Inlander 03/05/2020 by The Inlander

MARCH 5-11, 2020 | FAMILY OWNED. COMMUNITY FOCUSED.

CHANGING LANES Is Spokane Transit headed in the right direction?

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EDITOR’S NOTE

he Spokane Transit Authority is at an important crossroads. It’s making big investments in improving its bus system and this spring will break ground on a central piece of that, the high-frequency City Line that is expected to give a million rides through downtown every year. At the same time, the STA is seeing its ridership drop off since a peak in 2014 — part of a national downward trend in public transportation that some attribute to the economy, low gas prices and companies like Uber and Lyft. Still, in the future, we know at least one thing will separate smart cities from dumb ones: The former will move people around in lots of different ways (bikes, buses, maybe even people-sized pneumatic tubes) while the latter will have everyone sitting in their midsized sedans, stalled in smogshrouded traffic jams going nowhere. And with all that in mind, staff reporter Josh Kelety hopped on a bus to see what’s working, what’s not and which direction, if we’re smart, we may need to go. Read his in-depth report on page 22. — JACOB H. FRIES, Editor

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INLANDER

SPOKANE • EASTERN WASHINGTON • NORTH IDAHO • INLANDER.COM

1227 WEST SUMMIT PARKWAY, SPOKANE, WA 99201 PHONE: 509-325-0634 | EMAIL: INFO@INLANDER.COM THE INLANDER is a locally owned, independent newspaper founded on Oct. 20, 1993. It’s printed on newsprint that is at least 50 percent recycled; please recycle THE INLANDER after you’re done with it. One copy free per person per week; extra copies are $1 each (call x226). For ADVERTISING information, email advertising@inlander.com. To have a SUBSCRIPTION mailed to you, call x213 ($50 per year). To find one of our more than 1,000 NEWSRACKS where you can pick up a paper free every Thursday, call x226 or email frankd@inlander.com. THE INLANDER is a member of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia. All contents of this newspaper are protected by United States copyright law. © 2020, Inland Publications, Inc.

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M A R T I N

W O L D S O N

T H E A T E R

A T

T H E

F O X

CALENDAR OF EVENTS PRINCE ROYCE: THE ALTER EGO TOUR

Friday, March 6, 8pm

Spokane Symphony Masterworks

RUSSIAN PASSIONS WITH JOYCE YANG, PIANO

Spokane Symphony Pops

Saturday, March 28, 8pm | Sunday, March 29, 3pm

Saturday, March 7, 8pm

THE GLENN MILLER ORCHESTRA

EILEEN IVERS: IRISH FIDDLER

SPOKANE YOUTH SYMPHONY 70 YEARS OF VIRTUOSITY Sunday, March 8, 4pm

Fox Presents

THE ALLMAN BETTS BAND

Wednesday, March 18, 7:30pm

Spokane Symphony Movies & Music

STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE IN CONCERT

Saturday, March 21, 8pm Sunday, March 22, 3pm

Monday, March 30, 7pm

Spokane Symphony Chamber Soirées

SPRING SOIRÉE ON THE STAGE

JULIA SWEENEY: OLDER & WIDER LIVE TAPING

Spokane Symphony Pops

Thursday, April 2, 7:30pm | Friday, April 3, 7:30pm

Spokane Symphony Movies & Music

BAND

A NEW HOPE IN CONCERT

7:30PM

Devon Allman and Duane Betts, the sons of Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts, have joined forces to form The Allman Betts Band. They’ll perform their own music, classic Allman Brother tunes, and more.

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Mar 21 8PM Mar 22 3PM

With Special Guests Marc Ford and Jackson Stokes

Supported in part by Friends of The Fox

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Saturday, April 18, 8pm Sunday, April 19, 3pm

Saturday, May 2, 8pm Sunday, May 3, 3pm

Fox Presents

Mar 18

MONUMENTAL GRANDEUR WITH MATEUSZ WOLSKI, VIOLIN

Thursday, April 2, 7pm At Rockwood South Hill Event Center

SPRING SOIRÉE AT ROCKWOOD

Saturday, April 4, 8pm

THE ALLMAN BETTS

Spokane Symphony Masterworks

WALT WAGNER TRIO

Tuesday, March 24, 8pm

THE FLAMING LIPS

Tuesday, April 14, 7:30pm

Tuesday, March 31, 7:30pm Wednesday, April 1, 7:30pm

Fox Presents

RONNIE MILSAP

Fox Presents

Star Wars: A New Hope in Concert brings the force to Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox! Watch the first-ever Star Wars film with John Williams’ Academy Awardwinning score played live by the Spokane Symphony.

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PROHIBITION

Saturday, May 9, 8pm

KEVIN JAMES LIVE AT THE FOX

Thursday, May 21, 8pm

Spokane Symphony Masterworks

RUSSIAN PASSIONS

Mar 28 8PM Mar 29 3PM

Conductor: Morihiko Nakahara

Conductor: James Lowe

•

SpokaneSymphony.org

Pianist Joyce Yang performs Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, featured in the soundtracks of Groundhog Day and Somewhere in Time. Also experience Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, Pathétique, and more.

Sponsored by Johnston-Fix Foundation

•

FoxTheaterSpokane.org

COMMENT STAFF DIRECTORY PHONE: 509-325-0634 Ted S. McGregor Jr. (tedm@inlander.com)

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU RODE THE BUS?

PUBLISHER

J. Jeremy McGregor (x224) GENERAL MANAGER

EDITORIAL Jacob H. Fries (x261) EDITOR

Dan Nailen (x239)

MARY BRYAN

Twenty years ago. I don’t live in an area that’s serviced by the public bus. Would you ride the bus more often if it did service your area? Yeah, definitely.

MANAGING EDITOR/ARTS & CULTURE

Nathan Weinbender (x250) FILM & MUSIC EDITOR

ART DIRECTOR

Quinn Welsch (x279) COPY EDITOR

Wilson Criscione (x282), Josh Kelety (x237), Daniel Walters (x263), Samantha Wohlfeil (x234) STAFF WRITERS

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Chey Scott (x225) FOOD & LISTINGS EDITOR

Derek Harrison (x248)

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HANNAH ROLLI

Maybe three years ago. When I went out to eat at EWU, I would ride the bus. Why don’t you ride the bus anymore? I have a car and I live like 2 miles away from anywhere I need to go.

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PHOTOGRAPHER

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ILLUSTRATOR

Amy Alkon, Bill Frost, Howard Hardee, Lawrence B. A. Hatter, E.J. Iannelli, MaryAnn Johanson, Will Maupin, Carrie Scozzaro, Riley Utley CONTRIBUTORS

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JIM BARTHELMESS

About five years ago. And why haven’t you taken the bus since then? Because I live in Kendall Yards and I walk everywhere.

Kristi Gotzian (x215) ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Carolyn Padgham-Walker (x214), Emily Walden (x260)

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Kristina Smith (x223) MARKETING DIRECTOR Houston Tilley (x247) EVENTS & PROMOTIONS ASSISTANT

PRODUCTION & SUPPORT Wayne Hunt (x232) DESIGN & PRODUCTION DIRECTOR

STEPHANIE FLEISHER

Never. I mean, in Seattle I did. So why not in Spokane? I use my own car for transportation because it’s easier. Is there anything that would increase the likelihood of you taking the bus? No. I like to just come and go as I please.

Ali Blackwood (x228) CREATIVE LEAD

Derrick King (x238), Tom Stover (x265) SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNERS

Rachael Skipper (x231) GRAPHIC DESIGNER Frank DeCaro (x226) CIRCULATION MANAGER Camille Awbrey (x212), Sydney Angove (x242) ADVERTISING SUPPORT

KATHRYNE STAUDINGER

The public bus? That would be never. Why not? I have my car here, and I rode a public bus for a lot of my time in South America and I don’t want to do that again. But I do have a bus pass actually, so that’s something I should do sometime.

OPERATIONS Dee Ann Cook (x211) BUSINESS MANAGER Kristin Wagner (x210) ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

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COMMENT | HEALTH

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rovidence Sacred Heart Medical Center received four patients with coronavirus (or COVID-19) on Feb. 20, bringing the potential global pandemic a bit too close to home for some Spokanites. Sacred Heart is one of 10 units nationwide with the specialization to treat highly infectious diseases. Following careful protocols, these patients arrived on special medical flights and are being treated in a secure isolation unit within the hospital. Local health officials tried to reassure the city’s residents that the risk to the general public of contracting the virus is low, but some fearful Spokanites have turned to social media to express their concerns about outsiders bringing this disease into our midst.

With the threat of a global pandemic hanging over us, it is tempting to want to return to a simpler age of relative isolation, a time before jet aircraft could move tens of thousands of people across the globe in a matter of hours. But the truth is that epidemics have always been part of American history. Contact between indigenous peoples and European colonists exposed virgin populations in the Americas to new diseases with devastating consequences. During the 16th-century Spanish

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MOBILITY SERVICES WITH STA: Learn about Spokane Transit Authority’s mobility mentor program, fares, senior travel groups and other programs from STA representatives. If you have limited transportation and haven’t yet considered public transportation, STA can offer many alternatives. Wed, March 11 from 10 am-1 pm. Free. Medical Lake Library, 3213 Herb St., Medical Lake. scld.org/events (8938330)

Spokane City Administrator Wes Crago apologizing to an Inlander reporter a few hours after giving misleading statements during a press conference last week where he and Mayor Nadine Woodward announced an outside investigation into past city business. Find that story on page 20.

invasion of the Caribbean and South America, indigenous communities suffered mortality rates of up to 95 percent. In 17th-century New England, puritan colonists encountered whole villages abandoned, their late residents having succumbed to diseases that they had contracted from European fishermen.

“In 2020, we have experts trained in the science of infectious diseases...” The spread of disease in America was not just a phenomenon restricted to the early years of European colonization. In 1793, the fledgling United States faced a yellow fever epidemic that claimed over 5,000 lives in the then capital city of Philadelphia. Philadelphia was a cosmopolitan hub of international trade in the 1790s. Ships, people and cargos from Asia, Europe, Africa and other parts of the Americas arrived daily. And one of them brought mosquitos carrying yellow fever. That outbreak began in August and quickly gathered pace, killing 30 Philadelphians a day in September, and peaking at 100 deaths on Oct. 11. Physicians at the time did not know what caused yellow fever, though Dr. Benjamin Rush — a signer of the Declaration of Independence — did suspect that it may have been spread by mosquitos. Panic ensued. Some 20,000 of the city’s 50,000 population fled. Neighboring communities, including Baltimore and New York City, sent out patrols to try to apprehend and quarantine the exodus of Philadelphians. President George Washington had already left the city for his summer vacation when the outbreak began, but he and his cabinet did not immediately return in the fall, convening, instead, in nearby Germantown. By the time the epidemic effectively ended in November (as cool weather killed the mosquito population), yellow fever had claimed around 10 percent of Philadelphia’s population. The visceral reaction of Philadelphians to escape disease echoes across the centuries. It’s quite understandable that people would fear that the arrival of coronavirus patients in Spokane might endanger the local community. But if we take a deep breath and remind ourselves of the differences between Spokane in 2020 and Philadelphia in 1793, we will recognize that this is the right thing to do. In 2020, we have experts trained in the science of infectious diseases, who can mobilize the resources and planning of the Centers for Disease Control. In 1793, Rush had a hunch and few resources to try to fight an unseen enemy. The arrival of the four coronavirus patients at Sacred Heart shows how we will defeat COVID-19. Spokanites should be proud that our community can rely on the expertise and selfless dedication of such well-trained health care professionals in the fight against infectious disease. n Lawrence B. A. Hatter is an award-winning author and associate professor of early American history at Washington State University. These views are his own and do not reflect those of WSU.

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COMMENT | NEWSMAKERS

Q&A MARY STAMP The editor of the Fig Tree has been telling the stories of people building a better world in the Inland Northwest since 1984 BY QUINN WELSCH

he world can be a scary place if you read the news with any regularity. Turn on the TV or pick up a daily newspaper and you’re bound to see headlines about violence, conflict and death. What you don’t always see, though, is the people in your community who are creating connections and strengthening relationships. That’s where Mary Stamp comes in. In 1984, she co-founded the local monthly nonprofit newspaper the Fig Tree, alongside Sister Bernadine Casey, and has been the editor ever since. The newspaper is dedicated to inspiring the people of Christian, interfaith and nonprofit communities through its articles and news stories. Stamp earned her degree from the University of Oregon School of Journalism in 1967 before coming to Spokane in the ’80s. But it was a graduate program she undertook in Geneva in 1969 through the World Council of Churches that would shape her journalistic philosophy and define her career. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. INLANDER: What makes the Fig Tree different from traditional, profit-driven news media? STAMP: You gotta have conflict and sensation. It’s often sexy. You want what’s broken. The news fosters an addiction to keep the attention of audiences so they keep coming back for more. We’re a nonprofit. That means communicating credibly. We’re not denying there is violence and hurt — but people are doing things to make a difference. It’s everyday people in this region who are doing things because they have faith. What kind of faith? The understanding that we’re to care for each other. That we’re to even love our enemies. Overall, when you look at the different teachings of the faiths of the world, it comes down to the golden rule; it comes down to caring for the least of our brothers and sisters. The emerging reality is that we live in a world that is diverse. If we’re called to love our brothers and sisters in that diversity, we need to know each other and have con-

8 INLANDER MARCH 5, 2020

versations. You see with the coronavirus how interconnected we are. We have commerce that’s based on people traveling, tourism, business. We live in a global economy. Where the media has profited off dividing people — and as we move to a more autocratic government — democracy requires that we talk to each other and respect each other despite our differences. What do you think are the most important topics your newspaper covers? We have one of the strongest human rights movements here in the country because of the legacy of the hate groups here. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, the Gonzaga Institute for Hate Studies, their efforts are ongoing. There’s not one magic-pill solution. You don’t come to a point of accomplishment, because there are divergent views. It’s a matter of people being empowered to persist. We see a resurgence of hate, but we have tools for dealing with it. Why is the newspaper called the Fig Tree? Micah 4:4: “Everyone would live under their own vine and fig tree in peace and unafraid.” It’s about peace and justice and care of creation as it’s central to faith. And the birds flying around the tree on the newspaper cover, those represent the many colors of birds who fly in and eat its fruit and fly out and are nourished. The stories are the fruit of the fig tree. There’s such power in people’s stories. It’s telling people to articulate what their faith and their values are, and not just recite their belief. “What are you doing because of it?” That’s where belief moves to faith. Which leaders are you inspired by? You read the Fig Tree and there they are. They’re not just off someplace far away. They’re right here. Look at the front page and you’ll see the heroes who are acting. n Fig Tree Benefit Breakfast/Lunch • Fri, March 6, 11:30 am-1 pm; Mon, March 9, 7-8:30 am • Cataldo Hall at Gonzaga • 502 E. Boone • thefigtree.org • RSVP at 535-1813 or event@thefigtree.org

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MARCH 5, 2020 INLANDER 9

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COMMENT | FROM READERS

Readers respond to a story on Inlander.com about a potential agreement on noise levels during Planned Parenthood protests (“Mayor Woodward to Controversial Antiabortion Church and Planned Parenthood: Let’s Sit Down and Talk,” 2/28/20):

ALIE BUSBY: There is no talking to zealots, and anyone who says abortion is murdering babies is absolutely a zealot. Not worth your time to talk to, they have no ability to find any common ground. GENE BRAKE: First rule... you don’t negotiate with terrorists, which is what the “church” is. Mayor, tell your cops to do their jobs, because so far they aren’t. ALICIA MARIE: “Protesting” at Planned Parenthood has never been and will never be about being “pro life.” If it was, this church would be just as active in protesting on behalf of children imprisoned at the border, or ensuring access to sex education and birth control. Their only purpose is to target and harass women. They’re predators, and should be treated as such.

Rodney Carrington Sun, Mar 22 / 4:30 & 7:30pm

DOLLY EPPERSON: Since this socalled church doesn’t want anybody to get an abortion where’s their fundraising for single mothers raising the baby, do they have a fund at the church to help the mother if she decides to keep her baby? JOHN Q SPOKANE: I’m excited to see all these concerned citizens attending every event in Spokane to measure and complain about noise ordinance violations. It would just be so disappointing to know that they don’t actually give a damn about the noise ordinance and are just trying to find a way to circumvent the First Amendment because they disagree with what’s being said. So disappointing… n

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Readers respond to an opinion column by Michael Allen about preserving EWU’s athletics budget (“An Age Old Fight,” 2/27/20):

TRENT REEDY: Cut EWU sports, and save tens of millions of dollars a year, and distribute that savings to the students in reduced fees and more educational opportunities. It’s wrong to continue to punish the entire student body with higher college costs just so a small group can be handed everything for free while they play meaningless games. EMELINE ROBIDOU: First, where did Mr. Allen come up with the estimate of 100,000 people coming to Cheney to watch a sport? Let’s look at football. Roos Field can hold up to 12,000 with temporary seating. EWU has about six home games. If you filled the stadium (which does not happen) for each of these six games the total would be 72,000. Now let’s talk about alumni contributions to the budget: less than 1 percent. n

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ADMIS

EWS; ENT, NPR N X O F , LYST ORRESPOND A N A L A POLITIC AL POLITICAL C NATION

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Mara Liasson is the national political correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR) and a contributor to FOX News Channel (FNC). She joined FOX in 1997 and serves as a panelist on Special Report with Brett Baier and FOX News Sunday, FOX Broadcasting Company's public affairs program that airs nationwide each Sunday morning. Sponsored by:

Community Colleges of Spokane does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation or age in its programs, activities or employment. Please direct all inquiries regarding compliance with access, equal opportunity and/or grievances to chief administration officer, CCS, 501 N Riverpoint Blvd, PO Box 6000, MS1004, Spokane WA 99217-6000 or call 509-434-5037, SCC TTY 533-8610/VP 866-948-2811, SFCC TTY 533-3838/VP 509-315-2310. Marketing and Public Relations. 19-463 - Feb 2020 - A

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MARCH 26th, 2020

CIVIL RIGHTS

FIGHTING FOR HER Coeur d’Alene tribal members say their religious rights were violated in daughter’s untimely death BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

Olivia Pakootas fought for tribal rights before her life was cut short at age 21. Her family is now suing to ensure their religious and tribal rights will be respected in the future.

s Olivia Pakootas was finishing her education at Tekoa High School, she learned that her plans to wear an eagle feather and beads on her 2015 graduation cap would violate school policy. As a member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe who’d embraced her heritage, winning titles as a traditional fancy dancer at Julyamsh powwows, Pakootas wanted to fight for her tribal rights. The senior made her case before the school board, which changed district policy for Pakootas and future tribal members, who may receive and wear eagle feathers as an honor of significant achievements. Just three summers later, Pakootas’ life was cut short when she died in a car crash after leaving work at the Coeur d’Alene Casino early one Friday evening. Not wearing a seatbelt, 21-year-old Pakootas came at a corner too fast on Highway 58. Her car rolled into a field and she was thrown out of the vehicle. She died at the scene, where her family members gathered over the next few hours, singing with her body and starting the process of sending her on her journey. Now, Pakootas’ family is following her lead in fighting for religious and tribal freedom as they sue Kootenai County and its elected coroner over how her remains were handled after the crash. Her mother, Nicky James, and step-dad Hemene James want the court to find Kootenai County’s coroner violated their religious beliefs by holding Pakootas’ body longer than necessary after the crash, despite their objections to an autopsy and efforts to get her body back the next day. They contend that with no further criminal investigation by the Idaho State Police, which already took a blood draw to test for alcohol, there was no need for the procedure to further determine the cause of death. But the coroner, Dr. Warren Keene, insisted an autopsy was necessary, forcing the family to fight in court to get her remains. The ensuing multiday delay, the family says, forced Pakootas’ relatives to condense their usual religious funeral proceedings. Significantly, according to their religious beliefs, it also left their daughter’s soul in a sort of limbo, as they believe her spirit was wandering around for days until they could prepare her body and lay her to rest. ...continued on next page

MARCH 5, 2020 INLANDER 13

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“FIGHTING FOR HER,” CONTINUED... “She’s a fighter and was always stepping up, and I did not want any other tribal member, family, other mother or father to ever have to go through the steps we had to just to send her off,” Nicky James says of the family’s decision to sue. “It’s just for the blatant disrespect that was shown, of course to me and my family, but most important to her.”

