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PEOPLE compiled by

Ben Olson

watching

“What is your favorite costume you’ve used to dress up for Halloween?”

“I was a mime as a bartender once. It was the most fun costume I ever had. I didn’t have to talk to people.”

Racheal Baker Photographer Sandpoint

“When we were kids, we’d grab whatever we could. Dad had an old fedora we’d borrow, and we’d take a hoodie and paint it with fake blood and wear a trenchcoat. We reused it every year and wore it with an old ’40s mask and plastic cigar.”

Peter Kriz Semi-retired Sandpoint “A few years ago Ben and I dressed up as Ron Burgandy and Veronica Corningstone from Anchorman. We pulled it off really well.”

Jeannie Higgs Business owner Sandpoint

“I was a caveman one time and came into a party by climbing up the wall and into the window. I thought that entrance would be much better.”

Pete Tobin Local cook Sandpoint “I dressed up as Shirley Temple like five years in a row. I looked a lot like her when I was younger.”

Rachel Land Egg cook Sandpoint

DEAR READERS, With the sound of the crypt door opening, another edition of the Reader emerges from the fog into your cold hands.

It’s Halloween time again, which means homes across the county are festooned with cobwebs, Jack-o’-lanterns and skeletons galore. Soon, the neighborhoods will be filled with ghouls and goblins of all kinds on their annual trick-or-treating missions to relieve the rest of us of our candy bars.

Hope you all enjoy your time out there, wherever you end up.

Don’t forget Election Day is coming up. Polling places are open from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 2. If you need help finding where your polling place is located, check with the Bonner County Elections website. Here’s a shortcut link that takes you there: bit.ly/BoCoElections, or go to Page 6.

If you missed the Oct. 19 forum hosted by the Reader, Keokee, KRFY 88.5FM and the Selkirk Association of Realtors, you can view them here at these links: Sandpoint/LPOSD races: youtu.be/zATqtu2B6RE. Dover City Council and mayoral races: youtu.be/WXVJd0mmdWA. – Ben Olson, publisher

READER 111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 (208)265-9724

www.sandpointreader.com Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com Editorial: Zach Hagadone (Editor) zach@sandpointreader.com Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey (News Editor) lyndsie@sandpointreader.com Cameron Rasmusson (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus) Advertising: Jodi Berge Jodi@sandpointreader.com Contributing Artists: Ben Olson (cover design), Joe’s Philly Cheesesteak, Jeanelle Shields, Bill Borders, Fin Olson.

Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey, Lorraine H. Marie, Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad, Emily Erickson, Brenden Bobby, Sandy Compton Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com Printed weekly at: Tribune Publishing Co. Lewiston, ID Subscription Price: $155 per year Web Content: Keokee The Sandpoint Reader is a weekly publication owned and operated by Ben Olson and Keokee. It is devoted to the arts, entertainment, politics and lifestyle in and around Sandpoint, Idaho.

We hope to provide a quality alternative by offering honest, in-depth reporting that reflects the intelligence and interests of our diverse and growing community.

The Reader is printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Leftover copies are collected and recycled weekly, or burned in massive bonfires to appease the gods of journalism.

Free to all, limit two copies per person.

Sandpoint Reader letter policy: The Sandpoint Reader welcomes letters to the editor on all topics.

Requirements: –No more than 300 words –Letters may not contain excessive profanity or libelous material. Please elevate the discussion.

Letters will be edited to comply with the above requirements. Opinions expressed in these pages are those of the writers, not necessarily the publishers.

Email letters to: letters@sandpointreader.com Check us out on the web at: www.sandpointreader.com Like us on Facebook.

About the Cover

This week’s cover is designed

by Ben Olson. Here’s hoping the Ouija boards in your home point to a fun Halloween weekend.

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NEWS

DOJ files suit to collect $9.9 million from racist robocaller Scott Rhodes

Complaint lodged in Montana alleges almost 5,000 illegal calls, including against the Reader

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

The former Sandpoint man who allegedly plagued individuals and businesses around the country — including the Reader and Publisher Ben Olson — with thousands of malicious robocalls is one step closer to paying a $9.9 million penalty imposed earlier this year by the Federal Communications Commission.

According to a news release Oct. 21, the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit against Scott Rhodes, now of Libby, Mont., in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, alleging he made 4,959 illegal robocalls with falsified caller ID information that “included highly inflammatory messages indicative of Rhodes’ intent to cause harm.”

The robocalls spanned several years, intensifying against the Reader following its reporting in September 2018 that revealed Rhodes as the individual behind the campaigns of harassment.

According to an FCC investigation, Rhodes targeted the Reader and Olson in 750 robocalls during that month alone — including statements referring to the paper and its publisher as a “cancer” that listeners should “burn out.”

Despite eviction from his Sandpoint home in October 2018 and apparent relocation to Montana, Rhodes continued to target the Reader even through January 2020, when the FCC announced a proposed $13 million fine against him for “illegal spoofed robocalls.”

In January 2021, the FCC finalized its initial claim against Rhodes, proposing a $9.9 million fine and placing a 30-day deadline for its payment. Failing to do so, the matter moved to the Department of Justice, 4 /

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whose suit is intended to recover the penalty and obtain an injunction preventing Rhodes from further violating the Truth in Caller ID Act. The Act prohibits the use of technology or calling platforms to alter caller ID information in order to misrepresent calls as coming from local numbers, when in fact they are originating from elsewhere, in order to “defraud, cause harm or wrongfully obtain anything of value.”

Authorities pointed out that the complaint is “merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”

That said, an FCC spokesperson told the Reader in January that the commission had definite proof tying Rhodes to the robocalls, and in its investigation and forfeiture order stated that he apparently used one such “online calling platform” to deceive individuals into thinking the robocalls were coming from within their communities, thus increasing the chances they would pick up their phones and hear their recorded messages.

“It is unlawful to spoof caller ID numbers to trick consumers into answering unwanted phone calls with the intent to defraud, cause harm or wrongfully obtain anything of value,” stated Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton for the Justice Department’s Civil Division.

“The department will work with its agency partners to vigorously enforce the telemarketing laws that prohibit these practices.

Among the examples of other illegal robocalls cited by the DOJ are “hundreds” of calls directed to residents in Brooklyn, Iowa, related to the murder of local woman Mollie Tibbets.

According to the department,

those robocalls allegedly stated that Tibbets’ killer was a “biological hybrid of white and savage Aztec ancestors,” and to “kill them all.”

More than 2,000 robocalls are also alleged to have targeted residents of Charlottesville, Va., connected to the prosecution of James Alex Fields, Jr., who drove a vehicle into a crowd of anti-racism protesters amid the so-called “Unite the Right” rally in August 2017, killing one woman and injuring dozens of others. The DOJ complaint alleges that the robocalls referred to the city’s “Jew mayor” and “his pet negro police chief” as being responsible for the death of the protester, and warned that, “We’re no longer going to tolerate a Jewish lying press, and Jew corruption of an American legal system.”

Fields pleaded guilty to 29 of 30 hate crimes charges in 2019 and, following a plea deal intended to avoid the death penalty, is now serving a life sentence.

In its January 2021 forfeiture order, the FCC suggested that Rhodes’ alleged robocalls were intended to exploit various controversies around the

country in order to burnish his “brand” and raise the profile of his “white supremacist and anti-Semitic” website and videos — as described by the Anti-Defamation League — which rose in viewership “10-fold” during the height of his robocalling campaign from May to December 2018.

In addition to campaigns in Iowa and Virginia, Rhodes also allegedly directed robocalls containing racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic and/or anti-immigrant messages in California, Florida, Georgia and, as recently as late-2019, took advantage of the murder of Barnard College student Tessa Majors in late2019 to initiate racist robocalls targeted at New York residents.

The robocalls targeted at the Reader, its publisher and advertisers, however, were more personally motivated. ​​“In Idaho, he robocalled residents of the city of Sandpoint, attacking the local newspaper and its publisher after they reported the identity of the caller,” the FCC wrote, adding in its Forfeiture Order, “Rhodes does not refute that the robocalls advocated harm to Mr. Olson or the paper. In fact, his

A screenshot of Scott Rhodes from his racist video blog. Courtesy photo. response expressed continued animosity toward the paper and Mr. Olson.”

It was immediately unclear when the DOJ’s suit against Rhodes would see a courtroom, or how the case might proceed. According to the DOJ news release, Senior Litigation Counsel Patrick Runkle and Trial Attorney Michael Wadden of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon Clarke for the District of Montana.

“Combating illegal robocalls is a top consumer protection priority of the FCC,” stated Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel of the FCC. “In this case, the FCC’s investigation found an ugly pattern of spoofing used to bombard and target communities with malicious robocalls.

Working with the Department of Justice, the FCC will stand by this fine and demand payment. I also welcome the department’s decision to seek an injunction to put a stop to this unlawful behavior.”

NEWS

BoCo approves home base for Sandpoint Ice Arena

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff Bonner County commissioners unanimously approved a lease agreement Oct. 26 between the Bonner County Fairgrounds and Sandpoint Community Center Corporation, paving the way for the nonprofit to utilize an empty parcel at the fairgrounds for the proposed Sandpoint Ice Arena.

“After many meetings between the Fair Board and this group, we feel that this particular parcel would be a great fit,” said Fair Director Darcey Smith, who noted that the project would not impact the county’s budget.

The ice rink is an idea nearly two decades in the making, with the lease serving as a concrete step

forward for the Sandpoint Community Center Corporation, featuring board members Dr. Robert Pierce of North Idaho Animal Hospital, Eric Paull of Washington Trust Bank and Schweitzer CEO Tom Chasse.

Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad commended the commissioners during public discussion for supporting the ice arena project.

“It’s been a long-time need in our community, and I think it’s going to be great for our residents to get some recreational opportunities indoors for the long winters here, and affordably so,” Rognstad said. “I’m here to say that I want to do whatever I can to support it on behalf of the city.”

That support will include a needed rezone in order for the project to move forward, as well

as possible city funding.

Rognstad noted the local option tax, up for a vote on the Nov.

2 ballot, could create “a funding mechanism to be able to contribute to the project.”

A rendering of how the ice arena might look after completion. Courtesy image.

County passes anti-mandate resolution Questions of authority, purpose surround the vote

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff Bonner County commissioners voted unanimously in favor of a resolution Oct. 22 that states the county’s position against mandates — specifically mandated actions related to the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.

The final resolution is the result of two public discussions and one public workshop, kicked off in late August when Commissioner Steve Bradshaw brought forth a lengthy draft meant to declare Bonner County a “Constitutional County.” The resolution has since seen a variety of edits, with commissioners ultimately voting to approve a draft brought forward

by Commissioner Dan McDonald.

“It’s just an example of what can be achieved when the three of us come together as a team and work on a solution,” Bradshaw told the Reader in an Oct. 25 email. “My hat is off to Jeff and Dan for their work and insight on this. Without them it would not have happened. Many thanks to them for their teamwork.”

The final resolution cites the commissioners’ duty under oath to “support and defend” both the U.S. and Idaho constitutions, as

well as their opposition to mandates — those regarding masks and vaccines in particular.

As for masks, county commissioners actually gained authority under Idaho law in the most recent legislative session to either approve or deny recommended mask mandates by health districts. Therefore, the resolution states that the board “will refuse to approve” such mandates if presented.

The resolution also states that the board will oppose other mandates “to the limit of our authority under the law,” including vaccines, as well as restrictions to rights such as free speech, to assemble, to keep and bear arms, and engage in commerce.

McDonald said he arrived at his draft after tailoring Bradshaw’s resolution — borrowed from an Arizona sheriff — to fit the board’s authority.

“Basically, the state Legislature nor the governor would have taken it seriously as it was an overreach of authority for commissioners,” he told the Reader.

“I tried to take out most of the flowery language and just get to the point,” he added, noting that the final draft includes some “additional language” that “came from concerned citizens who

requested some specific language that they had included in a draft they presented.”

Ultimately, McDonald said, the resolution simply reflects the board’s “official opinion and position.”

“It doesn’t have an effect on any other taxing districts or private sector businesses, as that would also constitute a mandate and we are just anti-mandate, especially when it comes to individual rights and people’s own health choices,” he said.

“Those who wish to wear masks and/or get vaccinated enjoy the freedom to do so, and we would never want to do anything that would detrimentally affect their freedoms. The same applies to those who do not want to be forced by the government to wear masks or get the vaccination.”

Commissioner Jeff Connolly has been a consistent dissenting voice in regard to the anti-mandate resolution, dismissing the parts of Bradshaw’s first draft that specifically called out Gov. Brad Little for actions taken during the pandemic.

Connolly saw the resolution

as a “political stunt” by Bradshaw, who is running for Idaho governor in 2022.

Further, Connolly didn’t understand the purpose of preemptively ruling on any and all future mask mandate proposals, seeing as Idaho law now allows county commissioners to vote on health district recommendations.

“I just thought, what are we trying to do here, you know?” Connolly told the Reader on Oct. 25.

“Anyway, as we worked our way

through it, I still had concerns.”

Despite those concerns, Connolly voted in favor of the resolution’s final draft, citing compromise as his guiding principle.

“At some point, when you’ve got complaints about what’s been presented, and there’s changes made, then I guess you have to — you should, anyway — be willing to then sign onto it,” he said. “I’m still not 100% behind it. I think it was a waste of time.”

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NEWS

When, where and how to vote in the Nov. 2 election

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Bonner County voters cast their ballots Tuesday, Nov. 2 at their regular polling locations, which will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. The last day to request absentee ballots passed on Oct. 22, but early voting is open through Friday, Oct. 29, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., at the County Elections Office (1500 Highway 2, Suite 124). Voters may register at the polls or go to voteidaho.gov to register.

Depending on where they live, county residents will have a broad slate of candidates to consider, though many of them running unopposed.

In Sandpoint, eight candidates are vying for three city council seats, while Dover residents will choose between two candidates for mayor and from among four candidates for two seats on the city council. Priest River voters have two mayoral candidates to consider and three council members running unopposed.

In the Lake Pend Oreille School District, two candidates are opposed for a Zone 2 trustee seat, while Zones 3 and 5 are unopposed. In the West Bonner County School District, there are three candidates for Zone 2 and two for Zone 4.

Clark Fork has an unopposed mayoral race, along with two council members also running unopposed. In East Hope, three council candidates are running unopposed, as well as two candidates for the Hope City 6 /

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Council. The Ponderay race will see two council candidates running unopposed.

In addition are a slate of unopposed commission candidates in the Coolin-Cavanaugh Bay, East Priest Lake, Northside, Sam Owen, Spirit Lake, Timberlake and West Pend Oreille fire districts, as well as one unopposed board seat in the Selkirk Recreation District.

Finally, Sandpoint residents will be asked to vote yes or no on a proposed 1% local option sales tax, intended to raise an estimated $13 million over seven years to support the completion of Parks and Recreation Master Plan projects and work on the priority sidewalk network.

