Flyers, fireballs highlight 2017 news

SANDPOINT — From flyers and fireballs, to National Merit students and near space balloon launches, 2017 was a busy year for news in Bonner County.

This is the seventh in a series taking a look back at the top stories from the year. Stories are listed in no particular order.

- City officials said an investigation was launched after flyers once again began to surface falsely representing Mayor Shelby Rognstad’s views on diversity in Sandpoint.

“During the past week, flyers and emails have again been distributed to businesses and residents throughout Sandpoint falsely representing views and policies of Mayor Shelby Rognstad,” officials said in an Aug. 24 statement. “This matter continues to be under investigation by the Sandpoint Police Department.”

City representatives had no further comment as they did not wish to “draw additional attention or coverage to this intentionally divisive and inflammatory communication.” It was not the first time, nor the last, that flyers and racist propaganda circulated the area.

- For the first time in its 23-year history, the Long Bridge Swim was cancelled on Aug. 5.

With winds averaging 22 knots, with gusts of 30 knots or more, by the race’s 8 a.m. safety meeting, organizers made the tough decision to call the 2017 race off. Swim officials had deployed some of its experienced safety boaters to test the waters of Lake Pend Oreille between Sagle and Sandpoint, but quickly pulled them out after reports of kayakers flipping and jet boaters getting swamped by the waves.

- Air quality degraded Sept.4 as wildfire smoke blanketed the region. Sandpoint’s air quality rating spiked at 403, and anything over 300 is considered “hazardous.” Air quality remained in the “very unhealthy,” range throughout the week.

- The American Meteor Society received more than 250 reports by the afternoon of Sept. 5 of a fireball seen over Idaho, Montana, Washington, British Columbia and Alberta the night before.

The event occurred shortly after 10 p.m. and was seen primarily from British Columbia, according to AMS. Local Facebook posts indicate several people in Sandpoint saw what AMS describes as a fireball as it headed toward Canada. A fireball is defined as a “large bright meteor,” and according to AMS, is “brighter than the planet Venus.”

- Sandpoint City Council members made quick work of dissolving the Business Improvement District on Sept. 6, although the overall process was no simple task.

In August, council members approved a “resolution of intent” to dissolve the BID after Roger Woodworth of Mindset Matters, the city’s independent consultant who led outreach efforts, advised city officials in July that the best move for the city and the businesses would be to halt the current BID, or leave the boundaries in place and set the fees to zero.

With the BID dissolved, councilwoman Deb Ruehle asked staff to look into writing new guidelines to possibly establish a new BID in the future, which City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton said will be a future conversation. That conversation will also include what to do with the approximately $50,000 balance in the BID fund.

- Discussions began Sept. 6 on what is to become of the 77-acre University of Idaho property after university officials announced their intention to sell it, as well as the intention to work with the city prior to sale.

Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad said city staff will assess the communities “needs and desires” in respect to the property, and update city’s comprehensive master plan through the process. For that purpose, public tours, meetings and workshops were scheduled over the next several months. The goal is to determine what the “best use” for the property is and ensure any future development on the property accommodates the goals of the city, Rognstad said.

A group from the Y.M.C.A have since started a feasibility study to look at the possibility of a recreation center on a portion of the property.

- Concerns by residents of Westwood Village regarding its label as a resort community led Sandpoint City Council members to once again table a public hearing on vacation rentals on Sept. 6.

The first hearing on June 21, shortly after House Bill 216 was signed into law limiting the city’s ability to restrict vacation rentals, was continued to July 19. Qualls wanted to be sure the legal implications were understood before any changes were made to the city’s ordinance. The hearing was tabled several times, and although a resolution for ordinance changes was approved, the discussion is ongoing.

- Smoke from the region’s wildfires prompted organizers of the Idaho State Draft Horse and Mule International Show to cancel the 2017 event.

The 41st annual show was scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 21-24 at the Bonner County Fairgrounds, as it is always the third weekend after Labor Day. On their Facebook page, event organizers said at the time that they were putting plans in motion to make the 2018 event “bigger and better.”

- Traffic along First Avenue was detoured on Sept. 13 as the road south of Pine Street shut down for the city’s sewer main replacement project.

