Whenever Reader Publisher Ben Olson goes on vacation, it’s my job to sit in the big chair and lay out articles, design ads, get the paper to the printer and otherwise pretend I know what I’m doing. Before he leaves, he always warns me that I might wake up in a cold sweat Wednesday night or early Thursday morning after our deadline, terrified of all the uncaught errors or unforeseen mishaps that might have befallen the paper. Well, thus far, weeks have come and gone sans Ben and I’ve always slept peacefully, so I just assumed I was immune to this particular anxiety. Reader, I was wrong. Last Thursday around 3 a.m. I shot out of bed, my heart racing like a hummingbird’s, terrified that I didn’t actually send the paper to the printers. Of course, they sent a confirmation email 30 minutes after I sent the paper, which I had already read. Logic didn’t matter, though; the dread was so palpable that I was shaking as I made my way downstairs to re-read the confirmation email. It brought no comfort. I’d just been dosed with the kind of adrenaline my ancestors used to outrun sabertooth tigers and, honestly, I wanted to throw up. Because there was no way I could go back to bed with that much anxiety, I took a shower, brushed my teeth, ate a banana, put on my fuzziest jamjams and snuggled up in front of the TV to watch cartoons, just like I did when I had nightmares as a kid. Yikes. When Ben gets back, make sure to congratulate him on surviving 10 years of this without a heart attack. Oh, and thank him for his sacrifice.
Pig and prejudice
When I began my tenure at the Reader, I wrote a Junk Drawer about the many, many names of my dogs, Peggy and Bucky (a.k.a. Shrimp Boat Captain and Herman Smellville). Since then, I found two more dogs dumped along the highway, who I named Mr. Bingely (from Pride and Prejudice) and Lavender Gooms (from Psych). Gooms has since become “Pig,” but he also goes by “Pygmalion,” “Beelzepup” and “GET DOWN.” He earned these titles because he eats anything that isn’t tied down — and some things that are — including bees, chair legs and pushpins. Bingely, on the other hand, is called Bing Bong, Charles and Little B*tch Boy, because he’s a little b*tch. Their names capture their personalities quite well, if I do say so myself.
DEAR READERS,
Occasionally, say once or twice a year, I sneak away from this weekly tether and go wandering. This is one of those times.
I’ll be away the next couple of editions, but you’re in good hands with Editor-in-Chief Zach Hagadone and Senior Writer Soncirey Mitchell. I’ve attempted to plan ahead as much as possible, but the news business is always in motion. Should anything come up that you need attention with, email Zach (zach@sandpointreader.com) or Soncirey (soncirey@sandpointreader.com) and they’ll take care of you.
In the meantime, be patient with your red pen if you see a flub or two. This paper is a beast to put out with three of us, so when one goes off running in a field like a dog off leash it causes the others to work a bit harder.
Be good to yourselves and I’ll catch you again soon.
– Ben Olson, publisher
111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 208-946-4368 sandpointreader.com
Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Soncirey Mitchell, Lorraine H. Marie, Brenden Bobby, Kyle Pfannenstiel, Emily Erickson, Jennifer Ekstrom, Gabrielle Dubendorfer, Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey
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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.
Letter to the Editor Policy:
We welcome letters to the editor on all relavant topics. Please, no more than 300 words, no excessive profanity or libelous statements and no trolls. Please elevate the discussion and stay on topic. Letters will be edited to comply with the above requirements. Opinons expressed in these pages are those of the writers, not necessarily the publisher. Send to: letters@sandpointreader.com
About the Cover:
This week’s cover is a photo by artist Woods Wheatcroft. See Page 20 to read about his Second Ave. studio’s upcoming “Closing Opening.”
Bing (left) and Pig (right). Photo by Soncirey Mitchell
May 2025 election results
W. Bonner School District passes two-year levy, while voters reject local fire district measures
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Bonner County voters went to the polls May 20 in an election that featured no candidates for local offices, but did include a number of taxing district levies — including in the West Bonner County School District and fire districts throughout the county.
The success of the WBCSD in gaining voters’ approval for an additional $2,353,440.60 per year for two years made headlines both locally and statewide, as the district’s yearslong financial struggles have threatened staff layoffs and school building closures. According to unofficial results, as of May 21, a total of 2,101 West Bonner residents voted in favor of the levy, with 1,751 against — a margin of 54.54% and 45.46%, respectively.
Past levy attempts have failed at the ballot box in the district, but because the most recent request was supplemental, rather than permanent, it only required a simple majority to pass, according to Bonner County Clerk Michael Rosedale.
Overall turnout in the May 20 election was about 31%, with 7,981 of the 25,495 eligible voters participating (though those figures do not yet include same-day registrations). There are about 33,000 registered voters countywide, Rosedale said, but the nature of this particular election meant that not all of them would have anything on the ballot.
The reason for that had to do with the number of fire district levies on the ballot, specifically, Northside, Sagle, Spirit Lake and Westside. Depending on how those taxing district boundaries overlapped with voting precincts determined whether residents had items on their ballots.
For instance, “none of them had anything to vote on” in the Humbird, Hope and Clark Fork precincts, Rosedale told the Reader, which was a source of confusion for some.
The only fire district levy approved by voters was in Spirit Lake, with a two-year $477,000 request, which passed 565 in favor and 469 against — or 54.64% to 45.36%.
Northside’s levy was defeated 1,059 to 559 — or 65.45% to 34.55% — as well as Sagle’s (1,253 against and 741 in favor, for a margin of 62.84% to 37.16%) and Westside’s (402 against and 339 in favor, for 54.25% to 45.75%).
Those measures were all intended to provide more funding for firefighter staffing, equipment and maintenance, and general operations.
Selkirk Fire Chief Jeff Armstrong, who leads the Northside, Sagle and Westside fire districts, made the case for the levies at several public events, highlighting the need to improve fire service so that homeowners’ insurance coverage isn’t threatened. Meanwhile, “Just like everybody we’re seeing the cost of doing business is going up,” he said May 3 at the Idaho Fireplace Forum.
Opponents of the levy requests argued that the tax increases were not justified by the needs described by the chief, with the Bonner County Republican Central Committee coming out against the levies, calling them “massive tax increases” that come at a time when “taxpayers are already being pinched by record inflation and taxes for income, gas, groceries, sales taxes and other property taxes and government fees.”
If approved, the Northside levy would have raised an additional $1.2 million per year on a permanent basis, amounting to a tax of $61 per
$100,000 of taxable assessed value. In Sagle, the fire district asked for a permanent increase for a total override of $750,000, resulting in a tax increase to $122 per year per $100,000 of taxable value. Likewise, Westside sought to raise an additional $810,358, also carrying a total tax burden of $122 per year per $100,000.
Elsewhere on the ballot, Ponderay voters overwhelmingly supported a 10% non-property tax on short-term rentals such as hotel/motel rooms, condominium units, tourist homes, bed-and-breakfasts, and similar temporary dwellings of 30 days or fewer.
Though with a turnout of only 90 in favor and 24 against, that resulted in 78.95% to 21.05% in favor of the tax, which 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.
Considering that the 10% LOT would fall on non-property tax sources of revenue, Rosedale said, “I don’t think it shocked anybody [that it passed so handily].”
Bonner County residents in the Lakeland Joint School District also approved a $7.5 million two-year levy 58.97% to 41.03% — with the remainder of the district’s residents in Kootenai County pushing it to an overall 67% approval, according to Idaho EdNews, which also reported that Boundary County voters passed their $4.8 million levy with 69% support.
Finally, the West Bonner Cemetery Maintenance
District’s levy request for a permanent override of $74,000 failed to reach the necessary supermajority to pass, with 60.3% in favor and 39.77% against.
All results are unofficial until canvassed, which is scheduled to take place Thursday, May 29, at 8:30 a.m., in the third-floor Bonner County commissioners’ meeting room (1500 U.S. Hwy. 2, in Sandpoint). Participate in the canvas remotely at bonnercountyid.gov/events/92949.
For all other things election-related — including results — go to bonnercountyid. gov/elections or voteidaho.gov.
Pie charts showing the unnofficial vote tallies for the WBCSD levy (above) and Ponderay LOT (below). Courtesy images.
Sandpoint P&Z votes to approve Church St. multi-family development plan
Conditions include loading/unloading zone, improvements to alley
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
After a three-hour meeting that included a public hearing May 20, members of the Sandpoint Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-2 to approve the multi-family housing development proposed on Church Street, albeit with conditions.
Specifically, commissioners want Lindon, Utah-based OZ Sandpoint to include a loading zone either behind the pair of planned four-story apartment buildings or on the street — and remain accessible year round — while also ensuring that the adjacent alley is repaved and maintained so as to avoid congestion with vehicles, garbage collection, snow removal and emergency services.
The majority of the public discussion surrounding the apartment buildings at 413 and 417 Church St. has, however, centered on parking.
The first phase of the project includes 48 one-bedroom and studio units on four floors and 618 square feet of commercial space at the street level. The second phase will also rise to four stories, with 41 apartments and 2,000 square feet of commercial on the ground floor. Both buildings will be between 45 and 47 feet tall — below Sandpoint’s height limit of 65 feet — and neither have a footprint larger than about 5,000 square feet, which is well below the threshold for requiring a conditional use permit.
Meanwhile, the first phase envisions no parking for residents, and the second phase includes three stalls. That has riled many neighbors and surrounding observers concerned that future residents will take up nearby parking availability, but city officials and the developer have been quick to point out that Sandpoint has since 2009 exempted the
parking requirement for residential projects within a large zone of downtown.
Planning and Zoning Commission Chair Mose Dunkel noted at the start of the public hearing that, “This body has no mechanism for requiring the developer to include offstreet parking,” though did recommend that the public follow the discussion planned for the Tuesday, June 17 meeting of the P&Z related to changing the city’s parking exemption ordinance.
Given all that, City Planner Bill Dean said the project as currently envisioned is “code compliant,” and wouldn’t have been required to go before P&Z for a site planning review but for the high level of attention it has generated in recent weeks.
“[I]t was very clear to us early on that this project is unique and it’s in a special part of the community and it’s garnered a lot of interest,” he said, reminding those in attendance that the review would normally be conducted administratively, but it was “our judgement that it would best serve the public interest to do it [publicly].”
In his presentation, Dean said that while the planned apartment buildings on Church Street “would stand out in the block they would not stand out in the neighborhood,” which includes the 65-foot-tall, 86,000-squarefoot Sandpoint Center at 414 Church St., as well as the 40-foot-tall building housing The Bernklau cafe, bistro and bar across the alley and fronting Pine Street.
Meanwhile, Dean said, OZ Sandpoint’s project provides “something different,” in that it features studio and one-bedroom units.