For more information on candidates in contested races in Sandpoint, Dover and LPOSD, as well as the 1% LOT ballot measure, find profiles on sandpointreader. com. For a recording of the Oct. 19 candidate forum, hosted by the Reader, Keokee, KRFY 88.5 FM and the Selkirk Association of Realtors — with technical assistance and venue provided by the East Bonner County Library Sandpoint branch — go to bit.ly/ ReaderForum.

For all other election information — including sample ballots, polling places and more — go to bonnercountyid.gov, click on the “Departments’’ menu at the top of the page and select “Elections.” To contact Bonner County Elections directly, call 208255-3631, email elections@bonnercountyid.gov or visit the office at 1500 Highway 2, Suite 124.

Bits ’n’ Pieces From east, west and beyond

East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact.

A recent sampling: If the Build Back Better plan were to include the Ending the Carried Interest Loophole Act, opposed by financial interests, it would raise $63 billion in revenue over 10 years, according to Americans for Tax Fairness. The bill intends to close the loophole that currently allows Wall Street money managers to pay a 20% rate, rather than 37%.

What drives opposition to the original Build Back Better Act, which called for funding via higher taxes on the wealthy who pay low tax rates? According to author and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, CEOs of large corporations, the billionaire class and Wall Street interests have been waging war against the Act — and it’s not just because they don’t want to dodge paying more taxes. Rather, Reich believes wealthy interests find security in creating insecurity for workers, since that creates a workforce that accepts lower pay and less desirable working conditions, resulting in more money for employers. The original Act aimed to provide more security for average citizens via programs like child care and greater access to free education.

When Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., asked “how much is enough?” he wasn’t asking about the 10-year $7.5 trillion Pentagon budget. Rather, he was asking about the Build Back Better’s 10-year $3.5 trillion figure, that he and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., want to slash.

In a MarketWatch opinion piece, National Priorities Project Director Lindsay Koshgarian, of the Institute for Policy Studies, pointed out that the issue is not spending, it’s priorities. A 2019 IPS study found that the $350 billion in fat could be cut from the Pentagon budget annually and still keep the U.S. “as safe as ever.” Looking at that study today indicates those funds could instead fund BBB without resorting to taxation on the rich, which conservatives oppose. Manchin and Sinema voted against a 10% Pentagon cut in September.

Mix-and-match COVID-19 vaccines are now endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meaning it’s OK to receive a different booster shot from the original brand administered.

Former-President Donald Trump’s second attempt to create a “media powerhouse” met with defeat after being hacked and then crashing, The Washington Post reported. Called Truth Social, the site called what Twitter calls a “tweet”

By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist

a “truth.” Rules on the “free speech” platform included no disparaging remarks about “us and/or the site.”

Last week Senate Republicans blocked voting, via filibuster, on the Freedom to Vote Act. It had been pared down to what Manchin believed would attract the necessary 10 Republican votes, but even discussion was blocked by GOPers, according to various news reports. The Act would have allowed same-day voter registration, limitations on culling voters, two weeks for early voting, voting by mail, creating a paper trail for ballots, requiring transparency in political advertising, protection of election officials from attack, prohibition of partisan gerrymandering, stopping plans for lawmakers to overthrow election results they don’t like, and making Election Day a holiday.

An overview of rigged voting from Mother Jones: 19 states have passed 33 laws restricting voting; the majority of today’s Supreme Court justices were nominated by presidents who lost the popular vote; out of 160 million voters in 2020, only 16 face criminal charges for voter fraud; and, currently, power in Congress is evenly split, despite Democrats representing 42 million more people than Republicans.

Internal emails and text messages obtained by Politico show new election laws were not intended to address voter fraud; rather, they were designed to gain a partisan advantage for the GOP. Blast from the past: Could eating rye, infected with the hallucinogenic ergot fungus, be the true cause of the accusations that resulted in the Salem witch trials of 1692? Just-right weather conditions foster the growth on rye of ergot, which creates a natural form of LSD and causes symptoms that include severe hallucinations, delusions and loss of motor control.

The author of Poisons of the Past: Molds, Epidemics and History, historian Mary Kilbourne Motassian, wrote that symptoms of “bewitchment” are similar to the central nervous system disorder caused by ergotism: spasms, seizures, face and eye contractions, hallucinations and panic attacks. Rather than a bizarre mass psychosis at play, the missing ingredient was modern scientific knowledge of preventing ergot.

That, combined with the Biblical directive “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,” led to 14 women and five men being hanged, and others who were accused of witchcraft dying in jail. Exonerations of the accused came late — in 2001.

NEWS Legislature will tackle vaccine mandates, ethics complaint in Nov. 15 special session

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Statehouse reporters have confirmed that the Idaho Legislature will reconvene Monday, Nov. 15 in Boise, specifically to take up federal COVID-19 vaccine and testing requirements and make a ruling on the ethics complaint and recommended censure leveled in August against Rep. Priscilla Giddings, R-White Bird.

First reported by Idaho Press reporter Betsy Russell and confirmed by the Idaho Capitol Sun on Oct. 25, the special session comes five months after the longest Idaho legislative session in history and less than three months before the body will reconvene for its regular session on Jan. 10, 2022.

Technically, however, the 2021 session never really ended, as the Idaho House voted to go into a long recess, with the option to reconvene before Dec. 31. The Senate, meanwhile, adjourned sine die on May 12.

Since then, several lawmakers on the far rightwing of the Idaho GOP have been busy trying to lay the groundwork for a legislative reckoning with the COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandates for large employers handed down by the Biden White House.

In September, a number of lawmakers, including Giddings and Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, gathered at the Capitol in a failed attempt to establish a quorum in order to consider legislation blocking implementation of the federal rules.

Rep. Sage Dixon, R-Ponderay, also made an ap-

pearance in Boise in September, though as an “observer,” he said at the time. Dixon is a member of the Interim Committee on Federalism, which voted earlier this month to recommend reconvening the Legislature to vote on a bill from Sen. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, that would charge state or local Idaho government employees with a misdemeanor for acting to put in place the federal vaccine and testing requirements.

In an Oct. 5 press release, House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, said Vick’s draft bill has enough support in both chambers of the Legislature to warrant a special session.

The other item on the agenda is the recommended censure and committee removal of Giddings for inappropriate and unbecoming conduct stemming from a Facebook post she made this past spring that revealed the name and photo of a teenage legislative staffer who alleged that former-Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger, R-Lewiston, had raped her. Von Ehlinger has since resigned and was arrested Oct. 8 on two felony charges. According to reports, his preliminary hearing is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 29.

The House Ethics Committee, chaired by Dixon, voted in favor of the complaint, which had been signed by 17 Republicans and eight Democrats, recommending censure and Giddings be removed from the House Commerce and Human Resources Committee. She would retain her seats on the Agricultural Affairs and Joint Finance-Appropriations committees.

Open Enrollment for 2022 health insurance begins Nov. 1

By Reader Staff Idahoans who do not have insurance coverage through their employer and don’t qualify for Medicaid or Medicare can enroll in 2022 medical and dental coverage through Your Health Idaho, the state’s health insurance exchange, beginning Monday, Nov. 1.

Your Health Idaho will include two new insurance carriers during this open enrollment period: Molina Healthcare of Idaho and EMI Health will offer plans on the exchange for the first time.

“This is an exciting year for Your Health Idaho and our customers,” stated Your Health Idaho Executive Director Pat Kelly. “Not only do we have two new insurance carriers and a record number of plans, but Idahoans are also seeing more savings than ever before thanks to the enhanced subsidies that are only available through Your Health Idaho.”

Plans and prices for 2022 are available at yourhealthidaho.org.

Many Idahoans who were not previously eligible may now qualify

for a tax credit, which acts like an instant discount, and significantly lowers monthly premium payments.

The credits, also known as “enhanced subsidies,” have been in place since March 2021.

“If you weren’t eligible in previous years, it’s time to check again,” Kelly stated.

The open enrollment period ends Dec. 15, but Your Health Idaho officials urge Idahoans not to wait until the last minute to apply — especially this year.

According to Kelly, “Your Health Idaho is not immune to the current labor shortages and customers could see longer wait times with the increased demand.”

For Idahoans who are unsure about how to enroll or determine if they qualify for a tax credit, Your Health Idaho recommends working with an exchange-certified insurance agent or broker, whose services are offered free of charge. Find a list of certified agents and brokers at yourhealthidaho.org/ find-help.

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Go vote and vote for Suppiger for LPOSD board…

Bouquets: GUEST SUBMISSION:

• “Bob Loosemore from Trader’s is a Habitat for Humanity ReStore angel! He donated doors and a forklift to the local store on Baldy Park Road. I’m beyond ecstatic. Thank you!”

— By Ellen Weissman • A Bouquet goes out to the Department of Justice for their recent announcement of a suit filed to recover the $9.9 million fine they assessed to the racist robocaller Scott Rhodes, who allegedly plagued this community and this newspaper for years with his garbage. In this day and age, accountability is a rare thing.

People do terrible things over and over again and usually face little to no consequences for their actions. Rhodes targeted this newspaper, our advertisers and me personally, simply because he didn’t like that we reported on his actions in our community. Because the Reader first identified him, that reporting led to countless news stories from national outlets. He apparently didn’t like that, because he harassed us for more than three years afterward. He mounted a nationwide hate campaign and terrorized numerous communities across the country until the FCC finally caught up with him and assessed a fine of almost $10 million for his actions. This is only the tip of the iceberg for Rhodes’ actions, but it’s enough to feel justice.

Barbs: • I’d like to introduce a piece of technology that has been around for over 100 years: The turn signal. Give it a shot, folks.

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Dear editor, Lake Pend Oreille School District is known throughout the state of Idaho as a leader in student achievement, graduation rate, Go On rate and innovation. This has not always been the case and the transition to success for LPOSD is due to passionate and committed citizens such as Gary Suppiger.

Gary is the current Zone 2 LPOSD board trustee, and our school district and students are fortunate Gary is running for another term. I have known Gary Suppiger for 20+ years and I’ve witnessed his investment in his family, our community and specifically the fifth-grade math program at Sagle Elementary School.

Please recognize this is a voluntary position that he’s championed since our children attended Sagle. We both have children that attended Sagle, graduated SHS, have college degrees and they’re all responsible young adults working in their respective career/degree fields.

Gary Suppiger is honest, critical thinking and invested in the future success of LPOSD students and he is clearly deserving of your vote Nov. 2.

While I do not live in Zone 2, I certainly encourage those voters that do to: A) please go vote and B) please cast your vote for Gary Suppiger.

A vote for Gary Suppiger is a vote for continued success for our future leaders, our community and the young adults that will benefit from his leadership.

Kendon Perry Sagle

Hold City Hall accountable on wastewater plant, LOT… Dear editor, In the last week or so the city withdrew a solicitation for wastewater treatment plant RFQ. In that document the price tag on the plant was listed as two different amounts but all in the ballpark of $50 million-$90 million.

At the City Council meeting on Oct. 20, 2021, agenda items included a water and sewer rate study and hiring of bond counsel for the wastewater treatment plant changes.

The usual order of things is to have a public vote on a bond and then get bond counsel — I could be wrong on that.

In any event, I wonder if the city is seeking to circumvent the citizen voting process on the bond and instead use what is called

judicial confirmation for approval of the bond amount based on it being a usual and ordinary expense. This is going to be a huge amount and have dramatic influences on sewer rates — even if grant money is secured or even available.

On another issue it seems “someone” has influenced the scope of work of the Parks Master Plan.

Interesting. Who is the city listening to? By the way, vote “no” on the 1% local option sales tax and by doing so ask the city to run another LOT election that reflects the actual needs of the city — not a remodeling project for parks and a paltry amount for sidewalk infrastructure.

Carrie Logan Sandpoint

Editor’s note: Carrie Logan is a former member of the Sandpoint Planning and Zoning Commission, City Council and served as Sandpoint mayor.

Support Suppiger’s continued service to local schools...

Dear editor, Gary Suppiger is an exemplary advocate for public education. He works to assure that every child has the opportunity and program that best fits their interests and needs. One size does not fit all.

I trust and admire Gary’s commitment to our community and his leadership in the Lake Pend Oreille School District. I trust Gary to be a good steward of our tax dollars. I admire his respect and support of classroom teachers. Gary listens, values input and seeks to balance the diverse needs in our community.

This year it is important to vote and support Gary Suppiger’s continued service on our school board.

Anne Bagby Elementary school principal (ret.)

Sandpoint

Peters will preserve values, defend liberties as LPOSD trustee…

Dear editor, For those south of Sandpoint in the Lake Pend Oreille School District, we have an opportunity to vote in a trustee who will be responsible with your tax dollars, who will encourage parental involvement in their child’s education, and who will work to keep and improve the Trades programs without increasing your taxes and making sure to reassess existing levies.

He has creative ideas and understands the challenges of hiring and

keeping good teachers and administrators. He will be a voice of reason on the school board. He will work to preserve our community’s values and defend our liberties.

A vote for Jalon Peters is a vote for what this school district needs.

Please vote early or on November 2nd for Jalon Peters, LPOSD trustee. Thank you!

Kristen Dodd Parent and taxpayer Sandpoint

Vote Gary Suppiger…

Dear editor, I have known Gary for 20 years as a friend, neighbor and father of my daughter’s best childhood friend. He has always been 100% for children’s education. He is the father of three. Each of his children were valedictorian of their class for their graduation year. Gary has volunteered his time for over 17 years in schools in many different capacities. He works with children individually and as a group. He was involved with Mars Rover projects, was a Boy Scout leader, prepared students for the Idaho State Forestry competition in Careywood, and implemented a water and wildlife education program for the students at Southside Elementary.

He volunteers at Sagle Elementary twice a week. Gary is in the building and able to speak one on one with teachers, principal, staff, parents and students. He regularly attends LPOSD sporting events and other extracurricular activities. I have never known anybody who has been more devoted with the best interests and academic growth of our children in this community. Do you?

Serving as a trustee in Lake Pend Oreille School District Zone 2, has been a perfect fit for him and this community. Gary is the best candidate. Vote Gary Suppiger.

Jeri Peterson Cocolalla

Continue success for LPOSD, vote Suppiger…

Dear editor, The editorial pages of our local newspapers have been full of testimonies about the positive influence Gary Suppiger, incumbent for LPOSD Zone 2 school board member, has had with adults and children in our community. The past four years have seen Gary continue his tutoring math at Sagle Elementary two times a week while running his business and attending school board

meetings. He remains committed in his pursuits to improve the quality of education at all our public schools: study and know Idaho state laws surrounding education, keep the district business and curriculum transparent, and attain these pursuits through conservative spending with accountability.

Most importantly, Gary Suppiger cares about each student in our district. He cares about their future beyond K-12. He wants every child to be successful, to have every opportunity to excel. He is committed to the continuation of full-day kindergarten, homeschool programs, career vocational programs, after-school learning opportunities as well as extracurricular and advanced placement classes.

We are so fortunate to have Gary on board in our Lake Pend Oreille School District. Keep continued success available to our many wonderful school staff and students. Please vote for Gary Suppiger, school board Zone 2 Nov. 2.

