WRW 12 January 2022

KETCHUM NEWS

SENIOR NEWS

50-Year Anniversary PG 4

Preserving Warm Springs PG 2

SUN VALLEY

KETCHUM

CRIME NEWS

HAILEY

Sexual Assault ID Kits PG 5 BELLEVUE

PICABO

CAREY

WOOD RIVER WEEKLY

YOUR VOICE IN THE WOOD RIVER VALLEY

Free | Jan 12 - 25, 2022 | Vol. 3 - No. 1 | woodriverweekly.com

“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”

WINTER WONDERS - George Orwell

On the heels of a too hot, too dry, too smoky summer, both locals and visitors celebrated all our early season snow. Snowplows, snowblowers, and shovels were in evidence up the down the Valley starting well before the holidays, as were hundreds of skiers, boarders, and Nordic enthusiasts who took to the trails. Fresh powder that just kept falling defined December and everyone got outside in droves. Cold temps have kept snowpack intact, and conditions just keep improving. There is a lot of winter left to enjoy — go and get it!

Photo credit: Michael Edminster

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W O O D R I V E R W E E K LY

NEWS

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JANUARY 12 - 25, 2022

KETCHUM, ENVIRONMENT

ALMOST PRESERVED

Nearly $7.6M raised since beginning of Warm Springs Ranch preservation

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By Eric Valentine

f there’s any question that natural history and its man-made counterpart can’t coexist, recent events in Ketchum suggest otherwise. On the heels of reaching a multimillion-dollar fundraising milestone to preserve 65 acres of open space, Ketchum City Council made the latest effort to preserve historically significant buildings in the downtown core official.

Specifically, on Jan. 3, City Council reconstituted the so-called Historic Preservation Commission—a five-member panel made up of Planning and Zoning officials and other members of the public. In addition to maintaining and updating a list of historically important downtown structures, that panel will deep-dive review any proposed changes to those structures. A temporary ban on changes to potentially historic buildings had been in place since October of 2020.

And on the natural preservation side of city business, the city announced it had reached the $6.5 million mark by the Dec. 31 deadline set by the current owners of the pristine property known as Warm Springs Ranch near Bald Mountain Road. The fundraising effort is part of an attempt to turn the property into a preserve, where both restoration efforts and a limited set of public uses could coexist.

A special fundraising committee was set up last year to raise funds from residents and others to purchase the 65-acre property for, initially, a total of $10 million—$9 million for the property and $1 million for the irrigation and site upgrades. Soon after, the committee announced a $1 million reduction in the sale price, which had a timeline contingency attached. Finally, a fundraising committee member also ponied up a $1 million time-contingent offer toward the effort. Both timeline benchmarks were reached successfully.

“Thanks to the generosity of 687 donors, the total raised since the start of the campaign is now $7,599,446.90,” the city announced in a press release last week. “With this much raised, the city is essentially $400,000 away from the $8 million purchase price of the property, and $1.4 million away from the full campaign goal.”

Preservation plans for Warm Springs Ranch would likely include a dog park. Photo credit: City of Ketchum

The full amount to purchase 65 acres of the Warm Springs Ranch property must be in hand by April 2022.

“I can’t thank this community enough for responding so generously to the two yearend incentives,” said Mayor Neil Bradshaw. “We don’t have much further to go and with the support we’ve had so far, I’m confident we will get where we need to be.”

Warm Springs Preserve will be kept as open space in perpetuity for the community if the campaign to purchase the property succeeds.

Priorities for the Preserve include off-leash dog access, creek and habitat restoration, new water-conscious irrigation system, walking trails, informal gatherings and activities, Nordic ski and snowshoe trails, and public restrooms. Development, organized sports and reserved private or commercial events would be restricted.

Currently, the property is zoned to allow significant development. However, a subdivision application and approval from the city would still be required.

For more information and to find ways to give, visit www.warmspringspreserve. org. If you have questions about the fundraising campaign or the city’s plans for the property, please email warmspringspreserve@gmail.com

WARM SPRINGS PRESERVE Proposed Allowable Uses A City of Ketchum illustrated map reveals where a parking lot is envisioned for the 65-acre lot. Image credit: City of Ketchum

• Dog Park • Picnics • Connector Trails • Riparian Zone • Water-conscious Irrigation • Nordic Skiing • Snowshoeing • Green Space Preserve • Public Restrooms

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PUBLISHER’S NOTE Hello Valley Residents,

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Winter is here in full force! After shoveling and plowing, we can now enjoy our white winter and all the fun that it brings. Be particularly careful in the backcountry, as avalanche dangers will linger for a while.

We will still publish every other week, with the aim of going weekly as soon as conditions are suitable.

We at Wood River Weekly wish all our readers, advertisers and columnists a happy New Year, and hope it brings health and success to all.

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W O O D R I V E R W E E K LY

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JANUARY 12 - 25, 2022

NEWS

“We ask the important questions and listen carefully until we understand exactly where your financial life stands today, and where you’d like it to be tomorrow.”

Suzanne Hazlett, MBA, CIMA®, CFP® CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM Certified Investment Management Analyst®

HazlettWealthManagement.com 208.726.0605 675 SUN VALLEY ROAD, SUITES J1 + J2 KETCHUM, IDAHO 83340 Hazlett Wealth Management, LLC is not a registered broker/dealer and is independent of Raymond James Financial Services. Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc.

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SENIORS

CONNECTING 50 YEARS

Pre-pandemic staff and seniors gathered at the local senior center to share meals and more. Photo credit: The Senior Connection

The Senior Connection garners $2.3M despite COVID challenges

A

By Eric Valentine

nearly two-year pandemic isn’t easy on anyone, but among the hardest hit in any community are its senior citizens. With Blaine County’s recent re-emergence as a COVID-19 hotspot, challenges for the elderly don’t figure to cease any time soon. That’s why the latest news coming from The Senior Connection couldn’t come at a better time.

In just the last nine months, the Hailey-based senior citizen center has raised $2.3 million of a $2.5 million fundraising campaign launched in celebration of their 50th anniversary.

“We needed to plan for our sustainability and the future. This campaign was essential to help the organization prepare for the growth we have, and continue to experience,” said executive director Teresa Beahen Lipman.

The fundraising program has been coined the “So Much More Than Lunch” campaign. Although pandemic restrictions since March 2020 have temporarily caused shutdowns of The Senior Connection’s services, the center has kept as many programs open as possible. Among them are the Meals-on-Wheels and Curbside Pickup programs.

The programs serve over 25,000 meals to seniors in their home and at the center every year.

Unfortunately, the programs that have suspended operations at The Senior Connection are equally missed. They include: • Provide over 10,000 hours of home and personal care that helps seniors remain in their own homes • Offer over 5,000 rides to the center, errands, medical appointments, and more • Help reduce falls and improve overall fitness with daily fitness classes • Fight isolation and loneliness with activities and events Fortunately, an Air Quality Improvement project that was part of the campaign budget was covered

via a Community Development Block Grant from the Idaho Commerce. That means the organization’s fundraising goals have, technically at least, been reached.

The campaign, which began in March of 2021, had been delayed from 2020 due to the pandemic and is the first campaign of this size for The Senior Connection in over 10 years. It addresses some critical needs in four areas that are not included in the annual operating budget: • Capital Needs—two new Meals-on-Wheels vehicles, a bus and additional parking • Program Expansion—a vision and hearing center, kitchen expansion and a video/iPad connection program • Staffing—additional personnel, healthcare reimbursement and affordable housing assistance • The Future—increasing Long-Term Funding/Operating Reserves The organization is moving forward with fulfilling the needs addressed, such as purchasing the two new Meals-on-Wheels vehicles. This was a critical need as the program grew 427% in March 2020—when the COVID-19 lockdown was implemented—and remained at this level throughout 2021. Volunteer drivers are grateful for the new trucks as they navigate through all sorts of weather to get homebound seniors a hot meal, a friendly face, and a safety check, the organization said.

