Reader_July13_2017

July 13, 2017 / FREE \ Vol. 14 Issue 28

An interview with

Pink Martini

Point / Counterpoint:

The changing face of health care

2 / R / July 13 2017

(wo)MAN compiled by

Susan Drinkard

READER

on the street

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

How are you adjusting to the newly designed streets in Sandpoint?

www.sandpointreader.com Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com

“I almost ran into someone on Cedar Street the other day because I was unsure if I could turn left.”

Editor: Cameron Rasmusson cameron@sandpointreader.com Zach Hagadone (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus)

Pamela Bush Artist Sandpoint

Advertising: Jodi Taylor Jodi@sandpointreader.com Contributing Artists: Patrick Orton (cover), Susan Drinkard, Cort Gifford, Cameron Rasmusson, Lyndsie Kiebert, Jeremy Rulander.

Contributing Writers: Cameron Rasmusson, Ben Olson, Lyndsie Kiebert, McCalee Cain, Nick Gier, PollyAnna, Christian Rose, Ken Meyers, Brenden Bobby, Jan Sarchio, Jodi Rawson, Dianne Smith, Drake the Dog.

“I ride my bike everywhere.

Sometimes it is confusing when I ride downtown.”

Han Yazhen Chinese college student Sandpoint

Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com Printed weekly at: Griffin Publishing Spokane, Wash.

Subscription Price: $95 per year

“I don’t come to town very often. When I do I am very careful about where I drive — to avoid the downtown area.”

OPEN 11:30 am

GAME ROOM UPSTAIRS

Betty Knight Retired Colburn area “Other than needing a few tweaks, the two-way streets are great. One can, for example, drive east now on Cedar and get the best view of downtown with the Cedar Street Bridge and mountains as a backdrop inviting people. There was a reason for one-way streets and now there is not. We are simply reverting to what was before.”

Stephen Drinkard Id. Dept. of Lands Grant writer Sandpoint “Mixed feelings. The threeway yields are crazy. Other than that, it’s okay.”

Rose Olson Food production manager Sagle

LIVE MUSIC Open Mic Night w/

KEVIN DORIN 6-8pm

RON GREENE 7-10pm

The Psounbality with Per

Yoga & Beer at the Brewery

10-11am

BRIGHT MOMENTS JAZZ

7-10pm

BREWERY & BEER HALL 220 Cedar St. 209-6700 FAMILY FRIENDLY BREWPUB 312 First Ave.

255-4351

FRESH FOOD LIVE MUSIC THE BEST NW BREWS

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 400 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.

212 Cedar Street Downtown Sandpoint

208.263.4005 A SandPint Tradition Since 1994

About the Cover This week’s cover features a photograph by talented photographer Patrick Orton, who passed away in 2013. Patrick is the son of George and Kristina Orton, who have begun offering a scholarship to promising local photography students.

July 13, 2017 / R / 3

COMMENTARY

Canada at 150: Celebrating its liberal values and achievements

By Nick Gier Reader Columnist Even though the Canadians chose to stay with Mother England 86 years longer than we did, they still joined us in embracing the liberal political philosophy of the European Enlightenment. With his principles of the separation of powers and religious freedom, English philosopher John Locke was essential to our founding thinkers.

Thomas Jefferson drew on Locke when he declared that all human beings have inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but with one exception: he substituted Locke’s property with happiness.

Even though only propertied males could vote, Jefferson’s preference for happiness and the general welfare was significant for early America’s commitment to the common man. Unfortunately, America’s slaves and women had to wait for the promise inherent in the Declaration of Independence and classical liberalism.

The American and French

Letters to the Editor Enough Whining...

Dear Editor, Enough whining about the city street revision!

It is a re-vision!

I trust Mayor Shelby and the City Council to see the long term benefit of such a plan. I moved to Sandpoint in 1981, am now 77 and I am in no way challenged by these changes.

The only issue that I think the city might want to take a look at is to put some kind of warning marker up for eastbound traffic on Cedar as they turn south onto First Ave. This is a blind corner with a pedestrian crossing. Should be a simple fix.

Shakura Young Sandpoint

Lake Season For All...

Dear Editor, About mooring buoys: Our mutual appreciation of small

4 / R / July 13, 2017

revolutions were fought for the promotion of liberal principles, which include inalienable rights, religious freedom, free markets and free trade. Canada’s ruling Liberal Party, as well as our own Democrats, also stand for equal opportunity, which does not mean the guarantee of equal outcomes. With this principle liberal governments provide funds for public education and health care. The government will pay for your education, but it will not guarantee a job or income, except for a minimum wage.

Citizens who do not have access to health care will not be able to exercise their basic freedoms and support their families, so liberal governments around the world have provided universal health care. The U.S. spends twice as much on health care while covering fewer people and suffering poorer health results.

For example, Canadians in general live 2.5 years longer than Americans, and those suffering from cystic fibrosis survive on average 10 more years.

In terms of social and eco-

nomic mobility Canada now ranks among some European countries in terms of “getting ahead.” One study found that 50 percent of Americans will remain in the lowest 20th percentile, while only 20 percent of Canadians and Danes will remain at the bottom. The titles of recent essays sum it up: “Poor at 20; Poor for Life” and “The American Dream has moved North.”

The libertarian Cato Institute, an unabashed promoter of the American Way, has ranked the Canada sixth on its Human Freedom Index while the U.S. finds itself 23rd, behind Poland. In terms of economic freedom the conservative Heritage Foundation ranks Canada seventh with the U. S. 17th, and Reporters Without Borders awards Canada 18th place for press freedom with the U.S. at a distant 41st.

Canada also ranks high in child wellbeing. According to a UNICEF report, Canadians tied with Greece behind 11 European countries, while the U.S. was found in 18th place. Only 7 percent of low-income teenagers in

Canada become pregnant, but 22 percent of their counterparts in the U.S. do.

In 2016 15,063 Americans were killed by a firearm with 3,795 of those being children from ages 1-17. In 2015 the number for gun deaths in Canada was 178, which adjusted for population would be 1,575.

The Economist has been the mouthpiece for English liberalism since 1842, and a recent article on Canada has a provocative title: “The Last Liberals.”

As the U.S. and Europe start to tighten immigration, Canada still maintains its liberal immigration policies. Newly elected Canadian Prime Justin Trudeau has personally greeted Syrian refugees at the airport offering them winter coats and food.

Canadians pay higher taxes, but they, just like the Europeans, get a very good return on their investment. And contrary to GOP ideology, higher taxes do not kill economic growth. In the last quarter Canada’s economy grew 3.7 percent while the U. S. was at an anemic 1.4 percent.

A steady revenue stream

allows Canada to run an annual deficit of 2.7 percent of GDP. Our annual deficit has now climbed to 3.5 percent of GDP, after Obama had brought it down from over 10 percent to 3.2 percent. (It’s Trump’s debt now.) A proper balance of taxes and spending makes Canada’s total national debt is much lower than ours: 32.5 percent of GDP versus the U.S. at 106 percent.

As most Canadians celebrate 150 years of progress, there are some who are not joining the party. The mother of Leah Gazan, a member of the Wood Mountain Lakota nation, overcame a childhood of abuse in orphanages and convents, but rose to become one of the first psychiatric nurses in Saskatchewan.

Gazan swears that “until the Canadian government stops violating fundamental indigenous human rights, I have nothing to celebrate.”

boats goes back a ways.

Regarding mooring buoys or not, I’m pleased with parks and waterways doing their best to improve the enjoyment of the lake for all recreational boaters. I think it odd one person should assume to come along asking any of our public shore be kept apart just for them, and at their leisure. Further, I betcha our cherished native neighbors will give voice, should they feel a need.

Lastly, print is not in hand, but I do not recall the ladies who put together the “Paddle the Lake” story in the recent Sandpoint Magazine whining about buoys.

Best of the lake season for all,

up and died. But considering my 1957 bride and I still use smoke signals for communicating, what’s to amaze?

I enjoy singers like Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Beyonce — but they are missing among the artists in my thousand-plus library of LPs and CDs. Rosy Clooney, Dinah Washington, Peggy Lee and Billie Holiday occupy priority shelves. As for trios, quartets and quintets, Neighbor John Kelly and the Atomic Blues Band are great. So, undoubtedly, are the Beat Diggers, Still Tipsy & The Hangovers, all of whom have kept things humming at downtown Sandpoint cabarets. But I, older than dirt, get all tingly and sentimental over the Mills Brothers, the King Cole Trio, the Ink Spots or the Pied Pipers with Jo Stafford.

Just to show that my 1957 bride and I are not stick-in-the-muds but cool and up-to-date dudes, however, my record collection includes such ultra-contemporary groups as The Beach Boys, America, The Eagles, and The Mamas & The Papas. So there.

I have a replacement computer now, and have spent weeks trying to learn

how to use it. So here is what I want to say as I attempt to rejoin the Reader’s distinguished cadre of contributors: this newspaper has become, since its revival, the best of its species anywhere.

Having been in the journalism business since 1950 (USAF, college and corporate—a rare advantage of being older than dirt) I have had more than a passing acquaintance with weeklies. I will add that It pains me to admit that those Readers published in my absence just continued improving. Damn!

The Happy Fourth Of July issue illustrates the point. It contained a fascinating piece and photo about the Tour de France. Also about blind sailors, about caring for seriously ill kids, about a promising new restaurant in town, about the Corner Bookstore re-opening and a plethora of other professionally reported local stories one seldom sees in our city’s daily (not free) newspaper.

The edition also carried two examples of journalistic excellence worthy of The New York Times or The Atlantic magazine. One was headed “Sex Abuse Worse For Evangelicals Than For Cath-

olics.” The other, “Beliefs And Practices Of The Christian Identity Movement.”

Neither would be out of place in The New Yorker or Smithsonian magazines.

They helped me understand something that has puzzled and concerned me since arriving in North Idaho 12 years ago, and it is this: Why do the most fundamentalist and evangelical among this area’s citizenry, the most rabidly and righteously religious, seem to be the most heavily armed, the most violence oriented, the most threatening, the least secure among us? Would a contemporary Jesus arm himself against his neighbors? Feel compelled to pack heat in his car, to the grocery store, to school, to church?

The Sandpoint Reader makes a person think. So does education.

Bob Simmons Outer Sandpoint

Makes You Think...

Dear Editor, Because my ancient Mac computer finally collapsed I have not written for the Reader lately. I bought the Mac new in 2005 and still considered it state of the art when, to my amazement, it

Nick Gier of Moscow taught philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years. Read the full version at www.sandpointreader.com.

Tim Henney Sandpoint

Got something to say? Write a letter to the editor at letters@sandpointreader.com. Under 400 words, and please elevate the discussion.

HUMOR

TSA and my axe-wielding gypsy grandmother

By PollyAnna Reader Columnist Everyone knows that, as folks hit a certain age level, all sorts of behaviors are suddenly excusable. It starts when the first grandkid is somewhere between five and 15 years old.

Soon, the familial excuses steamroll through family conversations like summer tourists crossing the Long Bridge: “Oh, don’t worry about Mamaw. She’s just cranky when she’s hungry.”

“I could never get away with saying what Grandpa says. I think it’s ‘cause he’s so cute in a wrinkly way, like a naked mole rat.”

Of course, there’s always one or two elder behaviors that are addressed immediately (rather than being observed with a wry smile): “Grandma!

Get away from that bear with that loaf of bread! No, now!”

In my genetic lines, our senior family members deal with the usual lapses in memory, well-intentioned jokes gone way too personal, and loudly-spoken comments about people standing right next to us. It’s all common stuff.

It’s not shocking to have to tell Grandma that the cashier doesn’t want to hear where I lived in the sixth grade.

The one thing I didn’t foresee about aging was my grandparents’ growing ease around deadly weapons.

Last week, my PawPaw wound up in a hospital bed, at the mercy of a couple of ailments (and a couple of incredible nurses that he grumpily referred to as the “wicked witches”) Losing control is

never an easy thing. When the hospital starts to resemble a frequent flyer program, we all want as much attention and as many distractions as possible.

So, in the middle of the night, my aunt wasn’t surprised to hear “Psst! Barb!”

“What is it, dad?”

“Do you have any ice?”

“No, they said they don’t want you to have any ice yet.”

“That’s not what I said. Do you have a knife?”

“What??”

“Do you have a knife?”

As Aunt Barb got over to his bed, she realized PawPaw had already removed a lot of his vitals monitors, and one of his two IV lines, and was holding up the other line at the precise location and angle needed for her to slice him free with whatever knife she might have in her pocket. “Come on,” he motioned to her, “let’s bust outta here.”

Much to his annoyance, PawPaw’s plan failed to play out from there.

