The best food and wine pairing holiday

Thanksgiving is perhaps our favorite holiday all year, the family gatherings, the feast, the great fall weather, football all contribute to a great day with family and friends. The diversity of the meal and the length of celebration lend the extra bonus of ample food and wine pairings that enhance our day. From the night before to brunch on Thanksgiving morning, snacks before dinner and the main event itself there are wines to go with each meal and course, and with all the great reasonably priced wine on the market there is something for every taste and every budget.

Property values up, tax appeals down

Kootenai County property values and taxes continue to climb, yet the rate of property tax appeals is going down.

A great example of getaway exploring

We just returned from a weekend in Montana. We used Whitefish as our “base camp” for a great hike in Glacier National Park. This is one of our favorite annual fall “getaways.” The summer crowds have lessened and while you miss out on some of the park services which close around the end of September, it is a beautiful time of year in a spectacular place.

Star dimmed forever

Rathdrum's weekly newspaper ends; owner/editor retiring

RATHDRUM - Tom Burnett lived up to a dare to start a weekly newspaper in Rathdrum more than seven years ago.

OBAMA: Speech leaves us speechless

Did everyone get from Obama what I got during the State of the Union speech? I got that he wants us to abandon oil and coal and figure out how to make Green technology work despite the fact that people aren't buying hybrid cars, despite the fact that Green factories are closing all over the nation and people are losing their Green jobs, and despite the fact that coal and oil make the U.S. a lot of money and employ a lot of people.

D.C.: Spenders, take a long hike

Control and manipulation, and more out of control spending seem to be in our Republic’s future unless Americans wake up and smell the roses, and vote out the massive spenders in our very fragile government. Which, if it weren’t for money being printed with nothing backing it, the U.S. would maybe be broke. Too many easy entitlement programs giving away billions of taxpayer dollars buy votes for more spending and controls. Where will all this spending end, if ever, or until the U.S. goes broke? Both parties are guilty of overspending, over taxation, etc.

50 shades of green for abuse victims

Cornhole for CASA

North Idaho TitleOne hosts tournament fundraiser for community

The sixth annual North Idaho Cornhole Tournament will see sacks tossed to raise money for North Idaho CASA starting at 11 a.m. with the first toss at noon May 13 at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds.

Beware charity auction items with strings

People in our area are truly generous. A consumer called me with a sad story. It made me angry as I listened to him.

Not much change in the market

As we continue to watch market conditions we see little change in local real estate since we last reported. Agents continue to report steady activity and attribute it in part to the attractive mortgage interest rates. In fact, we have seen stability in interest rates over the last several weeks as they appear to have settled at just under 4 percent. A Friday visit to the Idaho Housing and Finance Association website (IHFA.org) shows the same 3.75 percent 30-year rate that it has for the previous two weeks.

Vintage still matters

The growing conditions in any given year can vary wildly by region and versus previous or subsequent years. We understand too though the argument of buying producer over vintage. There are some wineries and winemakers who figure out a way to make good wine no matter how challenging the conditions. Even for this top tier of producers though and more so for all the rest of the winemakers vintage matters, it is why wines taste different from every year. They may still all be good wines but they will be different, and therefore may not appeal to your palate in the same way.

The making of a destination

Owning a wine shop is great - we get exposed to new wines, get to meet winemakers all the time and learn much about the process and product they develop. We see the strategy behind their mostly artistic endeavors and when we travel to wine country it is like visiting old friends. One of the very minor downsides though is how we look at wine lists and menus at restaurants. For us there is more to it than simply perusing the list for our favorite varietal or producer it is a more scholastic and at times critical undertaking.

Idaho gas prices surge, but not in Cd'A

National average hits highest level in 10 months

gas prices climb

More recommendations

As promised, here are the rest of our recommendations for great wine to enjoy with the fall and winter holidays. While last week, we focused on those from the re-emerging markets of Eastern Europe, these come from a worldwide array of appellations. All have garnered attention from customers, so in addition to what we think of this selection, you, our readers, have liked them, as well.

Consumer inflation vanishes, a boon for borrowers

WASHINGTON - Inflation has essentially disappeared, and that gives the Federal Reserve more room to keep interest rates at record lows.

County buying Odd Fellows hall in Post Falls

Facility to be used as future DMV office; $12M set aside for jail expansion

POST FALLS — Scratch the major remodel of Kootenai County's existing Department of Motor Vehicles office in Post Falls.

Gift ideas for new homeowners

Common housewarming gifts for a new homeowner include wine, towels, wine, oven mitts, wine, decorative napkins, wine and cheese and more wine. Look, wine can be a nice, thoughtful gift, but not everyone drinks and for those who do, there is only so much space to store the stuff.

Rates to remain low

Yellen: U.S. economy still needs help from Fed

WASHINGTON - The U.S. economy still isn't healthy enough to grow at a consistently strong pace without the Federal Reserve's help.

As central banks intervene to calm markets, few see solution

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank moved Thursday to try to calm financial markets and restore some degree of confidence. It didn't quite work. The central banks are facing a crisis only partly responsive to the medicine they can provide.

Franchising Part II: Getting started

In this two-part series, last month’s issue explored the basics of franchising. Now, an overview of how to begin, from the International Franchise Association.