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

  • Need More Like Her… Dear Editor, In “The Folly of it All” Ms. Wheeler refers to an Angel Over Sandpoint as saying “She would dance naked in the streets if it would feed the poor.” I say, “We have our own Lady Godiva. And thank God for people like her, because she works hard to feed ...
  • Concerns Involving Natural Resources Plan Hearing&… Dear Editor, On Jan. 18 I attended the Bonner County Commissioner’s public hearing regarding the proposed Bonner County Natural Resource Plan. I have concerns with the manner in which the public hearing was conducted. At the beginning of the hearing the commissioners stated any letters mailed to the board that in their opinion ...
  • Dear Neighbor… Dear neighbor Dan Rose, Imagine my surprise when after taking you on two weeklong river trips and having you over to share a meal at my home you choose to slander me in a public forum over comments that were not addressed to you. In all the time I’ve known you since ...
  • Re: Skiers Cutting in Line… Dear Editor, Regarding the “Barb” about skiers cutting lines: The Lakeview Triple needs a singles line and a design that traffics skiers in a safe manner! I have gone to the front of the line and called out “single.” The Triple is a singles line when it is busy, or at least it ...
  • Proposed Changes to Bonner Co. Planning and Zoning… Dear Editor, Do you want an industrial plant near your rural home? No? Then read this: Bonner County zoning codes are currently up for changes without the usual opportunities for citizen input. Under currently proposed revisions, industrial plants would be permitted in many county zones, potentially including yours. Protection of private property ...
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.