Inlander 03/07/2024

spanning THE CITY

SETH'S OSCAR PICKS

PLUS WE RANK EVERY BEST SONG WINNER EVER PAGE 28

Spokane has scores of bridges that unite, divide and continue to raise questions about the city’s future

By Nate Sanford Page

14

Think you can’t open your own restaurant?

Yes, you can.

You want to go from passion to profession. We’re here to help make it happen. Because at Washington Trust Bank, we believe you can do anything you set your mind to. Visit watrust.com to get started.

DOXEY

EDITOR’S NOTE

There are a lot of surprises for the unlucky

few who’ve never been to Spokane. When I first arrived, I was absolutely astounded by the raging waterfalls in the center of town, and the sprawling park around them. Who knew? I soon came to love other marvels of Spokane. The basalt thumbs that jut out here and there. The obvious marmots and not-so-obvious beavers. The streetcar tracks, all these decades later.

But, most of all, our bridges, which continue to dazzle me. As Nate Sanford reports in this week’s cover story — CITY OF BRIDGES — Spokane is not only defined by its bridges, it only exists because of its bridges. There is simply no other way across those raging falls, or over the deep river gorge — though I wouldn’t mind seeing a zipline, human cannonball or the resuscitation of Plante’s Ferry.

Yet, like with all infrastructure, our bridges need some help. The city stepped up to fix the Post Street Bridge, a necessary move since it carries a lot of the city’s sewage. But major challenges still exist for the beautiful Latah Bridge, which is slowly crumbling away, and the iconic Monroe Street Bridge, which is troubled by the very modern issues of fentanyl use and suicide. Can we save these bridges, and by extension the city itself? What Nate has found may surprise you.

— NICHOLAS DESHAIS, editor

PRINCESS

TOKYO

KATE DONALDSON

What’s coming to mind is Jane the Virgin because that would just be really entertaining if it were a man that was in that position, and I feel like the dynamic of the show would change a lot. I like it with the female, but also it would be interesting if it were a male.

ROSINA MACHU

Mean Girls, but be cast as “Mean Boys.” I think that if we were to have the roles swapped and show what guys are like, or what they’re stereotyped to be like, I think it’d show them in a different light and just show that guys can be just as cliquey and catty as girls.

JULIANA MAUCIONE

I would say either Goodfellas or The Godfather or honestly any mobster movie because I would love to see a woman in that role.

ANGELINA MENDOZA

Oppenheimer because I feel like it was so long ago and the gender roles were so fixed. His whole story is like, he’s a guy and he was the brains of the operation, and it would just be super interesting to see how that would differ if it was a woman.

JAKE STEWART

I would say Good Will Hunting because in that movie the character already goes through fighting stereotypes of what a male needs to look like and has this huge transformation, so I’d like to see it from a female perspective.

Lessons from Japan

From high-speed trains to surprisingly great 7-Elevens, Japan’s urban environment has much to envy

BY ANTHONY GILL

Skiing brought me to Japan. But it may just be the urban experience that takes me back.

In middle school and high school, my friends and I were stereotypical Pacific Northwest skiers. We skied nearly every weekend, burned pineapple effigies in the fall, watched ski movies, and, in the back of our minds, forged bucket lists filled with interesting destinations. Japan wasn’t necessarily at the top of the list, but Hokkaido gets some of the most consistent and abundant snow in the world, so it was only natural that at some point we’d make our way across the Pacific.

When I finally had the opportunity to spend five days in Niseko, Hokkaido, and five days exploring the country in January, I jumped at the chance. It certainly helped that in the time since middle and high school, I’ve developed an interest in cities, in urbanism, and in exploring new places and perspectives.

So while the skiing was excellent (life-changing, even!), the urban exploration was even better. I found that many of the things Japan does well are things that Spokane and Inland Northwest urbanists like myself have been harping on for years.

First, getting around was simple and fast.

While Japanese train stations are true marvels of urban engineering, and Shinjuku Station (one of the world’s busiest, in Tokyo) seems to pulsate with the energy of millions of commuters at all hours of day and night, I was struck by how easy each station and transit line was to navigate. Transit cards from one region work in all the

Japan’s forward-thinking, resilient approach to city-building, seen here at the Shibuya Crossing, should be a model for Spokane.

SOUVLAKI LAMB GYROS WITH TZATZIKI, CUCUMBER, TOMATO, AND KALAMATA OLIVES

AMY GOODMAN &

others. Signage looks similar in every station. Fares are predictable no matter where you are.

Even taking the shinkansen — Japan’s legendary high-speed rail — is remarkably difficult to mess up. I took the train from Kyoto to Tokyo and because the line runs every 10 minutes, I didn’t even have to buy a ticket in advance (though I could have, if I’d preferred). And it was a revelatory experience, with spacious seats, abundant storage and incredible views. The 300-mile trip took under two hours.

Here at home, the Washington state Department of Transportation is currently studying high-speed rail between Vancouver, B.C. and Portland, and Amtrak is looking at improving east-west service, so there might be some hope on the horizon. But reconnecting the region via rail is still, unfortunately, a long way off. We should look across the Pacific to find some courage.

Second, almost anything I could possibly need was within walking distance.

It’s no secret that Japan has convenience on lock — the legendary 7-Eleven egg salad sandwich didn’t develop an international following out of nowhere. But what struck me wasn’t so much the ubiquity of convenience stores as the mixed nature of almost every neighborhood.

Even in quiet, relatively residential neighborhoods, in addition to the standard vending machines, you might find an izakaya (pub), a ramen shop or a convenience store. You might have a pocket of residential buildings embedded in a largely commercial zone. In fact, zoning overall seemed looser than in American cities, where commercial and residential uses are generally kept very separate. Some of this is, of course, enabled by Japan’s population and housing density. But I couldn’t help but think about places like the Scoop and Rockwood Bakery, and wonder what might happen if we could become even more open to these types of uses, particularly as low-rise residential neighborhoods continue to densify.

Finally, Japan’s urban spaces are remarkably flexible.

Just as Japan’s neighborhoods and districts are flexible, so too are the buildings and public spaces. In part out of necessity in such a populous country, you might grab okonomiyaki on the fifth floor of a building, then go out for karaoke on the third. You might stay in a hotel with apartment flats above, or a pod hotel with a lively bar not below, but above. I’m told that these uses can change over time, so a restaurant might become retail or even an office down the road.

These flexible buildings might seem like curiosities, but as remote work continues to wreak havoc on office environments and downtowns in North America, Japan seems to have a more resilient and forward-thinking approach. In Spokane, many of our most beloved buildings are, naturally, the ones that mix uses together and adapt. The Washington Cracker Building houses restaurants, coffee shops, offices and event spaces. The Chronicle Building — a beautiful legacy structure with a long history — went from a newsroom to an office building to apartments. Uses can change over time and adapt with the population.

Now, maybe this reads like a call for you to visit Japan — and perhaps it is, in part.

But it’s also a call to consider that the questions we have as people who love cities have already been answered time and time again. Make transit easy to use. Make it easy for people to meet their needs within walking distance. Create spaces that bring people together in new and unexpected ways.

Spokane is fortunate to have a deep bench of professionals, activists and officials who understand this critical mix. But for the good of the community, we must keep moving aggressively. We need not aspire to be Tokyo, but we should absolutely draw lessons from it as we continue to build a simpler, more walkable and more resilient city. n

Anthony Gill is an economic development professional and writer of Spokane Rising, a blog about ways to make our city a better place to live.

HEALTH

Mobile Methadone

A refurbished bus brings opioid treatment to Deer Park, testing a model that could be used across the rural U.S.

BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

Asteady rain is pouring as a white minibus idles on the edge of a health center parking lot in Deer Park, waiting for the final few patients to step on board this Thursday morning in late February.

Renovated to include a makeshift doctor’s office at the back, complete with a reclined medical chair and small sink, the bus offers essential treatment closer to home for many who live north of Spokane.

Most patients aren’t there to see a doctor. Instead, they take turns boarding the bus one by one, stopping at a small window in the aisle to tell a staff member their name and patient ID number so they can receive their daily dose of methadone.

Opioid treatment programs for those with substance use disorder, or, more specifically, opioid use disorder, typically require patients to come in daily to get their medication-assisted treatment.

It can take time to earn the right to get take-home doses, and if there isn’t a program nearby, it can take hours out of each day to simply drive to a treatment program, wait in line, get that day’s dose, and head to work or come home.

But recently, some programs like this mobile clinic operated by Acadia Healthcare have been able to bring that treatment closer to rural residents.

Since last June, this bus has made the 40-minute trip

from Spokane each morning, Monday through Friday, to set up in the parking lot of an urgent care that’s just off the main drag through Deer Park.

That’s a big deal for people like Robert Edwards, 53, who has been able to receive treatment here since September.

Edwards says that since his initial intake and evaluation at Acadia’s brick-and-mortar opioid treatment program on East Trent Avenue in Spokane, which took about four hours, he’s been able to receive care in Deer Park, making it much easier to remain in treatment. It’s near his home and only takes a few minutes each day now that he’s established.

“The car that I had, the transmission went out in it, so thankfully my mom is allowing me to use her car,” Edwards says. “My youngest is still in school, so to get him to school and then try to get all the way down to Trent in traffic, every day, it can be done, but this just made everything so much more convenient and more possible to stay committed with the program.”

After he broke his back in 1999, Edwards says, he was on prescribed pain medication for years, until doctors became more reluctant to provide them, recognizing that the meds were creating an addiction epidemic.

Deer Park resident Robert Edwards at Acadia Healthcare’s mobile center on Thursday, Feb. 29. ERICK DOXEY PHOTO

“I was never a drug user [before that],” Edwards says. “That led to exploring other options, and that pretty much ruined my life from there.”

About five years ago, he says he started using heroin and then switched to fentanyl after heroin became difficult to find.

The treatment program has offered him stability. Medication-assisted treatment helps with pain relief and curbs cravings without getting users “high.” The program also includes ongoing counseling and peer therapy to help address the shame and stress that come with addiction and recovery.

“I was extremely ashamed,” Edwards says, noting it took him a long time to talk to his family about his struggles. “I shouldn’t feel ashamed, because I’ve made huge strides to change my life around. I see light at the end of the tunnel, where before I never did.”

Now, providers are excited that new federal rules set to take effect next month will make it even easier for more companies to invest in similar mobile clinics that can increase treatment access wherever there’s a need.

NEW GUIDANCE

In the last two years or so, regulatory clarity enabled companies like Acadia to take off with the mobile clinic concept, says Dr. Nasser Khan, the group president of operations for Acadia.

With seven mobile clinics in multiple states, Acadia is one of the largest operators of mobile opioid treatment programs in the country, Khan says. They plan to double the number of mobile units by the end of the year.

They operate in somewhat of a hub-and-spoke model, with mobile units dispatched from a main clinic. Each day, the bus that offers treatment in Deer Park is driven there in the morning, returning each afternoon to Acadia’s clinic in Spokane, where medication is stored securely inside the building.

“[They] are located in communities that are remote, rural or otherwise underserved,” Khan says. “The truth is for the majority of patients there still is a need for services that require that daily visit to the clinic. It’s not just dispensing the medication, it’s the other service the clinic is providing as well. … The mobile vans fill in that important gap.”

On Jan. 31, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released the final version of updated federal rules for opioid treatment programs, which will take effect on April 2. It’s the first major update in about two decades.

The update enshrines some of the leeway that was given on an emergency basis during the pandemic.

One of the biggest rule changes will allow providers more ability to determine when someone is clinically ready

to receive take-home doses, Khan says.

Aside from weekend doses, which are available from the time people start, it previously could take 90 days in treatment for patients to earn just one take-home dose of methadone, says Jason Kletter, president of BayMark Health Services, in an email. Kletter is also a spokesperson for “Program, not a pill,” a campaign to expand medication-assisted treatment nationwide.

With the new rules, providers can decide if someone should be eligible for multiple weeks of take-homes from the beginning of their care.

“It’s really accelerated and normalized that take-homes are an important part of the care delivery for clinically appropriate patients,” Khan says.

Another change makes it clear that mobile clinics can operate as full opioid treatment centers.

Previously they were viewed more as satellite operations that mostly provided medication. Now, the rules clarify that the mobile clinics can be used for everything from the intake process (which can be done via telehealth) to counseling as well.

That doesn’t mean that patients won’t need to visit the main clinic from time to time, Khan says, but it allows companies to more fully utilize the vans or buses.

“This is intended to bring services on a smaller scale, but still a complete set of services, out into communities,” Khan says.

For new patients in the Deer Park area, that now means they won’t need to drive to Spokane to do their intake, but can start the process right on the bus.

Currently, there are about 50 people in the program there, and there’s plenty of room to take on more patients, says Ashleigh Yanzick, a regional director in training for Acadia. They accept all major insurance, and for those who still need to pay out of pocket, it’s about $100 per week.

Another attempt to increase access to methadone is also working its way through Congress. The Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act would allow doctors to prescribe patients methadone that could be picked up at pharmacies.

But Dr. Benjamin Nordstrom, the chief medical officer at Behavioral Health Group — the nation’s largest network of accredited outpatient opioid treatment centers — says that while the legislation promises to increase rural access, it likely won’t change anything in practice.

That’s because it would specifically give that prescribing ability to board-certified addiction physicians. Nordstrom says that 87% of the population already lives within adequate distance of an opioid treatment program, so the focus is on how best to serve that other 13%. If they don’t have a doctor with that specialty nearby, they’ll still be out of luck.

“This is consuming a huge amount of bandwidth for something that’s just not going to have a material impact.

Saturday

Acadia Healthcare’s mobile comprehensive treatment center parked in Deer Park . ERICK DOXEY PHOTO

It’s a blown opportunity,” Nordstrom says. “The time and attention would be better spent trying to figure out ways to improve economic access to treatment.”

REDUCING STIGMA

One of the biggest stigmas that remains, even among providers, is the idea that staying on methadone for an extended period of time is somehow just replacing a drug with a drug, Khan says.

Typically, “graduating” from a methadone program into abstinence isn’t a clinical metric that’s considered important, he says. It’s a medication that’s treating a chronic disease.

“It’s OK to take a medication for a chronic disease, potentially if needed, for life,” Khan says. “We try to use the analogy of comparing it to diabetes. … If you require insulin for treatment of that chronic disease for your whole life, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

If patients are successfully no longer using illicit substances, continue to remain engaged in a program and wish to remain on methadone, that’s a success, Khan says.

Jennifer, who asked to only go by her first name, says the Deer Park bus has helped her for the last four months. She previously participated in medication-assisted treatment in Spokane Valley several years ago, and got off of methadone after a year, which was her goal.

But after she realized she was starting to look for pain medication again for pain related to her job and an old workplace injury, she decided to go back into treatment and found the facility that’s closer to her home in the Colbert area.

“It’s just another medication that you’re taking. … You’re not getting high from it,” she says. “That whole addiction piece is not here. It’s my medicine and that’s where it’s at, and thankfully I’ve been able to keep it that way.”

Darren Thompson, 48, who started treatment in December, was previously traveling from Loon Lake to a program in Spokane when he was able to transfer to the closer location. He had a bad car accident in 1997 and was put on pain medication for years. About a year ago, he says he started using “blues” that he thought were oxycodone, but later learned were fentanyl.

“The staff and everybody is just really super nice, and it’s really easy to talk to them,” Thompson says.

Edwards says the harm-reduction model is key. He didn’t have to worry that he’d be immediately kicked out of the program while he was transitioning from illicit drug use to the legal methadone if and when those substances showed up on a urinalysis test, which all patients are regularly subjected to. He’s been through precipitated (immediate) withdrawal before, which scared him when he first decided to try the program, but he found they were understanding.

“It’s serious when it needs to be, but it’s also comforting to know they don’t look at you differently,” Edwards says. “Don’t be afraid to come ask for help.” n samanthaw@inlander.com

Bye Bye Billig

Spokane’s busy election year gets busier as Marcus Riccelli, Natasha Hill and Ben Stuckart jostle for position in the wake of Andy Billig’s retirement

BY NATE SANFORD

Spokane’s 2024 election season is getting more and more crowded.