About two years ago, my mom’s mom suffered a hiccup in a very different scheme. She was excited to be flying to the Inland Northwest from Texas for the first time, carefully supervised by my aunt and uncle. Grandma packed her carry-on bag herself, complete with wrapped presents for my father’s upcoming birthday. She flies a lot for her age, knows the script, and everything was rolling along smoothly... until security.

“Ma’am. We’re going to have to take a look in this bag.”

Aunt Bea turned around,

puzzled to hear the TSA agent addressing Grandma. Her husband, Grandma’s son, sighed, trudged away, and plopped on a bench nearby to enjoy the show with an “I’m-curiousbut-not-involved-in-this-at-all” expression.

“Why sure, go ahead.”

Grandma was confused but compliant. “But there’s really nothing in there.”

“Grandma.” My aunt hoped to get this figured out before the TSA agent did. “Did you put hair spray in there?”

“No.” “Maybe you forgot you had a bottle of water?”

“No.” “Shampoo? Make-up?”

“No, no, no!”

The TSA agent was reaching the bottom of the bag, and pulled out one of the larger wrapped gifts, about a foot and a half long. “Ma’am. I’m going to have to unwrap this.” He looked over his glasses at her for permission.

“Oh, okay. That’s fine, it’s only an axe.”

Needless to say, TSA kept the hatchet that was meant to be my dad’s birthday present.

The agents also kept another wrapped package — a smaller, glow-in-the-dark rubber axe

Retroactive

that was meant to accompany it as a gag gift. While Grandma was disappointed that her surprise was spoiled, she will probably never forget her sonin-law’s thank you for the gift.

“A hatchet would have been really nice,” he told her with a smile. “But the gift of this amazing story is far, far better.”

PollyAnna lives, loves, and writes from Sandpoint, and she’s looking forward to seeing her ax-wielding gypsy grandma in August.

By BO

Inside the Sandpoint Reader office, where hypnotized drones churn out copy for the next week’s edition under the watchful eye of publisher Ben Olson.

July 13, 2017 / R / 5

COMMUNITY

Green thumbs, warm hearts Bouquets: •It’s always a little sad when good people move away from Sandpoint. Our good friends Justin and Jen Landis are making the big move to Spokane soon, and I wanted to give them a bouquet for all they have done for the music community.

Whether it be hosting amazing house shows, or playing in a wide variety of bands, or simply representing what a modern family unit should strive for, the Landises have left their mark on Sandpoint. You will be missed Justin and Jen! Barbs: •I’ve complained about this before, but it’s deserving of another barb. There’s a guy in the area who has converted his big, lame Diesel truck (flying a Confederate flag, of course) to a “coal roller,” which is just about the dumbest thing anybody ever spent money on. This attention-seeking dunderhead spent hundreds of dollars making his truck spew toxic clouds of black smoke, which he likes to show off whenever passing someone doing something good for their health, like walking or riding a bike or breathing. The other night, we were eating at Trinity and this troglodyte unleashed his black cloud of smoke on a couple of cyclists. The cloud then drifted over, and all of the diners had to smell of exhaust until it cleared. Awesome. Seriously, does anyone really think this is cool? I’m not impressed.

I’m considering introducing a motion to the Sandpoint City Council banning “coal rolling” in city limits to fine this idiot every time he feels the need to spew his exhaust. I wonder how this guy would feel if someone did that to his grandmother. Or was he raised by toads? What a complete and utter douchebag.

6 / R / July 13, 2017

By Ben Olson Reader Staff To all of you garden lovers and green thumbs out there, the annual Bonner County Garden Tour kicks off this weekend. Sponsored by the Bonner County Gardens Association, the tour highlights some of the area’s most inspiring gardens by masters of the craft.

The fun happens Sunday, July 16 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at various locations around Bonner County. $15 gets you access to all of the following gardens: •Lindy Lewis, 60 Bella Circle, Sagle •Jerry and Pat Lewis, 730 Bottle Bay Rd., Sagle

The lakeside sculpture garden of Steve and Sandra Gevurtz. Courtesy photo.

•Paula Marcinko and John Sidwell, 405 Lake St., Sandpoint •Seth and Kathi Samuels, 340 Leisure Ln., Sandpoint •Alan and Jeanie Ball, 113 Ponder Point Dr., Sandpoint •Gail Swan, 2385 Sunnyside Rd., Sandpoint •Steve and Sandra Gevurtz, 245 Kootenai 4th Ave., Sandpoint Those interested in purchasing tickets can either buy them online at bcgardeners.org/garden-tours or the day of the event at any of the gardens. Please leave your pets at home and be prepared to tour some lovely gardens!

A good deed by the Boy Scouts

Boy Scout Troop #308, pictured above, spent an afternoon last month giving back to the community. The volunteer troop set poles for a new storyboard walk at Ponderay Park. The troop worked with their volunteer leaders and parents to complete this project to enhance the park. Thanks for your hard work, Troop #308! Courtesy photo.

ICL awards more than $44k to local nonprofits

By Reader Staff

Two funds in the Idaho Community Foundation – the Bonner County Endowment Fund for Human Rights and the Bonner County Fund for Arts Enhancement – have awarded $44,502 to local nonprofits.

The Bonner County Endowment Fund for Human Rights is for organizations whose activities reflect commitment to the ideal that everyone is equal under our state and federal laws and constitution regardless of race, color, gender, religion, sexual orientation or disability. It distributed $18,002 to eight nonprofits. Recipients are: Bonner County Partners in Care Clinic, Inc. - $4,300 to pay the master’s level mental health clinicians and the crisis line director to answer the after-hours crisis line.

Human Rights Education Institute, Inc. - $630 to develop, plan and implement a highly motivating Teen Human Rights Symposium with experienced facilitators and quality, well-renowned speakers that have tested deliveries with youth and young adults, focusing on key human rights issues.

Lake Pend Oreille School District #84 - $2,500 to support all aspects of the Sandpoint High School Model United Nations program, in particular student financial ability to participate in the NHSMUN experience.

Panida Theater Committee, Inc. - $2,000 to present four films free for the public to attend that highlight a human rights concern correlating that with an educational component, showcasing available community and state resources available and to educate/ inform on the issue.

Pend Oreille Arts Council, Inc. - $2000 to present a live performance, “Living Voices - Klondike, The Last Adventure”; fund the 13th Annual Art for Human Rights gallery show; and produce a locally produced, environmentally themed play called “Walden” (based on Thoreau’s “Walden”).

Sandpoint Community Resource Center - $1,000 to pay for supplies necessary for the 2017 Annual Spring Symposium, including rent, printed material, postage, advertising and food/ beverages.

Sandpoint High School $4,572 to train the 50 new 2017-

18 Sandpoint High school mentors and purchase supplemental materials to prepare them for their role in leading a school of 1,000 students.

Sandpoint Waldorf School $1,000 to show the documentary “Screenagers” to the Sandpoint community, specifically adolescents and their parents and to facilitate a discussion afterwards.

The Bonner County Fund for Arts Enhancement is for projects that demonstrate how the arts encourage creative and critical thinking, stimulate economic vitality and enhance the quality of life in a community. It distributed $26,500 to seven nonprofits.

Recipients are: Academy of Northwest Writers and Publishers – $5,000 to pay the honorarium for the Montana Shakespeare in the Parks actors, as well as an honorarium to support a performance of the nonprofit Music Conservatory of Sandpoint’s theater students, who will provide the opening act this year.

Arts Alliance, Inc. – $500 to expand scholarships for local youth to attend Creative Hands Expand the Mind art education classes and to support the Imagine Special Needs art class.

Carousel of Smiles – $2,500 to encourage Bonner County artists to participate in a collaborative project creating 28 unique art scenes on the panels of a classic Golden Age Carousel which will be located in Sandpoint.

City of Sandpoint – $2,500 to help purchase a significant piece of public artwork for permanent installation in downtown Sandpoint.

Festival at Sandpoint, Inc. – $9,000 to support The Festival at Sandpoint’s educational mission including the fifth-grade outreach program, Instrument Assistance Program, Youth Strings Orchestra, Family Concert at The Festival at Sandpoint, community orchestra and scholarships.

Music Conservatory of Sandpoint, Inc. – $2,000 to expand the Music Matters! after-school outreach and summer camps to accommodate 200 local students into four ensemble groups (orchestra and choir), one children’s opera and musical theater Pend Oreille Arts Council, Inc. – $5,000 to help fund the Ovations performing arts and educational outreach program.

POINT / COUNTERPOINT the changing face of health care:

Is the Senate health care repeal bill a good thing or a disaster?

Obamacare and King George: The battle continues

By Christian Rose Reader Contributor

The lake’s finally at full pool and the water temperature is now in the “safe-toswim” realm. So it seems an odd time to be debating health care reform. But here we are, seven years later, still trying to repair a broken system made worse by one of the largest pieces of legislation ever passed without bipartisan support or majority approval from the American people.

Opponents have focused on the enormous cost, which should be glaringly obvious. Anyone with a semblance of intellectual honesty knows borrowing money from China to support another entitlement program is suicide. Heck, even leading Democrats can’t intelligently defend the law. It’s all demagoguery. Seriously, if I hear, “Republicans want to kill you,” one more time, I just might actually think that Republicans really want to kill people. Please, keep that one up, since it’s working so well.

Sorry folks, don’t fall for the “repeal and replace” mantra either. Our progressive Republican establishment continues to parrot this like college kids singing, “Yes, we can.” Trust me, they don’t want to give up this control anymore than Nancy Pelosi wants to give up her minority leadership.

Remember, the federal government already pays out more for Social Security and Medicare than it collects each year in taxes. Welfare programs like food stamps and housing assistance don’t even have pre-existing funding mechanisms. These entitlements now account for more than 50 percent of federal mandatory spending.

Yes, we can’t afford it. Period.

So, you’d think the rapid rise in insurance premiums and the avalanche of insurance providers pulling out of networks would be all the more proof of Obamacare’s failure. Nope, our progressive aristocracy still fails to acknowledge the truth. This deal is doomed. And America is doomed if we don’t stop it right now.

Maybe it’s time to switch tactics.

Maybe the real question we should start asking is, “What’s the proper role of government?” Classical Liberals, not unlike our nation’s founders, would say the proper function of government is to secure the freedoms of the individual by limiting the government’s power.

Ask yourself: Is forcing an individual to purchase something he doesn’t want, need or desire in keeping with our constitutional founding? Does the AHCA limit the government’s power, or expand its power?

The progressives might argue that because we require auto insurance for drivers so deadbeats don’t bankrupt everyone, it makes perfect sense that we also mandate health insurance. But they conveniently miss a key point: These are state laws, passed by state-elected lawmakers. More importantly, we’re not forced to purchase one of only three plans from, say, Farm Bureau Insurance in Ponderay. We can buy directly from Texas-based USAA or Ohio-based Progressive. Our rate is based on our individual record of personal choices.

Not an option with the AHCA. While we’re at it, perhaps we should also force people to buy life insurance?

Aren’t widows and orphans a potential financial burden on society? When a bread winner from a single-income family dies, someone must pick up the slack, right? Why should that burden be put on everyone else? Progressives just can’t dig their way out of this circular logic.

But if we can’t afford this, if it isn’t in keeping with our nation’s founding, then why is our government insisting on forcing this on the people? Simple: power. If a government can not only control one-fifth our nation’s economy but also the very health care delivery system that keeps us alive, then it controls everything. Its power expands, and individual liberty decreases.

Make no mistake, the AHCA is not about health care. It never was. It’s about power. The sooner we can admit that, the sooner we start fixing the problem.

Obamacare is based on humanitarian principles

By Ken Meyers Reader Contributor

The Affordable Health Care Act, or “Obamacare,” is based on a deep-rooted, basic humanitarian principle: Children and adults who are ill or disabled should be fed, sheltered and cared for even if they do not have the means to do so themselves.

The ACA was established as the beginning of a process to solve the health care crisis. The ACA is not perfect, but it is not, as President Donald Trump tweets, a “disaster.” It is neither “imploding” nor “exploding.” Many parts of the ACA are working well. The uninsured rate has fallen to a record low. More than 20 million Americans have gained health insurance, most of them lower-income Americans. The ACA enabled people — like 40 percent of Idahoans who have a pre-existing condition — to obtain health insurance. Families can keep children on their policies until they reach the age of 26. In states with Medicaid expansion, rural hospitals are major beneficiaries of the ACA as uncompensated care costs have fallen sharply. Indigent patients are now covered by Medicaid. According to the Congressional Budget Office, exchanges are stable, as are premiums for most Americans. It isn’t true that enrollees are having trouble seeing a doctor.

The ACA was never meant to solve the health care crisis in one swipe. There are areas of concern with the ACA that need to be addressed. Republican inaction has created uncertainty in the insurance industry and insurance companies are pulling out of the exchanges, leaving Americans with fewer choices in their coverage.

