2 / R / October 22, 2026
DEAR READERS,
The week in random review By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
scary standards
We celebrate the entire Halloween season at my house with a few weekly scary movies. My son (14) and daughter (11) have long since seen the Charlie Brown, Garfield and even vintage Max Fleischer black-and-white Halloween cartoons of yore. In past years we’ve watched multiple versions of the Dracula and Frankenstein stories, all the Addams Family films, variations on Sleepy Hollow, The Wicker Man and dozens of others. Last week we went pretty big with Children of the Corn (1984), which I worried might be too much. I warned my daughter, especially; but, once the popcorn popped and the corn rows were on the screen, it quickly became apparent that standards of “scary” have changed (and why wouldn’t they? Look around). My son didn’t even bother with it — I mean, he thought The Shining was too long and boring — but my daughter and I proceeded to make so many “corn” puns throughout our screening that my wife almost considered us the real villains. That got me to thinking about the movies that gave me nightmares as a kid, but, which once I saw them with older eyes, were almost laughable. That reminiscence led me back to the Korner Video Store on U.S. 95 in Sagle, where I grew up in the ’80s and ’90s. Back then, Korner Video occupied the current location of Twilight Fiber and Yarn and was where we rented not just VHS tapes but even the device with which to play them. That’s how old I’ve become and that’s what a big event it was to rent a movie. Back then, my little brother and I would wander the aisles with our parents or friends looking at the colorful cassette covers and (at least for me) frequently getting seriously freaked out. I distinctly recall Critters (1986), which even seeing the case made me unable to climb the ladder to my top bunk without being at least momentarily convinced that I was absolutely going to get bitten on the ankle by one of the nest of critters under my brother’s bunk. Now I know it’s a dopey sci-fi B-horror-comedy about killer dust bunnies from outer space invading a hick town in Kansas. Then there was Ghoulies (1984). At the time, this movie almost triggered a major potty-training regression. Just the sight of the cover — with that little green, slime-glistening, suspender-wearing monster poking up out of the toilet — was enough to make me squirm both off and on the pot. It took my first true act of internal will and rationality to finally pop a squat in my grandma’s bathroom, declare out loud to the bowl “I’m not afraid of you!” and finally do my business in peace. When I watched it much later, I found it campy, funny and weirdly charming — like a soft-R-rated monster romp melding Jim Henson with H.P. Lovecraft. Those are just two of many, including C.H.U.D. and Pumpkinhead, both of which I now affectionately rewatch from year to year. In fact, I think I have next week’s viewing schedule already planned.
This week’s edition of the Sandpoint Reader contains a lot of election-related materials so our readers can help inform themselves as best they can before heading to the ballot box on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The candidate questionnaire is on pages 15-19, featuring answers from Dist. 1 and Bonner County commissioner candidates in contested races. New this year, the Reader ran all candidates’ responses through the Pangram AI detection software and we noticed three candidates submitted 100% AI-written responses. We noted these in red (as well as the other responses, which were 100% written by humans), after each candidate’s section. If you missed the Oct. 20 candidate forum at Sandpoint High School, you can stream it on krfy.org, or read the news story on pages 4-5. A great statewide resource for voters to access everything about the election is voteidaho.gov. Don’t forget to mark Nov. 3 as Election Day!
– Ben Olson, publisher
READER 111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 208-946-4368 sandpointreader.com
Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com Editorial: Zach Hagadone (Editor) zach@sandpointreader.com Soncirey Mitchell (Senior Writer) soncirey@sandpointreader.com Editors Emeriti: Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Cameron Rasmusson John Reuter Advertising: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com Contributing Artists: John Larrabee (cover), Ben Olson, Bill Borders Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Soncirey Mitchell, Lorraine H. Marie, Brenden Bobby, Clark Corbin, Brad Smith, Mark Sauter, Jim Woodward, Shawn Keough, George Eskridge, Lauren Necochea Submit Stories To: stories@sandpointreader.com Printed Weekly At: Tribune Publishing Co. Lewiston, ID Subscription Price: $200 per year Website Designed By: Keokee The Sandpoint Reader is a weekly publication owned by Ben Olson, Zach Hagadone and Soncirey Mitchell. It is devoted to the arts, entertainment, bluster, politics and lifestyle in and around Sandpoint, Idaho. We hope to provide a quality alternative by offering honest, in-depth reporting that reflects the intelligence and interests of our diverse and growing community. The Reader is printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Leftover copies are collected and recycled weekly, or burned in bonfires to appease the gods of journalism. For back issues, contact the publisher. Free to all, limit two per person, please. Letter to the Editor Policy: We welcome letters to the editor on all relevant topics. Please, no more than 200 words, no excessive profanity or libelous statements and no trolls. Please elevate the discussion and stay on topic. Letters will be edited to comply with the above requirements. Opinons expressed in these pages are those of the writers, not necessarily the publisher. Send to: letters@sandpointreader.com About the Cover: This week’s cover photo was taken at Round Lake by John Larrabee (with some spooky Photoshopping added by Ben Olson).
October 22, 2026 / R / 3
NEWS
‘Affordability’ the top concern at forum All invited Republican candidates decline to attend
By Ben Olson Reader Staff The dais was noticeably sparse at the Oct. 20 candidates’ forum at Sandpoint High School as half of the invited candidates declined to participate. The forum, co-hosted by the Bonner County Daily Bee, KRFY Community Radio, SandpointOnline.com and Sandpoint Reader, was open to Legislative District 1 and Bonner County commissioner candidates in contested races for the Tuesday, Nov. 3 election. In attendance was Dist. 1 Senate candidate Steve Johnson, Independent; Dist. 1A House candidate Karen Matthee, Democrat; and Dist. 1 Board of County Commissioners candidate Fred Arn, Independent. Dist. 1B House Independent candidate Kathryn Larson was absent due to a last-minute medical issue, but campaign manager Suzette Seuell shared opening and closing statements on her behalf. Also absent from the forum — and noted by several empty chairs on stage — were all four invited Republican candidates for contested races, including Dist. 1 Senate candidate Scott Herndon, Dist. 1A House candidate Jane Sauter, Dist. 1B House candidate Cornel Rasor and BOCC Dist. 1 candidate Steve Smith. All uncontested candidates were also invited to give opening statements, though none attended. Moderator Chris Bessler introduced the forum, which was streamed live on KRFY 88.5 FM. “We prefer to hear all the candidates address the same questions standing side by side,” Bessler said. “But we say thank you to the candidates that did come tonight.” Johnson highlighted his lifelong residency in North Idaho, growing up on a farm in Cocolalla with three brothers and marrying his childhood sweetheart. A small business owner and former educator of 40 years, Johnson wasted no time putting daylight between himself and his opponent. 4 / R / October 22, 2026
“My opponent is Scott Herndon, and he claims to be a conservative, but I grew up here and I know what conservative is,” Johnson said. “Believe me, he is not conservative.” Johnson encouraged voters to look past party lines and give Independents a chance. “If you traditionally always voted for an ‘R’ ... then take a closer look and think a little bit more,” he said. “See if the Republicans are ... really doing what you would like to have done.” Johnson said his campaign hinges on talking about “real issues” that Idahoans face, including “public education, affordability and public lands,” and he lamented the “culture wars that wasted, in my opinion, a lot of time and money and energy.” Matthee, the sole Democrat on stage, spoke of her years as a journalist, later transitioning into the nonprofit sector and working for an NGO that assisted landmine victims in Southeast Asia. “I decided to run first of all because I don’t think any race should go uncontested,” Matthee said. “As we all know, we’ve got a supermajority here in Idaho for almost three decades and I seriously question whether we’re better off for it.” Matthee mentioned rising health care, housing and grocery costs causing hardships for Idahoans. “A lot of our working families and some of our senior citizens are really struggling to cover the basics right now,” she said. “We just aren’t dealing with those issues. The last session was a really good example of that where we had outside money coming into Boise and influencing our lawmakers, to the expense of programs and services that many of our vulnerable populations in our working families depend on.” Larson’s campaign manager gave an opening statement lauding her dedication to serving North Idahoans, as well as highlighting her integrity and work ethics. “She grew up in Texas and was a single mom,” Seuell said. “She worked as a server trying to make ends meet and literally
Dist. 1 Senate candidate Steve Johson uses a puppet as a proxy for his absent opponent, Scott Herndon, at the Oct. 20 election forum at SHS. Photo by Ben Olson pulled herself up by her bootstraps, started her own company and was one of the top sales reps there, then she ended up getting recruited by one of the largest companies in America.” Seuell called Larson “smart,” “creative” and a “problem solver” who is dedicated to working on issues facing North Idahoans, such as affordability, bringing down taxes and the price of groceries, as well as improving infrastructure. Arn said he’s lived in North Idaho for more than 15 years and spent 30 years as a “newsman in a state south of Boise.” Arn highlighted his yearslong struggle taking on Bonner County involving the loss of public lake access at Camp Bay, saying it cost him and his wife close to $40,000. “As a result, I’ve attended every meeting of the Bonner County commissioners for the last four-and-a-half years with the exception of two; one which I had COVID and one I said, ‘I can’t take any more of this, I need a break.’” Arn said his weekly attendance of meetings showed him how the county functions and identified a number of problems he’d like to tackle. City of Sandpoint Public Works Director Holly Ellis gave a short presentation to voters on the local option tax on the ballot, in which 1% of all retail
purchases within Sandpoint city limits would be allocated to infrastructure improvements: 75% going toward street maintenance and repair and 25% to sidewalks and other pathways. Ellis pointed to a 2021 assessment that concluded “Sandpoint has 20% of its streets in poor to very poor condition” — double the national average.” The tax would run for 10 years and be used solely to fund streets and pathways, not the wastewater treatment plant. Bessler then transitioned into a question-and-answer period, with questions gathered from the audience and submitted prior to the event. Asked about a portion of House Bill 40, which expanded tax exemptions to U.S. military pensions, Johnson mentioned his endorsement from the Veterans Association for Idaho, adding he would like to see Idaho veterans services equal to those offered in Spokane. “Yes, I support H.B. 40,” Matthee said. “But one big concern that both Steve and I share is that our opponents [Herndon and Rasor] are talking about no property taxes. If we have no property taxes, one of the first programs on the chopping block will be our veteran service officers.” Arn was asked what distinguished him from his opponent Steve Smith regarding county
master planning and zoning as it relates to growth and expansion. “The Comp Plan is the guide I’m going to follow for growth and expansion,” Arn said. “I guarantee I will protect and defend your constitutional property rights, both Idaho and U.S. constitutions.” Asked his opinion on the marina expansion project adjacent to the Long Bridge, Arn said he was, “Absolutely opposed. The chokepoint at the bridge on the Fourth of July with 250 people bringing their boats in? I think that’s going to be a disaster.” Legislative candidates provided their views on balancing resource extraction while also protecting public lands. “We don’t want to have our federal public land sold to the state,” Matthee said. “My opponent is in favor of that and I have some guesses as to why that is.” Matthee pointed to programs such as the Good Neighbor Authority in Bonners Ferry, where the federal and state governments work together to manage lands. “I think one of the really good things about that is it brings resources and jobs into our local communities and they have a say on how those lands are managed. I’d like to see more programs like that.” “I think we’ve got two options,” Johnson said. “One is to go to the courts and sue each other for logging, clear cutting and sustainability. The other is to have some common sense and work together.” Johnson also pointed to programs that would be more beneficial than litigation. “We have to keep that logging industry going and we also have to be stewards of the land,” he said. “I love that word, ‘steward.’ ... For now and for future generations, and I think we can do both, but it requires some negotiation. It requires some common sense and good intentions, followed through with good behavior.” When asked about private property rights and the Panhandle Bike Ranch in Sagle, Arn said as a sheriff’s volunteer and chairman of the board for the Sagle Sub-Area Committee, he
< see FORUM, Page 5 >
< FORUM, con’t from Page 4 > follows the law. “I feel reasonably comfortable that what [PBR has] done is in violation of what we came up with,” Arn said. All three candidates were asked about retaining local control over government in light of issues like short-term rentals being regulated in municipalities from the state level. “I think the state of Idaho steps into a lot of stuff they have no business stepping in,” Arn said, giving the example of a county sheriff’s department issuing traffic citations, going through local courts and, when the fines are collected, the revenue flows to the state rather than county. “I see no problem with Bonner County courts tacking on a percentage of an administration fee and collecting money from traffic violations so that we can offset the cost of doing that,” Arn said. “I grew up here and the local control was the very best form of government,” Johnson said. “You could talk to people you meet on the street and we could decide what’s best for our community. ... [Unregulated short-term rentals] are not the right recipe for holding communities together and I think we need to fight as much as we can and pass it on to our children and grandchildren.” Matthee said one way to ensure more local control was to “elect more Democrats and Independents” to the Legislature. “What we saw last session was horrendous,” Matthee said. “We had the non-discrimination ordinance, what flags you can and can’t fly, we got the bathroom bill and all of these were dictated by the Idaho Freedom Foundation’s influence on a minority of our supermajority. It’s very hypocritical because they don’t want big government, but it’s OK when it’s something they want.” Asked what tactics could be used to drive down the prices of groceries, taxes and fuel, Johnson also pointed to the influence the IFF has over lawmakers, providing a visual aid that drew laughter from the crowd. “The IFF has told legislators not to deal with real problems like affordability, quality education and public lands,” he said. “It’s a little awkward to mention my opponent Scott Herndon when he’s not here, so I have this puppet here since he’s too afraid to show up.” Johnson then produced a marionette, saying, “Some people think Herndon is a bully, some people think he intimidates. I think he’s just a dangerous puppet. ... He brags about working for this lobbyist called the Idaho Freedom Foundation, and he does 99% of what they tell him to do. He doesn’t brag about what we asked him to do — in fact, tonight, he’s not here to do any bragging at all, I guess, and that’s a tragic thing.” Matthee and Johnson both said they’re in favor of raising the homeowner’s tax exemption to keep up with infla-
tion, calling for the $125,000 exemption to be doubled to $250,000. Johnson also touted the Idaho Housing Authority to help first-time homebuyers. “If the state Legislature would quit with culture war nonsense about who’s going to fly what flag where, something like that would go a long way to get people into starter homes,” he said. Matthee also lamented the fact that Idaho has turned away millions of federal dollars for child care and called for funding for the Idaho Housing Trust Fund to come up with federal dollars in match for affordable housing construction. “This hasn’t been funded in decades,” she said. “It’s just sitting there empty.” Asked what problems he has identified at the Bonner County commissioners’ office, Arn spoke about the lack of responsibility that has afflicted not only the county, but the state of Idaho. He referred to uncontested Republican Dist. 2 commissioner candidate Jeff Roberts, who was recently in the news for a nowclosed investigation into alleged sexual assault. Roberts has repeatedly denied the accusations. The Bonner County Prosecutor’s Office referred the case to the Idaho Attorney General’s Office — citing an “inherent conflict of interest” — which declined to file charges due to lack of evidence. However, Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler told the Reader that if the case was brought to a grand jury, “[W]e would have received an indictment.” “I’m going to have a hard time sitting next to [Roberts] when I win,” Arn said. “... I wish the state of Idaho would step up and accept responsibility.” “I have not been mightily impressed by the state of Idaho’s handling of some issues,” Arn also said. “One that I have a major beef with right now, after 30 years of covering crime and courts and county prosecutors and state prosecutors, I’ve never seen a prosecutor, a prosecuting attorney and the attorney general’s office who refused to take a case where the investigators and the local prosecutor felt that there was enough [credible information to proceed]. ... The state has put Bonner County in a horrible position. It should have stepped up and done its job.” Asked what she would change to benefit North Idaho and how she’d solicit ideas from constituents, Matthee spoke to the rising costs that make living in North Idaho difficult for many. She called for eliminating the grocery tax, bringing back federally funded child care programs and paying families caring for disabled people. Matthee also pointed to current Dist. 1 legislators Mark Sauter and Jim Woodward as positive examples for communicating with constituents. “They both did a really good job coming back to the community, holding town halls,” she said. “I’d make every effort to be in this district as much as possible. ... I will happily follow in their footsteps.” The same question was asked of Johnson: “We have four children and
not a single one of them can accumulate the resources to buy a house here and make those payments,” he said. “And they all work. That’s not right. That would be my biggest goal. ... If we’re going to keep communities, we’ve got to have some young people coming in.” Arn responded to the same question by saying he’d call for “tightening up some of the issues with the county right now,” and the other was to “make the Comp Plan quite clearer and more well defined, and enforce the Comp Plan so people understand what it is they can do with their property.” In closing statements, Johnson said, “There are two names on the ballot for state Senate; myself and my opponent, Herndon. One of us shot his neighbor’s dog as the dog was running away. One of us has been, in my opinion, manipulated by outside money, the IFF and is responsible to them, not to our local citizens. I feel like the choice is pretty clear. I’m committed to doing as good a job and as much good for this community and our area as possible.” Matthee said her time as an “oldschool journalist” taught her the values of objectivity and to listen to people on all sides of an issue. “Tonight’s a prime example,” she said. “I would be at their town halls if they invited me, which they never have. I’m going to represent Dist. 1 and I’m going to represent all of my constituents. ... I invite you to stack me up against my opponent to see who is the more qualified person for the job. I feel I definitely am.” Speaking on behalf of Larson, Seuell again lauded the candidate’s dedication to ask objective questions. “One of the things she’s talked a lot about during this campaign is when she’s looking at a particular issue, she wants to know, who’s going to benefit? ... It’s not just what’s right for today, but also are we looking out for our future for our kids, our grandkids, in 10 years?” Arn closed out by reading from his campaign platform. “I want to make sure there is always public comment in every public meeting,” Arn said. “I want all public meetings offered on Zoom. I want to bring all of EMS back under a single unified command. I’d like to develop a system so county employees can anonymously report unlawful and wasteful activities. ... Establish administrative fees for all traffic infractions ... ensure planning departments coordinate with commissioners enforcing zoning regulations and ... guarantee that all constitutional private property rights will be respected, protected and enforced. ... As far as voting for me instead of my opponent who didn’t show up, I rest my case.” The forum is available to stream free on krfy.org. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, when polling places will be open from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Visit voteidaho.org with any election questions.
