the river journal, jan. 2012

Because there’s more to life than bad news

A News MAGAZINE Worth Wading Through

January 2012 | FREE | www.RiverJournal.com Local News • Environment • Wildlife • Opinion • People • Entertainment • Humor • Politics

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January 2012| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 1| Page 1

THE RIVER JOURNALJanuary 20123 Heron is Hopping

4 A year without winter?

6 Clark Fork - A small school success story

9 News Shorts

12 The good ol’ days - Jinxed

13 Gray Jays - A Bird in Hand

14 All about worms - The Game Trail

15 January - A Year in the Garden

16 All about listening - The Hawk’s Nest

18 New every morning - Gary’s Faith Walk

19 The end of the world - The Scenic Route

20 What’s going on? - Say What?

21 Streamlining cross-border trade - A Seat in the House

22 Music from other spheres - Surrealist Research Bureau

23 Cycles of time - Politically Incorrect

24 Downtown Sandpoint Calendar

25 Two bills make a difference - Veterans’ News

26 Obituaries

27 Twitterpated

29 Dave’s interesting catch - From the Mouth of the River

A News Magazine Worth Wading Through

~just going with the flow~P.O. Box 151•Clark Fork, ID 83811www.RiverJournal.com•208.255.6957

SALESCall 208.255.6957 or email [email protected]

PRESS RELEASES(Email only) to [email protected]

STAFFCalm Center of Tranquility

Trish [email protected]

Ministry of Truth and Propaganda

Jody [email protected]

Regular ContributorsScott Clawson; Sandy Compton; Marylyn Cork; Idaho Rep. George Eskridge; Lawrence Fury; Dustin Gannon; Matt Haag; Ernie Hawks; Marianne Love; Kathy Osborne; Gary Payton; Boots Reynolds; Lou Springer; Mike Turnlund;

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not

an act, but a habit.” Aristotle

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Contents of the River Journal are copyright 2012. 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.

Cover photos by Trish Gannon. On left, current and on right, January of 2011.

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| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 1| January 2012

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| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 1| January 2012 January 2012| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 1| Page 3

The day after the Autumn Equinox the community of Heron, Montana, gathered to celebrate their bounty. The first thing that folks saw as they entered the old Heron School was a new, handcrafted sign down the hall that said Welcome.

Welcome is the overall theme of Heron and the eclectic population who somehow, together, have woven a beautiful, homespun community that continues to thrive.

Heron is a fascinating town nestled along the Clark Fork River. Originally, it was a stop way for the train, complete with a roundhouse. The little town boasted a 35-room Hotel along with 18 saloons. The trains stopped here for restocking of their dining cars from the gardeners in the area, which, at that time, was provided by a group of over 300 Chinese immigrants. Due to a water shortage for the trains, the rail division point was eventually moved to Hope, Idaho along with the hotel perched on a flat car. Ever since her “hey day” Heron has lost most of her buildings and grandeur, but none of her spirit.

The gardening tradition has remained a vital part of the Heron Community for over 130 years. At the Fall Into Fun Celebration, the Heron Food and Garden Co-Op was represented with a grand display of home canned goods and crafts. This Co-Op has been going since 1976 and is a non-profit group who has shared equipment from a flour mill and meat grinder to a cider press and soil test kit. New members are always welcome and are encouraged. The Co-Op is just one of the many examples how Heron is an area where people still help each other.

Last spring, through the efforts of many generous donations, both private and corporate, the Heron Library was able to almost double its shelving. The re-arrangement has made a more welcoming library environment and one that is kid friendly. The library is another non-profit facility and operates with volunteers. This dedicated group of individuals has extended their hours for patrons by opening one evening a week so that it can be accessed by students and working people alike. Again, they welcome and are looking for more volunteers. The Heron

Library has two computers and a Wi-Fi hook up.

Just down the hall from the Library is Heron’s newest member—the gym! Again through hard work, community support and many generous donations, Heron has an active gym with new and modern equipment. They have both day and evening sessions and a busy schedule of activities.

Outside, where once was a schoolyard, now is basketball, tetherball and volleyball. The Healthy Community Center also has beginning Yoga, Senior Stretch classes, Zumba Dancing and Body Sculpting.

My next stop on this fine day was to walk over to what was once the Heron S c h o o l Gym.

There, members of the now (in)famous Heron Players were sojourning about the crowd, in costume, selling popcorn and DVDs of their past accomplishments. They also were raffling off a cord of wood to raise money. Sam Baylor, another helpful Heron resident was the happy winner.

Heron’s drama group has actually helped keep the entire facility going with their twice-yearly dinner plays and events like the wood raffle. Since their inception in 1995 the Heron Players have put on 34 original shows.

You can’t have drama without mention of Shakespeare and he too was represented. Heron has a great reputation among the thespians who come the third Saturday

in August each year to do Shakespeare in the Park. This year’s performance will be a rousing rendition of Hamlet.

It goes without saying that this small community, which boasts 4-H activities, adult education, senior dinners, drama, health and a library can feed your mind, your soul and your body. There is even Bingo on the first and third Wednesday of each month. New faces are not just welcome they are encouraged.

Each time we lose a business in Heron, we band together to fill the hole. The old post office wasn’t destroyed, it was moved next to what was once a teacheridge. And the teacheridge was once the Grand View School. Now it has changed hats again and is morphing into the Grand View Museum where Chinese pottery, photos of the river before the dam and an eclectic collection

of pioneer memorabilia are displayed. The museum was open this day

only, but hopes to have regular hours in the spring.

There are too many names involved to start listing the hands who put this all together. We would be bound to miss someone of import. Below, though, is a list of people to contact if you are interested in joining

a fun filled group of residents and expand not only yours but

their horizons.For Hours & More

Information:Heron Community Health Center

is on Facebook. You can reach them via email at [email protected] or by phone at 406-847-2520

Heron Food Co-Op: Michelle Greiner 406-847-0100, Diane Mosley at 406-847-2024, or Lou Springer at 406-847-5594

Heron Library: Open Wednesday, 3:00 to 5:30 pm, Thursdays 11- 1 p.m., and Saturday 11-3 p.m.

4-H Meets 2nd Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m.

Adult Education: Quilting, Sewing, Yoga, Scrap booking etc. start the 2nd week in January.

Senior Dinners: Every Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

For additional information you can go to: https://postingplace.com/HCC

Photo: Bill and Lois Berry in the museum with Susan Compton.

Heron is Hopping!by Kathleen Huntley


Generally in January, the reality of winter is beginning to set in. Some eye their wood piles with a jaundiced eye, wondering if that great pile of stored heat that looked sufficient in September is going to get them through March. Others rejoice in winter sports—skiing (both down and cross), skating, snowshoeing and, in this area, even ice bicycling. Sportsmen are digging holes in the ice hoping to pull tasty fish from the depths, while some are already begrudging the constant moving of snow from steps, walks and driveways that strains backs and taxes the heart.

But not this year. Many valley areas are practically bare of snow, and afternoon temperatures not only make a jacket superfluous, some also manage to do without pants. (Shorts. They wear shorts.) So what happened to the winter that most weather professionals predicted would be “snowier than normal?”

Right now, our winter is hanging out up north and current projections are that it might show up sometime between mid-January and mid-February.

Weather, however, is a tricky thing. Events too small to measure have an impact

on the weather for any given day, which is why weather predictions are generally iffy any more than three days into the future. If you were to make a chart of the historical range of temperatures and weather events for a given time period, in fact, some studies have shown that throwing a dart and making a weather prediction based on where it lands might even be more accurate than what you hear about next week’s weather on the nightly news.

So how is it we end up with predictions about the weather to come not just weeks, but months into the future?

When it comes to forecasting beyond a few days, we start moving away from weather and moving toward climate: the composite of what’s normal for a given time period in a given region. Climate is generally determined by certain events that are understood well or less well, as the case may be. One such ‘climate event’ that was a big part of the earliest forecasts for this winter’s weather as colder and snowier than normal: a developing La Nina, the same type of weather pattern that buried us hip deep in snow last winter.

La Nina (the little girl) is a weather pattern that develops when temperatures in the Pacific Ocean are cooler than average which, in our area of the world, generally means we’re in for a winter that’s colder and wetter than normal. The heavy snowstorms we were smacked with this November for a couple days were the harbingers of a typical La Nina winter.

So what happened after that? First, not all La Ninas are created equal.

Last year’s La Nina developed due to a broad band of colder than average water in the Pacific. This year, that band of cold water is much smaller and its temperatures are less extreme; the La Nina it has created, therefore, is much weaker. This year’s La Nina is currently running only about three-quarters of the strength of last year’s La Nina.

Still, if there’s any La Nina at all, winter should be colder and snowier than normal, and that’s obviously not happening (yet). So what else is going on?

Enter the Arctic Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation, considered by many to be relatively the same thing and therefore abbreviated (N)AO for ease.

Will this be a

Year Without Winter?by Trish Gannon

Jan 2011


Opposing atmospheric pressure patterns in the higher latitudes, the (N)AO can be in either a positive phase, with high pressure over the polar regions and low pressure at the mid latitudes, or in a negative phase, where that pattern is reversed. In its positive phase, which is where it’s at right now, we generally see drier conditions in the United States, while it also puts a brake on the southward passage of frigid arctic air.

The (N)AO can change from one state to the other in the space of weeks, however, so there’s no telling what it will be doing in, say, February, though right now there’s no sign of it changing anytime soon.

Then there’s the jet stream: high level, fast moving air currents that run from west to east. The polar jet stream can send weather almost in a straight line from the Pacific, through Washington, and into our Rocky Mountain homeland on a direct trajectory.

In a La Nina year, however, the polar jet stream gets kicked up into Alaska where it dives south at a sharp angle, almost on a direct run to the northern Idaho panhandle. Cold weather, it should be noted, rides, somewhat, on the northern side of the jet stream.

Right now, though, that jet stream is diving down from Alaska at a gentler angle, skimming the Canadian border and leaving much of our section of the U.S. on the balmy side.

In part, our weak La Nina—which

Accuweather senior meteorologist Henry Margusity says could be weakening all the way to the point of becoming a neutral ENSO (the midway state between La Nina and El Nino)—is allowing for a far less precipitous southward movement, leaving a much broader band of mild weather on the southern side of the jet stream.

Another event which may or may not have an effect on weather in our own region is the development of a Greenland Block, which is, so far, missing in action this year.

The Greenland Block is the development of a high pressure system over—you guessed it—Greenland, that exerts pressure from the east on Canada’s arctic air, which is attempting to move east itself; this forces cold air to move south and was the mechanism responsible for much of last winter’s frigid cold. Weather experts say low pressure systems moving east have so far prevented a Greenland Block from setting up but that, too, can change.

There are other things that effect the weather as well in a milder way: the Madden Julian Oscillation, (active and “contributing variability”) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. The observations of all these actions are combined with statistical forecast tools like canonical correlation analysis, screening multiple linear regression, constructed analog and ensemble CCA to develop the forecast, which the National Weather Service updates in the middle of every month. And

that sentence should explain why whether is so difficult to understand.

For our area, we should know that frigid air is still piling up in the arctic, and the NWS weather experts are still holding firm to their projections for a winter season colder and snowier than normal.

That prediction, based on the continued La Nina, does buck odds based on trends, however, because 66 percent of the time, when winter starts out as relatively dry as it has, it remains that way through the spring.

Snow or no snow, even those who are rejoicing in our mild winter weather, however, are eyeing the snow in the mountains, wondering whether it’s enough to refresh aquifers, fill streams and dampen next summer’s fire season. And Idaho snotel data for the panhandle shows reason for some concern: basin-wide, snowpack is only 93 percent of normal. (Schweitzer Mountain, by the way, is at 112 percent of normal.)

Regardless of how the rest of the season turns out, the first portion of it has been undeniably mild. And while I might not know ‘weather,’ I do know that mild winters in North Idaho (even if only a portion are mild) are generally followed by one heck of a mosquito hatch. So while neither I (nor the National Weather Service) can tell you definitively whether or not you can put the snowblower away for the season, I can recommend that you stock up on the bug spray.

