Watchman informed to stop and desist

BONNERS FERRY —- Boundary County Watchman, a weblog and social media web site, has been ordered to cease utilizing Boundary County’s official seal.

On the Jan. 3 county fee assembly, Boundary County Chief Deputy Prosecuting Legal professional Tevis Hull mentioned he despatched out a stop and desist letter in late December to the Boundary County Watchman to take away the county seal from their web site and another publication they’ve. As of Jan. 3, Hull had not acquired any response.

Adrienne Norris, of the Boundary County Watchman, informed the Herald that she had not acquired the doc.

“I’ve not acquired a letter or any communication with regard to utilizing the county flag. Ought to I obtain this letter or another communication I might be glad to analyze the declare,” she mentioned. “Ought to I be at fault, I might be glad to treatment the problem.”

Nonetheless, Norris mentioned after analysis of the usage of a municipality flag, an identical case has already gone to trial and that courtroom “deemed {that a} municipality insignia can’t be trademarked.”

She stood by statements posted on the Watchman’s social media web page.

“We’re residents of Boundary County standing guard, watching. We submit occasions, conferences, openings for jobs and different positions. Additionally, potential accountability points and extra,” she wrote to the Herald. “Disclaimer: We aren’t endorsed, approved or sponsored by any entity or authorities company.”

The Boundary County Watchman additionally has a YouTube channel, which as of Jan. 4, nonetheless makes use of the Boundary County seal because the channel’s picture. In September 2022, the YouTube channel first popped up underneath the identify Boundary County.

On Sept. 13, the YouTube channel’s first video was the Boundary County Library board members assembly with Idaho Counties Danger Administration Program, the library’s insurance coverage firm, for his or her insurance coverage non-renewal enchantment. The video has since been faraway from the channel.

This assembly was in response to ICRMP’s government director Timothy L. Osborne letter in August that the library district’s insurance coverage is ready to run out on midnight of Oct. 1, 2022 and won’t be renewed. Elevated danger publicity and potential for adversarial claims had been cited among the many “quite a few elements” behind the choice, he wrote.

In September, Boundary County Public Data Officer Andrew O’Neel was contacted by the Herald to verify if the YouTube channel was affiliated with Boundary County.

“I don’t imagine so. I do know nothing about one, however I’ll test to ensure. Odd that the county seal is getting used,” O’Neel wrote through e-mail.

On Dec. 16, Hull informed the Herald that his workplace has been made conscious of the social media websites and was researching the problem. “We are going to take applicable motion primarily based upon the analysis,” he mentioned

Boundary County Watchman’s operates out of boundarylibrary.org, which was the staging floor for the Boundary County Library board recall. The web site will not be owned or managed by the library; slightly, it’s operated by Andrienne Norris, who’s the writer of the weblog posts and was a petition circulator for the recall.

In September 2022, Norris together with Tiffany Nichols, Fay Almond, and an area actual property official, Donna Capurso, filed a tort declare in opposition to the library for $5 million {dollars} in damages on grounds of non secular discrimination. They wrote they’ve been “severely stigmatized of their small communities and are actually thought of militant Christian fundamentalists as a result of libraries coordinated smear marketing campaign” in opposition to them.

Additionally in September, Norris wrote a letter requesting help of any company or elected official to “correctly deal with […] critical issues of public concern.” She lists issues of the previous library director, Kimber Glidden, and wrote Glidden did her finest to “discredit the efforts” of the neighborhood member engaged on the recall.

Glidden resigned in September stating it was as a result of “the political ambiance of extremism, militant Christian fundamentalism, intimidation techniques, and threatening habits presently being employed locally.”

Within the letter, despatched to quite a lot of native and state officers, Norris went on to listing neighborhood members that opposed the library recall and their assumed place of employment.

ICRMP is a member-owned service created by Idaho native governments to supply property and casualty insurance coverage for public entities. The service supplies all insurance coverage protection for BCL, the town of Bonners Ferry, Kootenai County, Bonner and Boundary counties and different jurisdictions additionally use ICRMP.