BONNER GENERAL Welcome Dr. Ron Barrett!
UROLOGY
Specialty care continues to grow at Bonner General Health. Our new Urology Clinic, led by Dr. Ron Barrett, offers comprehensive community-based care for a wide range of urologic conditions, including kidney stones, BPH, hematuria, vasectomies, and cystoscopies. Now, expert urologic care is available closer to home, reducing the need to travel for many common procedures. Bonner General Urology | Sandpoint, ID 83864 | (208) | www.bonnergeneral.org
2 / R / September 3, 2026
DEAR READERS, The week in random review By Ben Olson Reader Staff
On The origin of a grump
Naturalist Charles Darwin famously spent several years traveling around the world on the HMS Beagle, collecting biological samples and gathering research that culminated in the publication of his seminal work, On the Origin of Species. While Darwin’s findings helped us understand natural evolution, his journal writings paint a more complex picture of Darwin as an interminable grump whose complaints are a hilarious sidenote to his remarkable career. Here are a few choice Darwin rants from his journal, shared with me by Editor-in-Chief and fellow grump Zach Hagadone, who apparently thought of me when he read these: • “I loathe, I abhor the sea, & all ships which sail on it.” (1836)
Free Estimates
• “I hate a Barnacle as no man ever did before.” (1852)
ISA Board Certified Master Arborist
• “I am the most miserable, bemuddled, stupid Dog in all England, & am ready to cry at vexation at my blindness & presumption.” (1855) • “I am very tired, very stomachy & hate nearly the whole world.” (1860) • “I am very poorly today & very stupid & hate everybody & everything.” (1861) • “I hate myself, I hate clover, and I hate bees.” (1862)
party poopers
Last week, the U.S. debt topped a record $40 trillion. The U.S. now spends more on net interest than it does on both national defense and Medicare. While campaigning, President Donald Trump promised to eliminate the U.S. debt. It has doubled under his watch, rising at a rate of about $7 billion per day. It’s telling looking at the change in federal deficit over the years, starting with President Jimmy Carter (red denotes an increase in deficit spending while green indicates a reduction of the deficit): • Carter (Democrat) • Reagan (Republican) • Bush Sr. (Republican) • Clinton (Democrat) • Bush Jr. (Republican) • Obama (Democrat) • Trump (Republican) • Biden (Democrat) • Trump (Republican)
+$79 billion +$74 billion +$102 billion (-$383 billion) +$1.5 trillion (-$825 billion) +$2 trillion (-$942 billion) +$4 trillion (so far)
If Democrats gain ground in the midterm election, expect Republicans to all of a sudden care about being “fiscally conservative” again and the national news media to continue hammering us with stories about how Democrats will bankrupt the nation. * Data from A-Mark Foundation
208.610.4858
www.skywalkertreecare.com
I wonder if students still lay out their first-day-of-school outfits the night before they go back to school. I remember agonizing over what clothes to wear, my older sisters pointing out options that were more fashion-forward and filling me with anxiety about tough teachers I might get and older students I should avoid. Looking back, they were probably as nervous as I was to return to school; but, at the time, they always seemed so confident. Remember that, kids. When you’re walking the halls of a new facility, your classmates are just as anxious as you are. Transition is definitely in the air this week, with school starting soon as well as the much-welcomed rain system that blew through. September is always among my favorite months in Sandpoint. Best of luck to students and teachers returning to school. To the rest of us who worked all summer: Keep pushing that rock.
– 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: Jean Spinosa (cover), Grey Davis, Ann Spradling, Jessica Janssen, Craig Gildersleeve, Bill Borders, Amy Peterson, Zhenru Zhang, Woods Wheatcroft Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Soncirey Mitchell, Lorraine H. Marie, Brenden Bobby, Gil Beyer, Molly O’Reilly, Jim Jones, Marcia Pilgeram, Kelcie Moseley-Morris 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 is a watercolor painting of a wood duck is by local artist Jean Spinosa.
September 3, 2026 / R / 3
NEWS
MCS founder calls ouster a ‘hostile takeover’ Karin Wedemeyer alleges campaign to remove her as executive director
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff A leadership shakeup at the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint has made waves throughout the community, with the news in late August that Executive Director Karin Wedemeyer would leave her position 17 years after founding the nonprofit music education organization. While the Board of Directors, under the leadership of President Frank Geisler, issued a press release late on Aug. 26 characterizing the move as “a new chapter” in which Wedemeyer had “transitioned out of her executive leadership role,” she was adamant that the departure was involuntary. “I am being accused of being insubordinate! Well yes! I am a fiercely independent woman and am obsessively creative, AND, I am someone who is not afraid to stare down cultural anxiety. And most certainly, I will not just blindly follow orders!” she wrote in a statement shared with the Reader. “Perhaps this is the noose that now has been laid around my neck as I am on a forced leave of absence as I seek to defend what I hold precious and have always believed, so does this community!” she added. Wedemeyer, who in addition to her work leading the conservatory also co-founded Bel Canto Opera and the North Idaho Philharmonia, stated that she is “under attack from within the school,” with a board direction under Geisler that “envisions a new horizon for the school.” “My voice, perhaps perceived as outdated and too blunt, has been silenced,” she wrote. “My work has been interrupted. My fearless approach to cultural anxiety has been met with dismay and my voiced concern about exces4 / R / September 3, 2026
sive financial risk-taking has been met with hostility. And then the new chair announced it was now personal — the beginning of retribution or a vendetta, either way one wants to look at it.” Wedemeyer went on to describe a campaign of “harassment,” including being “accosted in public” and “spied on” as a board member allegedly photographed her car. On top of that, she alleged that she’d been locked out of her email, had her pay withheld and “forced” into a leave of absence while being “cut out” of the recent, highly successful local presentation of “Carmina Burana” at the Panida Theater, for which she’d spent a year preparing but was removed as a soprano performer right before the concert. The MCS Board stated that the organization undertook a self-study through the Western Association of Schools and Colleges in 2025 that will serve as the basis for implementing strategies to set priorities “providing a clear roadmap for strengthening the school’s organizational capacity, opportunities for students and positioning MCS for continued advancement.” The board added that MCS will focus “on operational clarity, staff professional development and curriculum designed with distinct success pathways from preschool to 12th grade.” Kathi Samuels will serve in “an interim leadership role,” drawing on her 14 years of experience as an MCS volunteer and recent development director. In addition, she holds a master’s degree in education from Penn State University and boasts 30 years of school administration and teaching experience. “The Music Conservatory has an unmatched foundation, and I am motivated to step in,” Samuels stated in the Aug. 26 press release. “This is an oppor-
tunity to honor what has been built while also looking ahead; our students, instructors and the mission of the school will remain our top priorities.” Geisler joined the MCS Board in 2024 and took on the role of president in 2025, highlighting decades of business experience and community involvement — particularly in California, as a longtime Rotary member and chamber of commerce CEO. In addition, he spent 40 years serving on boards including the Carmel Music Society and Monterey Jazz Festival. “The board is confident about this next chapter for the conservatory,” Geisler stated. “Karin’s vision created an organization with an exceptional legacy, and we are grateful for all she has contributed. Because of its strong foundation, the conservatory has reached an important point in its evolution. We see tremendous potential for our students and staff, and we are excited to put the goals identified through our comprehensive review into action.” When asked for additional comment on the specific reasons for Wedemeyer’s departure and a response to her public statements, Geisler referred the Reader back to the Aug. 26 press release and added, “It is the board’s policy not to discuss personnel matters in public or in the media.” MCS officials stated in their Aug. 26 release, “The Board of Directors, and truly
the whole community, is grateful for Karin’s transformative vision, dedication and tireless leadership in building the conservatory into the vibrant school of performing arts it is today and recognizes her as founder emerita.” Former MCS student Charlene Rawuka-Stigall told the Reader in an email that her “heart is heavy” and “what’s unfolding with Karin Wedemeyer being pushed out is not just an administrative change. It’s a loss that ripples through every student she ever lifted up.” “Seeing her forced out of the very institution she built feels like watching someone tear down the foundation of a home that sheltered so many of us,” Rawuka-Stigall wrote, adding that without Wedemeyer’s influence and the support of MCS, she would not have pursued classical voice studies at Santa Monica College; earned her degrees in elementary education and music and literacy from Eastern Washington University; nor attained the position of music director for the Pend Oreille Playhouse in Newport, Wash. “I grew up inside those conservatory walls. That building was where I learned discipline, courage and the kind of self-belief that only comes from a teacher who sees more in you than you see in yourself,” she wrote. “Karin was that teacher for me. She didn’t just train my voice — she shaped my future. I am a
Former-MCS Executive Director Karin Wedemeyer (left) and Board President Frank Geisler (right). Courtesy photos classically trained opera singer today because she poured her time, her expertise and her heart into me. She taught me how to stand tall, how to breathe through fear and how to trust the sound I carried.” Rawuka-Stigall added that Wedemeyer’s separation from MCS is “painful, confusing and deeply wrong. And I know I’m not alone in feeling this. ... I believe the community deserves to hear from those of us whose lives were changed because Karin chose to build something beautiful in Sandpoint.” While the board sang Wedemeyer’s praises in its Aug. 26 release and highlighted her years of dedication to MCS, she pushed back in her own statement. “I have faced belligerent behavior when being outspoken. I have noticed serious conflicts of interest and reckless financial decision making and staff being devastated and not knowing whom to trust anymore,” Wedmeyer wrote. “At the end, after months of being sidelined and observing a carefully orchestrated (yes, pun intended) hostile takeover, I have placed my trust into the hands of a lawyer so I understand my rights,” she added. “I also place my trust into the hands of the public so that the conservatory may not be sold to the highest bidder.”
NEWS
Early City Beach RV park design comes in $1M over budget Sandpoint officials looking at how to cut project costs or seek further funding
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Redeveloping the City Beach RV park will be more challenging than initially thought, after preliminary design and engineering estimates came in far higher than expected. Sandpoint Planning and Community Development Director Jason Welker presented a 35% design, cost estimate and funding strategy to the City Council on Sept. 2 that showed a $1.84 million base cost, while the available construction budget totals $830,000. “I’m not going to beat around the bush. You can see the headline right there,” Welker said, referring to a presentation slide showing the preliminary site plan map for the park. “So, obviously, we’re a little high,” he later added. The submittal from HMH Engineering delivered to the city on Aug. 31 was based on “all the things the community said they would like to see in the RV park through our community engagement, through our meetings with the Parks and Rec. Commission, the Technical Advisory Group, feedback from the public — and that’s what we got to,” Welker said. Based on those elements, the initial design included a two-restroom, two-shower facility, 18 RV sites, two tent sites, a new drive aisle and resurfacing. However, costs have risen
considerably since 2024, when discussions began surrounding reconstructing and improving the RV park, which the city obtained in a land swap for the grassy area in front of the currently proposed Averill Hospitality hotel project across Bridge Street to the north. “Things are not cheap anymore. I don’t know if they ever were, but they’re definitely less affordable in 2026,” Welker said. Subterranean infrastructure alone — including new sewer and water lines — ran into the range of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Welker lined out the costs, noting that $401,000 would be needed for earthwork; $262,000 for electrical; and $250,000 for sewer and water. The shower and restroom facility alone totaled $285,000, and that’s not counting landscaping, irrigation, furnishings, fencing and other features. “So, getting within budget will require real scope decisions and value engineering, not simply trimming,” Welker said. Accomplishing that will require close collaboration with the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation, which provided about 95% of the funding for the project through a grant. Welker said city officials are due to meet with IDPR representatives on Tuesday, Sept. 8, when they’ll present the state with “credible engineered choices at multi-
ple funding levels,” with the intention of “prioritiz[ing] a coherent, buildable project.” Part of that will be suggesting cost savings that can be achieved without reducing the overall intended use of the site as an RV park, but, “Will we be able to shave a million dollars off of this project and still retain the original objectives of the RV park? The answer is obviously ‘no,’” Welker said. “There’s no way we could do an RV park with two restrooms and two showers for under $835,000 at this point. So there will be some cuts, but the requirement might not be to reduce it by a million dollars.”
