compiled by Susan Drinkard
(wo)MAN on the street
What
do you want to accomplish or do for fun before summer
ends?
“I want to find housing for my other half and I, and it’s a challenge. We are living in a car now and any place we can find to sleep. For fun, there are good things crossing our paths every day, though often small, so we try to appreciate them.”
Amanda Richardson
Housing challenged Sandpoint
“I would like to move back to Louisiana, to Shreveport, because I miss the weather, the culture, the Cajun cuisine and family.”
Dez Darden Assistant manager Sandpoint
“ I want to go on another long Harley ride. I just went to Texas and back.”
John Lecroy Manager, Conoco station Sandpoint
“I would like to see a moose while visiting relatives this week in North Idaho.”
Barb Pemp Sales Tucson, Arizona
“We’d like to do more camping, hiking, and riding horses. And maybe one more hot day so we can go to the beach.”
Paula Favorite
Isadora Gilchrist
Waldorf School sixth graders
Both of Sandpoint
DEAR READERS,
See you later, August. Hello September. Although our fearless columnist Scarlette Quille isn’t a big fan of this season, I love it.
I love the warm days and cool nights. I love recognizing people on the downtown streets again. I love harvesting the garden, cramming in last-minute backpacking missions to the mountains, waking up to see the first frost of the year.
I guess I like autumn because it’s a contemplative time. It’s a time to take stock, to wrap up those projects before winter, to squeeze in all of those non-snow activities.
The good news? We technically still have two weeks of summer left, so don’t put away the flip flops quite yet.
On a sad note, we at the Reader wish the best for the staff at Arlo’s Ristorante and Blue Lizard, as well as the building owners, after the building was condemned this week. We hope you all land safely in new locations and continue doing business here in our beautiful town. To the future!
-Ben Olson,
Publisher
READER
111 Cedar Street, Suite 9 Sandpoint, ID 83864 (208)265-9724
www.sandpointreader.com
Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com
Editor: Cameron Rasmusson cameron@sandpointreader.com
Zach Hagadone (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus)
Advertising: Jodi Taylor Jodi@sandpointreader.com
Contributing Artists: Jodi Rawson (cover), Ben Olson, Bill Borders, Tim Henney, Eric Mann.
Contributing Writers: Cameron Rasmusson, Ben Olson, Lyndsie Kiebert, Nick Gier, Scarlette Quille, Brenden Bobby, Lyndsie Kiebert, Justin Henney, Laurie Brown, Jodi Rawson, Scott Taylor, Drake the Dog.
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The Sandpoint Reader is a weekly publication owned and operated by Ben Olson and Keokee. It is devoted to the arts, entertainment, politics and lifestyle in and around Sandpoint, Idaho.
We hope to provide a quality alternative by offering honest, in-depth reporting that reflects the intelligence and interests of our diverse and growing community. The Reader is printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Leftover copies are collected and recycled weekly, or burned in massive bonfires to appease the gods of journalism. Free to all, limit two copies per person.
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Letters will be edited to comply with the above requirements. Opinions expressed in these pages are those of the writers, not necessarily the publishers.
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About the Cover
This week’s cover was painted by Jodi Rawson, who likes to sneak pieces of artwork under our office door from time to time. Thanks Jodi.
Construction continues on First, Cedar and Ella
By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff
Summer might be drawing to a close, but there are still a few months left in the construction season before the snow flies.
Perhaps the most conspicuous new project is the sewer main replacement on First Avenue. Work on the project began promptly after Labor Day, with the first leg of work centering on the intersection of First and Main. Once work is completed at the intersection around mid-September, it will advance northward, ultimate encompassing the stretch of First Avenue spanning from Cedar Street and Second Avenue to Church Street.
Drivers should expect limited mobility as work unfolds from block to block, although the project is structured to limit affected stretches of street. Individuals trying to access businesses in the area can make use of the Farmin’s Landing parking lot, which provides two-way access.
On Sept. 15, the city will take advantage of the street closure to make room for a cornhole tournament approved by the American Cornhole League. Sandpoint City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton said the idea is to encourage foot traffic to businesses in the downtown core that suffer during the construction season. The event will feature $1,000 in prizes and is a satellite event to the Inland Northwest Cornhole Championship, which takes place this Saturday afternoon at Mickduff’s Beer Hall.
Meanwhile, work progresses on schedule on Cedar Street. According to the most recent city construction update, work following the La-
bor Day weekend will include “intermittent lane closures and flagging between Second and Fifth Avenues while crews continue placing sidewalk and pavers, backfilling and installing street furniture.”
Finally, work is progressing along Ella Avenue. The project is primarily focused on paving replacement along with limited work on curbs, gutters and storm drains. Since funds remain in the project, planners are looking to enhance the safety of the street, which is a popular bike route but includes only two stop signs.
In a presentation to Sandpoint City Council members Wednesday, city engineer Dan
Tadic said residents along the street have reported speeding drivers, and the combination of Litehouse shift changes and school pickups can lead to congestion problems.
To improve the safety of the street, planners are considering a variety of speed-control approaches. One particularly attractive option is a speed table — a device that provides a three-inch rise over several feet. In contrast to speed bumps, speed tables provide a gentler, shorter ascent over a longer stretch of road. Tadic said they are recommended for speed control in the most definitive street design guides relied upon by professionals
nationwide. What’s more, they shouldn’t impact snow removal service during the winter or drainage during rainy seasons.
“(Our street superintendent) doesn’t feel these will impede snow removal, particularly because this route will be cleared with a new loader as opposed to the grader,” Tadic said.
Should the street tables be utilized, planners are considering them for three locations: mid-block between Church and Oak streets, mid-block between Fir and Larch and mid-block between Spruce and Chestnut.
“We’re looking to put these mid-block to avoid intersections and driveways,” said
Tadic. “There’s not a ton of areas you can necessarily put these.”
The safety improvement additions to the Ella project have received preliminary approval from granting agency Local Strategic Initiatives, which funded the project at $546,732 The next step is to contact adjacent property owners to inform them of the work According to Tadic’s estimations, the speed tables cost around $14,000 apiece. However, with $110,000 in unexpended grant funds, that still leaves between $50,000 and $60,000 in the budget.
Construction crewmembers get down and dirty as they work on a bulb out at the corner of Fourth Ave. and Cedar St. on Tuesday. Photo by Ben Olson.
Forty-foot statue bound for Jamaica
By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff
An art project that could go as far as Jamaica and New York City is getting its start in Ponderay.
Local man Don Frost is carving a giant redwood into a statue of King Nebuchadnezzar, a Babylonian king from the Book of Daniel in the Bible. A religious project of ambitious scope, the statue is intended to further religious outreach and inspire a greater interest in the Bible and biblical prophecy. According to Frost, the project could potentially be one of the largest chainsaw carvings in the world.
“It’ll be put into a shipping container, and then it’ll be sent to New Kingston, Jamaica West Indies, and then it’ll be erected in the center of the capital,” said Frost.
The subject of the carving, King Nebuchadnezzar, is drawn from the second chapter of Daniel. In the chapter, Nebuchadnezzar dreams that a giant statue made in his image of multiple materials — gold, silver, iron, bronze and clay — is crushed by a stone that grows to fill the entire world. The prophet Daniel then interprets the dream, saying that Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom would be overtaken by new worldly powers, which would ultimately be overturned by an everlasting kingdom of God.
The overall height of the statue will be 43 feet and feature a variety of colors, which correspond to the different materials used in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream statue. A massive undertaking, the statue would challenge any artist due to its height and weight. According to Frost, transporting the redwood alone has already posed some mechanical difficulties, albeit nothing they haven’t overcome.
The hope is to use the Jamaica project as the basis for a larger statue — up to 90 feet tall — that Frost intends to raise in
half that size, Frost has his hands full.
“Even moving it with a piece of equipment … I mean, that was a 40,000-pound piece of equipment, and it exploded the hub on it like it wasn’t even there. So it’s a massive thing, and it’s very heavy,” said Frost.
Fortunately, they have a friend in local businessman Lew Patrick, who donated the property on which the statue is being carved. Frost and his collaborators have until Nov. 1 to complete the project.
“If we don’t get it done by then, we have to either plead for mercy from Lew, or we have to go a different direction,” said Frost.
For Patrick’s part, he’s happy to donate the property for such an ambitious undertaking.
“It’s big for us,” he said. “To have this happening in Ponderay, Idaho, is really huge.”
Ben Olson contributed reporting to this story.
School, city staff talk crosswalk safety
By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff
Thanks to a collaboration between the city and Washington Elementary students, the beginning of the school day could get a whole lot safer.
At the Sandpoint City Council meeting Wednesday night, Sandpoint Public Works Director Amanda Wilson said city and school officials were considering a gate system to control traffic during pick-up and drop-off times.
The original idea pitched by students earlier this year was a
rainbow-colored crosswalk that students would utilize.
“That is what the kids wanted and what we really, really wanted to deliver,” Wilson said. “I don’t think I need to offer an explanation as to why a rainbow crosswalk would be amazing.”
Despite the artistic appeal of the idea, Wilson said there’s little documented evidence that a rainbow crosswalk improves safety. There are also cost issues associated with the variety of paints and maintenance involved.
A more practical solution to improving street safety may be to turn Erie into a temporary
Cornhole — in the middle of the street
By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff
When A&P Bar and Grill Manager James Mize was brainstorming a way to close out summer 2018 with a bang, he decided a cornhole tournament would be the way to go.
With First Avenue being closed for a sewer main replacement, Mize said he saw an opportunity host a cornhole tournament like no other — in the street, with an outdoor beer garden, bar and food to boot.
“It’ll be a big block party,” he said.
one-way during drop-off times. Using a gating and zoning system, school staff would be able to control traffic and more easily ensure student safety.
That doesn’t mean the students are shut out of the planning process. On Sept. 12, city staff will meet with the kids to get their input on the design of the gate system, which means a rainbow color scheme might not be out of the question.
“I think it’s really important for them to see this as something they were involved in and helped make safer,” Wilson said.
The tournament is Saturday, Sept. 15 with registration at 9 a.m. and bags flying at 10. All players must be 21 years old. There are two tournament categories — singles and doubles. Those participating in only one category pay $30, and those playing in both pay $50. Mize said registration comes with a meal and souvenir.
On top of it all, Mize said this event is officially sanctioned by the American Cornhole League, meaning players can acquire points in order to qualify for larger ACL tournaments around the country.
“It’ll be great for the whole community to come down, spectate and have a cold beer,” he said.
Find registration forms at A&P, 222 N. First Ave. in Sandpoint.
Top: A still frame from a video on YouTube documenting the installation of the tree in Ponderay.
