Inlander 06/20/2024

READY, WILLING AND ABLE

Local nurse

Hannah Cvancara wants to be the first civilian amputee to join the military – and she’s taking on the Department of Defense to do it

By Eliza Billingham page

16

EDITOR’S NOTE

Some of us are practically born knowing our life’s calling. For Spokane resident Hannah Cvancara, that dream has always been JOINING THE U.S. ARMED FORCES, following in the footsteps of her father and countless others who’ve committed themselves to a life of service in the name of our country.

Unlike many of her peers, however, Cvancara always knew her journey would be a long, uphill battle — one she’s still fighting now. That’s because the ER nurse has had a prosthetic leg since infancy. While she easily passed the military’s strenuous physical exams, and has never let her leg slow down her ultra active lifestyle, a perhaps archaic rule prevents her from transferring her nursing expertise from the civilian side to the military.

Read more in this week’s cover story by staff writer Eliza Billingham about Cvancara’s tenacious efforts to create a future in which she and other highly capable amputees can serve their country with pride. And, since it can’t be said enough, we share our gratitude to all U.S. military service members: past, present and future.

— CHEY SCOTT, Editor

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WHAT CITY WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE BECOME SPOKANE’S NEXT SISTER CITY?

MARIT JACOBS

I have one that comes to mind instantly: Bergen, Norway. It reminds me a lot of Spokane just from the walkability of it, and I feel like year-round people are out and doing things. Especially with the changing seasons, ’cause they get four seasons, too. That would be a cool one.

SUZIE HALL

I would say you need a city in Europe somewhere, like that’s missing.

A specific country maybe?

Amsterdam. Holland. That whole area is amazing. It’s very walkable and [has] biking places, so it would match.

SARA BAUER

I’ve been to Cluj, Romania, which was a really cool city, and it’s the only city — at least back when I went a few years ago — that is growing in population size in Romania. Everything else was declining.

KELLY PULLIN

Somewhere in Switzerland. Zurich.

Why did you pick it?

I’ve kinda wanted to go there since grade school. I remember doing something like a report — [it] just stuck in my head.

MATTHEW WHITCOMB

How about Wellington, New Zealand? Capital city, medium size, friendly — I’ll vote for Wellington, New Zealand.

INTERVIEWS BY

The Grand Irrelevant Party

Republicans in Washington state can save their party from irrelevancy by ignoring many of its endorsements

BY BILL BRYANT

Washington’s Republican Party is teetering toward irrelevancy. To be viable, a party must put forward candidates who can articulate a vision that at least 51% of voters embrace. At its April convention in Spokane, the Republican Party didn’t do that. Instead, Republicans revealed that winning isn’t what’s most important to them.

Democrats should not find amusement in what more thoughtful Republicans have described as a shit show, because a robust democracy needs at least two viable parties, and in Washington, that’s at risk.

Think I’m exaggerating?

Republicans endorsed a candidate for governor who polls in the single digits, has been charged with a gun theft felony, who defrauded a bank, was recalled from the only office he’s been elected to,

and was reprimanded by the Pentagon for misrepresenting his military valor. The party could have endorsed gubernatorial candidate Dave Reichert, who in addition to polling within the margin of error with the likely Democratic nominee, served our state and country honorably as a former King County sheriff and U.S. congressman.

By not supporting the candidate most qualified and with the best shot at winning, the convention’s gubernatorial endorsement process amounted to political masturbation. It probably made delegates feel good, but had zero potential to produce any enduring result, except, the party’s irrelevancy.

That irrelevancy is fueled by unquestioned fealty to Donald Trump, and the insistence of many convention delegates that Republican candidates genuflect before that altar. For many of the delegates, a candidate’s qualifications, character, years of public service, commitment to traditional Republican principles were trivial when compared to a candidate’s blind loyalty to a man. Those who demand a pledge of allegiance to

How out of touch is the statewide GOP? Their leading candidate to run for governor, Dave Reichert, skipped their convention in Spokane in April. DAVE REICHERT FOR GOVERNOR PHOTO

a person are Republicans In Name Only, because true Republicans put principles above any person and party. Republican President Theodore Roosevelt believed it was unpatriotic not to challenge a president, stating, “Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president.”

Those who only support candidates devoted to Trump should heed the words of Republican President Ronald Reagan who repeatedly said, “The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally, not a 20 percent traitor.”

Both those Republicans had an affinity for the West. Independence, character and having the courage to speak your mind are values generally appreciated in the West.

They certainly were hallmarks of Washington’s Republican Party when I was growing up. In March 1974, Washington state’s Republican Attorney General Slade Gorton called for Republican President Nixon to resign. Gorton argued that the president had demonstrated a “broad pattern of indifference to and disrespect for the laws of the United States.” Many in Washington’s Republican Party were irate, claiming they’d never support Gorton again, that his political career was over. But the Republican state chairman acknowledged the attorney general could have a different voice within the party, saying, “Those who support the president should speak out. Those who oppose the president should speak out.”

Gorton went on to win reelection as attorney general and then to serve several terms as Washington’s US senator.

That Republican Party elected US senators, state attorneys general, congressional representatives and governors.

As a Republican candidate for governor, 11 months before the 2016 election I told a Seattle crowd that if Trump believes what he says, he’s unfit to be president, and if he doesn’t believe what he says, he’s a farce. While some Republicans thanked me for saying that, many didn’t, but even Republicans who didn’t like what I said about Trump still grudgingly voted for me. I’m not sure they would today. The 2024 party does not harbor a gracious space for dissent.

At the Spokane convention, former U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Buetler, a candidate for state public lands commissioner who worked on natural resource issues during her tenure as a Republican congresswoman, was jeered and ignored by many because she had voted to impeach Donald Trump.

Gubernatorial candidate Reichert didn’t even attend the convention.

When a Republican candidate who served three years in the state Legislature and 12 years in Congress is treated rudely, party leaders need to reflect on what they value, and consider the effect that behavior and those values could have on their future ability to recruit qualified candidates.

When the leading Republican candidate and likely nominee for governor does not attend his party’s state convention, party leaders need to confront their potential irrelevancy.

That irrelevancy should concern Republicans and Democrats. Democracies function best when two or more viable parties, each committed to winning, present different solutions to commonly recognized challenges. If there is only one viable party, it can run roughshod over the legitimate concerns of the minority, dictating policies designed to appease only its own voters. That absence of compromise erodes the consensus that binds a democratic republic together, and increases the polarization that’s corroding our political process.

Washington’s Republicans can rescue their party from irrelevancy by voting in the August primary for qualified candidates who value policy options over loyalty oaths.

That will present general election voters with Republican candidates who have a shot at winning, and will send Republican Party officials the message that in Washington, blind loyalty is a loser. n

Bill Bryant, who served on the Seattle Port Commission from 2008-16, ran against Jay Inslee as the Republican nominee in the 2016 governor’s race. He lives in Winthrop, Washington.

Calculating Catastrophe

The risk of wildfires is causing some in Spokane County to lose their homeowners insurance

BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

Back in February, Nikki Hyche received an unwelcome surprise. Though she’d reliably paid to insure her home in Spokane’s Grandview/Thorpe neighborhood since 2015, she received a letter from Farmers Insurance stating that they wouldn’t be renewing her coverage.

“We have recently reviewed your home policy and determined certain factors do not meet our eligibility rules,” the nonrenewal notice stated.

Her coverage, she was informed, would end on April 30, because her roof was too old and something called her FireLine® score was too high. Hyche informed the insurance company that she’d actually gotten a new roof, but they told her the policy still wouldn’t be renewed. The fire risks calculated by FireLine, a product from the insurance rating bureau Verisk, were apparently too much for Farmers to keep her on.

“I read the letter and called them and basically they said Farmers is pulling out of the [ZIP] code 99224, and they will no longer be insuring people here,” Hyche says. “I felt betrayed.”

While Farmers pointed Hyche toward another insurance option from a different company, she says she instead went to an independent insurance agent who shopped around and found her some options. She ultimately got another plan with a major insurance company

at a comparable rate.

But not everyone has been so lucky.

Insurance brokers in the Inland Northwest have similarly started to see some clients getting their coverage “non-renewed” — industry lingo for canceled — and in some cases, it hasn’t been easy to find another policy.

Lei Ann Cross is a private client adviser in Spokane for Hub International, an independent insurance agency that’s able to shop around and offer a variety of insurance products from different companies. Cross says she and her coworkers have started to hear about more nonrenewals in recent years, particularly after last summer’s Gray Fire near Medical Lake and Oregon Fire near Elk.

Medical Lake sits just outside the 99224 ZIP code, which covers a large area west of the city of Spokane, stretching from Riverside State Park in the north nearly to Spangle in the south and west to Four Lakes. It encompasses the area where last week’s Grove Fire burned an estimated 75 acres.

The increased frequency of catastrophes is something insurance companies are taking into account, Cross says.

“It’s really hard to wrap your head around when you pay your insurance every month and you don’t put in a claim and all of a sudden you are getting a rate increase or you’re getting non-renewed,” Cross says. “It’s frustrating for

the client, it’s frustrating for the agent, it’s frustrating for the carriers themselves. They don’t want to have to be pulling business. But around here we did have those two large fires last year.”

The nonrenewals are compounded by major cost increases in recent years. While it’s hard to quantify the two issues, there are multiple factors impacting the industry.

INCREASED PREMIUMS

Whether you have a homeowners insurance policy or commercial insurance for your business, the last two years have likely felt especially punishing.

Premiums — i.e., the monthly or annual costs to customers to maintain coverage — significantly increased in 2023 and again this year.

In Washington state, 135 companies provide homeowners insurance, but the largest 20 companies make up about 75% of the insurance market, according to the state Office of the Insurance Commissioner.

The weighted average annual rate change for homeowners insurance among those top 20 companies ranged from a 1.3% to 3.9% increase each year from 2017 to 2022, according to the state agency’s data. Then in 2023, customers saw a whopping 16.9% increase (on weighted average), and so far this year, customers are seeing a 14.6% increase.

Anecdotally, Cross says the largest increase she’s seen was about 40%.

The primary reason homeowners insurance has been getting more expensive is due to the increase in actual claims that insurance companies have had to pay out in the state, says Aaron VanTuyl, who works in public affairs for the state Office of the Insurance Commissioner.

In 2018, insurance companies paid out nearly $942 million in homeowners insurance claims, VanTuyl says. In 2022, the payout was nearly double that, at $1.84 billion.

Homeowners are still recovering from the Gray Fire (shown here on Oct. 4, 2023) around Medical Lake. ERICK DOXEY PHOTO

The final figures for 2023 aren’t in yet, but it’s expected to be more than $2 billion, he says.

When companies want to increase their rates, those requests have to be submitted to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner, where state-employed actuaries verify the actual costs that companies are using to forecast their future needs in setting their rates, VanTuyl says.

“They have to prove actuarially that a rate change is justified, and show a recent history of their expenses, administrative costs, and claims paid out,” VanTuyl says. “They also show what their current premiums are bringing in and whether they’ll lose money or become insolvent.”

The state actuaries can push back if they don’t feel rate increases are justified, but if they’re proven necessary, the elected insurance commissioner cannot tell the companies they can’t increase their rates.

Washington customers are somewhat lucky, in that they still often have other options if their insurance provider either spikes their rates or doesn’t renew their coverage, Cross says. In other states, such as California, Texas and Florida, homeowners haven’t been so lucky.

So what happens when you can’t find coverage, and how many people is this happening to?

LAST RESORT

In Washington, if worst comes to worst, homeowners can find coverage through the FAIR Plan, which is known as an insurer of last resort. It provides very basic fire coverage, but many other things such as water damage, liability or theft are not included.

While the plan isn’t taxpayer funded, it is overseen by the Office of the Insurance Commissioner, which can use

data from those who enroll to get a sense of why people are struggling to get insurance, VanTuyl says.

Use of the FAIR Plan has increased year over year, though homeowners often get off the plan quickly.

“For the most part they are able to find better coverage from a regular insurance company,” VanTuyl says. “It’s not the best coverage you can look for, but it is coverage available to anybody who needs it.”

Over the course of 2017, there were 75 enrollees on the FAIR Plan in Washington. So far this year, there have been 254 enrollees, though as of last week there were 207 on the plan, VanTuyl says. There are also consumers enrolled on the commercial side.

In 2022, 59% of homeowners enrolled on the FAIR Plan in Washington said their claims history prevented them from finding other coverage, while 13% said wildfire risk was preventing them from finding coverage; in 2023, 48% blamed their claims history and 16% said wildfire risk was at fault.

Washington is still doing far better than other states that have faced significant natural disasters when it comes to how many people require last resort insurance.

In Oregon, there are about 1,300 people using that type of plan, while in California there are about 380,000, says David Forte, a senior policy adviser for the Washington state Office of the Insurance Commissioner. Florida, meanwhile, which faces severe wind damage from hurricanes (FEMA provides flood coverage), has 1.3 million on the state’s insurer of last resort, he says.

“We’ve doubled in the last three years, but we still only have 207 on the plan. On a whole across the state, we have almost 2 million homeowners policies,” Forte says. “Yes, people are being nonrenewed, but they’re still able to find companies willing to cover them. If they weren’t, they’d be

coming to our FAIR Plan more.”

The insurance commissioner’s office can also look to consumer complaints as a source of data, but since May 1, 2023, the office has received only 32 complaints about homeowners insurance that mentioned wildfire, and only two of those mentioned nonrenewals, VanTuyl says.

WHAT TO DO

In his role as an adviser, Forte often speaks to groups around the state about the current insurance market and the options available to homeowners and communities that want to make sure their area remains insurable.

Insurance providers aren’t required to disclose which third-party companies they may be using to calculate the risks in a specific area, Forte says.

“Insurance companies aren’t going on site and doing a thorough investigation. They’re relying on aerial satellite imagery and third-party vendors,” Forte says. “Unlike rates, where the commissioner has the authority to approve, review, push back or challenge them, when it comes to underwriting guidelines, they are not required to be disclosed to the commissioner. We have no legal authority to challenge them.”

In other words, the insurance commissioner can’t dictate the risks companies should take on, nor can they require that companies use the most up-to-date and accurate data available when deciding whether to renew a policy.

However, there are things communities and individual owners can do to improve their chances of remaining insurable. Among those, homeowners can update their property to an industry standard called “Wildfire Prepared Home,” Forte says.

The designation is being designed by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS), an insurance

industry-funded research institute.

IBHS similarly designed standards to protect homes from wind damage in the southeast part of the country, Forte says. Alabama supported homeowners with grants to make those updates (largely fortifying roofs and windows), and now has better rates and more options for insurance compared to other states in that area, he says.

However, the changes required under the Wildfire Prepared Home standards will likely be farther out of reach for the average consumer, Forte says. Upgrades could include everything from new siding to replacing wood decks with fire resistant material.

“It’s more expensive than just a roof,” Forte says. “This has to be monitored, and people have to do vegetation mitigation every year. It’s a far greater challenge ahead of us for wildfire mitigation.”

This year, the state could also move closer to understanding the scope of insurability issues.

Currently, the insurance commissioner doesn’t actually track where all the various types of insurance policies are around the state, Forte says.

“We approve the language, and the rates, but we don’t track who has what policy,” Forte says.

However, Washington lawmakers unanimously approved a new law this year, which took effect this month and should allow the insurance commissioner’s office to compile data from insurance companies to get a better idea of what’s happening around the state. The new law enables the office to gather information that’s often considered confidential and compile public reports that won’t interfere with competitiveness in the industry, but could illuminate what’s going on.

It’s a balancing act, Forte says.

“We’re tasked to do consumer protection, maintain a healthy market and regulate the insolvency of these companies,” Forte says. “If they’re willing to pull out of California, which is like the No. 4 insurance market in the entire world — not just the country — they’re willing to pull out of any area they feel is not profitable.” n samanthaw@inlander.com

The Artsy Alternative

Fashion design students rock the runway, demonstrating that Innovation High School remains a beacon for arts-based education in Spokane

BY COLTON RASANEN

Ronnie Ryno began teaching at Innovation High School as a special education teacher in 2017 — the first year the school started accepting students. But when the school’s leaders learned she could sew and had intricate knowledge of the fashion industry, she started teaching sewing and fashion design classes.

Since taking on that new role, she’s taught students everything they need to know about fashion, from the seemingly minute act of threading a needle to creating a collection of runway-ready looks.

Ryno’s fashion design program is unique in Eastern Washington, but it’s one of many creative options for students at Innovation, which is one of the few public charter schools on the eastern side of the state.

“A lot of creative kids go to high school and are underwhelmed with the experience and don’t feel truly impacted in a positive way,” Ryno explains. “This is a place for those kids.”

Ryno believes that the best way to learn something is by actually doing it.

That’s why she also started hosting a yearly fashion show where her students get to showcase the outfits they’ve been working on throughout the school year.

Last month, Innovation, which is a part of the public Pride Schools District, not Spokane Public Schools, hosted

its largest annual fashion show to date, Ryno says. More than 250 people attended this year’s show at the school’s East Central campus in Spokane. And, between designers, models, hair stylists, makeup artists and backstage crew, more than 70 current and former students helped produce it.

“[Students] always tell me, ‘I don’t know why I signed up for this,’ but once the fashion show comes around they seem to change their minds,” Ryno says. “It’s such an amazing feeling, I definitely get very emotional.”

Two of Ryno’s students, sophomore Jordyn Horton and junior Ashton Heston, were among the designers whose creations were on display — and their collections couldn’t be more different.

Horton’s collection took a more whimsical approach, as each of her three outfits were themed after purple creatures in the realm of Dungeons & Dragons.

Her first outfit was a take on a race of walking mushrooms, with a beaded purple corset as the focal point. The outfit was completed with a pair of black knee-high boots and a mid-length ruched skirt, billowing with bunches of purple and black fabric.