Jan 2012

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The school, nestled right in the center of the roughly two-block long ‘downtown’ of Clark Fork, is a modest one. Enrollment, which includes students from grades 7 through 12, has hovered around 120 for more than a decade and while the facilities are suitable, they’re certainly not ‘fancy.’ Nonetheless, within this unassuming building there are exciting things happening, and Clark Fork is well on its way to meeting its goal to become the premiere educational institution in the state of Idaho.

When principal Phil Kemink was hired 8 years ago to become the school’s newest administrator, it was his first job as a principal, and he’d never worked in such

a small educational setting. Nonetheless, the fundamentals for success were there: a local community strongly committed to the success of the school, and an active and knowledgeable student body. Nonetheless it faced many of the struggles faced by small schools throughout the nation: never enough money, a crumbling physical plant, an aging teacher population with one eye on retirement, and no way to benefit from economies of scale.

A lot has changed since then. A lot.Take the staff, for instance. The school

has gone from having the most senior staff in the district, to having the most junior. It can be a blow to lose long-term teachers, rich in knowledge of their subject area

and their students, but as staff members left, Kemink was able to replace them with teachers who made up for their newness to the job with excitement and enthusiasm. “I was able to hand pick people who play well with my personality,” Phil laughed. What he’s ended up with is “a very strong staff with a very strong work ethic;” one that, despite their differences, work as a cohesive unit toward providing their students with the best education possible.

The real tipping point for the school came, however, back in 2007, when the first students at Clark Fork received scholarships from the Hoyt and Edith Schuyler scholarship fund to send them on to college.

Continued on next page

On a Path of Success at Clark Fork High

Is this the look of success? Clark Fork’s Phil Kemink at work.

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Edith (known as Edie), had arranged before she died to leave a half million dollars to the school for just this purpose. Each year, up to $15,000 is given out to support students as they seek to obtain higher education.

“That’s probably where it started,” Phil said when asked to pinpoint the time when Clark Fork’s growth began to take off. “Since Edie, people have been very generous to our school.”

Very generous might be an understated way of describing the support. An anonymous community resident—everyone knows who it is but no one will say for print—walked into Phil’s office one day and asked him for a ‘wish list’ of what was needed for the school. That wish list became a $100,000 donation. Yet another anonymous donor gave the school $30,000.

And it wasn’t just money, though most things come down to money in the end—the booster club took on an enormous project to raise the funds, and the labor, to build grandstands and an announcer’s tower for the football field, and the community at large has continued to vote in support of levies that put technology into classrooms, extracurricular programs on the schedule, and extra teachers in the classroom to make sure needs are met.

The school also became one of the first schools to participate in the state’s “Gear Up” program, designed to encourage students to continue their education after high school. Gear Up provides the funding for a part-time person who works with students to do just that. “This makes a huge difference,” Phil explained. “Students who don’t think of college as something that might be available to them, or who aren’t quite sure how to get there, are getting

support in doing just that.”As the school has steadily built on

each improvement and achievement, the recognition has come. In 2011, for the fourth year in a row, they were named by U.S. News & World Reports as one of the top small schools in the nation. In the nation. According to the U.S. Department of Education, there are almost 25,000 secondary schools throughout the United States.

And the recognition continued just last month, when Clark Fork learned it was a winner of the Albertsons Foundation’s Go On Challenge—a victory that brought another $100,000 check along with it.

“We’re going to continue to support our students’ learning,” Phil said when asked how he would spend the money. “We can use these funds to help pay the fees for students to take dual credit courses.”

Yes, the fees. That “free and appropriate public education” we’re promised costs money, and the tab is not always picked up by the taxpayer. But the fees charged for greater learning can be an insurmountable barrier in an area where people simply are not wealthy. In the past, the school has come up with the money to pay student fees to take the SAT, and now they have funds to support students’ ability to take classes that the school simply cannot offer.

Although the staff, particularly counselor Tom Prez, “worked their butts off” to fill out the appropriate paperwork to be considered for the Albertsons award, they were still surprised when they received it.

“They awarded in three categories,” Phil said, “and we thought we had a chance in the category of students who take the SAT. But we actually won in this category,

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January 2012| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 1| Page �

You can think of it as a “Groupon” for Bonner County. Clark Fork’s newest small business endeavor, Bonner County Cut-Outs (www.bonnercountycut-outs.com. Don’t forget the hyphen.) is a website where local businesses can offer coupons to local customers. Students are responsible for selling businesses the coupon ads, designing those ads, maintaining the books, and keeping up the website.

“The website still needs a lot of work,” said teacher Brian Powell, “and we have some difficulties in getting students into Sandpoint to sell the coupons for the site, but we’re a work in progress.”

Businesses interested in participating in the Cut-Outs coupon program can call the class at 208-255-7373 or send an email to [email protected] (that one doesn’t have the hyphen).

If you’re a resident interested in a good deal, just visit the website and print out the coupons. If you have a smart phone, you can even shoot a picture of the coupon and present it at the store.

Currently, you can get coupons for clothing, meals, flowers, recreation, massages, tanning, photography, meals and groceries.

Photo, below - the Bonner County Cut-Outs “staff” on a rare trip into Sandpoint to sell advertising.

A Small School’s Small Business

‘Increased the number of students who completed advanced opportunities coursework in AP, Dual Credit and/or Tech Prep.’ It was a surprise, but one we’re proud of.”

This year, 55 schools competed in the Albertson’s Go On Challenge, and 8, including Clark Fork, received awards. “When I heard about this, I said, ‘Let’s go big.’ This school already has a culture of going on to college, so why not enter?” It’s a choice he’s glad now that was made.

So what’s the secret behind Clark Fork’s continued achievements? It’s true that success tends to breed success, but there must be a foundation under that. To Phil, that foundation is his staff, and the commitment they’ve made to student achievement.

“A small school gives you a unique opportunity to know every single kid, to know their grades and what they’re doing,” he said. “You’re a principal, but in some ways you’re also a parent. That’s why I was able to call all the boys into the gym this morning and yell at them about clogging the toilets,” he said. “We work to teach them to take responsibility for their choices. If you screw up, you fix it. If you make a mess, you have to clean it up. We’re teaching life lessons here.”

And that’s true for academics, as well.Indeed, each student at the school is

required to bring in a progress report to the principal each week so that he knows

exactly where they’re at, and can respond when trouble rears its head.

“Every student is individually monitored here,” said teacher Mike Turnlund. (Yes, the same Mike Turnlund who writes about birds every month in these pages.) “The response (to a problem) is immediate.”

That response might include some time in the Joe Dirt Club, a program the school set up to provide individual tutoring to students. “We’re all on the same page here,” said Mike, and that page is for students to succeed.

Although the school has come far, their goal is set firmly in the future: to be the most unique and sought after school campus around.

There’s an entrepreneurship class where kids perform community service (shoveling snow hasn’t been high on the agenda this year). Turnlund is developing an online course in the History of English that can be taken by students at the school. And teacher Brian Powell is once again leading students into a school-based business with Bonner County Cut-Outs (see sidebar). As for Phil, he’s determined to build a community golf course on land the school owns.

“We throw our heart and soul into everything we do here,” he said.

It shows.

-Trish Gannon

Clark Fork - Continued from previous page


learn to ski/board

Schweitzer Mountain Resort in Sandpoint is offering $39 beginner lesson packages through the month of January for National Learn a Snowsport Month. It’s valid at any time during the month and is a great way to introduce yourself to the mountain, and the physical fun of skiing or snowboarding.

The lesson package includes rentals, lesson and a beginner lift ticket. Those ‘hooked’ by their lesson will be offered seond and third follow-up lessons. Guests who complete all three lessons will get a free spring pass and the chance to purchase discounted rental gear. For more information, visit Schweitzer’s website at www.Schweitzer.com or call 208-263-9555.

does wilderness have value?

Natalie Beardsley (Noxon) thinks so. And so does Logan Whilhite (Paradise), Carter Montgomery (Plains), Cody Phillips (Thompson Falls) and Madison Koonce (shown at left, Noxon) who were all winners in the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Sanders County School Essay Contest, along with Leah Thompson (Plains) who was the overall winner. In addition to “Friends” hats and shirts, Thompson also won a $100 savings bond.

The contest, which has become a tradition with Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness, is the brainchild of FSPW volunteer and former Sanders County teacher Ernie Scherzer. Scherzer also administers it annually, sending out many posters to the schools calling for entries, sorting through the dozens of entries for the best answers to the question from each school, and handing off the awards to the individual students who provide those best answers.

You can read the first- and second-place essays on the web at www.scotchmanpeaks.org/news/eighth-graders-take-the-honors-in-the-sanders-county-essay-contest/

220 Cedar St. Sandpoint 208.263.0846

February 17Doors open 5:30 • Music at 7:30

Reservations required!

DiLuna’s PresentsMolly &

Tenbrooks

Tickets $10 in advance

got talent?Then the Angels Over

Sandpoint are looking for you. January marks audition time for the annual production of the Follies, an R-rated variety show that’s raunchy, rollicking, and a really good time. The show benefits the good works of the Angels Over Sandpoint. If you’re interested in

participating, then call Gail right away at 208-266-0503 to set up an audition. And break a leg!


Chemical Free Mineral Hot Pools • Rooms, Suites and Cabins available • Harwood House Fine Dining open 7 days a week for breakfast, lunch & dinner • Quinn’s Tavern features live

entertainment every Saturday night! • Bikini Bar • Wi-Fi • Parties • Conferences • Retreats • Gift Shop • Massage Service

Paradise,

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February 19

COUPLE’S WINTER GETAWAY* • Turn your back on the winter blues with a Sunday through Thursday package that includes lodging and a mouthwatering dinner for two at the famous Harwood House Restaurant, along with

full use of our soothing, hot mineral pools. Packages start at just $169! Make your reservations online at www.quinnshotsprings.com or call 406-826-3150

private dick diaries

Erin Jenkins and Phil Thompson have repossessed everything from tractors to landscaping in their career as private

investigators.Now the partners in

Hayden’s Confidential Investigations are sharing the stories of repos gone wrong – and right – in their debut novel “The Private Dick Diaries: Rules of Repo.”

Excerpts from “The Private Dick Diaries: Rules of Repo” are available online at www.theprivatedickdiaries.com. Books can be purchased for $15.95 each via the website or at retailers including Hasting’s in Coeur d’Alene, Auntie’s Books in Spokane, Spirit Lake Books and Coffee, Coeur d’Alene Kenpo Karate and Confidential Investigations.

forest comments

The public is invited to comment on the draft forest plan for the Idfaho Panhandle National Forests.

The plan is available online here (http://tinyurl.com/89eq7vp) and are also available for viewing at all

of the Ranger District Offices and the Supervisor’s Office. Compact discs or hard copies of these documents may be requested by phone (208) 765-7417 or email ([email protected]). Written or electronic comments will be accepted for 90 days and should be submitted to: Idaho Panhandle National Forest, Forest Plan Revision, 3815 Schreiber Way, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83815 or [email protected].

A series of public meetings will be held in January, including:

Bonners Ferry, January 17, 5:00pm-7:00pm, Bonners Ferry Ranger District Office Priest Lake, January 19, 5:00pm-7:00pm, Priest Lake Ranger District Office Sandpoint, January 23, 5:00pm-7:00pm, Sandpoint Ranger District Office

flip for festival

A digital flip edition of the new Festival at Sandpoint Quarter Note is available online at http://sandpoint.org/festival/festival-nov2011.html.

