Schools across the Inland Northwest are starting to use generative artificial intelligence
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We used it to create this cover; learn more on page 29
DOWNTOWN SPOKANE COULD GET A LOT TALLER PAGE 8
SPOKANE STRING QUARTET MARKS 45 YEARS PAGE 18
ST. PATTY’S DAY FUN PARADES, PUB CRAWLS, GUINNESS + MORE! PAGE 32
bout two years ago, generative AI platforms had rapidly emerged and were sending shockwaves through the creative community as artists and others grappled with the technology’s implications on their profession. I dove deep into the issue at the time for an Inlander cover story on AI’s far-reaching impacts on the arts, not unlike Colton Rasanen’s piece this week on AI IN
A lot has changed since then. Experts in myriad fields stress the need to learn about and leverage this tool in order to supplement human work, not to avoid AI altogether. It’s the same in classrooms, where teachers are both using the tool to customize students’ education, and to teach youths how to distinguish truth from illusion. With that same idea in mind, we decided to use Adobe Firefly’s generative AI to create this week’s cover image — inspired by a student lesson described in the story — and to see how we, too, could push the tool to its limits. Can you spot all the AI’s weird glitches in the image it created based on our prompt? We reveal the biggest mistakes, along with our story, starting on page 22.
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LUIS GOMEZ
The computer.
What are your thoughts on AI in schools? It’s a benefit but also contrary to that because it will make you lazy. Instead of doing the research at a library and looking for it, which uses your brain, you punch in the name, and it shows up. When you’re using your brain, you’re working that muscle, and it’s better than relying on somebody else to give you that information.
GAIL DARNELL
Probably the computer.
Do you think AI will be adopted in schools? Yes, but it’s scary. It doesn’t let you think for yourself, and students need to learn to think for themselves in school. AI doesn’t let you do that. You just read what it says, and it’s scary.
CLAIRE BARBIERI
The internet has had the biggest impact on education. When I went through school, we had library access, and I used the internet far more than I used my actual physical library. So Wiki pedia, Google, search engines, those types of outlets have been very important for education.
AMANDA WILSON
Internet.
Do you think AI will be adopted in schools, similar to the calculator?
I really hope not because there are many things you can do with AI that you can’t do with a calculator, including manipulating and pretending to be somebody you’re not, especially in a school setting.
JADRIAN HAMMON
Well, I know that the tablets are very popular and because of touch screen capabilities are widely used currently.
Do you think AI will be adopted in schools, similar to the calculator?
AI in the classroom is still really new, and teachers are struggling to find ways to balance its use with its misuse.
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BY JOHN HAGNEY
In 1847, 24-year-old Matilda Joyce fled disease, death and despair in Ireland, believing that she would be delivered to the Promised Land. Instead, when she went to North America via Liverpool, she was again enveloped by hell.
righteous mission: “God sent this calamity [famine] to teach the Irish a lesson.”
Between 1845 and 1855, the Irish population of 8 million was decimated by one-third. Famine and disease killed 1.2 million. Emigration drained the Emerald Isle of another 2 million residents. A comparable catastrophe would be the 14th century Black Death with its calamitous mortality, economic disintegration and psychological trauma.
The belief of the Victorian English was that Irish indolence, immoderate fondness of John Barleycorn, promiscuity and Celtic superstition brought divine judgment on the “savage” Irish. English free market economists argued that government relief would only exacerbate these iniquities. A more charitable member of Parliament suggested that since Irish grass was abundant, it could feed the Irish. So as Irish wharves piled high with larders of butter, beef and pork sides, and grains for transport to England, the Irish starved. These attitudes and policies had genocidal consequences.
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For a generation previous to An Gorta Mór (Gaelic for “The Great Hunger”), there was a collapse in Irish peasant living standards so that the sole sustenance for two-thirds was the potato. In 1845, a fungus infected the crop, putrefying potatoes into black, gelatinous tubers and effusing a stench that permeated the fields. Famine stalked the Irish.
In 1840 only 5% of Irish peasants owned land, most leasing land from predatory English absentee landlords who coerced tenants into producing crops and raising livestock for export to feed the burgeoning English industrial working class. Irish peasants were relegated to 1 acre for potato cultivation, while in 1842, $600 million worth of potatoes (in today’s equivalent) was seized from Irish soil for export. Even then, landlords demanded that one-third of their potato crop be diverted to fodder livestock for export. Impossible to pay rents, Irish tenants were evicted with no legal recourse. Between 1847 and 1851 evictions rose 1,000%.
Sir Charles Trevelyan expressed the Crown’s
Even before the famine, the British government reported in 1840 that one-third of Irish peasants could not subsist after paying rent, thus compelling them to do seasonal migrant labor in Scotland or England. Similar conditions in present South and Central America and Mexico induce campesinos to migrate to el Norte
Matilda Joyce, my great-great-grandmother and kin to the venerated Irish writer James Joyce, was typical of the Irish diaspora. In her dissipated 1840s Isle of Erin she would have witnessed horrific mass starvation, where the body cannibalizes itself, and typhus epidemics that cause the afflicted to hallucinate with 104+ degree fevers. At the height of the famine, it was common to see processions of hysterical dying in Irish villages like the emaciated plague specters in Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal. By 1847, coffins and those to bury the dead were so scarce that dogs and rats devoured unburied corpses. John Kelly observes in The Graves Are Walking, “Fields were littered with unattached body parts.” Before her harrowing exodus, a desperate Matilda Joyce went to an Irish workhouse where
her hard labor was exchanged for one meal of thin gruel, bread and a bed shared with three others. Dysentery was endemic, with diarrhea and vomit collecting in overflowing latrines that caused cholera outbreaks. With such overcrowding and disease, in the 1840s 250,000 Irish indigent perished in these workhouses, conceived to reform the “savage” Irish. Since landlords were obliged to pay the tax on workhouse costs, as the famine intensified and workhouses became congested, it was cheaper to buy these godforsaken tickets out of Ireland rather than paying the tax rate.
For those who survived these crucibles, their lament was “Anywhere but Ireland.” In 1847, the Irish flight commenced in earnest. Many who departed found passage on steamers leaving Liverpool where they were fleeced by flimflammers, robbed of their paltry shillings in its hundreds of brothels and taverns, succumbed to disease in filthy lodgers crowded with strangers, and interrogated and sometimes deported by corrupt English officials.
“The scum of Ireland come to Liverpool,” said the Liverpool Mail. Sound familiar? An enlightened English official suggested diverting these Irish to West Indies colonies to replace the emanci pated African slaves. Today’s emigres face similar perils — violent gangs, rapacious coyotes and Mexican federales on the take.
Like many migrating Irish, Matilda Joyce’s passage was on a British ship because the fare was £3 compared to £5 on American steamers. Destination: Canada. Once arrived, eventually most would walk into the U.S. But £3 did not buy food, only space on the open deck or in cramped steerage. Herman Melville was ap palled by steerage on a “good” ship — “an open cesspool… They were packed like slaves on a slave ship.” These were the long cónra (coffin ships). Convicts transported to Australia had better onboard conditions than the Irish. In 1847, up to 18% of Irish emigres were estimated to have died in this Irish Middle Passage.
Before arriving in Montreal, the beleaguered Irish passengers, including Matilda Joyce, were quarantined on the notorious Grosse Island in the middle of the St. Lawrence River. (Between 18421850, 800,00 Irish arrived in Canada, equal to the number that disembarked in New York City and Boston in that period.) In April of 1847, the Grosse hospital had 250 beds, but by May there were 1,200 patients on the island with ships languishing in the river with over 12,000 passengers, many falling ill. A quarter died onboard. John Kelly describes the foul conditions on the island: “They slept with the dead, they slept in each other’s excrement.” Contagion annihilated medical staff. Over 5,000 Irish died at Grosse Island. There was a similar shameful scenario upstream at Montreal with 6,000 Irish expiring.
Many who eluded the Grim Reaper’s scythe, like Matilda Joyce, went to Montreal and in time immigrated into America. In 1850, she married Englishman George Tremblett. By 1852 they settled for a time in Ulster County, New York, 100 miles north of New York City where by 1860 50% of the population was Irish. In the city, the “scattered debris of the Irish nation” confronted malicious racism and discrimination. A popular song at the time was “No Irish Need Apply.” During St. Patrick’s Day, shops would display four leaf clovers which in Irish Catholic lore represented death. Pious Irish would only wear the three-leafed shamrock, symbol of the Trinity.
Roger Daniels in Coming to America observes: “It was widely believed that the Irish should be employed in the most dangerous, high mortality jobs rather than risking the loss of valuable Negro slaves.” In the 19th century, Irish were brutalized like beasts of burden building canals and railroads, mining coal, and forging steel. Today so-called “aliens” also labor in the most hazard ous jobs — construction and roofing, food and meat processing, and agriculture. Their sweat is indispensable to the goods and services on which we depend. Deport them and the economy collapses and prices surge.
So if quaffing a pint of black Irish stout this St. Patrick’s Day, don’t forget the troubles of Irish past. Sláinte mhaith! (Good health!) n
John Hagney taught Spokane high school and college history for 45 years. He was a U.S. Presidential Scholar Distinguished Teacher. His oral history of Gorbachev’s reforms has been translated into six languages.
City Council could eliminate height restrictions for downtown Spokane
BY ELIZA BILLINGHAM
It’s time to start looking up — downtown Spokane could be getting a whole lot taller.
On March 24, the Spokane City Council is scheduled to vote on an ordinance to eliminate height limits in all four downtown zoning districts for six months. The goal is to encourage development downtown, especially housing.
If the relaxed regulation attracts developers, the interim zoning ordinance could be made permanent in the city’s update to its comprehensive plan, a 20-year plan required by Washington’s Growth Management Act. The next update, required every 10 years, is due by the end of 2026.
There were already no height restrictions in the “downtown core” zone, the blocks between Monroe and Bernard streets and between Spokane Falls Boulevard and the railroad tracks, where Spokane’s tallest buildings are, including the Bank of America Financial Center, the Washington Trust Bank tower and the Davenport Tower.
Per the new ordinance, there would also be no height restrictions for the “downtown south,” “downtown general” and “downtown university” zones, mostly bounded by Interstate 90 to the south, Browne’s Addition to the west, Boone Avenue or the Spokane River to the north, and Exit 290 to the east, with some carve-outs where height restrictions will remain.
The interim zoning ordinance was proposed by Mayor Lisa Brown on Feb. 12 and sponsored by City Council members Zack Zappone, Jonathan Bingle and Kitty Klitzke. But it has also gotten enthusiastic support from the entire City Council.
“I’m obviously very, very glad to see this coming
forward,” Council member Michael Cathcart said during the Urban Experience committee meeting on Feb. 10. “I made a big push for this in 2021 … when we adopted the downtown plan.”
The current political will and excitement is a marked change from almost a decade ago, when then-City Council President Ben Stuckart introduced similar ideas in 2017 to motivate developers.
Stuckart focused on removing height restrictions downtown and eliminating the requirement for one parking spot per new apartment.
“Heck, I spent my whole time working trying to decrease parking limits, and Spokane is now leading the country [in that],” says Stuckart, who is now the executive director for the Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium. “I took holy hell for that for eight years.”
Klitzke is one of the people who has changed her opinion on how important zoning rules around height and parking can be.
“I wasn’t super passionate about the issue [years ago],” she says. “But I think popular opinion and political will have both changed. I think people have recognized the need for more housing and really come to grips with the fact that stuff does have to pencil if it’s going to get built.”
Building a single off-street parking spot can cost anywhere from $15,000 to $35,000, Klitzke says, a cost that pretty much can’t be recouped by fees to renters.
Previous city codes typically required developers to
provide one parking spot per apartment, which kept most housing projects from penciling out financially when combined with strict height restrictions in most of downtown.
In July 2023, the City Council eliminated that parking requirement thanks to an ordinance championed by Zappone and Bingle.
If this new ordinance removes height limits, the city hopes to give developers the creativity and freedom to respond to the market’s demand.
Council members assume that developers will be interested in building housing, even though the ordinance doesn’t say anything about housing specifically. But with the oversaturation of empty office space downtown, Klitzke assumes there’s a clear advantage to building apartments instead.
“The way capitalism is supposed to work is we expect people to behave reasonably in the marketplace and do their market research before they make an investment,” Klitzke says.
More development wouldn’t just provide more housing, it could make downtown feel safer, too, Stuckart says.
“Eyes on the street are more of a deterrent to crime than thousands more police officers,” he says.
Plus, concentrating people, goods and services in one central place maximizes efficiency, resiliency and attractiveness.
“Think about the vibrancy of downtown if we just had 10,000 people living down there,” Stuckart says. “You go to big cities and, man, it’s so interesting and vibrant and
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lovely. We need to get to that in Spokane. We’re a huge metropolitan area that is seeing massive growth. We should be encouraging that to be taking place in the center of our community.”
Codes to protect the Spokane River shoreline would not be affected by the new ordinance, and some legacy policies like the courthouse “viewshed,” which protects the perfect view of the county courthouse up Jefferson Street, won’t be overridden either.
The ordinance would also exempt tall buildings from requirements to minimize bulk, which were originally put in place to minimize the impacts of buildings over 70 feet tall — these rules required setting higher stories back and allowed for more stories in buildings that included more ground-level public space.
“What we found is that those are probably pretty limiting in terms of what you can build,” said Spencer Gardner, the city’s planning director, at the Feb. 10 committee meeting. “If the goal is to prompt development, that was another area that we saw to reduce barriers.”
Is Stuckart jealous that his passion projects are finally taking off without him?
“I think it’s great as long as we get there,” Stuckart says. “It’s too bad we got there too late. Better now than never, but maybe we’d be in a less poor space with high rent had we done more 10 years ago.”
The height of the tallest building in Spokane
The Bank of America Financial Center is the tallest building in Spokane, and it was built in the downtown core, which didn’t have height restrictions even before the proposed ordinance. It has 20 stories, and probably won’t be overshadowed anytime soon.
“I don’t think you’ll ever see anything taller than the [Bank of America] building,” Stuckart says. “But it’d sure be nice if we saw some additional 10-plus story buildings.” Klitzke also thinks the chance of a skyscraper in Spokane is slim.
“I am a little skeptical that it would happen, at least in
this decade,” she says.
If you’re a diehard fan of How I Met Your Mother, you and fictional architect Ted Mosby will probably have to keep dreaming of a Spokane skyscraper a bit longer.
12
The number of stories currently allowed
Most buildings in downtown Spokane outside of the “downtown core” zone are currently limited to 12 stories, which would typically be between 120 and 144 feet. Some areas closer to the river, however, are limited to 100 feet or 70 feet.
One of the major concerns during Stuckart’s time was the potential for extra shadow cast on Riverfront Park by extra tall buildings on Spokane Falls Boulevard. However, a 2017 study by the city’s Planning Department showed that “when compared to the shadows cast by existing development (or potential development of vacant lots fronting on Main Avenue, where there is no height restriction), the increased shaded area would be minimal.”
Klitzke says the City Council has heard a little bit of concern around shade and is studying the maps seriously before making a decision. There is a chance that the minimal increase in shadow could be beneficial, she says, both for the Numerica Skate Ribbon in the winter, and for people and plants during the summer.
“As a person who likes shade and was kind of disappointed with how many trees we cut down in Riverfront Park, I think that conversation can go both ways,” she says. “I think people forget that some amount of shade benefits plants and people.”
The estimated number of low-income apartments made available for every 100 high-income apartments built
“Data shows the ‘housing ladder theory’ is true,” Stuckart says. “That says even if you build housing at the high end of the market, people move up into that housing. For every hundred units of high-income housing you build, that frees up 60 low-income units.”
Stuckart says that Spokane used to have plenty of housing available, so it didn’t need to build much low-income
housing because supply aligned with or exceeded demand. But in recent years, housing stock hasn’t kept pace with the growing population, and that is one of the main things driving skyrocketing rents.
“Any type of housing makes housing for everyone more affordable,” Stuckart says. “Spurring market rate housing keeps rents down for all other market housing.”
459
The number of surface parking lots downtown
That is, to be more specific, the number of parcels that are only surface parking lots. Of the 2,730 parcels downtown, 1,223 of them contain some surface parking, according to the city’s land capacity analysis completed this year.
The analysis estimates that surface parking lots represent about 4,488 units of lost capacity, or rental space for more than 7,000 people. But realistically, the parcels that are only surface parking lots probably offer the best potential for development — those represent 388 potential housing units, or room for 622 people, the report says.
However, the analysis was conducted before the discussion to lift height restrictions, and it is unclear how much those estimates might change after the new ordinance, if it passes, Gardner says.
As for the rest of the parcels, the analysis encourages creativity.
“The need for parking in downtown Spokane is not going away in the foreseeable future,” it reads. “However, parking needs can be addressed through structures and other solutions that take up less land and that leave space for other uses like residential units.”
23,357
Spokane’s expected population increase between 2023 and 2046 Spokane is projected to keep growing. The land capacity analysis estimates that the city has enough space to create and sustain 23,000 more housing units, should developers be motivated to build them. That number would be enough to house the additional population and make up for housing shortages in recent years, which would start to address the high cost of housing in the region. n elizab@inlander.com
Washington AG sues Adams County sheriff over immigration enforcement. Plus, Spokane County funds a sobering facility; and Spokane Colleges hires its first director of tribal relations.