Rather, he added, it’s possible that IDPR may make additional funds available through another round of grants, cost-cutting may make it more feasible to move a portion of the city’s own capital improvement funds into the project or a combination of those options could keep the redevelopment effort on its anticipated schedule for late-2026 and early-2027 construction. However, if another round of grant applications are required it would push the project out another year and likely mean an additional city match. “I wish I could come in and say, look, we’re going to
The preliminary site plan for the City Beach RV park, as presented to Sandpoint councilors on Sept. 2. Courtesy image get everything we wanted for exactly what we asked for from the state two years ago. But I’d estimate that inflation alone has probably driven the cost of this project up by $200,000 since 2024,” Welker said. “So, it’s a tough situation to be in, but I just wanted to present it to you guys for full transparency and let you know that we’re going to do everything we can to get this project built.” A further update on the project is expected either at the next regular City Council meeting or shortly thereafter.
Sandpoint City Hall seeking Parking Committee applicants By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Citing “decades” of parking challenges, Sandpoint Mayor Jeremy Grimm announced Sept. 1 that the city is inviting applicants for a reestablished Parking Committee, which is intended to inform decisions related to future parking management policies. “The city removed downtown parking meters in 1990,
yet by 1996 Sandpoint was again debating how to balance parking access, turnover, business and employee needs, enforcement and cost. Those questions remain with us today,” Grimm stated in a message posted at sandpointidaho.gov. The issue has dominated local conversation for months, following the July 1 rollout of paid parking — including kiosks — throughout the two-
hour downtown core zone and city-owned lots. Following pushback from both area residents and some council members, the two-hour downtown street kiosks were turned off and are being removed. Sandpoint Planning and Community Development Director Jason Welker told councilors on Sept. 2 that about half of the kiosks have so far been relocated to City Beach, and the remainder will be removed
and redistributed or stored by the end of the month. Meanwhile, the City Council is considering if more changes to the parking management plan are needed in 2027, and the “focused, relatively short-term committee” will be “charged with reviewing the facts; considering the experiences of residents, businesses, employees and visitors; and providing recommendations to the mayor and
City Council,” Grimm stated, adding that applicants are sought who will be “willing to examine the data; listen respectfully to differing views; and balance financial realities, access, enforcement, business needs and Sandpoint’s unique culture.” To apply, go to lf.sandpointidaho.gov/Forms/duEOE. September 3, 2026 / R / 5
NEWS
Commissioners pass $81 million budget for FY ’27 By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff Amid rising global prices, the Bonner County Board of Commissioners has spent the past several months working with county department heads to tighten the purse strings while crafting the Fiscal Year 2027 budget. The commissioners passed the $81,428,836 budget on Aug. 31 in a 2-1 vote, with Commissioner Asia Williams dissenting due to disagreements over employee salaries. “The commissioners all expressed a desire to have everybody detail what every line item was for,” said Bonner County Clerk Mike Rosedale at the budget adoption hearing. “If you have a travel budget, be as detailed as possible about where you’re going, how often, conference budgets, the registration fees, airlines...” According to Rosedale, the county has “drilled down” the budget “as tightly as possible,” making for a lean allowance with little “wiggle room” in terms of unexpected expenses. The decision came in response, in part, to anticipated reductions in state revenue and rising gas prices. “Fuel has gone up, [and] will continue to go up, and the commissioners basically asked all ... the departments that have been fuel dependent to increase that by 20%,” said Rosedale. The county will levy $38,453,667 in property taxes for FY ’27, of which $527,075 comes from new construction within its borders. The Clerk’s Office also estimates the county will bring in $2.9 million in grants and $29,377,144 from additional funding sources, such as application and user fees. The budget is divided into various funds and departments, the largest of which is the Justice Fund, which accounts for $24,768,424. This covers expenses for the Prosecutor’s and Sheriff’s offices, as well as civil litigation and juvenile detention, among other resources. The Road and Bridge Department has the second highest budget at $13,495,493, followed by the General Fund at $12,362,585. “I want the public to understand that all the county offices and departments were asked to come forward with proposed budgets that were net-zero or with potential reductions, and we know that’s a hard ask,” said Commissioner 6 / R / September 3, 2026
Brian Domke. “Most of the offices and departments were able to bring forward net-reduction proposals. ... “Please understand that the increase in the cost of goods and services that the county is receiving proposals for — whether it’s contract renewals, bids, things of that nature — in my estimation have ranged from anywhere from 5% to over 20% in most cases,” he added. “And yet we’re trying to work [to keep] each of our costs on our 3% increase, so that’s a significant challenge.” Across all departments, employee salaries and benefits account for 54% of all budget expenses; a reduction of 2% from FY ’26. However, the commissioners still budgeted for step increases — scheduled raises — for all employees hired prior to May 1, 2026. “I am a dissenting vote on this budget because I have issues with the compensation,” said Williams, arguing that the county did not have enough time to gauge employee performance or the greater impact of pay increases. “[I]n a perfect world, I understand what you’re trying to do. ... The other thing is, I don’t agree with the idea that everybody gets increases when we’re not reviewing people’s jobs,” she continued. “There are some people that do fantastic jobs, there are some people that do mediocre jobs and there are some people that do less than that.” Domke disagreed, saying that while additional data is always useful, the commissioners were following a “consistent” process while remaining in budget. Domke and Commissioner Ron Korn subsequently voted 2-1 to pass the budget. “We can disagree over methodology,” said Domke. “I will quote a saying that I found to be very meaningful and that is that ‘Perfect is the enemy of good enough.’ Sometimes you have to accept ‘good enough’ and move forward or else you can be pursuing perfection and never get past ‘go.’” FY ’27 will begin Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026 and run until Thursday, Sept. 30, 2027. The Clerk’s Office will publish an almost line-by-line breakdown of each department’s budget for the benefit of the public, which will be available on the county website closer to the start of the fiscal year. Visit bit.ly/BonnerClerk for the latest updates.
Bits ’n’ Pieces From east, west and beyond The U.S. Navy appears on the brink of not meeting payroll, since funding has fueled the war against Iran, The Guardian reported. “The piggy bank is broken,” retired naval officer Harlan Ullman stated. A mammoth chunk of ice and rock collapsed from a glacier and triggered deadly flooding in Nepal and Tibet, various media reported. The Aug. 26 collapse blocked a river and water levels surged 30 feet in 30 minutes. More than 1,000 died and 4,000 are missing. Warned of fast-rising water from people upstream, a school principal got 900 students to higher ground. Shortly thereafter, the school was engulfed by water, mud, boulders and debris. Experts said the Himalayas are warming faster than the global average, which is destabilizing 60,000 glaciers, making similar catastrophes likely. A Washington Post columnist, fired over social media posts about Charlie Kirk’s death, has been ordered by a private arbitrator to be reinstated with back pay, The New York Times reported. A federal judge is scheduled this week to have another hearing that addresses President Donald Trump’s executive order on voting, which The New York Times summed up as capable of barring millions of valid votes. At issue is whether the U.S. Post Service could now determine who can vote by mail, instead of local election officials. Robert Hubbell, retired attorney and political commentator, said all parties would be impacted, especially older rural voters, who tend to be Republican. The bottom line remains that Trump’s proposed rule is unconstitutional, Hubbell pointed out. Elections attorney Marc Elias noted that states lack time or funds to meet new voting rule requirements before the midterms. With a tight time frame to make changes, a judge said that states would be forced to violate their Constitutional obligations and state laws to administer elections. The court has also noted there’s been no evidence presented of fraudulent absentee or mail-in voting, Trump’s basis for banning mail-in votes (Trump votes by mail). Now, a whistleblower reported that new and
By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Contributor
untested USPS mail-in ballot processing could reject mass quantities of ballots if even one ballot is found with a single error. An April PBS News/NPR/Marist poll showed 74% support for voter ID. But a July Strength in Numbers/Verasight poll found that the more voters learned about the SAVE America Act, the less they supported Trump’s voter ID plans, which could prevent eligible voters, especially women, from voting. Meanwhile, according to The Times, more ballots are arriving late in the mail this election cycle, and “they’re getting tossed” amid USPS cuts that have triggered complaints about delivery delays. As the U.S.-Canada trade war intensifies, Trump said the U.S. doesn’t need Canada. However, the Associated Press reported, “The economy says otherwise.” Canada has supplied 4 million barrels of crude oil daily, as well as aluminum, auto parts and potash for farms. Canada plans to put tariffs of up to 50% on 700 U.S. products worth $20 billion. The Aug. 25 passing of 80-year-old Dolly Parton, due to cancer, brought her amazing life into focus. Beyond her award-winning musical career and film roles, Parton rallied for the underdog and was generous with her ragsto-riches wealth. She was one of 12 kids in her Tennessee family. Parton left plans for decades of posthumous releases. Her father, an illiterate sharecropper, inspired Parton’s Imagination Library, which sent more than 304 million books to children worldwide. Parton did not have children, explaining that she regarded that as God’s will, since it gave her the freedom to do “all the things I’ve done.” Her Dollywood Foundation helped fight high school dropout rates, and she gave $9 million to help regional fire victims. Her generosity also supported a bald eagle sanctuary, college scholarships and COVID-19 research. Writer Rebecca Solnit called Parton “Our Goddess of Kindness.” Blast from the past: In August 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted women the right to vote.
NEWS
Abortion initiative group sues Idaho state officials over ‘misleading’ ballot language
SOS: Issue needs to be resolved by courts to meet Nov. election deadlines
By Kelcie Moseley-Morris Stateline The group leading the effort to restore abortion access by ballot initiative in Idaho has filed a lawsuit against state officials over proposed language that will appear on the ballot and in a state-issued voter pamphlet. Idahoans United for Women and Families, the nonprofit organization that drafted the initiative — now called Proposition 1 — argued the “yes” and “no” statements as prepared by Idaho officials violate the law guiding the initiative process and are confusing and misleading. Attorneys filed the lawsuit to the Idaho Supreme Court on Aug. 26. Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane stressed that the issue needs to be quickly resolved to meet upcoming ballot deadlines. The voter pamphlet must be printed by Friday, Sept. 25, according to the law, and ballots need to be mailed to military and overseas voters about a week before that. McGrane said the state has paused production amid the litigation on the 850,000 copies of the voter pamphlet that need to be printed and mailed. “There was a good-faith effort to try and reflect each of the sides of the pro and con statements that were submitted to us,” McGrane told Stateline by phone on Aug. 27. “I think one of the biggest challenges that we’re going to see with Proposition 1 is that it’s a very complicated issue with a lot of nuance ... and this isn’t a simple issue to consolidate down into a short, one-sentence statement.” Following the law, McGrane developed the language for the statements with Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, who has been outspoken in his anti-abortion views for many years and recently appealed a federal judge’s decision that would protect abortion access in cases of threats to a pregnant patient’s physical and mental health. Labrador told Stateline in an emailed statement that his duty alongside the SOS was to clearly and concisely explain the effects of a “yes” or “no” vote and to fully inform Idaho voters, and said they applied the same legal standard to every measure that has been on the ballot.
