Inlander 06/03/2021

NOW HIRING RESTAURANTS STRUGGLE TO FILL JOBS PAGE 24

SILENCE IS GOLDEN A QUIET PLACE PART II DOES IT RIGHT PAGE 27

KETCHUP TO THE SCIENCE

D A R K INTENT WHERE COVID REGULATIONS MEET REALITY PAGE 11

JUNE 3-9, 2021 | WEAR SUNSCREEN!

IONS

A Mexican vacation, a foiled kidnapping plot and the dark web: Inside the FBI’s case against a Spokane doctor

BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

PAGE 14

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2 INLANDER JUNE 3, 2021

INSIDE

Here for kids

As they grow, from birth to adolescence.

VOL. 28, NO. 34 | COVER DESIGN: DEREK HARRISON

COMMENT NEWS COVER STORY CULTURE

5 10 14 21

FOOD FILM MUSIC EVENTS

24 27 29 31

I SAW YOU GREEN ZONE ADVICE GODDESS BULLETIN BOARD

34 35 38 39

EDITOR’S NOTE

I

t’s another one of those head-slapping, cringeinducing bits of local news, the type that briefly brings national attention (and scorn) for all the wrong reasons. For background reading, see: Rachel Dolezal, Kevin Harpham, Matt Shea, Karl Thompson, Moto-Brock, Phillip Paul, James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen. Here now is another nominee for the inauspicious list: RON ILG, a Spokane neonatologist who is now better known as the “Baby Doctor Charged With Insane Dark Web Kidnapping Plot,” as the Daily Beast put it.

This week, staff reporter Samantha Wohlfeil tries to get to the bottom of it all, looking for the bigger story among all the lurid details including master-slave contracts signed in blood, GPS trackers, an underground holding tank and poorly lit corners of the dark web. It’s not pretty. See what Wohlfeil turned up on page 14.

— JACOB H. FRIES, editor

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Find a Pediatrician: 509-233-7605 Deaconess Hospital

Rockwood Clinic

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BLOOM TOGETHER

Together we are grantmakers, changemakers, and go-getters. Thank you for 29 years of helping women and children in our community!

TINDER BOX PAGE 10

THE DEATH OF COMEDY PAGE 23

It’s not too late to get involved! whwfspokane.org women women

HELPING FUND

SILENCE IS GOLDEN PAGE 27

ANALOG WITNESS PAGE 29

INLANDER

SPOKANE • EASTERN WASHINGTON • NORTH IDAHO • INLANDER.COM

1227 WEST SUMMIT PARKWAY, SPOKANE, WA 99201 PHONE: 509-325-0634 | EMAIL: INFO@INLANDER.COM THE INLANDER is a locally owned, independent newspaper founded on Oct. 20, 1993. It’s printed on newsprint that is at least 50 percent recycled; please recycle THE INLANDER after you’re done with it. One copy free per person per week; extra copies are $1 each (call x226). For ADVERTISING information, email advertising@inlander.com. To have a SUBSCRIPTION mailed to you, call x213 ($50 per year). To find one of our more than 1,000 NEWSRACKS where you can pick up a paper free every Thursday, call x226 or email frankd@inlander.com. THE INLANDER is a member of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia. All contents of this newspaper are protected by United States copyright law. © 2021, Inland Publications, Inc.

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WHAT’S THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE INTERACTION YOU’VE EXPERIENCED? BARBIE RIVA: Had a customer order one of our most popular hamburgers and they ate the whole thing and said it wasn’t very good. Asked why he didn’t care for it and he said “because I’m a vegetarian.”

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Normally, we ask our question of the week of people we randomly encounter on the street. But with the coronavirus pandemic, we instead asked our followers on social media to share their thoughts.

FAITH IBBETSON-GILFILLAN: Not me but my best friend was working at Dairy Queen, and she had a lady order an ice-cream cake. Everything was done per the lady’s order, but when she came in to pick it up it wasn’t what she wanted. She had changed her mind on the colors and style and was mad that they couldn’t just change the cake, or give her a refund because she changed her mind. She was screaming profanities at my friend over it.

VALERIE AVERYBRADY RONGEY: During the winter of the 93 inches of snow, my receptionist quietly asked the person on the phone to hold so she could see what she could do to help her. She muted it and looked at the rest of us, and yelled out, “This woman is yelling at me because it is snowing on her street. Did we make it do that?” (We hire subcontractors for snow removal, and that year the city hired them all away.)

MIKAYLA GRANT: I once had a lady accuse me of adding salt to her soup on my way to the table. She said it tasted just overwhelmingly salty, and I said “I’m sorry the kitchen makes it the same every day,” and so she said, “Did YOU pour salt into it on the way here ’cause that’s what it tastes like.” She was so rude. She made a big scene and then had to sit in our lobby to “Make sure she didn’t have a heart problem from all the salt.” It was ridiculous.

MARY BLY: I was waiting to pay for parking inside River Park Square; meanwhile the woman in front of me lays into the pay station attendant.

The gal working the station was about 16, and this grown woman is harassing her about the price of parking at the mall going up about $3. The poor gal working didn’t know what to say or how to respond, so I stepped in and said, “It’s a bummer you have to pay more to park — hardly leaves money to fill up all those shopping bags you’re holding!” She quickly paid and left, Nordstrom bags and all. n

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Among the items included in the “appropriation window” is a photo of the Lone Ranger and Tonto.

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The Appropriation Window Look inside; there’s work yet to be done

BY CMARIE FUHRMAN

T

here are maps and books and figurines and dream catchers. A Christmas stocking made to look like a Native grandma, her faux buckskin dress open so Santa can deposit whatever gifts down the front. A photograph of the Lone Ranger and Tonto. One Pocahontas Barbie and one Lenox figurine of a Native boy kneeling to shake paws with a wolf.

A vase with a Native man screaming to the sky; and a painting of a Native woman dressed in white who holds a falcon, and near her right arm

is a rope that appears to have just been cut.

Most of the items are stereotypical, historical reproductions stamped “Made in China.” Some are unbelievable, like a tie with a cartoonish drawing of a grinning Black child wearing pajamas and carrying a fish while donning a hat that reads Injineer.

My co-workers call the window these items occupy “The Appropriation Window.” Not all things that fall into the foggy realm of appropriation make it to the window, nor are they all appropriated. The dream catchers are a gift sent to donors from St. Labre Indian School. And others, a scant few, are beadwork or pottery created by Native artists. I place the authentic next to the mass-produced, contrasting Native-inspired and inspired Native.

All of the items are donations to the thrift store that supports the nonprofit I work at as the only non-White employee in a county whose minority population is 2.1 percent.

Furnish

Your Life forLess!

“No,” I replied, but not before explaining why a group of privileged White women dressed in traditional headwear of Mexican peasants seemed, at the very least, impolite.

Among those which made the dumpster is one “Children’s Map of the United States,” portraying reservation areas with caricatures of Native people in dress not tribally correct and in any number of ludicrous or ineffectual poses. Scalping. Chasing settlers with tomahawks. Being pursued by Custer and pecked at by ravens. This same children’s map shows a White soldier riding through the South with a Dixie flag on a pole. Also tossed, a book titled History Started in 1776 and another with a back cover description that read “in a land ravaged by Indians…”; a shot glass with the word “Injun”; anything with the pejorative “squaw”; and every statue of a Black waiter holding an empty tray. Yes, there’s been more than one.

Once a stack of 20 sombreros came in. As I was putting them in the trash can, a volunteer asked if she could have them. I asked why, and she told me about a group she belonged to, a sisterhood of women fly fishers, who could wear them during their annual fiesta. “No,” I replied, but not before explaining why a group of privileged White women dressed in traditional headwear of Mexican peasants seemed, at the very least, impolite.

The first item to make the window was the Mattel Pocahontas Barbie. This, to my co-workers, was obvious. Next was the aforementioned tie. Then, an Indian Lego character. It has swollen to nearly 25 items, including a pair of dolls made in the 1940s and dressed in plastic buckskin. A bearded middle-aged man in a cowboy hat passing my window rapped on the pane one day. When I looked at him, he pointed to the dolls. “I want those,” he said, “I could sell them for a lot of money!”

After accepting a new job this spring, I was met with a dilemma. What to do with the Appropriation Window. The window allowed the team to discuss race, disparity and appropriaLETTERS tion — and keep items off the Send comments to sales floor that may upset editor@inlander.com. some who recognized them as outmoded and inappropriate.

“We will keep it as a reminder,” said Drew, the man who will fill my position. “Not all profit is good profit.”

During one of my last days, the team and I contemplated how appropriate a window was for this collection. It is tall with a wide sill. There is a security system sticker stuck to the pane. The window is rarely opened for air and covered by a sheet of plywood in the winter, so the force of heavy white snow won’t push in and shatter the glass. “It is also,” my co-worker Trent commented as we were closing for the day, “a way of looking inside — a reminder that there is still progress to be made.” n

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JUNE 3, 2021 INLANDER 7

COMMENT | FROM READERS

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Readers respond to a news story posted to Inlander.com on May 21 showing that the redder a Washington county was politically, the less likely its residents were to be vaccinated:

SCOTT WILBURN: Stevens County is really going to cause problems for our case rates and hospitalization rates in Spokane County. I lived in Colville for five years — lots of backward thinking up there.

MAGGIE BRAYTON: I am not at all surprised. Spokane County is so backwards it might as well be Idaho.

JOE PEKALA: I haven’t gotten my first vaccine and not only would I never vote for Trump, I wish the son of a bitch were behind bars.

TINA THORSON: My god. I’m shocked.

LORYN NELSON: There is a lot of talk about how they will “convince” those people to be vaccinated, but I promise you, a person against getting the COVID vaccine is not going to be “convinced” by a free cheeseburger or milkshake or entry into a lottery to take this vaccine. They will not take it for any reason. Not to fly, not to grocery shop, not to see a baseball game. The sooner vaccine pushers realize that, the sooner we can all move on. It’s a hard no.

KEITH HOLT: Weird. Almost like Trump voters aren’t scared of COVID and have more important things to do.

BYRON ASH: Trump could’ve told his cult members eating broken glass was healthy and they’d all be dead now. The anti-vaxxers used to be crystal-waving hippie lefties.

Trump voters took the stupid title and ran with it.

KEVIN HENDERSON: “Scared of COVID”? Is that the problem with you people? You think it is fear that causes someone to act rationally during a pandemic? Is it fear that makes people wear a seatbelt? Is it fear that gets people to look both ways when crossing the street? Is it fear that makes people lock their cars? You’ve been brainwashed into thinking this way. Seek assistance.

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Malden, a town of roughly 200 people, was decimated by a wildfire last season.

WILSON CRISCIONE PHOTO

ENVIRONMENT

TINDER BOX The forecast calls for a fire-filled season

BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

T

he Inland Northwest got a double whammy of grim news recently as forecasters predicted significant wildfire risk through this summer and the Washington Department of Ecology issued its first-ever drought advisory for much of the state.

The period from February through May 24 saw the least amount of rain in Spokane since record keeping began in 1881, says Jeff Marti, water resources planner at Ecology. March and April specifically were the fourthdriest those months have been since 1895.

“That is alarming,” says Angie Lane, assistant wildfire division manager for the state Department of Natural Resources. “That area in Central and Eastern Washington is going to be above normal temperatures, below normal precipitation, and that sets us up for potential for significant fires all through the summer.”

A national wildfire risk forecast that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration assembles each month predicts that the dry hot conditions will put parts of Eastern Washington and North Idaho at risk of significant fires starting in June and going through at least August.

Most massive wildfires in the Pacific Northwest are

10 INLANDER JUNE 3, 2021

human caused, so it is up to everyone to be safe with any burning and follow local regulations and fire bans, Lane says.

“We have to prevent the ignition,” Lane says. “The last thing we need is to be chasing around human-caused fires, especially later in the summer when there could be potential for lightning-caused fires. The public is our best partner here.”

With only 1.5 inches of rain from Feb. 1 to May 27, Spokane is well below the normal accumulation of 5.84 inches, according to weather data.

Similar conditions in many parts of Washington prompted Ecology to issue its first-ever drought advisory on May 27. Rather than waiting for conditions to hit full emergency drought status, Ecology can now issue an early warning to inform the public that conditions are dry and they need to conserve water.

“This year we had a pretty decent snowpack, so the rivers that flow off the mountains are forecasted to be pretty good for the most part,” Marti says. “It’s the dryland areas that are more rain dependent that don’t benefit from snowpack that are more stressed and vulnerable this year.”

That includes areas around Spokane and the Palouse, where dryland farmers rely on rainwater to grow crops like wheat, garbanzo beans, lentils and peas. Some crops may be stressed or fail this year, Marti says.

In areas where ranchers rely on prairie vegetation to feed their cattle, other sources of feed may be needed, depending on how prairie plants fare amid this year’s drought.

Plus, in low-water years, those with junior water rights in places such as the Little Spokane River may find their rights curtailed under Ecology regulations as senior water rights take precedent, Marti says.

The city of Spokane is calling on the public to conserve water usage this summer by voluntarily taking steps such as watering yards only every other day on an odd/ even schedule, and doing so in the early morning or late evening hours when less water is lost to evaporation.

“As a community, we need to use water wisely, especially during current conditions,” says Mayor Nadine Woodward. “We are asking citizens to use strategies that allow them to maintain their lawns and landscaping, while using less water and keeping their summer watering bills more affordable.” n

BUSINESS

Ketchup to the Science

LOVING THE FOOD AT

?

COVID-19 rarely if ever spreads through surfaces — yet ketchup bottles remain banned from WA restaurants

BY DANIEL WALTERS

W

alk into the Elk today, and you won’t be asked to put on a mask.

Last month, Washington state’s mask rules changed to say that vaccinated people don’t have to wear masks in most indoors settings and businesses don’t have to ask their customers to prove they’re vaccinated. Elk manager Marshall Powell took down the mask-mandate signs as a result.

“We’re not going to enforce something that’s not enforceable,” he says.

It varies across the city: In some Spokane restaurants, you’ll find signs requiring everyone to wear masks; in others you won’t.

But there’s one thing you won’t find at any law-abiding Washington state restaurant right now: ketchup bottles.

Ketchup bottles — and soy sauce bottles, for that matter — are still banned from restaurants under Washington state rules written back when scientists assumed COVID-19 could be easily spread by touching contaminated surfaces.

Any table condiments, the state rules say, must be single-use only and must be removed and discarded between each seating.

Similarly, restaurants have to offer hand sanitizer for customers and must either use disposable menus or disinfect them after each use.

Similarly, indoor entertainment venues have to sanitize microphones between singers, disinfect door knobs and pool tables, and provide sanitation wipes for customers to use vending machines.

And yet, today, the scientific consensus is clear: COVID-19 spreads through droplets and the airborne aerosols but rarely, if ever, spreads via surfaces.

