Back in the days when I managed a bar in downtown Sandpoint, on slow nights we’d sit around the bar inventing cocktails. Like a kid in a candy store (or more appropriately, a boozehound behind a fully-stocked bar), I experimented freely, trying to cement that perfect cocktail into existence.
Well, that never happened, but I did create some interesting concoctions that survive today, if only in the inner linings of my liver.
The most popular drink I’ve created is the Red Ben, named by bartender Shannon, who used to tend bar at the Beach House (some may know the space as Trinity at City Beach) and later at Connie’s Lounge. He even put it on the menu at both places. The Red Ben is a simple drink named after a simple person: It’s a gin and tonic with about an inch of room left at the top of the glass. Add a splash of grapefruit juice and a couple of dabs of Campari, stick a lime on the rim and Bob’s your uncle er, Ben, I mean.
The drink I’m least proud of was called Benergy. This foul potion can send you stumbling out of the room crosseyed if you don’t watch out. A standard issue Benergy was made by filling a tall glass with ice, pouring a Red Bull near to the top, then filling a shot glass with 151 Wild Turkey whiskey and floating Bacardi 151 rum on top. Then you light it on fire, dunk it in the Red Bull and tip it back. Do not try anywhere. [Editor’s note: I almost killed the entire clientele of a comedy club in Garden City, Idaho, with this “tipple.”]
The hidden order of words
We’re all a lot smarter than we give ourselves credit for. Consider the following sentence: “Sally ate a vanilla large ice cream.” Something seems off about it, doesn’t it? It should read, “Sally ate a large vanilla ice cream,” right?
What’s going on here is that adjectives have their own hierarchy and most of us use them flawlessly without even knowing.
Adjectives usually follow this order (with some exceptions, of course):
• Opinion (e.g. “smart,” or “pretty”)
• Size (e.g. “big,” or “short”)
• Physical quality (e.g. “ragged,” or “muscular”)
• Age or shape (e.g. “young,” or “round”)
• Color (e.g. “crimson,” or “graying”)
• Origin or religion (e.g. “Swedish,” or “animist”)
• Material (e.g. “iron,” or “pearl”)
• Type (e.g. “electric,” or “three-sided”)
• Purpose (e.g. “polishing,” or “sports”)
That’s why we love our fuzzy magenta bath mat, instead of our magenta bath fuzzy mat. Try mixing up your adjective order when talking with friends to see if they notice the difference.
Quotable
“Egotist, noun. A person of low taste, more interested in himself than in me.”
— Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary
DEAR READERS,
In case you couldn’t tell from the cover, we’re celebrating “Spooky Season” all October long. I begged and I pleaded (I asked one time), and Reader Publisher Ben Olson finally agreed to a new Halloween cover every week. It’s what the people want. Editor Zach Hagadone and I are getting in the spirit with a new column, “Tunes of Terror,” a Halloween playlist of songs that aren’t generally associated with the holiday. Check it out on Page 20. If you don’t celebrate Halloween, well, there’s still plenty of political intrigue, history, art and science within these pages for you to enjoy. Grab some apple cider, throw on a cozy sweater and snuggle up. Happy reading.
– Soncirey Mitchell, senior writer
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About the Cover:
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Federal government shutdown begins, with no easy exit in sight
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., refuses talks with Democrats during shutdown
By Jennifer Shutt and Ariana Figueroa States Newsroom
The federal government started shutting down early Oct. 1 after Congress failed to approve a funding bill before the beginning of the new fiscal year — resulting in widespread ramifications for hundreds of programs and giving the Trump administration an avenue to fire federal workers en masse.
The U.S. Senate was unable to advance two short-term government funding bills Sept. 30, when Democrats and Republicans deadlocked for the second time this month with just hours to go before the midnight shutdown deadline.
Senators voted 55-45 on Republicans’ bill that would fund the government for seven weeks and 47-53 on a Democratic stopgap proposal that would keep the lights on for a month and included several health care provisions that they said were needed for their support. Neither had the 60 votes needed to advance.
Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman and Maine independent Sen. Angus King voted with GOP senators on their stopgap bill. Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul voted against it.
White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought said in a memo to departments and agencies after the Senate vote Sept. 30 that “affected agencies should now execute their plans for an orderly shutdown.”
Vought said federal employees should report for their next regularly scheduled tour of duty to undertake shutdown activities.
The consequences of a shutdown will be sweeping in the nation’s capital and across the country, where states are bracing for the impact. About 750,000 federal workers could be furloughed,
leading to a $400 million impact a day, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported. All federal employees would go unpaid until the shutdown is over.
Additionally, the Trump administration plans to lay off thousands of federal employees, which would reshape the federal workforce. President
Donald Trump again vowed Sept. 30 to undertake layoffs and a major government employee union filed suit in federal court in advance of such a move.
More votes on GOP bill planned
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said hours before the votes there wouldn’t be any talks with Democrats during a shutdown.
“The negotiation happens when the government is open. So let’s keep the government open and then we will have the negotiations,” Thune said.
“We’re happy to sit down and talk about these issues that they’re interested in,” he said. “But it should not have anything to do with whether or not for a seven-week period we keep the government open, so that this government can continue to do its work and that we can do our work through the regular appropriations process to fund the government.”
After the votes failed, Thune expressed his frustration with Democrats during a press conference.
“This is so unnecessary and uncalled for,” he said.
Thune said he plans to bring up a vote on the continuing resolution again. He said as soon as Oct. 1 the federal government can be funded if five Democrats voted with Republicans.
“Democrats may have chosen to shut down the government, but we can reopen it tomorrow,” Thune said on Sept. 30.
Republican Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming said the “cracks in the Democrats are
already showing,” noting that three Democrats voted with Republicans on Sept. 30.
“There is bipartisan support for keeping the government open,” Barrasso said. “We’re happy to see that the Democrats are already starting to break from [Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer] and we’re going to continue to offer a clean [continuing resolution] on the floor of the Senate to open the government for the next seven weeks.”
Health care tax credits at center of standoff
The disagreement isn’t entirely about GOP lawmakers writing their short-term funding bill behind closed doors and then expecting Democrats to help advance it in the Senate, where bipartisanship is required for major legislation.
Democratic leaders have raised concerns for weeks about the end-of-year sunset of enhanced tax credits for people who buy their health insurance on the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, arguing a solution is needed now ahead of the open enrollment period starting on Nov. 1.
Democrats have also grown increasingly frustrated with the White House budget office’s unilateral actions on spending, arguing Vought is significantly eroding Congress’ constitutional power of the purse.
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the Republican chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, said Sept. 30 that the Government Accountability Office should sue the Trump administration over its efforts to freeze or unilaterally cancel spending approved by Congress.
Schumer said Democrats need an agreement with Republicans to extend the enhanced tax credits.
Schumer said people will begin getting notices in October telling them how much the cost of their ACA plans will increase during the next year, which he expects will
ratchet up pressure on Republican leaders to broker a bipartisan agreement.
“We’re going to be right there explaining to them it’s because the Republicans wouldn’t negotiate with us,” Schumer said, referring to consumers. “We’re ready to do it anytime. And there will be huge heat on [Republicans] on this issue.”
People who buy health insurance on the ACA marketplace and receive subsidies through enhanced ACA tax credits could expect to pay on average more than double for annual premiums in 2026 if the credits expire as scheduled at the end of this year, according to an analysis released Sept. 30 by the nonprofit health policy research organization KFF.
The analysis found premiums could increase from an average of $888 this year to $1,904 in 2026.
Claims about immigrants Schumer also rebuffed GOP leaders saying that Democrats want to include people without legal immigration status in federal health care programs.
“They say that undocumented people are going to get these credits. That is absolutely false. That is one of the big lies they tell, so they don’t have to discuss the issues,” Schumer said. “The federal government by law that we passed does not fund health insurance for undocumented immigrants in Medicaid, nor the ACA nor Medicare. Undocumented immigrants do not get federal health insurance premiums.”
Immigrants in the country without legal authorization are not eligible for Medicaid, and neither are most immigrants with legal status, such as those with student visas or enrollment in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA.
Only immigrants with a “qualified status,” such as
legal permanent residents, asylees and refugees, are able to get Medicaid benefits, and they usually have to wait five years before their coverage can even begin.
Democrats explain why they voted with GOP
Cortez Masto of Nevada wrote in a statement explaining her vote to advance the GOP stopgap bill that she could not support “a costly shutdown that would hurt Nevada families and hand even more power to this reckless administration.”
“We need a bipartisan solution to address this impending health care crisis, but we should not be swapping the pain of one group of Americans for another,” she added. “I remain focused on protecting health care for working families, and I call on my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to work together to tackle this problem.”
Pennsylvania’s Fetterman wrote in a statement of his own that his vote on the Republican bill “was for our country over my party.
“Together, we must find a better way forward.”
Collins said during a brief interview before the vote that she is worried about the broad authority the White House holds during a shutdown and how the Office of Management and Budget has indicated it will use that power.
“I’m much more concerned about OMB sending signals that there should be mass firings of federal employees who have the misfortune to be designated as non-essential, when in fact they’re performing very essential work, they’re just not being paid,” Collins said.
North Dakota Republican Sen. John Hoeven, chairman of the Agriculture spending subcommittee, said lawmakers will have to sort through how various departments implement their contingency plans as well < see SHUTDOWN, Page 5 >
Idaho legislators are eyeing state budget cuts and tax cuts in 2026
By Clark Corbin Idaho Capital Sun
Idaho legislative leaders said Sept. 26 that they expect a short 2026 legislative session centered on budget cuts and tax cuts.
During the Idaho Legislature’s Legislative Council meeting at the Idaho Capitol in Boise, lawmakers said they will convene the 2026 legislative session Jan. 12 and hope to adjourn for the year March 27, though there is no official deadline to end the session.
If they hit the nonbinding adjournment target, the legislative session would run 74 for days, which would be the shortest session since 2014.
House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, said he expects the session to be short because of budget cuts and the 2026 election, where all 105 seats in the Idaho Legislature will be up for election.
< SHUTDOWN, con’t from Page 4 >
as the possibility of mass layoffs during a shutdown.
“We’ll have to work through those things and figure out how we do keep things going as best we can during this Democrat shutdown,” Hoeven said.
West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said Republicans are “unified in the belief that this is an easy choice” to fund the government with a stopgap bill that doesn’t include any contentious or political provisions.
Capito — who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee that funds the departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Labor — said there are several programs that will be “missed” during a shutdown.
“And that’s concerning. So I think the option is to keep the government open so we can avoid this pain,” Capito said.
‘I’m not optimistic that we’re going to get a path forward’
Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said he is worried about the possible impacts of a shutdown on his home state
“Generally, when we have years like this where the budgets are tight we’ll get things done faster because we don’t fight amongst ourselves as much,” Moyle said. “There’s nothing to fight over. So hopefully we can move that date up. This is an election year, and I assume that everybody around this table is going to be a target of somebody.”
High-stakes party primary elections take place in May, and legislators generally look to wrap up legislative sessions early in election years so they can return to their districts and campaign.
Revenues are lagging behind projections in the state budget Through the first two months of the current Fiscal Year 2026, state revenues have come in $22.6 million, or 2.8%, below the state’s revised forecast.
The revenue shortfall is
and that keeping the government open is the only way to avoid that.
