My driver’s license expired on my 25th birthday, prompting me to stroll into the Bonner County DMV on a random Friday to renew it. I’ve never spent more than 15 minutes in that office, and I expected this time to be no different. Little did I know the May 7 deadline for getting a Real ID — or “Star Card” — loomed, and everyone and their grandmother wanted one ASAP. I sat in line for about three hours, watching people come and go and eventually taking on the job of the office’s unofficial receptionist/troubleshooter. The ladies behind the counter needed all the help they could get.
“Hi, are you a walk-in or do you have an appointment?” I found myself asking every time someone shuffled through the door. “OK, sign in here. Are you getting a Star Card? You need your birth certificate, passport, Social Security number and two separate proofs of Idaho residency, such as a pay stub or car insurance card. Are you married, ma’am? You need an official copy of the marriage certificate if you changed your name. No, they don’t allow photocopies of anything.”
Women shared tips on requesting marriage certificates from the ’70s and discussed how long their county clerks had to search through all the microfiche. People erupted into cheers every hour or so when someone finally had their name called, prompting the winners to bow and smile like they’d won an Oscar. Children napped, mothers played Candy Crush at full volume and we all watched our names steadily creep up the list on the TV.
During my time there, I made connections with my fellow inmates and, like an anthropologist, witnessed firsthand all the possible highs and lows that must be commonplace in that microculture. A young man came in and tried to use his incarceration record at the Bonner County Jail as his proof of Idaho residency. Honestly, I admired the attempt. Next, a man in his 70s got up to take the eye exam. He stared at the letters silently as we shared concerned glances in the waiting room. “Um, ‘Z?’” He asked. It was not “Z,” and he didn’t try to guess the other letters. Finally, the woman behind the counter asked if he wore glasses to drive.
“Of course I do, I’m old,” he said. He then tried the eye test again, this time with his glasses. “Um, are you sure it’s on?”
He’d driven himself there that day.
A young girl checked herself in, shooing her mom away as she tried to help prepare her for her written driver’s test. After the daughter was safely out of earshot in the testing room, the mom ran to the counter and asked, “How many times can she fail before she has to retake the $500 class?”
The DMV worker told her that wasn’t how it worked.
“OK, but what if she fails it three times? What if she fails four times?” etc.
I wish I could say her daughter passed.
DEAR READERS,
I can always tell when May rolls around in Sandpoint. Gone are the frosty nights and quiet mornings. Our weekly calendar page is chock-full of events. The fruit trees scattered around Sandpoint fill the air with their fragrant blooms. Soon, the petals will fall and collect in the manhole covers and crevices between the curbs and streets, dotting our downtown corridor with splashes of color.
Mid-spring is a beautiful time in North Idaho. Do yourselves a favor and get outside every once in a while so you can enjoy the amazing feeling of disconnecting with the crazy world for a moment. Walk your dogs down by the shoreline, hike up Gold Hill, search out your first morel of the season. Soon the heat of summer will scoop us all away, but right here, right now, it’s a pretty good time to be alive (just be sure to disregard the constant chaos of national news).
–Ben Olson, publisher
111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 208-946-4368
Editors Emeriti: Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Cameron Rasmusson John Reuter
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Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Soncirey Mitchell, Lorraine H. Marie, Brenden Bobby, Kyle Pfannenstiel, Jeremy Grimm, Jim Jones, Marcia Pilgeram
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The Sandpoint Reader is a weekly publication owned by Ben Olson and Keokee. It is devoted to the arts, entertainment, bluster, politics and lifestyle in and around Sandpoint, Idaho. We hope to provide a quality alternative by offering honest, in-depth reporting that reflects the intelligence and interests of our diverse and growing community. The Reader is printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Leftover copies are collected and recycled weekly, or burned in bonfires to appease the gods of journalism. For back issues, contact the publisher. Free to all, limit two per person, please.
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We welcome letters to the editor on all relavant topics. Please, no more than 300 words, no excessive profanity or libelous statements and no trolls. Please elevate the discussion and stay on topic. Letters will be edited to comply with the above requirements. Opinons expressed in these pages are those of the writers, not necessarily the publisher. Send to: letters@sandpointreader.com
About the Cover:
This week’s cover is a painting called “Tattered Memories” by Sandpoint artist Nives Rigodanzo. See Page 12 for the story about her art show at the POAC Gallery.
Panhandle Health District to host meeting on clinical services Board discusses
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
The Panhandle Health District Board of Health met April 17 to discuss the logistics of its upcoming “strategic planning meeting,” which will be a public workshop on the district’s clinical services hosted by Idaho Association of Counties Executive Director Seth Grigg on Saturday, May 10. The board also further discussed Idaho Open Meeting Law and the future of public comment and clinical services in the district.
The May 10 meeting will run from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. and the agenda and additional information will appear on panhandlehealthdistrict.org. Anyone interested in giving public comment can send written statements to boardofhealth@ phd1.idaho.gov until Wednesday, May 7. The meeting will be streamed on the district’s YouTube channel but will not offer remote participation, so those wishing to speak will have to attend in person at the Kootenai County Administration Building (451 N. Government Way, Coeur d’Alene).
Board Chair Thomas Fletcher of Bonner County was adamant that the meeting will only cover clinical services, not other issues under the board’s jurisdiction, such as environmental quality, septic systems and waste disposal.
“If someone says ‘chemtrails,’ for instance — if I hear that again, I might have to commit suicide,” said Fletcher. “That was a joke.”
To prepare for the May 10 meeting, PHD Director Erik Ketner presented the board with data on the district’s clinical services for the past 10 years.
The district currently employs a “barebones crew” of 4.5 medical staff members, including 1.5 nurse practitioners, 1.5 nurses and 1.5 medical assistants. That number is down from 15 in 2015. Ketner
attributed the loss of personnel to the scarcity of medical professionals and the passage of Medicaid expansion, which lessened the need for free clinics. In light of the recent federal funding cuts and the new requirements to qualify for Medicaid in Idaho, Ketner anticipates that the need will only grow.
“I think that the additional requirements that the state of Idaho took on will likely mean that one in four individuals will fall out of Medicaid expansion,” said Ketner, citing news coverage of House Bill 345.
H.B. 345 was intended to cut Medicaid costs, mandating that Idaho seek work requirements for citizens on Medicaid and offer tax credits for qualified individuals to buy private insurance through the state’s health care exchange. The bill was based on similar Arkansas legislation, which, once passed, meant that “one in four people subject to the rule lost coverage,” according to the Idaho Capital Sun and the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
Currently, the National Institute of Health’s HDPulse estimates that 11.1% of Bonner County citizens under the age of 65 are uninsured and 7.5% live in poverty. Both statistics are higher than Idaho’s averages of 9.8% and 7%, respectively.
Ketner anticipates that Idaho’s smaller counties will feel the need for free clinical services the most.
“We are transitioning from a private health matter — which, you know, your health is frankly a very personal issue — to where this becomes a public health issue,’ said Ketner. “I mean, if we’re seeing an additional spread of communicable diseases, if some of these same programs no longer exist, what is going to be the solution, and how is that going to bleed over onto individuals that do have health care?”
The board intends to dis-
public comment, Idaho Open Meeting Law
cuss the topic further at the May 10 meeting, but Ketner cautioned that PHD won’t know the full impact of recent legislation for several months.
While planning the May 10 meeting, the board debated the importance of public comment and the request made by members of the public that they be able to participate in all PHD meetings remotely.
“I have a strong opinion as it relates to verbal questions [at the May 10 meeting] — only people who show up, not on Zoom. If you want to say something, go to the meeting,” said Fletcher.
Bonner County Commissioner Ron Korn recommended that the board allow remote participation or give people the opportunity to email questions in advance.
“You’re representing people multiple hours from here,” he said.
The district extends from Boundary County to Shoshone County.
Medical Director Duke Johnson, of Kootenai County, agreed that the district should encourage more public participation.
“I think that the more people feel that they are a part of Panhandle Health, the more it’ll be a utilized entity and feel more like them, and that’s good,” he said.
“Let [the May 10 meeting] be P.R.,” said Fletcher, paraphrasing Johnson’s point. “So, actually, if we are interested in promoting Panhandle Health clinical services, make people believe you love them ... Give people the opportunity to speak, to participate and then they will appreciate you, and if they appreciate you they will come to your clinic.”
Though the May 10 meeting will only stream via YouTube, the board voted to use Microsoft Teams for future meetings to allow remote participation.
Fletcher said that the board will not be making any deci-
sions at the May 10 meetings and that he will be “asking questions and providing information as substrate for stimulation of thought.”
“Not only in this meeting, but just in general, I just want to make sure that when we’re out facing the public in any way, shape or form, that we’re very cognizant about the fact that we are in a position by being on the board where people can make easy assumptions that maybe this is what the board thinks about XYZ,” added Vice-Chair Jessica Jameson of Kootenai County.
Peggy Cuvala of Benewah County and Jameson referenced statements made by Fletcher, which Ketner said alluded to “radio shows” and “various public meetings” at which Fletcher made comments that “may be construed that that’s the board’s opinion.”
Fletcher has spoken before the Bonner and Kootenai County boards of commissioners and the Bonner County Republican Central Committee, pointing to various conspiracy theories and questioning the safety of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s childhood vaccine schedule. Fletcher has denied that he is an “anti-vaxxer.”
During the Feb. 18 BOCC meeting, Fletcher stated, “If nothing else, this COVID pandemic experience has taught us one lesson, and it is that public health institutions are capable of deception. The deception goes from the global scale — the World Health Organization — all the way down to your local public health district.”
Jameson’s and Cuvala’s comments alluded to a broader pattern of unconventional leadership by Fletcher since he took over from former-Chair Marlow Thompson and began running PHD meetings in September 2024. Fletcher does not regularly take attendance, conform to meeting agendas or keep
track of motions, amendments and votes.
As with his Feb. 20 agenda item on “informed consent” — which worried and confused board members and area pediatricians — Fletcher stated that he didn’t “actually have a specific agenda” for the May 10 meeting and originally wanted the discussion to be more free-form.
“I have to confess that the lawyers altered my thinking about all of this [the May 10 meeting] at our last board meeting,” said Fletcher.
“Now, the lawyer sat in the chair over there at the last meeting and said, ‘Well, you know, in Idaho, we have to follow these open meeting law rules. That means you have to have a specific agenda, specific topics, specific items and it all has to be put out so many days before so that the public knows what to expect.’ And I went, ‘Oh, OK.’ Then I spoke to some commissioners about this and, in fact, that’s what all the commissioners — that was the feedback I got,” Fletcher later said.
Fletcher said he was “left flat-footed” when told he had to set an agenda for the May 10 meeting to comply with the law. When asked by the Reader to clarify whether Fletcher’s statement meant that previous meetings had violated open meeting law, PHD Communications, Health Promotion and IT Manager Katherine Hoyer said that the district “follows Idaho Open Meeting Law.”
“Ensuring our public meetings and agendas are properly noticed, in accordance with Idaho Open Meeting Law, is a key responsibility of the district director and supporting PHD staff,” Hoyer told the Reader. “We are committed to full compliance with open meeting laws in order to maintain transparency and ensure the public has access to our board’s decision-making process.”
Dist. 1 lawmakers to attend ‘Idaho Fireplace Forum’ at Sandpoint Community Hall
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Idaho District 1 Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle, and Rep. Mark Sauter, R-Sandpoint, will provide a recap of the 2025 Idaho Legislature and take questions from attendees Saturday, May 3 at the Sandpoint Community Hall (204 S. First Ave.).
Dubbed the “Idaho Fireplace Forum,” as it will take place before the stone hearth at the community hall, the gathering is scheduled from 6-8 p.m. and is open to the public. For those who can’t make it in person, 88.5 KRFY
Public invited to take in presentation on Idaho politics, legislative recap and Q&A session
Panhandle Community Radio will broadcast live from the hall at 88.5 FM and stream simultaneously at krfy.org.
According to Sauter, alongside a question-and-answer portion, the forum will include a presentation covering the “good, bad or indifferent” of Idaho politics, including a discussion of the outside influences that act on legislators. In addition, he and Woodward will go over what took place during the 2025 session at the capitol in Boise, how the makeup of the Legislature has changed from two years ago, and describe what legislation and issues they are working on
ahead of the 2026 Legislature, which will gavel into session next January.
Specifically, Sauter said that he will provide details on health care, EMS and fire issues, while Woodward is participating in housing and education committees over the summer. Meanwhile, both are engaged with the Albeni Falls Dam gate replacement project, which is ongoing.
“Just because the Legislature is done doesn’t mean we’re done,” he told the Reader.
Rep. Cornel Rasor, R-Sagle, is the third member of the Dist. 1 delegation. It was unclear as of press time
Army Corps will close Springy Point campground due to ‘limited staff’
By Reader Staff
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials announced the closure of Springy Point Recreation Area on April 29, as well as reduced services at several other USACE-managed facilities on Lake Pend Oreille and the Pend Oreille River for the upcoming summer season.
The closure at Springy Point takes effect Saturday, May 10, and includes the campground, restrooms, beach and boat ramp. As many as 700 reservations have been canceled, according to sources familiar with the issue, with site fees ranging from $25 to $50 per day.
The closure will remain in place until further notice.
These changes do not affect properties owned by USACE but managed by Idaho Department of Fish and Game, such as the Clark Fork Driftyard, Morton Slough and Johnson Creek.
USACE made the decision to close and reduce services in several areas with visitor safety and resource protection as its top priorities, according to the announcement.
At the same time, limited natural resource management staff makes it impossible to provide routine maintenance and sanitary conditions while
also providing the emergency response capabilities needed for a safe visitor experience.
“The Corps of Engineers is experiencing various challenges providing its standard level of public service this year,”
Albeni Falls Dam Natural Resources Chief Taylor Johnson stated in a news release.
“Because our visitors’ well-being is our top priority, we’re reducing services and closing designated recreation areas to ensure our staff can provide safe experiences for everyone. Limiting the number of sites our staff need to monitor and manage will help with this.”
In addition to closing Springy Point, the Corps is also reducing services at a number of other local areas, including limited visitor center hours at the Vista Recreation Area, diminished janitorial services at the Albeni Cove and Priest River recreation areas — both of which open Saturday, May 17 — and a restroom closure along with reduced picnic shelter availability and janitorial services at the Riley Creek Recreation Area, which opens Saturday, May 10.
Representatives from the Corps will host a public meeting Thursday, May 1 from 6-8 p.m. at the Ponderay Events Center (401 Bonner Mall Way), where they will address
the Albeni Falls Dam gate replacement project, among other topics.
Campgrounds, boat ramps and other federally operated facilities at dozens of locations in multiple states have announced closures in recent weeks, as President Donald Trump’s early-term hiring freeze, the cancellation of federal leases and budget cuts from the Department of Government Efficiency have taken their toll on numerous agencies, including the Corps.
