Because there’s more to life than bad news
A Newsmagazine Worth Wading Through
A Different Perspective
Plus: A pause for poetry, Paradise Lost, Town Square goes solar, and more inside! Photo of Sawtooth Peak by Ernie Hawks
Zara Palmer and Amy Gannon, both former CFHS students, shared the news from home while in Heredia, Costa Rica, at the Toucan Rescue Ranch. Zara has worked there for two summers since graduating from Lewis-Clark State College with a degree in Business Administration. Amy, who holds a B.S. in Psychology from U of I, currently lives in Vancouver, Wash.
October 2016 • FREE
October 22 • 6-8 pm Bonner County Fairgrounds
4-H Family Fun & Enrollment Night Meet the 4-H Clubs in Bonner County and discover which projects are offered by each club. Pizza and refreshments provided. Free and open to the public 4205 N. Boyer in Sandpoint • 208-263-8511
Bonner County CITIZENS PREPAREDNESS EXPO Oct. 29 • 8:30 - 4:30
at the Bonner County Fairgrounds
Tips, Talks, Vendors & Displays Learn about food and water storage, alternative energy, secure homes, go bags, emergency communications, wilderness first aid, types of emergencies, safe gatherings, essential oils & more! Free to the Public
4205 N. Boyer, Sandpoint
For vendor info call 208-946-3692
WRITE IN TERRY FORD FOR BONNER COUNTY SHERIFF! • • • •
You DO have a choice on November 8th! To vote, completely fill in the oval and write “Terry Ford” on the line. Leadership with strength of character, sound ethics, integrity, & transparency 35 years experience in law enforcement
TERRY FORD
The People’s Sheriff! www.fordforsheriff.com Paid for by the Committee to Elect Terry Ford for Sheriff, Nancy Piatt, Treasurer
2016 Christmas Fair
Trick or Treat at the Bonner Mall! October 31 4 - 6 pm
November 19 • 9 am to 4 pm
Bonner County Fairgrounds
Costume Contest at 5:30 pm for ages 12 and under. Prizes for funniest, scariest, most original, and best overall!
Santa will visit from noon to 2 pm Kids Room: a chaperoned area with crafts, games, snacks and movies. Kids will also make a gift. $5 from 9 to 4 Call 208-263-8414 for vendor information
VOTE Stephen F. Howlett Idaho State Representative 1B
HARVESTFEST!
Sandpoint Farmer’s Market Final Day
•
October 15
•
9 am to 1 pm
at Farmin Park
•
Entertainment, Food Booths, Activities & Displays
•
Idaho must invest:
in Education. High quality schools attract business & industry and our established businesses rely on local public school graduates. in our Economy. This includes sustainable agriculture, timber & manufacturing, while attracting new technology and recreational opportunities. in our Air and Water. Our pristine lakes, streams and rivers are crucial for recreation, businesses and our individual heritage. in our Public Lands. State and federal land belong to all of us, and should be managed accordingly.
Learn more at http://stephenfhowlett.ruck.us
Howlett for the House Paid for by the candidate, Stephen F. Howlett
www.KateMcAlister.com
Idaho House of Representatives
Seat 1A
Paid for by Kate for Representative Committee, Karl Dye Treasurer
VOTE for,ɈLJ[P]L 3LHKLYZOPW
GENERAL ELECTION NOV 8, 2016
Internet.... Everywhere
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31831 Hwy 200 Sandpoint 208.265.2944 Open Daily Monday-Saturday 9 to 5
Some Like it 4 different varieties of Garlic available from mild, to Wild! All hardy, Northwest-grown varieties.
Need reliable, high-speed Internet service? Call for a free site survey today! Intermax serves many areas of Bonner County from Dover to Hope as well as locations throughout Kootenai County.
208.762.8065 in Coeur d’Alene 208.265.3533 in Sandpoint
www.IntermaxNetworks.com
PLUS: 20-50% OFF Trees, Shrubs, Perennials and selected Gift Shop Decor! We have all your indoor growing needs! Still open 6 days a week
Autumn Activities
with Sandpoint Parks and Rec
1123 Lake St. in Sandpoint
208-263-3613
www.SandpointIdaho.gov Scholarships available.
• Co-ed Youth Volleyball, grades 3-6, Nov. 5 through December 10 • Open Gym Basketball, free for grades 36 on Sundays starting mid-Nov, 3-4:30 at Sandpoint High. Adult open gym at 4:30, $2 per player. • Registration deadline for Youth Basketball is January 10 - get your team together! Going on now: • Co-ed Youth Flag Football Sept. 24-Oct 29 • Sandpoint Soccer plays Sept. 5-Oct. 29. Visit sandpointsoccer.com for info.
FIND ALL THIS AND MORE IN THE FALL ACTIVITY GUIDE The Autumn activity booklet will be available in October. Get your copy at the City Rec office, the Sandpoint Library or online. Page
October 2016
THE RIVER JOURNAL • October 2016 •
A News Magazine Worth Wading Through ~just going with the flow~ P.O. Box 2656 Sandpoint, ID 83864 www.Facebook.com/RiverJournal (Webpage under redesign) 208.255.6957 • 208.266.1112 RiverJournalIdaho@gmail.com
STAFF Calm Center of Tranquility Trish Gannon • trishgannon@gmail.com
Ministry of Truth & Propaganda
Jody Forest • reach him in the great beyond
Sales & Other Stuff
David Broughton• 208.290.6577 • davidcbroughton@gmail.com
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle Proudly printed at Griffin Publishing in Spokane, Wash. 509.534.3625 Contents of the River Journal are copyright 2016. Reproduction of any material, including original artwork and advertising, is prohibited. The River Journal is published the first week of each month and is distributed in over 16 communities in Sanders County, Montana, and Bonner, Boundary and Kootenai counties in Idaho. The River Journal is printed on 40 percent recycled paper with soy-based ink. We appreciate your efforts to recycle.