Right: an artist’s concept of what the finished carving will look like. Images courtesy Great Image Media.
midtown Manhattan. But even with a project
FEATURE
Racist robocalls across nation again linked to Sandpoint man
By Ben Olson and Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff
A series of racist robocalls made national news last week, each claiming to have been paid for by a video blog called The Road to Power, a video blog site that has a connection to Sandpoint resident Scott Rhodes.
In Florida last week, robocalls targeted Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, who if elected, would become the first African-American governor of Florida.
According to the Washington Post, the Florida robocall began with sounds of drums and monkeys in the background as an affected voice said, “Well, hello there. I is Andrew Gillum. We Negroes … done made mud huts while white folk waste a bunch of time making their home out of wood an’ stone.”
The call was listed as paid for by “TheRoadToPower.com,” which contains racist videos featuring Scott Rhodes, whose identity was confirmed by Sandpoint Reader reporters as the same man investigated for the distribution of racist CDs onto students’ vehicles parked in the Sandpoint High School parking lot late last year.
The story led to national news last week, with most major news networks reporting on the call.
“This is reprehensible – and could only have come from someone with intentions to fuel hatred and seek publicity. Please don’t give it undeserved attention,” Gillum’s spokesman, Geoff Burgan, said in a statement to the media.
A similar robocall was reported in Iowa last week which attempted to politicize the death of Iowa university student Mollie Tibbetts after she was allegedly killed by undocumented immigrant Cristhian Bahena Rivera earlier this month.
The call, also listed as paid for by Rhodes’ website, used a voice attempting to impersonate Tibbetts: “If after her life has now
been brutally stolen from her, she could be brought back to life for just one moment and asked, ‘What do you think now?’ Mollie Tibbetts would say, ‘Kill them all.’”
The Des Moines Register reported that Tibbetts’ father Rob, among others in Iowa, received the automated call just one week after his daughter was found dead.
“It was unbelievably painful,” Tibbetts told the Register. “It was everything that’s dark and wrong in America right now.”
He also said the call contained views that Mollie would have considered “profoundly racist.”
The Florida and Iowa robocalls continue a pattern of racist automated calls which claim to be paid for by Rhodes’ website, with other racist calls received in Oregon, California, and Charlottesville and Alexandria, Va. It is unclear how many have received calls in each location.
A call last month in California supported neo-Nazi candidate Patrick Little for Senate, and another urged Californians to move to North Idaho because it’s “one of the whitest places left.”
Residents of Sandpoint reported they had received robocalls from Little — which were not listed as paid for by Rhodes’ website — claiming he was going to arrive in Sandpoint in “mid-August” to drum up support
for a presidential run in 2020.
When reached by a Reader reporter, Little was unable to provide any specifics on a meeting time or place in Sandpoint, but said he was “Running on an ‘expel the Jew platform’ in 2020.”
Asked if he knew Rhodes, Little demurred: “He seems like a great guy. I look forward to meeting him. I know he’s an honest man.”
Little also labeled his plan calling for the expulsion of all Jews from the United States “moderate.”
When asked if he also intended to deport American citizens who are Jewish, Little said, “I gave birth to a shit yesterday, that doesn’t make it American.”
An attempt at follow up was declined by Little, who demanded $500 per hour to speak to a reporter.
Despite his website being listed as the sponsor of the calls, Rhodes has repeatedly denied involvement with the calls on social media.
Rhodes’ identity — first reported by the Sandpoint Reader in December 2017 — was learned after Sandpoint police investigated the distribution of racist CDs in the Sandpoint High School parking lot. Sandpoint PD observed a red Jeep in surveillance video which was linked to Rhodes. Officers received a tip from the Alexandria police in Virginia linking Rhodes’ Sandpoint
office to harassing phone calls targeting that city’s mayor, Allison Silberberg. Local officers visited his office and trespassed Rhodes from school district property for one year. That trespass order will expire in December 2018. Rhodes has not been charged with any crimes.
Rhodes, who may also use the name Scott Platek, has not responded to multiple attempts for comment but did email a Spokesman-Review reporter after the Reader publicized his identity.
“There has been an outrageous attempt by two small town papers to mislead readers to infer that I have something to do with actual crimes,” Rhodes wrote. “Further, a single phone call to a public office holder, if truly made from my shared offices as alleged, is not a crime if the content was as they describe.”
A Sandpoint attorney contacted the Reader in Jan. 2017, claiming that he had been retained by Rhodes, but subsequent inquiries to the law office revealed that Rhodes was no longer a client.
Rhodes moved out of his offices on Division Avenue after stories published his identity, but he is currently still renting a home just west of Sandpoint.
A Reader reporter reached out to the property owner who rents to Rhodes, but the landlord declined
to comment on the record.
Rhodes’ website contains over a dozen video podcasts featuring racist language and ideas, all spoken by him. Rhodes regularly targets Jewish and African-American individuals with racial slurs in his videos and outlines ideas for starting national movements to place white nationalists in power. He regularly advocates the mass expulsion of Jewish and African-American individuals from the U.S.
Rhodes also encourages viewers to spread hate flyers in one video, suggesting viewers buy clear plastic bags that “also allows you to put something inside to give it weight so you can easily toss it, that also prevents it from blowing away.”
Sandpoint residents reported on several occasions that racist flyers were found on their lawns in clear plastic bags, some with weights added to them to make them easier to throw.
While most of Rhodes’ videos have between 100-200 views each, the latest media attention he has received kicked the latest video’s view count over 2,000 views.
Top left: A still frame from TheRoadToPower. com, a video blog site featuring videos containing racist material spoken by Scott Rhodes. Top right: Scott Rhodes, as seen in a Sandpoint PD body cam still after he was trespassed from school district property in Dec. 2017. Courtesy images.
OPINION
The negative effects of income inequality on mental health
By Nick Gier Reader Columnist
In 2011 British epidemiologists Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett released the second edition of their book “The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger.” It contained new evidence and a response to their critics. The authors studied levels of trust, mental illness, life expectancy, infant mortality, educational achievement, teen births, homicides and incarceration rates.
Among selected industrialized countries the authors found that the U.S. performed the worst on all nine indicators, and that the most consistent predictor was economic inequality. Significantly enough, the more equal American states had better results on these issues.
In their new book “The Inner Level: How More Equal Societies Reduce Stress, Restore Sanity, and Improve Everyone’s Wellbeing,” Wilkinson and Pickett have gathered more data about inequality’s negative effect on mental health. They conclude that “inequality eats
In Response...
Dear Editor,
David Haussler, since you are so interested in science, you may find it interesting that there are receptors in the human brain whose only purpose is to bind with THC, the psychoactive mind altering substance in marijuana.
I have a question for you David: Why did your God put these receptors there if they are not to be used? That is also the case for other psychoactive substances such as psilocybin, which is manufactured only in the brain.
And then there is Steve Brixen.
Steve, if you had taken the time to educate yourself you would know that millions of years ago Antarctica was thousands of miles north of where it is now. Before that Antarctica was part of a “super” continent known as Gondwanaland which was made up of Africa, Asia, Antarctica, Australia, Europe and North and South America.
Also Steve, Neanderthals did not exist when there were dinosaurs. Neanderthals did not arrive until millions of years after the dinosaurs went extinct.
Since you brought up Neanderthals let’s talk about racial purity. The Human Genome Project has found that the only place pure Homo sapiens can be found is among blacks in Africa.
Beginning about 40,000 years ago
into the heart of our immediate, personal world, and the vast majority of the population are affected by the ways in which inequality becomes the enemy between us.”
In a 2010 paper Wilkinson and Pickett found that only 10 percent of Japanese and Germans suffered from some form of mental illness, while 20 percent of those in the United Kingdom and 25 percent of Americans did so. The Japanese and Germans are significantly more equal than Americans, with the British less so.
Our authors cite research that showed that “in 1980, 4 percent of Americans suffered a mental disorder associated with anxiety, today half do.” Between 2007 and 2017 the number of Americans receiving Social Security Disability benefits due to a mental disorder increased 2.5 times.
A survey by the World Health Organization revealed that “the life-time prevalence of any mental disorder was 55 percent in the U.S., 49 percent in New Zealand, 43 percent in the Netherlands, 33 percent in Germany, but only 20 percent in
these black Homo sapiens of Africa moved into Europe and mated with Neanderthals thereby creating the rest of us.
Outside of Africa the rest of humanity is a hybrid of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. In other words, outside of Africa humanity is a mongrel race.
So misters Haussler and Brixen, try educating yourselves with real science instead of the pseudoscience you have been consuming via right-wing internet blogs and Fox News. You both are sorely lacking in critical thinking. Embracing that which agrees with your world view is NOT critical thinking.
Lee Santa Sandpoint
County Should Cooperate...
Dear Editor, Regional 9-1-1 will save money and lives by supporting fast, cooperative emergency responses. Contrary to some comments, conversations on regionalizing 9-1-1 operations were initiated more than two years ago in Bonner County. Unfortunately, progress stalled. According to former Bonner County Technology Director Bill Harp, in 2016 Bonner County won a state grant to fund a key component of 9-1-1 regionalization. Due to inaction by Commissioners, the $127,000.00 grant has not been executed, and the county will likely have to return the funds.
Nigeria and 18 percent in China.” The criterion here was wealth and not necessarily income inequality.
Young people are also suffering. In Britain, since 2011, there has been a 68 percent rise in rates of self-harm among girls aged 13 to 16, and 58 percent of British teachers believe that there is a mental health crisis in their schools. From 2010 to 2015 there was a 36 percent increase in depressive episodes among American adolescents. School bullying is also much more prevalent in unequal countries.
Research has shown that status anxiety is much higher in unequal countries, and one study revealed that “people of lower status in hierarchies have higher levels in their blood of a clotting factor called fibrinogen, implying that their bodies are constantly on high alert to heal potential wounds.”
Anxiety has been found to cause depression, drug addiction, and increases in suicidal thoughts, narcissism and schizophrenia. Excessive drug use correlates tightly with economic inequality all over the world.
I spent my career managing telecommunication infrastructure in the technology industry. I started out climbing poles and ended up delivering high-quality service at far lower than average cost for AT&T as Operations Manager for Oregon.
It is unacceptable that critical public safety projects have been ignored. 9-1-1 technologies are complex, and vital. Realistically, regionalization will take years.
The county’s current proposal to charge other jurisdictions for the current 9-1-1, contrary to existing agreements, is ill advised. Funding should be reconsidered as part of a broader 9-1-1 regional plan. If I am elected in November, you will see attention to these issues and strong collaboration on behalf of local and regional public safety.
Steve Lockwood Sandpoint
Who’s the Real Boogeyman...
Dear Editor,
The FBI has said that there is no evidence to date that Trump ever met with a Russian figure banned from the United States.
