BILE and FLUB awards: And the winners are...

Consistency is key to a well-behaved child

Consequences! "If my kid gives you trouble, you have my permission to beat him." "The problem with kids today is parents aren't strict enough." "When they took away spanking from parents and principals, kids learne…

A primer on Jesuits, other Catholic Orders

Sometimes it's easy to forget that although the vast majority of Americans identify as Christian, this does not necessarily mean each American is familiar with characteristics of all or even most denominations. As …

Much of the pollution we see is 'natural' in origin

One of my clients from the Midwest asked me this week how 'natural' pollution affects the climate, particularly in regards to global warming.

Ways to solve a museum challenge

On April 6, we discovered there is an urgent need for the Lake City Development Co. and the city of Coeur d'Alene to terminate the decades-long lease that the Museum of North Idaho, Inc. has for its storage buildin…

SB1067 - Pro and Con

• Idaho kids deserve access to child support — Rep. John McCrostie

Child support: Why I care

There's a garbage dump alongside Highway 95 near Sandpoint that my family calls the "Dufort Mall." It's a "ha ha" sort of funny now, but I will never forget watching my mom - partly out of thrift and partly out of …

Grandstanding at expense of Idaho's most vulnerable

An unfortunate split decision by the Judiciary and Rules Committee in the House of Representatives will hurt the most vulnerable in Idaho. Nine members of that committee voted against eight others, including myself…

Digging graves with knives and forks

Food has become the new cigarettes of our time, and sooner or later politicos are going to have to figure out what to do about it.

Sex trafficking: It's an American problem

A much-loved, 13-year-old girl in the Midwest was standing in the driveway outside her middle-class home, waiting for a friend to come by so they could hang out. A car drove up; when she tentatively approached to b…

Let's all proclaim Equal Pay Day

When Doris and Don Fisher opened their small retail store in 1969, they each put up $21,000 in savings and, without even discussing it, paid each other the same salary. That's how equal partnerships work.

Young newspaper reader off to great start

Frederick Post kindergartner Chloe Hudson turned 6 on Monday but missed making the Main Street birthday list in last week's newspaper.

Roasted duck for dinner

I love chowder and often challenge myself to recreate the classic comfort-dish into something transcendent. While creating the menu for the North Idaho Wild Game Feast, I take this challenge to its limit. Instead o…

Sharia, Islam far from uniform

Fear is never the right reason to make law, or in this case, to unmake it. Yet fear - decidedly unfounded according to agency staff and legal experts including Idaho's Attorney General and lawyer-legislator Rep. Lu…

California drought has no end in sight

While water-starved residents of California did certainly appreciate this past week's early April rains, I'm afraid that it was the case of "far too little" moisture, "far too late" in the rainy season to alleviate…