“I spent at least 60 hours adding thousands of small beads to that corset,” Horton says.

Her next outfit, a sleek satin suit, was inspired by a mimic — a dangerous creature with sharp teeth that often mimics the shape of a treasure chest. On the surface the outfit might seem fairly simple, but Horton’s addition of sharp teeth (made from fake nails) on the shoulder pads and shoes enhanced the creation.

Not only was she responsible for creating the looks in her collection, Horton also had to think about how the models should act while wearing the outfits.

“With the mimic, I wanted him to remain more serious and walk with confidence,” she says. “Then I had him strike a sassy pose where he would stick out his foot to show off details on the shoe.”

Horton’s final look was based upon the Amethyst Dragon, a large purple dragon that spits amethysts instead of fire. The outfit looked similar to her first, but the beading on the corset was designed to emulate an opened geode.

Heston’s collection pulled from a darker, punk aesthetic. Each outfit was a swathe of black and white, completed with edgy accessories and intricate patchwork. Much of Heston’s design work was born out of his own interest in the oddities of the world.

“I do a lot of oddity work with real bones and skulls,” he explains. “I usually find them out in the woods or people will give them to me.”

While he didn’t include any actual oddities in his collection, all three outfits included a white shirt that he drew his own designs onto, based on real-life oddities he’s collected. Two depicted animal skulls while the collection’s final piece included a creepy, writhing centipede. Heston says he invested a similar amount of time on the back of each outfit, ensuring that they’d look spectacular from any angle.

In addition to fashion design, Innovation offers programs in music, construction, theater, entrepreneurship, outdoor leadership and more.

Ashton Heston’s collection (left) focused on a punk aesthetic while Jordyn Horton’s was inspired by D&D. MILLER KUCK AND JAKE CHRISTIANSON PRODUCTION PHOTOS

As a free public charter school in Washington, Innovation High School operates as a type of alternative education for the more artsfocused students in the region.

“We’re really an arts-focused school, but our offerings are allencompassing,” Pride Schools CEO Paige Albrecht says. “We are a small school of about 100 students per grade level, which in our community is truly unique.”

Aside from the artsy credits, Innovation operates as a traditional school would, with students required to take math, science and English classes. All teachers are certified just like at any other public school.

However, unlike a traditional school that gets its curriculum from state and federal education departments, Innovation is authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization to offer the Middle Years Programme and the Diploma Programme. These both implement a five-pronged approach to learning that includes developing skills in thinking, research, communication, self-management and social situations.

While this type of education creates an environment where some students thrive, it doesn’t always work for everyone, Albrecht says. That is part of the reason PRIDE Prep — the charter district’s middle school — won’t be open for the next school year, she says.

“Our high school is really thriving, but enrollment in our middle school continued to drop,” Albrecht explains. “This really stemmed from the programming that we offer at the school and the older students who thrive in the arts.”

She says another reason for the declining middle school enrollment is the community’s confusion about how the school district operates. Parents and their students don’t often fully understand the schools until they actually take a tour, she says.

It was a tough decision to close PRIDE Prep, Albrecht says of the district’s May 6 decision, but she hopes it will reopen when the time is right.

“My intention is to have the option of [PRIDE Prep] coming back as soon as it’s possible,” she says. n

coltonr@inlander.com

LYLE LOVETT AND HIS LARGE BAND

PERFORMING THE GREATEST HITS OF PINK FLOYD

MONDAY JULY 15 7:30PM MONDAY SEPT 2 6:00PM COMSTOCK PARK SATURDAY AUG 31 6:00PM LIBERTY LAKE PAVILLION PARK

AUGUST 2, 2024 8PM

LABOR DAY

Horton sewed thousands of beads to this corset.

Driven By Civics

After he left public office, the late George Nethercutt collected his political thoughts in a decade-long run of columns in the Inlander

BY TED S. McGREGOR JR.

When the little-known Spokane attorney George Nethercutt toppled Speaker of the House Tom Foley in 1994, he chiseled his name in American history. It also may have marked the beginning of the era of scorchedearth politics we still live in today, as it was Newt Gingrich and his Republican Revolution that powered the upset. Nethercutt, who later in life was critical of such politics, died at 79 on June 14.

After a decade in Congress, in 2004 the 5th District Republican representative ran unsuccessfully against Patty Murray for a Washington U.S. Senate seat. He then returned to private life, creating the George Nethercutt Foundation, which funded Nethercutt Fellows and encouraged college students to learn more about civics, government and history, “so that they deeply understand America’s great story,” Nethercutt once wrote.

“Only by studying from and appreciating the past,” he added, “can young people prepare adequately for the future.”

Setting the Standard in Retirement Living

He also wrote two books: In Tune With America: Our History in Song (2010), and Saving Patriotism (2022). In 2010, after many years as a subject of Inlander news coverage, Nethercutt agreed to write a regular column that ran for nearly a decade. (You can find them at inlander.com/author/georgenethercutt.)

In his first Inlander column in March 2010, he talked about the message he would like to share:

all, he’d served on the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

“…frustration has arisen in American politics, a frustration with both Democrats and Republicans, who seem to talk about important public issues but aren’t able to act upon them,” he wrote. “There’s also an intolerance, both in Congress and out, that says, ‘If you don’t agree with me politically, I don’t like you anymore.’

“Readers of this column will be afforded a perspective deeper than those given in 30-second sound bites on television news,” he wrote. “It will be a perspective borne of the knowledge all Americans should have of our founding principles, enhanced by the insights and perspectives formed by my 10 years of congressional service. I hope that reading this column will be educational and enlightening — because our nation is blessed by the toil and sacrifice of thousands, just like us, who built it, through all of its challenges.”

As the years went on, he was able to hit on many topics of national urgency, from the intractable nature of the immigration debate to the seriousness of the national debt to the disconnect between young people and their leaders in Congress. In May 2014, he offered this critique:

“For starters, the quality of congressional leaders needs improvement,” he wrote. “Leaders should be elected to serve the public good, not personal ambitions. Millennials want to believe in a candidate’s goodness, large purposes and credibility. Public confidence can be restored if elected officials put the public interest first, with actions that demonstrate their sacrifice for public benefit. Young voters want public interest to rank above political self-interest. They want tangible results to show for their political involvement.”

Then, in October 2017, he argued for a return to a kind of accommodation, if not outright bipartisanship, within the institution he knew well — after

“Americans seem more polarized than ever, and that’s bad for the U.S. — a place where compromise and working out differences have been hallmarks of democracy.”

In one of his last pieces in July 2020, just a few months before the bitter Biden-Trump election, he pulled on that thread even more, contemplating how different views of progress and patriotism must coexist.

“Even as we navigate these dark times in the United States and globally, all Americans should take time to recall America’s history and appreciate the tough times previous generations have endured, as well as the successes we have celebrated.

“Civility is defined as politeness in speech or behavior. Patriotism may be defined as devotion to and vigorous support for one’s country. It’s important to remember during these unprecedented times that we can together love our country without disparaging one another and being impolite.”

I covered candidate Nethercutt back in that whirlwind of 1994; we worked together from 201020 to deliver his wisdom to readers. The lessons learned on his own remarkable journey can still inspire those who are looking to embrace a different brand of public life. n

George Nethercutt, 1944-2024

Red and Blue

Reality TV show COPS could start filming with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office again this summer

BY ELIZA BILLINGHAM

Most likely, Langley Productions’ reality show COPS will be back this summer to film with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office — both at its downtown precinct and at the police department that it operates for Spokane Valley.

If the Board of County Commissioners approves the contract’s risk and liability language on June 18 (shortly after the Inlander’s press deadline), filming would start on July 16 and continue for eight weeks.

COPS is a documentary TV series that embeds film crews with police officers during patrols, arrests and other activities. Filming is free to the county and helps promote the sheriff’s office locally and nationally, Spokane County Undersheriff Kevin Richey says.

“We believe that it shows the deputies out there doing the good work for the community that we know that they do,” he says. “It has been in the past a good recruiting tool for prospective applicants who are out of the area. We have lateral applicants who mentioned that they saw us on COPS.”

Richey says that recruiting has been difficult for the past few years, but numbers are beginning to pick back up.

COPS first aired on Fox Network in 1989. In 2013, Fox canceled the show, but it got picked up by the Paramount Network that same year. In 2020, amid anti-police sentiment after the murder of George Floyd, Paramount dropped COPS. Then, in 2021, the show was rebooted on Fox Nation, a streaming service.

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office has filmed with COPS at least three times, and the department first appeared on the show in 2006. The most recent local filming was in 2020.

Spokane County deputies began wearing body cameras in the beginning of 2022.

“Now that we have cameras, anybody can see those actions through a public records request,” Spokane County Commissioner Amber Waldref tells the Inlander. Waldref expressed concerns about the show during the Board of County Commissioners briefing meeting on June 11. “You can see everything an officer has interacted with over the course of his or her week rather than cherry-picked incidents that are highly dramatic.”

COPS has been critiqued nationally. The podcast Running From Cops found the show portrayed more arrests for violence, drugs and sex work than actual crime rates. It’s also been criticized for glorifying violent policing and disproportionately showing arrests of people of color. According to the show’s contract, officers and citizens may refuse to be filmed at any time.

“If they’re being filmed or if you see them on TV or on their streaming service, then they’ve given consent,” Richey says.

Waldref says she wants to help attract quality applicants to the sheriff’s office but isn’t sure that COPS is the best way to do that. Her biggest concern is for community members.

“It’s filming folks under arrest, usually in some of their most challenging moments in their life,” she tells the Inlander. “I don’t know if that is the best way to show Spokane County and everything we have to offer here.”

County Commissioners Al French and Josh Kerns supported filming the show during the briefing meeting last week.

“With the crime rate being what it is across the country, knowing that there’s a community that actually still arrests criminals is probably not a bad thing,” French said.

“Well, I mean, they’re arrested,” Waldref responded. “They’re not convicted yet.”

“I say go for it,” Kerns said. “I think it’s great. We’ve done it … we haven’t seen an issue with doing it. Go for it.” n

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BEST FOOT FORWARD

Hannah Cvancara, an ER nurse at MultiCare Deaconess North Emergency Center, hopes to join the military. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

Hannah Cvancara’s journey to join the armed forces has

been a battle of its own

BY ELIZA BILLINGHAM

Most days, Hannah Cvancara has no time to wait.

When Multicare Deaconess North Emergency Center in Spokane is full, the nurse dashes from one life-or-death decision to another. Trauma wounds. Heart attacks. Mental health episodes. It’s an adrenaline junkie’s dream. And Cvancara — rock climber, snowboarder and international backpacker — is definitely an adrenaline junkie.

But on an early summer weekday afternoon, the ER is almost empty. Cvancara checks on her only patient, then sits behind a computer and waits. If she’s bored, she hides it well, teasing coworkers while updating digitized medical records.

Despite a life spent thinking on her feet, Cvancara is uncommonly patient. For one of the biggest decisions in her life, the 28-year-old has been forced to wait. And wait. And wait.

The daughter of an Air Force medic, Cvancara has waited almost her entire life to join the military as a nurse.

“I’ve known I’ve wanted to serve since middle school,” Cvancara says. “That has never gone away.”

But she’s been repeatedly denied because of her missing left foot, which was amputated when she was an infant due to fibular hemimelia, a random congenital birth defect where children are born with a missing or shortened fibula in their lower leg.

Even though she’s used a prosthetic since her first step, the Department of Defense’s Medical Standards for Military Service excludes her from joining the armed forces. It’s not just her — the instructions prevent any person with a missing limb from enlisting.

That is, if you lose a limb as a civilian, you’re not allowed in. But if you’re an active military member and you lose a limb, you can continue to serve as long as you can still pass the basic physical requirements.

Cvancara can easily pass the required military fitness tests. She wants to do exactly the same job she’s doing now, just in a military hospital. She fits in seamlessly in the high-stress ER, where she says her coworkers have no idea she has a prosthetic leg unless she brings it up.

Still, the military considers her unfit to enlist.

Instead of accepting their answer, Cvancara has decided to take on one of the largest bureaucracies in the world, one painfully slow email at a time.

Working with her local congresswoman, U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Cvancara helped introduce the Hannah Cvancara Service Act, which would amend the Department of Defense Instructions — the rules that dictate who can join. The

CONTINUED...

bill would allow people with missing limbs to join the military as medical personnel as long as they can fulfill all other requirements.

“The military wants you to be reliable and deployable — that’s the goal, which I totally get and respect,” Cvancara says. “That’s what makes this issue kind of tense. You don’t want to weaken the standards in any way. You want a strong force. However, you also don’t want to say no to someone who is capable without giving them the chance.”

The Hannah Cvancara Service Act was first introduced in 2022, passing the House as part of a larger military spending package, but getting removed before the final package passed in the Senate. McMorris Rodgers reintroduced the bill in the House this year.

This time, the legislation comes after two of the worst years for military recruitment since the Vietnam War. With the added support of a new co-sponsor from Tennessee, McMorris Rodgers hopes to attach the Hannah Cvancara Service Act to the National Defense Authorization Act for the 2025 fiscal year.

The military does have a waiver system — if an applicant fails one or more of the medical standards, waivers are generated and sent to that branch’s surgeon general. It’s up to that surgeon general to decide if they want to let the applicant join or not. Depending on the branch of the military and the condition in question, approval rates can range from less than 10% to more than 80%.

But so far, no pre-service amputee has ever been waived in.

Cvancara hopes to be the first, and is applying to serve in the Air National Guard. But she doesn’t just want a waiver — she wants federal legislation to make sure someone else like her doesn’t have to face the same uphill battle.

For now, Cvancara and her supporters are left waiting, first to hear the results of committee discussions this summer, then, hopefully, for the House vote later this year. Then, the bill still would have to pass the Senate. Meanwhile, Cvancara is waiting to hear whether her own Air National Guard application will be accepted, a decision she’s already spent a year waiting for.

DON’T RUN FROM REALITY

When Cvancara was born, she was completely healthy except for a missing fibula, a long, thin bone between the knee and ankle.

“There’s no reason for it,” Cvancara says. “My mom had a healthy pregnancy, and it’s very random.”

Cvancara did have a tiny left foot with four toes. The doctors didn’t want to amputate, “but I’m so glad they did,” she says, “because that foot would have been a little toothpick and that bone would have been so weak.”

Instead, Cvancara took her first steps with a strong, fully functional prosthetic. She grew up an athlete, playing volleyball, backpacking, swimming, snowboarding and rock climbing with her family without any issues.

When they weren’t outdoors, the Cvancaras were visiting war museums or watching Vietnam documentaries. Her father, Air Force flight surgeon Lt. Col. Joseph Cvancara, instilled in his four daughters the importance of service and patriotism.

“He was just really good at [saying,] ‘Don’t escape

Hannah Cvancara not only works long shifts at the hospital, but also enjoys various sports, from snowboarding to rock climbing. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

“BEST FOOT FORWARD,”

MEDICAL HISTORIES REVEALED

There are plenty of factors that make military recruiting harder, like competitive salaries for civilian jobs, low unemployment rates and COVID complications, says Master Sgt. Brittany Corr, a recruiting flight chief in Spokane Valley.

But things got even harder in March 2022, when military recruitment in Washington state started using a new software called Genesis, a program for tracking medical records.

In 2017, the military started using Genesis in a few military hospitals to track service members’ health records. Washington state was one of the first pilot locations. A few years later, selected recruiters started using Genesis to scrape all medical records for anyone applying for the military.

“It’s a great tracking tool for medicine — all of your history is there,” says Tech. Sgt. Michael Brown, director for community relations and public affairs for the 141st Air Refueling Wing. “It can make things difficult for getting people in because there is that litany of information.”

“Say, for example, somebody went to urgent care for an ingrown toenail,” Corr says. “That comes up [through Genesis] when they wouldn’t have even thought of that coming into the recruiting office.”

A severe ingrown toenail could keep you from joining the military. If it happened a long time ago and wasn’t severe, a military applicant might forget to mention it in their evaluation process. But now, with electronic scraping from Genesis, the records will be pulled and a waiver will be automatically generated.

It’s a felony to lie about your medical history while applying to the military. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t common. John F. Kennedy, who grew up with back pain and ulcers, is an oft-cited example of someone who worked his way around medical exams to join the Navy. An article in Military Times calls fudging medical records “a tacit tradition.”

“We [pilots] learned to cheat on the hearing exam,” says retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Jim McDevitt. “You could then. You can’t now. Oftentimes, you’ll learn to memorize the eye chart. You did all kinds of little clever things. Sometimes the flight surgeon knew and they would kind of look the other way. I’m not saying that’s right, but that’s just the way it was. If they were able to go back to my medical records when I was 8 or 9 years old, it probably would have disclosed what I forgot when I was applying.”

Genesis hasn’t significantly impacted Cvancara’s application process, because she would never hide that she doesn’t have a left foot.

But other applicants facing a long process of getting waivers approved might lose interest and look elsewhere for a job, says Air National Guard recruiter Tech. Sgt. Brandon Dahl. Not many applicants are as patient as Cvancara is.

— ELIZA BILLINGHAM

My dad made sure our eyes were opened to not taking our freedom for granted.

“BEST FOOT FORWARD,” CONTINUED...

reality,’” Cvancara says. “My dad made sure our eyes were opened to not taking our freedom for granted.”

Cvancara was crowned Miss Spokane in 2013, her senior year of high school. For the year of her reign, she created a community service project called “Honoring Their Sacrifice: Recognizing and Supporting our Disabled Veterans.” It nodded to a commitment she had been hoping to make since adolescence.

After completing college prerequisites in Washington state, Cvancara headed down to National University in San Diego in 2017 to get an accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She did clinicals at the Navy Medical Center there and worked as a civilian nurse alongside Navy nurses.

The only difference between the civilian and Navy nurses was that Navy nurses might be deployed.