Yet, Trump fired Paul Manafort on Aug. 18, 2016, when he heard that a New York Times report revealed that Trump’s campaign chairman was designated to receive potentially illegal cash payments from a pro-Russian political
Most people do not realize that narcissism is categorized as a mental illness in psychiatry’s Diagnostic and Statistics Manual. From 1982 to 2006, psychologists administered the Narcissistic Personality Inventory to thousands of American college students, and they found that there was a 30-percent increase in the display of narcissistic symptoms. Two questions especially caught my eye: “If I ruled the world, it would be a better place,” and “I can live my life any way I want to.”
Wilkinson and Pickett report an ever increasing “defensive, narcissistic presentation of self” in unequal societies, and a reviewer from The Guardian remarks that “we risk creating a society of mini-Trumps all clawing at one another’s hairpieces.”
Trump certainly epitomizes this description of narcissistic people: “they tend to lack empathy, react aggressively to criticism, and favor self-promotion over helping others.” Narcissists undermine the social fabric of those around them, but the one in the White House
party in Ukraine.
McCain’s drama involved Paul Manafort’s law partner Rick Davis and one of the same Russian oligarchs, Oleg Deripaska; the same Russian diplomat, Sergey Kislyak, and the same wily Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, that now dominate the current Trump controversy.
Behind the scenes McCain’s top advisers had cultivated deep ties with Russia’s oligarchy and promoted the Kremlin’s geopolitical and economic interests. Davis Manafort’s work was considered so detrimental to U.S. interests that a National Security Council official called McCain’s office to complain, according to the New York Times. The McCain campaign denies receiving the NSC complaint.
McCain actually met twice with Deripaska, a Russian businessman and Putin ally whose visa was blocked by the United States amidst intelligence community concerns about his ties to Moscow. The meetings were arranged by Rick Davis, Manafort’s partner in the law partner, who later would become McCain’s campaign manager.
Either McCain was utterly clueless while his top advisers and political allies ran around the former Soviet domain promoting the Kremlin’s interests for cash, or he was aware of it and didn’t care. Nonetheless, McCain didn’t fire Rick Davis (Manafort’s business partner).
A person might wonder why in Mc-
has upset economic and diplomatic relations throughout the world.
Those who say that inequality is natural and preferable, because it induces people to try their best to move up the latter has been proved to be wrong. Most European countries have a higher social mobility rate than the U.S. does. While only 25 percent of Americans born in the lowest economic 20 percent move out of the bottom, a full 40 percent of Danes do.
The most alarming statistic is increased mortality rates for American men without a college degree ages 45-54. They are dying because of drug and alcohol abuse, and their suicide rate is eight times the national average.
A reviewer from The Economist magazine observes: “The world’s richest large country, the city on a hill, seems to be coming apart.”
Nick Gier of Moscow taught philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years. Read more on inequality at www.nickgier.com/ InequalityPage.pdf. Email him at ngier006@gmail.com.
Cain’s campaign, being informed by the FBI of the potential for espionage, he did nothing. Where, in Trump’s campaign, with only the potential for contact, the decision by the FBI was to insert spies into Trump’s campaign.
Maureen Paterson Priest River
Dear Editor,
The Bonner County Human Rights Task Force is quite dismayed that recently an attempt to contact us was not successful. We are taking all precautions so this does not happen in the future. We recognize the importance of being responsive to our community and will make every effort to get back to you right away if you contact us. We have been responding to calls from members of the community for over 20 years and will continue to do so. Thank you for your continued support of Human Rights in Bonner County and beyond.
Our contact information is as follows: Task Force phone: (208)290-2732 (call or text) Gmail account: bchrtaskforce@gmail.com
Lynn Bridges BCHRTF Board member Sandpoint
September 6, 2018 / R / 7
Bouquets:
•This Bouquet came from one of our readers, who wanted to make sure to share with us (and our readers) something awesome she saw recently.
The reader said she noticed Corey Obenauer, the owner of Burl Wood Dreams in downtown Sandpoint, picking up cigarette butts and sweeping in front of his shop and on the corner. She thanked Corey for taking such pride in his town and business, then continued to see him each and every day sweeping and cleaning downtown.
When running into Corey weeks later, the reader said she talked with him and found he goes up to 15 blocks every morning and considers the cleaning routine his daily exercise.
Way to have pride in your community, Corey! If you’re downtown in Sandpoint, go by Burl Wood Dreams and let him know how much you appreciate his actions.
Barbs
• You know what chaps my hide? When people write and complain about our coverage, but refuse to give their contact information. Occasionally, we’ll get hate mail with an actual return address, which is great, because I always like to write a thoughtful response to trolls (nothing angers trolls so much as reasoned, calm rhetoric), but those who choose to stick their hateful missives in the mail without a signature, phone number or email, let alone a return address are, in a word, cowards. If you really want to see change, own your words.
One thing that running a newspaper has taught me is that if you truly believe in something, you shouldn’t have a problem attaching your name to it and owning it. My name is on everything I write. Is yours?
COMMUNITY
CASA fall advocate training
By Reader Staff
Are you interested in giving back to the community, but not sure what you can do to lend your support? Consider becoming a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) and help a child in need.
Fall advocate training for CASA of North Idaho begins this October. No special skills are required. Volunteer advocates are trained, supported and assigned cases to represent child
victims of abuse and neglect.
“We need 12 additional advocates to meet the growing number of local cases,” CASA of North Idaho wrote in a statement. “Do you have time to give?”
Those interested in becoming a CASA advocate or learning more about the program are encouraged to call or text advocate trainer Jan Rust at (509) 879-1793 or email janisrust@ northidahocasa.org and she will gladly answer any questions.
Veterans outreach in Priest River
By Reader Staff
Representatives from the Bonner County Veterans Service Office will be in Priest River Tuesday, Sept. 18 to answer questions about current veterans’ benefits, assist with ongoing claims and to take new claims for benefits for eligible veterans and their dependents.
The meetings will take place
at the VFW Post #2909, 113 Larch Street, Priest River.
Bonner County Service Officer Bryan Hult will be seeing veterans by appointment only to ensure everyone is given quality time. Appointments must be scheduled by calling Lyndsie Halcro at (208) 255-5291.
If there are no appointments scheduled for this outreach it will be canceled.
Speed dating with books!
By Reader Staff
Attention book lovers: find your perfect match! This is an invitation to all lovers of books and literature. Please join the Friends of the Library on Thursday, September 13 from 10:30 to 12 p.m. in Room B of the Bonner County Library for speed
Laughing Matter
By Bill Borders
Rhythmic and Acrosport gymnastics classes offered
By Reader Staff
A gymnastics class on rhythmics and acrosport is being offered by Sandpoint Parks and Recreation for co-eds aged 6-18 years old Rhythmics is a beautiful activity that combines elements of ballet, gymnastics, dance and manipulation of five apparatus: ball, clubs, hoops, ribbons and rope into skills and routines to music.
Acrosport uses partners and groups working together to perform acrobatic skills of tumbling, lifts, balances, tosses and catches of partners in combination with dance. Gymnasts of all sizes are needed. Bases are bigger and
Honor, duty, country...
dating with books!
Come share your favorite read of the year, enjoy light refreshments and congenial conversation and depart with a list in your pocket of fresh, new titles for reading enjoyment.
Open to all to attend. Call the Sandpoint Library for more information, (208) 263-6930.
Dear Editor, Honor – Duty – Country, these are words were the foundation of John McCain’s life. Where can these three words find a place in the today’s America? Certainly they will not be among the leadership of the Senate, the House of Representatives or the White House. Nor will they find a prominent place in most state houses, county offices or city halls.
Our nation is much poorer with John McCain no longer among us. He was called the “Conscience of the Senate.” I would call him the Conscience of America. Who will take his place? Surely not any of the president’s sycophants
strong, tops are petite. These classes are taught in a recreational format. Wear athletic clothing that is not too baggy. The session goes from Sept. 12 to Oct. 18. The registration deadline for this session is Sept. 10. All classes will take place at the Sandpoint Community Hall. The beginners class is from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Wednesdays. The intermediate class is from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Wednesdays. The advanced class is 5-6 p.m. Thursdays. A minimum of five participants is needed in each class level. Register online at SandpointIdaho.gov/ParksRecreation or call (208)263-3613.
currently serving in the Senate or House. They have shown that they have no concept of honor, duty or country.
Lest you think McCain was a saint let me assure you that was not true. I seldom agreed with him. What I support and applaud is his dedication to getting this unwieldy, contentious democracy to “work.” He sought compromise on solving the nations’ problems. He understood the need to move in small steps to accomplish what would be best of the country.
As retired Navy I salute him, as an American I honor him. Senator, you surely will be missed.
Gil Beyer ETC USN retired Sandpoint
Courtesy photo.
Back to School
keg stands and road trips. Summer doesn’t seem that long once you have a couple of kids in college.
Just saying.
Well, it pains me to say it, but summer has started making its smoky exit. Life will be all about football, hunting, orange leaves and pumpkin spice now.
It’s not my favorite time of year. The only thing I dislike more than pumpkin spice-scented shit is extra layers of clothing. September is all about wearing a parka and drinking coffee in the morning and by 4 p.m., you have to put on a bikini and make yourself a margarita. It’s bizarre. My car is full of the sweaty layers I peel off during the day at work. It smells like a locker room, with a hint of stale Doritos.
I’m seeing a lot of Facebook posts from excited moms finally free from entertaining little ones all summer. Soak it in, mamas. Just wait until they are 18 and you have to drop them off at the dorms. You won’t be so smug. Just yesterday you were wiping boogers, buying school clothes and signing 400 permission slips. Now that little bundle you brought home from the hospital is learning the finer points of
I dropped two of my daughters off this year at Boise State. One is a freshman and the other a sophomore, but to me, they are still 8 and 9 years old and fighting over who used all the hot water. The denial stage is running long for me, and I don’t even have an empty nest. I still have two in the house, and that might seem like a lot to some people, but for me it’s only 50 percent. I can tell you firsthand it’s the little things that sneak up on you after your kids leave the house.
Suddenly a box of Goldfish lasts twice as long, and you no longer have to buy toilet paper in bulk. As a mom I’ve always imagined what it would be like to have more Goldfish and toilet paper than I needed, but when the day came there was no celebration. The two younger siblings have their own rooms for the first time ever, and yet they still find a way to sleep in each other’s room because all that space just makes them feel lonely. Be careful what you wish for, right?
As far as dropping them off at college goes, it wasn’t scary in the ways I thought it would be. Boise State is a bigger, newer
campus than it was when I was there, for sure. However, the most significant difference that I observed is that college dorms are a whole lot fancier than they were in 1994. Sure you have the same bare bones awkward shared spaces, but these days the college students participate in a flurry of decorating, renovating and creating an Instagram-worthy space, before they even think about going to their first party.
There were at least four Kuerigs in the shared living space. I didn’t even own a coffee maker until I was 30. Each of her roommates had some sort of Pinterest-inspired “space” complete with throw pillows and rugs. It has to be exhausting to be a kid these days. The big ticket items in my dorm room were a boombox and a crockpot. I can’t even imagine what kind of extravagant furnishings my 7 year old will require once he gets to college. The kid can already program a DVR and order things from Amazon Prime.
