Boise who truly understands this issue.

Luckily, our incumbent state representative, Mark Sauter, spent his career fighting fires. He has the expertise to solve this problem and his record proves that he’s capable of getting things done.

Please join me in voting for Mark Sauter for state representative on May 21.

Kyle Schreiber Sandpoint

Trump’s victimhood is a con job…

Dear editor,

It is with fascination and extreme concern that I witness one of the biggest con jobs in American history take place: Donald Trump selling himself as a victim. There are certain “facts” about Trump that most news outlets will agree on. The man inherited over $400 million from his daddy over a period of years and has led a silver-spoon lifestyle ever since. People who knew and know him well never refer to him as a victim, but many women have said they have been assaulted by him. He has refused to pay many who have worked on his buildings and sometimes gotten out of ever paying them through litigation. These people might be victims, but Trump?

A lot of intelligent people say they don’t like the man but like what he does for their bank accounts, so they vote for him. I was raised to not give power to those who lie, abuse women and abuse the rule of law.

One of my best friends, a fellow Republican, voted for Trump the first time and feels horrible about it.

He says, “If that guy gets into the White House again, we’re screwed.” I couldn’t agree more and democracy will be challenged like never before in this country.

Justin Henney Sandpoint

Do we really want a ‘constitutional sheriff’?…

Dear editor, Election Day is close. As I was reading the articles on the various contested races, I was struck by the statements made about the candidates in one race. That race is for Bonner County sheriff.

Both candidates identify themselves as a “constitutional sheriff.” I was unfamiliar with the term, so I looked it up. The most common definition I found was that a “constitutional sheriff” was the most powerful elected individual in the country. The “constitutional sheriff” is able to enforce or disregard any law or regulation he (or she) determines to be unconstitutional.

That means a “constitutional sheriff” has more power than the president of these United States, Congress or the Supreme Court. That is ridiculous on its face, and downright scary!

Since I am prohibited from voting for either candidate, I thought it was my duty to let all those eligible to vote on May 21 know what they were voting for. It should always be country over party and I don’t feel that a “constitutional sheriff” is what most really wants.

If I were able, I’d do a write-in vote for sheriff as “none of the above.” The important thing for everyone is to vote! It’s our county.

Gil Beyer Sandpoint

‘Dave Britton for Beach Precinct what?’...

Dear editor, A story in the May 13 edition of the Idaho Capital Sun, on the “battle for the soul of the Idaho GOP,” explains why I’m running for the lowest rung on the Idaho PRepublican Party’s political ladder: the position of precinct committeeman. I was invited to do this by former-Sen. Jim Woodward during Sandpoint’s International Women’s Day celebration. I’m a rational, responsible Republican and a committed Quaker, not much given to political meddling. But, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for

good men to do nothing.” Now is the time for good men and women to step up. The unbelievably awful past legislative session, even worse than last year’s, clearly showed that the leadership of the Idaho Republican Party must be changed.

That can only be done by the elected local precinct committeemen who convene to select their party leaders shortly after the primary election. I want to do that representing the Beach Precinct. Come meet me at a free concert and snacks in Farmin Park on Friday, May 17 from noon-6 p.m., where I’ll be playing Celtic flute and banjo mandolin with my friends. And vote for me in the Republican primary election.

David Britton Ponderay

A letter in support of

Dear editor,

The 2024 Legislature passed H596a Prescription Benefit Management reform. This bill will have a positive effect on almost every person in Idaho who has prescription drug insurance and keep your local pharmacy in business. Mark Sauter and other legislators in northern Idaho were approached by me and other pharmacy professionals for support of this legislation. Mark responded to our efforts by meeting with people in the profession, asked questions and worked to understand the issue. Mark Sauter and Sage Dixon were the only two representatives in North Idaho to support this bill.

After the Legislature convened, I attended a town hall meeting organized by Mark. The meeting focused on current pieces of legislation, future legislation and listening to citizen input. He has held more than one of these town halls. He has sought input from citizens.

While Mark is a conservative, he exercises decision making that does not necessarily conform with labels. It was clear from my interaction with Mark and others who worked to get H596a passed, he wanted to pass prudent legislation that helped the citizens in Idaho.

We are well represented by Mark Sauter. We would be wise to return him to the legislator.

Respectfully,

Patricia de Blaquiere Sudick Priest River

The word limit for letters to the editor will revert back to 300 words after this edition. Thanks for your patience.

Mark Sauter…

Science: Mad about

mad honey

By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist

It’s no secret that I’m a bit of a food nut. Hunger and the avoidance of it is a driving force behind virtually every human behavior. We can consume a vast variety of food and have even turned its preparation into an art form. What happens when good food goes bad? What makes food bad? What makes bad food fun?

At the core of all food is bacteria, which exist in our gut and exert powerful influence over human health and even behavior — including as it relates to food. Bacteria present in food can become part of our microbiome and alter our overall health or even change our appetites and favorite foods. The interaction between our gut biome and the rest of our body is such a complicated and vast network that we still don’t completely understand the role it plays in our lives or exactly why it can do things like change our behaviors.

Bacteria and yeast can play another role in food as well, by creating byproducts or waste that can be helpful or harmful to our microbiome, blood, muscles and organs. An example of a good byproduct from yeast is carbon dioxide produced during fermentation of dough or beer. The yeast eats sugar and essentially burps out CO2, which creates air pockets in bread to make it light and fluffy and gives beer that fizzy head during a pour.

A bad example of a byproduct is mad honey.

Everyone loves honey, but not all honey is created equal. The bulk of honey found at the grocery store is clover honey. You’ve probably seen white clover popping up in your yard or in the field of

your local playground; easily identified by the cone-shaped white flowers and three-leafed (rarely four or more) stems.

Clover is short-lived and pulls double duty as a fodder and cover crop as well as the flower’s pollen being a food source for bees. The plant is easily grown and spreads rapidly, which makes it well suited for all of these purposes.

Clover pollen grains become a mild and sweet honey after bees break it down and spit it back up — farmers can also pack so much of it into an area that they can easily control the outcome of the honey without fear of contamination from other plants.

Mad honey is not made from clover. This variant of honey is produced when bees have access to a large number of rhododendron plants. You’ve likely seen varieties of rhododendron around here with broad waxy leaves and large beautiful flowers that can be white, pink or red. Contained within the sweet-smelling pollen grains of this beautiful plant is something called grayanotoxin, a type of neurotoxin that once ingested can produce some pretty shocking effects in the human body.

You won’t get sick from sniffing these flowers, but when bees break down the pollen grains with honey-producing enzymes, the toxin is left behind and concentrated to create a thick red honey. The neurotoxin attacks the human nervous system and acts as a hallucinogenic substance similar to peyote — complete with extreme bouts of vomiting and diarrhea punctuating the psychedelic high.

The most interesting thing about mad honey is that it has been utilized as a biological weapon by militaries through-

out history. Wild honey was commonly foraged by armies on the march and whole honeycombs were often pillaged from hives and stored at war camps. Honey’s low water content and high viscosity dampens the internal growth of bacteria, which allows it to remain stable for very long periods of time — even when left out in the open.

A common tactic utilized by Greek soldiers in antiquity was to identify and gather mad honey from hives, perform a tactical withdrawal from an encampment and allow their enemy to sweep in and feast on the harvested combs.

The Romans learned of this tactic the hard way when they looted a Greek camp, began wildly hallucinating and fell into a state of incapacitation as they soiled themselves, only to be butchered by the Greek soldiers hours after the trap had been sprung.

Mad honey had other uses for the ancient Greeks, including as a recreational hallucinogenic (in smaller quantities) and likely as a medical treatment to alleviate constipation. Ancient Greek oracles were also believed to have regularly consumed mad honey in order to experience visions and predict the future. Even today, people in some areas of Turkey and Nepal continue to use mad honey both recreationally and medicinally.

The effects of mad honey on the human body are sometimes unpredictable. Due to the organic nature of honey, it’s difficult to predict an exact dosage of grayanotoxins present in a given serving, and as such the severity of symptoms could vary wildly from dose to dose.