“But even when those nurses did deploy, it would usually be to another hospital in a different area, or on an aircraft carrier, which has a little clinic on it, or on those big white [hospital] ships,” Cvancara says. “I was doing everything that the Navy nurses were doing.”

After graduating, Cvancara contacted a recruiter in 2021 to join the Navy Nurse Corps. She expected some pushback, so she also decided to get in touch with McMorris Rodgers to ask if she would be willing to support her.

Then, Cvancara did something even more unusual. She took the Navy’s physical readiness test before she went through the official military entrance processing station, or MEPS. Typically, applicants are not allowed to take the test until they’ve been medically cleared by MEPS, including having all waivers signed and approved. But for some reason, the Navy let Cvancara take the physical test first.

“I wanted to prove that I could do it,” she says.

She could definitely do it. She did the swimming test twice, once with her prosthetic and once without. Both were acceptable times, but it turns out she was a few seconds faster without it. She ran 1.5 miles in 13 minutes, 29 seconds. She could do 30 push-ups and about 100 abdominal crunches in a minute each.

But after the fitness exam came more waiting. Cvancara had to wait seven months to go to the Navy MEPS. Once she finally completed the entrance process, her waivers were created and sent to the Navy surgeon general.

It took about two weeks for the Navy to get back to her.

‘TWO REAL LEGS’

“Based on a review of available medical information, the subject applicant does not meet established physical standards due to left leg,” the rejection letter from the Navy read.

“Unfortunately, a waiver of the physical standards cannot be issued,” the letter continued. “The applicant does not meet physical standards for Appointment, Enlistment, and Induction as outlined in Department of Defense Instruction 6130.03, Volume I. Navy Recruiting Command expresses its appreciation to the applicant for the interest shown in the United States Navy and wishes all the best for the applicant’s future endeavors.”

It wasn’t entirely unexpected. But the response didn’t satisfy Cvancara. She still wanted a clearer reason why her prosthetic leg meant she couldn’t join.

“Don’t think common sense has anything to do with it,” says retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Jim McDevitt, who was also previously the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington. “We’re talking about the largest bureaucracy in the country. We’re talking about rules.”

There might have been good reasons to exclude amputees in the past, but Cvancara thinks that medicine has progressed faster than the Department of Defense Instructions have.

“Technology is so good with prosthetics now that they are stronger than your legs,” she says. “It’s titanium, carbon fiber, steel. If the technology is getting better, why can’t we match

Cvancara has lived with a prosthetic her whole life. PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE CVANCARA FAMILY

the standards to that? I mean, we have people in the Paralympics who run so much faster than people with two real legs.”

Almost immediately after the Navy’s rejection letter, Cvancara headed to Washington, D.C. with the American Orthotics and Prosthetics Association to discuss introducing a bill for amputees with McMorris Rodgers.

She’s not the only one dissatisfied with the MEPS process. It’s a system Joe Schuman — an officer with the Air Force Reserves and civilian contractor with the Department of Defense — has been brainstorming ways to improve for years.

Schuman, an MIT grad, has a history of congenital scoliosis and spinal fusion surgeries. But he was also a collegiate soccer player deemed by his doctor to have “no limitations whatsoever.”

Schuman was rejected for military service three times before strong personal connections helped get him accepted into the military in 2018. He’s now an engineer for the military who spends most of his time behind a computer. He writes about MEPS for various niche publications focused on the armed forces.

“Intelligence, logistics, medical personnel — there’s a lot of support functions to support the warfighter. I think that distinction is important when talking about waivers,” Schuman says. “My thesis is that it’s appropriate for the military to differentiate applicants based on their medical and physical abilities. But we shouldn’t hold all applicants to the same standard if we’re asking them to do different things.”

More than 70% of 18- to 24-year-olds are considered unfit for military service because of physical fitness, a criminal record, or lack of a GED or high school diploma, McDevitt says.

Schuman adds that there’s a decreasing number of applicants from top universities or with a STEM background. Some have called it a national security crisis. To address this without decreasing standards, Schuman says, applicants need to be allowed to be assessed on a more individualized basis.

“I’m ready to help anybody that’s ready to serve,” Dahl says. “I try to treat all my applicants the same way I would want to be treated through the process if I were in their shoes. Anybody that comes to me, regardless of any kind of situation they may be in medically or otherwise, I’ll definitely try my hardest and see what we can do to make it work.”

For a typical applicant, the application process could be as quick as three weeks if everything goes perfectly, Dahl says. If not, it can last up to a year. Dahl helped Cvancara start her Air National Guard application about 14 months ago.

Meanwhile, the Hannah Cvancara Service Act did not pass with the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2024.

Undeterred, Cvancara met with Col. James T. McGovern, commander of the local wing of the Air National Guard at Fairchild Air Force Base, in early 2024 to discuss her application. She was both encouraged and disappointed.

“He said, ‘Hannah, our doors are open for you, but our hands are tied because the DOD makes the rules,” she says.

It’s up to someone on the Air Force surgeon general’s team, who will never meet Cvancara, to decide to waive her in or not.

McDevitt wrote a personal endorsement letter to accompany Cvancara’s Air National Guard application.

In February, Maj. Gen. Bret Daugherty, who commands the Washington Army and Air National Guard as adjutant general of the Washington Military Department, wrote back to say the decision was out of his hands.

“The whole point of a waiver is to evaluate whether an applicant is kind of worth the risk,” he says. “A lot of my issue with the process now is that many applicants don’t get to that point. They’re filtered out by recruiters beforehand who just don’t want to do the extra work to push them for a waiver. It’s just as with many things in the military — overly bureaucratized and standardized, and there [isn’t] enough room for exceptions.”

IN THEIR SHOES

Six months after Cvancara was rejected from the Navy, the Hannah Cvancara Service Act was first introduced to Congress. Cvancara and McMorris Rodgers had to wait over a year to see if it would be included in the National Defense Authorization Act Fiscal Year 2024.

In April 2023, Cvancara decided to try to join the Air National Guard, a branch that McDevitt and others suggested might be friendlier to her goals. Her case was assigned to Tech. Sgt. Brandon Dahl, a recruiter in Spokane Valley.

“We are following current developments regarding the Hannah Cvancara Service Act in the House Armed Services Committee and are supportive of the intent to extend opportunities to serve to candidates with medical histories like Ms. Cvancara’s,” Daugherty’s letter said. “In the meantime, we sincerely hope that the AFRS/SG can grant her waiver request upon further review and, should they do so, we will gladly move on to the next step of finding her an appropriate vacancy within the WA-ANG.”

INSPIRING OTHERS

McMorris Rodgers reintroduced the Hannah Cvancara Service Act to Congress on Feb. 21, 2024.

Meanwhile, in the town of Washington, Missouri, a sharpshooter was doing some online reading.

“I enjoy reading a lot about military history and things like that,” says Sam Rudloff.

He was born in South Korea without a left hand and adopted as an infant into a Missouri family. His new grandfather was a World War II vet. As a kid, Rudloff learned to shoot a gun and developed some pretty great aim, eventually taking bronze in one of the 2021 World Shooting Para Sport Championships events.

Rudloff had dreamed of joining the military ever since he was a kid on his grandpa’s lap. He played rugby in college and is a long-distance runner. He served in the Peace Corps, living in a

...continued on next page

Jim McDevitt YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

She said, ‘You know, this could be a two- to four-year battle for just a ‘maybe.’

remote part of Zambia for two years, and loved every minute of it.

But because of his missing left hand, he’s been turned away by most military recruiters. Even when he found someone who believed in him, it was a long shot.

“I was working with this really great captain, and our angle was to try to get me into an administration role,” he says. “She said, ‘You know, this could be a two- to four-year battle for just a ‘maybe.’”

He was discouraged, especially after coming back from Zambia to no good news. But he still spent plenty of free time reading military history and current events online. That’s how he read about the bill’s reintroduction in February.

“I saw the bill and went straight away to try to contact Hannah,” Rudloff says. “I’m so grateful for Hannah to keep on just pushing for this to happen.”

Cvancara’s bill would only allow people with missing limbs to join the military as medical personnel. So, Rudloff started the process of getting his EMT license right away. His job trainers are satisfied, and he hasn’t come across any skill he can’t perform without a left hand.

“I have yet to ever fully accept that I cannot join the military,” he says. “If I can’t do that, I just feel like I’m a walking corpse. If the bill passed today, I would just walk over to the recruiting station right now and sign up.”

NEXT STEPS

In late April, Dave Philipps, a reporter for The New York Times, published Cvancara’s story on the front page of the Sunday paper. Since then, Cvancara’s inbox has been filled with people offering support and asking for advice. She and Rudloff send emails of encouragement and support back and forth.

For April 2024, the Army, Marines, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserves all lowered their recruitment goals by at least 1,000 people compared with April 2023. (The Army dropped its goal by 8,000 people.) Even so, the Army, Navy, Army Reserve, Navy Reserve and Air National Guard were unable to hit their goals.

In May, the Hannah Cvancara Service Act got its first cosponsor, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen from Tennessee.

Today, Cvancara is still waiting.

She’s waiting for patients to rush into the emergency room so she can decide how to help them.

She’s waiting for a waiver decision from the Air National Guard after she goes to MEPS at Fairchild Air Force Base in late July or early August.

She’s waiting to see what decisions the American military makes in an international arena growing increasingly more tense.

“Part of the reason I even became an ER nurse is because I like being in the action,” she says. “Peacetime is great, and we should all want to be in peacetime. But if things hit the fan, I would want to deploy. I’d want to be in the fight. That’s where you feel the most wanted, the most needed and the most fulfilled.”

Bureaucracy, federal policy and committee meetings, on the other hand, don’t usually feel so fulfilling. But Cvancara knows that a slow, grinding push is the only way to produce even a tiny shift in the behemoth that is the Department of Defense.

“I try very, very, very hard not to let anything stop me,” she says. “If I do want to serve, and I’m being told no, I want a reason why. The military’s reason why is not good enough. That’s why I’m not done.” n

Sam Rudloff, who also hopes to join the military, served in the Peace Corps in Zambia. PHOTO COURTESY OF SAM RUDLOFF

Where Did All the World’s Fairs Go?

EXPO LEGACY

Not long after Spokane took the world stage in 1974, international expositions vanished from the United States — perhaps to come back soon

BY BILL YOUNGS

Years ago Mark Twain famously wrote: “The report of my death is greatly exaggerated.” This was after he read an announcement of his death in 1897. Similarly, many folks today harbor the mistaken impression that world’s fairs are a thing of the past. If we regard only American fairs, that conclusion is plausible. Spokane’s fair was followed quickly by world’s fairs in Knoxville (1982) and New Orleans (1984) – but no more. So it’s been 40 years — and counting — without a world’s fair in the United States. But world’s fairs have been occurring regularly: The

BAZAAR

June 22 | Main Ave. between Lincoln and Wall | 11 am-8 pm

Enjoy Spokane’s largest, all-local art market with nearly 130 booths of local artists and makers selling amazing art and handcrafted goods: visual art, clothing, jewelry, ceramics, skin care, home goods, paper goods and more. There will also be music, food and family-friendly activities! Bazaar was launched with the goal of connecting artists to buyers, underscoring the importance of supporting small, local, businesses and catalyzing the creative economy. Most items are priced at $100 or less.

short list includes Vancouver (1986), Seville (1992), Lisbon (1998), Hanover (2000), Shanghai (2010) and Milan (2015). Osaka is slated to host a world’s fair in 2025, and Minneapolis is currently seeking Bureau of International Expositions support for a fair in 2027. An organization called World’s Fair USA is seeking to promote a fair somewhere in the United States soon. Their pitch: “One Global Showcase. One hundred million visitors. It’s time we bring the world’s fair back to the United States.”

An outstanding example of a 20th-century fair is Shanghai’s Expo 2010. It was the biggest expo ever. It hosted 189 nations on a two-square-mile site; 73 million visitors attended, compared to Spokane’s 5.6 million. Despite being much larger than Spokane’s fair, Shanghai paid our city a generous tribute in its narrative. The Chinese expo created a long documentary about its fair and the history of world’s fairs. Having embraced an environmental theme itself, huge Shanghai complimented modest-sized Spokane for having been the first fair to adopt an environmental theme.

CHINESE CELEBRATION

June 23 | Riverfront Park | Noon - 6 pm

Join the Spokane Chinese Association and the Spokane Sister City Association in a celebration featuring traditional dancing, dragon dance, martial arts, tai chi, Chinese calligraphy and painting demonstrations, Chinese crafts, and more!

I saw firsthand the Chinese admiration for Spokane’s achievement. Before 2010, Shanghai created another expo-related documentary, this one a history of world’s fairs based on films made by multiple crews who visited expo sites around the world. I had the good fortune to meet with one of these film crews at my home in Cheney. They had filmed Spokane Falls earlier in the day, and their enthusiasm was palpable. (To see our Expo ’74 in Shanghai’s videos, just Google “Expos at Shanghai and Spokane.”)

A couple of years later, I attended Expo 2010 and again met the Chinese filmmaker. I asked him which fair site, among the many he had visited, was his favorite. Without hesitation, he said, “Expo ’74!”

Soviet Delegation

One of the best pieces of news King Cole received while planning for Expo ’74 was that the Soviet Union would attend. Their envoy to the Bureau of International Expositions told Cole that, “Spokane was essential, especially in view of the environmental theme.” This would be the first Soviet appearance at an American fair since before World War II. Moreover, they planned on reserving a huge exhibit space of more than an acre.

Despite the presence at the pavilion of a giant bust of Lenin in a city that was hardly a hotbed of communist sympathizers, visitors flocked to the site, making it the most popular — and arguably the finest — exhibit. During Expo, there were about 200 Soviets working in Spokane, more than in any other American city. The Soviet staff was more numerous than either the embassy staff in Washington, D.C., or the Soviet delegation to the United Nations. Relations were cordial between the Soviets and the Americans at Expo. One exception was in the reaction of the chief of Soviet security to bombers from Fairchild Air Force Base flying over “his” pavilion. He could not be persuaded that this was simply their normal landing pattern! (BILL YOUNGS)

AFRICAN DIVERSITY HERITAGE DAY

June 22 | Riverfront Pavilion | 1-9 pm

In honor of the EXPO 50th Celebration, this event will showcase the diversity of the African community in Spokane and celebrate their strengths through storytelling, music, poetry, art, and dance. It will offer attendees a special opportunity to network and learn. People who have contributed to the well-being of the community will share their experiences of living in Spokane and provide hope and vision for the future to those who share an African Diverse Heritage.

Spokane’s Expo ’74 fairgrounds

Soooo Many Souvenirs

Kitschy souvenirs were as abundant at Expo in 1974 as they are at Disneyland today. You could walk away from the fair with Expothemed beer steins, ash trays, rulers, Tshirts, tote bags, pencils, charms, tokens, postcards… you name it!

At this writing, eBay is offering “50th Anniversary Memorabilia Collection — 81 items.” Bid on it, or buy it now for $49.95.

On April 18, 1974, an Expo stamp was officially released; it was a 10 cents commemorative and featured a drawing by Peter Max, a popular artist known for his bright colors and “psychedelic

SIGNATURE EVENT LEGISLATIVE SUMMIT

June 21 | Convention Center | 8 am-4 pm

Hosted by The Lands Council, this event picks up where Expo ’74’s Environmental Symposium left off. At the Summit, legislators and local experts will craft legislation on six locally important topics, all with a climate justice thread; these proposed bills will be sponsored in the 2025 Legislative Session and could become law if passed. The day will start with

art.” His entry in Wikipedia includes an image of the stamp. You can buy a full sheet today for $14 (face value: $4).

A popular fad at Expo was walking your dog — even if you did not have a dog. Leashes were sold consisting of a stiff wire and a collar. On any given day at the fairgrounds, you would cross paths with a dozen or so fellow tourists proudly and whimsically walking their invisible dogs. None of the canines ever bit a fellow tourist or left a mess on the sidewalk — the perfect pet for a trip to the environmental world’s fair. Good dog! (BILL YOUNGS)

a Native Opening Ceremony, while City of Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown as well as Gov. Jay Inslee will speak at breakfast. This event is hosted in collaboration with the Tribal Pillar and features a symbolic salmon release and prayer at noon, as well as a traditional canoe race on the Spokane River to mark the end of the Summit. The last event is a traditional salmon and bison dinner with Indigenous side dishes to round off the day. Please see the full program and register at landscouncil.org/events.

MARKING 50 YEARS Every week in the Inlander through the end of June, look for these Expo 50 pages, where Bill Youngs will guide you through the improbable story of the 1974 World’s Fair.

THANK YOU TO OUR SIGNATURE SPONSORS!

EXPO 50 EVENTS

SPOKANE’S GOT TALENT — ’74 ED.

June 20 | Riverfront Pavilion | 6 pm

Produced in partnership with Spokane Civic Theatre, this special family-friendly edition of the talent showcase promises to immerse audiences in the funky vibes and iconic styles of the ’70s era. A panel of esteemed judges from Spokane’s entertainment industry will provide feedback and crown the winners, who will earn prizes. Audiences can anticipate an evening filled with dazzling performances, retro flair, and infectious energy. Get ready to boogie down memory lane!

EXPO ’74 50TH ANNIVERSARY

COMMUNITY STAGE & VENDOR VILLAGE

June 22 | Riverfront Park Lilac Bowl | 11 am-4 pm

SIGNATURE EVENT PRESENTED BY WASHINGTON TRUST BANK | NONSTOP LOCAL KHQ | GARCO CONSTRUCTION |NW AGC

Experience a fusion of dance, performing arts, inspiring talks and performances from a diverse range of community talents. Enjoy international cuisine, memorabilia, and historic and interactive activities. The stage will be adjacent to the Vendor Village, featuring a variety of local vendors, artisans and handcrafters. 11 am: Native Voices; 11:45 am: Musha Marimba; 1 pm: Family-friendly comedy; 2 pm: Rock Club — Not Taking Complaints and Burn Works Fire Dancing; 3:15 pm: Copernicus and Friends.