“It’s intended to serve filling a part of that missing middle housing that is so often talked about in terms of having a wider range of housing available,” he said.
Representing the developer, architect Jared Forsyth told P&Z commissioners that the planned multi-family buildings are in fact “two different projects, two different ownership groups, two different structures, the whole nine yards.” However, they were being presented in tandem for the city’s convenience and clarity for the public.
Forsyth acknowledged that “there’s a lot of concern as to what this kind of building is for and who will live here.” However, he added that he’s worked on about 800 similar units in places like Arizona and Salt Lake City, and, “There’s a huge need for this type of product in a lot of different areas. This is really for workforce housing.”
Forsyth defined “workforce housing” as serving a teenager who moves away to college and wants to come home and get a job, or married or dating couples with no children.
“You guys need the workforce,” he said, adding that he’d spoken with local restaurant owners and other merchants who expressed their frustration with finding employees who can afford housing in the community.
“There is a real need for housing that is affordable,” he said; however, the units on Church Street would not be designated as low-income and offered at market rates, which was later defined as “south of $1,500 — quite a bit south of that.”
Commissioner Grant Simmons applauded the effort to “get footsteps downtown” with expanded residential options, though, “On the other hand, within a town of 10,000 or so — specifically within the urban downtown area — it’s just a heck of a lot to absorb all at once.”
Picking up on the “OZ” Sandpoint name as shorthand for “Opportunity Zone,”
Commissioner William Mitchell asked how the project could
evolve after 10 years. Opportunity Zones are a tool for economic development created in 2017 in order to encourage investment in low-income, “distressed” areas by providing tax benefits to investors in development projects.
“Their goal is to build and hold them, long-term,” Forsyth responded.
Meanwhile, it was later discussed that there is nothing in City Code preventing the owner, or owners, from going through the process to convert the units into condos, nor does P&Z have the authority to limit owners from redefining the units as short-term rentals.
While those who testified at the meeting expressed their approval with workforce housing downtown, concerns focused on loading and unloading zones and the condition of the alleyways — which Commissioner Ivan Rimar described as looking “like the Ho Chi Minh Trail in 1972” — but also the broader impacts on the already stressed wastewater treatment plant and other elements of failing infrastructure.
“I don’t envy you guys on this one,” said resident Clay Hutchison, adding that while he doesn’t find there to be a problem with parking availability, the project under consideration would make it one. He also questioned the size of the units, which he compared to the average 300 to 400 square feet of a hotel room.
“So these are essentially hotel rooms,” he said, asking, “Would you allow a hotel [without parking]?”
“This needs more discussion,” he added.
Resident Karie Lee Knoke worried about the “affordability” aspect of the eventual development.
“Yes we do need affordable housing and low-income housing. What I understand is this is not either of those — $1,500 is not affordable for most of the workforce in this community, and it’s kind of an insult
to our local workforce, that they’ll be living in these little boxes, small spaces without any green space or anywhere to hang out,” she said.
Still others who testified were concerned about the apparent plan to remove the mature trees along Church Street to make way for the development. City Engineer Brandon Staglund said that while the current plan does show the removal of the trees, “those plans have not been approved yet.”
Commissioners struggled with multiple elements of the project, but returned to the alley at the rear of the project sites.
“The part that I have a problem with is the alley access is going to be a point for loading, unloading, garbage, the access for anybody that’s handicapped,” Dunkel said. “Even if nobody in this building has a car, there’s still a need for emergency access, there’s a need for commercial access for loading and unloading.”
Simmons agreed, saying the alley will “become a de facto thoroughfare” — that is, until snow piles up during the winter and access problems spill out into surrounding areas.
“It’s going to be pretty darn impactful,” he said.
As commissioners debated what conditions they could require of the developer — and sought legal counsel — they seemed poised to table the discussion until the next P&Z meeting in order to determine how far, exactly, their conditions could extend.
That vote failed 3-4, while Commissioner Reid Weber’s motion to amend the conditions of approval of the project to include setbacks for the street frontage died without a second.
“This is a very tough thing to deliberate,” Dunkel said following the ultimate 5-2 vote to approve (with Rimar and Weber opposed).
Gov. Little joins letter supporting bill that cuts billions from Medicaid, food assistance
Package includes tax breaks, $600B+ in cuts over the next decade from Medicaid
By Kyle Pfannenstiel Idaho Capital Sun
Idaho Gov. Brad Little is among 20 Republican governors who have sent a letter to President Donald Trump expressing support for his “big, beautiful” tax and spending bill that’s been held up as U.S. House Republicans continue to fight over it.
“As Republican Governors, we stand UNITED in strong support of your One, Big, Beautiful Bill,” the governors wrote in the letter dated May 20. “This landmark piece of legislation embodies your powerful vision to bring about the next great American revival.”
They added that the bill “truly delivers on the bold promises all Republicans made to the American people to restore the security, prosperity and fiscal sanity for our nation.”
The massive, 1,116-page bill package includes sweeping tax breaks and controversial cuts of more than $600 billion over the next decade from Medicaid, the government health program for low-income individuals and those with disabilities.
However, negotiations continue over the bill and it’s not yet clear whether it has the support it needs from the U.S. House Republicans’ slim majority.
Earlier May 20, Republicans who had yet to rally behind the bill huddled in Speaker Mike Johnson’s office to hash out agreements on Medicaid and other outstanding issues. Johnson said he hopes to pass the legislation this week, though he didn’t appear to have the votes as of May 20.
Even as the bill remains snagged, Republican governors signaled to the president that he has their support, writing “after four long years of tremendous hardship under President Joe Biden and [Vice President] Kamala Harris, the American people cannot wait any longer for Congress to enact the One, Big, Beautiful Bill.”
“The American people have witnessed the tireless work undertaken by you and your administration to reverse the disastrous consequences of President Biden’s failed and often illegal policies,” the governors’ letter stated. “You have demonstrated a
commitment to using every ounce of Executive authority available to reinstitute fiscal sanity, fight the deep state, secure our borders, and achieve energy dominance.”
Little and other governors also called on Congress to act to “fully and permanently implement” Trump’s “America First agenda.”
“Thankfully, your One, Big, Beautiful Bill would accomplish this,” the letter continued. “It would provide you with the resources you need to permanently secure the border, remove barriers needed to truly unleash American energy production, protect Americans by making a once-in-alifetime investment in military technology that once seemed like science fiction, give working class families tax cuts worth thousands of dollars each, and ensure your administration has the tools needed to deport illegal alien murders [sic] and rapists.”
They concluded their letter saying they agree that Republicans must “UNIFY around this unprecedented piece of conservative legislation.” They added that, “We cannot miss this chance to save taxpayers $1.6 trillion over the next 10 years.”
“We stand by your side and will support you in any way to ensure this necessary piece of legislation is enacted,” the governors wrote.
The 20 governors who signed the letter include: Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Idaho Gov. Brad Little, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong, South Carolina Gov. Henry Dargan McMaster, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey and Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon.
The Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, and parent organization of the Boise-based Idaho Capital Sun.
Bits ’n’ Pieces
From east, west and beyond
President Donald Trump’s preferred pick to head the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx Board Member David Steiner, has been appointed postmaster general. FedEx is the USPS’s leading competitor. The letter carriers’ union sees the appointment as a conflict of interest and an ominous step toward USPS privatization.
According to The Washington Post, Trump has changed his tariff policies at least 50 times since taking office in January 2025.
Various media report that House Republicans hope to pass their budget bill before the Memorial Day weekend. Over the next decade, tax cuts in the legislation would cost the federal budget at least $4.6 trillion, based on analysis from the Congressional Budget Office. If passed, tax cuts would begin immediately, whereas the bill’s Medicaid cuts are scheduled to wait until 2029 — intended to dodge voter backlash in the midterm and 2028 elections. Critics of the current bill argue that if Republicans truly want to cut “waste, fraud and abuse,” they would scrutinize the privatized part of Medicare, Part D, known for overpayments, and could save more than $1 trillion.
According to historian Heather Cox Richardson, discretionary spending fell 40% in the past 50 years. By the end of the 2023 fiscal year, deficits were driven by tax cuts from former-President George W. Bush ($8 trillion) and Trump ($1.7 trillion). The U.S. is far below the average taxation of 37 other nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. If taxed the same as the average OECD level since 2023, the Center for American Progress estimated that the U.S. would have an additional $26 trillion in revenue over the following 10 years. If taxed like the average of European Union nations, there would be an additional $36 trillion. Trump wants tariffs to replace taxes, and said Walmart’s price-raising due to his tariffs would not happen if the corporation would just “EAT THE TARIFFS” and “not charge valued customers ANYTHING. I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!”
Trump’s proposed budget includes a 40% cut to federal rental assistance, with other public housing voucher programs “essentially shuttered,” The Lever reported.
Saudi Arabia wants to diversify its oil-dependent economy, with a focus on AI, The New York Times reported. On
By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Contributor
a recent trip to Saudi Arabia, Trump was joined by U.S. business executives seeking Saudi investments. In exchange for the Saudis’ promise of $600 billion to invest in the U.S., Trump promised $142 billion in state-of-the-art defense and security equipment from U.S. defense firms.
A Ukraine-U.S. deal has been reached on sharing Ukraine’s mineral resources, The Week reported. Ukraine rejected a U.S. demand that already received military aid would be used for future mineral projects, and agreed instead to forthcoming assistance as payment for resources. After speaking to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump said he’s convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin “doesn’t want to stop the war.”
Due to Trump’s budget cuts, weather forecasts are expected to become less accurate, particularly affecting air travel, farming, shipping and energy production, Vox reported. The National Weather Service is credited with triggering billions of dollars in economic benefits and lives saved.
The Independent shared details from White House documents of plans for a “massive military parade” on Trump’s 79th birthday on Saturday, June 14, also the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary. The Washington Post reported that it will cost an estimated $25 million-$45 million.
Various media reported that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has talked with producers of Duck Dynasty about creating a reality show in which immigrants compete to speed their citizenship applications through the review process.
According to recent headlines, a Musk-funded group is trying to change the law so that it’s easier for billionaires to sue their critics into bankruptcy; there’s a growing global call to boycott American-made goods; Trump’s FBI has moved to criminally charge major climate groups; wildfire season may be unpredictable after federal budget slashing hits supplies; rising debt and risk under the Trump administration has led Moody’s to push the U.S. out of the elite “AAA” credit club; at least 50 migrants sent to an infamous El Salvador prison entered the U.S. legally; and the UN warned that 14,000 babies could die in Gaza shortly without aid.
