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

  • Reinvent the Fourth… Dear Editor, In response to the "Loud Tradition" letter written by Charlotte Wright: Thank you, Charlotte, for bringing attention to many important issues, especially those concerning our Native Americans who we should be thanking instead of neglecting. Do we have to continue to scare our animals into a panic or jeopardize our ...
  • Name-calling… In June 20th's Reader, Nick Geir stated on page 4: "A clueless Donald Trump tweeted, 'What sport is he talking about?'" then he stated, "he must have forgotten…" (about Muhammad Ali). Iíve studied verbal abuse extensively over the past few years. Name-calling (ìcluelessî) is obvious overt verbal abuse, but it is ...
  • County Meeting… Dear Editor, As you know, the Bonner County Commissioners have been making changes to land use codes at such a rapid rate it is difficult to keep up.  Regardless of how one feels about the changes, it is true that the process has not been transparent, inclusive or undergone a standard ...
  • Loud Tradition… Dear Editor, My new least favorite holiday is the Fourth of July. I am in the food service industry, so I didn't get the day off. I was sooooo tired, and ready for bed at 9 p.m., because 6:30 a.m. is when I needed to start my next day. As soon ...
  • Suburbanization… Dear Editor, What is the rush to suburbanize our rural county through a process that holds one public hearing at 2 p.m. on a weekday afternoon in the city of Sandpoint? The people of Bonner County need to think long and hard about hacking the land into ever-smaller pieces, a large percentage ...
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