Don’t forget, season passes are now on sale! Only

a limited amount of season passes are available for sale each year, so get yours while they’re available. Call the Festival office at 208-265-4554 or visit their website at www.FestivalatSandpoint. com

•

•

•

Early bird pricing for season passes for the 2012 season is just $179.

free rideWould you appreciate a little public

transportation in the Sandpoint area? What if we told you it doesn’t even cost anything? If you’re interested, then learn more about the SPOT bus, which currently offers two lines, the Green Route for Dover-Ponderay and the Blue Route for Sandpoint-Ponderay with a Schweitzer connection.

Maps and a bus schedule are available online at their website, http://spotbus.org/

sell itGot something you want to sell?

Then checkout the Sandpoint Facebook yard sale. Just search from Facebook for Sandpoint Yard Sale, join the group and post your items!

Don’t forget, there’s also free classified ads on SandpointOnline.com. Keep that resolution to de-clutter your life, and sell your stuff!


a bird’s-eye view

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No... it’s Jerry Luther! Although most people know Jerry Luther as “the duck man,” when he’s not out walking his wooden duck friends Jerry can often be found flying a camera high over our area’s viewteous landscape. Nonetheless, some of his most popular views are those of the ongoing bypass project in downtown Sandpoint.

These photos, along with others of what some might consider a more photogenic nature, are available to view online at www.calljerry.biz.

Jerry’s aerial photography business can take low altitude photographs of any project of scene you wish to document. Reach him at 208-265-4609 or via email at [email protected]

On January 14, Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness host a course entitled Animal Tracking and Sign Interpretation, which is designed for the citizen scientist and presented to convey the

scientific methodologies and open your awareness to the art of tracking. Following a slideshow, participants will measure, track, trail, hypothesize, smell, observe sign and deduce the species of animal

and its behavior during the field session. Round trip 6± miles with an elevation gain of 400-800 feet. $5 materials charge for laminated tracking sheets. To reserve space, contact Baxter at [email protected]. Learn more at

ScotchmanPeaks.org.


I have always thought that it would be so romantic and “fun” to live back in the days before modern technology took over the world. Before LED lights and digital cameras. My father had a movie camera as big as a toaster oven and while he was filming us, he would be yelling, “stay still,” which kind of defeated the purpose. That could be the reason there are more movies of our family pets, trains and clouds than there are of us kids.

I think, back in time, I would have been a hunter-gatherer, taking long walks through the trees and bringing back twigs and wood for the fire. I definitely would NOT have been the “fire starter” as I am extremely handicapped in that area. I was almost single-handedly responsible for a forest fire up Trestle Creek, after discovering how well pinecones burned. I just never learned to moderate the use the pinecones properly. Example: pinecones are really good used as tinder, but throwing a five-gallon bucket of pinecones onto a smoldering flame is a very bad idea.

I can imagine a world with no electricity to power up lights, no cell phones, no landlines or X-boxes. My 18th Christmas was spent playing a new TV game system, Atari. Our family spent hours glued to the TV set, watching marathon PONG matches between my sisters and I. It was thrilling to hear the “ping” and then wait for the little ball to cross our 15-inch TV screen to be hit by the paddle, “pong”. There is no way my kids could sit through a game like that now. Atari, however, was an arcade revolution in my little world!

Old world technology also would mean no microwaves and I am pretty sure without that appliance we would starve at my house! I vaguely remember a time when there was not a microwave in my house. We actually had to plan meals ahead so we could defrost them for hours. The idea of trying to cook on a wood burning stove makes chills run up and down my spine. The smell of cooking flesh as I tried to move the pans off the stove is a frightening and very unappealing thought.

Of course, we did have TV dinners as I was growing up and I cringe to think of what preservatives might have been ingested by our generation! We had to cook our meals in real pans, I can’t even remember a crock pot, much less a microwave in our house. I did get a microwave when my kids were in junior high, mid 90s, about the same time that I got a VHS player. Both of those items

were huge. The VHS player was about the size of a stove and the microwave about the size of a large TV. Every year I have watched them each get smaller and the VHS has become almost obsolete. I can remember seeing DVDs and CDs at the store and thinking to myself that they would NEVER catch on.

Then came the portable CD players, a gadget that my GRANDKIDS will never remember, because iPods burst into existence. Still, my more tender side longs for the days when we couldn’t be found every waking minute of every day! A place where cell phones didn’t reach us while we are on camping trips in the mountains. A cell phone was for the rich, and the phones came in big suitcases and weighed a good 30 pounds each! Now we have cordless, speaker and speech activated!

I myself have a hard time using my little princess phone when the electricity goes out and my cordless looses power. Of course, without those convenient little phones, I would have been stuck for who knows how long on a couple of twisted and muddy roads!

There was a time when our kids actually had to play outside and use their imaginations. I am not even sure kids today know what an imagination is! We wrapped sheets around our necks for capes and wore pantyhose on our heads for hair and dug our own tracks in the dirt and mud for our cars. (Okay, maybe that pantyhose part was just me and my sisters!) My kids had imaginary friends that lived in their belly buttons and small villages between their toes. (Thankfully, those friends have since moved on.) Jamie had an imaginary friend named “Ben” who had a crush on her twin sister, Stacey. Perhaps they had more imagination than most.

Now the kids don’t have to pretend that their toys are talking to them, the toys actually DO talk, and the toys teach them other languages. I had a hard time grasping the concepts of my own language much less another one. (And if you asked Trish, while she was editing, she would probably tell you that I STILL have difficulty with it!)

Toys that required batteries in the past were like walkie-talkies; now the batteries are needed so that the doll you bought your little girl can POOP! Why on earth would we buy a doll with bodily functions that are best kept private?

It seems like we are sitting here fast

forwarding through our lives, not really stopping to notice the changes in the world. I always have enjoyed talking to older folks because of the interesting stories they tell, and now my grandkids are asking ME what it was like to live without TV remotes and interactive books! You would think I was a dinosaur or, at the very least, raised by cavemen.

I remember when MTV actually was an all video channel (“I want my MTV”). The closing credits of the initial broadcast was a song by Led Zeppelin—my kids are saying, “Led who?”! Which brings a whole new subject up in music. Knowing my love of guitar music, a few years back my daughter brought me a CD of Rob Thomas doing a duet with a “new” guitarist. SANTANA. Seriously? New? I didn’t know whether to laugh or just emerge myself in a giant vat of Oil of Olay and Geritol, because I suddenly knew for a fact, I was officially old.

Trying to be a good Yaya, I was going to help my granddaughter Billie with her homework a while back. I couldn’t figure out how to gracefully back out of it after looking at the actual problems on her pages. She was looking up at me with those big green eyes and expecting answers from me, while I could not make head nor tails of it. “They didn’t do math when you were little, Yaya?” Well, of course we did math, pull out an abacus and I got it covered!

Out of curiosity, I asked my grown daughter if she had ever even used an abacus. I am pretty sure she thought I was talking about a new spice. After explaining what its use was, she informed me that the world had come out with a new and improved tool called a calculator. She is helping Billie learn to tell time now. I am not allowed to help because apparently she thinks I would be teaching her child how to read a sundial and it is not necessary any longer.

Not that a kid really needs to learn how to tell time anymore. Watches can speak now. Car accessories have come very far since I was a child. I can remember a time, getting into the old family car (that weighed a bazillion pounds), lying in the back dash of the car, pumping my arm up and down in hopes that the passing truck would honk and the peals of laughter from my sisters and I if he did. NOW getting my granddaughter in the car is an experiment in terror. I have to make sure she weighs enough not to be put in the cumbersome baby seat, but can instead sit in her equally cumbersome booster seat. I am not even

Jinxed by JINX BESHEARS

The Good Ol’ Days


sure our old family car HAD seat belts, but now we strap our kids in a 5-point harness almost complete with a neck brace.

I would not even consider visiting Texas or Oklahoma without air conditioning, yet as a child, air conditioning consisted of shorts and a tee shirt, while heat was three pairs of pants and matching shirts. My dad drove us to church every Sunday through the fog without “fog” lights; instead my daddy rolled his window down and drove using the white lines as his guide!

Heaven help the trucker today who honks at the smiling child in the back seat. He would immediately be labeled a pervert. My parents worried about drugs while I was growing up, of course, but they were thinking like an overdose of Midol. I am pretty sure they would croak if they had to worry about their children “cooking” drugs in their bathroom, using the ingredients from beneath the kitchen sink.

I have done without a lot of things in my life. Not only do I remember not having a computer at ALL, but I remember DIAL-up! Now, the only way I even keep up with my son and his family is via Facebook and the internet. Dial-up has come and gone and now we expect information at light speed and a touch of a button. I can remember leaving a page to load and coming back hours later to find it not quite done. I am pretty sure my nerves could not handle that today, as I am spoiled to the instant info on the computer. Technology has come so far, only 60 years between the Wright brothers and Neil Armstrong, and only a mere 40 years between the birth of VHS and DVDs.

All in all, the “good old days” sounds really fun and adventurous on the surface. But there is a lot to be said for hot water and indoor toilets!

For many of our local folks winter brings an end to all outdoor activity, except shoveling snow of course. Yes, as difficult as it is to believe, there are actually people around here—year-round residents, mind you—who do not participate in skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, or any other snow-related activity. Not even ice-fishing! Their idea of a winter activity is simply surviving until spring. Thoughts of snow only generate silent curses and long, deliberate sighs.

Hey, let’s not be too hard on these less-than-hardy folks. These poor people are already missing out on half of the fun for living in this wonderful part of the country. But their sentiments are shared by many of our fine feathered friends, too. Have you noticed how many birds are not outside your window right now? Most species have migrated south or west—weeks if not months ago. Those that remain are the toughest of the tough, the hardiest of the hardy, the most tenacious of the tenacious. You get my point. And the poster child for tough, hardy, and tenacious would have to be this month’s bird in hand, the Gray Jay.

The Gray Jay is an unusual bird. A denizen of our forests, it takes to the snow like a duck to water. In fact, it even breeds and raises its young while the temperatures are still freezing and the snow is still flying. But this fact conjures up the question: how can the Gray Jay raise its brood when everything is covered in a mantel of white? Easy. It lives off of reserves. The Gray Jay does not spend its summer playing; instead, it is always busy getting ready for winter.

The Gray Jay is an omnivore, meaning it likes both animal- and plant-based foods. Just like most people. It is an opportunistic feeder and will eat anything that comes its way, whether berries or bugs, seeds or carrion, or anything it can catch, be it furred or feathered. Any meal that does not need to be eaten fresh will be stored for later, and this is exactly what the Gray Jay does. The good Lord has given the Gray Jay an exceptionally sticky saliva, which the bird uses to “glue” food into hiding places for later consumption. As in

months later. Food is slathered in slobber and then tucked away under shards of bark to be consumed at a later date. So much food is stocked away in this fashion

that much of it is probably never used. But better safe than sorry.

If you have ever encountered a Gray Jay in the forest, it had probably discovered you before you discovered it. They can be as silent as ghosts and seemingly appear out of nowhere. If they choose, they can be noisy and will make all the usual sounds of a jay, with a few odd bugling noises for good measure. But more often than not they are quiet little fellows.

They are also thieves, hence their alternate name of camp robber. I have more than once been the victim of depredation by these sneaky little cusses. They will steal your dinner right off of your plate if you step too far away from it while camping. And they are bold. I have had them eat a snack right out of the palm of my hand. You can do this too, if you are patient and still.

Like their cousins, the Gray Jay is an intelligent little animal. They are a little bigger than a blackbird, but have a much longer tail. They are mostly gray, especially the back and wings of the bird. Otherwise they are white, from the front of the head down to the belly and the undertail coverts. A distinctive field mark is the band of dark gray that sweeps up from the eyes and toward the back of the head and down to the top of the neck, but not touching the dark shoulders. This dark coloration sort of looks like a receding hairline, the “forehead” being white. The bill is black and surprisingly small for a jay.

One last interesting note about the Gray Jay. The bird also has another name, though it is less commonly used in our area but one that most you may have encountered. Early settlers in our region sometimes called the bird whiskey jack, which was as close as they could come when pronouncing the name of the bird in the local Indian language. One more mystery solved for those familiar with a certain road in Ponderay.