SIP FOR SUSTAINABILITY

June 22 | Historic Davenport Hotel | 3-6 pm

This tasting event brings together wine and beer enthusiasts and sustainability advocates for an immersive experience highlighting the harmonious blend of agriculture and environmental stewardship in the region’s wine and beer industries. A panel made up of vineyard managers, wine educators, brewers, farmers and other industry experts will discuss topics like salmon-safe wines and beers, pesticide and herbicide use, natural/minimal intervention wines, and more. All proceeds benefit Salmon-Safe. $30 gets you five drink tickets and a tasting glass.

SILENT DISCO

June 22 | Main Ave. and Wall St. | 6-10 pm

Step back in time and groove to the rhythm of the ’70s at our Silent Disco, a tribute to Spokane’s iconic Expo ’74 World’s Fair! Get ready to don your best disco attire and dance the night away. Each guest will receive a pair of wireless headphones, tuning into channels playing all your favorite hits from the disco modern era. So grab your platform shoes, gather your friends, and let’s boogie down in silent disco style! Free.

IMAGINE JAZZ FESTIVAL

June 23 | Riverfront Park Lilac Bowl | 11 am - 8 pm Imagine Jazz Festival 2024 “Jazz in the Air” is a musical celebration for Expo ’74. Multiple local jazz bands will perform in addition to several student groups, including an allstar middle school and high school jazz band.

For the full schedule of Expo 50th events, head to Expo50Spokane.com

From Strangers to Friends

Malay, Philippines, is on its way to becoming Spokane’s newest Sister City

BY MADISON PEARSON

With white sand beaches, sapphire blue seas and balmy 80-degree weather year-round, Malay, Philippines, could not be more different from Spokane.

Our inland location doesn’t grant us breathtaking ocean views and our biting winters and dry summers are enough to give anyone some seasonal whiplash. But accepting differences is always the first step to forming lifelong bonds, right?

Jacqueline Babol seemed to think so when she began championing Malay, a municipality in the Philippine province of Aklan, to become a friendship city to Spokane.

Approved by the Spokane Sister Cities Association board in March 2024, the Spokane-Malay Friendship City Initiative aims to foster cultural exchange, mutual understanding and economic collaboration between the two cities.

Founder of the Filipino American Northwest Association, Babol has been working on the Spokane-Malay Friendship City Initiative for two years. Gaining friend-

ship city status is often a precursor to earning sister city status.

Sister City International, an organization based out of Washington, D.C., which was founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, is the national membership organization for individual sister cities across the United States.

SPOKANE’S SISTER CITIES

“Our Cagli sister city was created because we had Gonzaga students in Cagli for nearly 20 years before we decided to try to be sister cities,” says John Caputo, president of the Sister City Association of Spokane, in an email. “Sister Cities International allows a friendship status while continuing the path to a sister city.”

Nishinomiya, Japan (since 1961)

Nishinomiya, Japan, became Spokane’s first sister city in 1961, making the Spokane-Nishinomiya sister city relationship one of the earliest in the United States. Spokane currently has five sister cities: Nishinomiya; Jilin City, China; Limerick, Ireland; Jecheon, South Korea; and Cagli, Italy.

Jilin City, China (since 1987)

Limerick, Ireland (since 1990)

Jecheon, South Korea (since 1999)

Cagli, Italy (since 2016)

Babol and the Sister City Association of Spokane will have to go through Sister City International when it comes time to propose Malay as a sister city to Spokane. In the past, mayors or representatives from the government of the sister city have come to Spokane to sign the sister city proclamation.

Spokane’s current sister city associations host exchange programs, annual cultural events and opportunities for cultural education. Each also has a piece of art in Riverfront Park’s Sister City Connections Garden.

Though Babol says the Spokane-Malay Friendship City Society is in no hurry to achieve sister city status, they’ve hit the ground running already by planning upcoming events, concerts and future cultural exchanges.

“Our goal is to get all the Filipinos out of the woodwork so that we can create a legacy here,” Babol says. “So that when we’re done, there is something that we left behind.”

Dancers at Spokane’s Philippine Independence Day event. ERICK DOXEY PHOTOS

Though there is no standard process for becoming a sister city, the Spokane-Malay Friendship City committee is off to a great start on the cultural events front.

On June 22, the group is holding an informational session at the Riverfront Park Rotary Fountain. Attendees can learn about the initiative’s ongoing efforts and future plans. The next day, the Sister City Association is celebrating Spokane’s current sister cities and has invited the Malay association to be a part of the event and promote their initiative.

Along with the festivities during the day, Babol has organized a concert featuring Filipino pop singer Piolo Pascual, who Babol describes as a “heartthrob.” The concert serves as a fundraiser, supporting cultural exchange programs and joint projects between Malay and Spokane.

In addition to hosting events that promote cultural education, the Spokane Sister Cities Association looks for “a demonstration of grassroots support in both cities.”

“Sister cities require long-term sustainability,” Caputo says. “If the Filipino societies of Spokane and the leadership of Malay continue to build their relationships and can show a mission of purpose and financial considerations, I am sure they can be successful among Spokane Sister Cities. They are nearly there now.”

Jacqueline Babol is leading efforts for Malay to become Spokane’s next Sister City.

Babol has plans for a pen pal program between Spokane and Malay for students in grades 4 through 6. The plan is for the children to exchange messages to learn about each city’s culture. A long-term goal of hers is to host an exchange program so people from both cities can experience that culture firsthand. She hopes that people from Spokane will eventually be able to experience what it’s like to live in Malay by teaching, working or vacationing there.

“The friendship city is about people-to-people relationships,” Babol says.

But one part of Filipino culture trumps all the rest in Babol’s mind: food.

“A big part of Filipino culture is our food,” Babol says. “Spokane doesn’t have a Filipino restaurant. And we’re foodies! So sharing our food is very important to us.”

Babol hopes that through the initiative, strong ties will be made not only between Spokane and Malay, but also between the local Filipino community and other residents in Spokane.

“We’ve been in this country since 1587,” she says. “There are 200,000 Filipinos in Washington, but we don’t have a legacy in Spokane. We wanted a voice, so we are doing this sister city because, in the end, what we want is a legacy.” n

A Celebration of Our Sister Cities: Building Bridges Around the World • Sun, June 23 from 11:30 am-12:15 pm • Free • Riverfront Park • 507 N. Howard St. • expo50spokane.com Piolo Pascual Benefit Concert • Sun, June 23 at 6 pm • $70 • Ferris High School • 3020 E. 37th Ave. • filamnw.com

*Insured by NCUA. These are our ideas, you can use the money on whatever you want. Members must be over 18 years of age at time of application. Promotion only available to those who don’t currently have a checking account with Horizon Credit Union. Promotion not eligible for Youth or Business Accounts. Verification of residence location required upon membership application. Membership fee may apply. One offer per household. To qualify for the offered incentive, members must complete the following within the first 60 days of new account opening: 1. Checking account must remain open and in good standing for 60 days, 2. Member must complete a minimum of 15 debit card transactions within 60 days of the account open date, 3. Member must fund the account with a minimum deposit of $250 within 5 business days of account opening and 4. Member must accept and agree to electronic statement delivery within Horizon Credit Union’s online banking platform. Horizon Credit Union will make a one-time deposit of $200.00 into the qualifying member’s account within 60 days of all qualifications being met. Checking account must be open at time of $200.00 deposit. Horizon Credit Union reserves the right to modify or cancel the terms of this offer at any time without prior notice.

NEW SUMMER STREAMS

June alone brings us The Acolyte, Clipped and Orphan Black: Echoes

BY BILL

FROST

June brings new seasons from three of TV’s hottest shows: The Boys, House of the Dragon and The Bear There are also some promising new series premiering this month, which is an improvement over June 2023 — remember The Idol? Secret Invasion? Stars on Mars? None of these newcomers will make you set your TV on fire in the backyard (not that I’ve done that, as far as you know).

THE ACOLYTE (DISNEY+)

Aside from 2021’s The Book of Boba Fett (so much hype, so little payoff), the Disney+ stable of Star Wars series has been entertainingly solid. The Acolyte, set 100 years before the events of The Phantom Menace, follows a Jedi master (Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game) and his former padawan (Amandla Stenberg, The Hate You Give) as they investigate a string of Jedi murders. You won’t see any familiar characters in The Acolyte, but there is a Wookie Jedi(!).

CLIPPED (HULU)

Will a future bio-drama about the Gonzaga Bulldogs be called Zagged? How could it not be? Clipped tells the true tale of the 2013 Los Angeles Clippers under the shaky ownership of Donald Sterling (played here with asshole gusto by Ed O’Neill) and the rivalry between his personal assistant (Cleopatra Coleman) and his business partner wife (Jacki Weaver). Even if you don’t care about basketball (guilty), there’s plenty of juicy drama and scenery chewing to be had here. (Read our full review of the show at Inlander.com/screen)

FANTASMAS (HBO, MAX)

If you’ve never seen the fantastic 2019-2022 show Los Espookys, go watch it now on Max (Warning: It’s mostly in Spanish). Julio Torres, one of the stars and creators of that show, is the beautifully surrealist mind behind Fantasmas, playing a version of himself in a bizarro-world New York City. In the dream-like series, he interacts with a wild variety of characters, including some played by Steve Buscemi, Emma Stone and Bowen Yang. Oh, and it’s in English.

PRESUMED INNOCENT (APPLE TV+)

After taking over the Patrick Swayze role in the Road House remake, the next move for Jake Gyllenhaal was obviously to step in for Harrison Ford in a Presumed Innocent series adaptation, right? Best not to dwell on it. In this David E. Kelley/J.J. Abrams production, Gyllenhaal plays Rusty Sabich, a Chicago lawyer accused of murdering his mistress. If Gyllenhaal’s next role isn’t the Bruce Willis character in a Wild Orchid remake, we’ve been robbed.

HOTEL COCAINE (MGM+)

It’s not the most creative show title, but Hotel Cocaine does grab your attention before you can ask, “Wait, what’s MGM+?” In late ’70s Miami, Roman Compte (Danny Pino) manages the Mutiny Hotel and nightclub, a bustling hotspot for politicians, models, sports stars, musicians, and, of course, international coke dealers, the FBI, and the CIA. If you liked Narcos but wished it had more disco dancing, polyester suits and muted pastels, Hotel Cocaine is for you.

DISCO: SOUNDTRACK OF A REVOLUTION (PBS)

Speaking of disco, the maligned ’70s music genre gets a positive spin in this PBS documentary. (The 1979 Kiss “sellout” disco track “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” was all over The Fall Guy and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire this year — redemption achieved.) The three-part docuseries chronicles disco’s rise from the New York underground to the crash-and-burn backlash of “Disco Sucks!” This all really happened, kids.

ORPHAN BLACK: ECHOES (AMC, AMC+)

The 2013-2017 sci-fi series Orphan Black, about a woman who discovers she’s one of many clones, was a cult hit with so many layers that it was ripe for spinoffs. AMC has finally gotten around to one with this sequel series set in the same universe but fast-forwarded to the year 2052. The shadowy corporate biotech cloning is still happening, and amnesiac Lucy (Kristen Ritter) may be a product of it. There must be a sequel/clone joke here… n

THE BUZZ BIN

LOCAL LISTENING LIBRARY

Spokane Public Library continues to musically push against the stereotype of library quietness. In addition to having a recording studio and hosting concerts at its Central branch, the city library’s local music streaming platform — Lilac City Records — is accepting submissions. Local acts can submit their albums for consideration through August at records.lilaccitylocal.com. If selected, musicians can get paid $200 for licensing their tunes while retaining full copyright. Library cardholders can also visit the website anytime to access and download local albums to more fully grasp the Spokane sound. (SETH SOMMERFELD)

THE LITERAL GOAT

We love our adorable, fuzzy friends here at the Inlander. So, when Bo from Dalkena Highlands farm was announced as this year’s Spokane Interstate Fair mascot, we were sharing photos and exchanging “awws” back and forth almost immediately. Hailing from the same farm as last year’s live fair mascot, Cedar the Highland cow, Bo is a Nigerian dwarf goat, making him small in stature but not in personality. His long, flowing beard and spunky attitude are impossible not to love. The public has a chance to meet Bo and his owners, Derek and Honey Smith, at the fair Sept. 6-15. It’s gonna be un-baaa-lieveable. (MADISON PEARSON)

THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST

Noteworthy new music arriving in stores and online on June 21.

GRACIE ABRAMS, THE SECRET OF US

After opening up dates on The Eras Tour, the pop singer-songwriter landed a collab with Ms. Swift (“Us”) on her new album.

KITTIE, FIRE

The Canadian female metal quartet return with more throatshredding heaviness and melodic choruses.

POND, STUNG!

There’s extra jubilation to be found on the Aussie psycho rock band’s 10th album, as it’s the group’s first double LP.

(SETH SOMMERFELD)

Kristen Ritter stars in the Orphan Black sequel.

Tales of the Bazaar

Now in its 10th year, Terrain’s summer arts market also celebrates the artists and makers it’s empowered

BY E.J. IANNELLI

When it takes over three downtown blocks this Saturday, the 10th iteration of Terrain’s outdoor arts market, Bazaar, will feature more than 130 booths of locally made art, crafts and other goods along with food, kids activities and live music from acts like T.S the Solution, Aspen Kye and Snacks at Midnight.

The one-day market has become a fixture of Spokane’s summertime event calendar, and this year’s also features concurrent independent activities, like an Expo ’74-themed silent disco, looking to tap into the influx of downtown foot traffic. Terrain’s own estimates put the number of attendees comfortably in the 20,000 range, making it easily as popular as its flagship showcase in autumn.

Those numbers might impress but will likely not surprise. Even when it debuted back in 2014 with fewer than half the number of vendors, Bazaar had a strong showing right out of the gate — partly because of Terrain’s then-burgeoning reputation as a major force in the local arts scene, but also because it filled a cultural niche that Terrain co-founder Ginger Ewing says was glaring. At the time, artists were lamenting the lack of affordable, effective opportunities to connect with buyers. And the available statistics, such as the Creative Vitality Index, showed that they were not wrong. Back then, the index,

a well-known data tool for measuring the health of the creative economy, indicated that Spokane was only seeing around one-third of the arts patrons of a comparably sized city.

“We had this deep-dive data and metric saying that in Spokane, despite its size and despite all of the people who identify as artists, we were really lagging in the art patronage department,”

MORE EVENTS

Visit Inlander.com for complete listings of local events.

Ewing says. “And so we wanted to create an art market that was a little different, that pushed back against the status quo.”

That led to the inaugural Bazaar, a name meant to evoke both the variety of items on offer and — when heard as its homonym, bizarre — its slightly unconventional take on what an art market is or should be. Rather than setting up on a campus or in a park, for example, Ewing and Terrain leadership deliberately made a “strategic decision” to bring the action into Spokane’s urban center.

“We specifically did it in the heart of downtown Spokane and the retail corridor of Spokane to make a statement that, yes, these larger corporate businesses are an important part of the economy, but so are smaller artists and arts-based businesses,” she says.

To put a finer point on its economic argument, one of Bazaar’s hallmarks has been its longstanding emphasis on affordability. Vendors are asked to have roughly half of their items priced below $100 to make their work — and by extension, art in general — more accessible to all income levels.

In addition to developing the patronage side of the equation by creating a space where artists could potentially cultivate relationships with dozens or even hundreds of buyers in just a few hours, Bazaar was also intended to be a skill-building opportunity. During the market’s formative years, many participants were still learning how to present themselves and their work.

Jackie Caro, who joined Terrain after a few Bazaars were already under its belt and now spearheads the event, says Terrain sought to fill in those missing “education pieces” with “a lot of hand-holding ... to try to help with the success of artists.”

“They were building pallet walls for the makers and doing booth classes to kind of help them understand what makes a good booth,” she says. “And that was super great. But I think from that point on, artists grew and grew to a point where they were more self-reliant.”

Now that Bazaar has arrived at its 10-year milestone and augmented itself with an indoor counterpart known as BrrrZaar held during the holiday gifting season, its volunteer event staff are no longer building the laborintensive (and sometimes precarious) pallet walls.

But local artisans like Jeremiah Colladay continue to apply the skills that they’ve acquired through multiple Bazaars and Terrain’s complementary initiatives, such as its Creative Enterprise program. When Colladay and his wife, Erin, stumbled across the market shortly after moving to Spokane from Florida, they were encouraged to establish their own small leatherwork business, Colladay Leather, in 2016.

Colladay now sells his handmade wallets, belts, mug wraps and guitar straps year-round in Terrain’s retail store at River Park Square, From Here. He also participates in the Manito Park Art Festival as well as other local art markets that Bazaar’s presence has helped catalyze. Yet he credits Bazaar as being the major lynchpin and catalyst in his own career.

“Every year I go there, I get customers that come up to my booth and they show me the wallet they bought years ago,” he says. “And they’re like, ‘Oh, man, I love this thing.’ Or they’re like, ‘I’m still rocking my keychain or my belt.’ That inspires and excites me.” n

Bazaar • Sat, June 22 from 11 am-8 pm • Free • All ages • Main Ave. & Post St., downtown Spokane •  terrainspokane.com

Bazaar brings 130+ artists to downtown’s streets. YOUNG KWAK PHOTOS

Shoppers peruse Colladay Leather’s booth.

CHALLENGE

FOOD FIGHTS

From ice cream to tacos to a 5-pound breakfast, eating challenges abound in the Inland Northwest

BY AZARIA PODPLESKY

Staring at the four softball-sized scoops of ice cream before me on a wooden platter, covered in whipped cream, chocolate sauce and toppings, I had one thought: “Why did I pitch a story about eating challenges?”