In most cases, mad honey will cause a drop in blood pressure and a lower heart

rate. This can compound the hallucinogenic effects by causing lightheadedness and dizziness. All of this is often linked to the impending nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, as the body tries to expel the toxins. In especially high doses muscle paralysis and seizures have occurred.

In antiquity, the effects of mad honey were understood to run their course over a period of three to four days, though this has been disputed recently. Depending on the dose, the effects and recovery of mad honey intoxication seem to be anywhere from 12 hours to a day or so.

Mad honey is often mixed with fermented milk in tra-

Mad honey collected in Nepal. Courtesy photo.

ditional medicines, but there have also been some instances in which the mad honey itself is fermented to create mead. It’s believed that adding mad honey to other alcoholic beverages will increase the potency of the alcohol.

Before you rush to the grocery store to spice up your end-of-the-week beer, you should know that mad honey is extremely rare in the United States and seems to only be reliably produced in the Appalachian Mountains after particularly hard frosts — this is due to the hardy rhododendron flowers being the only food source for bees in that area. Stay curious (and “Mad About Honey”), 7B.

Random Corner

• While we often refer to the entire species as “cows,” only female cattle go by that term. Male cattle are bulls. Also, young female cattle are heifers and young bulls are oxen or bullocks (until they’re castrated and become steers).

• Cows are ruminants, which are herbivorous animals that bring back swallowed food (called cud) into their mouths to chew again until it becomes easily digestible. Their upper teeth are covered by a dental pad that helps them chew the cud.

• Cows are the national animal of Nepal, which means slaughtering cows in the country is strictly forbidden. Numerous Indian religions also forbid the taking of cows’ lives.

• New Zealand has approximately 5 million people and 10 million cows.

• When cows burp, they emit methane, a greenhouse gas. Some farmers are mitigating the meth-

ane produced by cows by adding seaweed to their food.

• Every second Tuesday in July is National Cow Appreciation Day.

• Cows live on average 15 to 20 years. The oldest cow on record was Big Bertha, who lived to the ripe old age of 48 years and nine months.

• According to a language specialist at the University of London, different cows have distinct accents when mooing, which is influenced by a cow’s herd.

• A beauty contest for cows is held regularly in Oldenburg, Germany, where judges pick winners based on factors such as how strong their legs are or how full their udders look.

• Cows often face either magnetic north or south while grazing or resting, regardless of the sun’s position or the wind’s direction.

OUTDOORS

Dirt-y Secrets

It’s busy season for the birds and the bees

By Ranel Hanson Reader Columnist

“I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day. When it’s cold outside, I’ve got the month of May.”

— Smokey Robinson

If you are a gardener this month, you are busy. Planting, watering, fertilizing, mowing and weeding. And then, do it all again. And what a lovely way to soak up that sunshine! Gardening is therapy, for sure.

The soil is nice and warm and you can safely plant even the tenderest of flowers and vegetables. But pay attention to the weather forecast and keep plant coverings (like frost cloth) handy, because it has been known to freeze in every month.

Insects are hatching now. That means bees, butterflies, moths, spiders and, yes, mosquitos. They are all a part of our ecosystem and pollinate all of our ornamental and food crops. Mosquitos don’t pollinate, of course, but they do provide food for birds, fish, reptiles, etc. Still, they are a nuisance and nobody wants to invite more.

Mosquitos need to lay their eggs in water, so be sure to empty water-collecting containers and keep standing water emptied. You’ll still have mosquitos, but not quite as many. Wasps are pollinators, too, but no fun at a barbecue. Now is the time to hang those traps.

As for bees, they are busy, busy. My Mason bees spent the winter in my refrigerator crisper. But, I am sorry to report that they did not survive. I think they didn’t store enough fat to last till spring blooms appeared. It happens in nature, too, but I still feel responsible and sad. I am ordering new bees and hoping to keep them happy through the winter next time. In the meantime, I am seeing lots of wild bees of every kind.

Speaking of dandelions, after other plants are blossoming for the bees, I dig them out, burn them out and mow them down. I try to get them before they have seed heads so that their dominion is thwarted. Failing that, I admire their spunk and beauty.

All of our native birds are in prime nesting time. The swallows, sparrows, finches, robins, hummingbirds, chick-

adees, crows, nuthatches, and even the osprey and eagles are laying eggs and watching over them as they wait to see them hatch and fledge.

Their real work begins when those hungry chicks hatch and demand food constantly. Cue the mosquitos. And, it helps all birds to have a bird bath or other fresh water source. Empty and clean it often. All of the birds really help to manage insect pests.

Monarch butterflies need milkweed — and only milkweed — for their caterpillars to eat. They lay their eggs there and, when the babies hatch, they are sitting right on their first meal. Monarchs migrate huge distances and we are not in their flight path anymore, but if some stray our way, it is good to have milkweed for them to find. And (bonus) all the varieties of milkweed have pretty little flowers that reseed every spring.

Another word about weed killers: Glyphosate is the culprit here and it is the main ingredient in many weed killers — Roundup being the best known. And no wonder it is. Advertisements feature lush, green, weed-free lawns and flower beds with nary a weed. And shelves of Roundup appear in the aisles of every hardware store. However, here is the rub. Roundup stays in the soil for at least six months. In that time, birds eat the insects that contain the glyphosate and it negatively affects their health and the health of their chicks. When it migrates to the water, fish are also harmed. You can imagine that it is bad for our health as well.

Very bad. It has been implicated in many diseases in humans. There are safe alternatives, though. Vinegar mixed with dish soap and Epsom salt is very effective. Pour into a spray bottle or just pour on each weed. Or use elbow grease and a trowel. If you have purchased or planted pots and hanging baskets, they will flourish if you keep them watered and if you fertilize often. Hanging baskets in particular need regular fertilizer because the nutrients in the soil wash right out. Weekly works best and a liquid fertilizer is most effective. I use fish emulsion in baskets and pots, and organic granular in flower and vegetable beds.

Meanwhile, our town looks so beautiful right now with the flowering trees lining the streets. Pause and be grateful that we live here.

Courtesy photo.

Burnin’ rubber for 37 years

Lost in the ’50s festival returns

By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff

The city of Sandpoint, plus a thousand or so friends, are ready to start rockin’, rollin’ and strollin’ through downtown to celebrate the 37th annual Lost in the ’50s weekend. Local business owner Carolyn Gleason founded the festival, which has grown to international proportions with visitors driving across the U.S. and down from Canada to kick it to the oldies.

If you’re new to Sandpoint or want a refresher on the festival, here’s a breakdown of events from Friday, May 17-Saturday, May 18.

For a complete rundown of the weekend’s live music, see page 25.

Friday, May 17

Vintage car parade

6 p.m.

Downtown Sandpoint

The vintage car parade gets the

weekend off to a roaring start — literally — with a cacophony of novelty horns, revving engines, cheering crowds and modified, fire-spurting mufflers. Grab chairs, snacks and ear protection for kids and claim a spot along the parade route, which stretches east down Church Street, north up First Avenue and west on Cedar Street.

The street dance at the intersection of Second Avenue and Main Street begins right after the parade. This classic sock hop is free, and people of all ages are welcome to twirl their poodle skirts and boogie to classics from legends like Elvis, the Jackson Five and all manner of Motown superstars.

Fairgrounds show: Gary Lewis and the Playboys with opener Rocky and the Rollers

7:30 p.m.

Bonner County Fairgrounds

Pop-rock group Gary Lewis and the Playboys rose to prominence in ’60s performing for audiences at Disneyland and went on to write such hits as “This Diamond Ring,” “Count Me In” and “Save Your Heart for Me.”

Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and returning favorites Rocky and the Rollers kick off the music at 7:30 p.m. For tickets, call 208-265-5678 or 208-2639321, or buy them at Second Avenue Pizza, 215 S. Second Ave.

Saturday, May 18

Vintage car show

9:30 a.m.-3:45 p.m.

Along First, Second and Third avenues

and Main and Cedar streets

After seeing the hot rods in action, festivalgoers are invited downtown to get a closer look at the beautifully preserved vintage cars, from ’30s wagons to ’70s speedsters. Music, food and costumes accompany these eye-catching pieces of history. Tour the cars for free from 9:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. and stick around for the award show directly after.