Yet while the state has repeatedly altered the rules for restaurants — allowing alcohol to be served and increasing the allowable table size — the rules about hand sanitizers, menus and ketchup bottles have remained.

The evidence against surface-to-surface spread isn’t new.

Over a year ago, the CDC was saying that the surfaces weren’t “thought to be the main way the virus spreads.” Last summer, the Atlantic decried disinfectant regimens as “hygiene theater.” In February, Nature published an editorial arguing that implying surface transmission was a big risk that had “serious implications.”

“People and organizations continue to prioritize costly disinfection efforts, when they could be putting more resources into emphasizing the importance of masks, and investigating measures to improve ventilation,” the Nature editorial argued.

By April, the CDC was even more explicit about the low chance of surface spread, noting that the chance of contracting COVID by touching a contaminated surface was less than 1 in 10,000. (Another study suggested that while handwashing could further reduce that low risk, disinfecting didn’t do much.)

“This is a virus you get by breathing,” Rutgers University microbiologist Emanuel Goldman told the New York Times. “It’s not a virus you get by touching.”

But Lacy Fahrenbach, Washington state’s deputy secretary of health for COVID-19 response, says that since surface transmission was still possible, the CDC guidance and Washington state’s rules around things like menus and ketchup bottles had remained the same. ...continued on next page

FOR DETAILS & TO BEGIN VOTING, SCAN ABOVE VOTING ENDS ON SUNDAY, JUNE 13TH

JUNE 3, 2021 INLANDER 11

NEWS | BRIEFS

+

Now on Inlander.com: National and international stories from the New York Times to go with the fresh, local news we deliver every day 12 INLANDER JUNE 3, 2021

Restaurateur Adam Hegsted: “‘Better safe than sorry’ is part of our motto.”

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

“KETCHUP TO THE SCIENCE,” CONTINUED...

“There have been a few reports of COVID-19 cases potentially caused by surface-tosurface transmission,” she says.

While she wasn’t aware of any specific examples of those cases in Washington state, she stressed how challenging it was to figure out exactly how each case was contracted.

“It’s difficult to prove definitively, and that’s in part because the respiratory transmission route can’t be ruled out,” she says.

Washington state has tracked 374 outbreaks in restaurants since COVID began, more than other non-health-care business settings.

For the most part, restaurants have focused their lobbying efforts on restrictions around capacity, not menus or disinfectant. While Anthony Anton, president of the Washington Hospitality Association, says, “We’re all looking forward to getting back to using ketchup bottles and mustard bottles,” restaurant owners have found other regulations almost advantageous.

The new menu regulations, for example, gave businesses an excuse to switch to digital QR code menus that were a lot easier to update in real time.

And health department rules around cleaning surfaces fit easily into the workflow of establishments that already had a slew of surface-cleaning practices. After all, even if COVID doesn’t spread through contaminated surfaces, other pathogens do.

“Whenever someone leaves that table, we’re disinfecting that whole area,” says Adam Hegsted, owner of a number of local restaurants like the Yards Bruncheon and Baba. “‘Better safe than sorry’ is part of our motto.”

By June 30, all state COVID regulations, including those on restaurants, may be lifted. In the meantime, Fahrenbach says that the state is assessing its food worker and establishment policies in response to changing scientific policies.

But some restaurant owners are seeking stability and clarity more than another incremental policy change.

“The state regulations have been so inconsistent and constantly changing, it’s been tough to keep track of what’s going on,” says Powell.

And even after state COVID rules disappear, Anton says, some restaurants may keep following some of them, if only to ease the fears of customers nervous to venture back into indoor dining.

“Part of hospitality is making your guests comfortable,” Anton says. “Part of that is removing the things that they might worry about even when they don’t have to.”

In other words, even if some food-safety practices are “hygiene theater,” what is food service if not a kind of theatrical performance? n

COVID-19

By the Numbers Why a massive state backlog is making Spokane’s COVID-19 case count look worse than it is

BY WILSON CRISCIONE

I

f you’ve been following the COVID-19 numbers in Spokane, nobody could blame you for being alarmed at what looks like an uptick in cases lately.

Since Friday, May 21, according to the Spokane Regional Health District, there’s been a huge increase in case rate from the week before.

But those numbers are deceiving. Hundreds of those cases are not actually new cases at all but instead positive cases from weeks or months earlier, says health district spokesperson Kelli Hawkins. Some of them are positive test results from as far back as December.

That’s because the Washington Department of Health recently discovered a backlog of around 3,500 positive cases since December that had not been previously reported. The backlog is primarily impacting King, Pierce and Spokane counties, state health officials tell the Inlander.

Juliana Grant, a state epidemiologist, says the problem was due to miscommunication with a lab that shared test results with the state. In December, that lab — which the state health department would not name — started sending additional data through an electronic channel that was not picked up by the state’s system.

Grant described it as partly human error and partly a technological error.

“There are things that could have been done on both the [Department of Health] side and the lab side to prevent this,” she says. “I think the important thing is that the data are being processed now. We’re getting caught up and fixing the issue, and the lab is definitely working with us on it to make sure that everything is corrected moving forward.”

“We use the best data we have available at the time.”

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Practically, the backlog matters because case rates have been tied to reopening decisions. If it turns out there were a lot more cases than we thought there were at the time, then those decisions may have been based on bad information.

The state health department says that it can’t say whether reopening decisions would have been different if the cases were reported at the time. In fact, they haven’t really tried to find out if the metrics would have led to another decision.

“We explicitly do not go back and recalculate reopening measures or other metrics like that, after the event,” Grant says.

“We use the best data we have available at the time, and that, ultimately, is what we base our decisions on.”

Some of the lab results being reported now are positive results from May, and some go five months back, the state says. The state health department didn’t give the Inlander exact dates on the hundreds of cases from Spokane identified so far in the backlog.

However, for its reporting, the local health district considers a case to be “new” based on when the district first learns of it. That means these old cases are being reported as new ones.

The state is still processing the roughly 22,000 test results (that include both positive and negative results) from the backlog, and they’re working in reverse chronological order to prioritize recent cases getting into the data systems as soon as possible. How local health districts report those cases is up to them.

Grant says it’s not uncommon to have a delay between when cases come back positive and when they are reported to the local health district. It’s just that this time, the backlog is on a larger scale.

“This is more cases that we’ve found in a delayed fashion than I have generally seen in other situations, yes,” Grant says.

“And it’s impacting several counties more than others, so it’s more noticeable. More frequently, those situations are smaller numbers of cases, or spread out across the state, or across many states.”

But for now, it doesn’t appear that we’re seeing a big spike in COVID spread in Spokane. Just take the regional health district’s word for it.

“It hasn’t been a dramatic increase or decrease,” Hawkins says. n

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BUSTED WITH

BITCOIN

GPS trackers, an underground holding tank, a Mexican vacation, a foiled kidnapping plot and the dark web: Inside the FBI’s case against Spokane’s Dr. Ron Ilg

BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL 14 INLANDER JUNE 3, 2021

I

nside a courtroom on the seventh floor of the federal courthouse in downtown Spokane, an attorney projects a screenshot of a sinister website where people attempt to pay purported cartel members to do their dirty work.

A grisly photo of a dead, naked man — bound and stabbed with dozens of knives — serves as the banner image for the site found on the socalled dark web. This harder-to-access part of the internet is where some seek black market goods and services.

Need a hitman?

This site promises a suite of services from burning someone’s house down to murder. But they don’t do “suicides.”

“To suiciders, don’t contact us. We don’t do suicides because you don’t pay until the mark is dead and you can’t pay if you’re dead,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Barker reads aloud from the site’s policies during the April 21 hearing.

Screenshots from the site show messages from a user by the name of Scar215 who is trying to make sure the hitman he wants to hire knows that he’s not supposed to

murder the target — just kidnap and drug the Spokane woman. (Typos and grammar issues in these and other messages have been left intact throughout the article.)

“First, lets ensure the goals are correct,” Scar215 writes around 5 am on April 1. “I think you accidently wrote ‘not go back’ when in fact she MUST go back.

This is the absolute goal that she must do for a good bonus.”

The user goes on to dictate specific goals to earn roughly $40,000 worth of Bitcoin. The woman must agree to drop her divorce proceedings against her husband, agree to go back to him, and agree to “keep her mouth shut, and tell no one about the kidnapping.”

Scar215 also suggests the hitman plant drugs and needles in the woman’s home to destroy her credibility and writes that while kidnapped, the woman should be injected with heroin twice a day, taught to do so herself, and then videotaped doing so, to be used “for bribery later.”

She’s a mother who “has kids every other week,” the user notes.

For a bonus of tens of thousands of dollars more, Scar215 outlines other goals including “return to your

husband by asking to move back home AND [f---ing] him at least three times within” the first two weeks after the kidnapping.

“The messages recovered from the dark web demonstrate a bold, brazen plan to kidnap and drug the victim with heroin,” Barker tells the court. “They demonstrate the efforts this defendant will go to to get control over his victims.”

As Barker goes over the details of the messages, Dr. Ron Ilg — a pediatric doctor with a glowing, 17-year record of working with newborn babies in intensive care units — sits at the defendant’s table. Dressed in a yellow Spokane County Jail jumpsuit, he repeatedly shakes his head at the allegations being leveled against him — namely that he is Scar215, a fact he denies.

Ilg was in Mexico on vacation when Scar215 wanted this kidnapping to take place. The target? Just so happens to be Ilg’s estranged wife who filed for divorce in June 2020.

Before that trip, Ilg had been best known for his work saving the lives of the most vulnerable newborns. ...continued on next page

JUNE 3, 2021 INLANDER 15

“BUSTED WITH BITCOIN,” CONTINUED...

But by the time he returned to Spokane, federal law enforcement would begin to piece together a dark picture of a man who they say relishes control, takes pleasure in the idea of imprisoning women in an underground concrete tank on his property, and who took to the dark web by night to plot terrible crimes against women in his life.

Court documents detail some of how his life began to spiral over the last two years, as his marriage fell apart, he lost his job, and his girlfriend says he became more dominating.

Even as Ilg appeared to be turning some things around early this spring, Scar215 was setting plans in motion that would land Ilg in jail facing an attempted kidnapping charge that carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

And while the alleged goal of the kidnapping was to make Ilg’s wife want him back, learning details of the threat drove her to request court protection that would deny him any contact whatsoever. “[He] ordered a ‘hit’ out on me and I am very scared that if he has access to weapons, he will hurt me himself,” she writes in an April 12 request for a protection order.

“Mr. Ilg has already lost his job and with his current mental state, I fear that he could flee or hurt both of us. … I believe he would hurt our son to get to me. I believe we are both in imminent danger.”

GETTING FIRED

On April 1 — the same morning that Scar215 was making sure his hitman understood the kidnapping job — Spokane County court staff were archiving copies of a lawsuit filed March 31 by Ron Ilg against his former employer, Pediatrix/Mednax, a neonatal health provider that works with local hospitals.

“

Ron Ilg filed a lawsuit on March 31 against his former employer, Pediatrix/Mednax, a neonatal health provider.

Pediatrix did not respond to voicemails or an email seeking comment for this story. Providence Sacred Heart spokeswoman Beth Hegde emailed to say, “Ronald Ilg is not associated with Providence and has not been for several years.”

As Ilg looked for a new job, he also volunteered for an up-and-coming nonprofit. Earlier this year, Ilg was highlighted in a March 11 press release for Maddie’s Place, a nonprofit center that, by the end of the year, plans to offer medical care to infants who are born addicted to drugs. Ilg, still a volunteer, not a paid employee, was announced as the chief medical officer and executive director.

However, Maddie’s Place staff report that as soon as the attempted kidnapping allegations were published after Ilg’s April arrest, the nonprofit cut all ties with him.

When contacted by the Inlander, Ilg’s attorney, Carl Oreskovich, says his team takes issue with many things included in the federal probable-cause statement and complaint.

“But I think the appropriate place for us to take that issue is in the court,” Oreskovich says, declining to comment further on other elements of this story.

[He] ordered a ‘hit’ out on me and I am very scared ... if he has access to weapons.”

Since January 2013, Ilg had served as corporate medical director for the Spokane group of Pediatrix.

Ilg’s lawsuit states that he was accused of harassment by a fellow employee in May 2019, and shortly after, another complaint was lodged about his scheduling practices. Ilg claims he was never given details of the complaints or told who they came from.

“Shockingly, Defendants did not give Dr. Ilg any meaningful opportunity to defend against the allegations,” the lawsuit claims.

In November 2019, Ilg’s bosses asked him to step down as corporate medical director. He refused. The lawsuit states that his boss instead announced they’d suspend that position.

Ilg took some leave (his pay during that time is also disputed) and tried to get Pediatrix/Mednax to remedy what he claims was a “hostile working environment” at Sacred Heart Medical Center. But over the coming months, the lawsuit states, nothing changed, and he didn’t return to work there. Divorce filings say he worked at MultiCare Deaconess Hospital during that time. In an October 2020 letter, Pediatrix and Mednax claim Ilg was removed from leadership after he refused to sign a corrective action plan in July 2019.

Eventually, Ilg was terminated on Dec. 8, 2020, according to the lawsuit.

16 INLANDER JUNE 3, 2021

HARASSMENT, GPS TRACKERS AND CONTROL

Over the two-year course of difficulties with his employer, Ilg’s marriage also appeared to be deteriorating.

In texts from March 2020, filed as part of a petition for a protection order in December 2020, Ilg tells his wife she should read an article titled “The ultimate guide to domestic discipline, improving your relationship.” She responds simply “dinner is ready.” He thanks her for the meal, but notes she hasn’t said anything about the article.

“Im going to take your phone everyday when you get home if you continue this behavior. I will also take your car from you if you continue to ignore my requests,” Ilg texts his wife when she still doesn’t reply. “you ignore text messages without a response. you refuse to refer to Me as Sir on text messaging. you wont compromise on sexual activity and how to reincorporate ropes and toys.”

His wife texts back telling him to stop the threats and notes that he is “getting scary” and “This is considered domestic abuse.”

LINKEDIN PHOTO

In the request for an anti-harassment protection order, filed Dec. 21, 2020, Ilg’s wife notes that she found GPS trackers on her car in August 2019, April 2020 and again in June 2020.

She files for divorce in June 2020 and confronts Ilg via text about finding a tracker on her car for the third time.

“Ron I found a tracker and its on,” she writes, noting the device had to be charged by someone to still have power.

“Ok. you are right. It is there for the same reason I have cameras in the house,” Ilg texts back. “I care and I want to know you are ok. Sorry for caring.”

Still, the divorce proceedings stall as the two live together off and on through November. But at that point, his wife decides to go forward with the divorce, according to court records. As part of the proceedings, the two try to work out a standard no-contact order in a way that allows them to still exchange information about their child.

But when Ilg texts his wife hundreds of times in December, she files for the more protective anti-harassment order. Under it, Ilg would not be able to contact her at all.