“I’m sure the administration will do everything they can,” Hawley said. “But the solution is to not shut the government down. I mean, why would you punish working people because you’re not getting what you want on any issue, whatever it is.”
South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds said he doesn’t expect a shutdown will end until after Democrats have sent a message to their voters.
“I’m not optimistic that we’re going to get a path forward until they’ve had a shutdown,” he said.
Rounds, who negotiated a handshake agreement with the White House budget director this summer to preserve some funding for rural tribal radio stations after Congress eliminated funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, said that deal could be affected by a shutdown.
“They’re putting the administration in a position where they can pick and choose what they’re going to do, and a shutdown is not
occurring after the Legislature cut state revenues by more than $450 million during the 2025 legislative session to pay for tax cuts and a new education tax credit that reimburses families for eligible expenses including tuition at private, religious schools.
In simple terms, revenue is the amount of money state officials have to spend in the state budget, and the Idaho Constitution prohibits expenses exceeding revenues. Taxes are the largest source of state revenue in Idaho.
To prevent a budget deficit, Gov. Brad Little announced that all state agencies — other than public schools — must cut 3% from their budgets in FY’26. Little then made the 3% budget cuts permanent moving forward.
Aside from the revenue shortfall and budget holdbacks, there are still other unresolved budget questions.
going to be beneficial to these Native American radio stations,” Rounds said.
Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan said she wants Democrats and Republicans to negotiate on health care provisions.
“I’ve been making the case constantly, that [it] is literally my obligation to try and fight for health care, and I’m willing to talk to anyone,” she said. “I’m willing to accept that I certainly will not get everything I want.”
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois said that while Democrats agreed to help advance what’s known as a continuing resolution in March, they can’t now because of “what President Trump is doing to this country, particularly when it comes to health care costs for families.”
The shutdown will significantly affect the operations of the federal government as lawmakers have not passed any of the dozen full-year appropriations bills that finance agency operations. Oct. 1 is the beginning of the new fiscal year for the federal government.
There are about $109 million in general fund supplemental funding requests for the state’s current fiscal year budget, said Keith Bybee, division manager for the Idaho Legislative Services Office’s budget and policy division.
The Idaho Legislature gets the final say on supplemental budget requests, which will be discussed during next year’s session.
Additionally, Idaho’s latest revenue and budget projections do not take into account the cost of conforming to the tax changes made in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that President Donald Trump signed into law this summer.
“This is going to be an interesting year, because we’re going to be in a year where we’re going to be reducing budgets, and probably will be reducing taxes too because of some of the federal implications with the Big, Beautiful Bill,” Moyle said.
Shutdown plan for national parks
Departments began releasing updated contingency plans this weekend, detailing how many of their employees would work during a government shutdown and how many would be furloughed.
The Interior Department, which includes the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service, posted its updated plans late Sept. 30.
The National Park Service plans to furlough 9,300 of its 14,500 workers.
The Trump administration will allow several activities necessary for the protection of life or property to continue, including fire suppression for active fires, permitting and monitoring First Amendment activities, border and coastal protection and surveillance, and law enforcement and emergency response.
The nonprofit Tax Foundation estimated it could cost Idaho $167 million to conform to tax changes from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Those tax changes include no tax on workers’ tips and no tax on workers’ overtime.
Because of the cost of revenue shortfalls, the supplemental funding requests and the cost of implementing the federal tax changes, House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, has said the state could be facing a potential budget deficit of $200 million or more.
“This is not a disaster on the horizon; this is a disaster right now,” Rubel told the Idaho Capital Sun earlier in September.
This story was produced by Boise-based nonprofit news outlet the Idaho Capital Sun, which is part of the States Newsroom nationwide reporting project. For more information, visit idahocapitalsun.com.
Union files suit
The contingency plan says that roads, lookouts, trails, and open-air memorials will generally remain accessible to visitors,” but it adds that if “access becomes a safety, health or resource protection issue the area must be closed.”
In anticipation of layoffs by the Trump administration, labor unions representing more than 1 million federal workers filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of California on Tuesday to block the Trump administration from carrying out mass firings. The suit argues that there is no statutory authority to fire federal employees during a government shutdown.
“These actions are contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious, and the cynical use of federal employees as a pawn in Congressional deliberations should be declared unlawful and enjoined by this Court,” according to the suit filed by the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Ashley Murray and Shauneen Miranda contributed to this report.
States Newsroom is the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, and parent organization of the Boise-based Idaho Capital Sun.
Bits ’n’ Pieces
City of Sandpoint to host Travers Park Sports Complex open house
Ribbon cutting planned
for new learning trail, Rotary Picnic Pavilion
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
Though the James E. Russell Sports Center has been welcoming users for months, the city of Sandpoint is hosting an open house for the overall Travers Park Sports Complex, with highlights including a ribbon cutting by the Chamber of Commerce for the Born Learning Trail and Rotary Picnic Pavilion.
Set for Saturday, Oct. 4, events at 2016 Pine St. kick off at 10 a.m. with free coffee and doughnuts, and food trucks serving breakfast and lunch for purchase. Representatives from community organizations and sports groups will also be on hand, with the
ribbon cutting at 11 a.m.
From noon-2 p.m., beginner youth and adult tennis and pickleball players are invited to participate in lessons, as well as visit with vendors, including the U.S. Tennis Association, and explore the park, playground and sports center. Cornhole will also be set up inside the JER Sports Center.
Among the additions to the complex include a new playground and splash pad, as well as new batting cages.
Sponsors for the event include the city of Sandpoint, Rotary, United Way North Idaho, the East Bonner County Library, Yoke’s Fresh Market, USTA, the Sandpoint Tennis Association and Panhandle Pickleball Club, and Selkirk Sport.
Albeni Falls Dam open house postponed due to government shutdown
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District and the Bonneville Power Administration are postponing the Albeni Falls Dam community open house originally scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 7, in Sandpoint, due to the Oct. 1 federal government shutdown.
All federal agencies were directed to suspend non-essential operations, including community outreach events such as the open house.
“While USACE leadership understands the importance of communicating and engaging with Idaho and Washington communities and stakeholders, we sincerely regret this change and apologize for any inconvenience it may have caused,” the Corps stated in a news release. “We
value community engagement and are committed to rescheduling.”
A new date for the open house will be announced after government operations resume. The public is encouraged to monitor the USACE Seattle District website at nws.usace.army. mil and facebook.com/USACENWS for the latest updates.
From east, west and beyond
The federal government’s spending authority ended late Sept. 30, with a government shutdown likely, various media reported. Democrats framed the shutdown as their resistance to congressional Republicans’ slashing of the Affordable Care Act and cuts to Medicaid, used to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. Democrats are asking for a permanent extension of ACA premium tax credits (which, if not extended, will increase premium payments more than 100% for the 24 million who buy their own health coverage) and they want an end to President Donald Trump’s impounding of funds already appropriated by Congress.
Trump said that if there’s a government shutdown he will fire more than 100,000 federal workers from programs that aren’t legally required to continue during a government shutdown. Typically, shutdown furloughs are not permanent, but Trump indicated his firings will be a reduction in force — particularly if positions are not consistent with his priorities.
Social Security benefits, veterans’ disability, Medicare and Medicaid benefits, and retirement benefits will not be affected by the shutdown. Food assistance and WIC would continue, but would be at risk in an extended shutdown. The Postal Service would continue, since it’s not funded by tax dollars.
According to Axios, some federal workers support a shutdown, even though they stand to lose pay. One National Institutes of Health employee summarized that it’s important to stand up to “the biggest crisis in government in our lifetime, and the only way out of that is for Congress to stand up and reassert its power.”
Others oppose a shutdown in light of uncertainty that they would be paid later if they work during a shutdown, and Trump’s threat of permanent mass firings if there is a shutdown.
Bloomberg reported that Trump wants to “bail out” Argentina with $20 billion, due to that country’s leader’s like-minded efforts to “Make Argentina Great Again.”
Trump’s new 20-point Gaza Peace Plan has drawn enthusiasts and critics. The plan calls for a temporary governing committee headed by Trump and former-British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Palestinian technocrats would oversee civilian affairs, and power would later go to a “reformed” Palestinian Authority.
The Associated Press reported this week that Trump proposed using American cities as training grounds for the armed forces.
By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Contributor
Tariff revenue was $29 billion in July, and over a year that could be $350 billion; but, The New Republic reported, “that pales in comparison to the nearly $3 trillion generated by income taxes” — which could be compromised by layoffs related to higher prices from tariffs.
The Trump administration’s Department of Justice wants corporations to identify state laws that “burden” industry, such as a pro-tech think tank that wants a ban on state-level regulation on data privacy, AI and children’s online safety, all to decrease “costs and confusion.” Also on the chopping block are state anti-monopoly laws, restrictions on corporate practice of medicine, and minimum and fair wage requirements, according to The Lever
An indictment was recently brought against former-FBI Director James Comey. Other career prosecutors had not found a solid case against Comey, Mother Jones reported. The indictment is “brief” and “unusually vague,” and alleges that Comey made false statements in a 2020 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Comey said he has “great confidence in the federal judicial system and I’m innocent.”
According to The Oregonian, Portlanders are “taking the streets as” the Trump White House mobilizes the National Guard “to protect what he dubbed ‘War ravaged Portland.’” Meanwhile, Oregon has filed a lawsuit to block troops from deploying in Portland or anywhere else in the state.
Federal law enforcement is “‘instigating’ confrontations,” outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in South Portland, according to a Portland Police Bureau assistant chief, The Oregonian reported. Meanwhile, the mayor wants an investigation.
Trump made a noticeable impact at the recent 80th anniversary of the United Nations, including a claim he’s been “right about everything.”
“I’m really good at this stuff. Your countries are going to hell,” he told delegates, according to numerous media sources.
Ishaan Tharoor, who serves as a global columnist for The Washington Post, wrote on X: “A senior foreign diplomat posted at the U.N. texts me, ‘This man is stark, raving mad. Do Americans not see how embarrassing this is?’”
Blast from the past: “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt.” — Mark Twain, American author (1835-1910).
USACE Col. Kate Sanborn visits Albeni Falls Dam near Oldtown to address the gate defects with stakeholders in May 2024. Photo by Ben Olson.
Top left: Ron and Chris Kilgore took the Reader to the Lost Valley of Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands.
Top right: “Here we are in Sisimiut, Greenland with the Reader,” wrote Steve and Judy York. “Photo taken by NatGeo photographer Michael George! The terrain at home is very much like where we are. P.S. There is also a 1988 Sandpoint HS grad on this trip.”
Bottom left: “Grown up hometown boys Biddadat shred the funk for the next generation of Sandpoint’s homegrown kiddos,” wrote Alani Strang. Photo by Zachary Envik, taken at Farmin Park during the Sandpoint Summer Music Series.
Bottom right: “On Saturday, Aug. 30, early evening, we came across this crew at Windbag Marina,” wrote photographer Arleen Lothian. “We told them to watch for the flourescent snapper and jaguar sharks. They loved our remarks about their outfits, that one (the beefy fella) offered to give me one of their Speedos and red knit hats. I declined, like a good girl should. Perhaps some of you would have not.”
To submit a photo for a future edition, please send to ben@sandpointreader.com.