Fairgrounds show: Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels with Peter Rivera 7:30 p.m.

Bonner County Fairgrounds

Mitch Ryder’s storied career spans four decades and more than 25 albums. He and his band the Detroit Wheels inspired the likes of Bob Seger and Bruce Springsteen with rock hits “Devil with a Blue Dress On,” “Jenny Take a Ride!” and “Sock It to Me, Baby!”

Fellow Detroit-local Pete Rivera — founder, singer and drummer for the band Rare Earth — will join Ryder on stage after another 7:30 p.m. opening performance by Rocky and the Rollers. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. For tickets, call 208-265-5678 or 208-2639321, or buy them at Second Avenue Pizza, 215 S. Second Ave.

The Lost in the ’50s vintage car parade will take place in downtown Sandpoint Friday, May 17 at 6 p.m. Courtesy photo.

Top left: Bonner County Climate Coalition members picked up trash on their newly adopted section of Highway 200 for Earth Day on April 20. In the foreground is Lydia Welp. The volunteers picked up five bags of trash and a bag of cans that were recycled. Thanks for the hard work!

Top right: Capt. Bill Collier, USMC (ret.) sent this awesome photo of a rainbow over the sign leading to Sandpoint City Beach.

Middle: John Chaplin snapped this photo of old dock pilings during a beautiful day down on the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail.

Middle right: A rainbow seen on the drive to town, photographed by Tricia Florence.

Bottom left: Jerry and Judy Heaps of Dover brought the Reader along on a trip to South Carolina, where they saw a 400-year-old live oak on Dataw Island, S.C. The tree has a six-foot three-inch diameter and limb spread of over 89 feet.

Bottom right: Nick and Paige Belfry are happy to introduce the newest member of their family, Bjorn Selway Belfry, now 7 weeks old. “He picked out some items for himself at Winter Ridge,” Paige wrote the Reader. He’s a keeper!

To submit a photo for a future edition, please send to ben@sandpointreader.com.

Sandpoint sports legend returns for book signing

Jerry Kramer and co-author Bob Fox will sign Run To Win at Vanderford’s

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

As far as Sandpoint sports legends go, Jerry Kramer is at the top of the list. Right after graduating from Sandpoint High School in 1958, the Bulldog football star went on to play for the University of Idaho Vandals, but he didn’t stay there for long before the Green Bay Packers selected him in the fourth round of the 1958 NFL draft.

In 2018, Kramer joined just 370 other athletes in history when he was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame — the ultimate accolade for professional football players.

Kramer won five NFL championships during his career, took home five first-team All-Pro selections and was named to the NFL All-Decade team of the 1960s.

Remember that immortal photo of iconic Packers Coach Vince Lombardi being carried off the field on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1968? Those were Kramer’s shoulders on which Lombardi rode.

Now, Kramer and co-author Bob Fox will appear in Sandpoint on Saturday, May 18 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Vanderford’s Books on Second Ave. to sign copies of their new book, Run To Win: My Packers Life from Lombardi to Canton, as well as meet with old

friends. The book is Kramer’s definitive statement about a remarkable life and career of perseverance, teamwork and gridiron greatness.

Kramer will also ride in the Lost in the ’50s car parade Friday night.

Because the signing event is held during the Lost in the ’50s festivities, some of the older locals might not want to deal with the crowds. In that case, Vanderford’s suggests pre-ordering the book and having Kramer sign it to be picked up later when downtown isn’t so busy.

Find Vanderford’s at 321 N. Second Ave. For more info, call 208-263-2417 or bookshop.org/shop/vanderfords.

Top: Jerry Kramer at a Bulldogs game at War Memorial Field.

Bottom: SHS Bulldog players from 1952 from left to right: Jerry Kramer, Leonard Plaster, Ed McFarland and Butch Schaffer. Photos courtesy Sandpoint Magazine Winter 2019 edition.

COMMUNITY

Festival seeking production crew, volunteers

By Reader Staff

The Festival at Sandpoint has announced its search for summer production crew members and volunteers to support the 2024 Summer Series.

Applicants are invited to join the paid production crew and gain hands-on music industry experience and the chance to become integral contributors to the success of the annual concert series.

Scheduled to run from July 19 to Aug. 7, production crew members will play a pivotal role in both the construction of the venue and the smooth operation of various facets of the event.

Production team members will be involved with multiple departments at the venue, including but not limited to security, hospitality, Green Team, information technology, as well as sound and lighting operations.

The Festival at Sandpoint is also seek-

ing volunteers during the same time period from July 19 to Aug. 7.

“We are incredibly grateful to have such a supportive community that volunteers their time and effort year after year,” FAS Executive Director Ali Baranski stated. “An annual event as large as the Festival at Sandpoint Summer Series would not be possible without the outstanding team of over 600 volunteers who donate more than 10,000 hours each year.”

Volunteer departments include admissions, box office, Green Team, merchandise, production and more.

Volunteering offers individuals an opportunity to immerse themselves in the Festiva while giving back to the arts nonprofit and the wider community.

Applications for both production crew and volunteer positions are currently open. Visit festivalatsandpoint.com/getinvolved to learn more and apply.

Hike for Mental Health planned for Pine St. Woods

‘Hike For Ethan’ will support Ethan Murray Fund

By Reader Staff

Kaniksu Land Trust and the Ethan Murray Fund are joining forces to host a “Hike For Ethan” during mental health awareness month. The hike is slated for 1-4 p.m. on Sunday, May 19 at the Pine Street Woods.

The event aims to unite the community, foster a supportive environment and raise awareness about mental health.

“As we walk through the beauty of nature, each step is a tribute to my son Ethan’s legacy, embracing his love for nature and hiking,” said Justine Murray, whose son Ethan was killed by a Spokane sheriff’s deputy in 2019 while experiencing a mental health crisis. After establishing the nonprofit to honor her son and promote mental health causes, Spokane County settled a lawsuit with Murray for $1 million, which has helped further the work of the organization.

Proceeds from the hike, gained from ticket sales and swag available at the event, will directly contribute to providing therapy for teens and adults in the community who might not be able to access health care or face

financial constraints.

“Early intervention not only promotes mental well-being, but also contributes to the overall health and resilience of our community,” Murray said.

NAMI Far North, BGH Behavioral Health and Kaniksu Community Health will also be present at the event, bringing valuable resources and expertise to enhance mental health awareness in the community.

There will also be live music with Buster Brown, as well as snacks and drinks provided by Winter Ridge Natural Foods.

Check-in will start at 1 p.m. and refreshments, music and socializing will follow. Justine Murray and Matt Connery will speak at 2 p.m. and the hike starts at 2:15 p.m. on three different trails. Carpooling is encouraged, as parking space is limited in the upper lot.

Tickets for the event are now available for $25 at bit.ly/HikeForEthan.

KNPS shares info about Pack River Delta restoration

By Reader Staff

The Kinnikinnick Native Plant Society will host the program, “Pack River Delta Wildlife Restoration Project” at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 18 at the Sandpoint Community Hall. Idaho Fish and Game Mitigation Staff Biologist Pete Rust will present

Evans Brothers Coffee wins national Good Food awards for the second year in a row

This year’s award marks the fourth won by the Sandpoint coffee roasters

By Reader Staff

Sandpoint’s own Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters recently took home their second national Good Food Award in as many years, and their fourth award overall.

“We’re thrilled to announce our fourth Good Food Award win,” owners Rick and Randy Evans announced in a news release. “This prestigious award is a testament to the dedication, passion, sustainability initiatives and unwavering commitment to quality that define Evans Brothers Coffee.”

Every year the Good Food Foundation recognizes exceptional food and drink crafters in 18 categories from across the U.S. Winners are chosen through a rigorous blind tasting and sustainability vetting process from nearly 2,000 entries. Dubbed the “Oscars of the food movement,” by Newsweek, the Good Food Awards celebrate tasty, authentic and responsible food and drinks — especially those that support environmental and social responsibility.