6. A HIGH VIEW OF WILDERNESS. A flight over wilderness offers an important perspective. Ernie Hawks
8. SOLAR ROADWAYS UNVEILED IN SANDPOINT. The city’s Town Square hosts an innovative installation, coming soon to a world near you. Trish Gannon 10. PLEIN AIR PAINTOUT OCT. 8. Artists will fill the wilderness to create “picture perfect postcards.” 11. AWR’S ARROGANCE DOESN’T SOLVE PROBLEMS. Diverse stakeholders reach agreement on land use in the Kootenai Nat’l Forest, but AWR refuses to play. SANDY COMPTON 12. SAVE A LIFE... FAST. Recognizing the signs of stroke can make all the difference when it comes to saving a life. A.C. WOOLNOUGH - ALL SHOOK UP 13. PARADISE LOST. There was gold in them thar hllls... and so much more. But not now. SANDY COMPTON - THE SCENIC ROUTE
politicians he has known. DAVID KEYES - AS I SEE IT
16. BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE. If we want to see change in government, we have to vote for it. GIL BEYER - IN THE MIDDLE 17. INDIAN RAIDS AND OUTLAWS. I share my birthday month with a lot of cool women - including one who was born 162 years ago. TRISH GANNON- POLITICALLY INCORRECT. 18. CALIFORNIA GULL. They might all look alike, but look closer and discover the differences in these ubiquitous birds. MIKE TURNLUND - A BIRD IN HAND 19. LITTLE SPAR. It turns out midSeptember is a great time to visit Little Spar Lake - if you have 4wheel-drive, that is. ERNIE HAWKS - THE HAWK’S NEST 21. REMOTELY HALLOWEEN. Scott tells the story of a merry little prankster on Halloween. Please, do not try this at home! SCOTT CLAWSON - ACRES N’ PAINS
14. THE GOOD, THE BAD... AND THE EVEN WORSE. David reflects on
Our Thanks to these fine businesses where you can pick up a copy of the River Journal: Coeur d’Alene North Idaho College Athol Athol Conoco Westmond Westmond Store Sagle Sagle Conoco Sandpoint Waterfront Conoco The Panida Theater Vanderford’s Books Eichardt’s DiLuna’s Cafe
Columbia Bank Dairy Depot Burger Express Sandpoint City Hall Sandpoint Super Drug Gas n’ Go Super 1 Foods Ponderay The Hoot Owl Cafe Babe’s One Stop Co-Op Country Store The Bonner Mall Schweitzer Conoco Hope
Holiday Shores Clark Fork Hay’s Chevron Monarch Market Clark Fork Beverage Samuels Samuels Service Station Elmira Elmira Store Naples Naples Gen. Store Bonners Ferry Super One Foods Safeway
Bonner Books Bonners Visitor Center Noxon Big Sky Pantry Aitken’s Quik Stop Noxon Mercantile Trout Creek Trout Creek Local Store Thompson Falls Town Pump Harvest Foods Plains Conoco The Printery
October 2016
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Flying High
A new view of wilderness, courtesy of Eco-Flight and the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness by Ernie Hawks
208-290-5947 Beautiful country home in Sandpoint, on 5 acres with expansive views of Schweitzer. Recently updated, 4 BR, 3 BA. Barn/shop with chicken coop, greenhouse, room for RV. Fenced garden, fruit trees, treehouse & close to town! $429,000 20161217 Private yet close to town. This 3 bedroom, 2 bath home sits on an acre of land with plenty of trees. 30x20 shop with 220 power and 24x24 attached garage. Many recent upgrades! Covered porch, deck & firepit for enjoying the setting. $325,000 20163324 Homestead ready single level home nestled in the woods in Clark Fork. Fenced open area, 4 BR, 2 BA on 5 +/- acres. Well cared for with multiple outbuildings. Beautiful mountain views, quiet road and peaceful setting. $275,500 20161388 Updated home on 3+ parked out acres in Priest River. 3 BR/ 2 BA plus two bonus rooms on second floor. Two-car and single car detached garages. Barn/shop with attached dog kennel. Very private home. $224,900 20143651 Hidden gem in Sagle. A wilderness paradise yet close to town. Custom built home with panoramic views on 36+ acres on the side of Gold Mountain. Fabulous well, detached garage with shop and guest quarters, perennial gardens, fruit trees, greenhouse. You really have to see this one to believe it! $1,550,000. 20163323
Call Carol Curtis Asso. Broker, GRI, Realtor
208-290-5947 Page
“Indeed, some of the days I have spent alone in the depths of the wilderness have shown me that immortal life beyond the grave is not essential to perfect happiness, for these diverse days were so complete there was no sense of time in them, they had no definite beginning or ending, and formed a kind of terrestrial immortality.” John Muir from his meditation “Life Before Death” This quote was running, paraphrased, through my head as Sand Creek came into view. The meandering stream was turning ‘C’ curves into ‘S’ curves, and then into ‘U’ turns before entering Idaho’s largest lake. We had just lifted off from the Sandpoint Airport and I felt the power of the Cessna as we tipped and headed over the north end of Pend Oreille Lake. In the distance to the east we could see our destination, the Cabinet Mountains, and the proposed Scotchman Peaks Wilderness. EcoFlight was providing the plane and the pilot was the organization’s president, Bruce Gordon. EcoFlight’s Mission Statement reads: “EcoFlight educates and advocates for the protection of remaining wild lands and wildlife habitat through the use of small aircraft. The aerial perspective and our educational programs encourage an environmental stewardship ethic among citizens of all ages.” They were in town to do exactly that by making several fly-overs of the proposed wilderness area on the eastern side of our county, while raising
awareness for support of wilderness designation for the Scotchman Peaks Roadless Area. The flight gave me a different perspective of the mountains so many of us love and use for our various forms of recreation and research. It allowed an overview of areas I had only seen from land. Of course, the reason I am usually there is to look closely at the land with its forest, cliffs, streams and lakes. Seeing it from the air connected much of it together in a way I have not been able to do from my normal place on Earth. Our national forests provide free or nearly free access to thousands of acres; acres that include rain forest and deserts, high mountains and deep valleys, fascinating parched landscapes and beautiful lakes, grasslands, wetlands and timberlands. Gifford Pinchot, the first chief of the Forest Service, said of the department its purpose was, “To provide the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people in the long run.” A recent Forest Service tally put the visitor numbers at 192 million per year in our National Forest.
October 2016
This is the National Forest that can be used by most everyone who has access to a motor vehicle, a bicycle or by walking. Some of it is leased for agriculture, recreation, or mining. Nearly all wilderness areas are designated as roadless, with only a few exceptions. Use of machines for recreation and maintenance is prohibited. The Wilderness Act of 1964 states the difference between other public lands and a wilderness is, “A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” The Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness, a grassroots organization supporting the effort to designate a portion of our Idaho forest as protected wilderness, says on it’s website, “The proposed Scotchman Peaks Wilderness is an 88,000-acre inventoried roadless area straddling the Idaho-Montana state line. It is bordered by the Clark Fork River and Highway 200 on the south, the Bull River and Highway 56 on the east, Rattle Pass Road on the north and Lightning Creek on the west.” From my wanderings in the area I have found much of the designated area contains some of the most rugged terrain on the northern Idaho/Montana border. Cliffs, sometimes over a thousand feet high, provide habitat for mountain goats, big horn sheep and the federally protected grizzly bear. The alpine lakes often are a haven for anglers, and provide excellent backcountry primitive camping for backpackers. The network of trails takes the trekker through groves of ancient cedars, giant hemlocks, and colorful birch timberlands. Mountain meadows glow in the sun at the base of lichen-covered rock faces. Waterfalls allow streams to drop from springs and then cascade to the clear tarns nestled in highland basins. All this activity supports the large local industry of outdoor recreation, including hunting, fishing, hiking, wildlife watching and boating. The wilderness also brings day and overnight visitors to the area and its various communities, adding to the economic benefits when they buy meals and snacks, stay overnight in hotels, buy specialized equipment,
and pay for travel costs. When we protect our natural resources, we encourage the preservation of the reason outdoors tourists come to the community. According to Idaho Public Lands, “The Outdoor Industry Association has found that active outdoor recreation supports 37,000 jobs across Idaho, generates $154 million in annual state tax revenue and produces $2.2 billion annually in retail sales and services across Idaho.” The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that each year more than 838,000 people participate in hunting, fishing and wildlife watching in Idaho. The Idaho economy benefits from $1.6 billion in annual spending on wildlife-related recreation, accounting for nearly 5 percent of the gross state product. Apart from the economic, or my own selfish reasons, we must set aside lands that can be a living laboratory for our children and their children. Theodore Roosevelt summed it up in a speech on public lands in Denver on August 19, 1910: “The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased; and not impaired in value. Conservation means development as much as it does protection.” Our public lands now are used for both recreation and development. Our wilderness provides the conservation without development, untrammeled and where we are only visitors for many generations to come. The time in the small plane excited my passion for our wilderness and our public land. Being able to look down on places I have found wonderful and with a simple refocus see another “favorite” place where I have hiked, camped or just relaxed with a John Muir meditation reinforced this appreciation. If you’d like to learn more about the effort to secure wilderness designation for the Scotchman Peaks Roadless Area, visit the Friends of Scotchman Peaks online at ScotchmanPeaks.org. If you’d like to get out and experience this area yourself, join the Friends on one of the many hikes they lead into the backcountry. The winter hike schedule is listed on their website. If you venture into the proposed wilderness area, please remember to leave the mountain goats wild.
Cedar Outlet
Fencing • Decking • Siding Garden Project Lumber Closing Nov 3-4. Come check out our deals! CALL FOR SERVICE 1-208-263-1208 1 mi. north of WalMart on Hwy. 95
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Disclosure: The River Journal is a signatory on the petition to secure federal wilderness designation for the Scotchman Peaks Roadless Area. Photo on facing page of Scotchman Peaks, and of Sawtooth Peak on our cover, both by Ernie Hawks.