Bouquets:
• To the anonymous donor who left a generous contribution in our office on Sept. 30: Thank you. We at the Reader are so grateful for our engaged and supportive readers. We couldn’t do it without you.
Barbs:
• When I read that five Idaho legislators visited Israel on a state-sponsored trip last week, my first thought was, “What does that have to do with Idaho?” The delegation included 250 legislators from across the U.S., organized by the Israeli government to advocate for states to pass laws that protect Israel from boycotts.
Interesting that the trip happened during the same week when the United Nations designated Israel’s actions in Gaza as a “genocide.”
According to the U.N., more than 65,000 Palestinians, including 17,000 children, were killed by Israel since the October 2023 terror attacks.
The delegation included Reps. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls; House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise; Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa; John Shirts, R-Weiser; and Josh Tanner, R-Eagle.
This wasn’t just an educational tour, it was an attempt for the Israeli government to put its thumb on the scale of Idaho politics. No Idahoans’ interests were served by these legislators traveling to Israel. Idaho already has a so-called “anti-boycott against Israel” bill passed in 2021, which requires that contracts to do business with the state include a signed certification that they are not engaged in a boycott of Israeli goods. For a state that claims to be a leader in “freedom,” I’m not impressed.
Send ‘schoolyard bully’
Trump ‘to his corner’…
Dear editor,
Consider these words: honesty, integrity, respect, humility, morality, empathy, compassion, law-abiding — values I was taught as a child and I believe most others were, too. How is it possible that anyone who abides by these values could support those who denigrate them?
Why would we expect less from leaders of our country than we expect from ourselves and our children? Are some people blinded by what they want to hear instead of what common sense tells them?
I attended the debate on ranked choice voting. The opposition was incensed that the Alaskan voters, using RCV, elected a felon. Of course it brought instant laughter from at least half of the audience. Hypocrisy?
Our parents didn’t tell us it’s OK to lie, to make fun of the handicapped, to demean any person, to call those who gave their lives for their country “suckers and losers,” to disrespect the law.
The president is a schoolyard bully and, like any bully, he’s really a coward. Without his minions we’d find him in a corner sucking his thumb like the child he is. Let’s send him to his corner, and washing out his mouth with soap would help, too.
Sylvia Humes Sandpoint
‘A fitting tribute’…
Dear editor,
The sign said, “We stand with Charlie Kirk.” Next to it, a Confederate flag, stuck in the Kootenai River mud, proving that white supremacism is alive and well, glory hallelujah.
We stand with Charlie, who had the courage to call George Floyd a scumbag, Martin Luther King Jr. a bad person, and say the Civil Rights Act that outlawed whites-only accommodations was a big mistake and prowling blacks target white people for fun.
We stand with Charlie, who was serious — please don’t dilute his message — when he said Democrats want the country to collapse, and they hate white rural Americans, and they have a plan to replace us with third-world immigrants. We stand with Charlie, who
GOP plan: Skyrocketing health care costs and a government shutdown
By Lauren Necochea Reader Contributor
Idahoans expect government to work. We pay our taxes, serve in the military, fight wildfires and care for our families. In return, we expect our leaders to keep the lights on and do their jobs. Instead, President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are threatening to shut down the government to force through higher premiums for 22 million Americans.
This year, they pushed through the largest health care cuts in American history, stripping coverage from 37,000 Idahoans to serve billionaire donors at the expense of the people who sent them to Washington.
In towns like Salmon, McCall and Bonners Ferry, hospitals are already on the edge. Republican cuts to Medicaid threaten to close at least four rural Idaho hospitals, forcing families to drive hours for basic care. Imagine a child in Orofino with a severe asthma attack or a rancher in Jerome with a heart attack and no nearby emergency room.
Republicans are driving up health care costs even further. By refusing to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits in their budget bill, health care costs for more than 100,000 Idahoans are set to skyrocket by an average of 75% in January. For a middle-income family in Boise, that means hundreds of dollars more every month to stay insured.
warned us that this plan is backed by Jews, the people who control our universities and film industry, and who finance the philosophy of anti-whiteness.
The Bible says perfect love casts out fear, but our Charlie discovered that spreading fear and resentment is a perfect way to make a buck, $12 million actually,
Democratic leaders have a plan to stop this: prevent coverage costs from exploding, reverse the Medicaid cuts and keep rural hospitals open. It’s a reasonable proposal supported by voters across party lines.
Trump ordered, “Don’t even bother dealing with Democrats.” Every Idaho Republican in Congress fell in line, pushing us toward skyrocketing health care costs and a shutdown that would throw our economy into chaos.
A shutdown means thousands of Idahoans won’t get paid, from Forest Service firefighters to Mountain Home Air Force Base personnel to Bureau of Land Management staff. Veterans will face delayed services, small businesses won’t get critical loans and Women, Infants and Children benefits, like formula and food for babies and pregnant moms, will run dry.
Farmers and ranchers face another devastating hit. The GOP shutdown could delay more than $29 million in farm payments owed to Idaho producers, critical funding for crop
for buying expensive properties in Arizona and Florida, which is pretty amazing in a country where everything is stacked against white folks, so we stand with Charlie Kirk.
Sincerely, sort of, Timothy Braatz Bonners Ferry
insurance, disaster relief, and support for our dairy farmers. These dollars help keep farms afloat during droughts, market swings, and wildfires. Shutting off that lifeline right as the Republican tariffs are hitting farms would devastate rural communities.
Republicans control the House, the Senate and the White House. If the government shuts down, it’s on them. Mike Simpson, Russ Fulcher, Mike Crapo and Jim Risch will own every missed paycheck, every closed hospital, every baby that goes hungry and the continued downward spiral of our economy.
Idaho families deserve better than excuses and dysfunction.
Lauren Necochea is chair of the Idaho Democratic Party and a former District 19 legislator. Necochea spent a decade leading nonprofit programs dedicated to research and advocacy in tax policy, health care and children’s issues.
Lauren Necochea. File photo.
PERSPECTIVES
By Sandy Compton Reader Columnist
In the face of the media storm of the last few weeks, one of my editors asked me for something written before the internet took over our lives. Here ’tis, only slightly modified.
When I was 9 years old, we got a television and three grainy avenues of information gained a path of infiltration into our house.
The basic three — ABC, CBS and NBC – beamed out of Spokane and bounced around the Cabinets and Bitterroots before they got to our house. In spite of my father’s best efforts, the aerial was never well enough situated to give us a clear view. We could almost see Channel 2 and just about make out Channel 6, but the best reception was from KXLY Channel 4, then the CBS affiliate in Spokane.
We watched Captain Kangaroo in the morning, Wallaby Jack in the afternoon and gathered around for the Starlit Stairway on Saturday night. KXLY and KREM switched affiliations sometime in the past half a century. I can’t remember when, and it doesn’t matter much anyway. They all look alike.
I confess. I don’t own a television. One of my favorite songs is “57 Channels (And Nothin’ On),” and my second
favorite bumper sticker — after “Just because you’re not paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not after you” — is “Kill Your TV.”
Though I have sometimes figured a brick would be handy to keep on the coffee table, I don’t advocate the violent death of televisions. Televisions are easy to kill peacefully. Unplug ’em. Take them out to the garage. Have a yard sale. Give them to someone you don’t like.
Second, as satisfying as it might be to kill your TV with a baseball bat, flying glass is hard on humans and pets.
Third, it’s not the television’s fault, after all. The television is just a poor, innocent, misused tool. The stuff we get from television (I use the word “stuff” because this is a family newspaper) is our fault. We let it into our homes. We leave it on through dinner. We buy the stuff (there’s that word again) the sponsors want us to buy, so they figure their advertising works and they look at the programming the advertising runs with and they figure that works, too.
So, we keep getting the same stuff.
You know what? It is about 85% awful stuff.
If you are a thinking, caring, loving human being, I challenge you to sit down and watch an evening of primetime programming and tell me at the end what you learned. Early on, you will learn
From the past on television
that it is acceptable for children to be disrespectful, cynical, rude and obsessed with sex. Later in the evening, you will learn that it is acceptable for adults to be disrespectful, cynical, rude and obsessed with sex. You will learn that the world is fraught with vile monsters, human and otherwise, whose very purpose is to make life and death miserable for as many other beings as possible and then die in the most explicitly horrific manner that can be imagined. By watching the “tell-all” shows, you will learn that many of the people who bring us the “stuff” on television — as actors, producers, writers, directors and sponsors —are disrespectful, cynical, rude and obsessed with sex. (Is there an echo in here?) Oh, and money. I nearly forgot about the “obsessed with money” thing.
So, what’s my point, you ask.
My point is this: Why on Earth do we allow that kind of imagery into our lives every day? How can we expect our children to have any hope of a sane world when we constantly import insanity into our living rooms?
Television is probably the second-most powerful teaching tool in the world today. Computers are third* and gaining fast, especially in the realm of virtual insanity. I am a writer and not a censor by nature, but there are some computer games out there that I would burn rather than let them in my home.
(*Computers and cell phones have since surpassed television, which now has 570 channels, and there’s still nothing on.)
Our only hope for dominance over television and
computers lies in the most powerful teaching tool available, and that is our own example to the children in our lives. That is the fourth reason that I don’t advocate violence against television. What are we telling a kid by using a rock or a shotgun to turn off the set? Show them something really useful. Show them how to stand up, and unplug it.
As my mother used to say when cartoons were over on Saturday morning in the good old days of three fuzzy choices, “Hey, it’s nice outside.”
It’s still nice outside. Unplug and get out there.
Sandy Compton has been living without a television since 1978. His latest book is Alex’s Restaurant, available at Sandpoint Books on Second Avenue, the Sanders County Ledger, at bluecreekpress.com/books and amazon.com.
Science: Mad about
mineral wool
By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist
Humans are very resourceful creatures. We manage to pull fibers from animals to create textiles for clothing, such as wool from sheep. These textiles are great for clothing if you can stand feeling itchy all the time.
Animals aren’t the only source of natural fibers. Did you know we can get fibers from rock, too?
Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral fiber that has been used for a whole host of things, from brake pads to roofing and insulation. It’s also unfortunately extremely carcinogenic, as tiny microfibers break off the main structure and end up embedded in your lungs, which causes chronic swelling that eventually leads to a cancer known as mesothelioma.
Asbestos isn’t malicious or evil, it’s just a rock we shouldn’t be using to insulate our homes.
Instead, many manufacturers have been shifting to a different kind of mineral wool made from basalt — volcanic rock formed by lava spilling or erupting to the surface all around the world. It’s likely that you’ve encountered basalt at some point in your life, and it’s just as likely that you are now wondering how a rock can become fiber.
This actually occurs naturally at a number of places around the globe. In Hawaiian legend, it is said that these fibers are strands of hair from the goddess Pele. These strands form when tiny droplets of molten basalt are carried and stretched out by the wind, catching on obstructions
like metal antennae or natural structures like cliffs and caves. In vast numbers they begin to appear like matted bird nests but be wary when trying to handle this volcanic wool. The strands are brittle and sharper than newly crafted syringes.
Despite the dangers of handling mineral wool, it’s an incredibly important material for a vast number of applications. Insulation is one of the most important functions of mineral wool, but it has many properties that make it a fantastic building material. Basalt wool is naturally fire retardant, requiring temperatures of more than 1,500 degrees Celsius in order to melt. It won’t catch fire like straw or pine shavings. It’s also extremely hydrophobic, which means it isn’t likely to harbor mold in your walls. It also has great properties for soundproofing structures. Lastly, it’s virtually infinitely recyclable.