BY INLANDER STAFF
This week, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown filed a lawsuit against the Adams County Sheriff’s Office for violating the Keep Washington Working Act. The lawsuit, filed in Spokane County Superior Court, alleges that Adams County has illegally held people in custody because of their immigration status, helped federal agents and given immigration officials the confidential personal information of hundreds of Washingtonians. In a press release, Brown says the state and Adams County were engaged in a good faith effort to get the sheriff’s office to comply with state law, but the county (Ritzville is the county seat) was emboldened by the presidential election. “After the inauguration of Donald Trump, the county and its sheriff’s office suddenly hardened their stance, broke off settlement talks, and aligned themselves with an organization founded by a top Trump aide who is among the most virulent anti-immigrant voices in the administration,” Brown said. Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner said in a separate press release that the lawsuit against his office is an attempt to prevent law enforcement from working with federal agents to take dangerous individuals off the streets. “We do not enforce federal immigration law, but we also will not turn a blind eye to criminal activity — no matter who commits it,” Wagner said. (VICTOR CORRAL MARTINEZ)
Spokane County is providing more help to Spokane Treatment and Recovery Services, or STARS, which provides withdrawal services in the heart of Spokane. On March 4, the Spokane County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a $775,000 award to STARS. The funding from the county’s opioid settlement funds will be used as a 25% match to state funds to help the nonprofit buy the building it operates out of on South Cowley Street. Spokane County’s commissioners awarded STARS up to $1.2 million in opioid settlement funds in 2024 to increase sobering and triage space. “Spokane County is committed to ensuring those experiencing a behavioral health crisis have access to services and support, not only for their immediate safety, but also to maintain successes in long-term recovery,” said Justin Johnson, Spokane County Community Services director, in a press release. “The funding awarded to STARS for the Cowley project will provide up to 12 treatment slots to rapidly address the urgent walk-in, law enforcement diversion, and ER diversion resources needed in the community.” (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)
For the first time ever, the Spokane Colleges will have a dedicated employee to focus on relationships with the Native American tribes of the Inland Northwest. Late last week, Spokane Colleges announced Naomi Bender, an Indigenous Peruvian Quechua, as its inaugural director of tribal relations. As she settles into the role, her top priorities are to develop a strategic plan for how her new position will operate within the current administration and establishing a tribal advisory board to help Native students make their way through the colleges. “This office looks at executive level commitment in areas of developing trusting and sustainable relationships that center respect of tribal sovereignty, pathways of support and success in education for tribal youth through adults, policy, and culturally centering curriculum and initiatives across systems that advances the knowledge, workforce, and humble skillsets of our Non-Native allies and friends,” she stated in a press release. Bender previously worked at Washington State University as the director of the Center for Native American Health and the Native American Health Sciences program. She received her bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate at the University of North Dakota. (COLTON RASANEN) n
Enjoy a spectacular evening of Trans-Siberian Orchestra favorites, music by other classic rock legends, and Mark’s original compositions!
This event is the culmination of a unique week-long music education residency made possible by Future Song Foundation.
In the winter, your energy bill can change from one month to the next for a lot of reasons.
A sudden cold snap can require your heating system to run more often and the extra energy usage adds up fast. That’s because 40-60% of a winter energy bill is due to heating. Less daylight hours mean your lights are on longer, too.
Learn what else impacts your winter bill at myavista.com/winterbill.
BY VICTOR CORRAL MARTINEZ
In February, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson presented nearly $4 billion in budget cuts to address an expected deficit of $15 billion over the next four years. Demand for food banks in the state has increased, but funding for those services is on the chopping block. Ferguson has so far steered clear of a “wealth tax” proposed by his predecessor Jay Inslee. The 1% tax on residents with global wealth exceeding $100 million would affect approximately 3,400 of Washington’s wealthiest and generate $10.3 billion over four years. Instead, in proposing cuts, Ferguson has pointed out that funding for things such as food banks has grown because of increased federal pandemic funding that the state has since been backfilling. In a press release, Ferguson said that in 2019, the Washington State Department of Agriculture provided $12 million in funding assistance to food banks. With the help of one-time federal funding, the food bank budget reached $128 million for the 2021-23 biennium. Ferguson’s new budget proposal would limit state money for food bank programs to $82 million for the next biennium. As the governor proposes cuts, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed a budget resolution that would require $2 trillion in federal spending cuts through 2034. The Agriculture Committee aims to cut $230 billion over 10 years. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is expected to receive massive cuts, potentially affecting an estimated 888,300 Washingtonians (1 in 9 residents) who use the program, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. SNAP provides food benefits to low-income families.
As proposed funding cuts cause uncertainty, food costs continue to rise, and demand for food programs increases, food banks across the Inland Northwest are focused on their mission of serving the most vulnerable.
Second Harvest Inland Northwest is a charitable organization that distributes food to more than 250 food banks and helps rural communities through its mobile food bank services. The organization serves 26 counties in Central and Eastern Washington and five counties in North Idaho.
Second Harvest spokesperson Eric Williams says the organization distributed 36 million pounds of food in 2024, or 30 million meals. He says that because of the vast agricultural network in the region, Second Harvest receives 90% of its food from private donations, 5% from purchases it makes, and 5% from governmentfunded purchases or food donations.
“We’re in a great ag area, where farmers, ranchers, [and] grocery stores are very generous,” Williams says. “We’re fortunate to be where we are because of the bounty and just the generosity of the folks in the region.”
Williams says there’s a lot of uncertainty because the budget cuts are still just proposals, but Second Harvest is planning for any potential shortfalls. He says the real focus is filling the gaps for those potentially impacted by the proposed budget cuts.
For Second Harvest, acquiring local nutrient-dense foods like apples, potatoes, cherries and lentils is much easier in this region. Their food sourcing team and philanthropy department can find fresh, locally grown food, but the concern is often finding shelf-stable food items. Williams says there aren’t large pasta manufacturers or canneries that are local and can donate food.
Mary Jo Donaldson is the food bank manager at Our Place Community Outreach in Spokane. The organization runs on donations and provides food, hygienic products, bus passes, clothing and laundry services.
Donaldson says that Second Harvest is a “rock star” organization that helps the food bank get the food they need by providing a semi-truck with pallets of food to the food bank every week, which helps sustain their operations.
Our Place serves 210 people daily each Wednesday and Thursday during its two-and-a-half hour service outside its center at 1509 W. College Ave. Due to inflation, rising housing costs, a growing refugee population and reduced federal funding for SNAP benefits (often referred to as food stamps), Donaldson has noticed a 25% increase in demand compared with previous years.
The 37-year-old organization primarily serves the elderly and children. In 2023-24, it served 688,736 pounds of food to more than 10,000 individuals.
“Probably 60% of our clientele are refugees that come through, and we have seen a steady uptick in that group,” Donaldson says. “It seems like we have just enough to feed everybody every week, but with the cuts being as high as they are, it’s definitely worrisome for us.”
Our Place receives about 47,000 to 80,000 pounds of food every month from the USDA through Second Harvest donations and private food donations from businesses and churches, but Donaldson expects that if federal funding cuts happen, the food distributed to their organization will drastically decrease.
At one point, Our Place received up to 12 cases of eggs a week, which each hold 180 eggs, but now thanks to shortages due to the avian flu, if they’re lucky enough to get eggs, they receive four 12egg cartons.
“Last week, we didn’t get any eggs, but this week, we got four dozen,” Donaldson says. “We’re only handing out three eggs per family right now instead of a dozen eggs.
As demand grows and funding cuts loom over organizations like Our Place, Donaldson says food donations are appreciated, but even volunteering time can help make a difference.
“That is what makes this place so special and amazing,” Donaldson says. “All of the wonderful volunteers that we have in the community come in and help us.” n
victorc@inlander.com
Spokane Falls Community College’s recently updated orthotics and prosthetics program is the only of its kind in the West
BY COLTON RASANEN
There are only four college orthotics and prosthetics programs in the country, and one of them is hidden at the center of Spokane Falls Community College’s campus. Surrounded by buildings dedicated to arts education, the technical program teaches students how to build orthotics, the types of tools that help a limb function properly like shoe insoles or knee braces, and prosthetics, the tools meant to replace limbs.
Though this technical education is the only of its kind west of Minnesota, there are just five students enrolled in the program, which can host 16 students at capacity. Beginning in fall
2024, the orthotics and prosthetics program transitioned from a two-year degree to a one-year technician certificate program.
While this is a relatively small sector in the health care industry, the demand for these technicians is higher than ever, says Ambrose Cavegn, the program’s director. While many might think of amputations being needed as the result of accidents, military service or birth defects, Cavegn says diabetes is the leading cause of amputations in the country. The chronic disease has become more common, rising from 200 million people living with diabetes globally in 1990 to 830 million in 2022, according to
the World Health Organization. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates more than 10% of the U.S. population is living with the disease.
“Part of the impetus for us to change the program’s technical portion down to one year was to get as many of these students ready for the workforce as quickly as possible,” Cavegn says. “When we used to run the technical program as a two-year associate’s program it was almost impossible to get students to come back for a second year, because they would go out after their first year and get job offers.”
Responding to that demand is complicated for a college program, as these types of technicians aren’t required to be certified, so Cavegn says the right response was to simplify what the college offers.
“If they require all technicians to be certified, that comes with a whole lot of expense and a whole lot of support, and I don’t think the industry has ever really got to the point you felt like they needed to provide that,” Cavegn explains.
Under the streamlined program, students spend time learning about the basics of lab safety and foundational fabrication skills. Then, in the second and third quarters, students learn about biomechanical principles and the technologies behind orthotics and prosthetics. In the fourth and final quarter, students spend time working in a functioning lab to fulfill their final certificate requirements.
“As their instructor, it’s amazing for me to watch how the students come in their first quarter, and they’re so timid with their hands, they don’t really have the confidence to do any of this stuff,” he says. “Then here we are towards the end of winter quarter, and these guys have fabricated multiple devices that could actually go on people. By the end, they’ll be walking out of here talking and acting like technicians, it’s really a cool transformation to see.”
When students complete the program and receive their certification, Cavegn says they’ll find work either at medical facilities working individually with patients or in a factory-like setting at central fabrication facilities. Some program graduates even take their knowledge into related, but still developing industries, such as pet prosthetics.
Angela Boncz graduated from Spokane Falls Community College with a degree in orthotics and prosthetics technology in 2002, and soon after she began working in the field on the East Coast. She spent five years helping humans in her work, but after adopting a puppy with a cranial cruciate ligament tear (similar to an ACL tear in humans) she began wondering how her knowledge could be applied to her four-legged friend.
She built a brace for her dog, and after a while the injury healed without any invasive surgery. That moment was eye-opening as Boncz realized that all of her experience could be used to help animals, too. In 2010 she decided to join a developing field of custom animal orthotics and prosthetics.
“We’re all still kind of learning this industry because it’s so new,” she explains. “You’re dealing with more legs and different types of animals that you know might move differently, so I think that might have something to do with it as well.”
Once Boncz moved back to the Inland Northwest about five years ago she began her own company, Specialized Pet Solutions. Located in Spangle, she says much of her time is spent working with animal sanctuaries and local farmers to address injuries or deformities that make life more complicated for furry friends.
While her lifelong love of animals drove her into this career, Boncz says the amount of out-of-the-box thinking she does with each project is what she loves the most.
“I have one patient who has a full-size donkey that has one leg that continues to grow because the growth plate never closed, so the one leg is probably eight inches longer than the others and it kind of folds over,” she says. “So I came up with this kickstand design that puts all the pressure on it instead of [the donkey’s] bent-over leg. That everyday brainstorming is why I love this job so much.” n
coltonr@inlander.com
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YouTuber Ghoulz has turned his teenage Fortnite videos into a thriving local entertainment business
BY SETH SOMMERFELD
You can often find 20-year-old Lucas Desgrosellier sitting down with friends in his Spokane Valley pad, frantically yelling and making jokes while playing the video game Fortnite. But unlike most of the 650 million or so estimated players who fire up the wildly popular free-to-play shooter game to unwind after a day at school or work, this is a day job for Desgrosellier — better known by his YouTube handle Ghoulz (pronounced “goals”).
Watching Ghoulz videos would be jarring to most folks alive in the pre-internet age, but it’s totally clear why young audiences connect with him. Desgrosellier’s Ghoulz persona is a pure dose of Gen Z hype culture. He’s relentlessly positive, his voice always hovering at a 9/10 volume. His most popular videos tap into a digital form of prank culture, where his character — a bluecoiffed, pink-skinned female “Ghoul Trooper” — exploits cheats and hacks to execute hijinks on other unsuspecting players. Ghoulz videos often feel like the audio-visual
equivalent of eating an entire tub of Sour Skittles dust.
As gaming and streamer culture has boomed over the past decade, Desgrosellier has turned Ghoulz into a bonafide content creation business, boasting over 2.65 million subscribers and over 1 billion views on YouTube. And he’s not just a young man winging online celebrity — GhoulzTube LLC now has a full team with five employees, its own warehouse/office and plenty of plans to charitably give back to the community.
While the natural assumption might be that Ghoulz is a byproduct of a kid who grew up obsessively spending hours blitzing through Super Mario levels or sniping n00bs in Call of Duty, that’s never really been Desgrosellier’s style. He was all about internet videos, getting extremely into YouTube personalities like Preston [Arsement] and Casey Neistat and the way they seemingly felt like authentic parasocial best friends to all their subscribers.
“When people see my gaming channel, they think that I’ve been a gamer my whole life,” says Desgrosellier, who’s much more soft spoken and less amped up when he’s not in video-making mode. “And the crazy thing is, I never really played video games growing up, and I never really had much interest in them, but I always just loved YouTube. So I started a YouTube when I was 6 years old. I taught myself how to edit on my dad’s laptop.”
And while he’d eventually become someone his classmates would envy, his early days in content creation didn’t earn him many fans in real life.
“It was really hard in school, for sure, because everyone was just a jerk about it. They would play my videos in class in front of everybody, laugh at it, say it was stupid, a waste of time,” Desgrosellier says. “But my dad was always super supportive. Like, I couldn’t afford my first computer when Fortnite came out, I was like, ‘Dad, if you could just lend me the money for this computer, I promise I’ll pay you back one day,’ and he was kind
enough to actually do it. And then that same week that he gave me the computer actually was when I blew up.”
That turning point came when Desgrosellier was a freshman at University High, after he realized that Fortnite might be his path to a wider audience.
“Fortnite was a massive trend for my generation: Every single kid was playing, every single kid was talking about it. So I was just like, I’m gonna take my passion for YouTube, mix it with this trend, and hopefully I can make something happen,” he says.
He adopted his Ghoulz handle from a random Fortnite generator and began trying to figure out unique ideas for videos within the game.
Noticing that the game’s free-to-play model pushes players to buy skins and outfits to customize their characters, which otherwise have no gameplay value, he decided to host Fortnite fashion shows. Followers would come show off the digital attire they spent real money on and get entertaining feedback. It actually gave players’ purchases some sort of value. On the strength of one such video, he jumped from 3,000 YouTube followers to over 100,000 in a single week. But that was only the start of the real grind.
“My biggest fear was just being a one-hit wonder. I always knew as a kid I wanted this to be my career. I never wanted to go to college. I wasn’t good at school. I just had a different type of brain: I wasn’t school smart, I was very like creatively smart,” Desgrosellier says. “So like every single day after school, I would just run home from school, I would just film videos every single day, edit them myself, make the thumbnails and post it. So I did daily videos for like two years straight. My key definitely was just being super consistent, and building a business behind it instead of just being a content creator.”
The Ghoulz Studio in the Valley is the dream of any 20-year-old who enjoys professionally goofing off. The large warehouse space — which boasts an amusing propladen storage closet — allows for all sorts of video shenanigans.
“We wanted to create this giant Disneyland for content creators, pretty much,” Desgrosellier says. “So whatever crazy unique idea we have, we can kind of pull it off.”
During my visit, a boxing ring-like setup around some gaming PCs was set up to promote a new Ghoulz 1-versus-1 map within Fortnite that launched on March 1. The map in question — built by mapmaking company Gridsnap — gives players full access to the Fortnite arsenal from the jump, basically allowing players to try the type of in-game trickery that’s become Ghoulz’s brand.
“Something that’s super unique is you can go and put in these secret codes and get these cheats to kind of troll your friends or kind of mess with them. That way they kind of feel like they’re playing as me within my videos,” Desgrosellier says.
But the Ghoulz Studio is also very decidedly a business, with multiple office spaces and a conference room lined with colorful charts breaking down trends, analytics, and more. The Ghoulz team beyond Desgrosellier includes five full-time employees: creative manager Ryeder Nelson, lead editor Peter HoustonHencken, cutting and assembly editor Jamal Waterford, in-house Fortnite map builder Nick Parkman and COO Julie Delaney (who local news viewers might recognize as the former host of KREM 2’s Inland Life).
“When I tell people that I left my job to go work for a 20-yearold YouTuber, people are like, ‘I’m sorry, what?!’” Delaney — who has helped Ghoulz land brand deal with companies like Best Buy, NASCAR, and Meta Quest VR — says with a laugh. “But I’ve known Lucas’ family since before he was born, and Lucas’ business acumen… drew me to it. This wasn’t a frat house where content was being created, this was a business, and he had a plan and a vision.”
It’s certainly a unique working environment but also a decidedly stable one.
“It’s typical that it’s not going to be a typical day,” Nelson says. “Every day you’re walking to something new. I mean, we definitely have our basics we need to cover, but some days we’re lighting off fireworks. Some days we’re pulling a prank in a video game. Other days we’re having a chicken being delivered to the ...continued on next page
The Spokane String Quartet celebrates 45 years of bringing chamber music to town
BY AZARIA PODPLESKY
To spend time with the members of the Spokane String Quartet is to be witness to a very long, very comfortable relationship.
Members of the group — cellist Helen Byrne, second violinist Amanda Howard-Phillips, violist Jeannette WeeYang and first violinist Mateusz Wolski — enjoy laughing about shared memories and, truly, finish one another’s sentences.
Byrne is the longest-serving member of the quartet, having joined in 2000. Wee-Yang and Wolski followed in 2004 and 2007, respectively, with Howard-Phillips joining in 2011.