“Idaho voters deserve a straightforward explanation of what their vote will do,” Labrador said. There have been similar legal fights over abortion ballot language in other states. Activists on both sides of the issue in Missouri, for example, have spent years arguing over ballot language, both on the 2024 citizen-led amendment that restored legal access to abortion, and on the 2026 amendment referred by the legislature that would reinstate the ban. Similar battles between Republican state officials and initiative organizers played out in Ohio, Arizona and Montana between 2023 and 2024. Voters in all three of those states ultimately approved amendments to protect abortion rights. It’s also not the first time Idahoans United for Women and Families has sued the state over ballot language. In April 2025, the Idaho Supreme Court heard arguments in the lawsuit, including whether the short ballot title and fiscal impact statement should be revised, and unanimously sided with Idahoans United on those two elements. Under Idaho law, the ballot must include a clear and concise statement about the effect of a “yes” or “no” vote, and the voter pamphlet must include a complete copy of the initiative text, its fiscal impact, and arguments for or against the measure with rebuttals. But the ballot won’t include the full text of the initiative or the arguments for and against — just the long and short titles of the initiative, statements about fiscal impacts, and the “yes” or “no” statements. “In the two decades we’ve had a yes/no statement on the ballot, they’ve never looked like this,” said Melanie Folwell, lead organizer for Idahoans United, in a statement. “And it’s not because our initiative is longer or more complex than past initiatives.” According to a copy of the voter pamphlet pages drafted by the Idaho state officials, a “no” vote “would make no change to Idaho’s current law, which protects the life of the unborn while allowing abortion in reported cases of rape or incest, or when necessary to protect the life of the mother.” The “yes” side said it would “create reproductive rights, including a
right to abortion before a fetus’ ability to survive and after a fetus’ ability to survive in cases of medical emergency, and provide liability protections for health care providers.” The complaint says the “no” statement is not “clear and concise,” and said the “yes” statement is similarly inadequate because it describes viability in a different way than the other parts of the ballot language. They also argue the “no” statement does not adequately describe Idaho’s abortion law, which is a criminal statute that carries felony punishment for providers, and they said it does not accurately describe the exceptions. The group is asking the court to order that the statements be simplified
Melanie Folwell, lead organizer for the ballot initiative in Idaho to restore abortion access, speaks to supporters at the Idaho Capitol in July. The nonprofit she leads, Idahoans United for Women and Families, is suing the state over a final segment of ballot language that will also appear in the statewide voter pamphlet. Photo by Kelcie Moseley-Morris/Stateline to say that a “yes” vote means the proposition will become state law, and a “no” vote means state law regarding abortion will remain unchanged. Attorneys asked the court to make a decision by Friday, Sept. 11. This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Idaho Capital Sun, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
September 3, 2026 / R / 7
Time as money…
Bouquets: GUEST SUBMISSION: • “Many bouquets to those individuals and businesses that have donated food and other items to the Bonner Community Food Bank in the past weeks: local gardeners and the University of Idaho Organic Farm for providing zucchini, squash, tomatoes, lettuce and other green growing things; Shingle Mill for a whole freezer full of freshly picked blueberries; Walmart, Super 1, Yokes, Safeway and Winter Ridge for baked goods, dairy products and fresh produce; Idaho Fish and Game for walleye and lake trout; and Dollar General in Sagle for tablets, paper and so much more. It is such a joy to live in such a giving community!” — Jim Healey, Volunteer Barbs: • What’s going on with the stop lights by the Sand Creek bridge? For years, they’ve operated without issue; but, in the past month or two, they have really been acting up. The first light, just over the bridge and closest to Sandpoint, will turn red even though there is no cross traffic. It stays red for up to two minutes while all the stopped vehicles sit there blinking at each other. Then, just as cross traffic looking to get on the byway starts to approach the intersection, the light will turn red for them. Drive 50 yards to the next light, and it turns red again — even though there’s no cross traffic. I’m really trying to work on my patience with infrastructure that isn’t functional, and I wouldn’t write anything if this happened once or twice, but this seems to happen every time I drive past that intersection. I think we’re getting punked. • Please don’t park in the “motorcycle only” spots downtown unless you’re on a motorcycle. I would think that would’ve been fairly self-explanatory, but here we are. 8 / R / September 3, 2026
Dear editor, I have heard that we have our first trillionaire and that the U.S. is now $40 trillion in debt. What is 1 trillion in size? Here’s one way to compare: Let’s say that each dollar is equal to one second of time and do some simple math. •1 million = ~11 days of seconds •1 billion = ~31 years of seconds (~1,000 millionaires in the U.S.) •1 trillion = ~31,688 years of seconds (think Elon Musk) •40 trillion = ~1,267,520 years in seconds (our national debt) That is over 1¼ billion years of seconds! Paul Dukes Sagle
Matthee gets my vote…
Dear editor, When voting, it seems to me if a person were to remove the “D” and the “R” from behind a candidate’s name the choices would be more simple. An informed voter could read candidates’ positions on important issues and vote for the one with the most experience, knowledge and alignment with one’s own ideals and priorities and vote for them. For me, this would show that the clear choice for Idaho House Seat 1A is Karen Matthee. Karen supports my interests in protecting public lands; expanding access to rural health care to all; the belief that everyone deserves dignity, respect and equal rights under the law; and she sees the need to invest in public education. To learn more about Karen and her priorities, visit kmattheeforidaho.com. Please vote this November. Thank you, Pam Duquette Sandpoint
‘Divert, divert, divert’… Dear editor, Trump trying to change names of lakes, gulfs or whatever is all just a diversion to try to keep the public from saying, “Show us the complete Epstein files.” Todd Blanche, do what the court has previously ordered: Release the complete Epstein files, names of the victims redacted, but not the names of these violators of women redacted.
By BO
Trump, you can start wars, impose tariffs (boy are you stupid, get out your history book regarding Smoot-Hawley tariffs during the Great Depression, those tariffs made the Great Depression longer), and you can do any number of things to keep the truth from being revealed about you and Epstein and how you ruined the lives of young girls and women. You have alienated our allies. You refuse to give direct answers to questions from reporters — instead you personally attack them and never answer the original question. The American people are being subverted to “Trump’s Folly.” You are destroying America, but why not? You hate Americans, and only care about how rich you and your family can become and keep your mug in front of the public. You’re a disgrace! Michael Harmelin Sandpoint
Another ‘curmudgeon in training’… Dear editor, I would like to join Daniel J. Haley, a self-identified “curmudgeon in training” [Letters, Aug. 6, 2026], by adding my two cents of also being a CIT — and I’ll second your own Ben Olson’s request of bicycle riders [“Bouquets and Barbs,” Aug. 13, 2026]. My own CIT preparation is as a pedestrian in walking town Sandpoint — a clearly protected practice noted at each entrance to our fair city. My practice is seeking the patience on my daily walks for the bike riders and cars to obey their posted laws respectfully. Please walk your bike (especially the e-bikes) on the sidewalks, if you must use the sidewalk. As for vehicle drivers please, please yield to all pedestrians within the crosswalks. It is the law. Crossing Pine Street between Fifth and First avenues with their newish traffic pattern, old paint-faded crosswalk markings and distracted zooming drivers is indeed a lesson in patience for a fledgling CIT. I might be cheeky enough to add that I am also practicing patience for the city of Sandpoint to repaint the sidewalks and curbs. D.J. Fraiser Sandpoint
The ‘5 P’s’… Dear editor, During my adolescence in the mid 1960s my somewhat older brother-in-law ended his duty in the U.S. Army. He taught me a saying from his military service, which he referred to as the “5 P’s”: “Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.” The saying and concept has stayed with me and guided many aspects of my life. As a military concept it seems to make logical sense that, whenever possible, in order to Prevent Poor Performance, you don’t jump into war without serious
and varied Prior Planning. Apparently Pete Hegseth didn’t learn or doesn’t remember the 5 P’s. Donald Trump has shown in numerous aspects of his presidency that he doesn’t have a clue about Prior Planning. Clearly there was little or no Prior Planning in order to Prevent Poor Performance in their current dysfunctional war in the Middle East. It also appears there was no Prior Planning as to how to end it. American citizens, along with other national populations, are paying the price with no end in sight. George Loustalet Priest River
Monarch and Friends Festival organizers thanks supporters By Reader Staff Organizers of the Monarch and Friends Festival, which took place Aug. 29 in Sandpoint’s Granary District, extended a lengthy thank-you to all those who made the gathering a success. “The Monarch and Friends Festival met its mission to celebrate Sandpoint becoming a Monarch City USA, and educating everyone about ways we can help,” stated representatives of the Pend Oreille Chapter of the Master Naturalists and the Mighty Monarch Conservation Group, which put on the event. “Everyone should be so proud.” Among the organizations, businesses and individuals who participated — including hosting interactive booths — were the Idaho Conservation League, Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness; East Bonner County Library District; Sarah Sweet, demonstrating milkweed fiber weaving; University of Idaho entomologists Luc Leblanc and Samuel Degray and Emily Hasz, of UI’s Idaho STEM Ecosystem; WingsRising; Earthcare; Kinnikinnick Native Plant Society; beekeeper Randy
Wilhelm; Trout Unlimited; Selkirk Conservation Alliance; Dark Sky; Cedar Mt. Perennials; Idaho Master Naturalists; Monarch Montessori; and Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters and Matchwood Brewing Company hosted the space and donated a portion of proceeds. Food vendors included Molly’s Ice Cream and music was provided by local band Harold’s IGA. Organizers thanked the city of Sandpoint, as well as the Community Assistance League — the latter for a grant that funded much of the event. In addition, dozens of volunteers offered their time and energy to help plan and deliver the festival, which drew hundreds of participants throughout the day. “The list was so long, and so many people offered assistance during the event,” organizers stated. “[T]here is hope through action. Please plant native host plants and milkweed. The monarchs will return.” For more info, go to idfg. idaho.gov/master-naturalist/chapter/pend-oreille or mightymonarchs.org.
“As you know we, uh, took something called the Gulf of Mexico, we changed it and now it’s very routinely the Gulf of America. So if you think about it, we have a gulf and we have a lake, now all we need is an ocean. So maybe we’ll have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific. Maybe we’ll change them both.”
— President Donald Trump, talking about anything but the Epstein files.
OPINION
Politics versus civics
By Gil Beyer Reader Contributor None of my children want to discuss “politics.” I’ll buy that. I personally believe that a significant percentage of the individuals in office or running for office are self-serving, power-hungry individuals seeking only to enrich themselves and impose their personal agenda on others. The thing is we continue to elect these same willingly corruptible individuals. So, either we aren’t interested in having candidates who actually care about their constituents or we aren’t actively examining the candidates before casting our votes. Most voters seem to only care about the letter after the candidate’s name. In theory, candidates represent the interests of their constituents. In practice many candidates/officeholders are following an agenda set by themselves or others. Often incumbents don’t even listen to their constituents — they bow to the directions given them by organizations like the Freedom Foundation, whose goals may diverge drastically from the wants and desires of the majority of citizens. That leads me to the “civics” portion of this piece. Having the vote is the most powerful and important privilege given a citizen. Our Founding
Fathers were normal humans, afflicted with all the normal feelings and biases we have today — maybe a few more. When they got together in Philadelphia to break away from Great Britain, they all brought to the table a lot of baggage. They fought a war from 1775 to 1783 and worked on writing a document that was fully ratified by the 13 original states in 1790: the U.S. Constitution. The first 10 amendments — the Bill of Rights — were added in 1791. There were many compromises made, but they built a flexible framework to the best of their abilities. One of those compromises led to the Civil War, when it was decided to have both free and slave states. The resulting document, with several subsequent amendments, has overall served us well for more than 200 years. When the Constitution was adopted, only male landowners could vote. All men 21 and older got the right to vote in federal elections, regardless of land ownership, in 1828. Freed male slaves got the vote after the Civil War. Women got the vote in 1920 with the 19th Amendment. In 1971, the 26th Amendment gave 18-year-olds the right to vote. Seems it was deemed unacceptable to ask 18-year-olds to die for their country if they couldn’t vote. Today, far too many people seem
Buyer beware By Molly O’Reilly Reader Contributor A local political candidate is promising to eliminate property taxes. As the old saying goes, “If it sounds too good to be true — beware!” Is it voodoo economics? For my vote, Scott Herndon will need to produce detailed figures of how much money is needed to replace property taxes statewide and exactly where the state will find that money. In 2025, what were the total property taxes paid statewide? How much was paid by homeowners (with a homeowner exemption)? What is the dollar figure of property taxes collected on second homes? Commercial/industrial/office/ rental? Other? Agencies at the state level have been cutting their budgets for the last few years as revenue lagged. Family caregivers of disabled people living at home no longer receive any compensation. Public schools are not funded by the
state at the level the Idaho Constitution requires. Exactly where are all these funds to replace all property taxes? Once we have the property tax total, it will be clear what revenue needed is. While we wait for this essential information, let’s think about the property-tax-elimination-scheme from a different perspective. Today, as payers of property taxes sent directly to our own county, we enjoy a great deal of local control (although the Legislature chips away at it). Dover and Sandpoint have measures on the November ballot to more adequately fund their local roads. Sandpoint previously voted to start making its wastewater system meet standards and be ready for city growth. We have voted to make the Lake Pend Oreille School District levy permanent. We as taxpayers sometimes vote down a local levy. Several fire districts experienced that last year. What rights will we keep to fund or deny a level of funding to services we want or need?
to think that elections are a spectator sport. That’s just not true. Elections require active citizen involvement. Having the right to vote is an honor and a privilege. It is your duty as a citizen to be involved; to participate in the electoral process. Get to know the candidates, their platforms and, at public forums, ask tough questions about what their goals are if elected. It is a given that the candidate will say what they think you want to hear. The Idaho Congressional District 1 incumbent, Russ Fulcher, is so dismissive of his constituents he won’t even bother to debate his opponents in public forums. If this grand experiment of a constitutional republic is to continue, we must participate. All citizens deserve to be heard and represented. We must learn about the candidates and investigate their agendas and voting records. They are going to be our representatives in the city halls, county seats, state capitals and Washington, D.C. The records of incumbents must be closely examined. They must act in the best interests of the majority of their constituents. Listen, learn, register and, most important of all, vote. Gil Beyer is a Sandpoint resident.