n remembering her daughter, Nicky James recalls Pakootas’ unique birth, at 11:11 on 11/11/1996, after 11 hours of labor. “I just remember the doctor coming in when it was 11:09, and I was having a hard time, and he just basically got me in gear by saying, ‘You’ve got two minutes to make this the coolest birth certificate ever,’” Nicky James says. As a baby, Pakootas starred in the 1998 indie movie Smoke Signals, which was set on the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation. Later, growing to more than 6 feet tall, she was a talented athlete and gifted student, excelling in basketball and track and field, and earning salutatorian for her class. She competed in track at Spokane Falls Community College, where she earned her associate’s degree, then worked in banquets at the Coeur d’Alene Casino. By early 2018, while visiting her brother in Montana, she’d decided to enroll at Salish Kootenai College and return to school in the fall, her mom says. But a little after 5 pm on June 1, just minutes after leaving work, she crashed her car in a field near the edge of the reservation and the Washington state border. Nicky James says she soon got a call from the chief of the Coeur d’Alene Tribal Police saying Pakootas had been in an accident. “I asked him if she was OK, and he just said, ‘I need you to hurry. Be safe. Be careful, but I just need you to get out there,’” she says. After calling her husband and other relatives to make sure their other daughters would be picked up, she made the 15-minute drive from her job at Marimn Health to the scene. As she arrived, traffic was stopped and police cars lined the road. James says she was stopped by a state trooper as she approached the field. He asked for her identification before letting her go farther. “So I was kind of stumbling all over trying

to get out there, and that’s when the tribal officer kinda hung onto me and steered me around, and I looked down and she was covered in a white sheet,” James says, choking back tears. “And then everything stopped.” Things moved fast and slow after that, she says. She vaguely remembers her own screams, then later, those of her son. Other relatives arrived from as far away as Wellpinit. Nicky had sung Olivia to sleep throughout her childhood with a traditional family lullaby from Olivia’s great-great-grandmother. “So I put my arm over her and I lay down next to her in the dirt,” James says, “and I sang her that song again.” The family offered prayers and collected her belongings and any pieces of dirt that may have some of her blood on it. They believe that someone who dies in a sudden, tragic way needs to have all of those things returned and buried with them to ease their soul’s passage into the afterlife. When possible, the family will remain with the body until burial. Pakootas’ body was taken by the county coroner’s staff from the crash scene that night. The next morning, coming out of the haze of early grief and shock, the Jameses say they tried calling the Coroner’s Office to find out where their daughter’s body was, but no one called back. Nicky’s brother Francis Si John then took the lead, contacting the tribe’s chief legal counsel Eric Van Orden for help. Si John finally got in touch with Keene on Sunday and shared the family’s religious beliefs and objection to an autopsy. But Keene insisted that was necessary, which meant the family had to go to court to stop it. During an emergency hearing Monday, a judge agreed to release Pakootas’ remains to the family’s funeral home of choice, but also ordered that no changes be made to the body until another court hearing that Thursday. Before the family could move Pakootas’ remains to Palouse, Washington, Keene wrapped her body bag in evidence tape, warning Kramer Funeral Homes workers they could face criminal charges if they did anything before the court hearing, the Jameses’ civil complaint alleges. In an affidavit filed that evening, June 4, Keene wrote that an autopsy was necessary in his

medical and professional opinion. Since she crashed without braking, Keene writes that an autopsy could help answer whether there was an unknown medical event, a medication side effect, other chemicals involved, or if Pakootas had been injured someplace else and was escaping. “Completing the autopsy may be unacceptable to the decedent’s family, but doing nothing is equally unacceptable to me based on my duties and authority as the elected county coroner,” Keene states. He continues to say that the family could instead pay for a CAT scan, with a full photographic external investigation. “What I would not find acceptable, however, is a precedent in which a family member of a decedent would be able to dictate who my office may or may not autopsy,” Keene states in the affidavit. “There are a myriad of instances in which an autopsy can reveal a cause of death that is not otherwise apparent, and in some such instances, may lead to discovery of the commission of a crime.” In cases where an autopsy is truly necessary, such as when someone is murdered or dies under suspicious circumstances, the family would be OK with that, Hemene James says. “But in this situation, it was obvious what the cause of death was,” says attorney Van Orden, who is not representing the family in their civil suit but helped with the initial restraining order. “Nobody else was involved, there was no other damage to property, no damage to any other person.” The family notes — and attorneys for the county and Keene acknowledge — that Keene did not take a blood sample from Pakootas until 72 hours after the crash, and then sent it to a lab via FedEx without putting it on ice. That did not follow protocol, and could lead to inaccurate readings, the family alleges.

fter getting politicians, attorneys and the tribe to back up the family’s religious beliefs to the coroner, the county agreed in a June 5 order not to do an autopsy. Finally, Pakootas could be embalmed. Her mother, a sister and aunts were able to wash and dress Pakootas in a traditional wing dress, moccasins and jewelry. Normally, they would have then had a family night in their home, with an open casket and a meal together before a daylong service in the longhouse, followed by a funeral in the church and then burial, but the family was unable to do all that. Instead, they had to condense their Native American and Catholic practices and rituals. They took Pakootas straight to the Rose Creek Longhouse in Worley, where relatives and community members came to pay their respects all night. The next day, they held a church service, and then she was buried Friday afternoon. The family’s religious beliefs are at the basis of their complaint. “We’re not trying to say this is how all Natives do it,” Nicky James says. “This is what we do, and this is what was hindered. This is what was taken, that can never be given back.” Hemene James agrees, saying that too often, indigenous people have had to fight for their rights at the price of heartache and pain. “If we’re the ones that got to pay that price this time, so it doesn’t happen again, we’re prepared to do that. Not just so no Coeur d’Alene tribal member has to do it, but no Indian person in the state of Idaho has to deal with this again,” Hemene James says. “We’re not looking to get our spirituality and our procedures justified by anybody. They precede all these courts. We want them to be respected on the same level that Idaho has proven in the past that they defend religious freedom.” Lawyers with Lake City Law Group, representing Kootenai County and Keene, have asked that the court dismiss the case. Keene did not return phone calls asking for comment, but the legal team offered a short statement. “Our position is that the death of Miss Pakootas is very sad and unfortunate. We empathize anytime there’s a loss of a loved one,” attorney Katharine Brereton says. “However, we believe the coroner acted lawfully and did not violate any rights of the plaintiffs, and when the facts are before the court, it will agree.” n samanthaw@inlander.com

MARCH 5, 2020 INLANDER 15

NEWS | DIGEST

ON INLANDER.COM

5G: ‘APOCALYPTIC’ OR SAFE? Current and former Washington State University professors shared their divergent views on the safety of 5G CELL PHONE TECHNOLOGY last week at a public forum at Gonzaga University. Robert Olsen, current WSU professor of electrical engineering, shared his views on why the technology is as safe, if not safer, than current tech, coming in on the side of the scientific community at large. Martin Pall, on the other hand, professor emeritus of basic medical sciences and biology, shared his theory that the technology could cause everything from autism to cancer. Multiple health agencies say there is no convincing scientific evidence at this point to believe cell phones cause cancer, but the issue continues to be studied. (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

FEATURING NATIONAL NEWS FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES

EWU MOVES FORWARD WITH ATHLETICS The notion of cutting ATHLETICS SPENDING at EWU elicited a strong reaction among the community when the Inlander first outlined a faculty report weeks ago that presented various models of doing so, up to cutting the entire athletics department. But last week when associate physics professor David Syphers (above) asked if the EWU Board of Trustees had any questions on his presentation that touched on similar points, there was only silence from the board. It wasn’t until a day later that they issued their response declining the faculty request for an independent review. “At this time, President [Mary] Cullinan and the Board of Trustees will not be moving forward with an independent review of EWU Athletics,” they wrote in a statement. (WILSON CRISCIONE)

THE ABORTION SUMMIT After over a year of conflicts between the local PLANNED PARENTHOOD clinic and the anti-abortion Church at Planned Parenthood (above) that frequently meets directly in front of it, the Spokane City Council on Monday passed an ordinance 6-1, to strengthen and clarify the city’s existing noise ordinance that limited loud noises outside of health care facilities. But that doesn’t necessarily end the underlying conflict between the abortion provider and the church that considers it the “gates of hell.” That’s why, last month, Mayor Nadine Woodward held meetings with the church and Planned Parenthood, in an attempt to negotiate a way forward. (DANIEL WALTERS)

THANK YOU! A big thank you to our sponsors, table captains, guests and volunteers for supporting this year’s Kids at Heart Lunch. Your generosity raised approximately $112,000 after expenses to support the Andrew Rypien School Program at Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital. Congratulations 2020 Advocates of the Year! Coeur d’Alene Police Department, Larry Gardner, Vinetta MacPherson, Heidi Wehde, and WestCoast Window Cleaning.

16 INLANDER MARCH 5, 2020

GRADING WSU’S CULTURE Washington State University has chosen a LAW FIRM to look into the departure of former Provost Mitzi Montoya, who served in the role for less than two months in 2019. Karr Tuttle Campbell, a Seattle-based law firm with experience in labor and employment law including workplace investigations, will begin the review this week, according to WSU. The former provost, Montoya, clashed with university leadership when she raised questions about the budget and administrative structure at the university last summer, as the Inlander detailed in an article last week. “The independent review will examine three areas of concern including possible issues of gender bias against Montoya, any improper influence or pressure surrounding the decisions to terminate her appointment, and the role that the consulting firm Ideas for Action, LLC played in the decision,” a news release from WSU announcing the law firm reads. (WILSON CRISCIONE)

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MARCH 5, 2020 INLANDER 17

NEWS | ELECTION 2020

Pick a Party As the presidential primary nears, some question why independent-friendly Washington requires a party oath BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

o to dozens of other states in the union and Washington voters might be surprised to learn that people often declare their political party on their voter registration. In Washington, however, voters have long been able to vote for their preferred candidate regardless of party, a tradition that ultimately led to the creation of the top-two primary, where the top-two vote getters advance to the general election, rather than one candidate from each of the two main parties. But with the presidential primary — which is different than the usual top-two primary — now in full swing, some voters are confused as to why they must declare a party on their ballot before submitting their vote. “We’re getting a lot of people who are just unhappy about having to mark a party affiliation, because Washington voters are pretty independent,” Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton says. “This election is not about the general public. It’s for the benefit of the two major political parties. They are trying to decide who is going to be their candidate for their party on the November ballot, so this is about participating in a party activity. It’s not like any other election we have.”

WHY DO YOU HAVE TO DECLARE A PARTY?

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The requirement to declare a party didn’t come from the state’s top elections coordinator, Secretary of State Kim Wyman, but from the parties themselves, Wyman says. The state created its presidential primary in 1988 after Republican caucuses surprisingly led Washington’s delegation to vote for televangelist Pat Robertson at the national convention over George H.W. Bush, Wyman says. The state has held one each presidential cycle except for 2004 and 2012, and in every presidential primary since 1992, voters have had to declare an affiliation, Wyman says. During that first cycle in 1992, Wyman was working for the Republican Party and recalls that people were calling in livid at having to declare a party. “People lost their minds,” Wyman says. “I was called a communist, and they said I was stepping on their constitutional rights.” In 1996, the state added an “unaffiliated” option, allowing voters to mark their preference for a candidate from either major party. Democrats still did not use the primary to assign delegates, instead using caucuses. Republicans only used the primary results from declared Republican voters to assign half their delegates. And neither party used the “unaffiliated” results to assign any delegates, Wyman says, but voters still liked having the option. “You saw more than half the people chose the unaffiliated option in 2000, even though they knew it wouldn’t count,” Wyman says. In 2007, the state Legislature dropped the unaffiliated option, leaving people to declare Republican or Democrat or not vote. Wyman has asked the Legislature to add the unaffiliated option back several times since then, but the bills haven’t passed. With the party oath in place, this year is the first time both Democrats and Republicans will use the results of the Washington primary to assign delegates for their party’s nominee. Still, the lack of an “unaffiliated” option is what led even Wyman to submit her ballot but leave the oath unchecked, meaning her vote will not count if she doesn’t follow up with her

county elections officer to clarify her party. “I run elections and don’t want people to think I do that for one party only,” Wyman says.

WILL MY PARTY AFFILIATION BE PUBLIC?

Yes, for two months. “We’ll prepare a list for the Democrats, and for the Republicans,” Wyman says. “Once we do that, and because it is in the state database for 60 days, anyone can do a public records request for that.”

HOW WILL BALLOTS BE COUNTED AND WILL MY VOTE REMAIN SECRET?

Ballots will be separated into piles based on party. After signature verification and making sure one oath or the other is checked, elections staff will open the ballot envelopes and put the ballots into color-coordinated bins to be counted. Ballots in the Democratic bins will only be scanned for Democratic votes and likewise for Republicans. If a ballot in either stack is not marked on the corresponding party column, that vote will not count, says Dalton, the Spokane County auditor. Voters may also choose to declare an oath, sign their ballot envelope, and leave the ballot blank, which will count as an undervote, Dalton says. For voters concerned their postal worker would throw away a ballot based on party, Wyman says her office is reminding people that destroying mail is a federal crime and not likely to happen. If you’re still concerned, you can drop your ballot in an official drop box yourself, and you can always track its status to make sure it was received by logging in at votewa.gov.

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HOW DOES THE VOTE COUNT NOW THAT CANDIDATES ARE DROPPING OUT?

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About 20 percent of the nearly 335,000 registered Spokane County voters had returned their ballots as of Monday, March 2. But the county has already sent out more than 3,100 letters to voters who did not mark a party affiliation on their ballot envelope, Dalton says. Those letters must be answered with a party oath (that matches the vote marked on the ballot inside) for ballots to count, she says. “Once those letters come back in to us, we have to process them and match them back to the right envelope,” Dalton says. “This is a very labor-intensive election.” n samanthaw@inlander.com

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Votes will still be tallied for each candidate, but it is up to the parties to decide what they’ll do with that information. While Republicans only officially list President Donald Trump on the ballot, many listed on the Democratic side had already dropped out of the race before Super Tuesday, March 3, when 14 states held their primaries. Of the Democrats listed, only Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Michael Bloomberg, and Tulsi Gabbard were still running as of a week before Washington’s March 10 Election Day. If you already marked your ballot for a candidate who’s no longer running and haven’t yet turned it in, you may cross out the entire selection and fill in the bubble next to your preferred choice (as described with a visual at the top of your ballot). Ballots must be postmarked by March 10 or left in official drop boxes by 8 pm.

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MARCH 5, 2020 INLANDER 19

NEWS | CITY HALL

Statements, Corrected The city of Spokane wants an outside investigation to review serious concerns, the precise nature of which the city won’t reveal BY DANIEL WALTERS

hen Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward and her city administrator held a press conference on Friday to announce an outside investigation into city affairs, it was sold as a bold act of transparency. “The Woodward administration will conduct the people’s business in an accountable and transparent manner,” City Administrator Wes Crago declared. One problem: Officials weren’t willing to detail what they were being transparent about. This much officials were willing to say: The director of Community Housing and Human Services recently flagged concerns about the department’s previous work with community partners — concerns that were serious enough that the Mayor’s Office alerted the State Auditor’s Office and plans to hire a third-party investigator to dig into it. The review, Crago says, will be tasked with figuring out whether the city’s policies at the CHHS department were followed when awarding resources and whether any decisions lacked financial accountability. “Finally, was there any inappropriate pressure — either real or perceived — placed on staff in making decisions?” Crago said. Crago said that current staff members didn’t appear to be involved. But when pressed by the Inlander, Crago denied knowing which previous staff members may have been involved, who potential wrongdoers were or what the specific allegations were. He denied he’d even asked. “I don’t think we got into the specifics,” Crago said. Except, that wasn’t true.

LATE-BREAKING HONESTY

The biggest scandal of the previous administration involved, in part, a press conference denial: Mayor David Condon flatly denied there’d been any sexual harassment complaints lodged against his former police chief. When public records proved that Condon indeed knew about a sexual harassment allegation against the chief, and even met with the accuser’s lawyer, it sparked an ethics investigation into the mayor. Condon spent months lawyerly parsing definitions to claim what he said was technically true. But Crago has taken a different route. Just a few hours after the press conference, he called the Inlander directly to correct the record and to “personally apologize” for some of his answers. “My job is to be completely honest and not fumble the ball when I get it,” Crago says. “And I fumbled today. I’ll be upfront about it.” It was a “mistake,” Crago says, to deny that the city had specific knowledge of allegations before it launched the investigation. “I guess I wasn’t prepared for that question,” he says. “Those were my words. I said that. It’s my responsibility. Being very frank, that was my first real press conference.” In reality, Crago says, the Woodward administration does know more about the allegations, but it doesn’t want to risk biasing or limiting the third-party investigation by publicly discussing them. The goal, he says, is to give the investigator free rein to pursue “whatever they need to pursue to produce a

20 INLANDER MARCH 5, 2020

Spokane City Administrator Wes Crago.

DANIEL WALTERS PHOTO

report that we all can look at and say, ‘Yeah, that’s what happened, and this is why it happened. Here’s how we fix it.’” But because the city still hasn’t publicly clarified what exactly it wants to review, speculation has run rampant. The moment Friday’s press conference was over, former City Councilman Mike Fagan handed the Inlander a package of documents from the Guardians Foundation, the nonprofit where his son worked and which ran several warming shelters last winter. “It names names in there,” Fagan says.

SEX, LIES AND POLICE RECORDS

About a month before Woodward and Crago held their press conference, Mike Shaw, director of the Guardians Foundation, sent a letter to Spokane’s city prosecutor. “I am writing to report a crime that has been committed against the city of Spokane and civil servants thereof,” Shaw began. He argued that Julie Garcia, co-founder of Jewels Helping Hands, a different nonprofit that was picked to run a warming shelter this winter, was guilty of such a serious lie that it constituted a violation of state law. Shaw says he spoke with Woodward directly about the matter. “I asked her when she was going to be acting on this,” Shaw says. “She said she’d get to the bottom of it.” Initially, Shaw says his foundation was going to be running a warming center this winter, along with Jewels. But that changed in late September. On Sept. 22, Garcia wrote an email to Tija Danzig, with the city’s Community Housing and Human Services department, and relayed in writing accusations she’d been making for months about Guardians Foundation’s behavior at the Salem Lutheran warming center. “I saw with my own eyes employees engaging in sexual behavior with houseless women behind Salem Lutheran Church,” Garcia wrote. “I saw employees come to the warming center on their days off to engage in sexual behavior with our houseless women.” Garcia says she wrote the email at the city’s request. She wasn’t the only one formally voicing concerns. The city subsequently pulled Guardians’ contract and the

police started investigating into whether there’d been public sex — or even a sexual assault — behind the Salem Lutheran warming center. By November, however, the reputation of Jewels was also under attack: Jewels co-founder Jason Green had a 2015 conviction for embezzlement, and back in 2013 Garcia had been accused of attempting to steal from a 96-year-old man while she served as his caregiver. The prosecutor had dropped the case against Garcia due to her medical issues. Still, the city stuck with Jewels as the warming center operator, despite an offer from Truth Ministries to take over the contract. Months passed with little controversy. But then, about a month ago, Shaw got the records of the police investigation: While accompanying a homeless woman to a police interview in November, Garcia had shared a slew of secondhand allegations against the Guardians, but repeatedly denied that she’d directly witnessed “any sexual activity or sexual assaults.” Instead of sharing a first-hand account of sex behind Salem Lutheran, Garcia said “she saw a woman go out the back door with an employee of the shelter but did not see what happened to the woman once she left the building,” police records state. The investigation closed with no proof of sexual wrongdoing by Guardians employees. To Shaw, the records were proof that Garcia had made a false material statement to a public servant — a gross misdemeanor — in order to “alter city decisions and policies regarding homeless reporting. “Julie Garcia manipulated the entire system,” Shaw says. He told Woodward he was planning on going public, but he says Woodward asked him to hold off until after her press conference to avoid muddying the waters. “Nadine knows that we got screwed,” Shaw says. In a phone interview with the Inlander, however, Garcia stands by the incendiary claim that she refused to share with the police: “I actually did see one instance of [a Guardians employee] having sex standing behind Salem Lutheran,” Garcia says. She doesn’t recall the date, however, and won’t give the Inlander the name of the Guardians employee nor the other volunteer who she claims was with her when she witnessed it. “I don’t believe it’s my business to be naming people,” Garcia says. “I’m not an investigator. I help homeless people. That’s it.” She says that her denials she’d ever witnessed any sexual activity at the warming center weren’t intended to be comprehensive and that she intentionally refused to tell the police about the consensual sex she saw behind Salem Lutheran incident in order to protect the woman involved. “I’m not going to have those women drug through mud,” Garcia says. Garcia says she wasn’t trying to hurt the Guardians or influence how warming center contracts were awarded. Instead, she wanted the city to investigate the issues she’d raised about the Guardians long ago. Now, as the city embarks on a third-party investigation into whether pressure had been placed on the city’s Community Housing and Human Services process, staffers at the Guardians and Jewels Helping Hands can only speculate about whether it involves their own controversies. Crago, the city administrator, stressed to the Inlander that “at the moment, there is no link between our thirdparty review and the Spokane Police investigation of the Guardians.” They’re two parallel stories, he suggests, not the same one. But even that, eventually, could change. “However,” Crago hedges, “it’s possible those might intersect.” n danielw@inlander.com

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MARCH 5, 2020 INLANDER 21

THE ROAD FORWARD STORY BY JOSH KELETY â&#x20AC;¢ PHOTOS BY YOUNG KWAK

22 INLANDER MARCH 5, 2020

With ridership declining, we hop on the bus with one big question in mind: Where is the STA headed?

efore my car broke down, I didn’t ride the bus. Not that I have anything against public transit, but I didn’t really have a practical reason to use it: Traffic in Spokane isn’t awful, I can afford car-related expenses, and parking is easy enough to find. But with my dated Subaru crippled on the other side of the state, I had no other option. I rode the Greyhound back into town and was involuntarily wedded to Spokane’s buses from that point on. The horror! The horror! But so far, I’ve been generally impressed with Spokane’s public transit. The buses are on time, clean, and get me to dentist appointments and the local Goodwill. But I also end up wasting a lot of time waiting for infrequent buses on some routes. And there are other ways that the system is lacking: It’s tricky to go anywhere in the city without getting routed through downtown, there’s limited fare options for low-income riders, and ridership has been dropping over the last few years. At the same time, the network has a lot going for it. As a result of a 10-year funding plan that voters approved in 2016, Spokane Transit Authority (STA) has been rolling out a slew of heavyweight projects. High-frequency, 15-minute bus service now runs the length of North Monroe Street while construction on the long-awaited and high-profile City Line project is expected to begin this spring. With both its successes and shortcomings in mind, we put Spokane’s bus system to the test to see what’s working, what isn’t, and where it’s going.