Evans Brothers’ winning coffee originated from the Kenya Gichathaini Wet Mill, operated by a cooperative of

the update on the delta restoration project. Coffee, tea and snacks will be available starting at 9 a.m. This in-person-only program is co-sponsored by Sandpoint Parks and Recreation and the East Bonner County Library District. It is free and open to the public.

more than 770 coffee producers.

“This exquisite washed coffee exhibits flavors of succulent red apple, panela sugar, caramel and sugarcane juice,” according to tasting notes provided by Evans Brothers. “Although we are sold out of this coffee, you can shop our current Kenya offering.”

To learn more about Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters, visit evansbrotherscoffee.com.

Left: Matt Connery and Justine Murray of the Ethan Murray Fund. Right: A message promoting mental health and the Ethan Murray Fund at Pine Street Woods. Courtesy photos.

Randy and Rick Evans. Photo by Ben Olson.

FEATURE

Building a legacy

Sandpoint soccer alums launch program to support rising stars in the game

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

Those who have been around Sandpoint for a while might remember the soccer dynasty that lasted from the mid-’90s to late-2000s. Year after year, excellent players kept putting Sandpoint on the map, winning state tournaments left and right. The first decade of the 21st century alone saw Sandpoint 4A boys win seven of 10 Idaho State Soccer tournaments, while 4A girls took home five of 10 state championships.

Now, a group of former Sandpoint soccer stars are attempting to bring Sandpoint back to its glory days with a new program called Albion.

“It was everyone’s dream to figure out how to play in college after high school,” said Lawson Tate, who graduated from Sandpoint High School in 1999 and dedicated a large portion of his life to the sport. He now serves as director of Soccer North for Albion SC Idaho.

“It got so that all the upper echelon talent would have to leave and play for a rival team in Coeur d’Alene or Spokane just for the opportunity to continue in the sport,” he added.

Tate and other Albion

organizers hope the program will provide a local avenue for those star players to a career either playing or coaching soccer at the highest levels.

Brian Farber knows how important that is from his own experience, graduating from SHS in 2000 and going on to become something of a legend in the Sandpoint soccer world. He may have started out as a scrawny kid learning the sport through recreational soccer, but he went on to play at the top of the field as a professional for teams including the Portland Timbers, and now runs several soccer skills lines and uniform brands.

“Soccer was my only passion for a long time,” he told the Reader. “My goals were to get out of Sandpoint with a soccer scholarship.”

Like Farber, many kids start playing the game through community parks and recreation programs.

There are hybrid models, also, like the Sandpoint Strikers, which most participate in as recreational players, while perhaps a third play in the competitive arm and travel to tournaments throughout the region.

Both Farber and Tate had the Strikers to thank for elevating them in the sport during their high-school years.

“There’s no coincidence Sandpoint was a powerhouse back then,” Tate said. “Tom Atencio, a very high-caliber professional player and coach, took over the Strikers and built the rec league up so that he had a network of upper echelon players. He could connect you to people that coached other colleges. Tom Atencio single-handedly gave the adrenaline shot to the mom-and-pop club.”

Farber agreed, adding, “We had a lot of good coaches.”

“Randy Thoreson was a

passionate coach. Ed Bock coached my uncle, and my uncle first got me into soccer,” he told the Reader

“What really ingrained me as a Sandpoint native soccer player is the hard-working, blue-collar whatever-coachsays-you-do mentality,” Farber said. “We got that from Randy. He was a hardass.”

The problem, according to Tate and Farber, is that programs like the Strikers — while they were formative in their upbringing — didn’t offer the best path for competitive players to move forward with soccer careers. Both said they support local soccer programs 100%, but as one of the top five soccer programs in the U.S., Farber acknowledged Albion is the best chance to see Sandpoint stop losing its best players to Coeur d’Alene or elsewhere.

It’s a move that Tate made, switching jerseys to play on Coeur d’Alene teams — which he fought

brutally against for the previous eight years — just for the better opportunities that those teams could provide.

“There’s a consistency in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene coaching and clubs,” Tate said. “It happened to my son’s team in Sandpoint, too. All the best players left.”

Farber remembers taking a similar route to further pursuing his passion for the sport.

“I had to make the choice to join the rival teams, just like Lawson and many others. I drove to Coeur d’Alene for two years and played with our archenemies, infiltrated their teams and played with guys I hated for eight years.”

The move paid off. Farber said his team won state and went onto regionals, where Oregon State University saw him play. He was ultimately given a full-ride scholarship to OSU.

Among Farber’s awards

Top left: Evan McNeley, left; and Brian Farber, right, with the U.S. Men’s National Team in Boise after defeating Mexico 3-2.

Right: Next Level Camper of the Day with Farber, Coach McNeley, Alex Ponce, Derrick Ponce and Yan. Courtesy photos.

and distinctions is being named Idaho State Soccer Player of the Year in 2000, holding North Idaho College’s record for points scored, and selection to the All-Pac-10 second team and Pack-10 All-Academic team as a senior at OSU in 2004.

After college, Farber played professional soccer for various teams, including the Timbers, the Minnesota Thunder and San Diego Sockers. Most recently, he was asked to advise a professional team in North Carolina, which is competing in a $1 million tournament.

Tate said Farber’s rise in the soccer world proves that star players do come from Sandpoint, but there needs to be a program to funnel upper-tier athletes to more successful positions beyond high school. That’s where the Albion program comes in — as well as other organizers such as Evan McNeley, who roomed and played soccer with Farber in col-

lege, then came to North Idaho in 2005 with the goal to provide soccer instruction at the highest level for local kids. McNeley turned pro after moving to North Idaho and is now a renowned coach and trainer who once coached the Tacoma Stars.

“Evan is amazing,” Tate said. “Just the other day I watched these four kids in awe. They’re standing there being coached by a professional coach. The respect he commands, the energy he brings, the way he delivers a message; he pulls so much physically out of the kids that otherwise they wouldn’t know they could accomplish.”

Also on the Albion team is Jennings Waterhouse, who said her two boys have played soccer since kindergarten and wants to give hers and other kids opportunities that didn’t exist while she played varsity soccer.

“I feel like we have so many talented athletes in our

town, and sometimes they just get written off,” she said.

Tate said the Albion model is all about instruction, pathways and connections.

“Albion is player-centric and they’re all about technical development,” Tate said.

“Albion is a big deal,” Farber said, who said he also knows the founder of the program from his time in San Diego. “I was in these players’ shoes long ago. If Tom and Randy weren’t here then, it may have never happened for me. We need to be that source for the future players. We need to build that legacy.”

Albion will hold tryouts Thursday, May 23 from 3:30-5 p.m. and Friday, May 24 from 9-10:30 a.m. at War Memorial Field in Sandpoint, open to all players born between 2006-2017. Albion will also host free soccer clinics open to all players born between 2006-2017 on Monday, May 20 and Wednesday, May 22, from 4-6 p.m. at Kootenai Elementary School both days. For more information, visit albionscidaho.org.

Lawson Tate. Courtesy photo.

A 2006 soccer camp with middle school-aged players. Courtesy photo.

Preserving Bonner County’s history Museum hosts rare behind-the-scenes tour

By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff

The staff of the Bonner County Historical Society and Museum undertake an enormous amount of work behind the scenes, protecting and repairing the legacies of generations of Idahoans. For one night Thursday, May 16 from 5-7 p.m., the museum will invite the community to see a portion of the hundreds of thousands of artifacts not on display and learn more about the work that goes into preserving them.

“Only about 15% of our collection is on exhibit at any given time; the vast majority is in storage until a new exhibit is installed,” Executive Director Hannah Combs told the Reader. “So, this tour will take participants literally behind the curtain that separates our exhibit space from our storage space and give them a chance to see those rarely seen artifacts up close.”

For the first hour of the event, attendees will rotate through stations organized by type — objects, textiles, photographs, etc. — digging into the history and listening to presentations about

the treasures.

Highlights include preserved love letters and an instrument made of hair. (Yes, you read that right.)