Julie Reister-Keaton Sandpoint

Welker will bring balance, experience to Sandpoint City Council…

Dear editor, For a more balanced city council we don’t need another businessman, we need Jason Welker, who I believe respects our values and wants to protect what we love most about Sandpoint. He values a healthy lifestyle, the quality of our waterways, and responsible growth and development. His experience and actions support this. Jason has worked successfully with local entities, both as a volunteer and executive director of the Pend Oreille Pedalers, to expand hiking and biking trails throughout the community, providing recreational opportunities. In 2020 Jason was unanimously selected by fellow commissioners as the Planning and Zoning Commission chairman. After listening to citizen concerns about a recent proposal to amend city code to eliminate a 25-foot setback for downtown development along Sand Creek, Welker directed city staff to rewrite the amendment to require developers to seek a conditional use permit for structures built within 25 feet of Sand Creek, thus protecting its water quality. He then requested the city hold workshops to re-engage the public in any major updates of the 2009 Comprehensive Plan.

Concerned about growth and development in the Sandpoint area, Welker also voted in 2020 to recom-

< see LETTERS, Page 9 >

< LETTERS, con’t from Page 8 > mend that the City Council reject the University Place subdivision proposal for the former U of I property on the grounds that it did not live up to the Comprehensive Plan.

According to Welker, “The future envisioned by the 2009 Comprehensive Plan is here. If we don’t start insisting that developers respect the vision of the plan and build according to the city codes that were adopted to fulfill that vision, we will never achieve housing that people who actually work here can afford.”

He is an effective communicator and experienced in economics.

Please vote for Welker for Sandpoint City Council, where he would be a valuable asset to our community.

Pam Duquette Sandpoint

Support Suppiger’s commonsense approach at LPOSD… Dear editor, I believe the foundation of a community’s well-being is the opportunity it provides for its children to receive a quality public education. Kindergarten through high school the effort and investment we make in our next generation will pay us back dividends 10-fold. l do believe it is necessary to invest in educating our children, but the investments should be made with prudence, accountability, transparency and results.

For many years I have quietly admired Gary Suppiger’s willingness to help us in our community with the challenges faced by public education today with his experience and common sense approach.

We have all read of Gary’s commitment to helping our school children with his own time and dedication and his willingness to walk the talk. It is a very very easy decision for me to vote to keep Gary Suppiger on the LPOSD board of trustees.

Tom Gibson Sandpoint

No transparency or accountability with local option tax…

Dear editor, When the previous, five-year local option tax expired last December, we suspected it would be only a matter of time before a new one would surface. Less than a year later, here we are.

As in 2015, Mayor Rognstad rushed this tax proposal through at record speed. Some council members voiced concerns about why now, and why so fast? The mayor and city administrator were ready with an answer: get in line for more

federal funds, fight COVID and improve mental health. In other words, digging deep to find something, anything, to justify a $13 million tax for the next seven years and hoping people will buy it. Disappointingly, the council caved.

According to the ballot, this expenditure is for Parks and Recreation projects, with sidewalk improvements seemingly thrown in as an afterthought and making up less than 10% of the total cost. The ballot language of “including but not limited to (in no priority order)” regarding the intended projects leaves the door wide open to whatever else the council and mayor want to spend these funds on during the next seven years. There is no transparency and accountability.

We saw this with the last LOT. For instance, no one informed the citizens, before or after the vote, that 30 healthy, mature trees would be removed from Memorial Field to build bleachers of a size more enormous than anyone had expected. A lame apology by the Parks and Rec. director followed.

What surprises await us if this tax passes?

We need clarity and accountability. Vote against this tax.

Louis F. Perry Sandpoint

Suppiger is the best candidate for the future of LPOSD Dear editor, I have served on the Lake Pend Oreille School District board for the past four years with Gary. As such, I can attest that he has the knowledge, experience and commitment to public education to bring our school district to even higher levels of achievement.

Therefore, I strongly support his reelection for another term.

Gary was involved in our schools long before he became a trustee.

He was a volunteer as a math club coach for many years at Sagle Elementary School, and has three children who attended K-12 schools here. He cares about ensuring every student has the opportunity to reach his or her potential. Although there is always room for improvement, I think the district is moving in the right direction.

Gary weathered the challenges of the past 4 years, I think he is the best candidate to meet what lies ahead.

Vote for Gary Suppiger for LPOSD Trustee (Zone 2) on Nov. 2, 2021.

Cary Kelly Sandpoint

LOT should fund necessary transportation solutions…

Dear editor, Sandpoint is asking that voters continue the 1% sales tax LOT to fund parks projects and sidewalk construction. The city has said that the money raised by the 1% tax could be used as matching funds to vie for infrastructure dollars in a current bill before Congress.

Parks and sidewalks will not compete well against interstate bridges, port expansion, mass transit, tunnels, airports, water and wastewater infrastructure.

Vital infrastructure will soak up the infrastructure bill’s funding. Parks and sidewalks are items that, given political will, can be funded locally.

I propose that the LOT be used to fund a solution to the transportation mess at Baldy Road/Boyer Avenue/ Burlington Northern Railway. A project to construct a grade separation (over/under pass) between vehicles and the railroad could compete very well for infrastructure funding and would be nearly impossible to fund with only local funds.

Police, fire and EMS would be able to access the north part of the city 24/7; Freight, industrial traffic and school buses would benefit; As housing growth continues north of Baldy Mountain Road (U of I property development and others), less congestion would occur; A plan has already been developed to jump start the project.

To begin work on this transportation solution voters must reject this version of the LOT, and vote “no,” in November.

Contact your city councilperson and let them know that necessary transportation solutions are a better use of LOT funds.

Kody Van Dyk Sandpoint

Editor’s note: Kody Van Dyk served as Sandpoint Public Works director from 1990 until his retirement in 2016.

Much misinformation from Suppiger...

Dear editor, Examining the website of Gary Suppiger, who is running for a second term on the LPOSD school board [Zone 2], I found a number of discrepancies in his statements, easily identified with minimal research. Here are some of the glaring examples: • His website unequivocally states, “I do not support a mask mandate in our schools.”

• His track record proves the opposite: Time and again he voted for an LPOSD mask mandate. Last year, it was in the unanimous vote of the board of trustees to impose the original mandate, followed by at least one other unanimous vote when parents wished to have their children exempted. Then, in March of 2021, he was one of two trustees who voted to keep the mandate but was overruled by the board majority.

• Also on his website, he claims the state of Idaho spends $7,500 per student annually. Fact: U.S. Census data from May 2021 shows it to be $7,985. Another fact: LPOSD itself, as of May 2020, already spent far more, $9,016 per student, and that was before several million dollars of federal funds arrived, more than $2 million of which could be spent or saved at the discretion of LPOSD. Provably false statements do not inspire trust. Can we believe other statements Suppiger makes on his website, such as being against a vaccine mandate and teaching critical race theory?

My vote will go to his opponent, Jalon Peters. I know him personally, and I know him to be trustworthy.

Anita Perry Sandpoint

We want a voice…

Dear editor, I appreciate the localness of the Reader, you guys are always available and I commend you on the excellent job on the meet-the-candidates night at the library.

Gary Suppiger is the incumbent for Zone 2 for the LPOSD board of trustees. He works with kids, tutoring math. Commendable.

Gary also voted twice to mandate masks on your kids in the schools. He has accused his opponent of wanting to put cameras in the classroom; last year Gary put cameras in your home for class via Zoom. He said the school has great internet security and that any unwanted material (social media, games, pornography) your children get on the school Chromebooks is from your child’s cellphone, blaming the parents. I bet any parent could ask their child to show them how to access these sites using the schools internet and Chromebook.

Gary is a pretty nice guy. I think the school district should hire him.

He doesn’t say “no” to them that often. Any suggestion by the superintendent, the board of trustees always votes unanimously in favor of. He’s a pretty nice guy.

But I would vote for Jalon Peters. The school board trustees are

elected by the people to be a check and balance to the school district.

Gary always tells them “yes.”

Steven McKnight Sandpoint

Peters will give parents primary say…

Dear editor, I am writing because I support Jalon Peters running for school board.

Jalon Peters is a hard-working, honest man, filled with integrity and love of family and country. He cares about the families and children in the school district. He believes parents have the primary say in their children’s education and medical decisions. He stands against teaching children corrosive ideas. Sincerely, Kathryn Barlow Sandpoint

Local option tax: Not right now…

Dear editor, The local option tax of 1% for seven years is a totally inappropriate use of our taxpayer finances at this difficult time. The $13 million to be raised will go into city accounts, while the personal budgets of many taxpayers are already as lean as possible.

Burdened by business closures, job losses, record high housing prices and rampant inflation, everyone’s income takes a hit if this newly finished 2020 Sandpoint Parks and Recreation Master Plan becomes a reality.

Although worthy in a better economy, the recreation-centered plan for more parks, trails and waterfront projects is, right now, a luxury. It does not, right now, justify taxpayers squeezing more money from their budget.

In addition, as usual, more money is asked for than is needed. On the ballot projects list are the words “included but not limited to.” Seems like a parks project plus slush fund for whatever the mayor/council wants.

Isn’t it time we stop the government from raiding our bank accounts for unspecified boondoggles?

Backers of the tax cite the possibility of more federal funds if we approve this local tax. These, of course, would also go into city coffers. This is a hard time for many, and the government needs to tighten its belt to produce leaner budgets the same way taxpayers have been doing for a very long time.

We were not told the full truth about the previous local option tax pushed through by this mayor. Let’s not be fooled again.

Joanna Fuchs Sandpoint October 28, 2021 /

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PERSPECTIVES Mayor’s Roundtable:

Local option tax is meant to bring fiscal balance

added a non-motorized boat launch as well as landscape Next Tuesday, Nov. 2, and access improveSandpoint voters have the ments. The new field opportunity to weigh in on now gets five times Sandpoint’s 1% local option as much play as tax (LOT). This tax, like the original, imthe one passed by Ponderay proving playability voters last year, is a 1% tax throughout the year on all sales in the city of and creating more Sandpoint. access for more user It is modeled closely groups. after the 1% LOT that was Improvements to Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad. approved by 73% of Sandparks infrastructure, point voters in 2015 for improvements along with all city services, are borne at War Memorial Field. The tax raised by property owners within the city. In$7 million over five years and expired frastructure is expensive, and it is used in 2020. The city used those tax dollars by everyone who comes to Sandpoint, to leverage another $700,000 in grant including county residents, residents funding and fulfilled its commitment of neighboring cities, and visitors from to voters rebuilding the grandstands a neighboring county or state. Many and replacing the field. The project was people who call Sandpoint home live completed on time and under budget. outside of city limits yet still work, With the additional funding, the city shop and recreate in Sandpoint. They added more boat and event parking, use the streets, parks and other city seradded new restrooms at the boat launch, vices. Yet only property owners within city limits pay for those services.

The local option tax was established by the Idaho Legislature to bring fiscal balance and fairness to resort cities that are burdened with providing services for far more people than their tax base can support. The LOT enables non-city residents and visitors to contribute a share of the cost of city services and infrastructure.

We learned from the Memorial Field Tax that for every dollar collected through the LOT, 85 cents comes from non-city residents. This gives residents leverage to make investments in city

By Mayor Shelby Rognstad Reader Contributor

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infrastructure far beyond what would be possible if costs were not shared across all users.

Residents recognize that quality of life is not just about health, access to recreation, open space and mobility.

It is also about economic vitality and resilience. Sandpoint takes pride in the extraordinarily diversified economy, high prevalence of entrepreneurship and good employment opportunities that make this community unique compared to similar rural towns across Idaho. Job creators come here because of the quality of life and amenities that Sandpoint can offer.

The LOT on the ballot next Tuesday, if passed, will raise $13 million over seven years. It will be used to fund implementation of the Parks and Recreation Master Plan that was approved last summer. The Parks Master Plan was the most robust public engagement effort the city has ever undertaken. It included 17 public meetings, a public forum, 67 community stakeholder interviews and 1,200 surveys from citizens.

The top priorities identified in the plan and supported by a follow up public survey in August include City Beach, the downtown waterfront and the sports complex at Travers Park.

The tax collected from the LOT will be used on these priorities. In addition, $200,000 per year will be dedicated to sidewalk improvements, which is five times the city’s current budget. This will enable the city to build 33 blocks of sidewalk a year focused on priority routes to improve walkability and access to important destinations like schools, libraries and parks. There is also some flexibility built into the ballot measure so the city can use funds to purchase additional open space or make other investments in accordance with the Parks Plan.

Please join me for the Mayor’s Roundtable on Friday, Oct. 29 at 4 p.m.

— this time at the Sandpoint Community Hall, 204 S. First Ave., though future Mayor’s Roundtable events will take place at the City Council Chambers in City Hall — to discuss this issue and other topics important to the city of Sandpoint. You can also participate on Zoom here: bit.ly/3pIQ1CT.

PERSPECTIVES

Emily Articulated

A column by and about Millennials

Autumn

By Emily Erickson Reader Columnist

This early fall was the most beautiful I can remember since living in Idaho. Driving down side streets and walking through winding alleys was like entering a kaleidoscope of autumnal colors; a snowglobe of falling leaves with warm, sunny tendrils streaking through the tree limbs or illuminating already vibrant hues. It was the kind of fall that regularly stopped me mid-thought, errand or breath, simply to think, “I’m so grateful to be here, to see this and to feel this way.”

Although heightened this year, most early falls are this way for me. The turn of autumn has a way of reminding me that the experience of wonder can be as simple as taking time to find it, and that rediscovered beauty is often the same thing as a witness of change. But, now, as the rain strips the trees of their leaves and decomposition stakes its claim on once-vibrant piles, we transition to late fall and the second half of my regular autumnal experience.

For me, the space between fading fall and the first blanket of snow is rife with melancholy. I grow lethargic and moody, craving extra cups of coffee and early bedtimes.

Making soup becomes an activity that I stretch for

Emily Erickson.

hours, replacing the mountain runs or beers with friends of warmer times. I cocoon inside oversized sweaters, in pages of novels and in sad, sleepy music about loss and love and nostalgia. I ruminate on the darkness, and how long it will be before enough snow accumulates to teach me once again about the transformative power of play.

The dichotomy inherent in fall and intensity with which it can be felt lends itself to metaphor; with autumnal symbolism present across literature, poetry, music and time. Exploring this symbolism, diving into the ways people have always used it to express the parts of their lives that are hard to describe, makes me feel connected to our shared humanity.

The most obvious symbol in fall is change. Cooler days and less access to sunlight slow the food-making processes in leaves — their vibrant chlorophyll-greens fading to give precedence to the reds, oranges and yel-

lows lying dormant, waiting for their time to shine. This change is like a transition from childhood to adulthood, shedding the pre-programmed ideology of youth to discover the things that are uniquely ours to think and feel and create; like the end of a relationship, the blinding excitement of infatuation fading to reveal the nature of something nearing the end of its course; and like the passing of time only noticed by the physical changes of forehead lines, backaches or children grown.

