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

  • An appeal to reason… Dear Editor, We here in Idaho are at great risk of being victims of gun violence.  We are not protected by state laws, which could limit the purchase of assault-type weapons, nor are we protected by thorough background checks of any person wanting to buy a gun. Anyone who is afraid, angry, ...
  • Creative immigration policy… Dear Editor, I believe in very strict immigration policies. I think that all people on the North American continent who are decedents of immigrants that arrived here in the last 350 years should be sent back from whence their ancestors came. We were not invited to visit or move here from the countries ...
  • Refugee situation… Dear Editor, This letter is regarding your stand on the refugee situation. First of all, I found it very interesting that you printed only one letter opposed to letting them into our country. The letter from Rachel Castor, regarding white American Christian males, I would like to know where she got her ...
  • Dan McDonald’s commentary… Dear Editor, Dan MacDonald’s commentary in the December 10th Reader asserts that the Pakistani woman involved in the San Bernardino mass shooting had been vetted by the State Department. So although the refugee screening process is rigorous and comprehensive, maybe it’s not airtight. Clearly, the only solution is to ban them ...
  • The Problem with US… Dear Editor, The wealthy elite, especially in the southern United States, recognized during the late 18th Century in America that they were outnumbered by enslaved people at a ratio of about 9:1. There was also an additional populace of white indentured servants and natives that were abused or not paid as ...
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