Attendees will break for catered treats and wine until 6:30 p.m., when the tour moves outside to the water wheel that operated a 1920s ice cream churn, the Spokane International caboose and other nearby treasures.

The entire tour is free and open to everyone, but the museum would appreciate any amount of donations to help build the Collections Management Fund.

“Its purpose is to reserve funds for the costs of caring for the collection, which includes maintaining our searchable database, cataloging and labeling artifacts, and special archival materials to store them in,” said Combs.

Certain items in the collection require additional experts and specialized archival material. For example, few people are equipped to handle the museum’s antique taxidermy because it calls for a unique skill set and can prove dangerous due to the chemicals used to preserve the pieces.

“We’re hosting this event to help the

community understand the work we do behind the scenes, why it’s important to take care of these artifacts from our past, and raise funds to get us started on some of these special initiatives,” said Combs.

The museum’s upcoming projects include optimizing the temperature and humidity standards within the building, as well as restoring and building a shelter for its famous water wheel.

Organizers are hopeful that funds earned from the tour will provide “important seed money,” laying the foundations for these projects while they apply for additional grant funding.

“This is a rare opportunity to see some of the areas of the museum that typically only staff can access. The museum holds hundreds of thousands of objects, and each one of them comes with a story. We’re so excited to share some of them with you,” said Combs.

The event is FREE from 5-7 p.m., Thursday, May 16 at the Bonner County Historical Society and Museum, 611 S. Ella Ave., Sandpoint. Visit bonnercountyhistory. org for more information.

COMMUNITY

Stephanie Rief honored as volunteer of the month

By Reader Staff

The Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce celebrated Stephanie Rief as May Volunteer of the Month at the general member chamber luncheon on May 9. Honoring her decades spent sharing time, talent and expertise, the chamber noted that it has benefited from her leadership since her first board membership from 2016-2019. Since then, Rief has held board positions as secretary (2019-2021), chair (2021-2023) and currently serves as past chair.

She has also served on the advisory boards of the Carousel of Smiles and Habitat for Humanity, as well as association executive of the Selkirk Association of Realtors & Multiple Listing Service for the past 24 years.

Rief has brought her expertise in real estate to the Spokane-Kootenai County Real Estate Research Group Board of Trustees (2016-present), the Idaho Society of Association Executives (2022-present) and the Idaho Realtors Scholarships and Convention Committee (2020-present).

Other volunteer activities include

Senior Finance Fair Committee member (2013-present), SAR Annual Charity Golf Tournament chair (2010-present), Elks Lodge No. 1376 member and events volunteer and Elk of the Year (20212022).

Finally, Rief has been the Lost in the ’50s Classic Car Parade traffic controller from 2016-present and spearheaded, organized and worked at the Lost in the ’50s SARS fundraiser breakfast.

For more info, visit sandpointchamber.org.

Chamber CEO Mickey Quinn, left, and May 2024 Volunteer of the Month Stefanie Rief. Courtesy photo.

events

Send event listings to calendar@sandpointreader.com

Live Music w/ Double Shot Band

5pm @ Connie’s Lounge

The Mason Brothers return

Game Night 6:30pm @ Tervan

THURSDAY, may 16

Live Music w/ Terrapin Flyer

8pm @ The Hive

Playing the music of the Grateful Dead

Bingo Night 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

Live Music w/ Marcus Stevens

5-8pm @ Barrel 33

Live Music w/ Brian Jacobs

5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

Live Music w/ BTP (classic rock)

5pm @ Connie’s Lounge

Live Music w/ Hogwire (country/rock)

8:30pm @ The Hive

Live Music w/ Daniel Mills

5-8pm @ Barrel 33

Live Music w/ Ian Newbill (rock/country) 6-9pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

Lost in the ’50s Vintage Car Show/Dance

9:30am @ Downtown Sandpoint

Page 12 has full ’50s event info

SASi Seniors Prom (55+ welcome)

4pm @ Sandpoint Senior Center Dance lessons available. Join us!

BYOB at Wine Hangar

12+1:30pm @ PO Winery wine hangar

Blend Your Own 1.5L Bottle for $95. Reserve session at 208-265-8545

Live Music w/ Kenny James Miller Band

11:30am-3:30pm @ 219 Lounge

Live Music w/ Glizi

8pm @ 219 Lounge

Live Music w/ Kyle Bruce 3-5pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

Sandpoint Chess Club

9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee

Magic with Star Alexander

5-8pm @ Jalepeño’s

Cribbage League 7pm @ Connie’s

FriDAY, may 17

Live Music w/ Katlyn Wiens

8-11pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Live Music w/ Mobius Riff

6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

Live Music w/ Glizi

6:30-9pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co.

Funk, pop, blues, rock and soul

SATURDAY, may 18

Sandpoint Farmers’ Market

9am-1pm @ Farmin Park

Spring Fling at Magpie Market

10am-2pm @ The Magpie, 30340 Hwy 200

Local creators and makers of all kinds, every Saturday. Last day May 18

KNPS program about Pack River Delta 10am @ Sandpoint Community Hall

May 16-23, 2024

Behind the Scenes Tour & Fundraiser

5-7pm @ Bonner Co. Historical Museum Help raise funds to maintain and support the collection, from the artifacts to the outdoors exhibits. Show some love for history

Lost in the ’50s Vintage Car Parade/Dance 6pm @ Downtown Sandpoint Page 12 has full ’50s event info

Live Music w/ Devon Wade (country)

6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

Live Music w/ Justyn Priest

6-8pm @ Smokesmith BBQ

Live Music w/ Miah Kohal Band

9pm-midnight @ 219 Lounge

Jerry Kramer book signing 11am-1pm @ Vanderford’s Books on 2nd Join Sandpoint sports legend Jerry Kramer and co-author Bob Fox for a signing of their book, Run to Win

Join IDFG staff biologist to learn about Pack River Delta wildlife restoration project. Free and open to public

Sun Daddy Drum Circle

4-7pm @ Sandpoint City Beach pavilion

Open to all. Bring your own chair

Live Music w/ Benny & Sheldon 6-8pm @ Smokesmith BBQ

SunDAY, may 19

Hike for Ethan • 1-4pm @ Pine St. Woods

With live music by Buster Brown, refreshments by Winter Ridge, mental health resources booths and more

monDAY, may 20

Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi

7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Outdoor Experience Group Run

6pm @ Outdoor Experience

Art exhibit: Evergreen Art Association

Displays until May 30 at Pend d’Oreille Winery

Evergreen’s goal is to further members’ education and appreciation of art

Sandpoint Farmers’ Market

3-5:30pm @ Farmin Park

Fresh local produce and artisan goods

Open Mic w/ special guest host 5-7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

Live Music w/ Ben Breiding Band

8-11pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Formerly known as Parade of Bad Guys

Regenerating Life with John Feldman

5-7:30pm @ Sandpoint Library

How to cool the planet, feed the world and live happily ever after, a 3-part film

Trivia hosted by Kristi 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

wednesDAY, may 22

Live Piano w/ Bob Beadling

3-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

Live Music w/ John Firshi 8-11pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

ThursDAY, may 23

Cribbage League 7pm @ Connie’s

Natural Connections workshops 10am-4pm @ Sandpoint Library Workshops on bike maintenance, gardening, creative reuse art and book repair and more. ebonnerlibrary.org

Meet Neighborhood Nonprofits 4pm @ Rex Theater (Priest River) Fair to build stronger communities

Live Music w/ Picked up Pieces 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

Live Music w/ Ken Mayginnes 5-8pm @ 1908 Saloon

Monthly Herbal Walks

1-4pm @ Big Red Shed Join Kaniksu Folk School instructor Meryl Kastin to learn to positively ID plants and how to gather/use them for medicine

tuesDAY, may 21

Tapas Tuesday (free tapas!) 4-5pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

Live trivia ($5) 6pm @ Connie’s Lounge

Open Mic

6pm @ Tervan Tavern

Game Night 6:30pm @ Tervan

Bingo Night 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

Paint and Sip ($45/person) 5:30-8pm @ Barrel 33

FEATURE

Kobolds and cavern-dwellers

By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff

Among the modern aesthetic practices popularized by social media lurks the aptly named “goblincore,” which celebrates the conventionally ugly and prioritizes personal happiness over current beauty standards. Though Gen-Z has adopted the goblin as a symbol of freedom and personal expression, the history of goblins in European myth is far more complex than modern adaptations might suggest.