WHO RIDES THE BUS?

In Spokane, like most American cities, the automobile reigns supreme. Some of the city’s old streetcar lines were literally paved over in the 1930s as people pivoted to cars for transportation. Now, an estimated 68 percent of people traveling to downtown Spokane get there by driving alone, according to a 2019 consultant study. In comparison, a meager 4 percent of people took transit to get downtown. In fact, ridership on Spokane’s buses has been slowly dropping since it peaked in 2014 — a decline that matches a nationwide trend in transit that experts attribute to numerous factors, like low gas prices, a good economy and rideshare services like Uber and Lyft. But those stats obscure the over 10 mil-

lion rides taken annually on STA’s buses. They’re students, families, seniors, blueand white-collar workers doing daily commutes, and people going out on the town to events like Hoopfest and Bloomsday. The reasons why they take mass transit are varied, ranging from convenience and cost to, as riders told us, the pure enjoyment of the bus. Take Bethany Medina, 35, who commutes on a daily basis from her home on the South Hill to downtown to her job at Washington Trust Bank. She could drive, but she says it’s “way less expensive” to take the bus given the price of parking. Bus riders aren’t just jumping between destinations in the heart of Spokane. Some of the most popular routes in 2018 were the high-frequency No. 25 route running along North Division (clocking in with 931,056 boardings), the 66 that zips between Spokane and Eastern Washington University in Cheney (494,466 boardings), and the highfrequency 90, which takes a beeline down East Sprague to Spokane Valley (logging a whopping 925,798 boardings). People are using the system and covering some serious ground while they’re at it. Like Sharon Belton, 47, who rides the bus on a daily basis during her commute from central Spokane out to Spokane Valley to do home health care work. She relies exclusively on her bike and the bus to get around. “It’s pretty efficient,” Belton says. “It’s more relaxing than having to actually be the driver and deal with all the chaos.” Tiar Atoigue, a 23-year-old bus rider, has a monster of a daily commute: He lives near the NorthTown Mall and works at the Coeur d’Alene Casino doing housekeeping and uses a combination of local buses and a shuttle that the casino runs to and from Spokane to get to his job. Atoigue says that while a car might be more convenient, he’s

not “financially ready” for one. Besides, he also just likes riding the bus. “I like riding them just for fun. Riding the bus helps my depression,” Atoigue says. “I have a hard time just being stuck at home.” Bus riders are also more diverse than the general population: While they’re still overwhelmingly white, they’re disproportionately black, Latino and Native American in comparison to the county’s overall demographics, according to a 2018 rider survey commissioned by the STA. Classwise, it skews towards people making low incomes. While the survey found that the average annual income of riders is $22,400 — over one-quarter reported making less than $12,140 annually — an estimated 16 percent earn more than $38,059 every year. But the notion that riding Spokane’s buses is a second-tier mode of transportation or strictly a measure of last resort for those who can’t afford a car is inaccurate, transit proponents say. Jack-Daniyel Strong, president of Strong Solutions (an Apple IT consulting business) and the former president of the East Spokane Business Association, regularly rides the bus to get to work, taking the 4 or 124 routes to get downtown and then the 90 to get out to his office on East Sprague Avenue. “Spokane has had a long-time attitude that mass transit is for poor people. I don’t consider myself a poor person, I ride the bus all the time,” he says.

BY THE NUMBERS

l A standard two-hour pass: $2 l Number of rides in 2018: 10,069,599 l Total STA revenue in 2018: $104.7 million, composed of bus fare, sales taxes and other government funding l Percent of revenue from passenger fares in 2018: 11 percent l Percent of revenue from local sales taxes in 2018: 70 percent

FEEDBACK

The STA is currently seeking feedback on its proposed changes to bus service from downtown Spokane to the West Plains and Cheney. They want to turn it into a major transit corridor by boosting bus frequency, hours of service, and add double-decker buses to move riders. The proposed changes would fold the existing No. 64 route into a new line, the 6, while maintaining the 66 to help support the new route during peak periods. The agency is taking feedback through an online survey through March 13. Here’s a link: surveymonkey.com/r/cheneyline.

FACING PAGE: STA driver Kristie Parham on Route 4 in downtown Spokane.

WHAT’S MISSING

There’s a lot to like about Spokane’s bus system. But there are still issues, including the lack of a dedicated bus route to Coeur d’Alene and insufficient east-west routes within Spokane. But one of the biggest criticisms is ...continued on next page

MARCH 5, 2020 INLANDER 23

TRANSIT “THE ROAD FORWARD,” CONTINUED... about the frequency of Spokane’s buses, or general lack thereof. While the STA has rolled out several high-frequency routes that run on 15-minute intervals during the daytime hours, many buses show up at stops every 30 minutes. In the evenings and on the weekends, those intervals drop considerably to 60 minutes or simply don’t run at all. Currently, STA only runs six 15-minute interval highfrequency routes. For transit experts, frequency — typically defined as 15 minutes or less — is one of the major factors in boosting ridership. Intuitively, it makes sense: People hate waiting for the bus. “Frequency has been shown to be one of the strongest pushes for increasing ridership and reliability and rider satisfaction and also making it a service that is used by people who have other choices,” says Jessica Engelman, founder of Spokane Active Transportation, an alternative transportation advocacy group. “If you don’t own a car and walking or biking to a destination isn’t an option, you’ll take a bus if it comes every half-hour or hour. You’re a captured audience. But if you have the option of driving, why would you take the bus?” In Richmond, Virginia, for example, the combination of a new bus-rapid-transit line that opened in summer 2018, in addition to a redesign of the bus network that included increased frequency, boosted ridership by 17 percent in just one year. The new high-frequency Monroe-Regal line introduced last fall, which runs every 15 minutes on weekdays, is a local case study in the popularity of frequent transit. “It’s now the busiest route in our system,” says Karl Otterstrom, STA’s director of planning and development. “Certainly, there is growth in ridership no matter where it is based on increasing frequency.” Still, anecdotes about waiting arduously long for Spokane’s buses are abundant. “I had a meeting in the Hillyard area and I ended up walking 3 miles home because I missed the bus and the next one wasn’t coming for an hour,” Strong says. “I could walk it in 45 minutes. Was it convenient? No, it was snowy and icy out. But this is what pedestrians are left with.” “I wish they would extend them more on the weekends,” Belton says, recalling a time that she had to spend a night at a friend’s house in Spokane Valley because she missed her bus. “It’s so easy to get stuck.” Both STA officials and members of its governing board are well aware of the concern. For them, it’s a cost-benefit analysis: How to maximize ridership and the coverage area most effectively with limited financial resources. (Roughly three-quarters of STA’s funding comes from voter-approved sales taxes, while the rest comes from passenger fares and various government grants.) Factors like commercial and residential density and community feedback come into play as well. “If cost wasn’t a factor, you’d provide transit everywhere. But cost is a factor and taxpayers who pay for the service expect accountability,” says Spokane County Commissioner Al French, who chairs the STA Board of Directors. “If the most I can afford to spend on a route is 30-minute frequencies, but I can deliver service to an area that might otherwise not be served, am I better to do the 30 minutes or not do the service at all?” Jarrett Walker, a Portland-based public transit consultant and author of Human Transit: How Clearer Thinking About Public Transit Can Enrich Our Communities and Our Lives, says that issues with Spokane’s bus frequency are reflective of the political balancing act that transit agencies across the nation face. “No transit agency that I know [of] has been directed

24 INLANDER MARCH 5, 2020

TOP: Tiar Atoigue headed home from work at Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort Hotel. MIDDLE: Mariah Geis waiting for the No. 4 bus. BOTTOM: Sharon Belton, who rides the bus on a daily basis during her commute from central Spokane to Spokane Valley to do home health care work. “It’s pretty efficient,” Belton says. “It’s more relaxing than having to actually be the driver and deal with all the chaos.”

BUS RIDER TOOLKIT

For smartphone users, there are plenty of apps that can help you navigate the local bus system on a daily basis. For one, Google Maps uses real-time data from Spokane Transit Authority and is fairly reliable. Otherwise, bus riders can use apps that rely on transit agency data, like OneBusAway and Moovit. Then there’s Transit, an all-encompassing app that not only includes bus data but also lets you check local bike-sharing locations and Uber or Lyft availability and pricing. As far as bus fare, one can pay cash for a two-hour pass or a day pass on the bus, or buy monthly or weekly passes three different ways: online, at local retail stores or at the STA Plaza. “Smart Cards” are also available at the STA Plaza to add money or passes to as you see fit. Smart Cards, however, can only be reloaded at the Plaza. (JK)

by its board to design a network for maximum performance transit network, which is corridors ridership,” he says. “A network for maximum around the region that have all-day two-way ridership would not go to many places. It would frequent service,” Otterstrom says. “The City only go to places for clear high-ridership potenLine is the key centerpiece of the 10-year plan tial as dictated by the land use and development. right now for implementing that bigger long-term No one finds that politically acceptable so transit vision.” agencies are required to run a certain amount of The City Line, previously called the Central low-ridership fixed-route services.” City Line, will run 6 miles from Browne’s AdSome stakeholders also criticize the radial dition to Spokane Community College through nature of the bus network: Most routes circle downtown at intervals of around seven minutes. back to the STA Plaza in downtown Spokane, It’ll be Spokane’s first “bus rapid transit” project, meaning that riders trying to head east or west a term that describes high-capacity, fast, and often have to transfer downtown before getting to frequent service along a specific corridor. The their destination. In North Spokane, for instance, buses will be all electric and will feature prethe only elongated east-west routes are the 33 board ticketing, meaning passengers can enter (a high-frequency route), which spans Wellesley from all doors of the bus. Transit officials predict Avenue, and the 22 and the 27, which together that the service will garner an estimated 1 million cover Francis Avenue. rides annually. “I live in northeast Spokane. If I want to There are purported economic benefits as get to northwest Spokane, I have to take a bus well: A 2014 study estimated that the project downtown, transfer and then get back out,” says would increase land values along the route by Kate Burke, a Spokane city councilwoman rep$45 million and generate $175 million in land resenting northeast Spokane and an STA board improvements over several decades. member. “It works well if you’re just trying to go “The benefit for having public transportation downtown, but if you’re trying to go to another is not only providing access for work and school area of town, that’s really difficult.” and medical, but also it reduces the total number Otterstrom says that the concentration of of vehicles on the road that we have to share lane jobs, events and various attractions in downtown miles with,” French says. “So there’s benefits for Spokane, coupled with demand for high-frequenthose who are users, there’s benefit for those who cy bus service, lead to a network are not users but will benefit because that’s skewed towards routing there is less congestion on the roads.” LETTERS routes through downtown: French is a big believer in the Send comments to “There are trade-offs with people economic stimulus impacts of public editor@inlander.com. making connections via transtransit. fers,” he says. “Without transit, a lot of folks Another major hole in the regional system would not be able to access retail opportunities, is the lack of a dedicated public transit route to whether it’s NorthTown [Mall] or downtown or Coeur d’Alene. An estimated 4,128 Spokane the local grocery store,” he says. “It’s a critical County residents work in Kootenai County element for being able to bring customers to your and 9,322 Kootenai County residents work in front door.” Spokane County, according to Sam WolkenThe city of Spokane still has to do work to hauer, a regional labor economist at the Idaho adjust zoning along the City Line route to allow Department of Labor. Those figures are decent the density — and potential ridership — that planindicators of cross-border commuting. ners envision along the route, French says. Currently, STA has set a loose goal of adding “That’s something the city has still got to bus service to Coeur d’Alene by 2025. Brandon wrestle with,” he says. Rapez-Betty, a spokesman for STA, says that the With sufficient funding lined up for the City idea is to have a “fixed-route commuter-focused Line — over $53 million in federal grant fundbus service.” However, the project is still pretty ing was recently acquired — construction on the theoretical. project is scheduled to begin in May, with an Commissioner French says that he’s brought estimated completion date of 2022. And there’s the idea up with Kootenai County officials in the more to come in the next few years: Transit ofpast, but that it always stalled out due to a lack of ficials want to add high-frequency double-decker funding on the Idaho side. buses to Cheney, as well as reconfigure routes in “I think it’s worth pursuing in the near northeast Spokane to boost frequency and add future,” he says. “The challenge is how do we more east-west routes. fund it.” “If you think about what transit [agencies] around the country are successful in doing, it’s frequent transit that’s reliable and cost-effective. In 2016, voters approved a 10-year STA project It serves places that are dense, sort of places that plan dubbed “Moving Forward” — greenlighting are walkable,” Otterstrom adds. “I think that’s a bump in local sales taxes to fund it. The ballot the best way to describe it because that’s really measure covered everything from extending what we’re investing in.” night service on Saturdays, constructing parkThe 10-year plan isn’t the end of the road, and-rides, establishing more high-frequency bus however. The region’s population is expected to service (such as the now popular Monroe-Regal grow 21 percent by 2040, according to estimates No. 4 route) and the high-profile City Line from the Spokane Regional Transportation project. Council. Jason Lien, a principal transportaAs STA officials see it, the vision is to have tion planner with the council, says that while regional “corridors” that offer high-frequency the share of people taking public transit isn’t service with connecting routes branching off of expected to change dramatically, mass transit them. service will have to be increased to meet future “The biggest part of the vision is the high...continued on next page

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TRANSIT

Some of the most popular routes in 2018 were the high-frequency No. 25 route running along North Division, the 66 that zips between Spokane and Cheney, and the 90, which takes a beeline down East Sprague to Spokane Valley.

“THE ROAD FORWARD,” CONTINUED... demand — especially among a growing senior population who are projected to live far from current transit routes. To truly build out the system, transit officials envision more projects, such as potentially constructing another bus-rapid-transit project along North Division Street. And more money from the voters would likely be needed to realize those ambitions. “We didn’t expect [the 10-year plan] to be the end-all,” Otterstrom says. “I would expect a time when our board wants to bring forward to the public a new strategic plan for action or additional services, different investment in infrastructure.” “I don’t think it’s out of the question,” he adds, referring to future ballot measures. “We’re in a growing place and transit is here to grow along with the region.”

vide free bus passes to their respective clientele, there is no dedicated bus pass for low-income riders, aside from passes that nonprofit service providers buy from the transit agency and discounted monthly passes for seniors, dis-

“We’re talking about changing people’s lives in measurable ways and immeasurable ways.”

QUESTIONING FARES

Across the nation, numerous cities and transit agencies are experimenting with (or have long operated) fareless transit, where people don’t have to pay anything to ride the bus. Olympia’s bus network, Intercity Transit, went fareless earlier this year, while Kansas City, Missouri, is implementing a similar program. And just last week, officials in King County approved providing free yearlong bus passes to low-income riders. “It’s definitely gaining more attention now,” says Ben Fried, a spokesman for TransitCenter, a pro-mass transit think tank in New York City. “Kansas City was a pretty high-profile example of a larger urban place deciding to go fareless.” Locally, some stakeholders have been calling for more affordable (or free) bus pass options for low-income riders. While the STA has deals with local colleges and the Kendall Yards Business District Association to pro-

26 INLANDER MARCH 5, 2020

abled riders or Medicare recipients. And regular payment options aren’t exactly inexpensive: Aside from paying the $2 cash fare, riders can buy $4 day passes, monthly $60 passes, seven-day passes for $17, or put money on bus cards at the STA Plaza. “We have many individuals who are living on less than $700, $800 dollars a month,” says Cameryn Flynn, transportation coordinator at Spokane Neighborhood Action Partnership, a human services provider. “Transportation is a huge barrier to get people to and from services, to resources like food.” Councilwoman Burke has long advocated for a lowincome bus pass. She’s also open to exploring a fareless system. “Let’s not even talk about people experiencing homelessness or people who don’t have jobs, but just people in my district who have four people in their family and don’t have a car, it’s nearly impossible for them to ride the bus,” she says. “The core of the problem is people are having a problem purchasing $60-a-month passes.” “I would love to see a fare-free system,” Burke adds. “I would like to see us do some sort of pilot to see how

that would play out in our community.” Currently, the STA is exploring ways to provide free passes to low-income riders, at the direction of its governing board. At a Feb. 20 board meeting, Steve Blaska, STA’s interim chief operations officer, recommended pursuing a program where nonprofits can buy hourly and daily passes at a 50 percent discount. But the notion of abolishing fares is largely out of the question, local officials say. For one, STA policy (as approved by the governing board) mandates that fares compose a target goal of 20 percent of operating costs. In 2018, for instance, fares covered 17 percent of operating expenses. And fares strictly finance operating costs — buses on the street, in other words. “One of the most important things we’ve heard from customers is that they want more and better transit service,” says STA spokesman Rapez-Betty. “That’s kind of at odds with cutting revenue by reducing fares.” French is a staunch defender of the current fare system. He views collecting fares as fulfilling a promise to voters who approved the 10-year plan transit funding measure in 2016 that riders will also contribute to the cost of transit. “When you have riders who aren’t sharing that cost, I worry that we are violating that trust of the voters who approved to fund the agency,” he says. “We, in our last funding package, committed to a variety of improvements and expansion of the service — none of which was free bus passes.” In Olympia, transit officials report significant boosts in ridership after their system went fareless: In the first month, ridership increased almost 20 percent. “The feedback that we’re getting from the community is: ‘It’s really helping out with my budget, I’m able to get to school, I’m taking a new job,’” says Intercity Transit General Manager Ann Freeman-Manzanares. “We’re talking about changing people’s lives in measurable ways

LIGHT RAIL DREAMS

Years ago, near the turn of the century, regional officials were toying with the idea of building a regional light rail system. But voters weren’t of the same mind. In 2006, two advisory votes on a proposal to construct a light rail line between the airport and Liberty Lake were rejected at the ballot. The STA board subsequently (and unanimously) disbanded the steering committee overseeing the light

rail initiative. But that wasn’t the end of officials’ transit ambitions. Officials looked into deploying a much smaller streetcar system or a series of electric buses. Eventually, they landed on “bus rapid transit” and worked to get various funding sources together — including getting voters to approve a tax increase for mass transit in 2016 — to finance what is now called the City Line project. (JK)

and immeasurable ways.” The shift to a fareless system came after voters approved a sales tax increase last fall for other route services. Previously, fares accounted for roughly 8-10 percent of the transit agency’s budget. However, it also cost an estimated $500,000 annually to collect fares, according to FreemanManzanares. In Corvallis, Oregon, a college town of about 58,000 people, the local transit agency went fareless back in 2011. According to Tim Bates, the city’s transit coordinator, they witnessed substantial ridership gains. In the first year, he says, ridership went up by 39 percent. “I can’t imagine ever going back,” Bates says. “We’re still way above anything we came close to before we became fareless.” On the question of going entirely fareless, French says: “If something is free, yes, it is going to be used more, but who pays the bill for that? The taxpayers.” The evidence is mixed on whether changes in fares alone can boost ridership rates. While numerous studies show that fare increases are associated with suppressed ridership, investment in the quality of transit services is also an important factor in increasing use. “In our surveys of transit riders is that, yes, the price of the fare [matters to] riders but the quality of the service matters more,” says Fried of the TransitCenter. For him, going fareless can undermine funding for high-frequency transit that otherwise would boost ridership on its own. “There’s a tension between going fareless on one hand and providing a good service that lets people shed the costs of car ownership.”