The Senior Connection is also moving forward with its plans for a new vision and hearing center, which will be opening in Ketchum by spring of 2022, providing free screenings to all seniors.

The kitchen expansion is scheduled to start in the next month.

“I would like to thank each of the volunteers who served on the committee under the leadership of honorary chairpersons, Marie Gallo, Mardi Shepard and Leslie Silva. They truly were a dream team,” Mike Beck, the board chair, said.

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NEWS

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JANUARY 12 - 25, 2022

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A BACKLOG NO MORE

CRIME & COURTS

State Police say all 1,100 untested sexual assault evidence collection kits have now been tested

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By Eric Valentine

daho State Police Forensic Services (ISPFS) says it has reached a major milestone in the five-year effort to test all sexual assault evidence kits in Idaho. The last previously untested sexual assault kit in Idaho identified as needing and eligible for testing during a 2016 audit has been completed.

The final test means all kits identified in the 2016 audit as needing to be submitted to the lab, or already in the lab at that point, have now been completed, with reports provided to investigators and prosecutors, and any hits in the National DNA Index System (CODIS) provided to local law enforcement for further follow-up.

“This is a major step in building trust among sexual assault survivors, for assisting law enforcement, and providing critical information to policymakers,” said Matthew Gamette, laboratory system director of Idaho State Police Forensic Services. “Overall, the completion of these previously unsubmitted kits in Idaho is part of a bigger initiative to keep Idaho communities safe and

combat the crime of sexual assault.”

The State Police say Idaho leads the nation in addressing the issue of ensuring the testing of sexual assualt kits.

Specifically, ISPFS is leading the statewide multidisciplinary team that’s addressing culture change as it relates to investigation, prosecution, and treatment of sexual assault survivors. Idaho has: • • •

Passed aggressive laws to test and retain evidence kits Implemented the first fully functional statewide sexual assault kit tracking system Worked to ensure that survivors of this crime are cared for

Using grant funding, ISPFS is working to ensure local communities have a coordinated effort, including specially trained nurses, to combat sexual assault and assist survivors. ISPFS is training medical providers in every Idaho community to better engage with and assist sexual assault survivors and helping coordinate local multidisciplinary teams intended to provide a comprehensive sexual assault response for the needs of both survivors and Idaho’s criminal justice system.

A Five-Year Undertaking Leaders and activists sharply criticized the state for its daunting 1,100-kit backlog in recent years. And it should be noted a backlog still exists, although it’s more recent (up to August 2020) and more manageable now. ISP did not provide the specific number of bottlenecked kits currently. They did note that there has been an increase in submitted kits of 100 per year (365%) over the past two years and that the state uses a priority system to test the kits. That is, if there is an active investigation of, say, a serial rapist, they’d move those test kits to the front of the line.

“This project was a remarkable undertaking by the laboratory,” Gamette said.

Kits to collect evidence in sexual assault cases have always been widely used, but not until 2019 were all kits being tested. Photo credit: Idaho State Police

Evidence collected can identify suspects or exonerate those wrongfully accused.

Prior to 2016, Idaho, like other states, had no statewide requirement on whether a sexual assault kit, once collected, had to be sent to a lab for processing. Nor was there any system to track the kits. However, following action by the Idaho Legislature in 2016, efforts have been underway to track and process all eligible kits and provide regular reports to the legislature and law enforcement.

As of this month, every evidence kit currently in existence in Idaho has now been entered into the kit tracking software developed in-house by ISP IT experts. This software, because of its efficiency, has been offered at no cost and is now in use by a number of agencies as others look to follow Idaho’s lead and improve their evidence-tracking system for the crime of sexual assault.

The Idaho sexual assault kit data is available in real-time on the public ISP website for public transparency and survivor information. Every kit collected in Idaho and any kit existing in the state of Idaho is accounted for in this system. ISPFS provides monthly and annual reports to the Idaho Legislature regarding the status of sexual assault kit tracking and processing in Idaho.

ISPFS now has a full-time sexual assault kit tracking system coordinator to work with medical facilities, law enforcement agencies, and prosecutors to ensure the information in the kit tracking system is accurate.

About the Sexual Assault Kit, Tracking The kits are a collection of physical evidence, including DNA samples, taken from sexual assault victims.

THE HISTORY OF A BACKLOG Number of untested kits in 2016: 1,100 State Law: Legislation passed in 2019 to direct ISP to test all evidence within 90 days Current Backlog: All tests have been processed up to August 2020 Increase in submitted tests since 2019: 100+/- each year

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NEWS

W O O D R I V E R W E E K L Y • J A N U A R Y 1 2 - 2 5 , 2 0 2 2

Library Virtual Talk Thursday

In cultures with a strong oral heritage, the winter solstice often begins a season of storytelling. The Hailey Public Library is honoring this tradition by hosting Living Stories, a two-part series.

On Thursday, Jan. 13 at 5:30 p.m. via Zoom, Dr. Rodney Frey, University of Idaho Professor Emeritus of Ethnography, will explore, “Rejuvenating a Sense of Place and Community Through Storytelling.” RSVP to kristin.fletcher@haileypubliclibrary.org.

Dr. Frey will extensively reference Native oral traditions, including the Apsáalooke (Crow) of Montana and the Schitsu’umsh (Coeur d’Alene) of Idaho with which he has extensively collaborated. He will also discuss the implications of storytelling for our panhuman experience, including ways of transforming one’s own family oral histories into “living stories,” stories that can help address division and isolation, and rejuvenate a sense of place.

“My mentors have helped guide me, both professionally as well as personally,” explained Dr. Frey, “We have become ‘family.’ Through their example and teachings, they have demonstrated the tremendous value and importance of story, and of the power of empathy as the means that brings those stories alive, helping connect and heal the members of the human family.”

Dr. Frey’s talk will discuss the underpinnings of story and storytelling, from literary motifs to historical narratives, from storytelling techniques to orality and ontological foundations, from renewal and healing capacities to anchoring our sense of place. And pivotal to it all is empathy, or what the Schitsu’umsh call snukwnkhwtskhwts’mi’ls, literally meaning, “fellow sufferer.”

Dr. Frey received a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Colorado in 1979. He taught at Carroll College in Helena, Montana, for six years and at Lewis-Clark State College in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, from 1987 to 1998. While at Lewis-Clark and working closely with the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, he helped establish and coordinate a successful college outreach center on the reservation. His books include The World of the Crow Indians: As Driftwood Lodges and Landscape Traveled by Coyote and Crane: The World of the Schitsu’umsh – Coeur d’Alene Indians, in collaboration with the Schitsu’umsh. His most recent book, Carry Forth the Stories: An Ethnographer’s Journey into Native Oral Tradition, was published by Washington State University Press in 2017.

Tony Tekaroniake Evans, author, award-winning journalist and enrolled Bear Clan member of the Kahnawake Mohawks of Quebec, will teach a storytelling workshop Thursday, Jan. 20, Part Two of the Living Stories series.

Idaho Grows More Than Potatoes

Idaho is the ninth-highest growth state in America, according to 2021 transactional data compiled for the annual U-Haul Growth Index. People coming to Idaho in oneway U-Haul trucks increased more than 1% year-over-year, while departures remained the same as 2020. Arriving customers accounted for nearly 50.5% of all one-way U-Haul traffic in Idaho during 2021 to make it a leading state for netting do-it-yourself movers.

Idaho has registered as a net-gain state for U-Haul trucks every year since 2015, and this marks the third time it has been a top-10 state for growth in the last six years.

While U-Haul migration trends do not correlate directly to population or economic growth, the U-Haul Growth Index is an effective gauge of how well states are both attracting and maintaining residents. Growth states are calculated by the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks entering a state versus leaving that state in a calendar year.