October 2016
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Solar Roadways Display Unveiled in Downtown Sandpoint “Being an engineer, I got tired of hearing about it—I wondered, why doesn’t someone fix it?” That was a dozen years ago, and the problem Scott Brusaw is talking about is global warming. Twelve years later, Scott and his wife, Julie, are inching ever closer to that goal of fixing the problem with the first public installation of Scott’s vision: solar roadways. Unveiled to the public on the first day of October, with overcast skies and an enormous crowd of fans, this demonstration project featuring 30 walkable (and drivable) solar panels will give an interested public a hands-on look at the astonishing promise available should their installation spread throughout the country, where hundreds of thousands of acres of land currently covered in asphalt and concrete could be converted into energy creating sidewalks, driveways, parking lots and roads. The installation is located at the Jeff Jones Town Square in downtown Sandpoint. The city of Sandpoint, a partner in the public installation, is maintaining a 24-hour live stream public camera (online at cityofsandpoint.com, then select “solar roadways,” though as we go to press there is so much interest, the livestreaming is down.). The Solar Roadways website will host an energy evaluator that will allow those interested to see how much energy the panels are producing at any moment in time—in rain, snow or bountiful sunshine. That power, by the way, will be used to run the fountain and the public restroom facilities located at Town Square. Both online and in person, visitors will be able to see for themselves the answer to the most frequent skeptical question relating to solar roadways—what happens in the snow. The panels include a builtPage
in heating element that kicks on when the temperature reaches 32 degrees, keeping the surface too warm for snow to accumulate. Visitors can also view the potential of the embedded LED lighting in the panels. On a roadway, that lighting will substitute for the painted lines currently on our roads and highways, but the ability to quickly reconfigure traffic lanes will also offer greater flexibility to communities when needed. For private installations, the sky is the limit as far as programming the LED lighting goes. The Christmas holiday may never be the same. A lot has happened since Scott and Julie stepped onto the road to innovation back in 2004. Scott tells the story of how he and Julie had walked out of a movie theater after watching the now-famous documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” determined to do something about the contribution our fossil-fuel based energy usage has on the ticking time bomb of climate change. “We started looking at solutions, but there really weren’t any,” Scott explained. “We didn’t see any sense in putting a band-aid on a gushing wound—so we made a tourniquet.” Scott had been intrigued by the idea of electric roads since childhood, and Julie asked why the roads themselves couldn’t be turned into giant solar panels. Answering her question has taken over their lives as they’ve grown from tinkering at home to a shout-out from none other than President Barack Obama during his State of the Union address this year. Those new to the solar roadways idea often express an inherent skepticism about driving on glass—a skepticism that Scott shared at the beginning. He initially began talking to those in the forefront of plastics technology about his idea. They were the ones who told him he needed glass: “Think bulletproof glass, or bombproof glass,” Scott explained to a group of
by Trish Gannon press in Sandpoint. The third-generation panels installed in Sandpoint can now stop a car going 80 mph on a wet surface, and can withstand a 250,000-pound truck—three times the legal weight limit allowed on our roads. And in what North Idaho residents feel is particularly good news, the panels would make potholes a thing of the past. “Maintenance is pretty simple,” Scott said. If a panel goes bad, a worker simply has to drive out and “plug in” a replacement panel. The system is all low-voltage DC power. The panels also might occasionally need to be sprayed off with some water. Solar Roadways is now in its third phase of a grant from the Federal Highway Administration, and the panels are currently being tested for their durability during freeze/thaw cycles, plus undergoing shear testing, advanced loading, and a simulation of 15 years of truck abuse in just three months. While the Brusaws are focused on Solar Roadways, the technology they are creating is of interest for other applications, as well. A group at Utah State University, working on a process to dynamically charge an electric vehicle, has reached out to find out how their tech might be incorporated within individual panels in order to allow electric cars to re-charge simply by driving on the roadway. Another discovery in the development process is that when solar panels are laid flat, as on a roadway, they charge better on overcast days. As the Brusaws close in on their dream of creating solar panels to replace roads, they continue to set a high bar for themselves. “Our plan,” said Scott, “is to replace all asphalt and concrete.” While the demonstration project at Sandpoint, along with those scheduled for Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and a
October 2016
rest area in Missouri, will provide information for continued improvement to the individual panels, the next challenge the Brusaws will face is in ramping up production, and doing so locally. “We are determined to build our first mass manufacturing plant here.” It is the mass production, explains Julie, that will help bring the cost down to an affordable level. “It’s important to us to get the cost down to where the average homeowner can afford (the installation),” she said. Currently, too much of the production process must be shipped out of the area, adding to the cost. Total local production would also generate economies of scale that would bring the cost down. “What we really need is a super grant, which would allow us to hire the manpower we need,” said Julie. Solar Roadways raised nearly $2 million in crowd funding on Indiegogo, setting a record for crowd funding, but Julie says $2 million isn’t as much money as it first appears to be. “We have been spending that money very carefully, making it stretch,” she said, with most of it going to personnel. But additional funding will be needed in
order to take Solar Roadways where they would eventually like to see it. “Ultimately, we’d like to see (the panels) in every Home Depot and Lowes,” said Scott. The demo installation at Jeff Jones Town Square was funded primarily through a grant from the State of Idaho Department of Commerce. Some additional funding was provided through the Sandpoint Urban Renewal Agency, and the city also provided some supporting labor. Avista Utilities and North Country Electric have also provided support. You can learn more about the installation at the city of Sandpoint website at cityofsandpoint.com, or by visiting downtown. You can learn more about Solar Roadways at solarroadways. com. Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad says that Solar Roadways “epitomizes the new face of Sandpoint,” a city that has grown from extraction industries and tourism to one now focused on innovation and entrepreneurship.
PREVENTING SUICIDE A free movie and panel discussion for teenagers, family, and the community who loves them, focusing on positive coping skills and available resources.
STUDENTS CAN WIN AN I-POD MINI BY ATTENDING!
Nov. 2 at the Panida Theater, 5:30
Sponsored by Summit Insurance
An Apology to Tracy Ford Lutrick In the September issue of the River Journal, in a discussion about the role of Facebook in local news, we singled out local resident Tracy Ford Lutrick for her persistent postings on Facebook community pages regarding the levy to build new schools. Because of that persistence, we characterized her as an internet “troll,” a description we stand by. But in that same paragraph, we wrote that in response to positive posts about the levy, “... sure enough, Tracy Ford Lutrick and others would answer and question the information and usually insult the poster.” In lumping Tracy into that group, we were wrong. A cursory examination of some of her responses to levy issues shows that she was unfailingly polite and focused on the issue as she responded to those who disagreed with her anti-levy position. This is an important distinction to make, as no community of diverse peoples is ever going to agree on every issue—particularly when that issue is going to reach into our pocketbooks. We can deal with those differences, and remain a community, only if we do so with courtesy to our neighbors; if we do, in fact, exactly as Tracy demonstrated for us on the local Facebook pages. Tracy quite rightly called us out on this statement in a private note on Facebook. And at first, I disagreed with her, focused solely on the issue of whether her postings qualified her as a troll. It was only on a second reading that I recognized we had tagged her with a far more unflattering—and incorrect—characterization. For this, I heartily apologize. After the levy failed, Tracy again posted to Facebook. Pleased with the result, she nonetheless called on the community to come together to work on the issues faced by our district as they seek to operate in aging buildings. This was another important reminder to people that while we need to recognize problems, we also need to seek to find the solutions to those problems. -Trish Gannon
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9th Annual Scotchman Peaks Plein Air Paintout “Picture Perfect Post Cards” is the theme for this year’s Painout on October 8 The proposed Scotchman Peaks Wilderness is a beautiful place. Its presence on the northeast edge of
American Heritage Wildlife Foundation
preserving wildlife through rehabilitation and education. An Idaho 501(c)3 and North Idaho’s only non-profit with permits to work with mammals and birds.
YOU CAN HELP!
Sip n’ Shop for Wildlife
Oct. 5 at the Pend d’Oreille Winery, 301 Cedar in Sandpoint. 5–8 pm.