Republican candidates ‘snub’ public forum By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff None of the four local Republican candidates in contested races attended the Oct. 20 public media forum, hosted by the Bonner County Daily Bee, KRFY 88.5 FM, SandpointOnline.com and the Sandpoint Reader, drawing criticism from members of the public at the Bonner County Board of Commissioners meeting earlier the same day. During her commissioner report that morning, Commissioner Asia Williams stated that she had received questions from constituents asking whether any Republican candidates would attend that night’s forum, but did not receive “a direct response from anybody within the party.” “I tried to confirm that,” said Williams. “I didn’t get confirmation.” She later called on Bonner County Republican Central Committee Chair Roger Rudd, who attended the BOCC meeting via Zoom, to respond to audience questions. Rudd is running unopposed for the position of county clerk. “Will the Republican Party be attending the traditional Reader forum?” asked regular meeting attendee Teresa Heisner. “Because there’s not a lot of them now before the election. I’d like to know before we all waste our time and drive out there.” “I don’t speak for the candidates,” stated Rudd. “Whether or not they’re going is totally up to them.” Rudd further cited the monthly BCRCC meeting, which overlapped with the Oct. 20 forum, as his reason for not attending. “I think it’s so unfortunate that the Republican candidates are snubbing what I see as kind of like a public interview for their job — asking for a good-paying job, but not showing up,” said fellow meeting attendee Rebecca Holland. The forum, which began at 5:30 p.m. at the Sandpoint High School auditorium, overlapped with the 6:30 p.m. BCRCC meeting. Forum co-host and moderator Chris Bessler offered in advance to reschedule the forum to avoid the conflict, but candidates indicated that they would not attend regardless. “I have a prior commitment that evening, but more than that, I’ve made a deliberate choice about how I’m reaching voters this fall,” wrote District 1 Republican Senate candidate Scott Herndon in a Sept. 17 email shared with the Reader. “I’m spending October on long-form town halls with open Q&A across the district, in both Bonner and Boundary County, along with door knocking and daily direct engagement with constituents.”
< see SNUB, Page 6 > October 22, 2026 / R / 5
NEWS
Deadline for Idaho voters to request absentee ballot for general election is Oct. 23 By Clark Corbin Idaho Capital Sun The deadline for Idaho voters to request an absentee ballot for this year’s general election is 5 p.m. local time on Friday, Oct. 23. Friday, Oct. 23 is also the deadline to register to vote in advance of the Tuesday, Nov. 3 general election. However, if eligible voters miss the Oct. 23 deadline to register to vote in advance, they can still register to vote at their polling place on Election Day. To request a free absentee ballot, Idaho voters can visit voteidaho.gov, the official election website of the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office. Otherwise, voters can request an absentee ballot at their local county clerk’s office or mail an absentee ballot request form to their county clerk. Idahoans must already be registered to vote to request an absentee ballot. If Idahoans don’t vote by absentee ballot, they can participate in early voting, which began in most counties recently, or vote in person at their polling place on Election Day. Regardless of how voters chose to vote, there are plenty of reasons to vote this year. In this year’s general election, all
of Idaho’s statewide constitutional officers, like governor and attorney general, are up for election. In addition, all 105 seats in the Idaho Legislature, three of Idaho’s four seats in Congress and county positions all across the state are being voted on. On top of that, all Idaho voters will vote on a ballot initiative, Proposition 1, that seeks to restore the right to an abortion in the state. There are also two proposed amendments to the Idaho Constitution that all Idaho voters will weigh in on. One proposed amendment, House Joint Resolution 6, would make English the official language of Idaho. The other proposed amendment, House Joint Resolution 4, would make it so that only the Idaho Legislature would be able to legalize marijuana and other drugs. If a majority of voters vote for House Joint Resolution 4, Idahoans would give up their right to ever run a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana, medical cannabis or any other drug.
Make a plan to vote in Idaho’s general election Idahoans can visit voteidaho.gov to register to vote online, request an absentee ballot, verify their personal information is accurate and up-to-date, find the location of their polling place and view their sample ballot to see everything that will appear on their actual ballot.
< SNUB, con’t from Page 5 > The Reader ran his reply through the Pangram AI detection software, which found that “100% of this text is AI.” All four candidates were present at the BCRCC meeting, which had only one item under “New Business”: a resolution “supporting gasoline/diesel tax relief.” Though they did not attend the conventional forum, according to Bessler, Herndon “broached the possibility with me that they’d all attend a forum in a new format to allow for a long-form discussion of a pair of issues, with each opposing candidate choosing one they’d like to discuss in greater 6 / R / October 22, 2026
This story was produced by Boise-based nonprofit news outlet the Idaho Capital Sun, which is part of the States Newsroom nationwide reporting project. For more information, visit idahocapitalsun.com.
detail, versus taking multiple questions from the audience.” The forum’s media co-hosts — including the Reader — considered the idea, but determined that it was unfeasible with fewer than two weeks until the Tuesday, Nov. 3 election. “[P]ersonally, I’m not at all opposed in future election cycles to considering changes to the format in this way — or other ways that any of the candidates might propose — to best serve the voters by giving them a chance to assess the opposing candidates in a fair, neutral format,” said Bessler.
Bits ’n’ Pieces From east, west and beyond
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats have a 100-day plan if they gain power in the midterm elections. It includes reinstating Affordable Care Act tax breaks, reversing Republicans’ Medicaid tax cuts, holding votes against the Iran war and undoing President Donald Trump’s tariff regime. The Department of Justice recently sued California for refusing to disenfranchise 20,000 voters. California invited the federal government to instead sue those 20,000 people, not the state. The feds found evidence of improper voting status against only 28 out of the alleged 20,000, according to The Guardian. Federal agents recently searched the home of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who came to the U.S. as a refugee, The Wall Street Journal reported. Omar came to the U.S. as a youth and had no role in filling out paperwork. The search appeared to be motivated by looking for a way to deport Omar, who is running for reelection. Historian Heather C. Richardson referred to the action as Trump “taking authoritarianism out for a spin.” A nationwide No Kings rally on Oct. 17 was themed “Vote Early” and included demonstrations in 3,000 locations. Voting in 19 states had become more difficult due to passage of 32 voter restriction laws. Tech giant Meta took down the main No Kings Instagram page for four hours during the height of the rallies. The company later called it a “bad call,” but Reuters had previously reported that Meta employees admitted to restricting the Instagram account of Brazil’s president during that country’s recent election. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., promised to investigate Meta’s No Kings suppression. According to Moody Analytics and Brown University, the Iran War has cost Americans $2,000 per household. Various media reported bipartisan backlash after Trump reversed course on sanctions targeting Russia’s economy. Nebraska Republican Rep. Don Bacon said Trump’s agenda is “dead” since the president is supporting a dictator and throwing U.S. ally Ukraine “under the bus.” Trump recently signed an executive order that suspended previously agreed-to Russian sanctions, crafted by Congress, for buying Russian diesel. Skeptics had warned that Trump would not follow the sanctions law. Israeli settlers have been attacking Palestinian farmers amid the annual olive harvest, a reporter for The New York Times witnessed. As well, extremists beat a Palestinian teen, a journalist and
By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Contributor
attacked European diplomats. Israeli police arrested 10 suspects. The Associated Press has analyzed Trump’s claim of being a great deal-maker. Negotiation expert Marty Lanz said Trump did negotiate “excellent deals” before his time in the White House, but also had “spectacular” failures. The road to his wealth has been paved with 4,000 pieces of litigation over 40 years, often due to not paying his bills or settling to pay creditors far less than he owed. Recent examples of Trump’s deal-making errors include stating he would defeat Iran in just weeks; promising to negotiate an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine “in a day; saying his tariffs would result in superior trade deals, but they raised prices; and saying he’d “fix” the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool for around $1 million, while the price tag — so far — has risen to about $20 million. Trump recently canceled the livestreamed execution of the man behind the deadly mass shooting at Fort Hood in 2009, reversing the previous announcement by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth that it would be performed publicly. MSN reported that retailers are scaling back on self-checkout, citing widespread efficiency problems and theft. Shoppers say they are treated like suspects, further reducing the use of self-checkout. California has made it easier to get past AI customer service chatbots and reach a real person, following legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Tech billionaire Elon Musk and Trump blamed one another over who’s responsible for crippling Starlink and Starshield functions in Ukraine, which has compromised Ukraine’s ability to defend against Russia, numerous media reported. Sen. Tom Tillis-R informed Musk that degrading Ukraine’s defense abilities “might be construed as aiding and abetting a mass murderer.” Blast from the past: Ten years ago, then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said her opponent, Donald Trump, would be a puppet for Vladimir Putin if Trump gained the presidency. Clinton pointed out recently that Trump gave Putin a financial “lifeline” with the U.S. purchase of Russian diesel, that he has played a role in weakening Ukraine’s satellite defenses against Russia, and that Trump has interest in aligning with Russia and China to “partition” Ukraine. Ten years ago Trump denied being a puppet.