Will this scheme allow the Legislature to decide that libraries are not needed? That fire, water, sewer and highway districts need to answer to the Legislature instead of their local boards? Because some legislators hate Boise and the Ada County Highway District, will we have financial restrictions put on our cities and roadway funding? Tax cuts at the state level have thrown additional costs on us locally. How bad will the potholes be without locally controlled property taxes? Will our schools be forced to eliminate sports? No longer compete in academic competitions? Have huge class sizes? Will our libraries vanish? Our local service districts be starved of funds? A previous county commissioner reminded us that we are a “Buyer Beware State.” Demand solid facts and see draft legislation before giving up control of local affairs! Molly O’Reilly is a skeptical Republican and longtime Sandpoint resident.
September 3, 2026 / R / 9
Mad about Science:
Brought to you by:
digital addiction part iii By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist In the final installment of the “digital addiction” series, we will be looking at methods to combat social media and video game addiction, and the benefits to reducing screen time in favor of other methods of entertainment. Digital addiction is a tricky subject. There is no single moment when use crosses the threshold into addiction. It is a collection of moments and altered behaviors that culminates into an invisible dependency. It isn’t as clear as substance abuse, as it doesn’t noticeably affect people in the way hard drugs or alcohol do. Unlike those substances, where the suppliers make all the money, there are entire six-figure careers built around mastering social media as a user. We understand the warning signs of digital addiction. They are virtually identical to gambling addiction, and closely resemble the functioning of substance addiction. Dependency and a loss of impulse control related to digital activity is the most obvious effect. Compulsive use by filling every empty moment with a thumb-flick of the screen — searching for something to entertain you for a few moments dozens or even hundreds of times throughout the day. Agitation and anxiety are more subtle signs of addiction. A gnawing feeling that you’re missing out on something, that someone is trying to contact you, that a new opportunity is awaiting you if you just pick up your phone and check. Feeling agitated or frustrated when you don’t have constant access to your device is a sign of dependency. Many of us have struggled with emotional regulation in
10 / R / September 3, 2026
an always-online world. We are constantly barraged by bad news. The quickest fix is to find distracting content on socials or to play a game for a couple of hours. This is a method of coping and rewiring the way our brains process emotional regulation, another major factor of addiction commonly seen in substance abuse. All of these are damaging to adults, but they are exceptionally damaging to the developing brains of children. The idea of letting a child shoot up heroin is a horrifying mental image, but unrestricted use of addictive modern games and social media isn’t much better. Many of the mental processes are still the same and, while the gray matter shrinkage of these kinds of addictions is prevalent in adults, it is much more rapidly affecting developing brains. How do we combat this? The simplest method that no one wants to hear is to stop using: Don’t play video games, unplug the device and/ or have a family member hide it if the compulsion to play it is too strong. Social media can be cut out cold turkey. However, this is an abrupt and sometimes self-destructive path. Digital addiction comes with its own withdrawal symptoms, including anxiety, irritability and depression. This can cause a user to fall straight back into the addiction even harder than before. Instead, digital dependency is more effectively treated by replacing addictive behaviors with more desirable ones. Once identified, a compulsive urge to turn on a video game console can be redirected into an adjacent activity — board and card game hobbies have experienced a renaissance in the wake of the pandemic and multiple singleplayer hobby
games are very accessible to users, while offering a richer cerebral experience than consuming a digital world. Reading a physical book or magazine is a great alternative to idly scrolling through TikTok or Facebook. A library patron recently told me that 10 pages a day is a great pace for a reader, as many books can be completed in under a month with this goal in mind. Identifying the compulsive need to scroll is the first step toward making a concentrated effort to read instead. The next step is to keep a book near places you normally idle or relax, so that the book is easier to reach than your phone. Convenience is the crux of digital addiction, and making other habits more convenient than pressing a button is key to overcoming established habits. Reading boasts many benefits to the brain. It can effectively undo the gray matter loss from digital addiction, but it takes time. Reading improves problem-solving skills, executive function and critical thinking. Improving literacy helps anyone become more analytical, while reading fiction has shown to increase capacity for empathy in active readers. Trying to pursue other offline activities also helps to stem the drive to scroll, game or otherwise digitally consume. Exercise triggers similar dopamine reactions after a couple of weeks. Meditation can help recover impulse control through grounding and mindfulness. Creating a block of time and making sure you have off-limits zones for screens can help retrain your brain. If you lose 30 minutes on the toilet to idle scrolling, you can set a “no screen in the bathroom rule” and slowly expand this to
other areas of the home. Dealing with digital addiction is excruciatingly difficult for children, as children often have no idea what addiction is or feels like. They have been immersed in a digital landscape since birth and peeling away from a screen that has always been there seems like an alien prospect. Combating this requires not only a concentrated effort to reduce screen time, but providing meaningful and engaging alternatives the parent is willing to partake in at home. It’s unfair for a child to be
deprived of something if the parent won’t deprive themselves, and children pick up on that. Children will be far more likely to engage in offline activities when their parents are engaged in performing these activities with them as peers rather than authority figures. Origami, board and card games, reading or engaging in imaginative play can help stem the allure of digital worlds and endless mouse clicking — but only as long as the adults in their lives are willing to do so alongside them. Stay curious, 7B.
Random Corner s? pool
Don’t know much about whirl
• A whirlpool is a rotating body of water that occurs when two currents meet or one current hits a wall. Smaller whirlpools are formed in conditions such as when water drains from a bathtub or sink, while larger oceanic whirlpools, called maelstroms, are most often formed by tidal forces. When a whirlpool has a downdraft, it’s known as a vortex.
• The Saltstraumen strait features the most powerful naturally occurring maelstrom in the world. Located about 20 miles southeast of Bodø, Norway, the phenomenon is caused by a strong tidal current, sometimes growing as large as 33 feet in diameter and about 16 feet deep. • “Old Sow” whirlpool is located between Deer Island (New Brunswick, Canada) and Moose Island (Eastport, Maine). Its name comes from the screeching, pig-like noise that comes from the vortex, which reaches speeds of about 17 miles per hour. Smaller whirlpools around Old Sow are known as “piglets.” • In Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Captain Ne-
We can help!
mo’s ship the Nautilus gets sucked into a maelstrom. This doesn’t happen in real life, however. While naturally occurring maelstroms can pose a danger to a person swimming, they aren’t powerful enough to sink a ship. They could, however, toss the ship off course, against a rock or cause it to heel over. • The whirlpool that forms about three miles downstream from Niagara Falls has an especially large basin, measuring 1,700 feet, and grows 1,200 feet wide at times. • In The Odyssey, Homer writes of a pair of famous sea monsters called Charybdis (a massive whirlpool) and Scylla (a six-headed cave dwelling beast) who challenge Odysseus, Jason and Aeneas. Charybdis is presumably based on a real-life vortex located near the Strait of Messina, off of Sicily. • One of the first uses in English of the Scandinavian word malström or malstrøm was by Edgar Allen Poe in his short story, “A Descent into the Maelstrom” from 1841.
PERSPECTIVES
Attorney General Labrador can’t seem to resist conflicts of interest By Jim Jones Reader Contributor Attorney General Raúl Labrador is embroiled once more in a conflict of interest lawsuit. He is now accused of using his position to bias voters against Proposition 1, the initiative designed to strike Idaho’s total abortion ban. The proponents of the initiative took him to court last year, claiming he had written deceptive ballot titles for the initiative. The Idaho Supreme Court ruled that the short title was improper and ordered Labrador to revise it. He is now accused of misleading voters with confusing language about the effect of their vote. Regardless of how the court rules, the crux of the problem is Labrador’s glaring conflict of interest. His primary objective in office has been to rack up political points by trying to stamp out abortion in every form. He fought against a federal law requiring emergency care for pregnant women in crisis. He fought to criminalize doctors who refer women out of state to obtain abortion care. That did not end well because after two years of litigation, he agreed he was wrong. The state had to pay $400,000 in attorney fees for his obstinance. He teamed up with a Christian Nationalist group, Alliance Defending Freedom, in a Texas lawsuit to ban Mifepristone and Misoprostol, two drugs used for early termination of a pregnancy. That suit was dismissed for being filed in the wrong state, so he joined a similar suit in Missouri to limit Mifepristone. And that is just a taste of Labrador’s bias. He has fully embraced the 2026 Platform of the Idaho Republican Party. Article 14 of the platform states: “human personhood begins at the moment of fertilization ... the act of abortion is murder ... We support the criminalization of all murders by abortion within the state’s jurisdiction.” That includes “persons conceived in rape and incest.” That’s about as far-reaching as you could get. No wonder the proponents of Prop 1 are skeptical of the ballot language. Idaho’s abortion laws are among the strictest in the country. But Labrador’s over-the-top enforcement of them has endangered women and caused about 35% of Idaho’s doctors who practice obstetrics to leave the state or quit practicing. With that track record, it should have been clear to him that he had a clearcut conflict of interest in characterizing the effect of a vote either way on Prop 1. Every lawyer in the state, including government lawyers, must avoid conflicts of interest. Yet, Labrador has a solid track record of
engaging in that prohibited conduct. He famously took legal action against two of his own client agencies — the Department of Health and Welfare and the Idaho Board of Education — and was removed from both cases by two different judges for his obvious conflicts of interest. Another lawsuit brought against Labrador by proponents of the Open Primaries Initiative claimed that he wrote biased ballot titles for that measure. The Supreme Court agreed that the titles were misleading and ordered him to rewrite them. The situation could have been avoided if Labrador had recognized his evident conflict of interest. He came out publicly against that initiative beforehand and had no business drafting the titles. During my eight years as Idaho attorney general, conflicts occasionally arose. It was not only unethical to ignore a conflict but easily addressed by obtaining unbiased counsel to handle the matter. For instance, in 1986 then-state Sen. Jim Risch insisted on running an initiative to establish a state lottery after I told him it required a constitutional amendment instead of a mere initiative. His initiative was approved by the voters but challenged in court. I concluded it would be a conflict to defend the lawsuit. Instead of ignoring the conflict, I deputized a reputable Boise law firm, Hawley Troxell, to defend the suit on a pro bono basis. Labrador should have recused himself from writing the Prop 1 description because of his obvious conflict. Idaho’s respected secretary of state could have done an unbiased job on his own. Violating conflicts of interest rules can result in substantial embarrassment to the violator, as Labrador learned last year. Ever since Idaho obtained statehood in 1890, the attorney general has served as a member of the State Land Board, but also as legal advisor for the board. Last year, for the first time in Idaho history, the board voted to obtain independent counsel. Ouch! That had to hurt. Labrador found himself on the short end of a 4-1 vote. Labrador claimed the board did not want to be told “no” on various issues. The dramatic change was more a matter of trust. Those closest to us usually know us best. If a client cannot trust its lawyer, or the lawyer engages in unethical conduct, the client has the right to go elsewhere for legal representation. Jim Jones is a Vietnam combat veteran who served eight years as Idaho attorney general (1983-1991) and 12 years as justice of the Idaho Supreme Court (2005-2017). He also publishes at substack.com/@jjcommontater. September 3, 2026 / R / 11
PERSPECTIVES
True public wildlands protection is urgently needed. IPPLI falls far short By Groups concerned about the IPPLI Reader Contributors The Idaho Panhandle Public Lands Initiative (IPPLI) presented in the Sandpoint Reader guest editorial [Perspectives, “Idaho Panhandle Public Lands Initiative reaches landmark agreement,” July 23, 2026], would sacrifice crucial wildlife habitat in order to get crumbs of new Wilderness that would only secure a fraction of what needs protecting. We can do better. Specifically, the IPPLI fails to protect roughly 174,200 acres of wilderness-quality lands and limits protections to just a pair of small additions, 39,600 acres in the Selkirk Crest and 16,900 acres in the Salmo Priest, while omitting Hughes Meadow and Kaniksu Mountain, both recognized as essential to the region’s ecological integrity. At the same time, the IPPLI would expand the damage and disrup-
12 / R / September 3, 2026
tion from motorized recreation, while failing to protect intact forests that support threatened species like grizzly bears, Canada lynx, bull trout and whitebark pine. The IPPLI would reward illegal offroad vehicle use in the Roman Nose area by converting eight miles of a user-created route to an official Forest Service system trail. The unauthorized route cuts through core grizzly habitat in the Myrtle Bear Management Unit, the same Apache Ridge area where a sow grizzly defended her cubs from two encroaching archery hunters in 2020. The Westside Restoration Project increased the potential for further defensive grizzly bear encounters by adding the Myrtle Ridge Trail for hiking and mountain biking. The initiative would create a “National Recreation Area” spanning from Fault Lake north to just south of Myrtle Lake which explicitly allows over-snow vehicles all winter, powered mountain bikes, and motorized equipment for trail maintenance. Two Mouth Lakes, now recommended Wilderness, is folded into the new Recreational Area playground. Further, increasing winter motorized use will harm wolverine recovery. Female wolverines need real solitude in their maternal denning habitat from den selection in January, through the end of denning in mid-May. Winter motorized recreation directly threatens that solitude. The IPPLI would sacrifice core grizzly bear habitat by opening roads between the Kootenai Valley and Priest Lake to public motorized travel, including the Bog Creek Road. The Forest Service closed this road in the late 1980s to aid the recovery of the still struggling Selkirk grizzly bear population. In 2020, the Forest Service authorized the Border Patrol’s request to use the road, expanding the number of “administrative use days,” claiming it would not hinder grizzly bear recovery. WildEarth Guardians, Selkirk Conservation Alliance, the Idaho Conservation League and other conservation groups unsuccessfully challenged the decision in court. Sadly, the IPPLI would open the entire Bog Creek road to unlimited public motorized use that
would violate current grizzly recovery standards. The best current science for grizzly bears indicates that any decrease in conservation would hinder the recovery of the Cabinet-Yaak and Selkirk grizzly bear populations. Additionally, of the four rivers eligible for Wild and Scenic River designation within the IPPLI area, only the Upper Priest River is proposed for protection while Hughes Fork, Long Canyon and the Upper Pack River would remain unprotected. What we need is a landscape-level solution, like the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA) that protects all remaining roadless areas, safeguards endangered wildlife and dramatically increases ecosystem connectivity across the region. NREPA offers a fundamentally different approach from IPPLI, prioritizing wildlands and wildlife protection over motorized recreation. Protecting wildlands is essential for safeguarding biodiversity and preserving vital habitats and migration pathways that plants and animals depend on amidst our changing climates. Intact ecosystems mitigate climate change by storing significant amounts of carbon and maintaining the water cycle, which helps slow warming and reduce the severity of floods and droughts during extreme weather events. Moreover, conserving wildlands enhances the resilience of local communities by ensuring access to clean air, healthy soils, and livelihoods rooted in natural systems. Idaho’s last wild country needs Congress to meaningfully protect public lands that have waited decades for real, lasting protection. By taking action to preserve these invaluable landscapes, we invest in a sustainable future for all. Signed, Paul Sieracki, Inland Empire Task Force; Janet Torline, Kootenai Environmental Alliance; Amy Anderson, Selkirk Conservation Alliance; Kyran Kunkel, Friends of the Clearwater; Adam Rissien, WildEarth Guardians; Mary Costello, Save Our Cabinets; Helen Yost, Wild Idaho Rising Tide.