Lake Pend Oreille has attracted the attention of artists for decades. In that tradition, for the past nine years, Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness (FSPW) and the Outskirts Gallery in Hope have hosted the Scotchman Peaks Plein Air Paintout. This event, to be held this year on Saturday, October 8, is a chance for artists from all over the Northwest to capture the beauty of the West Cabinets as well as the lake, Lightning Creek and the Clark Fork and Bull River valleys surrounding these rugged peaks. This year, accomplished professional and amateur artists as well as beginners are invited to “create your best post card.” Participants will be given a six-by-eight-inch canvas at registration upon which to produce what they feel will make a great postcard representation of the Peaks or surrounding area.
EVERGREEN REALTY
Curt Hagan
Sales Associate, GRI
Scarecrow Contest
through October at Hickey Farms. Entry fee is $10, prizes awarded! American Heritage Wildlife Foundation
www.AHWF.org 208.266.1488 Page 10
321 N. First Ave. - Sandpoint 800.829.6370 208.263.6370 EvergreenRealty.com SchweitzerMountain.com
“Artists of all skill levels can have fun with this,” sad FSPW program coordinator Sandy Compton. “I might even do one, and I’m definitely not a fine artist.” Artists will have from “dawn to dusk” to make the best rendition of the Scotchmans that they can. The results will be hung at the Outskirts Gallery just after sundown. Participants might keep in mind that the three favorites will actually become post cards that will be sold to benefit the Scotchman Peaks Wilderness effort. The registration fee for this event is $25, also to benefit FSPW. Scholarships are available for kids who wish to paint with parents or grandparents. “We want to see how the kids see this area, too,” said FSPW executive director Phil Hough. “This is also a great opportunity to get young people outside and engaged in the arts, all in one day.” One of the paintings sold at last year’s Plein Air Paintout was done during the event by Moscow painter Aaron Johnson’s young daughter. Kally Thurman at the Outskirts Gallery in Hope is handling registration. Call 208-264-5856 or e-mail her at kallythurman@gmail.com Photo: Moscow painter Aaron Johnson captures a scene for the 2015 Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness Plein Air Paintout
October 2016
Alliance for Wild Rockies’ Arrogance Doesn’t Solve Problems Just before Christmas of last year, after years of work and Callahan. and thousands of hours of individual effort by people from all Whether there is merit to the Alliance’s lawsuit is not for me walks of life in Lincoln County, Montana, the Kootenai Forest to say. I’m just a moderate, wilderness-loving tree-hugger from Stakeholders came to a landmark agreement about land use western Montana whose dad was a logger and a miner and yet on the Kootenai National Forest. The spectrum of participants helped teach me about wild country and how important it is to was stunning: motorized use interests, timber executives, the planet. I’ve also learned to listen to what other people have wilderness advocates, fish and wildlife scientists, the U.S. to say about what’s important to them, and I believe that those Forest Service and local governments all took part. A wide who live closest to a place should have the most to say about assortment of groups and individuals —including some that what happens there. have traditionally been considered adversaries—got together, I think Judges Wardlaw and Callahan might consider sat down at the table and worked out a deal. that AWR were invited to join their voices with the rest of Nobody got everything they wanted, but everybody got the Kootenai Stakeholders, and ignored the invitation. This a lot of what they wanted. The motorized community was demonstrates to me and the Stakeholders—as well as the larger pleased to have a number of roads opened for their use, and community of the West—an arrogance, self-righteousness, and the non-motorized folks got the gift of 75 miles of trail declared “I know what’s best for you” attitude that aren’t going to solve non-motorized. Logging was going to create some badly any problems facing our world today. needed jobs and reduced fuel levels, and create habitat for big Sandy Compton, Heron, Montana game. New wilderness was even agreed upon. Program Coordinator, Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness It was and is a great agreement, and the Stakeholders were pleased with the outcome. In a reeling economy, the prospective harvest of 39 million board feet from the East Reservoir Project was good news for Lincoln County. The other good news was that a group of people who live and work in the Kootenai National Forest got together, put their differences aside and came up with a plan that suited them all, something It’s all I need to use you up. for all who participated. But not everyone participated. The Alliance for the Wild To consume each piece of what Rockies didn’t show up. In spite of a personal invitation to you have grown to be, AWR exec Mike Garrity from then Region One Forester Fay to break down each molecule Krueger, AWR deigned to come to the table. Instead, they sat back, waited for the work to be done, and then sued to stop one and hold the core of your being of the critical components of the agreement, the East Reservoir in the palm of my hand, it’s all I need. Project. The project survived the first suit, filed in July, but AWR A lifetime of love is overrated when filed an appeal. On September 13, two days before logging was to begin, the project was halted by 9th Circuit Judges Wardlaw a lifetime has been wasted.
A Pause for Poetry Three Months
COATS 4 KIDS Distribution is now ongoing!
October 26 4:30 - 7 pm Special Distribution Event with KXLY
Sponsored by your Bonner Mall Merchants, KXLY, the Bonner County Daily Bee, Rock 103 and the River Journal
Allow the span of days between April and June to be mine and I’ll teach you to conjure time. You and I, the created and the creator, and our small infinity, it’s all we need.
It’s all I need to incite beautiful tragedy in the well of your stomach, to etch my initials in the cold flesh of the deepest, most secret part of your heart. Hand me those days, and I’ll teach you to worship the passage of time. I’m telling you, it’s all you need. Julia Amanda Martin Snyatyn, Ukraine
October 2016
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All Shook Up Typically, my thoughts and words on this page deal with my journey with Parkinson’s Disease. This month, I will venture into new territory and talk about another major health issue: stroke. For regular readers of this column, I have resolution for last month’s cliffhanger. After returning from a oneday study at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, I was anxiously awaiting the results of a scheduled MRI of my brain. Despite questions from friends (?) and family wondering if the purpose was to see if I actually had a brain, that was not the reason. A doctor at NIH thought I probably had a stroke sometime in the past and an MRI could validate (or reject) this possibility. The good news, from my perspective, is the results were negative. My relief was palpable given the original A.C. Woolnough (my grandpa) passed away from a stroke in the early 1950s. When I was first confronted with the possibility, I needed to ask a very basic
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Offices conveniently located in the Vision Center at Ponderay WalMart
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Save a Life...Fast question: What is a stroke? Although doctors recognize various kinds of stroke, the simplest answer is a stroke is a brain attack. It may be caused by a brain clot or a hemorrhage—either way, the brain is denied oxygen and brain cells begin to die. A quick check with Google will reveal that a person dies every 4 minutes of stroke but that most of these are preventable. Much of stroke prevention is common sense and works for many diseases: Lose weight, drink less alcohol, consume less sodium and exercise more. To ameliorate the potential long-term effects of stroke, getting medical care as soon as possible is paramount if a stroke is suspected. Fortunately, we have come a long way in our knowledge of how to recognize, treat and prevent strokes. If you wonder whether someone may be experiencing a stroke, the American Heart Association and the American Stroke association recommend the acronym FAST. Face drooping. Does one side of the face droop or is it numb? Ask the person to smile. Is the person’s smile uneven? Arm Weakness. Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward? Speech Difficulty. Is speech slurred? Is the person unable to speak or hard to understand? Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence, like “The sky is blue.” Is the sentence repeated correctly? Time to call 9-1-1. If someone shows any of these symptoms, even if the symptoms go away,
F A S T
A.C. Woolnough A.C. Woolnough is a member of PDF’s People with Parkinson’s Advisory Council.
ACWooly@gmail.com
call 9-1-1 and get the person to the hospital immediately. Check the time so you’ll know when the first symptoms appeared. I had a very thorough conversation with my movement disorder specialist (a neurologist with additional years of specialized training) about my MRI, strokes and the reasons for determining I had not had one. I was given the opportunity to literally view the results on a computer. I must admit that looking at the slides of the inside of my skull was somewhat intimidating—after all, that was my brain in there. Next month, I will delve into new realms after attending the Parkinson’s World Congress in Portland, Oregon— the first time this once-every-three-year event is being held in the U.S. About 4,000 doctors, researchers, caregivers and people with Parkinson’s will meet to discuss research, findings, information, treatment, initiatives and advocacy. There are some exciting new developments that have the Parkinson’s community as hopeful and positive as they have been in quite some time. Is better treatment on the way? Is a vaccine to slow or halt the progression possible? Is a cure in the near future? Stay tuned!