October 22, 2026 / R / 7
‘Politicians should not make laws controlling medical care’…
Bouquets: • I appreciate when readers provide constructive feedback. Recently, a reader reached out to express dismay about our Oct. 8 cover and feature story about what “death row meals” some readers would choose. Their concern centered on “insensitivity” in light of Christa Pike’s botched execution in Tennessee. I see where the reader’s complaint is coming from and I acknowledge the timing of this feature wasn’t ideal. The cover and feature were supposed to be a lighthearted attempt at macabre content that we run during the lead-up to Halloween. Since I was on a weeklong vacation in early October, I planned this feature beforehand and didn’t realize the poor timing until it was pointed out later. I never intended to make light of the attempted execution and apologize if anyone else made this connection. Barbs: • Every Republican candidate in contested races who was invited to the Oct. 20 election forum declined to show up, including Scott Herndon, Cornel Rasor, Jane Sauter and Steve Smith. However, all those in contested races submitted responses to our candidate questionnaire (pages 15-19). I guess it’s easier to control the narrative when you don’t have to actually face your constituents and field their questions live. What’s more, when we ran all the candidates’ responses to our questionnaire through the Pangram AI detection software, we discovered a telling trend: Scott Herndon: 100% AI-written; Jane Sauter: 100% AI-written; Cornel Rasor: 100% AI-written. The rest of the candidates’ responses were all 100% human-written. Not only do they duck public forums, but they can’t even be bothered to write actual responses to questions about issues, instead just plugging them in as prompts and sending us their slop. We deserve better than this, folks. 8 / R / October 22, 2026
Dear editor, Fifty-five years ago I worked as a nurse. Here are some of my experiences with prenatal and newborn care. Among my patients was a woman who did her own abortion. She had bled out heavily and required much care to save her. In prenatal clinics, women told how they suffered physical abuse so that they would miscarry. During a home visit I found a newborn with a cigarette burn on the back of her neck. Mom did not have the mental capacity to effectively be a parent. There are teenage girls who are victims of incest, whose families are not supportive of the girl. These are realities as well as medical emergencies concerning mother’s health and fetal viability. Politicians should not make laws controlling medical care. Abortion should not be misused, but neither should it be medically criminalized. Supportive medical and emotional care is better. Vote yes for Prop. 1. Barbara Rolph Ponderay
You won’t be disappointed with a vote for Matthee… Dear editor, I’ll be voting for Karen Matthee for Legislative Seat 1A this election. Karen is a strong candidate for this position for many reasons. She cares deeply about the people and will be a tireless fighter for their freedoms, families and a state government that is responsible to all Idahoans. Karen has the education and experience to make her an effective representative. Her background in journalism makes her look at the facts. Her skills from editing a magazine showed her strong organization skills. Karen also knows how to listen. She has volunteered tirelessly for people, the environment and animals. Her goals: lower the cost of living, access to rural health care, public lands, education, veterans and equal rights. She’s one who will work for all Idahoans. Read about Karen on her website: kmattheeforidaho.com. Join me in voting for Karen Mat-
By BO
thee on or before Nov. 3. You won’t be disappointed. Cathe Rosenberg Priest Lake
Larson’s loyalties are to Dist. 1… Dear editor, Kathryn Larson, Independent, is running for state representative, District 1, Seat B. Being an Independent she is not beholden to any party or platform, she does not swear a loyalty oath to any organization. Instead, she focuses on what will be best for all of us. She is committed to learning as much as possible about our community, what people value and need. She asks, is this bill good for us? Is the cost realistic? Who benefits? She will do the necessary research, including talking to those most affected. (Her opponent just obeys the Freedom Foundation). Kathryn has a background in the business world that has equipped her with skills relevant to this job. She works well with large groups of people from diverse backgrounds. As noted by endorser Shawn Keough, Kathryn is a good listener and has strong critical thinking skills. Learn more at LarsonforIdaho. Rae Charlton Sandpoint
‘Time to retire Risch’... Dear editor, To Sen. Risch: You have time to go fly-fishing for campaign commercials, but no time/refuse to debate opponent Todd Achilles? We the people want answers to questions needing asked! Quite arrogant of you to assume we aren’t interested, yet ask to be reelected to represent us another six years, when you’ll turn 89 before term’s end! You continue to abandon your constitutional duties and oath of office. Astounding considering your position of power as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as you rubber stamp Trump’s war. You’ve turned a blind eye to the tremendous amount of corruption within this administration, as your wealth increases. Shamefully, you’ve betrayed Idahoans as well as all Americans. Your doormat skills certainly outweigh your governing skills. I am voting for Independent Todd Achilles and encourage all Idahoans to do the same: achillesforidaho.com. It’s
“Jon Ossoff spent money on makeup — by the way, I wear very little and I do it myself. If you don’t put a little on, you look like a dead person. I don’t want to look that way.”
past time for Risch to go fly-fishing. Gerry O’Connor Sandpoint
‘Vote early for Karen Matthee for Idaho House Seat 1A’… Dear editor, While working as volunteers, I learned Karen and I share much in common. Over our lifetimes, we experienced or saw inequities and understood everyone deserves dignity, respect, and a safe and healthy life. Throughout her campaign, Karen listened to diverse North Idaho voters’ everyday concerns. She vows to champion bills that solve constituents’ real issues by supporting fairer income, property and food tax structures so the state can restore essential public services and programs that were cut along with a deeply reduced budget. By making corporations and higher income-earners pay their share of taxes, Karen believes Idaho can support constitutionally required public education, strengthen local economies to attract and support workers, and create easier access to affordable housing, health care and child care. Research her website: kmattheeforidaho.com. If you want to be represented, vote early for Karen Matthee for Idaho House Seat 1A on the Nov. 3 ballot! Arleen Lothian Dover
‘A change in direction’… Dear editor, Growing up in Bonner County in the 1950s, the only spices we knew were salt and pepper and a bottle of Worcestershire sauce — and politics were not nearly as bitter. Times have changed! Steve Johnson was raised in Bonner County. He attended the local schools here and the University of Idaho, which is where I met him. I consider Steve honest, caring and deeply committed to doing what’s best for the people of Bonner County. We need to return to people who will be that kind of politician. Please join me in voting for Steve Johnson. He is running as an Independent; and, while you’re at it, some of these other Independents look pretty good, too! Steve Booth Nordman
— President Donald Trump wages a homophobic attack against Georgia Democratic senate candidate Jon Ossoff for wearing makeup... while admitting that he also wears makeup.
‘Throw the bums out’… Dear editor, If you can truly say in your heart of hearts that you are happy with the job your elected officials are doing, by all means vote straight across for the incumbents. If, however, you are less than thrilled with officials who consistently put their personal views ahead of the people who elected them, who won’t meet with constituents who are not approved by the “party” or aren’t big money donors from out of state and won’t even show up at a candidates forum you have a chance to change that. Put your support behind independent candidates and ones who will actually listen and work for the voters who elected them. Throw the bums out and support Todd Achilles, Terri Pickens, Lori Hickman, Steve Johnson, Kathryn Larson, Kaylee Peterson and Karen Matthee. It’s the right time. Ross Fulmer Sandpoint
‘Vote: Our future depends on it’... Dear editor, I grew up during the Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy presidencies. These were men we looked up to. Consummate in statecraft, both were courageous leaders, men of vision, committed to the rule of law and American democracy, and who saw their roles as public servants to their fellow Americans. These are the people I measure candidates running for office against. This year more than any other, we need our candidates to be people of integrity and vision, committed to listening to constituents, problem-solving our many statewide issues and preserving our democracy with equality for all. I am finding the following candidates worthy of consideration: Karen Matthee, representative Seat A; Kathryn Larson, representative Seat B; Steve Johnson, Senator; Lori Hickman, attorney general; Terri Pickens, governor; Kaylee Peterson, U.S. representative; and Todd Achilles, U.S. Senate. Do your research, our future depends on it, and vote on Nov. 3. Nancy Britton Ponderay
Kathryn Larson will answer to local citizens… Dear editor, On Nov. 3, I will be casting my vote for Kathryn Larson. As an Independent, Kathryn will work to
< see LTE, Page 9 >
< LTE, con’t from Page 8 > make sure our tax dollars benefit the citizens of North Idaho, not southern Idaho. She will support local businesses and work to make housing more affordable. I have met with Kathryn and was impressed by her extensive knowledge and her sincerity. Her campaign is supported by local donations, not out-of-state funding, so she will answer only to local citizens. Jim Mellen Sandpoint
Smith has ‘the heart of a servant’… Dear editor, Steve Smith, candidate for Bonner County commissioner, District 1, has demonstrated that he has the heart of a servant both at church and in the community. He teaches a Sunday school class for adults, serves as a church elder and occasionally fills the pulpit where he always has a well thought out message — which I happen to know because I attend the same church as Steve. In addition to serving at church, Steve has also served as a Bonner County Republican Party delegate to the state GOP conventions that were held in 2024 and 2026 and is currently serving as a precinct committeeman representing Sagle. He also serves in a volunteer capacity on the boards of Bonner Gospel Mission and Kootenai Thunder Sports. I am confident that Steve will serve Bonner County with dedication and integrity. Please join me in supporting Steve for District 1 county
commissioner by Nov. 3.
‘Jane Sauter will stand for our 2A rights’...
Sheila Waller Spirit Lake
Dear editor, I have the right and responsibility to protect my children and myself, and this is guaranteed by the Second Amendment of our U.S. Constitution. Sadly, some people want to take away this right. Here in Idaho, I am blessed that I carry more to dispatch a suffering wounded animal or protect myself from bears rather than humans. However, I know assaults happen. I have lived where I carried for protection, so I know how that feels. I know that Jane Sauter will protect my right to bear arms. She is endorsed by the National Rifle Association and Idaho 2A Alliance. I’ve had personal conversations with Jane and know how strongly she believes in our Constitution and preserving our inalienable rights, including those to bear arms and protect ourselves. Vote Jane Sauter for Idaho House Seat 1A. She will work hard in Boise to protect our constitutional Second Amendment rights!
Editor’s note: Sheila Waller is identified in state campaign finance disclosures as the treasurer for People to Elect Steve Smith.
‘Autumn trees’... Dear editor, The tree-lined streets of our town are ablaze with a riot of colors. Gold, yellow, red, brown as if the autumn sun lit them up with sunburst kisses. The streets are glittering tunnels of earth’s richness, a reminder of how much we love and need trees. All departures should remind us of the love we’re capable of; love not as individual experience but a blossoming of our deeply rooted interconnections. Spiritual comprehension. Trees are our guardians, mentors, providers; below the streets, a vibrating underground system of roots communication for life. The message? Dig down deep, so you can reach higher. Each one possesses something the whole needs in a dynamic of give and take, cooperation. Woods and forests are eco-democracy systems doing earth justice. May we all live with the sense of a tree so the fruit of our labors inspires humble gratitude in others arousing a love-reflex. Adrian Murillo Sandpoint
Nicole Church Sagle
Human Rights Task Force endorses Prop. 1…
Dear editor, The Bonner County Human Rights Task Force believes that health care is a fundamental human right. Idaho Proposition 1 [the Reproductive Freedom and Privacy
Act], is a citizen-led ballot initiative to restore access to high-quality health care in Idaho. Idaho’s current abortion ban has had significant adverse impacts on statewide women’s health care — preventing doctors from providing the best care to women during pregnancy. • It has driven many OB-GYNs out of our county and state, making it harder for all women to access care. • It drove Bonner General Hospital to end labor and delivery services and close its maternity ward. • It has driven expecting parents to purchase helicopter insurance so they can be airlifted to out-of-state hospitals in the event they need interventions that doctors in our state are forbidden from providing. The citizens of our state deserve better. TheBCHRTF strongly encourages a yes vote on Prop. 1 to improve women’s health care in our state. John Lawrence, BCHRTF Board co-president Sandpoint
Prop. 1 will return choices to families, not the government… Dear editor, As a retired neonatal ICU and labor and delivery nurse, I am troubled by misleading signs about Prop. 1. We all hope for healthy babies, but Prop. 1 concerns pregnancies in which something goes wrong. I am voting yes because I have supported families through deliveries that end-
ed in grief. Twice, I cared for babies with anencephaly, a fatal condition now detectable before viability. I remember draping flannel blankets to lessen the shock for grieving parents holding their baby during its remaining hours. A mother and those closest to her may choose to end such a nonviable pregnancy rather than endure suffering. As an Idahoan, I value personal freedom, especially in decisions this intimate and painful. My years in the NICU and labor and delivery taught me that pregnancy can require extraordinarily difficult choices. Those choices belong to the families involved, not the government. Please vote yes on Prop. 1. Judy Meyers, Ph.D., R.N. Sagle
Got something to say? Write a letter to the editor. We accept letters up to 150 words in length that are free of libelous statements and excessive profanity. Please elevate the conversation. Trolls will not be tolerated. Send submissions to letters@sandpointreader. com.
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October 22, 2026 / R / 9
PERSPECTIVES
Why should you care about roadless areas? By Brad Smith Reader Contributor Some of my fondest childhood memories involve hiking to pristine alpine destinations like Harrison Lake, catching cutthroat trout in a secret stream and seeing a rare mountain caribou in the Selkirk Crest. These were adventures I took for granted at the time. During my high school senior year, I saw a map on the front page of the Coeur d’Alene Press and an article about a proposed policy to protect National Forest System “roadless areas.” Looking at the map, I realized these were the places where I went hiking, fishing and wildlife viewing. My neighbors hunted and dirt biked there. Roadless areas also provide valuable fish and wildlife habitat because they remain largely undeveloped. The article announced a public meeting at the Idaho Panhandle National Forests supervisor’s office in Coeur d’Alene. Hundreds of similar meetings were being held nationwide to gather input on the Clinton administration’s proposal to protect about 58.5 million acres of roadless areas. I attended that meeting — my first-ever public meeting. Maps covered the walls and Forest Service officials answered questions. You could submit a written comment, but I chose to record my verbal testimony on a cassette player. The USFS received roughly 1.6 million comments on the proposal, more than 90% of which supported it. Finalized in 2001, the National Roadless Area Conservation Rule restricted road construction and timber harvesting in roadless areas. It also restricted certain mineral activities. These protections helped preserve some of our nation’s largest remaining tracts of undeveloped land.
10 / R / October 22, 2026
Fifty-eight million acres sounds like a lot, but it represents only about 30% of the National Forest System. All of the remaining acreage had been developed through road construction, logging, mining or other forms of development. Idaho’s elected officials opposed the 2001 rule. In 2006, the state petitioned the federal government to adopt a different policy for Idaho’s roadless areas. By then, I was an intern at the Idaho Conservation League. I was assigned to draft comments about every Idaho roadless area in response to the state’s petition. ICL was concerned that Idaho was seeking to reopen the state’s remaining 9.3 million acres of roadless areas to development. Public meetings gave Idahoans opportunities to weigh in. People in Bonners Ferry, Sandpoint, Coeur d’Alene and throughout the state supported protecting places where they hike, hunt, fish, pick huckleberries, camp and view the stars. In 2008, an Idaho-specific policy was finalized. ICL ultimately supported the Idaho Roadless Rule, which established five management classifications. It provided stronger protections for some large, remote backcountry areas while allowing greater flexibility for activities such as reducing hazardous fuels near communities. The rule represented a compromise after years of public input and negotiations. Recently, the Trump administration closed a public comment period on a proposal to repeal the 2001 national rule. More than 1 million submissions were received, and an analysis found that more than 99% opposed repeal. The national and Idaho rules helped end the timber wars of the 1980s and ’90s. These policies gave people who care about undeveloped public lands some assurance that not
every acre would be opened to roads and logging. Repealing the national rule could reignite those conflicts. Rather than eliminate national protections, the administration should consider state-specific proposals that maintain meaningful safeguards while addressing legitimate local concerns. Although the administration has not proposed repealing Idaho’s rule, recent developments show why Idahoans should pay attention. On Sept. 29, Idaho County notified Gov. Brad Little that it intends to seek changes to the management classifications of the 1.7 million acres of Idaho Roadless Areas within its borders. The county wants those lands moved into the Idaho rule’s least restrictive category: General Forest. It has asked Little for assistance and plans to submit a formal request to the USFS, while encouraging other counties to join its effort. Changing these classifications would not eliminate roadless status, but could reduce existing safeguards and allow more road construction and timber harvesting in sensitive areas. Both roadless rules already allow certain hazardous-fuel treatments, so the rationale for seeking broader changes deserves scrutiny. If you hike, hunt, fish, camp, or ride a mountain bike or motorcycle in our national forests, you should care about roadless areas. Even if you don’t participate in these activities, you should care if you value fish and wildlife, old-growth forests, clean water or the opportunity for future generations to experience wild places. Brad Smith is the interim executive director of the Idaho Conservation League. He lives and works in Sandpoint and prizes National Forest System roadless areas for their recreation opportunities, fish and wildlife habitat, and clean water.