All of these great features, why don’t we use rockwool everywhere?
It’s worth noting, that even though it’s considered ecologically friendly due to its high recyclability and nonexistent toxicity compared to asbestos, creating rock wool artificially requires a very large energy input at virtually every stage of the process. It’s far from carbon neutral, but that isn’t necessarily a cause to totally dismiss it, either.
The first step is securing basalt. Large basalt deposits are almost always buried by a large amount of soil that has to be excavated first. This soil can be harvested and resold as topsoil for gardeners, or it can be placed back down where the basalt once stood in order to re-seed a natural space.
Once the basalt has been exposed, engineers will drill a
grid of holes into the structure with high powered drills. These drilling rigs can chew through up to five feet of rock per minute. As an avid North Idaho gardener, I can tell you that is a lot faster than what I could ever do with a shovel.
Dynamite is lowered into the grid and the basalt formation is blasted into loose chunks of rocks in seconds. You may think this is where the bulk of the ecological heartache comes from, but you’d be wrong. This part can be pretty easily reversed by backfilling the area after it has been harvested and allowing it to return to nature. Instead, the bulk of energy requirements go into the transportation and processing of the basalt.
The process to create basalt fibers is effectively the same process that goes into creating basalt to begin with. Humans create what is effectively an artificial volcano in the form of a foundry, feeding small chunks of basalt into a huge furnace that pumps molten streams of rock through steel pipes lined with refractory bricks that are extremely heat resistant. These machines maintain the same level of heat for 24 hours a day, seven days a week for one simple reason: It would require a tremendous amount of energy to heat the system from a cooled state, and less energy is lost by simply running it continuously.
This molten rock is dropped onto high-speed wheels. Upon striking the wheels, droplets are flung away from the wheel and caught by a blast of pressurized hot air that stretches and elongates the droplets into strands thinner than a human hair. This blast of air works to rapidly cool the fibers and
also transports them onto a huge conveyor that lays the fibers into mats, like the world’s ugliest shag carpet.
This ugly carpet is very thin — just a few centimeters thick — so the machines will place down multiple layers to achieve a desired thickness. Once layered, the sheet is fed through two conveyors with mechanical arms that press all sides of the wool inward to create a densely packed structure. Depending on the
product being sold, it can range in thickness from eight to 12 inches.
After compression, the wool is cut by huge highspeed circular saws. Some run parallel to the sheet to cut it into long ribbons, while two saws swing around on perpendicular arms to cut the ribbons into rectangular panels. Once they’ve been cut, they’re sent off to be packaged and distributed to builders. Stay curious, 7B.
Random Corner
• New Zealand is made up of more than 600 islands. The largest two, Te Ika-a-Māui, or “North Island,” and Te Waipounamu, or “South Island,” make up the majority of the country. In the Indigenous Te Reo Māori language, Te Ika-aMāui means “The Fish of Māui,” and Te Waipounamu means “the waters of greenstone.”
• In Te Reo Māori, the country is called Aotearoa. It’s also referred to as Nu Tireni, which is the Māori translation of “New Zealand,” in older documents after European colonization.
• Polynesians likely settled on the islands in the 13th and 14th centuries, making New Zealand the last large habitable land settled by humans. According to oral traditions, the settlers came by waka — long, ocean-faring canoes — led by the semi-legendary explorer Kupe. They eventually became the Māori people, developing a distinct culture and language.
• Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to set eyes on New Zealand, although he thought it was part of South America. British Captain James Cook was the first
European to map the Islands in 1769, and Britain declared it the Crown Colony of New Zealand in 1841.
• New Zealand became the first nation to grant all women the right to vote in 1893. Its government also pioneered many protections for workers, including the adoption of the first guaranteed minimum wage in 1894. Rather than establishing a flat rate for everyone, this law opened up arbitration, allowing boards to set minimum wage and working condition standards for different fields.
• New Zealand has no native mammalian predators, which has protected some ancient species and led to the evolution of many different flightless birds. The most famous is the kiwi, but there’s also the weka, takahē and the kākāpō, which is the world’s only flightless parrot. The country is also home to the tuatara, a lizard-like reptile that’s the last living member of the order Rhynchocephalia. Rhynchocephalia was a prolific order during the Mesozoic era, largely dying out between the Cretaceous and Paleocene eras, approximately 145 million to 56 million years ago.
Fibrous tremolite asbestos.
Courtesy Photo
The Lost Rescue of ’77
When the rock gave way and so did the system
By Earl Lunceford Reader Contributor
In 2017, Fremont Shields and I were developing the first new route on the remote North Face of Gunsight Peak in 39 years. The wall has no established trail leading to it and the shadow of its 850-foot north wall harbors the last permanent snow field in North Idaho. In 1999, a climber attempting the wall burnt his fingers to the bone arresting his partner’s fall just in time to keep him from cratering into the ground. The aura, mystique and commitment factors on a route with this character were heightened as we flaked the rope into the talus that day. Sensing the consequences of an injury in that place, I asked Fremont, “What happens if we get hurt out here?”
“You don’t,” he responded.
On Sept. 11, 1977, four Spokane-based climbers were attempting new routes on the east face of Chimney Rock — a 500-foot-tall, free-standing granite spire along North Idaho’s Selkirk Crest. The climbers formed two rope teams, with David Sather and Paul Stevenson on one, and Tim Ray and Randy Jamison on the other. At 2 p.m., not far below the summit, Sather was following Stevenson’s lead, employing a pendulum, when perhaps a more controlled lower-out would have been safer. His rope swiped and dislodged what was in Ray’s words, “A Volkswagen-sized rock” that ensnarled Sather’s right leg. When I interviewed Sather in 2022, He described the rock hitting him:
“I saw a flash of light and felt myself get pushed backward and raised my head, yelling up to Paul for him to warn me if another rock might fall because I’d just gotten hit. When my feet went to brace back against the wall, I looked down to see that my right leg flopped, and my pants were soaked in blood.”
Jamison and Ray quickly rappelled down from nearby to help. The hamstring was lacerated down to
the femur, a fingernail-sized chunk of bone had been sheared from his kneecap, the calf was nearly severed and six inches of the tibia and fibula were sticking out. Describing the wound, Sather deadpanned, “The leg looked like it had been chewed on.”
Ray’s dad was a former PJ-turned-survival-instructor and flight leader in Cusick, Wash., after an injury caused him to lose his dive status. “PJ” is short for “pararescue jumpers.” They are Air Force special operators trained to rescue downed airmen and render emergency medicine in any environment.
Ray had rescue experience on Mt. Rainier and was a patroller at Mt. Spokane. He also taught some climbing classes and was later approached by the Spokane Fire Department to instruct their first high-angle rescue course. It was natural that patient care fell to Ray.
Still on the wall, he was able to splint Sather’s leg with a dead tree padded by jackets and secured with webbing. The team coordinated two lowers, which safely returned Sather to the ground. Stevenson was sent for help in Coolin, while Ray and Jamison held direct pressure on Sather. Ray knew of the Air Force’s resources at Fairchild Air Force Base through his father; and, before he left, he told Stevenson to request a helicopter. By this time, Chimney’s
east face was casting a growing shadow, the sun forsaking them in the talus at 6,500 feet.
As the second week of September set in, evening temperatures began to plummet. With hypothermia, acidosis and coagulopathy stalking the trio, Ray and Jamison built a fire and filled hot water bottles, stuffing them into Sather’s armpits and between his legs. They also applied a loose tourniquet and pressure dressing.
In just under an hour, Stevenson was able to sprint back to the trailhead, drive into Coolin and successfully contact the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office, which relayed a call for rescue to Fairchild. While anxiously awaiting a response from the Air Force, Deputy Ketner assembled a ground team as Plan B. He recruited foresters and wildland firefighters from the Sandpoint and Priest Lake offices of the Idaho Department of Lands, and had an ambulance driven up from Priest River. Everyone assembled at the trailhead and prepared for a grueling night hike.
The Air Force declined the mission, despite having an able helicopter and crew 40 miles away in Tacoma Creek. Their official position on civilian rescue at the time was that it was secondary to their PJ program, and was limited to Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m.-5
p.m. The Washington State Patrol also declined the mission, claiming it was outside of their jurisdiction. The Army Air National Guard was ready and capable of making the flight but was never notified. The Air Guard had recently performed multiple rescues for WSP, as reported by the Spokesman Review at the time.
Doctors later transfused four units of blood — a third of his body’s supply — just to stabilize him. It underscored what those on the mountain already knew: He wasn’t just hurt; he was dying. The lack of deliberate action from either the USAF or WSP caused any potential air rescue to be a night flight, which was untenable given the technology at the time.
It took hours to assemble and organize; but, finally, at dusk, 11 volunteers coming from both the Pack River and Horton Ridge trails were able to reach the climbers, who were emotionally anguished to see flashlights instead of a chopper. What had happened, they wondered? No time to worry about that. They loaded Sather into a green, canvas Army stretcher. Ray’s makeshift tourniquet was removed, and a proper one was applied in case the jostling of transport ruptured a clot.
Using pocketknives, they slit the edges of the stretcher and laced Sather in using tubular webbing. They decided to evacuate him over the saddle between Mt. Roothaan and its northeast cirque wall. Even experienced climbers must use their hands to negotiate the saddle there. A slip could have meant disaster and, in those days, they were not wearing La Sportiva approach shoes. Even with Sather’s shocky, altered level of consciousness and darkening vision, he remembers the labor and the sweat pouring off the foreheads of the under-equipped crew members — some of them wearing cowboy boots.
By the pale orbs of their Kel-Li< see RESCUE, Page 13 >
The east face of Chimney Rock. Photo by Triston Schwab.
Toast to Oktoberfest in Priest River with ‘Pints & Pines’ celebration
By Reader Staff
The community of Priest River is inviting all comers to its Oktoberfest celebration, billed as “Pints & Pines” on Saturday, Oct. 4 on Main Street.
Festivities kickoff at noon and continue until 5 p.m., including live music; games like cornhole, keg curling, arm wrestling and traditional German feats of strength and skill like stein holding and hammerschlagen; plus craft vendors featuring handmade goods and artisanal items; and, of course, food and beer.
Participating breweries and restaurants include Timber Town Beer Company, High Country Cider, Matchwood Brewing Company, MickDuff’s Brewing Company, The Falls Inn, 74 Main and Popeye’s Lounge
Attendees can also get their hands on an exclusive Priest River Oktoberfest stein plus a beer ticket for those 21 and
older, as well as a Timber Days T-shirt.
Get more info and preorder a stein at the Priest River Chamber of Commerce website, visitpriestriver.com/ oktoberfest.
ITD and ISP to host free winter driving classes
By Reader Staff
As snow season approaches, the Idaho Transportation Department and Idaho State Police are teaming up to offer free winter driving safety classes in North Idaho. The first session of the year is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 4, from 10 a.m. to noon at the ISP District Office at 615 W. Wilbur Ave., in Coeur d’Alene.
Taught by ISP troopers and ITD operators, the classes give drivers of all ages the knowledge and confidence to handle icy roads and unpredictable weather, covering vehicle preparation and proper equipment, crash response, road conditions, snowplow safety and more.