indeed go to the mall. She answers: “eventually.” Onboard is a mix of youth, adult professionals and older, disheveled men who appear to be going through some hard times. After a brief stop at the transit center at Spokane Community College where the bus turns into another route — there’s a brief moment of comedic suspense where some riders joke that the bus has broken down — we take off down East Trent Avenue. It’s a largely industrial stretch of road, but we’re still routinely picking people up and dropping them off along the way; the bus stays pretty full and we’re moving along the route at a good clip. Cars generally don’t seem to be passing us, except for when we stop. After about an hour, we arrive at the mall, where I hop off. I pop my head in the mall briefly before realizing that the next bus isn’t for another 50 minutes. So I end up inhaling a teriyaki chicken rice bowl before planting myself at the bus stop to wait. If I were spending 45 or 90 minutes shopping, the intervals would be convenient. But if you wanted to run in and out of the mall quickly, you might end up waiting over 45 minutes for the next bus. To return, the next bus heading west is late, but only by a few minutes. Again, it’s surprisingly full, and we roll back into Spokane with a posse. The trip takes almost exactly an hour, as predicted. Talk about on-time performance! Afterward, I compare STA’s performance against other modes of transport. A bike ride (mostly along the Centennial Trail) would have matched the bus, taking me about an hour in each direction, Google Maps tells me. Walking would be a slog of almost four hours. As for a car, it would be a roughly 20-minute ride. But as I mentioned above, my car died, and I have places to go. n

TESTING THE SYSTEM

We wanted to put our local bus system to the test, so I ventured out to the Spokane Valley Mall on a weekend, when bus frequencies drop significantly and some riders reported feeling stranded. Could the bus efficiently get me to and from a major shopping center far away from the urban core of Spokane? Here’s how the experiment played out: On a recent brisk and overcast Saturday afternoon, I start at the STA Plaza. Google Maps tells me that at 1:35 pm, Route 29 to Spokane Community College will get me to the mall in roughly an hour. When the 29 arrives (and it’s on time), the bus fills up. I ask the bus driver if the bus does

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Josh Kelety is a staff writer primarily covering Spokane County government and criminal justice issues. He's written about police misconduct, how jails are dealing with the opioid crisis, a local addiction counselor who led a double life as a drug dealer, and the ways that telecom corporations profit off of prison inmates. He can be reached at joshk@inlander.com or at 325-0634 ext. 237.

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DANCE

MORE THAN MOVES A major dance conference at Gonzaga highlights how the art form can serve communities off stage BY RILEY UTLEY

hen Suzanne Ostersmith came to Gonzaga 20 years ago to teach in the Theatre & Dance Department, the school had one dance studio and one theater, and the dance major and minor didn’t even exist. Now, two decades later, Ostersmith and the university have built up the program and invested in facilities that not only have the ability to house the school’s growing dance program but host a major dance conference. Thirty-one different dance programs from eight states, bringing more than 550 college dancers, will descend on the GU campus next week for the American College Dance Association (ACDA) Northwest Conference. “I’ve been taking students to this conference for 17 years and have learned so much from it,” Ostersmith says. “Here in Spokane, in our region, we don’t have a

regular offering of dance … I always wanted our students to be able to go see professional dance and write about it and they couldn’t. Going to this conference was a really valuable way to see dance and see what other universities are doing.” This ACDA conference is the first time it’s been held in Washington state in 15 years and is composed of various concerts and classes. World-renowned Mark Morris Dance Group will perform at the opening concert March 11. The New York City-based group is known for utilizing live music in its performances and for community service. One of their goals, as stated on the Mark Morris website, is “service as a cultural resource to engage and enrich the community.” “Hosting an internationally renowned dance group such as Mark Morris Dance Group would

not be possible without this conference,” Ostersmith said. “It’s a high-end and expensive enough endeavor that if I were just bringing them for a performance and just trying to fill the seats, we wouldn’t be ready for that. I’m really proud of the service that we’re providing the region by deciding to host them.” Having the Mark Morris Dance Group perform is fitting because the conference theme is “dance as service,” and there will be a focus throughout the conference on using dance as a way to reach underserved communities. A member of Mark Morris founded “Dance for Parkinson’s,” one of the major service opportunities regularly available through the GU dance program, offering those with the disease and their care partners free movement classes taught by GU students. ...continued on next page

The Mark Morris Dance Group blends movement and community service. NAN MELVILLE PHOTO

MARCH 5, 2020 INLANDER 29

CULTURE | DANCE

The American College Dance Association visits Spokane next week.

NAN MELVILLE PHOTO

“MORE THAN MOVES,” CONTINUED... “I think there’s a lot of different ways that ‘dance as service’ can manifest, and that’s actually something that we’re going to talk about at the conference,” says Helen Schantz, the dance-asservice coordinator for the ACDA conference and a GU senior majoring in political science, French and dance. “I think it means something different to everyone.” “I think overall dance-for-service means bringing dance into the lives of people who maybe wouldn’t ordinarily be able to access it through watching and doing dance,” Schantz said.

he conference is being run by 41 student volunteers from Gonzaga, many of them dance majors who’ve been inspired to use their passion to serve the community. They hope visiting attendees will go home and do the same. “When we had the chance to make our whole conference theme around that, I think both Suzanne and I felt like it was the perfect option,” says Audrey Parks, the student conference coordinator and a senior majoring in communication studies and dance. “We felt like we could expose our whole region to how important dance is and how much dance can offer a service aspect that may not always be seen.” ACDA will also serve as an opportunity for the Spokane community to see how much the dance scene has grown. “We are the presenter of dance in this region now, and I take that job very seriously and I’m really excited about it,” Ostersmith says. “In addition to educating our dancers and expanding this program, I’m also thinking about how to develop dance audiences in this region because I believe it exists.” While the conference is geared toward students, the public can attend via a $150 “patron pass” that includes the chance to see six different concerts, including the Mark Morris Dance Group. “We titled it a ‘patron package’ because they get to see Mark Morris but they’re also supporting this idea of university students creating dance,” Ostersmith says. “It’s also a pass because they can go to two of the concerts and then they can give their lanyard pass to their granddaughter or their neighbor and they can go see the other concerts, so it is exchangeable in that way.” This conference will serve as an opportunity for students to come to GU and learn about dance and for the community surrounding GU to come and see how much dance has grown in the last few years. “I’m really excited for other universities to come here and be exposed to the way we do dance as service and then go back to their own communities, assess their communities’ needs and provide for those through the arts,” Schantz says. n American College Dance Association Northwest Conference • March 11-14 • $150 patron pass • Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center • 211 E Desmet Ave • gonzaga.edu/americancollege-dance-association-conference • 313-6508

30 INLANDER MARCH 5, 2020

CULTURE | DIGEST

Five Series to Stream in March DOESN’T ADD UP There shouldn’t be so much math involved in buying toilet paper. As you weigh whether to spend $15.99 or $9.99 for 12 rolls, the tissue paper industrial complex does its damndest to distract your brain with flashy math on the corner of the packaging. “Hey savvy consumer! These 12 rolls are actually like 36 rolls!” they shout. Looking at just four rolls? “No, you’re not, little missy, that’s actually like 8 rolls right there!” How big were these original rolls if modern science now squeezes three or four times that onto one tube? Who is the OG TP? The roll formerly-known-as-good-enough? Open your eyes, sheeple: The math is a lie, distracting us from the only essential question: Is this some single-ply itchy garbage, or super soft? (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

BY BILL FROST

reat American sketch series Mr. Show With Bob & David once revealed the true secret of thespianism: “All acting is is jumping up and down and screaming a lot.” I drop this not to entice you to revisit Mr. Show (though you totally should), but to warn you that Adam Sandler’s inexplicably acclaimed Uncut Gems arrives on VOD this month. Yeah… watch these instead: BETTER CALL SAUL (Seasons 1-4 on Netflix; Season 5 on AMC) Speaking of Mr. Show, can we take a beat to appreciate Bob Odenkirk? Yes, everyone on Breaking Bad prequel Better Call Saul is fantastic — Rhea Seehorn in particular — but Odenkirk’s Jimmy/Saul is THE performance of the Bad universe (sorry, Heisenberg). Few crime sagas are as steeped in raw humanity as Better Call Saul; do yourself a favor and dive in this month. HUNTERS (Season 1 on Amazon Prime Video) Critics and Jewish historians alike are appalled by Hunters, a comically bloody fantasy about 1970s New

THE BUZZ BIN York City Nazi killers — but, as show creator David Weil politely replied, “It’s not a documentary” (I would have added, “Suck it, fun police”). Hunters’ pulp fiction is highly Tarantino-ized, but features minimal scenerychewing from Al Pacino. It’s that unpredictable.

THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST Some noteworthy new music hits online and in stores March 6. To wit: STEPHEN MALKMUS, Traditional Techniques. Early signs indicate the Pavement frontman is back in fine form after going electronic on last year’s Groove Denied. PHANTOGRAM, Ceremony. The synth-pop duo’s first album since 2016 features the tasty songcraft we’ve come to expect. MANDY MOORE, Silver Landings. The This Is Us actress/singer’s first album since her divorce from Ryan Adams. That might be the only reason to give it a spin. (DAN NAILEN)

BEACH PARTY I’m a newcomer to the charms of Beach Bunny, despite the band’s witty single “Prom Queen” going semi-viral on TikTok last year. But I’ve been hooked by the Chicago quartet’s debut album Honeymoon since it was released on Valentine’s Day, and its irresistible, sugary songs really satisfy my indie-pop sweet tooth. The project of songwriter Lili Trifilio, Beach Bunny is half teenage doo-wop, half beamed-from-the-’90s garage-rock, and imbued with timeless angst. I can’t wait for summer so I can drive around blasting this with all the windows down. (NATHAN WEINBENDER)

OUTSIDE PERSPECTIVE If you want to understand the rise of homelessness on the West Coast, it’s hard to find a better way than listening to the nuanced, thorough and heart-wrenching podcast Outsiders by KNKX and the Seattle Times. Jumping off in Olympia, which has seen homelessness explode recently, the podcast takes a holistic look at how and why homelessness has risen, with poignant and tragic human stories highlighting the complexities of each individual. Check it out every Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts. (WILSON CRISCIONE)

DEVS (Season 1 on Hulu) Nick Offerman steals the Wig of Shame trophy from The Witcher in Devs, a twisty thriller from Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation). Software engineer Lily (Sonoya Mizuno) suspects that her company’s CEO (Offerman) had her boyfriend “suicided,” and soon uncovers a sinister tech conspiracy (aren’t they all?). Garland has eight hours to blow your mind, and he will. WESTWORLD (Seasons 1-3 on HBO Now) Remember Westworld? It’s been almost two years since season two dropped a megaton of unnerving info about synthetic humans and also set a few loose in the unsuspecting “real” world. Season three (premiering March 15) expands the robo-drama beyond its cowboy confines, and we so deserve it — as Futurama’s Bender once said, “You meatbags had your chance.” BROCKMIRE (Seasons 1-3 on Hulu; Season 4 on IFC) The first two seasons of Brockmire followed the gonzo exploits of alcoholic ex-MLB baseball announcer Jim Brockmire (Hank Azaria); the third sobered him up but sacrificed no profane hilarity. Season four (premiering March 18) goes for broke by fast-forwarding to 2035 and naming Jim the commissioner of baseball(!). Just in time for President Ivanka’s second term. Cool. n

THE BICKERING GODS OF HADES Play enough video games and you get familiar with the genre where you fight deep into a dungeon until you finally die, at which point you start all over again, a little more powerful from the effort. In Hades, where you play as the son of the lord of the underworld repeatedly trying to escape the underworld, that Sisyphean task seems entirely fitting — hell, pretty early on in your quest you meet the actual Sisyphus, standing by a boulder and everything. But the best part is the way that Hades plays the Greek pantheon of gods, portraying them as a family of mischievous rivals who grant you powers more out of a desire to spite their divine coworkers rather than any sense of benevolence. Plus, that Dionysius really knows how to party. (DANIEL WALTERS)

Visit billfrost.tv for more trenchant television coverage.

MARCH 5, 2020 INLANDER 31

CULTURE | CLASSICAL

Do you or a loved one have: • Parkinson’s Disease • Multiple Sclerosis

• Dementia/Alzheimer’s • Huntington’s Disease

We also have genetic screening for many neurological diseases

Please call: 509-960-2818 •

The Ferris PTG Presents the 57th Ham on Regal Show and Fundraiser! Eileen Ivers puts her fiddle’s strangs to masterful use.

Sun, March 8 2 pm Wed, March 11 7 pm Thu, March 12 7 pm Fri, March 13 7 pm Sat, March 14 1:30 & 7 pm

Tickets: $9 at hamonregal.org (or at the door) Ferris Auditorium — 37th and Regal, Spokane 32 INLANDER MARCH 5, 2020

The Jigs and the Reels Virtuoso fiddler Eileen Ivers and her Irish folk-music trio are sharing the concert stage with the Spokane Symphony BY E.J. IANNELLI

s one of the world’s most prominent fiddlers, Eileen Ivers is often asked to explain what separates her instrument from a violin. She has an anecdote at the ready. “We did an outreach years ago down in Clemson, South Carolina. And a 10- or 11-year-old girl raised her hand and said, ‘Miss Ivers, Miss Ivers! Do you know the difference between a violin and a fiddle? Well, a violin has strings, but a fiddle has strangs,’” Ivers says, shedding her Bronx accent to affect a Southern drawl.

And yet, as Ivers is also wont to note, famed classical violinist Itzhak Perlman has been known to refer to his violin as a fiddle. “I like to go back and forth,” she says. “The upshot is that the instruments are really the same, and even musically they’re interchangeable.” One piece that showcases their interchangeability is “Pachelbel’s Frolics,” an extended riff on Pachelbel’s familiar Canon. “Frolics” is a crossover crowd-pleaser, which is why Ivers frequently incorporates it into orchestral concerts like the one she’s performing with the Spokane Symphony Saturday. “The concertmaster usually joins me downstage, and we get into this wonderful classical fiddling thing, where the piece starts as the Canon and progresses … to an Irish reel at the end. So it really blurs the lines.” Along with featuring longtime audience favorites like “Frolics,” the concert will incorporate some new material. Ivers is less than a week away from officially releasing Scatter the Light, her first LP since 2016’s Beyond the Bog Road, and she’s worked a few of its songs into her setlist. “We’ve just added a few new arrangements, and we’ll be playing the latest one, which we’ve only played with one other symphony. It’s a new song called ‘Shine.’ … We had an arranger do a beautiful job with the orchestral palette to really enhance the emotion of the song,” she says. “It speaks to the passage of time and it being so fragile and fleeting. The underpinning message is just to make the most of the time we have, to be good, do good, and really be grateful for what we have.” The set will also draw from previous records as well as Riverdance, the blockbuster Irish dance show that Ivers began touring with in the mid-1990s. For these symphony concerts, Ivers travels with her full band except for upright bassist Lindsey Horner. That means guitarist Matthew Mancuso, percussionist Dave Barckow and keyboardist Martin “Buddy” Connolly will join her on stage, along with local Irish dancers from the Haran School. “It’s a show that’s really full of, obviously, lots of instrumental pieces but also songs. It touches everything from 17th century [Turlough] O’Carolan, who was a blind harpist in Ireland, through to original tunes written by myself. So it’s a really nice survey of Irish music and roots music through the years.” Much like Beyond the Bog Road, an album on which Ivers sought to highlight the enduring influence of traditional Celtic music on distinctly American genres like bluegrass and country, the concert quietly doubles as an educational experience. “During the show, I love to talk about the relationship between Celtic music and one of the things that came from its roots, that being Americana music.” Ivers says the unique thing about the full-orchestra concerts is that it accentuates certain “emotive lines” in the music to create a grander, richer musical experience. “It’s always a different kind of performance when you have this incredible orchestra sharing the stage, sharing the music with you. I mean, even just a lone oboe line can get the hair on the back of your neck standing up,” she says. But there are also times when the orchestra has to fade into the background and let the spotlight fall on a single instrumentalist. “For me and our band, it’s important that sometimes the orchestra remains tacit within a certain section or two of different pieces, because part of our music and Irish music is improvisation. You want to have that freedom to have an open-ended improv or really take the solo out a little bit,” she says. “I love those moments because that’s very real. It’s very much a part of who we are and what the tradition dictates. And then, of course, when the orchestra comes back in, it uplifts it even more.” n

Spokane Chapter

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR OUR ANNUAL FUNDRAISER TODAY! March 13, 2020 | 6pm-9pm

join us at the double tree hotel Silent Auction & Hors d'oeuvres

Tickets: $45 Online or $50 at the door

Get Your Tickets online at:

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Thank you to our Sponsors

Spokane Symphony Pops 5: Eileen Ivers • Sat, Mar. 7 at 8 pm • $43-$95 • Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox • 1001 W. Sprague Ave. • spokanesymphony.com • 624-1200

MARCH 5, 2020 INLANDER 33

The Grant Park Community Garden in Spokane’s South Perry District.

GARDENING

Grow Your Own Food The Inland Northwest has more community gardens than ever, offering shared know-how and ideal places to grow fresh food BY CHEY SCOTT

decade or so ago, if you lived in Spokane city limits and had a particularly shady yard, no room to garden or a less-than-green thumb, there weren’t many alternatives for growing your own food. Since then, however, opportunities for urban gardeners have rapidly blossomed, with new community gardening spaces popping up each year in neighborhoods across the region. Community gardens are just that; public spaces where neighbors can come together to grow whatever produce they like after paying a small fee to rent a garden bed for the season, water included. These gardens are usually located on empty lots — several in Spokane are on city-owned water department property — or at churches and schools. “I’m the one who started community gardens [here] back in 2006, and have been a part of it since then, but it’s only been in the last couple of years that there’s been a strong push” to establish more community gardens, says local gardening expert Pat Munts. Munts has been gardening for more than four decades and currently serves as small farms and urban agriculture coordinator for Washington State University’s Spokane County Extension. “There’s now over 60 in Spokane County, and we started with four,” she adds.

34 INLANDER MARCH 5, 2020

hile this year’s outdoor planting window is more than a month away, now is the time for newcomers to get involved with their local garden since openings fill up fast. In the South Perry neighborhood, the Grant Park Community Garden has offered a place for residents of the area, designated a food desert, to grow their own veggies since 2011. The garden located off Ninth Avenue behind Grant Park Elementary is one of the largest in the city with 44 growing boxes for rent. Garden manager Peggy Parker is readying for her seventh season overseeing the garden, after initially getting involved because her backyard isn’t sunny enough to grow herbs and veggies. “As garden manager I help all the new gardeners with anything they might need, all the way down to helping them plot their bed to make sure they get the maximum amount of produce,” Parker says. While the Grant Park garden has been vandalized a few times in recent years, Parker says its benefits far outweigh the struggles. To support hungry neighbors and deter theft, volunteers annually plant tomatoes, salad greens, herbs and more along the outside of the garden’s fence with signage telling anyone to take what they need. Parker also shares stories of curious children who come by to help her weed and pick veggies to bring

home. At Grant Park and other gardens, many locals are getting their hands dirty for the first time to grow fresh, organic produce with the support of more experienced gardeners working alongside them. “That is why we do community gardening,” Parker says. “We want to inspire the next generation and we want to make sure that people have fresh food. We want to demonstrate sustainability and the sense of community that we’re all in this together.” Parker also serves as board vice president of the Inland Northwest Community Gardens, a region-wide resource that helps struggling or new community gardens and gardeners. The nonprofit’s website (incgincommunitygardens.org) offers a directory of active community gardens across Eastern Washington, North Idaho, far Western Montana and Northeastern Oregon. Outside of the Spokane core, community gardens have sprung up in Deer Park, Cheney, Liberty Lake, Colville, Davenport, Coeur d’Alene and beyond.

ennis Anderson, co-founder and manager of the Commons Community Garden behind Sacajawea Middle School on the South Hill, got involved for the same reason Parker did — his yard was just not sunny enough to garden. “My wife and I were selfishly interested in growing tomatoes and basil because we could not do it in our own yard, and that got us talking to people with a similar interest,” Anderson recalls. The Commons currently has three openings for the 2020 growing season, he says, noting that contact info for the Commons and other area gardens is posted on INW Community Gardens’ website, and on the similar Spokane Community Gardens site (spokanegardens.org). At the Commons, beds are $25 or $30 to rent for the year and priority goes to gardeners residing nearby, though no one is excluded from joining based on where they live. Community gardens can have many positive effects on a neighborhood beyond nutritional output and fos-

GET READY TO GARDEN!