PERSPECTIVES
Emily Articulated Lacy and Jan
By Emily Erickson Reader Columnist There’s a trope about Millennials: We love it when our plans get canceled. We get to stay home instead of attending the social engagement we agreed to during a period of extroversion we can no longer access. We’ve flipped the script on our younger selves, trading YOLO (“you only live once”) and FOMO (“fear of missing out”) for ROMO: “relief of missing out.” Maybe we “threw our hands in the air” one too many times, pushing our social batteries until they burst and are now leaking social anxiety and generalized fatigue like lithium. Or maybe this is just what happens when any generation pushes 40. As someone who regularly identifies with this trope — because damn if I don’t love an early dinner and bedtime — I admire people who embody its opposite. People who remember that participating in life, community and friendship is how we make the most of the one life we get. They say “yes” with enthusiasm, then create things for the rest of us to say “yes” to. My friends Lacy and Jan are those people. Lacy, who was born and raised in Sandpoint, and her husband Jan, who hails from Czechia, bring enthusiasm to occasions both fun and difficult. I’ve been lucky enough to experience plenty of each alongside them. This summer, my husband and I were deep in the doldrums of overwhelm, preparing to host 45 people for a straw bale construction workshop at our partially built house. We needed to get the building ready, make room for tents and campers, build temporary showers, rent portable
Emily Erickson. toilets and prepare to feed everyone three meals a day for a week (an admittedly fair trade for all that labor). As our stress reached a fever pitch, Lacy and Jan showed up as they always do: willing and happy to help. Amid temperatures rivaled in height only by the air quality index, they donned work pants, picked up power tools and launched themselves directly into our chaos. On another occasion, a heavy snowfall transformed the hill in their backyard into a perfect (if terrifying) luge and they wasted no time gathering friends. We stood at the precipice together, fear mixing with anticipation like it had when we were kids. Our snowsuits offered questionable protection against the ice-hardened ground, especially for bodies no longer quite so unbreakable. Then we pushed off, screaming our way downhill — literally and figuratively — briefly forgetting that we’d ever grown up. And then there was the time our dog, Bodi, disappeared during a long run. He had a penchant for chasing animals, usually returning to the car once he’d deemed his pursuit a lost cause and lured back by the promise of his warm bed, square meals and more cheese than a wild dog
could dream of. But this time, he wasn’t waiting at the car. Afternoon faded into dusk, then night. Lacy and Jan were with us, flashlights and warm thermoses in hand, helping us call his name into the void. They offered no easy assurances, no promises that he’d turn up. They stayed with us in the uncertainty, taking a little of our burden as their own. Eventually, when he trotted back to us, they were as happy as we were. Lacy and Jan say “yes” — to birthday parties and themed events, to night skiing and beach volleyball, and to volunteering at the food bank. They create running groups and attend contra dances and improv classes. Through all that participation, they create the community the rest of us are grateful to belong to. Which is why saying goodbye is going to be so hard. They’re moving back to Jan’s hometown in Czechia, and their absence will reach well beyond our circle of friends. The longer I live, the more familiar I’ve become with the seasonality of things: People and places that once held starring roles become supporting characters, or sometimes extras, often through circumstance rather than choice. A new job, a relationship, a move — good things taking us away from other good things. Some people fade naturally into those roles. Others remain a large presence across the distance through their commitment to staying connected. This community has said goodbye to so many wonderful people, and hello to just as many. Each departure changes the familiar shape of things: who gathers the group, who extends the invitation, who shows up with a flashlight. As Lacy and Jan begin their next adventure, I can do the
human thing and hold many things at once: excitement for their new jobs, friendships and phases of life, alongside sadJan Taborsky and Lacy Gilham. Courtesy photo ness for what we’ll miss. And, tucked among those feelings, a them bon voyage, full of gratikernel of hope that Sandpoint tude for having such wonderful might someday pull them back. people to miss. And when the Maybe the Long Bridge next invitation comes, I can at sunset will do it, or the remember how much they’ve hum of live music bouncing added to my life by saying off the lake; the whoosh of a “yes,” and say it a little more sled down an icy luge, or the often myself. feel of tacky dirt under grippy shoes — memories clinging Emily Erickson is a writer and just enough that one day, they business owner with an affinity might return. for black coffee and playing in Until then (and even if that the mountains. Connect with her day never arrives), I can wish online at www.bigbluehat.studio.
Retroactive
By BO
October 22, 2026 / R / 11
Mad about Science:
Brought to you by:
Doppelgangers and weird coincidences
By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist
History is full of weird coincidences. Enough people exist for a certain length of time and you are bound to have some expected, albeit unusual, occurrences. It’s just statistics at play. That being said, some of the coincidences we will look at today seem to defy statistical probability to the extreme. Were these authentic occurrences, or inflated by the human experience? We may never know, as they remain unexplained mysteries to this day. Before exploring the proper doppelgängers, we are going to look at two presidents with some weird coincidences that appear once you look at them together. We all know how the presidencies of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy ended. They were both assassinated with a gunshot to the head on a Friday — Lincoln on April 14, 1865, and Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963. However, they were both succeeded in their presidency by southerners with the last name Johnson — Andrew Johnson and Lyndon B. Johnson, who were born exactly 100 years apart from one another. Their assassins were also both referred to by three names — John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald, with 15 letters in each of their names. They were also both killed before they could face trial. Even more, Lincoln and Kennedy were assassinated in something called “Ford,” with Lincoln being shot in Ford’s Theatre and Kennedy killed in a Ford-built Lincoln Continental. Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846, while JFK
12 / R / October 22, 2026
was elected to Congress 100 years later in 1946. They were both elected president of the United States 14 years after being elected to Congress, in 1860 and 1960, respectively. They were also both pivotal figures who championed civil rights for Black Americans during times of particularly tumultuous political upheaval in the country. Moving on to a bridge between strange doppelgängers and coincidences, the “Jim Twins” remain a curious case in the exploration of twin behaviors and the role played by genetics in lifelong decision making. Two twins separated at birth — James Lewis and James Springer — spent the first 39 years apart and totally unaware that they were an identical twin. They were taken by different adoptive families weeks after their birth and given the name James but referred to as Jim. Both men lived virtually their entire lives only 45 miles apart, completely unaware of the other’s existence. The Jims both had an adoptive brother named Larry and a dog named Toy. They both married women named Linda, divorced and then married women named Betty. Even more curious, they each had a son — one named James Alan and the other James Allan. They both worked as deputy sheriffs, trained in carpentry and drove blue Chevrolets. One could argue that many of the decisions and parallels between the men’s lives weren’t dictated by their genetics, but by societal norms and expectations of the 1960s and ’70s. Things like their choice of favorite cigarette, drink or preferred vehicle could be attributed to this, but the parallels between marrying
women with the exact same name and also giving their children virtually identical names is very curious. It’s likely that the list of differences between the twins were much larger than the similarities, and it’s very likely that the similarities were specifically highlighted because of how intriguing and close they were. This is an exploration of the “Texas sharpshooter fallacy.” The Texas sharpshooter fallacy is a logical and statistical fallacy that highlights human nature to cherry-pick data to prove a point. The idea is that someone fires a load of bullets at the side of a barn in Texas, then walks up and draws a bullseye around the tightest cluster, declaring themselves a master sharpshooter by ignoring all the other shots in the barn. It’s likely you’ve known someone who does this in their everyday life, as it is a common human trait. Finally, many historical figures have claimed to see their doppelgänger, a perfect mirror of themselves at some point in the future. This has been viewed as ominous throughout much of human history, with examples such as Abraham Lincoln looking in the mirror and seeing an alternate version of himself as pale, sickly and nearly dead not long before his assassination. Similarly, Queen Elizabeth I reported walking into her quarters to find a mirror reflecting an image of herself looking incredibly ill lying in her bed. It’s likely that these visions are a stress response produced by the brain — a way for the subconscious mind to beg the conscious mind and body to slow down or face a terrible fate. The psychological strain of a country-shattering war and multiple
assassination attempts very likely drove Lincoln to that vision, while Elizabeth’s habit of using white lead makeup probably contributed in a major way to her visions. Writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe had the opposite effect when viewing his doppelgänger. While riding toward Alsace to visit his lover in 1771, he had been distraught. Suddenly, coming the other way down the road, he viewed a spectral visage of himself, years older, wearing a
gray coat with gold trimmings. Instead of being filled with dread, it filled him with hope. Eight years later, he was riding down that road to visit his lover for the last time, and in doing so, realized he was wearing the same gray coat he saw nearly a decade before. Glitch in the matrix, unexplained mystery or intentional fashion choice made by a writer with a fanciful penchant for the dramatic? I’ll let you decide. Stay curious, 7B.
Random Corner els?
Don’t know much about squirr • Like other rodents, squirrels’ front teeth never stop growing. The word “rodent” actually derives from the Latin rodere, which means “to gnaw.” • Squirrels are “scatter hoarders,” which means they keep multiple caches of food. They often have a difficult time keeping an eye on their various larders, losing an average of 25% of their buried food to thieves such as fellow squirrels and birds. • Squirrels sometimes engage in “deceptive caching,” where they dig a hole and vigorously cover it up, without depositing any nuts. This seems to throw off potential food thieves watching them. • When squirrels feel threatened, they run in a zigzag pattern. This strategy is useful to escape hawks and other predators. It doesn’t work so well for cars, though. • Humans introduced squirrels to most major city parks in the U.S. as an effort to sweeten the
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metropolitan world with a bit of natural charm. Before the late 19th century, most parks didn’t have squirrels in them; but, as the landscape park movement grew in popularity, urban reformers introduced squirrels to places like Central Park in Manhattan to create a bucolic atmosphere that was entertaining and enlightening to visitors. • Squirrels are excellent arborists. They have accidentally contributed countless trees to our country’s forests because they don’t dig up all their buried nuts, some of which grow into new trees. • The squirrel family has more than 278 species that thrive everywhere from the Arctic tundra to tropical rainforests and big cities. • All tree squirrels belong to the genus Sciurus, which comes from the Greek words skia (shadow) and oura (tail). The name reportedly reflects tree squirrels’ habits of hiding in the shadow of their long, bushy tails.
OPINION
46 years of Idaho service with an important message By Past and present Dist. 1 legislators Reader Contributors Idaho’s Constitution created a citizen legislature: three months in Boise, the rest of the year at home among the people represented. Idaho has always been conservative. We work hard, help our neighbors, and live and let live. Over the past decade though, the Idaho Legislature has drifted from the core state functions. Education, public safety, and transportation are overshadowed by a focus on cultural issues pushed by outside groups. Even the one required action of the Legislature, passing a balanced state budget, has become a challenge. Idaho now races to be first in the nation on creating law around abstract social issues, while our population booms,
(L-R): Sen. Jim Woodward, Rep. Mark Sauter, former-Sen. Shawn Keough, former-Rep. George Eskridge. File photos our roads have become dangerous and state funding for our schools has declined. The Bonner County Republican Central Committee was once a guiding light for the people we elected. Today the party apparatus demands loyalty over debate and treats disagreement as betrayal. Many longtime Republicans have simply walked away. All three Republican legislative candidates on this year’s ballot carry the committee’s endorsement,
including its former chairman, who endorsed himself. Ask yourself who these candidates are really working for. They answer to the Idaho Freedom Foundation’s legislative scorecard, not the needs of Bonner and Boundary counties. They signed a loyalty pledge to the Citizens Alliance of Idaho, a political action committee run by people from outside Idaho. A legislator’s loyalty belongs to the people who elected them, not to a
scorecard or a pledge. These candidates appear to be counting on the “R” after their names to carry them to victory, and they don’t seem to believe they need to earn your vote. We are lifelong Republicans who together served 46 years in the Idaho Legislature. Idaho’s success is based on our traditional Republican values. Candidates wearing the Republican brand, but behaving as activist extremists, will undo the work of generations and leave Idaho falling behind. Each election cycle, Sandpoint’s news outlets host a candidate forum that packs the high school auditorium. It is voters’ best chance to hear the candidates in person. This year, all three Republican candidates have declined to attend the upcoming forum. If candidates won’t face voters while they are asking for their
votes, how will you reach them once they are in office? This Nov. 3 is your chance to vote for representation in the Idaho Legislature. We urge you to look at the individuals on the ballot, those who will serve your interests, not their own ideology. Listen to the candidates to hear if they understand the nuts and bolts of what our communities need, if they will talk with you and listen to you. We encourage you to learn about these candidates and vote for the candidates working for Idaho and working for you. This election is critical. Let’s turn the ship before it is too late. Please vote on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
veto it. He signed it into law, appeasing the out-of-state lobbyists now supporting his reelection campaign. Our congressional delegation is so scared to cross Trump that they have voted repeatedly to keep tariffs in place, continue the war in Iran and gut health care. Their records offer countless examples of what happens when political loyalty wins out over duty to the people.
This November, let’s elect leaders who will show up to answer your questions and have not only good answers, but the courage of their convictions.
Cowardly candidates make weak leaders By Lauren Necochea Reader Contributor Having the courage of your convictions should be a prerequisite for elected office. Yet courage seems increasingly rare in the Idaho Statehouse and U.S. Capitol. It doesn’t have to be that way. I’ve seen tremendous courage from Idaho Democrats stepping up to run for office. Teachers, small business owners and community leaders know they’ll face uphill battles, long hours and time away from family. They do it because they believe Idaho deserves better. And they are willing to show up and answer voters’ tough questions. I’ve watched Kaylee Peterson, running for Congress in Idaho’s First District, travel to small communities and meet people wherever they are. She often finds common ground on rising costs and the future of rural communities. Gubernatorial candidate Terri Pickens has been touring Republican strongholds, including an event in Boise County where
Lauren Necochea. File photo almost every other candidate was Republican. Recently, Democratic legislative candidates Kathy Dawes, Trish Carter-Goodheart and Robin Weldy participated in a forum hosted by Republican women in Moscow. Their Republican opponents showed up, knowing the organizers supported them. But a few days later, at a forum held by the nonpartisan League of Women Voters, incumbent Republicans Dan Foreman and Brandon Mitchell were no-shows while every Democrat was present. Some of Idaho’s lon-
gest-serving Republican politicians are also running scared. Brad Little, Jim Risch, Russ Fulcher, Mike Simpson and Raúl Labrador have spent a collective 140 years in public office. Yet all have refused to participate in major debates and forums this year. They’re asking you for another term, but won’t even answer your questions. Perhaps it’s because they don’t have answers to the issues facing our families, like health care, home affordability and exploding costs. Democratic candidates have plans. Republicans have a tired playbook of culture war attacks and claims that tax cuts for the rich help regular Idahoans. We can expect candidates to govern like they campaign. If they won’t show up to talk to voters today, they’re likely to disregard voters after the election. I’m reminded of Brad Little saying he was against vouchers, then yielding to billionaire-funded pro-voucher PACs. The overwhelming number of voters who contacted him about the voucher bill asked him to
Sen. Jim Woodward, District 1; Rep. Mark Sauter, Seat A District 1; Shawn Keough, former- senator, District 1; George Eskridge, former representative, Seat B District 1.