Blast from the past: “They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds.” — Greek poet and novelist Dinos Christianopoulos (1931-2020)
PHD board debates nature of public health, role of clinical services
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
The Panhandle Health District Board of Health held a public strategic planning meeting May 10, to discuss clinical services and the district’s priorities going forward. Chair Dr. Thomas Fletcher shepherded much of the fourhour-long meeting, repeatedly turning conversation toward his “philosophical” view of public health and playing off highly politicized ideas and conspiracy theories.
“Sixty percent of Americans suffer from chronic debilitating disease. We have 100,000 new cases of autism a year. We have countless levels of neuropsychiatric problems afflicting our population,” said Fletcher, explaining his motivations for holding the planning meeting.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, one in 31 — or 3.2% — of “children aged 8 years” have been diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
“Fertility is in decline,” continued Fletcher. “[In the] mid-20th century, fertility was 3.2 children per woman. Today, that’s 1.6. That is below replacement level because 2.2 is replacement. Now, you say, well, women just want fewer children. Well, almost certainly women’s choice counts for some of that, but not all of it, because one in five breeding couples are infertile.”
The CDC defines infertility as the inability to become pregnant after one year of unprotected sex with no prior births. One in five — or 19% — of married women aged 15 to 45 are considered infertile, according to the CDC’s studies. Almost all highly developed countries have seen a decline in the birth rate in the past 10 years, which
NPR attributes to the reduction in teenage pregnancy and couples’ decisions to hold off on having children in the face of economic and political uncertainty.
The Trump administration and other members of the farright have recently begun to push for increased birth rates in the U.S. The so-called “pronatalist” movement has documented ties to eugenics and white supremacy, with some vocal advocates drawing from “The Great Replacement Theory,” a conspiracy theory alleging that the nation’s white population is purposefully being overtaken by people of color.
After Fletcher’s introduction, PHD Director Erik Ketner gave an overview of the PHD’s clinical services over the past 10 years, demonstrating a decline in usage since Medicaid expansion took effect in 2020, allowing more people to choose their care providers. With current federal and state changes to Medicaid qualifications and funding, Ketner anticipates a large increase in use going forward. He later clarified that PHD’s clinics already see a significant need, but can only help a finite number of patients due to a lack of staff.
PHD clinics currently offer children’s immunizations, sexually transmitted infection tracking, family planning, cancer screenings, mental health referrals and most anything else required of a primary care provider.
Ketner described PDH’s clinical services as “not a pretty picture.” The district employs 4.5 medical staff members, including 1.5 nurse practitioners, 1.5 nurses and 1.5 medical assistants, compared to 15 employees in 2015. The staff spend five days a week in Hayden, one in Sandpoint, and one divided between Kellogg and Saint Maries.
As the counties have yet to decide the district’s bud-
get, Ketner said he could not give any concrete next steps; however, he hopes to “invest in the necessary medical professionals that can best fill the need.”
Afterward, Fletcher gave a presentation tracing the origins of the concept of public health — specifically sewer systems — back to ancient Mesopotamia, through the Roman Empire and into present day America. He argued that, though public health organizations have historically improved life expectancies by managing “effluent,” people are now “sicker.” He explained this “paradox” through the economic concept of the “management of the commons.”
“The commons is defined as an asset or resource for which everybody owns it. Example: the Spokane aquifer doesn’t belong to any of us. The Spokane aquifer belongs to all of us,” said Fletcher, arguing that public health entities have a responsibility to manage shared resources.
“So, I ask you, is there an asset or a resource that belongs to nobody? In other words, it is an asset for which there cannot be ownership,” asked Fletcher, later stating, “If you follow the teachings
missioner Ron Korn agreed with Fletcher, saying that parents have “been lied to” about public school vaccine requirements for children, which he tied to the issue of informed consent.
The PHD board has been discussing informed consent for childhood vaccines since February, but has yet to institute any changes to the policy. Medical providers are currently required to give patients or their guardians the CDC’s informational packets on each vaccine before administering it.
of Jesus Christ — and if you happen to be of a more secular orientation, the teachings of Thomas Jefferson — the answer to that question is us human beings.”
Fletcher went on to state that public health institutions underwent “a profound transformation” when they became involved with the “management of the sovereign — or individuals.”
“My question to all of us and to our civilization: Do we want, moving forward, the face and operation of public health to get involved in the management of the sovereign?”
Ketner asked Fletcher to clarify his point, reminding him that the district’s clinical services are optional and instigated at the request of the patients or their guardians.
“Bear in mind that the policies that you follow are established by the CDC and the FDA [Food and Drug Administration]. … Don’t take it personally. I’m talking at a policy level. That’s where the derangement is coming from,” said Fletcher, later referring to the CDC, FDA and National Institute of Health as “cartel medicine.”
Bonner County Com-
The board considered adding additional information to the handouts, but members of the medical community worried that that could lead to the spread of misinformation and an increased distrust in vaccines. Proponents of the idea based their arguments on widely debunked conspiracy theories, such as the idea that vaccines cause autism.
At the May 10 meeting, Ketner encouraged everyone to do their own research when making any medical decisions.
“Unfortunately, in the past, Baby Boomers — since I am at the tail end of that [generation] — we have become trusting in our health care providers and we’ve gotten used to listening to our doctor’s advice,” said Korn, arguing that people will not do their own research and that PHD should provide “the pros and the cons” of each vaccine.
Ketner emphasized the importance of choosing a provider that “aligns with your belief system,” but did not indicate that the board was still considering policy changes.
The meeting concluded with attendees brainstorming “strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats” to help guide the district’s decisions going forward. The board agreed that PHD should prioritize winning back its communities’ trust and advertising clinical services, though did not formalize any plans on how to accomplish those goals.
PHD Director Erik Ketner. File photo.
Bouquets:
• Recently, a reader called and asked if I knew where they could find someone to instruct them how to use a smartphone. After I called them back, they told me the Community Resource EnVision Center helped them out, which is exactly the organization I was going to recommend they contact. CREC is a hub for helping community members find the resources they need to achieve self-sufficiency through access to services in economic empowerment, educational advancement, health and wellness, and character and leadership development. Contact CREC by visiting crecidaho.com if you ever need a hand.
Barbs:
• This Barb comes with a couple of different hooks. I was driving on the highway and got stuck behind a sideby-side going about 20 miles per hour under the speed limit. Instead of pulling over to let the traffic pass, the driver just cruised along without a care in the world. I watched several dangerous pass attempts with a few near misses with oncoming traffic. The guy finally pulled off and traffic began to speed up to 60 mph again. Then a pickup truck loaded with tree branches hit a bridge joint and sent a load onto the highway. I swerved to miss the branches and watched in my rearview mirror as the convoy of cars behind me did the same. What a mess. First, if you’re going to insist on driving your little buggy onto the highway, go the speed limit. Driving that slow just causes impatient drivers to make dumb decisions. Second, secure your freaking loads. A few branches across the highway can cause serious accidents. Common sense is a virtue. Let’s try to use some.
‘Deadly
Dear editor, There’s not enough room in this letter, or the entire page of this newspaper, to address the misguided direction of Trump’s presidency. He’s unstable, unfit, evasive, spiteful, retaliatory, has no conscience and is a compulsive liar. His administration engages in unfounded incarceration and deportation without due process. He ignores the Constitution, is bent on the destruction of our democracy and dreams of dictatorship.
Most of us, regardless of political leanings, would like to see our federal government made less wasteful, more efficient and cost saving. It’s true that our debt is out of control but, the ramshackle approach that DOGE has waged is weakening most government departments and undermining services and safety net programs. Deadly deeds to democracy are being done. We are not better off for it.
To top it off, while pretending to cut government expenses, Dear Leader Donald has announced that he wants a military parade in honor of his birthday. His parade will cost taxpayers millions of dollars to undertake. It’s reminiscent of Hitler, Stalin, Kim Jong Un or Putin, just to name a few dictators.
It’s time for courts and Congress to fill their roles in the balance of power. There’s not much we can do to affect the judiciary, but they do seem to be leaning toward the Constitution. Now it’s time for members of the Congress to live up to their oaths to the Constitution; not to the authoritarian in the White House.
It’s time for American citizens to speak out louder than ever. Write your representatives and senators to remind them who they were elected to serve. Remind them that they took an oath to the Constitution; not to the president.
George Loustalet Priest River
Trump needs to take his oath seriously…
Dear editor, President Trump, you have been asked the question, “Do you have to support and uphold the Constitution of the United States?” Your response, President Trump, was, “I don’t know, I’m not a lawyer.” You need
to review when you took the oath of office, with your hand on the Bible. Presidential oath or affirmation: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
P.S., Do not change Nov. 11 from Veterans Day to honor WWI. You are a blowhard bully and don’t even know what you swore to at your inauguration.
Michael Harmelin Sandpoint
Thankful for (some) lawmakers’ communications…
Dear editor,
I just wanted to express my appreciation to Jim Woodward and Mark Sauter for their local town hall meetings. Although I have not been able to attend any yet, the Reader does a great job covering them well enough that I feel informed. This is how our legislators should act. I also receive emails from Cornel Rasor that are extremely detailed about the goings on in the Idaho Legislature. Although I do not agree with all of his votes, at least he is communicating regularly with a lot of information about all the bills being introduced in our Statehouse.
I can’t say the same for our senators at the national level, who are dodging their constituents by not holding town hall meetings. Maybe it’s because they know they are not serving their constituents well, as they bow to their dear leader instead of serving the people of our state. Shame on them.
Also, thank you Ben and Zach for the interview with Russ Fulcher in the May 1 issue. It was very informative and I like how you held his feet to the fire on certain issues. Keep up the good work!
Judy York Sandpoint
Dear editor, I just wanted to give a shout out of appreciation to all the people who volunteer to make the Sandpoint Rec. League soccer season happen;
especially the parent coaches and the parent referees who get roped into refereeing a game!
For those parents who sit on the sidelines watching the games go down, please remember to show some love instead of criticizing the coaches and referees. If you decided you were too busy to volunteer, then it’s OK to just let the kids run around and get some exercise and have fun instead of getting all upset at the parent ref who may not be great at knowing all of the soccer rules — you can also step up and try it yourself. After all, it is just a game.
If you want to have a more serious and competitive experience as a parent, you can pay and travel a bunch more to have your child play in the Sandpoint Strikers League. I also suggest you refrain from using the ride home to berate your tired kiddo over all the things they need to work on and the things they did wrong. They are all out there trying their best! Maybe we should have a parent game at the end of the year where you can show us your moves and expertise on the field!
Thanks again parents, this could not happen without you!