On Monday, state Sen. Andy Billig, a Spokane Democrat who was also the majority leader in the state Senate, announced that he won’t be running for reelection in 2024.

“Part of being a good leader is knowing when it is time to step aside and let others lead,” Billig said in a statement. “I have been incredibly lucky to have served Spokane in the Legislature and fortunate to have the strong support of my family and so many friends and neighbors throughout our community.”

Billig’s announcement is the latest shakeup in what has already been a surprising year for local politics.

A little over a month ago, local Republican U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers said she wouldn’t seek reelection in 2024 after nearly two decades in Congress. Her retirement appears to have been a surprise to almost everyone — including the nine Republicans who are now scrambling to fill her seat.

But in Billig’s case, the pieces seem to have already been in place.

A little over an hour after Billig’s announcement, state Rep. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane, sent an email to supporters announcing his plans to run for Billig’s Senate seat. Soon after, prominent Spokane progressives Ben Stuckart and Natasha Hill declared they’d run to replace Riccelli in the state House.

stalemate over school funding that was prompted by the state Supreme Court’s 2012 McCleary decision.

In his announcement, Billig also highlighted his work on sustainable aviation fuels and campaign finance laws. Under his leadership, he said the Senate had passed “nation-leading” legislation addressing issues like climate change, gun safety, voting rights, affordable housing and reproductive rights.

Riccelli has served in the state House since 2012, when he took the seat vacated by Billig, a close ally. In his statement, Riccelli described Billig as a colleague and friend who has “served our district with distinction.”

“This is going to be an important election year,” Riccelli wrote. “We cannot take our democracy or fundamental rights for granted under relentless ideological attack — and we need to ensure that we have strong voices in Olympia making sure our shared values and priorities are heard and delivered on.”

Hill and Stuckart are familiar faces in local progressive circles.

Stuckart served as Spokane City Council president from 2012 to 2019, and unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Spokane in 2019. He spent the past four years serving as the director of the Spokane Low-Income Housing Consortium.

Riccelli, Stuckart and Hill had previously been floated as potential Democrats who might run for the congressional seat vacated by McMorris Rodgers. Each eventually decided against it. Washington’s 3rd Legislative District, which mostly covers the city of Spokane, is reliably blue, but the 5th Congressional District, which covers the eastern third of Washington, is reliably red. When Hill ran against McMorris Rodgers as a Democrat in 2022, she lost by nearly 20 points.

Billig was also floated as a potential Democrat who could run for the 5th District, but he told the Inlander last month that he wasn’t interested.

Billig has represented Washington’s 3rd Legislative District for nearly 14 years. He was first elected to the state House in 2010, and then to the state Senate two years later, when he replaced Lisa Brown, who is now Spokane’s mayor.

In 2018, Senate Democrats elected him state majority leader — a powerful position that was also previously held by Brown when she was Spokane’s state senator.

Brown and a number of other local Democrats were quick to congratulate Billig and thank him for his years of service on Monday. In a post on X, Brown highlighted Billig’s work on early learning and the environment.

Billig was one of eight lawmakers who spent nearly 18 months negotiating to avoid a government shutdown and working on a plan to break yearslong

“People are fed up with high rent, lack of action on mental health, substance abuse and rising costs,” Stuckart said in a statement Monday. “The 3rd LD is one of the poorest in the state, and we need someone who is not afraid to name the big issues but also has the legislative experience to go to Olympia and solve problems.”

Hill is a local activist and attorney who has long advocated for civil rights issues in the city of Spokane and participated in protests with Spokane Community Against Racism (SCAR). Last year, Hill was selected as interim editor of the relaunched Black Lens newspaper.

In recent months, both Stuckart and Hill have been involved in legal threats involving the city of Spokane.

Stuckart has been working with Jewels Helping Hands, a nonprofit homeless service provider, on a lawsuit arguing that Proposition 1 — the homeless camping ban passed by voters in November — should not have appeared on the ballot. An appeals court ruled against Stuckart and Jewels in December, and the plaintiffs appealed to the state Supreme Court last month.

Earlier this year, Hill threatened to sue the city on behalf of SCAR over a new City Council rule that banned standing as a form of protest during meetings. Hill argued that standing was a form of constitutionally protected free speech. The City Council stopped enforcing the ban because of legal concerns, and voted to remove it entirely on Monday. n

Pints with Tots

Beer gardens are about to get more kidfriendly. Plus, money grows trees; and a lawsuit is filed against North Idaho College.

BY INLANDER STAFF

A$200 million bond proposal that would have paid for Spokane Public Schools buildings may have failed last month, but the children of Spokane will soon have a new place to hang out and get an education: beer gardens. On Monday, the Spokane City Council passed the “Family Friendly Festivals” law, which will allow families to bring people under 21 with them to specially designated areas that serve alcohol at street festivals and other events. Council member Zack Zappone — who introduced the ordinance and has advocated for it amid numerous delays and minor technical tweaks — says the change will better align Spokane’s laws with state regulations. He says it will also bring tax revenue to the city and make it easier for families to stay together at special events like Pig Out in the Park. On Monday, some public commenters worried about children being exposed to alcohol, but Zappone stressed that organizations hosting events can still decide whether or not to allow children, and that the law comes with a number of safeguards to make sure minors aren’t consuming alcohol. “It’s about creating an environment where families can go together and spend time together,” Zappone said. (NATE SANFORD)

GREEN FOR GREEN

Washington is investing in new trees in a major way this year thanks to money from the Climate Commitment Act’s cap-and-invest carbon market and the federal Inflation Reduction Act. More than $8 million was awarded statewide for tree planting by the state Department of Natural Resources’ Urban and Community Forestry Grant program, including for several regional projects. The Kalispel Tribe received $165,518 in federal money to plant 95 trees around their property in Airway Heights, and 90 trees on tribal land in Cusick. The Spokane Tribal Network got $166,015 in federal dollars to “create a community forest to demonstrate tribal food sovereignty.” Spokane County got $101,710 in state funding to establish an example of proper forest management that can be used as a teaching tool for land managers. Chewelah got $68,500 to plant 13 trees on East Main Avenue and develop a planting plan. Ritzville got $346,000 in state and federal funding to assess its tree canopy and develop community forestry policies. Other projects will happen in Palouse, Othello, Millwood and around the state.

(SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

NIC LAWSUIT

For months there have been rumblings at North Idaho College about an undisclosed personnel grievance that trustees were investigating. Two weeks ago, that grievance became a lawsuit against the college, revealing that the undisclosed person was former NIC Chief Communications and Government Relationship Officer Laura Rumpler. In her lawsuit, filed Feb. 21, Rumpler alleges that NIC President Nick Swayne created a toxic working environment. She also alleges that two trustees, Tarie Zimmerman and Brad Corkill, violated her rights by refusing to consider her grievance in an executive session. (On a five-person board, four members need to vote to enter executive session.) “[Rumpler] has endeavored to resolve this personnel matter in a fair, equitable and timely manner,” Rumpler’s attorney Jennifer Dempsey writes in an email. “The failures of NIC and its board to do the same have had a significant impact.” Rumpler is seeking at least $141,822.77 in lost

and benefits along with at least $75,000 for damage to her personal and professional reputation and emotional distress. (COLTON RASANEN) n

CITY OF Bridges

For more than a hundred years, bridges have united — and divided — Spokane

By Nate Sanford

Spokane owes its existence to bridges. A roaring river cuts the city in half, and since the earliest days of white settlement, planners and politicians have looked to bridges to unite the city’s economy and society.

The first were rickety, wooden footpaths that were frequently swept away by floodwaters. Many were replaced with steel structures that were able to accommodate horsedrawn carriages and electric trolleys.

The steel structures still presented problems. Multiple tragedies — including the collapse of the Division Street Bridge in 1915, which sent a streetcar into the river and killed five people — prompted demands for a more stable solution to Spokane’s bridge problem.

The solution: concrete.

In his 2013 book Bridges of Spokane, Jeff Creighton, a former assistant archivist for the Washington State Archives, describes a “bridge frenzy” in Spokane between 1907 and 1917 that saw construction of many of the iconic bridges that define the city to this day. Many of the rickety steel-beam bridges were replaced with reinforced concrete arch structures — an innovation at the time that wasn’t without risk.

Spokane was “somewhat leading edge” when it came to construction of concrete bridges, says Kyle James Jarvis, a local infrastructure history enthusiast. Some of Spokane’s concrete arch bridges were lauded throughout the state as feats of engineering.

Today, the city’s bridge division inspects and maintains

MONROE STREET BRIDGE

The Monroe Street Bridge is perhaps the most iconic bridge in Spokane — a massive feat of concrete engineering that towers over Spokane Falls and the river gorge and runs straight through the heart of the city.

YEAR BUILT: 1911

HEIGHT: 136 feet

LENGTH: 896 feet

ORIGINAL CONSTRUCTION

COST: $500,000 ($15.7 million in today’s dollars)

The bridge connects City Hall and the downtown businesses with Kendall Yards and the county government offices on the north side of the river. The views are majestic. During the river’s peak springtime flow, the roar of the rushing water 136 feet below the bridge is almost enough to drown out the cars rushing past you on the bridge.

The first iteration of the Monroe Street Bridge was built in 1889. It was made of wood and, predictably, burned down in 1890. It was replaced by a steel bridge that opened a few years later, this time with double-track lines for electric streetcars, which shared the bridge with horse-drawn buggies and wagons.

But the new steel bridge was still flimsy. In 1907, a pair of circus

ERICDOXEYPHOTO

66 bridges — 43 vehicular and 23 pedestrian. Doing repair and inspection work in a city with so many 100-year-old bridges can present unique challenges. A “symphony of things” needs to happen to coordinate schedules and try to prevent multiple bridges from being closed for maintenance at the same time, says Kirstin Davis, a spokesperson for the city’s public works department.

Bridges unite Spokane, but they also divide it. Incredibly expensive to build and maintain, they’ve long been a source of political and financial headaches. In his book, Creighton describes how the era of frenzied bridge building prompted scandals and allegations of corruption that doomed political careers and sparked numerous controversies at City Hall. There was also tragedy. A number of workers died while building the concrete behemoths.

Construction methods have grown safer and more efficient in recent years, but the costs are still astronomical and often exceed what the city can handle on its own. When bridges close for maintenance, it can snarl traffic and frustrate commuters for months.

And in recent years, bridges have also come to represent many of the city’s greatest social problems. As Spokane’s homelessness crisis worsens, city leaders have struggled to respond as more and more people use bridges not as a means of transit, but as shelter.

Spokane is a city defined by bridges. Despite ongoing challenges, they stand today as feats of engineering — landmarks to the city’s complicated past, present and future.

— NATE SANFORD

FROM $192.95

Package includes a one-night stay in a Mountain Lodge standard king room. Includes a $25 food & beverage credit, an assortment of chocolates, and wine/ champagne with two keep sake logo glasses.

code CELEBRATE to book now!

Welcome Home

FROM $214

Package includes a one-night stay in a Mountain Lodge Standard King Room, a $50 Red Tail dining credit, and $30 Extra Play Cash!

Use code HOME to book now!

Extra Play Cash (EPC) must be redeemed during hotel package stay only. EPC valid

FROM $131

Package includes a one-night stay in a Mountain Lodge Standard King Room, a $30 Extra Play Cash!

Use code PLAYER to book now!

“CITY OF BRIDGES,” CONTINUED...

elephants reportedly refused to cross the rickety structure. In 1910, the bridge partially collapsed.

Construction on the new bridge began soon after. Instead of contracting the work out, the bridge was designed and built in-house by the city.

City Engineer John Chester Ralston designed the bridge, copying the design of Rocky River Bridge in Cleveland, Ohio. Construction was difficult and resulted in the deaths of at least two workers.

The bridge was finished in 1911 and opened with a grand ceremony. At 136 feet tall and 896 feet long, the bridge was the longest reinforced concrete arch in the U.S., and the third longest in the world.

Mayor W.J. Hindley gave a dramatic speech where he made pointed comments about the lack of organized labor representation at the opening day’s festivities, and declared that the Monroe Street Bridge would “be here for a thousand years to mark the spirit of progress prevalent in the Inland Empire.”

The bridge has a concrete arch design that would come to dominate Spokane’s bridge-building landscape. According to Bridges of Spokane, designers originally planned to ornament each alcove with “cast-concrete profiles of American Indians,” but the plan was later scrapped in favor of the bison skulls designed by Spokane architects Kirtland Cutter and Karl Malmgren that guard the bridge today.

The Monroe bridge was closed between 2003 and 2005 for an $18 million restoration project that replaced cracked columns and arches with new concrete that should last at least 75 years.

The bridge has four small alcoves with benches inside. The alcoves — also known as porticos — were almost removed from the design. The Spokane Daily Chronicle reported in 1911 that city leaders worried they would become a haven for “hold-ups and spooning couples.” The city went ahead with the project anyway, hoping bright lights would dissuade people.

“Spooners must sit in glare of lights,” the headline read.

More than a hundred years later, city leaders are once again fretting about how people use the alcoves. But spooning couples are the least of their concerns. As Spokane’s fentanyl crisis grows, it’s become common for at least one of the alcoves to be occupied by a group of people smoking the drug. It’s a part of the urban landscape familiar to anyone who travels the city on foot: a flash of tinfoil and a sickly sweet acidic smell.

Last summer, Spokane City Council member Michael Cathcart and his wife were walking across the bridge with their young son in a stroller. When they passed through an alcove,

Cathcart says a man sitting on one of the benches blew fentanyl smoke in their faces.

“There was nothing I could do,” Cathcart says. “Once you’re in the alcove or close to it, you have no options, you’re literally stuck.”

The incident prompted Cathcart to introduce a resolution last fall asking city officials to look into design changes to discourage criminal activity. The resolution asked that officials balance the competing goals of safety and historic preservation. Removing the alcoves altogether might be the most effective solution, Cathcart says, “but I don’t have any interest in destroying our heritage and our history.”

Last week, the city’s police and public works departments came back to the City Council with a set of recommended solutions. One of the biggest proposed changes is to install steel plating over the benches at a 45-degree angle to prevent people from sitting or lying down.

Patrick Striker, the director of the city’s Office of Neighborhood Services, told council members that the goal of the metal sheeting is to make it so people can still stop and lean against the benches to rest if needed — but only for about five or 10 minutes.

“And then we want them to get a little uncomfortable so you keep moving along, because those areas in the little porticos aren’t meant to be a hangout spot, but they’ve turned into that,” Striker said.

Police Capt. Dave Singley said Spokane police had received 218 calls for service on the bridge over the past 12 months: Four assaults. Two fights. Three robberies. One shooting. One stabbing. Thirteen drug calls. Dozens of welfare checks.

City officials are looking to install security cameras, brighter lights and signage encouraging people to report crime in and around the alcoves. Officials also said they’ve hired a contractor who will add a layer of anti-graffiti coating once the weather is warmer, ideally in time for the Expo 50 celebrations beginning in May.

The Monroe Street Bridge’s other major problem — suicide — appears far more intractable.

For decades, the bridge has been a destination for the suicidal, with more than a dozen people dying there. Over the past 12 months, police received 39 suicide-related calls on the bridge.

Advocates have pushed for solutions for years and frequently place impromptu signage on the bridge urging people to seek help. In recent years, the city has unsuccessfully asked the state government to help fund suicide prevention barriers.

“I don’t have any interest in destroying our heritage and our history.”

The alcoves on the Monroe Street Bridge may change soon. ERIC DOXEY PHOTO

POST STREET BRIDGE

LENGTH: 333 feet

OPENING DATE: 1917

RENOVATION COST: $21 million

Like many of Spokane’s iconic bridges, the Post Street Bridge began in the late 1800s as a rickety wooden structure that was later replaced with a steel streetcar bridge. In 1917, it was replaced with a concrete structure with arches that mirror those on the Monroe Street Bridge. During construction, a partial collapse sent more than a dozen workers into the river, killing three.