Lauren Necochea is chair of the Idaho Democratic Party and a former District 19 legislator. Necochea spent a decade leading nonprofit programs dedicated to research and advocacy in tax policy, health care and children’s issues.
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ELECTION
CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE 2026 general Election By Reader Staff
Before each election, the Sandpoint Reader reaches out to candidates in contested legislative and local races to ask questions about how they would represent the constituents in the offices they seek. Below are questions and answers for the offices of Idaho Legislative District 1 Senate, Dist. 1A and 1B House, and District 1 Bonner County commissioners on the Tuesday, Nov. 3 election ballot. All candidates in contested races who responded to our questions have been included below, with some answers lightly edited for length. New this cycle, the Reader reviewed all questionnaire responses using the Pangram AI detection software, with results noted below each candidate’s submission in red. The Reader joined the Bonner County Daily Bee, KRFY 88.5 FM and SandpointOnline.com to host a candidates’ forum at Sandpoint High School on Oct. 20. Find a recording of the forum at krfy.org. Finally, don’t forget to vote Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Bonner County Commissioner Dist. 1 1. Why are you running for Bonner County commissioner? 2. What are the three most important issues to your constituents? Are there additional issues you intend to prioritize? 3. What do you see as the top challenge facing Dist. 1 — or the county in general — and how do you propose to address it? 4. What differentiates you from your opponent for the Dist. 1 seat? 5. How will you improve staff retention and make open job listings more enticing in this competitive job market? Fred Arn, Independent
Age: 79 Birthplace and residence: Rabat, Morocco (Navy brat); Sagle How many years lived in Bonner County: 15+ Past/current government service (if applicable): sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps-Reserve Profession: retired photojournalist and small business owner; also part-time commercial fisherman, college instructor Education: high school — Keflavik, Iceland and Virginia Beach, Va.; College of Marin; taught photojournalism at community college and university level Contact info: vote4fred@ mail.com, fredarn.net
1. I wish to continue serving my community as I have been doing in various capacities, including volunteering, for the last several years. I have a proven record of standing up for the property rights of all Bonner County citizens and I wish to continue doing so. As a lifelong Republican and student of history, I am deeply concerned that a single private entity (BCRCC) would have a complete lock on all Bonner County elected positions. Being on the ballot as an Independent, I can offer the voters a choice; not just the one-party, one-candidate mentality that seems to exist and was displayed in the last primary election. The Republican Central Committee doesn’t have a monopoly on conservative family values. 2. Safety: Citizens want to know that their families and properties are protected and that they can rely on swift responses from the various services in times of emergency. I have a long documented history of support for fire and law enforcement. I am a volunteer for our sheriff’s office, helping with commu-
nity watch programs to further communication and safety in neighborhoods. Being heard, not ignored: Constituents want their issues listened to and addressed in a timely manner. When decisions are made, there needs to be enforcement and follow-through. Public attendance and input is vital and should be encouraged at all county meetings. Land use: I will make sure that the county Comprehensive Plan is finalized, approved and that there is a viable enforcement mechanism in place immediately. This eliminates any confusion about what people can and cannot do with their property from the beginning, thus protecting everyone’s personal property rights. 3. Growth: Bonner County’s many qualities like its trees, lakes, public land access, sportsman opportunities and the rural lifestyle has attracted many to the area in a short amount of time. Bonner County has become easy prey to those who take advantage of small, local government at the expense of the rural character and our quality of life. Previous
commissioners have bent to the pressures of developers and others, resulting in uncontrolled or irresponsible growth that hasn’t kept pace with county services. We need to pass and enforce the Comp Plan and make sure infrastructure is in place first. As former chair of the Sagle Sub-Area Committee, I know how important this document and the consistent enforcement of it is for the county. 4. I have broad, world experience. As a former newsman, I have seen the best and worst of humanity. I do not shy away from the difficult or uncomfortable, and am ready to dive in on Nov. 4. I have been actively involved in county issues for years before becoming a candidate. Over the last four years, I have attended more Bonner County commissioner business meetings in person than anyone, including candidates for any office, county employees and all electeds. As we learned from the Camp Bay episode, commissioners have a great amount of discretion in the decisions they make and we all have to deal with the consequences. This is why it is vital that we elect a level-headed,
common-sense individual who owes no loyalty to any group, party or platform. I answer only to you, the good people of Bonner County. Vote person, not party, on Nov. 3. 5. Positive leadership and treating employees with the dignity and respect they deserve will make the county a great place to work and attract quality applicants. All need to act responsibly, follow the law and be accountable to the people of the county. There needs to be consistency in how issues are handled across all departments. The old ways of doing things, department by department, are not viable today. Continuing to review and update H.R. policies as needed and developing a countywide employee code of ethics and enforcing it are also steps in the right direction. I wish to keep Bonner County one of the most beautiful, safest and friendliest places to live and work in this country.
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Steve Smith, Republican
Age: 74 Birthplace and residence: born in Coeur d’Alene; current residence in Sagle How many years lived in Bonner Co.: 47 Past/current government service (if applicable): chief marine deputy, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office; legal intern to the deputy attorney general assigned to the Idaho Department of Water Resources; First Judicial District law clerk; deputy public defender, Bonner County; and attorney for the cities of Sandpoint, Hope and East Hope Profession: lawyer
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Education: Coeur d’Alene High School, 1970; B.S. degree, biology, University of Idaho, 1974; juris doctor degree, U of I College of Law, 1977 Contact info: steve@votestevesmith. com, 985-285-0514, votestevesmith.com 1. I am running for that position for three main reasons: a. I have resided and worked in Bonner County for more than 47 years and serving as a county commissioner is a way that I could give back to my community. Several members of my family presently live in Bonner County, and I am invested in making Bonner County the best place to live for all families in the community, including mine. b. I firmly believe that, with my “legal eyes” on the county, we can do better by avoiding the missteps of the past. c. After practicing law in Bonner County during the last 47 years, I have developed and refined a skill set in the executive, legislative and quasi-judicial areas in which a county commissioner serves, so I believe that I can add value to my community. 2. I believe that the three most important issues to my constituents are: a. What can the county commissioners do to balance economic growth with retaining our county local character while protecting private property rights? b. What can the county commissioners do to make every tax dollar count so that living here can be more affordable? c. What can the county commissioners do to protect Bonner County from the expense of defending needless lawsuits against the county? Additional issues that I intend to prioritize are: How can the work environment of county employees be improved? The current work environment is unpleasant and threatening, causing the loss of valuable employees as a result. How can the health care of county employees be improved and the cost of care be reduced? Health insurance costs have continued to increase while the quality of care has decreased. And supporting elimination of property taxes. 3. After talking with constituents since the summer of 2025 about challenges facing Bonner County, the top challenge seems to be how to manage population growth responsibly while preserving the local quality of county life. County commissioners may only act within the authority and jurisdiction granted to them by the Idaho Legislature. The steps of action available to county commissioners to balance growth with quality of life are primarily those set forth in the Local Land Use Plan-
ning Act, which include: promoting the health, safety and general welfare of the people; protecting property rights while making accommodations for other necessary types of development; encouraging urban and urban-type development within incorporated cities; avoiding undue concentration of population and overcrowding of land; and protecting fish, wildlife and recreation resources. I would welcome input from county citizens about how best to balance reasonable growth with quality of life. 4. The vote for Dist. 1 Bonner County commissioner should be cast based on who is the best-qualified candidate to represent Bonner County citizens. “Qualified” means a proven track record of being able to do the job well. Unlike the federal or state governments, which have executive, legislative and judicial branches, county government consists of three county commissioners who are required by law to function in all three of those areas. County commissioners are the chief executives (carrying out the requirements of law in doing the county’s business), the legislators (writing and passing laws in the form of ordinances) and the quasi-judicial officers (making decisions in matters such as planning and taxation). In 47 years of serving as an attorney in Bonner County, including as former city attorney for several cities and longtime legal counsel to local taxing districts, my track record demonstrates that I am qualified to fulfill those roles. 5. First, I plan to treat employees as I would like to be treated. A new team spirit is needed in which employees will be inspired to excellence. The working environment for county employees would be improved by caring for them as valued team members instead of seeking to control them and putting them in fear of termination if they don’t allow themselves to be controlled. Secondly, I would seek to replace health insurance with a new health care alternative that will provide better care at a lower cost. Thirdly, I would review the salaries and employee benefits of all employees to make sure that they are adequate and competitive with other local governmental entities (“... the laborer is worthy of his hire,” Luke 10:7). A worthy wage is an important element for retaining good employees and thereby allowing the county to receive the full benefit of employee training and experience.
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Legislative Dist. 1
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1. Why are you running? 2. What do you think are the three most important issues to your constituents? 3. What do you see as the top challenge facing District 1, and how do you propose to address it? 4. What differentiates you from your opponent? 5. Where do you stand on Proposition 1 and citizens’ ballot initiatives as a form of popular democracy in Idaho?
Dist. 1 Senate Scott Herndon, Republican
Age: 58 Birthplace and residence: born in Richmond, Va.; resides in Sagle How many years lived in Bonner Co.: 22.5 Past/current government service (if applicable): Dist. 1 senator, 2023-2024 Profession: homebuilder and general contractor (owner, Herndon Inc.) Education: B.S. degree in finance Contact info: herndonforIdaho.com, scott@herndonforidaho.com, 208-610-2680 1. I am running to end Idaho’s property tax, because no one should have to keep paying the government rent on a home they already own. I have watched neighbors on fixed incomes taxed toward losing paid-off homes over value they never cashed in, and I believe a free people should truly own their land. I am a homebuilder who meets a payroll and a finance professional who reads a budget, so when I say we can retire the property tax without a new tax, I have done the math and published it for anyone to check. In the Senate, I helped pass the first state buy-down, which already returns about $328 million a year. I want to finish that work, defend our constitutional rights and represent North Idaho with honesty and real transparency. 2. First, the cost of living, with property taxes at the center. Families here are squeezed from every direction, and the property tax is the one bill the state can actually take off their backs. Second, growth and affordability. Rapid growth is driving up assessments, prices, and pressure on our land and water, and people fear being priced out of the place they chose.
Third, protecting what makes North Idaho what it is: our constitutional freedoms, our local control, and a government that stays out of our private lives and off our wallets. These are what I hear at the door and in my inbox every day. They cut across party lines, because a property tax bill, a grocery receipt and a love for this place are not partisan. 3. The biggest challenge is affordability in the face of rapid growth. Assessments, home prices and the cost of living have climbed faster than incomes, and longtime residents, young families and retirees all feel it. My central answer is to end the property tax, funded by the revenue growth the state already collects, so no one is taxed out of a home they own. Beyond that, I support strong private property rights, protecting public access to our land and water, and keeping growth-related decisions local and voter-approved rather than dictated from Boise. Growth should never be an excuse for a bigger permanent government or a heavier tax load. We can welcome our neighbors and still protect the character, the affordability, and the freedom that drew people to North Idaho in the first place. 4. I give voters no ambiguity about who I am or what I will do. I am a conservative Republican, I tell you exactly where I stand, and I have a voting record to back it. I do not just talk about ending the property tax; I helped pass the first installment and published a five-page plan with every number so anyone can check my math. I meet a payroll as a homebuilder and know what a budget means in the real world. And I engage directly and in public, answering hard questions even from people who disagree with me, rather than hiding behind a label. Voters deserve a representative whose positions, record and reasoning are all out in the open. That clarity, and a plan with the numbers behind it, is what I offer. 5. I am firmly voting no on Proposition 1, and I believe most Idahoans will too. It is one of the most sweeping abortion measures in the country. It removes the parental consent Idaho has always required, so a minor could end a pregnancy without a parent ever being told. It allows abortion to a late, loosely defined point of viability the measure leaves to the provider, with no age limit written anywhere in it. A “no” vote keeps Idaho’s current protections for the unborn in place; a
“yes” vote tears them down. On the process, we are a constitutional republic, and I defend the people’s right to the initiative. But I ask voters to see who funds this one: about $2.4 million, more than 40%, comes from out of state, including $950,000 from a single Washington, D.C. PAC and $250,000 from former-New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
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Steve Johnson, Independent
Age: 76 Birthplace and residence: born in Longview, Wash. and moved with my family to our family farm in Sagle in 1957, which has been home ever since How many years lived in Bonner Co.: 69 Past/current government service (if applicable): East Bonner County Library Board and Lake Ponderay School District Building Committee Profession: small business owner, farmer and retired educator; taught elementary school in Dist. 1 for 20 years, 10 of those as an elementary school principal; taught 20 years at the public alternative high school in Sandpoint Education: bachelor’s degree in education and M.A. in administration from the University of Idaho Contact info: 208-255-8055, farmerlpo@yahoo.com, 1497 Beers Humbird, Road, Sagle, ID 83860 1. I am running as an Independent candidate for Idaho Senate because voters deserve a choice. My focus is on helping Idaho families thrive during these very difficult times. As an Independent candidate, I can work more effectively with all legislators regardless of their political affiliation to find realistic solutions to everyday issues that impact all of us. My
opponent wasted his previous term on ideological culture wars instead of representing North Idaho interests. 2. Affordability: The cost of living increases every day with groceries, housing, utilities and gasoline/diesel. We need to make sure the kids growing up here can afford to stay here and the people who live here can afford to stay here. Public lands: We in North Idaho are blessed with abundant public lands that provide us with timber, recreation, hunting, fishing, hiking and a multitude of outdoor activities. The ability to enjoy our mountains and forests and lakes is one of the most precious resources we have. I will support and vote to keep our public lands in public hands. Education: It’s the cornerstone for our future and the greatest opportunity we have for improving the lives of our citizens. Unfortunately, Idaho consistently ranks dead last of all 50 states in funding education. 3. We can provide rapid property tax relief by updating the Homeowner’s Exemption to reflect today’s property values. This puts real money back in the pockets of those of us who actually live here, while ensuring that data centers and vacation properties pay their share. Expanding the Circuit Breaker program will ensure that no one is thrown out of their home because they can’t pay their property tax bill. Lastly, I support repealing sales tax on groceries so people’s food budgets stretch a little further. 4. I’m a lifelong resident of Bonner County. I’ve worked on the family farm, taught in our classrooms and run a small business here. I know the issues families face and I hold traditional Idaho values. My campaign is funded by local folks here in North Idaho. As an Independent, I work for you, not party bosses. I will focus on local services like roads, emergency services and schools, not ideology. That’s why our most trusted Republican legislators — Keough, Eskridge and Woodward — are endorsing me. My opponent moved here from California and brought his politics with him. He wants to expand the state’s role in your local services and in your personal life. He proposed selling our public lands to developers. He collects dark money from out-of-state interests. He makes backroom
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< Q&A, con’t from Page 17 > deals and demands loyalty oaths. He’s had the opportunity to represent your interests and squandered it on culture wars. 5. I fully support the citizens’ initiative process that is included in our Idaho Constitution. That initiative process has been a major benefit for Idaho citizens, including the creation of the property tax homeowner’s exemption. I believe the most sacred part of our government is the right to vote. If the people pass Prop. 1, it will be my duty to help implement it as written. My opponent has vowed to disregard the vote of the people and impose his personal ideology.