Sincerely,
Nishelle Gonzales Sandpoint
‘The two squandering precepts’…
Dear editor,
Since the outbreak of COVID in 2020 and the civil unrest that followed, leading to the supposed “culture war,” American society has developed two soul-crushing maxims or precepts that threaten our very existence as a civilization.
Precept No. 1: If you can’t make or save me money then you are absolutely worthless.
And even worse, Precept No. 2: If you are a different skin color, a different religion, if you voted for someone other than which I voted, if you live a different lifestyle from me then you are my enemy.
Skeptics may argue that it has always been this way, but I will counterargue that it has never been as bad as now. When I was growing up in the 1980s and ’90s, when people were introduced to me, they made small talk. Namely they wanted to know what bands I listened to and what sports teams I followed. Now when I’m introduced to people, they want to know what religion I am and who I voted for even before
they ask my name! I absolutely refute and admonish these two precepts. Will you also stand against this abominable cultural shift?
Jack Green Sandpoint
Reality check…
Dear editor,
To paraphrase the Bard, the GOP has been hoist with its own petard (Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 4). For years, the GOP has been cutting federal service agencies’ budgets so they can justify the tax cuts that reduce revenue income. They couldn’t truly balance the budget so they add this shortfall to the national debt
“Kicking the can down the road” is the phrase used so those in office don’t risk losing that office. Over the years we now have a federal debt in the trillions and failing infrastructure caused by these budget cuts. These failures are the result of waiting for a disaster before any corrective action is taken.
The irony of the cuts proposed by the GOP-controlled Congress is that it predominately hurts the constituents of GOP-controlled states. These GOP states have also been busily cutting taxes and reducing services.
Reality check: If you want governmental services (Medicare, Medicaid, veteran’s benefits, disaster relief, safe air travel, good roads, bridges, clean water, public education, etc.), you must pay for them. Think of taxes as an insurance policy for a well-functioning society. If you don’t have it, you go deeper into debt.
The logical solution is for taxes to be increased, especially on those most able to afford them. It doesn’t make sense for a teacher to pay more than a CEO based on a percentage of income.
It’s time for Congress to pull up its “Big Boy Pants” and do what’s right for our country, not their party.
Gil Beyer Sandpoint
Got something to say? Write a letter to the editor. Please keep under 300 words and stay on topic. No libelous statements and please elevate the conversation. Trolls will be ignored and forgotten.
PERSPECTIVES
Emily Articulated
AI (again)
By Emily Erickson Reader Columnist
It was 2008 — The printer whirred as it spat out 14 pages of MapQuest directions. I swore under my breath as the banner ads emerged in full color — already streaky and overly pink. I’d killed the color cartridge in under a week, and my mom would definitely notice. Stapling the pages together, I hopped in the driver’s seat and reset the odometer to zero.
The first line read, “Head toward Pond Street on Mill Street,” and “Go for 1.2 miles.” I traced the route with my finger on the road atlas to visualize where I was headed. Hitting the gas, I double-checked the numbers before moving on to the next step.
It was 2014 — I stood outside a restaurant in Thailand as motorbikes whirred past on the road behind me. Grainy photos, laminated and sun-worn, showcased plates of food with Thai script beneath them. One image showed a pile of noodles coated in brown sauce, with what looked like steaming tofu chunks on top. At a small order window, I pointed to the picture and held up ฿30, hoping my smile would communicate more effectively than my clumsy pronunciation. Minutes later, a hand extended a box of food. I smiled again as I took it, then opened the container and realized I had no idea what I was about to eat.
It was 2023 — I typed my first prompt into ChatGPT, asking it to format a citation for a photo from the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. As I entered the link, I thought about all the hours I’d spent
in college plunking inputs into The Citation Machine, only to have bibliographies returned with red pen corrections — commas instead of periods, or the wrong lines italicized.
It’s 2025 — Using a map no longer comes naturally and I don’t melt down on the side of the road when I realize I missed a turn 20 minutes ago.
Google Translate now renders foreign scripts into English in real time, so I know exactly what I’m ordering — and how to pronounce “thank you” when I do. And ChatGPT?
It’s become my go-to for offloading tedious tasks I’d rather not allocate brain space to: drafting budgets, breaking down proposals and defining what exactly a HELOC is.
Technology has not only changed how we navigate the world — it’s changed how we are in it. A 2010 study showed a reduction in hippocampal activity in frequent GPS users, suggesting the part of my brain that once read maps may now be the size of a raisin (no doubt making space for dog meme recall). That makes me
wonder: What other parts of myself am I quietly giving up?
Most AI experts agree: We’re on the cliff’s edge. AI isn’t going to reshape society in a hundred years, or likely even 10. The most optimistic forecasts predict a fundamental paradigm shift in the next few years. There’s plenty to hope for: tools to combat climate change, cures for cancer and — if we manage wealth redistribution as AI replaces much of the labor force — maybe even a future where work isn’t tied to survival. (Yes, I’d better get started sharpening my barterable skills. Sourdough, anyone?)
But there’s also plenty to be wary of. If we outsource our creativity, our communication, our critical thinking — even our capacity to tolerate the mundane — what do we have left? We risk becoming mere vessels for machines to speak through. I already see it: ChatGPT-generated emails replying to ChatGPT-generated emails, with humans as intermediaries. AI-generated images, logos and ad copy, flat-lining the things we consume, turning them bland. We save time, sure — but at what cost? Are we also losing the ability to take in, synthesize and thoughtfully respond to information? To identify what is real? That feels like a dangerous trade.
As with all progress, there are two sides to the coin. The benefits inevitably come with costs — and we each have to
decide how much of ourselves we’re willing to sacrifice for the sake of convenience.
When I first wrote about ChatGPT, I reflected: “At its core, ChatGPT is a tool — one that we can still decide how to wield. And hopefully, as we continue to shape it, we remember that technology, and the power we give it, is also irrevocably shaping us.”
In this game of give and take, I’m becoming more cautious about what I’m will-
ing to give. I’m also looking for ways to support others fumbling through life just as inefficiently — but perhaps a little more connected to the things that make us human; the parts of ourselves we most want to preserve.
Emily Erickson is a writer and business owner with an affinity for black coffee and playing in the mountains. Connect with her online at www.bigbluehat.studio.
Retroactive
By BO
Emily Erickson.
Science: Mad about
By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist
Author’s note: The numbers referenced in this article are a reflection of the Nvidia 30 series graphics cards.
GPUs, or graphics processing units, have made headlines with the advent of cryptocurrency mining and AI datacenters. If you’re a PC gamer, you’re probably familiar with graphics cards and their absurd price tags — but why are they important? How do they work? Why do they cost so much? Math. That’s really it. Lots and lots of math.
Let’s look into how a graphics card is made and explore its components. At the core of a graphics card is the PCB, or printed circuit board — this is what all of the other components sit on. At the center of the PCB is the GPU, which is effectively its “brain” and will perform the calculations needed to accomplish the task it’s been given.
Graphics cards were developed to perform the tens of trillions of calculations per second required to create graphical environments for video games, such as how light and geometry interact to create realistic effects in a simulated environment. That’s why they are so highly sought after in crypto mining and AI fields, but we’ll cover that later.
At a glance, the GPU just looks like a little golden square. Really, it’s a structure of more than 28 billion transistors packed into a tiny area. The GPU is structured in a hierarchical way, similar to how a corporation like Walmart may be structured. In this analogy, the GPU is
Walmart as a whole, which is then broken down into seven graphical processing clusters, or GPCs, which are like districts on a map. Each GPC is broken into 12 streaming multiprocessors or SMs, which can be thought of as stores within a district. Within each SM there are four warps and one ray tracing core. You can imagine the warps as store managers and the ray tracing cores as specialized employees designated to perform a very specific and special task. Each warp contains 32 CUDA cores and one tensor core. You can imagine the CUDA cores as employees and the tensor cores as a personal shopper. Adding all of those together gives you 10,752 CUDA cores, 336 tensor cores and 84 ray tracing cores.
While the analogy makes sense of the structure of the chip, it doesn’t clarify what these cores actually do CUDA cores are for basic arithmetic calculations, primarily addition and multiplication using binary numbers. These are the most plentiful and do the heavy lifting when it comes to building video game environments.
Tensor cores are matrix multiplicators that deal with geometric deformation, such as a wall changing shape as you get close to it, but are also invaluable for use in AI neural networks.
Ray tracing cores simulate the behavior of light to create highly realistic interactions with objects within the game environment by generating light rays and calculating how they will bounce and refract off a variety of surfaces. Your brain does this organically, though it doesn’t have to worry about generating the light
like the ray tracing core does.
You may be wondering if all of this is packed into such a small little square, why are graphics cards so huge and bulky?
Using electrical current to perform 35 trillion calculations per second generates a lot of heat. Left unchecked, this heat could cause deformations and permanent damage to the chip, so engineers need to be able to cool down the chip appropriately. This is done in a very similar manner to how we cool anything else, such as your car, house and even, in some cases, your refrigerator.
Air cooling is the most common way to cool down a GPU, which involves fans that pull cool air in and spit hot air out another vent. While common, this is also easily compromised by dusty areas that can clog up the fan and even present a fire hazard over time. Liquid cooling is more common in high-performance cards, which uses a cooling solution that circulates through the system, absorbing heat from the GPU and transferring it via liquid to a radiator similar to your car. A hybrid system utilizes both air circulation as well as liquid cooling, but sometimes requires more work to build and maintain.
You may be wondering why would we use central processing units (CPUs or processors) with fewer cores and less processing power than GPUs in our computers — why have both when we could just have more GPUs?
GPUs are great for processing bulk amounts of “simple” algorithmic data. Think of it like a cargo train carrying a lot of containers.
It’s efficient at what it does, but it’s expensive and it’s not as adaptable as a CPU, which can be more agile and focus on many smaller tasks simultaneously with more complexity and precision. Your CPU is great for juggling lots of smaller computational tasks like running browsers, excel sheets and other programs, while your GPU is great at processing huge amounts of bulk data.
This is why AI datacenters prioritize utilizing banks of specially designed GPUs to process huge amounts of data and find optimized results for whatever task they’ve been given. If you thought your $1,000 graphics card was expensive, many of these datacenters will have an entire cabinet filled with dozens of $40,000 GPUs stacked on top of each other.
Stay curious, 7B.
Random Corner
• Douglas fir are one of the world’s most important timber species, growing up to four feet in diameter and living as long as 300 years. The exceptionally strong timber has been highly sought after for construction, boats and aircrafts. The USS Constitution’s masts, originally white pine, were replaced with Douglas fir.
• The western larch, also known as tamarack, is unique for cluster needles that turn brilliant gold in the fall before dropping to the ground. The trunk grows straight and is easily split into cordwood, which burns hot and clean. New growth often follows or survives fires and grouse eat buds and leaves.