Albeni Falls Dam relies on temporary seasonal employees and volunteer campground hosts to supplement its permanent staff during the peak recreation season from May-September.
Permanent staff, however, provide maintenance and visitor assistance to ensure facilities are safe and in good condition.
“Limited staff impacts USACE’s ability to provide services required for the upcoming recreational season,” the Corps stated. “This affects campground and visitor center operations, powerhouse tours, janitorial services and general maintenance.”
Any unforeseen major maintenance could result in closures due to lack of adequate staffing. In addition, all
interpretation, public outreach events and water safety education activities are canceled, affecting nearly 5,000 visitors, based on the Fiscal Year 2023-’24 average. The Corps estimates more than $17 million is generated in the local economy as a result of the 450,000 visitors who recreate at USACE-managed facilities around Lake Pend Oreille.
“We recognize these closures may be disruptive but want to remind the public that preparation is important,” Johnson stated. “Please plan your trip and check to see if there are additional restrictions or safety alerts.”
Visitors are encouraged to
check their local recreation area’s website by searching recreation.gov and follow USACE on social media for the latest site-specific updates.
Those with existing reservations at Springy Point will be contacted directly and receive full refunds.
“USACE is working diligently to address its staffing challenges and aims to reopen the affected campgrounds as soon as it is feasible to do so safely and effectively,” officials stated.
whether he would also attend the forum.
Rep. Mark Sauter, left; and Sen. Jim Woodward, right at a town hall on March 15 in Sandpoint. PHoto by Ben Olson
Springy Point campground will remain closed for the 2025 season due to staffing shortages. Photo courtesy idahocampgroundreview.com
What’s on the May 20 ballot, and what’s not
Some voters might find their lack of anything to vote for confusing — here’s why
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Bonner County voters have an election to participate in on Tuesday, May 20, but not everyone will have something on the ballot. In fact, it may be confusing for many.
Residents in west Bonner County will have a school district levy and cemetery district levy to decide, Ponderay residents will consider a local option tax, those living within the Lakeland Joint School District will have a levy on the ballot and every voting precinct but Humbird, Hope and Clark Fork will have a choice to make on fire district levies — including Northside, Westside, Sagle and Spirit Lake.
menu, then click “What’s On The Ballot” near the bottom of the page.
Bits ’n’ Pieces
From east, west and beyond
The Food and Drug Administration is suspending quality control testing for harmful pathogens in dairy products and programs focused on bird flu outbreaks, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, according to The Financial Times, the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency has laid off regulators who oversee Musk-owned Tesla’s self-driving technology.
Wired reported that DOGE has also gutted the Social Security Administration’s public communications staff and will shift all public communications to Musk’s social media platform, X.
President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts will expire without congressional action, The Atlantic wrote. Letting the cuts expire would result in savings of $366 billion, The Bulwark reported. To preserve the tax break would require billions of dollars in cuts, likely to Medicaid and food benefits.
That’s where this election might get a little difficult to navigate.
“Understand that even if there is voting at your precinct, you may personally not have something to vote on because you’re not in that district,” Bonner County Clerk Mike Rosedale told the Reader
That is explained by how the fire districts overlay the voting precincts. Those who live in the Humbird Precinct are wholly covered by the Sandpoint Fire Department, and therefore do not pay into any of the area fire districts. Likewise with residents in Hope and Clark Fork, who are also not covered by any of the districts.
However, all the other precincts have at least a portion of their area covered by either the Northside, Westside, Sagle or Spirit Lake fire districts.
Residents who live within the entirely covered or overlapping areas — sometimes just a “micro-sliver,” as Rosedale described it — will have an item on the ballot. However, if they live outside that district boundary, they won’t have anything to vote on — even if their overall precinct has an election.
“This is going to be an election where people will be frustrated, because they’ll go to vote and won’t have anything to vote on,” Rosedale said.
The best way to know whether a resident has something to vote on in the May 20 election is to visit bonnercountyid.gov/departments/CountyClerk, click on “Elections” in the
There, voters will be prompted to enter their name and birthdate, which will pull up their registration status. If that page shows a sample ballot for the May 20 election, that means they live within one of the precinct areas that overlap with a fire district and will have a ballot on which to cast a vote. If not, they won’t need to go to the polls.
Better yet, Rosedale said, voters should call the Elections Office at 208-255-3631 with any questions about whether their residence lies within the taxing district boundary with an election.
Early voting is set to begin Monday, May 5 and continue through Friday, May 16. Meanwhile, the deadline to request a mail-in absentee ballot is Friday, May 9.
Early voting will be available Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., at the Bonner County Elections Office (1500 Hwy. 2, Ste. 124, in Sandpoint).
Absentee mail-in ballots may be requested by dropping off or mailing a completed form in person at the Elections Office, or by emailing the form or faxing to elections@bonnercountyid. gov or 208-255-3631, respectively.
What’s on (some) of the ballots
• The West Bonner County School District is proposing a supplemental maintenance and operation levy of $2,353,440.60 per year for two years, beginning July 1 and ending June 30, 2027. The single biggest portion of the levy amounts to $846,268.04 for support staff jobs, followed by $512,500 for school operating expenses, including utilities, maintenance, custodial
< see BALLOT, Page 7 >
Opposition to Trump’s agenda is swelling on the political right. Andrew McCarthy at the National Review wrote, “the president wants it known that ... constitutional constraints on executive power as courts and due process are no longer operative ... ‘Constitutional crisis’ is a phrase often invoked and rarely accurate. But now, we actually have one.”
According to The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board: It looks like “Trump wants to force a showdown at the Supreme Court over executive power and the judiciary” regarding “deportee Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia ... [who] was deported without due process.” The Journal advised quietly asking El Salvador’s president to return Abrego Garcia, but suspected Trump would rather show the judiciary who is boss.
From The New York Times’ Bret Stephens: “The Administration’s refusal to bring him [Garcia] back “is unconstitutional and un-American ... there is a mean-spiritedness of vulgarity that sits outside of the spirit of the America that I love.”
Substacker Andrew Sullivan, former editor of The New Republic: “Trump decided he wants to go after legal immigrants and even legal permanent residents who have been charged with no crimes or immigration violations — [some] because they have criticized a foreign country, Israel.” He’s targeting “any legal noncitizen who has criticized or demonstrated against the Jewish state’s wiping of Gaza off the face of the earth, proudly gutting the First Amendment ... Trump has also abandoned habeas corpus and due process by
By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Contributor
invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to seize mere suspects off the streets and transport them instantly to a terrifying foreign jail in El Salvador. The law has only been used twice before in wartime we are not at war. ... These wannabe fascists publicly delight and revel in their acts of domination in a manner that even despotic regimes avoid.”
And The New York Times’ conservative op-ed writer David Brooks: “Over the centuries, people built the sinews of civilization: constitutions to restrain power ... alliances to promote peace, legal systems to peacefully settle disputes, scientific institutions to cure disease, news outlets to advance public understanding, charitable organizations to ease suffering, businesses to ... spread prosperity ... These institutions make our lives sweet, loving and creative, rather than nasty, brutish and short.” Trumpism, Brooks wrote, “is driven by a primal aversion to the higher elements of the human spirit — learning, compassion, scientific wonder, the pursuit of justice. ... “What is happening now is not normal politics. We’re seeing an assault on the fundamental institutions of our civic life ... It’s time for a comprehensive national civic uprising. It’s time for Americans... to form one coordinated mass movement. The only way [Trump]’s going to be stopped is if he’s confronted by some movement that possesses rival power ... We have nothing to lose but our chains.”
Similarly, Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker just a crowd in New Hampshire to ignore “do-nothing political types” who call for caution with Trump, and instead engage in vigorous resistance.
According to various recent headlines, CEOs of national big box stores are warning that bare shelves are coming, DOGE’s alleged $160 billion in savings have actually cost $135 billion and, meanwhile, DOGE employees have gained accounts on classified networks holding nuclear secrets. A new lawsuit argues that the government overhaul instigated by Trump and spearheaded by DOGE is unconstitutional because it was not authorized by Congress, while Trump’s first 100-day approval rating is the lowest for any president in 80 years and Trump is calling for prosecution of his critics.
Blast from the (recent) past: Trump stated on social media in mid-February that his efforts to “save” the country put him above the law. “Spoken like a true dictator,” remarked Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
Have thoughts on affordable housing in Idaho? Here’s how to weigh in on U.S. Sen. Crapo’s survey
By Kyle Pfannenstiel Idaho Capitol Sun
U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, is collecting Idahoans’ opinions on affordable housing through a survey.
The survey is meant to inform Crapo about common issues to possibly consider legislation, the senator’s office announced in a news release in March. In 2014 and 2015, the senator’s veterans’ surveys led Crapo to introduce legislation that became law, his office said.
<
con’t from Page 6 >
grounds and transportation.
Student enrichment activities including art, music, coand extracurriculars, among others, would be supported with $457,172.56, followed by $250,000 for the contingency fund; $125,000 for nurses and mental health support; $100,000 for classroom supplies, curriculum, learning materials and staff training; $37,500 for additional classes such as advanced placement, electives and career-technical education; and $25,000 for one bus per year.
If approved, the levy would cost taxpayers $43.41 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value per year.
• The West Bonner Cemetery Maintenance District is requesting voters authorize a base budget increase from property tax revenues from $68,330 to $142,545.33 — a difference of $74,215.33, intended to pay for capital improvements and general maintenance at the Evergreen Cemetery in Priest River. That would amount to an increase of $1.62 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, for a total of $4 per $100,000 per year.
• In the city of Ponderay, residents will be asked to weigh in on a 10% local option tax applied to short-term rentals such as hotel/motel
“A lack of affordable housing is the No. 1 issue
rooms, condominium units, tourist homes, bed-and-breakfasts, and similar temporary dwellings of 30 days or fewer.
The tax would be levied for 12 years from its effective date, and revenue applied to roads, pathways, sidewalks, water, sewer and parking; recreation facilities, parks and maintenance; land acquisition; municipal and public transportation; public information and education; grant-matching contributions; property tax relief; and covering costs associated with collecting and enforcing the tax.
• Northside Fire is asking for $1,898,933 from property taxpayers beginning with Fiscal Year 2026 to cover costs of staffing, including at the Samuels Fire Station; hiring additional firefighters/EMTs; equipment and maintenance; and providing general services such as fire protection and lifesaving. According to the ballot language, the permanent levy would represent an increase of $1,245,812 from the current $653,121 — amounting to a tax bump of $41 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value for a total of $61 per $100,000 per year.
• Westside Fire is seeking to permanently increase its budget from the current levy amount of $577,461 to $1,387,819 (a difference of
Idahoans raise with my staff and me in meetings across the state,” Crapo said in a prepared statement. “Idaho is far from alone in this nationwide challenge, but Idahoans can be a key part in piecing together the housing puzzle as I continue to work to find collaborative solutions to this issue. I invite any Idahoan to complete the survey and share as much detail as they are willing and able to provide.”
For two years in a row, Idahoans have listed workforce and affordable housing
$810,358) beginning FY2025’26 and to be set as the base budget to pay for current staffing and new hires, equipment and maintenance, and general operations. Specifically, the ballot language states that new dollars would be applied to increasing the number of firefighters/EMTs from one per day to three on shift per day — up from three-full time employees to nine. The increase would be $71 per $100,000 of assessed value per year, for a total of $122 per $100,000.
• In Sagle, the fire district is asking voters to approve a permanent levy increase to $2,623,470 from $1,873,470, for a total override of $750,000. As with the other districts, funds would go toward staffing, hiring, equipment and maintenance, and the purchase of new apparatus. In particular, Sagle Fire wants to provide a minimum of two firefighter/EMTs at the Careywood and Sagle stations. The overall tax increase would be $34 per $100,000 of assessed value, for a total of $122 per year per $100,000.
• The Spirit Lake Fire District is proposing a temporary budget increase, levying property taxes amounting to $477,000 beginning in FY’26 and lasting for two years to maintain and increase staffing, equipment and maintenance,
as their overall top budget priority for the Idaho Legislature, according to the annual Idaho Public Policy Survey by Boise State University. Almost a third of Idahoans, 32%, listed the issue as their top state legislative budget priority. Nearly half of Idahoans, 49%, reported feeling financially strained by housing costs, the survey found.
Crapo’s affordable housing survey, available online at crapo.senate.gov/issues/affordable-housing-survey, is open through May 31.
and purchasing and maintaining vehicles and facilities. The estimated cost to taxpayers would be $24.66 per $100,000 of assessed value.
• Residents in the Lakeland School District in the far southern portion of Bonner County are being asked to consider a supplemental levy of $7,520,000 per year for two years beginning July 1 and ending June 30, 2027, intended to support co-curricular and athletics, safety and security programs, transportation, funding for 25 teacher positions, maintaining advanced learning programs at elementary schools and maintaining student access to the Kootenai Technical Education Campus in Rathdrum. The estimated average annual taxpayer cost would be $82.37 per $100,000 of assessed value per year.
What’s not on the ballot
• Local politics watchers were likely aware of two impending vacancies on the East Bonner County Library Board of Trustees, with terms ending for Judy Meyers and Joan Terrell in May. Elections for those seats would have been on the May 20 ballot, but only two candidates filed to run, making the election moot.
Rosedale, who runs Bonner County elections, said that Idaho Code 33-2717 stipulates that if only one regular or
The survey is intended to hear feedback from homeowners, renters, insurance brokers, bankers, realtors, government officials and general contractors, Crapo’s office said.
This story was produced by Boise-based nonprofit news outlet the Idaho Capital Sun, which is part of the States Newsroom nationwide reporting project. For more information, visit idahocapitalsun.com.
write-in candidate files to run for an open seat, no election will be held.
“It worked out that the East Bonner County Library had the right amount of applicants to fill the slots and therefore, by law, the clerk was not allowed to do the election because none was needed,” Rosedale said.
Susan Drinkard and Vicki Reich were the sole candidates to file for the open EBCL Library Board seats and, under I.C. 33-2717, will be declared elected no later than seven days before the scheduled date of the election.
(Disclosure: Reich is the stepmother of Reader Editor-in-Chief Zach Hagadone.)
“We just have to ‘declare elected’ the incoming trustees at our next board meeting on the 12th of May, which just so happens to be one week before the election,” EBCL Director Vanessa Velez told the Reader. In other words, no matter where you live in the county, there won’t be an EBCL trustee election on your ballot, despite there having been two open seats.
For all other things election-related, go to bonnercountyid. gov/elections or voteidaho.gov.