COMMUNITY
BY THE NUMBERS
Last reminder to build boats for the Sand Creek Regatta By Ben Olson Reader Staff The annual Sand Creek Regatta has set this year’s date for Saturday, Sept. 12, giving those wishing to enter the beloved local event a deadline to finish their boats. The “competition” is really just a celebration of community, with locals building homemade rafts from scraps and — if they float — paddling them from the Bridge Street Bridge to Cedar Street Bridge and back. For those interested in getting a boat ready for the event, you have until race day on Sept. 12, so get those hammers swinging. Boats must be crafted from scraps and random supplies and must be powered by humans. That means no sails or motors. Also, no repurposing already floating vessels (for example: you can’t take a canoe and add items to it). Finally, there must be at least one adult 18 years or older on board.
Last year, the introduction of the “Sacrifice a Tourist” event took place prior to the starting gun, where a self-proclaimed tourist walked to the edge of a plank, uttered some final words and was summarily shoved into the water. This is a way to honor our tourists for contributing to the local economy while also scratching that itch we’ve all had to toss a tourist in the lake. (C’mon, you’ve all thought about it.) Sacrificial victims receive a free T-shirt and a gift certificate for dinner and drinks at Eichardt’s Pub. If any tourists reading this will be in Sandpoint on Sept. 12, please contact Reader Publisher Ben Olson at ben@
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
51.3% The percentage gas prices have risen — just in Idaho — since the start of the Iran war.
12 Photo by Woods Wheatcroft sandpointreader.com if you’d like to be considered for this year’s victim. (Don’t worry, we won’t hurt you... much.) Visit facebook.com/sandcreekregatta for more info, or you can always contact us here at the Reader if you have any questions. In the meantime, get started on your crafts, and we’ll see you all on Sand Creek on Sept. 12.
The number of states that have reported cyberattacks on their water and wastewater systems since July 26. The attacks are suspected to be linked to Iran-backed hackers who have forced utilities to switch to manual operations, issue boil-water advisories and lose remote monitoring and control capabilities.
95% The probability that a “super” El Niño will develop this year, according to NOAA. There is a seven in 10 chance it will be the strongest such climate pattern since 1950. El Niño tends to bring warmer and drier conditions to the Pacific Northwest.
0% failure rate A stipulation under Trump’s executive order placing restrictions on mail-in voting, meaning any batch of ballots that contain a single ballot with an error would result in the entire batch being rejected — even if the batch contains thousands of ballots — according to a USPS whistleblower.
September 3, 2026 / R / 13
FEATURE
Snake oil and miracle grapefruits Diet fads through the ages
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff Humanity is, on the whole, a vain species, concerned with beauty standards and status throughout its history. We have also become accustomed to quick fixes, especially in an increasingly industrialized world, which is why, since at least the Victorian era, so many people have been taken in by diet fads promising instant results and fabricating health benefits. We’ve come a long way since Lord Byron was publicly starving himself in the 19th century, but it’s important to remember that most of our diet culture today is built on centuries-old pseudoscience, misinformation and deeply ingrained body-shaming tactics. Origins-1950s The general basis for Western diet culture existed as far back as the early 1800s; however, it wasn’t until 1863 that William Banting published what is widely considered the first diet book, Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public. Banting advocated for a lowcarb diet, which is fairly basic nowadays, but the success of his publication was the first hint at a burgeoning industry that, years later, would begin marketing diet pills made with arsenic or tapeworm larvae. Diets and diet fads — meaning mostly baseless ideas that became popular despite rarely or never working — especially took off in the 1920s. It was at that time when American physician and writer Lulu Hunt Peters popularized counting calories, a dieting strategy that remains popular today. While it can prove successful, it takes a considerable amount of dedication and calculations, and the fixation can often spiral into a fullblown eating disorder. 14 / R / September 3, 2026
Anyone seeking a less involved approach in the ’20s (and beyond) might reach for a Lucky Strike cigarette, which was promoted as an appetite suppressant. By the ’30s, grapefruits were all the rage — for those who could afford them. Even nowadays, dieters will eat a grapefruit or drink the juice with every meal to allegedly help burn fat. This, in part, evolved into the idea of detoxifying cleanses in the next decade. The Master Cleanse was by far the most popular, despite requiring participants to eat and drink nothing but a concoction of water, lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper for between four and 14 days. Though the lack of nutrition and potential dehydration can severely damage the body, because Beyoncé claimed it worked for her, the Master Cleanse saw another boom in the early aughts. While on one hand dieters were becoming obsessed with ridding themselves of harmful toxins, from the ’30s-’70s they were also taking plenty of prescribed amphetamines as appetite suppressants. By the 1950s, people were farting themselves out of house and home with the Cabbage Soup Diet, which let you eat as much of the fiber-rich soup as you wanted, but little else. Despite the smell, this fad, too, reemerges every few decades. 1960s-’90s Later decades’ fads were both more fun and more dubious. In 1962, the publication of Sex and the Single Girl by author Helen Gurley Brown popularized the Wine and Eggs diet: an egg, a glass of white wine and a cup of coffee for breakfast, an egg and a glass of wine for lunch, and a dinner of steak and more wine. Not to be outdone, men had their own version of the
An advertisement from the American Tobacco Company from 1929. Courtesy image diet (which resurfaced in the 2000s) of whisky, gin, brandy and minimal carbs. Today, we call this alcoholism. In the ’70s, rather than drinking dinner, some people would follow the Sleeping Beauty Diet and instead drug themselves to sleep through their hunger. But if the excessive use of sleeping pills seemed a bit out-there, people could instead turn to cardiologist Robert Atkins and his new Atkins Diet. This low-carb eating plan isn’t as bad as being wine drunk at 8 a.m., but it can put people at risk for cardiovascular disease
because of the increase in animal proteins, cholesterol and saturated fats. Five years later, the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs told Americans to cut out fat, salt and cholesterol, leading to skim milk, low-fat everything and prepackaged meals like Lean Cuisine. That gradually grew to include plenty of plant and chemical substitutes like Splenda and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! 2000s-present From 2000 on, the diet industry essentially rehashed every idea and disproven the-
ory from years past, including bringing back grapefruits, cabbages, tapeworms and oodles of vinegar. Everyone from Joe Plummer to A-list celebrities tried eating only baby food, ice, cotton candy, potatoes or cotton balls soaked in juice. The more recent trends — which are, for the most part, better and safer — prioritize a return to a pre-industrialized diet, turning away from processed foods. The Paleolithic Diet cuts out grains, legumes and dairy in an anachronistic attempt to emulate our Stone Age ancestors; whereas Keto is high-fat but bans most sugars, starches and grains. While often extreme, these trends cut out chemicals and unhealthy fats and can promote a balanced diet with all the necessary nutrients needed for our bodies to function to the best of their abilities. Still, despite modern resources, people take things too far, such as with the Carnivore Diet. Strict adherents will cut out everything other than meat, eggs and some small amounts of dairy, often leading to chronic constipation, nutrient deficiencies and excess cholesterol. U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy, whose dubious diet and health recommendations are worthy of their own article, is one such adherent — though he adds incredible amounts of fermented foods like sauerkraut. If you are someone who wants to diet, remember that the industry is working to sell you things, be it products or ideologies. Always research the potential risks and benefits of supplements, diets or “healthy” products before committing to them, and know that no matter what, your weight is not tied to your worth as a human being.
To submit a photo for a future edition, please send to ben@sandpointreader.com.
Top left: The beginning of the lunar eclipse on Aug. 28, as seen from Glengary Bay. Photo by Grey Davis. Top right: The sunset as seen from Pearls on the Lake at Beyond Hope on Aug. 13, which also happens to be photographer Ann Spradling’s birthday. Bottom left: Longtime Sandpoint resident Craig Gildersleeve’s entry in the Sandpoint Business Raft Race, probably taken around 1984. “Had to get towed in by a boat, but it was a lot of fun,” Gildersleeve told the Reader. After the Sandpoint Business Raft Race died out, it was revived six years ago and lives on as the Sand Creek Regatta (scheduled for Sept. 12 at Bridge Street Bridge). Bottom center: Sandpoint residents Eva and Jessica Janssen holding the Reader in traditional Korean hanbok at Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, South Korea. Photo courtesy of Jessica Janssen. Bottom right: A volunteer releases monarch butterflies equipped with a microtracker while a large crowd cheers at the Monarch and Friends Festival at Matchwood Brewing Co. on Aug. 29. Photo by Ben Olson.
September 3, 2026 / R / 15
COMMUNITY
POAC seeks volunteer instructors for Kaleidoscope Program By Reader Staff The Pend Oreille Arts Commission’s Kaleidoscope program will add six to eight more classrooms in the coming school year, expanding from the 2025-’26 term when 56 volunteers taught in 47 classrooms working with about 1,000 students. Coordinated by Janelle Campasino, Molly Gentry and Daris Judd, the program is now accepting additional volunteers, who don’t need to be trained teachers or artists — just enjoy working with elementary school-aged children and value the arts. POAC’s mission is to facilitate quality experiences in the arts through educational programs and presentations that benefit the people of North Idaho. Kaleidoscope is a volunteer art program that brings hands-on art lessons to third-, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students throughout Bonner County.