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Dist. 1A House Karen Matthee, Democrat
Age: 69 Birthplace and residence: born in Redwood City, Calif., resides in Sandpoint How many years lived in Bonner Co.: 5 Past/current government service (if applicable): worked with the U.S. State Department to assist landmine victims in Southeast Asia and Afghanistan Profession: journalist for 30 years, then NGO communications director Education: B.A., U.C. Berkeley; MSJ, Northwestern Univ. Contact info: kmatthee4idaho@gmail.com, 206-218-3646 1. For almost 30 years, the Idaho Legislature has had a supermajority, and I question if any of us are all that much better off for it. Tax cuts of over $4 billion over the last five years have benefited only the wealthiest of Idahoans and resulted in a budget deficit this last session that led to across-the-board cuts in Medicaid, child care assis-
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tance and disability services, as well as other programs and services that benefit the majority of Idahoans. Those cuts also placed our rural hospitals in jeopardy. To change this, we need a more balanced Legislature: We need to elect Democrats and Independents who will work across the aisle with traditional Republicans to achieve laws that benefit the majority of Idahoans. 2. Access to affordable health care: Medicaid cuts increased health care costs for many Idaho families and threatened the survival of our rural hospitals. Affordability: Most working families are struggling to cover the basics: rent, mortgage, health insurance, food and gas. I favor eliminating a tax on food, as well as creative solutions for affordable housing and reinstating the homeowner’s property tax exemption index, which was based on the sale price of Idaho homes but capped at $100,000 in 2016. The exemption hasn’t kept up with inflation and I will work to ensure that it does. Inadequate funding for public schools: Idaho public schools are the least state-funded in the country. Our rural districts suffer from failing facilities, teacher shortages and large classroom sizes. The state needs to honor its constitutional obligation to fully fund public schools, rather than relying on homeowners to foot the bill through bonds and levies. 3. Severe cuts in the last legislative session to Medicaid provider reimbursement rates are making it difficult for our rural hospitals to keep their doors open. I would work to reverse those cuts and return to careful, line-by-line examination of state departmental budgets, instead of last-minute across-the-board cuts. These cuts were necessary to compensate for the millions in tax cuts in the last session that benefited the wealthiest Idahoans and resulted in a budget deficit. 4. As a former journalist, I value objectivity and examining issues from all sides. So I will make myself available to all constituents as much as possible, no matter their party affiliation. I also have experience in government working with the U.S. State Department and members of Congress from both parties to assist landmine victims in Southeast Asia and Afghanistan. 5. I fully support Prop 1.
The initiative would protect the personal liberty to make one’s own reproductive health care decisions — including birth control, IVF, regulated abortion access and more — with their doctor and without undue government overreach. Ballot initiatives are one of the purest forms of American democracy. They allow citizens to get the issues they care about placed on the ballot and voted on by the people, often in cases where politicians fail to act.
support eliminating the grocery tax, working toward eliminating property taxes and controlling government spending. Education: We need to modernize Idaho’s school funding formula, direct more resources into classrooms and special education, and respect parental rights. Constitutional rights and freedoms: From the Second Amendment and medical freedom to parental rights and protecting the unborn, government has a responsibility to safeguard our liberties, not diminish them.
right of Idaho citizens to bring initiatives directly to the voters. It’s an important part of our democratic process. However, initiatives should be clearly written, transparent, and thoroughly understood before becoming law. Voters deserve to know exactly what they’re approving and how it could affect Idaho families and future generations.
Jane Sauter, Republican
3. Our greatest challenge is maintaining the affordability and quality of life that makes North Idaho special. Rising property taxes, housing costs and everyday expenses are putting pressure on families and making it increasingly difficult for longtime residents to stay. We cannot simply keep raising taxes to support an ever-expanding government. I will work to eliminate unnecessary spending, demand accountability for taxpayer dollars and pursue meaningful tax reform while protecting essential services. We need to make government more efficient, not more expensive.
Kathryn Larson, Independent
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Age: 63 Birthplace and residence: born in Austin, Minn.; (did not respond) How many years lived in Bonner Co.: 11 Past/current government service (if applicable): former precinct committeeman, poll worker and chief election judge Profession: former small business co-owner, homemaker Education: Grad.Austin Christian Academy, Austin, MN and Christ for the Nation’s Institute, Dallas, TX. Associates Degree in Theology Contact info: janesauterforidaho@proton.me 1. I’m running because I love North Idaho and want to preserve what makes it such a special place to live and raise a family. I’m concerned about growing government, rising taxes and the gradual erosion of our constitutional freedoms. I believe elected officials should answer to the people, not special interests or political insiders. I’m not interested in becoming a career politician. I want to bring common sense, integrity and accountability back to government and make sure the voices of Bonner and Boundary County residents are heard in Boise. 2. Affordability and taxes: Families and seniors are struggling with rising costs. I
4. My opponent and I have fundamentally different views about the role of government. I believe in limited government, fiscal responsibility, individual liberty and protecting our constitutional rights. My opponent supports a more expansive role for government in education, health care and taxation. Before supporting legislation, I will ask whether it’s constitutional, whether government should be involved, whether it’s the right thing to do, what it will cost taxpayers and how it will affect individual freedoms. I’m a lifelong Republican, and my principles don’t change depending on the election. Voters deserve to know where their representative stands, and I intend to provide that consistency. 5. I oppose Prop. 1. I’ve been involved in the pro-life movement since I was a teenager, and I believe we have a responsibility to protect both mothers and unborn children. I’m particularly concerned about the initiative’s broad language, its exceptions after fetal viability and its potential impact on parental involvement in decisions affecting minors. These are serious issues that deserve careful consideration. I support the
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Dist. 1B House
Age: 69 Birthplace and residence: born in Dallas, Texas, moved a lot; raised family in Golden, Colo.; resides in Sandpoint How many years lived in Bonner County: 11 Past/current government service (if applicable): none Profession: strategic business advisor, technology entrepreneur Education: B.S. degree from Southern Methodist University in geology; post-graduate work in geology, education and organizational development Contact info: larsonforidaho@ gmail.com, 208-248-5949, larsonforIdaho.com, 217 Cedar St. No. 167, Sandpoint, ID 83864 1. Politics was not on my bucket list. But I love North Idaho — the independent spirit and generous people. I want to do my part. Idaho has a representation problem. For the past 12 years, outside influence has gained power using closed primaries, campaign financing, punitive scorecards and dishonest messaging. This ensures our representatives pledge loyalty to their political machine. Their machine demands legislation that strips local control, pushes costs onto communities and encourages programs that remove wealth. Our communities pay the price.
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< Q&A, con’t from Page 18 > The party system in the U.S. has become a game. But it’s not a game to those who live and work in North Idaho. That’s why I’m running, and running as an Independent candidate. I’ve helped all types and sizes of companies solve strategic problems and operate effectively to get desired results. I know how to communicate to get things done for us in Boise. That’s my part. 2. I’ve talked to thousands of people who live in Dist. 1 and this is what they say: Affordability: People who work here should be able to live here. About 85% of the Sandpoint workforce can’t afford Sandpoint. It’s happening in other Dist. 1 communities. Federal policies are only part of the problem. I’ll focus on state decisions. Reliable services: Highway 95 safety. We need safe and reliable infrastructure yet we’ve underfunded transportation for decades. This year, the Legislature took $275 million from road projects to pay for tax breaks that most Idahoans didn’t even feel. We count on health care and schools for creating opportunities and attracting a workforce. Local decision-making: Most Idahoans want the freedom to build a life. They want a significant voice in how our communities operate. The Legislature is passing laws each year that reduce local self-determination. 3. Affordability. When the people who work here live here, our community thrives. Boise’s epic tax cuts delivered little money back to the average Idahoan while driving up costs in rural communities. Hospitals experienced a 4% reimbursement cut. Road projects cut by $275 million. Cuts to state colleges drove up tuition. Most state agencies experienced blanket cuts. That’s not a fair trade. Clear the logjams. Get money flowing. Four immediate steps: 1. eliminate the grocery tax — like almost every other state; 2. fix existing tax relief (homeowner’s exemption, “circuit breaker” and land trust assessment); 3. incentivize local land ownership, land trusts and creative alternatives to selling to absentee landlords. Protect Medicaid. It pays our hospitals, reduces the cost for Dist. 1 taxpayers and provides preventative care for 17-19% of our residents.
My opponent knows Medicaid keeps rural hospitals afloat and saves Dist. 1 taxpayers money, yet wants to weaken it. 4. He runs a local business. I have nothing against him personally. But he signed a pledge to an outsider-funded platform and answers to the IFF scorecard over local residents. Consequently, his votes have stripped Dist. 1 of power, increased our costs significantly and encouraged value created here to go elsewhere. His misplaced loyalty is the primary reason I’m running. I answer only to Dist. 1 residents. My decisions in Boise will be based on the consequences to affordability, roads, schools, hospitals and community well-being in Boundary and Bonner counties. I’ll seek input. I’ll respect all constituents. I’ll be transparent in my communications and reasoning. I’ll show up for town halls (which, my opponent hasn’t done). My background has taken me into boardrooms, factory floors, nuclear power plants, military leadership advising and more. I’ve been able to get people to work together. I’ll do that in Boise. 5. Decisions are best made by the people affected by those decisions. For Prop. 1, that’s families, doctors, trusted advisors — not part-time legislators. Expert medical care shouldn’t be disrupted by legal threats and dishonest messaging. I’ll be voting “yes.” I’ll respect the outcome. I’ll protect the citizens’ initiative process. Since 1912, the Idaho Constitution has protected the people’s right to bring initiatives and overturn bad legislation through a ballot vote. Today, the outsider political machine wants to eliminate our initiative voice. Citizens’ initiatives brought us nonpartisan hunting and fishing management, transparency in election finances, term limits, homeowner’s tax exemptions and Medicaid expansion. Initiatives can hold elected officials accountable. We need to protect that right, especially when outside interests shift the loyalty of representatives away from constituents and to their own scorecards. Vote “no” on HJR4. Spoiler alert: It’s not really about marijuana. Read it carefully. It’s about eliminating your initiative power.
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Cornel Rasor, R (incumbent)
Age: 70 Birthplace and residence: Jackson, Calif.; Sagle How many years lived in Bonner County: 57 Past/current government service (if applicable): Bonner County commissioner, 2009-2013; Dist. 1 representative, 2024-present Profession: retail store owner Education: two years, North Idaho College/University of Idaho Contact info: cornelrasor@ hotmail.com, 208-290-7403 1. I’m running because Dist. 1 still needs someone who will read every bill, push back on government growth and protect the natural rights of the people who live here. I’ve spent two sessions carrying and supporting measures that matter locally including protecting women’s private spaces after the Sandpoint YMCA incident, strengthening church trespass protections, defending property rights against overregulation, and vetting and voting against budget enhancements that lock in higher spending. Affordability, education that respects parents and limited government are the practical work of restraining a system that already spends too much and reaches too far. I still have useful work left in me, and I want to keep doing it for the folks in Bonner and Boundary counties rather than hand the seat to someone who treats North Idaho problems as occasions for more state intervention. 2. Affordability comes first. Rising property taxes, the cost of housing, and the cumulative burden of state and local spending hit working families and retirees hardest in the panhandle. Second is education that actually serves students and respects parents, keeping ideology out of classrooms, protecting biological reality in sports and
facilities, and resisting one-sizefits-all mandates while maintaining local control. Third is the protection of core rights: property rights against regulatory takings and patchwork local rules, the ability of women and girls to have sex-segregated private spaces, religious liberty for houses of worship and secure borders that keep criminal illegal aliens from cycling through our jails. These three issues dominate the emails, calls and conversations I receive. They show up in tax bills, school board contests, and neighborhood concerns about safety and local control. 3. The top challenge is the steady erosion of affordability driven by government spending growth and regulatory costs that outpace wages in a rural timber and tourism economy. Property taxes, impact fees and the downstream effects of state budget increases make it harder for longtime residents and young families to stay. I propose continuing the work of the last two sessions: carefully considering and often voting against most budget enhancements so that maintenance budgets do not automatically ratchet higher, supporting targeted tax relief, and advancing property-rights protections that prevent cities and districts from imposing new costs without clear local benefit. North Idaho does not need more programs; it needs fewer permanent commitments of taxpayer money and more room for private and voluntary solutions. 4. My opponent previously ran as a Democrat and is now campaigning as an Independent. The difference is not a label; it is the record and the direction. I have consistently voted to restrain spending, protect biological sex distinctions in private spaces, support paren-
tal authority in education and defend property rights against local overreach. Those positions reflect the limited-government, pro-life, Second Amendment and local-control views that most Dist. 1 voters have expressed to me. An Independent who previously ran under the Democratic banner brings a different set of priorities, greater emphasis on expanded public funding for education and health services, and less skepticism of state intervention. Voters can compare the actual votes and bills I have supported with the platform of someone who has not yet had to cast those same votes under the same constraints. 5. I oppose Prop. 1. It would replace Idaho’s current law protecting preborn children with a statutory right to abortion up to fetal viability and broader exceptions afterward. That is a direct retreat from the protections we have maintained and an expansion of elective abortion. I also remain skeptical of the citizen initiative process as a routine form of lawmaking. Idaho is a constitutional republic, not a pure democracy. Ballot initiatives allow well-funded, often out-of-state interests to bypass the deliberative process of elected representatives who must face voters again and who are expected to read and debate every provision. California’s experience shows how repeated initiatives can lock in policies that are difficult to correct and that expand government power. Representative government, with its checks and the ability to amend or repeal through the Legislature, is the safer and more accountable path for protecting the unborn and preserving limited government.