Proud to Provide Environmentally Conscientious Construction and Consultation P.O. Box 118 • Hope, Idaho • 208.264.5621
October 2016
Paradise Lost
by Sandy Compton
The Scenic Route
Sandy Compton’s book When I was a boy, my parents would stream-rounded cobbles standing along The Scenic Route, as take me up the Coeur d’Alene River, the road. well as his many others, where Prichard Creek joins. Upstream, The seemingly endless piles of naked is available online at where a dredge tore the creek all rock, with little or nothing growing on bluecreekpress.com, asunder, lay Murray and naked rocks them, were an anomaly. I’d never seen or at Vanderford’s by the ton. Prichard Creek yielded the such desert-like desolation in close bright yellow metal proximity to a perennial Books or The that makes men go mountain stream. One Corner Bookstore in mad with desire and question came to mind: Sandpoint. greed. Now its bed “What happened here?” mrcomptonjr@hotmail.com lies in piles growing It’s a good question. moss and no more, Andrew Prichard without soil enough struck gold along Creek. They have graded out a number for a cottonwood the North Fork of the of the cobble piles upstream of Murray seed. Coeur d’Alene River and put some meanders back into If you read the in 1881. Placer mining the stream. WRC has committed to paragraph above began then, but not on purchase 3,000 acres along Prichard aloud, you will find the scale that would Creek, including nearly ten miles of it to be a poem, and come in 1917, when the the stream, significant areas of upland if you lay the poem Yukon Gold Company forest and the creek’s confluence with over the melody of John Prine’s song, of New York brought in Murray #1, a the North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene, “Paradise,” you will find that they dredge originally built in the Canadian where once we played with the Babin match well. And so does the sentiment. Yukon. Murray #1 operated until 1926, kids. In Prine’s classic, Mr. Peabody’s coal eviscerating the stream between Raven WRC plans to convey the property train hauled paradise away. In Prichard Gulch and Accident Gulch, extracting $4 to a long-term conservation steward Creek, the Yukon Gold Company’s million in gold — and causing damage such as the BLM or U.S. Forest Service. floating dredge tore paradise to no mere $4 million could ever repair. Both of these agencies are committed to smithereens. Prichard Creek isn’t the only place undertaking major restoration work on The first time I saw the results of that suffered dredges. The Yankee Fork the property. Which is wonderful, in its dredging at Murray, I was traveling with of the Salmon. Warren Creek north of own way. So there is hope for Prichard my family to visit friends at Prichard. McCall. The Red River up near Elk City. Creek, after all. The Babins had a resort there, with a The South Platte up in South Park, But none of those enriched by the campground and frontage on the Coeur Colorado. These are just some of the mining companies that wrecked the d’Alene River. It was then a fine sort places torn up and left in grotesque stream will pay for the work to be done. of paradise for us, with a clear, freepiles of naked cobbles along straightThe gold that Yukon Gold, the New flowing stream to play in, quiet nights line streams or no continuous stream at England Exploration Company and the with campfires, and other kids to run all. In some stretches of Prichard Creek Coeur d’Alene Mining Company (which wild with. and Warren Creek, there are just pools was based in Boston, by the way) pulled We’d visited Prichard before, but this among the piles that the stream filters out of Prichard Creek is, like paradise time we came in from the east, following through. These are sans fish and any and those who wrecked it, long gone. Forest Highway 7 up Prospect Creek creatures that need room to live and Photo: Ninety years after the dredging from Thompson Falls and dropping into freedom to travel up and down stream to stopped in Prichard Creek, not much Idaho from Thompson Pass. succeed. grows on the cobble piles left. This was long before it was Without extraordinary measures, considered reprehensibly unsafe for Prichard Creek will not be recovered kids to ride unrestrained in the back in 10,000 years. If you think that a bold of a pickup. We Compton kids, with statement, go witness what the dredge an assortment of cousins and friends, wrought before the pay layer got too piled into a shell camper on a 1967 Ford deep to pull up. The dredging didn’t F100 with full permission to move about stop because some member of the the cabin. As senior kid, I was lolling Yukon board visited Prichard Creek and on the sleeping platform at the front of recognized the multiple millennia of the camper, watching out the window damage created when they decided to as we drove down the pass. As we “go for the gold.” approached the environs of Prichard Western River Conservancy is Creek, we sighted the first piles of working on mitigation on Prichard October 2016 Page 13
The Good, the Bad... and the Even Worse
First impressions mean a lot when a person is running for office, while lasting impressions can be even more devastating. I have always been impressed with people who have the courage to put their names on a ballot. Whether he or she wants to be on the library board, school board, city council, water taxing district board, or serve as a county commissioner or state senator, it takes guts to put yourself through the scrutiny and push back anybody who stands up goes through. It’s one thing to sit back and complain, but it is quite another to want to jump in. As we close in on Election Day, I am reminded of a few of the folks who made a difference as elected officials and a handful who were/are dreadful and some who never could never get elected. For most politicians it is good practice to get out in public and kiss as many babies and shake as many hands as possible. For others, their best shot at winning anything is to not be seen or heard. Possible tee shirt slogan: It is better to be thought of as electable and to not say a word than to speak up (or tweet!?!) and remove all doubt. In the newspaper world, we see all types of people. Candidates inevitably show up in our offices during elections. The first impression takes a hit if they show up unannounced and want to talk with the nearest reporter. Rep. Larry LaRocco was famous for this. He did a flyby at the Bee several times through the years and demanded an interview with the next available reporter. One time a reporter, who was on deadline and had also been tasked with laying out a portion of the next day’s paper, was confronted by LaRocco. The reporter said: “You wouldn’t walk into a doctor’s office or dentist’s office without an appointment so why do you think you can just drop in here? Don’t you have any respect for me or other reporters?” He left the office and would lose the next election. On the flipside, Rep. Jim Stoicheff was a dream come true for reporters. The lunch bucket Democrat had an Page 14
affinity for the written word. His weekly column in the Bee was literature that was beauty to behold. He would find classic tales on which to base the columns and would then find ways to connect them to the work that was or wasn’t getting done in Boise. In addition, he would drive back and forth from Boise every weekend during the legislative session and meet with the public over coffee on Saturday mornings at the Pastime Cafe or Connie’s Restaurant. He got along with the opposition party enough to make meaningful things happen. He also returned phone calls from green reporters and would even initiate a call from Boise to his hometown newspaper so the Bee could have a scoop. ••• I didn’t really know Bud Mueller when he was a Bonner County commissioner. I did know he had a burning hatred for the press in general and the Bee in particular. He was a tall guy and his buzz cut hairstyle made him fairly imposing. Mueller was the mastermind behind the “Save a Tree, Cancel the Bee” bumpersticker campaign. For an eternity it seemed, these green bumperstickers adorned vehicles in and around Bonner County. When I first moved to Sandpoint, I noticed one day there were three cars with these bumperstickers parked next to each other in the Safeway parking lot. As the years went by, either the vehicles or their occupants faded away. The last car that had one was involved in an accident on the Long Bridge. A few years later, Mueller decided to run for office again after a hiatus. When his campaign was really rolling, he was greeted with a wave of bumper stickers that he didn’t appreciate. “He’s a dud, cancel Bud,” proclaimed the red and white stickers. The moral of the story is don’t pick fights with people who buy ink by the barrel, or newspapers that have publishers who appreciate a good pun. My last encounter with Mueller was
when he jumped out of his chair during a political debate and was coming straight for the emcee — who was me. Rep. Eric Anderson intervened before I was clocked and forcefully directed Mueller back to his seat. The coolest thing about that incident was that it was captured on video and played on an infinite loop on our local cable television station through the election. Friends would call me after seeing it on TV to tell me they were betting on Mueller if the debate morphed into a cage match. ••• Sens. Shawn Keough and Joyce Broadsword and Reps. Eric Anderson and George Eskridge were the best examples I have about how they made good impressions into lasting ones. Since Sen.Keough is the only one on the ballot this fall, I want to use this space to recognize her. Not only is she smart as a whip, she gets things done for Idaho. Her skill set includes the ability to listen, to bring divergent parties together and to make sure her constituents are represented. I have heard numerous stories through the years about how Sen. Keough would seek out information or help a constituent without ever prescreening the person’s race, religion or party affiliation. There is a reason Sen. Keough continues to push back and defeat wacky opponents from her own party nearly every election cycle. She has also earned the trust of other elected officials in the state and continues to rise in responsibility. It is my hope that she continues to represent Idaho for many more years. ••• Just the opposite is Rep. Heather Scott. While statesmen reach out across political lines and seek to bring people together, Scott is just the opposite. She has turned out to be the pinup girl for a small group of small people. By now you know about her affinity for the Confederate Flag. By now you know she didn’t propose any meaningful legislation but was one of a handful of wingnuts that forced a special session
October 2016
The Way I See It
when she caught wind that Sharia Law might rule the land if deadbeat dads were rounded up. She also blames the media for making her look bad and has been known to skip out of radio interviews as well as forums. We officially met for the first time in my office right after she announced she was running for state representative. Great. Wide-ranging conversation. As she prepared to leave my office she asked, “Did you tape this conversation?” I responded, “No, did you?” Rep. Heather Scott has a horrible reputation in Boise as being ineffective, combative and uninformed. She needs to quit occupying a seat that could be filled by someone with all of the positive traits I mentioned earlier. Greater Sandpoint Chamber CEO Kate McAlister is as fed up with Scott’s antics as most people I know. The only difference in her response to Scott’s ineffectiveness, versus what you or I did—she decided to run. There is no comparison between these two candidates with any measure that makes sense. McAlister’s responsibilities as the chamber head is to help businesses flourish while promoting a positive business environment. Scott’s actions have done just the opposite. While McAlister sought to bring people together, Scott panders to a
certain group that would like to see the entire government turned upside down. Heaven help you if you disagree with Scott. I have had disagreements with McAllister before but we always settled it. She even slipped me a bottle of Irish whisky one time. ••• Important election: Remember to vote on or before Nov. 8: Keough, McAlister, Howlett, Terry Ford (write in), Chilcott and Meyers. Absentee balloting has already started so every day is Election Day
by David Keyes David Keyes is the former publisher of three North Idaho newspapers.