While most Americans have not seen their out-of-pocket spending on premiums rise, many did. For some, hikes were steep.

The out-of-pocket expense for health care has risen because deductibles and co-pays have risen. Health care in the U.S. is very, very expensive. We spend much more that other countries do. This problem existed before the ACA and is still with us. These are the items that our government should

focus on.

This administration and Congress are attempting to repeal the ACA and replace it now with their version, the American Health Care Act. It has been passed by the House of Representatives and now the Senate has its own version. To their credit they kept many features of the ACA, like not allowing exclusion of persons with pre-existing conditions and banning lifetime coverage limits.

They allow families to keep children on their policies until the age of 26.

There are major problems with the GOP health care proposal. For starters, 20 million-plus fewer Americans would have health care coverage by 2026 than with the ACA. The GOP proposal removes features of the ACA that strengthen Medicare’s fiscal outlook and could hasten Medicare’s insolvency by up to four years.

Elderly would pay more for health care. Insurers would be allowed to charge older adults five times more that the young, thereby driving many older people out of the market.

The costs of prescription drugs are not lowered. That would benefit all Americans. It does provide a significant tax benefit to pharmaceutical industry, as it repeals a fee on manufacture and import of branded prescription drugs.

Medicaid funding would be drastically cut. This would jeopardize essential care for low-income seniors, disabled persons and rural hospitals. It would shift the cost of their care to the states, blowing a big hole in state budgets.

There is a tax cut. Who benefits? The wealthy. According the Tax Policy Center, the top 20 of earners would receive 64 percent of the savings and the top 1 percent would receive 40 percent of the savings.

In summary, GOP proposals provide tax cuts to the rich and drug companies at the expense of those who provide and need health care.

July 13, 2017 / R / 7

NEWS

Keough to retire in 2018

By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff After a political career of more than two decades, District 1 Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, this week announced plans to retire from the Legislature in 2018.

According to Keough, she decided to make the announcement years in advance to provide District 1 voters enough time to consider new candidates for the Senate seat. She also endorsed small business owner Jim Woodward, who announced his candidacy for the seat this week, as her potential replacement.

“I consider myself very blessed and privileged to have had the confidence and support of the majority of voters in our district these many years and hope that I’ve made some positive differences for our community along the way,” Keough said.

According to Keough, she’s bowing out of another Republican primary election campaign

after her experiences in the past three. She said the tone of those campaigns became increasingly uncivil and degraded into nasty, personal attacks. “... Facing another one is not something I wish to do, nor do I wish to drag my husband, family and supporters through another one,” she said. “My husband is retired, and we are ‘empty nesters,’ plus we have two grandchildren, and I’d like to spend some more time with them.”

Serving as a Republican member of the Idaho Senate since 1996, Keough rose over the course of her career to become one of the Legislature’s most influential and senior members. Among her many responsibilities, she is the co-chair of the Legislature’s powerful Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, which analyzes state agency funding requests in the interest of setting a balanced budget.

However, Keough isn’t ready to reflect on her career or her most significant accom-

plishments just yet. She still has 18 months in her term and is choosing to focus on them first. “... It seems premature to answer the question of what I think I might have done best,” she said. “Perhaps my best is yet to come in the next legislative session!”

Keough tied her retirement announcement to an endorsement of Woodward for the Idaho Senate. She emphasized his long Idaho residency, his knowledge of local communi-

ties and his experience in local business, schools and governing boards among his qualifications.

“Jim’s deep roots in our area and his commitment to our north Idaho values coupled with his background and service to our Country give him the experience needed to represent us in the Idaho State Senate,” Keough wrote in a statement. “I support Jim 100% and hope you will join me in voting to send him to represent us in Boise.”

Woodward said he intends to focus on education and infrastructure if he is elected to the Legislature. The owner and operator of APEX Construction Services, Woodward is also a board member at Northern Lights electric cooperative. He is a second-generation resident, graduate of Bonners Ferry High School and the University of Idaho and his wife, Brenda, is a public school teacher.

“I look forward to meeting or hearing from as many people as possible in District 1 to learn their ideas and concerns regarding the work of the legislature and how it affects us,” Woodward wrote in a statement. “I believe my background as a small business owner, combined with government experience earned through twenty-one years of combined active and reserve naval service, as well as an engineering degree, qualifies me to represent the constituents of District 1.”

City brings public into art selection

By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff Everyone has an opinion when it comes to public art. And for the Sandpoint Arts Commission’s latest project, locals can put that opinion to use.

The Silver Box Project will result in a new sculpture displayed in a public location.

While a traditional selection jury will select the project’s semi-finalists, Sandpoint Arts Commission Chairperson Carol Deaner said the planners will eventually put together a community voting process that 8 / R / July 13, 2017

will determine the winning sculpture.

“I really think that this is a great way to get community involvement in some of the art pieces around town,” said Arts Commission member Ffion Soltis. “That in itself is pretty exciting and something that hasn’t happened around town before.”

Three sculptures will ultimately be selected by the jury to be displayed on a one-year loan between October 2017 and

August 2018. That’s when the community element comes into play. Residents will vote for their favorite piece, which the city will purchase for permanent display.

“We will unveil the winner at the arts and crafts fair next year,” said Deaner.

Project organizers hope to receive many sculpture submissions from Sandpoint and the outlying areas. However, applications are welcome from artists residing in Ida-

ho, Montana, Washington or Oregon. According to the call for applications, the winning project will be selected based on artistic merit and content, maintainability and suitability for the public space.

“Hopefully it will bring in a broader pool of artists so we can get some fresher ideas and new sculpture concepts in town,” said Soltis.

According to the project time line, the deadline for submissions is Aug. 8. The final

three pieces will be selected

by Aug. 29, and by Sept. 6, the contracts will be mailed. City personnel will install the art pieces on Oct. 6 and announce the results of the community vote in August 2018.

It’s just the start of a busy season for the Sandpoint Arts Commission. They will also have a hand in beautifying the Schweitzer Cutoff roundabout, which is currently under construction.

NEWS

Workshop to reshape BID

By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff Following a long process of information gathering, the city is ready to start reworking the Sandpoint Business Improvement District.

A workshop set for Wednesday, July 19, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the council chambers at Sandpoint City Hall will guide the process of reshaping the BID. According to Sandpoint City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton, business owners, BID members and anyone else interested in reworking the downtown district should attend to contribute their thoughts.

The BID is a local business fee collected to fund special events and marketing and outreach services envisioned as being mutually beneficial.

However, the program has faced steady criticism for being inequitable, benefiting some businesses more than others.

Since last year, the city has gathered data from downtown

businesses to identify desired changes, with 75 individuals responding to a survey conducted

by Boise State University students. The city followed up by bringing on Roger Woodworth of Mindset Matters to engage business owners and assess the situation.

“The current approach to operating Sandpoint’s BID is seriously flawed,” Woodworth said in report prepared for the upcoming workshop. “Member apathy, rather than engagement, prevails. Of those who do engage, most expect something better; a few prefer to simply end the mechanism altogether.”

The focus of next week’s workshop is a series of possible actions outlined in Woodworth’s report. These include ending fee assessment unless businesses approve new standards of operation for the BID, sunsetting current operations to force a reset of expectations and maintaining the established BID boundary to preserve businesses’ option to organize.

Library Expansion: BREAKING GROUND

Library officials and project organizers break ground on the library expansion building on Monday afternoon. The library expansion will dramatically expand services and space for local book and learning lovers. Pictured, from left: Curt Carney, Judy Meyer, Ann Nichols, Jeanine Asche, Susan Shea, Gil Beyer,Marcus Valentine and Brandon Spry. Photo by Cameron Rasmusson

The Long Green - a Memorial Field Update

Spaghetti feed to support kids’ athletics

By Reader Staff

Get in on some tasty chow, bid on great goods and support area kids – all at once, at a spaghetti feed and fundraiser coming on Friday, July 21, in support of the Sandpoint Affordable Football & Cheer League – or SAFL for short.

The fundraiser kicks off at 5 p.m. at Cedar Hills Church, 227 McGhee Road in Kootenai, and everyone is invited.

The event will benefit the SAFL scholarship fund for both youth football players and cheerleaders. Along with the home-cooked spaghetti, there will be a silent auction with

merchandise and certificates from Schweitzer Mountain, Triple Play Family Fun Park, Silverwood Theme Park, Spuds Waterfront Grill, Kokanne Coffee, Panhandle Cone & Coffee, Ivano’s Ristorante and more.

Also coming up, on July 2829 SAFL will host its second free football camp and has added a cheer camp. Both camps are open to kids in grades 3 to 8, and will be held at Sandpoint Middle School from 6:30-8:30 p.m. each day.

Both of these camps are free; SAFL’s motto is “No kid left behind!” To register, go to www.affordablefootball.com.

For more information you may call 208-290-1888.

Right: Crew members from Desert Green Turf based in Moses Lake, Wash. lay out the 10,000 square feet of sod surrounding the new construction at Memorial Field. Here, a crew members takes out the protective netting from one of the rolls of sod. Top: A view of the completed project, which took four crew members one day to finish.

Photos and captions by Cort Gifford.

July 13, 2017 / R / 9

Mad about Science:

By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist You may know me as the fantasy-loving nerd always crying about climate change and telling you to go hug trees or pet a dolphin or whatever, but what you might not know is I like all things awesome. (You know.)

Believe it or not, it’s pretty easy to be a multifaceted — sometimes even contradictory. These days, it’s easy to both enjoy the safety and security of a peaceful, nature-loving life while frothing at the mouth watching two bulky dudes bash each other to death with sharpened sticks on TV. We’re human, it’s complicated.

Gladiators were awesome, and at the same time, they weren’t.

Humans brawling for entertainment is probably as old as our species, but the gladiators we’re talking about today are the ones you know and love from Ancient Rome.

Awesome: Gladiators were the professional athletes of their day.

They went to a special gladiator school called a ludus (Loo-duss, or the plural: ludi. Interestingly enough, this seems to just be what Roman schools were called, as well as a word used for fun, play, entertainment, etc...), they ate a special gladiator diet of grain, millet and meat for lots of energy and lots of protein. Generally, they had better medical care than most people in Rome because they were seen as an investment. If you spend a stack of cash on a Porsche, you can bet you’re going to spend a lot more to make sure it continues running at its peak performance.

Gladiators often got massages, too. Not a lot of jobs I’ve taken cover and encourage massage during working hours!

Not awesome: Romans had one of the worst social caste systems in human history. Their social structures were rigid and generally locked for life. In our society, professional athletes are at the top with (some) politicians, businesspeople and celebrities as objects of admiration and worship.

10 / R / July 13, 2017

Brought to you by:

gladiators

In ancient Rome, gladiators were considered to be less than human, hardly worthy of even having a caste. In becoming a gladiator, you shamed your family, you forfeited your property and even your citizenship. You became property.

It is recognized that some gladiators were able to earn back some semblance of humanity through enough victories in the arena, but it’s to my understanding that this system was rigged, designed to keep the status quo and keep the disenfranchised where the elite believed they belonged.

Gladiators would often be branded by hot iron, so even if they won back their humanity, there wasn’t much stopping another slaver from lashing them to a post and sending them to another ludus to fight and potentially die in the arena all over again.

Oh, and the whole getting killed for sport was pretty miserable, too.

You may not realize it, but gladiators had different classes and specializations, just like pro athletes do today. You don’t make your quarterback play defensive line; you wouldn’t send your greatest swordsman to go fight a tiger.

The two most famous types of gladiator are the Murmillo and the Retiarius.

You might recognize the Murmillo right away, a big, brutish guy with a cool helmet, a big metal armguard and a shield. He’d often use a gladius, a Roman shortsword, to deliver strong attacks.

The Retiarius was the other guy with the net and the trident and virtually no armor to speak of.

When pitted against one another, these combatants represented a matching of speed VS strength.

The men who fought animals weren’t considered gladiators, they were in a classification all their own.

They were called Bestiarii (or bestiarius if it was a lone dude). Sometimes, they were people condemned to die at the claws of the beasts

(yowch), and sometimes they were fighting for pay and glory.

It’s weird to think that at one point during our fairly recent history, it was just a totally normal thing to say:”Yeah, I saw some guy fighting a tiger earlier, it was alright…”

The presentation of gladiatorial games was thought to have been very similar to professional sports of today, minus the drones filming everything. Rich and influential aristocrats would pay for extravagant stagecraft and showmanship leading up to big bouts. Competing ludi would come together to brawl in opposing teams. There would be music and bands playing while the organizers would be setting up props or other things for matches, much like a half-time show. I wouldn’t doubt there were probably people hawking street meat in the stands, as individual bouts could last in upwards of 20 minutes while the games could last for a day or more.