BALLOT,
Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho. File photo
Bouquets:
• Eichardt’s Pub celebrated 31 years in business on April 29, which is a feat to be proud of. Eichardt’s is one of those businesses that, if you took it away, Sandpoint wouldn’t feel like Sandpoint anymore. Owner Jeff Nizzoli has been a staunch supporter of this community since he served his first pint. He never hesitates when asked to donate time, food and beer to causes that make life better for us here in Sandpoint. In fact, along with Sunshine Goldmine, Eichardt’s was the first business to advertise with the Reader and has been in every edition (except that one week I had a few too many beers and forgot to place the ad — sorry, Jeff) since the beginning. Restaurants and bars come and go in Sandpoint, but there is only one Eichardt’s. Long live the weird.
Barbs:
• Another week, another bucket of nonsense dumped over our heads. Here are some lowlights to darken your day:
1.Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed that Trump’s first 100 days in office “saved 258 million lives.” It’s worth noting that the entire U.S. population is around 341 million. Umm, thanks?
2.Trump said the imploding stock market and economic downturn as a result of his tariffs were the blame of... you guessed it: former President Joe Biden.
3.When pressed by ABC reporter Terry Moran about Kilmar Garcia — who was mistakenly deported to an El Salvadoran prison, where he remains — Trump claimed that the image of Garcia’s hand showing “MS13” printed above his knuckle tattoos was in fact real (up to this point, Trump’s handlers claimed the superimposed “MS13” text was intended to interpret the meanings of the actual tattoos). When Moran tried to correct Trump, he wouldn’t have it and insisted the obviously altered photo was real and that Garcia was a gang member.
Who needs AI when you can fool the president with what looks like a mid-1990s MS Paint hack job? Even among his 30,000-plus lies while in office, this one is just plain absurd.
Just to clarify…
Dear editor,
I am an American. Right now I am an angry, afraid American.
Did we intend for the U.S. government to favor or enforce strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government, at the expense of personal freedom? A government that shows a lack of concern for the wishes or opinions of others, and is domineering and dictatorial?
Is this what “We the People” signed up for in the preamble to the U.S. Constitution? These words signified that the power of the U.S. government originates from the citizens, not the government itself.
It is a declaration of the people’s power over the government.
Did we just give that away? Do we recognize our country anymore?
The First Amendment to the Constitution reminds us of who we were meant to be:
… nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Do we remember our pledge of allegiance: “with liberty and justice for all”?
Can we look ourselves in the mirror and say we remember, and agree that is what we should still be standing for?
Look with eyes wide open, with a mind ready to receive what we are seeing with our own eyes.
We are on the precipice of an authoritarian “dictatorship.”
“We the People” must save the Constitution and our republic or lose it.
What will it take for America to not be angry and afraid?
Maybe all it takes is for us to remember.
Jacqueline Taylor Sandpoint
Parking fees…
Dear editor,
To the Sandpoint City Council: I live in the town of Kootenai, which means you will be charging me $3 per hour to park at City Beach, per hour, last I heard.
I do have an investment in the beach area, as I donated a bench there about 10 years ago. Kim Woodruff and I talked about the area I
wanted, and to replace a bench that was very old. I told him my grandson and I used to sit and talk there, and I had my grandson promise to bring me to that exact area one more time, when I got old and in a wheelchair. Kim came up with an idea of making an extra long slab for the bench to have a place for a wheelchair next to it. My bench is called “Nana and Grandchild Bench.”
I sometimes go there with my daughter to have a coffee and enjoy the view. Sometimes friends join me; but, most of the time, it’s just me. I take pictures and enjoy the people who walk by.
I don’t know if you’re aware, but elderly people use the cement path for exercise. Because of that, and because I’m not happy about paying $3 every time I want to visit my bench, I was wondering if you could forgo the parking fee for those of us over the age of 70. I will be 85 in April and can still walk over to the bench from a parking spot by the snack shack. It would be kind of nice to have a couple handicap parking spots there, too.
Hope you will give this serious thought and action. After all, there aren’t that many of us, so it would not break the city to give a free pass for us.
Most sincerely,
Cecelia (Cis) Gors Kootenai
Congress is derelict in its duties…
Dear editor,
If the U.S. Congress was subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) the majority would be charged, and convicted, with dereliction of duty. Dereliction of duty is defined as failure to perform, willful neglect or incapacity due to self-induced conditions. I believe that Idaho’s congressional delegation, composed of Sen. Mike Crapo, Sen. Jim Risch, Rep. Mike Simpson and Rep. Russ Fulcher, are all clearly guilty of dereliction of their duties under the provisions of the articles of the U.S. Constitution — and that these charges can be applied for their actions (or inactions) over the past several years.
I served in the U.S. Navy for 21 years. Every hour of every day of that period I was subject to the articles of the UCMJ. Both the military and Congress take an oath to defend and support the Constitution. Our delegation, and the remaining GOP members of Congress, are all clearly guilty of not supporting and defending the Constitution.
They have abrogated their constitutional powers and responsibilities in exchange for being secure in their positions of power. Congress
needs to reassert all of its constitutional powers. Only then can we have any hope to restore the checks and balances of our Constitution.
Our elected Rep. Fulcher granted interviews in controlled environments so that we can read his thoughts after he departs and he does not hear our questions or thoughts.
He did not have to answer directly to voters about the Washington, D.C. chaos and turmoil which he supports.
I don’t feel represented, do you?
Molly O’Reilly Sandpoint
‘Handmaids protest loss of freedoms’…
Dear editor,
It appears some people misunderstand the intent of the local ladies protesting in red gowns and white bonnets. It helps to understand the premise of the novel The Handmaid’s Tale, written in 1985 by Margaret Atwood. In the book, all women are stripped of all their fundamental rights after democracy is overturned by a patriarchal, totalitarian dictatorship.
The story centers on the young Handmaids, who are forced to bear children for the regime. All the other women are enslaved as nannies, housekeepers and cooks in the Commanders’ estates. Even the unfertile wives of these top-level officers live in a world where reading books (other than the Bible) are forbidden. Every woman is a subject of the state, to be used in whatever way is dictated to them.
We are watching the current administration blatantly disregard the fundamental protections of our Constitution. We’re witnessing the erosion of women in the military play out in real-time with the removal of top-ranking female officers. Just last week, another of the White House’s atrocious executive orders targeted the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which was written in 1976 to prevent financial discrimination against women based on marital status.
How far will they go? Do they want today’s women to be required to have a man co-sign for a loan or credit card, as it was before 1976?
Then our own Rep. Russ Fulcher recently introduced a bill that could jeopardize some women’s ability to vote because their married name
differs from their birth name. The assault is real. American women have already been suffering the devastating loss of critical health care — including in Idaho. With this current erosion of our rights and freedoms and the prospects of more losses, the presence of the local Handmaid protesters represents a refusal to accept this current dystopian regime.
Rebecca Holland Sandpoint
Speeding drivers make taking ‘that one step’ fatal …
Dear editor,
Last Saturday, I watched as my husband crossed Fifth Avenue at Poplar Street.
He picked up an orange flag, waited for the cars to stop and started across the street, waving the flag for safety.
All of the cars were stopped in both directions but one driver, going south in the fast lane, decided not to stop and raced through the intersection just as my husband was one step away.
I thought I was about to watch him get killed by a speeding car. He would have been hit if he had taken that one step.
I screamed. It was terrifying.
I don’t know if the woman in the white car even noticed he was there.
Please slow down, pay attention and put your phone away while driving.
Next time someone may take that one step.
Barbara McLongstreet Sandpoint
Doubting affordability of downtown residential units…
Dear editor,
My thoughts after reading Mayor Jeremy Grimms’ comments about downtown parking — or lack of — at the future two four-story “affordable-rent” buildings: To my knowledge, I have yet to see anything “affordable” built in the last few years anywhere around Sandpoint. He claims it will be the best way for residents to live downtown and be able to walk to work.
Well, just how many future renters can you cram into a tiny apartment to cover the cost of rent? I cannot imagine that the majority of downtown employees will be able to afford living there. As usual, there hasn’t been any mention regarding the projected cost of rent.
Mayor Grimm is great at sales pitching, but then again, he is just another politician.
Jo Reitan Sandpoint
Putting heartbeats downtown
By Sandpoint Mayor Jeremy Grimm Reader Contributor
Some recent public discussion surrounding parking and proposed downtown housing reflects how deeply Sandpoint residents care about our downtown core. I respect and appreciate that passion — it’s a sign that our community remains engaged and invested in our future.
However, it’s important to provide some perspective and clarify why Sandpoint’s downtown is exempt from off-street parking requirements — and why that’s a deliberate planning policy rooted in sound, long-term thinking.
More than a decade ago, in 2009, when serving as Sandpoint’s Planning a Community Development director, I led an effort to eliminate downtown parking mandates to remove barriers to reinvestment and revitalization. At the time, more than a third of our ground-floor spaces sat vacant and then, as today, we had plenty of offstreet parking. Requiring every project to include off-street parking made it nearly impossible to bring those buildings back to life. Since then, our walkable, building-rich downtown has rebounded — and that’s no accident.
People don’t visit downtowns for parking lots; they come for buildings, experiences and community.
Surface parking may be necessary, but it doesn’t create charm, economic activity or tax revenue. Buildings do. Walkable downtowns filled with businesses, shops and housing are proven to generate stronger economies and a higher quality of life.
We can see this playing out in real-time: During the current closure of the downtown parking lot for refurbishment, roughly 127 vehicles have shifted to on-street parking — and ample capacity still exists.
Parking at the curve along the ITD right-of-way remains mostly open and, even at midday, spaces are regularly
available along Church, Oak, Cedar and Second through Fourth avenues. This underscores that Sandpoint has a flexible, resilient parking capacity. When people walk from their parking spot to their destination, they have the chance to actually immerse themselves in the fabric of the town, which at times results in a chance conversation, bumping into a long-lost friend or eyeing a perfect gift in a window display. Beyond parking, this conversation is ultimately about how we want our downtown to feel. Other than Friday and Saturday nights, downtown often empties when the work-
Reader Staff
The first-ever Live Give 7B giving week came to a close on April 18, with the results exceeding organizers’ expectations. With 480 donors contributing just more than $228,000, the campaign more than tripled its original goal of $70,000, contributing vital support to nonprofits throughout Bonner County.
“What began as a grassroots effort to shine a light on local nonprofits, blossomed into a powerful expression of community spirit and generosity,” organizers stated in a news release.
While the campaign week was the highlight, the purpose of Live Give 7B extends beyond that single event, serving as an initiative designed to serve as a year-round resource
force goes home at 5 p.m.
The best way to bring consistent energy, safety and life to our core is to put heartbeats downtown — by welcoming residents who live, work, walk, shop and dine there.
Adding housing creates a customer and an employee base for local retailers and restaurants, entertainment venues, supports extended business hours, and enhances safety and community connection through passive activity.
In a broader sense, encouraging more people to live downtown also supports my critical economic goal for Sandpoint’s future: diversifying beyond a tourism-based economy.
While visitors will always be an important part of our town, we must build a stronger foundation rooted in year-round residents, local businesses, and everyday commerce. A vibrant, livedin downtown strengthens Sandpoint’s resilience and economic stability — creating a community that thrives not just during tourist seasons, but every day of the year.
Downtown housing — with
to help the community discover, connect with and support nonprofits doing essential work in Bonner County.
The Live Give 7B website — 7bgives.org — allows residents to explore organizations by focus area, find volunteer opportunities and learn how to give in ways that make a lasting impact.
“This campaign was born out of a simple idea shared during our monthly nonprofit director meetings,” stated Innovia Foundation Regional Director Dig Chrismer. “We wanted to help our neighbors focus on the work being done right here in Bonner County — work that often flies under the radar but makes this community what it is. Live Give 7B brings that work into the spotlight.”
Live Give 7B also recog-
Why housing and downtown planning matter
its smaller, more affordable units — supports that vision. It adds housing for workers, young professionals, and others who want to live where they can walk or bike to daily needs. Many of Sandpoint’s most beloved buildings — from Kochava to McDuff’s, The Hive, Joel’s, The Winery/Fat Pig and the Cedar Street Bridge — also provide no or limited off-street parking. They are possible because of our supportive downtown parking policy.
Let’s also recognize that downtown Sandpoint is not Ponderay. Our core is defined by historic scale, walkable blocks and unique local character. Ponderay is dominated by large parking lots and big-box stores. We should not impose suburban parking models on a historic town center where buildings and people — not cars — are what make the place.
Requiring off-street parking for every new building imposes immense costs, discourages redevelopment and often makes housing less affordable. It’s not a formula for vibrancy — it’s a formula for stagnation.
That said, I fully ac-
nizes and lifts up the local business community, which keeps dollars circulating locally and is also the first to step up when a nonprofit needs sponsorship, a raffle donation or other help.
“By encouraging our community to shop local and support these homegrown enterprises, Live Give 7B underscores the powerful, reciprocal relationship between thriving businesses and thriving nonprofits,” organizers stated. “When we invest in one, we strengthen the other — and our entire community benefits.”
The campaign culminated with celebrations at Matchwood Brewing Company in Sandpoint and Timber Town Beer Company in Priest River, drawing nonprofit staff, volunteers and supporters from
knowledge that as Sandpoint continues to grow, the time may come when structured parking — such as a parking garage — becomes necessary. But we must be honest about the costs: Even a modest $15 million facility would require more than $600,000 in annual parking revenue just to cover the debt. Until there is sustained, demonstrated demand for off-street parking — and broad public willingness to pay for it — such an investment would be fiscally irresponsible. Arbitrary parking mandates can stifle investment, raise housing costs and undermine walkable, vibrant town centers. I believe Yogi Berra said it best: “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.” Given the options, I’m 100% in favor of a crowded downtown — not just during a few weeks in the summer, but all year round.
Jeremy Grimm has served as Sandpoint mayor since 2024, served as Sandpoint city planner from 2007-2015 and is owner/ land use planner at Whiskey Rock Planning + Consulting.
across the county. The effort was supported through a grant from the Equinox Foundation, with additional in-kind support from community partners who stepped in once word of the campaign spread.
Organizers plan to build on this year’s momentum by hosting additional community events and expanding outreach efforts to ensure that local giving remains strong and accessible year-round.
“Live Give 7B is more than a moment — it’s a movement,” they added. “It’s a platform that celebrates the nonprofits and local businesses that give Bonner County its heart and character.”
For more information, to find a nonprofit or to donate, visit 7bgives.org.
Sandpoint Mayor Jeremy Grimm. File photo
Science: Mad about
light pollution
By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist
Today’s subject was suggested by Kodiak Ellis. Thanks, Kodi!
The discovery of electricity brought with it a unique problem that had never before been encountered by human civilization: light pollution.