Fall also symbolizes abundance. We harvest our final crops, pluck apples off of trees bursting with fruit, heave pumpkins out of overgrown patches and literally reap what we have sown. This abundance is like a move into retirement, the time spent toiling in a garden — punching a time clock — nearing its end, with nothing left to do but enjoy the fruits of all that labor. It’s a lesson about delayed gratification, about good things coming to people who put in the time to create them, and about the symbiotic relationship between the forces of nature and the humility of learning to work with them.

Fall symbolizes the act of letting go. The leaves, having transformed from green to red to brown, release their final grip and descend to the soil that they will eventually become a part of. This letting go is knowing that the

end, although not here yet, is coming one day — for all things, for ourselves and for the people we love. It’s a letting go of previous versions of ourselves, of dreams that no longer feel like ours and time that, for better or worse, we can never get back.

Finally, fall is a symbol of balance. It’s a time when there are equal parts light and dark,

and for every hour of day lost to longer nights, there is an opportunity to cherish the time we still have under the sun.

Emily Erickson is a writer and business owner with an affinity for black coffee and playing in the mountains.

Connect with her online at www.bigbluehat.studio.

Retroactive

By BO

October 28, 2021 /

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Mad about Science:

Brought to you by:

ouija boards

By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist Today’s spooky topic, in celebration of All Hallow’s Eve, was provided by Reader Publisher Ben Olson.

“I was just remembering the other day about the Ouija board we used to have as kids. I’m wondering if there is any science behind the board at all — as in, if there are three or four people who ‘swear they aren’t moving it,’ is there some kind of subconscious effort... or is it like birds migrating, how they instinctively follow the bird next to them”?

Thanks, Ben! The Ouija board is a creation with a long and mysterious history — its sole purpose being to host a seance from the comfort of your own home without the need for a medium.

The board’s function is simple: It’s a flat piece of wood or cardboard with letters, numbers and the words “Yes,” “No” and “Goodbye,” as well as a planchette — a triangular piece of wood or plastic that has a hole cut from center that’s used to show which portion of the board is being highlighted to the users.

Aside from the materials used to make Ouija boards, not much has changed since the first board was patented in 1891. As with all plastic and cardboard items, there isn’t really anything mystical or otherworldly about the Ouija board, but that doesn’t change the fact that human beings have always attached a certain level of mysticism and fearfulness to the device.

It all began with its patenting. As legend has it, the patent 12 /

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officer thought it was ludicrous to award a patent to what was so obviously a hoax item, so he issued the creator, Elijah Bond, a challenge. Use the board to correctly identify the officer’s name and the patent would be granted. Supposedly with the help of a medium, Bond allowed the spirits to guide him in correctly spelling out the name of the shocked patent officer, thus receiving a patent for a device that would go on to feature in every ghost movie from the 1980s onward.

While this might seem to be irrefutable proof of the dark knowledge of The Great Beyond, it’s worth noting that Bond was a patent attorney, and it’s extremely likely that he would have known the patent officer’s name by proxy before approaching him for a patent.

As the saying goes: “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.”

Regardless, is there some science or psychology behind the use of the Ouija board? Is our collective consciousness guiding our hands toward some sort of cosmic doom?

It’s really not that complicated. Most of the time it’s just Becca being a troll and moving the planchette and lying about it. It is, however, not outside the realm of possibility that no one is consciously moving the planchette and everyone is working together to spell out a message.

Interestingly enough, this phenomenon can be reflected in an unexpected place: Led Zeppelin’s 1971 masterpiece Stairway To Heaven.

Supposedly, if you play this song in reverse, there is a por-

tion of the song that conveys Satanic messages. The problem here is that you and five buddies can go in and listen to the same stretch of record separately, then reconvene and have heard something completely different. However, if you all go in after being told there are Satanic messages, you’re all going to come back and say that you’ve heard Satanic messages in the reverse track.

There is some merit to attributing this to the idea of groupthink, a term inspired by author George Orwell’s concept of “doublethink” in 1984 and coined by sociologist William H. Whyte in the early-1950s or psychologist Irving Janis in the early-1970s. No matter, groupthink is a common practice among humans in which individuals put the importance of their status in the social group ahead of their personal beliefs in order to maintain a favorable standing in the group, even if it compromises their ideals.

This is frequently seen in group bullying, and one of the reasons that someone may be the kindest human when you’re one-on-one with them but they’ll repeatedly throw you under the bus in every work meeting they can.

In the case of seeing messages on a Ouija board, it’s a blending of these psychological traits. You’re in a highstress situation, there have generally been some contextual clues floated between group members beforehand (think: when a ghost’s name is spelled out on the board, it’s almost exclusively after the group has already asked that ghost’s name aloud), and no one mem-

ber of the group desires to be perceived as the weakest.

Your brain desires to find patterns in things and, in the absence of a pattern, it will fill in the gaps with contextual clues to create a pattern. Hence finding Satanic messages in reversed records only after being told about the messages, and spelling out names and phrases as a group where everyone has been given the same information.

Really though, it’s just Becca moving the planchette.

Ben’s question was too good to answer fully in one article. The most interesting part of it will have to wait until next week. The psychology and mechanics behind the flocking of birds is completely different from human behaviors, so stay tuned and have a safe and happy Halloween.

Stay spooky, 7B.

Random Corner een?

Don’t know much about hallow • “Jack-o’-lantern” comes from the Irish legend of Stingy Jack.

Legend has it that Stingy Jack invited the devil to have a drink with him, but Jack didn’t want to pay for the drink, so he convinced the devil to turn himself into a coin.

Instead of buying the drink, he pocketed the coin and kept it close to a silver cross in his house to prevent the devil from taking shape again. He promised to let the devil go as long as he would leave Jack alone for a year, and if Jack died the devil wouldn’t claim his soul. After a year, Jack tricked the devil again to leave him alone and, when Jack died, God didn’t want such a conniving person in heaven. The devil, true to his word, would not allow him into hell. Jack was sent off into the night with only a burning coal to light his path. He placed the coal inside a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the earth ever since.

• People in Ireland and Scotland began creating their own “Jack’s lanterns” out of turnips, beets and potatoes. The tradition traveled to the United States along with the immigrants and people began using

We can help!

pumpkins for lanterns since they were native to North America.

• Candy corn, invented in the 1880s, used to be called “chicken feed” and the box was marked with a colorful rooster.

• Trick-or-treating came from “souling,” which can be traced back to the Middle Ages and the rituals of Samhain. It was believed that phantoms walked among the living on the night of Samhain, so people would dress up in costumes to repel the spirits. As the Catholic Church started supplanting pagan festivals with its own holidays, the act of souling became popular and poor children and adults would go doorto-door dressed as spirits accepting food in exchange for prayers.

• Michael Myers’ mask in the 1978 horror film Halloween was actually a William Shatner mask. The movie had such a tight budget, the crew used the cheapest mask they could find: a $2 Star Trek Captain James Kirk mask. They sprayed it white and reshaped the eye holes, making it look creepier.

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

Top row from left to right: A home in Sandpoint turns up the Halloween decorations to 11. Well done!

Photo by Ben Olson; A spooky drawing sent to us from young Fin Olson; a patron at Joe’s Philly Cheesesteaks flips through the Reader while waiting for their lunch. Photo by the crew at Joe’s Philly Cheesesteak.

Bottom row from left to right: Another Sandpoint home goes all out for the Halloween season. This one looks especially spooky after dark. Photo by Ben Olson; A quartet of donkeys get in the Halloween spirit. Photo by Jeanelle Shields.

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NEWS FEATURE

Where are all the workers? Part V Wages are the disease while housing is the symptom

By Zach Hagadone and Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff

This article is the fifth and final piece in an ongoing series during which the Reader has examined various aspects of the labor shortage affecting area employers. Part I was published Sept. 16, Part II on Sept. 23, Part III on Sept. 30 and Part IV on Oct. 14. Find the entire series on sandpointreader.com.

When Danya Rumore looks across the communities of the Mountain West she sees a “probletunity” — that is, a problem and an opportunity posed by the crush of in-migration from high-wage coastal and inland urban centers to rural, amenity-rich areas, including her hometown of Sandpoint.

“It’s a terrible place; no one wants to live there,” she joked at a meeting of the Idaho Chapter of the American Association of Planners, which took place virtually from Oct. 6-8 and drew experts from throughout the state.

Rumore is a professor of law and planning at the University of Utah, director of the Environmental Dispute Resolution Program, and founder and co-director of the Gateway and Natural Amenity Region (GNAR) Initiative. In those capacities, she delivered the keynote address at the recent conference, keying in on “big city problems in small rural towns,” which have only grown more complex amid the upheaval spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic.

GNAR communities have between 150 and 25,000 residents; are located within 10 miles of a national park, state park, national forest, lake, scenic river, ski resort or other such natural amenity; and are further than 15 miles from an urbanized area. Based on that definition, Rumore said there are more than 1,500 GNAR communities nationwide, including 811 incorporated cities and 701 Census-designated places. More 14 /

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than 30% of those communities are in the Mountain West.

“We’re talking about a significant chunk of the Mountain West,” she said, noting that Sandpoint, McCall and Salmon are all considered Idaho GNAR communities, as well as Jackson Hole, Wyo.; Tahoe, Calif.; Park City, Utah; and Moab, Utah.

All of them have been especially vulnerable to sweeping social and economic changes that have been occurring for the past two decades, but proceeded as if on “steroids” over the past 20 months. Quoting from a colleague, Rumore said, “COVID-19 expedited amenity migration to the rural west by 15 years. …

That’s really hard to plan for.”

In her work with the GNAR Initiative, Rumore has conducted extensive research and surveys with designated communities, isolating the top concerns facing them all — top of the list being affordability and availability of housing, and the second being average wages compared to the cost of that housing.

The latter point, she said, is the “leviathan in the room.”

“We need to deal with wealth inequality in this country,” she added, citing the oft-referenced anecdote that even as McDonald’s offers an $18-per-hour wage, it’s still not enough for entry-level workers to afford the average rent in most communities, which can rise into the $2,000 per month range even for one- and two-bedroom rental units.

As employers, government officials, economic development experts, planners and employees themselves fret about the difficulty of securing and retaining workers, the conversation invariably returns to the extreme high cost of housing, but in many instances, attempting to solve the housing issue is an exercise in treating the symptom while ignoring the disease. At its basic level, the problem with the worker shortage starts with historically low wages — especially in amenity-rich

Minimum wage earners such as fast food employees are some of the hardest hit by workforce housing shortages. Courtesy photo.

communities where low-wage tourism and service industries play an outsized economic role.

That’s the problem — the opportunity is capturing tax revenue and intellectual capital. However, in many ways, those places have for years been courting disaster, relying on quality of life to compensate for high rates of poverty, tethering an underpaid workforce to a precarious and ultimately untenable economic position that has been obliterated by a tsunami of out-of-town cash — gobbling up housing and stressing local infrastructure with sudden increased demand, all while continuing to expect services that even in less tumultuous times weren’t adequately supported by local wages.

“Growth is as much a threat or more of a threat to community character and livability as increasing tourism,” Rumore said, later adding, “I honestly think there’s only so much these communities can do if we don’t deal with the fact that [amenity migrants] have so much buying power.”

A high hurdle to address low wages Raising wages in Idaho has long been a toxic political commodity. Workers in the service and retail industries have been

traditionally less well paid but, in the COVID era, seen as increasingly vital to the functioning of the economy as a whole. Regardless, they have suffered the brunt of rising costs for everything from housing to basic commodities and powerful forces from Congress to the Idaho Statehouse have mounted a long-standing opposition to any increase in the minimum wage, predicated in large part on the argument that it would drive employers to insolvency and government into a regulatory quagmire.

“What I want is a rising wage rate for everybody … but the problem with any federal mandate is what’s applicable in one community is not applicable in the other,” Gov. Brad Little said in a press briefing in April. “That’s the problem with a minimum wage — you could have it vary around the state, but the bureaucracy would be more than we can handle.”

Meanwhile, the average Idahoan in 2019 earned almost $10,000 per year less than the national average, and between $15,000$16,000 less than their counterparts in neighboring states. Worse yet, Bonner County residents earn less than the average of their own region in the state, even on the metric of median household income, which in 2019 was pegged

at $50,256 — more than $3,600 less per year than the Northern Region as a whole.

Workers can’t work unless they can afford to live where they work, but they can’t afford to do either if their wages are so low that it doesn’t make sense to do either.

Sen. Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise, floated a bill in the 2021 legislative session that would have raised Idaho’s minimum wage from $7.25 — established in 2009 — to $15 per hour, though by stages through July 2023. The federal minimum wage is $10.95 per hour and due to increase to $11.25 effective Jan. 1, 2022.

Burgoyne’s Senate Bill 1028 died in committee, though he told the Idaho Capitol Sun in May that “it’s long overdue.”

His legislation also would have increased wages for tipped workers, raising them from the current $3.35-per-hour minimum wage to $7.50 by 2023. Those wages haven’t changed since 2007.

While efforts have surfaced in recent years to raise Idaho’s minimum wage, including ballot initiatives and mobilization campaigns like Idahoans for a Fair Wage, other voices around the state have been just as vocal with the opposite intent.

< see WORKERS, Page 15 >

< WORKERS, con’t from Page 14 > Namely, the Idaho Freedom Foundation — a far-right lobbyist group out of Boise — has made its position against raising the minimum wage clear. IFF President Wayne Hoffman, a former newspaper reporter turned libertarian activist who did not reply to the Reader’s request for comment, shared in a 2013 blog post that “the thing that is keeping Idahoans from experiencing the full level of economic opportunity” isn’t the state’s “failure to adopt a higher minimum wage, but the government’s willingness to put in place more and more barriers to economic opportunity” — barriers to starting businesses or entering a trade, according to IFF. More recently, Hoffman signed onto a letter headed up

by D.C.-based conservative advocacy group FreedomWorks urging members of Congress to “reject any increase in the federal minimum wage.” The letter, dated June 23, 2021, drew signatures from two dozen similar special interest groups.

“Whether it be to $11, $15 or any other dollar amount, increasing the federal minimum wage further takes away the freedom of two parties to agree on the value of one’s labor to the other’s product,” the FreedomWorks letter reads. “As a result, employment options are restricted and jobs are lost. Instead, the free market should be left alone to work in the best interest of employers and employees alike.”

As for possible future moves by the Idaho Legislature regarding raising the minimum wage, the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry told the Reader that “it would likely have to come through the initiative process.”

“We believe at IACI that there are so many other issues that we are working toward right now that seem to be more urgent since the marketplace has taken care of providing jobs far above and beyond minimum wage,” said Amos Rothstein, IACI communications director.

IACI is the self-proclaimed “most effective business lobby” in Idaho, representing about 300 of the state’s employers in industries ranging from agriculture to construction to banking.

Rothstein said that many of

IACI’s members have expressed concerns about the worker shortage, which he said can be credited to fear of COVID-19, early retirement, an increase in self-employed folks and the fact that “thousands and thousands of people around the country have become caretakers to children and elderly relatives because they either cannot afford external care or do not like the care options they can choose from.”

