ADVERTISING: Advertorial — GEORGE BALLING: Bonny Doon Access

A couple of years ago one of our great local distributors happened into the shop. In the sample bag were a few bottles from the Bonny Doon Winery, located in Santa Cruz. We have known the wines from Bonny Doon for many years, having enjoyed them on many occasions long before we opened the Dinner Party. The founder and winemaker at Bonny Doon, Randall Grahm, is a legend in California winemaking and has been honored with numerous awards in the culinary arts and for his winemaking, including the Wine and Spirits Professional of the Year from the James Beard Foundation in 1994. He has been making the wines at Bonny Doon for nearly 40 years.

Take a moment (or more) to pay tribute

The barbecues might be blazin’ this three-day holiday weekend while campers stretch their legs in the hills. Memorial Day Weekend is the traditional shotgun start to summer — but it commemorates a very somber reality.

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Genevieve ‘Gen’ Twete, 95

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Dwain Delano Valez, 83

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Tracy Roy Copeland

Robert 'Bob/Bubba' Cunningham Myles III, 65

Robert "Bob/Bubba" Cunningham Myles III, passed away quietly at home in Rathdrum, Idaho, on Monday, Nov. 16, 2020, with his longtime partner Lynne Stilkey, his cat, Sniper and dog Sam at his side.

Charles Michael Rogers, 84

ARE NOT THE MOUNTAINS, STREAMS AND TREES AS MUCH A PART OF ME AND MY SOUL AS I OF THEM...

Celebration to mark 90th birthday of Dr. Bird

Famous innovators will attend function on July 9

SAGLE - Few enough can claim to have reached their 90th birthday party, and in the case of Forrest Bird, even fewer have celebrated it with such prestigious guests.

Price gouging? Better believe it

Reports of price gouging have increased 279% since January, according to the latest statistics from the International Association of Better Business Bureaus.

Are we done with the June gloom?

My Garden Path

Here we are, in late June and STILL waiting for our first 80-degree day. Normally, the first one is June 13 or earlier. Of course, I said that word "normally." So far this year, nothing much has been normal. As I write this, there IS a slight possibility we could see one the 21st, which would be a great way to herald the official first day of summer.

Mother Nature's pruning?

My Garden Path

Area trees by the hundreds, maybe thousands, got an unexpected “trimming” a few months back. In November, our area was hit by an unusually strong windstorm which either broke tops off or completely toppled huge trees. Most of those affected were Ponderosa pines. These have shallow, “pancake” shaped root systems which make them easily toppled by strong winds when the ground is saturated.

Time to enjoy those houseplants

I hate to say it, but Old Man Winter is on its way. The local “snowbirds” will soon be heading south. The rest of us … otherwise known as the “tough old birds” will be doing all manner of prepping for the frigid days and nights.

Time to put the garden to bed

I’m looking at my calendar, but still find it hard to believe that we’ve come to the beginning of October. How can that be? Wasn’t it July just the other day? Guess we need to “bite the bullet” and put the garden to bed.

Shooting star gets perfect score

Coeur d’Alene Skeet and Trap club member, Joe Pestarino, 18, shot his first 100 birds straight at a skeet tournament in Washington over the weekend.

Rain spurs West Nile concerns

Idaho led nation in cases in '06 after wet spring

The rain could come back to bite us.

The supply side of the wine glut

The current state of the economy and more specifically the "wineconomy" has resulted in many bargains to be had in wine as we have talked about before. The supply side of this wine glut though, is yet another silver lining to the dark economic clouds that overhang the wine world.

Coronavirus hits Idaho, shoppers hit the stores

Amy Villacorta had four large packets of green and white napkins sitting in her grocery cart.

Coronavirus pandemic empties shelves at local grocery stores

IDAHO FALLS — Amy Villacorta had four large packets of green and white napkins sitting in her grocery cart.

'It's Black Friday for grocery stores': Shoppers hit the stores in Eastern Idaho

Amy Villacorta had four large packets of green and white napkins sitting in her grocery cart.

The tales behind the whiskers

Kootenai Humane Society's main fundraiser is Thursday