• Grand fir trees grow flat needles in two rows, with silvery white beneath them. People have long placed great faith in the heal-
ing properties of the fragrant, transparent gum pinched from resin blisters found on the smooth bark of younger trees.
• The Pacific yew was traditionally used for archery bows and canoe paddles. It grows 15-30 feet tall with purplish-brown bark featuring red-brown peppery scales. In 1991, researchers discovered that a drug called taxol could be extracted from the bark. Taxol has been found to be effective in controlling ovarian and other types of cancer.
• The state tree of Idaho — western white pine — is renowned for producing wood without knots, twisted grain or discoloration. The species is seriously threatened by a fungus called white pine blister rust.
Join the Idaho Conservation League for summer fun and lake stewardship
By Jennifer Ekstrom Reader Contributor
With summer upon us, Lake Pend Oreille’s glistening water beckons. Whether dusting off your paddleboard, plotting kayak camping adventures, scheming new tricks on your wakeboard or simply throwing sticks for your pooch, our magnificent backyard lake offers something for everyone to enjoy. With that enjoyment comes responsibility. It’s up to each of us to do our part to keep our lake awesome in spite of the pressures it faces.
The Idaho Conservation League is ramping up for the 2025 water quality monitoring season, and there are openings for additional stewards to help out. Each year this program helps us better understand this lake we love — from identifying pollution sources, to seeing trends over time, to monitoring where water quality is improv-
ing. By consistently collecting and testing water samples, we gain valuable insights about the condition of the water that we drink and play in.
Dedicated volunteer stewards take on the commitment to collect water samples and data at 13 stations across the lake and river for four months from June through September. Each water sample collected is tested for water quality indicators like temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, total nitrogen, total phosphorus and E. coli, to name a few.
Additionally, the stewards serve as eyes and ears on the water, letting us know if they see trash, dead fish, invasive weeds, signs of toxic algae outbreaks or evidence of poorly managed shoreline development. By tracking these various indicators of water quality, we can better understand impacts to Lake Pend Oreille — and take action to protect and restore its waters.
This summer will be ICL’s
fourth year managing the program, though the program’s 14th year overall. Each year we learn valuable insights, and the long-term dataset is helpful for agency decision making, climate change resilience planning and just deciding where you might not want to go swimming.
One of the most enjoyable things about this program —
aside from getting out on the water each month — is getting to know the stewards. Each person joins the program for unique reasons, all of which contribute to the program’s success. I am continuously inspired by their dedication to protecting our waters and keeping them swimmable, fishable and drinkable.
This season we are thrilled
to have many of our longtime stewards returning, but there are still a few more openings. You do not need a science background or any experience to help out, so please consider giving back to our waters by spending a few days this summer monitoring water quality on Lake Pend Oreille.
A steward training session will be held on Wednesday, May 28 from 5:30-7 p.m., and attendance is required for each potential steward. Attending a training is not a commitment to being a steward, but training is mandatory if you want to participate. We encourage people with any level of interest to attend, learn how the sampling works, and meet our returning volunteers. Email jekstrom@idahoconservation. org or call 208-318-5812 if you have questions or want to sign up for a training session.
Jennifer Ekstrom is North Idaho director of the Idaho Conservation League.
New radio documentary People of the Salmon debuts on public radio and podcast platforms
By Reader Staff
The Idaho Mythweaver announces the release of its newest public radio documentary and podcast episode, People of the Salmon . It will be broadcast live at noon Monday, May 26 — Memorial Day — over KPBX, Spokane Public Radio and also livestreamed at spokanepublicradio.org. It is also available as a podcast at mythweaver. org, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts under its Voices of the Wild Earth podcast series. The documentary will also air over Boise State Public Radio stations sometime this coming summer.
Narrated by longtime producer and storyteller Jane Fritz, and co-produced by
Justin Lantrip, People of the Salmon tells the story of the Nez Perce Tribe’s efforts to reintroduce sockeye salmon to Wallowa Lake in northeast Oregon — a place where the spawning fish once returned from the ocean by the tens of thousands. Fritz and Nez Perce Fisheries Project Manager Shane Vatland will be giving a public presentation about the creation of People of the Salmon and the Tribe’s coho and sockeye salmon reintroduction efforts in the Wallowas on
Thursday, May 29, at 7 p.m. at the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture (403 N. Main St. in Joseph, Ore.). They will share Nez Perce stories, audio excerpts and photos from this multi-year salmon project. The hour-long documen-
tary unfolds through archival tribal voices, field interviews with tribal biologists and elders, and immersive natural soundscapes, tracing the spiritual, cultural and ecological importance of salmon to the Nimi’ipuu. It highlights the historical wounds left by damming the Columbia River while inundating the Northwest’s largest freshwater fishery at Celilo Falls. It also reveals the severe impacts to today’s salmon migration from the four Lower Snake River dams.
From today’s coho salmon reintroduction efforts in the Wallowa’s Lostine River, to the hopeful reintroduction of ocean-going sockeye salmon, People of the Salmon is a story of resilience, fish and culture. It’s a story about coming
home. About what we’ve all lost, what can be restored, and how the stories of the land and its Indigenous people are inextricably linked. As with many stories told for Voices of the Wild Earth, this one came from listening to the people of the land: tribal elders, river women, fisheries biologists and the late Silas Whitman, whose voice carries into the future. This program was supported in part by a grant from the Idaho Humanities Council, a state-based program of the National Endowment for the Humanities, with additional major funding from Idaho Forest Group and several anonymous donors. It is dedicated in memory of Silas Whitman and offered in reciprocity to the Nez Perce people, the Nimi’ipuu
Volunteer water stewards learn how to collect water samples. Photo courtesy of ICL.
The Indigenous fishing spot at Celilo Falls on the Columbia River before the Dalles Dam flooded it in 1957. Courtesy photo.
Requesting Sand Lake Trail restoration
By Gabrielle Duebendorfer Reader Contributor
Sand Lake is a popular fishing and huckleberry picking destination and the trail from the end of Forest Service Road No. 2670 off Elmira Road has been destroyed through a logging operation. Your help is needed to encourage the loggers who will be up there again within a week or two to clear it up again for the enjoyment of the public.
I recently hiked up to the headwaters of a creek nearby and was in awe of the beauty of an old cedar grove. A previous logging operation had left quite a few of the larger trees so that the area still had the feel of an old-growth glade, full with clusters of vibrantly white and pink trilliums alongside patches of snow. My Merlin bird app identified eight bird species, including the western tanager, two of
whom came checking out the call recordings — bright yellow with the male having a brilliantly red head.
The harmonious beauty reminded me of Dr. Suzanne Simard’s work, which describes the importance of hub or mother trees in maintaining the complex underground fungal threads and tree root network. Her and others’ research has shown that mutual nutrient exchange and electrical communication via the hub trees are important for younger trees to survive and thrive and maintain the whole ecosystem.
As I worked myself around the mountaintop and down a ridge, I got a nice overview of this recent over-story logging operation. Over-story tree removal takes out all trees over seven inches in diameter, leaving no mature trees. I could see the darker demarcation line of older trees where logging stopped, which happens to be where this old
used to be.
From this eagle’s eye view, the logged over area didn’t look too bad, as logging trails were interspersed with swaths of remaining younger understory trees.
Coming down the steep slope I came across a wonderful wet seep full of Indian paintbrush, shooting stars, larkspur and other flowers in the mossy pads, interrupted by swaths of destruction. It was
painful to make my way farther downhill, but the persistence of nature’s beauty was reassuring.
The logging operation was an Idaho Department of Lands endowment project, which raises funds for Idaho schools. Some 30 years ago the same area was logged, and the then-IDL forester left many of the older trees along the access road as well as along the trail so that it didn’t take long for the forest to regrow. The smaller cedar grove located just as the trail dips into Sand Lake recovered beautifully.
This time around all the older trees — with one ex-
ception — were removed for maximum yield and the trail is now completely obliterated under slash. While I fully support this wonderful endowment program to support our schools, I am disappointed that neither the importance of older trees in the ecosystem nor the well-used trail to Sand Lake was honored. Both are necessary in the larger picture of health in the forest as well as our community.
The one exception was a stand of 100-year-old pines right at the beginning of the trail. That area had been a sacred place for our family for years, and both Luke from Alta (who purchased the timber) and Jordan (the forester from IDL) were gracious enough to honor that. We were reassured that the loggers would try to preserve the trail to the lake as it had been used for many years for huckleberry pickers and anglers alike. However, that was not the case.
The loggers cannot restore the cedar grove or the other ancient trees that used to line the trail, but they could clear the trail with the machinery that will be on the mountain shortly. If you are or have been using this trail in the past, please consider calling Luke at Alta — 360-219-0008 — and Jordan at IDL — 208263-5104 — and encourage them to clear the trail for all to enjoy.
I understand that both IDL and Alta are doing best forest management practices and they truly have been very communicative with our neighborhood. I also understand that research into the communication between plants and fungi in the forest is not universally accepted. However, considering the larger interconnectivity between forest and Idaho citizens as well as the ecosystem as a whole, it would not hurt to leave a few healthy mature trees with future overstory tree removals, especially along access roads and established trails.
established trail to Sand Lake
Sand Lake Trail. Photo by Gabrielle Duebendorfer.
‘The best kept secret in Sandpoint’
Get on the water with the Sandpoint Sailing Association
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
Not everyone is lucky enough to know someone with a boat or own one themselves, but thanks to the Sandpoint Sailing Association, getting on the water is a piece of cake.
The 501(c)(3) organization has been providing opportunities to enjoy local waters since it was founded in 1996 — and it’s come a long way in its nearly 30 years. From a ragtag collection of sailors looking to form a racing club, SSA has grown to include dozens of members who join to have fun, enjoy the company of fellow sailors, and encourage any and all who are interested in learning to hop aboard.
For Taylor Long, who serves as vice commodore of the club, SSA is one of the aspects of Sandpoint living that brings him joy.
“One of the big things for the club is community access,” Long told the Reader. “We try to remove as many barriers as we can for people to get on the water. This is the best kept secret in Sandpoint.”
Long said the club is perfect not only for those who already know how to sail, but especially for those looking to learn. Even more, a weekly race held every Thursday offers a free chance for prospective sailors to hop aboard and enjoy the ride.
“Thursday nights are open,” he said. “We call them ‘Community Thursdays’ and it’s a great time for anybody interested in learning about sailing. Anybody can come down and hop on one of our members’ boats. We do what is called a race, but it’s just a fun couple of laps.”