That’s one of the aforementioned “other issues” that IACI is working toward solving with public policy: “access to childcare at the workplace, since that can be very cost prohibitive to many people, especially with multiple children, working full-time jobs.”

Further, IACI is “pushing for bringing in more vetted refugees to Idaho and temporary workers on Visa so that they can be a part of the workforce here that desperately needs skilled and dedicated workers to help keep up with demand.”

“We are proud Idaho has been such a good example of integrating refugees in the past and what the future holds for the state in this regard,” Rothstein continued.

For now, this lobbying power isn’t naming a higher minimum wage as a solution for Idaho’s worker shortage.

“Idaho is open for business,” Rothstein said. “Our member companies know that part of keeping a strong and talented workforce is to pay wages that attract people to their companies and allow their employee’s families to live comfortably here in [the] Gem State, even with the uptick in cost of living.”

The case of Creston Close to home but a country away, Creston, British Columbia, is only about an hour and half north by car from Sandpoint.

It exists among the same geographic features as Bonner and Boundary counties, its waters and mountains shared across the international border. It’s also an amenity-rich community that has been “discovered” by an influx of high-wage earning workers who not only bring their fat wallets to the local economy, but don’t necessarily contribute to its workforce while still putting stresses on its housing, infrastructure and wage structures.

“I think it’s all over right now, base of the issue, is the amount of it’s both our countries, and every money in workers’ bank accounts. community in British Columbia is “I don’t think if you just get struggling with it,” said Creston more housing stock it will solve City Councillor Norm Eisler. all the problems,” he said.

“There’s a bit of an exodus from In British Columbia, the big cities minimum is due to $15 per hour “Growth is as much a threat or COVID. — based on We’ve the current more of a threat to community been so exchange rate, character and livability as increaslucky that’s $12.13 ing tourism ... I honestly think out here USD — but there’s only so much these commu- it’s still “noth— even when we nities can do if we don’t deal with ing, when rent were shut is so high,” the fact that [amenity migrants] down Eisler said. have so much buying power.” here I “I percould sonally think — Danya Rumore go for a minimum Founder and co-director of hike and wages need not see to be at least the Gateway and Natural anybody. $20 — that’s Amenity Region Initiative … [But] just getting by people these days,” are discovering it.” he told the Reader, adding later, Though Eisler is only in his “If you can’t afford to pay $15 first term on the Creston Council, an hour, you don’t have a viable he has already grasped many of business model.” the issues facing Creston and how “Fifteen dollars an hour might they resonate with Sandpoint, as be OK if you’re in a server job both communities have been “dis- and you’re making tips. I don’t covered” and subjected to similar think many people are paying just waves of in-migration by high$15 — I don’t think that’s possiwage earning remote workers or ble anymore,” he said, adding that otherwise well-heeled retirees in Creston prevailing wages are in leveraging their wealth to buy up the $20 to $25 range. their own piece of peace and quiet Eisler’s day job is as a masin the rural Inland Empire. sage therapist and he also picked “We are starting to run into up some shifts as a bartender — a problems here because of housing job that ended up paying $38 an because it’s hard for companies to hour: “That’s good money, but it get people to come here because wasn’t life-changing,” he said. they can’t afford to rent a house; Regarding the $15 miniso, unless you’re of means or mum wage in B.C., Eisler said, inter-generational wealth, it’s “I haven’t seen any businesses hard to qualify for a mortgage,” close,” and added that it will take he said. “a whole societal shift around As in Sandpoint, Creston is these issues” to find a measure of grappling with how best to craft balance between workers’ ability ordinances and regulations to to afford to work. encourage affordable housing — “It takes some bravery to do, among them, tax breaks for the and people will react, and you development of worker housing, just have to be brave and do it,” easing restrictions on accessory he said. “The way we look after dwelling units (referred to in Can- the least fortunate among us says ada as “lane-way” or “carriage everything about it.” houses”), increased multi-family housing and fee structures that ‘Pushed out’ would capture capital from develIn her 2021 book, Pushed Out: opers to be then allocated toward Contested Development and Rural supporting affordable housing Gentrification in the U.S. West, projects.

University of Idaho sociology Regardless, “Developers are Professor Ryanne Pilgeram — a going to come in and make a shit- 1999 Sandpoint High School load of money, and they usually graduate — writes of a “new already have a lot of money,” he way” of envisioning economic said, underscoring that, at the development and growth, using

the history of Dover as a mill town-turned-resort community as a case study.

Speaking at the Idaho Chapter of the American Association of Planners conference in early October, she sketched the broad argument of her book, which has quickly become a sensation among planning experts throughout the region: “It’s my belief that in planning communities we have to consider questions like, ‘Where will the people who cut our hair live?

Where will the people who bag our groceries live? What about the people who teach our children?

Where will they recreate and how will we create communities where the lives of all the people in our communities are intersecting in places where we are able to create community instead of creating these sorts of divisions?”

The answer to that question also addresses an explanation of “where are all the workers?”.

They are here, but in ever-fewer numbers — increasingly “pushed out,” as Pilgeram’s book puts it, due to a confluence of low wages that have exposed them to structural wealth inequalities as the commodities being traded in their communities morph from resource extraction to the natural amenities themselves. It’s a boom-bust cycle in which areas of special value are repeatedly exploited in the service of outside profit — whether it be timber, mining, or real estate and resort investment.

Fixing the cyclical problem, or at least evolving out of it, will take political will — whether it be in the area of ordinances and regulations to encourage workforce housing, or structural changes to the prevailing wages in amenity-rich areas like Sandpoint, or listening to more varied voices in the growth and development process. That said, as Pilgeram and others have noted, “We have less political will than in some places to address these issues.”

“People have lived in Idaho for at least 10,000 years and it’s only been in the last 100 years that we’ve been dealing with this intense boom and bust,” she said.

“Maybe that doesn’t have to be our future.”

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COMMUNITY Registration open for Distinguished Young Women of Sandpoint program

By Reader Staff The Distinguished Young Women of Sandpoint program is now open for registration for students graduating in the class of 2023. This national scholarship program inspires girls to develop their full, individual potential through a fun, transformative experience that culminates in a celebratory showcase of their accomplishments.

“It’s truly an amazing program that brings young girls together to put themselves out there, gain confidence and tools to succeed for life after high school, all with potential scholarship opportunities which go beyond our local level,” DYW Sandpoint wrote in a news release.

Registration is now open and DYW Sandpoint is hoping to reach as many young women as possible. There is no application or registration fee to participate.

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The DYW of Sandpoint helps participants make new friendships, learn life skills like interviewing and public speaking, have fun putting on a showcase of your achievements and help pay for college education. The DYW winner is awarded $3,000, with other scholarships also available.

A meet-and-greet event is scheduled for Dec. 8 at 2:15 p.m. at the Sandpoint High School Room C1, where attendees will have a chance to meet last year’s participants and get to know the program through their eyes. Ali Terry, Sandpoint Distinguished Young Women class of 2022 will also be on hand to answer any questions.

To learn more, attend the meet and greet or visit distinguishedyw.org.

Email sandpoint@distinguishedyw.org with any questions.

ART

‘The gift that keeps on giving’ Hope Marketplace Art Co-op to launch Oct. 30, open weekends through Christmas Eve

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff Just as there is beauty in the relationship between the artist and their medium, there is beauty in the relationship formed between artists in the pursuit of sharing their work.

The Hope Marketplace Art Co-op is working hard to foster those relationships this holiday season, as it showcases and provides a vending space for the work of local artists.

“Every community harbors a creative pool. It’s a cultural resource that huddles in a margin,” said Kally Thurman, artist and owner of the building where the co-op will be housed. “The Hope Marketplace has opened its doors to shed some well deserved light on these artists.”

The marketplace will officially launch Saturday, Oct. 30, and be open each Saturday and Sunday through Christmas Eve from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The shop will also be open every day the week leading up to Christmas, and there will be a Winter Solstice celebration on Dec. 21.

To stay up-to-date on the most recent hours of operation and special events and workshops at the Hope Marketplace Art Co-op, find the market on Facebook: facebook.com/HopeMarketplaceArtCoop.

Painting, ceramics, jewelry, wood,

fabric and photography are just a handful of the media slated to populate the space. Among the artists due to be featured at the Hope Marketplace Art Co-op are Tricia Florence, who paints landscapes on metallic surfaces; woodworkers Denny Gorup and Mike Evans; Shellby Young, a children’s book author and painter of Idaho’s wild horses; jeweler and leather worker Reyna Harmon of Rain Tribe Jewelry; Hope-based painter Kathy Gorup; and Daris Judd, painter and Pend Oreille Arts Council 2021 Artist of the Year.

About 20 artists and vendors will participate in the holiday pop-up, with organizers sharing that the enthusiasm for the new venture has been overwhelming.

The result is a selection of goods and creations that the founders of the Hope Marketplace Art Co-op hope the broader community will consider as they begin holiday shopping in the coming weeks.

“Art is the gift that keeps on giving,” Thurman said. “These goods hold the authentic note of the human hand.”

Visit the Hope Marketplace Art Coop starting Saturday, Oct. 30 at 650 Wellington Place in Hope. Those with questions can reach organizers at relumin8ed@gmail.com or message them on the co-op’s Facebook page under “Hope Marketplace Art Co-op.”

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MUSIC MCS Fall Serenade to benefit student scholarships

By Reader Staff There is already a nip in the air outdoors; but, inside, the rooms will be filled with the warmth of classical music when the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint performs its Fall Serenade.

The popular annual event set for 3-5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 14, will feature the talent of MCS teachers, with proceeds benefiting community youths who wish to learn to sing or play an instrument.

This year’s serenade, titled “Autumn Revels in a Musical Villa,” features simultaneous performances throughout the conservatory’s venue at 110 Main St., which will be decked out in autumnal decor and open to the public.

The event includes a raffle of goods and services from a variety of Sandpoint businesses,

as well as a bake sale to raise funds for scholarships. A light reception and no-host wine bar will also be offered. Admission is limited, and tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for students.

MCS Board President Kathi Samuels explained the increased need for scholarships: “It takes years to get ready for the big stage, and we mentor students all the way from beginners to pre-college music majors. At the serenade, our instructors will perform works by the great masters in support of our tuition assistance scholarship programs.

It’s our annual Fall Serenade and we hope music lovers will come and celebrate our cause.”

For more information about the event and/or available lessons at the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint, visit sandpointconservatory.org or call 208-2654444.

November Parks and Rec. programming

By Reader Staff Sandpoint Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces will be offering the following programming in November, with online registration currently open for: Open gym basketball for adults and youth. Offered in partnership between Sandpoint Parks and Recreation and the Lake Pend Oreille School District. Open gym will be held on Sundays at the Sandpoint High School Gym (410 S. Division Ave.) from Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021 to March 13, 2022 (no open gym on Feb. 6, 2022).

Adults play 4:30-6 p.m. and pay a $2 per player fee at the door.

Youth (grades 3-12) play free from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Annual Turkey Trot. Join the Litehouse YMCA and Sandpoint Parks and Recreation Department for Sandpoint’s Annual Turkey

Trot and food drive on Thursday, Nov. 25 at Travers Park (1202 W. Pine St. in Sandpoint). This event is for all ages, it’s low key, untimed and features a 5K, 10K or whatever distance you want to run or walk (no bikes).

Participation in the Turkey Trot is free with a donation to the food bank. Best costume wins a pie. A signed waiver is required (minors need a parent or guardian signature). The event starts at 9 a.m., but arrive early to sign your waiver and drop off your donation for the food bank.

City of Sandpoint Outdoor Shooting Range, located at 113 Turtle Rock Road, is currently open but will close for the season on Monday, Nov. 15. Range hours of operation are available on the Parks and Rec. website on the most currently posted range calendar.

The city of Sandpoint Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces

Department also acts as a clearinghouse to connect the public with other recreational opportunities in the community. Visit the department’s online activity catalog to view listings in this category. Outside organizations and individuals wishing to list their activities are encouraged to contact Parks and Rec. with their program information at recreation@sandpointidaho.gov For Parks and Rec. program registration, shooting range hours of operation and other community programs, visit the Sandpoint Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces website at sandpointidaho.gov/parksrecreation, visit the department’s office at 1123 Lake St., or call 208-263-3613.

Panhandle Health District recommends following CDC guidance: stay home if sick, reduce physical closeness when possible, wear a mask if possible and clean hands often.

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HOLIDAY

Halloween Happenings 2021

Where and when to celebrate — and scare — this weekend

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff Whether your style is spooky or silly, there’s a local shindig for you this Halloween weekend. From kids to kids-at-heart, here’s the scoop:

Friday, Oct. 29 Annual Bonner County Fairgrounds Halloween Party 4203 N. Boyer Ave. 5-9 p.m.

Head out to the Bonner County Fairgrounds to enjoy a night of family fun, including games, a “spooky tunnel,” pumpkin decorating, treats, costume contests and more. As always, this annual event is free.

Hardwood Heart Halloween weekend double-header at Eichardt’s 212 Cedar St.

8-11 p.m.

Mattox Farm Productions presents Missoula, Mont.-based string band Hardwood Heart for a two-night gig series at Eichardt’s Pub for Halloween weekend.

Saturday, Oct. 30 Hickey Farms Fall Festival final day 674 Hickey Road, about seven miles east of Sandpoint 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

Visit this family-friendly farm for u-pick pumpkins, activities, local vendors, food and entertainment. This is the final day that Hickey Farms will be open for the season, and also the day of the Pend Oreille Pedalers’ Crosstoberfest Bike Race.

Costume Party at The Idaho Club 151 Clubhouse Way 5:30 p.m.

Those ages 21 and older are welcome to dress up and party down at The Idaho

Club, where music and mini golf will rule the night. Entry fee is $30 per person and includes food and a specialty cocktail.

Eagles Halloween Party 1511 John Hudon Lane 8 p.m.

Party goers 21 and older are invited to the FOE Eagles Aerie 589 for live music by the Turn-Spit Dogs, a cash-prize costume contest, food and dancing. There is a $5 donation cover charge.

Halloween Dance Party at The Longshot 102 S. Boyer Ave. 8 p.m.

The Longshot will kick off its Halloween dance party with a silent disco — during which dancers wear headphones playing different tunes — followed by a DJ set. Must be 21 or older, and pay a $10 cover charge.

Halloween Party at A&P’s 222 N. First Ave. 8 p.m.-midnight There’s no cover for this Halloween party, though attendees must be 21 or older.

There’s a costume contest on tap with prizes including a cooler and a barrel barbecue, as well as “spooky drink specials all night.”

Hardwood Heart Halloween weekend double-header at Eichardt’s 212 Cedar St. 8-11 p.m.

(See Oct. 29 listing for details)

Sunday, Oct. 31

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Halloween Warming Station at Christ Our Redeemer Lutheran Church 1900 Pine St. 4-8 p.m.

Need a break from chilly, door-to-door trick-or-treating? Hit up the Christ Our Redeemer Church parking lot, where there

will be mac ’n’ cheese, warm drinks and covered seating. Parking is open all evening, warming station until 8 p.m.