In the December texts, included in Spokane County court documents, Ilg threatens to show up at her house at night to learn if she’s dating someone. He offers to take her on lavish vacations and pay for her other kids’ higher education and career dreams. He rebukes her for not loving him. He says he’s in a bad place and needs her.

Meanwhile, he begs her to make their relationship work, with his girlfriend in the mix. In divorce proceedings, his wife tells the court Ilg has been having an affair for more than two years.

In a December text, Ilg suggests his wife and girlfriend could grocery shop at Costco together while he watches their son, in order for the women to get closer, and laments the fact that his wife doesn’t want to take a trip to Mexico with all of them.

“I’ve told you once before that not everyone thinks the same way as you do,” his wife replies. “You may think spending time together and going to Mexico or hanging out with you and [your girlfriend] will make things better.

Maybe thats how it would help you or what you think will help me but it doesn’t mean its right.”

Neither Ilg’s wife nor his girlfriend would comment for this story. ...continued on page 18

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JUNE 3, 2021 INLANDER 17

Dr. Ron Ilg has appeared in federal court at the Thomas S. Foley United States Courthouse in downtown Spokane.

“BUSTED WITH BITCOIN,” CONTINUED...

By January 2021, Ilg and his wife, through their attorneys, instead agreed that she would drop her December request for an anti-harassment protection order and replace it with a less strict civil no-contact order. Under that order, Ilg could only contact his wife if it regarded their 2-year-old son.

But on Feb. 11, as the two exchanged their son at the scheduled time in a grocery store parking lot, the wife saw folded papers on the ground with her name on them just outside his car.

On Feb. 19, she again asked the court to issue a stricter anti-harassment protection order, noting that during that custody exchange, Ilg texted her to say she must have “dropped something,” prompting her to pick up the letter on the ground, which turned out to be a typed threepage plea from him begging her to get back together. That type of communication wasn’t allowed.

But by March 10, the two again agreed that instead of getting an anti-harassment protection order, there was another option. This time, Ilg would put $25,000 into a trust account with his wife’s attorney, which he would forfeit should he violate the terms of their civil no-contact order.

Bevan Maxey, the attorney who has represented Ilg’s wife both in her divorce and protection order filings, notes that the willingness to put up that kind of money to ensure an order won’t be violated is unusual.

“That’s an extraordinary measure that I’ve never been a party to,” Maxey says.

Throughout everything, Maxey says it’s clear Ilg was trying to maintain a relationship with both his wife and girlfriend while remaining married to his wife, which was unworkable. It’s unclear yet whether the crimes he’s ac-

18 INLANDER JUNE 3, 2021

cused of by the federal government constitute a violation that would forfeit that $25,000 to his wife, but Maxey says they intend to have the court weigh in on that.

“Unfortunately, she’s been through a lot. … She just wanted peace and a peaceful split, and Mr. Ilg was given repeated chances to stop his harassing behavior,” Maxey says.

CONNECTING SCAR215 WITH A DOCTOR

What Scar215 and others like him may not realize is that many of the dark web sites they try to buy services from are simply scams. In fact, the New York Times reported in March that “there has not been a known murder attributed to any of” the dark web sites that claim to offer hitman services. The sites are attractive because users can more easily mask their location and identity from one another, and they can pay for crimes with digital currency.

But the thing about cryptocurrencies based on blockchain technology is that by design, they include a receipt of every person that’s ever held or traded that currency.

In Scar215’s case, journalists working for the BBC — helped by an unnamed source — were able to alert the potential kidnapping victim and the FBI, providing screenshots of messages and information that led federal investigators to a cryptocurrency account on Coinbase.

FBI agent Ryan Butler testified in federal court on April 21 that with a subpoena to the cryptocurrency exchange company, agents learned that the account, belonging to one Ron Ilg, was used to transfer Bitcoin into “escrow” pending successful completion of the hit. The Coinbase account, Butler says, was set up with Ilg’s per-

MEDICAL LICENSE

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

For now, Ronald Craig Ilg’s medical license is listed as active with no enforcement actions.

But a complaint has been filed with the Washington Medical Commission, and it’s being investigated, says commission spokeswoman Stephanie Mason. The commission decides whether to suspend or revoke medical licenses and investigates complaints.

An arrest doesn’t automatically trigger an investigation relating to a physician’s license to practice medicine, Mason says, and disciplinary actions aren’t added to the public database until the commission takes an action like suspending a license.

The commission uses a complaint-based system to open investigations, but people do tend to file complaints once a physician is arrested, she says.

Sometimes the commision doesn’t make a decision until the person has been convicted, Mason says. But if there’s a situation where someone could be an imminent danger to the public, their license could be immediately suspended, she says.

“Doctors are supposed to be held to a higher moral standard,” Mason says. “In the case of kidnapping and paying someone to do something to your wife, you would question their ability to make solid decisions at the very least.”

The commission’s investigators will now examine the facts surrounding the complaint about Ilg, and their work could include interviewing family members and former employers, examining court documents, and more.

— SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

sonal information, including his Social Security number.

So when Ilg returned from Mexico with his girlfriend and her kids on April 11, he was met at the Spokane International Airport by federal agents.

He told the FBI that he did try to hire a hitman, but he claimed that it was to commit suicide in a way that his girlfriend could collect his life insurance, records state.

However, he later admitted he hadn’t changed his beneficiaries to reflect that plan.

But the government makes a different case, pointing to darker intentions involving more potential victims.

While Ilg took steps in March and April to show his confidence in his employment case and his ability to follow a no-contact order, the federal complaint alleges that as early as February he had started looking for a hitman to break the hands of a woman identified only as B.L. or Victim 1 in documents.

The government alleges that around Feb. 23 and Feb. 24, Ilg used the pseudonym Scar215 to put nearly $2,000 in Bitcoin into escrow, dictating that “the target should be given a significant beating that is obvious. It should injure both hands significantly or break the hands.” The address for that victim and a photo were provided.

FBI agent Butler testified during the April 21 hearing that if Victim 1, a former co-worker of Ilg’s, had her hands broken, it could have ended her career. Victim 1 told the FBI that Ilg might have thought she had something to do with the complaints leveled against him before he was fired. The Inlander reached out to who we believe to be Victim 1 for comment, but she did not respond.

Then, in late March and early April, Scar215 sought someone to carry out the more complicated job involving Ilg’s wife.

Scar215 provided an address where she could be found, and details of her work and child custody schedules. ...continued on next page

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“BUSTED WITH BITCOIN,” CONTINUED...

Scar215 also made sure to write, “It is important to note that the husband does NOT know this is happening. He had a similar experience though to make sure he will take her back, which he agreed to do. She is strong for a woman. And she is stubborn and will need lots of persuasion. And she will say yes when she is thinking ‘[f---] no’ so after she is released a way to continue to encourage her would be a good idea.”

During the April 21 hearing that would determine whether Ilg would remain in jail, federal prosecutor Barker also emphasized that the messages from Scar215 targeted the two women, and specified that murder was not the goal.

What’s noteworthy, Barker pointed out, is that while FBI agents executed a search warrant at Ilg’s house after interviewing him, they found biometric safes coded for only Ilg’s fingerprint. Ilg helped open the safes, and Barker said that inside one of them agents found a sticky note with the username Scar215 and a password that enabled them to log in to the dark web sites in question.

“

girlfriend, referred to as “Witness 1” in the federal complaint, said she wanted Ilg kept in jail.

While in Mexico, Ilg’s girlfriend had noticed him using a second cellphone and threw it in the pool, according to the FBI. On April 8, she texted Ilg’s wife to let her know “some strange stuff has happened while we have been here I need to talk to you ASAP when we get back.”

She tells the FBI that in March, Ilg had forced her to sign a “master-slave” contract with blood, against her will, agent Butler testifies.

Attorney Barker displays a copy of the contract, printed in a calligraphic typeface. It states in part that it is, “A consensual real slavery contract between a slave and its master.” Later, it says “slave unconditionally accepts what master would like to do” whether that’s a punishment or not. The final page appears to be signed by Ilg and the girlfriend with a partial bloody fingerprint next to each signature.

Butler testifies that the girlfriend recorded audio of an apparent attack by Ilg while in Mexico, in which she can be heard saying “please stop” over and over, as if she’s in pain. Butler says she also told agents Ilg threatened her with several hours in “the hole,” a concrete box that’s buried under the yard on his rural Orchard Prairie property, where she says he’s made her spend time before.

Federal attorney Barker displays pictures that were taken inside and outside the tank when the search warrant was executed.

Above ground, two circular concrete lids sit several feet apart in the grass at ground level, and two curved metal pipes apparently provide airflow. A photo from inside the dark concrete box shows the tank is deep enough that a ladder is needed to get in or out.

Ilg’s attorney Oreskovich counters by asking if the activities, including being put in “the hole,” were consensual. He asks Butler whether he’s ever searched for a similar masterslave contract online (he hasn’t) or if he’s heard of BDSM — “bondage, domination, sadism, masochism,” Oreskovich explains.

Oreskovich notes that while the federal government quotes February texts from the girlfriend to Ilg that say “leave me alone,” she still went to Mexico with him in early April.

But Barker asks agent Butler if he’s ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome, or the cycle of domestic violence, in which victims regularly return to their abusers, struggling to leave abusive situations, often out of fear of violence.

In the end, U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Rodgers says he’s not going to hang anything on anybody’s sexual preferences, and he’s not sure if the domestic violence cycle illuminates this particular case. He also recognizes that Ilg has no criminal history and has a strong family support system.

Yet the steps to date, including protection orders obtained

by Ilg’s wife, were not effective in preventing further behavior, Rodgers says.

“I also find this case to be striking, and a departure from the norm, if there is one to be had in this business,” Rodgers says. Ilg is “bright, has assets, and has shown a willingness to be vicious and devious.”

So at the end of the multi-hour hearing, the judge finds that no conditions can keep everyone safe except for keeping Ilg detained for now.

In particular, the judge notes that a mental health evaluation should be conducted, and once that evidence is presented, there could be further discussion of possible release terms.

Court is adjourned, and as the handful of people in the courtroom stand up to leave, two U.S. marshals put Ilg back in handcuffs. The man who’s shown a penchant for being in control and subduing others finds himself on the other side of the power balance, subdued as officers escort him out a side door in the chambers to be taken back to a concrete cell. n

She is strong for a woman. And she is stubborn and will need lots of persuasion.”

Ilg’s attorney Oreskovich attempted to draw the blame away from his client, asking agent Butler whether it’s possible Ilg’s phone could have been hacked or if someone else could’ve logged in as Scar215.

But in his response, Barker quickly noted that only one person the government knows of had the login info for that account specifically stored in a safe coded to his fingerprint: Ilg.

ESTABLISHING POTENTIAL DANGER

Throughout the April 21 hearing — as his attorney argues he should be allowed to work in the community instead of sitting behind bars while awaiting trial — Ilg remains seated at the defendant’s table, at times appearing as though he wants to say something.

He shakes his head at the most lurid accusations leveled by federal attorney Barker, and at times scrawls a note for his attorney Oreskovich on a piece of scratch paper.

Oreskovich tells the court that Ilg’s ex-wife who lives in Central Washington (not the woman currently seeking a divorce) and his brother are both willing to help house him and ensure he shows up to court. He can work on an orchard on that ex’s property. The lawyer even offers to hand over Ilg’s passport and put him on a GPS-enabled ankle monitor if he’s allowed to be released from jail while the case moves forward.

On the other hand, Barker points out several reasons Ilg should remain in custody.

Included in that list is the fact that Ilg is a person with means. According to income filings in his divorce proceedings, Ilg was making more than $59,000 a month before he was fired.

Barker also notes Ilg attempted suicide the day after the search warrant was served on his property, and he was treated at the hospital for a few days before being booked into Spokane County Jail on April 16.

Barker argues that in an apparent suicide note, Ilg showed he felt guilty about the plot, as he wrote, “I pray that God forgives me. … I couldn’t see the path. I [f---ed] it up. Irreparable [f---] up.”

Both women who were potential targets also reported that they wouldn’t feel safe if Ilg were released, particularly since the wife’s protection orders obtained before this point did not prevent things from escalating, Barker says. Even Ilg’s

20 INLANDER JUNE 3, 2021

LOCAL ATTEMPTS TO HIRE A HITMAN

In the past, others in the Spokane area have tried to hire hitmen, but in nearly every case, the “hitman” turned out to be a cop.

South Hill Rapist Kevin Coe’s mother, Ruth Coe, was found guilty in 1982 of trying to hire a hitman to kill the judge and prosecutor who put her son away. The “hitman” she spoke with was an undercover police officer.

In August 2019, adult film actress Katrina Danforth pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Idaho for trying to hire a hitman to kill the father of one of her kids. The hitman in that case, someone she’d been given a phone number for, turned out to be an undercover police officer.

There was, however, an actual hitman hired to kill Spokane businessman Doug Carlile in 2014. In that case, James Henrikson, who bought into potential oil-bearing property in North Dakota with Carlile, hired Timothy Suckow, someone his right-hand man knew, for the shooting. Suckow apparently never got paid, and was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder. Henrikson was sentenced to life in prison.

— SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Samantha Wohlfeil covers the environment, rural communities, and social and cultural issues for the Inlander. Since joining the paper in 2017, she’s reported how the weeks after getting out of prison can be deadly, how child marriage is still allowed in many states, how terminally ill patients struggle to access legal lethal medication, and several other sensitive investigations.

She can be reached at samanthaw@inlander. com or 325-0634 ext. 234.

Dog & Pony owner Christopher Russell (right) and current show curator Kim Deater YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

VISUAL ARTS

NO

JOKE Dog & Pony gallery opens doors for local artists seeking opportunity and community in the Spokane art scene

BY NATALIE RIETH

A

rt enthusiasts have all seen the traditional curated exhibition and, yes, it never disappoints an artsy eye. But what happens when a writer, a fashion designer and an artist walk into an exhibition — ­ or, in this case, a bar?

Dog & Pony, a new private South Hill exhibition space, is currently home to a show called A Writer, a Fashion Designer, and an Artist Walk into a Bar… Its first exhibition showcases the writing of Annisa Hale, fashion by Sav Filson and paintings by Hannah Koeske. Each contributing artist resides and works within the Spokane community.

A Writer, a Fashion Designer, and an Artist Walk into a Bar… was inspired by the idea of intertwining the classic bar joke and a group exhibition. Kim Deater, exhibition curator and Spokane local, was driven to create a show that challenges the “fine art” norm and displays a fusion of literature, fashion and painting where all art forms are seen as equal.

“We’re coming at this from all different angles,” says

Christopher Russell, artist and founder of Dog & Pony.

“It’s a multiplicity of viewpoints that draws from all over.”

Kickstarting Dog & Pony from his South Hill home has been a running idea for years. Russell says in larger cities, like Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco, it is common for artists to open up gallery space within their homes to share art with their community. In many cases, such opportunities have led to the discovery of lesser known artists and their creative works.