Basically, a stint at the coliseum wasn’t far adrift from the Superbowl, if the Superbowl were extremely violent and players and performers could be killed and/or executed on the field.

I think I’ll stick with my tacky $20 million commercials.

Despite the participation of the sport being seen as a lowly, yet entertaining affair, this didn’t bar several Roman Emperors from partaking in the sport, albeit likely under very staged and protected circumstances.

Commodus was a fanatic for the arena, going as far as describing himself as Hercules reborn and supposedly battling lions (likely with a full contingency of Praetorian guardsmen.). He was also a big jerk, often killing other people that had submitted to him or helpless animals that weren’t equipped to fight back.

Over time, the aristocracy began to see the games as less of a source of entertainment and more

of a tax on the rich. As history has proven ten thousand times over, rather than simply spending less on these extravagant games, they attempted to pass legislation to force everyone to stop spending so much on the games (it was seen as a sign of wealth and excess if you outspent a political rival, and the loser would always be sore about it).

Over about 200 years, repeated attempts at drawing back the expense of the game also killed public interest as the quality of games began to decay. As turnout shrank and profits dwindled, the expenses began to outweigh the profits for most ludi and gladiators began to fade out of the public view.

The legacy of the gladiator would prove to transcend the civilization that fostered it, however.

The Coliseum in Rome still stands, now as a site of culture and

learning.

Prizefighting has become far less lethal and far more rewarding, with sports like boxing and mixed-martial arts competitions generating hundreds of millions of dollars and helping promote gyms nationwide that teach people important self-defense skills they otherwise may never have known about.

In the past 70 years, cinema has portrayed the warriors of the arena in a sympathetic light, completely turning the concept of a gladiator on its helmet, giving people a view of the arena that, at one time, only the condemned could ever see.

Maybe you learned something today.

Maybe you didn’t.

At the very least…

Are you not entertained?!

Random Corner t Rome?

Don’t know much about Ancien

We can help!

•Average life expectancy in ancient Rome was 20-30 years.

• The Roman Empire was not the largest empire in history. It was only the 28th largest. At its peak, the Roman Empire comprised only 12 percent of the world’s population.

• The wars between Romans and Persians lasted about 721 years, the longest conflict in human history.

• Ancient Romans celebrated “Saturnalia”, a festival in which slaves and their masters would switch places.

• The inhabitants of ancient Rome had a sewer goddess, a toilet god, and a god of excrement.

• The Romans used urine to whiten their teeth and wash clothes.

• Two Roman dams in Spain are still in use after 1,900 years.

• After the fall of the Roman Empire, the technology to make concrete was lost for 1,000 years.

• In 2012, divers discovered a 2,000-year-old Roman shipwreck that was so well preserved even the food was intact in its storage jars.

• Ancient Romans ran cold aqueduct water in pipes through their houses in an early form of air conditioning.

OPINION

COMMUNITY

A different take on the Fourth of July Wildfire season begins

By Jan Sarchio Reader Contributor I can’t be certain about the numbers. It is my gut, more than my calculator, that knows that the trees sing less, that the skies aren’t peppered with as many birds, that finches and chick-a-dees are fewer in number and that robins aren’t scattered from my lawn all the way to the end of the block in the same quantity that they were just a few short years ago.

I love birds. They are industrious and essential. They are brave and wondrous. They are tough, yet fragile. I have noticed for the past five years that their numbers shrink considerably after the Fourth of July. The first time I took note of this was when I had a bird house in the backyard and a common sparrow, a male, began to fill it with the makings of a nest. He chased away interlopers and spent many an hour on the apex of the house’s roof calling, calling, calling. Many sweet young ladies flew by, flirted, lifted their petticoats and studied this patient little fellow. He shooed them all away until SHE came along. She had the “it” factor he’d been looking for because soon they were dating seriously.

Spring is short in the Pacific Northwest and these two birdies knew it. They got down to the business of furnishing their cottage and fertilizing eggs. I didn’t count the days until their offspring cracked through and joined the living, but it might have been about three weeks.

Then the activity level in that abode really cranked up. With four little guys to feed, defend, and clean up after, mom and pop sparrow worked full time.

I watched as the hatchlings looked out their porthole, mouths open, always ready for more. They were strong, but undeveloped. Their feathers

were coming in and flight was coming to their futures.

I admired that family and watched them as I tried to heal bits of my life. They gave me hope, encouragement, joy.

Then the Fourth of July hit.

It hit with rocket’s red glare, bombs bursting in air. Sulfur mixed in great quantities with oxygen as neighbor after neighbor set off their own glorious sky show. I fretted for my feathery friends. I coughed and worried that my newest neighbor’s lungs would be insufficient to the task of breathing with so much crap in the air.

You know about canaries in coal mines, right? They send canaries down the hole to see if people will be able to survive the air. If the canary dies, it’s a no go for humans.

On the morning of July 5, my backyard bird house was quiet. I waited and watched, hoping to see four mouths agape and ready for breakfast.

But, mom and pop were gone and their babies were dead.

It takes spring to gestate and get things going. It takes summer and fall to teach and train

fledglings before winter throws the book at them nature-wise.

The Fourth of July and its unrelenting fireworks kill birds.

I know this for a fact. I have a sad, empty bird house as proof.

Also, the evidence of far fewer swallows darting across my sky tells me that many have been hurt and thus, have died. A fallen bird is, well, a sitting duck.

It has been said that many soldiers are sent into trauma by fireworks. We’ve all had dogs that have shaken, slobbered, whined, hidden and run wild from the fear of fireworks. Birds are telling us a big, sad tale.

They’re dying in droves because we want to look at twinkles in the sky. May I suggest that there are already twinkles in the sky?

We call them stars. Fireworks are pretty, but they are deadly.

They harm our heroes. They harm our pets. And they kill the songs of our bird friends. They strangle the life out of them and cause their hearts to fail. This is an ungodly, hideous trade off, of that I am certain.

By Ben Olson Reader Staff As sunburns and smiles spread across North Idaho, the unfortunate reality of warm weather has officially begun.

Yep, that’s right; it’s wildfire season again.

The Priest Lake Ranger District has reported two small wildfires. Firefighters are actively suppressing a one-acre fire caused by lightning strike in the Cedar Creek drainage. Five miles west of the Cedar Creek Fire, the North Fork Hughes Fire is located north of Hughest Meadows. Visible from the Priest Lake recreational area, the Hughes Creek fire is at approximately 15 acres and was also believed to have been caused by lightning.

Smokejumpers were sent to suppress the fire after it was located on July 4, but they were forced to disengage after three days due to safety concerns.

Steep, rugged terrain is causing a challenge for firefighters on the North Fork Hughes Fire.

A firefighter sprays down a hot spot near the western slope of the fire line during the Cape Horn Fire in 2015. Photo by Ben Olson.

Access is limited because of the remote nature of the burn. Idaho Panhandle National Forest has determined that firefighters cannot safely engage the fire.

“The plan will give the highest priority to firefighter and public safety, with safe, efficient and mindful management decisions,” said Chandra Neils, acting Priest Lake District Ranger.

For more information on these and other fires, check inciweb.nwcg.gov.

July 13, 2017 / R / 11

event Authentic wood-fired pizza Mandala will be at the following locations:

Thursday, JULY 13th @ The Hive 7 p.m. ‘til late night Friday, JULY 14th @ The 219 Lounge 8:30 p.m. ’til late night Saturday, JULY 15th @ The Granary 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Wednesday, JULY 19 @ The 219 Lounge 5-9 p.m. - KPND Pint Night Thursday, JULY 20 @ The 219 Lounge 8:30 p.m. ‘til late night

Mention you saw this ad in the Reader and get $1.00 off your next pizza!

The Pioneer Square at 819 Hwy 2, Ste:102-B

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Festival at Sandpoint Art Unveiling @ Dover Bay Fine art poster for the Festival at Sandpoint is unveiled at Dover Bay. FestivalatSandpoint.com. 208-265-4554 Dollar Beers!

8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Open Mic w/ Kevin Dorin 6-9pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Come out for a positive environment to share your passion or just come take it all in! All levels of performers are welcome

JJ Grey and M 8pm @ The H KPND and L Mofro, openin turn to Sandpo It’s going to be starts at 8 p.m

Live Music w/ John Firshi 5-7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority John has some great covers of bands you love Live Music w/ Jake Robin 5-8pm @ Pend d’ Oreille Winery Acoustic rock and pop DJ Night at the Niner 9pm @ 219 Lounge

Live Music w/ Ron Greene 7-10pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall With burgers by Old Tin Can food truck Block Party at the Barn 6pm @ Homestead Barn - Dover Bay A benefit for Jared Kleusner, who was d agnosed with leukemia at 15. Live mus

by Devon Wade, BBQ, fun activities for

Live Music w/ Bright Moments Jazz 7-10pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Some of the best jazz in Sandpoint Live Music w/ David Walsh 5-7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority A great Flamenco guitar player Live Music w/ Mike Waggoner 5-8pm @ Pend d’ Oreille Winery One of the most endearing musicians in town

Sandpoint Area Seniors Estate Sale 9am-3pm @ Sandpoint Senior Center A three-day estate sale benefitting area sen Saturday is half price! 263-6860 Yoga & Beer at the Brewery 10-11am @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall An hour-long Vinyasa Flow yoga class o on the lawn. $12 which includes a beer Basic Computer Class 8:15am @ Sandpoint Library Computer Basics, Internet, Digital Library rosoft Word and Microsoft Publisher. 263 Bonner Co. Democrats picnic 12pm @ Memorial Park in Priest River Bring a dish to share, we will supply the d

Live Music w/ The Devon Wade Band 9pm @ 219 Lounge Country on the patio!

Sandpoint Chess Club Game Night at the Niner 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee 9pm @ 219 Lounge Meets every Sunday at 9am. All are welcome Monday Night Blues Jam w/ Truck Mills 7:30pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Night Out Karaoke 9pm-12am @ 219 Lounge

Bonner County G 10am-5pm @ Vari Tour the best garde

Animal Habitats at the Library 1pm @ Clark Fork Library Free family fun

Paint & Pint at MickDuff’s $35 includes all the art supplies, instruction and first beverage. Must register at InfiniGallery.com.

KPND Pint Night 5-7pm @ 219 Loun Lots of prizes, live pizza by Mandala cials, tickets for co

Sandpoint Farmers’ Market Open Mic 3pm @ Farmin Park The afternoon market on 5-8pm @ SKåL Taproom (Ponderay) Wednesdays for all your pro- Musicians and comedians welcome!

Open mic is held every Wednesday duce needs!

Mobius Scien 6pm @ Sandp A special scie

Thursday Night Solo Series: Wyatt Wood 6-8pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall With more than 15 years of music experiLive Music w/ Devon Wade ence and an education in music production, 9pm @ 219 Lounge Wood is doing what he knows best -- playDevon performs solo on the patio ing tunes for fans. Spokane Valley native Dollar Beers!

8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub

Re 7pm Re sch nin do

ful

July 13 - 20, 2017

A weekly entertainment guide to keep you on your toes. To list your event free, please send an email to calendar@sandpointreader.com.