Those interested in taking a ride on Thursday nights should show up to the club rallying point near Fred’s Deck on the 100 dock of the Windbag Marina (the dock closest to the shoreline) and the members will find them a boat to join
as a spectator. This year, the sailing season will begin Thursday, June 19, and racers gather around 5:15 p.m. every week.
Long and his wife Sadie started sailing through the Community Thursdays.
“I sailed a bit growing up, but my wife never had,” he said. “We started going on Thursday nights and got more and more into it.”
Long said he and his wife then began crewing for friends Chris Ankney and Ashli Thompson and, later, was impressed that two SSA boats qualified and raced in the world championships.
“We went from Thursday nights to sailing in a world championship with 60 other boats in the span of a few years,” Long said. “I’d say Thursdays are a great first step.”
From there, if folks are interested in taking their new hobby further, joining the club for a small fee brings a
handful of perks that can help them access the lake without breaking the bank.
“If you join the club, you have access to a number of boats that you can use,” Long told the Reader. “When we’re not using those boats for classes, any of our members can take them out.”
SSA currently has five Hobie Holders, which are 14-foot dinghies that have a simple sloop rig that make them easy to sail; two RS Fevas, which are planing, sport dinghies that go a bit faster; and a Capri 18-footer that is a bit larger than the dinghies.
As Long explained, when the boats aren’t used for training or club purposes, SSA members can take them out for day use as long as someone over 18 is on board, and can reserve them online — the smaller boats for four hours and the larger ones for two hours at a time.
Club dues are $100 per person or $125 per family, per year.
“That’s one of the ways we’re trying to remove the cost barrier for sailing,” Long said. “To pay $125 and be able to have your whole family take a boat out on the lake all summer is pretty cheap.”
For those looking for guidance on how to sail, SSA also offers junior and adult sailing classes. Go to sandpointsailing.org to join, sign up for classes or learn more about the opportunities SSA can provide.
“In my mind, sailing is incredibly relaxing,” Long said. “In terms of racing, what draws me to it most is that it’s such a team sport. Everyone has their individual jobs, but everybody is working as a team to be the fastest we can. ...
“Anybody interested in learning a little bit about it can come out and experience what it’s about to see if they want to get into it,” he added.
Learn more at sandpointsailling.com.
Sandpoint Sailing Association students (left) and members (right) enjoy Lake Pend Oreille.
Photoz by Taylor Long
88.5 KRFY to host Fund Drive ’25
By Reader Staff
The only noncommercial, independent radio station in Bonner and Boundary counties, 88.5 FM KRFY is hosting its Fund Drive ’25 during Memorial Day week, from Tuesday, May 27 to Friday, May 30.
The annual event draws attention to the importance of independent media and the entertainment, informational and educational roles that KRFY plays in North Idaho. Without the support of community members, local nonprofits and businesses, the station would not be able to continue successfully fulfilling its mission, as it has since 2011.
The specific need for this year’s donation event is to raise enough funds to pay for a new transmitter and an uninterruptible power supply to keep the station on the air even in the event of an electrical outage.
This year’s annual membership drive covers four days of programming featuring live broadcasting by Morning Show hosts and special guests from 8-10 a.m., including such local non-
profits as the Long Bridge Swim, Rock Creek Alliance, Trout Unlimited and Kaniksu Land Trust.
Live broadcasting will continue in the evenings from 6-9 p.m., with local musicians providing conversation and music. Participating musicians include the Mike Wagoner Band, the Powell Brothers, Truck Mills, the Paranormal Daves, Karen Atkins and more.
The four-day fund drive will conclude Friday, May 30 with an event featuring Utara Brewing beer from 5-8 p.m. at Idaho Pour Authority (203 Cedar St., in downtown Sandpoint).
In addition to libations, the celebration at IPA will include an auction for three baskets containing items on the themes “On the Town,” “Gardening” and “Outdoor Activities.”
Everyone who joins KRFY as a new member or who renewed their membership during the fund drive will also automatically be entered in a raffle for a quilt.
“Now more than ever, independent media such as 88.5 KRFY matter,” organizers stated.
Perky Smith-Hagadone recognized as Volunteer of the Month
By Reader Staff
The Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce recently recognized Perky Smith-Hagadone as its May 2025 Volunteer of the Month. A retired educator and lifelong steward of the environment, Smith-Hagadone has dedicated her post-retirement years to community and conservation work throughout North Idaho.
After a distinguished career as the principal of Northside Elementary School, she transitioned her leadership and passion for education into meaningful volunteer service. Today, she serves as the volunteer coordinator for the Pend Oreille Chapter of the Idaho Master Naturalists, where she organizes and supports nature-focused initiatives that “educate, inspire and protect,” according to the chamber.
Her efforts extend further through her involvement with the “Mighty Monarchs,” a local group working to conserve pollinators and restore their natural habitats.
“Smith-Hagadone’s advocacy for environmental stewardship is matched by her willingness to take action
whether it’s digging in the dirt or coordinating volunteers,” the chamber stated.
She is also a committed volunteer with the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness, where she has contributed to trail maintenance and wilderness protection projects. In addition, she has supported both the Idaho Trails Association and Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeepers, lending her time to do trail work and water quality monitoring, helping to ensure the long-term health of the region’s treasured landscapes and waterways.
[Disclosure: Smith-Hagadone is the mother of Reader Editor-in-Chief Zach Hagadone.]
Matchwood Brewing Company named May 2025 Business of the Month
By Reader Staff
The Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce recognized Matchwood Brewing Company as the Business of the Month for May 2025, in honor of its exceptional leadership, community impact and dedication to the greater Sandpoint area.
“Matchwood has become much more than a brewery — it’s a vibrant gathering space rooted in service, compassion and connection,” the chamber stated.
Most recently, Matchwood hosted Leadership Sandpoint’s Tres de Mayo fundraiser, supporting the Sandpoint Teen Center, an organization that provides resources and safe spaces for local youth.
Matchwood also served as the host venue for Live Give 7B’s culminating celebration this spring, continuing its active support for local philanthropy and nonprofit collaboration.
Beyond hosting events, Matchwood offers its Community Room to local organizations, providing a much-need-
ed space for connection and planning. Regular users of this space include: Pend Oreille Pedalers, Pro-Voice Project and the Panhandle Alliance for Education.
Matchwood also brews the Community Can — a specialty beer with 100% of proceeds from sales donated to a local cause.
“This creative initiative blends craft and care, helping raise awareness and funding for community needs, one pint at a time,” the chamber added.
(From left to right) Perky Smith-Hagadone, Chamber Executive Director Mickey Quinn. Courtesy photo.
(From left to right) Kennden Culp and Andrea Marcoccio of Matchwood Brewing Company, and Chamber Executive Director Mickey Quinn. Courtesy photo.
Animal shelter honored with Community Cup Award from Humane World for Animals
By Reader Staff
Ponderay-based Better Together
Animal Alliance earned the Community Cup from the Humane World for Animals — formerly Humane Society of the United States — at the Animal Care Expo in Las Vegas in April. The award recognizes BTAA’s “exemplary dedication to community service and innovative approaches to animal welfare,” according to the organization.
Amanda Arrington, senior director of Pets for Life at Humane World for Animals, highlighted BTAA’s commitment to community care and respect for all individuals.
“This award recognizes a partner that deeply cares about their community and embraces the charge to treat everyone with dignity and respect,” Arrington stated in a media release.
“BTAA has been a partner for over seven years, incorporating a philosophy of support throughout their organization.
“As a small shelter in a rural area,
they face never-ending challenges, but their commitment to community relationships and trust has never wavered,” Arrington added. “In the past year alone, BTAA opened a public spay and neuter clinic, demonstrating its dedication to making veterinary care accessible to all. They have consistently stretched every dollar and implemented innovative solutions to address the unique challenges of their region.”
BTAA Executive Director Mandy Evans stated, “We are thrilled to receive the Community Cup from Humane World for Animals. This award is a testament to the hard work and unwavering dedication of our staff, volunteers and supporters, who make our mission possible every day. At BTAA, we believe in putting community relationships first, and we are honored to be recognized for our efforts.”
For more information about Better Together Animal Alliance and their programs, visit bettertogetheranimalalliance.org.
Send event listings to calendar@sandpointreader.com
Live Music w/ Cafe Gas Boys
5pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Live Music w/ Little Eagle
5:30-8pm @ Matchwood Brewing
Live Music w/ Pamela Benton 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Live Music w/ Mystic Mountain Music
5pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Live Music w/ Jackson Roltgen Duo
6-8pm @ Smokesmith BBQ
Live Music w/ Fern Spores & Eel Sallad 9pm-midnight @ 219 Lounge Femme-folk-rock band from Olympia, Wash. Vintage psych folk, garage rock, clever covers and soulful Americana (see page 21)
Live Music w/ Mike Wagoner
6pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Live Music w/ Mobius Riff
5:30-8:30pm @ Barrel 33
Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee
Priest Lake Spring Fun Run 7:30am @Coolin Community Park Part of the Priest Lake Spring Festival
Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi
7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Pool tournament ($10 entry)
6pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Sandpoint Farmers’ Market
3-5:30pm @ Farmin Park
Live music by Chris Paradis w/ Psycho Jungle Cat
Paint & Sip ($45 includes materials)
5:30-8pm @ Barrel 33
Live Music w/ Frytz Mor
8-11pm @ Roxy’s Lounge
THURSDAY, may 22 FriDAY, may 23
Always Patsy Cline concert/fundraiser
6:30pm @ The Hive ($35/50 entry)
More than just a tribute show, a fundraiser for LPO Repertory Theater
Live Music w/ John Daffron 5:30-8:30pm @ Barrel 33
Live Music w/ Floating Witches Head 8-10pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
SATURDAY, may 24
Always Patsy Cline concert/fundraiser
6:30pm @ The Hive
More than just a tribute show, a fundraiser for LPO Repertory Theater
Live Music w/ Kosh
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreilly Winery Pop, rock, and indie songs
Live Music w/ Chris Paradis 6-8pm @ Baxter’s
Music w/DJ Sterling 9pm-midnight @ Roxy’s Lounge
SunDAY, may 25
Magic with Star Alexander 5-8pm @ Jalapeño’s
Live Music w/ Kerry Leigh 3-5pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Outdoor Experience Group Run 6pm @ Outdoor Experience 3-5 miles, all levels welcome
monDAY, may 26 tuesDAY, may 27
Live piano w/ Jennifer Stoehner
5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreilly Winery
wednesDAY, may 28
Live piano w/ David Speight 5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreilly Winery
Benny on the Deck
5:30pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Opening night with BTP!