In May 2019, the city closed the Post Street Bridge to vehicular traffic after an analysis found that it couldn’t continue to carry heavy weights. Renovation work began in spring 2020.

Construction was planned to be complete in early 2022, but delays have plagued the project. Davis, with the city, says the timing of the pandemic was a big factor, along with staffing shortages, supply issues and other unexpected challenges that arose with the more than a hundred-year-old structure. The repairs have also cost more than expected: Instead of the original estimate of $18.5 million, the current projected cost is about $21 million, Davis says.

But Davis says the long-awaited reopening date is now on the horizon.

“We’re working with the contractor to try to get it open late spring,” Davis says. “We don’t have an exact date yet — there’s quite a bit of finishing work to do.”

When finished, the bridge will have one northbound lane for vehicle traffic, plus pedestrian and bike routes. It will also serve as a river crossing for the Centennial Trail and reconnect the North Bank with Riverfront Park and downtown. Maintaining the historic look and feel of the bridge and its iconic arches is a priority, Davis says.

In addition to cars, walkers and bikes, the bridge also carries wastewater, the city’s polite way of describing sewage. Before the renovations, a massive 54-inch sewer pipe hung under the bridge. Over the course of just 30 hours last spring, city engineers and workers replaced the entire 70-year-old pipe with a new one hidden away underneath the bridge in a more aesthetically appealing location.

“That was really quite a feat,” Davis says. “It is now tucked underneath the bridge instead of this rusty thing hanging on the outside.”

...continued on next page

MAPLE STREET BRIDGE

The Maple Street Bridge crosses over the Peaceful Valley neighborhood to connect the western parts of downtown with Kendall Yards and the West Central neighborhood. Construction began in 1956, making it a relative latecomer to the bridge-building game.

The bridge took more than two years to build and came with a $6 million price tag. To help cover the cost, motorists crossing the bridge had to pay a 10-cent toll. This was later raised to 25 cents before being scrapped in 1990.

The bridge casts long shadows over the Peaceful Valley neighborhood that sits directly beneath it.

When it was first proposed, some residents objected to the bridge as an eyesore. After it opened, complaints about objects falling — and being intentionally thrown — from the bridge became numerous. Residents reported youngsters targeting them with rocks, bottles, water balloons and other objects. The Spokane Daily Chronicle reported on an incident involving a bowling ball crashing through a house, and another involving two dogs being thrown from the bridge and falling to their deaths in the no-longer-peaceful neighborhood.

The Washington Toll Bridge Authority responded to the complaints in 1977 by installing fences on both sides

of the bridge to stop people from throwing things.

HEIGHT: 125 feet

CONSTRUCTION COST:

$6 million ($64 million today)

OPENING DATE: 1958

More fencing was added in 1990 — fully enclosing the pedestrian walkway in a chain link cage.

The move was controversial. Several citizens wrote letters to the newspaper arguing that the fence would create hazards if someone needed to exit their car during an emergency. They also noted that it would prevent pedestrians from escaping in the event of an assault.

The fence is still there today. The odds of a bowling ball crashing through someone’s house are significantly lower, but the bridge isn’t pleasant to cross on foot.

Peaceful Valley residents still deal with issues associated with the bridge. When the city replaced the bridge’s deck with a concrete one late this summer, residents below complained of rumbling from machinery and scraping concrete making it impossible to sleep for days on end.

Davis says the city used a specialized concrete that will hold up better than the asphalt that previously covered the bridge, and that it should last another 20 years before needing work.

The Maple Street Bridge overlooks Peaceful Valley. ERIC DOXEY PHOTO

UNIVERSITY DISTRICT GATEWAY BRIDGE

One of Spokane’s newest bridges is the University District Gateway Bridge, completed in 2019 to provide a pedestrian and cyclist crossing over the railroad tracks in East Spokane.

COST: $15.4 million

HEIGHT: 120 feet

LENGTH: 450 feet

CONSTRUCTION

DATE: 2018

The bridge unites East Sprague Avenue and the University District, and is distinctly modern, with steel suspension cables and a sleek white color.

Construction began in 2017 with funding from a variety of state and local sources.

The bridge wasn’t without controversy. For several years, the proposed bridge was at times derisively referred to as the “Bridge to Hookerville” — an unfortunate nickname coined by George McGrath, a regular City Hall gadfly. The City Council eventually banned the phrase from being used at its meetings, and the nickname faded away.

Steel tariffs delayed construction and sparked controversy between the city and Garco Construction, which built the structure. But after it opened, the bridge was recognized with a national Project of the Year award for transportation from the American Public Works Association.

“This project took more than a decade to become a reality,” Marlene Feist, the city’s public works director, said in a video announcing the award. “This bridge already has become an iconic feature in our city’s urban core and is leading to new investment — everything we had hoped for.”

...continued on next page

The University District Gateway Bridge YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

“CITY OF BRIDGES,” CONTINUED...

SUNSET BOULEVARD/LATAH BRIDGE

Less than a year after the Monroe Street Bridge was finished in 1911, the city began working on a similarly massive undertaking: the Sunset Boulevard Bridge.

Better known today as the Latah Bridge, the massive concrete arch structure crosses Latah Creek and connects the West Hills neighborhood with the rest of the city. The bridge was built in response to growing demand for infrastructure that could handle automobiles and agriculture imports from Central and Western Washington.

CONSTRUCTION COST:

$425,000 ($13.4 million today)

HEIGHT: 64 feet

LENGTH: 1,070 feet

DATE COMPLETED: 1913

ESTIMATED REHABILITATION

COST: $65 million

The bridge is shorter in length but taller than the Monroe Street Bridge, making it the second-largest concrete arch bridge to be built in Spokane.

The bridge opened in 1913, with seven dramatic semicircular, or Roman, arches of varying sizes to accommodate the uneven landscape underneath.

Like the Monroe bridge, the Latah Bridge was a feat of engineering. But in recent years, it has started to show its age.

In 2012, a study found that the bridge’s main arches were still in good shape, but that parts of the bridge’s deck had deteriorated significantly. The city had already reduced traffic from four lanes to two in 2009, and weight limits were added in 2021. Stricter weight limits were implemented this January, restricting large vehicles like garbage trucks, aerial fire trucks and some construction vehicles from crossing it.

Davis says a full rebuild doesn’t seem necessary but that significant renovations— similar to what was done to the Monroe Street Bridge

20 years ago — are needed. The city estimates that such improvements will cost $65 million.

The City Council passed a resolution requesting state funding last summer, but City Council President Betsy Wilkerson says state funding seems unlikely anytime soon.

The city is now working on a study that will detail what’s needed to fix the bridge and allow the city to apply for a grant through the federal Bridge Investment Program.

Wilkerson says the bridge is a “vital lifeline” that connects the western part of the city with downtown business and institutions of education, and that securing federal funding is a major priority.

“That’s a prime opportunity for housing development,” Wilkerson says. “But how can you build up there if you can’t get to it?”

Wilkerson is optimistic that the city’s application for funding will be successful, and notes that bridge repairs are a key part of President Joe Biden’s recent infrastructure investments.

The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill passed in 2021 was celebrated by Biden as a “historic opportunity” to repair the more than 45,000 U.S bridges rated as in “poor” condition. (The Latah Bridge is one of them.) A recent analysis from Transportation for America found that states have spent much of the infrastructure money on bridge and road repairs and highway expansions instead of public transportation.

Even when funding is secured, a fully renovated Latah Bridge is still a long way off.

“The reality is that the earliest construction could start is probably around 2028,” Davis says.

The Sunset Boulevard Bridge is suffering from years of neglect. ERIC DOXEY PHOTO

THE DOWNTOWN RAILROAD VIADUCTS

In addition to the river, the city of Spokane is also divided by a series of railroad tracks.

The Northern Pacific Railway started building the tracks in 1882 — connecting Minneapolis to Seattle and Portland and driving a wedge through the center of downtown.

The railroads made Spokane a hub for commerce and helped fuel its early 20thcentury boom years, but the tracks also proved to be a source of conflict as automobiles began to replace horse-drawn carriages.

Many of the tracks were at the same level as the street, which frequently led to hours-long traffic jams and occasional collisions.

Frustrations came to a head in 1912, when the city passed a law requiring that the railroad tracks be elevated or moved below ground. The Northern Pacific Railway agreed, undertaking a massive project between 1915 and 1917 to raise the railroad tracks above street level through a series of viaducts that define the south edge of downtown to this day.

Some of the viaducts are too short to actually allow modern trucks to pass, which has led to dozens of trucks getting stuck under the tunnels, delaying train traffic for hours. In 2021, the city installed “warning chimes” near the entrance to the Sprague Avenue and Division Street viaduct, which hang from a post and will hit the top of a truck and make a loud noise to warn drivers if the truck is too tall.

In recent years, the city has struggled to respond to homeless camping underneath the viaducts. The city passed a law in 2022 making it an arrestable offense to camp underneath the tracks, but people still do so frequently.

FISH LAKE TRAIL EXTENSION

The city’s days of bridge building aren’t over yet.

For years, the city has been working to connect the Fish Lake Trail with the Columbia Plateau Trail, which runs over 130 miles through Eastern Washington.

Since 1991, the city has paved 9 miles of the trail. But a 1-mile gap remains with a major obstacle: two active rail lines.

CONSTRUCTION

DATE: Undetermined

Crossing the rail lines will require a bridge, but the funding isn’t there yet. The city asked the state for $1 million to help fund engineering plans for the bridge in its list of legislative priorities this year, but the draft 2024 budget released by state lawmakers doesn’t include that funding.

Wilkerson says the city is going to keep trying.

“It’s really important to the environmentalists and people who live in that neighborhood,” Wilkerson says. “It’s community investment. Everybody will be able to enjoy it.” n

A train crosses over Division and Sprague on the railway viaduct.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

The Hands of Time

Retired veteran Richard Weatherly has been making grandiose clocks for over 20 years

BY MADISON PEARSON

Richard Weatherly has always had time on his side. He joined the Air National Guard in 1964 at what he says was the perfect moment — right as there was a huge need for young men to enlist due to an upgrade to the interceptor planes used in combat.

And the timing worked out. He began working full time at Fairchild Air Force Base in 1966 as a weapons loader and then a boom operator aboard in-flight refueling tankers. He served during the Gulf War in the early ’90s.

After 25 years in the position, Weatherly retired on Dec. 31, 1999, a precarious time for many as Y2K rumors floated around. He wasn’t even sure his paycheck would come through the next day. But time flowed on and he got that last check.

As a token of appreciation for his service, Weatherly’s colleagues gifted him a scroll saw after asking his wife what he might like. Just a few months before, Weatherly was introduced to the world of clock-making by a close

friend and became enamored. A scroll saw was a good place to start. It’s the tool of choice for many woodworkers who deal in fine detail, and it gives the user a good sense of control because it’s pedal-operated.

Now, more than 20 years later, every day at noon, Weatherly’s home is filled with a cacophony of chimes and dings. It’s apparent where all the noise is coming from.

The living room walls are lined with clocks. Two tables in the kitchen have clocks placed upon them. Nearly every spare inch of the Spokane Valley home is occupied by a ticking wooden timepiece.

Weatherly, his wife and their two white dogs are used to the noise. It’s just an average day for them, but these clocks are anything but average. Weatherly doesn’t make your run-of-the-mill cuckoo clocks, they’re sculptural works of art.

From a complete replication of the Hogwarts castle from Harry Potter to a nearly 4-foot-tall clock that

Weatherly calls his “COVID clock,” it appears like he has a lot of time on his hands, but building clocks is what Weatherly loves to do.

“I’m just a retired guy who loves to make clocks,” he says. “It’s my passion. It’s been a lot of fun. It keeps me busy and out of my wife’s hair!”

The first clock Weatherly built using that gifted scroll saw was made from cheap plywood. Now, he sources quality wood from all over the Inland Northwest and has upgraded his equipment tenfold.

Even so, that first clock still hangs in the clockmaker’s home office surrounded by military memorabilia and family photos. It’s a reminder of where it all began and how far he’s come.

Weatherly has kept a log of every clock he’s ever made and at the time of writing this story, he’s working on clocks No. 250 and 251.

He puts an immense amount of time into each, some taking months to complete. Often he follows historical plans, or plans from a clockmaker friend in Missouri. The clock he’s most proud of, however — his Hogwarts recreation — came entirely from his own mind, each piece cut by hand on the saw in his home workshop.

This particular clock is mammoth, spanning the length of a dining room table. It includes all of the familiar facets

WOODWORKING

Richard Weatherly has made more than 250 intricate clocks. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

of Hogwarts: the owlery, Hagrid’s hut, Dumbledore’s office and, of course, functional moving staircases. If you look closely, you’ll see character figurines carefully placed inside, too.

Weatherly’s “COVID clock” took nearly four months to complete.

“I got probably 800 hours of work in on that one,” he says. “It’s the largest one I’ve ever made. I didn’t have anything better to do, so that’s what came of COVID.”

If that doesn’t sound like enough work to you, Weatherly admits that he usually makes two of every clock he works on.

“It’s just as easy to make two at a time as it is one,” he says. “Right now, I have two going in my workshop.”

Yet, he’s never sold a single clock. Instead, Weatherly donates them to various charities for fundraising auctions, or asks people to donate to a charity in exchange for receiving one of his clocks. He only asks for the cost of materials, usually around $80 for a midsized design. He says it feels like the right thing to do.

“The first clock I ever gave away was to a benefit in Tekoa [Washington] for a family whose house had just burned down,” he says. “Once we got settled in our house in the Valley, I had so many of them and I needed to do something with them. I didn’t want to sell them because I didn’t want a job out of it, so I started donating them to different charities.”

He’s donated clocks almost yearly to Hospice of Spokane and the Lions Club as well as other organizations around the region. Donating to Hospice is especially important to Weatherly as his first wife, Niki, passed away in a hospice house in 2020.

As Weatherly approaches 80, his eyesight is deteriorating and he’s not sure how much longer he’ll be able to continue making his elaborate clocks.

“I hope another year or maybe two,” he says. “I’ll do it until I absolutely can’t anymore.”

It’s a race against the clock, but Weatherly knows a thing or two about that. n

There Will Be Blood

Bright Comet Theatre gives its own distinct spin to Shakespeare’s legendary tragedy

BY E.J. IANNELLI

In 2021, well before the group even existed, Bright Comet Theatre’s eventual co-founder Dominique Betts was preparing to direct a local production of what is arguably Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy. But that show fell through, and Betts and actor Taylor Cummings, whom she’d already tapped to play the iconic lead, found themselves discussing ways to carve out their own niche in the local theater scene and maintain creative control over their shows.

“We were talking on the phone one day, and I said to Dominique, ‘Why can’t we do Hamlet ourselves?’ The conversation just kind of spiraled from there,” Cummings says.

It prompted them to apply for the Spokane Arts Grant Award funding that helped to launch Bright Comet and its very first show, Lord of the Flies

The ax-murderer musical Lizzie followed that inaugural production as something of a “surprise,” Cummings says. “And then when this year came around, it just seemed like the right time to dive into something a little more classic and get back to what we originally wanted to do.”

That puts both Betts and Cummings in an interesting position. They finally get to direct or star in the play that they had previously been unable to, yet they do so now with a troupe that has two shows under its belt and is already cultivating a distinct and cohesive identity.

“It’s exciting because it’s something we could have done earlier, but it feels like we’re established enough now that this production

parallels with the modern “helicopter mom?”

“We didn’t want Ophelia (Elisheva Miller) to be seen as this manic pixie dream girl who’s only there to serve Hamlet’s drive in the show, or to have Horatio (Jared Martin) just there to be Hamlet’s best friend. We wanted to give all these relationships in the show meaning and weight,” she says.

“We just wanted it to feel like a real family falling apart.”

And yet, as Betts points out, this isn’t exactly your garden variety family. This is Danish royalty whose home is quite literally their castle, and that privileged position means that, compared to ordinary people, they can have lesser or greater accountability for their actions depending on the situation.