The point is that they grow up fast, and no matter how ready you think you are to have the house to yourself, it’s still a little disappointing. I’ve spent the majority of the last six months watching YouTube tutorials on how to turn a school bus into a traveling home, so when it’s just my son and I left, we can drive our bus home
(they call them “Skoolies”) to wherever the sisters live and visit them. I think they will just love that: “Oh look, my mom’s parking her school bus house in the dorm parking lot. Maybe she’ll cook us dinner.”
That’s how I imagine it going, except I don’t have the bus yet. Also I suck at cooking. Two years is enough time to work on that, right? As for my son, he has fully embraced the idea of a “Skoolie.” For one thing, he now understands that personal space is overrated, and for two, he enjoys discussing things like composting toilets and diesel fuel efficiency with anyone and everyone. I love every single one of those strange conversations, because I know it will be over way faster than I want it to be.
Hug those school kids, parents, and also hug a mom whose kid left for their last first day of school this year, and buy huge amounts of expensive liquor for the mom who’s kid left for college. It’s the right way to celebrate fall.
Going to buy that school bus soon — we only have two years to get it up and running.
This empty nest is going mobile, Scarlette Quille
Science: Mad about
weird lovin’
By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist
You know what they say: sex sells.
Most of us know how humans make more humans. For those that don’t know about it, I’ll leave that conversation for you to have with your parents and therapist. A lot of the natural world functions a similar way, where opposing genders meet, swap DNA under the stars and pop out new life some time later. Today, we’re going to talk about the weird ways life can spread. Don’t worry, parents. I’ll keep this PG-13.
Ever wonder how those seedless grapes grow, if they can’t produce seeds? Well here’s a little spoiler for you: Most of those grapes you buy are from the same plant. I know what you’re thinking: Scientists in a lab somewhere have some giant underground super-vine that’s seconds away from breaking free and creating a worldwide grape-ocalypse. Hello, Netflix: I’d like to submit my screenplay for “Stranger Things” season 3. Awesome as that may sound, it’s not quite what’s going on. We’ve talked about this before, where it’s actually a trimming taken from a parent plant that is either grafted into another rootstock or planted independently to grow into a new plant. This is a really cool, but inefficient means of reproduction in the plant world. Cool for us, because we can breed out inedible seeds while still producing reliably for decades, but bad because it can’t develop generational resistances to things like disease or predators.
You might be asking yourself: If we can make plants do this, why can’t we do it for
humans? Human cells are a lot more complicated than plant cells, and also testing things like that is ethically questionable, to put it lightly. Yet… We are doing that. Sort of. Scientists have used the cells from the lungs of pigs mixed with bits of DNA from pigs and humans to create fully functioning lungs in the lab that are transplanted into other pigs. Those pigs go on to live healthy lives (until they end up in a scientist’s breakfast burrito.) We do this with organ transplants all the time. Of course, there’s always a risk. Transplanted organs can be rejected by the body for a plethora of reasons, most of which we don’t yet understand, but are getting better at figuring out.
Back onto the topic of weird love, fragmentation is similar to the grafting we discussed. Fungi are pros at fragmentation. Certain types of microscopic fungi and yeasts will break apart and attach to a host, dig in and start sapping nutrients to create new fungi that will eventually break off and do the same elsewhere. Ocean coral and sea sponges can do this, too, and actually depend on things like ocean currents or predators to break pieces off and dump them far away. This has the disadvantages that grafting and all forms of asexual reproduction have, in that it doesn’t create genetic diversity.
Parthenogenesis is perhaps one of the most famous means of atypical reproduction. It’s a big and scientific word that basically means “virgin birth”. Think: The Virgin Mary. In the animal kingdom, it’s not such a rare phenomena. In fact, we see island creatures like komodo dragons practice parthenogenesis all of the time. If a female dragon is isolated for an extended period
of time, she will lay fertile eggs with only her own DNA. Typically, this provides half the genetic makeup needed to develop offspring, so the female doubles up the provided DNA. Unlike humans, where females have XX chromosomes and males have XY, Komodo dragons are inverted. So rather than making only females through parthenogenesis, the mother can only create males which she can mate with and continue the lineage. The House Targaryen banner of a dragon is starting to make a lot more sense!
Hermaphroditic reproduction is another form that seems alien to humans. It’s common among frogs, certain sea anemones and clownfish. If there is a complete absence of a gender in a community, these creatures can actually change genders and reproduce as normal. Sorry, kids, that brings a pretty grown-up twist to “Finding Nemo.”
Typically when we talk about egg fertilization, this takes place — aherm — internally. A rooster can’t fertilize an egg that’s already been laid. Most amphibians say to hell with that, and can fertilize eggs that have already been laid. The fact that there is no hard outer shell probably helps with this, and it is also beneficial to creating great genetic diversity among the community. The major downside is that the females don’t get to pick their mate, so they don’t pass on desired traits to their offspring and all future generations are basically at the mercy of the cosmic dice. Nat 20, little guys! I’m rooting for you.
Of all the stuff I read, I think the strangest and most fascinating oddball reproduction tactic goes to the orchid Ophrys apif-
era. It’s developed what appears to be a female bumble bee right over its flowery reproductive organs, mimicking everything from appearance to smell to even feel (it has little fuzzies all over it, like a bumble bee.) It uses this to attract male bumble bees that attempt to mate with it. After some time, the male bee gets frustrated and leaves, traveling farther than it normally would to avoid having to go through
that embarrassment again before attempting with another flower. Why so much effort on the part of the flower? To prevent inbreeding and maximize genetic diversity. The farther the bee goes, the less likely the orchid’s pollen will end up in a direct relative.
The fact that plants figured this stuff out blows my mind. I hope I didn’t ruin your appetite!
Random Corner
Don’t know much about life? We can help!
•An average person in the U.S. eats 35 tons of food in a lifetime.
•In an average lifetime human skin completely replaces itself 900 times.
•The average person takes 183,755,600 steps in a lifetime.
•80 percent of humanity lives on less than $10 per day.
•The average American spends over five months of his or her life on the phone.
•Joggers live, on average, six years longer.
•50 percent is the lifetime risk of developing cancer for a man in the United States.
•T wo-thirds of all the people in the world who have ever lived to be 65 years old are still alive today.
•One in five Americans believe that the world will end in their lifetime.
•Women spend nearly one year of their lives deciding what to wear.
•Humans spend a third of their life sleeping. That’s about 25 years.
•In a lifetime, your brain’s long-term memor y can hold as many as 1 quadrillion (1 million billion) separate bits of information.
FEATURE
Bonner County’s choppy wake debate
By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff
Last week marked the latest in Bonner County’s wake saga, as county commissioners voted against extending no-wake zones from the county standard of 200 feet to 300 feet around marinas.
The recommendation, presented Aug. 28, came from the Bonner County Waterways Advisory Committee, tasked with presenting solutions to waterway-based issues to the commissioners. Over the past two years, the issue of wake and how it might be damaging shorelines has been a particularly hot topic.
Parks and Waterways Director James Shannon said the 300-foot marina rule’s purpose was to protect areas where boats are stored and could be damaged by wake. Commissioners voted 3-0 against the proposed rule.
“If people are violating the 200-foot no-wake zone, they’ll violate the 300-foot no-wake zone,” said Commissioner Dan McDonald. He noted that the suggestion is coming from one or two marina owners and would only create further confusion, especially for boaters visiting from out-of-state who are accustomed to a 100-foot rule.
A specific waterways subcommittee, created to address to wake issue, put forth a handful of suggestions during an April 30 public hearing. Those solutions included: Emphasis patrols (where Bonner County Sheriff Marine vessels patrol “trouble areas”), adding more mobile buoys to area waterways, funding the “Ride the Core” campaign (which encourages boaters to stick to the center of waterways rather than the shore), establishment of “wake surf areas,” increase of no-wake zone distance or prohibition of wake surfing on the Pend Oreille River west of Dover.
To date, 10 additional roving buoys have been approved, no-wake zone fines were increased in early July from $75 to $150 — with each subsequent infraction being $300— and the 200-foot law is also advertised on banners and fliers at docks and marinas around the county. The new buoys did not make it onto the water this season due to a manufacturing delay, Shannon said.
It’s been wake surfing under the microscope for much of the no-wake debate, as boats for the sport are designed to create larger waves. Wake surfing has also grown in popularity — Pat Holland, co-owner of Action Water Sports, said 80 percent of the lessons he gives are for wake surfing. He said the sport is low impact and easy to
learn, attracting recreators from four to 70 years old.
“It’s a wide range of age and ability that can stand on the board,” he said.
Holland, who served on the subcommittee, said “the finger has been pointed unfairly at the wake surfing community.”
“If you want to regulate boat wakes, you have to regulate all boats,” he said.
In the end, Holland said, his stance is one of increased education, enforcement of existing laws and reciprocated respect.
“Respect gets respect from both sides,” Holland said. “The water-using community needs to respect homeowners, but homeowners need to respect boaters who are exercising their right to use public water.”
Win Taylor, who owns property on the Pend Oreille River and said he’s seen damage from wake on his own shore, said he thought more patrols on the narrow part of the river would be a practical solution.
“God bless the sheriff’s office — they’ve done their part,” he said, noting he’s seen more patrol on the river this summer than the last five seasons combined.
Taylor, who also served on the subcommittee, said that while many people say “rip-rap your shoreline,” that process is not cheap, fast or easy. He thought the subcommittee’s suggestions were worth considering.
“I found the waterways committee very civilized, and I think we found some common ground between surfers and property owners,” he said. “I thought reasonableness prevailed.”
Still, Taylor said he’s disappointed that more of the advisory committee’s suggested policy changes haven’t yet seen approval from the commissioners’ office.
Commissioner Jeff Connolly said the BOCC stands behind more education and enforcement in an effort to get everyone “up to speed on what’s going on in Bonner County” as far as no-wake zones go. He said the issue is bigger than one regulation change.
“A lot of people are trying to downplay it. They’re saying ‘just make it 300 feet,’ but the issue is bigger than that,” he said, adding that he hasn’t seen the science to convince him that extending the zone
out another 100 feet would make much of a difference when waves reach the shore.
Connolly said he thinks the use of more buoys and increased enforcement in trouble areas next summer will help, before implementing any more regulations or making changes to current laws.
“Hopefully we make a statement that way,” he said. “There’s plenty of places to (recreate on the water) where you won’t affect anybody.”
Head of the Bonner County Sheriff’s Marine Division, Ed Jochum, said deputies have handed out over 30 no-wake citations
this year. Two-thirds of those violations were by visiting recreators.
As boating season comes to a close, Jochum said continued education will likely help everyone get along on county waterways. However, he said, further regulations are up to the commissioners, if they choose to go that route.