* 100% AI-written
October 22, 2026 / R / 19
COMMUNITY JAMCO Comedy Series brings troupe of NYC, Boise comedians to Panida
Swim for your pumpkin at YMCA Fall Family Carnival
By Reader Staff
By Reader Staff
The JAMCO Comedy Series has been elevating established and upand-coming stand-up comedians since 2006, and Saturday, Oct. 24, founder Jamal Harrington will do it all over again with a 7 p.m. show at the Panida Little Theater (300 N. First Ave., in Sandpoint). Featuring the talents of three firecracker comics, as well as Harrington himself, the night promises to be two hours of pure laughter for just $25 a ticket. Reserve a seat at panida.org. Harrington has spent the past 14 years on stage, traveling the nation and collaborating with regional talents. His style, which has been described as “inyour-face and peculiar,” has landed him at the Northwest Black Comedy Festival and the Poconos Comedy Festival, in addition to his time spent co-hosting the Notaboutupod podcast. He will be joined on stage by three fellow comics: New York-based Jocelyne Boyer and Boise-based Reese
The YMCA Fall Family Carnival returns Saturday, Oct. 24 with its fan-favorite floating pumpkin patch at the Litehouse chapter (1905 Pine St., in Sandpoint). The free celebration runs from 9:30 a.m. to noon and will include games, prizes, crafts, face painting and a bounce house. The highlight of the afternoon will be three waves of the annual pumpkin
20 / R / October 22, 2026
float, where kids can jump into the YMCA pool and swim around to pick out their favorite floating pumpkin to take home. Choices are limited to one pumpkin per person, and children must wear bathing suits — not Halloween costumes. Children under the age of 5, or those who do not pass the swim test, must be accompanied by a guardian in the water. The 30-minute waves begin at 10 a.m., 10:45 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Register in advance at bit.ly/YMCAFallFest.
Celebrate the Sled Hill’s grand opening Jamal Harrington. Courtesy photo Samuels and L.J. Sullivan, who will host the night. Get a sneak peek at their comedy by visiting each artist’s individual Instagram pages.
By Reader Staff Join the Kaniksu Land Trust on Saturday, Oct. 24 for a long-overdue celebration of the Sled Hill from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The beloved property at 11735 W. Pine St., in Dover, officially became a part of the public Pine Street Woods in 2025, and the community is now celebrating its new year as a preserved property. “For decades, families have climbed this hill, raced sleds to the bottom, explored the woods and made memories here,” wrote organizers. “Thanks to an incredible outpouring of community support, this beloved property is now a community forest, protected forever and open for everyone to enjoy. Join us in celebrating the Sled Hill’s journey from a treasured local tradition to a place truly held for the community.” The fall celebration marks the beginning of the cold season — looking forward to sledding days to come —
and celebrates the completion of the first phase of the master plan for Sled Hill, which saw the addition of plenty of walking trails. The festival will include a pumpkin patch, guided walks along the new trails, games, crafts and live demonstrations by the Kaniksu Folk School and Kaniksu Lumber. Attendees can satisfy any cravings for food, treats and drinks with offerings from Hoodie Coffee Company and Double D Smoke Pit or by bringing their own apples for the community apple press. Finally, KLT will hold a silent auction throughout the afternoon, raising funds for its public lands efforts with donated goods and experiences like a weeklong stay in Mexico, a magnum of Saviah Cellars wine, a round of golf for two at River’s Bend Golf Course, a 90-minute massage from Mountain Lake Therapy and a handcarved ladle made by KLT instructor Shaun Dellar. “Bring your family, tell your friends and come celebrate a place that belongs to all of us, today, tomorrow and forever,” wrote organizers. Learn more at kaniksu.org.
COMMUNITY
Wellness fair invites community to ‘thrive together’ By Reader Staff Area health and lifestyle groups have partnered to host Thrive Together: Enhance Your Mental Wellbeing, a wellness and connection fair taking place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24 at Marigold Bistro (414 Church St., in Sandpoint). Presentations at the event include “Your Nervous System Changes the Story,” by counselor Sarah Lafrenz at 10 a.m.; “The Benefits of Neurotherapy,” by counselor Caleb Orr of Kaniksu Community Health at 11 a.m.; “Nourishing Mental Health: A Functional Approach to Anxiety and Depression,” by Dr. Jamie Davis of Lake Life Wellness Center and Yoga
Studio at noon; and “From Survival to Safety: Understanding Trauma, Emotions and the Nervous System,” by counselor Joe Tate of Sandpoint Mental Health Counseling at 1 p.m. The day will also feature hands-on demonstrations of yoga, breathwork and more, in addition to “mini talks” like “Your Money Story: Why You Do What You Do with Money.” Throughout the fair, visit booths to meet health professionals, ask questions and discover new resources for exploring everything from finances to physical and emotional wellness. The free community event is sponsored by the East Bonner County Library District. Learn more at ebonnerlibrary.org/events/thrive-together.
BGH Healing Garden to host ‘Winterize the Garden Day’ By Reader Staff Community gardeners and anyone looking to get their hands in the dirt should bring gloves and tools to the Bonner General Health Community Healing Garden (600 N. Third Ave., in Sandpoint) for the annual Winterize the Garden Day. Volunteers will dig in on Saturday, Oct. 24 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. to help maintain the community space. “Bonner General Health’s Community Healing Garden is a place of solace for those seeking peace or as a tranquil retreat in difficult times,” stated organizers. “It also serves to honor and remember loved ones who are no longer with us.” With dedicated memorials and
places for play or quiet meditation, the garden welcomes everyone, free of charge. The community space is entirely funded by donations and maintained by volunteers. “Now the Healing Garden needs your help,” organizers added. “The volunteer pool has been dwindling over the last several years and we are reaching out to the community in order to winterize the garden.” If interested in volunteering, contact Volunteer Services Coordinator Kate McAlister at 208-265-1159 or email her at kate.mcalister@bonnergeneral.org. For more information or to donate to the garden, visit bonnergeneral.org.
October 22, 2026 / R / 21
events
Send event listings to calendar@sandpointreader.com THURSDAY, october 22
Festival at Sandpoint 2027 poster unveiling 7-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Check out Heather Mehra-Pedersen’s 2027 fine arts poster for the Festival Murder mystery: Little Shop of Horrors theme 5:30-7:30pm @ Barrel 33 Live Music w/ One Dog Down 6-9pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Live Music w/ Sydney Dawn 5pm @ Connie’s Lounge
Live Music w/ The Bakerwood Brothers 8-11pm @ 219 Lounge Live Music w/ Marcus Stevens 5:30-8:30pm @ Barrel 33 Live Music w/ Wiebe Jammin’ 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Live Music w/ Brian Jacobs 6-8pm @ Baxters on Cedar Live Music w/ Timeworm 9pm @ 219 Lounge Live Music w/ Holly & Michael 6-9pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Live Music w/ Brian Jacobs 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Live Music w/ Sydney Dawn 5:30-8:30pm @ Barrel 33
Live Music w/ Oak St. Connection 5-7:30pm @ Matchwood Brewing Co. Live Music w/ Natalie Hughes 6pm @ Connie’s Lounge Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee
October 22 - 29, 2026
Live bluegrass Jam w/ Dan SIFF: Local filmmaker spotlight 5:30pm @ Connie’s Lounge 6-8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub (upstairs) Weekly Pool Tournament Screening of Caution: Terrain. Max 6pm @ Connie’s Lounge capacity of 40 people, so arrive early Tapped in (trivia game you play on phone) Live Music w/ Liam McCoy and Friends 5-7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
FriDAY, october 23
Live Music w/ High Step Society 9pm @ The Hive Big band dance party with EDM flair Sandpoint Idaho Film Festival 7pm @ Panida Theater Two-night event highlighting top selections from over 100 submissions Fall dance party 5:30-9:30pm @ Barrel 33 No cover, no RSVP required. Complimentary bites, food/drinks available for purchase. Volume turns up at 6:15pm
SATURDAY, october 24 Live Music w/ Ben Olson 6-8pm @ Baxters on Cedar
Celebrate the Sled Hill 11am-4pm @ Pine Street Sled Hill Join KLT for music, food, games, pumpkin patch and folk school demos Drop-in country swing class 6-8pm @ Barrel 33
POAC Masterpiece Ball (CANCELED)
SunDAY, october 25 monDAY, october 26
Night of the Macabre (Oct. 23-24) 7pm @ Sandpoint High School auditorium Live performance celebrating works of Poe, H.G. Wells and more. $5 Sandpoint tango class 6pm @ Embody Center, 823 Main St. No experience necessary. $20 drop-in The Marquis Crossing Ladies Society’s First Attempt at Murder (play) 7:30pm @ Circle Moon Theater (Newport) A hilarious comedy farce by Pat Cook. Dinner starts at 6:30pm YMCA Fall Family Carnival 9:30am-12pm @ Litehouse YMCA Youth-friendly games, crafts, face painting, bouncy house, prizes, more Live stand-up comedy: Jamal Harrington 8pm @ Panida Little Theater With Jocelyne Boyer and special guest Reese Samuels. Hosted by L.J. Sullivan A Celtic Journey w/ Bridges Homes 2-4pm @ Create Arts Center, Newport Join Tami and Dave Gunter for music with Celtic harp, fiddle, mandolin, accordion, banjo and more. $15 Live Music w/ Blue Krawdads 3-5pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Make-It Monday: Kinusaiga pumpkins Outdoor Experience group run Cuban salsa and rueda dance series 6pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall 6pm @ Outdoor Experience 6-7pm @ Sandpoint Community Hall Learn the Japanese art of fabric inlay, 3-5 miles, all levels welcome Classes run on select Mondays. Regiscreate no-sew pumpkins. $47 ter: sandpointcubansalsa@gmail.com Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi Cribbage tournament ($5) Halloween trivia w/ Hannah, Alaina & Miranda 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub 6pm @ Connie’s Lounge 3-5pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
tuesDAY, october 27
Drive the Bus event • 9am-1pm @ Bonner Co. Fairgrounds Live Music w/ Sydney Dawn Lake Pend Oreille Toastmasters meeting A hands-on opportunity for anyone interested in 5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery 5:45-7pm @ Sandpoint Library becoming a school bus driver. Drive a bus through a Open mic / Luke Edstrom New Leaf album release SHS Fall Concert simple parking lot course, meet the team and learn 5-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority 7pm @ SHS more. No experience needed Beginner Argentine tango class 6pm @ Embody Center, 823 Main St. No partner needed. $20 Live Irish Jam w/ Seamus 5:30pm @ Connie’s Lounge Weekly Pool Tournament 6pm @ Connie’s Lounge Live Music w/ Liam McCoy and Friends 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub 22 / R / October 22, 2026
wednesDAY, october 28
Live Music w/ Andrew Martinssen 5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Live trivia w/ Toshi 7pm @ Connie’s Lounge
ThursDAY, october 29 Rocky Horror Picture Show • 8pm @ Panida Theater The R-rated cult classic film with audience participation. Doors open at 7pm. Costume contest, seductive hosts, provided props and more
STAGE & SCREEN
Three more nights of screenings close inaugural Sandpoint Idaho Film Fest By Reader Staff The Sandpoint Idaho Film Festival will wrap its inaugural run on Saturday, Oct. 24, but not before hosting nearly 20 more screenings alongside Q&A sessions, raffles and an awards ceremony. Programming began Oct. 17 with films and events at locations throughout Sandpoint and in Ponderay, and will continue Thursday, Oct. 22 with Caution: Terrain playing upstairs at Eichardt’s Pub (212 Cedar St.). Produced by local skiers and filmmakers Cameron Hotchkiss and Essex Prescott, the short documentary was nominated for the Made in Idaho Award and features the Potato Boys spending a season exploring the North Idaho backcountry. The film will start at 6:30 p.m. followed by a Q&A giving a sneak peak into how it was made. Premiere Night on Friday, Oct. 23 moves to the Panida Theater (300 N. First Ave.), with eight selections showcasing some of the favorite films of the festival — ranging from dark comedy to action sports. Entries include Bagelocalypse,
nominated for Best Narrative Short; The Way it Was, nominated for Best Documentary Feature; Swabber and Trans-Taïga, both nominated for Best Documentary Short; and more. Trans-Taïga, from filmmaker Alex Côté, centers on wildlife photographer Jean-Simon Bégin’s work in the wilderness of northern Quebec and will mark its U.S. premiere at the Oct. 23 screening. Premiere Night also features a raffle, including the chance to win a snowboard from 7B Boardshop, as well as a short concluding Q&A. Closing Night on Saturday, Oct. 24 will also take place at the Panida with 10 selections culminating the weeklong fest. The program will again include a wide range of styles and subjects, such as Foil Guy vs ANVIL, nominated for Best Animation; Let My People Go Skiing, which racked up nominations for Best Documentary Short, Untamed Short, and Green Horizons/Voices For Change awards; Amazonicus and Heaven in a Wildflower, both nominated for Best Experimental; Constellations of the Sea, nominated for Youth Works
A screenshot from Foil Guy vs Anvil. Courtesy image Award; and others, capped by a secret final film, to be announced. On top of that, Closing Night will feature a silent auction for an unlimited 2026-’27 Schweitzer season pass and award celebrations. Both Premiere and Closing nights run from 7-9 p.m., with $20 admission in advance or $25 at the door each night. Get advance tickets and learn more about all the films at panida.org or sandpointidahofilmfest.org.