ThursDAY, may 29
May 22 - 29, 2025
Open Mic w/ Kjetil Lund 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Terrapin Flyer: Spring Tour 2025 7pm @ The Hive
Playing the music of the Grateful Dead. $25-$30
Brim, Band & Sip
5:30-6:30pm @ Barrel 33
$95-150 (includes materials)
Slumber Party Recital (dance recital) 7-8:30pm @ Panida Theater A night of dance performances by Laiche Dance Center
Live Music w/ Miah Kohal Band 9pm-midnight @ Roxy’s Lounge
Live Music w/ Chris Paradis 6-8pm @ Baxter’s
Sandpoint Farmers’ Market
9am-1pm @ Farmin Park
Fresh produce, artisan goods, live music by Courtney & Co.
Live Music w/ Jay Snow & The Tone Keepers
6-8pm @Smokesmith BBQ
Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz
6pm @ Arlo’s Ristorante
Live Music w/ Justin Lantrip 6-8pm @Idaho Pour Authority
Live Music w/ Ian Newbill
6-9pm @ 1908 Saloon Country and classic rock
Trivia Night 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Live Music w/ John Firshi 5-7pm @ Matchwood Brewing
Macrame Plant Shelf Class 5:30-7:30pm @ Barrel 33
$90-150 (includes materials)
Open Mic w/ Kjetil Lund
5-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Mickey 17 is another stellar satire from Bong Joon-ho, despite what some critics say
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Apparent simplicity belies deep meaning in the best stories, and the 2025 film Mickey 17, from writer-director Bong Joon-ho, is a puckish masterclass in the art of dramedy-sci fi-satire. Its premise is as seemingly basic as it is irresistible: What kind of life would a person live if they could die and be immediately 3-D printed back into existence, complete with all the memories of all those times they lived and died?
When the essential scarcity of mortality is removed from the existential equation, would a person become an immortal god? Or would the visceral experience of interminable deaths haunt them? Would they value life and achieve some sort of satori, or would it become a cycle of traumatic burdens devoid of meaning?
Death and resurrection is, quite likely, the oldest of narrative tropes, but in the hands of South Korean auteur Bong’s hands, it’s a launchpad for exploring the contours of religio-political authoritarianism, pro- and anti-colonial aspiration, and the challenge of being human.
Based on the 2022 novel Mickey 7, by Edward Ashton, who published the sequel Antimatter Blues in 2023, the story follows Mickey Barnes — a loser who’s in over his head with a loan shark after being gulled into the wisdom of starting an ill-fated business with a frenemy.
With the terms of the loan involving payment or grisly death — and unable to foot the bill — Barnes and his erstwhile partner opt to join a colonial expedition to the icy world of Niflheim.
This all happens about 30 years from the present day, but it’s a near future in which technology has experienced advances as extreme as socio-political and environmental conditions have deteriorated.
While interstellar travel and human 3-D printing are possible, the outside world is apparently ravaged by environmental chaos and politics are dominated by a bloviator who has traded electoral failure for shyster messianism.
(The colony leader Kenneth Marshall, who Mark Ruffalo portrays by combining all the worst qualities of the Kennedys with Donald Trump, who has nothing but bad qualities.)
Driven to escape and lacking any connections to Earth-bound life, Barnes signs the immigration papers without caring to read them. He volunteers as an “expendable,” not knowing that it means he’ll be the sole member of the party to be reprinted when he dies.
In a lot of stories, that might be a boon. In Mickey 17, it means his glut of lifetimes make his life forfeit and to be used for whatever purposes the powers that be deem expedient.
Mickey is the one who gets sent on the most dangerous missions. Need to see how deep space radiation affects the human body? Send Mickey. Is there a terrible virus on Niflheim? Let Mickey contract it. Need a test subject for a vaccine? Mickey’s your man.
By the time we meet Mickey, he’s died 16 times in about four years, and this iteration is a shambolic, though good-hearted wreck.
Played with weary, hangdog lovability by Robert Pattison, Mickey No. 17 has shuffled with a shrug through his numerous iterations — some lasting longer than others, but still managing to sustain a relationship with security officer Nasha Barridge (Naomi Ackie). Nasha is light-years out of Mickey’s league and he knows it, but for whatever reason she is as devoted to transcending the “’til death do us part” vow of love as she is to getting it on
Courtesy photo.
with him. Even Mickey wonders aloud why that is, and it’s never explained, which makes it all the better.
The film opens with Mickey stuck in an icy crevasse and wondering via narrative monologue why he hasn’t died on this particular mission (as he has with all the others). The situation becomes even more dire when a group of indigenous creatures appear, apparently poised to devour him.
It’s called Mickey 17, so it’s no spoiler to say that he didn’t get eaten, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a Mickey No. 18 — and there is, printed in the lab after the colony scientists assumed the previous version had perished.
When No. 17 comes home and finds No. 18 inhabiting his bunk with Nasha, the premise gets more and more fraught. Is it a love triangle when two parties are genetically (though not temperamentally) the same? This is another of those irresistible questions.
Meanwhile, Mickey No. 17 has critical insights into the nature of the “creepers” that throw the beleaguered colony into a tizzy, and all hell breaks loose with mounting gallows-humor absurdity.
Special mention must go to Toni Collette as Yifa, the wife of Ruffalo’s character and the “first lady” of Niflheim, stage managing her husband’s every move and whose unhinged entitlement makes her the most sinister player in the plot.
Another special mention — and perhaps the most special mention — has to be given to Jung Jaeil’s score,
which is by turns waltz-y, carnivalesque and affecting, with hints of everything from Danny Elfman and Mark Mothersbaugh to the likes of Mozart, whose “Requiem” seems likely to have influenced the Mickey 17 leitmotif (along with a hint of Schubert’s “Erlkönig,” the soundtrack stylings of Miyazaki’s filmography and, just for the hell of it, Liszt’s “Liebestraum No. 3” and Chopin’s “Prelude Op. 28 No. 15,” the “Raindrop Prelude”).
Critics and audiences alike were lukewarm on Mickey 17 — with many complaining that it lacked subtlety in its various satirical themes — but Bong’s other celebrated films, such as Best Picture winner Parasite, Okja, Snowpiercer and The Host were equally wry and blatant in their messages. Mickey 17 deserves to be listed among his honor roll, and should be on your list of what to stream next. Find it for rent on Amazon Prime.
Shifting space
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
After four years of operating a studio gallery space at 104 S. Second Ave., local artist Woods Wheatcroft is closing the doors — but not before hosting one more event that he referred to as the “Closing Opening” on Thursday, May 29.
“I’ve always kind of moved around as an artist; I’ve always kind of shifted my working spaces,” Wheatcroft told the Reader . “I feel like I wanted to experience the vulnerability of having a store front again, and mission accomplished.”
Perhaps best known for his photography, Wheatcroft has shot for bigname companies like Patagonia, Kavu and Kleen Kanteen, but also contributed regularly to print publications from Outside Magazine to Sandpoint Magazine and the Reader. His collage oeuvre — for which he’s also well
known — included the 2022 Festival at Sandpoint concert poster, and it’s an art form he’s taught others, including at the studio gallery.
“Doing collage nights was a real highlight — extending into that teaching space and opening this space up for people to come and practice making art,” Wheatcroft said, later describing the events and classes at the Second Avenue location as “a bit of a philanthropic vibe,” where he invited friends and visitors alike to “experience art in a really raw form.”
Wheatcroft said he’s been reflecting on those years, and realized the irony that having such a visible, dedicated “fishbowl” workspace actually ended up being a distraction.
“I guess I didn’t realize how much work it takes, how many variables there are,” he said. “It’s one thing to visit the space, it’s another thing to have the audience engage with the artwork and engage with what I’ve created enough to take it to the next level.
“It’s almost like a musician who chooses to sell guitars and forgets to write songs,” he added. “I did kind of detach a little bit from going out and actually shooting, which is my primary skill set.”
The May 29 event, which will take place from 5 p.m. to 9 or 10 p.m., will serve as “just sort of a last hurrah happy hour here at the studio: music, libations, that sort of thing. Grab a piece of art if it moves you.”
DJ Nutzo will perform and attendees will toast to Wheatcroft’s efforts to bring “art in a really raw form” to downtown.
“I kind of want to ground back into what it feels like to just create again and create grounded into my home environment,” he said, nodding to what the future might hold with him working out of a home studio and hosting occasional gatherings “without that distraction of paying the monthly rent and throwing events every month.”
“Sandpoint is still an events-based economy, I think,” he said, later describing the challenges of operating a venue for expression in a small-town market. “What’s sort of tiring over time is that hustle and that energy.”
“We call ourselves an art town here, but I don’t know if I’m buying that right now,” he said.
Though Wheatcroft is shuttering the studio gallery, he’s set to begin showing his art at Bluebird Bakery beginning around June 1, and has established a long relationship with Idaho Pour Authority, where his pieces are currently on display.
The May 29 gathering will feature collage collections, metal prints, loose prints, cards and other pieces for sale, and fans of his work can look forward to a home show sometime at the end of the summer or beginning of fall.
“I have thrived when I’ve shifted up again,” Wheatcroft said.
Go to woodswheatcroft.com for more info, and follow instagram.com/woodswheatcroft_studiogallery for updates.
Collage by Woods Wheatcroft.
Local artist Woods Wheatcroft is closing his Second Ave. studio gallery with a ‘last hurrah’
MUSIC
Sounds like ‘pickles’
Boise-based swamp psych band Floating Witch’s Head to play IPA
By Reader Staff
There’s a new band rolling into Sandpoint on Friday, May 23, all the way from Idaho’s capital. Boise-based Floating Witch’s Head will play a free concert at Idaho Pour Authority from 8-10 p.m., showcasing their new sound, which they describe as a mixture of “beards, hot peppers, pickles, parties [and] nice people.”
The supergroup is made up of guitarist and vocalist Travis Ward of the band Hillfolk Noir, drummer Michael Mitchell of Jeff Crosby’s group and keyboard player Eric Gilbert of Finn Riggins — who also happens to be the co-founder of Treefort Music Fest. The powerful trio creates a dense sound that blends psychedelia with acid rock and a swampy garage sound that feels like summer in your 20s.
The group’s eccentric personality shines through in
debut album, You Look Like a Rainbow, which includes titles like “Bodysnatchers,” “Ghost on You” and “Little Tiny Wings,” and shows off their heavy instrumentation and simple lyrics.
Floating Witch’s Head will play IPA on May 23. Courtesy photo
Find the album on Spotify to sneak a preview of their head-bangin’ originals, or just
show up to IPA and wait for the tunes to kick in.