I was about to attempt the 291 Brewhouse “Kitchen Sink Ice Cream Challenge,” which gives competitors 10 minutes to finish the above-described concoction. I chose this challenge because I’m a vegetarian and the others I found involved copious amounts of meat. But also, an ice cream challenge can’t be that bad, right?

I later learn that around 40 people have tried the Kitchen Sink challenge with only five or six succeeding. Before my attempt, I looked up advice, finding an article by Randy Santel, founder of foodchallenges.com, called “How to Win an Ice Cream Challenge.” Perfect. Santel’s first tip is to keep ice cream choices simple, if the restaurant hosting the challenge doesn’t pre-select flavors. Luckily for me, 291 Brewhouse in Suncrest

(about 30 minutes northwest of Spokane) lets challengers select their own.

Some choose four scoops of one flavor, explained Corinne Betzendorfer, who manages 291 Brewhouse with her fiancé, Christian Olson, while others choose four different flavors. Keeping Santel’s advice in mind, I selected two scoops of huckleberry ice cream and two of vanilla. While the chocolate peanut butter cup and cookies and cream were appealing, I thought the extra chunks would lead to extra chewing, and I had to save time where I could.

Betzendorfer then topped the ice cream with whipped cream, my choice of chocolate sauce (you can choose one sauce or a mix of chocolate and caramel) and pieces of Oreo cookies and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

Once my Kitchen Sink was complete, Betzendorfer and Olson walked me through my spoon options. I could use a standard plastic spoon, they said, but those

could break under the weight of the ice cream, so that option was out. I could use a long metal spoon, the kind you might use to scoop the remnants of a milkshake from the bottom of the glass, but the spoon’s bowl was too small, reminding me of another of Santel’s tips.

“The easiest way to fail a food challenge is to simply take small bites the entire time,” he writes.

In fact, Santel recommends bringing your own spoon or asking for a large spoon. I didn’t have to do either, as Betzendorfer and Olson offered me what I can only describe as a utensil more shovel than spoon. Following in a previous competitor’s footsteps, I could also forgo the spoon completely, grab gloves and use my hands.

Not wanting to make a complete fool of myself, I chose the shovel/spoon over the gloves. It would be embarrassing to use but perfect for the challenge.

Betzendorfer kindly offered to monitor the timer and agreed to give me a five-minute warning.

291 Brewhouse’s “Kitchen Sink” ice cream challenge. ERICK DOXEY PHOTOS

From there, I began eating. As I scarfed down the first scoop of delicious huckleberry ice cream, I was bummed I wouldn’t actually be able to enjoy this sweet treat. But then I remembered another of Santel’s tips — “Your main #1 priority is to win, and enjoying the challenge is secondary priority #2” — and got back to work.

Turns out your brain shuts off when attempting an eating challenge. For 10 minutes, all I knew was ice cream. I know I made small talk with Betzendorfer and Inlander photographer Erick Doxey in between bites, but I can’t remember what was said.

It felt like ages before Betzendorfer gave me the five-minute warning, and at that point, I’d say I was about halfway through, which gave me renewed energy.

Could I actually do this?

Well, no, I couldn’t. At about the sevenminute mark, I started to get a brain freeze and slowed down. When Betzendorfer counted down the final 10 seconds, I’d say I had the equivalent of one of the original scoops of ice cream on my plate. Three out of four ain’t bad.

Defeated but proud of myself for trying, I felt very sticky. Both Betzendorfer and Olson, as well as two women dining in the restaurant, said my effort was impressive, which helped me leave with my head held high.

Driving home, I wasn’t worried about the dairy as much as I was worried about the volume. I’ve never eaten so much so quickly. Unbuttoning my jeans on the way home helped, and lying around in a post-sugar rush daze once I got home did, too.

I’m hoping to return to 291 Brewhouse soon so I can actually enjoy a meal there, but I’ll likely avoid looking at the ice cream station. For my stomach’s sake.

If you’re interested in the Kitchen Sink Ice Cream Challenge, heed the advice Olson shared, which can be applied to any of the region’s other eating challenges: “Come hungry.” n

INLAND NORTHWEST EATING CHALLENGES

291 BREWHOUSE KITCHEN

SINK ICE CREAM CHALLENGE

$15

291 Brewhouse, 5978 Highway 291, Nine Mile Falls

Finish four scoops of ice cream plus toppings in 10 minutes and win a 291 Brewhouse shirt. No advanced notice needed.

EPICASAURUS

5-LB BURGER AND FRY CHALLENGE

$45 or free if completed

EPIC Sports Bar, 100 N. Hayford Road, Airway Heights Eat a 4-pound, triple-patty burger with bacon, cheddar, pepper jack, Swiss, fontina, EPIC burger sauce, lettuce, onion, pickle, tomato on a house-made sesame bun and a pound of EPIC fries in 25 minutes and win a shirt and a photo on the Wall of Fame. No advance notice needed.

EPIC BREAKFAST

TRASH CAN CHALLENGE

$45 or free if completed

EPIC Sports Bar, 100 N. Hayford Road, Airway Heights

Eat a 5-pound breakfast including four pancakes, eight French toast sticks, 1.5 pounds of loaded hash browns, 10 scrambled eggs, six sausage links and six bacon strips in 25 minutes and win a shirt and a photo on the Wall of Fame. No advance notice needed.

THE JUNKYARD

BURGER CHALLENGE

$40 or free if completed

The Junkyard Drinks and Eats, 6412 E. Trent Ave.

Eat a Junkyard Burger with two beef patties and toppings like bacon, macaroni and cheese, a fried egg, onion rings and a pineapple ring, plus 2 pounds of fries in 40 minutes. Don’t complete it? Your picture’s going on the Wall of Shame. Advance notice preferred but not required.

THOR’S HAMMER

EATING CHALLENGE

$85 or free if completed

The Bearded Ginger, 8125 E. Sprague Ave., Spokane Valley

Finish a large beef shank, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, BBQ beans, chicken wings, mozzarella sticks and your choice of french fries, tater tots or jo-jos in under an hour and get your picture on the Wall of Fame. At least 48 hours notice required.

BORRACHO’S

TACO CHALLENGE

Pay by the taco, or free if completed Borracho, 211 N. Division St.

Eat 25 tacos (your choice of beef, chicken, al pastor, etc., just no fried tacos) in 30 minutes and win a shirt and your name on a plaque in the bar. No advance notice needed.

A shovel-like spoon definitely helps.

THE BIKERIDERS

Boasting a star-studded cast (Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Jodie Comer, etc.), the latest drama from writer/ director Jeff Nichols follows a 1960s outlaw motorcycle club as it transforms from family into a crime syndicate. Rated R

THE EXORCISM

Somehow unrelated to last year’s Russell Crowe-led The Pope’s Exorcist, the Aussie star now plays an addiction-raddled actor who starts being possessed by actual demons while filming an exorcismbased movie. Rated R

I AM: CÉLINE DION

Where can you go to see the new documentary about iconic Canadian singer Céline Dion? Near? Yes! Far? What? No! Wherever you are? Again, no! It’s in theaters, duh. Go see it at one of those. Rated PG Screening June 20-23

Senior Citizens Arrest

June Squibb has a blast as an elderly vigilante in the likable but uneven comedy Thelma

BY JOSH BELL

If two movies can constitute a trend, then online scammers are the new go-to villains for revenge thrillers.

Just a few months after Jason Statham took out a sophisticated network of hackers and phishers in The Beekeeper, a very different sort of vigilante seeks her own vengeance against a scammer in the charming, if scattered, comedy Thelma. The difference is that June Squibb’s title character is no muscle-bound former covert operative — she’s a 93-year-old grandma with more determination than stamina, one who can be thwarted by obstacles like staircases and high shelves.

That doesn’t stop Thelma from going after what’s been taken from her, despite the objections of her well-meaning family. Two years after the death of her husband, Thelma lives a quiet life alone, still in remarkable shape for her age, even if she relies on her slacker grandson Daniel (Fred Hechinger) to help her with basic online tasks.

Thelma’s love for her grandson is what gets her in trouble, when she gets a call from someone who sounds like Daniel, claiming that he’s in jail following a car accident and in immediate need of bail money. Thelma puts together $10,000 in cash and sends it to a post office box before discovering that Daniel is perfectly fine, fast asleep at home after a late night out.

For Thelma’s daughter Gail (Parker Posey) and her husband, Alan (Clark Gregg), the incident is an indication that Thelma might no longer be fit to take care of herself. After the police fail to offer any help, Thelma’s family wants to let the incident go, relieved that no one was hurt or arrested. But Thelma — fueled by her viewing of a Mission: Impossible movie with Daniel on her old

tube TV — decides to take matters into her own hands. Writer/director Josh Margolin makes numerous references to Tom Cruise and Mission: Impossible, and he has fun applying action-movie conventions to the struggles of the elderly, without ever turning Thelma or her fellow senior citizens into punchlines. When Thelma gets ready to track down the scammers, the equipment she assembles during a suiting-up montage includes a hearing aid, a water bottle, orthopedic shoes and an electronic lifeline wristband.

That lifeline becomes a key plot point, as a way for Thelma’s family to monitor her location after she goes rogue, and she eventually dramatically tosses it away — like a spy discovering a secret tracking device. For her mission, she recruits fellow retiree Ben (Richard Roundtree), who’s perfectly happy in an assisted living facility but isn’t willing to just send Thelma off with his borrowed electric scooter to confront potentially dangerous criminals on her own.

Thelma is at its most entertaining as a sort of buddy-cop movie between Squibb and the late Roundtree, in his final role. Thelma and Ben find ingenious ways to carry out their mission, working around their limitations and even using some of those limitations to their advantage. They repurpose their smartphones’ function of connecting directly to digital hearing aids to turn those medical aids into a clandestine communication apparatus. Unable to drive, they take Ben’s two-seat scooter across town to the shipping store that houses the scammer’s P.O. box, hoping to stake it out and catch the crooks.

Squibb makes the most of her first lead role in a career that stretches back multiple decades (including a

Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for Alexander Payne’s Nebraska). She makes Thelma likably cantankerous, giving her a sense of melancholy along with her grit and stubbornness. After an amusing sequence of futile phone calls, she tells Daniel, “All my friends are dead,” with a cheerful matter-of-factness that can’t quite hide the undertone of despair. She may be getting closer to the end of her life, but she’s not ready to stop living, and Margolin presents her as an inspirational figure without getting treacly.

Roundtree is just as good in a more subdued role, and he has great chemistry with Squibb, representing a calmer but no less indomitable approach to aging. If Thelma were just about the two of them on a quest for justice, it would be one of the most entertaining movies of the year, even if Margolin’s portrayal of telephone scammers is woefully unrealistic for the sake of dramatic expediency.

But unfortunately the movie devotes far too much attention to Daniel’s parallel quest for self-actualization, an aimless young man trying to find his purpose in life. Nearly every scene away from Thelma herself is an irritating slog, especially with Gail and Alan infantilizing their son in the same overbearing, condescending way they treat Thelma. Posey and Gregg are stuck with thankless roles as characters who never feel like real people, especially in contrast to the vibrant, complex Thelma and Ben.

Those scenes can only drag Thelma down so far, though, and it’s still mostly a hoot, with Squibb clearly relishing her belated moment in the spotlight. She’s 94 and already has another lead role lined up, proving that it’s never too late for genuine talent to be properly recognized. n

Roundtree and Squibb are a hoot in Thelma

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!

Copa 71 is a sturdy sports documentary about a forgotten chapter in women’s fútbol history

BY CHASE HUTCHINSON

“Why didn’t I know about this?” wonders U.S. soccer legend and two-time Women’s World Cup Winner Brandi Chastain early on in Copa 71. She is watching footage of the 1971 Women’s World Cup, held in Mexico 20 years before the first official one put on by FIFA. The emotions she’s feeling are a mixture of awe and anger. This is obviously a moment in history worth celebrating, but the fact that she — one of the most well-known players in the sport — didn’t even realize it existed is the problem. This is where Copa 71 finds its footing as it attempts to fill that knowledge gap. The film not only succeeds, but it breaks through as both a joyous sports story and a historical document.

There is much of Copa 71 that can fall into the standard elements of documentary filmmaking. With plenty of talking head interviews that get intercut with archival footage and newspaper clippings of the time, it isn’t setting out to reinvent the way these stories are often recounted. Everything hums along like a well-oiled machine, covering a lot of ground in a short amount of time out of necessity, due to its lesser-known story and a fidelity to the conventions of the form.

It is in this balance that directors James Erskine and Rachel Ramsay ultimately do the subject justice. They could have easily filtered it through the lens of having primarily bigger-name American athletes constantly cutting in, but they thankfully do not. Instead, we get to hear fascinating reflections from the players who were actually there in Mexico in 1971 and what the competition means to them now, decades later. Though the film opens with folks like Chastain, just as much attention is paid to trailblazing athletes like Elena Schiavo. The impact she and all her fellow competitors had on the tournament — as well as the sport writ large — is now finally given its moment in the sun.

Copa 71

Directed by James Erskine & Rachel Ramsay

However, while there is something initially disappointing about its overly conventional approach to sharing this historic moment in sports, viewers will soon get swept up in the thrills of the tournament. There is a comprehensive excavation of how it came to be, taking some earned shots at the fundamentally corrupt and regressively conservative organization that is FIFA, just as there is an appreciation given to the most beautiful game itself, never once letting one swallow up the other. Instead, the documentary becomes a conversation about the joys of the sport as much as it is a critical story about labor.

For all the ways history made the event a footnote to be ignored, Copa 71 joyously resurrects it. This is done without papering over the pain of feeling the highs of the historic tournament all come crashing down when the players were ignored and even insulted upon returning home. That the event is still not recognized by FIFA is unsurprising (though still infuriating). There is then value in a solid, well-told documentary that intervenes in the ongoing attempt by those in power to erase an integral and illuminating chapter in the history of the sport. We mustn’t forget.

The closing montage that ties this all together is quite emotional and thoughtfully put together. Drawing parallels between the players of today like Megan Rapinoe and those we just spent the film getting to know, Copa 71 serves as a reminder that the work of progress is never done while still celebrating those that brought us to this point. As Chastain fittingly remarks near the end, whenever she is now thanked for being part of building the World Cup, she can finally set the record straight and correctly say “Oh no, I have some women to tell you about. You don’t know them, but you will.”

The women of the 1971 Women’s World Cup have long been overlooked... until now.

LOCAL ROCK

NOBLE NOISE

Despite being a newcomer to town, Hayes Noble is already one of Spokane’s most exciting rock voices

BY SETH SOMMERFELD

There’s an unfortunate reality for fans of rock music who live in non-metropolises — if you have a local favorite band that’s truly great, odds are they’re probably gonna move to a bigger city to try to make it big. Spokane has long seen thriving local acts packing up for Seattle to give it a go. Heck, even when I was in Seattle some of the best bands moved to LA because they felt like the Emerald City wasn’t big enough. But you know something that almost never happens? Seeing a top-flight musician move to Spokane. Thankfully for us, Hayes Noble is an outlier… in more ways than one.

When Hayes Noble’s 2023 album Head Cleaner first

popped up on my radar, it was an extremely “Wait, where did this come from?” moment. The album is a fantastic blast of loud and fuzzy noise rock that called to mind everything from Dinosaur Jr. to Cloud Nothing to Bleach-era Nirvana. The album was the type of polished and lively noise rock that was worthy of national acclaim. “How did this come out of Spokane without me noticing at all?”

The answer to my internal query was simple — it didn’t exactly come out of Spokane. In fact, it was crafted in Illinois, and Noble had only just moved to the Lilac City… …along with the rest of his family… …because he’s a teenager.

Hayes Noble grew up in the small town of Galena, Illinois (close to the Iowa border) in a musical family, but with more edge than is often associated with that descriptor. His dad, Brett Noble, played in Midwest hardcore and screamo bands, and young Hayes recalls even going on the road as a little kid while his father was touring with his noise project, Gryphyns.

When Head Cleaner dropped in February 2023, Hayes was still finishing his senior year in high school. When his mom got a job out in Spokane and the rest of the family followed, the fresh graduate could have stuck to his initial plan to go to community college outside Chicago, but instead decided to join the rest of the Noble clan.

Hayes Noble shredding out his feelings. CORRINA NOBLE PHOTO

“I was about three and a half hours from Chicago on the Mississippi. Galena’s a small rural town,” Hayes says. “But just in terms of the way the town feels, I found Spokane to be very similar to the bigger towns in the Midwest, like the Quad Cities, where my parents are from. The neighborhoods have a very, very Midwestern feeling.”

While he’s still continuing his studies in audio engineering at Spokane Falls Community College, part of the calculus for the now-19-year-old musician moving out here was keeping the band together. While the act may bear his name, it’s really a family band. The indie rock trio consists of Hayes singing and playing guitar, his 16-year-old brother, Everett, on bass, and their father, Brett, manning the drums.

As expected for a rock soul of his ilk, Brett helped shape his boys’ musical tastes, with the young’uns being drawn to obvious noisy guitarrock influences like Dinosaur Jr., Built to Spill and Hüsker Dü, but also to the hardcore sounds of Black Flag and Minor Threat, and mainstream favs like David Bowie and Hall & Oates. Everett took up bass to play with his big bro, but dad — who put aside his musical pursuits for family life — was always gonna be a jam partner, too.

“Once we got old enough, he saw that he could do stuff with us now,” Everett says with a laugh.

“When I started playing, it started off with showing these parts to my dad. We just would just jam it out,” says Hayes. “It just made sense to play with each other — we had 17 years of chemistry.”