According to Byrne’s research, this lineup has performed together longer than any other in the quartet’s 45-year history. The four also perform together as members of the Spokane Symphony.
Finding time to rehearse and perform around the packed symphony schedule can be difficult, but they make it work for the opportunity to play quartet music, which Wee-Yang says is “as good as it gets” for string players.
CULTURE | VIDEO GAMES
And while they enjoy being a small part of a larger group in the symphony, the four get an extra kick from their quartet work as it gives each member a louder voice, in all senses. With just four musicians on stage, everyone is front and center, and the quartet has more say over the interpretation of each piece when they don’t have to default to a conductor.
There’s also a big difference in how the audience, and the quartet itself, experiences the music.
“I feel like if you’re listening to a symphony, it’s like you’re looking at a great painting, but from across the room,” Howard-Phillips says. “But if you’re listening to a string quartet, it’s like you’re looking at all the brush strokes and the blending, and you can see all the pieces that are put together and all the humanness. It’s more that it was created by a human hand. There’s that touch that’s so personal.”
The Spokane String Quartet was founded by former Spokane Symphony concertmaster Kelly Farris in 1979 as the quartet-in-residence at
“FAME
AND FORTNITE,” CONTINUED...
studio for content.”
“I think the job makes me feel simultaneously old and young. It’s such high energy here, so there’s always something new going on,” the 33-year-old Houston-Hencken says. “In YouTube years, I’m 80 years old, but it’s so fun to stay on top of internet trends and humor. We have such freedom to kind of flex our comedic editing, and so it’s exciting to really put that to use in this kind of content.”
“I wouldn’t have expected this job to feel like my most supportive job,” Waterford says. “I’ve worked in a lot more ‘professional’ scenarios. But I feel like with
Eastern Washington University. Though that’s no longer part of the group’s work, they still find time to meet with EWU students through Howard-Phillips’s position as a violin/viola lecturer.
Byrne says the longevity of the group is all thanks to the work Farris and former members put in, work that involved purchasing instruments, which Howard-Phillips and Wolski currently play, a board of directors, which all four musicians are part of, and hiring a marketing and development team.
Perhaps most importantly, Farris developed an endowment fund. Byrne says the first Spokane String Quartet concert she played earned her just $200 after 22 rehearsals. By the time Farris left the group, Wee-Yang says, he was able to tell the group to pay themselves what they were supposed to be paid.
“When you think about this, it’s wonderful that some people have the foresight to set things up in a way that the quartet can last 45 years in spite of the members changing and thrive,” Wolski said. “That is a huge legacy.”
Since 1983, the Spokane String Quartet has been supported by the Spokane Chamber Music Association, and an anonymous donor has guaranteed that the group is able to perform a fifth concert each season.
“As far as I know, our situation is rather unique, being our own independent nonprofit, not being beholden to another larger organization,” Howard-Phillips says. “We choose our programming. We set our schedule.”
The group’s next concert is Sunday, March 16, at the Bing Crosby Theater. The program features Polina Naza-
the team here, I’ve only been pushed to grow.”
The next big thing on the team’s horizon is the launch of a “private community” Ghoulz subscription app to provide fans with much more behind-the-scenes content to show off what the life of a YouTuber is really like and to showcase Desgrosellier’s efforts to impact the world beyond the digital realm of Fortnite
If you spend any time talking to Desgrosellier about his Ghoulz goals, it quickly becomes clear that his Christian faith is very important in his life (he plays drums in his church’s worship group) and that he envisions his YouTube channel as an avenue to make the world a better place through charity. It’s not a coincidence that he signs off each Ghoulz video with “God bless. Peace.”
ykinskaya’s Adagio for String Quartet, Franz Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet in G minor, Op. 20, No. 3 (Hob. III:33) and Samuel Barber’s Quartet in B minor, Op. 11
The final concert of the season is set for May 18, also at the Bing, and features works by Caroline Shaw, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johannes Brahms.
While the current members understand the gravity of a 45th anniversary, they can only truly reflect on their own time with the quartet. Playing together since 2011, the quartet says they’ve become better musicians over time as their friendship has strengthened.
“When you perform, in some ways, you’re trying to open yourself to channel the music that somebody else wrote, and usually a long time ago,” Wolski says. “The more open and comfortable you are with your colleagues, that happens naturally.”
This camaraderie has made deciding on each season’s programs a fairly smooth process. Howard-Phillips, for example, suggested the Nazaykinskaya piece because of her interest in performing works by living and underrepresented composers, while Wee-Yang suggested the Barber work because she’s never performed it before.
“We have five concerts and three works on each one, so we usually can do everyone’s [choices],” Wee-Yang says, with Wolski adding that things rarely turn into three-versus-one situations.
But differences of opinion are quickly handled, as the musicians all agree to try things both ways and see which works best. Usually the best choice quickly becomes apparent, so they’re easily able to move on with rehearsal.
Just as they can disagree, they can also celebrate one another’s wins. When one member nails something during a performance that has tripped them up through rehearsals, the others can cheer that colleague on in a way that’s imperceptible to the audience but felt onstage.
It goes back to the fact that, at its core, the Spokane String Quartet is not just a group of musicians but also a group of friends. They’re quick to praise one another when asked how their time together has changed them as musicians.
“If I had to pay Mateusz for everything he’s taught me about playing a string instrument, I’d be bankrupt,” Byrne says.
“I really think that nobody constructs a musical phrase with more care and beauty than Helen Byrne,” Howard-Phillips adds. “And the way Jeanette plays with absolute fearlessness.”
After 45 years, the Spokane String Quartet is in good hands with Byrne, Howard-Phillips, Wee-Yang and Wolski. Their friendship, and love of chamber music, is a solid foundation for the future of the group, and they invite one and all to experience a concert, no matter their knowledge of chamber music.
“I really personally believe that there’s no right way to interpret music,” Howard-Phillips says. “If it makes you feel anxious, but it makes me feel happy, or if I love this piece, and he doesn’t get anything from it, there’s no right or wrong. The people that are like ‘Oh, well, I don’t know anything about classical music.’ I don’t think you need to know. You just need to open your mind and feel what it feels.” n
Spokane String Quartet • Sun, March 16 at 3 pm • $20-$25 • All ages • Bing Crosby Theater • 901 W. Sprague Ave. •
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When he was 17 years old, Desgrosellier donated $17,000 to the Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital. This past Christmas, Ghoulz partnered with brands like Moose Toys and Insanely Clean to donate toys, clothes, hygiene products and more to support local charities like Sally’s House and Cup of Cool Water.
It all feeds into part of the reason why Desgrosellier hasn’t bolted the Inland Northwest for a bigger media market. Sticking around his friends and family keeps him grounded and focused on his mission to make a real impact on the place he calls home.
“I just feel like I was given this platform for a reason,” Desgrosellier says, “and so I want to be able to use my platform to help change the world as much as I possibly can.” n
BY MADISON PEARSON
In 2020 everything went digital.
Millions of people worked from home, used Zoom to complete college degrees and communicated with loved ones solely through the internet.
The rest of the world adapted as well, including libraries. Circulating physical media was a big no-no early in the COVID-19 pandemic due to how little we knew then about the virus, so patrons relied on digital lending services like OverDrive and Hoopla to satiate their need to read.
Library systems across the nation saw huge upticks in the number of patrons using these digital lending services. In 2023, digital materials circulation via Spokane Public Library surpassed physical materials and still hasn’t slowed down. Digital checkouts have been just as popular within the Spokane County Library District.
“It’s a well-established service that we are wedded to at this point,” says Andrea Sharps, Spokane County Library District’s collection services manager. “We’ve had it for so long, and it’s so embedded in our customers’ DNA.”
Though the use of these services is by no means discouraged, digital lending services are costly to libraries due to the high cost of e-books. When a private individual purchases an e-book, it’s often cheaper than a physical book. For libraries, it’s the complete opposite.
Library’s support services director. “We were partners celebrating literature and literacy. Once e-content came around, that somehow eroded that relationship, and publishers started seeing us as direct competitors because they wanted to slow down the public’s use of free content.”
Digital books can cost libraries three to four times as much as physical books. Meanwhile, the average cost of a print book ranges from $8 to $30. A library can keep that book in their collection forever, assuming it isn’t lost or damaged.
The average cost to license an e-book, however, is around $40, while licensing an audiobook can cost upwards of $75. Licenses to distribute these digital assets must be renewed regularly, usually every one to two years, in order to keep them in the library’s collection.
Roose says that to maintain a varied digital collection, Spokane Public Library aims to spend about $8,000 a week on digital books alone. Since subscribing to OverDrive in 2012, which includes the Libby app, the city library has spent $3.3 million to license approximately 87,000 copies of various books. However, due to licensing terms, only about half of those copies are still available to check out today.
“Libraries and publishers used to have a really good relationship. We were partners celebrating literature and literacy.”
Purchasing models vary depending on publishers and platforms, but typically fall into one of two categories: one copy/one user and metered access. If a title is purchased via OverDrive under the one copy/one user model, the title can only be checked out by one person at a time, but the title will remain in the library’s digital collection permanently. Under metered access, the title will disappear from the library’s collection after a certain number of checkouts or a certain time period. Titles can be purchased under concurrent use or one copy/one user terms.
E-book prices are set by book publishers, and for popular titles libraries often license dozens of copies in order to satisfy demand.
“Libraries and publishers used to have a really good relationship,” says Robert Roose, Spokane Public
Spokane Public Library’s allocation for OverDrive content alone makes up more than one-third of its annual $1.5 million materials budget. Libby, the app that grants users access to a library’s OverDrive collection of e-book and audiobooks, has some overlap with Hoopla offerings, but Hoopla also includes movies, TV shows and music, whereas Libby does not. OverDrive e-books can also be transferred to e-readers via the Libby app, something Hoopla doesn’t offer.
As of Feb. 28, however, Spokane Public Library no longer provides the digital lending service Hoopla to its patrons due to recent cuts to the city budget. The Library Support Services service budget was trimmed by $143,000 in Mayor Lisa Brown’s 2025-26 budget. Roose says there were no questions about retaining OverDrive, as its selection is wider than Hoopla’s, is more accessible for different readers and sees more demand.
Local library users who still want to access Hoopla can do so through the Spokane County Library District, or SCLD, which has been offering the service since 2014 and OverDrive since 2010.
“[Hoopla] is a pay-per-use model, which makes it
more expensive,” Sharps says. “We are funded through property taxes, so in order to be responsive and have some assurance that we are able to have the service available all days of the month, we instituted a monthly budget cap, which really translates to a daily budget cap. Truthfully, there is not a day where that cap isn’t reached usually by midafternoon.”
The county’s 2025 budget for Hoopla is $186,000 (or $15,500 a month), which Sharps says is an increase from previous years, yet allows SCLD to meet customers’ needs. Its 2025 allocation for OverDrive, meanwhile, is $1 million, as that’s where most of its digital demand occurs. Countywide, there were 95,634 OverDrive items (e-books and audiobooks) checked out in January of this year compared to 6,867 Hoopla items in the same time period.
It doesn’t matter whether this digital content is even opened by the customer or not; the library is still charged, and the money is subtracted from its daily budget cap.
Spokane Public Library has also implemented budget caps in order to try to reduce spending, but ultimately opted to cut Hoopla service from its offerings.
“Decisions had to be made,” Roose says. “There was an effort not to lay anyone off.”
There are efforts underway to make digital content more affordable for libraries with organizations like ReadersFirst and the American Library Association lobbying publishers for fairer terms and lower prices. Roose says libraries account for less than 2% of digital sales, so their influence remains limited.
“I don’t even know if a groundswell of letters to the editor or letters to publishers would help,” Roose says. “I don’t know what would sway the publishers. They’re also struggling.”
He says donations can be made to fund the library’s digital collections, and he encourages users to use the “Notify Me” feature on the Libby app to let the library know which books are most popular among their customer base to ensure it’s using funds wisely.
“A lot of libraries are throwing their hands up right now,” he says. “We don’t know what to do.” n
In addition to then-new hits like The Office Minds, 2005 also delivered some near-misses
BY BILL FROST
The year 2005 gave us TV hits like The Office (U.S.), American Dad, Hell’s Kitchen, So You Think You Can Dance, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Weeds, Prison Break, Bones, Supernatural, How I Met Your Mother, Criminal Minds, and Ghost Whisperer. But for every multi-season success, there’s a series that flopped and fell by the wayside. Here are a few of the fallen from two decades ago.
The late, great Kirstie Alley (Cheers, Veronica’s Closet) starred as herself in Fat Actress, a one-season-and-done Showtime series that was mostly improvised and based on her own Hollywood experiences. Like a Curb Your Enthusiasm with a different set of problems and gripes, Fat Actress called out pop culture’s obsession with thinness while also skewering show biz. But, in the end, “Kirstie” sleeps with a network exec to get a TV show, so the message here is a bit muddy.
If you think current reality shows like Teen Mom and its 38 spinoffs exploit the misery of hapless subjects, they’re nothing compared to Breaking Bonaduce. The VH1 series followed former child star Danny Bonaduce’s trainwreck of a life, including his splintering marriage, drug and alcohol abuse, and a suicide attempt — and VH1 happily kept the cameras rolling for 19 episodes. Bonaduce eventually got sober, thanks to avoiding VH1’s Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew
STACKED (YOUTUBE)
A sitcom centered entirely on a dumb joke about boobs and books? Welcome to mid-2000s Fox! Stacked starred a long-past-Baywatch Pamela Anderson as a party girl who wants to trade her chaotic lifestyle with a scumbag rock star boyfriend (subtle Tommy Lee jab) for a normie job working at Bay Area shop Stacked Books. Considering that writer/producer Steven Levitan’s next TV show after it would be Modern Family, it’s easy to see why Stacked has disappeared.
Speaking of Tommy Lee, the high-school dropout Mötley Crüe drummer somehow convinced NBC to air a six-part reality show about him attending the University of Nebraska. It eventually came out that Lee never actually enrolled at the university, and Goes to College was a largely scripted comedy to promote his
latest solo album (spoiler: both bombed). The only real comedy happens when Lee tries to keep up with the Huskers’ marching drumline (spoiler: he can’t).
This one probably doesn’t belong here since My Name Is Earl was a smash in 2005 and ran for four seasons. But it only recently became available to stream, so why not? The series follows criminal Earl Hickey (Jason Lee) as he works at resetting his karmic balance by using his $100,000 lottery winnings to square up with everyone he’s wronged. Besides Lee, My Name Is Earl’s perfect cast (including Ethan Suplee, Eddie Steeples, and Jaime Pressly) should be hailed as comic royalty.
In addition to NBC’s Surface (see my February column), CBS also took a big sci-fi swing in 2005 with Threshold. The series starred Carla Gugino as a government crisis manager called in to investigate an alien contact that threatens to rewrite the DNA of the human race in its own image. If you’re thinking this sounds way too heavy for vanilla CBS, you’re right: CBS pulled the plug on Threshold after nine episodes. If Threshold launched today as an Apple TV+ original, it would last at least 10 eps.
They’re all weird, but most Adult Swim animated shows don’t lean into deep storytelling. The Venture Bros. pulled it off, and, to a certain extent, so did the wildly absurd 12 Oz. Mouse. The series follows alcoholic mouse Fitz and his chinchilla pal Skillet as they scrape together money for beer in Cardboard City. Seems simple enough, but then 12 Oz. Mouse falls down a rabbit hole of suppressed memories and a conspiracy to keep Fitz imprisoned in a perpetual simulation. Whoa
One of the most pointed and vicious assaults on Christianity ever committed to clay, Moral Orel took the wholesome Davey & Goliath image of piousness and twisted it beyond recognition. The show’s blackas-coal comedy centers on young boy Orel’s struggles to navigate between the forces of “righteousness” and “wrongteouness” while everyone else reveals themselves to be “Christian” cosplayers of the worst degree. Also, the “Best Christmas Ever” episode is a holiday must. n
After almost 75 years on our airwaves, Eastern Washington University’s noncommercial jazz radio station 89.5 KEWU-FM may soon have a new owner. In 2023, EWU announced that it would discontinue the radio station, but continued operating it in hopes of finding new leadership. In February, more than a year after that initial announcement, Eastern said it has accepted an $810,000 bid — $510,000 for the station and another $300,000 in publicity and advertising credits — from the Oldies Preservation Society, a local organization working to promote the broadcast of more “oldies music.” While both entities are still awaiting approval from the Federal Communications Commission, EWU anticipates the station’s new owners will take control after April. (COLTON RASANEN)
If the Seattle Seahawks were a person, its friends would probably be staging an intervention at this point. Over the past week, the team’s GM John Schneider has completely revamped Seattle’s offense in an incredibly perplexing and questionable manner. The Seahawks decided to trade starting quarterback Geno Smith (pictured) to the Las Vegas Raiders for a third round draft pick and star wide receiver DK Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a second round pick. If the Seahawks wanted to just do a full rebuild, those moves might make sense. But then Seattle shelled out a three-year, $100 million contract to former Minnesota Vikings QB Sam Darnold. While Smith did pretty great considering the Hawks’ terrible interior offensive line, Darnold has always been terrible when pressured up the middle. Maybe more offseason moves will change the outlook, but right now it looks like the Seahawks took a major step backwards. (SETH SOMMERFELD)
Noteworthy new music arriving in stores and online on March 14.
CLIPPING., DEAD CHANNEL SKY
The always thrilling experimental noise hip-hop group led by Daveed Diggs (the OG Lafayette/Jefferson in Hamilton) continues to push boundaries on its latest cyberpunkleaning LP.
CHARLEY CROCKETT, LONESOME DRIFTER
After earning a Best Americana Album Grammy nomination for last year’s $10 Cowboy, Crockett is wasting no time putting out this follow-up co-produced by Shooter Jennings.
