Columns
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This plan is IDeal for college
It may be counterintuitive to discuss family financial information publicly, but I'd like to tell you about our teenager's 529 plan. Named for a section in the Internal Revenue Code, the college savings vehicle is …
Fallen firefighter worthy of tribute
On Aug. 12, Anne Veseth was killed while fighting the Steep Corner fire, when a snag 200 feet up the mountain in front of her fell onto another tree, which fell on her, according to the Missoulian. Anne, a second-y…
Who says the USA is a Christian nation?
Over the past several weeks a number of rather passionate individuals have written letters in response to the publishing of the "Atheist Billboards." The most recent of these was written by Mary Budd and appeared i…
'I believe in God!'
I have been watching the dialog and comments about God, atheism, reason, science, design, et al. Frankly I am surprised by many of the comments. I have been watching the online chart showing the "voting" over wheth…
Idaho Spud Truck to roll into town
My baby sister Ronna Park has lived in southeast Idaho since college, in the heart of the potato producing part of our state. In fact, Blackfoot, where she resides, has the Idaho Potato Museum complete with a large…
Walk to benefit Alzheimer's
It's like they say; all poodles may be dogs, but all dogs are not poodles. Put simply, dementia is a loss of brain function during aging, with many forms and degrees. It is not synonymous with Alzheimer's disease.
The 'Dust Bowl' years of the 1930s featured prolonged droughts and wide temperature 'extremes' in North Idaho
Many subscribers have asked me what type of weather conditions prevailed in North Idaho during the infamous 'Dust Bowl Days' in the nation's heartland during the 1930s.
County fires back in land use debate
Kootenai County's ordinance consultant, Kendig Keast Collaborative, will be giving a presentation on the Procedures and Processes proposed in the new Unified Land Use Code (ULUC). The idea of this workshop is to pr…
A National Treasure resides among us
Readers, you have a man living among you who, I believe, deserves the title of a National Treasure. He is now 93 years young, still drives (safely), exercises by using his basement stairs for what I used to endure …
The most important item for students
As students head back to school this September, I encourage parents to visit their library and make sure their children and teens sign up for the most important school supply of all - a library card.
The conversion of a climate-change skeptic
Call me a converted skeptic. Three years ago I identified problems in previous climate studies that, in my mind, threw doubt on the very existence of global warming. Last year, following an intensive research effor…
Mrs. Language: It's an exception
It's the most difficult thing about English, the annoying exceptions to nearly every rule. In the first installment of "Mrs. Language," a serious version of Miami Herald columnist Dave Barry's satirical "Mr. Langua…
Big horses, big heart for the fair
At 88 years young, Coeur d'Alene's Sy Thompson hasn't missed a North Idaho Fair for more than four decades, unless you count the year he was laid up with an injury one could expect if you spent as much time around …
Time to replace some spokes
On this November's ballot you will be offered the chance to vote for an alternative form of government. The current commissioners recently approved a resolution that will allow you, the voting public in Kootenai Co…
Mental illness deserves compassion
As I write this Monday, it is exactly one week after our son committed suicide. I hope readers will forgive me for writing about it; I tried other subjects, but writing is of a personal nature and this dominates ou…