Migration trends data is compiled from well over 2 million one-way U-Haul truck customer transactions that occur annually.

U-Haul customers made Texas the No. 1 growth state of 2021, followed by Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina and Arizona. It is the second year in a row that the same three states comprised the top three, with Tennessee taking top honors in 2020.

Idaho’s top growth cities are Moscow, Coeur d’Alene and Twin Falls. Other notable net-gain cities include Post Falls, Pocatello, Ammon, Lewiston and Nampa.

Hailey Library Strengthens Latinx Offerings

The Hailey Public Library is wrapping up a year-long, grant-funded initiative to strengthen its relationship with the Hispanic community and expand offerings to better reflect their needs and aspirations.

HPL was one of 300 libraries nationwide to receive a competitive American Library Association’s Libraries Transforming Communities: Focus on Small and Rural Libraries grant, which came with $3,000 to support follow-up actions based on what staff learned.

Library staff and a Hispanic advisors group hosted two informal listening conversations this summer at Balmoral Park in Hailey’s Woodside subdivision.

Participants brainstormed dozens of suggestions for new and improved programs, collections and services for all ages. The advisors then reviewed and prioritized The Spanish books section participants’ ideas for implementation in the next 4-6 at Hailey’s library is growing.

Photo credit: Hailey Public months.

Library Project Director and HPL Program Manager Kristin Fletcher commented, “Hailey’s richly diverse population is over 30% Hispanic but we realized only a fraction uses the library’s services.

Through this initiative we learned a lot about what barriers exist and ways to create a more welcoming environment and expand our collections, programs and services.”

HPL used funds to purchase almost 200 Spanish/bilingual books and rearranged the Children’s Library to prominently feature them. New programs include a free, six-week Conversacion de Ingles for native Spanish speakers taught by tutor Leonardo Padilla Sacha starting Jan. 21.

In February, HPL will host a monthly Spanish language movie night featuring well-known Latinx actors and directors, including special movies for kids. A monthly bilingual StoryTime read by Hispanic community leaders will also launch in February.

This spring, HPL will offer a monthly Tertulia, a Peruvian word meaning an informal gathering with the purpose of sharing conversation and cultural experiences, often about books, movies or current affairs.

“We were honored to be chosen for this amazing opportunity and have learned so much from our Hispanic neighbors over the past year that we are eager to implement,” stated Library Director Lyn Drewien.

To learn more about the project and new offerings, contact Kristin Fletcher at (208) 788-2036 or visit www.haileypubliclibrary.org for more information.

Ketchum Bar Brawl Leads To Arrest

IN BRIEF

On Saturday, Jan. 1, at approximately 1:26 a.m., Blaine County Sheriff deputies interceded in a fight involving at least four men outside the Casino Bar on Main Street in Ketchum.

Witnesses reported that the brawl began when Jose P. Quinonez Tamayo, age 21, of Hailey, was removed from the bar by an employee for being belligerent and striking another employee. Several others became involved in the fight on the sidewalk, including an unidentified person who kicked Quinonez Tamayo in the face, breaking his nose.

The Sheriff’s office said while deputies attempted to assist Quinonez Tamayo, he became agitated, aggressive, yelled profanities, and refused to comply with the officers. During the altercation, Quinonez Tamayo began spitting blood and saliva into the deputies’ faces and uniforms, according to deputies. Quinonez Tamayo was arrested and charged with two felony counts of Battery Upon Certain Personnel (Law Enforcement) and one misdemeanor count of Resisting and Obstructing Officers.

Quinonez Tamayo was treated for his injuries at St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center before being booked into the Blaine County Detention Center. Deputies are still working to determine the identity of the individual that kicked Quinonez Tamayo.

St. Luke’s Welcomes New Year’s Baby

The first baby born at St. Luke’s Wood River (SLWR) in 2022 was Eloise Varnum Klomhaus. Eloise arrived at 5:01 p.m. on Jan. 1, 2022, weighing 5 pounds, 12 ounces, and measured 18 1/2 inches long.

Eloise is Annie and Derek Klomhaus’s second child.

Annabelle, her older sister, is 18 months old. The Klomhaus’s spend time in Austin, Texas, and in Sun Valley.

Annie Klomhaus commented, “We love it here and chose to have our baby here because of our amazing doctor (Dr. Julie Lyons), the beautiful facilities at St. Luke’s Wood River and to spend time over the holidays with family and friends.”

St. Luke’s Wood River and the SLWR Foundation provided a special gift basket for the first 2022 baby with diapers, a baby blanket, a book, a stuffed animal, a onesie, knit cap and other goodies.

NYT Bestselling Author To Speak On College Admissions Process

As part of its College Counseling Office Speaker Series, Sun Valley Community School’s College Counseling Department will host New York Times bestselling author Jeffrey Selingo on Tuesday, Jan. 18. Selingo will be speaking about his recent book, “Who Gets In and Why: A Year Inside College Admissions.”

The event will be held at Sun Valley Community School’s Trail Creek campus’s Hagenbuch Hall (One Community School Way, Sun Valley) and is free and open to the public. The evening will include a book talk from 5:30-6:30 p.m. followed by a meet and greet with the author from 6:30-7:00 p.m. Guests will be required to wear masks and complete a short health screening prior to attending. Local bookseller Iconoclast Books will be on site.

Jeffrey Selingo has written about higher education for more than two decades and is a New York Times bestselling author of three books. His latest book was published in September 2020 and was named among the 100 Notable Books of the year by The New York Times. A regular contributor to The Atlantic, Selingo is a special advisor for innovation and professor of practice at Arizona State University. He also writes a bi-weekly newsletter on all things higher ed called Next, and co-hosts the podcast, FutureU.

CORRECTION

In the last edition of Wood River Weekly we ran photos of Our Lady of the Snows live nativity event. We did not include a photo credit for Rae DeVito. We regret the oversight and appreciate when our readers provide content.

Two WRHS Seniors In Rose Bowl Parade The Valley had a hand in the 133rd Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year’s Day. Musically, that is. Wood River High School senior Brandon Enders and freshman Orrie DeShields were part of the Band of America. The honor band is invited to march in the Rose Parade every four years and brings together top high school musicians from around the country. Its 300-plus members represent schools from all 50 states to collaborate with an all-star faculty of instructors from some of the finest high school band programs in America. This national honor band gives every high school band student in the country the opportunity to audition for a performance spot. Enders and DeShields are the first Idahoans to participate in the band. Inset photo: WRHS Seniors Brandon Enders (L) and Orrie DeShield. Photos courtesy of Rebecah DeShields.

W O O D R I V E R W E E K LY

THE REPUBLIC

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JANUARY 12 - 25, 2022

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Streaming Craftsmanship

By Ken Stokes

hen streaming services began producing original feature film content, pundits were quick to write the obituary for cinema—a term that no longer refers to the medium so much as the elusive standard of originality and artistry that holds up over time.

A similar thing was said when paid cable got into the production of long-format television.

As it turns out, Netflix is doing for film what Sundance and (I hate even mentioning the brand name anymore) Miramax did for film in the ’90s. They’re not the only guys in the game, but if this were high-stakes Texas Hold’em I wouldn’t relish being one of the other players at the table. This year, Netflix is involved with the creation and presentation of two instant cinema classics: The Power of the Dog and Tic, Tic … Boom!

‘Power’ Rewind to 1993. In any other year Jane Campion’s The Piano, a watershed film about a woman crafting a life worth living from the very obstacles presented to her by both nature and men, would have been a lock for the Best Picture and Best Director Oscars. Then Schindler’s List debuted. It was Seabiscuit and War Horse, and the big horse won. After a seeming-eternity away from filmmaking, Ms. Campion is back and has reset the bar for herself and her colleagues with The Power of the Dog, a film so gorgeous, so unique, so relevant and so unexpectedly moving that, frankly, it has no rivals this season.