ENVY OF NONE, STYGIAN WAVZ
The sophomore LP from the band featuring Spokane-raised singer-songwriter Maiah Wynne and legendary Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson should be the envy of plenty of rock bands.
(SETH SOMMERFELD)
Much like computers and the internet, artificial intelligence is here to stay. Educators hope to use the technology as a tool for student learning
BY COLTON RASANEN
Dreamy ambient music plays quietly overhead as 13 fourth graders at Longfellow Elementary School in northeast Spokane slowly make their way from tables scattered around the library to a cozy conversation pit in one corner of the room. Once they settle into their spots on the carpeted stairs, library teacher Joseph Arnhold projects a picture of the elusive Pacific Northwest tree octopus onto the screen behind him.
“Does anyone know if these are real?” Arnhold asks the class, pointing to a webpage created decades ago that details the alleged species and its habitat.
“No, because octopuses live in the ocean,” one student answers as others chime in with a chorus of giggles and their own answers.
“What do you do when you’re not sure if something is or isn’t real?” he asks.
“You look it up on other websites?” another student responds tentatively.
“You got it,” Arnhold replies. “Is it good or bad to create something that isn’t true?”
At this point most of the 9- and 10-year-olds answer with a resounding, “Bad.”
These questions may seem simple or even silly, but they’re actually a way for Arnhold to teach students about media literacy and to get the class thinking about how they can validate sources for information they may see online. As a fun activity afterwards, he instructs the students to use an image generator in Adobe Express to imagine their own pretend creatures, much wilder than tree-dwelling octopi.
Artificial intelligence, or AI, has been in use for decades. It’s used by the spam filters on our email accounts and to compile the recommendations we get on streaming or shopping apps. However, generative AI programs that collect and use massive amounts of data to answer questions or generate new text and images, are relatively new additions to the world and even newer to our education system.
Last year, Washington became one of the first states to release guidelines for using these tools in K-12 schools. Since then, educators and students in the Inland Northwest have embraced this technology in the learning process.
As a library instructor, Arnhold’s job has always been to introduce students to new ideas and to teach them how to become independent learners. And though he’s been in the role for the last five years, this is the first year that his instruction has included generative AI.
“Generative AI is just one more form of media that we have to teach kids how to
...continued on page 24
“SCHOOLS OF THE FUTURE,” CONTINUED...
Students are fearless, and they will push boundaries, so our job is to stay one step behind — hopefully just one.
interact with, so our library information specialists kind of lead the charge around media literacy instruction in our system,” says Emily Jensen, one of Spokane Public Schools’ curriculum coordinators. “It’s going to become more and more ubiquitous, and something that more and more people in our system are integrating into how they teach.”
Introducing a new tool can be challenging, especially if it’s as complicated as AI, but Arnhold says it’s easier when young students have the opportunity to play while learning — which explains the mythical dragons and baby blue otter-squirrel hybrids beginning to appear on some students’ Chromebook screens in the library.
“If even a fourth grader can understand how to use AI, anyone can,” he says.
While generative AI is now being embraced by educators throughout the state, it was first supported by students looking for ways to cheat, says Betsy Lamb, Spokane Public Schools’ director of learning technology and information systems.
“They would copy their homework [questions] and then just grab the answer and submit it. And of course, the first thing we heard from teachers was ‘Hey, how do we even handle this?’” Lamb says. “Students are fearless, and they will push boundaries, so our job is to stay one step behind — hopefully just one.”
In other words, teachers may never be able to stay ahead of these changes, but they can try to keep up with pioneering students. This required swift work on the district’s part to figure out how these AI programs could become a valuable learning tool, rather than something educators needed to ban. As those conversations were happening in Spokane, leaders at the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, or OSPI, were also considering how to approach AI.
“I think what became obvious to us is how much students were already using this technology. We may not have even known it was called AI,” Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal says. “But generative ideas, generative creation is something this generation of learners has been into for a long time, and so they’re truly the digital natives here and the adults are not.”
That realization is why he instructed his team in
2023 to begin researching generative AI and its potential uses in the classroom, with the goal of releasing guidance for all of the state’s schools. Beyond getting a basic understanding of these programs and fostering a universal approach, Reykdal hoped to find ways they can be used as educational tools, similar to other emergent technologies through the years, such as cellphones, computers and even calculators.
“We had districts trying to ban it right away and just kind of jump to conclusions, so we really wanted to slow that down and come together,” he says. “If [teachers] spend all their time trying to police what kids produce, we’re going to be back where we were with the calculator. I mean that was actually a controversy at one point in our country.”
“The calculator did not destroy math, and AI will not destroy learning,” Reykdal adds.
By January 2024, Reykdal’s office released guidance stating that generative AI in Washington schools should be used in a human-centered way. Though this approach mirrors some of what other states were trying at the time, Reykdal says OSPI’s recommendations painted a fuller picture.
In OSPI’s framework, titled “Human InquiryAI-Human Empowerment,” teachers need to show students how to input precise prompts into these programs for the best results. Afterwards, they need to teach their students to understand what the AI generated, and then how to properly edit it for their work.
“On the front end has to be human inquiry, on the back end has to be human question,” Reykdal says. “If we do that right, I think this technology will land really well, and it’ll be a positive thing.”
Since then, OSPI has released more resources for how teachers can begin using these tools in their classrooms, along with advice on the ethical considerations for AI use. One of the agency’s main concerns is bias.
With statewide guidance out on the table, Spokane’s school district began to work on its own generative AI strategy. This includes hosting professional development classes for teachers and administrative staff, alongside written guidelines for how these tools can be effectively and ethically used in the classroom.
Lamb, who helped draft the districtwide guidance, says privacy is one of the most important pieces for teachers and students to consider when using generative AI programs. For example, teachers should be cautious when using AI to draft individualized education plans, or IEPs, which include private information about students. Teachers in the district have access to an IEP generator tool, which only asks for a student’s grade level, disability category, and a description of their behaviors, needs, and strengths. They are prohibited from entering personal student data such as actual names.
“You have to be really careful about what you put in there, about yourself or anyone else,” Lamb says, “and that’s something we have to teach our kids, too.”
Additionally, Spokane Public Schools does not consider anything that’s been produced by AI to be original work, so students and staff are required to cite their source as they would attribute a quote to an article or book. In fact, major style guides, including MLA, APA and Chicago style manuals, have all published preferred ways to cite AI responses. The district also asks students to keep a record of the prompts they input and the tool’s corresponding outputs, so they can show their work to their teacher.
“If a generative AI tool is crafting something, you can absolutely tell,” curriculum coordinator Jensen says. “Two years from now those tools may have progressed to the point where we can’t tell, but right now you can.”
Often, the formatting gives away that generative AI was used on an assignment, she says. Some programs pop out responses in bullet points, while others produce blocky paragraphs that flow unnaturally. Other times these programs will produce lengthy responses that say nothing ...continued on next page
of substance.
“You have to know how to construct prompts in ways that are going to be less likely to return biased results,” Jensen says. “And then once you have your result, you need to go back and check for validity and accuracy.”
Generative AI is making its way into Idaho schools, too. Last summer, Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield issued a press release titled “Artificial Intelligence in Idaho Classrooms: Friend or Foe?” She described it largely as a friend we need to get to know better.
“I’m in the camp that thinks we can make AI a constructive part of learning,” she stated in the June release. “When used appropriately, I believe that AI can be a tool for both students and teachers.”
And while the Idaho Department of Education has yet to release statewide guidance like Washington did, schools across the Gem State are already using generative AI programs. At the beginning of the 2024-25 school year, teachers in the Coeur d’Alene School District began using Magic School, a generative AI program created for educators.
At Spokane Public Schools, Magic School
had previously been used by individual teachers, but at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year its use was officially approved for both students and staff. Earlier this year the district also approved the use of Khanmigo, another schoolbased AI created by Khan Academy, a nonprofit that provides online tutoring. Jensen says these programs are age appropriate and formatted to give an educator full control of how their students use them.
That control is only possible because Magic School is known as an AI wrapper, meaning it’s a platform that houses generative AI models (such as OpenAI’s GPT-4o, Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini) inside it.
“Teachers can customize which tools they’re pushing out to their students with this program. So maybe I want to allow my students to take a paragraph that I have given them and rewrite that paragraph into language that’s less complex. I want to give that tool to my students, but I don’t want to give them access to a tool where they just get to go in and write any prompt that they want and get feedback from the generative AI,” Jensen explains. “It allows for some really careful and protected training wheels.”
Though it’s still in its infancy, the potential of generative AI is seemingly unlimited. Jensen says that power is best harnessed for tasks that teachers either can’t do themselves or don’t have the time for.
“I’ve worked with teachers who will ask generative AI tools to write in the voice of a historical figure or a celebrity,” she says.
“Also, part of what they’re using it for is almost like a personal assistant as a time saver,” Jensen continues. “A teacher could do those tasks for themselves, but it would take them minutes, hours, days to do sometimes.”
Teachers often use these tools to take a lesson out of the school district’s approved curriculum and modify it to their class needs. For example, if a text is written for students at the fifthgrade level, a teacher can ask Magic School AI to rewrite it at different reading levels for other students in their class.
“We have students who struggle as learners, and we have students who are high achieving, and our educators can provide for those students, but these tools can help them to modify more quickly,” Jensen says.
Of the many potential classroom uses, Reykdal says he’s most excited for generative AI to create an environment where every student has some form of individualized education. In practice, he says, educators would still teach students about the same concept, but one student might read about dinosaurs while another reads about geology.
“We now know that a lot of students don’t get the key lessons and learning standards because they’re bored or uninterested in the content,” he explains. “Gone are the days when every student reads the same book at the same pace.”
In the long term, Reykdal says this individualization could potentially save money for school districts that no longer need to buy complete sets of curricula, which generally include textbooks, novels, worksheets, lesson plans and other guides for educators to teach a subject. For example, a school could potentially forgo buying 30 copies of the same book and instead use AI to tailor lesson plans to individual books for each student.
In the short term, it’s beginning to transform education as we know it. Instead of cramming kids’ brains with hours of required content, teachers can introduce topics and then help their students discover more about those topics using generative AI.
“It’s turning educators a whole lot more into learning evaluators than content deliverers,” Reykdal says.
While Washington’s K-12 public schools have been operating under the same guidance for the past year, those working in higher education have been left to fend for themselves. Colleges and universities across the state have implemented policies and guidelines surrounding generative AI, but each school applies its own rules.
Even though many of the recommendations at state universities are largely the same — professors have autonomy over generative AI usage in their classes (including banning its use), personal data should never be input into these programs, and students need to cite their AI sources — there isn’t universal guidance from the Washington Student Achievement Council, the statewide agency that oversees higher education.
If
even a fourth grader can understand how to use AI, anyone can.
“I wish higher ed would have seen our stuff and jumped on it sooner. We saw them sort of panic about students cheating at first,” Reykdal says. “I think they’ve mostly come around now to realize they’re going to have to embrace the reality of this, but it forces them to teach differently.”
“SCHOOLS OF THE FUTURE,” CONTINUED...
Over the last few years, Travis Masingale, associate professor of design at Eastern Washington University has placed himself at the forefront of the generative AI push in higher education. After ChatGPT came out in 2022, he spent a year learning the program and its practical applications for educators.
However, when he began giving talks to his colleagues about AI last fall, he found that convincing others that these tools could and, he argues, should be used in the higher education landscape required more thought.
“I spent a lot of time wondering, ‘How am I going to convince these scientists and mathematicians and engineers that AI is coming and they should be using it?’” he says. “I don’t know if anyone was sold at the time, but I decided to talk about using it to reformat the Pythagorean theorem to football players determining the arc of a football needed to kick a field goal.”
After those initial talks, Masingale says he spoke with Eastern’s Academic Integrity Board, a faculty committee that determines how the university should respond when students are caught cheating. At the time, he says the board was considering an investment in detection software the university could use to see if student work includes generative AI.
“My advice to them was, ‘That is the wrong answer,’” he recalls. “We should invest in how to teach students to use this technology because this is going to be the world they live in and work in.”
Since then, the university has released its own guidelines on generative AI. While professors can allow or prohibit the use of generative AI in their classes, Eastern urges them to avoid AI-detection programs altogether.
“Their efficacy is questionable and false positives and biased results are common,” the guidance states. “We do not recommend that instructors rely upon AI detection tools to identify usage of generative AI and, instead, encourage faculty to engage in conversation with their
“ ”
The calculator did not destroy math, and AI will not destroy learning.
Sometimes it’s helpful to ask an AI such as ChatGPT how to prompt a different AI. AI ART AND PROMPT GENERATED BY KAMBRIA SCHAFFER, EWU
students about appropriate (and inappropriate) usage of generative AI for their courses.”
In Masingale’s web design classes he teaches students to understand coding enough to create their own website. Then toward the end of the quarter he shows them how generative AI tools can make that process easier.
“I often say that critical thinking is even more important when using AI, especially in web design,” he says. “They have to be able to read the code to do that, and like any good programming, the better your inputs are, the better your outputs will be.”
He also teaches an Emergent Design class focused almost entirely on technologies like generative AI. In this class, Masingale always begins by teaching basic prompting techniques. These include asking simple questions of the AI, which helps students understand the types of responses it produces. Then he gets into the prompting techniques that help these programs create more advanced results. It’s best to use clear and specific prompts that include relevant context, such as the intended audience and the appropriate tone. (Two of Masingale’s students’ projects are featured here.)
A weak prompt may read, “Tell me something about AI and the environment,” according to a 2023 prompt design project by Antoni Carlson, one of Masingale’s students. Carlson noted that a well-structured prompt might read, “Create a summary of the latest research on the use of AI in environmental conservation. The summary should include key findings, methodologies used, and
potential applications in real-world scenarios. Please limit the summary to about 300 words and ensure it’s suitable for an academic audience.”
“I’m definitely more of a guide, because I can’t know it all,” Masingale says. “There’s just too much. It’s happening too fast. So I kind of show them how to use AI to teach themselves stuff or move in the direction or find their resources.”
Once students know how to best prompt these tools, Masingale lets them practice with image generation projects until they’ve got the hang of it. By the end of the quarter he expects his students to complete self-led assignments based on what they’re interested in.
“One of the coolest things I saw a student do last quarter was basically using AI to analyze user interface components of accessibility for colorblind and contrast ratios,” he says. “Other students are creating animations for short, little narratives. I let them play around with these tools because I’m really interested in not what graphic design can we replicate, but what we can do next with AI.”
Some student projects detail how beginners can use generative AI to create 2D and 3D models, while others delve into AI-generated video game designs.
Masingale also sets aside time to ensure his students understand the risk of getting caught up in an echo chamber of sorts.
“It’s a piece of technology that’s designed in a way to keep you engaged with it, so I ask my students to be
critical of it when it’s making you feel really good about whatever your idea is,” he says. “That’s a reality check to start checking its responses and ask it to be more critical.”
This is the kind of guidance he hopes to impart on more than his design students in the coming years, as he’s proposed building beginner, intermediate and advanced AI Literacy courses at Eastern. If all goes well, he says, these classes would begin in fall 2025.
Not everybody is on board with the use of these programs, SPS’s Lamb says. Some students are refusing to use the tools outright, and she’s heard from colleagues who worry the technology might make their jobs obsolete.
“AI will always be a tool to complement teaching, that human connection and relationship that is part of the foundation of education. A teacher knows their students so well that AI could never replace that, to know what a kid truly needs for successful learning,” Lamb says. “In my mind, AI can’t replace the staff we currently have, but someone who uses AI well, might. That person is going to get ahead and be more sought after than somebody who doesn’t have that skill set.”
Though these new tools are being used to help students learn virtually, her colleague Jensen says in-person instruction will never go away.
“If anything, COVID taught [us] that onlineonly is not the healthiest option,” she says. “You know, four years later, we are still grappling with supporting students through essentially the
trauma that they went through during that online learning piece.”
There’s also an intense environmental impact to consider with the use of generative AI. In 2022, nearly 2% of the global electricity demand was consumed by artificial intelligence and data centers, according to the International Energy Agency’s 2024 electricity report. The agency estimates this energy use will double by 2026, roughly rivaling the electricity consumption of Japan.
However, the impact to our energy grid is something at the forefront of state Superintendent Reykdal’s mind and, he argues, is something Washington is prepared to handle.
“The energy that it is going to take to power [generative AI] for the next decade is real, so states that lean into this and want to lead in some ways are going to have to be ready to either produce energy or to acquire energy in an affordable way,” Reykdal explains. “We have that in droves here with our [hydroelectric power production] in Eastern Washington, our lower power costs, and we’ve got land galore.”
Though challenges around student use of generative AI arise frequently, Spokane Public Schools spokesperson Ryan Lancaster instead worries about those schools that have completely avoided the tools.
“I look at other districts elsewhere in the country that are basically clamping down on this right now saying, ‘We’re not going to use these tools until things are settled,’ which they never will be,” he says. “I fear for those students and those staff, because those kids are going to be behind. It’s like banning the internet or banning social media, which never worked for anyone.” n coltonr@inlander.com
We used Adobe Firefly to generate this week’s cover image. We hoped to play around with one of the student prompts mentioned in this story. When we first asked the program to draw a “student,” all results were male students, showing some bias. We ultimately asked Firefly to draw us a “photorealistic cartoon nonbinary student wearing a cerulean T-shirt and khaki shorts. The student is giving a piece of paper to a futuristic white robot. The robot is handing the student a blue-colored fluffy toy that is a mix of an otter and a squirrel.” The program generated several options, some with a white fluffy robot that looked otterlike, others with far better renditions of a blue animal. We selected this one because it’s a great example to help point out some common AI errors: Both the student and the robot have too many fingers; there are some details that are slightly off on the robot’s elbow, as well as the student’s clothing and face; and, of course, the requested blue otter-squirrel hybrid is… well… a very unique creature.