“My take on this is exploring the transactional relationships of people who have a lot of power and what they choose to do with it — and how that ruins everything. With all of our shows, we want to explore why people act the way they do and not say whether it’s right or wrong,” she says.

One first for Bright Comet is the inclusion of original music in this production. Cast member Jackson McMurray, who’s playing Rozencrantz, wrote an original score that will feature in different parts of the show, such as scene transitions.

reflects who we are,” Betts says. “We’ve set ourselves up to be known for intense work that is simple and direct — minimalist in its production but really packing a powerful performance. That’s what we’re interested in delivering.”

Whereas Lizzie’s run took place in the M.A.D Co-Lab Studio space, Hamlet marks Bright Comet’s return to the Spokane Central Library. And similarly to Lord of the Flies, Hamlet will be akin to a black box show with, as Betts explains, “very minimal sets and costumes that aren’t anything crazy.”

Instead — to borrow a line from Hamlet’s incredibly quotable text — the play’s the thing. Collectively Bright Comet is looking to emphasize the knotty interpersonal and family relationships in Hamlet and the way mental health figures into its plot.

“If you look at it from the point of view of younger people having issues with mental health going untreated or swept under the rug, it lends this idea of, ‘Oh, maybe these people are actually struggling.’ Or you could look at it from the viewpoint of genuine, raw grief driving somebody to madness,” Cummings says.

“I think Hamlet more than anything is asking for help and nobody’s listening to him.”

The creative team and cast also had talks about how they could bring added depth to roles beyond the title character. How might Claudius (played here by Claire Herrmann) be more than just a villain? What if Gertrude (Beth Lambert) had

However, in what’s become something of a calling card for the troupe, Hamlet will not lack blood. It won’t necessarily be measured in buckets as it was in Lizzie, but it will be present in what Betts describes as a “unifying” element that underscores the characters’ humanity.

“It’s going to get spilled at the end because all of them are crumbling at the same level,” Betts says.

“There’s a reason this text has such lasting power,” she adds. “This story of feeling like you’re out of control or the yearning for revenge is universal. This a modern take, but we’re leaning into the gamut of emotions. We’re leaning into the things that are really harrowing, but we’re leaning into the comedy when it’s funny too. There’s anger. There’s passion. And there’s silliness.”

Cummings, too, says that she’s finding positivity in Hamlet, even if that stems from a deeply personal place. To her, Bright Comet’s current staging is a sign of just how far they’ve come since those days when the play was placed just out of reach.

“This show meant so much to us at the time because we were kind of struggling through life,” she says, noting that the “sad and moody angst” resonated with her and Betts back then.

“Now that both Dominique and I are in a better place in our lives, it’s still fascinating to be doing [Hamlet]. It’s a pivotal moment for us to look back and see where we are now and how much our lives have improved.” n

Hamlet • March 8-17; Fri-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 5 pm • $20 • Spokane Central Library • 906 W. Main Ave. • brightcomettheatre.com

Taylor Cummings as Hamlet. TAYLOR CUMMINGS PHOTO

Flashback: 2020 Lockdown TV

The COVID pandemic wasn’t all bad: It gave us some great TV shows to watch in the bunker

BY BILL FROST

Exactly four years ago, the COVID lockdown stranded us at home with nothing to do but doomscroll social media and watch TV. Granted, this wasn’t a drastic deviation from the regular life of a TV reviewer, but it did require a deeper dive into the streams. You remember critical hits like The Flight Attendant and cultural anomalies like Tiger King, but these were some of the real treasures of 2020.

AWKWAFINA IS NORA FROM QUEENS

A spiritual sister to Broad City, Comedy Central’s Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens arrived just ahead of the pandemic in January 2020. Twenty-something Nora (Awkwafina, obvs) lives with her grandma (Lori Tan Chinn) and dad (BD Wong) in Queens, and every day presents a new ridiculous scenario, including one episode dedicated entirely to her distinctive “queef” (search it … or don’t). AINFQ is occasionally as introspective as it is hilarious, especially in the series finale where Nora meets the IRL Awkwafina. This was the last great Comedy Central original.

MYTHIC QUEST

Apple TV+ is slowly becoming the new HBO, a reliable source of high-quality (and high-dollar) programming. Back in 2020, it struck early comedy gold with Mythic Quest. The video game company workplace sitcom could have coasted on the sparkling dynamic between arrogant creative director Ian Grimm (It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s Rob McElhenney) and anxious lead engineer Poppy Li (Charlotte Nicdao), but the ensemble cast (including Danny Pudi, David Hornsby and Ashly Burch) puts it over the top. Mythic Quest is Veep for coders.

DAVE

One of the few YouTubers to successfully make the jump to trad TV, rapper Lil Dicky (a.k.a. Dave Burd) recently bailed on his hit FX series Dave to refocus on music — it’s Flight of the Conchords all over again. Dave never rises to the idiot genius of that classic, but it did produce three seasons of Burd’s unlikely climb

to the hip-hop top, with dozens of actual stars contributing surprisingly self-deprecating cameos (including Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, Drake, Rachel McAdams and Brad Pitt). It often pegs the cringe meter, but Dave is (or, was) a true original.

THREE BUSY DEBRAS

A trio of white-clad women, all named Debra, live it up in the suburban utopia of Lemoncurd — Three Busy Debras was the surrealist escape that Lockdown 2020 needed. “Debras” Sandy Honig, Alyssa Stonoha, and Mitra Jouhari, who also created and wrote the two-season series, over-weird even the most outre Adult Swim shows while simultaneously championing and trashing feminism in a fever dream of undocile domesticity. It’s not for everyone — or anyone, some would argue — but Three Busy Debras is a brain-melting gem.

DICKTOWN

Former famous boy detective John Hunchman (voiced by John Hodgman) still solves crimes as a middle-aged man in his small hometown of Richardsville (nicknamed Dicktown), aided by his former school bully, Dave Purefoy (David Rees). This aggressively adult cartoon may sound like Encyclopedia Brown in the saddest timeline, but it’s really a tightly plotted satire that doesn’t scrimp on profanity or seedy details. Mike Tyson Mysteries would never have taken a case investigating a strawberry patch littered with used condoms, guaranteed.

BREWS BROTHERS

Brews Brothers dropped eight episodes on Netflix in April 2020, never to be heard from again, but at least Season One is still hanging around in the endless sprawl. A rude ’n’ crude bro-comedy in the vein of The League, Brews Brothers plays like an early-2000s cable comedy, about a pair of siblings who run a Van Nuys craft brewpub somewhat successfully and always antagonistically. Its aim to be a hoppy mashup of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and Beerfest isn’t always true, but Brews Brothers did produce this nugget: a hefeweizen blithely named “Weiss Power.” n

THE BUZZ BIN

THRIFT CLIQUE

Thrift shoppers, listen up! A new thrift store opened up last month in Spokane Valley, but it’s not your average thrift shop. Fiddy Club is a membership-based thrift store where everything in the store costs just 50 cents after paying a $149 annual membership fee. Members can buy up to 50 items a day or 250 items a month at the discounted price of 50 cents and proceeds benefit the nonprofit Reclaim Project. Slotting in right next to URM Cash & Carry on East Sprague Avenue, the store carries a wide variety of items including kitchenware, shoes, furniture, books and clothes. For more information about memberships and donation drop-off, visit fiddyclub.com. (MADISON PEARSON)

SPOKANE STREAMING

Despite what you may have heard, Benny & Joon isn’t the only Spokane movie that exists. If you want to check out some recent Spokane cinema, A Good Enough Day (which premiered at SpIFF 2022) arrived for rental via Amazon and Apple’s platforms in midFebruary. Shot at Hamilton Studios during the COVID pandemic, the film spends a day with Tyler (Trevor St. John) as he attempts to tie up loose ends and reconcile frayed relationships with those who used to be close to him. It’s a tough, slow burn of a film, but if you’re in the mood for an extremely quiet local drama it may be worth a rent. (SETH SOMMERFELD)

THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST

Noteworthy new music arriving in stores and online on March 8.

ARIANA GRANDE, ETERNAL SUNSHINE

Will the pop star’s latest LP stick or will it be quickly erased from our collective memory like its titular cinematic namesake might suggest?

THE LIBERTINES, ALL QUIET ON THE EASTERN ESPLANADE

The oft-tumultuous ramshackle British band have mellowed some with age, but still can craft a catchy, messy rock tune.

BLEACHERS, BLEACHERS

Jack Antonoff takes a break from ruining all our female pop stars with his awful production to make more of his own dumb music. (SETH SOMMERFELD)

DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

Our top 5 picks for weekend entertainment

EVERY FRIDAY

Sign up now at Inlander.com/newsletters

South Hill’s New Boss

Patrón Mexican Restaurant brings authentic Mexican flavors from their family to yours

BY ELIZA BILLINGHAM

At golden hour across Mexico, mothers lean out of doorways, windows or porch frames, and call to their kids.

“Doesn’t matter where you are at 6 pm, you gotta be home for dinner,” says Alberto Bahena, who grew up in Mexico and is now a chef at Patrón, the newest Mexican restaurant on Spokane’s South Hill.

“You’re out there playing with friends. You’re, you know, working on fixing the house. Mom calls you to eat — you have to eat. You have to be there. It brings family together.”

Food and family are as integral to Patrón Mexican Restaurant as they are to Mexican culture. Patrón opened on East 29th Avenue last December, replacing what used to be Jalisco’s Mexican Restaurant and Tequileria after it moved to the North Side.

Patrón was originally the dream of chef and owner Isadoro “Izzy” Perez, who wanted to open his own restaurant after working for years in the back of other Mexican restaurants. He created a small team to help him achieve his goal: co-owner Arturo Orozco, real estate-agentturned-business-manager Martin J. Perez, and kitchen manager and chef Bahena.

The team of four men quickly became family, constantly cooking, eating and working together. Izzy Perez and Bahena both credit their mothers for their love of good Mexican food, though neither learned how to cook until they moved to the U.S. and missed their mothers’ homemade meals. The chefs are constantly searching for that magic touch that makes Mexican food authentic — the freshest ingredients, the right spices, the perfect recipe to make “something that is worth the name Mexican,” Martin Perez says.

At least part of that magic touch is the experience of eating a meal with family and friends. Patrón wants to make customers feel like family, no matter how close or far you are from your mom. Izzy has to spend most of his time in the kitchen but runs out to the dining room whenever he can. He chats in rapid-fire Spanish to customers or flashes a big smile to tables that only speak English.

“Even though we can’t sit with people to just have dinner with them, at least what we can do is bring some of that warmth and make people feel welcome, like this is our home,” Martin says.

Patrón’s tagline is “auténtico sabor de México,” that is, the authentic taste of Mexico. But what exactly makes Mexican food authentic?

It’s in the way you prepare the meat, the rice, the beans, Martin says, which are the basic elements of any Mexican dish.

“But then you bring out the salsa, and the salsa is like the cherry

Patrón’s steak and shrimp (front) and burrito mojado.

on the top,” he says. “It’s what really makes a lot of the food shine. If you have good enchiladas, but there’s red and green salsa and it’s mediocre, it’s like, well, you just spoiled the whole dish because your salsa is not good.”

Salsas take minutes to make — just blitz a bunch of veggies together — but a lifetime to master. It takes a discerning, experienced palate to get the authentic flavors right. That’s where experts like Izzy and Bahena come in. They’ve created some of the best salsas in Spo kane, from classics like salsa roja and salsa verde to salsa ranchera, salsa de mole, salsa diabla and mojo de ajo, a garlic salsa with chipotle and lime juice. They make a special salsa just for the chips and salsa that come free to the table.

One of their most popular items, the Patrón special wet burrito ($16.95), comes drenched in not one but two kinds of salsas for guests who can’t choose between red and green. A lot of the menu is custom izable, since tacos, quesadillas, tortas, burritos and enchiladas (a staff favorite) can be served with whatever kind of meat you like. Or if you don’t like meat, ask about spinach or fajita veggies instead. Ask about anything, really — Bahena has been known to whip up special requests in the kitchen if he has time.

No matter what, you’ll leave full, and your wallet will still feel heavy, too. Four-and-a-half-inch street tacos are $3.25 apiece, or just $2.49 for mini ones, which are only a half-inch smaller. Grab a pound of rice or beans to enjoy at home for just $4.95. Most entrees are around $15 or $16 dollars, and chances are good you’ll have some leftovers for lunch the next day.

To keep things fun and creative, Patrón runs themed daily specials throughout the week. On Mondays, fried dishes get discounted. On Tuesdays, any taco combo is a deal. Wednesdays are usually some kind of enchilada special, with burrito specials on Thursdays, and something special on the weekends. And starting March 15, Patrón is serving breakfast starting at 7 am, with both Mexican and American offerings, from eggs and potatoes to sweet, syrupy waffles.

“The name Patrón in Spanish means ‘the boss,’” Martin says. “So for us, we have to live up to that name. We have to go above and beyond what the local expectations are for Mexican food.”

Patrón on the South Hill wants to be the first of many Patróns around Spokane, without compromising the food that they’re proud of. Bahena, for one, loves the one-to-one connection with customers.

“If something’s not on the menu, come talk to me — if we can make it, we’ll make it,” he says. “That’s the important thing, you have to try to let all the customers feel at home.”

The comfort and care that customers feel pours out from the staff, who make food for each other with the same love that makes a mother’s meal magical.

“Even though we’re not family, we are all Mexican, right?” Martin says. “So we’re still family no matter what.” n

Patrón Mexican Restaurant • 3029 E. 29th Ave. • Open daily 11 am-9 am • patronspokane.com • 509-798-8031

From left: Patrón co-owner Isadoro Perez, bartender Stephanie Komar, business manager Martin Perez and head chef Alberto Bahena.

AWARDS

And the Oscar Goes To…

Prep for the 96th Academy Awards with our predictions and roundup of overlooked favs

BY SETH SOMMERFELD

It may be “Hollywood’s Biggest Night,” but certainly Hollywood isn’t always right. Before the Oscars for the best films of 2023 are handed out this Sunday, it’s good to not only reflect on who will win, but also who should win, and who shoulda been here. Whether you’re looking for tips in your Oscars guessing pool or want some lesser heralded films to watch as an Academy antidote, here’s our guide to some of the biggest categories at the ceremony.

BEST PICTURE

American Fiction

Anatomy of a Fall

Barbie

The Holdovers

Killers of the Flower Moon

Maestro

Oppenheimer

Past Lives

Poor Things

The Zone of Interest

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

The crop of Best Picture nominees is more on point this year than most. I’d categorize eight of the 10 nominees as incredibly solid to absolutely stellar. The two that aren’t up to that grade are Anatomy of a Fall, an elevated courtroom drama that never rises above that mildly praising description, and Killers of the Flower Moon, one of the best examples of a star-powered and incredibly technically proficient bad movie. Two films from an oft overlooked genre far outshine either — the breathtakingly animated adventure of Across the Spider-Verse and the near-perfection action of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning

All signs point to Oppenheimer dominating this year’s awards ceremony, and it’s the incredibly safe pick to take

home Best Picture. That said, the twisted gothic fantasyland feminism of Poor Things was a slowly unfolding, gleeful pleasure that has so much more character than the superb but stoic Oppenheimer

BEST DIRECTOR

Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)

Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest)

Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall)

Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon)

Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things)

Bradley Cooper (Maestro)

Greta Gerwig (Barbie)

Christopher Nolan is going to take this one home. But no film so fully realized its director’s vision like The Zone of Interest, which manages to be compelling while intentionally dull because of the message at the heart of the film. Greta Gerwig was correctly the most talked about snub this year, but Bradley Cooper also deserved to be here for his almost impressionistic taste for a music biopic. They can take the place of Triet and Scorsese whose nominated films aren’t in the same league as the rest of the bunch.