It’s a Western. So what is a Western anyway? When all is said and done, it’s a genre where people, like hothouse flowers, have been transplanted into hostile environments and circumstances and it’s thrive or wither.

And there’s a bad guy. A really bad guy.

Or is he? What opens up as John Ford by way of David Lean slides into psychological study (thriller?) territory and ends up as a bona fide tragedy. People throw around the term ‘toxic masculinity’ pretty freely, but the composition and process of making the poison makes all the difference. I’ve never seen the sheer weight of a man’s loss and self-hatred shown on screen as it is in this film,

Two Oscar-hopeful productions are streaming on Netflix.

Image credit: Netflix photos arranged by Wood River Weekly

and it opens over time like a festering wound to expose a person so hardened and yet so fragile that one cannot help being moved.

But the capper, of course, is recognition and redemption from the most unlikely and yet the most obvious source. Benedict Cumberbatch gives a performance for the ages. It’ll break your heart. The sheer craft of the film is astonishing. And it has a debut role for Kodi Smit-McPhee as a very well-placed interloper (not unlike Christ) that will be an inspiration for more struggling people than I care to count.

‘Boom’ Now for something completely different but nonetheless wonderful, Tic, Tic . . . Boom!—the little musical that could. In a year when the Latinx community and its gatekeepers are hand-wringing over the merits of two very expensive film musicals, the adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s sophomore outing in musical theater snuck in under the radar. Jonathan Larson—the van Gogh of musical theater—died before the preview of his third and last work, Rent. The unexpected harbinger of an un-

OPINION

KEN STOKES

imaginable tragedy, Tic, Tic . . . Boom! is about running out of time, creatively for oneself and for the genre itself.

Hamilton fans will be familiar with the concept.

Moreover, it is a love-letter to the creative process and how that process is inseparable from the life one lives as one creates. It’s a beautiful tribute to Larson’s mentor and spirit animal, the iconic Stephen Sondheim, and especially to Sunday in the Park with George—Steve’s masterpiece about the creative process.

The film is charming because it’s small, intimate; this is not West Side Story. Lin-Manuel Miranda directs with a deft second-unit, news-at-11 sensibility that opens up—but not too much—into ingenious musical outbursts that are never less than funny, moving or delightful. Andrew Garfield’s performance is all puppies and birthday candles, even when his character is on the ropes. It’s the embodiment of hope with the foreboding of a short shelf life. But the most refreshing aspect of Garfield’s performance is that it reminds us that current film musical darling Hugh Jackman is old-school and that times must change. And thankfully there’s a new kid in town.

Format & Function So back to the medium, Netflix. Does this mean artistic imagination will be imprisoned by the dimensions of the largest in-home theater packages sold at Costco?

Three things are still very much in play: the ratio of proscenium size to viewer distance, sound, and communal experience. The two films I’ve mentioned are extraordinary in-home entertainment experiences. Offered on the same screens that are the more-customary home of Marvel and DC Comics, suddenly The Power of the Dog becomes “the magic of the movies” in exactly the same way as cerebral, breathtaking and enduring epics like Lawrence of Arabia or, and not coincidentally, The Piano.

The challenge will be, as it has been since Mr. Spielberg showed up on set, to get screen time in the best venues that are ideal for a given film’s target demo. How to do that? Well Steve, rather than bitch about the seismic change in who makes what and what’s shown where, wouldn’t this be a marvelous legacy project?

CAITLIN JOHNSTONE

Silicon Valley Should Not Restrict Public Discourse About Covid Measures Which Affect Everyone

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By Caitlin Johnstone

witter has banned the account of controversial virologist Dr Robert Malone, who reportedly had half a million followers at the time of his removal. Malone is credited even by mainstream critics as having played a significant role in the development of the mRNA technology being used for Covid-19 vaccines today, but has recently come under fire for comments about the safety of those vaccines’ use on children which the Authorized Fact Checkers have labeled “dangerously and flagrantly incorrect.”

Everyone should oppose the removal of Malone and commentators who share his views, regardless of whether they agree with them or vehemently despise them. The reason for this is very simple: only a fool would support government-tied monopolistic billionaire corporations regulating public discourse about Covid responses which affect us all. This is true regardless of what you personally happen to believe about mRNA vaccines.

Arguments that Malone and his ilk are peddling “misinformation” have no bearing on the question of whether they should be removed from the platforms everyone uses to debate ideas and discuss information. It is entirely legitimate to make arguments that their claims are inaccurate, but it is not at all legitimate to claim that platforms which large sectors of humanity have come to rely on for public discourse should interfere with or obstruct those conversations.

Dr. Malone may be right or may be wrong in his views regarding Covid vaccines.

But he is a respectable scientist, the inventor of mRNA vaccine technology(!), and so has the right to state his scientific opinion.

There is no justification for suspending him. It’s a disgrace. pic.twitter.com/rG9jSV8QD9 — Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) December 29, 2021 Even if we were to accept unconditionally the position that people should be banned from such platforms if they are posting “misinformation”, who exactly do we imagine would be determining whether something is misinformation or not? Will we be consulting some impartial, agendaless, omniscient demigod through some sort of crystal ball or magical rune portal? Or would we in fact be relying on flawed human beings looking at the information through the lens of their own cognitive biases, agendas, perceptual distortions and knowledge limitations?

I ask because historically what these giant Silicon Valley corporations have been doing to determine who gets to have a voice and who doesn’t is working in consultation with think tanks funded by governments and the military-industrial complex like the Atlantic Council and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, as well as working with the US government directly to an increasingly intimate degree. This fact is devastating to the popular argument that these are merely private corporations enforcing their

Terms of Service, since they are becoming inseparably interwoven with government power. In a corporatist system of government, corporate censorship is state censorship.

Public discourse is consolidated on these gigantic platforms to such an extent that getting your ideas heard by a large number of people requires participation in them, and now they are determining how issues of such immense political importance as government pandemic responses may be discussed, and doing so in increasingly intimate collaboration with the most powerful governments on earth.

These restrictions on public discourse about the way human civilization responds to Covid-19 were first normalized in 2020 by the deplatforming of weirdos like David Icke for conspiracy theories linking coronavirus symptoms to 5G, and that normalization has continued to metastasize so far over the last year and a half that it’s now considered perfectly acceptable for these platforms to ban a popular scientific researcher whose work helped develop mRNA vaccines for expressing his scientific opinion about them.

Why You Should Oppose The Censorship Of David Icke (Hint: It’s Got Nothing To Do With Icke) “We shouldn’t be okay with monopolistic billionaire-owned Silicon Valley tech giants with extensive ties to US government agencies controlling human communication”https://t.co/J94ZVvi7YK — Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) May 3, 2020 Humanity is a mess. We’re dealing with so many deep, deep problems and facing so many existential hurdles in our immediate future, and it’s clear that the people in charge aren’t going to navigate us through them with any degree of skill. This means we’re going to have to figure things out as a collective, and we’re not going to be able to do that if we’re forbidden from communicating with each other in ways the powerful don’t approve.

Certainly allowing human speech to flourish unrestricted would mean a lot of people saying things that we disagree with, and even saying things that are objectively and demonstrably wrong. But the alternative is allowing speech to be controlled by the same power structure which saw fit to invade Iraq, which is currently committing genocide in Yemen and pushing us toward direct military confrontation with Russia and China. Government-tied oligarchic megacorporations are among the very last institutions who should be in charge of worldwide political discourse.

The future of humanity depends on our ability to bring light to the darkness, to bring awareness to that which we are not aware. As with individual awakening, a collective awakening will necessarily be sloppy, clumsy, and full of confrontation and awkward conversations. But it’s the only way we can begin working our way toward becoming a species whose actions are based on truth rather than untruth, on consciousness rather than unconsciousness. Until that happens, we will necessarily continue along our self-destructive trajectory.