BY DORA SCOTT
If you ever find yourself passing through Loon Lake, about 30 miles north of Spokane, consider taking a moment to visit 2 Loons Distillery. The blue warehouse, with “distillery” painted in red on its metal roof stands out from the highway, inviting travelers to experience its craft spirits firsthand.
The distillery’s name pays homage to the aquatic loons that inhabit the nearby lake, while also nodding to how owners Trisha Schwartz and her husband, Greg, have worked as a two-person team for the past 10 years.
“We’re the two loons,” Greg Schwartz jokes.
During the peak of production, if one of them is in the back tending to the distilling operations, the other is assisting customers in the small tasting room and retail area at the front of the building.
The Schwartzes first became interested in distilling after participating in a bottling party at Dry Fly Distilling in Spokane. At the time, they’d been running a used car lot in Loon Lake with Trisha’s father, but were also looking for a change. The couple dove headfirst into the distilling world.
“There weren’t a lot of distilleries in Spokane, so we did some research online and found a school, a weeklong ‘how to open a distillery’ [course],” Trisha says.
After the weeklong course at a community college in Western Washington, they visited distilleries in other states for more research.
Tricia and Greg began experimenting with an 8-gallon still. Over time, they scaled up their operations to a 260-gallon still for whiskey and a 100-gallon rectified still for vodka, gin and other flavored clear spirits.
“We just went straight to vodka and corn whiskey,” Trisha says. “And then we started just kind of adding. We added a flavored one called blackberry, and then we did a gin and sort of built on that. Now we have about 15 products.”
The Schwartzes source their malt, or germinated grains, from Spokane-based LINC Malt.
“So now all our barleys come from the Palouse, all our ryes are just to the west a little bit more in the Ritzville area, all our corn is coming from that area,” Greg says.
The distilling process begins in a mash tun, where grains are fermented in hot water to extract carbohydrates and turn them into sugar, a concoction also known as a “distiller’s beer.”
The distiller’s beer is then cooled and put into fermentation tanks that build yeast beds on the bottom before the liquid goes into the stills.
Occasionally, 2 Loons also buys bulk beer and wine from local breweries and wineries that didn’t meet retail standards, skipping the mashing process to create smallbatch whiskey or brandy. Look for a sticker on the bottle to see if it came from one of these local partnerships.
“Beer is just whiskey waiting to grow up,” Trisha jokes.
In the stills, the fermented liquid is then heated to a boiling point using the towering metal column stills, where alcohol vapors are captured and recondensed back into liquid, thus increasing the alcohol content.
“They have this system that helps force it because whiskey is required by law to come out at 80% [alcohol] or less and vodka is required to be 95% [alcohol] to be
called vodka,” Trisha explains.
2 Loons’ flavored vodka line, dubbed Loon Lightning ($40/750 ml bottle) since it comes up just short of the 95% alcohol threshold at that stage of distilling, undergoes a third distillation that also infuses fruit like huckleberries, lemon, mint and other seasonal additions.
The high-proof alcohol is then slowly watered down and carbon filtered before bottling.
The huckleberry Loon Lightning has been a customer favorite. The 20 to 30 gallons of huckleberries that go into each batch are foraged locally, though poor harvest years can make it difficult to keep up with demand.
Greg also harvests rhubarb from neighbors’ gardens, collecting around 350 pounds of the stalks for last year’s batch of rhubarb Loon Lightning.
While more neutral spirits like vodka and gin can be bottled quickly, 2 Loons’ whiskey, brandy and bourbon are each stored in charred American oak barrels for around three years. The aging process not only deepens the spirits’ amber color, but enhances flavors and introduces new taste profiles from the wood.
Inspecting the barrels stacked along the distillery’s walls, Greg points out stain marks, an indication of how spirits seep into the wood throughout the aging process. Rather than controlling the space’s climate, the couple embrace natural fluctuations in temperature.
“I want the variable,” Greg says. “Sometimes we’ll keep a barrel on wheels, and I’ll wheel it by the door when it’s snowing or when it’s 100 degrees out. Just as an experiment, it’ll get wheeled around this whole place. And sometimes I’ll just kick it to get a little agitation.”
2 Loons also ages maple syrup ($20 for 12.7 ounces) in its used bourbon barrels to absorb the bourbon and wood flavors. The syrup is then pasteurized to remove alcohol, making it a great addition to cocktails or pancakes.
2 Loons currently only sells its products via the tasting room and nearby at the Lakehouse Bar & Grill in Loon Lake, so those interested in trying the Schwartzes’ small-batch spirits will need to head there.
The couple dedicate entire months to producing one specific spirit at a time, reusing yeast beds in the fermentation tanks up to four times to maintain some consistency.
Don’t get too attached to a specific product, however, as each batch is always a bit different due to changing variables in the yeast or barrels.
“That’s where our clientele differ a little,” Greg says. “They are fine with things changing. And I always tell them, ‘If you really, really love it then you better stock up because it may never become again.’” n
2
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene with bar crawls, parades, Irish eats and green drinks
BY DORA SCOTT
Dig out your green garb! St. Patrick’s Day is Monday, March 17, but there are plenty of happenings during the weekend lead-up, including these local spots and events to get your Irish on.
In downtown Spokane, the 45th annual St. Patrick’s parade is set for noon Saturday, March 15, starting at Boone Avenue and Washington Street. The parade is put on by the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick Spokane, a nonprofit that aims to honor those of Irish ancestry and support a variety of charitable causes.
Afterward, embark on the Lucky’s St. Patrick’s bar crawl ($15-$20) in the downtown Spokane area from 4 pm to midnight. Tickets include drink vouchers, merch, and access to exclusive drink and food specials at some venues. The crawl is a “build your own adventure” style to ensure that participants are spread out among the venues. Participating locations include Borracho Tacos & Tequileria, Fast Eddie’s, Gamers Arcade Bar, Globe Nightclub, Lucky’s Irish Pub, Shawn O’Donnell’s American Grill & Irish Pub, and the Parlour. A mid-event party at the Globe runs from 7-9 pm, with an afterparty at Fast Eddie’s from 10 pm to midnight. For more information and tickets, visit crawlwith.us/spokane/stpattys.
Maybe your rainbow starts at Shawn O’Donnell’s American Grill & Irish Pub, at 719 N. Monroe St., where there are month-
long specials and events for the holiday. On Thursday, March 13, the bar hosts traditional Irish music and dancing starting at 6 pm. Before Spokane’s St. Patty’s parade, musician Jacob Jones plays at 10 am, followed by Crooked Kilt at 1 pm. Festivities continue throughout the day with Irish dancing and the Shea Tea Folkin Irish Band at 6:30 pm. On Monday, March 17, get ready for another full day of fun with the Spokane County Fire Pipes and Drums, plus more music and dance lasting until 9 pm. Visit the pub’s website at shawnodonnells.com for more.
Another bastion of all things Irish, O’Doherty’s Irish Grille (525 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.) has a lineup of special St. Patty’s events. On March 13, try your hand at cornhole and enjoy $2 off No-Li beers. On March 14, from 5-7 pm, customize a pint of Guinness draft beer with edible photos printed on the foam. Come wearing a flat cap and enjoy half off your first drink, plus other specials. O’Doherty’s is open from 10 am to close (21+ only) for Saturday’s parade festivities. There’s a $5 cash-only cover for afternoon and evening guests to enjoy bagpipers (3 and 8 pm), Irish dancers (3:30 pm) and a DJ (5 pm to close). More Irish fun continues March 16 and 17; check the restaurant’s Instagram @odohertysirishgrille for more info.
Venues in the North Monroe Business District are also coming together for a neighborhood St. Patrick’s bar crawl on Saturday, March 15, starting at noon. Participating businesses include Uno Mas Tacos & Tequila, Four-Eyed Guys Brewing, Hi Neighbor Tavern and Bellwether Brewing.
Downtown Coeur d’Alene’s 20th annual St. Patrick’s parade starts at 3 pm on March 15 at Eighth Street and Sherman Avenue; this year’s theme is “Luck of the Irish.”
If you’re hankering for some Irish grub in Coeur d’Alene, head to Crown and Thistle Pub for a St. Patrick’s menu special of corned beef and cabbage, along with foam prints on Guinness pints. Paddy’s Sports Bar is living up to its name and leprechaun mascot with a full menu of Irish classics like shepherd’s pie and pasties, which you can wash down with Guinness and green beer on March 15 and 17.
For some all-ages family fun, head to the Coeur d’Alene Public Library on Sunday, March 16, from 2-3:30 pm. While you listen and sing along with Arvid Lundin and Deep Roots, enjoy beverages and treats. Visit cdalibrary.org for more. n
The Jack Quaid action-comedy Novocaine is more numbing than thrilling
BY CHASE HUTCHINSON
Novocaine, an ambling action-comedy built around a man who can’t feel pain, is a film that desperately wants you to feel something. It tries to get you to do so by throwing all it can at the wall. There is humor, romance and fights, all of which are delivered by a largely winning cast committed to each element in equal measure. Unfortunately, much like the film’s plucky central character, no matter what it puts you through, there is always a numbing sense of emptiness to it. It’s a film that merely goes through the action motions with only minimal bursts of flair and an oddly formulaic structure. Despite the boundless potential of its premise that it always feels right on the cusp of fully capitalizing on, it’s a film that just keeps plodding along while the brittle bones it’s built upon break into more and more pieces until it ultimately crumbles before you.
Rated R
and belabored meet-cute that is then upended when the bank is robbed by a group of armed men in Santa suits and she is taken hostage. Nate decides he’ll go after the robbers and bring Sherry back, no matter the damage done to his body in the process.
Caine, also known as “Novocaine.” He got the nickname because he doesn’t feel pain. However, this is not some sort of “superpower,” but something dangerous for Nate. His bones can still be broken, internal organs damaged and body severely burned. Nate is not invincible, but actually incredibly vulnerable as pain exists for a reason — it’s to ensure we know something bad is happening to us so we can hopefully stop it before we suffer irreparable damage or death.
Novocaine
Directed by Dan Berk & Robert Olsen
Starring Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder
This all centers on the sufficiently charismatic Jack Quaid, the son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan who got his breakout in the satirical superhero series The Boys. He plays lonely assistant bank manager Nathan
We get introduced to how Nate navigates this life in a cheeky, though tragic, opening montage where we see the caution he takes in all facets of his life and how it has bled into his personal life as well. He wakes up, takes a shower at a set temperature that he has marked, eats only liquid meals for fear he may bite his tongue off, goes to work, comes home, plays video games, and that’s it. This all changes when he goes out with Sherry (played by an underutilized Amber Midthunder of the excellent recent Prey) who has recently started working as a teller at his bank. They have a somehow both hurried
As directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, who previously made the underrated recent Pacific Northwest-set sci-fi horror Significant Other, the film most struggles when it comes to the action. While the camera occasionally gets thrown around with Nate as he is beat up, recalling the similar though superior 2018 film Upgrade, there is a disappointing lack of kinetic stunt performances. We just pop into a place where Nate is going to get info, he gets beat up, finds a way to use his condition to his advantage, and then goes to the next. A brief throwaway reference to Looney Tunes when he is about to go to a house with booby traps only makes the subsequent scene feel that much more flat as it lacks the cartoonish visual language necessary to leave a mark. There are a few more fun gory moments, especially with a broken bone in the end, but it is a mostly tame and forgettable action riff without the needed technical chops to back any of it up.
The obvious twists it throws in, and some more seemingly serious attempts at emotion, don’t do the film any favors either. They drag down what could have been a more audacious dark comedy into being more broadly scattered in execution. Novocaine is a film that takes great pains to keep things moving — including in a ludicrous, laborious conclusion — yet never has earned fun reveling in the journey to get there. Nate may finally feel something, but we as the audience never fully do. n
Spokane luthier Pat Foster’s guitars are celebrated via classical guitar showcase at Hamilton Studio
BY MADISON PEARSON
Instruments are personal.
Some musicians spend years trying to find a reliable guitar best suited for their needs, playing style and personal tastes. There’s a myriad of factors to consider: intonation, body shape, neck size, cost, string action, visual aesthetics, the instrument’s material, and much, much more. Some find the right one early. Some may never stop searching — every avenue coming to a dead end.
But guitarists in Spokane who cannot find what
they’re looking for know to reach out to Pat Foster.
In the mid-1970s, Foster was playing in a band with some of his friends in the hills of Napa Valley. Eventually, all instruments need repair.
“It was an isolated area,” Foster, now 75, says. “We were in the boonies, there was nobody to do repair work on instruments. We had to drive, at minimum, an hour to get anything done. Especially on the old, clunky instruments that we were playing.”
Foster decided that learning how to repair them
himself would be the cheapest option for a group of young kids just scraping by. He started repairing his own stringed instruments, others’ instruments and built a few banjos, tucking away the extra money to pay for college.
After college, Foster got a job working in Silicon Valley in the 1980s but left in the early ’90s after discovering the lifestyle wasn’t for him. That’s when Foster met his wife and the couple moved to Spokane.
In 2005, Foster made his first guitar using the knowledge he’d gained from splitting open guitars and repairing
them all those years ago.
“It was quite the success,” he says. “I’m real pleased with how it turned out, even now. A couple people played it, thought it was great and asked me to build guitars for them. It was like a snowball, going downhill. Everything just cascaded from there.”
The first guitar and the subsequent guitars made for friends were all steel-string acoustic guitars, but about 10 years later the tinkerer inside Foster started to make itself known. He started to become interested in classical style guitars.
Unlike your typical acoustic guitar, classical guitars have strings made of nylon rather than steel and have wider fretboards due to the traditional playing techniques of classical guitarists.
“I made one classical guitar just because I wanted to know how they worked. I had no intention of making anymore, and I wasn’t even attempting to sell them,” he says. “But the demand was there. That first classical guitar I built opened a whole new world of music for me.”
Local guitar instructor Michael Millham was among the bunch wanting to get his hands on a Foster guitar.
“I got to know some guys from the Fall Folk Festival who had Foster guitars,” Millham says. “One of them was John Paul Shields, the first guy to get a Foster guitar. And then Abe Kenney did and they were both just fantastic guitars.”
Eventually, Millham ended up with a classical guitar fit to his ideal specifications. Millham, who has played guitar for over 40 years and has taught at various universities for nearly 25 years, says the Foster guitar is his live performance go-to. “I’ve probably made about 20 classical guitars,” Foster says. “And Michael has probably played nearly every single one of them. He’s always chomping at the bit to see how my next project works out.”
In a 2022 blog post on his website, Foster said, “When it’s done, the guitar goes out into the world on its own journey to make music.”
On March 16, local music connoisseurs can be part of those journeys as a host of Foster’s handmade classical guitars will be on full display at Hamilton Studio as part of a concert celebrating the luthier stringed creations.
The three aforementioned classical guitar-
ists — Millham, Shields and Kenney — are set to perform solo and trio works that showcase the sonic diversity and mastery of Foster’s guitars with Foster sitting in the audience.
Foster, who was born with a degenerative bone disease and now uses a wheelchair, has had to stop making guitars. Millham says the show has been talked about since about 2021, but the three guitarists never felt the timing was right until now.
During the 20 years Foster made guitars, he focused on the Torres style of classical guitars rather than the Hauser style. Torres-style guitars typically have a thinner soundboard (the body of the guitar) than the Hauser style, making them lighter and giving them a unique sound and resonance. Every guitar is unique and handmade, only the luthier himself or a guitarist with a highly trained ear could pinpoint the exact qualities that separate them, but Millham says they’re distinct.
“All three of us have a Torres-style Foster,” says Millham of the guitarists in the showcase. “It’s remarkable how consistent they are. They’re small, interesting, fun and easy to play. All the things you want.”
The trio of guitarists have all played some high-end guitars in their time, but Millham says each time they would perform in a group setting when Foster was still an active luthier, Foster would get another order from someone who was in attendance. Millham mentions the resonance and tone of Foster’s guitars is sought after, often perking up the ears of listeners.
Millham says the selections the trio plans on playing will showcase just how well the guitars can work together, but also shine on their own.
“The musicians in the show are all well known around here so people have already heard these guitars,” Millham says. “But this is a special opportunity to hear these instruments in a wonderful space and hear the musicians talk about them all while the man who made them sits in the audience.” n
Foster’s Guitars: A Night of Classical Guitar • Sun, March 16 at 6 pm • $30 • All ages
J THE BIG DIPPER, Nott, Xenoplasm Heritor, POTUS J BOTTLE BAY BREWING CO., Mason Van Stone
THE CHAMELEON, Yak Attack, Cytrus CHECKERBOARD TAPROOM, Weathered Shepherds GARLAND DRINKERY, Speak Easy: Open Mic Night
J QQ SUSHI & KITCHEN, Just Plain Darin ZOLA, X24 25
Friday, 3/14
ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, KOSH
BARRISTER WINERY, Sean Owsley and The Rising
J THE BIG DIPPER, Bleach, Simian, KURB, Willing Hands
BULLHEAD SALOON, Neon Interstate
THE CHAMELEON, Women in Music: Sugar Bear, Aspen Kye, Mister Sister CHAN’S RED DRAGON ON THIRD, Kenny James Miller
THE DISTRICT BAR, Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners, Briscoe
J THE GRAIN SHED, Haywire
J NEATO BURRITO, Sex with Seneca, Bao, When She Dreams
J NO DROUGHT BREWING, Andy Rumsey & Phill Brannan
J PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Tom Catmull
J SPOKANE ARENA, Kelsea Ballerini, The Japanese House, MaRynn Taylor
SPOKANE EAGLES LODGE, Stagecoach West
J SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO, Umphrey’s McGee
TRVST, Sav ZOLA, Mister Sister, RCA
Saturday, 3/15
ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, KOSH
BERSERK, Nausoleum
J THE BIG DIPPER, InComing Days, OVRLK, Amerikane Poetz, Tr3ezy
J BLACK LODGE BREWING, Chuck Vibes, Daylily Dreams, Millergold, Flyborne
J BOTTLE BAY BREWING CO., Eric Kegley
BULLHEAD SALOON, Neon Interstate
THE CHAMELEON, Vibe!