Reader recommended

Sandpoint Area Seniors Estate Sale Grey and Mofro 9am-3pm @ Sandpoint Senior Center @ The Hive ND and Low Country Boil Productions present JJ Grey and A three-day estate sale benefitting area seniors. ro, opening with the Kitchen Dwellers. JJ Grey and Mofro re- Saturday is half price! 263-6860 to Sandpoint and make their debut performance at The Hive. Astronauts at the Library going to be a rocking show! Doors open at 7 p.m., and the show 5:30pm @ Sandpoint Library An evening with Astronaut John Phillips s at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 in advance, and $30 at the door

Sandpoint Contra Dance Paul Thorn in concert 7pm @ Sandpoint Community Hall 9pm @ The Panida Theater Paul Thorn is a Southern rock, country, Ameri- All dances called to live music. $5 donation cana, and blues singer-songwriter whose style is Sandpoint Area Seniors Estate Sale er Bay a mix of blues, country, and rock music. Opening 9am-3pm @ Sandpoint Senior Center who was di- the night is Alice Drinks the Kool Aid. Tickets are A three-day estate sale benefitting area seniors Live music $28/advance at Eichardt’s and Evans Brothers Cof- Live Music w/ The Cole Show vities for all fee, and $30/night of. Presented by KPND Radio 6pm @ Arlo’s Ristorante Live Music w/ Ben Olson e Sale Ken Fishman book reading and signing 6-8pm @ Wine Bar at Cedar St. Bistro Center 2-3:30pm @ Corner Bookstore g area seniors. Ken Fishman will be reading selections Bodacious Bluegrass BBQ 0 from his book “Sleeping With Wolves” 4:30pm @ Litehouse Beach House (Hope) which includes stories and personal adGreat food and fun with bluegrass band The Riff ll ventures and scientific detective stories, all Hangers. Benefit for Hope Mem. Comm. Ctr. ga class outside told with his inimitable sense of humor Sandpoint Farmers’ Market s a beer NW Winefest at Schweitzer 9am @ Farmin Park 11am-6pm @ Schweitzer Mtn. Resort Head for the cooler temps and high-el- Head down to Farmin Park for fresh produce, tal Library, Mic- evation beauty of Schweitzer Mountain garden starts as well as live music and fun for all! isher. 263-6930 Resort for two days of great bands, wine, Cedar St. Bridge Public Market 10am-2pm @ Cedar St. Bridge food and fun. t River Come enjoy indoor shopping on the bridge Live Music w/ The Cole Show pply the drinks 6pm @ Arlo’s Ristorante spanning Sand Creek

all ood truck

County Garden Tour m @ Various locations best gardens in Bonner County. 265-2070 for more info

Library y

Open Orchestra Camp (July 17-21) 9am-12pm @ Music Conservatory of Sandpoint An Open Orchestra Camp for ages 9 and older. Cost is $85

July 21-23 NW YogaFeast Pint Night Five Minutes of Fame @ Th e Eureka @ 219 Lounge 6:30pm @ Cafe Bodega rizes, live music with Justin Klump, Writers, musicians, listeners... all welcome! Center Mandala Pizza, drink and beer spe- Meets third Wednesday of every month July 21 kets for concerts and more Magic Wednesday Movie in the 6-8pm @ Jalapeño’s Restaurant bius Science Show Park: ‘Moana’ @ Magician Star Alexander amazes guests at the @ Sandpoint Library Lakeview Park dinner table and in the bar with up-close, interpecial science show July 22 active magical entertainment for all ages!

Sam Owen Fire Reclaim Idaho: A presentation of Idaho schools w/ Marilynne Robinson Dis tric t Pancake 7pm @ Panida Theater Reclaim Idaho features a presentation about the crisis facing Idaho public Breakfast @ Sam schools featuring a discussion by Sandpoint native and Pulitzer-Prize win- Owen Fire Sta tion

We inject trees with fertilizer and insecticide to help rejuvenate the tree and kill off the larve and beetles inside.

•Full Service •Residential •Commercial

•Computers

•Ceiling Fans •Lighting •Troubleshooting

Quality Service since 1975 EVERYTHING ELECTRIC 208.263.7294

U-PICK Blueberries (208)946-3295

•Gallon buckets and 4-ply Ziploc bags provided •Children welcome •$3.25/lb.

ning author Marilynne Robinson. Tickets $5. Come find out what you can do to help our public schools

488 Shingle Mill Road — Just 5 miles from Sandpoint!

July 13, 2017 / R / 13

OUTDOORS

Q & A with CHAFE 150 co-winner Scott Rulander

By Jodi Rawson Reader Contributor Editor’s Note: Scott Rulander finished the CHAFE 150 Gran Fondo at the head of the pack, tying with Scott Starbuck for first place with a finishing time of 7 hours, 24 minutes, 14 seconds. The two winners averaged 20.26 mph for 150 miles. Our contributor, Jodi Rawson, caught up with Scott and asked him a few questions about his experience with this annual event which has raised over $210,000 for the Lake Pend Oreille School District, which is directed toward the special education department to benefit children on the autism spectrum and those who have emotional needs.

1. What was your training schedule leading up to CHAFE? I’m pretty flexible with my training. I started riding this year at the end of March and by mid-April I was riding between 100200 miles a week. Most of my miles are on my road bike, especially early season, but I also like to ride my mountain bike.

2. What foods do you rely on for strength and energy?

For long rides like CHAFE, I have been using a product called Tailwind. I just dump my white powder into a water bottle and it magically provides electrolytes and about 250 calories in each bottle. I also have some really expensive gummy bears that I snack on. I stopped at two of the aid stations on the CHAFE and just needed to fill water bottles. I did eat an oreo cookie, and at mile

70, I reached in my jersey and was stoked to find a banana. I had forgotten to eat it at the start.

3. What was your strategy for doing well in the ride?

I went into the ride knowing that if I ended up alone, it was going to be a long day. I had been training with my buddy, Justin Henney, and on a training ride just two weeks prior to CHAFE he and a Hummer collided which left Justin pretty banged up.

He miraculously healed up in time for CHAFE and we had an agreement to stay together and take turns pulling into the wind.

It can be up to 30-percent less effort to draft behind a fellow rider. From Sandpoint to Bonners Ferry we were part of a leading pack of about 20 riders and it was smooth and fast like a well oiled machine. When we pulled into Bonners, nearly all of the riders stopped at the first aid station, but Justin, myself, and two other riders (Scott and Jamie) continued with a plan to stop near Yaak River. We became fast friends for the 20 miles between Bonners and Yaak working together well as a team of four, but at mile 55 when Justin and I pulled in for water, our new friends continued on and we would spend the next 50 miles chasing to slowly pull the group back together. At around mile 100 we were back together and all tired enough to commit to working together to the finish. Those last 30 miles seem painful no matter how well you’ve trained, and Justin was battling extra aches and pains from his crash, and as we turned onto the bypass in Sandpoint, Scott from Spokane attacked and

began a sprint for the finish. With some help from two 80-mile CHAFE riders, I was able to come along his side, and we rode to the finish side-by-side and were given the same time resulting in a tie. Justin and Jamie came in a couple of minutes behind us.

4. What are your other passions?

I am a videographer and editor, and five years ago, I started a small Sandpoint-based video production company called Gem Vision Productions. I like working with local non-profits to help tell their stories through short documentary style films. In the past couple of years, I have been documenting the restoration of the Clark Fork Delta, traveling to Ethiopia to document the building of an orphan village and helping with many other great projects in our local area. I love to spend time in the mountains whether it’s mountain biking or backcountry skiing. To be honest I sometimes question my passion for road biking, but I think it’s the incredible efficiency of the bike and the kind of runner’s high that I get from it.

5. What are your future cycling goals or dreams?

I would like to ride from Sandpoint to the Washington coast on the North Cascades Highway in less than 24 hours. I have also been scoping out a route to mountain bike from near the Canadian Border to Clark Fork following high country trails through the Purcell and Cabinet Mountains. I’d also like to learn to do a wheelie, but that’s probably a bit ambitious.

I have lived in Sandpoint for 15 years.

Photo by Jeremy Rulander.

Scott Rulander

Town: Sandpoint Age: 48 Finishing Time: 7:24:14 Average Speed for 150 mile race: 20.26MPH

NW Winefest at Schweitzer: a good time for reds, whites and brews

By Ben Olson Reader Staff For the third year in a row, wine is king at Schweitzer Mountain Resort. Northwest Winefest kicks off July 15 and 16, with 80 different wines from 20 regional wineries, live music, village activities and more.

Saturday’s festivities start at 11 a.m. and go to 6 p.m., with free live music from Kevin Dorin, Brown Salmon Truck and Scarlet Parke. Sunday’s hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and feature free live music from The Hawthorne Roots and Adrian Xavier.

“There is so much excitement around the talented wine makers in the Pacific Northwest,” said Mary Weber-Quinn, activities and events director for Schweitzer. “Being able to host an event that brings them and their wineries together so we can enjoy their

14 / R / July 13, 2017

creativity makes this my favorite event of the summer.”

It’s free to attend, but if you’d like to partake in some of the great wines, souvenir glassware and tickets for wine tastings are available for purchase at the main sales tent.

In addition to the music and impressive drinks, the chairlift will be open to the summit, and all of Schweitzer’s daily summer activities will be open to the public, including the zip line, the Monkey Motion Air Jumper, climbing wall and lift-served downhill mountain biking. On Sunday, there will also be a cross-country mountain bike race before the afternoon festivities.

“It’s a great weekend for the whole family,” said Weber-Quinn.

For more details, please visit www.schweitzer.com or call 877-487-4643.

Wine lovers rejoice at last year’s NW Winefest at Schweitzer Mountain Resort. Photo courtesy SMR.

COMMUNITY

Leadership on Boyer and in Laclede

A quick lesson in bear safety

Lois Miller shines at what she does - connecting with people

By Tim Henney Reader Contributor Lois Miller, a vibrant 89, never reminded me of Winston Churchill until a couple of weekends ago when I saw her in influential action with fellow Cottage volunteers on the rolling lawn of her waterfront home in Laclede.

Sir Winston is said to have said, “I am certainly not one of those who need to be prodded.

In fact, if anything, I am the prod.” That’s Lois. The prod. A gentle, joyful, positive prod, but a prod.

Had she lived in London during the 1940 blitz she could have helped Sir Winston inspire the British people to victory.

With a management gift they can’t teach at Harvard or Stanford Business, Lois guides a force of 25 dedicated, grateful volunteers at The Cottage Home and Garden thrift store, bracketed by railroad tracks, on North Boyer Ave. Excuse me? Grateful volunteers? At a thrift store? Well, it sure looked and sounded that way to me as I sipped a brew and munched Caesar salad in Laclede. Collegiality and unpretention characterized the lakeside gathering of Cottage volunteers that Lois and husband Don hosted to salute another successful year on behalf of Panhandle Special Needs Inc. (PSNI).

As matriarch, Lois individually complimented the 20 or so guests comfortably seated in a wide circle under big trees by the sparkling river, each spoke lovingly of the Cottage, of their colleagues, and how much it all means. Not just the joy of such effort because of kind leadership, but because of the immeasurable good the Cottage does for the 100 or so participants in Panhandle Special Needs. Developmen-

tally disabled participants with issues from Autism to Down Syndrome, PSNI prepares them for jobs — then finds jobs for them with local partners like Lignetics. It’s a win-win situation for helpers and helped alike.

“I can’t imagine life without the Cottage,” said one indispensable volunteer in a flowered hat worthy of NYC’s famed Easter parade. Said another sitting next to her, “I feel so fortunate just to be able to go there, to be with all of you — sometimes I just pinch myself.”

Those sentiments might have been from Alice Van Essen, 93, or Donna Harper, 90 (at a mere almost 86 I felt like a child among such great ladies). Or they could have been expressed

by Claudia Ashby or Diane Newcomer or Bonnie or Rich Aitken. Every guest in the casual circle, not all of them aged, voiced the same message when Lois invited comment: Being a Cottage volunteer is a thing to be treasured.

This writer’s 1957 bride, Jacquelynn, volunteers Monday afternoons and looks forward to her shift all week. She shares duties with Suzanne Drevick and Mary Jones. The three musketeers. They never heard of one another prior to joining the Cottage team. Now they’re buddies.

And Geri Anderton, PSNI works services supervisor right across the gravel driveway. Upbeat and busy as a whirling dervish, Geri splits her time between the Cottage and PSNI, helping everyone keep connected, pulling together. But Lois sets the direction and tone. Many is the big time corporate CEO who might actually know how to earn his obscene salary and big bonuses if he could study and absorb her style. Heart. Passion. Dedication.

By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff Writer

Lois Miller. Photo by Ben Olson.

Love for both mission and staff.

Knowing that happy helpers make a winning effort. Being a role model, a force for good, without the corporate posturing.

Leading comes easily and authentically for the Cottage boss.

Just ask Wendy Hansen Sater. Known to a zillion locals as the creative genius at the Hoot Owl restaurant, Wendy catered the lawn party in Laclede.

Ask PSNI’s Suzette White or Jean Post, both of them pleased and proud to be there. With ever-growing responsibilities at Panhandle Special Needs across the gravel driveway, The Cottage seeks and warmly welcomes new volunteers. A benevolent, caring attitude toward others is the only requirement, so far as I can tell. Ask lawn party girls Sandy Dufault, Betty Faletto or Sarah Roemhildt what makes the Cottage so remarkable. So satisfying.

They’ll tell you it’s helping disabled people lead happier, richer lives. And doing so with Lois cracking the whip.

If you think you might want to jump aboard, you can find her on 208 263 1794. Sir Winston would, if he could.

Last week, something terrible yet all too possible happened: A woman hiking with two dogs near Priest Lake suffered injuries in a black bear attack. She was life-flighted to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, and while her injuries were not life-threatening, the Spokesman-Review reported that first responders were worried about blood loss.

With such a scary circumstance comes a good opportunity to review safety tips surrounding bear country. The National Park Service has a few good tips, and from my time hiking and gathering berries all over the area I have picked up pieces of advice from fellow outdoor enthusiasts.

Heading out Whenever planning a hike or mountain excursion of any kind, it is worthwhile to do a quick internet search or make a phone call to check to see if there have been any recent aggressive bear incidents or bear sightings in the area. Remember that areas full of ripe berries are especially susceptible to having bears, and if an area is known to have bears it may be best to leave dogs at home — according to the NPS, “bears and pets don’t mix.”