Across Europe, goblins have been known by various names — including pucks, fae, bugbears, fairies, dwarfs and elves — and range from helpful to murderous. Fantasy content like The Hobbit and Dungeons & Dragons treat these mythological figures as separate races, but looking back to at least the 13th century reveals that all these little, invisible people were relatively synonymous until new literary traditions put their own spins on them.

Origin stories

One of the surviving creation myths from Norse mythology, recorded by Icelandic historian and poet Snorri Sturluson in the 13th-century Prose Edda, recounts the creation of dwarfs at the beginning of the universe. Also called “dark elves,” these beings began life as maggots crawling from the corpse of the giant Ymir, from whose body the gods made the universe.

“Then [the gods] gave them wits and the shape of men, but they live under the hills and mountains in rocky chambers and grottoes and caverns. These man-like maggots are called dwarfs,” according to Kevin Crossley-Holland’s English retelling of the Prose Edda.

Despite these unflattering origins, the dwarfs do play an important role in Norse myth as craftsmen, advisers to the gods and personifications of the four directions, which Sturluson believed held up the sky.

The dwarfs of the Prose Edda will sound familiar to fantasy fans for a number of reasons. First, Sturluson names some: Gandalf, Thorin, Nori, Dori,

Ori, Oinn, Gloin, Fili, Kili, Bifur, Bafur, Bombor and Dvalin.

J.R.R. Tolkien used these names for his characters in The Hobbit, adding the dwarf Balin.

The Norse dwarfs bear characteristics that modern audiences would likely associate with goblins and trolls — they were said to be ugly, deformed and greedy with a healthy fear of sunlight, given that exposure turns them to stone. Their magical qualities were something to be feared, as shown in Sturluson’s Ynglinga saga, in which a dwarf kidnaps the mythical Swedish king, Sveigðir, ending his reign.

As Christianity took hold in Europe, so did alternative origin stories for these beings. Folklore compiled by the 19th-century Icelandic author and librarian Jón Árnason, and translated by Jacqueline Simpson, suggests two Christian explanations for “elves,” or hidden folk more generally.

In one version of events, the Abrahamic God visited Adam and Eve post-Garden of Eden to check on their children. When he arrived, however, Eve had only given some of her kids a bath and shoved the dirty ones out of sight, leading God to decree, “That which had to be hidden from Me, shall also be hidden from men.”

Alternatively, Icelandic tradition also suggests that the fae refused to side with God or the Devil, and therefore fell to Earth as morally gray, disembodied spirits. Simpson believes that the clergy invented and emphasized this incorporeal version of elves to teach their followers that you cannot — and should not — have sex with them.

This is heartbreaking news for fans of New York Times bestseller A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.

Practical considerations

Living in close proximity to potentially dangerous, otherworldly beings led to the invention of certain rules, shared across cultures, to appease them. Myths from the British Isles all the way to Eastern Europe affirmed that fairies, goblins, boggarts, etc. could inflict diseases

and insanity, kidnap, mangle or murder people or, if treated well, bestow good fortune and perform household chores.

In part, the extensive list of synonyms for the same or similar creatures stems from the belief that calling a fae by its name would offend it. Polite alternatives include generalizations like “good neighbors,” “little people” or “hidden folk,” or descriptive titles like “redcaps,” so named for their hats dyed in human blood.

UCLA Professor Gail Kligman documented existing Romanian beliefs in beautiful, mythical women called simply iele, which is a third-person plural feminine pronoun that would translate as “they” in English. Even with the cautious wording, simply interacting with the iele results in permanent disfigurement or death.

Mischievous but relatively helpful beings like the Scottish brownie, the Germanic kobold or the Slavic domovoy are now categorized as “house spirits” due to the belief that they would take up residence with families, performing chores and ensuring farmers’ prosperity. House spirits were — and in some regions, still are — treated with the utmost respect and given daily portions of food and drink to ensure their favor.

If denied their due, even these beings will resort to diabolical deeds to punish their former families.

For believers, it was relatively impossible to avoid the fae. They were said to inhabit wild areas like forests or mountains, but also held power in towns, especially in liminal spaces.

Transitional times and spaces like dusk, midnight, crossroads and thresholds represented an intersection between the human world and whatever lies beyond, allowing people to unwittingly fall into other realms.

“One key is ambiguity, the concept of both/and and neither/nor. If a man stands exactly on the boundary where three parishes meet, on the stroke of midnight, in which parish is he, and what date is it?” wrote Simpson in European Mythology. “He has cut loose from normal

A brief history of goblins, elves and ‘hidden folk’

space and time. He has also reversed normal human conduct by going outside at night, the time when supernatural beings are active, but humans should be asleep.”

A key characterization of these other worlds is the belief that they are simultaneously all around us and relatively impossible to purposefully reach. According to Welsh Academic Brinley Rees, in Celtic folklore these worlds existed on distant islands; underwater in lakes, rivers and oceans; or underground beneath specific hills or mounds, which believers refused to go near.

It’s likely that the taboo around tampering with earthen mounds has preserved many ancient burial sites.

Fae reimagined

Though historically elves, dwarves, fairies and goblins were all essentially the same thing, the English literary tradition has shaped these beings into distinct races. The separation began in earnest in the 16th century with William Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream, whose depiction of idyllic fairies captured the Elizabethan imagination and influenced subsequent literary and artistic portrayals.

Shakespeare’s character Puck underwent the largest transformation. A puck (also written as púca, pwca, pooka, phouka, bucca, púki, puke or puk depending on the Celtic or Germanic region), was initially a malevolent spirit or demon that wouldn’t be caught dead meddling in the affairs of lovers.

Shakespeare used the name “Puck,” but characterized him as an English hobgoblin or “goodfellow,” which were more joyous and mischievous than deadly.

Subsequent literary depictions of pucks and fairies romanticized them further, shrink-

ing them down into miniscule creatures, adding insect wings and using their images to evoke a bucolic, halcyon time that stood in opposition to increasingly industrialized metropolitan life.

While the image of fairies crystallized, the exact nature of goblins was relatively undefined until 1937 when Tolkien published The Hobbit, casting goblins as one of the chief antagonists. These ugly, cruel cave-dwellers are akin to the Norse dwarfs and inspired the gnarled characters that populate Harry Potter, Labyrinth and many other works of modern fantasy.

Tolkien’s characterization of goblins was so influential that it remained even after he began calling them orcs in The Lord of the Rings. The word “orc” likely stems from the Old English “orcneas” for “monsters,” but was not a fleshed out fantasy race until Tolkien’s time.

Our cultural imagining of goblins has changed to reflect the needs of the time. After 87 years of vilified goblins, the internet is now reshaping them yet again, dropping the malicious elements and using goblins as champions of freedom of expression. The trinkets, toadstools and earthy tones of the goblincore aesthetic continue to attract more followers, modernizing a tradition that has existed for time immemorial.

By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Columnist

It was good seeing Bego again. She owns the Cook and Taste Cooking School in Barcelona. When we met last September, we made plans for my ladies’ group to experience a morning of shopping at a local market, followed by an afternoon of cooking at her establishment. She’s not fond of fuss, loathes technology and doesn’t do email, so there was no follow-up after our meeting. It turns out it wasn’t necessary.

When we arrived at the school, Bego introduced us to an attractive young woman who would be our guide and chef for the day. Soon enough, we were off to the Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, one of Barcelona’s main markets. Mercat is the Catalan term for “market,” while mercado is the Spanish term, and our young Catalonian chef Mariona was quick to point out the difference.

Mariona was a beloved market regular, and the vendors were happy to have her show and taste their wares to her curious American charges. At one stall, while bantering with a weathered old woman who Mariona described as “nearly my grandmother,” we learned all about the process of salting cod.