We have used artificial light for as long as we’ve understood how to create fire. Humans using fire for lighting is usually very controlled and in small amounts to illuminate an area around us, while electric lights are meant to brighten huge paths or areas with powerful light. This is great when we’re ghost hunting down a creepy old hallway at night, but it’s much worse when it’s altering our environment.
Many plants and animals evolved to be in tune with natural light cycles. Many moths are nocturnal and naturally evolved to use moonlight as a navigational tool in the way that humans used the North Star, Polaris, to navigate throughout history. Bright artificial lights at night aren’t necessarily attracting the moths, they just can’t differentiate the moon from the lights and end up getting stuck, much like an NPC in a video game that has flawed pathing will continuously walk into a wall or an object.
Light pollution also disrupts the flight patterns of migratory birds, including Canada Geese and the hummingbirds we see during the summer. Birds rely on light to regulate their hormonal cycles, which affects everything from their stress to their egg production and migratory paths. Placing a light in a chicken coop during the winter will
increase the egg yield, but also detrimentally affect the hen’s lifespan and overall health.
Humans have also evolved to be attuned with natural day and night cycles. Sleep cycles for humans have changed dramatically in the past 20,000 years, and the introduction of electric lighting has further complicated that.
Early in human history, it was common for humans of different ages to have varying sleep schedules. Young and old humans would need frequent bursts of sleep, while adolescent humans would skew toward staying awake longer into the night to keep watch with keen and healthy eyes until adults or elders would awaken in the early morning. It’s believed this is why teenagers currently tend to have more night-owl tendencies than adults, though the bombardment of artificial light has certainly stretched this behavior to extremes.
Artificial light provides visibility and security to help reduce bad behavior in humans, such as theft, vandalism and violence. It also makes it safer for us to drive at night by allowing us to see and avoid obstacles or dangers in the roadways, so its importance can’t be diminished, but it has other effects on our environment that can’t be glossed over.
Interestingly, artificial light and light pollution both control and contribute to an increase in crime. Illuminating areas at night reduces the likelihood of harmful and illegal acts occurring in an area, while also contributing to disrupted sleep cycles, which can cause an increase in erratic and harmful behavior. While not a sole cause of this, it can still contribute to unrest in urban areas where
systemic poverty and drug use are frequent.
Light pollution in the night sky occurs in areas with lots of artificial light. The light is diffused by the atmosphere and obfuscates our view of the stars. Light diffusion takes place when light particles strike an object and are scattered. This is why most lights are covered by a sheet of acetate, glass or plastic. The light scatters, which increases the area the light illuminates while also reducing the harshness of the illumination. This also happens in the atmosphere when photons strike air molecules. This is apparent in city areas where the sky “glows.” It’s also seen during forest fires, as the intense light from the huge amount of fire is diffusing in the air above the blaze. Meanwhile, light pollution wastes energy and money that could be used elsewhere. An open-faced streetlight shining light in every direction is throwing a lot of energy up to the sky that doesn’t need to be illuminated. Putting a cap over the top of a streetlight and pointing downward illuminates the ground where people need to see. Lower energy bulbs can also be used to deliver the same amount of light to a smaller area, which saves money and reduces everyone’s electric bill in the long run.
You may be thinking to yourself: We live in an age of GPS and don’t use the stars for navigation anymore. What’s the big deal if we can’t see the stars?
This is important to astrophysicists for numerous reasons. Our ability to view planets within our solar system and stars outside of it helps us understand our own planet as well as advanc-
ing our technology through understanding of natural processes. Nuclear fusion technology is a great example of the importance of observing stars. Trying to develop nuclear fusion would be extremely difficult if we weren’t able to observe myriad other stars to understand how these processes occur naturally. Large stars act very differently from stars the size of our sun.
Diffused light makes it difficult to see distant objects. It
would be as if you were bird watching and some annoying kid was shining a laser pointer into your lenses.
Are you looking for more information about dark sky initiatives around the world, including in the Sandpoint area? Get started at darksky. org and see if there are things you can do to help save on your energy bill and bring a little more darkness back to the night sky.
Stay curious, 7B.
Random Corner
•The first organized baseball game was played in 1846 at Elysian Fields in Hoboken, N.J., between the Knickerbockers and the New York Nine. However, historians have debated the sport’s origins for decades. Alexander Cartwright is regarded as the “father of modern baseball” because of the way he developed the basic rules of the game that we know today, but baseball and other bat-and-ball games were developed from folk games in Britain, Ireland, France and Germany.
•The odds of a fan being hit by a baseball at a live game are 300,000-1.
•The longest Major League Baseball game in history lasted 26 innings. It occurred in 1920 between the Brooklyn Robins and Boston Braves, lasted just shy of four hours and ended with a score of 1-1 after the umpire called the game because it had become too dark to play.
•Unlike most sports, baseball parks can vary significantly in size and shape. While the infields remain
uniform, outfields are quite different between ballparks.
•Nolan Ryan holds the record for the most career strikeouts, a whopping 5,714 over his 27-year career.
•There are a lot of superstitions in baseball. For instance, it’s considered bad luck to mention a no-hitter while it’s in progress. Other players purposely avoid stepping on the foul line when taking the field. Wade Boggs used to only eat chicken before a game and Bryce Harper eats waffles and takes seven showers before every game.
•A “grand slam” is when a batter hits a home run while the bases are loaded. The term actually comes from the card game bridge, where a grand slam involves winning all the tricks in a hand.
•The rarest play in baseball is the unassisted triple play, when a single fielder makes all outs himself in one continuous play. Only 15 unassisted triple plays have ever been recorded in MLB history.
Farewell to Helen Newton, the definition of an authentic Sandpoint ‘local’
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
One of Sandpoint’s truest champions passed away on April 25 — Helen Newton, aged 83, left us but she won’t be forgotten for her wit, humor and diligent intelligence, all of which she marshalled over the decades to serve her community.
Helen Carol Method Newton was born Nov. 22, 1941 in Maywood, Calif., though spent her life in Bonner County — attending local schools and graduating from Sandpoint High School in 1959.
She then went on to the University of Idaho for two years, where she joined the Pi Beta Phi sorority.
She married Skip Newton in Sandpoint in 1961, by whom she’s survived along with daughters Laurie (Ted) Kunkel of Latah, Wash., and Pam (Paul) Rugloski of Harrison, Idaho; grandsons Jordan (Tashara) Kunkel, Matt Fogg and Zachary Kunkel; granddaughter Zoe Fogg; great-grandchildren Kaitlin, Rowan, Callum, Kaden, Kaitlyn, Bethany and Lincoln; and younger brother Cal (Mary Ann) Method, of Kennewick, Wash.
Helen was a hard worker, being employed from 1959-1969 by Bud Moon at the Moon Funeral Home. Later, from 1969-1979, she worked for local dentist Gerald Madsen, Dr. Jim Arthurs, and Les and Pat Rogers at M&J Market. Following that, she worked for Cooke, Lamanna, Smith and Cogswell from 1979-1981.
Helen entered public service in 1981, when then-Mayor Sally Cupan appointed her as Sandpoint city clerk. She served in that office until retiring in 2005. She didn’t stay away from City Hall for long, though, winning a seat on the City Council from 2006-2010.
Helen was a friend of one of my aunts since they were in school together, and Helen often shared with me her memories of hanging out at my grandparents’ house when she was a kid, but it was during her time with the city that I really got to know her best.
The first iteration of the Reader launched in late December 2004 and, of course, Helen started getting a lot of calls from me starting soon thereafter. Helen was the kind of public official reporters most love working with — quick to respond to questions or requests for information, up front with
communication and easy to quote. It helped that she was really funny, with a sly wit that could and did carry a sting at times.
Often, when I called on a story, she’d get just as committed to sharing the inner workings of local government — and keeping it honest — as I, and maybe even more so.
Helen brought all that energy and keen eye for detail to the council, where she suffered no fools and brooked no puffery, boosterism, doubletalk or other such nonsense. She was a pleasure to cover and, while I’m sure I personally disagreed with a couple of her decisions, that hardly mattered then or now.
I am positive that she never made a statement or vote that she didn’t think hard about and truly thought was in the absolute best interest of this town that she loved so much. When I’ve thought about a true, authentic “local,” Helen has always sprung immediately to mind.
Though she left office in 2010, I was profoundly grateful when I returned to the Reader in 2019 and found that she was still engaged with keeping the city government honest as a commenter at council meetings, frequent letter-to-the-editor writer and occasional provider of full-blown op-eds. Back before COVID-19, when everyone had to attend City Hall meetings in person, I was always happy to see Helen sitting in the audience — usually knitting something while she shook her head at whatever someone on the dais said that she obviously didn’t agree with.
Her opinions were never idle, and
she always came with receipts. She also liked to talk, which I took advantage of many times. I used to call her whenever I couldn’t wrap my head around some aspect of city government, or needed a deeper perspective on why some code was written the way it was, or just to vent about whatever was annoying me about a city politics story.
She always answered and would stay on the line for however long we both felt like talking, the pair of us editorializing in ways I won’t repeat.
None of this is intended to paint Helen as some hard-nosed politico — she could be, but she was mostly as warm, compassionate and giving a person as anyone is lucky to meet. She belonged to the Sandpoint United Methodist Church dating back to 1955; was a five-term president of P.E.O. International, Chapter V; and served on the Bonner General Hospital Board, Pend Oreille Hospital District, Sandpoint Centennial Commission and was a 2018 Woman of Wisdom honoree.
Helen was also a well known, talented quilter and enjoyed playing bridge and organizing reunions for the SHS classes that graduated in the ’50s.
I’m glad I never delete old emails, because I had the pleasure the other day of searching for Helen’s name and rereading some of our back-and-forths over the years. One of them from January 2023 and addressed to Publisher Ben Olson and me hit particularly hard when I revisited it:
“Thank you, thank you, both for the insight, the balance, the accurate reporting and more that you give to our community — a community whose landscape, by the way, I find more difficult every day to recognize and every week I realize I also recognize fewer and fewer names and faces. Nobody told me this would be part of the aging process. C’est la vie.”
I’ll find Sandpoint more difficult to recognize without Helen in it, and will dearly miss seeing her name in my email inbox and in these pages.
There will be a celebration of Helen Newton’s life at 10 a.m., Saturday, May 17 at Sandpoint United Methodist Church (711 Main St.). Memorial donations may be made to the Sandpoint United Methodist Church; Bonner County Museum (611 S.Ella Ave., in Sandpoint); or the Senior Center (820 Main St.).
Helen Newton. File photo
POAC Presents: Tattered Memories, a solo exhibition by Nives Rigodanzo
By Reader Staff
The Pend Oreille Arts Council will host Tattered Memories, a collection of mixed-media abstract paintings by local artist Nives Rigodanzo, with a reception Friday, May 2, from 5-7 p.m. at the POAC Gallery (313 N. Second Ave. in Sandpoint).
Born in Italy and now based in Sandpoint, Rigodanzo’s artistic journey has been described as being defined by “resilience, renewal and relentless devotion to the creative process.”
After decades of balancing a nursing career, family life and her creative passion, Rigodanzo re-immersed herself in her artistic practice during the COVID-19 pandemic — a moment that ignited a renaissance in her work, according to exhibition organizers.
“Tattered Memories invites viewers into a world where Rigodanzo’s
memories, emotions and passions intertwine. Her mixed media works are rich and layered, celebrating imperfection and exploring themes of personal transformation,” POAC stated in a gallery announcement. “With dynamic textures and bold color palettes, Rigodanzo’s work reflects the resilient nature of the human spirit.”
While Rigodanzo has shown her work with POAC in group shows before, this is the first solo exhibition at the gallery, where she’ll offer multiple sizes, frames and colorways. All artwork is available for purchase, with proceeds benefiting both the artist and POAC’s education programs.
Rigodanzo will be in attendance at the May 2 reception, and her work will be on display through May 31. The gallery is open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturdays.
Visit artinsandpoint.org or call 208263-6139 to learn more.
Artist Nives Rigodanzo. Courtesy photo
Utah voucher law found unconstitutional, Idaho’s law is also vulnerable
Legislature was clearly warned of the serious constitutional problems with House Bill 93
By Jim Jones Reader Contributor
A district judge in Utah issued a marvelous decision on April 18, finding Utah’s school voucher law to be unconstitutional. The 60-page decision was based on a variety of constitutional flaws that the Utah law shares with Idaho’s recently enacted education tax credit law. The Utah law was enacted in 2023 with $42.5 million in state funds. State funding increased by $40 million in each of the next two years.
— impliedly restricts the Legislature from creating a publicly funded school or education program outside of the public school system.”
In other words, Utah’s Legislature is restricted from using public funds to support any form of private education.
hibits the funding of private and parochial education. That has been the law of Idaho ever since statehood in 1890.
by the Legislature this year.
The Utah judge said the Utah Constitution gives “a direct command to the Legislature to perform a single duty: establish and maintain the state’s education systems.’” The judge continued, “This clear expression of one duty — coupled with the absence of any general duty to provide for the education or intellectual improvement of Utahns
Of interest is the fact that every member of the Idaho Legislature was sent a “Legislative Alert” on the first day of the 2025 legislative session, warning that any scheme to use taxpayer money for private education would be violative of the Idaho Constitution in a number of respects. The alert was provided by the Committee to Protect and Preserve the Idaho Constitution, a group that participated in the successful lawsuit to overturn the restrictive initiative law enacted in 2021.
The alert identified the same constitutional flaw focused on by the Utah judge — that Idaho’s Constitution pro-
The alert spelled out several other constitutional infirmities that any voucher scheme would entail, including a deliberate transgression of Idaho’s strong prohibition against state support for religious education, discrimination against rural kids and Idaho religions that don’t operate parochial schools, lack of accountability for taxpayer money expended on private schooling and diminution of state money necessary to support Idaho’s public school system, which has been chronically underfunded for decades.
The Utah judge’s decision mentioned a number of other infirmities in the Utah law — private schools often exclude students with special needs, condition admission upon adherence to certain religious beliefs or fail to provide “free” schooling as constitutionally required for taxpayer-supported education. These flaws are also inherent in House Bill 93, the subsidy bill approved
The Idaho Legislature was clearly warned of the serious constitutional problems with H.B. 93, which will subsidize private and parochial education to the tune of $50 million in just the first year. Yet, because of massive funding from out-of-state groups that are seeking to weaken public schools across the nation, a majority of our legislators cast aside the Constitution and passed the subsidy bill. The governor lacked the courage to veto the legislation, despite overwhelming public outcry against it.
Now, as with the similar travesty in Utah, concerned Idahoans will have to resort to the courts in order to protect the wishes of Idaho’s constitutional drafters. Please stay tuned.
Jim Jones is a Vietnam combat veteran who served eight years as Idaho attorney general (1983-1991) and 12 years as a justice on the Idaho Supreme Court (2005-2017). His columns are collected at JJCommonTater.com.