“North Idaho winters can be challenging, but preparation makes all the difference,” stated ITD plow operator Daryl Rise. “These classes are a great
way for drivers — especially teens and new residents — to build safe driving habits before winter conditions hit.”
While the classes are open to everyone of all ages and skill levels, they are especially valuable for drivers, ages 14–17 including those preparing to start driver’s education in the next year; young drivers with limited winter driving experience; and new residents facing their first Idaho winter.
Classes are currently scheduled on Saturdays in Coeur d’Alene through mid-December, with additional sessions being added statewide.
Check itd.idaho.gov for the most current dates, times and locations, as new classes may be added. Registration is required for each participant, available at the department’s website.
Participants who complete a class will receive a coupon for 10% off a new set of snow tires at any Les Schwab Tires store location in North Idaho.
Courtesy photo
BTAA joins BISSELL Pet Foundation’s Empty the Shelters event
By Reader Staff
Better Together Animal Alliance will once again join forces with the BISSELL Pet Foundation — along with more than 300 shelters across the U.S. and Canada — for the fall Empty the Shelters event, which runs Oct. 1 through Wednesday, Oct. 15. With the foundation’s funding, BTAA will be able to waive all adoption fees for three weeks, hopefully helping to connect pets with their forever homes.
“Our National Empty the Shelters events bring attention to the pets of every breed, size and type waiting in shelters across the country,” stated Cathy Bissell, founder of BISSELL Pet Foundation. “Each adoption gives a pet a second chance, eases the burden on shelters and inspires more people to get involved. When you adopt, you become part of a lifesaving movement.”
Over the past nine years, the Empty the Shelters event has helped connect more than 360,000 pets with their new families, becoming the largest funded adoption event in the country.
< RESCUE, con’t from Page 11 >
tes’ glow, the crew would finally deliver Sather to the waiting ambulance at the Horton Ridge trail head 13 hours after being injured. The ambulance reached Coolin at 4:20 a.m., and David’s wife, Carol was finally notified. An unknown, good Samaritan doctor in Metaline Falls, Wash., who was out early on his boat, overheard radio traffic related to the incident on his ham radio and rendezvoused with the ambulance as it was pulling out of Coolin. He administered antibiotics and pain meds before the ambulance departed for the Newport ER.
Sather arrived at Sacred Heart Medical Center at 6:30 a.m., where he underwent two emergency surgeries to save his leg. The operations went well, but Sather’s leg would never be the same. Through his own tenacity and willingness to train, he returned to skiing and climbing, albeit at a slightly slower pace. He was placed in a half-cast to allow for infection monitoring and spent his 30th birthday in the hospital.
“We love participating in this event with BISSELL Pet Foundation and we consistently experience an uptick in adoptions during the event,” according to BTAA Executive Director Mandy Evans. “Adoption fees can often be a barrier to adopting a new pet, making the Empty the Shelters event a win-win for our local dogs and cats and the families looking to provide them new homes.”
BTAA currently has more than 90 animals available for adoption. For more information, visit bettertogetheranimalalliance.org.
The incident became a public relations scandal for the Air Force and Washington State Patrol. The public’s eyes were opened to the shortcomings of the systems they believed would help them during an emergency. A lot of frustrated phone calls were made, and local and state officials were pressured for change.
In 1977, bureaucracy almost killed a 29-year-old, but his story accelerated the development of rescue protocol across the Inland Northwest. Today, The USAF, WSP and Two Bear Air all work together and have performed rescues and recoveries of climbers in North Idaho.
Two years after the accident, Sather and Stevenson made the first free ascent of the Twin Cracks route (5.10a) on Chimney’s west face. A climber ironically just broke their heel in a fall on this route and self-rescued by limping and crawling back to the trail head. Thankfully, today air rescue is available but is not a substitute for competence, preparedness and the willingness to hold yourself accountable.
BY THE NUMBERS
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
$20 Billion
The amount of money that President Donald Trump pledged to bail out Argentine President Javier Milei as part of an “economic rescue package.” Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claim the bailout is needed to stabilize the nation’s financial turmoil ahead of October midterm elections that are critical to Melei retaining power. Melei has been described as a right-wing populist and libertarian.
The move has angered not only Democrats and centrists, but also Trump’s hard-right base for going against his “America First” doctrine.
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, blasted the deal on X, writing, “Why would USA help bail out Argentina while they take American soybean producers’ biggest market??? We shld use leverage at every turn to help hurting economy Family farmers shld be top of mind in negotiations by representatives of USA [sic].”
At the same time as the U.S. announced its potential bailout, Argentina sold 20 shiploads of soybeans to China since the latter nation has turned to other major soybean exporters amid the trade war with the U.S. This fact was learned after reporters took a screenshot of Bessent’s phone as he read text messages from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who wrote to him, “We bailed out Argentina yesterday and in return, the Argentine’s [sic] removed their export tariffs on grains, reducing their price, and sold a bunch of soybeans to China, at a time when we would normally be selling to China. Soy prices dropped further because of it. This gives China more leverage on us.”
Still, Bessent has praised Milei “for his tireless efforts to Make Argentina Great Again” at an awards dinner honoring the Argentine leader during the U.N. General Assembly in New York last week.
Photo by Soncirey Mitchell
COMMUNITY
Pend Oreille Chorale and Orchestra to begin practices
By Reader Staff
The Pend Oreille Chorale and Orchestra will continue its 30-year tradition of offering free Christmas programs, scheduled for Dec. 13 and Dec. 15. While the venue is to be determined, practices for the orchestra will start Sunday, Oct. 5 in the Sandpoint Seventh-Day Adventist Church Fellowship Hall (2235 Pine St.).
Music and materials will be provided, and experienced instrumental performers are invited to join from 2-4 p.m. No experience is necessary to join the chorale, whose practices will start Monday, Oct. 6 from 6-8 p.m. Music and schedules will also be provided.
Call 208-603-1277 for information regarding the orchestra, and 208-9469306 to find out how to join the chorale.
Idaho Trails Association throws end of season party
By Reader Staff
The Idaho Trails Association will gather the community from 2-6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4 for the 2025 North Idaho End of Season Party at Garfield Bay (27 Midlake Drive, in Sagle).
The afternoon will include food, camaraderie and outdoor fun, with Idaho Trails Association providing a main dish and drinks, while attendees are encouraged to bring a favorite
side or dessert to share. Attendees are also encouraged to bring a lawn chair to relax by the water. Organizers are asking everyone who wishes to attend to RSVP at idahotrailsassociation.org.
The party is open to anyone who values riding, hiking or volunteering on the trails of North Idaho to connect with fellow trail enthusiasts, celebrate accomplishments and toast to another successful year of exploring Idaho’s beautiful trails.
Dover to celebrate Harvest Festival
By Reader Staff
The city of Dover will host its annual Harvest Festival from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4 at Festival Field, located at the intersection of Railroad and Fourth streets, in Dover.
The family friendly event includes live music, local vendors, seasonal
food and a host of fall-related activities geared toward kids of all ages.
Crafters, artists and community members will also be on hand to showcase their creations.
Admission is free and all are welcome to attend. Visit cityofdover. id.gov for more information.
Leadership Sandpoint accepting applications
By Reader Staff
Leadership Sandpoint is accepting applications from local nonprofits for its 2026 Spring Class Project, with a deadline of Nov. 1.
A program of the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Sandpoint participants select, plan and implement a community project each year in partnership with a local nonprofit. Projects may include physical improvements — such as building structures or beautification efforts — or fundraising initiatives.
All projects must be completed by May 16, 2026.
“Keeping our community vibrant and healthy requires strong, insightful leaders who can work effectively with a variety
of groups,” stated Leadership Sandpoint Chair Alisha Kowalski in a news release.
“This project provides participants with hands-on leadership experience while making a lasting impact in Sandpoint.”
Eligible nonprofits must propose a project that can be scaled for completion — or partially completed — within the program’s timeframe. Up to five organizations will be invited to present their proposals in a 20-minute presentation on Nov. 19.
Interested nonprofits can apply directly through the online form: bit.ly/ LeadershipSandpointApplication.
For organizations wishing to ensure their application has been received, follow-up emails can be sent to Olivia@ sandpointchamber.com
School hosts Barn Dance Fundraiser
By Reader Staff
Break out the boots and cowboy hats, the Selle Valley Carden School is hosting its annual Barn Dance Fundraiser from 5:45-10 p.m., Friday, Oct. 3 at the school (1185 Selle Road).
The evening promises to be fun for the whole family with music, dancing, food, a silent auction and a bonfire under the stars. There will also be a bev-
erage trailer serving a variety of drinks to attendees.
Every dollar raised will benefit the school, specifically with tuition assistance and renovation expenses, which include updating restrooms and funding a campus expansion.
Tickets are available for purchase at bit.ly/470Eyng. Tickets for the dance cost $25 and $40 for both the dance and dinner, which will be served from 5:456:30 p.m.
Sandpointians know that the Panida Theater is special, but just how special might be lost on the untrained eye. Greg Marsters, of Boise-based Custom Plaster, has gotten to know the community’s signature downtown cultural institution well, having worked on the ceiling restoration in 2015 and now leading the effort to rehabilitate the theater’s northern interior wall, conducting “conservation cleaning” and repair work to return the structure to its former glory, which originated in 1927.
According to Marsters, few, if any, theaters in Idaho have kept their original aesthetic as true to form as the Panida.
“This building has a lot of original finish — a lot. It’s not often that they are this intact, at this point at the 100year mark,” Marsters said.
He’s been working on the north interior wall since Sept. 2 and plans are to have the work concluded by Thursday, Oct. 2, with the goal of returning it to its “first campaign,” in the parlance of the restoration business, or “back to the highest form of decoration,” Marsters said.
However, that means one aspect of the interior decor is missing: That is, the “sick chicken,” which anyone familiar with the Panida knows as the bedraggled fowl painted in stark contrast to its more regal-looking counterpart on the inset nearest to the main stage.
“The sick chicken is no more,” said Panida Board President Sean Behm.
“We cured it,” Marsters added.
Stories of why and how the sick chicken came to grace the Panida’s wall have centered on an unknown individual who was apparently hired to undertake a repair, but felt slighted by the payment they were to receive and so intentionally deformed the bird.
Based on Marsters’ structural investigation, it was likely created after 1964 — the plaster used being unavailable in that year, but the gold spray paint used was not on the market until after 1964.
“So I tend to believe the version [of the story] where it’s around 1980,” he said. “No one’s come forward with any evidence that would
give it a date.”
“I can tell you from my observations that he was neither a plasterer nor a painter,” Marsters said of the originator of the sick chicken. “And I have quite a bit of experience with both of those things. My understanding was whatever kind of handyman he was, I was told that he believed he was being paid just for the plaster part of the repair and he billed them and they said, ‘You’re not done, you have to paint it,’ and he’s like, ‘I’m not a painter’
“Whether he then did that out of anger or just absolutely had no ability or maybe he was a raging alcoholic. Hell, I don’t know, but it was a mess, I can tell you that. I think the lesson is you get what you pay for.”
There was an effort to preserve the sick chicken, though Behm said the underlying plaster wouldn’t hold together.
“Greg was going to try to remove it in one piece; we were going to try to keep it for posterity’s sake as some kind of art piece in the lobby or somewhere else in the theater,” he said, later adding, “We restored it back to the original state that we could. The sick chicken is in the hearts of everybody.”
