Category: Opinion

Opinion

How real estate shapes a community

By Raphael Barta
Reader Contributor

In a prior existence, I lived in Vancouver,  British Columbia, where I was a vice president for the ski resort development company Intrawest. At the …

Our turn: Together we can do better

By Mark Sauter
Reader Contributor

Last month the Bonner County Fire Chiefs Association (BCFCA) held three public forums. The BCFCA pointed out, in multiple, evidence-based ways, how Emergency Medical Services …

Engage Sandpoint: A missed opportunity

By David Phillips
Reader Contributor

Projects fail for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes the expectations are set too high; sometimes the allocated time or resources are insufficient; sometimes the tools …

City waterfront giveaway

By Kody Van Dyk
Special to the Reader

The city of Sandpoint draft Parks Master Plan identifies disposing of city-owned green space located east of the Edgewater Best Western Hotel. …

The Baloney Detective

By Tim Bearly
Reader Contributor

Images of an Orwellian dystopia are often evoked when we hear the term “big government.” The mere uttering of the phrase can function as a …

Touched by the change

By Robin Lantrip
Reader Contributor

It started with a brisk chill in the morning air. The meadow began dressing in longer birch and fir shadows. The evening scent held a …

Working toward civil discourse

By Brenda Hammond
Reader Contributor

The Bonner County Human Rights Task Force recently sent a questionnaire to all the candidates for city office, asking their positions on a number of …

Letters

  • Twisted Facts… Dear Editor, Mr. Rose gets many facts twisted and appears to need some education. The federal government can not seize lands they already have. The Scotchman Peaks are owned by the public and managed by the federal government through the United States Forest Service. Whether the Scotchman Peaks end up being ...
  • For the Kids… Dear Editor, We now have a generation of children born after Columbine and 9/11 who have always lived in an ever more dangerous world. This is in stark contrast to nearly everyone over about 30 years old who never even considered school terrorism or shootings. While many of us feel “it ...
  • Fix the ‘Gun Show Loophole’…? Dear Editor, You want to fix the “gun-show loophole” on firearm purchases? There isn’t one, really (know what you are talking about, see above). It is a private party transfer loophole. I’m cool with that fix, but you had better improve the restricted buyer database. Not all law enforcement (local, state, ...
  • Yes to Wilderness… Dear Editor, I am in favor of wilderness designation for the Scotchman Peaks area. Currently, this land is owned by the American public and managed by the Forest Service. If this becomes wilderness, it will still be owned by the American people and managed for us by the Forest Service. Currently, ...
  • Distorted Facts… Dear Editor, Steve Brixen, I agree with your analogy that guns (in your case, apparently, a rifle), in being like cars (in my case a pick-up truck), do not cause harm by themselves. Rare exceptions noted. So hopefully you’re in agreement that we should treat the two a little more alike. You ...
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