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W O O D R I V E R W E E K L Y • J A N U A R Y 1 2 - 2 5 , 2 0 2 2

Fishing R epoRt

COMM ENT ARY

NO BONES ABOUT IT THE “WEEKLY” FISHING REPORT FOR JANUARY 12 - 25 FROM PICABO ANGLER

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he weather has settled for a little while, leaving nearly 150 percent snowpack behind a chain of winter storms. With continued cold and hopefully a wet spring, we hope to see full reservoirs and cold, clean, swift-moving rivers. In the meantime, the wintry backdrop is spectacular and the best Midge hatches of the season are waiting for you!

The Big Wood is the epicenter of winter dry-fly fishing in our area. Daily hatches can be found in the slow but moving water throughout the entire system.

Fish Griffith’s Gnats and TieDown Midges with 6X tippet, keep a low profile, fish slowly and target the biggest heads you see. The action normally starts by 11 a.m. and can stay prolific until around 4-ish.

The other places anglers can find great Midge dry-fly activity is on the lower Big Lost River as well as the South Fork of the Boise. These places also produce outstanding surface activity, but they are more sporadic and weather dependent than the winter hatches on the Big Wood.

If you prefer to nymph versus dealing with the precision and detail of dry-fly fishing, then be sure to have Black and Red Zebra Nymphs, Copper and Red Brassies, as well as Girdle Bugs.

Any combination of these fished under an indicator will produce fish on all of our winter fisheries.

If you come to fish Silver Creek, stop by the fly shop here in Picabo and grab some hot food and some Streamers. The water is beginning to thaw out and more open water means better fishing for you.

Waterfowl season will be closing in two weeks and that normally coincides with the timing of the best Streamer fishing of the season. Fish them with no weight, on 2X fluorocarbon tippet. The farther you can cast, the more action you will get. This is especially true of big Streamer flies and if nothing else it is a great warm-up for saltwater season in the spring.

The clear sky means colder temperatures, so despite the sun being out, continue to take the necessary winter precautions, especially keeping warm, dry clothes in your vehicle as well as a full tank of gas. Chains, snow shovel, thawed water, and a note to a friend explaining where you are going are all precautions that just fall into the common-sense category. Have fun and be kind out there!

Happy fishing, everyone!

Hwy 20 in Picabo info@picaboangler.com (208)788.3536 www.picaboangler.com

FRAN JEWELL

TOUCH AS A WAY TO CALM YOUR DOG

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By Fran Jewell

any of you know that I train a lot of service dogs for various careers, such as guiding, mobility, diabetic alert, and hearing assistance. When working with dogs for these difficult service activities, there are basically two parts to the training. The first is public access, where the dog learns perfect manners, where to place himself, how to greet or not greet people, and how to be totally discreet so as not to bother customers in a public situation, and maintaining full attention to his handler. The second part is learning the tasks that mitigate the handler’s disabilities. Yes, the handler must have a disability that the dog is specifically trained to help handle. Emotional support or pet therapy dogs are NOT service animals.

In working with a service dog, the first requirement is to have a dog that can handle high-stress situations without fault. Even seeing loose dogs can distract a service dog, but the service dog must learn to ignore those distractions and have a natural propensity to be uninterested.

One of the things I have learned over the years that can help the service dog cope with these distractions, especially in training, is a very simple technique of touching the dog.

This applies not only to service dogs, that we actually teach to cope with stress to enhance their natural abilities, it can be applied to pet dogs on walks, or even when someone comes to visit, depending on what the stressor is for each individual dog.

I did a webinar for the National Association of Dog Obedience Instructors (NADOI) called “Stress and the Service Dog” that identified the many different ways of teaching an already solid dog how to handle daily stressors of the highly unusual public. And

let’s face it, the public can be HIGHLY unusual, from running and screaming children, to cars that backfire, to folks riding on a bus filled with skis and helmets!

What I find is that many of these techniques to calm a service dog are also great for the beloved pet dog. There are many techniques taught by skilled practitioners in Reiki, Tellington TTouch Training, Healing Touch, canine massage and even canine yoga that can help. There is a plethora of homeopathic remedies, essential oils, and flower essences that can also help.

One of the simplest tools is one that comes with you on every walk, every place you go, that most people have no idea even exists. It is a simple ear massage.

First, you must learn to SEE the potential stressor for your dog. Is it a car or a pushy person? Could it be seeing another dog?

Then you must also recognize IF your dog is stressed. Blinking its eyes fast, yawning, hiding, lip licking, darting eyes, ears back, scratching, a closed mouth, hackling, sweaty paw pads, tight muscles, and even dandruff can be some of the ways your dog is letting you know he doesn’t want to be in the situation, and that he is VERY uncomfortable.

Practicing is always good before a situation happens. With the ear massage, simply hold your dog’s head in your hands, if he will let you, or reach from behind his ears. Then place your hand at the base of his ears closest to the center of his head. Your forefinger should be on one side of the ear at the base, and your thumb on the other side of the ears.

Gently massage and watch your dog’s eyes soften and his neck relax!

I have yet to see this not work in a stressful situation. If you practice enough at home, your dog will know what is coming and look forward to it.

SCIENCE OF PLACE

Ettienne is in training as a hearing assistance dog and frequently gets ear massages. Photo credit: Fran Jewell

Relaxation can be incredibly difficult for dogs in many situations; however, if you arm yourself with many different tools to help reduce stress instead of pulling on a leash or yelling to stop a stress-related behavior, you and your dog can become a trusted team in the face of unknown or known difficult situations.

Fran Jewell is an IAABC Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, NADOI Certified Instructor and the owner of Positive Puppy Dog Training, LLC in Sun Valley. For more information, visit positivepuppy.com or call 208-578-1565.

HANNES THUM

TAKING TIME TO WATCH

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BY HANNES THUM

he older I get, the more deliberately I try to re-remember the sense of wonder that seemed easier to have handy when I was younger. There’s plenty of ways for me to work on this: long walks in the woods usually help; a good book can go a long way; a conversation with an excited science student works great.

But, the pull of the daily habits of our lives can often be a pull toward complacency or apathy or indifference to the world around us. It’s a lot easier to trudge on past an interesting animal track in my front yard (“I’m late!”) or to sleep in too late to see a meteor shower or a lunar eclipse (“I’m tired!”) or to choose not to take the time to walk down to the river to see what the ice is doing (“I’m cold!”).

I know that this can happen to me, and I don’t really want it to. So, I try to work on it.

Lately, what I have been focusing on is watching the snow. As any of you will know, it’s been snowing here lately. Like, a lot. We have gone from almost no snowpack a month ago to quite-far-above-average snowpack in the past few weeks, and the impact on the landscape has been absolutely transformational.

My lower back pain has also certainly been transformational, but shoveling the snow out of my driveway seems (usually) a fair price to pay for the absolutely gobsmacking way that this world that we live in provides us with such surprises as snowstorms.

When water freezes to ice, it can do so as a crystal. This is where the most fascinating patterns and shapes occur—picture snowflakes (which exhibit an extraordinary degree of randomness and unpredictability,

even though they are almost all built off of certain formations, such as the six-sidedness)—or those unbelievably beautiful, thin, translucent feathers of frost that can form on windows.

The formation of ice crystals follows the same physical rulebooks as the formation of other crystals. There’s a certain geometry involved, unique to each chemical structure, and the shapes that form in crystals are distinctive and diagnostic.

Forget not, that each snow crystal was formed out of thin air—water vapor, one of the most easily underappreciated substances there is (“all it does is fog up my glasses!”), transforming from an invisible gas into tiny, solid, crystalline gifts from the sky.

People display crystals made of other sub-

stances on their desks, shelves, and on rings on their fingers—these other kinds of crystals are rarer, surely, than ice crystals (as I type this, several million ice crystals are falling out of the sky each second—imagine if cut diamonds did that!), but it does sometimes strike me as an interesting thought that we are so used to these astounding crystals laying around that we brusquely shovel and plow and pummel them into pieces when they are in our way.