Now fully entrenched in Spokane and barely a year since the release of Head Cleaner, Hayes Noble is already entering his next chapter with the release of the new album As It Was, As We Were From the opening blistering burst of frenetic sound on “Escape” (which calls to mind early Japandroids), the album finds Hayes exploring the alwaysmessy feelings of coming of age in what seems like the middle of nowhere.

esque ethos, the album doesn’t lose the sense of clamorous rock energy that made Head Cleaner stand out. A track like “Comets” captures a sense of youthful confusion both lyrically and through a spiraling wall of heavy atmospheric tumult.

“Nothing Else” stands out as one of Hayes’ personal favs because of the way he blends together ’80s college guitar rock sound with a ’90s screamo-esque breakdown.

“I’ve always found loud music very emotional. It helps me release emotionally,” Hayes says. “I think Head Cleaner was a little bit more abrasive punky noise stuff. I think my songwriting has definitely matured. I think it’s cohesive… rather than just noisy.”

Hayes has also quickly integrated himself as a driving force in the Spokane music scene. Before even arriving in town, he reached out to local acts like Puddy Knife, Pit, and Psychic Death to try to get a sense of the scene, and he was playing his first local gig at Neato Burrito soon after.

The only real downside for Hayes so far has been that so much of the Spokane musical infrastructure is cut off from him since he’s still not 21 years old (many other states are more relaxed about all-ages shows happening at venues where alcohol is sold). Outside of the Big Dipper and Neato Burrito, there just aren’t many consistent stages for teens to play.

“When I first got out here, it was tough because Washington’s laws regarding all-ages shows are a lot more strict compared to the Midwest. But we’ve been able to get some cool shit going,” he says.

“A consistent theme throughout the record — hence the title, As It Was, As We Were — is growing up, moving on, moving out and stuff,” Hayes says. “I was going through a lot of changes. All this shit started happening in the spring with my mom moving out here, my relationship that was falling apart, finishing high school, and all this stuff just sort of came to me. I definitely felt really inspired and kind of wrote a lot of that stuff in a short time period.”

While tracks like “Nothing Else” and “Got Over It” touch on young love crashing and burning, there’s a simple maturity to Hayes’ songwriting that doesn’t fall into the melodramatic traps many teenage rock lyricists struggle to escape. Because of that, his wall of guitar noise should translate just as well to grungy Gen Xers as it does to his fellow Gen Zers.

Recorded mostly live with a Steve Albini-

As a result, Hayes and Everett have been trying to help build up a stronger all-ages scene (including Everett fervently passing out flyers in his classes at Lewis & Clark High School). As It Was, As We Were’s album release show is an all-ages affair at nYne Bar & Bistro on Friday, June 21, with killer local support from Itchy Kitty and Loomer. It’s also a tour kickoff show, as the Noble family is touring the new album through late July.

“When I’m back in Spokane, cool things are happening. We’re really looking forward to expanding the scene,” Noble says. “Lots of cool young bands are popping up. We’ve been able to do a lot of cool all-ages shows. And I think it’s really important for us as a community to definitely keep pushing that. With Washington’s restrictive all-ages show laws compared to where I grew up, it’s a bummer that the youth aren’t more involved.”

For Hayes, bringing blissful noise to as many folks as possible is quite literally a Noble cause. n

Hayes Noble: As It Was, As We Were Album Release Show with Itchy Kitty, Loomer • Fri, June 21 at 6:30 pm • $10 • All ages • nYne Bar & Bistro • 232 W. Sprague Ave. • nynebar.com

Noble has found his way in Spokane. BRETT NOBLE PHOTO

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Cry Baby On Board

On Drive and Cry, country singer Emily Nenni encourages listeners to let it all out

BY AZARIA PODPLESKY

Country singer Emily Nenni is a pro in juxtapositions. The cover for her latest album Drive and Cry, for example, is bubblegum pink, but with a photo of a cool, confident Nenni dressed in black from her hat to her boots.

Album opener “Get to Know Ya” gets the good times rolling as Nenni sings about clocking out from work, putting on her biggest hoops and the jeans she “can really only stand up in” before heading to the local bar for a night of music and dancing, hoping to find a denim-clad fella who can keep up with her.

As the album continues, however, you get a

little audio whiplash. “We Sure Could Two Step,” for example, is a classic honky tonk romp with an instrumental break perfect for dancing in the middle of the song. Lyrically though, Nenni takes listeners through the experience of lost love.

“Sure felt right / who knows what at first sight / Soon the odds were stacked and we couldn’t win / Never knew the feeling, never knew if it was real, and now I know I’ll never feel it again.”

Nenni attributes her musical contrasts to her love of Motown and the girl groups from that era.

“You listen to a lot of Supremes or any girl groups, the music is so upbeat, and you can really

Emily Nenni is happy and sad at the same time. ALYSSE GAFKJEN PHOTO

dance to it and the melody is a little sad, but then you look at the lyrics and you think ‘Whoa, that song’s a real bummer but it sounds really happy,’” Nenni says. “I love that about the music. You probably can’t hear Motown in that record, but it is influenced — at least lyrically — by it.”

Growing up in Orinda, California, about 20 minutes from Berkeley, Nenni listened to a bit of everything thanks to a father who worked in radio and a mother whose taste ranged from Patsy Cline to Missy Elliott.

An introvert, Nenni saw herself as a songwriter, not a performer, and gravitated toward country music the more she wrote.

“I wanted to write stuff that was more straightforward lyrically and emotionally, and I noticed [country music was] where it was going,” she says. “Then once I moved to Nashville when I was 21 and started seeing live music and seeing how much fun everyone was having and what joy it brought to everybody, I realized, ‘OK, I definitely want to play country music.’”

During her 10 years in Nashville, Nenni supported herself with a variety of jobs, including working at a guitar shop, at a restaurant, as a bartender and, most recently, selling cowboy boots. In between those jobs, Nenni also spent time on a ranch in Southern Colorado to work and write what would become the aptly named On the Ranch, which was released in 2022.

“It’s only been about a year since I’ve been doing music full time,” Nenni says. “I’ve always had to make time for music. And if you make time, that means you really care about it. You make it happen.”

“...‘Whoa, that song’s a real bummer but it sounds really happy,’” Nenni says

Nenni wrote all of Drive and Cry, which was released in May, by herself, save for the album-closing cover of Terry Allen’s “Amarillo Highway.” Nenni says all of her songwriting is autobiographical, but Drive and Cry in particular was even more personal and required a couple months of getting into her head and reflecting on everything that had been on her mind since writing On the Ranch

“That’s definitely how I process things, putting pen to paper,” Nenni says. “Honestly, the sad songs, those are the ones I write first. The song ‘Drive and Cry’ I wrote in, like, two minutes. It just came out.”

A proud driver and crier, Nenni, who also made her Grand Ole Opry debut in May, has started hearing from fans that they have driven and cried to Drive and Cry. Nenni says she first makes sure the person is OK before acknowledging what a great release it is, calling it an honor to be the soundtrack to someone’s on-the-road crying session.

“Think I’m gonna drive and cry / I’m overdue for a tire rotation and bloodshot eyes / Don’t you worry ’bout me, I’m gonna have a bawl / That’s my kind of high / I think I’m gonna drive and cry” she sings on the title track.

“I often drive and cry,” Nenni says. “It can be happy tears, sad tears. It’s always a good mixture.” n

Emily Nenni, Lucas Brookbank Brown • Mon, June 24 at 9 pm • $15 • 21+ • The District Bar • 916 W. First Ave. • sp.knittingfactory.com

EDM ALISON WONDERLAND

Whether you’re looking to go to “Church” or seeking a “Happy Place” to “f— me up on a spiritual level,” you know you’re looking forward to not only Beyond Wonderland, but more importantly, the EDM queen (sorry, father… sorry, daddy): Alison Wonderland. With an irreverent sense of humor that fans adore (you’re likely to see some “Alison Wonderland Is My Daddy” flags in the crowd), and a penchant for baggy T-shirts, the Australian artist gets the crowd pumped with bass-heavy tracks and then manages to bring everyone deep into their feels with her beautiful singing. Though the Insomniac festival’s Alice in Wonderland theme is just coincidental — it isn’t her festival — it’s definitely fitting that she’ll be the penultimate act at the main stage on Saturday night.

— SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

Beyond Wonderland

• Sat & Sun, June 22-23

Thursday, 6/20

ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Pamela Benton

BOLO’S BAR & GRILL, Bolo’s Blues & Brews

J BOTTLE BAY BREWING CO., Bradford Little

J BRICK WEST BREWING CO., Buffalo Jones

CHECKERBOARD TAPROOM, Weathered Shepherds

J COEUR D’ALENE PARK, Mardi Gras Growlers

THE COEUR D’ALENE RESORT, Sunset Sessions: DJ Daymaker

J THE LODGE AT CARLIN BAY, Just Plain Darin

RED ROOM LOUNGE, Hip-Hop Night

J SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO, Larry Fleet

J STELLA’S ON THE HILL, Kosta La Vista

J TRUE LEGENDS GRILL, Evan Denlinger

ZOLA, Scablands, Lucas Brown

Friday, 6/21

AK ASIAN RESTAURANT, Patrick Lamb

J THE BIG DIPPER, Emo 2000 THE CHAMELEON, Uh Oh and the Oh Wells, Mama Llama, Brittany’s House

CHAN’S RED DRAGON ON THIRD, Gigawatt THE DISTRICT BAR, James McMurty

IOLITE LOUNGE, Carson Rhodes

IRON GOAT BREWING CO., Son of Brad

J J MY FRESH BASKET, Live Music on the Patio NIGHTHAWK LOUNGE (CDA CASINO), Rusty Nail and the Hammers

J J NYNE BAR & BISTRO, Hayes Noble, Itchy Kitty, Loomer

PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Nobody Famous

RED DIRT COUNTRY CODY CANADA & THE DEPARTED

RED ROOM LOUNGE, Live DJs

SPOKANE EAGLES LODGE, Friday Night Dance

STOCKWELL’S CHILL N GRILL, Wiebe Jammin’

J TRUE LEGENDS GRILL, The Philosopher’s Daughter

WHISPERS LOUNGE, Live on the Lake: Jojo Dodge

ZOLA, Jason Lucas

ZOLA, Snacks at Midnight

Saturday, 6/22

J THE BIG DIPPER, David Joseph, Madriea Grace, Hannah Jackson, Kyle Siegel, Ryder Nerren

J BLACK DIAMOND, Luminosity

J CENTRAL LIBRARY, Get Loud in the Library: Tone

Sober, Aqua Velva, Cosmic Ranger

CHAN’S RED DRAGON ON THIRD, The Bobby Patterson Band

THE CORK & TAP, Just Plain Darin

J DAHMEN BARN, The Lukenbills

J GORGE AMPHITHEATER, Beyond Wonderland

J LIVE AT ANDRE’S, Shawn Mullins

J NEATO BURRITO, Hazelhead, Full Color Dream, Mama Llama

NIGHTHAWK LOUNGE (CDA CASINO), Rusty Nail and the Hammers

NOAH’S CANTEEN, Joel Haugen

J NORTHERN QUEST CASINO, Jordan Davis, Mitchell Tenpenny

J ONE SHOT CHARLIE’S, Heather King Band

PARALLEL 47, Son of Brad PASTIME TAVERN, Black Jack Band

PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Eli Lev

• $158-$411 • 18+ • The Gorge Amphitheatre • 754 Silica Rd. NW, Quincy • pnw.beyondwonderland.com

If you only listen to country on the radio, you might have no clue who Cody Canada is. If you only listen to country not on the radio, you might consider Cody Canada an icon. With his former band Cross Canadian Ragweed, Canada helped spread the gospel of red dirt country music — the brand of Oklahoma/Texas alternative country with plenty of rock and Americana flair thrown into the mix. Generations of red dirt acts can cite Canada as a seminal influence, but he’s not slowing down. With his new band Cody Canada & The Departed, he’s still serving up country-fried songwriting. The group even re-recorded the classic Cross Canadian Ragweed album in the form of Soul Gravy 2022. If you loathe all pop country sounding the same, take some time to rock out with a little red dirt.

— SETH SOMMERFELD

Sunday, 6/23

ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Nu Jack City

J THE BIG DIPPER, Jake Rozier and The Implication, Bailey Allen Baker, Nick Seider, Samanything

J PONDEROSA BAR AND GRILL, Wild Wooly Duo

RED ROOM LOUNGE, Live DJs

ROCKET MARKET, Betsy Rogue

SCHWEITZER, John Firshi

J SIRINYA’S THAI RESTAURANT, Howie King

J SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO, Paradise Kitty

ZOLA, Tom Sless

ZOLA, The Buckley Storms

THE COEUR D’ALENE RESORT, Sunset Sessions: DJ Daymaker

J CRAFT & GATHER, Homebrew String Band

THE DISTRICT BAR, Micky & the Motorcars, Jeff Crosby

J GORGE AMPHITHEATER, Beyond Wonderland

HOGFISH, Open Mic

J KNITTING FACTORY, Northlane, Thornhill, Windwaker

J ONE SHOT CHARLIE’S, Steve Starkey

J REPUBLIC BREWING CO., Jason Boland & the Stragglers

J SOUTH HILL GRILL, Just Plain Darin ZOLA, JoJo Knox

Monday, 6/24

J THE DISTRICT BAR, Emily Nenni, Lucas Brookbank Brown

EICHARDT’S PUB, Monday Night Blues Jam with John Firshi RED ROOM LOUNGE, Open Mic Night

J STELLA’S ON THE HILL, Branded Heart

Tuesday, 6/25

THE CHAMELEON, Kyle Smith

OSPREY RESTAURANT & BAR, Ron Greene

ROCKET MARKET, Jason Garrett Evans SWING LOUNGE, Swing Lounge Live Music Tuesdays

ZOLA, Jerry Lee and the Groove, Elijah Dallas

Wednesday, 6/26

BARRISTER WINERY, Stagecoach West

THE DRAFT ZONE, The Draft Zone Open Mic

THE NEST AT KENDALL YARDS, Dave McRae, Happyfeet: Bob Marlow, Paul, The Rub RED ROOM LOUNGE, Red Room Lounge Jam

J TIMBERS ROADHOUSE, Cary Beare Presents

J TRUE LEGENDS GRILL, Nate Ostrander

J ZEEKS PIZZA, Gil Rivas ZOLA, Inland Beaches

Just Announced...

J THE BIG DIPPER, Vana Liya, Sept. 6.

J THE BIG DIPPER, Anthony Green, Sept. 8.

J THE BIG DIPPER, Calling All Captains, Sept. 12.

J THE CHAMELEON, Mamas Broke, Sept. 25.

J J SPOKANE ARENA, Judas Priest, Oct. 6.

J J KNITTING FACTORY, Myles Kennedy, Feb. 21, 2025.

Coming Up ...

J COEUR D’ALENE PARK, Time Baby, June 27, 6-8 pm.

J EAST CITY PARK, Moscow Community Band Summer Concert Series, June 27, 7-8 pm.

J THE BIG DIPPER, Datura, Cruel Velvet, Blunt Skulls, Sex With Seneca, June 27, 7:30 pm..

J THE DISTRICT BAR, Cody Canada & The Departed, June 27, 9 pm.

J THE BIG DIPPER, Dead Register, Black Locust, Chase The Sun, Where?, June 28, 7:30 pm.

J J GORGE AMPHITHEATER, Noah Kahan, June 29.

MUSIC | VENUES

219 LOUNGE • 219 N. First Ave., Sandpoint • 208-263-5673

ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS • 4705 N. Fruit Hill Rd., Spokane Valley • 509-927-9463

BABY BAR • 827 W. First Ave. • 509-847-1234

BARRISTER WINERY • 1213 W. Railroad Ave. • 509-465-3591

BEE’S KNEES WHISKY BAR • 1324 W. Lancaster Rd.., Hayden • 208-758-0558

BERSERK • 125 S. Stevens St. • 509-315-5101

THE BIG DIPPER • 171 S. Washington St. • 509-863-8098

BIGFOOT PUB • 9115 N. Division St. • 509-467-9638

BING CROSBY THEATER • 901 W. Sprague Ave. • 509-227-7638

BLACK DIAMOND • 9614 E. Sprague Ave. • 509891-8357

BOLO’S BAR & GRILL • 116 S. Best Rd., Spokane Valley • 509-891-8995

BOOMERS CLASSIC ROCK BAR • 18219 E. Appleway Ave., Spokane Valley • 509-368-9847

BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB • 201 S. Main St., Moscow • 208-596-0887

THE BULL HEAD • 10211 S. Electric St., Four Lakes • 509-838-9717

CHAN’S RED DRAGON • 1406 W. Third Ave. • 509-838-6688

THE CHAMELEON • 1801 W. Sunset Blvd.

