Free Republic

Who’s the coolest in Idaho? That’d be the county seat — aka Sandpoint. The city was recently recognized as the “coolest small city” in Idaho by Fifty Grande magazine, a leading magazine for U.S. travel. “Apologies to all the longtime Sandpointers who’ve seen their onetime hidden gem exposed to throngs of transplants over the past few years — that’s what you get when your little town on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille provides so much in such a small area,” said the article, which was published last month. Fifty Grande listed Schweitzer as one of Sandpoint’s biggest draws for...

The opening gambit for refugee resettlement in Bonner County was met with strong opposition in Sandpoint Wednesday evening. Attendees from all parts of Northern Idaho quickly filled the 150 seat capacity of Community Hall while 50 or more remained on the front lawn and sidewalk waving signs opposing the proposal. The meeting, which was scheduled opposite the final chance for citizen input at the Sandpoint City Annual Budget meeting, may not have gone as planned by organizers from The Sandpoint Human Rights Task Force. Expecting a capacity crowd, the fire department was there to keep a head count as people...

An expensive solar road project in Idaho can’t even power a microwave most days, according to the project’s energy data. The Solar FREAKIN’ Roadways project generated an average of 0.62 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity per day since it began publicly posting power data in late March. To put that in perspective, the average microwave or blow drier consumes about 1 kWh per day. On March 29th, the solar road panels generated 0.26 kWh, or less electricity than a single plasma television consumes. On March 31st, the panels generated 1.06 kWh, enough to barely power a single microwave. The panels...

In TAE’s September/October 1999 issue, Ben Stein contributed his thoughts on fatherhood. Enjoy his insights as we approach Father’s Day this weekend. It is not easy to be a father in Los Angeles, and especially in Hollywood. There are no places to ride a bike, partly because it’s so hilly, partly because the traffic is so dense, partly because even on the boardwalk by the beach—which is cement—there are panhandlers, gangs, and skate-by shootings. The few public places that are safe and not disgusting are usually shopping centers, filled with things that compel Tommy to nag me to buy him...

The Spokesman Review ran an article about JoAnn McGuckin. Quote from the article "In late summer, the state will decide whether to return the children to McGuckin's custody and under what conditions. Most likely, she will be under state supervision for the next two years..."