DavidKeyes09@gmail.com between now and Nov. 8. Presidential prediction: Trump – in Bonner County. Clinton will win 29 states. All the best!
RON’S REPAIR Hope, Idaho 264-5529 Or 208-290-7487 Email r.repair43@gmail.com
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I Buy Batteries Ron Powell
October 2016
Page 15
Building a Better Future by Gil Beyer
Here it is the end of September and politically things are really heating up. By the time this piece appears in print we will be within 30 days of selecting a new President. That race has been described as “the lesser of two evils.” One attendee at the ‘Commander in Chief’ forum held on 9/7/2016 onboard the USS Intrepid was heard to ask the question, “With over 300 million people in this country, why can’t we find better candidates?” The answer to that question is simple: the better candidates didn’t have enough money! Personally, I’ve given up on the Presidential race this cycle. It really is way outside my ability to have any influence. In my view it really doesn’t matter who sits in the White House. All the real power—and most of the responsibility— goes to whoever controls Congress. Congress has complete control over the national purse strings. Just take a look at the past six years. Ever since the GOP took over both houses of Congress, the number of bills passed has gone steadily down in number. Bills that could have had a real impact on the economy, world trade, social programs, etcetera, just don’t make it through the process. No, our Congress would rather waste time trying to overturn the Affordable Care Act or deny hearings on all federal appointees. The past three Congresses collectively have really put the ‘fun’ into ‘dysfunctional’. It is a sad state of affairs when our Congress keeps anything from happening for the good of the majority of the American people. In addition, there does not seem to be any real chance of significant change after November 8. Yes, the Senate may go Democratic but it won’t be enough to get past GOP obstructionism when it takes 60 plus votes to get anything done. I really do not see a twelve-vote swing in the Senate, but one can always hope. Moving on to more local issues, I see where on September 17 a gathering of the Far Right was held to talk about the Constitution and Christianity. To me, this is a vast irony for the simple reason that our founding fathers went way out of their way to avoid entangling Page 16
the objectives of the state from any church affiliation. Thomas Jefferson, the father of the concept of the separation of church and state, wrote numerous articles and letters explaining this. Baptists embraced separation with pious fervor. Muslims put forth petitions to the Virginia Assembly that they should be free to worship as they pleased. They did not expect Islam to spread across the Commonwealth, nor did Jefferson expect any of his neighbors to worship “twenty gods.” The participants at the Inland Northwest Freedom Festival may have been adamant about restoring Christianity in the Constitution but in reality, they weren’t anywhere close to what the founding fathers were thinking about. Of the 450 participants who attended this festival as reported by the Daily Bee, I would be surprised to hear any of them say that they truly understood what the phrase ‘separation of church and state’ meant in the eyes of the founding fathers. It would be interesting to see just how many of the attendees understood the connection between Deism and Jefferson’s position on the power of the central government. However, all of this is beside the point if one is convinced that this country was founded solely on Christian principles. I’ve been out of touch for almost two weeks. A nine-hour time difference will do that. What I’ve been able to gather from the U.S. national news is the election in about one month will come down to turnout. This has always been true but it is especially true this election cycle. National polls show that neither presidential candidate has strong numbers on the characteristics of likability, trustworthiness or temperament. Given these numbers, it is entirely possible we will elect a president who receives less than 50 percent of the vote and that is shameful. Like was said by the man at the forum onboard the Intrepid, we need better candidates. I’ll close this month with a repeat of an ongoing theme. We here in Idaho will have very little impact on the national race regardless of who we support.
Here in the Middle A retired Navy man, Gil Beyer has served as a library trustee and on the county Planning & Zoning board, (where he had the distinction of being fired from a volunteer position). He is currently the county Democratic State Committeeman and LD1 Chair.
40vintage@gmail.com
What we can have is a tremendous impact on the shape and direction of Idaho’s future. However, we can only have that impact if we get off our butts and VOTE! If you do not vote, you have ZERO grounds to complain about the outcome of any election that you are eligible to vote in. I say again, VOTE on Tuesday, November 8, 2016 and we can make a difference. My choices remain unchanged. We must retain Senator Keough. We must elect Kate McAlister and Stephen Howlett. We can only change the direction of Idaho if we all work together. Those who say their vote won’t make any difference are simply wrong. When people get together, their individual votes can make a huge difference. I hope all of you vote. I know I will be doing my part to bring a better future for Idaho.
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October 2016
Politically Incorrect Trish Gannon is the owner/publisher of the River Journal. Despite the suggestion of many friends, will never knit a sweater for her chickens to wear.
