Category: Opinion

Opinion

The morning after the election

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

The morning after the election, I took a walk. The dark computer screen across the room beckoned me to waggle the mouse and wake it …

My mom is kind of a big deal

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

There’s not enough room on this page — maybe even in this paper — to adequately praise or even describe my mom. She’s kind of …

TV moms got nothing on the real thing

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

A significant portion of my formative years were spent watching television families. As a child whose parents both worked full time to ensure my two …

Passenger seat past

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey
Reader Staff

It is a spring evening, nearing sunset, after a warm day. The smell of sun-baked lakebed and blooming skunk cabbage fills the car, carried by …

The small, good things

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

Every job has its stresses, no matter if you’re the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or the dishwasher in a small-town diner. 

Journalism is …

Setting the record straight on wolves

By Don Gay
Reader Contributor

In my opinion, the Reader opinion article on wolf trapping [“Trapping is a legal, useful tool to manage wolf populations,” March 31, 2022, by Eric …

Hot take on Earth Day

By Kelsey Maxwell
Reader Contributor

My childhood “wild place” was nowhere near extraordinary by an outdoor enthusiasts’ standard. It was a truly tiny strip of forest between my best friend’s …

Farewell Mr. Marker

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

It’s common for people to point to “that one teacher” who made a big impact on them when they were young. I’ve been lucky to …

Letters

  • Honor, duty, country… Dear Editor, Honor – Duty – Country, these are words were the foundation of John McCain’s life. Where can these three words find a place in the today’s America? Certainly they will not be among the leadership of the Senate, the House of Representatives or the White House. Nor will they ...
  • BCHRTF Contact Info… Dear Editor, The Bonner County Human Rights Task Force is quite dismayed that recently an attempt to contact us was not successful. We are taking all precautions so this does not happen in the future. We recognize the importance of being responsive to our community and will make every effort to ...
  • Who’s the Real Boogeyman… Dear Editor, The FBI has said that there is no evidence to date that Trump ever met with a Russian figure banned from the United States.  Yet, Trump fired Paul Manafort on Aug. 18, 2016, when he heard that a New York Times report revealed that Trump’s campaign chairman was designated to ...
  • County Should Cooperate… Dear Editor, Regional 9-1-1 will save money and lives by supporting fast, cooperative emergency responses. Contrary to some comments, conversations on regionalizing 9-1-1 operations were initiated more than two years ago in Bonner County. Unfortunately, progress stalled. According to former Bonner County Technology Director Bill Harp, in 2016 Bonner County won a ...
  • In Response… Dear Editor, David Haussler, since you are so interested in science, you may find it interesting that there are receptors in the human brain whose only purpose is to bind with THC, the psychoactive mind altering substance in marijuana. I have a question for you David: Why did your God put these ...
Close [x]

Want to support independent local journalism?

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.