BEST ACTOR

Bradley Cooper (Maestro)

Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)

Colman Domingo (Rustin)

Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)

Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)

Yoo Teo (Past Lives)

Probably the best and most obviously nominated category — the only swap I’d make is Yoo Teo for Colman Domingo, if only because they’re both essential to their films, yet Past Lives is simply a way better movie. Cillian Murphy is a totally deserving winner for his heliocentric

ALSO OPENING

CABRINI

The latest offering from Christian studio Angel Films is a biographical drama based on the life of the first U.S. citizen to be canonized as a Catholic saint. Nun Frances Xavier Cabrini was an Italian missionary who moved to New York City and fought to found many orphanages, schools and hospitals.

Rated PG-13

IMAGINARY

OH COOL, NOW THEY’RE MAKING

TEDDY BEARS SCARY. In this Blumhouse supernatural horror flick, a mother returns to her old home, and her stepdaughter grows disturbingly attached to her old teddy bear… which may in fact be a terrifying “imaginary friend.” Rated PG-13

KUNG FU PANDA 4

In the latest installment of the CGI animation franchise, the titular panda Po wants to put his fighting days behind him by finding someone to take the title of Dragon Warrior while he becomes the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace. But that plan goes awry when a new chameleon villain with the shapeshifting power of Po’s past foes arrives on the scene. Rated PG

KEY

Will Win Should Win Should’ve Been Nominated Shouldn’t Have Been Nominated

titular turn in Oppenheimer, but as someone who prefers American Fiction to the nuclear drama, seeing Wright take home the award would be a hoot.

BEST ACTRESS

Annette Bening (Nyad)

Carey Mulligan (Maestro)

Emma Stone (Poor Things)

Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)

Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall)

Greta Lee (Past Lives)

Margot Robbie (Barbie)

My most controversial take is probably that likely winner Lily Gladstone shouldn’t be among the nominated bunch. It’s no real fault of her own, but her Killers of the Flower Moon role neither requires nor delivers a wide dramatic range. Also, Annette Bening really seems to be here on name value alone considering the two clear snubs in this category are both from films that got nominated for Best Picture and simply wouldn’t have worked without ultra strong lead performances. I’m speaking, of course, about Barbie’s Margot Robbie — who delivered humor and emotion to a plastic world — and Past Lives’ Greta Lee — who brought pathos to longing while also fully conveying why a dude might pine over her for decades.

But as for who should win, this is the rare case where I’d hope for a split decision. (Ties are possible at the Oscars!) Carey Mulligan’s level of emotional detail in Maestro is a marvel and is the perfect type of centerpiece performance the Oscars traditionally reward. On the other hand, the journey from the bizarre oddity to sophisticated woman that Emma Stone undergoes in Poor Things is so blissfully weird and nuanced. They’re wonderful yinand-yang performances both worthy of the top honor.

Expect a big night for Oppenheimer at this year’s Oscars.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)

Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon)

Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)

Ryan Gosling (Barbie)

Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction)

Matt Johnson (BlackBerry)

Willem Dafoe (Poor Things)

In a rare case where an acting category has primarily comedic nominees, the two weakest links are the dramatic ones. Robert Downey Jr. is the heavy favorite to win Best Supporting Actor, but didn’t seem to pop that much in a super strong ensemble, while De Niro does nothing remarkable in Killers of the Flower Moon. Much more fun than either performance were Willem Dafoe’s Frankensteinian father and writer/director Matt Johnson’s loveable moraled computer geek in BlackBerry

As for the comedic talent actually ensembled, Mark Ruffalo embodies a rollicking fragile male ego with zest, and Brown adds the comedic spice to the dramatic family half of American Fiction. But I’m a simple man, and I just Kennot get Kennough of Ryan Goslings’ joyously campy Ken.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer)

Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)

America Ferrera (Barbie)

Jodie Foster (Nyad)

Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)

Florence Pugh (Oppenheimer)

Malgorzata Zajaczkowska (Late Bloomers)

Penélope Cruz (L’immensità)

Clearly the Oscars value something else from supporting actresses, because this is almost always the category where the nominees leave me baffled. America Ferrera doesn’t even crack the top 10 most memorable actors in Barbie. Emily Blunt isn’t even the best supporting actress in Oppenhiemer (that’d be Florence Pugh). And like Annette Bening, Jodie Foster seems to be here mainly on name recognition alone. Thankfully, the best nominee — Da’Vine Joy Randolph — is the big betting favorite to win for her role in The Holdovers, which is central to the film’s dramatic stakes and levity.

A quick shout-out to a couple overlooked performances that never had any shot of nominations despite outshining those who did. Penelope Cruz probably could’ve been nominated for Ferrari, but was even better as the loving mother of a trans kid in the Italian drama L’immensità. And Malgorzata Zajaczkowska manages to make a coming-of-age comedy work despite speaking no English in an English language film in the slept-on gem Late Bloomers

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

The Boy and the Heron

Elemental

Nimona

Robot Dreams

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Suzume

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Unless voters shockingly decide to get (incorrectly) super sentimental over Hayao Miyazaki, this award goes to Across the Spider-Verse in a rout. The level of

diverse animation styles the superhero flick blends together is jaw-dropping and revolutionary — and that’s before you get to the film’s winning characters, emotional depth and humor. Also don’t sleep on Netflix’s Nimona — that modern knight’s tale with its titular shapeshifting deviant is an absolute blast.

Elemental is maybe one of Pixar’s low points and has no business being here. While it’s a delightful dialogue-free treat, I’m still not sure Robot Dreams has even been released (how did it get nominated when nobody can watch it anywhere?). In those two films’ places, it would’ve been great to sub in the delightfully rough-edged TMNT: Mutant Mayhem and the vastly overlooked anime gem Suzume (who doesn’t want to close dimensional portals with their chair boyfriend?).

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Barbie

Killers of the Flower Moon

Napoleon

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

Asteroid City

This may be a touch hot take-y, but I’m always partial to invented worlds as opposed to period pieces when it comes to production design. I could watch the colorful world of Asteroid City on mute and have a good time (probably a better time than watching it with sound, actually), which cannot be said of Killers of the Flower Moon.

Yes, Oppenheimer and Napoleon throw you into grand historical worlds, but they lack any sense of invention that oozes out of films like Barbie and Poor Things. If Barbie doesn’t win for the colorful eyecandy world that is Barbie Land, voters have some explaining to do.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

American Fiction

Barbie

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

The Zone of Interest

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

I don’t really understand why The Zone of Interest is here because the whole point is that the plot is extremely mundane and boring while horrors are happening in the background. Weaving together hundreds of Spider-Men across multiple universes in a coherent way with fun twists and turns along the way is a much more impressive screenwriting feat.

While there’s a chance an Oppenheimer-winning wave leads to a screenwriting statue, too, the way American Fiction blends cutting satirical laughs and real emotional family drama deserves to be hailed. That’s not discounting how next level it is that Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach wrote a script about a plastic doll that’s somehow hilarious and the most overtly feminist blockbuster ever (though criticisms of making Ken the best character are valid). And Poor Things’ script has the confidence to be so weird to start, but then absolutely hums as Bella gains more agency. Really, all of those four nominees would be deserved winners. n

The 96th Academy Awards air Sunday,

LOOKING FOR A MEMORABLE EVENT EXPERIENCE?

RENT OUR THEATRE!

Large Theatre Seats 100 / Small Theatre Seats 33

FOR PRIVATE RESERVATIONS EMAIL: magiclanternevents@gmail.com

TICKETS: $10-11

25 W Main Ave #125

FOR SHOWTIMES: 509-209-2383 OR MAGICLANTERNONMAIN.COM

SIDESTEP • MARCH 9 CHAN’S RED DRAGON ON THIRD

FUNKY1234 (SIDESTEP)

Monumental Movie Music

Ranking all 89 tunes that have won the Academy Award for Best Original Song

BY SETH SOMMERFELD

JBecause Hollywood was so focused on musicals back in the day, the first 18 Oscars for Best Original Song all appeared as part of the movie’s narrative until this Western ode broke the streak.

74. “THE WAY WE WERE” (THE WAY WE WERE, 1973)

Check out our ranked YouTube playlist here: bit.ly/4c4mrgD.

Time for some cinematic binge listening!

ust as we tie memories of life experiences to certain songs, a well-executed tune can make even a mundane film become memorable. Considering how much the early days of talkies were dominated by musicals, it’s a bit shocking it took until the 7th Academy Awards to hand out a trophy for Best Original Song. Before Billie Eilish likely takes home her second Oscar this Sunday for Barbie’s “What Was I Made For?” we thought it be a fun (and overly time-consuming) exercise to rank all 89 songs that won Best Original Song on their own merits — independent of their movie context. How do these songs hold up on their own?

89. “GIGI” (GIGI, 1958)

The nadir of Oscar-winning songs is this musical creepfest where an adult playboy sings about becoming passionate for the girl who he’s known since she was a kid… because now she’s maturing. It’s skin-crawlingly cringe.

85. “MAN OR MUPPET” (THE MUPPETS, 2011)

A perfect example of a song that doesn’t work independently of the film, it makes zero sense that this middling Muppet tune won an Oscar. Somehow there were only two films nominated for Best Original Song in 2011, which means The Muppets’ far, far, far superior film-starting “Life’s a Happy Song” (which might have cracked the top 10 on this list) was completely ignored. Still, it’s cool that Flight of the Conchords’ Bret McKenzie has a golden statute for writing this one.

79. “SWEET LEILANI” (WAIKIKI WEDDING, 1937)

The first of many nominees sung by Spokane’s own Bing Crosby, this one misses the mark. It’s essentially supposed to be a Hawaiian lullaby, but Crosby is the antithesis of a tropical dude, so it feels incredibly uncomfortable in his voice.

76. “THE BALLAD OF HIGH NOON” (HIGH NOON, 1952)

We have arrived at the single biggest injustice in Best Original Song history. This Barbra Streisand-song tune is an absolute snoozefest. But that wouldn’t be such a big deal if it didn’t beat out what could be argued is the best song ever written for a film — Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die.” LITERALLY, WHAT THE @#$%?!?

69. “IT’S HARD OUT HERE FOR A PIMP” (HUSTLE & FLOW, 2005)

68. “I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU” (THE WOMAN IN RED, 1984)

This Stevie Wonder joint feels incredibly dated and beat out three better jams: “Ghostbusters” and Footloose’s “Let’s Hear It for the Boy” and “Footloose.”

59. “THE CONTINENTAL” (THE GAY DIVORCEE, 1934)

The first ever Best Original Song winner fits the classic “let’s have a song about doing a specific romantic dance” trope found in many musicals. It’s a catchy version of the cliche though.

56. “CHIM CHIM CHER-EE” (MARY POPPINS, 1964)

55. “GLORY” (SELMA, 2014)

54. “NAATU NAATU” (RRR, 2024)

In the context of the actual film the song rules, backing up frenetic and epic Indian dance action. But just on its own? Kinda repetitive.

50. “FAME” (FAME, 1980)

49. “COLORS OF THE WIND” (POCAHONTAS, 1995)

Way too narrative driven to rank higher (and there’s no way it should’ve topped Toy Story’s “You’ve Got a Friend in

Me”), but I do grant that the chorus is so damn soaring.

47. “NEVER ON A SUNDAY” (NEVER ON A SUNDAY, 1960)

The Greek traditional pop number was the first nonEnglish language song to take home the top prize.

44. “MONA LISA” (CAPTAIN CAREY, U.S.A., 1950)

41. “SWINGING ON A STAR” (GOING MY WAY, 1944)

40. “HIGH HOPES” (A HOLE IN THE HEAD, 1959)

37. “(I’VE HAD) THE TIME OF MY LIFE” (DIRTY DANCING, 1987)

35. “ZIP-A-DEE-DOO-DAH” (SONG OF THE SOUTH, 1947)

Sometimes removing a super catchy song from its movie context actually benefits it (especially if said movie is so racist that it’s permanently locked in the Disney Vault).

34. “BABY, IT’S COLD OUTSIDE” (NEPTUNE’S DAUGHTER, 1949)

This controversial Christmas staple actually is less problematic in its original film version because the song is sung by a pair of couples with the more aggressive role being gender swapped between the two couples’ back-toback renditions of the song. (Bonus: one of those singers is Ricardo Montalbán — “KHAAAAAAAN!”)

30. “SKYFALL” (SKYFALL, 2012)

29. “NO TIME TO DIE” (NO TIME TO DIE, 2021)

As previously mentioned, it’s absolutely ridiculous it took until 2012 for a James Bond movie’s theme to win an Oscar. These Adele and Billie Eilish ones are incredibly worthy winners that capture that spy sleekness. (Sam Smith’s winning theme from Spectre… not so much.)

27. “UNDER THE SEA” (THE LITTLE MERMAID, 1989)

26. “CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE TONIGHT” (THE LION KING, 1994)

24. “WHAT A FEELING” (FLASHDANCE, 1983)

22. “THE MORNING AFTER” (THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, 1972)

21. “UP WHERE WE BELONG” (AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN, 1982)

20. “STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA” (PHILADELPHIA, 1993)

19. “TAKE MY BREATH AWAY” (TOP GUN, 1986)

17. “BEAUTY AND THE BEAST” (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, 1991)

16. “LET IT GO” (FROZEN, 2013)

15. “A WHOLE NEW WORLD” (ALADDIN, 1992)

A truly magical collection of Disney tunes, the aforementioned three do boast lyrical film specifics, but magic carpet rides, frozen fractals, and beasts can easily be just read as their metaphors rather than literally, so they still rank high.

14. “LAST DANCE” (THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY, 1978)

A year after inexplicably completely overlooking Saturday Night Fever, the Academy at least had the sense to give a nod to the most iconic dance floor tune sung by “The Queen of Disco” Donna Summer.

11. “THEME FROM SHAFT” (SHAFT, 1971)

While it barely misses the top 10 because it’s way too into the specifics of the film’s titular bad mother (SHUT YOUR MOUTH!), it’s borderline impossible to not get up and shake it to Isaac Hayes’ deep funk groove.

10. “THANKS FOR THE MEMORY” (THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1938, 1938)

9. “QUE SERA, SERA” (THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, 1956)

8. “RAINDROPS KEEP FALLING ON MY HEAD” (BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, 1969)

7. “LOSE YOURSELF” (8 MILE, 2002)

Hip-hop’s breakthrough in Hollywood came via this ultimate hype-up Eminem track (which overcomes even its storyline specific references).

6. “WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR” (PINOCCHIO, 1940)

If you have any qualms with this ultra gentle kiddie classic, you should see a therapist and work out your inner child’s deep-seated pain.

5. “WHITE CHRISTMAS” (HOLIDAY INN, 1942)

The best Oscar-winning tune sung by Bing Crosby, this holiday classic’s wistful melancholy heart still resonates with an emotional gut punch.

4. “FALLING SLOWLY” (ONCE, 2007)

The tenderness of the longing in this heartfelt duet is enough to melt even the coldest of hearts, and the indie folk arrangement and performance by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová is noteperfect, feeling somehow both monumental and homespun.

3. “SHALLOW” (A STAR IS BORN, 2018)

All three remakes of A Star is Born earned Best Original Song nominations, but easily the best of the lot is the most recent. An instant karaoke staple, its mix of gruff rock songwriting and towering pop melodies make it the best Oscar-winning duet.

2. “MY HEART WILL GO ON” (TITANIC, 1997)

As brilliantly melodramatic and over-the-top as Titanic itself, Celine Dion absolutely belts out the notes in this peak example of a romantic ballad. Unlike the ship, “My Heart Will Go On” is actually unsinkable.

