Reader Quick Hits: June 1, 2020

  • Local coronavirus update: There has been some confusion about exactly how many COVID-19 cases have now been confirmed in Bonner County. The Panhandle Health District announced two new cases on Friday, May 29, but later removed one case from its website, bringing the total back down to five cases. PHD Public Information Officer Katherine Hoyer told the Reader on June 1: “The two cases that we announced on Friday were originally reported as Bonner County cases. Over the weekend, we were able to do more research and found that one of the individuals actually primarily resides in Kootenai County. That is why the Bonner County numbers went from 6 to 5.” Find updated numbers on the PHD site.

    COVID-19 case counts per county as of 4 p.m. Monday. Screenshot from PHD website.

  • A protest in downtown Spokane last night in response to the killing of Minneapolis man George Floyd began peacefully, but eventually escalated to violence and looting. Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward enacted a curfew in downtown Spokane until 5 a.m. Monday morning in response to the event. The Inlander reports that the Spokane County commissioners and the sheriff have contacted the Governor Jay Inslee’s office requesting National Guard assistance. It remains to be seen whether a similar protest will happen in North Idaho.
  • Silverwood Theme Park opened Saturday, May 30, before most parks of its size across the nation. The park limited ticket sales in an effort to promote social distancing, and emphasized sanitation of attractions between groups of riders. The Spokesman-Review reports: “While cast and crew wore masks and had them available for guests, all but a handful of visitors streamed through mask-free.” Read full coverage here.
  • Tomorrow, June 2, is — for all intents and purposes — Election Day. Those with absentee ballots need to fill out, sign and deliver them directly to their local elections office, since ballots dropped in the mail at this point won’t make it in time. Bonner County voters have until 8 p.m. local time tomorrow to drop their ballot off at the county elections office, located at 1500 Highway 2 in Sandpoint (inside the Bonner County Administration Building). Questions? Call the elections office at 208-263-9178.

While we have you ...

... if you appreciate that access to the news, opinion, humor, entertainment and cultural reporting in the Sandpoint Reader is freely available in our print newspaper as well as here on our website, we have a favor to ask. The Reader is locally owned and free of the large corporate, big-money influence that affects so much of the media today. We're supported entirely by our valued advertisers and readers. We're committed to continued free access to our paper and our website here with NO PAYWALL - period. But of course, it does cost money to produce the Reader. If you're a reader who appreciates the value of an independent, local news source, we hope you'll consider a voluntary contribution. You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.

You can contribute at either Paypal or Patreon.

Contribute at Patreon Contribute at Paypal

You may also like...

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.