Jim Jones. File photo
Sandpoint Farmers’ Market to open for 37th season
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
Since its founding in 1988, the Sandpoint Farmers’ Market has been a beloved institution that draws locals and tourists alike to Farmin Park every Saturday and Wednesday through the warm-weather months.
The market will kick off its 37th season Saturday, May 3 from 10 a.m.1 p.m., offering fresh produce, plant starts, artisan crafts, live music, treats and everything in between. The market will stick to those Saturday hours each week and open Wednesdays from 3-5:30 p.m. until Oct. 18.
Olivia Gonzales is preparing for her first season as market manager, a position she is happy to fill.
“I think what drew me to the position was a love for this community and desire to work at a job right in the mix of it,” Gonzales told the Reader. Gonzales’ own childhood memories of farmers markets also influenced her decision to take the market manager position.
“Growing up, I always tagged along
with my mom to the market in Bonners Ferry,” she said. “We had one particular farmer we shopped from my entire childhood, who my brothers and I called ‘The Carrot Lady.’ She would deliver veggies and we’d holler, ‘Mom! The Carrot Lady’s here!’ She was almost a magical figure to me because the foods we bought from her were so rich, unique, delicious and colorful.”
Gonzales said there are some exciting new vendors at the market this season, including a partnership with the East Bonner County Library District to offer a program for kids at Wednesday markets.
“All of you moms out there who want to shop for your veggies without your kiddos tugging at you, hit up the Wednesday market,” Gonzales said.
The market will also invite local chef Alana Eckhart to return to hosting “Taste of the Market” days, during which she will demonstrate how to make a quick and easy dish using seasonal ingredients found at the market.
Currently, there are more than 65 local vendors, but Gonzales said anyone interested in becoming a vendor can still submit an application through
sandpointfarmersmarket.com.
When asked why farmers’ markets are important to their communities, Gonzales said they allow for people to build lasting, quality relationships with those who provide them with food.
“In our technology-driven world where we are all increasingly distant from each other, it’s a place where we can build in-person relationships with our community and particularly with the people who are growing and
Free Butters
BTAA participates in ‘Empty
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
As part of a commitment to finding forever homes for all its animals, Better Together Animal Alliance will waive adoption fees on all adult pets beginning Thursday, May 1, as part of the BISSELL Pet Foundation’s Empty the Shelters promotion. The event will last until Thursday, May 15, and will include more than 30 pets.
“While our staff do a great job caring for the cats and dogs in our animal care center, the best place for them is in homes,” said BTAA Executive Director Mandy Evans. “Thanks to the generosity and support from BISSELL Pet Foundation, we can waive adoption fees to help them find homes faster and recoup the adoption fees we rely on.”
The event aims to change the lives of all the shelter’s animals, especially BTAA’s longest resident, Butters, a medium-sized mixed breed in his golden years.
“Butters has been at the shelter
making our food,” she said. “Shoppers and growers get to know each other and become mutually invested in one another’s lives. It’s a potent antidote to today’s fragile and environmentally detrimental food supply chains. Not to mention, it’s a weekend highlight for all walks of life in Sandpoint.”
The Sandpoint Farmers’ Market is located between Third and Fourth avenues and between Oak and Main streets in downtown Sandpoint.
the Shelters’ event
for over 340 days. He is a very sweet boy, is good with kids and knows basic commands. He’s 9 years old and very healthy,” said BTAA volunteer and head brewer at Utara, David Kosiba.
Kosiba has been walking Butters, pushing his image on social media and hanging up “Free Butters” posters to try and find him a forever home. According to Kosiba, Butters is a sweet, active, easy-going boy perfect for a family where he is the only dog. He’s also intelligent and well-trained, so his new owners can easily teach this old dog new tricks. He loves water, car rides and belly scratches.
“Everyone at BTAA loves his personality. He loves everyone and makes us all smile. Anyone who adopts him will have a great companion,” said BTAA Director of Storytelling and Partnerships Andrea Nagel.
“He truly is a joy to spend time with and would be an excellent pet for someone who doesn’t have other dogs in their life,” she later added.
View Butters’ full profile at bit.ly/
ButtersBTAA.
Anyone looking to support BTAA and their animals without adopting a new friend can volunteer as a dog walker, cat room attendant or general helper; donate money, food or supplies; or share animal profiles on social media. In addition to BTAA’s supply wishlist, pet photos and bios are available on bettertogetheranimalalliance.org.
A vendor helps a customer at Sandpoint Farmers’ Market. Courtesy photo
Butters has lived at BTAA for more than 340 days. Adopt him! Courtesy photo
Understanding garden soil
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
Dirt is dirt — or is it? Anyone who’s tried to garden in North Idaho knows that our soil varies from bad to worse in most areas. My yard is all rock and hydrophobic silt, and so I’ve had to amend it or build raised beds to grow anything. If you’re serious about planting in Idaho’s native soil, understanding your soil type and contents is a crucial first step that will keep you from planting hundreds of dollars just to watch everything wither.
The clump test Go to the spot you’ve been coveting for your zucchini or rose bush and dig down at least six inches. This is really the first test — if you can’t dig the hole, the ground is too hard or rocky to grow much. If that’s the case, you’re going to have to consider raised beds or trucking in tons of new soil and mixing it into your land, likely with heavy machinery.
therefore, trap the roots in water, causing them to rot. If your soil has too much sand or clay, the solution is to add boatloads of organic matter like compost and aged manure, which retain the water and oxygen needed for healthy roots.
Loam is the ideal soil for most gardens and is a mixture of sand, clay and silt. When squeezed using the clump test, it will hold its shape in a loose ball but crumble into nice chunks, or aggregates, when disturbed.
With the hole dug, grab a handful of the dirt and squeeze it like you’re making a snowball with one hand. Hold onto it for five seconds, then open your fist and see what happens. If you have soil like mine, the ball will crumble into a gritty pile because it has too much sand and/or silt. This soil type doesn’t retain water and so will allow both moisture and nutrients to slip away before your plants’ roots can absorb them.
If, on the other hand, you release your grip and the dirt perfectly retains its shape like a handful of Play-Doh, the soil has too much clay. This type of soil has difficulty draining and will,
DIY perk test
The clump test will tell you a lot about your soil’s water retention, but to fully understand it, you can make a DIY percolation — or perk — test. Increase the size of the original hole (see above) to about a foot deep and four inches wide. Fill the hole with water and let it drain; once the water is gone but the soil is saturated, refill the hole with more water and measure its depth. Wait 15 minutes and then measure again. Take the difference between the two measurements and multiply it by four to calculate the drainage per hour.
One to three inches per hour indicates good drainage suitable for most plants. Slow- and quick-draining soil should be amended with organic matter or planted with species and cultivars that prefer soggy or dry soil.
Macronutrients
In addition to a loose texture and good water retention, gardening soil should have an abundance of the macronutrients nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium or potash (K), all of which are necessary for plant growth and health.
Nitrogen is responsible for stem
and leaf growth; phosphorus promotes root, flower and fruit growth; and potash keeps the whole plant healthy.
To test for these, you can purchase a simple Luster Leaf rapid test kit from any garden store and follow the instructions on the packet. The test will have four boxes — three for the macronutrients and one for acidity (pH).
Most edible plants prefer slightly acidic to basic soil with a pH level of anywhere from 6.0 to 7.0. To make soil more acidic, gardeners add sulfur or other sulfates. To make it more basic, they add lime (the mineral, not the fruit). Without the correct acidity, plants cannot absorb the nutrients needed to survive.
Fertilizers replenish the soil’s mac-
ronutrients and can cater to different deficiencies depending on the NPK ratio. All commercially available fertilizers list a three-number ratio representing nitrogen, phosphorus and potash, in that order. So, for instance, a 20-10-10 fertilizer has two times the amount of nitrogen as it does phosphorus and potash.
Do not add fertilizer to soil that already has acceptable nutrient levels. Excess will not benefit the plants. The nutrients that aren’t taken up by the plants’ roots will wash away into nearby streams and rivers, eventually ending up in the lake and contributing to algae blooms that kill native species. Save the fish and your wallet by testing before you reach for the Miracle-Gro.
Congressman Russ Fulcher sits down for a Reader interview
By Reader Staff
Publisher’s note: Congressman Russ Fulcher, R-Idaho, came to the Sandpoint Reader offices on April 23 for an interview, but we didn’t have enough space to run the full interview in the April 24 paper. Here is the entire interview, with some edits for clarity and length:
BEN OLSON: President Trump’s plan to “Free Up Our Forests,” calling for 280 million acres of National Forest land to be logged, has got a lot of my readers a little concerned. Meanwhile, Congressman Simpson broke with the administration and Idaho delegation with the “Public Lands in Public Hands Act,” which would prohibit the sale of the public lands. I’m curious where you fall on that. Do you support privatizing public lands in Idaho?
RUSS FULCHER: No, but in order to to share a perspective on that, I need to at least try to communicate a 30,000-foot view that I don’t think many people are familiar with. ...
The biggest surprise I had going to Congress, which has been seven years ago now, was coming to the realization that if you’re a member of Congress from the Midwest or the East, you have no idea what public land is, or federal land. It just doesn’t exist, and we operate our budget to some extent with PILT, Payment in Lieu of Taxes, [and] SRS, Secure Rural Schools, and my colleagues in the Midwest in the East hate it because they’re funding that. We just got that by three votes this last cycle. ...
[L]ocal management of public land is coming, whether we want it or not. And it’s gonna be driven by the Midwest and the East, because they don’t wanna subsidize us anymore. ... [R]egardless of what your position is on that, we’re in no position to do it. We don’t have a plan — the West in general. There’s no discussion going on. So my efforts and generally what I’m trying to do is pull everybody to the table.
We just did a forum in Valley County six, eight weeks ago. Pulled in the Forest Service, Department of Interior, BLM, local municipality, private sector and I made the statement then, I said, “Look, everybody, look left, look right. We have got to figure out how to manage what’s under our feet because nobody has the resources to do [it] on their own.”
The federal government is well over $100 billion in backlogged maintenance on funded stuff and their budget is going
down, it’s not going up. They are absolutely overwhelmed. And the state can’t handle it, right? The private sector, [the] infrastructure is no longer there.
In your lifetimes, you’re all from this area ... the infrastructure is gone. It’s just not there. So to answer your question, no, I don’t believe I want to privatize it, but I do believe that we’ve got to figure out how to manage it locally because the resources aren’t there nationally.
This last year we burned up 1 million acres, almost all of it was on federal land. And that’s just not right. The carbon that gets pumped in the atmosphere, the loss of wildlife, we just can’t do that, and then you spend an immense amount of money to try to suppress that. So it’s a lose-lose deal.
I don’t have all the answers, but I do believe that included in the answer is leveraging the resource base across the board. Keep it public, but enable the local municipalities, the private sector to engage when there are these fires, and that’s part of the struggle that we have right now, but you got a logging company that’s within proximity of a fire, they can’t legally turn a wheel on a dozer or whatever to put it out.
This is not revolutionary, but my gosh, we’ve got to be able to knock down some of those barriers and use all the stakeholders there.
BO: I see your point on that, but when we see Idaho taking a hand in public lands, it ends up going to the private sector. Priest Lake lots have been selling for years, because Idaho has to make some sort of profit, whether it’s mineral extraction or sale to the private sector. We have people here who say their primary reason for living in North Idaho is because they are surrounded by amenities that they recreate and hunt and fish in.
RF: I hear you. Two things: I’m not saying that title needs to transfer. There are a lot of people who say it should and maybe it shouldn’t, but that’s not necessarily where I’m trying to go with it. Or if it did, maybe part of the answer is that there’s a state constitutional mandate to keep that open.
I’m certainly open to those types of discussions. The intent is not to try to privatize, the intent is to try to manage it. The intent is trying to take care of it.
Do I have all the answers? No. Does anybody else? No. And I’m just telling you, I think it’s imminent. I really do. ... When you’ve got the majority of members of the U.S. House and Senate who don’t like the current
system, something’s gotta give somewhere in there. ...
ZACH HAGADONE: The “Public Lands in Public Hands Act” that Simpson has co-sponsored. Do you see a role for that?
RF: I don’t know the details of it. But that sounds to me like that’s a great way to lock stuff up so that you’re in the same system we’re in.
ZH: So you would oppose that?
RF: I gotta look at it because I really haven’t, but on the surface I think that is likely to probably lock in the current system, which is problematic. ... I’d need to look at it closely, but on the surface that doesn’t sound like something I would be bullish about.
BO: We know you’re on the ProLife Caucus; we know your stance on abortion. I’m just curious if you have paid attention to what’s happening in the rural hospitals like Bonner General Health, which closed their prenatal and OB-GYN department after that decision [Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and Idaho’s resulting near-total abortion ban] out of fears of criminal prosecution for doctors and health care personnel and that was quite a blow to the community.
You wrote, “My concern for life doesn’t end with the child. It includes ensuring women receive general gynecological care and proper maternal care during and after pregnancy.”
What do you say to the Idaho mothers-to-be who are now driving hours for basic prenatal appointments?
RF: I can tell by the premise where you’re at.
BO: Yeah, I’m very proudly prochoice for women.
RF: You’re entitled to that view, but I stand with the position that those are local state decisions ...
BO: So local mothers should continue driving hours to get prenatal checkups?
RF: The state has the right to make the decision on the issue. And I will check into your claim that that’s the reason why those doctors left or whatever. So far, when we’ve done that, there’s just more to it than that, and if that’s the case, then OK, that’s the case, but they at least have the option of going next door, because it’s legal there. But no, I support the state decision to make that call, and they have in this state. This state is overwhelmingly pro-life. And the Legislature likes that, and I’m there with them. But in fairness, I think it at least deserves some consideration if there’s been a local hospital change; but, if so, it’s the first one that we will be able to validate.
ZH: ... [O]ne of our District 1 representatives, Mark Sauter, has actually come to regret voting the way that he did on that. He voted to support Idaho’s near-total abortion ban, and he came to regret that on a ... national TV interview. He described the exodus of doctors resulting out of that as an unintended consequence that he hadn’t thought about. ...
RF: Zach, OK, I need to see data. ... Idaho is a destination for the med-
Rep. Russ Fulcher, R-Idaho, at the Sandpoint Reader office on April 23. Photo by Ben Olson
ical community. Overall, doctors want to come here.
ZH: Well, southern Idaho perhaps.
BO: You’re familiar with the WWAMI program and all the...?
RF: Oh, I’m very familiar with the WWAMI program, but generally speaking, though, we’ve got the rural issues, and that’s always been the case. Right? But, we’ve also got ICOM [Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, in Meridian], which, that was a number of years in the making, it’s just starting to see some fruit. So there’s some hope on that front, too, I think. But there’s always been a debate on how [to] incentivize, especially the general practitioner docs, to be in the rural part of the state, and that’s an ongoing struggle that goes far beyond the life issue.