CHAN’S RED DRAGON ON THIRD, Side Step
J THE DISTRICT BAR, Itchy Kitty, Ideomotor
J J J BONES MUSICLAND, Betsy Rouge, Divine
J MIKEY’S GYROS, Depiction of Man, Stasi, Reefer Stick, labsorbyourstatic NEW MOON ART GALLERY, The Front Porch Rockers
NIGHT OWL, Priestess
J NORTHERN QUEST CASINO, L.A.vation: Tribute to U2
J PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, A.P. Collective RED ROOM LOUNGE, Latin Night with DJ Americo
J SILVER MOUNTAIN RESORT, Quarter Monkey, Marchi Gras Party Band TRVST, KosMos The Afronaut ZOLA, Blake Braley, The Ronaldos
There’s only one thing country fans want from their arena concerts — a heavy dose of genderfluid indie pop introspection! (What’s that? They tend to not want that?) While The Japanese House (aka English singer-songwriter Amber Bain) might seem like an odd choice to be an opening act for pop country star Kelsea Ballerini, it should make for an eclectic evening of music. On acclaimed albums like Good at Falling and In the End It Always Does, The Japanese House constructed a delicate dream pop sound that feels like a warm sonic bath after a hard day. It might not be the type of tuneage to fire up a crowd before the headliner, but maybe chilling them out would be effective in a very different way.
— SETH SOMMERFELD
Kelsea Ballerini, The Japanese House, MaRynn Taylor • Fri, March 14 at 7 pm • $55-$412 • All ages • Spokane Arena • 720 W. Mallon Ave. • spokanearena.com
While pretty much every pop country bro tries and struggles mightily to incorporate more rock into his sound, Mitchell Tenpenny is the rare exception with a knack for actually pulling it off. A nominee for New Artist of the Year at the 2024 CMA Awards, the singer-songwriter’s recent album The 3rd spans the sonic spectrum. Sure, he’s got the soft soulful country solo tracks (“The 3rd”) and duets (“Guess We’ll Never Know” with Colbie Caillat), but the album also boasts disco vibes (“Started Stoppin’”) and even a wildly unexpected collaborative track with metalcore standouts Underoath (“Demon or Ghost”). Don’t expect just a country concert when Tenpenny visits Northern Quest.
— SETH SOMMERFELD
Mitchell Tenpenny • Tue, March 18 at 7:30 pm • $58-$69 • All ages • Northern Quest Resort & Casino • 100 N. Hayford Road, Airway Heights • northernquest.com
Sunday, 3/16
J THE BIG DIPPER, Penis Envy, Deepslate, Willing Hands, Absent Cardinal
J J HAMILTON STUDIO, Foster’s Guitars: A Night of Classical Guitar HOGFISH, Open Mic
J MARYHILL WINERY SPOKANE, Kori Ailene
Monday, 3/17
BULLDOG’S FAMOUS BBQ & BREWS, Sammy Eubanks ZOLA, Nate Stratte & RHKS
Tuesday, 3/18
J THE BIG DIPPER, High On Fire, Merlock, Black Locust
J J NORTHERN QUEST CASINO, Mitchell Tenpenny SWING LOUNGE, Swing Lounge Live Music Tuesdays
ZOLA, The Zola All Star Jam, Curtiss G
Wednesday, 3/19
BARRISTER WINERY, Stagecoach West
J THE BIG DIPPER, Spitalfield, Millergold CENTRAL LIBRARY, Come Be Heard Open Mic Night THE DRAFT ZONE, The Draft Zone Open Mic
J JAGUAR ROOM AT CHAMELEON, Jeshua Marshall and The Flood, The Holy Broke, Mason Van Stone PACIFIC AVE PIZZA, Square Wave Wednesday
J TIMBERS ROADHOUSE, Cary Beare Presents TRVST, The TRVST Open Decks ZOLA, Akifumi Kato
COEUR D’ALENE RESORT, Soundscape Music Festival, March 28 & 29.
J THE BIG DIPPER, DUG, April 10.
J THE BIG DIPPER, Full Color Dream, May 8.
THE CHAMELEON, Toni Romiti, May 17.
J KNITTING FACTORY, Seether, P.O.D., May 20.
J THE BIG DIPPER, Satsang (solo), May 22.
J THE BIG DIPPER, Ealdor Bealu, May 24.
J THE BIG DIPPER, Wayne Hancock, June 11.
J FIRST INTERSTATE CENTER, Three Dog Night, June 14.
J J KNITTING FACTORY, Joseph, June 13.
J BING CROSBY THEATER, Mon Rovia, July 5.
J KNITTING FACTORY, Randall King, July 12.
J J SPOKANE PAVILION, Death Cab for Cutie, July 30.
J SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO, Jefferson Starship, Aug. 5.
J NORTHERN QUEST CASINO, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Aug. 14.
J BOTTLE BAY BREWING CO., Jason Perry, March 20, 7-9 pm.
J THE BIG DIPPER, Atrae Bilis, Replicant, The Last of Lucy, The Night We Died, March 20, 7:30 pm.
ZOLA, Pancho, March 20, 8:30 pm.
ZOLA, Jojo Dodge, March 21, 5:30 pm.
ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Lyle Morse, March 21, 6 pm.
J THE BIG DIPPER, RivetSkull: A Celebration of The Music of Ronnie James Dio, March 21, 7:30 pm.
J BING CROSBY THEATER, Jump: America’s Van Halen Experience, March 21, 7:30 pm. THE CHAMELEON, The Bed Heads, Timeworm, Warren Dunes, March 21, 8 pm.
J JAGUAR ROOM AT CHAMELEON, Elektro Grave Dance Night, March 21, 8 pm.
J J KNITTING FACTORY, Sullivan King, Yookie, Grabbitz, RZRKT, March 21, 8 pm.
J SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO, Steelheart, March 21, 8 pm.
ZOLA, Jerry Lee Raines, March 21, 9 pm.
ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Pamela Benton, March 22, 6 pm.
J BOTTLE BAY BREWING CO., Ben Vogel, March 22, 7 pm.
J KNITTING FACTORY, The Amity Affliction, Hail The Sun, Many Eyes, Solence, March 22, 7 pm.
J THE FOX THEATER, The Mark Wood Trans-Siberian Symphony Experience, March 22, 7:30 pm.
THE DISTRICT BAR, The Swaggerlies, Vera Gogo, The Dilrods, March 22, 8 pm.
J JAGUAR ROOM AT CHAMELEON, Tinsley, Austen, Water Monster, March 22, 8 pm.
J SOULFUL SOUPS & SPIRITS, Spooky, Absent Cardinal, SEIZuREDr3AM, Public Apology, March 22, 8 pm.
THE CHAMELEON, Graveyard Dance: Warlord Colossus & Eraze, March 22, 9 pm.
J HAMILTON STUDIO, Dayan Kai, March 23, 6 pm.
J THE BIG DIPPER, False Visions, Oathbound, Glass Artifacts, Thornwalker, Mark of The Beast, March 23, 6:30 pm.
ZOLA, Tristan Hart Pierce, March 24, 6 pm.
J THE BIG DIPPER, Bit Brigade Performs
Super Mario World & F-Zero, March 25, 8 pm.
MIKEY’S GYROS, Giant Palouse Earthworm, March 25, 8 pm.
J KNITTING FACTORY, Kayzo, Samplifire, March 26, 8 pm.
NEATO BURRITO, Hit Like a Girl, Madska, Flybourne, When She Dream, March 27.
J BOTTLE BAY BREWING CO., Tyler Alai, March 27, 7-9 pm.
REPUBLIC BREWING CO., Jason Eady, Dani Bacon, March 27, 7 pm.
THE DISTRICT BAR, Youth Lagoon, March 27, 9 pm.
ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Isaac Walton, March 28, 6-8 pm.
THE COEUR D’ALENE RESORT, Soundscape Music Festival, March 28 & March 29.
J J GARLAND THEATER, Spring Reverb Bash: Session #1, March 28, 6:30 pm-1 am.
J THE BIG DIPPER, Mismiths, March 28, 7:30 pm.
THE CHAMELEON, Alec Shaw, Junaco, March 28, 8 pm.
J KNITTING FACTORY, Hell’s Belles, Itchy Kitty, Snacks at Midnight, March 28, 8 pm.
J GARLAND THEATER, Spring Reverb Bash: Session #2, March 29, 12-5:30 pm.
ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Robert Vaughn, March 29, 6-8 pm.
J GARLAND THEATER, Spring Reverb Bash: Session #3, March 29, 6:30 pm-midnight.
J KNITTING FACTORY, Emo Nite, March 29, 8 pm.
J MIKEY’S GYROS, Diminished Republic, The Mini Swines, March 29, 8 pm.
J SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO, LoCash, March 29, 8 pm.
THE CHAMELEON, Club xcx, March 29, 9 pm.
J THE DISTRICT BAR, Kolton Moore & The Clever Few, March 29, 9 pm.
J THE DISTRICT BAR, Big Richard, Caleb Caudle, March 30, 9 pm.
219 LOUNGE • 219 N. First Ave., Sandpoint • 208-263-5673
ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS • 4705 N. Fruit Hill Rd., Spokane Valley • 509-927-9463
BABY BAR • 827 W. First Ave. • 509-847-1234
BARRISTER WINERY • 1213 W. Railroad Ave. • 509-465-3591
BEE’S KNEES WHISKY BAR • 1324 W. Lancaster Rd.., Hayden • 208-758-0558
BERSERK • 125 S. Stevens St. • 509-315-5101
THE BIG DIPPER • 171 S. Washington St. • 509-863-8098
BIGFOOT PUB • 9115 N. Division St. • 509-467-9638
BING CROSBY THEATER • 901 W. Sprague Ave. • 509-227-7638
BLACK DIAMOND • 9614 E. Sprague Ave. • 509891-8357
BOLO’S BAR & GRILL • 116 S. Best Rd., Spokane Valley • 509-891-8995
BOOMERS CLASSIC ROCK BAR • 18219 E. Appleway Ave., Spokane Valley • 509-368-9847
BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB • 201 S. Main St., Moscow • 208-596-0887
THE BULL HEAD • 10211 S. Electric St., Four Lakes • 509-838-9717
CHAN’S RED DRAGON • 1406 W. Third Ave. • 509-838-6688
THE CHAMELEON • 1801 W. Sunset Blvd.
CHECKERBOARD • 1716 E. Sprague Ave. • 509-443-4767
COEUR D’ALENE CASINO • 37914 S. Nukwalqw St., Worley • 800-523-2464
COEUR D’ALENE CELLARS • 3890 N. Schreiber Way, Coeur d’Alene • 208-664-2336
CRUISERS BAR & GRILL • 6105 W Seltice Way, Post Falls • 208-446-7154
CURLEY’S HAUSER JUNCTION • 26433 W. Hwy. 53, Post Falls • 208-773-5816
THE DISTRICT BAR • 916 W. 1st Ave. • 509-244-3279
EICHARDT’S PUB • 212 Cedar St., Sandpoint • 208-263-4005
FIRST INTERSTATE CENTER FOR THE ARTS • 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • 509-279-7000
FOX THEATER • 1001 W. Sprague Ave. • 509-624-1200
IRON HORSE • 407 E. Sherman, Coeur d’Alene • 208-667-7314
IRON HORSE BAR & GRILL • 11105 E. Sprague Ave., Spokane Valley • 509-926-8411
JOHN’S ALLEY • 114 E. Sixth St., Moscow • 208-883-7662
KNITTING FACTORY • 911 W. Sprague Ave. • 509-244-3279
MARYHILL WINERY • 1303 W. Summit Pkwy. • 509-443-3832
MILLIE’S • 28441 Hwy 57, Priest Lake • 208-443-0510
MOOSE LOUNGE • 401 E. Sherman Ave., Coeur d’Alene • 208-664-7901
NASHVILLE NORTH • 6361 W. Seltice Way, Post Falls • 208-457-9128
NORTHERN QUEST RESORT & CASINO • 100 N. Hayford Rd., Airway Heights • 877-871-6772
NYNE BAR & BISTRO • 232 W. Sprague Ave. • 509-474-1621
PEND D’OREILLE WINERY • 301 Cedar St., Sandpoint • 208-265-8545
POST FALLS BREWING CO. • 112 N. Spokane St., Post Falls • 208-773-7301
RAZZLE’S BAR & GRILL • 10325 N. Government Way, Hayden • 208-635-5874
RED ROOM LOUNGE • 521 W. Sprague Ave. • 509-838-7613
THE RIDLER PIANO BAR • 718 W. Riverside Ave. • 509-822-7938
SEASONS OF COEUR D’ALENE • 1004 S. Perry St. • 208-664-8008
SPOKANE ARENA • 720 W. Mallon Ave. • 509-279-7000
SPOKANE TRIBE RESORT & CASINO • 14300 US-2, Airway Heights • 877-786-9467
SOUTH PERRY LANTERN • 12303 E. Trent Ave., Spokane Valley • 509-473-9098
STORMIN’ NORMAN’S SHIPFACED SALOON • 12303 E. Trent Ave., Spokane Valley • 509-862-4852
TRANCHE • 705 Berney Dr., Wall Walla • 509-526-3500
ZOLA • 22 W. Main Ave. • 509-624-2416
SUNDAY, MAY 4
The Spokane music scene is full of talented musicians, but some get more time in the spotlight than others. In celebration of Women’s History Month and the influence female musicians have had on the local scene, The Chameleon is hosting a showcase of women-led groups in Spokane. The show features sets from the always energetic Sugar Bear fronted by Drew Blincow, the ever dreamy and enchanting Aspen Kye and the bluesy Mister Sister fronted by bubbly belter Emily Schrock (pictured). All three artists perform regularly in the Spokane area, so get into the habit of supporting them wherever you can! For now, you can expect a blast of sonic talent, empowerment, and some downright groovy, powerful, female-sung tunes from these musical powerhouses to start your weekend off on the right foot.
— MADISON PEARSON
Women in Music • Fri, March 14 at 8 pm • $15-$20 • The Chameleon • 1801 W. Sunset Blvd. • chameleonspokane.com
Many are familiar with Sal Vulcano for co-creating and starring on the comedy television series Impractical Jokers, which puts cast members in awkward yet hilarious social situations. Before Vulcano made his way to the airwaves, he and his co-stars James Murray, Brian Quinn and Joe Gatto were a comedy troupe called The Tenderloins. They were all members of their high school improv club and reconnected four years later to produce comedy sketches that went viral on YouTube and MySpace. Vulcano goes rogue for his stand-up comedy, setting off on his national “Everything’s Fine Tour” that stops at First Interstate Center for the Arts in downtown Spokane.
— DORA SCOTT
Sal Vulcano • Sun, March 16 at 5 pm • $40-$60 • First Interstate Center for the Arts • 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • firstinterstatecenter.org
It’s time to polish your bagpipes and put on your finest green garb because it’s time for Spokane’s 45th annual St. Patrick’s Parade! Kicking off at noon on Saturday, March 15, the public is invited to celebrate all things Irish in downtown Spokane. The parade is hosted by The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, a nonprofit group that donates the proceeds from the parade back to the Spokane community. This year, see live bagpipes and Irish dancing, taste traditional cuisine, and even watch adorable wiener dogs strut their stuff in tiny green hats and necklaces. The parade is free and starts at the intersection of Washington Street and Boone Avenue, continuing and toward City Hall.
— HANNAH HIGENS
St. Patrick’s Parade • Sat, March 15 at noon • Free • Downtown Spokane • friendlysonsofstpatrick.com
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.
While viewers were left a bit confused after this month’s Oscars featured an odd tribute to the music of James Bond seemingly out of the blue and with no ties to the rest of the ceremony, there’s no denying the spy film franchise’s iconic tunes. One can actually expect a heavy dose of 007 tunes when the Spokane Symphony presents their fourth Pops concert of the season, “The Music of James Bond and More.” Singers Hugh Panaro and Chloe Lowery join the symphony for a program that highlights an array of classic Bond themes like “Live and Let Die” and “Goldfinger,” as well as other thematically consistent numbers like “Secret Agent Man” and selections from North by Northwest, The Pink Panther and Shaft. Let this night of musical intrigue shake up (not stir) your weekend.
— SETH SOMMERFELD
Spokane Symphony Pops 4: The Music of James Bond and More • Sat, March 15 at 7:30 pm • $58-$122 • Fox Theater • 1001 W. Sprague Ave. • foxtheaterspokane.org
There’s perhaps no better reality competition than Dancing With the Stars. The show, which has brought pairs of loveable celebs and their talented dance partners to our TV screens for the past two decades, is a perfect mix of the exciting dance showcase found in So You Think You Can Dance and the heated competition of popular shows like American Idol and The Voice Now, the TV phenomenon is making its way to stages across the country for a night of high-intensity performances. Some of the show’s highest-scoring dancers, such as Emma Slater, Brandon Armstrong and Rylee Arnold, will be joined by fan-favorite actress Chandler Kinney and American gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik.