Gray Jay, Canada Jay, Camp Robber, or Whisky Jack—whatever you call it, this is one fun bird to share the woods with. And regardless of what time of the year you venture off the beaten path and into the forest, they’ll be there. Happy birding!You can reach Mike at [email protected]

Gray Jay: ghost, robber, friend

A Bird in Hand by Michael Turnlund

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Echinococcus granulosus. The genus species name for a parasitic tapeworm that seems to be making the rounds in the media these days. Others may call it by the much easier name Hydatid Worm or Hyper Tape Worm. Either way, it’s becoming a popular side-car discussion when wolves are the topic. Unfortunately some fear mongers have used misinformation about the life cycle of this parasite causing some panic and confusion.

Working with and around wildlife always poses a health risk due to the exposure of bodily fluids, fecal matter, and organ tissues. As one of my friends says, “People who work around wildlife are going to die some day!” Well, you can’t deny that! It’s his smartass way of saying there are inherent risks in everything we do in life, so know the dangers and have a plan to reduce those risks.

Here are some facts about E. granulosus in the hope that I reduce the concern of some people, while also raising awareness of the dangers of this parasite.

Echinococcus granulosus is a parasitic tapeworm that requires two hosts to complete its life cycle. Ungulates (deer, elk, moose, domestic sheep, and domestic cattle) are intermediate hosts for larval tapeworms while Canids (dogs, wolves, coyotes, foxes) are definitive hosts where larval tapeworms mature and live in the small intestine. Definitive hosts are exposed to larval tapeworms when ingesting infected ungulates. Adult tapeworms, 3-5 mm long, produce eggs which canids pass in their feces. Intermediate hosts ingest the eggs while grazing, where the eggs hatch and develop into larvae.

Okay, you say, what that heck does that mean, Matt? Yes, humans can get the tapeworm but it has to take a very specific path in order for them to do so. One of the most common sources of inflection of this parasite in humans is exposure to infected dogs that are passing eggs in the feces. So, if you are feeding your dog wild game meat, stop it. Your pet dog is a definitive host of that tapeworm and will expose you to the eggs. The eggs are pretty tough and are relatively resistant to environmental

conditions so they may be present in dried feces and in the immediate area around the feces.

To make things a little more confusing, but very important to discuss, there are two biotypes of E. granulosus. The northern or sylvatic biotype circulates between canids (wolves, dogs coyotes) and cervids (deer, elk, moose) is a well-documented disease of humans and is found throughout the world. According to health experts the human infection is relatively benign, causing cysts most commonly found in the liver and lungs.

The second biotype of E. granulosus is a domestic variety and circulates between dogs and domestic ungulates, especially sheep. It’s endemic in most sheep raising areas of the world including the southwestern U.S. and Central and South America, among some other places. Human infection with this biotype is known to be much more severe than our northern biotype, largely due to its brain involvement.

There are a couple of potential sources of E. granulosus in Idaho. Prior to wolf introduction it was present at low prevalence in coyotes, foxes and other canids and cycling in wild cervids. The wolf introduction has spread the parasite with the obvious rapid expansion of wolf populations. The second potential source is that the parasite has always been present in domestic dogs and sheep and spilled over to wolves and cervids following wolf introduction. The third potential source is that the parasite was introduced with the wolf introduction despite the anthelminthic (drugs that expel worms) treatment of captured individuals prior to their release in Idaho. And lastly, the parasite was introduced with natural migration of wolves into Idaho from Canada and Montana.

Folks always ask me if we have some treatment plan for E. granulosus and other wildlife diseases. I guess it’s a sign of the times when we think there is a magical pill out there that can we can administer to all wildlife. Control of this parasite is extremely difficult if not darn near impossible. One of the best safety measures we can do is follow our veterinarian’s advice and give our dogs regular anthelminthic treatment, or de-worming treatment. Secondly, as I stated earlier, do not allow your dog to consume any wildlife parts.

The potential for human exposure to the eggs of E. granulosus in the feces of infected

wolves or fecal contaminated hides is low but possible. A majority of people in Idaho have minimal contact with wolf feces with the exception of wolf hunters. Wolf hunters are encouraged to wear latex gloves when field dressing and skinning wolves. I would also caution hunters to follow these safety steps when handling any wildlife; Do not harvest obviously sick animals, wear latex gloves or rubber gloves when field dressing all wildlife, cool the carcass of the animal quickly as possible, clean the animal as soon as possible, and cook the meat thoroughly.

I have handled a lot wolves and these critters do not take pride in cleanliness; matter of fact, they are the most vile animal I have ever been around. Common sense would dictate a little precautionary action before handling these critters.

I hope this helps you to remain healthy in your outdoor adventures. If you have any concerns or need information on this or other parasites you can always call and ask us. If we don’t have the answer for you I bet our wildlife veterinarian, Dr. Mark Drew, could answer your question. And thanks to Dr. Drew for some information in this article.

I hope this New Year brings much happiness and good health for everyone. Don’t forget to purchase a 2012 license if you plan on doing some fishing or hunting this winter!

Leave no child inside!

What You Should Know About Worms

Matt Haag is a conservation officer with the Idaho Dept. of Fish and Game. Learn more about the department online at IDFG.gov. You can reach Matt at [email protected].

The Game Trailby Matt Haag

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You already know this but it might be worth a reminder: it is not time to plant! No matter what the weather outside may be screaming to you at the moment, this is January, not March. Or April. But oh, isn’t it tempting? In an area where it’s not uncommon to hunt for Easter eggs in the snow, these balmy days are practically begging a person to garden.

And if it doesn’t bother you to lose your plants when winter finally makes an appearance—you probably could go ahead and get a little gardening in. I know more than one person with a greenhouse, a cold frame, or even with sturdy row covers that has already put some hardy, cold-loving spinach or lettuce into the ground.

Still, I find myself picturing winter (the one that hasn’t gotten here yet this year) as Clint Eastwood, looking through squinted eyes and saying, “You’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?”

If you’re like me and rarely feel ‘lucky,’ then put down the hoe and pick up the gardening catalogs and settle in for some traditional, January garden activities... planning the garden you’re going to have when spring arrives not just in the yard, but also close to its place on the calendar.

My friend Kathy Osborne, one of the Queens at the Ponderay Co-op and my go-to person for... well, for just about any information, but definitely about gardening information, asked me what I would do different with my garden this

year. My answer? More. I would do more.Gardeners can exaggerate better

than fishermen do, and they are prime candidates for a process my dad used to call “letting your eyes overload your belly.” Nonetheless, I have decided I need at least 65 tomato plants this coming gardening year, heavy on the Romas but with a couple dozen slicing tomatoes and at least a half dozen of the never-can-eat-enough Sun Gold cherry tomatoes too. I also want to try a couple more grape tomato plants even though I had no luck with them whatsoever last year.

I’m not going to say how much of everything else I want to plant because, after the tomatoes, it looks somewhat excessive when I write it down. But regardless of types and amounts, if you plan to plant some of your own food this spring, the time to plan is now.

As you consider planting, you might want to give some thought to planting heirloom seeds for at least some portion of your garden.

Heirloom seeds are simply the seeds of those plants that haven’t been used for large-scale agriculture. Most seeds you can find in garden catalogs are not heirloom seeds; instead, they are what’s called F1 hybrid seeds. These seeds are generally developed to create a plant with greater perceived benefits to the gardener: to be honest, I’m not sure that the home gardener could grow corn to maturity in our generally short growing season without

resorting to a hybrid seed. A hybrid seed, however, is generally sterile. No matter how great the tomato on a hybrid plant, you won’t be able to save the seeds from the tomato and plant them next year, and grow the same kind of tomato plant.

Other seeds that are not heirloom are genetically altered seeds - franken-seeds, some like to call them. While I understand the appeal of altered seeds (some, for example, might include a gene to repel a certain pest, or be more resistant to cold), a tomato seed with an inserted fish gene is not going to grow a tomato. It’s going to grow something, but what that something is is yet to be determined. Personally, I think if you’re going to grow genetically altered seeds, you might as well buy your fruit and veggies at the grocery store: because this food does not have to be labeled, a lot of what you buy there is likely to have been genetically altered in some way.

Heirloom seeds, on the other hand, grow real food that contains real seeds that can be planted next year to grow the same type of real food.

The biggest resource for heirloom seeds is the Seed Savers Exchange (www.seedsavers.org) but probably the best resource is your local seed and plant sellers, and your neighborhood gardeners. These people are experts in their field, and most are willing to take the time to help you understand which seeds you should purchase to successfully grow your garden. -TG

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A Year in the GardenJanuary

January 2012| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 1| Page 1�

A Christmas present from some close friends turned out to be a package of Idaho Bear Poop. I was impressed. The gathering alone must have been quite a project and the labeling is very professional. To my surprise, it tastes just like chocolate nut toffee.

The gift comes after several months of having bears present in my life. Last summer it became very clear very early in the season we needed to take in the bird feeders and the suet every night. We came to that conclusion after two suet cages and a feeder disappeared in April.

One night in August we got home late; as I started out the back door to get the feeders I heard metal rattling, some snorts, and fast running for the woods, followed by crashing through the trees. I waited on the deck next to the open door for my eyes to adjust. When I felt safe to wander out, I found a few parts of an empty feeder on the ground, the iron rod that had been its hanger pretzled around it. Another metal, squirrel proof—not bear proof—feeder destroyed.

While hiking in the Canadian Rockies last July a black bear stepped out on the trail 60 to 70 feet ahead of us. He looked our way and charged the other, staying on the trail for a few hundred yards before heading into the forest. I was in the front of the line and got a good look, first at his face and then at his big, round rump after it turned away. I watched as it retreated, throwing bits of dirt with each step.

Nature is an important source of my spiritual nourishment. In many native cultures, animals have a particular quality they

represent. As I have learned about them, I know it is about balance. Whenever I have an encounter, it is an opportunity to look at the balance of that quality in my life.

Bear represents introspection. As I began to think about that, I was aware that I had not been consistent with my meditation times, nor listening for that still small voice I know is so powerful—inner guidance.

In October, I had planned a solo trip into Canada to look for caribou. I also knew it would be a personal and spiritual search.

I knew I would be in both grizzly and black bear country again, but I hoped to avoid them.

I drove to Kootenay National Park in British Columbia on a Sunday afternoon and spent the night in our Element. Heading for Jasper the next morning, my search for the big animals was about to begin. Driving up the Vermillion River toward the pass, I kept seeing places that seemed to need my attention, but ignored them to get farther north.

Stopping at Numa Falls to use the privy, that voice urged me to take the short hike to the falls. In those mountains, water falls way too frequently to stop for all of them.

I am glad I listened to this one. On the footbridge, I felt the power of water as it sanded out round, smooth bowls in the rock on both sides of the noisy cascade, just below the span where I took a respite from driving.

Back at the car, the biggest raven I have ever seen landed beside me. I know these mysterious black birds are used to people and get handouts whenever possible, but this guy was big. I grabbed the camera, snapped off a couple shots, and got ready

to drive. The unfed raven hopped onto the hood and tried to convince me he needed payment for the pictures. His antics were amusing. I started the motor. He flew.

I felt I had wasted some time. However, while driving, I heard again the intended use of this trip was a personal and spiritual journey, thus listen to that inner voice. It is about the journey. Hmm, is that some sort of life lesson?

In a few miles, a sign beckoned to another roadside attraction, this time Marble Canyon. Now in these rugged hills beautiful, dramatic canyons are as common as waterfalls, which are often coupled together.

The call was strong. I stopped. Marble Canyon is a short, deep slot

created by Tokumm Creek flowing through an ancient terminal moraine.

There is an interpretive trail with bridges criss-crossing the gorge.

It looks like a fissure, carved by aqua-colored, glacial water through limestone and dolomite, usually white dolomite giving it the look of marble—thus the name.