BO: Like I said before, we hear from our readers all the time about issues that affect them. A lot of people reaching out to me right now are terrified about what’s going on at the national level. They see a lack of accountability in the actions and statements made by the president, you’ve got tariff rollouts affecting the market in negative ways, threatening rhetoric about Greenland and Canada being the “51st state,” the Panama Canal. We’ve got mistaken deportations of people like Kilmar Garcia and the lack of due process involved in that. Open defiance of judicial rulings...
RF: So other than that, you’re pretty happy, huh?
BO: You enthusiastically praise Trump for these decisions, but I’m just curious, do you have a line? Do you have a line in the sand?
RF: Again, you gotta go to kind of the basis of what’s going on that is not getting talked about. We’ve got $37 trillion in debt that is unsustainable. We are paying more today in debt service than for our military defense budget. That’s just the debt service. It is not sustainable, OK?
So a lot of what you talk about has to do with what I call a “bureaucratic intervention,” and I’m just telling you, you can agree or disagree, but the bureaucratic Washington, D.C. swamp has gotten so huge. ... I would argue there is a parallel form of governance through these agencies that have slowly over the course of time, got into power via regulations and bureaucratic rules ... that never went through Congress whatsoever.
And with that has come a massive amount of inefficiency, a massive amount of bloat and a massive amount,
quite frankly, of fraud. We don’t know for sure, but an example is how many dead people we’re paying Social Security. It’s at least in billions. ...
[Editor’s note: According to the Associated Press, while about 18.9 million Social Security numbers associated with people born before 1920 had not been identified as deceased, “That does not mean, however, that these individuals were receiving benefits.”
According to a researcher at George Mason University quoted by the AP, “Social Security would be near the bottom of the list, not near the top” among “places in the federal government where error rates are high.”]
Part of it is the accountability component and part of it is frankly, old systems that haven’t been looked at ... [L]ook, I believe that this intervention desperately needs to happen in a sense that they’re at least getting looked at. Now, is there mistakes that are gonna be made or happen? Yeah, I’m sure there will be and there has. That’s what happens when you do that. You gotta find it, you gotta fix it, but if you never look at it in the first place, then you continue on with what we’ve got.
BO: So possible violations to the Constitution don’t...
RF: Are you referring to the immigrant thing now? First point to discuss, whether you acknowledge it or not ... there is a massive amount of bureaucratic need for accountability and transparency that’s simply not there. Right, wrong or indifferent, it’s finally getting looked at. I personally believe that’s a healthy thing.
It has taken a long time to get where it is and so fixing it overnight is not gonna happen, but at least it is being looked at. ...
On the immigration front, guys, if we were sitting here in 20-30 years ... we’ll look back on the last four years of an open border as the worst policy of that administration, and quite frankly, the worst failure of this Congress because we were not able to override it. We’ve got 10 to 20 million people, whatever that number is, we don’t know for sure, many of whom we have no idea who they are, but there are some that we do know. Has that triggered a move to try to go after those who are hostile? Yes, it has. Should it, in my opinion, yes, it should.
BO: Should due process also go by the wayside?
RF: No, no. I can tell where you are going with that — of course not. But should they be here in the first place? We’re in one heck of a spot.
BO: It’s hard for me when I hear, “but” when you’re talking about Constitutional...
RF: Well, let me back up, of course there should be due process. ... Does that mean that by default you defend the last four years policy of opening it up? ... Be fair here: What do you do when you’ve got four years of open border?
BO: Define open border.
RF: What we’ve had the last four years.
BO: Which is?
RF: No restraints on who comes and goes.
BO: So you’re saying there are no restraints? So somebody can just walk right across the southern border without going through any checkpoints. That’s what you believe that southern border is right now?
RF: That’s what’s happened.
BO: I go down there to see my mom, she lives right on the border. I wait for three hours to come back in the border, I talk to Customs and...
RF: Let me get this straight: Are you telling me that you don’t believe we’ve had an open border?
BO: I’m telling you that I believe the term “open border” is a bit of a misnomer.
RF: Are you trying to communicate you don’t think that or you believe that we’ve had proper restraints on who comes into the country?
BO: I’m saying that we have a border that is not open. We can talk about immigration issues left and right, but using the term “open border” implies that...
RF: Let me answer your question. Of course there should be due process, but how it should work, and I’m not saying it has in every single case because I don’t know. But I can tell you that we’re in a heck of a spot and they’re attempting to do something about it with the worst offenders, and we’ve got to do something because that’s first and foremost the responsibility of the federal government is trying to keep a safe place for us to live.
But whether you’re a citizen or not, yes, you’ve got rights in this country, and that should be adhered to. There is a process, there should be a hearing. If there’s a deportation order that’s made after that — that’s it if you’re a non-citizen — but there is and should be a process for that.
BO: President Trump just said, “We can’t have trials for everybody.”
RF: In the case of those circumstances which, from what I can tell are very, very limited, should we fix that?
Yeah. ... But you still have to go back and look at the overall situation. What would you do? I mean, if you know that you’ve got this breach, what do you do? This is a serious deal, and it’s like everything else: When you find issues with your audit, when you find issues with your process that’s not working well, then you work to fix that, but you don’t ignore the overall problem.
ZH: I don’t think that many people, if any, of good faith would disagree with the idea that we need to have government efficiency, that we need to have changes to the way we do our border policy. I don’t think that that’s necessarily a controversial idea. What I think is more controversial is the way in which the administration and Congress are going about addressing those issues. ...
[W]e have readers who contact us and they’re scared because they don’t know what policies are gonna come down, they don’t know how certain of these policies are going to affect their own personal wealth, their ability to do their jobs. ... So at what point does the cure that the administration and Congress is trying to implement for some of these issues become more damaging than the disease?
And where is that line where we start to see, “OK, look, we know we have these problems, but the ‘chainsaw’ approach is doing more harm than good.”
Where do you see that ending?
RF: I’m not sure there is a blanket answer. You’ve got to look at stuff case by case and see where that set of circumstances takes you.
I will say, I think one of the struggles I’ve got is on the tariff front. That’s not been clear, and to be honest, I’m not sure how well or how thoroughly that was thought out.
I have talked to the president, not extremely recently, but I know, because he shared part of his objective there, and that is foreign investment. And I believe in his mind right now, if he were sitting here and we ask, he would say, “Tremendous win so far,” because there is plus-minus $7 trillion committed in investments starting to happen across all industries from other countries coming into the U.S. and that’s huge. And so if you’re a business guy on a grand scale, OK, that is huge. However, if you’re a mom-pop A-B-C company in Sandpoint, Idaho or Meridian or wherever and you make widgets in Mexico and then you bring them back into the country and you don’t know and you can’t anticipate what that tariff is going to be, that’s problematic, and < see FULCHER, Page 19 >
Artful living
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
As George Washington once said, “True friendship is a plant of slow growth,” which is perhaps a fitting sentiment for a new endeavor between Verdant Plants and Ttrash Glass Studio. Verdant owner Erin Johnson and Ttrash owner Natalie McRae have teamed up to share a studio space, moving their respective shops to a single location at 219 Church St. between the Alpine Shop and Joel’s Mexican Restaurant.
The pair will host a grand reopening from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday, May 3, with mimosas, snacks, raffle drawings and other activities.
“We chose to piggyback with the opening day at Farmers’ Market, which is our demographic,” Johnson told the Reader. “Our shop is even visible from Farmin Park.”
Both Johnson and McRae had separate store locations inside the Cedar Street Bridge, but, when their leases ended around the same time, “Erin said she was thinking about a different space and thought it might be cool to team up,” McRae said.
“I’m always game for trying what might work better and I was drawn to having the support of each other,” she added. “It’s not just me doing it on my own. It makes work more fun and inspiring.”
McRae’s Ttrash Glass Studio was born out of her love of working with vintage glass. She began making
stained glass using scraps and salvage materials found in basements. She remains focused on using recycling materials and repurposing found items.
“I learned from my friend Sara McTavish here in town,” McRae said. “Our kids would play together and she told me one day, ‘If you ever want to learn...’ and I fell in love with it.”
McRae moved to Spokane, but couldn’t get glasswork out of her head, so she honed her skills and, after moving back to Sandpoint, opened Ttrash Glass Studio to focus wholly on the craft.
She makes a bit of everything, including window hangings, sun catchers, plant holders, earrings and even large-scale custom windows.
“I also love doing commission work and really love doing classes and selling supplies,” she said.
Most of McRae’s glass comes from the 1960s and ’70s, featuring unique swirls and patterns that defined that era.
“I’m the kind of person who loves giving life to old things,” she said. “I’m holding this piece of glass that has this cutout mark where a lady in the 1960s used it to make a piece of art and I’m using it today for another piece of art. I love that.”
Along with crafting unique glass items, McRae also sells glass supplies for hobbyists right from her shop, a benefit for those who are usually forced to order supplies online without touching or feeling the materials.
Meanwhile, Johnson said she was inspired to launch into the plant busi-
Verdant Plants and Ttrash Glass Studio team up at new store location
ness thanks to her mom, who always had plants in her life.
“When she passed away, I inherited her plant collection, including about 1,000 jars of rooted cuttings,” Johnson said.
Raised in a rural area, Johnson said she always loved growing things and gardening outdoors, but it was her mother’s influence that drew her to indoor plants — a wide variety of which are offered at Verdant Plants.
She began by selling plants at the Farmers’ Market and progressed from there.
“It was so much fun talking to people about plants,” she said. “I loved seeing people’s faces light up. You can’t be mad when you’re talking about plants. Everyone always has big smiles on their faces. I wanted to replicate that with a brick-and-mortar location.”
After a couple of years, Johnson quit her full-time job doing remote work for an energy efficiency research company to focus on Verdant Plants, which she launched a year ago at the Cedar Street Bridge.
Along with selling plants, Verdant Plants will help with repotting and up-potting and provide plants for special events. The store will even help with long-term plant rentals for second-home owners who want to fill their lake or mountain house with plants, but don’t want to worry about them while they’re away.
Johnson does house calls, offers plantscaping for commercial spaces, and even hosts custom workshops and classes to help spread her love for things that grow.
She’s hosting Plants and Pints at Eichardt’s Pub at 6 pm. on Wednesday, May 7 with a focus on Mother’s Day gifts.
“For $23, you get two pints and a plant to take home,” Johnson said. “I’ll also have some pots and other products there.”
Another upcoming event is Repot and Refresh from 5-7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 21 at Verdant Plants, a transplanting happy hour where customers can bring in their own plants and transplant to a new pot, filling it with sustainable potting soil from Rosy Soil.
While they are separate businesses, McRae and Johnson merge their plants and art together for many purposes, such a glass holder and air plant, which features products from both of their stores.
“Working with Erin makes work more fun and inspiring,” McRae said. “We’re both into teaching and sharing the things we love.”
Stop by Verdant Plants and Ttrash Glass Studio at 219 Church St. Visit Verdant Plants online at verdantplants.com and Ttrash Glass Studio at ttrashglassart.com.
Verdant Plants owner Erin Johnson, left with Ttrash Glass Studio owner Natalie McRae. Photo by Ben Olson
we’ve got some of that. And that really does need to be fleshed out.
ZH: In our particular area here, we’re the only international border that Idaho has, so when we talk about border policies, whether that be, you know, like immigration or trade, it directly impacts Bonner and Boundary counties, more so, I would argue, than a lot of other places in the state. So we are a border community and we’ve already seen ... a 12 to 17% decline in the number of border crossings from Canada, which directly impacts our tourism industry, which is a very big deal here. We can’t seem to find hard numbers on what that’s gonna mean, but if we have a significant decrease in Canadian tourism, that’s gonna harm all of our local businesses in various ways, and in addition, we have a very robust building community here, which relies on purchasing building supplies from Canada, so we’ve got several different industries, which are immediately being affected by this tariff situation ... [I]f we don’t have construction and we don’t have tourism, there’s not a whole lot left up here. This is like an existential threat.
RF: That’s fair. I’m hearing some of this for the first time, but I do get that, and we’ve had some specific issues with Mexico in particular. ... Here’s where I think it’s gonna go: I think that there’s gonna be, I’ll just say “resolution” for pretty much everyone except China. I’m just telling you that since the first first day I’ve been in my office, because of my personal experience in international business and just knowing what I’ve learned on the congressional front, I have counseled anybody who asks, you name it, chambers of commerce, companies, if you’ve got supply chain dependent on China, move it because this is not gonna end well. You can see this coming and it goes so deep, it’s on so many fronts; there’s military concerns. There’s monetary concerns with the dollar, there’s social concerns, there’s the threats. It’s just not good. And I’m not optimistic about solving the problem with China on the tariff front. I do believe that it’s gonna be resolved in short order with Canada.
BO: But don’t you think there’s some damage that has already been done?
RF: Damage depends on how you define it. But here’s the other thing I would say to that. ... When you’re the world’s largest market, sometimes you do get discriminated against, and at first you put up with it because your market is so big itself, right?
Try to sell semiconductors into Asia, if you’re making it in Boise. Try to sell a Ford or Cadillac in Europe. You can’t do it. Our market is so big, we’ve allowed that to happen. Now, from a Trump standpoint ... I think he’s right. That should be leveled out. So I think that’s gonna create some uncertainty in the short term, and I think we’re seeing that now. I’ll be honest with you. I hope not, but I think that the stock market levels and I think that overall value is going to be lower for a year or a period of time because it takes that much time for this to settle out. But, once again, over the course of time, I do believe that that’s getting reset generally in a more healthy direction, and I would say the investment long-term economic ramifications are likely to be really good. Am I a huge tariff fan? No, but I think that minus China it’s gonna resolve. That’s the 30,000-foot level.
ZH: So, to cap it off, the initial question was “How do you respond to constituents who are worried?” Is your response “Hang on?”
RF: If it’s your 401(k), yeah, hang on ... if you’re X-Y-Z company and you’re dependent on timber or whatnot? Talk to us. Guys, I don’t think that all these policies, they’re not set, OK? That’s where, at least to some extent, we come in on those issues. We’ll go try to be a champion. It’s in our best interest to have Idaho businesses healthy, OK? And we can try to have an influence on that, and I can tell you another thing that we didn’t talk about, one of the changes in this administration, at least for us, is the access is unparalleled. Good, bad or indifferent, we’ve got access to the administration, to the agency heads, to the cabinet, the president directly I’ve never had. By far, the biggest impact we have in our office is not through me, it’s through ... the offices around the state with constituent service stuff. It’s the IRS issues. It’s the VA issues. It’s that Medicare, Medicaid all that stuff. We can have a shot of doing something about that now. And we just didn’t have that access before. And so, my vote is oftentimes the least influential thing I got. ... So that’s a long-winded answer to the second part of your question, which is, “Bring it to us.” [L]et us see if we could we can help on the tariff front. ... So anyway, I openly ask for feedback and counsel on some of these issues, because we don’t have all the answers, right?