One of the dishes we shopped for was garlic shrimp (gambas al ajillo). Some of the best shrimp in the world come from Spain and Portugal, and it’s found on nearly every menu in salads, paella, stew and tapas, so I thought it was a great selection for our first course. The mercat was teeming with shrimp, in every shape and size and color,

The Sandpoint Eater Pride and prawns

piled high on ice, Carabineros prawns, one of the most enormous shrimp, were especially plentiful in the market. They live in deep water and are prized for their size, beautiful bright red color and distinct flavor, concentrated in their heads (which are never tossed but used for stocks and stews).

Palamós shrimp live close to shore and are considered among the best in the world for their firmness and tasty meat. Stringent fishing restrictions apply to harvest these shrimp (not required for Carabineros prawns). Some say the Palamós has an almost lobster taste.

Another plentiful crustacean sold at the market is Huelva white shrimp. Many chefs consider it the most classic shrimp of Spain, and it’s in high demand with culi-

nary professionals throughout Spain and Italy.

Mariona purchased a variety of ingredients, including Carabineros and Palamós, and we made our way back to the school as she pointed out highlights along our route. Soon, it was time to put on lively Spanish music, pour some wine and commence prepping.

The first course we began to prepare didn’t much resemble the printed menus at our stations. As Mariona prepped the Carabineros, carefully setting aside the heads and shells, she gave her grandmother full credit and praise for the richness of the sauce we would soon sample. She explained that it was a Catalan recipe and stirred the simmering shrimp heads. She also spoke passionately about the history of Catalonia and

her language — “It is not Spanish,” declared our fiercely proud chef.

When I was in Barcelona last fall, I asked Bego if we could go to the Santa Caterina Mercado, as it would be much less crowded than Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria and also closer to the school. She agreed and made a note of my request, so I was surprised when Mariona led us past the colorful roof of the mercado, and we headed toward the mercat.

After spending the day with her, Mariona’s choice made perfect sense. Her passion for all things Catalonian comes from the heritage and culture passed down for centuries. She grew up learning the ways of her grandmothers, who likely learned from her own grandmothers, at the same mar-

ket from generations of stall dealers — still dealing in their family commodities, be they fish and seafood, fruits and vegetables, poultry or beef.

When I make trip plans for individuals or groups, I always recommend a cooking and market class for travelers to experience. Often, the client wants all the fine details, which I may no longer offer. I’ll always be grateful I let Marion’s passion be my guide that day.

As soon as I return home, I’ll be looking for some Carabineros prawns, and I hope I can do justice to her grandmother’s shrimp recipe so I can share it with her. Meanwhile, here’s a shrimp recipe I cook up often for friends and family.

Gambas al ajillo (Spanish garlic shrimp)

Serve with your favorite crusty bread to sop up the tasty sauce. Serves 2-4

INGREDIENTS: DIRECTIONS:

• 1 lb large shrimp, peeled, deveined and rinsed well

• Kosher salt

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

• 10 garlic cloves, chopped

• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

• 1 tsp sweet-Spanish-paprika

• 2 tbs dry sherry or dry white wine

• Juice of ½ lemon

• ½ cup fresh flat parsley, finely chopped

Pat the shrimp dry and season with kosher salt. Set aside for now.

Heat the extra virgin olive oil over medium heat until shimmering but not smoking. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook over medium heat up to 60 seconds or just until the garlic is soft and browns up just a little (be careful not to burn it).

Add the shrimp and paprika. Cook briefly, tossing regularly and watching that the flesh turns from opaque to a pale pink color (about 3 minutes or so for large shrimp). Remove the pan from heat.

Stir in sherry, lemon juice and parsley. Transfer the shrimp and sauce to a serving bowl and serve while hot. Don’t expect leftovers!

MUSIC

’50s bash at the Fairgrounds

Performances from Gary Lewis and the Playboys; Mitch Ryder and Peter Rivera

By Reader Staff

The Lost in the ’50s weekend dance concerts are a highlight for locals and visitors alike because of their toe-tappin’ performances by classic talents. This year’s shows on Friday, May 17 and Saturday, May 18 feature internationally renowned artists Gary Lewis and the Playboys, as well as Mitch Ryder and Peter Rivera, respectively.

Pop-rockers Gary Lewis and the Playboys achieved overnight success after landing a recurring gig at Disneyland in the 1960s. The band’s first single, “This Diamond Ring,” achieved No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, which they followed up with even more Top 10 songs, such as “Count Me In,” “Save Your Heart For Me” and “Sure Gonna Miss Her.”

After eight Gold Singles, four Gold Albums, international success and multiple appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, Lewis entered the Army and popular music moved away from the band’s smooth rock ’n’ roll, boy-next-door tunes into the age of ’70s hard rock.

Now, thanks to a resurgence of interest in oldies, Lewis and the Playboys are back touring the world and introducing their nostalgic

sound to new generations.

Renowned Michigan musicians Peter Rivera and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels round out the festival weekend with a Saturday performance of their greatest hits — the latter having come out of the period of transition from classic Motown sound to Detroit’s ’70s garage rock. Ryder’s influential songs like “Devil with a Blue Dress On” and “Jenny Take a Ride!” inspired the next generation of blue-collar rock musicians, such as John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen and Ted Nugent.

Ryder and the Wheels are joined by Peter Rivera, who’s musical journey began at the age of 5 when he started drumming along to his par-

Terrapin Flyer, The Hive, May 16

Is the Grateful Dead truly dead? Not as long as Terrapin Flyer keeps rocking stages across the U.S. Over the past 25 years, the tribute band has played alongside members of the original rock group and related talents — such as Tom Constanten and Melvin Seals — becoming well-known members of the “deadhead” community. To cultivate an authentic experience, Terrapin Flyer not only emulates

This week’s RLW by Soncirey Mitchell

READ

ent’s records using kitchen spoons, according to his website. Motown gave Rivera his big break while serving as lead singer and drummer for Rare Earth, which went on to produce hits like “I Just Want to Celebrate,” “I’m losing you” and “Hey Big Brother.”

These acclaimed talents will perform after Sandpoint favorite Rocky and the Rollers, who have 40 years of experience playing alongside famed ’50s, ’60s and ’70s musicians.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with music beginning at 7:30 p.m. both nights at the Bonner County Fairgrounds, 4203 N. Boyer Road, in Sandpoint. For tickets, call 208-265-5678 or 208-263-9321, or buy them at Second Avenue Pizza, 215

It’s difficult to find the time to read an entire novel, especially in the warmer months, when we spend less and less time inside. Even if you only have a few moments between brushing your teeth and breakfast, turn to the collected poetry of Maya Angelou to engage your mind and heart. Her entire body of work is worth reading, but I recommend starting with “On The Pulse Of Morning,” “Phenomenal Woman” and “Human Family.”

LISTEN

Whether you’re in the mood for a dance party or need to cry over a lost love, Chappell Roan has a song for you. Her album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is a risqué take on 1980s synthpop, with a few mournful ballads thrown into the mix. Roan has only risen to fame in the past year, but her unabashed celebration of femininity and Gen-Z culture might just make her one of this generation’s musical icons.

WATCH

the Grateful Dead, but also studies the original musicians’ inspiration, found in “jazz, blues and bluegrass,” according to their website. Catch them before their tour takes them back home to Chicago.

— Soncirey Mitchell

Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m., $25 in advance or $30 for tickets day of, 21+. The Hive, 207 N. First Ave., 208-920-9039, livefromthehive.com. Listen at terrapinflyer.com.

S. Second Ave., in Sandpoint. Listen on mitchryder.net, peterrivera.com and rockyandtherollers.com.

Kenny James Miller Band/Glizi, 219 Lounge, May 18

As Lost in the ’50s revelry spills into Saturday, May 18, the 219 will be kicking things off early with the Kenny James Miller Band at 11:30 a.m. and Glizi at 8 p.m.