A person could be forgiven for getting a bit jaded about this planet we are on. After all, none of us has ever been to another planet (unless there are extraterrestrials hiding among us, which some folks seem to consider a plausible possibility). But, what a world.

What a moment in the history of the universe.

W O O D R I V E R W E E K LY

MONEY MATTERS

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KRISTIN HOVENCAMP

METAWHAT?

BY KRISTIN HOVENCAMP

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s the metaverse the next coming of the Internet? It certainly sounds like it. The metaverse, an immersive next-generation version of the Internet, is a network of online 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection. Science fiction writer Neal Stephenson coined the term “metaverse” in his 1992 novel “Snow Crash.” Stephenson imagined a constant virtual world where avatars, or 3D representations of people, meet in virtual reality settings. The metaverse is accessed using virtual reality and augmented reality technologies. As the metaverse expands, where can investors find opportunities?

The following are examples of companies partaking directly or indirectly in the evolution of the virtual world: • Providers that offer 5G connectivity, ultra-fast broadband, and cloud services. Companies like Verizon and Microsoft are leading the next phase of digital innovation.

• Makers of virtual reality headsets and goggles. Apple, HP, Meta (formerly known as Facebook) and Sony are all vying to deliver the best devices.

• Websites that allow users to create digital avatars that connect and network through travel, entertainment, sports, education, and work. Second Life, founded in 2003, offers users thousands of virtual experiences and communities. Microsoft Teams has unveiled its Kristin Hovencamp is an Investment Executive and Diversion of a mixed reality.

• Developers of virtual always-on online spaces, such rector of Business Developas online game universes. Gamers are already en- ment with HAZLETT WEALTH grossed in the online universe, but developers like MANAGEMENT, LLC. Roblox are offering more diverse options for 3D experiences.

• Software applications for 3D virtual connected spaces. Imagine attending music concerts, professional conferences, or social networking events from your own home. Epic Games has hosted virtual shows, and Nowhere offers constant and short-term virtual spaces.

• Designers of virtual platforms that offer user-generated experiences include role-playing games, visiting virtual retail stores, and creating office environments and workspaces. Fortnite and Minecraft are popular interactive video games.

Nvidia has created the Omniverse, where it simulates real-world environments for collaboration and optimization.

We are witnessing firsthand the movement from the physical world to the virtual world.

People can interact, work, play, and share their world in the metaverse. What was purely science fiction in 1992 is rapidly becoming a reality. Mark Zuckerberg referred to this innovation as “an embodied Internet where you’re in the experience, not just looking at it.”

HAZLETT WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC, is independent of Raymond James and is not a registered broker/dealer. Investment advisory services are offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc. Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. 675 Sun Valley Road, Suite J1 + J2 Ketchum, Idaho 83340 208.726.0605.

HazlettWealthManagement.com

INSPIRATIONS FROM MY HEART

FEELINGS

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JANUARY 12 - 25, 2022

ON LIFE’S TERMS

JOELLEN COLLINS

DOWNS WITH UPS A

By JoEllen Collins

fter viewing replays of the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, I almost fell into a familiar pattern of fear about the future of the country I have honored, even while disagreeing with some actions of our leaders. I hated reading about a possible civil war over our political divide, about the number of violent responses to problems in our society and about an America that is facing the realities of the mistreatment of minorities, and the stupidity of those too gullible to act intelligently when dissatisfied. It is tempting to be cynical when confronted by such negativity.

However, last week I experienced what could have been a disastrous situation but that turned out to be not only palatable but a boost to my basic optimism about humanity—my trip home from Oklahoma after spending Christmas there with my birth family, a blessed time filled with love, acceptance and understanding between all of us.

When I was ready to fly to Salt Lake City, I learned that my second flight from SLC to Sun Valley had been cancelled, so my brother found a flight from SLC to Twin Falls, a route I have often taken. The airline representative promised that there would then be transportation to Sun Valley.

As it turned out, had that flight for SLC not been cancelled, I would have missed it anyway. Since my JoEllen Collins—a longtime first plane was a little late, my time between flights resident of the Wood River was too short for me to reach the gate on time. I Valley— is an Idaho Press settled into the terminal next to passengers who had Club award-winning columbeen waiting, some overnight, for our trip to Twin nist, a teacher, writer, fabric Falls. We spent almost four hours of delays, finally artist, choir member and arriving in Twin where there was no transport to unabashedly proud grandma known as “Bibi Jo.” Sun Valley.

But three things redeemed the day. My fellow travelers, Twin Falls residents, and I enjoyed good conversations, but when we also admitted to being a bit hungry, a young man a row behind us offered to get me some ice cream. So thoughtful! I thanked him but resisted the temptation. Then I noticed a mature woman and two teenaged girls, heavily scarved, trying to talk to the clerk at the counter, who rapidly found a Farsi translation on her phone and explained things to them while also having to field other people’s incessant questions. Eventually, she asked me if I would be willing to have the three refugees follow me via the bus to the plane, so they wouldn’t get lost. I felt honored to do so and pleased when we landed and a group of people from Twin were there to welcome and escort these refugees on their next journey.

Then I asked travelers at Baggage if anyone was heading to Hailey or north, and a couple offered me a ride home. We had friends and experiences in common.

What a delight! They left me at my dogsitter’s house, where my daughter came and took me home. Friendly people, my cuddly doggie, and new friends. Without the day’s trials, I wouldn’t have been so blessed.

DOVE

BY DOVE

hat are your expectations about 2022? Are you expecting joy, abundance, lovely relationships, great friends and magic? This is so the time to determine what focus you want to hold for your energy in the coming year and beyond. It does not matter what is predicted or how it shows up. Your response is all you can affect. Being prepared for any change can always give you peace of mind.

I have discovered that about myself. If I am prepared for any situation, I can let it go and hold no worry in my physical body and mind.

I had a wise friend tell me many years ago that if you have shelter, clothing and enough food to eat, all else is luxury. When I look at my life and the lives of most of us, we indeed live in a very abundant world. What if we change our focus to the true abundance we have rather than a lack of anything.

I notice as I progress in age that my needs don’t grow, but they minimize. I don’t need the latest fashion. I desire comfort, purpose and, most of all, good friends and family, a warm place to rest, and food that nourishes the body and soul. I have all those things so that begs the question of where do I put my focus for 2022?

I have decided to be of service because it brings me joy and just maybe I can bring someone else peace and joy with my energy. While I was in the grocery store today, I came out and my husband was cleaning the snow off a vehicle in the parking lot that the owner had neglected to clear. She was driving unsafely and he took the time and energy to create a safer auto for someone he didn’t even know. That’s what I mean by being of service.

Do the unexpected! Create harmony with your thoughts and words. It will work in your favor every time. You will be amazed at the flow

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of blessings that follow you around when you look for opportunities to be of service. As an example, I misplaced $40 and I closed my eyes and asked my higher self where to look. I was given a location of the backseat of the car on the floor. Sure enough, that is where it was.

Two more times that same day my trust in my higher self was challenged. I lost a necklace that had great sentimental value. For some reason I did not panic or get anxious—I just heard that voice in my head say ‘trust’—it will come back to you. Sure enough, I found it the next day in a place I had already searched.

When you truly trust yourself, magic has space and energy to manifest. I am going to focus on trusting myself in this next passage of the earth around the sun. I expect blessings and all good things. Set new rules for this coming year, not about losing weight, meditating more, working out more or giving up bad habits. Choose a path that serves those you care about and you will be blessed beyond measure.

Hope for your perfect joy for 2022. Expect it.

It is yours if you choose it.