Boulders have fallen and been wedged into the narrow crack sometimes a hundred feet from the bottom. Vegetation, fed by the mist of the torrents below, now grows on them.

Natural bridges straddle the chasm where the water had first flowed over, until the rasping of the till in the surging melt excavated a channel in a weak place under the lip, blasting out a hole and leaving an arch.

It was a short hike, less then a mile. Back at the car, it felt good to have fresh air in my lungs and the enjoyment of another exceptional geological feature. Still I wanted to be going.

It’s All About Listening

The Hawk’s Nest PhotosbyHawks.net • [email protected]

by ERNIE HAWKS

The Scotchman PeaksKeep ‘em wild.

For our Families, For tomorrow.www.ScotchmanPeaks.org

Friends of Scotchman Peaks WildernessThe River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol 17 No. 18 | November 2008 | Page 5

increase nutrients, such as nitrogen and

This septic pilot project is being introduced in order to comply with water quality standards as determined by the Federal Clean Water Act. Designated to protect water quality, the plan, known as a “Total Maximum Daily Load” for Lake Pend Oreille, addresses nutrient issues

In addition, many lakeshore homeowners participated in a survey in 2007 concerning a variety of water quality issues. As is turns out, their

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There was very light traffic while climbing along the river toward Vermillion Pass. I kept thinking about getting to Jasper, wondering why I had been so easily distracted. However, the clock said it was still early in the morning and the light was good if a photo-op was presented.

Alone on the road and nearing the top, I saw something walking on the pavement, maybe a half mile ahead. I slowed a little but kept going, curiosity starting to pique. I rolled on until I could see the grizzly angling across the road looking directly at me. Not huge, but full-grown, I think a female. I stopped. She walked toward me a few steps before heading off the road to my right. I powered down the right side window hoping for a shot without getting out.

The brush did not allow a picture so I cautiously got out on the left side of the car, camera in hand, and leaned on the hood where the raven had earlier scolded me. She looked at me and wandered toward the river. Thoroughly enjoying the encounter, I was still alone with her. She looked at me again but it wasn’t a clear shot, the lens I had on accentuated the brush between us even when I manually focused on her.

Walking into the river, she sat down. A car stopped and the passenger asked what was up. I said I thought there was a grizzly in the river. They asked if I could see her and I said not very well. They looked and then moved on. I was alone with her again—good.

After a short sit in the water, she crawled up the steep bank on the opposite side. It brought her back up to my elevation. As soon as I had a clear shot, I reset the auto focus and started snapping away. With only a hundred feet between us, my three hundred millimeter lens was perfect, a straight clear shot.

She stopped and looked back. I know it sounds odd but it looked to me like she was posing. Stopping, moving slowly, stepping onto a log and waiting. I let the shutter open dozens of times, taking advantage whenever she took a position and held it.

After some time alone together, a few more folks stopped. One fellow started toward the river with his smart phone. I said that could be dangerous. He commented that I have a long lens, he doesn’t, so he has to get closer. Again, I warned him, but he kept moving forward—he wanted that shot.

Miss Griz across the way seemed to be uninterested and headed up the hill into some scrub.

I breathed a sigh of relief. He acted indignant and stomped back to his car.

The bear moved in and out of sight for a while and was gone. The last time I saw her I thanked her for the time she had given me. I also thanked her for ignoring the ignoramus with the smart phone, which I think is smarter than its owner.

Back in the car, introspection was in the front of my mind. It had been a morning of listening to my inner voice. The reward had been communion time alone with a grizzly, a refreshing walk on the lip of a deep ravine and an entertaining visit with a raven.

After several days, there were no caribou sightings. However, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t an incredibly successful trip with meaningful personal time in the spirit of the mountains.

Now I have good memories and a few photos. Looking at one of the photos it looks like she is leaving some bear poop next to the river. Little did I know I could have started my Christmas shopping right there.

PhotosbyHawks.net


The seasonal rituals are complete. Christmas cards gone from the window sill. Nutcrackers packed away in their special tin until next December. Cardboard boxes broken down and recycled at the dump. The last of the wonderful pecan ball cookies my mother bakes each year joyfully eaten. And, the annual new calendar from St. Petersburg, Russia now hanging it its place announcing the arrival of 2012.

Where will this faith walk I am on lead me in the months ahead?

How will the guiding of the Spirit connect me with the work of human beings and the presence of the Divine across the year?

Will snowshoeing into the Selkirks for the wolverine project of Idaho Fish

and Game and Friends of Scotchman Peaks give me new insight into creation and the fullness of life on earth?

Will my March trip to Russia (my 23rd) open new doors of understanding and cooperation with Christians still renewing themselves after the brutality of the communist era?

Will Tessa Anne’s one year birthday in April allow me to see anew the imageo dei, the image of God in the face of this infant child, my granddaughter?

How will the August landing of the Mars Science Laboratory “Curiosity” on that distant planet contribute to my, to our, understanding of our place in the universe?

And, can the campaign and election of our President be a pathway to “do justice” as we are charged in the Hebrew scriptures?

January days and long winter nights can create space for reflecting on the past and pondering the future. I for one seek to learn from the past, whether that be the events and interactions of 2011 or years before. But, learning from my actions is not the same as being held captive by them.

Even the heavily burdened author of the Book of Lamentations found ways to look at the future.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

“New every morning”—what a way to hold hopes for 2012. If I let myself live into newness, I can move beyond pessimism, skepticism, and negativity. I can take a step away from the unemployment figures in the state and across the nation. I can lift up from the pessimism of the paltry results of the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa. I can even move beyond my deep disappointment in the U.S. Congress of 2011.

“New every morning” reminds me of both my responsibilities and my obligations. I am called by God to be engaged. I am called to use the talents I have been given to work for change. And, I am obliged to live out these days as an active citizen of my community,

my nation, and even the world.Too Pollyanna? Too much “glass half

full?” No, I don’t think so. Rather, I have been offered a lens through which to view the twelve months ahead.

So, 2011 is behind me. 2012 presents itself in its fullness. As for me, I’ll work toward meeting the year one morning at a time.

And they don’t have to—after all, don’t we Americans believe if it’s ours, it’s ours and we can do with it what we want? Or

is and we want it, then

you have to give it to us and if you don’t, then you sponsor terrorism and we’ll

By the way, China wants that oil as well. Remember China? The people who loaned us all that money? China’s oil consumption is around 6.5 billion barrels a year, and is growing at 7 percent every year. It produces about 3.6 billion barrels every year. Does this math look good to anyone? Can anyone other than Sarah Palin and George Bush believe we can drill our way out of this problem? Anyone who doesn’t think we better hit the ground running to figure out how to fuel what we want fueled with something other than oil probably deserves to go back to an

: I could go on forever, but you’ll quit reading. So one final discussion for the American public. First, let’s have a true, independent analysis of what happened on September 11, 2001. The official explanation simply doesn’t hold water. This is one of those “who knew what, when” questions that must be answered—and people/institutions must

Speaking of accountability, you might be surprised to learn that I would not support an effort to impeach President Bush after the November elections. First, because that’s too late, and second, because more than Bush have been involved in crimes against the American people. What I would like to see are charges (at the least, charges of treason) brought against Bush, Cheney, et al. Bring the charges and let’s let the evidence of

They have ‘slipped the surly bonds of

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The publisher has just reminded me that the last year ever will begin tomorrow, and the second-to-the-last year ever ends today. Yes, folks, the dreaded A.D. 2012, the end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it, will have begun by the time you read this, and there’s not a damned thing you can do about it except huddle in your hovel and wait for the end.

Actually, I think the beginning of the end was ten days ago, on the Solstice, which, if you ask me, is a much more sensible time to begin an ending than some randomly chosen date like January 1. At least, on the Solstice, there is a significant nanosecond during which we pass out of waning days into waxing days. Or something like that.

This, of course, is the real end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it that we are facing, unlike that end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it that happened—or, more accurately, didn’t happen—at zero-hundred hours on January 1, 2000. Y2K was not spectacular as far as end of times go, even after all the publicity it got. I know because I stayed up to watch it happen. And, even though I can show you exactly where I was sitting when the clock made its final tick of the 20th century, it is not because anything significant happened, but because absolutely nothing happened, which I had theorized for some months. Nine of us who were in the pub at that time breathed a collective sigh of relief, while I said, to no one in particular, “I told you so.” I ordered another beer and watched over the next half-hour another 50 or so survivors flock in to celebrate the miracle.

I didn’t bother to point out that if the end of the world was going to happen at

zero-hundred hours anywhere, it probably wouldn’t be Pacific Standard Time, even if it does contain Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco, where millions were locked in their apartments with a six months supply of bottled water, Top Ramen and toilet paper. No, more likely, it would be Greenwich Mean Time, or, even better, the exact moment when 0:00:00 crosses the International Date Line, a place of continual confusion no matter which direction you are coming from. That would be a perfect place for the end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it to begin.

Of course, with the Mayan calendar now counting down to our next end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it, we need to find out where the Mayans thought time began and ended. Then, we can go stand there at exactly 11:12 a.m., (Eleven-twelve! Another sign!) December 21, 2012, the precise instant of the winter Solstice — if we want to get it over with — or get as far away as possible, if we want to survive the unknown catastrophe(s) that will begin.

That’s 11:12 a.m. UTC, by the way, which stands for Coordinated Universal Time, by which computers keep track of things and all things aviation happen (If — no, when — your flight is delayed, it is delayed in Coordinated Universal Time). Why Coordinated Universal Time is known by the acronym “UTC,” is unclear, but it is somewhat clear that it deviates somewhat and somehow from Greenwich Mean Time, which for centuries has been how we keep track. Unless, of course you are a Nez Perce or Gond or Mayan or any of a huge number of other indigenous peoples who never saw a clock until a European showed

up with one in their pocket and another hanging on the ship cabin wall.

Whew. All this timekeeping is making me dizzy. The earth is spinning and it’s already 12:10 (p.m., not a.m.) Mountain Standard Time and deadline is 40 minutes closer. As is end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it.

If this all seems ridiculous, it is. The idea that we can predict and prepare for the end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it has been disproven at least half a dozen times in the past 100 years, and probably a thousand in the thousand before that. Chicken Little is alive and well and living in the guise of humans worldwide. And the sky is still not falling.

The end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it is much more subtle than a falling sky or exploding city, and much more personal than that. It is a cancer diagnosis. It is a child killed in combat or on the highway or in some senseless act of violence. It is that friend or loved one who disappears and is never heard from again. It is divorce papers signed.

But, it is also in a new baby’s cry and the first time it feeds at its mom’s breast. It is a learner’s permit, a wedding license, a diploma, a handshake and a hug. It is in loving and being loved. It is in the ideal of peace.

We know not when or where the end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it will happen because it is happening always and everywhere.

Happy New Year, friends, from out on the Scenic Route.

The End of the World

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When I first took up residence in Bonner County I noticed that any gathering of folks that involved comments usually began with something about when they first came here. The ultimate old timer remark mentioned the name of the great grandfather or other earlier resident. That served to rearrange the pecking order. Having lived in a number of other larger communities I didn’t get it; at least, not right away.

As the years have progressed and I find myself having never lived anywhere longer than here I think I understand what the older residents were trying to say. One opinion might be that they liked things the way they were. They liked what their grandfather liked and they appreciated what he had done to make their place a bit nicer. The pioneer spirit gene was in their DNA. So today when I meet someone for the first time I am inclined to do what the old timers did to me and that is find out where THEY came from and WHEN. That usually results in WHY. The WHEN really isn’t too important but the WHY is.

Of course, the view to the east while crossing the long highway bridge can be impressive. The other morning, above the clouds were the snow covered mountains in the far distance. One of those times you wished you had a camera. That is one reason. Getting to ski and enjoy the winter sports obviously appeals to many but there are those who prefer to flee before the first hint of cold. That is another group.

And then there are those who bring their baggage with them. And I don’t mean carry-on luggage.

