Telling the story of the Gardenia Center
By Mark Reiner
Reader Contributor
Many people, especially newcomers, have no idea what the Gardenia Center is and what it does. Recently, a nice lady thought it was a garden …
By Mark Reiner
Reader Contributor
Many people, especially newcomers, have no idea what the Gardenia Center is and what it does. Recently, a nice lady thought it was a garden …
By Emily Erickson
Reader Columnist
I was at mile 17 of my 26-mile mountain marathon when the straps on the backpack started to feel like they were chafing. By the …
By Sandy Compton
Reader Columnist
It’s the summer solstice and I’m walking through my lower briar patch. If you know me, you may know what I mean. If you don’t, …
By Luke Omodt, Bonner County Commissioner Dist. 3
Reader Contributor
Money doesn’t grow on trees or empty fields. There are two ways local governments generate revenue: taxes or fees for …
By Jerry Pavia and Brad Smith
Reader Contributors
The conservation community in North Idaho recently lost a dear friend and advocate. Will Venard was a member of the Idaho Conservation …
By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff
As Reader Publisher Ben Olson pointed out in his “Dear Readers” column last week, I celebrated something of a milestone on June 14: My 1,000th …
By Ranel Hanson
Reader Columnist
“June is bustin’ out all over!”
— Carousel, by Rodgers and Hammerstein
This is the month gardeners wait for all year. Seeds are planted and …
By Commissioner Luke Omodt, Dist. 3
Reader Contributor
The first Bonner County Fair was held in 1927 at the original fairgrounds at War Memorial Park. Twenty communities were represented, and …
By Emily Erickson
Reader Columnist
I started writing this column in 2017, after moving to Sandpoint during a period of great personal transition. Months before, I left my job, my …
By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey
Reader Staff
I learned the art of the road trip early in life, thanks to my parents’ affinity for car travel.
I can’t actually say that either …
The Sandpoint Reader is our town's local, independent weekly newspaper. "Independent" means that the Reader is locally owned, in a partnership between Publisher Ben Olson and Keokee Co. Publishing, the media company owned by Chris Bessler that also publishes Sandpoint Magazine and Sandpoint Online. Sandpoint Reader LLC is a completely independent business unit; no big newspaper group or corporate conglomerate or billionaire owner dictates our editorial policy. And we want the news, opinion and lifestyle stories we report to be freely available to all interested readers - so unlike many other newspapers and media websites, we have NO PAYWALL on our website. The Reader relies wholly on the support of our valued advertisers, as well as readers who voluntarily contribute. Want to ensure that local, independent journalism survives in our town? You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.