October 22, 2026 / R / 23
MUSIC
International choir presents ‘A Journey of Song’
By Reader Staff With singers from Sandpoint, Bonners Ferry and Creston, B.C. working together to support worthy causes, the Spiritsong and Boundless Choirs are an international celebration of music and community. This year’s performances — dubbed “A Journey in Song” — will honor the group’s previous tour of England and Scotland, while raising funds for local nonprofits like the Bonner Community Food Bank. The Sandpoint concert will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 23 at
24 / R / October 22, 2026
the First Lutheran Church (526 S. Olive Ave.), after which the choir will move to the Trinity Lutheran Church in Bonners Ferry (6784 Cody St.) for a 7 p.m. concert on Saturday, Oct. 24. Performances are free, but attendees are encouraged to bring cash donations for BCFB and the Bonners Ferry Coalition for Families, respectively. The first half of “A Journey in Song” features works by composer Dan Forrest, which the choir previously performed in London with the Voces8 ensemble. “A couple of the pieces literally
The Spiritsong and Boundless choirs from Sandpoint, Bonners Ferry and Creston, B.C. Courtesy photo brought the singers to tears in rehearsal,” said conductor Vicki Blake Thompson. The second half will comprise Scottish songs — both new and familiar — such as “Wild Mountain Thyme,” “Loch Lomond” and “Auld Lang Syne.” Pianists Sean Bostrom and Barb Nelson, as well as harpist Gail Southall, will accompany the performers. For more information, contact organizers at 208-208-1796 or 208-755-0662.
MUSIC
This week’s RLW by Ben Olson
READ
By Zach Hagadone and Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff Alongside its jollier cousin in December, Halloween is as much a feeling as a specific date on the calendar. Critical to that feeling, of course, is the musical accompaniment. For the second year in a row, we’ll present a handful of suggested entries for your Halloween playlist each week in October. She Past Away Do we know what the singers of Turkish dark-wave, ’80s revival, post-punk electronic band She Past Away are saying? Not really. From what we’ve translated, it’s a lot of stuff about screaming into “the void” and repeating such comforting sentences as “bugs are gnawing.” That hardly matters, though, because the ambient guitars, abundance of synthesizers and monotone vocalizations tell the band’s dark stories even without words. Songs like “Ruh,” “Bozbulanik” and “Ritüel” are perfect background or dance music for a halloween party or for zoning out while washing dishes (in October). Listen on shepastaway.com. Sea shanties It might seem random to consider sea shanties “Halloween-y,” but the more you listen and learn, the more
it makes perfect sense. The genre is generally identified within traditional folk and maritime work songs from the late-18th to mid-19th centuries — the heyday of the gothic milieu that originated modern-day horror. It’s also notable that shanties are most commonly associated with Anglo-Celtic seadogs, whose ancestors conjured up Samhain, which became Halloween and they then introduced to North America after dangerous ocean crossings. Beyond all that, the songs themselves are often full of loneliness, despair, violence, fear and ominous supernatural themes. Some notables are “Haul Away Joe” (The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem), “Lowlands Away” (Sandy Bell’s Ceilidh) and “The Cruel Ship’s Captain” (Dave Van Ronk). Find loads of shanty playlists on YouTube and other streamers. Old-school blues Among the most valuable cultural and artistic contributions ever made in the United States is the collective output of early-20th century blues musicians — primarily Black Americans and many, though not all, from the South. From “Hell Hound on My Trail,” by Robert Johnson, to “Devil Got My Woman,” by Skip James, “Witching Hour Blues”
(Tampa Red) and “Ghost Creepin’ Blues” (Mae Smith), there’s an enormous catalog of songs full of haunting imagery evoking spiritual and dangers born of real-life horrors. There’s a good reason that the 2025 horror film Sinners was set in early-1930s Mississippi, involving bootleggers and blues musicians fighting for their very souls — and with an Oscar-winning soundtrack to match. If you’re lucky enough to find it, check out The Goin’ Mad Blues, a 10-disc collection of hundreds of traditional blues tunes. Otherwise, search around on YouTube. Berzilla Wallin What little recordings remain of Appalachian folk singer Berzilla Wallin are, rightfully, regarded as historic artifacts and significant to the region’s musical history, which manifested from isolated folk traditions and Scots-Irish settlers. That’s why you’ll most often find her on albums like Classic Mountain Songs from Smithsonian Folkways, which contains one of the best — and perhaps the most harrowing — renditions of “Conversation with Death (Oh Death).” Born in 1892 and only recorded in the ’60s, Wallin, her husband and their 12 children together kept the tradition of ballad singing alive in their community for
decades. The echoes of her 70-year-old voice are both a haunting remnant of the past and a beautiful memento mori. Listen on Spotify. Jackson C. Frank We wouldn’t be surprised if you’re unfamiliar with Jackson C. Frank, but his life was itself a sort of “tune of terror.” Making a very long story short — though you should read his full Wikipedia entry — Frank had an “interesting” go of it. Grievously wounded in an elementary school boiler explosion in Buffalo, N.Y., he suffered physical and later severe mental problems, but his musical career started out pretty promising, with his lone studio album in 1965 produced by Paul Simon, who called him an influence. With a huge insurance payout in his pocket, he moved to England, but deteriorating mental health led to him bouncing in and out of institutions until he died at the age of 56 in the U.S. Meanwhile he was known to run nude in the streets and was blinded in one eye by a random pellet gun shooting. Still, his scant oeuvre is worth discovering — particularly “Halloween Is Black as Night,” from the album Fixin’ to Die, whose title track also deserves mention. Find it on YouTube.
A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint High Stop Society, The Hive, Oct. 23
Timeworm, 219 Lounge, Oct. 24
What happens when you take a dash of big band dance party energy, add dynamic electronic elements and throw in a sprig of jazz? It’s High Step Society, an EDM-infused seven-piece band based out of New Orleans and Portland, Ore., that has shared the stage with notable acts such as Beats Antique and Dirtwire. The fusion of their hard-hitting beats is compli-
Spokane-based four-piece Timeworm occupies that wormy musical space where indie-rock, funk, pop and psychedelia meet. The band channels a rocking Inland Northwest sound, delivering catchy melodies and soaring falsetto vocals, infusing each tune with pocket rhythms and scorching guitar riffs.
mented with seductive vocals and horns that gives a burlesque vibe to their live performances. It’s the best of the Jazz Age combined with EDM and a wild circus atmosphere. — Ben Olson Doors at 7 p.m., show at 9 p.m., $15/adv., $20/day of show. The Hive, 207 N. First Ave., 208920-9039, livefromthehive.com. Listen at highstepsociety.com.
Now in their third year of playing together, Timeworm’s first live show was in front of a sold-out crowd, inspiring the band to reach further for the squirmy stars. — Ben Olson
Truman Capote’s “nonfiction novel” In Cold Blood pioneered the true crime books, shows and podcasts that are now one of the most popular entertainment genres. Capote’s story of the Clutter family’s murder in Kansas in 1959 is fascinating from start to finish. Alternating between rich prose and providing incredible background details, Capote also weaves a triple narrative to describe the life of the murderers, the victims and members of the rural community in which it took place.
LISTEN
Sometimes I stumble onto a playlist on Spotify that captures the moment I’m looking to capture. Montreal Chill is one of those. Featuring a collection of songs by artists from Montreal, Quebec, this playlist has me thinking it would be a cool city in which to live. One artist I found was Elisapie, who did a version of The Cranberries’ “Dreams” in her native language of Inuktitut called “Sinnatuumaka” that has been fluttering around my heart lately.
WATCH
Shows about scammers always capture my attention. A Perfect Scam on Amazon Prime takes a deep dive into the world of romance scams, financial frauds, digital cons, timeshare grifts and more. Each of the 10 episodes explores a different scam, talking with victims, law enforcement and subject matter experts to explain why these scams continue to be so successful. Stream it on Prime.
9 p.m., FREE, 21+. 219 Lounge, 219 N. First Ave., 208263-5673, 219lounge.com. Listen at timewormband.com. October 22, 2026 / R / 25
BACK OF THE BOOK
Under the city of love
A brief history of the Paris Catacombs
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff
From Northern Idaho News, October 20, 1905
BARNARD CROIKIN KILLED Bernard Croikin, a well known old woodsman of this section, was run over and killed by a Great Northern train early this morning about three miles north of the city. The body was discovered first by two timbermen walking along the track from Sandpoint to some of the camps on upper Pack river. These men reported the find the Chris Nelson, near whose ranch the body was found and Mr. Nelson informed Undertaker Hunt in this city. The only means of identification was an old bank book on the Bank of Sandpoint which showed that Barney had deposited $100 there in November of last year. The body is fearfully mutilated, the head being severed from the body, one leg and arm cut off and the body badly mashed up. The unfortunate man had evidently been riding on the rods of between the cars and fell off as his body had been dragged along the track for a distance of over 400 feet. The dead man had become mentally deranged the past few days and yesterday morning Constable Pat Moran was called to Kootenai to take him in charge. He did so and brought him to this city and left him at the Pend d’Oreille hotel not thinking it necessary to lock him up. Chris Murray, who knew the old man well, kept his eye on him all day until about 8 o’clock last evening when the old man dodged away while Chris was taking a guest up to his room. Night watch McKenzie was notified and he and several others searched all night last night for him but could find no trace of the missing man, and no one knew what had become of him until his body was found, this morning, and then it was not known who he was until the News representative uncovered the identity of the dead man. It is supposed the old man wandered to the depot and boarded a train and either tried to ride the rods or between the cars and after riding three miles or so, fell beneath the wheels. 26 / R / October 22, 2026
In the grand scheme of things, the catacombs beneath Paris are a relatively recent creation — younger, in fact, than most of its skeletal inhabitants. Subterranean ossuaries are not the traditional method employed by Parisians to house their dead, but are rather the quick fix to a series of monumental infrastructure issues that came out of the late 1700s. Churches held a monopoly on the business of death in Europe going back to at least the eighth century, when the Catholic Church began insisting that believers bury their dead in the hallowed grounds around churches. Considering families had to pay to have their loved one decompose in an unmarked mass grave next to their local church, this was an easy way for the clergy to make money. However, they weren’t thinking in the long term — as in the next thousand years. Churchyards weren’t that big, so by the early modern period, eternal slumber wasn’t remotely permanent. Undertakers would bury the bodies, wait five or so years for decomposition to take place, then dig them up and place the bones within charnel houses, rooms or displays within the church, or along the graveyard walls. This gave people more room for burial, but not by much, because the inundation of corpses built up the soil itself. Paris’ largest burial site, Holy Innocents’ Cemetery, took up roughly the size of a city block, yet managed to house more than 2 million people across its 600 years of operation. By the late 1700s, the plot of land — located next to housing and a busy market — was more corpse than soil,
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and it smelled like it. The soil had began to collapse, taking homes and reportedly swelled more than six feet people with them. The most famous from when interments began, and con- was the collapse of the aptly named stant digging had destroyed the land’s Rue de l’Enfer (Hell’s road) in 1774, stability. Public sentiment was already after which Louis XVI banned mining against the cemetery, with many writunder active roads and instructed his ers and officials at the time arguing government to map the tunnels. that the off-gassing That meant that by from corpses was the time the cemetercreating a miasma ies closed, the govthat made people ernment had a map of sick, spoiled wine underground storage and curdled milk. space and a need to Everything came to stabilize it — hence, a head in 1780 when the catacombs. the crushed corpses, For two years, with nowhere else to undertakers worked go, burst the confines at night, away from of the cemetery and public view, digging flooded into a neighup graves, emptying An ossuary, or wall, made of boring property’s charnel houses and skulls and bones. Courtesy photo basement. transporting bones by Paris removed the uncovered the wagonload down into the former bodies, closed Holy Innocents’ and mines. More than 6 million bodies outlawed burial within the city limits. were unceremoniously dumped down Now, the newly dead could go to their dark holes, which shattered a large eternal slumber at newly created cemportion of the bones. There they lay until 1810 when, under the leadership eteries outside the city walls. But what of Louis-Étienne Héricart de Thury, about all the bodies in Paris’ (literal) Paris decided to stabilize the tunnels, basements? reorganize the bones and make the Around this time, Paris was faccatacombs a kind of macabre museum. ing yet another problem: sinkholes. Workers sorted the broken from the When the city’s great stone buildings intact bones, pushing shattered remwere first under construction, Parinants against the walls and stacking sians turned to the massive deposits of intact skulls, femurs and tibias to create lutetian limestone on the outskirts of new mosaic walls. Workers also added the city for building materials. Miners decorations, like religious symbols and dug a network of unmapped tunnels, inscriptions that encouraged visitors to raided the limestone, then abandoned the whole thing, never considering that meditate on the concept of death. The ossuaries were an immediate Paris would one day grow so large that success and, aside from a brief closure it would annex and build upon that in the 1800s due to pressure from the hollow ground. Yet build the PariCatholic Church, have remained a sians did; and, with foot and carriage tourist attraction ever since. traffic and new buildings pressing down on the old quarries, the shafts
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Laughing Matters
ACROSS 1. Whale 5. Madcap comedy 10. Bovines 14. Backside 15. Notions 16. By mouth 17. Scion 19. Bog 20. Night before 21. Fancy home 22. Alter 23. Say again 25. Evil spirit 27. Flowery verse 28. Weet red pepper 31. Close-knit group 34. What we think with /AK-see-uhm/ 35. Bigheadedness 36. Portent [noun] 37. Candid 1. a self-evident truth that requires no proof of the 38. Source of water “In mathematics, ‘the shortest distance between two 39. Opening points is a straight line’ is often treated as an axiom.” 40. Sporting venue Corrections: Due to being away on vacation, I inadvertently left off a calen- 41. Rip up dar mention of the Oct. 17 “No Kings” protest and also forgot to place an ad 42. Exhibit 44. Which person? for the same event that week. Apologies. — BO 45. Satisfies Ambition is like a frog sitting on 46. Quivers or quakes a Venus Flytrap. The flytrap can 50. Awry bite and bite, but it won’t bother 52. Spooky the frog because it only has little 54. Ignited tiny plant teeth. But some other 55. Strip of wood stuff could happen and it could be 56. As acknowledged like ambition. 58. Delight
axiom
Word Week
Solution on page 26 10. Usual 11. Sport using a map and compass 12. Raise the alarm 13. Sleigh 18. Avoid DOWN 22. Ends a prayer 1. Command 24. Ripped 2. Female ruff 26. Broadcast 3. Instances 28. Dried plum 4. Circle fragment 29. Look at 5. Limited flirtatiously 6. Confuse 30. Traded 7. Genuine 31. Sprockets 8. Canadian 32. Asian nurse publications etc. 33. Put into a 9. Estimated (abbrev.) bank account
59. Portion 60. Bobbin 61. Assists 62. Harps 63. Rear end
34. In a blessed manner 37. Scottish hillside 38. Which person? 40. Play parts 41. Piece of paper 43. Cleans 44. Pens 46. Instant 47. Not younger 48. Angers 49. Flair 50. Seaweed 51. Anagram of “Mail” 53. Arab ruler 56. American Sign Language 57. Chapter in history October 22, 2026 / R / 27