1. “OVER THE RAINBOW” (THE WIZARD OF OZ, 1940)

You don’t need to watch Dorothy’s journey to Oz in order to appreciate the all-time dreamer song. Sung with perfect grace by Judy Garland, “Over the Rainbow” manages to be sad, hopeful, gorgeous and catchy in a way that’s nearly impossible. It’s a true timeless musical classic and the best Oscar-winning song ever. n

J = THE INLANDER RECOMMENDS THIS SHOW

J = ALL AGES SHOW

Thursday, 3/7

J J THE BIG DIPPER, IV and the Strange Band, Possessed By Paul James, Jake Rozier and the Implication CHAN’S RED DRAGON ON THIRD, Thursday Night Jam CHECKERBOARD TAPROOM, Weathered Shepherds

COEUR D’ALENE CASINO, Queen Nation

J THE DISTRICT BAR, Jess Williamson, Erin Rae

J MCCRACKEN’S PUB AND BBQ, Earl Berkley

NIGHTHAWK LOUNGE (CDA CASINO), Dj Crooze

J QQ SUSHI & KITCHEN, Just Plain Darin RED ROOM LOUNGE, Hip-Hop Night

ZOLA, The Night Mayors

Friday, 3/8

AK ASIAN RESTAURANT, James Motley

J THE BIG DIPPER, Rock Club: Almost Spring Showcase

J BING CROSBY THEATER, The Fab Four performs The Beatle’s Rubber Soul & Greatest Hits

BOLO’S BAR & GRILL, Chasing Eos

THE CHAMELEON, Kung Fu Vinyl, Left Over Soul, No Soap Radio

CHAN’S RED DRAGON ON THIRD, Whackamole

CHINOOK STEAK, SEAFOOD & PASTA, Nick Wiebe

THE DISTRICT BAR, William Fitzsimmons

J THE GRAIN SHED, Haywire

Spokane, there’s something special coming your way, baby. Put on some glitter, tie back your hair, and pick out not one, but two cute little dance fits because DJ duo Zeds Dead is coming for a “Two-Night Stand.” You don’t have to get the Pulp Fiction reference in their name or have their extensive catalog memorized to know it’s pretty special to be one of just five midsized cities picked for this intimate tour. Whether they bring a synthy ambient vibe, fixate on heavier dubstep, or play around with hiphop or any of their other influences, the shows are sure to be a good time. Of course, I might be a little biased — they were my second-most listened to artist in 2023. That’s mostly because I couldn’t stop playing “Ecstasy of Soul,” an EDM-ified take on a song from The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly that they released with GRiZ in 2022. Crank it up to get in the mood for this special weekend.

— SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

Zeds Dead • Fri, March 8 and Sat, March 9 at 8 pm •  $60 (per concert) • All ages • Knitting Factory • 919 W. Sprague Ave. • sp.knittingfactory.com

CELTIC ROCK THE YOUNG DUBLINERS

IOLITE LOUNGE, Nate Ostrander IRON HORSE (CDA), Rusty Nail & The Hammers

J J KNITTING FACTORY, Zeds Dead MOOSE LOUNGE, Agents of Rock MULLIGAN’S BAR & GRILLE, Son of Brad NEATO BURRITO, Bailey Allen Baker, PIT, Where?

NIGHTHAWK LOUNGE (CDA CASINO), Dj Crooze

PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Mike Wagoner Trio

RED ROOM LOUNGE, Live DJs

THE RIDLER PIANO BAR, Just Plain Darin ZOLA, The Rub

Saturday, 3/9

J THE BIG DIPPER, Learn To Burn School of Music: Student Concert Night BOLO’S BAR & GRILL, Chasing Eos

J CAFE COCO, B

THE CHAMELEON, Cassandra Lewis, Alcohol & Feelings, Jenny Jahlee, Wes Marvn CHAN’S RED DRAGON ON THIRD, Sidestep CHINOOK STEAK, SEAFOOD & PASTA, Nick Wiebe

THE GRAIN SHED TAP HOUSE, Front Porch Rockers

J HUCKLEBERRY’S MARKET, Into the Drift Duo

IRON HORSE (CDA), Rusty Nail & The Hammers

J J KNITTING FACTORY, Zeds Dead MOOSE LOUNGE, Agents of Rock NIGHTHAWK LOUNGE (CDA CASINO), Dj Crooze

NOAH’S CANTEEN, Son of Brad PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Zach Simms RED ROOM LOUNGE, Live DJs

While The Young Dubliners might be Los Angelesbased, the group’s winning brand of Celtic rock comes from an authentically Irish place. Frontman Keith Roberts is a Dublin native who emigrated in his young adulthood and established himself in LA’s Celtic music scene before taking the Young Dubliners national. The group’s sound has a much stronger traditional Irish music base than many of its peers while still injecting a lively modern and delightfully rough edge to the proceedings. Consider the group’s stop at the Knit a kickoff of St. Patrick’s Day week (the holiday falls the following Sunday), by metaphorically (or literally) raising your pints of Guinness high and jigging along.

— SETH SOMMERFELD

The Young Dubliners, The Stout Pounders • Sun, March 10 at 8 pm • $15 • All ages • Knitting Factory • 919 W. Sprague Ave. • sp.knittingfactory.com

J SIRINYA’S THAI RESTAURANT, Nate Ostrander

J WESTWOOD BREWING CO., Just Plain Darin ZOLA, Matt Walden, Blake Braley

Sunday, 3/10

J THE BIG DIPPER, Worldwide Panic, Fate Defined, Day Shadow HOGFISH, Open Mic

J J KNITTING FACTORY, Young Dubliners, The Stout Pounders

J NORTHERN QUEST CASINO, The Marshall Tucker Band, Jefferson Starship

J SOUTH HILL GRILL, Just Plain Darin

Monday, 3/11

EICHARDT’S PUB, Monday Night Blues Jam with John Firshi

RED ROOM LOUNGE, Open Mic Night

Tuesday, 3/12

KNITTING FACTORY, Chelsea Cutler, Yoke Lore ZOLA, Jerry Lee and the Groove

Wednesday, 3/13

BING CROSBY THEATER, Led Zepagain

THE DRAFT ZONE, The Draft Zone Open Mic

J KNITTING FACTORY, Maoli

PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Jason Evans

RED ROOM LOUNGE, Red Room Lounge Jam

J TIMBERS ROADHOUSE, Cary Beare Presents

J ZEEKS PIZZA, Mel Dalton

MUSIC TUNE TRAVELERS

Some ancient travelers headed out of Xi’an on the Silk Road and took the route all the way west to Antioch on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. Others, however, turned south and headed into present-day India. Those fortunate explorers would have surely heard the pings and patterings of the tabla, a pair of hand drums pivotal to Northern Indian classical music. Modern Spokanites, however, needn’t venture that far. Sandeep Das, one of India’s leading tabla masters, joins Spokane Symphony for its seventh installment of this season’s Masterworks program, “Along the Silk Road.” On Saturday and Sunday, Das features in Dinuk Wijeratne’s tabla concerto accompanied by the symphony, which also performs Valerie Coleman’s “Umoja, Anthem of Unity” and Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2 in D Major. Also, on Thursday and Friday don’t miss free lectures by Das at the MAC and recital at Eastern Washington University. Happy travels!

— ELIZA BILLINGHAM

Masterworks 7: Along the Silk Road • Sat, March 9 at 7:30 pm and Sun, March 10 at 3 pm • $19-$68 • The Fox Theater • 1001 W. Sprague Ave. • spokanesymphony.org • 509-624-1200

WORDS RETHINK THE IMPOSSIBLE

Minda Dentler’s story is one of defying odds and overcoming obstacles. As an infant, she contracted polio in India resulting in the paralysis of her legs. She was adopted by an American family living right here in Spokane and underwent grueling surgeries at Shriners Hospital for Children on her hips, legs and back which enabled her to walk with walking aids. She discovered the sport of handcycling shortly after and became enamored with triathlons. Then, against all odds, she became the first female wheelchair athlete to complete the Ironman World Championship. At this event, Dentler presents her new children’s book, The Girl Who Figured It Out, inspired by her life story and the challenges she faced on the path to making sports history.

— MADISON PEARSON

Minda Dentler: The Girl Who Figured It Out • Sun, March 10 from 2-3:30 pm • Free • North Spokane Library • 44 E. Hawthorne Rd. • auntiesbooks.com

OUTDOORS SKIING ON ALL FOURS

Calling all Nordic skiers and their canine friends: The Spokane Nordic Ski Association is holding its annual Barkerbeiner skijoring races. Skijoring, derived from a Nordic word meaning “ski driving,” is a winter sport that involves a skier being pulled by an animal, often a horse or a dog. Barkerbeiner has four events: a two-dog or a one-dog 6.5k race, a junior 6.5k race for kids up to 16 years old, and a “guess your time” fun run (4.4k) race for which each human and dog team guesses how long it’ll take for them to finish the course, with the winner being the closest guesser. One dog can race in two different events, and the first event costs $20 with any following races costing an additional $10.

— SUMMER SANDSTROM

Barkerbeiner • Sun, March 10 from 11 am-3 pm • $20-$30 • Selkirk Lodge at Mount Spokane State Park • spokanenordic.org/ barkerbeiner

Submit events online at Inlander.com/getlisted or email relevant details to getlisted@inlander.com. We need the details one week prior to our publication date.

WORDS LIFE ON THE FRONTIER

After proving to be incredibly popular with visitors, the MAC last year extended the run of its exhibit Frank S. Matsura: Portraits from the Borderland through June of this year. Featuring the Japanese immigrant photographer’s portraits of Okanogan County residents at the turn of the 20th century, the show offers an unparalleled view of life on the Western frontier with a focus on how the Indigenous Syilx (Okonagan) tribal members adapted to changes brought by colonial settlements. As part of the exhibition, award-winning documentary filmmaker Beth Harrington comes to the museum for a panel discussion about her ongoing project to document Matsura’s life and contributions to the region’s historical record. She and fellow experts discuss how Matsura’s work subverted stereotypes and stood out from other Indigenous portraiture of the era, plus much more.

— CHEY SCOTT

Panel Discussion: Our Mr. Matsura • Thu, March 14 at 6:30 pm • $5 • Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture • 2316 W. First Ave. • northwestmuseum.org

ART + WORDS WORTH 1,000 WORDS

Graphic novels are sometimes unfairly compared to their non-illustrated counterparts, with critics arguing that using drawings to tell a story is somehow less sophisticated than prose alone. North Bend-based comic artist Josh Tuininga disagrees. Graphic novels offer a lot that traditional literature simply can’t do, perhaps most importantly attracting younger readers’ attention. As part of Humanities Washington’s statewide Speakers Bureau program, Tuininga comes to Spokane for two events to talk about the genre’s many benefits and his own recently published graphic novel, We Are Not Strangers. Based on true events from the author’s own family history, the story follows a Sephardic Jewish immigrant living in Seattle who helps his JapaneseAmerican neighbors when, during World War II, they’re ordered to one of the nation’s internment camps.

— CHEY SCOTT

Josh Tuininga: We Are Not Strangers • Wed, March 13 at 5:30 pm • Liberty Park Library • 402 S. Pittsburg St. • Thu, March 14 at 6:30 pm • Wishing Tree Books • 1410 E. 11th Ave. • Free • humanities.org • wishingtreebooks.com

I SAW YOU

YOUR JIG IS UP I saw you, J, dating multiple women at the same time. Lying, breaking hearts, and ruining lives. You’re disgusting — get a new hobby because women are not a sport! We’re all onto your little game now.

PRAY That was all the sign said. An openended invitation. Pray for a parking space, pray for a Big Mac, pray for a sick child. Your graffiti chose to make it a political statement. Embrace courage. Put up your own sign on your own home. I promise not to deface it.

CHEERS

BRAVO! Kendall Yards walkers! If you were to walk out the back door of the Inlander and down the very steep hill toward the river there was a garbage pile of epic proportions! No longer. This has happened VERY recently. My dog is a smeller and stops to do that EVERY five feet it seems. So, I often look over the edge (and have walked down there along the river) at this eyesore. However, yesterday while walking I was gobsmacked that the entire pile had been thoroughly cleaned up! Truly a wonderful thing, and I salute those that stepped up to make Spokane a better place. Thank you!

SPOKANE’S THOUGHTFULNESS Last

Tuesday my caretaker & I went to Quan’ s for a watch repair, Ferguson’s for a quick breakfast, then for some groceries at the Shadle Walmart. Quan’ s was friendly and serene. We sat at Ferguson’s counter because all the booths were taken. Upon

leaving the waitress said that another person had paid my bill. Then while checking out at Walmart, we found that the man in front of us had paid for a Walmart shopping bag that I needed. These generous actions clearly showed the humanity of Spokane’s residents. I am so pleased and thankful that I experienced the kindness of all of them.

PLEASE CONTACT ME You contacted me after 20 years of not talking to me or anything. I was emotional and not in a good spot, but that was nothing to do with you. The way you left me was your choice and I can accept that, but you left me when I needed a friend.

HOPE FOR HUMANITY Your compassionate response to the Jeers “Everyone Knows” really touched my heart, thank you! I see so many Jeers about inconsiderate people and bad behavior. Some people are just incapable of empathy. Be it a lack of nurturing, trauma, or they were born that way, we have yet to understand. Populations in jail and other institutions (like politics) have many examples of narcissists, pathological liars, and those who shamelessly never acknowledge their wrongdoings since the harm they do others is of no concern to them. Thank the citizens with probity in our world and our democratic system of laws for helping sort them out! (Power doesn’t corrupt, power attracts those who are already incorrigible and/or corrupt.)

THE FLOOR EXPERTS Thank you once again, Brothers Flooring. To Andy, Blake, Arthur, and Sam you people are great to work with. Once again you have exceeded my expectations. Beautiful tile job. Thanks again from George and Vicki.

CHEERING INTELLIGENCE LOL!! The metaphor was about J.B. vs. the Republicans. If you needed this pointed out, you ARE the significantly undereducated, baby! Read a book! I’m glad the editors “got it.”

THANKS FOR PICKING UP MY WALLET Cheers to the nice gentleman who picked up my wallet and flagged me down after I dropped it at the Walgreens in the Valley. Your kindness greatly appreciated!!

ONTO THE WCC TOURNAMENT! Cheers to the Zags Men’s team for their victory over Saint Mary’s. It was a tough fought first half, but the Zags really took over when they came back on the court and put on a real show. Great work by both teams!

A HIDDEN SPOKANE GEM On a whim, I dropped in on the Gonzaga hockey team’s game against the University of Idaho at the Ice Arena to check it out. It was a great game, free to attend, and packed with Zag students cheering like crazy. What a great event that’s way under advertised. Cheers to the seniors who played hard, and I’ll see the rest of the team next season.

you won’t have any evidence of the crime. It will be your deductible that will fix the car (if it’s fixable). Why do we shop at these stores? They don’t care about you or their employees. Stop supplying billionaires with even more money.

“Everything is a mirror image.”

MIRROR IMAGES From a microscope to a telescope, everything is a mirror image. As above… so below is a reference to the effects of celestial mechanics upon terrestrial events like the change of seasons and the moon’s effect on the tides. It is an ancient quote to describe what happens in higher realms (heaven on earth) also happens in a lower realms. That events on earth reflect in the astral plane, such as the individual (microcosm) is influenced by society (macrocosm). The expression is tied to Hermeticism and the Emerald Tablet. As within… so without is a reminder that what we put out into the world reflects what is going on inside of us. If we want to change our external circumstances, we must first change our internal state.

ANTIQUES AND THRIFT HAVEN Spokane has such a lovely and diverse spread of secondhand stores and antique shops. Thank you for providing us all with opportunities to give these items a second life while adding quirk and character to our own lives! Exploring the many thrift stores in town is a great activity by yourself or with a friend on a gray or rainy day.

JEERS

SHOPPER BEWARE You know those big-box stores in Spokane that have cameras in every aisle and in the checkout lanes that are recording every move you make while in their store? Well, they have limited cameras in the parking lots that they own. We’re not talking here about community parking lots, but rather individual parking lots reserved for just patrons of the box store that isn’t directly connected to any other stores. So, if you park your car in one of their lots and someone runs into your car and then leaves,

WILLFUL IGNORANCE OR WITLESS REPORTING? Jeers to the local “newscaster” who chose the death of Flaco, an iconic Eurasian eagle-owl in New York as her “editor’s pick” but claimed to be clueless about the cause of Flaco’s demise. Any legitimate journalist would have checked the numerous news stories about this and would have known the owl died from terrible trauma to his organs after flying into a building. Here’s the story you missed — 1 billion birds die each year from flying into buildings. In New York City alone, 230,000 birds die each year for the same reason. Last year in Chicago more than a thousand migrating songbirds were killed when they flew into a building. These bird massacres are entirely preventable by putting dots, stripes and other patterns on the glass. When will we get some real journalists on local television news?