Trick-or-Treating at the Museum 611 S. Ella Ave. 4 p.m.

The Bonner County Historical Society and the Sandpoint Lions Club are teaming up for their annual Halloween celebration at Lakeview Park, including trick-or-treating at the museum, cider, popcorn, a spooky photo booth and the chance to embark on a harrowing journey through the Lions Club’s Haunted Woods. This event is free for everyone.

Harvest Party at the Filling Station 108 First Ave., Clark Fork 5:30-7:30 p.m.

For the 21st year, Cabinet Mountain Calvary Chapel hosts its annual Harvest Party in Clark Fork. Though normally held at Clark Fork High School, this year’s event is being moved to the upstairs gymnasium at the Filling Station Youth Center. Known as a “fun and safe alternative to wandering the streets in the cold and dark,” trick-or-treaters of all ages are welcome to dress up and play carnival games. Everyone takes home a bag of candy.

HOLIDAY

Spooky stories

Tales that keep us up at night

Everything is dying, decaying or eroding to some degree all the time, but the present season puts those processes on full display — making the fabric between existence and its alternative seem especially thin. So it is that our imaginations run a little more wild than usual as we wonder exactly what continuum there might be — if any — between those states of being.

In that spirit, so to speak, the Reader staff thought back on a few incidents that either occurred to us or that we heard about, which, if not “scary” in the traditional sense, at least put a few creepy questions in our minds. Happy (or maybe not?) Halloween.

— By Reader Staff

The ring I had a lot of great teachers at Sandpoint High, including typing instructor Brad Judy. This was where I first heard an unsettling story about the woods east of the Green Monarchs.

Judy told me about a strange experience he had a few weeks prior. He and another teacher were hiking near the Kilroy Lakes, a little-known spot east of the lake filled with miles of roadless wilderness. A round trip along the

High Drive takes upwards of three hours, and except for the occasional home on the southern end, there is nothing but tall trees and dense forest for miles in either direction.

A few hours of hiking later, Judy and his friend stumbled upon a clearing in the woods and ducked in to take a closer look.

He said he immediately felt the hair standing up on the back of his neck. Inside the clearing, far away from anyone or anything, there

was a ring of wooden pillars about four feet high, placed at intervals around a large, square slab of rock in the center. It resembled an altar, he said. Each of the pillars had runic symbols carved into them, and at each cardinal direction of the circle, a taller pillar featured large, cherubic faces carved into the wood.

Judy and his friend had no idea what the clearing was used for, so far out in the woods. There was

Pennies from heaven… or hell?

For a week or so each summer between 1996 and 1998 I attended jazz band camp at the University of Idaho Lionel Hampton School of Music, which entailed attending classes and concerts while bunking in one of several dorms at the Moscow campus.

During my last summer of camp I’d been billeted with a couple of guys from Coeur d’Alene whom I’d gotten to know over the years. I seem to remember that we were on the third or fourth floor of some place called Ballard

Drip, drip

My friends and I went through a pretty intense scary story phase around third grade, and this one still makes it into my nightmares — especially since becoming a dog mom.

A teen girl, home alone, sits on her bed reading a trashy magazine.

She hears her dog (I always imagined a goofy labrador retriever) pad into the room. He hops on the bed, she gives him a half-hearted pat on the head, and then he goes

something pagan and unsettling about the circle, though.

When we called b.s. on Judy’s story, he said he’d send some pictures he took later that night, and sure enough, an email appeared containing photographs depicting exactly what he described. To this day, I have never heard of anyone else stumbling upon this clearing in the woods, or to what purpose it may have served, but subsequent research found that

runes were often used by ancient Nordic tribes and apparently were highly venerated and used with “extreme caution” because of their strong divinatory powers. Was this clearing a pagain ritual site, or just a fun art project by someone with a lot of time on their hands?

I’ll never know, and I sure as hell don’t want to find out.

that desk and it was perfectly level. I had heard every one of those three pennies somehow travel 12 or more inches across the desktop to teeter and fall off the edge and onto the floor. There was no other explanation.

and, late one night, sitting around talking. We were clustered toward the center of the room — some of us sitting on chairs, others on the beds.

This was one of those rooms that hadn’t been updated since sometime in the ’60s, which included desk units bolted to the cinder block walls. That detail is important because no one could move those desks. It’s also important because we weren’t sitting anywhere near them.

Anyway, someone had dumped

a little pile of coins from their pocket on one of the desks — the one I was sitting closest to, though with my back to it. As we talked, I remember hearing the distinct sound of a coin clinking on the tiled floor behind me. I registered the sound but didn’t think anything of it, until a few minutes later when I heard it again. I turned to look and saw nothing but the desk, empty except for that little pile of coins, sitting toward the point where the writing surface met the wall — that is, a good foot

from any edge.

I returned to the conversation, still not thinking anything of the sound, until I heard yet another “clink.” This time I whirled around and, glancing at the floor immediately beneath the desk, saw three pennies sitting there.

No one had been behind me at any point. No one had entered the room. No one could have moved

on his way, hopping off the bed to continue patrolling the house.

The phone rings. It’s the girl’s friend from school, calling to gossip about boys and discuss homework.

“Did you see on the news that a murderer escaped from prison a few towns over?” her friend asks.

“No. That’s kind of creepy,” she replies without much thought, continuing to flip through the magazine. She hears her dog enter the room again, and absentmind-

edly let’s him lick her palm over the edge of the bed.

After she hangs up the phone, the girl notices a dripping sound coming from the bathroom — odd, since she has yet to shower this evening. Well, never mind — this article is really good, and she’s almost done with it, anyway. She hears her dog once again make his way across the room. She lets him lick her hand without taking her eyes off the page.

A few minutes later, the drip-

ping sound intensifies.

Reluctantly, the girl abandons her tabloid and heads to the bathroom.

There, hanging in the shower, is her dog — skinned and dripping blood.

It wasn’t him licking her hand after all.

— Ben Olson

— Zach Hagadone

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COMMUNITY

Ponderay Rotary presents new officers

By Reader Staff The Rotary Club of Ponderay Centennial presents its new leadership for the 2021-2022 year.

Newly elected officers include President Kari Saccomanno, Secretary Barb Carver, Membership Tiffany Goodvin, Community Services Yogi Vasquez, and incoming President and Charter Member Marcella Nelson.

JP Carver continues as foundation chair and also acts as an adviser for the Sandpoint High School Interact Club, as well as the RYLA and Mini RYLA youth leadership programs. Barb Carver adds to her secretary responsibilities as an adviser for the Forrest Bird Charter School Interact Club, while Nanci Jenkins continues to lead the International Service and Youth Exchange Programs. Furthermore Saccomanno will serve as

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public relations and treasurer.

Other members include Jim Kane, Kevin Kluender, Whitney Henker, Ryan Robinson, Ryan Wells and Barney Ballard.

“One of my favorite quotes was from Mother Teresa: ‘Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.’ We aren’t a club concerned with gaining notoriety by doing big things; we are about enhancing and improving our community with simple, but vital acts,” said Saccomanno.

Ponderay Centennial Rotary Club is a small group focused on youth, post-secondary education, health and wellness, and helping with immediate community needs that touch those areas.

“Members enjoy the networking, but prefer helping with the hidden needs within our community, preferring little or no fanfare, just action and care,” Saccomanno said, “I love that

about our club.”

For more than a century, Rotary’s people of action have used their passion, energy and intelligence to take action on sustainable projects focused on improving humanity locally and around the world through service, fellowship and friendship.

The club is currently selling raffle tickets for its annual Fall Raffle, featuring a scenic ride for four on a Daher Kodiak plane built in Sandpoint, a Schweitzer Mountain Resort season pass and a three-month pass for two at the Litehouse YMCA. Tickets can be purchased online at ponderayrotaryclub.com or from any member.

In the early spring the club puts on the annual Duck Derby/ Ponderay Days Celebration combined with a Scholarship Drive. The Duck Derby takes place at Schweitzer Mountain Resort during its Spring Fling

Weekend. In addition, the club sells hanging flower baskets that will be available the week before Mother’s Day. The club welcomes new people and or businesses to join and help on its missions to improve the community.

The club generally meets the first three Tuesdays of the month at 7 a.m. To learn more about Ponderay Rotary, email Ponder-

From L-R: President Kari Saccomanno, Foundation Chair JP Carver, Secretary Barb Carver, Kevin Kluender, Marcella Nelson, Ryan Robinson, Membership Chair Tiffany Goodvin, and Service Chair Yogi Vasquez. Not pictured are Nanci Jenkins, Jim Kane, Whitney Henker, Ryan Wells and Honorary Member Barney Ballard. (Courtesy photo)

ayRotaryClub@gmail.com or visit ponderayrotaryclub.com.

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COMMUNITY Primary care provider Christina Rust joins Functional Medicine of Idaho

By Reader Staff Christina Rust, DPT, PT, MCHS, PA-C, has joined Functional Medicine of Idaho, located at 801 Pine St., Suite 2, in Sandpoint. Rust is a certified physician assistant who specializes in non-opioid pain management, nutrition counseling, obesity and weight loss, and healthy aging and longevity.

For more than two decades, Rust has cared for adults in North Idaho, providing physical therapy and primary care for adolescents and adults. Utilizing telemedicine, Rust can now expand primary and functional care to patients living anywhere in Idaho.

“At Functional Medicine of Idaho, we practice medicine that focuses on finding and treating the root cause of illness in order to optimize our patients’ health and radically transform their lives. We believe every person has the potential to achieve wellness, and we are here to partner with our patients to improve their health and enhance their quality of life,” Rust said. “By joining Functional Medicine of Idaho, my patients will now have access to a comprehensive network of functional medicine specialists.”

Rust earned her bachelor’s degree in health sciences from Carroll College

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Christina Rust. Courtesy photo. and her doctor of physical therapy from Creighton University. She went on to attend the Physician Assistant program at the University of Washington MEDEX Northwest and earned her master’s in clinical health sciences. She is licensed to practice medicine in Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

For more information on Rust and Functional Medicine of Idaho, visit the website at funmedidaho.com or contact the office at 208-366-1600 or info@ funmedidaho.com. Those interested in becoming a patient at Functional Medicine of Idaho can find information on the website at funmedidaho.com/ new-patients.

STAGE & SCREEN

Dune :Though The spice must blow long-awaited, this remake is all style, little substance

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

Almost every review of Denis Villeneuve’s much-anticipated Dune adaptation can be summarized thus: There is a long history of failed attempts to bring Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel of the same name to a screen of any size (cue references to Alejandro Jodorowsky’s effort in 1976, David Lynch’s stab at it in 1984 and the SyFy Channel series in 2000, all of which were doomed either by mad surrealism, manic goofiness or made-for-TV corniness); Villeneuve’s version is cinematically gorgeous; everyone is in lust with Timothée Chalamet as the disastrous messiah Paul Atreides and his hot dad Duke Leto, a.k.a. Oscar Isaac; the costumes, interiors and spacey tech are super cool; and you have to see it in the theater or go through a bunch of arcane B.S. with your TV settings to make it look like it’s supposed to.

Oh, and it was supposed to premiere last November but got delayed due to COVID-19, which for some reasons isn’t an issue this year.

Take note of the theme: Dune is an epochal story that never lives up on film to its intrinsic sweep and grandeur, but this endeavor (plagued as it’s been by circumstance) is really, really pretty.

Villeneuve’s vision is indeed very attractive on every level, but its beauty is only slightly more than stillsuit deep — this film is of, by and for production designers.

If you love Dune and its millennia-spanning mythos encompassing galactic politics, deep ecology, religio-technical intrigue and fatalistic terror, the film, released Oct. 21 simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max, will leave you feeling a little cold in the desert.

As a lifelong devotee of

Dune, these are painful words to write. Maybe I didn’t toggle the right settings on my TV or something, but I found myself wandering away from the couch beginning in the first 15 minutes.

The introduction of antagonist Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgaard) brought me back, but even that fizzled in perfunctory mumbling and head rubbing, a la Marlon Brando as Col. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now. Lynch had the sense to make the baron a hideous, disease-riddled grotesque whose interior scheming and vileness spilled over into the obese, pustulating exterior of his body — so pestilentially fat and perverse that it had to be levitated with specially designed technology, in the way of a sci-fi Rascal. (Unpopular opinion: Despite its many flaws, Lynch’s movie is overall closer to the real bonkers nature of Dune than Villeneuve’s gorgeous but curiously flat rendition.)

In Villeneuve’s Dune, even the baron is reasonably good looking, albeit he could lose a few pounds, but the film doesn’t give us much time to think about him — we certainly don’t grasp the true depth of his menace — before Paul (Chalamet) is tested by the top Bene Gesserit reverend mother, in one of the few scenes with actual emotional vigor.

From there it’s a lot of people sexily brooding in their Hugo Boss uniforms and walking to various places while exchanging more perfunctory, clipped dialogue — it’s as if these characters exist solely in service of their surroundings, which is a criticism that holds throughout the film’s astonishingly underutilized two-and-a-half-hour runtime. We are meant to look at this movie, not watch it.

Almost everything is sacrificed in veneration of Dune’s aesthetics, which in Villeneuve’s hands are reminiscent of the otherworldly art of con-

temporary French painter Jean Pierre-Ugarte, whose scenes of abandoned brutalist structures evoke the essential emptiness of this treatment of Herbert’s profoundly human story. It’s a half a kilo of spice in a two-and-ahalf-kilo bag.

Speaking of humans, Josh Brolin gives us a stilted Gurney Halleck, the warrior-troubadour and Atreides’ resident Cassandra — his mien and delivery somehow missing the mark between fierceness and gruff humor — and Jason Momoa is exhausting as Duncan Idaho, in truth one of the most important characters in the Dune universe but reduced by the actor into a buff, grinning bro. Other central personalities like Thufir Hawat and Dr. Yueh, both critical in the book, are cardboard afterthoughts — especially the latter.

Even Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) is portrayed as a mostly helpless, fearful shadow of the powerful, rebellious and passionate prime mover that Herbert intended her to be.

Zendaya as Chani, Paul’s fated lover, hardly bears mentioning, as she mostly exists as a loop of sidelong visions playing out in Paul’s head (true to the story, but hardly compelling viewing).

Meanwhile, the emperor is alluded to but never seen, nor is the Spacing Guild hardly mentioned.

In effect, this pushes aside the majority of the story’s high

political stakes in favor of lavish landscapes and an over-reliance on the immediate members of the Atreides family.

Even then, no actor in the film inhabits their character with anything approaching the complexity or conflict demanded by their roles, except perhaps Chalamet, whose co-star is none other than the planet itself.

All in all, Villeneuve’s Dune appears to have been constructed by people who wanted an opportunity to pad their visual effects and art direction resumes — not who actually care about the material they’re working with.

Courtesy photo from Dune.

We’re told there’s going to be a Part 2, but by the the third act (which includes yet another Momoa-centric fight scene, further punished by Hans Zimmer’s score, and an extended interlude of Paul and Jessica struggling and slogging through the sand), it’s hard to imagine how the remainder of the story will fit within a similarly ponderous paean to form over function. Maybe it’s better that future film adaptations of Dune be swallowed by a sandworm.