“Christopher is trying to create an interface between artists from different areas with the artists that are here [in Spokane] and make a dialogue back and forth, where people on the national scene can appreciate and find out about these local artists,” Deater says. “This is huge for Spokane.”

Russell says Dog & Pony’s opening show features Spokane artists as a way to embrace and support local artistic talent, especially in such unprecedented times. ...continued on next page

JUNE 3, 2021 INLANDER 21

CULTURE | VISUAL ARTS

A painting by Hannah Koeske currently on display at Dog & Pony.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

“NO JOKE,” CONTINUED...

Hale is a writer, poet and photographer who channels “showing versus telling” as a creator. Her work focuses on an approach to writing that incorporates raw, sensory imagery. Her writing is displayed near a reclining chair for viewers to relax and enjoy, and also hung on the gallery wall to emphasize that all three forms in the show — writing, fashion and painting — are equal creative works.

Koeske’s paintings are inspired by her vision of capturing the relationship of humans to their surroundings.

Many of the figures seen in her paintings are personal friends and acquaintances. Koeske enjoys hearing them share their personal journeys and present thoughts with her as she creates.

Koeske says that her paintings showcased in A Writer, a Fashion Designer, and an Artist Walk into a Bar… are a combination of paintings that she has recently completed and others that she has been refining over time. She often revisits former works with a different medium, like Sharpie or ballpoint pen, to add a new element to the surface of the paintings. Most of her paintings incorporate faces or bodies in relation to public spaces, like parks, pools or train stations; are multicolored; and include abstracted elements of the environments that she paints.

Sav Filson is a fashion designer who works professionally simply under the name Sav. Their clothing line EVERYBODY challenges the gender binary by designing genderless garments. Their clothing installation in the Dog & Pony exhibition — also inspired by genderless fashion — was created with a light, transparent silk organza fabric that acts in a symbolic manner, demonstrating

22 INLANDER JUNE 3, 2021

gender fluidity and representation of all people drawn to its beauty.

“I wanted to create something that takes elements from both menswear and womenswear, but make something that is its own thing — a piece that is not created for who is wearing it but that is beautiful just because it is,” says Sav. Typically, art exhibitions are preplanned and criteriabased for artists creating their work. What makes Dog & Pony’s opening exhibition so unique is that both Russell’s advising and Deater’s curatorial approach gave free rein to the artists.

“I think that often people think of artists by them providing a service, like coffee where you can order with or without cream. Therefore, [they] can dictate the rules,” says Russell. “But when art is really art, it comes from freedom of the artists doing what they feel they need to do and then sorting it out later. It’s just a situation where freedom reigns.”

Hale, Koeske and Sav began with a plan to incorporate elements of one another’s creative processes to establish a distinct relationship between their art. Eventually they decided A Writer, a Fashion Designer, and an Artist Walk into a Bar… would be most impactful by bringing the pieces together in a way that embraces its divergent and unique nature.

“I think it is the nature of the show and the bar joke combined,” says Sav. “It has these three elements that are so different that are not trying to be the same. It’s an opportunity to put them all together, invite people to draw

comparisons and have a conversation about them, and naturally see what comes out of it.”

After showing A Writer, a Fashion Designer, and an Artist Walk into a Bar… Dog & Pony will present its second exhibition Empire Down on July 11. Robert Yoder, who will curate, aims to incorporate the local community with Seattle-based artists. The first season will close with a pair of concurrent exhibitions examining WEEKEND the facets of bodily C O U N T D OW N autonomy. My Body, My Get the scoop on this Choice, opening Septemweekend’s events with ber 19, will be curated our newsletter. Sign up at by the Association Inlander.com/newsletter. of Hysteric Curators (AHC) and will feature artists such as Andrea Bowers and Eliza Blow. In a solo exhibition, portraits by photographer June T. Sanders will be displayed.

“I don’t want this to be art with a capital A, I just want creativity in Spokane,” Russell says. “It’s a place where people can get together, chat, grab a Bubly Sparkling Water and share some stories — one more space to create community around art here in Spokane.” n A Writer, a Fashion Designer, and an Artist Walk into a Bar… • Open to the Spokane public through June 26 • Tickets and address available through email appointment by contacting Russell via email DogAndPonyShow@ChristopherRussell.Art.

CULTURE | DIGEST

Correctly Political INTO THE STUPID It took a minute to warm to the idea of watching Q: Into the Storm, a six-part HBO documentary about QAnon, the conspiracy theory whose followers largely believe Donald Trump is the world’s savior and Tom Hanks wants to eat babies. But filmmaker Cullen Hoback manages to deliver a series that’s particularly strong in showing how QAnon flourishes in corners of the internet most of us will never visit. While there’s some fun in guessing who the mysterious “Q” might be, learning about the father/son team of website developers Jim and Ron Watkins, hosts of all manner of unbalanced (and largely appalling) web denizens under the guise of being “free speech” advocates, is more interesting. You’ll spend much of the six hours shaking your head in disbelief, and finish the series scared there are actually Q believers in Congress. (DAN NAILEN)

P

BY DANIEL WALTERS

olitical comedy is too politically correct right now.

To be clear, I don’t mean it’s too hypersensitive about offending some groups of people (some comedians love to call conservatives “dipshits” and go hog-wild on fat jokes about tubby Republicans).

I mean that it’s too obsessed with being aligned with all the Correct Political Beliefs.

Comedy, the idea goes, is powerful, and with great power comes great responsibility.

It’s part of the reason that comedians have struggled to get a handle on Joe Biden, I suspect. Former SNL impressionist Dana Carvey showed one path to a great Biden impression on Stephen Colbert’s show back in March — a rambling but earnest, ping-ponging between misspoken cliches and fragmented anecdotes.

It’s brilliant bit, but it’s also clear why so few comedians have adopted this kind of frame to mock Biden: It echoes the Republican attack of Biden as senile and incoherent, and most comedians don’t want to feed that narrative.

Meanwhile, other humorists have been fretting about being too nice to Biden.

THE BUZZ BIN

THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST There’s noteworthy new music arriving in stores and online June 4. To wit: JAPANESE BREAKFAST, Jubilee. Hot on the heels of a well-received memoir, JB’s Michelle Zauner delivers a joyful third album.

CROWDED HOUSE, Dreamers Are Waiting.

This long-running crew is always good for some pop-rock perfection.

LIZ PHAIR, Soberish. Just in time for a tour with Alanis Morrissette comes Phair’s first new album in 11 years. (DAN NAILEN)

During the Obama years, the satirical newspaper the Onion exaggerated Biden’s blue-collar Scranton persona to create the character of “Diamond Joe,” a hard-rockin’ affably sleazy dirtbag who would wash his Trans Am in the White House driveway.

In 2019, a former Onion editor Joe Garden published an article in Vice regretting that their satire had contributed to Biden’s image as a “clueless but lovable clod, a well-meaning klutz who is predictable, friendly, and ultimately electable.”

Garden had been haunted by the idea that Saturday Night Live and Jimmy Fallon’s gentle ribbing of Donald Trump in 2016 had contributed in some small way to Trump’s election.

In the last few years, the left-wing Onion became more pro-Bernie Sanders and more anti-Joe Biden, featuring articles like “Biden Concerned Ambitious Agenda Could Be Stalled By Him Not Really Caring If It Happens Or Not.” It’s funny-ish. It’s a cutting tweet that gets a lot of likes and then is instantly forgotten. It doesn’t hold a candle to “Diamond Joe.” Political comedy suffers when it tries to focus too narrowly on serving one political cause: It becomes either toothless or strident. Comedy should be anarchic, serving neither gods nor masters.

Even as it exaggerates and caricatures, satire should humanize: It can bring the people we worship as deities down to earth and the villains we demonize up to earth.

It’s a leveling force, connecting us all to a shared sense of the absurd.

Great comedy skewers self-importance. When comedians become self-important themselves, the applause they get from like-minded fans may grow louder.

But increasingly, it drowns out the laughter. n

DEFYING GRAVITY Matthias Giraud is a full-time daredevil, a BASE jumper who’s always searching for new heights. He’s the subject of the documentary Super Frenchie, directed by Spokane filmmaker Chase Ogden and made in piecemeal fashion over the course of a decade. Like the Oscar-winning Free Solo, Super Frenchie features plenty of eye-popping, pulse-quickening footage of amazing stunts, but at its core is the story of a death-defying adventurer getting older and reconsidering his priorities. The film has played at several festivals, including the 2020 Spokane International Film Festival, and it’s opening at the Magic Lantern Theater June 4. (NATHAN WEINBENDER)

LEADING BY EXAMPLE You’ve binged the DC and Marvel shows out there, but are you ready for a superhero story you maybe haven’t heard before? Based on a series by Image (the third-largest comic book company), Netflix’s show Jupiter’s Legacy weaves together the Depression-era origin story of this universe’s first generation of American superheroes, and the modern day struggles of their adult children who are set to take over. From drug addiction to moral dilemmas about when and whether to kill, the show touches on deep topics while offering comic relief amid the turmoil. (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

REFRESH FEED Reading Patricia Lockwood’s novel No One Is Talking About This is like scrolling through a social media feed, a stream-ofconsciousness string of witty observations, crass jokes and lyrical poems that reflects the experience of being “extremely online.” Planting us in the head of a 30-something woman who has become a minor internet celebrity, the book eventually reveals a plot that concerns a baby born with a rare disorder, birth control legislation in Ohio and (I think) the impending apocalypse. Lockwood, a poet and internet scholar, is examining humanity by way of its memes, creating a weird, funny, sad, timely and hard-to-describe satire with shades of Don DeLillo and Joan Didion. (NATHAN WEINBENDER)

JUNE 3, 2021 INLANDER 23

Elijah Fenenbock adds cheese to a pizza at Versalia.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

WHERE HAVE ALL TRENDS

THE WORKERS GONE? With loosened restrictions on the horizon, restaurants and bars struggle to find employees

BY CHEY SCOTT

A

fter more than a year of restrictions, setbacks and loss, the hospitality industry’s post-pandemic future was just starting to look up. Vaccines are readily available, the outdoor dining season is here, and there’s the promise that all of Washington will be fully open by June 30.

Except for one thing: Restaurants are desperate to find workers in order to return to full capacity.

From offering substantial hiring bonuses to lower-

24 INLANDER JUNE 3, 2021

ing work experience requirements for candidates to simply having a good attitude and willingness to learn, restaurants across the Inland Northwest are trying to lure anyone and everyone to come on board.

At Versalia Pizza in Kendall Yards, co-owner Laura Carey says that before the pandemic, whenever she posted an opening she’d usually start getting a flood of applications within the first 24 hours. Now, some of her job ads go unanswered for days. Another trend she’s

noticed is an alarmingly high number of job interview noshows, and even new hires quitting just a few weeks in.

“We try to call [applicants] and nobody answers.

We’ll set up interviews and no one shows up,” Carey says. “We had one guy show up and he sat down and said, ‘I can’t do this,’ and walked out. It’s just been such an odd phenomenon.”

The need for employees is widespread across the region’s food and beverage businesses. While many

businesses the Inlander has talked to lately, like the Baby Bar and Whim Wine Bar, say they were lucky to retain nearly all their staff even after being closed for over a year, other spots like Zona Blanca haven’t been able to offer both lunch and dinner service, and there’s some places that haven’t reopened at all due to staffing needs.

Steelhead Bar & Grille is one of those still-shuttered restaurants.

“Now that we’re ready to open, we need to hire about 20 people to be fully staffed to be open,” says Sarah Shore, Steelhead’s operations manager. “We don’t have any idea where to find people. Currently we can’t find even one or two people to fill open positions.”

Like at Versalia, several new hires at restaurants under the same local ownership as Steelhead have quit after a short time, and the hiring and training cycle starts all over again, Shore says.

“We are considering things that normally we’d never do, like reopening just for lunch, or only opening certain days a week,” she adds.

For some eateries, the staffing shortage has been so pronounced that they’ve begun offering hiring bonuses.

Adam Hegsted’s Eat Good Group offered $1,000 to new employees at some of its Coeur d’Alene restaurants with the stipulation they stay on through September.

The Wave sushi bar downtown, which has been closed since last year while undergoing a complete remodel, is offering $500 hiring bonuses and $15 per hour starting wages, including to employees with no prior experience.

The Wave’s reopening date is contingent on having enough front- and back-of-house staff, says Tim McKinney, CFO of Black Hospitality Group, which operates the restaurant. The company is also getting ready to open another spot in Coeur d’Alene, Takara Sushi, yet McKinney says hiring has been less challenging there, in part because of the $15 starting hourly wage, more than double Idaho’s minimum wage of $7.25.

“If staffing remains a big issue, we might have to open up half the restaurant or something like that,” he says.

S

o, where did all the pre-pandemic hospitality industry workers go?

A large number of them left the industry and didn’t return, even when things opened back up. Melissa Stewart is one of them.

After more than 20 years in various food service jobs, Stewart, now 45, says a number of factors influenced her decision not to stay in the industry, including the physical and mental toll.

“You’re on your feet constantly and dealing with the public constantly,” she says. “For the first two months of the shutdown, it was a welcome break. I was able to collect unemployment and for the first time in a long time I felt like ‘Wow, this is what it’s like to not live paycheck to paycheck.’ And my body really needed a break.”

Another consideration in her career change — Stewart now has a remote-work job — was her young daughter who’s about to start kindergarten. Her daughter’s daycare center was closed early in the pandemic.

Melanie DuMars also made the choice to leave her job as a barista with Thomas Hammer Coffee in order to stay home with her five children and help with remote learning. She’s since decided to go back to school for early childhood education.

“I didn’t really see any other options,” DuMars says.

“Technically [the kids] were all old enough to be home by themselves, but they couldn’t handle the mental stress of distance learning suddenly, along with just being in a pandemic. It was a lot.”

Besides the sudden change in child care and the lure of better working conditions and pay outside the indus-

Versalia Pizza owners Laura and Seth Carey try, others left because of stressful work conditions.

Anna Pearson loved working at Perry Street Brewing before the pandemic. It offered a break from her kids a few days a week, and she enjoyed connecting with customers. That second element changed drastically when the brewery opened up again after the first shutdown.

“It felt like all of the fun had been taken out of the job,” Pearson says. “A select group of people were horrible about the restrictions. … All the fun parts turned into turning and burning customers as quickly as possible because we were at limited capacity and everything needed to be sanitized between guests. Going to work felt like entering a war zone. It was traumatic.”

Since leaving the industry, Pearson, too, has started school. She plans to become a mental health therapist.

W

hile many former restaurant workers saw the pandemic as an opportunity to pursue other career paths, about 600 in Spokane County are still claiming unemployment benefits, data from Washington’s Employment Security Department, or ESD, shows.

That number, however, only includes people who previously worked full time, between 32 and 40 hours a week. It’s unclear how many part-time restaurant workers are still receiving unemployment benefits, as that group wasn’t asked what industry they were leaving, says Doug Tweedy, regional economist for ESD. In April 2019, Spokane County had about 18,100 people working in food services and drinking places, as defined by ESD. For April of this year, total employment in the industry was 16,400, or about 9.4 percent fewer employees than pre-pandemic levels.