CHECKERBOARD • 1716 E. Sprague Ave. • 509-443-4767

COEUR D’ALENE CASINO • 37914 S. Nukwalqw St., Worley • 800-523-2464

COEUR D’ALENE CELLARS • 3890 N. Schreiber Way, Coeur d’Alene • 208-664-2336

CRUISERS BAR & GRILL • 6105 W Seltice Way, Post Falls • 208-446-7154

CURLEY’S HAUSER JUNCTION • 26433 W. Hwy. 53, Post Falls • 208-773-5816

THE DISTRICT BAR • 916 W. 1st Ave. • 509-244-3279

EICHARDT’S PUB • 212 Cedar St., Sandpoint • 208-263-4005

FIRST INTERSTATE CENTER FOR THE ARTS • 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • 509-279-7000

FOX THEATER • 1001 W. Sprague Ave. • 509-624-1200

IRON HORSE • 407 E. Sherman, Coeur d’Alene • 208-667-7314

IRON HORSE BAR & GRILL • 11105 E. Sprague Ave., Spokane Valley • 509-926-8411

JOHN’S ALLEY • 114 E. Sixth St., Moscow • 208-883-7662

KNITTING FACTORY • 911 W. Sprague Ave. • 509-244-3279

MARYHILL WINERY • 1303 W. Summit Pkwy. • 509-443-3832

MILLIE’S • 28441 Hwy 57, Priest Lake • 208-443-0510

MOOSE LOUNGE • 401 E. Sherman Ave., Coeur d’Alene • 208-664-7901

NASHVILLE NORTH • 6361 W. Seltice Way, Post Falls • 208-457-9128

NORTHERN QUEST RESORT & CASINO • 100 N. Hayford Rd., Airway Heights • 877-871-6772

NYNE BAR & BISTRO • 232 W. Sprague Ave. • 509-474-1621

PEND D’OREILLE WINERY • 301 Cedar St., Sandpoint • 208-265-8545

POST FALLS BREWING CO. • 112 N. Spokane St., Post Falls • 208-773-7301

RAZZLE’S BAR & GRILL • 10325 N. Government Way, Hayden • 208-635-5874

RED ROOM LOUNGE • 521 W. Sprague Ave. • 509-838-7613

THE RIDLER PIANO BAR • 718 W. Riverside Ave. • 509-822-7938

SEASONS OF COEUR D’ALENE • 1004 S. Perry St. • 208-664-8008

SPOKANE ARENA • 720 W. Mallon Ave. • 509-279-7000

SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO • 14300 US-2, Airway Heights • 877-786-9467

SOUTH PERRY LANTERN • 12303 E. Trent Ave., Spokane Valley • 509-473-9098

STORMIN’ NORMAN’S SHIPFACED SALOON • 12303 E. Trent Ave., Spokane Valley • 509-862-4852

TRANCHE • 705 Berney Dr., Wall Walla • 509-526-3500

ZOLA • 22 W. Main Ave. • 509-624-2416

FILM PONYO, FISHY IN THE SEA

Whether you’re looking to dip your toes into the whimsical world of Studio Ghibli, or perhaps Hayao Miyazaki’s creations have already made a splash in your life, the Garland Theater has you covered. As a part of the theater’s “Summer of Studio Ghibli” series, the English-dubbed version of Ponyo is playing this week. So dive into the mystical story of one young boy’s friendship with a magical goldfish (Ponyo) who yearns to experience the life of a human. (Basically The Little Mermaid without the romance). No sweat if Ponyo doesn’t match your vibe, because the Garland is showing Studio Ghibli films throughout the summer including The Boy and the Heron (July 3-6), Howl’s Moving Castle (July 31-Aug. 3) and Princess Mononoke (Aug. 21-24).

— COLTON RASANEN

Summer of Studio Ghibli: Ponyo • Wed-Fri, June 19-21 at 2 pm • $5 • Garland Theater • 924 W. Garland Ave. • garlandtheater.org

MUSIC SEE YOU THERE, SPACE COWBOY

“I think it’s time we blow this scene / Get everybody and the stuff together / Okay, three, two, one, let’s jam.” That’s all to say, the Bebop Bounty Big Band is stopping in Spokane! The 14-piece jazz orchestra plays music from the landmark ’90s anime series Cowboy Bebop, which has one of the most beloved and iconic soundtracks in anime history. The Bebop band comprises members from the well-known Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Jazz Orchestra at Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando, Florida, and the Walt Disney Company’s Main Street Philharmonic. While scenes from the show play on the big screen, experience some extraterrestrial jazz in an extraordinary venue when the band stops at the historic Bing Crosby Theater.

— CASSANDRA BENSON

Cowboy Bebop LIVE! • Sat, June 22 at 8 pm • $29-$57 • Bing Crosby Theater • 901 W. Sprague Ave. • bingcrosbytheater.com

COMMUNITY ENTER THE FAIRY REALM

Enter the mystical world of Fairy Festa, a fantasy festival for all ages. This magical experience is an opportunity to participate in the celebration of the sisterhood of Fairy Queens from the Magical Realm of Faélor. Participants are encouraged to come in fantastical costumes like dragons, mermaids, wizard robes, dragon robes and much more. With a variety of activities like epic quests, whimsical tales, magic and crafts, Fairy Festa has something for everyone including a Meet the Dragon event where you can come face-toface with a majestic, ancient dragon. A marketplace with delicious delights and multiple unique fantasy vendors offering everything from spell books to mystical artifacts are also on site. Come join the fun and be a part of the magic.

— FOPE SERIKI

Fairy Festa 2024 • Sat, June 22 from 10 am-6 pm and Sun, June 23 from 10 am-4 pm • Free • Spokane Gallery • 409 S. Dishman Mica Rd. • fb.com/spokanegalleryboutique

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.

COMEDY LAUGH, DON’T CRY

He has a roommate. A forgettable face. A bit of an alcohol problem. Oh, and also spots on Conan, Comedy Central, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Mark Normand is everyone’s slightly depressed neighbor, except he’s freaking hilarious about it. He’s caught the eye of Jerry Seinfeld, and the hearts of millions of viewers on YouTube and Netflix with his specials Out to Lunch and Soup to Nuts, featuring his ultrarelatable humor and dark but endearing jokes. A Louisiana kid who ran off to the comedy cellars of the Big Apple, he’s seen it all — usually through the haze of a nasty hangover. He’s awkward, nervous, sweaty and squishy like the rest of us, and still isn’t comfortable with eye contact. Hang out with him at the show, just please don’t FaceTime him when he’s not expecting it. — ELIZA BILLINGHAM

Mark Normand • Sat, Jun 22 at 7 pm • $35-$160 • First Interstate Center for the Arts • 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd • firstinterstatecenter.org • 509-279-7000

WORDS COURTSIDE CONUNDRUM

Pacific Northwest born-and-raised author Chris Bieker is visiting Auntie’s Bookstore to celebrate the third installment of her mystery series, High Stakes at Hoopfest. Attendees can look forward to a reading and discussion of the new book with the author, who’s ready to answer readers’ pressing questions. In the latest of Bieker’s Rex Begonia murder mystery stories, a local citizen campaigns for governor against the backdrop of Hoopfest, Spokane’s beloved three-on-three basketball tournament. When someone’s murdered, Detective Begonia and his partner, Ivy Lizei, are on the trail. Learn more about the event and author, or buy a copy of the book, at the link below, and see if you can finish it before Hoopfest returns next week, June 29-30.

— MADI OSWALT

Chris Bieker: High Stakes at Hoopfest • Sun, June 23 at 5 pm • Free • Auntie’s Bookstore • auntiesbooks.com • 402 W. Main Ave • auntiesbooks. com

MONEY ANSWERS FOR DAD JOKESTERS.

I SAW YOU

I SAW YOU AT ROSS Saw you working at Ross, over by Target. You looked so beautiful on the register cashiering. I believe you are the store manager. So short and cute. You rang me up for a pair of underwear and toothpaste. When you handed me the receipt our hands touched and we both felt sparks fly, you looked me in the eyes and said sorry, but I knew you meant to grab my hand. I haven’t stopped thinking of you since. I look forward to buying more underwear from you.

SPA ENCOUNTER Despite the mishap, we were like two children; even when you spilled a drink everywhere, I wasn’t upset in the slightest. In fact, your embarrassment was noticeable, and it made me laugh— not at you, but alongside you. I hope this message brings a smile to your face. My toes would certainly be tickled pink at the prospect of seeing you again.

LIME SCOOTERS I use the Lime scooters frequently when I don’t feel safe taking the bus or if I have money. The Inlander article about them missed some points. In addition to the area protecting the Pride mural, there is a safe zone around a lot of the parking garages in Downtown Spokane, and if you ride too close to the garages, the scooters will stop working. This is unsafe and creates a problem when in the middle lane on one of the one-way streets, particularly between the BOA Financial Center and its garage. There’s already a rule saying you can’t ride them on sidewalks, so with a safe zone that big surrounding so many buildings, it’s hard to ride. I’m getting

my own 40-mph scooter with turn signals soon so I don’t have to deal with buses frequented by scary people. Hopefully I won’t have to deal with Lime much longer.

RE: IN MY DREAMS...MR B I only see the good part of you and me in my dreams. I live with the bad part of us everyday. I love you and hope to see you soon so we close the door on the past. Until then I love you and I’ll see you in my dreams.

CHEERS

SO LONG ...we’ve waited, patiently, and FINALLY we can see the light at the end of the locker room tunnels!! This Swim Fam can’t wait to see the plan the Parks Dept. is soon to unveil regarding aquatics facilities in this fine city!! Year-round swimming has been restricted to clubs only. Now, with public swim-for-a-fee swimming, we can all enjoy the fun and fitness that is swimming, all...year...long. A lifelong swimmer makes for a good, balanced, positive citizen. The fitness factor itself is a proven benefit to self and community. Given the enjoyment experienced by those who learn and love to swim, it’s only a plus to those in their orbits, and, isn’t that all of us? YAY Spokane Parks Dept.!! We applaud you!!

SPOKANE RUNNING COMMUNITY Kudos and thanks to all in our community who organize, volunteer and participate in local organized runs. We are fortunate to have so many events and running clubs around us. Recently at the Spokane River Run I took a bad spill on the trail. Participants around me stopped to make sure I was okay, sacrificing their race times to help me. While walking back (with my very bloody face!) I stopped at a first aid table manned by a very kind young woman and her sons. I regret that I did not get her name. She helped me to clean up as much as possible. Shout out to kindness and to community events that bring us together. Thanks, everyone!

I-90 CLEANUP Anyone that uses I-90 through Spokane and Spokane Valley has noticed the increased graffiti on the walls and bridges along the corridor. Cheers to the Washington State Department Of Transportation, which recently did a great job of cleaning up the graffiti and trash! What a difference! Let’s hope they can maintain the standard in the future. The condition of the freeway is sometimes the first and only impression of Spokane for

those that drive through in their travels. For locals, it’s a reflection of their home city. Let’s keep it clean!

JEERS

MESSAGE FROM THE JEERED We are critical of the small defects in our neighbors, but overlook the serious faults in ourselves. We are quick to complain of what we put up with from others, with never a thought of what others put up with from us. If we would see ourselves as we really are, we would not find

a monument to hetero, Christian, white culture. We have statues and streets and buildings in honor of pioneers, patriots, presidents, etc. everywhere you go. The special designated parts of town that honor patriots and Christians for example would be government buildings and churches, which take up entire blocks and I’ve never heard of one being set on fire in my 10+ years of living here. Queer folks have one crosswalk and a couple of small nonprofits, no bigger and no more of an eyesore than Our Lady of Lourdes or City Hall. And no, nobody on either side of your imaginary Left vs. Right conflict would respect a

NATURAL GASLIGHTING To the two men collecting signatures in front of the north side grocery store, to oppose HB 1589: You misrepresented the content of the bill and when I pointed that out, doubled down on the lie. You then waved a list of signatures in my face, as though the measure of whether someone should sign a petition is how popular it is. The bill is meant to encourage LARGE utility companies to move away from NEW natural gas lines, not a ban on natural gas. You may object to the bill, but if you had a valid point, you wouldn’t have to lie about the bill.

cause to judge others severely. If we would look seriously to ourselves, we would find it easy to be silent about the deeds of others. If you have been busy with other peoples affairs what have you to show for it if you have neglected yourself?

CROSSWALK NONSENSE Jeers Spokane. Charging young people with a felony for leaving a skidmark on a crosswalk on a city street! If the damn flag is so important, put it on top of a building or on the side of the business. It won’t collect skid marks in either of those places. Demanding a public street remain tire mark free is just dumb! Ruining young peoples lives with a felony for an act of immaturity? How very grown up of you!

NOT ALL ILLNESS IS VISIBLE Jeers to the many adults who harassed my teenager for using a courtesy handicap pass in order to enjoy a day with friends at Silverwood last week. Just because you can’t see someone’s illness doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Simply standing can be excruciatingly painful and a true feat of strength. Next time, please assume positive intent. We don’t know what battles the people around us are bravely and quietly fighting.

RE: RE: “PRIDE” CROSSWALK You should have been at Pride, lots of white guys everywhere and even straight ones who faced zero adversity from the queer community. Almost everything in this city and the rest of the country is

Confederate flag crosswalk as you live in the country that kicked the confederacy’s ass. If you’re looking for the “side” who objects to the confederacy it’s not “the left” it’s “the above” as in folks who are above honoring racists. Have a nice day

RE: RE: “PRIDE” CROSSWALK II It sucks to feel excluded Mr. Straight White Male, doesn’t it? Quit your fragile ego right wing WASP nationalist bullsh*+! You’re just upset because it isn’t about you. You have more than 7 recognized holidays that are about patriotism, Christianity, and white guys and here you are whining about a painted crosswalk? How pathetic you must be when you are offended by a rainbow. Is it recognizing the equality of other people that bothers you?

THIEF RECOMMENDED BY LABOR FOR HIRE LIST In March I needed some labor assistance fixing our bathroom. The laborer I hired was recommended on “The List”... He used the back of his truck for needed tools, and I had my garage open for other supplies we needed. After the project I noticed my 5-gallon container of gasoline (full) was missing. Now I need my auto analyzer OBDII unit. It’s gone. Living in the country he was the only stranger that came to the house. Return these items to our access road and no questions asked. Otherwise I will leave this warning on ‘”The List.”

FARMERS MARKET ATTENDEES, WITH DOGS Just. Don’t. At least small children can wail and scream about their discomfort for being held captive while their oblivious handlers stroll around in the heat and sunshine. Dogs aren’t so fortunate and THEY RELY ON THEIR HUMANS TO KEEP THEM SAFE. Which includes protecting them from burned paw pads. While you meander around working on your tan and leisurely perusing food items, your poor animal can do nothing but look around frantically and get pulled along without respite. And you never had an effing clue.

RE: DEADBEAT CITY So you wrote your jeers just to offend as many people as possible? How stupid. Why be a part of the problem? Why not start to be part of the solution. No wonder Spokane has such a bad reputation. Deadbeat city is right! Duh! Duh! Just plain dumb! Real dumb. n

EVENTS | CALENDAR

BENEFIT

GETTIN DIRTY SILENT AUCTION A silent auction benefitting Newby-Ginnings of North Idaho and various Kootenai County Elementary Schools June 22, 3-7 pm. Free. Cruisers, 6105 W. Seltice Way. newbyginnings.org

CLASSIC COUNTRY TUNES FOR CHARITY A benefit concert supporting the Chewelah Center for the Arts featuring live music and raffles. June 22, 5:158 pm. $10. Chewelah Center for the Arts, 405 N. Third St. chewelahcenterforthearts.com (512-461-2621)

EAGLE SCOUT BENEFIT CONCERT A concert supporting the Greenhouse Foodbank in Deer Park featuring live music from the Nic Vigil Trio, Ironworks, and Light In Mirrors. Free admission with donation of one can of nonperishable food. June 23, 12-5 pm. By donation. Mix Park, 301 W. Fourth Ave. greenhousedp.com

PIOLO PASCUAL BENEFIT CONCERT A concert benefitting the Spokane-Malay Friendship City Initiative exchange scholarships and activities featuring Filipino artist Piolo Pascual. June 23, 6 pm. $70-$165. Ferris High School, 3020 E. 37th Ave. filamnw.org (509-590-6613)

SILENT AUCTION An array of items for sale and live music benefitting the revitalization of Create Arts Center’s garden water system. June 23, 1-3 pm. Free. Create Arts Center, 900 Fourth St. createarts.org (509-447-9277)

COMEDY

HOOPPROV Improvisers weave together basketball inspired humor and imaginative characters as they prepare for Hoopfest. Fridays at 7:30 pm through July 5. $9. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar St. bluedoortheatre.org

LISA ANN WALTER Walter is best known for her roles in the Parent Trap, Bruce Almighty and Abbott Elementary. June 21-22, 7 & 9:45 pm. $30-$50. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com

MARK NORMAND Mark Normand was dubbed the “best young up and coming comic” by Jerry Seinfeld. June 22, 7-9 pm. $35-$160. First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. firstinterstatecenter.org

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

JEFF ALLEN Allen is a comedian best known for his film Happy Wife, Happy Life, Revisited. June 23, 6 pm. $35-$45. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com

WHOSE LIVE ANYWAY? Current cast members of Whose Line Is It Anyway? Ryan Stiles, Greg Proops, Jeff B. Davis and Joel Murray improvise comedy sketches and play games from audience suggestions. June 28, 7:30 pm. $55$65. The Fox Theater, 1001 W. Sprague Ave. foxtheaterspokane.org

COMMUNITY

DRIVING THE AMERICAN DREAM: 1970S CARS Learn about the changes in the world that heralded a new era of cars in the United States through automobiles of the 1970s. Tue-Sun from

10 am-5 pm through Sep. 14. $8-$12. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First. northwestmuseum.org

SPOKANE’S GOT TALENT: EXPO ‘74

EDITION Community members perform talents with a 70s-inspired theme. A panel of judges provides feedback and crowns the winners. June 20, 6 pm. Free. Pavilion at Riverfront, 574 N. Howard St. expo50spokane.com

BONNERS FERRY PRIDE 2024 Bonners

Ferry’s first ever Pride festival featuring live music, a keynote speaker, poetry readings, parties and more. June 21-23. $5-$15. The Pearl Theater, 7160 Ash St. nipridealliance.com

STORY TIME AT THE CARROUSEL An early literacy activity to spark and engage young children with stories, songs and more. $1 carrousel rides are offered to attendees. Ages 2-5. Third Fridays at 11 am. Free. Looff Carrousel, 507 N. Howard St. riverfrontspokane.org

WORLD CLASS CHERRY SPLAT Hit a target with a fresh cherry via slingshot. Winners in each of the agre groups receive $10 in Chewelah Chamber Bucks. June 21, 2 pm. Free. Chewelah City Park, chewelahfarmersmarket.com

BAZAAR A market featuring 133 booths of art and handcrafted goods. The event also features food, live music and family-friendly activities. June 22, 11 am-8 pm. Free. River Park Square, 808 W. Main Ave. terrainspokane.com