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events

October 28 - November 4, 2021

THURSDAY, october 28 FriDAY, october 29

Live concert w/ Okaidja Aforoso POAC Performing Arts Series 7:30pm @ Panida Theater An Afropop singer-songwriter and multi instrumentalist from Ghana, West Africa Mayor’s Roundtable Discussion 4pm @ Sandpoint Community Hall Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

Annual Bonner County Fairgrounds Halloween Party — free entry!

5-9pm @ Bonner Co. Fairgrounds Live Music w/ Devon Wade 6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

STAGE & SCREEN

Vampires, wolves and red flags — oh my!

The Twilight movie series did no favors for millenials navigating love in the 2010s

Live Music w/ Hardwood Heart (Oct. 29-30) 8-11pm @ Eichardt’s Pub A Halloween weekend double-header from this Missoula, Mont.-based string band

SATURDAY, october 30

Live Music w/ Mike Wagoner 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery

Halloween Dance Party at the Longshot 8pm @ The Longshot Join us for a silent disco followed by a DJ set. $10 cover. 21+ Live Music w/ John Firshi 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority

A&P’s Halloween Party 8pm-midnight @ A&P’s Bar and Grill No cover, 21+. Costume contest with prizes, including a Halloween cooloer and a barrel BBQ. Drinks specials all night

Eagles Halloween Party 8pm @ The Eagles Club 21+ Halloween party. Live music by the Turn Spit Dogs. Cash prizes for costumes.

Food, dancing and fun. $5 donation Live Music w/ BTP 6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall

Ethan Murray Fundraiser Race 10am @ Rapid Lightning Arena (6155 Colburn Culver Rd.) This barrel racing event benefits the Ethan Murray Fund, a local nonprofit fighting mental illness, addiction and homelessness in North Idaho. Food and coffee vendors on site. rapidlighteningentries@gmail.com Tervan Halloween Party 8pm @ Tervan Karaoke and costume contest. Giveaways, photo booth, prizes and drink specials

Hickey Farms Harvest Festival final day 10am-5:30pm @ Hickey Farms The Crosstoberfest Bike Race will also take place this weekend at Hickey Farms Costume Party at The Idaho Club 5:30pm @ The Idaho Club 21+ are welcome to dress up and party down. Music and mini golf. $30 entry, includes food and a specialty cocktail

SunDAY, october 31

Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee Meets every Sunday at 9am

Live Music w/ Nights of Neon 9pm-midnight @ 219 Lounge Fun fun fun on Halloween!

Museum / Lions Club Halloween Celebration • 4pm @ Lakeview Park Join the Bonner Co. Historical Society and the Sandpoint Lions Club for the biggest Halloween celebration in town! Trick-or-treat with the Museum starting at 4pm, then enjoy Litehouse apple cider and popcorn, also a spooky photo booth to show off your costumes. Head around the corner and brave your way through the Lions Clubs’s Haunted Woods. This event is free for ghouls and goblins of all ages Harvest Party at the Filling Station • 5:30-7:30 @ Filling Station Youth Center Back for its 21st year, the Cabinet Mountain Calvary Chapel hosts its annual Harvest Party, this year at the Filling Station Youth Center in Clark Fork. All ages welcome

monDAY, November 1

Outdoor Experience Monday Night Group Run – All levels welcome 6pm @ Outdoor Experience Lifetree Cafe • 2pm @ Jalapeño’s Restaurant “Coping with Loss”

Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

ThursDAY, november 4

Keeping up with the Waterkeeper • 5:30-6:30pm @ via Zoom A Zoom event featuring a presentation on wastewater treatment and efforts by LPOW to protect water quality. lpow.org Short Days DARK Nights tap takeover • Nov. 4-7 @ Idaho Pour Authority The biggest, baddest, dark beer tap takeover of the year. Embrace the darness and drink some of the best barrel-aged stouts around until Sunday, Nov. 7 26 /

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Courtesy photo

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff Like many of my millennial counterparts, I experienced a Twilight phase in my early teens. I recall reading the first couple of books, written by Stephenie Meyer in the early mid-2000s; watching the first movie or two immediately upon release; and have maintained a pretty consistent appreciation for the films’ soundtracks, featuring music from Bon Iver, Paramore, Death Cab For Cutie and more.

My piecemeal consumption of the films meant I never experienced Twilight the way that most of the world did — on screen, in succession, with a commitment to see the characters through to the end. Thanks to Netflix, my husband and I recently underwent a Twilight marathon, and it was 10 hours of my life that I will never get back.

I am not here to yuck anyone’s yum.

Sparkly vampires or not, I have no qualms with the fantastical characters of anyone’s beloved fandom. I am a lifelong Harry Potter fan; I can get down with weird worlds.

My beef with the Twilight series is not taste-based, but instead based on my belief that Meyer’s brainchild has set unhealthy romantic expectations for my entire generation.

Reader beware: There are spoilers ahead.

For those unfamiliar, Twilight follows the story of Bella Swan, who moves to quiet, rainy Forks, Wash., for her junior year of high school. Her father is the police chief, and life in Forks is pretty boring — that is, until Bella notices the ever-mysterious Cullen siblings. In a series of mildly dramatic encounters, Bella and Edward Cullen become inextricably connected and emotionally dependent, she figures out that he is a 104-year-old vampire and, suddenly, Bella — who has no personal interests or personality to speak of — is convinced she must also one day be turned into an immortal vampire.

I seem to remember it being a little more convincing in the book, or maybe it was a more sellable romance to my 13-year-old mind. My 25-year-old mind, upon mara-

thoning the films, was less convinced and very exasperated.

“Why would she do that?” I shout as Bella, once again, behaves irrationally in the interest of her flat and underwhelming relationship with Edward. “These characters have absolutely no motivation. I can’t be invested in their actions if I can’t empathize with them as people.”

My husband then kindly reminds me that not every piece of media is meant to be scrutinized by someone with an English degree — a point he makes often, and to which I kindly disagree.

Beyond the one-dimensional love story, we have the abusive nature of nearly every relationship in this damn series. Chief among them are — you guessed it — Edward and Bella.

When Edward reveals his true vampire self, he tells Bella it isn’t safe to be with him, since he finds her intoxicating and might suck her blood.

“I’d rather die than stay away from you,” she replies.

When Edward leaves Forks in the second film and tells Bella he doesn’t want her anymore (to protect her, it turns out), she discovers that she can hallucinate about him when she behaves dangerously. Bella goes cliff diving and nearly drowns, seeing Edward under the water; she crashes a motorcycle, and he appears. Meanwhile, a misunderstanding leads real-life Edward to believe that Bella has died in one of these reckless stunts, so he decides to kill himself.

If this sounds dark and unsettling, especially for a teen novel series, that’s because it is.

We know that popular media influences youth. In rewatching Twilight, I couldn’t help but wonder how many girls settled for an underwhelming and possibly abusive partner thanks to this franchise. The vampires might be imaginary, but the red flags in the main characters’ courtship are real.

I hope the teens of today have better characters to emulate, and those who do see Twilight are well-adjusted enough to be Team Jacob.

STAGE & SCREEN

‘The horror’

By Ben Olson Reader Staff Aficionados of horror movies are a band apart. United under the banner of anything spooky, creepy, gory or unsettling, horror enthusiasts now have a wide variety of subgenres from which to choose when seeking their thrills. Here are a few of the best flicks to fit somewhere beneath the umbrella of horror, broken out by type: Slasher films When most people think of horror films, images of Jason or Freddy gutting some horny teenager with ‘80s hair might first come to mind. The 1970s and ‘80s were rife with these films, scaring the bejesus out of theater goers with entries like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th and Nightmare of Elm Street franchises. Slasher films often make their lasting mark on audiences with graphic violence, lots of fake blood and jump scares that are guaranteed to upset the popcorn bucket. At their best, they are an exploration of the morbid intimacy in the act of killing. Slasher villains are always human, as opposed to supernatural or otherworldly, and it is that human evil that drives them to be so scary.

While many fine installments have opened up this genre in recent years, one of the best I’ve ever seen is one that helped set the stage for decades to come: John Carpenter’s 1978 masterpiece Halloween. Called by many critics “the first full distillation of the American slasher film,” Halloween follows the legend of Michael Myers, a mysterious phantom in a mask who returns to his hometown on Halloween night to stalk and kill high school girls.

Halloween employed the use of the killer’s POV, turning Myers from an unreachable monster into a voyeur, lurking silently in the darkness with inhuman patience before striking.

Psychological thrillers While buckets of blood and ludicrous jump scares define the slasher genre, psy-

Exploring subgenres of horror films

chological thrillers employ the slow burn of a dissolving sense of reality to achieve their goal. Instead of scenes of orchestrated horror, psychological thrillers create an unsettling paranoia with the viewer, culminating in some of the most terrifying films created to date. Honorable mentions include The Shining, Shutter Island, Black Swan and Misery.

One of the best of the genre is the masterpiece Silence of the Lambs, which remains the only horror film ever to win an Oscar for Best Picture (it also won Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay if you’re keeping score).

The story was adapted from Thomas Harris’ 1988 novel featuring Clarice Starling, an eager young FBI trainee hunting a serial killer who skins his female victims.

To catch “Buffalo Bill,” Starling seeks out the advice of the imprisoned Dr. Hannibal Lacter, a brilliant, cosmopolitan psychiatrist serial killer who eats his victims. Regarded by many as one of the most influential films of all times, Silence of the Lambs is a perfect package of psychological horror.

Starling is relatable and vulnerable, with her own demons inside, and Dr. Lecter is an intriguing mix of villain, as the viewer vacillates between feelings of repulsion and an odd sense of affinity for the character Sir Anthony Hopkins immortalized on the silver screen.

Comedy horror Departing from traditional shticks, comedy horror films employ the use of humor to soften the gory edges, culminating in a mix of laughs and frights. Relying on gallows humor throughout, comedy horror films give the audience permission to laugh at their fears, making them more accessible for the weak-hearted horror fans who want to avoid the bad dreams that usually follow a more traditional horror flick.

A few highlights top the list of this genre, including Young Frankenstein, Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, American Psycho and Army of Darkness.

One of my absolute favorites happens to be a campy film called Tremors. Tremors reminds me of a B-monster movie from the 1950s that was locked in a time capsule and updated for 1990, when it was released. The story opens on a small desert town in the Southwest with a pair of handymen who decide to cut out of their boring lives and seek greener pastures, only to be stopped in their tracks by giant subterranean worms they call “graboids” which tunnel under the ground and eat people. The secret to this film is it never takes itself too seriously.

Every scary scene is immediately resolved with humor, and by the end of the film you feel intimacy with the characters as they triumph over the monsters.

Sci-fi horror Sci-fi horror films blend elements of the genre beautifully while set in a science fiction world where the villain is either an alien, a beast of some kind or something not-quite-human.

Some noted entries in this subcategory include Predator, Prometheus, Event Horizon and Pitch Black.

One of the best of the sci-fi horror genre remains the original Ridley Scott blockbuster Alien.

Made in 1979, the special effects in Alien are, to use a bad pun, out of this world. Set on a commercial shipping crew’s spacecraft, this slow burn follows the struggle of the crew to contain an alien lifeform as it literally begins ripping through them one by one.

The terror the audience feels while watching the trapped crew battle with the aliens is smart and effective, creating a sense of confusion as we follow their struggle to survive in the worst possible atmosphere for an alien invasion. The set design, acting and special effects don’t date this film at all, though it’s over 40 years old.

Indie Horror The final category explored here is a bit of a new entry in the lexicon of horror films. Indie horror films often use elements

Scenes from notable horror films. From left to right: Halloween, The Silence of the Lambs, Tremors and Vivarium.

Courtesy photos. of psychological thrillers, science fiction and comedy to create a wholly new way to thrill audiences. Indie horror films, though, are a bit more off-kilter than their more mainstream counterparts. Confusion and disarray dominates the experience, but the best entries use comedy as a foil to make sure audiences aren’t dangling in suspense too long.

A few notable entries are The Lighthouse (one of the strangest movies I’ve seen in years), Bone Tomahawk and Bubba Ho-Tep. The 2019 film Vivarium is certainly among the more unique in this subgenre.

The film follows an average couple on a search for a home to buy. They drive to meet a real estate agent named Martin, who is oddly off-putting to say the least. The actor playing Martin (Jonathan Aris) deserves a special mention for his portrayal of this character.

Martin takes the couple to an eerie suburban development called Yonder filled with identical houses. He shows the house to the couple but disappears, leaving the couple to wander around in confusion until they try to leave — and can’t. They drive around the subdivision in circles, trying to get out and finally run out of gas, forced to stay in the home, where they shortly receive a package containing a baby with instructions to raise it and they’ll be released.

What follows is an hour of constant confusion and magic, watching the couple slowly break from reality as this child — who isn’t really a human child — takes over their lives and breaks them apart.

While viewers may feel more confused than enlightened after watching this film, it’s a delightful break in the genre that is well-acted and explores interesting ideas with style.

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FOOD

‘We’re a food truck again, but inside the restaurant’ Beet and Basil reopens with full bar and take-out only format

By Ben Olson Reader Staff Before it was a popular restaurant on First Avenue, Beet and Basil was created as a food truck, offering world cuisine and fine dining in a fast casual atmosphere. As business exploded from the food truck, it became evident that a brick-and-mortar restaurant was the next step in the evolution of the business, which is when Beet and Basil moved into its current location at the intersection of Pine Street and First Avenue, where it thrived.

However, suffering staffing shortages and supply chain disruptions due to the pandemic — coupled with one of the busiest summers ever witnessed in Sandpoint — owners Jeremy Holzapfel and Jessica Vouk and closed down to regroup at the end of the summer, with the hopes of reformatting the restaurant to fit the unique challenges posed by the times.

After some much-needed rest, husbandand-wife Holzapfel and Vouk took stock of how they could reopen the restaurant

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while maintaining the same level of service and expectations their customers require.

The result is the restaurant reopening with a take-out only format designed to bring fan favorites back to life, as well as offer more opportunities for unique entrees and appetizers that didn’t always see the light of day before.

Beet and Basil will now offer take-out every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with a new menu coming out each week, which customers can either pre-order or come in to order and have a drink at the bar while their food is being prepared.

“We want the menu to be ever-changing so we can keep it exciting as well as deal with item outages that are happening with supply chains,” Holzapfel told the Reader.

“We can make it so the menu doesn’t get flat because it’s a limited menu. That’s what we can do and handle with a smaller crew.”

Holzapfel said every menu will have some of the hits among customers, such as the kung pao cauliflower or chicken vindaloo bowl, but will also feature exciting new creations.

“It keeps it so our customers can look back and say, ‘This week isn’t for us, maybe some other week will be,’” Holzapfel said.

The change of format also allows Vouk, who is the head chef and creator of the menu items, to have more creativity to share new entrees.

The full service bar will remain open Wednesday through Friday, 4-7 p.m., with cocktails, beer and wine for sale for those ordering or waiting for their pre-order.