“We think workers from restaurants and bars went to different industries which were the fastest growing according to wages,” Tweedy says. “Essential businesses like grocery stores and some manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, and then given bonuses to work through the pandemic.”

Hospitality’s hiring issue is a national trend. The Washington Post reported in late May that job openings in the industry, including hotels, are at an all-time high of 7.7 percent of total jobs, meaning there are 1.7 million more unfilled jobs than before the pandemic.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

Currently, unemployment claimants in Washington are still not required to look for work each week, a change made as part of Gov. Jay Inslee’s March 2020 Pandemic State of Emergency order. But that rule could change soon.

Nick Demerice, public affairs director for ESD, says the agency is working with the governor’s office to determine how to reinstate the job-search requirement.

“We’re going to have more information on that requirement coming back on in the upcoming weeks, and we’ll be working with claimants so they know exactly what is expected of them,” Demerice says.

Many restaurant owners in the area are frustrated over unemployment extensions and additional federal benefits still available to people who left the workforce at the start of the pandemic, saying that’s why they’re unable to find staff. (An unemployed, previously full-time, minimum-wage worker receiving both the maximum weekly state benefits and $300 in federal benefits is being paid the equivalent of about $12 an hour, Demerice points out.)

Stewart, the former longtime restaurant worker, says that line of thinking only proves a deeper issue in restaurant work.

“What does that say about our work? It means we’re really underpaid,” she says. “There are a lot of good things about the food and beverage industry, but honestly, a lot of customers, especially during the pandemic, have made it not worthwhile. We’ve lost our threshold of taking crap, and we’re exhausted.”

Restaurateur and chef Hegsted also sees the current labor challenge as an opportunity to make long-needed changes. “Workers are demanding what they really do deserve, which is benefits and better wages,” he says.

“Although this will be a little bit of a learning curve for all of us, it’s time to recognize hospitality workers as a real career and not a pass-through job. Essentially the pandemic served as a tipping point for a larger and deeper economic issue that has not been previously addressed. The workers now will be calling the shots and somewhat have more power because of the demand issue. This is not a bad thing, and overall is better for our industry.” n cheys@inlander.com

JUNE 3, 2021 INLANDER 25

FOOD | FARMERS MARKETS

The Grain Shed owner Teddy Benson and Market Coordinator Natalie Weinmeister at the South Perry Thursday Market last year. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

Open Market Farmers markets are back!

F

armers markets have kicked off around the region for the 2021 season, with several newcomers this year, and a few more whose weekly operations begin in early June. The following list includes dates, times and locations for each of the region’s markets, all filled with local vendors of fresh produce, handmade and artisan goods, food trucks, entertainment and more. (CHEY SCOTT) ATHOL FARMERS MARKET Fridays from 2-6 pm through Sep. 24.

At 30355 Third St. (next to community center and library) Facebook: AtholFarmersMarket CHEWELAH FARMERS MARKET Fridays from 11 am-3:30 pm through Oct. 15. At Chewelah City Park. Chewelahfarmersmarket. com

GARLAND SUMMER MARKET Tuesdays from 3-7 pm through Sept.

14. Located at Garland and Post (parking lot). Facebook: Garland Summer Market

PULLMAN FARMERS MARKET Wednesdays from 3:30-6:30 pm, May 26 through Oct. 13. At Brelsford WSU Visitors Center, 150 E. Spring St., Pullman. facebook.com/pullmanfarmersmarket

HILLYARD FARMERS MARKET Mondays from 3-7 pm, June 7 through Oct. 25. At 5102 N. Market St., Spokane. Facebook: HillyardFarmersMarket

SANDPOINT FARMERS MARKET Saturdays from 9 am-1 pm and Wednesdays from 3-5:30 pm through Oct. 16. At 231 N. Third Ave. (city lot across from Joel’s Mexican). SandpointFarmersMarket.com

KENDALL YARDS NIGHT MARKET Wednesdays from 5-8 pm through Sept. 22. On West Summit Parkway between Cedar Street and Adams Alley, downtown Spokane. KendallNightMarket.org

SOUTH PERRY THURSDAY MARKET Thursdays from 3-7 pm through Oct. 28. At Perry St. and Tenth Ave., Spokane. ThursdayMarket.org

KOOTENAI FARMERS MARKET Saturdays from 9 am-1:30 pm through October 30 (Highway 95 and Prairie, Hayden) and Wednesdays from 4-7 pm through September 29 (Fifth and Sherman, downtown Coeur d’Alene). KootenaiFarmersMarkets.org

SPIRIT LAKE FARMERS & FLEA MARKET Thursdays from 3-6 pm through Sep. 16. At 82 Industrial Park (Spirit Valley Christian Fellowship). Facebook: Spirit Lake Farmers and Flea Market

LIBERTY LAKE FARMERS MARKET Saturdays from 9 am-1 pm through Oct. 9. At Town Square Park, 1421 N. Meadowwood Ln. Llfarmersmarket.com MILLWOOD FARMERS MARKET Wednesdays from 3-7 pm through Sept. 29. At Millwood Park, 9103 E. Frederick Ave. FarmersMarket.

MillwoodNow.org

ST. MARIES FARMERS MARKET Fridays from 4-7 pm, June 4 through Sep. 24. At Mullan Trail Park (across from cemetery).

Facebook: StMariesFarmersMarkets SPOKANE FARMERS MARKET Saturdays from 8 am-1 pm through Oct. 30; Wednesdays from 8 am-1 pm, June 9 through Oct. 27. At 20 W. Fifth Ave. SpokaneFarmersMarket.org

CLAYTON FARMERS MARKET Sundays from 11-4 pm, June 6 through Sept. 26 (except during the county fair). At the Clayton Fairgrounds, 4616 Wallbridge Rd. Facebook: Clayton Farmers Market and Small Farm Animals

MOSCOW FARMERS MARKET Saturdays from 8 am-1 pm through Oct. 30. At Friendship Square, Fourth Avenue and Main Street.

Ci.moscow.id.us

SPOKANE VALLEY FARMERS MARKET Fridays from 4-8 pm, June 4 through Sept. 17. At CenterPlace Regional Event Center (near Discovery Playground), 2426 N. Discovery Place. SpokaneValleyFarmersMarket.org

EMERSON-GARFIELD FARMERS MARKET Fridays from 3-7 pm, June 4 through Sept. 24. At the IEL Adult Education Center, 2310 N. Monroe St., Spokane. Market.emersongarfield.org

N.E.W. FARMERS MARKET Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9 am-1 pm through Oct. 30. At 121 E. Astor St., Colville. NewFarmersMarket. org

WEST CENTRAL FARMERS MARKET First Tuesday of the month from 4-7 pm through Oct. 5. At the West Central Abbey, 1832 W. Dean Ave. westcentralabbey.org/farmers-market

FAIRWOOD FARMERS MARKET Tuesdays from 3-7 pm through Oct. 12. At the Fairwood Shopping Center, 319 W. Hastings Rd., Spokane.

Fairwoodfarmersmarket.org

NEWPORT FARMERS MARKET Saturdays from 9 am-1 pm through Oct. 30. At 236 S. Union Ave., Newport. Facebook: NewportFarmersMarket

WONDER SATURDAY MARKET Saturdays from 9 am-1 pm through Oct. 30. At the Wonder Building, 835 N. Post St. WonderSaturdayMarket.com n

26 INLANDER JUNE 3, 2021

REVIEW

Emily Blunt keeps it to a dull roar in A Quiet Place Part II.

Silence Is Golden A Quiet Place Part II is the rare sequel that’s as good as — if not better than — its predecessor

BY MARYANN JOHANSON

Y

ou’ve barely left home for more than a year, except maybe to pop to the store for essential supplies, because the outside world is rife with sudden onset danger. But now it’s time to venture farther afield with newfound protection against the peril. Which isn’t to say that you aren’t still afraid, or that the risk has been anything like completely quashed...

I’m not sure there’s a better film to welcome us back to big-screen mutliplexes — if you’re ready for that again — than A Quiet Place Part II, which hits very differently now than it would have had it been released as originally planned, back in March of last year. We humans may not be getting slaughtered by vicious monsters with extraordinarily sensitive hearing who hunt by sound, but the apocalyptic predicament of the Abbott family resonates much more powerfully with us after our own year-plus of pandemic living. Now they, too, have to venture from the relative safety of their upstate New York farmhouse in search of, well, a new normal.

For these continuing travails of the Abbotts, returning writer and director John Krasinski has made a marvel of a sequel, smartly avoiding trying to recapture what made 2018’s A Quiet Place so remarkable — because that hardly ever works anyway — in favor of expanding the horizons of this world in every way possible. (Spoilers for the first movie follow in a bit, but if you haven’t seen it, this follow-up won’t make a lot of sense anyway. This is not a

standalone story but very much the next chapter in a bigone — that actually made me jump, which never happens ger tale, with at least one more to come.) We see more of to me while watching a (supposedly) scary movie. the world that is left beyond the Abbotts’ refuge, learn a I was truly, genuinely terrified watching this one. little more about the monsters, meet people who may or Somehow, miraculously, Krasinski finds all the right may not confirm some assumptions we made notes to hit as he toys with our expectaabout this apocalypse based on the limited tions, based not only on our experience A QUIET PLACE of the previous film but what we bring knowledge we gained from the first movie.

And everything new we glean here is nothing PART II with us from other science-fiction horror more than the absolute barest bits we need to Rated PG-13 movies. After brilliantly holding the Directed by John Krasinski keep us hooked on wanting yet more. monsters in reserve for most of the first Starring Emily Blunt, Millicent Spoilers here: With the same brisk, crisp movie, he knows he can’t do that again, Simmonds, Noah Jupe efficiency with which he told the previous because we’ve seen them and their apchapter, Krasinski picks the action up in the pearance can no longer be a matter of immediate moment after that shocking ending, with dad tension or secrecy, but he finds other ways to surprise us Lee (Krasinki himself) dead, mom Evelyn (Emily Blunt) with them. He has a keen eye for a gut-wrenching image just having given birth, and the sound of a shotgun likely of the human scale of enormous disaster, like one I’m to bring monsters down on her, teen Regan (Millicent certain was inspired by 9/11; it’s not crass but poignant.

Simmonds) and tween Marcus (Noah Jupe). There is no And after playing with quietude like he did in the first room for rest: They have to leave, not least because their film, Krasinski goes in the opposite direction sometimes carefully constructed sanctuary has been destroyed. here: This sounds more like a typical horror movie — big And Krasinski allows us no rest, either. He ups the sounds, lots of noise, even lots of dialogue — and yet the ante on himself as a masterful director of terror, crafting lingering need for silence gives all of it all the more imsequences of mounting suspense that intercut events happact. As a filmmaker, Krasinski remains as heedful of the pening in different places in a way that should feel forced effect of noise as his characters are, and yet this does not and phony but simply don’t. The first time he pulled that feel (or sound) like a carbon copy of the first movie. In off, I was astonished. And then he did it again. It was alany way at all. Instead, it is again a fresh, unique cinematic most as gratifying as the jump scare — the single, solitary experience. n

JUNE 3, 2021 INLANDER 27

IC LANTERN THEATER MAG

FILM | SHORTS

FRIDAY, JUNE 4TH - THU, JUNE 10TH

TICKETS: $9 z

NOW PLAYING: UNDINE • SUPER FRENCHIE DREAM HORSE A QUIET PLACE PART 2 WHEN HITLER STOLE PINK RABBIT RENTALS STARTING AT $99!

Check website

magiclanternonmain.com for all showings and rental inquiries.

25 W Main Ave #125 • MagicLanternOnMain.com

MOVIE TIMES on

OPENING FILMS

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

THE CONJURING: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT

The latest chiller about supposed paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, investigating a murder suspect who claims to be possessed by a demon.

(NW) Rated R

NOW PLAYING SEARCHABLE

by Time,

by Theater,

or Movie

CHAOS WALKING

Based on a series of YA sci-fi novels, two teenage misfits (Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley) find each other on a telepathic, mostly male planet on the brink of civil war. (NW) Rated PG-13

CRUELLA

Disney’s puppy-skinning villainess gets her own origin story, as Emma Stone portrays the enterprising seamstress turned devilish fashionista. (NW) Rated PG-13

DEMON SLAYER THE MOVIE: MUGEN TRAIN Every Theater. Every Movie. All in one place.

A feature-length follow-up to the popular anime series, which has already broken box-office records in its native Japan. (NW) Rated R

DREAM HORSE

The heartwarming true story of a Welsh bartender (Toni Collette) who breeds a championship racehorse. (NW) Rated PG

FATIMA

In 1917 Portugal, children who reported having visions of the Virgin Mary inspire furor and fervency in their small shepherding village. (NW) Rated PG-13

FINAL ACCOUNT

The few remaining Germans who were once children of the Nazi party open up about their pasts in this harrowing documentary. (NW) Rated PG-13

FINDING YOU

A college-aged musician on a semes-

28 INLANDER JUNE 3, 2021

ter abroad in Ireland has a meet-cute with a fresh-faced movie star, and an unlikely romance blossoms. (NW) Rated PG

GODZILLA VS. KONG

Like Batman and Superman before them, cinema’s most famous giant ape and radioactive lizard duke it out while the world watches. Also streaming on HBO Max. (NW) Rated PG-13

MINARI

Writer-director Lee Isaac Chung borrows from his own life in this delicate story of Korean immigrants who settle onto a rural Arkansas farm in the early ’80s. (NW) Rated PG-13

MORTAL KOMBAT

SUPER FRENCHIE

From Spokane filmmaker Chase Ogden, a documentary about the hair-raising stunts performed by BASE jumper Mathius Giraud. At the Magic Lantern.

(NW) Not Rated

RAYA & THE LAST DRAGON

The latest Disney animated feature, a multicultural fable that follows a teenage warrior’s hunt for the titular creature. Also streaming on Disney+. (NW) Rated PG

SEPARATION

After the death of her mother, a little girl at the center of a custody battle is visited by ghostly figures that only she can see. (NW) Rated R

SPIRAL

The new chapter in the Saw franchise stars Chris Rock as a cop investigating a series of murders that follow the same M.O. as the crafty serial killer Jigsaw.

(NW) Rated R

The popular video game returns to the big screen, in properly gory fashion this time, with all your favorite characters delivering one fatality after another.

Also streaming on HBO Max. (NW) Rated R

THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD

PROFILE

WHEN HITLER STOLE PINK RABBIT

Shot entirely on computer screens, this film follows an investigative journalist who creates a fake social media persona to ensnare some ISIS recruiters.