CABIN FEVER GARDENING SYMPOSIUM This annual, daylong event offers classes covering garden design, pruning and basic horticulture sessions on flowers, vegetables, berries, fruit and more. Registration includes your choice of one class from four sessions. Sat, March 21 at 8:30 am. $60-$65. WSU Spokane County Extension, 222 N. Havana St. Register at mgfsc.org/cabinfever-1 BETWEEN A ROCK AND A SMALL SPACE A workshop offering advice on gardening in small plots, raised beds, containers and using vertical gardening methods, hosted by Inland Northwest Community Gardens. Also includes a seed swap, silent auction, discounts for gardening supplies and more. Fri, March 13 from 6-8:30 pm. Free. Emmaus Church, 1317 E. 12th Ave. incgincommunitygardens.org MORE RESOURCES WSU Spokane County Extension: extension.wsu.edu/spokane Spokane Community Gardens: spokanegardens.org Inland Northwest Community Gardens: incgincommunitygardens.org n

tered connections. The extra outdoor activity can help deter crime, boost property values and even help feed the hungry when there’s leftover produce, notes master gardener Munts. Growing your own produce supports a healthy lifestyle and is often more affordable than buying from the grocery store. Gardening provides a sense of accomplishment, too, but the best reason to join others at a community garden in Munts’ view is the built-in support. “There are people there who have experience who can help advise when to plant or judge when something is looking terrible, or is really just fine,” Munts says. “It helps people not feel like they are failures at the first sign of issues, which is why people give up on gardening.” n cheys@inlander.com

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MARCH 5, 2020 INLANDER 35

FOOD | TO GO BOX

Lucky You Revamps Menu

A sampling of items on Lucky You Lounge’s newly revamped menu.

Plus, new spots in Coeur d’Alene and Chad White’s big honor

ne thing about waving your hands in the air, and waving them like you just don’t care? It’s tough to hold on to a plate of food at the same time. Lucky You Lounge is here to help with an update to their oh-so-tasty menu that leans more into handheld deliciousness. Delve into the new kimchi banh mi ($11), nachos ($10), tacos ($11/three) or chicken strips ($8), served with Sichuan pepper and pickled chili black vinegar sauce. Most of the popular favorites from the music venue/restaurant’s first months open are still available — try the shiitake dumplings ($9), seriously — and ramen now enjoys a permanent place on the menu. Co-owner Karli Ingersoll said via email that Lucky You wanted to give more options to concert-goers looking for “snacky late-night eats” (the kitchen is open until midnight) while still serving up substantial sit-down fare like the popular rice and grain bowls for the early dinner and happy hour crowds. The new Lucky You menu is available now. (DAN NAILEN)

THE DIPPER OPENS IN COEUR D’ALENE

Charismatic Carol Faber and her two daughters, Lauren Buck and Megan Miller, are a few of the many reasons a plucky new

36 INLANDER MARCH 5, 2020

Coeur d’Alene eatery is on the rise. The trio first started serving their French dips at the Kootenai Farmers Market, where the smell of aged Angus beef on the grill wafted out from their modest food truck. As the Dipper gained in popularity, they started serving at more events. Last fall, they moved into the vacated Hiro’s BBQ and opened a few months later. Try the Little Dipper ($10) on a 4-inch roll, or the 6-inch Big Dipper ($13), which can be ordered breadless and drizzled with garlic butter and a side of housemade horseradish cream sauce. The Roundup ($8-$12) is a large pile of fries and onion rings smothered with sausage, baked beans, cheese, bacon, jalapeno and sour cream. Jalapeno poppers ($9/three), aka “gator tails,” are double-wrapped in bacon. The coleslaw ($3-$5) has cranberries for extra pop of flavor, and it’s all served with a smile. (CARRIE SCOZZARO)

UP NORTH DISTILLERY OPENS HAYDEN LOCATION

Here’s to the Brits for the origin of “bee’s knees,” a Shakespearean variation of “be-all and end-all,” which morphed during America’s Roaring ’20s to mean the very best. That little play on words is also the name

of Up North Distillery’s new whiskey bar, appropriately located north of its Post Falls headquarters. Tucked into a Hayden-area strip mall, the Bee’s Knees Whiskey Bar has a speakeasy feel with vintage wallpaper, leather chairs and wood paneling. One of the few late-night options in that area along Highway 95, the Bee’s Knees features the distillery’s lineup of award-winning barrelaged brandies and other spirits. Order from next door via Belle’s Brunch to make your next trip north a bee’s knees kind of evening. Visit beeskneeswhiskeybar.com for details. (CARRIE SCOZZARO)

BIG TIMIN’

Spokane chef Chad White was recently chosen as a 2020 James Beard Award semifinalist in the Best Chef Northwest & Pacific category. White is one of 20 Northwest chefs up for the honor, most based at restaurants in Seattle and Portland. Finalists will be narrowed ENTRÉE down Get the scoop on local March 25, food news with our weekly and winEntrée newsletter. Sign up ners picked at Inlander.com/newsletter. May 4. White is the fifth local chef with a James Beard Award nomination, joining Jeremy Hansen (former owner of Santé and others; 2015), Adam Hegsted (Eat Good Group; 2016), Laurent Zirotti (Fleur de Sel; 2017) and Anna Vogel (Italia Trattoria; 2018). After appearing on Bravo’s Top Chef, White returned to his hometown of Spokane to open Zona Blanca, a ceviche spot. He followed that up with High Tide Lobster bar, which now has two downtown locations, and partnered to launch TTs Old Iron Brewery & Barbecue in Spokane Valley last year. (CHEY SCOTT)

ELF ESTEEM It’s no Pixar classic, but Onward continues the studio’s penchant for intelligent, original animated entertainment BY MARYANN JOHANSON

hat am I supposed to say here? “Wow, Pixar has done it again!”? “More magic and wonder and humor and melancholy from Pixar!”? “Hooray for an enthralling, fully realized fantasy world!”? Pixar keeps hitting it out of the park, and I’m running out of different ways to say the same thing over and over again. The way to do it is to damn with faint praise, maybe. Onward is not another Inside Out, perhaps one of the most audacious, most insightful, most perfect movies ever made, by anyone. It ain’t Ratatouille, with its profound and impossibly touching tale of the necessity of pursuing one’s passion and dedicating oneself to excellence. If we’re gonna grade on a Pixar curve, very few movies would ever measure up. And Onward doesn’t. It’s not a masterpiece. It’s only very good. Unlike in way too many Disney movies, the protagonist, 16-year-old elf Ian Lightfoot (the voice of Tom Holland), did not lose his mother as a small child. It’s his father who has died, before Ian was even born. His mom, Laurel (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), is still around as a loving, supportive figure, and she also gets to be a badass mom hero as she supports Ian’s journey. There’s still nothing terribly original in the teenage-

boy-with-daddy-issues angst that fuels the plot, but the an accountant who dabbled in magic, left behind that setting is absolutely delightful, and unlike any I’ve ever would allow them to spend a day with his briefly resurseen before: A gorgeous, funny world much like our rected self. So Ian and Barley go on an old-style quest to own, a society of smartphones and gas-station convefind the MacGuffin gem they need to fix the broken spell, nience stores and heritage being bulldozed in the name of which Barley knows all about, because he’s a history nut, progress. Except that heritage is one full of wizardry and though to our eye he looks like a heavy-metal D&D nut. daring quests and numerous sentient races There’s something wonderfully ticklish — elves and orcs and pixies and centaurs in how screenwriters Jason Headley, ONWARD and so on — living together in relative Keith Bunin and Pixar veteran (and also Rated PG harmony. the director) Dan Scanlon play with how Directed by Dan Scanlon The fictional clichés of our Dungeons & Starring Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, clichés of adolescent malehood are coded, Dragons and Lord of the Rings are the literal Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Octavia Spencer and Barley is a completely different sort of history of the people of Onward, and they nerd than we’re used to. continued developing their civilization from medievalIan? He’s a pretty familiar awkward teen: nervous, esque levels of technology to what we would call modern uncertain, shy, clumsy. His personal quest will be all information-era stuff. There are tons of blink-and-youabout finding the magic in himself — mostly figuratively miss-’em visual jokes and flourishes in the clever anima— while inspiring others around him to do the same, tion — pulled off with lively, buoyant verve — that considsuch as the hilarious tough but tiny biker pixies and the ers how these two usually divergent cultural modes might Manticore (Octavia Spencer) who is roused out of her meld, and I’m sure I did indeed miss plenty of them. suburban-businesswoman mode into rediscovering her inIan discovers that he has a rare ancient talent for ner monster in order to given them some vital assistance wizardry when he receives an antique staff his father along the way. left for him, and also for his older brother Barley (Chris I mean, yeah: There’s magic here, of all kinds. Not Pratt), although Barley is unable to activate it. Now, the much of it is completely unexpected or unusual. But it’s boys need to fix a spell gone wrong… a spell their father, charming. And very Pixar. n

MARCH 5, 2020 INLANDER 37

FILM | SHORTS

OPENING FILMS CATVIDEOFEST 2020

YouTube videos and home movies make up this feature-length compendium of the funniest and cutest clips featuring our furry friends. At the Magic Lantern. (NW) Not Rated

EMMA

The Jane Austen novel gets another glittering, lively screen adaptation, the tale of a teenage girl who fancies herself a matchmaker without realizing she’s falling in love herself. (MJ) Rated PG

GREED

A satire of the wealthiest 1 percent, starring Steve Coogan as a disgustingly rich fashion mogul who takes one last swipe at excess as his fortunes dwindle. (NW) Rated R

ONCE WERE BROTHERS: ROBBIE ROBERTSON & THE BAND

From producers Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard, a cursory career overview

Portrait of a Lady on Fire of the Band that’s told from the POV of songwriter Robbie Robertson. At the Magic Lantern. (NW) Rated R

ONWARD

In Pixar’s latest, two elves embark on a journey to bring their father back from the dead. A story that creates an entire-

NOW PLAYING 1917

Sam Mendes’ WWI epic, which took the Golden Globe for best picture, is made to look like a single unbroken take, with a couple of WWI soldiers sent to deliver a message across enemy lines. (DH) Rated R

BAD BOYS FOR LIFE

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return for a third team-up, and here they’re partnered with a much younger crew to take down a Miami cartel. A decent action-comedy that could spawn a new franchise. (NW) Rated R

BIRDS OF PREY

Margot Robbie returns as Harley Quinn in her own Suicide Squad spinoff, and it’s a step up, a colorful and violent neonoir involving a teenage pickpocket, a diamond and Ewan McGregor’s delightfully scummy kingpin. (NW) Rated R

CALL OF THE WILD

Jack London’s classic is nicely translated into a rousing, old-fashioned family adventure, starring a gruff Harrison Ford and his CGI dog friend. Even snarky adults will be won over. (MJ) Rated PG

DOLITTLE

Everything that’s old is new again, as Robert Downey Jr. plays yet another version of the whimsical veterinarian who can talk to the animals. (NW) Rated PG

FANTASY ISLAND

Want four or five wildly different movies for the price of one? Take this tacky horror spin on the ’70s TV show about a

38 INLANDER MARCH 5, 2020

tropical paradise that fulfills its guest’s deepest desires. (NW) Rated PG-13

MY HERO ACADEMIA: HEROES RISING

The popular anime series gets a second film spin-off, with a precocious gang of teenage superheroes facing an allpowerful villain called Nine. (NW) Rated PG-13

IMPRACTICAL JOKERS: THE MOVIE

The hidden-camera TV show pranks its way to the big screen, a series of gags strung together by a road-trip plot and some C-list celebrity cameos. (NW) Rated PG-13

THE INVISIBLE MAN

A clever, often thrilling spin on the oldas-the-hills H.G. Wells premise, with Elisabeth Moss as a woman menaced by her abusive ex, who has apparently faked his death and turned himself invisible. (NW) Rated R

JOJO RABBIT

In Taika Waititi’s WWII-set satire, a little boy with an imaginary friend who looks just like Hitler befriends the Jewish girl being hidden by his mother. Its juggling tones and bleak subject matter might not work for everyone. (ES) Rated PG-13

JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL

Another week, another unnecessary sequel. The teens from the first Jumanji return — with their grandpas this time — and leap back into the video game realm to rescue a missing friend. (MJ) Rated PG-13

ly original world while covering familiar thematic territory. (MJ) Rated PG

commissioned to paint. (NW) Rated R

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE

Ben Affleck stars as a retired athlete, once a promising basketball star and now sinking into alcoholism, who returns to his high school alma mater to coach. (NW) Rated R

Céline Sciamma’s acclaimed romance focuses on two women in the 18th century — a young artist and the aristocrat whose wedding portrait she’s secretly been

THE WAY BACK

CRITICS’ SCORECARD THE INLANDER

NEW YORK VARIETY (LOS ANGELES) TIMES

METACRITIC.COM (OUT OF 100)

THE CALL OF THE WILD

EMMA

THE INVISIBLE MAN

ONCE WERE BROTHERS

PARASITE

SEBERG

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

DON’T MISS IT

WORTH $10

KNIVES OUT

WATCH IT AT HOME

SKIP IT

SEBERG

Rian Johnson’s all-star whodunit centers on the death of a wealthy patriarch, and the craven relatives that would profit off his demise. As a mystery, it’s merely OK. As an evisceration of the one percent, it’s satisfying. (NW) Rated PG-13

Kristen Stewart is solid in this surface level biopic, playing New Wave icon Jean Seberg as the FBI was investigating her involvement with the Black Panthers. (NW) Rated R

LITTLE WOMEN

Kids should get a kick out of the first movie featuring Sega’s speedy blue rodent, who gets stuck on Earth and is hunted by government scientists led by Jim Carrey’s insane Dr. Robotnik. (NW) Rated PG

Louisa May Alcott’s literary classic about four sisters growing up during and after the Civil War gets a brilliant modernist twist courtesy of Greta Gerwig. A film that’s as timeless as it is timely. (MJ) Rated PG

PARASITE

Satire, slapstick and secrecy collide in Bong Joon-ho’s twisty, Oscar-winning contraption about a poor South Korean family that insinuates itself into the lives of an upper class clan. Surprises abound. At the Magic Lantern. (NW) Rated R

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

The nine-episode saga goes out with a few big bangs and even more whimpers, as Rey and company jet across the galaxy to not only find the origins of her powers but stop Kylo Ren. (NW) Rated PG-13 n

FILM | REVIEW

TER GIC LAN N THEATER MA FRI. MARCH 6th - THU. MARCH 12th TICKETS: $9

NOW SHOWING: CATVIDEOFEST2020 ONCE WERE BROTHERS:

ROBBIE ROBERTSON AND THE BAND

PARASITE | FANTASTIC FUNGI COMING SOON: PORTRAIT OF A LADY OF FIRE EXTRA ORDINARY | WENDY SHOWTIMES AT

MagicLanternOnMain.com 25 W Main Ave #125 • MagicLanternOnMain.com

Anya Taylor-Joy is hardly clueless in the latest screen version of Emma.

Sense and Sensibility In reimagining a beloved novel, Emma understands what made Jane Austen so special in the first place BY MARYANN JOHANSON

efore smartphones and Instagram, there another hint of the muted horror underlying were influencers, and they could be as Emma’s insistence — which is her world’s insisshallow, overconfident and pejorative as tence — on women’s highest achievement being they are today. marriage and babymaking. It renders Emma’s This new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma infamous moment of outright cruelty to Miss — the feature debuts of photographer and Bates, the older spinster in music-video director Autumn de Wilde and Emma’s circle, seem even EMMA Man Booker Prize-winning novelist turned more brutal: Does Emma Rated PG screenwriter Eleanor Catton — brings that have no consideration at all Directed by Autumn de Wilde sort of modern frisson to its retelling of for a woman who has failed Starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny the tale of a very rich young woman who at the one job she is “supFlynn, Callum Turner, Bill Nighy amuses herself by interfering in the romanposed” to do? (Miranda tic lives of those around her. She may be Hart plays Miss Bates as hoping to inspire her friends, but more often than slightly ridiculous and totally harmless, and not, she’s a conceited bully trying to mold them perhaps even less worthy of Emma’s disdain than in her own image, even if that doesn’t suit them. other versions of the character have been.) The notoriously clueless privilege of Emma There’s real bite, too, in Johnny Flynn’s Mr. Woodhouse is delivered with just the tiniest Knightley, the family friend who acts (though hint of terror in the hands of Anya Taylor-Joy clearly he would prefer not to) as Emma’s con(an inspired bit of casting on de Wilde’s part), science, especially in that scene in which he calls who inevitably brings a shiver of unease from Emma out for her behavior toward Miss Bates the horror movies she’s known for. Her Emma and Emma finally begins to realize how wrong she is a queen bee with more sting than previous is about almost everything. It had never occurred depictions of the character have had: Taylor-Joy’s to me before — and maybe this is a function of preternaturally large eyes seem to bore straight the extra sharpness of this new adaptation — but through those she would dominate. how rare it is to see a young woman onscreen One of them is Emma’s friend Harriet Smith learn a life lesson with such a searing onset of (Mia Goth), whose poor lineage makes her much painful self-awareness. more suited, in class-conscious Regency England, For sure, there is much light entertainment to the handsome farmer Robert Martin (Connor to be had here: in Bill Nighy being Bill Nighy Swindells). She actually really likes the absolutely as Emma’s widower father, and in Gemma unctuous yet more “respectable” vicar, Mr. Elton Whelan and Rupert Graves as the happy new(an unexpected Josh O’Connor), to whom Emma lywed Westons; in the literal cheekiness of the is attempting to marry Harriet off. Goth also reminders that these are fleshly human beings, hails from horror films, and her Harriet isn’t not costume-drama mannequins. But Austen’s merely timid in the face of Emma, but downright wisdom about men and women and life and love petrified. takes on a sly, penetrating zing that underscores A recurring visual motif of schoolgirls in that the comedy of manners that might seem like bloodred cloaks fluttering through Emma’s fluff and nonsense was — and remains — deadly village of Highbury is a vivid splash of color serious, too. amongst the soft hues that fill the movie’s palette, When I say that this new Emma nails what and made me think of The Handmaid’s Tale. It’s Austen was saying… well, it really nails it. n

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Tool performs at the Spokane Arena on Monday night.

10,000 DAYS LATER

TRAVIS SHINN PHOTO

As their sound shapeshifts and mutates, Tool demonstrates why they’ve lasted BY HOWARD HARDEE

primordial monster that emerged from the alt-rock ooze of the early 1990s, Tool became one the biggest bands in the world, then apparently got bored and did some other stuff for a while. Before last year’s Fear Inoculum dropped, it had been 13 years since Tool had released an album. But they’ve returned in a big way, breaking a bunch of streaming records and launching a world tour that’s coming to the Spokane Arena on Monday. On Fear Inoculum, the band’s fifth album, frontman Maynard James Keenan’s vocal approach is more melodic and less aggressive than ever, while still retaining the highly emotive

quality that’s at least partially responsible for extending Tool’s popularity beyond the usual prog-metal circles. What each member of the band contributes on an individual level, and the technicality of their instrumental performances, is another defining feature of Tool and the subject of much fawning from guitar-tab types. All four members are arguably virtuoso musicians, and we’ve all had to hear a lot about it because they have one of the most insufferable fanbases in the history of rock music, a vast army of scruffy dudes in cargo shorts insisting that you just don’t get it. ...continued on next page

MARCH 5, 2020 INLANDER 41

MUSIC | ROCK “10,000 DAYS LATER,” CONTINUED...