Perhaps subconsciously they really liked living where they did and want to hang on to that aspect of their lives and yet live somewhere else. My old neighbor John Fox told me one time that he guessed I had to live somewhere! He realized each newcomer represented change.

In my opinion change should be evolutionary not revolutionary. In any given society a leader will be in front leading and not behind pushing. A true leader inspires his followers by always being one of them, not an outsider. Foremost, he knows his constituents. As I wrote recently, in order to be a great

manager of a hamburger stand you first need to be a great hamburger flipper.

I really don’t have much use for a faux leader.

A phony leader is one who loves the sound of his own voice. Who overwhelms himself with his version of logic. And worse yet, comes onto the scene with an agenda. The agenda is the unseen and unspoken. The things the leader really believes but never will articulate because he would lose his followers. The term Great Pretender comes to mind.

A case in point is this matter of arbitration between county commissioners. Would anyone have voted for any commissioner who would stand on a platform and say that is what he would do if he couldn’t get along? Of course not. Would you vote for anyone who wants to gut funding for the Fair? Of course not. In this county, 4-H is a big thing, not to mention a good thing. Would you have voted for anyone who thought it should be gutted? Of course not.

I would like to note that everyone elected to any office invariably inherits the actions or inactions of his/her predecessor. With any luck it is all good so you continue to look like a savior of some sort. On the other hand if (a) you think your predecessor was dumber than a box

of rocks and (b) you are full of yourself you can look like a savior that humanity has been waiting for all these years. It’s sort of like “heads I win, tails you lose” and good luck to the rest of us. In either event, it is incumbent on the newcomer to accept some, if not all, responsibility for what has gone on before and live with it. Being a radical of either wing isn’t cool.

It is amazing how many people want to sell out government. People on the far edges of our political system seem to have the longest lists. On the left it is the Socialists and on the right it is the

Libertarians. The sad part is the lists are unknown before the election. Most folks can live with change that conforms to the wishes of the many, not the few

So that brings us back to the beginning. What has attracted many people to this far end of the Idaho Panhandle is the culture of the community. Sunset magazine wasn’t attracted by the soon-to-be-completed bypass. The many people who saved the Panida didn’t do it to compete with a 6-screen cinema. There are countless other things that are meaningful in different ways to the souls who find this a decent place to live.

Of course, there really is no paradise here or anywhere. But there is a place where each of us is comfortable, reasonably happy and with like-minded neighbors. Change should come at a pace those people can handle. Government is for all the people. As someone said, the best government is the least government, but let that government be what the people want, not what some temporary resident of the court house thinks they should have.

Bonner County Culture is worth saving. Voters of either party around here are, for the most part, conservative. They are down to earth, except for wine tastings and not too sophisticated. They pick huckleberries, cut firewood and would like to stick to the basics.

Most of us don’t believe that good government i s scary so let us strive for more common sense. We deserve no less.

What is Going On?

Say What? Paul Rechnitzer is a local conservative and author, and a practiced curmudgeon. You can reach him at [email protected]

PAUL RECHNITZER

It’s the culture of a community that brings us here


On December 7 United States President Obama and Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced a long-awaited border security agreement between the two countries. I don’t believe that the announcement of the agreement by the President and the Prime Minister was covered by our local media but this a significant agreement between our

two countries. The agreement will be implemented through two action plans: 1) The Action Plan on Perimeter Security and Economic Competiveness and 2) The Action Plan on Regulatory cooperation.

The Action Plan on Perimeter Security and Economic Competiveness “focuses on four areas of cooperation between the two countries: addressing threats early; facilitating trade, economic growth and jobs; integrating cross-border law enforcement; and improving critical infrastructure and cyber-security.”

The Action Plan on Regulatory Cooperation “will help reduce barriers to trade, lower costs for consumers and business, and create economic opportunities on both sides of the border.”

The agreement of our two countries implemented under these two action plans is aimed at streamlining cross-border trade at the same it provides for improved intelligence sharing to enhance both countries’ security measures.

In the area of cross-border trade today’s down economy has forced us to look for new and innovative ways to create jobs and increase economic growth. When discussing strategies for increasing trade, almost no one thinks of the most obvious trading relationship poised for the most growth in the short-term—the U.S./

Canada market. Currently, more than $1.6 billion in

goods and services as well as 300,000 people cross the Canada–United States border every day—that’s over a million dollars a minute. More than 8 million U.S. jobs depend on trade with Canada, over 360,000 jobs in the five northwest states alone. Canada is the most important foreign export destination for 34 U.S.

states, and Canada buys more goods and services from the United States than Germany and China combined. Finally, in 2010 the increase in exports to Canada alone was greater than all U.S. trade with Brazil, double all U.S. trade with India, and triple all U.S. trade with Russia.

In Idaho alone 39,900 jobs in our state depend on Canada-U.S. trade. Thirty-four Canadian-owned companies in Idaho employ 2,742 people and in terms of Idaho exports we sell more goods to Canada than to any other country in the world. In Bonner and Kootenai counties we have at least three companies exporting their products to our northern neighbors, including Laughing Dog Brewing who just started exporting their product to Alberta.

These numbers point to an excellent opportunity to look to our closest neighbor to increase jobs and enhance our economic recovery. In their announcement of the new border agreement the leaders of our two countries recognized the interdependence of our economies and the need to work together to improve trade and enhance security.

Even very simple regulatory barriers can play a role in discouraging U.S. companies from venturing north. An example of a specific regulatory barrier is that currently the U.S. and Canada have different standards on gas tank sizes in automobiles. This is problematic in several of the manufacturing processes, especially since a car is often shipped across the border as many as eight times during the manufacturing process.

Several coordinated changes are possible on current regulatory barriers that do not require significant government spending to implement and have an immediate beneficial impact on trade. Agreements on the same specific regulatory standards for both countries makes sense in that it will reduce costs and also help open up the market to products that have been limited to just domestic markets in the past.

The action plans to implement the agreement announced December 7 by the two leaders “was developed through a coordinated consultative process and is intended to produce specific outcomes and timelines to improve border security and enhance economic cooperation by reducing regulatory irritants that hinder trade. It outlines specific steps the U.S. and Canada are working on to better partner in trade, provide better security in a risk based approach, and make it easier for legitimate goods and travel to take place between our two countries.”

The action plans implementing the agreement lay out a structure with responsibilities and timelines for success. They are is a beginning, not an end, and it will require leadership on both sides of the border to implement innovative solutions that challenge the status quo. The agreement also serves as a much needed reminder that we must work collaboratively with stakeholders on both sides of the border to build solutions for the future that make all of our businesses more competitive in the global marketplace.

This agreement will enhance the security and economic competiveness of our two countries and I believe we will see businesses in our own Pacific Northwest region taking advantage of the economic potential unlocked by the U.S./Canada border agreement as the agreement is implemented.

As a reminder to River Journal readers, I will be representing your interests in Boise beginning on January 9, when the 2nd regular session of the 61st Idaho Legislature convenes. Please feel free to contact me with issues of interest to you. You can reach me in Boise by phone at 1-800-626-0471, by E-mail at [email protected] and by regular mail at Capitol Building, 700 W. Jefferson, Boise, Idaho 83720-0038.

Thanks for reading!George

A Seat in the House George Eskridge, Idaho Rep. for House District 1B. Reach him at 208-265-0123 or P.O. Box 112, Dover, ID 83825

GEORGE ESKRIDGE

Streamlining Cross-Border Trade

Laughing Dog Brewing... just started exporting their product to Alberta. Photo www.

LaughingDogBrewing.com


Music From Other SpheresSome tunes are simply otherworldly,

and some may even kill. Robert Johnson, the early 1930s blues singer, wrote his song “Crossroads” about meeting the devil as a young man at a crossroads at midnight and trading him his soul in exchange for mastery of the blues guitar. His success would come however only after his death, when he inspired a new generation of acolytes such as Eric Clapton and The Rolling Stones.

Paganini, the great 1700s violinist, was widely regarded as the Jimi Hendrix of his day, playing in a wild frenzy with both hands until they bled. His eerie “Devil’s Trill” was said to have come to him in a dream of a wild bacchanal in Hell. When he played it some audience members claimed to see the Devil himself playing alongside him. Mussorgsky’s vision of a Witches Sabbath, “Night on Bald Mountain” (later popularized in the Disney film “Fantasia”) was written in what he later described as “a 12-day white heat of delirium, it seethed within me day and night, I hardly

knew what was happening within me.”

A recent viewing of the Hungarian

film “Gloomy Sunday” (available at the Sandpoint library) revealed to me yet another example of otherworldly music. The 1999 film (subtitled) purports to tell the story behind the song of the same name. In mid-winter Paris of 1932 a young penniless poet and songwriter named Reszo Seress was forlorn after a breakup with his girlfriend. Gazing out the window at the rain and fog he wrote the song in a scant half hour and sent it off to a publisher. They wrote back almost at once, “Gloomy Sunday has a weird and highly depressing melody and we are sorry to say we cannot use it.”

Reszo decided to try one last time however, and sent it to another publisher who accepted it and here the story took a strange turn. In Berlin a young man requested a band to play to play the new tune and, after it was performed, he shot himself in the head. Within a week a female shop attendant was found hanging from a rope from the roof beams and a suicide note claimed she couldn’t get the tune Gloomy Sunday out of her head.

Next a young secretary gassed herself and requested Gloomy Sunday be played at her funeral. An 82-year-old man jumped to his death from a 7th floor apartment after

playing the tune on his piano. Newspapers around the world were quick to point out other deaths attributed, however faintly, to the song. In London a woman played Gloomy Sunday for two days straight, infuriating her neighbors who finally forced the lock and found her dead of a barbiturate overdose, the automatic arm of her record player repeating the song over and over. Hungary placed a temporary ban on playing the song over the airwaves after a spike in suicides and later, during the war, the BBC would only play the instrumental version, saying the song was “too depressing” for morale during wartime.

The song has since been recorded by artists as diverse as Mel Torme, Billie Holliday and Elvis Costello, but Reszo’s girlfriend, for whom he wrote the song never heard them: she committed suicide in 1933 with the newly released sheet music at her bedside table. Reszo himself lived until 1968 and finally jumped from a sixth floor window, but lived on in great pain for three more days in the hospital before managing to strangle himself in bed with a length of wire.

‘til next time, a happy new year to all, and All Homage to Xena!

by Jody Forest

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If it were given to me to make just one grand gesture to my community this year, I would buy everyone a pot with a Sun Gold, cherry tomato growing in it. When these beauties reach the ripening point, a person could be forgiven for thinking they were in heaven, because if heaven doesn’t have Sun Golds, then it isn’t the very best place to be. Let my gesture be just a tad bit larger, and that pot would also include a lettuce plant or two, because lettuce, like most garden plants, is a miracle. Harvest the plant from the bottom, just as soon as it’s large enough to start providing ‘baby’ lettuce leaves for your dinner table, and the thing will just keep on producing and producing… you’ll soon find it’s putting out so many lettuce leaves that you can barely eat it fast enough to keep up. The experience of growing these two plants alone is enough to make gardeners out of most of us.

And becoming gardeners would be a good thing, I think, because gardening puts us back in touch with one of the greatest time cycles to exist: the one that extends from seed to plant and back to seed again.

The basis of all civilizations, of course, has been the ability of people to distance themselves from this cycle. The first ingredient required for all civilizations to develop and grow was the ability to grow enough food that some people did not have to do the work necessary to feed themselves, and could therefore do other things – things we consider the hallmarks of progress. And the more a civilization grew, the fewer of its people were doing the required nurturing of seeds into plants and plants into food and food into waste that was recycled into soil that would again nurture seeds into plants. Historians will argue endlessly over what causes a civilization, at the height of its power, to suddenly fall apart and disappear. I can, myself, advance some pretty good theories and arguments to back them up: causes like environmental devastation, concentration of wealth, natural disaster, disease, war. But it’s at least worth considering that maybe, just maybe, at least some of those causes can only come about when too many people are too far removed from that first and

most important cycle found in gardening.Cycles will undoubtedly be a big

subject in 2012, a time in which what by all rights should be an obscure time cycle – the Mayan Great Cycle – will no doubt play an important role. Somehow we seem to overlook the fact that ‘cycle’ – in Latin, cyclus and in Greek, kyklos – stands for a circle and indicates a pattern that repeats. The Mayans didn’t seem to conceive of a cycle that ended without another cycle beginning, a fact that undoubtedly will not bother the end-of-the-worlders in the least.

