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

  • Sandpoint’s resolve… Dear Editor, Last Wednesday I asked the council to withdraw the Resolution Affirming the City of Sandpoint’s Commitment to Human Rights and Non-Discrimination. I had proposed the resolution because I felt it was important for the City to take a symbolic stance affirming our compassion for those fleeing extreme violence and ...
  • Disappointed… Dear Editor, I was dismayed to hear that Mayor Rognstad buckled under pressure and took his proposal to welcome the Syrian refugees off of the table. “Welcome Back to the White Homeland!” I hear the voices of the dissenters in my head: “We hate everyone who is not like us. If you look different, ...
  • How would you like the world to be? Dear Editor, I dreamed about us. All of us. Under the stars, silent, deeply troubled people sat around a small fire on a very long night. Then the fire became the burning heart of Earth and around it the firelit face of every human soul. The world’s pain upon us, the ...
  • The Harm in Fear… Dear Editor, Recently, concerned parents shut down a Virginia school when a teacher tried to introduce students to Islam. Similarly, Linda Dunn, in her editorial, does not want Islam “even talked about” in our schools. Muslims inhabit twenty-two percent of earth. If we let fear rule, and refuse to know and understand ...
  • Blanket Statement… Dear Editor, In response to a letter from last week, some Christians may wish to reconsider their blanket statements condemning “these people”, presumably Muslim refugees. Most U.S. terrorist attacks have been perpetrated by Christians: Wade Michael Page murdered six; Jim David Adkisson shot nine, killing two; Eric Rudolph used guns and ...
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