RE: BIG TRUCK! If those big truck drivers could read, they’d be really upset.

RE: JOLTIN JOE See, that response was worth the weeklong wait. Intelligent of you to quote Twain, but yet you seem to try and throw an insult in there to backtrack on your prior word salad. Keep it simple, keep voting blue.

DON’T TOUCH MY PURSE Yes I’m a girl, yes that’s my purse, picking it up and trying to give it to the giant man with a walker doesn’t automatically make it not my purse, so when I yell at you four times “IT’S MINE,” it actually MEANS “IT’S MINE” not “GIVE IT TO THE GIANT MAN WITH A WALKER”.

MCSHAME ON YOU I was at a local McDonald’s and heard they no longer give Veteran discounts. The first drive-thru was at a McDonald’s on a military base. That has made them millions of dollars. Military families eat there, now they can’t even get a discount on burger. Shame on you.

OMISSIONS ON EMISSIONS The Inlander

was past deep space for its sustainability issue, especially regarding the state’s capand-trade program. Not one word about global warming and particulates creating bad air and deaths across the U.S. and Earth. No mention of the $200 billion profits by oil giants in 2022. Last year, Exxon made $36 billion, Shell $28 billion, and Chevron $21 billion. Plus tax subsidies give them up to $50 billion per year in breaks. Oil companies cry crocodile tears for your higher gas prices? Ha! They want you to vote against THEIR having to pay for their pollution. Inlander, give us the facts — for our grandchildren and your integrity.

RENT CAP DEATH Your state senators just voted down a bill to cap rent increases in our state. This seems to be a step in the wrong direction, especially when we are in the middle of an affordable housing crisis. The Inlander (kudos!) is the only newspaper that published anything about this story. It should have been front page news. Please research the names of the senators who voted against this bill and be sure to vote accordingly in our next election.

COSTCO DRIVERS FIRST STOP Costco is a go-to destination for many in the Spokane area. Yes, most drivers pull into the first left into the shopping center parking lot. They not only take the first left turn, but they also are drawn to turn into the first lane on the left. Why on God’s green Earth do you need the first left lane? Do you know how much you back up the sea of customers behind you doing the same turn? The cross traffic stops you and you stop the flow behind you, and everybody does it! Why? Do you see that vast parking lot? Please be aware you are not the only customer.

TURN ON THE LIGHTS Hey Lisa, being that you were endorsed by the Spokane Firefighters Union, do you think you can get the parking lot and building lights turned on at Station 16? Really dark over there! n

EVENTS | CALENDAR BENEFIT

MARCH FOR MEALS Walk at the Spokane Valley Mall to raise awareness about senior hunger and isolation. March 8, 8-10 am. $10. Spokane Valley Mall, 14700 E. Indiana Ave. gscmealsonwheels.org (509-924-6976)

VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS FUN -

DRAISER Red Robin donates 20% of food sales to the VFW. March 8, 11 am-11 pm. Red Robin, 9904 N. Newport Hwy. redrobin.com

AN EVENING OF GOLDEN NOTES An auction event benefitting Cheney High School jazz bands featuring a catered dinner by Skewers, paddle raise and more. March 9, 6-9 pm. $42. Shriners Event Center, 7217 W. Westbow. facebook.com/CheneyHighSchoolBands

LOCAL ARTIST NIGHT An event highlighting local artists with live music. All proceeds go to the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery. March 9, 8 pm-midnight. Free. The New 63 Social House & Eatery, 520 W. Main Ave. facebook.com/ thenew63socialhouse (509-598-8922)

SPOKANE MOM PROM A ladies night out with dancing, photo booth, drinks and desserts all benefiting the Women Helping Women Fund. (This is a ladiesonly event, not a moms-only event.)

March 9, 7-11 pm. $35-$50. Montvale Event Center, 1017 W. First. bit.ly/spokanemomprom (509-413-2915)

SWEETS BEFORE SUPPER A fundraising gala honoring women leaders in the community and highlighting the efforts of the GSEWNI organization. The evening features dinner, cookie-inspired desserts by local chefs and more. Proceeds benefit Girl Scouts of Eastern Washington and North Idaho. March 9, 6-9 pm. $125. Davenport Grand Hotel, 333 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. gsewni.org

THE FIG TREE BREAKFAST TIME

BENEFIT The program includes speakers Bob Bartlett, Catherine Ferguson, Maurice Smith and Maria Gaines, and a video by Hamilton Studio. March 13, 7:30-9 am. By donation. thefigtree.org

COMEDY

COEUR COMEDY SERIES: JASON

LOVE WITH CHARLES HALL JR. Love is a nationally touring headliner who has appeared on HBO, Comedy Central, America’s Got Talent and Dry Bar Comedy. March 7, 7-10 pm. Free. Coeur d’Alene Casino, 37914 S. Nukwalqw. cdacasino.com (208-769-2464)

BLUE DOORS & DRAGONS A unique improv comedy journey guided by the whims of the dice, audience suggestions and the creativity of the Blue Door improvisers. March 8-April 5, Fri at 7:30 pm. $9. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar. bluedoortheatre.org

JEREMIAH WATKINS Jeremiah Watkins is a stand-up comedian and voice actor best-known for his role as The Joker on DC Superhero Girls and his appearances on shows like Carpool Karaoke and Jimmy Kimmel Live. March 8 and March 9, 7 & 9:45 pm. $20-$28. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com

QUEERPROV A celebration of LGBTQ+ identity where improvisers who are members of the community come together to deliver an evening of shortform improv. March 9, 9:30 pm. $9. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar St. bluedoortheatre.org (509-747-7045)

SAFARI The Blue Door Theatre’s version of Whose Line with short comedy skits based on audience suggestions. Every Saturday at 7:30 pm. $9. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar St. bluedoortheatre.com (509-747-7045)

JAMES CAMACHO Camacho is a NYCbased comedian best-known for his appearances on shows like FBI and Kevin Can Wait. March 10, 7 pm. $15-$20. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com

SPOKANE SUPER-COMICS A stand-up show featuring local comics. March 14, 7 pm. $5-$8. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com

COMMUNITY

O’SHERMAN’S GOLD QUEST Visit the host sites where O’Sherman the leprechaun is hiding. Find him, write down the word he’s holding and figure out a secret phrase to be entered to win. Through March 17, 9 am-5 pm. Free. Downtown Coeur d’Alene. cdadowntown.com (208-415-0116)

PLANT PROPAGATION FROM SEEDS & CUTTINGS Learn how to propagate seeds with or without a greenhouse and how to propagate plants using cuttings. Presented by Master Gardener Steve Nokes. March 7, 6:30-7:30 pm. Free. Spokane Valley Library, 22 N. Herald Rd. scld.org (509-893-8400)

PLAY WITH MATH Play simple math games and activities, and explore a variety of play-and-learn toys. Ages 2-5 and their families. March 8, 10 am-noon. Free. Moran Prairie Library, 6004 S. Regal St. scld.org (893-8340)

SPOKANE MOTORCYCLE SHOW A motorcycle show and sale featuring accessories, discounts, an indoor swap meet, beard and mustache competitions and more. March 8-10; Fri from 3-8 pm, Sat from 10 am-7 pm, Sun from 10 am-4 pm. $12. Spokane County Fair & Expo Center, 404 N. Havana St. spokanemotorcycleshow.com (509-477-1766)

AXE FORCE ONE FIVE YEAR CEL-

EBRATION Activities include a murder mystery, prizes, carnival-style games, snacks, drinks and an axe-throwing tournament. March 9, 6-10 pm. $5.55.

Axe Force One, 1207 N. 4th St. crimesceneentertainment.com

EXPERIENCE VIRTUAL REALITY

Choose from a variety of experiences for your 20-minute visit to the lands of virtual reality. Registration required. Sessions are 20 minutes. March 9, 2-5 pm. Free. North Spokane Library, 44 E. Hawthorne Rd. scld.org

FORAY FOR THE ARTS #3 A night of creative performances across disciplines and forms. Featured performers: Ash Montenegro Hart, Alexander Manzoni, Eighty Six, Lyv, Hannah Boundy and Xander Gibbons. Co-hosted by Sarah Rooney and Greg Bem. March 9, 6-9 pm. Free. People’s Waffle, 15 S. Howard St. fb.me/e/1jKwpjOdm

MILLWOOD: TRAVELING BACK IN TIME Explore Millwood’s early days, community milestones and interesting residents during this presentation. March 9, 3-4 pm. Free. Argonne Library, 4322 N. Argonne Rd. scld.org

POKEMON TEMPORAL FORCES PRERELEASE Players receive a “Build and Battle” kit to construct their deck. Players who participate also receive three free packs as a bonus. March 9, 11 am-2 pm, March 10, 12-3 pm and

March 12, 6-9 pm. $26. The Comic Book Shop (NorthTown), 4750 N. Division St. fb.me/e/a7QZ2mbrM (509-487-4175)

RESILIENCE EDUCATION WORK-

SHOP: BUDGETING FOR EVERYDAY FAMILIES Discus why it’s important to have a household budget, break down its parts and learn ways to budget effectively. March 9, 11 am-12:30 pm. Free. Spokane Valley United Methodist Church, 115 N. Raymond Rd. spokanevalleychurch.org

BRIDAL EXCHANGE An event for engaged couples to find affordable wedding decor, and for newlyweds to find a new home for their gently used wedding items. Includes music, snacks and drinks for purchase. March 10, 1-4 pm. $10. Barrister Winery, 1213 W. Railroad. driftwoodpointevents.com

MISS SPOKANE & MISS SPOKANE’S TEEN 2024 COMPETITION Winners go on to compete at the Miss Washington Competition and Miss Washington’s Outstanding Teen Competition. March 10, 3-6 pm. $27. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague. bingcrosbytheater.com

COME BE HEARD OPEN MIC NIGHT

An all-ages open mic night for people looking for a place to perform and experience the joy of musical community. March 13, 5-7 pm. Free. Central Library, 906 W. Main. spokanelibrary.org

LEARN HOW TO USE THE FIG TREE’S

RESOURCE DIRECTORY Learn about The Fig Tree newspaper’s history and mission, media literacy, the importance of nonprofit, independent media in a civil society, and the resource directory as a self-help tool. March 14, 5:30-6:30 pm. Free. Liberty Park Library, 402 S. Pittsburgh St. spokanelibrary.org

BECOME A CITIZEN SCIENTIST Learn how you can contribute to the work of academic scientists by making observations, gathering data and doing activities that increase the collective knowledge of the world. March 16, 2-3 pm. Free. North Spokane Library, 44 E. Hawthorne Rd. scld.org

ST. PATRICK’S DAY SHENANIGANS

Specials on tattoos and piercings all weekend with tattoos starting at $80 and piercings 20% off. March 16, 12-10 pm and March 17, 12-9 pm. Free. Heartbreaker Tattoo & Artist Co-op, 830 W. Sprague. heartbreakerspokane.com

ZINE MAGIC: DIY CREATIONS Craft your own zines with Artist-In-Residence Erica Schisler. Register online to attend. March 16, 1-3:30 pm. Free. The Hive, 2904 E. Sprague Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5300)

FILM

EXPO ‘74: FILMS FROM THE VAULT A selection of recently digitized film footage from the 1974 World’s Fair. Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm through Sept. 8. $7$12. The MAC, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org

MET LIVE IN HD: LA FORZA DEL DESTINO Giuseppe Verdi’s grand tale of ill-fated love, deadly vendettas, and family strife set. March 9, 9-11 am. $15$20. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org (208-882-4127)

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY In the Southwest during the Civil War, a mysterious stranger and a Mexican outlaw form an uneasy partnership. March 12, 6:30-9 pm. $8. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org

IRISH WEEK MARCH 10-17, 2024

SUNDAY, MARCH 10 TH

Live Irish Music 6-9pm No Cover

MONDAY, MARCH 11 TH

Closed for private party

TUESDAY, MARCH 12 TH

Corned Beef Tuesday: $2 off Corned Beef & Cabbage and Reuben Sandwiches | Funny & Famous Irish Poems - Free 7pm

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13 TH

Hump Day: $2 off Hop Valley Beer & Momma O’Doherty’s Meatloaf Sandwich | Guinness Beer Personal Imprints - 5pm

THURSDAY, MARCH 14 TH

No-Li Thursday: $2 off all No-Li Beers Bean Bag Toss All Day Chance to win a $25 Gift Card!

FRIDAY, MARCH 15 TH (The Ides of March) $1 off Ceasar’s own salad | $1 off Fish & Chips (by order of the Pope) | $2 off Jameson’s Irish Whiskey

SATURDAY, MARCH 16 TH

44th Annual St. Patrick’s Parade Day Doors Open 9am - Tim’s Speech Bagpipes 2pm & 7pm | Live Irish Music 10am - 4 pm | Green Beer, Guinness & 10 other taps

Featured Irish menu items | Irish DJ Greg McGuire 5pm - 11pm | Sing-a-longs, Irish Toasts, Irish Jokes $5 Cover

SUNDAY, MARCH 17 TH ST. PATRICK’S DAY

Doors Open 11am | Live Irish Music 11am - 4pm | Celtic Dancers, Bagpipers | Irish DJ Greg McGuire 5pm - Close | Guinness, Harp & Smithwick’s on tap, Green Beer until it’s gone $5 Cover

W. 525 S POKANE F ALLS B LVD

O’D OHERTY ’ S I RISH G RILLE

EVENTS | CALENDAR

FOOD & DRINK

BEVERLY’S GROSGRAIN WINEMAKER

DINNER Founders of Grosgrain Vineyards showcase the unique characteristics of their wines while guests enjoy pairings during a six–course dinner. March 8, 6-9 pm. $100. Beverly’s, 115 S. Second St. beverlys.com

IRISH WHISKEY COCKTAIL CLASS Learn about the origins of Irish whiskey while deepening knowledge of cocktail culture. Hogwash Whiskey Den’s master mixologist, Simon, guides participants through the use of tools and techniques and Raising the Bar’s cocktail historian, Renée, tells the stories behind this spirit. March 10, 3-5 pm. $75. Hogwash Whiskey Den, 304 W. Pacific Ave. raisingthebarNW.com

ST. PADDY’S DAY DELIGHTS COOKING CLASS Learn how to make traditional Irish foods during this two-hour hands-on cooking class and take home a cookbook so that you can easily recreate these dishes at home. March 11, 5:30-7:30 pm. $30. Second Harvest, 1234 E. Front Ave. secondharvestkitchen.org

EXPLORING INDIA: BUTTER CHICKEN

Chef Noreen Hiskey introduces participants to Indian cuisine by going over some commonly used spices, the aromatics of curry, and some of the most universally recognized dishes in Indian cuisine. March 13, 5:45-8:15 pm. $85. The Kitchen Engine, 621 W. Mallon Ave. thekitchenengine.com

NORTH IDAHO WINE SOCIETY MARCH

TASTING

This month’s tasting features wines from RM Wineries. Portfolio manager Aubrianna Kunz discusses the AVAs and the wines that RM crafts from them. RSVP by March 11. March 15, 7-9 pm. $30$35. Lake City Center, 1916 N. Lakewood Dr. northidahowinesociety.org

ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE POUR

BEFORE Sip Pacific Northwest beer and cider, sample Irish-inspired bites and enjoy live music by the Shea Tea Folkin Irish Band. March 15, 6-10 pm. $35-$40. Northern Quest Resort & Casino, 100 N. Hayford Rd. northernquest.com

