Golf tourney tees off to aid NIE drive

Sandpoint High School Principal Jim Soper's voice was tense last Friday when I called him to let him know that a handful of his graduating seniors decided it would be all right to "flip off" the school's photographer in the senior class portrait.

The reason it came to my attention was when photographer Rebecca Holland pointed out a few of the students and told me she had spent quite a bit of time "digitizing" out the offensive gesture.

Daily Bee managing editor Caroline Lobsinger also spent more than an hour cleaning up the photo so it was suitable to publish.

Is this just a harmless prank? Maybe I'm too far removed from high school life to recognize this type of top-notch humor.

Principal Soper's impassioned "you have got to be kidding" response to the call and the fact athletic director Cheryl Klien's shoulders dropped as she recognized one of her athletes as one of the perpetrators, showed me that these two weren't impressed at all.

Neither was most of the community.

Many people have asked me to publish the now-graduate's names as a kind of public outing. I am not inclined to do so. Your thoughts?

What good would it do? If the parents of these students haven't instilled self-respect by now, it is probably too late.

Here's an offer. If any or all of the six of you want to apologize for embarrassing yourself, your family, your school and your community, this space is available to you next week.

Any bets?

Concerning the above matter: Austin Keyes, SHS Class of 2013 and Olivia Keyes, SHS Class of 2018, are hereby put on notice that if they consider pulling the above stunt they would most likely be allowed to attend the graduation ceremony but would be immediately ushered home to spend a night at home instead of attending the all-night senior party.

This is subject to change as conditions warrant. Signed, Dad.

If you don't have children in the school system, school was out yesterday.

Drive safely. Look out for the kids because most likely they aren't looking out for you.

The Sandpoint Middle School yearbook is out and it looks awesome. It's a hardbound book — 92 pages. Sophie Miller, Carly Rickard, Abby Helander, Ashley Halliday, Michelle Stone, Lindsey Galand, Tanner French, Becca Derry, Sam Peters, Brittany Oakley, Brittany Clawson, Spencer Swerin, Bryce Olin, Rashelle Klontz, Kymber Martin, Tina Wilson, Moriah Johnson and Claire Christy did an outstanding job.

I had a sneak peak of Tyler Jones' yearbook but only if I promised not to look at some of the comments made by classmates. Wow!

Roger Branscome and family are headed to the Atlanta area. Roger leaves the Bee after six years as the sports editor. We all wish Roger, Gina, Ryan and Leah the best on their adventure.

Roger did a good job covering Bulldog and Wampus Cats sports and we are now searching for a new sports editor. While we might be able to fill the position, it will be impossible to replace Roger.

Roger and Keith Kinnaird, our news editor, were golfing at Hidden Lakes a few years ago. Roger, who makes up for his lack of accuracy by overpowering the ball, about caused a riot during this golf outing.

They were just finishing up Hole No. 7 and were less than 30 yards from the green. Roger decided instead of lofting the golf ball toward the hole to set up a high-percentage putt, he would pull out a driver, which is capable of launching a golf ball 200 yards with high velocity.

"He caught all of the ball," Keith remembered. "It was a perfect high-speed hook that just took off."

The ball sped toward a house that was under construction, much like a missle closing on a target. Then the ball hit the target.

Whap.

"Ow! (expletive deleted)" yelled a voice from on top of the house.

Roger had tagged a contractor who was working on the house's chimney on the roof.

"Before we knew it, four or five guys had piled out of the house and were looking for a fight right there in the middle of a fairway," Roger said.

The construction crew was armed with hammers and crowbars while Keith was armed with a pitching wedge and Roger was still carrying his smoldering driver.

Nobody blinked. It was a standoff.

It became pretty obvious nobody was going to win this conflict, so Keith and Roger picked up Keith's golf ball and skeedaddled across the road to the next hole.

If you are reading this column via the Internet in or around Atlanta, please post this to warn southern golfers about Roger. You can never defeat him, you can just hope to contain him.

Good luck, Roger, you will be missed.

Since we are discussing golf, the Daily Bee's fourth-annual Newspapers In Education golf tournament is set to tee off next Tuesday at Hidden Lakes.

See KEYES, Page 3

This tournament is the main fundraiser for this paper's program to get free newspapers into local classrooms.

Bee Circulation Director Chris Watkins has put together contests on nearly every hole as well as nearly a dozen quality prizes to be randomly given away to golfers. No golfing experience is necessary to win a digital camera, a gas grill, a two night stay at Super 8, two MP3 players and much more!!!

The entry fee includes a breakfast and lunch and a good-looking golf shirt.

Our thanks to our friends at Rokstad Ford for sponsoring this tournament.

It is our hope, we can continue to provide newspapers in the schools next year. This tournament helps us do that.

There are still sponsorships available and room for more golfers. Interested? Call Chris at 263-9534 for more information.

PS. Roger isn't golfing this year, so hardhats won't be necessary.

Sandpoint's next mayor, Helen Newton, is retiring as Sandpoint City Clerk at the end of July. She will be missed.

She started her career as clerk in 1981 and served the city well through seven mayors and a boat load of council members. She'll most be remembered for her participation in the city's centennial committee and her gift for quilting.

Email of the week.

Mars spectacular!

The "Red Planet" is about to be spectacular! This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again.

The encounter will culminate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification, Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye.

Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10 p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m.

By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30 a.m. That's pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month.

Share this with your children and grandchildren. No one alive today will ever see this again.

David Keyes is publisher of the Bee. His column runs weekly.