“Now the convenience is to order a day before, or the day of, and maybe make a meal plan for the week,” Holzapfel said.

“Our customers can pick up food after work, and come in to get a martini or an old-fashioned while they wait for their food.”

Some specialty cocktails will also be available to go each week through the online menu, and each menu will be posted at the beginning of the week on their website (beetandbasil.net), Facebook and Instagram.

Also, if customers would like the menu emailed to them weekly, all they need to do is visit the website to sign up and they’ll receive it in their inbox when the menu is released.

Each week the rotating menu will offer three or four entrees, a couple of handhelds, a couple of appetizers, and a couple of soups and desserts.

“The thing we’ve been really trying to focus on is maintaining inclusivity — shared items, meat dishes, vegan dishes, vegetarian dishes, gluten-free options,” Holzapfel said. “Jessica has been pretty intentional with the menu design.”

Holzapfel said the decision to halt regular restaurant hours at the end of summer was vital, since worker shortages made staffing the restaurant a difficult task every night.

Beet and Basil owners Jeremy Holzapfel, left, and Jessica Vouk, right, back in the kitchen. Photo by Ben Olson.

“We had no staff,” Holzapfel said. “We lost all of our staff and now we’re operating with six of us, which is kind of crazy. We’re a pop-up inside our own restaurant. We’re the food truck again, but inside the restaurant. It’s allowing us to watch and figure out what’s happening in Sandpoint. With us to try and keep going with no staff and not meeting our customers’ expectations was not acceptable for us. With this model we can achieve what our customers expect and we can meet their expectations every time.”

Along with the take-out format, Beet and Basil is available for private parties and events — not just three days a week, either.

“People can call and reserve Christmas parties or private events anytime,” Holzapfel said. “You can do buffet-style, cocktail parties, catered dinners. We can pull together event staff no problem, so these are things we can achieve.”

Holzapfel said the six weeks off was a “fantastic” break.

“It was a really good reset,” he said.

“It’s really hard to make decisions while you’re struggling every day and you’re underwater, getting basic food items out and understaffed every single day. When we stopped and reset, we took ourselves out of the equation and saw what actually could work. That’s why when we stopped we told everyone that it was, ‘To be continued.’ We had to take time to figure that out and take time for what’s best for our family.”

To check out the weekly menu at Beet and Basil, visit beetandbasil.net, where you can order online through their portal.

Menus will also be posted on Facebook and Instagram each week.

MUSIC

Letting the music move him

Okaidja Afroso will kick off the 2021-’22 POAC Performing Arts Series at the Panida

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff Okaidja Afroso writes what he knows.

Born to a musical family in a culturally rich fishing community on the west coast of Ghana, Afroso has built a life of musical creation that celebrates his African roots and aims to bring people around the world together with the power of storytelling and song.

Though his journey as a performer has led him across the globe, his music — sung mostly in his first language, Ga — is largely influenced by the time in his youth he spent working on fishing boats. The fishermen sang a capella songs of the sea, and those songs continue to guide Afroso’s artistic endeavors.

“The stories I tell, everything that comes out of my mouth and also when I’m writing, all kind of circles back to fishermen and my time being around fisherfolks and fishmongers.

“It just seems like if I want to do authentic work,” he added, “then I have to do it from my background.”

Afroso will share that background as he and his trio perform at the Panida Theater on Friday, Oct. 29 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $22, and the doors will open half an hour before the performance.

The show launches the Pend Oreille Arts Council’s 2021-2022 Performing Arts Series.

“Okaidja is such a dynamic performer to kick off our season,” said POAC Director Tone Lund. “We are excited to bring him with his globally acclaimed band to the Panida.”

Aside from being reflections of his creative spirit, Afroso’s work is also an act of preservation.

He said his first language, Ga, is slowly fading away, and he hopes that his work will keep the culture alive in the same way he sees the fishermen of his home village keep the culture alive.

“The best way for me to do that is to sing in my language... because I want my people to hear certain words that are fading away,” he said.

For instance, Afroso said that many people have ceased using

the Ga words for the months in the year, opting instead to say “last month” or “next month.”

“If they hear them in songs,” Afroso said of words that are fading from his native tongue, “then it is a way of preserving a language, and also keeping things that are kind of fading away in songs so that we don’t forget them.”

The intersection of cultural preservation and sheer joy in the process has afforded Afroso a unique and buoyant style, highlighted by intricate guitar picking and energetic percussion work.

Not only are Afroso’s live shows known for both traditional and contemporary African musical offerings, but also dancing. When Afroso dances, it is clear that the music moves through him.

“When I dance, and when I’m singing, I don’t think at all. I feel like everything stops in my head...

It is not something I plan,” he said.

“Dancing brings the true me out, because it was the first thing that I put my energy [into]. I always say my first love was dancing — and I was also very bad at it.”

Through learning to dance, Afroso said he also learned to focus — a skill that would serve him well as he became a self-taught guitarist and percussionist. Now, as a musician, Afroso said he finds himself thinking like a dancer — creating music with drama and strong rhythms to move his listeners.

“The music or the drumming is what shifts the dancer,” he said. “For us, music and dance, or drumming and dancing — they are always together.”

Aside from the music and dancing, Afroso also incorporates an educational element into many of his shows. He lauded groups like POAC, which seek artists with an educational component to their work. As part of his visit to Sandpoint, Afroso will be doing outreach in local schools.

Oftentimes, he said, children think of Africa as one country, rather than the massive and diverse continent that it is.

“I like kids to know that there is more to Africa, because they can learn more if they view it as individual countries,” he said.

“Each country has different lan-

guage, different cultures.

There are over 800 languages on the continent of Africa.

Sometimes someone sees me and asks, ‘Do you speak African?’” he continued with a laugh.

“Even in Ghana we speak 49 languages, so when I go to the north, I don’t know what they say.”

As Afroso’s passion for music and world cultures shines through in his spirited performances, there’s no doubt that the demands of worldwide touring can be grueling at times. However, the artist wouldn’t have it any other way, telling the Reader that performance is the “only thing” he knows — Okaidja Afroso. Photo by Paapa Kwaku Oduro. he sees it as his “calling.”

“I feel like I can also conness we are able to have together, tribute to society — that’s why it just motivates me to want to I’m making it a point to go to keep doing it.” places where I can do educational outreach in communities as well, To learn more about the Okaso that I’m not just coming and idja Afroso and listen to his music, playing at people and leaving,” visit okaidja.com. Tickets cost $22 he said. “Even though it is a lot of and are available at artinsandtravel, whenever I go to a commu- point.org or panida.org. nity and I see how much happi-

This week’s RLW by Ben Olson

READ

Few works of fiction have the gusto and mystique as John Kennedy Toole’s 1980 masterpiece Confederacy of Dunces. Published after Toole’s suicide, this novel has since won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and is now considered a cult classic. The book follows Ignatius J. Reilly, a slothful but oddly appealing 30-year-old living with his mother and interacting with various characters of New Orleans. Reilly’s utter loathing for everyone around him is both humorous and relatable, if not exaggerated. If you haven’t made it through this one yet, you’re in for a treat.

LISTEN

Spotify has some great curated playlists to wade through if you dig deep enough. One that has captured my attention lately is titled “Mellow Moods Classic Reggae.” This playlist contains a selection of early rocksteady and reggae songs that will sound familiar, but chances are you’ve never heard them before. It’s a perfect mixtape for a lazy fall day when the sun is just warm enough to sit in the backyard with a book.

WATCH

Nights of Neon, Oct. 30, 219 Lounge When Nights of Neon is slated to play a night-before-Halloween gig at one of the most poppin’ places in town, things are sure to get funky.

At the intersection of jazz, reggae, soul, hip hop, a little modern sensibility and a whole lot of local flair, there is Nights of Neon — a group known for a full funk sound and the ability to keep the dance floor moving all night long. Combined with the silly, spooky nature of a 219 Lounge Halloween party, this show isn’t one to miss.

Everyone is encouraged to

come on down and “get sweaty in your best getup,” according to the Niner’s Facebook page, in a post that also promises drink specials, flames in the fire pit, “spiders, witches, a sexy nurse” and more. On top of all that, there’s the live music.

What else could you possibly want?

— Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey

Larry David is back. The co-creator of Seinfeld and everyone’s angry uncle, David created a spinoff show called Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2000, and it has run with a few interruptions ever since.

The show has built a following of viewers eager for his unique brand of comedy, which sometimes makes you squirm, other times makes you laugh out loud. It isn’t boring television, to say the least.

Curb is back for its 11th season on HBO Max, and though the characters show their age, the writing is still top notch.

9 p.m.-midnight, FREE, 21+. 219 Lounge, 219 N. First Ave., 208-263-5673, 219.bar.

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BACK OF THE BOOK

On travels with Gigi From Northern Idaho News, Oct. 31, 1916

PRIEST RIVER BRIDGE OPENING CELEBRATED Priest River did herself proud last Saturday in the dedication of the new bridge which the county has just completed there. The celebration consisted of a parade, some adresses, the formal dedication exercises, athletic contests and a dance in the evening.

Many from the surrounding towns of Newport, Laclede, Sandpoint and elsewhere were present to assist in making the celebration a success.

With John Schermerhorn as marshall of the day and Lee Berry as master of ceremonies, the celebration began with a parade in the morning in which there were many autos and the schoolchildren from all the schools.

“Miss Smith, the daughter of L.V. Smith, was crowned queen of the day and after the crowning the key of the bridge was presented to her on behalf of Bonner County.

There was a procession across the bridge where Mayor Hanson made an address, and he was followed by G.H. Martin, who spoke for Mr. Lindsley.

After this the schoolchildren executed a very beautiful folk dance on the bridge and Mr. McBride was introduced as “chairman” of the county board. He corrected the statement, saying that that matter had been settled by the courts.

Mr. McBride reviewed the events that made the construction of the bridge possible, telling the generous work of the citizens who made large contributions toward the work and of the planning.

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By Sandy Compton Reader Columnist I recently traveled around Washington state with Gigi for a few days, all the way out to the ocean and back. Gigi was often the navigator. She gives advice in a calm, clear voice and, most of the time, she knows where she’s going.

When she doesn’t — which isn’t often — she still remains composed and continues giving directions. I, on the other hand, get confused when Gigi and I don’t know where we’re going and, when I’m confused, the last thing I want or need is someone giving me directions — especially if I’m trying to concentrate on driving. What I need is to pull off the road for a bit so I can parse out how to get back on track.

Gigi may not understand this, for she keeps giving direction until I signal that I’ve had enough, and that she should now be quiet for a while and let me — the human in the cab — figure out what small or large thing needs to be done to get back on route. When I hit the “X” on the screen, she immediately shuts up and lets me think. I love Gigi for that.

Gigi is my nickname for Google Girl, the woman who lives inside of the Google Maps app on my cell phone. She does sound more like a woman, but the alliterative value of Google Girl is about three times that of Google Woman. And thinking of her as “GW” would remind me often of our 43rd president, whose reign was not my favorite eight years ever.

Gigi gives helpful hints to navigating places like the SR 18/I-5/I-705/US 99/SR

16 spaghetti plate of multi-layered bridges, on-ramps and off-ramps; multitudinous green signs and yellow signs and flashing orange signs; and merges, entrances and exits. Finally, after the Tacoma Narrows bridge, Gigi says “Follow State Route 16 for 36 miles.” And there is the sweet freedom to just drive in silence for a while.

To Gigi’s infinite credit, in a situation like that, she is priceless. But sometimes, out in the middle of nowhere, Gigi asks me to do something completely stupid.

“In a quarter mile, turn left onto Mudslide Canyon Road,” she says.

The name alone is enough to alert me to possible error on Gigi’s part, and the alarm-yellow sign stating, “Primitive Road.

Travel At Your Own Risk,” confirms it. I admit that I have often driven past those sorts of signs and found magic places — roads leading to good campsites and wild country. They are, dammit, getting rarer.

But you can still find them if you try.

Gigi is not much help in that. She is always trying to get us on the fastest route to wherever I’ve asked help to get to.

Sometimes, she even highlights a section of road on the screen and says something like, “This route is three minutes faster,” as if faster is better; which, regrettably, a large portion of our culture seems to believe.

But I have learned to ignore her in certain situations, and it never seems to hurt her

STR8TS Solution

Sudoku Solution

feelings.

Gigi is an amazing woman. Or automaton. Or whatever. Her navigation skills are incredible, she has a nice voice, she never gets angry or even too excited. She just goes about her job in a pleasant way and becomes quiet when I insist. That she is not human is somewhat regrettable. It would be nice to have someone real in the passenger seat. They might even want to drive sometime, which would work out fine. But we’ll take Gigi along as well.

Sandy Compton’s latest book is The Dog With His Head On Sideways. It’s available at Vanderford’s, DiLuna’s, the Corner Bookstore, the Sanders County Ledger, and online at bluecreekpress.com/books or Amazon.

Crossword Solution

Somebody told me how frightening it was how much topsoil we are losing each year, but I told that story around the campfire and nobody got scared.

Laughing Matter

Faustian

Woorf tdhe Week

By Bill Borders

/FOU-stee-uhn/

[adjective] 1. sacrificing spiritual values for power, knowledge, or material gain.

“The town has struck a Faustian bargain, they contend — trading something of its small-town soul for success.”

Corrections: No flubs, typos, blunders, defects, exaggerations, lies, mistakes, slips of the tongue, gaffes or hornswoggles to note this week.

Take heart, dear readers, there’s always the next edition. —BO

Solution on page 30

CROSSWORD

Copyright www.mirroreyes.com

Solution on page 30

ACROSS 1. Corrupt 6. Velocity 11. Lacquer ingredient 12. Stewardess 15. Savage 16. Charisma 17. Commercials 18. Add water 20. Black gunk 21. Nonclerical 23. Female chickens 24. Young cow 25. Covetousness 26. A very strong lager 27. Way in 28. Flower stalk 29. Nigerian tribesman 30. Runs 31. Insight 34. Low heavy horse carts 36. Atlantic food fish 37. Vitality 41. Anger 42. Extremely 43. Lazily 44. Hats 45. Podium 46. French for “Black” 47. Since 48. Impassioned 51. 56 in Roman numerals 52. Capable of happening 54. Show up 56. Accord

Solution on page 30 57. Corn 58. Be 59. Glowing remnant

DOWN 1. Lush 2. Hard to pin down 3. Mesh 4. Nanny 5. Easter flower 6. Became smaller 7. Verse writers 8. To be, in old Rome 9. French for “Summer” 10. Having toothlike projections

13. Balances 14. Slave 15. Bundles 16. Conceptualize 19. Clothes washer in Asia 22. Percussion instruments 24. Very small northern fish 26. Partiality 27. Governor (abbrev.)

30. Gentlewoman 32. Type of whiskey 33. More bad 34. A tropical lizard 35. Rejoinder

38. Revere 39. A cheap decrepit vehicle 40. Lofty nest 42. Rapscallion 44. Superhero accessory 45. Amounts owed 48. French for Finished or Done 49. What a person is called 50. Streetcar 53. Gender 55. Thorax protector

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