MUSIC

IRISH MUSIC WITH FLOATING CROW-

BAR Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with the rhythmic sounds of Irish pipes, flute, whistle, banjo, mandolin, as well as fiddle and guitar. March 7, 7-8 pm. Free. North Spokane Library, 44 E. Hawthorne Rd. scld.org (509-893-8350)

DAVID LARSEN & DARRYL YOKLEY

Larsen and Yokley perform originals from their new jazz album and are joined by musicians from the CDA Charter Academy. March 7, 7-9 pm. $25. The Jacklin Arts & Cultural Center, 405 N. William St. thejacklincenter.org

YOUR HAND & MINE CHOIR CONCERT

Ensembles performing include the WSU Chamber Singers, WSU University Singers, WSU Treble Choir and the WSU Concert Choir. March 7, 7:30-9 pm. Free. Bryan Hall Theatre (WSU), 605 Veterans Way. music.wsu.edu (509-335-7696)

GREG & JERE CANOTE A folk music concert featuring the identical twins Greg and Jerry Canote from Seattle. March 8, 7-9 pm. $5-$15. Hamilton Studio, 1427 W. Dean Ave. spokanefolklore.org

KPBX KIDS’ CONCERT CELTIC DANCE

PARTY This annual concert features local band Floating Crowbar performing Irish

dance music. March 9, 1 pm. Free. Riverside Place, 1108 W. Riverside. kpbx.org

SPOKANE JAZZ ORCHESTRA WITH THE JEFF HAMILTON TRIO The Jeff Hamilton Trio joins the musicians of the Spokane Jazz Orchestra for a celebration of live big band jazz. March 9, 7:30-9:30 pm. $27-$37. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. bingcrosbytheater.com

SPOKANE SYMPHONY MASTERWORKS

7: ALONG THE SILK ROAD Sandeep Das joins leading conductor James Ross for an evening of propulsive rhythm featuring Tabla Concert by Dinuk Wijeratne, Symphony No. 2 by Jean Sibelius and more. March 9, 7:30 pm and March 10, 3 pm. $19-$68. The Fox Theater, 1001 W. Sprague Ave. foxtheaterspokane.com

ST. PATRICK’S DAY IRISH MUSIC PERFORMANCE A spirited Irish music performance by local musicians in a style reminiscent of Irish pubs. March 9, 3-4 pm. Free. Shadle Library, 2111 W. Wellesley Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5390)

CDA SYMPHONY: CELEBRATING OUR YOUNG ARTISTS Young regional artists perform world-class solos with the Coeur d’Alene symphony. March 16, 7:30 pm. $15-$35. Schuler Performing Arts Center, 880 W. Garden Ave. cdasymphony.org

FLOATING CROWBAR & THE IRISH HARAN DANCERS Don Thomsen, James Hunter, Rick Rubin and Morgan Andersen perform as Floating Crowbar. The Irish Haran Dancers dance to their Irish instrumental music and songs. March 16, 6:308:30 pm. $25. The Jacklin Arts Center, 405 N. William. thejacklincenter.org

SPORTS & OUTDOORS

SHEJUMPS: GET THE GIRLS OUT! Hit the slopes with other women and girls at this female-focused event aimed at getting people to embrace the outdoors. March

9, 9:30 am-3 pm. Free. Mt. Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park, 29500 N. Mt. Spokane Park Dr. shejumps.org (509-638-5331)

SPOKANE AUDUBON BIRD FIELD TRIP Learn about spring waterfowl and other birds visiting this wildlife area on the north side of the town of Reardan with Spokane Audubon bird experts. March

9, 10:30 am-12:30 pm. Free. More info at audubonspokane.org

SPOKANE CHIEFS VS. SEATTLE THUNDERBIRDS Promotions include CocaCola Derek Ryan Bobblehead Giveaway & Family Feast Night. March 9, 6:05 pm. $13-$32. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanechiefs.com (509-279-7000)

AUTHENTIC INDIAN YOGA Instructor Devika Gates leads an authentic Indian yoga practice. Wear loose clothing, bring a mat and come prepared for gentle exercise. March 10, 2:30-3:30 pm. Free. Shadle Library, 2111 W. Wellesley Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5390)

BARKERBEINER This event pairs dogs and their owners for an exciting day full of high-level skijoring competition and fun. March 10, 11 am-3 pm. $20-$30. Selkirk Lodge, N. Mt. Spokane Park Dr. spokanenordic.org/barkerbeiner

BRICK WEST RUN CLUB Run starts/ends at Brick West and changes every week. Tuesdays at 6 pm. Free. Brick West Brewing Co., 1318 W. First Ave. bit.ly/brick-run

SPOKANE CHIEFS VS. PORTLAND WINTERHAWKS Promotions include TicketsWest Player Magnet Giveaway. March 12, 7:05 pm. $13-$32. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanechiefs.com

THEATER & DANCE

HAMLET The classic Shakespearean tale of power and revenge featuring an original score. March 8-17; Fri-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 5 pm. $20. Central Library, 906 W. Main Ave. facebook.com/brightcomettheatre (509-444-5336)

THE PROM Four eccentric Broadway stars are in desperate need of a new stage. So, when they hear that trouble is brewing around a small-town prom, they know it’s time to put a spotlight on the issue… and themselves. March 8-10 and 1416; Thu at 5 pm, Fri-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm. $10. EWU Theatre, 210 Theatre, 1003 Washington St. ewu.edu/theatre

TUCK EVERLASTING After meeting the Tuck family, Winnie Foster learns of a spring’s power to give people immortality . Fri at 7 pm, Sat-Sun at 2 pm. through March 17. (Sat, March 9 at 2 pm and 7 pm.) $12-$16. Spokane Children’s Theatre, 2727 N. Madelia. spokanechildrenstheatre.org (509-328-4886)

SHEN YUN Shen Yun conveys the depth and breadth of genuine Chinese culture and bring five thousand years of civilization back to life on stage. March 9-10, 2 pm. $82-$15. First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. firstinterstatecenter.org

BACON & BRILLIANCE: QUEST FOR THE

CUP A fictional meat company is facing a slump in morale and sales. In a bid to spice things up, management introduces the Corporate Cup, a series of wacky and whimsical competitions among the company’s departments. March 10 at 2 pm, March 13-16 at 7 pm, March 16 at 1 pm. $10. Ferris High School, 3020 E. 37th Ave. spokaneschools.org

DANCING WITH THE STARS: LIVE! This show features professional dancers from the TV series performing new numbers as well as some dances featured in season 32. March 13, 7-9 pm. $40-$90. First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls. firstinterstatecenter.org

SHREK THE MUSICAL JR. Performed by Cataldo Catholic School at St. Augustine. March 14, 7 pm and March 15, 7 pm. $10$12. Spokane Community College, 1810 N. Greene St. cataldo.org

AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE A dynamic mixed-repertoire program featuring classical and neoclassical excerpts plus original commissions. March 16, 7:30 pm. $39-$89. First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. firstinterstatecenter.org (509-279-7000)

VISUAL ARTS

DOGS AND CATS A group display of works that capture the essence of beloved pets and explores the universal significance of pets in our daily lives. Daily from 11 am-7 pm through March 30. Free. Liberty Building, 203 N. Washington St. spokanelibertybuilding.com

COST OF LIVING ARTIST TALK Seattlebased artist JoEllen Wang and Spokane artist Seth Collier speak about their SFCC Fine Art Gallery Exhibition, “Cost of Living.” March 7, 11:30 am-12:30 pm. Free. SFCC Fine Arts Gallery, 3410 W. Whistalks Way, Bldg. 6. sfcc.spokane.edu

FRANK S. MATSURA: NATIVE AMERICAN PORTRAITS FROM A NORTHWEST BORDERLAND This show features images from the studio archive of Washington-based Japanese photographer Frank

Sakae Matsura (b. 1873) which explore Indigenous representation through an artistic lens. Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm through June 9. $7-$12. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931)

SPOKANE PUBLIC SCHOOLS MIDDLE SCHOOL ART SHOW Artwork by students from various Spokane schools is on display. March 1-31, daily from 10 am-8 pm. Free. Kress Gallery, 808 W. Main Ave. riverparksquare.com

WAYFINDING Featuring art by James Tingey, Sandi Bransfrd, Gordon Wilson and Betsey Hurd. March 2-31, Wed-Sun from 11 am-6 pm. Free. The Art Spirit Gallery, 415 Sherman. theartspiritgallery.com

ARTIST TALK: CARA LEVINE Los Angeles-based artist Cara Levine discusses her art, practices and project called This Is Not A Gun. March 12, noon. Free. Eastern Washington University, 526 Fifth St. ewu. edu/art (509-259-2241)

HAROLD BALAZS: REPLICATING SCULPTURES IN POLYMER CLAY Take a retrospective look at local artist Harold Balazs and replicate some of his most iconic sculptures using polymer clay. Register to attend. Ages 9-10 and 6-8 w/ adult. March 15, 4-5 pm. Free. Shadle Library, 2111 W. Wellesley. spokanelibrary.org

WORDS

WRITE TOGETHER: A COMMUNITY WRITING SESSION Bring your current writing project and your favorite writing tools. Local novelist and Writing Education Specialist Sharma Shields writes alongside of you and provides prompts and advice if needed. March 8, 10 amnoon. Free. Liberty Park Library, 402 S. Pittsburgh St. spokanelibrary.org

THE EVERGREEN COLLECTION: A BOOK LAUNCH Editors Larry Clark and Adriana Janovich, along with featured writers, present the new anthology The Evergreen Collection: Exceptional Stories from Across Washington State. March 9, 3-4 pm. Free. Liberty Park Library, 402 S. Pittsburgh. spokanelibrary.org

MINDA DENTLER: THE GIRL WHO FIGURED IT OUT The true story of Spokanite Minda Dentler, the first female wheelchair athlete to complete the Ironman World Championship triathlon. March 10, 2-3:30 pm. Free. North Spokane Library, 44 E. Hawthorne Rd. auntiesbooks.com

LOCAL AUTHOR READINGS IN SPANISH

This evening features readings by Andrés Aragoneses, Pedro León López, Morella Pérez Suels and Teresa Ruiz Sorroche. March 12, 7-8 pm. Free. Spokane Valley Library, 22 N. Herald Rd. scld.org

SEQUENTIAL: THE STORYTELLING

POWER OF COMIC BOOKS Writer and illustrator Josh Tuininga discusses the power of comics and graphic novels. March 13, 5:30-6:30 pm. Free. Liberty Park Library, 402 S. Pittsburgh St. spokanelibrary.org

JOSH TUININGA: WE ARE NOT STRANGERS Tuininga traces his family’s Sephardic roots as they flee their home in Turkey, discover opportunities in America and forge a new community in the Seattle Central District. March 14, 6:30 pm. Free. Wishing Tree Books, 1410 E. 11th Ave. wishingtreebookstore.com

JOSEPH HAEGER: BARDO Local author Joseph Haeger celebrates the release of his latest book, Bardo. March 15, 7 pm. Free. Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave. auntiesbooks.com n

IDAHO

Different States (of Mind)

Idaho stays on the wrong side of weed policy

BY WILL MAUPIN

There may not be a border that separates two more wildly disparate states than we have right here in the Inland Northwest between Washington and Idaho.

The Idaho Legislature is [insert sarcasm font] a serious governing body.

When they aren’t debating or even outright rolling back basic human rights, the Idaho legislators find time to take up such pressing issues as cannibalism (advanced in committee), taking over much of neighboring Oregon (passed by the House) and making possession of cannabis punishable by a $420 fine.

To be fair, at least with that last item, they do have a sense of humor. Actually, they almost had a sense of humor, because that proposal for a $420 fine died in committee last week.

And they think people who get stoned are crazy.

Anyway, now is as good a time as any to take a look at how the Gem State approaches cannabis.

First off, Idaho tries not to approach cannabis. Cannabis is illegal in Idaho. Full stop.

And that’s despite being literally surrounded by jurisdictions that have legalized cannabis. Washington, Montana, Oregon, Nevada and British Columbia all allow recreational use. Utah allows medical use. Even Wyoming, which is almost as tough about cannabis as Idaho, lets people consume CBD products with low amounts of THC.

Yet Idaho remains stalwartly anti-cannabis — or at least its Legislature does. Gem State lawmakers have repeatedly refused to pass pro-cannabis legislation. They haven’t stopped there.

In 2021 they outlawed cannabis completely, and forever. (There’s that sense of humor again.)

Since then, bordering states like Oregon and Washington have taken a ton of Idaho’s money.

Specifically, Washington has taken a lot of tax dollars from Idaho, as we’ve reported more than once. And, according to reporting in Politico, the little border town of Ontario, Oregon, generates 10 percent of all of Oregon’s cannabis sales — thanks to all those “anti-weed” Idahoans making the trip. That’s about $130 million. In Ontario, a town of 11,000 people.

Oregon won’t turn its back on all that money. Nor will Washington, Canada, Montana or even Utah. For now, it’s just the lawmakers in Idaho who don’t want that money, even if their constituents are willing to spend it.

Instead, legislators are spending time discussing whether a $420 fine is appropriate for possessing cannabis. That’s a joke, but Idaho has proven willing to give time to consider it. n

Idaho is surrounded by more permissive cannabis states.

NOTE TO READERS

Be aware of the differences in the law between Idaho and Washington. It is illegal to possess, sell or transport cannabis in the State of Idaho. Possessing up to an ounce is a misdemeanor and can get you a year in jail and up to a $1,000 fine; more than three ounces is a felony that can carry a fiveyear sentence and fine of up to $10,000. Transporting marijuana across state lines, like from Washington into Idaho, is a felony under federal law.

61. Second tries

DOWN

1. 1200, to Tiberius

2. Memorable period

3. “___ the ramparts ...”

Collective

5. Coffee urn attachment

6. Quick clip

7. From Prague

8. Singer Bebe

41. Ninja, e.g. 42. In a new way 43. Toothpaste options 48. Colorful card game 50. Poses to propose 52. Contract conditions 53. Outdo showily 54. In a weird way 55. Delicious 56. Make speeches 57. Like Whataburger’s headquarters 62. Prefix with scope 64. Explosive compound 65. Some time ___ 66. Cut (the lawn) 67. Punctured tire sound ACROSS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 “THEY’VE GOT CHEMISTRY” ANSWERSTHISWEEK’S ONISAWYOUS BY MATT JONES ROSSWORDConesin’ J A Better Way to Retire! Local representative, free information REVERSE MORTGAGE Mutual of Omaha Mortgage, Inc., NMLS ID 1025894. FL Mortgage Lender Servicer License MLD1827. ID Mortgage Broker/Lender License MBL-2081025894. WA Consumer Loan Company License CL-1025894. These materials are not from, or approved by HUD or FHA. Licensing information: www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org #1101691001 Larry Waters NMLS# 400451 P 208.762.6887 Serving ID & WA Itron, Inc. Liberty Lake, WA. Senior Program Manager Manage programs to deliver customer business outcomes. Position is fixd location based in Liberty Lake; however, telecomm from also allowed. Salary: $63,461$133,328. Send resume to: Christian.Hall@itron.com. Job Code: 2400164 • Community • Film • Food & Drink • Music • Sports • Theater • Visual Arts • Words • Etc. Have an event? Deadline is one week prior to publication Inlander.com/GetListed GET LISTED! Submit your event details for listings in the print & online editions of the Inlander. Available at more than 1,000 locations throughout the Inland Northwest.

71. Observe secretly

39. Deli counter qty.

position

59. Like some gummy worms

60. “Didn’t I tell ya?”

63. Tests of numerical aptitude

68. Millionaire intro

69. ___ Dew

70. Former capital of Nigeria

72. Up to now

73. Comes down in a blizzard

4.

acknowledgement from a room of beatniks, maybe

Eerie flyer 11. 1925 Edna Ferber novel 12. Bar mitzvah reading

“Man’s ___” (viral 2018 song)

Part of FWIW

Reviewing website

“Nixon in China,” for example

26. Fitness motto opening

Less lurid

Checking proof

33.

June Cleaver or Maggie Seaver, e.g.

Lance of the O.J. trial

38. Eyelashes