— COLTON RASANEN
Dancing with the Stars Live! • Thu, March 20 at 7:30 pm • $40-$125 • First Interstate Center for the Arts • 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • dwtstour.com
REALITY SHOW HOUSEWIVES OF SPOKANE The past few months have been an absurdist back & forth between various parties sending dubious missives responded to by the wrong people in what amounts to comedy gold. Example - the “outthere” valentine was an exercise in poetic justice & literary irony. Any clown with decent reading comprehension at least understands she never gave into temptation. She felt a love that while sensual is spectacular & incandescent. It is doubtful someone of your small mind & heart shouting homewrecker like you want to burn a witch, has capacity to understand. In other words — this is not your “homewrecker.” Such a message traditionally is meant to contain details only known between the people concerned — it is a Princess Bride, “as you wish” to the universe in order to let go. In effect the writer of the valentine is a goody two shoes, indeed, powerful witches considering their energy & will power, by the grace of God. Most are
RE: NEVER OUTTHERE If I am mistaken, I apologize. If the person who wrote this is the person I suspect it to be, then I would just say deflecting and at the same time saying come home continues to avoid the issue. You are right I cried to you many times, funny thing is I can’t see you ever doing the same for me. Pride is insidious but provides little comfort. If you really want to change the situation, you are going to have to take the first step. After I was slapped down I can’t do it again, not out of pride but just to protect my own mental and emotional health
WHO IS WASTING TIME NOW? Life is short, act. Tomorrow is not guaranteed.
MY SONSHINES! Lorin and Taos, You guys are my life. You guys keep glowing my sonshines! Know I am here not abandoned while I heal up. My spine was broken, but not my hope, love and support for you. Always do what’s right! See me or I’ll see you. lol -From Toddad
TRADER JOE’S CASHIER March 3 you engaged in a mutual appreciative conversation about both of our enjoyment of everything hazelnut while you rang up my grocery purchase. I had just left Holy Family visiting a loved one at the close of her life before a 3+ hour drive home. Cannot express how well your smile and that joyful conversation shepherded me on my drive home. Kindness counts.
UNEXPECTED BUT MUCH APPRECIATED
Many thanks to the understanding staff person (manager?) at the O’Reilly auto parts store on West Rowan. When I unloaded my frustration with a device I bought from your store 16 months ago all I was hoping for was a recommendation of a better alternative. You not only found
OVATION! Somebody somewhere did something sweet, so submit a Cheer or I Saw You at Inlander.com/ISawYou
loving daughters, faithful friends & loyal to the gates of Sheol, & beyond. They aren’t bad only drawn that way. Find greater meaning in life. Do something besides be a hypocritical harper valley pta member.
one, you credited me with a refund even though I no longer had the receipt. Then you lowered the price of the replacement so I had to pay nothing for the exchange. Wow, what a pleasant experience!
HOSTILE OLD GMC TAUPE SUV 2/25 I-90
Eastbound. You: Aggressively passed on my right, cut me off & braked before roaring off. My over-the-limit speed not enough? For over a mile you continued to do the same, back and forth, across 3 lanes. Not speed but the AUDACITY of people not pulling out of your way! Guess none of us was aware I-90 is your personal, private, roadway. You must be a joy to live with. No consideration for others. No thought of how causing an accident could affect lives, including your own: no vehicle for work, errands, transporting children; possible permanent disability or death, and for you, a vehicular manslaughter conviction if one died. The final head-shaker: We left I-90 at the same exit 15 seconds apart.
NO NEWS ABOUT REAL CURRENT EVENTS
Jeers to the cowardly, lame, local news for NOT showing all the protests happening around the country. The stories are on YouTube & Insta but not on your stations. They can’t all be fake. Do your jobs! You help support Democracy, or is that the point?
REPUBLICANS Jeers to the Republicans’ new slogan MRGA (make Russia great again). It turns out that Senator Joe McCarthy was wasn’t wrong, just off by half century, and it’s not Democrats but the Republicans.
ENOUGH WITH OUR SPINELESS LEADERS
Someone once said, “You can judge a society by its prisons.” I absolutely disagree. You judge a society by how safe its citizens are. When kids can’t play outside because a repeat pedophile might get them, the system is wrong. When criminals with multiple felonies have more rights then their victims, the system is wrong. Our leaders are too busy listening to criminal rights lawyers and others who have the leaders in their back pocket to care about victims. Bring in people who are willing to do whatever it takes to clean our streets.
RESTAURANT WEEK MENU ANNOYANCE
Please, my dear Inlander, do not put a restaurant week menu in the vegetarian section if there isn’t an option for vegetarian in each course! If they have spiced nuts as an option in the 1st course and no other vegetarian option in the 2nd
SOUND OFF 1. Visit Inlander.com/isawyou by 3 pm Monday. 2. Pick a category (I Saw You, You Saw Me, Cheers or Jeers). 3. Provide basic info: your name and email (so we know you’re real). 4. To connect via I Saw You, provide a non-identifying email to be included with your submission — like “petals327@yahoo.com,” not “j.smith@comcast.net.”
Paddy’s Day Jersey
Sat. 3/15 vs. Tri-City Americans Chiefs to wear St. Patrick’s Day themed jerseys to be auctioned off during the game. A portion of proceeds will benefit Big Table Spokane. 6pm Game Time: Sponsored By:
or 3rd course, they don’t belong there. I’m not paying $45 for some nuts and that’s it! Side note, I actually don’t know if this specific example is relevant but a friend was raging and I said I’d put in a jeers for them.
thus unprofessional. I’m not their babe or child. It doesn’t project warmth to a lot of people, it’s cringe. In outer realm of women not wanting to be called pet names, many men don’t either. They’re not my lover not my friend. I find it insulting and demeaning. With complicated last
Being that most MBA graduates are either airheads, borderline weasels, or fast talkers who think they’re so smart they have to lie to the rest of us ‘cuz we don’t know what’s good for us and couldn’t understand anyhow, or just lie because they can and it gets them off, oh wait ... we have to throw groping in there, too ... probably should mention lying like a million more times - okay, being that most MBA graduates suck, why are we putting them in charge of the public good so frequently? Let them go ruin private businesses if that’s what the business owners want - but there’s no need to have these petted toddlers ruining public investments, like EWU. Wow, you can fire people. Wow, you can make cuts. Then the people who know how to actually run a place do the work of dealing with it - at a lower pay grade, mind you. MBAs have a pretty basic bag of tricks: Squeeze people as hard as you can and then whine that no one appreciates you, while causing mass disorganization. Holy crap - this is our whole government now, isn’t it?
TO THE PERSON WHO DUMPED A DEAD CAT In Indian Canyon: WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? You didn’t bury him/her. Left it like trash in a blue sheet (with cat food & medicine containers) on the ground, for others -- ME -- to find when picking up litter. No thought for this animal or for others as it decays in the open air. Yeah, you really loved that creature who gave you love and devotion. Please. DON’T get another animal. Stick with the stuffed ones. They don’t require much of you.
RE: RE: STRANGER TERMS OF ENDEARMENT I did not read the original person’s comments, but this is why it gets under my skin. It’s OVERLY friendly,
names ASK or ask permission to call a client by the first name if you have trouble saying it. Back to your original point. A server shouldn’t assume it’s ok, it’s their bad.
CONGRESS PLAYS POLITICS WITH PUBLIC MEDIA Jeers to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and her so-called “government efficiency” subcommittee for wasting taxpayer time by dragging PBS and NPR into a partisan hearing instead of tackling real issues. Public media is one of the most trusted institutions in America because it serves everyone (rural, urban, liberal, conservative) and gives communities like ours in the Inland NW access to factbased news, emergency alerts, and free educational programming that no commercial network provides. Cheers to KSPS, PBS and SPR for being a true local lifeline, telling our stories, keeping rural areas connected, and supporting teachers and parents with trusted kids’ programming in a country where over half of children have no access to pre-K. At just $1.60 per person per year, public media is a bargain. Call or write your representatives and tell them to protect local public media! n
NOTE: I Saw You/Cheers & Jeers is for adults 18 or older. The Inlander reserves the right to edit or reject any posting at any time at its sole discretion and assumes no responsibility for the content.
MARDI BRAS DONATION DROP-OFF
Spokane Mardi Bras invites community members to host a party, collect donations and then drop off donations to Women’s Hearth. See website for list of items and party information. March 14, 4-6 pm. Free. Women’s Hearth, 920 W. Second Ave. help4women.org
COEUR D’IRISH ST PATRICK’S DAY
PARTY This fundraising event for the Coeur d’Alene Friday Rotary includes carnival games, Irish libations and cuisine, live music from Floating Crowbar, dancing, raffles and more. March 15, 5-9 pm. $60-$75. The Coeur d’Alene Resort, 115 S. Second. coeurdalenerotary.org
STAND-UP SPOKANE A fundraiser for Blue Door Theatre featuring comedians Michael Glatzmaier and David Honeycutt. March 22, 3:30 pm. $15-$20. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com
HANS KIM Hans Kim is a regular on Kill Tony and has opened up for Joe Rogan and Tony Hinchcliffe. March 13-15, 7 pm, March 14-15, 9:45 pm. $27-$37. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedclub.com (509-318-9998)
SHENG WANG Sheng Wang is a comedian, actor and writer with a Netflix special titled Sweet and Juicy. He was a featured stand-up on HBO’s “2 Dope Queens” special. March 13, 7 pm. $50$72. The Fox Theater, 1001 W. Sprague. foxtheaterspokane.org
BLUE DOORS & DRAGONS Watch as fearless improvisers embark on a quest shaped entirely by audience suggestions, daring dice rolls and pure imagination in this Dungeons & Dragonsinspired improv show. Fri at 7:30 pm through March 28. $9. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar. bluedoortheatre.org
JUBAL FRESH Jubal Fresh is a standup comedian, a Marconi Award winning radio host, television personality, comedy writer and graffiti artist. March 15, 4 pm. $22-$30. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com
DAN DONOHUE Donohue hosts the podcast Danswers, formerly co-hosted Basket of Cats and is a frequent guest on Soberish. March 16, 7 pm. $25-$35. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com
MICHAEL GLATZMAIER Michael Glatzmaier performs improv comedy from audience suggestions. Proceeds support youth improv scholarships. March 16, 6-7:30 pm. $10. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar St. bluedoortheatre.org
SAL VULCANO Sal Vulcano is an improvisational and stand-up comedian, actor, and producer best known for starring on Impractical Jokers. March 16, 5-7 pm. $40-$60. First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. firstinterstatecenter.org
CHARACTER CREATION Learn the art of spontaneous character building in this eight-week course. March 18-May 6, Tue from 7-9 pm. $200. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar. bluedoortheatre.org
MATT BRAUNGER Braunger was a series regular on Fox’s MADtv, a cast member of the series How to Be a Grown Up and appeared on Superstore, Fuller House and more. March 20, 7 pm. $15-$22. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com
THE EVOLUTION OF THE JAPANESE SWORD This exhibition showcases Japanese swords as more than a mere weapon of war. The iconic Samurai sword of Japan and its accompanying fittings were elevated to works of high art that were, and still are, treasured and collected for their beauty and craftsmanship. Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm through May 4. $9-$15. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org
SAMURAI, SUNRISE, SUNSET Step into the world of a samurai and experience armor, weaponry and personal items from the powerful military class that ruled Japan for nearly 700 years. Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm through June 1. $9-$15. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931)
ENCHANTED SPRING FESTIVAL A festival featuring live music, yoga, dance, workshops and a local vendor market. March 14-16; times TBA. Free. Patera Temperance Lounge, 1507 E. Sprague Ave. instagram.com/pateralounge
SPOKANE MOTORCYCLE SHOW The motorcycle show features hundreds of motorcycles and accessories for sale as well as stunt shows, beard and mustache competitions and more. March 14-16, times vary. $12. Spokane County Fair & Expo Center, 404 N. Havana St. spokanemotorcycleshow.com
BLOOM TOGETHER A celebration of spring a with crafts inspired by the season. Connect with folks from Art Salvage and Catholic Charities and others in a festive atmosphere. March 15, 1-5 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org
SAMURAI UNDRESSED Learn more about the samurai and their iconic armor during a live dressing in this one-time program presented by Lynn Miyauchi, the Senior Specialist for Cultural Affairs at the Consulate-General of Japan in Seattle. March 15, 2 pm. $5. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First. northwestmuseum.org
ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE Watch as the parade entries like bands, dancers and floats make their way through downtown Spokane. March 15. Free. friendlysonsofstpatrick.com
ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE Watch as the parade entries stroll down Sherman Avenue as they bring the Luck of the Irish to Coeur d’ALene with marching bands, dancing, music and festive floats. March 15, 3-4 pm. Free. Downtown Coeur d’Alene, Sherman Ave. cdadowntown.com (208-415-0116)
CHESS FOR BEGINNERS A four-week series for anyone who would like to learn chess in a non-competitive environment led by Dawn Fields. Sun from 1-3 pm through March 31. Free. Wishing Tree Books, 1410 E. 11th Ave. wishingtreebookstore.com (509-315-9875)
MAKE A TABLETOP MINIATURE GOLF
HOLE Create a tiny tabletop golf hole with supplies provided by the library. Then, try to get a hole-in-one. Grades K-5. March 18, 3:30-4:30 pm. Free. Moran Prairie Library, 6004 S. Regal St. scld.org (509-893-8340)
EASTERN REGION CONNECTS: PEOPLE, PLACES, AND POSSIBILITIES
Come share your thoughts, ideas, and concerns about WSDOT projects in your neighborhood. March 19, 5:30-7 pm.
