Raising the roof
By Ben Olson Reader Staff After 50 years at the same address, Panhandle Special Needs, Inc. is embarking on a capital campaign to open a modern campus across the street from its current location....
Category: Ben Olson
The Memory Maker
By Ben Olson Reader Contributor Of all the human emotions, grief is perhaps the most complicated — and the most universal. Most of us have lost someone we loved, and there’s not one single...
On a powder day…
By Ben Olson Reader Staff On a powder day, nothing else really matters. It’s midweek and there are about five inches of fresh snow on the ground. The sun pokes through the ethereal haze...
A dying cause
By Ben Olson Reader Staff If tourism is the lifeblood of a community like Sandpoint, philanthropy clubs are its heart and soul. Most of us don’t realize the importance of institutions like the Lions...
Panida moves forward on lobby renovation project
By Ben Olson Reader Staff The Panida Board voted on Feb. 6 to move forward with a renovation project that would bring changes to the lobby of the historic theater. “We’ve had three workshops...
Travis Robert Dickson, 45
Trav was born on May 21, 1979, in Santa Maria, Calif. He was happy-go-lucky; quick to smile; inquisitive; and lived his life with a focus on family, friends, and a commitment to good causes...
Dumb of the Week: Now with more racism!
By Ben Olson Reader Staff In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king, or so the old proverb goes. In the land of the Dumb, however, Donald Trump is king. Here...
‘Making a difference is my reason for being’
By Ben Olson Reader Staff Former Sandpoint mayor, pastor and elder advocate Paul Graves announced recently that he would be leaving Sandpoint. Those lucky enough to have known Graves are eager to point out...
Dumb of the week: Now with more fascism!
By Ben Olson Reader Staff In the War of the Dumb, there are some clear winners. Mississippi state Sen. Bradford Blackmon, a Democrat, earned a special mention this week. Blackmon introduced the “Contraception Begins...
‘The lessons that wilderness can teach us’
By Ben Olson Reader Staff Phil Hough can pinpoint exactly when he fell in love with the wilderness. He remembers paddling down the Allagash River in a canoe in the heart of the north...