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For casual fans who prefer Tool in the bite-sized doses, like the 1993 debut single “Sober” and the radio-shortened version of their song “Jambi,” well, you’ve come to the wrong metal epic. The songs on Fear Inoculum are longer and more complicated than ever, with several tracks clocking in longer than 10 minutes. They’re both unlikely to turn listeners off with abrasiveness, like some early Tool tracks might, yet are less radio-friendly due to sheer length. One album highlight is “Invincible,” which fits right into the tracklisting of Tool’s 2001 opus Lateralus, and ranks among the band’s best tracks. It features everything one could want from a Tool song. There’s the tricky song structures and hypnotic vamping, and the repetitive use of melodic phrases. You have brooding, coiling and ever-twisting basslines from Justin Chancellor. There are plenty of insanely technical-yet-somehow-primal-sounding drum fills, complete with auxiliary percussion, because that’s what Danny Carey does, dang it. Searing solos and stupid-heavy riffage come courtesy of guitarist Adam Jones. At one point in “Invincible,” there’s an echo of the stutterstep riff of “Jambi,” but it’s drawn out for several minutes in the manner of modern stoner- and doom-metal. Here, the band leans more heavily than ever on the power of repetition and the utter heaviness of drop-tuning riffage — and it really, really works. Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper Tool album without outlandish polyrhythms, changing time meters and lengthy ambient interludes. Thinking about how much head counting and toe tapping went into recording this album seriously kind of hurts. Perhaps as a result of this difficulty for the sake of it, the band’s instrumental prowess is on display more than the vocals. Maynard sagely takes a backseat to his bandmates, all three of whom take turns stunning with their abilities. Somehow, their technical precision is even more jaw-dropping than before (see 15-minute album closer “7empest”). Touring so regularly for the past several years, despite not releasing new music for a veritable eon, had to have helped hone their chops between albums. Jones, in particular, goes crazy with the guitar wizardry across all 80-plus minutes of Fear Inoculum. Whereas many of his solos historically have been based around a few really well-placed notes and bends, amplifier feedback and manipulating his sound with a wah-wah pedal rather than traditional playing chops, he takes his lead guitar playing to a new level here. He’s given far more opportunity to take us into space with layered harmonizing and straight-up shredding that threatens to melt your headphones. On the whole, it basically sounds like you’d expect from four guys who have supposedly spent the past decade-plus maturing as people and musicians. After all, they all seem to have stuff going on outside of Tool. Maynard owns and operates a winery in Arizona — the recording sessions for Fear Inoculum reportedly took place around grape-harvesting times — and is the frontman of Puscifer and A Perfect Circle. Carey has been in a bunch of different bands, too. Jones is a prolific visual artist, and Chancellor has owned book and music stores on the side. So much is the same with this new Tool music. They came back after 13 years and delivered an album that makes complete sense as the follow-up to their 2006 LP 10,000 Days, displaying an uncommonly solid understanding of their own sound. It’s a natural progression from where they left off, lacking any really drastic sonic differences. You could even call it a crowd pleaser, which is a weird thing to say about an album featuring a five-minute drum solo. But there is a noticeable shift in the lyrical perspective. “Invincible” is a beautiful song because in it we find Maynard — he of the nu-metal brohawks and incessant chest-thumping — at his most vulnerable. When he sings of a “warrior struggling to remain consequential” and “armor wearing thin,” he’s quite clearly referring to himself, the alt-rock star whose real heyday was like, 10,000 days ago. n Tool with Author & Punisher • Mon, March 9 at 7:30 pm • $65-$125 • All ages • Spokane Arena • 720 W. Mallon • spokanearena.com • 279-7000

MUSIC | MIXTAPE

March comes in like a lion, but goes out like a lamb sandwich. 3.6 80S NIGHT W/ SHY GUYS 3.7 MATT HENSON GROUP W/ BRANDEN CATE

Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band

Cinematic Songs The Band hits the big screen, Itchy Kitty hits Seattle, and Bumbershoot is back BY NATHAN WEINBENDER

ast year offered a wealth of music-based documentaries, from humane portraits of Linda Ronstadt and David Crosby, to Beyonce’s electrifying concert film, to the dueling exposés of the too-good-to-be-true Fyre Festival. This year starts off strong with Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band, which opens Friday at the Magic Lantern Theater and chronicles the twisty history of one of the most beloved rock acts of the ’60s and ’70s. The title should clue you in that Robertson, the Band’s guitarist and primary songwriter, is the dominant voice of Daniel Roher’s film (he’s one of only two Band members still alive), and that lopsided perspective has inspired some criticism, since Robertson isn’t universally beloved amongst Band fans. But the Band’s story is a classic rock ’n’ roll narrative no matter who tells it: They were pieced together as a backing band for Southern rocker Ronnie Hawkins, then toured with Bob Dylan during his controversial electric phase, and finally took off on their own as a standalone entity with all-time classic tracks like “The Weight,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and “Up on Cripple Creek.” The Band was previously the subject of Martin Scorsese’s The Last Waltz (1978), generally considered one of the greatest concert films of all time, and some of that movie’s rousing live footage is carried over to Once Were Brothers (which Scorsese co-produced alongside Ron Howard). If you’re already a Band devotee, you probably won’t learn much new info here, but you’ll get to revel in terrific archival footage and some of the greatest roots-rock music ever recorded. It will also inspire some spirited post-screening discussion. See magiclanternonmain.com for showtimes. On March 9, the Lantern’s Monday Night Movies series continues with a screening of the 2015 documentary Miss Sharon Jones!, which is concurrent with both Women’s History Month

3.8 ZONKY JAZZ NIGHT 3.11 LUCKY YOU PILSNER RELEASE PARTY W/ INDIAN GOAT & GOTU GOTU 3.12 BLACKBIRD BLACKBIRD 3.13 SWING IN SPRING W/ GOOD CO 3.14 PICKWICK / FERRIS PIER 3.17 EQUIPTO, MICHAEL MARSHALL, Z-MAN, VOCAB SLICK 3.19 LILAC CITY LIVE

and Music Appreciation Month. Directed by Barbara Kopple (Harlan County USA, Shut Up & Sing), one of the most influential of all nonfiction filmmakers, it follows the late, great R&B musician as she goes on singing while grappling with a pancreatic cancer diagnosis. The film is not only a tribute to Jones’ resilience, but also to her towering talent. Tickets are $8.

PUNK FOR A CAUSE

Spokane’s Itchy Kitty has made a name for itself around these parts with the purr-fect blend of punk and thrashy rock. But this weekend they’re taking that energy to Seattle for the first-ever Queens of Noise punk festival on March 7, which seeks to magnify the voices of femme and nonbinary artists from the region. Itchy Kitty has a primo spot in the lineup, too: They’ll be playing on the festival’s main stage right before headliner Alice Bag, a genuine punk icon and one of the pioneers of L.A.’s underground scene in the ’70s. The daylong festival will be raising funds for Peoria Home, which provides housing and support for women affected by sex trafficking. If you happen to be in Seattle this weekend, catch the event at the Highline Bar. For more information, see facebook.com/TheQueensofNoiseFestival.

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And speaking of Seattle music: If you regularly make the pilgrimage across the state for any of the city’s summer music festivals, we’ve got some good news for you. The future of Bumbershoot, the music fest that has been rocking Seattle for nearly five decades, seemed up in the air as early as last year, when the promotion company AEG dropped out as the festival’s producer. But One Reel, the nonprofit that’s been behind the event since the ’80s, told the Stranger last week that Bumbershoot 2020 is currently scheduled to take over Seattle Center from Sept. 4-6, albeit with a smaller, more locally focused scope. n

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MUSIC | SOUND ADVICE

HIP-HOP TOO SHORT, E-40 & MACK 10

ip-hop fans have a lot to look forward to this weekend when a trio of California rap legends take the Knitting Factory stage. First on the roster is West Coast icon Too Short, a pioneer of the form and a true team player, having appeared alongside Biggie and Tupac. Then there’s E-40 (pictured), a prolific performer whose biggest hit is the Lil Jon-produced “U and Dat.” The lineup is rounded out by Mack 10, probably best known for being one-third of Westside Connection alongside Ice Cube and WC. — NATHAN WEINBENDER Too Short, E-40 and Mack 10 • Sat, March 7 at 8 pm • $59 • All ages • Knitting Factory • 919 W. Sprague • sp.knittingfactory.com • 244-3279

J = THE INLANDER RECOMMENDS THIS SHOW J = ALL AGES SHOW

Thursday, 03/5

A&P’S BAR AND GRILL, Open Mic BERSERK, Vinyl Meltdown BEVERLY’S, Robert Vaughn J BOOTS BAKERY & LOUNGE, The Song Project BRIDGE PRESS CELLARS, Charles Swanson J BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB, Open Jazz Jam CRUISERS, Open Jam Night JOHN’S ALLEY, Birds of Play J LAGUNA CAFÉ, Just Plain Darin LION’S LAIR, Karaoke with Donny Duck J LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Timothy Robert Graham, Runaway Octopus, BaLonely J MONARCH MOUNTAIN COFFEE, Open Mic Hosted by Scott Reid MOOSE LOUNGE, Last Chance Band J MOUNTAIN LAKES BREWING CO., Okay, Honey MY PLACE BAR & GRILL, DJ Dave THE NYC PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos NYNE, Storme RELIC SMOKEHOUSE & PUB, Rusty & Chrissy THE RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos THE STEAM PLANT, Wyatt Wood ZOLA, Blake Braley Band

Friday, 03/6

ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Ron Greene BARILI CELLARS, Free Whiskey J BERSERK, Claire Cronin, Advance Base, Eliza Catastrophe, Maidenhair BEVERLY’S, Robert Vaughn THE BIG DIPPER, House Therapy Vol. 4 feat. Ephwurd BISTANGO MARTINI LOUNGE, Kori Ailene BRIDGE PRESS CELLARS, Justin James Band J BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB, Palouse Forro Experience

44 INLANDER MARCH 5, 2020

ROCK COLIN HAY

year ago, former Men at Work frontman Colin Hay came through town and reminded us what a mesmerizing performer he is. Blending classics from his old band and instantly catchy songs from his long solo career, along with hilarious stories from a life that’s taken him from Australia around the world, Hay is incredibly entertaining for both casual fans and hardcore followers. He’s performing solo this time around, and for the first time in his career he’s doing VIP meet-and-greets to raise money for Australia’s rural services battling the disastrous fires in his beloved land down under. — DAN NAILEN Colin Hay • Sun, March 8 at 8 pm • $35-$65 • All ages • Bing Crosby Theater • 901 W. Sprague • bingcrosbytheater.com • 227-7638

J CALYPSOS COFFEE ROASTERS, Art+Music: Brian James Hoffman & Chad O’Kennedy CHINOOK STEAK, PASTA AND SPIRITS (CDA CASINO), Into the Drift CORBY’S BAR, Karaoke COSMIC COWBOY GRILL (CDA), Eric Neuhauser COSMIC COWBOY GRILL (SPOKANE), Nick Canger CRAFTSMAN CELLARS, Dirt CRUISERS, Karaoke with Gary CURLEY’S, Kosta la Vista DAN & JO’S BAR & GRILL, DA & The Blue Notes THE HIDDEN MOTHER BREWERY, Nick Grow IDAHO POUR AUTHORITY, Bright Moments Jazz THE JACKSON ST. BAR & GRILL, Random Generation JOHN’S ALLEY, Far Out West J KNITTING FACTORY, Suicide Ghost, Dirtbag, My Own Affliction, Throneburner LEFTBANK WINE BAR, Wyatt Wood

LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, ‘80s Night with Shy Guys; DJ Official Caleb J J MARTIN WOLDSON THEATER AT THE FOX, Prince Royce MARYHILL WINERY, Daniel Mark Faller MAX AT MIRABEAU, Bobby Patterson Band MICKDUFF’S BEER HALL, Devon Wade MY PLACE BAR & GRILL, DJ Dave NASHVILLE NORTH, Ladies Night with Luke Jaxon and DJ Tom NEW MOON ART GALLERY, Front Porch Trio THE NYC PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos PACIFIC PIZZA, Kent Ueland PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Mike Wagoner & Utah John PEND OREILLE PLAYHOUSE, Open Mic RED ROOM LOUNGE, Milonga & Evergreen Afro Dub Orchestra THE RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos RIVER CITY BREWING, Glass Honey J SARANAC COMMONS, Kevin Partridge

J SEASONS OF COEUR D’ALENE, Just Plain Darin SILVER MOUNTAIN SKI RESORT, Son of Brad (at Noah’s)

Saturday, 03/7

1210 TAVERN, The Jukers THE AGING BARREL, Shawnna Nicholson ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Ron Greene BEVERLY’S, Robert Vaughn BRIDGE PRESS CELLARS, Kenny James Miller Band J BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB, Jon & Rand Band THE BULL HEAD, Robert Moss CHINOOK STEAK, PASTA AND SPIRITS (CDA CASINO), Into the Drift COSMIC COWBOY GRILL (CDA), Devon Wade COSMIC COWBOY GRILL (SPOKANE), Tod Hornby CURLEY’S, Kosta la Vista DEUTSCHES HAUS, Disco Fever feat. Hatiras, Donald Glaude

THE FISCHIN’ HOLE SALOON, Dallas Kay HOGFISH, Sverwood HOP MOUNTAIN TAPROOM AND GRILL, Jessica Haffner J HUCKLEBERRY’S NATURAL MARKET, Tin Cup Monkey IDAHO POUR AUTHORITY, Justin Lantrip THE JACKSON ST. BAR & GRILL, Karaoke J J KNITTING FACTORY, Too Short, E-40, Mack 10 (see above) LAKERS INN BAR, SOT, S4LT, ALMOSTANYTHING LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Jazz Night with Branden Cate and the Matt Henson Group; Saffron City MARYHILL WINERY, Miller’s Sun MAX AT MIRABEAU, Bobby Patterson Band MULLIGAN’S BAR & GRILLE, Kicho NASHVILLE NORTH, Ladies Night with Luke Jaxon and DJ Tom THE NYC PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Spare Parts

MUSIC | VENUES THE PIN, Al Ross with OVE, MACS, V3NUM & YEETZ POST FALLS BREWING COMPANY, Son of Brad REPUBLIC BREWING CO., Norman Baker THE RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos feat. Christan Raxter & Steve Ridler RIVER CITY BREWING, Okay, Honey SILVER MOUNTAIN SKI RESORT, Just Plain Darin (at Noah’s) J THE JACKLIN ARTS & CULTURAL CENTER, Singer-Songwriter Night T’S LOUNGE, DJ Mark Thomas WHIM WINE BAR, Nick Grow

Sunday, 03/8

1210 TAVERN, Jan Harrison Blues Experience J BARRISTER WINERY, The Sweeplings EP Release J J BING CROSBY THEATER, Colin Hay (see facing page) CHEAP SHOTS, Rev. Yo’s VooDoo Church of Blues Jam CRAVE, DJ Dave GARLAND PUB & GRILL, Karaoke

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HOGFISH, Open Mic IRON HORSE (VALLEY), Devon Wade LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Zonky Jazz Night MARYHILL WINERY, Gil Rivas THE NYC PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos O’DOHERTY’S IRISH GRILLE, Traditional Irish Music PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Piano Sunday with Bob Beadling J THE PIN, Lee DeWyze with with Stevie Lynne, Jamison Sampson, Ian Nixon, Sean Patrick RED ROOM LOUNGE, Jason Perry Trio J SOUTH HILL GRILL, Just Plain Darin ZOLA, Glass Honey

Monday, 03/9

THE BULL HEAD, Songsmith Series J CALYPSOS COFFEE ROASTERS, Open Mic COSMIC COWBOY GRILL (CDA), Echo Elysium CRAVE, DJ Dave EICHARDT’S PUB, Monday Night Jam with Truck Mills THE NYC PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos RED ROOM LOUNGE, Open Mic with Lucas Brookbank Brown J J SPOKANE ARENA, Tool (see page 41), Author, Punisher ZOLA, Perfect Mess

Tuesday, 03/10

219 LOUNGE, Karaoke with DJ Pat CRAVE, DJ Dave GARLAND PUB & GRILL, Karaoke LITZ’S BAR & GRILL, The ShuffleDawgs Blues Power Happy Hour THE NYC PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos J THE PIN, Fury Figeroa, 509, PacMan Sheffels, Coop & more RAZZLE’S BAR & GRILL, Open Mic Jam THE RIDLER PIANO BAR, Country Swing Dancing THE ROXIE, Open Mic/Jam SWEET LOU’S RESTAURANT AND TAP HOUSE, Kicho THE VIKING, Songsmith Series feat. Zaq Flanary ZOLA, Desperate 8s

Wednesday, 03/11 J 291 BREWHOUSE, Just Plain Darin BEVERLY’S, Robert Vaughn J BLACK DIAMOND, Songsmith Series feat. Retro Roger CRAVE, DJ Dave CRUISERS, Open Jam Night Hosted by The Jam Band GENO’S TRADITIONAL FOOD & ALES, Open Mic with Host Travis Goulding IRON HORSE (VALLEY), Robb Boatsman THE JACKSON ST. BAR & GRILL, Karaoke

LEFTBANK WINE BAR, Carey Brazil LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Indian Goat, Gotu Gotu LUCKY’S IRISH PUB, DJ D3VIN3 MAD BOMBER BREWING COMPANY, Sam McCue THE NYC PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos RED ROOM LOUNGE, Blowin’ Kegs Jam Session THE RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos feat. Christan Raxter & Steve Ridler SOULFUL SOUPS & SPIRITS, Open Mic WANDERLUST DELICATO, Jazz Wednesday ZOLA, Cruxie

Coming Up ...

LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Blackbird Blackbird; Like Lions, Bandit Train, March 12 J BING CROSBY THEATER, The Fab Four: The Ultimate Beatles Tribute, March 13 LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Swing in Spring ft. Good Co, March 13, 8 pm. PACIFIC PIZZA, Gotu Gotu, March 13 J THE PIN, Grieves & The Holdup, March 13 J KNITTING FACTORY, Whitey Morgan, March 14 LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Pickwick with Ferris Pier, March 14 J MARTIN WOLDSON THEATER AT THE FOX, The Allman Betts Band, March 18

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219 LOUNGE • 219 N. First, Sandpoint • 208-2639934 A&P’S BAR & GRILL • 222 N. First, Sandpoint • 208-263-2313 ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS • 4705 N. Fruit Hill • 927-9463 BABY BAR • 827 W. First • 847-1234 BARLOWS • 1428 N. Liberty Lake • 924-1446 BEEROCRACY • 911 W. Garland BERSERK • 125 S. Stevens • 714-9512 THE BIG DIPPER • 171 S. Washington • 863-8098 BIGFOOT PUB • 9115 N. Division • 467-9638 BING CROSBY THEATER • 901 W. Sprague • 227-7638 BLACK DIAMOND • 9614 E. Sprague • 891-8357 BOLO’S • 116 S. Best • 891-8995 BOOMERS • 18219 E. Appleway. • 755-7486 BOOTS BAKERY & LOUNGE • 24 W. Main • 703-7223 BRIDGE PRESS CELLARS • 39 W. Paciﬁc • 838-7815 BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB • 201 S. Main, Moscow • 208-882-5216 THE BULL HEAD • 10211 S. Electric • 838-9717 CALYPSOS COFFEE & CREAMERY • 116 E. Lakeside, CdA • 208-665-0591 CHEAP SHOTS • 6412 E. Trent • 535-9309 COEUR D’ALENE CASINO • 37914 S. Nukwalqw, Worley • 800-523-2464 COEUR D’ALENE CELLARS • 3890 N. Schreiber Way, CdA • 208-664-2336 COSMIC COWBOY GRILL • 412 W. Haycraft, CdA • 208-277-0000 CRAFTED TAP HOUSE • 523 Sherman Ave., CdA • 208-292-4813 CRAVE• 401 W. Riverside • 321-7480 CRUISERS • 6105 W Seltice, Post Falls • 208-7734706 CURLEY’S • 26433 W. Hwy. 53 • 208-773-5816 EICHARDT’S PUB • 212 Cedar, Sandpoint • 208-263-4005 FIRST INTERSTATE CENTER FOR THE ARTS • 334 W. Spokane Falls • 279-7000 FIZZIE MULLIGANS • 331 W. Hastings • 466-5354 FOX THEATER • 1001 W. Sprague • 624-1200 THE HIVE • 207 N. First, Sandpoint • 208-457-2392 HOGFISH • 1920 E. Sherman, CdA • 208-667-1896 HONEY EATERY & SOCIAL CLUB • 317 E. Sherman, CdA • 208-930-1514 IRON GOAT BREWING • 1302 W. 2nd • 474-0722 IRON HORSE BAR • 407 E. Sherman, CdA • 208667-7314 IRON HORSE BAR & GRILL • 11105 E. Sprague, CdA • 509-926-8411 JACKSON ST. BAR & GRILL • 2436 N. Astor • 315-8497 JOHN’S ALLEY • 114 E. Sixth, Moscow • 208-883-7662 KNITTING FACTORY • 911 W. Sprague • 244-3279 LAGUNA CAFÉ • 2013 E. 29th • 448-0887 THE LANTERN TAP HOUSE • 1004 S. Perry • 315-9531 LEFTBANK WINE BAR • 108 N. Washington • 315-8623 LION’S LAIR • 205 W. Riverside • 456-5678 LUCKY YOU LOUNGE • 1801 W. Sunset LUCKY’S IRISH PUB • 408 W. Sprague • 747-2605 MARYHILL WINERY • 1303 W. Summit Pkwy, Ste. 100 • 443-3832 MAX AT MIRABEAU • 1100 N. Sullivan • 924-9000 MICKDUFF’S • 312 N. First, Sandpoint • 208-255-4351 MONARCH MOUNTAIN COFFEE • 208 N 4th Ave, Sandpoint • 208-265-9382 MOOSE LOUNGE • 401 E. Sherman • 208-664-7901 MOOTSY’S • 406 W. Sprague • 838-1570 MULLIGAN’S • 506 Appleway Ave., CdA • 208- 7653200 ext. 310 NASHVILLE NORTH • 6361 W. Seltice Way, Post Falls • 208-457-9128 NORTHERN QUEST RESORT • 100 N. Hayford, Airway Heights • 242-7000 THE NYC PIANO BAR • 313 Sherman, CdA • 208930-1504 NYNE • 232 W. Sprague • 474-1621 O’SHAY’S • 313 E. CdA Lake Dr. • 208-667-4666 PACIFIC PIZZA • 2001 W. Paciﬁc • 443-5467 PEND D’OREILLE WINERY • 301 Cedar St., Sandpoint • 208-265-8545 THE PIN • 412 W. Sprague • 385-1449 POST FALLS BREWING CO. • 112 N. Spokane, Post Falls • 208-773-7301 RAZZLE’S BAR & GRILL • 10325 N. Government Way, Hayden • 208-635-5874 RED ROOM LOUNGE • 521 W. Sprague • 838-7613 REPUBLIC BREWING • 26 Clark Ave. • 775-2700 RIDLER PIANO BAR • 718 W. Riverside • 822-7938 SEASONS OF COEUR D’ALENE • 209 E. Lakeside • 208-664-8008 THE SHOP • 924 S. Perry St. • 534-1647 SOULFUL SOUPS & SPIRITS • 117 N. Howard • 459-1190 SPOKANE ARENA • 720 W. Mallon • 279-7000 STORMIN’ NORMAN’S SHIPFACED SALOON • 12303 E. Trent • 862-4852 ZOLA • 22 W. Main Ave. • 624-2416