Deterrents The best deterrent you can use to avoid encountering a bear in the first place is to be loud in the woods. Being in a group and talking to one anoth-

er is an easy way to be noisy, but when I hike alone I try to sing to myself, wear a bear bell or walk with the intention of making a ruckus against the trail with my boots. Giving a bear ample time to know a human is coming almost always scares them away before we can even see them. To feel even more safe, carry bear spray on your belt or easily accessible while strapped onto your pack.

In case of an encounter or attack When faced with a bear who doesn’t seem keen on running away, make yourself larger.

Spread your arms high and wide and see if you can move to higher ground — in most cases, this will intimidate the bear into scampering off. Talk calmly to identify yourself as a human, not prey. Don’t offer the bear food or approach it in any way. If at all possible, slowly retreat and give the animal its space. According to the NPS, if you’re attacked by a grizzly, play dead and place your hands across the back of your neck. If attacked by a black bear, fight back. If a bear stalks you — which is incredibly rare — fight back, as you are probably being seen as potential food.

The only way we can all enjoy this area’s forests is if we remember that they are first and foremost the home of wild animals. Best wishes to the woman who made it away from that black bear, and everyone stay safe in bear country.

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Parks and Rec summer activities

By McCalee Cain Reader Intern During a Sandpoint summertime, one may complain about varying seasonal woes: painful sunburns, melted ice cream, misplaced sunglasses. Rarely on that list is boredom. Thanks to the buzzing community calendar, there’s always something interesting to do for the whole family. Check out these upcoming events sponsored by Sandpoint Parks and Recreation — a prescription for summer boredom.

Yoga at the Beach With the buzz of a busy summer, it can be easy to lose your zen. Take a moment for yourself and reground in the moment at City Beach with free yoga, brought to you

by Sandpoint Parks and Rec and Downtown Yoga. Come on Sundays 8-9:30 a.m. with your yoga mat for a peaceful stretching session against the backdrop of the lake. Meet on the east side of the basketball courts.

Camp Kaniksu Need a break from the kiddos? Enjoy a few moments of peace and quiet treat the little ones to an outdoor escape at Camp Kaniksu, brought to you by Kaniksu Land Trust, Leadership Sandpoint, Sandpoint Parks and Rec and the University of Idaho. The camp will be hosted at the U of I property on Boyer.

Session two is a four-week session for $80, running from July 31 to Aug. 25. Younger campers aged 7-10 will attend sessions Mondays and Wednesdays; Older campers age 11-12 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Space is limited, so be sure to pre-register before the July 26 registration deadline.

Rails to Resort Hill Climb After soaking up the beauty of Lake Pend Oreille, switch it up and enjoy the North Idaho mountain scenery with some biking.

The Rails to Resort Hill Climb (a.k.a. Schweitzer Hill Climb) is open to bikers of all skill levels seeking a challenge. Organized

by Sandpoint Sports, Sports Plus and Parks & Rec, the event date is slotted for Saturday, July 22, at 9 a.m. Pre-registration is from 8 – 8:45 a.m. and the cost is $20. Meet at the Red Barn Parking Lot on Schweitzer Road.

Skyhawks Multi-Sport Clinic Take advantage of their time off from school, and get the kids playing outside.

Sandpoint Parks and Rec is partnering with Skyhawks to offer a Multi-Sport Clinic for children age 6-12, July 24-28 at Travers Park (2102 Pine St.) from 9a.m.-3 p.m. The MultiSport Clinic will feature baseball, basketball, and soccer in one-week-long session, introducing participants to the rules and essentials of each sport through skill-based games and scrimmages. By the end of the week, kids will walk away with knowledge of three new sports as well as teamwork skills. Class fee is $145; Preregister by July 17.

STEM in the Park Even though school is no longer in 16 / R / July 13, 2017

session, you can keep your kids curious and learning year-round with STEM in the park.

Hosted by Sandpoint Library and Parks & Rec at Travers Park, this event celebrates everything STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in a family-friendly and fun environment. The program is geared towards youth in grades 1st-5th, but all are welcome. Pack a lunch and come explore the world of STEM on Thursdays, June 29 - July 27 from 12:30 - 1:30 p.m.

Ultimate Frisbee League Getting a little bored lounging lakeside?

Get some exercise and a thrill with Sandpoint’s Ultimate Frisbee League. A summer staple, Ultimate Frisbee is a fast paced, non-contact, active sport played on a field with two end zones. The league is co-ed and welcomes all participants 16 and up regardless of skill level.

Games are Monday and Thursdays, mid-May through October at Travers Park from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Teen Summer Hike Series: 15 – 18 yrs.

Are your teenagers holed up this summer? Get them outside and moving with Outside 7B’s summer hike series designed get teens into nature and focus on accomplishing academic goals. On July 22, the group will explore Gold Hill Trail No. 3 and Mickinnick Trail on Aug. 19. During the hikes, conversation will focus on Sandpoint High School’s summer reading lists as well as college preparedness and applications.

Hikes start at 11 a.m. Participation costs $22 for entire session or $7 per hike ($2 in-city limits discount). The registration deadline is the Thursday before each hike.

Children’s intro to Martial Arts and Self Defense Sandpoint Taekwondo will offer an introductory Taekwondo, Karate, and Self Defense class beginning Tuesday Aug. 1 for children age 5 - 14. Lessons will focus not only on basic self-defense skills, but also character-building in a child-friendly setting.

The session fee is $49 ($2 city discount), and includes a uniform and two weeks of lessons on Tuesday and Thursday from 3:15-4 p.m. at Sandpoint Taekwondo, 218 Main St. Registration deadline is July 25.

Advanced Sailing Lessons How well do you know Lake Pend Oreille? Learn a new way to explore the lake and pick up a fun new skill this summer with advanced sailing lessons, hosted by Sandpoint Parks and Rec and the Sandpoint Sailing Association. Beginners from age 10 to adult are invited to explore the world of sailing Aug. 14-17 from 9-11a.m. Class fee is $39 per person ($4 city discount) and class fees are all-inclusive. Registration deadline is August 9th. Personal flotation devices are required for this class, but students should also be comfortable in deep water.

Sharing our area’s waters

How to co-exist safely on Lake Pend Oreille

By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff Writer Between Lake Pend Oreille, Priest Lake, the Pend Oreille River and the Clark Fork River, Bonner County has no shortage of water-related recreational opportunities.

Boaters, swimmers, paddlers and shoreline landowners are all using the county’s waters to their fullest potential this summer, and while there may be enough water to go around, there’s often an issue of both respect and safety as the summer reaches its apex of recreational use.

With the help of some local officials who also sit on the Waterways Advisory Board, the following are a few reminders in safety and courtesy when using the area’s waterways.

The boaters’ right-of-way Lake safety is based largely around the coexistence of multiple lake users, including boaters, swimmers, those on paddlecraft and more. Lieutenant Ed Jochum, head of the Marine Division of the Bonner County Sheriff’s Department, said he has observed collisions of these different users all over the county’s waterways firsthand.

“Kids swimming in the launch areas, especially at (the Hope) boat basin, is an issue,” Jochum said. “The other day I had a kid swim right behind the boat while I was backing up.”

Jochum said that in areas with boat launches that aren’t designated specifically as swimming areas, boaters take priority.

“Boaters have the right of way. The facilities are paid for with boater dollars,” he said, citing both the gas tax and boat registration fees.

“That issue is inherent at every boat launch. You see it at Garfield Bay, you see it everywhere,” said Steve Klatt, director of the Bonner County Waterways and Parks Department. “The docks they walk on are boat docks — it’s just a problem. Kids will go to the water frequently unsupervised.”

Due to these unsafe interactions, Klatt said his department is looking to create a designated swimming area at the Hope boat basin. The area would include a float dock specifically for swimmers, as well as a shore dock.

“I would like to see it in place next summer,” Klatt said.

Marine Sheriff’s Deputy Rich Rembisz (left) and Boat Captain Kurt Poeschel (right) on the water. Photo by Lyndsie Kiebert.

Personal flotation devices Personal flotation devices (more casually referred to as life jackets) are required to be worn by children under 14 on boats 19 feet or smaller at all times, and jackets must always be within easy reach for adults riding on watercraft both motor-powered and not. Life jackets must say “Coast Guard Approved” on the label to be considered legally valid.

“Personal flotation devices are just something that is so frequently overlooked,” Klatt said, adding life jackets are just as important for people on paddlecraft as they are for people in high-powered boats. “We have so many kayakers, paddleboarders, paddlecraft people who absolutely have no boating experience of any kind and they’re recreating with no regard to visibility, particularly when it gets to be dusk and just not understanding that they are risking their own safety by having no regard to where they’re recreating.”

The importance of PFDs is only emphasized by the fact that three people died on Lake Pend Oreille over the July Fourth weekend — all three were not wearing life jackets.

To combat this, Idaho Parks and Rec with the help of Coast Guard funding provides a PFD kiosk at each prominent boat ramp in the county.

“I was at (the Hope) boat basin last week and there were about six left and they were all thrown on the ground, but they were all soaking wet, so kids are using them,” Jochum said.

To make sure people are abiding by

PFD laws, marine officials make it a point to check that the adequate amount of life jackets are on board while doing routine safety checks both on the water and at boat ramps.

Be aware of drift Due to a breach in the lake’s shear boom system this spring, the amount of driftwood around the lake is far higher this year than in years past, Klatt said.

“I think that this year regarding boat safety people really need to be cognizant, particularly at dusk, of big debris in the water,” he said. “From a county liability standpoint, we can’t move debris — we have nowhere to put debris. If we interfere with this natural course and tow it somewhere and something happens, we have liability.”

When those from the marine division patrolling the lake discover debris, Jochum said the areas are flagged so they’re visible from a distance.

“Normally, where the debris is found, it is virtually all on private land. We just mark them,” Jochum said. “They tend to clear themselves out of the (lake) system over time.”

Wake zones Due to increased complaints regarding excessive wake from shoreline homeowners over the past several summers, Jochum said his department is cracking down. The general guideline is that there should be no wake “within 200 feet from any shoreline, dock, pier, bridges, other structure or any person in the water,”

according to the BCSO’s website.

“We from the marine division are basically taking a no-tolerance stance. We’ve written eight to ten citations already,” Jochum said.

The issue also has environmental implications when it comes to erosion, so Lake Commission coordinator Molly McCahon said she is working with a subcommittee of the Waterways Advisory Board to push the narrative “avoid the shore, ride the core,” meant to encourage boaters to stay as far from the shore as possible.

The county has invested in three portable buoys that Jochum said they’ll be moving around into problem areas to alert the public to what 200 feet is. On top of that, Jochum said they’ll be doing “emphasis patrols” — sitting on private docks that have reported wake problems and issuing citations. These patrols will begin in the coming weeks.

“Our point with ‘avoid the shore, ride the core’ is not really to emphasize the 200-foot wake zone, because there are many boats out there that that distance isn’t really adequate,” McCahon said, noting that modern wake boats are meant to create excessive wake for recreating purposes. “We really just want to encourage people to stay as far away (from the shore) as they can. We want to avoid creating any more regulations — we just hope people can be self-regulating.”

Excessive noise Damaging wake isn’t the only issue landowners are concerned about when they call the sheriff’s office, Jochum said.

“We’re getting complaints about audio noise and excessive engine noise, and we’re targeting that, also,” Jochum said.

“I’m surmising it might be because those new wake boats have those huge speaker systems on them. You didn’t see that 10 years ago — they’re 12-inch speakers, and they really pump it out.”

In addition, Jochum said certain exhaust systems, specifically those mounted above water, are illegal in the state of Idaho.

Ultimately, Jochum said noise — and most other lake safety issues — comes down to sharing the waterways in a respectful manner.

“Be respectful of homeowners, and other boaters, in the area,” he said.

July 13, 2017 / R / 17

Sam Owen FD hosts Pancake Breakfast

By Ben Olson Reader Staff Pancakes? Check. Maple Syrup? Check. Fundraiser for a worthy organization? Double check.

The Sam Owen Fire District (SOFD) will be hosting its annual Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, July 22 from 7:30 to 11 a.m. at the Sam Owen Fire Station #1 at the junction of Peninsula Road and Highway 200 in Hope.

The fundraiser breakfast features steaming hot pancakes, eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, juice and coffee or tea.

Adults pay just $5 while kids under 12 eat for $2.50.

This year’s breakfast will see outgoing fire chief Bob Wathen off for his upcoming retirement after 15 years.

Attendees will be able to tour the station, meet the firefighters and meet the new fire chief, Jeff Wilkins.

The annual community event is the only fundraiser for SOFD. The monies raised will be used for supplies for the fire house, including uniforms, communications devices and important firefighting equipment.