Femme-folk-rock band to play Sandpoint, Bonners shows
By Reader Staff
Hailing from Olympia, Wash., the girl-powered indiefolk-rock band Fern Spores is scheduled to play a pair of shows in Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry.
Fern Spores will take the stage 9 p.m. on Saturday, May 24 at the 219 Lounge (219 N. First Ave., in Sandpoint) and 7 p.m. on Sunday, May 25 at the Pearl Theater (7160 Ash St., in Bonners Ferry).
The trio of talented women play a mix of vintage psychedelic folk, with grunge, blues and pop elements. They also delve into garage rock, play clever covers and soulful Americana ballads.
Their songs are both anthems of empowerment and poignant reflections on life’s highs and lows, culminating in a truly original sound.
“Angsty but uplifting, whimsical yet fierce, and as rock as it is roll,” the band’s bio reads.
Fern Spores is fronted by Alyssa Nunke, who spent years living in Sandpoint growing into the artist she is now.
Joining the trio will be Portland, Ore.- based grunge-funk Americana trio Eel Sallad. The band characterizes itself as “Pacific Northwest Americana rock,” with influences that range from rock to reggae, and classical to grunge.
Jay Snow and the Tone Keepers, Smokesmith BBQ, May 24
Fans of legit roadhouse-style blues — and legit barbecue — would be well served on both fronts with catching Jay Snow and the Tone Keepers for a rocking Saturday, May 24 show at Smokesmith BBQ. Based in Libby, Mont., the five-piece consisting of Snow on vocals and lead guitar, Keirsi Leigh on vocals, Calen Williamson on bass, John Ague on drums and Marcus Anderson on harmonica, is a powerhouse with
at fernspores.com.
A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint
collective influences including Paul Butterfield, Sonny Boy Williamson and Charlie Musselwhite, as well as Philip Walker, Joey Fender, Rockin’ Jake and Tommie “T-Bone” Pruitt — the latter four with whom Snow has played.
— Zach Hagadone
6-8 p.m., FREE. Smokesmith BBQ, 102 South Boyer Ave., 208920-0517, smokesmithidaho.com. Listen at jaysnowandthetonekeepers.com.
Ryan LittleEagle, Matchwood Brewing, May 22
It’s not entirely accurate to call singer-songwriter Ryan LittleEagle a country performer, though his sound rings with the self-identified influences of Johnny Cash, George Strait and Jason Isbell. More than that, LittleEagle is an Indigenous Americana artist whose music spans a vast country (literally), from his upbringing in Texas to the Appalachian Mountains and the Black Hills of South Dakota, from which the echoes
This week’s RLW by Zach Hagadone
READ
New York Times Publisher A.G. Sulzberger penned a barn-burner of an essay May 13, titled “A Free People Need a Free Press.” Adapted from a lecture he recently delivered at the University of Notre Dame, the piece is a loud defense of press freedom, but also puts Trump’s anti-press rhetoric in a terrifying, larger context: “All over the world, power-hungry leaders were greedily interpreting the American president’s attacks on the press as a sign that going after journalists was now fair game.” Read it at nytimes.com.
of his ancestors inhabit his five studio albums. Winner of the Native American Music Awards and Canadian Indigenous Music Awards, LittleEagle is described as “an ambassador of this community, a custodian of tradition and a bridge between worlds.”
— Zach Hagadone
5:30-8 p.m., FREE. Matchwood Brewing Co., 513 Oak St., 208-7182739, matchwoodbrewing.com. Listen at ryanlittleeaglemusic.com.
LISTEN WATCH
I know there’s an entire review of the 2025 sci-fi dramedy/satire Mickey 17 under my byline in this very edition of the paper, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t take the opportunity to again express my emphatic recommendation that you listen to the film’s soundtrack. I can’t think of another time when I’ve been so taken by a film score, but composer Jung Jaeil’s impeccable work has been living on repeat, rent-free, in my head for weeks. It’s actually becoming kind of a problem. Find it on YouTube or other streaming services.
Though I’ve been a vocal fan of the HBO Max series The Last of Us, which is based on the video game of the same name, I must confess that I’ve been having a hard time with the second season. Players of the game tell me that I shouldn’t be surprised by my waning attention to the current storyline, but the most recent episode — “Feel Her Love,” May 18 — plucked at every one of my heartstrings and reminded me why this is one of the best things on the small screen. New episodes stream Sundays on HBO Max.
Listen to both bands on streaming sites such as Spotify, and learn more about Fern Spores
Fern Spores will play with Eel Sallad at the 219 on May 24 and the Pearl in Bonners on May 25. Courtesy photo
From Northern Idaho News, May 24, 1910
LAKEVIEW HUMMING
The Swastika hotel at Lakeview will be open July 4. J.W. Ferguson, manager of the Swastika mine is planning to run a big excursion from Spokane to connect with the steamer Northern at Sandpoint on that day. The floor of the spacious dining room 80x50 feet, will be one of the grandest ball rooms in the country as the floor will be of red fir laid in two-inch strips and waxed to a fair-you-well. This resort will be refined, but brilliant and will be a place to hide away during the summer months. Mountains, woods and water join pleasures of a gravelly beach at Lakeview, wild as Alaska, but as comfortable as your own home. The Lake Pend Oreille region of America — hotel, cottage or camp life; mountain climbing, golf, tennis, hunting, canoeing and fishing will be the main features at this resort. Lake Pend d’Oreille is the most beautiful and picturesque body of water in America.
J.B. Purcell of Portland, Ore. will be up here in two weeks with a large party of capitalists from San Francisco, when the platting of the new townsite at Lakeview will be completed and lots 50 by 200 will be put on the market. There are almost 50 of these lots contracted for by Spokane parties already. The Swastika company are putting in a 3,000-foot flume which will furnish ample water supply for the new hotel and townsite.
The Swastika mine is being developed extensively. Much of the work is in ore which is being blocked out or placed in ore bins or on the dump as removed from the mine, so that there is plenty of ore ready to keep the big concentrator going regularly, which will be built this fall.
BACK OF THE BOOK On cemetery picnics
By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Contributor
A friend recently called me out for something I posted on social media. With a concerned look on her face, she asked: “Can we talk about the Snapchat you sent me from the cemetery?”
I could tell she asked in jest, but also in curiosity, and I couldn’t blame her.
I shared a photo of my son, Liam, enjoying a picnic in the Hope Cemetery. The caption said “Cemetery hangs>>>,” which, in non-internet speak, translates to, “We enjoy hanging out in the cemetery; it’s great.”
On that particular day, we were at the cemetery with several others, all of us part of the nonprofit organization Friends of Hope Cemetery. We were celebrating the installation of a dolmen. The rock art, created by Mark Heisel and installed with the help of his grandson Mathis, is made of Selkirk granite and meant to serve as a bench beside the cemetery’s beloved cedar snag.
The dolmen affords a perfect view of the lake and into the lower portion of the cemetery, which has seen incredible improvements over the past few years thanks to the Friends.
The addition of columbariums and improved walking access, as well as annual cleanup efforts, has breathed new life into a cemetery with little to no traditional plots left for sale.
My interest in the Hope Cemetery has been lifelong, albeit considerably more hands-on in the past year.
FOHC Chairman Brent Lockwood approached me about creating a newsletter for the organization. We have since worked together on three newsletters, the most recent detailing the addition of the dolmen; volunteer efforts to
modernize the cemetery’s records; a historical profile of Reverend Robert C. Moter, a cemetery resident since 1939; and much more.
The day Mark and Mathis installed the dolmen was pleasantly warm and sunny for April in North Idaho. Brent handed out sandwiches and cookies. I unpacked our sliced veggies and crackers onto a stone bench dedicated in the Kiebert name as Liam did his usual meandering, squatting before headstones and pointing out the letters he can recognize. On previous visits, I’d encouraged him to stick to the walking paths (a futile effort with a 1-year-old), but Brent had gently intervened.
“It’s OK,” he assured me, reiterating without so many words a stance I already knew he held: Graves are meant to be visited, explored. Children are a welcome sight at a cemetery — for the living, and almost certainly for the dead. In Europe, cemeteries are often connected to community green spaces and playgrounds. Just because someone dies doesn’t mean they should be held entirely apart from life.
So I let Liam’s unbridled light permeate the burial grounds, so long as he refrains from picking flowers off of graves.
Brent has a vision for the Hope Cemetery as a community gathering place. It’s a vision I’ve come to share. Any notion of a cemetery being “creepy” is almost laughable at Hope Cemetery thanks to the views — downhill to the lake, uphill to the mountains — and the clear care of the space. I can’t think of a better place for a toddler to picnic. There’s so much to look at, wide open space to run, stumps and benches to climb on. With a cheese stick in one hand and a Hot Wheels in the other, Liam is a frequent visitor to those who call Hope Cemetery their eternal home.
As far as he’s concerned, it’s as good as any playground.
Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey is editor emeritus of the Sandpoint Reader. To learn more about Friends of Hope Cemetery, go to friendsofhopecemeteryidaho.org.
Little Liam enjoying his “cemetery hangs.”
Photo by Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey.
Laughing Matter
Solution on page 22
By Bill Borders
Week of the gull /guhl/ [verb] 1. to deceive, trick or cheat
“He was gulled into believing the email came from his bank.”
Corrections: We stand uncorrected. So far.
I guess we were all guilty, in a way. We all shot him, we all skinned him and we all got a complimentary bumper sticker that read, “I helped skin Bob.”
CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1. Place 6. Blockage 10. Remain 14. Rent
15. Relative of a rabbit 16. Rub with a circular motion 17. Haven
18. Detail
19. Deserve 20. Out of breath
22. Greek goddess of discord 23. 3 in Roman numerals 24. Complete
Pour
House 32. Angered
Solitude 37. River deposit
Grin 39. Reflected sound
Heavenly
Archer’s bolt
Geeks 44. Comes after
Thug
Dowel
Laugh
Increase speed
Module
Debatable
Monarch
Head of hair
Rewrite
Swelling
Solution on page 22
Trudge
Depend upon
Ocean trenches
DOWN
Untidy one
Rip
Lack of difficulty
Largest continent
Preordain
Peppery
beef
Not early
Minerals
A crystalline rock
Solution on page 22 10. They taste like sugar 11. Coronet
Spring month
Cravings
Strike 25. Flowery verse
Platter 27. A Great Lake 28. Telephone
Faded 30. Assumed name
Cotton plant capsule
In the center of
Beige 35. Footwear
Propagates 38. Narrow flag
Band performance 42. Furious 44. Snake-like fish 45. Humdrum
Rhinoceros
Trifling
Bulge
Cypher
Helix
Uncouth 53. Away from the wind 54. Office fill-in 55. Ages