We seem to struggle with that concept of renewal and maybe we do so because so many of us do not garden anymore. We are so out of touch with the world we live in that somehow we overlook the fact that the sun rises after it sets, and that our reward for enduring the long, dark, cold days of winter (admittedly, not much to endure yet this year) is the thrill of new growth peeking through the snow come spring.

It is interesting that the Mayan’s Great Cycle resets itself at a time when we as a global people are dealing with the consequences of being out of sync with natural cycles. As we get up in the morning and turn on the coffee maker, check in with our friends and acquaintances on Facebook, run a nice, hot shower to throw off the remaining effects of sleep and prepare to face the day, we are insulated from the extractive processes that allow us to do all those things. We fail to recognize that cycles involve limits; when we reach the point of consuming more than can be replaced (a point we may have already passed) we will find ourselves in a different cycle, one that we may not like very much.

Personally, I am looking at the end of a “great” cycle for myself this year, as well, as I reach the age of 50 or, as I like to think of it, the end of the first half of my life. I must admit to some difficulty in thinking of myself at this age because at 50, it’s hard to get away with calling yourself “young” anymore. At the same time, you’re pretty sure that “old” is not a good descriptive word, either. “Old,” in fact, is still reserved for my mother, because once your baby turns 50, I think describing yourself as

‘middle-aged’ also doesn’t work well.Also part of this year of the cycle,

February will mark a leap year, and another birthday for my father, though I don’t think that counts anymore as he’s been gone since 1985. It’s a big one for him, though—were he still alive, he would celebrate his 21st actual “birthday.” Interestingly enough, my baby also celebrates (has celebrated) her 21st this year—welcome to adulthood, Amy!

Did you know that we’ll also have a leap second this year? Yep, the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (bet you didn’t even know that existed. I know I didn’t.) in Paris has declared a leap second will be introduced on June 30 this year. These are the people who are the final arbiters for time for all of us, and they have a good reason for adding a leap second, but it’s too complicated for me to want to explain right now. You can Google it if you really want to know!

More exciting, this year will also mark the tenth anniversary of the Angels Over Sandpoint’s production of The Follies. I was lucky to be a part of the first one and am hoping to be a part of this one as well (of course, I have to write the script first, something that, for all ten years, I’ve managed to put off until the very last minute).

This year, it looks like the Angels will be doing the Follies (different shows) for two separate weekends in early March. Please take the time to buy a ticket for one of the shows. The Angels do a lot of work to support people in our community, especially those who are facing a diagnosis of cancer, and the financial devastation that can come with the same. Last year, the Angels were able to provide $80,000 to support the people in our communities, and the need is still growing. The Follies is the major fundraiser for the Angels, and by purchasing tickets, buying drinks at the show, and putting money into the donation condoms (yes, over-sized condoms... if that throws you off, skip the ticket and write a check instead because the show might give you a heart attack) you are helping to make a difference for many of our friends and neighbors.

Go ahead, give! What better could you do in the “last” year?

Politically Incorrect by TRISH GANNON • [email protected]

Cycles of Time


SANDPOINT EVENTSDOWNTOWN

SANDPOINT EVENTSJanuary

FOLLIES AUDITIONS THIS MONTH! CALL GAIL AT 20�-2��-0503 to schedule your audition time.12-14 The Way. Panida Theater �:30 pm (film). 208-263-919114 Bonner Mall Winter Carnival Chili Cook-Off and Candy-o-Rama19-20 Le Havre. Panida Theater, 7:30 pm (film) 208-263-919120-22 Library Wine Tasting Weekend, Pend d’Oreille Winery 20�-2�5-�54521 Tingstad and Rumbel. The Panida Theater � pm (concert) 20�-2�3-9191.25 KPND Ski and Board Party, 219 Lounge. 20�-2�3-5��32�-2� Banff Mountain Film Festival Panida Theater, � pm. 20�2�3-91912�-29 USASA Races, Schweitzer Mountain. 20�-2�3-9555

February1 KPND Ski and Board Party, La Rosa Club, 20�-2�3-02114 Pied Piper, Missoula Children’s Theater at the Panida. 20�-2�3-�139.� The Good Lovelies, � pm, Panida Theater. (music) 20�-2�5-ARTS� KPND Ski and Board Party, Taps at Schweitzer. 20�-2�3-95551�-2� Sandpoint Winter Carnival 20�-2�3-0��. www.SandpointWinterCarnival.com1� Winter Carnival Downtown Rail Jam and Bioluminesce Show1� Molly & Tenbrooks in concert, DiLunas. 20�-2�3-0�4�1� Winter Carnival’s Polar Plunge and Skijoring Competition19 Winter Carnival’s Ski Joring Competition

22 KPND Ski and Board Party Trinity at City Beach. 20�-255-�55�23 Taste of Sandpoint,

SandpointChamber.org24-25 Outrageous Air Show,

Schweitzer25 SHS Grad Night Auction 2� Winter Carnival’s K9 Keg Pull

PLUS:Winery Music - Live music every Friday night at Pend d’Oreille WineryPub Music with Truck Mills Blues Jam every Monday night at Eichardt’sTrivia every Tuesday night at MickDuff’s.Tuesdays with Mike, Trinity at City Beach, 5 to � pm.Sunday Open Mic, �:30 to 10 pm every Sunday at the Long Bridge Grill. Bingo Night: hosted by The Loading Dock, every Thursday, 5-� pm.Sandpoint Swing Tuesdays at �:30 pm, $3. Bongo Brew/Earth Rhythms Cafe 20�-�10-�5��

Visit www.DowntownSandpoint.com for a complete calendar of events

Feb. 23

The Taste of Sandpoint!

a part of Sandpoint’s Winter Carnival

Experience Downtown Sandpoint!


Over the past year I have spent a great deal of time and effort castigating the Congress for doing so very little for veterans. For that matter Congress hasn’t done much for the majority of Americans over the past year. I thought that I’d start the New Year with a change of pace. Something that might actually be less depressing than repeating a mantra of how bad Congress—both arms—has been. With that goal in mind I went looking for something positive that has happened for veterans. Believe me it wasn’t easy to achieve that goal.

The other night, I was invited to sit in on a conference call moderated by a group calling itself ‘Veterans for Obama’. It is a nascent group made up mostly of Iraq/Afghanistan war veterans who believe that the current administration is doing much more for veterans than its predecessor. Their intent is to encourage veterans of the past ten years of warfare to re-elect the President. One of the speakers was Tammy Duckworth. If you don’t know, or remember, the name, let me enlighten you.

Captain Duckworth was co-piloting an Apache helicopter in November 2004 when it was struck by an RPG. The explosion cost her both legs below the knee and did significant damage to her right arm. She was awarded a Purple Heart, Air Medal and Army Commendation medals. During Tammy’s recuperation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center she was promoted to Major. After being fitted with prosthesis she returned to duty with the Illinois Army National Guard and currently holds the rank of Lt Colonel. It should noted that Captain Duckworth’s injury occurred well after President Bush declared “Mission Accomplished.” In fact several thousand American service men and women have been killed, injured and maimed since that farcical photo-op was staged.

But I digress. The purpose of the call was twofold: one, get veterans on board to support the president’ re-election campaign; and two, talk about what the administration has been doing to help veterans in the face of the complete paralysis in Congress. The big thing that was talked about was a joint effort by

HUD and VA that is designed to do two very important tasks. The name of this program is HUD-VASH. The HUD portion is designed to get eligible homeless veterans into permanent housing. The VA portion is to get them treatment for whatever ills they may have. The program was originally started in 2008 but didn’t really get off the ground until after the 2008 election.

This two-pronged attack was designed to fix a big need in the veteran community. Get homeless vets into a permanent shelter so they can have a fixed address and regular access to services at VA facilities. All too many of our veterans are homeless.

This is a national disgrace that cried out to be addressed. Many of these veterans are in need of treatment for a wide variety of problems. These problems range from various addictions, to physical and psychological issues that do not get better without treatment and/or counseling. Without a fixed home base it is almost impossible to receive the treatments they need.

There are only a very limited number of housing vouchers available here in Idaho—25 additional vouchers were added to the initial 25 issued on 6/3/2011—centered on the Boise VA facility, for a total of $338,448 (updated information released on 7/14/2011). Washington fares a little better with 175 new vouchers, with a total value of $1,072,950. The greater majority of that money in centered around the Tacoma/Seattle area.

The reason that there is so little money available is simple. Congress hasn’t passed a budget in almost two years. All we’ve had is a string of stop-gap ‘continuing

resolutions’ to keep the government running at the same levels as previously approved. All of these programs were authorized by executive order to the two agencies involved and are doing a great good for the homeless veteran community with very limited resources. The other good aspect of this program is that it is ‘community driven’. This means that the money from the housing vouchers is parceled directly to local housing authorities so that they can try and get the most bang for each buck they receive. I found it interesting that there were no vouchers centered on the Spokane VA medical facility. I believe that is because there are no qualifying housing authorities

in the Spokane area. I can find nothing to confirm or refute this.

With the ‘VOW to Hire Heroes Act’ signed by the President on 11/23/2011 and those actions taken under the HUD-VASH program a very small down payment has been made on the vast debt this nation owns to the less than 1 percent of our population who answers the call to defend our country. There is no way that the debt can ever be fully repaid but the above makes a start.

Until such time as our elected leaders come to realize that ideological purity does not create good governance, and that nor

will that purity solve our nation’s many problems, I am afraid we are doomed to muddle around in this morass until this truth dawns on them. I have great hope that the recent fiasco with the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits extension will wake up the voter as to who is actually on their side come November 2012. When it comes to the approval rating of Congress I’m reminded of a line from an old Calypso tune, “How low can you go?”

This is my last article that will be written here at home in North Idaho. By the time you read this I’ll be once again on the beach in Mexico sipping cold adult beverages and working on my tan. For all you ski fanatics take a couple of runs for me. For those of you speeding along on your snowsleds be sure to sip some schnapps for me at the end of the day. For those of you shaking your shovels at the sky I’m glad it is you and not me. Until next month please try to stay warm and dry.

Two Bills Make a Difference

Veterans’ News Gil Beyer, ETC USN Ret. can be reached at [email protected] BEYER

� | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 1| January 2012

Lakeview Funeral Home, Sandpoint, Idaho.

Get complete obituaries online at www.LakeviewFuneral.org

November 9, 1919 - December 19, 2011


ELMA A. CARRUTHERS JENSEN

April 24, 1918 - December 19, 2011ROSY MAE JUNK HODGES

DONALD DAVID WILLIAMS


TED THOMPSON

January 20, 1935 - December 8, 2011

GARY JAMES ALLEN


JAMES A “JIM” KENDRICK

May 20, 1939 - December 7, 2011

MARY CATHERINE EBNER

Coffelt Funeral Home, Sandpoint, Idaho.

