Bonner County Republican leaders said they're embarassed, but a white supremacist and convicted batterer will be on the GOP ballot in the May 15 primary to become their county's top lawman.

Reuters is reporting that Shaun Patrick Winkler, who once worked for Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler, is one of three candidates for Bonner County sheriff, but Bonner County Republican Chairman Cornel Rasor likened Winkler's chances to "hearing a dying calf in a windstorm."

"It's really unfortunate and unfair," said Janice Schoonover of Sandpoint. "This just stirs the pot and makes us seem like something we're not."

In January, Winkler picketed a Martin Luther King Day celebration for school children at North Idaho College. In 2011, Winkler and a handful of followers demonstrated at taco stands to target Latinos in Coeur d'Alene.

"I don't know the man," said Rasor. "But I'm guessing that he's doing this to make some sort of statement."

Hundreds of citizens - some too young to remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - honored the memory of the slain civil rights leader in a midday celebration, dubbed a "Day of Greatness." Retirees, students and scores of parents, many with toddlers, marched from the campus of Boise State, up Capitol Boulevard to the Idaho Statehouse to rally for the universal themes of human rights, justice and equality.

Meanwhile, inside the Capitol Building, Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter and Marilyn Shuler, former director of the Idaho Human Rights Commission, took part in a formal ceremony to mark King's birthday and Idaho Human Rights Day.

Schools across the Treasure Valley will be closed tomorrow—except in Melba, where they're holding classes—and all county, state and federal offices will also be closed to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Tomorrow, which is also dubbed Idaho Human Rights Day, a number of events are scheduled across the region, including Boise State's Day of Greatness. Citizens are invited to go to the Hatch Ballroom of the Student Union Building to make posters in preparation for an 11 a.m. march down Capitol Boulevard to a rally on the steps of the Statehouse.

At noon, Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter will sign a proclamation during a noontime ceremony under the Capitol rotunda. The celebration will also include music and a speech from Marilyn Shuler, former director of the Idaho Human Rights Commission.

Newly arrived refugees will be guests of honor Monday evening at a Welcome to Boise Dinner at Timberline High School. Hosts will include the Idaho Human Rights Education Center, the Islamic Center of Boise and representatives from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Later Monday evening, a presentation called, "Jim Crow, Idaho and the Economics of Racism," will be held at 7 p.m. at the Boise State Student Union Building. Boise State associate professor Jill Gill will provide historical context of racism, focused on the 20th and 21st centuries, followed by a panel discussion with Idahoans who experienced the Jim Crow era firsthand.

The Northwest Region of the Aryan Nation was supposed to have a “eat, greet, and meet” event June 27, at Valley County’s Lake Cascade State Park. According to fliers and a website, the event was to take place between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Idaho Parks and Recreation communications manager Jennifer Blazek told Citydesk a group of about eight individuals showed up at 5 p.m. and left at 9 p.m.

“They set up their awning and flag, had a barbecue, and then left before sunset,” Blazek said, calling it a “non-event.”

Lt. Dan Smith, Valley County Sheriff’s information officer, said the department had advance notice of the event but did not plan to provide security. Smith said the secluded campground does not "get much traffic," and no calls or complaint were received.

Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Report for the Southern Poverty Law Center, told Citydesk, “The reality is, we have been seeing a resurgence of the radical-right in this country over the past several years, especially the last two years, and the Pacific Northwest is very much a part of that. This is part of a much larger national trend.”

“It is worth saying;” added Potok, “I do not think that Idaho or Montana are at the levels that they were. The destruction of Aryan Nation has changed the calculus there. I do not doubt that there are still several hundred white supremacists in the area, but they do not have near the organizational energy that they once did. The [SPLC’s law] suit really destroyed them.”

A few hundred school kids chose to spend part of their holiday on the steps of the Idaho Capitol. The children accompanied more than 140 members of the Idaho Community Action Network, protesting proposed budget cuts from Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter.

ICAN specifically targeted Otter's plan to slash $25 million from Idaho's Medicaid division.

"The governor's small-government, low-tax approach will result in greater personal need, reduced consumer and environmental protection, less fairness and decreased capacity for improving the public good," said Andrea Shipley, ICAN's new executive director. "We must focus on the solutions and that means raising revenue and ensuring the budget is not balanced on the backs of the poor."

Shipley told Citydesk that her organization wants a vision "to honor the dream Dr. King left for our country nearly a half century ago."

"Now is the time to make justice a reality for all God's children."

Those are words from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963, and they were repeated throughout the nation today on the 82nd anniversary of King's birth.

King's memory was revived in Boise at the Idaho Capitol at noon today, as Lt. Governor Brad Little led a brief statehouse ceremony.

"This great country with all its opportunity never disappointed me."

For some Idahoans, the third Monday in January is a day for optimism. For others it's a day for rebellion. In either instance, it's a uniquely democratic soup of ceremonies, demonstrations and rallies.

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday honoring the 82nd anniversary of the birth of the Civil Rights icon. It is also known as Idaho Human Rights Day, a state holiday.

A group of citizens began their day on campus at Boise State, commencing a march up Capitol Boulevard.

Juarez was one of scores of students, parents, administrators and activists who made their way to Boise's City Hall Plaza.

"We need to snap out of what I call the 'messiah mentality,'" said Mario Venegas, speaker at the rally. "It's the notion that one person can help every single person. That's damaging and individualistic. One person alone cannot do anything."