(NW) Rated R

A QUIET PLACE PART II

A sequel to the hugely popular 2018 horror hit, following the original film’s family as they continue to evade monsters with hypersensitive hearing. (NW) Rated PG-13

From director Taylor Sheridan, a ticking-clock thriller about a teenage murder witness running from men who want him dead, if a raging forest fire doesn’t get them all first. (NW) Rated R

A wealthy Jewish family flees 1930s Berlin as the Nazis rise to power, but they remain outsiders in their new home. At the Magic Lantern. (NW)

WRATH OF MAN

The latest thriller from Guy Ritchie stars Jason Statham as a shadowy figure who becomes the guard of an armored truck. Expect explosive action and plenty of F-bombs. (NW) Rated R n

REVIEW

ANALOG WITNESS St. Vincent takes a time machine to the ’70s on the funky, stylish Daddy’s Home

BY NATHAN WEINBENDER

A

nnie Clark, the flesh-and-blood person behind the alt-rock alter ego St. Vincent, has made a career of hiding behind things, whether it’s an affectation or a costume or the icy detachment she brings to her famously prickly interviews. Even when her music is at a fever pitch, when her trademark guitar licks glow liquid-magma hot, there always seems to be a deliberate emotional remove at play.

It’s practically her selling point. Clark even collaborated on a 2012 album called Love This Giant with David Byrne, another enigmatic performer best known for influential art-school theatrics. Byrne commented on Clark’s ambiguity to the Village Voice in 2014: “Despite having toured with her for almost a year I don’t think I know her much better, at least not on a personal level. You could call it privacy, or mystery or whatever. … And she does it without seeming to be standoffish or distant.” ...continued on next page

Annie Clark, channeling Gena Rowlands.

ZACKERY MICHAEL PHOTO

JUNE 3, 2021 INLANDER 29

MUSIC | REVIEW

MUSIC | SOUND ADVICE

“ANALOG WITNESS,” CONTINUED...

I don’t observe all this as a criticism, either. I think that St. Vincent is making some of the most exciting, unpredictable, witty and straight-up great rock music right now, and what makes her so intriguing is that, like David Bowie or Prince before her, she unapologetically leans into the fantasy of the Mythic Rock Star.

Her lyrics have occasionally provided insights into her personal life, but the fleeting glimpses we’ve gotten behind the curtain feel as performative as anything else. She allows us to project all of our assumptions about her onto her, and she’s smirking all the while.

So the fact that her new album Daddy’s Home is apparently drawn from true-life experiences is enough for any fan to raise an eyebrow. A lot has been written about her sixth solo studio album being inspired by her estranged relationship with her father, recently released from prison on charges of wire fraud and money laundering. What’s so odd, then, is that Daddy’s Home doesn’t feel like a diary entry. Certain songs have the narrative specificity of Joni Mitchell or Tracy Chapman, but they could just as well be fictions.

“I signed autographs in the visitation room / Waiting for you the last time, inmate 502,” she sings on the album’s title track, and we have to wonder, did that really happen?

St. Vincent reinvents her image for every new album cycle, and with the release of Daddy’s Home, Clark has adopted a 1970s aesthetic, complete with leisure suits and a blonde bob hairdo.

Clark has said that thumbing through her own dad’s old record collection is the real inspiration behind the album, and she has fully embraced that era’s stylistic shorthand: the wah-wah pedals, the sitars, the soul-inflected backing vocals, the electric organs.

She even name checks 1970s independent cinema (“Like the heroines of Cassavetes / I’m under the influence daily,” she says on “The Laughing Man”), references The Dark Side of the Moon, and has an entire song about the death of Warhol superstar Candy Darling.

With the release of Daddy’s Home, Clark has adopted a 1970s aesthetic, complete with leisure suits and a blonde bob hairdo.

As soon as the lead single, the slithering album opener “Pay Your Way in Pain,” was released in March, it garnered comparisons to Prince, Kate Bush and especially Midnite Vultures, Beck’s 1999 tribute to disco-funk and sweaty dance jams. I don’t know if Clark is specifically influenced by Midnite Vultures, or if she and Beck are merely swimming in the same pool of retro influences; they’ve both approached classic rock posturing with an off-kilter humor, that’s for sure.

Unlike St. Vincent’s artistic breakthrough Strange Mercy (2011) and her remarkable 2014 self-titled LP, Daddy’s Home feels more like a grower. It doesn’t immediately announce itself as an unassailable classic the way those earlier records did, but the more times I’ve listened to it, the more I’ve warmed to it. I’m not sure why that is, but perhaps it’s inherent in Clark’s commitment to retro pastiche: Because she’s so beholden to other artists’ styles, she can only deliver so much sonic invention.

Daddy’s Home was produced by ubiquitous pop auteur Jack Antonoff, who also co-wrote a few of the tracks, and his involvement is apparent in the solid songcraft on display. As with so many of his recent collaborations, including those with Lorde and Taylor Swift, it’s totally possible that the next time I hit play on Daddy’s Home, it will jump out to me as an especially great pop record. Or maybe it will remain a curious chapter in the ambitious career of an at-arm’s-length pop star.

Either way, Clark knows exactly what she’s doing. “If life’s a joke,” she sings, “I’m dying laughing.” n

30 INLANDER JUNE 3, 2021

Ice Cube plays Northern Quest Resort & Casino on July 22.

J = ALL AGES SHOW

Thursday, 06/3

A&P’S BAR AND GRILL, Open Mic Night with KC Carter ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Ryan Larsen Trio J BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB, Open Jazz Jam THE LONGSHOT, Open Mic MOOSE LOUNGE, Country Night with Last Chance Band

Friday, 06/4

BRIDGE PRESS CELLARS, Shawnna Nicholson FESTIVAL AT SANDPOINT OFFICES, The Powers with Bridges Home PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Son of Brad PEND OREILLE PLAYHOUSE, Open Mic J THE SNAKE PIT, Tod Hornby ZOLA, Carter Hudson

Saturday, 06/5

BRIDGE PRESS CELLARS, NightShift THE LONGSHOT, LC Huffman PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Chris Lynch SEASONS OF COEUR D’ALENE, Wiebe Jammin J THE SNAKE PIT, Pamela VanKirk

Sunday, 06/6

ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Macey Gard Band

Monday, 06/7

CRUISERS, Jason Michael Carroll

Wednesday, 06/9

IDAHO POUR AUTHORITY, Ben Murray

Coming Up ...

COEUR D’ALENE CASINO, Lee Greenwood, July 1 J NORTHERN QUEST RESORT & CASINO, Ice Cube, July 22 J NORTHERN QUEST RESORT & CASINO, Smokey Robinson, July 24 J WAR MEMORIAL FIELD, Festival at Sandpoint with St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Jake Owen & Shakey Graves, July 29-31 J GORGE AMPHITHEATER, Watershed feat. Tim McGraw, Dierks Bentley, Thomas Rhett, Kelsea Ballerini and more, July 30-Aug. 1

PERFORMANCE ON POINT

That the Spokane Youth Ballet’s summer concert is in person this year is a welcome sign we’re getting closer to the other side of this coronavirus thing. The Saturday afternoon dance concert features the ballet’s talented young dancers in the premiere of company choreographer Phaedra Jarrett’s latest, a retelling of the classic children’s story The Little Prince. Two special guests, Benjamin Tucker and Brooke Geffrey-Bowler, the latter an alumna of the Academy of Dance, where the ballet is based, are also set to perform the 1950s pas de deux — a duet featuring a male and female dancer — Spring Waters, featuring the swelling, emotional music of Rachmanioff. Young students from the Academy of Dance close out the show with a lighthearted, rom-com Coppelia. Viewers can also watch from home by purchasing a virtual ticket.

— CHEY SCOTT Spokane Youth Ballet: Summer Concert 2021 • Sat, June 5 at 3 pm • $9-$17/in person; $25/virtual stream • Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox • 1001 W. Sprague Ave. • 509624-1200

GET LISTED!

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

WORDS HITTING THE BOOKS

Since 2014, downtown Coeur d’Alene’s beloved bookstore, the Well-Read Moose, has become the go-to place for bibliophiles to thumb through a well-stocked inventory of riveting readables. The shop is celebrating its seventh birthday this weekend, beginning with a 6 pm in-store event on Friday that features local author David Taylor, whose new book, Urban Trails: Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, will no doubt be required reading for hikers and outdoor enthusiasts. Get up bright and early the following morning for an actual hike on East Tubbs Hill, led by Taylor and in celebration of National Trails Day. It kicks off at 8:30 am. If you drop by the store throughout the weekend, expect deals, prizes and more summer reading material than you could ever possibly get through.

— NATHAN WEINBENDER The Well-Read Moose Anniversary Celebration • Fri, June 4 at 6 pm • The Well-Read Moose • 2048 N. Main, Coeur d’Alene • wellreadmoose.com • 208-215-2265

VISUAL ARTS WALK WITH PRIDE

While restrictions on crowd size have the annual Spokane Pride Parade on pause for the time being, there are still ways to celebrate Pride Month with our LGBTQIA+ community. Start with the Spokane Queer Art Walk, a self-guided tour you can add to your First Friday festivities at exhibitions showcasing both local and national queer artists. Due to the pandemic, this year’s Queer Art Walk features a combination of in-person receptions, online viewings and window-gallery shows, so even if you can’t leave the house, you can take part. The participating venues include Dean Davis Studios (in person), Yes is a Feeling (gallery windows), Pavilion Art Space in Riverfront Park (in person), Kolva Sullivan Gallery (in person) and Trackside Studio Ceramic Art Gallery (in person). The Chase Gallery also continues its online show of Figure, an exhibition including several queer artists.

— DAN NAILEN Spokane Queer Art Walk • Opening Fri, June 4 from 5-8 pm • Various locations • facebook.com/spokanequeerartwalk

JUNE 3, 2021 INLANDER 31

EVENTS | CALENDAR

COMEDY BIG TALK

You might know Alonzo Bodden from his victory in the third season of Last Comic Standing, but he’s been hitting standup comedy stages for decades, and that win was just one highlight in a career that’s taken him to movies, TV, radio and podcasting between gigs. With an approach that touches on sensitive subjects like race relations and the MeToo movement alongside broad ones like Taco Bell and Kanye West, Bodden has managed to forge a memorable path among his peers. He’s also a car and motorcycle nut, and parlayed those interests into hosting gigs on shows like Speed Channel’s 101 Cars You Must Drive and America’s Worst Driver on the Travel Channel. He’s also been a regular guest on NPR’s Wait, Wait...Don’t Tell Me, and his fourth standup special, Alonzo Bodden: Heavy Lightweight, is streaming on Amazon Prime.

— DAN NAILEN Alonzo Bodden • Thu, June 3, at 7:30 pm and Fri, June 4, at 7 pm and 9:30 pm • $15-$30 • Spokane Comedy Club • 315 W. Sprague • spokanecomedyclub.com • 509-318-9998

FILM IDAHO ON FILM

Pop-up cinemas became the new normal during the pandemic, and what could be a better location than a spot right by Lake Coeur d’Alene? City Park will be the place to see Going My Way under the stars this weekend, the first in a string of films hosted by the North Idaho Museum in accordance with their ongoing exhibit about Hollywood stars from our region. A Best Picture winner that also earned Bing Crosby his only competitive Oscar, the musical drama stars the Spokane crooner as a young priest whose unorthodox methods ruffle the feathers of his superiors. Downtown Coeur d’Alene will continue to host movies throughout the summer at the Human Rights Education Institute (414 W. Fort Grounds Dr.), including the hit musical Grease featuring Ellen Travolta (June 18), 1962’s The Miracle Worker (July 16) with its Oscar-winning performance by Patty Duke, and The Grub-Stake (Aug. 27), a 1923 silent feature shot around Priest Lake. For more, see museumni.org.

— NATHAN WEINBENDER Movies in the Park: Going My Way • Fri, June 4 at 8 pm • Free • City Park • 415 W. Mullan Rd., Coeur d’Alene • museumni.org • 208-664-3448

32 INLANDER JUNE 3, 2021

BENEFIT

SPOKANE ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS’ LUAU ON THE BLUFF Enjoy Hawaiian-themed food, a silent auction, door prize drawings, a photo booth and contest for the best Hawaiian outfit, along with music by the Ryan Larsen Trio Band. Proceeds support Family Promise of Spokane. Since 1997, Family Promise has been providing hope, encouragement and a path to stability for some of our community’s most vulnerable families. June 3, 5 pm. $35. Arbor Crest Wine Cellars, 4705 N. Fruit Hill Rd. arborcrest.com (509-927-9463) UPSCALE SALE The Spokane Symphony Associates’ 2021 Upscale Sale is a gigantic estate sale that this year fills 40,000 square feet of retail space at the former Toys R Us, 6104 N. Division St. Donated treasures include 1,000 of pieces of costume jewelry, goblets and crystal, china sets, kitchen items, holiday and home decor, furniture, rugs, designer clothes and handbags, plus much more. Early shopping is June 3 from 3-7 pm ($5 entry). Continues June 4-5 and 9-12 from 9 am-6 pm; also June 5 from 10 am-5 pm. spokanesymphonyassoc.org 2BU YOUTH RANCH FUNDRAISER: RE-BOOT After the past year, it’s time for a reboot! Put on your cowboy boots for 2BU’s annual dinner and auction.

The fundraiser provides the nonprofit with nearly 40 percent of its annual operating income. The event includes barbecue dinner, a no-host bar, live auction, silent auction, 50/50 raffle and more. June 5, 5-9 pm. $65/adults; $15/ kids 12 and under. Mirabeau Park Hotel, 1100 N. Sullivan Rd. 2buyouthranch.org PINS FOR KIDS Enjoy two hours of bowling at River City Lanes. All event proceeds go support the Kroc Center’s third grade swim program. Reserve a lane for $75 for up to six people. Also includes prizes and a silent auction.

June 5, 1-3 pm. $75/lane. River City Lanes, 965 W. Seltice Way. facebook. com/events/268760971597261 ANIMAL POEMS: A TEEN & ADULT POETRY WORKSHOP Spend an afternoon at River’s Wish Sanctuary, meeting the animals and writing poems. June 6, 2 pm. $30. River’s Wish Animal Sanctuary, 11511 W. Garfield Rd. riverswishanimalsanctuary.org (951-3650) CHAIRS FOR CHARITY 2021 Schweitzer is reintroducing the “Chairs for Charity” program in which iconic Snow Ghost chairs are given to those willing to donate to local nonprofits. More details at link. June 6, midnight. Schweitzer, 10,000 Schweitzer Mountain Rd. schweitzer.com (208-263-9555)

COMEDY

ALONZO BODDEN A regular panel member on NPR’s “Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me,” Alonzo Bodden has been making audiences around the country laugh for more than 20 years. June 3, 7:30 pm and June 4, 7:30 pm. $15-$30. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com (509-318-9998) NORTHWEST AF COMEDY TOUR Gabriel Rutledge (Comedy Central, Amazon Prime) and Casey McLain (Seattle International Comedy Competition) bring standup to Honey in downtown Coeur d’Alene. June 4, 8 & 8:30 pm and June 5, 8 & 8:30 pm. $20. Honey Eatery and Social Club, 317 Sherman Ave. honeyeateryandsocialclub.com JASON MEWES This indie film icon is perhaps best known as the vocal half

of the on-screen comedic duo, Jay and Silent Bob. Mewes’ has reprised his role as celebrated character Jay in a number of hit films. June 5, 7:30 & 10:30 pm. $25-$35. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com LIVE COMEDY NIGHT The Social Hour Comedy presents a night of comedy featuring Harry J. Riley, Deece Casillas, Laura Branning and Rob Wentz. June 5, 8 pm. $10. Black Diamond, 9614 E. Sprague Ave. blackdiamondspokane. com (509-891-8357) COMEDY NIGHT FT. CAMERON MAZZUCA Lovable, bearded everyman Cameron Mazzuca gets excited onstage. His infectious enthusiasm and gosh darn good-Italian-boy friendliness will win you over in a big way.