trishgannon@gmail.com Louisiana “Lou” Brown Short lived an eventful, and likely difficult, life. She was born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1854, the youngest of four siblings: her sister Sarah Frances (Fannie) was my great-great grandmother. Sometime before she was six years old her father died, and by the time she was ten, the War Between the States would arrive right outside her front door: the Battle of Mansfield, where she was living in the 1860s, was fought in April of 1864. The battle was a victory for the Confederacy, and stopped the Red River Campaign in its tracks. But it likely didn’t seem quite so victorious to the women and children of Mansfield, who were left to care for around 4,500 casualties (from both sides) in the makeshift hospitals and recovery wards set up within their homes, churches and schools. Captain Nathanial Allen wrote in his diary of that aftermath: “Left Mansfield for the Regt (regiment) this morning early, reported that they were about getting another fight near Pleasant Hill, find dead & wounded all along the road.” It would have been a gruesome sight, particularly for a ten-year-old. Within just a couple years of the battle, Lou’s mother died. Lou and her sister Fannie were sent to live with their aunt and uncle on the Texas frontier. Robert Allen McGrady and Elizabeth Cox had settled in Montague County, on land the whites were busily appropriating from the local Kiowa and Comanche, with predictably bloody results. Of her uncle McGrady it was written: “Only one settler had up to that time made a location in the Clear Creek valley, and thus into a wild and
Indian Raids and Outlaws
unimproved region Mr. McGrady made his way to meet the hardships and privations incident to pioneer life and to aid in the reclamation of this district for the purposes of civilization.” His two young nieces met those hardships with him. When Lou turned 16, she married John Pleasant Short and, in the census of that year, she was living with
him and his parents at their home in Grayson, Texas. Also living there was her brother-in-law, Luke Short, who would later become known as one of the American West’s most famous gunfighters, and a member (and reason for its formation) of the Dodge City Peace Commission, which included his friends Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. Although John Pleasant never gained the notoriety of his brother, Lou’s new husband was cut from the same cloth. In 1887 (Lou would have been just 33 at the time, younger than my oldest daughter), John Pleasant and his brother Henry were charged with the shooting of one Charles Schuyler. Their brother Luke
by Trish Gannon
came to their financial rescue, an action that helped lead to his sale of an interest in his Ft. Worth saloon, the White Elephant. His financial needs might also have played a role in Luke’s shooting of former Ft. Worth marshal Jim Courtright, who is rumored to have been running a protection racket at the time, though it’s also said that Luke Short refused to pay, Lou and her husband would move to Cochise, Ariz. in the early 1900s, and she would give birth to ten children, all but one of them boys. She would die there in 1940, at the age of 86, outliving her husband by 21 years. To my eyes, saturated as they are with the Pacific Northwest, her gravesite looks bleak. We have reached that time of year when the nights get cold, the leaves turn color, and my personal odometer turns over another year. Each year I get to share my birthday with some wonderful women (many happy returns Laura and Jacquie, Carol and Angela!). I have so many friends and family born around the same time as me that we have come to refer to this period as Librafest—a weeks-long celebration full of cake and laughter. Two very special people born close to me—one day before and two days after, though many years removed—are my two granddaughters, Keira and Lyric. This year, a third granddaughter (Delilah Rey) will join our party, with an expected birth day the day following mine. And you probably will not be surprised to learn that Louisiana Brown Short was born on October 15, 162 years ago, another Librafest participant. I didn’t discover that Louisiana had existed until about a decade ago, after I had become addicted to genealogy research. But “remembering” Louisiana is important to me, particularly when I feel overwhelmed and that life is particularly difficult. Lou knew what “difficult” was in a way that I will never know; in a way that I hope my three beautiful granddaughters will never know. As I celebrate the continuation of my life and those of so many I care about, I also take time to celebrate that life lived by this strong, courageous woman.
October 2016
Page 17
A Bird in Hand
CALIFORNIA GULL: The Other Gull
Gulls are too often referred to as sea gulls, as if this is their only natural or preferred habitat. This is obviously incorrect as gulls inhabit a wide range of environments across the North American continent. Indeed, many species of gulls never see the ocean, being strictly inland types. In contrast, some species range only near the coasts, while others are adaptable and inhabit both places_—sometimes seasonally, sometimes year round. The gull most commonly seen in our region is the highly adaptable midsized Ring-billed gull. These birds are able to exploit environments across the continent and I’ve seen them from coast to coast and all areas in between; from parking lots to ocean beaches and landfill sites to inland lakes. I think ubiquitous would be a good word to describe them. The California gull is a bit less common, which only adds to fun in identifying them. While they widely populate the inland West—ranging during the summers from the prairie provinces of Canada down to the western states, and then along the Pacific coast in the winter, and though the birds are also permanent residents in the Pacific Northwest states—they are still sometimes hard to find. As is true with most species of gulls, they remain in their juvenile plumage for about three years, meaning they will not exhibit the adult colors you see in your bird guides until their fourth year. But this does not mean you still cannot identify them before they’re big boys and girls. They’ll still sport speciesspecific field marks. There are also two sub-species, divided between those of the Great Basin and Great Plains regions. The California gull is somewhat misnamed, as the state of California encompasses only a smaller part of the species’ range. It is also the state bird of Utah, due to its reputed role in helping to mitigate a cricket outbreak that threatened the crops of early Mormon settlers in the Salt Lake City area. There is even a monument (Seagull Monument)
by Mike Turnlund
featuring California gulls in that same city to commemorate this event. The California gull sits between the Ring-billed gull and the equally ubiquitous Herring gull in size. Since the Herring gull has more of an East Coast bias, we are unlikely to encounter them in our area. So how can a birder differentiate between the Ring-billed gull and the California gull? Easy! Just identify the field marks and then you’ll be ready to add the California gull to your life list. First off, the two gulls are very similar. They share many of the same features common to all “white” gulls: white bodies and heads, black wing tips, and gray-colored backs, as well as yellow bills. And although the California gull is larger than the Ring-billed, this is only a useful field mark when the two species are standing in near proximity to each other, such as sharing a perch— which is not uncommon. Instead, focus on these specifics: eye color, bill marking, and underwing coloration (visible in flight). The Ring-billed has, as per its name, a “ringed” bill. There is a narrow black band that wraps itself around the threequarter mark towards the tip. This is obvious. And there is no red coloration, normally a spot on the lower bill, also towards the tip of the bill; a coloration common to many other species of gulls. The California gull does not have a “ringed bill” and does have that red marking. But also note that there is also a smudge of black coloration between the end of the lower bill and the red coloration. but you’ll increase nutrients,Distinctive, such as nitrogen and probably need binoculars to be sure. And therepilot are the eyes. The Thisthen septic project is being Ring-billed yellowish or pale-colored introducedhas in order to comply with water eyes. Thestandards Californiaas gull has black eyes. quality determined by the AFederal plain and simple differentiation; but, to Clean Water Act. Designated again, you mayquality, need binoculars to be as protect water the plan, known sure. a “Total Maximum Daily Load” for Lake Lastly, the underwing Pend Oreille, addressescoloration: nutrient issues this one requires observing the bird from In underneath, which is generally addition, many lakeshore homeowners participated in a survey not a problem. Both the Ring-billed and in California 2007 concerning a wing varietytips of and water the have black quality issues.under As their is turns out,The their light coloration wings.
Do you love birds, and want to know more? Check out Mike’s bird photos, online at birdsidaho. blogspot.com.
mturnlund@gmail.com difference is with the California, which has a shade-darker gray band on the trailing end of the wing, between the black tip and the secondaries. There is a clear boundary that demarcates this patch. This will vary from bird to bird, but it is generally a trustworthy marking. If conditions are right, this can be seen from a distance. The identification of juvenile California gulls is very doable, but requires some homework. I will not elaborate on this, as it is a bit complex and requires comparisons of images, etc. This is the next level of birding and I encourage you to pursue it. I’ll even give you a corporal’s stripe if you’re successful. Don’t forget that there are also additional species of gulls that frequent are area. Ring-billed and California are the most common, but not our only representatives of the Laridae family of birds. As far as I’m concerned, the more the merrier. There, I’ve done all I can do this side of actually taking you birding with me; you are now an equipped and capable birder, handily able to identify a California gull when encountered. Congratulations! Happy birding.
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PageRiver 18 Journal - A News October 20165 The Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol 17 No. 18 | November 2008 | Page
The Hawk’s Nest
Little Spar
At about a mile and a half we reached Spar Creek. We spent the rest of the hike along or above the creek. This very scenic stream flows at the base of some of the most dramatic cliffs in the Scotchman Peaks area. High up on the cliffs we saw Mountain Goats wandering along the shear wall. It appeared they were traversing with more ease than we were on a pretty good flat path. In the middle of September, the streams were all dry except for a small flow in Spar Creek. It certainly made stream crossings easy. We did wonder how fantastic it would be to someday
by Ernie Hawks
Ernie Hawks is the author of “Every Day is a High Holy Day: Stories of an Adventuring Spirit,” available on Amazon, Kindle or in your favorite bookstore.