Much love, Dove

COWBOY POETRY

BRYCE ANGELL

TEND THE HORSES

Well, Lord, I’m getting’ up in years and soon you’ll call me home. So now I hope you’re listenin’ while I kneel here all alone.

Don’t know much ‘bout Heaven ‘cept what Mother rightly taught. And I ain’t got much to offer. You kinda got me in a spot.

‘Cuz Mother said there’s lots of singin’, praisin’ to your name. But if I tried to hum a hymn, well, Sir, I’d be fair game!

I’ve never strummed a harp or even gazed a music sheet. So if that’s where I’m headed, this won’t be no cowboy treat.

But I’ve been thinkin’, if I’m gonna be there for a while, maybe there is somethin’ that’s a little more my style.

I’ve had my share of failures with my so-called jobs in town. But when it comes to horses, my successes are well-found.

My father taught me all he knew of a horse’s sheer beauty. A family’s deep tradition that was passed along to me.

So, there oughta be a few old crowbait horses on the loose. Maybe they need rounded up, then put ‘em to good use.

You see, a horse needs tendin’. If they’re left to run around, they might take off a runnin’ and who knows could be Hellbound.

We wouldn’t want the doggone devil stealin’ our horseflesh. Let’s keep ’em there in Heaven, ‘cuz Heaven and Hell don’t mesh.

I’ll get to know each horse and will account for every head. And one thing is for certain, they for danged sure will get fed.

We’ll always have some tame ones to explore out on the trail. My cowboy friends and I will always ride ’em without fail.

Lord, I’m askin’, cut me slack. Reach out to all your sources. This kinda job is meant for me. Please let me tend the horses.

– Bryce Angell Bryce Angell - The outdoors has always been a large part of my life. My father was an outfitter and guide for 35 years and I was there to shoe and care for the horses and help him do the cooking. We took many great trips into the Yellowstone area. Even now that I’m older, we still ride into the Tetons, Yellowstone and surrounding areas.

My poems are mostly of personal experience. I am now retired and enjoying life to the fullest. I plan to do more riding and writing.

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W O O D R I V E R W E E K L Y • J A N U A R Y 1 2 - 2 5 , 2 0 2 2

SENIOR CONNECTION

A SIX-PACK OF PEPSI

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ADVERTORIALS BETTER HOMEOWNERS NEWS

ANNA AND MICHELLE

BY SHAWNA WASKO, M.OLP CSI Office on Aging

he holidays were upon us and for many caregivers the main hope we had was to cope and survive the onslaught of more duties during this time. I have been coping lately by daydreaming. My daydream consists of staying at a 5-star hotel in Puerto Rico, and lying on the beach sipping my drink (a drink with a little umbrella in it) that Jose just delivered me; did I mention Jose was wearing a Speedo?

Before my mom’s death, Dad was not doing well, and now he barely functions because of the complication of grief. Many of you know I have facilitated widowed support groups for 41 years. What I see Dad experiencing is normal grief behavior, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t pure hell for the griever and the caregiver of the bereaved.

Grievers get lost, misplace items, can’t sleep, forget to eat or never stop eating, cry, forget tons of stuff while fixating on the circumstances of the death. Most importantly, they must come to the realization that the only way to survive grief is to “go through it.” Talk, cry, reminisce about the loved one, cry some more, talk about the death, and endure the crazy life they live now. Eventually, we assimilate the loss, but this can take one or two years.

We don’t grieve constantly, but we are adjusting to the loss, for the most part for a few years. We will NEVER get over the loss, but we will assimilate the loss, and for most find a new life without the one we lost.

So, Dad is in grief, weighs 104 pounds, and is at end-stage COPD. He has dementia, which complicates every facet of his and my life. The other night Dad called me at 9 p.m. and said, “What are you do- Shawna Wasko, M.OLP ing?” I told him I was in my pajamas and CSI Office on Aging was going to bed, and he said, “You need (208) 736-2122 to go get me a six-pack of Pepsi because it swasko@csi.edu helps me sleep!” My 19-year-old grandson lives with me now; he was living in Oregon but came here to Idaho to go to college. He noticed that I was very agitated and told me he would take Grandpa a six-pack of Pepsi. There truly is a God in Heaven.

Then Dad lost his Medicare card. A few days before that he drove over and gave me two bags of papers and items he wanted me to keep at my house. Then last Saturday he called and was mad at me for keeping the two bags of stuff that he had brought to my house and was certain I had taken his Medicare card at the same time. So, I said to Dad, “Dad, when I was widowed, I searched for a paper I needed to take to the attorney for hours and hours. I finally sat in a chair and started to cry and looked down at my right hand; in my right hand was the paper.” So goes the crazy days of widowhood. I explained that to Dad, and said please just check your wallet again, very carefully. He later called and said the Medicare card was in his wallet. He did, however, come over and take the two bags of his stuff home and told me he couldn’t believe I kept them from him.

So, Dad’s eyesight is bad, and he can no longer drive at night. He decided to go at 4:30 p.m. to the eye doctor to get new glasses (he recently lost his glasses, which is a long story I will not get into now). I had worked late and had gone to the grocery store because apparently teenage boys like to eat. The store was busy and when I finally got out and was headed home, my phone rang. It, of course, was Dad, who yelled at me and said, “Where the hell are you? You and the boy need to come get me at the eye doctor because it is too dark for me to drive!” Riyle, my grandson, was working at Sportsman’s Warehouse and didn’t get off for a half hour. But eventually we got Dad and his car home.

The point is caregiving is difficult at best, and is exhausting. Your life is hijacked, and even though Dad cannot run his life, he refuses to go to a facility to live. He simply wants me to give up my life to manage his. And he is angry at the world, especially me right now. I am trying my best to get him what he needs and be kind to him, even on the tough days.

I recently have been talking with a man who was recently widowed.

He called our office to learn more about the widowed support group I facilitate. This man is very kind and misses his “bride… he dearly loved.”

He has a deep faith in God and is grieving. As we talked, I told him my mother died in September and explained the situation with my father.

After a long weekend with “daddy issues,” this kind person emailed me out of the blue and said, “Praying for your dad, that his heart would be softened, and thankfulness would fill his heart and soul.” It was so kind, and every once in a while we need others to just say the right thing.

I just would like to thank that person for those kind, caring words.

If you are having trouble with caregiving, need to place a loved one in a facility, need home-delivered meals, please call the CSI Office on Aging for advice or information. And if times get tough, find your own daydream. It does not have to include Jose.

Take care and I hope you had a blessed Christmas and sincerely wish you a wonderful 2022.

Why Is The APR Higher Than The Interest Rate?

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BY ANNA & MICHELLE

nnual percentage rate (APR) is a calculation to accurately reflect the cost of the mortgage, considering the note rate of interest, financing fees and charges based on the term of the mortgage.

APR calculates the interest rate and loan fees over the life of the loan expressed as a rate. A mortgage has a quoted interest rate plus a specified number of points, which may be paid at closing or rolled into the loan, in some instances.

For example, a $400,000 loan amount at 2.98% interest for 30 years with 0.7 points would have an annual percentage rate of 3.0349%.

While the mortgage rate is quoted at 2.98%, the borrower must additionally pay 0.7 points, or

slightly less than 1 percent of the amount borrowed, as a fee to the lender in consideration of making the loan. This increases the yield to the lender on what they are earning by making this loan and is expressed as the annual percentage rate for the benefit of the buyer.

Since the lender is required to include all the loan fees being charged in the APR calculation, if the seller is paying some of those fees on behalf of the buyer, the APR would not accurately reflect the cost to the buyer.

The lender is required to disclose the APR to the borrower in the Truth in Lending document referred to as a TILA. Your mortgage officer will be able to answer any specific questions regarding what is included.