“People just need to use common sense and be courteous — that’ll probably go further than anything,” he said. “We’ll probably never solve the wake issue, but maybe we can soften it.”
Photo by Lyndsie Kiebert.
Comedy on the Patio
8pm @ 219 Lounge
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Dollar Beers!
8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Good until the keg’s dry
Join local comic Austin Langley and a host of regional comics for a night of laughs as Austin prepares to ride his bicycle from Sandpoint to Los Angeles, raising funds and awareness for World Bicycle Relief
Live Music w/ Devon Wade
6:30-9:30pm @ MickDuff’s Beer Hall
Celebrate First Fridays with a night of country music at the Beer Hall
Live Music w/ Miah Kohal Band 9pm-12am @ 219 Lounge
Sandpoint’s favorite classic rock and outlaw country band
Live Music w/ Dave DeVeau
5-7pm @ Laughing Dog Brewery
Live Music w/ Kevin Garrett and his Crooked Tooth Trio
9pm @ 219 Lounge
Unpretentious, emotionally honest rock n’ roll and acoustic
Live Music w/ John Firshi
5-7pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Live Music w/ Dave DeVeau
5-7pm @ Laughing Dog Brewery
Sandpoint Chess Club
9am @ Evans Brothers Coffee Meets every Sunday at 9am
Live Music w/ Mostly Harmless 7pm @ Eichardt’s Pub A fun Sandpoint trio
Live Music w/ Son of Brad
5-8pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Daniel is back with spectacular guitar work and songwriting
208-265-1185
5:30-7:30pm
First toss at 1 p.m. Four regulation courts are set up to test your tossing abilities in a double elimination tournament. Register at (208) 209-6700
Second Saturday Art Reception
5-7pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Lesley Gadsby will feature her work of oil and cold wax, while Bob Beadling plays the piano
Injectors Car Show
9am-2pm @ Downtown Sandpoint
The 19th annual Injectors Car Show features prizes for cars, plus entertainment, music, trivia, raffle and silent auction. It’s a great event for the entire family - free and open to the public
Piano Sunday w/ Annie Welle
4-6pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Live piano music at the Winery
Monday Night Blues Jam w/ Truck Mills 7:30pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Night-Out Karaoke
9pm @ 219 Lounge
Join DJ Pat for a night of singing, or just come to drink and listen
Wind Down Wednesday
5-8pm @ 219 Lounge
With live music by blues
man Truck Mills and guest musician John Firshi
Trivia Night
Giving Goes A Long Way 4pm @ Beet & Basil Cancer benefit for local
Lifetree Cafe • 2pm @ Jalepeño’s Mexican Restaurant
An hour of conversation and stories. This week’s topic:
Parkinson’s Support Group
7-9pm @ MickDuff’s
Bring your brains and try not to dull them with beer too much. It’s on!
Dollar Beers! 8pm @ Eichardt’s Pub
Good until the keg’s dry
2pm @ BGH, 413 N. Third Ave. Ste 101 Call Elizabeth at (208) 265-3325 for more
Paint and Sip (and Snack!)
6pm @ Pend d’Oreille Winery
Join Holly Walker and the Winery for a night of painting, sipping and snacking! It’ll be a harvest theme. Reserve your spot at (208) 265-8545
Better Breathers Club Meeting 1pm @ BGH, 413 N. Third Ave. Call (208) 265-1045 for more information
ful
Adult Grief Support Group
6pm @ Bonner General Health Classroom
Open to all. Hosted by Bonner General Health Community Hospice. Call Lissa at 208-265-1185 for more information
September 6 - 13, 2018
A weekly entertainment guide to keep you on your toes. To list your event free, please send an email to calendar@sandpointreader.com.
Reader recommended
Bella Note Musical Program: Summer Highlights
10:30am @ Sandpoint Library
Featuring Bella Note students of various ages who studied music over the summer. Everyone will enjoy a small group activity at the end of the show
Live Music w/ Ron Kieper Jazz Trio
5:30-7:30pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
A great selection of brews and some excellent tunes too
Fired Up:
Planning for Wildfire in Bonner Co.
11am-2pm @ Sandpoint Library
Sandpoint Farmers Market: Taste of the Market
9am-1pm @ Farmin Park
Big Free Giveaway
11am-2pm @ LDS Church, 602 Schweitzer Cut-Off Rd.
Clothing, home goods, toys, books, shoes and much more ... come take what you want and need
Shop for locally grown produce, artisan wares, and more, plus, chef demonstrations and lots of samples provided by market vendors. Enjoy live music with the Wildcrafters Classic set up elimination and piano features prizraffle entire
A Long Way - Local Cancer Benefit
& Basil benefit for local mother of three, Gabrielle Easton
Mexican Restaurant week’s topic: “The Art of Listening”
Group Ave. Ste 101 265-3325 for more information
North Idaho wildfires will be the focus of an informational meeting hosted by 350Sandpoint. org, featuring a panel of experts representing Bonner County, the Northside Fire District, the Idaho Forest Group and Idaho Panhandle National Forest. Topics will include wildfire response, forest management, preparation for evacuation, health impacts of smoke, and grants available to local government for planning. Open to the public
Library Garden Work Day
8am-12pm @ Sandpoint Library
The library is building a new community educational garden and we need your help - show up to help get this project to take root! For more information, contact Mike Bauer at (208) 265-2665
Diabetes Education and Support Group
10-11am @ BGH, 413 N. Third Ave. Ste 101
Lily Grace from Lily Grace Dog Services presents, “It’s a Dog’s Life.” For more information, call (208) 265-6729
AHWF Benefit • 5-8pm @ Idaho Pour Authority
Support American Heritage Wildlife Foundation from Clark Fork while sipping Odell Brewing Co. beer and listening to live music by Marty Perron
Sandpoint Farmers Market @ Farmin Park for locally grown produce, artisan wares, eat good food enjoy live music by John Firshi
Club Meeting
Third Ave. Ste 101 for more information
Magic Wednesday
6-8pm @ Jalapeño’s Mexican Restaurant
Enjoy close-up magic shows by Star Alexander right at your table, with intrigue and amazing edu-tainment for all ages
The Conversation
6-8pm @ Ivano’s Italian Ristorante “Telling Your Story for Selling Your Vision” a hands-on, infotaining session with Suzen Fiskin, Success & Happiness Coach
Sept. 14
The Lark and the Loon in concert @ Di Luna’s
Sept. 14-15
Emerson Band @ 219 Lounge
Sept. 15
Clean Comedy Show Fundraiser for AHWF @ Memorial Community Center
One wheel, one cause... one heck of a long way
Sandpoint man returns from unicycling across the state of Washington to raise money for a local elementary school
By Justin Henney Reader Contributor
Irecently returned from a unicycle trip. On the outside, the trip was about raising money for Washington Elementary because I work there and am able to see the huge amount of energy and effort that teachers give, not to mention the personal money so many spend on their students. My interior motivation was about losing some of my complacency in life and regaining a sense of gratitude.
During my five-day journey I traveled through the Coleville Indian Reservation. My first day into the reservation I learned that there was a 4,000-foot-plus eleva-
tion climb from about 1,000 on the Columbia River. My map did not show this climb — or the summit, for that matter. But I kept telling myself this is kind of what I was looking for; challenging problems that later would leave me feeling really grateful for my life when the trip was over.
Eight hours later, during this same day, I came to the second climb, which was on my map and expected. It was only about a 1,500 foot elevation gain, but I was exhausted by the sun, the 35 miles I had traveled and the first 3000-foot climb. Halfway up this second climb I stopped to admin-
than the one containing my wallet. It was the designated pocket where I kept “the paste,” and it was gone.
I felt a flood of emotion surging in me and was about to burst into tears. This little tube of relief was all that I was looking forward to in my little world right now, all that I felt positive about. I was barely able to check this torrent of emotion with the rational part of my brain, telling me to check other pockets in my backpack. It was there, in another pocket and I was ecstatic and laughing instead of crying. I sat down in the dirt in the shade with the yellow jackets and thought of Wilson, the volley ball in the movie “Castaway.” Apparently I had developed a co-dependency on my little tube of salve and was thinking I could not be happy without it.
-2 feet above normal unicycle height) on this 36-inch wheel. I thought a crash while still clipped in at this height, traveling 9 or 10 mph with a 35 pound pack, could be a ride ender.
However, Paul told me my lack of pull from the hamstrings was creating an overabundance of push from my quads. He trains athletes for a living and really knows his stuff. It was clear I needed to get clipped in. My parents brought the clip ins that my wife packed for me the next day when I saw them. Problem solved and legs started to slowly recover as I continued my ride.
ister some salve to self-inflicted unicycle seat wounds. At this point on this day I was basically in pain with each revolution of my wheel and setting my stop watch for 10 minute segments so I could get off again and feel relief and administer more salve. I don’t think I will ever forget the intense and somewhat irrational reaction I had at this point in the ride. I was looking through the pocket in my backpack for my tube of relief when I immediately noticed the zipper had been left open from the last time I stopped. It was the most important pocket I had at this time in my life, even more important
Problem solving is a great distraction from pain when solo on a road for hours each day. I needed to do something different with my backpack. I needed a smaller pack that would not create a sail effect when trucks and RVs passed me. My parents rose to the occasion as they have done my entire life when I have asked for help, which is not something I do well. They met me in Chewelah and brought a small pack. I gave them my tent, extra clothes and other things that were not essential and created weight. They also took me out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant that was air conditioned and served the world’s best lemonade. This was after I had barely ridden into town in the heat the day before and had the best two chocolate milkshakes I had ever had. Deprivation, or going without, creates gratitude for what you cannot have. This was a big part of my internal motivation for the ride.
I spoke with one of my best lifelong friends who knew what I was doing and thought it was a bit sick, but right up my alley and not surprising. He is one of my biggest cheerleaders and always has sage advice for me. I told him of the intense pain in my quads and in my right knee cap. He asked me what kind of pedals I was using and I admitted I was on flat pedals and not clipped in.
This was the first time I had not been clipped in in 24 years. I chose not to clip in due to the height I was riding at (about 1.5
Another experiment to solve a problem happened on a descent coming from Usk to Chewelah. This is the first major descent and learning lesson for me about riding a huge wheel downhill. The lesson is that constant braking is bad for muscles and patella tendons. I don’t understand the physics of it, but a smaller wheel is easier to control and puts less stress with each revolution while descending. My idea to problem solve this problem was to get off my cycle, grab a large dead tree branch or small tree on the side of the road and ride backward down the mountain with one end on my shoulder and the other end dragging on the roadway. I was surprised to find this really did take the pain away and I didn’t even need to see where I was going due to the white line beneath me. This was a great distraction from the seat pain and I did it for only a couple hundred yards due to how distracted it made motorists coming down the mountain when they saw me. I did not want to cause an accident and I was already a distraction.