“This one looks good,” said Linda as she studied the book Trails of the Wild Cabinets by Dennis Nicholls. She had found a description of the trail to Little Spar Lake in the Scotchmen Peaks area. Nether of us had been on that trail yet, so plans were made to go. For several weeks a camping trip to Bull Lake in Montana was on our schedule. We felt a need to get away from all of our projects and be alone, just ernestmhawks@gmail.com the two of us. Darr Skeels campground was empty After the break we continued on in mid-week of mid September, so up over the lip of a hanging valley that provided that perfect solitary place to held Little Spar Lake. Several inviting relax and not look at any of the many primitive campsites were scattered tasks awaiting us we can’t help but see along the alpine shore. More shear cliffs when we are home. surround the lake to the east and south. The trailhead to Little Spar Lake To the west are steep slopes up to was only a few miles from our camp, so Scotchman Peak 2. doing the day hike was perfect. Once again we sat on a log as water The road was well maintained and lapped against the shore near our feet. we were making good time toward our A blue sky with some wispy clouds starting point. As we rounded a turn we reflected off the mere as circles created saw a washout gully across the road, by small Cutthroat trout rising spread and we were not sure just how far we across the surface. Some late season still needed to go. Contemplating our huckleberries added to the respite. predicament we looked at the clearance As we enjoyed the tranquility, we of our 4x4 pickup and guessed we could reflected on how close we were to the do it. Linda watched as I crept over the upper drainage of Ross Creek to the edge of the washout. It looked good, so east and Blue Creek to the southwest. I nudged the rig deeper into the chasm, The high ridges surrounding Little Spar felt it grab for traction and coaxed it up are the source of several streams that the other side. We were in and out with cascade through the Scotchman Peaks a couple hits on the trailer hitch but area. otherwise just fine. After a lengthy break, which was Another couple hundred feet and way too short, we started the four mile we came to another one. This time, hike back to the pickup parked under the however, it was about forty feet wide rubber tree. We bounced it through the with several large boulders in the way. chasm of the washout and were back at Still not sure where our hike was going our camp in time for a serene dinner. to begin I decided to cross on foot and A few days later I was invited to come back and see all the streams take a look, and there, standing behind be part of a flyover of the purposed full, some plummeting over the edges some brush, was our trailhead sign. Scotchman Peaks Wilderness. Once of the high cliffs creating waterfalls, As we were getting ready for the again I was able to look at the steep enhancing the magnificence of the hike Linda noticed a tree branch next valley of Spar Creek and the sharp ravine. to the truck, and hanging from it was ridges around the lake we had visited. It Above the stream our trail took us a condom. On another branch of the was a different, yet equally fascinating, through a stunning, old growth Hemlock perspective of the spender in the same tree was another and another. We grove. Some of the trees appeared to be were both surprised to see rubber trees dramatic mountains available to us on nearly six feet in diameter. The stand growing in Northwestern Montana. our public lands. was dark and filled with mystery, much According to Dennis, the trail is like many old cedar groves. We rested difficult. We found it pleasant though You can purchase your own copy on a log to eat some trail mix and fruit challenging due to considerable of “Trails of the Wild Cabinets” from and soak in the ancient energy of the elevation gain, a rocky surface and low Keokee Books at Keokeebooks.com. stand. bushiness. October 2016 Page 19
Justin Case had a devious mind, which he normally kept to himself with the annual exception of Halloween nights. In his short but colorful tenure in the human race, he’d racked up some impressive credentials with the cunning use of selected props such as: soap, wax, shaving cream, toilet paper, leftover fireworks, and even stuffed animals (he had once leashed his sister’s extremely realistic fake skunk to an exterior doorknob, then rang the bell and trotted home giggling to the screeches of a startled homemaker spilling candy from an oversized salad bowl). In fact, his only problems came from the fact that he couldn’t resist hanging around to witness the aftereffects of his plans. On account of his distinctive giggles, which also popped up whenever he or anyone else passed a little gas, he’d invariably get caught and often treated to a few tricks he didn’t much care for. Last year he’d sworn off Halloween festivities altogether when old man Silverstein grabbed him out of a snickering bush and, while holding tightly to one of Justin’s young and tender earlaps, made him clean up the
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old fart’s boots and porch of the remains of a flaming bag of fresh dog doots, all witnessed, of course, by some of his most irritating peers out collecting candy. But, here it was, his favorite day of the year again and he had a serious case of withdrawals pulling down his mood. He needed to prank someone worthy and he needed to not get caught for a change. He sat on the couch flicking the high tech universal TV remote trying to come up with something he’d never done before, something outside the box he normally played with. That’s when it came to him, by mistake actually, as his thumb twitched (as thumbs often do when left idling), causing a tutorly sermon on program protocol / customer stupidity that goes on and on until you slap your own face hard enough to break the tractor beam. He looked at the remote and instinctively relaxed his consciousness, sensing a breakthrough forming in the back of his mind somewhere. This relaxed state, Justin knew, was where light bulbs were stored and he had a hankering for one to turn on now. Behind his glazed-over look, he pictured Old Man Silverstein next door in his big leather recliner and watching Fox News between his big stockinged feet. Not lost on Justin’s attention deficit disorder was the fact that the remote the
ol’ guy was using happened to be the very same one in his own hot little hand! The one his thumb constantly made a mockery of by twitching at random causing unwanted… interruptions. Light bulb! “Whadaya s’pose are the chances?” the left side of his brain asked its opposite twin. Staring at it, a plan developed under Justin’s eyebrows. He was outside with the remote before the ink on the first draft was dry. Thirty-five feet from the front door was a knothole in a fence board, conveniently at eye level to a fourthgrader. This particular port enjoyed a great view of Silverstein’s TV screen and it was on! He could also see a stockinged foot keeping time to the 457,000th airing of Laurence Welk and his orchestra. “Perfect,” he uttered. “Testing, one, two, click.” He hit the power button and immediately heard seven new curse words arranged in a lyrically colorful way the young lad would one day be able to recite easily in a nursing home at the age of 95. The old guy was touchy. Later on as the moon was taking over the evening shift, Justin put on his usual Eddy Munster outfit and cruised the area collecting candies with some of the other kids and also checking to see if his remote was truly “universal.”
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by Scott Clawson At the Reverend Charmichael’s house, he noticed the “Rev” in repose on the couch enjoying some Jimmy Swaggart time with a box of Cheezits and a beer. Justin hit the recall button and watched as the screen changed to Ancient Aliens. No higher authorities were mentioned in vain, but the string of expletives ran a good second to Silverstein’s. They played dueling remotes until a spilled beer mixed with an upended box of Cheezits caused a serious reaction from the good Reverend. Justin rang the doorbell and, because he’d interrupted a colorful tirade unbecoming a man of the cloth, received a triple dose of treats, a crisp five dollar bill and the hairy eyeball from Reverend Charmichael. By the time he got home and stashed his cache, Justin had managed to piss off half the neighborhood without even being suspected of anything. He wasn’t sure how to take it. Notoriety was half the fun!
He peeled out of his costume and put on an old black hoodie, grabbed the remote and went out the back door with a grin as big as the moon overhead. Peering through the knothole, he saw the old man’s right sock, and on screen was, in Justin’s young eyes, sex education 901! Frozen by what he was seeing, he almost didn’t hear Mrs. Silverstein pull into the driveway. Her husband saw the headlights and quickly changed the channel to his usual favorite evening fare, Hannity. This did not go unnoticed by our little guy behind the knothole. He watched as Mrs. Silverstein struggled with her purse, grocery bags and the front door, unassisted by the lump on the recliner. Justin waited for the lump to turn his attention away from the TV and when he did, Justin hit the recall button. This time the colorful phrases were overlapping each other as husband and wife exchanged pleasantries fulminating out of forty years of marriage. Justin
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AcresnPains@dishmail.net had a feeling he had just stumbled upon something akin to the secret codes of a nuclear arsenal! That put a tingle in his thought box. As Mrs. S. put groceries away, Mr. S. scratched his thinning scalp, changed the channel and rubbed his befuddled eyes. Seeing his cue, Justin maxed the volume and hit recall again. While carnal screams reverberated through the windows mixed with dialogue unsuited to suburban bliss but drawing a large crowd of interested trick-or-reaters, young Justin and the ol’ man played frantic “Dueling Remotes” until the receiver expired under the full weight and authority of a cast iron frying pan. Feeling vindicated of previous embarrassments, Justin retired to his room and his bag of booty and thought about next Halloween.
October 2016
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