He’s performed in comedy clubs and theaters across North America. June 10, 7:30 pm. $10. Ruby River Hotel, 700 N. Division St. rubyriverhotelspokane.com

COMMUNITY

ROOTS OF WISDOM Children and families can discover the unique partnership between cutting-edge western science and traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples. The exhibition offers visitors real life examples of how complementary solutions to ecological and health challenges are being applied to improve our world. This exhibition was designed and produced by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.

May 29-Sept. 5; Tue-Sun 10 am-5 pm. $5-$12. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931) SOMETIMES HEROES: AMERICA’S CHANGING RELATIONSHIP WITH ITS VETERANS Why and how has America’s treatment of its veterans changed over time? How have the country’s citizens responded to the call of duty from one war to the next? This presentation examines America’s relationship to wars and veterans over the last century, and what shapes our current national consciousness towards veterans and the wars they fight in our name. June 3, 7 pm. Online, humanities.org/events SUSTAINABLE ACTION SUBCOMMITTEE WORKSHOPS Explore how different sustainability policies could shape our future - economically and socially in the face of rapid change. Provide feedback about the impact that sustainability has on the quality of life for Spokane residents. There are three upcoming opportunities for you to engage and share your thoughts on the draft Sustainability Action Plan. Register for Zoom workshops at my.spokanecity. org. June 3, 6-7:30 pm.

ARTFEST 2021 The MAC’s ArtFest is a three-day (virtual) celebration of art and fine craft, and an Inland Northwest tradition for the entire family. Enjoy the same activities you normally enjoy at the in-person event: see paintings, photography, ceramics, jewelry and more by 70 juried regional artists plus artist demonstrations, Make-it Art kids’ projects, Northwest music and more.

June 4-6, 8 am-11:59 pm. $5 suggested donation. spokaneartfest.com DUNGEONS & DRAGONS FOR TEENS Play a virtual game of Dungeons and Dragons with other teens in the Spokane area. All skill levels are welcome.

To participate in this campaign, you must do the following: 1.) Please commit to playing at least 3 sessions of this campaign. 2.) Apply to our Teen Discord server. 3.) Create a D&D Beyond account. 4.) A microphone is optional but preferred. June 4, 3:15-5:15 pm and

June 18, 3:15-5:15 pm. (509-444-5300) WELL-READ MOOSE ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION The local book store celebrates its 7th anniversary by hosting CdA native David Taylor, who coauthored “Urban Trails: Spokane and Coeur d’Alene.” Taylor presents and signs books in store at 6 pm on Friday.

On Saturday morning, he leads a hike on East Tubbs Hill at 8:30 am. The prize wheel is also out and spinning in-store on Saturday. June 4, 6 pm and June 5, 8:30 am. Free. The Well-Read Moose, 2048 N. Main. facebook.com/TheWellReadMoose (208-215-2265) NORTH IDAHO MINERAL CLUB ANNUAL GEM & MINERAL SHOW The annual event features gem and mineral displays, vendors, demonstrations, raffles, silent auctions, an expanded kid’s corner and more. June 5 from 9 am-5 pm, June 6 from 10 am-4 pm. $4/day or $6/weekend. Kootenai County Fairgrounds, 4056 N. Government Way. northidahomineralclub.org/annualshow (208-765-4969) SCAVENGER HUNT Meet at the Crime Scene Entertainment kiosk in the Silver Lake Mall. Players must solve riddles for clues to the items in this scavenger hunt.

Many items (possibly all) can be found within walking distance the kiosk, but teams may be required to travel a short distance to find some items. Having a vehicle and driver available is highly recommended. June 6, 1-3 pm. $10. Silver Lake Mall, 200 W. Hanley Ave. facebook.com/events/327344825421301 (208-369-3695) FROM HOMER TO #HASHTAGS: OUR CHANGING LANGUAGE Poet Christine Hemp explores new forms of communication, connecting them with the language of the past. How do changes in language affect the way we think and feel about our world, our history, and ourselves? June 7, 7 pm. Online, humanities.org VACCINATION HAPPY HOUR A series of COVID-19 vaccination happy hours on June 2, 8 and 16, from 5-7 pm. Each event includes a live onsite broadcast from 92.9 KZZU, along with free food from local vendors, drawings for live entertainment tickets and Whistle Punk Brewing Co. gift cards, limited edition concert poster giveaways, and more.

June 8, 5-7 pm and June 16, 5-7 pm.

Free. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanearena.com CDA4PRIDE TIE-DYE PARTY Celebrate PRIDE at a tie-dye party. White CDA4Pride T-shirts are available in all sizes, along with cotton masks, snacks and all materials needed. Community members are welcome to keep a shirt with a $10 donation; otherwise, all shirts made at the event will be sold to benefit North Idaho Pride Alliance. June 9, 3-5 pm. $10 donation suggested. Human Rights Education Institute, 414 W. Fort Grounds Dr. nipridealliance.com INCLUSION IN FAITH: PANEL DISCUSSION & SHORT DOCUMENTARIES Join the Human Rights Education Institute to start a conversation on the topic of faith, inclusion, and kindness. During the panel, hear multiple perspectives on faith, the LGBTQ+ community and kindness. June 9, 6-8 pm. Free. Human Rights Education Institute, 414 W. Fort Grounds Dr. eventbrite.com/e/inclusion-in-faith-panel-short-documentaries-tickets-151110657043 LEARN TO SKATE AT EAGLES ICE ARENA! Learn to skate with the Lilac City Figure Skating Club. These classes teach fundamental lifelong skills needed to strap on skates and step onto the

ice. Learn safe falling, gliding, stroking forward, backward, stopping and much more. 6-7 pm through June 16. $135.

Eagles Ice-A-Rena, 6321 N. Addison St. lilacskate.com/learn-to-skate SCC HAGAN CENTER DIVERSITY SERIES SPEAKER: OMARI AMILI Featuring Omari Amili, a Seattle author who found that college classes in prison were his ticket to a better life and he focused his graduate school research on the benefits of education for incarcerated people. June 9, 6:30-8 pm. Free. scc.spokane.edu/live (509-533-8883) 32ND ANNUAL COW PLOP Bring the family for food trucks, free games and crafts, and place your bet for the Cow Plop. Tickets to guess are $5, the grand prize is $2,000. Purchase tickets from the school office or at the event. June 12, 11 am-4 pm. Free. Trinity Catholic School, 2315 N. Cedar St. facebook. com/events/202498685038835 AAPI HERITAGE DAY An public cultural event highlighting Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) history, culture, and the arts, held on CenterPlace’s west lawn plaza. The event features AAPI vendors and artists, and invited community leaders to raise awareness and showcase AAPI community members and cultures. Also includes an art show, cultural performances, 50+ vendors, activities for all ages and food by Island Style Food Truck. June 12, 11 am-4 pm.

Free. CenterPlace Regional Event Center, 2426 N. Discovery Place Dr. Facebook.com/SpokaneUnitedWeStand

FESTIVAL

TOWN & COUNTRY DAYS During the first weekend of June, head to Kettle Falls for arts & crafts vendors, a fun run, 3x3 basketball tournament, food vendors, logger sports, parade, corn hole tournament, beer garden, karaoke, bingo, live music and more. June 4-5. June 4, 3-11 pm and June 5, 10 am-11 pm.

Free. facebook.com/Town-and-Country-Days-Kettle-Falls-130200424195714 HILLYARD MARKET DISTRICT FESTIVAL AND ARTISTS Enjoy one of the Market District’s community street celebrations. This event includes artist from across the Spokane area, with booths of every kind and shopping at local businesses. Support your local businesses and artists with a flair of fun and jubilation. June 5, 9 am-5 pm. Free.

Hillyard Market District, 5000 East Market. (991-7275)

FILM

MOVIE NIGHT IN CITY PARK: GOING MY WAY Bring a blanket or chair and join the Museum of North Idaho in City Park for a showing of Bing Crosby’s Going My Way. The summer movie series is aligned with the museum’s exhibit “Hollywood of the North: North Idaho and the Film Industry.” June 4, 8-10 pm.

Free. Coeur d’Alene City Park, 415 W. Mullan Rd. museumni.org GAME OF THRONES TRIVIA “What is dead may never die!” June 8, 7 pm.

Free. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com

FOOD

DOLLA JAVA DAYS BY JOE Now through June 20, Spokane locals can treat themselves to a $1 coffee via the joe coffee app multiple times a day at various joe partner shops, including Thomas Hammer Coffee, Jitterz Espresso, and Indaba. Redeem with promo

code 1JAVASPOKANE. This deal is good for a coffee order up to $6. Find the joe app in the App Store or on Google Play.

Through June 20. joe.coffee/ VIRTUAL WINE CLASS Rocket Market hosts weekly virtual wine classes; sign up in advance for the week’s selections to bring home and enjoy during a virtual tasting session. Fridays at 7 pm. Price varies. Rocket Market, 726 E. 43rd Ave. rocketmarket.com PRIDE AROUND THE GLOBE: BOAT CRUISE KICKOFF Join Globe Bar & Kitchen for PRIDE in Spokane 2021. The Coeur d’Alene lake boat cruise kicks off a PRIDE to remember! Masks required.

June 5, noon. $25. Departs from Coeur d’Alene Resort. globespokane.com TUBBS COFFEE ROASTERS: GRAND OPENING The new coffee roaster and cafe celebrates its grand opening with live music (12-5 pm), food trucks, pastries, free coffee, giveaways and more.

June 5, 8 am-5 pm. Tubbs Coffee Roasters, 13430 N. Clovis Rd. tubbscoffeeroasters.com (208-772-2688) RIVERFRONT EATS FOOD TRUCK SERIES The outdoor food truck series in the park (on the orange bridge) happens Tuesdays, June 1-Aug. 31 from 11 am-2 pm. Each week features a new lineup of locally owned food trucks; see complete schedule at link. A portion of the proceeds support free and low-cost community programming in Riverfront Park. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. riverfrontspokane.com (625-6600) PARTY ON THE PATIO Monthy summer parties on the patio, co-hosted by the Inlander and Three Peaks Kitchen with live music, lots of food and drink specials, giveaways and more. Upcoming dates: June 10, July 8 and Aug. 12, from 5-8 pm. Free. Three Peaks Kitchen + Bar, 14300 W. SR Highway 2. inlander. com/PartyonthePatio

SPORTS & OUTDOORS

8 LAKES LEG ACHES BIKE RIDE The 23rd annual 8 Lakes Leg Aches bike ride is again virtual. Pick your favorite ride and take a journey from your own doorstep during the week of May 30June 5. Proceeds benefit the programs of LCS Northwest (Spokane), a nonprofit human services agency serving victims of trauma throughout Eastern Washington and Idaho. Lutheran Community Services, 210 W. Sprague. lcsnw. org (343-5060) RIVERFRONT MOVES: BARRE AT THE PAVILION Pulse and shake in the Barre Code’s 50-minute signature class that combines barre work and isometric movements to fatigue your muscles while remaining gentle on your joints.

Registration available six days prior to each session. Thursdays, 6-7 pm through June 10. Free. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard. riverfrontspokane.com SPOKANE INDIANS VS. TRI-CITY DUST DEVILS Home game series. June 5, 6:30 pm and June 6, 5:09 pm. $5$14. Avista Stadium, 602 N. Havana St. milb.com/spokane/schedule/2021-06 STATE PARKS FREE DAY Visit Washington State Parks without a required Discover Pass ($10/day or $30/year).

Includes day access locally to Riverside, Mt. Spokane and Palouse Falls State Parks. June 5, June 12, June 13, Aug. 25, Sep. 25, Nov. 11 and Nov. 26. parks.state. wa.us/281/Parks SPOKANE BIKE SWAP The Spokane Bike Swap is a wonderful way to donate

or consign bikes you have outgrown, don’t ride, or want to upgrade. It also provides affordable bikes for those who cannot afford to purchase a new one.

Consignment signup/drop off June 11 from 3-7 pm; swap June 13 from 10 am-4 pm. $5. Spokane County Fair & Expo Center, 404 N. Havana St. spokanebikeswap.com (509-477-1766) BACK TO NATURE TRAIL RUN A scenic trail run on the Hiawatha Trail, offering 4-mile (full), 15K and 25K routes. Open to only 500 runners, this event includes passing through the historic train tunnels. June 13. $95-$115. Lookout Pass Ski & Recreation Area, I-90 Exit 0. nsplit.com (208-744-1301)

y a d s r u Th th

ARTS

AMERICAN ORIGINAL: THE LIFE AND WORK OF JOHN JAMES AUDUBON An exclusive selection of original prints, paintings, manuscripts and personal possessions of an American icon. The exhibition tells the incredible story of a man who overcame obstacles to attain international recognition through his creativity and initiative on projects such as the ubiquitous “The Birds of America.” May 14-Sept. 19; Tue-Sun 10 am-5 pm. $5-$12. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931) LISA SORANAKA: PLEUROTUS VESTITUS This locally based ceramic artist has shown her work in galleries across the country. Her series “Pleurotus” is an investigation of the artist’s love and fascination with decoration in our culture, and the line between beauty, excess, and consumption. June 3-25; gallery open Thu-Fri from 10 am-2 pm. Spokane Art School, 811 W. Garland Ave. spokaneartschool.net (509-325-1500) EASY WORLD Easy World is a culmination of recent images, and is the first solo exhibition of artist June T Sanders.