Two training sessions for volunteers take place each year — one in September and the other in January. Eight lessons lasting approximately 60 minutes are taught throughout the year, one per month, in October through May. POAC provides prepared notebooks with lesson plans, support materials and examples. All materials for lessons are found on-site. Volunteers receive training from Judd. Full training is provided for each of the grades. The classroom teacher and volunteer agree upon scheduling, and pre-class preparation includes printing off lesson objectives and gathering materials. However, program coordinators provide all the needed supplies for each lesson. It is encouraged to work with a partner and teach together. To sign up, contact Janelle Campasino at jcampasino@comcast.net, Daris Judd at spiritnsoularts@gmail.com or
Explore North Idaho’s Creative Side During POAC’s Artists’ Studio Tour By Reader Staff This Labor Day weekend, the Pend Oreille Arts Council will treat curious art lovers to a sneak peek behind the curtain at the annual Artists’ Studio Tour, running from Friday, Sept. 4 through Sunday, Sept. 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The free, self-guided tour takes participants to 14 stops across Sandpoint, Sagle, Hope and beyond, unveiling North Idaho’s diverse artistic community through the work of 17 artists. “This is one of those events where you really can make it your own,” said POAC Arts Coordinator Claire Lutz. “You can pick a few stops and spend an afternoon exploring, or turn it into a full weekend adventure. There’s something special about seeing where an artist works, meeting them in their own creative environment, and getting a glimpse into the ideas and processes behind the artwork.” The tour will take participants to artists’ homes and studios, where they can become intimately acquainted with the gardens, structures and landscapes that inspire them, as well as the methods the artists use to produce their work. Featured pieces this 16 / R / September 3, 2026
POAC Arts Coordinator Claire Lutz at poacasst1@gmail.com.
POAC’s Kaleidoscope volunteer teachers pose for a photo at the end of the last school year. Courtesy photo
Talus Rock holds an end-of-summer art celebration By Reader Staff In combination with Pend Oreille Arts Council’s Artist’s Studio Tour, Talus Rock Retreat will host a threeday end-of-summer art celebration highlighting the work of acclaimed impressionist painter Heather Mehra-Pedersen. The event will run from Friday, Sept. 4 through Sunday, Sept. 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily at the retreat (291 Syringa Heights Road, in Sandpoint). Attendees can wander around
Heather’s Colors Fine Art Studio and Gallery, located at Talus Rock, taking in creative stations and plein air painting demonstrations while enjoying complimentary drinks. Stephanie Reeves of Peaceful Pottery will also present pottery demonstrations throughout the weekend. Original art, prints and mystery bags with everything from stickers to small art will be available for purchase. To preview the artists’ work, visit heatherscolors.com and peacefulpottery.com.
Teen Center announces new location, grant award By Reader Staff Attendees visit Barry Burgess’ studio on the Artists’ Studio Tour. Courtesy photo year include a variety of mediums and styles, such as painting, metalwork, drawing, ceramics, photography, weaving, woodworking and more. After the Friday, Sept. 4 tour, the community will also come together at the POAC Gallery (313 N. Second Ave., in Sandpoint) from 5-7 p.m. for an opening reception for the nonprofit’s group exhibition Our Common Ground. The artwork, which will be on display throughout September, explores the experiences, places and connections that unite everyone, despite our differences. View the tour map and a complete list of participating artists at artinsandpoint.org/artist-studio-tour.
After 19 years spent providing a safe space, hot meals and community for local kids, the Sandpoint Teen Center is expanding access with a new location and hot meal program available near or on the Sandpoint High and Middle School campus. The increase is thanks, in part, to a community grant from the Taco Bell Foundation. The Sandpoint Teen Center will continue to provide essential services at its current location in the First Lutheran Church (526 S. Olive St.) while opening up its new location upstairs at 1333 Superior St., across from SMS. The Teen Center follows the local school calendar and so is open every day after school, Monday through Thursday, from 2:30-5:30 p.m. and Fridays from 1:30-5:30 p.m.
Both locations will offer hot meals, healthy snacks, cooking classes, mentorship, tutoring, sports, arts and crafts, community service opportunities and games like bowling, pool, ping pong, foosball, air hockey, card games and board games. Additionally, the Teen Center bus will park in front of SHS to hand out hot meals right after school. New programs are sponsored in part by the Taco Bell Foundation, which awarded $32 million in community grants to more than 700 youth-serving nonprofit organizations this past year. This is the third consecutive year that The Sandpoint Teen Center has earned one of its grants. To learn more, donate or register a teen, visit sandpointteencenter.com. To volunteer, contact sandpointteencenter@yahoo.com or Director Natalie Earl at 208-946-8796.
OBITUARY
Gordon K. Walker (Feb. 12, 1939-Aug. 25, 2026) Renowned Northwest architect Gordon K. Walker’s favorite adage, as anyone who spent time with him knows, was that life is a three-legged stool balanced on talent, discipline and dumb luck. He had all three in abundance. Early dumb luck Gordon was born on Feb. 12, 1939, in Des Moines, Iowa, to an undertaker and a beautician — Harlan and Margaret. After training at the Farragut Naval Training Station on Lake Pend Oreille in North Idaho, Harlan returned to the Midwest but could not forget the extraordinary beauty of the deep lake surrounded by three mountain ranges. So he and Margaret packed up their family and, scrambling together money to buy an old mining town called Talache, transformed it into a fishing resort. Discipline As the oldest of four boys, Gordon quickly learned that life came with responsibilities. He raised a herd of goats, guided fishing trips and checked in on the welfare of the old miners who still lived on the hillside. These early years instilled the flinty self-reliance and work ethic that would shape nearly every aspect of his life. Rugged individualism is a phrase people use loosely; in Gordon’s case it was an apt description. In high school, he played the clarinet; studied painting and drawing; and excelled in football, earning firstteam all-state honors as a center. But it was architecture that most captured his imagination. He enrolled in the five-year program at the University of Idaho, where he was known to keep a mattress tucked under his drafting table in the studio so he could work through the night. More dumb luck After graduating, Gordon and his college sweetheart followed opportunity to Seattle. There, he went to work for Ralph Anderson, a
leading figure in the Puget Sound School of Architecture. It was also in Seattle that he was introduced to Doug and Kathie Raff, who, after meeting at a party, hired him to design a house for them on the southern slope of Queen Anne Hill. Inspired in part by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple, the Raff house — “Fort Queen Anne,” the neighbors called it — secured his reputation. Talent Gordon possessed a rare ability for seeing the details while also holding the big picture. For him, architecture was never simply about designing a building. It was an exercise in creating a complete experience, one in which structure, materials, landscaping, views, interiors and furniture comprised a seamless composition. The same instinct governed everything he made. A smoke shack raised on site to hold the fish caught that day. A bookshelf proportioned for a very specific collection. A table long enough to seat everyone who would come. Whether the thing took an afternoon or three years, the question was the same: What does this need to be? The architectural historian Grant Hildebrand, whose friendship with Gordon began in the studio where they cotaught at the University of Washington, referred to Gordon’s body of work as a poetic architecture. In 1970, Gordon and Jim Olson formed Olson/Walker Architects, a partnership that over the next 15 years established a distinctive Northwest architectural legacy that outlasted the firm itself. Their Pike & Virginia Building, at the northern edge
Photo courtesy of Zhenru Zhang of Pike Place Market, earned the firm its first AIA Seattle Honor Award. Gordon later established NBBJ’s San Francisco office before returning to private practice for good. As a consulting principal at Mithun, he mentored generations of young architects, explaining design in ways that helped them see the world differently. Working well into his 80s, he completed more than 30 residences, three buildings for the Pacific Northwest Ballet, commercial projects, and buildings and master plans for
universities in Washington, Idaho, and California. He said that when he stopped enjoying the work, he found a way to fix it: What you build isn’t a practice. “You build a life.” Not exactly dumb luck Gordon passed at his home on Orcas Island on Aug. 25, 2026 with family at his side. He is survived by his wife Sandie Pope; children Meagan, Colin and Ian Walker; their mothers Bobbie Tonn and Terri Walker; daughtersin-law Brenda Cram, Mickie
Walker, Maret Wilson and Kelly Rodriguez; grandchildren Eliza, Max, Gemma, Aila and Nyle; step-grandchildren Tayler and Francine; and nieces and nephews who will continue to gather around the table he built — as they have for decades — for holidays and special occasions. The family wishes to thank the wonderful people at Hospice Northwest. For information about his Celebration of Life for Gordon, please visit walkerarchitecturepnw.com.
September 3, 2026 / R / 17
events
m m
Send event listings to calendar@sandpointreader.com
9
THURSDAY, september 3
September 3-10, 2026
Open Irish jam night 5:30pm @ Connie’s Lounge Come to listen or join in the fun Live Music w/ Ian Newbill 5-8pm @ Pearls on the Lake (Beyond Hope)
Live Music w/ Liam McCoy and Friends 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub Live Music w/ Casey Freedom 5:30-8:30pm @ Smokesmith BBQ
Artist reception: Richard Wieth 5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Meet the artist, see his oil paintings
Live Music w/ Juicebox 8-11pm @ 219 Lounge Live Music w/ One Dog Down 6-9pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Live Music w/ Plastic Owls 5:30-8:30pm @ Smokesmith BBQ Live Music w/ Thompson Trio 5pm @ Connie’s Lounge Live Music w/ Headwaters 2-5pm @ Barrel 33 Live Jazz w/ Bright Moments 6-8pm @ Baxters on Cedar
Live Music w/ Ian Newbill 6-9pm @ Barrel 33 Artists’ Studio Tour (Sept. 4-6) Various | artinsandpoint.org A self-guided tour of working art studios in North Idaho. 208-263-6139 Fall Fest at Schweitzer (Sept. 4-7) 11am-5pm @ Schweitzer Four days of fun, with beer tasting, live music, village activities and more Live Music w/ Scott Taylor 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Sip & Paint a Pot 5:30-7:30pm @ Sandpoint Ceramics BYOB to the pottery studio inside Cedar Street Bridge. $15 plus cost of ceramic item. Expert instruction End of summer art celebration (Sept. 4-6) 10am-4pm @ Talus Rock Retreat See creations by local artists and meet them, take home something special Live Music w/ Carson Rhodes Band 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Live Music w/ Justin Lantrip 6-8pm @ Baxters on Cedar
Live Music w/ Bill Price 5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery Live Music w/ Liam McCoy Band 9pm-midnight @ 219 Lounge Live Music w/ Headwaters 5-7pm @ Pend Oreille Shores Resort (Hope) Live Music w/ The Virginia Rails 5:30-8:30pm @ Smokesmith BBQ Live Music w/ Monarch Mountain Band 2-5pm @ Barrel 33 Live Music w/ Holly and Michael 6-9pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall Live Music w/ Brian Jacobs 6-8pm @ Baxters on Cedar
Live Music w/ Jon Dejong 6pm @ Connie’s Lounge Live Music w/ Jacob Robin 6-9pm @ Barrel 33 Live Music w/ Blue Krawdads 3-5pm @ Idaho Pour Authority Live Music w/ Ian Newbill 7-11pm @ St. Bernard (Schweitzer) Fall Fest at Schweitzer (Sept. 4-7) 11am-5pm @ Schweitzer Historic walking tours 11am @ Cedar Street Bridge $10/$5 for a 75-min. tour featuring a local historian sharing stories
Sandpoint Farmers’ Market 9am-1pm @ Farmin Park Produce, local art, live music Hands on History at the Museum 10am-2pm @ Bonner Co. History Museum Historical crafts for kids of all ages, free entry to the museum Friends of the Library monthly book sale 10am-2pm @ Sandpoint Library Books for sale in all genres, including vintage romance books 4 for $1 Old Time Fiddlers jam 2-4pm @ Sandpoint Senior Center Free to watch, or bring an instrument
Sandpoint Chess Club 9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee Magic with Star Alexander 5-8pm @ Jalapeño’s
Fall Fest at Schweitzer (Sept. 4-7) 11am-5pm @ Schweitzer Live Music w/ Fiddlin’ Red 1-4pm @ Barrel 33
Sandpoint swing dance 6-9pm @ Sandpoint Community Hall One-hour swing basics lesson at 6pm, general dancing 7-10pm. Free event
Fall Fest at Schweitzer (Sept. 4-7) 11am-5pm @ Schweitzer Monday Night Blues Jam w/ John Firshi 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Fall beginner Cuban salsa and rueda series 6-7pm @ Sandpoint Community Hall A weekly dance lesson series every Monday through Nov. 23. Drop-ins permitted the first night only. sandpointcubansalsa@gmail.com
SATURDAY, september 5
SunDAY, september 6
monDAY, september 7
Outdoor Experience group run 6pm @ Outdoor Experience 3-5 miles, all levels welcome Live Music w/ Kip McMillan 2-5pm @ Barrel 33 Trivia 6-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority Back-to-school party 3-5pm @ Sandpoint Library For teens in grades 7-12. Popsicles, prices and fun
FriDAY, september 4
Live trivia w/ Toshi 7pm @ Connie’s Lounge
tuesDAY, september 8