Get complete obituaries online at www.CoffeltFuneral.com

September 11, 1933 - December 21, 2011

GLORIA N. EVANS

June 18, 1947 - December 14, 2011

BEVERLY KAY HENSLER

October 3, 1921 - December 14, 2011

FRANCES DORIS PALANIUK

December 12, 1930 - December 6, 2011

JOYCE JUANITA SAUMIER

JERRY LEONARD VAN OOYEN March 17, 1930 - December 8, 2011

MARTHA ELIZABETH KILMERMay 7, 1939 - December 14, 2011

December 11, 1924 - December 14, 2011

ALVAN C “BUD” FINNEY

September 4, 1909 - December 22, 2011

MARGARET A LINER

January 16, 1954 - December 21, 2011

CHARLES JOHN “CHUCK” SPICKELMIRE

May 12, 1967 - December 24, 2011SCOTT ERIC HARTMAN

May 9, 2011 - December 24, 2011 ROBERT WEBSTER SANDS

December 18, 1916 - December 24, 2011HELEN I WHITE

June 28, 1917 - December 22, 2011MARY MARGARET FORD

May 4, 1974 - December 23, 2011JASON DOUGLAS MAXEY

May 13, 1924 - December 24, 2011WILLIAM GREGORAK

June 15, 1950 - December 28, 2011SHARON IRENE HOOVER COLVER

May 5, 1925 - December 30, 2011

ELNA OMAN

BOB HAMILTONJuly 1, 1931 - December 30, 2011

May 4, 1961 - December 31, 2011MICHAEL AARON SMITH

RICHARD HENRY PETERSON

October 18, 1932 - December 18, 2011

February 17, 1923 - December 18, 2011ESTHER ELLA SIMON MCCORMICK

ROGER DALE DAVIS November 3, 1950 - December 19, 2011

Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak whispers

the o’er-fraught heart and bids it break.

-William Shakespeare

� | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 1| January 2012 January 2012| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 1| Page 2�

Prompted, guided and nourished by news reports of record consumer spending after Thanksgiving, children everywhere were expecting record happiness at Christmas. Anticipatory adrenalin was at record levels throughout the land. Not as volatile as other forms of energy, this one however is responsible for roughly 92 percent of our economy, and therefore happiness. It’s kind of hard to explain but if you can picture a dog chasing its wagging tail, then well, you got ‘er dialed in pretty close.

Whole families got together in most cases for the first time in years and traveled hither and yon to do so. Some for nostalgia’s sake, some to improve their inheritance and others simply because it was cheaper than going off to Orlando on a third mortgage.

And everyone brought along their ‘stuff.’ And this stuff required power, lots of ports and even more of patience, each of which are in unusually short supply on road trips.

Moms and dads had their pads capable of talkin’, textin’, tweetin’ or streaming and receiving video to or from any point on the globe with brilliant efficiency. The kids each had their own means of communication, mostly last year’s offerings or hand-me-downs plus game machines and whatever else I haven’t yet heard of.

Undaunted by the inconvenience of

travel, it only fed their sense of coming attractions. Adrenalin builds when we’re in groups. It’s our nature. With little else to do in confined spaces surrounded by family, our thoughts typically turn to personal gain and social status. Most of them spent wondering if parents were too thick to understand the hints given them in preparation for this auspicious and globally important event. Anticipation so thick this time of year, you can only cut it with a sharp credit card. Mainly they’re looking for certain items that will improve their social demeanor and have clearly hinted at a sad and dysfunctional death if they don’t find in their stockings what is desperately needed to fulfill this task.

Maybe you can’t put a price tag on happiness but you can sure put one on stupidity.

It used to be simple enough to host such a gathering. ‘Antique’ toys and board games were brought out to occupy the children who were told they were bringing it all full circle by playing games their parents grew up with. Anymore, this would cause widespread nausea for it seems everything pales in comparison to a Facebook page.

What a modern host needs today are plenty of designated outlets for charging and powering devices plus free wi-fi for all.

So just as they settled in for a long winter’s nap they plugged in all the stuff they held dear in their laps, re-friended

their friends and uploaded the latest trends concerning all the stuff they hoped were so nicely in wraps. (Sorry, this isn’t a poem; however…)

When it gets light enough out to warrant blowing ‘reveille’, they start to get the first wafting of gramma’s sticky-buns and fresh hot coffee rolling through their sinuses.

Quite suddenly there’s a lineup outside the bathroom and it’s already decorated with three Facebook pages, a couple of e-mail accounts, some online banking and a dancing four-year-old checking for tweets. Such is the age we live in.

Grampa plugs in the tree he has so painstakingly strung with all the old lights he’s been using since he got married. Woefully, it happens to be on the same circuit as a dozen or so pieces of highly prized electronic gear in various stages of updating, downloading and charging. Applause, oohs and ahs ensue and after a ten amp breaker pops and darkness overtakes the congregation, this response is replaced with moans, groans and foul utterances. Several farts echo the room, releasing more moans, groans and foul utterances but only one apology.

Gramma is standing next to the tree holding an empty plate of pastry in one hand and checking her facebook page for an update from her sister in the other. She doesn’t even notice the darkness surrounding her little get-together. She


Twitterpated

� | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 1| January 2012

has her ‘share with everyone’ flag flying as well as ‘be my guest’ and with clear mind, punches the ‘live video link’ equipped with auto night vision button, sharing with the world the next ten minutes of a ‘Norman Rockwell moment for the twenty-first century’.

In this snap shot of modern Americana, we see an older cast member (retired English teacher) focusing on a tiny touch screen slowly lowering himself down on a nice hot, steamy cup of cappuccino until the heat within locates his dangling participles. This provokes a string of statements and salutations so profound that some of the younger audience lose their water whether they were payin’ attention on not. At this moment, grampa resets the tripped breaker while munching on a sticky-bun and checking his voice mail. The tree comes back to life as if in response to the cappuccino induced blathering still going strong, but a short circuit under a wet four-year-old causes another blackout, more

moans and groans, two cases of hiccups and a small but intense fire under a startled kid glued to his facebook account and tweeting excitedly about the experience.

Alone in the basement and open to suggestions, gramps gets his technologies confused and decides to reboot the electrical system by tripping the main breaker disconnect, killing power to the whole performance. Licking his lips and parts of his i-unit of brown sugar and maple flavenoids, and with the same conviction he uses with all things electrified, scratches his pate, steps back and by the light of a dying flashlight, ignites his tabby by stepping on its long hairy fuse.

When the crowd upstairs heard the siren wailing they made like sheep and got the flock outdoors where they tweeted excitedly about their impending rescue until no one showed up, illustrating the obvious… a family that tweets together simply bleats in the weather.

Happy New Year!Scott [email protected]

Twitterpated - Continued from previous pageKPN

D

Ski & Board Parties2011-2012

Ski & Board Parties2011-2012Nov 30 The Loading Dock

202 1/2 First , Sandpoint, ID (208) 265-8080

Dec 14 Capone’s Pub & Grill 4th Street, Coeur d’Alene, ID (208) 667-4843

Dec 21 Rendezvous 216 E. Coeur D’Alene Ave. , Coeur d’Alene, ID (208) 667-3132

Dec 28 Connie’s Cafe 323 Cedar , Sandpoint, ID (208) 255-2227

Jan 11 The Foggy Bottom Lounge Mt Spokane, Spokane, WA (509) 238-2220

Jan 25 219 Lounge 219 First Ave, Sandpoint, ID (208) 263-5673

Feb 1 La Rosa Club 105 S. First Avenue, Sandpoint, ID (208) 263-0211

Feb 8 Tap’s Schweitzer Mountain, Sandpoint, ID (208) 263-9555

Feb 15 The Foggy Bottom Lounge Mt Spokane, Spokane, WA (509) 238-2220

Feb 22 Trinity at the City Beach 58 Bridge Street, Sandpoint, ID (208) 255-7558

Feb 29 Capone’s Pub & Grill 315 N Ross Point Rd, Post Falls, ID (208) 457-8020

Mar 3 Boomtown Bar 49 Degrees North, Chewelah, WA (509) 935-6649

Mar 14 Jalapeños 314 North 2nd Ave, Sandpoint, ID (208) 263-2995 MOUNTAIN GEAR

Your Adventure Starts Here

New Year’s Day: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can

begin paving hell with them as usual. -Mark Twain

� | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 1| January 2012 January 2012| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 21 No. 1| Page 29

The Redband Rainbows are nestling under seven inches of ice up in Killbranen Lake north of Troy, Montana. Not being someone who wants to dig holes in a lake with a wrecking bar and too cheap to buy an ice auger, Dave Lisaius—the world-renowned outdoorsman and fishing expert—and I decided it was time to go Steelheadin.

From all reports from Fish and Game these fish were being caught by the thousands on the Snake, Clearwater and the Grande Ronde Rivers. We immediately called our world-famous guide and river hierarchy Tim Johnson. Tim is the oldest man on the river, and without a doubt the most experienced. His favorite saying when you come aboard one of his fishing scows is, “Don’t touch the drag on my reels, they’re set just the way I want them. When a fish hits and starts to run, the drag will slow him down and you can reel him in after a good fight, If, however, you tighten the drag he will break off and I loose a nice fish for the fish count on the boat, at which point I throw your ass off the boat.”

Tim doesn’t have many rules on fishing from his boat but tightening the drag on his reels is one of them. Just ask Dave, who was picked up by a passing fisherman while he was floating down the river on our first excursion with Tim, years ago.

When we got Tim on the phone he said he was booked up for the next two weeks and didn’t have room for two freeloaders

to tag along. However, Tim said they were catching fish from the bank on a regular basis just up the Grande Ronde, where it runs into the Snake River.

The Fish and Game report indicated the steelhead and salmon were returning to these rivers in droves; you could literally walk across the rivers on the backs of Steelhead. “They don’t even rewrite this stuff,” Tim said. “Each year they just reprint what they wrote back in ‘59.” These reports are published and paid for by the local chamber of commerce to help keep the girls off the streets and in the motels and hotels where it’s warmer this time of year. They’re called ‘catch and release girls’ as they may hookup with several fishermen on any given night.

Dave and I decided to forego the use of a motel because the Grande Ronde was so far up the Snake from Lewiston. We decided to take my motorhome and park it at the confluence of the two rivers so we could get an early start.

With the smell of bacon frying and me pulling on my rod handle, I heard Dave holler, “Turn that thing loose and get up, breakfast is ready and it’s time to fish!”

When we stepped outside the fog was so thick you could cut it with a knife; we could hardly see the rivers edge. We rigged our rods with egg sacks and bobbers just like the instructions showed and cast out into the fog. We listened for the “ka-plunk” as our bait hit the water and, our

lines tight with the rushing flow of the Grande Ronde, we waited.

Now, all fisherman know the anticipation that comes with the first cast, the tension mounts and you expect a strike at any moment. Of course, the longer you wait, the tension starts to subside until you’re just standing there looking dumb with a stick in your hand.

We were still in the tension mode when the first strike came. We didn’t know how far down river the bobber had drifted because of the fog. Suddenly, Dave’s rod went down and tightened up. Dave set the hook and the rod bent almost double as Dave ran back up the bank. “It’s a big one!” Dave shouted as his rod began to shake. “Iyyyeee!” came the screams from the fish.

“I don’t think fish scream like that,” I said as Dave hung on to his rod that was now jumping up and down. Suddenly, from out of the fog came a silhouette of a man jumping up and down and hanging on to his crotch with both hands, followed by another man waving his arms and shouting, “Stop reeling! Stop reeling!,” as Dave had been running backwards and reeling as fast as he could. The first man was hanging on to two egg sacks, one of which was his.

These men had been standing out in the river wearing chest waders when our bait drifted by and hung up and wrapped around the first mans waist and the egg sack drifted between his legs when Dave set the hook as hard as he could. It was hard to cut the hooks off with the man jumping up and down and shouting profanity at Dave as loud as he could. His partner helped him back to their truck and off to the Lewiston hospital.

Dave stood there hanging on to what was left of his tackle and looking down, he said, “Well, I still have my egg sack.”

I looked over at Dave and w a r n e d him, “I don’t think that’s your egg sack. That one’s got hair on it!”

Boots

Dave’s Interesting Catch

From the Mouth of the River BOOTS REYN-

DOWNTOWN SANDPOINT 301 N. First

208.263.3622

DOWNTOWN COEUR D’ALENE210 Sherman

208.765.4349

WALK INTO WINTER

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the river journal, jan. 2012

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