MARCH 5, 2020 INLANDER 45

VISUAL ARTS PICTURE THIS

There are plenty of new local art shows to enjoy this month, all kicking off with this weekend’s First Friday festivities. Highlights include Hamilton Studio’s showcase of the work of legendary Russian photojournalist Leonid Bergoltsev in People Among People: Other Times, Other Places, featuring more than 100 black-and-white prints. Photography is a recurring theme this month, as local photographer Dean Davis unveils new work at Barrister Winery, and the Saranac Art Project shows Streetwise Istanbul: Conversations with Ordinary People, featuring images, stories and wisdom from street vendors, artists, fisherman and shoe shiners in the Turkish metropolis. Meanwhile, photographer Cody RS is launching a light installation at the downtown studio Yes Is A Feeling, located at the Steam Plant. — CHEY SCOTT First Friday • Fri, March 6 from 5-8 pm • Free • Locations vary • Details at firstfridayspokane.org and inlander.com/events

46 INLANDER MARCH 5, 2020

EVENTS | CALENDAR

BENEFIT

STAGE COMING UP ROSES

One lucky lady gets to walk away with bachelor Corbin Cabrera’s final rose this weekend at the Spokane version of The Bachelor Live. Hometown bachelor Cabrera is taking to the stage at the FIC in search of true love, hoping to find an ambitious woman and partner in life. Cabrera, who blogs at thestorylife.com, is an aspiring writer and single dad of two boys. A series of challenges and games presented to female audience members is meant to hopefully unite him with a perfect match. Co-hosted by former Bachelor and Bachelorette contestants Ben Higgins and Becca Kufrin, all the drama, romance and suspense of the TV show is live and unscripted in Spokane for one night only. — MACIE WHITE The Bachelor Live • Sun, March 8 at 7 pm • $40.50-$152 • First Interstate Center for the Arts • 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • inbpac.com • 279-7000

THEATER PINT-SIZE PLAYS

If you’re a little bit tired of the traditional theatrical format — by which we mean two-hour-long acts separated by a 15-minute intermission — then Stage Left’s Fast & Furious event is for you. Not to be confused with a certain four-wheeled film franchise starring Vin Diesel, the series features an evening of super-short plays from writers both regional and national, and performers marathon through them at a rate that’s, well, fast and furious. This is the seventh year that Stage Left has hosted it, and this year’s event will showcase 35 different plays — some funny, some dramatic, some experimental. The odds are high, then, that you’ll see something you love. — NATHAN WEINBENDER Fast & Furious 7 • Fri-Sat, March 6-7 at 7:30 pm and Sun, March 8 at 2 pm • $10-$15 • All ages • Stage Left Theater • 108 W. Third Ave. • spokanestageleft.org • 838-9727

WORDS POLITICAL SPEECH

Mara Liasson has been reporting on the shenanigans of Washington D.C. since the mid-’80s when she joined NPR as a general assignment reporter. She’s covered every presidential campaign since 1992, as well as an array of Senate and House races, and is considered an expert in the relationship between the White House and Congress. Fox News Channel has even had her as a contributor since 1997 despite the fact she’s not a partisan hack, and she still reports for NPR’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition programs. Spokane Community College is bringing Liasson to campus for a free talk, open to the community, sponsored by the Hagan Center for the Humanities — an event coinciding with the centennial celebration of women getting the right to vote in the United States. Considering the state of the nation in 2020, it should be fascinating. — DAN NAILEN Mara Liasson • Thu, March 12 at 7 pm • Free • Spokane Community College, Lair Auditorium • 1810 N. Greene St., Building 6 • ccs.spokane.edu

IDAHO DRUG FREE YOUTH LIP SYNC BATTLE FUNDRAISER Join iDFY and Coeur d’Alene community members at the first ever Lip Sync Battle. March 5, 6 pm. $10. Coeur d’Alene Eagles, 209 Sherman Ave. (208-651-6950) ABSOLUTE ZERO FASHION SHOW The goal of this new event is to showcase trending and upcoming trends for kids, teens and adults, styled by local boutiques and chain stores. Proceeds support Teen and Kid Closet Spokane. March 6, 5 pm. $12/$15. Spokane Convention Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. spokanecenter.com (279-7000) MARCH FOR MEALS Sign up as an individual or team and support the GSC Meals on Wheels mission, win prizes and get moving to stamp out senior hunger. March 6, 8-10 am. $20. At Spokane Valley and NorthTown malls. GSCMealsonWheels.org/Events (924-6976) WINTER WATERS Celebrate rivers, honor watershed heroes and raise money for the essential water advocacy of the Upper Columbia River Group-Sierra Club and the Center for Environmental Law & Policy (CELP). March 6, 6 pm. $43$74.49. Patsy Clark Mansion, 2208 W. Second Ave. patsyclarks.com 24TH ANNUAL WINE, STEIN & DINE An event featuring tastings from 85+ regional vendors of wine, microbrews and hard ciders, along with foods from a dozen local restaurants and caterers. Proceeds support Post Falls Education Foundation for innovative classroom grants for teachers of grades K-12. March 7, 7-10 pm. $45. Greyhound Park & Event Center, 5100 Riverbend Ave. pfefwsd.org A RACE TO FREEDOM: THE MIRA SLOVAK STORY A benefit banquet and auction with all proceeds benefiting scholarships for local individuals pursuing a career in aviation. Hear the story of Mira Slovak, Cold War defector born in Czechoslovakia who hijacked a plane on a scheduled flight and flew to freedom, eventually gaining asylum in the U.S. Hosted by the Spokane Chapter of the WA Pilots Assoc. March 7, 5:30-8 pm. $40. The Hangar Event Center, 6095 E. Rutter Ave. wpaspokane.org (926-2353) BARTENDER’S BALL Sample cocktails from local bars and appetizers by the area’s top caterers and chefs. Proceeds support the mission of local animal rescue Help Every Little Paw. March 7, 5 pm. $50+. Coeur d’Alene Resort Plaza Shops, 210 Sherman Ave. cdaresort.com THE FIG TREE BENEFIT BREAKFAST “Connects People, Inspires Action” is the theme for the breakfast, with speakers sharing about the value of The Fig Tree and the Resource Directory. Breakfast is complimentary; guests are invited to donate. Please pre-register. In Cataldo Hall. March 9, 7-8:30 am. Gonzaga University, 502 E. Boone Ave. thefigtree.org

COMEDY

DOUG STANHOPE Doug has appeared at major comedy fests including Montreal Just For Laughs, Aspen US Comedy Arts, Chicago Comedy Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Scotland. March 5, 7:30 pm. $35. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com PLAYTIME Nostalgia and comedy collide in this new take using audience suggestions of favorite childhood games and

toys. Fridays at 7:30 pm through March 6. $8. Blue Door Theatre, 815 W. Garland. bluedoortheatre.com RAD JOKES COMEDY VARIETY SHOW: A monthly comedy variety show hosted by Elissa Ball. Second Sundays at 8 pm. Free. Lucky You Lounge, 1801 W. Sunset Blvd. luckyyoulounge.com

COMMUNITY

BIG FOOT TOWN HALL Featuring investigators Adam Davies-World, Kevin Llewellyn and Dr. J. Robert Alley. March 7, 11 am-4 pm. Free/$10. Cutter Theatre, 302 Park St., Metaline Falls. cuttertheatre. com (509-446-4108) BIGFOOT! IS IT REAL? Hundreds have claimed eyewitness encounters with the giant, bipedal ape-man, across the nation and around the world. Prolific local author Kelly Milner Halls has spent more than a decade listening to their stories. March 7, 1-2 pm. Hillyard Library, 4005 N. Cook St. (509-444-5300) LIBERTY LAKE KIWANIS FATHERDAUGHTER DANCE Open to fathers and daughters of all ages (0-18), offering an evening of dancing and prizes, and optional dinner (4 pm). March 7, 6:30 pm. $55-$114. Mirabeau Park Hotel, 1100 N. Sullivan Rd. mirabeauparkhotel.com WILDLIFE SCIENCE SERIES Washington Dept. of Fish & Wildlife biologists take over the Mobius lab one Saturday a month, tackling a different local wildlife topic each time. March 7 and April 4, from 10 am-1 pm. Free with admission. Mobius Science Center, 331 N. Post. bit. ly/35dsU5Q (509-321-7137) IS BUDDHISM A RELIGION? Reverend Melissa Opel from the Spokane Buddhist Temple discusses whether Buddhism is a religion or not and outline core beliefs and practices. This talk is part of the library’s Religions & Philosophies Series. March 9, 6:30-7:30 pm. Free. South Hill Library, 3324 S. Perry. spokanelibrary.org SPOKANE AREA TENANTS UNITED (SATU) MEETING Join fellow tenants and housing justice advocates to discuss a 2020 strategy, mutual aid projects and the tenant-based census campaign. March 11, 6-8 pm and March 25, 6-8 pm. Free. St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 2404 N. Howard St. (509-820-7288) JOB CORPS DROP-IN OPEN HOUSE Students, community members, organizations and potential employers can learn about Job Corps opportunities, including cost-free residential education and career training for youth ages 16-24 who meet eligibility requirements. March 12 and April 9 at noon. Free. Paulsen Center, 421 W. Riverside Ave. (822-7532) OTTERS: AN EDUCATIONAL PRESENTATION Wildlife biologist Wayne Melquist speaks about his work with otters during an event presented by Kaniksu Land Trust, the Idaho Conservation League and American Heritage Wildlife Foundation. March 13 at 3 and 6 pm. $5. Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave. panida. org (208-255-7801)

FILM

SPOKANE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL The 22nd annual fest screens a small, selective offering of world-class films; the very best features, documentaries and shorts made around the world in the past two years that haven’t yet been commercially released for wide distribu-

tion. Many events feature guest filmmakers and performers to meet audiences, share their own stories and more. Feb. 28-March 6. March 5, 7-10 pm and March 6, 7-10 pm. $10-$15. Magic Lantern Theatre, 25 W. Main. spokanefilmfestival.org THE RIOT & THE DANCE: WATER Part 2 of the nature and theology documentary series by Canon Press and featuring professor Gordon Wilson from New St. Andrews College. March 7 and 13 at 7 pm. $5-$20. Nuart Theatre, 516 S. Main St., Mosocw. nuarttheater.com MONDAY MOVIES: MISS SHARON JONES! Two-time Oscar winner Barbara Kopple follows the soul singer Sharon Jones from the moment she is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer to her first performance after her recovery. Post-screening discussion facilitated by Kiantha Duncan. March 9, 7-9 pm. $8. Magic Lantern Theatre, 25 W. Main Ave. (209-2383)

FOOD

CREPE CAFE SISTERS The new venture serves food every Friday and Saturday in the park until the opening of their storefront. Fri-Sat from 7 am-3 pm through June 13. Olmsted Brothers Green, N. Nettleton St. and Summit Pkwy. crepecafesisters.com ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY Celebrate with prizes and giveaways throughout the night from local spots, swag from regional cidermakers and more. Includes free barbecue and live music starting at 5 pm. March 7, 5-9 pm. Free. Coeur d’Alene Cider Company, 1327 E. Sherman Ave. cdaciderco.com (208-704-2160) LUMBERBEARD WINTER MARKET Hosted every other Sunday and featuring local produce, mushrooms, meats, eggs, bread, sweets, handmade goods and more. March 8 from 2-4 pm. Free. Lumberbeard Brewing, 25 E. Third Ave. lumberbeardbrewing.com (509-381-5142) COOKING WITH CHEF AARON FISH Featuring wine, hands-on cooking and recipes. March 12, 6 pm. $60. The Jacklin Arts & Cultural Center, 405 N. William St. thejacklincenter.org (208-457-8950) SOUTHERN TWIST A cooking class bringing traditional southern dishes to the Inland Northwest. March 12, 6-8 pm. $59. Spokane Community College, 1810 N. Greene St. (509-279-6030)

MUSIC

LÚNASA One of the most influential bands in the history of traditional Irish music, Lúnasa combines some of the top musical talents from members of Ireland’s greatest bands. March 5, 7:30-9:30 pm. $30-$40, $20/student, youth. Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center, 211 E. Desmet Ave. gonzaga.edu/mwpac HOT CLUB OF SPOKANE TRIO FT. OLIVIA BROWNLEE The Hot Club of Spokane Trio performs with vocalist Olivia Brownlee. Kids 12 and under free. Call/ email for reservations. March 6, 7-9 pm. $25. Kelly’s Underground, 1301 W. 14th Ave. southhillmusicstudios.com/kellys/ JAZZ AT THE JACC Featuring acclaimed vocalist Sandra Marlowe, who brings an expressive and improvisational approach to jazz and blues, pop and musical theater. March 6, 7:30 pm. $15. The Jacklin Arts & Cultural Center, 405 N. William St., Post Falls. thejacklincenter.org (208-4578950)

MARCH 5, 2020 INLANDER 47

icking because my first bus was late. You were standing with friends and said I was “really pretty.” I turned around, said thank you then rushed off. After I calmed down and pulled myself together in the restroom I came back to give you my # but you were gone. If you see this, I think you’re really pretty too! Haha

really should be employee of the month. OUTSTANDING HEALTH CARE CHAS Market Street: Daniel T., P.A., Carrie L., & Jennifer W. provide outstanding medical-health care. All three are

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CHEERS

I SAW YOU MOOTSY’S SHOW-GOER Hey, red beanie boy at the Bad Motivator show. I told you I almost didn’t go to the show and you said you were glad I did. Thanks for that! I just had the absolute worst week of my life and went to the show so I would be anywhere other than sad and alone at home. And guess what? I DID have a good night. Thanks for asking. MY KING OF HEARTS Mr. B, It is your dancing kitty. I may be leaving the area soon. If we are meant to be you must come quickly. I love you forever and for always. QUEEN OF HEARTS NINJA I saw you, almost 8 years ago across a field. My heart skipped three beats and I knew you’re mine. All the bad days are so worth the good. Thank you for being my best friend until the end. Love your lotus. 31 FLAVOURS FLIRT I saw you at Baskin Robbins on Wednesday. Your comment jokingly mocking those of us that get cups when there are perfect edible and less trash creating ice-cream carriers left me thinking AND laughing. I got a scoop of “Date Night” but I’d love a date night with you. I promise I’ll get a cone next time.

YOU SAW ME LONG HAIRED BLONDE GUY I was pan-

THANK YOU ON 29TH Last Saturday I was driving down 29th between Brown and Grand, and I saw a cat get brutally run over. I don’t know if the driver didn’t see or didn’t care, but I looked in my rear view mirror and he was struggling to get up with a clearly broken body. I went around the block to see if I could rescue him, but two ladies were trying to get the body out of the street. They were clearly horribly saddened and uncomfortable, but their compassion was overwhelming. I wanted to thank both of you for stopping, fighting through your discomfort and sadness, and moving him from the street. Blessed are those who stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves! CHEERS FOR LOCAL BEERS When I was a young whippersnapper, I would walk into a bar and get four choices for beer: Bud, Bud Light, Coors, and Coors Light. Now, Spokane has tons of excellent craft breweries. My faves are Humble Abode and NoLi. To the reader who complained about Spokane microbrews, saying Seattle’s are better: Why drive four hours to Seattle, be stuck in traffic for an hour, pay $10 for parking, and save a few dimes on Seattle microbrews when you can patronize local businesses, your friends and neighbors who operate local breweries? Buy local, and support Spokane. SUPERMAN IN THE MADNESS Thank you for helping me navigate the massive crowds out shopping this weekend. Particularly the busy parking lots and the spills. You make all of it worthwhile. AUTUMN BEAUTY I’m hoping the lovely assistant at Value Village reads this: Your pretty smile and warm energy made my day last week and the week before. You

ing their paycheck while waiting for a better offer. Have we forgotten about old blue elbows? Our tax load on a paid for house will now top $400 per month, just in taxes. Many of us are on a fixed income, the “new ESD 101”

I got a scoop of ‘Date Night,’ but I’d love a date night with you. I promise I’ll get a cone next time.

friendly, competent, compassionate, with good senses of humor, good listeners & professional. Thank you from a grateful patient. Mann-Grandstaff VAMC: Vicki, R.N., PACT Team 10, provides outstanding medical-health care. She is kind, friendly,compassionate,with a good sense of humor, good listener, & professional .

services again (I had an appointment that day to have my oil changed) after this appointment he refused to change my oil! My advice: Think twice about using the services of a shop that will not own up to its mistakes and who feels a

JEERS

JEERS TO THE JEERS FOR BEERS GUY Who pulled your tap handle? Quit your bitching and move back to whatever Beer Nirvana you think you came from. Local breweries from Airway Heights to the Silver Valley offer a wonderful variety of excellent beers. If you’ve had a bad experience in our area I would guess it’s because nobody would want to sit and enjoy a brew with an asshat like you. Cheers! THE CUSTOMER IS WRONG AT MY SHOP For years I used an auto shop on Division for my oil changes on our three vehicles. Not too long ago I noticed that the plastic portion of my window washer had been broken off during an oil change - by accident I am sure. When I approached the owner he absolutely refused to accept responsibility in spite of his Assistant Manager’s promise to repair it. When I told him that I would not be using his

“$10” part is worth more than years of a loyal patron. POOPER SCOOPER! Now that the Mount Spokane Nordic ski trails have increased access to skijoring (skiing with your dog in a harness), I have enjoyed seeing the frisky puppies along the trails as I ski. However, my appreciation for the canines came to an end on Thursday February 20th. While skiing at a good clip in the well groomed classic ski tracks on a beautiful day, my ski partner saw what she thought was a pine cone or other tree debris in the track. As usual, she skied over it without concern. Imagine her surprise when she saw a long brown schmear on the sides and bottom of her ski! Someone had neglected to clean up after their dog. Remember, access to the groomed trails for skijoring is a recently granted privilege which may be revoked if incidents like this occur frequently! So for everyone’s benefit, please pick up after your dog! ANOTHER SPOKANE DEAL Another round of “we need more from the department of can’t say No.” Now we have an underfunded, in the red sports complex. New schools being built, promises made by yet another fiscally not going to answer any more questions, I’m out of here superintendent. We have become a city of either middle end or end of their careers, administrators cash-

THIS WEEK'S ANSWERS M Y O H M Y

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1. Visit Inlander.com/isawyou by 3 pm Monday. 2. Pick a category (I Saw You, You Saw Me, Cheers or Jeers). 3. Provide basic info: your name and email (so we know you’re real). 4. To connect via I Saw You, provide a non-identifying email to be included with your submission — like “petals327@yahoo.com,” not “j.smith@comcast.net.”