Those who wish to remember the sick chicken are invited to purchase a specially designed hoodie sweatshirt bearing an image of the bird emblazoned with the phrase: “Panida Theater: Sick shows since 1927.” Meanwhile, a mylar stencil has been made of the design and every other aspect of it has been cataloged and recorded for history.
“We meticulously documented that as if it were a piece of fine art,” Marsters said.
“The board’s going to do something with that,” Behm said, “to still show honor to the historic sick chicken. It was unfortunate. We were trying to keep it as much as possible, but the repair was bad and we were risking delamination and it was going to actually come off the wall.”
The north wall project is funded by a $100,000 grant from Idaho Heritage Trust, but it’s not the only large-scale restoration work planned for the theater. Behm said the south exterior wall is in need of repair due to water intrusion, while other additions include an HVAC upgrade, with a new women’s restroom, lobby renovation, retail space on the southwest side of the building and efforts to better connect
the Little Theater with the mainstage space for the years ahead.
“The physical structure needs a lot of love,” Behm said. “I don’t know anybody who lives in this town and doesn’t love the Panida.”
The Century Fund effort, supported by Ting Internet, has been instrumental to preserving the theater, but, “We’re at another crossroads with the building, where it’s time for the community to step back up,” Behm said, describing “a lot of big plans that are going to require big money To really send this baby into the next 100 years.”
“It’s time,” Behm added. “... I think this building is vital to the downtown core, and if we lose this just structurally or physically lose the building over time to development or
whatever, I think it’s going to be a sad day for this town. This theater serves Bonner County, Boundary County, we’re going to start pulling people up from Kootenai County with what we want to do here and we want to make it a hub. And it’s good for the town and it’s good for the theater.
“If anybody wants to give us a million-dollar donation we’ll happily take it, and I will throw in a free sick chicken hoodie,” he said.
(Top) The ‘conservation cleaning’ of the Panida Theater’s northern interior wall began in early September and is slated for completion in the first week of October, returning the decor to its 1927 glory.
(Bottom) Panida Board President Sean Behm (left) and Greg Marsters, of Custom Plasters (right), survey work on the theater’s northern interior wall.)
Photos by Zach Hagadone.
Local organizations receive Idaho Commission on the Arts grants
By Reader Staff
The Pend Oreille Arts Council will give the community a rare look into a world completely devoid of color with Light and Shadow , a blackand-white photography exhibition on display through October in the POAC Gallery (313 N. Second Ave., in downtown Sandpoint).
The gallery will open for a free reception Friday, Oct. 3, at 5 p.m., giving guests the opportunity to chat with the local artists.
Light and Shadow features work from four regional photographers: Rebecca Bozzo, Hurley Dean, Don Fisher and Randolph Fritz, who take full advantage of the medium by emphasizing form, perspective, contrast and textures. The artists each have their own specialties and muses, capturing different facets of life from everyday street scenes to intimate portraits.
“Black-and-white photography invites us to slow down and notice the subtleties,” stated POAC Arts Coordinator Claire Christy. “Without color, the emphasis shifts to texture, compo-
sition and emotion.”
Friday’s reception will also include a silent auction of photographs from Bozzo, who will be donating a portion of the proceeds to POAC’s educational programs, such as Kaleidoscope in local schools and Art for Life classes at the Senior Center.
Visit artinsandpoint.org for more information.
Local organizations receive Idaho Commission on the Arts grants
By Reader Staff
Several leading Sandpoint-based arts organizations received funding from the Idaho Commission on the Arts in its annual grant cycle for 2026 — part of nearly $750,000 given to 108 nonprofits, schools and school districts in 31 communities around the state.
Matched by local dollars, the grants are intended to support arts programs ranging from small-town cultural festivals to statewide partnerships in order to “ensure Idahoans of all ages and regions have access to arts learning, performances, exhibitions, and cultural traditions,” according to the commission.
The Music Conservatory of Sandpoint received $7,935 in an arts education grant, as well as $5,557 for public programs in the arts. The Pend Oreille Arts Council also received a $6,348 arts education grant, in addition to a $3,977 entry track grant, which is geared toward providing support for “emerging arts organizations.”
Finally, Creations for Sandpoint received $4,200, the Panida Theater
New novel Death Do Us Part from Dick Sonnichsen released by Blue Creek Press
By Reader Staff
Local author Dick Sonnichsen has released his third novel, Death Do Us Part, which takes the reader on a journey through love, lust, failed trust, infidelity, broken vows of chastity, revenge, retribution, religious doubt and women betrayed.
Published by Blue Creek Press, this latest effort from Sonnichsen covers a broad swath of psychological ground as characters try to figure themselves out, explain themselves to others, and keep their principles and actions balanced with the circumstances of their lives.
As the story unfolds, the reader meets many suspects in the demise of Federal Judge Clark Sullivan. Most of them have good reasons to wish him dead — including people he’s sent to prison, victims of his serial philandering, his wife and even his own children.
When the judge falls dead out of Father Tom Myers’ Coeur d’ Alene Catholic Church confessional, the FBI shows up looking for confessions, as well.
that sex in the rectory is not so good, even when it’s great, all the while agonizing over his growing disillusionment with life in the priesthood.
received $4,173 and the Festival at Sandpoint received $9,262, all under the public programs in the arts category.
“The arts enrich daily life in Idaho, sparking creativity in classrooms, inspiring audiences in concert halls, and strengthening bonds in communities large and small,” stated Idaho Commission on the Arts Executive Director Laura Curry.
Commission Chair Marshall Garrett highlighted the value of state-level arts funding:
“Investing in the arts results in benefits beyond dollars. Arts funding multiplies as it flows through our communities, but more importantly, it creates identity and community. It preserves history, builds a sense of place, and fosters new directions,” he stated. “We commend the governor and Legislature for recognizing the enduring value of the arts.”
The Idaho Commission on the Arts, also known as Arts Idaho, is the official state agency dedicated to supporting and advancing the arts in Idaho. For more information, visit arts.idaho.gov.
There are plenty of confessions from Judge Sullivan’s widow, Maggie, but none of them are shared with the agents. Her rants with friends are along the lines of, “How did I loathe thee. Let me count the ways”; however, she seems to be having a lot of fun at the same time.
Father Tom might have something to confess, too, as he falls to the temptations of the flesh and violates employee-employer protocol. He fears
In the meantime, the special agents undertake their interviews, but the real murderers aren’t talking. One has nothing to say, and one will never say anything again.
As in Sonnichsen’s other novels, we know “who done it” and we know why. The question is, “Will they get caught?” Maybe. Maybe not.
Death Do Us Part and Sonnichsen’s other books are available at Sandpoint Books (321 N. Second Ave.) and amazon.com. For more information, email books@bluecreekpres.com.
Death Do Us Part by Dick Sonnichsen.
Buffalo Song by Rebecca Bozzo
Send event listings to calendar@sandpointreader.com
Live Trivia w/ Toshi
7pm @ Connie’s Cafe and Lounge
Live Music w/ John Daffron
8pm @ Tervan Tavern
Rummage Sale Fundraiser
9am-3pm @ Forrest Bird Charter School Donations accepted. Money to high school science trip.
Live Music w/ Ron Kieper Trio
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
SVCS Annual Barn Dance
6-10pm @1185 Selle Rd.
$25 dancing or $40 dancing and dinner.
Live Music w/ Double Shot Band
7pm @ Connie’s Cafe and Lounge
Live Music w/ Ian Newbill
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Pumpkin Patch
10am-5pm @ 26 E. Shingle Mill Rd.
Hayrides, cider, doughnuts, bounce houses, gem panning, barn store
Winter Ridge Neighborhood Fair
11am-4pm @703 Lake St.
Live music, local vendors and food
Priest River Oktoberfest
Noon-5pm @ 50 Main St., Priest River Brews, food, live music and games
Live Music w/ Truck Mills and Carl Rey 6-9pm @ Create Arts Center, Newport
Live Music w/ Ian Newbill
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Country and classic rock
Live Music at CREATE Benefit Concert
6-9 p.m. @900 W. Fourth St, Newport
Popeye Rose Social Club, Carl Rey & Truck Mills. $12 at createarts.com
Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Triva w/ Ben Olson
6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Live Music w/ John F
5:30pm @ Connie’s Cafe and Lounge
Walk and Roll to School Day
7am @ LPOSD Schools
More info at walkbiketoschool.org.
IPAC Sandpoint Movie Night Fundraiser
5pm @ MickDuff’s
Drinks, giveaways for Idaho Panhandle
Avalanche Center
THURSDAY, october 2
Feel It All film screening and talk
7pm @ Panida Theater
October 2 - 9, 2025
Bingo
6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Ethan Murray Fund hosts pro skier, filmmaker and mental health advocate Drew Petersen to screen his film, followed by Q&A.
FriDAY, october 3
Live Music w/ Thompson Trio 5pm @ Connie’s Cafe and Lounge
Black-and-White Photography Show
5pm @ POAC Gallery
Pumpkin Patch
12-5pm @ 26 E. Shingle Mill Rd.
Hayrides, cider, doughnuts, bounce houses, gem panning, barn store
Music w/ Mike Wagoner & Sadie Sicilia 6pm @ The Heartwood Center ($17.85) Live album recording, book release.
SATURDAY, october 4
North Idaho End of Season Party
2-6 p.m. @ 27 Midlake Dr., Sagle Community BBQ with Idaho Trail Association. RSVP: bit.ly/TrailParty
Hands On History
10am-2pm @ Bonner Co. History Museum Kids and families invited to attend this free event: artifact dig, mud kitchen, natural dyes, laundry scrub board and play
Live Music w/ Brian Jacobs 6-9pm @ Mickduff’s Beer Hall
Friends of the Library Book Sale 10am-2pm @ Sandpoint Library
SunDAY, october 5
TAKE3: Where Rock Meets Bach
7pm @ Panida Theater
Violin, cello, piano trio blend classical, pop, rock. $22-32
Sandpoint Swing Dance
76-9pm @ Sandpoint Community Hall
1 hr all-levels lesson then general dancing. $10.
Outdoor Experience Group Run 6pm @ Outdoor Experience 3-5 miles, all levels welcome
Live Music w/ Matt Lome 8pm @ Tervan Tavern
wednesDAY, october 8
Thunder’s Catch Annual Salmon Pick Up
3-7pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co.
Fresh fish and Ester the tiny tap truck
ThursDAY, october 9
Live Music w/ Frytz 8pm @ The Tervan
Live Trivia w/ Toshi
7pm @ Connie’s Cafe and Lounge
ICL Fundraiser and Tap Takeover
6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Music from Chris Paradis, funds for Idaho Conservation League
NAMI Far North w/ Miriam Feldman 6-7:30pm @ Panida Little Theater
Discussion of the family’s role in mental health
Live Music w/ Mason Van Stone 6:30-9:30pm @ Mickduff’s Beer Hall
Dover Harvest Festival
10am-3pm @ Railroad Spur Field (Dover)
Live music, local vendors, food and plenty of fall fun for the whole family
West Bonner Friends of the Library Sale 10:15am-5pm @ Main St. Books (Priest R.) At Oktoberfest. Proceeds support Priest River, Blanchard libraries NAMI Walks 9:30am-12pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co. Raise funds to support those living with mental illness and walk to raise awareness, educate and reduce stigma around mental illness. namiwalks.org/farnorth
Live Music w/ BTP 9pm @ 219 Lounge
Live Music w/ Inland Beaches
6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Oden Harvest Dinner 4pm @ Oden Hall Auction for Oden Hall maintenance
Pumpkin Patch
10am-5pm @ 26 E. Shingle Mill Rd.