Over 60 volunteers, plus the firefighters and fire chief spend untold hours collecting donations, cooking meals and serving breakfast to the hundreds that turn out for the Pancake Breakfast.

As 2017 marks the 15th anniversary of the event, it’s important to recognize the commitment that SOFD provides to the community, through fire protection and emergency services to all of the district’s residents, businesses and visitors.

To learn more about SOFD, contact fire chief Bob Wathen at 264-5745.

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MUSIC

‘Live Your Dreams’ scholarship winner announced

By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff Lauren Sfeir brings a unique perspective to Sandpoint, which is always a useful trait as an artist.

Raised in Beirut, she moved to North Idaho with her family to take care of her grandfather, who suffered from Alzheimer’s. Upon arriving in town, she saw many of its quirks with entirely fresh eyes. It’s a viewpoint she brings into her photography—particularly her nature photography, which has lately been her focus.

“Living (outside the U.S.) taught me how to look at things in a different way,” she said. “When I came here, I was amazed at things like geese.”

It was that freshness of vision and the breadth of experience in her young life that impressed Kristina and George Orton and the other members of the selection committee for the Live Your Dreams Scholarship. Founded in the memory of their son, Patrick Orton, the scholarship is tailored for young people who want to seek a career following their passions. “(Lauren) stuck out because her background is really interesting as well as her drive and commitment,” said Kristina Orton.

“You just know that whatever she turns her focus to, she’s going to achieve it,” she added.

Sfeir caught wind of the scholarship while pursuing financial support to attend the Whitworth University. She immediately felt a kinship with the scholarship’s mission statement and with Patrick Orton himself.

“This scholarship spoke to me the most especially because Patrick was such a great photographer and was so inspiring,” she said.

Lauren Sfeir is all smiles after winning the Live Your Dreams Scholarship for 2017. Photo by Ben Olson.

According to Kristina Orton, Sfeir stuck out among this year’s 28 applicants not only for her drive and talent but also her community spirit. A frequent volunteer, Sfeir made waves in Sandpoint High School when she and a classmate raised $800 for Kinderhaven by collecting pennies.

Upon leaving for college, Sfeir aims to study photography. She’s excited to learn from experts on the subject, especially since much of her early skill-building was based on trial and error. Her goal is to take her nature photography to a professional level by working for a nature magazine. The ultimate dream is to one day land a job with National Geographic. Given the expenses of attending Whitworth, she is grateful for the help the Ortons have provided her. Every little bit helps when you’re chasing a dream.

“I am so thankful for the Orton family and what they have done for me,” she said.

“I am so grateful for their investment in my future and appreciate that I am able to be a part of Patrick’s legacy.”

NAMI Far North Monthly Meeting notes

By Reader Staff The NAMI Far North (National Alliance on Mental Illness) regular monthly meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 19, at 5:30 p.m. in the old Bonner General Health classroom, 520 N Third Ave, Sandpoint. Gini Woodward, Founder of Conduit of Care, is the featured speaker. The Conduit of Care project supports patients at State Hospital North in their journey to recovery. Members from NAMI North, under the guidance of Gini, work to give back to others in need with generosity and compassion helping to break the stigma of mental illness. The Conduit of Care project provides much needed donated items such as toiletries, socks, backpacks, or special request necessities. This project gives a message of hope, acceptance, and encouragement to patients during their stay at the hospital and to those returning to their community. This will be an interactive presentation.

Following the presentation there will be a support group session for those with mental illness and another support session for those who love them. All are welcome to this free meeting. Call 208-597-2047 for further information.

This week’s RLW by Lyndsie Kiebert

READ

I came across many books on writing during my time as a Professional Writing major, some more helpful than others. Among the books I kept for my personal library after graduation is “Writing Tools” by Roy Peter Clark.

My favorite instructor (shout out to Vicki) assigned it in a 400-level narrative journalism course, and the simple format and catchy instruction hooked me. Tips like, “order words for emphasis,” and, “write from different cinematic angles,” are lessons even the most experienced writer can afford to study and apply.

LISTEN

The question, “Who is your favorite music artist?” is nearly impossible to answer. Over the years I’ve come up with a good go-to answer: Ben Howard.

His two fulllength LPs, “Every Kingdom” and “I Forget Where We Were,” are treasures both in terms of craft and lyricism. Howard’s voice is unique, and while most of his music is acoustically based, no two songs sound the same. My only complaint is that he hasn’t put out anything new since 2014. Nevertheless, my undying love for the man, I’ll be patient as long as it takes.

WATCH I was originally very skeptical of the ABC drama “Scandal,” another Shonda Rhimes production, because it looked like just another political hoopla driven by sex. While my assumptions were right — the plot opens with the main character’s affair with the POTUS — the show grows to be much more.

I just finished season six, and, with every episode, I catch myself wondering, “How in the hell did Rhimes think of that?” Murder, deceit, secret agendas driven by power: “Scandal” surprises at every turn.

STAGE & SCREEN

Museum features movies in the park

By Reader Staff

The Bonner County History Museum is excited to announce the summer 2017 “Movies in the Park” schedule.

Presented in partnership with Pine Street Dental, and the Sandpoint Department of Parks and Recreation, “Movies in the Park” will feature four movies this summer: Disney’s “Moana” on July 21, “The Sandlot” on July 28, “The Princess Bride” on August 18, and “Trolls” on Aug. 25.

“Movies in the Park” is a free community event, and all are welcome.

Concessions will be available for purchase during all movies. All movies will be shown at Lakeview Park, 901 Ontario St. The park will be open to set up seating beginning at 6:30 p.m. and the movies will start shortly after sundown.

Enhance your experience by packing a picnic and arriving early to claim your spot. Should inclement weather occur, movies dates may be rescheduled.

Check museum website for details.

To help cover the cost of licensing films, the museum is seeking sponsors for this event.

All sponsorships include recognition in all marketing and press for the series, as well as on the museum’s Facebook page and website, and in all internal marketing.

Sponsorships start as low as $100 and hold a minimum marketing value of $300. Check our website for more information, www. bonnercountyhistory. org/support.

Founded in 1972, the Bonner County History Museum has been collecting and preserving the Bonner County region’s significant stories for over 40 years. The Bonner County History Museum is a private, nonprofit

Great acts coming to Di Luna’s

educational organization (I.R.S. 501 (c) 3). The museum is a membership organization, open to all. The museum operates thanks to community support, membership fees, gifts, retail sales and donations and grants from private foundations.

Hours are Tuesday through Friday,

10 a.m.-4 p.m. The first Saturday of each month – 10 a.m.-2 p.m. is free admission.

Admission: $4 – Adults, $3 – Seniors, $1 – 6-18 years, free – Members and children under 6. Free for everyone on the first Saturday of each month.

By Ben Olson Reader Staff

It’s not just the summer days that are heating up around Sandpoint. Di Luna’s Cafe is one of the best listening venues in town, and they are offering a couple of great shows in the next couple of weeks.

On Friday, July 14, Korby Lenker returns to Di Luna’s for a CD Release concert featuring his latest album, “Thousand Springs.”

The record was created on the edge of Snake River Canyon in a cabin north of Sun Valley, Idaho in his father’s mortuary and a dozen other places. For music as unique and personal as Lenker’s, it only made sense that the actual creation of “Thousand Springs” be part of the story. A favored show, Lenker always fills the house, so don’t miss the chance to buy your tickets. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with the show starting at 7:30 p.m.

Dinner will be served before the show.

Tickets are $12 if purchased in advance.

The following week, Irish “super-group” Runa will play on Friday, July 21 at Di Luna’s. Runa has been enchanting audiences by pushing the

thursday, July 13 @ 7:30pm

New York Film Critic Series: “BLIND” With Q &A by Alec Baldwin and Demi Moore after show friday, July 14 @ 9pm

Paul thorn band With alice drinks the kool-aid

saturday, July 15 @ 7:30pm

“losing julia finch”

A mirthful meditation on the life of a writer from North Idaho (sandpoint local jeff bock)

Top: Korby Lenker. Bottom: Runa.

boundaries of Irish folk music into the Americana and roots music formats since their formation in 2008. Interweaving the haunting melodies and exuberant tunes of Ireland and Scotland with the lush harmonies and intoxicating rhythms of jazz, bluegrass, flamenco and blues, Runa offers a thrilling and redefining take on traditional music.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7:30 p.m. with dinner served before the show.

Di Luna’s is located at 207 Cedar St. in Sandpoint. For info, (208) 263-0846.

thursday, july 20 @ 7pm

Reclaim Idaho presentation featuring marilynne robinson friday, july 21 @ midnight

midnight sci-fi thriller

July 21 @ 5:30pm | July 22 @ 3:30 & 7:30pm July 23 @ 3:30pm

“lost in paris”

July 29 - Part 1 @ 6pm, Part 2 @ 8pm JUly 30 - Part 1 @ 3:30pm, part 2 @ 5:30pm

new york dog film festival

July 13, 2017 / R / 19

Living Life:

By Dianne Smith Reader Columnist

Living the last third

means less work and more play, giving back to the community, making friends and exploring interests. I feel blessed to be able to change some of my focus and slow down a bit.

As a child, being a prima ballerina was a dream of mine, but not so much for my mom.

She saw it as a waste of time, so I was required to help pay for lessons. Serving and cleaning up at rich people’s dinner parties was a thriving business for me, Like many, I have spent years beginning in my preteen years. raising children and helping Raising children, I often thought them thrive. After working three of taking an adult dance class, jobs, seven days a week for but, as often happens, in that years to help pay for college so third of our life it was a passing my children wouldn’t be stuck thought. Maybe that would be with debt, I am finally ready in an interest now in the last third. the last third to live for me. I Something that is frivolous and wasn’t even really sure what that just for pure enjoyment: Could meant, after so many years with I do that? a different focus. I do know it I see the last third of life as having made peace with our childhood and recognizing that our parents did the best they could with what they had, knowing also that we tried to do our best and hope our children see that and make peace with it also. I am sure my mom had her reasons for why dance was a waste of money, but, for me, making peace was choosing dance lessons and being OK with spending the money on it. I started with tap because, for STC. some reason, I thought

Specializing in Large Trees and Quality Work

that was more acceptable to my mom, but it was also the only adult dance class in Sandpoint that fit my schedule. I have now added ballet and will soon add jazz, and I am OK with that. So is my mom. It is funny how your relationships change when you are able to make peace with your past.

In the last third of my life, I had my two adult children here for the holiday and it was probably the best family visit we have had. Maybe they have a sense of peace now and recognize that I, too, did the best I could with what I had. Fortunately for me my children were resilient in spite of my mistakes as most children are. I hope they know I loved them the way I knew my mom loved me.

Maybe not in the way I thought she should, but in the best way she knew how.

I hope to focus on being at peace with who I am and where I am in life. I have met some wonderful people through amazing experiences who are adding to the last third of my journey.

I look at people I admire and what they are doing right, and continue to learn. Isn’t that what life is about? Learning every day so that we can make the next day better?

Dover Bay benefits local teen with leukemia

By McCalee Cain Reader Intern

When the Dover Bay Resort first contacted Autumn Dillon offering to host a benefit for her son, Jared, she was elated.

“I was very happy, and kind of surprised,” Dillon said. “It’s not the call you expect, but I was very happy to receive it.”

Dillon’s son, Jared Kluesner, a 16-year old Sandpoint High School student, was diagnosed with leukemia on Dec. 5, and is undergoing treatment. So hearing the news from the resort was exciting, to say the least.

Dover Bay Resort shall host Block Party at the Barn to help out Jared and his family on Friday, July 14, from 6-10 p.m.

The event is free to attend and will feature a silent auction welcoming both cash and credit payment, as well as Dickey’s famous BBQ plates and a cash bar hosted by MickDuff’s Brewery.

Plenty of activities such as face painting and a scavenger hunt will also be available for kids..

And the cherry on top: Devon Wade and his band will rock the dance floor.

Matt Meneghini, a chief planner of the event, said that the event has been long in the making.

“Devon and I have been talking since October, and we wanted to have an event with a cause,” Meneghini said. “We said, ‘We should find somebody that’s in need.’”

The event is a community effort. Many businesses in town will contribute to the benefit with auction items and the like.

Dillon expressed immense gratitude for the Dover Bay Resort.

“I’m kind of bummed that we can’t personally be there (due to treatment), but of course we’re still very happy about it. This is really going to help a lot with gas money and bills,” she said. “I’m very thankful, they’re really trying to make everything as easy as possible for us.

Dianne Smith, LMFT, is a licensed counselor who works with both children and adults.

She has offices in Bonners Ferry and Sandpoint and can be reached at dianne_smith_mft@ yahoo.com.