Free. Liberty Park Library, 402 S. Pittsburgh St. spokanelibrary.org
SOAP MAKING MASTERCLASS Explore the process of making handmade artisan bar soap and the science behind the art. Customize a 20-oz. brick of soap to your liking, yielding 6-7 bars of soap. Ages 13+. Pre-registration required. March 19, 6-8 pm. $65. Spokane Art School, 503 E. Second Ave., Ste. B. spokaneartschool.net (509-325-1500)
2025 DESIGN SUMMIT & KEYNOTE
SPEAKER This event brings together emerging talent and an internationally renowned architect, Pascale Sablan, to celebrate excellence in design, foster connections and explore new opportunities in the field. March 20, 3:30-8 pm. $5-$25. Spokane Convention Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls. aiaspokane.org
MOSCOW FILM SOCIETY: ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST A mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad. March 13, 6:30-9 pm. $8. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org (208-882-4127)
BECOMING LED ZEPPELIN This film traces the journeys of the four members of the Stairway To Heaven rockers through the music scene of the 1960s and their meeting in the summer of 1968, culminating in 1970. March 14, 7-9 pm and March 15, 7-9 pm. $8. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org
MET LIVE IN HD: FIDELIO A faithful wife risks everything to save her husband from the clutches of tyranny in Beethoven’s Fidelio. March 15, 10 am-1 pm. $20. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org (208-882-4127)
NO MAN’S LAND FILM FESTIVAL
An adventure film festival featuring women of all ages and abilities, transgender, and gender non-conforming athletes and storytellers. Also features a panel discussion. March 15, 12-10 pm. $15. Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave. panida.org (208-263-9191)
CINEMA CLASSICS: IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT In Sparta, Mississippi, detective Virgil Tibbs is drawn into a murder case, forging a tense alliance with the bigoted police chief amid town hostility. March 16, 4-6 pm. $8. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org
THE FIRST 54 YEARS: AN ABBREVIATED MANUAL FOR MILITARY OCCUPATION The second of four films in the Inland Northwest Coalition for the Liberation of Palestine Endless Nakba series, this Israeli-made documentary utilizes the testimonies of IDF soldiers to delineate the history of the occupation of Palestine and the systematic dismantling of Palestinian land. March 16, 4-6:30 pm. Free. Magic Lantern Theatre, 25 W. Main Ave. bit.ly/first54years FLY FISHING FILM TOUR A selection of films showcasing the very best of fishing for the year ahead. March 18, 7-9 pm. $15-$23. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague. bingcrosbytheater.com
MOVIE BOOK CLUB: SENSE AND SENSIBILITY Mr. Dashwood dies, leaving his wife and her daughters poor by the rules of inheritance. Each Sense and Sensibility book purchased at BookPeople will include a ticket to see the film. March 18, 7-9 pm. $8. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org
3 P.M. SUNDAY, MARCH 16 BING CROSBY THEATER
Samuel Barber String Quartet in B Minor, Op. 11 (with the original setting of his Adagio for Strings )
Polina Nazaykinskaya Adagio from Symphony for Strings
Joseph Haydn String Quartet No. 33
ALL SEATS GENERAL ADMISSION ADULTS $25 SENIORS $20 UNDER 18 AND STUDENTS WITH ID FREE
www.spokanestringquartet.org
Living Well in the Inland Northwest
LEGALLY BLONDE Fashionable sorority queen Elle Woods follows her ex-boyfriend to law school, where she discovers that there is more to her than just looks. March 19, 7-9 pm. $8. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org
OUTLIVE FILM FESTIVAL A collection of world-class short films telling stories of healing and courage, lived outdoors. The event also features an exhibit by Wenatchee-based nature painter Chet Harum. March 20, 7-9 pm. $15-$20. Washington Cracker Co. Building, 304 W. Pacific. outlivefilmfestival.com
VIET THANH NGUYEN: ADAPTING THE SYMPATHIZER FOR TELEVISION Listen to Viet Thanh Nguyen discuss the challenges and rewards of adapting his spy novel about a half-Vietnamese, halfFrench communist double agent in the aftermath of the Vietnam War into a miniseries. March 20, 5 pm. Free. University of Idaho Administration Building, 851 Campus Dr. uidaho.edu
SANJURO This film follows a crafty samurai who stumbles upon a group of naive young samurai seeking to expose corruption in their clan. He quickly uncovers the clan’s Superintendent is plotting to seize power and helps his clansmen navigate dangerous situations to thwart the plans. March 21, 6:30 pm. $8. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931)
ST. PADDY’S COOKIE DECORATING Instructor Jaime Roberts teaches various St. Patrick’s Day cookie designs. March 13, 5:45-8 pm. $85. The Kitchen Engine, 621 W. Mallon Ave. thekitchenengine.com
PI DAY Birdie’s is offering 20 flavors of their sweet pies for $3.14 each to celebrate Pi Day. March 14, 10 am-6 pm. $3.14. Birdie’s Pie Shop, 712 N Monroe St. birdiespies.com/pi (509-241-3192)
KIMBAP AND KIMCHI COOKING CLASS Claire teaches students how to make the Korean dish kimbap, steamed rice rolled in dried seaweed featuring a variety of savory fillings. March 15, 5-7 pm. $80. Wanderlust Delicato, 421 W. Main Ave., Suite 103. wanderlustdelicato.com
THE OFFICIAL LUCKY’S ST PATRICK’S DAY BAR CRAWL An annual Saint Patrick’s Day bar crawl stopping at several locations and featuring photographers, drink specials, no cover and an after party. March 15, 4-11:59 pm. $10. Fast Eddie’s, 1 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. CrawlWith.US
SUSHI CLASS Get hands-on experience making your own sushi as instructor Rui guides you through preparing handpressed salmon nigiri, smoked salmon sushi roll and a Tamaki roll. March 17, 5:45-8 pm and March 24, 5:45-8 pm. $90. The Kitchen Engine, 621 W. Mallon Ave. thekitchenengine.com (509-328-3335)
CHOCOLATE TASTING & BOOK PAIRING Sample treats with different flavors from Halletts Chocolates and get suggestions for books that pair well with them. Adults. Registration is required. March 20, 7-8 pm. Free. Airway Heights Library, 1213 S. Lundstrom St. scld.org
TIKI COCKTAIL CLASS Learn how the forces of 19th-century drinking culture, Prohibition, war, and tourism brought together the proliferation of Tiki culture. March 20, 6-9 pm and March 21, 6-9 pm. $85. Commellini Estate, 14715 N. Dartford Dr. commelliniestate.com
CHURCHILL’S LIVE PIANO Gabe Lapano plays classics on the piano. 6-9 pm. free. Churchill’s Steakhouse, 165 S. Post St. facebook.com/ChurchillsSteakhouse
ARVID LUNDIN & DEEP ROOTS With fast fiddling, rollicking rhythms and beautiful ballads, Arvid Lundin & Deep Roots play a high-energy mix of instrumental music and songs drawn from traditional and contemporary sources. March 15, 2:303:30 pm. Free. Cheney Library, 610 First St. scld.org (509-893-8280)
SATURDAY WITH THE SYMPHONY The Coeur d’Alene Symphony performs, puts on an interactive activity and a book is read by the children’s librarian. Every third Saturday at 11 am. Free. Coeur d’Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave. cdalibrary.org (208-769-2315)
SPOKANE JAZZ ORCHESTRA: THE MUSIC OF FRANK SINATRA Singer, trumpeter and bandleader Jake Bergevin performs selections from Frank Sinatra’s catalogue with the Spokane Jazz Orchestra. March 15, 7:30-9:30 pm. $38-$51. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. bingcrosbytheater.com
SPOKANE SYMPHONY POPS 4: THE MUSIC OF JAMES BOND AND MORE The Spokane Symphony and singers Hugh Panaro and Chloe Lowery perform the timeless music of the James Bond movies including melodies by Shirley Bassey, Paul McCartney, Carly Simon and Adele. March 15, 7:30 pm. $58-$122. The Fox Theater, 1001 W. Sprague Ave. foxtheaterspokane.org (509-624-1200)
MARCHING ORDERS! The 30-musician Spokane British Brass Band presents a free concert of marches, film music, classical and pops at SFCC’s Music auditorium. March 16, 3-4 pm. Free. Spokane Falls Community College, 3410 W. Whistalks Way. sbbb.org (509-533-3500)
SPOKANE STRING QUARTET Music by millennial composer Polina Nazaykinskaya and works by masters from different eras: Franz Joseph Haydn and Samuel Barber. March 16, 3-5 pm. $20-$25. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. bingcrosbytheater.com (509-227-7638)
IMMANUEL LUTHERAN COLLEGE
SPRING CHOIR TOUR A night of Christian choral and instrumental music performed by twenty-six students from Immanuel Lutheran College in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. March 17, 6:30-8 pm. Free. CenterPlace Regional Event Center, 2426 N. Discovery Pl. Gethsemaneclc.org
WHITWORTH PRE-TAIWAN TOUR CONCERT The Whitworth Choir and Orchestra performs a varied program of works for their Taiwan tour, including a new commission by the Whitworth composition faculty Brent Edstrom entitled Psalm 146 and Haydn’s Insanae et Vanae for choir and orchestra. March 17, 7:30 pm. $11-$13. The Fox Theater, 1001 W. Sprague Ave. foxtheaterspokane.org (509-624-1200)
123 ANDRÉS Known for their high-energy, interactive performances, Andrés and Christina, the husband-and-wife team behind 123 Andrés, engage young audiences with music that blends Spanish and English. March 22, 2 pm. $10-$16. Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center, 211 E. Desmet Ave. gonzaga.edu
CELEBRATING YOUNG ARTISTS Young artists from the Coeur d’Alene Symphony National Young Artist Competition perform with the symphony. March 22, 7 pm. Schuler Performing Arts Center, 880 W. Garden Ave. cdasymphony.org
PRUNING FRUIT TREES Learn to prune a variety of fruit tree species using basic guidelines and systems. March 14, 9 am-3 pm. $120. Harmony Woods Retreat Center, 11507 S. Keeney Rd. piritpruners.com
TOYOTA FREE SKI FRIDAY The driver of any Toyota, Scion or Lexus is eligible for the free lift ticket. All other passengers in the car will need a lift ticket to access the mountain. March 14. Free. Silver Mountain Resort, 610 Bunker Ave. silvermt.com
NATIVE BEES, OTHER POLLINATORS AND POLLINATION IN NATURE Explore the realm of pollinators, from honeybees to a variety of native bees and other pollinating species in Washington, with Master Gardener Tim Diko. March 15, 11 am-1:30 pm. Free. Shadle Library, 2111 W. Wellesley Ave. spokanelibrary.org
SPOKANE CHIEFS VS. TRI-CITY AMERICANS Regular season games. Promotional schedule includes Miller Lite St. Paddy’s Day Jersey Sweepstakes. March 15, 6:05 pm. $12-$40. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon. spokanechiefs.com
TELEBRATION WEEKEND Explore telemark skiing with certified instructors hosting group sessions all weekend, March 15-16, 10 am-1 pm. 49 Degrees North, 3311 Flowery Trail Rd. ski49n.com
SHAMROCK SHUFFLE HALF MARATHON Participate in a 5k, 10k or half marathon. Cross the finish line and receive a shirt, medal and lucky treats. March 16, 8 am-noon. $50-$120. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. nsplit.com (208-806-1311)
SPOKANE CHIEFS VS. EVERETT SILVERTIPS Regular season game. Promotional schedule includes Special Olympics Night. March 16, 5:05 pm. $12-$40. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanechiefs.com (509-279-7000)
MULCH, EDGING AND HARDSCAPES: A WATERWISE WEDNESDAY WORKSHOP Get tips on creating a polished, functional garden with mulch, edging and hardscape that boost curb appeal and save water. March 19, 5:30-6:30 pm. Free. South Hill Library, 3324 S. Perry St. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5300)
SPOKANE CHIEFS VS. SEATTLE THUNDERBIRDS Regular season games. Promotional schedule includes Coeur d’Alene Casino Regular Season Finale and Family Feast Night. March 21, 7:05 pm. $12-$40. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanechiefs.com
EVERY BRILLIANT THING A young boy creates a list of everyday things that bring him joy in a desperate attempt to lift the spirits of his depressed mother. Over the years, the list continues to grow as he confronts life. Thu-Sat at 7:30 pm through March 15. $35. Hamilton Studio, 1427 W. Dean. theaterontheverge.com
THE WOLVES A fly-on-the-wall look at a girls’ high school soccer team as they go through their warm-ups. From the safety of their suburban stretch circle, the team navigates big questions and wages tiny battles with all the vim and vigor of a pack of adolescent warriors. Thu-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sat-Sun at 2 pm through March 30. $15-30. Spokane Civic Theatre, 1020 N. Howard St. spokanecivictheatre.com
HAM ON REGAL An original musical/ comedy show written and performed by Ferris High School parents and school staff that doubles as a fundraiser for the Ferris Parent Teacher Group. March 14, 7 pm and March 15, 1 & 7 pm. $13. Ferris High School, 3020 E. 37th Ave. hamonregal.org (509-354-6000)
ALEGRIA DANCE: VIBE! A night of dancing, live music, drinks and more hosted by Alegria Dance. March 15, 8 pm. $20. The Chameleon, 1801 W. Sunset Blvd. chameleonspokane.com
CELTIC CROSSINGS Celebrate the Feast Day of St. Patrick with Celtic music from across the diaspora including performances from The Spokane Irish Session Players, The Cathedral Choir, The Spokane Renaissance Singersand more. March 16, 5-6:30 pm. $10. St. John’s Cathedral, 127 E. 12th. stjohns-cathedral.org
DANCING WITH THE STARS LIVE! Experience the TV show’s famed ballroom dancing live wiht a night of electrifying dance performances from worldrenowned dancers including Emma Slater, Alan Bersten, Brandon Armstrong, Britt Stewart, Daniella Karagach, Gleb Savchenko, Pasha Pashkov and Rylee Arnold. March 20, 7:30-10 pm. $40-$125. First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. dwtstour.com
BEASTS, THE COLOR OF WINTER A group exhibition about dreams, artifacts and the ambition to understand the secrets harbored in the empyrean divine by artists Megan Finch, Tuk Vaughankraska and Mary Tevlin. Thu-Sat from 4-7 pm through March 29. Free. Terrain Gallery, 628 N. Monroe St. terrainspokane.com
BY THE SEA ART EXHIBIT AND SALE Enjoy art of the oceans, seas, riverscapes, ponds and pools creatively interpreted by 20 local artists. Wed-Fri from 10 am6pm, Sat from 9 am-noon and Sun from 1-4 pm through March 22. Free. The Jacklin Arts & Cultural Center, 405 N. William St. thejacklincenter.org (208-457-8950)
ERIN ELYSE BURNS: ITERATIONS Erin Elyse Burns is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice navigates territory within the disciplines of photography, video, performance art and artifact. Mon-Fri from 9 am-6 pm through April 10. Free. Eastern Washington University, 526 Fifth St. ewu.edu (509-259-2241)
I AG DUL BHFIAIN & DOINK AND INCONGRUITIES Thomas O’Day displaying text and images from Dublin and Tresia Oosting including works resulting from a bag of candy. Wed-Fri from 11 am-5 pm, Sat from 1-4 pm through April 1. Free. Kolva-Sullivan Gallery, 115 S. Adams. kolva.comcastbiz.net
KAREN MOBLEY: BIG DOODLES Large format improvisational watercolors by local artist Karen Mobley. Daily from 11 am-6 pm through March 29, 11 am-6 pm. Free. Entropy, 101 N. Stevens St. explodingstars.com (509-499-0784)
MELISSA DINGFIELD & MEGAN PERKINS: TWO VIEWS OF SPOKANE Painters Melissa Dingfield and Megan Perkins portray Spokane scenes in their own unique styles. Daily from 11 am-7 pm through March 29, 11 am-7 pm. Free. The Liberty Building, 203 N. Washington St. spokanelibertybuilding.com
MARCH ON TO THE MOON A group show featuring printmaker Jill McFarlane and fiber artist Jenni Barry. Wed-Sat from 11 am-5 pm through March 29. Free. New
Moon Art Gallery, 1326 E. Sprague Ave. manicmoonandmore.com
SECOND FRIDAY ARTWALK Stroll the streets of downtown Coeur d’Alene and enjoy locally- and nationally-acclaimed artists, along with local shops, restaurants and businesses. Second Friday of every month, 5-8 pm. Free. Downtown Coeur d’Alene, Sherman Ave. artsandculturecda.org (208-415-0116)
JEWELRY MAKING & CHARMS USING SHRINKY DINKS Join Hive Artists-InResidence Carly Ellis and Lily Henderson for a fun and relaxing program creating cute nostalgic charms to go on earrings, bracelets and keychains. Register to attend. March 15, 12-2 pm. Free. The Hive, 2904 E. Sprague Ave. spokanelibrary.org
PIVOT OPEN MIC: MADNESS True stories following the theme of “madness” without notes in five minutes. Prize for best story is given at the end of the night. March 13, 7 pm. Free. The Q Lounge, 228 W. Sprague Ave. pivotspokane.com
AARON SCOTT: BRING BACK YOUR PEOPLE Spokane’s Peace and Justice Action League (PJALS) hosts a reading for Aaron Scott’s new book, Bring Back Your People: Ten Ways Regular Folks Can Put a Dent in White Christian Nationalism March 14, 7 pm. Free. Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave. auntiesbooks.com
WRITE TOGETHER: A COMMUNITY WRITING SESSION Bring your current writing project and your favorite writing tools and prepare to hunker down and write. Local novelist and Writing Education Specialist Sharma Shields will write alongside of you and provide prompts and advice if needed. March 14, 10 am-noon. Free. Shadle Library, 2111 W. Wellesley Ave. spokanelibrary.org
THE GIFTS OF IMPERFECTION BOOK STUDY A book study with artwork and journaling focused on courage and resilience. March 15, 10:30-11:30 am and March 22, 10:30-11:30 am. Free. Coeur d’Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave. kimemorgan.com (208-769-2315)
MICHAEL N. MCGREGOR: THE LAST GRAND TOUR Michael N. McGregor is joined by Sharma Shields to discuss his newest novel, “The Last Grand Tour” about an American tour guide living in Munich as the Berlin Wall falls. March 17, 6-7 pm. Free. Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave. auntiesbooks.com
NEW AND NOTEWORTHY BOOK CLUB Join bookseller Mimi for a discussion about a book. Check website for each month’s pick. Every month on the third Tuesday from 6:30-7:30 pm. Free. Wishing Tree Books, 1410 E. 11th Ave. wishingtreebookstore.com (509-315-9875)
POETRY FOR EVERYONE: A WRITING WORKSHOP A poetry workshop open to anyone interested in expressing themselves through poetry led by Sarah Rooney. March 18, 1-2:30 pm. Free. Shadle Library, 2111 W. Wellesley Ave. spokanelibrary.org
BROKEN MIC A weekly open mic reading series. Wednesdays at 6:30 pm; sign-ups at 6 pm. Free. Neato Burrito, 827 W. First Ave. bit.ly/2ZAbugD (509-847-1234)
CREATIVE WRITING CLUB Stretch your writing skills with fun prompts, character creation, world building and more. Every Wednesday from 3:30-4:30 pm. Ages 8-12. . Free. Moscow Public Library, 110 S. Jefferson St. latahlibrary.org n
Local cannabis insiders give their picks on the perfect strains for spring
BY WILL MAUPIN
Warmer temperatures, longer days and a visual transition from white and gray to gold and green. Spring may not technically be upon us until later this month, but winter’s grip has clearly faded.
To welcome this changing of the season, we reached out to two cannabis experts from Spokane’s chain of Cinder dispensaries to get their informed recommendations on the ideal strains for those looking to soak in all that springtime has to offer.
Cannabis strains often take their names from sensory cues like how they look, smell or taste. With Blueberry Muffin, all three apply. Jude Cato, multimedia designer at Cinder, recommends the version grown by Rochester Farms.
“It smells and tastes like a dank blueberry muffin, just like it’s supposed to. Rochester Farms definitely has the tastiest Blueberry Muffin flower I’ve ever smoked,” Cato says. “At one point, I even labeled a jar of it ‘Jude’s Favorite Flower - Ask before opening’ so my old roommates wouldn’t smoke all of it before I could.”
In Cato’s experience, this indica-dominant strain brings all of the relaxation a good
indica should without the weight of sleepiness that often accompanies other indica-dominant varieties.
For a calming but awake springtime experience, Blueberry Muffin is a great option as the natural world begins to awaken from winter.
“I have a preference for indicas, and this strain has been my all-time favorite for a while now,” Cato adds.
Grown locally on the West Plains, Root Down’s Super Lemon Haze fits the mold as an archetype for a springtime strain. This sativa-dominant hybrid is the go-to for renewal this season for Keegan McClung, marketing director at Cinder.
“Root Down’s particular cut is the best Super Lemon Haze I’ve ever come across, boasting an explosive limonene profile that instantly lifts the mood, like stepping into warm sunshine after months of cold,” McClung says. “Each inhale delivers an electrifying burst of citrus — sharp lemon zest with a hint of sweet candy, paired with an energizing euphoria that melts away winter stress.”
Limonene, as the name suggests, is a terpene known to bring a lemony, citrus fragrance to cannabis strains in which it is dominant. It is also commonly associated with strains that elevate mood and reduce anxiety.
McClung also enjoys Root Down’s practice of growing small-batch, pesticide-free flower.
“Root Down’s Super Lemon Haze is the ultimate springtime reset if you want to shake off seasonal sluggishness,” McClung adds. n
BE AWARE: Marijuana is legal for adults 21 and older under Washington State law (e.g., RCW 69.50, RCW 69.51A, HB0001 Initiative 502 and Senate Bill 5052). State law does not preempt federal law; possessing, using, distributing and selling marijuana remains illegal under federal law. In Washington state, consuming marijuana in public, driving while under the influence of marijuana and transporting marijuana across state lines are all illegal. Marijuana has intoxicating effects; there may be health risks associated with its consumption, and it may be habit-forming. It can also impair concentration, coordination and judgment. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. Keep out of reach of children. For more information, consult the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board at www.liq.wa.gov.
OPEN EVERY DAY!
Sun-Thur 8am-10pm • Fri-Sat 8am-11pm | 2424 N. Monroe St • (509) 919-3470
WARNING: This product has intoxicating effects and
under the influence of this
Now that marijuana is legal for those 21 and over, it’s more important than ever to talk with your kids.
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 five-year sentence and fine of up to $10,000. Transporting marijuana across state lines, like from Washington into Idaho, is a felony under federal law.