BO: I appreciate that. In return, I would openly ask that you consider
the opinions of everyone in Idaho, not just the ones who vote “R.” ... We’re seeing a lot of people who are getting turned off right now, many of them traditional old-school Republicans. They’re filling our pages with letters saying, “How dare they say this, how dare they do that? Threatening my social security,” I mean, we’re seeing it from Republicans right now.
ZH: That’s basically all we have here.
BO: Right, this is not a Democratic area. The mood is souring right now.
RF: That’s fair. And I would like to tell you that calmness is on its way. But it’s not.
BO: So, ... “Trust me, bro,” that’s kind of what you’re saying then?
RF: I think you’re gonna see a wrecking ball going through a lot of these, and overall I think that it’s warranted, that at least there is being attention given to it. ... We do so much communication on this front. There is nothing I’m aware of that says Social Security is going to get cut. There’s nothing I’m aware of that says Medicaid is going to get cut. And that’s my committee, I’m on Energy and Commerce. I can tell you there are going
to be some changes, but it’s not gonna be cutting on the benefit front, at least that I’m aware of, all right? I had two members of the other side of the aisle in my district a week ago saying openly that there’s $800 billion ... that Republicans voted to cut. We haven’t even had a hearing. I would know, it is my committee. So, with that kind of thing, if you hear that ... ask, OK? And I’ll tell you at least where I see it, OK?
Ben Olson is the publisher of the Sandpoint Reader and Zach Hagadone is the editor-in-chief of the Sandpoint Reader.
Send event listings to calendar@sandpointreader.com
Jim Messina live in concert
7pm @ Panida Theater
Back in Sandpoint by popular demand! Don’t miss out this time. $42-$55
Army Corps public meeting (dam repair)
6-8pm @ Ponderay Events Center
Army Corps staff will address dam spillway gate repairs and rec. area closures
Live Music w/ Justin Lantrip
6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Live Music w/ Nobody Famous
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Live Music w/ John Daffron
5pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Live Music w/ John Firshi
6-8pm @ Smokesmith BBQ
Live Music w/ Tom Catmull
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Live Music w/ The Doghouse Boyz
6-8pm @ Smokesmith BBQ
Live Music w/ Double Shot
6pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Kentucky Derby Party
12-5pm @ The Hive
Cinco de Mayo Fundraiser
5-7pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co.
Family friendly event, music, food, more The Loneliest Race film/fundraiser
7pm @ Panida Theater
Annual fundraiser for Sandpoint Sailing Association and doc. film
Live Music w/ Chris Paradis
6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Sandpoint Chess Club
9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee
Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi
7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Trivia Night
6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
THURSDAY, May 1
Lei making workshop
6-8pm @ Sunshine on Cedar
Contact Sunshine on Cedar to RSVP
Little Black Dress Cocktails & Conversation
5pm @ The Idaho Club Clubhouse
$50 tickets, fundraiser supports Bonner
Homeless Transitions
Bingo
6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
FriDAY, May 2
Matt Mitchell Music Co. & The Holy Broke
7:30pm @ Panida Little Theater
See story on Page 25
Live Music w/ Jordan Paddock
7:30pm @ The Hive
Inland NW country singer. Line dancing lessons from 7:30-8:30pm ($10)
Live Music w/ Brian Jacobs
6-8pm @ Baxters on Cedar
SATURDAY, May 3
Friends of the Library monthly book sale
10am-2pm @ Sandpoint Library
Lots of sci-fi books, Mother’s Day, gardening and magazines featured Plant sale
9am-1pm @ 227 S. Garden Ave. (Newport) Veggies, annuals, herbs, shrubs, more
Hands on History: Local author reading 10am-2pm @ Bonner Co. History Museum
Whitney Rae Palmer will read from her book, The Mysterious Pend Oreille Paddler at 11am, sock puppet making, scavenger hunt and other kids’ activities
Idaho Fireplace Forum
6-8pm @ Sandpoint Community Hall
Idaho Dist. 1 lawmakers Sen. Jim Woodward and Rep. Mark Sauter to provide recap of 2025 legislative session
SunDAY, May 4
Magic with Star Alexander 5-8pm @ Jalapeño’s
monDAY, May 5
Outdoor Experience Group Run 6pm @ Outdoor Experience 3-5 miles, all levels welcome
tuesDAY, May 6
Children Performing for Children • 6-7pm @ Panida Theater
End-of-year concert bringing together young musicians from schools in our community who participate in MCS choir, percussion and orchestra ensemble groups
wednesDAY, May 7
May 1-8, 2025
May Day Strong: National Day of Action 6-8pm @ Old Federal Buildling, 1500 Hwy 2
Protest organized by Sandpoint Indivisible. “Fight back against billionaire profiteers in government.” For more info: sandpointindivisible.org
SHS Grad Night Takes Over MickDuff’s 6:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Pint night takeover and live music with One Dog Down
Grand Reopening Party: Verdant Plant
Shop and Ttrash Glass Art Studio
10am-6pm @ 219 Church St., Sandpoint
See story on Page 18
Live Music w/ The Blue Ribbon Tea Co. 6pm @ Create Arts Center (Newport) Original folk, blues and country. $12
North Idaho Fiddlers jam session (FREE) 2-4pm @ Sandpoint Senior Center
Bring an instrument or come to listen
Sandpoint Farmers’ Market opening day 9am-1pm @ Farmin Park We’re back! Fresh produce, artisan goods, live music and more
Live Music w/ Mason Van Stone 6-8pm @ Baxters on Cedar
Live Music w/ Chris Paradis 3-5pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Cinco de Mayo Music Bridges Borders
5pm @ Eichardt’s Pub (in the alley)
Annual fundraiser for Music Bridges Borders. Live music, food, silent auction, homemade desserts and more
Live piano w/ Jack Purdie
5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Live trivia ($5/person) 7pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Live piano w/ Dwayne Parsons
5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Artist reception: Jeff Williams Capasso
5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Large, colorful, versatile pieces
Bike to Work/School Day • Free doughnuts and coffee from 7-9am for nonmotorized commutors on the Hwy. 2 bike path between Division and Olive avenues
ThursDAY, May 8
Cribbage tournement ($5 entry)
6pm @ Connnie’s Lounge
Open Mic w/ Kjetil Lund
5-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
The only medical drama worth watching
Max’s The Pitt is an authentic look at post-pandemic health care
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
From House to New Amsterdam, Royal Pains to The Good Doctor, there are hundreds of medical dramas with just enough interpersonal conflict and medical jargon to deliver enjoyable but unrealistic depictions of modern health care. Now that the world has lived through the COVID–19 pandemic and watched American medical institutions crumble due to loss of staff, lack of funding and political scheming, though, the old, romanticized stories no longer cut it. The genre has been begging for an overhaul, and Max’s The Pitt rose to the challenge.
Set throughout a 15-hour shift in a fictional emergency room, The Pitt follows doctors, nurses and medical students as they treat fentanyl overdoses, drownings and gunshot wounds on little to no sleep. Though each case presents new and interesting challenges, the show’s brilliance stems from focusing on internal and systemic
issues while the gore of the work fades into the background.
Let’s be clear — there’s still a lot of gore, but the plot is shaped by the budget cuts and understaffed stations that make caring for patients infinitely more difficult. Each episode represents an hour of the shift, allowing audiences to feel the intense strain and mental and emotional fatigue faced by health care providers shuffling hundreds of people through the ER as quickly as possible to make room for the next patients.
Psychological trauma in all its forms makes the show what it is. It deals with everything from the ramifications of the abuse nurses face at the hands of patients to the PTSD medical workers developed during the pandemic to the nation’s wider mental health crisis — especially when it comes to young men.
The Pitt doesn’t shy away from breakdowns and intense emotions, or from delving into the kindness and love co-workers show one another to get through the day. Central protagonist Dr. Michael Robinavitch — Noah
Sandpoint Sailing Association fundraiser features Panida screening of The Loneliest Race
By Reader Staff
The Sandpoint Sailing Association is marking its annual fundraiser Saturday, May 3 with a screening of The Loneliest Race at the Panida Theater (300 N. First Ave.).
Doors open at 6 p.m. and the screening starts at 7 p.m., with admission by donation. The event will also feature a raffle, silent auction and door prizes, with proceeds supporting SSA, which works to provide recreational boating activities to the public and education on water safety.
The Loneliest Race is a documentary that explores the emotional and physical travails of 16 sailors as they ply some of the most treacherous seas on the planet in the Golden Globe Race.
A non-stop, 50,000-kilometer (31,068-mile) solo race, the Golden Globe is described as “the world’s longest and most mentally grueling sporting event,” as individual competitors sail forth without fuel or technology —
and in total isolation. Only six participants have ever completed the race.
The trek begins and ends in France, with racers navigating the Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern oceans with only food supplies for nine months. They must rely on rainwater for drinking and the stars for finding their way.
Even more astonishing, most of the sailors are amateurs, though certainly not without experience — such as Kirsten Neuschäfer, who has traversed the Southern Ocean many times, and former-Indian Navy Commander Abhilash Tomy, who almost perished in the 2018 race. Then there’s Ian Herbert-Jones, a sailing hobbyist who puts his life on the line to pursue his personal dream.
Ultimately, all the participants have only their ingenuity and luck to rely on for 300 days on the waves.
Get more info at sandpointsailing.org, panida.org and goldengloberace.com.
Wyle of ER — is one of the best, emotionally intelligent male characters in recent TV history. Wyle’s performance is subtle and impactful as he comforts students, cries through the loss of patients and works through panic attacks. He dispels the image of the sexy, arrogant doctor popularized by Grey’s Anatomy and instead shows a vulnerable, mature, well-rounded character
that reflects real medical professionals’ hardships.
Every episode of The Pitt shows characters facing hellish circumstances and choosing to stay, risking physical and emotional harm to help others. It’s a devastating watch; but, despite the death and gore, it has an undercurrent of hope and perseverance that makes it a story worth telling — and watching.
Courtesy photo.
COMMUNITY
SHS teams qualify for world’s largest student rocketry competition
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
In an unprecedented turn of events, two Sandpoint High School teams qualified for the 2025 national championship of the Aerospace Industries Association’s American Rocketry Challenge, which will take place on Saturday, May 17, in Virginia. With the help of SHS and local nonprofit Spacepoint, the students are hoping to raise $6,000 to cover travel expenses and compete to represent the United States at the International Rocket Challenge in Paris.
“Over 1,000 teams entered the challenge with just 100 — or 10% — qualifying. These teams are the first from Sandpoint to qualify for ARC nationals and the only teams in the entirety of Idaho to do so,” said Spacepoint founder Kyle Averill.
The organization partnered with SHS in 2023 to create the after-school program that launched these two winning teams, and Averill said there are plans to incorporate it into the Lake Pend Oreille School District’s standard budget in years to come.
According to a news release from AIA, the 2025 competition has seen “record-breaking” participation. Sandpoint’s teams will go up against students from 45 states and Washington, D.C. for $100,000 in prizes for their teams and their school.
“The American Rocketry Challenge launches not just rockets, but also the careers of the next gener-
ation of aerospace innovators, and today is just the beginning for our 100 national finalists,” AIA President and CEO Eric Fanning stated in the news release.
To qualify for nationals, teams had to design, build and launch model rockets carrying two raw eggs to an altitude of 790 feet. The rockets also had to stay airborne for anywhere from 41 to 44 seconds and return to the ground safely. If students Kieran Ryan, Travis Walker, Carter Thompson and Eli Krenelka of Team Pend Oreille Rocketry, and Clara Sherman, Meara Graybeal, Daphne Krenelka and Ruby Moremen of Team NOVA want to win, they’ll need to meet even more rigorous criteria in the finals.
The travel and prizes would be the cherry on top of an educational and professional networking opportunity that could propel the students’ future careers in STEM — a central goal of Spacepoint, which is focused on connecting the Sandpoint area to the space industry by bringing distinguished speakers, films and events to the community. It was also responsible for establishing the Area 7B observatory, which boasts the largest telescope in North Idaho.
“The rocketry program provides a hands-on application of engineering, math and science in a national and international competitive environment. These teams spent countless hours in software design, fabrication, building, testing and launching in the predictable North Idaho weather,” said Averill.
Averill gave special thanks to Dr. Becky Meyer, Jacki Croosingham, Kyle Olmstead, Viktor Sjöberg, Brenden Bobby, Jason Grace, Josh Barcklay, Jim Hickey and Dave Schuck , as well as sponsors Idagon, Sun Rental, Tork Electric, High Mark, North Idaho Plumbing and Mountain Metals.
“Congratulations to the teams for this amazing accomplishment. This is a tremendous tribute to their perseverance over the last two years,” said Averill.
To donate to the travel fund, visit spacepoint.org.
By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Columnist
Our days in Ireland are waning, and every time I ready myself to return home from here, packed alongside my tired clothes and a handful of edible souvenirs, is a wee bit more Irish spirit.
This trip was planned nearly a year ago. When each of my grandchildren approaches their first double-digit birthday, I offer them a trip to a destination of their choice. This year, it was Ryanne’s only daughter Fern’s turn for “the trip.” I could not have been happier when she chose Ireland. Her mom decided we couldn’t leave home without her, so plans of a springtime journey for three were set into motion.
I’ve been fortunate to visit Ireland a dozen or so times, often staying with the same friends in Kerry and West Cork for more than 20 years, and the ways of the Irish have become second nature to me. They’re friendly beyond measure, generous in heart, delightfully impish and kind to the core.
It didn’t take long for Fern and Ryanne to experience the ways of the Irish for themselves.
They learned to never admire anything out loud or they would soon own it. And never to inquire about a house, a yard or an animal we passed on the road, or we’d soon be pulling into a driveway and knocking at the neighbor’s (or stranger’s) door for additional information. Tea and cake may be included in these impromptu visits.
The Sandpoint Eater Let us eat cake!
We agreed that we’ve eaten more than our share of cakes and pastries in the past two weeks. Most of our daily scenic drives included at least one (and often two) tea stops to a local hotel lobby. Invariably our stops were lengthy, as our hosts seemed to be related to (or at least know) the owner, the manager or the cook. Or all of the above.
Some hotels offer tea and cake to arriving guests, like the late-Myrtle Allen’s renowned Ballymaloe House. Upon our arrival we were directed to the stately drawing room for a serving of raspberry sponge cake — a specialty that has been served in the manor for decades. Room’s not quite ready? Who cares!