The KJM Band is Kalispell’s signature blues-rock outfit, which has been known to hop the border and bring the ruckus to the Niner — more the better that they’re making a return visit on Sandpoint’s signature civic holiday. Capping things off that eve-

ning, the newest local power group Glizi will take the stage with a blend of funk, pop, blues and rock led by Alex Cope on vocals. Meanwhile, Smokesmith will be on hand slinging barbecue, and you’ll need the protein. Remember: It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

— Zach Hagadone KJM Band at 11:30 a.m., Glizi at 8 p.m.; FREE; 21+. 219 Lounge, 219 N. First Ave., 208-263-5673, 219lounge.com. Listen to Kenny James Miller at kjmband.com.

The final episode of Star Trek: Discovery will air on Thursday, May 30, bringing to an end its heartwarming seven-year run that revitalized the franchise. The show is initially set before the original ’60s series and features old and new characters as they grapple with Star Trek’s trademark philosophical ideas on war, peace and the nature of humanity. Watch it on Amazon Prime.

Top left: Gary Lewis and the Playboys will play the Bonner County Fairgrounds Friday, May 17.

Right pictures: Mitch Ryder, top, and the Detroit Wheels will be joined by Peter Rivera, above, at the fairgrounds Saturday, May 18. Courtesy photos.

From Pend Oreille Review, May 17, 1906

HAVE COLD SWIM IN PACK RIVER

Jack Perry and Southwell Willman had a cold swim out of the waters of upper Pack river last week Wednesday during an attempt to ford the river which at this time of year is high and treacherous. Perry has a logging contract to get some timber for the Iola mill, up the river about eight miles above all previous logging operations, and was going in with a supply wagon to cut a supply road into the timber. Willman’s timber claim is in the same locality as Perry, and Stoneman and the teamster, Perry Wilson, started to ford the river with the team and wagon. In the middle of the stream the horses were carried from their feet in the current. The kind pin was pulled and the horses started for shore but got entangled in the harness and nearly drowned before Perry’s foreman, an old logger by the name of Harley, succeeded in fording the stream a halfr mile above the mishap, and reaching the team in time to rescue them. Meanwhile Perry and Willman had jumped into the stream from the wagon and swam to shore. By getting a rope out to the wagon and carrying a chain out with the rope and then a block and tackle being hauled out with the chain the wagon was finally pulled across the bank.

The team was valued at $600, and but for some quick and effective work it would have been lost to the river.

BACK OF THE BOOK

Party pooping

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

The Reader has never published its own endorsements of candidates. The closest we’ve ever come to doing so was actually a dis-endorsement I wrote of Reader co-founder and editor-emeritus John Reuter’s bid for a Sandpoint City Council seat 15 or so years ago. However, we have never shied away from expressing an editorial opinion on the issues, policies and ideas that animate local, state and national politics. And if there’s an issue at play in the 2024 primary election that begs further comment, it’s “authenticity.”

This has manifested itself in a variety of ways throughout the campaign season, with candidates jockeying to position themselves as locals of varying vintage (though none of them were actually born here) or somehow especially attuned with a mythical set of “Idaho values” that seem more inspired by how much they disliked the place from which they came than the place to which they moved.

There is a staggering degree of hypocrisy and projection required to move from, say, California and immediately start denouncing people from California for influencing the preexisting political culture by trying to influence the preexisting political culture. All the while, in a feat of delusion worthy of study by experts in abnormal psychology, go on to claim to be defending “us” from outsiders trying to influence the preexisting political culture.

In the words of Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski: “She kidnapped herself, man.” Or, as Pogo put it, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

But the central front in this battle

This election cycle shows how much we really need open primaries

for authenticity has been defined by who gets to call themselves a “real” Republican. Which makes sense on one level — primaries are, by definition, contests over who can best bear a party’s standard in the general election — but the question of RINOs (a.k.a. “Republicans In Name Only”) takes on an outsized importance in Idaho.

The most sensitive members of the Idaho GOP have spent years filling their diapers and tossing their toys out of the crib in a tantrum over supposed “philosophical Democrats” masquerading as Republicans in the Legislature, put there by citizens who affiliate as Republicans in order to vote in the party’s closed primary despite not adhering to its increasingly John Birch-addled platform.

This isn’t fair, they cry; it’s dishonest and, well, it’s just not fair.

Yeah, wow, it’s almost like people treat voting as a strategic act and affiliation with a political party as a political tactic to achieve a desired political outcome.

And jeez, it’s almost as if the Idaho GOP is so angry about open primaries and ranked choice voting because its authoritarian wing knows that its greatest existential threat is representative democracy uncontrolled by party hacks, ideological zealots, cynical lobbyists and culture war grifters tapped into rivers of lucre seeping up through cracks in America’s mental basement.

The sniveling over “RINOs” and chest thumping over who’s the “true Christian, conservative, Constitution-freedom-liberty-eagle-flag-gun-loving patriot” are nothing so much as the “irritable mental gestures” (to borrow Lionel Trilling’s phrase) of low-imagination party apparatchiks terrified that

they’ll be outflanked by someone even loonier than them or (worse) lose the artificial leverage they’ve enjoyed since 2012 when they turned their primary into the political equivalent of a treehouse for mean kids.

(Read: “Secret Recording Shows How A Right-Wing Idaho Lobbyist Tried To Keep A Legislator In Lockstep,” published by InvestigateWest on May 13 at invw.org.)

When you have this level of dread and need to assert legitimacy within your own ranks, your party is broken. And when you can’t keep the panic-tinged loathing out of your voice when you talk about open primaries and ranked choice voting signaling “the end” of political parties, it’s clear that you don’t actually care about representative government — you’re a lackey.

Yet, these same sectarians tell us that Idaho isn’t really as conservative as we think it is, and try to scare us by reminding us that we used to elect Democrats — which seems to suggest that our “traditional Idaho values” are more nuanced than hunting for porn-peddling Commies under our kids’ beds. Might it be that the socalled RINOs are simply Idahoans who aren’t particularly interested in being dictated to by puffed up party pedants and petty power-grabbers?

One thing that this primary has made abundantly clear — and gives ample reason for an endorsement — is the need to reject the toxic strain of self-obsession within the Idaho GOP and go on in November to achieve a citizens’ victory for open primaries and ranked choice voting, so we can stop the cycle of performative authenticity and get back to electing authentic Idaho leaders rather than partisan thralls.

Solution on page 26

Laughing Matter

By Bill Borders

inveterate /in-VET-er-it/

Word Week of the

[adjective]

1. settled or confirmed in a habit, practice, feeling or the like.

“The inveterate procrastinator always left things until the last minute.”

Corrections:

No public failures to speak of this week.

I guess one of the funniest memories of my grandfather was the time I was at his house and that tied-up man with the gag in his mouth came hopping out of the closet and started yelling that he was really my grandfather and the other guy was an imposter and to run for help. Who was that guy?! Oh, well, never saw him again.

CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1. Brown shade

6. Slumber

11. Wear away 12. Twister

15. Penniless one

16. Having patchy coloring

17. Viper

18. Somebody

20. Urine

21. Falafel bread

23. Anagram of “Soak”

24. Exhausts

25. Biblical garden

26. Not false

27. Not early

28. Crimsons

29. Cap

30. Ambulance warning signal

31. Variant of holistic

34. Besmirch

36. Fraternity letter

37. Charity 41. Feces

42. Teller of untruths

43. Observed 44. Supervisor 45. Frost

46. Constructed 47. Paintings

Solution on page 26

Solution on page 26

57. Bird sound

58. Avarice

59. A type of writing tablet

48. Midday 51. Cry of disgust 52. Harbors 54. Apprehend 56. Nerve junction 1. Beach

What the volcano did

Music genre

Mid-month days

Designed for flight

Golf shot

7. Lower part of the abdomen

8. Sea eagle

9. Finish

10. Examine by touching

13. Become more intense

14. Lyric poems

15. An essay

16. Cosmeticians

19. Honorable

22. Responses

24. Satire

26. Norse god

27. Fifty-two in Roman numerals

30. Arouse

32. Possessed

33. Pottery fragment

34. Floor

35. Type of pony

38. Pamphlet

39. Arbitrate

40. Contemptuous look

42. Pillaged

44. Low in pitch

45. Equine

48. No

49. Play parts

50. Distressed cry

53. Norm

55. Grassland