Hayrides, cider, doughnuts, bounce houses, gem panning, barn store
Magic with Star Alexander 5-8pm @ Jalapeño’s
tuesDAY, october 7
Rights and Resistance
5-7pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co. PVP and SAFE’s monthly meeting
SHS Dance Team Fundraiser
4-7pm @ Powder Hound Pizza
Meet the team. 20% of all in-house sales to the Ponderettes
Family Hour w/ John Firshi
5-7pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co.
Live music, good vibes
Live Piano w/ Peter Lucht
5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Artist Reception: Kristina Ludwig
5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Original sculptures from natural materials and piano music
Mental health champions needed at the annual community NAMIWalks
By Reader Staff
NAMI Far North will host its yearly NAMIWalks Your Way 2025 in Sandpoint on Saturday, Oct. 4, from 10 a.m.-noon. The fourth annual walk starts at Matchwood Brewing Company (513 Oak St., in Sandpoint) and follows the Sandpoint Community Trail alongside U.S. Highway 2 between Sandpoint and Dover.
The event is free, thanks to donors who support local mental health awareness while raising funds for NA-
MI’s free programs and resources.
According to organizers, “NAMIWalks is more than a walk — it’s a celebration of mental health, a chance to connect and a way to take action. This family friendly, wheelchair-accessible event features live music, mental health resource tables, a kids’ bounce house, Evans Brothers coffee and more.”
“I’m grateful for the chance to join NAMIWalks, and to stand alongside an organization and so many people working to expand education and services,” stated Sandpoint Mayor Jeremy
Winter Ridge to host annual Neighborhood Fair
By Reader Staff
Local vendors, live music, samples, giveaways and more are on the menu at the annual Neighborhood Fair hosted by Winter Ridge Natural Foods (703 Lake St., in Sandpoint).
Scheduled for 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4, the event features performances by Harold’s IGA — which includes Reader Publisher Ben Olson, Cadie Archer and Josh Vitalie playing homegrown indie-folk
— along with Coeur d’Alene.-based Thomas Mudrick, who specializes in a unique blend of psychedelic folk-rock and world dream pop that’s fun-loving and freaky.
Winter Ridge puts on its Neighborhood Fair each year to celebrate its customers and invite them to spend an afternoon with the crew.
Volunteers are also being sought to help make the event a success, with a Winter Ridge swag bag thrown in for good measure. Go to winterridgefoods. com/events for more info.
Grimm, who also serves as honorary Walk Chair.
“Together, we’re helping to close the gap in funding and capacity for Sandpoint, Bonner County and Boundary County,” he added.
One in five adults faces a mental health challenge, making NAMI’s work relevant for nearly every family. While stigma and discrimination present hurdles, knowledge and skill-building can break those barriers.
“Understanding the complex biology of our brains empowers us to offer compassion, inspire hope and facilitate recovery,” stated NAMI Far North President and Sand Creek Connections co-founder Dr. Dawn Mehra.
Sponsors include Selle Valley Construction (gold level); Finan McDonald and Talus Rock Retreat (bronze); Kaniksu Community Health, Bonner General Health, Eye Care for You, Glahe and Associates, Miller’s Coun-
try Store, Bonner County Human Rights Task Force, North Idaho Neurotherapy, Terra Bach State Farm and Seven Peaks Counseling (community); with guest speakers Grimm and Ammi Midstokke.
Funds raised benefit NAMI Far North’s local programs, which include support groups, education, advocacy and the new Sand Creek Connections clubhouse, which provides free psychosocial rehabilitation for adults with serious mental health conditions in Bonner and Boundary counties.
“We’re excited to bring the community together for this meaningful event,” stated Sand Creek Connections co-founder Maria Corsini. “By walking and raising awareness, we want everyone to have the support they need to thrive.”
Register or donate at namiwalks. org/farnorth. Call 208-597-2047 for more information.
TAKE3 brings ‘Where Rock Meets Bach’ to the Panida Theater
By Reader Staff
Classics are called classics for a reason, and if there’s a definition of “classic” it’s Johann Sebastian Bach. Los Angeles-based TAKE3 unites violin, cello and piano to give Bach a modern makeover infused with high-energy rock stylings that don’t sacrifice the virtuosity of their source material.
Founded by violinist/vocalist
Lindsay Deutsch — who performed as Yanni’s featured violin soloist — TAKE3 blends pop, rock, Americana, country and oldies into a unique genre that has drawn comparisons to the likes of the Trans Siberian Orchestra, and described as “nothing short of exhilarating” and has “electrified audiences at hundreds of venues and performing arts centers throughout the country.”
TAKE3 is coming to Sandpoint for a performance titled “Where Rock Meets Bach” on Sunday, Oct. 5 at the Panida Theater (300 N. First Ave.). Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m., while tickets are $22-$32.75 (plus fees), depending on seating.
The all-ages show promises to introduce audience members to “the intersection where art and pop culture collide,” with appearances at venues including the North Charleston POPs; Cape Symphony; Boulder Chamber Orchestra; and the Symphonies of Victoria, Midland and Springfield, as well as at Music in the Mountains, Redlands Bowl, OK Mozart Festival, Festival Mozaic, Herb Alpert’s Vibrato Grill and the Bear Valley Music Festival.
Get tickets at the door or panida. org. For more info on TAKE3, go to take3music.com.
NAMI hosts nationally known speaker on mental health at Panida Little Theater
By Reader Staff
Miriam Feldman describes herself as an “artist, writer and mental health activist,” and it’s in the writer/activist role that she’ll appear on Friday, Oct. 3 at 6 p.m. at the Panida Little Theater (300 N. First Ave., in downtown Sandpoint), to present “a candid mental health hour” titled “Breaking Barriers, Building Hope.”
Feldman’s story is drawn from her own life, as described in her 2020 book He Came In With It: A Portrait of Motherhood and Madness, about her son who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2004.
Described as “captivating, moving and masterfully wrought,” Feldman’s book is full of “first-hand knowledge of the woeful state of our mental health system,” and launched her into various roles such as serving on the advisory board of the Bring Change 2 Mind organization — founded by Hollywood icon Glenn Close — writing monthly for bringchange2mind. org, holding a leadership position with NAMI Washington and speaking around the country.
Feldman’s talk in Sandpoint is promised to be a “candid, insightful
hour on real-life mental health,” presented “with humor and warmth” on how to navigate family, systems and stigma related to mental health.
Presented by NAMI Far North Idaho, Feldman’s presentation is free to attend, with drinks and snacks provided, as well as an opportunity to connect with health care providers, families and members of the community during a happy hour social portion of the evening. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and seating is limited, so reserve a space at panida.org.
By Zach Hagadone and Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
Few holidays offer as much atmospheric opportunity as Halloween — from spooky decorations to costumes and, perhaps most important, a proper soundtrack. Everyone is familiar with the old standards (“Monster Mash,” “Thriller,” “Ghostbusters,” “This is Halloween,” etc.), but there are many less mainstream tunes to amp up the frightful vibe. Each week in October, we’ll offer a few suggestions to build your own playlist of horrors.
The Dead Brothers
Just look at this band’s name and read its own description as a “funeral orchestra” specializing in “the death blues,” and you know it’s going to be good. Though The Dead Brothers stopped performing in 2021 after the passing of bandleader Alain Croubalian, the Switzerland-based band has left a trove of music on YouTube and other streaming sites. Of particular quality is the 2014 album Black Moose (its title track alone is a Halloween-y masterpiece), as well as 2006’s Wunderkammer It’s all good in the baddest possible way. Learn more at deadbrothers.com.
Cosmo Sheldrake
Sometimes a less straightforward approach is the most effective way to evoke the creeps. British indie composer Cosmo Sheldrake has the unique ability to weave songs that feel phantasmagorical without being outright macabre. His song “Breathe Round Corners” from the stellar 2024 album Eye To The Ear conjures the feeling of wandering through a deep, dark wood where nothing is as it seems, while “Linger Longer” from The Much Much How How and I in 2017 bursts with a dark choral energy that’s as catchy as it is mildly unnerving. Get to know his singular sound at cosmosheldrake.com.
Timber Timbre
Canadian band Timber Timbre has long turned out albums that walk a narrow path of swampy, some what sinister indie blues. Their 2009 self-titled album features standouts like “Demon Host,” “We’ll Find Out,” “Trouble Comes Knocking” and “Until The Night Is Over.” The 2011 album Creep on Creepin’ On does
what its title suggests, with near-perfect tracks like “Black Water,” “Lonesome Hunter” and “Do I Have Power.” Finally, “Run From Me” off the band’s 2014 album Hot Dreams deserves its own entry on any playlist for creepin’ on. Go to their official website, timbertimbre.ca, and get acquainted.
C. W. Stoneking
Few modern artists capture the spine-tingling, phantasmic sound of American roots music and traditional New Orleans jazz like C.W. Stoneking — who just happens to be from Australia. It’s easy to believe he grew up on a Louisiana bayou listening to his melodies, which often capture that iconic spooky sound no matter the lyrics thanks to his rough voice and ’20s-esque brass accompaniment. His songs “Zombie” and “Don’t Go Dancing Down the Darktown Sutter’s Ball” are a welcome addition to any Halloween playlist, but the one that really embodies October is “Love Me or Die.” Listen on Spotify.
Roe Kapara
Surprisingly, punk is an underrepresented genre in most Halloween playlists. Roe Kapara came to change that, with indie punk-rock songs that encapsulate young people’s feelings of disillusionment at the American Dream with absurd and viscous imagery. His album I Hope Hell Isn’t Real delivers several American Gothic-esque depictions of the rural midwest with a healthy dose of religious extremism and white trash culture. “Everyone’s Dying (Grandma’s Drunk Again),” “Everything’s Fine (Nuke Song)” and “Preacher” are three of his most high-energy songs with addicting, eerie melodies that compliment their gory stories. Listen on Spotify.
Cab Calloway
One of the most beloved icons of the swing era, Cab Calloway’s music already has a ghostly edge thanks to the distortions and fuzz that come with antique recordings. Regardless, it’s safe to say his songs were still spooky when they were young thanks to his often bleak lyrics and famous, uncanny vibrato. “St. James Infirmary,” which was recorded for a Betty Boop cartoon, is by far the most ominous, as Calloway sings about finding his girlfriend on her deathbed. “That Old Black Magic,” “The Ghost of Smokey Joe” and his most famous song, “Minnie The Moocher,” share those fun yet ghostly vibes. Listen on Spotify.
Miriam Feldman enjoying life. Photo courtesy of miriam-feldman.com
MUSIC
Americana band Inland Beaches to play IPA
Band features veteran songsters Mark Ward and Joel Smith
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
Idaho Pour Authority will soon host an emerging band whose members are all veterans of the Spokane music scene. Inland Beaches will play a special show at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4 at Idaho Pour Authority (203 Cedar St., in downtown Sandpoint).