Open mic / open jam Geezer Forum Live music w/ John Firshi 5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery 6-?pm @ Idaho Pour Authority 2:30pm @ Marigold Bistro Presentation by Jonathan Peel Ambient acoustic guitar
Beginner Argentine tango class 6pm @ Embody Center, 823 Main St. No partner needed. $15 Live piano w/ Peter Lucht 5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
wednesDAY, september 9
Sandpoint Farmers’ Market 3-5:30pm @ Farmin Park Produce, local art, live music
ThursDAY, september 10
Benny on the Deck concert series 5:30-8:30pm @ Connie’s Lounge Weekly patio concert series led by Benny Baker with a special guest
Open bluegrass jam night 10th annual Panhandle Bluesfest (Sept. 10-12) 5:30pm @ Connie’s Lounge Lovin’ Spoonful in concert 12pm @ Wendy and Whitey’s Wooded Acres (Oldtown) Come to listen or join in the fun ypm @ Panida Theater Multi-day blues festival with numerous regional Tapped In hosted by BioBeat Iconic band whose hits include acts. 2888 Freeman Lake Rd. in Oldtown 5-7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority “Do You Believe in Magic” and Live Music w/ Liam McCoy and Friends Tapped In is a quiz game where teams “Summer in the City” 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub or individuals test general knowledge 18 / R / September 3, 2026
FEATURE
‘Flour, butter, tradition’
Sawyers Bakery combines Sandpoint heritage with European flair
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff If you’ve stopped by one of downtown Sandpoint’s newest businesses — Sawyers Bakery — in the afternoon, you may have noticed a usually worrying sight: empty shelves. It’s not for lack of trying, but accomplished pastry chef and chocolatier Becky Sawyer can’t seem to bake enough to satisfy the hordes of hungry customers flocking to her shop everyday for pistachio twists, éclairs and steaming cups of tea. Ever since Sawyer opened her first brick-and-mortar business, filling the old Image Maker space at 320 North First Ave. with European, monochromatic charm, the place has been packed with locals and tourists alike — which makes sense, because if the enticing aromas weren’t enough to draw you in, the longtime Sandpoint family name might. The Sawyers have been a prominent North Idaho family for more than 100 years, and have ties to the local bakeries that fed this historic town. “I was born and raised here, and my family moved here in 1903 with the railroad,” said Sawyer. “My great uncle — my grandmother’s brother — was a baker at Harold’s IGA.” That great uncle, Bode Kemmis, was also the baker at Haworth’s Bakery, which used to stand right down the street from Sawyer’s current shop. The taste of his famous maple bars, which locals still talk about, sparked her lifelong passion for baked goods. From there, she went from taking every 4-H cake decorating class to teaching those classes and becoming the go-to baker for family events — and then other people’s family events. During her more than 20year career at Bonner General Health, Sawyer launched a
successful business as a home baker. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it was time for a change. Sawyer dove headfirst into an intensive, 400-hour pastry and chocolate program at the Pastry Academy outside of Las Vegas, studying directly under one of the foremost chocolatiers in the world, Amaury Guichon. She was so good, he invited her back for a special program alongside Food Network stars. When she returned to Sandpoint, she took over as bakery manager for Winter Ridge before beginning her five-year search for a lease that would allow her to put in a kitchen. Once she had that, updating and renovating the space was a family affair. “My whole family helped me with this,” said Sawyer. “I hired the contractors I was required to hire: the electrician, the plumber, HVAC person and the person that put the bathroom in, but everything else my family did.” “Everything else” included ripping out carpet; tiling the floor, back wall and ceiling; painting; hanging lighting and artwork; and generally transforming the space so that it’s easy to imagine the bakery’s always been there. Pictures of those family members now line the window sills, and the genuine articles often make appearances in the bakery, too. “We’re very family oriented — my family’s always in here working,” said Sawyer. “I just really like having the tradition, so our theme here is, ‘Flour, butter, tradition.’” That tradition combines something entirely Sandpoint with classic European flavors and techniques, making for a bakery that would fit perfectly on the streets of Paris or Florence, but instead welcomes in North Idahoans off the sleepy morning sidewalks. “I hear a lot of people say, ‘Oh, it’s the little French
bakery in town,’ but we’re more of a European bakery,” said Sawyer. “We’ve got the French pastries, but we also have the Italian — we’ve got tiramisu and cannoli — we’ve got danishes, and then the British afternoon tea.” As Sawyer explained, afternoon or “low tea” is a traditional, often upper-class tea service that bridges the gap between lunch and dinner, as opposed to “high tea,” which is heartier and eaten directly after work. “Sundays at 2 p.m. we do afternoon tea service for 10 people, and it’s a sit-down, three-tier service,” said Sawyer. “The bottom layer is sandwiches, then a layer of scones and the top layer is sweets. They get an endless pot of tea.” That tea service has been such a resounding success that, as of press time, it’s booked out until December. If you can’t wait that long, or aren’t ready to commit to the $49.99 price tag, drop by any time for cream tea: a bottomless cup of tea served with a scone, clotted cream and jam for only $10. Patrons can choose from 16 in-house teas by Lake Missoula Tea Company or try something new with a 45-cent bag of
Ukrainian Lovaré tea, with flavors ranging from black to strawberry marshmallow. Special fall and holiday flavors will arrive soon. All teabags and blends are available for purchase in the bakery’s store, which also offers an assortment of new and vintage baking accoutrements, a variety of flours and a local artists’ section, which displays pottery, candles, photographs and anything else made by area artisans. Anyone who enjoys a cuppa should also join the bakery’s equivalent of a pub mug club, the 28-Cup Society. “They pay $28 a year to hang their own teacup, and then every time they come in and have tea, they get 28% off,” said Sawyer. Current society members’ cups, each with a unique number on the bottom, already decorate the walls of the bakery awaiting their owners and a fresh brew. It’s not all tea, though; the shop also serves Paradise Valley Coffee, Italian sodas and, of course, enough baked goods to bring a tear to your eye. From turkey and gruyère croissants to gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, cakes, macarons, pavlovas and more, Sawyer caters to every person and every craving
Owner Becky Sawyer (top left) along with photos of various items available at the bakery. Photos by Amy Peterson of Selkirk Ridge Photography from sweet to savory. “My favorite thing to make is the viennoiserie: It’s the croissants and the laminated dough,” said Sawyer. “We’ve been making croissant rolls, some crème brûlée, some pistachio. I would just say my favorite thing is working with croissant dough and creating fun, non-traditional flavors.” Visitors can see Sawyer’s expertise with viennoiserie in action on Wednesday, Sept. 16, when she will demonstrate how to make a croissant from scratch as part of her weekly baking classes. Hands-on classes are held on most Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 5:30-7:30 p.m., and in September will include cake and cookie decorating and tart and crème brûlée making, among other tasty adventures. Visit the business’ Facebook page for course offerings and sawyersbakery.com to sign up for classes and afternoon tea, but the only way to truly experience the bakery’s buttery goodness is to stop by Tuesday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and taste it for yourself. September 3, 2026 / R / 19
FOOD
The Sandpoint Eater
Pick a pepper
By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Columnist I’m loving these cooler evenings. Fall is near, and there is something about this season that makes us generous. And who needs a garden when you have friends who’ve been sharing their bounty? My bowls and baskets runneth over. This time of year seems to turn many of my friends into produce dealers. And this year, it seems everyone I know is growing peppers. All kinds of peppers. Long ones, short ones, fat ones, skinny ones, wrinkled ones, shiny ones, red ones, green ones — and peppers with enough heat to make you question your life choices. My friends have been bringing them to me by the bagful. Peppers have become the new zucchini. You know what I mean. In August, you can barely answer the door without someone saying, “I brought you a few zucchinis.” By September, it’s peppers. I’m beginning to suspect that some of my friends are growing them specifically so they can get rid of them at my house. Don’t get me wrong — I’m not complaining. The grocery store has gotten in on the act, too. I recently bought several pounds of freshly roasted Hatch peppers at Super 1. Now de-seeded, skinned and frozen, they’re ready for our Feliz Navidad feast. Although, chances are, I’ll be getting into them long before the holidays. Whenever the thermometer drops, I start craving something with a little fire. Some of the peppers my friends give me come with a pedigree, including seed provenance. Others do not. 20 / R / September 3, 2026
Beware! “Here,” a friend will say. “These are really good.” After years of pepper sampling, I’ve developed my own internal pepper thermometer. It isn’t certified by the USDA, but after years of experience, I trust it. If I’m chopping and my eyes begin to water, I call it a three. If I’m gasping for air, it’s a definite five. Peppers are native to the Americas and archaeological evidence suggests that people were using and cultivating chiles in those lands more than 6,000 years ago. When Christopher Columbus encountered chile peppers in the Caribbean in 1492, he mistakenly connected their heat with the black pepper he was hoping to find in Asia. The name “pepper” stuck, even though chile peppers and black pepper are entirely different plants. From there, peppers traveled
remarkably fast. Portuguese and Spanish traders helped carry them around the world; and, within decades, they were finding their way into cuisines in places as far-flung as India, China and Japan. That is quite a journey for something that can fit in the palm of your hand. My own pepper journey this season began at a friend’s dinner table. She served a roasted pepper salad that was so delicious I couldn’t stop eating it. When dinner was over, she generously sent me home with the leftovers. Naturally, I did what any food-loving friend would do. I reinvented them. Back at home, I took the roasted pepper salad and began tinkering. A little of this. A little of that. Out came my old kitchen workhorse: my fancy Cuisinart. I say “fancy” because nearly 40 years ago, back at the
ranch, Big John — one of our salty old hands, whom I fed every day — had a comment about that very machine. “Ever since you got that fancy Cuisinart,” he said, “we never know what you’re feeding us.” He did have a point. A Cuisinart can take perfectly innocent ingredients and turn them into something that looks suspiciously like a science experiment. After all these years, my fancy Cuisinart is still working. These days, though, like me, it is considerably more tired than fancy. Last week, I had guests for Sunday dinner and served the roasted red pepper spread as an appetizer. People kept asking for the recipe, including the friend who had originally sent me home with her roasted pepper salad. I confessed that the delicious roasted pepper spread
she was enjoying had humble beginnings — with her leftover salad. And that, really, is what I love about fall food. It doesn’t have to begin with a recipe. Sometimes it begins with a friend handing you a bag of mysterious peppers. Sometimes it begins with leftovers. Sometimes it begins with a garden overflowing with more bounty than one person could possibly eat. Fall is a time to harvest and a time to share tomatoes, apples, squash and peppers. We share recipes, jars, meals, fall harvest wine and stories. We send someone home with leftovers and, if we’re lucky, they send something even better back. So bring on those peppers, please! I’ll take the long ones, the fat ones, the sweet ones and even the fiery ones. But for this recipe, it’s wise to stick to the sweet, roasted red peppers!
Roasted pepper, basil and mozzarella dip
This one is especially good if you want something fresh and flavorful! Serve with baguette slices, pita bread or crudites. The lemon juice is important to keep a nice bright color. Also delicious served hot — just add more cheese to the top and bake in an oven-proof dish at 350° F until hot and bubbly. Yield: 1½ to 2 cups
INGREDIENTS:
• 3 roasted red peppers (one orange or yellow pepper adds nice color) • 4 oz cream cheese, softened • ¼ cup mayonnaise • ½ cup fresh basil, stems removed • ⅓ cup shredded mozzarella • 1 small garlic clove • 1 tbsp olive oil • 1-2 tsp lemon juice • ½ tsp salt • Black pepper to taste • Cheddar or Parmesan if baking
DIRECTIONS:
Roast peppers — either on grill or in oven — on a sheet pan. Roast until charred and blackened. Using tongs, place in a plastic bag and seal. Rest for 20 minutes. Slide off skins, remove seeds and stem. Put everything into the food processor and pulse until creamy but not completely liquid. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. It you have the time, make it the day before. The flavors get noticeably better as it sits. Before serving, give it a taste. It may need another little squeeze of lemon or pinch of salt. Drizzle the chilled dip with good olive oil, balsamic vinegar, finely chopped fresh basil and a little extra mozzarella on the top. Store leftovers in covered dish in refrigerator for up to 3 days.