Twenty miles into my last day, the terrain was no longer mountainous with shade from trees. I was growing more pessimistic about what I was doing due to the intense heat on this black road above the Columbia River. How did it get so hot? Didn’t the forecast say high 80s? Why didn’t I make a bigger effort to charge my phone? Well, I guess it does not really matter that my phone battery is very low because there is no phone service out there anyway! I had not seen a house for 20 miles (four hours) and the last
< see UNICYCLE, next page >
OUTDOORS
car passed me 15 minutes ago. I had about half a bottle of water left and there were no streams. I figured I should have filled up from Columbia River when I was closer to it two hours ago. I usually like the challenges presented with problems, but these problems, albeit self-inflicted, were big, serious, possibly life-threatening problems, especially in light of my long history of not asking others for help.
I came across a culvert going under the road and climbed down the bank, through the barbed wire, looking for rattlesnakes, then entering the culvert under a large yellow jacket nest. I sat there in my negativity and made a plan to get in shade within an hour and wait for my wife and daughters who should be traveling on this road to “save” me from my poor planning. An hour later I did make it to a huge boulder on the side of the road, ran out of water, and waited in the shade from the boulder. I had not seen a house for five hours, or about 25 miles. I could see another 10 miles down the road into sage-filled desert, and there were no houses. I finally accepted I would ask for help, but there was no one to ask. I decided if Angela and the girls did not come I would have to hitchhike. I would wait for three hours.
During my wait my mind went to dark places it almost never has gone to. I got two cell phone bars and called Angela. It went to voicemail immediately. My rational mind had left me again. She had most certainly crashed on one of the many ess-curved turns during various descents en route to rescue me. Rescue. It had turned into a rescue mission. I was now an irresponsible victim who had drawn his family into his dysfunction and likely caused them great harm — or worse, a car crash. I don’t know if it was the heat or exertion or both but I have hardly ever had such dark and troubling thoughts. And I had no control.
It was at this point that two dogs came running from across the road, full of life, wags and seeming to laugh at me and my pathetic state. Their enthusiasm caught me off guard and scared me at first. I had not seen a person or dog in so long that for a second I wondered if they were going to attack me. They seemed to know me or that I needed them and both tried to get on my lap at the same time. It was amazing. I will never know if dogs feel love, but they definitely know happy, and happy is what I needed. My rational brain was back, and I noticed they were not panting out here and looked to be well fed and taken care of. I wondered if they had been dropped off. A half hour of petting later, I explored the other side of the road, behind the embankment from which they came. I discovered a chicken coop-looking structure, wrecked
travel trailer full of feral cats, cat and dog food and finally a tiny room dug into the side of the hill with an air conditioner on. This is why no one responded to my yells for help. I banged on the door and a woman came out wearing a night gown, missing teeth, with beer in hand and a big smile on her face. I told her my story, she gave me three bottles of water (the best I’ve ever had) and I gave her $10. I was on my way down the road, and my seat pain was getting compartmentalized somehow. Turns out both maps my wife and I had did not show the road I was on, and she was on the other side of Omak Lake (10 miles north of me) and never would be coming to “rescue” me. I arrive in Omak, at sunset, charged my phone enough to call Angela and she and the girls were there! Even my teenager, Adeline, was happy to see me, and boy, was I happy to see them.
There were two other tribal women who went out of their way to help me. They live in Nespelem, Wash., on the reservation. One gave me a large bottle of Gatorade (possibly the best one I ever had) as I descended into the valley preceding Nespelem, and the other lady was just getting home from work when I stopped on the road in front of her home, pet her dogs, told her my story and also told her how much I wished I had a bicycle at this point. She picked up on my hint, offered me a ride in her truck, which was like a state-of-the-art spaceship to me at this point, and super comfy on the derriere. She then drove me the last six miles to Nespelem, to the tribal police to get permission to camp on their tribal campground, to the one general store for food, then to the campground. She was amazing. I met with both of these women the next morning for breakfast at their tribal headquarters and promised to stay in touch.
This effort has raised over $2,000 for Washington Elementary. Thank you to all who have supported the school financially. Thank you PTA, parents and kids who came out to send me off on Aug. 13. You kept me going when times got rough. Although I stopped 40 miles shy of my destination of Winthrop due to smoke and other issues, I feel good about the effort, mainly because of all the supportive comments from friends, family, and good people on the PTA website. I really could not have gone as far without your encouragement. Thank you.
If you are reading this for the first time and would like to make a donation, please go to gofundme.com site under the heading “Unicycling for Washington School.”
Gardening with Laurie: Getting ready for frost
By Laurie Brown Reader Columnist
Horrid though it seems, frost will be here soon. The average first frost date in Sandpoint is Sept. 15, so we could be less than two weeks away. Colder areas, like up Gold Creek, will have frost even sooner. While it always seems to come too soon, this year it’s especially painful because we’ve had such weird weather this summer.
Some crops will breeze through the first few frosts; cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, carrots, turnips, Swiss chard and Asian greens will all survive and some, like parsnips and Brussels sprouts, will actually get sweeter. But what about the warm-weather crops?
For a bed of plants like bush beans, floating row cover will protect against a light frost. If frost does get the bean plants, pick all the beans and cook them promptly.
For bushy plants like peppers or small tomato plants, use cardboard boxes or wicker baskets to cover them at night. Remove in morning.
If frost does get to your plants, try hosing them down before the sun hits them in the morning. If the plant is not badly damaged, this may save them for a little while longer. These last minute saves are particular useful given the way our autumns tend to give us a night or two of frost, and then warm back up again for a week or two.
Now is the time to urge the tomatoes to ripen. The way to do this is root pruning. Take a spade and insert the blade full depth into the ground all the way around the tomato plants stem, about a foot away in all directions. Also, take all the new flowers off the plants from here on out. These steps will speed ripening of existing fruit. When frost is predicted, go out and either pull out the tomato plant and hang it upside down in a sheltered spot, unripe tomatoes and all — they’ll ripen on the plant — or pick all the tomatoes, in whatever stage of ripeness they are, and bring them in. Lay them one layer deep on newspapers or wrap them individually in newspaper and they will ripen slowly (remember to check them frequently!). Green tomatoes must be picked before frost touches them or they will rot instead of ripening.
If the tomatoes ripen faster than you can eat them, the best way to deal with them is to simply rinse them off, throw them into plastic bags and freeze them. Even tomatoes with bad spots can be preserved this way; just cut the bad bits off and throw the good parts in. By doing this, you can wait until you have a large amount of ripe tomatoes before you cook them down into sauce, which saves time and effort over doing multiple small batches. This also allows you to deal with making the tomato sauce on your own schedule rather than whenever a few tomatoes ripen — making a large pot of spaghetti sauce is a nice project for a winter day. The bonus part of freezing the tomatoes before processing them is that as they thaw, you can give them a squeeze and the innards will squirt right out of the skins with no effort! This is a good time to find the microclimates in your garden: What areas get frosted first? What areas seem untouched? You may find spots where frost doesn’t reach until late in the season. These spots are frequently around buildings, large rocks, water features, by trees and on inclines — but not at the bottom of the incline. This is valuable information; these are the spots to plant frost sensitive plants or those you are “pushing the zone” with.
Sandpoint local talks about the ‘Hub’ and pioneering in North Idaho
By Jodi Rawson Reader Contributor
Amanda Ott serves coffee at Evans Brothers and has been serving in Sandpoint on and off the last decade, which was how I connected with her. She moved to Sandpoint at age three and graduated high school at Sandpoint High in 2007. She has found community at Evans Brothers’ coffee, describing it as the “hub.”
The relationships that she has gained with her co-workers and frequent clientele bring her joy. “The people here are genuine. They are trying to pursue what is important in life and not just follow societal pressures. I really respect that. I feel like I fit in with that,” Ott said.
“One thing I love about working for Evans’ is the opportunity for education,” Ott says. She hopes to learn more about the coffee trade and perfect her Spanish speaking by traveling to South American coffee farms.
For now, Ott and her five-year boyfriend are pioneering on five and a half acres in Sagle. They paid $50,000 for their place in July 2016 and moved into a plywood shell without insulation by October.
“(It was) when the rains came,” Ott said, “so it was perfect timing.”
When Ott talks about her homestead her smile lights up the hub. She loves the adventure of working towards sustainability like a “giant experiment.” It is more or less a permanent dream campsite that she has fallen in love
with.
Motivated by “humanure,” Ott and her boyfriend have a composting toilet with a free truckload of sawdust from the mill. Their gray water goes to their young fruit trees. “I love the idea of not creating waste, because it should be a circular system, not a linear system,” says Ott.
Ott and her boyfriend live in a 12by 20-foot plywood shell with plastic lining and recycled denim insulation. The fireplace keeps them “toasty warm” and they burn about three to four cords of wood a winter. “Every winter will get easier because we will be more prepared,” said Ott.
A couple of solar panels, a battery and minimal use of a generator keep their lights on and cell phones charged.
A well is next on Ott’s agenda for the property, but for now she joyfully hauls water from town. Ott owns the chores as healthy exercise. Other adventures that keep her spritely are riding her bike 12 miles round trip miles to work, shredding Schweitzer with her boy-
friend and hanging with her pets. What does life look like without a well? The kitchen is a jug of water that gravity feeds into a sink (at a counter that Ott’s boyfriend built) feeding into a tub for gray water. The shower is a fivegallon solar shower bag that Ott and her boyfriend have a system for.
“We have one of those bag solar showers. We usually just heat a two-gallon kettle to boiling and add it to two gallons of cold, and I can usually eyeball it just right,” she said.
It amounts to just four gallons of water used between the two of them.
‘If it’s not windy, even if it’s like 10 degrees, as long as you have the water
on you, it’s not cold,” Ott said. “It’s beautiful. A crystal-clear starry night. You have to dig out (the rock floor of the shower) because it snows in — you have this wall of snow all around you. It is really amazing! What other scenario would you experience that?”
Amanda Ott, standing outside of Evans Brothers Coffee (or the “Hub” as she calls it.
Photo by Jodi Rawson.
PERSPECTIVES
The
Late Night Buddhist
In life, avoid absolutes and recognize the potential every moment holds
By Scott Taylor Reader Columnist
Right or wrong, good or bad, Beatles or Stones; in Buddhist philosophy we learn to steer away from classifying the world and our experiences with these black and white absolutes and recognize the potential that every being and moment holds to be whatever we choose to see in it.
The tale traditionally used to teach this is the story of a young Tibetan farm boy who must trek into the mountains to retrieve his family’s only horse that had run away (bummer), only to return with not just his horse, but a small band of wild horses (jackpot!). However, while training one of the wild horses he is thrown and breaks a leg (damn). The next day the Chinese army comes through the village conscripting every able-bodied male into forced service, but the boy is excused because of his broken leg (thank goodness for wild horses, and Keith Richards).