Anyone who paid attention in the 2000s-’10s will remember the incredible output of Mark Ward and Joel Smith, both songwriters who specialized in creating thoughtful,
energetic Americana rock in the style of Wilco, The Jayhawks and Jason Isbell. Starting as a trio with Ryan Vance,
the band added Smith as well as Brett Neste and Patrick Pugh to form Inland Beaches, which draws on more than
Popeye Rose Social Club join Truck Mills and Carl
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
It will be a musical weekend across the Pend Oreille River in Newport with a collection of local musicians joining forces for a show.
The Popeye Rose Social Club will team up with Truck Mills and Carl Rey from 6-9 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4 at Create Arts Center (900 W. Fourth St., in Newport, Wash.).
The concert will be a celebration of blues, jazz, Americana, country and original songs from each respective group.
The Popeye Rose Social
Club features Steve Bennett on mandolin, Darlene Mossman on bass and Jim Pletsch on slide guitar, each bringing years of experience
as they play a wide variety of musical styles.
Anyone who hasn’t heard Truck Mills and Carl Rey play their collection of blues, rock
two decades of collective performance experience to bring a new energy and levity to every performance.
This new supergroup has a clean, seamless sound that incorporates a blend of Americana rock intertwined with a melodic piano, creating music that both satisfies and leaves you wanting more.
Inland Beaches released its debut single, “Too Late” in the summer of 2024 and is currently working on a collection of songs for an EP set to be released this year.
Listen to Inland Beaches on Spotify or visit their website, inlandbeaches.com.
Rey in Newport
and Americana songs (with forays into world music, jazz and other genres) has missed some of our region’s most talented performers. Mills is renowned for his guitar prowess, and currently teaches the next generation of string players at the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint between gigs, while Rey’s abilities on the harmonica will literally make you weak in the knees.
Tickets to the show are $12 if purchased in advance, or $15 at the door, while students enter free. Visit createarts.org or call 509-4479277 for more information.
A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint
John Daffron, Tervan Tavern, Oct. 2 Mike Wagoner and Sadie Sicilia, The Heartwood Center, Oct. 3
Some know him as “Johnny Guitar,” others know him as “John Daffron,” but all who know him in the Sandpoint music scene know him as a top-class singer-songwriter with experience playing the world over, from his homebase in Sagle to Asia and Europe. He can count more than 100 performances just in Ireland. Fans of the Southern California surf band The Fabulous Nomads will also know Daffron as the principal songwriter
for the group for 33 years. He’s also the lead singer for the J. Bosley Band here at home and Big Hassle in SoCal. His solo work is also not to be missed, which is what he’ll bring to the Tervan Tavern for a Thursday, Oct. 2 show, which all who are in the know know will be the place to be.
— Zach Hagadone
8 p.m., FREE, 21+. Tervan Tavern, 411 Cedar St., tervantavern.com. More info at johnnydaffron.com.
Father-daughter duo Mike Wagoner and Sadie Sicilia have been performing together since Sicilia was a young girl, harmonizing to originals and covers all summer long. As times change, they’ve had less time to play together, so to memorialize their artistic partnership, the pair plans to host a live album recording Friday, Oct. 3. As always, crowd participation is heartily encouraged while they perform personal and crowd favorites
This week’s RLW by Zach Hagadone
READ
Reader Publisher Ben Olson and Senior Writer Soncirey Mitchell are excellent gift-givers, and I was honored to be the recipient of their gifts on my most recent birthday. Of course, because they know me so well, they gave me books. Olson picked up Gonzo artist Ralph Steadman’s Nextinction from the Sandpoint library book sale, and I must say it’s a dark-hearted beauty. Mitchell gave me Everything is Tuberculosis, by John Green, which she promised me was not a flippant statement on my own mortality. I’m reading them both, and you should, too.
LISTEN
from years gone by, perfectly matching Wagoner’s expert guitar playing to Sicilia’s powerful vocals. The concert will also double as a release party for Wagoner’s memoir, Goin’ to the Lake, cataloging his decades playing music around Priest Lake.
— Soncirey Mitchell
7 p.m., $17.85. The Heartwood Center, 615 Oak St., 208-2638699, the-heartwood.com. Info at mikeandsadiecoda.eventbrite.com.
Regular Reader readers know I take my 10-year-old daughter’s music recommendations seriously, and while she’ll be the first to tell you she’s a Capricorn, her heart and soul is in the scary season surrounding Halloween. She has opened my eyes to the genre of spooky “lo-fi” music videos on YouTube, and there is a rich and worthy vein of ambient tunes with beguiling themes centered on quiet bookstores, rainy autumnal streets and inviting cemeteries. Looking for a Halloween playlist? Look no further.
WATCH
Disagreeing with people — in the correct way — requires a load of courage, and author/ philosopher Ta-Nehisi Coates and commentator/New York Times writer Ezra Klein exhibited one of the finest examples of that bravery on the former’s podcast, The Ezra Klein Show, on Sept. 28, when Coates and Klein disagreed about the Charlie Kirk assassination during a show that revolved around the kind of smart, honest dialogue that is existentially necessary. They model how we all should approach these strange times and hard topics. Watch it on YouTube.
Courtesy photo
Carl Rey (left) and Truck Mills (right). Courtesy photo
From Pend Oreille Review, October. 4, 1918
MIDNIGHT CHASE
LANDS BOOZE-CAR
A Spokane party of two who were bringing booze through from Troy, Mont. gave Deputies Spoor and Benson an exciting race between 12 and 1 o’clock this morning. The officers suspected the car while out near the match factory. They ran their car ahead of the suspects as they got to town and beat it for the long bridge with the intention of intercepting the two men at the bridge approach. The bootleggers turned the corner at L.G. Thompson’s and started out Dearborn St. Deputy Spoor got back on their trail on Pine street and the two cars raced out nearly the whole length of the street, the bootleggers finally running their car across in front of the officers and both cars going into the brush. The booze-car was knocked out and had to be towed to the jail yard. The men gave themselves up and said their names were C.J. Perkins and P.J. Ryan and that their homes were in Spokane.
Their car was a high-speed Twin-4 Jackson.
The men put up cash bonds in the amount of $100 each and the nice machine they drove awaits the arrival of the “innocent” third party who always claims ownership of such cars but never of the booze. The men had four sacks of whisky on board.
BACK OF THE BOOK Make it make sense
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
A dear friend of mine recently checked in on my mental state — not because of my 45th birthday, which occurred in the past week — but because he described my demeanor of late, and that of Reader Publisher Ben Olson, in an evocative way:
“You guys remind me of ambulance drivers in World War I.”
I laughed, of course, but it was the kind of laugh a World War I ambulance driver might laugh. It also brought to mind a similar observation from another old friend, who bumped into Ben and me in the alley next to the newspaper office two weeks ago while we were commiserating about this and that; and, amid the customary salutations and back-slapping of vintage pals, said:
“You guys seem a little down.”
I can’t speak for Ben, but I’ll admit my own guilt. For sure, I do feel down and a lot like someone who has ended up driving an ambulance during World War I.
The occupation is freighted with history. Ernest Hemingway was famous for his time driving an ambulance during World War I, and believe it or not, there’s an entire honor roll of WWI ambulance drivers, helpfully listed on Wikipedia. They include: composer Maurice Ravel; filmmaker Jean Cocteau; writers e e cummings, John Dos Passos, Dashiell Hammett, Archibald MacLeish, Somerset Maugham, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas; and many others of various artistic and cultural stripes.
The same or allied job has been filled by brighter luminaries than we in other times and places.
When my friend made that statement, I thought about Walt Whitman
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serving as a nurse during the U.S. Civil War. I also thought about Friedrich Nietzsche driving an ambulance during the Franco-Prussian War a few years later.
In no way am I placing Ben and myself in this kind of company, but there’s a reason my friend said what he said and I’m pretty darn sure there are a lot of people out there who are feeling the same way as they try to keep it together while trying to do good, or at least do no harm.
And it seems like even more people are actively trying to do harm right now, which is a problem.
The number of interactions I’ve had in the past few weeks — I won’t call them all “conversations,” though some of them were — telling me to stop calling fascists fascists, authoritarians authoritarians, and comparing National-Socialist behaviors and beliefs to National Socialism because it’s somehow hurting fascist/authoritarian/National-Socialist people’s feelings is alarming.
I thought we all agreed a few decades ago that fascism, authoritarianism and National Socialism were bad, and that we agreed a few centuries ago that people in the United States had a right to speak freely. I guess I was wrong, in some people’s minds, but I still can’t fathom how a president can marshal the executive power of the federal government to militarize the police and turn the police into the military and literally declare “war” on cities in their own country based on partisan principles (and wanting to harm their “opponent”), then muse aloud about becoming a “dictator” and not be a fascist/authoritarian/ National Socialist. Fun bonus: Doing all that while lionizing free speech in order to silence free speech.
I asked that question of my MAGA-supporting friends on Facebook not long ago, and got a few respons-
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es — most of which boiled down to “whatabout?” I just don’t see the “whatabout,” and am as baffled as I was before I embarked on that (in retrospect ill-advised) thought experiment.
Yeah, I’m feeling down about all this. I’m not driving an ambulance in a world war, but I do feel like there are too many people trying to run whatever ambulances we have left off the road.
I’ll offer the most basic form of my question in this forum: Can someone make it make sense?
Crossword Solution
I hope if dogs ever take over the world, and they choose a king, they don’t just go by size, because I bet there are some Chihuahuas with some good ideas.
A Ford 1916 Model T Field Ambulance. Courtesy photo
Solution on page 22
Laughing Matter
By Bill Borders
CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1. Failures
6. Exude
10. Falafel bread
14. Caper
15. Russian emperor
16. Biblical garden
17. A Finnish steam bath
18. Against
19. Let out
20. Subtlety
22. Flower holder
23. Cushion
24. Not those 26. Vendor 30. Former 32. Lengthwise
33. Parallel to 37. Hurt
38. A type of writing tablet
39. Footnote note 40. Scintillas
42. Con game
43. Harps
Word Week of the
[adjective] 1. lightless; of the deep zone of an ocean or lake receiving too little light to permit photosynthesis
“Without the glow of that smartphone, my teen’s room would be totally aphotic.”
Corrections: Due to a misunderstanding in the Sept. 25 edition, we incorrectly identified the J. Bosley Band, which played outside the Cedar Street Bridge for the first annual Sandpoint Showdown motorcycle rally. We apologize for the error.
44. French president’s residence
45. Highly emotional episode
47. Consumed
48. State of mind
49. Precepts
56. African sheep
57. In this location
58. Long-necked migratory bird
59. Small amount
Solution on page 22
Solution on page 22
61. Equine 62. Cards with one symbol 63. Funnel shape
Woody plants
60. False god 1. Low in pitch
Sloth
Ticket part you keep
Hue
Surgeon’s tool
Be upright
Slave
Consumes food
9. Untouched
Deviance 11. Notions 12. On edge
13. Initial wager 21. Hearing organ 25. Pig
26. Exhausts 27. Test
28. Fifty-three in Roman numerals
29. Female landlords
30. Schemes
31. Decays
33. Balm ingredient
34. Nile bird
35. Banquet
36. Border
38. Like some angels 41. Exercise facility
42. Manual dexterity 44. And more 45. Column style 46. Itinerary