•Planting •Pruning •Hazard Tree Removal

476864 US-95 Ponderay, ID 83852

(208) 265-6163 20 / R / July 13, 2017

MUSIC

By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff

An interview with

PINK MARTINI

Portland, Ore., band Pink Martini has carved out a unique space for itself in popular music.

Blending multiple genres together, including Latin, classical, jazz and more, the band has been in the business of aural fusion for more than two decades. Band founder Thomas Lauderdale talked to us about Pink Martini’s unique journey, its unexpected beginnings and the process of writing music for a recent film.

SR: The Festival At Sandpoint is fast approaching, and you’re no stranger to that venue.

What was your experience the first time you played there?

TL: It was a really, really wonderful experience. As I remember it, it was a packed-house outdoors (festival), and it was a wonderful summer night, and so we’re happy to come back. We don’t get to play Idaho that much — we’ve played a handful of times in Boise, and we’ve played in Sandpoint once before, so we don’t spend enough time in the state, although my father’s family is from Caldwell.

So we’re happy to come back.

SR: Many people would agree it’s the best time of the year to be in Sandpoint. Now, you all have been playing for quite a long time — TL: — This is our 23rd year.

We started in 1994, and at the time, I thought I was going to go into politics, so I was working on various campaigns in the political world. There had been a very nasty attempt to amend the Oregon Constitution to declare homosexuality illegal, along with bestiality, pedophilia and necrophilia. So I was working in the campaign in opposition to this.

I had just seen Peewee Herman’s Christmas Special, which packed in every guest star imaginable … (including) the Del Rubio

somehow, most of the time things sort of work out. … I like the sort of chaos of not knowing what’s going to happen, and having faith and trust that it’s all going to work out, and most of the time, it does.

SR: Anything that lasts for multiple decades has fairly strong foundations, it seems to me.

Pink Martini in the studio, doing what they do. Courtesy photo. triplets: three gals with three guitars, ages of 70 to 80, who wore little mini-skirts and played the guitar for covers of songs like “Walk Like An Egyptian” and “Whip It.” So I brought them to town to do a series of concerts in places like retirement homes, hospitals and rotary meetings, and at the end of their set they would say, “Please vote no on Measure 13.” At the end of the week, for a big community concert, I couldn’t get a hold of a certain band I wanted to open for the Del Rubios, so I threw on a cocktail dress and started Pink Martini.

SR: That might be the most fantastic band origin story I’ve ever heard.

TL: It was an entirely unlikely beginning. I never expected to be in a band, let alone running one, and so the whole thing turned out to be a shocker for me, especially since it’s lasted nearly a quarter of a century.

SR: You had a new album come out in November (“Je dis oui!”). Could you tell me about the process of making that?

Does it fall into what you’d consider a well-established sound for the band, or is it new territory?

TL: The new album is our ninth album. The foundation, when we were conceiving it, is

three French songs we wrote for a French film called “Souvenir,” which stars the legendary French actress Isabelle Huppert. The story of the film is about a singer who lost to ABBA in a Eurovision music competition in the mid-’70s and has faded into obscurity and is working in a meat pate factory.

A boxer comes to work in the factory, he recognizes her, they have a mad, passionate affair and then she tries for a comeback.

So we wrote three songs for the film, where they’re sung by Huppert, but on our album they’re sung by China Forbes. The rest of the material kind of came out after that, and we did everything from a rewrite of a song from our first album, which is originally in Spanish, written collaboratively with a fantastic guy from Jordan but who lives in Abu Dhabi currently. He wrote Arabic lyrics for this song that was originally in Spanish, and that song was recorded by Ari Shapiro, the host of “All Things Considered.”

We also collaborated with people like my friend Kathleen Saadat, who is 75 years old and had never been in a recording studio before. I worked under her in city hall in 1991 on the civil rights ordinance for the city of Portland.

But she loves to sing … so we worked with her on an incredible, epic version of “Love for Sale” by Cole Porter.

There’s a song called “Segundo,” which is an ongoing collab-

oration with our friend Johnny Dynell from New York City. And there are many other songs that came from here and there. The idea is really an album that people would want to look into again and again and again under any number of different circumstances, whether that be holding a dinner party or vacuuming around the house or falling in love or going through a divorce.

SR: That’s an interesting point about the first few songs of the album being made for a film.

What is it like writing music for another creative project?

It was great. For me, I can come up with melodies right and left any time. Lyrics are harder. With this particular film, the filmmakers had a definite vision for what they wanted the text to be. It was wonderful and fun to collaborate with them, because they were really in charge of the part that I don’t feel I’m good at. We mapped out the songs in a couple days, really.

SR: One striking thing about Pink Martini is that you have so many collaborators. Can it be a bit like herding cats trying to organize all that?

TL: (Laughs) You know, I personally love — well, there are days I don’t love it — but it’s the idea of a circus, with all sorts of moving parts and pieces, and

TL: I think the thing that keeps it going is the fact that the musicians are really great. … If the music wasn’t good, it probably wouldn’t last. I think having great musicians who are well-versed in (many genres) keeps it all from becoming terrible.

SR: That variety in genre influences also seems to help you carve out your own unique space, especially in this year’s Festival lineup. It’s always a refreshing experience to see you play live.

TL: That’s cool. For us, we’re all about anything that gets people out of their homes and into the streets. It’s important to us that we do a great show so people will come back year after year. … So I think keeping the concerts fun and upbeat and constantly shifting (is important). … That’s the life of any performing group that wants to stay relevant and uplifting.

SR: Thanks again for taking the time to talk with us. Is there anything else you’d like to mention that we haven’t covered?

TL: We all feel very fortunate in the band to be able to make a living playing music. It’s a complicated time in the world, and I think our goal of getting people who are very different from each other in the same space doing conga lines — I think that’s a really important part of our work right now.

The Festival at Sandpoint opens with An Evening with Pink Martini on Thursday, Aug. 3. For ticket information, call 265-4554.

July 13, 2017 / R / 21

The Straight Poop:

The quest for dog-friendly businesses in North Idaho

By Drake the Dog Reader Pet Columnist Where am I taking my humans today?

The Mister and Missus are expecting their first granddaughter soon. To welcome the little one, the Missus decided to get a new leash on life by dusting off a craft she learned in the fourth grade. Here we go: •The business owner’s first job was in a “pop” factory at the age of 9.

•An elementary craft would enable him to be “productive” during long winters.

•He has an antique valise filled with his art that remains unfinished.

•His home studio has over 20 “machines” that produce his projects.

So who’s going to take a “bow-wow” on this one? Let’s not get too ruff.

Amid the sound of conversation, laughter and clicking needles, we are welcomed

by Charles, the owner of Something Olde Something New, the only yarn shop in town, located in Foster’s Crossing, 504 Oak St. The Missus is in love with this 900 square foot place filled floor-to-ceiling with gorgeous yarn. Team members Patty, Jenny, Beth and Debbie know more about knitting than I will ever learn in my lifetime. If you know someone who is a knit-a-holic, tell them to grab a copy of “Knitting for Dummies” and go!

As we listened to Charles spin a yarn, I was amazed to learn that knitting is obsessive, therapeutic, good for concentration, develops patience, increases fine motor skills and is experiencing a big resurgence.

Daily knitting classes are offered, and the pack tells me that it’s so much easier to sit and mimic someone as they knit. Repetition is the best way to learn. For this dog, not so much! I was mesmerized watching them, as the four paws and ambidextrous techniques weren’t working for me. Hence, you won’t

A broad and often deep selection of quality fiction in a post-truth time. And lots of other good books.

Main Street Downtown Bonners Ferry 267-2622

We buy used books

22 / R / July 13, 2017

Something Olde Something New

At Foster’s Crossing

find winter sweaters and leg warmers knitted by Drake on the shelves. If you choose to make the sampler scarf that Charles has designed, by the time you finish it, you will have mastered all of the basic stitches— knit, pearl, cable, lace and texture. Wowza!

Charles’ stake in yarn shops started when he moved west from Minnesota to California, circa 1976. At that time, he was working as a psychiatric nurse. When he attended parochial school in Winona, Minn., the Sisters of Norte Dame taught him how to knit slippers. Everything else he learned on his own—no classes. The cafeteria ladies taught him how to make granny squares, a hunka-hunka lot of them, which to this day remains a 60-year unfinished project that is still tucked away in an antique suitcase.

Back in the day, yarn was moth-proof. Now he looks forward to opening the valise, checking out the goods and fetching a few hours to finish the work of art.

What brought Charles to Sandpoint?

Once upon a time, he ventured to the Vancouver World’s Fair, then continued driving to North Idaho. He needed clean clothes, so he stopped at the local laundro-mut. While waiting for his laundry, he nabbed a snack at Arby’s. He decided Sandpoint would be a good place to retire, so he bought a house

and opened the yarn store. Charles’ 14-yearold poodle, Cindy Bear, stays at home guarding his spinning wheels, looms and 20-plus knitting machines. Wonder what keeps her busy during the day?

This barkin’ fun spot reminds me of a factoid I read while researching this story.

Since dog hair is a nuisance for most people, I asked Charles if he has ever heard of knitting with chiengora—a blend of angora and dog hair. As you know, I emit many of these magical fibers of love daily. (Did I tell you that the Mister just got a new hand-held Dyson to trap these fibers?) This concept is not new, as the Inuit folks in the Far North have used dog fur in clothing for thousands of years. It’s warmer than sheep’s wool, naturally harvested with a brush, rake or comb from the dog’s undercoat and goes through a lengthy process to prepare it for knitting — no wet dog smell!

Bow wow. Hang on to your coats, pups.

Wool, cotton and acrylic yarn cost about $1.50-$2 per ounce. However, spinners usually charge about $12 per ounce of dog hair yarn. A custom sweater of poodle yarn can pawsibly cost several hundred dollars!

The customer service in the yarn shop is four paws up and genuine. Jenny and Pat taught the Missus how to make an easy seed

Pat Cameron, an employee at Something Olde Something New, poses with Drake. stitch baby blanket, and it’s almost finished.

It’s so soft that my kitty sister is claiming dibs. Dream on, kitty. Grand baby no. 1 rules!

Dogs are welcome here, and there is always a water bowl under the rocker in front of the shop.

Crossword Solution

Listen in Sandpoint to KPND @ 106.7 in HD Sometimes you have to be careful when selecting a new nickname for yourself. For instance, let’s say you have chosen the nickname “Fly Head.” Normally, you would think that “Fly Head” would mean a person who has beautiful swept-back features, as if flying through the air.

But think again. Couldn’t it also mean “having a head like a fly”? I’m afraid some people might actually think that.

ACROSS ACROSS 1. Gulp 5. Ancient unit of dry measure 10. Shower alternative 14. Nobleman 15. A river through Paris 16. Relating to aircraft 17. Dwarf buffalo 18. Tympani 20. Slender stem-like structure 22. Envisage 16 23. Not brilliant 24. Stinks 25. Unconditional 32. Chinese currency units 33. Foe 34. Bar bill 64. Cut wood 37. Not legs 65. Misplaced 38. Hawaiian veranda Office Located in the Ponderay Walmart Vision Center 39. Barbershop emblem DOWN Call and make an appointment today: 208.255.5513 40. Short sleep 1. Chair 41. Assistants 2. Diminish 42. Song of praise 3. Press /uh-MEEL-yuh-reyt/ 43. Ignored 45. Muse of love poetry 4. Makes happy [verb] 49. French for “Summer” 5. Inuit 1. to make or become better, more bearable, or more e h of t 50. Unit of sound intensity 6. Rind satisfactory; improve 7. Best seller 53. Jalopy 8. Against 57. Nonsectarian “Kudos to scientists trying to ameliorate the negative effects of climate change.” 59. Give and ____ 9. Steering mechanism for a vessel 60. Spouse 10. Symbol of authority Corrections: We mistakenly listed an incorrect date for Jacey’s Race in the 61. Curtain last issue. Sorry about the confusion. Also, we mistakenly attributed the Sum11. Eagle’s nest 62. Yeses merFest story to Lyndsie Kiebert when the author was McCalee Cain. -BO 12. Main stem of a tree 63. Mimics

Conquer the Outdoors Again

Word Week

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Copyright www.mirroreyes.com

CROSSWORD

Solution on page 22 41. Pueblo brick 13. Houses 19. Not late 42. A Maori club 21. Trailer trucks 44. Moussed 25. Greenish blue 45. Swelling under the skin 26. Emanation 27. Pack down 46. Summary 28. Interprets written 47. Keen material 48. Occasions 29. Not outer 51. Terminates 30. Stop 52. Former Italian 31. French for “Friend” currency 34. Pigeon-___ 53. Superhero 35. Wings accessory 36. Curve 54. Knockout 38. 52 in Roman 55. Anagram of “Seek” numerals 56. A musical pause 39. Pertaining to your 58. Bird call mom or dad July 13, 2017 / R / 23