I recently experienced my own lesson in the relativity of “good” and “bad.” I booked a flight from Spokane to Indianapolis (Indy, to all of us super-hip cutting-edge Midwesterners) and Delta’s website refused to let me choose my own seat; I would have chosen a window seat, owing to my fascination with the topography of North Dakota. My boarding pass had assigned me a seat: 39E. I didn’t know there were 39 rows of seats in a plane. Would I be wearing an oxygen mask and hanging off the tail fin? And seat E was obviously the dreaded middle seat, so I’d be in the back of the plane and the middle seat (tough break old man).
Upon boarding the plane I decided I had, once again, gotten lucky. The MD90 on which I was flying had only two rows of seats, A and B, down the left side, which meant the right side was seats C,D, and E; I’d have the window (sweet)! I made my way down the aisle, fully expecting row 39 to be the last row, and it was.
What I didn’t expect was that, inexplicably, there was no window there, just a window-sized depression in the white plastic panel curving over my head (stunned disbelief, side order of slightly amused be-
fuddlement). Luckily, small dark confining spaces don’t bother me. In fact, I take comfort in them (all you Freudians should have a good time with that), so I squeezed my 6-foot 3-inch frame into the dark corner and chastised myself for letting expectations play ping pong with my emotions.
The yang to this yin came when, due to me being the last to deplane, I encountered an older lady with a foreign accent who seemed to be lost and confused, so I had the privilege of escorting her through the Minneapolis airport to her connecting flight, which righted the whole day (not to mention racked up some good karma).
The lesson learned? What first appears to be bad can actually be good, and vice versa. And remember, you can’t always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need. Be happy!
Building condemnation puts locals in limbo
By Cameron Rasmusson Reader Staff
The future of two local Sandpoint businesses and a key downtown property is in limbo after the city of Sandpoint condemned a building located at 330 North First Ave.
According to Sandpoint City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton, the city determined it was necessary to condemn the building after a month-long investigation by engineers revealed structural problems that posed an imminent risk to public safety. As a result, well-known local businesses Arlo’s Ristorante and Blue Lizard Indian Art are closing indefinitely until it’s clear whether they should remain at their existing location or find new ones. Likewise, the Dalby family, which owns the property, has a choice to either demolish the building, repair it or locate a buyer who will determine the property’s future.
“We’re scrambling around trying to find alternative spaces for both of (the businesses in the building),” said Dalby family member Marilyn Sabella. “We’re praying that they both have successful moves into good new locations.”
With the future still unclear, the building condemnation has become an emotional issue for all concerned parties. Business owners and employees find their livelihoods in flux, and a local family faces a crossroads for key piece of local real estate.
The city received concerns
about the building’s safety as far back as four years ago or more. But according to Sandpoint Public Works Director Amanda Wilson, the city’s detailed investigation into the building’s safety began in early August when an engineer did a preliminary inspection. The report issued days later found significant structural issues but no immediate threat. A more in-depth investigation in late August, however, produced a more sobering prognosis.
“The result of that was there were significant concerns,” Wilson said. “Not only does it not meet code but there’s some significant risk.”
The structural defects proved serious enough that city officials determined they couldn’t responsibly leave the building open until some kind of remedial action takes place. Wilson said there’s just no telling how the building might stand up to adverse weather conditions or the winter weather just around the corner.
“The fact is we can’t say that it’s going to fall down tomorrow, but it’s at a significantly higher risk compared to other structures,” Wilson said.
The condemnation, which barred the public from the building at 5 p.m. Wednesday, comes on the heels of significant construction on Cedar Street and First Avenue. In addition, work on the city’s downtown revitalization project is slated to continue next year. Finally, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality is considering removing gas tanks,
installed during the property’s previous life as a gas station, which have been mitigated for hazards but still remain on site.
With the building determined unsuitable for public use, business owners and employees are unsure what the future holds.
Arlo’s owner Jesse Guscott said they are looking at possible alternative locations for the popular Italian restaurant, but at the moment, it isn’t clear where they’ll go.
Likewise, Blue Lizard co-owners Roger Disbrow and Shaun Mathis find themselves packing up merchandise without a clear idea of where the business will land.
“What bothers me the most is my staff is going to lose a job,” Disbrow said.
According to city officials, they are doing their best to work with the business owners to ease the transition while the condemnation process unfolds. But according to Disbrow, it has still been a frustrating experience. He said he was unaware of any problem until he received a certified letter on the subject in late August. However, he added that city officials have offered to lend assistance in finding a new location.
“My intent is that hopefully a
space opens up that can accommodate us,” he said.
The building’s condemnation is also a difficult development for the Dalby family to absorb. The history goes back to 1949, when Dave and Marilyn Dalby moved to Sandpoint to operate a gas station located on the site. In the 1980s, the property was renovated to house businesses and establish a courtyard for a community meeting space and concert venue. The newly-renovated property came to be known as Park Place.
“They built a stage with power provided, so that free concerts could take place,” said Sabella in a prepared statement. “This helped enhance Sandpoint’s reputation as an ‘arts town.’ Over the years, many genres of music have entertained locals and visitors: classical, Celtic, folk, bluegrass, jazz, you name it.”
As to what the future holds for the property, that is also unclear. Realtor Rapheal Barta, who is seeking a buyer for the property, said its prime location makes it an enticing option for developers across the country. Barta came on a year ago to list the property for sale, and he said at that time, the building’s structural problems weren’t evident. He said his one
wish is that the owners had 60 or 90 days to find an engineering solution and provide more flexibility for the businesses.
From city officials’ perspective, however, the decision to condemn the building was not an easy one, nor was it arrived at quickly. Wilson said it has taken nearly a month for the city to go through all its procedures, during which time they were in close communication with the owners.
As for the property’s ultimate future, Barta believes it will eventually be redeveloped for new uses. To that end, he’s had conversations with several developers from the Seattle and Spokane areas. Finding a developer can be a lengthy process as it is a capital-heavy investment that takes time to bear fruit. Nevertheless, Barta is optimistic that a buyer will come through.
“I believe we will get it done, that we will find that developer,” he said.
Top left: The back view of the building from Sand Creek. Top right: employees from Arlo’s Ristorante and Blue Lizard gathered for af farewell photograph Wednesday. Photo by Ben Olson.
‘We (still) live in a yellow submarine...”
The Beatles’ classic sing-along film gets a new look
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
For more than 50 years, the Beatles have endeared themselves to the music world one amazing song at a time. In commemoration of 1968’s classic animated feature “Yellow Submarine,” the Panida Theater will be showing the iconic film on the big screen Sept. 14 at 5:30 p.m., Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m. and Sept. 16 at 3:30 p.m.
“Yellow Submarine” is an animated film based on the title song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and sung by Ringo Starr. It was directed by George Dunning. Featuring hand-drawn animation, the film styled itself as a singalong for kids, fans and anyone with a hankering for a good time.
The film’s score was nominated for a Grammy award in 1970, but lost out to Burt Bacharach’s music for “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”
Early this year, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the film, the Beatles’ Apple Corps, Ltd. announced they would be bringing back “Yellow Submarine” for a cinema run, featuring a remastered look.
Due to the delicate nature of the handdrawn original artwork, no automated software was used in the digital clean-up of the film’s restored photochemical elements. The remastering was all done by hand, frame by frame. Translation: It took a really freakin’ long time.
“We’re thrilled to have the privilege of bringing ‘Yellow Submarine’ back to the big screen so that three generations
of happy Beatles fans can enjoy the ground-breaking animation and classic tunes that have long been part of our collective cultural DNA,” said Abramorama CEO Richard Abramowitz.
Upon its release, movie critic Roger Ebert called the film “the most original and inventive feature-length animated cartoon since the days when Walt Disney was still thinking up innovations.”
It was Disney, in fact, that first explored plans in 2009 to bring a 3D remake of the film to be directed by Robert Zemeckis, but the project was killed in 2011.
Catch the remastered version of “Yellow Submarine” and sing along with one of the most influential bands in the world at the Panida Theater. Check out www. Panida.org for more information.
friday, September 21 @ 7:30pm Tuesday, September 18 @ 7:30pm Sept. 14 @ 5:30pm | Sept. 15 @ 7:30pm | Sept. 16 @ 3:30pm wednesday, september 26 @ 7:30pm
sept. @ 7:30pm | Sept. 28 @ 5:30pm Sept. 29 (little theater) @ 1:30pm | Sept. 30 @ 3:30pm
saturday, september 29 @ 7pm sunday, september 30 @ 4pm
The poster for the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” remastered. Courtesy photo.
‘I can grow flowers and veggies. Canoe?’
Youth Flag Football starts up for grades 3-8
By Reader Staff
Registration for Youth Flag Football (grades 3-8) has now begun.
Play is split into Third/Fourth, Fifth/Sixth, Seventh/Eighth grade teams and practices will be held once a week with games played Saturday mornings at Travers Park. Teams play six-man alligator format. Those interested can register online at www. sandpointidaho.gov/parksrecreation or call (208) 263-3613. Registration must be accepted by Sept. 9. Fees for one player are $38 (county), $33 (city). Fees for two players are $33 (county) and $56 (city). Fees for three players are $89 (county) and $79 (city). Scholarships are available on a need basis. Adults interested in coaching the philosophies of fun, fundamentals and sportsmanship are needed.
Mouth guards are required, and one will be provided to each player. A red/white reversible nylon mesh sports jersey is required also and may be purchased at Sandpoint Parks and Recreation for $14.
Last May Violet Henney, 8, and sister Adeline, 13, planted posies in a canoe as a Mothers’ Day gift for their grandma, Mumsie (aka Jacquelynn Henney), who lives next door.
As an afterthought they tossed in a few veggie seeds. And Eureka! Who knew? All summer long the prolific vessel, long since retired from river running adventures, has been producing mouth-watering cucumbers and squash.
Asked to comment on its curious occupation as a marine-themed garden fronting their grandparents’ Marion Avenue home, the old boat boasted , “I can grow flowers and vegetables. Canoe?”
Photo courtesy of Tim “Mad Dog” Henney, esq.
SPORTS & OUTDOORS
Where history and airsoft collide
Sandpoint’s Northwest WWII Airsoft Reenacting Corp is active and looking for players
By Lyndsie Kiebert Reader Staff
Elias Mandela is an expert in an area where not many people can lay claim: WWII reenactments … with airsoft weaponry.
“It’s a thing that’s very hard to get people to do,” he said. “It’s a weird little niche.”
Airsoft reenactment might be an off-the-wall activity, but it’s a sport nonetheless, Mandela said. It requires physical fitness, extensive planning and a lot of care for personal safety. Mandela, 23, finds and buys all uniforms and weapons on his own, and knows how to fix everything, he said. He’s been participating in reenactments since he was a “little kid” and running wars seriously for about four years.
Everything Mandela supplies for participants — airsoft guns, uniforms, safety protection, other warfare gear — is as close to accurate as possible and entirely legal, he said.