June’s photographic work is an invitation to the limits of visibility. Opening reception June 4 from 5-8 pm; open Fridays from 5-8 pm through June. KolvaSullivan Gallery, 115 S. Adams St. facebook.com/events/302853714705486 FIRST FRIDAY Art galleries and businesses across downtown Spokane and beyond host receptions to showcase new art. June 4 from 5-8 pm. Free. Details at firstfridayspokane.org LIONS & TIGERS & BEARS, OH MY! An invitational exhibit featuring eight recognized ceramic and mixed media artists from across the U.S. presenting functional ceramics and one-of-a-kind sculpture. June 4-30. Open reception June 4 from 5-8 pm and June 5 from 12-4 pm. Show open Wed-Sat during gallery hours or by appt. Trackside Studio, 115 S. Adams St. tracksidestudio.net ROGER RALSTON & HARRY MESTYANEK June’s show features recent works by Roger Ralston and Harry Mestyanek’s Equipoise, a series of ceramic works that examine balance, harmony, union and stasis in community. Opening reception June 4 from 5-8 pm. Open Fri 4-8 pm and Sat 1-5 pm through June 26. Free. Saranac Art Projects, 25 W. Main Ave. (530-5374) SPOKANE QUEER ARTWALK Held as part of June’s First Friday events across six downtown locations and featuring more than 20 LGBTQIA+ artists.

Locations include Dean Davis Studios, Kolva-Sullivan Gallery, Trackside Studio, Yes is a Feeling, Riverfront Pavilion and Chase Gallery. June 4, 5-8 pm. facebook.com/spokanequeerartwalk n

June 10 5-8PM

LIVE Music

PR IZ

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DRINK SPECIALS

inlander.com/PartyonthePatio JUNE 3, 2021 INLANDER 33

GOOD DEEDS Not once but twice within a month I have been thought of by two extremely honest people. The first time was when I left my purse on a bench & it was found & taken into the Rite Aid on 29th street & last Saturday when I laid my pink frozen food bag down on the cement by the Shadle Safeway. I haven’t an explanation for why all of “this” took place, good luck or divine intervention? What I do know is not only was I saved heartache twice, but the two thoughtful & honest souls must have felt proud for their kind actions. Thanks & best wishes go out to both of them.

YOU SAW ME NO LIFE: HILLYARD CAR WASH Me washing my Delta 88, you saw me. You caught my eye when you pulled up next to me by the vacuums checking me out. I could not help but notice how sexy you are, waiting patiently. When I walked around to sit at the wheel you was looking hard; smiling, you said hello I am Michael, and I said hello I am Melissa. You looked into my soul, melting me like butter. You persistent, me so flustered, I gave you the first three numbers wrong. So if you’re out there and you read this, the first three numbers are 558 NOT 588. Michael, call me or see me at the car wash. Melissa (youwantmetositwhere@gmail.com)

CHEERS RESTAURANT OWNERS Looking forward to a fully operational and vibrant restaurant scene. Some food for thought. The people who want vaccine passports are the ones who were happy to let you go bankrupt because they were afraid to go out for a year. The people who kept you in business are the ones you’ll be banning.

LORD OF THE GARAGE SALES Cheers to the folks who referenced Tolkien on their garage sale sign!

SWEET FURRY FELINE Cheers to Gertrude the Cat at Northwest Seed and Pet. My daughter had just had a super rough day at school so when she spotted you snoozing in the greenhouse and you allowed her to pet you and scritch your ears, you improved her day by a significant percentage.

Thank you, dear Gertrude.

RE: SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN CALIFORNIA I couldn’t agree more.

They can go home anytime. Most that I have come across are rude, pushy and think they have the right to change how life here is. We are proud of our state and city and do not need your kind here. I have come across the California snobs on many of my walks, and they acted like you are someone to be looked down upon. I have a son that lives in California, and he has to deal with it there. Believe me he feels sorry for us having to endure their holier than though attitude. Go home and leave us in peace.

HELPED ME BACK OUT To the kind young lady that was wearing a MUV fitness jacket that helped me back out of my tight parking spot at Riverfront

Square parking garage on 5/26/2021… thank you!!!! I couldn’t have gotten out without hitting something without you! Appreciate you!

“

in front of our houses, and we all simply step over it. Instead of joining a gym, I now walk and pick up trash everywhere I go. I challenge Spokane

wrong with that? At this point, you are either judged for wearing a mask because it is “what the sheep do” or you are judged because “you haven’t

I’m tired of stepping in your dog’s ‘gift’ and tracking it in the house

JEERS

RUDE PATIENTS Boo to the patients who think it’s OK to talk down and be incredibly rude to nursing staff, office staff and other support staff, and then smile suck-up the providers. We are ALL exhausted from the last year and a half of COVID. There is not one day we are fully staffed. Most days we do the work of two or more people. What happened to the “golden rule” of treat others as you want to be treated? Yes, your care is important; so is the patient before and after you. Understand we chose this profession because helping people is important to us. But the mistreatment we get on a daily basis is pushing us out of health care in droves.

A little kindness goes a long way.

DON’T BE A MASK-HOLE If you are still giving service workers grief over having to wear a mask in their establishment a YEAR after the pandemic has begun, you are absolutely the worst kind of person inhabiting this planet.

Don’t be rude to people literally just trying to do their jobs. What is wrong with you? Who raised you?

30-DAY LITTER CHALLENGE We’ve become so oblivious to our surroundings that most of us don’t even notice how bad the litter is. It’s in the store parking lots, on the side of the roads,

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.”

to join me in the month of June picking up litter., taking an extra bag and a glove when walking your dog or when you take the kids to the park. It’s a great lesson to teach the young kids that this is OUR city, our world, and WE are all responsible for it. You don’t necessarily have to go out and make a point in doing it, rather, on your way into the store or when you get home at night. Maybe you’re involvement can simply be... don’t litter or close the neighbor’s trash lid so the birds don’t pick through it. Saving it for the city to take care isn’t practical. Do me at least one favor, the next time you go outside, pay attention to what’s on the ground. Thanks, Bobbi & Abby NEW MASK MANDATE While the new mask mandate claims to be a step in the right direction, I think it has started leading to even more judgment in terms of being vaccinated or not. As we now know, vaccinated people don’t need to wear masks at some places. As a vaccinated person myself, I am still choosing to wear a mask. Unfortunately, some people are now considering the sign of wearing a mask to be that of someone who has not been vaccinated. While this is definitely the case for some, it isn’t for everyone. You are almost scoffed at or get disgusted looks for still wearing a mask. Maybe people still want to remain cautious. Is there anything

”

been vaccinated? ! you must be one of those people. I realize the irony in these stereotypes, but that is how our society has become. And it isn’t right.

BROWNES ADDITION DOG WALKERS Please pick up after your dog and be a responsible owner; I’m tired of stepping in your dog’s “gift” and tracking it in the house. Our yard is not your private park. Everyday without fail there are several deposits. If you’re not responsible enough to pick up after your dog, perhaps you should consider giving it away to someone more responsible and respectful of your neighbors. You don’t deserve a dog, and take your f---ing cigarette butts with you, too. n

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A B W B H A Y S

P L A N B S

A T Y B O N S T I U T C N E I K N F E Y E

E T T S C K C A E C L M H P A L O T C R D I I O N F T A O W M W O K L S E

K A H L O

A N A I S

M A I S I E

E D A M P S U V A L R O I R M E C O Y A B C D R O S A G

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The National Hockey League doesn’t punish players for cannabis use.

SPORTS

Sticky Icky Shuffle Pro sports’ ongoing dance with cannabis

BY WILL MAUPIN

I

n most industries, drug testing of employees is done with safety in mind. An inebriated warehouse worker could be dangerous, after all. In sports, though, the tests are designed to weed out performance-enhancing substances like steroids, which give users an unfair competitive advantage.

Puffing on a joint won’t turn you into a musclebound home run machine, so why bother testing for it?

Like most things related to cannabis policy, sports leagues in the United States aren’t all on the same page when it comes to the drug. Most leagues don’t even have a firm policy that defines whether cannabis is allowed or prohibited outright.

Interestingly, it’s the sport often viewed as stuck in the past that has taken the most progressive stance on cannabis: major league baseball removed the drug from its list of prohibited substances in 2019.

The National Hockey League continues to test for

cannabis, and positive tests lead to consultation with team tests, but the league’s most recent collective bargaining doctors, but players are not punished in any way. Of agreement removed offseason drug tests, making cannathe four major sports leagues in the United States — the bis consumption de facto allowed from April through the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB — the two most accepting start of training camp in August. of cannabis, hockey and baseball, are also the only two Perhaps unsurprisingly, while men’s sports are slowly with a majority of their teams located in jurisdictions changing with the times, women’s sports are embracwhere recreational cannabis is legal. Overall, of ing the changes. The National the 124 teams in those four leagues, 66 or 53 Women’s Soccer League is, at least.

LETTERS percent are based in cities where cannabis has Multiple teams in the United States’ Send comments to been legalized. top-flight women’s soccer league editor@inlander.com.

The other two of the four big leagues, the have sponsorship deals with CBD NFL and NBA, aren’t quite on the cutting edge companies. One team, the Portland with cannabis.

Thorns, wears the name of a CBD company, complete The NBA suspended cannabis testing for the 2020-21 with those three letters, front and center on their pregame season, a move spurred on somehow by the coronaviwarmup jerseys. n rus pandemic, though there’s no word on making that suspension permanent once life returns to normal. The A version of this article first appeared in the Inlander’s NFL continues to include cannabis in its random drug glossy cannabis magazine, Green Zone Guide.

JUNE 3, 2021 INLANDER 35

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RELATIONSHIPS

Advice Goddess Marijuana use increases the risk of lower grades and dropping out of school.

Talk with your kids.

GET THE FACTS at learnaboutmarijuanawa.org

NOTE TO READERS

!

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

NO MANCHILD LEFT BEHIND

I’m a woman in my early 20s. I’m considered pretty, and I’m in good shape. I started dating significantly older men (in their 40s and early 50s).

I love that they’re adults and I don’t become a girlfriend-slash-nanny, motivational coach, and resume editor like when I’m dating guys my age. But these older men and I are in different life stages with different goals. They want to get married way AMY ALKON sooner than I do, or they’ve had kids and don’t want more. How can I trick my brain into wanting men my age who are less emotionally and otherwise mature? —Elder Dater In my 20s, upon moving from Michigan to Manhattan, I was quite the grandpa chaser. I have a thing for the lived-in male face and a ripened mind. But back then, I felt personally and professionally adrift — unsure of who I was and what I wanted to do. Ultimately, I think I was drawn to much-older men in the way Kate Winslet’s character was drawn to the door she clung to when The Titanic went down.

These men had what might be called stability: established careers in impressive, high-status fields, and they lived in civilized apartments (in contrast with my grim walk-up, so tiny you could breathe or think; pick one). But, now, looking back through the lens of evolutionary psychology, the attributes that attracted me reflect the evolved female preference for men who can “invest”: provide for a woman and any children they had together.

This priority by women, found across cultures and even species, surely evolved because females (save for seahorses, pipefish, and sea dragons) are the ones who get pregnant and left with babies to feed. Because the perils of single motherhood weren’t an issue for ancestral men, men evolved to prioritize physical attractiveness. This preference is sneered at as “superficial,” though it’s anything but. The features men are drawn to — smooth, unblemished skin, lustrous hair, full lips, and youth v are cues to a woman’s health and fertility. Men who instead had the hots for wrinkly 70-year-old ladies wouldn’t have left any descendants to pass on their biddy-banger genes.

Across cultures, other characteristics most widely sought in both male and female mates include kindness, intelligence, and good health. Most of us can’t have it all; we have to settle to some degree. But evolutionary psychologists David Buss and Todd Shackelford find that women who are very physically attractive and thus high in mate value wanted all four of a cluster of mate characteristics in a man — those indicating that: 1. He’ll invest. 2. He’ll be a good parent. 3. He’ll be a loving partner. 4. He has good genes to pass on (suggested by his physical health, masculinity, and sexiness).

If you are high in mate value — physically attractive, with other qualities men want in a partner (kindness, intelligence, etc.) — you’ll probably feel less willing to settle. This makes for some challenges. Much-older men can be a bad bet for a number of reasons, including crushing alimony, sperm beyond their prime, and the possibility that you’ll be diapering both a baby and a husband in relatively short order.

Unfortunately, in many younger men, 30 seems to be the new 18. Financially, the trappings of an adult life (like a house and children) are out of reach for many younger people in a way they weren’t in the past. Also, because casual sex is widely available, younger dudes are in no rush to end the Tinder rando sex parade with an “I do.” Finally, many of this generation grew up helicopter-parented, without the “Be home by dark!” independence of we who grew up in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Many got trophies just for showing up and either weren’t asked to do chores or were allowed to shrug them off. Is it really a shock when a guy doesn’t pop up at 23 brimming with adult responsibility and instead wants to play World of, um, Warcrack all day while you write his resume and cover letters?

Your best bet is probably to look for guys just a bit older — in their late 20s or early 30s — who may not be totally together in their career and finances but show potential. These are men who are ambitious, intelligent, and hardworking, with reasonable goals (that is, goals that seem realizable without the services of a wizard). Look for signs they care about more than their own immediate comfort and ease — like by noticing when you’re cold and giving you their jacket.

To be fair, there are women with much-older male partners who have happy, satisfying, and maybe even magical relationships. Still, a good general rule might be that a guy’s probably too old for you if, when he was your age, he could’ve called you “baby,” but “3-month-old fetus” would’ve been more medically accurate. n ©2021, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. • Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405 or email AdviceAmy@aol.com (www.advicegoddess.com)

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43. Actor Robert 45. One to whom you tell *everything* 48. 30 percent of X 50. Landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case, informally 51. “I’ll pencil you in and let you know when everything is set in stone” 58. The beginning 59. It might be seasoned with adobo sauce 60. “The Alphabet Song” lyric you should sing after solving 16-, 22-, 38- and 51-Across 66. ____ of Mexico 67. Furry creature from Endor 68. Talk show host whose first name is Mehmet 69. Website with the heading “Craft Supplies” 70. “If all ____ fails ... “ 71. Heroic tale

DOWN 1. Resort with cucumber slices 2. “I’m With ____” (2016 campaign slogan) 3. Part of ETA 4. Workload that must be met 5. Palestinian leader Mahmoud 6. Alternatives in case things don’t work out 7. And so forth: Abbr.

8. “Have you no shame!”

9. “Self-Portrait With Monkey” artist 10. Writer Nin 11. Williams of “Game of Thrones” 12. Things to wipe your hands on 17. “How come?”

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32. “The Fountainhead” author Rand 33. “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee” network

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53. Bring together 54. Title word in a William Shatner sci-fi series 63 64 65 that includes “____ Vengeance,” “____ Power” and “____ Money” 55. “Goldeneye” actress Janssen “ABCs” 56. Aloof 57. Some infrastructure 61. Jill Biden, ____ Jacobs 62. Bird whose eye is in the Wise potato chips logo 63. Training ____ 64. Gear tooth 65. “All the Stars” singer with Kendrick Lamar 40

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15. “Somebody needs ____!” (comment to a cranky baby) 16. Furniture named for the shape of its spindles that flare up from the seat 19. Compared with 20. Brie who played Trudy on “Mad Men” 22. Motivational phrase used in sales 27. Run out of juice 28. “I can’t believe this,” in texts 29. Spanish “that” 30. Show displeasure toward, as a llama does 34. Turned white 38. Sites where recruits go to start training

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