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needs a fixed income. Everyone works hard, has issues with wage disparity, economizes to attain their dreams, and makes cuts with expectations based on income, ESD 101. They just go to ballot box where, a majority of the active voters are employed directly and indirectly by the district, so raises in funding by voter approval becomes a formality. Whatever concept they can justify to meet the needs of any and all is fair game. We have layers and layers of educational inertia built into every program they offer, redundant supervision, entire departments to deal with self-created paperwork, all required by district to insure compatibility and compliance to the very constraints they built into the project. When do you stop looking for another levy, when the last taxpayer can’t afford to eat? n

RELATIONSHIPS

EVENTS | CALENDAR JONATHAN BARBER: VISION AHEAD Imagine Jazz presents this unique blend of classic and modern jazz, fusion, soul and gospel influences. Barber was Modern Drummer’s 2018 Up and Coming Drummer of the year. March 6, 8 pm. $15-$25. Holy Names Music Center, 3910 W. Custer Dr. imaginejazz.org PALOUSE CHORAL SOCIETY CHAMBER CHOIR Join the Chamber Choir’s musical exploration of war and peace, weeping and laughing, birth and death, a time for all things. March 7 at 6 pm. St. James Episcopal Church, 1410 NE Stadium Way, Pullman. $8-$20. palousechoralsociety.org SPOKANE SYMPHONY POPS 5: EILEEN IVERS Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with fiddle virtuoso Eileen Ivers, a nine-time All-Ireland Fiddle Champion, star of Riverdance, founding member of Cherish the Ladies, and who’s been called “the Jimi Hendrix of the violin” by The New York Times. March 7, 8-10 pm. $43-$95. Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague Ave. foxtheaterspokane.org (624-1200) SPOKANE YOUTH SYMPHONY: 70 YEARS OF VIRTUOSITY This concert features the winners of the Spokane Youth Symphony’s 2020 Concert Competition: Stephen White, violin; Catherine Treis, violin; Suhang Liu, clarinet and a performance by the SYS Intermediate Honor Wind Ensemble directed by Mr. David Weatherred. March 8, 4 pm. $14-$18. Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague. (509-624-1200) FLOATING CROWBAR Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with the rhythmic sounds of Irish pipes, flute, whistle, banjo, mandolin, as well as fiddle and guitar. March 9, 5:30-7 pm. Free. Medical Lake Library, 3212 Herb St. scld.org/events CHRONOS VOCAL ENSEMBLE & MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY MONTANANS This joint performance is part of Chronos’ spring tour performing music of 10 living Canadian composers. The Montanans perform a set of songs centered on the theme of compassion composed by Karen Thomas, Andrea Ramsey and Caroline Shaw. The two choirs also perform several choral works including Johannes Brahms’ “Lass Dich Nur Nichts Nicht Dauren,” with Mathew O’ Sullivan on organ. March 10, 7-8:30 pm. Free. St. John’s Cathedral, 127 E. 12th Ave. stjohns-cathedral.org FLOATING CROWBAR Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with the rhythmic sounds of Irish pipes, flute, whistle, banjo, mandolin, as well as fiddle and guitar. March 10, 6:30-7:30 pm. Free. Fairfield Library, 305 E. Main St. scld.org/events TERRY ROBB A dinner concert featuring Robb’s popular blues, ragtime and finger-style guitar music. Call for tickets and reservations. March 11, 7:30-9:30 pm. $12/$15. Di Luna’s Cafe, 207 Cedar St., Sandpoint. dilunas.com

SPORTS & OUTDOORS

WIAA HARDWOOD CLASSIC: BOYS & GIRLS 1B/2B State basketball tournament for girls and boys 1B and 2B high school teams. March 4-7. Through March 7. $13.50-$51.50. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. wiaa.com PRESTIGE WRESTLING PRESENTS: VIOLENT WORLD Rhyno and Bull James take four minutes of heat, plus other wrestlers. March 6, 7 pm. $25-

$85. The Pin, 412 W. Sprague Ave. thepinspokane.com (509-385-1449) CABIN FEVER ANTIDOTE: TIME ON TRAILS Learn about great trails nearby that you can easily visit all 12 months of the year to get your nature fix. March 7, 11 am-noon. Free. Indian Trail Library, 4909 W. Barnes Rd. (509-444-5300) HOUSE OF FURY WFC 123 Watch the highly anticipated toe-to-toe brawl featuring MMA stars Sijohn, Gonzales and Avey. March 7, 7-10 pm. $40-$70. Coeur d’Alene Casino, 37914 S. Nukwalqw. cdacasino.com (800-523-2464) SPOKANE NORDIC CHALLENGE LOPPET Ski 20, 30 or 50k of some of the most beautiful cross-country ski trails in the Pacific NW. For all ages, classic or skate class, this event has become the classic season-capping celebration for Spokane’s Nordic ski community. March 8, 8 am-2 pm. Selkirk Lodge, N. Mt. Spokane Park Dr. spokanenordic.org SPOKANE CHIEFS VS. KAMLOOPS BLAZERS Washington Lotto Night and a player magnet giveaway. March 10, 7:05 pm. $11-$25. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanearena.com

THEATER

CABARET Cabaret explores the dark, heady, and tumultuous life of Berlin’s natives and expatriates as Germany slowly yields to the emerging Third Reich. Thu-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm through March 22. $10-$25. Spokane Civic Theatre, 1020 N. Howard St. spokanecivictheatre.com (325-2507) THESE SHINING LIVES A story chronicling the strength and determination of women considered expendable in their day, exploring their true story and its continued resonance. Thu-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm through March 8. $20-$22. Lake City Playhouse, 1320 E. Garden Ave. facebook.com/lakecityplayhouse (208-673-7529) DISNEY’S THE LITTLE MERMAID A stage adaptation of the Disney classic. March 6-22; Fri at 7 pm, Sat-Sun at 2 pm. $12-$16. Spokane Children’s Theatre, 2727 N. Madelia. spokanechildrenstheatre.org (509-328-4886) FAST & FURIOUS VII PLAY FESTIVAL This 7th annual fast-paced festival features staged readings of 35 super-short plays that showcase new comedies and dramas written by local and national playwrights. March 6-7 at 7:30 pm, March 8 at 2 pm. $10/$15. Stage Left Theater, 108 W. Third Ave. spokanestageleft.org (838-9727) MARY POPPINS Based on the books by P.L. Travers and the classic Walt Disney film. March 6, 13-14 and 19-21 at 7 pm; March 7-8, 15 and 22 at 2 pm. $15. Woodland Theater, 120 W. Third Ave., Kettle Falls. woodlandproductions.org THE FOLLIES “Politically incorrect, racy and ridiculous” describe Sandpoint’s annual, exceedingly popular variety show that supports The Angels Over Sandpoint. 21+. March 6-7 at 8 pm. $30. Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave. panida.org (208-255-7801) WHITWORTH THEATRE: LA ALGAJIRA Written and directed by Naphtali Fields-Forbes, Whitworth visiting assistant professor of theatre, La Algajira tells the story of Central American villagers forced to search for a better life. March 6-7 and 13-14 at 7:30 pm; March 8 and 15 at 2 pm. $12/$15. Whitworth Cowles Auditorium, 300 W. Hawthorne

Ave. (777-4703) DANCEFEST 2020 The event offers free classes and entertainment with a variety of dance performances, while the SCC offers art, crafts and food. March 7, 10 am-4 pm. Free. Spokane Community College, 1810 N. Greene St. indaspokane.com/dancfest (922-4493) THE BACHELOR LIVE! The most successful reality romance series in the history of TV brings drama, gossip and romance to the live stage. March 8, 7 pm. $40.50-$152. First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. inbpac.com (509-279-7000)

VISUAL ARTS

SALMON SOIRÉE: ART, COMMUNITY, ACTIVISM An evening of local artwork, community fellowship and opportunities for activism. Artists include Shawn Brigman and Lonnie Hutson. March 5, 5-9 pm. Free. New Moon Art Gallery, 1326 E. Sprague. (515-230-9003) FIRST FRIDAY Art galleries and businesses across downtown Spokane and beyond host receptions to showcase new displays of art. March 6, 5-8 pm. Details at firstfridayspokane.org CRAFTING GLASS: FROM ROMAN POMPEII TO TODAY WSU art historian and professor Hallie Meredith examines the varied types of glassware displayed in “Pompeii: The Immortal City,” such as bath flasks, dipsticks and transport vessels, focusing on their production, importance of colors, and distinct social uses. March 7, 2-3:30 pm. $10 suggested donation. The MAC, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (456-3931) EMERGE CERAMIC SHOWDOWN THROW DOWN & CUP FRENZY An event to raise funds for and bring awareness to Emerge’s pottery program. March 7, 5 pm. Free. Human Rights Education Institute, 414 W. Fort Grounds Dr. emergecda.com RESA BLATMAN: SLOW BURN An exhibition of new works by the Massachusetts-based artist. March 11-April 24; Mon-Fri from 9 am-5 pm (gallery closed for spring break March 23-27). The artist gives a gallery talk March 11 at noon with a reception to follow. The EWU Gallery of Art is located in the Art Building on the EWU campus in Cheney. Free. Eastern Washington University, 526 Fifth. ewu.edu/cale/art/gallery

WORDS

3 MINUTE MIC Open mic readers can share up to 3 minutes’ worth of poetry. Content is not censored, though every effort is made to be sensitive to young/ impressionable attendees. March 6, 8-9 pm. Free. Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave. auntiesbooks.com FIFTH ANNUAL NORTHERN SLAM See, listen, and cheer on local high school students as they perform original poetry on stage. March 9, 6-8 pm. Free. Riverside High School, 4120 E. Deer Park/Milan Rd. scld.org/events FANS OF FEATHERS: BOOK PROJECT & WRITING WORKSHOP In this aviary two-session poetry and short prose workshop, participants explore birds of all feathers and our personal connection to them with poets Laura Read and Emma Noyes. Participants’ final pieces are published in a professionally-bound book. March 10 and 17 at 7 pm; reading April 16 at 7 pm. $15-$30. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit. spark-central.org n

Advice Goddess BORED WALK EMPIRE

Why am I only attracted to unattainable guys? As soon as men express interest in me, I lose interest in them. How do I break this cycle?! —Frustrated At the moment, the perfect love poem for you would come from a clerk at the court: “Roses are red, violets are blue; stay 500 feet away, or it’s handcuffs for you!” Chances are you’re looking to win, not looking for love. Once you win — once you’ve landed the guy you’ve AMY ALKON been pursuing — you’re done. However, you probably tell yourself you’re seeking romantic connection because, well, it’s more appealing than admitting you’re the human version of a dog chasing a dirty tennis ball. The point — the excitement of it — is the chasing, not the getting. (Dirty tennis balls don’t taste like bacon.) You’re basically on an emotional crack bender. The big neurochemical player here is dopamine, a neurotransmitter, a messenger in chemical form that carries signals from brain cell to brain cell. Though it’s often called the “pleasure chemical,” that’s wrong. Giving you a buzz is opioids’ department. Getting you to the opioids is dopamine’s job. Research by neuroscientist Kent Berridge suggests dopamine drives “wanting” (as in, craving) — motivating you to pursue things that are “rewarding,” like sex, drugs, and cake. There are some nuances to this. Dopamine is the Beverly Hills brat of neurochemicals — seriously snobby about rewards being new. In researcher-ese, it spikes at the prospect of “novel rewards”: sex, drugs, and cake you haven’t tried before. It also goes up big-time for “unpredictable rewards” — those we aren’t sure we can get — which explains the allure of the seemingly aloof himbo. However, “predictable rewards,” like the Grandma-pleaser — the nice, stable fellow you can always count on — read as a big “meh” in Dopamineville. I’m guessing your love of the chase has a second job — as convenient cover for repairs needed in your emotional wing. Get to work on your self-worth, self-acceptance, and any other self-(s) in need of shoring up. While you’re an emotional work in progress, be honest with men you date that you have a tendency to disappear like cartoon ink. Eventually, however, your efforts should be transformative — meaning the meme guiding your romantic life will no longer be “Look for a man who looks at you like my dog looks at the small print on the iTunes agreement.”

WANE’S WORLD

I have a challenging job I love, and lately, it’s really cutting into my time with my boyfriend. I tell him how much I hate this, but he’s been very understanding. Initially, this was great, but now I’m annoyed that he seems fine with seeing less of me. Is it ridiculous I’m upset he isn’t acting more upset that I’m not around as much? —Disturbed Poets and lyricists often describe love as a medical issue: Love hurts! Love is blind! Love lies bleeding! It goes a little far, however, to give it a traumatic brain injury: Love is comatose. But maybe that isn’t what’s going on for your boyfriend. Maybe you’re just prone to suspect his love is waning. Research by evolutionary psychologists Martie Haselton and David Buss suggests humans evolved to be imperfect thinkers — to have distorted perceptions when we have to make “judgments under uncertainty.” These are guesses we make when we lack access to some or all of the facts. Haselton and Buss explain that recurring mating and survival issues over human history have led us to make protective errors — overperceiving or underperceiving elements in our physical and social environments. We err in our thinking in whichever way would be the least costly to us: overestimating or underestimating. Because women are the babymakers of the species, it’s a big costly error for a woman to believe a man will commit — stick around and dad -- when he’s really just a “sex it ’n’ exit” cad. So, women err on side of “commitment underperception” — underestimating men’s level of commitment. Even if a man actually is committed, a woman’s going all hurt feelz that he isn’t might lead him to reassure her with increased shows of devotion: cuddling, romantic dinners, the (ethically sourced!) Hope Diamond Jr. Consider whether there’s any real evidence your boyfriend’s love and commitment are waning or whether your emotions are playing evolutionary lap dog. When someone really loves you, they show it by making sacrifices for you -- like by supporting your need for unimpeded time and energy when the job you love gets more demanding than usual. Your boyfriend seems really accommodating, so let him know if what would really make you happy is a jealous, demanding manchild who sneaks out in the middle of the night with a big tub of Crisco and greases all the rungs on the ladder of success. n ©2020, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. • Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405 or email AdviceAmy@aol.com (www.advicegoddess.com)

MARCH 5, 2020 INLANDER 49

LAW

Special Delivery It’s illegal to deliver retail cannabis, according to the LCB. But that hasn’t stopped people from trying BY WILL MAUPIN

I DEREK HARRISON PHOTO ILLUSTRATION

50 INLANDER MARCH 5, 2020

n the state of Washington, if you want weed, you’re going to have to get it yourself. Last week the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board sent out a bulletin stating, in no uncertain terms, that retail marijuana delivery is illegal. This isn’t new. It’s always been illegal. That hasn’t stopped people from trying to make it happen regardless of its illegality, though. “Some companies claim to have found a way around the delivery prohibition,” the bulletin states, “but to date there is no ...continued on page 52

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GREEN ZONE

LAW “SPECIAL DELIVERY,” CONTINUED... legal method for commercial delivery of cannabis from a retailer to consumer off premises.” One company making that claim is Pelican Delivers, which has found its way into the LCB’s crosshairs after a few months of publicly attempting to exploit a potential loophole in the law. The company is applying an UberEats-style approach to marijuana delivery, complete with a patented app and all. The confusion about the legal status of marijuana delivery stems from one sentence in RCW 69.50.4013, which states that delivery by a person of legal age to another of legal age is not illegal if it meets very specific criteria. Most importantly, it needs to be for noncommercial purposes and done without financial consideration. What does that mean? Essentially, money and marijuana delivery can’t mix. All that sentence really allows for is marijuana to be given as a gift. Pelican Delivers’ app, though, facilitates payment from the customer to a dispensary. It also connects a driver, who is paid for the service, with the customer and the dispensary. That is obviously a commercial purpose with financial consideration as well. Does routing the financial consideration and commercial purpose through a third-party app somehow make it legal? According to the LCB, the answer is no. Yet, days after the LCB’s bulletin came out, Pelican Delivers’ website is still up and running. The practical application of this confusing law is being tested at this very moment. So, the tone of the bulletin wasn’t so much admonishment as it was counsel. Dispensaries and consumers can put themselves at risk by believing dubious claims of legality from a delivery service. So, know the law and protect yourself. If my buddy tells me he’s on his way to the weed store and I Venmo him $5 to pick me up a joint, at least one of us is technically committing a class C felony. According to the LCB’s interpretation of the RCW, the same goes for using a third-party delivery service. n

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40 43

31 35

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57 61

30 34

33 37

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MARCH 5, 2020 INLANDER 53

COEUR D ’ ALENE

cda4.fun for more events, things to do & places to stay.

March means Blues Festival and a roarin’ good time

he bands are booked and counting down to the start of one of the most anticipated weekends in Coeur d’Alene for area blues fans: the COEUR D’ALENE BLUES FESTIVAL. On March 20 the Coeur d’Alene Resort hosts what the Inland Empire Blues Society has dubbed “best blues festival” five times running!

It’s easy to see why. Locals will love experiencing their favorite bands in new and unusual venues, as well as getting to know acts they might not have heard before. Start the weekend off with one of the region’s beloved R&B performers: Sara Brown, who when it’s just her and her husband Jesse goes by Rusty and Ginger. They’re at Whispers Friday evening — no cover — for an intimate little performance full of sass that’ll get your toes tappin.’ If you’ve been to any blues events in the Northwest, you’ve heard of and fallen for Soul Proprietor, a big nine-piece band with an even bigger sound. They have a lot of fun laying on the horn, covering bands like Chicago and Blood, Sweat and Tears for more than 20 years, and they’re headlining the Friday Night Live event at the Resort ($10). The rooftop of the resort is the place to be on Saturday for Charlie Butts and the Filter Tips ($5). They’ve been a Northwest favorite since 1994 with groovy tunes like “Comin Home-More Peas” and their funky rendition of Average White Band’s “Pick Up the Pieces.” C O E U R

D ’A L E N E

Upcoming Events

COEUR D’ALENE

Doug E. Fresh Banked Slalom MARCH 7

This banked slalom race is hand dug and weaves its way down the terrain park — finishing at the Grand Teton beer garden! Even if you’re not racing, this event is a good time.

Also on Saturday, you have not heard nor seen anything like the electric-guitar stylings of Ana Popovic. Fresh from recording her latest album — produced by none other than the legendary Keb’ Mo’ — Popovic is one of five bands featured Saturday evening at the all-out blues bash inside the resort convention center ($42.50), which also includes Lloyd Jones Struggle, Rae Gordon Band, Sugaray Rayford and Whack A Mole. Of course, that’s only a smattering of what’s happening during Blues Festival weekend. Friday night you can climb aboard your choice of two separate lake cruises featuring either The Doghouse Boyz or the Kenny James Miller Band and cruise on over to the Hagadone Event Center for a performance by Lloyd Jones Struggle (Blues Fest Cruise tickets only available to Blues package holders). Sunday features the Gospel Brunch at Dockside and the Blues Cruise Sunday brunch. Several ticket bundles are available, like the weekend package. Enjoy a two-night stay, dining credit, and two allaccess passes to performances on Friday and Saturday both (starting at $289 per night). Make it a VIP experience for $50 more and hang out with the artists at one of the resort’s posh private suites, with reserved VIP seating during Friday’s five-band blowout plus early boarding for the Friday cruise. Visit cdaresort.com for details, including online ticket purchases and room reservations.

Ski Bum Prom Night

St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Ski under light and then dance the night away at the mountain summit with live music and drink specials at Moguls. Wear your best retro ski attire and get some awkward snapshots with your date. Lift tickets $15 valid from 3-8 pm.

Coeur d’Alene turns green St. Patrick’s Day weekend, starting with the annual parade which marches down Sherman Avenue, starting at Eighth Avenue and finishing at First Avenue. Visit cda4.fun

MARCH 7

Moguls will remain open until 9 pm.

MARCH 14

for complete rundown of St. Patrick’s day parties, cruises and events.

cda4.fun for more events, things to do & places to stay. 54 INLANDER MARCH 5, 2020

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