NUESTRA VOZ CUENTA

CELEBRATING EPIPHANY IN COMMUNITY CELEBRANDO LA EPIFANÍA EN COMUNIDAD

OUR VOICE COUNTS St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Ketchum is a welcoming place for all. We aspire to be a village church with a mission to share the love of God through worship and service to both parishioners and the larger community of the Wood River Valley. The opportunity arose to collaborate with ProjectToolSuccess and The Community Table to celebrate Epiphany.

The Feast of the Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, celebrates the Magi’s (Wise Men’s) visit to the infant Jesus twelve days after Christmas. In Spanish-speaking countries, it is customary for children to receive gifts on this day. They place their shoes filled with hay outside their doors to feed the camels.

St. Thomas invited members of the Hispanic/LatinX community to a celebration. COVID made a fiesta impossible, but a service requiring masks and then an outdoor dinner of tamales, Rosca de Reyes (a sweet bread with a statue of the infant Jesus baked in) to go, and a traditional hot chocolate drink were enjoyed by all.

Children received crowns and small gifts.

Reflecting on the visit of the Magi, who represent the diverse people of the world, coming to visit Jesus, the Rev. Jonah Kendall preached about Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, who recently passed away. Tutu proclaimed that God sought to break down the barriers that divide humanity by bringing us together into a fellowship of respect, collaboration and love that Tutu called “the Rainbow people of God.” Our hope is that we can begin to foster a rainbow community in the Wood River Valley NUESTRA VOZ CUENTA La Iglesia Episcopal de Santo Tomás en Ketchum es un lugar acogedor para todos. As-

piramos a ser una iglesia de pueblo con la misión de compartir el amor de Dios a través de la adoración y el servicio a los feligreses y a la comunidad más grande del Valle del Río Wood.

Surgió la oportunidad de colaborar con ProjectToolSuccess, Vecinos Apoyando Vecinos, y la Mesa Comunitaria para celebrar la Epifanía.

La Fiesta de la Epifanía o el Día de los Tres Reyes celebra la visita de los Magos al infante Jesús doce días después de la Navidad. En los países de habla hispana es costumbre que los niños reciban regalos en este día. Ellos colocan sus zapatos llenos de heno fuera de sus puertas para alimentar a los camellos.

St. Thomas invitó a miembros de la comunidad hispana/latinx a una celebración. El coronavirus hizo imposible una fiesta, pero un servicio que requería máscaras y luego una cena al aire libre de tamales, Rosca de Reyes (un pan dulce con una estatua del niño Jesús horneado) para ir y una bebida tradicional de chocolate caliente fueron disfrutados por todos. Los niños recibieron coronas y pequeños regalos.

Reflexionando sobre la visita de los Magos, quienes en la historia de la natividad representan a la gente del mundo que viene a visitar a Jesús, el reverendo Jonah Kendall predicó sobre el Noble Ganador del Premio de la Paz, Arzobispo Desmond Tutu, de Sudáfrica, quien falleció recientemente. Tutu entendió el amor de Cristo como tener el poder de derribar las barreras que dividen a la humanidad al llevarnos a una nueva comunión de amor que Tutu llamó, “el pueblo arco iris de Dios.”

Nuestra esperanza es que podamos comenzar a fomentar una comunidad de arco iris en el Valle del Río Wood.

YOU CAN FIND IT IN BLAINE! W O O D R I V E R W E E K LY

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answer from page 12

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answer from page 12

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W O O D R I V E R W E E K L Y • J A N U A R Y 1 2 - 2 5 , 2 0 2 2

CHAMBER CORNER

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Hard way Pipeline

Amber Morgan Skin & Body Helps People Feel Beautiful and Cared For

By Mike McKenna

A

nyone who knows Amber Morgan will tell you she has chosen the right profession.

Her warm smile and caring nature are the ideal combination for someone who does skin and body work. Heck, she’s one of the best huggers you’ll ever meet.

“I wanted to do something in my life that would be for the greater good and I’ve always had the gift of touch,” Amber said. “With the work I do, I feel like if I can help one person at a time, it will trickle down to others.”

Amber was born and raised in the Wood River Valley and originally went to college in Santa Cruz. But the traditional courses of study weren’t connecting for her. She was feeling a bit lost in life. Then Amber’s mother gave her the gift of a massage with a local masseuse. That first experience really connected with her and Amber decided to pursue the field. As soon as she began studying bodywork, she knew she’d found her field.

“I immediately thought, ‘This is it!’ It was such a calling for me,” Amber said.

After receiving a degree in massage therapy from the highly acclaimed IPSB College in San Diego, and then becoming a licensed esthetician, Amber began working professionally. After 14 years at Zenergy Health Club and Spa in Ketchum, she went into business for herself last year.

Amber Morgan Skin & Body has an office on Leadville Avenue in Ketchum, above Ozzie’s Shoes.

The small, private setting offers a more intimate experience than you’ll find in a typical spa—something many of her clients appreciate during these challenging times.

As Amber explained, because of the chaos of COVID, the need for human contact and being cared for has never been greater.

“Doing this kind of work helps bring people a sense

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How To Play Sudoku

The Classic Sudoku is a number placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once.

of peace and harmony with their bodies, which is so needed right now,” said Amber, who also instructs Zumba and dance classes at Gravity Fitness in Hailey and serves as a ski instructor on Baldy.

While Amber enjoys helping others, she finds doing so helps her, too.

“Making people feel good creates a very loving and calm space for me in my life. It’s very rewarding work,” said Amber, who has been married for nearly 20 years and is the proud mother of two sons.

Amber offers a variety of services, from facials and waxings to tinting, dermaplaning, microneedling, peels, LED light therapy and massages. Her most popular service is combining an hour-long facial with a half-hour massage. Sessions can be booked online.

The slogan for Amber’s business is, “You are in good hands. Treat yourself.” As her clients can attest, it’s the perfect slogan for her and, if you know or have seen Amber professionally, you’ll easily understand why.

“I’m passionate about making people feel beautiful and loved and cared for,” Amber said. “I help create that space to help people feel better, more balanced, less stressed and look better, so they can be kinder and more patient with others and themselves.”

CLASSIC SUDOKU See answer on page 11

For more information or to book a session, go to Amber-MorganSB.com or call (208) 720-6093.

CROSSWORD SPONSORED BY

THETRADER TRADER THE THE TRADER Consignment for the home

Consignment for the home

Consignment for the home

Wednesday - Friday 11 to 6 Saturday 11 to 4

TRADER EADER TRADER

Always available by appointment and if we’re here.

Wednesday through Saturday 11:00 to 5:00 Always available by appointment and if we’re here.

ent for the 720-9206 or 788-0216 signment forhome the home

720-9206 or 788-0216 509 S. Main Street Bellevue, Idaho

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Wednesday through Saturday Thursday Wednesday - Friday Wednesday - Friday 11:00to to 5:00 ednesday - Friday 11 to 611 to 6 available by appointment 11 to 6AlwaysSaturday Saturday Saturday and if we’re here.

Saturday 11 to 4 11 to 11 or to 788-0216 44 720-9206 11 to 4

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720-9206 or 788-0216 or S. 788-0216 -9206 or720-9206 788-0216 509 Main Street S. Main Street 09 S. Main509 Street Bellevue, Idaho Bellevue, Idaho Bellevue, Idaho

See answer on page 11

THE WOOD RIVER VALLEY 7-DAY WEATHER FORECAST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Partly Cloudy 6%

high 37º

low 25º WEDNESDAY

Partly Cloudy 5%

high 40º low 20º THURSDAY

Mostly Sunny 6%

high 36º low 16º FRIDAY

Partly Cloudy 5%

high 33º low 15º SATURDAY

Partly Cloudy 6%

high 30º low 18º SUNDAY

Partly Cloudy 7%

high 31º low 17º MONDAY

Partly Cloudy 14%

high 30º low 17º TUESDAY

SKI. BIKE. LIVE!

Elevate your experience.

340 N Main Street in Ketchum sturtevants-sv.com • 726-4501