Category: Opinion

Opinion

A North Idaho pandemic: Then & Now

By Lyndsie Kiebert
Reader Staff

For everyone alive in North Idaho today, the novel coronavirus outbreak is uncharted territory.

Across the world, leadership is suspending gatherings, closing schools and encouraging …

A few thoughts…

By Sandy Compton
Reader Columnist

Darn! It’s already March. November is coming up fast, and I declared my 2020 candidacy for president back when the Trump got elected, but then …

Taking a shot — Part 1

By Marjolein Groot Nibbelink
Reader Contributor

More than 97 guns are owned per 100 people in the United States. Serbia is second, with 58 per 100, and Yemen third with …

Happy [bleep] year

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

I received a breaking news alert on my phone on Feb. 2, 2020, announcing the fact that the day’s palindromic date (02/02/2020) is the only …

I want my America back

By James Richard Johnson
Special to the Reader

I want my America back! I grew up in the Midwest in the 1950s and want back the America that stood for …

Love is a Dog From Hell

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

The headline of this article comes from a book by poet and author Charles Bukowski, who lived a bitter, drunken existence periodically punctuated by moments …

Letters

  • SASi needs your help… Dear Editor, Thank you for your weekly publication. I so enjoy all the articles, photos, etc. I would like you to publish this letter asking for funds for the Senior Center. The Center is a 501(c) non-profit corporation and if anyone has not already tapped out on their contributions for the year, ...
  • An Appeal to Reason Redux… Dear Editor, Most proposed gun control laws would not address the concerns in the Deutchmans’ letter of last week. State and federal background checks of firearms purchasers are done by liscensed gun dealers, but we should require checks of private purchasers, and better address the missing mental/criminal records not currently available ...
  • Sandpoint should accept all colors, creeds, origin… Dear Editor, I’m new to Sandpoint. I moved here a little more than a year ago on a piece of advice from someone I barely knew at the time. Unlike many people who I have met here, I do not have a lifetime of history and experience in this place. Like ...
  • County land use woes… Dear Editor, I have been reading with concern the stories of firings and demotions in the county planning department, changes to the planning and zoning appeals process, and the growing loopholes for building location permits. Coming on the heels of a conversation with Commissioner Sudick regarding his disdain for the current codes, ...
  • The refugees are coming… Dear Editor, It doesn’t take much to bring the Chicken Littles outta the woodwork. Instead of screaming “the sky is falling”, these wussies are now screaming “the refugees are coming, the refugees are coming”. From our County Commissioners and Heather Scott to the Boise crowd, the political arena in Idaho is ...
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.