“All of what we use is legal, and pretty intense,” he said. “It gets as close to real as you want it to get.”
Mandela said that on occasion, when the “stars align” and participants are truly invested in the history and role playing required to reenact a war, the feeling reminds him why he has invested so much time and money into airsoft reenactment.
“You get the feeling of what it was really like to be there,” he said. “You can get an idea of why some people who didn’t think they were brave were amazing heroes, and why some average people who wouldn’t
hurt anybody turned into evil sons o’ bitches.”
Despite the desire for “close to real” combat, Mandela said he in no way wants to glorify war.
“We are reenacting warfare, but I don’t want anyone to think that we’re glorifying war. There is nothing good about war,” he said, adding that his passion for history is his main inspiration. “My expertise is individual history, and trying to understand the motivations of each person.”
Mandela admits that the line can appear to blur as members of the reenactment group take on roles as German and Soviet soldiers. For this reason, he attaches a disclaimer to recruitment material.
“This Corp shares no affiliations or beliefs therein with the Third Reich or with any Nazi parties. We are historical airsofters,” he wrote on a recent Facebook post. “That goes for new members as well: leave all your biases at home; this is a safe and fun place for ALL who want to reenact. If you act contrary to this, you will be removed.”
Mandela said he makes sure his purchases — particularly of German WWII materials — are from antique shops and other unbiased sources.
“If I suspect you’re a neo-Nazi, I am not going to buy stuff from you,” he said.
The individual cost to participate in a war is $20, but if you have your own uniform it’s
READ
Usually metaphysical/spiritual books give me the willies, and I give them a hard pass. However, upon recently reading Steven Pressfield’s first novel “The Legend of Bagger Vance,” I realize that there is something more there.
The book is a fictionalized account of a mythical golf match between two golf titans of the 1930s, plus a struggling war veteran golfer named Junah who struggles to find his swing. Based on the Hindu story of Bhagavad-Gita,
“Bagger Vance” is worth the read if you are a golfer, but especially if you are a human seeking something authentic.
LISTEN
Cameron first introduced me to the band Murder by Death, for which I am grateful. Their latest album “The Other Shore” just released, and it’s a masterpiece.
The band is an anomaly, fusing indie rock sounds with influences in folk, country and other genres. They describe their sound as “whiskey devil music,” which sums it up pretty well.
Check out this postrock gothic indie band now on Spotify.
WATCH
$10, Mandela said. He said he is looking not only for combat soldiers, but also people who can drive a manual and want to operate his war-era vehicles. Participants must be 15 or older.
Those interested in joining the Northwest WWII Airsoft Reenacting Corp should visit and message the group’s Facebook page — “WWII Airsofting” — or call Mandela at (208) 610-4621.
“There are very few groups that do it the way that we do it, and I am willing to work with everyone,” he said. “I just want people to have fun.”
For fans of “Breaking Bad,” the award-winning show starring Bryan Cranston that took the world by storm, be sure to check out “Better Call Saul.”
The show follows the exploits of Jimmy McGill – played expertly by Bob Odinkirk – as he navigates the his position amidst the legal world. Odinkirk’s character is a beautiful combination of sleaze, integrity and humility, all squeezed into one.
Most exciting is the fact that with every season, “Better Call Saul” rapidly approaches the beginning of the “Breaking Bad” storyline.
The Northwest WWII Airsoft Reenacting Corp rides in the 2018 Lost in the 50s parade. Photo by Eric Mann.
From Northern Idaho News, Oct. 27, 1925
MIXES MOONSHINE AND GASOLINE
JOHN E. SCHRIEBER OF CAREYWOOD, WHILE DRUNK, RUNS
CAR OFF GRADE
John E. Schrieber of Careywood and Jack Cowan of Spokane started out early Saturday morning for Spokane in the Ford car owned and driven by Schrieber and just beyond Granite Schrieber drove the car too close to the embankment with the result the car turned over a couple of times a nd landed on its top on a rock with both men under the car. They managed themselves from under the car before assistance came along.
O.J. Bandelin and Allen P. Asher in Asher’s car came along shortly after the accident, and they helped the men out, putting a cushion under Cowan and asking Mrs. M.L. Bruce, who came along shortly, to telephone for assistance and a doctor.
Sheriff Ambile and Dr. Wendle hurred to the scene and found Schrieber standing around in a drunken cond ition with blood covering his face from the wounds he had received.
Engineers working on the road had taken Cowan to the Oasis and then to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Palmer, where Dr. Wendle examined him and found he was badly bruised with indications of internal injuries. He ordered him removed to a Spokane hospital as Cowan was a resident of Spokane and desired to be taken there.
Back at the scene it was found Schrieber had disappeared and while Sheriff Ambile was searching around for traces of hidden moonshine, Wendle went in search of Schrieber and found him at a neighbor’s house. While Schrieber was questioned about his accident, he pulled a large old-fashioned single shot pistol and raised to shoot the doctor, but Wendle was too quick for him and grabbed the gun before he could fire.
The Straight Poop: The quest for dog-friendly businesses in North Idaho
Walker’s Furniture and Mattress
By Drake the Dog Reader Pet Columnist
Where am I taking my humans today?
We’re going on a field trip indoors to escape the smoke! So take a deep breath and see if you can bark out the answers to these clues:
•These guys have 14 family owned stores in three states
•Collectively they sell over 1,000 units per month
•One product is a large portion of their business
•This product can be found in almost every room in your home
•Everyone in the family can try it before buying
•Four-footed children are afraid of the electric version
•If it’s not the right ‘fit’ everyone suffers
One final hint: the name of the highlighted product in this establishment has two double letters, and is included in a title of a musical. Did you fetch the answer?
As I jump in the car, I’m putting on my Chewy Vitton slippers and Kate Spayed robe. We’re going to raise the woof at family and dog friendly Walker’s Furniture and Mattress located at 210 Bonner Mall Way in Ponderay. We’re in search of a mattress for our new Murphy bed.
Vicki Martin, sales consultant and interior designer invites us in. I don’t know where to lay my paws first, as I’m sniffing out living rooms, guest rooms, vacation home rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms and they all have mattresses! Vicki’s blue manx cat, Jax (11 months), shared that his favorite piece of furniture is the bed. Wonder why?
“Once upon a Mattress” — oops, I mean Walker’s — started in Spokane in 1980 as a small unfinished furniture store, providing customers with competitive pricing. A second store opened in Spokane Valley, which added a line of furniture to the unfinished selections. As they expanded, the mattresses took over a large portion of the business in the Washington, Oregon and Idaho stores. Inquiring minds want to know — how many mattresses do they sell in a month? Vicki told us they go through between 28 and 46 in the Sandpoint store. That’s times 14 stores. You do the math — that’s a lot of mattresses!
The secret sauce to selecting that great mattress is to consider the purpose. Is it a full- or part time mattress? Who is going
to sleep on it? And the most important question: Is there a dog in the bed? If the answer is yes, you guys might consider going from queen size to king. And can we jump up on the bed easily? One word of caution here: Most of us are afraid of electric beds. Why? Because if the remote is on the bed, and we jump on it, the bed moves. When there’s a whole lot of shakin’ going on, nobody sleeps.
The best-selling mattress is the pocketed-coil type. Most people are preferring this mattress because it is easier to roll over on when sleeping. Ditto for me, because when I roll over, I get a treat! It takes more energy to roll over on a foam mattress (who wants to go to the gym in the middle of the night?). However, motion-based beds provide the opportunity for greater comfort, especially if you experience sleep apnea or acid reflux. When your head and feet are raised, you get relief from total pressure on your back. This is the optimum position to go into that deep-snoozer state.
For our Murphy bed, the most important details were the height of the mattress and comfort. Vicki showed us the ones that would fit the frame so it would close correctly. Did you know that mattresses now have individually pocketed coils? The benefit is less partner disturbance because the pockets are more independent and adjust according to your pressure points. We had to choose carefully to ensure that our guests would have a restful night’s sleep. Doing my best downward facing dog and wagging my tail, I preferred the coils on the Serta, iAmerica, Enzo Sleep, Beauty Rest and Temperpedic. Putting my best paw forward, we bought our mattress. Fur babies, family and our new grandbaby will be jumpin’ on this bed!
For five years, the Sandpoint team at Walker’s Furniture and Mattress have been providing an exceptional shopping experience. All customers feel welcomed here. Don’t forget to sniff out their Labrador weekend sale. A new mattress will give you a new leash on life…imagine the pawsibilities!
Walker ’s Rules:
1. Leashes required; well-behaved pups only
2.Small fur babies must be in a purse or tote
3.No jumping on the furniture or mattresses (let’s be mindful of allergies and pet dander)
4.It’s OK to be at home on the rugs
5.Bushes are outside for your convenience. The ones just past the Dollar Store are the best.
Better not take a dog on the Space Shuttle, because if he sticks his head out when you’re coming home his face might burn up.
Drake and Walker’s Sales Consultant and Interior Designer Vicki Martin.
bark to school.
don't forget to update and
CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1.Swelling under the skin
6.Send forth
10.Soil
14.Become narrower
15.Connects two points
16.Bright thought
17.Rebel
18.Behold, in old Rome
19.Thin strip
20.Expert
22.Religious offshoot
23.Countertenor
24.Robust
26.Apothecary’s weight
30.Anagram of “Bid”
31.Consume
32.Go backpacking
33.Always
35.Wakefulness
39.Laughable
41.Overweight
43.Japanese stick fighting
Solution on page 22
66.Humdinger
67.A lustrous fabric
68.Put forth, as effort
69.Seats oneself
70.Historical periods
Week of the
Corrections: Other than an incorrect calendar item last week, we’re killing it. -BO minnie /MIN-ee/ [noun]
1. Scot. and North England Informal. mother; mom.
“Look at that minnie over there with the stroller. Is that Peggy?”
71.Hoarfrosts
44.Box
46.Run away
47.Reverence
49.Actress Lupino
50.Sweet potatoes
51.Peyote
54.Barley beards
56.Against
57.Footnote
63.Pearly-shelled mussel
64.Impoverished
65.Symbol of authority
DOWN
1.French for “State”
2.Try
3.Sweeping story
4.Netting
5.Sporting venue
6.Optional school courses
7.Germ
8.Ancient Peruvian
9.Grow teeth
10.Displease
11.Lazybones
12.Respond
13.Shabby
21.Bygone
25.Overhang
26.East Indian tree
27.Ascend
28.Related
29.Intentionally untrue
34.Road maintenance (British)
36.Arizona river
37.Bit of gossip
38.Caustics
40.Hawkeye State
42.Small goose
45.Player piano
48.Pass by
51.Mangles
52.Boredom
53.Supporting column
55.Cavalry weapon
58.French for “Black”
59.Cab
60.As just mentioned
61.Monster
62.Catches