The girls were also astounded by the country cab drivers, who are mostly retired, affable gents just looking to keep themselves busy. Our favorite was Gerard, who drove us from Ballymaloe House to Cork City. Ryanne inquired if Gerard had any hobbies, and we learned he was growing wine grapes. Shortly thereafter we ended up detouring to his home, in the small village of Cloyne. Gerard stopped the car and encouraged us to “hop out and have a look.”
So we did. Gerard was proud of his young vines and quite happy to share his plans to begin producing wine in the near future (a wine release trip may be in my future).
Next stop on our “no need to hurry” journey took
us up a long, tree-lined driveway, clearly marked “private” with bold signage. Gerard assured us it was no problem to continue up the winding drive. Soon enough we were staring at a fire-gutted “big house” — one of the many stately manors burned out during the Irish Revolution of 1919-’23.
Gerard shared the history of the ruins, wrapped in overgrown foliage, a stark reminder of Ireland’s turbulent past. We could have spent an entire day in his company, but soon enough we hugged and bid farewell to him in Cork, grateful for the spontaneous morning tour (though at times, Fern wondered if we were going to be held hostage at his home).
Our last days were spent
Ballymaloe sponge cake
in Ferns, our ancestral homeland. It’s a village filled with ancient castles and history, and the well (containing healing waters) of our ancestral grandfather’s namesake, St. Mogue. After nine grandchildren, my holy water supply was nearly depleted. Nimble Fern knelt easily and drew a bottle from the well for future family milestones.
To share the Ireland I know and love with my girls will be a trip we long remember — likely to be reminisced over with tea and cake, and there is none finer than Ballymaloe’s sponge cake. It’s honestly worth the effort! Ith do leòr!
You won’t be sorry you’ve taken the time to make this rich and luscious cake. I like it best with fresh raspberries. Serves 8-10.
INGREDIENTS: DIRECTIONS:
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 cups heavy cream
• ¼ cup icing sugar (plus more for sifting over top)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Fruit for filling, like berries, or ⅓ cup of jam or marmalade
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter and line two 8-inch cake tins with parchment paper, then flour lightly, tapping out any excess flour. Using an electric whisk, beat the egg yolks with the cup of sugar for 2 minutes at high speed. Add 75 mL (¼ cup + 2 tablespoons) warm water, then continue whisking for about 10 minutes until really creamy, light and fluffy.
Put the flour and baking powder into a sieve, then gently sieve and fold into the egg mix in three batches. Whisk the egg whites with the remaining two tablespoons of sugar until they hold firm peaks, then fold them very gently into the egg and flour mixture. Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake for 20 minutes.
Turn the cakes out immediately onto a wire rack and flip them over again, before allowing them to cool completely before filling.
Instructions to assemble the cake: Whip the cream with the icing sugar
until it forms stiff peaks. Place one layer of the cake on a cake stand (peel off the parchment paper underneath) spread over half the cream, place the berries over top, spread over the other half of the cream then place the second layer of cake on top, being sure the crustier side is on the top.
Sift over some icing sugar to decorate and serve immediately or refrigerate for a few hours before serving.
MUSIC
Matt Mitchell Music Co. and the Holy Broke, Panida Little Theater, May 2
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
When it comes to storytelling in the form of song, there are few folk singers in the region who do as good a job as Matt Mitchell and Kent Ueland.
Playing under the moniker Matt Mitchell Music Co. and The Holy Broke, respectively, Mitchell and Euland are teaming up for a special dual live performance at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 2 at the Panida Little Theater (300 N. First Ave., in downtown Sandpoint).
Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Mitchell writes with a nod to the old-soul, observational storytelling that comes from living full-time in an imported Japanese bus. He brings his tunes to life either as a solo performer, or by playing along with the many band configurations he’s joined over the years.
Mitchell’s songs are clever, witty, heartbreakingly confessional and represent the
rare missives that are equally enjoyed in quiet concert halls and rowdy dive bars. As stated on his website, “If The Band took a road trip to Laurel Canyon and pulled their tour bus over to pick up John Prine hitching his way down the Pacific coastline, their rolling jam session might sound a little like Matt Mitchell Music Co.”
Joining Mitchell will be Ueland, or The Holy Broke, as he’s taken for his stage name. Ueland’s songs can only be described as “powerfully honest” and are filled with descriptions that leave listeners wanting to plumb a little deeper into his creative well for more.
Matt Mitchell Music Co. and The Holy Broke
Friday, May 2; 7:30 p.m., $10. Panida Little Theater, 300 N. First Ave., 208-2639191, panida.org. Listen at mattmitchellmusicco.com and theholybroke.com.
Ueland sings like a young Tom Waits, with songs that ache with emotion. Some might recognize his work from the disbanded Spokane-based Terrible Buttons, a spooky folk band that covered musical ground from bayou blues to psychedelic folk rock.
Both Mitchell and Ueland are dedicated to their craft, which is evident
the moment they strum their first chord and reverberate long after they move onto the next gig.
A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint
The Doghouse Boyz, Smokesmith BBQ, May 3 Blues Jam, Eichardt’s Pub, May 5
Bassist Ramiro Vijarro and singer and guitarist Neil Elwell have been performing together for more than 30 years, writing original blues in the Spokane area under the moniker “The Doghouse Boyz.” The duo — which also dabbles in jazz, folk and rock — have become audience favorites throughout the Inland Northwest, earning recognition as the Inland Empire Blues Society’s “Best Blues Acoustic
Act” on four occasions. The band’s twangy, home-style instrumentation, coupled with Elwell’s smoky vocals, gives their music an authentic flare that would feel at home in a southern bayou.
— Soncirey Mitchell
6-8 p.m., FREE. Smokesmith BBQ, 102 S. Boyer Ave., 208920-0517, smokesmithidaho.com. Listen to their PBS performance at bit.ly/3Gwbedw.
Sandpoint’s favorite downtown pub recently marked its 31st anniversary, and there’s more to celebrate on Monday, May 5, when the legendary Eichardt’s Blues Jam will cap off a Cinco de Mayo party hosted by nonprofit Music Bridges Borders. Show up at 5 p.m. for the Cinco de Mayo festivities in the alley next to the pub (or upstairs, if the weather isn’t cooperating), which will include a
This week’s RLW by Zach Hagadone
READ
Russian author-brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s magnum opus, The Doomed City, was finished in 1972 but only published in 1989 with the relaxation of Soviet publishing policies. The plot is too intricate to even attempt a synopsis, but suffice to say it’s a profound rumination on freedom, authoritarianism and culture set amid a dystopian off-world “experiment” full of humor and despair. Find it where you find books.
LISTEN
silent auction, food and drink specials, and specialty beverages. Stay for the music at 7 p.m., which features a rotating cast of some of the area’s best blues players in a free-wheeling ensemble that has become a local institution all its own.
— Zach Hagadone Cinco de Mayo festivities at 5 p.m., Blues Jam at 7 p.m.; FREE. Eichardt’s Pub, 212 Cedar St., 208-263-4005, eichardtspub.com.
Casting about on YouTube for some background listening, I came across the John Oeth Guitar channel, where the eponymous John Oeth plays video game music in an impeccable classical guitar style. There are tracks from titans like Final Fantasy and The Legend of Zelda, as well as dozens of more obscure titles. It might sound silly, but Oeth’s arrangements are gorgeous. Check out any of his seven volumes of video game covers and marvel that he even turns Sonic the Hedgehog into an easy-listening masterpiece.
WATCH
For some reason I fell away from the Max streaming series Hacks around the second season in 2022, which is weird because I loved the show.
Starring Jean Smart as a once-iconic comic looking to restart her career and Hannah Einbinder as an up-and-coming millennial comedy writer who serves as her best frenemy, it’s whipsmart, with brutally cutting dialogue and brilliant performances. Catch up and/or tune into the fourth season, which premiered April 10 on Max.
Matt Mitchell, left and Kent Ueland, right. Courtesy photo
From Pend Oreille Review, May 1, 1908
FED THE CHILD WITH THE FAMILY CAT
Judge Woods granted a divorce Wednesday afternoon to Kate Michener from C.D. Michener.
The wife set up a charge of cruelty. Among other things insisted that her former liege lord made their little child eat from a plate off the floor with the cat. She also claimed Michener had struck her, Michener lives at Coeur d’Alene where he is with the Diamond Drill company and Mrs. Michener is on a homestead near Spirit lake.
H.H. Taylor appeared for the plaintiff and Mr. Flynn of Coeur d’Alene for the defense.
FALLS FROM TREE; IS BADLY HURT
Joseph Maxfield, proprietor of the Hub saloon and well known throughout the county, was very seriously hurt about one o’clock Tuesday afternoon by falling a distance of 34 feet from a tree which he was trimming back of the Hub building. In the fall, Maxwell turned before he struck the ground and struck upon his back and shoulders. His right hip was dislocated, the left collar bone was broken and the left wrist fractured.
Charles Webb of Kootenai was with Maxwell at the time of the accident and procured assistance at once and the injured man was taken to his room over the Hub and medical assistance sent for. Drs. Page and Webb responded. It was at once determined that the hip was dislocated and it was brought back to place. The left shoulder was also broken and the left wrist fractured, and the body was badly bruised but no internal injuries.
BACK OF THE BOOK
Don’t lose sight of the game
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
There was a time when sports were just about everything in my life. Every summer, my dad loaded us in the car and drove across the country and back to view Major League Baseball games.
Walking out of the tunnel and seeing the ivy for the first time at Wrigley Field in Chicago still ranks as one of my favorite childhood memories.
My dad was a diehard Cubs fan, and there was rarely a day during the baseball season when a game wasn’t playing on the giant wood-console TV that commanded the living room in our log home. It got so that when I heard Harry Caray’s slightly drunken voice calling the games, it was like listening to an old friend.
I wasn’t just a spectator, either. I started playing tee-ball when I was old enough to swing a bat and stuck with baseball every year until Major Little League. I fielded endless grounders in our front yard, oiled my glove and carried it everywhere and even trekked to the batting cages in Post Falls every week or two in the off-season just to keep my swing from getting rusty.
All that changed thanks to one man, a coach who lost sight of the game. Up to that point, my team had won every game that season. We were having fun and playing great baseball, but after a long winning streak we finally fell behind and lost a game due to a few poor decisions on the field.
After the game, our coach lined us up and proceeded to scream at us until every player had tears in his eyes.
He called us “losers.” He said we “don’t care about the game.” He shouted that we would never be great ballplayers, that we were “hopeless” and we might as well just throw our
gloves in the trash.
We were between 12 and 13 years old and baseball was our lives. Our coach occupied a position somewhere behind our parents, but well ahead of any other authority figure aside, perhaps, from our teachers. To hear this kind of talk from our coach was devastating.
At the end of his tirade, he threw up his hands and said, “I quit. You guys aren’t worth it. I quit,” and he walked off, got in his truck and drove away. We never saw him again.
Baseball changed for me after that. I stopped carrying my glove around everywhere I went. I no longer cared if the Cubbies were on TV and chose not to sign up for the league the following year or any year afterward. This beautiful, pure thing was now tainted, ruined by one man who had no business coaching kids in the first place.
A few years later, I turned to golf. I played on the high school team, got a job at Hidden Lakes Golf Course and worked my way up from cart boy to a teaching professional by the time I was out of high school.
I enjoyed playing golf because it’s an independent game. If I made a bad shot, it wouldn’t hurt anyone but myself. I loved seeking perfection, all the while knowing it was unattainable. There’s a singular feeling with a perfectly struck golf ball that, if you could bottle and sell it, would change the world for the better.
Back then, my favorite moments involved throwing the bag over my shoulder and walking to the first tee with my golf shoes wet with morning dew, filled with hope that I’d play a round to remember.
All that changed, too. Hidden Lakes started as a quiet, community course and, as usual, the developers and greedheads got hold of it and
transformed it into something else. Gaudy homes now lined the fairways and it seemed the game was more about selling real estate than striving for that perfect swing that lies dormant in all of us. They took a beautiful thing and tried to make it “better,” though rendered it soulless and sterile in the process — the story of America.
After the course turned its back on the members who made it special, seeking to replace them with wealthier sorts, I quit. I turned my back on golf after almost a decade, because it, too, had been tainted. Nothing was sacred anymore.
I still play golf sometimes. I still catch the odd baseball game on TV and cheered for the Cubs as they won the 2016 World Series. But the joy is gone, and that’s a damn shame. It has been replaced by bitter memories of the greatness that once was, and the mediocrity we have placed on our altars.
There are many of these examples in our lives today — be it a sport, a hobby, an ideology or otherwise. They once brought joy, but now only leave you feeling empty inside, thanks to the greedy ones who seek profit over purpose and bottom lines over baselines.
More than anything, my experiences with baseball and golf have taught me that as much as you might love something, there will always be those who are waiting in the wings to take it from you when you’re least expecting it.
I applaud those who still see the game for what it is. They’re stronger than me, because all I see is wasted potential and lost dreams.
These are tough times for joy, sure, but don’t ruin it for the ones who still might have potential to love something. Don’t lose sight of the game.
Laughing Matter
By Bill Borders
/burl/ [verb] 1. to spin something (like a floating log) by treading upon it
Week of the Corrections: Hearing none, we’ll go ahead and adjourn this week’s edition of the Sandpoint Reader.
“The champion of the lumberjack festivals could birl a log without ever losing balance.”
I wish scientists would come up with a way to make dogs a lot bigger, but with a smaller head. That way, they’d still be good as watchdogs, but they wouldn’t eat as much.
CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1. Show embarrassment 6. Junk E-mail
Taxis
Eagle’s home
Story 16. Look at flirtatiously
Rule 18. Environs
Diva’s solo
Licensed
Repose
Noble
Preoccupy
Nonclerical
Frozen water
Tiny
Smell 33. Knockout
Legislate
Inane 41. Think likely
Garbage 44. Ancient Dead Sea kingdom 46. Type of fabric
Poetic contraction 49. Large flightless bird
Period of discounted prices
Cassava root
Plateau
Portent
Restated
Amble
Lack of difficulty
Solution on page 22
In an unfriendly way
Litigates
Assert
Feeling
Makes a mistake
Clutter
S S S
DOWN
Vomit
Lascivious look
Murres
Portent or omen
Therefore
Set of steps
Dinner-plate garnish
8. Away from the wind 9. Field 10. Vulgarity 11. Concur
Ecstasy
Chairs
Japanese verse
Ale or lager
Room at the top
Jewish month
Infinitesimal amount
Quality of being surly
Mileage counters
Largest continent
Telephone
Kid
Buckeye State
Entertain
Passes down by bequest 48. Yell 51. A common code
Illicit sexual relationship 53. Not at any time
Come up 58. Roof overhang 59. Cards with one symbol