MUSIC
Fall Fest: Four days of music and mountain fun By Reader Staff The 33rd annual Fall Fest returns to Schweitzer, kicking off Friday, Sept. 4 and ending Labor Day Monday, Sept. 7. The chairlift and activities open at 11 a.m. each day and close at 5 p.m. For four days, the mountain will be alive with live music; a tasting of more than 80 regional beers, ciders and seltzers; village activities for kids of all ages; and vendor tents, food trucks and unique goodies for all to enjoy. Fall Fest serves as the final weekend of summer operations before Schweitzer begins its transformation into the winter season, so be sure to soak up some sun, take a final chairlift ride, hike or moun-
tain bike the incredible trails and end with a few delicious treats and beverages, including a soda station to mix and create your own concoctions. Souvenir glassware is available for purchase, as well. Paid parking is available in the Lakeview Lot and the Gateway Lot features complimentary parking. Schweitzer recommends carpooling or, better yet, park at the Red Barn and take the free shuttle up the mountain. A variety of local and regional bands will play all four days at Fall Fest. Friday, Sept. 4 will kick off with live music by Tony Louie at 3:30 p.m. and Cytrus at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 5 will feature live music by Arie Van-
DenBerg at 12 p.m., followed by The Plastic Owls at 2:30 p.m. and Inland Beaches at 5 p.m. There will also be an after party at Taps featuring Spool Effect at 7 p.m., with a $10 cover charge. Sunday, Sept. 6 will start with Sammy Eubanks at 12 p.m., Tomboy at 2:30 p.m.
Courtesy photo and Left on Tenth at 5 p.m. Finally, Monday, Sept. 7 will feature live music by Payton Rae at 12 p.m. and Cascadel will finish up with a 2:30 p.m. set. Visit schweitzer.com for a full schedule of events.
Panhandle Blues Fest returns to Oldtown By Reader Staff Back for its 10th year, the Panhandle Bluesfest is bringing the blues to west Bonner County with a lively lineup of regional bands playing from Sept. 11-12 at Wendy & Whitey’s Wooded Acres, 2888 Freeman Lake Rd. in Oldtown. Along with live music both nights, food and beverages will be available for purchase by local vendors. Dry camping is available on site for $10, with proceeds supporting local
music departments. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs. Find out more information by visiting the Facebook page for “Panhandle Blues Fest at Priest River.” Live music on Friday, Sept. 11 includes Iron & Ivory from 4:30-5:15 p.m.; Meghan Sullivan from 5:30-7 p.m. and the Meat Sweatz from 7:30-9:30 p.m., with an open mic night scheduled that evening as well. Performances Saturday, Sept. 12 feature Maneyaxe from 12-2 p.m., Vaughn
Jensen Band from 2:30-4:30 p.m., Sammy Eubanks from 5-7 p.m. and Bobby Patterson Band from 7:30-9:30 p.m. A ticket for the whole
Courtesy photo weekend is $50 and just Saturday is $45. For more information, contact Billy at 208-448-2395.
A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint The Virginia Rails, Smokesmith BBQ, Sept. 5
Bill Price, Pend d’Oreille Winery, Sept. 5
It’s not so often that audiences get the chance to experience a band that just came together. Sandpoint music lovers can experience exactly that with The Virginia Rails, the Spokane-based outfit that only celebrated its first band practice in April but has already undertaken a steady string of gigs across the area from breweries to outdoor
Singer-songwriter Bill Price will make his yearly pilgrimage from his home base in Indianapolis to the Pend d’Oreille Winery on Saturday, Sept. 5. Joined this time by percussionist Kelly Taylor, Price will unveil his crowd-favorite setlist of original, funky folk-rock hits from his five full-length albums, not to mention EPs and singles. In between recording sessions and national tours, Price still
venues to Smokesmith BBQ for a Saturday, Sept. 5 appearance. Get in on the ground floor with the band’s blend of country, Americana and soul, and lock in your right to say you “knew them back when.” — Zach Hagadone 5:30-8:30 p.m., FREE. Smokesmith BBQ, 102 S. Boyer Ave., 208920-0517, smokesmithidaho.com.
finds the time to continually write new material with emotional intensity and evocative storytelling. If you don’t catch him this September, you’ll have to wait another year, so stop by Saturday for a glass of wine and a quiet night. — Soncirey Mitchell 5-8 p.m., FREE. Pend d’Oreille Winery, 301 Cedar St, 208-2658545, powine.com. Listen at billprice.info.
This week’s RLW by Zach Hagadone
READ
It’s almost fall, which means it’s time to start reading Jim Harrison again — and not just because he wrote the novella Legends of the Fall. No, Harrison’s vast body of work is like Hemingway with a heart of gold and sense of humor, representing an elemental force that tumbles down the boundaries between the sacred and profane. Full to bursting with a transcendent sense of pure human vitality, The Ancient Minstrel is a perfect autumnal introduction. Dalva, Farmer and Brown Dog are also essential reading. Find them where you find books.
LISTEN
For whatever reason, I’ve revisited my affection for the music genre that blends electronica with hip hop — but only if it’s instrumental. U.S.-Canadian group Deltron 3030’s debut, self-titled album’s instrumental version remains a masterclass. I’ve also delved into the El Michels Affair (Yeti Season, in particular), as well as Euro beats-producer Mononome (“Stay Awake”) and Blockhead (“Carnivore’s Unite”). Find them all on YouTube.
WATCH
Written by David Koepp and directed by Steven Spielberg, Disclosure Day should be bankable based on its production pedigree (John Williams even wrote the score). It seemed promising until I started watching it and thought I’d missed the first 30 minutes. I’ve never seen a movie that throws its audience into such a disorienting opening act (not in a cool way) and the motivations and plot devices that followed became ever more inscrutable and maddening. All that said, it has decent reviews. Rent it on Amazon Prime and see if you find it as frustrating as I did.
September 3, 2026 / R / 21
BACK OF THE BOOK
The schoolhouse rocks By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
From Pend Oreille Review, September 3, 1915
FEMALE HOBOS VISIT CITY Two young women, answering to the names of Pauline and Evelyn Hudson, arrived here last Friday and took in the town for a few days. They hailed from Buffalo, N.Y., which town they left on July 28, 1914, on a “side-door Pullman” tour of the states. After spending several months in Florida, they rambled westward, stopping wherever fancy suggested. When they left here Sunday they were headed for Spokane and later all the principal coast points, especially San Francisco and San Diego. No time limit has been set for their trip. When on the trains, they are attired in overalls, which are worn over their street clothes, and are removed upon their arrival in the towns they visit. So far, they reported, traveling had been easy and fast time had been made on the road. This is not their first experience in “beating” their way, as these much traveled young ladies have been from coast to coast twice before this journey.
BOATHOUSE BURNS A fire alarm was turned in from box 21, Antone and Fourth avenue, about 10:15 last night. It developed that it was an unoccupied boat house on the beach between Fourth and Fifth avenues which in some way or other had taken fire. The blaze was soon extinguished by the fire lads. 22 / R / September 3, 2026
Much political hay has been made about the supposedly decrepit state of our nationwide public school system, with whole industries devoted to tearing down confidence in how kids are educated. While those arguments whiz around social media, pop up in election campaigns and in the various silos of mass media — social and otherwise — it’s a different feeling when you actually walk the halls of your local schools. Especially in the busy weeks leading up to the start of the new academic year. I started this year’s back-to-school cycle by joining a friend and his son on a tour of Washington State University, in Pullman. As they followed the official guide, I wandered the campus on my own and revisited places I remembered as a graduate student there from 2017-’19. I’d forgotten how much affection I feel for that place, with its infinite hills and buildings of brick, steel and glass. It’s a stalwart, self-possessed place that wears its land grant legacy with pride (for evidence, see the ubiquity of the greeting, “Go Cougs,” whenever students, alums or professors meet). My own private tour included where to get the best pizza downtown and showing off the grizzly bears WSU hosts in captivity. Meanwhile, I appreciated the students running around hauling backpacks and water bottles, posted up in cubbies and nooks working on papers, getting texts printed, jostling for books in the library and
generally representing a community of young people in the act of becoming who they plan to be. The fact that I was there with a friend whom I met in kindergarten at Sagle Elementary School in 1986 and his son, who is somehow going to be a senior in high school when I feel like I just met him as a toddler, underscored how education is community and how that belonging can last lifetimes across generations. That feeling came into clearer relief when I went to orientation with my own son at Sandpoint High School on Sept. 1. We gathered in the gym where I attended who knows how many assemblies, pep rallies, games and concerts during my own time as a Bulldog from 1995-’99. I embarrassed and exasperated my incoming freshman by pointing out the locations of all my past lockers, showed him my class picture and mural — both still on the walls after so many years — and visited the classrooms where I was once a student and he will be soon. I had that cliched feeling of middle aged wistfulness when crowding through the halls with all the kids and parents, participating together in a ritual of growing up experienced by countless others. I was touched by the confidence of the juniors and seniors, the excitement of the sophomores and the jumpiness of the freshmen, trying to cover their nerves with an affected detachment. There’s no doubt that I’m biased. My wife is a teacher, my mother was a teacher and administrator, and I’m an unashamed lover of school. I could also cite the stats that give lie to the
STR8TS Solution
Sudoku Solution
argument that our local educational system is failing our kids — the most recent testing data shows a different picture — but that doesn’t tell the intangible part of the story about the friends, neighbors, classmates and others who contribute to one of the most important lessons, nor is it the point of this little rumination. I’m also not naive, and know that high school is tough. But, at SHS, I saw teachers with whom I was once a student in the very same school, and left with a sense of gratitude that such an institution can hold all these people through the decades and serve them for no gain other than what is accrued for all of us: safe, supported, encouraged young people who become the older people who sustain and build the community into which they’re being invited and will inherit.
Crossword Solution
Fear can sometimes be a useful emotion. For instance, let’s say you’re an astronaut on the Moon and you fear that your partner has been turned into Dracula. The next time he goes out for the moon pieces, wham!, you just slam the door behind him and blast off. He might call you on the radio and say he’s not Dracula, but you just say, “Think again, bat man.”
Solution on page 22
Solution on page 22
By Bill Borders
impervious /im-PUR-vee-uhs/
Woorf tdhe Week
[adjective] 1. incapable of being influenced, persuaded, or affected
“After a life before the public eye, the singer was impervious to mean-spirited criticism.” Corrections: The Monarch and Friends Festival was sponsored by the Mighty Monarch Conservation Group, the Pend Oreille Chapter of the Master Naturalists, Evans Bros. and Matchwood Brewing Co. The event was to celebrate Sandpoint becoming a Monarch City, USA.
CROSSWORD
Copyright www.mirroreyes.com
Laughing Matters
ACROSS 1. Confess 5. Grain stubble 10. Cobras 14. Melange 15. Dried plum 16. Exchange 17. Self-control 19. Wife of Zeus 20. French for “friend” 21. Horse sound 22. Ships 23. Precise 25. Blatant 27. Diety 28. Fade away 31. Student 34. Wall coating 59. Music genre 35. Possesses 60. Formerly (archaic) 36. Makes a mistake 61. Utiliser 37. Embankment 62. Sows 38. Ceremonial splendor 63. T T T 39. Bigheadedness 40. They form skeletons DOWN 41. Young dog 1. Complete 42. Navy jackets 2. Lacquer ingredient 44. Automobile 3. Boundary 45. Large Asian country 4. Chop off 46. Guarantee 5. Distributed 50. Nickel or steel 6. Hiker’s path 52. Nigerian money 7. Step 54. Expected 55. Greek goddess of discord 8. Pizza topping 9. Tiny 56. Instigators 10. On land 58. Pew area
Solution on page 22 38. Contented cat sound 40. Roil 41. Monetary units of Serbia 43. Drink after a drink 44. Gentle touch 46. Full of excitement 47. Love intensely 48. Care for 49. Quizzes 50. List of choices 51. Ages 53. Chills and fever 56. Stomach muscles, for short 57. Band performance September 3, 2026 / R / 23
11. Illegal factory 12. Role 13. Resorts 18. Enlist 22. Twisted 24. Sponsorship 26. Windmill blade 28. Roof overhangs 29. Tent-pitching place 30. Glimpse 31. Chick’s sound 32. Desire 33. Looking ahead 34. A star with 5 points 37. Amount lent