The second phase of the project later continued on First Avenue from Pine Street to just north of Church Street. Detours were in place for more than a month before the construction was completed.

- Under new ownership by Sandpoint Equities, LLC, managers of the Columbia Bank Building confirmed in September that anyone who planned to use the building’s meeting rooms would be charged an hourly fee beginning in October. This included nonprofits that previously were not charged for use of the rooms.

- Sandpoint city staff announced in September that Joel Aispuro, Jeff Bohnhof, John E. Darling Jr., Mose Dunkel, Robert Jediny and Shannon Williamson would be the names on the November ballot for three City Council positions.

The seats up for election were held by Bob Camp, Stephen Snedden and Williamson. Snedden and Camp announced they would not be running for reelection. Aispuro, Darling and Williamson ultimately won the election.

In Ponderay, incumbent Kathy Osborne was running for re-election. Also running were Phil McNearney, Jacquie Guinan and Nancy Piatt. Councilwoman Karen Engel announced she would not be running for re-election. Ultimately, Osborne and McNearney won the November election.

- The Friends of the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail and the city of Ponderay held the first Ponderay Neighbor Day on Sept. 23, complete with food and fun in a family-friendly atmosphere.

- On Sept. 20, Sandpoint City Council members approved a five-year memorandum of understanding with the Independent Highway District.

In 2016, the Idaho Supreme Court ruled a joint powers agreement between the city and Independent Highway District to be void and unenforceable.

For 10 years, the JPA allowed the city to assume control of all streets within city limits and required IHD to pay all highway ad valorem taxes collected on property in the city. Since the court ruling, the two entities have worked to come to an agreement in terms of what functions are shared between the city and IHD, and what responsibility belongs to the city.

- Not only is Cienna Roget the youngest student in the Sandpoint High School senior class, the 16-year-old was named a semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship program in September, putting her in the top 1 percent of students in the nation.

Three more Sandpoint High School students were commended by the National Merit Scholarship program for their impressive scores on the PSAT as well — Ron Korn, Jenai Archer and Hannah Davidson.

- Bonner County commissioners, city officials and Beardmore LLC jointly announced on Aug. 30 that a mutual accord has been reached regarding an entrance to Bonner Park West, a popular county park on the Pend Oreille River.

The county and the city purchased a temporary easement from Beardmore which will allow the public to use Railroad Avenue entrance for the next four years. During the four-year period, the troika has agreed develop a new point of public access via Treat Street. Officials and the developer said the new entrance to the park is slated to open in 2021.

- Bonner County commissioners unanimously adopted an ordinance on Sept. 7 that is meant to restore peace and quiet to increasingly popular waterways.

The proposed ordinance amendment prohibits a boater from operating an amplified sound system at a volume where it could be heard from 200 feet away. It would have also prohibited yelling, shouting, hooting or whistling that can be heard from 200 feet away. The local code change was both enthusiastically supported and derided in nearly equal measure during a two-hour public hearing in which nearly 40 people offered up their remarks.

- The Bridge to Nowhere on Highway 200 in Hope was closed to traffic for a couple of days in September so film crews could shoot scenes for an independent motion picture titled “Radioflash.”

- A Washington state man accused of a violent attack that hospitalized a former girlfriend entered into a plea agreement on Sept. 12 to resolve a series of felony charges against him. Michael Eugene Meyer was charged with attempted strangulation, kidnapping and aggravated battery in connection with an Aug. 17 attack in Oldtown.

- Two men were arrested for allegedly opening fire on two teenagers fly fishing Priest River on Sept. 12.

A 13-year-old was shot in the right leg in the hail of gunfire, which erupted at a fishing spot off West Settlement Road at about 7:30 p.m., according to court and dispatch records. He was treated at Newport Community Hospital and released, Bonner County sheriff’s officials said in a news release.

Sheriff’s officials identified the two suspects as Eric R. Wood and Leo Michael Inwood. The pair were held in lieu of $30,000 bail each. Inwood faced felony counts of discharging a firearm at an occupied vehicle and evidence concealment, in addition to a misdemeanor charge of malicious injury to property. Wood was also charged with discharging a firearm at an occupied vehicle, in addition to unlawfully possessing a firearm due to a prior felony conviction and misdemeanor malicious injury to property.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.