EXPO ’74 SILENT DISCO Don disco attire, provided wireless headphones and dance to 70s music by DJ Spicy Ketchup. Takes place in the Wall St. corridor. June 22, 6-10 pm. Free. Downtown Spokane. tinyurl.com/ExpoSilentDisco

FAIRY FESTA A world of magic with a variety of fun activities including free crafts, tea with a fairy queen food and treats and a marketplace featuring 45 unique vendors. June 22, 10 am-6 pm and June 23, 10 am-4 pm. Free. Spokane Gallery and Framing, 409 S. Dishman Mica Rd. fb.me/e/1TUTkbomt

HOT WHEELS MONSTER TRUCKS LIVE

GLOW PARTY This production brings fan favorite Hot Wheels Monster Trucks to life and includes a laser light show, theatrical effects and dance parties. June 22, 12:30 & 7:30 pm and June 23, 2:30 pm. $15-$63. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon. spokanearena.com

MIDSOMMAR CELEBRATION Celebrate this Swedish tradition by dancing around a may pole, eating traditional treats and more. June 22, 12-2 pm. Free. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. riverfrontspokane.org (509-625-6600)

QUEER PROM A prom for LGBTQIA+ people and allies of the community featuring DJs, a photobooth, drag performances and more. June 22, 8 pm. $12$20. The Chameleon, 1801 W. Sunset Blvd. chameleonspokane.com

SKYFEST A two-day open house and airshow featuring airplane acts from all over including the A-10 Demo team, the Harvard T6 Formation Aerobatic team and more. June 22-23, 8 am-3 pm. Free. Fairchild Air Force Base. fairchild.af.mil

NATIONAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S DAY FESTIVAL A family-friendly event featuring an authentic Indigenous menu and a lineup of independent Indigenous creatives. June 22, 11 am-7 pm. $15. The Junkyard, 6412 E. Trent Ave. lyyv.tv

A CELEBRATION OF OUR SISTER CITIES: BUILDING BRIDGES AROUND THE WORLD The program begins with

an entry march of the Sister City flags and includes an exhibit showcasing the history of our Sister Cities. June 23, 10 am-4 pm. Free. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. spokanesistercities.org

FILM

SUMMER FAMILY MATINEE SERIES A free screening of a kids movie. See website for list of movies. Tue-Thu at 1 pm through Aug. 22. Free. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main, Moscow. kenworthy.org

SUMMER OF STUDIO GHIBLI: PONYO

An English-dubbed screening of Studio Ghibli’s Ponyo. June 20 & 21, at 2 pm. $5. Garland Theater, 924 W. Garland Ave. garlandtheater.org (509-327-1050)

MOVIES IN THE PARK Screenings of family-friendly movies in Sally’s Park. June 21-Aug. 2, Fridays at sundown. Free. The Salvation Army Spokane, 222 E. Indiana Ave. facebook.com/TheSalvationArmyofSpokane (509-325-6810)

SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER: JURASSIC PARK A paleontologist touring an almost-complete theme park on an island in Central America is tasked with protecting a couple of kids after a power failure causes the park’s cloned dinosaurs to run loose. June 23, 4 pm and 7 pm. $8. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org (208-882-4127)

MOSCOW FILM SOCIETY: PULP FIC-

TION The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption. June 26, 7-9 pm. $8. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org (208-882-4127)

FOOD & DRINK

BBQ & BANDS: JACKSON ROLTGEN

Live music by Jackson Roltgen. Dinner is pork loin. June 21, 5-7 pm. $20. The Culinary Stone, 2129 N. Main St. culinarystone.com (208-277-4166)

RIDE & DINE SERIES Enjoy a scenic gondola ride, live music and a barbecue meal. June 21-Aug. 30, Fri from 3-7:30 pm. $8-$63. Silver Mountain Resort, 610 Bunker Ave. silvermt.com (208-783-1111)

ROOFTOP RIDER An alcohol-free party featuring beats by DJ Donuts, live performances, food, photobooths, a car show and mocktails. June 21, 6 pm. $25. The Wonder Building, 835 N. Post St. instagram.com/diversion_events

SIP FOR SUSTAINABILITY Taste sustainable wines and craft beers while mingling with fellow enthusiasts. June 22, 3-6 pm. $30. Historic Davenport Hotel, 10 S. Post St. expo50spokane.com

MUSIC

THE WESLEY BELL RINGERS The handbell choir from Utah features 16 members playing more that 150 handbells and handchimes. June 20, 6-7 pm. Free. Audubon Park United Methodist Church, 3908 N. Driscoll Blvd. linktr.ee/ thewesleybellringers (856-454-3671)

COPERNICUS & FRIENDS EXPO ’74

MUSICAL EXPERIENCE Original music performed by Copernicus the Alchemist (Nik Michaels) and fellow local musicians. June 22, 3:15-4:15 pm. Free. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. facebook. com/share/yBtYTTaciGvvx9Kr

COWBOY BEBOP LIVE! A complete

multimedia experience highlighting the story of Cowboy Bebop on the big screen with live music by the Bebop Bounty Big Band. June 22, 8-10 pm. $29-$57. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. bingcrosbytheater.com

KPBX KIDS’ CONCERT: CANOTE BROTHERS The Canote Brothers from Seattle are renowned for their affable attitudes and humor as they are for their music. June 22, 1-2 pm. Free. Central Library, 906 W. Main Ave. spokanelibrary. org (509-444-5300)

KYRS PRESENTS: GET LOUD IN THE LIBRARY Musical performances and live music from local bands to support KYRS Thin Air Community Radio. June 22, 7-10 pm. Free. Central Library, 906 W. Main Ave. spokanelibrary.org

JAZZ IN THE AIR A music festival celebrating Expo ’74 featuring the Imagine Jazz Quintet, Jared Hall Quintet, Raza Northwest, Aspen Kye Band and more. June 23, 11 am-8:30 pm. Free. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. imaginejazz.org

SPORTS & OUTDOORS

RIVERFRONT MOVES: SUMMER SOLSTICE YOGA The Union teaches a yoga class focused on gentle movement and relaxation. June 20, 7-8 pm. Free. Spokane Tribal Gathering Place, 347 N Post St. riverfrontspokane.com

SPOKANE INDIANS VS. EUGENE EMERALDS Promotions during this sixgame series include Star Wars and Fireworks Night (June 22), Native Culture Game Day (June 23) and more. June 20, 6:35 pm, June 21-22, 7:05 pm and June 23, 1:05 pm. Avista Stadium, 602 N. Havana St. milb.com/spokane

RACE THE WOLF A trail run weekend with a five mile race, the Sky Climb and a half/full marathon option. June 22 and June 23. $45-$110. Schweitzer, 10,000 Schweitzer Mountain. schweitzer.com

IRONMAN 70.3 The half-distance triathlon includes a 1.2 mile swim, a 56mile bike course and a 13.1 mile run, with start and finish in view of spectators in downtown Coeur d’Alene. June 23. $390-$450. The Coeur d’Alene Resort, 115 S. Second. ironman.com

KAYAK AMBER LAKE Paddle the lake and admire the surrounding channeled scablands. June 23, 9 am-1 pm. $59. John A. Finch Arboretum, 3404 W. Woodland Blvd. my.spokanecity.org

SPOKANE VELOCITY VS. LEXINGTON SPORTING CLUB Regular season game. June 23, 6 pm. $21-$41. One Spokane Stadium, 501 W. Gardner Ave. spokanevelocityfc.com

THEATER & DANCE

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM Shakespeare’s tale of a magical forest, mixed-up lovers and mischievous fairies performed by Shakespeare CdA. June 20-22, daily at 6 pm. Free. Riverstone Park, 1800 Tilford. shakespearecda.org

THE (SAME) INCIDENT Chelsea DuVall’s experimental new play explores the cultural cycles of violence, media, blame and humanity in the U.S. ThuSat at 7 pm, Sun at 2 pm through June 30. $25-$30. Stage Left Theater, 108 W. Third Ave. stagelefttheater.org

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF The award-winning tale of Tevye the Dairyman and his family’s struggles in Russia. June 28-July 7; Fri at 7:30 pm, Sat-Sun at 2 pm. $50$67. Schuler Performing Arts Center, 880 W. Garden. cdasummertheatre.com

PARANORMAL CIRQUE A show that combines theater, circus and cabaret with an innovative horror story. June 28July 1; Fri at 7:30 pm, Sat at 6:30 pm and 9:30 pm, Sun at 5:30 pm and 8:30 pm, Mon at 7:30 pm. $20-$65. Spokane Valley Mall, 14700 E. Indiana Ave. cirqueitalia.com (941-704-8572)

VISUAL ARTS

SPOKANE ART SCHOOL FACULTY AND STUDENT SHOW An art exhibition featuring staff and students from Spokane Art School. Featured artists include Tom Quinn, Kay West, T Kurtz, Collista Krebs, Liz Bishop and more. Mon-Fri from 10 am-5 pm through June 28. Free. Spokane Art School, 503 E. Second Ave., Ste. B. spokaneartschool.net (509-325-1500)

FELISA CARRANZA & KURT CARLSON: BACKWARD AND FORWARD The two featured artists showcase work spanning decades and that compliments each other’s work. Wed-Sat from 11 am-5 pm through June 29. Free. New Moon Art Gallery, 1326 E. Sprague Ave. manicmoonandmore.com (509-413-9101)

HEART OF THE COUNTRY A dual exhibition by artists Bridgette Costa and Laurie Haener featuring mixed media works depicting their shared life and domesticity together. By appointment through June 29. Free. Kolva-Sullivan Gallery, 115 S. Adams St. kolva.comcastbiz.net

LINNEA OLSON ART SHOW Elevenyear-old artist Linnea Olson showcases over 20 pieces in various mediums. Daily from 9 am-6 pm through June 30. Free. North Spokane Library, 44 E. Hawthorne. spokanelibrary.org

MATT SCHWENK: MONSTER This show explores the artist’s journey from childhood to adulthood, using colorful painterly expression to represent life’s difficulties. Thu-Sat from 4-7 pm through June 29. Free. Terrain Gallery, 628 N. Monroe. terrainspokane.com

MADELINE GCGINN & THE HIVE ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE Saranac member

Madeline McGinn displays new work in the east gallery. Artists who have completed a residency at The Hive display various artwork in the west gallery. FriSat from 12-8 pm through June 29. Free. Saranac Art Projects, 25 W. Main Ave. sapgallery.com

CYANOTYPE PRINTING AND TEA TON -

ING Learn from Artist-In-Residence Justus Brozek about cyanotypes and how to alter them with tannins and sunlight. June 22, 10 am-2 pm. Free. The Hive, 2904 E. Sprague Ave. spokanelibrary.org

SOUTH CEDAR STREET ART FESTIVAL

An all-local showcase of art sponsored by the Blue Door Theatre and Chrysalis Gallery. June 22, 10 am-5 pm. Free. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar St. bluedoortheatre.org (509-747-7045)

HEARTISTRY: ARTISTIC WELLBEING

A relaxed and inspiring environmnt for self-discovery. Participate in basic artistic concepts and activities or respond to a mindfulness prompt. Every Tuesday from 3-5 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org

OPEN STUDIO Stop by The Hive to see what current Artists-In-Residence are up to, and tour the building. Every Wednes-

day from 4-7 pm. Free. The Hive, 2904 E. Sprague Ave. spokanelibrary.org

PAINT MAKING FOR HEALTH, ECOLOGY AND ECONOMY Sheri Medford teaches how to make paint in a safe way. June 27July 18, Thu from 2:30-5:30 pm (No class on July 4). $118. Spokane Art School, 503 E. Second Ave. spokaneartschool.net

WORDS

DROP IN & WRITE Aspiring writers are invited to be a part of a supportive writers’ community. Bring works in progress to share, get inspired with creative prompts and spend some focused time writing. Thursdays from 5:30-7 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org (509-279-0299)

PAGE 42 SUMMER READING PROGRAM

For every 20 minutes spent reading, fill in a bubble on the sheet provided. Bring the sheet back to Page 24 to collect prizes. Grades K-12. Daily through Aug. 7. Free. Page 42 Bookstore, 2174 N. Hamilton St. page24bookstore.com

WRITE TOGETHER: A COMMUNITY

WRITING SESSION Bring your current writing project, your favorite writing tools and prepare to hunker down and write with local novelist and the library’s Writing Education Specialist Sharma Shields. June 21, 10 am-noon. Free. Shadle Library, 2111 W. Wellesley Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5300)

BOOKS & BREWS Local and regional authors meet with the public and autograph books in a book fair atmosphere. The event also features a selection of beer, wine, soda and more. June 22, 4-6 pm. Free. 1912 Center, 412 E. Third St. palousewritersguild.org (208-669-2249)

CHRIS BIEKER: HIGH STAKES AT HOOPFEST Hoopfest, the world’s largest three-on-three basketball tournament transforms into a high-stakes game for Spokane’s top detective Rex Begonia. June 23, 5-6:30 pm. Free. Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave. auntiesbooks. com (509-838-0206)

TRAILS AND TALES An outdoor story time and nature walk at the Pine Street Woods featuring an animated reading of a book, guided nature discovery, snacks and more. Tue from 9-10 am through Aug. 6. Free. Sandpoint Library, 1407 Cedar St. ebonnerlibrary.org

BROKEN MIC A weekly open mic reading series. Wednesdays at 6:30 pm; sign-ups at 6 pm. Free. Neato Burrito, 827 W. First Ave. bit.ly/2ZAbugD

FORAY FOR THE ARTS: THE LIGHT A sunset reading of works by Asyia Gover, Liina Koivula, Paul Lindholdt, AP Marcus, Charles Potts and more. June 26, 8-10 pm. Free. Saltese Uplands, 1330 S. Henry Rd. instagram.com/foray4thearts

POETRY AFTER DARK EWU MFA students lead discussions about craft elements, style and form in poetry. Every second and fourth Wednesday of each month from 7-8 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org

PRESCHOOL STORYTIME PLAY & LEARN Share books, songs and fun. After storytime, spend some time in open play with learning activities. Every Wed from 10-11 am. Free. South Hill Library, 3324 S. Perry St. spokanelibrary.org

HARMONY WRITERS GROUP A writing group focused on memoir and craft. Every other week on Thursday from 5:15-7 pm. Free. Liberty Park Library, 402 S. Pittsburgh St. spokanelibrary.org n

Talking Shop

A local budtender shares common customer questions and how the cannabis landscape has changed

BY WILL MAUPIN

Budtenders are the face of the cannabis industry. As an intermediary between producers and consumers, they see the industry from both sides and have to know not only about the product, but about the people they’re selling to.

Recently, the Inlander spoke with Nicole Walker, a budtender at the Green Nugget in north Spokane, to get her perspective on the industry from behind the sales counter. Walker has six years of experience in the cannabis industry, including the past four at the Green Nugget. She

was voted Best Budtender in the Inlander’s 2024 Best Of the Inland Northwest Readers Poll. Her answers have been edited for length and clarity.

INLANDER: What are the most common questions you hear from customers when they come into the store, whether they are regulars or first-timers or anything in between?

WALKER: I would say usually people are looking for deals, which obviously no one wants

The Green Nugget’s head cashier Nicole Walker. YOUNG KWAK PHOTOS

NOTE TO READERS

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

greenhand DAILY SPECIALS

BE AWARE: Marijuana is legal for adults 21 and older under Washington State law (e.g., RCW 69.50, RCW 69.51A, HB0001 Initiative 502 and Senate Bill 5052). State law does not preempt federal law; possessing, using, distributing and selling marijuana remains illegal under federal law. In Washington state, consuming marijuana in public, driving while under the influence of marijuana and transporting marijuana across state lines are all illegal. Marijuana has intoxicating effects; there may be health risks associated with its consumption, and it may be habit-forming. It can also impair concentration, coordination and judgment. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. Keep out of reach of children. For more information, consult the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board at www.liq.wa.gov.

to pay full price. So usually I would say the most common question is just, “What do you have on sale?” If they give me a budget — and that’s what I actually really like is if you give me a price to work with — I’ve got you, and I’ll find the best of whatever we have for that price. But with how times are right now, everyone is looking for a deal, so it makes sense.

So knowing how much you’re willing to spend is a good place for a customer to start?

I would say so, yeah, because if I know their budget, then I can kind of work from there. It has happened sometimes where they don’t know and I start showing them stuff and they’re like, “Oh no, that’s too expensive for me right now,” and I get that.

Beyond just price, is there any kind of product people tend to have many questions about?

Usually people, what they know least about would probably be the RSOs [concentrated oil extracts] and the rubs and creams and stuff like that. So that’s actually something that happens. A lot of the older generation, it’s still kind of taboo for them. And so they come in and they’re in pain, and a lot of people are in pain, and they just need help and they don’t know where to go.

Over your six years working in the cannabis industry, what are some of the most significant changes you’ve seen?

I think the quality has gotten a lot better in general, and I talk about it a lot that even the budget friendly stuff is still good. I feel like at one point, especially early on, you definitely did pay for what you got. If it was cheap, you knew it was cheap.

Even packaging, I would say. Companies are getting pretty good with their packaging having more information, which is nice because customers look for that. Before it was very minimal with THC and that was kind of it, but now they’ll put the crosses of the strain and the terpene profile.

Walker helps educate people about products like RSOs.

47. Aisle

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16. “Me ___ Pretty One Day” (2000 David Sedaris essay collection)

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19. “Seraph on the Suwanee”

novelist Zora ___ Hurston

24. “___ voyage!”

25. Lauren Bacall’s first movie, “To Have ___ Have Not” 27. Long-jawed freshwater fish

36. “Habibi (I Need ___ Love)” (2014 single by Shaggy)

37. Dreyer’s ice cream, east of the Rockies

40. “Thanks for coming to the rescue”

42. Nervous speaker’s pause sounds

43. “The

boo-boo 34. Cherry leftovers 35. Opera house seating section

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